Yurtle versus MIL: She Wins, No Contest

Last night, in the waning light of Mothers' Day, I lit a yahrzeit candle for my mother-in-law. She died the day after Mothers' Day, one of the few kindnesses she ever showed her son. Even though she wasn't Jewish, we had a shiva candle burning for her at the house the week she died. (I remember how shocked Ziggy was when he went to Hodroff's on Snelling to get it, and they refused to take money for a shiva candle. "We take care of our community," the man told him.) In a way, the shiva candle was an act of defiance against her not-always-so-subtle expressions of antisemitism. But she was his mother and we agreed that her memory would be recalled in the traditional ways. Every year at the end of Mothers' Day, Ziggy lit a yarhzeit candle for her. 

The last time he did it, he was dying and he knew it.  Without my daring to ask, he turned to me and said, "I'm not planning on looking for her, y'know. I"m going straight to Aunt Ruthie's for a martini." I loved him extra-much when he said stuff like that. Not because he wasn't going to look for his mother in the Olam ha'Ba (World to Come) but because he was going over to my family where he always had a good time. Anyhow.....

My mother-in-law was a former US Naval office/gym/health high school teacher who really wanted to be teaching American Civics and History. Marilyn read history like other people read cereal boxes. And she retained what she read...which was kind of a miracle. She was a devoted fan of not just the Founding Fathers, but of the statesmen who crafted the Constitution and, by extension, this country. She had an opinion for everything and she was always right, whether she was or not. Didn't matter. I can't help but wonder what kind of rant she would've delivered on the pandemic, the federal response to the pandemic, the response of the Executive Branch of government on the pandemic, and why someone like Yurtle-the-Turtle McConnell keeps getting elected. Seriously, she would be carrying on BIG TIME as to why the entire DNC isn't focused on getting rid of that jackass from Kentucky. She would point out that it doesn't matter who the president is, but that POS running the Senate needs not to be. During Reagan's first administration she told me he was a jackass actor but he was just the president. The real power, she insisted, lay with the two morons running Congress: Strom Thurmond in the Senate and Tip O'Neill. Thurmond was a Republican and O'Neill was a Democrat, but he was Irish...she was 100% Welsh so she hated everyone else from that part of the world. However, the older I get, the more I think she was right about how this country is actually run.

It should be pretty clear to everyone on the planet that Feckless Leader isn't running anything except his mouth. And even though he claimed he was going to stop having briefings, the only thing he's done is move them to the Rose Garden and call them something else. What should be the world's single most embarrassing humanoid not only has a following, but one that believes he's doing a good job.  This is a hint, people.

Recently, a horror movie is making the rounds called PLANDEMIC. It's so chock full o'baloney that Facebook, YouTube, and Vimeo have all removed it from their respective platforms. I actually watched part of it, and stopped because I thought I was having the big one. There are a lot of people who actually believe what this crazy lady says...and a lot of them of ardent supporters of Feckless Leader and his cabal. This is another hint, people.

If you really wanna have a good time, you can pop over to Wikipedia's List of Conspiracy Theories page. You cannot possibly believe some of the stuff people believe! Okay, I'll admit I listened to Revolution #9 backwards a whole bunch of times, but I was a kid. I wasn't a grown up heading into a voting booth. The point being that some people just believe what they hear within a certain context. It's not just Paul McCartney (who to date is very much alive and married to yet another Jewish woman) but The Lubavitcher Rebbe who some people say is the Messiah, or Hilary Clinton and her cannibalistic child-pornography ring. It doesn't matter how stupid/dumb/outrageous/ridiculous something is; it's all a matter of As Seen On TV and we just saw that up-close-and-personal in live-action during the bleach-drinking/UV up the butt press conference. Poison control lines were flooded. I mean, really?  We saw it happen. We all watched it. And people are still calling to find out how to drink Clorox safely. Plandemic is right up there with the rest of the crazies. And the Feckless cabal is loving every wacko minute of it.

Which sends me right back to my hard-drinkin'/golf-lovin' mother-in-law who absolutely maintained that the way to fix this country was to elect a Congress that was interested in actually doing the work. She believed passionately that the president was no more than a figurehead like the Queen of England...whom she admired greatly.  As I watch the machinations of the House pitted against the Senate, I am grudgingly ready to admit she might be right.         

Nothing is going to happen or get fixed in this country as long as Yurtle-the-Turtle is running the Senate. He happily admits he does not send on bills that have been passed in the house. He gleefully makes up rules (like the one about an outgoing president doesn't get to pick SCOTUS Justice. Or that the federal government is not obligated to help "Blue" states.) If We, the People wanna take back this country, screw Biden and the jackasses of the DNC. Go for the Senate. 

Feckless Leader is Toothless Leader if he doesn't have the Yurtle running the Senate to back him up. The Super Pacs have bolstered Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, and North Carolina because they are the seats currently in play. But don't discount Kentucky where Yurtle is currently in a tight poll race with Amy McGrath, whose nomination is not yet a done deal. 

It is not outrageous, considering the current state of affairs with COVID, the jobless rate, and a looming pork shortage, to think that flipping the Senate is a possibility. It can be done much the same way our House district elected Angie Craig: outreach to the communities you are least likely to turn. 

Talk to a political strategist if you want to learn how it's done. But to even have the conversation, the position to be taken is one in which all sides are heard. All citizens are invited to the table, and all citizens are treated with the utmost respect even if their views are diametrically opposed to yours. If you are unwilling to raise up the tent flaps to let everyone in, you are condemning yourself to another 4 years of inaction. 

The time for polarization is past. It's destroying what's left of this country. If you insist on posting inflammatory garbage on your wall, remember this simple adage: 

I changed my mind because I saw a meme on Facebook....

said NO ONE ever. 

If you really wanna change the discourse, change your discourse.

If you really wanna change the polarized politics you're hearing, don't repeat crap.

If you really wanna change how America is viewed globally, act locally.

Nothing will change unless we begin at the bottom and slowly work up the stalk. Since no one is happy in our country at the moment, try listening to why someone is unhappy. You might hear something you didn't expect. You might try banding local folk together for a local common cause across party line. Make friends. Make inroads.  Most of all, surprise someone - maybe yourself - listen to another opinion. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

From Dr. Thomas R. Frieden

former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

under the Obama administration:

"We’re not reopening based on science. We’re reopening based on politics, ideology and public pressure. And I think it’s going to end badly."