Time for a Blog Break! See Ya Soon

Every now and then it's a good idea to step away from projects - such as writing daily posts for a blog - and to just chill.

Doing nothing has it's virtues. 

Keeping it simple like eating, sleeping, watching Laker games, and taking daily hot tubs is the way to go.

What do I write about?

If you're a newcomer just look to the right of the page and pick a post from the Archives.

If you are into flash fiction and poetry click the link just below the archived posts - THE CREATIVE CHRONICLES of DAVE STANCLIFF.

See ya Monday, April 12th.

Peace.

Now the 'Grim Reaper' Is Attacking Free Speech

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell/aka The Grim Reaper, is at it again.

Now he's threatening corporate America.

In a nation governed by the First Amendment, his threats are meaningless. 

After Major League Baseball changed the location of the All Star game this year from Atlanta to Denver because of new voter restriction laws in Georgia, McConnell lashed out and warned the companies they're going to suffer severe consequences for their actions.

Encouraged by McConnell's threats several Republican lawmakers threatened to retaliate against MLB by stripping it of an exemption from federal anti-trust laws.

Similarly, after Delta Air Lines spoke out against the same anti-voting law, Georgia's GOP-controlled House voted to strip away a sales tax exception for jet fuel that primarily benefits Delta.

The bill did not pass.

In the first place it's weird hearing McConnell bad mouth corporations when he depends so heavily on their political contributions.

He's spent his career coddling corporations over the rights of average American's.

Here's the thing: the Constitution forbids this sort of behavior by lawmakers. 

To be clear, it is unconstitutional for the government to retaliate against anyone for expressing a political view that members of the government doesn't share.

McConnel, and by extension the Republican Party, are playing with fire when it comes to suppressing free speech in America.

Trump Abuses Donors: They Still Love Him

It's unfathomable how people can get ripped off - know it - but still worship the con man who stiffed them.

That's the case with Trump who fleeced his followers out of millions of dollars they never intended to donate.

The scam was simple. Trump's campaign ran a fundraiser and slipped a poisoned pill into the mix. In print barely legible was a disclaimer that the donations would be ongoing.

No one and done. 

Retired donors on a fixed income were shocked to see what they thought was a one-time donation bloom into a weekly suctioning of their bank accounts.

Caught with his tiny hands in the cookie jar Trump was forced to issue 530,000 refunds worth $64 million to online donors.

The thing that really astounded me was some of the responses from donor victims were:

**"Who cares, he needed the money?"

**"There's nothing that will make me mad at Trump."

**Trump is a gift from God."

And so on.

I've read a lot about cults in America, but having a cult leader for president is a first.

Mirror Mirror On The Wall - Whose The Swampiest Republican Of Them All?

Pretty Boy Rep. Matt Gaetz stopped looking in his mirror lately because the news hasn't been good.

The free-wheeling hypocrite and all-around bad boy is fighting sex charges and trying to conflate them with another investigation on his illegal activities.

Gaetz's reactions to the trouble he's in are desperate attempts at saving his job and ass.

In a Washington Examiner op-ed Gaetz claimed, "The swamp is out to drown me with false charges."

The Swamp Thing 

When Trump cheated his way into office in 2016, one of the reoccurring themes of his rants at rallies was clearing out the swamp.

In reality he created a super swamp stocked with liars and cheats. After four years of foul and toxic political activities the swamp is still so deep it's going to take the Biden administration years to clean it up.

Meanwhile Gaetz blithely moves forward with his false claims hoping someone will be stupid enough to believe him.

A casual observer of the scandal can see that his fellow Republicans are not falling over each other supporting him.

Perhaps the most deafening silence has come from Trump, who hasn't commented on Gaetz's plight. 

After four years of slavish devotion Gaetz is getting thrown under the bus by the man he revered. Interestingly enough, former Trump aides are speaking out now. They feel vindicated in not trusting Gaetz.

One aide told the press, "He's the meanest person in politics," summarizing the overall view of Pretty Boy's career in Washington DC.

Gaetz, who led the way into Trump's swamp, is trying to re-write history in a desperate attempt at saving his job and career. 

It may be time for Gaetz to get another mirror that's not so truthful.

What's the Matter With People? COVID Fears and Follies

I have to admit, I wasn't surprised after reading national polls that state that half of Republican men refuse to obey safety standards (masks, etc.), and get a vaccination.

Apparently Republican women are smarter. 

To be "in" with the fractured GOP means opposing anything the Democrats or scientists have to say about the pandemic.

Being afraid of COVID-19 is not a bad thing.

Getting a vaccine to fight the virus is not a bad thing.

A partisan alternate universe is a bad thing when it comes to controlling a deadly virus that keeps mutating and getting deadlier. 

Examples of overcrowded beaches and restaurants with people ignoring mask mandates are everywhere.

It's almost like living between two worlds.

One recognizes the real danger COVID brings, and the other pretends the virus has gone away and things are normal.

The fact is COVID-19 varieties are springing up in several states, as the virus morphs into deadlier versions.

Unfortunately, many social media platforms are hives of misinformation that allow science-deniers to spread their bullshit with ease.

It's up to people with sense to tell the difference between fact and folly. Let's hope there's enough people out there to overcome this pandemic.

Review: Hemingway -The Man and the Myth

I'm looking forward to a PBS special tomorrow on one of my favorite writers in American literature, Ernest Hemingway.

Critics agree he was one of America's most complicated writers. The three-part documentary film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick examines one of the greatest and most influential writers America has ever produced.

I remember being transported to exotic places in high school when I read his work. He came across as a courageous adventurer with the ability to tell a story in sharp short sentences

The series features his iconic short stories, and non-fiction. The producers revealed how brilliant, ambitious, charismatic, and complicated Papa Hemingway was.

The viewer is taken on a journey into Hemingway's life. The good, bad, and the ugly.

This documentary offers another generation a look at the myth and the man. I highly recommend everyone to watch the series.