Welfare Cheats Are Ruining Us.

Want to know how an egomaniac who has got the entire establishment up in arms, has done it. He has garnished this group: uneducated hard working poor who honestly believe, "the goverment is paying people not to work. They are on welfare and laughing at us." If you could ask the person where they came up with that idea, they couldn't tell you but just know it is true. (Don't confuse me with facts, I have my mind made up).

Trump comes along and says,  "I am rescuing  you from this hoard of welfare cheats." They believe him. 

Here's who these people are: The bottom third of Americans constituting the working class poor: conservative, politically misinformed and supporting a political position working to their own detriment.

STAND UP GUYS

We die twice. First when the breath leaves our body and the second time when a person says our name for the last time. 

Al Pachino
The movie, "Stand Up Guys."

SHAMEFUL

Every single time I see a black person, I want to run over to them and say, "I want to apologise for all Americans that we have treated you so badly." Here's an example. Recently I was listening to "Short Stories, " this great program on 
NPR (National Public Radio). One of the stories is about a group of black female musicians on a bus, in the fifties, traveling South on 95, trying to find places to play their music. They stop in Dunn, North Carolina, my home town, to eat. They could find no place that would serve them. They finally located a grocery store who sold them food to fix on the bus. This is the 50s and I am in High School. I am instantly ashamed.  GdA

SITREP

Good morning with the GFs. We had the usual banner. Immo showed and we got a chance to hear his views on Trump. Pretty acid to say the least but we agree mostly and had actually thought, in his speech, Trump sounded like Hitler. "All these things he could do," says a narcissistic Trump: 

Immo is a good voice. Wish we saw him more. For a group saying away from politics, politics seem to dominate. 

We talked terrorism. The Munich thing was just starting when we, in a great act of charity, gave our booth to a handsome older couple. 

Outside,  we carried on. Immo told us about something he had read in German paper. At the "Nice" tragedy, a guy who was on his moped, witnessed what was going on. The "mad man" terrorist in a truck was mowing down people. The guy jumps on his moped, chases the terrorist down and like in the movies, jumps on the "running board" of the truck. He starts slugging the driver. The driver takes out a weapon and tries to shoot the guy. The gun jams. The moped guy keeps hitting him. The terrorist finally dislodged the guy by hitting him with the gun.  However, the distraction is enough for the police to surround the truck and kill the terrorist perpetrator.  

Now, this guy is truly a hero.  hero. 

The wheels have come off.

My wife said to me this morning. I don't know what is happening to our country. Looks like the wheels have come off. I nodded: police shootings, black lives matter, Trump, the Republicans. 

Here's what my favorite magazine, "The Economist" said: America in 2016 is peaceful, prosperous and despite recent news, more racially harmonious than at any point in history. 

THINKERS AND NON-THINKERS

Is anybody who supports Trump a non-thinker. I think so.  An example--Last night on "60 Minutes," Leslie Stall interviewed Trump and Pense. She didn't pull any punches. Trump was masterful.  An example, (Trump or his children are smart "mothers)." His new theme is "make America safe again and make America great." Who can disagree with that? All kinds of non-thinkers are out there saying, HooAhhhh. 

 This is getting scary. Really what about the hair on these guys. Trump and then Pense, the running mate, plastered down.  It sounds like I am looking for something but honestly the hair is a phenomena. 

I am thinking there has to be a plan--ban talking about politics. Doesn't solve anything. Kind of like that saying. "You can't teach a pig to fly. It waste your time and annoys the pig."

DEFENDING THE "F" WORD

As I am sitting around bemoaning who the f..k are these people who support Trump, I think of the F..K word and the fact that my mom would not be happy with me using it. I mostly got in touch with the word in Vietnam. In Nam, if you took out the word F..k or MF (use your imagination), the G.I. vocabulary would be reduced by 75%. 

Why do we love to use f..k so much? It is really used more as a commanding NOUN than a sexual adjective. I don't expect the non thinking Trump crowd to get this. It conveys domething, a word, an emotion, a sense of frustration that no other word can work. Recently I streamed a movie, "Neighbors," It was German with subtitles. Very suspensefu. Apparently, there is no German equivalent of F..K or maybe there is but wasn't used in the movie. Nothing conveyed their sense of frustration like the word, f..k. I love the word and nothing subs for it in the right context. 

A person's perception is his/her reality

Listening to the Predident's speech in Dallas, I was moved by the tribute and memorial to the five policeman. I was equally touched by George W.,  Dallas Police Chief, Mayor. The absolute highlight was the Police Choir that sang "Battle  Hymn of the Republic."  

The President said many things that were memorable. One was that America is not as divided as we think and especially as some try to tell us. He professed a love of country which was very moving to me. He used a concept that is  important. Perception. A person's perception is his reality. What he belies to be true is true to him. The facts may be something else entirely. 

To me, this is what makes the "racial" situation relatively insoluble. Sad but true.  

BLACK LIVES MATTER

Of course they do. All lives matter but that fact does not take away from African Americans great sense of separation from much of our culture and especially the Police. 

My real belief is that race and the homeless issues are insoluble. We have to keep trying. Much of the problem is "perception." If you perceive something to be true, to you it is true. The facts be damned. 

You are doing a good job by raising this. For those of us who suspicioned you were a Trump supporter, "black lives matter" from you might mean there is hope. God bless you. Airborne and HooAhhhh. GdA

GEORGE.

I have been wracking my brain to come up with some remembrance of George. I thought of this one. George could not  read or write. Yet he would sit for hours pretending to read the newspaper. We all knew he couldn't read but don't remember anyone ever saying something to him. To me this is absolutely remarkable. It was as though we wanted to give George this moment. If he wanted to pretend he was reading, OK with us. Pretty amazing if you think about it. 

BILL AND JANE

Every single time I pass Divisadero Street in San Francisco, I think of Bill and Jane. Yesterday, one of their nieces called to say Jane had joined Bill in the great beyond. Such wonderful memories. We always went to the July 4th celebration on the Presidio. Bill was a lawyer and could have easily become the Army's top lawyer and picked up a couple of stars; but, Bill wouldn't leave Frisco. He loved this town. 

Our very last July 4th was memorable. I was still in the Army. We made our way to Crissy Field on the San Francisco Bay.  It was still daylight. The Army Band from 6th Army played. They were great. Fireworks to follow. The Army was proud of how the military celebrated the 4th of July and had invited all of the City. 

A wonderful night in the making. Suddenly, the fog rolled in so thick that you absolutely could not see your hand in front of your face. The band played, they did the "fireworks." You could hear them but couldn't see a thing. It never let up. We left when we thought it was over. It was not at all foggy anywhere else. 

Bill jokingly always said it was my fault. "Afterall," he said, "You are suppose to have a direct line in such matters." 

Jane, bless her heart, never moved on after Bill departed to the next life. The last time I talked to Jane she said, "My suitcase is packed and I'm waiting for the bus." God bless you Jane on your journey. Hi to Bill. 

TRANSGENDER

Overall I support transgender in the military. 150,000 have served. Where and how? It ain't going to be easy. I don't know how it is suppose to work. 

There is an innate problem with the military: they have one mission: to fight and win wars. They are a war machine, plain and simple. What they are not is a social organization. The SecDec, the generals and bureaucrats are pretty much the the same ilk who got us into Iraq and Afghanistan. The military is hurting, hurting in terms of numbers, asked to do more with less. It isn't a matter of race, trans, gay, democrats/republicans, gender, issues, causes, whatever. There is only one question: CAN OUR MILITARY FIGHT AND WIN WARS?

BASEBALL IS AMERICA'S GAME

Recently I saw the SF Giants play. Some of my buds had the tickets. If we had to buy our own, close to a hundred; eats maybe, $50. So, $150 per person. Too expensive. Always sad to me. (Baseball is "Merica's game. according to Walt Whitman via Susan Sarandon in the best baseball movie ever, 'Bull Durham')." 

We don't want to see people priced out of baseball. Well, for our littlre group, we did the Saint Augustinian thing. We can't help everybody but if we run across need, we do what you can". We bought a round of beers for those sitting around us. 2 people. 

My favorite poet is a guy called Jim Woessner. He makes observations about life mainly from coffee shops. Very insightful. Little tongue in cheek. We are thinking this through. 

America of the 50s is gone.

Today, I am headed out to the "Gay Pride" Parade, mainly to show support. I am thinking about the difficulties of how divided we are as a country. What I am hoping is that as Americans, we are just in a time of "messiness" and we'll get out of it. 

By accident last night as I was flipping through the channels, I ran into advertising by Time/Life where they want you to buy music, programs, etc.; they had one big collection of Bob Hope and then another of Dean Martin. It was very sad,  all those old movie stars: singers, etc., you can imagine. Most dead. Great pic of Ali (meaningful since we just celebrated his life). Wonderfully nostalgic, the simple way America use to be: Bob Hope entertaining the troops in Nam, celebrity roasts. Funny. THAT AMERICA IS GONE. Mainly, the country is so much larger and diverse. We can't go back even if we could. What we have is what America is now. We have to deal with with it and at some point get past the messiness. I am confident we will. GOD BLESS AMERICA. 

WARRIORS BITE THE DUST

Lot of "down in the dumps" types in the Bay Area still. The Warriors bit the dust. Saying things like, it is only a game, get over it,  won't hack it. 

The Warriors had a great run. Let's look at it like this. Cleveland, the town, needed a win; haven't had a Champion in 52 years. I don't like LeBron (nothing personal) but he is probably the best basketball player on the planet. He's a bully. Just so happens he is on the basketball court, not the school playground. Let's give him his dues and Cleveland especially. I don't know who said it, think Tennessee Williams--pretty subtle but we get his meaning. "There are only three or four great cities in America: New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and everything else is Cleveland. See what I mean, let them have their day. 🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀😀😀😀😀😀

HooAh

HooAhhhh was made famous by Al Pachino in the movie, "Scent of a Woman." Pachino is a blind, retired Army Lieutenant Colonel who has lost his way. His plan is to go to NY City, do the things he loves to do and then "do himself in." But, he needs help and enlists Charlie, a prep school scholarship student who has his own set of problems. Pachino is emotionally salvaged when he defends Charlie who is accused of lying. Pachino's speech is one of the classic movie ones ever. HooAhhhh is rendered by Pachino several times in the movie. 

The Army's expression "hoo-ah" is a guttural response barked when troops voice approval. It may be derived from an old acronym, HUA, "Heard, Understood, and Acknowledged." A former commander always greeted you with, HooAhhhhhh!!!!!!! A GREAT SOLDIER

The Verdict

In the movie, "The Verdict, Paul Newman, is a drunk lawyer who can barely keep it together. Pretty much at the end of the movie, he addresses the jury and basically says, "now it is your turn. Forget the high price lawyers, the judge, whatever. Now you are the ones that count. Justice is up to you. 

This is just a small portion of the movie and not verbatim for sure but an example to me of where we are in our country. At some point it will be the people's turn. On NPR's Fresh Air, Davd Davies interviewed this guy who has written this book on how the Repunlivas are almost assured of majorities based on how they babe gerrymander congressional districts. However, and it almost sounds like a conspiracy theory but they have done it by and in secrecy. They get a team, some guy is an expert on how to do it. Thru dry it up, in secret, pass it along to congress, they lit like they came up with it. Now, here is the kicker. It is now time forvthebpeople. They might think they have stolen our democracy and they have unless now that itbisbupbtonthevprople. We have a choice. 

Who Needs an AR 15 Assault Rifle

I've been watching a lot of the sadness in Orlando.  F..King nut. I know the Car (AR) 15 (the weapon the shooter used) really well from Vietnam. It is a little cut down version of the M16. In Vietnam, what made it appealing to me was it was shorter and less cumbersome. I could fling it over my back and it was pretty concealed. It would fire on full automatic--the American version doesn. WHO IN AMERICA NEEDS AN AR 15 assault rifle. Answer, NO ONE. 

ORLANDO

Nothing to say really. The only thing I can relate it to is Vietnam. We had 22 GIs killed at one time. Then, a dubious record: the most Americans killed at one time in the war. "A" Company, as I remember, had swept through a ville and cleared it and moved on. Later on they came back to the same ville and the VC had come back in and booby trapped everything. 

They were careless. It was unbelievable carnage. I wasn't there till later but sad beyond belief. My chaplain assistant, George Page, and I helped load them on the choppers. 

KAY WALKINGSTICK

Take some risks. I don't mean speeding or doing drugs but take some risks to find a challenging and maybe difficult profession. Don't let money be the driving goal but rather interesting, lively activity. Learn to take a hit now and then and brush it off.