Vox Populi – 5-15-2015

Hi everyone – see you at 7 pm Left coast time!

Good evening all – say howdy when you arrive, and I’ll say howdy right back.

Hey Choice Lady, how are you?

Hi glenn – how are you tonight? I’m fine.

Hey peeps, que pasa?

Hi KT – que tal y tu?

Doing well CL and KT

Glad to hear it, glenn. How’s the weather there?

muy bien!

CL–Finally nice and warm and I love it.

Hey glenn! How are ya?

KT – glad to hear it. glenn, also glad to hear it!

BRB

glenn – you had MORE than your fair share of ice and snow this year.

KT–I’m in good shape for the shape I’m in!

CL–I agree. So, I’m enjoying this nice warm weather.

What’s it up to these days? I confess I pay little attention to anything east of the Rockies as we scan the skies praying for rain!

Good evening y’all.

That’s good to hear glenn.

CL–Some days it gets up to 90, but most days it’s in the high 80’s and at night, sometimes in the 60’s, but mostly in the 70’s. For me, that’s ideal weather.

Murph is in the building! Welcome friend!

Hey murph, long time, eh

Hey Murph, how are you?

glenn – that’s very nice to see. I’m happy for you.

glenn, are you in the north west?

Greets CL – good to see you.

Hey KT…yes, been a while.

KT–no, I’m in GA; about 30 miles NW of Atlanta.

Howdy, Glenn…doing ok….sore from all the farm work.

Well, it looks like Tsarnaev is going to get the needle. I was hoping the little shit would rot in jail for the rest of his days.

Murph – what’ve you been up to that makes you stiff and sore?

KT – yes, I thought of you when I read that about Tsarnaev.

CL….farmwork….

Murph–what are you growing? The azaleas, magnolias, roses, and other flowering trees and plants here are just gorgeous!

Murph – ouch!

glenn – my ex was a golf devotee, and I used to watch the Master’s just to see the beauty of the grounds. Lovely!

I will say CL, I certainly won’t shed a tear when they stick the needle in. He hurt so many people and seriously altered so many lives. The survivors are the winners though.

KT – with you on that. Boston Strong!

KT–I believe that even if Tsarnaev was sentenced to life, he wouldn’t have made it long in prison. So, it probably would’ve been the death penalty either way.

Glenn…I have 12, 1,000 sq ft. truck gardens….tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, peppers, beans, berries and, of course, my barn based mushrooms.

Murph – that’s marvelous! Yum!

Murph – in drought-stricken CA we are mostly now growing straw.

glenn, he would have been kept in isolation. They wouldn’t put him in the general population. I guess he’ll be on death row in a super-max prison in Colorado.

Murph–Yummy! But all things that grow close to the ground and require a lot of bending, right? I admit I’m not a farmer, so I may be wrong!

KT – I’d not thought of that. It’s where Tim McVeigh was.

Choice…..I feel so badly for CA…I do….as a farmer I have a love affair with water and life without it seems frightening.

It’s pretty damned scary. I arrived in No. CA in 1977 to the earlier drought, and towns in the Santa Cruz mountains had NO WATER at all. Terrible!

That’s right CL. I wonder how many appeals this turd will get. I know many of the suvivors and families of victims did not want to have to go through any more trials.

Glenn, tons of down low work…you got it.

Murph – may you be blessed with a cartload of Ben Gay.

hi guys, i was watching basketball lol

KT – that IS the problem with the death penalty – it involves the survivors for YEARS.

Hey Haleigh!

Hi Harleigh!

Hi Harleigh. How’s things in the sunshine state?

Choice…..we have had a few dryer than normal summers since I came here but no drought…..I am part of a group fighting to preserve our ground waters from chemical fertilizers.

KT–Is Tsarnaev going to appeal?

Yeah, it’s too bad they have to relive the tragedies, sometimes for years. That’s not justice, in my opinion, but I can see the reason for it. Especially when talking about capital punishment.

All – anyone hear the latest on the Amtrak? Sounds as if the train and a local commuter train were struck with something. Could account for the engineer not remembering anything at all – might have been unconscious. VERY scary!

I think so glenn. He doesn’t want to be a martyr after all.

Murph – excellent. Too many options to go chem.

CL, do they know what struck those trains?

CL–And I thought the latest was the Amtrak train crashed because the engineer was gay!

KT – not yet. But the commter train had to stop, it was that serious. The Amtrak engineer said the train had been struck, then…silence from him as the Amtrak speeded up. He might have passed out with his hand on the throttel.

I think the state needs to pay me $10,000 tax free to put a .22 in tsarnaev haid! cheap! lol

glenn – OH INDEED it was cuz he is gay. Do we actually KNOW that? No. But it’s such a GREAT meme from the effing religious right!

Harleigh – go to Utah. They’re looking for marksmen.

dRiving that train,high on cocaine, Casey Jones you better watch your speed! Sorry, that song just popped into my head.

KT – apparently the engineer had nothing in his system. But tox isn’t back yet.

LOL CL… do I get magic undies??

Harleigh – you have to convert first.

Harleigh–magic undies and a 22. What more could a man ask?

oh jeesh, always a catch

Hareigh, I do think a bullet to the back of the head is actually more humane than lethal injection. It would be almost instantaneous death. Virtually painless.

glenn – you just described the Mormon wet dream!

Ewwww, a Mormon wet dream!

KT- you have a good point. Did you hear though that Nebraska, state of my birth, red to the core, is voting to outlaw the death penalty entirely?

KT – Harleigh open up this ugly topic of Mormon wet dreams!

I would shoot myself if I had 4 wives and 4 mother in laws.

I didn’t hear that. I suppose that’s progress for that state.

Maybe not the wives. Definitely the MILs.

KT – it is a vote large enough to overturn the gov’s promised veto.

Hareigh, imagine 72 wives and 72 mother-in-laws! Yikes!

Harleigh–keep the 22 handy for those 4 MILS. Thought polygamy was outlawed, though.

glenn – there’s de jure outlaw of polygamy and de facto practice.

CL I always figured that magic undies wouls be a horrible super wedgie and leave a permanent skidmark.

Would that be wife du jour?

Harleigh – way bad visuals, bro. Way bad.

Hello Planeteers! I hope everyone is well.

LOL

KT – I do think that’s how it works, yes. Wonder if the wives get ‘day of the week’ undies and share them?

hi sabreen

SABREEN!!! How are YOU?

Oh, I hope not.

Sabreen–we’re well enough to talk about magic undies, polygamy, and 22 rifles. What a group!

Hey Sabreen, long time no see.

KT – meaning each gets the one with “her day”.

Oh, well, that sounds better. LOL!

KT – I can see how I did not make it clear…

Well, I do have a slightly sick mind!

CL–depending on the husband, I’d probably be willing to give up “my” day to one of my “sister” wives.

glenn – indeed. I have little interest in a ‘used’ husband.

I’ve seensome of those famblys in person…. I could never be with any of them. yucko

Hey all. What a heck of a convo. And Ms. CL – You have been kicking butt and taking names this week.

Sabreen – you should see what I’m doing in REAL life. Up against emos everywhere. Too old to take guff, I’m dishing!

Sabreen–you came in just at the right time!

Did anybody see that family photo of the Huckabees, recently? Holy shyte. Talk about a hog farm.

KT =- that was several tons ago. He lost weight for his first run, gained it and MORE now. Gluttony is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, doesn’t he know that?

KT–haven’t seen the family Huckabee. Just seeing pater huckleberry is enough!

KT – I thought you were here last week. No?

Hello Haleigh and Sabreen..I checked out for a few moments…..

Hiya Murph!

Murph – you can do that. We don’t take attendance.

hey murph

No, I don’t think so. Hmmmmm?

KT – you still in O – HI -O? I lose track of when you’re on the Cape.

Huckabees…

Ooo CL. A shot to the stomach. I said you’ve been kicking butt.

Murph – STOP – you’ll crash the system with the weight!

Murph–yuck!

Yeah cl. Still in the old OH and a Dime. I’m going back to Cape in September though.

I’d vote for the dog

That’s the one Murph! Yikes. I think they ate Romney’s family!

My favorite saying for the week came from Carson that if a illegal alien was caught voting they should be stripped of their citizenship! You just can’t make that shit up.

Sabreen – I hope to kick butt. I’m so sick of the emos I could spit. Bad enough online, but they are in my face here.

Harleigh – that quotation is PRICELESS!!!!

I’ve recently had a major personal triumph as of late. I quit smoking. Nicotine free for 46 days now. I hope it lasts.

CL – I don’t know how you handle both. I started firing on both cylinders on Twitter. But I loved the articles and comments on TPV. Except for the jerk who showed up.

I have a serious question – how can the GOP keep making stupid ass statements like these and keep having ANY self respect?

KT – excellent! I am SO glad for you!

KT IS SMOKE FREE!

Harleigh–people like carson have no concept of engaging brain before speaking! I like the latest I saw today from a rwnj on fox who said women shouldn’t be in the workplace talkig to a woman anchor! Priceless. I don’t know the names, but it was funny!

Sabreen – was it you who caught his plagarism? THAT was priceless! He slunk off, tail between his legs!

KT–congrats! Good on ya!

Bush has been saying that knowing what we know now about Iraq he would make the same mistakes again! WTF is wrong with those assholes? rhetorical question I know….

Harleigh – Did you see where Ben Carson lost his teeth in his grits?

Yeah, my daughter said she was really trying to quit, so, in solidarity, I thought I’d give it another go. So far so good. I’ve tried many times in the past.

Harleigh and all- I KNOW. I’m gobsmacked at how willing they are to say incredibly stupid things!

Thanks, folks.

Sabreen – LOL!

KT…how did you do it.

KT – keep on keepin’ on. It gets better,

Jeebus, how many GOP candidates are there now, a hundred or so?

KT – Way to go. Hang in there. I think every smoker has tried to quit for than once. I know I did. Finally tried Commit and that worked for me.

KT – only 20 with the indicted TX ex governor on the way to 21.

Sabreen – what’s “Commit”?

Harleigh–jebbie is saying, “mistakes were made” and he has walked back his comment on going in. Now says he won’t talk about the past any more because it “disrespects the troops”. What an asshole!

Murph, I used nicotine patches, combined with e-cigs when the patches didn’t control 100% of my cravings. I slowoly cut down my nicotine intake and bingo. I just hope I don’t relapse.

glenn – that’s the fallback to never talking about anything: “it disrespects the troops”. They say as they cut VA funding…

sabreen I quit 50 times before I quit 2 and a half years ago.

Iraqi, Afghan vets are really turned off by Bush…apologetics for the war……not acceptable.

KT – I do e-cigs. I quit totally some years ago, restarted, and now it’s harder, so I switched.

Yeah Hareigh, it’s a real bitch.

Harleigh – you’re our Mark Twain who said quitting smoking is easy. He’d done it hundreds of times.

KT…Bravo…..the will power needed is considerable – what was the movivation.

I understand nicotine is THE most addictive substance known.

I think e-cigs ARE better than the real ones, I don’t care what these so-called studies say. I think many of those studies are paid for by big tobacco.

CL–Krugman has a great article about jebbie’s comments.

Commit are lozenges. I had (have) an oral fixation. The patch didn’t work for me. I didn’t like the gum, but I needed something in my mouth. But you have to careful with the lozenges because they can become addictive.

KT – I have my breath back, can sing again – they have nicotine but none of the rest of the gunk.

A few things Murph. In support of my daughter’s efforts to quit, my age and the cost. I’ll save about 130 bucks a month.

Sabreen – lozenges are better than cigarettes! Good for you!

CL…did not know you were a smoker….I never was but have a sense of the challenge from friends.

That’s right cl.

KT….each is a sound motivation….

Murph – not anymore! Nice thing about e-cigs is they are infinitely less addictive than cigarettes so I can be on planes or in meetings without that dire urge.

Sabreen, e-cigs help with the oral fixation. You can get them with as little as 3mgs of nicotine.

Choice what is an e-cig. Are those the vapor things.

KT – mine are 1.6 mgs. Do the job.

Yeah murph, I feel like I got a raise.

Har – I guess it’s been about 9 years now. But I quit at least 3 or 4 times. One time I had quit for 7 years and started back. Can’t get much more stupid than that.

over the last 25 years I quit running the bars, sleeping with willing honeys and smoking…. I may have died.

That’s good cl. If you decide to quit again, it won’t be much of a withdrawl.

Harleigh – I dont’ know what to say, dear. A life with no vice? Wow.

KT – that’s my thought.

Hareigh, thirty years ago, I would have considered that death!

KT – The weird thing is when I was smoking I was running of the treadmill for 20-25 minutes flat out.

LOL sabreen that makes me feel a little better about all of my months at a time quits.

Sabreen – we can do amazing things when we’re young. Now? Not so much! Glad you quit!

That’s pretty damn good sabreen.

I miss all the honeys until I remember how long ago it was and their all old now too!! LOL

CL – exactly. When I look back, had I not been smoking I probably would have done a lot better.

they’re

So to direct a question – what, if ANYTHING, will happen next week when Hillary goes to testify on Benghazi AGAIN?

now if I could only quit the heroin and the meth! Just kidding!

Choice….everything I read says the Hillary is looking forward to the appearance.

Murph – that’s what I read, too.

I hate when I get airplane glue in my moustche and beard.

I don’t think anything new will turn up cl. They’re just beating a dead horse, thinking that horse has 9 lives.

Outside of being proud they mastered spelling Benghazi, what in HELL do they think they are getting from this hearing?

choice….would you drop me an e mail – got something I want to chat about.

KT – horse, cats…I can see the confusion.

Murph – for sure.

LOL!

Hillary is going to make them look even stupider if that is even possible, it’s Howdy Gowdy Time!

BTW, CL – I wasn’t that young. I was at least 50.

CL…thanks….

Harleigh – I’m not usually into critiquing apperanced, but did Gowdy take over Trafficant’s barber? Yowzah.

I used to think Jebby Bush was the smarter one. I’m not so sure now.

Sabreen – that, IMHO, is young!

Harleigh….howdy gowdy! love it…..the man looks like he has been constipated for five years.

KT – he may be smarter, but he has little sense.

Murph – only five?

Very little.

I actually think W was smart, but he drank so much and did so much coke, it fried his brain. He was a crispy critter.

there were 14 Behghazi’s during the Bush reign including 9/11.

What new questions could they possibly ask Hillary.

Cl….giving him the benefit of thedoubt.

Actually Harleigh it was more like 56 attacks on foreign embassies. Of course you’ll never hear a RWer admit to that.

Murph – that’s kind of you!

Sabreen – they think they have the ‘gotcha’ on the emails.

I have a question….what do you think is the reason for the wall to wall coverage of the train wreck?

After over a dozen investigations that found nothing they still investigate nothing. assholes. I think the whole issue will end up in her favor.

Oh yeah, the emails. I had forgotten the emails. Guess my mind’s on other things.

Politics Murph. Infrastructure debate.

Murph – because it’s so scary. But just before you got here we talked about a new issue – appears the train and a commuter train were attacked. It’s also VERY scary.

Sabreen – that’s because you’re a grown up.

KT….so this is a tie in to the failure of the U.S. to invest in the U.S. Makes sense.

I think Hillary will do fine, and she will probably point to the GOP led committee that found nothing, but Gowdy thinks he’s onto someting.

KT and Murph – the eruption from the GOP over their cuts to rebuilding Amtrak were spectacular.

Murph – Did you see Boehner melt down whe he was asked about cutting funding?

Yeah Murph, I think that was a part of all the chatter. Cl also raised a good point about new speculation that the train was attacked. Has anybody claimed responsibility?

Sabreen – I read a bit – his hyperventillating bores me.

So now that we know “mistakes were made”, when are going to have the congressional investigation into the build-up to the Iraq war? When will Condoleeza Rice, Cheney, and others appear before Congress and talk about their mistakes?

KT – no one has said a peep about it.

I bet they were cl.

Hillary had her own server as most cabnet level people did back then. have their own server. BFD so did Powell and Rice and that fucked up crowd. It was stae of the art back then.

CL – But his head exploded. It was delightful.

I used to lay track for ConRail. Hardest job I ever had.

CL….I have seen the story about the “attack” – I suspect it is going to end up being something kicked up by the train its rapid acceleration……that’s the key to the accident I think. The train left the tracks.

glenn – the REAL propagators are indicted before the ICC as they should be. None of them can leave the US.

KT – wow that IS a hard job!

Twelve hour days cl, two weks on and two weeks off. It was brutal. But I was only 23 at the time, so I could handle it. It would kill me now.

Sab….Boehner is such a PUNK and the media let him get away with it……I cannot imagine why

Murph – I think it is more than that, but it MIGHT be kids throwing rocks. I was on a LI RR train that had that happen – the engineer was hurt badly from glass. I think it’s possible that this engineer was hurt, passed out, hand on the throttle.

KT – dear heart at our ages, what wouldn’t kill us off?

KT- I would imagine you were really strong. That’s gotta be hard, hard work.

CL–but we’ve also had a congressional committee, a bipartisan one at that, say that there was nothing to “pin on” the State Department and the White House. So, why is Congress ignoring that? And, so what if the ICC issued indictments? That wasn’t an American committee. We need Americans, damn it! /s/

That’s about right. I was indestructable, or so I believed. Maybe I was. LOL!

Amtrak, Benghazi security – they refuse to fund, then play victim when held to account.

CL….the GOP is so easily put on the defensive. why don’t the Dems pounce.

I like it when I get up in the morning and don’t have a pain in a new place!

It’s a shame that the Republicans refuse to fund infrastructure. I watched part of a documentary on China and they are kicking butt, big time.

Yeah sabreen I was in the best condition ever, even more so than when I was in the Marines.

I hear ya Harleigh!

glenn – NO nation EVER has brought charges against their own. It would generate all out civil war. this is the ONLY way to do it and do it without domestic uproar.

KT – I didn’t know you were a Marine. Thank you for your service!

CL–okay then, why are we having the Benghazi hearings?

CL–that was a rhetorical queston. Hit “enter” before I could type that!

No thanks need sabreen. I wasn’t brave. I had a choice between 5 years in prison or three in the USMC! I thought the USMC was a better choice.

LOL KT, had several friends back then made the same coice!

glenn – cuz. I have NO other answer!

KT–I love your “checkered” past. To have come out so strong and honest is a tribute to your character!

glenn – I never understood why some “progressives” wanted President Obama to bring Bush and company up on charges. The country was already split and the economy was in a free fall. I think it would have rocked this country to the core.

Oh yeah Harleigh in the last years of the vietnam war, they’d take anybody.

CL–There is no other answer; you’re correct!

Thatnks glenn, I appreciate it.

Sabreen – when Guatemala did it two years ago, the courts overturned the conviction, and it’s been hell to pay for the good guys ever since.

LOL. KT – I hear you. But you did serve.

KT – don’t minimize your service! You were there. It was hell. We appreciate what you did.

Sabreen–I really do understand why; just cannot understand why repubs are allowed to get away with Benghazi hearings. Just what are they supposed to accomplish? I’m still trying to figure out what in the hell they’re investigating. What is it that they’re trying to find out?

Benghazi investigations are a waste of time and money at this point. There were over a dozen of these incidents during the Bush reign of errors and very little was said or done about those occurrences. We still have never been told why Stevens was 400 miles away from his embassy with 3 mercenaries in a CIA non-consulate out building. We never will find out either. Libya will revert back to a Muslim theocracy anyway. So what? Grand Theft Issa added nothing but a few dumpster loads of wasted time and documents that uncovered and proved nothing after running his stupid dog and pony show for two years, during a dozen other inquiries and investigations that also found no wrongdoing. In a fit of necrophilia the baggers have now handed over the whip of faux hysteria to Howdy Gowdy so he can continue to bang this deader than shit horse for another two years for nothing.

Yes I did. Three years, Honorable. I was lucky though, I didn’t have to go Vietnam. And I have Richard Nixon (of all people) to thank for that. It was his Vietnamization policy that kept me in the states.

glenn – nothing at all. It’s as Harleigh is saying. It’s a ‘don’t look at the man behind the curtain’ kind of thing.

KT – that’s a relief!

Oh man CL, you bet. I was married then too, and had a baby daughter.

KT – I had a couple of friends who didn’t make it back from Vietnam.

Oh Sabreen – I’m so sorry!

I’m so sorry to hear that Sabreen. Far too many good people lost their lives, and for what exactly? I’m still not sure.

Harleigh- how in the hell do you come up with such clever (and incisive) verbal barbs! Applause….

KT – wasn’t being married with a baby an exemption? But then, you did have another ‘pressure’ on you I gather!

So here’s the question that should be asked. But me being me, I’m gonna anyway. Is President Obama sexist?

NOT be asked – damn Tequila.

I got married after I graduated fro Parris Island. HIgh school sweetheart.

Sabreen – Nope. He said “Elizabeth” again yesterday just as a jab. He knows her well – this is such a stupid diversion!

It was hard to not know someone in that stupid war. There was the darft and over 500,000 troops rotated there, millions served.

Harleigh–are you referring to “The Select Committee on Dead Horse Flogging” otherwise known as Gowdy and his Gang of Post-Mortem Equine Abusers”. Compliments of Jay Bookman of the Atlanta Journal Consttution.

That’s funny glenn!

Harleigh, KT- I have respect for those who served. I have respect for COs and those who fled. I have zero respect for those who supported the war but got themselves OUT and demanded others go. Chicken hawks abound in the GOP, and they purely suck.

thats the ONE Glenn

CL – I know. Sherrod should be ashamed of himself. Someone tweeted a fundraising email from him asking for donations for “Elizabeth”.

glenn –

Murph I don’t know except maybe my fingers are possessed.

Yes they do CL. If I wasn’t so head over heels in love, I would have gone to Canada.

Harleigh…it is quite a gift….to be that quick of wit….envious.

KT, CL – Yeah they were a couple of years older than me and went straight out of high school.

KT – my brother was bound for Canada if his CO status was rejected in appeal. My parents were prepared to move to give him support. I admired the men who did that. The draft ended before his CO appeals were done.

That’s so tragic sabreen. It really is. To this day, that makes me angry.

thanks Murph

KT – the senator who supported my brother’s CO status was REPUBLICAN Chuck Percy from IL. Those were the days of principled GOP members.

sounds like his folks were truly committed parents. That’s great, and very rare for those times.

KT-Choice-Sabreen…I was part of the anti-war movement twice….the democrats led us into a epic war and the GOP did the same….and the cost to the nation!

KT – they paid big time for it. Neighbors got wind, and it was ugly.

Isn’t it so sad cl to see how far the gop has sunk?

KT–I’m not sure they can go any lower; but every day they prove me wrong!

Murph – we all were I think. LBJ did less damage though than Nixon and his ‘secret bombing’ and now, we learn, his treasonous plan to prolong the war with N. Vietnam. Ghastly!

Yeah Murph, Nixon ran on ending the war, which he did, it only took him 5 years to do it! The prick!

KT – I was born in DC and then moved to Maryland as a yound adult. I worked in DC and remember exactly when the Vietnam memorial was built. I had to pass it on occasion. I always felt more sad than angry when I saw the wall.

Sabreen – yes. It’s heartbreaking.

I understand Sabreen. I just get angry. It doesn’t help anything, but I just can’t help it.

JFK and LBJ…choice….they got us into the sinkhole and Nixon wanted to end their war as a winner (not an excuse but a rationale)

Sabreen–I’ve never see the Wall in person, but I still get tears in my eyes when I see vets around it. So sad.

Just this past week Rand Paul was at the Vietnam Memorial for a photo op rant for ObAMA to tear down this wall!! LMAO

KT – I understand your anger. Believe me. I know anger.

Harleigh–no way! Rand wants to tear down the Vietnam Wall? Why?

KT and Sabreen – Molly Ivins wrote about a woman (I believe it was herself) finding the name of a finace, then, walking away, turning back every couple of steps to make sure she knew where the name WAS so in photos she could always pick it out. I think that was her story, that’s why she never married.

I think it was Eisenhower that started sending “advisors,” to Nam. I think it is wrong to blame Kennedy, because someone blew his brains out in Dallas before his first term was over.

Harleigh – are you SERIOUS????????

It’s a joke folks! lol

Wow cl. That’s rough.

KT – that’s sure MY recollection that it started with Ike.

Hey PPO–are you here?

Harleigh – isn’t it awful we can believe it of Rand?

as in reagun tellig gorby to tear down that wall

KT- Nixon was playing with the cards that JFK and LBJ dealt him. This is not excuse but it does help me understand.

Yes, glenn! Just looking at present – not much to contribute just now!

Harleigh–whew! Glad to hear it’s a joke, but it only shows you how low the gop has sunk that we would even THINK of believing it!

Hi PPO – do whatever you wish. We’re just glad you’re here.

Hey, cl. trying to catch up!

Murph – but he made a deal with N. Vietnam NOT to declare peace with LBJ. That’s proven in tapes. He commited treason to win the 1968 election over Humphrey.

PPO- there’s a rumor you are here….are you…oh! there you are.

PPO–ok. Didn’t mean to “out” you. You can carry on.

That’s true Murph. I think if Kennedy hadn’t been murdered, he would not have ordered such a massive escalation of US troops into Vietnam. He did say on several occasions, that in the end, it was the South Vietnamese’s war, not ours. We’ll never know.

CL I have a lot of questions about that deal but that is a long, long topic.

BRB

KT – in the book, “Best Evidence” about the assassination, the author posits that it was his downplaying – maybe even withdrawal – of Vietnam that led to RWers assassinating him. Murph does NOT agree (we had this discussion) so I don’t know.

CL – There’s an article that I re-read, which speaks to how low down dirty the Republicans can be.

I’m following the story of a cousin who lived after being struck by lightning! Happend a month ago and he has a long way to rehab.

KT…I am not agreat admirer of JFK….I think his death saved his legacy (I know that is harsh but I have studied the Cuban Missile Crisis very closely and see how badly he bungled it….I think for midterm clout)

Murph – it all bears some new investigation from Nixon’s perfidy to the assassination – it’s mired in a kind of massive corruption we cannot yet unpack.

PPO – OMG – how AWFUL! Will he be OK do you think? That seems almost unbelievable! I am so sorry that happened!

Murph – the more we learn, the more I would agree, though I think he was a pivotal figure moving maybe away from the cold war mentality. His death ended THAT.

CL….I’d like to know the truth of the Bush years……

Murph – I fear we all will be long gone before that truth emerges!

Murph – Don’t we have to wait 50 years?

I tend to agree CL. I never bought into the theory of a lone gunman. Gov. Connely said on more than one occasion that he distintly hear two shots between the time that JFK was first hit and about two seconds later, Connely was hit. That completely blows the single bullet theory out of the water. There is other eveidence as well.

Sabreen–just skimmed it, but that’s an interesting article.

Yes, cl, he was walking across the campus carpark when hit. He arrested and a student nearby did CPR till the medics arrived. He’s badly burned and big nerve damage, but he’s fighting hard and working away at it.

Murph while you are in fantasy land bring us back the truth but start in 1960

Murph, How did JFK bungle the CMC?

PPO – I hope for a full recovery. That’s shocking and awful, and we wish him well.

Murph, the world did not explode in nuclear holocaust, so how did JFK blow it?

PPO – I hope he has a full recovery.

Despite my 2-hour nap this afternoon, I’m fading quickly. So, it’s time for me to call it a night. Have a good weekend, folks.

Have you all noticed how quiet Cheney is right now….One by one the GOP presidential hopefuls have backed away anything close to support for HIS war.

thanks, cl. Here’s the latest: https://www.wtae.com/news/student-struck-by-lightning-rehabbing-injuries-at-pittsburgh-hospital/32622292

Good night glenn.

PPO holy crap! Hope for a full recovery.

Is that Pittsburgh as in Pennsylvania?

nite glenn

Good night, glenn. Have a wonderful weekend!

Good night glenn. Take care.

thanks, H. He’s looking good right now. Home at last but months of rehab to go.

Have a great weekend glenn!

CL, He’s at Dayton U, but lives in Pittsburgh, PA

Damn PPO! What the chances huh? I’m glad to know he wasn’t killed.

PPO – wow, and sorry I did not know. I was just there two weeks ago. I’d have stopped in to carry the PPOV care for him!

KT- the presence of first strike missles in Turkey (despite the U.S. denial that they existed); the Bay of Pigs and ongoing support for Cubans working to undermine the Castro regime, a failure to understand the nature of Kruschev’s role with the Central Committee, and a love for brinksmanship….

KT, It’s a real miracle! the student who did the CPR only learned it 3 days before while on a 3-hour wait at dallas/Fort Worth. He had nothing to do so learned it in a booth!

PPO…..dramatic and heart stopping…..best wishes and hope for all.

PPO – great for that student!!!

Wow PPO, we just never know what awaits us, do we?

Murph – I think that’s all accurate about JFK.

KT – I think people loved the “idea” of JFK. He was young, attractive and did stand for moving the country forward. In terms of civil rights, he had to be pushed and pushed hard, but at least he wasn’t a Goldwater.

CL….camelot was a fantasy: the story, the musical, the administration.

Sabreen and Murph – those were transitional years toward a better democracy. JFK’s death set us way back in many respects.

Murph – no doubt about that. But I wonder always where we would be if he’d lived.

Murph, the missiles in Turkey were basically obsolete, and the Bay of Pigs happened before the Cuban missiles crisis. Kennedy took full blame for the Bay of Pigs. Can you imagine a modern GOPer doing that? Taking responsibility? I see it like this, Kennedy kept his head and didn’t let the Joint Cheifs get us into a nuclear war with the USSR. Admittedly, Bobby actually saved the day, in the last moments of negotiations. I would never say that JFK mishandled that crisis.

CL. true, rapidly followed by RFK and MLK. What might have been……?

me too cl

PPO – I never look on the 60s as a good era. Never.

their not being assinated would have cancelled Nixon southern straergy!

KT – I agree. The generals wanted all out war.

Harleigh – good point.

CL, maybe not the politics, but the music? Ahhhh!

JFK’s assassination was unbelievably tragic, but then to see Bobby getting blown away, when so much hope had been fostered since his brother’s death….holy shit. Shakespeare couldn’t have written anything more tragic.

OK – the music yes!

Amybody any comments on the Boston Bomber death sentence?

cl I HEARD that sex and pot was back then in proliferation!!

KT…the missiles being obselete did not matter to those pressuring Kruschev. The missles (without war heads) were a good faith gesture from the Soviets in response to their promise to protect Cuba (and by extension all emerging communist states) from American imperialism. Yes, JFK did put checks on the Generals….all to the good but he did not know how play the game.

CL – I guess this is where we disagree. I loved the 60’s. I loved the idea that black people were seeking power and believing we were beautiful. I loved that we were willing to fight for and die for freedom. And I LOVED the music

H. That’s what I heard, too. Did not indulge. Lefty but too reserved to participate! And I was at ANTIOCH!

Glad you asked PPO. I pretty much layed out my opinion/hopes in my recent post. I was hoping the little shyte would spend the rest of his miserable existence in a ten by twelve concrete room, for 23 hours a day.

I’m with you, KT. but that’s how it has gone. Now for endless expensive appeals. Dammit!

KT…Bobby was the winner….he pulled the bacon out of the fire with Cuba, and he had so much promise …..

BRB

I kinda remembered some of it from 1960 – 1990 but it was awful drunk and stoned out! LOL

Sabreen – the Civil Rights Movement was the one really profound good that came out of that era. I do not disagree. But the violence, deaths, and anguish corrode the entire era even as the victories were obtained. I think we’re back in that degree of awfulness now.

KT, and PPO….I am with you on this….I just do not believe in state mandated murder.

CL – I was naive to believe that we would not have to re-fight the battles of the ’60s. Not just civil rights but womens rights. It is true that progressive white women didn’t include black women in the struggle, but we were there anyway.

Sabreen – during the 60s I, white suburban kid, was working within all-Black communities. it was the best part of my life. I learned so much from such wonderful people! But because of that I got to see, first hand, the racist hate that got directed AT me for being with the kids I worked with. I needed that, but it left a dark scar on my soul because it was something I could walk away from – the kids could not. So today I see people talk about ‘post racial America’ and think – My ASS!

We’ll just have to disagree Murph. I think it is wrong to measure Kennedy’s performance against those who served full terms.

CL – Do you ever hear black folks talking about post racial America?

Sabreen – I know that women of color were part of the mix. I was shocked when, returning to ‘white’ America they were nowhere to be seen, no way considered. I am with ABL and you on the issue.

Sabreen – LOL! NEVER!

Cl remember in Nam there were over 40,000 soldiers returned publicly and hundreds of thousands were there at any given time. Iraq and Afgan only had a few hundred thousand total that served tour after tour and those that got killed were snuck back to Dover in the middle of the night.

Harleigh – remember in the 60s Walter Cronkite et al. showed night after night of footage of the carnage in Vietnam? Bush freaking sanitized his little war.

Dan Rather on the front lines in firefights….

KT…I recognize that mine is a minority opinion. Let me finish with this….it was Kruschev that gave the out from the whole mess with his first letter, with the back channel instructions to his ambassador, and with the order to stop the freighters at the blockade line.

Damn, I hate this format! It doesn’t let me write more than one block sentence.

Harleigh – I remember the horrors of Vietnam on the news each night. It was bloodly and raw. Then the powers-that-be decided that it was not a good idea to show the American people all that blood. Suddenly from that point on, no more real blood and guts from the wars.

KT – I know, when you try to space, you send. Sorry!

KT….you just have to keep on typing with faith in your accuracy when you go past the firt visible line.

Sabreen – no sacrifice from anyone was ever shown. No homefront sacrifice was ever made. Tidy little wars we have now.

It was a delicate diplomatic dance between the Kennedy’s and Krushev, not to mention Adale Stevenson. Yes, ignoring the second letter was a stroke of genius.

Mercenaries… WTF??

KT…truth…

Murph – I also dislike that there is no spell check or even a color change in words to let you know they are not spelled correctly.

Murph, that’s what I don’t like. My memory requires me to edit every other second. I guess I can’t blame the format for my senior moments.

Harleigh – mercenaries are the Libertarian wet dream. No accountability to citizens, full court press to do whatever their handlers demand. It was a great shock to them when the Blackwater guys got tried and convicted.

well I’m off to bed folks. see ya next week, same bat time…

CL – President Obama met the caskets of the fallen troops at Dover.

Sab and KT both of your concerns are valid but overall I am finding this format easier to follow.

All – we don’t check spelling We don’t grade, not even on the curve.

Night Harleigh. And with that, I too will say farewell for the evening.

Good night, Harleigh!

Sabreen – that is one of the reasons I love this president. He did the right thing. And more than once.

Night KT – keep NOT smoking. We’re rooting for you!

Night to Harleigh and to KT

Thanks cl. It’s difficult at times, but I must stand firm. Have a great weekend.

Night Harleigh and KT. Take care and KT – one hour – one day at a time.

Well gang…..heading to bed…..the morning comes fast on the farm…..no roosters just an alarm clock…..I am digging water diversion troughs right now and two got washed out in surprise storms today. So I am pooped.

Well folks, I guess I’ll call it a night, too. Take care everyone.

Oh wow, Murph – you do need your rest! Best wishes for a good weekend and succssful trough digging!

Good night, Sabreen – love and hugs to you!

Choice…..speak with you later……

I will write on my email to you. But don’t stay up to reply if you’re tired – there’s always tomorrow.

Hey PPO – you still there?

PPO – with everyone else gone, I think I’m closing out. Let’s reconvene next week? Obviously we’re all getting older and fading earlier! LOL! hope you have an excellent weekend. Stay safe and tell your cousin he has a load of supporters rooting for his fast recovery!

CL, back again. this time difference really screws things up for me. Sorry

Oh hi – just about to close out unless you have something?

Sorry, not today. Take care and have a good night.

Good night – hope to see you next week! Be well!

Sure will. and thanks about the cousin. he’s got prayers world wide heading in his direction. Goodnight