Long Time Passing

Back in the day, I was a dilettante musician who had training in C-tenor trumpet and picked up cornet and flugelhorn as friends of mine were (much more skilled) jazz performers. I helped carry instruments and amplifiers and helped set up stages for their shows and even occasionally was permitted the honor of being before the audience with them, not for a whole set, but for a couple of well-rehearsed songs, or a very brief freestyle session. Anyway, I could stack and connect speakers and drove a Jeep Wagoneer large enough to haul most of a band. One night in the mid-eighties, I was going out to party with a friend of a friend who also dabbled in music, though Gary and I never jammed together, and I think I saw him perform exactly once, but Nashville was and is a big music town, and a lot of folks put an oar in the water, though few have their ships come in from strumming or singing, So, Gary and I ended up at a place called Cantrell's near the Vanderbilt campus before they opened for the evening, and we were milling around an area where at one time a restaurant that had previously been where the club now was had car hops bringing out orders. I noticed someone had abandoned a three quarters empty VO bottle at one of the delivery stands. I would not have touched the filthy thing much less drank from it, but Gary and I were just biding time before the doors opened when a big 70's van with Georgia plates pulled up to the last car hop station. The boys from the Georgia band were around our age and asked if we were with Cantrell's and in finding out we weren't, wanted to know if we knew anything about setting up a stage. We told them "sure" as we were both also musicians (after a fashion at least). They offered us ten bucks each and all the beer we could drink to help them set up, so we became their one night roadies. In carrying equipment in, one of the Georgians saw the abandoned liquor bottle near me and asked if it was mine. I told him no, and that it probably had been left by "some syphilis sufferer" to wit, the young fellow replied "nah"', opened it and finished the bottle. His band mates who were all also watching were laughing it up, and one said "yeah, Michael will drink anything". So we hung with them that night, had several beers, and got ten bucks each. That group we set up one Nashville night was REM. 

A Relative Improvement

My hometown Tennessee Titans earned the top draft pick a couple of season's back by posting the worst record in professional football. At the conclusion of last season, the boys in Columbia Blue did not reach the nadir of absolute worst record but still managed to earn an early pick by being just awful on the field. This season, they may tally five or even six wins in the seventeen regular season games. Wow- what an improvement- at this rate Nashvillians in the year 2500 may finally witness Titans earning Super Bowl rings, but I wouldn't hold my breath. 

The Aggressor State

Russia has earned the Graham sanctions. The Ukraine did NOT attack Moscow. Putin started an unprovoked war against a peaceful neighbor. The aggressors thought they had easy pickings and would win a quick victory, but they didn't factor in the fighting skills and spirit of the Ukraine. It is a fitting tribute to the late South Carolina Senator to pass a law with the real teeth to punish the worst troublemaker in Europe since Hitler. 

Politician of Conscience

I believe John Fetterman has a heart for humanity and is trying to do good for his constituents and our nation. He recognizes that when a candidate praises Mao, he is endorsing the murder of tens of millions. The Pennsylvania Senator understands that when he hears a member of his own party say "the US deserved 9/11"that is not some abstract statement but support for the worst terrorist outrage ever visited on America. Fetterman stands tall literally but also as the one upright moral beacon of a political party that has descended into Hades of hating their own nation. 

The New Masters

The Democratic Socialists were once a fringe within that larger party. They then grew to a faction of the Party, but now have burgeoned so much as to subsume the Party itself. They now set the agenda, and more mainstream figures like Chuck Schumer dance to their tune as the longtime Senator knows AOC can defeat him from the Left if he seeks to leap off their anti-American, Israel-hating train as it surges to the end of the line. Either the few normal Democrats like John Fetterman become resurgent and save the Party, or it will be a tragic defeat for the Party, or worse, a victory for the hard Left that ends up destroying America as it was founded. 

An Editorialist Only

I am NOT a journalist. I do ask "who, what, where, when, and why". I am rarely on the ground when events occur, unless by absolute happenstance, I am where a news event takes place. I do my best to convey the truth, and report accurately, but I admit from the start, that I am biased. I am proudly a hard Right conservative. I am also Jewish and support the existence and safety of Israel. If you want news, go to a network, but if you seek an informed opinion with Republican and Zionist leanings, you may find https://despotinwaiting.blogspot.com meets your interests. 

No News Organization

Citizen journalists do not have stringers, fact-checkers, or lawyers to assess stories before they are published. What they do have is the ability to be there on the ground when events happen. Sometimes early information and preliminary reports turn out to be way off base. It is important to spread the word fast, but more so to be accurate in what you are telling the public.