Sunday Morning Post (V.3, #13) – In Memory of Jessica Walter

There was a time not too long ago when we would make fun and belittle those who dared to display a superior attitude towards the mass humanity at large. Now it seems we can’t beat those little effers away with a stick if the January 6th insurrection is any indication.  Prior to this year we could laugh at their crass acts of bigotry and prejudice in the media*.  We didn’t see them as a big threat then; now we know better. That is indeed how smug many of us have been.

One of those who helped us belittle the haters was the late Jessica Walter.  Her career stretched back to the early 60s, but I didn’t really enjoy her work until she voiced the role of Malory on the animated television series Archer.  Malory was the spymaster who loved/hated her over-sexed, super-alcoholic, egotistical secret agent son Sterling Archer.  Her pronouncements of him and those other elements of society which are looked down upon would make an earlier television icon Archie Bunker blush.

We lost this wonderful actress this week, but we will always remember her as Malory Archer and there was that one memorable episode from The Big Bang Theory.  Please enjoy the excerpts of her performances below:

*In real life bigotry has never been a laughing matter, and we’ve been the bigger fools when we didn’t realize that.

(Thank you for reading.  Rest in peace, Miss Walter.)

Sunday Morning Post (V.3, #12) - Getting Back To Where We Should Be

We are two months into the new administration and we can already see what a difference an election can make. For one thing it has been very quiet in the media. We are not hearing statements about conspiracies and or paranoia made in the middle of the night or very early in the morning by a very paranoid individual who never met a conspiracy he didn’t like.

Yes, I’m talking of course about Thing #45.  I rarely mentioned his name in this blog during his tortuous term in office.  The cheapskate couldn’t pay me enough to print his name here.  I see no reason to show respect for his horrifying legacy by publishing his name now.

So, yes, we have quiet.  No peace, but plenty of quiet.

Up until a few years ago, our country prided itself as always standing up for democracy and abhorring the concept of dictatorships.  In the last few years, well, what can I say?  We all but showed a national disdain for majority rule and did all put sleep with the most notorious dictatorships since Hitler.   Okay, so we back-slided and coasted willy-nilly dangerously close to fascism.

I’m sure those nations who allied with us for decades are still a little wary of greeting us with open arms so soon.  Who can blame them?  We need to prove ourselves worthy of their company as leaders in the fight against tyranny.  We need to show that we are headed in the right direction.

President Biden has had a busy few months, undoing most of the last guy’s numerous executive orders, articulating a largely progressive vision for the country, and playing zero rounds of golf.  Seriously, no rounds at all.  How will this nation survive as a great sovereignty if we don’t have a leader who ignores our problems to chase a small, dimpled sphere around sublimely manicured acreage?

Of course, there are some in this country who still pine for the direction the nation was going under A’hole #45. So, we’re back to square one in the eternal struggle of both sides convincing the other that they have the better ideas to improve everyone’s lives.  Good luck, one and all!

Then there are still others who will never be convinced that the American way is the right way.  Yes, I’m looking at you, Vladimir!  Sorry you got your fee-fees hurt when our (current) President had the gall to agree with the assessment that you are a killer.  Face it, Vladimir, the United States needs a boogeyman.  We need to have a villain in our lives.  Hitler is dead and you are just perfect to fill this position. 

We’re approaching the state of the world late 2016 when we had progressed somewhat culturally over the previous eight years and our relations with Russia’s Putin was frosty.  It’s not ideal, but it feels good just the same.

(Thank you for reading.  Ah, there’s nothing like nostalgia for better and fair times!)

Sunday Morning Post (V.3, #11) - A Good Class of People

A very exclusive group of gentlemen has recently made a public service announcement talking up the virtues of getting vaccinated.  It’s the Ex-President’s Club, comprised of four gentlemen.  Well, officially four gentlemen and one schmuck.  We’ll get to the last guy a little further on.

The television spot is just the latest public service these men have done in careers that have lasted many years.  The club is small and very exclusive, because its membership is derived from the small group of surviving Commander-in-Chiefs for the United States.  Only these men have experienced the pressures that are unique to being the POTUS. Each knows what the job entails and each aged while they were serving their term.  With that knowledge comes a certain amount of respect for the other members. The environment of mutual admiration encourages each of them to continue serving the country they obviously love very much.

JAMES EARL CARTER

The oldest of the group at 95.  The first Democrat elected President after the Nixon Republicans all but destroyed the everyday American citizen’s confidence in its own government.  Unfortunately, Mr. Carter only got one term in office, having to make way for the Great Communicator, and unable to shake his image as a country bumpkin unfamiliar with the evils found inside the Beltway.  No matter.  Carter has continued to serve America with his Habitat for Humanity projects and various projects around the world promoting the concept of democracy.

WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON

Another former governor from a southern state who was able to oversee a great period of prosperity during his two terms.  His desire to reform healthcare never got a chance to become law, but the idea took hold, left for a later progressive to get the major initiative passed.  Clinton had his flaws; a flair for over confidence, or perhaps downright arrogance got him impeached for lying about an affair.  He survived the impeachment and continues to administer projects through the Clinton Foundation.

GEORGE WALKER BUSH

Long time readers of my blog may remember that I did not care for Bush, President #43, while he served.  I would regularly poke my satirical spear at him and the ipso facto real leader of the United States at that time, Darth Cheney.

Ah, fun times, fun times.

In recent years, my animosity towards Bush has cooled and I dare say my respect for him is growing.  He and his father denounced the racial strife that surfaced at the Charlottesville riots early in Thing #45's presidency.  Also, he and the other former presidents previously worked together to aid victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.  

Okay, so he came off as some sort of naïve fellow from the backwoods, but damn it all, he has shown he truly cares for humanity, regardless of party affiliation.

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA

I became a fan of Barack Obama when he spoke at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia very early in his 2008 campaign.  In that speech, he admitted that he could see why some people would see the Affirmative Action law as discriminatory.  I was impressed that he could see both sides of an argument at once and, in my logic, this would enable Obama to work with both sides for solutions in the middle.  He accomplished a lot in eight years and would have accomplished more if it weren’t for the McConnell Obstructionists in the Senate and old-fashioned Yankee racism.

THING #45

I realize that the current members of the Former Presidents of the United States Club will continue to act with class and dignity towards #45, but that’s all part of the graciousness that makes up their nature.  They may allow him in, smile and wave, and be civil to him.  I hope they would close the clubhouse door on this schoolyard bully.   And whatever they do, they should not tell him the password.  God only knows to whom he would give that information...

So, here’s the PSA.

(Thank you for reading.  For those playing along at home, the password is “swordfish”.)

Sunday Morning Post (V.3, #10) – Warrior Queen Gets Her Shot

Now that I have your attention, I should clarify this week’s title. 

Warrior Queen (WQ) was not grievously wounded in a gun battle with QAnon supporters in a dark alley.  The word “shot” in this context is also not a reference to her getting a big show business break.  Let’s put this way:  we will not be witnessing WQ’s Broadway debut in a revival of Gypsy anytime soon.

No, the shot referenced here is the vaccination that was once thought to be mythological, but is actually in existence and plentiful.  WQ got her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Friday.  The event itself was inauspicious in retrospect, but the process to get there?  Oh boy!

We registered with our county health department in January.  At that time, we got an automatic response acknowledging receipt of our information.  It also warned that we could be waiting anywhere from 9-12 weeks for an invitation to schedule an appointment for the vaccine.  The county would send us updates at intervals, but more often than not, the follow up e-mails were nothing more than notices that we still have you on our list, we are vaccinating certain groups of the population as allowed by current state guidelines, and even then, we are only vaccinating as the limited supply allows.  Which was all well in good, but over it all hung the specter of “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

Both of us got our invitation this past week.  Huzzah!

The invitations included a onetime entry number which we would need to enter on the website which would then take us to the part of the web site where we could actually choose a time and place for the shot. 

Our choice of sites is the local high school a few miles west of us, or a building on the campus of the local community college, a few miles north of us.  WQ applied for hers first and chose the high school site.  The confirmation of her appointment came back with no complications.

More huzzah!

Then we entered my number and, as luck would have it, the system crashed.

No huzzah!

Typical government snafu I thought, but hey at least the pace of inoculation has now been expedited, unlike last year.  We went back in to the site to see if my number would still be accepted.  Alas, it was not to be.  One time use means one time use, regardless if you got through or got kicked off.

Fortunately, the county did enact a protocol accounting for system failure.  We were instructed to go to the website and apply for another entry number.  There my name was placed on a call back list for the next schedule of appointments.

Ah, always waiting, always testing my patience.

In any event, WQ has her first shot behind her.  The second dose will be scheduled for 28 days hence. 

Meanwhile, I wait…

(Thank you for reading.  Stay safe and well, everyone).