Tag Archives: Sarah Sanders

My Senses are Degrading….Just Like Our Society!

Gosh Darn It!  There are times when getting older really does suck.  And as I get older, my senses are degrading in acuity.  You remember those five senses from grammar school…sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch.  It appears to me that as my senses are degrading, so are the senses of our society.  (My mind is faltering, too.  But, dammit, I did not have to use Google to remember the five senses!)  Let me provide examples of how I think society’s senses are faltering, much as mine.

Hearing

Have you ever watched an episode of ‘The View?’  That is a daytime show with four very left- leaning women, trying to convince other women to be left-leaning.  Well…admittedly, I have never watched more than 5 minutes of that show, mostly because I am not left-leaning or a woman.  Surprise.  The four primary women on this show are Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Abby Huntsman, and Sunny Hostin.  This past week, they were mocking the message that Melania Trump produced about defending her husband from a New York op-ed piece.  Sunny Hostin began reading this message in an improvised, not funny-at-all, Melania accent.  Admittedly, one of the other women had the good graces and common sense to tell her to stop.

I am sure than anyone that hears Melania speak, can also hear her accent.  (Did you catch that segue?)  I wonder if they would have mocked her accent if they would have heard her speak the other five languages that she speaks?  Yes, Melania speaks six languages: Slovenian, French, Serbian, German and Italian, and of course, English.  I am willing to bet that she speaks more languages than the other four ladies on The View combined.

Touch

Have there ever been instances in your life that you ‘would not touch with a 10 foot flagpole?’  I know I have, but whenever I have gotten close to a real ’10 foot flag pole’, I was either saluting it or reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  During all twelve years of my el-hi education, the day was begun with the Pledge of Allegiance.  If Colin Kaepernick gets close to a ’10 foot flagpole….he takes a knee.

Amazingly, just to show how disrespectful this act is, the Nike corporation has decided to use Colin as the face of their newest ad campaign.  Their reasoning?  They believe that Kaepernick showed ‘bravery and sacrifice’ by taking the knee.  Now I realize that my mind isn’t as sharp as it once was, but I am having one hell of a time equating disrespect for our flag, our national anthem and our country as being ‘brave and sacrificing!’  

I will give Nike the benefit of the doubt about market research in making this decision.  They realized that their target group is younger people, and that virtually anyone over the age of 55 is off their radar.  But you screwed up in your assumptions.  Us ‘over 55’ crowd are parents and grandparents, which means that those grandkids get presents for birthdays and Christmas.  Do you think us older folks, us that recited the Pledge of Allegiance every day,  are going to rush to buy Nike gear for their grandkids?  Not likely.  You may be spot on by targeting the generation that has never had to live through a costly war.  Their perception of ‘sacrifice and bravery’ would be diluted from us who lost friends and relatives in Viet Nam or Korea or World War II or from 9/11.

Nike, you missed the boat.  If you wanted to push the envelope of society, and touch the hearts of a patriotic America, you could have been a trendsetter by choosing someone else.  How about a fire figher who rushed into the World Trade Center, knowing they may die while trying to rescue others?  How about a paraplegic, athletic soldier or Marine that has lost both legs while defending this country rather than denigrating it.  Those military people who have lost their limbs would only take two knees to pray, but never one knee to disrespect this country.   Need a famous athlete, as you have selected in the past?  How about J.J. Watt?  He raised over $47 million for Hurricane Harvey relief.  But I would guess that J.J. Watts, excellent role model like he is, is not ‘edgy’ enough for your campaign.  Peyton Manning would be left out because he has only built a children’s hospital with his own money.

But there is an upside to this whole affair.  In today’s Trump improving economy, even Colin Kaepernick got a job!

Smell

This past week, the New York Times came out with a scathing op-ed piece about the White House and Donald Trump.  The entire article was based upon a ‘high level anonymous source.’  Within the last two weeks, Bob Woodward has published a new book, also very negative about the White House and Donald Trump.  His book is largely based on ‘anonymous sources and hearsay.’  In his book, he has said that, “his anonymous source overheard” a conversation in the White House.

Does anyone ‘smell a rat’ when it comes to ‘anonymous sources and hearsay?’  I don’t know about you, but I am beginning to equate the word ‘anonymous’ with the word, ‘fictitious’  and the word  ‘hearsay‘ with the word, ‘rumor.’  The reason why I ‘smell a rat’  concerning this type of reporting and journalism is that I am wildly skeptical because of the timing.  It has become common in the last few decades, to release negative garbage just prior to an upcoming election, by both parties.  (Okay.  I am biased.  I feel like the liberal media has the edge in the garbage department.)  This year’s midterm election is going to be huge on how the outcome affects the direction of America and the smelly  journalistic garbage campaign is already beginning.  You can certainly be assured that there will be more to follow.

My opinion about ‘anonymous sources’ is that if they feel so strongly about what information they are providing, then they should be courageous enough to identify themselves.  If they are not willing to identify themselves, then they should not disclose their information.  That is the way it would be in the Grandpa T fantasy world.

Sight

One of my fondest memories of growing up was being in, and watching parades.  I would love to see the floats, the bands with their beautiful majorettes, the beauty queens, the classic cars and catching the handfuls of candy that accompanied every parade.

But I have one regret.  I have only seen one circus.  I was probably 5 or 6, and somehow our family got tickets to see the Ringling Brothers circus.  For a young kid, it was magical!

There are advantages to getting old.  For one advantage, I get to watch a whole lot of television.  For one disadvantage, I get to watch a whole lot of television.  With that in mind, I would like to share with you that while watching television this past week, I got to see another circus.  That makes two circuses in my lifetime!   This particular circus was hosted by the Senate Judiciary Committee during its confirmation hearings involving Judge Brett Kavanaugh.  It was obvious from the questioning and from the proceedings that there were more clowns in this circus than Ringling Brothers could ever afford.  Total lack of respect.  Total lack of decorum.  Total dedication to disrupting the proceedings.

I can see that this is what we receive when we load a room with over-inflated egos, posturing to become a presidential candidate.  Eventually, we did get a smattering of what the Supreme Court Justice nominee had to say, but it was secondary to the circus being in town.  After watching this event, I began wishing for two things:  1.  Take the cameras out of the room, because most of these clowns never met a TV camera they didn’t like, and, 2.  Is it too late to change our government to a benevolent dictator so we would not have to watch how crappy our government really operates?  (How did those 70 demonstrators get into that meeting room?  Did they need a pass from one of the senatorial participants?  Just wondering out loud.)

Taste

In late June,  Sarah Sanders and her family were asked to leave before getting a taste of the cuisine at at the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia.  Bummer.  She was asked to leave by the owner, stating that she was asked to leave because she works for Donald Trump.  The owner then took this personal display of stupidity and disrespect by following Sarah and her family to the next restaurant.

But just like the TV commercials, ‘but wait…there’s more!’  Maxine Waters, U.S. Representative from the California 43rd congressional district took this one step further by stating that, “Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up.  And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd.  And you push back on them.  And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”  Wow!  Aren’t our elected officials suppose to do what is best for America?  Aren’t they suppose to set an example for Americans?  Heal racial wounds?  Promote a united America?  Well, in this instance, Maxine went out of her way to demonstrate her intolerance and stupidity.

One can only hope that sometime in the near future, Maxine Waters gets a taste of her own medicine and gets thrown out of some facility.  Hopefully that would be the House of Representatives.  Just thinking out loud about the Grandpa T fantasy world.

I still have enough intellectual wits about me to know that my senses are slightly duller as I get older.  My big concern is, ‘Does our society have enough intellectual wits to realize that its senses are dulling, also?’  (And, probably faster than mine!)   America needs to become more cognizant of its ‘senses.’  And in that vein, let’s continue to “Make America Great Again!”

I Love Sarah Huckabee Sanders!

I am in love with Sarah Huckabee Sanders!  But first….a little history pre-Sarah….

My first love-from-afar love interest was Juliet Prowse.  In 1960, Juliet starred in two movies, Can-Can and GI Blues.  I particularly admired her in GI Blues because she played opposite one of my favorite people, Elvis Presley.  Juliet had a fantastic smile, a cheery personality, red hair, and at 5’11”, she had beautiful legs up to her neck.  What more could a farm boy of 12 want from a girl?  Tragically, Juliet died at the age of 59 from cancer.  She jumped started my puberty by at least 3 years!

In 1963, at the age of 15, my taste in women changed.  I discovered that I really was attracted more to brunettes than to blonds.   My theory at the time was that most of the brunettes had natural color brunette hair, whereas, during the 60’s, most of the blonds had natural brunette hair, too.  So, into my young tender life comes who I consider to be the most attractive actress to ever live…..Elizabeth Taylor.  I mention the year 1963 because it was the year that great movie, Cleopatra, was released.  To this day, with all of the actresses that have had cosmetic surgery, I still consider Elizabeth Taylor to be the most beautiful actress of my lifetime.  If you have seen the movie, Cleopatra, and her entrance into the city of Rome, well it was truly spectacular and I have never seen a woman look more stunning.  The term used by men would be ‘drop dead gorgeous.’  And if you did not think so after seeing her, you did not have a pulse.

In the 1970’s, we had Charlie’s Angels.  Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson were the ‘Angels.’  While all of my male friends were going ‘ga-ga’ over Farrah Fawcett and bought her swimsuit poster, I remained true to my brunette belief and actually liked Kate Jackson the best.

Then something truly amazing happened.  I grew up.  While in my earlier life, like most young men, I considered appearance as the only component of beauty.  Then I began to mature and realized that there were other components to beauty.  One such component is personality.  I discovered that it was not enough to have just an attractive woman on your arm, but you had to enjoy being with that woman as well.  Then I discovered another component to beauty, intelligence.  The conversation cannot continue about puppy dogs and unicorns, eventually there needs to be a conversation with a little depth to it. Those are the characteristics that make a woman appealing to me.  (Is this the definition of maturity?)

Enter Sarah Huckabee Sanders.  (Also, Grandma P over 30 years ago.)  I have to mention Grandma P or I’ll be eating cereal alone at dinner for the next 30 years!  Beautiful, intelligent and personable. Check.  (A fourth criteria is that I decided I could live with Grandma P.)  On to Sarah!  Sarah is 35 years old, married in 2010, and the mother of 3 children all under the age of 8.  Whew!  All of this while being appointed White House press secretary last July 17 upon the resignation of Sean Spicer.

I find Sarah very appealing because she has all of the components that I have outlined as being beautiful.  Personality?  Check.  Appearance?  Check.  Intelligence?   Well………..here are the headlines that I pulled off the internet today, Sunday, that she no doubt will have to address in the White House press briefing tomorrow and the coming week:

  1.  Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham warn Trump will be impeached after signing spending bill.
  2. Ivanka takes President Trump to task over his treatment of Jared Kushner.
  3. There are the worst things Donald Trump’s “friends” have said about him
  4. Donald Trump routinely humiliates whoever he pleases.
  5. Melania joins Trump amid cheating scandals as family leaves D.C. ahead of March For Our Lives.
  6. Americans will pay the price for Trump’s toughened approach with China
  7. Trump’s new National Security Adviser has ties to Cambridge Analytica.

These are headlines from today’s news!  Do you see a pattern?  Does anything positive about Trump or his presidency or positive about America make it to the news anymore?

And, dear readers, who will be standing on the podium before a room full of media types to bring levity to a litany of negative headlines?  Why, that would be Sarah Huckabee Sanders.  (Did you notice I did not call the media types; reporters?  If I called them reporters, that would imply that they researched a subject and then ‘reported’ it in an unbiased manner.  That doesn’t happen anymore.)  I challenge you to watch the White House press briefings this week so that you can see first hand that Sarah is the sharpest knife in that drawer of people in the White House press room.  I admire her for being able to raise 3 children under the age of 8, and then handle a room full of media types who ask questions as if they were 8.  And like an 8 year old, they will ask the same question repeatedly, expecting a different answer if they ask it four times.  Watch how Sarah will handle them like the ringmaster of a three ring circus!

Even though the media has attacked her physical appearance, I find Sarah extremely attractive.  After all, any juggler can juggle 3 tennis balls, but Sarah can juggle at least 5 running chainsaws at a time.  And….working for Donald Trump cannot be easy, especially since he is a media target.

Admittedly, I don’t really love Sarah Huckabee Sanders in the biblical sense of the word.  After all, I just celebrated the 30th anniversary of my 40th birthday, making me 8 years older than her dad, Mike Huckabee.  That would be creepy.  But I do greatly admire her for who she is, what she has done, and her capabilities. Because of this, I find her extremely beautiful.   So, Sarah, if you read this blog, I would be happy to be the president of your fan club, and Grandma P and I live close to your dad so we would be happy to babysit your kids one night.  You Go Girl!!!!

My One Hundredth Blog!

Yup, this is blog numero 100!

I wrote this blog for three reasons:

  1.  I needed something to do after retirement.  It became evident that I only had so many lawn ornaments to paint, one lawn to cut, and too few bushes to trim to keep me busy.  And, I did not really like writing high school and college term papers so I decided to ‘step out of the box.’
  2. I wanted to write something that my grandkids may eventually read so they can see how their grandpa and grandma were raised and how America was much different during our formative years.  They would be appalled to learn that I can remember when both of my sets of grandparents did not have indoor plumbing.  We left our houses and cars unlocked.  I have tried to include some of those items in my blogs to create historical interest.  So far, no grandkid readers.
  3. It is no secret that I am a conservative.  I was irritated and disappointed that Barrack Obama got reelected, pretty much because he was black and not because he was qualified.  I understand why he beat John McCain in 2008.  McCain ran on a platform of being a political maverick.  He did not connect with the younger voters at all.  And…lets be honest, many people wanted to say they voted for the first black president. (Read blog #1, November 2012.)  But Mitt Romney was a different and much better candidate.  Successful businessman, successful governor, he had all the qualifications of being a great president.  But the campaign became racist, the biased liberal media did not pass up an opportunity to smear him, even though we had high unemployment, stagnant growth, an escalating national debt, a declining military, radical Islamic terrorism….all of the important issues that should have been of concern to Americans were overlooked for the sake of reelecting a marginal-at-best black president.  Now we have learned that the Obama campaign hired Fusion GPS to deliberately smear Mitt Romney.. History will bear this out.  So, as I am typing this,  I am contemplating whether there will be a blog 101.  My original goal of 100 blogs has now been met.  My thanks to Houston Nefoo, Grandma P and the Bayou Mauler for assisting me with my hobby.