WASH OUT HER MOUTH WITH SOAP —  Marjorie Taylor Greene will never be mentioned in my post again, nor will Scott Perry, Brian Fitzpatrick, Paul Gosar, Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Madison Cawthorn, Kevin McCarthy, Lindsey Graham and I’ll try really hard not to mention the FPOTUS, I promise. This site will be safe to visit without giving them publicity.

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A paragraph in dianeravitch’s post:  Republican candidates up and down the November ballot reject the legitimate outcome of the last election — and are making it easier to reject the will of the voters in the next. Violent anti-government rhetoric from party leaders targets the FBI, the Justice Department and the IRS. A systemic campaign of disinformation makes their supporters feel victimized by shadowy “elites.”

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QUOTE from The Mind Tree, by Tito, severely auistic and nearly nonverbal youth–

“Many things can happen in a minute. This or that;  some of this and some of that; all of this and none of that; or all of that and none of this.  It depends on which you consider inportant,  this or that.”  [I know what you mean…]

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I USED TO PLAY TENNIS, at least I was Number One on the Miami Jackson High School tennis team long, long ago, and this week a metaphor related to tennis occurred to me: the angle of the face of the tennis racket is crucial for both sides to  hear and be heard in a dialogue, if it is to be successful.    If the reciever’s racket is tilted down the ball simply impacts negatively.  If its face is tilted up the player loses some power to correctly place the shot.  Holding the face of the racket steady and straight enables a return that’s both direct and well-received, if the opponent’s racket is likewise flat.  I know this sounds crazy but during a verbal exchange recently it became clear to me that how a statement is heard depends almost entirely on how the reciever is holding his racket–up, down or straight on.

The utilization of this metaphor in today’s culture speaks to dialogues between individuals with different backgrounds, parties or beliefs.  Maybe I should just settle for  the word “attitude.”  I can live with that–it’s just that the metaphor flashed to mind when there was a mismatch between giving and receiving.  I had a lot of assertiveness training during college (how to hit the ball straight on), but still struggle to hold my ground rationally and return the ball straight on.  Your Perfect Right by Michael Emmons and Robert E. Alberti was, and is in my opinion the font of wisdom on the topic of non-assertiveness, assertiveness and aggressiveness.  Although the book was first pblished in the 1970’s, it  ranked 5th among all self-help books in a national survey of psychologists reported in American Journal of Psychotherapy, Psychology Today, and The New York Times.

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