Censuring Republicans who voted to impeach or convict – a sample letter to the editor

Published February 15, 2021 by Nan Mykel

Great suggestion.

I sent the following letter to my local newspaper after seeing that the North Carolina state Republican Party may censure Senator Richard Burr for voting to convict the seditious former president. This follows on similar votes executed or planned in other states to censure the likes of Representative Liz Cheney, Senator Ben Sasse, Senator Pat Toomey and Senator Bill Cassidy and maybe the others. Please feel free to adapt and use. I hope they print it.

Two thoughts pop into my head about the state Republican parties that are censuring Republicans who voted to impeach or convict the seditious former president. Each time they take aim at one of them, it gives them the chance to repeat their resolve into why the former president is a traitor. Which leads me to my second thought. Being a traitor and causing the death of now seven people by consistently lying and inciting…

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FISHING FOR A POEM – Part One

Published February 15, 2021 by Nan Mykel

FISHING FOR A POEM – Part One

Drifting, searching shallow and deep

frolicking fish around me leap.

If I’m to find the one that’s right

it must appear sometime tonight.

Although there’s a tug on my line,

reeling it up I only find

a plastic milk carton missing

poetry’s sure thing with a zing.

I refuse to bump

Into Donald J. Trump,

the damn demic’s boredom

or Epstein’s whoredom.

The waves slap quietly as I row,

while moonlight shines on me below.

But where’s the rhyme for which I search

as in my boat I try to perch?

I need to jump in to embrace,

arms open wide so as to taste

the meaty, throbbing of the node

that’ll help my poem to implode.

Now in the depths I can see slugs,

worms, loud weeping and coffee mugs.

Tears and water mix together

To make a poem’s sudden weather.

Near now! I can feel it lurking

A little tug, then it perking.

The mind’s eye finds within the pits

the hidden object of my wits.

This fine night it appears to be

calling out for me to see.

And there it is, a wooden box

On the bottom, without locks!

TO BE CONTINUED

“O”

Published February 11, 2021 by Nan Mykel

There goes my mind! Catch it!

Though we all learn our ABC’s,

some words rarely reach our lips.

There’s the “B” word, the “C” word, the

“D” word, the other “D” word, the “F”

word, the “N” word and the “Q” word.

Can you add more? Oh right, the “RIP”

wordlet. My son just corrected me

erroneous “colored town” spoken due to

my limited other “D” days, but that stuff

don’t stop me, Only if you’re a poet

is the limitation exacerbating. At 85, I

missed early onset. If you don’t know

what I’m talking about, lucky you.

KEITH WRITES US

Published February 9, 2021 by Nan Mykel

Republican truth teller ridiculed more than conspiracy parrot

Truth tellers do not appear to be of great value to the Republican party, an observation of mine echoed by Fox News correspondent Chris Wallace. It seems an allegiance to parroting inane conspiracy theories has more currency. This saddens me as we need to listen to courageous truth tellers who risk a great deal in so doing.

In support of this contention, Jason Lemon of Newsweek wrote the following piece “Chris Wallace Calls Out Republicans for ‘More Visible Outrage’ at Cheney Than at Greene” which incredulously frames how low the new Trump party had fallen.

“Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace called out Republican lawmakers for showing ‘more visible outrage’ at GOP Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming for voting to impeach former President Donald Trump than at Georgia’s freshman GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s promotion of bizarre conspiracy theories. Some pro-Trump Republicans in the House of Representatives have called for Cheney’s removal from her No. 3 leadership position as chair of the House Republican Conference following her January 13 impeachment vote. Meanwhile, few GOP lawmakers have expressed public outrage following multiple reports on Greene’s past promotion of unfounded conspiracy theories and support for violence against fellow lawmakers on social media.

‘You’ve got a situation right now where there is more visible outrage inside the GOP over Liz Cheney, a member of [Republican] leadership voting to impeach the [former] president over—rather than some of these wild conspiracy theories being espoused by Marjorie Taylor Greene,’ Wallace pointed out during his show Sunday. He suggested that Republicans should take action against Greene and asked whether she should potentially be expelled from Congress or removed from committees. ‘What are their options here?’

Wallace asked panelist Susan Page, the Washington bureau chief for USA Today. ‘I think it tells you a lot about where the Republican Party is right now,’ Page responded. GOP House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy plans to have a meeting with Greene regarding her incendiary social media posts and bizarre claims. ‘These comments are deeply disturbing and Leader McCarthy plans to have a conversation with the Congresswoman about them,’ Mark Bednar, a spokesperson for McCarthy, told Axios last week. Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican who joined the nine other House Republicans in voting to impeach Trump, said Sunday that he’d support removing Greene from committee assignments, but he pushed back against expelling her from Congress altogether.”

Note, Senator Mitch McConnell aired some comments following Wallace’s piece calling Greene a “cancer” on the Republican party. McConnell’s comments are welcome, but they are somewhat forced being this late with respect to Greene. And, in my view, he was too calculating in any criticism of the former president when Trump parroted inane conspiracy theories along with other untruths.

I read McConnell did not take the former president’s election fraud claims seriously, so a vacuum was left by Republicans refusing to call out the former president for his staged fraud claims. Quite simply, when you do not stand up to a bully or let lies stand without pushback, the bullying and lying will continue. Rep. Liz Cheney, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Sen. Ben Sasse and others did, but they are being vilified and even threatened by the MAGA base. The question the base needs to ask, is these people knew they would be vilified for speaking out, so why did they run that risk? Following the crowd is easy. Speaking hard truths is not. We need hard truths from our leaders.

Keith Wilson, Charlotte, Independent

Feb 8, 2021, 9:03 AM (1 day ago)

WITHOUT CONSTRICTION

Published February 8, 2021 by Nan Mykel

Night. Under bed covers Moon visible through gauze

curtains. A sluggish stream supports me. Kersplash,

a fish. A whippoorwill’s call, a dream bird. Comfy.

Moored in the here and now like it or not. Like it.

Here it all makes sense.

Could this be involved in transgenders?

Published February 5, 2021 by Nan Mykel

Intersex does not mean transgender, and the internet contains no information on the suggestion that imprinting effects the gender of children who insist they are of a different gender than they are biologically.  There have been some studies that found connections between the observation of imprinting behaviors and the brains of non-humans, however.  

intersex people*  largely acquire their gender identity via imprinting. Therefore, intersex people often choose the gender of those they imprint on—whether it be a friend, family member, etc.  This suggests that imprinting can be a powerful phenomenon and can have an intense effect on an individual’s overall development and mental state.







An integral characteristic of imprinting is that it occurs at a specific point in life, usually beginning the moment they are born. This period varies between species, ranging from within a day or so after birth to almost the first few years of life. Imprinting does not normally occur later.  In animals, imprinting involves being drawn to the characteristics or sight of the first creature or item seen at the time of or shortly after birth. Although it has been most studied in ducklings, most animals appear to have some type of imprinting mechanism.  

Just a thought.  How else to hypothesize the existence of children insisting they are a different gender?  The effect has been little studied, and I was not able to find any hypothesized connection between the two.  I'm open to enlightenment.




* Intersex people are born with sex characteristics, such as genitals, gonads and chromosome patterns that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies."

There is an estimated 1.7 percent of the population worldwide who fall into this category..

One Man’s View on Kamala

Published February 2, 2021 by Nan Mykel

Keith Wilson writes:

The swearing in of Joe Biden as the 46th president is a huge deal. We can return to more normalcy in governance as he tries to unite us. But, let me set that aside and say the inauguration of Kamala Harris as vice-president is “a big effing deal.”

Seeing a woman sworn in as vice president is a long time over due for a country that touts democracy. Other democracies have preceded us with a woman being president, prime minister or chancellor. Angela Merkel, Jacinda Arden, Tsai Ing-wen, Sanna Marin, Indira Ghandi, Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May all come to mind just to name a few.

Harris is not just breaking the ceiling as a woman, which is a big effing deal by itself. She is the first African-American, the first Asian-American, and part of the first multiracial couple and family to occupy the home of the vice-president. She is uniquely American, as representative of our melting pot as one can get.

But, as a man, let me attempt to address this walk-in-the-shoes moment and what it means. My wife wore pearl earrings to honor Harris’ alma mater as she watched. And, she was crying after Harris was sworn in. A man does not realize how a woman feels to be treated in an overbearing way. Or, to be condescended to. Or to be belittled. Or, to be passed over for a promotion because of her gender. Or, to be sexually harassed or even assaulted.

Sheryl Sandberg wrote the excellent book called “Lean in,” which tells women to lean into opportunity or push back. It was and is a great title in that men are very skilled at leaning in. There is a line, I think from this book, that says a man with lesser skill sets will often feel more qualified for a job than a woman does with more skill sets.

We must layer into Harris’ make-up the fact she is a multiracial woman of color. In an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, she noted she has been told “no” at every step of the ladder. Then, she smiled and said “I eat ‘no’ for breakfast.” That embodies Sandberg’s theme. Just think of all of the young women and young women of color she will influence going forward. Be a leader, be a scientist, be an engineer, be a doctor….don’t accept no as a reason you cannot.

This is a big effing deal. I wish her, Joe Biden and their families and staffs the greatest of success. We need them to succeed in uniting us.

Keith Wilson, Charlotte, Independent

musingsofanoldfart.wordpress.com

APPROPRIATE FEMALE RETORT

Published January 30, 2021 by Nan Mykel

31 Romantic Medieval Hairstyles That Still Slay Today

A friend who wears her braids atop her head told me about being introduced to a man who immediately said to her that she would be even prettier if she let her hair down. Without a heartbeat she replied, “I think you’d be more handsome if you had sideburns.”

I wish I were that quick on my feet.

the good doctor reblog: Music Lesson

Published January 29, 2021 by Nan Mykel

Music Lesson
Jan 13th, 2021 by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I can’t say for certain which music I’m enjoying more – Susumu Yokota’s Asian ambience on the laptop or the garden’s new water fountain concert.

Mr. Chipmunk, the gaudy flutterby, and the fledgling redwings all clearly prefer the fountain. And why wouldn’t they? What do they know about synthesizers, electronic percussion, or the meditative properties of fluid melody transformation? For them, the fountain’s water, singing its spontaneous aria, is life itself; is the music without which their lives—all lives—would cease to exist.

I reach out and tap the laptop’s mute.

Some creatures—most creatures—know far more than I.

From Guest Contributor Ron. Lavalette

Ron’s many published works, including his debut chapbook, Fallen Away, can be found HERE.

Quitting The Grave Cover ThumbCheck out Decater’s new novel, available now at Amazon. Plus, don’t forget his earlier books: Ahab’s Adventures in Wonderland and Picasso Painted Dinosaurs.