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David Mitchell

The Supreme court refused because they are a court of law and the law requires evidence. In case after case the so called evidence was based on mis-information and false claims - as in the case with Georgia, where you will recall, the votes were counted (under illegal threats from the President himslef) three times - the last one by hand. They were checked and double checked and were found to be off by less than a fraction of one per cent. 

It has been reported that when Rudy appeared before the court in Pennsylvania and called to present his case, he simply stared down at his shoes. I would like to find the reporter who covered that.

And this brings up two more questions;

1) Name me one national election in our life times where there were not  ballot errors?

2) To be consistent, please tell me why the Trump people did not call for these court challenges in all 50 states? 

David Mitchell

And this deserves special mention, so I am posting it sperarately.

While the attack on the Capital was going on, Cruz was actually sending out campaign funding requests.

Unthinkable!

John Jackson

I agree with Dave -  the Supreme Court (unanimously) refused to give the Trump case the time of day because, while a number of the Justices are much more conservative than I would like, they do have brains and they understand the rules of evidence.  And, while I’m guessing at least some of the Justices on a personal level were disappointed with the outcome of the election (although I wouldn’t be surprised at all if a few of the conservative ones were secretly relieved), they are all familiar with the Constitution and felt they had to take a stand against Trump’s unrelenting attack on the principles of democracy and majority rule.

One of the states the loony right alleges was stolen from Trump is Georgia (“I won by a lot”, according to Trump), yet the two Democratic Senate candidates won the Jan. 5 runoff election by roughly the same (very tight) margin of victory that Biden got on Nov. 3.  I think it’s reasonable  to consider the runoff election as more or less ratifying the Nov. 3  results.  Two months of unrelenting (and baseless) allegations of widespread voter fraud (not to mention that control of the Senate was at stake) made the Georgia Senate runoff the most scrutinized election we’ve ever had.  That the Dems, in the face of unrelenting scrutiny, also stole the runoff election doesn't come close to passing the laugh test.

Michael McLeod

Just such a delicious irony that a guy who made much of  his fortune cheating people now complains that he's been cheated. I almost wish it were true. But I'll say this again: We need to find a way to extend the inquiry for as long as there are people with questions about it. 

To me both the second impeachment and an ongoing open-book inquiry about this past election would simply be an educational public service. There ought to be a 2020 library project to let people do their own research about it. All the wacko theories would persist but maybe not quite so much.

Timothy Lavelle

This forum...a funny place. I wonder if some of you really understand "the funny".

When I was a smoker (cigarettes) for about 40 years, I was occasionally boggled to run into someone who could have one or two cigarettes a day or others who could smoke whenever they wanted to without catching a habit. And a habit is honestly something you cannot control unless you are willing to strangle a part of your own self to be rid of it...and the strangulation takes awhile. Addiction honestly does suck.

"The Funny": Some of you can write here...or not write...it doesn't really matter to you. Maybe you are shy. Or, maybe the forum is not a big enough platform or just too homespun. Maybe you are afraid of making a mistake...being opposed...sounding dumb in front of old mates. For whatever the reason, you are able to read a few posts and then turn to some other endeavor without making your thoughts known. 

For some, and I am surely one, blabbing here is addictive. It might be age, like running out of time to tell our thoughts, or ego, thinking you the reader should know my thoughts "right the eff now" or even friendship, not wanting you to listen to someone else who I think is crazy. Or, g-forbid, even low humor. But for whatever reason, it is truly hard, like right this moment, not to pour forth. If you are not caught in this addiction, what I am saying to you now makes zero sense. But those three or four gentlemen who write the most know exactly what I'm talking about.

When John and Mike mentioned taking a break from the forum I admit I laughed to myself. Because of "The Funny". I have quit the forum multiple times and the need to have my say has always brought me back. The addiction is the funny.

So, if anyone decides to step away for awhile, even a day, try to support them. You can do that in the very best way. If someone writes something you find even a little interesting, DON'T WAIT...before one of us addicted souls tries to be the very first to take over the conversation, SAY SOMETHING. 

Volunteer your thoughts here. For me, there is nothing more fun (re the forum) than seeing someone who hasn't written in awhile spill their guts about something. Great stuff. 

So here's a start for you. I'm off for 90 days. Let the strangulation begin!

SPEAK UP.

David Barbour

Michael McLeod

I bet he's having the shakes right now. I did. But I can kick this habit. I just need a little help.

"Hi. I'm Mike."

"Hi, Mike." 

David Mitchell

To officailly kick off my "Let's switch our accusations and go after Biden now" I have decided to make this my first complaint.

From the Department of "How Petty Can You Get, Dave",  I ask - couldn't Joe have picked dozens of ladies who would be more appropriate to sing the National Anthem tomorrow than Lady Gaga?  

How about Andra Day (who sings "Rise Up"). Or how about some lady from a local church in D.C. Somebody talented but unheard of. A little less "Holywood"  and a lot more down to earth - Really?

On a seriuous note: I'm nervous, but praying for a day of peace and calm in our Capital tomorrow.

(90 days is a long time. This could be a different world by that time. Pray God it will be for the better.)

Frank Ganley

Let me talk about the not funny side of addiction since the age of 42 i have had more orthopedic operations than the average person. After each operation I was given some sort of pain reliever. Before the operation the surgeon would stat me on darvon or percocets just to get near the pain, which it didn't ,so I would have to take 2 instead of one. Unknown to Doctors at that time(!991) was how quickly the body is hooked. After the operation I would be perscribed oxycotin, i think thats right or oxycodon. I was given a supply of these that should have lasted a month , no problem, nothing to see here! I would only take a pill every three days. No addiction there,addicts need more not less, so a refill was easy to get from my family doctor. He opened for business in 1984, my patient number 248, so he knew me. He knew I wasn't scamming to get more as sometimes 4 months between refills, no addiction there. This continued for 6 yearsand a few major spine surgeries and a few others like a gall bladder ectomy, it has a fancy name but i can't remember it,  a umbilical hernia , and my favorite a Nissen fundaplecation. All these at once and through one hole. Pain pills here we come ! a NISSEN is the making of a new sphinctor on the top of the stomach to stop reflux. All this to stop me from throwing up most mornings which I had done since high school, nope didn't work. More pills same deal every 3 -4 months. Fast forward to 2012 when the range I WAS TEACHING AT closed. I was making calls and sending out resumes . I got the flu. I wasn't practicing or teaching so why take a pill. I was never sicker! every bone in my body hurt to the point of almost crawling to the bathroom . Diarhea and the heaves together good combo ! My eyeball lids drooped and i was tearing, nose running non stop , I was miserable. During all this all i was taking was over the counter flu medicine and no whatever you take for that that helps you to sleep ,bupkas! Finally I told my wife just bring me an oxy, i  knock it out and go to sleep! Good plan but it didn't work that way or day. WITHIN 5 minutes it worked as I jumped up and was all better. I called my doctor, yes i have his number, we played golf together, i taught all his kids, he told me to meet him the ext day in the office. He cried for doing this to me. Now I am the comforter. He was going to write me a scrip to aid in the coming down but I told him i got 4-5 days in on the withdrawl so I'll tough it out. As Dr Jim will tell you today you get a supply for 6-7 days, thats it and MdS ARE getting more education on them. Pain pills are no joke!  Are you euphoric , no bur at first you have to learn how to keep spit in you mouth. My wife will tell you that at times i was mean, i never knew!!!!!!. There is the funny side of addiction! my doctor described addiction as a nestful of baby bird who never shut up till they are all fed.  Now cigarettes is a different animal , not a habit it is real addiction. Be carefull, most addicts are just like you and me who found relief on the street and then found living on the street. 

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Frank, God bless you for sharing your personal journey of the perils of addictions.  I have unfortunately seen up close the pain & torment that addictions bring to not only those addicted, but to their loved ones as well.  Sending you good thoughts & prayers. 🙏🏻❤️  MM

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

Michael McLeod

Talk about turning over a new leaf. A few weeks ago Trump had to borrow somebody else's bible so he could use it as a prop in a phony photo op. (When a reporter asked him what his favorite passage in the good book was, he couldn't come up with an answer. See? The old saying is wrong. The devil can't quote scripture.)

In contrast: One of Biden's first actions was to send up a geniune prayer for those who were lost to the epidemic -- marking the first time the president of our country took the time to do so.

David Mitchell

This is all I can think of. Couldn't we use a little "Grace" right now?

Wish they could have chosen a female voice for Garth's part. Yea, it's petty of me.

    (closing scene from a favorite film - "Amazing Grace")

Janie Albright (Blank)

MM, Thanks for the unity prayer. I thought the day, beginning with mass was perfect. 
Wasn't the poetess wonderful?  Let's see how it proceeds. Prayers for our Nation needed for sure. 
 

Deborah Alexander (Rogers)

OK, Tim, I'll rise to your challenge and speak up.  Thank goodness the political discussions should be mostly over and we can move on.  Let's all pray for our new President, that he will be successful in leading our country out of the divisiveness and into a more unified nation, that he will be able to get the virus under control with the vaccine, that he can help the unemployed find jobs or receive needed aid, that he will find a way to help mothers and fathers feed their children, give help to the suffering restaurant businesses and all others who have been so damaged by the pandemic, and end the racial strife that plagues our nation.  How can one man do all of this?  At least he can try to begin the healing. It's a tall order, I know. But hope springs eternal.   

David Mitchell

U GO Girl !

(and BTW, you look great in PURPLE)

Peggy Southworth (Townley)

Re: #8862 post
I remember once when a several of us walked down to High St after school to grab some burgers at Sandy's.

Jimmy Signorachi (spelling?) was there   I think he drove a GTO.  He made a big show of pulling a telephone handset, with cord, from his glove box and having a short "conversation".   Those days sure were fun.   Never thought we would all carry in our pockets a small, slim device that was a telephone, free long distance, a movie theater, free actual television, WAAY more channels than we ever dreamed, a compass, a flashlight, a dictionary, thesaurus, a world-wide library, encyclopedia on steroids, radio stations around the world, live web cams around the world, a clock, alarm clock, an instant messaging service to reach people anywhere in the world, a camera, photo storage, photo alterations and cropping.   There's more, no doubt.

What is the next we can expect?  My personal opinion is that we may have gone too far already.

Joseph Gentilini

Frank, THANK YOU for being willing to share so openly your own struggles.  We (I) am better for it!!  Addictions of several things have been in my own family and I appreciate the struggle you went through.  Thanks again.  Joe

John Jackson

My daughter, her husband, three kids (5 years, 3 years and 11 months) and two cats are re-locating from Chicago to the NJ-PA area and they’re living with us for a couple of months until they can close on the house they’re buying.  After hearing Lady Gaga sing the National Anthem today, my three year old granddaughter, bored with the speechifying, asked when Biden was going to sing.

So Dave, Lady Gaga certainly made an impression on at least someone today.

Peggy Southworth (Townley)

Jackson, Lavelle, McLeod, Mitchell -

Keep posting.  Please don't stop.  Your posts are more informative than you realize.  

David Mitchell

John,

The Bidens had asked me to sing but, regretably I had to decline. They wanted me to do my rendtition of an old Kenny Rogers song. Something in keeping with the occasion, of course. 

But alas, I was already scheduled to give a lecture on the various schools of thought regarding "OSC" - oyster shell cryptology. (They said I could eat some of the samples used in the class, however I was required to bring my own coctail sauce)

And to be honest I think Kenny does it better than I ever could. If I recall correctly, my original release sold about 4 copies.

David Mitchell

NOTE:

If any of you "find my mind in a brown paper bag", please call my office.

I'd aprreciate it.

Michael McLeod

That's really nice of you Peggy. 

I read a lot and much of what I read is on sites I have to pay for, written by world-class journalists once referred to, by an overweight rich man whose name escapes me, as "enemies of the people," and so I think of sharing that particular endangered but enlightening resource and commenting about it as a combination public service/practice/mental health therapy.

By "public service" I mean I have access to the best stories and the best writing in the country and I like sharing it for free, and if some people here don't like it I figure: how hard is it, duh, to just not read it? 

By "practice" I mean it's writing I'm not getting paid for, it's not getting published anywhere, and so I'll say things and take chances that I might not take if I know I'm on the clock and risk getting called out for typos, factual errors, and obvious signs of ongoing psychosis. That keeps my creative juices flowing.

By "mental health" I mean I don't get out much these days and when I do I'm wearing a mask and moving fast, and banging away on our little chat room here is a not-bad-at-all surrogate for the casual conversations I once engaged in at the grocery store and the neighborhood bars and such.

By the way: Interesting, isn't it, that people hardly mention the fact that we now have a Catholic in the White House. Last time that happen, we were kids, and it was a BIG DEAL. I remember the nuns being all charged up about it. And then that awful day when we were in class and they announced his assassination. God what a horrible thing. Much worse, in its own way, than what we just went through.

David Mitchell

Peggy,

That's two posts in one day girl!  Be careful - you're nearing your yearly limit.