(Not so) secret ballot.

On June 5, California holds its first open primary election, and I have mailed in my ballot.  I consider it an experiment which may or may not be a good idea.  It did encourage me to vote for a Democrat for the first time in many years.  He won't be elected, but maybe I can help send a message to Senator Dianne Feinstein that there are some of us who are tired of her.  Unfortunately, no Republican of any significance is running, and it appears that party is conceding the seat again.  Maybe, when we hit rock bottom, voters will finally put the blame on liberalism where it belongs.

In my new State Assembly district I voted for one of the two Republicans, who, of late, have begun negative campaigning.  I chose the one who is slightly less vitriolic.  In November, I'll be more perspicacious.  Nobody knows the farmer the Democrats have provided as cannon fodder.

Only Republicans are on the presidential list. and, although Willard the Mitt supposedly went over the top in delegates on Tuesday in Texas, I voted for Ron Paul, and I hope that also sends a message.

For Congress, I surprisingly chose a woman, the only candidate out of four Republicans who has advertised.  Unfortunately, in this, my other new district, the Democrat incumbent has name recognition.  I'm really going to miss my old district and Congressman Wally Herger who retired after doing everything right for all the time I have been here.  No Democrat could ever represent me as well.  Hopefully, the vote in November will be close.

As usual, I voted "no" on both initiatives, because I believe that laws should be enacted by the vote of the representatives we elected to do that job.  Besides, those two issues annoy me.  I object to people being singled out for special punitive taxation (smokers, in this case), and I cannot discern whether the second initiative increases or decreases the length of the existing term limits for elected officials, when I'm not even sure I agree there should be any limits.  After all, Wally, for instance, did a fine job for over 20 years, earned every dollar of his upcoming retirement, and apparently has no plans to profit excessively from his experience.

In a year when the continued existence of the nation will be on the line in November, this California primary is somewhat irrelevant.  In the general election we will decide whether we turn back the years of abuse of the founders' vision, or allow the indolent and their enablers to continue to sap our spirit and resources, and lose us the respect and admiration of the world.

Memorial Day*

I was a child during WW II, and the only contact with it I had were the weekly newsreel movies I saw.  For about ten cents a theatre downtown showed films of naval air battles in the Pacific, but only the ones we won.  They supplemented them with a cartoon, a travelogue, and other news, so that there was about an hour of viewing..  On Wednesdays. I took the bus in after school, and met Mother afterward for dinner.  She, of course, had spent the day shopping, her major source of entertainment.

I first became conversant with the war in my fourth year of college when I enrolled in "Abnormal Psychology" which was taught by a man who had interrogated famous Nazis at Nuremberg.  I was, and still am, fascinated by how many ordinary Germans allowed them to continue.

Curiously, today in America, research reveals that the  largest ethnic group is persons of German descent, and very few of them, including myself, are Nazi sympathizers.  Therefore, recently. my continuing study of Nazism took me to a film on TCM entitled "The Mortal Storm" (1940) which I actually began watching at 7 p.m., an hour before I usually start prime time viewing.  I hoped it would shed new light on Hitler's Germany.  It didn't.

The story revolved around a professor, portrayed by Frank Morgan (The Wizard of Oz) and his family and friends.  It appears he taught at the famous college in Heidelberg, because TCM played one of those aforementioned travelogues about it moments before.  The professor was referred to as non-Aryan, which I assume meant Jewish, because he was neither black, nor dark-skinned like a gypsy, nor likely, with a wife and three adult children, homosexual.

Filmed in 1939-40, the movie was set in 1933.  The professor, his family and friends were at dinner at his nice house when one of his servants came in and announced that the radio said that Hitler had just been appointed chancellor.  Immediately, his two sons and his daughter's boyfriend began Sieg Heiling and spouting intolerance.  I know that movies accelerate events, but that was ridiculous.  Of course, the story went downhill (there was actually some skiing) thereafter.

I am still left with the question," If, in 1939, we thought so many men were instantly infected with hatred and intolerance, why didn't all people of good will do something to avert the holocaust?"

* To borrow an idea from a popular pundit, " Today we honor those who fought and died to preserve capitalism which has given us freedom and prosperity, and which President Obama would eliminate."

Response to criticism

Around the time of my birth, a group of the holier-than-thou in Congress decided that average Americans were too stupid, lazy or disorganized to save for their own retirement, so they created Social Security.  Soon after, they realized that action had two auxiliary benefits: 1) They could "borrow" from it to fund other debilitating programs such as welfare and other "entitlements" that destroy the human spirit, and encourage sloth and irresponsibility, and 2) The recipients of such largess could be recruited by their campaigns for re-election.

Soon after my children were born, while I just beginning to become politically aware and suffering the disappointment of the defeat of Barry Goldwater, Congress enacted Medicare, a program that resembled a giveaway that could also earn them voters in their search for lifelong "public service."   It spawned the proliferation of public health insurance, a concept created in Germany in the 1880s, and warmly embraced by Hitler.

Today, although the gigantic debt from the aforementioned follies threatens the downfall of the nation, I confess to letter writer Alissa Crane that I indeed use Social Security and Medicare because I need them, having made some bad career choices.  My children also honor me with some assistance. because, growing up, I did not dump their health care or their education on the government, and because family members help one another.

Crane might be advised that I have apologized here on several occasions for receiving more in benefits than I contributed to that old-age welfare system into which I was involuntarily enrolled.

A dying dream

When I came to California almost 50 years ago, it was acknowledged to be the best, most affluent state in the Union.  However, after the governorship of Ronald Reagan, degenerative liberal thought began creeping in, and today, the school system has sunk to something like 49th, and the accumulated debt is destroying all the institutions that used to make us great.

The Democrats have us in a death grip, and under the new redistricting, it appears that won't change.  My recently received sample ballot reveals that I now live in a new Congressional district.  Fortunately, one of two strong conservatives will be elected, but similar districts are few and far between.  The Democrats want to cut funding to schools, police, fire protection and other vital services  in favor of welfare and those "entitlements" that destroy the human spirit and encourage sloth and irresponsibility.

It's going to get worse; I  may even die before it gets better. Perhaps I should have stayed in Indiana.  .  .  .

Kiss of death

Today, following the announcement of my intention to vote for Ron Paul in the primary election, he has withdrawn.  Story of my life.

Be afraid.  .  .  be very afraid.  Do not, however, like Michelle Bachman, another withdrawn Republican, become a citizen of Switzerland.  They have a kind of Obamacare of their own, and the altitude will make you dizzy.  And that yodeling.  .  .  .

'Bye George

I have always enjoyed "Oh, Brother.  .  .  " because of the music and the creativity of the Coen brothers, but it will take something of a miracle for me to watch another moment of George Clooney after his shameful support of the man who wants to destroy America.  I could never invite President Obama into my home, lest I couldn't get the stench of socialism out afterward.

P.S.  I'm voting for Ron Paul in the primary to show the Republicans that I'm still not happy with their choice of Romney.  In the end, I suppose it will be the lesser of two evils YET AGAIN.

That crazy Cynthia

As usual, Cynthia Tucker gets it wrong again in her commentary on 5/5. When she talks about the government funding health care for poor children, she comes from two flawed premises. First, there would be few poor children if parents exercised responsibility and procreated only when they were psychologically and financially prepared. Poor children then could only be created by sudden, catastrophic circumstances that befall the parents which, if they cannot be alleviated within the family, may require assistance from the church, if applicable, or other charitable institutions. Secondly, children's health is the sole responsibility of parents. No children should be brought into this world by anyone who is not prepared to accept that obligation. If times grow difficult, parents are expected to put their children first, and forego their own pleasure and comfort to insure their children's health and safety. Finally, it should never be the responsibility of you and me, or anyone who pays taxes, to incur a financial burden for the care of other people's children. The government wasn't there at conception, and it should not be invited to underwrite the maturation.

TV news

I have become addicted to "Smash," NBC, Monday at 10 p.m.  The financial and sexual machinations seem quite  realistic, and the Webber-type music is charming and well-crafted.  Katherine McPhee has a stunning voice, and I'm surprised she was only a fifth season Idol runnerup.  Maybe she has matured in the intervening years.

My one criticism (you knew I would have one) is the proliferation of lip-syncing.  If these "Smash" people are preparing for a Broadway show, shouldn't they be able to perform live?  It's taped, after all, allowing for unlimited takes.

FYI:  A couple of other newer one-word-named TV shows, "Touch," and "Awake" are also worth a look, but you may want to go back the few weeks to understand their premises fully.

Surprise. . . published

Traditionally, hunting in America described what Indians did to obtain sustenance, mostly from bison and cervine beasts whose pelts also provided coverings for their bodies in cold weather.  None of the prey was wasted, because Indians had respect for nature.

Today, hunting can be something else altogether.  Because we no longer need to stalk and kill our food, and Walmart will happily sell us all the Chinese-made clothing we could ever need, hunting has been downgraded to what is called a sport.  Some "sportsmen" now satisfy their blood lust by killing animals with little regard for what will become of the victims.

In the E-R sports section recently, disturbing blurbs announced two such "sporting" events.  Some descendents of the early Indians who have been seduced by Big Gambling, are, at the nearby Rolling Hills Casino, featuring some unlimited pheasant hunts. The "sportsmen" attend to kill birds that have been "released" for that purpose.  These are no wild animals that must be hunted in the traditional manner or for the original reason.  These modern hunters are seldom impoverished or hungry, because the charge for this "sport" is $85.

Other "sportsmen" may also attend a chukar partridge shoot at Clear Creek Sports Club.  These are pen-raised birds that are sent out to be slaughtered for "sport."  Here, as before. the cost is comparable, except there are prizes given for the most efficient "sports club" executions.

Now we know with whom the movie "The Hunger Games" is so popular.