Anyone still up?

I am trying to think of writing material but drawing blanks per the usual.

I hated that in school. Most of the time what I ended up writing about was completely different than what I started with. Once I wanted to do a paper on the nuns who founded the local hospital and one of the schools. Turned out all of their diaries were in French, so I had to shift a little bit to include the priest because his diaries were the only ones I could read! What kind of class are you writing for??

I've been out of school for nearly uhh three weeks now I bet WEL and the other college students probably will want me dead for that :D. Just pleasure writing that I do sometimes when I get bored. Did you read my ten most important elections piece? I think I need to read more on local history. My professor for History this past semester often brought it in to discussion sometimes. Read something interesting on wikipedia last night about this political party that was formed after the Civil War here and was an alliance of Democrats, White Republicans, and Black Republicans to fight for the interests of the common people. It was led by a former CSA General named William Mahone.

My mind goes blank these days too, but I blame it on hormones and old age. Guess you can't do that!! hehe.

Yes, I read your piece earlier. I haven't really reflected on it. I think you hit some of the turning points over the years. Did you include Carter - Reagan?? I think that might have been more important than Nixon - Humphrey. That is when America more or less chose the "market" over a more socially beneficial economy. That was a real turning point too and I don't think a lot of people still get what it meant to this country.

The election was the triumph of the conservative wing of the GOP which had slowly been building since the early 60's. It also was a foreshadowing of what happened in 1994 when the Democrats lost control of Congress. It also marked the beginning of the New Deal coalition, the coalition had been slowly falling apart for years but Reagan's election in 1980 and his reelection landslide marked the real end. I am reminded though of a story my dad told me about his dad. They were driving somewhere or walking somewhere I forget where but my dad saw a Reagan for President bumper sticker and laughed saying they can't be serious, he's too far right to win but my grandfather told him that it could happen. My granddaddy died in 1979 so he never really saw the impact of Reagan on the US and the American Worker who he had spent hic career working with, he was great at being impartial and objective but he had his eye out for the little guy.

You can almost be grateful your grandpa didn't see the Reagan mess, it would have just broke his heart. My mother passed before Bush was elected and that is one thing I am always thankful for, this mess since then would have just had her beside herself. Not to mention she depended on govt assistance for her medical care, so that would have been a nightmare too. I don't know how all us baby boomers can be so plain dumb, because not one Republican could get elected without us.

so I could have met him. True about the Baby Boomers. There were some that kept the ideals they had in the 60's, others that kept the basic ideals but moderated, and others like David Horowitz who started out as extremists and than became apologists for extremists of the other stripe. I guess that's why I am skeptical of extremism of all form, well that and my Eastern European ancestry considering that they've gone through tyrannical monarchs, empires like the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian, the Nazis, and the Communists so I guess because of people like Horowitz I think it is true that if you go far a certain way you could turn out like the other extreme. Take Mussolini for example he started out as a Marxist but became a Fascist.

I wish my parents had lived so they could have met my little grandbaby too. I was just thinking about the heartbreak some of my older uncles feel, watching all that's going on.

I don't know what is really with my generation. Both my sisters are republicans and I can't figure it out. They shifted that way as they aged. The middle one, well she went Mormon along the way and I think all she's heard in years is anti-Democratic nonsense and doesn't even know that's all she's hearing. And if the Mormons say it, well that's that because she has to have that structure in her life, for whatever reason. My older one, I just don't know. She doesn't disagree with me on most things, but when you get right down to the inconsistencies she always reverts to taxes. Kind of like the ones who revert to "they're all the same". I just don't know why some of these people vote Republican and I don't think they do either.

And yes, extremism is very dangerous because the one time the other side is telling the truth might be the one time your life depends on you listening to them!!

This country has really changed since Bush took office and not for the better. Most of my family are still Democrats but there are exceptions like my Uncle, well I am not sure if he's really my uncle any more since he broke up with my dad's sister but he still goes to family gatherings so he's still family but from what my dad tells me he was always conservative. Decent guy of course but just different on politics than most of us. According to my grandmother her sister voted for Bush in the Presidential election because of abortion, my grandma was surprised because she did vote for Clinton and Gore. I don't hate her for it but it surprised me especially considering how they grew up.

I've been doing a lot of lurking and reading, especially H20Mans' latest essay. I watched (for the first time) a movie on ABC tonight that I found scary and more relevent now, than when it was filmed. It was "Enemy of the State", with Will Smith. It just knocked me out!! It seemed like they took all the garbage going on in America now to make a movie!! I believe I read it was filmed in 98 or 99, when Clinton was still in office. It was like pure prophesy, and I found it very disturbing. Have any of you seen it? DC (my sleeping pill is kicking in, so I won't be on long)

Yeah I do remember seeing it nad enjoying it. Jack Black had a small role in it which is funny and Barry Pepper who is playing a distant relative of mine in Flags of My Father also was in it so was Gene Hackman who I've always enjoyed.

At that time I wasn't interested in that type of movie. I was probably reading or something. Parts of it seemed familiar, but seeing it alone had me on the edge of my chair saying, "oh my God, This could have been written last week just from the news that's been "leaking out" Scary shit it was, and now I'm off to bed. Happy Memorial day! I have many loved one's to remember!

Yeah I have a ton of people to remember on Memorial Day too. Have a distant relative on my Mom's side who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the Pacific as a Marine on Iwo Jima, the man wasn't even a US Citizen but was willing to give his life for his adoptive land. Stuff like that makes me ashamed of myself honestly.

Fun.