Random Notes from a Crank

A while back one of the words of the day was "kakistocracy," which means "government by the worst people."

With Adolf's number of executive orders and with the GOP having majorities in the House and Senate, that is the country the U.S. is living in, unfortunately, 

It's all very depressing. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert helped get me through his first administration, but I haven't girded up my emotional loins to watch the program since Adolf took office. 

But what can we expect with 54% of Americans reading below a sixth-grade level?

One of the better editorials I've read is from Bernie Sanders in The Guardian: "What Trump Didn't Say in His Inauguration Speech." 

Here are the last two ¶s of the opinion piece, but I recommend reading it all. 

Bottom line: as we enter the new Trump presidency, we have got to remain focused. We can’t panic. No matter how many executive orders he signs and statements he issues, our goal remains the same. We have got to educate. We have got to organize. We have got to bring people together around an agenda that works for all, not just the few.

Now more than ever, we have to fight to create an America based on economic, social and environmental justice. Let’s get to work.

He's right. 

But what's happening is damn depressing. 

Nothing like "backing the blue" when you release the Jan. 5 insurrectionists.

And repealing civil rights protections. 

Random Notes from a Crank

I'm a fan of reading historical accounts, and the book I just finished reading described one of the more interesting ploys that led to an attack. In Michael McDonnell's Masters of Empire: Great Lakes Indians and the Making of America, he details how Ojibwe warriors attacked Fort Michilimackinac in 176@ during the second Euro-Indian War (the first was the "French and Indian War"). The Objiwe warriors played lacrosse as a distraction and then got into the fort. Here's McDonnell's description: "Under the cover of a game of baggataway, or lacrosse, the Ojibwe waited until Etherington and Leslye came outside the gates of the fort to watch. On a signal, they flipped the ball into the fort and rushed after it, just as a group of them seized Etherington and Leslye. Inside the fort, the Ojibwe collected hatchets and 'Spears' from 'a number of their Women' who had 'concealed them under their Blankets.' They killed at least sixteen soldiers and a trader named Tracey in the initial attack." 

After I got done with that book, I quickly picked up Tom Verducci's The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building The Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse. It's one hell of a book that fellow Cubs fans and many baseball fans should read. The author's recounting of Game 7 mad me almost as nervous as I was when I was watching the damn thing. Well worth any baseball fan's reading time. 

The firing of Bill O'Reilly is something behold. This column in the Washington Post opines that that this episode is the start of something good for working women: "'Be Brave': Bill O'Reilly's Downfall Teaches a Wonderful Lesson to Working Women." I don't know if I'm as sanguine about workplace harassment changing.