Posted on 08/15/2008 2:11:46 PM PDT by johnwcassell
POLITICAL COMMENTATORS ANONYMOUSCASTING OFF THE OBSESSION by John W. Cassell Do you find yourself boiling inside when you see a so-called “news program”? or when you listen to the endless collection of parasitic “talking heads” on the more in-depth media atrocities on current events?Do you often feel that only you and maybe one or two others are aware that the two candidates running for president are stone idiots? That this farce we will be enduring through January of next year is but a shabby remake…a very shabby remake… of THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES…..but that everyone else [almost] sees the capability, wisdom and vision of these two dunderheads?Unlike in the fairy tale of the same name…when you play the role of the child, do you find yourself the target of hate mail from all sides? Physical violence if you dare speak it in a random crowd of present day American voters?Are you starting to cut into your monthly budget having to pay for replacement of those loathsome televisions you are forced to look at practically everywhere public in modern America because you have been perfecting your [Joseph Wambaugh’s] “Bad Czech” imitation by throwing bricks or other heavy objects through them?Do you find your normally pleasant and gregarious personality becoming as twisted as the mind of B. Hussein Obama or as sleepy as the mind of John McCain because of the sum total of historical and political tragedies that brought about the worst presidential election choice in American history?Well brothers and sisters on all sides of the moderate, loyal, patriotic political spectrum…that was me…yes it was.So I have formed the rehabilitation group Political Commentators Anonymous. Although I have been “dry” now for two posts, this being the third, those hateful urges and reactions remain ever present in me. So I keep repeating “I am a political commentator and I have been dry now for two posts”…at PCA meetings…to the mirror…in my closet…everywhere.I keep repeating it… Woody Allen once said in one of his books or movies that he thought of Willie Mays during intercourse to calm down and make the proceedings last longer.Hmmmmmm……I was privileged to see the immortal “Say Hey Kid” several times at Philadelphia’s Connie Mack Stadium…21st and Lehigh it was…yes, yes. [this of course was after paying the meanest street gang that approached us to “watch our car”…oh yeah…the Good ‘Ol Days].No matter where the ball was hit by the cellar dwelling Philadelphia Phillies… even our great slugger Rip Repulski [remember him Bob?..a personal comment to my gather friend and founder of the “Sports Books are Cool” group…a walking Phillies encyclopedia is Bob]…Willie was there to catch it….the glove held humiliatingly at the Great Man’s waist or below.We lost of course. No…the memory is too painful.I occasionally can lose myself watching the antics of the birds I feed. But the point is that PCA teaches that when the political bug bites…when the hurt pride in our country as it slides to a fate I would have never guessed growing up starts throbbing in our guts…when the atrocities the media get away with has us all doing the [Joseph Wambaugh’s] Bad Czech imitation…or wanting to…. THINK OF SOMETHING ELSE.Some popular choices:1) Jack Engelhard’s The Girls of Cincinnati or Deadly Deception 2) The Grand Canyon3) Any of my novels [heh…heh…seriously…I never go further than the Early Seventies]....whether Soldier of Aquarius: 1969-1970 or Uncertain Paradise: 1973 4) placid lakes5) chef salads6) any of Joseph Wambaugh’s first five books [e.g.The Choirboys] 7) A story by E. Don Harpe The True Story of America's First Serial Killers 8) Burlington Arcade pipe tobacco from Harry A. Tint in Philadelphia [on Broad Street just below Chestnut…. And alas long since out of business due to retirement….like Rip Repulski]9) A Sandra Waldron mystery… Cold Tony Waugh’s Spacibo E. Robert Orn’s horror stories… Not Quite Hell 10) Linda Shelnutt’s Gem series The Rose and the Pyramid (The Books of Gem) Morning Comes: The Pre Dawn Blues - Part 4 Full Moon Rising (The Books of Gem) I AM A POLITICAL COMMENTATOR…AND I AM “DRY” NOW FOR THREE POSTS…I’m gonna keep trying….it’s all just too tragic to watch. John W. Cassell is the author of seven books on life during the American Cultural Revolution of the Late Sixties/Early Seventies. His autobiography Crossroads: 1969 has been selected for inclusion in the annual publication of the Arts on the Underground Foundation in London, UK. His novel DeVilliers County Blues: 1972 has been hailed as “wall to wall action”.Cassell retired in 2006 from a career in law enforcement and criminal prosecution that spanned from 1971. Since that time he has published several guest opinion editorials in ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS and has been a frequent contributor to the Amazon Connect Author Blog.
I have to be ‘obsessed’. I operate a small business. The elections tell me which direction we are going. I can’t afford to be the last mans standing.
Never in my life have I felt so threatened by politicans.
Carbon tax? Cap and Trade? 4% surcharges? 3% surcharge and 3.5% payroll tax? get my meaning.
I think that is the second longest paragraph I almost read.
I will add, getting rid of Television in 1997 changed my life. In a very good way.
I felt as you did, it is as if our system has conspired to produce the least qualified person ever on the DNC side, and the oiliest oldest and least reliable guy we could find on the GOP side.
I finally decided it thusly:
I’m not voting for either of these guys; I’m voting for General Petraeus. Which is to say, I’m voting for the guy who is most likely to let Petraeus finish his work. If Obama would climb up on a stage and give Petraeus high-fives and a big affectionate hug, then I’m for Obama.
Except, he didn’t and he won’t, while McCain basically does. So, its McCain, like it or not.
No matter how the election comes out - America is so screwed.
I do indeed. I will certainly vote for the reasons you mention, plus others besides. Good luck and God bless...
I know...the formatting was AWFUL. that is NOT the way I wrote it or submitted it. My apologies.
I got rid of television in 1979...same experience.
My sentiments and planned action exactly, Brother.
You are so right. I wrote an earlier blog THE DARK AGES CAN BE FUN....containing my predictions...
I was at my stepson’s house in Chicago about a month ago and he had the news on TV. I started to watch and it was one of those A-ha moments. Y’know, like when you havent seen an ex-girlfriend for 20 years and forgot why you broke up with her. And then after 30 secons of conversation it suddenly slaps you in the face? ;)
Yeah, that “desperate need to throw a shoe at the tv” feeling...
I probably would have died of a heart attack by now if I had never gotten rid of tv, and I am not joking.
I agree 100% for exactly the reasons you state. While a protest third party vote might otherwise be in order, the only hope for the effort in Iraq is to elect McCain.
What a shame...we’re making such progress and the medeia won’t report it. God bless Gen. Patreas and the Commander-in-Chief.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.