GRUFF REALITY

Getty Images Our leaders in Washington seem to have forgotten what's important. Rather than putting aside differences for the betterment of our nation, they seek to find resolutions that give them the most for their "side".  It isn't bipartisan nor symbiotic. Rather, it's self-serving.  Case in point: the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund.   Jon Stewart testifies for September 11 Victim Compensation Fund: "Accountability doesn’t appear to be something that occurs in this chamber…I'm sorry if I sound angry and undiplomatic, but I am angry, and you should be too." pic.twitter.com/njxJzSmzSJ — CSPAN (@cspan) June 11, 2019 My heart goes out to these men and women.  Although my husband was not part of this group, we have gone decades without answers for "Gulf War Syndrome".  The first responders of 9/11 share a similar fate concerning their health. Politicians don't want to step up and demand answers on their be...

Herald-Star , 16 Sept 2016 Today's winner of the Obtuse Opinion of the Week award is none other than Barry Bardone, adjutant for the Jefferson County Veterans Association, resident of Bloomingdale, Oh. The problem with Barry, outside of his ignorance, is that he spews his biased opinions in the form of letters to the Herald-Star editor and then points to the comments left by trolls as though they justify the veracity of his statements. Just as Bardone does not speak for all conservatives or republicans, the trolls do not speak of all those outside those two groups. Sadly, Bardone seems incapable of grasping the concept of 'troll', nor does he appear to grasp the notion that his approach is better suited for r/ShitPoliticsSays. This brings us to his latest rant:  To the editor: The reason progressive/communists are depressed (beside knowing that socialism doesn’t work 1 ) is that they get up every day trying to figure out which restr...

For the record, I'm an atheist. I put up with religious stuff just like I put up with loud music, those annoying shopping cart wheels that lock before you hit the parking lot, and the misuse of they're/their/there. Why do I put up with it? Because shit happens. We don't live in a perfect world nor are we the center of the universe. This brings me to this Asshat of the Week, Daryl Cobranchi. Group seeks to halt prayers at West Virginia council meeting CHARLESTON, W. Va. (AP) - A West Virginia city that opens its council meetings with The Lord's Prayer is being sued by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. The Madison, Wisconsin-based group and two of its members filed a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in Charleston against the city of Parkersburg.  The lawsuit claims the City Council violated the First Amendment by endorsing a particular religion when it opens its meetings with the New Testament prayer.  The lawsuit says residents stand at each...

The brouhaha over the Netflix series ‘Dear White People’ died down months ago. Why, then, are we seeing a resurgence of rancor towards it?  More to the point, why are so many people of non-white ethnic backgrounds suddenly raging over it? It may have something to do with the recent reemergence of a HuffPo Black Voices clip. Published in May 2017, Justin Simien, the director, joins lead actress Logan Browning for four and a half minutes of spin:  why double standards around racism simply don’t exist; w hy a show titled “Dear Black People” would be offensive; why the n-word is off-limits to white but not black people; why minority-focused spaces like HuffPost Black Voices exist but HuffPost White Voices does not; and why there’s simply no such thing as reverse racism. (HuffPo) The clip was removed from YouTube but is still contained in the HuffPo article:   www.huffpost.com/entry/dear-white-people-director-and-star-break-down-why-black-people-cant-be-...

It's no secret that I loathe the Orange One.  I don't dislike Trump's supporters. I like America. I respect the Office of the President. I'm Republican. My problem rests squarely with The Donald.   I've sneered at his infantile antics since the 80s.  I detested everything he stood for - greed, the sexual objectification of women, and excess during a time when the average American was suffering due to a recession.  I growled at the way he treated the Trump Frump (hat-tip to Berke Breathed and Bloom County , there). His behavior back then disgusted me.   His current behavior isn't anything new but is magnified ten-fold thanks to his ability to promote himself easily on Twitter.  Everything he does is asinine. Thus we come to another asinine idea put forth by Trump and promoted by his administration: Harvest Boxes . Harvest boxes are aimed at saving $120 billion in SNAP over the next 10 years by giving low-income families packages ...