I’m not the least bit interested in the hush money trial. The media are going bonkers over it, talking breathlessly about how it’s the first time a President has been brought to trial on felony charges. They yak about Trump’s demeanor, and the reluctant testimony of David Pecker, the former Publisher of the National Enquirer, the guy with the unfortunate name.

I’ve decided not to care about it because it’s just gonna be a lot of conjecture and “reading the tea leaves” and prognosticating, and I can’t stand the drama and filling of airtime with drone shots and banal chatter. Trump has gotten enough attention over the last 8 or 9 years. He deserves no more.

Wake me when the verdict comes down– though even at that point, I’m not expecting much. If the verdict is guilty, Trump will get a slap on the wrist, he’ll appeal, they’ll suspend his sentence, and everything will be dragged out until who knows when. Much ado about, well, not nothing.

The real meat and potatoes cases won’t happen until after the election (another Trump win, dammit). So Trump can’t prevail in November, or these cases might end up never seeing the light of day.

Antisemitism appears to be growing. On college campuses.

Pro-Palestinian protests are becoming more heated, perhaps because activists see the hurt and the pain and the death of innocent civilians and look at the IDF as a blindly efficient, heartless killing machine.

I don’t know for sure what the protesters are thinking—if they’re just reacting to what they’re seeing, or if it’s more deep-seated than that and they are, perhaps unbeknownst to themselves, simply perpetuating the sins of their forebears when it comes to willfully misunderstanding the Jewish mindset.

The Jews are an historically put-upon people, to put it mildly. Their discipline, their traditions, their zero-tolerance policies haven’t materialized out of thin air or because they are a short-tempered people ready to inflict pain and suffering on anyone who looks at them the wrong way.

Besides the biblical witness of oppressive empires and exile—and the events of October 7—how do you put an atrocity like the Holocaust behind you? One may, rightly or wrongly, suspect that those scars and that pain and those memories will loom large, be passed down to the third and fourth… and maybe fortieth generations.

Ah, Tee Ball– that great Springtime tradition when youngsters get their first taste of baseball.

I coached a team in the Spring of the year we left for seminary, and it was a hoot. Our two sons played, and I’m not sure what they got out of it. But they at least got to be part of a team for the first time, with matching shirts and hats.

I remember being on the field in the average game, turning around to check on positioning to find one kid allegedly playing second base but quite oblivious to what was going on and instead sitting on his haunches, making sand piles, while another would be picking dandelions or just looking at bugs. Some kids were into it, others were more unwilling participants, or just disinterested.

Before the season was over, we made sure to give a game ball to every player. We may have given more than one after any one game, because there were more kids than there were games.

And now our grandkids are the ones playing. Tempus fugit, and the tradition lives on.

A CNN anchor alluded to the possibility that someone might try to reveal the identities of the jurors in the Trump hush money case.

So, did he mean someone at CNN who just can’t help themselves, who considers it some sort of quest and a highlight on a resume? Or did he mean some nefarious, shadowy figure somehow associated with Trump?

I hope he meant the latter, because 1. That would make more sense, and 2. What the hell, CNN, or any other reputable network?! There are boundaries that need to be honored, despite the urge to do the intrepid reporter thing and get the scoop for yourself and your network. Leave well enough alone. Leave the jury alone! It is seated, let the trial begin, and bring us the daily progress, if you must.

With your panels of experts, prognosticate and predict if you must, but please bring us the Breaking News, like…did Trump stay awake? Did he Tweet derogatory or “woe is me” statements at 3am? Did he carry on as if nothing is happening, or did he make a fool of himself? Did he meet the press afterwards and plead victimhood for all to see and hear? How many of his favorite words did he use– did he work in disgrace and witch hunt and disparage Joe Biden somehow?

You know—important shit like that.

There’s not much to like in the Republican stance on so many things. If they were advocating for the more traditional platform planks of fiscal conservativism and small government, that’d be one thing. But they seem angry and lost, distracted by their fascination with authoritarian notions of governance; not doing much but saying things unbecoming of adults elected to public office—threatening and incendiary things. Dumb things, often with the disclaimer that “the American people” have had enough or deserve better. I’m never sure which American people they’re talking about, because they’re not speaking to me and many others. In fairness, the Democrats often make the same claim regarding different topics.

Republicans gripe about the economy, which had to be rescued and resuscitated after 4 years of Donald Trump and the damage caused by his and his administration’s kowtowing to the 1%, along with incompetence and an unwillingness to acknowledge an actual pandemic. Inflation persists in part because of the pandemic, because of certain supply and demand issues, along with the lingering and insidious habit of price gouging by slimy, opportunistic profit hounds looking to make a quick buck.

Tom Cotton has gone ever lower by calling for vigilante action regarding pro-Palestinian protesters. Marjorie Taylor Greene has threatened to call a motion to vacate because Mike Johnson has the audacity to work with Democrats on legislation. Articles of impeachment have been introduced because Republicans need a distraction, not because Mr. Mayorkas has done anything wrong. How do these people justify such wastes of time, or getting elected?

I seem to remember a time when the political climate wasn’t this toxic, though maybe we weren’t paying as close attention as we are today. We’re made more acutely aware of the discord now because it’s in our face 24/7, no matter which direction we turn. And the onus is falling on us to decipher and distinguish between what is real and what is fake.

Not Trumpian fake, though. Everything is fake to Donald Trump, except that which works in his favor or makes him look good.  

So it’s gonna be tit for tat. Or how about a regional war, or worse?

Israel took little time in developing and implementing a plan of retaliation in response to Iran’s retaliation, despite conjecture that it might be a good idea to refrain from such madness.

The public face of an American position was that Israel should leave well enough alone and not retaliate. But what was going on behind the scenes? What was the intent of Iranian leadership saying that the barage of missiles and drones and rockets was, basically, a one-off, a reponse to the Israeli attack in Damascus, and that they considered the whole episode over and done, or closed?

Is Netanyahu just that much of a hawk, or do the generals around him have the real power? Was this an opportunity to break the cycle of attack/respond, or was Biden’s attempt at reasonableness just naïve wishful thinking, or maybe even a facade?

The fact remains that Iran’s substantial response would most likely have inflicted heavy damage and loss of life, had not the defensive weaponry of multiple countries worked so well. And maybe this is what was sticking in Israel’s craw– the Iranian response didn’t exactly seem proportionate, so how could Israel let that go without… retaliating?

Regardless of what happens next, it is clear that humans have trouble getting out of their own way. There is no trust. Only suspicion.

The seeming proliferation of ugliness is disheartening. People whose moral corruption, loopy ideas, and generally evil intent seem over-the-top, like characters in a book, or movie villains who show up just to add an element of suspense or as foils for the heroes who eventually prevail.

Except I wonder who the heroes even are and whether or not they’ll be able to do anything.

There’s too much drama, too much anger, too many people drifting toward the deep end and not caring or even aware that they’re drowning. There are people in high places with frightening ideas about how to govern. People holding grudges, damaged by their upbringing, carrying a Bible, and now somehow convincing the public that they alone can fix things. They smile when they’re being outlandish, they gain converts and promise policies they can’t or shouldn’t deliver.

The Republican frontrunner for POTUS leaves a courtroom where he’s the defendant in a criminal case and goes on to finish his day campaigning, with a big smile on his face, as if he’s got the world by the balls. The creepy Arkansas Governor needs a $19K podium, the affectively deficient Florida Governor introduces a bill requiring that school children are taught the history of Communism, this in a state where the school children are not allowed to study CRT and the Surgeon General is a quack and the aforementioned Governor can’t quite get the hang of smiling. A blatantly evil and jilted caricature of a candidate for the Senate in Arizona appeals to the crazies by saying it’s time to strap on a Glock.

We’re seeing people in positions of power who want to govern with a heavy hand, an iron fist, and we hear members of the general public saying that it’s probably time for a dictator to be running the show, anyway.

We have a media climate that’s out of control, seeping into our homes and our devices, vying for our brains and hearts 24/7, coloring perceptions, desensitizing us to violence and stupidity. We see emerging technologies used before we have an idea of how to handle them. And money still rules the world.

Well, at least climate change is being hastened and the environment is going to shit. So, Thursday.

I’m a history buff. I like backstories and learning how we got here from there. We took a tour of a local landmark yesterday that gave credence to the notion that every town and burgh is historical in some way, has something worth remembering and preserving and appreciating.

We got a guided tour of a post-Civil War mansion built by local and non-local craftspeople for a local Union Army hero and business savant with a vison. It’s a big building, sort of Addams Family in style and look, especially on an overcast day in midwinter or early Spring.

A magnificent structure, though, well-appointed, many ornately decorated rooms, incredible chandeliers and woodwork, separate servant staircase and entrance, and connected to its share of lore and stories. A glimpse of how the late 19th-century 1-percenters lived.

Kudos to the curator and staff, who believe this place to be a gem worth polishing.

“Strap on a Glock.” So says Kari Lake, a silky-voiced nuisance and mischief maker, out to settle some score, who wants a Senate seat representing the great state of Arizona. Strap on a glock, she says to the feeble-minded MAGA base just waiting for an opportunity to go ballistic over something not worth getting worked up about.

What is her problem?

She spews incendiary rhetoric and encourages violence in the lead-up to November 5, and media outlets, with nary a peep from Fox News, gladly cover just another gas-fueled dumpster fire who can’t take No for an answer.

Congrats to Scottie Scheffler, on his second Masters victory in 3 years. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, even though some think he’s boring.

Wow, I detest that word.

I guess he needs to be out there with fluorescent green pants sporting American flags, drinking a light beer and chain smoking his way around the course—you know, a character, with some quirks and charisma and a penchant for entertaining and firing up the crowd with his antics and fiery personality.

Don’t listen to any of ‘em, Scottie. You’re doing it your way, and your way is just fine.