Tag Archives: blogger

national news

Should POTUS shut up or keep yammering?

Brian Krassenstein is a blogger who is active on Twitter, which he uses to state his anti-Donald Trump views to the world.

He wrote this:

As Trump and his supporters attack Joe Biden for making women feel uncomfortable and then apologizing for it, it’s a great time for a Trump quote:

“I moved on her like a b**ch… when you’re a star, they let you do it. Grab them by the pu**y, you can do anything.”

Yes, those words came from the man who would become president of the United States. We heard those words just days before the 2016 presidential election. Many of us had hope they would sink the Trump candidacy, sending it to the bottom of some trench.

It didn’t. He was elected anyway. He won 80,000 more votes than Hillary Clinton in three key states that gave him the Electoral College majority he needed to win the presidency.

Trump’s attack on Joe Biden over allegations that he made women feel “uncomfortable” is going to persist. The Trump base of voters won’t care that he said the things that Krassenstein reported.

Shame on the future president. Shame on those who endorsed him.

Given that he cannot keep his trap shut, I guess we’ll just let POTUS keep on spouting the crap he wants to let fly.

media news, political news

Pondering a Facebook decision

facebook-like-button

This shouldn’t cause me to suffer any heartburn — proverbial or real — but it is.

I’m pondering whether to take an extended break from Facebook. I’m writing this post on my blog, but it will go to Facebook as well, which brings me to my point.

I am addicted to blogging. I also have become addicted to Facebook. I don’t mind spending the time it takes to write these messages on High Plains Blogger. I do get a bit annoyed with the time I’m spending on Facebook reading responses to these posts.

Then we have the back-and-forth that occasionally ensues.

They wear me out. I don’t have the emotional stamina or energy to engage my friends/”friends” ad infinitum.

I won’t get too deeply into the other things that annoy me about Facebook: the profanity, the nonsense, the hate.

I haven’t yet made up my mind. Other members of my family have declared their desire to do the same after the election. I might join them in their Facebook moratorium. Or …. I might not.

I’ll keep pounding out these messages on my blog. I do not want to wean myself of this particular fix. It’s too much fun.

If I make the big decision — and cure myself of the heartburn in the process — and forgo Facebook for a time, then I’ll just ask those interested in reacting to these blog posts to do so on the “reply” tab attached to the bottom of those posts.

You’ll see one here. Let me know if you think I’m all wet.

Uncategorized

Let's all keep an open mind

 

Blogging is a serious blast for me. I spend a fair bit of time churning out opinions on this or that issue.

It invigorates me to write these musings. It also makes my day when I get a lot of “hits” and people take the time to respond — either by hitting the “like” button on their computer or offering a comment; some of it is supportive, some of it … well, isn’t.

However, in recent days I’ve had a few responses from friends, colleagues and acquaintances that have me scratching my head just a bit.

Here’s how it goes:

Me: I’m writing a blog now and here’s my business card. Take a look.

Friend: Oh, I’ve seen your blog. I don’t read it. I just like to read the responses you get on Facebook.

Me: Really? Why don’t you read the blog?

Friend: I’m a TEA party Republican and I know where you stand, so I don’t need to read your blog.

I then might end that exchange with a simple “fair enough,” and then we move on to the next subject.

To be honest, I don’t know whether to be insulted or flattered.

The flattery comes in knowing the individual knows my political leanings — which makes me presume he o she at least has seen the blog on occasion. Why else would they offer that bit of knowledge of my political leanings?

The insult comes in being ignored for the most part by friends whose minds are made up — as is mine on many issues.

I don’t intend for this next statement to be self-aggrandizing, but I apologize if it comes off that way.

I read lots of opinions with which I disagree. They fire me up. They make me hyperventilate. I get wound up tighter than a cheap watch. Indeed, many writers with whom I have philosophical differences are worth reading not for what they say, but how they say it.

Recently, I took Michigan State University alumni and some student leaders to task for objecting so vehemently to George Will’s scheduled commencement speech. They don’t like his views on sexual assault and believe his ideas on anything else aren’t worth hearing.

How sad is that?

It’s quite sad because it reveals a closed collective mind, which never should occur at an institution of higher learning.

An open mind is much more constructive.

Having said all this, I doubt the individuals I’ve discussed on this past will read these words. That’s their loss, not so much because I’m filled with all-knowing wisdom or even that I’m such a deft word craftsman. I don’t consider myself all that wise or all that great a writer.

I just have lots of opinions and I’m unafraid to express them.

Yep. Blogging is a serious blast.