Thursday, February 2, 2017

Thinking About Stuff

Today is Groundhog Day. I don't know where it came from - and I don't care. Embracing this stupid tradition only makes us look like a bunch of superstitious boobs.  I'm sorry if I'm not "down with it," or whatever the kids say nowadays.  I have no time or energy to devote to superstition or stupid traditions.  The idea that a rodent (or anything, for that matter) seeing his shadow or not determines the weather for the next month and a half is as ridiculous an idea as has been devised. The problem is that, sometimes we get so engrained in something stupid that it's impossible to let it go.

 BeyoncĂ© has more black people in her than President Trump has in his Cabinet. His Supreme Court nominee is yet another middle-aged white man.  Our government is full of them.  It's no wonder that we can't accomplish anything for the lower class and minorities - we have none of them in government or anyone who understands what it's like to live from paycheck-to-paycheck, pay bills, or struggle to get along.

The only stress in their lives is whether or not they are going to be re-elected.  Stress for real people is what happens to them if they don't have a job next month.  We don't have book deals, lecture money, or trust funds to draw upon.  It's the grand disconnect that separates us from ... them.

 It's Super Bowl weekend. Or, as marketing would have us believe - The Big Game weekend.  They can't say Super Bowl if they're selling us something.  The grand hypocracy is that the only time they can use the term "Super Bowl" is if they have paid for it.  Otherwise, they have to say The Big Game, as if we don't know that they mean Super Bowl.  It's like when people say "frigging" instead of "fucking," or "the n-word" instead of "nigger."  We all know what it means, and we say it to ourselves in our heads.  Only in the grand hypocracy of thought does it make a difference to those on the other side.  Get a grip, folks.

 I've been writing about our stock market lately.  It's a hobby - an interest - and I'm somewhat invested.  I'm hearing about "Trump Stocks" and stocks that are "Not Trump Stocks," as though our President dictates what companies earn and how they do business.  That's what he has set out to do in his first month, but I suspect that at some point, companies will say, "Fuck you," and continue to do business as they have.  After all, it's all dependent upon his wall and his proposed corporate tax cuts.  Those haven't happened yet, and I'd suspect that it's as much talk as anything.  If you listen to him, you can hear the non-specific terms that he speaks in.  He's big on telling us how great he wants things to be, but low on specifics as to how he will do it.  It remains to be seen what the Republicans will do with our health care.

They have been given the ball, and now it's time to run with it.  My guess is that it's going to be a touchback. The market is up a great deal since the election.  If Donald cannot come through on his promises and live up to his rhetoric, it will all come crashing down around us, and his supporters will have to bear the burden of his efforts. It's a gamble.  The stock market is a futures market - it's only as good as what is coming.  If what is coming doesn't come, well ... you know the answer.  Americans are putting their faith in a man who has declared bankruptcy a few times, built casinos that went out of business, bought the Trump Plaza Hotel for $400 million and had it repossessed, bought a $29 million yacht that was repossessed, started Trump Airlines and never made a profit, and has been married a few times with children all over the joint.

Godspeed, America.