New Scary Story: Essay: Why I like living in a small town

Small town life in America is often romanticized, but there is a dark side to some rural villages, and you can read about one such town in my new story "Essay: Why I like Living in a Small Town" at That's the Spirit.

If Trump Wins, the Democratic Establishment Will Have Only Itself to Blame

The daily trove of evidence coming from Wikileaks and other sources make it abundantly clear that the DNC, the Hillary campaign and the mainstream media colluded to steal the Democratic primary from Bernie Sanders. Without missing a beat, the media, including some left-leaning outlets, is portraying Bernie supporters at the Democratic convention as spoiled brats who can’t let go of their Quixotic dream, instead of the patriots they are fighting for the soul of the Democratic Party.

Hillary supporters, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t claim to believe in the democratic process and fair elections and then stand behind a candidate who condoned dirty tricks, under-the-table support from the establishment and who accepted money from anyone with an open checkbook. Democrats love to tsk tsk shady Republican tactics that circumvent the democratic process, but refuse to look in the mirror when one of their own commits the same sins.

The irony of ironies of course, is that polls consistently showed that Sanders had the better chance of beating Trump in the general election than did Clinton. So the Democratic establishment, in its myopic quest to ordain the elite-approved candidate, may have cut off its nose to spite its face.

Believe me, the last thing in the world I want to see is Donald Trump taking the Presidential oath of office next January, but if that happens, the Democratic establishment will have only itself to blame. When you play in the same muck and mire as Republicans, you’re not any less dirty because you support a different candidate, and perhaps you’re even a bit more so after decades of claiming the moral high ground.

The Republican National Convention: Send In The Clowns

The only thing missing from last night’s opening of the Republican National Convention was Leni Riefenstahl’s “Triumph of the Will” as the prelude to Donald Trump’s entrance. Hair Trump and the rabid crowd of haters would have felt right at home with the surreal homage to a psychotic dictator.

Did the remaining members of Queen actually give the RNC permission to use “We Are the Champions” at the convention? It’s hard to believe, but if true, I’ll have to plug my ears and “na, na, na,” my way through the inevitable assault of “Bohemian Rhapsody” throughout the remaining years of my life.

One of the big headlines today is the revelation that portions of Melania Trump’s speech last night were lifted from a speech given by Michelle Obama. Is your head spinning too? It’s like Cruella de Vil giving a speech at the American Dog Fighting convention using quotes lifted from Mother Theresa. The only thing more ironically idiotic would have been to plagiarize Hillary Clinton, but never fear, the convention has just started.

And then there was former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s raging, spittle-flecked speech, in which at one point he yelled at the crowd, “Are we crazy?” and they shouted back, “Yes.” The inmates share a brief moment of self-awareness.

Of course, what Republican gathering would be complete without the lies. Lies upon lies upon lies. From Benghazi to Hillary to Obama to Black Lives Matter, conservative barkers spun yarn after yarn, regurgitating the Republican litany of demonstrable falsehoods to a bloodthirsty crowd who live in an alternate reality. The Republican convention is clearly a truth-free zone.

We all like to laugh at conspiracy theorists and religious zealots who constantly predict the end of the world, only to have the target day pass like any other, but you can’t watch the Republican convention without a bit of an uneasy feeling that, should these lunatics gain control of our government, our days on this planet are numbered.