The Changing Room - New Short Scary Story

The Patterson's are moving into a turn-of-the-last-century Victorian home that has seen its share of change, but nothing like what Paul experiences when he finds a secret room at That's Going Too Far!

The Upgrade - New Short Scary Story

Al Donner doesn't understand why his boss is sending him to IT, but he'll soon find out, and so can you when you go to They're Only Shadows and read The Upgrade.

Ping - A New Short Scary Story

We've learned not to text and drive, but that's not the only situation where texting can be dangerous, even deadly. Read "Ping," my latest short scary story at They're Only Shadows and you'll never take texting for granted again.

The Nightmare that is Donald Trump

Donald Trump is a despicable human being. With the maturity of a nine-year old and the vocabulary to match, Trump proves day in and day out he is the ringmaster of the current GOP circus masquerading as a Presidential campaign. As if anyone with an IQ over 70 needs additional proof, here are some headlines from Trump supporters on /r/The_Donald subreddit.

If @tedcruz was elected president, his wife would be the sixth lady.

ViveLaFrance Breaking: The end of Ted Cruz >> Washington Times confirms accounts of multiple @tedcruz mistresses as accurate.

Hillary is afraid. Donald has destroyed the career of everyone who has attacked him. She should be afraid.

You can bet your dick that if this scandal was happening to Trump, everyone and their god damn mother would be reporting it and censoring it would be absolutely out of the question. Fuck the MSM.

I would expect to find mini-rants like this in a ninth grader’s notebook or on a restroom wall. The grammar and punctuation mistakes and crude humor only emphasize the fact that Trump supporters are truly the poorly educated he claims to love. Even the few Republicans I know claim they won’t vote for the Donald.

Trump’s success so far has made America the laughing stock of the global community, which is probably something his followers would take pride in. Like a nightmare you can’t wake up from, the petulant man-child from New York City is seizing on the misplaced anger of less educated citizens to stoke his ego and legitimize his bigotry, and it looks as if he will be the Republican candidate for the Presidency. What a world.

America’s Racist Legacy: The Real Reason for the War on Drugs

So here we are, forty-five years after the inception of the war on drugs, after spending tens of billions of dollars, after overseeing the deaths and imprisonment of untold numbers of people, after ravaging numerous Latin American countries, after helping establish and expand bloodthirsty drug cartels, after creating the cocaine epidemic of the seventies and eighties, after jailing tens of thousands of Americans for non-violent drug offenses, after all of that we learn what the war on drugs was really all about: racism.

John Ehrlichman, a former top Nixon aide and central figure in the Watergate scandal, confessed to a reporter in 1994 that the primary reason for initiating the war on drugs was to oppress Nixon’s primary enemies, blacks and hippies. This is what Ehrlichman said:

“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

If this doesn’t make you ashamed of being an American, you must be a Trump supporter. The toll that racism has taken on this country since its earliest days is incalculable, and in 2016 we have presidential candidates appealing once again to the bigotry and hatred felt by a segment of white Americans. It’s shameful and disgusting and is cause for much of the rest of the world to see us as the village idiot of the global community. 

Thinking people have long argued that the war on drugs was racist in nature, but even they believed incarcerating large numbers of people of color was a byproduct of a war that’s primary mission was to end the illegal drug trade. They were wrong. It was from the very beginning a tool to oppress and disrupt the lives of American citizens who were perceived to be a threat to the establishment.

Perhaps the saddest part of all of this is that no one will ever be brought to justice for this major crime against U.S. citizens. Like the perpetrators of the Iraq war and the 2008 financial crises, the bigger your crime, the more likely you are to go unpunished. And many citizens of this country continue to harbor racist beliefs and support leaders who espouse white supremacy. Nixon’s legacy lives on in today’s Republican presidential candidates.

Newest Short Scary Story: The Baker Family Reunion

Depending on how you feel about your relatives, family reunions can either be a fun occasion or a pain in the butt, but rarely are they fatal. Then there's the Baker family... Check out my newest short story at They're Only Shadows.

Will Our Next President Have the Courage to End the War on Drugs?

The war on drugs has been a hopeless boondoggle since its inception in the mid-seventies. It has syphoned off billions of dollars over the past 40 years that could have gone to much more useful endeavors such as renovating America’s crumbling infrastructure or funding clean energy sources.

And who has benefited from this unwinnable and costly war? As the chart above clearly shows, a major benefactor has been the nation’s prison system, and in recent years, a growing number of privately run prisons around the country. This is, however, only the tip of the iceberg. Local law enforcement organizations have hauled in tens of millions of dollars by seizing property and cash from both guilty and innocent suspects. A huge government bureaucracy was built that employs thousands of people who have a stake in keeping the drug war going. And the war has given rise to numerous vicious drug cartels that spread chaos and violence as they fight for their piece of the illegal drug trade.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that people of color are the primary victims of our drug war. Millions of young black and brown men sit in prison cells learning how to be better criminals instead of gaining job skills and contributing to their communities.

There is some hope. The movement to end the war on drugs is coming from the bottom up as more and more states move to decriminalize pot, a substance that is still considered as dangerous as heroin by the federal government. We now need a President who will end this fruitless and wasteful effort and channel that money into projects that benefit all Americans. 

Unrestrained Capitalism is Killing America

The myth of the “liberal media” suffered another blow yesterday when CBS CEO Les Moonves was recorded telling a group of investors that the sudden rise of Donald Trump “may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.” Let that sink in for a moment. America is going down in flames, but CBS doesn’t care because it makes for great TV.

This is capitalism at it’s finest — screw everything as long as we’re in the black. And I would guess that this is the sentiment of other media owners as well. The media has never been liberal. It’s a business run by people whose only goal is making a profit and satisfying investors. That’s it. Public service? Ha! Actually informing viewers? Forgedaboutit.

Bible belt voters run screaming from the room at the mention of “socialism,” but don’t seem to have a clue that this country is being run into the ground by greedy amoral capitalists like Moonves.  And that’s the key. There is no room for morality in capitalism. There is no incentive to do the right thing if the right thing interferes with making a profit, so we ship jobs overseas, resist a living minimum wage and create loopholes to keep from paying our fair share of taxes. It’s all about the bottom line.

Add the amoral nature of capitalism to the fact that only six companies own over 90 percent of the media in America, and you have a near monopoly that provides the information and entertainment that will bring in the highest profits and keep the masses resting numbly in front of their TV screens.

Trump is a disaster for this country, but Moonves and others are making money hand over fist by giving The Donald tons of free airtime. Because Bernie Sanders is the only candidate that might even try to shake up the currant dynamic, he’s on the media’s enemies list, receiving negative attention when he gets mentioned at all.

Unrestrained capitalism is destroying America. Isn’t it time we try something different?

Unforgivable, a new short scary story

Some transgressions can be quickly forgotten, but others are unforgivable. Check out my latest short scary story at They're Only Shadows.

The Revenant and Hollywood’s Treatment of American History

When I walked out of the theater after watching “The Revenant,” I was in a state of awe. Taut, thrilling, beautifully filmed, amazing characters — I was really impressed with the film and, of course, Leonardo DiCaprio’s heart wrenching performance. Now that I’ve had a few days to think about it, however, my take on the movie is evolving, not regarding the excellent work of everyone involved in the production, but about the storyline subtexts.

“The Revenant” actually has much in common with the 1972 movie “Jeremiah Johnson” starring Robert Redford. Both feature a white man dissatisfied with civilization who escapes to the untamed western mountains. As mountain men, Johnson and Glass are attracted to Native Americans and their culture, each marrying a tribal woman. After a cataclysmic event, a bear attack in Glass’s case, Johnson leads white settler through sacred native land, they must endure unimaginable hardships and violence to survive. Each movie ends with a resolution that is both satisfying, and at the same time questionable, knowing how much the journey has cost each man.

In both “The Reverent” and “Jeremiah Johnson,” each protagonist is a white man who can’t help but have a foot in both the racist white civilization from which they came and the dying Native American culture, which they aspire to. It is in each case, however, a white man’s story. It feels as though these two movies, and others, like “Dancing with Wolves,” are Hollywood’s very weak and anglo-centric attempt at apologizing for the genocide of Native Americans. It’s as if they’re saying, “Wait, we weren’t all racist, genocidal maniacs.”

It is, however, a lame and insulting attempt. Think about a movie where a Nazi soldier hides some Jews and despises Hitler. It could be an intriguing movie, but is a film about a do-gooder Nazi any kind of apology for the horrors of the Third Reich? Not all the Nazis were bad. So what?

We, our white ancestors, committed genocide on a national scale and making some movies about good-guy whites during that period only distracts us from the reality of our crime. America has yet to come to grips with our treatment of Native Americans from nearly the moment the Pilgrims landed here to this very day where they are still living in atrocious conditions on reservations. “The Revenant” is a story about a good white man vs. an evil white man. The Native Americans are mostly props for historical authenticity, but don’t be tricked into believing this is their story. That movie has yet to be made.

New scary short "The Imaginary Friend"

Did you have an imaginary friend as a child or were you one? Read "The Imaginary Friend" at They're Only Shadows.

The Rise of Fascism American Style

Love him or hate him (and I don’t think there is any in between), Donald Trump has stirred up the normally stagnant political waters like no one in my lifetime. For those of us appalled by the idea of an unhinged, racist real estate mogul sitting in the Oval Office, it feels like we’re watching an out of control train careening down a mountainside to its inevitable explosive demise. Even Republicans like Mitt Romney are starting to panic, although, as others have pointed out, Trump is the monster the Republican Party built and there’s no way they’re going to get him back in the lab to take him apart.

The most frightening aspect of the Donald’s run is how his message of hate, exclusion, racism and violence resonates with so many Republicans. I’m sure intellectuals and leftists in Germany during the thirties were thinking the same thing. “How can so many German’s find Hitler and his policies appealing?”

Although the lion’s share of blame for Trump rests with the Republican Party, Democrats have to shoulder some responsibility as well. Over the past thirty years, Democrats have failed to offer a clear alternative vision to an American public growing  more and more disillusioned with politics and politicians. The problem exists on both the left and right, and it is manifesting itself in support for the non-establishment politicians, Trump and Sanders. Our government is dysfunctional, and Americans are slowly realizing that they can’t count on the government to heal itself, and are opting for true outsiders. The problem is, it’s left the door open for a guy like Trump with his fascist tendencies and racist appeal, a charismatic strong man promising to fix things in Washington and make America great again.

What Democrats know and now some Republicans are starting to realize is that the ego-driven Trump is playing a very dangerous game, and playing the conservative base for suckers. The only one who wants to see Donald Trump become President is Donald Trump’s ego.

Getting Away With Murder

A serial killer has found a unique way to evade capture. Find out how at They're Only Shadows.

Check out this new short scary story

The body of a woman is dug up in Joe Garner's backyard. Who is she and why is she there? Find out at They're Only Shadows.

Trump Taps the Rich Vein of Anti-intellectualism in America

Donald Trump loves him some poorly educated people. Of course he does. They make up the base of his supporters. Scammers, con artists, grifters, they all love the poorly educated because they are the easiest marks, the ones who, even knowing the 3 shell game is rigged, will play anyway.  On a larger scale, that same mentality explains why poorly educated Republicans continuously vote against their best interests in election after election, and why Southern red states are at the bottom of the list in every measure of economic viability and livability.

Anti-intellectualism is as American as apple pie, and Donald Trump has found that vein to tap, and it’s a rich one. Intellectuals are haughty Europeans sipping lattes and smoking pipes. Real Americans like to get their hands dirty and resent what they feel is the condescending attitude of the educated class. God, guns and guts are what America is all about, and Trump knows that mentality all too well.

Even the escalating language about “punching protesters in the face” and the real violence often seen at Trump rallies used against protestors is cleverly designed to appeal to the “poorly educated” and their Wild West delusions. Trump knows his supporters are sick and tired of whiny liberals and their political correctness. Debating issues is for wussies. Sometimes a fist to the face is the only way to settle a debate.

 

Trump recently said he could kill someone and not loose any support, and I think he’s right. Trump’s great triumph already is that despite being an elite billionaire from Gotham, he has become the emblem and icon of the poorly educated whites in America, the hideous representation of their frustration, anger and helplessness that this country is changing in ways they don’t like. Donald Trump is a master manipulator of people, using this talent to lead the Republican field of Presidential candidates. Will it be enough to win him the White House? These are strange and uncertain times.

The Democratic Party: Fighting For More of the Same

For all of the articles about the turmoil in the Republican Party over Trump’s successes in the primaries so far, I am much more concerned about what’s going on in the Democratic Party between Clinton and Sanders. The Party (the DNC, celebrity Democrats, the Whitehouse, the media, etc.) has already put the crown on Clinton’s head and is working overtime to make sure it stays there. From shady shenanigans at polling places to national headlines blaring Clinton’s inevitable victory to the Democratic National Committee’s unabashed support for Hillary, the Dem establishment is doing everything it can to make Bernie Sanders go away.

I find this all very troubling. Sanders truly represents what the Democratic Party should be about, but our leaders have been brainwashed over the years by Republicans into believing that only centrist, “realistic” (tough on crime, militaristic, fiscally conservative) Democrats can win elections. Sanders is already proving them wrong, and that’s making them very uncomfortable.

Since Ronald Reagan won the presidency 36 years ago, the Democratic Party has shifted to the right, believing wrongly that if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Yes, we’ve won four Presidential elections since then, but look at the state of our nation. George Bush took this country down a dark and dangerous road after 9/11, and instead of trying to clean up the mess as he said he would, Obama has embraced it. Ever since he’s been on the national stage, Obama has talked like a liberal, but acted like a centrist Republican. Sanders is the only candidate who sounds and acts like a Democrat.

The Democratic establishment should be 100 percent behind Sanders, instead they are repeating the strategy that Bill Clinton and Obama used to win their elections: talk like a liberal until elected, then play it down the middle.  Hillary is the establishment choice, the “safe” choice, the choice that Wall Street and K Street can live with. With its actions this election cycle, the Democratic Party continues to willingly disenfranchises not only the left wing of the party, but other Democrats who simply want real change instead of Clinton II, with the attitude of, “Where else you gonna go?” The two major political parties have way too much say about who sits in the White House and it will take a major public upheaval to break their stranglehold.

Jeb Bush's America

Republicans Intent on Destroying America to Save It

Members of America’s Republican party must be suffering from some kind of mass psychosis, a party-wide mental breakdown that has negatively affected their already questionable ability to think beyond simply remembering to breath and eat. New Hampshire Republicans who went to the polls yesterday gave Donald Trump a large primary victory with nearly twice as many votes as the second place candidate, John  “Extreme-long-shot” Kasich.

What could be going on in those pointy little wingnut heads? Some possibilities:

- Republicans simply don’t care what Trump says. He’s big, loud and never apologies, and he makes liberals lose their minds. He’s perfect Presidential material.

- While few Republicans would openly admit this, many would be fine with a dictator like Trump. He looks, acts and talks like a third-world despot, and apparently that’s a turn on for a lot of conservatives. Also, Trump shows open disdain for the Constitution, a document many conservatives would love to torch and replace with the Bible.

- Republicans would rather destroy America than leave it in the hands of liberals. Some evangelical Christians believe we are living in the End Times, when true believers will be whisked up to heaven, and the rest of us will remain earth bound, re-enacting the The Purge. What better President to have in office than Trump who, through the sheer power of his stupidity and arrogance, could single-handedly bring about the end of the world.

Whatever the reasons, Republicans seem intent on destroying democracy in America and replacing it with something else resembling a dictatorship. A vote for Trump is clearly a vote against the America created by our founding fathers.

Yes, Ted Cruz is That Bad

This is without question the most surreal, Twilight Zonish election cycle that I’ve ever witnessed, and I’ve survived 10 different administrations during my lifetime. We have a Democratic socialist versus a moderate, establishment Dem, and a cast reunion of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” on the Republican side. Of all the outrageous lies and accusations that have been spewed by Trump, et. al., perhaps the most telling moment of the campaign so far for me was an unscripted moment between Ted Cruz and one of his daughters.

No one likes Ted Cruz with the exception of a small sliver of neurologically underdeveloped white evangelical Christians, who wouldn’t care if he sacrificed a goat onstage and drank its blood as long as his speeches are peppered with the appropriate code words that all translate into “We privileged white Christians are under attack and we must fight back. I will lead our holy army.”

The Cruz problem that the rest of us have is that he’s a smarmy, self-righteous liar who will do and say anything to win the Republican nomination. Come on, you say, can he really be that bad? I respond confidently with, “Yes, he can.”

Witness one Rafael Edward “Ted” Cruz, a Republican Presidential candidate and family man with two daughters. The video was supposed to be a tender, “behind-the-scenes” clip of Cruz demonstrating his “warmth” by hugging his oldest daughter, but then reality struck. As Cruz approaches his daughter Caroline, she begins flicking her finger at him in an awkward, “Don’t come any closer” gesture. But father Cruz, not wanting to let the potential aw-inspiring ad spot be wasted, pushes toward the girl, smiling insanely, and then grabbing her as if she is throwing an uncontrollable temper tantrum. Caroline pushes against him with her hands until he finally lets her down, his phony smile disappearing as she runs away from him.

Wow. The members of your own family treat you like a creepy stranger. The problem for Ted is that the longer the election cycle, the more you get to know him and the less you like him. In recent interviews, even his college roommates and acquaintances dissed him for being an arrogant, religious ass.

All of the Republican candidates have their unique problems that should disqualify them from holding any elected office, let alone the Presidency, but as we see and hear more and more of Ted Cruz the man, it is becoming apparent he may in fact, be the worst of the lot. And that, friends, is pretty damn bad.

Random “After-the-Iowa-caucus” thoughts:

Very happy to see that Bernie Sanders did as well as he did against Hillary in Iowa. It’s especially gratifying to watch someone fight against the Goliath Democratic election machine backing Hillary and pull out a David-like win (with a virtual tie).  Historically, Iowa hasn’t been a good barometer for who will actually win the nomination, but it seems to me that if Bernie can generate the kind of enthusiasm and involvement he had in Iowa, he can do that in other states as well.

Cruz, Rubio and Trump come out on top on the Republican ticket, in that order.  Alternate media is having a field day with Trump’s loss to Cruz, but again, what happens in Iowa is not a reliable predictor of who will eventually win the nomination. Trump is still very much in the race, but we can relish his “loser” status for a bit.

Speaking of the despicable Ted Cruz, just today he sent out a mailer to his supporters that is so far over the op it’s not even visible by the human eye. Claiming America is “under assault” from Islamic fanatics, it has an image of the Lincoln Memorial with old Abe dressed up like an ISIS terrorist strapped with an AK47, scarf-covered face and large hunting knife in one hand. The fear mongering here is off the charts, with absolutely no facts to support his wild assertions. The copy is all sixth-grade bluster about killing the terrorists and restoring America’s greatness. Trump is a narcissistic blowhard, but Cruz is something even more evil and diabolical. His religious values are medieval and he seems to take them very seriously, and you know if he were elected President he would do everything in his power to turn America into a theocracy.  With Trump we’d at least get some entertainment value watching Richie Rich convert the White House into a casino.