Day: June 6, 2024

Prosecuting His Enemies

Fandango13 Comments

According to an article in the New York Times, Former President Donald Trump says he is prepared to prosecute his political enemies if he is elected this fall. Doesn’t this sound like a threat a despot would make? To prosecute and potentially jail his political enemies or rivals. Shades of Vladimir Putin and other authoritarian leaders who not only threaten to take such actions against rivals and political enemies, but execute those threats.

Is this just political bluster? A campaign tactic to excite his MAGA maniacs? Or is such an unprecedented threat something he could really do? Well, according to the Times article, if Trump wins the presidency again, he would gain immense authority to actually carry out the kinds of legal retribution he has been promoting.

In the past, the Department of Justice has traditionally had substantial independence, but that is because presidents have granted it. Trump, who has made no secret of his desire to purge the federal bureaucracy of those found insufficiently loyal to his agenda, will be able to fire those who refuse to carry out his wishes. And since the Justice Department is part of the executive branch, and he will be its boss, he will be able to direct its officials to investigate and prosecute his rivals and enemies.

So who are these political rivals and enemies that Trump threatens to prosecute. Democrats all up and down the political spectrum, of course. Federal, state, or local, any office holder who is in any way critical of him or who he believes to be standing between him and his ability to do whatever he wants. Civilian government employees who don’t immediately agree to do his bidding. The press and journalists who report the news…the truth…or who dare to cast Trump in a bad light.

And what of us bloggers or others on social media who are critical of Trump? How safe and secure will we be in Trump’s America?

Thursday Inspiration — Kisses and Do Do Dum Diddy Do

Fandango6 Comments

For this week’s Thursday Inspiration prompt, Jim Adams has asked us to write a post using the prompt word “kisses,” using the above image or “any other #1 song from the late 1950s or early 1960s, or a song that makes use of the lyrics “dum,” “doo,” or “dooby,” or with anything else that we think fits.”

I’m going with both “kisses” and with “dum,” “doo,” or “dooby,” by featuring two songs: “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” made popular by Jimmie Rodgers, and “Come Go With Me” by the Del-Vikings. Let’s start with “Kisses.”

Part 1: Kisses

“Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” was written in 1950 by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays of The Weavers and released in 1951. A cover of the song by Jimmie Rodgers in 1957 was a hit for Rodgers. Rodgers version went to number 7 in the U.S., and was a Gold record. Joel Newman and Campbell Paul got credit for the Jimmie Rodgers version’s lyrics, which aren’t that different from the Pete Seeger and Lee Hays version.

The tune was adapted from Lead Belly’s “If It Wasn’t for Dicky” (1937), which in turn was adapted from the traditional Irish folk tune “Drimindown / Drumion Dubh.” The Weavers first released the song in 1951 as a Decca single, which reached number 19 on the Billboard chart.

The song is about a young man who had never been kissed so he found a girl and kissed her and “Oh, Lord, well I kissed her again / Because she had kisses sweeter than wine.” They got married, had kids, and grew old, and the old man says that he’d “do it all again / Because she had kisses sweeter than wine.”

Part 2: Dom-dom dom-dom dom-de-doo-be

“Come Go With Me” was written by C. E. Quick (a.k.a. Clarence Quick), an original member (bass vocalist) of the American doo-wop vocal group the Del-Vikings. The song became a hit, peaking at number 5 on the U.S. Billboard Top 100 Pop chart and number 2 on the R&B chart.

The group consisted of serving members of the U.S. Air Force, who shot to fame with their 1957 hit, “Come Go With Me.” Management issues and fractures for the group resulted at one stage in two different incarnations of the group performing simultaneously: The ‘Del’-Vikings and The ‘Dell’-Vikings to add to the confusion.

The song is basically a guy asking his girl to “come go with me” because he loves her, he needs her, and they will never ever part. But it was more the “Dom-dom dom-dom dom-de-doo-be-dom” than the lyrics that the song is known for.

Six Sentence Story — The Engagement Dinner

Fandango14 Comments

“Did you hear that Eleanor and Roger just announced their engagement at a dinner party last night?” Beverly said.

“I did hear that,” Andrea said, “and all I can say is that for Eleanor it was none too soon. You know she’s almost thirty and I heard that her father was going to give the first man to ask her a senior position in his company, which is probably the only reason this Roger guy asked her.

“Have you ever met Roger?” Beverly asked. “He’s supposed to be quite the catch, very handsome and extremely wealthy in his own right, so I don’t think he proposed to Eleanor for a position in her father’s firm.

“Some girls have all the luck,” Andrea said.

Written for the Sunday Six Sentence Story prompt from Girlie on the Edge, where the prompt word is “engagement.” AI artwork from ideogram.ai.

Writer’s Workshop — Body and Brain

Fandango6 Comments

For his Writer’s Workshop this week, John Holton gives us six writing prompts and we are tasked with choosing one of the prompts (or as many as we want) and writing a post that addresses that (or those) prompt(s). I chose two prompts for this week: (1) use the word “strength,” and (2) write a post in exactly 12 sentences.

I wish I had the strength I had in my youth.
The stamina, the vigor, the get up and go.
But at some point during this past decade
My get up and go got up and went
My stamina has drained away
My vigor has diminished dramatically

Now I am an old man whose bones are fragile
And whose muscles have grown weak
My ears don’t hear as well as they once did
My eyes don’t see as well as they once did
But at least for now my brain is still firing
On all cylinders just as it always has


Badge by Patty, http://anothercookieplease.com

AI artwork from ideogram.ai

FOWC with Fandango — Goldfish

Fandango11 Comments
FOWC

Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “goldfish.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, ÿplease manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.