Monday, February 20, 2017

John McCain: Our Greatest American Hero


John McCain is the greatest American hero alive today. Although I've questioned his belief that every war of ours was right or even functional, I've never questioned his personal gallantry and high standards.

When he left the prison (or cage) where he'd been tortured  in Vietnam he could not raise his hands higher than his shoulders and still cannot comb his own hair. He could've been freed from captivity a long time before, but he knew the Vietcong would be doing it because his father was in command of a Navy fleet. So he had more beatings and lived in ghastly conditions because he did not want to be used in a political way against his country.

There were many times he spoke out in the Senate where others of his colleagues were silent. He is doing that today.

He knows that Trump is a potential dictator who would like to diminish the press and bend the federal judiciary to his will. McCain suspects there was Trump complicity in Russia's attempts to destroy our election process. He speaks truth to power, with only his wing man, Sen. Lindsey Graham, at his side. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are cowering before Trump because they believe more in holding onto political power than standing up for America.

I thank God that John McCain is there speaking up about the ghastly mistakes Trump has made. Let's see if he and our judiciary can prevent our being turned in to a banana Republic.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

James Garner: The Cherokee We All Wanted to Be


I grew up in Onondaga County in upstate New York. Back then people would call Native Americans "chief" because we had a reservation for the Onondaga Indians. It disgusted me, but I never knew just how much I admired an actor with Cherokee blood. When I was young most guys wished they were James Garner.

From the time we first saw him as Bret Maverick, and even while we suffered through his movies with Doris Day, he was probably the coolest guy on the big or the small screen. He made acting look effortless. His likability factor was really high. Even in the movie where he had to tell Sally Fields he was 60 years old, he was my hero.

I think it's both hilarious and horrible that we abused the Native Americans who lived  on the Onondaga reservation, while we all longed to be a man with Cherokee blood.