A Conversation Brings Back a Memory

 My wife, and I, were sitting on the porch, drinking coffee with my sister-in-law, and discussing how certain things were not negotiable when we were young, and how one certain look from our mothers could curtail any thoughts of whining. Going beyond whining could lead to things worse.

My sister-in-law told of a story of saying something inappropriate to her mother, who grabbed her by the hair and pulled her from their car to show her dissatisfaction with her daughter.  A spanking with a belt followed, which always involved a short wait, since her mother wanted her anger to subside before the belt wailed. She then asked her if she understood why she was spanked. My sister-in-law said that was worse than the spanking. She knew she had to confess to her error in judgement, and admit the failure. 

After we all laughed about the event, I told them of my error in judgement when I was about sixteen years old.  

I was sitting at the kitchen table, my mother was behind me and asked me a question. I don't remember the question, but I do remember the answer, which was not a good thing to do: "It's none of your business."

The next thing I knew, I was levitating. My butt was now a few inches above the chair, I was moving to the right, and the power that caused the levitation was suddenly released. Falling on my butt on the floor, registering the pain, and realizing there was a new pain, I turned to look at my mother standing over me with a handful of hair. I don't remember what happened afterward, but I do know - as I look back in time - it took a tremendous amount of strength to pick me up by my hair with one hand and throw me to the floor. Her message was clear, and I probably gave her an appropriate answer at that time. 

My wife, after laughing with my sister-in-law about my memory, stated: "You should write this down", which I did. Now both events are in writing for future reference by anyone that cares.

I'm Cynical

 Cheatle resigned. Now what? More investigations that lead nowhere? No accountability, as usual? More destruction of records and the constant effort to keep anyone from speaking? I see nothing will be resolved, the administration continuing feckless behavior, and the constant chatter of theories as nothing more than a distraction.

Bleh!

While The Fingers Are Being Pointed

From what I know, Trump has his own Secret Service detail from his presidency. This raises the question of what were they doing? If they were competent, and knew the security was not up to standards, why the hell did they allow him to go on stage? While everyone is pointing at the head of the Secret Service, and ignoring the fact Trump was supposed to be secure by his personal agents, how can you automatically blame her for trusting those responsible for Trump's immediate safety?

So, He Bails

Biden is dropping out, which is no surprise. At the rate he was going, his ability to utter two intelligible words was an iffy thing, and even his supposed supporters were clamoring for him to leave. Harris is the supposed new candidate, which if things go like I think they will, will assume power after Biden is deemed unfit to lead. This will allow a glimpse of her "remarkable" leadership qualities to promote her electability. That, or they will pull a rabbit out of the hat, and come up with someone new who the media will promote to a level unseen in history. 

This is all theater. Thinking there is an orderly election process going on is unreal. It's a production, we're the audience, and the cost to watch is way too expensive for my budget. 

Understanding The Mental State

A neighbor across the street, who was older than I was, left home, went to Houston, and joined the police department. Over the years he advanced with his duties, and eventually became part of the Secret Service guarding Walter Mondale, which was his task up to retiring. I had one conversation with him years later, when he was visiting his mother. 

The conversation we had was generally just catching up, nothing of real importance, but fascinating. He would look me in the eye, but only for a short period of time. It was as though he was analyzing my expression, categorizing what he saw, and his eyes would then return to the constant scanning of everything around.  I determined his training had changed him into a person that was supremely aware of their surroundings, analyzing the possibilities of threats, and constantly focused on everything. 

I feel too many of Trump's detail were not trained as they should be. They are supposed to protect the President by shielding him, but they are also supposed to be aware of any security gaps, possible threats, and prevent them from happening. If they weren't Secret Service, they were probably unqualified.