A semi-regular attempt to address some of life’s minutiae that might otherwise be overlooked…..

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A few thoughts on the sad death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia…
No, I don’t believe he was murdered. However, one can’t blame conspiracy types for atleast pondering the idea. The Obama Administration has proven itself to be untrustworthy and vociferous opponents of the kind of traditional American values & Godly principles of which Justice Scalia was such a staunch guardian. Secondly, despite what many of my Republican friends have advocated, I do not think President Obama needs to step aside and let the next President fill the vacancy. The Constitution gives the President the power to nominate someone and so he shall. That being said, it is then up to the Republican majority in Congress to block anyone who would tip the scales of justice to the left. That’s how this is supposed to work. It’s how it’s always worked. Unfortunately, conservatives have absolutely no confidence that Congress will hold up its end of the bargain. If another radical liberal is somehow confirmed then the only chance our nation has to weather the storm is to elect the correct person to The White House in November and hope that President will get an opportunity to swing The Court back in the right direction with as many as three nominations (Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 82 years old, Anthony Kennedy is 79, & Stephen Breyer is 77). The big question is how much damage would be inflicted in the meantime. THAT is why the 2016 Presidential Election is SO important. It is not the economy, it isn’t immigration, it’s not tax policy. Those things are important, but the key to the election is deciding who we trust to fill up to three vacancies on The Supreme Court. Barack Obama is black, and lots of people think he’s cool…but the fact is that the idea that he now has the opportunity to make such a monumental impact on the nation’s highest court is scaring the crap out of people. Think about that. We can’t make that same mistake again.

 

 

Time for a little shameless self-promotion…
Awhile back I had an idea for a March Madness-esque tournament involving movies from the 1980’s (you know…the era of John Hughes, teen angst, The Brat Pack, synthesized theme music, & Tom Cruise before he lost his damn mind) called 80s Movie Mania. I published the intro not long ago and there are some quick polls that need votes (as there will be throughout the process). So if this is your first visit to The Manoverse or if you’re someone who only occasionally pops in and may have missed that introduction please take a gander and cast some votes. I really want The Manofesto to be interactive and this is a fun way to get involved. Thanks in advance.

 

 

Part of me feels bad for Jeb Bush. He seems like a good guy, and by most accounts he was a fine governor in Florida. His downfall was twofold…bad timing & being third. Let me explain. In almost any other election in American history Donald Trump would be seen as a fringe candidate and his run wouldn’t have lasted more than a few months. But in 2016 people are SO fed up with politics as usual and “the establishment” that being an outsider, thinking outside the box, & being non-PC really resonates with the masses. Couple that with Trump’s deep pockets and his brash attitude (a quality celebrated now rather than shunned as it would have been in the old days) and you’ve got a formidable entity that is difficult to defeat. Secondly, Jeb Bush is following in the footsteps of both his father and brother…one a former VP & one term President who people like but doesn’t necessarily stand out as being one of our best leaders, and the other a recent President who received much harsh criticism & derision (whether it was justified or not is a legitimate argument). A Bush has been President or Vice President 20 out of the past 36 years. In a political climate where being amongst the Washington insider elite is seen as such a negative Jeb’s last name was an inescapable albatross…fair or unfair.

 

 

Dear writers of The Big Bang Theory:
I love your show…have since Day 1. I appreciate how you have developed the characters over the years. Leonard & Penny are now a married couple and Penny has grown from a blonde bimbo with a pipe dream of becoming an actress to a young professional with a solid job. Howard Wolowitz has went from a lecherous horndog to expecting a child with his lovely wife Bernadette. Raj has had some romantic ups & downs but atleast now he is able to talk to women. The inexplicable romance of Sheldon & Amy has blossomed and both have become more at ease interacting with other human beings. The fact that TBBT is in its 9th season but still gets fantastic ratings and most fans have not expressed any significant fatigue or desire to move on from the show is remarkable. However…having said all of that…I do have a bone to pick. I understand that TBBT is a sitcom and alcoholism probably isn’t a subject y’all want to take on. That’s understandable because alcoholism isn’t funny. So, why then does Penny…a 30 year old woman…have such an obvious drinking problem?? Why is she constantly drinking alcohol, talking about drinking alcohol, or joking around about alcohol?? I repeat…it’s not funny. 18-22 year olds who drink a lot are fodder for comedy because they are college students (or atleast in that demo). 30+ year olds that are still getting wasted on a regular basis are just kind of sad & pathetic. Drunk Sheldon Cooper (even though he is in his 30s) is amusing because we know that he didn’t have a normal childhood or youth and doesn’t really grasp the concept of partying like most young adults have done at one time or another. But I can count one hand the number of episodes in nine years where Sheldon became intoxicated, whereas Penny drinks wine and makes some kind of smartass remark about getting drunk in nearly every episode. It’s almost tragic and needs to stop. Come on folks…you’ve proven you can do better.