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Realizing we we both brought the same book to read |
 Goodbye High School Hello U of I   |
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| Lucy in EveryMan during Mom's Weekend |
welcome to Team Saturdazzle. The A to Z challenge is almost over. Today I am supposed to be on the letter W and I am only on the letter U. So it's time for some A to A catch up. In the past when I've been behind I have doubled or tripled up in one post. When you do that it makes your index post a little difficult to do. So instead of that I am going to write 3 small posts for each letter I'm behind without the usual A to Z Prologues and Epilogues. I will link them all here when I am finished.
My theme for the A to Z Challenge this year is the A to Z's of me:
H was for Husband of One Amazing Wife
My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me. Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day.
It's time for some A to Z catch-up. , I am currently 2 posts behind. The next letter is S so let's get right to it shall we?
H was for Husband of One Amazing Wife
My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me. Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day.
It's time for some A to Z catch-up. , I am currently 3 posts behind. The next letter is S so let's get right to it shall we?
Randy Stonehill is one of my five favorite singers. Collectively I call these artists the Big 5. I have seen them all multiple times in concert and am more than familiar with each one's entire body of work. I have been listening to Randy since 1982 and like just about everything he puts out. Stonehill still performs and I had the opportunity to see him two times in a 6 month period bettween October of 2023 and March 2024. Here are some sights and sounds from those concerts.
Randy Stonehill , Leslie Stonehill & Phil Keaggy 10/7/23
South Holland Illinois
Concord Missouri
Randy Stonehill
Concord, Missouri 3/2/24
This Old Face- Whimsical wisdom amid evocative imagery is one of the thing's I've come to expect from Uncle Rand these many years and This Old Face does not disappoint. This song could be titled turning 70 as this is something Stonehill, born in 1952, will be doing sooner than later. Featured lyrics: It's been weathered by the wind of sadness and of sin but it shines whenever Heaven's love appears
Randy did a children's album called Uncle Stonehill's Hat and Emma , Amy and I were able to se him perform as Uncle Stonehill when Emma was little. The next 3 videos are Randy performing a song form that album at the concert in March 2024
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My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me. Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day.
It's time for some A to Z catch-up. , I am currently 3 posts behind. The next letter is R so let's get right to it shall we?
H was for Husband of One Amazing Wife
Q is for Quintessential Worker
R is for R.I.T.A. Republican In Theory Anyway
The phrase Republican in Name Only has been around for over a century. The acronym Rino is only been in place a little more than 30 years. Vox did an excellent job in 2015 chronicling the history of the phrase and the acronym and the shift in meaning over the years. A RINO to mix my metaphors a little here is a politician who walks like a duck talks like a duck but swears there an elephant.
I am no RINO. But just as the meaning of the phrase Republican in Name Only has shifted so has the perception of what it means to be a Republican in America these days. I slowly began to find myself cringing just a little when identifying myself as a Republican then Donald Trump became President in 2017 and I found myself cringing a little more then a lot more as his term went on.
In late November of 2020, I became more hopeful. Trump had lost the election although he and some of his followers were still contesting it, Republican officials in the disputed areas were the first to admit that he did not have enough votes to win. I wrote a post on one of my blogs entitled 10 Things I'd Like to See the Republican Party Do Now That the Election is Over.
I encourage you to click on the title and read the article before moving forward.
The 10 issues or actions were:
Abortion
Racial Reconciliation
COVID 19
Distancing from Donald Trump
Establish a Platform
Address Gun Violence
Widen Base
Reform Immigration Compassionately
Reestablish Sound Foreign Policy
Appeal to Independents.
Now I want to give credit where credit is due from the time I wrote that post until this present moment in time the Republican Party has only failed to achieve 10 of these goals. I mean come on the 2024 White Sox won more than 10 % of their games. You think the Republican party could have addressed at least 1 of my concerns.
If you look at some of my concerns it's obvious from the title that the Republicans have not addressed them. How can a party distance themselves from Trump and elect him again at the same time? They can't. How can a party reform immigration compassionately when they are allowing the deportation of those who are here legally? How do they reestablish sound foreign policy by allowing a President to chastise allies visiting the White House for wanting a war to stop in their country? How do they reestablish sound foreign policy and allow their President to talk about adding their neighboring country and ally as a 51st state? You can't in either situation. As for widening the base and appealing to independents it is difficult to imagine much of either happening with such a polarizing President. This is especially true when the rest of the GOP will not provide checks and balances to the President and seemingly live in fear of him as was written about in an opinion piece in today's U.SA. today
President Trump, his policies, his character, his demeanor, and for that matter his medeamors and his felonies are a large part of why I am only Republican in theory, anyway. Perhaps a greater part is how others have allowed him not only to lead the party but define it.
It started well before 2015, but when 16 other Republican leaders ran in the Republican primary and did not put personal and party desires over protecting the presidency from the unbalanced that's when I realized that the Republican party was no longer close to what it was even a quarter century before when I started aligning myself with them.
In theory they may still be the Grand Old Party riding on an Elephant and bringing the Cold War to a halt. But to quote Remember The Titans "Attitude reflects leadership", and the attitude of this president has made his party simply, the elephant in the room that no other Republican dare talk about.
I hate to rant and run, but it's time to move on. Click on the various words to get to the various places.
Coming Up RITA and weep
