Chamblee54

This feature was originally published November 4, 2008. PG had just returned from voting. According to Wikipedia, November 4 saw Presidential elections in 1924, 1952, 1980, and 2008. That is three Republicans, to one Democrat, in four elections on the fourth. Today’s birthdays include Will Rogers, 1879, Walter Cronkite, 1916, Art Carney, 1918, Freddy Heineken, 1923, Laura Bush, 1946, and Robert Mapplethorpe, 1946. Will Rogers never met Donald Trump. Pictures for this gratuitous waste of bandwidth are from The Library of Congress.
PG thinks about the three part advice…pray, vote, don’t worry. The second part is over. When PG walked out of the building at 7:42 am last Tuesday, the election was history. The wawuh is ovah. La Guerre Est Finie, or whatever the title was of that movie at the Film Forum thirty seven years ago. That was about the time of the first election for PG, when Tricky Dick whipped George the dummy. Tuesday was the ninth time PG has cast a presidential ballot, and, if the polls are correct, will be the third time he voted for the winning candidate.
Don’t worry is phrased with a negative, and might work better with a positive verb. The first thought is Have Faith. Or maybe Think Well, or Think Good Thoughts. Alfred E. Neuman made a good career out of the phrase “What me Worry?”, even though he was just a cartoon character. It is easy for cartoon characters not to worry. (The spell check suggestion for Neuman is Humane.)
Having faith for a living human being can be a bit tougher. PG has always tended to pessimism, and his default face look is sadness. This causes problems, especially with a certain former employer who would harp on PG’s “negative attitude”. When you tell a person often enough that he has a negative attitude, it is the lie that becomes the truth.
The truth is, the future has always looked bad, and turned out to be good. PG 63 now, in good health below the neck, and has a few things going for him. As for America and the world … the national debt is greater than ever, a war rages on eight time zones away, and we are no closer to energy independence than we were when Tricky Dick was POTUS. This was the time of the OPEC embargo, when America began to realize it’s addiction. We have done nothing since. PG remains optimistic about the future health of the planet, but wonders what it is based on. UPDATE We still have multiple wars, energy chaos, an enormous national debt, and ass backward leadership. In the 2016, the Republicans blamed Islam and Mexico. The Democrats blamed racism. Neither blame game is likely make America great, either in the past, the future, or the pasture.
Which brings us to the third leg of the stool. Prayer is an essential part of many religions, and works for many people. PG has a problem with prayer. It is connected to Jesus Worship. PG does not get along with Jesus.
Prayer is talking to G-d. Meditation is listening. Prayer is active, meditation is passive. Prayer appeals to type A americans, who tend to do what they want, and fight those who get in the way. Most of these people are Jesus Worshipers. This is what PG sees of when he thinks of prayer. Not only are they loud and selfish, but they are proud of it. They are loud and selfish for Jesus.
The first commandment says to have no other G-d before thee. This does not make an exception for books about G-d, or for the so called son of G-d. When you get away from this common sense rule, you are going to have problems. Maybe if you pray to G-d, and leave Jesus and the bible out of it, you will be ok. As long as you shut up, and listen to what she has to say.