All the President's Accomplishments?

A family member today made a statement to the effect, "the president has accomplished a lot of good things in the past year." Mmmh. I might have to disagree.

One could argue that one of the main things the country needs is some sense of unity. President Trump has brought the antithesis of unity. In fact, I can't think of any other president who has even come close to the havoc he has wreaked.

Yes, he has gotten some judges on the courts and helped with the GOP tax bill. But his main selling point during his campaign seemed to be him building the wall between Mexico and the U.S. One might say "we haven't seen a brick yet." Moreover, not much of his agenda has been passed in Congress.

One final point, a point not related to the previous information: Trump got into the political arena using his shtick that the former president was not born in the United States. He seemed to be like a zealous minister preaching the gospel of doubt: "I really question if President Obama was born in the U.S. What I say is, if you were Pres. Obama, show us your birth certificate."

The irony is amazing. Now President Trump is the one withholding something desired by a large part of the populace: his taxes. I believe those who want to see his taxes should be as insistent as Trump was with Obama.

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An Excellent Essay on Chicken Tenders

I just read a wonderful essay by Helen Rosner. It's titled, "On Chicken Tenders," and it's about more than those fried bird parts. I want to wax poetic and say it's about life, meaning, and reality, and, in a sense it is. It's also about her being a restaurant critic and, as is said in psychology, the hedonic treadmill.

In any case, it's published in the quality magazine, Guernica, and it won the 2016 James Beard Award for Personal Essay. Beautifully well-written.

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Michael Pollan--An Excellent Writer

I just finished reading my second book by the author Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. It is basically an indictment of the way we Westerners eat. And from my viewpoint, the author has a strong argument. As I've gotten older, I have seen the folly of the thinking that what you eat has little bearing on your physical and mental health. Indeed, consider the person who eats no breakfast, eats a cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke for lunch, and for dinner "pigs out" (e.g., a big piece of beef, lots of white bread, macaroni and cheese, a Coke, and a piece of apple pie); now, consider the person who eats oatmeal for breakfast, a healthy snack mid-morning, a large salad for lunch, a healthy snack mid-afternoon, and a dinner with lots of vegetables and fruits.

Eating in either manner like that for years on end, has to make a difference to the way your body operates and how your mind works (or doesn't work).

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Quotes on Politics

These are the times that try men's (and women's) souls. Maybe some quotes will help mollify the pain:

--Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.    Ronald Reagan

--The world is a dangerous place to live--not because of the people who are evil but because of the people who don't do anything about it.    Albert Einstein

--Ultimately politics in a democracy reflects values much more than it shapes them.   Arnold Rogow

--Politics is the science of how who gets what, when and why.    Sidney Hillman

--In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.   Charles de Gaulle

--Money is the mother's milk of politics.    Jesse Unruh

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