Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Beware: Trump, Carson and Fiorina Do Not Have Adequate Conservative Credentials

CNBC:  STOCKS STILL IN THE BLACK

THIS IS A SALIENT REMINDER (@ PJMEDIA BY TYLER O"NEIL) TODAY of the real credentials of the current GOP front-runners and well worth a read.  I happen to agree with almost every word.  I'm still baffled by Donald Trump and completely turned off by Carly Fiorina.  She lost me completely when she told Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight show,  Sure!  A Muslim can be president!   Say what!? That was it for me and Carly.  As for Ben Carson,  he's a nice, soft-spoken guy with not a lick of political experience and the thought of him being president keeps me up more than anyone other candidate other than Hillary....(OK,  full disclosure NOTHING keeps me up at night as insomnia is not one of my issues.)

O'Neil writes:

2015 has become the “Year of the Outsider” in the GOP presidential race. First came the audacious and outspoken media mogul Donald Trump. Ben Carson, the subdued neurosurgeon who embodies the American Dream, followed suit. Now, former CEO and Senate candidate Carly Fiorina has galvanized the polls.hese candidates, without a lick of experience in elected office, have taken positions one, two and three in the polls — their support adds up to 52.1 percent in the Real Clear Politics polling data average.


At a time when the Republican-dominated House and Senate seem unable to stop an overreaching liberal president, conservatives have a right to be angry, and many of them are demanding change come from outside Washington, D.C. But these candidates don’t just lack political experience — they lack true conservative credentials.

Donald Trump, Crony Capitalist


The real estate magnate and media mogul has rightly drawn attention to the issue of illegal immigration, but when it comes to fiscal policy and the rule of law, he is no conservative. Donald Trump has built his fortune — the part he didn’t inherit from his father — by making deals with the government to kick out his competition.


“Trump became ‘partners’ with the City of New York to build a hotel in the 1970s — a deal that involved a 40-year property-tax abatement that saved him ‘tens of millions of dollars,’” explained National Review’s Robert VerBruggen. This “tax abatement” proves no different than a government subsidy, not unlike the millions of dollars the Obama administration gave to the failing solar company Solyndra.


In the 1990s, Trump petitioned the government of Connecticut to condemn five Bridgeport businesses so that he could use the land to build “a $350 million combined amusement park, shipping terminal and seaport village and office complex,” reported Mediaite’s Andrew Kirell. Would Trump no longer be considered a “winner” if it was well-known that Connecticut refused him on this?


Trump also lost out on using eminent domain to buy an Atlantic City woman out of her home to build a parking lot and waiting area for his hotel’s limousines. As Kirell noted, “the widow refused to sell her property, so Trump spent years under the guise of ‘eminent domain’ trying to get the government to pry the woman’s land for his private use.”


As Richard Anderson explained on Ricochet, the key element of Trump’s crony capitalism is regulation. “The more regulated a sector, the easier it becomes to run to Washington, or the state capitals, with requests for special waivers, preferences, and deferrals,” Anderson explained. As the government gets bigger and regulations become more complex, businesses are required to navigate the system, bribing their way to success in the market.


Needless to say, conservatives do not believe in allowing government — and by extension those who bribe government officials — this much control. They support private property rights and favor a more restrained use of political power. Even if Trump had not supported single payer healthcare in the past, or identified as a Democrat, or given to Hillary Clinton’s campaign and foundation, etc., he still should be an unacceptable choice to free market conservatives.


In the latest presidential debate, Trump was asked about his comment that when he gives money to elected officials,“they do whatever the hell you want them to do.” His response? “You’d better believe it.” Rampant corruption? Sign me up.

Ben Carson, Political Novice


Dr. Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon raised in the Detroit ghetto, has a truly inspiring story of achieving the American Dream. He speaks slowly, clearly and respectfully, with all the deference that Trump lacks. These are, alas, his only political virtues.


Carson speaks about his faith, the virtue of his mother and the errors of President Obama. Unfortunately, his talking points are very sparse on policy. The neurosurgeon seems to be running not so much on a political platform, but on his own personal appeal.


The Blaze’s Matt Walsh critiqued the hint of policy proposals Dr. Carson has put forth and found them wanting.


“I like that he’s pro-life, but he’s also been very confusing on the subject,” Walsh explained. Carson has often suggested that some women “avail themselves” of the abortion pill. “He’s also admitted that in his medical practice he did research on an aborted child and referred women to doctors who perform abortions.”

While Carson supports a flat tax, “he really won’t talk about entitlement spending at all.” Carson’s tax reform would bring in less money than the system needs. Walsh, like most conservatives, supports reform to shrink the size of government, but Carson has said nothing on the subject.


Foreign policy may be Carson’s most obvious weakness. When asked about the root cause of strife in the Middle East, he traced it back to “Jacob and Esau,” not Isaac and Ishmael — the two figures who generally represent Jews and Arabs — and not the establishment of the Jewish state. Carson also did not know that the Baltic states – Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia — are already part of NATO.


Walsh’s most serious critique of Carson, however, centered on his faith. Walsh recalled a quote Carson posted on Facebook around Easter: “Jesus was a man of values and principles, and he ended up being crucified for it. But, he rose again to advocate godly principles.”


“Jesus wasn’t a man who was crucified ‘for his principles’ and then came back to ‘advocate principles,’” Walsh explained. “He was and is the Son of the Living God who died on the cross and rose from the dead to bring salvation to mankind.”


For a candidate like Ben Carson, whose primary base of support is evangelical Christians, to screw up such an essential part of Christian doctrine is indeed astounding. But, as the New York Times’ Ross Douthat explains, evangelical voters have a weakness for the “low on specifics, high on godliness” pitch.


“The evangelical tendency has been to look for a kind of godly hero, a Christian leader who could win the White House and undo every culture-war defeat,” Douthat argues. Unfortunately, political and cultural changes do not usually come from one powerful individual, but “from networks, institutions, interest groups,” and require “strategy, alliance-building and steady pressure.”

Evangelicals should wake up and move on from Ben Carson. He cannot articulate the Christian faith, and there isn’t any evidence he would be an effective proponent of conservative policies.

Carly Fiorina, Failed CEO


In the 2010 California U.S. Senate Republican primary, a grassroots conservative upstart challenged a moderate establishment candidate. The grassroots conservative was Chuck DeVore and the establishment candidate was Carly Fiorina. John McCain and Lindsey Graham endorsed Fiorina, while Jim DeMint endorsed DeVore.


Fiorina outspent DeVore 3 to 1 in the primary, and then went on to lose badly to Senator Barbara Boxer in the general election. What caused this Republican to lose badly in a wave year for the GOP? Her business record at Hewlett-Packard (HP).


In September 2010, Carly Fiorina was running surprisingly close to Barbara Boxer, but then Boxer released an ad about Fiorina’s time at HP. Fiorina’s poll numbers plummeted and never fully recovered. As the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza said, “the ad functioned as a sort of knock-out punch for Boxer even in a year where Republicans claimed victories all across the country.”


“As the CEO of HP, Carly Fiorina laid off 30,000 workers,” the ad declares. Then it pans to footage of Fiorina, who says, “when you’re talking about massive layoffs, which we did…perhaps the work needs to be done somewhere else.” Then the ad explains where the jobs went: China.


“As Californians lost their jobs, Fiorina tripled her salary, bought a million dollar yacht, five corporate jets.” Then the damning tagline — Fiorina saying “I’m proud of what I’ve done at HP.”

Even worse, PolitiFact rated the claim “mostly true,” since Fiorina did lay off 30,000 workers.

The way Fiorina herself tells the story, she turned HP around and was fired because she challenged the status quo. In reality, she pushed a controversial merger with Compaq, got her way and hurt the company. When Fiorina took over, HP’s stock price was $55 a share; it dropped to a little less than $20 a share under her leadership.


There are good reasons why Fiorina shows up on lists of the worst CEOs in recent history. Notable lists come from Moneywatch, USA Today’s American Ouster and ABC News. CNBC ranked her the 19th worst CEO of all time.


In the words of Townhall’s John Hawkins, “if you think it wouldn’t be incredibly effective to point out that Fiorina fired 30,000 workers, tanked the price of the company’s stock, damaged Hewlett-Packard so badly that it has yet to recover and STILL walked away with 100 million dollars for being one of the worst CEOs of all time, you’re kidding yourself.”


Finally, Fiorina’s stances on certain positions reveal she is no conservative. As RedState reported in the 2010 race, she voiced qualified support for Obama’s stimulus, backed the Wall Street bailouts, did not reverse her previous support for an internet sales tax and did not retract her master’s thesis, which advocated greater federal control of local education. She also backed the California DREAM Act, which grants in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, and cap & trade.


“If you’re backing Carly Fiorina, you’re backing a 0-1, establishment moderate who was an epic failure at the one thing that is supposed to qualify her for the presidency,” Hawkins declared. She may have impressive foreign policy answers and a presidential demeanor, but she is no true conservative.

Conclusion


If you want to support a conservative change agent for 2016, you still have good options. Three senators, Ted Cruz (R, Texas), Rand Paul (R, Kentucky) and Marco Rubio (R, Florida), have solid conservative records and strong plans to restrain the size and scope of the federal government. Some governors, like Bobby Jindal (R, Louisiana), have reformed their tax codes and achieved real change. Please note that none of this should be taken as an endorsement.


Besides, is it logical to choose a candidate with zero experience in elected office, and make that person president of the United States?


As Real Clear Politics’ Carl M. Cannon wrote, “Would any of the three political novices allow, say, Chris Christie or Jeb Bush, perform brain surgery on them? The answer is: of course not. So why is politics the only profession in which it’s logical to start at the very top?”


“Would Ben Carson advise an aspiring physician to skip medical school because he doesn’t like the way the nation’s health care system is run?”


By all means, support a candidate who will challenge the status quo and bring conservative change to Washington — just make sure that person is a true conservative. Trump, Carson, and Fiorina aren’t.

Good piece.  Ted Cruz is still my man.  Marco Rubio is a far second.



Sunday, September 27, 2015

Sunday--The Original Serenity Prayer

5 WICKED WOMEN OF THE BIBLE YOU MAY NOT KNOW
AFTER CHURCH TODAY, I LUNCHED WITH MY ADORABLE DAUGHTER. 

IT'S SEVERAL DAYS AHEAD OF HER BIRTHDAY. I always like to hear what the real---not just superficial---issues are in her life. Today I added, anything special you want for your birthday, Daughter-O-Mine?

She was very quick and forceful in asking for two things: One, a girly, fashion item, a request that's easy to find and fulfill.

But second and more importantly, she asked me to find and have printed and framed the original Serenity Prayer. She said, "Mom, it was once on your blog, and I went back to look for it but couldn't find it..." Will you please find it and frame it for me?"

This is the kind of request any mother loves, loves, loves to find and fulfill. It's a prayer we all need daily, hourly, and sometimes minute-by-minute.  Certainly, I do.  It's the stuff of  real life and maturity.  I believe one of the greatest breakthroughs in life is realizing we're sinners in need of a Savior, and that we can't make it on our own.  We need God.  We need Christ.  We need the Holy Spirit.

So here, without further ado, is the full Serenity Prayer for all to read, meditate on and be changed and matured by, one day at a time.  Happy Birthday, Dear Daughter:

The Serenity Prayer

The full text of the original "Serenity Prayer" written by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

GOD, grant me the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change,

Courage to change the
things I can, and the
wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the
pathway to peace.

Taking, as He did, this
sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make
all things right if I
surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy
in this life, and supremely
happy with Him forever in
the next.

Amen

 Also,  I saw this on Tim Challies site and  think it goes well with the full Serenity Prayer:

September 27, 2015
Be kind to Your little children, Lord.
Be a gentle teacher,
patient with our weakness and stupidity.
And give us the strength and discernment to do what You tell us,
and so grow in Your likeness.
May we all live in the peace that comes from You.
May we journey towards Your city,
sailing through the waters of sin untouched by the waves,
borne serenely along by the Holy Spirit.
Night and day may we give you praise and thanks,
because You have shown us that all things belong to You,
and all blessings are gifts from You.
To You,
the essence of wisdom,
the foundation of truth,
be glory for evermore.

(A prayer of Clement of Alexandria)

Friday, September 25, 2015

The Way of All Predators And Trespassers

DON SURBER:  EVEN THE MUPPETS CAN'T SURVIVE THE NEW CRAPPY CENTURY  

 
THIS MORNING I READ A BOOK REVIEW @ PJMEDIA on a newly-released book called  The Well-Armored Child, A Parent's Guide To Preventing Child Sexual Abuse by Joelle Casteix Page, an author with first-hand knowledge of child sexual abuse herself at the hands of an adult predator.  As a grandmother of two small children,  my eyes and ears perk up when I see an article like this.  I want to get the book to read, then send it on to their parents, my children.

It's a good review of abuse and how an abuser gets his or her foot in the door of a child's, pre-teen's or teenager's young heart and life and selfishly takes and trespasses on what doesn't belong to them. Some of the information isn't new, but overall the article and book is a good way to review the fundamentals of abuse.

Which got me to thinking:  the same principles of child sexual abuse apply to any and all other kinds of adult abuses.  When you get right down to it,  abuse is abuse is another name for trespass, be it sexual, or any kind of property.

In almost all cases of abuse and trespass, there is an unequal balance of power---as in adult-child---which precludes activity on an even playing field. Here are some of the most important things to remember about abuse and trespasses of all kinds, at all ages:

1. The abuser/trespasser befriends his perspective victim, gaining his trust, usually over time---months and often years---ahead of the abuse or trespass.

2.  The abuser/trespasser then leads and grooms the victim over time and misplaced trust to begin to want what the abuser wants.

3. The abuser/trespasser  claims the abuse/trespass is consensual and that both parties agree and want it. (As in, that eight-year-old boy wanted sex with that 30 year-old-pedophile and it was totally consensual....His mother and father totally approved his going with this predator to that game etc.)

4. In every way possible, the abuser/trespasser documents the victim's consent and approval of his disgusting behavior.

For predators and trespassers who successfully accomplish such 'foreplay', it's like taking candy from a baby.

If only all adults could and would remember these basic principles of being preyed upon,  life might begin to be easier, and lawyers wouldn't have nearly so much business.

Again, predators befriend, groom, get consensual approval for their horrific actions from their victims.  All abuse and trespass follows the same general patterns no matter what form it takes.

Carry on.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Down Memory Lane---Oprah Interviews Donald Trump 25 Years Ago

IT'S REALLY RATHER CHARMING. Trump has a bit softer edges and a little less bombastic ego. Still, once a Trump, always a Trump. Thanks CA for sending this.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Sunday, The Goal of the Gospel---Freedom In Christ

 

GALATIANS AND THE GOAL OF THE GOSPEL---By Bob Deffinbaugh  

A FEW YEARS AGO, I was asked to visit an elderly couple who desired to be baptized in the church where I served. I went to visit them to discuss this matter, as I always do, and as we also do as a church.

On the door was a sign printed in five languages. Although I did not understand the languages, I discerned that “Keep Out” was the essence of the message. After knocking I was cordially invited in and after some small talk, I pursued to the purpose of my visit. “Tell me why you want to be baptized,” I inquired. “Well,” the husband responded, “you see my wife and I are getting along in years. We have done nearly everything we can think of to make certain that we are going to heaven, but we have not yet been baptized. We thought that we would not leave any stone unturned, and so we would like your church to baptize us.”

Needless to say, after trying to make a clear presentation of the gospel, I had to inform this couple that I could not baptize them under such circumstances. To them, baptism was a minor inconvenience but well worth the effort if there was any chance that it would enhance their spiritual well-being.

The Galatian Christians looked at circumcision in a similar light. They viewed it as a ritualistic act, which although painful and inconvenient, was a small price to pay to be more spiritual. There are, of course, significant differences between the circumstances in the Galatian churches of Paul’s day and the situation of this couple. The Galatian saints were saved and wanted only to enhance their spiritual standing. The couple with whom I spoke were not saved, and were trying to earn salvation by the “work” of baptism. Furthermore, baptism is not associated with additional duties and obligations. This couple would be no better off, nor any worse off, for having been baptized.
READ THE REST

Friday, September 18, 2015

Ragweed---Bane of September Existence

EVERYWHERE YOU WALK, BREATHE AND HAVE YOUR BEING,  THERE IT IS. If you like to sneeze, then come on down. I have to say, however, my hay-fever is about 1,000% better than it was twenty years ago. I'll be out in it much of the weekend.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Let's Watch the Debate

TRUMP: ILLEGALS TREATED BETTER THAN VETERANS REAGAN LIBRARY REPORT #1: ROGER SIMON ON RAND PAUL MISSING TARGET ON 
SIMON REPORT #2--THE DOCTOR ANSWERS THE QUESTION
IRAN  
IF ALL GOES WELL,  I'LL MAKE A FEW COMMENTS ALONG THE WAY unless I'm struck dumb, left speechless and need time to recover.

So far,  Trump, Fiorino and Carson rule.  Ted Cruz shines on the catastrophic Iranian deal.  He's so right.

Rand Paul, Jeb Bush just ain't got enough appeal to get me to consider giving them my vote. Jeb's attempt to get Donald to apologize to his Hispanic wife is cringe-worthy. Trump's calling out Bush on his support for Common Core is a smart move.

Marco Rubio and Scott Walker are just so-so, though Rubio is getting better as the night grinds on.

I love Mike Huckabee being Mike Huckabee though he isn't a front-runner. Trump nails the reality that President Obama lacks courage....Cruz turns up the heat again on about the disastrous Iran agreement.

I love Mike Huckabee and his stand on judicial tyranny and religious accommodation!

Cruz calls a spade a spade on the criminal enterprise of Planned Parenthood. Chris Christie goes after Hillary Clinton and her giving Obama a pass.  I admit I like Christie but  not for president,

Carly is on a tear, kicking butt though she can ramp it up to sound harsh when she gets going.

Like hearing Huckabee talk about the Fair Tax on consumption rather than production. I like to hear Carson on the Flat tax and two minimum wages---interesting idea.

Marco Rubio gets better and better however,  this is not his election cycle.  He'll be back and dominate in a future year.

Getting sleepy---it's past my bedrime, so will wind it up for now.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Ladies, Look At This Face

CARLY FIORINA MAKES LEMONADE FROM THE LEMONS THE DONALD MOST UNGRACIOUSLY TOSSED HER. She does it with class, style and not a bit of sourness. Way to go, Carly!

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Two Babies Talk Life After Delivery

THIS IS CLEVER AND POIGNANT, IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T READ IT:  H/T


IN A MOTHER'S WOMB were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”  The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”

“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”

The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”

The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”

The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”

The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one has ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”

“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”

The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”

The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”

Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”

To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Sunday--Humility and Lowliness of Spirit

WHY CHRISTIANITY IS SURGING IN HEART OF ISLAM
THREE WAYS WE FIGHT FOR OUR FAMILIES

HUMILITY AND LOWLINESS OF SPIRIT QUALIFY us for friendly communion and intercourse with God in Christ.  Pride makes God our enemy (1 Peter 5:5).  Our happiness here and hereafter depends on our friendly intercourse with heaven. If we have not that, nothing can make up our loss (Psalm 30:5).  If we have that, nothing can make us miserable (Rom. 8:31), 'If God be for us, who can be against us?'  Now, who are they whom God is for, but the humble and lowly?' They who being in Christ are so made like him. He blesses them, and declares them the heirs of the crown of glory:  Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven' (Matt. 5:3)  He will look to them, be their condition ever so low, while he overlooks others (Isa. 57:15).  He will have respect to them, however they be despised: 'Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect to the lowly; but the proud he knowth afar off' (Ps. 138:6).  He will dwell with them, however poorly they dwell (Isa. 57:15). He will certainly exalt them in due time, however low they lie now (Isa 40:4).

Now, is it not better to be qualified for communion with God, than to have him engaged against us, at any rate?

Humility is a duty pleasing to God, pride a sin pleasing to the devil (Isa. 57:15; 1 Tim. 3:6).  God requires us to be humble, especially under affliction, 'and be clothed with humility' (1 Pet. 5:5, 6).  That is our becoming garment.  The humble Publican was accepted, the proud Pharisee rejected. We may say of the generation of the proud, as 'Wrath is come upon them to the uttermost' (1 Thess. 2:16).  They please neither God nor man, but only themselves and Satan, whom they resemble in it.  Now duty is better than sin at any rate.

They whose spirits are brought down to their afflicted lot, have much quiet and repose of mind, while the proud, that must have their lot brought  up to their mind, have much disquiet, trouble and vexation..

The spirit brought down to the lot makes and maintains this inward tranquillity.  Our whole trouble in our lot in the world rises from the disagreement of our mind therewith; let the mind be brought to the lot, and the whole tumult is instantly hushed;  let it be kept in the disposition, and the man shall stand at ease in his affliction, like a rock unmoved with waters beating on it (Col. 3:15). 'And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called'.

---Thomas Boston, The Crook in the Lot, Living With that Thorn in Your Side, 1737

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Saying Adios Amigo to Bob Dornan A Jackson Hole Original and Real Western Man

(PLEASE NOTE, A PIECE OF MY KEYBOARD WENT OUT LAST WEEKEND, MAKING IT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO POST. The part has been ordered and should be in and fixed by next week. Till then,  posting will be light. Thanks for coming by.)

 I WAS CRAZY ABOUT BOB DORNAN OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS I KNEW HIM IN JACKSON HOLE, AND HE WAS FOND OF ME TOO. Every person who knew him had tales to tell. This summer when I was out in Moose having lunch at Dornan's, I learned Bob was gravely ill with only hours to weeks to live. I moped around for days afterwards. Bob died last week after a very full life and very happy marriage, and I want to post what came out today in the Jackson Hole News and Guide: 

  By Johanna Love

One day several decades ago Sen. Alan Simpson came upon his childhood pal Bob Dornan outside of Dornan’s Wine Shoppe in Moose. Dornan was stomping on cardboard boxes, flattening them to recycle. Dumbfounded at the sight, Simpson said, “What the hell are you doing?”

 As always, Dornan didn’t mince words. “He said, ‘You just help me, you big bastard,’” Simpson recalled. “‘You got a size 16, just get in here and help.’”

 Recycling was important to Dornan, working in the shadow of the Tetons at Dornan’s, his family’s cluster of businesses in Moose: a restaurant, grocery, gift shop, sports shop, bar, wine shop and outfitting operation.

On Sept. 2 Dornan, the public face of Dornan’s, died at home. He was 86. His friends remember him as smart, genuine and funny, with a wealth of knowledge about many subjects, especially wine.

He was “interested and interesting,” friend and former bar manager Amy Brennan McCarthy said. “You could sit over lunch and talk about geology, about the economy,” McCarthy said. “Of course you could talk about the wine.

He was an absolute gem of a human being with an open heart and an open mind.” Simpson, famous for his own gift of gab, said Dornan was a born conversationalist, which came in handy for the millions of people who flowed through Dornan’s. “He had a way of communicating with people,” Simpson said, “from the janitor to the popes and the potentates. He had a heart as big as his body.”

When Mary Howley Ryan began working for Dornan in the Spur Bar in 1992, she was surprised by his willingness to chat. She was impressed that he didn’t talk down to a young 20-something woman, that he cared about what she had to say and engaged her in discussions. “You didn’t just work for Bob,” she said, “he kind of adopted you. It was like a family.”

 Educated as an engineer, Dornan was a lifelong learner. He first picked up the wine bug in the 1960s, touring California vineyards with his father, Jack. For the past 30 years Dornan’s Wine Shoppe manager Dennis Johnson was an attentive pupil, soaking up Dornan’s wisdom as they tasted various varietals. “He taught me almost everything I know about wine,” Johnson said. “He just believed in a good glass of wine every day, or a good bottle.” A favorite grape was Zinfandel. “He said if he could only drink one wine for the rest of his life, it would be zinfandel,” Johnson said.

Read the whole piece.

Let it suffice to say,  I and hundreds of others will greatly miss  this rough yet good-hearted man. But no one will miss Bob like Dennis Johnson, my friend and fellow fly fisher who managed Dornan's Wine Shoppe for Bob decades.

Adios amigo.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

CANCELED: Nashville Mayoral Candidate Megan Barry Is Sponsoring A Planned Parenthood Fundraiser October 1 in West Nashville

PBS OMBUDSMAN:  GWEN IFIL'S SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS TO PBS CREDIBILITY, BUT REALLY, DOES ANYONE STILL WATCH THE NEWS HOUR ANYMORE?

5 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE PLANNED PARENTHOOD VIDEOS

(ABOVE, MEGAN BARRY AT LEAST FOUR YEARS AGO)

IT'S HARD TO FATHOM HOW OR WHY ANY SERIOUS CANDIDATE FOR POLITICAL OFFICE at this point in time, would help sponsor a Planned Parenthood fund raising event after the released videos and  undercover expose of the organization's depraved murdering and selling of fetal body parts often of full-term children in the womb.

But Nashville ultra-liberal mayoral candidate Megan Barry, along with her husband Bruce of the TN ACLU, is doing just that.  On October 1, less than a month after the election on September 10, she's co-sponsoring a big event at the GJCC---the Jewish Community Center in West Nashville---to help raise money for Planned Parenthood.

I cannot help but think this is going to hurt her chances for being elected mayor, unless Nashville is even bluer and more uber-liberal now than I think.  God help us if she's elected. The event at the JCC is entitled AMUSE BOUCHE....amusing indeed. But, HEY!, with a little wine,  it'll all go down with tidbits of gaiety as patrons chit-chat about hacked body parts and stem cells sauvignon..

Dawn of a New Day

     

EARLY MORNING UNDER THE DAM OF THE SOHO which is habitat for the smartest fish in the world. It takes patience, perseverance, and focus to catch these fish at this time of year after all the pressure they've been under. You also have to use the smallest of flies (16-22) with the tiniest of tippet (6x-7x) in the slickest tail water fishery in America. A major challenge all aroun and always humbling. .Fortunately, some of my favorite former  fishing guides and colleagues in Jackson Hole fixed me up with a pair of boots that help wading here on the SOHO be much safer... felt soles with steel studs. DUCKS ON THE WATER....