"Somebody's Watchin' Me......"

That's the title of a Motown song of the '70s (?) by Rockwell.  It think Rockwell, a stage name, was a son of Berry Gordy.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YvAYIJSSZY

If this plays, note the lyrics, "...oh what a mess!  I wonder who's watching me now--Who?--the IRS!"

Anyway, I wonder who reads my blog(s).  Sometimes I think it's more than a I realize.  (Not really; I'm not that vain.  But......

Every so often I hear ideas that I wrote weeks and months ago.  Folks sometimes send me articles and they concern what I wrote a long while back. This week there were two such instances.

I've probably angered a few people over the years in maintaining college degrees in education are, for the most part, fake degrees.  They aren't real ones.  (They lack the rigor required of a real college degree.  And, since I have one, I think I can make valid comparisons.)  So this week I read an article which criticized educators.  The author's points were on the money, no doubt.  But what attracted my attention more than any other part of the article was his reference to teachers with "faux degrees."  I think "faux" is a fancy Nancy word for "fake."

And one of the radio guys, I forget if it was local or national, this AM was interviewing some pundit who referred to "the Establishment" in politics/government.  He said the major problem, esp in the Republican Party vis-a-vis the phenomenon called "Trump," is that "the Establishment" doesn't understand the attraction of Trump. He blamed this lack of comprehension on the "elites" among the leadership of the party, that they are "elitists," thinking that they know what's best than the rank-and-file Republicans.  Hey, I think for years I've been calling all the DC insiders, politicians, bureaucrats, etc. "arrogant elitists."

Hmmm......"somebody's watchin' me?"

And the NFL.......  Apparently in some game last week, players from one team called a player from the opposing team a name.  And the league is up in arms.  So, we have concussions all over the place, former players crippled with some committing suicide, with 300+ pounders running at ridiculous speeds at quarterbacks, and the league is worried about name-calling??????  I'm getting a headache.

NYC, I guess is thinking about passing or already has passed legislation making it a crime to speak negatively about gays.  I don't remember the max jail sentence, if there is one, but conviction can result in a fine of up to $250,000.  (Hey, that's more than 5 years of my income!)  Wait a minute?  I thought the First Amendment guaranteed freedom of speech??????  "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or of speech or the press......"  And beginning with Gitlow v NY (1925), using the incorporation theory, applied the free speech guarantees against the states, too, with the 14th Amendment ("...nor shall any state deprive any citizen of life, liberty......").  I have no problem with gays or gay marriage; past posts on this blog have so stated.  The problem here lies in the censorship by government.  What happens when some Catholic priest, some fundamentalist Protestant minister speaks out against gay marriage, perhaps calling it an abomination, even citing the Bible/Old Testament (as some preachers in the North did in condoning slavery)?  Will they be arrested?  It's like prosecuting bakers or pizza joints or......for not wanting to cater gay wedding.  That's their right.  This is America.  We can boycott such establishments, picket them, etc.  If their businesses and bottom lines are hit hard enough, maybe they'll rethink their positions, but maybe not.  The sit-ins in the civil rights era worked by and large.

BTW, out last weekend, we passed a mall that had a sign indicating a Hobby Lobby was opening.  Someone mentioned another who'd be incensed at that, a Hobby Lobby opening.  "Why?" I asked.  One answer was Hobby Lobby's resistance to ObamaCare's requirement to fund certain types of birth control.  "Oh," I went on.  "Is she equally upset with Planned Parenthood?"  It got pretty quiet until the subject was changed--and we were, perhaps fortunately, distracted by very icy/slippery roads.

I guess I understand the defenders of Paul Ryan and the Republicans going along with the $1.1 trillion omnibus budget bill--but I certainly don't agree with their vote.  I think they are sell-outs and that their attempts to rationalize their votes are cop-outs.  They were sent to DC to do something, not to go along to get along.  If the Republican leadership doesn't wake up, Hillary Clinton will end up in the White House instead of the trash heap of history.  Maybe it doesn't care as long as the leadership keeps getting elected......  Shame on Americans for letting all this crap happen.