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Okay, it struck me today (as I was reading those folks over on the blog roll) that I'm not really much of a blogger anymore. Not like I used to be, commenting upon (and ranting about) various current events, historical remembrances, and the like. I don't really do that anymore. So I asked myself, "Why?"
Today, for those visiting from another country or perhaps another planet, is Election Day in these here United States. I have to tell you, it's the most contentious election I've seen in all my days when there wasn't a war dividing the country, like back in '68. It's also part and parcel of why I turned my so-so writing talents to a tale of historical fiction.
That time period, World War II, we had a clear picture of who was good and who was evil. For those who might argue that evil doesn't really exist, visit Auschwitz or any of the Holocaust Museums around the world. Evil does exist and it isn't about normal people making bad choices. No it's people "going along" to "get along." The Nazis were evil incarnate, those who sold their souls for gain in that world hopefully got to pay dearly in the next.
So yeah, historical fiction was my escape pod from the disturbing reality which exists in some parts of the U.S.A. I don't see much of that in Little Rhody, certainly not in my little town by the Bay. But it exists.
I talked to The Nuke last night, she works in Washington DC (before you bad mouth that town, go visit it, the assholes are up on Capitol Hill, everyone else is fairly normal) and there is a great deal of concern about the aftermath of this election. I know others in cities where there has been turmoil and they're battening down the hatches and are standing by for heavy rolls. (Nautical terminology there, one of The Naviguessor's ROTC instructors used the term with me at one point in time, it's stuck with me ever since. A good way to express the possibility of "something bad" heading your way.)
So today, I decided to step back from the story I've been telling since the beginning of June and just ponder the imponderable. After all, the past few days have been a nightmare for the cast of characters in what will (I hope) be an actual book someday. (Within a year, no, really, that's the plan) and I need a break from the war.
Not to mention that The Muse seems a bit shell-shocked lately.
Oh look, an aircraft...
Oh look, an aircraft...
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I hope you have voted by now, or will before the day is done. It's kind of important ya know.
I'll be back soon with another episode from the fall of 1944 in war torn Europe. Perhaps even tomorrow, who knows?
At this point, I don't...
Maybe you could alternate rants with fiction?
ReplyDeleteIt might happen that way, but I think the rants will be sporadic until this tale is done.
DeleteYour "rants" seem much more well thought out and reasonable than the preponderance of newspaper editorials. I concur with the Badger. Old Guns
ReplyDeleteI have friends and family on both sides of the political spectrum. I believe in old school politics where you respect your opponent.
DeleteWhich is why your rants actually mean something, rather than a rant from some other blogger.
DeleteSame with rants from the other two musketeers. Infrequent, but meaningful.
And quite frankly, to be honest, though y'all ain't at Larry Correia level of fisking, y'all do a durned good job when you get around to it. (Which is why it shocked me when I got sucked up to do occasional rants and other things for here.)
Ah, but your rants are epic.
DeleteIn Chicago, downtown businesses (what's left of them) are boarding up in preparation for an unwanted election result. Yes, when the GOP loses, it's angry minions all decked out in their Brooks Brothers sweater vests and their polished wing tip Bostonians will take to the streets looking for justice.
ReplyDeleteSure, that's the way it's going to go.
Yup, damned stockbrokers and bankers rioting in the streets again.
DeleteThat tickertape stuff can be used to cut through Chobham armor, dontcha know.
DeleteHahaha!
DeleteYup, it's voting time.......away we go.....
ReplyDeleteSeatbelt is fastened, I'm prepared for a bumpy ride.
DeleteFirst,thanks for your stories. When I get up first thing is to check for an update. SR-71,what a piece of engineering for it's time or any for that matter.Done with slide rules and bright minds. Wife's best friends hubby did maintenance on them.He said they were searched after shifts for the used gold seals they replaced on them. Got our votes in,hope Trump wins and we keep the senate. I can't imagine the draconian regulations that will be put in place if he doesn't. Take care,Allan
ReplyDeleteComputers make the math go faster, doesn't make the engineers any smarter. Solid engineering is just that, solid.
DeleteThanks for reading Allan.
Just happened across Brian Shul's talk on utube. I've heard it before -even met the man at Reno (bought his books, signed). I'm now gonna make listening to him a Q1R as we said back when the Fleet actually did maintenance. Highly recommend to everyone
DeleteBoat Guy
Good stuff!
DeleteGot to vote last week, due to age. With the 24 hour news cycle, I keep wondering what the big deal is? Wish they would go back to news. But the dear other one wants news. Lucky for me, their are fail movies on youtube. And she wonders why I'm seeking, and bennie, and red green....
ReplyDeleteLove the Red Green Show.
DeleteI voted a couple weeks ago. My job has a way of fouling the deck on election day... Met a Little Rhodendron the other day at a Uhaul. Interesting accent, no-nonsense, all business. Liked her immediately. Maybe some of them d---yankees aren't all bad?
ReplyDeleteHope all goes well for the USA. Praying actually. Yall be safe up there. If you need to bug out, come on down. I'll set up a pallet on the floor and we'll laugh and scratch.
👍
DeletePrayer is always good!
From the South's perspective, Yankees are like Californians. They're good when they stay home!
DeleteWe in Florida have a particular problem with the big city yankees who apparently tried to take over our big cities (and vote both back home and here... hmmmm.. yes, it's been pointed out for years and the FBI has done nothing about it, leaving the local prosecutors to do all the work (and if you think they do, see comment about big cities being taken over by them...))
It's almost like Yankees (those who wish The South to be like the North) suck but yankees (those born/raised in the North but respect the south) are cool. (Especially since many become people-of-the-gun once they're out of their restricted hell-holes.)
Real Yankees stay home, they don't go making trouble elsewhere. Also, big city types aren't really Yankees.
DeleteAfter the roller coaster ride of the past few episodes....I understand your break from it. Damn fine reading though...always saved it for last as nothing else compared!
ReplyDeleteI too respect all views on the political spectrum, unfortunately, those feelings are not shared by a very vocal and destructive few.
After the last few episodes I really had to stop and catch my breath.
DeleteSo did we.
DeleteA good point!
DeleteWhat a fine aircraft it is... This is your place, post what and when you want.
ReplyDeleteShe was a fine bird, saw them a lot on Okinawa.
DeleteSometimes (not always)I saw them in my gun sight.
DeleteFleetingly I presume?
DeleteSitting on the ramp while you're taxi-ing doesn't count. :)
DeleteTrue dat!
DeleteNo, it doesn't. However...I had some pretty good (if very classified) film showing one with the target designator box (indicating valid radar lock among other things) on him with the time of flight indicator of my 4th Aim 7 at zero. Granted he was well above me and he wasn't black, Much more of a pale orangish white. On debrief, he confirmed the kill but called it a "Low and Slow" pass. He was flying at the max altitude of a Mig-25 at the Mig's max speed, Not His. So your ramp comment has SOME validity.
DeleteCool!
DeleteI can just see the left hand way above the head while the right hand is angling for a shot down around waist-level...
DeleteOr vise-versa, depending on whether watch-hand is the shootee or the shooter.
Typically one shoots at the watch hand. Typically, not that I would know anything about that...
DeleteYou are correct, Oh Wise One!
Delete😁
Delete" the assholes are up on Capitol Hill, everyone else is fairly normal". - have to disagree with you there, Sarge. While I have know there are a lot of fine people in DC, there are many more assholes than just those on Capitol Hill. Three groups come to mind - the local government twerps including Mayor, chief of police and city council; the general populace who continues to vote them not office (insert Marion Barry reference here - how many times was he elected, even after his convictions?); and the legions of black clad leftist "mostly peaceful" protesters who are the real reason the city is being hardened against post election violence. A pox on all of them! Including the ones you mentioned on Capitol Hill...
ReplyDeleteHow often have you visited DC and seen things with your own eyes? Don't condemn an entire city because of a minority is my point. I've been there, a lot in the past ten years. I like it there, the majority of the people I've interacted with were decent Americans.
Delete"...the majority of the people I've interacted with were decent Americans.". I think that's probably the case in most of the US. Unfortunately, as the saying goes "One bad apple spoils the Barrel". My time in the Pentagon, (twenty years ago) taught me the DC variant of that statement. "I know what you did for me last week, but what have you done for me lately?". While not everybody felt that way, enough did for that sentiment to become expected when encountering someone. Which meant that the disease spreads a little further. I could not get out of there fast enough. Yes, it's been twenty years, but my short visit with Little Juvat there last year gave me strong indications that it was still around. I also suspect that selection bias may be in play. You and I associate with decent Americans, we don't associate with jerks (I would have use the double S word, but family blog.) therefore, the majority of people you and I associate with ARE decent Americans.
DeleteThat could be the case.
DeleteI concur with juvat and with OAFS. There be decent people there, like there are decent people in the LA area and decent people even in NYC or Atlanta. But it's the derriere-covers that make the news and fuel the fires (sometimes literally) that scare us non-city dwellers and taint our opinions.
DeleteThose are the ones you need to watch out for.
DeleteSorry if I gave the wrong impression with my comment - I've been going to DC and its environs for over 30 years, and I generally like it there as well as liking most of the people I have met who live there. My point, which I didn't make very well I guess, was that besides the assholes on the Hill, there are other groups there that share that description. Local politicians and local bureaucrats and 'mostly peaceful protesters' are among those others... and I included those others precisely because I've seen what they've done to D.C. over the years. And it's a beautiful city, just wish it hadn't been erected to serve the bureaucracy wasting our tax dollars.
DeleteThose types live in most places, I just get tired of all the "nuke DC" comments I see all over the Internet. I have friends and family who work in DC so I get a little feisty when folks talk bad about the place. I get ya.
Delete"Oh look, an aircraft......" Oh look, a cat...I know what you mean, Sarge.
ReplyDeleteI'm stepping back all the time, it seems.
I just want to hibernate for a few months...read that seasons.
I feel ya!
DeleteI understand BBC, But you do a great job with your blog. A lot of humor, even more animals and an overabundance of common sense. Hibernate if you must, but please, don't give up. "Never give up! Never Surrender!" A great line from a great movie that probably needs re-watching.
DeleteRoger that!
DeleteYou know, one should never overlook or under value the effect encouragement can have on a person.
DeleteYou guys chirk me up every time.
(Busy corralling my cats for Friday,.they always please.)
More cats!
Delete(Don McCollor)...Hang in BBC...Watch for your every new post...pictures express so much more than words...Confess I "borrow" some, save, and email to friends [never repost them] when they need a bit of cheer...
Delete'Tis a happy place.
DeleteThere comes a time when we all need a little R&R (or I&I as it was known in the Corps). In recent months the intensity of much of the discourse on the net has descended far from the reasoned discourse of yesteryear. I hope that your observations on the denizens of Capitol Hill are not universal. There was a time when a not insignificant number of them were motivated by the challenge of John F. Kennedy's inaugural address. But I must admit that the place has changed greatly, anm for the worse since I retired.
ReplyDeleteLately Congress has been deficient in doing their jobs. Just my observation.
DeleteUnfortunately it's not just "lately." As an example, back in the 50's there was a push to "reform" the budget process so that all appropriations bills would be passed before the start of the fiscal year. To accomplish this the end of the fiscal year was extended from June 30 to September 30. The intention was that all funding issues would be resolved before the new fiscal year commenced and there would be no necessity for endless "Continuing Resolutions" (which always become Christmas Trees with money added for everyone's pet rock. It's a fricken law, they must do it. The LAST time Congress actually complied was 1886.The Congress is the third "co-equal: branches of government. In fact it has become the sapless branch.
DeleteIt is bad, but not quite that bad. Would you believe 1996?
DeleteDave #1 - My definition of "lately" actually means any time after WWII.
DeleteDave #2 - I missed 1996, I was in Germany. I will say that the country was very different when I left in 1992 from when I returned in 1999. Billy Jeff really f**ked things up in my estimation.
DeleteSad times...
ReplyDelete>>Judicial Watch finds 1.8 million 'ghost voters' in 29 states, warns of 'dirty elections'<<
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/oct/20/judicial-watch-finds-18-million-ghost-voters-in-29/
That, in particular, is worrisome.
DeleteI am really enjoying your story. Thanks for telling it.
ReplyDeleteYou should check with Sgt Mom over on Chicago Boyz about publishing your book. She's got experience in getting things into print.
Good to know! Thanks Jeff!
DeleteEven if you could toss another cliffhanger out today, well, today may not have been the day for it, as things may get 'frisky' out there.
ReplyDeleteAll Y'all (southern for more than 5 people) out there keep your heads down, be safe, pray (if you do that) that emotions and stupidity are kept under control, and we'll all gladly wait for another thrilling story about how the Forest always wins...
That was the thought...
DeleteSarge, a blog is what the author makes of it. There is a natural change over time as, I think, our interests and situations wax and wane. The important part (in my world, at least) is that we are interacting at some level online in a way that Social Media makes impossible. No matter what the subjects are.
ReplyDeleteIndeed!
DeleteHey AFSarge;
ReplyDeleteI have drifted away from Political rants on my blog, Don't get me wrong, I still do it, but not like I did before. I try to do a bit of historical stuff instead. You are correct about WWII being clearcut "Good Guys" and "Bad Guys", nowaday when you have half of the American population wanting to send the other half to "reeducation camps" for thinking differently, this concerns me greatly. This tells me that we have forgotten how to listen and the other half that is tired of being lectured all the time is armed and getting very grumpy concerns me greatly. I hope this Republic will survive another 244 years.
Right now I'd be happy with another four years...
DeleteKorea and Vietnam would both have been clear-cut Good vs Bad except, well, our politicians and our media stabbed us in the back over the good fight thing during those wars/police actions/frisky times.
ReplyDeleteAs to the divide in our country, one side is still mostly willing to let bygones be bygones if the other side just ramps down. But that other side wants the one side to basically die horrible flaming deaths while they watch and cheer.
Just hoping the 'REEEEEEEEEEE' returns tonight without too much violence. It would be nice if people acted like adults for once...
Acting like a responsible adult seems to be a lost art in some places these days.
DeleteFingers crossed it doesn't get sporting down here. When the black shirts thought to attack the Alamo, normal Texicans took umbrage. There are so many milspec types down here that... well, they have strong opinions about what they are witnessing...
DeleteIndeed.
Delete(Don McCollor)...perhaps you had another in mind, but "Who Am I" is so appropriate from Country Joe & The Fish...
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, never heard that song before today.
Delete(Don McCollor)..Country Joe is better known for "Feel Like I'm Fixing To Die Rag" (Live at Woodstock). A female leftie played it for me in 1970 (I was and still am deep conservative) [probably to see my reaction]. She was somewhat nonplussed when I enjoyed it and started singing along...Catchy tune, and they had a sense of humor back then...
DeleteOh, I know who Country Joe is, just never heard that song before.
DeleteAnd while I have been the semi-irregular part-timer on the political front, I've lost my taste for it too. Not that I don't think about it daily, but the time I have is less, and the ideas have all been writ for the most part. I'm still afraid for this country, moving so much closer towards socialist ideals than ever before, but I don't have new material for those fears. Dishonesty on the part of politicians is so pervasive, and shaping of the narrative on the part of the media is so common and accepted, that I worry that the turn is for the worse, and past the point of return. Your story is a good way to keep active, but there are lots of other topics that aren't politics.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but the history draws me in like no other topic.
Delete