The real audacity of hope: True grit, bold pluck, and daring-do.

by Angela K. Durden

Barack Obama set up his run for presidency in his 2007 pre-campaign-stump book, The Audacity of Hope. In short, he made the case that only by returning to the principles that gave birth to the Constitution can the US do two things.

One: repair a broken political process, and two: restore to working order a government that has fallen dangerously out of touch with millions of ordinary citizens. 

Obama got elected because people believed him when he pointed out the two things they had on their minds. Finally! Somebody who understood. What was not to love in the summary of his book? Besides, Mr. B. was pretty and urbane and smooth and cool and the camera loved him, so here comes the New Camelot. 

Only, it didn't quite turn out that way. In this column, I will not beat that dead horse because my readers know that story. 

But the thing is, Obama was correct: There is something nasty in the woodshed and — as these last few months of scandals rocking the FBI, Justice Department, and other actors in the hidden Deep State have shown us  — the political process is nastier and more broken and out of touch than we even knew. 

Further, Obama assured his readers, those Americans were "waiting on Republicans and Democrats to catch up with them."

Boy, oh boy! Were they ever waiting. 

Only, Obama thought when his second term ended he would be saying "Tag! You're it!" to Hillary "Ol' Hill" Clinton. Why, she was a shoe-in. The P-HWPCDLRSFC, MSM, and FLOTSAM* knew it.

But it was Donald Trump who got tagged and it was "The Hammer" who was now "It." And he hit the ground running. Last night's State of the Union address was brilliant. Here's why: Trump's understanding of the word audacity.

President Donald "The Hammer" Trump's State of the Union address clearly showed what leadership looks like from those who are willing to take bold risks, truly dare, show courage, pluck, and grit during times of danger. It celebrated ordinary citizens' bravery under fire both at home and abroad, willingness to carry on in times of deep grief, and the heart to step up and do even if against the odds.

But the address didn't just speak to American citizens. It spoke to citizens of other countries who live in fear by letting them see that Uncle Sam was no longer rolling over begging to have his tummy tickled by dictators and despots, neither politically, spiritually, morally, or in business.

Yes, real audacity of hope sure looks different from what Socialists, Fascists, and Commies call it. 

Not all, but most politicians on one side of the floor glowered — one fellow with a colorful sash across his chest stomped out in protest (I assume protest, but he might have had a full bladder, for all I know). They stood, more reluctantly than not, but only where not to stand would have been a huge faux pas. For those who claim to care for you more than anybody else in the world ever would, their sour pusses sure spoke volumes.

It should go without saying that no political process and no politician is perfect. Only God's Heavenly Kingdom will provide that. But until that Kingdom does come, God knows there must be controls in place and so we have governments and politicians and citizens coming together in an often messy process that includes an imperfect Good and a highly focused Evil.

Hard decisions must be made and bold actions must be taken because Evil will win every time Good does nothing. In the January 30, 2018 State of the Union address, we saw what Good in action looks like and can accomplish.

The real audacity of hope elevates and celebrates the good, the true grit, the bold pluck, and the daring-do of good people everywhere.

Citizen Journalist.  Novelist. Author of other stuff. 

Business writer.  Songwriter.  Protecting creator's copyrights. 

* Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies, Mainstream Media, talking-head pundits, flacks, Pussy-Hat Wearers, and all who spouted For Liberal Opinion That is Serious and Actually Matters

Music History 101 — The Harmonicats: Orange Blossom Special LIVE

by Angela Durden

Music History 101 — The Harmonicats: 1958

by Angela Durden

DACA Feign, screaming DACA pain.

by Angela K. Durden

Sung to Danke Schoen written by 
Bert Kaempfert, Kurt Schwabach, Milt Gabler.

Parody lyrics ©2018 Angela K. Durden

DACA FEIGN

DACA feign, screaming DACA pain.

You can stuff all the ploys and blame.

Politicians buying votes.

They don’t care.

Please beware.

They ain’t sweet.

Watch your street.

DACA feign, steaming DACA pain.

Politicians, what else remains?

We recall mendacities in the fall.

Your largess.

What a mess.

Logic gone.

Satan’s spawn.

DACA feign, screaming DACA pain.

Politicians acting like lamebrains

Take us for a walk in the rain.

Lots of charts

Lie to hearts.

Stealing mine.

Not so fine.

DACA feign, screaming DACA pain.

Politicians, please, please step away.

Stop manipulating innocents.

It’s you who lied.

Now we’re hogtied.

We’re all sad, you

Are so bad.

DACA feign, screaming DACA pain!

A Question for the Ages: Just who is Angela?

by Angela K. Durden
Citizen Journalist. Business writer, novelist, songwriter, and Technology inventor protecting creator's copyrights. 

Who is Angela?

At this asking you might be saying, "Uuuuhh...I don't really care who Angela is." To that Angela, that is I, says, "It makes no never mind to me whether you care or you don't."

See? Now you know something about who Angela is. Angela is tolerant. Angela is patient. Angela is not tied up in her ego even though she mentions herself often using first person pronouns of I and me and my and mine and the Royal Reference of We, or the second person pronoun of you and yours, or the third person pronouns of she and her and hers.

[Charles Krauthammer, hater of commas that he is, should love the above paragraph.]

However, let me tell you why it is in your best interest to care about who Angela is:

Because Angela — who is loaded with faults the likes of which she has not been able to yet name, that is, all ego aside, she admits it is quite possible she is perfect — is not a P-HWPCDLRSFC*.

What does that mean? It means that Angela really does believe in allowing grown-ups to choose how they want to live their life and wishes the laws of the land would reflect the same. For instance:

Do you want to smoke? Then smoke.
Do you want to boink? Then boink.
Do you want to drink? Then drink.

Laws that tell you that you cannot are stupid, and a waste of time and taxpayers' money.

However, if you want to blow smoke in her face, boink her against her will, or get sloppy drunk in her presence, be prepared to suffer the consequences.

P-HWPCDLRSFC, on the other hand, know what is best for Angela. This is evidenced by the fact that, outside of a hospital environment, when Angela has studiously chosen to say "No thank you" to those silly germ-killing antibacterial hand sanitizers when offered, the P-HWPCDLRSFC jump back in horror and say things that are equivalent to a preacher intoning "Get saved now or risk burning in hell forever."

Only it comes out like this: "Don't you care about spreading germs to other people? What kind of a person are you? Please, do not come near me again, you...you..you Science heretic you!"

See? P-HWPCDLRSFC have religion. Their bumper stickers prove it:

*Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commie.

The false benevolent dictatorship that is Goo-Goo-Goo.

by Angela K. Durden

"The biggest man-made search engine in the universe is like a dictator's hand of steel in a velvet glove holding a gun to a child's back while telling the parent's to smile and affirm his benevolence as the cameras role."

Angela K. Durden (2018)

Within the next fifty years we will see a huge change in university curriculum. Women's, Black (African-American), Proudly Brown, and Gender identity studies will fall out of popularity from implosion of ideology. In other words, everybody is already tired of the whining hissy-fits of the  P-HWPCDLRSFC*.

But what will take their places on syllabi found in our most hallowed halls of learning? Shall we ask Goo-Goo-Goo**, part of the family of companies comprising the world's new government? Their bid for world domination has already begun. Witness this site of Google Transparency Project, "a research initiative of Campaign for Accountability, a 501(c)3 project that uses research, litigation and aggressive communications to expose how decisions made behind the doors of corporate boardrooms and government offices impact Americans’ lives." It shows Goo-Goo-Goo "has paid scholars millions to produce hundreds of papers supporting its policy interests, following in the footsteps of the oil and tobacco industries."

We know world domination is their aim. If you control politics you control economics. Facts supplied by the project show that during the Obama administration:

• 22 former White House officials left the administration to work for [Goo-Goo-Goo].
• 31 [Goo-Goo-Goo] executives (or from [Goo-Goo-Goo's] main outside firms) joined the White House, or were appointed to federal advisory boards.
• 28 revolving door moves between [Goo-Goo-Goo] and government positions involving national security, intelligence or the Department of Defense. 
• 7 former national security and intelligence officials and 18 Pentagon officials moved to [Goo-Goo-Goo]. 
• 3 [Goo-Goo-Goo] executives moved to DoD.
• 18 former State Department officials joined [Goo-Goo-Goo]. 
• 5 [Goo-Goo-Goo] officials took up senior posts at the State Department.
• 9 moved between [Goo-Goo-Goo] and its outside lobbying firms and the Federal Communications Commission. 

Fifty years from now, universities will be teaching my thoughts. In fact, this article will be cited as the catalyst for deep thinkers everywhere. I say this humbly as The Most Brilliant Woman In The World, but it isn't bragging if it's a fact. 

Here's why world domination is a losing strategy for Goo-Goo-Goo.

Pyramid schemes, also known as dictatorships and communist/socialist governments, always fail. They are unsustainable. They steal from citizens, punish producers, and torture creatives. This is not a strategy for winning in the long run. Need I even cite the USSR, Hitler, and Ida Amin, among others?

Goo-Goo-Goo's vision is shortsighted. Ask and they will tell you that they are smart and know best and that the rest of us are simpleton's who must rely on the crumbs that fall benevolently from their table. I've written about their push for control here, here, here, and here, just to name a few.

Goo-Goo-Goo is gnawing on their own legs and they don't even know it. All they taste is meat. There is already push back from folks like me. Goo-Goo-Goo is sowing the seeds for the New Black Market, one that leaves them out of the loop.

I had coffee the other day with Ben Eason, the son of the founder of Creative Loafing. Ben's mother sold the company, and now he is trying to save the brand after being mismanaged by a series of corporate entities. We were talking about the future of the Internet and newspapers and publishing. I told him that the day is fast coming where we will have community bulletin boards where the likes of me will print out her article and tack it to a board for all to read. 

That's right. Sharing will revert to the leading technology of the fifteenth century. This will be our new forums and chat rooms and social media sharing sites. 

You think I jest, but you would do well to mark my words. 

Citizen Journalist.  Novelist. Author of other stuff. 

Business writer.  Songwriter.  Protecting creator's copyrights. 

* P-HWPCDLRSFC is Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies
** Google, part of the family of companies comprising the world's new government: Alphabet Inc. 

Safe place in comedy?

by Angela K. Durden


Violet Paley says she went bobbing for apples on James Franco* in his car when he asked her to. "I could have said no, but because of the power dynamic the situation was so surreal," she said. "I wanted him to like me."

Now she's crying in her chardonnay because, frankly, she rendered service thinking it would get her ahead in her career, and it didn't. Caveat emptor.

I've written about this before: Women who trade sexual favors for career advancement. This is not a new thing. But for the women who have been raised on a nauseous blend of female empowerment pablum**, they can say with a straight face what one of Franco's accusers said this morning on a national news show: "I just want comedy to be a safe place."

Heloooo! Earth to wannabe comedy writer: Comedy isn't safe. 

By it's very nature comedy cannot, must not, be safe. Comedy is supposed to make folks laugh and get mad, shock and entertain, but most of all, comedy is supposed to make one think.

"This morning I spilled spot remover on my dog and he disappeared" and "What do you call a dog with no legs? It doesn't matter, he isn't coming" are silly jokes, but they turn language around and make you think. That includes the joke that goes, "Last night my dog was sick on my piano, but that's okay. I'd rather that than have a sick pussy on my organ."

See? Language. Thinking.

But these little girls in women's bodies, barely weaned from her bland pablum of nourishing RadFem platitudes and, at the same time, feeling her feelings, would be in a quandary with that last joke. She can mention her pink pussy hat and wear it proudly while marching in the streets, but how dare a man make a joke about a sick pussy.

You can't please all people all of the time, however, you can fool some people all of the time. That explains comedian Don Rickles' career. Hey, just saying I never understood what was so funny with him.

But that's comedy. Comedy is in the eye of the beholder. No two beholders have the same eye and now a young woman who did not have the spine to say no to a man that, by her own accounts, is "not a Harvey Weinstein at all, wants Big Brother to make comedy a safe place?

Oh, for goodness sake, girls. 

* I mean, look, if jamesfrancotv's 'whatyoudoinggirl" Instagram series post doesn't give a girl a clue, well then...you can't help stupid.


** From Wikipedia: PABLUM: Pablum is a processed cereal for infants originally marketed by the Mead Johnson Company in 1931. The trademarked name is a contracted form of the Latin word pabulum, which means "foodstuff". The name had long been used in botany and medicine to refer to nutrition or substances of which the nutritive elements are passively absorbed. The word can also refer to something that is bland, mushy, unappetizing, or infantile.

Citizen Journalist.  Novelist. Author of other stuff. 

Business writer.  Songwriter.  Protecting creator's copyrights. 

Ignoring the largest group of money-makers.

by Angela K. Durden

Except in a very few company towns like Washington, DC, or Detroit, I don't care where you turn, Big Business does not provide the largest boost to economic health.

Small Business does that.

That's right, small businesses owned by individuals, hiring a few locals and/or family members, providing services and products right in your neighborhood. Mom-and-Pop stores with no corporate backer, paying all the bills themselves, doing their own marketing, adding wrinkles to their faces waiting for the shoe to drop every time some idiot government regulations get passed.

Yes, Small Business is the backbone of any healthy economy. Just like a real spine needs to stay flexible to best support the body, Small Business must also remain flexible. It's hard to do that. Ask your local commercial real estate agent how hard it is to fill their spaces. But are there any government bailouts for them? No. Those are reserved for the boys who know how to whine loudest: Corporate America and Unions.

So, it was with interest I received a survey yesterday from Inc., a magazine that started in 1979 and was geared for small businesses such as sole proprietors. At one point in the survey they asked for my written opinion. Here is what I wrote:

The writing in the magazine itself is fine. Sentences and editing are good. But the writers don't have a clue...or if they do, then the editors are shutting them down.  

The problem with Inc. can best be summed up by this survey itself: The questions asked fed into preconceived notions of what the reader wants and/or needs. Several times I looked for the answer I wanted to give, but couldn't find it.  

I stopped subscribing for this reason: It got to where nothing in the magazine had any relevance to me as a small business, a sole proprietorship. The articles weren't anything that I couldn't get in Forbes, so why read (and pay for) both? When I first started with Inc., there were real people starting extremely small businesses who had real problems and no connections to money or other resources. Inc. was a joy to read in those days and I learned a lot. 

But then the magazine began to feature companies and founders and challenges (let me chuckle at that) with which I could not identify. I did not re-up my subscription. 

After some years, Inc. sent a "deal" to "come back" and I thought, "Why not? Maybe they are heading back to their roots." Boy, was I wrong. When yet another issue came with the glowing face of an obvious former corporate-type bemoaning their fate in only getting $X mil in funding instead of $Y gabillions. With glossy inserts to come and please spend your hard-earned money to hear yet another founder with an IPO success story and platitudes of "you can do it if you just work hard" load of crap. That's when I said forget it. Never again.

Look. It is clear Inc. no longer knows that truly small businesses are the backbone of any community. Because if they knew it, they wouldn't be ignoring us.

As examples of some of what I wrote about above, the following will be interesting. 

This screen shot of survey shows what Inc.'s idea of "small business" is:

Plants? Subsidiaries? Branches? Sheesh.

In this screen shot please note the section "How I Did It (profile of a significant entrepreneur): What does significant even mean? There is nothing against which to compare it. Significant how? To whom?

This screen shot of survey completely dismisses the small business that has multiple streams of income under one business name.

Then to top it all off, they started asking questions that had nothing to do with my opinion of their magazine. Questions such as how much was I worth in liquid assets, and how often did I travel for fun, and what are my hobbies, to which I lied or answered nunyabidnezz.

That smacked to me of information that would be gathered then sold to marketing partners. Then, to collect my email addy a second time, they offered a $100 gift card — that would be chosen in a drawing. Here's what I think of that:

Prosthetic eyes courtesy of Snapchat. Towel from Target. 

[Marketing check from both corporations expected toot-sweet, boys.]

Citizen Journalist.  Novelist. Author of other stuff. 

Business writer.  Songwriter.  Protecting creator's copyrights. 

Where's Al Franken when you really need him?

by Angela K. Durden

If laughing at yourself is a sign of strong moral character and excellent emotional health, then I am healthy as a horse.

Regular readers can attest to the truthfulness of that statement because I, as The Most Brilliant and Hilariously Witty Woman In The World, continually make you laugh with me by making fun of myself.

To show you how emotionally healthy I am, even when people make fun of me without giving me a heads up, a thing that is not pleasant I assure you, somehow I manage to turn their frowns upside down by agreeing with them. That their nasty, raggedy thunder gets stolen is just an added bonus.

As your resident hot mess of contradictory dichotomies, I have no problem bringing other people and groups into my comedy routine — especially when they continually volunteer to get up on stage and offer their services.

Take, for instance, regular volunteers #CrunkNewsNetwork (a title under which all MSM operates), the P-HWPCDLRSFC*, and outlets for FLOTSAM**. There is not a day goes by but that they have their agents call me, wanting to insinuate themselves onto my stage.

Your master of ceremonies, here,
bringing you yet another
primo opportunity to
laugh along with her.
[Props, makeup, hair,
and lip prosthetics
courtesy of Snapchat.]

Much like a vaudeville master of ceremonies, I graciously and willingly become their straight man and feed them the setup so they can deliver the joke. Then everybody gets to laugh. See how it works?

The only problem I'm having in the last week, though, is that many of my volunteers have gone silent. What with the whole imploding situation about the FISA warrant on all things Trump, based on a bought-and-paid-for fake evidence dossier that your Citizen Journalist has said all along was ginned up, even my regular volunteers mentioned above have gone to ground.


Where are you people?
This is not a time for a vacay.
Our public is waiting.
The show must go on?
I've got lines to feed you.
Where's Al Franken when you really need him?

Citizen Journalist.  Novelist. Author of other stuff. 

Business writer.  Songwriter.  Protecting creator's copyrights. 

* P-HWPCDLRSFC is Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies
** FLOTSAM: For Liberal Opinion That is Serious and Actually Matters

Monday Memo: Jen Kerns, Opinion Contributor to "The Hill"

by Angela K. Durden

Jen Kerns writes in The Hill "Trump’s first year in office was the year of the woman."

Normally I do not care about such headlines. But Kerns does a good job of pointing out the following:

One: Not one magazine, news outlet, or newspaper has mentioned that Trump's administration has hired more women for senior level positions than any other president.

Two: That these so-called news outlets [I call them FLOTSAM*] push their narrative: That Trump prefers and only hires white men.

Three: That the reason this has not been reported by the fake news outlets is because these women are not like them. And they are P-HWPCDLRSFC**.

Read the article in the link above. Good stuff.

Citizen Journalist.  Novelist. Author of other stuff. 

Business writer.  Songwriter.  Protecting creator's copyrights. 

* FLOTSAM: For Liberal Opinion That is Serious and Actually Matters
** P-HWPCDLRSFC is Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies

Saturday Fictional Cynicism: The Rescue Dog Center Volunteer

by Angela K. Durden
Technology inventor protecting creator's copyrights. Business writer, novelist, songwriter, and Citizen Journalist.

I enjoyed letting Inner Cynic go loose on this story and wrapping it around something that is popular these days. If this interests you, click the link to read the entire very short story. Enjoy!

“Let’s take a walk, shall we?”

With a smile, Geoffrey turned toward the kennels. Mommy, Daddy, and Kid, the wide-eyed issue of their frenzied loins, obediently traipsed after him.

Geoffrey had seen some permutation of this story a hundred times. In an unrelenting campaign, Kid pitches fits for puppy until Mommy, whose Xanax and coffee klatch dates with other mommies couldn’t overcome the pressure, threatens Daddy with loss of connubial bliss until Daddy caves. 

Citizen Journalism: Here's why it is always feared by dictators.

by Angela K. Durden

When seeking power, dictators always shut down those who think for themselves and share those thoughts with others. Dictators do it by economic pressure. If that doesn't work, they kill. Here's what Citizen Journalist's role is. 

Video of Jay Rosen. More to read.

Citizen Journalist.  Novelist. Author of other stuff. 

Business writer.  Songwriter.  Protecting creator's copyrights. 

It ain't easy being a columnist

by Angela K. Durden
Citizen Journalist. Business writer, novelist, songwriter, and Technology inventor protecting creator's copyrights. 

It's a hard knock life for ME.
It's a hard knock life for ME.

'Stead of feted,
I get snubbed.
'Stead of money,
I get clubbed.
It's the hard-knock life.

Don't you know I spend my time a-writing?
Researching and reading through the night!

Hours a day I spend, oh, nails a-biting,
Contemplating the coming fight.

Who cares when I wake with thoughts of new columns?

Who cares when I stare out the window to think?

Dictionary life.

Thesaurus strife.

Drama rife.

No night life!

Publications, they be dying.
Circulation, what is that?
Who? What?

Open the door again to the fridge.

Wondering if I'll be abridged.

It's a hard-knock life.

Ideas I have aplenty

writing about the cognoscente

It's a hard-knock life for ME.

It's a hard-knock life for ME.

'Stead of feted,

I get snubbed.
'Stead of money,
I get clubbed.
It's the hard-knock life for ME.
It's the hard-knock life for ME.

Open the door again to the fridge.

Wondering if I'll be abridged.

It's a hard-knock life.

It's a hard-knock life.

It's a hard-knock life.

It's a hard-knock life.

It's a hard-knock life FOR MEEEEEEEEEEEE!

RadFems are in a tizzy and a star is born.

by Angela K. Durden

I want to personally thank the P-HW** part of the P-HWPCDLRSFC* crowd for their most recent contribution to columns written by your Citizen Journalist. Without their diligent efforts of pitching fits...errr...I mean social engine-... — damn it! Let me get this straight. 

Without their diligent efforts sharing FLOTSAM***, I would not be able to become the enlightened and caring fema-...damn it! I mean...person they want me to be.

The reason your Citizen Journalist is being extremely careful in the use of her language on this rainy morning in Atlanta (Decatur), Georgia, is because she just read an article about how women are leaving their pink pussy hats behind in droves because they do not want to offend trans women, non-binary women, and the most important group of all: Colored Women.

WAIT! 
I got that last phrase wrong. Let me restate: Women of Color. 

Whew. Man oh man, I thought I was going to get in trouble.

[And by using the phrase "Man oh man" I do not mean to imply an actual man because we know they are all evil and only want to rape women and little children and own slaves and kick dogs and take all the good jobs and so forth — unless, of course, they happen to be non-binary or trans, then they are fine and approved by women everywhere. No, my use of the phrase "Man oh man" was more of a declarative outburst of surprised contrition. You know what? I'll change it. Let's start again.]

RESTART OF ARTICLE FROM OFFENDING PART BEGINS HERE:

WAIT!  Got that last phrase wrong. So sorry. The phrase "Colored Women" is obviously the DNA of two white granddaddies having their say in veins and brains. Profuse apology as no offense was intended. Commence restating: 

"...the most important group of all: Women of Color.

Whew. Wowzers, I thought I was going to get in trouble."

END OF RESTART. 
CONTINUING WITH ORIGINAL ARTICLE FROM THIS POINT:

What was my point? FLOTSAM can be extremely confusing. Give me a minute to get back on track...Okay. I'm back on track. Let's continue. 

There in the Detroit Free Press was a huge article featuring lots of pink pussy-hat wearing white women who have been unknowingly insulting their fellow sisters (and misters who want to be sisters) who do not have pink pussies, or as the article said in a most scientific term: vulvas.

The article took 1668 words and 44 paragraphs (see full article text stats, left) to shake their fingers at — you are going to love this — insensitive white women who have pink pussies...I mean vulvas...and who wore a pink pussy hat while not thinking of the differing colors of vulvas of their sisters and the other parts of misters who want to be sisters. 

There was no research included in the article about how the women knew the color of the vulva for a certainty.

Of course, your Citizen Journalist is all about the research. So, she went to the world famous Goo-Goo-Goo search engine and typed in "female vulvas", and clicked on images. 

Your Citizen Journalist is telling you now: You do not want to do this. It ain't pretty. Seems more than humans have female vulvas. Who knew? And the things that can go wrong with them...barf and shudder.

But of the thousands of images that Goo-Goo-Goo pulled in, it can definitively be stated that of the human vulvas shown, only two were not pink, and they were brownish so one assumes they belonged to Women of Color. So this tells me on of three things:

One: Those who upload pictures of vulvas are racist and/or non-binary/trans phobic; or

Two: Those who decide what will show up in a search are racist and/or non-binary/trans phobic; or

Three: There aren't a lot of non-pink vulvas out there and these white women pouring guilt trips onto other white women were right all along and their pussy hats should be pink.

P!nk, the artist.

You remember this lady, don't you? She's actually a pretty good singer and performer. Anyway, urban legend has it (or maybe I heard her say it in an interview) that she chose her artist name based on something her boyfriend at the time said when he was in prime viewing position. He said, "Hey! It's PINK!"

And a star was born. 

Citizen Journalist.  Novelist. Author of other stuff. 

Business writer.  
Songwriter.  Protecting creator's copyrights. 

* P-HWPCDLRSFC is Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies
** Pussy-Hat Wearers
***For Liberal Opinion That is Serious and Actually Matters

How many VPs of the US have we not had?

by Angela K. Durden



That would be 15. Fifteen times presidents served while the office of vice president remained vacant. The last time it was vacant was under Lyndon B. Johnson, 1963-1965.

The US has had 44 different presidents.

We are at number 45 only because Grover Cleveland is counted twice, because his terms were not back to back. In other words, Grover was pres, then somebody else was, then he was elected again. That would make Grover both 22 and 24.

The president's number does not change if he serves back-to-back terms. For example: Bush One was 41, serving one term; Roosevelt and Clinton remain as 32 and 42, even though serving three and two terms, respectively.

Four presidents were assassinated while in office: Abraham Lincoln, 16th president; James A. Garfield, 20th; William McKinley, 25th; and John F. Kennedy, 35th.

Presidents who were victims of assassination plots and attempts: Andrew Jackson; William Howard Taft; Theodore Roosevelt; Herbert Hoover; Harry S. Truman; Richard Nixon; Gerald Ford; Jimmy Carter; Ronald Reagan; George H. W. Bush; Bill Clinton; George W. Bush; Barack Obama; Donald Trump. 

Before they took office, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Donald Trump both had attempts on their lives.

Presidential deaths rumored to be assassinations: Zachary Taylor and Warren G. Harding.

Lots of interesting facts to be gleaned from your Library of Congress on US presidents and spouses, and vice presidents.

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Born and raised in Georgia, Angela K. Durden is an author, publisher, editor, songwriter, performer, and more, living in the Metro Atlanta, Georgia, area. Support your Citizen Journalist and visit her Consolidated Author Page and buy a book. See more about Angela here. Want to watch a fun video? Click here.

Dawgs and Tide: Methinks "The Hammer" might have other things on his mind.

by Angela K. Durden


Lot's of people think I'm in luv with "The Hammer"; I am not. In fact, while I write on things political, I only do so because of their effect on my basic freedoms. Freedoms such as being able to make money without silly interference from P-HWPCDLRSFC* and Deep State bureaucrats beholden to professional politicians who are being bought off by Tech Giants, Big Business, The Majors, and The Bigs, thank you very much.

Therefore, anybody who works to screw me over ups my ire, gets my wrath, and becomes fair game for this Citizen Journalist. Conversely, anyone working to protect my freedoms from those mentioned above will also get my attention, but it won't be fawning because logical folks like that don't like to be fawned over.

Which brings us to the latest opine in a liberal online rag...errr...I mean, an outlet For Liberal Opinion That is Serious and Actually Matters, or FLOTSAM, linked here, all about the national anthem during the Dawgs-Tide game.

Screenshot of @realDonaldTrump Twitter header.

Doing my job as your Citizen Journalist, I read the entire article. It is safe to say it had to be written by somebody who has no clue about the weight of responsibility on a president's shoulders.

I don't care which president you name, love 'em or hate 'em, each looked a lot worse upon leaving office than they did upon entering. It's those weights that never leave them that give gray hair, heavy bags under eyes, excessive wrinkles, added weight, and unhealthy pallor. 

Presidents don't punch a clock. They can't hang their worries outside on a shrub and go inside to relax with the wife and kiddies. Even while playing golf or giving their wife some fine loving, there are always several standing next to him or outside the door with a weapon and a phone.

But according to FLOTSAM, Donald "The Hammer" Trump should not let any of that bother him during a college football game. It's plain to see to anybody who has made a living out of it, that Trump's body language showed he was nervous because he was "in a stressful situation." 

To that I say, "Well, duh." But which stressful situation? According to FLOTSAM and #CrunkNewsNetwork, it was that Trump was surrounded by people he was lying to and who hated his guts and he's just a big ol' bully who didn't like to face down 70,000 enemies at once because...because...because he-he-he-he's just a BIG OLD BULLY. 

To that I say, "Whut arrr yew smokin'?"

But Trump didn't handle the stress the way one expert, Patti Wood, thought he should. According to Patti, "The Hammer" had only two choices in how he could stand or move during the national anthem — and he didn't do either one of them. Lip readers couldn't tell what he was actually singing, and, in case he was singing the national anthem, it was obvious he didn't know the words.

This was such a huge deal that the article said "...the world is debating whether the president knows or doesn't know the lyrics to the national anthem...."

The entire world is debating? 

Dear FLOTSAM,  

No. The entire world is not debating. Your little world is debating. On the other hand, maybe you need to get a damn life? 

Sincerely, The Rest of the World

Further, while Patti said Trump was under so much stress he couldn't remember the words to the national anthem, and was uncomfortable enough he had "inconsistencies in his behavior through the anthem", Trump still had enough presence of mind to "revive controversy."

Yes, the article had a long list of all the things they could name that he revived only hours and months before this most important public appearance at a college football game. 

But worst of all was that Trump was tapping his fingers and he wasn't tapping in time to the music. He was going faster and that "typically signals a desire to get through it — to get to the other side of the anxious situation," said Patti Wood, Body Language Expert to the FLOTSAMs of the world. 

Maybe we should follow FLOTSAM and #CrunkNewsNetwork's pseudo-journalists around and document their every move and have body language experts opine on what they are really thinking. Yeah. That sounds like fun.

Hey, Hannity? Is that in your budget? If yes, gitterdun.

Citizen Journalist.  Novelist. Author of other stuff. 
Business writer.  Songwriter.  Protecting creator's copyrights. 

* P-HWPCDLRSFC is Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commies

"Outrage Fatigue": Your Citizen Journalist answers questions asked by The New York Times Magazine.

by Angela K. Durden 

FAKE NEWS ALERT | Atlanta, Georgia | Somewhere in January 2018-ish 

If upon reading this headline you were led to believe The New York Times Magazine (NYTM) asked these questions specifically of your Citizen Journalist, then yes, okay, you might could say it is a misleading headline, and yes, I say it now: It is a complete fabrication. I am lying to you.

But that's okay, see, because it is for your own good that I did not answer these questions and that I told you a lie. Why? Because you can't handle the truth, that's why. I, as your Caring Citizen Journalist, needed you to hear what you wanted to hear so as not to upset your...

Hahahahahaha!
I'm just messing with you.
I mean I did lie, but not because you're stupid. I just did it for fun. Here's why.

It is true that The NYTM did ask the following questions in the January 7, 2018 issue, but they were asked of one Masha Gessen. I don't know who she is, but according to the blurb at the bottom, she is 50 and a journalist, and her hometown is Moscow way back there in the old USSR. The interview was by one Audie Cornish, yes that Audie Cornish of NPR. Therefore, you can assume one thing immediately:

The article is a fuster-cluck of P-HWPCDLRSFC* phrases only intellectuals and experts can love.

I was sitting in my local and fave coffee shop (The Corner Cup in Decatur, Georgia) when, for grins and giggles, decided to pick up a few magazines while I sucked down a Café O'Lay (that's the French-Irish version). As is my habit, I turned to the last page and there it was. The headline: "Masha Gessen Is Worried About Outrage Fatigue."

"Outrage Fatigue" caught my eye.  Hmmm...sounds interesting.

Now, as a non-P-HWPCDLRSFC, you and I immediately understand what Outrage Fatigue is. We are tired of the P-HWPCDLRSFC being outraged. I thought, "Okay. The NYTM might be onto something good here. Let's give it a go, shall we?" At which point I read the entire article.

Maybe I missed the phrase, so I stole the magazine**, went home, sat at my desk, and went through the article once more. This time with a ruler so I could isolate each line and focus, focus, focus. There was no Outrage Fatigue mentioned anywhere.

This was not what the article was about and the phrase was never mentioned or even hinted at in the interview. The phrase used was: Civil Society Fatigue with the Different Iterations of the Travel Ban.

It is beyond me how anybody in their right mind could get Outrage Fatigue from Civil Society Fatigue with the Different Iterations of the Travel Ban. But then again, I am not a P-HWPCDLRSFC with Delusions of Intelligentsia/Expert.

Granted, I am The Most Brilliant Woman In The World as attested to by Neal, Rush, Sean, Will, Mark, and another dude.*** But I will die before joining the ranks of the P-HWPCDLRSFC Intelligentsia/Experts.

Answers to questions Cornish asked Gesson.

For the record, Masha Gessen had some good things to say. Granted, when those very things have been said by non-P-HWPCDLRSFCs with Delusions of Intelligentsia/Experts, #CrunkNewsNetwork and their acolytes wailed and gnashed their teeth, but Masha is one of their own — and gay, something The NYTM pointed out even though I did not care — so that means we can believe her.

In fact, she even had something to say about "the Obama years" that was not worshipful, and she was not shunned! She said,

"A lot of what we think of as democratic institutions are informal ones, like the White House press briefing. There is no law that guarantees press access to the White House. Communication was lessening during the Obama Years...."

See? That's what we (The Non...you know the acronym) knew and were insulted and persecuted for saying. But Gesson said it and it was printed in a liberal rag...errrr...I mean a respected Far Left publication with a long history of being respected by everybody within a ten-block area in New York which, as we all know, is where lives and opines the smart people who know best for everybody in flyover country.

Another answer Gesson gave must rightly be given the Double-Talk Award of the Year. See if you agree:

"I get really nervous when impossible phrases are created. In academic circles, the idea of fixed facts has been problematized for a long time, so that in itself doesn't disturb me. The postmodern project was to get a better understanding of facts by questioning whether we can have them. Now we're confronted with a nihilistic project of just saying there's no such thing as facts."

Are your eyes spinning? Mine are. Gesson also believes that "The Hammer" himself did not collude with the Russians. Her reasoning?

"I don't think that Donald Trump is capable of holding a thought for more than three seconds, so how can we possibly imagine that he actually had some sort of sustained relationship that had an articulated strategy behind it?"

There were more silly statements in that article. Maybe I'll keep the magazine a bit longer (Rich is good with that) and work on another article wherein I can share more of Audie and Masha's amusing P-HWPCDLRSFC with Delusions of Intelligentsia/Expert ramblings. But for now I am going to...

...stop right here.

Citizen Journalist.  
Novelist. Author of other stuff you will enjoy, SO BUY IT why doncha. 

Business writer.  Songwriter.  Protecting creator's copyrights. 

* Pussy-Hat Wearing Politically Correct Democrat Liberal RINO Socialist Fascist Commie

** I did not steal it. I said, "Hey, Rich, I'm gonna take..." and Rich waved and nodded that I could take it. 

*** Boortz, Limbaugh, Hannity, Rogers, Twain, and another dude (see their quotes about me in my books soon to be released).