YeeHa.org

I figured I’d just sit back, spark one up, a pall mall, I’m trying to channel Kurt Vonnegut here, close my eyes, think about an old friend, then see what percolates! I’m caught up, somewhere between the melancholy, and the rage, I want to end this piece, somewhere in the middle. When did government, become tantamount, to some sporting event, anymore, it always seems, its Republicans vs Democrats, the out come, always the same. Its the same old story, the rhetoric is unchanged, a few years back, it was the Dems’ crying foul, that they were being shut out of the process, Its The Same Old Song, however, unlike that old Supremes Classic of the 60s, in this case, it always means the same thing! Now we have Republicans humming this tune, all these people, the Republicans, Democrats, and Independents too, need to realize, “WE THE PEOPLE”, are tired of it, for Christ Sake, change the record would ya! This ain’t no game, your not there to entertain, you ain’t supposed to be playing politics now, all of you, were elected to govern! This crap, seems to have been going on, back, some thirty years now, as I remember, all starting around the time of Carter. Watching President Obama’s, State of the Union Address, I couldn’t help but to notice those boys, sitting there, lookin sorta cynical, sorta sinister, sorta looking like a bunch of pissed off kids, looking like they were about to take their ball, and go home. Go home, take your ball, we can always get another ball, there’s work to get done here, for the life of me, I can’t figure out why your not gone! Let me break it down a little, I’m gonna lighten it up a bit, somewhere, these Representatives and Senators, got it all mixed up, caught up, in all the spin, they got confused. THEY ALL ARE PLAYING FOR THE SAME TEAM!!! I don’t take any of this lightly,(if there was any doubt)and I know, sometimes my facts get a little confused, I do try to be honest, to report in, the view, from my section of the bleachers. So here is where “story telling” kicks in, I, worked a little in Government, I made photographs of the Pennsylvania State Capitol for the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House, the late Matthew J. Ryan, I saw it going on. They were different, they had this thing they did, I think they called it compromise, you know, if I remember right, I even got to do it a couple times. Maybe these guys in Washington ought to run on up to Pennsylvania, check it out, I’m pretty sure there still doing it, I’d be shocked, if they weren’t willing, to spread the word. So there was a Senator, back there in Pennsylvania I got to know him pretty good, Senator Robbins from Western Pennsylvania. He was a Republican, my hair was on my shoulders, he was a West Point Graduate, there wasn’t a lot of common ground! You know, we just seemed to like each other, both him, and his wife, salt of the earth kind of people! They threw Barbecues, back in their home county, for all the people, Mid Summer, at Christmas in the Penthouse above Scotts Bar and Grille, Harrisburg, they would throw a Holiday Soiree! So. I’m at one of these Christmas Events, I had slipped off into one of the conference rooms, I’m chatting, with one of the Lawyers, out of the Attorneys Generals Office. We had found some common ground, we grabbed the thread. I was drinking Scotch, not so much, that I can’t remember, that I had drank too much, we were chatting about a yoga instructor, we both knew in Manayunk, you know, we’re both telling stories. Governor Ridge walks in, closes the door behind him, sits down, and starts talking, he knows everyone in the room but me, he’d seen me around the capitol, he introduces himself to me, he made me feel comfortable. I guess for maybe five minutes or so, he sat with us, talked, relaxed, he was a real nice guy! Out of nowhere, the State Police Detail, come flying through the door, they had lost their man! The Governor stood up, straightened out his suit coat, then fell back in line, I got the feeling, he cherished those moments, then I watched him, walk back into the grind. So now, I’m gonna tell ya somthin bout storytellers, I know bout storytellers, hell, my Uncle Whinny was President of the Liars Club of Absecon New Jersey! I’d have to say, without a doubt, the greatest storyteller I ever knew, and I feel all right, including this guy in this post, after all, I saw a photograph of him with Trent Lott, is Jim Dickinson, he knew what was up!!! For hours, he would tell his stories of Rock and Roll, stories bout the Blues, he had great stories about Killer, heck, all his stories were good! I ain’t seen him bout 35 years, I bet he had a lot more.