“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”  Bucking the mainstream of sympathy for Benazir Bhutto, I’m more inclined to nominate her for a Darwin Award. How often I have wondered at the seeming cupidity of the rich and powerful, and the actions of Bhutto only deepen my sense of wonder about such things. The pope now appears in a “Popemobile,” and with things like JFK one would think anyone of prominence would know they are at risk, especially when they have powerful enemies. And in Bhutto’s case, she must have known as a woman trying for power against fanatical Muslims she was at enormous risk apart from any political considerations. But we are as unlikely to learn the truth of her assassination as we are about JFK or 9/11. Where power and wealth are concerned, the “truth” is often what the rich and powerful want it to be. And while we fully expect a nation like Pakistan with such corrupt leadership to lie as a matter of course, this is no less true of our own government.

It is happening across America, this thing of holding our breath and waiting for the other shoe to drop. But just how long can we be expected to hold our breath while politicians pander for votes while ignoring the most important issues like illegal aliens and unsecured borders threatening our very survival as a nation, without specific answers to the questions surrounding a seemingly suicidal approach to trade agreements and sustaining Muslim tyrants and others in power? It does seem we are drowning in a sea of lawlessness from the White House on down, and those parading before the cameras seem to be more interested in how their hair is combed or coiffed than the many threats, including nuclear, casting such a dark cloud over America.

How long would Israel last were it not for America; and can you imagine the gun control crowd telling Israelis, “You must give up all your weapons?” Were that to happen in fact, Israel would qualify for a Darwin Award. Some things make too much sense to even entertain the notion that any person, or nation, would do something so stupid as to result in their demise; nevertheless there is the Darwin Award with no lack of “honorees.” As it stands right now, I have cause to wonder if our own government is not leading America down this path? Most would agree there seems no lack of stupidity to be found among America’s “leaders.” And that is the most charitable view for what would seem to a rational mind a leadership intent on national suicide! How much clearer can it be, that all nations come into being and survive on the basis of heritage, culture, a common language and well defined and secure borders, that without these no nation can possibly continue to exist as a nation!

Harking back to Shakespeare’s line, you do have to wonder how any of our leaders are able to get a night’s sleep? We know the stories of those like Stalin and Hitler trying to sleep, and such stories are understandable and quite believable. When you know people are plotting to kill you, certain precautions must be taken that would be considered extreme in normal situations. But when you wear the crown, here come the extraordinary precautions. Still, history is replete with the stories of leaders that met their end by acts of stupidity; and wearing a crown does not automatically confer genius on anyone, or make them any less human when it comes to being capable of doing stupid things. As to sleeping, here comes the pharmaceutical industry to the “rescue” for our “crowned heads.” No wonder so many of them behave stupidly just as do many celebrities.

“If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?” might be countered in some instances by “I’m too smart to be rich.” Wealth does hold many hazards for the wealthy; and I sometimes wonder why they don’t suffer more than they do. Many of these may die whispering “Rosebud,” but how is it so many seem to escape being robbed, kidnapped, or murdered? Why did JFK die and Reagan lived? Why Bhutto and not Bush?

We know “time and chance happeneth to all alike,” that the battle is not always to the strong or the race to the swift; but some things just do not make any sense at all. In Bhutto’s case, it would seem to be a case of terminal stupidity; but what is keeping Bush alive? Better security? I don’t think so. Surrounding yourself with courtiers and sycophants serve to deceive any Caesar, but these too often make those that wear the crown vulnerable. Still, many of them live long enough to make life miserable for their subjects. Trying to make sense of why some people that really need killing continue to escape it is no wonder I’m given to a supernatural view, that the world is Satan’s domain and the righteous continue to suffer while the wicked prosper.

Lincoln had good reason for his reluctance to claim God was on his side during the war. And anyone willing to be ruthlessly honest with themselves may ask the question of whether they are serving God or the Devil? Too often throughout history those intending good have unintentionally done great harm. This was Thoreau’s attitude toward the various men and societies of his time determined to do him “good” whether he wanted them to or not. Like me, both Emerson and Thoreau knew that no one wants power and authority over others, whether they be persons or governments, that are not seeking their own ends in the process; and no truly good person wants such power and authority over others. Which, of course, is why governments throughout history inevitably become corrupt.

We have good reason for questioning the histories written by men in many instances, there is good and sufficient reason to understand Henry Ford calling history “Bunk,” and even now we witness politicians writing their own “histories” while still alive in the hope of getting people to believe their “bunk,” hoping those in the future will believe their bunk. These pretenders should heed the words of Benjamin Franklin:

If you would not be forgotten

As soon as you are dead and rotten,

Either write things worth reading

Or do things worth the writing.

It does seem to come down to a matter of trust. Who in government do you trust? Like adultery or the betrayal of friendship, once betrayed such trust is never to be regained. And to witness the books being offered by politicians how can We the People but cringe over both the betrayal and the thought politicians can be so stupid as to think we are going to trust any of them to tell the truth? They neither write things worth reading nor do things worth the writing. And America stands on the brink; we are holding our breath waiting for the other shoe to drop at any moment because of this loss of trust in a corrupt leadership that evidences no concern for anyone but themselves.

When Calvin asks little Susie if being a girl is kind of like being a bug, that it must be something like having just enough intelligence to understand nature has played a cruel trick on it but not enough to understand it she quite naturally knocks Calvin into the school lockers. As he lies there seeing stars he says to himself, “I must have put my finger on it.”

But when I read of a young woman telling a particularly obnoxious man making unwanted advances “I don’t date outside of my species” she may have been on to something. There is no want of obnoxious men thinking they are God’s gift to women, but perhaps the storyline of “Men in Black” anticipated the recent announcement about the age of bugs on our planet, and the young woman recognized the obnoxious man as a “bug;” though “Young Frankenstein” did make the comment alluding some men might be considered “worms.” He was probably aware of Psalm 22:6: But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

Henry Thoreau was well aware of intestinal worms, and mentioned these inhabiting our bodies, that while we may be healthy we are not pure. Not surprisingly, these worms well known to me as a boy are getting some play in the news now, associating them with the poorer classes. We may not have been that poor when I was a boy, but the worms were there; made the more prevalent during WWII when meat was rationed and hygiene and diet often took a back seat to necessity.

Worms aside, scientists now believe beetles may be 300 million years old; so I have to give both little Susie and that young woman credit for their powers of discernment. From the journal Science: “Today, 350,000 species of beetles dot collections around the world, and millions more are estimated to exist but haven’t been discovered — which means they make up more than one-fourth of all known species of life forms. The reason for this tremendous diversity has been debated by scientists for many years but never resolved.”

Given a few hundred million years to evolve, one might credit the idea of that young woman and the film Men in Black with some possibility; not all such life forms may have hewed the line and when some woman refers to a man as an “insect” she might be correct; and allowance should be made for not a few women thinking some men being worms and insects. I recall Gerry Trudeau having Patty Hearst refer to her ex-boyfriend by the term “Insect.” How many a knight in shining armor has proven to be nothing but a bug in disguise.

Fancy aside, some have thought it odd that Thoreau would conclude “Walden” with the story of a bug chewing its way out of a farmer’s table, suggesting the egg may have been deposited in the original tree from which the table had been made some sixty years previously. But Henry was using this as an example not only of our hope of immortality, but suggesting that perhaps there might yet come from some unknown seeming trivial source a “beautiful and winged life” giving hope for humankind. The problem with Henry was his ego, and one can be excused for believing he thought he was an example of this future beautiful species and this was the reason he chose this story to conclude his book notwithstanding his being aware of the stories crediting the longevity of beetles and the high esteem in which some cultures held them.

“Of Bugs and Men” would not have made for a catchy title like “Of Mice and Men,” but the Egyptian Scarab is well known to have been a symbol of immortality, and given a prominent place among the ancient Egyptians as well as other past civilizations. And it is truly amazing the kinds of life that can survive under extremely adverse circumstances; from the ocean depths, hot springs, and arid deserts, even in ice packs and the freezing conditions of the Arctic Ocean you will find various life forms. The punch line in “Jurassic Park” was “Life will find a way,” and so it would seem.

Beelzebub, the Hebrew literally “Lord of Flies” a name accorded Satan, often synonymous with Ba’al of the Philistines is not without foundation in the most pejorative sense. Construed as an unclean thing, the doctrine of Satan came to include insects and serpents, especially those that are venomous. But the scarab continued to hold a very special place in many cultures as a symbol of immortality despite it being a “dung beetle;” the emphasis was upon its survivability, not its feeding habits. In some ways, this compares with the survivability of Satan as a god. And despite the uncleanness of Satan and demons, their association with evil, these still find worshippers.

Now, given the early appearance of beetles as life forms predating even the dinosaurs I’m given to speculation why this should be the case? And like scientists, I also wonder why such diversity? Certainly I associate this with satanic creations, a malevolent mind given to literally diabolical creations like the dinosaurs. And I wonder; could butterflies and hummingbirds be the creations of better gods spitting in the eyes of the Evil One and his demons, just as with orchids vs. foxtails?

The Warden in “The Mummy” says “I hate bugs!” Those Egyptian Scarabs certainly play a prominent part in the film and its sequel. But despite his hating bugs when the Warden finds what he believes to be scarabs of gold mounted in stone and starts prying them out, ah, this proved his undoing; there must be a moral to that, something of “It may be unclean and I may hate it, but make it of gold and…”

While the association of beetles with immortality has a basis in earliest history, most of us react to bugs much the way of the Warden in the film. Men in Black capitalized on this natural abhorrence most of us have to bugs, and despite their prominent place in the scheme of Nature, a “bug” made the consummate villain in the film, though a bug thanked K for not stepping on it in the sequel. So, there are good bugs and bad bugs, but then we all know that.

However, if our species should do itself in we can probably count on bugs surviving be they good or bad bugs. Survivability is key to life; but I wouldn’t want to be around to see the result of a world of either giant beetles or cockroaches. Still, there is to my mind the possibility of some truth to that young woman’s observation of not dating outside her species, and I do believe there are monsters among us in human guise, the satanic and diabolical monsters that prey on women and children.

We depend on honey bees and other beneficial insects, but despite this and our mortal bodies being food for worms I wouldn’t want to be found lower on the food chain while alive than bugs of any kind. There may yet be some beautiful and winged life yet to come, life better than what we mortals have thus far seen. While I share this hope of Henry, the odds seem to favor huge beetles or cockroaches. But my hope remains in an afterlife where there is nothing unclean, no monsters in human guise and no men that can be described as either insects or worms.

“The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” is one of my favorite fun films. I’ve always liked Don Knotts and he represented a simpler time when films could be just plain good fun. In this particular film, he portrayed the problems one encounters when possessed of an especially excitable imagination, and you get a reputation for believing nonsense and telling stretchers. These are not lies as such, since in the case of the well-crafted lies Sam Clemens admired and had a genius for telling a stretcher is not told with the intention of harming any one or taking advantage of people. But if the teller of stretchers is not very careful, they can find themselves in deep trouble when attempting to be taken seriously as Don Knotts so well portrayed in the film.

When we look back through history we may well ask ourselves how some of the ancients believed some of the fabulous and fantastic things they did, the stories of the past we now read seeming so obviously born of at times appallingly superstitious ignorance, stories of gods and goddesses, of magic charms and incantations, stories of so many “miracles,” conjurers and seers passed on from one generation to the next. But at various times throughout history there was a seeming need for such things, in the case of the various religions there was the need for social order and some means of hope in harsh, often brutal conditions.

Whether one chooses to believe the myths and superstitions of religion today or not, there remain many mysteries right here on earth quite beyond our science to explain. It may be those like Newton were possessed of supernatural genius, perhaps Nostradamus and Edgar Cayce tuned in on Psi not possible to the great majority of people. I don’t believe many of the achievements of ancient people could have been possible without something of this kind, perhaps even the help of an unknown superior race, extraterrestrials, even angels. But I don’t know any of these are true; and I’m not ready to believe in flying carpets, talking statues, the virgin birth, Jesus walking on water or rising from the dead. I make a distinction between things I simply don’t know, and things I am not so credulous as to believe.

I do know the human body is composed of a hundred trillion cells, and each cell is composed of so many intricate and some still unknown parts of enormous complexity, the possibility these could all come together and make a fully functional human being is to me nothing short of miraculous! On a scale only of the variety of life on earth there are so many unknowns there is room for so much speculation it boggles my mind! And it seems a quantum leap beyond considering only physical life to that of the mind! There is an empire of the individual quite beyond the reach of any science to either examine or explain, though some progress has been made in understanding physical functions of the brain.

What is it that gives people hope; that gives the individual hope? If it is a matter of religion and you were born to parents steeped in ignorance and superstitions you may be doomed to believing such superstitions the rest of your life, especially if you are born into a nation like so many Muslim nations today that continue to credit such superstitions. But even among the sophisticated Greeks the most serious charge leveled against Socrates was that of sacrilege, and from the beginning of human history untold millions have been sacrificed to a variety of gods. And judging from world conditions today, there are too many places where you would still be killed for sacrilege to “honor” some imagined deity like Allah.

Though there are many mysteries that remain unexplained, what can be explained is things like mob hysteria and panic. There are events in which people lose all sense of personal identity and find themselves part of a mob, the point K made in “Men in Black:” Even though the person may be smart; this is not so with a frightened or hysterical mob of people. And even if Christianity began with a delusional Jesus and carried forth by those caught up in the delusion, it eventually became a civilized religion. However, there are places in the world where ignorance and superstitions continue to hold people enslaved to various Christian beliefs. And consider what the effect would be in the world if the “Da Vinci Code” were more truth than fiction.

In “Elmer Gantry” Sinclair Lewis painted an indelible picture of the kind of religious zealotry that is used to mask all kinds of hypocrisy, even as an excuse to beat a man nearly to death. And I have personally known not only a number of Elmer Gantry’s, but a number of those whose excitable imaginations have convinced the individuals they have experienced things like miracles and angels in their lives. If such people believe these things and such beliefs do no harm I’m not going to become confrontational about it. But I’m always left asking myself the same question of why I have not been so privileged by whatever powers there may be? Like the judge in the Don Knotts film, “My mind is wide open,” and there have been occasions in my life that have left me wondering whether guardian angels have intervened on my behalf, but no spirits, ghosts, or apparitions, theophanies of any kind have made themselves known to me.

A Christian hymn has it “Only Believe.” Well, perhaps unfortunately for me it takes more than that. Like the child Samuel in the Old Testament I’m ready to say to God “Speak for thy servant heareth.” But so far, nothing of which I am aware. I remain convinced the best of America’s virtue is to be found in the rural churches of America. However, this virtue is being threatened by politicians and professional religionists that would place the emphasis on “only believe” rather than emphasizing the thing of most vital importance, that of simply being a good person. And for this, no one needs any religion telling them how to live a life pleasing to God. And here is my personal basis for hope; not for the world but for me. I cannot hope to save the world by simply being a good person, but I can hope to save myself. And such hope does not blind me to evil, it is not the credulous hope of a Pollyanna or a coming “Rapture,” but able to do battle against the evil of this world system while not becoming a partner in such evil. And that is the best, I believe, any of us can do.

If Giuliani really wants to beat the pack he should emphasize his “connections” to organized crime. If he could simply renounce Satan in the same way as Michael Corleone while dispatching his enemies we would find that more admirable than any pretense of “faith” pure as the driven snow. In “The Godfather” you can have the mystery of religion and your faith while at the same time dealing ruthlessly with your enemies and a ruthless world that rewards the strong and penalizes the weak. Vladimir Putin certainly recognizes this, and it may be the reason Time Magazine chose him as “Person of the Year,” something I construe as a message to the present crop of presidential contenders.

I don’t believe America can survive another president that believes God tells them what to do and needs no other advisor, and perhaps like those at Time I believe we need someone that can conduct the business of America and promote what is best for America on the basis of reality, not “faith.” And if faith is to be involved, it had better be that of Don Corleone. But alas for Giuliani, he is at best only a caricature of Don Corleone without any of the redeeming virtues such as an emphasis on personal family values. Unlike Don Corleone, Giuliani is only a politician.

While the arguments ebb and flow about politics my opinion remains that of Emerson, Thoreau, and Sam Clemens, that of contempt for the whole breed. I continue to believe no one becomes a politician with a view to anything but to serve their own selfish purposes and interests. If I find any redeeming attribute in one and put my finger on it, like a balloon if I push that point it returns to its natural state once I remove my finger. The ancient philosophical question, what is the nature of a thing, what is it in and of itself is easily understood when it comes to politicians. A politician is a creature you can depend on and understand as only serving their own selfish interests.

The Godfather saga dealt realistically with the world of organized crime, with religion and politics, recognizing the same human failures and weaknesses in both criminals and politicians. And Michael’s point to Kay that it is naïve to believe organized crime is any different than a corrupt organized government continues to be a point well taken. And no matter how the trilogy ended for Michael, the point remained. And that point no matter how you attempt to refine or excuse it with political correctness is We the People would rather have a Vito Corleone as president than any of the contenders for the Oval Office.

Unfortunately for America, there is no Vito Corleone in the running, not even a Vladimir Putin. What we are being offered is a crop of politicians pandering for the “faith” vote, the Latino and Negro vote, some wanting the homosexual vote, but none of them honest enough to speak the truth that America needs someone that will deal realistically with the enemies of America, most of all the greatest enemy that of our own federal government! What we are facing is “choices” that will continue to be as corrupt as any they are attempting to replace without any of the redeeming virtues of Vito Corleone, but on the contrary will doubtless continue to act as though they were above the laws they demand We the People to obey!

But We the People are not stupid, we realize our federal government is rife with the lawless who are shielded by wealth, power and privilege, and on that basis refuse accountability to ordinary America citizens. None of us expect a president that will secure our borders and put the interests of America ahead of their selfish greed for profits and slave labor, ahead of globalization and the interests of Mexico and China for the sake of profits.

There is no honor among politicians that rise to power on the basis of wealth. And so long as wealth dictates who can even run for elected office, those that choose politics as a profession can only be depended on to lie, cheat, and steal in order to be elected and stay elected. That such wealth is gained by tactics little different than that of Don Corleone is only given the appearance of not being criminal; the more “civilized” all the while ignoring “inconvenient” laws and the buying of politicians and judges goes on apace. This is the system under which We the People are being enslaved. And whether you are Republican or Democrat, the only “choices” being offered is the lesser of evils depending on your own point of view.

For my part, I would vote for Don Corleone or Vladimir Putin if I were only given such a choice. At least then I would know who and what I was voting for. I don’t believe we are being offered any such choice now. But I do know when someone is playing We the People for fools. And while I fear for America because of the rampant corruption in government, the lack of leadership we can trust, I resent being taken for a fool.

At this season of the year I like to show my warm and fuzzy side, so when you may be considering beer can jewelry for that “special someone” in your life I’m reminded there is no accounting for the things that might strike us as funny. A few years ago I came up with a business idea for Macabre Toys, Inc. Among the offerings along with the usual things like small plastic frogs that would ooze dreadful smelling “stuff” when squeezed and its eyes would pop out and dangle while a three-inch tongue with bug attached would dart out of its mouth, ideal for little boys to give little girls, were home embalming kits; one for beginners like the precocious child with scientific curiosity who could start practicing on their pet goldfish or hamster. These kits progressed in age-specific categories to the “Mother-in-law Special,” all with the usual disclaimers about checking with local health agencies in your area before purchase.

Actually, my sense of humor was inherited from my maternal grandfather. Grandad had a marvelous sense of humor and was given to practical jokes, but none that would put anyone at risk of harm. But there is the matter of my being born in Weedpatch and knowing Kern County so very well over decades of time. If you call Weedpatch your birthplace and know Bakersfield is the butt of so many jokes you had better develop a good sense of humor about such things; Weedpatch and Btown are not for the thin-skinned.

There is no denying Kern County in general and Bakersfield in particular has some very specific problems that have developed over many years. Kern County is quite unique in several ways, not all of them good by any means. And while I applaud the many attempts to bring culture and the arts to Kern County, world-class air pollution, clogged and deteriorating roadways and the clash of so many illegal aliens demanding cheap housing and a panoply of social services and Spanish be spoken does not bode well. And I can’t make anything funny out of the problems those of us living in Kern County are facing.

“The Lords of Bakersfield” is not going away, and the extremes of poverty, the great disparity between rich and poor here in Kern County is not going away. If our governor releases over 20,000 criminals early, many of them are coming back to Kern County. And while I believe marijuana should be legalized, while I believe most things like being arrested for “drug paraphernalia” are bogus, take up unnecessary time on the part of the police and courts there is no denying such people often steal to support their drug habits. So what’s to do? The gangs and drug wars, killings and home invasions are not going away, but every indication is that they will only get worse. And a top news item for the year is the motto “In God We Trust.” How’s that for a bit of irony? But you can hardly blame those touting that motto looking for some help from God since it sure doesn’t look like there is much hope of it coming from any other source.

Recently someone complimented me on my memory. I replied when you write books you had better remember what you wrote twenty years ago or you were bound to contradict yourself. This has nothing to do with changing my mind, which I have done many times; and I’m grateful I continue to be able to change my mind in many instances. But when it comes to matters of right and wrong, there are some things about which I need some strong proof before changing my mind about them.

Many years ago I read an interview with a Broadway producer and director who said he only needed to have someone speak two lines before deciding whether they would have a part in one of his plays: “I love you,” and “I believe in God.” As simplistic as that sounds we appreciate those who speak such lines in sincerity, but they work well enough for a gifted actor and they work well enough for a gifted con. The problem is distinguishing between those that are sincere or only actors or cons. At that, while a Broadway producer and director only needs an actor who can sound sincere while playing a part, in real life many a person may be sincere in their beliefs but sincerely wrong.

While I place no credence in the words of politicians, their having earned the condemnation “As hollow as a politician’s promises,” there are many people that have deeply held and sincere beliefs in both religion and politics. But sincerity by itself is not enough; eventually there must be facts to support such sincerity. I have been sincerely wrong enough times to appreciate that conclusion.

The scene in “Frankenstein” where the peasants are approaching the castle with lighted torches seeking vengeance against the monster and his creator certainly was not intended to be funny; but we laugh wherever that scene is repeated in films like “Love at First Bite” and “Young Frankenstein.” The doctor in the original film was sincerely mad, but mad nevertheless. I look at what is happening in Kern County, at our federal government, at the “actors” on stage pandering for the Oval Office and cannot but see the hoards of peasants with lighted torches resulting from such madness, and there is no humor in that vision.

“The Mummy” with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz is one of my favorite films. There is a scene where the mob is marching while chanting “Imhotep” and I think of so many Muslims held prisoner to the fairytales of Islam for example. But a chanting mob may be composed of one’s own neighbors and friends as Harper Lee pointed out. I just wonder what it is going to take before such a chanting mob will be seen in Kern County or marching on Washington? I’ve had the unfortunate experience of seeing what such a mob is capable of. But I’ve also experienced how easily such a mob can begin with a charismatic leader, Jonestown and other examples coming readily to mind. Factor in enough of superstitions and fears, the circumstances Dickens warned about concerning ignorance and want and you have a very inflammatory situation.

But ignorance and want are increasing worldwide and the schools of America are failing to educate children, which is bound to result in increasing ignorance and want here in our nation not just in those poorer nations. I admit I’m very pessimistic about America changing direction, that we are going to have a leadership able to deliver us from declining into various mobs, each chanting their versions of “Imhotep” demanding others join them or else. And there is simply nothing funny about this. So long as those two demons of ignorance and want continue to plague humankind how can it ever be funny? A sense of humor is one thing; whistling through the graveyard is something else.

Even if it is only a “ten year cycle” America would be hard-pressed to survive a climate change of such duration threatening our food supply. Maybe this had something to do with Time Magazine’s choice of Vladimir Putin?

Many of us view the present political situation and presidential contenders as lunacy and lunatics gone amok against America; and one can only wonder how the rest of the world is going to react to this. For example, some are asking what possessed those responsible for Time Magazine naming Vladimir Putin as “Person of the Year.” We listen to the “justification” for this decision, but are still left wondering whether it was really justified? Whether or not, it does seem to add somewhat to the uneasy feeling not all is right with such thinking to honor a KGB hardliner. And no matter how it is spun by those at Time, the word “honor” remains. But it may be, in my opinion, the leadership at Time recognize the value of someone like Putin so very dissimilar to our politicians that has a no-nonsense approach to dealing with the realities of the real world and isn’t talking shameless if not lunatic trash about their “faith” while pandering for votes.

In a way, I can’t help but believe there was some wishful thinking by those at Time Magazine in their choice of Putin, perhaps even a broad hint to the present crop of presidential contenders here in America. As I wrote some time ago, we want a strong man, not a woman, to take over in the White House; and shedding tears, wrapping “Christmas Presents” hardly helped Ms. Clinton’s case; it won’t help any man running for the office to show tears or anything that would be construed as weakness or feminine sensitivity. The MSM may convey the false impression we want someone who is “sensitive” in the White House, but honesty demands the truth, and the truth is we want someone that can be as “practical” as Vladimir Putin, even though that translates as “ruthless.”

The era we live in demands a leader who is “practical;” and by my definition of this, anyone claiming “godliness” is counted out of the running. I don’t want anyone of “faith” so much as I want someone that will make the hard choices in favor of America rather than corporate greed and the other nations of the world. In the harshest but most truthfulness of the matter, I want someone like a Truman who could make that decision to drop the bombs on Japan, someone that knows the buck stops with them and takes personal responsibility and is accountable for their decisions rather than the weasels America has been cursed with of late. Whoever takes the position of being the anti-weasel will get my vote.

And what if famine overtakes the world food supply? I find it more than a little curious that none of our present “choices” have mentioned the coming “Food Fight.” In fact, it isn’t a subject world leaders are willing to discuss openly; but world leaders know food supplies are running dangerously low worldwide. When this is mentioned in the MSM, it is almost as an afterthought, not deserving of real attention being given it.

Whatever the causes of climate change, it is a reality. America is currently being hammered by fires, floods, drought, ice storms and other kinds of violent weather that have greatly diminished our own food production. Vital forests and fresh water sources are being depleted at an alarming rate worldwide while valuable farm lands are being converted to cities causing increased air pollution and even our oceans are becoming polluted and fish populations are threatened and depleted by this as well as expanding commercial fishing.

Famine in time past has decimated entire civilizations, and was the given cause of Jacob and his sons moving to Egypt where Joseph is credited for saving Egypt during a time of famine. The following history of the Hebrews had its beginning with famine, but also includes the story of mothers eating their own children:

II Kings 6:25-30: And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an a**’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.

If people are depending on science to come to the rescue, this is not going to be possible in a world nearing seven-billion people, the greatest number of which are doomed to continue breeding with no thought of how to provide for the resulting children but still demanding bread, and entire nations so rooted in corruption throughout the leadership there is no possible way for the achievements of science to reach those most in need.

As if astronomy and quantum physics were not enough to dazzle the imagination, the biological sciences certainly offer up a milieu of fantastic ideas for the SciFi writer. It boggles the mind to consider what Mary Shelley might have done after a sit down session with J. Craig Venter, for example.

In an interview by Alan Boyle with J. Craig Venter about his book “A Life Decoded” at one point he says to Venter, “It’s interesting that you mention gene therapy and stem cells. The recent advance with induced pluripotent cells appears to have relied on some of the techniques that have been used in gene therapy. Do you think that hints at a convergence of all these different technologies, rather than seeing this as genetics vs. cell-based therapies? Venter answers, “Well, it wasn’t gene therapy, it was just transferring genes into those cells. I think gene therapy is one of those simplistic notions that sounded really good to everybody, because if something was broken, and you knew what it was, you could go in and fix it. I think the real issue is that we have 100 trillion cells, and it’s hard to get the right genes under the right regulation into the right cells for the effects we’re looking for. Gene therapy would be great if you’re dealing with individual cells outside the body - so-called ex vivo gene therapy. Or if we were a giant amoeba with only one cell, it would probably be pretty effective. But that’s not the case. The scientific community is as capable as the rest of the world of coming up with naïve ideas. I think that was clearly one of them.”

That last statement by Venter about naiveté is something those that believe science will come to the rescue of humankind had better heed. The SciFi stories and films are all there about an earth unable to supply enough food for the population, but most have their basis in the truth of the story in II Kings of what famine does to people. There is no rosy scenario on the horizon for our species, and people are smarter here in America than politicians; people are going to want a President who will be as “practical” as Vladimir Putin given the growing crises America is facing, especially in view of the coming “Food Fight.”

While I don’t go around exclaiming “Bah! Humbug!” at this time of year, there will be some after reading the following remarks that may well see me in this light. But while Scrooge did come around, Dickens was careful to not entirely avoid the miser’s legitimate complaints about the season.

Who but someone like me that comes right out and says during the Christmas season “It’s a Wonderful Life” is a poor film would write of his doubts concerning the divinity of Jesus while Christmas trees are being decorated and the colored lights are popping up everywhere. But I think the spirit of Christmas, as Dickens emphasized and the Grinch discovered, is more to the point than dogma concerning the divinity of Jesus.

Ben Franklin never read “Elmer Gantry,” but he anticipated Sinclair Lewis’ novel by the admonition to his good friend the famed preacher George Whitefield not to attempt making Franklin feel indebted for what was offered in friendship alone without any religious obligation “in the name of Jesus.” Franklin along with most of the Founding Fathers owned their debt to the influences of Christianity for good, but some like Franklin would not be bound to any particular sectarian influences. It was one thing for those like Franklin to acknowledge a higher power, but something else entirely to pledge themselves to a particular religious belief involving the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus and the pneuma or plenary verbal inspiration of the Bible.

However, a part of Franklin’s shrewdness enabled him to understand he could not question the divinity of Jesus in his newspapers, and throughout the society of his time it was a subject to avoid. All Elmer Gantry had to do was confront the Zenith newspaper with this in order to get it to fall into line.

But long before the “Da Vinci Code” appeared I had begun to write several articles based on my own reading of the “lost books of the Bible” together with many other historical books and documents. A 5,000 volume personal library of the best of Biblical scholars contributed greatly to my research, and gradually despite my fundamentalist background and studies I became convinced there was no reason to either believe the Bible to be the literal word of God or that Jesus was “divine.” And while Dan Brown’s novel held no surprises for me, the possibility that Jesus had become a victim of his own press was a subject my mind refused to address for years. Still, the question would not go away and demanded attention.

It is easy for me to dismiss Mohammad as a delusional pervert and the believers in his religion of Islam victims of believing fairytales at best. But to call the divinity of Jesus into question is to invite many attacks by otherwise civilized people, and some of the very best educated among them I have known personally. But over a very long period of time the question remained of whether Jesus had in fact become a victim of his own press, and this question nagged at me for an answer.

While we read in II Peter “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty,” there remains the fact that the writers of the New Testament lived during an age of strongly held superstitions; and in Judea especially there was a long tradition of prophets of God speaking to people, imparting the very words of God. From the earliest history of humankind stories of miracles have been commonplace, and due to the lack of science such stories were encouraged in attempts to understand the natural world.

In a small village like Nazareth a man like Jesus with exceptional qualities might well make his mark; and for those steeped in superstitions of the time a very small thing can become quite exaggerated well beyond its actual significance and one could become a very large frog in a very small pond. But if someone should be susceptible to exaggerating their own importance out of proportion to the reality, then it is quite possible to exaggerate other things as well.

It has happened many times throughout history, where an exceptional individual has succumbed to the crowd. Such a crowd may begin with only the praise of a mother and father out of all proportion to the child’s actual endowments, but the child believing these things may forge ahead and gain a larger crowd as a result. An especially gifted child like Jesus would have no trouble calling attention to himself; but the danger is always there that such a person may actually become delusional. Wherever there is opportunity for individuals to gain prominence there is also the danger they may become victims of their own press; and nowhere is this so dangerous, for example, as the present White House that insulates itself from reality and demands strict obedience of “disciples.”

But the question of whether Jesus had become delusional because of the growing throngs seeking a messiah and shouting hosannas in his name is a legitimate one. The many stories of Jesus confronting the hypocrisy of his time, stories of overthrowing the tables of moneychangers and driving them from the Temple speak to the hearts of many today; however, was this a measure of his growing sense of power and invincibility rather than the work of God?

Unlike Sinclair Lewis, I have earned the right as a Bible scholar and one time believer and preacher of the Gospel to question the divinity of Jesus. While I credit Lewis for a great writer, while I applaud his efforts to call out hypocrites and commend his high regard for H. L. Mencken, the flaw in his novel was that of Robert Duvall in “The Apostle.” Since neither Lewis nor Duvall were ever true believers, their performance is too shallow in places that demand only true believers have a legitimate voice.

One has to experience being delivered from the tyranny of religion in order to understand the reality and depth of such tyranny. For this very reason there are far too many unqualified to address the dangers of a religion like Islam. While America has reaped the windfall of Christianity as a civilized religion despite the abuses of the past, the same cannot be said for the nations under the thrall of Islam.

Notwithstanding being a man living alone for the better part of the last twenty years without benefit of the influence of the distaff side, I have been very careful about not allowing new life forms a chance to get started in my refrigerator. I’m an organized and tidy man, a civilized man having been raised to clean and pick up after myself. Even now, you won’t find dirty dishes left in my sink or outdated foodstuffs of any kind in either pantry or refrigerator. But this does not lessen my curiosity about what might “grow” if such things are left unattended. There is much of the Dr. Frankenstein in my imagination, much of wondering what will happen if I press that button, wondering if the Fates intervene when I must decide whether to turn left or right?

Because of what some believe to be the “spark of divinity” in human beings consisting of conscience, self-awareness, imagination, creativity and curiosity among other attributes, I consider that to the untrained eye a mixture of various small seeds give no indication of what might result from the planting and tending of them. The miracle of life is that the smallest of seeds contains all the information to become a daisy or the greatest and tallest redwood. Jesus used the parable of the mustard seed as an example of faith, and it is truly miraculous small seeds hold the promise of life, and life in such diversity. And life, what it is and its origin, continues to be the great mystery it has ever been.

However, our planet may be reaching the maximum it can support of life in the form of human beings. A surplus population of billions is destroying and consuming natural resources at an alarmingly accelerating rate and even polluting our oceans. There are some that may argue the potential for disaster this surplus population portends, but there is no argument these surplus billions are not for the greater part realizing anything like what some call “life as it should be,” free of appalling ignorance and poverty.

But is humankind an aberration of Nature or part of a divine plan? Either way there is no making logical sense of our species, whether of mindless mechanistic forces or Intelligent Design, both are beyond our comprehension. The age of the universe is presently thought to be about 13.7 billion years. The earth is thought to be about 4.5 billion years. The first signs of civilization have been estimated at 75,000 years ago with bead jewelry being used, to the Sumerians of 3,500 BC where cities and writing, Cuneiform script, with a system of laws originated.

Imagine a number line showing the age of the universe, the age of the earth, then the age of Modern Man. The latter would be an infinitesimal mark on such a number line by comparison; even compared to the hundreds of millions of years when life first originated on earth, the comparison would be infinitesimal. Small wonder the Psalmist was moved while looking at the stars to question God in Psalm 8:4: What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

The same question has occurred to me each time I look at the stars, but it is a question that has remained unanswered, and while the Psalmist believed God had visited men I have had no such visitation, at least none that I am aware of. I have that kind of “knowing” within myself, but it admits of no empirical proof. Yet, the sense of wonder remains with me each time I look at the stars. But when I dwell on the two greatest mysteries that confront our species, life and death, I seem never able to reach any satisfactory conclusion. At that, science is in no better case than the philosopher concerning these two greatest mysteries of all.

It is a great source of consternation to me that the madness throughout our world, a madness rooted in religious superstitions, greed and avarice should so dominate our species that the world becomes an increasingly dangerous place for humankind, as well as all other species of life. If one were to credit the various religions the inescapable conclusion would be the gods must be crazy, at war with one another and have infected all living creatures with their madness. Not only is Nature red in tooth and claw, the same would seem to be true of too many among the human species where the stronger prey on the weaker, and people are separated and alienated from one another because of languages, geography, religion and politics. Is this the madness of an uncaring cosmos or some kind of “plan?”

But I remind myself that life is only the tiniest blip on the number line of the age of the universe, and even of our earth, and that civilization as we know it is an even tinier blip on the number line of life on earth. It is as though at some moment in the relatively near past a “decision” was made that resulted in civilization and what came to be called Modern Man in the scheme of cosmological history. And despite the astronomical possibilities, I remain of the opinion our solar system and earth remains unique in the “all” of the universe. The statistical possibilities against our solar system and earth, of life as we know it outweigh all other considerations no matter how many “feel” it just can’t be so. Not all the science presently available to us can explain life and death, and without an explanation of these all else is theory, not fact.

However, the various life forms that have appeared on earth through the millions of years seem more like the experiments of Dr. Frankenstein than those of any Intelligent Design bent on perfecting civilization and Modern Man. To view the results today is to wonder if the gods were in fact crazy, in competition, or whether by chance of some kind unknown and perhaps unknowable it all came together in a species where the wicked prosper and the innocent suffer, and despite every scientific effort life and death remain the two greatest mysteries they ever were.

The pyramids and the Sphinx, Nazca lines and giant figures only intelligible at a great altitude, so many winged creatures in stone and ancient manuscripts remain mysteries. The why of such things remain unexplained, though spawning so many theories not the least of which is extraterrestrial influences. The constellations, none of the ancients could possibly have come up with these by their unaided eyes; and in outer space only appear as a jumble of stars with no relationship to each other. But the fact that they are drawn as a “map” used by astronomers to orient those of us on earth to our galaxy and beyond has proven to be very helpful; and there remain many millions of people that still credit Astrology, so much so that many a disbeliever may sneak a look at their daily horoscope “just for fun.”

We weren’t there, so at this season of the year when that “Star of Bethlehem” and the following wise men are prominent I have cause to wonder. If the story is to be credited at all, just what was it these men saw and followed? What caused ancient astrologers to find any meaning whatsoever in stars of any kind, what was the basis of the warning to Herod that such a thing even be mentioned or credited? The modern critical and logical mind rejects such “superstitions,” but the critical and logical mind leaves room for many a question notwithstanding such superstitions; and even the greatest of skeptics must acknowledge the presence of smoke may indicate fire.

Going back to that number line of billions of years, in a blink quicker than the eye modern science leaps into view, the stars are seen through telescopes, the atom is split, men walk on the moon, the human genome is mapped and genetic engineering opens the way to “improved” human beings. But the seeming madness of it all remains, and for billions of people on earth life is something to only be endured and suffer on the way to inevitable death. The scales are tipped from madly grotesque wealth and privilege beyond imagination for a very few, to living like animals for many billions that are doomed to living in abject ignorance and poverty without hope.

As a species, given enough time science may build a better mousetrap, may deliver our species from its seemingly headlong, hell-bent rush to destruction. Yet I never think of this but what that line from the film “Gettysburg” comes to mind where General Robert E. Lee is telling Jeb Stuart: “There is no time!” And as I consider those leading nations, those posturing for the cameras attempting to gain the most powerful office in the world as President of the United States, I can be excused for believing we are running out of time. In the cosmic scheme of things this would seem of little consequence. But the great “What If?” of our species remains. What if we are unique in the universe? And if so, to what end?

Admittedly these are not the kinds of questions that tear at the fabric of sleep for many, but for those of us given to speculate about such things it is a never-ending source of consternation and confounding questions seemingly without answers. But I suppose they are the kinds of questions that must be asked if for no other reason than to give some of us pause when we are attempting to order the priorities in our lives and separate what is of importance and real value from what will only perish in the end whether one is rich or poor, seemingly favored or cursed of the gods of whatever kind.

There are many mysteries confronting us right here on planet earth; these and the mysteries of the universe are the things that in my opinion should help us mortals to keep a perspective of the priorities. The earth may be an experimental garden of the gods, and perhaps this is what it is all about in preparation for the next stage of our species. But whether or not, the future of life for our species will be determined by whether we run out of time before we reach the next stage of our development. And for now, looking at the present leaders of nations and those pandering for votes here in America, the future for our species does not look very promising.

In “First Blood” when Sheriff Teasle asks why God would ever make a creature like Rambo, Colonel Trautman answers God didn’t make Rambo; he did. If geneticists keep going the way they are Dr. Frankenstein’s mad dream may come true and there will be no need of Colonel Trautman, but Rambo Warriors will be “manufactured” in the laboratories; another SciFi dream/nightmare come true.

Since childhood it has been my dream to have Dracula’s castle and Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory, mind-expanding places where every kind of mystery could be explored to the music of wolves, “children of the night,” the crack of thunder and flashes of lightning and Tesla electrical devices. But having to face the real world and being denied my childhood dreams, I have discovered a laboratory in my mind, and far more than a laboratory an empire as Thoreau pointed out that would put all worldly tyrants and their petty states to shame. And each one of us is in possession of such an empire of the mind; but some rule this empire better than others.

For example, politicians dedicate their minds to gaining power and wealth, ruling over others, and the corrupt leaders of nations like Mexico are dedicated to providing slave populations to serve their masters. Small wonder the president of Mexico pronounces “Wherever there is a Mexican; there is Mexico!” But then, he had America in mind and isn’t sending Mexicans to places like Iraq and Afghanistan, whereas our president is trying to do so with the enticement of American citizenship. Some choice— slave labor or cannon fodder.

Unfortunately for humankind, Nature has a way of producing freaks, politicians like Bush and the Clintons and those like the president of Mexico and Iran’s mad mullah among them, but there may be help on the horizon for all the tyrants of the world; science may provide all the slave labor they want without any of the nasty side effects of having to feed and clothe the slaves. By now many of you are aware of the “Google Cloud” concept that aims to gather and connect worldwide knowledge and make this available to the most humble of pc users. One of the most daunting tasks, however, is separating the wheat from the chaff; who will be in charge of separating fact from fiction? Or will such a magnificent achievement degenerate into an Orwellian nightmare? Perhaps cyborgs or androids will emerge having access to all this knowledge, wired to use it and rule the world; the scenario of many of the earliest of SciFi writers. At that; would we be any worse off than having Congressional committees and commissions deciding what the “truth” is?

Some time ago when I first learned geneticists were working on “glow in the dark pussycats” it was an intriguing idea; now, we are being treated to pictures of the result. On the “bright side (dreadful pun intended),” it might help to keep me from tripping over the resident cat in the dark. Thinking about this, of course I could give the cat a shot of fluorescent spray paint but she would lick it off and get sick. On the other hand, a permanent genetic fix might have some undesirable side effects presently unknown.

There seems little prospect Mexico will be launching a space shuttle any time soon, but what with the growing crime and violence in America due to the invasion of millions of largely illiterate Mexican illegal aliens and our “leadership” thirsting for these millions of slave laborers to displace American workers that seem to believe they deserve a living wage rather than slave wages, things might eventually degenerate into a condition where science may provide the answer through genetic engineering. While all good card-carrying “liberals” may decry sterilization and euthanasia, perhaps science will provide a satisfactory alternative; something along the line of things like the “Stepford Wives” that so many men think a pretty good idea.

One thing seems pretty certain, science is not going to leave it to Nature to work things out; and that may be best. For example, I have always thought the dinosaurs to be diabolical creations. God may not have created Rambo, but for those that want to credit this creature to God, I have to believe it was the “god of the underworld,” Satan:

“A graduate student has identified the remains of one of the planet’s largest meat-eating dinosaurs ever found. Steve Brusatte, a paleobiologist at the University of Bristol in England, determined fossils discovered during a 1997 Nigerian expedition belong to a new breed of meat-eating dinosaur called Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis. The upright-walking creature grinned with a mouth full of banana-sized teeth, stood taller than a double-decker bus and weighed more than two standard-sized cars… C. iguidensis weighed in at 3.2 tons and extended more than 44 feet (14 meters), but was not the largest terrestrial meat-eating dinosaur ever discovered. That title belongs to Spinosaurus aegyptiacus — an 8-ton, 55-foot (17-meter) long behemoth with a sail-like back.”

Among what I consider the miracles of Modern Man arriving on the scene of history and surviving is how did our early ancestors ever make it in such a hostile world? The dinosaurs like C. iguidensis may have been long gone, but the fact remains the world was still an extremely hostile place for humankind; and continues to be so in many places throughout the world today. But with the growing billions of mouths demanding to be fed, one might be excused for thinking if science does not come up with an answer very quickly, Nature may take a hand in balancing things out.

For example, magma may be melting Greenland ice. Volcanoes have been one of Nature’s ways of working things out; as have various plagues, earthquakes, storms, and we never know when or where one or more of these things might combine to “thin the herd.” Yellowstone may be overdue and erupt any time, and there is always the prospect of another E.L.E. from space some theorize spelled doom for the dinosaurs.

Well, back to my dreams of Dracula’s castle and Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory. Science may yet come to our rescue, but I have the uneasy feeling there are going to be unanticipated side effects. Glow in the dark pussycats hold some charm for me; but glow in the dark people might not prove either charming or desirable; and the morbid joke of glow in the dark people from radiation poisoning isn’t really all that funny given the prospects of nuclear accidents or acts of terrorism. But if the best we can come up with is Bush and those presently running for president, Mexico’s president, Iran’s mad mullah et al.; ah, well… maybe glow in the dark people will satisfy those that think crime and violence in America is only a matter of “racial profiling.”

It was a question I asked some years ago when America was listening to real music, not the mind-numbing noise of today. Music won’t solve the problems of growing crime and violence in America, and much of the noise that passes itself off as “music” today certainly makes its contribution to crime and violence. But there was a time when music did make a positive contribution to the softer and gentler things of the America I used to know. This is the prologue to my book “Birds With Broken Wings” and it seems more timely now than ever:

Why can’t life be more like the music? I asked.

He replied: Because people don’t listen to the music anymore.

I was in one of the dangerous parts of this city, visiting friends. Drive-by shootings, welfare and drugs were an endemic part of the culture in this community. But I was here largely because of the music.

It was late evening when I arrived. My friend’s little girl met me at the door and asked if I had brought my guitar. I told her I had more than that. I then proceeded to unload both guitars, my clarinet and tenor saxophone. Since it was fairly mild weather, I set the instruments up on the front porch of the house.

We sat together and using the acoustic guitar, I played and sang a simple song for the little girl. A couple of her little friends wandered over and sat on the grass listening.

I put the guitar in the little girl’s lap and told her to try to pick out the notes to the song. Then I played a couple of melodies on the clarinet. But it was that big, beautiful, gold and ivory tenor sax that had the attention of the children. More children and adults had gathered.

A tenor sax is a difficult instrument to mute. But the children were anxious to hear it. So I picked it up and began to play. The neighborhood could hear this. For many of my audience, this was the first time they had heard the kind of music that I had grown up playing and listening to, the music of Sammy Kaye, Russ Morgan, and Guy Lombardo.

By the time I had played two songs, I had more than a dozen children and several adults in attendance. By now both guitars were in the hands of children and I had an impromptu audience of children and adults listening to music of a by-gone era, the big band and ballad music of the 30s and 40s which I had been playing and singing in a club down South.

Country Western is a large part of my life as well. I thoroughly enjoy much of this and my voice, nearly baritone, is well suited to this kind of music, especially the slow, romantic ballads. A lot of really good music has recently fled other fields and gone Country.

Unquestionably children readily respond to music. I wish every child could have music lessons and learn to play an instrument. But I have learned that only the music of a softer and gentler time, of an age of relative innocence that promised real love and romance, clean fun and hope of a future, works in the hearts and minds of children to their good.

The young men and women who had gathered, mostly teenagers, many in gang clothes and sporting identifying tattoos, were curiously silent as I played. There was no profanity, gang signals or chatter. They were caught up in a kind of music they had never heard live before. Most of them knew me but hadn’t known of the music that was such a part of my life.

It was getting late and we had to go in the house. I hated to call an end to the magic of the music and it hurt to see the children leave. I knew what most of them were going home to. I knew the destructive noise of the kinds of so-called music they would hear in such homes, noise that accompanied violence, drugs and alcohol abuse. But thanks to the magic of a different kind of music, it would be a quieter night on this block and my friend’s little girl didn’t awaken screaming from her nightmares.

But the kind of music that both children and adults need in their lives is denied them. Few will ever have opportunity to learn to play a clarinet or saxophone, and how many might have a better chance at life if such things could be made available to them?

I have made love to many women by singing and playing music to them, by writing them love letters, by nothing more than holding hands or dancing while beautiful music played in the background. These are the softer and gentler things of romance, of the real poetry of life, the things people say they hunger for but can’t seem to find.

A very lovely lady who knows me well recently wrote and said I should spend my time writing of the evils of this world. She has read much of my writing that has been concentrated on the abuse of children, of the destruction of family and family values, of our nation’s loss of its moral bearings and the corruption and chaos that seems endemic of the leadership of our government, schools, and churches.

But sustained anger takes its toll. I needed to write a book like this in order to focus on the things that have real and eternal value, the love of family and children, the love between men and women. As the two halves of humankind, it is the relationship between men and women that predicts the future of a nation. Lacking understanding in this area all else, children especially, suffers accordingly and the loss of hope among our young people, the loss of direction for our nation is the result.

This book deals with the loss of so much in our lives, the things that contributed to real love and romance the loss of which produced a generation of young women that I came to call: Birds With Broken Wings.

Many a Christmas tree is adorned by a beautiful, winged angel; but why? Well, the “Annunciation” of course, but admitting to a minor flaw in an otherwise sterling character and artistic discernment, despite the AFI acclaim for the film and the plaudits of so many “It’s a Wonderful Life” is not on my play list; it is not one of my favorite films. Smarmy, hokey, and an immature Jimmy Stewart dreadfully overacting are some of the reasons for this dislike of the film. But the angel, Clarence, him I like.

You see, I don’t doubt there are angels, good and bad angels. Satan according to Scripture is a fallen angel, a son of God, and from the very earliest of times angels and demons have been a part of human history; but why the wings? Being able to fly has to have been the hope of the earliest humans, and despite it not being natural, as in “If God had intended people to fly he would have given them wings,” the dedication to this unnatural environment for humans has led to men actually walking on the moon.

But when it comes to angels, where is the actual evidence for these beings? The books, films, talk shows proliferate on the subject and people are entranced by the idea of angels and much credit is given to guardian angels, but much like UFOs where is the proof?

However, for the naysayers the historical record in stone and the most ancient of manuscripts gives one pause to wonder. The many stories from the most ancient of times credit angels and demons, but again I ask; why the wings? Just why would an angel require wings?

What a proud moment it was for me those many years ago to “win my wings” as a pilot, and I can relate to Clarence on that score. But being able to fly airplanes is not on the same level as the wings of angels. Whenever I was flying I knew I was in an unnatural element not designed for human beings; the risk was part of the attraction for flying but I was no angel. So I understand humans not having wings, but why should angels have them? Just where are angels going that requires they have wings? It just doesn’t make any sense when you really think about it. Yet the historical record of these beings has them with wings. Now the need for fairies having wings; that I can understand, but angels? Nope; doesn’t make any sense.

If Santa can visit every child on Christmas Eve without his needing wings, but having magic reindeer that can fly, I can buy this. But if Santa doesn’t need wings why should angels? Don’t they have the same access to flying reindeer? Or could it be that humans did at one time have wings like the birds of the air, and this accounts for the ancient stories of angels having wings and the longing of people to fly? Were Adam and Eve created with wings, but lost them as part of the curse of God for their disobedience? If so, it might account for that part of us that continues to long for wings, our attempts to overcome gravity and take flight.

There is no discounting the charm of angels having wings, and there would be very few charming stories about wingless angels notwithstanding Clarence. And it is true in many stories, including some of those in the Bible angels do not always appear with wings. But what would the “Ark of the Covenant” be without those winged angels? And when it comes to the various religions, they would be hard up without winged angels. Still the question remains; why do angels require wings, why do any of the creatures of the various myths and legends require wings?

The more I began to think about this, the more fascinating the question became. Winged creatures figure so prominently in so many of the myths and legends of antiquity I asked myself why this should be; and there seems no satisfactory answer. But some things do suggest themselves such as Adam and Eve having been created with wings and getting “clipped” as one of the consequences of The Fall.

Then there is the idea that extraterrestrials may have been described as “winged creatures,” and the ancients depicted them so. But I can’t imagine why ET would need wings. The story of Atlantis does not have winged Atlanteans, but there are legends of winged creatures abounding in many ancient stories. Still the question of the origin of such stories remains.

Now wouldn’t it be something if archeologists should discover the remains of ancient humans with wings! Granted there does not appear to be much prospect of this happening; nevertheless, somehow I wouldn’t find it all that surprising. And “On the Wings of a Dove” might take on a whole new dimension of understanding; and who knows but what God did intend for humans to fly?

Whether God, Santa Claus, or Barney Fife there are some things we simply want to believe. For me God is too big and Santa too good for me to comprehend, but Barney Fife and Mayberry; ah, these I can at least comprehend, and in most ways to my thinking these sum the best thoughts I have of God and Santa. While “The Waltons” and “Little House” showed so much of human goodness and sacrifice, I would prefer heaven to be more like Mayberry where life was simple and there weren’t so many different shades of grey between good and evil. Certainly the folks of Mayberry had to deal with some very complex issues, but the answers to such complexities were worked out by people being simply good people, and the answers generally simple and satisfactory to the great majority.

At a time when politicians are parading their “faith” for prospective votes, virtually none of us believe these pretenders could tell the truth if their lives depended on it. Well, maybe if their lives really depended on it, but even at that I would still have my doubts whether any of them after building their lives on lies would even know the truth since that has become so alien to creatures like politicians that lie to get elected and continue lying to stay elected.

Most would agree that perfection by whatever definition cannot be monotonous, and my idea of heaven allows for the many imperfections of real human beings, those like Barney Fife rather than Andy Taylor for example. While Norman Rockwell had a genius for describing the ideals of America in such an often poignant way, Barney Fife made Mayberry a picture of America in a manner everyone can relate to, a bumbling braggadocio but with a good heart, and always meaning well no matter how inept at doing well. My, oh my, how very descriptive this is of the best people I have ever been blessed to know. Forget the “perfection” of saints that intend to do me good, give me the imperfections of the Barney Fife’s and I’m content knowing I can trust them and knowing their hearts are in the right place no matter the outcome.

God, Santa, and Barney are not running for President of America. What we are facing are those that think they are God, promise to be Santa, and act like Barney without any of his redeeming virtues like a good heart or even good intentions. These charlatans parading themselves onscreen pandering for votes have no intention of doing good for America, but have every intention of doing good for themselves.

Each Christmas we are treated to the many stories of human goodness surrounding the celebration of the birth of Jesus. The Christmas trees and decorations, the colored lights and gay wrappings and bows of gifts, nativity scenes, poinsettias, mistletoe, holly, distinctive music, marvelous films and cartoon features, all with the charm of the season declaring a spirit of goodwill and hope for peace on earth. But I don’t think many of us have any realistic expectations of this coming to pass. And given those attempting to fill the Oval Office there is no realistic basis for optimism; each one of the candidates reminding me of what a beautiful woman once told me about her way of handling men: “Promise them everything and give them nothing.” Smart girl; unhappy but smart. Still, she knew if she pinned her hopes for happiness on men to be anything other than what they are she was doomed to disappointment.

Are We the People so naïve we are pinning our hopes for “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” on what is being offered us as candidates for the Presidency? I don’t think so. I believe we would settle for someone that would at least make us feel safe, but we aren’t even being offered that. And how can any candidate expect to satisfy the “Gay, Latino, Black, White,” vote? With so many tails wagging the dog, just which tail does a candidate zero in on when America is no longer a nation of We the People, but a fractured and divided nation, a grotesque “dog” with so many “tails” demanding government represent each one of them, not America?

Well, I still believe in God though I don’t comprehend, I believe Santa continues to be the representative of children, but would I really want Barney Fife as our President? Given world conditions we can’t afford anyone to be so good-hearted in the White House with their finger on the nuclear trigger. But neither can I help wishing we lived in an America and in a world where we could have Barney Fife as President.

There are so many ways in which this idea can be attacked, and I’ve gone over them in my own mind knowing how ridiculous the very idea is. Of course we don’t want a president so susceptible to the many frailties and weaknesses of a Barney Fife to be the leader of America. We want someone strong and wise, someone that can deal with the evil, the brutality and cruelty of the real world, not Mayberry. But what if God is more Barney Fife than believers are willing to credit, and what if heaven is more Mayberry than some celestial sphere of imagined “perfection?”

As whimsical as it is, given the greed and corruption that has become synonymous with government and made our leaders to appear bumbling idiots at best, falling all over themselves in their haste for power and wealth how could we do any worse than have someone who at least has the virtues of Barney Fife? And to witness what the MSM considers “news” with its insane and inane preoccupation with “celebrity” is to witness what these consider being “what Americans are; what Americans want!” What this says of the producers of such pap and the purveyors onscreen speaks more for them than it does for normal, ordinary Americans, few of us fitting the TV image being presented to the whole world as a nation of greedy, hedonistic, self-indulgent lunatics! And that aside from the impression that Americans are obsessed with and given to sex and violence as a way of life!

It’s easy to poke fun at Barney Fife, the “one-bullet” gag and so much more. And I’m not so whimsical that I wish we had the choice of a real Barney Fife for President; I actually do live in the real world and not one of whimsy. Yet, when I let whimsy have its way I do wish the world could be like Mayberry and was safe enough for leaders like Barney Fife. And please don’t attempt to demean Barney by suggesting any of the present contenders for the Oval Office even come close to his virtues. Unlike Barney, these charlatans p