Where Is My Mind?

Besides Amazon algos and recommendations from Barnes and Nobel sales associates, new authors come to my attention while watching talk shows. Guests on MSNBC's "Morning Joe", CNBC's "Squawk Box", and HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher", have all bolstered my personal library. Bill Maher recently had liberal radio host Thom Hartmann as a panelist, and his book The Hidden History of Guns and the Second Amendment sounded interesting. I have nothing against hunting but am a staunch believer in gun control. Some sort of national regulation. You don't need an assault rifle or semi-automatic pistol to bag a deer. When The Founding Fathers introduced the Second Amendment, the gun of choice was a flintlock, not a machine gun.

Because Hartmann is in favor of firearms abatement, reading the publication was like preaching to the choir. However, what it taught me is a little known fact that the original 1930's US Treasury Department's Federal Bureau of Narcotics eventually morphed into the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). Back in The Depression, Henry J. Anslinger became the first commissioner. Known for zingers such as "This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.", and "Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men.", he depicts an era. Or does he? Talk to an Alt-right devotee, and those are the good old days. Praise the lord and pass the ammunition.

Although I usually have good luck finding new books from talking heads promoting their work, sometimes it doesn't pan out, even after reading the editorial reviews and reader comments on Amazon. One collection of essays I recently bought left me flat, White by Bret Easton Ellis. I'd never read Ellis, but very familiar with his reputation as the literati Bad Boy in the Greed Decade of the 1980's. One of the better known writers from Gen-X with bestselling fiction such as American Psycho and Less Than Zero. Both books have been made into movies. You can't argue with success. Originally, I was set to buy Chuck Klosterman's new brainchild, Raised in Captivity, but it's fiction and I prefer essays. As a side note, despite his penchant for Hair Bands, really enjoy Chuck Klosterman stories.

Like Thom Hartmann, Bret Easton Ellis was a guest on Bill Maher's show a few weeks back and I thought I'd discovered a winner. He was a good interview and on the warpath against 'woke' millennial hipsters and the onslaught of political correctness. I tend to ignore PC's, even in a university town, but celebrities such as Ellis really take the heat on Twitter. Politicos, too. I can see where he'd have a chip on his shoulder. Although I could identify with his premise against left leaning militants, the writing style didn't grab me. The kicker was halfway through the book, he said he didn't vote in the last presidential election. That to me is an endorsement for Trump and all he stands for. I lost interest...tout de suite. I realize 'Crooked' Hillary wasn't an ideal candidate, and the Clinton legacy has become tiresome, but she would have carried the torch of the Obama Administration. Plus, she was qualified.

It's no secret that the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, is an imperfect system. However, it's probably the foremost accomplishment of the previous presidential administration. At times in my past, I've been without health insurance with catastrophic consequences. Years ago, I was working as a permanent Temp. This is before the gig economy became part of the lexicon. At my place of employment, I'd clock in for approximately 38 hours a week. Just short of the time needed for health benefits and paid vacations. Did this to close to three years. It's an old grift some corporations use to stay lean and mean. One day while riding my bike to work, I was sideswiped by a car. Hit and run. Fractured my leg right below the kneecap, and had a cast from my foot to my crotch for three months. Living paycheck to paycheck, it wiped me out financially with mounting medical expenses and loss of work. I'm sure it's happened to others, too. If Hillary would have been elected, Obamacare would have improved and expanded. Instead, people live on the streets.

It's a privilege to vote. I've exercised my constitutional right to cast a ballot ever since I've been eligible. Over four decades. For the past 20 years, I've been a registered Independent, but always caucus with the Democrats. I became disenchanted with the Democratic Party eons ago but, never voted for a GOP Presidential Candidate. That includes Ronald "Dutch" Reagan, the old Gipper, who many die-hard Republicans venerate. Sure, I would've preferred somebody as good looking and charismatic as JFK or Barack Obama, but they weren't on the ballot. In some areas of this country, most notably the Deep South, voter suppression abounds. People want to vote, and can't. Bret Easton Ellis is an apolitical privileged Caucasian. He didn't exercise his right to vote, then spends 250 plus pages complaining about the self-righteous youth movement. What's wrong with this picture?