Still here . . .

I still have a blog, dogblammit! And I will be heard!

For one thing, I will use as many exclamation points (!) and parentheses as I like!!!!!

First, let me address Dear Donald,

You are a frightening man. I'm sure you are smart, like you say - at some things. Lots of people are smart. But, people who are not smart at one thing are bad at other things. Hitler was smart in some ways, wasn't he? He managed to take himself from a lowly corporal to Chancellor and then pretty much rule continental Europe for a few years before . . . oops - not as smart as he thought he was, was he? Without doubt, he knew how to motivate many people and they were not all Germans. And to be fair, not all of the Germans were murderous Nazis. Some were probably people who later emigrated to the U.S. and were thought of as nice people.

And I'm sure you are nice too, Donald, at least, in some ways. Maybe your family does like you. But, maybe not - who knows? Maybe you are a great father. You are rich (I think - we've all been fooled by pseudo-billionaires; remember Robert Maxwell and his sons, for example; Clark Rockefeller?)

But, Hitler's secretaries liked him. Many people thought he was wonderful. Perhaps I go too far to make a point. You are not Hitler. I'm just trying to say that nice is relative and it's not everything.

And I actually agree with you that we are too politically correct, that many things we do are stupid, that are leaders are often stupid, and on a number of other issues. People need a leader, but, they don't need a bad leader. We need someone who will stand up to bullies, not be one.

You are not that nice to everyone. You are not that smart (okay, so Obama and Newt Gingrich, etc. aren't either). You are very insecure about who you are (yes, Donald, very, very rich people can be insecure too) and that leads you to be insulting. I call what I see a bully.

I did not vote for Obama. I would not vote for Clinton (though I did her husband). I preferred Romney (didn't vote that time, long story), voted for McCain and to Bush the second time (a horrible choice - but the other choice was John Kerry). But, I would not vote for you. I don't care if Chairman Sanders is running against you - I'd stay home.

Believe me when I tell you Donald, some people think I'm a racist or bigoted too (though I play it up for my family). I do believe in some profiling on airplanes at borders and some other sensitive places. I would of course restrict immigration, particularly from some countries, I would not welcome 100,000 Syrians that some in government admit we cannot possibly vet, and other things that would make my liberal family cringe.  I despise the Black Lives Matters movement - but for the same reasons I despise your campaign. You can't be an incipient fascist bully. It doesn't work for me. 

Do you understand that when you talk about banning Muslims that you are banning people from India, Canadians, British citizens, and so on? You seemingly don't care that they are decent people. You admit you would have custom officials ask people if they are Muslims. Not only is it stupid, but it is unconstitutional.  I'm not sure if anyone can really advise you in the traditional sense, but if there is anyone, ask them to tell you about intelligent, good Muslims. Maybe have them watch C-Span and they will see them all the time.

Contrary to the legions of commentators who use words for you like "strong," I don't see it. I see a very - very - insecure man who must constantly talk about being nice and liked and how smart and rich you are.  And, is working. You were right when you said to Jeb Bush, who came at you for your personal insults, that you are winning. 

Let me sum up in part. You appeal to the worst of us. You are bigoted, insecure and in some ways stupid man who might single-handedly elect the next Democratic president. 

Because, you make Hillary Clinton look good! She has her problems. I don't want a continuation of Obama's policies for the most part. And she has her own personality problems. But your bombast makes her sound measured and smart compared to you.  So much so that, though I don't believe it, it makes the conspiracy theory that you have a secret agreement with her to give her the presidency not seem so crazy these days. 

But - all that being said - there is a reason so many people I know who seem like good and intelligent people, support you. You are a reaction to all the idiocy on the left. You are a reaction to the president's resistance to saying "radical Islamic terrorism," to the people who actually say that domestic Christian terrorism is the equal, or a greater risk than Islamic terrorism (by starting to count bodies after 9/11 and by ignoring the fact that there are 250 million Christians and maybe 7 million Muslims in our country). You are a reaction to our government's inability to stem terrorism here, to challenge ISIS in terms of rhetoric and leadership, desire to show its charitableness by taking Syrian refugees without protecting us from Trojan horses, the almost ubiquitous political correctness, the distractions about firearms and global warming to avoid the more imminent issues, and the championing of the Black Lives Matter narrative, victimization and the drum beat that white males are inherently a problem in this world. At least American white males. They are tired of being demonized, tired of the political correctness run rampant, tired of a president who has not defended them equally, made excuses for reverse bigotry, attempted to divert attention from it and make political hay out of it.

But, you don't help. You make it worse. Your behavior gives credence to their positions. No doubt they are reacting to your side's religious fervor too. So it goes around. Bunch of squirrels on treadmills.

And, you have no credibility. The birther nonsense was the most deceptive, embarrassing, partisan and frankly, stupid, bit of partisan nonsense I've ever heard. I really believed it helped Republicans lose to Obama a second time.

Meanwhile, though picking on you, I probably will have no one to vote for, since you've sucked all the oxygen out of the universe. I would vote for Kasich, who is, like most of my choices, a terrible campaigner. He's someone I like, who is reasonable and decent. I was happy with the last two Republican nominees - and they were terrible campaigners too. And lost. So maybe it's better I don't get a say. I like Carly Fiorina a bit, though sometimes she goes over the top. Generally speaking, she is more eloquent, sounds more intelligent and educated than pretty much everyone else running. She may be a little partisan for me. By the way, did you notice her wince when Rubio patted her on the shoulder as she was being introduced? Play it back. And right now, Trump has made Bush and Graham both look more enticing in comparison.

In closing, let me say to the other Republican candidates, I absolve you of your pledge. If Republicans nominate Trump, you should not support him. If you do, you are supporting someone who said he was going to ban all Muslims from coming into the country, even if temporary. That wasn't out there when you made the pledge. Enough.

But, let me get to what's really important - Star Wars: The Awakening.

28 years ago, I believe it was May, I stood on a very long line to get into a movie my sister told me about that I must see. I had no idea what it would be. Believe it or not, I fell asleep in one of the opening scenes. Yeah, while we were with young Luke on his home planet and it was sort of slow going. I'm sure it had more to do with the fact that I didn't sleep. It was only a few minutes at worst and the rest of the movie was ground breaking, riveting and magical. The music, the writing, the filming, the characters, the technology. All brilliant. And it turned George Lucas, its creator, from a great director into one of the two greatest directors of his generation.

The next two movies in the series - projected to be nine in total - were also top notch, ever moving the story, always making us laugh and feel the thrill.

But that was then. In the '90s the second trilogy - technically the prequel - came out. And, despite even more spectacular technology - it wasn't ground breaking. It wasn't memorable. The writing was boring, blah. I remember zero lines from the three movies - zero! I have vague memories of a couple of fight scenes and I had trouble telling some characters apart. And Jar Jar Binks? I wanted someone to blast him so he could say "me so hurting" and evaporate.

So, new movie. Disney takes over. Everything is on the line. The old folks are in it - and they are kind of old, coupled with some new characters that look like they were picked to fit politically correct notions. Need a black hero. Need a female hero. A New York Times' reviewer wrote today that it was the director's major contribution. I hope not. I mean, fine, no reason aliens should be white or male as opposed to black or female, and it doesn't matter at all when political correctness isn't the point and the movie is great - it just matters when it is the point and the movie itself isn't. Thankfully, reviews from regular people - the only ones that really count, have been good.

I'm going next Friday with tickets bought long in advance with 9 friends. It's an event and I can't remember the last time I was at a movie event. Maybe the last time they revamped the series.

We'll see. I'll say it again. Everything is on the line. May the Force be with us!