Category Archives: political commentary

NO CANDIDATE.

October 4, 2016political commentary, social commentary, sociology2016 Presidential election in America, DEM/GOP battle for the White House, have no candidate, THE HUFFINGTON POST, the two party system, to vote or not to vote, to vote or not to vote that is the questionruth ann scanzillo

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This is my FINAL POLITICAL POST for 2016.

I, Ruth Ann Scanzillo, HAVE NO candidate in this Presidential election. I support neither Hillary nor Trump. Nor Johnson, nor Stein.

Regardless what many thought of his decision to pull out of the running, to publicly support Hillary, all of that, I chose Bernie Sanders months and months ago – and, never looked back.

THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT BERNIE.

The belief that the Democratic party, and its candidate, have adopted Bernie’s platform with full intent to carry it out meets with dubious acceptance, on my part. Talk is the only thing cheap in politics, and we cannot know how many, if any, of his policies as outlined by him will be given a second thought once the new President is installed.

The Republican party, in my view, is lost. Trump has been, for all his public bluster and buffoonery, shrewd and calculating. The fact that the Republicans did not and, apparently, could not head him off says far more about them than it ever will about him.

For those of you who see me as a simplistically minded, superficial “pseudo- intellect” (and, I had a “boyfriend” who did), you are free to feel any way you will about me. This isn’t about me. It’s about what people take from social media, and how everybody reacts to what is said here.

For most of my adult life, I have been a registered Independent. I chose that party because I learned early on to reject the two-party system, seeing it as representing a petulant, stubborn mentality that serves no real productive end. Recent developments pretty much prove all that out, to me at least.

No; I have no hard answers. All I have is a point of view, and the right to choose. And, this year, I may very well choose to have maxillofacial surgery intended to abolish lifelong migraines, in Houston, during the first week of November.

Absentee ballot, you say? In Erie, Pennsylvania? You’ve got to be kidding, right?

I am a divorced, childless woman pushing 60. We, in my demographic, are regarded by local society as among the least relevant and most powerless. So be it. I have nothing left but gratitude to express to those who both mentored and modeled sound morals and values to me, beginning with my wonderful parents and grandparents. Family may just be a memory in my life, but I am thankful and at peace with my place in the universe.

Selah, kids. Bloom where you’re planted. Life is short. Create while you can, with everything you’ve got.

Thanks.

Oh; and, anybody who posts a defense or promotion of any candidate in the thread below will just have to endure seeing their comments deleted. I’m not trying to generate that kind of discussion. This is just my final opinion, and will have to stand as it is.

To those of you who actually read the entire piece: feel only love. Thank you.

littlebarefeetblog.com

Walking Dead.

September 29, 2016Deep Questions, grief, human behavior, memorials, political commentary, psychology, social commentary, sociology, Uncategorizedcalculated risk, civic mentality, compassion, Jimmy Carter, one fatality = acceptable loss, statistical probability, THE HUFFINGTON POST, The Walking Dead, war mentalityruth ann scanzillo

A moment ago, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie presented his portion of the 2:00pm EST press conference, following the deadly commuter train crash in Hoboken.

During his speech, he declared: “The silver lining? Only one fatality.”

And, furthermore, “due to injuries caused by debris”.

A woman died. A woman, whose name has not yet been revealed, pending notification of next of kin.

Her only defense: standing on the platform, waiting for the train.

Soon, we may be permitted knowledge of her identity.

And, perhaps there will be a retrospective of her life, aired by the media.

But, a word, please.

The world of statistics. Those who live within it are to be pitied. Theirs is a realm of calculated loss, some mumbling about “the greater good”. Oh; and, a mentality that is fed by tactic and strategy.

This is a war mentality.

It is not civic minded. It is not compassionate. The value of human life is reduced to a numerical equivalent, like the toluene levels in drinking water. Acceptable, or not. One death, equating to some notion of Acceptability.

I suppose we should all thank our God that we were not standing on that train platform at 8:45 am this day. And, we might pray for the family who lost a beloved sister, daughter, perhaps mother.

I know that, at my own mother’s death, she lay in her own bed in her own home, the sun streaming in to receive her soul. As for those to whom her death was merely a calculated, statistical risk, who administered the treatment protocol that did nothing to save her life, I wonder how long ago their own souls left their bodies.

littlebarefeetblog.com

The Altar Call.

July 29, 2016Christian fundamentalism, Christianity, civic commentary, commentary, drama, human behavior, political commentary, psychology, social commentary, sociology, Uncategorized2016 Presidential campaign corruption, Clinton, criminal minds, Holy Spirit, the Gospel, THE HUFFINGTON POST, the political gospel, Trump, Woody Allenruth ann scanzillo

Well.

Woody Allen is a brilliant storyteller, screenwriter, and director.
And, he’s probably, on some level, a criminal.
Yet, I still love the body of his creative work.
(I mean, seriously. His insights, into American character and human relationship ?) …there is none like him, no; not one.

And, I cannot justify that love. Not with law. Not with anything.
It’s unjustifiable.

Likewise, Hillary Clinton may be guilty. Of many things. So, also, might Donald Trump. Who am I to say?

Speaking only for myself, I must acknowledge that I cannot know.

I can, however, acknowledge that, across all systems in this world of marketing and promotion, there is a level of player, in an anonymous strata, that stops at nothing. It stops at nothing, in the act of promoting its figurehead, grasping, in the hopes of some reward or recompense or even personal advancement. And, through that window of possibility, greed and corruption drop their fecalith. And, in that hardened piece of excrement, a seed is carried. That seed finds soil, and takes root. And, what grows can defy both expectation and imagination.

Now, I also grew up bathed in the shimmer and aura of the Gospel preacher. I learned to believe that the words which poured from the mouth of the great orator were practically inspired by God. I learned to fear the presence of the Holy Spirit, descending upon the throng. And, I learned to shudder, deep within my soul, at the power of the words themselves.

As Americans we’ve all, if our minds were truly unbiased and open, heard the two political gospels this month: the gospel of Trump, and the gospel of Clinton. And, all the little henchpeople, exploited or no, in between. I just hope that God preserves our individual capacities for comprehension, reason, and clarity of thought long enough for us to make our very powerful decisions, each of us distinctly, when the time appointed arrives. May we consider all of our choices both wisely, and informatively, with prudence, humility, and internal calm, for the next rightful leader of the free world. And, if we cannot, then I pray God Almighty makes the next move on our behalf. Lord knows, we’ve never needed Providence like we do now.

littlebarefeetblog.com