More of my opinion.....

So this weekend a tape surface that showed Donald Trump speaking very lewdly and crassly about women.  What's so surprising about that?  Ever since he entered the presidential campaign, he has been saying horrible things.  Read Matthew 12:34 - that describes Trump.

Christian friends of mine say "well, Bill Clinton did much worse."  That's like when a child is accused of doing something bad and he says "but Billy did much worse" -- it's just trying to deflect that guilt and it's childish.  And moreover, Bill Clinton is not running for president.  Period.

Other Christian friends of mine still will vote for Trump because they hate Clinton so much.  Yes she has done things that she shouldn't have, but she has taken responsibility for them.  But some people would rather have a president who has no class, no experience in government, no moral compass, no human decency, a history of dishonesty in business, a history of sexual mistreatment of women; his entire history is of serving only himself - they would rather have him than have than individual who has experience in government, who thinks before she speaks, who has worked in public service all her adult life, has a great deal of experience with leaders of many other countries  -- because they have believed all the hateful things that have been said about her Trump and other people in the Republican party - comments that were not examined to see if they were truthful.  Her transgressions, if weighed against those of  Donald Trump, would pale in comparison to his. 

Wake up people -- stop defending someone whose life has shown complete disregard for rights of others, for morality, for truth, for service to others, and for just plain honest living!

I have to speak out

I've not posted anything for a long time - but the time has come where I have to publish my opinions about the current presidential race.

I cannot understand why anyone, especially anyone who is at all intelligent, would vote for Donald Trump.  Here are some of the reasons I say this:

He calls Hillary Clinton "crooked Hillary" when his history is full of fraud and dishonesty.  Examples:  During the time the Cuban Embargo was in force and no one was supposed do business with Cuba or spend money in Cuba, Trump did just that.  The invoices for his attempt to join in business with Cuba have been shown on TV, and they are legitimate.

On almost all of his buildings, his subcontractors were not paid the contracted amount, and were pressured to accept cents on the dollar.  This was his regular business practice with "the little guys".

He had six of his businesses declare bankruptcy (he disputes this, but the evidence is there) and he walked away with millions while the people who worked for him got stiffed, receiving pennies on the dollar if anything at all.

He has insulted just about everybody:  veterans (John McCain was not a hero???  Does he not know McCain was given the opportunity to be released from the VietNam prison, but he chose to stay till all his men were released, going through many years of torture. 

He insulted the Latinos; the Muslims; the African American population, women (there are so many examples of all this that I won't list them here).  He says he didn't say the things he's accused of but it's all on video tape - he did say those things on national TV. 

He always lies.  He insists he didn't say something -- but it was recorded and there is proof that he said many things that he denies he said.  And then he has the gall to call Hillary Clinton a liar.

He calls Hillary a fraud (and many other names) but never shows any evidence.

He constantly asks to see Hillary's 33,000 emails -- What on earth does he think is in them?  She was Secretary of State for 4 years, traveling to 102 countries, and anyone in that position would send and receive many emails.  She has apologized for having a home server - what more can she do?  She has said if she could re-do it, she would do it differently.

He has called Hillary horrible names, inciting his followers to says things like "kill her"....that is not presidential behavior.

He has not shown the kind of temperament a President should have.  Example:  Barack Obama has gone through almost 8 years of constant criticism, much of it based on untruth, like the whole 'birther" thing, yet President Obama never called the critics bad names, or criticized them in return, he always maintained dignified, professional, presidential manners.

Trump even suggested that his "Amendment 2" people do something about Hillary -- trying to incite an attack on her.

Trump tells so many lies about Hillary's policies; example:  he has often said "she will take away your guns, she will do away with Amendment 2".  That is a complete lie.  She is in favor of having stricter background checks to keep guns from terrorists or mentally ill people.  She has never said she would do away with Amendment 2 or take everyone's guns away.  Trump is a liar.

He accuses Hillary of not having the stamina to be President.  As Secretary of State she traveled to 102 countries and was able to maintain her stamina and her ability to be an effective Secretary of State.

Hillary has spent her adult life in public service - especially working for the good of children everywhere.  Trump has spent his entire life in trying to make more money and more money in whatever way he can without going to jail.

Trump constantly criticizes the Clinton Foundation which has actually done a lot of good in the world.  Now the truth is out about the Trump Foundation -- the money supposedly donated for charity was used to buy a $12,000 painting of himself, and pay thousands of dollars of his legal expenses.  It also comes out that the Trump Foundation never did the proper registration with the State that is required of all Foundations.  What a fraud he is!!!

I could go on and on......  But basically, he is the most unprepared, undisciplined, dishonest, lying, dangerous person who has ever run for president in our country.  That's why Putin wants him to win.

The day before Easter

It's spring, it's the day before Easter -- but when I look out the window I see new snow on the ground and on the trees.  Yes - it snowed last night.  In February and the first weeks of March, we had many warm days, in fact this past Monday and Tuesday the temps were in the 70's......and then came Wednesday and the worst blizzard we have had in a long time.  It reminded me of the blizzards we experienced in South Dakota in my childhood.  We got almost a foot and a half of snow - hard to tell exactly because of the drifts.  Even the airport had to close, and that is very unusual because it was designed to stay open in all kinds of weather.  Traffic on the highways was at a standstill - some people were stranded on the roads for over eight hours.  Fortunately, we were at home - but the electricity was off.  You never realize how much you depend on electric power till you don't have it.  I had just started doing the laundry when it went off.  No lights, no heat, no TV, no computer (thankfully I do have a tablet that doesn't run on electricity).  We own a generator, but the blizzard was so bad, Paul couldn't go outside to get it out from the garage and hook it up to the house -- till after 4:00 when the wind finally died down.  Our house stayed pretty warm though so we didn't suffer very much.  We have a woodburning fireplace, but because the weather had been so warm, we no longer had firewood in the house, but after the blizzard ended, Paul brought in lots of wood and the fireplace fire soon made us very cozy. The electricity finally came on at abut 7 pm.  Then on Thursday and Friday much of the snow melted because the Colorado sun came out in all its glory.  You wouldn't think living a mile closer to the sun makes much difference, but the sunshine here gets very intense very quickly.

So without electricity, we couldn't listen to the news on TV, till I remembered I had a little radio that ran on batteries.  The good thing was we didn't have to listen to all the political trash.  This campaign  for president has been just awful -- so much mudslinging, so much hatred, so much vulgar talk -- and it all can be traced back to Donald Trump - who is the frontrunner on the Republican side.  What on earth is wrong with Republicans for backing a man like that!!!!  No matter how much he brags about himself, the truth is that he is in no way qualified to be President of the greatest country in the world.  For that matter, none of the candidates really appeal to me but no one is as slimy as Trump.  All my friends - both Republicans and Democrats - say they can't in good conscience vote for any of the candidates.  I do like John Kasich, but I refuse to vote Republican because of the very disrespectful way the Republicans treated President Obama.  It's to be expected that the people in Washington as well as the average citizen will disagree with a president who is of the other party, and that's ok, but that doesn't mean it's ok to treat him with such disrespect, accusing him of things he never did, obstructing everything he's trying to do for our country, always being against him no matter what -- all to the detriment of our country.  In my 80 years, no other president has been treated as badly as this president has been treated; is it because of his race?  For example, Marco Rubio in his campaign speeches often said that Obama wants to take people's guns away, that he wants to eliminate the second amendment -- and that's completely untrue.  Pres. Obama has never said that; he would like to find a way to keep mentally ill people from getting guns and find a way to stop these senseless killings, but he has never tried to do away with the Second Amendment -- and Rubio constantly accused him of that.  And Trump has told even more lies about him.  Of course, Trump lies about everybody other than himself.....And then they all promise to eliminate Obamacare their first day in office, which is ridiculous because this health plan has made it possible for millions to have healthcare who could never have it before.  Furthermore, since this healthcare is a law, a president cannot eliminate it -- a movement to strike that law down would have to start in Congress - and they've already tried, and it's even gone to the Supreme Court and been upheld.  People -- when politicians make promises like that -- think it through!!  Most of their promises cannot be believed!

OK, enough of that tangent.  Glad I got that out of my system for today. 
My cleaning ladies are coming this morning -- they are such a blessing, it makes my life so much easier.  They have been cleaning my daughter's house for more than 10 years, and now she is paying them to clean my house.  Thank you thank you thank you!

My least favorite presidential candidate

Unfortunately, my least favorite presidential candidate also happens to be the front runner on the Republican side.  How can so many people be so foolish as to be swayed by his stupid arguments!
These days there are lots of protesters at his rallies, and he calls them "thugs" and "hoodlums" and encourages his audience to be violent towards him.  The protesters that I've seen are women who were not acting in a threatening manner, and men who also were demonstrating peacefully.  And now this candidate says his right to free speech is violated!  What about the protesters?  Don't they have a right to free speech?  If this man becomes president, we are in for a terrible four or eight years, because he is doing exactly what Hitler did when he came into power in Germany in the early 1930's - if you don't believe me, just read some history. 

None of the other candidates have protesters at their rallies because they make sense when they speak!  They are speaking about their policies and their beliefs instead of insulting Mexicans, Veterans, African-Americans, Muslims, women and anyone else who might possibly disagree with this man.  He continually lies and twists the truth - and his followers believe him - just as the Germans believed Hitler.  He claims to be a successful businessman, but his past is full of failed businesses where he came out on top but thousands of others had to bear the brunt of his bankruptcies and failures and scams.  Don't believe me?  Read about "Trump University" for one thing.  And anytime someone doesn't do as he says, he threatens to sue - and of course he supports a huge block of lawyers that are lacking the same morals and ethics that this candidate is lacking.

Most of all, I can't imagine why any Christian would vote for him.  He claimed he was a church-going Christian -- but his record does not support that.  His life does not show the values of a Christian man who is trying to live a righteous life. 

I've heard so many of his followers say they like him because he is not "politically correct".  There is a huge difference between "not being politically correct" and being rude and mean and nasty and a liar.  Folks - just because Donald Trump says something, don't -- I repeat DO NOT assume it is the truth because most of the time, it isn't.

Watching a movie

An immoral, egomaniac who will stop at nothing to get his way gets to be president --- that's the kind of movie I'm watching, it's Season 3 of "House of Cards" from Netflix.  It's a very good movie but it is really scary because it's exactly what will happen if the current frontrunner on the Republican side becomes president.  I cannot understand why the people who like him so much don't see through all his lies and blustering and name calling and grandstanding.  He has not come out with any workable policies.  So he'll build a wall at the US/Mexican border and make Mexico pay for it???  Really?  When Mexican leaders have already said they would never pay for it - and this bozo candidate just says "oh yes they will".....  What's he going to do, declare war on Mexico???  His slogan "Make American Great Again" -- is such a joke.  America has never stopped being great!  If it wasn't great, how could someone like him become so rich and successful!  We all have more freedoms, personal wealth and a better quality of life than the majority of the people in the world.  We are so blessed!  And this candidate is trying to get us to hate our country and what it stands for.  Please people -- wake up and pay attention to the truth about this man!

At the game

Both of my grandchildren are very athletic, and we love going to watch their games.  In summer it's soccer for both of them, and in winter it's basketball.  My grandson plays in the league that includes his school and several other private schools andthe teams are 3rd and 4th graders.  He's in the 4th grade, but he's the shortest kid on the team, but that doesn't stop him.  He's very fast and very sly and does well.  At this age, they have a limit of 6 baskets per player and then they have to sit out the rest of the game.  He has scored out several times.  Last night was the final tournament game and we had fun watching him.

The other team came with 10 players so they were always able to put in 5 rested players; my grandson's team just came with 7 players, and they all got plenty of playing time.  Unfortunately, the other team won -- 12 to 10. 

Last week we watched my granddaughter's game; she's in the 5th grade, and is in a YMCA league, all 5th and 6th graders.  Her team lost last week, probably because the other team had 4 very tall 6th grade girls who were always able to steal the ball and make baskets.  But they still have fun.

Tomorrow a friend is celebrating her 100th birthday; there will be a special luncheon for her after the church service.  Her mind is still very alert, but her eyes are no longer very good.  I can hardly imagine all the changes she has seen in her 100 years. 

I'm planning to live another 20 years which would bring me up to 100, but of course -- I'm not the one that's in control!

This makes 7

Six of my friends have passed away since the middle of November, and this past Sunday we got word that my first husband died suddenly of a heart attack Saturday night.  He is #7, and I always heard that deaths just come in 3's. 

People who have never been divorced do not understand that a divorce decree does not cut off the emotions one or both of those married people had for each other.  In the case of my first marriage, I assumed we would be married for life, that we would be soul mates forever, but it was not to be.  But in spite of everything that happened, I still cared for him -- after all, he was the father of my child.  The last time I saw him was in April of 2003 when he came to Denver for our daughter's wedding; there really wasn't much time to talk, but we could very easily have had a very nice conversation, even though I really wanted to remind him of how much he hurt my daughter and myself.  All this time I had still been praying for him that he would return to faith in God, but I don't know that it ever happened.  Part of me was also hoping that at some time he would apologize for all he had done -- because he never once said he was sorry.  My daughter had the same feelings.  All her life she's been hoping that he would be the father she wanted -- and it never happened.  When she first heard that he died, she grieved, but soon that feeling was replaced by a feeling of freedom.  Now she no longer has to hope that he will be what she needs and be disappointed.  I also have that feeling of being free -- I no longer have to hope to hear him admit to his wrongdoings and say he's sorry..... 

"Vengeance is mine, says the Lord...."