Author: Elise Patkotak

I just want two things to happen before I die. I want the Democrats to get their act together and actually win the presidency. And I want Donald Trump and his immediate family to go to jail.

I probably have a better chance at the latter than the former. The Dems are never organized. It seems as though the Rs whip their followers into shape through fear and intimidation and their followers believe every word they hear and immediately form a solid wall.

The Ds don’t do fear and intimidation quite as well. In fact, they don’t know how to Continue reading →

I read all the info on this COVID19 and felt pretty safe if I took some basic measures. Being the person who is considered vulnerable due to multiple other health issues, I wanted to be sure I was doing the right thing.

I checked out face masks and found they were as useful as leeching when it came to this virus. I quickly figured out that for the next little while I should probably stay close to home and away from crowds. I washed my hands as often as I could. I did everything I am supposed to do to Continue reading →

Being sick when you are a kid comes with all kinds of perks. For one, if it’s during the school year, you get to miss school and watch tv all day instead. Your mother brings you comforting food and says comforting things. You are not responsible for any chores. Your siblings are jealous.

But this all goes away if you are an adult who is sick. You call in sick to work if you can but you worry the whole time about the work not getting done. Or worse, about your rival picking up all your projects and doing them Continue reading →

I wish I could believe on some level that Bernie Sanders can win the presidency and defeat Donald Trump. But I don’t. I will vote for him because, as I have stated so recently and often, I would vote for my pet rock before I’d vote for Trump. And I will vote, no matter who is running against him.

But here’s the thing. Bernie’s enthusiastic supporters are not a cross section of the voters he needs to win the election. Mind you, neither are Trump’s but he also has the entire Republican party marching in goose step with him for Continue reading →

I have a pair of faded jeans. They are basically two washes away from not existing. I always look in the washer and think I’m just going to see some blue fuzz where the pants used to be

But they are my “home” pants. They are so worn that the elastic waist barely holds them up. Every ten steps or so, I have to pull them up again. They match perfectly with the rotating line of Kivgiq sweatshirts I wear with them. The sweatshirts are all from the 1990s. They are as worn as the pants. Ergo – they match. Continue reading →

We went to war twenty years ago in Afghanistan because the Taliban were a terrorist organization that did not have legitimacy to rule and harbored Al Qaeda. Now, twenty years later, we are negotiating with them to allow them to rule again. Because, as we all know, once we’re out of there, they will do whatever the hell they want.

So given that the Taliban is still pretty terroristic, and given that we are about to hand them a destroyed country while wishing them the best of luck, what exactly have we accomplished there?

Well, we have created a generation Continue reading →

Rush Limbaugh has advanced lung cancer. Many of you who have just read that for the first time are probably now trying desperately to repress the first thoughts that spring into your mind because you feel bad that you have them. Well, buck up. You are not alone.

I can’t shake the feeling that if I put into writing my first thoughts upon hearing this news I’ll go directly to a hell I’m guessing he’ll also occupy.

I don’t express those thoughts – ok, ok, let’s just say that ran along the lines of hoping he suffers and dies slowly… Continue reading →

When I was young and vigorous – and I do faintly remember those days – I went out into the streets to protest for racial equality and the end of the Vietnam War. It was a heady time. I was young and totally caught up in the causes so dear to my heart. Marching in the streets just seemed like the right thing to do.

And now here we are, more than a lifetime later, and I’m wondering where I put my marching shoes. Because I am ready to go back into the streets if that’s what it takes to Continue reading →

I am so grateful to Mr. Dershowitz, for his cogent and convincing argument that so long as a president thinks it’s in the country’s best interest, it’s not illegal no matter what he does.

I’d like to get in on this logic as I find it quite helpful to my fulfilling my bucket list. So here goes.

I believe it’s in my best interest to have Bill Gates give me half his fortune and I will break into his bank account and get it myself if he doesn’t cooperate.

I believe it is in my best interest to star in Continue reading →

I’ve often felt that my generation – the Baby Boomers – had the best of all possible worlds. I grew up in a time when America had a strong middle class. Families survived on one income. Upward mobility was possible. College was affordable. Housing was available at a reasonable price. Jobs were available upon graduation.

And then Reagan came into office and it all changed. We are still waiting for his trickle down economics to work. So far the trickle hasn’t happened because all the money was put into third and fourth homes and yachts for the now super rich Continue reading →