I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

Category: politics

  • America First?


    Once upon a time in the summer of 2017 a Big Bad American Wolf huffed and puffed with self-importance.

    And the Big Bad American Wolf said to the rest of the World, I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your houses down because your houses are not the right shade of green.

    Our houses are green, our money is green – Americans are the mean green dancing machines.

    On Putin, on Pittsburgh, on Prancer for sure, but Paris oh no, you’ve lost your allure.

    Keep your huddled masses of immigrants and terrorists to yourselves.

    That give- us- your- tired- and- poor- malarkey is over.

    America is sovereign – we rock, and you roll.

    Baa, baa ex- black sheep that was so very weak,

    All the wool belongs to the Wolf now – he thinks it’s his to keep.

    Not on my watch.

  • William “Bill” Chester Powell (April 26, 1947 – May 25, 2017)


    My cousin Bill died yesterday following a battle with his own body for almost eight years. He was 70 years old.

    I spoke with his mother Eloise this morning about my admiration for the courage Bill had displayed throughout his confinement as well as his wife Donna’s steadfast support while she helped her husband through the difficult activities of daily living. Eloise said simply, Bill was a trooper.

    Yes. Not all troopers are in the armed services.

    This weekend is Memorial Day, and I am immeasurably grateful for every soldier who serves today to protect our country from harm. I appreciate their families, their personal sacrifices, and the bravery required to face our enemies at home and abroad. These enemies multiply even as we alienate our friends and struggle to identify ever-changing battlefields. In the midst of a chaotic world our military personnel are asked to protect and defend us with their own lives if necessary. Thankful seems like such a small word for what our soldiers do, but thankful is how I feel.

    My cousin Bill had a very real foe in his war with his health, but he won’t get a medal or ribbon for his valor. Instead, in the end he was surrounded by the love of his family and the hope that he will be remembered as a good man who refused to surrender during a very long haul. A worthy legacy.

    my cousin Boybaby swinging

    with his sister Frances pushing him,

    me climbing the ladder, and Bill trying to ignore us 

    playing on a swing set at my home in Richards, Texas

    circa 1952

    only children Bill and me at a family reunion

    Bill’s maternal grandfather was my paternal grandmother’s brother, and his maternal grandmother was my paternal grandfather’s sister – sometimes our reunions were confusing, but our families were close and loved each other.

    I will miss Bill. Rest in peace, cousin.

  • you’re a liar and the truth ain’t in you


    Whew. Moving requires much more focus and energy than I remembered. It’s like trying to fill this all-consuming time capsule with the horrible transition stories just waiting to be buried in the back yard and dug up in two years when we hopefully will be finished with this insanity.

    And speaking of insanity. I’ve watched the news on my new over-sized TV less frequently in the last few weeks due to capturing the time capsule horrors in real life, but today I got up early while Pretty slept and I decided to resume my daily morning news update. I have to admit I was intrigued by the intrigue of the James Comey firing earlier this week.

    My go-to coverage from Morning Joe on MSNBC didn’t disappoint. Mika watched in her usual silence as Morning Joe ranted and raved with various political expert guests regarding their feelings about the unorthodox untimely long distance removal of the FBI Director James Comey three days ago. The consensus was, as has apparently been the pattern for this administration in its early days according to the experts, someone(s) was lying about something. Calling for a special prosecutor in the matter of Russian interference in the 2016 United States election process to include the timing of the Comey firing was a no-brainer, said the talking heads.

    Today I decided to heed the advice of former President Obama who suggested we might all get along better if we branched out in what we watched for news. I said farewell to Morning Joe with their segment on the Russian diplomats’ visit to the Oval Office yesterday because I was stunned that their pictures came from Russian journalists since no American news reporters had been invited. A presidential visit to Russia in July to meet with Putin had evidently been one of the topics of discussion in this meeting. I shook my head, thought Seriously? Now?, and changed to CNN.

    Ah, CNN…more Comey discussion. Excellent. Fresh perspectives. Not so much. Why was Comey fired?  The CNN reporter was full of answers. Subsequent revelations indicated Director Comey had recently asked for more resources to pursue the Russian investigation and the possible Trump campaign connection which might have signaled the complex case was about to receive increased attention by the FBI.

    The more likely answer, however, according to the CNN reporter was that James Comey’s testimony in a Senate hearing recently hit DT’s “sweet spot” which was any question related to the integrity of the 2016 election. Comey at one point during the hearing had stated he had become “mildly nauseous at the thought that he might have changed the outcome of the election to Trump.” Okay. Game over. You’re fired.

    Time to change the channel again. This time I switched to Fox News where a segment on the Comey firing was squeezed in between an interview with Dr. Martin Luther King’s niece regarding the demonstration at the historically black college Bethune Cookman graduation against guest speaker Education Secretary Betsy DeVos (a protest Dr. King’s niece opposed) and an interview with Hollywood actor Dwayne Johnson who is considering running for President in 2020.

    In the Fox Comey segment, their reporter was at a Tastee Diner in Bethesda, Maryland. He was questioning 4 male coaches who were having breakfast together before they went to work. One of the coaches responded to the reporter’s question about his feelings on the Comey firing by saying everyone needs to trust the President’s judgment in all matters. He went on to say that the mainstream media “makes me sick to my stomach.” Wow. Quite a statement to chew over with the guys having a cup of coffee at the Tastee Diner on a weekday morning.

    Cut back to the anchors for Fox News who thought the Diner interview had been hilarious and by the way, don’t you just love the way males have so much fun together, you know, the male bonding thing.  How did we go from James Comey to male bonding is fun…I’m not sure. But I’d heard way too much about James Comey for one day.

    At this point I turned the TV to the Tennis Channel to watch live action at the Madrid Open which turned out to be less of a distraction than I’d hoped. My mind took off in a different direction with each serve, forehand, backhand, volley or overhead smash. Get out of my head.

    Mainstream media. Whack. Freedom of the press. Whack. Free speech. Whack. Freedom of the press again. Whack. Tweet: Mainstream media = fake news. Whack. MSM = elite news. Whack. Whack. Whack.

    I needed a reality check so I turned off the TV and looked up the First Amendment to the United States Constitution – the one that guarantees fundamental rights for us in this country.

    “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

    That’s right. Now I remember. I have the right to petition for a “redress of grievances” and I believe grievances in the form of lies are running rampant in this administration. Today I have taken action by signing two petitions asking for an independent review of not only the actions of this week but prior 2016  election campaign tampering with our democratic process.

    This reminds me of a time during a dark thunderstorm of deception, cover-ups and corruption in the Nixon administration which threatened the cornerstones of our democracy. Truth was ultimately uncovered and our democracy survived the betrayals and humiliation revealed in the highest levels of our federal government. The President left in disgrace.

    I was sitting in a hospital room with my daddy in 1974 while we watched President Nixon leave the White House. My daddy turned to me and said, “You know, some people are just liars, and the truth ain’t in them.”

    I hear the rumblings of thunder in the distance and see the dark clouds gathering once again over our country, but I know without a doubt that the truth will always keep us free.

  • My Bad? You’re Fired!


    I have a soft spot in my psyche for the underdog – the one who is unlikely to win an argument, sporting event, contest, campaign, cause – anything that requires taking a side. I perennially support the one with the least likely possibility of winning. I may not even be conscious of the choice I’ve made until the closing bell rings with the underdog surprisingly winning or losing as expected. It’s in my DNA.

    It’s also in my DNA to never kick a person when she’s down. Why is that necessary? Whoever it is has already been walloped enough by someone else or circumstances beyond their control or tackled already by a defensive back, so why “pile on”? That’s like a mantra with me. Avoid piling on someone who has already admitted defeat.

    Today, however, my DNA has run right up against my political reality TV show, and the collision isn’t pretty.

    I’m talking about the Press Secretary’s remarks yesterday at his daily press conference concerning the recent events in Syria. For some strange reason, Sean Spicer tried to compare the tyranny of President Assad to that of Adolph Hitler in WWII and remarked that even Hitler had never used gas to kill his own citizens.

    One of the astounded reporters said, “He killed the Jews.”

    And so we have the piling on of Sean Spicer who immediately apologized for his remarks following the press conference yesterday and was interviewed this morning on MSNBC and reiterated his mea culpa for the gaffe.

    I really don’t believe Sean is the total issue here, but I would start by firing him if I could. He is the daily voice of the administration and, as such, has the ear of media in this country and around the world. This is one blunder I call a bridge too far because it displays either a blatant ignorance of history or a distorted perception of history or a complete lack of respect for the magnitude of the deaths and destruction under the Nazi regime.

    This is not to say that the atrocities of the Assad government in Syria have not been horrific. Comparing horrors of inhumanity, however, runs the risk of ignoring that the numbers enumerated represent the loss of real lives. Whether those numbers are hundreds or thousands or millions that are snuffed out by evil leaders who use gas or other equally savage means, the most important number is one. One child. One family. One multiplied to the nth. power.

    In a world where our nation sends battleships to seas near North Korea and missiles to Syria while the White House Easter Egg Hunt is in disarray because the West Wing can’t organize it since they can’t organize themselves, it would be helpful to have a Press Secretary who spoke in complete knowledgeable sentences to deflect attention from his boss who communicates regularly through enigmatic tweets.

    My bad is not quite good enough this time, Sean. We need a better spokesperson. My DNA feels remorse for piling on you, but, to quote one of your boss’s favorite sayings, you’re fired.

  • Experience the Power of a G.I.R.L.!


    Sunday afternoon, the 9th. of April, 2017 was an absolutely gorgeous spring day in downtown Columbia, South Carolina. The weather was perfect with temperatures in the mid 70s and cloudless blue skies. It was a great day to be outdoors which is where thousands of people gathered on Main Street to celebrate the good times of bringing the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship trophy home to the University of South Carolina with a ticker-tape parade minus the ticker-tape.

    Yahoo – we party!! Pretty and I were there as were our Gay Boys Basketball Buddies and #1 Fan Gamecock Matt. Without realizing where we were sitting, Pretty plopped our small folding chairs right next to a local TV news team which was covering the parade so not only did we have great seats, we also were interviewed by a TV newsman and once again made local news. (That interview can be viewed on social media if anyone is curious.)

    We watched every car carrying VIPs,  every motorcycle, a live rooster (Sir Spur, the Gamecock) riding in a small driver-less motorized vehicle, a deputy sheriff on a real big horse, A’ja Wilson’s DJ brother playing festive music, dancing troupes, Cocky the Gamecock mascot and tons of floats – green ones, red ones, silver ones, gold ones – truly any color imaginable in the midst of a caravan of colors as they passed by us on Main Street which was their route to the State Capitol grounds for the closing ceremonies.

    I love a parade – Pretty will vouch for me. I just love a parade. But I particularly love a parade that celebrates women and their achievements. I took 129 pictures at the parade and worked on them last night while Pretty was talking on her cell phone with the Apple Help person for two hours trying to figure out how to make her Mac happy again. Poor Pretty.

    As I cropped and re-cropped the images, I was struck by the power these basketball heroes gave to the little girls, teenage girls, grown-up women and yes, even us eat-up-with-elderly older women as we celebrated their victories in one grand final gesture of appreciation.

    If I could, I would put all of these images in my post today, but alas, I know that’s asking for a lot of attention which won’t happen. So, as a compromise, I’m choosing my favorites.

    The G.I.R.L. Power float

    Bring the babies, too – even when they nod off

    It’s a Family Affair

    (photo courtesy of Pretty)

    Dancing in the streets

    Women on motorcycles – 

    rev ’em up, Sisters!

    I spy Cocky!!

    Gamecock Legend Sheila Foster is jubilant… 

     other basketball alumni enjoy the ride with her

    Our Heroes: The Stars of the Show

    Kaela Davis, A’ja Wilson and Allisha Gray

    These girls and the team made basketball history

    Coach Dawn Staley high above the crowds

    where a true basketball Queen belongs

    along with the Team that made her the Queen

    I’m afraid I was too short to see the action on the Capitol steps as the parade came to an end, but that was okay. I found my sights away from the stage.

    This little girl had a bird’s eye view

    This one did, too

    a Pretty face in the crowd

    taking a break to tie her shoes

    a teenager tweeting her pics

    an older woman rode her bike to celebrate

    Gamecock colors – complete with pom poms

    These girls are champions, too

     Which one of these girls will be our next Congresswoman, Olympic medalist, astronaut, teacher, preacher, policewoman, Forbes 500 CEO, President of the United States? The mind races with the possibilities for their futures…and for ours…because we’ve experienced the magic of G.I.R.L. power today.

    Whew! We are exhausted – time for us to ease on down the road to Casa de Canterbury where we should be p-a-c-k-i-n-g instead of partying. Oh, well. You only go around once.

    Go Gamecocks!!

    Pretty and our parade chairs heading home

    it’s a wrap for this unforgettable season