A few weeks ago your favorite Peasant was listening
to the radio one Sunday evening, listening to the some
of the Sunday fare offered on WHAD-FM Delafield, WI.
Please don't be shocked when I tell you, my fantastic
readers, that this station is a National Public radio affiliate.
Yes, I do realize that NPR is a very lefty media enterprise,
but I have ever only listened to their non-political shows,
especially their "Old Time Radio Drama" show which
was presented every Sunday evening at eight for 30 years.
This marvelously entertaining show featured the classic radio
shows from the "Golden Age" of radio; shows from the '30s,
'40s, and '50s such as Jack Benny. Fred Allen, Phil Harris and
Alice Faye, Groucho Marx ("You Bet Your Life"), Our Miss
Brooks (starring Eve Arden), and many fine dramas, westerns
("Gunsmoke"; "Have Gun Will Travel"; "The Six Shooter";
"The Lone Ranger" and may others), detective stories,
police dramas ("Dragnet"), adventure stories, and so much
more. Many people, including your faithful Peasant, enjoyed
these shows over the thirty years that the show has been on the
air. Until this month, that is.
Two Sundays ago, as I was listening to the beginning of OTRD,
its host announced that the show as airing for the final time that
evening, and that he was happy to have been its host over the
years. He didn't give any reason why, he simply carried on with
his hosting duties, then signed off with still no reason given as
to the show's demise. A few days later I was listening to one of
Milwaukee's local conservative talk shows, and the host noted
the cancellation of the show which I had looked forward to each
Sunday. According to the story, the show was given the ax for
having material which the station's bigwigs, and WPR (Wisconsin
Public Radio) determined to be racially insensitive, the classic
shows portraying black people, Latinos, and some others of certain
other groups as being somehow inferior.
Here's some truths about those classic radio shows which have escaped
WPR's executives: those shows presented scenes involving blacks
and whites in social situations based on the mores of those times.
While indeed those times were not as enlightened as out present time,
upon closer examination one would discover that many of the
non-white, non-Anglo-Saxon characters came off pretty well. Take
"The Jack Benny Show", Jack's (black) chauffer and general helper
Rochester (played by the fantastic Eddie Anderson) would invariably
get the better of Benny with his remarks about the former's aged
Maxwell automobile, a suit he'd plan to wear to a special occasion,
a party he'd want to host or to attend, always getting gales of laughter.
On "The Great Gildersleeve", Gildy had a black cook who always had
helpful advice for Gildersleeve and his nephew LeRoy, whenever
they found themselves in some sort of quandary. The Cisco Kid and his
partner in adventures in the Old West, Pancho, were two Mexican men
who were traveling crime fighters taking on robbers of stagecoaches,
banks, families and individuals; mining claim jumpers; con men;
other criminals of various sorts, always prevailing in every episode.
The Lone Ranger? The Masked Man (white) benefited greatly from his
friend and crime fighting partner Tonto, a Native American (referred to
in the stories as an Indian; again, that was consistent with those times).
As an aside, your exacting Peasant prefers the term "Native American"
to "Indian" for referring to our indigenous Americans, because the
latter can cause some to mistakenly think of someone from India.
The Green Hornet had Kato, expert in the martial arts. indispensable
to GH in fighting crime. On "Have Gun, Will Travel" Pallidan was
well-looked after by a Chinese couple when he was home at the San
Francisco hotel where he stayed when he was not out assisting a client
with his trusty gun. Yes, admittedly the couple both spoke without
using prepositional phrases, sounding rather comical, but perhaps
many of the Asian immigrants to the United States in that century
(19th century) spoke English that way, either coming over or in the
process of learning to speak English after their arrival.
And in no instances did any of these or other similar characters on
these beloved old radio shows get any belittling, degrading treatment;
no stereotypically slanted lines delivered, none of the things that would
present a degrading view of the characters' racial or ethnic grouping.
And through the years, people of many racial and ethnic groups, skin
colors, whatever categories people can be classified under have enjoyed
these shows, including when they were presented on the now-cancelled
Old Time Radio Drama show on WHAD-FM. I visited WPR's website
and read their statement explaining the reasons why they dropped the
show. They thought that the classic shows featured were not fit for
modern times, that they were stereotypical in their portrayal of
said people, and were therefore demeaning to them. They then averred
that they would be replacing OTRD with a series of interviews, some
live and some taped, some podcasts focusing on a wide range of topics;
knowing WPR, it will certainly be a solidly left-wing bill of fare. They
are going to use this opportunity to pull us ignorant, hapless peasants
out of the lowly depths from which we issue, where we actually laugh at
comedy radio shows and thrill to the adventurous bill of fare whose
only fault is having been created years ago, being simply snapshots in
time showing how far our society had progressed at that time in getting
away from the times and their accompanying ideas of blacks and
other non-white people being fit for little more that menial, drudgery-
filled manual work, just one step removed from slavery. And this is
going on at a time when others on the Left are pulling down statues of
our historical figures, eliminating books, films, and TV shows which
they find not to be sufficiently politically correct for whatever reasons
they concoct. It's all part of the effort to remake our country, our
society, and her people, to be a more fit and pleasing place to satisfy
their elite and elitist selves, never mind the fact that We the People
can think, reason, and discern for ourselves --- and we'd rather, instead
of having these arrogant jerks do that for us.
And the nannies of NPR and their affiliated organizations are part of
the process.
MEM
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Jammed Solid This Week
Your faithful Peasant is sorry to say that I will not
be able to post anything this week, for my whole
week is chock-a-block with appointments, commit-
ments, and personal duties to tend to. I am taking care
of a backlog of things which were held up and
turned into a veritable logjam by the COVID-19
lockdown. However, I'll be back in the coming week!
Thank you my fantastic readers, for your understanding,
your patience, and your indulgence.
MEM
be able to post anything this week, for my whole
week is chock-a-block with appointments, commit-
ments, and personal duties to tend to. I am taking care
of a backlog of things which were held up and
turned into a veritable logjam by the COVID-19
lockdown. However, I'll be back in the coming week!
Thank you my fantastic readers, for your understanding,
your patience, and your indulgence.
MEM
Thursday, June 11, 2020
The Spring of Our Discontent
Not meaning to sound like a broken record, but it feels
SO good to be back! When the Coronavirus, a/k/a
COVID-19 came to the United States earlier in the year
the governors of most of the states enacted executive
orders to either close down for a time or to curb certain
activities, i.e. visiting parks and beaches, going to movie
theaters, attending concerts, festivals and sporting events,
and visiting our community libraries. Sadly and painfully,
this has certainly been the case here in Wisconsin.
Our Milwaukee Irish Fest has been cancelled for this year;
so have all the other major festivals, including SummerFest.
The State Fair went away as well. There has never been a
cancellation of our state fair in its 130+ year history until now.
All to avoid having too many people in one place at one time,
so as to run the risk of the virus being spread around by
people who might not even know they have it.
Some major league sports stopped in mid-season (basketball,
hockey) while others saw a postponement of their seasons
(baseball). Auto races were either been cancelled or postponed.
Ditto golf tournaments. And the three most famous horse races
in the country? The Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the
Belmont will either be cancelled or postponed as well. I've
heard that the Kentucky Derby will be held at a later date,
likely in autumn. College and high school sports? Cancelled.
Schools? The spring semester was cut short for many students,
teachers, and administrators. Graduation ceremonies and related
activities have been converted into "virtual" events, held online
with everyone participating from home. Colleges and universities
too.
Restaurants, cafe's, and drinking establishments have been
shuttered, except for those fortunate restaurants that were able
to do deliveries or carry-out. Many friends of The Peasant who
work in these places, especially my musician/singer friends,
have been placed on the shelf for the time being. As of this
posting, some of them are still waiting to return to work and
to re-schedule their gigs.
Churches, temples, and other houses of worship were locked as
well. There have not been any masses or other activities at
the catholic church next door to me as a result.
In some cities and states, there have been rules either suggesting
or mandating that people not venture out from their homes unless
it is for an appointment with their doctors, to visit their drug stores
for medicine, to buy groceries, or to go to their local post offices.
At least here in Wisconsin we could still go out for walks in our
neighborhoods, and your favorite Peasant has been taking advantage
of this! I am trying to lose a few pounds and the exercise has been
most beneficial.
At this time, there has been a stepped-up though still gradual
re-opening of our state as far as the aforementioned things are
concerned. Gov. Tony Evers (D) issued an executive order pro-
scribing our activities in reaction to the COVID-19, which many
(including your favorite Peasant) have found unnecessarily
stringent, and with no plans to ease up anytime soon.
Many Wisconsinites complained to him, many also have publicly
protested, including your outspoken Peasant, attending "Open
Wisconsin Now!" rallies around the state. I participated in one
which was held in Brookfield; it was one of the first such gatherings
held, and was nearby New Berlin where I live.
During the shutdown which was part of Gov. Evers' "Safer at Home"
edict many small businesses have been greatly hampered and are
still hurting. Some of them may close for good or already have,
with some declaring bankruptcy because they could not pay their
bills without revenue coming in. Many of these business owners
have appealed to Gov. Evers but could not get him to budge.
So they went to their state assembly reps and state senators, most
of whom are Republicans, and eventually the legislators launched
a lawsuit against the governor to get him to back off on his edict
and let at least some businesses open up and bring back their
furloughed workers, many in the same financial straits as their
employees without any income. The case was decided by the
Wisconsin Supreme Court in favor of the people, 4-3, breaking
Evers' grip on the people and the state economy, both of which
languished during the lockdown which caused our once-vibrant
economy to become weak and sickly. Some think that Evers and his
administration have tightened said controls so severely as to
harm the economy of our state on purpose and then blame President
Trump for the downfall, by not taking swift and decisive action
from the White House to deal with the Coronavirus. All to turn
people against him so come November Trump will be easily
defeated by the Democrat's candidate, they figure. Many other
Democrat governors are doing the same, and they are thought to
be doing this to sink Trump as well. Your watchful Peasant also
shares this suspicion. I have supported some of the lockdown
measures early on, but thought that they should have been eased
somewhat when signs of the COVID-19 case curve was flattening.
Although new cases have been reported in recent weeks here in
my home state these were due to an increase in testing for the virus
which turned up some new cases; however, the cases where some
people tested positive were running behind those where people
tested negative by around 9 to 1. Still, some governors, including
ours, have refused to let up one iota on their stay-at-home rules.
This I found to be unreasonable, unfair, and overly restricting,
as have many other Wisconsinites, hence the series of events
which consequentially came about.
Because of the State Supreme Court ruling, many mom-and-pop
stores and the like have re-opened for business with alacrity.
There still are some safety measures which must be followed
but they are quite reasonable ones which are in fact quite helpful
in thwarting any further spread of the virus. There must be six feet
of space between customers and staff at all times; when this is not
possible, such as waiting at a checkout station, there is plexiglass
placed between the cashiers and customers. Also staff have to wear
safety masks, and some businesses require their customers to do
the same. Not unreasonable requirements at all.
No one is saying that they don't care about COVID-19 infecting
people, causing death to some. And no one is against reasonable
precautions taken to avoid spreading the virus further. We all
want to "flatten the curve". But certainly no one wants to see
our economy die either, due to businesses closing and people
being laid off for long periods or released altogether.
Even larger businesses in Wisconsin have felt the crunch, with
some cutting back operations and placing many employees on
furlough. It's happened to your Peasant as well, as I have been
on a two-month layoff from my employer, Goodwill. I since
have been brought back to their store here in New Berlin, but
many other workers are still without a job and a paycheck.
As I am now semi-retired, this job has been a wonderful income-
enhancer for me as it complements my passive income. However,
some people are not as fortunate. And we can help them, and
the owners of the businesses which employ them, by getting
our elected leaders in Wisconsin and elsewhere to realize that
protecting the health and the lives of the populace and
enabling businesses to operate again are not mutually exclusive
choices, nor should they be. And self-serving politicians should
not create a false choice in the minds of the people to manipulate
them in an election year.
MEM
SO good to be back! When the Coronavirus, a/k/a
COVID-19 came to the United States earlier in the year
the governors of most of the states enacted executive
orders to either close down for a time or to curb certain
activities, i.e. visiting parks and beaches, going to movie
theaters, attending concerts, festivals and sporting events,
and visiting our community libraries. Sadly and painfully,
this has certainly been the case here in Wisconsin.
Our Milwaukee Irish Fest has been cancelled for this year;
so have all the other major festivals, including SummerFest.
The State Fair went away as well. There has never been a
cancellation of our state fair in its 130+ year history until now.
All to avoid having too many people in one place at one time,
so as to run the risk of the virus being spread around by
people who might not even know they have it.
Some major league sports stopped in mid-season (basketball,
hockey) while others saw a postponement of their seasons
(baseball). Auto races were either been cancelled or postponed.
Ditto golf tournaments. And the three most famous horse races
in the country? The Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the
Belmont will either be cancelled or postponed as well. I've
heard that the Kentucky Derby will be held at a later date,
likely in autumn. College and high school sports? Cancelled.
Schools? The spring semester was cut short for many students,
teachers, and administrators. Graduation ceremonies and related
activities have been converted into "virtual" events, held online
with everyone participating from home. Colleges and universities
too.
Restaurants, cafe's, and drinking establishments have been
shuttered, except for those fortunate restaurants that were able
to do deliveries or carry-out. Many friends of The Peasant who
work in these places, especially my musician/singer friends,
have been placed on the shelf for the time being. As of this
posting, some of them are still waiting to return to work and
to re-schedule their gigs.
Churches, temples, and other houses of worship were locked as
well. There have not been any masses or other activities at
the catholic church next door to me as a result.
In some cities and states, there have been rules either suggesting
or mandating that people not venture out from their homes unless
it is for an appointment with their doctors, to visit their drug stores
for medicine, to buy groceries, or to go to their local post offices.
At least here in Wisconsin we could still go out for walks in our
neighborhoods, and your favorite Peasant has been taking advantage
of this! I am trying to lose a few pounds and the exercise has been
most beneficial.
At this time, there has been a stepped-up though still gradual
re-opening of our state as far as the aforementioned things are
concerned. Gov. Tony Evers (D) issued an executive order pro-
scribing our activities in reaction to the COVID-19, which many
(including your favorite Peasant) have found unnecessarily
stringent, and with no plans to ease up anytime soon.
Many Wisconsinites complained to him, many also have publicly
protested, including your outspoken Peasant, attending "Open
Wisconsin Now!" rallies around the state. I participated in one
which was held in Brookfield; it was one of the first such gatherings
held, and was nearby New Berlin where I live.
During the shutdown which was part of Gov. Evers' "Safer at Home"
edict many small businesses have been greatly hampered and are
still hurting. Some of them may close for good or already have,
with some declaring bankruptcy because they could not pay their
bills without revenue coming in. Many of these business owners
have appealed to Gov. Evers but could not get him to budge.
So they went to their state assembly reps and state senators, most
of whom are Republicans, and eventually the legislators launched
a lawsuit against the governor to get him to back off on his edict
and let at least some businesses open up and bring back their
furloughed workers, many in the same financial straits as their
employees without any income. The case was decided by the
Wisconsin Supreme Court in favor of the people, 4-3, breaking
Evers' grip on the people and the state economy, both of which
languished during the lockdown which caused our once-vibrant
economy to become weak and sickly. Some think that Evers and his
administration have tightened said controls so severely as to
harm the economy of our state on purpose and then blame President
Trump for the downfall, by not taking swift and decisive action
from the White House to deal with the Coronavirus. All to turn
people against him so come November Trump will be easily
defeated by the Democrat's candidate, they figure. Many other
Democrat governors are doing the same, and they are thought to
be doing this to sink Trump as well. Your watchful Peasant also
shares this suspicion. I have supported some of the lockdown
measures early on, but thought that they should have been eased
somewhat when signs of the COVID-19 case curve was flattening.
Although new cases have been reported in recent weeks here in
my home state these were due to an increase in testing for the virus
which turned up some new cases; however, the cases where some
people tested positive were running behind those where people
tested negative by around 9 to 1. Still, some governors, including
ours, have refused to let up one iota on their stay-at-home rules.
This I found to be unreasonable, unfair, and overly restricting,
as have many other Wisconsinites, hence the series of events
which consequentially came about.
Because of the State Supreme Court ruling, many mom-and-pop
stores and the like have re-opened for business with alacrity.
There still are some safety measures which must be followed
but they are quite reasonable ones which are in fact quite helpful
in thwarting any further spread of the virus. There must be six feet
of space between customers and staff at all times; when this is not
possible, such as waiting at a checkout station, there is plexiglass
placed between the cashiers and customers. Also staff have to wear
safety masks, and some businesses require their customers to do
the same. Not unreasonable requirements at all.
No one is saying that they don't care about COVID-19 infecting
people, causing death to some. And no one is against reasonable
precautions taken to avoid spreading the virus further. We all
want to "flatten the curve". But certainly no one wants to see
our economy die either, due to businesses closing and people
being laid off for long periods or released altogether.
Even larger businesses in Wisconsin have felt the crunch, with
some cutting back operations and placing many employees on
furlough. It's happened to your Peasant as well, as I have been
on a two-month layoff from my employer, Goodwill. I since
have been brought back to their store here in New Berlin, but
many other workers are still without a job and a paycheck.
As I am now semi-retired, this job has been a wonderful income-
enhancer for me as it complements my passive income. However,
some people are not as fortunate. And we can help them, and
the owners of the businesses which employ them, by getting
our elected leaders in Wisconsin and elsewhere to realize that
protecting the health and the lives of the populace and
enabling businesses to operate again are not mutually exclusive
choices, nor should they be. And self-serving politicians should
not create a false choice in the minds of the people to manipulate
them in an election year.
MEM
Thursday, June 4, 2020
So Much to Catch Up On!
IT'S GREAT TO BE BACK!!! It's grand to be together with you,
my dear, wonderful, enthusiastic, grand readers! These last
couple of months have been straight from some sort of a twilight
zone; Rod Serling could have thought this up!
I posted a notice to you all when I learned that, along with almost
everything else, the libraries in Wisconsin would be locked down
as part of the "Safer at Home" rules created and implemented by
my state's gubernatorial administration, making it impossible to
get in to my local library to post on this blog. Although I have a
mobile phone which accesses the internet, it doesn't work very
well; in fact, it's slow as molasses, when it does get me to where
I want to go online I am invariably kicked out of said place after
a few minutes, so I didn't want to try blogging under such circum-
stances, as my blood pressure is high enough without the extra
aggravation!
And in that interim, so much has happened on our political scene
as well as with our economy. And it tortured me to not be able to
comment on it all, sharing my thoughts and observations with you!
But now that the lockdowns are easing here in the Badger State,
and I hope they are easing in whichever states many of you reside
in as well, I am back at the New Berlin Public Library and seated
before a computer in their lovely and spacious computer lab, typing
this blog piece for you all!
We've got a lot to catch up on, but we now have all the time in the
world for that. Meantime, I'll start shopping for an affordable,
reliable, second-hand computer, perhaps a nice laptop or a tablet.
And if I can get an unbelievable deal on a brand new one of these,
heaven! My financial picture is brightening, and I now can make plans
for such purchases as well as purchases for other things I've needed
but had to postpone while things were tight for so long. Then we'll
be able to get together without any lengthy interruptions!
So we'll gather here again for our weekly get-togethers as before,
starting right this minute! Thank you all for hanging tough, keeping
calm, and carrying on! God bless you all, and God bless America!
MEM
my dear, wonderful, enthusiastic, grand readers! These last
couple of months have been straight from some sort of a twilight
zone; Rod Serling could have thought this up!
I posted a notice to you all when I learned that, along with almost
everything else, the libraries in Wisconsin would be locked down
as part of the "Safer at Home" rules created and implemented by
my state's gubernatorial administration, making it impossible to
get in to my local library to post on this blog. Although I have a
mobile phone which accesses the internet, it doesn't work very
well; in fact, it's slow as molasses, when it does get me to where
I want to go online I am invariably kicked out of said place after
a few minutes, so I didn't want to try blogging under such circum-
stances, as my blood pressure is high enough without the extra
aggravation!
And in that interim, so much has happened on our political scene
as well as with our economy. And it tortured me to not be able to
comment on it all, sharing my thoughts and observations with you!
But now that the lockdowns are easing here in the Badger State,
and I hope they are easing in whichever states many of you reside
in as well, I am back at the New Berlin Public Library and seated
before a computer in their lovely and spacious computer lab, typing
this blog piece for you all!
We've got a lot to catch up on, but we now have all the time in the
world for that. Meantime, I'll start shopping for an affordable,
reliable, second-hand computer, perhaps a nice laptop or a tablet.
And if I can get an unbelievable deal on a brand new one of these,
heaven! My financial picture is brightening, and I now can make plans
for such purchases as well as purchases for other things I've needed
but had to postpone while things were tight for so long. Then we'll
be able to get together without any lengthy interruptions!
So we'll gather here again for our weekly get-togethers as before,
starting right this minute! Thank you all for hanging tough, keeping
calm, and carrying on! God bless you all, and God bless America!
MEM
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