November 3, 2020

Yesterday's blog dealt with the elections and endorsements (the elections part of which is happening today). Today's blog deals with yesterday, the feast of All Souls. It is also known as the Day Of The Dead in certain Spanish cultures. I don't know if the souls actually return to earth on this day, but Catholic tradition observes this time as a way to honor all the souls, those who've lived in the past, ancestors, the forgotten, etc.

I didn't have money on Sunday to honor all the departed I wanted to for the All Souls Day Mass, so I'll honor them here, in addition to my mother Patricia Faith Clarke (1942-91), who will have been passed 29 years as of this Thursday, November 5.

Donald G. Clarke (1935-95). The upcoming December 27 will have marked 25 years since his passing. I don't have anywhere near enough time or space to detail my feelings on my father here. I wonder how he would react to me being a published writer and music producer, although I can't make money off of either.

Sally Bowling (1943-2017). I didn't know until recently that she was my half-aunt, but she still is my full Godmother. She had health problems for most of the time I knew her, but she was always fun to be around. She even liked some of my music (even though she never knew that the "Memories" song was about her and my Godfather, her husband).

Larry Bowling (1941-2014). My Godfather never got to listen to my music. But he was one of 2 relatives who got me into coin collecting. When I lived in Pennsylvania at the end of 2003, I got him into attending Mass again. I didn't know until then that he was a huge fan of choir music, and it's hard to hear choir music now without thinking of him.

Rodger Barnhart (1938-2017). If it wasn't for Uncle Rodger, my parents would have never been introduced to each other. Uncle Rodger was stationed in the same unit as my father during Vietnam. My last memories of him were of the drive from Chambersburg to the Amtrak station in Harrisburg. I didn't know until then that he liked any type of electronic or chillout music. He never got to hear any of my music, but some of my recent music (especially the Therapy song) was inspired by that trip, and I got the idea for the Tribulation song right after his passing.

Hazel Stokes Clarke (1911-95). She was the only grandmother I remembered, as my other grandmother (Grace Fogal Faith) died shortly after my birth. Grandma Hazel was very eccentric. My 2015 trip to her hometown of Toronto filled in some blanks on her life (born at home, raised in an apartment above a fish and chips shop, her father's ruinous lawsuit against his brother that led to the loss of his business and emigration to Detroit). When I first got my DNA test, I wasn't sure if I was related to her. Now, a good chunk of my DNA matches (and nearly all the ones from the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) are from her branch of the family tree. Grandma Hazel also got me into coin collecting. If she were still alive, I don't know who she would be more disappointed in- me, my sister, or my estranged niece Allie.

George F. Clarke (1908-81). As he died when I was elementary school, I didn't know much about him when he died. I know his health was why my family left Colorado Springs after my father's retirement from the Air Force. I didn't know until well after he died who his parents were, his sales career, his closeness to his mother (who died before my father was born), his military career during WW2, or that he actually was suffering from ALS at the time of his death. Probably the one thing I remember most about him is a song he always sang to my grandmother. I have no idea if he wrote it himself or appropriated it from Vaudeville or Tin Pan Alley.
You'll take Grace with a bulldog face
But I'll take Hazel
You'll take Rose with a turned up nose
But I'll take Hazel
She's the kind of smarty
Who breaks up every party
Don't take Hazel, don't take Hazel
I'll take her myself, by gosh!

Richard J Faith (1915-95). The grandfather I remember most, and the soul on here most likely to still be in Purgatory after 25 years. He was good at building stuff and electrical work. I didn't know until after he died that he was into boating. I found out years after he died that he should have been a Mateer instead of a Faith (as his parents never married, and his father was drafted into WW1 shortly after his birth). My DNA test results show relation to quite a few Mateers at 3rd Cousin level and above. He was not above taking advantage of family, including coercing me to drive him to drive from Chambersburg to the bus station in Louisville, KY, when I had plans to go from Chambersburg to NYC (the opposite direction). He left his tickets to head back in my car, and it took a lot of searching in Midtown to find a FedEx to send off the tickets. About 4 years later, I ended up moving to NYC on a permanent basis. Supposedly he cheated on my grandmother Grace, but DNA tests on one of my Godmother's daughters prove that my grandmother got back at him, and he was forced to raise a daughter that wasn't his. As I am Catholic, I don't believe in Karma. But my mother, Godmother, and other aunts and uncles managed to survive their time with him.

November 2, 2020

Once again, an election presents itself as the "biggest election in our lifetime". And considering how divided this nation is getting, they may be right. Since I last blogged, the House became Democratic and the Senate got more Republican. An annoying virus swept the world, and killed 2-5% of its victims. Riots have gotten more commonplace. Antifa is getting bolder, and ideas that were considered crackpot when I attended Brooklyn College over 20 years ago are now the mainstream of the Democratic Party. And cancel culture is the norm.

I don't how likely any of these are to win, but here are my endorsements for tomorrow's election:

PRESIDENT
Donald Trump. Yeah, I know, from a character perspective, he's the Republican version of Bill Clinton (and that is NOT a compliment). But he has caused the economy to grow far better than it did under my distant cousin Obama. Trump has actually governed as a conservative, and has gotten tough with our biggest economic and military adversary (China, not the rapidly declining Putinist Russia). He has appointed 3 originalist Supreme Court Justices and hundreds of Federal judges to undo the activist judiciary promoted by his mostly Democrat predecessors. I don't know if it is because of his mainstream policies or his outrageous behavior, but the Democrats have gotten more radical in their opposition to him. Since 2016, the Democratic Party has embraced radical left ideas such as socialism, critical race theory/1619ism, higher taxes, Supreme Court packing, restrictions on religion, and bringing back the hated Obamacare Individual Mandate. Joe Biden may be the Democratic name on the ballot, but the real power if Biden is elected will be with anti-Catholic VP Kamala Harris and the radical left. Since Trump is the only thing standing between these leftist lunatics and control of the United States Government, I have no choice but to support Trump.


SENATE (Colorado)
Cory Gardner. He is probably the only statewide elected official that I have any respect for. He is a common sense conservative, and the only member of the Colorado congressional delegation with any major accomplishments (The BLM and Space Force headquarters moving to Colorado). Hickenlooper has broken his previous rule against negative campaigning, has gotten even more left wing, and has an ethics problem that mainfested during his last term as Colorado Governor.


HOUSE District 3
Lauren Boebert. She made her name as a vocal opponent to the state's COVID 19 restrictions on businesses, and parlayed that into an upset win in the Republican primary over incumbent Scott Tipton. Diane Mitsch Bush is an academic socialist masquerading as a compromising moderate.

District 5
No endorsement. This district has never been represented by a Democrat. The palatable Libertarian candidate (Doug Lunde) pulled out of the race days before the election. Democrat Jillian Freeland is too liberal for this district. And Doug Lamborn is the kind of Republican who gives the party a bad name. He muscled out any primary competition this year despite a recent challenge to his ability to run for re-election.

NY House District 11 Nicole Malliotakis. Historically this Staten Island based district has been the conservative beacon of the NYC Congressional delegation. It needs to return to that.

Colorado Amendments

Amendment B
No. Tampering with the state Constitution to lower business property taxes inevitably results in higher taxes for homeowners.

Amendment C
Yes. A common sense loosening of restrictions for charatable organizations that want to obtain charitable gaming licenses.

Amendment 76
HELL YES. Passing this amendment means only US Citizens can vote in Colorado elections. The status quo is in violation of federal law, so this should be a no brainer.

Amendment 77
Yes. Only 3 cities in this state allow legal gaming, so why shouldn't those cities' voters determine allowing more (or less) gaming types and regulations?

Propositions

Proposistion EE
Yes. This allows vaping to be taxed- currently it is far cheaper to vape than to smoke cigarettes. Personally I think all forms of smokable tobacco should be outlawed and eradicated from the earth, but that is not up for vote this year.

Proposition 113
HELL NO. Tampering with the spirit (if not letter) of the US Constitution in order to make it easier for popular vote winners (i.e. Democrats) to become President is a very bad idea.

Proposition 114
No. Gray wolves don't need government intervention to return to the wildlands of Colorado.

Proposition 115
HELL YES. Currently abortion in Colorado is legal up to childbirth. While I would like to see this barbarous practice outlawed, this proposition lowers the age at which a fetus can be aborted to 22 weeks, which is line with most of the rest of country.

Proposition 116
HELL YES. This lowers the state income tax from 4.63% to 4.55%. Sadly, there is a very vocal opposition to lowering taxes in this state, mostly by the same idiots who want to overturn TABOR.

Proposition 117
Yes. This strengthens TABOR by mandating voter approval of any government enterprise that is currently exempt from TABOR.

Proposition 118
HELL NO. Paid Medical and Family leave is the reponsibilty of employers, not the government. If this becomes law, expect taxes to be raised considerably in order to pay for this.

The Judiciary
Colorado allows for Judicial elections for state and county judges. In other words, if you don't like a corrupt judge in this state, you can fire them with your vote in this state. As nearly the entire state judiciary on this year's ballot was appointed by Democrats, I urge a no vote on all of them. Too bad this is not an option in my former home state of New York.