William Elliott azelgrove's Blog, page 20

When They Go Low We Go High...Didn't Work

We all remember Michelle Obama saying these words. It sounded good then but sadly it didn't work and Hillary Clinton is the proof.  One might ask if Barack Obama is still using this strategy. I know he put in his eight years and he deserves the islands, ski slopes, the world. But the guy with the funny pompadour is taking a hatchet to his legacy and he is not done yet. When they go low we go high is good in theory but in the year of our Lord 2017 it doesn't work. There is too much noise for the McCarthy moment anymore. Senator at long last have you no shame. No I don't. That belonged to a quieter era, a time when shame had some meaning.

I suspect Obama is thinking he will not get down in the mud with Donald Trump even after he tried to deligitimize his presidency for four years with the birther movement and then he accused him of wiretapping him, attacking his character, and basically committing a felony. Then he put Obamacare on the chopping block and just missed with his axe. He is not done yet. Then he eviscerated his climate change initiative. This is also after he suggested Obama didn't go to Harvard and faked his degree.

When they go low we go high didn't work for Hillary either. Donald just sucked up all the oxygen and was able to tell blue collar workers he had their backs and nobody contradicted him. Turning the other cheek is only going to get you sucker punched. I just can't believe Obama is going to not respond to these attacks on his character. When they go low you at least respond. Going high will just miss the target.

Madam President The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson






"Rocket Man is the funniest novel since Russo's Straight Man."

Chicago Sun Times


"Rocket Man is a hilarious, well written novel about one man's search for the New American Dream." James Frey, author A Million Little Pieces and Bright Shiny Morning

How Teddy Roosevelt Became A Cowboy

In 1883 Teddy Roosevelts mother and wife died the same day. Three months later he left for the South Dakota Territory.  By 1890, the superintendent of the U.S. Census Bureau would declare the American frontier finally closed. Frederick Jackson Turner affirmed this and claimed that the frontier experience, more than any other, had shaped America’s character; it had given the pioneer “a new field of opportunity, a gate of escape from the bondage of the past.” Teddy Roosevelt went to the Badlands of the Dakotas at the tail end of the Wild West. The asthmatic with thick spectacles who stepped off the train in the town of Little Missouri bore little resemblance to the man who would return years later thick of chest and ready to tackle the world.

He came back as the Teddy Roosevelt we now recognize. The West remade Roosevelt, just as it had remade the country. Basically lawless and churchless, the West offered freedom unbounded if you were tough enough to take it. As he later wrote, “For cowboy work there is no need of special traits and special training, and young Easterners should be sure of themselves before trying it: the struggle for existence is very keen in the far West, and it is no place for men who lack the ruder, coarser virtues and physical qualities. . . . ” This held great appeal for young Roosevelt, who would find the essence of America in the frozen and baking terrain of the Badlands. Here the character of America presented itself to Roosevelt, and he essentially became that character.

The West delivered this one-hundred-and-twenty-five-pound man, this this “dude,” a great adventure: he faced down gunmen, grizzly bears, thieves, rustlers, unscrupulous ranchers, ruthless outlaws, and Indians. He had the breath knocked out of him by overturned horses, cracked a rib, dislocated a shoulder, and nearly froze to death more than once, getting lost in the hell that is the Badlands—all while fighting chronic asthma and ignoring a physician’s admonition to protect his weak heart and lead the sedentary life of a recluse. To recover from the twin blows of losing both his mother and his wife on the same day, and in his quest to find his way again, Theodore Roosevelt would push himself to the point where his broken heart would either heal or stop forever. The West was just the place for such a contest.



Forging a President How the Wild West Created Teddy Roosevelt "Rocket Man is the funniest novel since Russo's Straight Man."

Chicago Sun Times


"Rocket Man is a hilarious, well written novel about one man's search for the New American Dream." James Frey, author A Million Little Pieces and Bright Shiny Morning

What Hillary Clinton Must Be Thinking

You know that feeling when you lose the game because someone cheated. When my son was in Boy Scouts there was a Pinewood Derby race and we won every race but the last one. On that race the scoutmaster allowed the other car to stay on the fast lane. I never got an explanation and we lost but I suspected it was because the scoutmaster was friends with the other father. Anyway we lost and the other car won, but it bothered me for a long time.

Now we have the Russians who clearly influenced our election and threw it to Donald Trump. We just don't know how involved the Trump people were with the Russians. So it was not a fair election. Hillary did not get a chance to put her car on the fast track which would have been the the Russians releasing all the information on candidate Trump as well. So there was cheating. How does Hillary Clinton square this away?

Does she shake her head every day after she reads the paper? Does she watch the news saying to Bill, can you believe they did this to me? Can you believe the Russians cost me the election? Is she bitter? Does she want revenge on Trump or the Russians? Or does she ignore it all because it is just too painful. You have to wonder. I mean I lost the Pine Wood Derby.

But Hillary Clinton lost the Presidency.

Madam President The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson



"Rocket Man is the funniest novel since Russo's Straight Man."

Chicago Sun Times


"Rocket Man is a hilarious, well written novel about one man's search for the New American Dream." James Frey, author A Million Little Pieces and Bright Shiny Morning

How the Wild West Created Teddy Roosevelt

                                                                        Prologue
                                                                            1884


Roosevelt swung down from his pony Manitou and raised his Winchester. He positioned himself behind his horse. The five Indians riding in a deadly gallop were almost upon him. It had been ten years since Custer’s Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn, and Geronimo was still on the run. The Indian Wars had simmered down, but atrocities still occurred on both sides. Roosevelt would later write, “There is always danger in meeting a band of young bucks in lonely, uninhabited country—those that have barely reached manhood being the most truculent, insolent, and reckless.”

Roosevelt knew he might die if he stood his ground, but he would surely die if he gave up his rifle or tried to outrun the Indians. He cocked his Winchester and took aim over the saddle of his horse. His glasses hit the stock and sweat tickled his nose. His hat was pulled low. The Indians whooped and shrieked with their rifles over their heads. Roosevelt breathed in the heated air of the Badlands and the ropy smell of his saddle. Later he would write, “The level plain where we were was of all places the one on which such an onslaught could best be met.”3

Being in the open gave him an advantage. Roosevelt drew a bead on the Indian in the middle. Men who knew they might die would think twice before charging someone with a rifle aimed at their chest. Still, Roosevelt knew the Indians had the odds. He might take one of them—but of course the others would kill him. Maybe take his scalp or hack him to pieces as they had left others. All he could really do was wait. He was a man from New York who just a year earlier had frantically taken a train in the middle of the night to find his destiny. It was a murderous world there, too.

Forging A President How the Wild West Created Teddy Roosevelt




"Rocket Man is the funniest novel since Russo's Straight Man."

Chicago Sun Times


"Rocket Man is a hilarious, well written novel about one man's search for the New American Dream." James Frey, author A Million Little Pieces and Bright Shiny Morning

Why Writers Shouldn't Teach

I have taught at a few colleges. And always I was thinking about getting back to writing. I think that writers probably should not teach. First it gives you a paycheck. A writer who is satiated is not a good thing. Writers need to be hungry to write. They need to be driven by necessity to write. This is uncomfortably for most writers and a bit like jumping off a cliff without a parachute but that is the point. You don't want to be comfortable. You want to be angst ridden, hungry, in need of making a living from your writing.

This is not old fashioned starving artist garbage. This is simple logic. If all your time is being taken away with teaching to get the paycheck then when do you write? And what do you have left over at the end of the day. If you are teaching a few classes a day you don't have much at all. Now some writers are more teachers than writers. That is fine. You should be a teacher.

But if you are a writer first then you might as well realize you cannot do both. You must be the writer and get your money from something that wont take all your time. Of course the teachers who write and publish will say this is not true. But most writers don't publish when they become teachers. They are too busy teaching. "Rocket Man is the funniest novel since Russo's Straight Man."

Chicago Sun Times


"Rocket Man is a hilarious, well written novel about one man's search for the New American Dream." James Frey, author A Million Little Pieces and Bright Shiny Morning

The Origins of Paul Ryan's Dark Plan

Donald Trump is not this bad. Trump actually wouldn't mind covering everyone with health care reform if Paul Ryan and the Republicans would go along. But he needs cover with the Russian investigation and Paul Ryan wants to put his death plan in place. It comes from Anne Rand's Atlas Shrugged. This is a book Ryan likes and has talked bout. At the centerpiece of the book is the notion that altruism if false and people only act out of self interest. Written in the thirties Rand looked around and decided liberal democracy was headed for the ash heaps of history. Humans only really care about themselves

Ryan took this and blended it with Horatio Algeir. This is a literary figure of the early twentieth century who embodies the rags to riches story of America. Anyone even a poor person in America can be rich if they work hard enough. You should pull yourself up by your bootstraps and if you dont it is your own fault. So people only can act in self interest and that self interest can spur you to great things but you will not do it by helping your fellow man. Here is where it gets interesting

The credo behind the Paul Ryan philosophy is really Social Darwinism. Only the strong will survive while the weak die off. This has been batted around for a hundred years and has taken the form of Eugenics; a racial model of who should live and who should die. It became the backbone of the Final Solution for Hitler. He exterminated Jews and undesriables and this was the old and the poor and many others. Ryan believes the marketplace will sort out the old and the poor and it will destroy those who are not strong enough to survive.

There it is. He is not alone in this thinking but he owns it now. This is behind the Ryan health plan. He actually makes Donald Trump look like a nice guy. Trump may be  many things, but he is not an evil man. You can not say the same thing about Paul Ryan.

Madam President The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson




"Rocket Man is the funniest novel since Russo's Straight Man."

Chicago Sun Times


"Rocket Man is a hilarious, well written novel about one man's search for the New American Dream." James Frey, author A Million Little Pieces and Bright Shiny Morning

What Happened to the Kindle?

You remember that funny thing that lit up and then went dead really fast. Or how about that thing you tried to read in the sun and it was like a black piece of slate. Or that thing where you never knew what page you were on and couldn't tell when you would finish the book or if the pages were marked and you couldn't spill jelly or coffee on it or throw it in your backpack or get it wet or find that one book you know you downloaded but now it is just gone. You know the thing that was supposed to be the IPOD of books. What happened to it?

I know I know. There are a lot of people out there who are happy kindle users but it is weird when the hardcover of my book  outpaces the kindle by four to one. People seem willing to plunk down 29.00 for a hardcover instead of getting an electronic version of less than half the price. The bigger question is why didn't it blow away all those pulpy books especially hardcovers.
Could it be readers are different than people who listen to music and while spotify tore the music biz to pieces the kindle fizzled like a bottle rocket.

The rub on this is the kindle flat lined somewhere and the novelty wore off and people went back to buying books. I am a perfect example. My kindle is jammed with books. And for a while that was my thing. No more books. Just electronic. But I missed marking up my books, I missed bending the pages, knowing how far i had to go...I missed READING a book. It is different. When I asked my comp class  in college who had a kindle? Not one hand went up.

So maybe it will come back. But until then bring on the coffee and jelly and bend back those pages and throw that bad boy by the tub. And the great thing is you don't have to plug it  in. My own kindle sits on my dresser...covered in dust.

Madam President The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson



"Rocket Man is the funniest novel since Russo's Straight Man."

Chicago Sun Times


"Rocket Man is a hilarious, well written novel about one man's search for the New American Dream." James Frey, author A Million Little Pieces and Bright Shiny Morning

CREEP becomes CEPT

The Committee to Reelect the President. That is what Nixon called the organization that hired the Watergate burglars. The Watergate burglars broke into the DNC Headquarters and got caught. The rest is history. So what should we call the committee to elect President Trump. CEPT. Has a ring. CEPT has been caught communicating with the Russians during the election.  So here is the question. Why?

Why was CEPT talking to the Russians during the campaign? If their job is to elect President Trump then obviously they had to be talking about matters pertaining to the election. Is this so hard to connect the dots on this? They were not calling the Russians to discuss policy except maybe they were and then the question is what kind of policy would CEPT want to have if their main concern is to elect Trump.

None of this is Rocket Science. Flynn called the Russians. CEPT called the Russians during a close election where WIKI leaks happened to release damning information on Trumps opponent. And the President has been very careful not to offend Putin. Hmmm.

Madam President The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson





"Rocket Man is the funniest novel since Russo's Straight Man."

Chicago Sun Times


"Rocket Man is a hilarious, well written novel about one man's search for the New American Dream." James Frey, author A Million Little Pieces and Bright Shiny Morning

Who Told Flynn To Call the Russians?

Richard Nixon was brought down by a simple act. He said on tape that Haldermann and Erlichmann should obstruct the investigation into Watergate. He was sunk by his lie that he knew nothing about Watergate when it was revealed he did know by his own tape. Now we have General Flynn who called the Russians and said not to worry about the sanctions. The question is who told Flynn to call the Russians and what  would prompt such a call.

Flynn did not just pick up the phone and have a conversation with the Russian ambassador. Someone wanted to reassure the Russians not to worry. Now why would you do that unless you wanted to reassure someone who might just talk about other things. Why would General Flynn be so concerned the Russians might get pissed about the sanctions?

A simple lie brought Richard Nixon down. He told the people who worked for him to redirect the FBI and get them off of Watergate. He did many other things but really it was the moment he told those who worked for him to break the law. So again...who told General Flynn to call the Russians?


Madam President The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson

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"Rocket Man is the funniest novel since Russo's Straight Man."

Chicago Sun Times


"Rocket Man is a hilarious, well written novel about one man's search for the New American Dream." James Frey, author A Million Little Pieces and Bright Shiny Morning

Those Tough as Nails Feminists

They were tough. When I was growing up in Baltimore the feminist movement was in full flower. My mother was on board as were many East Coast Kennedyesque women who were willing to march, lay down in the street and do whatever it took to advance women's right. I hung out with a kid named Matt. He was cool. His parents were real hippies. His brother was a hippy. His father had long hair and his mother...well she drove an VW Micro bus, wore her hair down to her waist, wore high boots, long coats, and did not take anything from anyone. 
She was the activist mom of  the early seventies and had signs in her garage from demonstrations. His mother scared the hell out of me. One time I didn't eat the crusts of my tuna fish sandwich. She turned her dark eyes on me with her peace sign hanging down. Do you know how many kids are starving in China Billy? I did not. Well there are many and they would kill for those crusts. From then on I ate the crusts. 
But I think about my mother and Matt's mom and how they took nothing from anyone. And I think about the women's movement today. They will have to get tough because power is not given up easily and they are facing probably the most hostile administration in history to women's rights. It will be a tough fight...but you know what, I still eat my crusts. 
Madam President The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson

"Rocket Man is the funniest novel since Russo's Straight Man."

Chicago Sun Times


"Rocket Man is a hilarious, well written novel about one man's search for the New American Dream." James Frey, author A Million Little Pieces and Bright Shiny Morning