Podcast 108 - If the Justice Department told me, “You cannot cast scorn upon an elected government official,” I would say, “The idiot doesn’t even know how to punctuate his first two initials.”
You are just a good man who grew up with great family, surrounded by great family who did their best to stay civil and connected. And somewhere along the line, somebody impressed upon you of the idea of passing all of “This” on.
I am 82 as well and I wish to agree with you about doing just fine this far along the line. In fact, I too find myself writing a Substack (bi-weekly) confronting the time when Trumpism seeks to return to the pagan era when a person in whom kingly authority is vested, a "state" religion, and the wealthy ruling class combine to rule with little regard to waht preachers are. trying to say for your meditation on your wqlk home.
Probably not a great idea to write limericks in church. Not your best work. But if you must do it, try doing a clean one that begins, "There once was a man from Nantucket."
Who's idea was it to send Vance to Greenland (really)? Another real estate attempt, or a Putin suggestion for a later deal...... whatever the reason, Greenland was incensed at the whole thing. I loved the writing and hearing your voice. It is like a precious of art. It means so much to so many of us. Keep going !
There is no limit to the scorn that we, the literate, can caste upon this pretend administration and its pathetic leader and should if we are to survive them. Please continue with the creative ways in which you violate the dunce's dictate to stop with the scorn. As an 81-year-old person bent on not leaving anytime soon, I do my part to dare this rabble to stop me. Being the cowards that they are, I don't expect much opposition.
Even more than anger, hatred is the accusation MAGAs have toward us, that we hate them or hate Trump. Every policy disagreement gets reduced to our so called hating him. It is as though they cannot conceive of disagreement as anything but personal. They get that from their leader who has cultivated grievance into a fine art, or more aptly a vulgar art.
Those of us who don't traffic in hate, who feel deeply for the less fortunate, who see people from Central America fleeing their homes to escape drugs, gang recruitment and death as desperate human beings and not invaders, coming to America that we may live up to our promise on the Statue of Liberty and the actual things that made us great, our diversity, equality and inclusion, and who see the people of Gaza as innocents being bombed and starved to death, cannot fathom the apparent lack of compassion from the MAGA crowd for the least of these, and yet still must endure hearing their claims of strict adherence to Christian values. To me, how we treat the least of these is the greatest Christian value. And not exclusively Christian either.
It is no wonder the two sides have such trouble understanding each other. We have to find a way to bridge the divide and talk to the other side respectfully but also without giving up our compassion and empathy for the less fortunate, be they Americans or not.
I wish I were a poet because if I were, I’d put finger to iPhone screen and blather on and on about how much I love you, Mister Keillor, and that your words and writings never cease to lift my spirits and make me smile with joy. I haven’t checked the rule book, but I don’t think you are too much of a geezer to be unqualified to run for President of the United States of America. 🇺🇸 Please give it a thought. Thank you.
This is sublimely beautiful, G.K. I hope that I punctuated your initials correctly. I can't imagine that someone could mispunctuate initials, but I'll just take your word on it.
I'm heading for church myself in a couple of hours. My wife will get there before me today for "Praise Team" practice because she was asked to sing in place of some singers who are on vacation the next few weeks. She thinks that her voice is too weak at her age of 70, but even if it is, her smile still lights up the sanctuary, and she has always smiled when she sings her praises to God, which is one of the things that I most love about her. For my part I will most likely straggle in a few minutes late for our adult Sunday School because I've done that so much that people have come to expect it of me and I don't want to throw anyone off by changing my habits now.
We Baptists don't have a confessional like there was in the Roman Catholicism of my childhood, and more's the shame too, because I have so much more to confess as an adult than I ever did as a child, things like lust and greed and sloth and gluttony and pride and the rest of the seven deadly sins plus a couple more that I may have invented. We Baptists could confess our sins to one another like we are enjoined to do in the Book of James, but then we might cause a brother or sister to stumble, adding gossip to their own list of sins and so we don't do that much. We just confess our sins to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and trust in His advocacy for us with our Father and so get by for another week with the best intentions to begin anew the week before us wherein we will read our Bibles, say our prayers, and try to remember our fellow souls all around us and give of ourselves to help one another.
So "Good Sabbath" to you, G.K., and to all your readers as well!
These bitter rantings of a once cheerful and kindly entertainer are too much to stomach. I wonder how he reconciles spreading his anger and resentment with his purprtedly Christian background. I'd say farewell, but the Mr Keillor I once relished is long gone.
Bitter? Not hardly. Somewhat disdainful and derisive? Appropriate. Anger seems to be the current MAGA buzzword as I see it repeatedly used as an attempted insult. No, the humor is what keeps us going, especially when someone from MAGA world attempts to claim Christianity as a mantle while practicing cruelty and greed.
I don’t think you would know bitter if it bit you in your arse. What the GOP controlled White House, Congress and Supreme Court are doing as I write, to the millions of decent, honest, religious (all except MAGA so called Christians) and hardworking people (citizens and non citizens) is abominable, cruel, inhumane and in utter disregard of what our government founders intended their descendants to be and do to our fellow human beings. It’s that simple, and it is wrong.
I can relate to your sense of irresponsibility. Can somebody explain the context of this first aria from Handel's Messiah, and if it applies to what's going on over there today? From Isaiah:
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
You are just a good man who grew up with great family, surrounded by great family who did their best to stay civil and connected. And somewhere along the line, somebody impressed upon you of the idea of passing all of “This” on.
And I thank you
And yet here you are still giving so many of us years and years of music, words and laughter. Thank you.
For one who likes limericks neater
With accurate rhymes and good meter
I'm happy to edit
Have already said it
So now this is just a repeater
The Russians desired a route in
The Oval and found a recruit in
A blustering novice
Who thinks it's his office
In fact it's directed by Putin
I am 82 as well and I wish to agree with you about doing just fine this far along the line. In fact, I too find myself writing a Substack (bi-weekly) confronting the time when Trumpism seeks to return to the pagan era when a person in whom kingly authority is vested, a "state" religion, and the wealthy ruling class combine to rule with little regard to waht preachers are. trying to say for your meditation on your wqlk home.
Probably not a great idea to write limericks in church. Not your best work. But if you must do it, try doing a clean one that begins, "There once was a man from Nantucket."
Church is the best place to write limericks or any other form of poetry. It's well lighted and clean, just what Hemingway needed to do his best work.
Who's idea was it to send Vance to Greenland (really)? Another real estate attempt, or a Putin suggestion for a later deal...... whatever the reason, Greenland was incensed at the whole thing. I loved the writing and hearing your voice. It is like a precious of art. It means so much to so many of us. Keep going !
you seem to be getting sharper and sharper. strange, considering your age.
There is no limit to the scorn that we, the literate, can caste upon this pretend administration and its pathetic leader and should if we are to survive them. Please continue with the creative ways in which you violate the dunce's dictate to stop with the scorn. As an 81-year-old person bent on not leaving anytime soon, I do my part to dare this rabble to stop me. Being the cowards that they are, I don't expect much opposition.
Even more than anger, hatred is the accusation MAGAs have toward us, that we hate them or hate Trump. Every policy disagreement gets reduced to our so called hating him. It is as though they cannot conceive of disagreement as anything but personal. They get that from their leader who has cultivated grievance into a fine art, or more aptly a vulgar art.
Those of us who don't traffic in hate, who feel deeply for the less fortunate, who see people from Central America fleeing their homes to escape drugs, gang recruitment and death as desperate human beings and not invaders, coming to America that we may live up to our promise on the Statue of Liberty and the actual things that made us great, our diversity, equality and inclusion, and who see the people of Gaza as innocents being bombed and starved to death, cannot fathom the apparent lack of compassion from the MAGA crowd for the least of these, and yet still must endure hearing their claims of strict adherence to Christian values. To me, how we treat the least of these is the greatest Christian value. And not exclusively Christian either.
It is no wonder the two sides have such trouble understanding each other. We have to find a way to bridge the divide and talk to the other side respectfully but also without giving up our compassion and empathy for the less fortunate, be they Americans or not.
I wish I were a poet because if I were, I’d put finger to iPhone screen and blather on and on about how much I love you, Mister Keillor, and that your words and writings never cease to lift my spirits and make me smile with joy. I haven’t checked the rule book, but I don’t think you are too much of a geezer to be unqualified to run for President of the United States of America. 🇺🇸 Please give it a thought. Thank you.
This is sublimely beautiful, G.K. I hope that I punctuated your initials correctly. I can't imagine that someone could mispunctuate initials, but I'll just take your word on it.
I'm heading for church myself in a couple of hours. My wife will get there before me today for "Praise Team" practice because she was asked to sing in place of some singers who are on vacation the next few weeks. She thinks that her voice is too weak at her age of 70, but even if it is, her smile still lights up the sanctuary, and she has always smiled when she sings her praises to God, which is one of the things that I most love about her. For my part I will most likely straggle in a few minutes late for our adult Sunday School because I've done that so much that people have come to expect it of me and I don't want to throw anyone off by changing my habits now.
We Baptists don't have a confessional like there was in the Roman Catholicism of my childhood, and more's the shame too, because I have so much more to confess as an adult than I ever did as a child, things like lust and greed and sloth and gluttony and pride and the rest of the seven deadly sins plus a couple more that I may have invented. We Baptists could confess our sins to one another like we are enjoined to do in the Book of James, but then we might cause a brother or sister to stumble, adding gossip to their own list of sins and so we don't do that much. We just confess our sins to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and trust in His advocacy for us with our Father and so get by for another week with the best intentions to begin anew the week before us wherein we will read our Bibles, say our prayers, and try to remember our fellow souls all around us and give of ourselves to help one another.
So "Good Sabbath" to you, G.K., and to all your readers as well!
love your sense of humor...and sense of who you are.
Thank you😘
These bitter rantings of a once cheerful and kindly entertainer are too much to stomach. I wonder how he reconciles spreading his anger and resentment with his purprtedly Christian background. I'd say farewell, but the Mr Keillor I once relished is long gone.
Bitter? Not hardly. Somewhat disdainful and derisive? Appropriate. Anger seems to be the current MAGA buzzword as I see it repeatedly used as an attempted insult. No, the humor is what keeps us going, especially when someone from MAGA world attempts to claim Christianity as a mantle while practicing cruelty and greed.
I don’t think you would know bitter if it bit you in your arse. What the GOP controlled White House, Congress and Supreme Court are doing as I write, to the millions of decent, honest, religious (all except MAGA so called Christians) and hardworking people (citizens and non citizens) is abominable, cruel, inhumane and in utter disregard of what our government founders intended their descendants to be and do to our fellow human beings. It’s that simple, and it is wrong.
I'm sure that you will be missed, Matt.
Your devotion to the cult of treason has ruined you as an American.
I can relate to your sense of irresponsibility. Can somebody explain the context of this first aria from Handel's Messiah, and if it applies to what's going on over there today? From Isaiah:
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.