Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful...NOT OUR POTUS!

July 25, 2017

Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful...NOT OUR POTUS!

Ruby Rakos, Carole Demas, ME, Diane J. Findlay, Sue Matsuki, KT Sullivan, and producer Russ Woolley

No matter what side of an argument you are on, you always find people on your side that you wish were on the other side.
-Jascha Heifetz, Russian-born American violist (1901-1987)

Happy Tuesday, July 25th, 2017!
July 25 is the 206th day of the year. There are 159 days remaining until the end of the year.
A little overcast and chillier than usual for this time of year in NY.
As I sat down to begin today's blog, I was listening to the 40s channel on Sirius XM

Gene Krupa in 1944

Radio, more specifically Gene Krupa with Anita O'Day and Let Me Off, Uptown.
This was a big hit for both in 1942.
Seventy Five Years Ago!
July 25th, 1942 was a Saturday. Some of my readers may have been there. I wasn't even on the near horizon.
It was a time of patriotism and love of country and civility and respect for one another. It was reflected in our movies, our music, and in almost every aspect of popular culture.

As I sat down to write today's blog, my original intent was not to become 'political' but I began to write, as is normally the case, it took on a life of its own.

In today's blog, I am evaluating and thinking about what our country has dissolved into over the past few years.
I sometimes feel like I'm being double-crossed by loved ones if I express an opinion and I am blaming it all on the negative climate that we are living in. What has happened to civility and just respecting one another?

I am frightened as to what this nation (and the world) has turned into.
When it comes to making a rebuttal on my behalf, I would like to let all that read this know that I'm responding to behavior and not specific people.
Can't we ALL separate the two?
Normally, I have a high tolerance level for uncertainty and am willing to wait for the missing information to surface. However, these days, I keep waiting for the shoe to drop. As the campaign of our current POTUS began, I put on my detective badge and started asking questions. I've never been as politically concerned as I am now.

Yesterday, I watched POTUS' speech for the Boy Scouts of America.
Trump’s Boy Scouts speech broke with 80 years of presidential tradition.

Full disclosure: I did not/do not desire him to be OUR POTUS and 'lead' this country and represent us around the world....BUT once he was elected, I was willing to give him a chance. That being said, he has blown my faith in him with his daily tweets and bullying tactics. As a bullied kid, I know a bully when I see one!
My reasons for the way I feel about him are based on his OWN actions and words and NOT on 'Fake News". I've always felt that what is 'right' for me in any given situation is up to me to decide the direction I NEED to take.

That should be true for all of us. The way that I act and feel in any given moment is based on everything that I have experienced in my life up to this time.
Reacting with a positive attitude instead of a negative one sometimes takes considerable effort, but the payoff is worth it, don't you think?

It is the thought of future possibilities, of all that WE could accomplish WHEN WE work and live as a team with each other, that is making me desire to make more of an effort in my relationships with EVERYONE.
Believe it or not, I was a Boy Scout. I was part of a troop at Centenary Methodist Church in Conway, South Carolina in the mid to late seventies. It was something my parents wanted to make me less of a sissy. I don't think it worked! We lived right next to the church and it was easy for me to walk over to our Scout meetings on Monday night. I don't recall how long I was even a member.

Centenary United Methodist Church in Conway, SC (home of my Monday night Boy Scout meetings)

I remember going on a few camping trips, although when I think of 'camping', my thoughts lean more towards Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Mae West than hiking and fishing.

As I look back, I feel like I have CHOSEN who I have become.
I try daily to not let others choose it for me. It's ALWAYS been like that for me.

How ridiculous have we ALL become? I'm embarrassed for the time we are living in.
Going back to approximately 1975, when I was in the Scouts, I actually felt respected by my scout masters and the other guys in the troop.
As a matter of fact, the only negative thing I remember was having to walk across the Conway bridge after a camping trip.
By most standards it was a small bridge and most would possibly not understand the fear that possessed me to walk over it, but I was petrified of heights and it was, to me, high above the Waccamaw River.

James Dale, Rue, Chad Allen and me as Carol Channing

I begged my Scout leaders to drive me across the bridge but they insisted I walk across...and I did! How did I overcome that challenge? I walked across the bridge with a goal in mind. Maybe it was metaphorical. Anyway, I crossed the bridge and kept walking. As I walked, I knew I was moving AWAY from the Boy Scouts. So I walked directly to Bob's Motel on the other side of the bridge on Highway 501 and went to the pay phone and called my dad to come and get me. I felt emboldened enough not to go back. I followed my gut instinct and I felt blessed with flashes of brilliance.
I WAS THROUGH! There was no need to hesitate or delay; just act.
After that day, I did not miss the Boy Scouts and I truly have not thought about the organization one way or another since that last day. Well, almost...

Several years ago, I did a benefit for

Truly the end of the line for me and the Boy Scouts

the late Senator Lautenburg with Rue McClanahan, Chad Allen, and James Dale who was in a ground breaking law suit with the Boy Scouts of America. Meeting James stirred up old memories.
THAT was the last time I have even thought about the Boy Scouts...until yesterday.

In case you haven't been following the news, our POTUS spoke at a Boy Scout Jamboree in Virginia. Did YOU hear the speech? If so, What are YOUR thoughts?

As an adult, I am embarrassed for what he is doing ...chipping away at so much of what HAS made America great.
For him to say to those kids that our media is fake is a dangerous precedent.

Commemorative BSA stamp first issued by the U.S. in 1950

For him to deride The Attorney General that HE picked is an embarrassment.
He blew an opportunity to celebrate who these kids are and what they can become.
Instead, he chose to make it, as usual, all about his narcissistic self.
If any of you listen to the speech, it can be dissected sentence by sentence alarming in its offensiveness. I know all of you who are thinking with a level head already see this.
For those of you who do not see how wrong this speech was yesterday, please wake up!
This is a dangerous dangerous man. God help us all.

Trump vs BoyScouts: YOU Decide!

Trustworthy? able to be relied on as honest or truthful

Loyal? giving or showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a person or institution.

Helpful? giving or ready to give help.

Friendly? not hostile or at variance; amicable

Courteous? polite, respectful, or considerate in manner.

Kind? of a good or benevolent nature or disposition, as a person

Obedient? complying or willing to comply with orders or requests; submissive to another's will.

Cheerful? noticeably happy and optimistic.

Thrifty? (of a person or their behavior) using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully.

Brave? having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty

I think it's time to clean house

Clean? morally uncontaminated; pure; innocent.

Reverent? feeling or showing deep and solemn respect.

Here is a letter circulating on Facebook from a mom: I am writing to express my utter disbelief and disappointment at the fact that the Boy Scouts of America allowed a sitting president to incite 'booing' and denigration of a former President at the BSA Jamboree today, as well as toward his

Why not take a chance on Celebrating the Boy Scouts (and each other) instead of this constant negativity?

'vanquished ' opponent in the past election.
This is not what I, and my husband, signed our son up for in BSA.
We signed him up to learn RESPECT.For himself. For Nature. For his parents, friends, and

POTUS is accusing Democrats of fabricating allegations of election interference against Russia

everyone he encounters. For his elders and elected officials.
To be kind and do good to all.
Not to gloat over 'achievements' or push an agenda. I am absolutely horrified tonight, and I am going to be thinking long and hard about whether my son, who I'm doing my very best

to be a good and loving person, should continue on the road of Scouting in such a toxic environment.
I do not raise my son to behave in the manner that was broadcasted, by a sitting elected official, who he 'should' look up to, did today.
I will be making further phone calls in the next few days to express my displeasure, disappointment, and sheer disbelief.

Tomorrow Belongs To Me

Here is another: *An open letter to Boy Scout CEO Michael Surbaugh. Share. Post / send your own to michael.surbaugh@scouting.org
Dear Mr. Surbaugh,
I just finished watching the political, mean-spirited and un-Scouting address by President

Trump at the National Jamboree yesterday.
To say as an Eagle Scout that I was appalled would be an understatement. In my decade of scouting I was taught that Scouts were to be trustworthy, friendly, courteous, helpful, kind, cheerful, and reverent. To see the platform you gave for a speech that was the exact opposite of that, and to see Scout staff cheering and clapping on stage was so far out of bounds I don't even recognize the organization.
To allow the denigration of a former President who not only

Scoutmaster James Dale

sent a message of hope to the Scouting Jamboree during his tenure, but was a Scout himself and a Nobel Peace Prize winner shows me that Scouting has strayed far from the words it teaches its members.
But there is still one word I hope you still use from the Scout Law - brave. I hope you will have the courage to publicly repudiate the co-opting of that speech into a political youth rally, but also the courage to speak out against some of the hateful things the President said that are deeply antithetical to what Scouting stands for.
With hope for your action and a response,
Brian Silva
Eagle Scout

As an Eagle Scout, it scares me to think about the impact Trump could have on our nation's children.
-

On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

Trump using 30,000 Boy Scouts tonight as props in his own Triumph of the Will. He called for their loyalty as he screamed one lie after another at them. He paused for them to cheer, and they did.
Child abuse on a mass scale. When I defeat him in 2020, my first order of business before

any sort of plea bargaining negotiations with his attorneys will be for him to issue an apology to all of these children and to admit to them he told them numerous lies.
Let's Take Back America from this dangerous, sick clown. It was, after all, already ours to begin with.

Dear Mr. President, I have never been so ashamed to be living in America. You corrupt buffoon!

Mr POTUS, WHERE is YOUR MORAL COMPASS?

Inappropriate. Poor representation for young minds. Teaching them hate, disrespect, bullying and dishonorable conduct. He should have elevated their honor, respect and service, their commitment to strong and responsible character. He took the position of POTUS which should serve as an example and drug it through the mire.

Hi! Whoever is reading this, I understand how rough things are right now. I just want to let you know that things will get better, I promise.
Keep holding on just a little bit longer. I know you feel like nobody really cares. You're wrong, stop denying it. I care, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this. You're not alone, we may be miles away but we're all going through the same things. Please keep holding on.

Knowledge is power-when you use it constructively. Our POTUS should realize that success is not something into which you are born!

My horoscope told me that people may go out of their way to communicate their feelings to me today.

They did.
I'm listening and making a LOT of changes in my life. The 'WORD for the night is INTEGRITY . Think of this word as your mantra for the day.
First apply the word to yourself, THEN apply this word to EVERYONE YOU meet. Think of this word as you respond to EVERY POST you see throughout the day. The 'word 'for TODAY is INTEGRITY . Please pay it forward...

My Facebook memory for the day is a post I posted one year ago today:
Favorite quote of the night: "Can I just say to the Bernie or bust people, YOU are being ridiculous"-Sarah Silverman

With producer Russ Woolley

The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new. - Socrates

I'm throwing back the curtain and showing my followers the little man behind the Wizard who is always trying to put forth a positive image of a man.

Let's Be Friends! I promise you a great experience!

You have the power to change anything, because you are the one who chooses your thoughts and feels your feelings.

Here are a Few Testimonials for Richard Skipper Celebrates: Next One September 10th 1PM Laurie Beechman Theater: Reserve HERE:

w/Ann Dawson, Emily McNamara, Ben Rimalower... AND a Beloved Cabaret Mystery Guest

Congratulations Richard Skipper and Russ Woolley on another wonderful "Richard Skipper

With Randy Jones of the Village People

Celebrates" production at the Laurie Beechman Theater on 6/18/17. Wonderful production, wonderful host, and wonderful guests. How can it get better than that? It can't! See you in September.
Craig Witham, Philadelphia, Pa

On June 18th, 2017, I had the great good pleasure of singing in one of Richard Skipper’sExtravaganzas par Excellence at the Laurie Beechman Theater. This one celebrated Father's Day. It was a terrific show and Richard was, as always, a wonderful host and singer. The show ran smoothly and professionally and the performance level was exceedingly high. Upbeat and fun it reminded me of those wonderful TV variety shows of my youth. But it isn’t an imitation of one of them, it is Richard’s own, unique creation. If you have never been to one, I recommend it highly, if you are one of the regulars, you are already hooked.
Mark Watson

Linda Amiel Burns, Linda Langton, Lee Roy Reams, Glen Charlow, Daniel Sherman

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Sit Back! A New News Cycle Is About to Begin!

Thank you, to ALL who are mentioned in this blog for showing me that it is up to ME to lead by example!

With grateful XOXOXs ,