Laughter, the Best Medicine.

Posted on March 16, 2020March 16, 2020 by thependulumswings staff

A quick Google search for Reader’s Digest showed that a) yes the now 10x a year magazine is still published, and b) the circulation is over 3 million.

Long ago one of their monthly features was a compilation of musings of American life titled Laughter, It’s the Best Medicine. It was (and maybe it still is) so well appreciated that they compiled the best and made them into paperbacks unto themselves.

We looked it up since we find the laughter part in understandably short supply these last several days. Maybe it is the best medicine right now since the health and economy of the world is a bad joke being repeated in many languages. Hopefully below makes light of a bit of it all.

At the local overrun grocery store Saturday at 8 AM we turned down one aisle to see a shopper with a buggy that looked like it could hold no more in it nor below. The stack-up was monumentally well done. “Crazy times,” she said. “Crazy times,” I said. One more glance at the pile and you could see four very large bottles of ketchup. Four. FOUR. I had to. “Hey, I’m just curious. Why so much ketchup?” “My husband loves it. The last thing he told me before I left was to make sure he didn’t run out.” Mission accomplished we presume.

Two aisles later were paper products. An employee was stationed at the toilet paper run as a shopper put the third package of Charmin in her cart. “Ma’am, as you can see from the limit sign, just two please.” No response. “MA’AM, its a limit of two, please.” As she pushed on, over her departing shoulder she said, “Oh, this one is for a friend of mine.” So thoughtful.

Over in dairy yet another employee was staged to help manage the mayhem. By now, absolutely amazed at waiting in line 45 minutes to shop and witness it all, it was time to lighten things up a bit. “Excuse me. Do you know when the hurricane is supposed to make landfall?” He looked unamused. “Too soon?” He nodded affirmatively. The strong silent type he is apparently.

Meanwhile, Sunday night two nearly octagenarians battled it out appropriately six feet apart in a near-empty CNN studio. The Democratic Nomination is still there for the taking Bernie believes. Does he really? Crazy Bernie screamed “Medicare for All” repeatedly for 90 minutes. Crazy times.

Joe Biden confused Ebola with the Swine Flu with the Coronavirus with H1N1 with N1H15 with R2D2 and with CP30 at one point. Of course, this was after he began the debate with a strong cough right into his fist when he was asked what he would do to combat the rapidly spreading virus. You cannot make this stuff up.

Fox News resident rabble-rouser, Greg Gutfeld, tweeted during the debate “two cranky old farts arguing over who didn’t do what or did do that. It’s like a Florida condo meeting over who keeps parking too close to the boat dock.”

Maybe the joke is on us. Trump’s press conferences in the last week needed a standing eight count at times. One of these two (very very likely Biden) will have a chance to knock him out of the office. That chance (like it or not) improves by the day as our chance to escape a major disruption to our medical and economic well being is gone.

Maybe, just maybe, laughter is the best medicine. And, you don’t need to wait for a test that we don’t have to get a prescription for it. Laughter for All!

Pass the ketchup, please.

I’ll Scratch Your Back

Posted on July 2, 2019 by thependulumswings staff

Did you get paid yesterday? It’s very likely that you did. It was the end of the month. You always and only get paid for what you have earned. Paychecks are remuneration for the past. Joe Biden likely got paid as well, and twice if he takes Social Security. His checks come from the US Government. They are a federal government pension plan check and Social Security check. He earned them over his many years of civil service to our country based on how the system is set up.

But, he is learning rapidly, recently, that there isn’t too much civil about our country today. And, he is learning rapidly that past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. You have to earn it. And, he is learning that how the system works today has little to do with how it was set up “back in the day.”

Back in the day Ronald Reagan invited Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, an old curmudgeon, old school Democrat from Bahhhstan, down the hill for an occasional tip o’ the cup of the whiskey of his choice. Together they would iron out their differences (compromise) as the ice was melting and get to a position where both felt good bringing back a deal to their respective parties. And, both thought that America had won.

Even as recently as 2011, President Obama was caught on a hot mic as leaned over and told Russian Dmitry Medvedev to give him time to get reelected and he could work out a deal with them. Medvedev promised to relay the info to Putin. You can see it here.

So, maybe it surprised Sleepy Joe when Kamala Harris took him to the woodshed last week on the nationally televised debate over his “working relationship” with known segregationists in Congress a couple of decades back. It shouldn’t have. He already told us that he got that past behaviors don’t translate to today’s world or political climate. “I get it, I get it,” he said. You can see him explain that over and over here.

We even had the left leaning media over the weekend tell us how bad, or reckless, or unprepared President Trump was in reaching out to Kim Jung Un unexpectedly while he was in Japan for an impromptu stroll on the communist land of North Korea.

You remember “hold your friends close and your enemies closer,” don’t you? Apparently, embraces of any sort with friend or foe are now old school.

The new school seems to be that there is only one way. And, when a party with power decides on a path it expects all to toe the line, no exceptions, no negotiations. So, we wonder, is Joe Biden someone who can operate in the new world order?

And, most of all, does he want to earn his way? His demeanor daily and debate disaster last week scream otherwise.

In fact, wasn’t his time to strike when he was VP to the two term, popular President Barrack Obama? History shows that VP’s run immediately after whom they serve under can run no longer. Biden deferred to Hillary Clinton for some reason. Maybe he was tired even back then. As many commercials remind us, the aging process waits for no one. Four years later, Joe is four years older.

Obama came from left field to win, then win again. Trump came from right field to win, and might win again. Biden looks and sounds more like McCain, Romney, Hillary, and Jeb Bush than his fellow Democratic nominee hopefuls. It’s way too early to predict, but the country is in a very different place.

And, there is no back to scratch nor whiskey to pour anymore.

Get some rest Joe.