Harris, 0 - Kavanaugh, 0 - America, about to be shafted

I made a stinging comment on a friend's wall by mistake.  I thought I was responding to a website where the story was carried.  Oops.
Naturally, it being an opinion that wasn't favorable for a woman I find to be duplicitous, weak-minded, and a third-rate show-boater but that is the Liberal Darling du Jour, it didn't go over well. 
So, I wrote a response because I was asked why I said it.  But you know me, never one to use 11 words to say what requires 1580 or so, and believing it disrespectful to take up that much space on someone's FB turf, I created a blog post and linked to it.  
So then, any of you that have arrived here, my response - in large print.  Isn't that nice?  

Leaders . . .

A requirement for one who would lead is some who would follow. 

Because the effort to define one word requires a full understanding of the words used in that effort, we must be sure we understand what it means to follow. 
One cannot follow while being compelled.  If someone is not acting of their own will when they are thought to follow, they are merely conscripted.

A leader, then, is one whose endeavors create like desires in others.

Because followers can only be so voluntarily, a leader does not compel others in any way.  When one who would lead uses any form of coercion to compel particular behaviors, he is a tyrant, a user of people to accomplish his own ease and to fulfill his preferred lusts, whatever they may be.

Of power supplies and inferior behavior . .

If you ever bring up the subject, you’ll know I’ve been a fan and proponent of Denon audio equipment for many years.  Happily, I’m now also a dealer.  For the homeowner, I’m convinced it’s the best overall choice of A/V receiver for setting up a surround sound system.
In the late 90s I was working at a local A/V outfit, and on the odd occasion when I was working sales, I would play a particular music passage for prospective buyers through both a Denon receiver as well as the other brands they sold.  The difference in sound was plain, and the key was the power supply employed by Denon.  No one for whom I performed this demo ever bought anything other than a Denon.

"No one came for miles around . . ."

This little exercise came about as an explanation for a Facebook post that sort of left people hanging.  As a result of a YouTube video, I thought I'd finally determined the real reason why Deep Purple wouldn't take the stage at William and Mary Hall back in 1971 on the "Fireball" tour.  We were told it was because the sound system was so bad, and yes, it was horrible.  But I never lost the idea that was more to the story . . .

So, it was Saturday, October 23, 1971. At the time, “The French Connection” was still playing in theaters, Rod was lamenting his tumultuous relationship with Maggie May, and it would be another 8 months before George Gordon Battle Liddy and the rest of his fellow plumbers would break into the DNC Headquarters.

We had tickets to see Deep Purple and made it to William and Mary Hall in plenty of time. The story is pretty simple at first - the sound system was horrible, Christine McVie complained about it, and Deep Purple said "Forget it, we ain't playing."

I can tell you that all that "peace and love" stuff went straight down the drain when the poor guy told the crowd it was over. A considerable amount of damage was done to the place that night. For our part, we walked around, cussed, and left after a few minutes. The one image I still have is some guy so stoned and angry that he tried to throw a chair and somehow threw himself instead.

Until then . . .

It had been about a year, and I was sitting in the parking lot of the WaWa just outside the Richmond airport.  I wasn’t alone; a beloved friend was with me while we waited for Steve and Lori to finish the coffee run, after which we would head to their place to continue the visit and allow peristalsis to deal with the effects of Carrini’s Italian Restaurant.

Without there being any plan for it to happen this way, it turned out to be the moment I had asked of this treasured young lady several months ago . . .

Where's the plug?

A sign of a society in its death throes - division.  The lines along which it is drawn are irrelevant.  

Chimay, Mom, and my Space Buddy . .

So I was sitting at a favorite booth, debating on whether I’d stay awake long enough for another Chimay.  I picked up my phone for probably the 17^th time just to make sure something vitally important hadn’t escaped my notice on Facebook.  You never know, you know? 
Wait. How can you know if you never know if you never know? 
Never mind.
Anyway, I wake the phone up and there’s a guy smiling at me.  Weird smile, sort of like it starts at his ears and works its way down to his mouth.  And it’s not just a picture – it’s a video.  I know because I look up and to my right while I try to figure out what’s going on and when I come back the guy is coming back from looking to his left, like he’s trying to see what I’m looking at.  It’s a live video.
What the . . . ?