Author: Matthew Groff

  • It’s Happening

    I’m talking about the impeachment inquiry of Trump, and I find it very hard the believe that articles of impeachment will not be drawn up by the House. And there will be a trial in the Senate, which at this moment looks like Trump will be acquitted.

    That is the short and long of it.

    Now, I’m here to talk about the politics of it, and this is my crazy theory how the Democrats should behave if they want to win the 2020 election even with the acquittal.

    First, regardless that the polling shows most people don’t care, if you believe the President broke the law, then you have to go down this path. If you don’t it makes you look complicit.

    Second, I have heard the chatter that through the course of the investigation, the Democrats could change people’s minds and get the poll numbers in their favor of conviction in the Senate. Unfortunately, I believe that past behavior of the Senate is the best predictor of the future behavior of the Senate. Moscow Mitch will lead the acquittal charge.

    The way I see it, Republicans and Trump supports will stay just that, and nothing will sway them. That means what Democrats might lose with an acquittal are moderates and independents, and part of their own base. M and I’s will leave because no one is talking about the kitchen table issues they care about, and the Dem base will leave because it will appear that Trump is untouchable.

    So, how do Democrats win this situation?

    This is my thought…

    Once the Articles of Impeachment are approved by the whole House, go after Moscow Mitch and all the Republican Senators by saying that they are stooges, and will acquit Trump because they are spineless and put party ahead of country. Just like they did with health care, and taxes, and the environment, and all the other issues that matter. Treat the Senate trial as a far-gone conclusion, because the whole game is rigged, just like the economy. Spin it all back to Republican corruption. Even when Republicans will claim, and they will, that this trial is being forced on them as a political stunt, Democrats immediately hit back with that the Republican vote is a political stunt as well because they are afraid of Trump, and that Democrats would love to get back to the work of the people, but corrupt Moscow Mitch won’t let anything come to the floor of the Senate. So, let’s talk about the 2020 election and issues important to America. Just keep on the attack that Republicans are corrupt and the ones who rigged the game.

    Attack, and stay on the attack. Leave Trump alone. Articles of Impeachment was the best that Democrats could get, and don’t be afraid to say that. Admit it, be proud of it, and call out the other side for corruption. Don’t give in, and most importantly, don’t apologize.

  • Trump or the Emmys?

    These are the first two thoughts that popped into my mind when I thought about writing a blog today; do I write about Trump or the Emmys?

    I could say that writing about Trump, again, will do nothing but make me feel defeated and powerless. Yet again, we have another situation where Trump has gone and done something illegal, and then ho goes and gaslights the world into believing that he was doing everyone a favor for doing this thing, which in his opinion, wasn’t illegal at all. I think Bill Maher had the best reaction this past Friday which was that this will follow the same cycle of denial, then admitting to it but it wasn’t wrong, and then starting another scandal to make everyone forget about the first scandal. I also expect this to happen, which is why I feel defeated and powerless.

    Speaking of defeated and powerless, I watched part of the Emmys, and it was a rather dull affair. The only take away I had was the free broadcast television was now officially dead. SNL was the only over the air broadcast show to win, and the rest went to cable or streaming. This is the new entertainment world we live in. It is a little sad that free tv is no more, as what I mourn for are all the great 15 and 30 second commercials we will never see, as no one watches commercials. All of those jingle writers will be out of a job. Sad.

  • You Would Think

    You would think I would know better. I have been trying for some time to get my stupid ass to bed on time. This has turned into a task that I fear I will never accomplish.

    I’m over 40, and I can’t stop watching TV at night. I have been making my way through Rick and Morty, and then last night I found out a friend of mine had a part in Fosse/Verdon, so I had to watch and look for her.

    I’m sure you can see how this goes. I finish and episode, and then I think I can handle one more. And then it’s 2am.

    I should know better…

    But I think I need to start to accept that this is not a life style that I can lead.

    I have always been a night owl, and I love staying up late alone. I like flipping channels, and looking for movies that I haven’t seen before. That’s still fun to me.

    And that’s the problem.

    I’m trying to change a behavior that, logically, I know is in my interest to do, but my heart isn’t into it.

    Being sleep deprived isn’t fun, but in a weird way, I have come to learn to live with that. It sucks, but I somehow know that in the middle of the day I will rally and recover.

    I’m an adult, but man, I have no idea what I’m doing, except finishing Fosse/Verdon tonight.

  • Midlife Thoughts

    I moved 1,000 lbs of clay today. I needed to do it for my job, and I did have help, but still… I moved 1,000 lbs of clay.

    As I was driving the clay across the county in my small SUV, I did have that moment where I had to ask, “How did I get here?”

    That’s what the past two weeks have felt like. Honestly, how did I get to where I am?

    Is that the call of the mid-life crisis? Is “Once in a Lifetime” the unofficial theme song of these moments. “That’s not my beautiful house! That’s not my beautiful car!”

    Does anyone care about mid-life crisis anymore? I read about how people now shit all over “American Beauty” now. Not only because Kevin Spacey is in it, but because it’s about a material successful guy, who buys a sports car, changes jobs, and lusts after a teenager. When you say it that way, does anyone want to see a story about comfortable people who aren’t as comfortable as they would like.

    It’s also like he movie “The Land of Steady Habits,” which played like a John Updike or John Cheever story were updated and retold. I liked the movie, but it also functions off of the male midlife crisis trope.

    The more I think about it, that seems to be a bunch of stories written by men. That, “I have lost my spark and must reclaim it by behaving the way I did in my past.”

    I really hope that’s not what I have to look forward to. I would prefer to regain my spark by moving forward, and not by trying to be that idiot from my past.

  • Compartmentalizing

    I just have trouble saying that word, let alone spelling it.

    I think that was what I was trying to write about yesterday when I was speaking about Brett Kavanaugh.

    I don’t think I was very good at it, as a day later, I now feel I know what I was trying to say.

    And then that white dude got fired from SNL before he every performed on the show. This is another white guy, who should have known better.

    There was a piece about Shane Gillis getting fired that I think was very insightful. The comedian who wrote it made a very good point that most comedians punch down with their jokes, and most comedians are white men. It’s just lazy humor, and it always has been. As some comedians were lamenting that we live in an age where you “can’t joke about anything anymore,” but I have to disagree. If I might point out, 40 years ago, Asian Americans weren’t “cool” with being made fun of by white guys because 40 years ago, no one asked Asian Americans, “Are you cool with being made fun of by white guys?” The funny thing is that 40 years ago you would have gotten the same answer you are getting today, the difference is other people are now asking and listening to the answer.

    Either way, he lost a job for what he said, and he will have to live with that.