When the debate is lost.......

We are in the midst of another political season full of hateful, shallow, demagogic rhetoric by BOTH sides. Many will swear it is worse today than ever, but you can go back 100 years and find it was just as bad, if not worse. When I hear/read words such as COMMUNIST, CRIMINAL, STALIN, HITLER, BIGOT, RACIST, SEXIST, HOMOPHOBE being used to describe the character of one's ideological opponent I know that person has no interest in having a rational, thoughtful discussion.....their purpose (no matter which side of the aisle they come from) is to end the discussion before it begins....their purpose is to silence you and I. These, and many, many other words have been so defined down over the past decades they no longer have any meaning. Today if you oppose ILLEGAL immigration you are automatically branded a RACIST, a BIGOT, and probably a card carrying member of the KKK. If you want to increase the size of government you are branded a COMMUNIST,and are probably directly related to STALIN. If you want to institute more gun control you are a NAZI, and probably HITLER'S offspring. If you want universal healthcare you are a SOCIALIST, if not an out right COMMUNIST. If you want to decrease the size of government you obviously want NO government......you want ANARCHY. If you sincerely believe it is wrong to take the life of innocent, unborn, nascent human life you are SEXIST, a CHAUVINIST.....you want women to die in an alley with a coat hanger lying on the ground beside them. It's obvious to rational people that this is all B.S. So, I say that to say this.......don't waste those terms on me, because all you are proving to me is that you don't want to have a discussion.......that you have no respect for my ideas, or anyone's ideas which do not line up with yours. When you post videos, or quotes from surogates using these terms to describe any candidate all you prove is you don't want to have a discussion, or have indeed LOST the debate. As Socrates once said.....'When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser'.....don't be a LOSER. As far as I am concerned all the candidates and their minions who use those terms are just that.....LOSERS, and man oh man, there are a lot of LOSERS running for POTUS in this current political season.

Okay, now that I've got that off my chest what happened on Real Saturday?  Well, TLE and I took another walk to the top of Mt. Rubidoux.......as you can see from the picture below, the clouds are rolling in portending rain.....YAY!

We did our usual 3.3 mile round trip walk, but we were able to boost our mph up to 3.5......that's what we normally do on the flat!

After our walk we made our Trader Joe's run to resupply our adult beverage stores, and were home by 1300 hours.  Our grandson, Elijah, became a teenager on March 3rd, so Saturday we celebrated his birthday with family and friends.....

 Tim and Chris

Tim and TBL**

 The new teenager.....Elijah

 Jack and Ali 

 Mark, Cathy and TAR*

Nick and Kate, the birthday parents

I love ALL my in-laws.....they are all 'salt of the earth' people, and I count it an ongoing blessing to have them in my life.  We had a delightful birthday celebration that continued well into the evening......well, for many of us, anyway.  I was in bed by 2300 hours, and woke up a few hours later to the sound of rain on the roof......

The rain arrived sometime early this morning!

Thanks for stopping by!

*TAR - The Amazing Rochelle

**TBL - The Beautiful Laila