Wandering Elder

With little fanfare, Marvel and Netflix have released The Punisher  series.  In keeping with the dark mood of Daredevil and Luke Cage, the Punisher is a heavy show to watch.  But it gets a little tedious and tends to drag as well as ask the question, "How much blood can one man loose and still not require major surgery?" Of course this is still a comic book character and things don't have to work like they might in, say, a Jason Bourne movie.  A great example of that would be the inept federal agents that repeatedly can't seem to comprehend that a building might have more than one exit (they might want to apply for a job with the FBI on The Blacklist ). The character of the Punisher was better in Daredevil.  The juxtaposition of the two characters made for some really interesting dialogue as well as prompting the ideological debate about violence and justice.  Without that foil, the Punisher comes across rather wooden. The first episode was the best, in that it

Allegations are just that.  Sometimes they are strong sometimes they are weak.  But they are allegations.  I believe they should be investigated and then  once the evidence is in, the verdict rendered.  I know that sometimes I sound as if I think politicians should bow out based on allegations.  I have to admit I am not always sure about that.  Perhaps it depends on the allegation and the severity of it.  I mean, wouldn't it behoove our political landscape if people had to suspend their campaigns until things were cleared up?  Of course I know, given our political landscape, that the "clearing up" probably wouldn't happen in a timely manner and would become another means of political warfare. But they should be addressed.  They should not, however, be the means of judgment.  Allegations should begin the process.  And that applies across the board.  Our rush to judgment is something of a sad commentary on the nature of our view of other people, justice, and the r

So, the inevitable blowback seems to be beginning. With the RNC backing Roy Moore (while also calling for Sen. Franken to step down), we begin to see the powers wanting to keep their power regardless of the obvious nature of "flexible" standards that apply when needed and don't apply when they would cause the party to lose power. We are seeing the in news the strange spectacle of Billy Bush being fired while Donald Trump remains president.  Ted Cruz calls for Al Franken to step down while defending Roy Moore.  Democrats push to have John Conyers to step down while the GOP doesn't do the same for Moore (any more).  Perhaps because to do so would put them in an awkward position of having to hold people accountable to the same set of standards. And then we have the great stories about Wes Goodman, congressman from Ohio who was an anti-LGBT conservative who was caught having sex in his office...with another man. And one of Trump's former Oklahoma campaign mana