Opinion Emporium

Racism and Marijuana  By Robert Rouse Early on in his career, Harry J. Anslinger went on the record basically saying cannabis use was no big deal. He called the idea that it made people mad or violent an “ absurd fallacy .”  But this would change because his racist leanings.  In 1930, Anslinger was appointed the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the agency that led directly to today's DEA ( Drug Enforcement Agency ). What changed Anslinger's outlook was when he discovered several Black jazz musicians were dating White women.  This infuriated Anslinger and he used the fact that Jazz musicians were commonly using the same product he had previously claimed was no big deal.  While it was true it was a common staple among some of the Jazz greats, some like Cab Calloway ( right ) called it a song writing assistant and in 1931, wrote the song, " Have You Ever Met That Funny Reefer Man " which was eventually shortened to just " The Reefer Man "....

Music hath charms  By Robert Rouse In 1697, William Congreve wrote a tragic play called " The Mourning Bride " and one of the lines was, "music hath charms to soothe the savage breast".  For some reason people started quoting " savage beast ", which literally means music has the power to reach the heart and calm us.  Of course, this was the late 17th century and the world had not yet been put upon by Death Metal, which has the power to shake you to your final nerve. Allow me to tell you a bit about me.  I  was in my very first Rock band in 1969. We were called Size 10, simply because we all wore size 10 shoes.  I continued playing in bands until I was 42 years old, when I decided to get married and have a family.  Perhaps the best band I was in was called the Rich Hunter Band.  Everyone in the band was seasoned professionals with at least 20 years under their belt.  Below is an example.  It includes Ted Benson on keys, Tim Lathan on...

Not my first choice  By Robert Rouse We are 149 days before November 3 rolls around and we get our first real shot of keeping Donald Trump from a second term.  Right now our sole choice is Joseph R. Biden.  Now Joe was not my first choice, or second, third, or fourth.  No, I never really considered him.  In my humble opinion we would have been better with a woman in power.  Not Hillary, of course, as she wasn't my choice in 2016.   No, back then, I was a Bernie man, through and through.  But once Trump had defeated Hillary ( although not with the popular vote ) I decided then and there that neither Hillary or Bernie should run in 2020 as both would be too divisive and Bernie running again has proven my theory as he has riled up his supporters.   Now, many of them have already stated that because Bernie lost so many primaries they will not vote for Biden.  Some have said they will either not vote, vote third party, or even vote ...

Is Donald Trump Evil?  By Robert Rouse Provocative headline?  Absolutely!  But is it a question that needs to be probed?  Definitely.  Within his first one-hundred days as president ( lower case "p" with Trump always ) Trump proved his xenophobic racism by declaring a ban on Muslims entering the country and although it obviously went against the First Amendment on making no laws pertaining to religion, the Conservative stacked Supreme Court upheld his decision.  Of course this was just his first move and there were many shocking edicts to come down from the self-proclaimed " chosen one ". He has made several decisions that go against common sense when it comes to protecting the environment.  He had the Interior Department open up more land for oil and gas leasing by cutting back protected areas and limiting wildlife protections even allowing drilling in the National Park System.  According to energy and legal analysts, the Trump administratio...

BLACK LIVES MATTER AROUND THE WORLD  By Robert Rouse Protests which began in Minneapolis the night of George Floyd's death at the hands ( knee ) of Derek Chauvin have now spread to countries on four continents.  For the first time since Donald Trump took office countries around the world have come together in solidarity against systemic racism, especially when it results in the death of people of color. Europe has seen its share with protests in places like London, Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, and Stockholm.  Protests have also erupted in both South Korea and Japan.  That's not to mention several cities in Australia and  Canada.  The nonchalant murder of George Floyd has lit a spark that has erupted into a bonfire as protests have been going non-stop for over a week.  And unless certain troublemakers like White Supremacists loot or damage property and try to put the blame on the peaceful protesters, they have remained peaceful.  What we really n...

The Failures of Trump  By Robert Rouse Anyone with common sense who has opened their mind and looked at the truth, knows that Donald John Trump has been a complete and utter failure as a U.S. president ( I even refuse to capitalize his title when it pertains to him ).  We used to think George W. Bush was bad, but at least he had a grasp of human decency and understanding of what the office entails.  This post is going to take a look at various aspects of Trump's time in office thus far. Foreign Affairs  Trump had no idea of who the Taliban really was and how they eschewed Western or even most modern contrivances.  He honestly believed he could stop the fighting in Afghanistan by luring them to a weekend in the bucolic Maryland countryside.  Trump thought because he loved money and luxury that everyone would. Trump believed he could charm Kim Jong Un into giving up his missile and nuclear program, but after three high-profile meeting with the North...

Just who does Donald Trump think he is?  By Robert Rouse We are at a strange and undeniably troubling stage in our democracy.  Donald Trump has put us about as far from what the founders of this country intended in the first place. At a time when a good president would be trying to heal the pain we all feel after case  after case of police ignoring the, we have Trump who would rather show us how totalitarian governments handle protests.  While ostensibly calling for protection of the peaceful protesters, instead, he called in the military.  Of course he isn't at the level of Tiananmen Square, but he had AG William Barr get enforcement authorities to spray peaceful protesters with gas and beat them out of the way so he could have a photo op outside a church.  Sinclair Lewis has been attributed to the phrase, " When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross ."  And while Lewis never really said that and no tru...

I'M BACK!  By Robert Rouse It has been thirteen years since I had a blog.  I used to be known as Left of Centrist, but for some unexplained reason Blogger decided to take it from me without notice and give it to someone else.  Now, I am far from Left of Centrist, I have become so far left it is hard to see the center anymore, and I have one man to blame for that, Donald John Trump.  You see, I refuse to use his title when discussing him because his lies and actions over the past three years and four plus months have shown me he is the most unworthy of the title this country has ever seen. We are now in turmoil, not only because of the public execution of George Floyd, but in the final analysis, it is Trump himself who has allowed institutional racism to be the norm and we are better than that. Over the past few days, we have witnessed people of all colors and stripes of life come together as a single voice.  While it is true that there has been some rioting, loo...