The curtain is about to descend on 2014 and the fat lady is almost ready to sing.
Who is this fat lady we hear about near the end of every year? Some folks say she is Kate Smith. I don’t think so. Others tell us that the line deals with religion and the phrase is “Church isn’t over till the fat lady sings.” Then there are the authorities who make the most sense by telling us it comes from a long, boring Wagnerian opera that ends with a very large lady singing a long, boring finale.
It doesn’t matter. She’s almost through, and so is 2014. Every one of us can now look back and reflect.
Right now I am looking back at the surprise of the year. Near the end of November Sen. Charles E. Schumer made a speech and told the world how unhappy he is with his party pushing the Affordable Care Act when they did. Can you imagine this? One of the most important, powerful American Democrats is sticking it to Obamacare.
Hey there Chuck. Why are you doing this now? Is this for Hillary to give you the nod for Vice President? Surely you must have felt this way for a while. What took you so long to speak up? What do you intend to do about it? Submit a bill to remove some of the unpopular portions and you will be a hero on both sides of the aisle.
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One of the best comments of 2014 came from the mouth of NBA Hall of Famer, superstar, Charles Barkley. He is one African American who, in his commentary about Ferguson said, “The notion that white cops are out there just killing black people – that’s ridiculous. That’s just flat-out ridiculous. I challenge any black person to try to make that point. Cops are actually awesome. They are the only thing in the ghetto between this place being the wild, wild west. Every time something happens in the black community, we have the same cast of sad characters. We don’t have to have Al Sharpton go there.”
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My choice for the book of the year is Bill O’Reilly’s, “Killing Patton.” I was sitting on the top deck of Royal Caribbean’s beautiful Liberty of the Seas reading it when a loud-mouthed yenta shouted, “How can you read that garbage?”
“Garbage? You didn’t like it?”
“I didn’t read it. I wouldn’t read anything by him.”
This is the third time someone has negatively commented on a book that I was reading that they never read. I heard the same dumb banter while holding a book by Howard Stern and then again several years later while reading Sarah Palin’s book. There are some very dumb people in this world with big mouths and little brains who are missing out. It’s like all those out there who hate the Fox News Channel but never watch it.
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The biggest lie of 2014 was actually said in 2013 but so much was said about it into the New Year, I’ll call it the lie of 2014. Everybody has heard, “If you like your plan you can keep your plan, period.” But then he attempted to cover his tracks when, near the end of the year he said, “What we said was, ‘You can keep your plan if it hasn’t changed since the law was passed.’ ”
Since the law was passed? Bullchips!
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I am StanGershbein@Bellsouth.net wishing you all a happy, healthy, and safe New Year and a speedy and safe return of our servicemen and women from all over the planet.
