The Writer's Life 11/14 - Brrrrr!

Remember the disarray Republicans suffered in the second term of George W. Bush? It seemed they would never recover. Who would have dreamed that a similar plight would befall Democrats just six or so years later? And it didn't end on Election Day. They keep shooting themselves in the foot. Jonathan Gruber is getting hammered for admitting the architects of ObamaCare were banking on “the stupidity of the American voter” and a deliberate “lack of transparency” to muscle the president’s signature law through Congress, and Nancy Pelosi has been caught in a lie of pretending not to know him. Many politicians -- on either side of the aisle -- share that same elitist opinion of voters, but liberals have a lot harder time concealing it. They also have a forgiving media who share their beliefs to help them through storms. I doubt Gruber will suffer any kind of punishment, though he richly deserves it. Maybe a riled voter will simply slap him silly. The way society has been moving, he will probably be handed myriad opportunities to make vast amounts of money. Just when it seems those in politics could not become more contemptible, the bar is lowered.

Hondo, the NY Post's satiric football prognosticator, had plenty of ammunition for his weekly column, given the antics of Gruber, Kardashian and Hizzoner Bill deBlasio. Here's how he sees one particular game: "Packers over Eagles: Mayor de Blasio blamed a rough night’s sleep for being late to a memorial service for victims of Flight 587, which crashed in Belle Harbor, Queens 13 years ago. Possible causes for the bout with insomnia include: An extra-long meeting with co-Mayor Sharpton; re-reading favorite chapters of Karl Marx’s “Communist Manifesto,” or a late-night game of stop and frisk with co-Mayor Chirlane McCray. Siciliano, aka the Bronx Bomber, says the reason de Blasio is always late is because his clocks are set to Moscow time. Emailer Peter Salvato suggests the Mayor would have been on time, but his driver was adhering to the new 25 mph city speed limit." Love it!

There was a surprise cameo last night on Elementary. Holmes frequently makes a study of odd expertise. In the first few minutes of the episode, he had a champion knife-thrower demonstrate his skills. The part was played by former Giants QB and current no-nonsense CBS game analyst Phil Simms. He was on screen for about a minute and acquitted himself surprisingly well. The segment had nothing to do with the main plot. I wonder if the creators needed to fill time. Still, it was fun.

I broke out the gloves and thick socks, and wore six layers for today's session of the floating book shop. Fortunately, brilliant sunshine provided relief from the bitter wind. Still, I pared back to two-and-a-half hours, leaving when the shadows overtook my usual nook. When Crazy Joe said it was too cold to stop, I thought I'd go home empty-handed. Then an elderly Russian woman I hadn't seen in months approached and my heart filled with hope. She has never passed without making a purchase. She bought three books in Russian and Cynthia Freeman's No More Tears and, as usual, overpaid. She bought my pizza. Spasibo, madam.

Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/