Five Decades of Caring/Nurturing Sirhan Sirhan

“His (Robert F. Kennedy) passions had aroused the best and the beast in man. And the beast awaited for him in the kitchen.” — Theodore H. White, The Making of the President 1968

Sirhan Sirhan during a parole hearing Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016, at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, Pool)

Since June 5, 1968, American society has housed, fed and cared for Sirhan Sirhan. If your author’s fuzzy math is correct, Americans have supported Sirhan for 20,098 days and counting.

That’s 55 years-plus for the incarceration of Palestinian Jordanian Sirhan, who so many (e.g., Rafer Johnson, Rosey Grier) saw him commit murder at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

Is he guilty? There is zero doubt. Only one person pulled the trigger.

Should he paroled? That question has been answered 16 times. Why ask it again?

If he was released, what would be his life expectancy? Would society be compelled to provide 24-7-365 security?

Should he continue to be fed and cared for? That seems to be the case, but is it just?

Even though many have forgotten him (not Almost DailyBrett), Sirhan changed the course of American history. How much is debatable, but rioting in the Chicago Seven streets and the election of Richard M. Nixon followed.

The 1960s was lousy decade. Sirhan made it worse.

Why is Almost DailyBrett bringing up this uncomfortable subject here and now? Your author was only 13-years-very-young in 1968. He was stunned by the news. He will never forget that evening and the sad days that followed.

Ironically, the son of Sirhan’s victim is running for president.

Sirhan, 79, pleaded guilty to first degree murder. He was convicted. His sentence was commuted to life in prison three years later.

He is now housed at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County. The weather is nice.

Coincidentally this past June 5, confessed mole for the Soviet Union Robert Hanssen passed away in federal custody. He was also 79-years-old.

Hanssen’s partner in treason and treachery, Aldrich Ames, with the same benign USSR is serving out the rest of his life in federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. He is 82-years-old.

Do we have to house, clothe and feed them too?

“An Eye For An Eye?“

There are many who question whether America is better, if we adopt the reciprocal policy of the Hammurabi Code/Book of Exodus, An Eye for An Eye. They rhetorically ask: ‘How will we been seen in the world?’

Almost DailyBrett ponders how we are perceived when American society even considers — 16 times — granting parole to Sirhan — let alone asking the taxpayers to finance incarcerating Sirhan for 55 years-plus.

There are some who are concerned about mass incarceration. There are alternatives — other than releasing the Sirhan Sirhans of the world?

Some have contended that some unspecified number have faced the ultimate penalty, only later to be found innocent. Sirhan ensured that Robert F. Kennedy paid the ultimate penalty for supporting the existence of Israel.

Sirhan is not innocent.

Prison is too good for him.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2023/03/01/rfk-killer-sirhan-sirhan-denied-parole-for-16th-time-reversing-2021-decision/?sh=2743fd8079b4

Oregon’s Iconic Moment

Honey Traps, Scalp Hunters And Moles?

Gorbachev-Reagan vs Putin-Biden?

“Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” — President Ronald Reagan speaking before the Brandenburg Gate and the Berlin Wall

“Their (Reagan and Gorbachev) meetings marked the beginnings of an even brighter period in U.S.-Soviet relations that would be ushered in during the Bush administration, when Gorbachev released the Soviet grip on Eastern Europe and allowed the Germans to tear down the Berlin Wall.” — Washington Post White House correspondent Lou Cannon, ‘President Reagan, The Role of a Lifetime’

Almost DailyBrett has been rightfully accused of being a Child of the 1980s.

The best-ever decade began with the one-sided, misguided, unilateral Nuclear Freeze Movement. It ended with President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signing an historic agreement to eliminate intermediate nuclear missiles.

Their actions went far beyond the fondest dreams of agitating and demonstrating nuke-freezers.

The decade featured the end of crippling inflation for the next four decades, an unprecedented peacetime economic expansion, and the restoration of pride in the United States.

Even more amazing was global “Gorbymania.” Gorbachev generated a modern day public relations miracle in the USSR, actually making Russia an agent of sympathy. Americans and Europeans cheered Gorbachev, and were actually rooting for his “perestroika” (restructuring) and “glasnost” (openness) to succeed.

Was “The Evil Empire” becoming all warm and fuzzy? Wasn’t Russia eternally the enemy? For once that was not the case.

Not only were America and Russia talking to each other, there were actual smiles on the faces of their respective heads of state.

The passing of Mikhail Gorbachev this week ushered into heaven all of the 1980s political giants, who changed our planet for the better: Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Kanzler Helmut Kohl, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and President Francois Mitterrand. Communism came to a dead end at least in Europe.

The world was a safer and happier place.

Less than half of our planet remembers the 1980s. The departures of Reagan and Gorbachev has been replaced with Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin respectively.

The worldwide esteem for the United States of America has diminished with teleprompter Biden’s weakness. The worldwide admiration and praise for Gorbachev’s Russia, cratered with Putin’s criminal invasion of Ukraine.

Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. Putin is snubbing his funeral, citing scheduling issues.

Upon leaving office, America was calm and unified. Reagan’s final approval rating was 63 percent according to Gallup, and 68 percent in the last nationwide survey taken by the New York Times/CBS News.

According to RealClear Politics amalgamation of surveys, Biden has improved his standing to 41.8 percent. Don’t you think Joe could learn something from The Gipper? Maybe he should refrain from speeches further dividing America?

The Most Paranoid and Xenophobic Nation On Earth

“First and foremost it is worth acknowledging that the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century. As for the Russian people, it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and countrymen found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory.” — Vladimir Putin, April 25, 2005

“The only reason I’d never met with General Secretary Gorbachev’s predecessors was because they kept dying on me. Then along came Gorbachev. He was different in style, in substance from previous Soviet leaders. He is a man who takes chances and that’s what you need for progress. He is a remarkable force for change in that country.” — Ronald Reagan, Feb. 1, 1989

Almost DailyBrett having travelled to the USSR in 1981, knows and completely appreciates the burden of history that hangs over the Russian people. One invasion after another came in the form of Genghis Khan’s Mongolian hordes, Napoleon’s Grand Armee and Hitler’s Panzers and Luftwaffe.

Who can blame Russia for its legendary paranoia and xenophobia?

The same was true in Gorbachev’s time as it is under Putin. Russia sees enemies on all of its borders. Gorbachev’s methodology was to find a way to buy breathing time for Russia by reaching accommodation with his greatest rival on earth, Ronald Reagan.

No one man has ever done more to improve Russia’s soft power, making the world take an interest in the nation’s language, culture and contribution than Mikhail Gorbachev.

Former KGB chief Putin projects Russia’s hard power — military and economic — through invasion and devastation, and cutting off the flow of natural gas to nations gullible enough to tie their economic futures to Russia’s autocrat.

There was the indelible image of Reagan and Gorbachev sitting by the fire in Geneva as they met for the first time. They were talking. They were smiling. They were laughing.

Today, there is zero dialogue, forget about smiles, and no humor. The Cold War is back with a vengeance.

The world is not a safer and happier place.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/kremlin-putin-wont-attend-gorbachev-funeral-pays-tribute/2022/09/01/b7b1a15a-29e1-11ed-a90a-fce4015dfc8f_story.html

https://www.foxnews.com/world/gorbachev-gets-snubbed-full-state-funeral-putin-not-attending

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7632057

Back to the 1980s

The Night The Wall Came Tumbling Down

The America That Can’t Anymore

Can Russia Ever Be A Normal Country?

“The World Is Quiet Today, Mr. President”

Kicking Putin’s Butt

If the PR battle between Ukraine’s Voldymyr Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin were a heavyweight title fight, it would have been stopped in the first round.

Russia strongman and bully Putin may or may not be winning the ugly military battle for Ukraine, but there is zero doubt he permanently marred his personal reputation, his name and his brand. Contrary to the expressed opinion of a former U.S. president, he has no soul.

Even though it’s not fair, xenophobic Russia’s image has been irrevocably tarnished on the world stage. The estimated 149 million people of Russia do not deserve their oppressive dictator Putin and his repressive government.

How many times have we seen images of goofy paranoid Putin sitting at the end of a never-ending ornate table, giving orders to his military commanders, who have failed to win what Russia thought would be an easy war.

There are other pictures of boorish Putin at the very same table not listening to the diplomatic pleas for peace from German Kanzler Olaf Scholz and French president Emmanuel Macron.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during their talks in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

In all cases, Putin comes across as paranoid and uncaring about the most important public relations of all, the citizens of Russia being sent off to fight an avoidable war of choice.

In the face of the widespread atrocities committed by Russian armed forces in Ukraine, Almost DailyBrett can safely conclude that Putin does not care about international public opinion. His audiences are strictly internal, his own military and far less so, the Russian people.

How’s that working out Vladimir?

Putin does not give a ruble about Russia’s soft power, only its hard power military might.

Historically, there has been no peacefully established transfer of power in Russia from the Czars to the Commies to the Ultra Nationalists. War criminal Putin can endure bad media. He doesn’t want a good eulogy that inevitably comes with losing.

Putin is an international pariah.

A 21st Century Winston Churchill?

“I will be calm and confident. My children are watching me. I will be next to them. And next to my husband. And with you. I love you! I love Ukraine!” — First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska

Zelensky is a statesman and an international hero. He’s also is a marked man.

Putin used to be admired. The words below from former President George W. Bush were well intended but obviously did not age well.

“I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country.” — President George W. Bush, June 17, 2001

If Zelensky’s Ukraine fights Putin to a draw or even wins, he will be David and Putin will be Goliath. Too bad Michelangelo is not around to carve Zelensky with an empty sling shot.

Putin is attempting to foster a bloody rebirth of the Soviet Union: Russia at the core, Belarus with its Putin puppet Alexander Lukashenko and hopefully not, stubborn and defiant Ukraine.

The late great John Madden once said: “If you are winning, no one can hurt you. If you are losing, no one can help you.”

Even if he — God forbid — wins in Ukraine, Putin will go down in history as one of the worst characters in the 21st Century.

In contrast, former comedian Voldymyr Zelensky knows the last joke is on Putin.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/zelenskyy-predicts-victory-in-ukraine-offers-russian-soldiers-a-chance-to-survive

Putin Judgment At Nürnberg?

Revitalizing A Nation Brand By Softening It

Can’t Remember The USSR?

“For the American generation which has grown up since the downfall of the USSR, socialism is no longer the boo word it once was.” – The Economist, Feb. 16, 2019

The youngest of all Millennials were gestating in 1980.

Reagan called upon Gorbachev to “Tear Down This Wall” in 1987.

The Berlin Wall came tumbling down in 1989.

The Soviet Union collapsed under its sheer weight in 1991.

The last of the Millennials arrived in the millennial year, 2000.

The largely overlooked question: How many Millennials personally remember the USSR?

Alas, the answer is very, very few.

Only the oldest Millennials may have any memory of the Wall coming down when they were nine or the Soviet Union imploding without a shot being fired when they were 11.

For the vast majority of Millennials including all of the younger members of the Y-Generation, none of them remember the USSR and most of all, its authoritarian brand (being charitable) of socialism/communism.

To top it off, they are thus easily impressionable for exploitation by politicians, entertainers and academics who absolutely adore all things Karl Marx including some wearing red star hats and sporting Che Guevara t-shirts and posters.

Instead of “We the people” and liberty, it’s “Dictatorship of the Proletariat.”

When someone says government can provide a whole cavalcade of goodies – government-paid health insurance, college, jobs — for free, including Universal Basic Income (UBI) for those “unwilling” to work … don’t you just know there will be Big Brother Orwellian strings attached?

Back From The USSR

“I’m back in the U.S.S.R.
You don’t know how lucky you are boy
Back in the U.S.S.R. (Yeah)” – Lennon (Not Lenin) & McCartney

For Almost DailyBrett, a 1981 two-week trip to Leonid Brezhnev’s “Evil Empire” was an eye-opening, life-changing journey.

Kevin in Moscow – 1981

The flood-lit Wunder of Red Square (Красная площадь) in Moscow, the Swan Lake performance of the Bolshoi, the splendor of the Czar’s winter and summer palaces in St. Petersburg (Leningrad at the time) are all must see for any student of history and politics, let alone art.

Your author has placed a return-venture to modern-day Russia on his Bucket List, particularly what has changed and unfortunately what has remained the same (tyranny).

It’s safe to say that Russia has transformed itself after attempted Glasnost and Perestroika into an authoritarian oligarchical capitalist state with widespread corruption.

You can take the Vladimir Putin out of the KGB, but you can’t the KGB out of Vladimir Putin.

Looking back to your author’s trip to the Soviet Union, there were the wonders of Russia. There was also the socialist/communist police state reality of the USSR.

There were the jammed horrible motor coaches,

There were the lines for food and the basics of life.

There were well-stocked Beriozka or “little birch” stores, which accepted all currencies except for Russian rubles. It must suck to be you, Ivan and Tanya.

There were the tiny little cars with lawn-mower engines for the fortunate few (10 years wait), while Zil limousines carried Communist big shots to their exclusive dachas.

The Most Equal Of The Equals

“In an ideal socialist society, “the people” own the means of production. Everyone’s basic needs are met. Leaders are elected democratically. When implemented, however, human nature intervenes. Powerful elites take charge.” – Alex Berezow. USA Today Board of Contributors

Bummer.

There is so much discussion about the haves and the have-nots of American society.

There are cries for social justice: Translated some all-powerful state entity must level the playing field.

The question, which remains: Did socialist/communist USSR really even the score for everyone?

Whattya think AOC? How’s Venezuela working out? Is history repeating itself?

Even more to the point: Do Millennials in their lack of deep direct knowledge/remembrance of the USSR appreciate the stark dark truth of government provided socialism?

Karl Marx may be turning over in his grave but sorry to say, his idea did not work, and will not work regardless of the nation. Too many people want to achieve, and to do better for themselves and their families.

And yet there is hope for Millennials, and proof that many have not consumed the red cool aid.

It’s called Buy Low Sell High, and that beautifully simple concept applies to Millennials too.

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/02/14/millennial-socialism

https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/02/14/millennial-socialists-want-to-shake-up-the-economy-and-save-the-climate

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/02/21/cnn-thinks-socialism-cool-my-grandparents-ussr-would-disagree/349830002/

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/millennials-communism-sounds-pretty-chill-2017-11-01

When Reagan Walked Into The Room

“ … With this election, my heart is filled with the greatest hope, because I know this man (George Deukmejian) … I say the man with the experience, the knowledge, the integrity to do the job is the man that’s here on the platform with us tonight, George Deukmejian. Elect him Governor.” – President Ronald Reagan

It was the summer of ‘82.

Two months earlier, Attorney General George Deukmejian prevailed in a rough Republican gubernatorial primary.  The contested issue: Which candidate was closer to Ronald Reagan?

Now the focus shifted to the fall campaign.

The date was August 24. The scene was a $500-per-person fundraising reception at the Beverly Wilshire, The guest of honor: Ronald Reagan.

A voice announced: “Ladies and Gentlemen, The President of the United States.”

Walking through the door was a smiling, handsome 71-year-old man with a full black mane of hair. He was at the time the oldest president in American history.

Just 17-months earlier, he almost succumbed to an assassin’s bullet.

But on this particular Tuesday evening … he looked like a million bucks.

For the author of Almost DailyBrett, it was a life-changing, transformational moment.

For a 27-years young campaign press director, seeing the president of the United States up close and personal for the first time, Reagan came across as a kind man with a radiant demeanor.

Reagan approached the podium, awaiting his introduction by my boss, George Deukmejian.

Even though Reagan was the most powerful man on earth, there was not even the merest glimmer of arrogance, let alone someone who saw himself as a counter-punching street fighter.

Reagan commanded the room, even with an ever-present an aw-shucks grin on his face.

Many argue about Reagan’s place in history, but there’s no debate in your author’s mind about his persona and presence. He will always be The President of the United States of my lifetime.

Born a Democrat

Just like Ronald Reagan, your author was born into a Democratic family.

Could have sworn that Nixon’s first name was “Damn.”

As Almost DailyBrett wrote on the sad occasion of the passing last month of George Deukmejian, he was the governor who changed my life.

What also drastically altered my view of the world was a 1981 two-week trip to the Soviet Union.

The magnificence of the Kremlin and St. Basil’s in Moscow, the Hermitage and the summer palace of the Czars in St. Petersburg are worth the trip itself. The coverage of the World Cup by Fox Sports is bringing back memories of that game-changing trip.

There was also the comment of my best friend who made the trip with me: “They (Soviet leaders) treat their people like caca (different word than the actual).”

Communism did not work then, and will not work now. Get over it.

Reagan was labeled as a “Cold Warrior” as if that term was a pejorative. He saw it as a badge of courage. His vision was simple: the U.S. wins and the Soviet Union loses.

Looking back at the confluence of the 1981 trip in-and-out of the Soviet Union, my job as the press director for the Deukmejian Campaign Committee, and the magnetic presence of Ronald Reagan, your author made the decision to become a loyal Reaganite Republican.

Under the Cognitive Dissonance Theory, the only way someone will change entrenched philosophical positions is with the presence of compelling new information. Reagan was the completion of that philosophical shift.

Visiting The Reagan Library

Politics was just as rough in the 1980s as it has been since the birth of a nation in the late 18^th Century.

The difference was a sense of civility as Chris Matthews wrote in his book, “Tip And The Gipper, When Politics Worked.”

Last year during a second visit to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and factoring in the present political climate even with a Republican in the White House and leading both houses of Congress, your author kept on looking toward heaven quietly asking …

‘Could you come back?’ ‘Please!’

https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/research/speeches/82482d

The Governor, Who Changed My Life

Putin’s Pooch und Merkel’s Dog-O-Phobia

“The dog does not bother you, does she? She’s a friendly dog and I’m sure she will behave herself.” – Russian President Vladimir Putin Introducing “Koni,” the black lab, to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2007

“It (Koni) doesn’t eat journalists, after all?” – German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Even though the canine caper happened 10 years ago, Almost DailyBrett contends that Vladimir Putin’s Machiavellian ploy was clearly intended to intimidate and embarrass Kanzlerin Merkel. And considering the recent seismic shifts in global politics, the incident is more relevant than ever.

The most powerful woman on the planet has a well-documented case of cynophobia. She was attacked by a dog in 1995. She clearly does not relish any contact with man’s best friend, including Putin’s best canine.

During the January 21, 2007 summit with Merkel at his summer residence in Sochi, Putin’s eight-year-old Labrador retriever, Koni, made a cameo appearance during their negotiations. Even though she tried to appear cool, calm and collected, Merkel was clearly uncomfortable and unnerved by the sniffing dog.

When asked about the incident last year by the German periodical Bild, Putin insisted he did not know about Merkel’s fear of dogs.

“I wanted to do something nice for her (Merkel). When I found out that she doesn’t like dogs, of course I apologized.” – Russian President Vladimir Putin

“I understand why he has to do this — to prove he’s a man. He’s afraid of his own weakness. Russia has nothing, no successful politics or economy. All they have is this.” – Kanzlerin Angela Merkel

Putin Exploiting Donald Trump’s Weaknesses?

At some point, at some venue, at some pre-determined time, Donald Trump is going to meet Vladimir Putin. Will the Russian leader try to do something “nice” for the new American president?

Russia’s legendary xenophobia, coupled with its record of hacking and espionage, will certainly encourage Putin to seek out and fully exploit Trump’s personal weaknesses.

Who would have thought that a fear of dogs would be a weak point for the chancellor of the fourth largest economy of the world and the de-facto leader of the European Union? Putin obviously knew this fact, and used his Labrador to get inside of Merkel’s head.

If the tenets of military strategy are to capitalize on one’s advantages and exploit the weaknesses of an adversary, then it’s safe to assume that Putin is carefully studying Donald Trump.

In many ways Trump and Putin are similar, but Almost DailyBrett takes issue with any discussion of a “Bromance.” Heck, they have not even met each other.

Having taken care of that silly reference, one can safely conclude they are both demagogic, alpha males with a craving for public attention and reverence. In particular, Trump is known for his thin-skin and is quick to take offense, particularly via Twitter. Will this failing be an opening for Putin to exploit?

At the same time, it is well known the Soviets took note of President Ronald Reagan publicly firing the members of the striking Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) in August, 1981. The president knew he was jeopardizing thousands of vacations and even worse risking the possibility of mid-air collisions in the skies. Putin was a key operative in the Soviet Union’s KGB at the time.

Reagan was roundly criticized for exhibiting strength, and the same applies to Trump. Putin is becoming aware of Trump’s demonstrations of bravado, while at the same time finding out more about Trump’s weaknesses. Call it “opposition research” or “oppo.”

One “nice” thing that Trump does not need to worry about when he finally meets Putin, “Koni” will not be making a cameo appearance. Alas, Koni lived for 15-years, before finally buying the kennel in 2014.

The new president would be wise to remember what Harry S. Truman once said: “If you need a friend in Washington, D.C., get a dog.”

http://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/wladimir-putin/interview-mit-dem-russischen-praesidenten-russland-44091672.bild.html

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/12/europe/putin-merkel-scared-dog/

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/20/world/europe/germany-merkel-profile/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/vladimir-putin/12094074/Vladimir-Putin-denies-setting-his-dog-on-Angela-Merkel.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vladimir-putin-says-he-didnt-intend-to-scare-dog-phobic-angela-merkel-when-he-brought-his-labrador-a6805801.html

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/germanys-angela-merkel-afraid-one-thing-its-not-david-cameron-1482159

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynophobia

http://time.com/4139802/time-person-of-the-year-angela-merkel-surprising-facts/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konni_(dog)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/opinion/reagan-vs-patco-the-strike-that-busted-unions.html

Six Decades

Meet the baby of the family, the unexpected/unplanned baby of the family.

This coming Saturday, Pi Day, the mathematically inept, right-brained baby will “celebrate” the successful navigation of 60 years on the planet, and look forward to hopefully plenty more.

Much has changed since the decade of Ike, Elvis, Disneyland, Sputnik, U2 (not the band) and “Senator, have you no sense of decency?”

The author of Almost DailyBrett has always been a tad vertically challenged, in time became follicly challenged, and still vows to never-ever be horizontally challenged. Looking forward to Saturday’s cross-training with Nike+, charting the results.

Tempted to mimic a lyric, “Oh, what a long, strange trip it has been,” but yours truly was never into that kind of “trip.” When it comes to sex, drugs and rock n’ roll, always been a big fan of the first, still dig the latter (never was a Dead Head), and never understood the appeal of the “medicine.”

Baby Boomers are supposed to wax nostalgic for the 1960s and the demonstrations in the streets of Chicago and arrests on the quad at Berkeley. What the heck happened to your author? Instead, he pleasantly recollects the 1980s, when he tied the knot for the first time, became a father to Allison, and relished a time when it was Morning in America.

California balanced its budget, raised zero taxes and maintained a $1 billion for emergency. Almost DailyBrett sounds quaint compared to today’s oceans of red ink for our children’s children to pay. Yep, the 1980s worked. They always will. Historical revisionism be damned.

Come to think of it, during your author’s life a Wall went up in 1961 (“Ich bin ein Berliner”) and it came down 28 years later (“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”). O.J. sliced up UCLA’s defense in 1967 and Nicole Brown a generation later.

Nothing has ever been permanent, particularly disco, hem-and-tan lines.

Brady Bunch Neighborhood

Growing up in lily-white Glendale, California in the age of Hogan’s Heroes and the God-awful Brady Bunch, your blog writer will always be grateful for those priests and nuns who taught writing, reading and literature. They also transformed Almost DailyBrett into the rotten Catholic he is today with their unique combination of arrogance, boorishness and corporal punishment.

Sorry to say Padre, you were wrong: Mary Magdalene was not a whore.

There was the bitter divorce of 1967, but with it came life-long lessons about how to and how NOT to treat the fairer gender. Monogamy with a special one is best. You should try it and stick with it, fellow hombres.

The love of writing began at eight-years old, the very same year in which the school loud speakers told us about the death of a young president.

This same infatuation with the pencil, pen, IBM Selectric, work station, PC, and now the mobile device continued as man walked on the moon, a president resigned, our diplomats were held hostage for 444 days, and planes crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Growing up, always thought that Nixon’s first name was “Damn.” Came to appreciate that Tricky Dick and Slick Willie were spot-on names for my least favorite presidents. Thankfully, Nixon abolished the draft. There was no ‘Nam for me, University of Oregon instead.

The Earth Shook

Eventually graduated from the University of Southern California with a Rose Bowl ring and no loans. Yes Almost DailyBrett was fortunate, but a long career laid before me.

Cutting teeth covering the Proposition 13 tax-revolt earthquake in 1978. Touring the Soviet Union in 1981, seeing the Evil Empire and its grip on people up close and personal. Recruited to serve as the press director for the Deukmejian Campaign Committee the following year. George Deukmejian won the governorship of California at 5 am the day-after-the-election. He recorded the biggest landslide in blue state California’s history four years later.

Sacramento has two seasons: Hot and Cold. Served as the Governor George Deukmejian’s press secretary as the earth shook San Francisco (e.g., Loma Prieta Earthquake). Was told “The Bay Bridge is in the Water.”  Whew, it was not true, even though the Cypress Structure mysteriously came down.

Next was trees, owls, chips and Japan, which led to the fifth most famous person from Liverpool, Wilf Corrigan, and LSI Logic. Saw the Internet bubble rise and inevitably it exploded, resulting in seven rounds of layoffs and a company on the brink. We survived and yet it was time for Wilf to retire … The world moved on to social, mobile and cloud.

Faced mortality twice, first with prostate cancer and then with Valley Fever/Meningitis. Fought off the first and battled the second to a draw, and yet it was my first wife, Robin, who lost her battle to cancer. Life is unfair. Life is fickle. Life is finite.

Attained the so-called “Holy Grail” of public relations, vaunted agency experience with a life-changing side-effect; subbing at Santa Clara University. Could Almost DailyBrett teach at the college level, maybe even at the school that caused time to stop with “Kenny Wheaton is going to score; Kenny Wheaton is going to score”?

Accepted a fellowship to the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication and earned 15 months later a master’s degree in communications. The attainment of a second career was complete with a full-time instructor position at UO, and now a tenure-track assistant professor gig, teaching public relations/advertising/corporate communications/investor relations at Central Washington University.

And best of all, the author of Almost DailyBrett turned his attention away from his blog long enough to survey the field of contenders on Match.com. The result was a love affair with Jeanne, fireworks on the Fourth of July, and trips in the little green chariot. Next up is our long-overdue romantic honeymoon to Bavaria and Tuscany, Mad King Ludwig’s castles and Under the Tuscan Sun.

Almost DailyBrett is one lucky dude.

Today, yours truly rocks on and is inspired by Mick and Keith at 71, Ronnie at 68, and geriatric Charlie at 73 on worldwide tour. To use more than a few metaphors, there is still plenty of gas in the tank and the engine continues to rev every morning. It’s pedal to the metal time.

“Oh what a long, strange trip it has been.” Looking forward to continuing the ride with the top down and my few remaining hairs flowing in the breeze.

Russia On My Bucket List

“Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” – Winston Churchill

Mumsy’s father never wanted to go to two places: Hell and Russia.

He lived to the century mark and slightly beyond. There is zero doubt he went anyplace, but heaven. He never stepped foot inside Russia.

The author of Almost DailyBrett visited the USSR in 1981, when Leonid Brezhnev and the Politburo were calling the shots. That was 33 years ago.

Today, the Soviet Union is an unpleasant Cold War memory. Nonetheless, Russia remains a difficult and perplexing nine-time-zone nation on the geopolitical map, stretching from Belarus in the West to Vladivostok on the Pacific … and is just as fascinating as ever.

Putin or no Vladimir Putin, your author wants to go back and check out the changes before he meets Anastasia (“screamed in vain”) in the after-life.

Honeymoon in Stalingrad?

Even though Almost DailyBrett married Rachel Weisz’ twin, or at least Jeanne could easily be mistaken as Rachel’s sibling, we are not heading to the banks of the Volga for our belated honeymoon. The castles of Bavaria and the phallic symbols of Tuscany in summer are a smidge more romantic.

This is not to suggest that Enemy at the Gates was not a love story. Heck, you have all the elements of a great Casablanca love triangle: Jude Law (sniper Vassili Zaitzev), Joseph Fiennes (Commissar Danilov) and Weisz (Tania), the rubble of Stalingrad and the Wehrmacht and the Red Army in a battle to the death.

Nonetheless Russia is calling, and it is a Bucket List kind of summons. Some may want to jump out of airplanes. Others may swim with dolphins or sharks (hard to keep them straight) or march with the penguins in Antarctica.

Yours truly wants to walk across Krásnaya Plóshchaď (Red Square) one more time. The same applies to St. Petersburg (it was Leningrad back in 1981) with the Hermitage Museum (Czar’s Winter Palace) and the Summer Palace.

And of course, this time there must be a visit to the aforementioned Stalingrad, now named Volgagrad. It will never be Volgagrad to Almost DailyBrett; it will always be Stalingrad, the most decisive battle of World War II. Germany was finished after Field Marshal Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus surrendered his surrounded Sixth Army in January 1943.

Looking down at the Russian steppes 33 years ago from an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Vilnius, Lithuania, it was easy to imagine the majestic Cossacks, Napoleon’s Grand Armee and Hitler’s Panzers all charging deeper and deeper into Russia.

Reflecting back on the trip, your author was repeatedly asked when I was going “in and out” of Russia, not “to and from.”

A Trip Like No Other

“Take me to your daddy’s farm; Let me hear your balalaika’s ringing out; Come and keep your comrade warm; I’m back in the U.S.S.R.; Hey you don’t know how lucky you are boys; Back in the U.S.S.R.” – The Beatles

Living in Eugene, Oregon for four years, Almost DailyBrett was always amused by the city’s “community” gardens. These are patches of land where like-minded folks under the tender, loving guidance of the City of Eugene plant their sustainable and organic crops (if you don’t believe it, just ask them) and maybe even dream of a communal environment where everyone is truly equal.

Regularly driving past this garden on Amazon Parkway, yours truly would reflect back more than three decades to my trip to the Soviet Union. Certainly, Russia was a “social” society at the time (e.g., prefab apartment blocks, jammed fossil-fuel emitting buses, foreign currency-only outlets, and empty store shelves), but not sure about the “justice” part.

There was this problem with the “most equal of the equals.” They were the ones in the fancy limousines being whisked to-and-from the Kremlin in their special lanes. These were the same “simple” folks in the fancy boxes at the Kremlin Hall of the Congresses for the opening night of the Bolshoi Ballet’s Swan Lake. Something tells me that the working Ivan never made it to the intermission buffet of caviar and Moskovskaya vodka.

Coming back closer to home: Do the overly educated of Eugene and other cerebral towns really want to emulate the USSR and its collective farms and communal poverty? What is the attraction? Maybe the author of Almost DailyBrett is not smart enough to comprehend.

When asked if your author has ever seen real poverty, there are thoughts back to the trip to at best, second-world Russia. As my friend and colleague who made the trip with me said” “They treat their people like (insert your favorite fecal material word here).”

Spending any amount of time in the USSR and contrasting it with 1980s Morning in America completed Almost DailyBrett’s own political metamorphosis.

Would your author recommend Russia as a vacation destination? It all depends what you want to accomplish for your precious time away from the demands of the workplace? If you are looking for romance and your Corona con limon playa, go elsewhere.

If you are a buff on history, politics, suspense (e.g., LeCarre, Forsyth, DeMille novels) and intrigue, Russia may be just your brand of vodka.

Next time, yours truly will remember to keep my eyes open for my photo in front of the onion domes of St. Basil’s in Moscow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_at_the_Gates

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Square

http://www.excursions-volgograd.ru/en/excursion/museum_battle_stalingrad_tour

http://listverse.com/2012/09/17/top-10-facts-about-the-battle-of-stalingrad/

http://www.eugene-or.gov/communitygardens