This is a week that began with yet another Donald Trump assassination attempt – Trump’s fault, of course, if you buy the arguments of Democrats and their lapdog media sycophants – and has continued through a series of stunning revelations.

I’ve got a lot of questions. Maybe you should want answers to these questions, too.

1. ABC news hack and pretend debate moderator David Muir, according to ratings, has lost about one million viewers per night after he was half of his network’s moderator team for the sham Trump-Harris debate and we ask, why isn’t it more like two million, or three?

2. What’s the over/under on how long it takes for rap idol Sean “Diddy” Combs to commit suicide, inexplicably, while being held in prison and supposedly under observation, just like Jeffrey Epstein?

3. How come these perverts, either convicted or accused, so often are associated with Democrats and assorted leftists and progressives in general?

4. Is convicted and admitted felon Hunter Biden pals with Diddy?

5. Why aren’t we hearing more about the alleged wrongdoings of Tony West, Cackling Kamala Harris’ brother-in-law and longtime political confidant?

6. Why isn’t more being made in the media over the Department of Justice’s national crime victimization survey release that, just as Trump said in the debate and Muir falsely fact-checked, violent crime has surged under the Biden-Harris regime?

7. Did you know that this crime victimization survey relies on first-hand data from victims, not merely relying on crime reports that often aren’t made, or are put in the circular file once the victim leaves the premises.

8. Did you know that the increase in violent crime as reported by this JUSTICE DEPARTMENT survey is the highest of any three-year period in history, more than doubling the previous high?

9. Can someone call David Muir to fact-check that?

9. Are you surprised that the Biden-Harris dummkopf duo has an ignore-it-all strategy regarding the border, with yet another whistleblower testifying before Congress he was ordered not to report on the increasing encounters with suspected terrorists on our southern border?
10. Is there anyone left in these United States who hasn’t heard – ad nauseam – that Cackling Kamala was raised in a middle class home, in a neighborhood of people who loved their lawns, that she worked at McDonald’s, that she was a prosecutor and that she’s offering joy and opportunity?

9. Is there anyone who can quote specifics from Cackling Kamala as to how she proposes to undo the three-plus years of carnage inflicted on the nation by her and her brain donor boss?

13. Should we be shocked that a Congressional investigation has found potential “criminal activity” in the efforts of ActBlue, a Democratic online fund-raising platform?
14. Are we expected to feel all warm and fuzzy now that Clueless Joe Biden has convened his cabinet Friday, for the first time in about one year, not that anything significant has happened in the past year?
15. Is Cackling Kamala’s “opportunity and joy” the equally vague and vacuous update of “hope and change”?

In a bit of cosmic confluence that sums up the helpless state of Johnstown and its beggar bowl economy, we had two news events I became aware of on the very same day earlier this week that highlighted the insanity.

First, our local NBC television affiliate reported that the Greater Johnstown Housing Authority had garnered yet another grant, this for $500,000 from HUD.

Take it from someone who knows residents of Johnstown public housing, this is money that could be well-spent on things such as restoring inoperative security cameras or addressing balky elevators, to name but a few items.

The $500,000 will NOT be used for such mundane, albeit necessary, items. No, this grant will be spent, to quote from the web site report, to “perform market studies and organize events to hear from community members.”

Translation, it will be thrown into the wind, producing no concrete (literally or figuratively) results.

I’m thinking that the community members at the proposed events just might refer to inoperative security cameras and those darned elevators. So, where do I go to collect my share of the $500,000? And I did my research simply by some firsthand observation, a few emails and/or phone calls.

I’m not sure how, but I am confident the local elites who use area charities, nonprofits and not-for-profits as their power base, will get their hands on some or most of this $500,000.

Don’t you feel better knowing they care?

If HUD is dishing out wasted money like this nationwide – and I suspect it is – that helps explain why our annual federal budget deficit is going to push $2 trillion this fiscal year.

But always, it seems, Johnstown is able to shake the begging cup and get some handout money from federal or state government agencies. None of this goes toward establishing productive private industry jobs, understand. What a waste that would be!

That is, there is no effort to create private industry jobs unless you count unflinching attempts to establish Johnstown as a tourism Mecca. And nothing says seasonal, low-paying work like tourism.

Instead, the money gets spent, as in the case of plans for that $500,000 HUD grant, in the interest of making all the incoming Philadelphians and assorted immigrant classes moving, or hoped to be moving here, and into our existing base of public housing, comfortable with that relocation.

Our disproportionate amount of public housing has been estimated by State Rep. Frank Burns in an April 2023 interview at about 10 times the rate of other cities.

Afghan Amy needs somewhere for all the Myopia 2025 proposed immigrants to live, and it’s not going to be in her basement.

Now, we move to the employment ad from the City of Johnstown. It seeks, as far as we can tell, a Woke Czar to come in and lead us in the pursuit of addressing “housing, social justice and climate change.” The job title in the ad is “Residential Program Officer.”

Further down in the listing, it gets around to the true goal, that being to help make Johnstown every Wokester’s wet dream. I paraphrase, of course.

Understand that just early last year, Johnstown was able to claw its way off the distressed community list, after a stay there of more than 30 years.

Despite this technical improvement, one might look around and note that Johnstown is not exactly thriving economically. Beyond such anecdotal observation, according to 2024 figures posted on worldpopulationreview.com, Johnstown’s poverty rate is just a touch under 33 percent.

Martha’s Vineyard, we’re not. A survey put the 2022 poverty rate for Dukes County, which houses Martha’s Vineyard, at 6.7 percent. And, rest assured, that poverty mostly is year-round residents, working in tourism.

Our high poverty level is in part why we are viewed as something of a dumping ground for excess unwanted or undesirable population, alongside such places such as Charleroi, Pa., Springfield, Ohio, and others.

If a busload of immigrants shows up here, they are rushed into public housing and likely registered to vote – Democratic, of course – and not sent elsewhere in a heartbeat.

We need a Woke Czar like we need another public housing project. But likely that is what the $500,000 survey will show to be exactly the cure for all that ails us.

I re-watched the 1979 Al Pacino courtroom classic movie “. . . And Justice For All” over the weekend, ironically sandwiched around yet another Donald Trump assassination attempt.

I began the film Saturday night, DVRd the second half due to the late hour, and finished it Sunday evening.

For those unfamiliar with the film, it’s a study of a dysfunctional legal system, made so by a stew of corrupt and unhinged judges, inept and uncaring prosecutors, and similarly limited defense lawyers.

The underlying theme is that innocents suffer from these systemic breakdowns. And that brings us to the present, with our corrupt legal system, ineffective and inefficient bureaucracy, lapdog media and various other institutional failings combining to punish the populace.

Heading the list of wronged individuals is Donald Trump. His offenses include, but are not limited to, failing to kiss the far-left ring, speaking out for the rights of Americans, running yet again for the presidency, and doing so in his typical bold, brash style.

Trump’s success in the face of never-ending harassment from all the above, bewilders those on the left who wish him ill, if not dead.

They laughed when Trump, the candidate in his first political run, said he was being spied upon by U.S. intelligence. He was!

They falsely floated and promoted the Russian hoax.

They lied to judges to get wiretap authorization on Trump and associates.

They denied Hunter’s laptop was, indeed, Hunter’s laptop. Several felony convictions later, even Hunter admitted it was his.

Clueless Joe Biden was given a pass on mishandling classified documents, beginning when he was Obama’s lackey vice president. But Trump is being threatened continually for classified document offenses.

Trump also is being persecuted in the legal system with charges that gradually seem to be dropped, but cost him valuable time and money. No less a Democratic partisan than former New York governor Andrew Cuomo has said the suspect charges brought against Trump in his state never should have been pursued.

And on, and on, and on.

These days the lapdog media has taken to blaming Trump for the assassination attempts, a variation of the rape victim “asked for it” by dressing provocatively. Trump’s offense is speaking passionately. Against that backdrop, it somehow is judged fair commentary for lapdog media and wild-eyed Democrats alike to liken him continually to Hitler.

They are frustrated. Too many of them want him dead and yet he survives. One meme I saw mixed the ongoing Haitians-eating-cats drama of the moment with the supposed nine lives cats possess. By the count of the meme, Trump already has spent two.

First, he dodged a potentially fatal bullet while speaking near Butler, taking an ear injury when he turned his head at the time of the shot. And the critics for a time floated the idea he had not been shot at all and it had been a campaign ploy.

Now, while golfing on one of his courses Sunday, Trump seems to have been shot at by a domestic malcontent fixated on giving money and aid to Ukraine. Again, Trump survives.

But it is fair to ask if he can keep beating the odds.

It’s hard not to see regime cooperation in this. This is the same group that constantly denied Secret Service protection to Robert F. Kennedy Jr, offered it belatedly after the first Trump assassination try, then pulled it as soon as RFK Jr. endorsed Trump.

Similarly, the Butler attempt was aided greatly by high level Secret Service incompetence. And this latest shooting at Trump was explained away afterward by some local incompetent, that Trump didn’t merit protection on par with, say, a sitting president.

This man was the president and could be again in months. He has been the target now of at least two assassination attempts. Yet, protection levels are limited when he’s involved. Hmmmm.

It’s like they are flashing the green light for any would-be Trump assassins. We’re there, but not in sufficient numbers to protect him if you are serious about succeeding.

The whole thing stinks like week-old fish. And the clock keeps ticking.

Fear not, dear readers, that inflation has ravaged families, that threats of lobbing nuclear weapons in Europe are on the upswing, that out-of-control illegal immigration is wrecking the country. No, the most fierce debate of the moment seems to be whether or not Haitian immigrants in and around Springfield, Ohio, are eating both domestic pets and wild animals from parks.

I’ve been taking a figurative cat nap from posting on the blog of late, but I have been keeping tabby of the situation and so feel inclined to get on(fe)line about it. Think of it as me marking my territory without spraying the walls, using the furniture as a scratching post, or roaming the neighborhood impregnating any willing receptors.

I’ve seen prominent types weighing in on the subject, but I desire more. So, in the spirit of LameStream media, where one just makes up what is necessary to promote a story, here’s my take on what high-profile types might have said about this pet consumption matter – if only we had bothered to ask.

Nancy Pelosi: Trust me, I’ve made millions investing in stocks and bonds using my special insights. If I thought I could finance my next cosmetic surgery by making a trade or two on the domestic cat meat market, I would be there in a heartbeat. Alas, the Haitians apparently butcher their own cat meat, so I’m going to have to settle for making millions trading Nvidia stock and options.

Eric Swalwell: I’m something of an expert on this, having consorted with a suspected Chinese spy for years. Both Tampon Tim Walz and I know from close contact with Chinese through the years that they love to eat cats and dogs. The World Population Review reported that China, Vietnam and Australia were three prominent countries consuming cats and dogs in 2024. If Haitian immigrants want to spread that custom to flyover states such as Ohio, I’m all for it. Besides, these Haitians, whether legal or illegal, are being put into the electoral system and I expect them to vote Democrat – early and often.

Bill Clinton: Sure, I have put cat meat in my mouth – everyone from my generation has. But I didn’t inhale, or swallow. And I didn’t have sex with that cat, Ms. Lewin . . .

Hillary Clinton: There have been times Bill came home with cat smell on his breath, but I stood by my man because, let’s face it, I had no political career beyond riding his coat tails. And what’s wrong with eating a cat, or dog, or an obnoxious Canada goose along the way. It’s not as deplorable as being a Trump supporter and trying to make America great again. I mean, that’s disgusting.

Barack Obama: I worry about people in Springfield clinging to guns, religion and their belief that there is something wrong with eating cats, dogs and wild geese. This is exactly the sort of change from traditional American values that I did my best to accomplish. And if I had a son, he’d probably be some cat-eating Haitian, perhaps named Trayvon.

Kamala Harris: So, to be clear, a cat is a member of the feline family. Big cats like lions and tigers, but not bears, oh my, are felines. I mean, coming from a middle class background, where we had to stretch to make ends meet, we never could afford the luxury of a cat, either as a pet or to eat. Excuse me, I’m talking here. So, we never had a cat, but I did ride a bus once to see one. I didn’t just fall out of a coconut tree, you know. And I assure you that if you vote for me, I will do all I can to help out the working class to do better economically. I’m thinking of a new slogan: A cat in every pot.

Taylor Swift: All you people offended by Haitians potentially eating cats or dogs, just shake it off. Kamala would have no problem with it, which is why I’m supporting her. I don’t care that those meanies at YouGov came out with a poll that only 8 percent of voters said my endorsement helped Kamala get their votes and 20 percent say it harmed her in terms of their voting. Understand, I’ve made a career lamenting bad choices in songs and I’m pretty sure my average fan has an IQ larger than their shoe size – unless they have big feet.

Unidentified Canada goose consumer: This man, who shall remain nameless, once confessed to having eaten part of a Canada goose he’d shot while hunting. Since Haitians are accused of killing and eating wild geese, his thoughts are instructive. He’s sad for Haitians, because he considered the Canada goose flesh some of the most repulsive matter he’d ever ingested. Going forward, he’d rather starve than eat more.

Stereotypical dumpy women in abortion rights political ads: Who is Trump or other political Neanderthals, to tell me what I can do with my body? If I want to eat cats, dogs, wild animals illegally harvested from public parks, I have that right. It’s my body! If I want to eat that aborted fetus, again, it’s my body.

I read of Springfield, Ohio, and it’s problems dealing with an influx of Haitian immigrants, and I imagine what Johnstown might look like today if the Myopia 2025 people hadn’t been outed with their plans to bring displaced Afghans here.

Springfield is in the news because the population there is crying out for help in dealing with a reported 15,000 to 20,000 or so Haitians, brought in since 2020 to fill vacant jobs and escape hardship on their home island. We’ve heard that sort of providing-labor-and-escaping-violence pitch used here to justify the Afghan plan.

At least as far as I can tell, the Springfield immigrant planning wasn’t done in secret. But the problems are the same, regardless.

This is not about whether Haitians are eating cats, dogs and other wildlife. I did, however, see an online image of an alleged Haitian man carrying an apparently dead Canada goose by its neck that ran with a story about Haitians eating wildlife in the Springfield area.

I don’t know if Haitians are pruning the local pet population of Springfield and neither do you.

I do know there is a race on by officials to deny, deny, deny any problems.

In some ways, this is similar to officials in Aurora ,Colorado, denying Venezuelan gangs had taken over an apartment building there, despite video evidence by aggrieved residents. Those officials eventually backtracked, at least to admit a gang problem.

I do know that a Haitian immigrant has been convicted in Springfield of charges he drove his mini-van in the wrong lane of the highway and caused a school bus to crash, killing one student,

I do know that the Ohio governor has announced plans to send more police and more money to Springfield to help that town cope with the burden of so many “Temporary Protected Status” immigrants being dumped there.

People will stress the Haitians are here legally and they are, the result of typically misguided federal regulation to solve the world’s problems. Those problems merely have been heaped on U.S. residents in a small Ohio town.

Please note, the limousine liberals don’t want the problem solving regarding immigrants to impact them, thus the outrage, for example, when some illegal immigrants were bused to upscale Martha’s Vineyard in the recent past and promptly were sent away.

Not in my backyard, it’s called.

Springfield residents have complained about many problems with Haitian immigrant behavior, as well as a spike in the cost of things such as auto insurance because of a big rise in accidents. Insurers, unlike the government, can’t create money out of thin air and so have to do the economic thing — raising prices to cover rising costs.

We are to believe the Haitian influx to Springfield has been a winner. But that doesn’t seem to be the opinion of the residents who deal with it on a daily basis.

I guess these residents, much like typical Americans who don’t see the rosy economy and cost-of-living picture painted by Kamala and Joe, are just too stupid to understand how well they are doing.

The college and pro football seasons are underway and what have we learned?

The Steelers can lead their AFC North Division at 1-0 despite not scoring a single touchdown so far in the regular season, largely reminiscent of this preseason and last year.

This is because, for all its customary hype, the AFC North is weak.

Cleveland always seems to have key injuries or under-performing healthy players.

Cincinnati is trying to win with a suspect offensive line, no marquee running backs and a shortage of wide receivers. Under those circumstances, it doesn’t matter how much you pay your star quarterback.

And the mighty Baltimore Ravens have a quarterback who continues to come up small in big games. The Ravens would seem to be the best of a bad lot – someone has to win this division.

While Democrats rail about expanding abortion options, the NFL has aborted traditional kickoff rules, creating quite the unseemly mess in the process.

The “dynamic” kickoff has debuted, looking like the rules of Rugby, traditional American football and Australian rules football were thrown into a blender, along with a dash of rioting and mass panic.

The ‘dynamic” kickoff gives us a “landing zone” sounding like a mix of D-Day and Apollo moon missions. Kickers are background players and the majority of players line up watching each other from close range way down the field. Mostly, it’s confusing and unproductive, which typifies the NFL circa 2024. Throw this into the don’t-just-stand-there-do-something, stupid, bin of thought.

The good news for me is I waste precious little time watching NFL games these days, not wanting to be assaulted with the combination Woke and pop culture (is Taylor here????????) indoctrination the broadcasts have become

I do try to watch college football, but that is becoming a challenge, too.

This week’s AP poll has Southeastern Conference teams in six of the top seven spots, a record for one conference in the 88 years the poll has been conducted.

It starts at the top with Georgia and has a seeming powerhouse Texas team second.

As for the Big Ten, Ohio State, which spent the offseason transferring in talent, is third, and Penn State, a narrow winner over Bowling Green Saturday, is eighth.

The less-than-spectacular play of Ohio State so far, and Michigan’s pounding by Texas, suggest Penn State might not be doomed to its customary losses to Ohio State and Michigan. Then again, that tight Bowling Green win for Penn State might indicate the history continues.

At least Notre Dame managed to gag one early, inexplicably losing to 28.5-point underdog Northern Illinois, and hopefully preventing the Fighting Irish from slipping into the playoffs with a schedule long on opposition like Sisters of the Poor and School for the Blind.

Another disconcerting aspect of college sports in general, and football specifically, is the presence of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) millionaires in the games. If I wanted to watch semipro football I’d just settle for UFL games.

But, I’m watching Texas pummel Michigan early Saturday and there’s a Dr. Pepper commercial — one of their Fansville efforts — featuring Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers. Ewers is reported to be earning $1.7 million annually in NIL money.

Even worse, his backup quarterback at Texas, Arch Manning, is raking in $3.1 million in NIL money each year. As Hunter Biden discovered, there’s money in a last name. Just pay the taxes.

Finally, we come to analytics that have come to dominate football, and other sports.

Some guys sat around with their computers analyzing optimum strategy and too many coaches blindly follow the data.

There was an interesting discussion of this on a CBS postgame show Sunday from a panel that included former Steelers coach Bill Cowher.

First, the larger the number of samples in a statistical study, the more accurate the results should be. If you have, say, 1,000 outcomes and the preferred strategy works 70 percent of the time, that’s 700 successes, but also 300 failures.

What bugs me, and apparently Cowher, too, is that some of the failures are more costly than others, and some of the successes are less meaningful.

You face fourth-and-two at your own 30-yard line. Even if you go for it and make the first down, most often you need many more successes to have it pay off in the form of points.

But, if you fail, the other team is poised to score, in many cases without advancing the ball an inch.

Analytics also fail to take into consideration that the games are played by humans, with all the attendant influences of emotion. Success produces confidence and momentum. Failures produce uncertainty and fear. Things can snowball, in either direction, based on that one chance taken

Cowher, and at least one other member of the panel, preferred to have coaches make decisions based on feel in the moment – confidence in their team’s ability to make the play at that given time, not in the other 999 or more chances of the large sample.

I think the panelists hit the nail on the head when they said over-reliance on analytics is widespread largely because it gives failing coaches an out. It didn’t work, but, hey, they were just following the analytics.

My own personal analytics indicate I’ll be watching more Major League Baseball this month and next, and a lot less college and pro football.

I tried again moments ago to get back to the man at the county Republican Party office along Scalp Avenue to update him with details of vetted Afghans and incidents at U.S. military bases in Afghanistan.

This was in the wake of a discussion Thursday at 5:30 p.m.-ish during which he seemed to doubt my recollection of vetted Afghans doing such things.

He wanted names, dates, specific places. At the time, I told him to give me his name and I’d go home and research this for him and provide details. He neglected to provide his name.

But, after I got back home last night, I spent some time on the computer and dug up that specific info, even including it in a blog post I wrote and posted Thursday night so others could see for themselves.

I had called back last night to try to tell him my results, but it was beyond office hours and I got a recorded message. I didn’t see the need to leave the lengthy message required to try to specify the nameless person for whom the message had been left, and the laundry list of facts he had requested.

This morning I tried again – at 10:50 a.m., in the heart of supposed hours in which the office is open — and, again a voicemail. Again, I left no message.

I’m not sure I want to dedicate my life to trying to provide facts to this man. But, I tried.

As promised in an earlier post, I went out early this evening and procured some Trump yard signs, but not without inspiring some spirited give and take.

I got the signs after dinner at a Chinese buffet, stopping at the Cambria County Republican headquarters along Scalp Avenue.

There I was engaged outside by a man who’d been involved with some activity. I mentioned this curbside greeting and the man said he merely was outside indulging his “filthy habit,” which seemed to be vaping.

We went inside. I told him I needed a Trump sign. There were many stacked against the wall with a note requesting a $5 donation. I just happened to have a $5 bill in my hand in anticipation, so I offered it to him and reached for a sign.

Said man told me that since he was in a generous mood, I could take two. I did, but not without mentioning he might not be feeling so generous if he knew about my Burns Republican sign that had just been planted earlier in the day.

And it was on. You’d have thought I’d called Trump a communist. Oh, I’d hit a nerve, for sure. It’s a gift I have.

I don’t know for sure, but my wife and son who were waiting in the car, said it went about 20 minutes, this discourse over Burns. During our chat, people came and went, and as reported by my son, with one young child telling his mother (I presume) after they’d left that we seemed to arguing in there. She nervously laughed and said “just debating.”

It’s hard to recount word for word, but basically this man and another worker-volunteer who emerged to help man number one, asserted that Burns is a bad guy who sells Cambria County down the river by favoring property tax relief for Pittsburgh and Philadelphia but blocking such relief for us.

Burns also is a bad guy saying nasty things about his pure and innocent opponent. I pointed out that Burns’ opponent has mailers accusing Burns of some pretty bad stuff, too. He tried to pass that off as just her supporters. Funny, I don’t hear her denouncing the mailers hitting Burns for allegedly never showing up for work or not helping the area.

The Myopia 2025 plan to bring Afghan refugees to the area was a hot-button issue and Burns’ opponent is in the group up to her eyebrows. Man No. 1 said it undeniably would have been a good thing because they’d helped us in Afghanistan, this man served there, and they had been vetted, so they would not have produced any harm if they’d come here. Again, we owed it to them as allies.

I pointed out the U.S. giving allies a raw deal is nothing new. I mentioned the Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba. I might have mentioned the abandonment of South Vietnam. And the Afghanistan botched pullout was just the latest example. I also mentioned the U.S. looking to intervene against ally Japan to keep Nippon Steel from acquiring U.S. Steel.

Also, I recalled at least one situation in which a “vetted” Afghan shot up a U.S. military base there.

The man was incensed. When? Where? What was his name? He rattled off the questions in rapid-fire fashion.

I told him to give me his name and I’d go home and get the details for him. He didn’t give me his name. I did go home and found verification of what I’d said. I called the Republican headquarters to tell him tonight, but the office was closed. I will be back in touch.

But, just for your benefit, dear readers, there was an attack July 7, 2018, near Tarin Kowt Airfield. One U.S. soldier was killed, others were injured, and the attack was by an Afghan solider, presumably a “vetted” one.

A story posted June 26, 2020, on Armytimes.com under the byline of Kyle Rempfer said the investigation into the incident “called into question the reliability of the vetting process for Afghan partner forces.”

Further in, the story details “There were four insider attacks against U.S. personnel in 2018, one in 2019 and one so far in 2020.”

Can you say failed vetting?

I guess I don’t have all the names of the perpetrators, but I think I’ve made my point that even though I wasn’t in Afghanistan I know about things that happened there, including vetted Afghans acting badly.

The man didn’t know me before. But soon he will know I can back up with facts what I say.

My first political signage of the 2024 election has been planted on the front lawn, a Republicans For Frank Burns example that arrived this afternoon while I was out enjoying the weather with a ride in the Mustang convertible.

I put it on prominent display shortly after arriving home and spotting it leaning against a dining room chair near my desk.

The purveyor of said sign had told those who were home at the time that it had been “ordered” by someone. I’m not sure about the terminology, but someone in the Burns election effort familiar with my blog had suggested sometime back that I ought to have such a sign since I’m with the other party, but have voted for Burns and plan on continuing to do so.

That is partly because I liken Burns to Donald Trump, a guy who has gone against the wishes of his party when it benefits the populace. Think Burns exposing planned, or active, flooding of Johnstown with Afghans, or Philadelphians, for example.

Because of that departure by Burns from Democratic dogma, Republicans sense weakness and are running a candidate long on name recognition, but short on real-world accomplishments. The fact she also is heavily funded by a Philadelphia benefactor disturbs me.

In what mirrors the presidential campaigns, but largely with roles reversed, all manner of ridiculous accusations about Burns have been thrown against the wall by the Republican challenger to see what sticks. They are, again like the presidential case, classic examples of projection.

I actually saw a come-on for Kamala Harris the other day that said Trump’s handlers are afraid to let him go out on his own.

Did these cretins notice Trump spoke for 90 minutes, often off the cuff, in Johnstown recently? Have they been hiding out with Clueless Joe Biden at the beach, or in his bunker, ignoring this big, beautiful world?

Do they know that Trump has done maybe a thousand interviews, while Kamala has done one, and only when it was prerecorded and edited and she could bring support human Tim Walz along to hold her hand and stuff a rag in her mouth if she began one of her trademark cackles when she had no answers for legitimate questions?

Too bad they’ve stopped running ads for those Presto Salad Shooters, Kamala would be a natural spokesperson with her word salad issuances that make little to no sense, but kill time and are better – marginally – than hyena imitations.

I wish more people would take the time to get past party affiliation and take a serious look at candidates and their positions on issues. If only Democrats and Republicans alike could vote for the best candidate, regardless of party affiliation.

Ironically, it is the supposedly doctrinaire Republicans who more often exhibit this quality. In the past I have voted for many Democrats, from former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (the first time) to U.S. Rep. John Murtha (often) and Cambria County Commissioer Tom Chernisky (also often).

If only this were more common.

I also dream of world peace and being rich, not necessarily in that order, so I’m used to disappointment.

But, I am happy to have the Burns sign and it will remain on display at least through the election. Its presence reminds me I have been lax in securing some manner of Trump sign. That’s now high on my to-do list.

My ‘Hood has lost American Dream. Not The American Dream, as in the concept of being able to elevate one’s position in life through hard work and diligence.

Our lost American Dream is the man who moved into Section 8 housing in the neighborhood a few years back, a young black man (from Philadelphia, of course) with a mate and a growing number of kids in tow, who told one neighbor he was living the American Dream, residing in a nice neighborhood with a family and dog and not having to bother to go to work.

Said neighbor told me about American Dream’s joy and I was almost jealous that I’d had to work and save to get here. But, I brushed aside quickly such envy and nicknamed him American Dream.

There were reports of more children through the years, not necessarily reinforced by sightings. But there were noises of playing children from within the house. My wife and American Dream even addressed the possibility of his eldest son and our youngest granddaughter being in the same kindergarten class.

American Dream was notable for yelling while playing video games, these verbal outbursts at first incorrectly were mistaken for domestic discord.

Generally speaking, American Dream was an ideal neighbor. He didn’t have a car and so did not partake in the street’s parking grab game.

He didn’t have wild parties. He didn’t make noise at night, as our street’s current overcompensating young guy does.

All interactions between me or my wife and American Dream were cordial, even amusing.

Once, he wandered over to borrow my cell phone while I was washing my 2004 Mustang GT and asked if the car was as old as me. Considering I was 67 years of age the time and car was a 2004, not even close. If it were a 1955 vehicle of some description – Mustangs were not yet on the road when I was born – then we were talking.

And so it went through time, with American Dream asking to borrow a phone or tool, and once proudly announcing to us that he’d finally bought a lawnmower to address his overgrown grass, although it was used but once by our count. He also seemed able to afford to pay a lawn service without working.

The house was notable for virtually constant deliveries, often of things such as a cup of coffee and perhaps a muffin. Other times, it was large orders of goods from places such as Walmart.

More recently, American Dream approached me to provide him rides to work. Yes, he’d gotten a job, but had no transportation. He wanted to pay me to ferry him around, but as I pointed out to him, our overbearing government makes such things massive tax headaches. I’d discovered this by being an “independent contractor” as a freelance writer, or having the temerity to win some money one year doing LEGAL online gambling. Take my word for it, the paperwork is cumbersome and makes it not worth the effort.

Because of this, I wasn’t interested. Still, we’d exchange a wave or hello as the ride provider he eventually lined up dropped him off. All seemed well.

But earlier this week a utility truck pulled up and seemed to be terminating service as noticed by my wife. The presumed landlord showed up, pounding on the door and demanding to be let into the house – think of the fairy tale of the big, bad wolf and three pigs – but was unable to blow the house down.

The next best thing for the landlord was to call a scout on a motorcycle who arrived and seemed to enter the house with the landlord. Shortly thereafter, a platoon of workers with trucks showed up and, to put it mildly, created the kind of stir American Dream never had.

This included throwing stuff out, including at least one door and other large items through second-floor windows. Televisions also failed flight tests as did a sofa and assorted furniture.

An inquiring neighbor, while walking her two enormous dogs, requested a heads-up regarding the din and was told by one of the workers that the tenants had departed without notice and left the house in what he termed, a real mess the neighbor wouldn’t believe.

This Wrecking Crew (not to be confused with the band of excellent Los Angeles studio musicians who backed up groups such as the Beach Boys on many of their hit records and went by that Wrecking Crew nickname) knocked off at about 8 last night, but showed up this morning to resume emptying the house’s contents the easy way.

At this rate, the place will be all but gutted in no time at all.

Soon, another Section 8 tenant will be in place. My tax dollars at work.

I think I’m going to miss American Dream, wherever he is.