The Second Lady

Johnna Folsom is the first female governor of the great state of California. She is an independent politician, not associated with either the Democratic or Republican parties. The two parties selected their nominees for president of the United States. Johnna Folsom feels that she is the best qualified candidate to be the president of the United States.

As governor of the great state of California, she truly made it the greatest state in the Union by increasing employment and balancing the budget. She made everyone across the political spectrum happy. She proved she could govern. She proved she could manage the second largest bureaucracy in the United States. She proved she was ready for the biggest job in the county, and the world.

Johnna declared her candidacy after the major parties named their candidates. She was running as an independent, which meant it would be more difficult for her since she would not have the backing of the two big national political organizations. However her independence and her record as governor of California gave her wide appeal in a nation disillusioned by the two political parties of the United States.

Johnna began campaigning as the candidate to govern the United States and the world. She believed that her record as governor of California was proof that she could lead the masses and unite such a diverse population. Her history had shown that she could perform the duties of the chief executive of the nation, since her time as mayor of San Francisco and her time in the United States Senate representing California.

Governor Folsom is ambitious as her two male opponents of the two major political parties, but her success in the past has propelled her to front runner status for the highest job in the land. She is everyone’s favorite to be the next president of the United States.

With the governor’s success as front-runner against her two male opponents, Mayor Kathryn Grayson of Los Angeles enters the race. Mayor Grayson is very charismatic and an elegant speaker. She can lift up the lowest of spirits and fill them with the American dream. Her charm and beauty begin to elevate her to front-runner status.

Johnna realizes that she needs to become more human, like her new female competitor in this now four person race. Her ambition alone won’t get her to the Oval Office. She begins changing her stump speech from her history as a politician to that of a woman who struggled in a male dominated world. This new take on her campaign does not help her against the popular mayor of Los Angeles.

Mayor Grayson’s political history begins to catch up with her. It is soon revealed that while she was a member of the city council, she hired illegal immigrants to work at her home. This tarnishes her image and any chance she had of becoming a viable contender for the presidency. This event also returns Governor Folsom to the leading candidate in the polls against her two male rivals.

Governor Folsom looks to be the next president at this point in the race. Her ambition aside, she continues to present her human side for the remainder of the campaign, something she hasn’t done her political life.

On election night, the first returns show her in a three way tie with her two opponents. As the night goes on it becomes clear that the Democratic candidate is the projected winner. Governor Folsom is able to garner enough electoral and popular votes to place her in second place. Her candidacy divided the Republican vote, giving the election to the Democratic candidate.

During her concession speech, Governor Folsom acknowledges her loss but doesn’t give up on the hope that someone that doesn’t look like the other presidents can eventually grow up to be president.

OSCAR

Based on “Oedipus”

Leonard and Judith were a happy couple living in the farming community of Turlock, California. Although they were not farmers, Leonard owned a fabric store which he inherited from his father. Leonard recently had called Miss Cleo, a psychic who advertises on late night television. The psychic told him that if Leonard had a son, he would grow up and kill him and then marry his mother. Leonard was not afraid because he had no sons, just three girls. However after the conversation with the psychic Judith surprised Leonard with the news that she was pregnant.

Leonard became a little paranoid over the next nine months. He kept assuring himself that it would be another girl since they had three in a row. Judith did not want to know the gender of the baby, so Leonard had to wait until delivery to find out if it was a boy or a girl.

Finally nine months had passed and out came the baby. It was a healthy baby boy. On this joyous day all Leonard could think of was his conversation with the psychic all those months ago. When the two were left alone with their new born son, Leonard sprung the story on his wife. She slapped him and told him he was crazy to list to some pot head psychic.

The new baby boy finally made it home from the hospital, but all Leonard could think about was the future which lied ahead for him. He had to find a way to get rid of his new son. He couldn’t kill him, even if his son were to kill him in the future. He went on Craigslist to search for new parents for his son or a possible kidnapper. Leonard had no luck, so he decided to post an ad for a “fresh baby boy.” Within minutes Leonard received multiple responses. Some were from real perverts and others from couples who seemed real genuine and interested in raising a baby boy. Leonard turned down any gays, lesbians, interracial couples, or Star Trek fans, before settling on a nice old couple from Gustine.

Leonard arranged to deliver his new baby boy to the old couple from Gustine. They seemed real excited and happy to have an opportunity to raise a baby boy. Leonard made it look as if someone broke into their home and kidnapped their baby boy to appease Judith. Life for the two would be difficult as they dealt with the loss of their baby boy.

The old couple from Gustine quickly took their new baby boy and sold him on the black market.

They sold the baby boy to Peter and Mamie, a young couple from Colfax located at the northern end of the American River. Peter and Mamie were unable to have children of their own. So given the opportunity to get one, what with adoptions being such an arduous process, they drove down to Gustine to pick up their new baby boy. The old couple had the newborn wrapped in blankets inside an Oscar Meyer Weiner box. Peter decided to name their new baby boy Oscar because of the box he slept in. The young couple drove home with their new baby boy.

Oscar loved his box so much he continued to sleep in it until one night a growth spurt hit and collapsed the entire box.

The young couple loved their new son Oscar and raised them as if he were their own. Time went on and Oscar knew nothing of his past, believing that Peter and Mamie were his biological parents.

On the night of his eighteenth birthday he and his friends did what any one who just turned eighteen years old would do, they called the psychic hotline. Oscar called Miss Cleo, still airing the same commercial she had aired all those years ago when a man from Turlock called in. The psychic gave Oscar some grim news. Oscar would kill his father and wed his mother. While Oscar fought with his father as any father and son would do on occasion and he did think his mother was extremely hot, he no desire to kill his father or marry his mother. He did think about sex with his mother, but not marriage.

So one night Oscar left Colfax without saying a word to his mother or father. He wanted to escape before any possible crime could occur. He wanted to get as far away as possible from Colfax. Oscar began his journey down Highway Five.

Also traveling on Highway Five, but in the northern direction, was Leonard. He was on his way to San Francisco for a fabric convention. Leonard pulled off to one of the gas stations off of Highway Five to fill up his fabric filled van. The gas station was packed with patrons. One of the customers was Oscar; he did not pull his vehicle all the way up aggravating Leonard. If Oscar had just pulled up Leonard would be able to use the one available pump. Leonard started yelling at the young man as to what an idiot he was for not pulling up. Oscar looked at how far up his car was and then looked back at Leonard. Oscar flipped him off.

Leonard could not take such a gesture. He got out of the van and rushed over to Oscar’s car. Leonard pulled out a knife and slashed the front tire. Oscar was surprised. He took the gas pump and sprayed the van with it dowsing the van with gasoline. Leonard got back in his van and started up the engine not realizing that the spark of the engine would ignite the gasoline. Oscar got in his car and drove over to the tire store next to the gas station to repair his tire.

While he waited for his car to be fixed he watched as the paramedics arrived at the gas station. Leonard’s crisp body was removed from the van. They used one of the surviving pieces of fabric to cover the body. No one saw that Oscar had sprayed Leonard’s van, and the explosion must have looked like a freak accident. Unbeknownst to Oscar, one of the Miss Cleo’s sayings had been fulfilled. With Oscar’s car ready to go, he returned to the road.

A little paranoid, Oscar decided to stay off Highway Five. He eventually ended up in the farming town of Turlock. He checked in at a motel. He stayed the night. The next day he decided to sell his car and buy a new vehicle. He got a great deal on a van and decided to take it. Oscar took the van for a spin around town. He came across the fabric store owned by Leonard.

There was a sign in the window which read “Help Wanted. Owner Recently Deceased.” Oscar decided to take the low key job. He walked into the store and was greeted by an attractive woman named Judith. She was in tears and in need of both consoling and help at the store. He put his arms around Judith to console her. He held her all night as she wept and well into the morning.

The next day she invited him to stay with her at her house. Instead of offering Oscar the couch or one of the girl’s bedrooms, now off at college. She offered him her bed with her in it. Oscar accepted.

The two kept busy both at the fabric store and in the bedroom. Soon the two were married fulfilling the other prophesy of Miss Cleo. Judith and Oscar lived happily together running the store and sexing it up in the bedroom. But soon sales at the fabric store started to go south, a larger chain store had opened up in town. Oscar did not know what to do. He could not compete with the big chain store. He decided to call Miss Cleo.

Once again he called the psychic and she once again gave the message she gave before. She informed him that it all came true. He could not believe it. He told Judith what the psychic had told him. She collapsed upon the news and died. Oscar was devastated.

He closed down the fabric store and decided to leave the town of Turlock. He never wanted to see rolls of fabric again. He headed north to grow grapes to make wine so he could continuously drown his sorrows. All Oscar had with him, aside from his doom and dreams of wine, was his daughter-half-sister Angela. She was the only joy in his life and remained with him until the day he died a drunken wino.

my first published piece: "afternoon delight"

here is my first published piece...it's for the now non-functioning trajan magazine:

4:20 a time that brings a smile to the faces of many. When in the distant past the time of 3:00, or whenever schools were released, was a time on the clock that many looked forward to, it has since become later in the afternoon. 4:20, to many, comes twice in the day, a.m. and p.m. The numbers also have their own day on the calendar, the 4th month and 20th day. Marijuana has become synonymous with those numbers since 1971. It was then in 1971 at 4:20 p.m. when a small group of smokers at San Rafael High School in California met at a specific location to light up all the while creating an everlasting imprint on the marijuana culture.

Since then smokers around the world have made 4:20 their time to light up. Their light up time is illegal however. Legalization has been denied by the United States government since 1937. However ten states have recently legalized or decriminalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. Proponents of marijuana believe that it should be legalized for both medicinal use as well as recreational use. The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, does not believe that marijuana is even a drug. He calls it a leaf, according to an interview with the British edition of GQ. He considered weight-lifting to be a drug, not some leaf. The leaf that heals and brings pleasure to the recreational user is also believed to lead to harder non-leaf drugs.

If we ignore Governor Schwarzenegger’s label of marijuana as simply a leaf and call it a drug, it would then be considered a lower level drug. Marijuana as a lower level drug would then lead the user to a much harder drug. This makes marijuana, along with tobacco and alcohol, gateway drugs. Gateway drugs is more of theory and the belief is that the user starts with the lower forms of drugs and then goes on to the harder drugs of choice like cocaine or heroin.

If the marijuana user chooses to move on to the harder drugs it would be their choice. However that choice would come with some consequences. Marijuana is non-habit forming and no one has ever died from smoking too much marijuana. The drugs beyond the gateway, such as cocaine and heroin are highly addictive and if used too much can be lethal, or at least destructive to the human body.

Hopefully we will see the day when the use of marijuana is decriminalized or it is simply legalized. Marijuana needs to be seen for what it is and not for what it is being portrayed as a harmful and addictive drug which would lead to even worse drugs. It is a healing leaf as well as a non-harmful and non-habit forming recreational leaf, especially when compared to alcohol and tobacco as well as the drugs beyond the gateway. The time may or may not come when marijuana is treated as nothing more than a recreational enjoyment or for medicinal purposes. Until that time comes we will always have 4:20.


http://www.trajanmagazine.com/v01/i04/26.php

The Kentuckian

Jonathan Daniels and his son Andrew ventured from their home in Kentucky two days ago. Andrew brought with him his dog Jackson, named after Jonathan’s favorite president. Jonathan gave Andrew his dog as a birthday gift a year ago. That was around the time Jonathan lost his wife Rachel. After losing his wife Jonathan lost all interest in his life in Kentucky.

The two met at a young age, but waited to get married. Jonathan was an explorer and wanted to explore the Mississippi River. Upon his return from his trek up and down the river, he wed his lady in waiting. The young couple started farming tobacco and made a substantial profit from it.

Jonathan and Rachel wanted to begin a family with their new found fortune and life. They soon had a son which they named Jonathan Junior, but he died soon after birth. The young couple conceived of another child shortly after the horrifying experience and they named him Andrew. Andrew went everywhere his father went, continuously by his side. This made conceiving another child almost impossible.

The success of their tobacco farm soon turned to misfortune. Rachel, un-lady-like as it was at the time, enjoyed smoking the tobacco she and her husband grew. Little did she or Jonathan know that this would be the cause of her death.

Jonathan wanted nothing to do with the home that reminded him so much of the woman he so loved. The explorer in him wanted to get out and away from the place that reminded him of Rachel. Jonathan sold the farm and house. He decided to journey west for a new life and a new start. The two packed light and began their new life.

Days were long. Nights were scary, well scary for the young Daniels. However he had his dog Jackson by his side and his real life hero, his father, to protect him. To pass the time along their journey the two would sing songs and play various games. There were times where the journey became lonesome for both Daniels, even though they had each other.

“Are we there yet?” asked the young Daniels to his father. “Do we even know where we’re going?”

“We’ll know when we get there,” said the father.

“How?” replied the son.

Jonathan remained quiet as the two pressed on. Jackson sniffed bushes and trees causing him to lag behind at times.

“What about California?” asked Andrew.

“You hoping to find gold?” replied the older Daniels.

Andrew just smiled as he over took his father’s lead on the journey.

“Oh, so you’re leading us now,” said Jonathan. “All grown up.”

Andrew started up a hillside with his father and dog in tow.

“You know California is a long way away,” said Jonathan. “There are no trains and we might come across some Indians.”

Andrew paused on the hillside almost contemplating moving forward. Then almost has if hit by a bolt of lightning he looked toward his father. “We’ll find a way.”

Jonathan patted his son on the head and took the lead up the hillside. The two Daniels and Jackson ventured up the hill not knowing what was on the other side. They finally reached the top of the hill over looking a river valley and the westward journey that awaited them. For a moment they were alone, no signs of civilization for miles around them. No signs of life, nothing but the father and son, and their dog. They were explorers on a journey for a new life.

“That’s where we’re headed,” said Jonathan as he pointed out west. “You can’t see it yet, but our new life is out there.”

Andrew looked in amazement at the far off land of wonder which awaited them.

“You think mom would’ve liked this,” asked Andrew.

“You’re mother would have liked this view,” said Jonathan. “But she was a farmer’s daughter not an explorer.”

Andrew found a rock to sit down on, taking a rest from the long trek. Jackson walked over to him for some attention.

“So if she hadn’t died we’d have stayed home?” asked Andrew.

Jonathan looked down at his son. “We had a good life.”

Andrew sensed his father was finished with this topic of conversation. “Will we have a good life again?”

Jonathan touched the top of his son’s head and then bent down to pat Jackson. He then looked out over the journey ahead of them. “Only time will tell son.”

He began down the hillside toward the new life which awaited them. Andrew jumped up off the rock and Jackson quickly followed behind. Down the hill they went as they continued on, unsure of the future in store for the two Daniels and their dog.

“The Kentuckian”
by Thomas Hart Benton
1954

Electing the Vice President

Since the passage of the 12th Amendment in 1804 the vice presidency has become the least sought after office. Prior to 1804 the person who received the second most electoral votes became the vice president. That meant that someone who went after the presidency was really worth the office, just look at the only two men who were elected to the office pre-12th Amendment: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. (Aaron Burr was elected on a backfired attempt at the first ever president/vice president ticket which is a story unto itself). Up until the 1950s the 12th Amendment made the vice presidency a balancing act to a presidential election, rather than a qualified office holder for the higher office. There were some exceptions between 1804 to the 1950s of great men in the vice presidency, but truly with Richard Nixon the vice presidency became an office to be reckoned with. As the 20th Century came to an end the importance of the vice presidency became ever apparent especially with the passage of the 25th Amendment which finally stated in the Constitution that "the Vice President shall become President" upon death, resignation, or removal from office.

Recently it has been said that Senator John McCain should reveal who is on his short list for vice president, since the search for his v.p. is going on behind closed doors. And why not? Go back eight years when then-Governor George W. Bush of Texas selected former Secretary of Defense Richard B. Cheney to head up his vice president selection committee. In the end, Secretary Cheney chose himself as the best candidate for vice president. After eight years of Cheney as vice president, who has become indisputably the most powerful vice president in United States history, the citizens of the United States should have more say as to who their vice president is.

Long ago the presidential nominating conventions lost the right to pick the vice presidential candidate for either party. The presidential candidates have been the ones to choose their respective running mates. Some were once bitter rivals during the primary campaign season and then became a presidential ticket, like Senator John F. Kennedy and Senator Lyndon Johnson in 1960, former Governor Ronald Reagan and former Director of the CIA George Herbert Walker Bush in 1980, and Senator John Kerry and Senator John Edwards in 2004. The time has come for the voters to decide the vice president.

A perfect example is the 2008 Democratic primary race for president. Neither Senator Barack Obama or Senator Hillary Clinton have enough votes to obtain the Democratic nomination. The party is almost split on the decision. It has come to the point where the two need to be on the same ticket to appease supporters of both candidates whether it is Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama. Also with the request of McCain to reveal his "short list" of v.p. candidates, it seems ever apparent that electing a vice president instead of having the presidential candidate making his or her first presidential decision pre-presidency is what the electorate wants. During the primary election each state should not only vote for their choice for president but their choice for vice president, on a separate ballot just like in the general election.

This separate ballot primary election will once again return the stature that was taken away by the 12th Amendment and return some electoral glory to the office as well as prevent the long drawn out primary or closed door selection as seen in the 2008 presidential/vice presidential selection.

The Summary of Presidential Impeachment

Impeachment of the President of the United States is the only way to remove a president from office outside of death, resignation, or rejection by the American people in an election. Politicians say they do not want to go down the road of impeachment. Impeachment is part of the checks and balances within the Constitution. In the 219 years under the Constitution, the House of Representatives, the chamber with the power to impeach, has only written articles of impeachment on three different occasions. Of those three instances only two of those three were actually impeached, however they survived the trial in the Senate so they were not removed from office. To impeach a president, the House of Representatives in session determines the meaning of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” part of the definition of impeachment in the Constitution.

Seventy-nine years into the government under the Constitution, the House impeached a president for the first time. Andrew Johnson, from Tennessee, was the only southern senator to remain loyal to the Union after eleven southern states seceded from the Union from 1860-61. His loyalty was repaid with a spot on the bottom of the presidential ticket in the election of 1864. The Union Party of Republican Abraham Lincoln and Democrat Andrew Johnson won the election. Almost a month into Lincoln’s second term, Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth while watching “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theater. Lincoln died the next morning elevating the loyal southern Democrat to the highest office in the land.

Vice President Andrew Johnson taking the presidential oath of office on April 15, 1865, after President Abraham Lincoln's death from an assassin's bullet.

President Johnson would continue, to the best of his ability, the plan for Reconstruction of the South as Lincoln had intended. By 1868, the Radical Republicans in the Congress were not happy with the President and his handling of Reconstruction. The legislative branch sought to curb Johnson’s executive power. The first attempt to curb Johnson’s power came in the form of the Tenure of Office Act. The act required the approval of the Senate for the President to fire anyone in a position the Senate gave their consent to. Johnson disagreed with the law and knew its true meaning, an attempt to weaken the executive. Johnson decided to test the new law by firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, without the consent of the Congress.

The House wrote up eleven articles of impeachment, eight having to do with Johnson’s violation of the Tenure of Office Act. Johnson knew it was more political than rational. In the Senate, Johnson survived the impeachment by a single vote on three of the articles of impeachment. Since Johnson survived three of the articles, the Senate adjourned without further consideration of the remaining eight articles. In the end, Johnson quietly finished out the remainder of the term as the Congress took control of rebuilding the Union. His impeachment was a blow to presidential power and an increase in legislative authority that would dominate the government for the next twenty years.

The Impeachment Trial of Andrew Johnson in the U.S. Senate from March to May 1868.

The Radical Republicans in the Congress wanted to be in charge of Reconstruction and were not happy with Johnson and his handling of Reconstruction and his leniency toward ex-Confederates. They created a political situation or confrontation via the Tenure of Office Act, seizing on Johnson’s violation of the law as means for removal from office.

It would be 106 years until the House of Representatives would write articles of impeachment for another president, Richard Nixon. What would seem like a “third-rate burglary” would turn into a Constitutional crisis. In 1972, operatives connected to the White House broke into the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate hotel. Nixon knew of the break-in and began a cover up which would bring down his presidency.

President Richard Nixon released 1,254 pages of edited transcripts of 20 audio tapes on April 30, 1974, to avoid handing over subpoenaed tapes to the House Judiciary Committee. It did not help.

By the summer of 1974 impeachment of the president was being considered by the House. That summer the “smoking gun,” an audio tape implicating Nixon’s involvement, was discovered. The House Judiciary committee wrote up three articles of impeachment and voted on the articles. The three articles consisted of obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. While the Congress of the United States was a Democratic majority, Nixon was advised by leading Republicans in the Senate, headed by Barry Goldwater of Arizona, that he would not survive a trial in the Senate. Republican National Committee Chairman George Herbert Walker Bush suggested the same. Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, at noon before the articles of impeachment could be voted on by the entire House.

In this instance, the House Judiciary committee used the political solution of impeachment to uphold the Constitution, whereas the House of the late 1860s used impeachment as a weapon in a political fight between an embattled president and Congress. Investigation into another president would begin twenty years after Nixon’s resignation.

Kenneth Starr headed the independent council’s office and began the investigation of potential illegal dealings done by the Clintons, such as the Whitewater land development. In 1998, Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern, gave a false affidavit about her relationship with President William Jefferson Clinton in the case involving Paula Jones. Clinton also lied under oath about his relationship with Lewinsky. This led Starr to begin an investigation into the Lewinsky allegations, stemming from the Jones case. Lewinsky’s stained blue dress became the “smoking gun” in this instance.

The House Judiciary voted on four articles of impeachment, three for lying under oath and one for obstruction of justice. The full House passed two articles of impeachment; both had to do with lying under oath. The president survived the trial in the Senate and completed the remaining years of his second term as popular as ever.

First Lady Hillary Clinton watches as President Bill Clinton addresses his impeachment by the House of Representatives to the press and the nation on December 19, 1998.

Johnson and Clinton were both impeached because of those that ran the House of Representatives did not like the Chief Executive. The House sought to remove from office someone they did not agree with or get along with. The attempt to impeach Nixon was justifiable, an effort to uphold the Constitution, however he resigned before a full House vote of impeachment could take place. Nixon would not have survived a trial in the Senate. The three terms of Congress which made up George W. Bush’s first six years of the presidency did not contemplate impeachment. The Republicans who led the Congress did not see the need to investigate the president. When the Democratic Party took control of the House of Representatives in 2007, an assurance of no impeachment was given in the run up to the 2006 mid-term elections. Comparing the possible impeachable offenses made by Bush and his administration to his impeached or would be impeached predecessors leads to the realization that the sitting members of the House of Representatives do determine what is a “high crime and misdemeanor.”

the majority doesn't matter

"So? What is your point? Is the fact the majority believes something make it so?"

the majority wasn't for the impeachment of president clinton. so lying under oath about an extramarital affair is enough to investigate and the impeach a president, even if the majority is against impeachment. the house of representatives in 1998 was controlled by republicans and which ever party controls the house of representatives determines what is an impeachable offense. even if the majority of the citizens were against impeachment the gop control house went with impeachment.

this house is controlled by the democratic party and they've determined that no impeachable offensives have occurred and even having a majority of its citizens favor investigations the democratic party isn't able to find impeachable offensives.

which is weird bc if they're too stupid and can't find an impeachable offense all they have to do is look at history and find that in 1974 one of the two articles of impeachment that was written up and voted on against nixon (the house judiciary voted on 2 articles, but nixon resigned before the full house could vote) was for wire tapping. even though the nixon impeachment was under a democratic house, it was bipartisan. (by august 6th and 7th nixon had lost the senate and the rnc chair [bush's dad]).

if the majority believes something in regard to their leaders of their country possibly abusing their power then yeah. this blames the democratic party as well...they are in the position to define what is impeachable and was is not. all the accusations about the clintons cost about $60 to $70 million dollars and it was determined that no wrong doing was found. i'm not saying lets spend that much money on investigating this administration, but if the majority already believes that there is possible wrong doing and to such an extreme then all the house judiciary needs to do is investigate to either deny or confirm. we can't let future historians determine or debate whether or not there was wrong doing. sure we all know what was on monica's blue dress, but we won't know the truth about all the secrets and wrong doing done by this administration. no future president, of either or any party, should ever be impeached if this administration is not investigated. o wait i forgot it's the house of representatives that is in power that determines what is impeachment...i'm sure the gop will be in power again in the house at some point...i wonder what they'll impeach for then.