Article #42: Entertainment, Lifestyle, Police, Politics

*Sigh.

That is pretty much the only word that can truly describe 2016. And “shaking my head” is the only other action you can take when it replays itself in your mind.

2016: The year of opposites and improbabilities. Left was right, sane was insane, back was forward, and down was up. And one of those ups was the Cleveland Cavaliers® winning its first NBA® Championship in franchise history.

Oh what an absolutely joyous, mind-boggling, heart-pumping evening that was! CCCCCCCCCCCCC-TOOOOOOOWN! (Can you tell I was born in Cleveland?)

And then there were the downs. *Sigh.

So many people who we know had family members pass away. So many colleagues who we know had lifelong friends torn from their circles.

We saw more ‘RIP’ hashtags than anyone would ever care to see, if caring to see any at all.

And let’s not even mention politically, where you have the United States’ shaky relationship with China, a worldwide refugee crisis from war-torn countries like Syria, the bordering-on-a-new-Cold-War relationship with Russia, at least 7 military interventions, almost half of America lives near, at, or below poverty, yet…

…we had one of the greatest champions of peace and “We The People” that has ever been seen, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-V), smeared and ostracized by the very establishment from which he was fighting to save us, and, due in part to that, we can no longer, on a mass scale, seem to talk to each other with civility.

It all was just…sad.

And speaking of sad, then there was…

…the election of a short-tempered, egotistical, authoritarian-styled, intellectually-incurious child who is tasked to run a gargantuan country, wants to squash the media, and lessen free speech rights of citizens as well.

And no, we’re not referring to Kim Jong Un of North Korea, but Donald Trump of the United States of America.

And just think: All of this because we have a mainstream media that has been co-opted by those who profit off of all of the above.

And then, to top off this massive blunder of a year, you had the deaths and murders of dozens of unarmed citizens, celebrities, political firebrands, and entertainment icons.

Did you hear about them? Well buckle up, because this list is going to hurt.

NOTABLE DEATHS OF 2016

• Abe Vigoda (Actor)
• Afeni Shakur (Activist, Rapper Tupac Shakur’s Mom)
• Alan Rickman (Actor)
• Alan Thicke (Actor)
• All unarmed human beings killed by cops
• Anton Scalia (U.S. Supreme Court Justice)
• Anton Yelchin (Actor – Played “Ensign Chekof®” on the new Star Trek® movie series)
• Arnold Palmer (Golfer)
• Bill Nunn (Played “Radio Raheem” in “Do the Right Thing)
• Carrie Fisher (Screenwriter, Actress – Played “Princess Leia” in the “Star Wars®” movie series)
• Chyna (Former WWE® Wrestler, Adult Film Actress)
• Craig Sager (NBA® Reporter)
• David Bowie (Singer)
• David Huddleston (Actor – Played “The Big Lebowski” in “The Big Lebowski”)
• Doris Roberts (Actress – Played “Everybody Loves Raymond”s Mom)
• Fidel Castro (Politician)
• Florence Henderson (Actress – Played “The Mom“ on “The Brady Bunch”)
• Frank Sinatra, Jr. (Singer)
• Garry Marshall (Actor, Director)
• Gary Shandling (Actor)
• Gene Wilder (Actor)
• George Michael (Singer)
• Gordie Howe (NHL® Legend)
• Gwen Ifill (PBS Journalist)
• Harper Lee (Author – “To Kill A Mockingbird”)
• Janet Reno (First female U.S. Attorney General)
• Jim Delligatti (Created McDonald’s® Big Mac®)
• John Glenn (First U.S. Astronaut to orbit earth)
• John Saunders (ESPN’s Sportscenter Anchor)
• Jon Polito (Actor)
• Kenny Baker (Played “R2-D2®” in the famous Star Wars® movie series)
• Kimbo Slice (Street Legend, Mixed Martial Arts Fighter, Boxer)
• Leonard Cohen (Singer)
• Madeleine LeBeau (Actress – “Casablanca”)
• Maurice White (Founder of Earth, Wind, and Fire)
• Michu Meszaros (Played “Alf” in the popular 1980s sitcom)
• Morley Safer (60 Minutes Journalist)
• Muhammad Ali (Boxer)
• Nancy Reagan (Former Actress and U.S. First Lady)
• Pat Conroy (Author – “The Great Santini” and “Prince of Tides”)
• Pat Summit (NCAA’s Winningest Basketball Coach)
• Patty Duke (Actress)
• Peter Vaughan (Actor)
• Phife Dawg (Musician)
• Prince (Multi-talented Musician)
• Ricky Harris (Actor and Comedian)
• Robert Vaughn (Actor)
• Shawty Lo (Hip-Hop Artist)
• Susannah Mushatt Jones (Was the world’s oldest living person and last living American born in the 1800s)
• Tommy Ford (Played “Tommy” on the television series “Martin”)
• Tony Burton (Actor – Played “Tommy” in the Rocky movie Series)
• Will Smith (Ex-NFL® Player)
• William Schallert (Actor – Star Trek®, The Patty Duke Show)
• Youree Dell Harris (“Ms. Cleo”)
• Zsa Zsa Gabor (Actress – Socialite)

Did we forget anyone? Sheesh.

Our hat goes off to the Cleveland Cavaliers® for not only winning an NBA® Championship, but doing it in historic fashion by being the first team to come back from a 3-1 series deficit to clinch an NBA® Title.

That was a bright spot in an almost-otherwise devastatingly-sad year. However…

…our hearts go out to the families of all of the people who passed away. There is no question that 2016 will go down in celebrity death infamy.

And speaking of infamy, our fists and voices, however, are going up, boisterously and calculatingly, to the new United States of America President, Donald J. Trump.

God willing, 2017 will not be anything like 2016, but if Trump decides he wants to make it worse, then he’s in for the F.I.T.E. of his life, as I, with passion and vigor, clearly let him know that we will resist any attempt to subvert and dismantle the rights of “We The People…“

Do you hear me, ‘Mr. President?’

You work for us, and we’re watching you and so are the dead, so let’s not add your presidency to their list, Ok?