From now to election day wear gray every Monday to tell the world that Donald is way too old to be running the greatest nation on earth;
On Monday put on a gray tie or gray blouse to tell your neighbors that Donald’s ideas are way too old to make America a more humane nation;
On Monday wear your gray slacks or gray skirt to tell your coworkers that you’re not supporting the old man who belongs in a home and not the White House. But rather you’re supporting Kamala, a candidate with vitality, brains, and vigor;
On Monday as you put on your gray socks to tell everyone you support democracy and freedom of choice, not hatred and bigotry;
On Monday wear a gray belt or gray suspenders to remind your friends that old man Donald wants to be our first dictator, our first fascist, and our first racist president;
On Monday proudly proclaim you’re an American tired of the old conman, the old fraud, the old rapist, the old liar by donning a piece of gray clothing and telling Donald he’s not fit to be our president.

My hair is gray and so is my beard. Is that good enough?—Cary

Cary, that’s good enough.—Mort

Clever theme.—Barbara

Mort – Once again you are spot on!
Can’t wait to get my gray clothes out of the closet and proudly show them to our fellow Americans!—Richie

Richie, once again, thank you.—Mort

Excellent use of gray.

It hits the mark all the way.—Ricki

Ricki, another great poem.—Mort

Thumbs up.—Aimee

Thumbs up.—Dara

Thumbs up.—Richard

Thumbs up.—Jayne

Thumbs up.—William

Thumbs up.—Becky

Thumbs up.—Frank

Thumbs up.—Sandra

Thumbs up.—Maurice

Thumbs up.—Joanne

Thumbs up.—Gary

Thumbs up.—Gail

Thumbs up.—Michelle

Thumbs up.—Tuoi

Thumbs up.—Surelle

Thumbs up.—Michaelanne

Thumbs up.—Lisa

Thumbs up.—Patricia

Thumbs up.—Gail

Great theme.—Jason

Thumbs up.—Jose

Thumbs up.—Brian

Thumbs up.—Democratic Club of Lakes Area

Thumbs up.—Scott

Thumbs up.—Mei-lin

Thumbs up.—Sharon

Thumbs up.—Julie

Thumbs up.—Jane

Thumbs up.—Cindy

Thumbs up.—Sandy

Thumbs up.—Sue

As a highly religious fellow, I asked myself, “If I were Donald Trump and an assassin’s bullet nearly ended my life, what message would I take out of that experience?”

Well, here’s my version of the thoughts that ran through Donald’s brain in that millisecond when he heard the shots, felt the warm blood running down his neck, and headed for the ground.

Lord, since that bullet nearly clipped off my ear I’ll take it that your message to me is to start listening and obeying to your commandments. You’ve warned me that I better change, or you won’t be so forgiving next time.

Well Lord, here’s my list of everything I’m gonna do to correct the error of my ways.

1. I promise to stop sinning to regain your favor;
2. I’ll stop being a narcissist;
3. I’ll start finding compassion in my heart for other people’s problems;
4. I’ll stop hanging out with racists and handing them my megaphone;
5. I’ll no longer walk in the darkness and pray to the Devil;
6. I’ll stop lying;
7. I’ll stop stealing money from charities;
8. I’ll start reading the Good Book;
9. I’ll stop calling our brave soldiers “Suckers and Losers;”
10. I’ll stop trying to steal elections;
11. I’ll no longer make a habit of practicing the Seven Deadly Sins;
12. I’ll stop selling our secrets to the enemy;
13. I’ll stop being an insurrectionist;
14. I’ll start paying my fair share of taxes;
15. I’ll never separate babies from their mothers again;
16. I’ll never take a woman’s right to choose away from them again;
17. I’ll stop making fun of the disabled;
18. I’ll stop selling sneakers and Trump Bibles;
19. I’ll stop nominating unethical and heartless judges to the Supreme Court;
20. I’ll stop disgracing the office of the presidency;
21. I’ll tell my followers to start traveling down the straight and narrow road of redemption;
22. I’ll withdraw from the race for president and the Republican party;
23. I stop paying for sex with whores and porn stars;
24. I’ll stop molesting and raping women;
25. I’ll remain faithful to my wife;
26. I’ll burn my signed copy of Mein Kampf;
27. I’ll learn to love people who are not just white straight men;
28. I promise to support gun control;
29. I’ll stop being a traitor;
30. I won’t hangout with pedophiles;
31. I will tear up my contract with Beelzebub, the one where I gave him my soul for fame, money and power;
32. I won’t try to become America’s first dictator;
33. I learn the meaning of the following words: Empathy, honesty and faith;
34. . I’ll try to be a nice person and not kill democracy in America.

As Trump was thrown into the back of his black limo and he realized he was safe, he looked through the sunroof at the blue sky and white clouds and whispered:

“Lord, you realize I was joking. I was kidding around. I’ll never do any of that crap on that list.”

---

Thumbs up.—Gary

Hey Mort! Genius! Thumbs up!!

Thumbs up.—Donna

Thumbs up.—Howard

Thumbs up.—Sandy

Thumbs up.—Paul

Thumbs up.—Laurie

Thumbs up.—Sue

Thumbs up.—Sharon

Thumbs up.—Aimee

Thumbs up.—Joel

Thumbs up.—Gary

Thumbs up.—Sandy

Thumbs up.—Devorah

Thumbs up.—Alan

Thumbs up.—Paul

Thumbs up.—Lori

Ha.———-Jason

Thumbs up.—Lorraine

Thumbs up.—Ray

Thumbs up.—Eva

Thumbs up.—Joanne

Thumbs up.—Donna

Was this posted to TOI? Nisan

Good one.—Barbara

Thumbs up.—Bobby

Thumbs up.—Ruth

Thumbs up.—Neil

Thumbs up.—Donna

Thumbs up.—Sandra

Thumbs up.—Perry

Thumbs up.—Kathleen

Thumbs up.—Lorraine

Perry, Thanks for sharing.—Mort

I sat in my office reading an article in the Writer’s Digest entitled, “Writing Big Feelings (Minus the Maudlin)” by Peter Mountford. Peter discusses how authors should handle 10 basic human emotions—anger, happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, disgust, pride, shame, embarrassment, and excitement—when writing stories.

I pondered why “love” was not listed. Who knows? But it’s my favorite human emotion.

Then I asked myself, “How many of my stories contain those basic emotions?” And as I thought, I saw a white bolt of lightening strike my banana tree. In five seconds, thunder boomed, crashed and rumbled the foundation of my home. And yes, my house creaked. And as I listened to the downpour, I imagined hundreds of white winged angels collecting shissels (tubs) of rain and dumping them from the clouds. Yes, we writers are blessed with vivid imaginations.

Now for a second day those angels worked nonstop flooding South Florida homes, filling swimming pools to the brim, and inundating the tarmacs at Fort Lauderdale International Airport.

Acidic fear started to burn a small hole in the pit of my stomach.

You may ask ,”Why?”

Well, because tomorrow morning I had scheduled a flight to Alaska, where I and my family were set to go on a cruise. A reunion and a vacation three years in the planning. What do they say about plans going awry. Yes, G-d does act in mysterious ways. But why does it seem that his angels always seem to rain on my parade.

Then I heard my iPhone ping. I jumped to get my phone. The text message from Air Alaska read:

We’re sorry to inform you that due to severe weather conditions, your flight has been cancelled. See your email for more info.

WTF was I going to do!

I called my eldest son, Jason, and for the next two hours we worked on alternative plans. We managed to get flights out of Orlando and make it to the cruise on time.

G-d is good.

I went back to reading Mountford’s article and I realized that in a matter of two hours and three minutes, I had experienced: anger, happiness, sadness, fear, excitement and love.

And I was able to turn my experience into this month’s President’s message.

So SFWA members keep writing about your basic emotions. They are what make life and writing so interesting.

Your president, Mort