Ranger Rick: Our troubles can be traced to Chickenman times

Years ago, many years ago (50 years) a program on radio called “Chickenman” – the most fantastic crime fighter the world has ever known — came on every day on WLS radio and many other stations across the nation. Benton Harbor (aka “Chickenman”), the Commissioner, Miss Helfinger were just a few of the characters within the quick hitting, short program.

You’d better be listening when it came on, because it was quick and witty, you had to listen closely to the innuendo and crazy plot. At the beginning and end of each episode, Chickenman would exclaim “buck –buck- buck-buuuck” chicken call and the announcer at the end would exclaim “Be listening for another exciting episode of the most fantastic crime fighter the world has ever known” And others would exclaim in the background, “He’s everywhere, he’s everywhere!”

The show was conceived by Dick Orkin, spoofing comic books and the TV show “Batman,” and it was very successful, running from 1966 into the 1970s. It was produced locally at WCFL in Chicago and later in syndication – being played on stations across the country and on Armed Services Radio.

By today’s standards of entertainment, it was pretty tame; it would be similar to Rowan and Martin’s “Laugh-In,” another wildly popular program about the same time. These were comedies at a time in our nation’s history where the country was at war, both in Vietnam and here at home with riots in the streets (Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, Newark, etc.) and soldiers being shown in Vietnam on national news every night – bringing the action of the war in Vietnam into our living rooms.

All in all, it was a great diversion, needed comedy in a time of seriousness. Living in the 1960s was not easy and growing up in those years was turbulent to endure and watch how people reacted. I think that is where America lost its soul and it has never recovered. We went from being Americans to hyphenated groups. We were lied to about the Kennedy assassination, and continue to be lied to about that huge stain on American history. There were multiple shooters, physics doesn’t lie, only humans do.

Lee Harvey Oswald was what he says he was – a convenient patsy, and was set up to appear as the only apparent shooter. The story was written and the ink dry before any shot was fired.

The only time I felt like an American after that was when I was in the armed services. Everybody was equal – you all looked alike with no hair, marched, ate, showered, studied, and slept together in the same room(s) – black, white, Hispanic, Indian (Native-American, see what I say about hyphenated!) – we were all Americans and stood together as 50 individuals coming together from all over the country to get to graduation day to move to the next duty station. Out of 50, we lost 25, so our group looked pretty small at the end. We all got along and found friendships that lasted from that day forward.

The political parties as explained to me when young were the Democrats were for the common people, Republicans were for the rich only (I was pretty confused, because Lincoln was poor and he was a Republican) – my family was more Democrat than Republican. To the day she died, my mother would have voted for the devil, as long as they had a “D” by his or her name. I’ve been the political outcast from my family for some time, ever since Reagan’s second term (yes, I voted for Carter twice – my only excuse is those were my “stupid” days fueled by alcoholic binges and liberal thinking).

I’m feeling the same way now as I felt in the 1960s. These are turbulent times with police being killed just because they are police and more innocent people are in the maelstrom of more crime, more nervous people, more unrest. From a mixed-race president that should have brought us closer together, we find ourselves more apart than ever.

I knew he would be a terrible president, and he hasn’t disappointed me yet. You see, I did my research into the past of this president and the “bad” considerably outweighed the “good.” He was a Marxist in his early years and he hasn’t changed a bit. He doesn’t love this country and I have no idea why he wanted to be president other than helping to weaken and create consternation, which he has done magnificently. Constitution! – what Constitution! – we don’t need no stinking Constitution! Every time he comments on killings or arrests, he spouts off before he is even knows the facts of the situation, and he’s been wrong all the time, every time. At least a stopped clock gets the time right twice a day!

Just mention “Obama” and admit – your stomach churns just a little. And now you’re being faced with voting for his would be successor, Mrs. Clinton. After all the baggage she has, all the lies and deceits she has conjured up, private servers so her emails wouldn’t be seen or recorded by the government, the Bank of Clinton – aka Clinton Foundation, and her hound dog “husband,” look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself you can’t wait to vote for her, make sure the toilet is unoccupied, because you may get sick really fast.

I’m not 100% happy myself about the other side, but at least I don’t get sick at the thought of pulling the lever for Trump/Pence. If he’s only 10% better than President Obama, that is light years ahead of Mrs. Clinton. Her performance as Secretary of State was terrible with a capital “T.” Both Obama and Mrs. Clinton created ISIS/ISIL by creating a leadership vacuum in Syria and Libya. Her poor performance as a carpetbagger senator from N.Y. was almost as bad. And her lying to Congress and the FBI are grounds for future legal action. The Clinton Foundation should be investigated and audited top to bottom to find out how many illegal contributions were made to the “foundation.”

The rotting of America from within continues…