Early Throwback Thursday-Halloween Edition-Halloweentown (1998)

The allure of having magical powers is an idea that human beings have been considering and writing about for eons. The question is, if these powers did exist, would they be used for evil or for good?

In the 1998 Disney television movie, Halloweentown, Marnie (Kimberly J. Brown) is a young witch on the verge of her 13th birthday. But she must be trained by her 13th birthday or lose her powers. Marnie’s grandmother Aggie (the late Debbie Reynolds) is eager to step in as her granddaughter’s teacher. Aggie lives in Halloweentown and visits her family in the mortal world as often as she can. But this visit from Aggie is more than an ordinary visit. A dark force is threatening Halloweentown and it’s up to Marnie to stop it.

Even for a Disney channel television movie, it’s not bad. It has enough Halloween in it to make the kids watching jump out of their seat a little and the narrative has enough meat in it to entertain even the most skeptical of adults.

I recommend it.

Happy Halloween.

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Trump Cannot Rewrite The Constution Because He Feels Like It

The 14th Amendment opens with the following statement:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

Donald Trump thinks that this clause in the amendment can be removed by an executive order.

At this point, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when it comes to this man.

I don’t know who is advising him or if he even listens, but he cannot rewrite the laws of this country, especially the Constitution because he feels like it. When a political leader rewrites laws, especially constitutional law with the flick of his or her pen, they are more likely to be dictator or an autocrat. This is not the action of a democratically elected President.

Even if he wanted to re-write the law, there is a process that takes some time to complete, and even then, there is no guarantee that the amendment will be ratified.

Either he doesn’t get it, or doesn’t care. My feeling is that both are applicable. He doesn’t get or care that there are certain political norms, both written and unwritten that must be followed. He wants it now and expects it now. It’s akin to a toddler demanding something from their parent and then taking a tantrum because Mom and Dad are not going to just say yes automatically.

The irony in all of this is that Trump’s mother was not born in America. She was born in Scotland and emigrated as a young woman. If Trump had his way, he would be nullifying his own citizenship status and his Presidency. The President Of The United States must be a natural-born citizen. The other irony is that Trump’s first wife, Ivana married him in 1977, but did not become a citizen until 1988. By making this statement, Trump was stating that he would be nullifying the citizenship status of his three eldest children.

No matter which way the cookie crumbles, this man is bad for this country. Which is why we must vote next Tuesday and remind him who is in charge.