The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I've had some fun with trending hashtags on Twitter over the past couple of weeks. Here are my posts, ordered from the most popular to the least popular (all my tweets can be viewed here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki ): 1) #SarahSanders: "Obama only created 195,000 jobs for African-American." Reality: That number was actually 3,000,000 (and that includes the recession he inherited). So Huck-Sanders's claim is just 6.5% of the actual number. That'd be like saying there are 3 states in this country. 298 Likes, 160 Retweets 2) #SarahSanders: "I don't know why you people in the media are giving someone with credibility issues such a large platform." She sure likes to talk about herself, doesn't she? 312 Likes, 71 Retweets 3) Trump: "I hire the best people!" Five guilty pleas/verdicts later, it seems safe to say Trump didn't even hire the best criminals, let alone people... #CohenPleaDeal #Manafort 256 Likes, 101 Ret...

Students at Roberts Middle School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio were recently handed this assignment, which has drawn a great deal of controversy: " Whom to Leave Behind Instructions : The twelve persons listed below have been selected as passengers on a space ship for a flight to another planet because tomorrow the planet Earth is doomed for destruction. Due to changes in space limitations, it has now been determined that only eight persons may go. Any eight qualify. Your task is to select the Eight (8) passengers who will make the trip. On your own, take approximately 5 minutes and rank order of the passengers from one to twelve based on those who you feel are most deserving to make the trip with one being most deserving and twelve being least deserving. Next, the entire group will come together and decides as a group the eight (8) passengers who will make the trip. PLEASE NOTE: when you make your decision as a group EVERYONE must agree on the final eight passengers and come to ...

While there are such things as accurate and misleading headlines, there are also occasions when a headline may be accurate but doesn't tell the whole story. Such is the case with the recent Pew Research headline, "Most Americans say more women running for Congress is a good thing, as hope for a female president grows." Generally speaking, the headline is accurate, as the polls shows, among all adults, 61% believe more women running for Congress is a good thing, compared to 5% who feel it's a bad thing, which is a net of +56% (33% said it's neither good nor bad). Let's take a closer look at those numbers, though. Among Democrats, 80% feel more women running for Congress is a good thing, compared to 1% who don't, which is a net of +79%. Among Republicans, only 39% feel more women running for Congress is a good thing, while 10% do not, which is a net of just +29%. That's a 50-point gap between the two parties. While 4 in every 5 Democrats feel more wom...

There probably hasn't been a politician I've had more of a rollercoaster relationship with than John McCain, who passed away at the age of 81 this past Saturday. I tend to agree with Democratic politicians 67% to 90% of the time, while I only tend to agree with Republican politicians 0% to 25% of the time. John McCain, on the other hand, never seemed to fit in any single box. He was by no means progressive in his view of the world or how to improve our country, yet he was often called a RINO (Republican In Name Only) by those to his right on the political spectrum. Yes, John McCain was called "the maverick" for a reason. I've always felt McCain's unsuccessful attempts at winning the presidency were largely centered around the fact he didn't fit in any neat little box, especially in our increasingly partisan times. When he ran in 2000, as audiences for Fox News and right-wing talk radio continued to increase, he was branded by these media outlets as ...

You can tell a guy to shut-up, f*ck off, that he's an idiot, but there's one thing should never, under any circumstance, say to him: To man up. I was told this for the first time in my 37 years the other day, and while it's difficult to rile me, that got my blood boiling (figuratively, of course). The phrase man up  is incredibly sexist to both genders. What's the opposite of that? Woman down? What in hell does that mean? A woman should be entirely submissive and obey her man's every wish? What year is this again? The phrase also paints an incredibly stereotypical, old-school mindset, where men are seen as the providers, the stronger of the two sexes, assertive, powerful, and rich. If a male cries, even after his mother passes away, that's not acceptable and he needs to "man up." On the opposite end, if a woman doesn't cry during such an occasion, she's seen as unladylike, meaning there has to be something seriously wrong with her. I'm so...

Growing up in Nebraska and now residing near Columbus, Ohio, I've been around my fair share of homers. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, a homer is basically an individual who regularly showcases blind loyalty to a particular team or organization, ignoring their flaws along the way. In Nebraska, there's really only one team in the state and that's the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team. Due to that, it seemed as though 95% of the state bled red and white (Nebraska's team colors) 365 days a year. While this significant level of homerism got aggravating after a while, I don't think it was nearly as annoying as the homerism I've witnessed here in central Ohio. I find that odd, for there are many more teams to root for in the state, such as the: Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Bengals, Columbus Blue Jackets, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Browns, just to name a few. Yet, for 365 days a year, it seems as though 95% of Ohio bleeds scarlet ...

On Meet the Press  this past Sunday, former New York City Mayor and current Trump stooge Rudy Giuliani got into the following back-and-forth with host Chuck Todd: Giuliani: "And when you tell me that, you know, he (Trump) should testify because he's going to tell the truth and he shouldn't worry, well that's so silly because it's somebody's version of the truth. Not the truth. He didn't have a, a conversation --" Todd: "Truth is truth. I don't mean to go like --" Giuliani: "No, it isn't truth. Truth isn't truth. The President of the United States said, 'I didn't --'" This wasn't the first time someone affiliated with Donald Trump attempted to push such a narrative, but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun with it. Since even before his inauguration, Donald Trump has called most mainstream media outlets, "Fake news." Kellyanne Conway has referred to lies purported by ...

Late last night/Early this morning, I was contacted by a journalist in Portugal, who wanted to hear my take on Rudy Giuliani's recent "Truth isn't truth" quote. His article was then published. You can either click on the link and then click on the logo to the left of the star (bookmark) to translate the article from Portuguese to English or read the translated version here ( https://leitor.expresso.pt/diario/20-08-2018/html/caderno-1/temas-principais/sarcasmo-pasmo-e-preocupacao-uma-discussao-sobre-a-verdade-que-nao-e-verdade ): RUDY GIULIANI Sarcasm, amazement and worry: a discussion about the truth that is not true by Hélder Gomes "Truthfully, it's not true' goes into the Trump Hall of Fame, overcoming even 'alternative facts' and 'remember: what you are seeing and hearing is not what is happening'", sentence to Professor Laurence H. Tribe, who teaches Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School. Reactions to the statement by R...

For a long time, I've enjoyed doing things alone professionally. From writing to editing to cover designing to marketing, it's been nice to feel total control over my projects. However, I think I've finally reached a point where I'm not able to complete all of my daily tasks and long-term goals by my lonesome and am in need of some help. I've published 16 books, am in the process of finalizing two others, have started another, and have a pair of ideas for future projects. I've been interviewed on radio shows and podcasts, co-hosted a podcast for about a year, and am close to hitting 100k followers on my Twitter account. If you are an agent or know of an agent who may be interested in representing me, please contact me at CRozniecki@gmail.com. If curious, you can check out some of my work at the following links: Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki Paperback books:  http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/thetaoofroz Kindle books:  https://www.amazon.co...

So, I had a run-in with law enforcement yesterday. My lease on my old car ran out in March of this year, when I put a lease on a new vehicle. Little did I realize the stickers on my plates expired in June. Stopped at a light, I witnessed a cop's flashing lights behind me not long after we got going again. I wasn't speeding or driving erratically in any sense, so I was quite puzzled, even thinking he was going to pull over someone in front of me. After checking my insurance and license (clean record), he kindly let me off with a warning and provided me with information on where to go outside of the BMV, as it's rather notorious for long lines/waits. The discussion was short-lived. The officer was helpful and understanding. As I was on my way to meet my parents for lunch, the situation could have been a lot worse. I actually wondered to myself, "Would this have gone any differently had I been black or Hispanic?" I honestly have no idea, but I couldn't help but...

Some things just don't make sense. As the saying goes, "Reality is stranger than fiction." One example of this is racism. Some hate and deem others as inferior due to their skin color. If we were all blind, this wouldn't be an issue, so why should it be if we have 20/20 vision? The Smurfs are blue. The Incredible Hulk is green. Do I hear anyone shouting discriminatory comments based on their skin color? No. So why, if fictional characters aren't judged on the color of their skin, should real people be judged on theirs? It's stupid and makes no sense. You know what else doesn't make sense? Patriarchy. Sure, we in America like to parade ourselves as the land of opportunity, the land of freedom, the land of equality, but that's bullsh*t. Men rule; women take care of little ones who drool, or however that goes... Let's place this into the proper perspective. Women tend to make less than men before getting pregnant. Then they waddle around for 9 month...

Due to a few tweets I posted, I got mentioned on three more websites, including Raw Story . If you're at all curious, you can check out the articles at the following links: https://www.rawstory.com/2018/08/traitor-joe-putin-customers-first-internet-roasts-presidents-latest-falsehood-trumpgrocerystores-hashtag/ https://www.carbonated.tv/viral/trumpgrocerystores-twitter-mocks-the-president-over-id-comments https://braincharm.com/2018/08/13/donald-trump-has-a-twitter-meltdown-after-omarosa-reveals-he-has-no-idea-whats-going-on-in-the-white-house/ All my tweets can be viewed here:  https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki

I'm running a week behind, but here are my Twitter-trending-hashtag posts for the past couple of weeks. As always, they're ordered from the most popular to the least popular (all my tweets can be seen here - https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki ): 1) Pay More, Get Less #TrumpGroceryStores 700 Likes, 132 Retweets 2) Trump in jail #BetterThanSexIn3Words 567 Likes, 99 Retweets 3) Before Donald Trump opens his mouth, insulting a person for putting kids in schools, he may want to stop putting kids in cages. #LeBronJames 142 Likes, 44 Retweets 4) #TrumpIsSoOutOfTouchThat he thinks Cinco de Mayo means five orders of mayonnaise. 124 Likes, 25 Retweets 5) On TV Trump: "You're fired!" Away from TV Trump: "Who's fired? You're fired? Who fired you? I didn't fire you, did I? Why were you fired? Who started the fire? Did they light it and then try to fight it?" #OmarosaTapes 107 Likes, 29 Retweets 6) Putin Customers First #TrumpGroc...

Just this past week, I saw #500DaysOfSummer trending on Twitter. Having both seen and enjoyed the movie, which was released 9 years ago, I thought I'd check out what was going on - if perhaps a sequel was in the mix. To my surprise, that wasn't the case at all. The hashtag surrounded a "great debate" regarding the film. Honestly, even after seeing the film a half dozen times, I had no idea what this "great debate" was until I clicked on the showcased link, featuring a quote by one of the two co-leads of the film, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who played the role of Tom Hansen. Levitt was quoted as basically saying the downfalls of he and Summer's relationship in the film (Summer played by Zooey Deschanel) were mainly his character's fault and people should stop criticizing Deschanel's character as being the main culprit. After looking through the thread, I read many Team Summer and Team Tom posts. Only a minority of the tweets declared both characters be...

The first time I witnessed shock rocker Marilyn Manson live was February 8th of 1997 at Mancuso Hall in Omaha, Nebraska. This was at the height of his controversy as an artist, as he had just released his second album, Antichrist Superstar . Throughout this tour, Manson faced cancellation threats, protesters, and grotesque rumors, among other things. There were maybe five to ten such protesters on hand while us concert attendees waited in line to enter the venue. Many of them were likely there due to the Republican Omaha mayor at the time, Hal Daub, voicing his concerns about the concert a week before the show. Yes, the show sold out by the next day, but not before two of my friends' parents forced them to refund their tickets, because they believed the ridiculous rumors being spread about him - that he: Killed puppies on stage; had his ribs removed so he could perform fellatio on himself; was a devil worshipper; passed drugs out at his concerts; encouraged sex at his shows; etc. O...

About a week and a half ago I spent a weekend with a Trump-voting family. At no time did I bring up politics, even when the subject was broached by a member of said family. I just listened and came away with these observations: - The family came across as quite welcoming. - Simple people. I don't mean that in a bad way. They just didn't require much to be content. If the Thesaurus gods were aware of them, they'd be the first listing for antonym under the term  high-maintenance . - It appeared as though one was highly reluctant on staying tuned in to the every day happenings in the country, let alone the world, and the other was satisfied getting his/her news from Facebook. - They came across as educated in general, but ignorant when it came to the world of politics (one of them at least). - Their favorite word appeared to be  taxes . - Oddly enough, it seemed as if they have received governmental assistance for quite some time. - Without rationalization, both ...

While I've been out of town for several days, I still managed to partake in some trending hashtags on Twitter. Here are my posts, ordered from the most popular to the least popular (all of my tweets can be viewed here ( https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki ): 1) #Iran should be shaking in their boots. Trump just reached stage 2 of his attack process: 1) Tweet threat 2) Tweet threat IN ALL CAPS 3) Visit country he threatened 4) Shake hands with their leader and say everything was fixed 5) Send said leader a BFF Hallmark card 247 Likes, 89 Retweets 2) GOPers: "Sacha Baron Cohen tricked us into being racists!" No, the trick was you persuading your constituents you weren't racist. Cohen just exposed your trick. #JasonSpencer 161 Likes, 45 Retweets 3) #IWouldBringBack a president who cares about more than just himself; speaks at higher than a 4th-grade level; and isn't in bed with Vladimir Putin. 140 Likes, 30 Retweets 4) Headline: "Jeff Sessions ...

Due to a #Wouldnt tweet of mine, I got mentioned on another site in recent days:  http://naaju.com/africa/how-donald-trumps-statement-that-he-misquoted-triggered-a-troll-fest/ To check out all of my tweets, just go to this page:  https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki