Coming Back Around

I'm not feeling well enough today to come up with any original thoughts, so how about looking at some old ones with a few updates? This post is based on an email that showed a bunch of old print ads from way back when, and they really showed how far we've come, in addition to providing a clear look at the era to which the current Republicans want us to return. Warning: Rampant Misogyny Alert!

(Note: you can click any of these images to see a larger version.)

Wow, right out of the gate... woman as "doormat."  Or is it "conquest?"  I can't even tell what this is an ad for... (Checking small print...)  Leggs?  How does this sell pantyhose?

Jon Benet Ramsey - The Prequel. Coming to a molester near you. Looks like Epstein was grooming earlier than we realized.

"When Dr. Emphysema tells you to 'turn your head and cough', he beats you to it." Personally, I wouldn't trust anyone who looks like Spiro Agnew.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!  And you're supposed to BUY something that has this picture in the ad???  Someone's going to have to rock me to sleep tonight. This ad was all I could think about before I had cataract surgery, and they didn't even give me Thorazine.

"Yes, I can squeeze a bowling ball out from my lady-parts, but I can't open this lil' old ketchup bottle!  Please help me, Del Monte!"

 Hooking them young! But I bet there's some Seagram's in there, too.

Whoa! Over-reaction alert! Quoting the ad: "...if he discovers you're still taking chances on getting flat, stale coffee... woe be unto you!" Woe be unto you??? Who's running that ad agency, Leviticus? Did they really spank over coffee back in the day? I never saw that on Ozzie and Harriet. Although I suspect Ricky might have turned Lucy over his knee a time or two.  

I can’t imagine anyone cleaning the house in heels, a knee-length dress, a lacy apron, and full makeup. The need for "pep pills" to get all dolled up is self-explanatory, though. 

This one really isn't that bad of an idea.  It's just very sneaky. Women can get even for all that doormat stuff by running psy ops on their husbands. 

I'm only including this one because I used to collect beer cans, back before I was old enough to empty them myself. And the flat-top can was always a big find. Now admit it... did you really know that you used to have to use a can opener (called a "churchkey") to open a beer? I don't know why it was called a churchkey... maybe because it led you to the holy water.

I wish you could see the type on this one, but it's an ad for... get this... Lysol-Brand Douche! Ahhhh-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaa. I can just see it: "Oh my, I don't feel so fresh... ~pshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhht~  Yay!  I feel so much better now!  I can tear down these giant cobwebs my husband somehow spun. Now, where's my apron? Where are my heels?"

Oh yeah, she'll follow your heinous smoke-breath anywhere. Like to a dentist's office to clean those yellow teeth, you smelly cretin.

I can’t, for the life of me, figure out the connection between killing a woman and a postage meter. Any help? I think she ought to jam the guy’s tie into the slot and start cranking.

We now take time out from killing women to kill some children. Actually, this could be an NRA ad, right now. 

Baby: “Yeah, Mom, please chill out and have a smoke, before smoking my bottom for smearing my diaper all over the wall.” Random thought: If a baby is nursing while the mother is smoking, should the baby be able to blow smoke rings?

I bet those Chesterfield boxes, autographed by The Gipper, are worth something now. At least I hope so, just to make up for the emphysema.

This is amazing. “A case of Blatz in your home means much to the young mother, and obviously baby participates in its benefits.” So we’re getting the babies drunk, are we? I’m picturing the baby taking a long pull off of Mommy, leaning back and going, “BRAAAAAAAAAP!”

Subaru has made quite the turnaround in ad philosophy, didn't they? They went from crushing women’s spirits to being the car of choice for lesbians. Quite the U-Turn.

At least this one is better than the Thorazine “Eye Surgery/Torture” ad from above. I actually like this one. I’m sending a case of Thorazine to my parents immediately. You know, just in case Walgreens is all out. I’m sure the guy in the picture is agitated because even with arthritis, they still made him tie his own tie.

Is it wrong that the first thing that hit me was “Why is that dude wearing a shirt and tie to bed?” Can’t be a “50 Shades of Grey” thing... I’m sure the lady is only on her knees out of gratitude for being let out of the basement pit long enough to make breakfast. I expect this to be an early version of a JD Vance campaign poster.

This one is partially true. Men may not be the number one reason for women taking Midol, but I bet they’re a close 2nd.

I’m sure the gays would provide much better entertainment on a cruise than THAT. The dude with the puppets doesn't say “gay,” he says “child molester.” The people circled around him have obviously never made it past Romper Room. Next time, book the cruise that Lenny Bruce is playing.

If Santa gives you a gun, you can skip the background check.  After all, he’s the top authority on whether you’re naughty or nice.

If I ever gave my wife a Hoover vacuum cleaner for Christmas, she’d never be able to use it. It would be too hard for the vacuum bag to expand after she stuffed it up my ass.

Hey look!  They had Fox News on TV way back in the 50s!

I Thank You

I’d like to take this opportunity during this Thanksgiving Week to give thanks for things that make my life better.

First, I want to thank whoever is tracking everything TFG has done since January of 2025, so that it can be reversed once sanity returns to the office. (Assuming the current discontent carries over to next November and the Current Occupant is unable to postpone/cancel the election, spike the results, or overthrow the whole thing.) 

Never has someone been so destructive in so many areas in such a short amount of time. The List will be immense, so the task is daunting. I think it would be easier to obtain all the Infinity Stones, put them into the gauntlet, and snap your fingers for a complete reset than to fix each abomination one by one. We truly have our work cut out for us, but that depends on people keeping copious notes. (Don’t look at me, I have important Retired Guy things to do, like figure out how Medicare works.)

Speaking of retirement, I give thanks that I had the means to step away from the corporate world rather than submit to their insanity, and then survive their final retribution of canning my ass. If I hadn’t been socking money away like a demented hoarder for the last 15 years, I’d be screwed. As I’ve mentioned before, if that had happened to me ten years earlier, I’d have been in dire straits. (That money is NOT for nothing.)

I’m immensely thankful for my wife, Sweetpea, without whom I wouldn’t have survived the COVID Era, let alone the Laid Off Era. When we got together, she brought as much to the table as I did, and has been a steadfast partner through thick and thin. Without her, I’d have spent three years alone in my apartment going stir-crazy. Not that I like being around crowds of people, but it’s good to talk to somebody once in a while. If not for her, I’d have probably caught an early version of COVID from going out to bars, movies, and sports events, before it was really safe to do so. In fact, my liver thanks her as well because I would have become an everyday regular down at the local bar, which would have been my only human contact.

She was the reason I was able to take my mom in for nine months after Dad passed. Even working from home, I could not have done that myself. Our world was tossed upside-down because of my side of the family, a mere three years after getting married, so her understanding made the whole situation possible.

Lastly, I’m thankful to you for stopping by to read my brain droppings. There aren’t many of you left, so I appreciate every click you give me. I think I’m getting more bots than eyeballs anymore. I don’t know if they’re government spook-bots looking for dissention, or AI skimmers wanting to refine their snarky writing capabilities, or just web crawlers looking to monetize, digitize, and serve with fries. I’m thankful for every human who stops by, especially if they have something to add.

I hope you have a safe and peaceful Thanksgiving. See you next week, for the onset of…DAH DAH DAHHHHH… Christmas Season!

(I put the over/under on how many times I hear that plinky-plinky Nutcracker theme in commercials at 350,000.)

 

Director's DVD Commentary: One last thanks to Sam and Dave, and ZZ Top for the post title.

Epstein's Revenge

Don’t be alarmed by that giant crrrracking sound! It’s merely the wall around the Epstein documents crumbling down around the ankles of the current Administration. What started with three single incriminating emails leaked from Democrats in Congress continued with 20,000 emails released from the Epstein estate. It’s only a matter of time before the whole cache is turned over. That’s the thing about information, especially info this sick and tawdry; it will always come out. Nothing remains a secret forever. The only question is whether it comes out in time to do something with the contents.

No matter what the official spin is, this is bad news for the president, because he is literally all over the emails.

It’s funny how the official story has bounced around like an old Super Ball in a crawl space. We’ve seen:

·         Trump running on a platform to release all Epstein files

·         Claiming to release the files with much fanfare, except it’s all material that was already public

·         The Attorney General said the files are on her desk for review

·         The AG then said there is no list, and all material shows there is nothing actionable or illegal

·         The president called the whole thing a “Democrat hoax” (just like every other piece of bad news he’s ever heard).

·         The Speaker of the House refused to swear in a legally elected Representative for over 40 days, solely because she would be the last vote needed to pass a resolution requiring the release of the documents.

·         And now, with a hoard of evidence showing that every preceding statement was a load of rubbish, the AG says what’s in there proves the president hasn’t done anything wrong.

I’m not sure what planet she’s from, but a basic reading of just those first three emails shows that TFG was up to his eyeballs in teenage girls. They show he knew about it, he participated in it, and we can all see from his Administration’s actions, they’re actively covering it up. Additional documents show that there’s a case for financial malfeasance that’s just as serious as all the jailbait rapey stuff. Millions of dollars went in one side and emerged, freshly laundered, from another.

Do you notice how the go-to remark from TFG is that he did “nothing wrong?” He rarely says “I’m innocent,” or “I didn’t do that,” he says he did “nothing wrong.” I think he’s leaning on the famed “Costanza Defense,” where on Seinfeld, George utters the immortal line,

I’m sure that for all of these sexual crimes of which he’s been accused, he really believes he didn’t do anything wrong. Why? Because being him, he deserves the adulation and compliance of any woman he chooses. He only took what was coming to him. Hence, it’s not wrong.

Now, I don’t know how that would hold up in court, but he can try to make the case that he didn’t know such actions were wrong. It would be de facto admitting he doesn’t know how to be a human being, but I don’t think he cares much about that. I’m sure he thinks he’s above human decency.

We also have Russia coming into it, as Epstein apparently lent his expertise to the Russians on how to handle his friend Donald.

So now, the next brainstorm from the White House is to order the Justice Department to investigate the Epstein Files for evidence against the Clintons and other Democratic opponents.

I’m sure that by mentioning the banks, he’s counting on them to finance his defense, if not go on the attack themselves.

Obviously, any Administration with a moral compass would say, “Investigate everything and pursue lawbreakers.” But that’s not how these guys work. They look at Justice as their own personal legal team, obligated to defend all of their wrongdoings and prosecute opponents at every opportunity, including ones they made up out of thin air.

And they keep saying, “What if Clinton or Obama is in there?” They can’t fathom that we Democrats are overwhelmingly on the side of: “If they committed the crime, they can do the time.” We don’t tolerate shit-heels on our side. Where Republicans defend to the death every party leader in legal jeopardy, Democrats vote them off the island.

As for the fabled Congressional Resolution to release the files, it looks like the House will vote Aye, and the Senate may as well. There’s definitely the feel of rats fleeing the Titanic, because when this is eventually over, those defending the pedophiles are going to look very bad for making that possibly career-ending choice.

And if, somehow, both houses of Congress pass the bill, it has to be signed by Exhibit A, who will never do that. At least not without somehow scrubbing and destroying material that implicates him. It may or may not be successful, but he’ll try. He’ll never just cooperate. It’s against his DNA to comply with prosecution or accept blame for this or anything. So the big question will be whether there are enough votes in the Senate to overturn the veto. And again, there just may be, especially if there are continued leaks that condemn the president.

The wild card may be the Epstein estate. There’s a good possibility that they haven’t turned over everything. They may have even more damaging stuff, like photos and videos, showing the Orange Turd in action. Sure, TFG will fight about authenticity, but if the material is real, independent verification will confirm it. AI productions leave tracks and metadata. There would be something visceral about actually seeing a grown-ass man rubbing shoulders (and whatever) with 14-15-year-old girls, who, no matter what Megyn Kelly says, are still children. I think that could erode the support of most of the remaining holdouts, who may then join the rest of the conscience-bearing American people and seek to toss this clown out on his ass.

Midweek Update: Now that the Senate has passed the resolution and TFG says he'll sign it, let's see what gets released. My belief is that there will be nothing released that implicates the president or his biggest supporters. Damning material will have been scrubbed, destroyed, or withheld. OR, they'll claim they can't release some of all of it because of the "ongoing investigation" they just created just to give them an "out."

Retreat and Regroup

I was as surprised as anyone last night when the news came out that the Senate had the votes to end the shutdown. And I’ll admit that I was pretty pissed about it too. I don’t like “rewarding” the Republicans for their reprehensible disregard for non-millionaire-Americans. Again, they counted on the Democrats having a collective conscience about the prolonged suffering thrust upon millions of citizens.

And this came just when Dems had one of the best weeks in recent history:

Eight senators turned our moment of strength into one of weakness. But if you think about it, it was inevitable. Due to their aforementioned lack of empathy, this shutdown could have lasted for months, and they wouldn’t have cared a bit.

They don’t want a functional government in the first place; they’re more than happy to turn all decisions over to a racist cabal of white billionaires. So, instead of having insurance prices spiking, we would have that plus SNAP gone, air traffic controllers on life support, millions of federal workers unpaid, personnel layoffs, and so on. The only real question was how long to extend the misery.

I know I’ve been keen to keep the pressure on, but I have to admit, I’m not suffering any of the consequences. I don’t draw Social Security (yet), I’m not on SNAP, I’m not traveling anywhere, etc. So it’s easy for me to say “keep it going.” It’s no skin off MY ass.

I think it went on long enough to make the point to the American people that the criminal escalation of insurance costs lay firmly in the lap of this Administration and all who support it.

What I worry about now is whether this “promised” vote will ever happen, and if it does, how are the Republicans going to put their thumb on the scales? Adding poison-pill amendments? Raising the threshold for passage? Obtaining guarantees that it will never get put to a vote in the House? (Which is probably a lock.) They have many ways of ensuring that the rate hikes they designed remain in force. Their only concern is how to blame it on the Democrats.

That’s why having the vote is so important; it will put Republicans on record as favoring such insurance prices. And they’ll have to answer for THAT next November, assuming the Democrats can make the case and keep it in the public’s mind. Americans are a forgetful lot, and Fox “News” and the conservative media echo chamber could ensure this whole issue will be long forgotten, shoved to the deep recesses of the collective memory by the next crudely manufactured “crisis.”

Holding the Line

Now that the Great Government Shutdown of 2025 (And Probably 2026) is into its second month, we’re getting into the serious stuff. The Republicans have decided not to fund further SNAP benefits, even though there is money set aside specifically for that purpose. As usual, they want to inflict maximum damage on the American people and rely on Democrats to have the conscience that they lack themselves, and end the suffering.

The Dems so far are standing firm, and the new ACA rates that are rolling out right now show you why. Policies are going from $400-some to $4000-some per month, all over the country, which is causing widespread panic. The Democrats need to do a better job at communicating that THIS is why they won’t help reopen the government, and that the idea that undocumented immigrants are in any way eligible for SNAP is a complete fabrication. Democrats won’t cooperate without movement on the issue and realize that Republican promises to negotiate insurance rates AFTER the government reopens ring hollow. The Republicans created this rate increase deliberately in the Big Ugly Bill; that means it’s what they want. Maybe they’re trying (again) to make the ACA unpalatable so they can find some support for another option. But it’s relevant to note that they have never produced a single alternative, despite 15 years of fighting against it. So they want the Dems to take their word for it that they’ll negotiate in good faith to end something they intentionally created, AFTER an irreversible action is taken to reopen the Fed. Right… Take the word of the lyingest bunch of crooks ever to sully the Capitol building. Maybe they can offer to pinky-swear.

No, Democrats have to hold the line and hope that eventually, enough protest rolls in from Red States to change some minds. It’s one thing to support the team… It’s another thing to have to give up having insurance to do it. Maybe Republicans’ continued resistance to reinstating ACA funding will show some of these MAGAs just how little their leaders actually care about them. And if we ever have a fair election again, maybe some of these cretins get voted out.

Yeah, "Kash is working on it,” right after he gets back from using taxpayer-funded government jets to follow his girlfriend around the country. That is, if he can somehow pause his concern for the plight of those suffering from this shutdown. These fuckers don’t give a single shit about US citizens. You can see, “plane” as day, that they consider themselves to be the proper beneficiary of taxpayer largesse. Sending anything else back to the people would be Socialism.

I’ll be interested to see how they play this week’s handful of elections. I think whatever they do will be a beta test for next year, which will be an even bigger beta test for 2028.

I’m saying it again. They’re not leaving. No one makes this kind of effort to stack the government in their own favor only to walk away from it peacefully because of some silly election. They will influence it, rig it with multiple barriers to registering and voting, and contest and disavow any result they don’t like, counting on their hand-placed judges to back them up.

We need to act like it matters and resist them at every turn, from now until the country is back in the hands of people worthy of running it.

Winging It

This week’s Big Distraction from Releasing the Epstein Files is brought to you by the Destruction of the East Wing of the White House. (Sponsored by Meta, Google, and many, many more.)

It appears that the “designated excuse” that was issued to supporters is that “other presidents have also made updates to the White House, especially Obama, (who they breathlessly can’t wait to point out that he installed a basketball court, as if it were a watermelon garden.)

Every argument I’ve seen supporting this demolition has been rife with lies. They equate one renovation with another, like tearing down an entire wing with putting some lines on a basketball court, or spending “millions” to "replace a few pipes," when in reality, an entire rewiring was needed and authorized, for safety reasons.

Yes, other presidents have made alterations. I’ve seen the list. You can knock off about half of them (pre-Roosevelt) because they go all the way back to George Washington. The White House wasn’t exactly a historical landmark yet; it was just the place they had just built for the president to live.

And yes, Roosevelt made major renovations. But he also obtained the necessary approvals.

As have other presidents who followed. A law was passed in 1961 that established the approvals needed. At this point, the White House is a historical landmark/museum, so there is a process in place to go through before altering it. All preceding renovations have followed the established process. There are at least five different reviews required, including environmental impact, preservation of important relics/materials, and Congressional approval.

TFG has done none of that. He lied about his intentions and sent in the bulldozers. At first, the East Wing wasn’t going to be touched. That changed to they might take a little off the end, but do no major harm. And by now, we can see that that was 100% bullshit, because the East Wing is gone. Just, gone.

I also understand that this wing was built when asbestos was the standard in fireproofing. Tearing it down might well unleash a torrent of cancer and serious breathing problems, because there has been no mitigation of airborne particles at all. The whole building should have been netted off before destruction, but TFG doesn’t believe in environmental safety (just as long as it’s someone else who’s suffering for it.)

One angle I haven’t seen yet is the fact that the First Lady’s staff operated out of the East Wing. I know the current First Lady wants nothing to do with the role, but this action affects every subsequent First Lady and their staff. They will literally have no office from which to work. Granted, that may suit future MAGA administrations just fine, as they prefer the little wives to stay busy creating and tending to more babies rather than to worry their pretty little heads about doing any work from an office.

His apologists try to bring up the fact that it’s being paid for by the private sector. That does not relieve my suspicions at all. That just means that the Grift House is open for business. If you’ve seen the list of “donors,” you can see that just about everyone has had or will have business before the administration. “You want your project approved by my government, you have to pay.”

They might as well call it the Olde Quid Pro Quo Room.

Now, when all this started to bubble up, my first thought was, “Why would he care so much about a mere ballroom? The White House has been hosting fancy dinners for foreign dignitaries for decades. Why not just put up a couple of giant portraits of the would-be king, himself, slap some gold shit around the edges, and call it a day?”

No, there had to be more. Since he was having it all rebuilt from scratch, I figured there would have to be some secret “special rooms,” something he’d need to be off the books. Something like a protective bunker, something built with today’s best tech, where he could hide out indefinitely, all the while being able to surveil his domain and keep track of what’s being shown on TV. Maybe even have a studio in there from where he could get himself onto Fox and Friends. He could install a special safe to hold the Epstein files that only he could access. And, of course, his own McDonald's.

Then over the weekend, posts began to appear on social media describing that very thing. What I didn’t know was that the East Wing was already home to the existing emergency bunker, from which he hid out during various riots and uprisings.

Now it all made sense. He knows he’s about to screw with the next elections (if not postpone them indefinitely) and that it would be too unpopular, even with Republicans. He’d need a place to ride out the storm, but in the style with which he is accustomed. (“Bring in some more gold shit! And let’s set up that hotline to McDonald's!”) He’ll also need it to be impenetrable, so that neither angry mobs nor his own disgruntled troops could easily drag him out of it.

I hope the next non-MAGA president, whenever that will come to pass, will make it his mission on Day One to knock that fucking thing down and build something proper. Something fun and useful. Something everyone can get behind. Like… the People’s Taco Bar! Step right up and have a taco. Unlimited toppings, too! Whether a tourist, local resident, or homeless veteran, free tacos for everyone. Maybe some soft-serve for dessert, too.

At least, it will serve a worthy purpose rather than appease a spoiled child’s ego.

No Jokers Either

Like 6,999,998 other Americans, my wife and I went to a No Kings rally last Saturday. Ours was just a small one, a few blocks from our house. As an exercise in good karma, it was on the corner of “Liberty Rd” and “Washington St.” I counted around 70 attendees, and like all other accounts I’ve read, ours crossed demographics and generations. Needless to say, it was 100% peaceful.

This was early on, about a half hour before peak attendance.

This was my first “protest” of any kind. Sweetpea has been to several, usually involving her teacher’s union. She kept asking me about what signs to make. I wasn’t even going to take one. I expected we’d be standing around a parking lot, listening to rah-rah speeches. But she’d already gone out and gotten supplies.

“As soon as you’re up tomorrow, we’re making signs.”

Well, I lucked out; she had the signs done, based on online suggestions, before I was even out of bed. And it’s just as well, because they looked great. My writing resembles half-assed hieroglyphics more than any recognizable human language. I agreed to use the simple “No Kings” logo, with the X’ed-out crown.

When we got to the rally, I realized I should have listened to Sweetpea all along. The functional purpose of this gathering was to line the busy 4-lane road and get passing drivers to honk or otherwise provide supporting gestures. I’d have looked like a dodo standing out there with my hands in my pockets.

So, you were right, baby. You were right.

Not having any clothes designed for this or any other protest, I wore a Roberto Clemente T-shirt.

Director’s DVD commentary: Non-sports fans, Roberto was a Black Puerto Rican who played right field for the Pittsburgh Pirates from the mid-50s to the early 70s, and was one of the best to ever play. In 1972, he was killed in a plane crash trying to personally deliver earthquake relief supplies to families in Nicaragua, because he heard that previous shipments were being commandeered by the Nicaraguan regime.

I figured that would provide visual evidence of my support for Latin Americans, and at minimum, be a conversation starter because Roberto almost singlehandedly crucified the Baltimore Orioles in the 1971 World Series. And wouldn’t you know, that was the first thing anyone said to us upon our arrival… “Hey, Roberto!”

Baltimore’s traffic did not disappoint. We were honked at for the full hour and a quarter we were out there, with lots more signaling in solidarity. Sweetpea said she saw one old white guy flip the finger, but I saw nothing but support.

It was nice that they had chairs there, for anyone to use if their knees started to bark after all the standing. They also had water and snacks. It's a good thing this wasn't a voting line in Georgia, or we really would have been doing something illegal.

There was a PA system playing music —power-to-the-people kinds of songs —and the organizer gave a few short words of encouragement. There was no commotion or any sort of violence, although I bet the people living in the nearby houses got irritated at the honking after a while.

And try as I may, I couldn’t find any kiosks where I could get my Antifa paycheck from George Soros. All I can conclude about that is that every Republican claiming the protesters are paid actors is full of shit.

The fact is, I, and many more like me, would have paid admission to such an event if the money was going toward fighting these fascists.

And given the lengths they’re going to characterize these protests, even before they happened, as somehow terror-related or anti-American, just shows how scared they are of the will of the people. They can’t make any claims that hold up to scrutiny, so there’s nothing left for them to do but make stuff up that sounds scary to the uninformed. (In other words, your average Fox “News” broadcast.)

I was thrilled to read the news coverage later, which confirmed the total lack of violence or arrests, other than those of assorted MAGA types there to stir up trouble. Although I really had to search through Sunday’s Baltimore Sun to find their coverage, buried deep in the second news section, primarily covering what Republicans had to say about it. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t question those characterizations, as is the custom of Sinclair news outlets.

Character Witnesses

It’s about time we got someone with some strategic chops to run things on the progressive side. Last week, a leader emerged; someone with creativity and style to go with the Xs and Os of political maneuvering. Of course, I mean:

Congrats to Mr. Todd, who, if the above statement is true, is responsible for bringing the sublime to the ridiculous. Someone needs to get this guy on the DNC’s payroll at once and put him to work. This guy understands that if there’s one thing an authoritarian hates, this administration in particular, it's ridicule. Getting laughed at really chafes their undercarriages, hence their repeated attacks on comedians.

The sign on the right says: “Frogs Together Strong.” Brilliant.

It’s the perfect foil. The fascist regime is trying to set the stage for a larger takeover of Blue cities, claiming the crime is out of control and creating a hotbed of insurrection (the magic word), which requires federal help to tamp down. (And purely coincidentally, perhaps indefinitely postponing the next elections.)

However, the prevailing images of this “insurrection” are those of people marching around in giant inflatable costumes, which are impossible to take seriously or as a threat to anything.

So if Fox "News" and the conservative-media bubble can run a continuous loop of Portland fires from years ago, or uprisings in Colombia, and pass them off as current events, then we should plaster the media with images like this:

It’s the least we can do, considering we’re long past the onset of a fascist takeover of the government. There is a paramilitary force roaming targeted cities, heavily armed, disguised, answerable to seemingly no one, abducting people off the streets without due process, based on nothing but their skin color, accent, occupation, car decals, or decorative flags. We’re knee deep into the “Show me ze papers” phase of this 1930s documentary.

And now, people who dare to object are officially considered terrorist enemies of the state and subject to arrest as well. The First Amendment is dead and buried, thanks to the Commandant-in-Chief and his diminutive Attack Weasel, Steven Miller. The lights may be out upstairs at Trump Towers, but Miller is wide awake and running things, clearing the path for domination by the white male businessman.

So now, when the administration inevitably tries to activate the Insurrection Act, even with a biased SCOTUS, there will be a large hill to climb to claim that a bunch of puffy Barneys are a threat to the nation worthy of suspension of our voting and civil rights. I’m not saying it won’t work, but the whole affair will look ridiculous. They might as well wrap it up in a giant bow that says, CHARADE.

You know and I know that the upcoming “No Kings” Day protests are going to be a big deal. I think this administration knows that it’s their best opportunity to cast the protesters as violent guns for hire. So how does he make this case against a group that will be determined not to give him what he wants?

False flag operation. I guarantee that there will be a couple of real mercenaries sent there to stir things up while under cover as suburban protesters. They won’t let an opportunity like this go to waste, with so many opponents gathered together. It will only take one incel with a Molotov cocktail to trigger the SS to come in to knock heads and round people up.

Bondi. Pam Bondi.

I want to add one short note about the disastrous Congressional testimony given by AG Pam Bondi. During her session, she evaded questions with a maniacal dedication, mixing in personal insults aimed at her questioners, delivered for the benefit of her boss.

I don’t aim to give her any breaks; her deposition was an insult to the rule of law. But if you think about it, she literally had no other choice.

If she answered those questions truthfully, her boss would not only fire her, but command her replacement to gin up some charges against her.

If she lied, that would be the same crime on which she’s chasing targeted Democrats: lying to Congress. Granted, on this day, no one would pursue charges. But then, when she eventually does cross TFG (everyone does, at some point), she’ll be sure to get the same treatment. So as a result, we witnessed that performance piece, engineered to eat up time, retain her status and power, and entertain an audience of one.

The country deserves better.

Well, at least the part of the country that didn't vote this clown show into office.

Arranging the Chess Pieces

Last week's forced gathering of all the military generals was one of the scariest events I could have imagined. And I'm just glad it wasn't worse.

I was afraid Whiskey Pete and the Would-be King were going to demand an oath of allegiance. Fortunately, it stopped just short of that. However, what did happen was quite severe, especially for the Republic. There may not have been an oath, but they made it clear that the military would be expected to do whatever His Highness told them to do, Constitution be damned. It was not met with enthusiasm.

In fact, you could hear a pin drop in between all those stony faces. TFG learned right away that this wasn’t going to be like one of his staged pep rallies. His only ego-boost would have to be internal, by forcing all the generals to sit there and listen to him.

I can only imagine how this part went over:

I bet they were all thinking, “Great, now, every time one of our guys gets shot down or captured, he can expect to be tortured to death in retaliation. That’ll be great for morale.”

But as we know, TFG doesn’t care about POWs. As he said, he only” likes the ones who don’t get captured.”

Whiskey Pete also decreed that there be no facial hair in the military. (Technical term: beardos.”) Don’t think for a second that’s about efficiency or uniformity. This is completely about ridding the services of people of color and non-Christians. The reason the beard regulations were loosened in the first place is that Black men have beard hairs that are often barbed, which can create rashes when they grow back into the skin. Also, this eliminates the appearance of Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims who follow their religions’ beard requirements. And by heightening the physical minimum standards, they can drive out most of the women, thus leaving a military primarily made up of white Christian men. They want an army of undereducated white men who will gladly follow orders to storm US cities, round up whomever they decide are criminals that week, and shoot anyone who dares get in the way.

You can see the timing of current events lining up for the creation of an authoritarian state.

They have now defined terrorists as anyone who resists the current hijacking of the government. Despite a complete lack of evidence, they are pushing a narrative that liberal violence is out of hand. And it totally is, as long as you count proven MAGA-driven violence as liberal, which is now standard procedure. The above article even mentions the shooting of several detainees outside an ICE location and calls it an attack on ICE. Only in the MAGA world is a shooting in which the people who get shot are responsible for the shooting. So naturally, it was some liberal Antifa who blew up that judge’s home in South Carolina, after she made a ruling against the Administration. Just our liberal way of saying “good job,” I guess.

On the other side of the government, we have one of the MAGA Six softening us up for the complete disregard of precedent.

That’s just his way of saying same sex marriage is next, along with creating a presidency of more than two terms, eliminating the right to birth control, and privacy of any nature.

The way they are entrenching their position, there’s no way they'll give up the power without a physical fight. You don’t dig in this far and upset so many apple carts only to walk away peacefully after merely losing a vote. These guys are strapped in it until it’s wrestled away from them, regardless of trivialities, like the will of The People.

More Headline News

My local newspaper, the Baltimore Sun, having been purchased by the CEO of conservative news outlet Sinclair Media, has been sliding steadily downhill ever since the sale was finalized. The about-face in editorial slant has been obvious and jarring. One of the most frequent signs has been in the headlines. These are important because when people don’t take the time to read a full article, the headline is what leaves the overall impression with the reader. The Sun is aware of this and utilizes it to its fullest. I’ll show you with a couple of stories from recent weeks.

Director’s DVD commentary: I usually post the full main page of each article, but I don’t expect you to read the whole thing. You certainly can, if you want.

This article was published after the Trump administration famously removed economic reports that showed higher-than-expected job losses and generally unfavorable news for the economy.

Has it ever been journalistic practice to put a governmental alibi right there in the headline? This article, from the Sinclair “National Desk,” has one purpose: to call data into question that the president doesn’t like, even though his own administration produced it. The problem with it was that it was an honest look at the data, not whitewashed to cover up bad economic news. So, for cover, they claim that the methodology was flawed, even though the same process has been used to produce favorable outcomes.

The thing is, even if the process had become flawed, those flaws were created from the massive changes the Administration is inflicting on the economic system, from tariffs to the crackdown on the immigrant labor force. And that is mentioned in the article, but at the Sun, the alibi is the headline, designed to leave the impression that the president is merely cutting more inefficient government waste.

This one shouldn’t even be news:

A Democratic senator endorses a Democratic candidate, and a Republican senator doesn’t like it. Seriously? This is everyday stuff. Politicians generally endorse other politicians from the same team. The thing that gets me is that the Sun constantly quotes Andy Harris, Maryland’s only Republican congressman. You’d think there weren’t any other congresspeople around. I haven’t seen my congressman, Kweisi Mfume, mentioned in months. But their guy gets the megaphone to carp about routine business, for the sole purpose of stirring up indignation at Democrats.

Mamdani is very liberal and suggests some big changes to how a big city could be run. Given the way things are in most big cities. I think that trying anything that aims to help the average city dweller is worth a shot. But, of course, the rich power brokers like things just the way they are, with the rich making sure their rich brethren stay that way. That’s Rep. Harris’s and the Baltimore Sun’s prime objective. So they tag everything he wants to do as “Socialism,” and ensure there’s a photo of him with the article, so no one can miss that he looks like a non-white, commie foreigner.

The Kimmel Show boondoggle has been resolved, but I clipped this article after spotting something chilling.

We know that the administration got ABC/Disney to pull the Kimmel show after claiming his comments on the Kirk shooting were offensive. After seeing those comments, which are included in the article above, most people could see that it was a nothing burger. What was really spurring this action was his white-hot comments about the Epstein files that preceded the Kirk quote. So they leaned on ABC, using the threat of killing an upcoming merger as leverage, and the noodle-spined executives caved. Then they caved again, only this time, to public pressure, and reinstated the show.

Well, except for the ABC stations owned by conservative Sinclair and Nexstar Media, which continued the blackout until they felt they’d learned their lesson. And they could demonstrate that by “making a meaningful donation” to the family and Turning Point, Kirk’s propaganda outlet.

This is government via shakedown, and it fits completely with this administration’s MO. “You want something from us? You gotta pay. Don’t worry, we’ll figure out how.” I can see this as the new normal. Anyone who wants a merger approved or a patent awarded will have to pay the government grifter first. Who’s going to stop them? They’re seeding MAGA judges around the country like hair plugs, and even when lower courts try to put a stop to it, there will always be an appeal until it lands with a cooperative judge, even if that’s the Supreme Court. It’s the legal Wild West out there now.

Granted, this only works with “on-air” networks. The federal government controls public “airwaves” as a public asset. This differs from cable, for which we customers elect to pay, or not. That’s why the administration can put the screws to ABC, NBC, and CBS, but a Democrat can’t meddle with Fox “News” or Newsmax. Those entities are subject to market influences and public reaction only. (Republicans can only get to MSNBC by pressuring NBC.)

We’re getting close to the inevitable government shutdown, and the Sun has already been sowing the seeds of blame:

They might more accurately provide a headline like: “Democrats fight to reverse unpopular cuts to health care.” And they mention the reason in the article. But the banner flying overhead lays all the shutdown blame on the Dems. That’s the subliminal persuasion of headline abuse. And not for nothing, the Republicans have used identical tactics, refusing to pass a clean bill so they can jam through something that would otherwise fail miserably. Republicans often create the most dire of circumstances as a result of a shutdown, knowing that Democrats, being the adults at the table, often cave to prevent the suffering of the innocent citizens. In this case, they’re having 100,000 federal workers submit their resignations, rather than furloughing everyone.

I hope the shutdown doesn’t run long, but I support the Democrats in holding out for amendments to that Big Ugly Bill and making Medicare/Medicaid whole again.

Director’s DVD Commentary: Granted, I haven’t filed for Social Security yet, so I don’t have a dog in the fight. So it’s easy for me to say, not so much for others.

And just to put a bow on the Sun’s subpar product, there’s this health report for last Sunday's Ravens/Chiefs game:

I guess they’ve laid off their copy editors as well as the rest of the journalists. Oops.