Jun 15 2018
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Adrastos, Diary, Music, Odds & Sods

Saturday Odds & Sods: Life On The Road

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.

Dr. A and I are on the road today after a whirlwind trip to Virginia for our nephew Ryan’s high school graduation. His graduation ceremony was a bit *too* exciting as there was a threatening phone call that led to the hall being cleared. It turned out to be a crank call, but in 2018 one has to take these things seriously. So much for my plan to embarrass the nephew. So it goes.

This post is a place holder but I do have a theme song: Life On The Road from the 1977 Kinks album, Sleepwalker. It’s the opening track of that record and it rocks like crazy:

The closing track of the album has the word life in the title as well. It’s the story of a guy who tries to commit suicide on an impulse but decides to live instead. A subject that’s both timely and timeless.

How about one more Kinks tune for the road.

That’s it for this week’s weak edition of Saturday Odds & Sods. I wrote this before hitting the road so I’m using a two-year old picture of the nephews doing what they call the Twin Towers. Kids today.

Jun 15 2018
1 Comment
Adrastos, Political Crack, Stupid Republican Tricks, The Darnold

Quote Of The Day: Dictator Wannabe Edition

The Insult Comedian went on his favorite teevee show this morning. He had a lot to say even though little of it made sense. We’re used to nonsense from this president*. It’s one reason he wears an asterisk. Anyhoo, here’s the quote heard round the world:

“He’s the head of the country, and I mean he’s the strong head. He speaks and his people sit up in attention. I want my people to do the same.”

He’s also a dictator, you nitwit. Trumpy is just a wannabe although he’s transformed the Republican party into a personality cult centered on him. The stupid bastard isn’t even a longtime Republican. It’s something of a cautionary tale that Democrats should pay heed to as well. Turning your party over to an independent is madness even if that person isn’t as bad as the Kaiser of Chaos. Nobody is as bad as Trump.

I’m old enough to remember when GOPers were anti-communist and anti-Russian. Under Trump they pander to Putin and the bloodthirsty Kim regime. Kim is an old school commie and Putin is a KGB irredentist seeking revenge for the Soviet Union’s “humiliation” at the end of the Cold War. John Foster Dulles and Ronald Reagan are spinning in their graves. Hell, my head is spinning like a top.

I believe in talking to everyone BUT not in taking one’s talking points from a dimunitive dictator with a bad haircut. Next thing we know Trumpy will start wearing a jump suit in honor of his little buddy, the artist formerly known as Little Rocket Man. A too long red tie will look weird with a jump suit but Trump has the right stuff to make it work. Did I say right stuff? I meant weird stuff.

Trumpy has, of course, said other stupid shit this week but I have a summer cold and I don’t want my head to explode. It’s time for another aspirin.

 

Jun 15 2018
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Adrastos, Catblogging

Friday Catblogging: Basket Case

Paul Drake is a large cat who is an expert at squeezing into small spaces.

 

Jun 14 2018
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Michael F

Ave Geezer

ancient_coin_trump_450

GOP paterfamilias Don Donald might be a cult leader…but the GOP faithful are the cult itself, and they’ve been bending their knees to his brand of vicious bigotry and authoritarianism for some time.

Charles Pierce:

I don’t mean to keep beating this tin drum as loudly as I have been, but I think it’s important to keep reminding people that the current president* is an aberrational modern Republican only in the crudeness of a) his rhetoric and, b) the way he wields his power. (Also, he’s something of a nut, which, in my experience, transcends politics anyway.) For example, as was pointed earlier on Wednesday, Tuesday night’s Republican primary results in various states pretty much preclude any serious attempt by Republican office holders to throw a spanner into the crazy that is dominating our politics at the moment. This morning, on MSNBC, this is what Joe Scarborough had to say on the subject.

“It has devolved into a cult. Primary voters in the Republican Party have devolved into a Trumpist cult.”

That’s a word that’s getting tossed around a lot these days. Retiring Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, opined that his party is in the thrall of “cult-like behavior,” while longtime Republican activist and cable TV megastar Rick Wilson says that the word cult “isn’t strong enough” to describe what’s going on. This makes Corker the moderate, I guess.

Now, to be clear, I don’t disagree with any of this. We are seeing politics on one side of the aisle turning into a cult, but, alas, that cult is modern Republicanism. Trumpism is merely one breakaway sect of it, and, truth be told, it hasn’t broken away all that far. After all, Corey Stewart got nominated for the U.S. Senate from Virginia not because of his loyalty to the president*, but as an adherent to a far older cult with which the GOP was quite content to be a part of over the previous four decades: the cult of the Confederate States of America.

Another example: as the results were rolling in Tuesday night, Congressman Steve King, the Republican crackpot who represents the Fourth Congressional District of Iowa, took it upon himself to retweet a famous British neo-Nazi named Mark Collett.

I will give Trump, well, small credit (small credit like his small fingers?). In the, thank heavens, absence of any major crisis (knock on wood) he’s managed to make the run up to the mid-terms mainly about himself. And at this point, even the most scathing of Mueller reports wouldn’t change the true believers’ minds. If anything, they’d view it at Trump’s passion/martyrdom … making him the first martyr ever who’s tastes run to dictator chic.

And…I dunno: given how thoroughly fucked Trump’s reaction will likely be in the event of a disaster of some kind…like with what happened…and what is still happening…in Puerto Rico…

If noting else, we’ll find out what sort of country we’re living in…for now.

 

Jun 14 2018
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Adrastos, Books, Pulp Fiction Thursday

Pulp Fiction Thursday: The Judas Cat

I’m not sure which of the covers below is from the first paperback edition. I have a guess, it’s the one with the old man and the cat. What’s a vintage pulp fiction cover without either a femme fatale or damsel in distress?

Jun 13 2018
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Adrastos, Elections, Fog Of History, Political Crack, The Darnold

Chiming In

I’m on the road and should zip my lip but I’m not very good at being silent when there’s this much news. I guess you’ve noticed that already. I prefer writing on the mighty Wurlitzer that is my desktop keyboard but a laptop will just have to do. I’m not, however, a fan of track pads. I find them user hostile and unatracktive…

The G-7 summit was a Trumped up fiasco. Remember when even jerky American presidents made nice with our allies?  How is it possible to fight with Canada, which currently has one of the most amiable leaders in the world, Justin Trudeau. Trudeau has followed his father’s playbook in dealing with Donald Trump. Trudeau the elder disliked Nixon but forged a decent working relationship with him. When he learned that Tricky had called him an asshole on the White House tapes, Pierre Trudeau had an elegant response: “I’ve been called worse by better people.”

Everyone is better than the Insult Comedian.

The Dictator-Dotard summit was a farce. Trump left it spouting North Korean propaganda. If they allowed dancing in the streets in Pyongyang, they’d be doing it as I write this. If this is winning, I’d rather lose.

The good thing about being on the road is that I’ve missed all of Trumpy’s teevee bragfests. I like how my friend Laura described his appearance: “Even sitting down for an interview, 45 is gross. Looks like he is working hard to have a bowel movement.”

Hey, at least he gives a shit…

In election news, Never Trump Republicans are doing a rotten job of “taking back” their party. Exhibit A: Mark Sanford. Exhibit B: Corey Stewart. Virginia Democrats are thrilled that Lost Causer Corey will be Tim Kaine’s opponent this fall. It’s yet another sign that the GOP is well and truly Trumpified.

That’s it for me. I have a high school graduation to attend. I’m glad that relatives don’t have to wear caps and gowns. It’s not a good look for anyone, especially a grown man with a size 8 head.

That is all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jun 13 2018
2 Comments
Adrastos, Album Cover Art, Music

Album Cover Art Wednesday: The Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw

The Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw is one of the best album titles ever. Pigboy Crabshaw was the nickname/alter ego of Elvin Bishop. Why anyone would want to be called Pigboy is beyond me, but I’m not from rural America like Elvin. I’m a confirmed city slicker.

In addition to the cool art design by William S Harvey, this is a helluva album musically. The Butterfield Blues Band moved from a guitar based blues ensemble to a horn heavy R&B combo after the departure of Michael Bloomfield to form Electric Flag. A very young David Sanborn plays alto sax on the album.

Here’s the whole damn album via the YouTube,

Jun 12 2018
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Athenae, Catblogging

Tuesday Catblogging

The cats continue to just be the best, even if they destroy shit (Ada and my wineglasses) and refuse the expensive food we buy them in favor of trash-ass Fancy Feast (Slade). They play with each other pretty aggressively, not so much that I have to break it up, but Ada will sit underneath Slade and bat at and chew his tail until he’s forced to discipline her, and he’ll lie in wait and jump her as she wanders by.

Then ten seconds later I find them like this. Silly kiddens.

A.

Jun 12 2018
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Uncategorized

Keep Bashing Craigslist, It’s Sure to Work Any Day Now

Just stop it:

So Craig Newmark gave a squillion dollars to CUNY’s J-school, which is more than any wealthy media organizations have ever done, and the Internet is full of Very Serious Journalists dunking on him like “thanks for destroying the industry and then giving us peanuts, asshole.”

IT IS 2018. It is the year of our lord 2018 and Craigslist went online in 1995 and in 23 years the only solution to online advertising that newspaper geniuses have come up with is bitching even LOUDER about it.

2003 called. It wants its blame game back, and also possibly those cropped cardigans because that was a nice look on long-waisted girls.

A.

Jun 12 2018
12 Comments
Athenae, Law/Justice, Stupid Everything Tricks, Stupid Republican Tricks

And Then?

Donald Trump is not gonna quit.

Donald Trump is not gonna get impeached, tried, convicted and removed from office.

Donald Trump is not gonna be indicted, probably.

Stop fantasizing about these scenarios.

Donald Trump will be president until 2020.* No matter what happens with Russia, no matter what happens with Congress. We have him for two more years, and we just have to handle that. You know why?

Because any other scenario leads to a truly horrifying amount of violence for the marginalized communities already under attack. Think about it.

Trump resigns. (This presumes a sense of shame he and his advisors don’t have and can’t develop. He’s not going to go quietly and build a presidential library somewhere. I don’t care how long the pee tape is or what he looks like in it. He can’t stop, because if he could stop he’d have done it already.)

Trump gets impeached and tried in the Senate. (The circus that was the Clinton impeachment would look like a parking lot carnival. Hearings would be disrupted constantly, the cable news complex might just actually explode, and it would be impossible to get a word in edgewise in any medium whatsoever. The wrangling alone over the timing and disposition of the trial, the testimony, the amount of witness tampering that’s possible when your entire administration is in hock to the Russian mob? By the time we get around to day one it’ll be 2045.)

EITHER of those come true, and the current culture war dunks itself in lighter fluid and runs through a fireworks tent. Democrats are already DEMONCRAPS and a threat to our democracy, liberals are for threatening and doxxing and attempting to rape, people are screaming about brown-people voter fraud in elections the Republicans WIN.

Trump gets kicked out and/or convinced to quit because of scandal, and remember that whackjob who showed up at the pizza joint? His mini-mes will be in every post office by the following weekend. It’s ALREADY not safe for Hillary to appear in public without a bulletproof vest, you think anybody with an “I’m With Her” hat is gonna be safe?

Trump dying in office is actually worse than either of those scenarios. The man is elderly and obese and not, shall we say, in a good mental place right now, and was not healthy even when he was young. The presidential schedule is punishing even for a guy as lazy as he is, with all the air travel and such. So let’s say he dies of what are declared natural causes, which to the sane among us would be a reasonable pronouncement for a septuagenarian who thinks exercise is a scam.

What do you think happens next?

The investigations on Timmy’s YouTube Amateur Fest, otherwise known as Fox and Friends. That’s what happens next. The theories about poison and secret garrotings and who the White House doctors REALLY ARE, those are what will make it onto Fox News. On 4chan and the MRA subreddits there won’t be theories, just conspiracies, about how someone killed THEIR LORD. His embodiment of their resentment is all that’s keeping them from swatting every girl who was mean to them in high school. Remove that, and there’s just no damn telling.

If God forbid he is assassinated all fucking hell breaks loose. This is actually our worst nightmare. There are people in this country who think they are fighting a race war and they’re not on the fringes anymore. All it would take was one whisper on the wind that a black or brown or Muslim person killed Trump (no matter WHO it actually was) and nobody would be safe.

Every fucking day I hear somebody fantasizing about one of the above scenarios without thinking about who’s going to get hurt once we witness Trump getting his ass beat thoroughly in an election or a courtroom or by his own arteries. I just want us to understand that while there may be rejoicing in liberal blogistan the hatred he’s unleashed is going to be vented on people who already have more to lose and we have to figure out how to keep them safe.

Whenever someone wishes Trump would get indicted or otherwise split town, I have to ask them what they think happens next. And what happens after that, and after that, and after that. We have to start planning for more than just stockpiling champagne.

A.

*Would LOVE to be wrong about any of this and will cheerfully accept the ribbing that will come with my wrongness.

Jun 11 2018
2 Comments
Free Republic, Tommy T

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Hearts and minds and hands and knees edition

Hi, people.  Easing back into this thing, one thread only today – but it’s a pip.

Rudy Giuliani says Kim Jong-un got ‘on his hands and knees’ and begged for US-Korea summit
The Cairns Post ^ | June 6, 2018 | The Associated Press and News Corp. Australia Network

Posted on 6/6/2018, 11:44:27 AM by 2ndDivisionVet

DONALD Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani says Kim Jong-un was so desperate for the meeting between the US and North Korea that he begged to reschedule it.

Mr Giuliani told a business conference in Israel that Mr Trump’s tough line had forced the North Korean leader’s hand.

Mr Giuliani said there was no choice but to cancel the June 12 summit after Kim insulted the US vice president and national security and threatened nuclear war.

“We said, ‘Well, we’re not going to have a summit under those circumstances,”’ Mr Giuliani said. “Well, Kim Jung-un got back on his hands and knees and begged for it, which is exactly the position you want to put him in.”(continued)

1 posted on 6/6/2018, 11:44:27 AM by 2ndDivisionVet
.
And in the “Understatement of the year” finalists:
.
To: 2ndDivisionVet

 

Not. Helpful.

2 posted on 6/6/2018, 11:46:47 AM by Basket_of_Deplorables (Donate to Mike Flynn’s legal fund: https://mikeflynndefensefund.org/)

Ya think?
To: 2ndDivisionVet

 

What a stupid public statement. Trying to screw it up, Rudy?

5 posted on 6/6/2018, 11:49:15 AM by Kenton

If he was, how could you tell?
To: 2ndDivisionVet
.
Mr Giulianiis WAY ouside of his portfolio.

6 posted on 6/6/2018, 11:49:18 AM by Paladin2
He HAS a portfolio????
To: 2ndDivisionVet

 

Shut this man up. Giuliani. Trump knows that KJU needs to save face in this meeting. Giuliani knows nothing about that concept.

7 posted on 6/6/2018, 11:50:23 AM by I want the USA back (Lying Media: willing and eager allies of the hate-America left.)

To: Basket_of_Deplorables

 

Exactly.

Rudy? Shut the freak up.

10 posted on 6/6/2018, 11:52:32 AM by Responsibility2nd

I’m feeling a consensus here….
To: 2ndDivisionVet

 

Sorry, Rudy, I loved ya at the WTC but…
this is not the kind of statement to make when you have potentially important negotiations pending

Not a good one, Rudy.

12 posted on 6/6/2018, 11:53:10 AM by faithhopecharity (“Politicans aren’t born, they’re excreted.” -Marcus Tillius Cicero (3 BCE))

To: 2ndDivisionVet

 

Rudi needs to STFU.

14 posted on 6/6/2018, 11:54:03 AM by colinhester

You know something?  I don’t even have to comment any more. This shit literally writes itself.
.
More mass Freeper facepalming after the “readus moreus”
.

Continue reading →

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Jun 10 2018
8 Comments
Athenae, Elections

One Hundred Fifty Days

And then the rest of our lives, ladies and motherfuckers. The rest of our lives.

… Republicans have, at best, continued to stand by and allow Trump to undermine and obstruct the FBI. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan acknowledged, on Wednesday, that there is no evidence to support Trump’s spying lies, but at a press conference Thursday, still defended the sham “oversight” that has been used to try and out a legitimate FBI informant.

Trump’s abuses of power are frightening, but they would not be possible without the complicity of Republicans in Congress.

One hundred and fifty days and then I don’t want to hear anymore about how you just weren’t excited to vote for the Democrat you had the chance to vote for, they didn’t tickle your liberal fancy just right, the fucking earth is caving in so either get over yourself and show up for your immigrant, minority, gay, trans brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus or get the fuck off my Internet.

These elections are the only things that matter now. You and I can follow the twists and turns of the Mueller investigation until we have degrees in Internet Lawyering, and we can shield our eyes in horror from the latest Trump idiocy and we can stockpile dry goods for the coming post-apocalyptic hellscape but there’s really only one thing we can do, right now, today.

And that’s register as many people to vote as we possibly can. Because that’s the only thing that can stop it.

The courts can’t. They’ve been stacked since Reagan while liberals have been worried about being mean by Borking every regressive Republicans put up. Mueller can’t, either, not really. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are not going to impeach and try Donald Trump no matter what Mueller finds.

Don’t even bring up media, I’ve said what Imma say about the omnipresence of Fox and the alternate reality it nurtures. No story in the Post is going to shame anyone involved here.

The only way to stop this is to vote in as many Democrats as possible.

Yeah, some of them will be shitty Blue Dog middle-of-the-road corporatists, but what you forget when you decry that is that the only thing giving the Manchins of the world their power is the lack of Dems in general in Congress. If all of a sudden there are twice as many Democrats, the three pains in the ass we’re always worried about don’t matter anymore because we don’t need them to get shit done. Looking at you, Heitkamp.

People keep warning about “outrage fatigue” and I thought at first that’s what I had, but what I really have is a lack of giving a shit about the latest dumbass thing the administration does because we need to focus on November and only November. Vote. For anything with a D after its name or anything committed to caucusing with them. I don’t care if you don’t love them. I don’t care if you don’t think they have a message or they aren’t jerking you off on your pet issue. Vote. Straight ticket. Everywhere, every time.

We’re seeing the apotheosis of “maybe things need to get worse before they get better” and I can’t even say they can’t get worse because the universe can hear me, and the only way to make things better at all, bless Mueller’s holy name, is to vote.

A.

Jun 10 2018
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Adrastos, Music, Sunday Morning Video

SMV: Farewell To The World 20th Anniversary Concert

Crowded House week continues at First Draft. In 1996, Crowded House said farewell to the world by playing a show outside the Sydney Opera House. Since they regrouped in 2006, they decided to celebrate the earlier celebration on its 20th anniversary. How celebratory of them. Pop open some bubbly and enjoy.

Jun 09 2018
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Adrastos, Americans Recaps, Diary, Film, Fog Of History, Music, Odds & Sods, Political Crack, R.I.P., Sports, Television

Saturday Odds & Sods: Saturday Sun

Cafetiere et Carafe by Jean Dubuffet.

It feels like August outside as I write this with the ceiling fan whirring up above my head. It’s time to dispense with the weather report lest I sound whinier than I am. And I’m pretty damn whiny even though, unlike Della and Paul, I don’t have a fur coat to contend with. Paul Drake deals with his by shedding copiously. Della Street rages against the elements in her own way. She is one mouthy cat, y’all.

I may have cats on my mind but the rest of the city is obsessed with rats in a French Quarter eatery. There’s a viral video and everything. Oh wait, there’s always a viral video in 2018. As someone who worked in the Quarter for many years, the thought of rats near the Big Muddy is not shocking. I’m not planning to go to that restaurant but even good places with clean kitchens have the odd rat. Repeat after me: to live in this town you must be tough, tough, tough, tough. She-doo-be.

The new Mayor is “being intentional” by launching a PR campaign dubbing New Orleans the City of Yes. In the immortal words of movie mogul Sam Goldwyn, include me out, unless it involves the veteran prog rock band. I’m still trying to figure out what the hell “being intentional” means. So it goes.

When I started this regular feature in 2015, I used songs about Saturday as theme songs for the first few weeks. Saturday Sun is one I somehow missed but I’ve had Neil Finn on my mind and in my ear of late. We have two versions for your listening pleasure: the promo video and a live performance on the BBC.

Now that we’ve basked in the Saturday Sun, it’s time to put on some sun screen and jump to the break.

Continue reading →

Jun 08 2018
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Adrastos, Diary, Food and Drink, New Orleans, R.I.P., Television

Anthony Bourdain & Tee Eva Perry, R.I.P.

Depression is a horrible thing. From the outside, Anthony Bourdain was on the top of the world with a job he loved and more adventures on the horizon. The hoary aphorism “never judge a book by its cover” rings true today: Anthony Bourdain committed suicide at the age of 61 in France.

His body was discovered by his friend, the world-class chef, Eric Ripert who Tony called the Ripper. I call him Tony not because I ever met him in person but because of his style. It was intimate and confidential thereby living up to the title of his first book, Kitchen Confidential.  Most of his viewers feel as if they’ve lost a friend. A friend of mine who’s in the restaurant business described him as her Pope. The loss is shocking and deep. It was a helluva thing to wake up to this morning. Imagine being in the Ripper’s shoes. Mon dieu.

Bourdain took us many places in the world to which we’re unlikely to travel. Despite his renegade/bad boy image, Bourdain treated other cultures with the sensitivity and respect that they deserve. He always looked like he was having a great time but looks can be deceptive His demons finally caught up with him. He will be missed.

I never ran into Anthony Bourdain, but Tee Eva Perry was a New Orleans legend who I met on many occasions. She was an amazing character: baker, back-up singer to brother-in-law Ernie K-Doe, and a baby doll on Mardi Gras day. She died this week at the age of 83.

Everyone called her Tee for auntie so when she opened up her first place on Magazine Street she called it Tee-Eva’s. It was an eclectic hole-in-the-wall located around the corner from Adrastos World HQ:

I’m not a snow ball guy but I loved her pies and pralines. After Katrina, she relocated to a bigger location on Magazine but I’ll always have a special feeling for the original space. It was as charming and eccentric as Tee Eva herself.

I hate to use a term out of the dictionary of journalistic clichés, but Tee Eva Perry was a New Orleans original. She will be missed.

UPDATE: it turns out that Bourdain ate Tee Eva’s jambalya on an episode of his first teev show A Cook’s Tour. I haven’t seen that series but it’s on Amazon so I will soon.

Jun 08 2018
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Adrastos, Catblogging

Friday Catblogging: Born Again Lap Cat

Della Street was an aloof cat for the first 9 years of her life. Our running joke was that she was Oscar’s cat and he was all she needed. Slowly but surely she became a lap cat: first with Dr. A and then with me last fall. Here she is on my lap in our messy living room.

Jun 07 2018
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Adrastos, Krewe du Vieux, Law/Justice, Political Crack, Stupid Republican Tricks, Twitter

Scott Pruitt: Chickenshit Grifter

I’m sure you’ve all heard about Scott Pruitt having an aide badger Chik-fil-A into giving his wife a franchise. Hey, they’ll need an income when Scotty stops grifting the EPA. It’s gotten so bad that Gret Stet Senator John Neely Kennedy publicly urged Scotty to “stop acting like a moron.” The national media has learned what the Louisiana press has known for years: Neely likes spouting off on teevee and usually has a corny one-liner saved up. If he weren’t a Republican, I might offer to supply him with some Neelyisms but he is so I won’t. Besides, I’m not adept at Hee Haw humor.

Back to Scott Pruitt. The reason I call him a chickenshit grifter is that he’s fond of grifting relatively small amounts aka chickenfeed or chickenshit. He’s even been asked to stop messing up the White House mess by eating there so much. Yo, Scotty: pay your tab, it’s only 400 bucks.  In short, this is chickenshit grifting at its smallest and pettiest. Avarice thy name is Scotty.

I was astonished when this tweet landed on my timeline:

I checked to make sure this was an genuine Fox News feed. It is indeed and it’s actually “fair and balanced.” I didn’t know they were allowed to criticize Scotty. This could be a signal to the Insult Comedian that it’s time to stop watching Scotty grift. Grift, Scotty, grift.

One would think that, as a major criminal, Trump would be offended by the picayune and penny-ante antics of Scotty. They’re both grifters but Scotty is strictly small time. He’s hanging on because the president* likes his terrible policies but he can turn on a dime; just ask Trudeau or Macron. I wonder when Scotty will ask for a pardon. Let’s start the countdown…

Whenever I think of Chik-fil-A, I think of this masterful float by the Krewe du Vieux sub-kreme, Seeds of Decline, as well as this photo by my erstwhile nemesis, Michael Homan.

Photograph by Michael Homan.

Since I refuse to give Homan the last word, I might as well expel this disgusting earworm from my head.

One of these days I’ll write new lyrics and transform that horrendous tune  into Watching Scotty Grift. There could even be an alternate version, Watching Scotty Blow.

The answer, my friend, is grifting in the wind, the answer is grifting in the wind.

Jun 07 2018
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Michael F

Worst Reality Television Ever

apprentice_2_645

Each day brings a new “can you believe what this idiot said?” moment, notwithstanding that despite being a clown and a moron, Trump’s also bringing a history of hatred and bigotry, with real consequences for actual people…not that he or his base give a shit.

But, and sorry to keep repeating, his base might be loyal, might be rabid, and certainly might be dangerous, but they’re not a majority and, despite the lazy narrative of the media, they’re not any more “the real Americans” than the rest of us…which means they can be outvoted come November…and goddamn, let’s hope that happens. A couple of days ago, primary voters put candidates on the ballot ranging from good-enough to exceptional…and this fall we’ve got the chance to do something even Trump might understand: essentially cancel his show and go with a fall-season replacement.

OK, maybe we can’t actually cancel, short of a smoking gun/pee tape (and even then, no way the Senate convicts…sigh). But winning the House could keep them on the defensive long enough to reach 2020 without any additional damage…well, assuming no major crisis…yeah, not a comfortable assumption, but on that all we can do is hope…

Two more years…

Jun 07 2018
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Adrastos, Art, Books, Pulp Fiction Thursday

Pulp Fiction Thursday: James Meese

James Meese week continues at First Draft. He’s something of an internet man of mystery. I wasn’t able to learn much about him other than he was as short-lived as he was as prolific as a pulp fiction illustrator. I’ll just have to let his work speak for itself:

I don’t want to give you the impression Meese never did covers for some of the more popular crime fictionistas. Here are two he did for Agatha Christie paperbacks:

Jun 06 2018
2 Comments
Adrastos, Fog Of History, Food and Drink, Music, Political Crack, Stupid Republican Tricks, The Darnold

Burning Down The (White) House

Donald Trump, amateur historian, has struck again:

President Donald Trump reportedly justified the tariffs he placed on Canadian steel and aluminum by asking Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a phone call: “Didn’t you guys burn down the White House?”

CNN reported on the exchange, citing sources familiar with the call. The British burned down the White House in the War of 1812, when Canada was a British colony. CNN reported the President may have been joking, but the tariffs, justified on national security grounds by the Trump administration, have left Canadians furious.

“To the degree one can ever take what is said as a joke,” one source “on the call” told CNN, when asked if Trump meant the comment as a joke. “The impact on Canada and ultimately on workers in the U.S. won’t be a laughing matter.”

I guess we can be grateful that Trumpy didn’t go on about Dolly Madison pastries while tossing zingers at Trudeau the Younger in pursuit of his stupid trade war. He probably doesn’t know that James Madison was president in 1812 and that Dolly was a legend in her own right. The Insult Comedian will inevitably claim that he gave Madison his period nickname, Little Jemmy.

Only in the Trump era would the words Canada and trade war be found in the same sentence. Canada is the best damn neighbor in the world and Justin Trudeau is the most amiable of world leaders. Oy, just oy.

Since Trump makes all educated Americans feel like Charlie Brown, it’s time to pass the zingers:

Now that we’ve had an afternoon snack with Charlie Brown, Lucy, Sally, and Linus, it’s time to make like the Canadians:

Wait. Talking Heads aren’t Canadian? Who knew? Certainly not president* Trump.

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