Disaster in Atlanta and Panic on the Left

Saying Joe Biden had a bad day yesterday is rather like saying George Custer had a bad day at the Little Big Horn. And it happened in a hurry. You could tell it was all wrong from the moment Biden walked onto the stage. In that instant before he reached the podium he seemed unsure of his balance and frail. His voice, reduced to nearly a whisper, seemed to confirm his frailty. The lack of balance seemed to become more pronounced every time he lost track of his own thoughts during the middle of his answers. 

For democrats to dispel the speculation Joe Biden is too old to handle the job of President they needed the Joe Biden who delivered the State of the Union earlier this year. They needed the Joe Biden who spoke in Normandy earlier this month. What they got instead was the most embarrassing performance since the 1992 Vice Presidential debate when Ross Perot's running mate, James Stockdale suffered a complete brain freeze on national TV. 

It was so bad the, "analysts," on MSNBC immediately began talking about who the democrats might find to replace Biden at the head of the ticket. The talk continued this morning as people like Joe Scarborough began abandoning ship. This rush to replace was so swift in fact, it had the suspicious look of being a pre crafted and rehearsed contingency held in reserve just in case Biden had a night like last night. In short, last night may have proved there have been some in the left leaning media who have been just waiting for an excuse to dump Biden and now they have one.

Mr. Biden did respond better in the last 20, or 30 minutes of the hour and a half debate, He even got a shot, or two in which visibly got under Donald Trump's skin. However by then, he had been completely swamped by Trump's tsunami of bombastic lies which became increasingly unhinged as the night progressed.

Indeed, it didn't take long for Trump to realize the moderators, Dana Bash and Jake Tapper were not going to fact check him and Biden was unable to. Armed with this knowledge by the second half of the event he had lost all restraint--at times seemingly on the verge of ranting about child trafficking rings headquartered in the back rooms of pizza joints and proclaiming himself, a Divine Presence on earth.   

In the end--if you can call anything last night a small victory--Donald Trump didn't prove himself a leader, but rather a malignant, lying, narcissist who is capable of saying he and he alone is the reason the sun rises and the stars shine. Not to mention actually blaming the January 6th insurrection on Nancy Pelosi repeatedly and insisting the rioters who invaded the Capitol Building were invited there by the police. 

That's right baby, forget what you saw happening with your own eyes and all those video tapes showing people like Senator Josh Hawley running for their lives.    

Yes, Biden might have proven himself too old and frail, but Trump used the opportunity to prove himself too fucking nuts. 

So nuts in fact it is doubtful Joe Biden lost a single vote to Donald Trump last night. The votes Biden did lose, and there was quite possibly too many of them, will more than likely be people who will now simply stay at home on election day.

If Biden is to recover from last night's debacle it will take weeks, if not months. He will have to prove his performance during the first debate was a one time aberration, not the new norm. And, he can't screw up again--not in any way, shape, or form.

6-28-24

Gentlemen, to Your Corners: The Bell is About to Ring

 The last time Joe Biden and Donald Trump appeared on stage together was in 2016. During that appearance, it wasn't really a debate--we haven't had a true Presidential debate since Kennedy-Nixon--things got so out of control Biden finally told Trump, "Will you shut up, man?" Trump really didn't, then went out and lost the election, thanks at least in part to his bully boy tactics that night.

Adding to the chaos was an audience who cheered, hooted, and booed as if they were witnessing a pro wrestling event, rather than two men who were vying to lead not only the republic, but the entire free world. 

Indeed, back in the day it used to be get loud when Rowdy Roddy Piper and Jake the Snake Roberts duked it out in the ring, but neither of those guys were going to deal with the likes of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and the Covid-19 virus. One would have hoped for a little more, let's say, decorum at such a time.

This Thursday we won't have to worry about any audience participation, or assistance since there won't be an audience. In fact, there won't even be any campaign aides available during the two scheduled commercial breaks (also a new feature) to act as corner men. 

To prevent any interruptions, or speaking time infractions both men's microphones will be cut off when it isn't their turn to speak, or their answers run long. Whether each will keep talking, even after the mics are shut down, or not is another matter, but it can be presumed moderators, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash won't hesitate to also tell them to, "shut up, man."

Each candidate will be restricted to podiums so they won't be circling each other like gun fighters, ala Barack Obama and Mitt Romney and Trump won't be allowed to stalk Biden like some great orange Sasquatch which is what he did to Hillary Clinton back in 2016. In addition there won't be any opening statements, no mini campaign speeches to kick things off. The entire hour and a half, at least in theory will be a Q and A session with Tapper and Bash doing the asking. 

How this joint appearance turns out is anyone's guess. Questions about both men's weakness are rife in the media. We do know Biden sometimes struggles with his stuttering problem, which Trump and his followers like to blame on everything from incompetence to outright senility. Trump, on the other hand, especially lately, has at times not only sounded unfamiliar with the English language, but utterly unhinged. For proof of that you need look no further than his recent rally in Las Vegas, when, as supporters collapsed from the heat , he rambled on about the dangers of battery operated boats and shark attacks.   

Democrats base their cautious optimism mainly on Biden's performance at the last State of the Union Address. On that night the old man, didn't just hold his own, he kicked the GOP's ass. They may have denied it, but they knew it was true. That's why almost immediately afterward the MAGA mob and Trump himself claimed Biden was on drugs. Trump has taken it even further, at another recent rally he predicted Joe Biden would be as, "high as a kite." 

The MAGAs haven't disclosed of which drug Biden was on then, or might be on Thursday. However, speaking as one who used to, occasionally become, you know, "high as a kite," I can testify honestly that I never found any drug which improved either my mental acuity, or speaking ability in any way, shape, or form.

The truth is though, during the State of the Union Joe Biden had complete control of the microphone and he didn't have to answer a single question. That won't happen Thursday. He is going to have respond to pointed questions and formulate responses right there in the moment and we all know that isn't his strong suit. 

It isn't Trump's either, but he won't struggle with it like Biden will. If El Donald doesn't know the answer, or want to address the query, he will simply ignore it and spend the next two minutes lying about how great the country was doing while he was in charge. For this Messiah, some truths he makes up, others, that he finds inconvenient, he ignores. He has made a career of it.

It will be completely up to Tapper and Bash to keep Trump on track and pin him down and no one, as of yet, has been able to accomplish that particular feat--not even his wife.

As always Trump is already making excuses for a poor showing while lowering the bar for himself. He claimed in front of one crowd that he will not only be debating Joe Biden, but also Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. He also told them the debate is rigged and that, thanks in part to the leftist media the entire country is rigged against Donald John Trump. This complaint is part of his never ending game which involves ricocheting accusations that Biden and the democrats are capable of vast and complex plots and conspiracies while at the same time the President is a total incompetent fool, and the left wing is full of entitled idiots who want others to pay for their decadent lifestyles.

The Donald never tires of this impossible duality and neither does his cult, or the entire right wing media establishment. 

What we do know for sure is, short of one of two geezers keeling over during the middle of it all, by the end of the night both sides will claim victory. That's a given. And, as always, Donald Trump will try to steal the spotlight, not necessarily on the stage, but rather either before, or after by unveiling his pick for a VP candidate. One, who no doubt, won't be nearly as queasy about corrupting the Constitution like Mike Pence turned out to be. 

Gentlemen, to your corners, the bell is about to ring.

6-24-24  

Massacre in Oklahoma's 4th District: Mighty Paul Bondar Has Struck Out

 The republican primary election in the Oklahoma 4th Congressional District was over in a hurry last night. In fact it took the AP only 33 minutes after the polls closed to call it for incumbent, Tom Cole. The sudden ending stunned more than a few local talking heads as it came on the heels of what is being called the most expensive primary campaign in the history of Oklahoma politics.

Cole's chief primary challenger, the mad Texan, Paul Bondar had, depending on who you ask, spent between $4.9 million to $5 million of his own money. To counter Bondar's TV ad blitz, Cole, was forced to spend $3 million out of his war chest, plus an unknown amount paid for by a couple of Political Action Committees. In retrospect the Congressman didn't need to drop that kind of coin, but for the last couple of months, Bondars constant presence on local TV sure made it seem necessary. 

In Bondar's initial round of TV ads he went all Marjorie Taylor Greene on Cole. He even went as far as to pose with an assault style weapon in front of one of the few sections of Trump's border wall that was actually built. He also claimed that he, Paul Bondar would cease all funding to Ukraine in order to spend the money on border security. He told us, Tom Cole had actually worked with the Biden Administration in this nefarious, yea, traitorous plot to destroy America. Indeed, to compromise with democrats in any way, shape, or form was tantamount to selling out your party, Donald J. Trump, and the nation itself. His later ads backed off this tactic to a degree, to focus more on Cole's sin of longevity in the House. It is time, he said, over and over again, to put someone in Congress who will fight for the Constitution and Oklahoma, values rather than the values found in Washington D.C.

Brother Bondar had a couple of problems though. First, he had never lived in Oklahoma--not just the district he was running to represent, but the entire fucking state. He claimed he had rented a property somewhere outside of Ada and planned on building a, "forever,' home on a lot near Durant. However as late as March this year he was still casting ballots in, Texas, where he and his family lived. Cole's ads even pointed out Bondar's personal vehicle still bore Texas license tags and he gleefully showed photos Bondar's Dallas suburban mansion, not to mention photos of the vast empty space the, "forever," home was supposed to be built on.

The Cole campaign rarely mentioned his record, only that, unlike Bondar, he had actually received an endorsement from Trump. It focused almost entirely on this rich Texas dude who was trying to buy an Oklahoma Congressional seat. 

And while Bondar ran a Marjorie Taylor Greene style campaign, he had no answer to that endorsement--the only real endorsement he picked up was from Ryan Walters, a fully functioning White Christian Nationalist heretic--or the fact Tom Cole is such a bona fide right-wing politico, he actually voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

There were five republican candidates in the 4th district primary. Nick Hawkins won 2% of the vote, Rick Harris won 3.5%, and Andrew Hayes won 4.1%. After spending nearly $5 million dollars Paul Bondar received, 25.8% and Tom Cole won with 64.6%. Bondar's raw vote count was, 16,120. And while my math is always questionable at best, my calculations show Mr. Bondar spent about $305 on each and every one of those ballots cast for him. As one political wag put it today, Kevin Costner spent a ton of his own money on his latest movie, but at least he got a movie out of it. Left unsaid was Paul Bondar didn't get squat for his investment. 

Ultimately, this whole tedious episode reminded me of something I saw back in the salad days. For a while we lived outside of Boston, MA. One year Ted Kennedy was running for re-election to the Senate. His republican opponent was a guy named, Joe Barnes. In the couple of months leading up to election day, Joe Barnes was all over the local TV outlets. His campaign was so well financed you couldn't ride into Boston, or out of it without seeing billboards urging you to vote for Joe Barnes. In the suburbs, Joe Barnes lawn signs seemed everywhere. The Kennedy campaign didn't even seem to exist. No signs, no ads, nothing. Hell, Joe Barnes had even picked up an endorsement by the Boston Herald (A Rupert Murdoch publication.)

It was all so one sided I remember being worried Kennedy might actually blow the election. The day before we voted I opened my copy of the Boston Globe. On page three there was a full-page ad in huge black print which read simply, "Kennedy for Senate." That was, as near as I could tell, the total extent of Ted Kennedy's pitch for re-election.

On Wednesday morning when I woke up, I found Senator Kennedy had won with over 70% of the vote. I never heard the name Joe Barnes mentioned anywhere again.

After what happened last night I wouldn't count on seeing any construction crews building that, "forever," home near Durant, or any other location in the state. Yes, to paraphrase a line, Mighty Paul Bondar--despite his bankroll--has struck out.

6-19-24

The Ryan Walters PR Campaign Comes to a Screeching Halt

Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Education, Ryan Walters is an ambitious guy. No one is quite sure where those ambitions will lead, possibly not even Ryan Walters himself, but it is clear he has his sights set on some, let's say, higher profile job. What we do know, however, is Ryan Walters won't hesitate to spend the taxpayer's money on promoting, well, Ryan Walters.

In March, the Oklahoma City's local Fox affiliate, KOKH channel 25 in conjunction with the non-profit news organization, Oklahoma Watch discovered the State Department of Education had signed a deal with the Virginia firm, Vought Strategies for $30,000 plus. Whether the contract was signed after competitive bidding--a state requirement--depends on who you ask and their interpretation of the word competitive. The main purpose of the contract seems to be clear though. Vought Strategies was using the majority of the cash to secure Ryan Walters' appearance on national cable TV and radio news shows to air his views on everything from text book approval, to the inventory of public school libraries, and even the crisis on the southern U.S. border.

In short, Vought was being paid to make sure the entire nation would be able to witness the wit and wisdom of Ryan Walters. 

In addition, the OSDE under Walters' command has spent somewhere between $22,000 and $30,000 to the Houston based firm , Precision Outreach. They began producing what Walters has described as, "Public Awareness," videos. One of the first was a piece about the evils of teacher's unions. Another warned of the dire threat posed to straight students by the transgender community.

No wonder 130 or so OSDE employees have quit or taken early retirement since this gruesome clown took office last year. (The Superintendent now claims he fired each and every one of the disloyal liberal bastards.)   

Walters whole exercise in narcissistic excess came to a head this week when the Oklahoma legislature pushed through an amendment preventing the OSDE from hiring private PR firms. The charge into sanity was led by Mark McBride-R, Moore. Walters responded as he usually does in situations like these. He accused McBride of being a tool of the teacher unions and Joe-by God-Biden himself. It was, he said nothing less than a blatant attempt to, "censor him and Oklahoma parents."

Governor Kevin Stitt weighted in on the issue by vetoing the amendment. The Governor then turned around and proved the widely spread rumor that practically everyone in the state government hates Ryan Walters' guts.  Stitt immediately issued an executive order stopping all departments, not just education, from hiring PR firms without state approval. He did so to prevent what he said was taxpayer funds being used to promote the political agenda of one man. 

Ah yes, how artfully subtle of you, Governor.

Stitt and Mark McBride aren't the only people in the state who have grown tired of Ryan Walters' act. Recently the Oklahoma State Supreme Court ruled against Walters attempt to exercise complete control over the libraries of local school districts. The OSDE power grab was firmly denied by the court, denying a Walters appointed committee's ability to choose the books read by students in such far-flung places like Idabel, Enid, and Weatherford.  

All this nonsense comes after a failed attempt by Walters to publicly fund a church administered school a while back.  

The office of Governor will be up for grabs in two years, Stitt can't run a third time. That might be where this demagogue wannabe is headed. However, who knows, further down the line he might even think about rousting James Lankford out of the U.S. Senate. (Lankford pissed off the ultra-fringe by co-authoring an immigration reform bill that Biden said he would sign. A treasonous act to the far right if there ever was one.)

We know he is running for something though. You don't hire PR firms to get you on national radio and TV if you aren't. And, he has plenty of supporters. Reports are Stitt's office was overwhelmed with emails and social media messages demanding he veto the McBride amendment. Too bad those irate yokels didn't realize they were dealing with a man who not only wanted in on the fun of fucking with Ryan Walters, but would act with the freedom of someone who knows his political career is over.

sic vita est

6-15-24

Screw the Party Conventions, the Presidential Campaign is On

 The GOP and democratic party conventions are still a month away, but in truth both events are just archaic remnants of the past. Neither mean squat these days, except to give party activists a chance to dress up like complete fools while throwing a three, or four day bender. The nominations aren't decided on convention floors, or smoke filled back rooms any more. It is all settled and done long before then thanks to the primary elections held by the individual states.

These days there are only a couple of reasons to watch the conventions. First is to hear the acceptance speeches by the party's nominee for President and Vice President. The second is to hear the keynote address which sometimes is given by an up and comer, who might, someday end up a nominee, him, or herself. That happened in 2004, when the democratic key note was given by a lanky black kid no one outside of Illinois had ever heard of, named Barack Obama. By the time the then State Senator was done there wasn't a democrat who had heard him, who didn't believe Obama was the future of the party.

Whether that happens this year remains to be seen. Democrats seem too focused on the specter of Donald Trump they can't focus on the future and as long as Trump is running the show on the right the republicans have no legitimate future. It is either The Donald, or political Götterdämmerung.

Yes, given the circumstances we can all consider the Presidential campaign in full swing right now. The waiting is over. The media knows it, that is why they've scheduled the first debate between Biden and Trump before the conventions even begin. 

So what are both of these old men saying to the voting public? Well, Mr. Biden went to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion. He delivered a couple of well thought out speeches, one on the exact spot Ronald Reagan gave a similar speech 40 years ago. Both were about the courage of American and Allied troops, the perils of isolationism, and the need for NATO to stand strong and united in a world threatened by run amok autocratic aggression. 

Sunday, Mr. Trump appeared in Las Vegas and while six of his supporters had to be hospitalized for heat trauma and another 24 had to be treated on the site, he talked about the dangers of electric boats and sharks. Yes, we now know we can add battery powered boats and predatory fish to the ever-growing list of things Donald Trump is against. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump's republican ally, Senator Lindsey Graham told an interviewer that despite all the evidence available, the D-Day invasion was, "a failure." Prior to the Senator's re-evaluation of the known historical record, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene reminded followers Jesus Christ, just like Donald Trump, was a convicted felon. Several social media wags immediately pointed out there are several differences between The Savior and her man, Donald--one of the main ones being Christ wasn't convicted of illegally hiding payoffs to a porn star he had an illicit sexual encounter with. 

This detail didn't seem to bother Greene who had previously called her fellow republicans, "useless," for not pursuing the impeachment of Joe Biden and had proposed an amendment to a bill, which would have, in her words, "defunded NATO." 

Last week, Florida republican Congressman, Byron Donalds, who is black, spoke in Philadelphia at a GOP black outreach event and told people, "During Jim Crow the black family was together." He later added, "During Jim Crow more Black people were--not just conservative because Black people have always been conservative-minded--but more Black people voted conservatively."

Mr. Donalds' fond memories of strict racial segregation led MSNBC host, Michael Steele, who is also a Black republican, to go what is commonly referred to as, apoplectic. Congressman Donalds is currently currying favor with Donald Trump in order to be named his running mate.

Then, we have Martha-Ann Alito, who was taped saying, "I want to raise a Sacred Heart of Jesus flag because I have to look across the lagoon at the (Gay)Pride flag for the next month." The wife of Supreme Court Justice, Samuel Alito also admitted she likes to design flags in her head. One of her favorite potential designs being orange and yellow flames emblazoned on a white field with the Italian word, VERGOGNA which means, Shame, as in Shame on you. This all comes after Justice Clarence Thomas finally admitted that over the last 20 years he has accepted at least $41 million in gifts and trips from various conservative benefactors. 

And finally word comes this afternoon that President Biden's son has been convicted of illegally purchasing a weapon while he was addicted to drugs. The conviction will, no doubt, create a bizarre sight over the next couple of days where we will actually witness the right wing celebrating the conviction of a man who bought a gun in the United States--a scene completely unheard of until now.

The first Presidential debate is June, 27th. One participant is a felon, the other, the father of a felon. Buckle up America. The 2024 election season is here and in the words of Donald John Trump in another context, "It will be wild."

6-11-24

Guilty at Last, Guilty at Last, Thank God Almighty Guilty at Last

My apologies to Dr. Martin Luther King for paraphrasing his words in a manner which he could have never imagined.

 One outlet said the jury was out 11 hours. Another reported the deliberations took nine hours. What all the experts did agree on though was a quick decision would favor the prosecution. They were right. On Thursday afternoon Donald John Trump became a convicted felon. He was, as we used to say at old John Marshall High School, glued, screwed, and tattooed.  

Earlier, during the trial, Fox News personality, Laura Ingraham had asked on social media, how did America reach a point when people believed a porn star and a crooked lawyer instead of a former President? The answer to that was simple, as soon as the nation became witness to the greatest liar ever born, Donald Trump. In fact for many of us it was easy to believe a stripper/porn actress. turned porn film impresario like Stormy Daniels rather than a guy who lies about everything. Hell, Trump is such a congenital liar he even lies about shit most of us have witnessed with our own eyes. The prosecution never even had to bring up his extensive history of lying during the trial because everyone there already knew it. Donald Trump lying is just a given, like the sun rising in the east. 

Immediately after the verdict was in, Big Don went so wild with rage so unhinged he not only claimed the trial was, "rigged," but, indeed, "The whole country is rigged!" His republican followers, who have begun to dress like him in blue suits, white shirts, and red ties (a more business appropriate look than, than those brown uniforms worn by the Germans in the 1930's) railed as well. The trial was rigged, they howled, the judge was rigged, the jury was rigged. Biden was behind it all, they said. It was, an irate Senator Ted Cruz bellowed, "A miscarriage of justice."

However, as some pointed out, despite all their vitriol and venom for everyone involved in the conviction, none of them came out and said directly, "Donald Trump is an innocent man."

The next day Trump held what he billed as a press conference. It was, in truth, a 30 minute rambling screed, so filled with tangential side trips and repetitions, it bordered on the incomprehensible. After the half hour exercise in self serving, self pitying, bloviating, he stormed out without answering a single question. In the end he didn't say one thing he hasn't already said, but he may have proved, beyond a doubt, he is utterly insane.

The three major cable news outlets, as could be expected, ranged from the stark anger and vows of revenge in the November election on Fox, to the almost giddy atmosphere over on MSNBC. Indeed, the talking heads there might have been saying thoughtful, serious things, but watching them you could tell, somewhere in those studios there was a room filled with streamers, party balloons, hats, and bottles of Cristal Champagne on ice. 

On the other hand, Newsmax, which is the largest of the minor league players in the industry, is so far off into the Trumpian abyss one of their hosts had posted a social media message even before the verdict was rendered urging Trump to flee New York to Florida, or other state which would provide him a, "safe haven."

Then, of course, came the reaction from the MAGA rank and file. Predictibly it was swift and filled with threats of violence. "Someone in NY with nothing to lose should take out Merchan. Hopefully he gets met with illegals with a machete," one wrote. Another posted, "1,000,000 men (armed) should go to Washington and hang everyone." A third said, "AMERICA DESTROYED BY DEMOCRATS. LOCK AND LOAD." And finally we had my personal favorite, "Trump should already know he has an army willing to fight and die for him. if he says the words...I will take up arms if he asks." 

Ah yes, what an eloquent epitaph on a tombstone that will be, "He died for Donald Trump."

Judge Juan Merchan will sentence the former President and presumptive republican nominee for the office on July 11, four days before the GOP convention starts. Sean Hannity is citing the timing further proof of the left wing conspiracy to destroy the candidate. In reality several things have to happen in New York before Merchan can make his determination. One is an interview of Trump by a state Parole Officer which will help determine the severity of the sentence. Most first time offenders don't actually do jail time, although Mr. Trump could spend a few weekends picking up trash alongside FDR Drive as part of a decision to make him perform community service. 

That's one of the many options Judge Merchan has right now. They'll all be appealed as will the verdict itself. The one thing that is clear, at least right now, is Trump is guilty. However, as long as he has his worshippers he will have the money to pay for his legal expenses. After all, as P.T. Barnum said, "There is a sucker born every minute." And if we know one thing on this blue earth, it is Donald Trump's suckers are the most gullible and yet, violent of them all.

Sic vita est

6-2-24