Donald Trump Isn't in Juvie Anymore

 First things first. An indictment isn't a guilty verdict. An indictment is a decision that simply means the grand jury has found sufficient evidence for a suspect to be charged and tried for a crime. When someone is indicted he, or she remains innocent until proven guilty by prosecutors and a trial jury. That jury is completely separate from the jury which issued the indictment.

In short, all the liberals out there need to keep the cork on the champagne bottle and the party balloons in the closet. At least for now. Donald Trump has yet to be convicted of anything in the federal legal system. He is, at the moment, an innocent man.

How long that will last remains to be seen. Mainly because Donald J. Trump himself won't keep his mouth shut He continues to behave like some teenage punk who has gamed the juvenile court system his whole life and doesn't realize he is now being tried as an adult. The days of bragging about your shoplifting sprees and crude acts of vandalism don't help your cred anymore. That's right, no more slaps on the wrist, Donnie boy. You could be headed to a place where the only luxury is getting to shower once a week and possession of a cell phone is just another criminal offense.

Charges in the indictment include, Willful retention of national defense information, Conspiracy to obstruct justice, and Concealing a document in a federal investigation. There are four more counts and they all came about because the former president repeatedly claimed the documents were his, or were magically declassified by his thoughts, then, finally, was taped saying he knew they were classified, but he'd kept them anyway. 

All of that, after he and his legal team had signed a statement, swearing every last one of the sensitive papers had been turned over to the national archives. 

Indeed, it appears The Big Orange Guy's hubris is so profound he simply cannot fathom that he, like the rest of us, is subject to the rule of law.  This arrogance has, in fact, rendered him into a complete imbecile. If Bugs Bunny was around his only comment about Donald Trump would be, "What an ultra maroon."

Trump and several republicans, including House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy blame the charges on Joe Biden and his administration. In Trump's own words, "it's election interference." Oklahoma congressman, Josh Brecheen claims Trump was indicted because the latest polls show him in the lead. Even presidential opponent Mike Pence, who thanks to Trump nearly got lynched, said the democrats have politicized the DOJ.

Meanwhile, as everyone should know, you can run for president while being indicted, tried, or even a jail. It does put a crimp in the campaign---they don't let you hold rallies in the exercise yard--but it has been done before. In 1920 socialist candidate, Eugene V. Debs ran while serving time for sedition, Despite the limitations he pulled in 3.4% of the popular vote that year. 

Of course the election is still over a year off and The Donald's first priority remains getting nominated. Luckily for him the GOP field is growing almost daily. They all make noise, but none of them, including Ron DeSantis, have the twisted charisma of Don Trump. Many won't survive Iowa and more will be gone after New Hampshire. Most importantly, not a man, or woman among them commands the blind loyalty Trump does. The truth is the guy could be sentenced to life without parole and still get at least 30% of republicans to vote for him. Chris Christie might be able to savage Donald Trump, but he can't beat him.  

Well, as the Magic Eight Ball sometimes says," It will soon be revealed." Until then, Donald Trump would be well advised to tread lightly. Federal judges are a notoriously ill-tempered bunch with little tolerance for bombastic chicanery and Roy Cohn's strategy of endless delays. As Cohn knew, you can pull that shit on a poor construction contractor with limited funds, but the government owns the printing presses. They never run out of money when they come after you. 

Not to mention relying on the Aryan Brotherhood rather than the Secret Service for protection in the joint is always a tad dicey.

6-9-23

From Witch to Woke

Oh, how things change. One day you are a celebrated ally, the next a despised enemy guilty of a heinous crime--wokeness. Indeed, it doesn't take much in some eyes to decide treason is afoot; heresy has been committed. 

Such is the fate of the clan Cathy of Georgia.

The Chick-fil-A fast food chain was founded by S. Truett Cathy. Cathy was a life long member of the Southern Baptist Church who taught Sunday school classes for over 50 years. His religious beliefs were so strong he refused to open his stores, or allow franchise locations to be open on Sundays. Truett handed off the chain to his son, Dan Cathy. Over the years Dan has pumped millions into campaigns to defeat same sex marriage bills across the country. He has even bankrolled, "conversion therapy," programs which are meant to, "cure," people of homosexuality. 

As one can guess, conversion therapy doesn't work, but it was a pretty lucrative grift pulled by quack pseudo scientists over the years. A few of its side effects included frustration, self loathing, massive depression, and substance abuse. 

It now appears Dan Cathy figured all this out at some point. A while back, just when is a little murky, Chick-fil-A began a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) program. No one, perhaps even Dan Cathy, knows what guidelines, or corporate policies the Chick-fil-A DEI department has implemented, or if they do, they aren't saying. 

However, that doesn't really matter to those blood thirsty ghouls lurking in the far right corner of the root cellar. All they know is it exists and for them, that's unacceptable. 

Right wing influencer Ian Miles Cheong posted, "Chick-fil-A has gone woke." Another, Todd Starns, wrote the very presence of a DEI department, "explains the fried cauliflower sandwiches and kale salad," on the menu.   

Host of the self-titled, "The Benny Show," Benny Johnson claimed Chick-fil-A was now pursuing a, "Anti-White, Anti-Christian Woke Agenda." He demanded the chain be boycotted by one and all. while accusing it of, being, "The biggest fraud ever pulled on American Christians.." Then young Mr. Johnson let us in on a little known theological tidbit. "Read your Gospels," he told his online audience. "Let me tell you someone who wasn't tolerant--Christ. Tolerance is not a Christian virtue."  Anyone like, Dan Cathy who believed differently he said was suffering from, "the Woke Christian mind virus." 

For those getting ready to write gruesome rubes like Cheong and Johnson off as insignificant fools who no one listens to, it should be noted Ian Miles Cheong has 600,000 social media followers. And, while Benny Johnson's viewership is unknown, thanks to the ravings of Ron DeSantis, it is difficult for anyone to describe him as out of touch with the current GOP mainstream. 

Between February 1692 and May 1693, 200 people in and around Salem, Massachusetts were accused of being witches These days it's woke instead of witch, although right now the odds are Dan Cathy doesn't see any difference between the two.

And who can blame him? His former pals certainly don't.

6-3-23

Honoring the Dead with Brats, Beer, Mattress Sales, Car Races, and Self Serving Politics

 According to Wikipedia over 1.3 million Americans have died fighting in wars. Actually it is more than that since that figure doesn't include those listed as missing in action. In addition up until the early 20th century official military records tended to be more like educated estimates rather than veritable facts. And of course the Wiki stats end at 2019, so any service members who have died in places like Afghanistan since then aren't included. 

Proving that being in the military during a war is a risky business even if you aren't at the front over half that 1.3 million died of disease, accidents, or some other reason than enemy fire. For example in the 1990-91 Gulf War 146 of the 294 deaths incurred by American forces were caused by reasons not directly combat related. In Vietnam that number was close to 11,000. In the American Civil War, if you count both sides, the death by, "other," figure was nearly a half million.

Not that it mattered, especially to those who died of say, dysentery, the flu, or because they were run over by a truck somewhere behind the lines. They were and are just as dead as the people storming a beach, or village. In the end, they wore the uniform and paid the price. 

The nation has set aside this day, the last Monday in May to honor their memory. It includes even those who died in wars, none of us remember. You know, like the 1798-1800 Quasi War. (It was fought entirely by naval forces in the Carribean against the First French Republic. There were 514 American deaths, 20 of them due to combat.}

How we do this honoring is a bit surreal though. Oh there are some parades scattered around the country and a small army of volunteers plant miniature American flags at the appropriate graves sites in cemeteries across the land. However, that Memorial Day Sale down at the Mattress Warehouse isn't something I'd expect 1.3 million war dead to appreciate or thank us for. The same for cook outs, chugging tall cold ones, ball games, and auto races.

Then we have the politicians. Donald Trump, apparently unaware they're dead, wished a happy holiday to, " those who gave the ultimate sacrifice." Later, in a burst of presidential eloquence, he urged Americans to make America great a again by getting rid of, "the communists, Marxist, and fascist pigs."   

Rival GOP candidate Ron DeSantis praised the republic as a, "great nation built on great values." His stated campaign goal is to purge diversity, equity and inclusiveness programs from all American colleges and corporations. A week or so ago one of the laws he gleefully endorsed was used to ban a book of poetry written by a 16 year old author from elementary school libraries. 

Whether either gentleman impressed the honored dead with their self serving sentiments, or not will remain unknown. However, as we swill our beer and chow down on brats and burgers, generally ignoring the purpose and meaning of today it is certainly hard to believe those two awful clowns did any worse than we have. 

I just hope 1.3 million dead can forgive us for our casual crassness. It probably isn't what they fought for, but in this day and age it is what we are.

sic vita est

5-29-23

Ron DeSantis Tries Something New

 When Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis officially declared himself a republican presidential candidate last night he tried something new. Instead of the traditional pep rally style format he decided to do it on Elon Musk's Twitter Spaces platform. Why was anyone's guess and more than a few have attempted to answer that question.

The kindest theory has been that Mr. DeSantis wanted to show how innovative he is. Others, knowing how much DeSantis personally dislikes his fellow citizens, felt he wanted as few people there in person as possible.   Finally, some have speculated he is so far down in the polls he had to do something which would attract the maximum amount of attention in the national media. 

Well, he did manage to get a lot of attention, if not last night, then today. Unfortunately for his campaign it was for all the wrong reasons. 

Today the technical disaster (21 minutes of static, beeps, clicks and dead air spiced with the occasional disembodied voice asking, "Are we on?") is the talk of the nation. The humiliating snafu added to the mystery of why he was appearing with Musk, a South African bazillionaire and David Sacks, a venture capitalist estimated to be worth $200 million in the first place. Let's face it, they both reflect a fairly limited demographic--one not well represented in places like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. 

The DeSantis people immediately blamed the series of crashes on the sheer number of people trying to witness the event. "You broke the internet," one told the governor. 

Or not. The Morning Joe crew pointed out earlier today, there were more people online to view Alice the Giraffe giving birth than attempted to watch Ron DeSantis last night.

After the technical melt down the governor finally was able to read his statement. His delivery was utterly without emotion, or enthusiasm. The statement itself was so canned you could almost hear the electric opener grinding in the background. Trump immediately pounced as only he can, without a hint of common decency, or mercy. DeSantis, so far, has failed to hit back. This continued lack of response leads one to wonder if Ron DeSantis is too frightened of Don Trump to really compete with him.     

Polls show Trump leading the governor by 30 points. That is putting him close to what is known as a marginal candidate. It's so bad that, at the moment anyway, it looks like Ron DeSantis' best chance to get nominated is for Trump to get locked away in a federal prison sometime in the very near future.

While it is a possibility it isn't something you can count on. 

There is, as many like to note, a long way to go in this race. That doesn't mean you can waste your time and other people's money with embarrassing fuck ups like last night though. At some point you have to at least look like a viable candidate. 

For Ron DeSantis that certainly didn't happen last night. The question now is, will it ever?

5-25-23

Ron DeSantis Doesn't Make History, He Just Rewrites It

 Ronald Dion DeSantis received his B.A. degree from Yale. After graduation he went to Harvard Law School where he was awarded his J.D. The only reason I mention these two factoids is to debunk the widely held right wing belief these universities indoctrinate their students into becoming wild eyed, homosexual and commie loving liberals.

Well, that and to show even Harvard and Yale can produce a fascist clunker every now and then.

Mr. DeSantis is currently not running for the republican presidential nomination, although it sure does feel like he is. It has been speculated he remains undeclared at this point in order to avoid a gaggle of financial and ethical regulations which kick into play as soon as he does. While no one can prove this is the case it certainly sounds like something the Florida governor would do. Let's face it, he isn't very keen on letting people, especially Florida taxpayers, know who is paying for his world wide and national travels. He is obsessive about that sort of shit, like he is when someone objects to his overtly authoritarian legislation.

We do know he isn't the best of fund raisers. Stories of him snubbing and otherwise treating potential GOP donors poorly are nearly as frequent and legendary as his historical perspectives of the American Civil War and our lust for Native American land.

Those revisionist views are no doubt the pillars of his current political philosophy which he has, in a disturbing number of cases, enacted into state law. Those laws, which, among other things, attempt to purge any wrongdoing by white people in Florida school curriculum. They are being described as, "the Florida model," for America by ultra right wing slugs across the land. It gives us a preview of what Dion's vision of a perfect republic is. In his words, "Florida is where woke goes to die." 

Hey, so do a lot of other things and people, but no one else changes the circumstances of their deaths to cleanse history of the truth.

Here is what a Florida 4th grade textbook had to say about civil rights pioneer, Rosa Parks. before DeSantis, "The law said African-Americans had to give up their seats on the bus if a white person wanted to sit down." After DeSantis it reads, "She had to move to a different seat."

The governor has also been clear that in his mind it is, "inappropriate," and, "not true," to teach students that America was built on stolen land. In other words, We built the country in unoccupied territories because the people who lived there had died.

And just think, we haven't even touched on the whole, "don't say gay," and the war on Disney nonsense. Not to mention defunding diversity, equinity, and inclusion programs at state universities and the elimination of African-American AP courses in high schools. Those subjects are for another time, perhaps when things get politically tighter.

Right now, Ronald Dion DeSantis is trailing Donald Trump in every poll imaginable. The latest shows El Donald at 58% while DeSantis sits mired at 16%. Trump considers the governor a traitor because he might be running against him, despite DeSantis' reluctance to attack him publicly. Trump insists DeSantis once came to him pleading for his support. Of course if you asked him, Trump would tell you Jesus of Nazareth was a nobody until he came begging, with tears in his eyes, for the former president's help. There is no doubt, given Trump's ego and delusions, it was only after he gave Christ his personal backing that the Lord rose from the dead and became so famous there was a Broadway musical named for Him.  

But, I digress.

The feeling here is by the time we roll into the actual election year and he officially declares, DeSantis will be climbing in the polls. In fact, after The Big Orange Guy gets indicted a few more times and possibly goes on trial for crimes so heinous they make Benidict Arnold look like Bill Maher, he might look like the only choice to a lot of republicans.

That's right the future is a muddied pond and there is a long way to go. So much so he real problem DeSantis might have and not be able to overcome is himself. A lot of major GOP donors have negative impressions of him. that have nothing to do with destroying public education, persecuting gays, and passing pro gun legislation so insane even Wayne LaPierre shudders when he reads them. And with out doners there isn't the sort of campaign he needs to put away anyone, much less an elephant in the room like Donald J. Trump.

Indeed, in the end, Dion's downfall might be because, as one cable news wag put it, "It isn't that we don't like Ron DeSantis, but it's that we know Ron DeSantis doesn't like us."

Although the current evidence appears to contradict the front half of that statement, given his noxious politics the back half rings absolutely true.

Such is the nature of today's republican party.

5-22-23

It Isn't the Deep State, It's the Deep Pockets: Gun Deaths in America

The great state of Oklahoma has a long, perversely proud, history of gun violence. Hell, the first mayor of Oklahoma City died of a gun shot wound after a shoot out over a peace of land just west of what is now downtown. Even though His Honor, William L. Couch bit the dust way back in 1890, no one seemed surprised, or upset in 2019 when current Governor, Kevin Stitt signed a bill which made it legal for citizens without any training, or licensing regulations to carry a concealed firearm. At the time Mr. Stitt proudly enabled every pissed off crank, paranoid schizophrenic, and gangster wanna be to pack a piece 14.9 out of every 100,000 Oklahomans could count on being killed by a gun one way, or the other.

As of the fifth month of the year 2023 that number has risen to 21.2, or, a little over six additional human lives.  

Now, in Oklahoma when it comes to unwanted statistics such as deficiencies in literacy, education, health care and the like, we always say, "Thank God for Mississippi." That's because, no matter how we try, or not try as the case may be, the Magnolia State always seems to out do us when it comes to the really bad shit. This year in Mississippi 33.9 people out of every 100,000 have died from gun violence.

See what we mean. Thank God for Mississippi.

To be fair, there are other states between Oklahoma and Mississippi. A few are, Alabama at 26.4, Alaska 25.2, Louisiana 29.1, New Mexico 27.8, and Wyoming 26.9. There are a few others, but why go overboard? The point is there are a lot of people in this country who are killed by guns. 

In Oklahoma the raw number right now is 836 dead. By the time you read this the odds are it will be higher. In 1861 over 60,000 troops on both sides fought the first battle of Bull Run. They were--you know--fighting a civil war, actually trying to shoot each other. After the smoke settled the total number of dead was 837. The current body count in Mississippi is 962.      

Thank God for Mississippi.

Here is the weird part. Contrary to world opinion, most Americans want to stop the carnage. A solid majority of us understand we will never stop this madness unless we make it more difficult to purchase a gun. That's right, unlike Kevin Stitt we've figured out more guns, guns that are easier to buy don't do anything but make things worse. It is like trying to eradicate arson by making sure all the arsonists have matches. 

That some meaningful gun control legislation hasn't passed, can't pass is beyond mystifying. In fact, it might be the most perfect example of minority rule in the history of the republic. 

Indeed when it comes to gun control corporate interests have overridden the will of the people. Oh sure, there are a bunch of gun fetish loons who make a lot of noise, but in the end arms manufacturers have rendered congress and therefore most of the voting public impotent. Deep state my ass. It is the deep pockets and propaganda departments of companies like Smith and Wesson who really run this nation.

That's the bad news. Ok, that and within the first four and a half months of 2023 there have already been 15,665 gun deaths in the United States. It is more than twice the 7,000 of U.S. service people who were killed on Iwo Jima. 

The good news? Well, thank God for Mississippi.

5-15-23

Nazis at Donald Trump's Doral Resort ReAwaken America

 Tulsa's Clay Clark founded the ReAwaken America Tour a couple of years ago. Clark, at the time, was usually referred to as a, business coach and entrepreneur which was a nice way of saying no one really knew what he did for a living. He first rose to fame, of sorts, when he sued the city of Tulsa during the dark days of the Covid plague. He claimed the city's mask mandate caused migraine headaches, shortness of breath, and dizziness among other things.  After it made a splash in right wing circles the suit was dropped.

The tour was designed to be a weird combination of tent revival and political rally mixed with small business boosterism and spiced with Alex Jones style conspiracy theories. In short, it's a traveling variety show for MAGA rubes who need their twisted versions of reality validated and praised.

This Friday and Saturday the tour makes a stop in Miami, FL at the Trump National Doral Resort. Some of the speakers include Eric and Lara Trump, Peter Navarro, Kash Patel, Matt Whittaker, Devin Nunes, Michael Flynn, and Roger Stone. There are others, mostly members of what can loosely be described as the clergy.  You know--a couple of relatives, a few low level members of the failed Trump administration, a crude fixer, and a handful of evangelical quacks on the grift. Or, as they say, the usual suspects. 

Last night on her show, Rachel Maddow pointed out a couple of more on the schedule who pretty much defy description, at least a rational one. 

Scott McKay is a self-proclaimed, "American Patriot Streetfighter," who has a podcast on the social media site, Rumble. For those unaware Rumble is the place you end up after every other social media site has kicked  you off for speech so vile, so racist, so incredibly hateful you can easily be considered a walking, talking crime against humanity.

How else can you describe a man who says the Jews were behind the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, William McKinley, and Abraham, by God, Lincoln. (We've all been taught it was John Wilkes Booth, but it was really a Rothschild plot.) How, or why they weren't involved with the murder of James Garfield has been left unexplained. Perhaps a Trans Terrorist got to him before the cabal could.

In addition Brother McKay has said the Jews brought down Hitler--apparently not the good thing we all thought it was--and the late, unlamented, Adolf was fighting against, "many of the same things we are today." 

Charlie Ward is billed as another speaker. He also has a podcast on Rumble. According to Mr. Ward more people have been killed by the Covid vaccine than were murdered in the Holocaust. That's because those pesky Jews faked the Holocaust and are behind not only the deadly vaccine, but the disease itself.  

Oh and as a side gig and for your listening pleasure Charlie Ward sells recordings of select speeches delivered by Herr Hitler during his salad days. 

Now there are a couple of guys I'd want my son, daughter in law, and property to be associated with. Well, Donald has other things on his mind these days, so maybe he just missed Ward and McKay's connection to Nazi philosophy. Or maybe the Doral needs the money, no matter who shows up. After all a lot of legal fees have been incurred lately, and more are on the way. Or, worse, Donald John Trump might actually like these two evil fucks. There is mounting evidence pointing in that direction. 

Why not? We know Clay Clark must. You don't ask Nazi slugs like McKay and Ward to speak if you don't. It isn't like they hide their despicable views of the world.

Yes, given the circumstances it is easy to see why Joe Biden says we are in a battle for the soul of America. And to understand just how right he is.

5-9-23