I Gotta Try This Beer!

Dump the Trump!  Behemoth Brewing Company is a New Zealand beer-maker with a sense of humor and a political conscience.  As a "goes great with" food choice, their website recommends Cheetos, of course.  Not sure if it's available in the States, but keep an eye out.

Cincinnati Goddam!

Well, what do I know?

Ten years ago, I felt that the election of Barack Obama signaled some sort of turning point in American race relations, a clear indicator of progress.  It was a turning point, alright, except things got worse, not better.  The mere presence of The Black Man in the White House brought out a surprising amount previously hidden racism in a lot of white people.  And now the Bombastic Bozo occupying the White House has fanned the flames of racial enmity to a shocking degree.  His obvious racism encourages and enables other racists.  Nowhere is this frightening phenomenon more apparent than on social media (which ceased to be "social" long ago).

For unknown reasons, the lovely Mrs. Gammons is a Facebook "friend" with the younger brother of her sister's first ex-husband.  (Got that?)  They attended the same high school.  Now in his early sixties, this man was raised -- as was Mrs. Gammons -- in the country club lifestyle of a hoity-toity, lily-white Cincinnati suburb.  He's led a life of comfort and ease in the Queen City.

He's also become an angry wing nut, a rabid Trumpanzee, and a flaming racist fuckwit -- charming traits he displays daily on his FB page.  Normally, Mrs. Gammons simply spies on his right-tarded posts without comment, just shaking her head in disgust.  But yesterday, she couldn't hold her tongue (or fingers, more accurately.)

Her old schoolmate saw fit to post this stupid rebel-flag meme, challenging people to repost in the name of "our heritage," and she saw fit to comment.  The actual transcript/exchange is also shown here, but is too small to be legible.  So I've transcribed it.  It's a doozy.
_______________________________________

KMJ (Mrs. Gammons):   You really expect people to repost an image of the Confederate flag?  What about all this talk about uniting us as Americans?  History can be a lesson to us not repeat certain mistakes.  I don't understand this.  Please enlighten me on why it's OK to glorify a culture that kept other humans as slaves.

JS (the aforementioned classmate):  Not surprised with your comment.

JC (another ex-classmate):  I'm not surprised either.

KMJ:  Fancy that, a couple of guys who are not surprised.  I'll bet nobody gets anything past you two! 

JS:  Just another angry liberal.

JC:  When all else fail [sic] insult!

KMJ:  Instead of placing labels on me, can either of you address my original question?  Why is it OK to glorify a culture that kept human beings as slaves?

JS:  What was the cause of the Civil War?  [Can you feel the "states rights"? -- Buster]

JC:  You need to read a history book.  Actually, I think you are the one that labeled.

KMJ:  You guys, please reread the whole conversation.  I did not insult or name-call.  And still, neither of you can or are willing to answer my original question.  Why is that?

JC:  This all started simply because we posted the post.  You are the one that has the isues [sic].

KMJ:  Still no answer to my question.  Have fun at your next meeting.  Hope you get to sit next to the Imperial Wizard.
______________________________________

Racism is alive in the Queen City!  And what a shame, because it's such a nice, attractive town in almost every way.  I realize that racism lives everywhere, and I know most Cincinnatians aren't blatant racists, but to paraphrase Nina Simone, Cincinnati Goddam!




 

Not Invited, But If He Was . . .

He was pointedly not invited to attend the funerals of Barbara Bush and now John McCain.

Consider what a monumental POS he truly is.  Who else gets effectively "banned" from two funerals in the same year?!


(Image swiped from Mrs. Gammons' FB page.)

Fun With Flags

"Hello?" MUSTA Had A Bad Connection

Sometimes, a guy can be so desperate to change the subject that he'll do anything -- like invite the press to watch and listen to a call on speaker phone to Mexican President Nieto about "a big thing" -- a reported new trade deal with Mexico.

(Click the link and watch the pathetic clown get the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" treatment.)

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/1034123031311011846

Let's review.

There is no new trade deal with Mexico.

There's perhaps a loose agreement to revise some parts of NAFTA.  Yesterday's shiny object was essentially a photo-op, or in this case, a fucked up phone-op.

NAFTA has not been replaced.

Trumpty Dumpty may want to screw Canada and "do a deal" with Mexico, but as Nieto pointed out, Canada must still be part of the process, and U.S. congressional approval will still be needed.

Despite Bratman's desire to rename the trade deal the "Mexico-United States Trade Agreement" (MUSTA?  He-he!!), it's still NAFTA.

Ten Years After

Nope.

No, all you aging Woodstock hippie freaks, we will not be discussing the late, great British blues rock guitarist Alvin Lee and his group.

Yep.

We will be discussing the Economic Crash of 2008 and the resulting Great Recession, from the perspective of ten years down the road.  And by "we," I mean George Packer of the New Yorker.  Full article link is followed by excerpts.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/08/27/ten-years-after-the-crash
______________________________________________

The financial crisis that broke out a decade ago was a long time in the making, and a long time in the playing out.  The speed and scale of the initial destruction were breathtaking.  It was caused by reckless lending practices, Wall Streeet greed, lax government oversight in the George W. Bush years, and deregulation of the financial sector in the Bill Clinton years.  The deepest source, going back decades, was rising inequality.

The Crash wiped out nine million jobs, took away nine million homes, erased retirement accounts, and pushed large numbers of Americans out of the middle class.  At first, our American institutions responded with signs of health.  But our democracy turned out to be unwell.

Rather than help save the economy that their party had done so much to wreck, Republicans, led by Senator Mitch McConnell, chose to oppose every Democratic measure, including Wall Street reform.  In doing so, they would impede the recovery and let the other party take the fall.  It was a brilliantly immoral strategy, and it pretty much worked.

The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street rose up as opposite expressions of anti-establishment rage.  The left turned its anger on corporations and banks; the right blamed bureaucrats, minority groups, and immigrants.

Economically, our country has changed surprisingly little since 2008.  Banks have returned to risky practices.  Republicans want to undo Dodd-Frank.  The income/wealth distribution is as lopsided as ever.  Wages are flat.  Corporate profits and stock prices are soaring.  All the misshapen economic trends of the previous decade are still with us.

American democracy is ten years unhealthier.
_____________________________________________

More Random Gun Violence, No Lessons Learned

Yesterday in Jacksonville, a young man participating in a video game tournament suddenly began firing his handgun at people.  Three are dead, including the gunman, and nine were wounded.  The shooter's motive is unknown.

Not to diminish the dead and injured, but as mass shootings go, this one was sort of ho-hum.  Not a big enough body count -- not mass-enough to get mass attention.

We'll probably hear about the dangers of playing video games, and untreated mental illness, and insufficient event security.  All deflection, all BS!  What we won't hear anything about is the real problem -- way too many goddam guns in this country and way too easy to get them.

Secretary of Ignorance -- uh, Education -- Betsy DeVos even wants to add to the problem by allowing schools to use federal education grants to buy guns for their teachers.  What an exquisitely insane idea!  Firearms for every teacher everywhere.  Think back on all the teachers you had over the years.  You comfortable with some of those bozos packing heat?  The gym teacher?  The vice principal?  How about subs?  You really want to arm substitute teachers?  Instead of school-issued weapons, maybe substitutes would have to bring their own guns.  Maybe substitutes could bring substitute guns, like Nerf guns or water pistols.  Jesus!

There are roughly 325 million Americans with 393 million guns in their possession.  Good grief, why?  It seems as if Congress is waiting until each and every one of us loses a family member to gun violence before they take any action.  Maybe not even then.

Madness!

Who McCain Likes

John McCain

John McCain has left us.  Others will eulogize him properly and thoroughly, far beyond my humble abilities to do so.  I will remember him with respect.

I did not vote for McCain in 2008 and very often disagreed with his positions -- despite his "maverick" reputation, he was reliably Republican.  Still, he did exhibit an occasional independent streak.  He could compromise and work across the aisle.  He had no problem telling the asshole Donald Trump where to get off.  In the current state of political de-evolution, there's no one like him remaining in the GOP.

I most appreciate the Arizona Senator for two things:

1.  In July 2017, just five months into my cancer treatments and shortly after revealing his own cancer diagnosis, McCain cast the the third and deciding Republican no vote to deny Trump's attempt to repeal Obamacare.  He did it in dramatic fashion.  (And did it again two months later.)



2.  In advance planning for his funeral, McCain and family associates informed the White House that Trump will not be invited to attend.  Dissing the fat-ass fraud from beyond the grave!  Atta boy, John! 

Flipper

Bad Pecker Jokes

David Pecker is the Chairman of American Media Inc., which publishes the schlock tabloid National Enquirer.  He's a longtime friend and helper of Donald Trump, using the "catch and kill" payoff technique to keep unflattering Trump tales out of the news.  He reportedly has a safe filled with such dirt on The Donald.

Yesterday, Pecker took an immunity deal in exchange for telling federal prosecutors all he knows about the who-when-why of Trump's numerous hush-money payments.

Naturally, a deluge of pecker jokes ensued.  Sophomoric yes, but still funny.  My morning email led with this from D.W., a regular reader:

Will Pecker Screw Trump?

And there were plenty more out there, e.g.:

Trump Loses Pecker
Trump's Pecker Cooperates, Melania Thrilled
Trump Didn't Wrap Up His Pecker
Shoulda Put A Condom On That Pecker
Betrayed By His Own Pecker
His Pecker Isn't Working For Him
Pecker Caught In Vise
Pecker Inserted Into Trump Drama

And my personal favorite, courtesy of Michael McKean:

"Mr. Pecker does not appreciate all the childish jokes about his name." -- National Enquirer/AMI spokesperson Fanny Goblincock

Zach Smith's Role Model Was Anthony Weiner

Zach Smith is the skeevy former OSU assistant football coach at the heart of the Urban Meyer suspension.  Smith was fired for spousal abuse.  But wait, there's more!  (Like we need more.)

From the University's investigation report, we now learn that Smith had sex toys delivered to the OSU athletic facilities, had sex with a team secretary in the athletic facilities, and took "sexually explicit photographs of himself while in the football facilities and at the White House in April 2015 after the team was invited there for winning the national championship." 

OMFG!!  You cannot be serious!  He took dick pix in the White House?  Even Anthony Weiner wouldn't have had the balls (pardon the pun) to do that! 

Trump In Trouble? Go To The Guns!

I couldn't help but notice some of the advertising this morning in my home town fish-wrap. 

With both his personal attorney and campaign manager guilty of tax and bank fraud and campaign finance violations, fake president Donnie Dipstick is in the deepest yogurt yet of his brief but notorious term as White House resident.  He's denying and deflecting and tweeting his 239-pound ass off night and day.

In this fraught environment, two remarkable gun ads ran in my local rag. 

In the Sports section, four full pages were devoted to advertising for Vance's Guns and Ammo.  By my count, the spread featured 104 different firearms in full color, with prices.

Even more remarkable was the half-page ad shown here from a Colorado outfit called Heroes & Patriots LLC.  The "Trump 2020 Rifle" is covered with tacky right-wing engravings and every purchase includes a free hat!  With Hair Furor and his henchmen mired in graft, corruption and disgrace, the sub-heading "Mr. President, Keep Draining the Swamp" is richly ironic.

It's hard to read all the engravings on this crappy carbine, but they include:
"Peace Through Strength"
"Stand For the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem"
"One Nation Under God" (with Trump as God)
"Drain the Swamp"
"Politically Correct"
"Secure Our Borders"
"American Hearts Bleed Red, White & Blue" (especially when shot)
"Fake News" with the circle-and-slash "No" symbol

OMFG!  Astoundingly awful!

The timing of these ads, running as Trump finds himself in lots more trouble than usual, is probably a coincidence.  But maybe not.  Maybe they're a ploy to fire up the few faithful fuckwit Trump supporters who still remain.

Put Kavanaugh On Ice

Democrats must do everything in their power to prevent Trump's SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh from a ram-through confirmation.  Here are four good reasons why an indefinite delay is appropriate:

1.  Kavanaugh was nominated by a deeply flawed and compromised president who is currently under investigation by special counsel.  And the GOP is obstructing and refusing to release the many thousands of pages of Kavanaugh's judicial records and documents from his time in the Dubya White House.

2.  The pro-Kavanaugh forces are spending big money on pre-hearing TV ads designed to polish the nominee's image.  When it becomes necessary to mount a PR spin campaign for a potential Supreme Court justice, that nominee bears a closer look.  Here's one ad I've seen a couple times.  The woman is a friend who says she knows nothing about politics or the Court, but she knows Kavanaugh is a good guy who'd make a good judge.  Doesn't say how she knows, she just knows.

TV ads for the Supreme Court are a very new idea, and a very bad one.

3.  Kavanaugh's record shows he has a very expansive view of executive rights and privileges.  He believes sitting presidents are immune from criminal and civil charges, and should be able to dismiss a special counsel with whom he (or she) disagrees.  Gosh, it's like he was chosen for this very reason!

4.  Mitch McConnell fucked President Obama on his Merrick Garland pick.  Turnabout is fair play.  (De-railing Kavanaugh may prove impossible but, dammit, the Dems gotta try!)

Urban Meyer and Gloria Gaynor -- They Will Survive

Smith and Meyer face the media

After a full day of deliberations with the Trustees, Ohio State University President Michael Drake announced penalties for Head Coach Urban Meyer and Athletic Director Gene Smith for mishandling a spousal abuse case.  Meyer is suspended for the first three games of the season without pay, and Smith is suspended for two weeks without pay.

All things considered, the sanctions are fair and reasonable.  Rabid Buck-Nut fanatics will disagree, but Urban should consider himself very lucky.  OSU could have made an example of him.  He could easily have been fired.  He bungled this entire episode, including yesterday's press conference.  He apologized to the Buckeye faithful without apologizing to or mentioning Courtney Smith, the abused woman.  When asked about her, all he could say was, "I'm sorry we're in this situation."  Pretty weak.

Even with his sparkling W-L record, like Gloria Gaynor, at first he was afraid, he was petrified.  But the W's carry a lot of weight and now Urban knows he will survive.  And the AD will survive, and so will the football team and the university. 

Now, about that Dr. Richard Strauss scandal . . .

"O-marosa!" Another Hilarious Randy Rainbow Parody Song

Let Loose The Memes! ("All the President's Henchmen" Edition)

The Government We Deserve?

"In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve." -- attributed, variously, to Joseph de Maistre, Alexis de Toqueville, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and others

"Ignorant citizens elect ignorant leaders." -- George Carlin

By now, it's crystal clear that Donald Trump is a total scumbucket -- a lying, cheating, egomaniacal, thoroughly corrupt scumbucket.  Everyone knows this.  Sadly, about 35% of the public doesn't care.  In fact, they like it that he's such as asshole.  Because they are too.

But the rest of us have had it with this fraud, this criminal charlatan.  He's a crook surrounded by other crooks.  His personal attorney Michael Cohen and his campaign manager Paul Manafort are guilty of felonious bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance violations.  (Only "the best people.")  Trump himself is, at this point, basically an undicted co-conspirator.  His reaction to these recent developments is pure Mob Boss:

Manafort clammed up, did not testify at his own trial and had no defense -- just what a loyal goombah is supposed to do.  Naturally, Don Frito Corleone praised him.  "Such respect for a brave man!  He refused to break."  (Translation:  "I will pardon you.")

Cohen, on the other hand, copped a plea, sang to federal prosecutors and wants to sing to Robert Mueller.  That's a mortal sin in Mob Land.  To Don Frito, Cohen's a rat who "made up stories to get a deal."  ("Prepare the concrete overshoes!")

So this is our government today:  We've got Al Friggin' Capone in the White House!

We're saddled with this government because too many people beyond the 35% deplorable base went brain dead and somehow convinced themselves that a vote for Trump was better than a vote for Hillary.  Puh-leeze!  Hillary may have her baggage but she'd have been far superior to the daily shit show inflicted upon us by Don the Con.  A lot of unthinking Trump voters are finally figuring this out.

The 35% are getting the government they deserve, but the rest of us deserve better -- much, much better.  It starts to get better in November.  VOTE!  And vote smart.  You know what that means.

Urb's Day Of Reckoning Approaches

The investigation into whether Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer responded properly to the 2015 abuse allegations against ex-assistant coach Zach Smith have been concluded.  The University Trustees will make recommendations to OSU President Michael Drake, who will announce his ruling tomorrow.

And sometimes they should get nervous.

Did Meyer respond properly?  That's the big question.  Based on his initial statement, his words, the answer is no.  Meyer was aware of Zach Smith's domestic violence problem going back to 2009 at Florida.  Virtually everyone on the football staff was aware of the 2015 incident, including Meyer.  Yet in his initial statement on Media Day, a day after Smith was fired, he claimed he was unaware it until Smith was let go, i.e. until the day before.

In his subsequent lawyer-crafted press release after being placed on leave, Meyer's memory had been refreshed and he changed his tune -- he said that he "always followed proper reporting protocols and procedures" and did so after the 2015 incident.  So now he said that despite his Media Day denial, his actions were proper.  Maybe he did report it, maybe his actions were in fact proper.   If so, why claim ignorance on Media Day?  Could he really have forgotten his proper reporting?

And I'm with Dispatch columnist Rob Oller on this larger point:  Meyer first knew about Zach Smith's spousal abuse in 2009, and the issue with Smith kept coming back for the next nine years.  Yet Meyer kept Smith on his staff the whole time.  In retrospect, Urban would probably like a Mulligan on that one.

I trust that Drake and the Trustees will not be influenced by the predictable blame-the-victim stories which have painted Smith's ex-wife Courtney as an unstable nut disliked by her own mother.  Even if she is, that's beside the point.

The question is, did Meyer respond properly to the 2015 allegations?  We'll all get OSU's official answer tomorrow.  

The University could send a message and come down hard on him.  Tressel was canned for trinkets and tattoos.  But Urban Meyer is a really big fish in the pond of college football.  His penalty will probably be fairly light.  I'm no prognosticator, but I predict a one-game suspension. 

"Clean Up On Aisle Rudy!"

After "fake news" and "alternative facts" and "what you're seeing and hearing is not what's happening," this is, I suppose, the logical endpoint:

Enemies, Clearances, And Free Speech

Because they are often critical of him, His Lardship loves to insult the free press by calling them "enemies of the people."  Last Thursday, 350 newspapers across the country responded in editorials, the gist of which was "Fuck you, Donald!"

Because he is often critical of him, Brat Man revoked the security clearance of John Brennan, former CIA director, and threatened to do the same to others in the intelligence community.  A letter supporting Brennan and condemning Trump was written by 12 former senior intelligence officials, and has now been signed by 60 former CIA officials and over 175 Pentagon and State Dept. alumni.  The essential message of the letter was, "Fuck you, Donald!"

Apple, Google and Facebook removed content produced by Alex Jones, hate-mongering conspiracy theory nut-job.  Twitter shut down Jones account and put him in a one week "time out."  (Time out?  Really?  Did he have to sit the corner too?)  Jones has never been critical of Cheeto Jesus, so Trump  defended him.  Social media is "totally discriminating against Republican and conservative voices," said Trump.  "Let everybody participate, good and bad, and we'll all just have to figure it out."  In other words, let's keep abusing these platforms and see how many suckers we can fool.  (Vladi approves!)  Oh, fuck you, Donald!

A few things that our Dictator-Tot just doesn't understand:

• Childishly revoking security clearances as payback for your critics is a losing game.  You can't punish all your detractors.  You can't fire all the Democrats.  And at some point, a future president might revoke your clearance, Donnie, if you're not already in jail by then. 

• The First Amendment is great and censorship should used only sparingly.  But you can't have it both ways.  Trump is all about free speech for Alex Jones, and at the same time would like to gag John Brennan and shut down the New York Times.  And turning loose an army of Russian Twitter-bots spewing propaganda in the name of free speech, and having us "just figure it out" is not a good idea.  

• The real enemy of the people is Dolt 45, our fake president.  

How Trump Can Get His Parade

Zinke's Stinky Ideas On California Fires

Among the worst in the Swamp Cabinet is Ryan "Stinky" Zinke, Interior Secretary.  He's anti-environmental protections, a climate change denier, and a big proponent of selling off public lands and/or allowing private logging, mining, and drilling.

Zinke's bright idea for helping California with its wildfires is . . . cut down more trees in national forests.  He called for "timber harvests" and "aggressive forest management" to stop the fires from spreading.  Well-known firefighting expert Dolt 45 agreed, tweeting that California "must tree clear."  He also blamed the state for "bad environmental laws" and for water "being diverted into the Pacific Ocean."  (Isn't that where California water would go?)  Zinke said the raging fires had "nothing to do with climate change" and instead blamed "radical environmentalists."  Basically, Zinke and Trump fault the State of California.

Last night, an acquaintance with a right-wing bent echoed the Zinke-Trump logic, 'splaining to me that "you just can't have 80,000 acres of forest with no fire break."  Oh, OK.  Whatever you say, John Muir.

I say, why the hell can't you have 80,000 acres of forest?  This continent was once covered in forests before human beings started "managing natural resources."  Even today we have many national forests with millions of acres of trees.  Ohio's dinky Wayne National Forest has 240,000 square acres of trees.

The problem of increasingly frequent wildfires has little to do with the size of wooded areas.  It has much more to do with environmental conditions -- drought, rising temperatures -- which tend to make the fires larger and more extreme.  It's man-made climate change, dummy.

And, Mr. Zinke, the solution is not to pave paradise and put up a parking lot.

Robert Mueller's Indictment Song

The Robert Mueller Plea Deal Hotline

The Queen Is Dead. Long Live The Queen.

Aretha Franklin, 1942 - 2018.  R.I.P.

Comment and Response to Omarosa Post

Received this comment to yesterday's post "What Kind Of Person Would Think That?", which began with me saying "I have no particular use for Omarosa."

AnonymousAugust 15, 2018 at 9:43 AM

You have no use for Omarosa?
I think you just showed your true colors as a misogynistic and racist old white guy when you so flippantly dismiss as useless, a strong, independent, free thinking African-American woman!

Whoa!  Now that's an odd reaction!  Have I been insulted?  Should I be offended?

Mr./Ms. Anonymous could be a regular reader having some crank-yanking fun with me (I hope).  Or he/she could be a first-timer who did a web search for "Omarosa," stumbled upon Buster's Blog, and read no further than the first sentence.  I have no idea.

To be clear, I have no use for Omarosa not because she's an African-American woman, but because she's as Trump-ish as Trump himself.  She's a needy narcissist known for being known, and is desperate to keep it that way.  Like Trump, she's utterly selfish and totally transactional.  Both are day-traders without a long game.  Both will say and do whatever they believe will best serve their personal needs today, in this moment.  And both are perfectly willing to do a complete 180 tomorrow, if they feel it'll help them.

Long ago, Omarosa sold her soul to suck up to TV Trump.  Departing the White House in 2017, she swore, unbelievably, that she left on good terms and that Yam Face was certainly not a racist.  Today she says, more believably, that she was indeed fired and that Trump is of course a racist who regularly dropped the N-word during her days on The Apprentice.

Omarosa is an African-American woman.  But her track record as a shamelessly opportunistic Trump sycophant is not a record of strength, independence or free-thinking.  It's a record of calculation and greed.  So yes, given her weak and malleable character, in the long haul I have no use for Omarosa as a person.

Although she's clearly flawed and compromised, she may still prove temporarily useful in our current troubled moment.  If Omarosa has dirt which can help take Trump out, that would be news we could use!  Bring it on!  I'd be all for that transaction and would thank her for her help in a good cause.

But the flippant old white guy says if we're looking for genuinely strong, independent, free-thinking African-American women, don't look in Omarosa's direction.  For such role models, look instead to Michelle Obama, Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisholm, Angela Davis, Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, and Ida B. Wells, to name a few.

What Kind Of Person Would Think That?

I have no particular use for Omarosa.  I mean, who is she?  What is she?  Seems like a Kardashian with less talent.  Meh.  But then we get these repulsive, rabid sentiments from Hair Furor:


Can you imagine any other president making such a public utterance?  FDR?  JFK?  Obama?  Even Dubya?  Nope.  But with Dolt 45, it's the new normal -- another day, another off-the-cuff tweet tantrum.  The daily meltdown.

Donald J., the "J" stands for "genius," doesn't it?  Who hired the crazed, lowlife dog?  Oh yes, you did!  It's like you picked a narcissistic reality TV star with zero aptitude and no governmental experience and put her in the West Wing.  What kind of person would ever think that was a good idea?  Oh, wait.  Never mind.


A year and a half into our shared nightmare, and I still wonder what kind of people would ever think it was a good idea to vote for tRump?  Then I see something like this and I'm reminded -- oh yeah, people like these:

(And these MAGAtts are from Ohio, I'm sorry to say.)

First Amendment Fizzle

I was pleased that Sunday's "Unite the Right" rally in D.C. for alt-right, neo-Nazi, white supremacists (on the one-year anniversary of Charlottesville) did not turn violent.  I was also greatly amused to see that the "rally" was a total dud, a First Amendment fizzle -- a motley collection of about 20 racist idiots and a couple of stray dogs.  The bigots were vastly outnumbered by a couple thousand counter-protesters, so the shit-heads packed it in promptly and just went home.  Hilariously inept!

Yes, things still look bleak at the moment, but there may be hope for America after all.

Useful Spanish Phrases For Travelling In Mexico

Former President of Mexico Vicente Fox offers some useful Spanish phrases for Americans travelling in his country.  Having visited Mexico many times, I promise you Fox's tips will come in handy.

He Says The N-Word

Omarosa Whoever-She-Is has a new book out in which she says that the Abominable Showman uses the N-word, and she claims she has it on tape.

Omarosa, tell me something I don't know.  Prima Donald has been using the N-word his entire life, both literally and figuratively.  He uses it in his thoughts, words and deeds.  Always has, always will.

He has effectively used the N-word when:

He refused to rent to blacks in the 1970's.
He took out a full-page ad calling for the death penalty for the falsely-accused Central Park 5.
He disparaged Barack Obama with absurd "birther" claims.
He said that after Obama, "you won't see another black president for generations."
He called Mexicans "rapists" and "bad hombres."
He called for a wall to be built on the southern border.
He instituted a family separation border policy and established a Baby Jail.
He ordered a Muslim travel ban.
He endorsed police brutality by telling arresting officers "Please don't be too nice."
He refused to condemn David Duke or the KKK.
He said the white supremacists of Charlottesville included "some very fine people."
Post-Hurricane Maria, he has let Puerto Rico languish for almost a year with inadequate power, water, and food.  (But they have paper towels.)
He described Haiti, El Salvador and much of Africa as "shit-hole countries."
He said 15,000 Haitian immigrants "all have AIDS."
He anger-tweets about take-a-knee black athletes, calling them unpatriotic and ungrateful.  (What a land of opportunity we have where large black men can collide into one another and give themselves CTE, all for the enjoyment of the masses.  Aren't they lucky to have that chance!)
He insults the intelligence of LeBron James, Don Lemon, Maxine Waters and other black leaders.
He lies about millions of illegal voters and supports voter suppression measures which disproportionately affect black people and brown people.
He referred to a Latina Miss Universe as "Miss Housekeeping."
He calls Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas."
He pardoned Joe Arpaio.
He endorsed Roy Moore.
He supported Marine Le Pen.
He said immigration has "changed the fabric of Europe and it's never going to be what it was."

Yeah, Trump uses the N-word.  A lot.  In so doing, he enables others to do the same.  A friend's recent FB post told of overhearing three old white people talking in a coffee shop.  They were telling themselves that black people don't have to deal with racism anymore and there's no such thing as white privilege.  They were essentially thinking and using the N-word, implying that blacks should be grateful for all they've been "given."  The coffee-shop coots are racists in deep denial.

Of course Trump uses the N-word.  He's a blatant, obvious, life-long racist.  

It's not news, but it's still a good reason to vote him out and get rid of him and his supporters permanently.