For the Rich, By the Rich

As the disassembly of the American government continues, we must keep in mind why it’s happening.

The disassemblers want you to think that it’s solely about lowering spending and the deficit. That’s partially correct… that’s one facet. But it sounds good so that’s the part they trumpet to their MAGA followers.

It’s been a Republican principle ever since I can remember to limit government. Remember good old Grover Norquist, the guy who personally demanded pledges from GOP politicians that they will never raise a tax of any kind? He would finance a primary challenge to anyone who didn’t make the pledge.

His most salient quote is “I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”

Republican leadership wants there to be no government because in such a case, those with the most money will rule. That’s them.

So now they’ve conned lower and middle-class people into voting for them and actually cheering as DOGE eliminates one government agency after another, including those that service the basic needs of all Americans. And I expect the cheers to continue right up until the next disaster hits and there’s no one left that knows how to deal with it. No FEMA, no NOAA forecasting, medical research to be done, no regulations that require banks to give you back your money, and so on.

What they are doing is criminal and I mean that literally. There is no support in the law for an appointed figure to make unilateral cuts to government personnel and agencies. And it’s especially galling once you realize that the person managing all this destruction is reaping the direct benefit because the businesses that he owns are being investigated or have business before all the agencies he’s dismantling.

This is just one.

No one on the news or in the local papers (at least MY local paper) is talking about the after-effects of all these cuts. Thousands of workers are being laid off by people who have no idea what they actually do. In some cases, like with those who oversee our nuclear capabilities, they have had to be immediately recalled, because even the rich assholes know enough not to mess around with nuclear science.

Here are some of the biggest targets so far:

·         The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whose job it is to keep you from getting screwed by banks. Ask yourself, why would a legitimate politician want that removed? The only answer is so you can be screwed over by banks again.

·         OSHA, which is responsible for workplace safety. Without them, there is no one to ensure that machinery is properly guarded, workers aren’t engaging in dangerous activity, they are not getting poisoned by the atmosphere in the plant, and so forth. This department was created because business practices were so dangerous, with fatalities merely being considered “the cost of doing business.” If a business can cut a safety corner that saves them money and there is no disincentive, do you really think they’ll refrain? History tells us otherwise.

·         NOAA, which provides detailed weather forecasting free of charge to the public. They are being taken down for two reasons. One is that they are a leader in climate change research and that’s exactly what Republicans don’t want to hear about. They are still owned by the fossil fuel industry, to whom there is no such thing as climate change. The other reason is that, like with most other services, they’d rather privatize than provide, so that their people can make money from it. We’re spoiled with free hurricane reporting now. What happens when it becomes a pay service? This isn’t Only Fans, this is public safety. Not everyone can afford to drop $9.99 a month for storm warnings. But even if it doesn’t go that far, it’s still a barrier to necessary information.

·         USDA and the people who inspect our food to ensure it’s safe. Tell me why an honest politician would want to tamper with food safety? There are no legitimate reasons, only to lower standards to reduce the cost of production, without opposition. Who cares, then, when people get sick? How are they going to prove it? And prove it to whom, without a governing agency?

·         The VA. Look at how many Democratic programs get slammed because “We shouldn’t spend money on “this” while we still have homeless veterans.” These guys are cutting services to all veterans, not just the homeless ones, and there’s not a peep from all these MAGA “patriots.”

There are dozens more but it all comes down to the same thing… and this is the main reason for these actions. Small government and lower expenditures make possible the fat tax cuts they want to renew. These are tax cuts for the rich that we will barely even notice in our paychecks. And this time, they’re not even bothering to continue the lie that it will spur the economy so that the rest of us feel the difference. We know, from when these tax cuts were rolled out, that they won’t do anything for anyone other than line the pocket of the rich.

It’s not like they’re averse to spending money though, as long as it’s on themselves. TFG’s golf trips and Mar-a-Lago trips cost the taxpayers millions. But they don’t even pretend to care about these optics. After all, they see it as their right as the Ruling Class.

This is what we’re up against for the next 4 years. And I hope people remember what government service used to be like. It wasn’t always the most efficient, but at least it was there. If there’s ever another election we’re going to need everyone onboard to reset the clock. (And women, be sure you have your docs in order, Republicans have proposed a bill that will likely end the right to vote for married women who have taken their husband’s name unless they obtain a whole new set of documents.) They may fix that loophole in Committee, but they haven’t yet, and that’s telling.

We’re only about a month in. It’s going to be an ugly road ahead.

The SBLIX Viewing Experience

I haven’t written a Super Bowl post since 2023, which coincidentally was also the Chiefs vs. Eagles game. I’ve been a football fan since I was ten or eleven, and that’s not changing, despite the plethora of changes to the game and broadcast. Yes, with all the serious worldly events going on, I still look forward to some mental diversion. The problems will still be there on Monday, right?

I had a hard time finding a rooting interest this year. As a Steelers fan, I don’t have a dog in the fight. I do like the Chiefs and they’re entertaining to watch, but I’d rather they didn’t three-peat. As for Philly, I don’t really have anything against the team, but their fans are obnoxious. They’re the only fan base that required a judge and jail within the stadium and seem proud of it. But I eventually decided to root for the Eagles anyway. After all, without Philly joining with Pittsburgh to vote blue, Pennsylvania wouldn’t be a purple state, they’d be Alabama.

As for picks to win, I went with the Chiefs because regardless of the situation, they somehow find a way to win.

Earlier during the weekend, I posited that since TFG would be in attendance, he probably contacted the network to make sure he was shown on air more than Taylor Swift. And because the game was on Fox, I was betting they would acquiesce. I decided I’d keep track to test my theory. My initial thought was that I’d count instances during the game, (mostly because I didn’t watch much of the pregame show. They showed him, though, right before the game, I think during the National Anthem (of course Fox would merge the two.) They showed Taylor near the end of the first half. And then neither one showed up again. So it was a tie, by my rules.

But then I learned this morning that he was also shown earlier in the pregame show, so he probably considers it a win. (I consider it a win any time I don’t have to see his lumpy orange visage.)

I think Fox made a conscious effort NOT to show Taylor Swift because there were plenty of opportunities with Travis Kelce either catching or dropping passes. In the past, most of those would cue a cutaway to Taylor reacting in the stands. Not so this time, thus disappointing legions of tween girls watching the broadcast with their dads.

I understand that they did show TS in the stands on the scoreboard during the game, and she drew more boos than cheers. I can't understand why that was shocking. The place was filled with Eagles fans and she's the Chiefs' most prominent cheerleader. Of course she was going to get booed. There may be more young female NFL fans because of her, but they wouldn't be attending the Super Bowl. This was 100% predictable.

So, let’s bullet point the next several hours… The Super Bowl… Go!

·         I commend the organizers for trying to give the show a little NOLA flavor. I mean, the Southern University Marching Band can really get down… But where’s the Cajun/Zydeco influence? That shit is made for the party! I used to love going to Cajun festivals back when I lived in Albany NY. It was always a great time.

·         Ad: Martha Stewart doing the CGI Boogie for glide-step Skechers. Loved it. Hilarious. I hope they continue to use that one so it’s not just one-and-done.

·         Ad: I know the Dunkin Donuts commercial was trying really hard but there was so much jammed in, I’m going to have to see it again to make sense of it. I lost focus right after they showed Jay and Silent Bob, then spent the rest of the time waiting for them to come back (which they never did).

·         The first so-called “Controversial Call.” I saw a guy put his hands in the other guy's facemask twice, while the ball was in the air. That’s pass interference against the Eagles. Cue the harrumphing about the Chiefs getting all the calls… right up until the Eagles benefitted from a similar call on the next series.

·         Let me take this opportunity to rant about how much I hate all the “Chiefs Get All the Calls” bullshit. The fact is the same thing gets said about every team that dominates. I used to hear it about the Steelers all the time, and certainly about the Tom Brady-led Patriots. I agree with the detailed explanations regarding just how complicated it would be for there to be an actual league plot to prop up one team. It could never happen. One corrupt official? Sure, but there are just too many involved with a year’s worth of league games.  Yes, some calls get blown, as they have across time and space. All this bitching about a conspiracy is just sour grapes from fans whose teams aren’t good enough. /rant

·         Ad: The Eugene Levy/Flying Eyebrows spot for Little Caesars was hilarious, although kind of pointless.

·         I can’t believe Tom freakin’ Brady is complaining about those first two penalties. Nobody cried harder for flags after getting hit than Brady. STFU about penalties, Tom. You bitched anytime a defensive lineman breathed on you.

·         I have to add that despite deciding to root for the Eagles, I keep finding myself cheering when something good happens to KC and bummed when the Eagles make a play. I guess deep down, I’m rooting for the Chiefs regardless of what my brain says.

·         Ad: Celebrity Pickleball. I must be missing something. Who is that playing with Willem Dafoe? Chris Evert with raccoon eyeliner? It seems it should either be two athletes or two former tennis pros. It doesn’t make sense to have an aging actor in there.

·         After the first quarter, they showed several celebs in the stands, but no Taylor. Telling.

·         Ad: Seal the seal for Mountain Dew. This was the first one to make me laugh out loud. I don’t really get it, but it was so well done. The moment I realized what they were doing, I just busted.

·         Ad: I also loved the Senior Citizen ladies for Weather Tech floor mats. I LOLed when the old lady flashed the judge. I hope they keep using this one too.

·         After the Eagles Pick-6, the Chiefs better get their offense in gear or they’re gonna be too far behind to just “find a way” this time.

·         Ad: I never want to see that Coffee Mate “tongue” commercial again, as long as I live. Ick. Pass the eye bleach.

·         Ad: Pringles flying moustaches that totally rip off Eugene Levy’s flying eyebrows. Someone should be suing someone here…

·         The first Taylor sighting, right before the half, which I now know will be the only one.

·         Halftime: The last rock band to play the SB halftime was The Who in 2010. Before them, it was Springsteen, Tom Petty, Prince, and the Stones. And ever since it’s been nothing but pop, rap, and R&B. I guess I’m no longer in the target demographic. I usually enjoy the stage show and the dancers, but after a few moments, I’m on my phone scrolling Bluesky, waiting for the show to end. Apparently, Kendrick Lamar called out Drake as a pedophile but it went right over my head.

·         Back to the game, the Eagles don’t even need to blitz, they just rush their front four who are getting tremendous pressure on Mahomes. It’s like the Eagles are playing against a high school team, not the 2-time defending champs.

·         I found less and less on which to comment in the second half… the Eagles ran away with the game and all the good commercials seem to have come early. The Chiefs got two TDs in garbage time but lost 40-22, with the Eagles’ scrubs in the game. And I give credit to Philly for that, letting everybody get a chance to play in the big game.

·         So as it turns out, the team my brain wanted to win did win. I always enjoy watching the post-game celebration and seeing everyone so happy. But there was no Three-peat and a chunk was taken out of KC’s armor. Now I hope to see some new blood in the arena next year.

Don't Blame the White Guy

I heard about the DC plane/helicopter crash on the radio when I woke up the next morning. While in the shower, I thought, “How long is it going to take before someone tries to blame the Democrats for this?”

I didn’t have to wait much longer. By midday, TFG declared the crash the fault of Dem-induced DEI at the FAA. Then as if by magic, all his minions appeared across the internet to parrot their Fuhrer’s line of bullshit.

And they stuck to their script, even after it came out that there were no “DEI beneficiaries” in the tower at that time. In case you’re keeping score, that means when white guys screw up, it’s because somewhere in their organization, Black, brown, or female people have jobs.

It’s funny how DEI is the problem now rather than at any time during the last four years of such hiring practices. If what they’re claiming is true, there should have been multiple plane crashes on our soil. Instead, there were none.

So, maybe shutting down FAA oversight committees, and directors, and tendering resignation requests among the staff might have had a leeeetle to do with it, but surely not as much as knowing a minority works there somewhere.

This is what we’re reduced to today. It’s a clown show held in a house of mirrors. Bizarro World government.

The day after a crash, nobody should be politicizing it, from either side, for the simple reason that no one knows jack shit yet. And no one will know anything definite until they review and release the data from the helicopter’s black box.

You’ve probably seen the film. You can plainly see the helicopter fly straight into the side of the oncoming airplane. Maybe there’s a case to be made that the helicopter should have been routed elsewhere. But it’s an uncontestable fact that the copter should have seen the plane coming in, all lit up in front of it. Helicopters have a complete range of visual access from far left to far right; with 180 degrees of visual range. All it had to do was move up, down, or left in the five to ten seconds before impact to avoid it.

Given that, I want to hear what was happening in the helicopter that was compelling enough to draw the pilots’ attention away from the jet airliner smack dab in front of them. Was there an injury, a heart attack, or a seizure? Did the steering system break down?

None of us know any of that and I hope we do soon. The faster we have the facts, the faster we’ll learn that DEI had nothing to do with any of this.

But then, who am I kidding? The Right never admits they’re wrong. If the pilot was having a heart attack, they’ll claim a DEI Army doctor missed the signs. If it was a mechanical problem, it would have been a DEI Army mechanic who didn’t see a damaged stick (or whatever.) You can’t win when one side will adapt any situation to match their core beliefs, facts, evidence, and common sense be damned.

Republicans have decided DEI is the cause of everything that ails the country and will stretch the truth to asinine proportions to make their point. I mean, look at this knob:

Aircraft terminology is the culprit that's making planes smash into each other or fall out of the sky? I can’t believe these shmucks can put that out there with a straight face. No shame whatsoever. They will look us right in the face and tell the most mind-bending lie they can and their disciples will believe it without question because they want it to be true.

On Facebook, I saw the father of an old childhood friend and faithful MAGA fall in line with this completely, claiming that because he flies a small aircraft, he can attest that DEI is dangerous because each “DEI hire” robs who he assumes to be a more qualified white man of his rightful job.

It’s funny that some of us thought that after Obama was elected, we’d reached a “Post-racial” environment. Au contraire. What it did was shock the racists so hard that they vowed that they would never let such a thing happen again. And the result of this mental reset is the MAGA we know today.

Lucky us.

Director's DVD Commentary: I just joined BlueSky last week, with the handle bluzdude.bsky.social. Follow me and I'll follow you back!

That BK Ad

Rarely has a newspaper cartoon captured my exact thoughts as perfectly as this one did last week:

Thank you “Pearls Before Swine” for being a beacon of clarity.

This series of Burger King commercials, (you know the ones, unless you’ve been watching nothing but Netflix lately) has been driving me buggy since their onset a few years ago.

I’m going to dip into the long-neglected training from my Radio/TV/Film major college days and discuss this commercial in detail, from what they’re trying to do to why it irritates me and so many others.

One of the main things I learned was that every single thing you see in a commercial is put there to serve a purpose. Nothing is there by accident, especially in big national spots like these.

Every actor, setting, prop, costume, and graphic is there for a reason, usually as an unspoken message or reinforcement aimed at the demographic they’re trying to reach.

(Stupid local ads for car dealerships, lawyers, home improvement, and the like are a category unto themselves, where often the ad creators are just doing what the egocentric business owner tells them to. "Seriously, my customers love it when I yell car prices at them!")

If you ARE a Netflix devotee and have been fortunate enough to miss them, there’s a series of BK commercials wherein they do “updates” of their old 70s jingle, using someone who can’t sing.

If you’re anywhere close to my age, you remember the original jingle:

“Hold the pickle hold the lettuce,

Special orders don’t upset us.

All we ask is that you let us

Serve it your way.

Have it YOUR way,

Have it your Way, at Burger KING.”

At first, I was happy about the new ad series because it meant the end of their creepy “King-face mask” character that looks like a picture of Charlemagne from an old history textbook.

But now, their more recent ads are a travesty to anyone who takes Weird Al’s work seriously. There’s an art to creating an effective parody, or in this case, jingle refurbishment. You have to make it as close to the original as possible, optimally, using the same rhyming sounds and number of syllables per line as found in the original.

The new jingles sound like they are written by AI. They’re basically reciting menu items with descriptions from internal marketing memos, forced into the rhythm of the original jingle. The rhymes are elementary and they frequently jam far too many syllables into a line not designed to handle them. Or not enough.

One of them that’s running now is for the BK Melt. They stretch the word “melt” over five different notes, where five different words should be if you’re doing it right.

Instead of “Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce…” the lyric is “BK me-eh-eh-eh-elt…”

Deadpool would call it “lazy writing” and I agree. Maybe Mariah Carey can pull that off but not this guy. Which brings me to the next point.

For the voice, they use that of a non-threatening Black guy. Think “Jake from State Farm,” who’s basically Ned Flanders without the verbal flourishes. “Jake” started as a schlubby white guy before State Farm decided to make him a central character and they needed him to look cool bouncing around with Patrick Mahomes.

I presume they’re aiming for a lower to middle-class audience, with the identifiably Black voice, but not so Black as to scare off the white folks… looking for a sort of “everyman.” I mean, BK isn't going after Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse patrons, are they? And whoever this guy is, he can’t carry a tune. He kind of talk-sings like young children often do when they think they’re singing but really aren’t. Most of us can’t sing, so maybe they’re trying to seem relatable.

The original jingle used correct pronunciation. This one always elides the “your way” into “have it yer way.” This is another “everyman” touch, reaching out to people who don’t have time for fancy cooking or diction, and just want to be face-deep in a Whopper before they even pull out of the drive-thru.

And the last of the verbal tricks is that final “YOU RULE,” when the jingle is done, which is nothing but a transparent attempt to flatter the audience. “Yes, I rule. I am the King of the Value Menu! Bow before your Liege!”

The music tries to update the original tune with more electronica, but mostly drums. The drum sounds bounce around all over the place, making 30 seconds worth of impotent racket, like a drum fill that lasts for the entire jingle. And I say “impotent” because the drums sound like someone playing on shoe boxes, or just tapping an open mic. “Bup bup bup bup bup… mic check…” Maybe it’s a generational thing but to me, drums are supposed to thunder, not sound like Morse Code.

They also add some common tricks you’ll find elsewhere like stretching out the BEE sound in BK. It’s the “cheese” effect of picture-taking. When someone is holding a long E sound, it subconsciously evokes a smile. Applebee’s does this in their ads too.

And the same goes for extending the “ssssss” on the line where they rhyme "Shroom and Swiss" with “hunger blisssss.” The extended S also evokes a smile, like the long E. They must really want us to think their place is one happy kingdom.

If they’re that tired of coming up with new lyrics and rhymes, maybe they should just put this one to bed and try something else, maybe something original. Sure, they already owned the rights to the “Hold the Pickle" melody, so it was the cheap option. Maybe they can sponsor a nationwide search for a new jingle. They can make it for amateurs only so then when they find a good one, it’ll be that much easier to screw the artist on the copyright revenue.

“You want your jingle on national TV? Sign the papers.”

Then they can go back to milking that “everyman” vibe for all it’s worth. And maybe we can watch BK ads again without wanting to jam pencils into our ears.

I Long for Yesterday

I managed to avoid coverage, yesterday, of the beginning of the end of our democracy. From what I’ve heard, I didn’t miss anything but the groundwork being laid for an administration rife with misinformation, lies, greed, and callous disregard for public service. And sitting right up front were the filthy rich, without whose direct involvement, the average American might still have a chance.

Well, Red America, you got what you wanted. How’d you like that immediate raising of Medicare drug prices? At least it’s not eggs, right? (Yet.)

And today’s snowstorms on the Gulf Coast and other southern states? Get used to it. There will be no more attention paid to climate change, the results of which we’ve been getting hammered with for the last decade. Yes, I know your limited information leaves you wondering why global warming makes it cold, but that’s what happens when Arctic ice melts and airflow patterns change, pushing jet streams out of their usual places. But sure, pull out of the Paris climate accords, so we’re one of four countries not included (along with the climate geniuses in Yemen, Iran, and Libya). You and Fox “News” are right and the rest of the civilized and uncivilized world is wrong. You betcha.

And with the new bird flu on the horizon, our nation’s health will be handed over to some schmuck with zero medical experience and a lot of wrong ideas about medicine that has eradicated diseases from the modern world for a century.

We’ll need to bring in a mathematician to keep track of all the needless deaths from disease, medical neglect, and insurance logjams, that is, if there is anyone left who remembers how to math.

The thing I’m most distressed about is that there is no longer a mechanism for sounding the alarm about what the consequences will be when 47’s actions bear fruit. The news industry has given up investigation and reporting in favor of cheerleading because the big businesses that own all the networks and newspaper companies decided to abandon their journalistic obligations in lieu of currying favor with the once and current emperor. Social media CEOs have turned belly up as well, dashing the idea of fact-checking and preventing life-threatening disinformation from taking root on their platforms. The only people who want to get rid of fact-checking are habitual liars, who need their bullshit to spread unimpeded. But that’s who they’re throwing in with, to keep those ad dollars flooding in.

Once upon a time, journalists stood tall and firm, united against autocrats. There are still some out there too, if only their boardroom overlords would allow their voices to be heard. (Hi Jim Acosta! Hope you enjoy your new overnight shift at CNN!)

No, this new administration laid the groundwork with threats and clandestine meetings, to make sure that their own statements would be amplified, with any opposition reduced to lone voices, wailing in the distance. To disobey would mean an onslaught of federal lawsuits, IRS audits, and costly new regulations. Naturally, there wasn’t a strong backbone to be found amid the business world nor the political one, not even the Democrats. They seem to have accepted their servitude and oncoming irrelevance and disappeared into the woodwork. Nice going fellas… and be sure to keep sending those fundraising emails! Be sure to list all your “accomplishments,” too.

It won’t be long before they come for the bloggers too. The Imbecile in Chief will put pressure on the platform bosses and next thing you know, they’ll have moved “content management” from Facebook to Blogger, from Twitter to WordPress. Maybe we’ll have to resort to smoke signals. You know the EPA won’t step in… there will no longer BE an EPA. It’ll disappear right along with the Department of Education. That way, Americans not only get poisoned by the air and water, they won’t even know how to read the warnings. (You know, from bloggers’ smoke signals. It’s not like they’re going to hear about it on the news.)

And the worst part of all this? Even if, by some miracle, there IS a massive case of Buyer’s Remorse, come November 2028, we can’t expect that there will be an honest election. Guess who’s already working on putting more limits and restrictions on voting.

This 100% follows the Republican playbook wherein they create a prevailing atmosphere of suspicion around the voting process and then “fix” it in a way that plays to their advantage. (Like only having the upper crust vote.) By the time they’re done, the only way we get to place a vote will be with a secret code that they only give you upon completion of your MBA.

I think President Biden did the best job he could, under the circumstances. He left the country in good shape so that the blame for any tanking will fall on the new Administration, at least until Fox and friends can jerry-rig a way to call a spade a club and blame the Democrats anyway.

I’m glad he distributed pardons to Dr. Fauci, the 1/6 Committee, and his family. If the Republicans are going to use the Justice system to play offense, the least we can do is play some defense. There’s no doubt in my mind that they would follow through with these threatened prosecutions despite zero evidence of wrongdoing, even if it was just to make their adversaries pay out the nose for massive legal fees. That can set you up for a world of hurt… just ask Rudy. Although this is America, even after working day and night to overthrow a free election, he still gets to keep his World Series rings.

What a great time to be a white, male, Republican.

Not Exactly Sophie's Choice

It almost seems like the Republicans have boxed themselves into a corner here.

On the one hand, they want to renew the massive 2017 tax cut package, which will limit incoming dollars. They also want to launch a costly, unprecedented military action to round up undocumented immigrants to deport them.

But on the other hand, they say they want to reduce the deficit, too. Accomplishing both of these things is basically impossible.

On the campaign trail they make it seem like there is oodles of excess pork just waiting to be cut, to offset their ethnic cleansing wet dreams, but in reality, discretionary spending makes up very little of the overall budget. Once the math is done, it’s clear that their tax cuts for the rich will balloon the deficit even further. So what will they do?

They’ll pass the tax cuts, guaranteed. Because that’s what their rich donors put them in office to do. And they’ll find a way to blame Democrats for it, you watch. They’re already beefing about how much the California firefighting and projected recovery will cost, and like anything that happens in Cali, from fires to earthquakes to Oscar snubs, they blame Democrats.

Republicans only truly care about the deficit when the Democrats are in office. That’s when they rail for austerity and want to cut programs that help the average citizen, like Social Security and Medicare. They use the deficit as a lever to get rid of programs they don’t like. But once they have control of the government, like now, they throw open the vault doors like it’s a Billionaire Toga Party with multi-million dollar swag bags. They’re happy to let the next Democrat Administration come in and try to clean up the mess (and attack them for not doing it fast enough.)

Good luck keeping the Democrats united to stop them. I think the rich donor class has figured out by now that they need to buy themselves a few Democrats they can count on to vote with the Republicans every so often to counter any straying members of their own. Manchin and Sinema are gone, but I’m sure they’ve been replaced.

And now that the GOP is back in control, you can see how they’re already trying to embed themselves there, like a tick. Here’s one example of how they’ll do it:

The Felonious Guy (TFG) wants to dismantle the Post Office. It’s a double win for them… on the one hand, the mail gets privatized and farmed out to UPS, DHL, Amazon, etc. So Big Delivery gets a shot in the profits at the expense of us raggedy consumers.

The other benefit is it will throw a monkey wrench into efforts to expand or even maintain mail-in voting, which currently provides an end-around to their voter suppression tactics like under-assignment of voting machines, reduction of early voting, and sanctions against aiding people in line. (And those tactics are targeted at Democratic strongholds, of course.)

Whether they can do this is up in the air. After all, the Postal Service is provided for in the Constitution, and anything so based is hard to alter. It's not impossible, though, not with the Republican lapdogs in the Supreme Court.

Crossroads

I apologize for not having a post up on Monday. It was my first day back to work since 12/19 and by the time I was done catching up, I didn’t feel like sitting at the computer desk anymore.

But the main issue is that I am at a loss right now and don’t know what to do.

With TFG about to regain power, I feel like I’ve already done this before. I (and many others) have spent four years fighting and writing against his outrageous behavior and absurd actions, and then four more years defending President Biden from dishonest attacks amid massive amounts of misinformation. But none of it made a lick of difference because here we are, about to do it all over again.

This guy hasn’t even taken office yet and he’s already talking about renaming the Gulf of Mexico,  invading Panama and Greenland, and annexing Canada. I mean, seriously?

I understand that this may merely be his opening bid, something so outrageous it thrills his minions and keeps international leaders on edge, but something from which he will retreat and end up with what he really wants. (Appeasing Putin.)

But if he goes through with purging the military of independent minds, who’s left to stop him from executing the original plan? He doesn’t give a shit about Congress. As long as he has an enforcement arm to do his bidding, we’ll be looking at the Reign of the Boy-King Joffrey. We’d better get Peter Dinklage a Cabinet job, pronto.

One pimp slap, coming up…

A (slim) majority of people voted for this buffoon. He may be an idiot, but he’s their idiot and they’ll find a way to blame every one of his shortcomings on someone else. They don’t care if he lies, they don’t care if he cheats, they don’t care if he makes a mockery of justice, they don’t care if he loots the freakin’ treasury and cuts programs they rely on… He’s their guy, ride or die.

How do you combat that? Facts, logic, evidence, data, none of it matters. The naked emperor has clothes on and they’re better than anyone else’s.

Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll have a massive heart attack and piss off for good, leaving the rest of the Republicans fighting each other for power, with none charismatic enough to lead the MAGA dullards.

So, like I said, I don’t know what to do with myself now.

I may have to find something else to write about for a while. The political beat has been a real load.

I’ll just have to see how I feel next week.

Meanwhile, somebody get the President-Elect a big, fat, well-done prime rib.

Cold Cuts

We're feeling a bit under the weather here at ol' Chateau Bluz. I came down with a cold on Friday night and I'm still working my way through it. I took a COVID test on Sunday and that came up negative, so at least there's that. This seems to be the kind of nasty chest cold I used to get every year before I started working from home. It'll pass, but I'm not up to putting any coherent thoughts together this afternoon, so here's a funny story from the Bluz Archives (about ten years ago) about a rather alarming dream.

The Dream

Great. Flaming. Jesus. I had the most unbelievable and traumatic dream Sunday night. Check this out…

I was playing soccer and got tangled up with another player, and we both went down in a heap. When I got up, I realized that “Bluz Jr.” had been nearly sliced off and was hanging by a tiny strip of skin. In fact, the top half came right off in my hand.

And I remember thinking (within the dream), “Damn, that’s the good part.” No guy wants to live without the Angry Inch

You know how we guys are about our junk.  We’re highly protective of our little buddies. 

(Disclaimer: Not an actual willy.)

Though clearly unhappy about my schlong being reduced to a schlort, I was remarkably composed about the whole incident, which had been surprisingly painless. (That should have been my first clue that it was a dream.) The next thing I knew, I was sitting in a sort of “common room” that you might find in the main area of a frat house. It appeared to be a house full of medical students. Perhaps I was playing college intermural soccer.

Anyway, with the better half of Bluz Jr still in my hand, and the other half suffering from boneus interruptus, I asked the room if they might be able to find a way to put this thing back on because I was pretty sure I was going to need it. In fact, I had to pee right then. There seemed to be a murmur in the room, as they discussed my plight and I considered what it might be like to live without a wang.

And then… I was never as glad as I was right then, to wake up in my own bed.  An immediate examination determined that Bluz Jr was just fine. And all was well again in the land of Bluz.  Even if he didn’t have anywhere to go just yet, he still has potential.

So now: WTF????  Do any of you amateur Freuds out there want to take a shot at what that meant?

Freud and So-crates… the Dream Team

First of all, me? Playing soccer???  I haven’t played a competitive game of soccer since gym class in junior high, and that was a one-off.  Where in the hell did that come from?  Just because I was a Mia Hamm fan doesn’t mean I wanted my lunch meat sliced.

My first instinct is to tie it to my experience of my boomerang relationship that just bounced out of the apartment. Could that have been my brain processing the loss of autonomy that the relationship represented? But if so, why did I have the dream when it was over, rather than when it was still going on?

Maybe it was trying to make me consider a life without meat.

Or maybe it was a message for me to be less cocky.

Either way, you can bet your ass I’m never playing soccer again.

The Traveling Christmas Show

Happy Christmas, my friend. Hope you're happy and well as we dive headfirst into the big holiday week. Whatever it is you celebrate, I hope you have a joyous one.

All my life, Christmas was a happy but chaotic time of year.

The Traveling Christmas Show

Christmas was always such a busy time, growing up. When we were little and still living in Pittsburgh, it was such a flurry of activity having our own Christmas and then heading off to both grandparents’ places. I know it was all pretty hard on my parents but as kids, we loved it! Three Christmas extravaganzas of cookies, good food, presents and cookies! Lots of cousins to play with! And did I mention the cookies?

My grandpa on my Dad's side always took movies… the old 8mm silent kind and he always used a movie light; a big, brilliant, blinding, white light. It was so bright we could barely open our eyes wide enough to see what we were opening. Then when it was over, he’d turn it off and the room would seem positively cave-like and we’d spend the next 10 minutes walking into things until our eyes adjusted. Too bad the camera was off by then… this footage would have been much more entertaining.

In later years, my aunt had those movies knocked off onto VHS. It was funny then to see essentially the same movie over and over again but with the characters aging by a year each time.

Hey, there’s a bunch of blinded kids opening presents...

Oh, look at the baby surrounded by wrapping paper...

Look who's coming in the door... Say hi!

Now it’s dinner time… there’s the table. Look at all the food.

Everybody wave… annnnd CUT!

Now it’s the next Christmas… look at the same blinded kids, eww, what are they wearing?

There’s another baby…

It's them again, coming in the door...

And on it goes…

It was agonizing to see myself going through all the horrid fashions of the 1970’s.

Several years of plaid pants… Auuuugh!

The "Saturday Night Fever" year of silk shirt and necklace… Gack!

The "Urban Cowboy" year with a freakin’ cowboy hat with a wrap-around feather the size of a vulture’s ass! Who did I think I was, Charlie Daniels?

Nevertheless, it was cool seeing my cousins growing up right before my eyes. In fact, we only got to see the cousins in yearly increments anyway, once we left The Burgh. (I was 6.) As the first-born of two firstborns, I was the alpha cousin and in later years, it was up to me to maintain order among the kids. That is where my high school class ring came in very handy. I learned from my dad just how powerful a good backhand flick of the ring was. In fact, I think I still have an ornate, backward “D” on the top of my skull from his Duquesne ring.

Once we moved away from Pittsburgh, my siblings and I got to enjoy a new Christmas perk… Christmas a week early! The weekend before Christmas, we’d have our own celebration and do the stockings, presents and the whole sha-bang. Then we’d travel to Pittsburgh for the actual holiday and make the Grandparental rounds.

The trip was always hell, especially when we were coming from Chicago (the furthest from which we had to travel; three bored, punchy little kids, fighting their seat belts and each other, trying to listen to a scratchy AM radio. Mom still smoked back then so we had regular noxious gas intervals. She’d crack the window, thinking the smoke would go out. Unfortunately, it was mostly the freezing air rushing in to spread the carcinogens around.

But it was all worth it when we got to my grandparents’ place for the best meal of the year: The Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes. It’s an Italian thing. There would be fried smelts and shrimp, fish fillets, heaps of pasta, plus chicken, wedding soup, and Lord knows how much other savory stuff. I’d eat until I couldn't move.

Later in the evening, after the dishes were cleared and the olives, celery, and cookies were put out, Grandma would break out the Bingo game. They used to play Bingo in the old days to kill time before midnight mass, but by this time they weren't going to the late mass anymore. Grandma would save up change all year for us to use for Bingo and we’d have the big family Bingo showdown.

I always liked it because it was something that the kids and grownups played together. Although one year that led to some not-very-kid-friendly terminology getting thrown out after a long, tension-filled game:

Cousin: BINGO!!!

My mom: Oh HORSESHIT!!

God Rest Ye Merry Merchantmen
Years later when I was all grown up and managing a record store in Cleveland, the holidays were brutal. From the beginning of November through the middle of January, to quote retail legend Al Bundy, it was like “one long month… Helluary.”

As a store manager, I’d be working 12-16 hour days. The place would be mobbed… just accounting for all the money was practically a full-time job. (I do admit that it's quite a sight to see all that bundled cash sitting on the desk, awaiting deposit.) We would be so busy, I’d go home and collapse in bed and have dreams that I was still at work, tending the register and clearing customers. I’d wake up and be like, “Fuuuuck! I can’t even escape with sleep!)

I didn’t have any family in Cleveland. The closest kin I had were in Pittsburgh. So when we’d finally get permission to close up on Christmas Eve, usually around 5:30 or 6:00, I’d shut it all down, bolt for the car, and bust ass down the turnpike for Pittsburgh.

I’d get to Grandma and Grandpa’s house about 9:00 or so and Grandma would have soup on the stove and sandwich fixin’s ready. Grandpa would appear with a cold Iron City Light. After the meal, Grandma would tell me that when she heard I was coming, she got some Klondikes for me, which at the time, could only be obtained in Pittsburgh. They were always my favorite treat as a kid. 

I hope she knew how much those Christmas Eves meant to me. It was like an oasis of comfort in a sea of aggravation. After a month of retail chaos, it was great to be able to settle into a big easy chair, chat with my grandparents, and just… breathe…

It was home, sweet home.

Who Could Have Possibly Predicted?

It sure didn’t take long for TFG to backpedal on one of his biggest campaign promises.

It boggles my mind that anyone even believed this promise, let alone voted on it. Just those who weren’t paying attention to anything but Fox “News,” I guess. Obviously, there is no button a president can press that lowers prices. And this Administration wouldn’t, even if they could. Some of their biggest donors are the ones reaping the benefits of higher prices. There’s no way they were going to give campaign money to someone they knew was going to derail the gravy train. This was a bald-faced lie from the get-go.

And let me remind you again, about who kicked up a huge protest when VP Harris proposed an actual anti-price-gouging program. The Republicans threw a fit, calling it anti-capitalist, pro-Socialist, and un-American. And people really thought they were going to lower prices? His tariffs are going to make things even worse! Unreal.

There were more headlines last week that demonstrated whose side Republicans are on. (It ain’t ours.)

House Republicans are trying to halt free tax filing with the IRS.

They are doing the bidding of the for-profit tax filing businesses and e-programs like Turbo Tax. It’s ridiculous in concept that we have to pay extra to perform a task we’re required to do. And it’s not like it’s too difficult to set up. It’s nothing complicated, other than it threatens the interest of those who make money off of the basic act of filing tax returns.

It’s like this with lots of things. Maryland is one of three states that prevents grocery stores from selling beer and wine. Last week, our Governor proposed changing that, which I embrace with both arms and both legs. Naturally, the liquor store lobby is up in arms about it and has begun reapplying the pressure that’s kept this development from occurring all along.

I get it, some businesses lose money. But that’s the price of every advancement.  Carbon paper companies went out of business when copy machines were invented. Buggy makers lost out when Ford started their first assembly line. Is anyone still crying about cassette manufacturing plants going belly-up? It’s the natural order of things. When better ideas come along, lesser ones fade away and their purveyors adapt.

That’s progress, as embodied by progressive people. And we all know who opposes progressives at every turn, right? It’s the “populist” Republicans, who shoot down any idea that helps the average population because the rich are making too much to give up on the status quo.

They could shore up Social Security for the next century, merely by raising the maximum income cap. But no, they want to cut benefits to us instead. See how that’s better? They get to keep their yacht money and all we have to do is struggle to pay bills and outlandish medical costs during the “golden years” of retirement. That’s much better for them!

Just wait for the next big tax cut bill. You’ll see, once again, how the filthy rich get a massive tax cut and the rest of us get a few token crumbs. Even after all the bad publicity from the 2017 version, they’re all set to do it again. Our complaints are short-lived until we move on to the next outrage, but the money lingers on.

That’s always how you know who politicians really work for… just follow the money.