Hearing Impaired

I very much enjoyed the first January 6^th hearing last week. In fact, upon finishing the first session, I said it looks like this was going to be the hot TV mini-series of the summer. It wasn’t until today that I realized that the rest were going to be on during the day. WTH? Don’t they know that some of us have jobs? I guess I’ll have to DVR them, to savor later.

A lot has been made over the claim that a number of Congressmen sought pardons from TFG, to shield them from any charges stemming from their roles in the attempted coup. What cracked me up is that they didn’t get them. They forgot that loyalty is a one-way street with their dear leader. Once they served their purpose, he had no further need for them. Why would he care if they got jammed up? Not his problem. Haven’t they been paying attention? Suckers…

I also had to laugh about the Fox “News” commercial-free counterprogramming. It’s telling that they’d rather pass up the ad fees from their highest-rated programs than risk any of their flock wandering over to a real news channel and hearing some damning information. And after seeing the messages from their golden boy Hannity, imploring TFG to stop with the stolen election nonsense, it makes sense. All those middle-aged, angry, white, male, heads exploding across the country would have been quite a disturbance.

But really, I don’t know what they’re worried about. It’s not like their audience would believe anything counter to the approved storyline. Any semblance of critical thinking has already been bludgeoned out of them.

I know the conservative counter-argument wants to paint the whole thing as old news masquerading as an electioneering ploy. Nothing like the 11 Benghazi investigations, I’m sure, which were completely non-political. Please. Tell them this is 1 down, 10 more to go.

I say if the Democrats can profit off this at the ballot box, more power to them. Republicans have been doing this shit for years. Did you see in today’s hearing, when they talked about how much fundraising TFG did based on the Big Lie? It could be argued that pushing that false narrative was worth it to the GOP for the financial windfall alone. They hammered their people with the direst of messaging, each email coming with an outstretched hand. And we all remember how they pre-checked the tiny box authorizing a monthly, rather than 1-time, donation, to the chagrin of all those saps who gave until it hurt.

But the bottom line is that when a group tries to overthrow the government, there HAVE to be consequences. And not just to the foot soldiers, but to the “generals” who whipped the whole thing up and worked overtime to mentally anesthetize their fans into action. (No pardons there either! Sorry about that, “Proud” boys.)

If the hammer does not come down on the “brain trust” and all the president’s men, we’re openly inviting another coup. And the Republicans will have had four years to learn from their mistakes. Like next time, don’t let the DC police have clubs or defensive gear either; make them wear their civvies and use Silly String. Or maybe not have any DC police out there at all; just bring in some cub scout packs or a mime troupe or something.)

And no videographers! The biggest problem these perps had is that the whole nation watched what happened, live on TV. They could claim it was a tourist event all they wanted, but we saw what they did with our own eyes. If they’re smart, they’ll take out all news and surveillance cameras as a first action.

But who am I kidding? They’ll probably just live-stream themselves again.

I just hope the Justice Department is following the proceedings. Without their action, all this high drama becomes nothing but a sideshow.

In Other News

Shocking as it may be, there just might be hope for a bit of gun legislation. Word is that there are 10 Senators who will vote for this bipartisan bill that contains some minor tweaks to our gun laws. I think if they’re serious, they better find two more because if we learned anything, it’s that we can’t count on the two senatorial DINOs, Manchin and Sinema.

On one hand, the bill is so thin and “pie in the sky,” I’m sure there will be people on the Left who will want to vote it down because it doesn’t carry much weight. That would be a mistake. Even though it doesn’t go far enough, it’s something and in a fight like this, something is better than nothing. We just have to go back and try to build on it.

On the other hand, it smacks of the kind of bill the Republicans can point to and say, “See? We did something. Now let’s stop talking about the slaughter of innocents so we can get back to blaming Biden for the price of gas.” Republicans should be able to get behind this bill because it provides the illusion of action while not doing a thing to hamper the sale of more guns.

And while it will only take 10-12 of them to get it passed, watch how they all take credit for “taking action.” Of course they will. Just like when they took credit, back in their districts, for things provided by the big Infrastructure Bill that they voted against.

I was hoping they would at least propose raising the purchase age from 18 to 21. That shouldn’t have been a tough sell when you look at the situation dispassionately.  This group is rife with ego, testosterone, lust, and very little impulse control. We don’t sell beer to that age group because it’s dangerous. But semi-automatic rifles are OK? It boggles the mind.

The gun people counter with the fact that 18-year-olds can serve in the military and shoot similar rifles. Granted, they overlook the part where the military personnel are highly trained and supervised and the guns are meticulously handled and stored. If that were true with the general population of gun-buying 18-21-year-olds, I wouldn’t have as much of a problem. But there are zero prerequisites for buying an AR-15 aside from being able to slap the money (or Visa) on the counter.

But in the end, I’m sure the real reason a new age limit wasn’t established was that they didn’t want to shut off such a lucrative market. Nothing gets in the way of a profitable next quarter, whether it’s guns, gas, or drugs.

(Late edit: They're already moving the goalposts and trying to find ways to kill the deal)

It’s a Jurassic World and We’re Just Living in it

I saw Jurassic World-Dominion over the weekend. I love the franchise and couldn’t wait to see this one in the theater. It’s the first movie I’ve gone to since March of 2020. (I saw the Harley Quinn movie “Birds of Prey.”) I was worried because the critics were pretty harsh to it and I really wanted to enjoy it. I needn’t have worried.

I loved it. And if you’ve enjoyed the previous movies, go see this one. While there are some talky parts, overall it’s one incredible, scary set-piece after another. I saw it in 3D and definitely flinched a couple of times.

They keep comparing it to the original and noting how it pales in comparison. But of course it does! When the original JP came out, no one had ever seen such lifelike representations of dinosaurs before. Those of us who used to think that Land of the Lost was the coolest thing ever got our minds blown. Every JP movie after that lacks that amazement factor, so it's an unnecessarily harsh standard to hold for a new installment. As an audience, we've become blase regarding movie effects. What once was unbelievable has become commonplace.

So sod what the critics think. We don’t go to the Jurassic movies looking for another Godfather 2. It’s a popcorn movie and a good one. The Bluzdude approves.

Another Dad Story

Well, kind of. As I mentioned last week, this will be my first Father’s Day without my Father. I’m fortunate that I’ll get to celebrate the day with Sweetpea’s family. Her dad is still alive and well, and all her brothers are fathers, so it will be a nice communal event.

It reminds me of a Father’s Day present I got my dad ages ago. I saw this ad in a magazine and thought it represented the perfect sentiment for my own father-son relationship. I carefully cut it out and brought it down to the frame store in the mall I worked in, and voila, instant present. This is the ad:

In case you can’t read the inscription, it says, “As long as there’s an occasion to thank your father for tolerating your childhood… There will always be a Chivas Regal.”

We were more Jack Daniels drinkers than Chivas, but it was what it was. I just loved the picture.

So when we cleaned out their place when Mom moved out, I made sure I ended up with it.

I may not have kids, but I remember being that cub.

Happy Father’s Day (in a week) to all the “Big Daddies” among us.