Trapped in a world he was not designed to cope with, Dave-El (the true Kryptonian name of alleged Earth creature David Long) writes about comics, Doctor Who, Star Trek, politics, the absurdity of the human condition and whatever other nonsense that befuddles his unbalanced mind.
This is.... I'M SO GLAD MY SUFFERING AMUSES YOU!
Yesterday afternoon, I logged into You Tube to find some music or a podcast to listen to while I was working and immediately saw this video.
Wait! John Reardon, Charlie Hudson his own bad self, is back on Hudson & Rex?
Really?!?!
I wanted to believe it but I didn't want to be suckered in by some AI shit.
Excitedly, I showed the video to my wife.
"Andrea! Look at this! Tell me if you think this is real?"
She thought it looked real but like me, she's wary of being taken in by AI.
A quick Google confirmed what we were looking at was real.
Various reputable sources (Hollywood Reporter, TV Insider, etc) were all reporting the news: John Reardon would be returning to Hudson & Rex for season 9 this fall.
Our son Dean heard the news and texted us, "You got your boy back!"
We lost our boy at the start of season 7 when John Reardon had to take time off to receive treatment for throat cancer.
Charlie Hudson was written out of the rest of season, off on a mission to save his brother in South America.
While John Reardon finished his treatment and made a full recovery, the show's producers decided not to bring him back.
Season 7 ends with news that Charlie was shot and he fell in a river. His body was not recovered and was presumed dead.
Sarah was devastated.
She and Charlie were living together in domestic bliss and making all the Hudson & Rex fans feel mushy inside. We shipped them as "Charah".
Here's a clip of Charlie and Sarah being all warm and cozy at home while Charlie teaches Rex how to gamble.
How did Hudson & Rex go on with out Hudson? Most of season 7 saw Sarah, Jesse and Joe doing field work, filling in for the absent Charlie Hudson.
Season 8 brought on Luke Robetrs as (I am NOT making this up) Detective Mark Hudson.
Not related to Charlie. Just a coinkiidink that his last name is also Hudson.
After running on Canadian TV last fall, season 8 will be available to American audiences on UP TV starting June 11th.
Andrea and I have no intention of watching this.
Apparently this was a sentiment shared by a lot of Canadians who made their dissatisfaction known.
We don't want "Marah".
WE WANT "CHARAH!"
And it looks like, as Dean said, "we got our boy back!"
In fhe mean time, here's a bonus Your Friday Video Link which looks at the Art of Dog Acting.
Dogs don't know they're in a movie?
That is that for this week's Your Friday Video Link.
We're back tomorrow for Movie Time as we go from dogs to sea creatures.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another.
One of my comic book buying indulgences is sampling facsimile editions of old comics.
These books do not just reprint stories but present the whole package as it originally appeared with ads and letter columns. Other than the much higher price point, these books appear exactly has they did back in the day.
Normally these facsimiles are done to spotlight something of siginficance such as a first appearance by a character.
So I imagine my surprise when I saw this facsimile book on the shelves at Acme Comics a couple of months ago.
The lead story is "Superman's Energy Crisis!" by Cary Bates, Curt Swan and Tex Blaisdell.
The Toyman is running around on a crime spree rampage which shouldn't pose much of a problem for the Man of Steel.
Except...
The dude is tired.
Not like emotionally or spiritually tired, like "Man, I can't deal with the Toyman's shit" levels of tired.
No, he's physically exhausted and is forced to consume mass quantities of food to just try to stay awake
And that's just not cutting it!
Man, I know how you feel, Supes!
But why are you feeling this way?
It seems there's some wonky shit going on at the center of the Earth that's eating up solar energy.
I still have a question: why of all comic books in their vast library did DC Comics deem Action Comics#454 worthy of a facsimile edition?
Maybe the distinguishing feature for this book is the Atom back up, "The Campus That Swallowed Itself!"
A sci-fi doo-dad causes Ivy University to be choked by out of control ivy.
Until the Atom saves the day.
This slight trifle by Marty Pasko and Jose Delbo is not the motivating factor in producing this facsimile edition.
Why Action Comics#454?
My search of the internet found a lot of people asking the same question but with no real definitive answers.
The best guess I found was the facsmile was released on April 1st and the abusrdist cover by Bob Oksner was apropo for April Fool's Day.
Speaking of fools, I have spent YEARS referting to artist Bob Oksner as Bob Oskner. I am only NOW after more than 50 years that I've been foolishly getting his name wrong.
For the first time since leaving HBO Max, there will be a new streaming home for modern Doctor Who.
Starting June 11th, the series that ran from 2005 to 2022, ranging from Christopher Eccleston to Jodie Whittaker will return to AMC+.
This does NOT include the series from 2023 to 2025 which for now is still on Disney+.
I also do not know if this will include any of the ancillary Doctor Who series such as Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.
But the main thing is modern Doctor Who finally has a platform for streaming.
AMC+ was having a sale to subscribe for a whole year for $30 so I went ahead and signed up while that discount price was available.
No Doctor Who yet but I've caught up on some Law & Order UK which features Bradley Walsh (13th Doctor companion Graham) and Freema Ageyman (10th Doctor companion Martha Jones).
AMC+ also has the classic HBO series Tales From the Crypt which I've sampled some episodes. That's been a weird nostalgic trip back to the 1980's.
As for Doctor Who, another question I don't have an answer to is will AMC+ get any new episodes?
Perhaps a more pertinent question: with there be any new episodes?
The internet began blowing up yesterday with tales of woe regarding any new Who.
Ostensibly, there is supposed to be a Christmas special for this year.
Unless the rumor mill is on to something and it's being delayed to Easter 2027.
The source for this rumor is the British tabloid The Sun so a generously sized grain of salt is called for.
The Radio Times shared news of this report but has received no confirmation from the BBC.
Speculation runs amuck as to why this Doctor Who special would be delayed from Christmas 2026 to Easter 2027.
One reason is money.
Without a production partner, the BBC will have to pay for the whole thing.
Is it a matter of the BBC's coffers being light or whatever plans Russell T Davies has for special are just too big or both?
The main obstacle, according to The Sun, is finding someone to play the Doctor.
Whoever Billie Piper is supposed to be, it's not the 16th Doctor.
I could see getting any actor to sign up to play the Doctor now would be tricky given all the uncertainty surrounding the franchise.
Starting with who's in charge.
RTD is point man for the special but will he continue with any kind of series that follows? There's been some dissatisfaction with Russell's leadership of the franchise during the Disney+ years.
But if not Russell, then who? Who would want to come in to run Doctor Who without a secure commitment from the BBC on what's to come next, with or without a partner?
In the current television production environment, can the BBC deliver a solid Doctor Who series without help?
We don't know nothing, man!
But we do know that Chris, David, Matt, Peter and Jodie will be available once more on AMC+ starting June 11th.
Classic Doctor Who is available on Tubi, the streaming channel via Roku and Amazon Prime and there are select episodes on You Tube.
So while the future of Doctor Who is uncertain, it's past has a home.
We've got another series finale to write about, the end of The Boys.
I will cover some specifics on the final episode so be warned:
SPOILERS!
The series debuted in 2019 but I didn't catch up to season 1 until the next year. It was 2020, I was stuck at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic and I was laid off from my job. I had time on my hands and used some it to catch up on some TV shows.
The Boys is about the real implications of living in a world with super heroes. The concept of super heroes intersecting the real world had been done before in DC's Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons as well as Marvel's Squadron Supreme by Mark Gruenwald.
But what The Boys did was push the boundaries of ethics, morality and good taste past their breaking points.
In the world of The Boys, super heroes are not at all heroic but are micro managed and monetized corporate resources. These Supes (as they are called) spend more time making movies and music videos than they do in any actual super heroic activity.
Supes are on a downward spiral of selfish greed and hedonistic pleasure. Some plot and scheme their way to elevated levels of political and even spiritual power.
Take Homelander, a Superman expy with over the top Capt. America branding. Over the course of the series, he becomes more and more obsessed with his image as an elevated avatar of superiority, his growing disconnect from humanity.
By the 5th season, Homelander thinks he's God and he's gonna make people believe it or they can just die.
Meanwhile, he has taken a special Vought compound called V1 that confers immortality. Which just adds to his god complex.
Billy Butcher, the profane misanthropic leader of "the Boys", grows ever more disconnected from his humanity in a ruthless quest to destory Homelander once and for all. Even if he has to kill all the Supes to do that.
Even the super powered Annie and Komiko who are on his team.
As the final episode begins, the Boys are dealing with the loss of one of their own. Frenchie was killed by Homelander in the previous episode. Frenchie died protecting Komiko.
The gang has gathered around to bury Frenchie. Hughie reads from Frenchie's will. Frenchi used the word "asshole" in his will like a lot.
Komiko was the subject of a radiation experiment to augment her powers with a special energy burst that will strip a Supes' powers.
It's their last and only chance to stop Homelander.
The super intelligent Sister Sage, now on the run from Homelander, starts talking shit about Frenchie which pisses Komiko off and triggers her energy burst.
The power blast works and now Sister Sage is as stupid as a regular human. So she leaves to go to Harry Potter World in Orlando.
The Boys have one chance to take out Homelander. He's scheduled to make an address to the nation from the White House Oval Office on Easter Sunday to announce he is God.
The Boys have a plan to infiltrate the White House and attack Homelander.
This being The Boys, the plan is all fucked up from jump and heads straight into the shitter.
Luckily, unknown to the team, they may have an ally in the White House.
Let's talk about Ashley Barrett for a moment.
Right from the very start as an executive for the Vought Corporation, she has been an obsequious toady in service to the company and the Supes, perpetually apprehensive that any single misstep will get her killed. Somehow she survives to Season 5 and in a bizarre sequence of events has become President of the United States.
She also gained super powers that manifested like this:
her hair fell out.
on the back of her bald skull, a second face grew.
that face has telepathic powers.
Ashley and her 2nd face do not get along. Ashley has been such a snivelling syncophant for so long now and her 2nd face complains that Ashley should grow a pair and do the right thing for once.
SPOILER: Ashley does the right thing and surprisingly does NOT die. Although there will be consequences.
ANOTHER SPOILER: elsewhere, Annie throws down with the Deep where she blasts him into the ocean where he is eaten by sharks. Sea life is pissed at the Deep for allowing a leaky oil pipeline to kill millions of fish. It's a fate the Deep really deserved.
Anyway, Homelander is giving his nationally televised speech, bringing good tidings of great joy that he is now God.
Someone had written a nice speech about Homelander being a loving, benevolent god but Homelander can't stay on script and would rather talk about those that will not believe in him and how much he's gonna smite them, etc etc.
Threats are more fun than promises, am I right? (Li'l Donnie knows what I'm talkin' about.)
Billy Butcher and Komiko make it to the Oval Office as does Homelander's super powered son, Ryan.
Ryan has picked a side.
And it ain't dear ol' dad's.
With the cameras still rolling, we get a knock down drag out in the Oval Office before Komiko can unleash her energy burst.
Caught in the blast radius, Billy and Ryan lose their powers. So does Homelander.
It's so funny when Homelander squints real hard to make heat vision happen and it doesn't.
Or when he hops up weakly expecting to fly and doesn't.
Billy has the moment we've waited 5 seasons to get: he beats the unholy shit out of Homelander.
A lot.
The cameras are still rolling with a battered and bloodied Homelander begging Billy Butcher for his life, promising anything not to be killed.
Including sucking Billy's dick.
Whatever my expectations for the series finale, I only had one that was non-negotiable.
1) Homelander needs to die.
2) It needs to be a really gross death.
3) And he dies in abject humiliation.
Billy obliges with a crowbar jammed into Homelander's forhead and prying open his skull, shredding brains everywhere.
Across America, everyone walks away from their TV sets, totally disavowed of their hero and would be god.
Homelander died alone, powerless and unloved.
But we're not done yet.
Even with his revenge on Homelander complete, Billy Butcher is not satisfied. Stan Edgar has returned to lead Vought once more and Billy knows the next Homelander will inevitably rise up and all this shit will start up again.
Billy Butcher prepares to unleash the Supe killing virus.
Hughie Campbell shoots Billy who dies in Hughie's arms.
I never expected Billy to survive this series.
And kind of thought it would be Hughie who would need to take him out.
The gang gathers for another funeral, this one for Billy. It's hard to come up with nice things to say about the departed.
Billy Butcher's tombstone sums him up best:
The episode's coda gives us some happy endings:
Komiko with a poodle in her lap enjoying some beignets at a Parisian cafe as she had hoped she would do (with Frenchie) when all of this was over. She smiles wistfully.
M.M is reunited with his wife and daughter with Ryan along as an adopted son.
Hughie and Annie are a couple, working in his dad's old computer tech store and she's pregnant, 8 or 9 months from the looks of it.
Series finales are hard to pull off but I think for the most part The Boys checks off enough boxes to deliver for me a mostly satisfying conclusion.
No matter what, Homelander needed to die as he did and really, I knew Billy Butcher would not survive this. Even Billy himself did not expect he would.
The rest of the internet seems divided with assessment ranging from "spectacular" to "pathetic".
Elon Musk said he didn't like the ending, then admited he hadn't watched it but from what he heard about it, the ending sounded "fake" and "gay".
Elon, try to follow this: Homelander was NOT the hero of the story. He was the BAD guy. You see?
...
...
No, Elon doesn't it get it.
There's a scene where Homelander flies a white nationalist tech nerd billionaire into space...without a space suit. Gee, I wonder who that was supposed to represent?
Hey, Elon, what did you think about that scene, eh?
...
...
...
No, Elon doesn't it get it.
That is that for this Tuesday TV Touchbase.
Next week: the series finale of Hacks!
And a Tuesday TV Touchbase Too with Taylor Tomlinson.
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
Last week was the series finale of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. And everyone was upset about it.
Let's check in with this frequent viewer.
“Colbert is finally finished at CBS. Amazing that he lasted so long! No talent, no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person. You could take any person off of the street and they would be better than this total jerk. Thank goodness he’s finally gone!”- DJT
OK, maybe not everyone.
But for all the normal people who are not blobby orange fuck monsters of hate, this series finale was to put it mildly disturbing.
A show usually reaches it's series finale for one of two reasons:
1) The people making the show are ready to move on to other things. Stephen Colbert was still enjoying what he was doing and had a talented staff still happy to make that happen.
2) The network or studio making the show needs to stop the show because it sucks.
In the case of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert:
It was #1 in it's time slot
Average 2.7 million viewers per episode which is pretty good numbers for late night television in the modern era.
Won an Emmy for outstanding talk/variety show.
So the case that the show had to die because it sucked is hard to make.
The reason CBS gave for cancelling the show was for "financial reasons", that for all it's success, the network was losing $40 million a year. It cost more to make than it made in ad revenue.
Well I could actually see that as a valid argument for ending a show.
BUT...
There were NO negotiations between CBS and the producers of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to try to mitigate those losses. Like maybe looking for Colbert to take a pay cut or produce fewer episodes.
What we do know is this:
Stephen Colbert was a frequent critic of Donald Trump.
Skydance was looking to acquire Paramount which owns CBS.
Skydance was owned by the billionaire Ellison family who are Trump supporters.
The Ellisons needed a favorable decision from the Trump administration to approval the Skydance/Paramount merger.
Colbert hurt Trump's widdle feelings.
Colbert gets canned.
The Skydance/Paramount merger wins federal approval.
As Woodward and Bernstein's source said during the Watergate scandal of the 1970's, "Follow the money."
Following the money leads anyone with a modicum of common sense to May 21, 2026 and the end of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
So how did that turn out?
If anyone in this foresaken world has a right to be angry and bitter, it would be Stephen Colbert.
But Colbert has been anything but. He has greeted this countdown to the end of the show and the final show itself with grace and joy.
Colbert isn't mad that the show is ending after 11 years.
He's happy that he got to do the show for 11 years!
What he expresses when he is alone without a camera on him, who knows? But by all accounts, Colbert really is the man we saw on TV, friendly, funny, gracious and kind.
Which is kind of ironic as he spent a long time on TV not being himself.
Before he took over The Late Show from David Letterman, Stephen Colbert was "Stephen Colbert", the apex right wing host of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. This "Colbert" wrung laughs out of parodying the outrage and indignation of right wing pundits who populated Fox "News" and mocking the Republican polititians enabled by those pundits.
This "Stephen Colbert" embraced the concept of knowing things are true because they feel true. Who needs pesky facts? He coined a word for it: Truthiness.
Since a certain blobby orange fuck monster of hate now governs by what he feels to be true, "Colbert" was ahead of his time.
With the advent of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Colbert had to learn how to be himself.
Early epiodes were kind of rocky and it took time to find his groove. And that groove was in political humor.
There were critics (beyond a certain blobby orange fuck monster of hate) who thought Colbert's sharp pointed political barbs were a mistake.
Late night talk shows are supposed be FUN!
But Colbert did have fun while giving a voice to most of America who find living in a world of Trump is a time in hell.
And this was when Colbert really got good.
And this was when the ratings started looking better and better.
Popular and good at what he did? No wonder a certain blobby orange fuck monster of hate thought of Stephen Colbert as a threat.
No wonder then that in the way of all fascists, he wanted Stephen Colbert to go.
For the final show, Colbert refrained from referencing Donald Trump by name. His monologue was about sink holes at LaGuardia Airport and in Queens.
The closest we got to a Trump joke was Paul McCartney discussing the Beatles' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 and how their make up made them look orange.
Colbert: “That’s very popular in certain circles these days."
McCartney:“We set a trend."
Colbert:“Now we know where it started! Thanks a lot, Paul McCartney!”
Colbert's discretion in not mentioning Donald Trump may have been one last dig at the notorious Narcissist in Chief. What's worse than being insulted? Not even being mentioned at all.
But I think more to the point, Donald Trump represents anger, bitterness, contempt, hate.
Colbert wanted this final episode to be anything but that.
If this final episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert was to be the series' funeral, Colbert was gonna put the "FUN" back in funeral.
We got some funny cameos from celebrities Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Ryan Reynolds, Tim Meadows and Tig Nataro vying to be Colbert's last guest.
ODD FACT#1: Tim Meadows was also fired this year by CBS/Paramount when his sitcom DMV was cancelled.
ODD FACT#2: Tig Nataro was fired as well this year by CBS/Paramount when Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was cancelled.
ODD FACT#3: That means Stephen Colbert was fired TWICE this year by CBS/Paramount when Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was cancelled.
There was a odd recurring bit as the lights and the set background kept glitching.
With a lot of fan fare, Stephen reveals his final guest is Pope Leo!
Who refused to come out because the Chicago styled hot dogs in his dressing room were sub-par according to the Chicago born Pope. What a diva!
Thankfully Paul McCartney is still in town after last week's appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Paul's not a random choice as he has a special historic connection to the Ed Sullivan Theater, making his American debut with the Beatles there in 1964.
Paul described why coming to America was important to him in 1964 as it was the birthplace of the music he liked. It was a bastion of freedom and democracy which Paul pointedly addresses seem to be in peril these days.
Stephen's interview with Paul is going well when the lights glitch again and Stephen is not going to let it slide this time. He goes back stage to investigate and...
It's a wormhole! A big green swirling hole in space!
Neil Degrasse Tyson shows up to explain wormholes are created by profound contradictions... like cancelling a show that is #1 in the ratings.
Then Tyson says the wormhole is the wrong color so Stephen shoves him into it.
Then Stephen is joined by Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and John Oliver! Strike Force Five is back!
The other hosts explain that Colbert is in denial about the end of his show.The hosts disappear in a teleporting effect that will be added later in post-production. (It wasn't.)
After Stephen pleads for an older mentor to give him advice, Jon Stewart appears.
Stephen is happy to see him and asks John, "Do you know an older mentor who can give me advice?"
Stephen confidently runs back on stage to resume his show but the wormhole has followed him and consumes the entire Ed Sullivan theater.
And all is darkness.
It's not over yet. We get a poignant music moment with Colbert joined by Elvis Costello and Jon Batiste. (Cool! Glad Batiste made it back for the last show!)
And back to the theater which is still there for a joyous performance of the Beatles' "Hello/Goodbye" led by Paul McCartney and it's a party, y'all!
Staffers and Stephen's family (Hi Evie! We love Stephen's wife!) swarm the stage and the catwalks as everyone dances and parties likes we're gonna live forever.
But the final moment arrives.
Back stage, Stephen Colbert and Paul McCartney pull a power lever and the Ed Sullivan Theater goes dark and then in a swirl of green light, shrinks down to a snow globe.
Like the last scene in the series finale of St. Elsewhere.
Wow, that's a deep cut.
So...
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert has come to an end.
Nobody wanted this.
Except for a certain blobby orange fuck monster of hate.
Donald Trump thinks he won. The DJT quote at the start of this post was where he went online to boast about Colbert being gone now.
But Trump is a loser.
In defeat, in a time of loss and heartbreak, Stephen Colbert showed himself to be a better man than Li'l Donnie would ever hope to be.
In his final moments on CBS, Stephen Colbert received such an outpouring of love and affection from his colleagues and fans that a lonelty bitter old man likeTrump will never know.
And Stephen demonstrated why he deserves that support with kindness, gratitude and humor.
Stephen Colbert is a good guy.
I am not.
I will close out with a quote from David Letterman when he appeared on Colbert's show last week, addressing the leadership of CBS and Paramount:
"Good night and good luck, you motherfuckers!"
Take us out, Paul!
-----------------------------------------
I'm not done yet!
The Tuesday TV Touchbase Too will be up in a few hours as we say farewell to The Boys.
About Donald Trump, his syncophants and their collective fuckery?
For Christ's sake, it's Memorial Day! Can't we get a day off from this shit?
No, we don't get a day off from this shit.
It is ALWAYS with us.
Besides the topic of this post is such an egregiously illegal, unethical and amoral action of obscene grift and corruption, I cannot avoid putting this down in words.
Look, if you really want to skip this, fine! We're back tomorrow with TWO Tuesday TV Touchbase posts about The Boys and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
But really, this is important.
A few years ago, a private contractor working for the IRS released Trump's tax returns.
This upset Li'l Donnie who has been more than a little reticent about releasing his tax returns so he filed a law suit.
However it was not against the private contractor.
But the IRS.
The lawsuit sought $10 billion in compensation. Your tax dollars going to Trump's bank account.
Like most lawsuits Trump files, most legal experts considered it to be excessive and without merit.
A judge was on the verge of throwing it out.
But before the judge could do that....
The Department of Justice made a deal to settle the lawsuit.
Hold on. I made an errror in that sentence. Let me fix that.
The Department of "Justice" made a deal to settle the lawsuit.
The Department of "Justice" is currently run by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche who is Trump's personal attorney.
So let's see if I have this straight.
As President, Trump is head of the federal government.
He sued the IRS and the Department of "Justice" would have to defend against the lawsuit.
Making Trump both the plaintiff and defendant?
And the Department of "Justice" is run by Trump's personal lawyer, giving him a vested interest in protecting the interests of the plaintiff while ostensibly serving as the defendant?
Does any of this sound
fishy
shifty
shady
sneaky
slippery
crooked
dishonest
deceitful
duplicitous
deceiving
underhanded
insidious
perfidious
double-dealing
defrauding
...to you?
Hold on! Get a load of the deets on this settlement.
In exchange for Trump dropping his lawsuit, the Department of "Justice" agrees to establish a slush fund of $1.8 billion....
Hold on! Let me be accurate here.
A slush fund of $1.776 billion. With a number like that, this deal has gotta be patriotic and good for America, right?
The so called Anti-Weaponization Fund will provide relief to claimants who feel they were target by a government weaponized against them.
The January 6th rioters that Trump pardoned early in 2025? They would qualify to make claims for this fund.
Beat Capitol Police? You could get a check!
Took a shit on Nancy Pelosi's desk? You could get a check!
Built a gallows to hang Mike Pence? You could get a check!
Watched in horror while rioters stormed the Capitol? You don't get shit!
SIDE NOTE: The Department of "Justice" has removed from its website news releases about criminal cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, calling the information about the prosecutions “partisan propaganda.”
Well, golly gee willikers, I wonder which way the The Department of "Justice" might be leaning regarding any potential claims by the Jan 6th rioters patriots?
This settlement does not pay any money directly to Donald Trump.
BUT...
Claims will be reviewed and payments made by a board that Trump will have control over.
And could Trump make a claim? I don't know....
Did you egg on an angry crowd to go down to Capitol and fight like hell? You could get a goddam check!
OK, are we done?
Like hell we are!
The settlement also includes a provision that prevents the IRS from investigating Donald Trump or his sons Eric and Don Jr, or his business for any kind of tax malfesance in the past, present or future.
Yep, the tax laws you and I have to fucking follow are no longer a problem for the Trumps.
One more feature about this settlement: it is only ONE page. Which makes whatever is outlined in this brief memo very broad and any ambiguity would default to the benefit of the plaintiff.
This one page memo was written and signed off on by ONE person: Todd Blanche. There's no oversight or consultation. This is a sweeping grant of privilege by a single person...
Who we must remember is only the ACTING Attorney General.
AND the personal attorney of Donald J. Trump.
Is any of this legal? What do I know? My knowledge of the law begins and ends with Law & Order reruns.
But it certainly doesn't sound legal!
It certainly seems suss to a number of Republican lawmakers who are usually counted on to fucking rubber stamp whatever fucking thing Trump fucking wants!
Sorry about all the "fucks". I just watched the series finale of The Boys and I've got fucks on the brain. Also I'm fucking pissed off about this!
Where was I? Republicans actually prepared to say "no" to Donald Trump's wet dream?
It does look that way but there are those still devoted to their fealty to Trump.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) said on Thursday that the January 6 insurrection was “made up,” claiming that the event was “staged” by those who opposed President Donald Trump.
Norman claimed that the insurrection had not taken place in the way it is remembered, was seen on video, and spoken about by those who saw or actively took part in the events of that day.
Norman is not the only legislator to cite conspiracy theories about outside agitators being the true instigators of the riot.
The preceding sentence was created using the Dr. Doofenschmirtz Word-In-Ator!
"This Word-In-Ator will make Dave-El use too many words with ATOR in them so I can rule the Tri-State area!"
Jonathan Gennaro Mellis might want to have a word with the Congressman. Charged with assaulting police officers in the attack on the Capitol, Mellis wrote on Facebook, “Don’t you dare try to tell me that people are blaming this on antifa and BLM. We proudly take responsibility for storming the Castle.”
Did you storm the Castle only to have your good work blamed on Antifa? You could get a check!
While it does look like more Republicans than usual are saying "no" to the latest scheme by Trump and his minions, with dumbasses like Ralph Norman hanging around, I have no doubt the grift will keep right on grifting.
Far be it from me to praise Donald Trump for anything but damn, the motherfucker seems to be on quite a roll.
Rep. Thomas Massie dared to cross der Führer on war, taxes and the Epstein files. Trump recruited Ed Gallrein, a loyalist flack, to run against Massie in the Kentucky Republican primary. Gallrein won. Or more important to Trump, Massie lost.
In Louisiana's primary, Trump targetted Sen. Bill Cassidy for disloyalty to der Führer. Coming in first and second were challengers Rep. Julia Letlow, who won Trump's endorsement, and state Treasurer John Fleming who also pledged fealty to Trump. Cassidy came in third. Much to Li'l Donnie's boyish glee.
5 of the 7 Republican state senators in Indiana who defied Trump's demands they withdraw the states congressional maps lost their bids for re-election.
Back in 2020, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger defied Trump's demand to find the votes to help him win the state. In 2026, Raffensberger comes in 3rd for the Republican nomination for governor.
And don't forget the biggest most public kill this week: the end of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. CBS cancelled Colbert's show to appease Trump so his lackeys would approve Paramount's merger with Skydance which is owned by Trump supporting billionaires. Trump boasted “Colbert is finally finished at CBS. Amazing that he lasted so long! No talent, no ratings, no life. He was like a dead person.”
So all hail the conquering hero! All powerful! All glorious is our deliverer of America's new Golden Age!
Donald Trump is crushing IT!
If by "IT" you mean getting revenge on his enemies, then yeah he's crushing it like a goddam motherfucker! Hell yeah!
On the other hand...
Gas prices continue to rise.
As does the cost of groceries.
And the price of some other 3rd thing.
And there's the war Li'l Donnie started and does not know how to stop.
Iran openly mocks Trump.
China smells blood in the water, recognizing that Donald Trump is a complete and utter moron so China can do what it wants.
The supposed greatest nation on Earth is now the planet's bitch.
And there are all the grifts, cons and distractions.
Why the fuck can't Trump shut up about the damn ballroom?
People can see this and the numbers show that a lot of people are not happyt with this shit.
Trump's aggregate approval rating has dropped below 40%.
My response to that is why is it that high. Are those 40% NOT paying attention?
But the fact remains that more than half of America thinks that Trump is doing an absolutely shitty job.
So how can a guy who is so fundementally disliked by a majority of Americans still weild enough power to influence people to take out his enemies?
The simplest answer is Trump remains a big fish in a small pond.
Amongst the subset of Americans known as the Republican electorate, der Führer commands an 81% approval rating.
So there's party loyalty and all that.
But...
Don't those same Republicans voters also have to pay higher prices for gas, groceries and some other 3rd thing?
Can't they see what we see?
How can they be OK with all of this?
I'm going to turn this over to Shelley Tufts, a 53 year old from Opelika, Alabama who attended last week's circle jerk Christian Nationalist prayerfest.
"We just have to keep showing up. Before the election we had lost just about every one of our freedoms. But Trump has done a good job of turning things around."
What pray tell are the freedoms she thought she lost before Trump? I don't know, perhaps the freedom to be racist, homophobic, Islamaphobic?
While Shelley Tufts represents a minority of Americans who support, that minority is absolute in their dedication to der Führer.
He does NOTHING for them.
They have the same sticker shock as the rest of us for gas, groceries and some other 3rd thing.
Their sons and daughters can bleed and die in an unneccessary war as much as anyone else's sons and daughters.
This is where Donald Trumo draws his power to smite his personal enemies, erect tributes to his personal ego and fill his personal bank accounts.
Shelley Tufts is convinced Trump's self aggrandizement is for her country's glory.
The ultimate Trump con job.
And her sad gullibility can be chalked up as another Trump victory.
