Other People Have Something To Say

If you read today's earlier post on my thoughts about Christa Pike and the death penalty, well, God bless you and thank you for your sacrifice.

But you might wonder, "Gee! Dave-El, where is your weekly diatribe about whatever fuckery Donald Trump was/is/will be up to?", well, sometimes I need a break and will turn to others to do the heavy lifting.

First up, here's Dave Columbo with his "Week In Trump" to catch you up to speed of the most recent 7 days in hell.

Feeling despair over the god forsaken world that Li'l Donnie has made for us?  Here's Elle Cordova to provide some context and perhaps a glimmer of hope. 

But if the words of other people are not sufficient, let me remind you of the official position of yours truly, Dave-El and I'm So Glad My Suffering Amuses You Inc..

Donald Trump is a  lying, petulant, bullying, unintelligent, sociopathic, dishonorable, treasonous, gutless, moronic, heartless, soulless, slimy, loathsome, vile, incompetent, psychotic, crooked, disgusting, reprehensible, revolting, horrible, malicious, obnoxious, hateful, narcissistic, small-minded, despicable god damn, motherfucking piece of shit!

There! I hope that tides you over for your weekly Trump post.

We're back tomorrow with the Tuesday TV Touch base.

Remember to be good to one another and...

HELL YEAH! BRING ON THE DAMN MIDTERMS! 

The Revenge Business

The topic of today's post is the death penalty.

WARNING:  This post is not going to be fun at all.

This is going to get into some intense stuff.  

The purpose of this post is to try to put into words some semblance of order on my thoughts about the Christa Pike case in particular and the general overall idea of the death penalty.

I do not assert any special wisdom or insight.  I'm just one guy with some opinions I want to put down in writing.

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In "Take This Sabbath Day", the 14th episode of the 1st season of The West Wing, President Jed Bartlett is facing a decision, to commute the death sentence of Simon Cruz, a drug trafficker who murdered two drug kingpins.

President Bartlet asks a visiting Democratic operative named Joey Lucas why she opposes the death penalty.

Joey:  "The state shouldn't kill people."

Bartlett seeks religious advice from Father Cavanaugh who cites Romans 12:19.   

Cavanaugh: '''Vengeance is mine,' sayeth the Lord.' You know what that means? God is the only one who gets to kill people."

But I think it's the counsel Bartlett receives from his young aide, Charlie Young, that has resonated with me the most over the years since I saw this episode.  

Charlie's mother was a police officer who was shot dead in the line of duty.  The president asks Charlie if the person who killed his mother was caught and convicted, wouldn't Charlie want to see the state put that person to death?

Charlie says no.

Charlie: "I wouldn't want to see him executed, I'd wanna do it myself."

I'm not sure if it's made clear why the case of Simon Cruz merits the special dispensation of review by President Bartlett but nonetheless the case is before him and he grapples with it.

Jed Bartlett the man would rather not put this man, any man to death.  

Jed Bartlett the President has to consider the rule of law, the will of the people and I'm sure some other damn 3rd thing and...

The moment passes.

The execution of Simon Cruz is carried out. 

Like a lot of people these days, the subject of the death penalty has been put front and center in my thoughts of late, put there by the drama surrounding the execution of Christa Pike.

And the failure of that execution. 

On September 30th, Christa Pike was strapped to a gurney and given two injections of pentobarbital.  These lethal injections are designed to cause the recipient to become unconscious, stop breathing, and develop a heart arrhythmia, culminating in death.

Witnesses to the execution noted Pike was calm during the procedure but admitted to feeling pain and discomfort in her arm. Then she became unconscious.  

And began snoring.  

The two doses of the drug designed to kill her had failed to do so.

As I write this, Christa Pike is currently in a hospital on a ventilator as the medical staff work to purge the pentobarbital from her system.  

While watching videos and reading stories on this unfolding saga, I have been struck by the uniformity of the comments which can be summarized as this:  Christa Pike is an evil bitch who does not deserve our sympathy and we should not forget what she did to Colleen Slemmer.

Let's discuss what Christa Pike did to Colleen Slemmer.

Caution: this part is very grim and gruesome.  

In 1995,  18 year old Christa Pike and her boyfriend 17 year old Tadaryl Shipp lured 19 year old Colleen Slemmer into the woods. Over the course of 30 minutes, Colleen was tormented and tortured.  A pentagram was carved into her chest while she was still alive. This frenzy of torture ended when Christa smashed Colleen's skull with a large chunk of asphalt, the resulting brain injury leading slowly but inevitably to Colleen's death.

No one should suffer and die like Colleen Slemmer did. 

I'm pissed off thinking about this poor young woman suffering such brutality and dying, cold, in pain and abandoned in the woods.

For his role in the murder, Tadaryl Shipp was sentenced to life in prison.  Christa Pike was sentenced to death.  

For what she did to Colleen Slemmer, a merciful death by execution is too good for Christa Pike, that bitch. Forget the state putting her to death,  "I'd wanna do it myself."

Which is a valid emotional response. 

But is it a judicial one?

Do we need to consider what brought 18 year old Christa Pike to the moment in the woods in 1995 with a chunk of asphalt in her hands to bring it down on Colleen Slemmer's skull?

One response is to say "Who cares?" 

• Colleen was murdered.
• Christa killed her.
• Christa needs to pay. 

But should we consider that Christa Pike has been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder? 

Do we need to think about the allegations of physical and sexual abuse Christa Pike endured as a child? 

None of this changes the horrible reality of Colleen's death and the sheer brutality of what she endured.

But weighing the need for justice and holding those accountable who act against the welfare of our citizens, we need to ask, is committing the murder of Christa Pike for her murder of Colleen Slemmer an act of justice or revenge?

"Should the government be in the revenge business?" 

For those who read their Bibles, it bears remembering "Vengeance is mine,' sayeth the Lord."

it does seem to me that a lot of those who read their Bibles are the ones calling the loudest for the ultimate retribution of death for Christa Pike.  

It's a hard business, isn't it?  The needs of a society for accountability of those that would defy the most basic moral tenets of that society need to be balanced with a dispassionate and objective application of the law.  

Did 50 year old Christa Pike deserve to be put to death for an insane act committed by an 18 year old Christa Pike?

But did Colleen Slemmer deserve to not see life beyond age 19, bleeding out on the cold ground in the dark woods?  

What is the dividing line between justice and vengeance?

I'm not going to lie and say that if someone hurt my wife or son, that I would not want the full weight of punishment brought down on that person.  

"Vengeance is mine,' sayeth me!" 

In exchange for someone hurting those I love, would I be satisfied the perpetrator of that harm was sentenced to a roof over their heads with health care and three square meals a day at taxpayer expense? Hell no! I would want that person to die.

Which is a valid emotional response. 

But we need the state to not be emotional.

Even when the situation is hard and personal, perhaps we need to reconsider our use of the death penalty and understand "The state shouldn't kill people."

I don't think the government should be in the revenge business. And ultimately that's what the death penalty amounts to in my humble opinion.    

Star Trekking: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 In Review

 

No new episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds this week as season 4 has come to an end.

So I guess this is a good time to look at the season gone by.  

At the halfway point of season 4, I ranked the first five episodes of the season.

#5 - "Human Best Friend"

#4 - "The Griffin Incident" 

#3 - "Level-Five Transporter Accident"

#2 - "Valles Marineris"

#1 - "A Case of Chiaroscuro"

I suppose in the interest of symmetry, I will rank the last five episodes of season 4.

#5 - "Once La'an A Time"

The set up for this fantasy based episode is convoluted and confusing.  Saving points for this episode: 

• Christina Chong as La'An and a princess in a sword fight with each other.  
• Enterprise vs. Space Dragon

Otherwise, this one is a wipe out.  

#4 - "Like Chronitons Through An Hourglass"

I actually kind of liked this "Star Trek as soap opera" episode and it is a very strong spotlight for the criminally underutilized Anson Mount as Capt. Pike. 

Mount was so good as Pike in Star Trek: Discovery that fans willed Strange New Worlds into existence so it seems a shame we've spent so little time with him this season.    

#3 - "Orders of Magnitude"

Upside: Powerful outings for Nyota Uhura and Jim Kirk.  

Downside: the appearance of the "Bad Admiral" trope. 

#2 - "Off Hour"

An episode with everyone has something to do as everything that can go wrong with the Enterprise goes wrong.

We get to spend some quality time with Christine Chapel as she valiantly struggles to keep  M'Benga alive.  

And haggard young engineer Scotty makes the first steps to becoming "miracle worker" Scotty.

In the midst of chaos and disaster, Scotty calmly puts a hand on the deck plate and confidently reports to Pike, "The Enterprise will hold!" That is such an epic and powerful scene. I totally geeked out over that moment!  

#1 - "Tomorrow's Enterprise"

I don't want to oversell this episode but damn! I cannot say enough good things about this season finale.

• Epic space stuff! 
• Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey!
• Nyota Uhura kicks ass! BOTH of her! 

So I suppose the task now is to merge my first half of the season list with the second half of the season.  

#10 - "Human Best Friend"

#9 - "Once La'an A Time" 

#8 - "The Griffin Incident" 

#7 - "Like Chronitons Through An Hourglass"    

#6- "Level-Five Transporter Accident"

#5 - "Orders of Magnitude" 

#4 - "Valles Marineris"

#3 - "A Case of Chiaroscuro"

#2 - "Off Hour"

#1 - "Tomorrow's Enterprise"

This is admittedly a subjective list.

I would posit that "Like Chronitons Through An Hourglass" was objectively better than "Level-Five Transporter Accident" but damn, my love of Muppets gets the better of me and I gave the puppet one the edge.

Likewise, I would argue from a purely objective perspective, "Valles Marineris" was better than "A Case of Chiaroscuro" but I am a sucker for classic B&W film noir and Rebecca Romijn.  

Season 4 received a lot of grief online for the "gimmick" episodes.  And you may note that all but one of the gimmick episodes are in my bottom five. 

But I'm fine with the weird swings that helped Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stand out from the rest of the Star Trek canon and stand apart as a unique television viewing experience.  

That being said, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds works best with a solid sci-fi plot married to nuanced character building. 

"Tomorrow's Enterprise" is an extraordinarly powerful example of this kind of storytelling.  

Overall, I think season 4 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was good more often than not and certainly corrected for the mis-steps of season 3.  

Sadly we're looking down the barrel of the end of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds when season 5 drops next year.  It will only be six episodes but we should count ourselves lucky to have that.

Paramount wanted to end the series with season 4. A last minute appeal by the producers to save the show was met with a lackluster offer to do a Strange New Worlds movie.  The production team said they needed more time than 1 single movie so a reluctant Paramount green-lit a 5th season for 6 episodes.

Paramount sucks! 

OK, now I'm in a bad mood.  I need to think of something positive.

Scotty: "The Enterprise will hold!"

That helps.  Thanks, Scotty!

So that is that for Star Trekking's tour of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4.

What's next for Star Trekking? 

Next week we're back to the beginning with a series of posts looking back on season 2 of Star Trek, the original series.

Until next time, live long and prosper, y'all! 

Movie Time: Two On a Guillotine

 Last weekend, the number one movie in America was Avengers: Endgame.  A nifty trick for a movie that came out 7 years ago.  

To solidify connections to the forthcoming Avengers: Doomsday, the re-release contains about 5 minutes of extra footage.

I'm not really sure how I feel about the return of the Avengers to the MCU.  I kind of think the bloom is off that particular rose.

I gave Captain America: Brave New World a miss last year and despite it's resounding success with critics and the box office this year, missing Spider-Man: Brand New Day has not particularly hurt my feelings. 

I don't feel much anticipation for Avengers: Doomsday.  Still, can I resist a Marvel movie that features everyone who was ever in a Marvel movie?  

I will know more about how I feel come December.  

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After watching Supergirl the week before, Andrea and I decided to re-watch the 2025 Superman film.  It was a delight to see this film again, even without any extra footage.

Watching these two movies back to back does really highlight the shortfalls of Supergirl compared to Superman.  

Maybe the best idea for a sequel to Superman would've been a spotlight on Mr. Terrific.  I'm down for a movie or TV series project starring Edi Gathegi as the world's smartest annoyed person.

Now it's on to this week's movie post.

It's... Movie Time!   

It's October now which means we're on a countdown to Halloween.  

We're on a countdown of Andrea bugging me on when I'm going to put up the Halloween decorations. (Which will be followed in short order by pressure to put up Christmas stuff.) 

The horror! The horror! 

So as we face down the cold clammy embrace of Halloween, I'm going to dedicate this Movie Time space to some older horror films of questionable quality and taste.

Today we're going back to 1965 and Two On a Guillotine, an American horror film produced and directed by William Conrad and starring Connie Stevens, Dean Jones and Cesar Romero. 

The movie opens on a scene of torment, terror and torture.

A blonde woman in a diaphonous gown, her hands bound over her head, watches in helpless horror as a man with sinister eyes and a learing expression approaches with a sword. 

With a sudden thrust, he pushes the blade into her stomach, as blood gushes from the wound.  Struggling and screaming in pain and terror, she is subject to another lunge of the sword and she slumps against her bonds as death claims her.

Then a curtain falls in front of our dead damsel as her assailant turns to face the applause of his theater audience.

Yep, this was all a magic trick and the woman enters the stage, totally unharmed saved for the patches of blood on her gown where she was impaled by the sword.

OK, I will grant this is a really good trick.  

But how the hell was any of that entertaining?  

Behold John Harley Duquesne, magician extraordinaire, and his lovely wife and stage assistant, Melinda.  Apparently his particular schtick is putting Melinda in various death traps and pretending to kill her.   

His latest scenarios of lethal legerdemain involves a guillotine. Duquesne demonstrates the lethality of the device by cutting of the head of their daughter's favorite doll.  

Daddy will just buy her another one.  

So the blade is super sharp but it is all still just a magic trick and Melinda will not be in any real danger.

No fair, all of you out there guessing where this is gonna go.

Yeah, yeah, yeah! The trick will go awry and John Harley Duquesne will behead his beloved Melinda and go koo-koo for Cocoa Puffs until he dies, a broken and tortured man.  

But you're really not supposed to know that because the movie jumps from Duquesne demonstrating the device on the daughter's doll to 20 years later and we're at his funeral.

The funeral is a weird deal.  Duquesne's coffin has windows on the top and sides so you can see his head. Apparently it's part of some insane bet he made that after he died, he would pull off the ultimate trick and escape from the grave. Hence the windows, to prove he's in there and he's dead.

Showing up at the funeral is ... Melinda?

Nope, it's Duquesne's daughter, Cassie.

(Connie Stevens plays both roles.) 

Cassie has been on the outs with dear old dad since her mom "mysteriously disappeared" years before and was  quite surprised to get the call that her father was dead and she was in his will.  

Congratulations, Cassie! Your psychotic magician dad has left you a haunted mansion and all you have to do to own it forever is stay in the damn thing for seven nights.

Reporters come sniffing around, thinking there's a story in all these shenanigans but Cassie wants nothing to do with these vultures.  

Val Henderson thinks he has a shot at charming his way into Cassie's good graces and getting a really big scoop as long as he doesn't let her know he's a reporter.  

What follows is a serious of weird occurences in the  Duquesne mansion, some of which are clearly cheap parlor tricks.  The screaming skeleton on a rope pulley is a nice touch.

Other strange happenings are not as easy to explain, things appearing and disappearing, the whispering voices, the disturbing cries and mysterious moans.  

Is the mansion really haunted?

Is it in fact haunted by John Harley Duquesne?

Has he kept his vow to escape the grave?

SPOILER:  John Harley Duquesne ain't dead! 

This very much still alive delusional dad has been sneaking about the house, pyschologically torturing his daughter who is the spitting image of his beloved Melinda.  

And he's ready to perform the guillotine trick one more time because he's worked out what went wrong last time and he's intends to star Melinda Cassie in the performance.   

Cassie is laid out on the guillotine, her neck in the path of the threatening blade.  Oh, one more point of order: Duquesne has changed an unconscious Cassie out of her clothes into one of Melinda's dresses.  

So THAT creepy factor is cranked up pretty damn high.

Henderson barges into to save Cassie but gets into a fight with Duquesne. In the course of the fight, they bump into the guillotine and hit the lever holding up the blade.

Oh shit! The blade comes down and a head falls into the basket!

Fuck no! Cassie's dead?!?!

SPOILER: No! 

He may be a crazy crackpot but John Harley Duquesne has successfully pulled off his great guillotine trick.  

Cassie is all right, no thanks to Henderson but the two of them kiss as the police arrive to arrest Duquesne for crimes.

And we have mercifully reached the end.  

Connie Stevens thought the script was stupid but hey, what's a girl with a contract with Warner Bros. supposed to do? 

The score was Max Steiner's last film score. Here are some much better movies that featured Steiner compositions.

• Gone With the Wind 
• Casablance
• Now Voyager
• King Kong

As for the film that would serve as Max Steiner's swan song, he was less than magnanimous towards Two On a Guillotine.  "It wasn't a picture, it was an abortion ... The guillotine was placed in the wrong place ... they should have cut off William Conrad's head for producing the thing."

William Conrad would only direct two more feature films after Two On a Guillotine. He mostly directed for television and also worked as an actor on crimes shows such as Cannon and Jake & the Fatman.  BONUS: Conrad was also the voice of the narrator on Rocky & Bullwinkle. 

The role of reporter Val Henderson was played by Dean Jones, an affable actor known for more family friendly features. After  Two On a Guillotine, Dean Jones' next movie was That Darn Cat for Disney.  In 1995, he was inducted as a Disney Legend for his film work.

In the role of John Harley Duquesne was Cesar Romero.  With dozens of film and TV roles on his resume, Romero's greatest notoriety came from playing the Joker of the Batman TV series in the 1960's.   

Romero refused to shave his signature mustache to play the Joker so white make up was applied over the mustache.

Speaking of a TV show based on a comic book... 

Dell Comics published a comic book adaption of Two On a Guillotine.  

cover by Dick Giordano
& Vince Colletta

Two On a Guillotine is a bit of a rote by the numbers thriller saved by a winking self awareness of it's goofy haunted house setting and some pleasant romantic chemistry between Connie Stevens and Dean Jones.  

While it is by far so not a great movie, Two On a Guillotine may well be the best one I'm going to writing about in this space for October. 

Next week: a movie the producers described as "The Maddest Story Ever Told" as a family of genetic mutants terrorize guests in their strange and dangerous home.

From 1967, it's Spider-Baby.

We've got that to look forward to next week. 

Your Friday Video Link Goes To the Dogs!

Like it says in the title:

Your Friday Video Link goes to the dogs! 

First up is Pop-Tart who finds a safe and loving forever home but it takes awhile for her to believe she's gonna be OK.

Your next video is a shelter dog going through a gamut of emotions realizing he's being adopted.  

Finally, a little kitten meets a Labrador puppy and it's TOO CUTE!   

That is that for this week's Your Friday Video Link.

Over the weekend, we've got Movie Time and Star Trekking.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another.

Especially be good to dogs.  

Comic Book Retro Spotlight: Shazam#15

Over the last three months in Comic Book Retro 50, I chronicled my purchase of Justice League of America#135-#137 which featured the annual Justice League/Justice Society team up and introduced these heroes of Earth 1 and Earth 2 to a 3rd Earth, designated Earth S...."S" as in Shazam.

Earth S is the home of the original Captain Marvel and the rest of the Marvel Family as well as various other super heroes formerly published by Fawcett Comics.  

JLA#135-#137 was NOT the first crossover of Earth S with the another Earth in the DC Multiverse.

Back in 1974, I purchased Shazam#15 which featured a visit from Earth 1 by Superman's arch nemesis, Lex Luthor. 

Worlds collide in a mash up of mystery and mayhem when "Captain Marvel Meets Lex Luthor!?!"   

In this tale from writer Denny O'Neil and illustrated by Bob Oksner and Tex Blaisdell, Lex Luthor is working on his latest device that will help him defeat his hated foe, Superman, once and more all.

Luthor will use science to gather the forces of magic to which Superman is vulnerable and blast him to smithereens! 

Luthor decides to test the device on an errant issue of Shazam one of his minions left lying around with unusual results.

So Lex is a bit wobbly from meeting a talking tiger?

Wait til he meets the talking worm! 

Mr. Mind is perhaps Captain Marvel's most sinister enemy.

Yeah, he's a worm. But he's an EVIL worm.

A worm of EVIL.

Who also reads comic books. 

So here's the deal, Sparky! 

Mr. Mind and Lex Luthor create a situation where Billy Batson needs to change into Captain Marvel. Lex uses his doohickey to siphon off part of the magic lightning.

Then they lure Captain Marvel into an aquarium and then....

Billy uses his wits and his ever present red sweater to secure an escape from this water death trap.  

Which is more than enough for Lex Luthor.

It's time to git! 

Boy, Denny O'Neil does love that "sealed in a pool with a shark" death trap.  He had the Joker seal Batman in one in Batman#251, "The Joker's Five Way Revenge". 

Art by Neal Adams 

The rest of Shazam#15 features a collection of reprints.

Art by Pete Costanza

Art by Kut Shaffenberger

Art by CC Beck 

The issue wraps up with a NEW Captain Marvel Jr. story by E. Nelson Bridwell  with art by Kurt Shaffenberger.  These two will become the principal  creative team on Shazam in 1976 starting with issue #25.

FUN FACT:  Freddy Freeman's magic word is not Shazam but Captain Marvel.  Which means Captain Marvel Jr cannot say his own name.  

Going back to the issue's lead story, ever since DC got the rights to publish the new adventures of Captain Marvel and friends, fans were anxious to see Cap meet up with Superman.

Shazam#15 brought those two worlds together in a very wacky Shazam-like fashion but DC's still tap dancing around bringing together the World's Mightest Mortal and the Man of Steel.

It looked like fans might get their long desired Superman/Captain Marvel encounter in Superman#276.  

But play close attention to this cover by Nick Cardy and that guy speeding towards Superman ain't who you think it is.

Written by Elliott S! Maggin and drawn by Curt Swan & Bob Oksner, "Make Way For Captain Thunder" tells the tale of young Willie Fawcett who can magically transform into a super powered adult, Captain Thunder.  

Willie is from an Earth in a different dimension and for reasons of plot has crossed over to Superman's Earth where, for more reasons of plot, Captain Thunder is evil.  

Superman and Captain Thunder go at it 'round and 'round until Superman is able to force his opponetn to see reason and...

It may not have been the Superman/Captain Marvel encounter that fans wanted or expected, "Make Way For Captain Thunder" is a pretty solid story in it's own right.

Since the title's launch, Shazam struggled to find an audience by focusing too much on a whimsical aesthetic that was not appealing to audiences accustomed to slightly more mature fare from Marvel Comics or DC books like Batman or Green Lantern/Green Arrow.

If Shazam had adapted the look and syle employed by Maggin, Swan and Oksner in Superman#276, perhaps Shazam would've had a better chance at success.  

As for a real meet up between Superman and Captain Marvel, that would have to wait until 1976 and JLA#137 as we chronicled last week.  

And even then, we were still left wanting.

It would not be until 1978 before we got a full on encounter in the oversized pages of All New Collectors’ Edition #C-58.

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Thanks to the Tom Breevort Experience for the images from Shazam#15 and Superman#276.

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Next week's comic book post tracks some of my most recent purchases from Acme Comics! 

Schmitt Up A Creek

 On Monday, I wrote a post about Tommy Tuberville (R-Al) being the dumbest person in the U.S. Senate.

Yesterday, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said "hold my beer" and made his own pass at the title.

Sen. Schmitt had some urgent business to take care of.

• The high price of groceries? 
• High gas prices?
• The cost of healthcare?
• The war with Iran? 

NO! Really! What is wrong with you people? Don't you know the most urgent business for the Senate is to get former special counsel Jack Smith to answer this pressing question?   
“Did you go to an NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks on Feb. 3, 2024?”
Jack Smith said no and Schmitt was all giddy with a big ol' gotcha! "A-HA! You just committed perjury!"  
And he whipped out a poster board display as evidence of Jack Smith's perfidy.  
Including in the display are text messages from Smith about attending a Hawks game.  

Now you might wonder what the fuck is going on here?

So was Jack Smith and every other person in America with two working brains cells to rub together. 

It turns out that the day before Feb. 3, 2024, Fulton County prosecutor Fran Willis who was working on a case against against Donald Trump admitted to having an affair with Nathan Wade, another prosecutor.  

Jack Smith was persuing his own case against Donald Trump (for election interference, instigating the January 6th insurrection and illegally holding on to classified documents). 

Apparently (and do try to keep up), Smith's presence in Atlanta on Feb. 3, 2024 is PROOF of his collusion with Willis and Wade in their conspiracy to bring specious unfounded charges against poor widdle Donnie Trump.  

Now I am not sure how Schmitt thinks Smith's mere presence at an Atlanta Hawks game in Atlanta is proof of some deep seeded conspiracy against the der Führer.  But Schmitt thought it did and he was so damned proud of his legal gymnastics that could put Jack Smith behind bars for his treacherous temerity to dare sully the reputation of Schmitt's lord and savior. 

“You have weaponized the Department of Justice against political enemies to an extent that has never happened in the history of this country. You will go down as a total dirtbag.”

Except...

Jack Smith was NOT in Atlanta on Feb. 3, 2024.

He was in College Park, MD attending the Maryland women's basketball game, playing the visiting Iowa Hawkeyes.  

Now there is so much to unpack here.

Sen. Eric Schmitt was so determined to catch Jack Smith in something, anything that would support the delusions of Donald Trump that he was the target of a partisan and unjustified investigation, he pounced on the most tenuous "evidence".  

Assuming the texts had been about the Atlanta Hawks, all it would have done was place Jack Smith at an Atlanta Hawks game and proves nothing about any alleged conspiratorial collusion with Willis or Wade.  

And the texts were NOT about the Atlanta Hawks but the Iowa Hawkeyes.  

You would think such a fuck up would be a source of embarrassment for Sen. Schmitt.

He still insists Jack Smith is lying about something, that "dirtbag".

Well, this will play well with Li'l Donnie when he's watching this on Fox News.  

And it will play well with the MAGA faithful who are still devoted to der Führer despite all the 

• high price of groceries
• high gas prices
• high cost of healthcare
• war with Iran

All problems with direct lines to Donald Trump's policies fueled by hate and ignorance.  

The unmitigated gall of Sen. Schmitt to accuse Jack Smith of employing a "weaponized the Department of Justice against political enemies" is reprehensible and despicable.

Especially in light of what Trump's DOJ is so obviously doing at Trump's explicit direction against his political enemies.  

Jack Smith is by all accounts as straight arrow as they come in the pursuit of law and justice.   

Fuck you, Schmitt, for daring to attack a good and honorable man in supplication to a lying, petulant, bullying, unintelligent, sociopathic, dishonorable, treasonous, gutless, moronic, heartless, soulless, slimy, loathsome, vile, incompetent, psychotic, crooked, disgusting, reprehensible, revolting, horrible, malicious, obnoxious, hateful, narcissistic, small-minded, despicable god damn, motherfucking piece of shit!

And all that can be said of Sen. Eric Schmitt as well.

______________________________

Sorry for the surprise political post. We'll deal with real important work tomorrow:  comic books!