Thanks For Nothing, Lawrence O’Donnell.

On Tuesday, MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell leaned in hard on a report on how records from Deutsche Bank showed that loans made to Donald Trump had been co-signed by Russian billionaire oligarchs with close ties to Vladimir Putin.

 

Well, we’ve got that lard ass moron son of a bitch now, don’t we?

 

Except…

 

Maybe we don’t? 

 

O’Donnell did add the caveat that this information was from a single source and had not been vetted by NBC News.

 

Whoopsie!

 

An attorney for Donald Trump was in touch with NBC first thing Wednesday morning and demanded a retraction from O’Donnell or there would legal hell to pay. 

 

On Wednesday afternoon, Lawrence O’Donnell was issuing an apology.

 

So here’s the deal? Were loans made by Deutsche Bank  to Donald Trump co-signed by Russian billionaire oligarchs with close ties to Vladimir Putin?

 

The answer could be “yes”. Or it could be “no”.  But Lawrence O’Donnell was too super eager to get that lard ass moron son of a bitch on something that even Trump’s ignorant base could not ignore.

 

But Lawrence jumped the gun and now what.

 

Look, it’s bad enough that Trump immediately jumps on the back of media with accusations of “fake news” even if the story is supported by facts.  Trump still causes damage when he’s shooting blanks.

 

What we don’t need to do is to give this lard ass moron son of a bitch actual live ammunition. 

 

And what if the story turns out to be true, that Deutsche Bank  did give loans to Donald Trump that were co-signed by Russian billionaire oligarchs with close ties to Vladimir Putin?

 

Trump is inoculated.

 

Remember how Bill Barr got out ahead of the Mueller report and basically said, “Trump did nothing. Move on everyone. Nothing to see here.” Then the actual report got out there and whoa, Trump did a lot of stupid questionable shit. But the base only heard and remembered the first thing.

 

So what happens if there is actual and verifiable proof that Deutsche Bank  lent money to Donald Trump with loans co-signed by Russian billionaire oligarchs with close ties to Vladimir Putin?

 

“FAKE NEWS! Lawrence O’Donnell already apologized for that and said he was wrong!” 

 

Well, thanks for nothing, Lawrence O’Donnell.

The Green BLANK!

So Andrea and I were watching Family Feud.

Because it was on. 

Yes, we are OLD people now and it's what we do.

Anyway...

Andrea and I were watching Family Feud and the winning family had advanced to the Fast Money bonus round. One of the survey questions was "The Green BLANK".   

The first guy said "apple".  

Apple? The Green Apple? 

OK, not my first choice but not a totally unheard of option as it netted him 3 points. 

Then the 2nd guy came out. His name was Jim.

When he got to the "The Green BLANK", he answered with Arrow. 

As in "The Green Arrow". 

OK, Jim knows his comics, right? Or at least his CW shows, at least. Way to go, Jim. You da man! 

But host Steve Harvey doesn't know who Green Arrow is so he asks Jim. 

Jim answers, "He's a Marvel character."

A...

Marvel...

Character? 

Marvel?!?

MARVEL?!?!?



You suck, Jim!  You are most definitely NOT da man! 

And audience members who answered the survey? You suck! 

Green Arrow only got 2 points!!

TWO POINTS?
Green Arrow got beat by the Green Apple? 

Here's an illustration of Green Arrow, circa 1970s by Mike Grell who drew a lot of the Emerald Archer's adventures for DC Comics! 

DC, Jim! Not Marvel! DC!

Defenestration Definition

In Monday’s blog, despite the idea of it being brought up by an idiot, I pondered what would be the result of hitting an hurricane with a nuke. 

You know, other than the radiation problems. 

Well, it seems that the answer is “not much” because a hurricane generates more power than a nuclear bomb. Yep, Mother Nature whips up a boatload of whupass in the form of a hurricane that is greater than the whupass you can get from a nuke.  

Mother Nature, I doff my cap to you.

A couple of weeks ago, I noted that there is one less resident here at the Fortress of Ineptitude when my daughter Randie went off to college.  

Andrea and I are coping by watching more television. 

Sunday evening, we actually watched America’s Funniest Home Videos (really, this is still a thing!), Celebrity Family Feud and $100,000 Pyramid.  Really!

I’d say we’re coping… as well as one would expect of us.

By turning into, apparently, senior citizens. 

I will say, if one more person asks me how I’m dealing with an empty nest, I will defenestrate  this person.

If we’re outside, I will calmly and politely invite this person to come inside and then, I will defenestrate this person.  

Well, that's enough for this post. Andrea and I are going to miss Jeopardy.   

Liz Isn't Interested In BOYS

In a recent posting on Comic Book Resources, I came across this comic book cover. This is the cover to Young Romance#197. In the early to mid 1970s, DC Comics published a number of romance comics. 

And yep, that's a 100 page comic book for only 50 cents.

I'm not 100% sure but the cover art looks like that of Bob Oskner.



And speaking of that cover....

WHAT'S THIS? 

"Liz isn't interested in BOYS... you know what I mean."

NO! I don't know what you mean!  

OK, I think I know. I know what the salacious part of me wants it to mean but....

It's a comic book with the seal of approval from the Comics Code Authority AND it's 1973!

It can't be what I think it means! 

Come on! Spell it out! Don't assume I know what you mean! 

"Liz isn't interested in BOYS?!?!"  

I want to know why! 

OK, given that the comic book is from 1973 AND it is approved by the Comics Code Authority, I'm gonna guess the twist is... 

"Liz isn't interested in BOYS because she's only interested in MEN!"  

Oh. 

I get it. 

Not BOYS but MEN. 

Yeah, I see...

But if only.....

Oh, if only!

The Empty Chair

Climate change was a point of contention at the G7 conference.

In case you’re wondering what the state of climate change is right now, let’s hear from this noted scientific authority.

The thing is that it’s pretty much a given that yes, the planet is, as one might say, on fire or even on fucking fire, as it were.

Climate change is a thing that is happening and it is a thing that having a significant and negative impact on the economy and security.

Aides to Donald Trump were put out that so much of the agenda at the G7 was geared around climate change. These aides called “climate change” a “niche” subject and one engaged in for the express purpose of embarrassing Donald Trump.  They said the G7 should be focused on broader concerns like the economy and security.

Everybody got that?

The sniveling sycophants whose servitude to this moron knows no intellectual or moral bounds are in full spin mode.  

The alleged president with the very big brain does not see how climate change impacts issues around the economy and security.

Of course, this is not a surprise. This is the same guy who has refuted the overwhelming evidence of climate change as a hoax by the Chinese.  

This is the same guy who has directed all cabinet level agencies to remove any references to climate change from official government documents and reports.

The Pentagon has cited the leading threat to national security are stresses caused by climate change.  Trump thinks the leading threat to national security is still Hillary’s emails.

On Monday at the G7, there was a big climate change meeting. Out of 7 nations, 6 chairs were filled. The empty seat belonged to….

Yeah, Trump didn’t go.

When pressed about this, Trump cited an intent to go to that forum, referencing his support for clean air and clean water. And then he waddled off.

That is his constant go to when cornered on climate change:  he supports clean air and clean water.

Which of course ignores the larger and more impactful issues of climate change.

The Earth is going to hell in a handbasket. Or to put it another way:

But in a position of leadership of what is supposed to be the greatest nation on Earth, there is only an empty chair. 

Trump doesn’t care. He’s content to fiddle while the rest of us burn. 

Nukes and Hurricanes

One of the recurring themes of this blog is that Donald Trump is a moron.

 

Sometimes I reflect and ponder on that point and then I arrive at a more sophisticated and nuanced observation: Donald Trump is a fucking moron.

 

Every single day and on n almost hourly schedule, Li’l Donnie will say or do something that is so humongously stupid, that it cannot help to begat the repeating refrain: Donald Trump is a fucking moron.

 

Here’s the latest.

 

Donald Trump wants to nuke a hurricane?

 

Really? God, Donald Trump is a fucking moron!

 

Except…

 

Well….

 

OK, I have to admit it and I really hate to admit it but now I’m kind of curious.

 

What would happen if we nuked a hurricane?

 

To be fair and as I understand it, that is in fact the question Trump asked.

 

Now we know and understand that inside that monstrous blob of man shaped fat we know of as Donald Trump is the mind of a little boy. And little boys want to play with their toys. And there is no “toy” more enticing to a United States president with the mind of a little boy than a nuclear bomb.

 

C’mon, Trump’s itching to nuke some shit because he can and he wants to. 

 

Why not a hurricane?

 

Damn it!

 

OK, I’ll bite: why not a hurricane?

 

Now, I am not a scientist. I’ve seen actors on TV pretending to be scientists but I myself am not one.

 

But not being a scientist, I imagine the first big objection to using a nuclear weapon against a hurricane is the radiation.

 

Assuming the purpose of nuking a hurricane is to destroy it before it makes landfall, such a strike would take place out over the ocean. The currents in the water and trade winds above the water would spread radiation around. Whole swaths of our eco-system would be irradiated and would inevitably make landfall. 

 

But putting aside the issue of radiation for a moment, what exactly would be the effect of a nuclear explosion on a hurricane? What would be the effect of the sheer concussive force of a nuclear bomb on a violently powerful weather system like a hurricane?

 

Well, damn it, I want to know!

 

So, thanks for nothing, Li’l Donnie, for putting that thought in my head.

 

He says the stupidest things and then we have to think about it because, hell, you never know with this fucking moron. 

Doctor Who: It Looks Like Cybermen

We may be due for another Doctor Who return in series 12. 

Yep, it looks like Cybermen!  

The Earth Is On Fire

Well, it was a good run while it lasted.

The Earth is on fire!

OK, Bill Nye, the Science Guy tried to tell us a few months ago during an appearance on John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight.

“The PLANET'S on FUCKING FIRE!” Mr. Nye asserted with a degree of rage we do not usually associate with our amiable science teaching TV hosts for children.

To be fair, things in this old world are in constant defiance with anything with usually what we usually expect from it.

Summer is hotter than ever.

Storms pop up with a level of strength and ferocity that exceeds our previous experience.

Permafrost is melting. Permafrost is frost so damn cold, it’s around permanently. Right there in the name, folks. Except permafrost is not so perma.

None of this is unexpected. Science has warned us for years, going back to the 1990s (when Friends was new and not a nostalgia thing) that the planet is getting hotter and that’s not a good thing.

None of this undeniable. Hell, I’m not a scientist and I can tell you without a doubt from just wat I see, hear and feel, weather did not used to be like this.

Of course all of this is deniable if you’re one of those right wing cretins who thinks man-made climate change is a made up horror story by them liberals who are trying to take away your airplanes and hamburgers. I mean, all the science isn’t in yet.

How much fucking science do you need?

Let’s check with this noted scientist.

When Nye made this dramatic proclamation, it was a desperate attempt to wake up people to the ever increasing hotting up of the atmosphere of our planet.

Now, it literally is on FIRE!

The Amazon in South America is on fire. Producing up to 20% of the Earth’s oxygen, the Amazon is referred to as the lungs of planet Earth. 

The planet’s lung’s are on fire.  The Amazon on fire impacts the entire world. Or as this guy might put it:

If you’re wondering why this happening now, you can blame this one on Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro, the Donald Trump of Brazil.

If you think that it sucks there is one Donald Trump on this planet, imagine that there are back up Li’l Donnies around the globe.

Right, Bill. So Jair Bolsonaro looked over at the lungs of the world and figured there was a shit ton of money to be made if you knock enough of Amazon down to graze enough cattle.

Since taking office in January, Jair Bolsonaro has been hacking away environmental regulations because regulations are bad, you know? There’s money to be made and regulations get in the way of that.  Does this remind of you of anyone you know? Tall, fat, orange colored, IQ of a dung beetle?

Singing from the Donald Trump hymn book, Bolsonaro blamed others for the fires (check) in effort to undermine him (check check) with no evidence to support his claim (check check check). 

What’s a few trees when there’s money to be made?

So you might want to spend it fast. 

Discrimination Out of Love?

In Michigan about 5 years ago, Aimee Stephens was fired from her job.  Specifically because she is transgender.


Subsequently, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)  took up her case, suing her employer for violating federal law. 


Now her case will be going before the Supreme Court.


The good news for Aimee Stephens is the question at the heart of her case is pretty cut and dried: Is it unlawful sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to fire someone because that person is transgender? Before 2016, the United States government had nearly universally said yes.


The bad news for Aimee Stephens is that the date than done brung her to the dance ain’t going to dance with Aimee Stephens. 


The United States has switched sides: the Trump administration is petitioning the court to permit employers to fire an employee for being transgender. 


Which isn’t a surprise.


Trump has pursued a course of outright hostility to the transgender community since day one.

Mere weeks after his inauguration in January of 2017, Trump rescinded guidance clarifying federal protections for transgender students.

A few months later, Donald Trump tweeted his ban on transgender people serving openly in the military, which is now in effect.



In recent months, the Trump administration has proposed excluding transgender people from protections in health care and accessing homeless shelters.

And in the latest insult to trans people, and now, upping the game, giving the thumbs up to firing transgender workers.

What might be a bit of a surprise is the complete brazenness of those representing Aimee’s erstwhile employer.  


Representing the case for the employer is the Alliance Defending Freedom which contends that firing Aimee Stephens from her job was an act of… love?


John Bursch, the lead ADF lawyer put it this way: “It’s healthier for people such as Stephens to try to ‘align their mind with their biological reality’ rather than to ‘change their gender.’” Bursch asserts that Aimee’s employer wasn’t acting out of discriminatory animus, but rather “out of love both for Stephens and for employees.”


Yes, Aimee Stephens’ employer fired Aimee because (“choke!”) they just care (“sob!”) SO MUCH!


Here is part of the argument ADF will be making before the Supreme Court: “The science regarding gender identity is far from settled, and there are deep disagreements over whether otherwise healthy bodies should be physically modified to align with the mind. The opposite approach — aligning one’s mind with the body — has traditionally been the preferred method for treating other dysphorias, such as anorexia and xenomelia.”

Wow! That is a most interesting insight, one that is NOT shared by the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association and pretty much every other major medical and mental health group.  These organizations have all landed on Aimee’s side in this debate. 

By the way, in case you wondering what is the source of ADF’s medical opinion, it is a single 88-year-old physician whose views on trans people have been completely refuted and denounced by nearly all his colleagues. 

If the ADF and the Trump administration prevail in their case against Aimee Stephens,   it will set the precedent that is lawful to fire LGBTQ people. 

If employers can just fire people for simply being LGBTQ, the negative consequences for a lot of people will start to pile up with losses of jobs and wages, fueling discrimination against LGBTQ people in areas of education, health care, housing, the military, prisons and by government officials.

But at least the LGBTQ community will know this is all being done out of love, right? 

Tyrant Of Her Particular Hill

On this day last week, a caravan of two cars headed east across middle North Carolina to take our daughter to her new collegiate home away from home. 

My daughter Randie was driving one car with her college roommate as passenger while my wife Andrea and I were in the other.

This was going to be a big day and a big undertaking.

Here’s what we were told at orientation a month ago about the move in process.

We would park our cars at the dorm, unload our cars and take stuff to the student’s room. Don’t take time to organize anything in the room, there would be time for that later. Once the cars are unloaded, move the cars to another parking lot so the next family can move in their stuff and so on and so on.

So everybody got that? We park the cars at the dorm, unload the cars, move the cars. Simple. Makes sense to me.

Even as we approached the dorm, I reminded Andrea that would need to move fast. Once we park the cars, we unload the cars and then move the cars so the next people in line can have their turn. 

We turned a corner on the narrow street outside Randie’s dorm and whoa! There were a lot of cars. But Randie found a space to park and I moved guided my car into the space next to her.

As we exited our cars, an ANGRY WOMAN with a da-glo vest and an college t-shirt began yelling at us.

“YOU CAN’T JUST PARK THERE LIKE THAT! IT’S NOT FAIR TO OTHER FAMILIES TRYING TO MOVE IN TO TAKE UP THOSE PARKING SPACES!!!”

 OK, what the fuck?!! Seriously?!?

I snapped back at her, “Hey, we know what the rules are! We’re going to UNLOAD THESE CARS, TAKE STUFF TO THE ROOM AND THEN COME BACK AND WE’LL MOVE THE DAMN CARS!!!!”

The ANGRY WOMAN retorts, “I DON’T WANT NOBODY CLAIMING THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO SO I’M MAKING SURE PEOPLE KNOW!!!”

“Well, I don’t need that from you because I KNOW and WE’RE WASTING TIME ‘cause we need to UNLOAD THESE CARS!!!”

This kind of person irks me. IRKS me! A small minded person who thinks they are king or queen of their particular hill, determined to extend their limited authority over anyone and everyone.

This woman, this ANGRY WOMAN was more of the tyrant of her particular hill. 


Well, to hell with her. We needed to get down to work with the task we drove in here to do: unload the cars, get shit to the room, move the cars.  

Instead of dividing our efforts between the two cars, we would focus on the one I drove so we can move it out faster.

A very nice gentleman named Brian (who I reckoned had to be about 15 years older than me but it way better shape) offered to help us.  Between 5 people, we cleared out one fully loaded car in 3 trips over about 15 minutes.

Randie’s room is on the 3^rd floor and yes, of course, there’s no elevator. Oh and Randie has elected to go to college in Satan’s Arm Pit and it’s August so it’s very hot and very humid. It's more than enough to irritate me. Thanks to ANGRY WOMAN, the fires of my irritation have already been stoked.

Here’s how the process worked for me.

1. Load myself down with as much shit as I could carry.
2. Snarl at the ANGRY WOMAN.
3. Stagger down the hall to the center of the dorm as I mutter to myself: BITCH! GRUMBLE! BITCH! BITCH! GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE!
4. Stumble up a flight of stairs to the 2^nd floor as I continue to mutter to myself: BITCH! GRUMBLE! BITCH! BITCH! GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE!
5. Stumble up a flight of stairs to the 3^rd floor as I continue to mutter to myself: BITCH! GRUMBLE! BITCH! BITCH! GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE!
6. Stagger down the hall to my daughter’s room as I persist in muttering  to myself: BITCH! GRUMBLE! BITCH! BITCH! GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE!
7. Stagger and stumble back to 1^st floor back to the car: BITCH! GRUMBLE! BITCH! BITCH! GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE!
8. Snarl at the ANGRY WOMAN.
9. Re-Load myself down with as much shit as I could carry.
10. And…REPEAT! BITCH! GRUMBLE! BITCH! BITCH! GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE!

After I deposited my final load in Randie’s room, I was staggering through the dorm lobby. I should point out there were various young people present, volunteers from the college who were kind and offered to help. I was too determined and pissed off to let anyone take any burden I had managed to scoop up into my arms.

But on this last trip and as one of these young people proffered a much welcomed cool cup of water, I felt compelled to share.

“Look, you guys have been so nice and I’ve been in such a bad mood, stomping through this lobby and muttering to myself but….

There was this ANGRY WOMAN out there!”

These young people were rather sympathetic to my plight with one young man commenting that someone had  spoken with ANGRY WOMAN.

I thanked them for their time and allowing me to vent. A young woman replied, "Oh, any time." 

I'm thinking I'm an old man with a lot to be angry about. She should be careful with that kind of carte blanche permission for me to vent.

Anyway...

I went outside to the now empty car while Randie, her roomie and Brian were getting to work unloading the other car.

I looked around for ANGRY WOMAN. I wanted to yell at her, "Hey, moving THIS car now and after only 15 minutes, you HATEFUL BITCH!" She was nowhere to be found. Maybe she was assigned another hill to be a tyrant over.

So I drove the car to the assigned parking lot for visitors which was over a mile away. Not a bad drive but I gotta walk that god damn mile back in the heat and the humidity of Satan's Arm Pit!

BITCH! GRUMBLE! BITCH! BITCH! GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE!