The Trump Covid 19 Orbit

The list of who is now testing positive for Covid 19 in Donald Trump's orbit keeps getting longer. Including Li'l Donnie himself, here are all the people tested positive for the coronavirus so far.  

• Donald Trump
• Melania Trump 
• Hope Hicks
• Sen. Thom Tillis 
• Sen. Mike Lee
• Se. Ron Johnson
• Kellyanne Conway
• Bill Stepien
• Ronna McDaniel
• Chris Christie
• Nicholas Luna 
• The Rev. John Jenkins

There is some evidence to suggest that the instigating event for Trump's infection and it's subsequent spread was the event on Saturday, September 26th announcing Trump's new nominee for the Supreme Court.  

Here is a snapshot of the crowd gathered for Trump's announcement.

Please notice there is no social distancing and only a parcity of those in attendance were wearing a mask.  

Who knew what and when? Click here for the article on Politico.com for some disturbing details on the time line of Donald Trump's various interactions since September 26th. 

I was wondering how Trump's base would react to the news of  Donald Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis. It seems standard operating procedures still apply:

• Blame others
• Accuse the left of behaving badly
• Kiss Trump's ass even harder

Commentators pointing out Trump’s borderline obesity and age, which raise the risk of serious infection, were accused by conservatives of celebrating Trump's illness. 

Sen. Kelly Loeffler tweeted that China “gave this virus” to Donald and Melania Trump, demanding “WE MUST HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE.”

Some in MAGA World concocted theories that the Democrats were, somehow, trying to steal the election once again.

DeAnna Lorraine, a former congressional candidate: “Does anyone else find it odd that no prominent Democrats have had the virus while the list of Republicans goes on and on?” 

Hey, does anyone else find it odd that DeAnna Lorraine is fucking moron? Maybe the list of infected Republicans goes on and on because the the list of Republicans taking a shit on social distancing and mask wearing goes on and on! 

Some conspiracy theorists speculate there is a secret message  from Trump in his tweet on Friday in the use of the word “together”. Translation for the nutcases out there: this is code for “to get her,” a reference to attacks on his 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton.

Paranoia runs deep in these intellectually stagnant waters. 

Others on the right predicted a good outcome because Donald Trump is just so damn healthy and tough as hell.

Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow: "He works 20 hours a day. I think he’ll be tough. He's a fighter. It'll be tough to keep him down.”

While at Walter Reed Hospital, Donald Trump posed sitting at a table apparently (as Ivanka put it) still working for the American people. The paper in front of him is blank; the pen in his hand is a sharpie.  This constant right wing myth that Trump is always working is so utter bullshit. Unless you count being glued to Fox News and always on Twitter as work. 

Dr. David Samadi, a urologist and commentator for Fox News and the conservative Newsmax outlet, pointed out that while COVID-19 patients over the age of 70 had a 94.6 percent recovery rate, patients ages 24 to 49 had a 99.8 percent recovery rate. “I would put POTUS in the 20-49 category due to his strength and stamina." 

Strength and stamina? The closest we ever get see Donald Trump exerting anything resembling strength and stamina is at those goddam circle jerk rallies where the act of ranting makes him flushed and sweaty. Talking loudly tires him out! Strength and stamina, my ass! 

By the way, the doctors treating Trump at Walter Reed might be pulling their punches about what the hell is going on with Li'l Donnie with conflicting answers designed to side step any revelations about the severity of Trump's infection.  

My favorite over the top extolling of Trump's physical superiority is this one: 

Radio host Brenden Dilley: “You’ve never seen him sick. You’ve never seen him without energy. [He’s] not walking around with weak-ass, p---- f------ genetics. He ain’t got those liberal genes. These are, like, god-tier genetics; top 1-percentile genetics.”

Jesus but the Trump train is loaded with crazy people.  

Meanwhile, those who have extended best wishes for Donald Trump's recovery include Joe Biden and Stephen Colbert, trying to take a high road approach.

God bless 'em for trying but you damn well know that if Biden were in the hospital right now for anything, Donald Trump would be slinging around the insults about "Sleepy Joe" left and right. 

I want to take the high road too. I have been for most of my life of the opinion that whoever is the President of the United States, whether I voted for them or not, whether I like them or not, deserves the respect of the office. I believed that until Donald Trump continually and emphatically shredded the norms not just of the presidency or the ideals of what it means to be American but he has completely eviscerated the concept of being a decent human being. 

After four years, month after month, week after week, day after day of watching Donald Trump repeatedly defy the ideals of being a decent human being and now, NOW I am supposed to feel sorry for this motherfucker now that he's sick with the very disease that has already killed over 200,000 Americans that he quite frankly hasn't given a damn about?!?! 

NOW I'm supposed to care if he lives or dies?

If Donald Trump dies, that just one more damn time that he will avoid the consequences for his actions. Personally, I hope Donald Trump recovers from the coronavirus. I want him to be alive when the American people vote his ass out of our house in November.  

Cinema Sunday: Clue

A favorite board game here at the Fortress of Ineptitude is Clue. We've played it for years, even going back to when our daughter was still in elementary school. 


It is the duty of responsible parents to imbue in their children a sense of their mortality, particularly with a mortality that may come to an end quickly and violently.  

Recently the family (myself, my wife Andrea, our daughter Randie and our dog Rosie) assembled ourselves on the sofa to experience the movie version of this beloved board game past time. 

June 9, 1954. 

It is a dark and stormy night at a secluded New England mansion. 
Wadsworth the butler and Yvette the maid greet six guests, each given a pseudonym: Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White, Mrs. Peacock, Mr. Green, Professor Plum, and Miss Scarlet.



A seventh guest arrives, Mr. Boddy, a ne're do well who has been blackmailing the other guests. 
What ensues is a mishmash of chaos and deception with lots of running about and screaming as bodies start piling up, lives snuffed out by a variety of candlestick, dagger, lead pipe, revolver, rope, and wrench in various rooms all over the house. 

Yes, murder can be fun! 

Who did what to who and where? Well, there is an answer.

There are in fact three. 

There are some problematic tonal shifts in this movies. The movie tends towards farce more often than not but character motivations are shaded with a degree of solemnity that seems out of place.  An explanation of one character's involvement in these proceedings is attributed to that character's spouse committing suicide to escape naming friends who were socialists in response to Mr. Boddy's blackmail. It's a very somber moment in a narrative that is otherwise not taking itself seriously at all. There are other examples of real political themes circa 1954 that factor in the plot that are not congruent with the over farcical tone of the movie.

Clue works best when it stops trying to make sense and runs full speed into its more absurd themes. Yes, the alternative denouements of the murder mystery make a sort of sense if you're willing to suspend disbelief and just go with the flow.
Clue is a movie based on a board game. Don't take it too seriously and just enjoy the experience. 

Side bars: As perfect as Tim Curry is in the role of Wadsworth, he almost didn't get it. Leonard Rossiter was the first choice for the role but he died before filming began. Next on the list was Rowan Atkinson but that didn't work out. So Tim Curry was the producer's 3rd choice and got the role. 

The Cook was portrayed by Kellye Nakahara who was Nurse Kealani Kellye in 167 episodes of the TV series M*A*S*H. 

The Singing Telegram Girl was none other than Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's. 

The role of the The Evangelist who appears near the end of the movie is does not appear in the credits. He was played by Howard Hesseman. There was some confusion in our household in that Hesseman in 1985 looks and sounds like Michael McKean does today in 2020. At first I was wondering if McKean who was Mr. Green might be playing a duo role in old age make up.  

Reviews for Clue in 1985 were not kind. For example, Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that the beginning "is the only part of the film that is remotely engaging. After that, it begins to drag." Which is the exact opposite reaction I had. I felt that once the parts of the movie were laboriously pulled together in the first part, the movie really starts engaging my attention. 

One of the things working against clue in 1985 was the three endings. Which ending you got depended on which showing you went to. It was a gimmick that did not go over very well. 
For home video, TV broadcasts, and streaming services, all three endings are shown sequentially, with the first two characterized as possible endings but the third being the true one.

Clue was fun in ways both clever and dumb. 

Songs For Saturday: The Cardigans with Tom Jones, U2 and the Go-Go's

 

Bat Head Phones? Ready! 

Volume? Jacked! 

Let's do this thing! 

SONGS FOR SATURDAY..... AWAAAAAAAYYYY!!!

A few weeks ago, I discovered this cover of the Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House" pairing up the Cardigans with Tom Jones. This song is my latest jam! 

Click here for the original take on "Burning Down the House" by the Talking Heads. 

Next up is a track from my favorite rock band, U2. This is a track that comes from an era that's difficult for a lot of U2 fans. The band was embracing electronic dance pop as part of their repertoire. Today I'm including the song "Lemon" which is a stand out composition from this era and one that I like to listen to a lot. 

"Midnight is where the day begins..." 

I'm not a big fan of U2 from this time but damn, I love the hell out of "Lemon". 

I've let a couple of weeks go without the Go-Go's. 

Performing live on TODAY (September 15, 2020), here are the The Go-Go’s with “We Got the Beat”. 

And they still got the beat, babies!

That's that for this week's Songs For Saturday. Until next time, remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive.  

The Trumps Have Coronavirus. Now What?

It was late last night that the news broke: Donald and Melania Trump have the coronavirus.  

There was much rejoicing on Twitter in the wee hours. At last this incredibly stupid man who has done so much to undermine any sane, coherent strategy of fighting the coronavirus leading to the deaths over 200,000 Americans has finally caught the damn thing himself. 

I joined in the fun myself, posting this graphic on my Twitter feed. 

So the lying, incompetent fat fuck has tested positive for coronavirus. 

Now what? 

So now... nothing? Maybe? 

Look, testing positive for the disease and having the disease are two different things. If Trump comes out of this asymptomatic, the battle to contain and eliminate the coronavirus could be imperiled. 

"See? I got the coronavirus and nothing happened! I told you we didn't need to shut down schools and restaurants! I told you it was a hoax!"  

But what if coronavirus swings the other way? What if Donald Trump gets really sick? 

Well, we can be judgemental! Serves him right, the uncaring bastard! Over 200,000 dead so it's about damn time he faced some kind of consequence for his willful ignorance and unforgivable incompetence. 

And Trump's political power comes from a cult of personality, there is no telling how his base of supporters will react. 

Given their propensity for rage and paranoia, I'm gonna guess "not well" is how they would react.  

I can already predict the QANON conspiracy, that Trump getting COVID 19 was a hit job perpetrated by Joe Biden at Tuesday's debate.  And yes, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and George Soros will all be in on it. 

These right wing conspiracies can just write themselves.  

So now what? It's anyone's guess. 

Donald Trump is notoriously lacking in empathy and object permanence. If something isn't happening to him, then it isn't happening. Which is how Trump has been so dismissive of a pandemic that is closing in on an American death toll of a quarter million lives. Now that Li'l Donnie has an actual encounter with the coronavirus, will a personal threat to his health and mortality change his way of thinking? 

I kind of doubt it.

____________________________________

Posts for Songs For Saturday and Cinema Sunday are set to go and will appear as scheduled. 

I will pick up this thread on Monday.

Stay safe and remember to be good to one another.  

What's Up, Dog?

 What's up with the newest member of the family here at the Fortress of Ineptitude? 

For starters, referring to Rosie as "the newest member of the family" seems a bit disingenuous since our beloved canine companion is such an integral part of our lives, it's hard to remember when Rosie wasn't here. 

Rosie is a black lab mix. After all these months, there is still some debate as to what maybe is what within that mix.

Possibly deer?

Rosie has the lithe build of a young deer and can make long, graceful leaps. Her deer like qualities do not stop my daughter Randie from holding her like a puppy. 

When Rosie gives me that look, I can only reply, "Sorry, I really can't help you now."  

If Randie is Rosie's mom, then I guess that makes Andrea and I her grandparents. Rosie likes to cuddle with her "Mee Maw".

I am, for the record, "Pop Pop".  

And sometimes Rosie will snuggle up with a paw around a stuffed little friend.

Another element in the mix of Rosie's genetic make up might be cat. 

Rosie's favorite place to be is in the chair next to living room window. This is now her place after she staked it out when she first moved in. We pull back the curtain and Rosie will lounge in that chair for hours on end, sleeping in the sunlight. Like a cat. 

Then sometimes, with no provocation, Rosie will sit up, jump down and scurry about the living room, stalking... something we can't see. You know, just like a cat. 

Eventually content that what ever invisible threat she was stalking has been nullified, Rosie will amble back to her chair, lay down and go back to sleep. Like a cat. 

Rosie has added so much to our household, to our lives.

What's up, dog?  

What's up is that Rosie is a good dog.

A Heartbreaking Loss

Chrissy Teigen and her husband John Legend shared the sad and heartbreaking news this week that she had lost her baby. Teigen had been hospitalized due to excessive bleeding.

Teigen wrote, "We are shocked and in the kind of deep pain you only hear about, the kind of pain we've never felt before. We were never able to stop the bleeding."  

Teigen said she has received an outpouring of support. "Thank you to everyone who has been sending us positive energy, thoughts and prayers. We feel all of your love and truly appreciate you."

Sadly that love and support was not universal. 

Tony Posnanski, one of my followers on Twitter posted this: 

"Anyone saying anything negative about Chrissy Teigen and John Legend can seriously fuck all the way off."

Which left me to wonder who the hell in this time of tragedy, the worst thing that expectant parents can ever endure, would have anything to say that was negative? 

Well, it seems, Trump supporters.

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend have been vocal critics of Donald Trump. 

Yodelingfish tweeted, "I just saw where vile diamond & silk are bashing her, including holding polls. It's absolutely a new low."

Diamond & Silk are a pair of outrageously loud and obnoxious African American women who have gained notoriety for their outrageously loud and obnoxious support of Donald Trump. Fox News puts them on a lot at least two reasons.

1) See! Black people do love Donald Trump! 

2) Hey! All you racists out there! Every bad thing you think about black people is true! Look at these two!  

OK, i did not get into this to get into another rant about Trump's idiotic followers. I wanted to post about this heartbreaking loss that Chrissy Teigen and John Legend shared because it's a brutal and hard thing to endure and I've seen that up close.

When I was a child, my mother had two miscarriages. It was a time of considerable emotional turmoil for her. We were a poor family and I can imagine she was worried about bringing another life into our family when we could barely afford to keep me fed. But then to have that life taken brutally from her, I imagine she felt no small amount of guilt. 

I say "I imagine" because I don't know exactly what my mother's thoughts were on this. She didn't talk about this, at least not where I could hear. I could only bear witness to her demeanor, unusually quiet and reserved, unsteady on her feet in the days after each loss.  

I wonder how my life might have been different if those pregnancies had gone to full term. Would I in the role of an older brother had grown up to be different kind of man, a better man? On my own, I was too focused on my own wants and needs. When younger siblings, perhaps I would have grown up to be a less selfish person. 

But I didn't have a lot of information about the particulars of my mother's miscarriages at the time. Maybe I was just too young, stupid and self absorbed to care as much as I should have. Or maybe miscarriage is one of those things that women just didn't talk about. Maybe because it's viewed as some kind of failing of a woman's primary responsibility to bear children or some other outmoded thinking like that.  

Miscarriage leads to feelings of guilt and shame which need to be addressed. Chrissy Teigen sharing her heartbreak gives a public voice to a time of soul wrenching crisis in the life of a pregnant woman. 

About 50 years ago or so, my mother needed to know she wasn't alone. She did not have that. Her pain, physical and emotional, was to remain private.  

Anyone who has lost a child to miscarriage does not need to be the object of scorn and ridicule by clowns and charlatans. They need our love and support more than ever. 

Remember to be good to one another.  

Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Victories

Recently I was in Wal-Mart and I came across a trade paperback of Wonder Woman comics tying with the next Wonder Woman movie. The movie is set in the year 1984 but at this rate may not be released until 2084. 

The book was called Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Victories and features the glorious Gal Gadot in the golden armor Wonder Woman will wear at some point in the film.

While I am loyal to my local comic shop (Acme Comics of Greensboro, the best comic book shop in the whole wide world), I do like to buy comic book stuff when I find them out in the wild. It is important for the health of the comic book industry (both currently and in the future) that people can still find comics in general retail outlets. 

The book listed a price of $12.99 but at the cash register, the price was $10.64 so hey, that's cool. 

But when I really paid attention to what I bought, I realized that I already owned every single story in this book.   

The first story comes from Wonder Woman #329. At the time, I was not buying Wonder Woman on any kind of regular basis but this issue was a tie in to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wonder Woman was going to finally marry Steve Trevor, it had a gorgeous cover by José Luis García-López and it was the book's final issue.

Yes, the title that began with Wonder Woman#1 in the summer of 1942 was going to end. 

It was kind of a big deal. 

Wonder Woman wouldn't stay gone long and would re-launch with a new #1 about a year later. 

The next story in Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Victories is issue #9 from that relaunched series. I had Wonder Woman on my pull list because I was a big fan of George Perez.  

Since the new movie will feature the Cheetah, this story gives us a good ol' Wonder Woman/Cheetah throw down.  

The problem with reprints from the modern era is that stories are very rarely self-contained. There are various references to events in previous issues and set ups for things that will happen in forthcoming issues. 

The next two stories in this volume are more Wonder Woman/Cheetah match ups but with others from the Justice League. Page 1 starts with Wonder Woman and Superman passionately kissing each other. 

Before you run off to tattle on them to Lois Lane or Steve Trevor, well, it's complicated. The stories from  Justice League #13-14 (2012) are from the New 52 era where the status quo with WW, Steve, Supes and Lois were all messed up. 

Superman and Wonder Woman would even get their own ongoing team up title.  

OK, we had a story from Wonder Woman#9. Up next is a story from Wonder Woman#10. 

Except...

This run of Wonder Woman was from yet another relaunch during DC's Rebirth initiative in 2017. Greg Rucka was the writer for this series which is why I had WW on my pull list. 

The odd numbered issues took place in the present day while the odd numbered issues took place in the past, during Diana's first foray into man's world. Steve Trevor, Etta Candy, and Barbara Ann Minerva (future Cheetah) help Diana learn more about America by taking her to the mall, oh my God! 

Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Victories also includes a Steve Trevor solo story. Chris Pine as Steve Trevor is back in the new Wonder Woman movie which is a neat trick since Trevor blowed up real good in the first movie. 

With the focus on a returned Steve Trevor in the movie, it makes sense to include Trevor's one-shot solo comic.  

Cover art on the left by Paul Renaud
On the right is a variant cover by Yanick Paquette

Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor#1 was a competently told adventure where Steve Trevor leads a secret mission to protect a hidden society.  

Our last story is another Rebirth era story from Rucka as the Cheetah has a mad on at both Wonder Woman and Veronica Cale. 

Veronica Cale is Wonder Woman's Lex Luthor. Cale is a super smart, super wealthy sociopath. 

As I said, I own every single one of these issues but having them all in one package made for some interesting reading, particularly the first two stories which were from a more innocent time in my comic book reading habit. And man, did Gerry Conway and Len Wein know how to crank out some seriously heavy duty purple prose.  

Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Victories is a helpful reminder that Wonder Woman Is Also A Comic Book Character!

Until next time, remember as Wonder Woman would have us do, be good to one another.