Slay, Monstrobot of the Deep... No More

One of my favorite comic book themed blogs on the internet was Slay, Monstrobot of the Deep, written by a dude who went by Snell on the internet.


 


Snell posted everyday to SMotD with pages of comic book art from across the spectrum of the medium with looks at comics from DC and Marvel as well panels and pages from other publishers. 


In his blog's bio, Snell described himself as "old enough to remember when comics were "Still Only 25 Cents!"  Which means Snell began reading comics about when I did.


I'm writing about Snell and his blog because he is no longer with us. As I noted above, he posted everyday which meant it was a very curious and unusual event for the several days to go by without a new post.


A check of the comments for Snell's last post from Friday, December 14th revealed others were worried about him as well. And the post that confirmed Snell (aka Brian) had died over the weekend at age 55. 


This hit me kind of hard.


I didn't know Brian and Brian didn't know me. We followed each other on Twitter where I liked some of his tweets and he liked some of mine. But that was the extent of it.


But we were two men of the same age with a common interest forged at about the same time when comics were "Still Only 25 Cents!". Maybe we could've been friends. 


One of the recurring features Snell ran on his blog was a review of stories featuring Kid Eternity. Snell took an odd delight in deconstructing this goofy off center series from comics Golden Age. Kid Eternity had the power to summon anyone in the afterlife from history to assist him fighting crime and solving mysteries.  The rules of how the afterlife worked in Kid Eternity persistently defied logic and complete understanding. 


I hope, Brian, that whatever heaven you find yourself, the rules make sense and the comics are as good as they were when they were "Still Only 25 Cents!".


And if Kid Eternity did exist, I would ask him to summon you back long enough to let you know you had an impact. Snell, I didn't really know you and we never met but I will miss you.

Elseworlds

OK, it’s been a week since the Elseworlds crossover event for the CW’s Arrowverse shows. We waited until this weekend to watch the whole thing in one epic throwdown. And it's taken me until now to wrap my thoughts around it.  

The event started off with a very fun premise, a body swap (or life swap if you will) between Barry Allen and Oliver Queen. Oliver wakes up in Barry’s bed with everyone convinced he’s Barry Allen even though he still looks like Stephen Amell but with the powers of the Flash.  Meanwhile, a very Grant Gustin looking Oliver Queen is suiting up and slinging arrows in Star City. Both Barry and Oliver are the only ones who see what’s wrong with this, that everyone on Earth sees each of them as the other.

Well, everyone on this Earth. A quick vibe trip to Earth 38 shows that Supergirl can still tell the difference and recognizes Oliver as Oliver and Barry as Barry.

(Plot hole? While the identity mix-up seems limited to Earth 1, the power and skill swap still holds up on Earth 38 where Oliver still has Flash powers and Barry is an ace with the bow and arrow.)

Ongoing point of debate throughout this series: is what's going on with Barry and Oliver more Freaky Friday or Quantum Leap?    

The visit with Supergirl takes place on the Kent farm where Kara is helping Clark and Lois clean up the place for Ma Kent.

(The Kent farm set is the same one used for the Smallville TV series including accompaniment by Smallville theme music.) 

Tyler Hoechlin is back as Clark Kent/Superman which is cool by me. Tyler should be the official Superman for all things live action, TV and movies. And we meet for the  Arrowverse Lois Lane for the first time, played by Elizabeth Tulloch with a deft merging of flinty edge and playful irreverence that recalls Margot Kidder’s turn as Lois in the Superman movies of the 1970’s. 

 

So the super cousins join Barry/Green Arrow and Oliver/Flash back to Earth 1 where they battle Amazo, an android that absorbs powers. Superman heads back to Earth 38 while Supergirl sticks around to help Barry and Oliver.

 

Thanks to an extremely helpful plot specific vision Cisco Ramone had while “vibing”, our heroes get a lead on a mysterious dude with a cape, armor and  mutton chop sideburns (The Monitor) who has given a mysterious book of mysterious power to some scrawny dude named John Deegan for some mysterious purpose. 

(The name “John Deegan” is not far removed from “John Dee” which was the real name of Doctor Destiny, a villain from the comic books with a skull for a head and penchant for trying to take over the world using dreams.)    

And it seems John Deegan is in Gotham City. Barry’s excited to go to the hometown of the infamous Batman while Oliver insists the Batman is an urban myth created by the Gotham Police.  

(If Batman were not real, that would make Green Arrow the first costumed urban vigilante. But I’m sure that has no bearing on Oliver’s perspective.)   

A bat is watching over Gotham but it ain’t the Batman who hasn’t been seen in Gotham City in 3 years.  Nope, Gotham’ guardian bat is Batwoman, AKA Kate Kane, Bruce Wayne’s cousin. Her attitude towards super hero interlopers in her city isn’t any more benign than her cousin’s. Our trio of heroes find themselves in a swirl of chaos at (where else) arkham Asylum. Batwoman crashes the party in fierce style and effectively rounds up a whole mess of escaping inmates.   

(Among the inmates is a dude with a gold face mask, like the one worn in the comics by the super villain Psycho-Pirate. This will be relevant much, much later.) 

Barry asks for a ride in the Batmobile which is greeted with a grimace and a growl from Batwoman (the answer is “no”, Barry). Still, she gets along great with Supergirl who quickly susses out that Batwoman is Kate Kane (x-ray vision, you know) while Batwoman shows off she knows Supergirl is Kara Danvers (because, duh!). Kudos to Ruby Rose for making a forminable impact in her brief appearances as Kate Kane and Batwoman. I hope the forthcoming solo project turns out well enough for the CW to pick Batwoman as a new series.  

 

Also appearing in Elseworlds is John Wesley Shipp who is no stranger to the current Flash TV series, appearing previously as Jay Garrick, the Flash of Earth 2. But here, Shipp is Barry Allen, the Flash of Earth 90. Back in 1990, Shipp starred in a Flash TV series that aired for a single season on CBS. Here, Shipp reprises that role as a refugee from an alternate Earth devastated by the chaos unleashed by the Monitor.

 

Our heroes are able to procure the great big book of everything. Barry and Oliver are restored to who they are supposed to be but only to have the Monitor hand wave the book back to John Deegan who uses the book to make himself Superman!

 

(OK, it appears the book only works for the Earth it is on. Earth 1 has no info on Superman but it does have info on Supergirl who has been to this world for at least 2 prior crossover events. So technically speaking, John turns himself into Supergirl but as a man. Maybe because, as Kara put it, he’s too scared to become a woman? Ooh, sick burn, Kara!) 

 

Superman pops back over from Earth 38 and super powered ass kicking ensues. Even Martian Manhunter, Braniac 5 and Lois Lane (with Thor’s hammer?) joins in the fun.

 

But Deegan’s use of the book is creating chaos at a dangerous, potentially world ending rate. The only way to save the day is for Flash and Supergirl to fly around real fast to slow down time. But Superman caught a glimpse of the book and the future that it foretold: Flash and Supergirl will die.

 

Meanwhile, Green Arrow confronts the Monitor that all of what’s going is bullshit. The Monitor sees a great danger coming that only the best heroes can hope defeat. The Monitor is looking for heroes strong enough to face the coming crisis. Oliver points out there are no better heroes that Barry and Kara and if they die in this kerfluffle John Deegan’s conjuring out of the big book, what chance do we have?

 

Monitor says Flash and Supergirl can be spared but the universe demands balance. What does Green Arrow offer in return?

 

While Flash and Supergirl push past their mortal limits to slow down time and save the world, Green Arrow shows up with a blue glowing arrow that he shoots at John Deegan and the great big book of everything which goes ka-blooey, taking out Deegan as Superman as the book falls to the ground a charred relic.  

 

Everything is normal again! Yaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!!!!!

 

Back on Earth 38, Superman tells Supergirl he trusts her to look after the Earth because he and Lois are heading back to Argo City. It seems Lois is pregnant and having the baby on Argo City where the baby won’t be super powered and possibly kill Lois. 

 

Back on Earth 1, Barry and Oliver are sharing a beer and commiserating about what they’ve learned about each other and themselves while they swapped lives. Then Oliver gets a phone call… from Batwoman.

 

Seens John Deegan (whose head is emaciated nearly down to his skull) has made a friend.

 

In the cell next to him is Psycho-Pirate who tells John that things are happening that they should be. There’s a crisis coming, worlds will live, worlds will die and the universe will never be the same.

 

Cue the graphic…

 

Coming in Fall 2019.  

Crisis on Infinite Earths!

 

Cue this aged fan boy going….

 

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

As much as I enjoyed the sheer comic book thrill of last year's Crisis on Earth X, Elseworlds was even more fun. The interplay between Stephen Amell and Grant Gustin as they have to portray versions of each other is a lot of fun to watch and provided a very strong character arc though the event.

Kara, Oliver and Barry are a engaging team to watch. After a few of these events, there's a sense of familiarity between the three that is engaging. Kara notes at one point that this sort of thing seems to happen every year.  

But the big story at the end is what Elseworlds is building to, an Arrowverse version of the first, biggest and best comic book event series, Crisis on Infinite Earths!

I am so stoked!

When You Don't Want To Be On This Earth Anymore

“I really don’t want to be on this earth anymore.”


This is what “Saturday Night Live” cast member Pete Davidson posted on Instagram on Saturday afternoon. 


He went on to add, “I’m doing my best to stay here for you but I actually don’t know how much longer I can last. All I ever tried to do was help people. Just remember I told you so.” 


It was a message that caused his friends and social media followers a great deal of concern. Davidson’s battles with mental illness are a matter of public record, a fact he has spoken openly and even incorporated into his comedy act. 


But that plaintive statement on his Instagram was not a laughing matter. It was a message that brought Ariana Grande, Pete’s ex-fiancee, to the SNL studios in a panic. 


It was a message that drew a visit from a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer to make what is known as a "wellness check"  and that they "made contact” with Pete Davidson, who was confirmed as safe and sound, working on that night’s live show.    


Other a pre-taped segment, Davidson appeared on this week’s live episode only once, introducing the 2^nd musical performance of the show. Introducing the musical guest is a role usually reserved for the week’s guest host. Pete was not seen on stage during the closing “good night” segment where the cast, the guest host, the musical guest and others gather.  


“I really don’t want to be on this earth anymore.”


Pete’s OK, for now. But the battle against depression is not a single battle that can be fought and won. It is a daily battle and if you’re lucky, with enough love and support and the right kind of help, some wins are easy. Other days, winning is hard. And then there are the days, despite the love, the support, the therapy, the medication,  when victory over the darkness is not assured.


There is this voice that rumbles out of the dark places of one’s mind that speaks to you with forceful intent that the universe does not need you, does not want you so why are you still here?


I’ve heard this voice and some days, that voice is louder than on other days.  Even with luck, with enough love and support and the right kind of help, it’s a voice that fill the dark void like thunder and it is hard to resist.  Maybe you have the presence of mind to send up a flare, hope that someone sees it, hope that someone cares.  


This day, this moment, is a victory over darkness. The next day, the next moment even, each victory must be fought for and earned. The darkness is strong; each day, each moment, we have to find a way to be stronger. 


Good luck and God bless, Pete Davidson. Stay safe, stay well. It’s harder some days than others to do that but you are worth it. 

Doctor Who: The Second Half of Series 11

Back on November 10th, I posted a walk back through the first half of Doctor Who Series 11.   

Today, we take a look at the 2nd half of Series 11. 

As with the first half of the season, Graham continues to be the breakout character.  He loves to quote movies (Pulp Fiction, Die Hard) and has learned the value of bringing a sandwich when follows the Doctor on an adventure.  His "reunion" with Grace is heartbreaking and his resolve to avenge her when he finds himself on the same planet as her killer is surprising. 

Yaz gets a little more spotlight time in the 2nd half of the season. I think the consensus from fans is she's still short changed but I believe there is more depth to Yasmin Kahn than fans give her credit for. (For more on that, click my post on that subject here.)  

If anyone is getting short shrift in the development department, it's Ryan.  The problem with Ryan in the 2nd half of the season is the same as it was for me in the 1st half: Who is Ryan beyond the young man with a medical condition and serious abandonment issues?  Except the medical condition ("dyspraxia") that was the center of attention in the first episode of the season is never mentioned again. OK, not quite true; he does bring it a bit in Kerblam! Ryan does have a definitive character but it's so nuanced as to continue making him a cypher on Team TARDIS. 

Jodie Whitaker continues to shine as the Doctor, nailing the rare alchemy of quirky and serious the Doctor requires. She still needs a serious, kick ass "I AM THE DOCTOR" moment to seal the deal. 

Let me wrap up this post with a ranking of the episodes #6 through 10.   

#5. It Takes You Away

I really hate that I’m not rating this higher. The idea of a sentient universe that just wants a friend but is also a danger to all existence is a pretty darn cool concept. But it’s a pretty darn cool concept that gets shoehorned into 1/3 of a rather scattershot episode.   

The danger to all existence isn’t shown, its told to us in a very hurried info dump from the Doctor. We see no evidence that the real world is in danger from the Solitract. If we had seen some serious bleed through from the Solitract into the real world that was putting everything in danger, the whole sense of threat would have carried much more weight. 

Hanne’s dad is some serious messed up stuff. He leaves his blind daughter alone in a cabin with some speakers rigged up outside to terrorize her into staying in the cabin while he runs off to the mirror universe to shack up with his dead wife? Really?

The scenes in the Anti-Zone were sinister and foreboding but ultimately totally superfluous. Ribbons was creepy, icky and untrustworthy but in the end not worth our time and attention. He and the Anti-Zone were obstacles between the real world and the Solitract and nothing more.

I will say, unlike others, I had no problem with the frog. So the Solitract takes the form of a frog to talk to the Doctor? That’s weird. I like weird.  

#4. The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos

Again, I wish I could rate this higher. But as the Doctor herself put it, there is too much going on at one time. 

Oh no! The Earth is in danger! It’s zapped by a red energy beam that envelopes the planet in a red bubble. Oh no! Not the red bubble! Once more, we’re told the red bubble is a threat but there is no evidence of any consequences to the Earth from this threat.  

We do get some conflict with our core cast when Graham decided that if given a chance, he will kill Tzim-Sha for his role in Grace’s death. Both the Doctor and Ryan call him out on this. Other than that, there’s not a lot of going on in terms of character development for anybody. The biggest change the Doctor can show Tzim-Sha since their last meeting is she has a new coat.

#3. Kerblam!

High point happens early: the Doctor gets a fez.

After that, the episode takes on consumerism, robotics and the dehumanizing effects on human workers. Doctor Who has a history of sticking it to “the man” (going back to Robert Holme’s classic 4^th Doctor story, “The Sunmakers”) but we have the odd twist that the big bad is not “the man” or the robots that do the bidding of “the man” but a single individual trying to take down “the man” in the worst way possible. 

Kerblam! is filled with action, humor and heart but it also poses some really hard questions about life and commerce but it doesn’t provide any easy, palatable answers. 

#2. The Witchfinder

I’m rating this one pretty high for the back half of Series 11 for Alan Cumming’s powerful and captivating turn as King James. Also this is the first episode where the Doctor’s gender change presents a significant challenge.  Even the psychic paper can’t convince King James that a “mere woman” could possibly be any more than an assistant to someone else in authority (which James assumes is Graham). 

The Doctor complains that if she was still a man, she wouldn’t have to defend herself and could focus on resolving what is going on.

Since the Doctor is smart, headstrong and waving around a “magic wand” (sonic screwdriver) AND a woman, naturally the Doctor gets accused of being a witch. Which does give us a badass moment for the Doctor. Chained and underwater? Not a problem for the Doctor! (Thanks for the lessons, Houdini!)

#1. Demons of the Punjab

Much like “Rosa” in the first half of the season, “Demons of the Punjab” focuses more of the historical than the fantastical. In fact, the sci-fi element in this story will ultimately have no bearing on the sequence of events that take place.  Here, the alien presence is just there to, more or less, watch “Doctor Who”. 

Once more, the Doctor and her friends are faced with the cruel realities of history. It’s hard to completely and quantitatively justify why I rank this episode as the best of the 2^nd half of Series 11. What makes this episode work is the in depth look at normal people just trying to make a life for themselves without being ground up in the wheels of history. It is an unflinching look at what happens when the wheels of history cannot be denied.

There is also the matter of a personal stake in this for our TARDIS team. This is Yaz's family history unfolding here and how it unfolds could determine whether Yaz continues to exist. It was nice to see Yaz get some more of the spotlight since a lot of fans were complaining she was getting short changed in the first half of the series.  

And that wraps up this look at the second half of Doctor Who Series 11. Next week, I will do a post that will look at the whole of the season and a ranking of all 10 episodes.  

Doctor Who: What Is To Come

Hi there!

This weekend is a double shot of Doctor Who.

Today we look forward.

First of all, instead of a Christmas special, we have a special for New Year’ Day.

The Doctor warns, “This is the DNA of the most dangerous creature in the universe. It’s not gonna stop until it’s taken control of this planet. It’s gonna kill anyone that gets in its path.”

“Does it have a name?” asks Graham, to silence from the Doctor.   

Graham making a point of asking for a name and the Doctor’s dramatic pause suggests this great and terrible threat is known to us.

Is it’s name “Dalek”?

Chris Chibnall made a big deal about not revisiting any of Doctor Who’s classic foes in Series 11 but enough is enough. OK, we can get through 10 episodes of Doctor Who without resorting to Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, Ice Warriors, the Master and other menaces and threats that have come before. I think it was good to show Doctor Who can move forward without relying on old foes and old threats. But enough is enough. The classic monsters are as much a part of Doctor Who as the TARDIS. 

I saw one theory that the title of the New Year’s special of “Resolution” is not complete, that the actual title might be “Resolution of the Daleks”. 

The Daleks, off the table for a few years, are back with a new resolve to once more kick humanity in the ass.

The Doctor is equally resolved to kick them back and harder.

I could get behind that.

Sadly, the New Year’s Special is the only new episode of Doctor Who we will get in 2019.

The BBC confirmed that Series 12 will not debut until 2020. 

Well, at least it will be early 2020 so there’s that going for us, I guess. 

Still, a whole year without new Doctor Who?

We went down this road is 2016 but this was after 10 years of some new Doctor Who every year. 2008 was the year of the specials and Series 7 was split over two years from 2012 to 2013. And we had two years of Peter Capaldi’s Doctor before the break.

Jodie Whittaker defied the naysayers and proved to be a most excellent Doctor. She hit the ground running but now that awesome momentum is lost. With only 11 episodes to keep us warm from January 2, 2019 to whenever is “early” in 2020 is a bit of a let down.  

Why is this happening?

There’s scuttlebutt that Chris Chibnall didn’t want the pressure of delivering a new series of Doctor Who each year, that he took the gig with the understanding he would have a skip year. I know Chibnall came into Doctor Who all hot stuff from his run on Broadchurch but Doctor Who is different and the fans have certain expectations. It’s bad enough to have Series 11 reduced to only 10 episodes down from 12 to 13 but to think he would only have to do this once every other year. Who does Chris Chiball think he is?

Assuming this is Chris’s fault. Maybe other stuff was wonky behind the scenes and Chris would actually rather be making new Doctor Who sooner than later. The thing is that the formal announcement that Jodie Whittaker was coming back for Series 12 was only made last week. Is it possible that Chris and the BBC did not have their Doctor locked down yet? 

Could other factors have played into this? From the BBC announcement about Doctor Who returning in 2020, it also appears that Tosim Cole, Mandip Yip and Bradley Walsh are returning as well as Ryan, Yaz and Graham. Of the three, Graham has been a break out character from Series 11 and of the three, Bradley Walsh is very much in demand as an actor and presenter.  In addition to a down to the wire commitment to get Jodie Whittaker back, the much in demand Bradley Walsh needed time to take on another series of Doctor Who. 

Whatever the reasons, the BBC’s heart or their shoes, Doctor Who’s next season will not be happening until 2020.

How, oh how, will we ever pass the time?

Fan fictions!

Oh, saints preserve us, anything but that. 

Tomorrow, we look to the past as I rate episodes 6 through 10 of Series 11. Next week, I will do a post for the entire season.

It Is (Oh God,No!) A Trump Post

This is an...

I’M SO GLAD MY SUFFERING AMUSES YOU

BREAKING NEWS BULLETIN

 

This just in:

 

Donald Trump lied about something 5 minutes ago.

Donald Trump is lying about something right now. 

Donald Trump will be lying about something 5 minutes from now.

 

This has been an.....

I’M SO GLAD MY SUFFERING AMUSES YOU

BREAKING NEWS BULLETIN

 

I think that should pretty much catch up the blog when it comes to all things Trump.

 

But I need to pontificate some more.

 

(If you want to avoid all this Trump post, come back tomorrow. We’re gonna yack about Doctor Who. Whoa. There’s a big shocker for you.) 

 

In the big dust up on Tuesday between, Li’l Donnie Trump, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, who came out on top? Well, by almost any objective measure, it appears that Trump got owned by backing himself into a corner about shutting down the government if he doesn’t get everything he wants which includes a red Tonka fire truck with working lights and siren, a GI Joe action figure with real Kung-Fu grip and a border wall. Trump came off as petulant and out of control while Nancy Pelosi calmly handed Lil Donie more shovels to keep digging the hole he was in.

 

Of course Fox News had a different view.  Running the same damn footage everybody else did, Fox declared the match a loss for Pelosi and Schumer,  that Trump showed them who was in charge. Hannity posted it to his website as proof of Trump’s dominance over the Democrats.

 

Every single damn body else looked at these events unfold and came to the conclusion that Trump, the alleged master deal maker, got sucker punched. Right wing pundits saw the same thing and offered praise and adulation to their lord and savior. 

 

It’s bad enough that Trump lacks empathy, intelligence or wisdom. But to make matters worse when Trump so blatantly displays his lack of empathy, intelligence or wisdom, there are those who see the same images and hear the same words but come to a diametrically opposing conclusion.   

 

Hold on! I’m being handed an urgent bulletin! 

 

This is an...

I’M SO GLAD MY SUFFERING AMUSES YOU

BREAKING NEWS BULLETIN

 

 

 

This just in:

Donald Trump lied about something 5 minutes ago.

Donald Trump is lying about something right now. 

Donald Trump will be lying about something 5 minutes from now.

This has been an...

I’M SO GLAD MY SUFFERING AMUSES YOU

BREAKING NEWS BULLETIN

 

I’m sorry about that.

 

Tomorrow: Doctor Who!

The Day After That: Doctor Who!

 

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

Kicking People Out of the Country

Amid the swirl of attention brought on by Li'l Donnie Trump's temper tantrum in his meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and recent developments with Robert Mueller's investigation with Trump's former attorney and fixer Micheal Cohen actually going to jail, it is worth remember that Trump and his minions are still trying to get things done to benefit the moron in chief.  

Nothing makes Li'l Donnie happier than kicking people out of the country. Get a load of this shit.  

The Trump administration is  looking to deport  Vietnamese immigrants who have lived in the United States for decades; many of them having fled the country during the Vietnam War.

The administration last year began pursuing the deportation of many long-term immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia, and other countries who the administration alleges are “violent criminal aliens.” But Washington and Hanoi have a unique 2008 agreement that specifically bars the deportation of Vietnamese people who arrived in the United States before July 12, 1995, the date the two former foes reestablished diplomatic relations following the Vietnam War.

The White House unilaterally reinterpreted this agreement in the spring of 2017 to exempt people convicted of crimes from its protections, allowing the administration to send a small number of pre-1995 Vietnamese immigrants back, a policy it retreated from this past August. But Trump is reversing course again, acting on the view that the 2008 agreement fails to protect pre-1995 Vietnamese immigrants from deportation.


When it first decided to reinterpret the 2008 deal, Donald Trump’s administration argued that only pre-1995 arrivals with criminal convictions were exempt from the agreement’s protection and eligible for deportation. Vietnam initially conceded and accepted some of those immigrants before stiffening its resistance; about a dozen Vietnamese immigrants ended up being deported from the United States. 

The latest shift now leaves the fate of a larger number of Vietnamese immigrants in doubt. Now no pre-1995 arrivals are exempt from the 2008 agreement’s protection. That means all such people are subject to standard immigration law, rendering them eligible for deportation.

Many pre-1995 arrivals, all of whom were previously protected under the 2008 agreement by both the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, were refugees from the Vietnam War. Some are the children of those who once allied with American and South Vietnamese forces, an attribute that renders them undesirable to the current regime in Hanoi, which imputes anti-regime beliefs on the children of those who opposed North Vietnam. This anti-Communist constituency includes minorities, such as the children of the American-allied Montagnards, who are persecuted in Vietnam for both their ethnicity and Christian religion.

The idea that the Montagnards may be caught in the net of Trump's virulent anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies is particularly problematic for me. My church has been very involved in helping Montagnard refugees start a new life in the United States, safe from persecution for the Christian faith. The Montagnards are kind, friendly and they work hard to make a new life for themselves here in America.  

Some of the older members of the church who I know helped with Montagnard resettlement are also Trump supporters. There is some small amount of amusement at the prospect of watching their heads explode trying to reconcile that contradiction. Let me take off my "church hat" and put on my "blogger hat" and say, "Fuck you if didn't see this coming!"   

I can't help but think that the current renewed fixation to resume this deportation of  Vietnamese immigrants who have lived here for decades is to appease Trump who is in a bad mood and needs something to brighten his day.