January | 2019 | First Draft

Jan 31 2019

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – bone us edition

Hi everyone! Our bud Michael F is taking a well-deserved week off, and yours truly is ~~attention-whoring~~ filling in today for him.

Everyone wanted to know that the reactions in Freeperville were to The Darnold’s Very Bad Week?

Let’s start with – Nick Cave and the Bad Siege !

Donald Trump caved. And now the government is going to re-open. – freerepublic.com

I heard a very plausible explanation from Sebastian Gorka on his radio show. He said it’s like the land for peace deal. He will see, after the 3 weeks, that the dummocraps have supplied nothing workable as their solution, and will then have great evidence for why he is declaring a national emergency and building the wall anyway.

This thread has been pulled.

Pulled on 01/25/2019 3:43:26 PM PST by Jim Robinson, reason:
garbage

Tetchy son of a bitch, ain’t he? But you can’t unring this ugly bell.

vanity Trump caves we have NO ONE now
Posted on 1/25/2019, 1:33:40 PM by Cubs Fan

The democrats have a plan to dilute down conservative voters with floods of 3rd world immigrants and its working working. And now even Trump has stopped fighting it.

Democrats getting their way on Immigration is the end of America. They will have full soviet union style monopoly on all government power in ten years or less.

***************

He caved. America lost.the democrats plan to use immigration to dilute out conservative voters is still right on track. And now no one is standing in their way.

1 posted on 1/25/2019, 1:33:40 PM by Cubs Fan

OtherwiseOK4

To: Cubs Fan

HOORAY now F off and make sure you properly register your Dem card

man, these Never Trump drama queens are like neighborhood whores on FR

16 posted on 1/25/2019, 1:37:16 PM by max americana (Happily Fired every stupid liberal at every election since 08′ at work. I hope all liberals die.)

You mean whoring for $80,000 every three months? Or would that be Jim Rob?

(Oh – and we’ll be hearing from a shitfaced “max americana” later in today’s Obsession)

To: Cubs Fan

We will back to square one in three weeks nothing is going to change. Look, its not these workers fault the Govt is a bunch of corrupt bastards. If I were screwed out of two checks that I needed I would be pissed too..so what is going to change three weeks from now..NOTHING, Dems will NEVER approve of wall funding its never going to happen so what, he’s going to shut down the Govt again? So why bother with this

22 posted on 1/25/2019, 1:37:42 PM by Sarah Barracuda

To: Kickass Conservative

8d chess?

8 posted on 1/25/2019, 1:36:31 PM by TiGuy22

To: TiGuy22

“8d chess?”

So why isn’t ANY democrat being prosecuted???

8d chess, my butt.

29 posted on 1/25/2019, 1:38:07 PM by CodeToad ( Hating on Trump is hating on me and America!.)

To: Cubs Fan

Sad. The house has him on the ropes. pelosy’s goal is the election. If Trump doesn’t build, he will lose the election. Also Criminal Hillary is walking around.

He keeps telling us how nice walls are. This speech is repetitious of past speeches. If he doesn’t declare the emergency, he won’t get funding from the house. If he declares, the dems will tie him up in court and in two years the wall will not be built.

I don’t see a path to the wall before the election. Dem mission accomplished. UNLESS he declares and tells the judiciary to stand down as emergencies are not in their purview. But he has acquiesced to the courts for two years.

Good luck.

31 posted on 1/25/2019, 1:38:26 PM by morphing libertarian (Use Comey’s Report; Indict Hillary now; build Kate’s wall. — Proud Smelly Walmart Deplorable)

To: CodeToad

Trump was a caver even before taking office.

LOCK HER UP became (quoting KA Conway before being sworn in) “He wants Hillary to heal.”

56 posted on 1/25/2019, 1:42:00 PM by Cassius Flavia Agrippa

To: rintintin

He has played the national emergency card for 5 weeks. It’s just like his threat to declassify all those documents that are still secret. All talk. Nancy and Chuck won folks, deal with it. If you think Nan and Chuck are going to negotiate on the wall keep drinking the Kool-Aid. They won this time and they will win in 3 weeks, and 6 month and 2 years. It was a nice run, but no republic last forever. In 5 years you won’t even recognize this once great country. There is already a judge ready with a restraining order in hand against using a national emergency declaration to build the wall.

I’m not going to say Trump lied about the wall. I just don’t think, as an outsider he understood how unlikely it was he could deliver. The power in this country belong to the Left and their supporters in both parties, the media and schools. That is a hard coalition to defeat.

83 posted on 1/25/2019, 1:46:48 PM by redangus

To: ChildOfThe60s

I believe that judicial overreach has come to the point where the President should pull an Andy Jackson. Tell the court they have no jurisdiction, if they want to stop it, they can send their army to do so.

At which point Pelosi will gleefully impeach and when it goes to the Senate you get to see how many Republicans give sanctimonious speeches about the ‘Rule of Law’ and vote to convict.

123 posted on 1/25/2019, 1:56:15 PM by Snickering Hound

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Adrastos, Books, Pulp Fiction Thursday

Pulp Fiction Thursday: Highways In Hiding/Space Plague

It’s sci-fi time here at First Draft. The original title is on the left. I prefer Space Plague. It’s catchy; in fact, it’s contagious.

Jan 30 2019

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Adrastos, Campaign Notes, Fog Of Scandal, Law/Justice, Political Crack, Twitter

Of Stone Cold Liars, Starbucks Fucks, & Sweaty Shysters

This polar vortex is a mean motherfucker. It has led the Insult Comedian to make a stale joke about global warming and vast swaths of the country to freeze their asses off. It’s been in the forties in New Orleans but I’m not complaining after learning that the bars in Wisconsin are closed because of the weather. Now that’s some serious shit.

The news grinds on as Cheeseheads hunker down and Athenae’s cats get more lap time with their people because of the weather. Holy Aaron Brrr, Batman.

Stone Cold Liar: Roger Stone is the first person I’ve ever seen who seems to enjoy being perp-walked and arraigned. Ratfucker Roger loves him some publicity even when it involves a full-tilt raid by federal law enforcement on all his properties. The feds were afraid that he might destroy evidence pertinent to Kremlingate. For all we know, Stone took some selfies of himself and Assange and/or Guccifer 2.0. Hopefully, there aren’t any sex tapes. #shudder

The tough talking Stone claims that he’ll never roll on his pal Trumpberius. It looks like lobbying for a pardon to me. Roger is a stone cold liar. If he’s facing enough jail time, he’ll sing a different tune:

But the speculation that Stone could turn on his longtime client is supported by several factors. For one, Stone has a complicated relationship with Trump. The two met in 1979 when Stone was living at Roy Cohn’s Manhattan town house while working as a young staffer on Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign, and it has rankled Trump that Stone is regarded as his political brain (Stone has claimed he created the “build the wall” slogan). “Stone and Trump are like an old married couple,” the Republican close to Trump explained. “Stone knows Donald isn’t loyal. He calls him ‘Mr. Ingratitude.’”

That’s a better nickname than any coined by the Insult Comedian. Stay tuned.

Howard The Starbucks Fuck: It’s been a long time since there was such a rotten campaign launch. Howard Schultz does not seem to have thought his campaign through very well. It’s unclear why he’s running: the last thing the country needs is another inexperienced rich egomaniac in the White House. If Trump doesn’t cure us of the “we need a CEO to run guvmint like a bidness” delusion, nothing will.

Speaking of delusions, Schultz is guilty of a venerable one that’s part of the country’s creation myth. He believes that political parties are the problem. He’s half-right in that instance: the GOP has been going crazy for the last half-century and their lunacy was perfected with the election* of the Current Occupant.

If Schultz were a lifelong conservative Republican who would take votes from Trump, I’d be down with his independent candidacy BUT he’s not, so he should follow that heckler’s advice:

“Don’t help elect Trump, you egotistical, billionaire asshole. Go back to getting ratioed on Twitter. Go back to Davos with the other billionaire élites who think they know how to run the world.”

Word.

The Case of the Sweaty Shyster: The president* may have appointed Matt Whitaker acting AG to throw monkey wrenches at the Mueller probe but it hasn’t gone to plan. Rod Rosenstein has continued to supervise the investigation and the indictments and guilty pleas keep coming. So much for Trump’s attempt to rig the “rigged witch hunt.”

There was a flurry of MSM gullibility when Whitaker claimed that the investigation was nearly over. It was a vague, unsubstantiated claim but the MSM fell for it even though there are obviously more shoes to drop, especially if Stone turns on Mr. Ingratitude. Additionally, congressional Democrats seem to think that a bunch of Trumpers lied under oath, which is what Rog is charged with.

I don’t believe Whitaker, in part, because he sweated at that presser like Bogie in the greenhouse scene in The Big Sleep. A friend of mine captured the moment on twitter:

Whitaker 💦 pic.twitter.com/PuDGCoHCDm

— The Bear Jieux (@TheBearJieux) January 29, 2019

That’s one sweaty shyster.

The last word goes to glam rockers Mott the Hoople with a song released during the misrule of Roger Stone’s favorite Oval One, Richard Milhous Nixon:

Jan 30 2019

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Adrastos, Album Cover Art, Film, Music, R.I.P.

Album Cover Art Wednesday: I Love Paris

The French jazz pianist, songwriter, and Oscar-winning film composer Michel Legrand died recently at the age of 86. His long list of film credits can be seen at IMDb.

1954’s I Love Paris was Legrand’s first album. It was re-released many times over the years with more than a few covers. Here are four of them;

Here’s the album in two parts with a variation on the original cover:

Jan 29 2019

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Athenae, So Called Liberal Media

It’s Not the Tools, It’s the Talent

I can’t anymore with this:

Much has been made of the way Twitter serves as a megaphone for popular anger that’s made more intense by the speed of the news cycle and the distinctive malice and ineptitude of the Trump White House. But too little attention has been paid to what may be the most potent facet of the social media platform: its ability to feed the vanity of its users. There’s always an element of egoism to intellectual and political debate. But Twitter puts every tweeter on a massive stage, with the nastiest put-downs, insults, and provocations often receiving the most applause. That’s a huge psychological incentive to escalate the denunciation of political enemies. The more one expresses outrage at the evils of others, the more one gets to enjoy the adulation of the virtual mob.

We are not having a problem with Twitter and we are not having a problem with “fake news” and we are not having a (political) problem with Facebook. We are having a problem with Republican money and that is ALL we are having a problem with.

But but but bot-farms and share networks and lies and deceptive headlines! Yes, and isn’t it fucking amazing how none of that resulted in landslide Democratic elections? Isn’t it all super-weird that networks of bots don’t harass Republican men on Twitter but liberal women? Isn’t it a goddamn chickenfried magic coincidence that this supposedly nonpartisan crisis of fact-free nonsense has ONLY EVER BENEFITTED REPUBLICANS?

“Fake news” didn’t descend upon us from out of the sky. It was something a GOP presidential candidate screamed at his supporters and they screamed it at the press. “Twitter” isn’t destroying liberal democracy. GOP and GOP-aligned activists swept across every platform from Twitter to old-fashioned direct mail to whip up anger against black people, brown immigrants, women, gay and trans people, and environmentalists in an effort to keep and expand their power.

They took Russian money and looked the other way while Russian operatives acted like chaos-causing shitlords because they knew it would only hurt Democrats and help them, and they didn’t care what damage they did to “our democracy” because they don’t care about that and never have.

That they CLOAKED IT in this language of “both sides” and made it seem like a weather system that just somehow moved in, like old/er America woke up one day and started spontaneously sharing stories of Obama putting a basketball hoop in the Oval Office or whatever it is they’re mad about today, isn’t on the medium.

It’s on the editors and producers who, seeing what was happening but fearing their eviction from the realm of Sensible Centrists, ran editorials about “right- and left-wing extremism” and our country “becoming” divided.

It’s on our goddamn Congress out there having hearings about “shadowbanning” on Facebook and racist/sexist/anti-Semitic Facebook ads, without emphasizing who paid for those ads, and who got elected because of them.

And if the entire internet just up and quit tomorrow (a decision I’m not sure I’d mourn, given all our fucking givens) and disappeared except for the cat subreddit and one knitters’ message board, the same GOP ratfuckers moaning about the future of the white race would be revving up their radio shows and fake-bestselling publishing imprints again.

The way I know this is that the same kind of “fake news” said Barack Obama was born in Kenya, and John Kerry shot himself, and Jill Carroll was carrying her terrorist abductor’s baby, and Saddam had WMDs, and who did all THAT benefit? Who got elected on the back of all that?

WELL FUCK SHIT JESUS, IT WAS THE GOP!

I mean, this is Rush Limbaugh’s party, it has been since forever, and we’re all out here going oh goodness me wherever did this thirst for sensationalistic horseshit come from?

I mean look at this crap:

I’ve started helping my parents with their finances so I see their mail. They get a lot of fundraising solicitations and some of the far-right pitches are, um, interesting. Here are a few. 1/

— Michael Squires (@mgsquires) January 27, 2019

These are the things they’re putting in the mail. It’s the same stuff that’s on the internet, the same xenophobic fearmongering bullshit. At a certain point you stop oohing and ahhing over the newfangled ways they spread their slime and start asking from whence the slime emanates, right? RIGHT?!

At a certain point we have to stop calling this a fake news crisis, a Twitter crisis, and call it a Republican crisis. They’re the only ones who win here and they’ve got no incentive to try to stop it, and it’s poisoning the well the rest of us drink from. We need to name them as the ones who have been pouring venom into the discourse, and stop listening to anything they have to say.

P.S. If you’re going to throw the Covington kids in my face, as the first linked article does, you’d better be ready to answer for Richard Jewell, who was tried and convicted by the social media mob known as the NEWSPAPER. And let’s not forget the ENTIRE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR.

P.P.S. William Randolph Hearst called, he said he left his telegraph machine at your mom’s and while you’re there he wants his change. Schmucks.

Jan 28 2019

2 Comments

Adrastos, Congress, Political Crack, Stupid Republican Tricks, The Darnold

It’s Over For Now

America is no longer held hostage; at least until February 15th. The Trump regime is still making bellicose noises but, until proven otherwise, I’m inclined to view it as meaningless dick waving. They’re showing off for their base but it’s doubtful that Senate Republicans will support another shutdown. I suspect there are more than six GOPers who will vote to keep the government open without explicit funding for Trumpy’s wall folly. Why? The Trump “brand” is becoming increasingly toxic.

I posted William Copley’s think flag instead of a Jasper Johns flag to strike a cautionary note if they think another Trump shutdown is a good idea. The White House is still muttering about declaring a national emergency over Trumpy’s wall folly, but that’s a path that should not be taken. Lindsey Graham and the Freedom Caucus fucks may think it’s a good idea but not many others do. Trump’s scare stories aren’t working: I wish someone would use duct tape on *his* big fat bazoo.

There has been a silly debate in the stupider corners of the tweeter tube over who won the shutdown battle. They want a simple, nay simplistic answer, that points in one direction. One such argument is that workers won the battle, not Speaker Pelosi. I think (there’s that word again) that it’s both. Congressional Democrats held firm and air traffic controllers delivered the final blow with their slow motion sick out. Additionally, the president* wanted to distract attention from the Stone arrest and indictment.

While there were political winners of the shutdown, it came at a substantial economic cost. Federal employees will eventually get back pay, but contract workers will not and I’m talking about people like cafeteria workers and janitors. That’s another reason everyone should think twice before plunging into another hostage situation such as the one that lasted 35 days. Unfortunately, the Trump regime is not known for thinking first. Stay tuned.

The last word goes to (who else) Aretha:

If you were expecting Roy Orbison, I’d hate to disappoint you:

Jan 28 2019

5 Comments

Free Republic, The Darnold, Tommy T

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – 13th dimensional chess edition

Good morning, gentle people – it’s not been a Very Good Week for The Darnold, but nothing (including the now never-ending Freepathon) is gonna get the Freeperati down!

Last week it was :

Trump tells Pelosi he plans to proceed with State of the Union next week
fox news ^ | 1/23/2019 | ALex pappas

Posted on 1/23/2019, 12:06:13 PM by bitt

President Trump told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a new letter Wednesday that he still plans to deliver next week’s scheduled State of the Union address from the House floor even though Pelosi urged him to delay the speech because of the government shutdown.

The president, in his letter, said there are “no security concerns” surrounding the event, in response to Pelosi raising that as a potential issue because of the partial shutdown.

“I look forward to seeing you on the evening on January 29th in the Chamber of the House of Representatives,” Trump wrote. “It would be so very sad for our country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!”

1 posted on 1/23/2019, 12:06:13 PM by bitt

The Freepers were ecstatic :

To: bitt

He’s trolling her…. Daring Nancy to say “no.” again.

If she does, he’ll change the venue—and make her look like an obstructionist

If she relents, he also looks the stronger one, and she petty.

8 posted on 1/23/2019, 12:20:21 PM by AnalogReigns (Real life is ANALOG…)

To: bitt

Here we go.

Let her try to stop this.

9 posted on 1/23/2019, 12:22:14 PM by canuck_conservative

Then suddenly – last bummer :

Trump: I will deliver State of the Union ‘when the shutdown is over
The Hill ^ | January 23, 2019 | MARY TYLER MARCH

Posted on 1/23/2019, 10:31:19 PM by be-baw

President Trump said late Wednesday that he would deliver his State of the Union address after the ongoing partial government shutdown is over.

“As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address,” Trump wrote in a tweet. “I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative – I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over.”

Trump clarified earlier statements suggesting he may do an “alternative” State of the Union, writing that he was not seeking an alternative venue because “there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber.”

“I look forward to giving a “great” State of the Union Address in the near future!” he added.

***********************

I guess that’s settled.

1 posted on 1/23/2019, 10:31:19 PM by be-baw

Many Freepers haz a collective sad :

To: be-baw

I am disappointed in him for this.

2 posted on 1/23/2019, 10:34:50 PM by Sequoyah101 (It feels like we have exchanged our dreams for survival. We just hava few days that don’t suck.)

To: be-baw

Trump just lost a large percentage of his supporters. Me included.

8 posted on 1/23/2019, 10:39:54 PM by originalbuckeye (‘In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act’- George Orwell.)

To: be-baw

It’s got to be some kind of trap.

7 posted on 1/23/2019, 10:39:30 PM by AlaskaErik (I served and protected my country for 31 years. Progressives spent that time trying to destroy it.)

I can’t imagine what’s keeping the 13th-dimensional chess brigade….

To: be-baw

Device(sic) your enemy that they have won then kick their arse.

4 posted on 1/23/2019, 10:36:21 PM by Rebelbase

Devicing your enemy is always a good strategy.

To: Sequoyah101

There is only one winner here, it is Trump. Relax.

28 posted on 1/23/2019, 10:49:18 PM by Fungi

Other Freepers are not so sanguine :

To: be-baw

Why did he cave?Does he REALLY expect that crazy Nancy is going to give in on ANYTHING re the wall? If he does, then he’s just NUTS and hasn’t managed to learn anything in these past 2 years!

And IF he give up/caves on the wall, he’s in real trouble with the base.

37 posted on 1/23/2019, 10:51:25 PM by nopardons

More below the thingy, including Rudy Tooty fresh and fruity, and a “vanity fart”.

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Tagged Clown shoes, Free Republic, Freeperati, Freepers, Freeperville, The Darnold, the stupid it burns, Tommy T, Wingnuts

Jan 27 2019

3 Comments

Athenae, Fuck The Mommy Wars

‘Just’ Adopt

One of the many things that made me crazy when I was trying to have a baby was the people who said, “have you ever thought about just adopting?”

There’s nothing “just” about it:

It also needs to amplify the perspectives of adoptees and birth families, especially when they raise uncomfortable issues that challenge the prevailing adoption narrative. “Children are cute, children are acceptable. Everybody likes babies,” McKee notes. “When these babies grow into adults like myself, an adoptee who also studies adoption, we’re less cute.” The idea of adoption as “a blessing for all involved” is a narrative that serves ethically dubious adoption facilitators, while pulling double duty as an anti-abortion talking point.

Mr. A and I did meet with a local adoption agency, one that did a lot of transracial and open adoptions, and might have gone further down that road if I hadn’t gotten pregnant. We have friends who’ve adopted children and others who are adopted, and being flip about it like you can just run down to the store and get a baby erases the work everybody involved does to make adoptions happen.

Jan 27 2019

5 Comments

Athenae, Campaign Notes, Stupid Everything Tricks, Stupid Republican Tricks

Stop Electing CEOs

They’re bad at this because government isn’t a business:

Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO, says in a 60 Minutes interview already recorded but airing on Sunday that he is thinking very seriously about a presidential run—but he stops short of a full announcement.

He makes clear, however, that if he moves forward, he will do so as an independent.

Of course, because parties and principles and coherent platforms are just, like, bullshit, man, and he alone can see that the true way forward is to split the baby: Half of it in an immigration cage.

We just recently rid ourselves, in Illinois, of the odious Bruce Rauner, who believed he could abuse teachers into doing his bidding because as head of a company all he had to do was say, “Do it” and people would jump. When you’re the sole guy in charge you can do that.

Trump’s the same way: I can yell at my employees the right way to make them do what I want. Well, Nancy Pelosi doesn’t work for you, Brad, and frankly neither do any of the Republicans, not that they remember that. In government there are all these other little fiefdoms to navigate and they require negotiation, not just giving orders.

A governor, a senator, shit even a state rep knows nothing works like that, so next time around let’s elect somebody who has experience in the system they want to run.

Jan 27 2019

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Adrastos, Sunday Morning Video, Television

Sunday Morning Video: Sopranos Cast Reunion

Today on Adrastos’ obsession with The Sopranos: a recent interview conducted by Harry Smith:

Jan 26 2019

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Adrastos, Books, Comedy, Diary, Film, Fog Of History, Music, New Orleans, Odds & Sods, Political Crack, Sports, Television

Saturday Odds & Sods: Back To Black

Bird Collage by Max Ernst

It was overwrought drama week in New Orleans. Saints fans are genuinely angry in the aftermath of the blown call but things have gotten silly. There’s a futile lawsuit filed by lawyer Frank D’Amico who advertises his services on the tube. He’s getting some free publicity by filing what is best described as a “feel-good frivolous” lawsuit seeking a Saints-Rams rematch. It has as much chance at success as I have of playing in the NBA.

My Congressman, Cedric Richmond, is doing a major pander by threatening a Congressional hearing over the blown call. Hey, Cedric, we’re having a constitutional crisis, and you want to spend time grilling Roger Goddam Goodell?

This week’s theme song was written in 2007 by Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson. Black To Black was the title track of Amy’s final studio album and the sub-title of the great documentary about her life. We have two versions for your listening pleasure:

While we’re at it, let’s throw two more blackened songs into the musical skillet:

Did I really use the term musical skillet? I must be slipping. Speaking of which, let’s slip away and jump to the break.

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Jan 25 2019

3 Comments

Athenae, Diary

Five, and Faster

Dear Kick,

You’re five years old today, so let’s get this out of the way:

You are not growing up too fast.

Like a lot of harmless parenting small talk, like a lot of women’s magazine shorthand, this sentiment makes my back go up and you’re attuned to that now. Let me explain why Mama says the sharp things to the nice ladies at parties: “She’s growing up too fast” is not a harmless thing to say.

It implies you’re doing something wrong by becoming a person. It implies I don’t want to see you taller, stronger, faster, smarter. To lament your growing up seems to me to lament your progress, or say that you’re not delightful now. If I nod and say the expected oh I know, where does the time go, I’m agreeing that there is a way I prefer you, and it is not the way you are.

I understand why people say things like this. It’s presumed to be a neutral sentiment. There are things I miss about baby-you. There is less snuggling now than there used to be. Your noises are louder. Your falls are harder. Your successes involve more work on all our parts.

But you don’t have any choice here. You can’t stop growing up, so what is the point in bemoaning it in front of you?

Plus, the alternative really sucks.

I have friends whose children have rare or lethal illnesses. I have friends and relatives who’ve lost children, who’ve miscarried, who are estranged and don’t know if their children are alive or well. Their children won’t grow up, fast or at any other speed. I see their faces in my own nostalgia for your ratty baby blankets and am ashamed.

You are supposed to grow up. That’s how it’s supposed to work. I’m supposed to see it, take joy in it, cheer you on. I have to run faster to keep up with you but that doesn’t mean you need to slow down. Our conversations get more involved as your questions get more difficult — what is God, when do people die, what does it mean to “get busy in the Burger King bathroom,” why do you have to keep taking skating lessons if the first one was a disaster — but I don’t wish you less curiosity, less appetite for the difficult things like religion and hip-hop and hockey. This is how it goes.

If we’re lucky.

And we’re so very, very lucky. We have such good fortune, the three of us. We sit at the dinner table and laugh and laugh and I wonder if I am allowed to enjoy another person this much. You’ve started reading words on your own and doing chores. You do simple math and count in Spanish and call Ada “peanut butter cup” and you and your father build Lego sets together and you and I take nature walks and read books and do crafts about space.

You copy what we say and do and we are not always as careful as we should be, which leads to our talks about the lyrical stylings of the Digital Underground and why Donald Trump is such a “toilet animal.” It’s clear which of your enthusiasms — sparkles, fashion — are from your friends and from TV, but some of your ideas are so completely your own I wonder if they’ve sailed into your head from the ether fully formed.

We frequently run into a homeless fellow who takes shelter by an abandoned store. He’s known to be friendly but has rejected various appeals to help him find shelter, housing or services, and so the neighborhood looks after him in the ways that he’ll let it. You became somewhat fixated on “the man who lives outside” and decided you wanted to buy him a Christmas present, so we purchased a warm fleecy blanket and tucked some money and cookies and juice inside.

I warned you before we left the house that he might not want to talk, but he was awake and wearing a festive Santa hat and grinned when you gave him his present. When he asked if you’d picked it out you said yes, and wished him a merry Christmas. Then you skipped away down the road, alight with the joy of doing something small and kind.

You are growing up just the way you should.

Not too fast at all.

Love,

Mama

Jan 25 2019

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Adrastos, Catblogging

Friday Catblogging: Space Heater Cats

It’s time for the latest installment in the continuing saga of Della Street and Paul Drake’s space heater love. It looks they’re doing yoga.

Jan 24 2019

2 Comments

Adrastos, Political Crack, Stupid Republican Tricks

Quote Of The Day: Cartoon Villain Edition

No, not that cartoon villain, this one:

As much as it pains me to quote a former Trump aide, this gem from a new book by Cliff Sims is impossible to overlook:

As I watched Kellyanne in operation over our time in the White House, my view of her sharpened. It became hard to look long at her without getting the sense that she was a cartoon villain brought to life. Her agenda—which was her survival over all others, including the president—became more and more transparent. Once you figured that out, everything about her seemed so calculated; every statement, even a seemingly innocuous one, seemed poll-tested by a focus group that existed inside her mind. She seemed to be perennially cloaked in an invisible fur coat, casting an all-knowing smile, as if she’d collected 98 Dalmatians with only 3 more to go.

I’d call that paragraph catty but there’s a Cruella De Vil reference so I’ll be doggone if I’ll do that

Jan 24 2019

2 Comments

Adrastos, Congress, Political Crack, Stupid Republican Tricks, The Darnold, Twitter, Your President Speaks

America Held Hostage Day 34

Donald Trump isn’t used to anyone saying no to him. He doesn’t handle it well. That’s what happened yesterday when he tried to force his way into the House chamber for the SOTU, which should be rechristened SOTC. C is for chaos or clusterfuck.

Nancy Smash has no problem with saying no to a petulant president* even after a day in which the high priests of the cult of savvy decided he might have a plan. As usual, they were wrong: the Insult Comedian folded after the Speaker called his bluff. No surprise. Trump always folds but it usually doesn’t take this long.

The Kaiser of Chaos used a new word in reacting to NDP’s disinvitation:

“We just found out that she’s cancelled it. I think that’s a great blotch on the incredible country that we all love. It’s a great, great horrible mark. I don’t believe it’s ever happened before and it’s always good to be part of history but this is a very negative part of history.”

Blotch? Really, Donald? Is that the best you can do? I thought you had “all the best words” stored in your “very good brain.”

Trumpberius looked deflated as he made those incoherent comments. Once again, he’s been outmaneuvered by the wily speaker. His fragile ego has a hard time dealing with so much losing, especially at the hands of a skirt. The *real* author of The Art of the Deal nailed it on the tweeter tube:

I have never seen Trump so utterly flummoxed and outgunned as he is by Nancy Pelosi. He seems both awed and cowed by her and it is turning her into a bigger powerhouse than she already was. Fun to watch.

— Tony Schwartz (@tonyschwartz) January 24, 2019

Remember when people on the hard left and squishy right of the Democratic party wanted Nancy Smash to step aside? We’re not hearing much from them right now.

A day after his SOTU cave, the Insult Comedian floated a new slogan:

Without a Wall there cannot be safety and security at the Border or for the U.S.A. BUILD THE WALL AND CRIME WILL FALL!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2019

This is so stupid and simplistic that I’ll let his co-author dispatch him again:

One key to Trump is that he has no core beliefs or deeply held values. His wall was just a way to get elected. He holds on tenaciously to avoid feeling humiliated by Dems & criticized by his base. He is a prisoner to his neediness, with no true north to guide him.

— Tony Schwartz (@tonyschwartz) January 23, 2019

One of the worst things about the current hostage crisis is that stories of human suffering do not move Trump. He long ago wrote off federal employees as Democrats. He cannot even muster a scintilla of fake empathy for the havoc his wall fetish has wrought. Disorder and disruption are his specialities. That’s why I call him the Kaiser of Chaos.

There are finally signs that the Trump shutdown may be winding down. While Trump pretends not to believe the “fake polls,” they’re dire for him. It’s past time for him to fold and declare victory. There is no plan, there is no end game. It’s time for the Insult Comedian to lie his way out of this mess. It’s what he does best.

Finally, I’m fascinated by Trump’s inability to coin a nickname for Speaker Pelosi when there’s an obvious one out there. It’s inspired by the venerable hit musical No No Nanette. He could call her No No Nancy. It’s alliterative as all get-out. Of course, the president* hates being told no, so it’s a non-starter for him but I may add it to my nickname arsenal. It’s not as smashing as Nancy Smash but it fits the times we live in, no?

The last word goes to Ringo:

Jan 24 2019

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Michael F

Forget The SOTU. The State of the POTUS Is…

terrible_twos_2

…evidently toddler, and it’s also evident the press still can’t help themselves in making this a both sides story, even though, for fucks sake, it’s only one side. Christ.

On Day 33 of the longest government shutdown in history, Washington took on the air of a split-screen television. On one side was a spat between Mr. Trump and Ms. Pelosi over the president’s constitutional duty to periodically report to Congress on the state of the union. On the other, the House and Senate trudged along with their daily business, with lawmakers in both parties grasping for a way out of the shutdown stalemate.

It now seems all but certain that 800,000 federal employees who have been either furloughed or working without pay for more than a month will miss another paycheck on Friday. The best hope, people in both parties say, is that the expected failure of both bills in the Senate on Thursday will prompt bipartisan negotiations that could lead to a compromise.

…

During a closed-door meeting with House Democrats on Wednesday morning, Ms. Pelosi urged her caucus to stay unified and not to peel off and begin negotiating with the president on his terms, which could muddle the stark differences between Mr. Trump and them on a critical issue.

She also told rank-and-file lawmakers that they should not get “too bogged down” on what legislation was being voted upon — a direct message to some of her restive centrist freshmen, who have been meeting with Republican freshmen to discuss a bipartisan path out of the shutdown. The appeal seems to have worked; as they emerged from the closed-door meeting, rank-and-file Democrats appeared united behind their leaders’ demand that the government open before border security negotiations took place.

No. What’s happening is that the fucking president — who’s supposed to faithfully execute the laws, etc. etc. — is throwing the mother of all hissy fits because Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh called him a wuss. That’s it. No both sides, and there’s no massive border crisis that requires a $5 billion-with-a-b dollar appropriation for a wall that will never get built anyway…which means that’ll be $5 billion-with-a-b dollars that gets grifted by someone who, among other things, insisted he’d get another country to fork over the money anyway.

Christ, is that too difficult? It never ceases to amaze me just how eager the media is to accept the wingnut case…a case that doesn’t exist, but which is now front page news, at least until the toddler POTUS gets something he can call a win (and you can bet the same media will make that the story)…while people who keep working for no pay are getting ever more desperate (not that the same toddler POTUS gives a shit).

Geez.

Jan 24 2019

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Adrastos, Books, Pulp Fiction Thursday

Pulp Fiction Thursday: My Love Wears Black

Believe it or not, Octavus Roy Cohen is NOT a pen name.

Jan 23 2019

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Adrastos, Film, Fog Of History, Fog Of Scandal, Law/Justice, Music, Political Crack

Rudy: Confusion Will Be My Epitaph

“I am afraid it will be on my gravestone. “Rudy Giuliani: He lied for Trump.” Somehow, I don’t think that will be it. But, if it is, so what do I care? I’ll be dead. I figure I can explain it to St. Peter.”

Rudy Giuliani, 2019

“Confusion will be my epitaph
As I crawl a cracked and broken path
If we make it we can all sit back and laugh,
But I fear tomorrow I’ll be crying,
Yes I fear tomorrow I’ll be crying”

Peter Sinfield, 1969

The Human Smoke Machine known as Rudy Giuliani has been ubiquitous since the disputed Buzzfeed article was published. It’s a good thing that Rudy’s goal isn’t to clarify matters because he goes on and on and on, belching smoke like a coal-fueled factory. In the immortal words of Macbeth: “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”

Rudy’s bizarre defense of president* Trump seems to be as jinxed as a production of Macbeth aka The Scottish Play. Uh oh, I just used the M word twice, which means this post is jinxed too: “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble.”

Enough with quotes from the jinxed play, back to Rudy who has made an even bigger mess of things than usual. First, he expanded the Kremlingate timeline by admitting that negotiations about the Moscow project continued during the 2016 election. The president* first claimed to have no business dealings with Russia, then changed his story several times. After walking back the claims he made to the Failing New York Times, Rudy said this to the New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner: “If he had a project in Moscow, there would be nothing wrong with it, but he didn’t.”

In his role as the First Criminal’s mouthpiece, Rudy constantly violates the first rule of holes: When you’re in one, stop digging. Rudy’s frenetic rat-a-tat-tat verbiage reminds me of an ugly version of Walter Burns as played by Cary Grant in His Girl Friday:

Like his client, Rudy has a fatal inability to STFU. They’re both “cock-eyed liars” who spread confusion every time they open their big fat bazoos. It’s proof positive that it’s easier to tell the truth: you don’t have to remember all the lies you told. The truth is alien to both Trump and Rudy. Lying is like breathing to them.

Rudy Giuliani used to be known as the “prosecutor who got Gotti” and as “America’s mayor.” He was even a serious presidential contender before his 2008 campaign collapsed into farce. Rudy is the ultimate Trump dignity wraith. Confusion will indeed be his epitaph,

The last word goes to King Crimson:

Jan 23 2019

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Adrastos, Campaign Notes, Elections, Film, Fog Of History, Political Crack

The More The Merrier

Welcome to the latest post wherein I steal the title of an old movie. The More The Merrier was a brilliant 1943 comedy about the wartime housing shortage in Washington D.C. It’s noteworthy as the last comedy directed by George Stevens before going off to war. Stevens was among the first Americans to see a Nazi death camp and stuck to more serious subjects after the war. As much as I love A Place In The Sun, Shane, and Giant, I wish Stevens had done some comedies after the war. Nobody did them better and his post Giant output defined the phrase mixed bag. That concludes the film buff portion of the post.

Let’s turn out attention to the 2020 presidential campaign. There’s some hand wringing among Democrats about the number of candidates who plan to run. I say the more the merrier. A diverse field of candidates shows the strength of our party. And a large field gives us a better chance to pick a candidate who will reflect the nation’s mood in November 2020.

It’s been forgotten what a large field of talented candidates ran for the 2008 Democratic nomination. It quickly boiled down to Obama versus Clinton, but John Edwards was a serious contender early on. We dodged that bullet but we could have found ourselves stuck with Edwards when the National Enquirer baby daddy story hit.

We know what worked in the 2018 midterms: new faces, especially women and minority candidates. That might be the right formula for 2020 as well but an experienced old hand such as Joe Biden might be appealing to voters sick of Trumpian incompetence by the time the election rolls around. Or maybe not. It’s hard to tell this far out from the election. Repeat after me: the more the merrier.

I remain undecided about 2020 but I find much to like in the candidacies of Warren, Harris, Castro, and Gillibrand as well as the thus far undeclared cohort of Booker, Klobuchar, Brown, Beto, and others who are flirting with running. It’s a veritable cast of thousands: the more the merrier.

As to Mike Bloomberg and Bernie Sanders, I’m a fan of neither but let them run and see how they do. Bloomberg’s wanderings from Democrat to Republican to Independent and back to Democrat gives this hardcore Democrat pause. Similarly, Sanders’ status as a stubborn Independent is vexatious. I’m also unconvinced that a passion candidate like Bernie will do as well the second time around, BUT if both he and Bloomberg want to run, I say the more the merrier. Let the voters decide.

Everyone who is a native-born citizen over the age of 35 has the right to run for president even Tulsi Gabbard. I’m mystified as to why she thinks that running on a platform of compromising with Trump, Obama bashing, and Kremlingate skepticism will appeal to Democratic voters. I’ll skip detailing her anti-LGBT past, which has already crippled her candidacy.

Speaking of the Current Occupant, he’s the elephant in the room. If Trump runs for re-election, he will be the GOP nominee even if he faces a primary challenge. But I remain uncertain that he’ll be on the ballot in 2020. As a partisan Democrat, I hope the Insult Comedian runs because he looks beatable in the wake of the midterms, but as a patriot I hope he’s out of office ASAP.

Democrats need to be prepared to run against another Republican nominee, be it Pence or someone else. That’s another reason to be glad that the Democratic field will be so large. We need options. The more the merrier.

The last word goes to The Mighty Sparrow:

Jan 23 2019

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Adrastos, Album Cover Art, Music, Television

Album Cover Art Wednesday: Peter Gunn

Peter Gunn was a detective show starring Craig Stevens that ran for 114 episodes between 1958-1961. It’s best remembered for its creator, Blake Edwards, and the marvelous music of Henry Mancini. The theme song has been recorded many times over the years by a wide variety of artists.

Let’s rumble, private eye style:

Finally, here’s a prog rock ringer:

	c u n d gulag on Maybe THIS Will Be It
	fledermaus on Maybe THIS Will Be It
	cliff on Album Cover Art Wednesday: Gre…
	Ten Bears on Saturday Odds & Sods: Moon…
	Peter Adrastos Athas on Friday Catblogging: Missing Mi…

First Draft

Liberal Politics, Media Criticism & General Mayhem

Monthly Archives: January 2019

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Friday Catblogging: Space Heater Cats

Quote Of The Day: Cartoon Villain Edition

America Held Hostage Day 34

Forget The SOTU. The State of the POTUS Is…

Pulp Fiction Thursday: My Love Wears Black

Rudy: Confusion Will Be My Epitaph

The More The Merrier

Album Cover Art Wednesday: Peter Gunn