Louisiana Tunes: An Unexpected Fan
Double Bill Cassidy meets the Bayou Brief. Continue reading Louisiana Tunes: An Unexpected Fan
Month: May 2019
Louisiana Goddam
I was hoping not to have to write this post but the Gret Stet lege has joined with Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri to pass a so-called “fetal heartbeat” bill. Compounding the horror is the failure to include exceptions for rape … Continue reading Louisiana Goddam
Friday Catblogging: Muscling In
Here are Della Street and Paul Drake atop the latest iteration of the tower of terror. Della is smirking as always but Paul looks like a bad ass. Trust me, he’s not. Continue reading Friday Catblogging: Muscling In
Courage
Speaker Pelosi has forgotten more about politics than most people will ever know. She’s right to think that impeachment is tricky. It’s unpopular now BUT, like everything else in this mercurial era, that’s subject to change. Public opinion is fluid, not static except for the hardcore rump of Trumpers, which is around 25% of the electorate. Speaker Pelosi is a political genius but even geniuses can be wrong. She *is* wrong about impeachment. It is not just a legal imperative, it is a political one. I think inaction will be more politically damaging in the long run than defending the … Continue reading Courage
Does Mueller Have To Spell It Out?
I’m with Charles Blow on this What the hell is it going to take, Democrats?! What evidence and impetus would compel you to do the job the Constitution, patriotism and morality dictate? What is it going to take to make you initiate an impeachment inquiry? Your slow walking of this issue and your specious arguments about political calculations are pushing you dangerously close to a tragic, historic dereliction of duty, one that could do irreparable damage to the country and the Congress. Political calculation, like it or not, gives at least the impression of political cowardice, and this is exactly … Continue reading Does Mueller Have To Spell It Out?
Pulp Fiction Thursday: The Dead Ringer
The Dead Ringer is set in a carnival, which explains the peeping gorilla. But was its name Tom? Continue reading Pulp Fiction Thursday: The Dead Ringer
Malaka Of The Week: Meghan McCain
I haven’t given much thought to Meghan McCain over the years. I try not to aim my fire at the children of famous people. Besides, while she’s as annoying as hell, she’s not as interesting as she thinks she is. John McCain was glory, Meghan is reflected glory and I try not to kick down. The mouthy Ms. McCain made that impossible this week when she lectured Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar about what she’s allowed to say on the campaign trail. And that is why Meghan McCain is malaka of the week. I’ve enjoyed McCain’s occasional critiques of the Insult … Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: Meghan McCain
Album Cover Art Wednesday: It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest
The Fugs were an underground band formed in 1964 by poets Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg. This is the first time I’ve selected an album in this space because of its title: It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest. It makes … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest
The War Isn’t Over
Never is: The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency reports of the 8,156 Korean War personnel missing in action, only 494 have been identified. Eight thousand. A. Continue reading The War Isn’t Over
Not Everything Sucks
Deadwood is still with us and so is David Milch, who I’d take a bullet for and laugh about it: Still, the studio’s faith in Milch never wavered. It just wanted him to focus on more potentially lucrative projects, and persuaded him to create a new series, “John from Cincinnati,” set in a California surfing community, a collaboration with Kem Nunn, a novelist whose books can be found in the surf-noir section. It lasted only one season, a consequence generally attributed to a plot-coherence deficit. In the years that followed, Milch remained fiercely industrious. He created “Luck,” set at the … Continue reading Not Everything Sucks
Memorial Day: Who I Remember
There’s nothing like a national holiday to make one feel ritualistic.This post is making its tenth annual appearance at First Draft. It was also published in our anthology, Our Fate Is Your Fate. I realize it *should* be posted on … Continue reading Memorial Day: Who I Remember
Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – “Bless your heart” edition
What a wonderful week this was for The Darnold!
Documentation dykes bursting everywhere, and that wonderful “meeting” to discuss infrastructure bills blew up in his face like an exploding cigar. This nincompoop still thinks he’s doing “The Apprentice”, and that’s a full-speed-ahead-in-the-ice-field approach for certain, at least when dealing with Nancy Pelosi.
Now I don’t know if this is just a southern / Texas thing, but when somebody really screws the pooch, they get a condescending “Well, bless your heart.” The unsaid coda to this little expression is “You’re too stupid to breathe, aren’t ya, darlin’ ?”
Pelosi Says She Is Concerned for Trump’s Well-Being — Calls on Family, Administration, Staff to Have an Intervention
Breitbart ^ | 5/23/2019 | PAM KEYPosted on 5/23/2019, 7:38:52 PM by bitt
Thursday at her weekly press briefing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters she is concerned for the well-being of President Donald Trump. Pelosi said, “We don’t want it to be partisan now, but I can only think he wasn’t up to the task of figuring out the difficult choices of how to cover the cost of infrastructure legislation that we had talked about. The president again stormed out. First pound the table, walk out the door. Next time, have the TV cameras in there while I have my say and that didn’t work for him either. And this time, another temper tantrum. Again I pray for the president of the United States. I wish his family, his administration or his staff would have an intervention for the good of the country.” A reporter said, “Your prayer comments almost suggest you are concerned for his well being.” Pelosi interjected, “I am, and the well-being of the United States of America.”
To: bitt
To: bitt
Pelosi is incredibly disrespectful of the president
and the office of the president. Not only issheTrump personally offensive butshehe degrades the position ofSpeakerPresident.
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Yes, he is. And all I can think of here is the line from Monty Python’s “vocation guidance counselor” sketch :
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Counsellor: “Well, er, yes Mr Anchovy, but you see your report here says that you are an extremely dull person. You see, our experts describe you as an appallingly dull fellow, unimaginative, timid, lacking in initiative, spineless, easily dominated, no sense of humour, tedious company and irrepressibly drab and awful. And whereas in most professions these would be considerable drawbacks, in chartered accountancy they are a positive boon. ”
Back to the fray :
To: bitt
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And then does what? Have her shot, or just poked with a Polonium pellet in an umbrella tip?
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Also :
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To: bitt
When your FR posts start to resemble the Fuehrer of the Turd Reich’s tweets…..well….
To: bitt
More angst in their pants after the thingy…
Continue reading “Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – “Bless your heart” edition”
Suffering Isn’t Noble if It’s Not Your Suffering
This is a lot to unpack, so let’s begin early: Pointing to recent failed bills in several Republican-led states that equated abortions with murder, they wrote, “Pro-life legislation that creates the right to DIY abortion and fails to categorize abortion as murder does not deserve our support.” In a hearing for the Texas bill, which would have equated an abortion with homicide, a crime that can lead to the death penalty in the state, Jim Baxa of West Texans for Life bluntly stated his support: “A woman who has committed murder should be charged with murder.” Also on Tuesday, Charlotte Pence, the daughter of … Continue reading Suffering Isn’t Noble if It’s Not Your Suffering
Saturday Odds & Sods: I Want You Back
This is the week Mother Nature flicked the celestial switch to turn on the steam bath that is summer in New Orleans. It hit 90 degrees for the first time in 2019. The cats slowed down, and your humble blogger started sweating like Bogie in the greenhouse scene in The Big Sleep. This sort of heat is why people in more sensible countries such as Spain and Greece take siestas. Did I just call the Greeks sensible? There’s a first time for everything.
The big local story was the death of writer, raconteur, and local character Ronnie Virgets at the age of 77. His prose style was unique as was his voice, which landed him on local teevee and radio. Ronnie was a man about town so I ran into him from time-to-time over the years. The last time was at the Krewe du Vieux captain’s dinner. Ronnie was our king in 1996. I told him how much I missed his Razoo column in the Gambit. His reply: “I ran out of shit to say.” It was said with a wink so I didn’t believe it for a second. Our mutual friend, Clancy DuBos, wrote a lovely tribute to Ronnie in which he compared him to both Damon Runyon and Jimmy Breslin. Yeah, you right, Clancy. They broke the mold when they made Ronnie Virgets.
Motown May continues with this week’s theme song. I Want You Back was written in 1969 by “The Corporation” aka Berry Gordy, Freddie Perren, Alphonso Mizell, and Deke Richards. The song was originally intended for Gladys Knight & the Pips but ended up being the Jackson 5’s first hit. Let me address the monster in the room: Michael Jackson did monstrous things as an adult but he was an abused child in 1969. Besides, my favorite thing about I Want You back is the production, especially the guitar riff that propels the song.
We have two versions for your entertainment. The Jackson 5 original and a cool cover by Graham Parker:
I hope you’ll still want me back after we jump to the break. If you don’t, who can blame you?
Spotify The Louisiana Tunes
By popular demand, here’s *my* Spotify playlist of my Top 50 Louisiana Tunes. There are a couple of different versions based on spotty Spotify availability: The Garth Brooks catalog is not on Spotify so I’ve replaced his version of #45, … Continue reading Spotify The Louisiana Tunes
The Crazy, It Burns
Life Imitates Duck Soup, I Claudius, & One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Continue reading The Crazy, It Burns
Friday Catblogging: Still Life Of Cat With Toiletries
Paul Drake is an expert at finding spots that are verboten. Who wants cat hair on their toothbrush? We’ve resorted to keeping the door shut to break him of his latest bad habit. Continue reading Friday Catblogging: Still Life Of Cat With Toiletries
New Tea From The Tillerson
Oil baron and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is back in the news. You didn’t really think I could pass this story up, did you? He was in Washington City to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. I … Continue reading New Tea From The Tillerson
How They Roll
Not exactly a fun day for Steven Mnuchin — he spent it on Capitol Hill trying to justify his violation of law in refusing to hand over Trump’s tax returns — but he nonetheless managed to pull off a classic dick move of the kind the GOP routinely do, announcing publicly that the twenty dollar bill redesign to honor Harriet Tubman has been delayed until, well, he’s no longer Treasury Secretary. “It’s not a decision that is likely to come until way past my term, even if I serve the second term for the president,” Mnuchin told the House Financial … Continue reading How They Roll
Pulp Fiction Thursday: The Toff On The Farm
John Creasey was a successful and highly prolific crime fiction writer. And when I say prolific, I mean it: he wrote over 600 novels using 28 pen names. He made Stephen King look like a slacker. The Toff was one … Continue reading Pulp Fiction Thursday: The Toff On The Farm
Bayou Brief: Louisiana Tunes
My latest for the Bayou Brief is another listicle, Louisiana Tunes: The Top 50 Songs About the Gret Stet. It could also be called the Son of the Louisiana Movie List. Continue reading Bayou Brief: Louisiana Tunes
Deluded Tweet Of The Day: Double Bill Cassidy Edition
My Senators are always up to something, but never anything good. The scary thing is that Double Bill Cassidy is worse than Neely. The latter is at least entertaining whereas Dr. Bill has his head so far up Trump’s ass that he hasn’t seen daylight since 2016. In this tweet, Cassidy claims to be a key adviser to Trump on health care issues: Whenever @realDonaldTrump has a health care question, I’m his go-to. I am proud to be working alongside the President in the fight to decrease surprise medical billing, lower drug prices, and return transparency to our health care … Continue reading Deluded Tweet Of The Day: Double Bill Cassidy Edition
Taking The Tsar Thing Literally
Kris Kobach: Too Arrogant For Team Trump. Continue reading Taking The Tsar Thing Literally
Album Cover Art Wednesday: Bob Kames
Bob Kames nee Kujawa was a polka musician operating out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he was, apparently, a local legend. I’d never heard of him until my friend Marko Romano suggested one of the Bobster’s campier album covers. I went … Continue reading Album Cover Art Wednesday: Bob Kames
On Nostalgia, Joe Biden, and the ‘Shortcomings’ of the Young
God, it’s such good sport to beat up on Joe: Don’t misread here: He’s being a tool about a lot of things and if he’d just shut his goddamn trap he could likely coast to a primary victory, but he can’t stop setting his brand on fire in the street. Whether that’s good or not is totally impossible to say, since “electability” is for suckers and national head-to-head polls are stupid as hell. Nobody knows what’s going to happen next spring. Shit, we barely know what’s going to happen next WEEK, so my enthusiasm for wading into this nonsense at … Continue reading On Nostalgia, Joe Biden, and the ‘Shortcomings’ of the Young
Perspective
Adrastos on the Game Of Thrones series finale. Continue reading Perspective
Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – now and Zen edition
Oh dear.
The Freeperati used to love them some Pat Robertson.
It used to be:
To: NormsRevenge
I am thankful for Pat Robertson because he says things that others are afraid to say. I believe he truly is trying to interpret current events through a Biblical perspective.
To: TLBSHOWPat Robertson is right, again.
That was zen, this is meow :
Conservative televangelist Pat Robertson says Alabama abortion law is ‘extreme’ and he believes…DAILY MAIL UK ^ | May 15, 2019 | Keith Griffith For Dailymail.com Posted on 5/16/2019, 1:29:24 AM by Morgana
FULL TITLE: Conservative televangelist Pat Robertson says Alabama abortion law is ‘extreme’ and he believes the state ‘has gone too far’
Christian televangelist Pat Robertson has said that he believes Alabama’s near total ban on abortions is ‘extreme’ and that the state has gone ‘too far’.
Robertson, who opposes abortion and hopes to see Roe v Wade overturned, made the remarks on Wednesday on The 700 Club, hours before Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed the new law.
The Alabama law contains an exception for when the pregnancy creates a serious health risk for the woman, but not an exception for rape or incest, and would punish doctors who perform abortions with up to life in prison.
‘I think Alabama has gone too far,’ remarked the 89-year-old Robertson
‘It’s an extreme law, and they want to challenge Roe verses Wade, but my humble view is that this is not the case that we want to bring to the Supreme Court, because I think this one will lose,’ the conservative minister continued.
Robertson has been an outspoken opponent of abortion, and drew condemnation when he implied in 2005 that Hurricane Katrina’s destruction of New Orleans was God’s punishment for America’s abortion laws.
But in Wednesday’s broadcast Robertson said he feared that Alabama’s new law would not create the right test case to challenge the 1973 precedent of Roe v Wade.
‘It’s ill-considered,’ he said. ‘The Alabama case, god bless ’em they’re trying to do something, but I don’t think that’s the case that I’d want to bring to the Supreme Court.’
Governor Ivey signed the measure on Wednesday. The law will make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by 10 to 99 years or life in prison.
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Someone please get this twit off the air!
To: MorganaDementia. It’s a sad thing.4 posted on 5/16/2019, 1:43:51 AM by irishjuggler
To: MorganaSomeone please get this twit off the air!Seriously. He has been saying stupid thing to embarrass Christians for too many years.
32 posted on 5/16/2019, 10:21:38 AM by Buckeye McFrog
And then a Freeper goes there….
To: Morgana
I think you want to pass the most restrictive law that might be upheld before the Supreme Court. This one is so politically risky that it could lead to serious election losses in 2020. If we could roll back the 19th Amendment, this wouldn’t be a problem. Thing is – women can vote, and they tend to vote against politicians who want to ban abortion.
7 posted on 5/16/2019, 3:06:23 AM by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)
Otherwise, OK?
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More at the “read more”…
Continue reading “Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – now and Zen edition”
There Were Hundreds of Ways Out / But Only One Way Here: Final #GameofThrones Thread
This show and these books and every single bit of terrible merchandise from all of it will be worth it forever for introducing us to this goddess. Go argue elsewise if you must but do it away from my hearing.
Since this is the last one ever I have a few things I’d like to address from previous episodes.
First, no, Sansa Stark did not thank her rapist in that scene with the Hound.
We have got to, as a culture, find a way to talk about forgiveness versus absolution. About acknowledging what made you — yes, this is about Sansa — without letting those things off the hook. I’m seeing a lot of shit out there like SANSA THANKED HER RAPIST and no, she didn’t.
— Allison Hantschel (@Athenae) May 6, 2019
Second, of course this all could have gone another way. That’s THE POINT.
People make choices and those choices have consequences and nobody HAD to do any of this. Lysa Arryn could have burned Littlefinger’s note and none of this shiz would have happened and Robert would still be falling down drunk at jousts and stuff.
“What if Dany went crazy but in like a sympathetic way?” is not a way of arriving at the same point. It’s another story, which is fine, but you’re not writing the one that’s on TV.
Third, Danaerys Targaryen was not being ruined by sexist showrunners who turned her from a heroine into a villain. What books did you all read? Forget the books, what show did you all watch?
Dany has always been problematic AF. So has Jon, frankly, with his martyr complex and his whinging about Ned and his refusal of the throne Because A True Ruler Never Wants It. So has Varys. So has Tyrion (so, so much, has Tyrion). So, honestly, have Arya and Brienne. If you think you’ve been watching a show about heroes and villains buddy have I got beachfront in Arizona for you to buy.
This is a story about power. About what it does.
To everyone.
Don’t Tell Me We Weren’t Vigilant
I got mad and wrote a pitch e-mail to an editor this week that was basically THERE IS A SWARM OF HORNETS COMING OUT OF MY FACE and this is the result: Women did not cause the current clusterfuck by “taking our rights for granted,” and we don’t get any further along in a fight we are already expected to fight alone by implying that if we’d simply been more vigilant, Republican men wouldn’t have been so evil. I want to reinforce that point again and again and again. Women, especially poor women, women of color, young women, were never … Continue reading Don’t Tell Me We Weren’t Vigilant
Saturday Odds & Sods: You Keep Me Hangin’ On
After a deluge on Mother’s Day, we’re having Indian spring in New Orleans. Is there such a thing? If there’s not, there should be. The best thing about it is that the oak pollen that plagued me got its ass kicked by the rain.
I’ve never re-used an Odds & Sods featured image within a month before, but it’s a perfect fit with this week’s theme song. Besides, if you blog long enough, you end up repeating yourself, repeating yourself, repeating yourself. One side benefit of the vinyl revival is that everyone knows what a broken record is, what a broken record is, what a broken record is. It’s time to lift the needle and move on.
Motown May continues with the Supremes. The crack songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote You Keep Me Hangin’ On in 1966. It was a number one hit song with a bullet, with a bullet, with a bullet. The preceding was an inside joke for hardcore Zappa fans. Everyone else can move on to the next paragraph.
We have two versions for your listening pleasure: the Supremes original and a 1967 “psychedelic rock” cover by Vanilla Fudge, which was also a top ten hit. I put psychedelic rock in quotes because it’s one of those phrases that’s like ketchup or mayo: some people slather it over everything.
Now that we’ve hung on as well as out, let’s jump to the break. Perhaps all this hangin’ means we’ll land in a hangar. One more thing:
Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: You Keep Me Hangin’ On”