Summer grinds on in New Orleans. The good news is that the tropics are quiet. The bad news is that our highs are above normal. Normal is hot but this is ridiculous. Climate change has us by the throat but governments across the globe are in denial or pandering to the petrochemical industry. Ignoring tough problems only makes them worse.

The featured image is of a roulette table in Monaco executed by a Norwegian artist. Ain’t nothing American about any of that but it works as a sight gag.

I selected this week’s theme song because it sometimes feels as if were playing Russian roulette in America right now. Wrong game; wrong country. Thanks, Donald. #sarcasm

American Roulette was written by Robbie Robertson for his 1987 eponymous solo debut album. That album helped me get through my first year of law school. Thanks, Robbie.

I give you two versions of this week’s theme song: the studio OG and Robbie live with the Late Night band.

Let’s play Roulette with The Boss:

I’m doing something different for this week’s second act. It’s an essay on the Florida Democratic primary. The segment title is obvious as is the image that illustrates it:

That is, of course, the late Tim Russert during NBC’s 2000 election coverage. Florida was then the ultimate swing state, contested by Democrats and Republicans alike. The recount struggle was epic and did not have a happy ending. The country took a wrong turn with Bush 2.0.

The legacy media is fixated on one storyline: DSA wins in primaries. In Florida, recent DSA convert Angie Nixon won the senate primary against resistance hero Alex Vindman. He parachuted into Florida after retiring from the army in 2023. She’s a state legislator who spent only $1 million on the race. That’s the real story to me. Repeat after me: Money isn’t everything in politics.

I think the MSM missed the big story in Florida: David Jolly’s win in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. He has a realistic chance to become Florida’s first Democratic governor in the 21st Century. You read that right, Buddy McKay, the last D to reign in Tallahassee left office in 1999.

I’m familiar with David Jolly from his days as an MSNBC talking head. He was among my favorite Never Trump Republicans back then. He moved to the left-center, became a Democrat, and ran for office. He’s run a smart campaign and his opponent is one of the dimmer bulbs in the MAGA chandelier: Rep. Byron Donalds. Donalds blames “Democrat policies” on problems with Florida’s economy even though the GOP has run the show there for the entire century. The MAGA malakatude, it burns.

Donalds has Trump’s endorsement, which appeared to be less valuable last Tuesday. The Insult Comedian is on a losing streak even in his “home state.” His fellow crooked perv Rep. Cory Mills lost his race despite the prized endorsement. Trump’s hold on elected Republicans remains strong BUT the voters are drifting away because of his disastrous policies and obsession with shit that doesn’t matter like his fakakta ballroom.

I’ve written a lot about hypocrisy this week. The Kaiser of Chaos is the bull goose hypocrite: He voted by mail. It’s the “it’s OK for me, not for thee” syndrome. It used to work but the reckoning is nigh.

The last word of our second act goes to Eric Clapton:

We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.

Separated At Birth Casting Edition: We remain in Florida, Florida, Florida. In 2008, HBO produced a movie about the 2000 election, Recount. Former Secretary of State James Baker was played by the fine British actor Tom Wilkinson:

I often called Baker an SOB during the 2000 election mishigas. This venerable Small Faces tune provides a musical pun to end the segment.

Your Basic Basie: Count Basie live in Vegas. Say no more.

Have I told you lately how much I love Count Basie?

The Best Of Letterman: Quincy Jones had a long and glorious career. Most people want to hear about his work with Michael Jackson. I’m not most people.

Quincy and Peggy Lee made some great records together. Here’s a tune with a long title:

Classic Movie Trailer: Let’s spin the roulette wheel and watch the trailer for an on theme Scorsese film:

Grading Time: I give Casino 4 stars and an Adrastos grade of A.  It’s a stone cold classic that landed at #5 on my Martin Scorsese Dozen.

Saturday GIF Horse: I posted a Bringing Up Baby GIF the other day. Let’s go back to that well.

Kate and Cary sang the song below to try and soothe Baby the leopard. I’ll let the Boswell Sisters handle the vocal chores; neither Kate nor Cary were particularly good singers.

Toon Time: Here’s President Pennywise channeling Captain Bligh.

Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.

Saturday Closer: Here’s Scorsese’s music director with a video from the album from whence our theme song came.

That’s all for this week. The last word goes to Marty, Robbie, and palm trees.