Tag: Trump

  • My Rejected “Mentions” Submission

    On August 31st, I had a flash of inspiration, and quickly jotted out the following four sentences:

    “As Donald Trump’s surrender in Georgia grew closer, many on social media started to joke that the former President might need to hire a bail bondsman.

    On the day of the arrest at the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, to many people’s surprise, the former President had, in fact, secured Foster Bail Bonds, LLC of Lawrenceville, GA to execute the bond.

    This made CEO Charles Shaw the first person in American history to bail out a former President.

    Mr. Shaw, it is easy to say, might be the most famous bail bondsman in America right now, if you excuse Chico’s Bail Bonds support of the Bad News Bears.”

    I thought it was funny.

    But I wasn’t sure what to do with it. The first thought I had was to put it up on my blog, or maybe Twitter/X. Then I remembered that The Drift has a “Mentions” section, which consists of short humorous pieces, four sentences long. I quickly looked up the email address for submissions, and sent it off. Let me throw my luck into the wind and see what will happen! Odds are they would say no, but maybe today would be different.

    And then I reread the “Mentions” section, and it dawned on me that they are looking more for cultural observations, and not so much current events. Yeah… felt like I popped the bed on this one. I even posted a Tweet about it.

    This morning a received a response to my submission, and they did say no. I don’t disagree with that decision, and their form letter to me was rather pleasant for a rejection.

    As such, I now share this “mention” on my blog. If there is anyone out there who would like my four sentence humorous critiques about whatever pops into my head, my going rate is $25 per post, or best offer.

  • ODDS and ENDS: The Mugshot, Don’t Get Caught in the Rain, and Fantasy Football

    (Mr. Campbell… who cares?)

    I will admit that I was one of those millions of online leeches waiting for the release of the Trump mugshot. I wanted to see it. I wanted to be there when it was released so I could be one of the first to see it. And I was very pleased with what I saw. A former President was arrested, and he was treated like any other defendant in the criminal justice system which, for me, sent a signal that no one is above the law in this country. I am also aware that not everyone will see it that way. There are a large number of people who will see this mugshot, and project their own feelings on it, to see a system out to punish political opposition. There is another reason why I wanted to see this mugshot, for I believe it is the closest form of justice we will get when it comes to Trump and the crimes he’s accused of committing. Sadly, I don’t believe that he will be found guilty on any of these charges in the four cases. He will be acquitted because deep down in our America soul, we cannot send a President to jail. We treat our Presidents like gods. Each one gets his own temple, though we call it a library. And if they happen to be one of the truly greats, we build a shrine to them in Holy City of DC. So, this mugshot, with his disgruntled gaze, is as close to justice as he will get. This humiliating picture will last forever in American history, never to be forgotten.

    Walking around in the rain with wet jeans on is the worst.

    I will not play fantasy football this season. The league I play in has not reformed, and I fear it is dead. The League is Dead! Long Live the League. I’m not sure anymore, but I think I have played in the league of old college friends, work collogues, and random people, for close to fifteen years. In that time, I have won the League three times, all the while just guessing on who to play each week. What brought about this timely death was the sad fact that everyone has lives that have pulled us in different directions. From marriages, kids, careers, and taking care of parents, we aren’t the same people anymore. It’s a little sad, but it does prove the old axiom that everything changes – nothing stays the same. Goodbye Fantasy Football…

  • A Political Blog Today

    Did you hear that Trump got indicted?

    Of course, you did. You couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting that story yesterday.

    Yes, it was a big story; first time in American history. But it really shouldn’t be a big deal. If no one is above the law, then this is what should happen. Like I said on Friday, Article I Section 3 shows that the Founders envisioned this situation, and they were fine with it.

    Besides, the American justice system is slanted to the rich and powerful. Trump will hire the better lawyers who will be able to create doubt in the jury’s minds, and he’ll be acquitted. That’s why I don’t buy in the theory that you can’t charge a former president with a crime because it will create a tit-for-tat between the parties. There still has to be a trial, there will still be a jury, and former presidents will still be able to hire good lawyers, which leads to them being acquitted. It’s a paper tiger way of stopping a political enemy. Still the best way to stop a politician in this country is an election.

    The bigger political story yesterday was in Wisconsin. Janet Protasiewicz won a ten-year seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which now tilts that body to a liberal majority. What that means is that the state’s abortion ban will be over turned, and the Wisconsin Republican supermajority in the Legislature, which was put there by a gerrymandered map, which be thrown out and redrawn. Sure, this means that Wisconsin will move from a toss-up state to blue. It could mean new Democratic majorities in the Legislature will undo the reforms Scott Walker put in place. What I think it means is that if Democrats run on abortion rights and fair elections, they win. Protasiewicz openly ran on those two issues and she won by 10 points! That’s not a fluke win, it’s beating the pants off your opponent. I hope the other liberals out there are paying attention.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Trump Trading Cards, School Holiday Concerts, and World Cup Prediction

    (Elon is watching…)

    Trump released trading cards yesterday. It was a big announcement, if you haven’t heard. A great number of people who are funnier and fast than me have already jumped on this, and created some spectacular comedy from this shit show. I only bring it up here, because I wonder how many people will be receiving these trading cards for Christmas? And of those who received them, how many actually wanted them? And I also wonder how many cards were given because the giver knew it would piss off the recipient? We do live in polarizing times.

    I love school concerts and recitals. I never thought about them in conjunction with becoming a parent, but it is a requisite activity that parents are required to take part in, or at least sit through. And for the record, it normally is a very cute hour of your life. Having gone to several now, I want to give a shout out to the kid, who is always in the back, who refuses to take part. You know, the kid that just stands there; not mad, or angry, or afraid. They just stand in the back and don’t move. I look forward to seeing who that kid is every year, for sometimes it does change. One year my kid stood in the back and didn’t move. Then the next year she was up front and singing as loud as she could. Tip of the cap to the kid not moving in the back!

    Argentina.

  • PACT Act Passed and Shame is Back for the GOP

    There are many traditions in the United States, but one of the longest running and most prevalent in our 250+ year history is screwing over veterans. From the Revolution to Afghanistan, the US Government has a habit of letting veterans down. I know no American, not one, who is opposed to helping veterans get health care, mental care, access to housing, food, and substance abuse help.

    So, when Republicans pulled their support from the PACT Act last week, sadly, I wasn’t surprised, and neither was every veterans group who has been pushing for the PACT Act. I am just dumbfounded that Republicans believed that they can get away with praising our military one moment and then turn around and fight against supporting that same military when they come home.

    But something happened this week that hasn’t been a part of the Republican party for the past six years; shame. The reason the PACT Act got passed yesterday was that the Republicans in the Senate got shamed. They were shamed by vets, their families, but especially by Jon Stewart. The Senate GOP tried to roll out their arguments against the bill, but no one was having it; everyone saw it for what it was – lies. The shame of telling lies became so great that they caved and passed the bill.

    I think this is important because over the past six years, the Republican party has had no shame. They have doubled down again and again on reprehensible positions and arguments, daring people to call them liars. This was Trump’s hold on the GOP – just lie and do what you want. At the end of the day, if you accomplished your goal, what does it matter what you had to do to get there, right?

    Could this be the crack in Trump’s grip on GOP politicians? Maybe. I know that Trump didn’t weight in on this topic, and that might have changed things. I also know the VA system is still a shit show, which was supposed to be fixed under Obama, so there is shame to be passed around. But, BUT, I think a few years ago, there was no amount of pressure you could put on Republicans to get them to change their votes.

    Change just might be possible.