Tag: Trump

  • 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.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Kids are Back, Doomsday DJ, and Protect Kids and Not Guns

    (Is that a flying pig in the sky?)

    I have started watching The Kids in the Hall’s new season in Amazon. As with all of these nostalgia reboots of stuff from the 80’s and 90’s, some fall rather flat, and leave you wondering why it needed to be rebooted in the first place. (Looking at you Fresh Prince.) First of all, I don’t think The Kids in the Hall are a reboot, as it feels like a solid continuation of the original show. Second, The Kids are just as biting and internal as they have ever been. Yes, they are older, but that alt/punk subversive vibe is still there. Their humor was never topical, and their best stuff always had to do with the relationship between characters.

    Which brings me to “Doomsday DJ” a darkly humorous bleak sketch with just Dave Foley and Melanie’s 1971 hit “Brand New Key.” Though the sketch, which is in three parts and the clip is only the first, takes place in a world where DNA bombs have fallen and destroyed just about everybody on the planet, it has an eerie present feeling to it. Was the sketch’s creation influenced by the Trump years and Covid isolation? Clearly, yes. But man, Foley’s expression of desperation and loss with his eyes becoming unfocused, only to snap back to reality to do his “job” on the radio. I think everyone can relate to a similar feeling during the lockdown, watching tv on the couch, and wondering, “Is this really how it will all end?” The Kids tapped into a zeitgeist in the culture that I don’t think anyone has been able to express correctly. I know I said above that they don’t do topical jokes, and I hold to that, because the joke here is the internal struggle of the character to continue in the face of ultimate doom. Amazingly, we all know what that feels like, and now we see you can make fun of it.

    Protect Kids and Not Guns.

    Protect Kids and Not Guns.

    Protect Kids and Not Guns.

    (Say, don’t forget to like this post, or share it, or leave a comment. I got bills to pay, you know.)

  • ODDS and ENDS: Ginni Thomas, The Kid has a Cold, and Spring

    Oh, I love it when the curtain is pulled back on “important” people. If you don’t know, Ginni Thomas is the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Ginni Thomas has been playing a role in many conservative issues that have, or are, coming to the SCOTUS docket, as reported by The New Yorker. Then, she started playing a role in helping organize the January 6th rally for Trump, as reported by The New York Times. Now, turns out that she was texting Mark Meadows, Trump’s Chief of Staff, some crazy ass QAnon shit right after the election, according to CBS/The Washington Post. The issue here is if Ginni’s efforts to overturn the 2020 Election have created a conflict of interest for Justice Thomas, when it comes to cases that may come to the Court in regard to the January 6th Commission law suits. That all is very important, and does raise some important questions that should be answered. What I find interesting is that Ginni Thomas, who works in the highest echelons of political advocacy, and who moves in most dignified intellectual circles of D.C, is basically just your crazy-ass conspiracy minded aunt that you have to put up with at the Holidays.

    Yup, the kid has a cold. She is sitting next to me on the couch, drawing and watching tv, while I write this. It almost feels like this is, well, normal. I have this feeling that I want to be outside all the time now. I have started looking up hiking trails further upstate, that are longer and a little more rugged. Not sure that the wife and kid will agree with this, but I’ll see if I can convince them. I kind’a feel like a little kid again when I think about getting out in nature. Like when I was a Cub Scout, learning how to camp, and identify leaves to trees. I guess I’m ready for Spring.