Victory Over Trump

Beating Trump was just as important

 While the coronavirus pandemic will undoubtedly be the biggest story of 2020, I don't think the election of Joe Biden to be the 46th President of the United States can be overstated.  Eighty-one million Americans stood up to COVID-19, republican voter suppression, and the crudity, violence, and lack of compassion of Trump and his supporters and said a resounding "No!" to fascism, authoritarianism, and white nationalism.  I truly believe that after another four years of Donald Trump, America as we know it would have survived in name only.

To say nothing of the tens of thousands of our fellow Americans who would have died over the coming months because the Trump administration would have done nothing to stop the pandemic once he had secured victory.

A paean to those of you who fought to end Trump's reign so that the generations of Americans who follow us will know the promise of America that we have known:

For the sake of my children, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

354,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Thanks for nothing

You completely fucked it up, you idiot!

 Donald Trump claimed today that people from all over the world have been calling to thank him for his response to the pandemic.

[I'll pause for those of you who need a second to finish puking...]

Who exactly from around the world has been calling him?  Europe, which basically had to shut its borders to Americans and kill their tourism industries because of how badly Trump handled the pandemic?  China, who became Trump's whipping boy because he had to blame somebody after he fucked it up so regally?  The people of Japan or New Zealand or South Korea or Vietnam, all of  whom had a fraction of a fraction of the cases we did who are all breathing a sigh of relief because their leaders weren't incompetent boobs?  I suppose Brazil and Russia might call to say thanks...for Trump fucking up so royally that their countries aren't leading the world in cases and deaths.

And who in America is going to call?  The families of the 350,000+ Americans who died as a result of Trump's incompetence?  How about the healthcare workers who are now 18 million vaccines short of the 20 million Trump promised which weren't received because even after getting the gift of a vaccine Trump still couldn't figure it out?  How about the millions who have lost jobs, many of them permanently, because he botched it?  How about the tens of millions of us who have been stuck at home for nine months?  For fuck's sake, even the people who voted for him won't call because their puny minds can't handle the truth of his epic mishandling of the coronavirus and claim it's all a hoax.

My guess is the only people to call him today were his family members--and that was just to cover their asses so they don't end up in prison cells right next to his.

353,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Et tu, Brutus?

Watch out for your fellow republicans, Donnie!

 News today that Josh Hawley (republican Senator from Moronville Missouri) will be the first U.S. Senator to object to the electoral college results on January 6th, in spite of what Trump supporters might think, is the death knell for Donald Trump.  Hawley was educated at Stanford and Yale, and unlike Trump himself, is not an idiot.  Not only does he know that his ploy has no chance of succeeding, but he's making an educated guess that either due to the fact that a) Trump is lazy, b) Trump's isn't exactly a beacon of good health and may not survive the next four years, and c) Trump may very well be in prison or Russia by 2024, that Trump will not be the republican nominee in 2024.  No, what Hawley is doing is firing the opening salvo for the 2024 republican primaries and hoping to get into the good graces of Trump's not so bright supporters to get a leg up on his competitors.

Unfortunately for Hawley, he has all the charisma of a dead dried earthworm, and has about as much chance of being the republican nominee as I do.  Trump supporters want to be entertained not lectured to, and from what I've seen Hawley does not have the clown show they will most certainly want.

In the end, Hawley will be just another failed primary candidate for President (see also, Cruz, Ted, and Rubio, Marco) who used a superior education to become a brown noser.  That and he'll join the short list of U.S. Senators guilty of sedition.

350,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Shadoobie, shattered

 

Picking up the pieces of our sweet shattered dreams

News that the Trump administration has fucked up the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine comes as no surprise.  The fact that Texas is throwing out vaccines because they've spent too much time in the distribution pipeline is not surprising, either.

It's the same old story--republicans are incapable of governing competently.  They just flat do not give a fuck about anyone that is not rich, even their own voters, who are more than happy to die for the cause because some wizard in the sky will let them into heaven for forcing women to have children that republicans are happy to let die once they're born, and for forcing gay Americans to stay in some imaginary closet.

Frankly, any chance America has at being great again is entirely dependent upon the republican party becoming a permanent and unmistakably minority party.

350,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Donald Trump's only legacy

How many more?

 I have read over the past couple of weeks of republicans either talking about or reminding Donald Trump of his "legacy."

Like Herbert Hoover before him, whose only legacy was his ineptness in handling the Great Depression, the only feat Donald Trump will be remembered for is his epic mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.  This year is literally the deadliest year ever for Americans.

And it's going to stick to him for the rest of his days like stink to shit.

343,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

The biggest loser

 343,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

What fresh hell is this?

Good bye and good riddance to the both of them

 At a time when we're well on our way to our 20 millionth case of COVID-19, over 300,000 Americans are dead, fourteen million people are unemployed, and thousands are literally a month away from being evicted from their homes, Donald Trump chose this week to whine because fashion magazines have not featured his wife on a cover during his term in office.

What kind of pathetic asshole do you have to be to even think this, let alone tweet it to the world?

By the way, my guess as to magazines not featuring her would be that most women aren't interested in reading about or even seeing a woman who was more than happy to look away when her husband slept with prostitutes while she was nursing their new born child as long as he kept her in a fancy home and fancy clothes.

For fuck's sake, fashion magazines didn't feature Stormy Daniels on their covers either.

 343,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXII--Crowded House: Don't Dream It's Over

 This week we have a wee bit of blue-eyed soul from Down Under....

Crowded House formed in 1985 in Melbourne, Australia when two members of New Zealand band Split Enz, decided to make a go of it in a new formation.  Neil Finn and Paul Hester (who sadly took his own life in 2005) and their bandmates would achieve hella success in their native countries of New Zealand and Australia as well as a few hits in both the U.S. and the U.K.  Finn and Nick Seymour have been the only two constants in Crowded House, which originally recorded from 1985-1996, before taking a ten year hiatus.  The band returned for five more years, took five years off, had a one off tour in 2016, and reunited again in 2019 and remain together today, hoping to release a new album next year after the pandemic put off their plans for this year.  For their career, they have released six studio albums (four #1's in Australia, two in New Zealand, with all others hitting no lower than #3--plus a #12 on the Billboard 200), four live albums, and four compilations.  They've also released 33 singles with two top ten hits in both Australia and the States.  They have won 13 ARIA's (Australian Grammy), three of the New Zealand equivalent of a Grammy, and one MTV Award.  The band's success has also resulted in numerous solo albums for its members, as well as a number of producing credits.  All in all, the members of Crowded House have had a damn good run over the course of the last thirty-five years.

Fun Fact:  In a survey of the greatest songs in the history of Australia and New Zealand, this week's tune finished seventh and second, respectively.  Not a bad highlight for a musical career resume....

"Don't Dream It's Over" was the fourth single from Crowded House's 1986 debut LP, entitled surprisingly enough, Crowded House.  The song would reach #2 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 in Canada and New Zealand (so many cool kids in Canada and New Zealand!), but surprisingly only #8 in Australia.  The album hit #1 in Australia, #3 in New Zealand, and would be their biggest U.S. hit, reaching #12.

As of today, my list of songs to be featured on Friday Night Jukebox each week runs through January of 2025, and I usually have a good two years worth of songs to write about at any time.  So it's a bit surprising that a couple of years back when I was jotting down tunes to be featured at the end of a year in which we faced an unprecedented pandemic, horrific economic hardship, and a  Presidential candidate who has been insufferable in his whining over soundly losing a free and fair election that the last song of the year that I'd choose would be a song about...persevering through adversity.  (If only I could be so prescient just once concerning a Mega Millions drawing....)  Anyhoo, "Don't Dream It's Over" is a wonderful slice of pop soul, featuring an inspiring vocal from Neil Finn, some tasty lyrics, and a melody that's as sweet as a baby's first smile.  And yes, it's a nice reminder that quitting isn't nearly as fulfilling as continuing that search for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  As for me, I'm just going to "Hey now, hey now" my way into the hopefully good graces of 2021....

Lyric Sheet:  "There's a battle ahead/Many battles are lost/But you'll never see the end of the road/While you're traveling with me/Hey now, hey now...

Enjoy:

340,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

If the fates allow...

 One of my favorites to wish all of my readers (both of them) a very Merry Christmas:

Schei Chreschtdeeg,

emaycee

The Grinch went down to Georgia

 

These guys are in it for you, not the money

I'm shocked--shocked I tell you!--that republicans refused to pass (dimwit House Minority Leader Kevin "My Nose Is Up Trump's Ass on Everything But This" McCarthy blocked it) by unanimous consent a direct payment of $2000 to every American making less than $99,000 a year and add it to the COVID-19 relief bill.  Because, as we've seen time and time again, republicans only care about Americans if they're rich.

Also not surprised that after the House has an actual vote on it Monday and Democrats pass it, the republican controlled Senate won't take it up.  Because fuck poor people, am I right?

It is absolutely vital that Democrats run TV and radio ads and have Ralph Warnock and Jon Ossoff hammer David "Funny Timing on That Stock Trading, Huh?" Perdue and Kelly "Is the Local Leader of the KKK Really a Racist?" Loeffler for the next thirteen days over republicans' complete and total indifference to the economic pain of far too many Americans because of Trump's incompetence in handling the coronavirus pandemic.

It's this simple:  republicans will be happy to let millions of Americans starve and be evicted and pin their failure to care about anyone that's not wealthy on Democrats to help their chances of winning in 2022 and 2024.  The best way to prevent that from happening is to not give them the chance to fuck us all economically by electing Warnock and Ossoff to the Senate and therefore controlling the outcome ourselves.

336,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

DeVossing my cookies

If they offend thee, pluck them out

 It's unsurprising that Donald Trump wouldn't even show a modicum of decency in handing out pardons over the course of his remaining days.  But even I thought murderers would be a bridge too far.

Apparently not.

Earlier this week, Trump pardoned four murderers, employees of the defense contractor Blackwater (run by Erik Prince, brother of Betsy DeVos--nice payback for their family's humongous contributions to Trump's campaigns), who in 2007 killed fourteen civilians in Nisour Square in Iraq, including a nine-year-old boy.  All had been rightfully convicted for the unwarranted attack.

Interesting, though, how DeVos is always touting her Christian bona fides, including trying again and again to get American taxpayers to pay for her religious schools.  Apparently in DeVos world, that "Thou Shalt Not Kill" commandment only applies to white, American Christians. 

Trying to destroy our public education system as Secretary of Education wasn't enough for DeVos--it seems crushing America's soul by paying to have murderers pardoned in the name of her faux Christianity is also needed to satiate her cretinous ego.

What a pathetic excuse for a human being.

335,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Live by the lie, die by the lie

Some mighty tasty words they're eating

 I would be the first to admit that I don't have much love for Corporate America.  But every now and again....

Seems that Smartmatic, the company that makes the voting machines that Fox News and Newsmax have been lying about since Joe Biden won the election, sent a cease and desist letter to said propaganda organizations letting them know that either they retract their lies or face a lawsuit.  Since both companies knew their stories concerning the voting machines were completely without merit, they both retracted their stories faster than you can say "FUCK UP!"

Funny how the truth has a way of coming to the forefront when lies will cost a company tens of millions of dollars in lawsuits, ain't it?

330,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXI--Clocks: She Looks a Lot Like You

 This week we have another tune discovered during the early days of my first marriage, when my ex-wife and I used to listen to free singles from CBS for an evening's entertainment because we were too poor to afford actually going out....

Clocks is one of the few bands featured here on Friday Night Jukebox to not have a Wikipedia entry, and as such, here is what I learned about them:  they're the greatest (only?) band to come out of Wichita, Kansas, and they released two albums.  Their first album debuted in 1982, and oddly enough, twenty-two years later Zip Records decided to give them another shot at fame and fortune, and they were no more successful than they had been after their first album.  That's it--but it's proof positive you don't have to be the Beatles to get your moment in the sun here on FNJ.

"She Looks a Lot Like You" was the first single released on their first album, entitled appropriately enough, Clocks.  Near as I can tell, neither the single nor the album reached the Billboard charts, though the single did garner a bit of airplay on MTV  when the station was still musically relevant.

"She Looks a Lot Like You" tells the tale (I think) of a man who while looking at a magazine cover sees something in the woman featured that reminds him of his absent or deserted lover, not all that odd of a happening when the heart is aching.  The Clocks play a mean power pop, with the odd synthesizer thrown in, and with just a hint of the new wave sound that had its heyday in the early to mid-eighties.  They make great use of the requisite three guitar chords, have a simple but catchy repeated chorus (basically the song's title is the chorus), and the lead singer sings it with just enough ooomph to make for a nice little hit.  I actually find it kind of surprising that the Clocks didn't get another shot at making a new record for twenty-two years--there have been plenty of artists to get two or three albums out of a shitty song, let alone a bitchin' bit of power pop.  So the boys from Wichita will have to settle for a guest appearance on Friday Night Jukebox, and my undying thanks for another piece of pop magic to add to its ranks.

Lyric Sheet:  "I don't know if I should feel the way I do/What else could I do?/I had her and not you/She looks a lot like you..."

Enjoy:

324,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

We're not in Kansas anymore, mother fuckers

 323,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

You're fired

Trump's as bad at golf as he is at leading

 Russia has hacked our nuclear weapons systems and over three thousand Americans are dying every day from COVID-19, and Donald Trump is...playing golf and trying to decide which sexual deviants and/or traitors to America he wants to pardon.

The Presidency has never been anything more to Donald Trump than a way to make money and have sycophants bolster his fragile and timid ego.  Caring about people is beyond his mental abilities.

Perhaps it's time to change the amount of time a lame duck President is given after being defeated--Trump is not discharging the duties of the office and the American people deserve someone who will earn his pay.  I'd suggest swearing in the new President on December 1st, with a formal Inauguration ceremony sometime after the first of the year.

Because God knows Trump continued a lifelong trend and never earned one dollar he got from being our worst President ever.  The American people shouldn't have to pay their hard earned dollars so he can loaf during his final months.

318,000 Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

The what the fuck? stat of the day

52 years and not one whit better

 From the Brookings Institute:  the four hundred richest American billionaires hold more wealth than all ten million Black American households combined.

Keep in mind that is all Black American households--that doesn't just mean my neighbors across the street.  It includes fabulously successful Black Americans--Jay-Z and Beyonce, Rihanna, Patrick Mahomes, LeBron James, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Cory Booker, Maxine Waters, to name but a very few. 

And it means that not only are Black Americans a long way from being equal in the eyes of the law, but they're a long way from economic equality, too.

308,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

The American people have spoken

A real President

 Now that the Electoral College has made it official, a celebratory tune:

308,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Ass wipes

They like playing with mens' asses, apparently

 

A tribute to the Proud Boys--Dire Straits' "Les Boys":

306,000+ Dead Americans Due to Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

And they all stink

 Should say "republican assholes."

306,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCX--Bobby Sherman: Julie, Do Ya Love Me

 For some, that first song they loved was a really cool one--like "Hey Jude" or "Hound Dog" or "My Girl."  For others (see also, moi) it's a sappy (but catchy as all hell!) single from a teen idol.  Even worse, when I entered the fifth grade I made the fatal mistake, when asked what my favorite song of the last summer was, of naming this week's tune.  My buddies never let me forget what a girly choice this had been, and they're teasing mercifully stopped only when my family moved from California to Indiana before my freshman year of high school and I never had to see any of them again.  Good times...not.

Bobby Sherman got his start in music thanks to the actor Sal Mineo, who wrote a couple of songs for Sherman and asked him to sing with an old band of Mineo's.  After the performance an agent liked what he had seen, and fortuitously Sherman went on to become quite the teen idol.  His career lasted from 1962 until 1976, though he did do some oldies shows from the late 90's until the early 2000s.  Sherman also did some acting, and eventually had a guest starring role on a 70's show called Emergency!  playing an EMT.  Sherman so enjoyed it that when his musical career came to a close he became an actual EMT and spent the rest of his working days training others.  He also became a sheriff's deputy for a time.  Over the course of his fourteen years in the music business, Sherman released ten albums (five of which went gold), and 23 singles (seven of which hit the top forty, with his highest charting being a #3).  Today, Sherman is retired and lives with his second wife, and they have a foundation which helps students in Ghana get educated.

"Julie, Do Ya Love Me" was released as a single in July of 1970, from the album With Love, Bobby.  It was the second highest charting song of his career, reaching #5 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.

This one is headlining in Sap City for the week--"Julie Do Ya Love Me" was one of those songs tailor made for a teen idol to make young teen women scream (especially if they also happened to be named Julie).  No rock critic ever wrote a treatise on this one, so near as I can tell it might be about a young man heading overseas (Vietnam?) who wants to make sure his baby loves him and will wait for him.  Sherman sings it with all the passion of a young man hopelessly in love, there's plenty of strings, a tinkling of piano, a set of screeching horns, some drums to keep them all in line, and rousing backing vocals throughout the chorus that give the song a wondrous dash of over the top lovesickness.  Maybe it's just a reminder of the wonder and freedom of being eleven-years-old, but when I hear this song even fifty years later it fills me with its joy from the soles of my feet to the crown of my head...and I can guarantee you I'll be bopping around the house singing it for the next week, even after the Beautiful Girls asks, "What the heck are you singing?"

Lyric Sheet:  "Honey, you cried the day I left you/Even though we knew I couldn't stay/But baby, remember, I'll be back September/But till then I'll write you every day..."

Enjoy:

305,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

The perfect coup de grace

 

305,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Truth, the final frontier

 305,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Strange brew

 300,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Death wish

"Here republicans, here republicans..."

 When they're not busy vandalizing memorials to Jewish heroes, Idahoans are busy these days not wearing masks while crashing Health Department meetings on mask mandates.  While I'd like to wax indignant at their lack of caring for their fellow Americans, it's getting harder and harder to care what these people do.  And not just republicans in Idaho.

Frankly, Democrats are masking up.  It's republicans who aren't.  Democrats are going to take the COVID-19 vaccinations.  Republicans will not.  Democrats and their voters will have better health outcomes.  Republicans will not.

In the end, republicans will suffer long term health effects that will affect their ability to vote.  Democrats will not.  In the end, republicans are going to die from COVID-19 in much greater numbers than Democrats, giving us another electoral advantage.  The republican party is actively perpetrating a mass suicide that will do nothing but help us elect more Democrats.

And I should care about these anti-maskers because...?

299,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

This is not us

Soon to replace the elephant as the republican party symbol

 In a particularly cowardly act, a memorial to Anne Frank (the only one in America) in Idaho was vandalized with swastikas and the notations that "We [Nazis] are everywhere."

Dan Prinzig, the man whose organization (Wassmuth Center for Human Rights) oversees the memorial, asked "Is this what we're becoming?"

It is not.  This is what the republican party is.  I will guarantee you that the memorial was not desecrated by anyone who voted for Joe Biden, anyone who marched with Black Lives Matter, anyone who participates in Gay Pride rallies, or anyone who accepts the reality of climate change.  No one who supports the Democratic Party or liberal causes had anything to do with despoiling Anne Frank and her Jewish heritage.

This is what the republican party's racist dog whistles and tolerance of white nationalism has wrought.  This is on them, not all of us.

297,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Maybe it's time for the blue states to secede?

Just your average red state republicans

 Yesterday, the state of Texas petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the election results in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia.  Just to give you a very brief idea of the sheer lunacy of their petition, a) the Solicitor General of Texas, who argues for the state at the Supreme Court, refused to put his name on the suit (presumably to keep his legal reputation intact), and b) one of their arguments that the votes should be overturned was that no Presidential candidate has ever won Ohio and Florida and lost...except that Richard Nixon did just that in 1960.  Trust me, there are numerous other issues.

Today, the shithole states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia joined Texas in their political stunt.  Keep in mind that these states represent less than a third of the American people and are trying to argue that the will of 81 million Americans and 306 Electoral College electors doesn't matter.  

Bear in mind as well that, with the exception of Florida and Texas, these states all are a drain on the rest of America.  They receive more in federal money than they pay in taxes--and are able to do that because the blue states are so much more successful economically.  These are also the states that lead the nation in poverty, have the worst education systems, whose citizen's are the least likely to escape poverty, the highest divorce rates, the most racist laws, and just to put the cherry on top, lead the nation in porn viewing (what a surprise--like the Jennifer Lawrences of the world want to live in South Dakota).

With each passing day I wonder more and more why the blue states--at the very least the West Coast and the North Atlantic states--don't secede.  Why should we be ruled by the whims of an uneducated and delusional minority?  Why should we support their laziness and ineptitude?

Frankly, as far as I'm concerned we should let them have their Darwinian clusterfuck and let them spiral into the third world country they were all meant to become without the charity of the blue states.  And the sooner the better.

296,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden: 306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Walking in a dimwit wonderland

This image is just to piss off republicans

 There are almost 300,000 Americans dead from COVID-19, but republicans in the Wisconsin legislature defied Democratic Governor Tony Evers and put up an Xmas tree in the capitol building.

How positively heroic.

Patrick Henry is rolling over in his grave.

296,000+ Dead Americans Due to Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Fiddle about

Truth to power for the Pervert Church

 

My first thought when I read that Catholic schools in Michigan were suing to reopen on grounds that it infringed upon their first amendment right to religious freedom was that Catholic priests must be in need of more children to molest.

My second thought was why in the fuck religious people seem to think it's perfectly fine to infringe upon my right not to get sick and die so they can worship a spirit in the sky who they think does magic tricks.

My third thought was to feature the Catholic Church's theme song:

293,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCIX--10,000 Maniacs: What's the Matter Here?

 Every now and again a band comes along that captivates your musical interest for their first few albums...and then that captivation disappears as rapidly as it originally came.  Sometimes it's a short-lived career or a shiny new group or even a divergence of your and the band's musical tastes.  10,000 Maniacs falls into this category for me (as does Dire Straits and Eddie Money--though thanks to their popularity I was at least familiar with the music I was no longer interested in)--I enjoyed their first two albums immensely and can honestly say I'm not sure I've heard anything they've done since.  That's not a knock of the band--just acknowledgement that time and circumstance aren't always beneficial to lifelong love affairs with bands.

10,000 Maniacs began their career in 1981 in Jamestown, New York, and much to my surprise, they're still recording and touring to this day.  The band had the bulk of its success from 1987 through 1993, but once lead singer and lyrics writer Natalie Merchant left to pursue a solo career the band lost most of its commercial appeal.  Still, Mary Ramsey took over her duties and the band has had another twenty-seven years of playing music and that beats hell out of selling potatoes for a living.  For their career the band has released nine studio albums (with three of them hitting the top forty), five live albums (their MTV Unplugged album is the highest charting of their career), and three compilations.  A cover version of the Bruce Springsteen/Patti Smith penned tune "Because the Night" (Smith's version was featured on FNJ LXXXVI) from the same album was the highest charting of their twenty-one single releases, reaching #11.  The band's latest release was a live album in 2017, and will celebrate its fortieth anniversary next year.

"What's the Matter Here," released in 1988, was the third single from their first studio album, In My Tribe.  The single reached #80 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album hit #37 on the Billboard 200.

"What's the Matter Here" was a natural for a music fan such as myself who has always fancied songs that had a political and or social tint to them.  The song notes the dilemma of the protagonist who has heard her neighbors being both physically and verbally abusive toward their child who is herself torn between telling the authorities and respecting what is often a family matter (while I'm not in favor of using a belt to discipline children, there are families that do use corporal punishment for misbehaving and no one is going to jail for it as long as it doesn't result in much more than a red fanny--again not defending it, just saying society and our judicial system tends to see it as each family's choice).  One would think it would be hard to write a catchy melody around such a somber topic but the Maniacs managed to do it, and in so doing made the message even stronger.  Merchant's voice is a wonder (four of her seven solo albums hit the top twenty), and she musters the compassion and righteous anger that the protagonist feels and that the serious nature of the song calls for.  I liked several of the Maniacs songs over the course of the years I followed them, but none touched me quite as much as this one--to steal a phrase, it is truly a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.

Lyric Sheet: "I'm tired of the excuses everybody uses, he's their kid I stay out of it/But who gave you the right to do this?..."

Enjoy:

290,000 Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232,

emaycee

The cowardly Trump loses again

 

"Terrorism is not a sign of courage.  It means cowardice."  Kay Kay Menon

A group of armed domestic terrorists stood outside our Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson's, home on Saturday night, while she put up Christmas decorations with her four-year-old son, and shouted more of their delusional and racist (they're only objecting to Wayne County, where the vote is heavily weighted to black Americans) objections to the Presidential election results in Michigan which Joe Biden won by more than 150,000 votes.  Had they stood outside her home without weapons and shouted their gibberish I would have still thought they were delusional, but at least I could have respected their constitutional right to free speech.

Be that as it may, it was nothing more than childish bullying by cowards.  You can measure their cowardice by the fact that most of them had covered their faces, knowing full well that with social media someone could have identified them and informed their employers, which surely would have resulted in the termination of their employment.  Most companies don't find terrorizing a mother and her child as an acceptable representation of their company's image--nor should they.

Frankly, if your behavior isn't acceptable to the company you work for, it isn't acceptable behavior, period--at least to anyone with the good sense that God gave even a goat.

Secretary Benson may have the last laugh, though.  Thanks to Donald Trump's horrendous treatment of our Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, women in Michigan turned out in droves to defeat him, leading to Joe Biden winning our state by more than twice either of the two other blue wall states (Wisconsin and Pennsylvania).  Benson is still quite young, and in a few years when she runs to succeed Gov. Whitmer, I'm pretty sure droves of women are going to remember the horrendous treatment Trump's supporters gave her as well.

290,000 Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232,

emaycee

Today's nugget o' truth

 290,000+ Dead Americans Due to Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Donald Trump:  232

emaycee

Not so amazing grace

 

Symbolic of Trump's chances to overturn the election

Apparently a new tactic among Trump supporting evangelicals is to pray to God for a miracle to keep Donald Trump in office.

Isn't this comparable to me praying for God to change the outcome of last February's Super Bowl and let the 49ers win?  If the prayers didn't work before the election, if there is indeed a God it seems like he has already given republicans an emphatic "fuck no" on Trump returning to office.

For Christ's sake, he lost Georgia.

289,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232,

emaycee

God is dead...wrong

An oldie but a goodie...

 From the I Forgot This Files:

Just days before the 2020 Presidential election, televangelist Pat Robertson told his viewers that God had told him personally that Donald Trump would win the election.

Apparently unbeknownst to all of us (and especially Pat Robertson), God has his own version of the prankfest Punk'd.

Well, either that or Robertson is a delusional old coot.

289,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  302 EV's, Trump:  232,

emaycee

It all belongs to Mitch

There's an election in two years...

In all likelihood, we are just a month or two away from the nation's economy sliding into an abyss that some economists think may last a decade.  Mitch McConnell keeps playing games with America's economic health, demanding that a liability shield protecting bad corporations (like Tyson) from COVID-19 related lawsuits be a part of any stimulus package, and refusing to allow a vote on a bill until there is one.

I think Democrats have been absolutely correct in refusing to let McConnell keep his silver tongue up corporate assholes, but I also think that we have got to begin--and I mean yesterday--tying the upcoming economic tsunami to Mitch McConnell.  In fact, I think every Democrat should begin calling it the "McConnell recession."

If there's anything to learn from republicans, it's that repetition is the key.  Keep saying it and saying it and let McConnell try to explain why he let millions of Americans suffer economically for months on end during the midterm elections in 2022.  It's far past time to take the fight to him.

283,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Let's make a deal

A hero for all, not a fellator of the wealthy

 Apparently republicans in Georgia are having a fundraiser for Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in their Senate runoff against Ralph Warnock and Jon Osoff that costs $25,000 per couple to attend, with the promise that there will be a special appearance from Mitch McConnell.

Leaving aside how sad and demented republicans must be if seeing Mitch McConnell constitutes something special, I'd just like to note that if it's a turtle they want to see, I'd be glad to let them take a gander at my son's turtle Leonardo for five bucks.  Hell, it'd save them $24,995 and they wouldn't have the stink of spending time in a room with a traitor tarnishing their reputations.

283,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

emaycee's Word of the Year

Donald Trump puts the "I" in incompetence

 Unsurprisingly, the folks at Merriam-Webster have named "pandemic" as their word of the year.  While it's hard to quibble with a word that has changed our lives over the past year more than any of us had ever imagined, I think another word that sums up much of the reason we are in such dire straits is "incompetence."

Some examples:

• Due to the utter incompetence of Donald Trump, 280,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 this year.
• The incompetence of Mike Pence in leading the coronavirus task force has led to uneven levels of mask usage, which if done properly, would have led the United States to have had far fewer cases which in turn would have also allowed businesses to open fully and Americans to have been able to spend the holidays much more safely like the folks in France, Japan, and New Zealand (to name but a very few of the nations who handled with pandemic with competence).
• Rudy Giuliani and his crack team of Bozos incompetence in litigating the election results, which has now led them to lose more than thirty cases to their lone victory, is staggering in its unprecedented record of failure.
• The stunning incompetence of Mitch McConnell and Senate republicans in realizing the damage being done to America's economy because of the pandemic will lead to hundreds of thousands of Americans to slip into poverty, go hungry, and lose their homes.  
• Thankfully, the incompetence of the unqualified and unintelligent Betsy DeVos will make fixing whatever changes she made as Secretary of Education much easier, and our public schools will once again be a beacon of this country's spirit.
• Never underestimate the incompetence of republican politicians--there is nothing good that they cannot mismanage, and nothing bad that they cannot make worse.

Judges, thank you for your consideration....

280,000+ Dead Americans Due to Donald Trump's Incompetence

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Benedict Flynn or Michael Arnold?

No difference between Arnold and Flynn

 Recently pardoned Trump toadie Michael Flynn, who in all likelihood not only collaborated with Russia but also lied about it to federal prosecutors, today tweeted that Donald Trump should declare martial law (Trump can't) and have Americans re-vote on the recent Presidential election (it's already been certified in enough states--spoiler alert:  Trump lost).

Don't know about the rest of you, but I know that I much prefer to not get my political advice from known traitors.  Especially ones who grovel at the feet of communist dictators.

279,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

At long last, have you left no sense of decency?

 

Bet this poor soul doesn't think it's fake

Today's title was uttered by Joseph Welch to known demagogue Joe McCarthy (it's getting easier and easier to see Donald Trump ending up like McCarthy--dead, alone, and remembered for being a but a pimple on the butt of American history) during his communist witch hunt Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954.

I used it because today Donald Trump tweeted that a make shift coronavirus care site in Nevada that had been tweeted by a physician thanking those health care workers whose efforts have been beyond valiant was fake.  Because of Donald Trump's incompetence, 279,000 Americans have died since March.  That Trump would tweet such disgusting propaganda is not surprising in the least.  But one has to wonder when Twitter will finally show an ounce of courage and refuse to post such heinous lies.

I mean for Christ's sake, at least have a little fucking respect for the dead.  How much better can the folks running Twitter eat?

279,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Advice for a "rigged" election

 274,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Moscow Mitch, Russia's bitch

 274,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCVIII--Better Midler: The Glory of Love

 As I've gotten older my appreciation for what might be called standards has increased exponentially.  Songs such as "Mona Lisa," or "Smile," or "My Funny Valentine," or even "La Vie en Rose," really stay with me and I especially enjoy hearing the many different takes that numerous artists have on them.  While I am unfamiliar with any versions of this week's tune not sung by the Divine Miss M, I still have a few years left to seek them out and give them a listen....

Bette Midler left her hometown of Honolulu in 1965 for the bright lights of New York City at the ripe old age of 20, landed a few Broadway roles later in the decade, and built a name for herself singing in gay bathhouses throughout the city.  She released her first album in 1972, had her first hit, and the rest as they say, has been history.  Throughout her career Midler's larger than life charisma has served her well, leading her into acting and stand up comedy.  She is an Oscar away from having a career EGOT (she's been nominated twice), having won three Emmys, one Tony, and three Grammys.  She's also won four Golden Globe Awards.  For her musical career, Midler has released 14 studio albums (with four reaching the top ten), 41 singles (a #1, a #2, and a #3), and had twenty world tours.  Earning extra bonus points from me, Midler had been a frequent and unapologetic critic of Donald Trump and his administration.  Frequent readers (both of them) know I am quite the fan of female vocalists, and Midler is as good as it gets for me.

"The Glory of Love" (Midler's version) was released in 1988 on the soundtrack to the movie Beaches.  It was not released as a single.  The soundtrack reached #2 on the Billboard 200, and is the best selling album of her career (and also features her only #1 single, "The Wind Beneath My Wings").

If you've never seen it, the movie Beaches is overly sentimental tripe, with Barbara Hershey doing a perfect impersonation of a wooden toy soldier (emphasis on wooden) though she's supposed to be playing Midler's (whose performance is the only reason to watch) BFF since childhood.  Nonetheless, I've seen it numerous times...just to watch Midler's performance of "The Glory of Love" (and I actually own the soundtrack).  Originally written in 1936 by Billy Hill, the song is a simple paean, amazingly enough, to the glory that is love.  But it's not sappy--Hill's lyrics make perfectly clear that love has its ups and downs, but in the end is worth the while.  Midler, accompanied by a piano and a touch of strings, sings it with all the kindliness that such a topic richly deserves.  Her closing--the singing slowed, almost in a whisper, is just the right lush flourish to make the song her own...and a fine way to end a tune that will be song for generations.

Lyric Sheet:  "You've got to win a little, lose a little/Always have the blues a little/That's the story of, that's the glory of love..."

Enjoy:

273,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee