A good last week...for Democrats

Celebrate good times come on!

 Some of the news this week was a doubled-edged sword--it was bad for the President but even worse for Americans.  Some of it was just more of the Trump administration's incompetence. Any way you slice it, politically it was a good last week for Democrats:

• Unfortunately, the U.S. broke 100,000 COVID-19 cases on Friday for the first time--further underscoring just how bad Trump's response to the pandemic has been and continues to be.
• After a rally in Omaha, Nebraska, Trump supporters were literally left out in the cold for four hours--the buses that transported them to the rally did not show up (rumors were it because they had not been paid by the Trump campaign) leaving hundreds of his fans to walk four miles in snow and freezing temperatures.  Six were hospitalized.
• During a rally in Tampa, Florida, the Trump campaign apparently didn't realize that excessive heat isn't good for old people and twelve of his supporters ended up being sent to the hospital for heat exhaustion.
• The Trump campaign put out a list of Trump accomplishments in his first term, and listed ending  the coronavirus pandemic as one of them...in the same week that cases were surging in nearly every state in the country.  It also underscored that his one accomplishment, the tax cuts, were universally despised by everyone except rich people and corporations.
• Donald Trump, Jr. chose this week to go on TV and announce that 1000 deaths a day are "almost nothing"--a major surprise to the families of the 236,000 Americans who died because his father completely botched the pandemic response.
• In a blow to Trump's crowing over how well the stock market has done since he became President (it's improved less than half of what it did under Obama's guidance of the economy), the stock market dropped over 1600 points this week over fears of the quickly rising coronavirus case numbers and Trump's inability to get an economic relief bill passed.

Not exactly a great closing case for Donald Trump's re-election--and for the most part, it's entirely indicative of why Trump will eventually be noted as the worst President in American history.

236,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Bye Don 2020, Vol. XXIII--Halloween Edition

 236,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Bye Don 2020, Vol. XXII

 

235,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

It's the abominable snowman!

Not as scary as COVID-19

 It seems that in the waning days of the election, the Trump campaign's final pitch in their TV advertising is that Joe Biden is going to raise everyone's taxes (not true--Biden is going to raise taxes on the few people making more than $400,000 a year, who aren't getting a lot of sympathy from me in their plight to have to pay a few dollars more).

America has had over 9 million cases of the coronavirus since March...but Joe Biden is going to raise taxes.

We have had over 234,000 Americans die from COVID-19...but Joe Biden's going to raise taxes.

Today marks the third time in the last seven days that the United States has set a one day record for COVID cases...but Biden is going to raise your taxes.

The republican strategy is a bit like telling someone standing in the middle of a cornfield in Kansas, miles from shelter, with no transportation and fifteen inches of snow on the ground in the middle of a subzero blizzard that freezing to death is the least of their worries--what they should really be stressing over is that crazy abominable snowman.

234,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Another reputation shot

 

Beware any sport that old white men play

Apparently worried that Donald Trump hadn't locked up the old, rich, racist, white guy vote (he certainly has), golfing great Jack Nicklaus today tweeted his support for Trump using the tired old "Democrats are socialists" trope, proving that being an excellent golfer doesn't necessarily give anyone the good sense that God gave a goat (see also, Mickelson, Phil, and Woods, Tiger).

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not much of a golf fan and only know what I know about Nicklaus through watching sports news, but I'm not really sure what Nicklaus hoped to accomplish with his tweet.  It has been more than a generation since Nicklaus was at the height of his game, and my guess is the vast majority of people under the age of fifty have no idea who he is and couldn't care less about his outdated political thoughts.  His tweet will likely win Trump zero votes he wasn't already getting.

But what he has done is destroyed his reputation among many of the people who do remember his golf heroics, by tweeting that he thinks it's fine and dandy to be a racist, misogynist, homophobe, and an unrepentant liar, as well as killing over two hundred thousand Americans with complete incompetence and a psychopathic inability to care about them because socialism.

He's more than welcome to use his standing to voice his opinion...just as those of us who aren't old, rich white racists can look upon his opinion with scorn and watch it forever tarnish whatever triumphs he garnered in the history of golf.

234,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Too shy, shy, hush, hush...

Time to buckle up buttercups

 There seems to be some hope among Trump supporters that somehow millions of "shy" Trump voters--those who are too embarrassed to tell pollsters they're voting for Trump--are going to be their salvation in next Tuesday's election, despite polls showing Biden winning handily.

Now some "shy" Trump voters are chalked up to people who want to mess with pollsters and make them look bad, and given republicans' propensity to take a psychopathic glee in hurting others, I can probably buy that.

But too embarrassed by Trump?  Don't you have to have some sort of self-awareness to be embarrassed?  Who's ever seen a Trump supporter that showed the slightest inkling of self-awareness?  For fuck's sake, Trump voters are the poster children for obliviousness.

Besides, if you're too embarrassed to tell a stranger over the phone that you're voting for a particular candidate, maybe you need to find a new candidate.

232,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

My kingdom for a horse

 

Google search for "idiot"

After months of horseshit political ads on TV from the Trump campaign, I can honestly say that I would gladly pay an extra hundred dollars a month for my cable bill if someone could figure out a way for every Trump ad that closes with "I'm Donald J. Trump and I approved this message" to be changed to "I'm Donald J. Trump and I'm a fucking idiot."

Petty?  Perhaps.  But it would go a long way toward making my heart feel a lot happier.  And it would actually be truthful.

That makes it a win-win in my book.

232,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Bye Don 2020, Vol. XXI

 

232,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCIII--Paul McCartney: Maybe I'm Amazed

 I'm guessing that at least a person or two has figured out the four week theme after reading this week's title....

The artist biography for this week is going to be really easy, because much like last week with John Lennon, it's impossible to encapsulate a career as full as Paul McCartney's in a simple paragraph.  Like Lennon, McCartney has been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  He's won an Academy Award, eighteen Grammy's, has been knighted in his native U.K. and just to show what a cultural icon he truly is, he has an asteroid named after him (4148 McCartney--though actually all of the Beatles do).  Since he left the Beatles, McCartney has released 38 albums and 111 singles.  Including his work with the Beatles, Sir McCartney has had 32 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, 24 number one singles on the UK Singles Chart, and has sold over 100 million singles and albums.  There's so many stats in this one that there should be a ball being tossed about, don't you think?

Fun Story:  My very first boss with Camelot Music liked to tell the tale of the time in the late 70's when he was managing one of our stores and a young man came to the counter with one of McCartney's post Beatles LPs, and asked my boss in all earnestness, "Did you know that Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings?"  My boss swore that he merely said, "Yes, I did," and thanked the youngster for his purchase...and had a story to tell for the rest of his life.

"Maybe I'm Amazed" was released on McCartney's first solo album, entitled amazingly enough, McCartney, in 1970.  It was not released as a single, though a live version was released in 1977 and reached #10 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  It was also ranked at #347 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All-Time."

Not gonna lie--of all the songs released by each of the Beatles in their solo careers, there isn't a one of them that comes close to me loving as much as I love "Maybe I'm Amazed."  Part of it is the simplicity (says the guy who knows as much about music theory as he does about nuclear physics--nothing)--there is a starkness to McCartney's piano playing that accentuates the uplifting melody.  The lyrics are short and sweet, honest without being sugary.  There's a couple of nice instrumental breaks, including one with a tasty guitar solo.  But what turns it into a classic is McCartney's impassioned vocals, sung with the wonder and conviction of a man who knows how lucky he is to have found the love of his life.  I'm not sure in the fifty years that have followed McCartney ever gave a better vocal performance.  As I've noted a time or two here before, it's one of those songs that sounds as, uh, amazing to me today as it did when I first heard it eons ago when I was a senior in high school.  One of the best love songs ever.

Lyric Sheet:  "Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song/Right me when I'm wrong/Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you..."

Enjoy:

230,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Bye Don 2020, Vol. XX

 

230,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

This is all they've got

Not a death penalty offense, but...

 Someone in the Trump campaign somehow got access to some texts Joe Biden sent his son Hunter, when Hunter was in rehab.  In the texts, Biden tells his son...how much he loves him.  

Apparently some genius in the Trump camp thought this showed weakness on the part of Biden.  That's what passes for "strategy" among republicans--maligning a parent for loving his child.

It's also a sign of how desperate republicans are--Trump is on pace to lose in historic fashion on November 3rd, and right now his campaign is flailing and failing so badly that they're throwing dry spaghetti against the wall and hoping it sticks.

Good bye and good fucking riddance for these bozos can't come soon enough.

228,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Oooh, I'm scared...

They've got nothing

 I've seen a couple of Trump ads over the past few days (usually I just change channels, but every now and again I like to see how inept his campaign is), and it seems their closing arguments are Biden is going to raise taxes, black folks are coming to small towns, and something something socialism.

Meanwhile, almost nine million Americans have had COVID-19, 226,000 Americans have died from it, and we're seeing a surge in cases again to the 60-70,000 cases a day range.

So what do you suppose is more frightening to the average American--a bunch of trite political attacks (I've been following politics since 1976 and you'd think republicans would have come up with something new over the last 44 years), or the fact that they or their loved ones could be hospitalized or dead in an instant because Donald Trump didn't give enough of a damn about them to make even the slightest effort to control the virus?

Outside of his cult, most Americans are a lot more worried about the coronavirus because most of them can't afford to live on Fantasy Island.

226,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCII--John Lennon: Watching the Wheels

 There will be a theme emerging over the next several posts of Friday Night Jukebox...see how long it takes you to figure it out!

For those of you who just stepped out of a spaceship from an alien planet, John Lennon at one time was in a band called The Beatles.  That's it for me--what the hell else are you going to say about one of the most successful musicians in human history?  Hey, here's a surprise--he's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (twice--solo and and for the band) and the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.  In addition to that tiny bit of success he had with The Beatles, Lennon found time to release 11 solo albums.  After his death, his estate must have gotten really busy because he has 21 compilation/box set releases.  Sadly--though his loss is much sadder for his family than his fans--his assassination robbed the world of what might have been.

Fun Fact:  For any of my readers (both of you) who may be David Bowie fans, his #1 hit song "Fame" was co-written by...John Lennon.  How the hell I've been following pop music for nearly fifty years now and didn't know that is a mystery for the ages.

"Watching the Wheels" was the last single released from Lennon's final album before his death, Double Fantasy.  It would eventually reach #10 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The album hit #1 on the Billboard 200, though as someone who was working in a record store when he was murdered can honestly tell you, the album never would have had he not died.

To be perfectly honest, "Watching the Wheels" isn't even close to being Lennon's best song from his solo career.  But as I've aged, it's one of those songs that I appreciate more so on a personal level because it encapsulates my aging in the working world--having gone from being a top notch performer to being more than happy to be a cog in the works and letting everybody else get the glory.  For those who don't know, after the birth of his second son Sean, Lennon spent five years just being a house husband, and "Watching the Wheels" chronicles Lennon's joy in simple domesticity.  While Lennon eventually decided to get back to his art, I decided to keep watching the wheels--and Lennon's song is a perfect reminder of the serenity I've found watching the world go ceaselessly by.  And I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Lyric Sheet:  "I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round/I really love to watch them roll..."

Enjoy:

225,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

I've had enough

This is a real American hero

 It's not Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's fault that her predecessor, Rick Snyder, poisoned thousands of Michigan children and had an administration that was so mired in corruption that Whitmer won election in a landslide.  It's not Whitmer's fault that Donald Trump is going to go down as the worst American President in our nearly 250 year history and is on pace to lose this year's Presidential Election in an historic landslide.  It's not her fault that the Trump administration was completely inept in its response to the coronavirus pandemic and left Michigan such a complete mess that Whitmer had to take drastic measures to clean it up.

And yet here we are, with Covid Donnie once again making threats against our Governor, who frankly has more courage in her pinkie finger and Donald Trump and all of his supporters have combined.  Any decent person, in light of the terrorism being waged against Gov. Whitmer in the name of some false sense of freedom (my freedom to not get COVID-19 is just as important as theirs to not wear a mask, and quite frankly is actually more so), would at least not stoke the flames of hate.

But the plain truth of the matter is that Donald Trump, and all of his supporters, are not good neighbors, are not good friends, are not good Americans, and certainly are not good human beings.

In fact, I've become of a mind that they're not human at all.

224,000+ Dead Americans

Donald Trump,

emaycee

Bye Don 2020, Vol. XIX

 

224,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Bye Don 2020, Vol. XVIII

 

2220,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

This is the Catholic Church

 

They actually have a saint who is in hell (John Paul II)

During the hearings for Amy Coney Barrett, republicans again and again got their panties in a twist whenever Democrats would ask any question that seemed to be an indictment of Barrett's faith.  Frankly, Barrett's adherence to the Catholic Church's doctrine as well as the actions of the Church and its leader are and should be worthy of blocking her nomination:

• The Catholic Church has been involved in repeated sexual abuse scandals since the 1950's, which continue to this day.  The Church has again and again failed to either rectify or stop these molestations.
• During her hearing, Barrett referred to one's sexual orientation has being a "preference."  This is in keeping with the Church's position that homosexuality is a sin, and is not in keeping with science which has explained again and again that people are born gay and do not choose to be such.
• The Church has become so ensconced in both taking away a woman's right to choose and in destroying gay rights that it has embraced the radical right's agenda, including racism.  Barrett wrote in a unlawful firing case that use of the "n" word in the workplace did not in and of itself create a hostile work environment.  I am reasonably certain that every black person on the face of this planet who has actually lived it would heartily disagree.  Barrett's statement shows both a callousness and ignorance that is mind boggling.
• Father John Jenkins, the President of Notre Dame, showed up at the Rose Garden event and did not wear a mask in the midst of a pandemic that at the time had killed over 200,000 Americans.  So much for the sanctity of life, eh?  (Proof that karma is indeed a bitch?  Jenkins contracted the virus.)
• And just what was Jenkins doing there?  I get that Barrett teaches at Notre Dame (all the proof I need to not send my kid to Notre Dame, thank you very much), but what in the hell is a Catholic priest doing at an event for an administration that has been separating immigrant children from their parents?  That said that white nationalists were good people?  That has tried relentlessly to cut food stamps?  Exactly when did Jesus say that these cruelties were acceptable?

The Catholic Church sold out the poor and people of color for a chance to ride the republican misogyny and homophobia train, in keeping with its antiquated and downright dangerous dogma.

It has lost its soul, and its doctrines as well as its fealty to conservative politicians should most definitely be fodder for Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

222,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

And even more incompetence

 

In the above video, you can watch Donald Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, whose job it will be to interpret the U. S. Constitution, unable to name probably the five most important freedoms we are guaranteed--the rights to free speech, peacefully assemble, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and to petition the government for redress--all from the First Amendment.

Now I know that a solid majority of Americans could not name those freedoms, and the one freedom they would often miss would be the same one that Covid Amy forgot (petition to redress).  But that solid majority of Americans is not being considered for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court to decide just what the Constitution does and does not allow.  Amy Coney Barrett is.

This is not a small mental lapse.  This is a woman who should know the Constitution like a mother knows the names and birthdates of her children.  To not remember the five freedoms of the First Amendment--even for a split second--reeks of incompetence.  And it shows just what a sham these hearings are:  neither she nor her republican accomplices are even bothering to pretend to have prepared for one of the most consequential positions in our country's government.

Because Amy Coney Barrett did not get nominated to interpret the Constitution.  She was nominated to enforce republican dogma.

221,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

More Trump incompetence

 

Sadly, it's really unprecedented

Once again, in the scheme of things it's small potatoes, but the Trump administration is circulating a petition allegedly signed by numerous doctors proclaiming that the correct course of action in combating COVID-19 is to let as many people contract the disease as possible so we can build up herd immunity (note this notion is dangerously wrong).

And why, do you ask, did I write "allegedly?"  Because the signatures are from such noted medical minds as Dr. I. P. Freely, Dr. Johnny Bananas, Dr. Person Fakename, and Dr. Harold Shipman, who not only died in 2004, but was a convicted serial killer to boot.

I'd like to think at this point, with Trump so far down in the polls to Joe Biden, that the Trump campaign is just mailing it in, but I truly believe they are truly that shitty at anything that has to do with running a nation.

221,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Covid Amy

 

The gift that keeps giving...to republican defeats

I was never among those who felt Democrats had a prayer to stop Covid Amy from being confirmed for the Supreme Court--that ship sailed when we didn't win the Senate in 2018.  But I do have to admit I really like their strategy going forward, and that is to make republicans own it when it comes to Obamacare. 

At yesterday's hearings, each and every Democratic Senator featured an Obamacare story in their prepared remarks.  Covid Amy can lie all she wants about how she doesn't know how she'll vote (another fucking lying conservative Catholic--what a surprise), but she was put there specifically to make sure that racist Donald Trump overturns President Obama's signature achievement.

I'm sure the republican strategy is that Americans will have forgotten about it by the next election, but I highly doubt that people are going to forget that their mother can't get healthcare because she has a pre-existing condition and republicans destroyed Obamacare.  Or the countless millions whose children won't be able to get affordable health insurance because republicans killed Obamacare.  Or the tens of millions who won't be able to afford to battle the ravages of COVID-19 so mercilessly mishandled by Donald Trump because republicans extinguished Obamacare.

The salvos from Democrats in yesterday's confirmation hearings weren't for this election--they're for 2022.  So republicans can enjoy their little political stunt and their sham of a Supreme Court hearing.  And in so doing, gift another blue wave to Democrats in 2022.

Or in other words, as President Obama so famously said, please proceed.

220,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Why aren't you a millionaire?

 

Too bad you have a soul or you'd be rich, too

Throughout the course of my retail career, I came to believe that people who moved up the corporate ladder (in fairness to myself this is not sour grapes--I never had any desire nor did I make any effort to move up said ladder) had one of two strengths--they were either really good at bullshitting or they were a thorough asshole.  Turns out I pretty much nailed it.

A recent study shows that it's not intelligence (if the Enron debacle at the beginning of this century didn't convince you that intelligence has nothing to do with getting wealthy then The Great Recession certainly sealed that deal) nor for all their claims is it hard work that leads to being wealthy.  Nope, it's the ability to be exploitative--either in bending (or outright breaking) the rules to suit your purpose (see also, Donald Trump) or in using people through cheap labor and lobbying for lesser work protections (see also, Jeff Bezos and the Walton clan) through our government.

So the next time you're lionizing billionaires for what they bring to the table, just stop.  Truth is, when measuring the esteem of their standing in society they stand just below loan sharks.

At least loan sharks don't try to pretend they're more than just greedy assholes.

220,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Coup d'idiots

Goddamn right a photo with a mask was chosen purposely

 News this past week that thirteen terrorists had been hatching a plan to kidnap our Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and either have her stand trial in Wisconsin (WTF?  Wisconsin?) or execute her actually surprised me a bit.  News that Covid Donnie disparaged her while claiming that he is against extreme violence (Randy Wittenhouse? The Proud Boys?) on the other hand, did not.

And what exactly did Gretchen Whitmer do to deserve a death sentence and to be excoriated by the lame brain Donald Trump?  She enacted measures which made Michiganders like me safer in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.  Measures such as masks and social distancing, or keeping certain establishments closed to prevent further spread of COVID-19.

And what did her efforts do?  The state of Michigan went from being third among our states in the early days of the crisis in total number of cases to eighteenth (nineteenth in a matter of days when the right wing nutjob led state of Missouri passes us) today.  In terms of cases per one million population, Michigan is currently 39th out of 50.

If that fucking idiot Donald Trump had done as good of a job as Gov. Whitmer (today's tallies show Trump has led Americans to eight million cases and 220,000 deaths), he'd probably be cruising to victory right now, instead of leading republicans to their worst electoral showing in half a century.

Here's hoping the thirteen terrorists rot in prison, and that they're joined by their fellow covidiot Donald Trump shortly.

220,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Bye Don 2020, Vol. XVII

 

220,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCI--The Psychedelic Furs: Pretty in Pink

 This week's tune is novel for the fact that a remade version of it charted higher here in the States than did the original version--despite the fact that it completely lost the edge that made the original such a visceral experience.  The remake was done for a movie of the same name supposedly based on the song...which actually had nothing whatsoever to do with the song (though not a bad movie).  Moral of the story:  avoid the 1986 version like the plague (probably not a good comparison in a year in which a pandemic played such a central role...).

The Psychedelic Furs--one of rock and roll's better monikers--formed in London in 1977 and had most of their original success in the U.K. and Europe.  Their second album broke them in the U.S. and they would go on to have a string of hits here and across the pond through 1992, at which time they took an eight year hiatus.  After reforming in 2000 the Furs have toured regularly and just this year released their first album in thirty years.  Brothers Richard (vocals) and Tim (bass) Butler are the only two members to have remained in the band throughout their tenure, and the Furs, like many a band before them, has had numerous incarnations.  For their career they have released eight studio LPs, two live albums, and eight compilation albums.  They've also released 22 singles, with much more success in Great Britain than here.  Overall, the Furs have had a solid career over the course of the last forty-three years, and one would imagine it beat the hell out of working in a fish and chips shop.

"Pretty in Pink" was originally released as a single in 1981 from their somewhat repetitively titled second album, Talk Talk Talk.  The song did not chart here in America, but would reach #43 on the UK Singles chart (so many cool kids in the U.K.!).  The album hit #30 in the British Isles and #89 here in the U.S.  Sadly, the remake was their biggest hit single in England and their second biggest single in the States--sometimes there's just no accounting for taste.

Occasionally, if you follow the world of rock and roll, you'll come across a song or a band that's described as garage rock, i.e. it sounds like music an enthusiastic group of young musicians whipped up in their garage.  I've often thought "Pretty in Pink" (and to a degree much of the Furs early work) falls into this category.  It's a little rough around the edges...but that roughness is what drives the song and takes a not so easy to tell story and makes it into a great song (the song chronicles a young woman who is sexually adventurous and some believe that pretty in pink refers to her nude body).  Butler's gravelly vocals (one of the few British singers who keeps a hint of his accent as he sings) toes the line between respect for her sexual choices and scorn for her often callous lovers.  The guitars reverberate like oceans waves continuously crashing the shore, and the drums explode from the song's opening moment to its last, smashing and smashing a manic beat.  It's one of those songs where a pretty good band turns in a stellar performance--so much so that even thirty-nine years later some doofus like me is still waxing enthusiastic about it.

Lyric Sheet:  "She turns herself 'round and she smiles and she says/"This is it, that's the end of the joke"/And loses herself in her dreaming and sleep/And her lovers walk through in their coats..."

Enjoy:

219,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Bye Don 2020, Vol. XVI

 

219,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Bye Don 2020, Vol. XV

 218,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

The clown show continues

 Take a good look at the video above--not only is Donald Trump's face two different colors (what the fuck?), but whoever put on the makeup must have used a paint roller.  Krusty the fucking clown doesn't put makeup on that thick.  What do you suppose he's hiding?

This is not a man who is well and is certainly not a man who should be leading a nation as important to the world order as the United States.

He's a national embarrassment, a joke that never was and never will be funny.

217,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Bye Don 2020, Vol. XIV

 

217,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

I'd like to thank...

Thank you, thank you very much

You've got to hand it to Michigan republicans--to have the state Supreme Court announce approximately one month before the election, on a four republicans to three Democrats vote, that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer does not have the power to enact emergency health orders such as mask mandates...has pretty much guaranteed that Democrats will control the state Supreme Court for the first time since the 1990's.

Everything Gov. Whitmer did was for the best of the state.  In March we were third in cases and deaths were soaring.  Thanks to her, we're now 17th in cases and deaths have slowed markedly.  We are beginning to see an uptick in cases--as are most states--so the republican controlled Supreme Court will have blood on its hands, especially for a ruling that legal experts say is nothing short of ludicrous.

I've always thought that businesses are run by the biggest idiots money can buy, and since the case was brought to the courts by business interests it proves my point.  Businesses are not going to rebound until people feel safe about going out, and as long as Michigan is every man for himself when it comes to the coronavirus, businesses will not rebound.

On the bright side, the re-election of Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack and the election of Elizabeth Welch just got a whole lot easier.  Together they can ensure that republicans will not see a majority on our state Supreme Court for a long, long time.

216,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Bye Don 2020, Vol. XIII

 

216,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Be not afraid, peons!

Not the treatment Trump got

 In light of being released from the hospital after contracting COVID-19, Donald Trump is telling Americans to not be afraid of the virus and to not let it dominate their lives.

I tell you what--as soon as I get a team of doctors and specialists to cater to my every whim, all the latest drugs and experimental treatments, in a world class hospital, and all of it for free, I'll get right on that.

In other words, go fuck yourself Covid Donnie.

215,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Spinning wheel got to go round

Only to republicans...

 In spite of Donald Trump's carelessness, foolishness, and outright stupidity in contracting COVID-19 and his heretofore utter incompetence in protecting America from the pandemic, republicans are now claiming Trump is better suited to handle the pandemic because he's had it and Joe Biden hasn't.

This is literally like folks claiming I would be a better chicken farmer because I've had chickenpox.

215,000+ Dead Americans,

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Nothing compares

Who has the higher IQ--Trump or the creature above?

 I'm not sure what Kool Aid pundits on the right are drinking (or if it's liberally spiked with Jack Daniels), but last night Sean Hannity compared Trump's walking up the White House steps, taking off his mark, and obviously gasping for air to the actions of FDR and Winston Churchill in times of crisis (can you imagine Trump during WWII?  If his cozy relationship with Putin is any guide, Trump would be screaming "Sieg heil!" and wearing a funny little mustache).

Donald Trump compares to Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill about as much as an orangutan compares to Albert Einstein and Marie Curie.  And quite frankly, the orangutan compares much more favorably to the great scientists than Trump does to the great leaders.

How low does your self esteem have to be to embarrass yourself on national television with such obviously ludicrous comparisons just to kowtow to Donald Trump?  What level of stupid do you need to be to dream up such bullshit?

It's literally like grown adults truly believing that Santa is going to fly down on his sleigh from the North Pole and bring them everything from their letters' wish list.

215,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Doctor, Doctor give me the news

The doctor knows best...

 If there are any doctors reading this can you let me know if one can O.D. on schadenfreude?

Because if Trump ends up back in the hospital after releasing himself from Walter Reed I'm going to be in some deep shit.

215,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

A real death waltz

Can't imagine why Americans don't trust the police...

 Donald Trump has a new ad out in which several white policeman tell Americans how terrible a Joe Biden Presidency will be for law and order.  How exactly they know Biden will be bad for law and order since he's not the one in the White House while there are extensive protests going on across America (hint:  that would be Donald Trump) is never really explained.

Not really sure, either, why he'd put policemen front and center since for the first time in America's history more Americans mistrust the police than trust them.

I mean for fuck's sake, I'm a white American male and if I'm walking down the sidewalk and see a cop walking toward me I cross the street.  There is no way I'm trusting anyone that the government, in the form of District Attorneys, has given explicit impunity to kill me as they see fit.

Man, that's like the latitude the Nazis gave the Schutzstaffel.

215,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCC--The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: Mr. Bojangles

 Can you believe we're up to three hundred of these posts?  [One of two Friday Night Jukebox fans snaps awake in front of his computer screen, drool dribbling down chin, says "Wh-wha?"]

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (known only as The Dirt Band from 1976-81) formed in Long Beach ("Long Beach--yeah!"--ah, my youngest son will get it), California in 1966 and have had one hell of a run over the last fifty-four years (recently saw them on one of those PBS cash drive specials and they still sounded fantastic, even in their twelfth--give or take--incarnation).  Through the years they have become known as distinguished purveyors of Americana, which started with their seminal LP, Will the Circle Be Unbroken  in 1972 (they've since released two more volumes).  The band has won four Grammys and and one CMA Award.  For their career, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has released  26 studio albums (with a best #28 on the Billboard 200 and a #4 on the Country charts), three live albums, and five compilations.  They've also released 41 singles with one top ten on the Billboard Hot 100.  Surprising to me, they are not in any major music Hall of Fame (thought for certain they'd at least make the Country Hall of Fame), but they do have a plaque on the Nashville StarWalk, so at least there's that.

Fun Fact:  The band appeared as the Toot Uncommons, backing Steve Martin on his hit single "King Tut".  It was either that or the fact that they're the only band I've ever known whose drummer was also their harmonica player....

"Mr. Bojangles" was released as a single in 1970 from their marvelously titled LP, Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy  It was the biggest single of their career, reaching #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The album peaked at #66.

"Mr. Bojangles" will always have a warm place in my heart because a) it was a favorite of my father's (who also loved when Sammy Davis, Jr. did his version), and b) my sister could play a mean version of it on her acoustic guitar. Written by the much respected singer/songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker, the song is actually based on a true story--Walker was once arrested for public intoxication and met the fabled Mr. Bojangles in jail.  As for the song itself...acoustic guitar?  Check.  Banjo?  Check.  Mandolin?  Check.  Piano?  Check.  Drums?  Check--and that's pretty much all an old fart folkie like me needs (other than a wonderfully told tale).  A bittersweet song of how the drink and a loss can waylay the best of intentions, and the grace it takes to let your talents fly anyway.

Lyric Sheet:  "He said I dance now at every chance in honky tonks/For drinks and tips/But most the time I spend behind these county bars/'Cause I drinks a bit/He shook his head, and as he shook his head/ I heard someone ask him please...Mr. Bojangles, dance..."

Enjoy:

214,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Bye Don 2020, Vol. XII

 

214,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Bye Don 2020, Vol. XI

 

213,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Maybe God has a sense of humor?

Not a fan of assholes?

 Kind of odd, don't you think, that Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Notre Dame President Father John Jenkins, all of whom attended, maskless, Donald Trump's Rose Garden announcement of Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court, in addition to Trump, his wife Melania, and White House staff member Hope Hicks have all tested positive for COVID-19?  With heaven only knows how many more to come.

Maybe God isn't a conservative Christian after all?

That or Ruth Bader Ginsburg's lifetime of working for the betterment of others has a lot more pull with the old man than previously known....

Update 10/3/20:  Add former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway and Trump campaign manger Bill Stepien.  Literally as I'm typing this out it's announced Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has been diagnosed as well, though Johnson was not at the Rose Garden event--most likely caught it from an attendee.

213,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

Instant karma's gonna get you

Karma, karma, karma, karma coronavirus

 Anybody remember Donald Trump making fun of Joe Biden at this weeks debate for wearing a mask?

And now Trump is in the hospital with the coronavirus.

I'll just let John Lennon have the final word:

213,000+ Dead Americans

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee