Put the needle to the record

Just say no...thank you

 At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we had some shocking news coming out of Washington today.  In the interest of "bipartisanship," ten "moderate" republican senators have come up with a relief bill that just happens to be one-third of the size of Joe Biden's...and will do nothing to stem the economic disaster that republicans helped fester in the wake of the pandemic.

Needless to say--even though the flaccid ten haven't released any details, the mainstream media is falling all over itself proclaiming what a conundrum this must be for Joe Biden, who must decide if he wants unity with ten senators who voted to give billionaires $1.8 billion in tax cuts but can't see fit to spend $1.9 billion on the ninety percent of Americans who desperately need the help.

Fortunately, it seems that Democrats have already seen this clown show and are putting an immediate kibosh on it--sometimes the best three words in doing what's best for America and not kowtowing to The New York Times gotcha journalism is "go fuck yourselves."

And that goes double for the mainstream media.

452,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Joltin'Joe

 447,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Hat in hand

Eureka!

 It has come to my attention that there are many folks on the right who are exceedingly angry that the Biden administration has decided to move quickly forward to replace the portrait of Andrew Jackson on the twenty dollar bill with one of Harriet Tubman.

Just so those troubled folks know, I would be more than happy to take those dastardly twenty dollar notes off your hands, free of charge.  Just let me know in the comments....

447,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

And Nero fiddled

 

447,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Repeat after me, boys and girls

Many a QAnon adherent scribbled this on their high school notebooks

QAnon = Nazi Party.

The sooner we start repeating this connection every single day the sooner we can relegate people like Marjorie Taylor Greene to the ash heap of history.  

Yes, 35% of Americans don't have a problem with one of our national parties ingratiating itself with Nazis, but the other 65% of Americans most certainly do, and that's more than enough to keep us in power for years to come.

We just need to remind them again and again what the republican party actually stands for anymore.

447,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

I've got your unity right here, mother fuckers

Media, schmedia...

 Well, it's official.  After exactly one week, I've completely fucking had it with the media's obsession with Joe Biden trying to unify the nation by mollifying every republican whim, even though Biden ran for President on the platform that he would not be as inept as Donald Trump (admittedly a very low bar) and fully intended to implement Democratic Party principles.

Donald Trump and his republican party ass kissers made zero effort to compromise with Democrats over the past four years and I could not give a good goddamn if Democrats try to comprise with republicans from now until the end of time.  Snowflakes don't want no help, snowflakes don't get no help. 

And you know why?  Eighty-one million votes, baby.  And every single one of them was just saying no to Donald Trump and the republican agenda.

439,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Fun, fun, fun 'til Daddy takes his Senate seat away...

Gonna party like it's 2022...

 You know what's going to be funny?  The look on Florida Senator Marco Rubio's face in 2022 when, after having spent the last six years of his time lubing up his butt cheeks for Donald Trump and his nutjob supporters, Rubio loses to Trump's daughter Ivanka in the republican primary in his home state.

Good times....

439,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXVI--Des'ree: You Gotta Be

 We have another first this week on Friday Night Jukebox--this week's artist is the first to have an apostrophe in the middle of their name.  How exciting!

Des'ree (original name:  Desiree Annette Weekes) was born in London, England in 1968, and at the ripe old age of 22 had her first record contract (her boyfriend had sent a demo to a record label).  Her first album was released just a few short weeks after her signing, and wound up a top thirty hit in the U.K.  She had the bulk of her success in the nineties, though she did release her first album in sixteen years in 2019.  Des'ree has won a Brit Award.  I have to admit to being a bit surprised that this week's tune didn't grab at least one Grammy nod--must have been a good year for female R & B.  For her career, Des'ree has released five studio albums, two compilations, and 18 singles.  While she has taken a couple of hiatuses through the years (once to train as a nutritionist and once to take care of her ailing mother), she does continue to make music.

Fun Fact:  Des'ree and 600,000 British schoolchildren became the world record holders for "most people simultaneously singing the same song" when she led them in a rendition of "You Gotta Be" in 2008.  Which, come to think of it, is a pretty cool record to hold.

"You Gotta Be" was originally released as a single in 1994 from her album I Ain't Movin.  The song reached #5 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album reached #27 on the Billboard 200.  The single was released twice more, in 1995 and 1999 (the latter after it was used in a Ford Focus commercial).  Oddly, the 1999 release charted higher than the original in her native U.K., peaking at #10 versus #20 for the original.

Every now and again, a song comes out of nowhere and becomes a pleasant surprise in providing listening pleasure, which "You Gotta Be" has now done for me for the better part of twenty-six years.  Des'ree flashes her power of positive thinking vibe throughout, and even for an "expect the worst, hope for the best" kind of guy like me it works perfectly.  Amazingly enough, the music is upbeat throughout, with a catchy as all hell chorus that can even make the hopelessly rhythm challenged into good dancers (I'm proof posi...well "good" might be stretching it).  Des'ree nails the vocal with a soulful sweetness that shoots straight from her lungs and right on out through her heart.  Hell, when I watch the music video, it's as if Des'ree is a high priestess guiding us all up into clouds filled with peace, love, and happiness--and when a song can make you feel like you're in another world, you know that that's one fine piece of music.

Lyric Sheet:  "You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together/All I know, all I know, love will save the day..."

Enjoy:

427,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Unify this, assholes

Adios, mother fucker

 Well, it good to see that our mainstream media has learned nothing from the past four years--Biden hasn't even been President a week and Politico is already running bullshit about how Biden's mask mandate on federal properties and transportation isn't a unifier.  I mean these hacks even quoted Rep. Lauren Boebert (who has been arrested eleven times, mostly for disorderly conduct and refusing to pay her bills--rap sheet here), congressperson for all of three weeks, saying that Biden was already headed in the wrong direction.  

Actually, when it comes to COVID-19, Biden's mask mandate is most certainly headed in the right direction--he's doing what needs to be done to make sure we don't have 400,000+ deaths in the next ten months, quite unlike his moronic predecessor, Donald Trump.  Sure didn't see Politico make any mention of why the supposed pro-life party was so cavalier about saving lives--masks do, and giving republicans the space to say they don't is just so much bothsiderism bullshit.

And wouldn't it be nice just once to have some hack question why someone's right to not wear a mask supersedes my right not to get sick? It doesn't--my health is considerably more important than some anti-masker's right to be an asshole.

427,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Coda

 416,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

It's their party and they'll cry if they want to

 416,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Classless to the end

 

Say goodbye to Don, Melania, and the kiddies

I'm sure that Jimmy Carter was disappointed when he lost to Ronald Reagan in 1980.  Still, Carter conceded, attended Reagan's Inauguration, and his wife Roslyn gave Nancy Reagan the customary White House tour.  Likewise, I'm sure George H.W. Bush was unhappy that he lost to Bill Clinton.  But like Carter, he conceded, attended Clinton's Inauguration, and his wife Barbara gave Hillary Clinton the White House tour.

It's about respect for our fellow Americans and the following of political traditions that have served our nation well.  It's about respecting the peaceful transition of power which we've celebrated for over two hundred years and is a hallmark of our democracy.  Hell, it's about having the maturity to accept defeat.

But not Donald Trump.  Not only did he fail to concede an election he lost handily, he couldn't be bothered to stay for today's inauguration.  He couldn't muster the slightest bit of decency to mention Joe Biden in his farewell address.  His wife Melania couldn't show the slightest courtesy to Dr. Jill Biden.

If Trump had handled the pandemic with a modicum of competence, chances are, even with all the other horrors of his Presidency, he probably would have won.  Had Trump surrounded himself with talented people, he might have had a better response to the pandemic and won.  

It's not Joe or Jill Biden's fault that Trump lost.   He need only take a good look in the mirror to see the only person who is to blame for his historic loss.

416,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Goodnight, shithead, now it's time to go...

 Not particularly original, but a most appropriate tune for Donald Trump's departure today:

411,000 Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

The fake President

The colossal fuck up

 There will be many attempts in the coming months and probably even coming years to portray Donald Trump's four years in office as being much more successful than they actually were.  This will be my part in ensuring that history will forever show Donald Trump as the worst President in American history.

To wit:

• History will show that there was never an administration as corrupt as the Trumps.  From lining his family's pockets with American taxpayer money to the number of Trump officials who stuck their snouts deep in the trough of the U.S. Treasury, these people will make the Nixon administration look downright fucking wholesome.
• When it comes to international relations, Trump screwed up everything he touched.  We are literally having to pay farmers because of Trump's lamebrain tariffs on China.  NATO and our longest standing allies may never trust us again because they know in four years we could end up with another idiot like Trump.  Thanks to Trump, Iran's nuclear program is growing, and despite being best buds with the Kim Jong Un, North Korea continues to produce nuclear weapons at will.  Not to mention the coddling of dictators in Brazil, the Philippines, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.  
• Russian troops were paid bounties to kill American soldiers.  Trump did nothing.  Russia poisoned dissident Alexei Navalny.  Trump did nothing.  Trump pulled troops from Syria, in effect giving the country to Russia.  Trump stopped every investigation into Russian dirty deeds, and took Vladimir Putin's (a man who seeks our country's downfall) word over our own intelligence agencies that there was no Russian interference in our elections.  Time will prove just how subservient Trump was to Putin--and it will only further the embarrassment that Trump was.
• The one--you read that right, fucking one--accomplishment Trump had in four years was tax cuts for the wealthy.  They did nothing to help the economy and were reviled by everyone who wasn't rich.
• As far as immigration goes, Mexico did not pay for a wall that about thirty feet of actually got built, and to our nation's everlasting shame, children were separated from their parents at immigration centers, and there are hundreds of children whom the Trump administration has still been unable to locate their parents.
• Trump raised republican racism to new heights.  He said white nationalists who killed a demonstrator in Charlottesville were good people.  Trump criticized professional athletes who stood up to his and to America's racism in another in a long line of bids to divide Americans upon racial lines.  Trump called Black Lives Matter protesters "thugs" and said they were a hate group when it was republican racism that brought us to the summer of protest.  He had peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrators tear gassed so he could do a photo op with a bible in front of a church--a bible which he promptly held upside down.
• Trump incited actual thugs to storm the Capitol Building and helped encourage the assassinations of Vice President Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in an attempt to overturn an election he lost badly.  It will be months, if not years, before we know how much he damaged American democracy.
• Trump is the only President to have been impeached twice.  The first was for fomenting a foreign government to interfere in our election; the second was for treason.
• Trump will leave office with an economy in tatters.  Thanks to his epic mishandling of the pandemic, more people will be unemployed when he leaves office than when he began.  Food banks are overwhelmed and thousands have been evicted from their homes.  He badly lost a trade war with China, and thanks to his asinine tax cuts, income inequality rose to unprecedented levels.  American wages over the past year rose at a rate much smaller than than 17 of the top 25 economies in the world, yet the wealth of billionaires rose to heretofore unseen levels.
• In the end, nothing will define the Trump's four years in the White House more than his shameful and completely inept handling of the COVID-19  pandemic.  From downplaying its severity to refusing to issue a mask mandate to botching the vaccine rollout, Trump's piss poor response to the virus will go down as the most epic failure of any U.S. President in our history.  Over 410,000 Americans have died in the last ten months.  Last year is now the deadliest year in the 250 years America has been a nation.  The cost to our livelihoods, to our families, to our emotional well-being, and to our health is incalculable.  Nothing Trump can do for the rest of his hopefully miserable life can begin to wash away this stain from his legacy.

There is, however one area in which Donald Trump did shine:  losing.  He is the only President other than Herbert Hoover whose party lost the House, the Senate, and the Presidency in four years.  He is the only elected Presidential candidate to have lost the popular vote twice.  And he lost a quite winnable chance at re-election decisively to Joe Biden.

And it is his talent for losing for which we should all be grateful, as because of it the American republic has a chance to again be great.

410,000 Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Dollars and sense

The almighty dollar to the rescue

 In a somewhat surprisingly turn of events, all of the protests planned by Trump supporters this past weekend fell to the ground with a resounding thud.  The Million Militia March in Washington, D.C. atracted...wait for it...zero protesters.  Most of the marches set to take place in all fifty capitals didn't, and the ones that did often attracted fewer participants than reporters assigned to cover them.

There have been any number of reasons surmised for this--MAGAs disappointed by Trump's supposed capitulation in light of the attacks on the capitol building, any number of them who might not like the election's outcome but aren't willing to kill their fellow Americans over it, or even folks who realize deep down that we all lose if our government is overthrown.

My own feeling is much more simple--thus far, (as near as I cal tell) everyone who has been identified as a bad actor in the D.C. insurrection that had a job with an actual employer has lost that job.  The business world has been unified (other than the My Pillow idiot) in its opposition to the D.C. terrorists, and My Pillow can only hire so many people.  Trump supporters are realizing that bad actions have consequences and one of them is curtailing your ability to put food on your family's table.

Frankly, "President Joe Biden" sounds a whole hell of a lot better to most folks than "my kids are going hungry."

410,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

One more day

 408,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Talley--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

A piece of shit says what?

 407,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence:

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Closing words for Trump's supporters

 407,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Enough

Another in a long line of Trump failures

As the roll out of the coronavirus vaccine has become a massive disappointment and the number of doses has fallen far short of what we had been promised, I have seen--from MSNBC to Daily Kos to local news--it being reported that this is a failure on the part of the federal government.

It is no such thing.

It is the complete and total ineptitude of the Trump Administration, as has been its response to the coronavirus pandemic from its very beginning.  Like the Great Depression for Herbert Hoover, the only legacy that Donald Trump will have from now until the end of time is his colossal failure to keep the American people safe from a deadly virus.

COVID-19 was never about Donald Trump, and as such, he could not have cared less.  From the death toll to the economic collapse to the failure to get vaccines out faster, each and every aspect of the pandemic has been Trump's fault.

And his refusal to acknowledge it shows just what a heartless and gutless bastard he was.

407,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Way down south, in the land of rotten...

 407,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Take it from me...

 Thirty-eight years in retail speak truth to power:

405,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXV--Bee Gees: I Started a Joke

This week I could easily have picked any of seven or eight different songs by the featured band, though after doing my weekly half-assed research I was glad I picked this one for what will be seen as a not particularly good reason to anyone other than me....

Like a number of other music artists featured here on Friday Night Jukebox, the Bee Gees are larger than life and their success is much too great to be summed up in a single paragraph.  Their history has been chronicled by writers much better than I and I will leave it to you, dear reader, if you're truly interested to check the link to Wikipedia above.  That being said, the Brothers Gibb for me personally are much like Rod Stewart (though I liked Stewart's early work much better than the Bee Gees)--after the mid-seventies their music (the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack changed the trajectory of their career and music both--and neither in a particularly good way) went in a direction that was exceedingly successful commercially...but was most definitely not one in which my aural sensations were even remotely interested.  Despite my lack of interest, though, the Bee Gees will go down in history as the third greatest selling band behind only the Beatles and the Supremes, and the Gibb brothers have been surpassed in songwriting success only by Lennon and McCartney.  Unsurprisingly, the band has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has won five Grammys.  Their discography shows 22 albums and 83 singles released, but that hardly does justice to their career--they literally had chart success that at times even bettered the Beatles.  But for my money--and here I bolster my old fart cred--the first 20 years of their career was where the best of their talents were shown.  Sadly, only Barry Gibb remains with us today--Maurice passed in 2003 and Robin in 2012.

Fun Fact:  Many people--myself included--though that the letter words Bee Gees stood for the "Brothers Gibb" but they do not.  It actually stands for Bill Goode (with a nod to Barry Gibb who shared his initials), a speedway promoter who gave them a big break very early in their careers and let them play at his racetrack in between races.  They did not have a name for their band so Goode graced them with his initials.

"I Started a Joke" was released as a single in 1969 from their album of the same year Idea.  It would reach #6 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  It was not released in their native U.K. (born there, though their career got its start in Australia) so as to try and sell more albums--which worked quite well as the album hit #4 on the U.K. charts but peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200.

The Bee Gees admit that the song has very little meaning--it was written at a time when psychedelia was popular and the brothers put together a few somewhat odd lyrics and listeners found their own meanings in the song (and is my reason for being glad I chose this song as I noted above).  The tune is a good reminder of the music of its era--it's a prime example of sixties pop (reminiscent to me of the Mersey sound), and while a bit on the self-indulgent side, it's a hell of a song.  While Barry's falsetto punctuated much of their late 70's success, in their early days it was Robin's soulful vibrato that carried their music, and he uses it to great effect on "I Started a Joke."  The music is soft and melodic--though multiple instruments are used, the strings lovingly smooth the way for the other instrumentation and Robin's vocals.  All in all, it makes for a song that takes me back to a time when peace, love, and dope seemed to be enough to hope for, and the world seemed still to be ours.  Time and tide may have proven that unattainable...but this week's tune is a nice reminder of when it all still seemed possible.

Lyric Sheet:  "Till I finally died, which started the whole world living/Oh, if I'd only seen that the joke was on me..."

Enjoy:

405,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

The last time I saw Richard

 

401,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Song for the trumped

Goodbye, adios, ciao, sayonara, auf wiedersehn...

 A treasonous Trump supporter posted this before last week's attempted coup:  "Stop calling this a march, or rally, or a protest.  Go there ready for war.  We get our President or we die."

Throwing a temper tantrum like a spoiled child (of white privilege) is not the way America elects its Presidents.  It's done by a vote of the people and Donald Trump lost.  And lost badly.  While I sincerely hope there is no violence in the coming days, if these folks want to have a fight to the death, America will be much better served by Trump supporters pushing up daisies than by four more years of Donald Trump.

These people literally used an American flag to beat a police officer.  They waved Confederate flags in the halls of our legislature.  They wore sweatshirts that glorified the Holocaust.  They threatened to kill the Vice President and the Speaker of the House.  These people are the worst of our worst.  America's future is not traitorous cop killing racist morons--our future is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, not an Adolph Hitler wannabe.

And as for their "my way or the highway" threats, here's hoping the National Guard helps them to hit the highway in more ways than one this weekend.

397,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Ahead of the curve

Why yes, yes he is

 Over the course of the last several days, at one time or another Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi have all referred to Donald Trump as our worst President ever.  It is a course that Democrats of all stripe would be wise to follow--having lived through the Ronald Reagan years, I distinctly remember him being considered an average President at best until the right wing and its media began blitz after blitz of telling people how great Reagan had been.  This led to his legacy--which was horrid, especially for the middle class, the poor, and people of color--becoming much more rose colored than the truth.

The last narrative we need is to give any credence to any idea that Donald Trump was a credible President.  He was an inexorable disaster and we need to repeat it again and again until he's relegated to the same dustbin that holds James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson, two other Presidents who did their best to oversee the ruin of America.

We do not need monuments to a treasonous racist boor like Donald Trump any more than we need monuments to racist traitors like Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee.

397,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Their pet rock

 394,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

A reminder

 

Three American Heroes and Trump the douchebag

Lest we forget, in 1998 republicans in the House of Representatives impeached Bill Clinton for perjuring himself with regard to a sexual relationship he had with an intern.  Yet today, impeaching Donald Trump for inciting rioters who were literally trying to overthrown our government and had plans to kill the Vice President as well as the Speaker of the House to help achieve those aims was a bridge too far for them.

The hypocrisy...it burns. 

Let history show that each and every republican in the House who did not vote for impeachment today is a traitor to America.

394,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

This close

Our economy, thanks to Donald Trump

 On Friday the Labor Department announced that the U.S. economy had lost 140,000 jobs during the month of December.  It's a number that isn't likely to get much better over the coming months until the coronavirus vaccine has had time to do its job.

I note this because it's obvious our economy is going to need more stimulus over the next few months, which would be next to impossible had Ralph Warnock and Jon Ossoff not won their runoff elections in Georgia last week.  The republican party has shown again and again that the livelihoods of ordinary Americans are secondary to their need to keep a grip on power, and had we lost those elections, God only knows how far they would have been happy to let the economy fall in an attempt to make President Biden look bad.

In light of the attempted coup last week, it's easy to forget about how important winning a majority in the U.S. Senate was.  It's highly likely that the Democratic Party saved our republic not just once, but twice last week--and three times now in the past two months.

Contrary to what the right wing nutjobs who stormed the capitol building last week think, we are the true patriots.

385,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Veronica' fascist closet

Truth to power

 On Friday I posted a cartoon about what the First Amendment Right to Free Speech actually means because...I knew the Trump traitors would be pitching a fit over his lifetime ban from Twitter.

I note this because world renowned actress Kirstie Alley posted her own tweet this weekend that said Trump's ban was tantamount to slavery.

For those not familiar, Alley is an actress who was fortunate enough to be cast in the latter years of a sitcom that many consider one of the best ever, Cheers.  Having been a fan, I can assure you that while Alley had her fans, she was not the reason most folks tuned in to the show--she had a minor role in a very popular show.  She followed that up with a show (Veronica's Closet) that was a part of NBC's ratings juggernaut Must See Thursday for its first two seasons, which caused it to be a top ten show.  After being removed from the Thursday lineup, the show crashed and burned (#86) and so did Alley's career.  All of this is a polite way of saying the obvious:  Alley is not Meryl Streep and can, frankly, thank luck for much of her thespian success.  This, in and of itself, is fine--some folks win the lottery, most of us don't.

But it begs the question why anyone would care what Kirstie Alley thinks about anything, let alone a subject (politics) for which she has no known experience or educational knowledge.  Outside of her knowledge of acting in television comedies, I can't imagine why anyone would care what she thinks.

And to make matters so much worse, she compared a business decision to slavery--which not only makes her sound incredibly stupid, but also like a cretin of a human being (because being banned from twitter is exactly equal to being owned by another human being, or having your wife and children sold to someone else, or having body parts amputated to prevent you from escaping an execrable existence).

In the end, though, what pisses Alley and other Trump supporters off so much is the the fact that Twitter (and Facebook, Instagram, Google, Amazon, and Apple) made the decision because their business model showed that a country led by idiotic right wing nut jobs was going to be so much worse for their bottom lines than a Biden Administration that they could live with the blowback, even if Biden and his Democratic allies raise corporate taxes.  

They're having a sad because their little minds can't grasp the fact that even their capitalistic heroes in Corporate America are realizing that four years of Trump were a miserable fucking failure for America.

383,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXIV--Ben Folds Five: Brick

 For some odd reason, I must have a soft spot for songs about how emotionally difficult it is for couples who choose to have an abortion when an unwanted pregnancy arises (thankfully no similar experiences in my life).  This week's tune shares a theme with Graham Parker's "You Can't Be Too Strong" which I wrote about a thousand years ago in Vol. XXVI.  Or--and here's a novel thought--maybe both songs are just well written and finely crafted tunes by gifted musicians....

The Ben Folds Five started in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and have had a nice career playing "punk rock for sissies" (their words, not mine).  The band's initial run lasted until 2000.  Since then they had a brief concert run in 2008, and reunited for two years over 2011-12.  The band has released four studio albums (their latest--in 2012--hit the top ten), a live album, and a couple of compilations.  They've also released eight singles, only one of which charted.  The band is also well known for contributing to soundtracks.  Ben Folds himself has had the most solo success, though all of the band's members have managed to keep making music in one for or another over the course of the last twenty-seven years.

Fun Fact:  The Ben Folds Five has actually always been a trio.  There is nothing clever about the reason for the band's deception--they just thought Ben Folds Five sounded better than the Ben Folds Trio.

"Brick" was the first single from their second album, Whatever and Ever Amen, released in 1997.  The single would be the only charting single of their career, reaching #19 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  The album reached #42 on the Billboard 200, and is their only album to reach platinum in sales.

Ben Folds has explained that he's making no political statements with the song--it's an autobiographical tale of when he was in high school and he and his girlfriend made the decision to get an abortion.  Folds has said that all he wanted to convey is how sad they both were...and his song does exactly that.  The song is understated--Folds' voice and his piano playing tell the tale without theatrics (and without becoming maudlin which had to be a tall order to achieve), accompanied by an upright bass that is reminiscent of a calliope that one can't get off of, spinning round and round .  He sings it with a matter of fact air, though as the song moves forward his sorrow begins to ease deeper into his vocals and his lyrics.  That a song of this nature reached the top twenty says everything you need to know about what the Ben Folds Five were able to capture, turning a difficult subject into a short story with music.  A compelling and emotionally moving effort.

Lyric Sheet:  "Driving back to her apartment/For the moment we're alone/But she's alone/And I'm alone/And now I know it..."

Enjoy:

381,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Truth to power

 

378,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

And the horse you rode in on, too

Fuck your feelings, as well

 Minority leader in the House Kevin McCarthy today said that Donald Trump should not be impeached a second time because it would further "divide" the nation.

This from a man whose party's leader actively tried to overthrow our government this week, incited violence against our elected leaders numerous times, against ordinary citizens again and again, and has constantly blown racist dogwhistles.  Not to mention McCarthy himself, who even after the coup that failed, still voted to object to the certification of the electoral votes of two states knowing that Donald Trump lost those states and the election.

Frankly, Trump's treasonous supporters can let their fragile psyches float down to snowflake hell--and go fuck themselves along the flight.

377,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Pelosi saves America yet again

Pelosi--the only sheriff that matters

 Once again, Nancy Pelosi rides into town and saves America.  This morning Pelosi spoke to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, to make sure that the increasingly unhinged Donald Trump did not have access to our nuclear codes.

She was assured he did not...though it must say mountains about where America is at that she even had to ask.

For some odd ass reason, "unprecedented" seems an inadequate word to describe just how far America has sunk under Donald Trump.

376,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Sounds about right

374,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

This is the republican party

 

373,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Certified Tally--Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Time has come today

Fitting words for a failed President

 After today's traitorous lawlessness in our capital, it is time for republicans to put on their big boy pants and get Mike Pence and the President's Cabinet together and do what needs to be done:  invoke the 25th Amendment.

Donald Trump's unfitness for office reached a nadir today, in his incitement of violence, his inability to accept reality concerning his decisive defeat in the Presidential election, and his refusal to call in the National Guard to quell an insurrection.  The United States is in more danger than it has been at any time in my lifetime, and the nation cannot afford to have Donald Trump in the White House for two more weeks.

The time is now--President Pence until Joe Biden's inauguration in fourteen days is now vital.

370,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Well done, folks

Participation trophy for traitors

 I'd like to congratulate the traitors who stormed the U.S. Capitol Building today--not only did they assure that (most likely) Joe Biden's big election win is certified much more quickly than it probably would have been, they also ended the Presidential ambitions of Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley in one afternoon.

Take a bow--truly stunning work!

370,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXIII--Avett Brothers: Souls Like the Wheels

I haven't had the time or the money over the last twenty years to follow music as much as I would have liked, but one band I am so happy I did get lucky enough to discover is the Avett Brothers.  This will mark the second song of theirs I have featured, and I can honestly say that both of them have given me more joy than a music geek should be allowed to have....

As noted in the preceding paragraph, this isn't the first go round on Friday Night Jukebox for the Avett Brothers, as I wrote about them in Vol. XC.  Since that time they released a studio album in 2019, and an EP just last year.  They were also nominated for two more Grammy Awards, and a musical based on their song catalog is tentatively planned for this year depending on the pandemic.

"Souls Like the Wheels" was not released as a single.  It originally appeared on their EP The Second Gleam  (as did their previously featured tune, "Murder in the City").  The mini album reached #82 on the Billboard 200.  A live version of the song was also featured on their album Magpie and the Dandelion.

The Avett Brothers had me at the opening acoustic guitar solo of "Souls Like the Wheels" (the live version noted above features an even longer opening solo--be still my beating heart...).  Every time I hear the song it reminds me of how much I love the sound of an acoustic guitar--that the vocals are as heartfelt as a love sonnet and as smooth as chocolate cream takes it to another level.  As are so many of us, I am feeling very hopeful these days for the future of mankind, and I would be hard pressed to name too many songs more hopeful than "Souls Like the Wheels"--though Seth and Scott Avett have crafted lyrics that could literally define the world subtle.  If you're ever in a situation where you've survived one of life's too numerous traumas and you're quietly reflecting on how much better the world and your future are going to be after it...this is the song you want for that moment's soundtrack.  A wonderful piece of the best the folk genre has to offer.

Lyric Sheet:  "One little song/Give me strength to leave the sad and the wrong..."

Enjoy:

361,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

They're coming to take us away, ha-haaa!

Some folks really need to be taken away...

 Just try and digest this:  twelve million Americans believe our country is being run by lizard people in suits.

I know that's only slightly above 3% of our population, but for fuck's sake there was a time when the number of Americans believing such nonsense was small enough to make a for a guest appearance on an entertaining episode of The X-Files.

I truly try to stay hopeful for the future of this country, but I've got to tell you it's getting harder and harder every day.

361,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Not too clever by half

Be careful what you wish for...

 When I was in college I sent a letter to the editor to The Kokomo Tribune (a staunchly conservative newspaper that was happy to print opposing views) in rebuttal to another letter extolling the virtues of conservatism.  It was a well reasoned letter, full of what I had learned in my time at Indiana University at Kokomo, and it, too, garnered a rebuttal.  The gentleman who responded to my letter was happy to admit that I was smarter than he was, but in effect said he'd rather be stupid so he could continue to believe what he believed, even if it was wrong.

I note this not because I wish to make fun of conservatives--I don't think I'm being mean when I say that many conservatives wear stupidity like a badge of honor.  They're proud to be stupid.

Unfortunately, being stupid can have its drawbacks--an easy example is how republicans vote again and again against their best economic interests by voting for candidates who have done everything possible to make sure their voters make less money and have less benefits so that rich people can have even more money they don't need (i.e., how much better can they eat?).

It appears that on January 6th, better than 150 republicans are going to reject the Electoral College vote of several states that did not cast its votes for Donald Trump.  This is a hopeless gambit, and all but a handful of the politicians backing it know it to be such.  But a vast majority of Trump supporters are not smart enough to know the difference between bread and bullshit and will believe they are being cheated out of their candidate of choice for President.  That, in fact, Congress should be able to overturn the will of 81 million voters.

What they don't know, is that Donald Trump is an idiot, and even if such a ploy could have been pulled off, Trump has nowhere near the smarts to be the one to do it (nor to surround himself with people who are).  But I can guarantee you that at some point in our history there will be a Presidential candidate who is smart enough to do it, and the odds are tremendously good, based upon the theory that Democrats tend to be much smarter than republicans, that it will be a Democrat who is first to overturn the will of the people.

My only regret is that I probably won't be alive to see their Trump ruse blow up in their faces and therefore will miss a much needed opportunity to laugh my fucking ass off.

358,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee

Happy New Year

Hope is on the horizon...

 For the first time since January 20, 2017, I feel hope for America.  I have no idea if Joe Biden will be a great President or not, but after four years of Donald Trump it's hard not to believe that we will be a more successful and certainly more compassionate nation because of his leadership than we were at any time under Trump's failed administration.

There is literally no place for America to go but up.

And because once again I can believe in the promise that is America, a song for a healthier and vibrant 2021 for us all:

A blessed New Year to you all,

emaycee

Thrice as nice

Our Holy Trinity--Whitmer, Benson, and Nessel

 Ms. Magazine this week announced their feminists of the year, and Michigan scored a well-deserved trifecta.  Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Attorney General Dana Nessel all made the list, for standing up to Donald Trump and fighting for Michiganders to receive the PPE they needed, to make our elections fair, and to prosecute Trump's lawyers for attempting to corrupt our system of government.

Not to mention the plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer and the threats made to Secretary Benson and her child.  The courage these women have shown over the course of the last year in the face of moronic traitors with guns is more than any public official has ever bargained for, but the three of them were all up to the task and more.

Michigan should be proud of our stalwart leadership, and hope for many more years to come from these incredible women.

356,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Biden:  306 EV's, Trump:  232

emaycee