Saturday, August 14, 2021

Déjà Vu All Over Again: Saturday Night Edition

It feels just like the 70’s again, without all the cool clothes.

leisure suit 70s

Run away inflation, high unemployment, gas lines along with rapidly rising gas prices – oh, and another humiliating defeat of our military at the hands of the most incompetent cast of commanders and clowns since Robert McNamara.

saigon evacuation

General Milley knew what was going to happen as soon as we left Afghanistan, although he played word games with the inevitable:

The Taliban has seized a substantial swath of territory and "the strategic momentum seems to be with the Taliban, but the Afghan security forces are consolidating their forces to protect population centers," Milley said. "They are adjusting forces to consolidate forces into the provincial capitals and Kabul. It remains to be seen what will happen. … I don't think the endgame is yet written." – General Mark Milley, July 21, 2021

Yes, the end game is written, has been for a long time and yes you knew it, you (explicative deleted). So now we’re sending 3000 more Marines to evacuate the Americans left behind and some of the Afghani who helped us as the Taliban prepares to take the city of Kabul. Just like Vietnam…of wait: Joey said that would NEVER happen.

Biden explicitly in his remarks on Thursday he denied any comparison, any echo to Vietnam. He said this, "There's going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy. The United States from Afghanistan, it is not at all comparable. – Joe Biden, July 8, 2021

At least we eliminated most of this country’s racism in the intervening 50 years in this country - oh wait…

white supremacy

I guess not. Progressives managed to recreate Racism 2.0.

racism now

Well done Obama! You’ve managed to fundamentally transform America back to exactly the way it used to be.

Right up to and including segregated classrooms

don't treat our children like prisoners

…and children being treated like prisoners.

school-reopening-covid-19-001Don’t even think about taking that face mask off kid.

Thanks to the circular nature of Progressivism we’ve come a long way, baby; full circle in fact.

john

All this déjà vu is making me dizzy. I don’t even think I can dance anymore.

Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive

You know it's alright, it's okay
I'll live to see another day
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man

Join me if you are so inclined to pray for our troops and embassy staff in Afghanistan currently stuck in the middle of the biggest FUBAR mission since the 70s.

Friday, August 13, 2021

Building Back Better: Democrat Style

It’s been a great week of building back better in Joey Biden’s America.

biden build back better.2png

After 20 years of America fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan we’re pulling troops out and the Taliban is taking  territory back as quickly as we retreat. Good plan.

The border surge has reached it’s highest level in 21 years and COVID-infected illegal aliens are being shipped all around the country in order to keep the crisis going strong for at least another year or two. Good plan.

immigrnts

After doing everything possible to squelch oil production on the American continent, Joey B pleads with OPEC – made up of countries that hate America -  to increase oil production.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration put out a statement urging OPEC to hike its oil production to help bring U.S. gasoline prices down. This from the man who, on the first day of his presidency cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline that would have brought 830,000 barrels per day of ethical Alberta oil to the U.S. Gulf Coast. – Calgary Herald

Why? Because the high price of gas is hurting the post-pandemic economic recovery; who could have seen that coming? Good plan Joey.

And how about inflation, do I really need to tell you?  It’s the highest it’s been in 30 years. The so-called core CPI rose 4.5% from June 2020, the largest advance since November 1991.

But we can always count on our ruling class: the Senate a monstrous “infrastructure” bill with the support of 19 R-words thus clearing the path for the Senate to pass their $3.5 trillion spending bill without any Republican support at a later date. That will give the 19 weasel R-words cover to claim on the campaign trail next year that they surely didn’t vote for the Democrats’ reckless, outrageous spending bill.  Yes, they do think you’re that stupid. Senator John Kennedy R-LA pointed out:

“They told us it was a real infrastructure bill. It’s not. Only 23% of the bill is real infrastructure. The rest is Green New Deal and welfare. They told us the bill was paid for. It isn’t. We’re going to have to borrow maybe up to $400 billion to pay for it.” 

He failed to mention that in addition to Green New Deal and welfare it included monies for Critical Race Theory training in order to support and maintain the race-baiting industry’s infrastructure.

Fighting inflation with more inflation, that’s a heck of a good plan.

President Trump correctly characterized the entire spending deal:

“While you were all sleeping, the Radical Democrats advanced a plan that will be known as the $3.5 trillion Communist Plan to Destroy America. This legislation is an assault on our nation, on our communities, and on the American Dream.”

He said that the Democrat plan will destroy “our borders and the rule of law by granting dangerous amnesty that will flood America’s beautiful cities. It will overwhelm our schools, and make our nation less safe.”

If you’re looking to destroy America, and there should certainly be no doubt in anyone’s mind at this point that’s what this is about, this is a very good plan indeed.

Democrats: Fundamentally Changing America since 2009

1967_Saul_Alinsky_transforming

Need I remind you?

trump-was-right-about-everything-funny-vote-trump-2024-president-shirt-Hoodie

Thursday, August 12, 2021

The New Axis of Evil

Here is a truly smart Millennial: Vivek Ramaswamy, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College with an A.B. in biology and a J.D. from Yale Law School. Credentialed in addition to competent: founder of Campus Venture Network, a technology company acquired in 2009 by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation,  partner at QVT Financial where he managed the firm's biotech portfolio, and founder of the biopharmaceutical company Roivant Sciences where he served as CEO until this year when he stepped aside and now serves as executive chairman. Author of just released Woke, Inc: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam.

woke inc

And he’s only 35. So basically just another over-achieving child of immigrants brought up in a small town in Ohio.

His book exposes America’s real axis of evil: woke millennials and big banks. He described this evil empire last night for Tucker Carlson in lightening speed. (begins at 21:01)

Closed captioning couldn’t keep up with him so you may need to watch twice. Here’s my abstract:

When a  bunch of woke Millennials got together with a bunch of big banks they gave birth to ‘woke capitalism’ which they called Occupy Wall Street and immediately put for up for adoption. 

occupy empty pizza boxesno you wake upWeaponized idiocy on display

At that point Wokeness became supercharged with the potency of capitalism and moved from a fringe theory in the academy to an alarming and powerful force in the marketplace.

It was an arranged marriage based not on love but rather mutual disdain which quickly moved to form a threesome with China to advance all parties needs, wants and desires. It is being used by China to undermine the moral standing of the U.S. on the world stage. This allows China to play us like a Chinese mandolin; they roll out the ‘red’ carpet for firms like Nike, the NBA, Marriot, and Disney that agree to openly criticize the U.S. and keep their yaps shut about China’s human rights abuses. Otherwise, they will be met with a Chinese wall prohibiting their companies access to the market.

The birth of this woke industrial complex is 10 times more frightful than Thomas Hobbes government leviathan and not the least bit benign. Imagine when the two combine: the mind explodes.

Ramaswamy explains the basis for his book further here.

Wokeness has remade American capitalism in its own image.

This new trend has created a major cultural shift in America. It’s not just ruining companies. It’s polarizing our politics. It’s dividing our country to a breaking point. Worst of all, it’s concentrating the power to determine American values in the hands of a small group of capitalists, rather than in the hands of the American citizenry at large, which is where the dialogue about social values belongs. That’s not America, but a distortion of it.

I sense this very intelligent, very serious young man will serve a very important role in America’s future. I know I’m getting his book in order to further educate myself on how to fight it.

Oh, and for the record:

trump was right

Especially China.

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

My Powers Of Observation Are Still Accurate

Stoicism is the wisdom of madness and cynicism the madness of wisdom. - Bergen Evans

In an age of cynicism it pays to be very skeptical. Sure, it’s possible that Ross and Rachel are getting together in real life. It’s possible that Jennifer Aniston and David Schwimmer reignited their chemistry following the Friends reunion movie (now streaming on HBO).

friends 1994-2021Friends 1994 above, 2021 below. All but Mathew Perry seem to have aged well – drugs will do that to you. Cosmetic surgery will take care of everything else.

It’s possible that Jen and David are real-life lobsters.

Season 2 episode 14 "The One With the Prom Video"

The romance rumor surfaced when a “source” told one of the gossip rags that “after the reunion, it became clear that reminiscing over the past had stirred up feelings for both of them and that chemistry they’d always had to bury was still there.”Jennifer and David themselves sparked speculation when they admitted to “crushing” on each other during the filming of the reunion.

46543849-9882753-Lobsters_Jennifer_Aniston_and_David_Schwimmer_have_sparked_specu-m-22_1628667072321Ross, 27 years later and still as geeky as ever

Color me skeptical; this sounds more like a publicist’s dream than a fairy tale happy ending. But that’s just me, a charter member of Lily Tomlin’s “no matter how cynical I get I just can’t keep up” club.

I’m not sure at which point I passed from the skeptic (doubter) stage to full press cynic (disbeliever) but I do know that the character of all but a handful of our “public servants” is what sealed the deal. I also know that a true skeptic uses common sense and reason to consider alternative explanations without prejudice and preconceptions…and that is true of absolutely NOBODY in today’s bifurcated world.

I clearly don’t care about Ross and Rachel’s real/fake fairy tale. I’m just struggling everyday to avoid slipping off the cliff where thoughtful cynicism plunges into the jaded pit.

2091034-George-Bernard-Shaw-Quote-The-power-of-accurate-observation-is

But don’t worry, I still have the power of accurate observation and I’ve observed a lot of people out there who still deserve a visit from karma and I’m ornery enough to wait around to see it.

karma

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

We’re Going To Need More Gold Leaf

the-hypocrites(1).jpg!Large.jpg Gustave DoréVirgil and Dante observe hypocrites in the 8th circle of Hell

In Dante’s Inferno hypocrites are found deep in hell, forced to walk in circles while wearing golden robes that are in fact gilded lead.

Rick Lowry advises how to identify them back here on earth:

There’s a handy device for determining status in American society: whether someone feels obligated to abide by his or her own COVID rules.

The true masters of the universe, the people who imagine themselves the great and good without which society can’t function, are the ones who preach but don’t practice, who mandate but don’t comply.

Hypocrisy, like racism, has simply become background noise in the Sturm und Drang of life in woke America. Hence there’s no outrage, no real upset about it anymore. It’s simply a given. Hence we observe but are left speechless in the face of the elites cynical flouting of their own rules and standards: the maskless Obama birthday bash, Rashida Tlaib’s whirling around maskless on a crowded wedding dance floor in “code orange” Wayne County where the CDC guidance calls for indoor masking.

46490615-9878719-Clips_show_Tlaib_dancing_among_a_cramped_group_of_wedding_guests-m-36_1628567778583Getting down with Rashida!

That she does so on the same day she took to Twitter to trash Rand Paul for not taking COVID seriously in his state just ads to the glorious sanctimoniousness.

Then of course there’s Governor “only a political skeptic could find a reason to disbelieve Christine Blasey Ford” Cuomo who is (credibly) accused of sexually harassing 11 women. He who said at the time of the Kavanaugh hearings “we owe it to the American people to #BelieveSurvivors” hired people to help him discredit his accusers. And did I mention that one of the people hired to portray them as liars was Roberta Kaplan, one of the  founders of “Time’s Up,” an organization founded to eradicate sexual assault and harassment in the workplace?

And who can forget Nancy, of the very important hair, who managed to get a cut and blowout in a salon closed to the rest of the public at the height of the COVID panic? They mock us, our elites.

pelosi hair“She has very important hair!” H/T Gore Vidal

We’re going to need a lot more lead…and gold leaf.

Mars-sheet-leadgold leaf paint

Plus a much larger 8th Ring of Hell.

Monday, August 9, 2021

The Legend Continues

The Legend Continues.

obama-birthday-instagram-01

The Birthday Party of the Century is over, along with the pre-birthday and post-birthday affairs.

The “meatless” celebration (lie #1) turned out to include steak, chicken and BBQ chicken. The “scaled back” party (lie #2)  disinvited only Nancy Pelosi, who “had other parties to attend,” along with a few lesser former staff members.

Pelosi was originally invited to Barack Obama's 60th birthday on Saturday night, but was cut from the list when he was forced to reduce the event in size – because Cooties.

46435645-9874261-Nancy_Pelosi_on_Sunday_morning_posed_for_a_photo_with_Kevin_Blak-m-151_1628436915508Looking rather frumpy the day after the party of the century she didn’t attend

All the “we’ve got to stop using fossil fuels or we’re all gonna die” A-listers  (lie #3) who know best how we should live have arrived and now departed on their private jets.

rev alHey, it’s the Reverend Al! I wondered what that little race hustler’s been up to.

steven-spielberg-1Stephen Spielberg, looking for the next anti-American myth to create

Unfortunately the Obama team (FBI, CIA and their affiliated operatives) forced all of the thoughtless Hollywood stars to delete their fun pictures of the party of the century.

46422961-9874533-_Had_to_delete_everything_due_to_the_rules_Chapman_explained_It_-a-79_1628459496103Oh trust me Scooter, we’ve seen him like this for a very long time

So shoot, we won’t be able to see all the top shelf liquor

46421815-9874533-Tables_laden_with_top_shelf_liquor_were_just_part_of_the_offerin-a-63_1628459495350

not-meatless food

46421117-9874533-As_the_night_wore_on_the_food_seemed_to_improve_with_a_taste_of_-a-71_1628459495740

and thoughtful amenities

                             46421203-9874533-Chapman_seemed_pretty_impressed_by_the_bathroom_amenities_that_i-a-70_162845949572746421209-9874533-Chapman_seemed_pretty_impressed_by_the_bathroom_amenities_that_i-a-72_1628459495754

that are available to those who live the life styles of the rich and famous.

Nor will we peons get to glimpse the golden island boy euphorically dancing the night away. 

Screen Capture #1111

We won’t be able to view the behind the scenes shots of the party of the century – all provided compliments of the Obamas who came by their rich and famous lifestyle via the oldest game in the book: grifting while president (bonus points given for being half-black).

Why, they make the Clintons look like rank amateurs by comparison. And that’s saying something.

Sunday, August 8, 2021

Dinner And A Movie

I sense we could all use a break in life’s drama so I’m reporting on movie night. Now here at Casa MOTUS we stopped “going to the movies” as a thing sometime shortly after The Big Chill (1983). Honest. It wasn’t exactly a conscious decision. More like our lives were so over-booked that what downtime we had was too precious to spend it in a dark theatre watching some schlocky film.

So gradually movie night became dinner and a movie at home. At first take-out and a video tape from the local video store (where selections were quite limited), later CDs from Blockbuster. The cable movie channels were even more convenient as you no longer had to leave home and with the advent of the DVR one could record the movie to watch when we felt like it rather than when they offered it. Then Netflix - before they became a streaming service – would mail videos of your choice as another option. By that time we were retired and “dinner and a movie” actually included cooking dinner, making it an entire evening’s entertainment.

With the advent of streaming services we have gotten pretty close to the 1999 Quest commercial that predicted that someday you could watch “every movie ever made in any language, any time.”

Of course by the time that day arrived there were no new movies worth wasting 90 minutes of your life on. So last night we watched Laura - which ironically I got from the library – after hearing the theme song on our dinner mix one night last week and recalling that while I’ve fallen asleep with it playing on late night TV several times I’d never seen the whole thing from start to finish.

Laura is a 1944 American film noir produced and directed by Otto Preminger. It stars Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, and Clifton Webb along with Vincent Price and Ann Treadwell. It is in the Library of Congress’ U.S. National Film Registry as a “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” film, and was selected by The American Film Institute as one the 10 best mystery films of all time. In other words it’s a classic of the film noir category.

In the film Manhattan detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews)

dana-andrews-e08a3125-5730-484d-9040-22221af0f77-resize-750

investigates the murder of Madison Avenue executive Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney)

gene-tierney-glances-over-her-shoulder

who was shot in the face inside her fashionable apartment. On the trail of her murderer, McPherson questions Laura's arrogant effete friend and mentor, columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb)

clifton-webb

and her parasitic playboy fiancé, Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price)

vincent-price-16

who is also a kept man by Laura’s rich, socialite aunt (Ann Treadwell), and Laura’s loyal housekeeper, Bessie. As detective McPherson pursues his investigation he grows obsessed with the dead woman. In case you haven’t seen it, or haven’t seen it recently enough to remember it, I won’t divulge any more of the plot. I do recommend it as a worthy diversion.

It occurred to me that if Hollywood remade the movie today Waldo would have been gay, Shelby bisexual, Detective McPherson would have been black – and possibly a woman - and the housekeeper would have been Mexican (doing the work Americans are unwilling to do because they’re collecting generous unemployment benefits). Very likely Laura would have been sexually abused as a child and sexually harassed by her Madison Avenue boss. There would have been much more gore, including a closeup of the gunshot wound to the face and multiple sex scenes involving all conceivable combinations of the 2 sexes and 31 “genders.” And while there would have been plenty of drug and alcohol use there most assuredly would not have been any smoking – such a nasty habit!

And that’s basically why we haven’t been to a movie theatre in 35 years.

Oh, and we made clam linguine for dinner.

linguine-with-clams-3

And dined on the deck. Good grief, are we ever getting old!