national news

How in the world did we elect this guy?

Never, not ever, in the history of the U.S. of A. have Americans had to witness an elected president who is so ignorant, so damn filled with hatred of his political enemies, who is such a pathological liar continue to function as the ostensible leader of what we used to call the free world.

Donald Trump has declared what amounts to war on Democrats in the Congress, threatening with death for speaking the truth about why service personnel should resist following illegal orders. One of them, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, has been singled out as a particularly egregious target of Trump’s retribution campaign.

Kelly is a retired Navy captain, a former combat aviator, husband of a congresswoman who was nearly killed by a gunman in an assassination attempt, a former astronaut who has flowin space on four missions. He is a patriot. Kelly serves with honor and humility. He has spoken the truth. He dissents from Trump’s public policy … which the Constitution guarantees in its First Amendment.

Trump is ignorant of all of that. He doesn’t give a crap about the Constitution. He blindly accuses Sen. Kelly of commiting sedition, which carries a death penalty if convicted.

And yet … this nation somehow managed to elect this idiot to a second term as POTUS.

Kelly is not the only Democrat in power who has drawn Trump’s petulant anger.

Kids, we are living in a dangerous era in this nation’s long history.

The only recourse we seem to have at this moment happens to the federal court system, which appears to be stiffening its spine at just the right moment. Congress is rolling over for Trump’s idiocy. Trump has populated the executive branch with yes men and men. That leaves the court system to stand tall against this individual’s moronic overreach.

I have heartened by the actions of a Trump-nominated federal judge who tossed aside the indictments of former FBI director James Comey and New York AG Letitia James, calling those indictments pure political revenge brought by a U.S. attorney who is unqualified to hold her job.

Right there you have an example of the Constitution doing its job. I am clinging to the hope that it remains strong and that the courts stand firm against the Trump’s frontal assault on the rule of law.

media news

MTG resignation outlives its importance

There once was a time — in a long-ago political universe — that the resignation of a junior member of Congress would last about a day, maybe two, on the nation’s attention cycle.

Then came social media. Smart phones, websites, the Internet changed it all. Now we have a junior member of Congress resigning after five years on the job in the House of Reps and you’d think the world had just spun off its axis.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, the one-time QAnon queen of Congress, the fomenter of lies and conspiracies and the leading lady of the MAGA movement, has announced her resignation from Congress effective Jan. 5, 2026. And we’re still talking about it! Hell, this blog is mentioning it!

She earned so much attention from the media that we’ve now assigned her an ID based on her initial. I have to admit that “MTG” does kinda roll off the tongue. This isn’t right. She has put forward virtually no constructive legislation. Yet MTG has become something of a household name.

She reminds me, to be ironic, of a political rival. Recall that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., burst onto the scene in a similar fashion. She, too, has been elevated to initial status. We call her AOC. She’s also been a fiery blowhard, talking about about the democratic socialism that drives her agenda. AOC, just like MTG, has become a media darling. I questioned at the time of her swearing in why the media were spending so much time on this one-time no-name member of the House. I’m still scratching my head over that one.

Social media do have their good qualities. Real news gets immediate attention. If it’s accurate, the news generally tends to draw quick response to questions raised.

Then again, it elevates back-bench members of Congress to immediate superstar status … e.g. MTG and AOC. For better or worse, that’s the world we have.

media news

War on Christmas is over!

You remember Bill O’Reilly, the Fox Propaganda Channel blowhard who every year about this time would commence his seasonal diatribe about how “liberal mainstream media” had declared war on Christmas.

I’ll tell you what. O’Reilly is still gone from the mainstream cable TV airwaves after having been booted off the air by Fox over allegations of sexual harassment. He’s still out there, I’m sure, fomenting the fantasy of a war on Christmas.

Allow me to declare that the war on Christmas is over. Done with. Finished. In reality, it never really existed as O’Reilly said it did. If there was any war on this holy and festive holiday, it was conducted by Madison Avenue and its intense commercialization of the holiday that commemorates Jesus’s birth while at the same time tracking Santa Claus’s circumnavigation of the planet to deliver gifts to those of us who have been nice … and not naughty.

Those who take aim at the media criticize them for suggesting it’s somehow sacreligious to say “happy holidays” during this time, not understanding that most of the world’s 8 billion inhabitants don’t celebrate Christmas the way we Christians do. I don’t hold it against them. I guess some of us believe everyone should celebrate the birth of a baby who we believe is the son of God.

So, when merchandisers wish us “happy holiday,” they do so out of respect for everyone they serve. It ain’t a declaration of war!

Bill O’Reilly got a good bit of mileage out of his war on Christmas demagoguery. He’s still out there somewhere spreading the lie. The reality, though, tells me something different. There is no war on Christmas! It never really existed!

Sports news

Will the POTUS stay away?

They’re going to play a big football game next weekend that well could focus as much on one of the spectators as on the student-athletes on the field.

Army will play Navy in the annual right of autumn. Custom tells us the president of the United States attends the game. He’s the commander in chief. That custom also says the POTUS will watch the from one side of the field, then switch to the other side for the second half.

The sold-out crowd usually cheers the president on his arrival. But wait! The POTUS this season happens to be Donald J. Trump. He’s becoming a highly unpopular politician … y’know?

So, my question is whether Trump is going to force himself to listen to the hoots, jeers and boos from the sold-out crowd. Hey, this guy always seeks affirmation. He’s been known to reap it even when it isn’t apparent.

My hunch is that Trump ought to stay away. The Black Knights and the Midshipmen don’t need the distraction the commander in chief would create. Let the officers-to-be play their top-quality brand of tackle football.

Just stay away, Mr. POTUS.

national news, political news

Real reason for MTG’s departure?

As a rule, I dislike being called a cynic, but I have to take issue with Marjorie Taylor Greene’s stated reason for quitting Congress after five turbulent years representing a rural NW Georgia district.

She entered the House after the 2020 election with both guns blazing. She was a proud MAGA Republican dedicated to furthering the agenda favored by her fella … Donald Trump. She has fallen out of favor with the Big Man, who recently called her a “traitor” because she had the gumption to stand up for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s shenanigans. MTG sought to make peace in recent weeks by declaring she no longer would engage in the vitriol that became part of her brand. Well, I believe the congresswoman was about to find out that payback is a serious bitch! I believe the Republican Party is going to have its genitals handed to it after the 2026 midterm election and Greene, who always has struck me as a politician more dialed into the limelight than actual governing, was about to be shoved to the back shelf. Democrats who often were the victims of her barbs would not take kindly to her remaining among their midst were they to retake the majority in January 2027. Therein, I believe, lies the real reason for MTG’s stunning departure from Congress. She alluded briefly to the GOP’s immediate future in her statement, declaring that she does not want to subject her family to the Trumpian onslaught in a bitter GOP primary only to see the Republicans “lose the election.” I will say further that I am glad to know that MTG has thought better of her flame-throwing rhetoric and has vowed to take a more civil tone in discussing policy differences with Democrats. I salute her for standing by her principles … yes, even those with which I disagree. Marjorie Taylor Greene also knows that memories can last seemingly forever in Washington. Reality is a force with which not everyone can reckon.
crime news, national news, political news

Closer to the tipping point?

Every day, it seems, we appear to be creeping closer to the tipping point in which Donald J. Trump says something that will spell the end of his failed presidency.

He crossed another huge line this week by saying out loud and in public that six Democratic members of Congress are guilty of sedition, a crime that carries a punishment of death. That’s right. The POTUS has declared that six opposing members of Congress should be executed for speaking out against the orders that Trump is issuing.

What in the world is happening to this nation? Why are we allowing this moron to get away with these sorts of idiotic pronouncements? Here’s the worst of it: Not even a president of the United States who calls for the execution of political opposition could be convicted by a Senate controlled by members of his own political party … because they are in tacit agreement with this dipshit!

Public opinon polling suggests that Trump’s support among Americans is collapsing as he continues to scarf up more power for the executive branch. The polls aren’t “fake,” as Trump contends. They are real and they suggest that Trump’s MAGA base is shrinking before our eyes. When the likes of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, D-Ga., turn on Trump then you know you are witnessing a sea change.

Suppose there was a chance to invoke the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which contains a clause about removing the president who is deemed incompetent. Does anyone believe that a majority of this executive branch comprising diehard Trump loyalists is going to sign a document declaring the boss to be unfit for the office? It won’t happen.

That’s why I believe we’re only getting a lot closer to some tipping point that will spell the end of this moron’s time in office.

local news

Speak the language!

The time has come for me to vent against one of my several pet peeves, so here goes.

It is essential for major companies to hire individuals who interact with the American public to ensure those employees can communicate effectively with the public they are serving. In other words, employees should be able to speak English!

I live in a North Texas community that is chock full of families who speak English as a second language. It is quite common for me to walk through the only major grocery store in our community and never hear English spoken by people I pass while shopping for food. Hey, no problem with that, man.

It’s different, though, when I need assistance from an employee at that store and I ask him or her for, oh, where can I find a can of mushrooms. I occasionally get that blank stare from the employee who doesn’t understand a word I just said. I have to look for an English-speaking employee or, if there’s no one available, find the item myself. Maybe I have time to look for it. Maybe I’m on a tight deadline and need the help right away.

I returned recently from a brief trip to Roanoke. Va., where I stayed at a fairly nice mid-priced hotel. They serve breakfast at this hotel. I dished up some scrambled eggs, got a bisquit and some fruit. I sat down, took a bie of the eggs … and they were cold. I summoned the hotel staffer working the kitchen to tell him my eggs were cold. He looked at me, nodded his head — and smiled! I might as well have been speaking Martian to the guy.

Look, I totally get that the United States of America is an increasingly pluralistic society. I welcome the world here. I do not believe we need to write a law declaring English to be the official language of this nation.

However, we’re still a nation where English is the predominent language. I want our business community to recognize that reality when they seek to do business.

crime news

A new phase awaits Trump

Donald Trump appears to be losing his vise grip on the Republican Party, which to my way of think portends a new phase in Trump’s term in the White House.

It well might mean — and I am not going to predict this will happen — that sooner or later Trump is going to realize he is just taking up space in the Oval Office … and he might just pack up and leave the people’s house for good.

The House of Reps voted 427 to 1 to call for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files that contain the names of many officials with apparent knowledge of the hideous conduct Epstein was engaged in with underage girls. Is there a more bipartisan vote than that?

Furthermore, we see the likes of Rep. Marjorie Taylore Greene, R-Ga., declaring she is divorcing herself from the MAGA movement, which she believes has strayed way too far into the weeds. She recently declared an end to the hateful rhetoric she has spouted and has taken a solemn vow to be more issues-oriented in her criticism of policies with which she disagrees.

For that, I salute her. She has taken a sharp turn away from the path being blazed by Trump.

I have vowed to avoid diagnosing Trump’s blathering, pretending to be able to detect dementia. But, damn! Dude keeps saying some really weird stuff that makes me scratch my own noggin, wondering if the guy’s got it all up there. There well might be others in a position to act if they, too, determine he is unfit to make command decisions.

The courts are standing firm against the autocratic tide that keeps sweeping against our government. Trump-appointed judges are realizing that their benefactor doesn’t know the law, doesn’t care to learn about the law and that he must be held accountable for his ignorance.

That’s a good sign that the Constitution is doing what the founders set it up to do.

crime news

Release Epstein files now! All of ’em!

Where do we stand today in the yammering of the Epstein Files, which contain the names of some the nation’s biggest political hitters and their potential relationship with one of the more infamous pedophiles any of us have seen since The Flood?

Congressional Democrats have gotten the name of the final member of Congress to sign a discharge petition that would require release of the files. OK! What’s with the delay?

I am one patriotic American who wants to know whether the president of the United States had more than a passing aquaintance with the late Jeffrey Epstein. That’s the sole issue for me. I also do not believe that Donald Trump engaged in illegal sexual activity with one of Epstein’s underage female victims. Then again, I am basing my belief on the hope that we don’t have pedophile serving as POTUS.

Releasing all the Epstein files should tell us what we need to know. We have received dribs and drabs of info on Epstein, and many of his relationships. They include names like Trump, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.

We need to understand fully whether Donald Trump knew about the illegal deeds being done at Epstein’s behest … and then looked the other way.

Release the files … now!

local news

A brief post script …

ROANOKE, Va. — While I realize my recent tale of woe regarding my rented car is no great shakes in the real world, I thought I would share this brief post script with you.

The car I rented at Roanoke Regional Airport froze up on me. The battery was deader than Francisco Franco. I called the rental company and it sent a tow truck operator to me to jump-start the 2025 car that croaked. It started nicely. She said I should let it for a few minutes before returning it to the rental station.

I did and got a nice replacement vehicle for my trouble. I received the replacement car in time to attend the graveside service at the end of the funeral that drew me here in the first place.

Even better news is that the replacement is easier to enter and exit than the low-rider I got in the first place. This old man’s body just doesn’t bend like it did in the past.

Life is good … again!

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience