tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-291540512024-03-19T04:47:27.614-04:00"The Rant" by Tom Degan<b>Welcome to The Rant! Your very own electronic cesspool of naughty, left wing propaganda. MADE IN AMERICA!!!</b>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.comBlogger1133125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-52394116190198415442023-12-17T11:17:00.001-05:002023-12-17T11:17:17.930-05:00In Memorium <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcHS2e5pznS3Vwq4wrFnU6M9I3-WGqTRklrphhAFVNAXCY4MZ0g0SgfUxMsjjRLYvOvAs-1pdQLgowYDxVZWK6XhuEWAlJz-0eJJDN6TLZ58jSSOKbMJBHOFApqFN0e3LwwBVv0YFDeIYOyFnQDX1I3dm3EdzPCRsDR_xNtmh0IYD59FfyG2TAoA/s720/619F856D-7E3A-402F-9F2B-FF8805D26F7E.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="540" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcHS2e5pznS3Vwq4wrFnU6M9I3-WGqTRklrphhAFVNAXCY4MZ0g0SgfUxMsjjRLYvOvAs-1pdQLgowYDxVZWK6XhuEWAlJz-0eJJDN6TLZ58jSSOKbMJBHOFApqFN0e3LwwBVv0YFDeIYOyFnQDX1I3dm3EdzPCRsDR_xNtmh0IYD59FfyG2TAoA/w300-h400/619F856D-7E3A-402F-9F2B-FF8805D26F7E.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Tom Degan </h3><div style="text-align: center;">1958-2023</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">To all Tom’s faithful readers of the Rant, we are sad to announce that he passed away on December 7th, 2023. Thank you so much for the time and engagement with his blog, please know that every reader and every comment was a source of pride and excitement for him. Sharing his thoughts, knowledge, and humor was his passion and we feel truly blessed that he preserved so much of himself here on the pages of the Rant. He was an original. He will be deeply missed by friends and family. </h3><br /><p><br /></p><p><u>Reposting his obituary below:</u></p><p><br /></p><p>It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Thomas Michael Degan, a devout Catholic, at 65 years of age on December 7th, 2023. Tom was born August 16, 1958 to the late Susanne Elizabeth Degan née Clements of South Bend, Indiana and the late John R. Degan of Brooklyn, NY. He attended St. John’s School and later Goshen Central High School. For most of his life, Tom proudly lived in Goshen. He is survived by his siblings Jack, Peter, Carol, Susanne, Jeffrey and Sarah as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins, and innumerable friends. He was predeceased by his infant brother Thomas Matthew.</p><p>From an early age, Tom developed an eager interest in film and a passion for music that would last his entire life. He was a lifelong fan of Charlie Chaplin and enjoyed projecting his films on a wall of his parent’s house on South Street in Goshen for his younger brothers and sisters. “Tommy” delighted in amusing his siblings with humorous home videos. A fundamental part of Tom’s personality was that he was always happiest when he was putting a smile on someone else’s face. He used his skills as a videographer to record weddings and parties for friends and family over the course of several decades because he understood there is no greater gift than the preservation of memories of time spent together in happiness. </p><p>Tom had an ear for music and a gift for picking up and learning a new instrument so that he could perform for others. This also resulted in a discerning taste in music and all who remember him know of his passion for the Beatles, particularly John Lennon, but also Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Dylan, Bing Crosby, Glenn Miller, Buddy Clark and many others.</p><p>Although Tom was never married and had no children, his nieces, nephews, and children of his close friends will remember with great fondness his songs, jokes, and many lessons on musicians and modern historical trivia. There is more than one millennial out there with a knowledge of music that is just a little bit beyond their years because Tom saw the importance of sharing beautiful things with future generations.</p><p>Tom was politically inclined with a strong sense of social justice and he combined this with his passion for satire and history in the work on his blog, “The Rant” which he faithfully updated from 2006-2023. His regular readers will undoubtedly miss his humorous takedowns of conservative politics, celebration of his historical heroes from FDR to civil rights leaders, and his encyclopedic knowledge of American pop and political culture from the 1920s onwards. He also highlighted the lives of comedians he felt deserved greater recognition for their works, in particular Ernie Kovaks and Lenny Bruce and his fight for free speech. Above all, Tom lived his life with the philosophy that whatever may divide us, common ground can be found in the celebration of art, music, and laughter.</p><p>If Tom could have written his own obituary, he would tell us that he died one day before the 43rd anniversary of the death of John Lennon. His family and friends would have informed him that like John Lennon, he is gone far too soon from our lives. Lenny Bruce once said that “there are never enough I Love You’s.” Tom, however, cherished his friends and family, and he never left anyone in doubt of his affection and generous heart. We have been so blessed to have him in our lives - may his memory and his example serve to remind us that truly, <i>all you need is love</i>.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJugzvF4r1q9nB4YzKRMgsbNfUaPKI7OT8EHi6cbinGDEeK4PS7UkxuI1RX5ckTo_0TabxUEfcc6_1T4JxUeupGJRb4QJJc22uJNLQrr7rRukG8G47nyZ_OCastNfxnGh_JAMtDUzO4MFCFqJquT1t6Ua3MtLbhblHU2QEoCCHiww_WvxDDpsFdg/s480/DF457CE2-5F4A-4916-AEC9-4A52C5533B27.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJugzvF4r1q9nB4YzKRMgsbNfUaPKI7OT8EHi6cbinGDEeK4PS7UkxuI1RX5ckTo_0TabxUEfcc6_1T4JxUeupGJRb4QJJc22uJNLQrr7rRukG8G47nyZ_OCastNfxnGh_JAMtDUzO4MFCFqJquT1t6Ua3MtLbhblHU2QEoCCHiww_WvxDDpsFdg/s320/DF457CE2-5F4A-4916-AEC9-4A52C5533B27.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuugAADWNcFFzzfYjlyymAw_Pm5nkMiSPLO6y4k8lIAa5oc1TM6rtHxcudHzr3klAfAgbyNaorw_xixBws7Tl6YeKKtSC2C5zDw0spZ8p7oawWVM_e8_8hoCLCqqs2KsE-mPTKPmHOpBNmJreSYRk2sVa9yGD4zj3yI-tUHOvMAb5Gh-XoVOEqtg/s2778/AA922CE6-183E-4E35-8372-773A9ADFAE01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2778" data-original-width="1284" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuugAADWNcFFzzfYjlyymAw_Pm5nkMiSPLO6y4k8lIAa5oc1TM6rtHxcudHzr3klAfAgbyNaorw_xixBws7Tl6YeKKtSC2C5zDw0spZ8p7oawWVM_e8_8hoCLCqqs2KsE-mPTKPmHOpBNmJreSYRk2sVa9yGD4zj3yI-tUHOvMAb5Gh-XoVOEqtg/s320/AA922CE6-183E-4E35-8372-773A9ADFAE01.jpeg" width="148" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEmBbWCRQb4m6CWi7De0o3d3QJtcTQGvZkdDeRbPsySVrHcL31VslwGGaLtvlnYowgpQy-uadgL6sSsHZUI47hWqs7RQC5cS_k2vmlFdGwH4Hdd2Ae3vpuovhh4pdXbQvw5PkWLdaLV8YpkT_Bl8YMrCrE8srMY2IAMf9JGViziqf-CUVsEfp-A/s1779/BE932A74-A255-4BA6-BEDB-3F8991CBD7DB.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="1779" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhEmBbWCRQb4m6CWi7De0o3d3QJtcTQGvZkdDeRbPsySVrHcL31VslwGGaLtvlnYowgpQy-uadgL6sSsHZUI47hWqs7RQC5cS_k2vmlFdGwH4Hdd2Ae3vpuovhh4pdXbQvw5PkWLdaLV8YpkT_Bl8YMrCrE8srMY2IAMf9JGViziqf-CUVsEfp-A/s320/BE932A74-A255-4BA6-BEDB-3F8991CBD7DB.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><br /></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-43848730439057606032023-11-28T12:33:00.011-05:002023-11-28T13:50:04.973-05:00Seig Heil, Adolf Shitler<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_38epkVRjjn4lTmZJwkCl-wjHmjR3CT2rzGjAWu9JLcXP0g9AEtpw-blqRbitQgyv4SkvKXttE0lUPNG7bqkTW571BTnVQIQHKfoPCrAJNAmW6pHMXTZtCRGObYgcT-JZpO5VaV68UKme4BFx4R7nqrv62Ya65wCGd1CPjOFfynN0qFRQcTIgMA/s2500/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1875" data-original-width="2500" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_38epkVRjjn4lTmZJwkCl-wjHmjR3CT2rzGjAWu9JLcXP0g9AEtpw-blqRbitQgyv4SkvKXttE0lUPNG7bqkTW571BTnVQIQHKfoPCrAJNAmW6pHMXTZtCRGObYgcT-JZpO5VaV68UKme4BFx4R7nqrv62Ya65wCGd1CPjOFfynN0qFRQcTIgMA/w455-h341/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.webp" width="455" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPVrNpmnxE0sFnmHM1zr4CuaaN6yhmm0eeP8OpodH0UNlxVKYGueNLckJlUpWojMnlr6xsJmL0xOKpx6yaK6NqeCPG09MhQQNL5Br2BR-1o2dveaIc8Of9LnuFtTvggWYK-k50QClQiyzdPdyLypNNMPfVR48SqRyxgUN7ywvCegY42HfVIcEqw/s281/zzzzzzz.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="281" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPVrNpmnxE0sFnmHM1zr4CuaaN6yhmm0eeP8OpodH0UNlxVKYGueNLckJlUpWojMnlr6xsJmL0xOKpx6yaK6NqeCPG09MhQQNL5Br2BR-1o2dveaIc8Of9LnuFtTvggWYK-k50QClQiyzdPdyLypNNMPfVR48SqRyxgUN7ywvCegY42HfVIcEqw/s1600/zzzzzzz.jpg" width="281" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>This is my first posting on this site in well over a month. To be honest with, the very prospect of The Donald being returned to office in a year is becoming more and more possible with the passing of each wretched day. It's not that he has any hope of winning the popular vote - <i>that's never gonna happen, campers - </i>but the possibility of him getting the most electoral votes is very real. That is why we need to do away with the electoral college. Since the start of this still-young century it has saddled us with one of the worst presidents in American history -<i> and the very worst one</i>. It needs to be abolished. So there.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The very prospect of Trump becoming the first president since Gover Cleveland to serve two non-consecutive terms has had me too depressed to concentrate on anything.</b></div></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvqGRUFTSr7_eirduI45d3tq97cw7JAnZxVROqs0zVulXYBWfwezaHwXsqGxH1N092v7viUCybhqJS0ot5kH0Kh7X03m2xy14iBsL0i75etHLhqMkLcBucwMaSA6L9ksDWgDZUXdYUKJakZcPK2sk4pqa0tDd8IjmrZYQMq7D8MSKpzHzfJ89eQ/s265/zzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="265" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvqGRUFTSr7_eirduI45d3tq97cw7JAnZxVROqs0zVulXYBWfwezaHwXsqGxH1N092v7viUCybhqJS0ot5kH0Kh7X03m2xy14iBsL0i75etHLhqMkLcBucwMaSA6L9ksDWgDZUXdYUKJakZcPK2sk4pqa0tDd8IjmrZYQMq7D8MSKpzHzfJ89eQ/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" width="265" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>If the inmates of Idiot Nation are stupid enough to send this bloviating twit back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue next year (</b><i style="font-weight: bold;">and too many of them are</i><b>) the United States is finished. America has become infected by Trump's rhetoric and bluster. Two days ago, three Arab college students (two of whom are American citizens) were wounded in an attack in Burlington, Vermont. </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">BURLINGTON FREAKING VERMONT! </i><b>One of the sweetest, safest, hippest cities I've ever visited in my life. It would have been one thing if this latest act of racist violence had taken place in <i>Shit-For-Brains, Mississippi - </i>but Burlington, Vermont??? It staggers the imagination.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>I just turned sixty-five and my health is not what it should be. Unfortunately </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">getting out while the getting is good </i><b>is not an option for me. I've no other choice than to ride out the next wave of Donnymania. Trump has publicly stated that "<i>when reelected</i>" he has every intention of persecuting his political enemies. He has already called for the execution of General Mark Milley, a man who has dedicated his life in service to his country. If Trump is elected in 2024, there promises to be an explosion of racial violence in the United States, violence a lot worse than the violence that was visited upon the three students in Burlington; at least those kids survived, <i>thank God</i>. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>One day, the historians and sociologists will try to explain why and how America came to be what bit became in the second and third decades of the twenty-first century. I hope I'm around to read them. I can't figure this stuff out at all.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tom Degan</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>SUGGESTED VIEWING:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Eyewitness to the Death of John Lennon:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve5uDZyyt1M">(1) Eyewitness to the Death of John Lennon | WABC-TV Special - YouTube</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>This news special brings that horrible night back in a way that I didn't think was possible.</b></div></span>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com59tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-5758684029488604992023-10-20T12:33:00.013-04:002023-10-28T14:57:52.696-04:00Hurricane Sydney<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6NVWl1lV3DFYEA0GZfk0LtmK3T1gJUlmRf3PBMLhfaMi6NWV3wZB2xcKaD71J7F-EUhqaw8R6hWoxrejQygTEQYOnqSwmkvb5XcXnGYZts6ffgKuap1J3aocKPCer4Pv5ZFW3KTr9xCFiGqLCgG2Vf5s42Xhoy0WavH_x1ZaMAdZcVWm04sndXA/s474/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="474" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6NVWl1lV3DFYEA0GZfk0LtmK3T1gJUlmRf3PBMLhfaMi6NWV3wZB2xcKaD71J7F-EUhqaw8R6hWoxrejQygTEQYOnqSwmkvb5XcXnGYZts6ffgKuap1J3aocKPCer4Pv5ZFW3KTr9xCFiGqLCgG2Vf5s42Xhoy0WavH_x1ZaMAdZcVWm04sndXA/w421-h283/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="421" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">"The Chicken McNuggets have come home to roost"</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Jimmy Kimmel</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFz1ysyHJcfp9UITGdVmYxhOygELc786u1ccm_-dTwJ6VN4_POly4bIGBpbjRnK9iS3HYZ5T4FHySv6JxUVx8mYYfHKNP0Xe_8hmYxcYF69PnIcSMW7OcwV2Y_V48GCqa_L_RVF4ar5CuFNy6NpI3JBpovV_HW9lNXPSgPQZKNqxuXWKZlgqzsw/s327/zzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="327" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFz1ysyHJcfp9UITGdVmYxhOygELc786u1ccm_-dTwJ6VN4_POly4bIGBpbjRnK9iS3HYZ5T4FHySv6JxUVx8mYYfHKNP0Xe_8hmYxcYF69PnIcSMW7OcwV2Y_V48GCqa_L_RVF4ar5CuFNy6NpI3JBpovV_HW9lNXPSgPQZKNqxuXWKZlgqzsw/w243-h134/zzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="243" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>There cannot be so-much as a molecule of doubt: At this precarious hour, Donald Trump has to be shitting purple yoyos. </b></div></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The decision of </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">former </i><b>Trump lawyer Sydney Powel to </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">flip </i><b>on Donald Trump has a lot of folks within the sphere of the Trump Mob in a state of raw panic and terror I imagine. Other than The Donald himself, there are eighteen other co-defendants who are implicated in the plot to subvert and overthrow American democracy on January 6, 2021 - the latest "Day of Infamy". How many of her cohorts will be making sweet deals for themselves and turning on the hideous little thug in the hours and the days that follow? If she was an eyewitness in any room where an insurrection was being formulated, one can only imagine the terror that is being felt at this moment by those who know of her presence. Just you wait! It'll be the equivalent an army of half-witted rats desperately fleeing a sinking ship. This is going to get interesting, folks.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAvfaMXsodjoCsqLU27XA7-lOqmb3qugHH2Jfh3YA6nYQhYypOGed_bArDVXkMItMYRfpXWE38_YIj1b_GdLqQ4pL8Pb4oo4UYc4Rtyi3pBSyVj9vXc-cQtrrKeglJ6X80hR7g51qsruzAlv99khfBwHezt-drbtq3hpgpvjIBqzQN_rqj4F72DQ/s474/zzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="474" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAvfaMXsodjoCsqLU27XA7-lOqmb3qugHH2Jfh3YA6nYQhYypOGed_bArDVXkMItMYRfpXWE38_YIj1b_GdLqQ4pL8Pb4oo4UYc4Rtyi3pBSyVj9vXc-cQtrrKeglJ6X80hR7g51qsruzAlv99khfBwHezt-drbtq3hpgpvjIBqzQN_rqj4F72DQ/w190-h126/zzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="190" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>There was always something about poor old Sydney that made me somewhat uneasy. I was always under the impression that the poor old gal was just a tad bat-shit crazy. It is my belief that both she and Rudolph Giuliani could make a convincing case of "not guilty by reason of insanity". it would make perfect sense; and if anyone out there has any familiarity with any of Sydney or Rudy's attorneys in this case, you might want to forward this piece to them.</b></div></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>As it turns out, Sydney Powell won't be doing any time in prison for her crimes against the people of the United States. She'll merely be forced to pay a few thousand dollars in fines and will be on parole for about a year (give or take a few months). The worst that can happen to her will be that she might be disbarred from ever practicing law again. Personally, I believe that she is getting a really sweet deal. She must be very relieved at the moment. She should be.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The former First Fool has always had nice things to say about Sydney Powell. That's about to change as you might imagine. Is Trump tampering with her as a witness? I can imagine him phoning her in the dead of night ordering her to keep tight-lipped regarding every crime she saw committed in the White House during the 2020/21 season. </b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>"But Sydney, I'm going to be re-elected next year, and my first order of business on January 20, 2025 will be a sweet and juicy pardon <i>for you!</i>"</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I wouldn't put it past him for a minute. The fact is that no chief executive has the jurisdiction to pardon Sydney Powell. Hers' is a crime against the state of Georgia. It is not a federal crime. The guy's arrogance knows no bounds. I need to take note here of the fact that the word "bitch" rhymes with "snitch". Wait for that to be the next trend in extreme-right-wing talking points. Mark my words, campers.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>It's almost a pity that Dick Nixon couldn't live to see this moment in our history. Compared to the Trump Mob, the Nixon Gang are starting to look like the Founding Fathers. Did you ever dream that you would live to see the day where our national civic dialogue would become this unhinged? I always knew that it would eventually happen - <i>but not in my lifetime. </i></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Strange days indeed.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Tom Degan - Goshen, NY</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>SUGGESTED VIEWING:</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>This very well-made documentary about the 2020 campaign appeared on PBS's Frontline recently. </b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Icu6qupf40">(2) The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden (full documentary) | FRONTLINE - YouTube</a></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>It's well-worth your precious time.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>AFTERTHOUGHT, 10/28/23, 3:00 PM:</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>I posted this on Facebook three years ago. I found it in the Memories file. It ain't bad.</b></p><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a" style="animation-name: none !important; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none !important; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; font-family: inherit; text-align: center; transition-property: none !important;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Is stealing ever justified?</span></b></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="animation-name: none !important; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none !important; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; font-family: inherit; text-align: center; transition-property: none !important;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">If your child is hungry and you need to steal a loaf of bread and a pint of milk in order to feed that child, then, yes, stealing is more than justified. Blessed are the meek - even if they're forced to resort to theft. Even if they go to prison for the offense. That is why our prisons are filled with people for whom poverty is almost like an old and dysfunctional friend. Rich people don't go to prison - unless they steal from other rich people.</span></b></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="animation-name: none !important; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none !important; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; font-family: inherit; text-align: center; transition-property: none !important;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="animation-name: none !important; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none !important;"><a style="animation-name: none !important; color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none !important;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>Breathe in the crisp, Autumn air.</span></b></div></div>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com56tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-27539644061801474642023-10-07T13:24:00.012-04:002023-10-08T17:34:56.160-04:00Chaos In Their Wake<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU3quAOBVp9sCKKFKlR__VjziooE0y8ZoLLjk-rXPPQ1WZOREMR6EhX9qr6VtQe3Ppijv0JhvSfHjkAP_a0AFgNfu6XufO360SgmJiWFfRDzh4IlgGf-a9Yb32HwNH_L3UphliSYfqrS1GZZYrspojweqi73qYBKYC3qPddlbtkTd4W6AT00JowA/s474/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU3quAOBVp9sCKKFKlR__VjziooE0y8ZoLLjk-rXPPQ1WZOREMR6EhX9qr6VtQe3Ppijv0JhvSfHjkAP_a0AFgNfu6XufO360SgmJiWFfRDzh4IlgGf-a9Yb32HwNH_L3UphliSYfqrS1GZZYrspojweqi73qYBKYC3qPddlbtkTd4W6AT00JowA/w463-h260/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="463" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5PF49A4wX5GDsvUnyXRsfpzHkZYAb2filIbzpLvwSCj5Ncnj7Z0X97-qJ1-VFAE3GiSam9NZCly_7naTKTwq71ySnkUXhhVdpeTKUUWP8C7oGn5q4FviSU4HKmIHZ4PqeaeRnKD0tEU6A9-KM_oMV3Sy8zHU8XtrAI3uxzHguJoGSrJIhkYIL5w/s322/zzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="181" data-original-width="322" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5PF49A4wX5GDsvUnyXRsfpzHkZYAb2filIbzpLvwSCj5Ncnj7Z0X97-qJ1-VFAE3GiSam9NZCly_7naTKTwq71ySnkUXhhVdpeTKUUWP8C7oGn5q4FviSU4HKmIHZ4PqeaeRnKD0tEU6A9-KM_oMV3Sy8zHU8XtrAI3uxzHguJoGSrJIhkYIL5w/w270-h153/zzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="270" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cassidy</td></tr></tbody></table>I used to speculate that back in the not-too-Fabulous-Fifties, while Joe McCarthy was stumbling around the country doing so much damage to American civil liberties, the average American could take comfort that seventy years ago, there was only one Joe McCarthy. Today the halls of the House of Reprehensibles is literally </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">crawling </i><b>with scores of Joe McCarthy wannabes. One of the most hideous and vile of the bunch is a lamebrained congressman from Florida named Matt Gaetz, He succeeded this week in removing Kevin McCarthy from his position as Speaker of the House. I suspect this was a personal vendetta on his part. As Cassidy Hutchinson relates in her recently released memoires, a couple of years ago Gaetz tried to get Cassidy to let him into her room at Camp David. McCarthy came to the poor woman's aid and effectively told Matty boy to get lost. Matt was determined to get vengeance. It's only a theory of mine but it makes perfect sense.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>By the way, After Cassidy's book was released last month, Gaetz, dismayed no doubt by the unflattering things she wrote about him, said in a statement that he and Cassidy dated for a while. In an appearance of the Jimmy Kimmel program, Cassidy Hutchinson stated unequivocally that her tastes in men are several notches above the likes of Matt Gaetz and that "he's not a serious person".</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; font-weight: bold;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI4XD8pG9_6FIWzThMa_xe6d12JjALRXY-Ew8Ucl2f93zfAZfDKrr-BjZUZxfq2ZoHrRJ5ZMgcWN1ke1ATkuc43eN2yQDoPGDM266qP_qIVu4Fo-Z_8FwpJo947fphffK2w6VpBGtWpWZotJOfYU_qNlMWD8S_BM0UloqrGynveNeUwle3iIEr8g/s284/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="284" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI4XD8pG9_6FIWzThMa_xe6d12JjALRXY-Ew8Ucl2f93zfAZfDKrr-BjZUZxfq2ZoHrRJ5ZMgcWN1ke1ATkuc43eN2yQDoPGDM266qP_qIVu4Fo-Z_8FwpJo947fphffK2w6VpBGtWpWZotJOfYU_qNlMWD8S_BM0UloqrGynveNeUwle3iIEr8g/w228-h152/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="228" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gym Jordan</td></tr></tbody></table><b>Here is one of the </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">many </i><b>reasons why I left the Democratic Party twenty-five years ago: the main problem with that idiotic party is that they don't think </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">long range</i><b>. A lot of them were just giddy to join the extremist republicans in ousting Speaker McCarthy - which is why I believe that there are not too many of these knuckleheads who are any good at chess. Did any of them not stop and think about the possibility that the next one might not be as bad as McCarthy? That he might even turn out to be much worse? I'm not sure about Steve Scalese....</b><i style="font-weight: bold;">BUT JIM JORDAN???</i><b> (or as I usually refer to him, "Gym" Jordan). The man is a thug and a charlatan of the worst order. Why the good people of Ohio would send such an incomprehensible and disgusting crank to represent them in Washington is anybody's guess. Remember it was Jordan who was caught red-handed in a scandal from when he was an assistant wrestling coach at an Ohio college covering up for some perverted doctor who had been sexually harassing some of the boys under his charge. </b><b>And don't forget that it was former GOP Speaker Denny Hastert whose life and career were ruined because of a nasty scandal involving the abuse of young men barely out of their teens....<i>NICE!</i>.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>NOTE TO THE GOP: <i>Do you folks really want to go down this road again??? </i>Asking for a friend.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>In 1856, when the Republican Party was founded, they were the party of black peoples' freedom. That is no longer the case. Wake the fuck up.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tom Degan<br />Goshen, NY</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>SUGGESTGED VIEWING:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>This interview with one-time Republican operative Mona Charen appeared recently on PBS's Frontline:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13dPT9Cr6u4">(1) Lies, Politics and Democracy: Mona Charen (interview) | FRONTLINE - YouTube</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>It's eye-opening.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>AFTERTHOUGHT, 10/8/23, 5:34 PM</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>It appears that Jim Jordan will be the next speaker of the house. Watch while this once-great-nation discends into the abyss </b></div><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com84tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-61444631994243161702023-09-11T16:14:00.013-04:002023-10-07T13:45:34.407-04:00March in Washington<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuTYjapzqRX3rqiqBqYidmwd5rLmmF7ER_Fhqbsf4fmiBq2zXzUV49pPIMuaAwr568--MzkRjaRZUIrjU4xko3-2F5525rAM9RwNxqDdXG9yrofUYVruuZ7DPHAw_VijsMGCwF6HGaghw0NXJzo4dq_BtpwRmZJZFqo9hTOaS8tgfAyBg2EDpnBw/w376-h250/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="376" /></span></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmWkuahzGDWZw1CNnljBB6ak-xOOasYL94b-z-VIOAUIW_E60MvOAVXMh1DHJzpSxictfUI8TLTrJWDrEU5T2TiibKmtW9IqvZyY48jIerZiW-FsaVPc-qr3xWArTcK4cFPNo1nuUXezDgKWsuGMo5jm2pnda7w3i9_h1XqDg-2uPUmBYI52B56Q/s474/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="474" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmWkuahzGDWZw1CNnljBB6ak-xOOasYL94b-z-VIOAUIW_E60MvOAVXMh1DHJzpSxictfUI8TLTrJWDrEU5T2TiibKmtW9IqvZyY48jIerZiW-FsaVPc-qr3xWArTcK4cFPNo1nuUXezDgKWsuGMo5jm2pnda7w3i9_h1XqDg-2uPUmBYI52B56Q/w241-h163/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="241" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>I wanted to write this on the 28th 0f August, the sixtieth anniversary of the March on Washington. Given the heat wave that most of the country was experiencing at that moment, working in the upstairs office in my house was out of the question. I should have done it all the same. I was in a fairly decent mood on the 28 two weeks ago. I'm not today, On</b><i style="font-weight: bold;"> that </i><b>particular day my plan was to focus on how far we've come as a country. Today I cannot stop thinking about how far we need to go. On August 28th 1963 there had not been an overt white supremacist in the White House since 1921, Since The March, we've had </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">two: </i><b>Ronald Reagan (who was covert) and Donald Trump (who was quite overt). Back in the day, politicians had the good sense to keep their bigotry to themselves. Today the halls of the Senate and the House (and too many governor's mansions to count) are littered with racists. Sure, we've had an African American president - <i>which is a decided step forward -</i> but in too many cases we've taken decided steps backwards. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>AFTERTHOUGHT, 2 October 2023:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>I never finished this one. Truth be told, my health has not been great lately and my concentration and energy level has been in the toilet. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tom Degan</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTYDkvzboEhUmL2iPfAC_SwZWA4nD_6VcMS2nABCtMeVIpfX0B_73b0gPbLiyfARwA9znj4iBkwiO6IP3bmn_YxC0S7SvWu7hyYqjhPdDoBgv1VUeFeNy6ds2f8GNIFgOGEvyeo_Ea524gRJEVX59rjE-kuxToWPzaXj2mVH_WPf_SETy6MdptA/s2141/Charley%20Chase.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2141" data-original-width="1686" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTYDkvzboEhUmL2iPfAC_SwZWA4nD_6VcMS2nABCtMeVIpfX0B_73b0gPbLiyfARwA9znj4iBkwiO6IP3bmn_YxC0S7SvWu7hyYqjhPdDoBgv1VUeFeNy6ds2f8GNIFgOGEvyeo_Ea524gRJEVX59rjE-kuxToWPzaXj2mVH_WPf_SETy6MdptA/w181-h230/Charley%20Chase.jpeg" width="181" /></a></div>SUGGESTED VIEWING:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Crazy Like a Fox (1926)</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Charley Chase was one of the great silent film comedians. Sadly, he's all but forgotten today. This film is really funny. Look for a young Oliver Hardy. This was a year before he teamed up with Stan Laurel. Charley Chase died in 1940, age forty-seven, from acute alcoholism.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-YYokruNqk">(1) CRAZY LIKE A FOX 1926 STARRING CHARLIE CHASE - YouTube</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div></span><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The man was a hoot-and-a-half.</b></span></div>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-29671303673747155072023-08-30T14:58:00.013-04:002023-08-30T16:01:49.605-04:00POST #1,128: Random Observations<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF3VoI4nDZEdsk2lFfH403G4Cwv-yiSG_6zfISfnOhO9HnU41aY3av8AObDyRcM3DQzAG2sfCYV7ji3Sl9FWSaIiXXfEjSJspiLJWDd7w3jtOhoWLTyagFm0XJ7bSX4aWZM5AXVnCESPA-eb7bvaGz7LR7kXJxUjBJYDJzSqvORNFYpbJO-aq0eg/s720/tom%20degan%20-%20bud.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF3VoI4nDZEdsk2lFfH403G4Cwv-yiSG_6zfISfnOhO9HnU41aY3av8AObDyRcM3DQzAG2sfCYV7ji3Sl9FWSaIiXXfEjSJspiLJWDd7w3jtOhoWLTyagFm0XJ7bSX4aWZM5AXVnCESPA-eb7bvaGz7LR7kXJxUjBJYDJzSqvORNFYpbJO-aq0eg/w436-h327/tom%20degan%20-%20bud.jpg" width="436" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pissing off the Far Right since June of 2006</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="474" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4jMalD5m1xrwSmPKTQnoumV8WZEGFJuxyB6bfzHxyqBOUO5czLI1Frkxr04rhfvj_MxReeBHGdvlpOJRLrLbdEnpzAE7Xf2HOK7lZzMsGyhIYbA2lWT_6jSY-uxtGUlEQKx8oDkVPEsThl6vrCb8OVxXCbvYtZ3Wg5eadVpDA1RB_v20O2GC7jQ/w278-h162/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="278" /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-size: large;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-size: large;">What you are about to read are a collection of unrelated observations that I had scribbled in my notebook or posted out in the Facebooksphere. Any resemblances to any people - <i>living or not-quite-so-living</i> - are purely intentional. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>1: More American Carnage</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>There was another mass shooting in the American night; this time at a dollar store in Jacksonville, Florida. Get used to living in a nation in ruins. Unless our politicians get their priorities in order, this is the way it's going to be from now on. keep voting the Republicans and the Blue Dog Democrats. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>2: The Error of Donnie's Ways</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Donald Trump's fatal error was assumption that all professional Republican politicians are as blatantly corrupt as he. Most of them are - <i>but not all of them, </i>I cannot tell you what a pleasant surprise it was for me to find this out.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>3: The Year of the Black Woman</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Three of the four people whose mission it it to deliver justice to Donald Trump are Black women. I'm absolutely certain that this nasty little fact must be driving the old bugger nuts. <i>Book 'Em, Fani.</i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmyejtGEyWeTTavFt_9OT0D5lonTgcQd4H5AmCuK8gXTpeIYKSja9fNy7IZRoj1OiGcTPfZW4LVuxog9dVH-pKTYX46dRbEX2LyLc6GGR5U6N5dGNmKYlB4Bec0p2UBN50AmuyJHbYhQCshkY5fi-4g7vjQvejZPOr4irLW7nGYvCZRGWuHGLgQ/s331/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="175" data-original-width="331" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmyejtGEyWeTTavFt_9OT0D5lonTgcQd4H5AmCuK8gXTpeIYKSja9fNy7IZRoj1OiGcTPfZW4LVuxog9dVH-pKTYX46dRbEX2LyLc6GGR5U6N5dGNmKYlB4Bec0p2UBN50AmuyJHbYhQCshkY5fi-4g7vjQvejZPOr4irLW7nGYvCZRGWuHGLgQ/w243-h128/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="243" /></a></div>4: Rudy's Irony</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Twenty-two years ago, Rudolph Giuliani was one of the most beloved Republican politicians since Dwight Eisenhower - perhaps even Theodore Roosevelt. Three years ago, he attached his star to Donald Trump's clown car. Today his historic reputation is mere ashes on the alter of public opinion. He is telling everyone who will bother to listen that he is proud to be in Donald Trump's corner. He's not. The association with the former POTUS is the biggest regret of his once-proud life. Take it to the bank.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>5: What Is Reality?</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>This particular post that you are now reading has no point whatsoever. Please move on to the next one.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>6: A Disney Moment</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I just had a revelation that almost threw me: today (August 30, 2023) I am four days older than Walt Disney was on the day he died (December 15, 1966). My only comfort is the certain knowledge that when you wish upon a star, it doesn't make a damned bit of difference how old you are.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Tom Degan</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Goshen, NY</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">SUGGESTED VIEWING:</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Don't Arraign on His Parade</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">By Randy Rainbow</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Randy's latest is a hoot!</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=596N4aPnjrs">Don't Arraign on His Parade! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody - YouTube</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The man is every bit as good a lyricist as Lorenz Hart.</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">AFTERTHOUGHT, 4:00 PM</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Piss off the Looney Right!</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Go out and enjoy a Bud Light!</span></b></div><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com56tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-16294833348650754192023-08-25T13:42:00.020-04:002023-08-27T07:05:41.683-04:00WHAT A MUG!<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAWJteeG66Yow4HoparWIXNb2UrGMqnm7uKOyJT-Fj9BPUdxsAVrYvfbqDiyVzzGsZRwSUgpRH0Yi-tcCHNz3Ii0gkDExr9XmhiN5DrmjSUTkPSH0iuqcnCjP6caq14Zcxg589sXT6cZuauwRlOvR5_u4MX70MWdGKxEUgTSBC87-qpFCrrLtKmw/s526/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="526" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAWJteeG66Yow4HoparWIXNb2UrGMqnm7uKOyJT-Fj9BPUdxsAVrYvfbqDiyVzzGsZRwSUgpRH0Yi-tcCHNz3Ii0gkDExr9XmhiN5DrmjSUTkPSH0iuqcnCjP6caq14Zcxg589sXT6cZuauwRlOvR5_u4MX70MWdGKxEUgTSBC87-qpFCrrLtKmw/w399-h399/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" width="399" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mugshot of the former president of the United States</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcgJ9O0OFQQ_OqzQg8-E0KMLqjcBy3Pw_YNVt-Az4YohDJrV7C5PoRMx6P3WhOel9dEmOztChxtgVNuvfwl0Fyqk0Sx5TDg8ztQxa0hCBZKCHFJUQGOcYco6aU0U7hvEMXikdk7BZuIGHfylQdrzm_CLuKiki6iU2XBKxqXV9sFSH8RD60UHhjxA/s526/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="526" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcgJ9O0OFQQ_OqzQg8-E0KMLqjcBy3Pw_YNVt-Az4YohDJrV7C5PoRMx6P3WhOel9dEmOztChxtgVNuvfwl0Fyqk0Sx5TDg8ztQxa0hCBZKCHFJUQGOcYco6aU0U7hvEMXikdk7BZuIGHfylQdrzm_CLuKiki6iU2XBKxqXV9sFSH8RD60UHhjxA/w157-h157/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" width="157" /></a></div>Yesterday was a ripe day for schadenfreude. Donald J. Trump, the former president of the United States, was booked for multiple felonies in Georgia at the Fulton County Jail....<i>The Fulton County Jail....</i>It sounds like the name of a country and western record:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Oh, Mama, A'hm here in the Fulton County Jail</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Mah life has always been a gigantic fail</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOskJAbvvwy1DETSTGAjVkcTfFNfNSEOphuNid1a7OOSDspvIOnjHOmgBsACfhzQzZTcxULQyEtAfoTuswfj8ZFMX1HqO4rdC4dkv7zKTROMRJlvIDmtbKeccZw4Gp1noAktei6pOMHrP_AHHcMiEqWjSBt26m6PcgICIOaZVzNckOU_3FR5He0Q/s526/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="526" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOskJAbvvwy1DETSTGAjVkcTfFNfNSEOphuNid1a7OOSDspvIOnjHOmgBsACfhzQzZTcxULQyEtAfoTuswfj8ZFMX1HqO4rdC4dkv7zKTROMRJlvIDmtbKeccZw4Gp1noAktei6pOMHrP_AHHcMiEqWjSBt26m6PcgICIOaZVzNckOU_3FR5He0Q/w142-h142/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" width="142" /></a></div>If Trump is convicted of only one of the ninety-one felonies he's being charged with, it will end up meaning that he'll go to prison for at least five years....<i>Five years in the slammer, baby! </i>He could very-well die in federal custody. For someone who has spent the last fifty years thumbing his nose at the law, this would be quite a </b></span><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Shakespearian comeuppance indeed. For someone like me - who was laughed at and sneered at seven years ago when I predicted that his administration would end disastrously with him being the first chief-executive in American history to be sent to federal prison - this is indeed a red-letter-day of sweet vindication.<br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-FTtjTbUJJmOvUoXf2FXzFiudFcQzxnAnX0b4I54iTtl-iEVjAm3lf1Ro2ZqMJByBH5lBWk7dLdtD548chhHu80OMaWLoeZrVJcbXRtDLIZBMbs-BLAWVeIdlWFPJYyEHaBgub-N_CwdDSfGGG-H8zwK3AAk-sIb1dOgjtRRgmht2bYfkt23hZA/s526/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="526" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-FTtjTbUJJmOvUoXf2FXzFiudFcQzxnAnX0b4I54iTtl-iEVjAm3lf1Ro2ZqMJByBH5lBWk7dLdtD548chhHu80OMaWLoeZrVJcbXRtDLIZBMbs-BLAWVeIdlWFPJYyEHaBgub-N_CwdDSfGGG-H8zwK3AAk-sIb1dOgjtRRgmht2bYfkt23hZA/w122-h122/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" width="122" /></a></div>Some of the opinion makers out there are mournfully bowing their talking heads and bemoaning yesterday as "a sad day for America". I could not disagree more. In fact (with the exception of Donald Trump and company) yesterday should have been viewed by all as a beautiful day for America and the American people. Yesterday the entire nation could hold their heads up high and proclaim to the rest of the planet that, in the United States of America, <i>NO ONE </i>is above the law. Thats's a very good thing. It was one of the great days in the history of this country, with the head of an organized criminal enterprise being held accountable for his many crimes against the people. What's not to be giddy about? <i>Smile, Darn You, Smile!!!</i></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp1wuxePjvlSxyk8jOyARMdcIDC3nt7M-aLA8tsp0OYRVH2cMWfvWgm0Pv4e0C8LnJlw5I87rSCny0IvRYEbaXh_ssfHBqE-gE3kvRbU48VjooWSzx-0hAcXXSvK4yggp7X_tKkKa30baZvWkFcIdnyMCQK2T5Heqh0JXblSyMeFC1iIoO_RKBfg/s526/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="526" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp1wuxePjvlSxyk8jOyARMdcIDC3nt7M-aLA8tsp0OYRVH2cMWfvWgm0Pv4e0C8LnJlw5I87rSCny0IvRYEbaXh_ssfHBqE-gE3kvRbU48VjooWSzx-0hAcXXSvK4yggp7X_tKkKa30baZvWkFcIdnyMCQK2T5Heqh0JXblSyMeFC1iIoO_RKBfg/w147-h147/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" width="147" /></a></div>The following twelve months will be the most civically interesting of our lifetimes. </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">More interesting than Watergate even.</i><b> As I've said too many times to count, Nixon was a pin-prick. Donald Trump is a freakin' </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">blood bath, </i><b>A lot could happen between now and the GOP convention next summer. If Trump ends up incarcerated between now and then, would he be so brazen to run his campaign from his prison cell? </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">Of course he would! </i><b>Remember that this is Donald Trump we're talking about here. In fact, it would not be unprecedented; Socialist candidate Eugene Debs ran his 1920 campaign for the presidency from <i>his</i> prison cell. The only difference between the two men is the fact that Debs would have made a pretty decent president.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFOsYEFPranEAnzO1KfxwgF6jAitLZcaczY-OkFA5rJmglcnuhZsKSwZ64174aDfn0yA8tQ63q6rj-_7VC2dwaqgZR2ajltASvSfqE3n-3n2H-syzPRfth7rJOqWTMXf46jR82X3HHt_f0mco5MaojSk8iJO8sEA9xr7ELSZhB3qel36rjPqhj8Q/s526/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="526" data-original-width="526" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFOsYEFPranEAnzO1KfxwgF6jAitLZcaczY-OkFA5rJmglcnuhZsKSwZ64174aDfn0yA8tQ63q6rj-_7VC2dwaqgZR2ajltASvSfqE3n-3n2H-syzPRfth7rJOqWTMXf46jR82X3HHt_f0mco5MaojSk8iJO8sEA9xr7ELSZhB3qel36rjPqhj8Q/w148-h148/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" width="148" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;"><b>I hope I live long enough to see this mess through to its conclusion (my health is not great these days and my longevity is anybody's guess). The first time I ever heard of Donald Trump was not though the print or electronic media <i>- it was by meeting him</i>. It was about 1983 or '84. I was polishing the brass railings in the lobby of the not-yet-opened Trump Tower when Donald and one of his sycophantic little flunkies came over to where we were working. After he asked us a couple of questions about what we were doing, the sycophantic little flunkie informed us that we should not direct our answers to "Mr. Trump" -<i> but to him</i>. I remember thinking: <i>What an asshole! </i>At the time, Trump was just another dime-a-dozen New York real estate mogul and not yet a public </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>figure. That would happen in about a year. After that, I studied every article on him that I came across. By the year 2016 I was an expert on the guy. That is why when he seized the White House on January 20, 2017, I knew he would be a disaster as chief-executive. In fact, it was the easiest call I ever made.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Tom Degan</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>SUGGESTED READING:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Confidence Man</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>by Maggie Haberman.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I plugged this one a couple of weeks ago but I need to repeat myself. Historians will still be referencing this excellent book a century from now.</b></span></div></span></div><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-25845226060498954812023-08-09T12:30:00.022-04:002023-08-10T12:36:41.421-04:00Jumpsuit For the Donald<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIpTUWyGxp9sKx5i_ZmghpbL6-0C4_C_GC3qmKfFYIkprr_WBDro-nKRy0lRtKGduutejbhgSIWZ7-uEhmzt_z8ETJJF5GeQyyki7yqQjTNuIUnTIPl_Jf0LK2dT33_IXG7mYOEbXP-vzTJB19RXq0FbfdI2ledJ1XfpQtSB9L2rT3hY1_WXbqng/s1243/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1243" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIpTUWyGxp9sKx5i_ZmghpbL6-0C4_C_GC3qmKfFYIkprr_WBDro-nKRy0lRtKGduutejbhgSIWZ7-uEhmzt_z8ETJJF5GeQyyki7yqQjTNuIUnTIPl_Jf0LK2dT33_IXG7mYOEbXP-vzTJB19RXq0FbfdI2ledJ1XfpQtSB9L2rT3hY1_WXbqng/w459-h252/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="459" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU."</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;">Donald J. Trump, <span style="font-size: medium;"><b>8/4/23</b></span></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdZfZRTGFNgNCW6A1TlgU4zVas0V4_HBmlNmYdH4kKelGqSUvdEa9KzhKjKbzbSoF2rIn8BRVhiaiKUAQs2Enj7ER97M-fe5B8f246Dizrv7hG6D273NzUGur0eXGY6htfC0nSZ8EoGYEHp9RVixX__p62sx6sXd66mCJXsLwxq5EheWd6vU22w/s286/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="286" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdZfZRTGFNgNCW6A1TlgU4zVas0V4_HBmlNmYdH4kKelGqSUvdEa9KzhKjKbzbSoF2rIn8BRVhiaiKUAQs2Enj7ER97M-fe5B8f246Dizrv7hG6D273NzUGur0eXGY6htfC0nSZ8EoGYEHp9RVixX__p62sx6sXd66mCJXsLwxq5EheWd6vU22w/w247-h155/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="247" /></a></b></div><b>Full disclosure: I committed a felony - <i>once.</i></b><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>The year was 1975 and I was seventeen. I had come into possession of eight ounces of marijuana. Back in the days of New York governor Nelson Rockefeller's insanely stupid drug laws, carrying</b><b> a half pound of weed was a felony. I knew perf</b><b>ectly well that what I was doing was <i>agin</i>' the law but, the way I looked at it, I was hurting no one - <i>not even myself</i>. That was the only time in my life that I committed any type of felony. Given the age I was in 1975, I would not have been tried as an adult had the coppers nabbed me. That being the case, the question is screaming to be posed:</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>How the heck does a man in his seventies manage to commit seventy-eight felonies in the course of just four years?</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Oh yeah, "</b><span style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">allegedly". </i><b>We must not forget the truism that Donald Trump is innocent until proven guilty. For all we know, that audio recording of him threatening the Georgia secretary of state with criminal prosecution if he didn't provide the seventeen-thousand-plus votes needed to secure that stare's election might only be Rich Little doing an impression of the man's voice. If that is the case it would be the only perfect impersonation that Rich Little ever did in his career. I think the guy's incredibly overrated.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>The man that we must assume Trump was threatening in the quote at the top of this piece is the man who is in the process of making the case against Trump, Jack Smith. Making so public a threat against a prosecutor is against the law. Trump should placed in custody until his trials are over and he is sent to federal prison - <i>not jail - </i>PRISON.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Jail is where you go when you've had one-too-many on a Saturday night and you accidentally back your car into the plate glass window of the local pharmacy. Donald Trump needs to go to prison for a very <i>- VERY - </i>long time.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbTbZNEDo_ZrmtKvKN0i9COEle9EJ-eB6LibMiW5y1eO7ATVTmR4v8FRbtI16PUnxQGM9TwJY4YhroIzl5vTHPKDnybKMkZNj_7MA9jgC7euXji8ug4osA5fnT3RFvKWxRD_0qz7yWJUZoKpbJmGXZhZh7PNGiB1MhZQCb3GNc_sgaL1soQqMkug/s279/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="279" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbTbZNEDo_ZrmtKvKN0i9COEle9EJ-eB6LibMiW5y1eO7ATVTmR4v8FRbtI16PUnxQGM9TwJY4YhroIzl5vTHPKDnybKMkZNj_7MA9jgC7euXji8ug4osA5fnT3RFvKWxRD_0qz7yWJUZoKpbJmGXZhZh7PNGiB1MhZQCb3GNc_sgaL1soQqMkug/w225-h152/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="225" /></a></b></span></div><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>In the meantime, hold the silly dip-shit in the slammer until [</b><i style="font-weight: bold;">unless</i><b>] he is sent up the river for his long overdue, involuntary vacation. Anyone else who publicly threatens an officer of the court for doing his job would immediately be placed into custody.</b><i style="font-weight: bold;"> Why not Donald Trump? And what does he mean by, "I'm coming after you"? </i><b>Is the deranged old bugger physically threatening Jack Smith? </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">Is he threatening his life? </i><b>At the very least he needs to be brought in for some serious questioning. His lawyers must be having a collective nervous breakdown. </b></div></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Some are arguing that sending a former POTUS up the river would set a terrible precedent. <i>I agree wholeheartedly. </i>The only worse precedent would be to allow him to get away with his crimes against the people of the United States. We need to send a message to the rest of the planet that, in the Untied States of America, <i>no one</i> is above the law. not Donald Trump; not you; not even seventeen-year-old Tom Degan (The statute of limitations long ago ran out; the weed in question long ago went up in smoke. <i>NYAH!) </i></b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Tom Degan, Goshen, NY</b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>SUGGESTED READING:</b></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Confidence Man by Maggie Haberman </b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>The best post-presidency book on Trump yet written. Historians a century from now will be referencing this amazing work. Maggie is as good as they get.</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>AFTERTHOUGHT, 8/10/23, 12:30 PM:</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>When I learned that a gun company was marketing an automatic weapon for pre-schoolers, my immediate reaction was that this has to be a joke.</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>It isn't.</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/01/wee-1s-jr-15-is-the-ar-15-for-kids.html?fbclid=IwAR0q0RJVjiAkN8k3XGQTYCtdlUrZ6l3ubHskV5qBsiv2ZFEz_rGRsrZDV4c">WEE-1’s JR-15 Is the AR-15 for Kids (nymag.com)</a></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Idiot Nation</b></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com132tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-33722209396069514742023-07-22T14:09:00.007-04:002023-08-30T16:03:41.311-04:00Slavery is Bad: DUH!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOZxdXFQunwdxsWorM8mlV7O_B1hV8L34u1EDdKEFWyM7XwCAyZaF6iKuzy12IpOJmDsh4LOax0-lKW-2o3Cd7zncyNIYmEaXRCWOj5lPuSjdq-1yAkiG6SFDYZS5TSG8uwtwGPZnXdoHwckXnAtocghauUpNMY0D6Nf-d10k3rNOVaTCCb0Yk5A/s500/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="500" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOZxdXFQunwdxsWorM8mlV7O_B1hV8L34u1EDdKEFWyM7XwCAyZaF6iKuzy12IpOJmDsh4LOax0-lKW-2o3Cd7zncyNIYmEaXRCWOj5lPuSjdq-1yAkiG6SFDYZS5TSG8uwtwGPZnXdoHwckXnAtocghauUpNMY0D6Nf-d10k3rNOVaTCCb0Yk5A/w458-h239/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="458" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix636azah4iAElQRwWM0jxFnU60ibzs2-E-50b5LJOM9rG-fnRzAU16kzbqcQjDyROgzlZJMDEx_kYH9c8FFsatG0jU3rn1vqq4c3mWfXNEaJYVttCkVdSjfCwMnBYaz83iAbKSDfUqXrDS4sKlD0wR_oIx8b7PjJ1C7O21F62iML7etRspxP2_w/s256/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="256" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix636azah4iAElQRwWM0jxFnU60ibzs2-E-50b5LJOM9rG-fnRzAU16kzbqcQjDyROgzlZJMDEx_kYH9c8FFsatG0jU3rn1vqq4c3mWfXNEaJYVttCkVdSjfCwMnBYaz83iAbKSDfUqXrDS4sKlD0wR_oIx8b7PjJ1C7O21F62iML7etRspxP2_w/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="256" /></a></div>It's almost impossible for me to fathom how - </b><i><b>nearly a quarter of the way into the twenty-first century </b></i><b>- we're having this idiotic argument. And it is no surprise that the main stage of the argument is taking place in the Sunshine State - where, as you might have surmised by now - some of the dumbest people in America reside. I once had a good friend who moved to that state in the mid-eighties. Because of my writings, he has not spoken to me in over eight years. That's okay, I'll be fine. He'll be fine, too, I think.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2ZA-X6dOgODG2uoAKiRzJBpYtWCNpJQp21dSRpv3VeQFkqFtHGmmKseP8E4b4A27OohNR5MSQPjUJg4oiVT-aI0uHG-3NZjUHj8QKCYSfpcI1BocepQTkH2KAb3Fkyl_WAVK14GnGP4pvAQTyNo_-jE3EztulqGbxKXUS7ASt3hTlJORCPzDWg/s319/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="319" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2ZA-X6dOgODG2uoAKiRzJBpYtWCNpJQp21dSRpv3VeQFkqFtHGmmKseP8E4b4A27OohNR5MSQPjUJg4oiVT-aI0uHG-3NZjUHj8QKCYSfpcI1BocepQTkH2KAb3Fkyl_WAVK14GnGP4pvAQTyNo_-jE3EztulqGbxKXUS7ASt3hTlJORCPzDWg/w264-h149/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="264" /></a></div>Ron DeSantis is the worst racist to come along in politics since Mississippi's own John Stennis nearly seventy years ago (as vile a creature to come out of dear old Dixie since the Civil War). While a lot of politicians are truly racist, most of them have the good sense to keep that racism to themselves. </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">Not Ron! </i><b>His latest cause is watering down African American history in the Florida school system. They now want to teach the kids down there that slavery was an institution that "</b><i style="font-weight: bold;">benefitted</i><b>" many of the human beings being held in bondage., you see, it allowed many of them to learn a trade. African American history is the hinge on which the doors of American history open. If you do not understand the story of the struggle of African American men, woman and children in this country, you don't understand American history - <i>period</i>. It's as simple as that, campers.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Tom Degan</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>SUGGESTED READING:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The best book ever written about the civil rights era</b></span></div><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com114tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-1577302403436676612023-07-10T14:08:00.013-04:002023-08-10T12:54:00.303-04:00The Harder They Fall<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4iUtsR2g4FJG6CsNSg7JlKCrbjqy1Dv4ofi8hTm-0rs3pH7A61ihXZ_-ETwK1VauICEsk58WRArJHyvFfuphamtIvXB6nrZJw8TH125dP97GKXJt_lUK9MKjBIrn3lz9wVDISX1fcRZXxY-VgYcpOxGvggaKf1oQGqLpPHG8NpK-MK2fbcinbA/s1500/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4iUtsR2g4FJG6CsNSg7JlKCrbjqy1Dv4ofi8hTm-0rs3pH7A61ihXZ_-ETwK1VauICEsk58WRArJHyvFfuphamtIvXB6nrZJw8TH125dP97GKXJt_lUK9MKjBIrn3lz9wVDISX1fcRZXxY-VgYcpOxGvggaKf1oQGqLpPHG8NpK-MK2fbcinbA/w385-h256/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="385" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ocvB7rZBymVTIk4B_LlbhXpIdZ5MLf9SUthPgidZ5gQyffrvP6HzxCS2JM_YjHtZTJSqIKCHTqFNOqsSRKg4jzAVrkHHKlJvYFB7SzsON-GCzrFvG35HC-_Z7s_PQ-34GB4pQL8cpFougtBudFEn0yBuKm2NLl5m76Dfh4lhsmaJIGhksHXcVg/s2716/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2716" data-original-width="2171" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ocvB7rZBymVTIk4B_LlbhXpIdZ5MLf9SUthPgidZ5gQyffrvP6HzxCS2JM_YjHtZTJSqIKCHTqFNOqsSRKg4jzAVrkHHKlJvYFB7SzsON-GCzrFvG35HC-_Z7s_PQ-34GB4pQL8cpFougtBudFEn0yBuKm2NLl5m76Dfh4lhsmaJIGhksHXcVg/w162-h202/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="162" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fiorello LaGuardia</td></tr></tbody></table>T</span><b><span style="font-size: medium;">hese must be tormented times for Rudolph Giuliani. Can you imagine? I know he's thinking to himself: If only I had walked away when my term as mayor of New York City ended in the months following the attacks of September 11, 2001 and stayed the hell away from politics and politicians.</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">He would today be remembered as a beloved mayor of the greatest city in the world and have a cherished place in the heart of history - much like Fiorello LaGuardia does today. </span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">As John Belushi liked to say in his day:</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>"BUT NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"</i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>As it stands, he will be </b></span><b style="font-size: large;">remembered as a pathetic and comical </b><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>buffoon and Donald Trump's ultimate stooge. It's a comic-tragedy that I imagine would have been the perfect plot for a Kurt Vonnegut novel. God Bless You, Mr. Giuliani. (Breakfast of Chumps?)</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjteZGHGUkiDOobNEnx5dFbv_vy--8w4vYGYExT4FNmVwM7zqUuqQ3eaqKKGfdZdE52sZmltFTDP59HyroXsHtHtvv1DL7unUQIpeUYU_EoEVLarBTA3nqs5GYWyvtAHk8ggD5xKgMiP3UpnTjmAzWhNOBCFDOk9GUO1GrlVeavArYS3flp968TLw/s276/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="276" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjteZGHGUkiDOobNEnx5dFbv_vy--8w4vYGYExT4FNmVwM7zqUuqQ3eaqKKGfdZdE52sZmltFTDP59HyroXsHtHtvv1DL7unUQIpeUYU_EoEVLarBTA3nqs5GYWyvtAHk8ggD5xKgMiP3UpnTjmAzWhNOBCFDOk9GUO1GrlVeavArYS3flp968TLw/w217-h148/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="217" /></a></div>I once met Rudy Giuliani on the corner of Madison Avenue and 57th street in merrie olde Manhattan back in the eighties. Although our conversation was brief, he struck me as a friendly and intelligent man. That is the reason why what he has done to himself is such a hard thing to figure. Didn't he understand the trend of what happens to people who hitch themselves to the wagon of Donald Trump ambitions? <i>What the hell were you thinking Rudy???</i></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Here's something even sadder: when you do a Google search of Rudy Giuliani's image, the first thing that comes up is the photograph at the top of this piece; with that befuddled look on his face and hair dye streaming down both sides of his face. It's not the kind of image that looks good in the history books. It's probably going to end up at the top of his obituary.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>And now there is a very good chance that Rudy will be disbarred from ever practicing law again - all because he put in his lot with Donald Trump. You would think that in forty-plus years, Guiliani might have taken the time to observe Trump's method of operation, ie, his habit of throwing everyone around him under the bus to save his own skin. I knew, early on, how this would end for the poor old bugger. His legacy is pulverized. He should have known better,</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Tom Degan</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>AFTERTHOUGHT, 7/12/23:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I started writing this piece two days ago. I took a break and forgot all about it. Sorry 'bout that, campers.</b></span></div><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com104tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-44349747787999762462023-07-01T07:51:00.011-04:002023-08-10T12:57:03.434-04:00Dumping on the Supremes<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnFSH5hgj-jLC_sHg792JHcsGMeeRIK-jA4opWoPFvsYUtIaswKHxLQCg_mTie5i8kGvxLgQqdGovjn0OistDAb8ip39U_pJ-IhN5MyFJn1BQyMeQU1dLgxwjBPv6ELxCAgDMaoh--_KY0tq2Q3YDXecLr476mywzx4xEuX55RqI3juVZMFdlLvg/s474/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="474" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnFSH5hgj-jLC_sHg792JHcsGMeeRIK-jA4opWoPFvsYUtIaswKHxLQCg_mTie5i8kGvxLgQqdGovjn0OistDAb8ip39U_pJ-IhN5MyFJn1BQyMeQU1dLgxwjBPv6ELxCAgDMaoh--_KY0tq2Q3YDXecLr476mywzx4xEuX55RqI3juVZMFdlLvg/w423-h281/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" width="423" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8BK2nS8aCyNiMfm05lpzxI7hvs5Pn_pAVS5YK-UZofYVGwDurNdLhd2y05PeQ2IAOlOjGfEfFcq_mwvS5PSaA5ZRPSeCw8TVgI3v_nufDa1Qi9Ic6FGx3cS96zuLsIdeSYluixOh3L4mK62QrltXFHGinsYXfMRfVpwhxxsntDPTHCY39LjLGA/s474/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="474" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8BK2nS8aCyNiMfm05lpzxI7hvs5Pn_pAVS5YK-UZofYVGwDurNdLhd2y05PeQ2IAOlOjGfEfFcq_mwvS5PSaA5ZRPSeCw8TVgI3v_nufDa1Qi9Ic6FGx3cS96zuLsIdeSYluixOh3L4mK62QrltXFHGinsYXfMRfVpwhxxsntDPTHCY39LjLGA/w285-h190/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="285" /></a></b></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Joe Biden's attempt to redeem the debts of millions of college students this week was torpedoed by the conservative-controlled Supreme Court. This decision may come back to bite them on the bottoms. While the Supremes are supposed to be-ideological, we all know that they're really not. Those same millions of college students are going to head for the polls <i>en masse </i>and cast their ballots for the Democrats. The cancellation of that debt, I'm sure, would have pumped many billions of dollars into Joe Biden's economy, which is a factor that I'm suspicious might have played a factor in their decision, <i>perhaps not all of them</i>, but I wouldn't put it past Uncle Thomas. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>In his memoirs, Clarence Thomas Thomas wrote that when he received his law degree, he slapped a Twenty-five Cents sticker on it and relegated it to the basement of his house. You see, by his reckoning, his degree would have meant so much more were it not for all of those silly and stupid white liberals and their silly and stupid Affirmative Actions. </b><b>Oh, and speaking of Clarence Thomas, here's a question I've asked on this site before, and current circumstances are forcing me to ask it again:</b></div></b><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>QUESTION: Where do you think Clarence Thomas would be today if not for Affirmative Action?</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>ANSWER: He would be mounted on the front lawn of some beer distributor's home in Albany, Georgia wearing a jockey uniform and holding a lamp.</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: justify;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-j1S1ovWpf54zomu2dmv13p44b5B1PhMpHUAsODIErqwC-z7okBJTHh8ulBYz6UiatdjvMvfpBdaY8ymDh0cAKCO4cmF84QP-XzgKRDJDLHuovy477XHQL-PkWnVDAMYqkvXe3g7p40VB2M5TrKG7wFkrImpgbs-pn0lN2G8bhzbyIdXNOM1vFQ/s400/Tom%20Degan%20and%20Roger.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-j1S1ovWpf54zomu2dmv13p44b5B1PhMpHUAsODIErqwC-z7okBJTHh8ulBYz6UiatdjvMvfpBdaY8ymDh0cAKCO4cmF84QP-XzgKRDJDLHuovy477XHQL-PkWnVDAMYqkvXe3g7p40VB2M5TrKG7wFkrImpgbs-pn0lN2G8bhzbyIdXNOM1vFQ/w321-h181/Tom%20Degan%20and%20Roger.jpg" width="321" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roger and Me</td></tr></tbody></table><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>I've never been an advocate of monetary reparations to the descendants of African American slaves. While an ancestor of mine might have been responsible for writing the Dred Scott decision, I am innocent of the sins of the asshole who penned it (Roger Brooke Taney). But the one of the forms of reparations that I do support is Affirmative Action. For more than two centuries black people have been forced to live at an economic and educational disadvantage in the United States. "As Lenny Bruce once observed, "Education is the answer to everything. World leadership <i>hinges </i>on education."</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Affirmative Action with respect to institutions of higher learning was ruled unconstitutional this week by an extreme right leaning Supreme Court that seems hell-bent on sending America back to the not-so-fabulous-fifties. Affirmative Action made possible the viable African American upper class which didn't even exist sixty years ago. The Supremes are turning back the clock of progress. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tom Degan</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>AFTERTHOUGHT, 7/2/23, 6:00 PM:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Just in case you've been paying attention, I need to apologize for taking so long to complete this piece. Apparently, Blogger.com had a bad day yesterday and I was locked out of this site for over twenty-four hours. I was able to get back on this afternoon and all is fine and dandy, thank you very much. </b></div></b><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com81tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-40828943313447438522023-06-24T13:17:00.019-04:002023-06-24T17:31:37.039-04:00RANDY RAINBOW NATION<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA5W46dYNpfXqddMr9WFnrRAeh6pd8OXm5s3Vo_Ptnsv1nbusDh0mEO4N35AbaPtnptJ_LhwD9hFVFDo4rScXRrqY2nhhfPgYjxvfiEGY9UDmSp4bRBvy-m3RDllxQ-29VkH_IP64u8kQtKHxnbiVVSxKT-c4QX5hwVQWKKbKfCOjJhSCTuVdxsQ/s1548/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz%20-%20Copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1548" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA5W46dYNpfXqddMr9WFnrRAeh6pd8OXm5s3Vo_Ptnsv1nbusDh0mEO4N35AbaPtnptJ_LhwD9hFVFDo4rScXRrqY2nhhfPgYjxvfiEGY9UDmSp4bRBvy-m3RDllxQ-29VkH_IP64u8kQtKHxnbiVVSxKT-c4QX5hwVQWKKbKfCOjJhSCTuVdxsQ/w411-h273/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz%20-%20Copy.jpg" width="411" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhseopZDg4dkURWidokTMSGkDTBgoGG8TwN2vnpHMlU0K1M3L2MsoT8CxfpEiOQnzJJyvqAmWvfDIYBP-0eSj4tj2RzXT_TtF2JjWEj0mEd8sTJDCheQIpZn3cj0eQz-XqWtvPieW94YEyPMmgCSfJQ16mr4VaDpl3WURncUJAtdu_BAH9nvMoIAQ/s474/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhseopZDg4dkURWidokTMSGkDTBgoGG8TwN2vnpHMlU0K1M3L2MsoT8CxfpEiOQnzJJyvqAmWvfDIYBP-0eSj4tj2RzXT_TtF2JjWEj0mEd8sTJDCheQIpZn3cj0eQz-XqWtvPieW94YEyPMmgCSfJQ16mr4VaDpl3WURncUJAtdu_BAH9nvMoIAQ/w226-h127/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="226" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>I've got to start this off by telling you that I think that Randy Rainbow is the best thing to happen to American comedy since Lenny Bruce. Fortunately he appears not to possess all of the personal, psychological torment and baggage that Lenny carried within him so we can happily expect him to be with us for a very long time. </b></div></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>How to describe the man: Randy is a musical satirist who performs reworked Broadway musical numbers that hold up a mirror to the current sick and dysfunctional American system of politics. To say that he takes no prisoners in his quest to hold accountable the most corrupt and vile of American politicians would be the understatement of the century. (Oh, and did I mention?) The guy is funny! The videos he posts periodically on his YouTube channel he writes and produces himself. I have written many song parodies in my time and I'm also a video artist; but I've got to tell you that I have nothing on Randy Rainbow. Here's another understatement: <i>I'm </i>jealous, dag nap it! </b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Also, if Randy Rainbow is not the poster boy for gay pride in America, he really should be</span>. </b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFjhlbSpqWQFxJKPrKyMwcv1xcRTLRjWo9_72ioFBMbI6pAeOCWyVlaiqcRZUkOAsbvfqYEBYSazQWROKWu64IJk5iaPxED665UCm7EnkdXmTpwwFlPVM2ChdDN7O7btAMnXvxgxYh8Q4Sx4BdrN19aEqlbfkL3NVyqPUGHTacSGHsdtxa1-OZyg/s1778/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="1778" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFjhlbSpqWQFxJKPrKyMwcv1xcRTLRjWo9_72ioFBMbI6pAeOCWyVlaiqcRZUkOAsbvfqYEBYSazQWROKWu64IJk5iaPxED665UCm7EnkdXmTpwwFlPVM2ChdDN7O7btAMnXvxgxYh8Q4Sx4BdrN19aEqlbfkL3NVyqPUGHTacSGHsdtxa1-OZyg/w277-h156/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="277" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>I wish that he would team up with a composer and produce a very topical and original Broadway production for the simple reason that Randy is the best lyricist to come along since Lorenz Hart. At the bottom of this piece I will provide you with a few links to some of his videos. I don't have in me the adequate vocabulary to describe what he's all about, so you really need to experience him for yourself. Simply put: Randy Rainbow must be seen to be believed. He is a rib-tickling, hoot-and-a-half<i> Laugh Riot. </i>Don't take my word for it; see for yourself. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tom Degan</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>SUGGESTED VIEWING:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Here are just a handful of Randy Rainbow's YouTube videos:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Gee, Anthony Fauci: A parody of Gee, Officer Krupke from West Side Story:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=randy+rainbow%2c+Anthony+Faucci&view=detail&mid=76413705070CB28687D976413705070CB28687D9&FORM=VIRE">GEE, ANTHONY FAUCI! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Sedition (Tradition from Fiddler on the Roof):</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=randy+rainbow+sedition+youtube&view=detail&mid=7EC2155858FE89700B7D7EC2155858FE89700B7D&FORM=VIRE">SEDITION! - A Randy Rainbow Parody - Bing video</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>KAMALA! (Camelot):</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?&q=randy+rainbow+sedition+youtube&view=detail&mid=439DD5C5E19F674BD3D4439DD5C5E19F674BD3D4&FORM=VDRVRV&ajaxhist=0">KAMALA! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>There Is Nothing Like A Wall (South Pacific):</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?&q=randy+rainbow+sedition+youtube&view=detail&mid=1B4395E8A6C307AB3CBD1B4395E8A6C307AB3CBD&FORM=VDRVRV&ajaxhist=0">THERE IS NOTHIN' LIKE A WALL - Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Welcome to DeSantis:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=randy+rainbow&docid=603484716626294517&mid=6BFCBB5D466C3AF1832B6BFCBB5D466C3AF1832B&view=detail&FORM=VIRE">Welcome to DeSantis! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Rudy and The Beast:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=randy+rainbow%2c+rudy+and+&&view=detail&mid=C3EDFB4344DC228030A2C3EDFB4344DC228030A2&&FORM=VRDGAR">RUDY and the BEAST - Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>I'M GAY! (Once Upon A Mattress)</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=randy+rainbow+&&view=detail&mid=E8BFA71370CC202BB92DE8BFA71370CC202BB92D&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Drandy%2520rainbow%2520%26qs%3Dn%26form%3DQBVDMH%26%3D%2525eManage%2520Your%2520Search%2520History%2525E%26sp%3D-1%26lq%3D0%26pq%3Drandy%2520rainbow%2520%26sc%3D7-14%26sk%3D%26cvid%3DA1A07A228C834507B9857B682A89279E%26ghsh%3D0%26ghacc%3D0%26ghpl%3D">GAY! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ted and Lindsay (Oklahoma):</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=randy+rainbow%2c+ted+and+lindsay&&view=detail&mid=43F46BD63C328C34EEAB43F46BD63C328C34EEAB&&FORM=VRDGAR">TED and LINDSEY! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Trump Trouble (The Music Man):</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EufHfhnPKTU">Ya Got TRUMP TROUBLE! - Randy Rainbow Song Parody - YouTube</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>************************</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>What did I tell you? These are only a handful of many. Look Randy Rainbow up on YouTube. Here is one more for the road:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>RANDY RAINBOW FOR PRESIDENT! (yeah, that works for me).</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdjkjcW_Q7M">Randy Rainbow for President! (2023-2024 Tour Announcement) - YouTube</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>He's a national treasure.</b></div></span><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-26544192054304550112023-06-09T15:42:00.023-04:002023-06-10T22:13:52.083-04:00The unmaking of the Former President 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheIhJ9r5atcRQ8WL9N_io74iq8Lr9laM8-7ZSCsxneNaQVc7V5qhPM3kWAzYcKQJHGAxlp0oaFenIDTf2LY1aWSHPUUDgTjezsWImrm7LcXMJPBR-M2YYqby3q61vO7J2q-J-2fBi5BqGm-pwRd469RzKrOZwzFm69mrU1AwySe4UFZ7tVR3I/s474/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheIhJ9r5atcRQ8WL9N_io74iq8Lr9laM8-7ZSCsxneNaQVc7V5qhPM3kWAzYcKQJHGAxlp0oaFenIDTf2LY1aWSHPUUDgTjezsWImrm7LcXMJPBR-M2YYqby3q61vO7J2q-J-2fBi5BqGm-pwRd469RzKrOZwzFm69mrU1AwySe4UFZ7tVR3I/w443-h249/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="443" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZCNZbKSjuzHbdIvZKP8sMU7fimxtmMXZkVQQeoH4JcEsl-R_H1i2ol5vserGP_gSa8XvGMIDiZQswlpmblnoUnYXgz6lUSByuFEpuFA_gpFTZtrzmn6g3JWRdt8PYO3CukInWbCkqVnot593L-VLS1Ie3kg4MU4BajKkMlhP4MlGfv-VfKP8/s327/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="327" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZCNZbKSjuzHbdIvZKP8sMU7fimxtmMXZkVQQeoH4JcEsl-R_H1i2ol5vserGP_gSa8XvGMIDiZQswlpmblnoUnYXgz6lUSByuFEpuFA_gpFTZtrzmn6g3JWRdt8PYO3CukInWbCkqVnot593L-VLS1Ie3kg4MU4BajKkMlhP4MlGfv-VfKP8/w251-h138/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="251" /></a></div>I had just started putting together a piece about the candidacy of Chris Christie when the flash came over the wire that Donald Trump had been indicted. Aren't these interesting times to be alive? </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Someone once asked me if I thought that the former president would ever go to jail. Here was my answer:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>No. Jail is where you go when you have had one-too-many on a Saturday night and you back your vehicle into the plate glass window of the local pharmacy. Donald Trump needs to go to a high security federal prison for a very long time. There is no doubt in my mind that June 9, 2023 is - <i>by far </i>- the worst day of this person's miserable life.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>We don't know yet what the indictments read, but there are seven felonies being charged against the president, one involving the Espionage Act. When these charges are finally read out loud there will be a 10 megaton political explosion that will be heard in every corner of the earth. What is about to happen will make the Nixon and Bush Mobs <i>combined</i> look like a bunch of choir boys out for a Sunday picnic at Regents Park. The proverbial substance is about to hit the fan, folks, and there is no way to avoid this nasty fact. And the most amazing thing to me is the fact that this sociopath and imbecile is the frontrunner to receive the Republican presidential nomination next year. Ain't that a hoot and a half?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNFdKfegYEgexNsrcxiX1n42TNRmj2kIEOi0PPdmdx-Zalq9wpJLLphSNFoMt1LHy_wm6W7uStcF0mxPpGzSGd28x27UYeXEAj-LOBmfKnB38JPFuBpLBp1qS-pegizyfZloB8b4s5Ssd7Bc7vifLTIEQHgm6CXYmy16_v7TYysBI7iW4srs/s278/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="278" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNFdKfegYEgexNsrcxiX1n42TNRmj2kIEOi0PPdmdx-Zalq9wpJLLphSNFoMt1LHy_wm6W7uStcF0mxPpGzSGd28x27UYeXEAj-LOBmfKnB38JPFuBpLBp1qS-pegizyfZloB8b4s5Ssd7Bc7vifLTIEQHgm6CXYmy16_v7TYysBI7iW4srs/w217-h144/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="217" /></a></div>Is Trump the only member of his inner circle who is being indicted? What people paying attention want to know is: what the hell did Jared Kushner do to receive two billion dollars from the Saudi Arabian investment fund? It must have been an eye-opening quid pro quo that made the Saudis want to gift such a generous sum to the golden boy of American capitalism. My hypotheses is that Trump's is merely the first of several indictments to come. I'm giddy with anticipation.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Like the initial revelations of the sins of the Nixon White House fifty years ago this summer, what is about to be revealed regarding the crimes of Donald Trump and company will be breathtaking - much like the unraveling of Watergate was in 1973. What will be revealed in the coming weeks will stun the senses of the American people in a way they've never been stunned before. Hang onto your hats, kiddies!<br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tom Degan</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>SUGGESTED VIEWING:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Former John McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt has an excellent YouTube channel called The Warning. This morning he taped a dire warning about what a possible second Trump presidency would mean to the people of the United States:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR2Rb8AOV9PvjnWzS9VWoJxO2kuD3mYvwG4brHQWvPyP4ZmZr-qDWJa0ctg&v=xmGr4zz68Og&feature=youtu.be">Steve Schmidt reacts to Donald Trump being indicted for multiple felonies | The Warning - YouTube</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>We ignore his words to our own detriment.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>AFTERTHOUGHT:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Here is the first paragraph of the Chris Christie piece that I abandoned for this one:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; text-align: start; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>"Chris Christie has announced his candidacy for the presidency. This is good news. While I would never vote for him, I wouldn’t lose a lot of sleep knowing that he was living in the same house once occupied by Franklin Delano Roosevelt."</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; text-align: start; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; text-align: start; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjpVH9hZfz8FRFv-e7WzQS45G8EMDiyoqACWA_Unkbfybv6SdpQgTvPGWbAo2syAONPeCFWjofbqD9hoOWjjUchxhTi9zQ_TPU3DOw3HJ5dN5kfow_0ifaLh7ZSr66mqU4n1Ra3MFtwDUJw5UBM50ALNWvRzhrhKli-A29mwmA7rIC6OkR_4/s195/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="195" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjpVH9hZfz8FRFv-e7WzQS45G8EMDiyoqACWA_Unkbfybv6SdpQgTvPGWbAo2syAONPeCFWjofbqD9hoOWjjUchxhTi9zQ_TPU3DOw3HJ5dN5kfow_0ifaLh7ZSr66mqU4n1Ra3MFtwDUJw5UBM50ALNWvRzhrhKli-A29mwmA7rIC6OkR_4/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="195" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>AFTERTHOUGHT, 6/10/23, 9:47 PM:</b></div></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; text-align: start; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; text-align: start; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a" style="animation-name: none; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; transition-property: none;">DISCLAIMER: I am philosophically opposed to the death penalty.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="animation-name: none; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; transition-property: none;">Seventy years ago this month, on June 19, 1953,, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for espionage. The prosecutor who sent them to their deaths was a notorious homophobe (not to mention closeted homosexual - <i>and future mentor of Donald J. Trump</i>) named Roy Cohn. I’m just sayin’. </div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; transition-property: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; transition-property: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">American hIstory is literally drenched with juicy little ironies such as these. Have you ever noticed that?</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="animation-name: none; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5AOjg2Hm92FQQvFqv3IkfaY_9AcjC7im9ThDjYzO0iLHy-ximfdyWQVrjE5z9_xW_hpU7ulsFJv6BbrwZ4gu-2gOIoCOP5qv434hKd1X3XxhsYXYCXSMIe2JnjGCtYY8JwrS7NW-X7quDMTh67I6PqPSsMJhcYxwza6_h8-fS1vBgJLsx54M/s293/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="293" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5AOjg2Hm92FQQvFqv3IkfaY_9AcjC7im9ThDjYzO0iLHy-ximfdyWQVrjE5z9_xW_hpU7ulsFJv6BbrwZ4gu-2gOIoCOP5qv434hKd1X3XxhsYXYCXSMIe2JnjGCtYY8JwrS7NW-X7quDMTh67I6PqPSsMJhcYxwza6_h8-fS1vBgJLsx54M/w416-h256/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="416" /></a></div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;"><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Today would be a good day to quit drinking.</b></div></div></b></span></div><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com111tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-72585259128382066752023-06-05T14:40:00.059-04:002023-06-06T10:44:45.091-04:00Things That Go Trump in the Night<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilbfiYOe11eF2ETXDXWGb6dr5mpnXsvw9wVnU8II0EJbWzrj6k5fdHjO1YdfbJHlAzeDfKgmj7MxoiJzV6nljqXeWRblkb5lu3dHl5IO5Bd7hVGZ6RNIACD9CyrmDcOu4hOInBwM14XMli48Hy7EFryztGcQbiU94wjlIe13UWkbtXNoKZklg/s1692/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="1692" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilbfiYOe11eF2ETXDXWGb6dr5mpnXsvw9wVnU8II0EJbWzrj6k5fdHjO1YdfbJHlAzeDfKgmj7MxoiJzV6nljqXeWRblkb5lu3dHl5IO5Bd7hVGZ6RNIACD9CyrmDcOu4hOInBwM14XMli48Hy7EFryztGcQbiU94wjlIe13UWkbtXNoKZklg/w441-h297/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="441" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimu6uGtvkS01mutWxA1Rb3bBS0tDBfXhWNc8tfRSur8SwQCwGn60Y7XizOOvri3s8Aap9FD4BlDt9zsHhxrC4CQSSFDySOlScpUCZrNeNbatQeeKaW-0g6UiihGPWcvuuBn26_DGeWeRpoBxEQ7_wpmAbgP80apJHZfebAJw-2AYEo0YFp_yw/s264/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="264" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimu6uGtvkS01mutWxA1Rb3bBS0tDBfXhWNc8tfRSur8SwQCwGn60Y7XizOOvri3s8Aap9FD4BlDt9zsHhxrC4CQSSFDySOlScpUCZrNeNbatQeeKaW-0g6UiihGPWcvuuBn26_DGeWeRpoBxEQ7_wpmAbgP80apJHZfebAJw-2AYEo0YFp_yw/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="264" /></a></b></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>It's outrageous and amazing that Donald Trump is only now </b><i>- as a former United States president - </i><b>facing felony charges for crimes committed that he has skillfully avoided all of his adult life. It's common sense that the old bugger's luck was destined to run our sooner or later; we can only surmise that this is going to end catastrophically for POTUS #45. As I write these words, his lawyers are abandoning him like diseased rats from a sinking garbage barge. I imagine that serving a client who won't keep his mouth shut would be a nightmare for any self-respecting attorney. Trump has been stumbling around the republic with one foot in his mouth and the other on a banana peel. He has incriminated himself so many times that most of us have lost count of the gaffes. And yet....and yet....he is the favorite to get the GOP nomination next year. If that doesn't beat everything, nothing will. </b></div></b><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>the only strategy Team Trump has in their moldy bag of tricks to save the man from an <i>extremely long </i>prison sentence is to plead </b><span style="text-align: left;"><b>insanity on behalf of their client. A good case can be made for this. Let's face it, folks: It's been embarrassingly obvious to those of use paying attention these last forty years that Donald J. Trump is as crazy as an army of rancid bats on an LSD binge. If Trump goes to trial as a sane man, it is only likely that he will do some serious time - </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">not that I would ever lose a minute of sleep if that were to happen, mind you </i><b>- I'm just putting it out there.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXAyqqnUebb0FTlGg6X35DMrCpTjTCSBHcy-svz_AcYIPrrhydHWdusPlUB3vH581oivzMxLj65qz_JaAfbki5CMejCC1wY6nspqgB1edjZXilmBOPBxnqr9A9ts7o4esr8ezkESBR0Y3PztRC1LtT1u0EbV71fj6U_ngWcfV8CbIXzSWUNU/s275/zzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXAyqqnUebb0FTlGg6X35DMrCpTjTCSBHcy-svz_AcYIPrrhydHWdusPlUB3vH581oivzMxLj65qz_JaAfbki5CMejCC1wY6nspqgB1edjZXilmBOPBxnqr9A9ts7o4esr8ezkESBR0Y3PztRC1LtT1u0EbV71fj6U_ngWcfV8CbIXzSWUNU/w220-h146/zzzzzzz.jpeg" width="220" /></a></b></span></div><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b>What I don't understand is why the most serious charge against him is the fact that he stashed a bunch of classified documents at his overrated bawdy house in Florida</b></span><span><b>. Call me naive if you want, but it would seem to me that inciting a violent insurrection that left four people dead would be a heavy duty charge to overcome. </b></span><b>I can only conclude is that the Feds have evidence that he has sold those secrets (at a pretty hefty price) to powers hostile to the good ol' U.S. of A. I wouldn't put it past the hideous old bastard. He's </b><span><b>despicable. The moment he announced his candidacy in June of 2015, I wrote on this site that he wouldn't even get the nomination simply because not even the Republicans are that dumb. Once he finally got the nomination, I predicted that he would never with the presidency simply because the American electorate aren't that naive. I've never been more wrong in my life. Bitter experience should have taught me to know better. That is the reason I'm not dismissing outright a Trump or DeSantis victory on Election Day next year. I've learned my lesson.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b>Tom Degan</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b>Goshen, NY</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKNRWhjUkWRuokS1rJ7IDz583RF6bjOwcuVBWZL-knfKqvsBN3-vymrLg-19smnfNdqsMnyYvW-spq-T8sJMHvn4dwlxdRDKZ4yrqZaz3Z2gnz1qUxCp0StKuMwpMRNszs9Bc1cv0Bi2hyDFbR-DzvcTYNjWT8u1CwLUQyz_wABm-dTWWs4s/s474/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKNRWhjUkWRuokS1rJ7IDz583RF6bjOwcuVBWZL-knfKqvsBN3-vymrLg-19smnfNdqsMnyYvW-spq-T8sJMHvn4dwlxdRDKZ4yrqZaz3Z2gnz1qUxCp0StKuMwpMRNszs9Bc1cv0Bi2hyDFbR-DzvcTYNjWT8u1CwLUQyz_wABm-dTWWs4s/w264-h149/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="264" /></a></div>SUGGESTED VIEWING: </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b>GAY!!!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b>by Randy Rainbow</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify; transition-property: none;">Show me a man who is overtly and militantly anti-gay, and I’ll show you a closet homosexual who is covertly overcompensating his “manliness” by drawing attention away from his secret desires. It is my strong belief that Ron DeSantis is a dandy case in point. Here is Randy Rainbow’s take on Ronnie D. This one is a keeper for the ages.</div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="animation-name: none; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; transition-property: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;"><span style="animation-name: none; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none;"><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv x1fey0fg" href="https://fb.watch/kZINfT5mBx/?mibextid=v7YzmG&fbclid=IwAR3uJkmyOLyYFnelxfIBb9VXuM4HXFrXfKRDeBhYnNCjRj7PWrN7rz1MXEA" rel="nofollow" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; animation-name: none; background-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation; transition-property: none;" tabindex="0" target="_blank">https://fb.watch/kZINfT5mBx/?mibextid=v7YzmG</a></span></div></div></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b>The man is a national treasure (Randy Rainbow, that is. Not Ron DeSantis).</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><b><br /></b></span></div></span><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-4867295581534801822023-05-20T14:03:00.030-04:002023-10-07T14:18:37.864-04:00What's Up With Junior?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimNtdpUdW_xX_YJGl5Dng1bAIvAeYdNmkKVgZWYk1Kr_0s5n6D0R-UzykGUC0Ee7QSXo877Q82MHudwj9l2Sjk9ZD77FHNKrqbdnvm4oOnC6OgTT8x40ZsHzopV_qCR7FRCq7eDrnQ9aZSMr0BtX9L7gqtdOxGM_uP-ju3OiNdN09G__X1HXI/s279/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="181" data-original-width="279" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimNtdpUdW_xX_YJGl5Dng1bAIvAeYdNmkKVgZWYk1Kr_0s5n6D0R-UzykGUC0Ee7QSXo877Q82MHudwj9l2Sjk9ZD77FHNKrqbdnvm4oOnC6OgTT8x40ZsHzopV_qCR7FRCq7eDrnQ9aZSMr0BtX9L7gqtdOxGM_uP-ju3OiNdN09G__X1HXI/w411-h267/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="411" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b></b></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYgO-hA4hwFM__scK7PYD_dGlca0ZCkQ3jm0-Ob_ZqsL-8mT1eZ5FY6vORPRRGNe0J0pD26kT32muc9XPuBE9Zt8WRyeMDPwC5PUqhUEmfqAO3_Uir5rA5TT2AQIG_co452khmmmXmAsAOmWD95NP1E469GrChBOBN0nP5hVRCHx0YqryD150/s1000/zzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="785" data-original-width="1000" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYgO-hA4hwFM__scK7PYD_dGlca0ZCkQ3jm0-Ob_ZqsL-8mT1eZ5FY6vORPRRGNe0J0pD26kT32muc9XPuBE9Zt8WRyeMDPwC5PUqhUEmfqAO3_Uir5rA5TT2AQIG_co452khmmmXmAsAOmWD95NP1E469GrChBOBN0nP5hVRCHx0YqryD150/w209-h164/zzzzzzz.jpeg" width="209" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bobby Jr. and Uncle Jack</td></tr></tbody></table><b>That rumbling sound you hear in the distance is the sound of Robert F. Kennedy, Sr. doing somersaults in his grave.</b><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>It's been somewhat gut-wrenching to watch most of the surviving children of Robert and Ethel Kennedy patiently roll their eyes at some of the positions the second-eldest brother in that brood has taken on various subjects over the years. First there is his insane position on vaccinations - <i>which even I took seriously at first. </i>After all, was my thinking, he's a reasonable man. Why would he take such a position if it wasn't perfectly reasonable? I tended to give the guy the benefit of the doubt back then.</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Then came the quest that he and his brother, Doug, taken on to have Sirhan B. Sirhan released from a prison where he has sat for nearly fifty-five years. To refresh your memory, Sirhan is the man who, on June 5, 1968, shot their dad. He died the following day. Sirhan pled guilty to the crime and was promptly sentenced to death. The Kennedy family - in an act of supernatural compassion and mercy - pleaded for his life to be spared and the sentence was reversed to life in prison. Now Junior is trying to have his father's killer released from prison because (</b><i style="font-weight: bold;">GET THIS!</i><b>) he is innocent of the crime. This despite the fact that there were about twenty-two eye witnesses who saw Sirhan fire the gun. Most of those eye witnesses were newsmen who (despite what you may think about newsmen) have a nasty habit of getting things right. One of those eyewitnesses was <i>his own mother</i>. </b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b></b></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLrk5c7fE7KjE-RPyNaFhCYsfkf9SffY5H3AY3qGmfY3rAkXkTwXHyF9Ar6qkgZwcedMCW0rAZkwDP5jxh7bmF-vC56CMokg2pd6RAVMN04Cenu8MOIr8F1duf7DUoJUyjMVQk2uwbzt8pjp1MgVf8tx-paiXgjrw9ym0NP8ofpQcEmbyFJ0/s250/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="250" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLrk5c7fE7KjE-RPyNaFhCYsfkf9SffY5H3AY3qGmfY3rAkXkTwXHyF9Ar6qkgZwcedMCW0rAZkwDP5jxh7bmF-vC56CMokg2pd6RAVMN04Cenu8MOIr8F1duf7DUoJUyjMVQk2uwbzt8pjp1MgVf8tx-paiXgjrw9ym0NP8ofpQcEmbyFJ0/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teddy and Jimmy<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>And now Bobby is running for the presidency of the United States. Would someone please explain to this silly man that I have as good a chance of being elected the 47th POTUS as he has? There are jolly good reasons why the likes of Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson and Mike Flynn look to his run so approvingly: he is trying to do to Joe Biden what his uncle Ted did to Jimmy Carter in 1980. When Kennedy challenged a sitting president of his own party in the Democratic primaries that year, he did so much political damage to Carter that the president was easily defeated in the general election later in the Autumn by a feeble-minded, failed "B" movie actor. It should not be forgotten that no one is more responsible for the nightmare years of the "Reagan Revolution" than "liberal icon" Teddy Kennedy. If DeSantis or Trump are able to take Biden out of the White House in 2024, a lot of fingers (including <i>my own</i> middle finger) will be pointed at Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Some men see things the way they aren't and ask, "<i>What?</i>" I dream things that never will be and ask, "<i>WHAT THE FUCK???</i>"</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>It would be a poignant thought to pretend that he is merely picking up the torch that his dad dropped on the kitchen floor of the Ambassador Hotel on that horrible night in Los Angeles all those decades ago. I don't believe that this is his motivation. This is, sadly, all about his ego. Nothing more.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUAIVCVAFnRlnudoF9TXVmmoeed8ZwOITt1coUF2CVDN4P1zTQY5JEzoTvhFtGWP9dCSK2J9U-KEI6gNLrnvP7wRka4oGBjbJwI3PPY8gn2BMeCnVcWTeK8yVhr5398vR1N-pIdjPybPCNX-GLFrrLlEwO6Qy_B-Eidce6TjROS46ja2KuOg4/s180/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="132" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUAIVCVAFnRlnudoF9TXVmmoeed8ZwOITt1coUF2CVDN4P1zTQY5JEzoTvhFtGWP9dCSK2J9U-KEI6gNLrnvP7wRka4oGBjbJwI3PPY8gn2BMeCnVcWTeK8yVhr5398vR1N-pIdjPybPCNX-GLFrrLlEwO6Qy_B-Eidce6TjROS46ja2KuOg4/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="132" /></a></div><b>Bobby Kennedy and I have a few mutual friends and I have met him many times in the course of thirty-five years. Let me say out front that he's a good guy; an expert falconer, and one of the most passionate environmental advocates to come down the pike since Rachel Carson. But there is no way on earth that he has a chance of being elected to the presidency in 2024. Any legacy he has is in danger of being obliterated if he decides to go through with this. Should he somehow - </b><i>MIRACULOUSLY - </i><b>get the nomination next year, you can be certain the Republicans are going to use certain long-ago chapters in his personal biography</b><b> to tarnish him. I'm wasting my time pointing this out. He's not going to be the Democratic standard bearer in 2024 - <i>and I'm sure he knows this</i>. His candidacy should not be taken seriously by anyone.</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tom Degan</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>AFTERTHOUGHT 5/23/23:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Forgive me for taking so long to finish this one, folks. Health issues.</b></div>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-74427652258922360042023-05-17T13:57:00.008-04:002023-08-10T13:24:29.903-04:00DO NO HARM<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOEjAdKxsXp6TfD21FVIQaUWFlsJDH_7sARH-e851eAY7plqkEMsYzr3_P8b2tIiyW69mXDOjyoPBcsURrwZYMqkhzGW68oCRm1HQx0e5B1jb7Y5YHy99LPWy7l8UZNKWPB6eiS0LuHjbAFgydlCHeezB6i0z_9xTlk9qp0ndQAYKIzColKoM/w468-h311/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="468" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Right Wing Thug</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOEjAdKxsXp6TfD21FVIQaUWFlsJDH_7sARH-e851eAY7plqkEMsYzr3_P8b2tIiyW69mXDOjyoPBcsURrwZYMqkhzGW68oCRm1HQx0e5B1jb7Y5YHy99LPWy7l8UZNKWPB6eiS0LuHjbAFgydlCHeezB6i0z_9xTlk9qp0ndQAYKIzColKoM/s275/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b></b></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyh4YUVc1iaKishYHSMBvvaE81SZmDsPzB0TdGJ0c9IgQJtt_ERDN5VA8IMdMIMSRJa5ZoCmTiOv_z4Ru0Fby8PqoE_9DA1g6wpHLF-QO7j8w6tNW-7nOzgKVd_qG7uLZC3FUgHuFArV2LjiyYBe7IiI3GQnr94tH14MgK92jR-nhe2m3F7WI/s299/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyh4YUVc1iaKishYHSMBvvaE81SZmDsPzB0TdGJ0c9IgQJtt_ERDN5VA8IMdMIMSRJa5ZoCmTiOv_z4Ru0Fby8PqoE_9DA1g6wpHLF-QO7j8w6tNW-7nOzgKVd_qG7uLZC3FUgHuFArV2LjiyYBe7IiI3GQnr94tH14MgK92jR-nhe2m3F7WI/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="299" /></a></div>I can't get over the fact that the two candidates with the greatest chances of winning the GOP nomination next year are the most dangerous and incompetent politicians to come down the pike in my lifetime (I'll be sixty-five in August). When you think about it for a half a minute, a choice between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis is really no choice at all. It's akin to tossing a coin for either Pudgy the Clown or Bobo the Simpleminded. In the great and universal scheme of things, Donny and Ronny were put on this earth for no other reason than to amuse <i>me </i>- and let it be said that they're doing an awfully good job of it. Seriously, neither of these knuckleheads has no other useful function on this troubled planet.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>My most recent beef with DeSantis is the new law he just signed into being (which takes effect on July 1) that would allow doctors in the state of Florida the right to refuse to treat any group of people whose lifestyles they don't approve of. In other words, A homophobic M.D. would be perfectly within his or her rights to allow some poor gay man or woman die. My question is: does this new law apply to doctors in the emergency rooms of that obscenely overrated state? Is </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">being black </i><b>considered a "lifestyle" to these demented freaks? The </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">Jim Crow Special</i><b>, that dilapidated old train, has been taken out of mothballs, refurbished for the twenty-first century, and is about to leave the station. All Aboard.</b><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBkvR979iZrOCm3ZnpNm998KOlRPkfsEANcVUX2FYIx42eqs-GXvljpBTZf2hxtPtvLWJSEnVLFrgut6m7SlB0CVG1tXmv8MhwWqUbbzcBbGckKaRu7XLCsP6_wtvfV5VNNdJ56IUq0b_MjFb2o407YHkNbWoZGIQ5OUMPlgtMkJyQSnALjE/s278/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="186" data-original-width="278" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBkvR979iZrOCm3ZnpNm998KOlRPkfsEANcVUX2FYIx42eqs-GXvljpBTZf2hxtPtvLWJSEnVLFrgut6m7SlB0CVG1tXmv8MhwWqUbbzcBbGckKaRu7XLCsP6_wtvfV5VNNdJ56IUq0b_MjFb2o407YHkNbWoZGIQ5OUMPlgtMkJyQSnALjE/w201-h134/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="201" /></a></div>As I've pointed out on this site twice before, Ron DeSantis was born the month after my twentieth birthday in 1978. How is it that such a relatively young guy become such a twisted and bitter old bastard in a mere forty-five years? I would be interested in knowing what his parents were like. Was he bullied in school? Or, like The Donald, was he the perennial bully? We have a clue as to his parents values by the fact that Ron's middle name is "Dion" after Dion DiMucci (of "Dion and The Belmonts" fame). Nothing against Dion; the man is a great singer and has written some perfectly beautiful songs - no doubt about it. But if I ever have a son and I name him John, it will be in honor of my late father - <i>not John Lennon</i>. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Heed my warning, campers: If this knucklehead or Trump are able to find themselves sitting in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025, this country is finished.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tom Degan </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Goshen</b></span><b>, NY</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-32182941455520344152023-05-05T21:13:00.017-04:002023-05-08T13:33:50.864-04:00post# 1,117: Random Observations<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBeZR9b-XRCVAs29-iXlmBqbMyA1KCjFf4feuc0-hxCYrazHksmgiahFXA8dg68adPsxOlnA7WY36Eu1ThWphV_pV10KnSO4ik_4fw8fwLuST7soQvHsBFKdywgftgqFtQRtPkAsrKEPiulYDQQ2-H3eBW3mYBeKVet6agoppL55e5a0y_2w/s1440/18216516_10213502635625968_1904297200998279567_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="811" data-original-width="1440" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBeZR9b-XRCVAs29-iXlmBqbMyA1KCjFf4feuc0-hxCYrazHksmgiahFXA8dg68adPsxOlnA7WY36Eu1ThWphV_pV10KnSO4ik_4fw8fwLuST7soQvHsBFKdywgftgqFtQRtPkAsrKEPiulYDQQ2-H3eBW3mYBeKVet6agoppL55e5a0y_2w/w421-h237/18216516_10213502635625968_1904297200998279567_o.jpg" width="421" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sinko De Mayo - Get it? (Photograph by Brian K. Sager)</td></tr></tbody></table><div><b style="color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tzw9KafwmU64Dc_8sRdKi6z_iF2RGGvfK6mSODcF1xrM1s029uSWoF4gKijKrPciATG51aJL_GLn7TNQGS8wQwgHG9gvY59u5H0orxV1nPeBgIJwmbTdid2iCGtrcN7c1pImcH8OBUvhKIsFgKvuI7WM31PCYMNV1xUvHnta5PLNU8fGUJw/s947/Tom%20Degan%20-%20Stay%20Healthy.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="947" data-original-width="526" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tzw9KafwmU64Dc_8sRdKi6z_iF2RGGvfK6mSODcF1xrM1s029uSWoF4gKijKrPciATG51aJL_GLn7TNQGS8wQwgHG9gvY59u5H0orxV1nPeBgIJwmbTdid2iCGtrcN7c1pImcH8OBUvhKIsFgKvuI7WM31PCYMNV1xUvHnta5PLNU8fGUJw/w357-h640/Tom%20Degan%20-%20Stay%20Healthy.jpg" width="357" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stay Healthy and Safe</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The following are a collection of random thoughts that I had scribbled into my notebook or posted on my Facebook page. Any similarities to any people, living or dead, are purely intentional.</b></div></div><div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>1: Ron InSantis:</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><b style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">If the inmates of Idiot Nation are crazy enough to send Ron DeSantis to the White House in 2024 (and I suspect that they are) they’re going to deserve everything that happens to them. The man is every bit as extreme as Donald Trump. The difference is that Trump is an imbecile. DeSantis is not. That is what makes him all the more dangerous in my opinion</b><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>.</b></span><b style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> DeSantis is a dangerous reactionary. I suspect that he might have us all nostalgic for Trump after a while.</b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>2. Ginny and Uncle Thomas:</b></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABLBsQZ8N6i3wxhXJvM9-pu_M3lqLPXIjN8If87kHc46MBC8deSDZ0zqlxos5tFt0MpJVX-N2UtkCQIISkkFz75JdMdxj3UxOVxbKWJKacPs8DVMNA7UqaaTgIVU-1wf_Bn4InoaaiQgAURNBQK6GcQA7DpOZffEVcBgvyxZeZNLSxAefGeg/s300/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="300" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjABLBsQZ8N6i3wxhXJvM9-pu_M3lqLPXIjN8If87kHc46MBC8deSDZ0zqlxos5tFt0MpJVX-N2UtkCQIISkkFz75JdMdxj3UxOVxbKWJKacPs8DVMNA7UqaaTgIVU-1wf_Bn4InoaaiQgAURNBQK6GcQA7DpOZffEVcBgvyxZeZNLSxAefGeg/w254-h152/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="254" /></a></b><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><b style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is now perfectly clear to </b><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>anyone</b></span><b style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with the attention span of your average fruit fly that Clarence Thomas and his wife, Virginia, have been making a financial killing because of their connections to the highest court in the land. Thomas is </b></span><b style="color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">the most pathetic House Negro to come along since Stepin Fetchit. Rightly, the conservatives in the House of Reprehensibles would not tolerate this sort of blatant corruption from any of the liberals on the court (nor would I for that matter). He needs to be impeached as soon as humanly possible. His presence on the court - and her obvious influence of his written opinions - should not be allowed to continue</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b style="color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Wisdom on Facebook:</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>I just now came upon a random posting on Facebook by a gentleman named Ron Luther that made my day. Here is what he said:</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>" 'Thoughts and prayers' is just American slang for tough shit".</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>The man deserves a Nobel Prize for that posting alone.</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>4. Biden v. Trump</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Polls show that forty-five percent of the electorate would rather see Trump elected next year as opposed to Biden's thirty-nine percent. This is civic insanity, boys and girls. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were not my choices in 2020 simply because they were not progressive enough for me (they still aren't. A lot of people fear that, given Biden's age. he might be succeeded bu Harris as president. Perhaps their fears are grounded - perhaps not. All I can tell you that if Trump becomes the first president since Gover Cleveland to be elected to two non-consecutive terms, we might as well pack it in as a nation. Seriously, folks.</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tom Degan, Goshen, NY</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiouK_7imRUwdtleiPaPl8LgvLx8-4OWmvVTfqOFPIQ7YHNHzj39o1kQgG9wfq8zkIYSg-wZAd6EK1RI0eTm2pcK6PhhvehAfOf5oTMKHyMGJgwFGCz0Z1QU5XJhaMBHg9qNrvWV_aIS0t5-pPZNW9l45QMLsbHbq4gdNYpaN32BdzQOERiGYw/s236/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="236" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiouK_7imRUwdtleiPaPl8LgvLx8-4OWmvVTfqOFPIQ7YHNHzj39o1kQgG9wfq8zkIYSg-wZAd6EK1RI0eTm2pcK6PhhvehAfOf5oTMKHyMGJgwFGCz0Z1QU5XJhaMBHg9qNrvWV_aIS0t5-pPZNW9l45QMLsbHbq4gdNYpaN32BdzQOERiGYw/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="236" /></a></b></div><b>AFTERTHOUGHT, 5/8/23:</b><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>SUGGESTED VIEWING:</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;">One night in 1968, Harry Belafonte and Petula Clark performed a song together on national television. While doing so, Petula clung to Harry. In some less than enlightened sectors of the American night, the citizenry had a mass case of spastic apoplexy. On that night, these two legendary performers took baby steps toward integration and love and understanding. See it now, children….</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYz6YRizQLs">(4) Harry Belafonte & Petula Clark - On The Path of Glory (Live) - YouTube</a> </span></p><p style="text-align: start;"><b>This is historic, folks.</b></p></div>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-38324043226181778772023-04-27T16:00:00.010-04:002023-04-27T16:50:16.611-04:00Harry Belafonte 1927-2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiviIC8nPBbAIBZqeb_K3Zi_bpDBH_0FNjRV41QBSzn0n-iruMAhCO5H4ILFRCcK9W2xH7xiy5VywvS9joJkHU-YGrKp3_uez3EjhrvdogYalopdXTdQFZP2TX0wkm-tdqav9bnXdGhPCbLhQ0zVTFGQbRvXJtfpnb4wLhk8wvfMNPxV7Xg2OI/s2560/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiviIC8nPBbAIBZqeb_K3Zi_bpDBH_0FNjRV41QBSzn0n-iruMAhCO5H4ILFRCcK9W2xH7xiy5VywvS9joJkHU-YGrKp3_uez3EjhrvdogYalopdXTdQFZP2TX0wkm-tdqav9bnXdGhPCbLhQ0zVTFGQbRvXJtfpnb4wLhk8wvfMNPxV7Xg2OI/w427-h240/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="427" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5vdoJkraqbQDqL3GIkQ0dSm1_SH9BUksxStT5DWpxYITvsSfXRP1VwV7lKKGO2nYefVoKlA_XOz3hDXXufPQPdaTOvuUACbGIdtzRpikvV32mxNbZsvKVWQpvluLfoyMBNwq-XioWCmVc11To1NgNlIWshwq2Q3mrOAO7HMuVxgqp-KFinTU/s300/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5vdoJkraqbQDqL3GIkQ0dSm1_SH9BUksxStT5DWpxYITvsSfXRP1VwV7lKKGO2nYefVoKlA_XOz3hDXXufPQPdaTOvuUACbGIdtzRpikvV32mxNbZsvKVWQpvluLfoyMBNwq-XioWCmVc11To1NgNlIWshwq2Q3mrOAO7HMuVxgqp-KFinTU/w219-h219/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="219" /></a></div><b>One of my earliest memories regarding recorded sound was of my father playing a reel-to-reel tape called "Belafonte At Carnegie Hall", recorded in 1959. Back in those days record companies would release popular albums on reel tape with the LP's cover printed on the box. I was about five-years-old when I discovered the magic of the art of Harry Belafonte. To this day, I consider that record to be </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">the </i><b>greatest Live album ever recorded. The RCA Victor engineers sent their finest, state-of-the-art studio equipment into Carnegie to ensure the best quality sound. If you listen to it with the headphones on and close yout eyes, it's like you're sitting in a front row seat sixty-fout years ago. Listen to it online if you think I exaggerate.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>It was with indescribable sadness that I learned of the passing of this great and good man on Tuesday morning. He was ninety-six years old. Someone once said, "Old people die - <i>that's their job!" </i>Yeah, yeah, I get it. But still, it's going to be hard for me to adjust to the idea of a world without Harry Belafonte in it.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk0YlClKb2dQMJIVPJx5fdt6fr7t46E9OtDhJNMtpyAeWoW1yEEZ3MEw1MlJeZmcDtsWMJ6wDzFGof3C-TForgYDud4pk0Jkmv0dLKFxTvWzVfCdr1z-MC0LSady6YF0Hp14iy7VVrTAS-1zGi3jJT3ZwwAg_aLH95RY1YxwyYhIgE4IvHmY0/s180/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="166" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk0YlClKb2dQMJIVPJx5fdt6fr7t46E9OtDhJNMtpyAeWoW1yEEZ3MEw1MlJeZmcDtsWMJ6wDzFGof3C-TForgYDud4pk0Jkmv0dLKFxTvWzVfCdr1z-MC0LSady6YF0Hp14iy7VVrTAS-1zGi3jJT3ZwwAg_aLH95RY1YxwyYhIgE4IvHmY0/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="166" /></a></div>In spite of his success as a recording artist and actor, Harry's first love in life was being an activist in service of the downtrodden. He was one of the last survivors in the pantheon of great civil rights leaders who moved this country in the only direction it could possibly go seventy years ago. Only Andy Young survives him. He marched with Dr. King in the heat of it, and his career took a decided hit for his efforts. There would be today many more films and records bearing his name had it not been for his dedication to righteousness. His was a noble life, well and bravely lived. Don't hold your breath waiting for the likes of Harry Belafonte to be passing this way anytime soon.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tom Degan</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Here is a link to purchase the aforementioned Belafonte at Carnegie Hall on CD:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Live-Concert-At-Carnegie-Hall/dp/B000006SUU/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2XK76TGSTT7MI&keywords=belafonte+at+carnegie+hall+cd&qid=1682627214&sprefix=Belafonte+at+C%2Caps%2C1485&sr=8-3">Belafonte, Harry - Live In Concert At The Carnegie Hall - Amazon.com Music</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>You <i>will not </i>be disappointed.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>SUGGESTED LISTENING:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Marching Saints (from Belafonte at Carnegie Hall)\</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>From that same LP, here Harry and the band perform a stunning rendition of the old Jazz standard, "When The Saints Go Marching in". He imagines what the song would have sounded like if it had originated, not in 20th Century New Orleans, but in 19th Century England. This one is worth the price of the ticket!</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ2r0tNTexk">(2) The Marching Saints (Live) - YouTube</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Sleep well, Harry.</b></div><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-14427448143532516462023-04-23T10:49:00.019-04:002023-08-10T13:32:43.354-04:00Of Mouse and Moron<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_iXIGhH7yV-8W0VSRHyT2ZmE8s3tSQtHAzbQsoea3UdFKoNqVR-9VaPlMWuM7kIuFDZPgDfli4uLAXRJ6BhsWvexMwroJFJZCNV63medA9qFlxLcoPsgTKX9lF8goAcoJkk1qcCknJo1nnG4Wo4DzsU3f7g-flxWNgefNMJxfKlwtuqJKw8/s1200/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_iXIGhH7yV-8W0VSRHyT2ZmE8s3tSQtHAzbQsoea3UdFKoNqVR-9VaPlMWuM7kIuFDZPgDfli4uLAXRJ6BhsWvexMwroJFJZCNV63medA9qFlxLcoPsgTKX9lF8goAcoJkk1qcCknJo1nnG4Wo4DzsU3f7g-flxWNgefNMJxfKlwtuqJKw8/w496-h330/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.webp" width="496" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SEIG HEI, MEIN RON!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJ8GWIjv0f_JgiTy51kp0-GHXVwBAYelLRS9nfuB_MR7l6R5Kg2aPzolLGMp1Ds7TvQG8IKeJBKNLoHG_XdHqKL6HYQGOF1LVO9OFXpmGKZPcBGtIfSkezKPxRep5A6vWQUyYC3j049elkVP7k61b9pNjWDV422ngYundQAe4VFhA878Ww_Q/s302/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="302" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJ8GWIjv0f_JgiTy51kp0-GHXVwBAYelLRS9nfuB_MR7l6R5Kg2aPzolLGMp1Ds7TvQG8IKeJBKNLoHG_XdHqKL6HYQGOF1LVO9OFXpmGKZPcBGtIfSkezKPxRep5A6vWQUyYC3j049elkVP7k61b9pNjWDV422ngYundQAe4VFhA878Ww_Q/w241-h133/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="241" /></a></b></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ron DeSantis is getting his butt kicked by a mouse. Aren't these interesting times to be alive?</b></div></b><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>When Walt Disney first proposed Florida's Disney World in the early 1960s, the deal was that the site would be totally self governing - </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">with zero interference from the state of Florida.</i><b> It was a pretty sweet deal for all parties. The Disney people would have their kingdom, and Florida would rake in all of the cash that would come in from the wallets and purses of the tourists. Governor Ron is trying to change all that. It seems that he is trying to take the operation over. Disney is resisting and Ron has threatened (among other nefarious things) to build a prison right next to the joint. Would DeSantis actually stoop so low? Yes, I believe he would. This jackass is as dangerously contemptible as any politician I've come across in my entire life. I have a feeling that this hideous freak might very well have us <i>all</i> nostalgic for Donald Trump in a matter of time. If either man is sent to the White House next year, this country is finished. Mark my words.</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>When you wish upon a star....</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiomWuol89Fc8D2p_GT5PffOE4KxiMjXuqyQt45z7A_v5a6yae3bGzYzagYn-J0-MPC27cbTv7bX7oGcsB5QBAD4srB0tH2YXGj8Vc2j2l5VV4pDQAmXHwp5uBcI5aqJ-cV89Er0FUqQEmnihXz3BWfLbo5GWRdDLNDewuNPYTffli1r_wNBI/s278/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="181" data-original-width="278" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiomWuol89Fc8D2p_GT5PffOE4KxiMjXuqyQt45z7A_v5a6yae3bGzYzagYn-J0-MPC27cbTv7bX7oGcsB5QBAD4srB0tH2YXGj8Vc2j2l5VV4pDQAmXHwp5uBcI5aqJ-cV89Er0FUqQEmnihXz3BWfLbo5GWRdDLNDewuNPYTffli1r_wNBI/w239-h156/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncle Walt<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>Ron's loudest complaint about the Disney folks is that they are too (</b><i style="font-weight: bold;">GET READY FOR IT) </i><b>"woke". Can you believe that? He has stated too many times that "Florida is where woke comes to die". When he says moronic things like that, what he is saying is that he is in favor of killing compassion, empathy and racial tolerance - which is essentially what </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">woke </i><b>means. It also drives him bat-shit crazy that the Disney company is officially in favor of gay rights. According to Ron, Walt Disney would never have promoted equal rights for homosexuals = </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">and he's probably correct in that assumption</i><b>. Uncle Walt died in 1966, and he was a man of his times; but as everyone with even a cursory understanding of his biography understands, Walt was a man with an almost super-human capacity to change with the times. Had he somehow managed to live to see the year 2023 it's a certainty that he would be an advocate for equal rights for gays and lesbians. Anyway, isn't that (at least partially) what the Disney/Epcot Center is all about? Changing times and a brave neo world. Twenty years ago I was against even the concept of gay marriage. Today I'm perfectly okay with it. I've changed with the times. Why do so many conservatives have such a difficult time with this simple idea? What is Ron DeSantis' problem?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>As I've said before, what bugs me the most about DeSantis is his age. He was born a month after my twentieth birthday in 1978. How is it possible for someone to become such a bitter old man in a mere forty-five years? It's generally not a particularly good idea to pick a squabble with the most recognized cultural icon of the last century, even if that icon's name is Mickey Mouse.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Thank goodness for the unintentional comedians. They make my life so interesting.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tom Degan</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>SUGGESTED VIEWING:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>LegalEagle:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>How Disney Outsmarted Ron DeSantis</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1jkilao3MQ">(1) How Disney Outsmarted Ron DeSantis - YouTube</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>An interesting (and funny) essay on this whole stupid situation.</b></div>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-62893838267689876142023-04-20T13:02:00.026-04:002023-04-20T17:00:55.333-04:00A Pox Upon your Fox<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgM_zvgc50IilvpyrGnMBjgIMIc5gc49G0JTfvy12-pCrja5ryYrauJ-Ptun2HACr1T1dNXqe6tKJifuBfib48q6MDEBVwOmI6qgMUSQDExTAeKkYWeLPAxL6jnVSq5yicm8gNtLbN2RTWRsWv-m-fSSpY4Zu-bpt1lprSnGHpdM_63oysySI/s474/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="474" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgM_zvgc50IilvpyrGnMBjgIMIc5gc49G0JTfvy12-pCrja5ryYrauJ-Ptun2HACr1T1dNXqe6tKJifuBfib48q6MDEBVwOmI6qgMUSQDExTAeKkYWeLPAxL6jnVSq5yicm8gNtLbN2RTWRsWv-m-fSSpY4Zu-bpt1lprSnGHpdM_63oysySI/w414-h308/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="414" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2vKcgcUebrfkq0QyWWV4N4xLG_g52qe7c2nyMAZVQQPG_1kd_80jLHfgqllGA2YY4LzT6VCqwPgOCshwbr1jjB43nqyfB4M9jX8wawaSAEnaCwtsELGqOqGyKlVvFoUTtiu2OjQc278Z-cjDV4puGNhbSbKUHKJ_LQ5qQYnFLr8TzgUsTzTM/s180/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="174" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2vKcgcUebrfkq0QyWWV4N4xLG_g52qe7c2nyMAZVQQPG_1kd_80jLHfgqllGA2YY4LzT6VCqwPgOCshwbr1jjB43nqyfB4M9jX8wawaSAEnaCwtsELGqOqGyKlVvFoUTtiu2OjQc278Z-cjDV4puGNhbSbKUHKJ_LQ5qQYnFLr8TzgUsTzTM/w154-h159/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="154" /></a></div>The Germans have a word for it: </b><span style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">Schaudenfreude</i><b>. It means</b><i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i><b>"shameful glee". That's a pretty good translation of how I'm feeling on this glorious afternoon of April 20, 2023. as a matter of fact, I'm danged near giddy bearing witness to what is happening to Rupert Murdoch, an Australian-born owner of a publishing empire who has done more damage to the United States than probably any other "human being" in the history of the nation. That his organized criminal enterprise (Fox Noooz) is facing many billions of dollars in lawsuits that may very well put it out of business forever is a dream come true. Somebody pinch me please.<br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Here's a clip from a piece I wrote sixteen years ago (the first of many) about Murdoch's dreadful "news" organization:<br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b style="text-align: justify;">"It was not like this in our parent's day. In that bygone, lost era, before the "Triumph of Mediocrity" (as Norman Corwin put it twenty years ago in the subtitle of his well-written book "<i>Trivializing America"</i> ), the greatest generation went to the polls with - <i>at the very least - </i>a remedial knowledge of the issues important to their country. Today we are so susceptible to political propaganda and corporate media influence, the main talking point of the last presidential campaign was John Kerry's innocent gaffe during the primary season: "I voted for the eighty-seven billion before I voted against it". A statement as innocuous as that one would not have made so much as a blip on the political radar screens of 1960 or 1972 or even 1984 for that matter. Mah! Mah! The ol' plantation sho' has changed!"</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMiGq0hx2U13fNipfe5PnUTx6gimPmrIJMWVECWK4j3mkv4dL4WWDhkxTf0cdCFoozbou1roj8atx37Rw0S8d6KPsQfHlmP__xKIBwdwtUz4SZj-_IHxgKb4jMlka0mzIfI-2V_aJvLkHHbdxCG-4BOI1YYSdIb6iJvAezTSEiypFn-BjrBjE/s306/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="306" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMiGq0hx2U13fNipfe5PnUTx6gimPmrIJMWVECWK4j3mkv4dL4WWDhkxTf0cdCFoozbou1roj8atx37Rw0S8d6KPsQfHlmP__xKIBwdwtUz4SZj-_IHxgKb4jMlka0mzIfI-2V_aJvLkHHbdxCG-4BOI1YYSdIb6iJvAezTSEiypFn-BjrBjE/w267-h152/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="267" /></a></div><span style="text-align: left;"><b>After spending almost two years trashing a voting machine company called </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">Dominion, </i><b>they blasted Fox with a 1.5 billion dollar lawsuit. Two days ago, Murdoch and his right wing </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">SCREAM </i><b>machine were forced to settle the case for over seven-hundred and eighty-million dollars (</b><i style="font-weight: bold;">only slightly over seven-hundred and eighty million dollars, mind you). </i><b>They are also being sued by another voting machine company out of merrie olde England called "</b><i style="font-weight: bold;">Smartmatic</i><b>". This time the suit is for 2.5 billion dollars. The nice folks over at Smartmatic give every indication that they have no intention of settling with the hideous swine. A spokesman for the company has said that everything that wasn't revealed in the Dominion case will be revealed in this one. In a posting on the Fox website yesterday (and what has to be seen as a masterpiece of nonsense and stupidity) some silly bastard stated that the very fact that Fox settled the lawsuit for over three-quarters of </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">a billion </i><b>dollars is proof of their integrity and "high standards of journalism". As Jack Parr liked to say in his day: "I kid you not".</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>It all boils down to one sentence: </b></span><b style="text-align: left;">Rupert Murdoch is in a boat-load of trouble.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0CdWblkDSlRdsoWuTN9ZISgXr4JY2vRqjwuLacdiRyqfqlnMCPQ9wwmVg3695YOfpw1EdHCqFVk5HGSeylJA_WkRWGEaUB7vWcMNasDp7KfgOKJuwWo9-AWHK7qdR5S8h14bfsLluPVd1zFPNnKs3HbGNzcQRAc1PKz4z2AHk_K4jZ74Rz1w/s299/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0CdWblkDSlRdsoWuTN9ZISgXr4JY2vRqjwuLacdiRyqfqlnMCPQ9wwmVg3695YOfpw1EdHCqFVk5HGSeylJA_WkRWGEaUB7vWcMNasDp7KfgOKJuwWo9-AWHK7qdR5S8h14bfsLluPVd1zFPNnKs3HbGNzcQRAc1PKz4z2AHk_K4jZ74Rz1w/w255-h143/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="255" /></a></div>While Donald Trump spent the final year of his disastrous presidency downplaying the dangers of the most devastating pandemic since 1918, Fox Noise (for reasons only they know) felt compelled to parrot The Donald's talking points on their evening talk shows. Since Fox (at that time anyway) had the highest ratings of any other cable news outlet, many Americans were tragically naive enough to innocently take those talking points at face value. A lot of those same Americans lost their lives. I long ago lost count of the exact number, but I know that it is </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">well </i><b>over a million souls. Although the research has yet to be done on the subject, I'd be willing to bet everything I own on my assumption that most of those one-million-plus casualties were habitual viewers of Fox.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Call it a hunch.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>If you have been a dedicated viewer of Fox Noise since it's inception, I am here to cheerfully inform you that you have wasted the last quarter century of your life. You're welcome.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>In addition to the Dominion and Smartmatic suits, Fox is facing legal action from other firms (and even their own shareholders) seeking many more billions of dollars in damages. I would hope that cable television companies across the nation would finally see this mediocre misinformation provider for what it is and remove it from their rosters. Were you aware that Fox charges everyone $2.50 a month through their cable companies? You may not watch it but - </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">if you have cable TV in your home </i><b>- you're paying Rupert Murdoch thirty bucks a year. Stew on that for a while.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyRuFp_zxwmkbBXBJqCJ9q4OaelpSjQv8A87FioZuwq-N0peXdeoCrXMWiugm_3KAG68f0RoOyE5bE2sd-iODGyou4PDmR8StYJioNQG46MNbPwKeqsNVEdyskwzQMS3NniRW7mvWoI4HEH2dxI9HHz20EA4GzzPo-mrnNRXzTp1WQTL5Voh0/s259/murrow.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="201" data-original-width="259" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyRuFp_zxwmkbBXBJqCJ9q4OaelpSjQv8A87FioZuwq-N0peXdeoCrXMWiugm_3KAG68f0RoOyE5bE2sd-iODGyou4PDmR8StYJioNQG46MNbPwKeqsNVEdyskwzQMS3NniRW7mvWoI4HEH2dxI9HHz20EA4GzzPo-mrnNRXzTp1WQTL5Voh0/s1600/murrow.jpg" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ed Murrow</td></tr></tbody></table>And finally, a quote from the legendary broadcast Journalist, Edward R. Murrow, from a speech he gave at a broadcasters convention in Chicago on October 28, 1958:</b></div></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>"This instrument [television] can teach, it can entertain, yes it can even inspire. But it can do those things only to the extent that men and women are determined to use it to those ends - otherwise, it's nothing more than wires and lights in a box."</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Fox Nooz: "Wires and lights in a box".</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tom Degan</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggX_yd61h1JQDxq5mwL6rcC2eft9xIv74pPQvsNoZJpaqQau1_5FDa-Fd_AXbwIeHgHU_WUYxbxFodgBONNpN85mUoYeWNGq1ZGt6ZXkbYz7-_uAUV-nIsgkAPdR0g4-O-zlp0q3pYkVeuFtQOzhlWcS1l1O40BZYRS6ln0iUytVEOyhWoU5Y/s462/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.webp" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="360" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggX_yd61h1JQDxq5mwL6rcC2eft9xIv74pPQvsNoZJpaqQau1_5FDa-Fd_AXbwIeHgHU_WUYxbxFodgBONNpN85mUoYeWNGq1ZGt6ZXkbYz7-_uAUV-nIsgkAPdR0g4-O-zlp0q3pYkVeuFtQOzhlWcS1l1O40BZYRS6ln0iUytVEOyhWoU5Y/w125-h161/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.webp" width="125" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carol Swanwick</td></tr></tbody></table>AFTERTHOUGHT, 3:40 PM:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>I must take note of the passing of Carol Swanwick, a beloved, life-long friend and the mother of my old chum and traveling companion, Kevin. She was one of the kindest and loveliest people it has ever been my joy to know. A number of years ago I transferred all of her 8mm films to videotape. I was completely blown away by what a stunningly beautiful 1950s bride she was - with a smile that an entire school for the blind could read at midnight by. I am a better human being for having known this gentle angel who walked among us.</b></div><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-32354485109663367782023-04-16T15:48:00.008-04:002023-04-18T23:35:05.947-04:00Beneath Contempt<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-jFG9adxh0-QYL1w4gC2NbY5aMWzlhxdKzViuRsEfWRrzo5b-w-3kZmQDZkQiVHiHiBG6_jd972tCF1FX1PyiLP6FaRXtoA8Yq6u0mNGDZeJ22n1Y7TPgtTYA1yTzGGGvgxr1OaCedrdKkdE8H_pFgjmYJL85ZHgGD-tvvNjHdXr68fJ7vpA/s2400/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="2400" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-jFG9adxh0-QYL1w4gC2NbY5aMWzlhxdKzViuRsEfWRrzo5b-w-3kZmQDZkQiVHiHiBG6_jd972tCF1FX1PyiLP6FaRXtoA8Yq6u0mNGDZeJ22n1Y7TPgtTYA1yTzGGGvgxr1OaCedrdKkdE8H_pFgjmYJL85ZHgGD-tvvNjHdXr68fJ7vpA/w381-h286/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="381" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLfq1Q8kKDAm6F-BQgYbN5VZO8nTXbVEItGkkHP5hbQB4vyXgl0ywieYxTzoeqC88UiZfadQIHq6HWWxFuxrPAmiiYBULYGJo2Q01TbnApz1-ABpm9ZNjHhETBG853YDnoginLoRihq0r-sK4GT-xDncL5tAoNdJRl492Bz6NmwmxxiS6B6Gs/s474/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="474" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLfq1Q8kKDAm6F-BQgYbN5VZO8nTXbVEItGkkHP5hbQB4vyXgl0ywieYxTzoeqC88UiZfadQIHq6HWWxFuxrPAmiiYBULYGJo2Q01TbnApz1-ABpm9ZNjHhETBG853YDnoginLoRihq0r-sK4GT-xDncL5tAoNdJRl492Bz6NmwmxxiS6B6Gs/w281-h211/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="281" /></a></div><br />To be brutally truthful with you, it's hard not to waste a lot of time thinking about Judge Clarence Thomas. I find it painfully ironic that only the second African American Justice in American history is the most blatantly corrupt member of that body - </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">at least in my lifetime</i><b>. What has always amused me more than anything about Judge Thomas is his positive <i>revulsion</i> against the very existence of Affirmative Action. I need to repeat something I wrote on this site over a decade ago. I need to repeat it here</b><b>:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div align="justify"><b>"According to Uncle Thomas in his recently published memoir, <i>My Grandfather's Son,</i> when he received his diploma from Yale Law School, he put a "<i>fifteen cents" </i>sticker on it and relegated it to the basement of his home. You see, Clarence Thomas believes that it was the very existence of <i>affirmative action</i> that made his law degree all-but-worthless. To his way of thinking, he would have been much better off had he just pursued his dream of becoming a lawyer <i>only</i> on the merits of his talent and abilities and not relied on the good intentions of all those evil, white, liberal, do-gooders. In his mind, his place on the Supreme Court would today be all-the-more significant and he would be sitting on that revered bench free of the guilty conscience that obviously torments him to this very day. His place in the halls of justice would have meant so much more had all of those silly and stupid <i>Great Society</i> types not interfered with his ambitions.</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12.48px;">.</span></div><div align="justify"><b>Question: Just where do you think Clarence Thomas would be today had it not been for affirmative action?</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">.</div><div align="justify"><b>Answer: He would be mounted on the front lawn of some beer distributor's home in Albany, Georgia, wearing a jockey uniform and holding a lamp."</b></div><div align="justify"><b><br /></b></div><div align="justify"><b>******</b></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Back in the 1960s, Justice Abe Fortes was force dto resign in disgrace when it was revealed that he had received $20,000 from a businessman. Thomas has been caught red-handed accepting private luxury transportation and vacations worth half a million dollars for himself and his wife, extreme right wing activist GinnyThomas. In recent years Thomas has ruled on cases involving his wife that he should have recused himself from. In one particularly glaring case, Thomas was only one of nine justices who voted in favor of Ginny's case. This is the worst example of judicial corruption that I am aware of in history.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Malcolm X had a term for black men like Clarence Thomas. He called them "House Niggers", Black men who would pull up the ladder that they themselves took advantage of to prevent those of their own race from taking advantage of the societal programs that allowed those very same people from moving forward. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>He's beneath contempt.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Tom Degan</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>AFTERTHOUGHT: 4/18/23 - </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>He needs to resign. This corrupt Uncle Tom can no longer be allowed to be passing judgement on the rest of us.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-293691604394979142023-03-30T20:37:00.009-04:002023-04-16T15:20:42.057-04:00Ruby Bridges<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmYt15IjwfkccvhF3_2xhdPK5JwEb6JYrW1xTY2_g1HSv2mWnYl6G0YxTkj1aSt4RgH8H5nvS7nvvuc5pL5ViFAcjfVQOZYxAQGxgWe_E4DQKXmo63RVsfdEDzp8633mB3mYs_yiVemj7hCNhDOZx_1t3JmXA907B6fE9vh0lLzJSTyInAPWE/s1484/Ruby%20Bridges%20II.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="915" data-original-width="1484" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmYt15IjwfkccvhF3_2xhdPK5JwEb6JYrW1xTY2_g1HSv2mWnYl6G0YxTkj1aSt4RgH8H5nvS7nvvuc5pL5ViFAcjfVQOZYxAQGxgWe_E4DQKXmo63RVsfdEDzp8633mB3mYs_yiVemj7hCNhDOZx_1t3JmXA907B6fE9vh0lLzJSTyInAPWE/w454-h280/Ruby%20Bridges%20II.jpg" width="454" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruby Bridges by Norman Rockwell</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqG0ODs44L6zA626b3FKnDYRJ6D4uoRNNOmgeyiQxsKPe18_uHc6isDk614AzzR564N8i1oVkQgHy2CHsXo85-WLvzlOeFoJx_IwjVY7_GQpi_z2UExAkNAR3Dt28wqEZ_X9zWfKHe6ZB-2mIaUOXtYK0VC-3OUMYSuItw8NV9o51VtYFcxeQ/s349/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="349" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqG0ODs44L6zA626b3FKnDYRJ6D4uoRNNOmgeyiQxsKPe18_uHc6isDk614AzzR564N8i1oVkQgHy2CHsXo85-WLvzlOeFoJx_IwjVY7_GQpi_z2UExAkNAR3Dt28wqEZ_X9zWfKHe6ZB-2mIaUOXtYK0VC-3OUMYSuItw8NV9o51VtYFcxeQ/s320/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>This is the time to speak out against the stupidity of the state of Florida. The fact that that hideous armpit of America would want to bring down the study of African American History is almost unbelievable. </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ruby is a precious stone.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Bridges are pathways that unite.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>No child in all recorded human history was more aptly named than she.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The question is literally screaming to be asked: What the hell does the state of Florida have against Ruby Bridges? (or Rosa Parks for that matter (whose autobiography was recently banned <i>by the way</i>). </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>**********************</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>AFTERTHOUGHT, April 10, 2023</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>I need to apologize. I just realized that I never finished this piece. Forgive me, folks. My energy level has gotten extremely low lately, you know? This getting old business is for the freaking birds. I'm not kidding you.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-21013150051638038072023-03-20T15:14:00.017-04:002023-03-22T13:25:02.672-04:00What is Woke?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvhI20hjkqbF1kNUTPgmwtUrurlnpONaAAHNkuUxbL7EYxykBKQTGDXmyzfF6YsTw-cQI2FhWB-1v4ghE85rXB-GVtJQRqMZAkWK1LomRVvl3i3zTAib60Mnatt4oIrMRFH3prddjFIovMG0_eTAOfLYEwrSWsgd1qw0uSi2GpvXfh55MZy8/s700/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="700" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfvhI20hjkqbF1kNUTPgmwtUrurlnpONaAAHNkuUxbL7EYxykBKQTGDXmyzfF6YsTw-cQI2FhWB-1v4ghE85rXB-GVtJQRqMZAkWK1LomRVvl3i3zTAib60Mnatt4oIrMRFH3prddjFIovMG0_eTAOfLYEwrSWsgd1qw0uSi2GpvXfh55MZy8/w419-h292/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="419" /></i></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3DmPPadNJAyglQPFXF_IcVN2O18UJJ1Q7y9y9nrfjzrIK9wDTGiyofFMktTJNm-5o7tuHuY_LqxOk1hcjQU0nYrk930SJVXaRCZ4iyKeer-EfJ_LwpHmBiKJNsNk2lELcxn55sfsR-KVO_hmdG1EPqUfB2XKiXhnRu3jmceQjXyhx9HtCX1E/s318/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="318" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3DmPPadNJAyglQPFXF_IcVN2O18UJJ1Q7y9y9nrfjzrIK9wDTGiyofFMktTJNm-5o7tuHuY_LqxOk1hcjQU0nYrk930SJVXaRCZ4iyKeer-EfJ_LwpHmBiKJNsNk2lELcxn55sfsR-KVO_hmdG1EPqUfB2XKiXhnRu3jmceQjXyhx9HtCX1E/w256-h145/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="256" /></a></div>Recently, some smart-alec of my acquaintance asked me if I was "woke". My response was that it was not a word that I normally use. Woke is a feeble attempt to compress many different things into a single word: <i>empathy, compassion, enlightenment, an aversion to racial prejudice, and so on.</i>. "If the question is: <i>am I an enlightened man? then the answer is yes, I believe that I am", </i>I told him.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><i>Woke </i>is really a bumper sticker word, the kind that I usually try to avoid at all costs. In fact, this is the first time I have ever used it in this context on this site since it first came into vogue a couple of years ago,</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Now the right wing <i>SCREAM MACHINE </i>are attempting to turn<i> woke </i>into an extreme menace that is a tangible threat to the peace and security of the free world; much in the same way their political forebears did with the so-called communist menace seventy years ago. Governor Ron DeSantis (and 2024 presidential hopeful) recently said of his overrated state: </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>"Florida is where<i> Woke </i>goes to die".</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ5Za03LW0LDIkXy-HRGa-mY4St8VsJSLnWjQErRwBl0zxWA4wvE5BgMFwBPLR1-pcNUv1u2rTJNcLPyjAICQRHzC6lEdWmKi1Rh9U-lvBdGtozIpxuKKoNpXbkDvYsw-M5XMxYvlewny5mLaRyHQ4ICfsO3ZPfrJXkzd8W6fIyz3t08UG3gk/s300/ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ5Za03LW0LDIkXy-HRGa-mY4St8VsJSLnWjQErRwBl0zxWA4wvE5BgMFwBPLR1-pcNUv1u2rTJNcLPyjAICQRHzC6lEdWmKi1Rh9U-lvBdGtozIpxuKKoNpXbkDvYsw-M5XMxYvlewny5mLaRyHQ4ICfsO3ZPfrJXkzd8W6fIyz3t08UG3gk/w228-h128/ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div>And I believed he meant every word he said. If the American people are stupid enough to send DeSantis to the White House on January 20, 2025, empathy compassion and enlightenment will have no place in or part of his administration's worldview. Racial bigotry will be mainstream in the DeSantis White House in a way it hasn't been since Woodrow Wilson lived there over one-hundred years ago. The difference between Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump is quite simple: Trump is a moron. DeSantis is not. The man is a real and existential threat to American Democracy in a way that The Donald - <i>on his worst day - </i>never was. Ron DeSantis is a radical extremist of the first - <i>and worst - </i>order.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The most shocking thing about DeSantis is his youth. In researching his history I was stunned (and quite depressed) to learn that he was born in September of 1978 - </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">one month </i><b>after my twentieth birthday. </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">Can you believe that? </i><b>I tend to equate such a demented and reactionary thinking to bitter old white men. How DeSantis got to this point in his thinking in a mere forty-four years is perplexing - to say the least. A woman who went on a date with him when they were in their twenties, says that while dining out she corrected him on his pronunciation of the term "</b><i><b>Thai food</b></i><b>". He mispronounced it as "<i>thigh food</i>". She says he got up from his seat, walked out of the restaurant and left her paying the bill. She says she never saw him again. What does that tell you about the man's character?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Even though (in my humble opinion anyway) "<i>woke</i>" is an incredibly silly and simplistic term for a very broad and complicated movement, it's a good thing that more and more Americans in recent times are describing themselves as such. "The New </b><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Enlightenment" would be a nicer way of putting it. "Woke" sounds to me like it was cooked up in the bathroom of some grammar school. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>So let's all pledge ourselves to this <i>New Enlightenment - </i>or whatever the heck you want to call it. This is definitely a direction that America needs to go. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><b>Happy Spring, everybody!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Tom Degan</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-86348072933842511422023-03-18T15:40:00.018-04:002023-03-24T08:27:18.114-04:00Tracy Murphy Needs Our Help<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgathAcaRgPosJ8Pp6zSFpasbmC6XtuYpYD7NknSgRaGe-GRHDifSATIsWm2p0fpPODTyUTWlQqx8JPRiqH-JvFUB9ULTkAKyndYx_Rg_f6JB7rQm72sXy2Ktoao6kpaj4O3K9MVg4nXQNebfjsMP0VLqtYZZ7geZeHTNbvlXeD3y0SteCxQ6s/s320/Tracy%20Murphy%20and%20Tom%20Degan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="212" height="583" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgathAcaRgPosJ8Pp6zSFpasbmC6XtuYpYD7NknSgRaGe-GRHDifSATIsWm2p0fpPODTyUTWlQqx8JPRiqH-JvFUB9ULTkAKyndYx_Rg_f6JB7rQm72sXy2Ktoao6kpaj4O3K9MVg4nXQNebfjsMP0VLqtYZZ7geZeHTNbvlXeD3y0SteCxQ6s/w387-h583/Tracy%20Murphy%20and%20Tom%20Degan.jpg" width="387" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tracy Murphy and I, 7 September 2013</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> </b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIyPvCXMuSjozhAWmmp9Ue4S1avqBI2W0DX4rsnRTwDmr337ulnSVs8Jk58EJpCbx9rTTCwDa5imnSNjtO7s4fjn7HTG0KIH6J2ERLYxlRUbozxh7kJVaZCfm-cNu7kd5i8NijG0b_tmDrqn0FJ9cq_gV5vyZxe3rwBHOd8o8-3GirVDvjCdo/s183/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="183" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIyPvCXMuSjozhAWmmp9Ue4S1avqBI2W0DX4rsnRTwDmr337ulnSVs8Jk58EJpCbx9rTTCwDa5imnSNjtO7s4fjn7HTG0KIH6J2ERLYxlRUbozxh7kJVaZCfm-cNu7kd5i8NijG0b_tmDrqn0FJ9cq_gV5vyZxe3rwBHOd8o8-3GirVDvjCdo/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="183" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>My treasured friend, Tracy Murphy, needs our help.</b></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>She owns and operates a haven for animals in Newfane, NY called Asha's Farm Sanctuary. There she cares for rescued animals that otherwise would have been slaughtered. Not long ago, a couple of stray cows wondered onto her property and she provided them with compassion and food. She is now being charged with felony cattle rustling. </b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i>Can you beat that?</i></b></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>A judge unconstitutionally placed a gag order on her so she is legally unable to defend herself in the electronic and print media.</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><i>WELL, DAG NAP IT, I'M GONNA DEFEND HER!</i></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">If you have some chump change lying around the house for her defense, send her whatever you can. Her address is:</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Tracy Murphy</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">PO Box 156</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Newfane, NY 14108</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Tracy Murphy is to animal rights what Martin Luther King and Mahatma Ghandhi were to human rights. She is the closest thing to a saint that it has ever been my joy to know. I adore this kind and decent woman more than mere words could possibly express. Please, folks, she needs our help.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Tom Degan, Goshen, NY</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">AFTERTHOUGHT:</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">In a private message to me, Tracy Murphy wrote:</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b></b></p><div style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">"Tom Degan, as we know I was arrested with a felony charge of up to 7 years in prison. I was stripped of my clothing and dignity and searched. I was imprisoned in a filthy and disgusting jail cell where I was subjected to ridicule by various guards. The initial cell I was placed in was very cold which caused me to shiver, and yet I was denied even a blanket to warm myself. I was put in shackles around my wrists, waist and ankles as I was brought before a judge. </span></b></div><div style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">There I was robbed of my rights this very country fought for with an unconstitutional gag order forbidding me to tell my side of the story on social media. Since then I have been the target of a massive smear campaign orchestrated by the powerful beef industry and severely harassed by people within my own community and across the country including direct death threats. </span></b></div><div style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">I was offered numerous plea bargains which I have flatly refused. One of which where they offered me a violation if I made a public statement that “It’s wrong to steal cows.” I am innocent of these charges and again I refused. I would rather risk going to prison again than to compromise my values and principles. I am innocent of these charges."</span></b></div><div style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">********************************</span></b></div><div style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mind you, Tracy Murphy has been given a gag order by the judge </b><span face="Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #050505;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>presiding</b></span></span><b style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"> over her case. My name is not Tracy Murphy. My name is Tom Degan.<i> Nice to meet'cha!</i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.61px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; white-space: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">SUGGESTED READING:</span></b></p><p style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.61px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; white-space: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">I first wrote of Tracy Murphy nearly fourteen years ago. Here is a link to the piece I wrote at the time:</span></b></p><p style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.61px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://tomdegan.blogspot.com/2009/10/plea-from-tracy-murphy.html" style="color: #bb3300;">"The Rant" by Tom Degan: A Plea from Tracy Murphy</a> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.61px; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; white-space: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The lady is the real deal.</span></b></p></b></span></div><div style="color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span face="Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #050505;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqA7VtFlnHn9rkGmwJ-bXO3jLHE1LjmwTWmv40hsEuQDXdU61Hq--fdRXDoHxxysYZwvKqH0f4aYGBdTw04P8cOnbe7W3n857OoQrNqJB_9YuiIZA0d6ECl64nS5g1XruhDAXLaOGNjEgj-KFom9hTJ_IAjqsrwCnQ-vXELPX4laSZF66_O_U/s2048/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqA7VtFlnHn9rkGmwJ-bXO3jLHE1LjmwTWmv40hsEuQDXdU61Hq--fdRXDoHxxysYZwvKqH0f4aYGBdTw04P8cOnbe7W3n857OoQrNqJB_9YuiIZA0d6ECl64nS5g1XruhDAXLaOGNjEgj-KFom9hTJ_IAjqsrwCnQ-vXELPX4laSZF66_O_U/w436-h327/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg" width="436" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />The word is spreading!<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p></div>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29154051.post-76499331437097889152023-03-08T16:45:00.026-05:002023-03-22T13:10:45.024-04:00What a Drag!!<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-1TWBiuHSXXwf_nOOdyl5GX9CrogNJgopZDya1Z1YmYiJpUcdR34q1CrdY_TwAEkCoI0CsxXWRgbR9pfr1WxSFwTfQP-DGHln_ux7ssW4CCTc0sWo25SRYFEsejA1evqi55f5cHZcivrOZaIotbZqvstVM8YukVzVZ2Ds5VtrlZu9tIC38w/s2048/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-1TWBiuHSXXwf_nOOdyl5GX9CrogNJgopZDya1Z1YmYiJpUcdR34q1CrdY_TwAEkCoI0CsxXWRgbR9pfr1WxSFwTfQP-DGHln_ux7ssW4CCTc0sWo25SRYFEsejA1evqi55f5cHZcivrOZaIotbZqvstVM8YukVzVZ2Ds5VtrlZu9tIC38w/w380-h285/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="380" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackie Gleason and Bob Hope, Central Park, 1975</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30shf7Fq6k5J_N0_39W_mKHsI4Sx5Cs-6ZhFQfhNLuaRaM7VWbVA0fqKGFhrzUl9-yxoCi3orgfS1WvwkOLXQmapojqjD1pgiN3FnggrbbDjzYu-ggR0dMzpPm9vinkBEPAV21aJvAs3J2Kqu6yExH_3avp9e8KHCEGevIHy13hYCOznTxRg/s306/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="306" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30shf7Fq6k5J_N0_39W_mKHsI4Sx5Cs-6ZhFQfhNLuaRaM7VWbVA0fqKGFhrzUl9-yxoCi3orgfS1WvwkOLXQmapojqjD1pgiN3FnggrbbDjzYu-ggR0dMzpPm9vinkBEPAV21aJvAs3J2Kqu6yExH_3avp9e8KHCEGevIHy13hYCOznTxRg/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Hanks</td></tr></tbody></table>I don't know why this would be so, but it seems that in every generation - going all the way back to the beginning of the twentieth century - America's extreme and paranoid right wing has always needed a boogie man to get bent out of shape about. At the beginning of the century it was the suffragettes; then it was the Bolsheviks; later it was the Jews; then it was the Communists (which was merely an extension of Bolshevism); then it was the Blacks (Ah, hell, just admit it: it's <i>always </i>the Blacks!); then it was the Hippies; then it was the </b><span><b>Muslims. Today, the newest threat to come into the crossfire of the guardians of Idiot Nation? <i>ARE YOU READY FOR THIS, KIDDIES?</i></b></span></div></b></div><div style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyByOsaMZABDi5lu4Pe3V5_cJDOVT9PHNlfFZUd9qmIyqsqqGyAnbuaN7ib_OO4y3qWx145HX6pgtBxoS-b77ksM_6OMibzBm409_JaAZ0dg3XHxNjg25IEskli5KCg2z6vu-NeJycujW4UDz9tMDAhb9t-vF2o97GoPv30GKN-Q0RXTDJGo/s248/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="198" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyByOsaMZABDi5lu4Pe3V5_cJDOVT9PHNlfFZUd9qmIyqsqqGyAnbuaN7ib_OO4y3qWx145HX6pgtBxoS-b77ksM_6OMibzBm409_JaAZ0dg3XHxNjg25IEskli5KCg2z6vu-NeJycujW4UDz9tMDAhb9t-vF2o97GoPv30GKN-Q0RXTDJGo/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="198" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Syd Chaplin</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><i>DRAG QUEENS.</i></b></div></i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I kid you not, campers. Fucking drag queens.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The two governors of Florida and Tennessee have really thought long and hard about this apparently. They are both of the belief that the very sight of men donning ladies' clothing will be enough to severely traumatize generations of innocent children. They have made it their silly mission to prevent this national obscenity from continuing for another minute. They want to make it illegal for drag shows to take place in any venue where children might be present. The fact that this sort of entertainment usually takes place in nightclubs where liquor is served and that children are </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">never </i><b>present failed to occur to these two knuckleheads. </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>`</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Isn't life strange?</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: justify;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMRRLROOmMN4P5VvEhoBQWBdcwJOvOBkKi3wMVjeZ74a5KRm0llXaQjnFahG8jkF25IK1dVbNBAIlcoSosCEp2Ral7iV2l9zcJaD4N0TgorplLRNjdfsI7KWJBq5Pdxb6-uUoPxTGiTW47uSLVpqKtaU5KuLwIEImJ2cLT4jbIvEfzmqpPo8/s215/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="215" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMRRLROOmMN4P5VvEhoBQWBdcwJOvOBkKi3wMVjeZ74a5KRm0llXaQjnFahG8jkF25IK1dVbNBAIlcoSosCEp2Ral7iV2l9zcJaD4N0TgorplLRNjdfsI7KWJBq5Pdxb6-uUoPxTGiTW47uSLVpqKtaU5KuLwIEImJ2cLT4jbIvEfzmqpPo8/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="215" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncle Miltie</td></tr></tbody></table>I would imagine that their next move would be to ban all seventy-plus-year-old kinescopes of The Milton Berle Show. Uncle Miltie (as he was known) was television's first mega-star. Although I was always of the opinion that the man was hideously overrated, audiences of the late forties and early fifties </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">adored </i><b>the guy. One of the gimmicks of the Berle program was that he had a tendency of coming out on the stage dressed completely in women's attire. Although it is my belief that the joke would get boring really fast, men and women (<i>and their kids</i>) never got tired of it. Week after week they kept coming back for more. <i>They ate it up! </i>Go figure.</b><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_T7q73WmgO8xBzJGaTPt58XBYhjf-o7RKrbbr6vYPeXNDfTcP3RA4FdVggi3C_GorRl3YgLIiopqbmfsMJySgcGOdcpQo2TRIYMVg8MHAnjJiasm42RFFnA_Xm2fenzzFijHq_7TGtXYLE6aaRL_4oT-ZyjMZ6ArZeJi5Sxw6spsbs4-SWBQ/s180/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="134" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_T7q73WmgO8xBzJGaTPt58XBYhjf-o7RKrbbr6vYPeXNDfTcP3RA4FdVggi3C_GorRl3YgLIiopqbmfsMJySgcGOdcpQo2TRIYMVg8MHAnjJiasm42RFFnA_Xm2fenzzFijHq_7TGtXYLE6aaRL_4oT-ZyjMZ6ArZeJi5Sxw6spsbs4-SWBQ/s1600/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpeg" width="134" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack Benny</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>To those of you who are in the psychiatric profession and might have spent years - <i>many</i> </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">decades even - </i><b>pouring over psychiatric periodicals: can any one of you come up with a case where some poor little boy or girl were driven mad from watching the Milton Berle Show? Get back to me.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I've got an idea: the most progressive cities in the states of Tennessee and Florida should organize two mass drag parades to occur simultaneously. Make them both an international affair and invite every drag queen on the entire planet to attend the festivities. That would show the bastards a thing or two!</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Tom Degan</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Goshen, NY</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>SUGGESTED VIEWING:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>In 1941, legendary comedian Jack Benny made a film called Charley's Aunt in which he appeared in much of the film in drag. It's a fun film that should be seen by all lovers of classic American comedy. Show it to the kids; they won't be traumatized by it, I promise.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-xdW-rvBaE">(5) Charley's Aunt 1941 (Comedy) Jack Benny, Kay Francis & Anne Baxter - YouTube</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Jack Benny (1894-1974) was a giant of radio, television and film comedy. The man was as good as they get.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>SUGGESTED READING:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>For more recent postings on this site, here's a link to go to the main page:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://tomdegan.blogspot.com/">"The Rant" by Tom Degan</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Shameful left wing propaganda. Shame on all of you for even reading this stuff.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>Tom Deganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17911175264811957550noreply@blogger.com37