March in Washingtonf

 

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 that 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 two: 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 - which is a decided step forward - but in too many cases we've taken decided steps  backwards. 

POST #1,128: Random Observations

Pissing off the Far Right since June of 2006

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 - living or not-quite-so-living - are purely intentional. 

1: More American Carnage

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. 

2: The Error of Donnie's Ways

Donald Trump's fatal error was assumption that all professional Republican politicians are as blatantly corrupt as he. Most of them are - but not all of them, I cannot tell you what a pleasant surprise it was for me to find this out.

3: The Year of the Black Woman

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. Book 'Em, Fani.

4: Rudy's Irony

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.

5: What Is Reality?

This particular post that you are now reading has no point whatsoever. Please move on to the next one.

6: A Disney Moment

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.

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

Don't Arraign on His Parade

By Randy Rainbow

Randy's latest is a hoot!

Don't Arraign on His Parade! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody - YouTube

The man is every bit as good a lyricist as Lorenz Hart.

AFTERTHOUGHT, 4:00 PM

Piss off the Looney Right!

Go out and enjoy a Bud Light!

WHAT A MUG!

Mugshot of the former president of the United States

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....The Fulton County Jail....It sounds like the name of a country and western record:

Oh, Mama, A'hm here in the Fulton County Jail

Mah life has always been a gigantic fail

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....Five years in the slammer, baby! 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 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.

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, NO ONE 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? Smile, Darn You, Smile!!!

The following twelve months will be the most civically interesting of our lifetimes. More interesting than Watergate even. As I've said too many times to count, Nixon was a pin-prick. Donald Trump is a freakin' blood bath, 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? Of course he would! 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 his prison cell. The only difference between the two men is the fact that Debs would have made a pretty decent president.

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 - it was by meeting him. 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" - but to him. I remember thinking: What an asshole! At the time, Trump was just another dime-a-dozen New York real estate mogul and not yet a public 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.

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED READING:

Confidence Man

by Maggie Haberman.

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.

Jumpsuit For the Donald

"IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU."

Donald J. Trump, 8/4/23

Full disclosure: I committed a felony - once.

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 a half pound of weed was a felony. I knew perfectly well that what I was doing was agin' the law but, the way I looked at it, I was hurting no one - not even myself. 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:

How the heck does a man in his seventies manage to commit seventy-eight felonies in the course of just four years?

Oh yeah, "allegedly". 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.

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 - not jail  - PRISON.

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 - VERY - long time.

In the meantime, hold the silly dip-shit in the slammer until [unless] 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. Why not Donald Trump? And what does he mean by, "I'm coming after you"? Is the deranged old bugger physically threatening Jack Smith? Is he threatening his life? At the very least he needs to be brought in for some serious questioning. His lawyers must be having a collective nervous breakdown. 

Some are arguing that sending a former POTUS up the river would set a terrible precedent. I agree wholeheartedly. 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, no one 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. NYAH!) 

Tom Degan, Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED READING:

Confidence Man by Maggie Haberman 

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.

AFTERTHOUGHT, 8/10/23, 12:30 PM:

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.

It isn't.

WEE-1’s JR-15 Is the AR-15 for Kids (nymag.com)

Idiot Nation

Slavery is Bad: DUH!

It's almost impossible for me to fathom how - nearly a quarter of the way into the twenty-first century - 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.

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. Not Ron! 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 "benefitted" 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 - period. It's as simple as that, campers.

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED READING:

Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch

The best book ever written about the civil rights era

The Harder They Fall

 

Fiorello LaGuardia

These 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.

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. 

As John Belushi liked to say in his day:

"BUT NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

As it stands, he will be remembered as a pathetic and comical 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?)

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? What the hell were you thinking Rudy???

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.

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,

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

AFTERTHOUGHT, 7/12/23:

I started writing this piece two days ago. I took a break and forgot all about it. Sorry 'bout that, campers.

Dumping on the Supremes

 

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 en masse 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, perhaps not all of them, but I wouldn't put it past Uncle Thomas. 

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. 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:

QUESTION: Where do you think Clarence Thomas would be today if not for Affirmative Action?

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.

Roger and Me

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 hinges on education."

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. 

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

AFTERTHOUGHT, 7/2/23, 6:00 PM:

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. 

RANDY RAINBOW NATION

 

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. 

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'm jealous, dag nap it! 

Also, if Randy Rainbow is not the poster boy for gay pride in America, he really should be. 

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 Laugh Riot. Don't take my word for it; see for yourself. 

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

Here are just a handful of Randy Rainbow's YouTube videos:

Gee, Anthony Fauci: A parody of Gee, Officer Krupke from West Side Story:

GEE, ANTHONY FAUCI! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video

Sedition (Tradition from Fiddler on the Roof):

SEDITION! - A Randy Rainbow Parody - Bing video

KAMALA! (Camelot):

KAMALA! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video

There Is Nothing Like A Wall (South Pacific):

THERE IS NOTHIN' LIKE A WALL - Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video

Welcome to DeSantis:

Welcome to DeSantis! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video

Rudy and The Beast:

RUDY and the BEAST - Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video

I'M GAY! (Once Upon A Mattress)

GAY! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video 

Ted and Lindsay (Oklahoma):

TED and LINDSEY! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody - Bing video

Trump Trouble (The Music Man):

Ya Got TRUMP TROUBLE! - Randy Rainbow Song Parody - YouTube

************************

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:

RANDY RAINBOW FOR PRESIDENT! (yeah, that works for me).

Randy Rainbow for President! (2023-2024 Tour Announcement) - YouTube

He's a national treasure.

The unmaking of the Former President 2023

 

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? 

Someone once asked me if I thought that the former president would ever go to jail. Here was my answer:

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 - by far - the worst day of this person's miserable life.

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 combined 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?

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.

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!

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

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:

Steve Schmidt reacts to Donald Trump being indicted for multiple felonies | The Warning - YouTube 

We ignore his words to our own detriment.

AFTERTHOUGHT:

Here is the first paragraph of the Chris Christie piece that I abandoned for this one:

"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."

AFTERTHOUGHT, 6/10/23, 9:47 PM:

DISCLAIMER: I am philosophically opposed to the death penalty.

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 - and future mentor of Donald J. Trump) named Roy Cohn. I’m just sayin’.

American hIstory is literally drenched with juicy little ironies such as these. Have you ever noticed that?

Today would be a good day to quit drinking.

Things That Go Trump in the Night

 

It's outrageous and amazing that Donald Trump is only now - as a former United States president - 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. 

the only strategy Team Trump has in their moldy bag of tricks to save the man from an extremely long prison sentence is to plead 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 - not that I would ever lose a minute of sleep if that were to happen, mind you - I'm just putting it out there.

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. 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. 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 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.

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED VIEWING: 

GAY!!!

by Randy Rainbow

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.

https://fb.watch/kZINfT5mBx/?mibextid=v7YzmG

The man is a national treasure (Randy Rainbow, that is. Not Ron DeSantis).

What's Up With Junior?

 

Bobby Jr. and Uncle Jack

That rumbling sound you hear in the distance is the sound of Robert F. Kennedy, Sr. doing somersaults in his grave.

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 - which even I took seriously at first. 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.

Then came the quest that he and his brother, Doug, took 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 (GET THIS!) 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 his own mother. 

Teddy and Jimmy

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 my own middle finger) will be pointed at Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. 

Some men see things the way they aren't and ask, "What?" I dream things that never will be and ask, "WHAT THE FUCK???"

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.

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 - MIRACULOUSLY - get the nomination next year, you can be certain the Republicans are going to use certain long-ago chapters in his personal biography to tarnish him. I'm wasting my time pointing this out. He's not going to be the Democratic standard bearer in 2024 - and I'm sure he knows this. His candidacy should not be taken seriously by anyone.

Tom Degan

Goshen, NY

AFTERTHOUGHT 5/23/23:

Forgive me for taking so long to finish this one, folks. Health issues.

DO NO HARM

A Right Wing Thug

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 me - 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.

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 being black considered a "lifestyle" to these demented freaks? The Jim Crow Special, 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.

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 - not John Lennon. 

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.

Tom Degan 

Goshen, NY

post# 1,117: Random Observations

 

Sinko De Mayo - Get it? (Photograph by Brian K. Sager)

Stay Healthy and Safe

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.

1: Ron InSantis:

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. DeSantis is a dangerous reactionary. I suspect that he might have us all nostalgic for Trump after a while.

2. Ginny and Uncle Thomas:

It is now perfectly clear to anyone 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 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

3. Wisdom on Facebook:

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:

" 'Thoughts and prayers' is just American slang for tough shit".

The man deserves a Nobel Prize for that posting alone.

4. Biden v. Trump

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.

Tom Degan, Goshen, NY

AFTERTHOUGHT, 5/8/23:

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

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….

(4) Harry Belafonte & Petula Clark - On The Path of Glory (Live) - YouTube

This is historic, folks.