Archive: February 2026
Epic fury
The guy who campaigned on, among other lies, promises to avoid going to war has taken us to war. Raise your hand if you're shocked.
Secretary of Drunkenness Pete Hegseth calls this campaign of unwarranted, unexplained, and unconscionable violence "Operation Epic Fury." Well, we're furious, all right. Here's the alleged president of the United States, without any authorization or legal basis to do so, raining missiles and bombs down on a sovereign nation and assassinating a head of state for reasons he is not sharing. The rationale he and his flunkies have trotted out so far are absurd, no one takes them seriously. We know they're lies. So we can only speculate as to why he's really doing this.
It's worth noting, again, that the United States and Iran had a functional, working agreement, one that took years of negotiations and tenacity to obtain, to curtain Iran's nuclear ambitions. Felon47 tore that agreement up when he was Fraudster45 for no reason other than it was something the Black guy did. That abdication of international agreement by the U.S. led directly to last summer's bombings that Felon47 claimed, ridiculously, had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Today's unprovoked attacks put the lie to that claim, or render it irrelevant. The Tyrant of Mar-a-Lago probably did this, not for any national security reasons, but at the behest of his enablers in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and other Mideast kingdoms. And maybe to help out his fellow war criminal Bibi Netanyahu. And to make the news focus something other than the Epstein files and the spectacularly bad polling on Felon47 generally.
Felon47 has committed myriad abuses of power, so many that it's almost impossible to catalogue them all. Yet, this unconstitutional military action violating international law and inviting utter chaos on an already unstable region may well be the worst abuse in history, by any president. It's an ongoing lowering of the bar, it seems there's a new option for worst abuse of power every day, but this one is truly spectacular.
The fact that Felon47 has not been removed from power already is an indictment of the Republican party that should bury it for decades if not destroy it outright.
And I am embarrassed by, ashamed of, and, yes, epically furious with my fellow countrymen and -women, the 70 million-plus of them who preferred this demented oligarchic rapist, this convicted fraudster, this petulant septuagenarian with the intellect of an eight-year-old, this hate-filled illiterate narcissist, this bigoted sack of insecurity and misogyny, the most prolific liar ever to step onto the public stage. The 70 million-plus that said, yeah, that guy, because the alternative was a competent and accomplished woman of Afro-Indian descent, eewww.
We fucking warned you. Over and over again. But you voted for the liar, the rapist, the bigot, the moron anyway.
And the death toll just keeps on climbing, now including at least 85 schoolgirls killed in a missile strike today.
I'll end by quoting the great Will Bunch:
A cruise-missile assault aiming to change the government in Iran is, in reality, a desperate plea for regime change in Washington, D.C. Democrats, who could gain power in the House as early as this year thanks to GOP scandals and illness, must make clear that Trump’s impeachment and an end to American autocracy is their main priority.
For now, we have unnecessarily injected ourselves into a long-troubled corner of the world where there are almost no good guys, where theocratic dictators are unceasingly slaughtering the citizens of other theocratic dictators. Maybe that’s because, over the course of 250 increasingly tragic years, the United States has finally become exactly like them.
The only epic fury should be our own.
Tagged
Politics,
President VonClownstick,
Republicans,
Posted on February 28, 2026 at 8:15PM | Permalink | 
| 
Drawing
I've been away from the drawing board/sketchbooks for a long while, save for a few small commissioned projects. I've gotten back into it a little bit as I climb out of the Black Hole, so there's a new one on the sketchbook page now. One of these days I still intend to populate that section of the site with older stuff that needs to be scanned/rescanned in—a lot was included in prior versions of this site, but that was in the days of 800 × 600 CRT monitors, so those scans are puny now—but that's a project for a later date.
I've been watching Get Back, so maybe the next sketch will be bearded Paul or mustachioed Ringo or something.
Tagged
Sketches,
Posted on February 28, 2026 at 1:06AM | Permalink | |
The state of the union is critically endangered
I didn't watch Felon47’s bloviating liefest in a traditional sense on Tuesday night, but I did participate in a livestream mock-watch online. It made it somewhat entertaining. Still, the speech was a crazed stream of vomited-up garbage, a dishonest recitation of made-up "alternative facts" and baseless demonization of all who disagree with Felon47’s totalitarian agenda.
Thankfully, the speech got pretty much no traction, near as I can tell. Only 33 million viewers saw it, according to the Nielsen ratings people, fewer than last year but more than watched two of Biden's, but these days that doesn't mean a lot; the speech itself might not get seen live, but clips get shared around social media sites and get seen by plenty. Still, it's been largely forgotten already and did nothing to advance any sort of agenda; it was easily the most utterly pointless State of the Union speech ever made. It will probably be remembered mostly for shamelessly using the men's U.S. Olympic hockey team as a prop—that's going to be embarrassing for those guys in the coming years—and for being almost entirely dishonest in its content.
When he did say something true, it was still in the service of dishonesty. He said he guided the U.S. economy into "a turnaround for the ages," and that's true, he did. He wants us to believe he took a floundering economy and made it wonderful, though, which is the opposite of reality. When President Biden left office, the U.S. economy was the envy of the world. Now it's in chaos at best, working well only for what should now be called the Epstein Class, the billionaires that are the only ones seeing any benefit at all in the policies of Felon47 and his bootlicking Republican enablers. The rest of us are hurting in ways we would not be had this fucker not won the election. He also said that "cheating is rampant in our elections." That's a bald-faced lie, but it's also aspirationally true. He said that in support of the so-called Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which in reality is a voter-suppression bill with provisions in it to gather data in service of, you guessed it, cheating in elections.
But we all knew he was going to lie his way through the speech, we all knew it would be full of baseless grievance, racism, and attacks on Democrats. We didn't know he was going to point at the Democrats in the chamber and shout that they were "crazy," something that in a normal era would result in immediate 25th Amendment proceedings but these days is just baked in and unsurprising behavior.
So we move on. What we should be moving on to is the evidence in the Epstein files that accuses Felon47 of child rape and assaults. We should be moving on to is the complete lack of Congressional involvement in another military buildup in the Mideast. We should be moving on to the corrupt obstruction of justice perpetrated by Judge Aileen Cannon. And a slew of other things that relate to criminal and impeachable behavior by this regime.
Tagged
Politics,
President VonClownstick,
Republicans,
Posted on February 28, 2026 at 12:22AM | Permalink | |
Gaining altitude
My latest black-hole bout has been lengthy and annoying, if not particularly debilitating. Aside from a couple of "lost days" in the mix over the last, what, three or four weeks(?), I've remained functional and reasonably alert despite the dark cloud surrounding my mood and the extra effort required to focus on anything. These episodes generally don't last this long—three or four weeks is definitely an outlier—but these are not exactly normal times we're living through and I suppose I am cursed with the combination of awareness of our societal decline plus ethical standards that require commensurate outrage. Add clinical depression to the mix and I guess it's not a stretch to have a month-long span of sometimes-morbid ennui.
The incident on the ballfield near the end of January most definitely had a hand in this. The disrespect and insult from the league, however unintentional and clumsily communicated it may have been, has had me seriously considering quitting the umpire gig, which I used to enjoy quite a bit. Subsequent shifts were less fun, less engaging, regardless of what teams I drew on the schedule or the weather or whathaveyou. The reminder that I'm considerably older than anyone else on the field staff (and probably older than anyone working for the league in any capacity) contributed to feeling like maybe I ought to chuck it since I'm apparently considered an interchangeable cog. On the other hand, with my client base diminished post-COVID and my lack of enthusiasm for building it up again, I do utilize the $50 per game more than I used to, especially with Felon47 stealing from us all on a daily basis and otherwise wrecking the economy.
Thankfully, last night's ump shift was a return to fun. It was the start of playoffs, which can sometimes be bad depending on the level of machismo present, but everyone behaved themselves. I had one close game, where the defense came to play—I don't think I've ever done a game with so many double-plays in it, and highlight-reel-level outfield catches to boot—and one blowout. Some silliness and goofy interplay. And to a person everyone wanted me to ump their next games and were upset when I told them they were going to get someone else thanks to limitations of the schedule.
I needed it. It's a sad commentary on my state of mind that I needed it, but I did. Between the outrages in the news and the flak from the league, the various low-stakes problems with finances and stuff at home, and general depression being fed by it all, having the players all greet me by name and express thanks for getting me for their playoff openers, then play a fun game with no bullshit, then ask if there was a way they could twist the league's arm to get me to work their next games even though it's on someone else's docket, it all served to give my altitude orbiting the black hole a boost. Then I got to work a game with ichiban suki na senshu and her squad, after which she had me tag along for ice cream and insisted I be in a photo with her team. (Just don't show the league, lest they think I play favorites when making calls.)
I hate having to deal with the black hole so often, but it's something I just have to endure from time to time and I can thanks to psychopharmacology. And, in this case, thanks to the players on the field, who let me know in ways the people that pay me can't or won't ever do that it makes a difference to have me doing the gig.
Tagged
Umping,
The Black Hole,
Posted on February 24, 2026 at 8:15PM | Permalink | |
Impeach him (again) already
I'm still climbing out of my latest black hole episode, but I have managed to catch up a bit on the news of the last week-plus. I presume most if not all of you reading this are aware of most things, no need to rehash the big stories, but I have some observations on what Felon47 has had to say about a few things.
Tomorrow night the fascist wannabe dictator will give the State of the Union address, which will be chock full of lies and outrage. I'm not interested in the generalities of his whiny grievance fantasies or his fictitious claims of great successes in ... well, anything, really, as his only real successes have been as a con man, fraudster, rapist, and in assorted financial crimes. But sometimes he reveals things in his rantings that are worth noting.
For instance, when asked about his reaction to the arrest of the rapist formerly known as Prince Andrew, Felon47 said it was "sad." It's telling that he finds it sad when a fellow member of his ultra-privileged class is held to account for criminal behavior, but the whole exchange is worth parsing:
FOX REPORTER: On Prince Andrew, do you think American associates of Jeffrey Epstein will wind up in handcuffs too?
FELON47: I'm the expert in a way because I've been totally exonerated. That's very nice. I can actually speak about it very nicely. I think it's a shame. I did nothing. I think it's so bad for the royal family. It's very sad. It's a very sad thing. To me, it's a very sad thing.
Firstly, the question was about "American associates of Jeffrey Epstein," and Felon47 goes immediately to himself. "I've been totally exonerated." Of course, he hasn't been exonerated, totally or otherwise. He just hasn't been charged. Yet. Then he starts to pivot to the Andrew arrest, but can't help but interject "I did nothing," which is one of his tells. Also, he does not ever actually answer the question, he answers a different question that wasn't asked. He wasn't asked what he thought of the Andrew arrest specifically, he was asked whether he thought Americans in similar positions to Andrew would now face arrest and the only American he mentioned was himself, in a lie.
As if we needed more evidence this guy is up to his armpits in Epstein-related crimes, this exchange makes me even more certain that he's guilty of everything that's been alleged regarding his association with Epstein and then some. There's more that hasn't yet been publicly alleged and he's scared shitless that it's going to come out.
Then there's Felon47’s tantrum following the Supreme Court ruling that his tariffs are illegal. As if he didn't know that ruling was coming. As if several people hadn't told him repeatedly that the president cannot unilaterally levy duties and taxes. No, even in his addled mushbrained idiocy he knew his tariffs were illegal, but: He genuinely does not know what a tariff is—he really does think it's a fee paid by exporter nations—and more to the point, he also genuinely expects the Justices he appointed to SCOTUS to rule in his favor no matter what. They are supposed to be his operatives, just like Pam Bondi and Kash Patel and Kristi Noem are his operatives rather than actual responsible officials that take their jobs and their oaths seriously.
Sometimes they have been his operatives. Those Justices decreed the president is immune from prosecution no matter what crimes he commits so long as there's a patina of "official" surrounding it. That was a blatantly unconstitutional decision, so why not do it again here? That's a good question for another time.
But it's the comments Felon47 made I want to delve into.
In his press conference after the ruling, he said, "I'm ashamed of certain members of the court. Absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what's right for our country." First off, he's incapable of shame. He's wounded by the decision, he's enraged about it, and he's vindictive as fuck, but he's not ashamed. He's pissed at two of the three Justices that he appointed and he's pissed at George W. Bush's Chief Justice Roberts for adhering to the clear language of the Constitution and the law. But he can't admit that, so he lies and says he's "ashamed" of them. Then there's the echo of what he said about former Vice President Mike Pence after the January 6 insurrection—the very same wording, "not having the courage to do what's right or our country." He's pissed off that his assumed toadies were, in his judgment, too cowardly to commit crime with him, too chicken to declare the Constitution a dead letter and appoint him king. After all, that's what he appointed Gorsuch and Barrett (and Kavanaugh) to do.
Not comprehending other possible motives, Felon47 then came close to accusing the Justices of treason. "It's my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests," he said, not bothering to elaborate. I can imagine a couple of possibilities here: he thinks foreign business interests or heads of state resent paying his tariffs—which they do not pay—and are paying off Supreme Court Justices to remove them; or, since he himself is in the thrall of foreign interests as a longtime "useful idiot"-style Russian operative, he assumes rival global factions like Europeans are conducting their own sabotage campaigns and have compromised "his" Justices.
Either way, the idea that Justices of the Supreme Court would respect the Constitution of the United States doesn't enter his thinking. He doesn't know what the Constitution says, for one thing, but regardless, laws are for people with no power, so that cannot be a motive. Has to be something else, something selfish, something he can claim grievance about.
He wasn't done, though, he also said the 6-3 ruling was "an embarrassment to [the Justices'] families, to one another." You have to wonder about that being a threat. An instruction to his shadow militia of pardoned Jan. 6 criminals and "Proud Boys" and other thugs to make those Justices' relations targets for terrorism. He has a history of doing just that kind of thing, using such phrases to incite others to carry out violence against his opposition. It's one of the few things he actually calculates and effectively communicates because it's mob-style. And mob tactics are what he knows better than anything.
Continuing to rant, Felon47 also likened tariffs to "license fees," which makes no sense to anyone, and complained that the ruling means he's not allowed to charge "one dollar" to a foreign nation. Well, it's true that he can't charge other countries for ... nothing? ... but that isn't what the ruling said. Because the ruling was about tariffs. Which are paid by Americans. Yet, he went on to threaten that he can and will use tariffs "in a much more powerful and obnoxious way" going forward, which, yay, can't wait to see that.
I look at all this and, once again, for the millionth time, marvel at the fact that the Republican Party is so utterly corrupt that they keep this moronic tyrant in power. If just a relative few of them respected their oaths of office, they would join the Democrats in impeaching and convicting this embarrassing pustule of a spoiled brat and facilitate bringing him and his entire administration of criminals up on charges immediately.
Tagged
Politics,
President VonClownstick,
Republicans,
Posted on February 24, 2026 at 12:03AM | Permalink | |
Check in post
Hello, Interwebs. I continue to plod my way through this extended but relatively mild black hole episode, which has not abated nor gotten any worse (well, not much worse) over the last week or so. Part of my attempt to right the ship has been to consume less news than usual, so I'm only catching bits and pieces of the latest outrages and will need to catch up some later. Meanwhile, I've been reading, bingeing a rewatch of Orphan Black, and looking forward to baseball, which once again is starting ridiculously early thanks to stupid Manfred and his stupid extra playoffs.
Anyway, I'm hanging in there. I didn't post anything about the week's umpiring as there wasn't much to say about it. I have four more games to do over the next couple of nights, so maybe there'll be a report after that.
The world keeps on turning.
Posted on February 21, 2026 at 2:41PM | Permalink | |
Umpire Diary
I had two games to work last night and they both involved players I like to draw on my docket. You'd think, therefore, that it would have been a lot of fun and provide some tales for the blog.
You'd think, but not so much. Mostly because my little black hole episode referenced the other day is still hanging around. I'd managed to gain some altitude the day before, but apparently not a lot, because I got tired and dropped down a bit and was basically powering through last night. Which is a shame, because it was the first time I got to work a game with The Leftovers this year and I didn't make the most of it. Still, things went OK. I might not have been "all there," but it's still nice to see Neal and Cerissa and the gang.
Both games were blowouts, with the team playing a doubleheader scoring 38 runs in each while holding the opponents to the teens. Some of the players on the winning side were present on the night I got "policed" by the league, so there were questions, good-natured ribbings, further discussion of that incident; that likely didn't help my demeanor, but I still appreciated it. The players deserve to have an idea of what kind of business they're supporting, and I don't want to be opaque or, on the flip side, unreasonably critical or leave such impressions. Still, I prefer to just ignore that fiasco at this point.
One bit of administrative nuisance that came up was about our league's lineup rules, which require a minimum gender ratio be followed (no more than two men for each woman or non-binary player in the lineup or on the field). One group was lobbying for an exception to the rule and even though I like these people, and even though I have been known to, under extenuating circumstances, allow for a deviation from the edict, on principle I support the rule and want to enforce it. Doing so didn't win me any new friends, but in this area I don't mind being a hardass so long as the rest of the field staff are consistent with it. We're a coed league, we're not a men's league, and making allowances for teams that show up with a too-skewed ratio of men to women or vice-versa (though that's yet to happen) is counter-productive. When I was a team captain in this league I had to deal with it and deprive myself and one or more of my teammates from at-bats because one or more of the ladies didn't show up. It's annoying, but the rule exists for a reason and I agree with it.
The issue that gives me even a little pause is that apparently some of the other umps choose not to enforce the rule and therein lies potential chaos. There have been piddly rules I've chosen not to enforce now and then, just to avoid arguments on things that I consider inconsequential (generally these have been rules about a specific pitching distance or concerning the pitching rubber, the enforcement of which once resulted in an epic meltdown of a player who turned out to be on the autism spectrum, or the scope of the batters' box, which on dirt fields especially can be tricky due to lack of field maintenance) but every time such things come up I make it clear—the rulebook says this, but I'm choosing not to enforce it today because of X. Others will likely choose to enforce it, I may choose to under other circumstances next time, so never assume this to be standard. But if others are just ignoring things like the ratio rule (which maybe they believe to be inconsequential, though I'd disagree) and giving teams the impression that they have at least a 50/50 shot at ignoring it on a given day, then the teams may plan for it or at least not prepare for working within their limits. I just ask for consistency—keep the rule or change it, but don't leave players wondering what it'll be every time out.
I'm not recalling in great detail how well I handled that problem last night—the black hole made me a bit foggy and I remain so today—but it was enforced and there wasn't a lot of pushback, so it must have been OK.
I've got a couple more games on Sunday afternoon and then two more Monday night. Hopefully I'll be more clearheaded and in a higher orbit by then.
Tagged
Umping,
Softball,
The Black Hole,
Posted on February 13, 2026 at 9:11PM | Permalink | |
Hitting the links
My lifelong struggle with clinical depression hit a bump this week—if I'm being honest with myself, it was in the works for a while now—and I had me a good old-fashioned lost day yesterday when I didn't even get out of bed. When not asleep, I was unproductively reliving certain memories from younger days that I wish had gone differently, you know. Basically stuck in a wallow.
This shit happens once in a while, I've learned to accept it. It happens less often than it used to thanks to my Rx, and when it does happen is not as severe. Not as severe means, among other things, that I was fully able to muster the willpower to get up, take care of some things, and get some exercise today as I attempt to gain more altitude over the black hole I continually orbit. Early reports are favorable.
Anyhow, now that I'm caught up on two days' worth of email and some administrative housekeeping (still haven't tackled the taxes, though), I've been perusing the Interwebs to see what fresh horrors are in the news and have come across some links to share. To wit:
-
Cory Doctorow has a suggestion for Democrats in Congress: make a big deal out of forming what he's calling a "Nuremberg caucus." Basically a committee that keeps track, publicly, with a website and regular on-camera announcements, of all the criminal behavior perpetrated by Felon47, the Cabinet, DHS/ICE/CBP, and the rest of the regime. They would publicize plans for hearings, at least, if not charges and potential trials, regarding each of the crimes noted, to take place when Democrats regain the majority—whether that be after midterm elections or when enough Republicans resign or otherwise leave office. If nothing else, politically this would be a great move as we need to see and hear more form our elected leaders about their intentions to hold the fascists accountable for the destruction they are wreaking on the nation.
The Nuremberg Caucus could vow to repurpose ICE's $75b budget to pursue Trump's crimes, from corruption to civil rights violations to labor violations to environmental violations. It could announce its intent to fully fund the FTC and DoJ Antitrust Division to undertake scrutiny of all mergers approved under Trump, and put corporations on notice that they should expect lengthy, probing inquiries into any mergers they undertake between now and the fall of Trumpism.
- On a similar topic, today's Bob Cesca Show podcast featured a discussion with Cliff Schecter about oligarchs and the need to once and for all declare as a country that no amount of wealth that effectively places an individual above the law will be allowed, that rule by the rich is the basis of the current regime and now is the time to enact massive reform. From a return to the 90% marginal tax rate to making stock buybacks illegal again to eliminating the distinction between income and capital gains, Cliff notes a plethora of suggested reforms that would not only rein in the obscene levels of wealth disparity that has exploded since the ’80s, but seriously curtail the ability of the super-wealthy to buy their way out of legal consequences for their behavior.
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This isn't new news, but I missed it at the time. A couple of months ago variants of this headline were working their way through social media sites: “Wake Up, Jeff”: Paul McCartney’s Ultimatum to Amazon Sends Shockwaves Across Culture, Business, and Politics. The article's lead paragraph includes, "McCartney announced that he would pull all McCartney-affiliated media partnerships and business collaborations from Amazon, accusing Bezos of a quiet alignment with Donald Trump." It looked legit, made sense. Paul McCartney certainly would be the sort of figure that would object to the cruelty of the current American regime and the businesses that support it. But it's bogus.
The same piece, with other names substituted for McCartney's—musicians, sports figures, Hollywood celebs—was all over Facebook. It was created by people exploiting Mark Zuckerberg's Meta software to engage users of Facebook (and other Meta platforms) to share the posts, click through, and give advertisers more impressions. When a version using the name Bo Nix, a Denver Broncos football player, in place of McCartney's started going around, it was more obviously bogus (at least to people who follow the Denver Broncos) and a reporter for a Denver paper did a deep dive into it: https://www.denvergazette.com/2025/11/22/this-just-in-facebooks-breaking-news-is-a-total-head-fake/. Among other findings:
Fake news hooks genuine users, who often react emotionally to it, either by celebrating or condemning its content. This creates what is called “a feedback loop”: More interactions mean more algorithmic promotion, more time spent on the platform, and higher ad exposure. Studies have shown that fake news can generate 20 times more shares than real news, turning one bot’s initial spark into widespread organic traffic.
How does that turn into money for Meta? Indirectly but hugely. The more exposure an ad gets, the more Meta charges the advertiser. Last year, Meta made $161 billion on advertising placed on its three platforms—Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
And here’s where it gets downright deplorable. According to a bombshell new Reuters investigation released Nov. 6, 2025, fully 10% of Meta’s ad revenue—up to $16 billion a year—comes from publishing ads that Meta knows to be outright scams or for banned products. This comes from a review of Meta’s own internal documents.
Yet another (or really a variation on the same) reason to boycott Facebook and all Zuckerberg platforms. Yet, I still post links there because more than a few people I know treat the Internet like it's just an extension of Facebook. Maddening. There are better ways, folks.
- The House passed the latest Republican voter suppression bill today, with one Dem, Henry Cuellar (TX), joining the fascist caucus in voting yes. It needs to be killed with fire by the Senate, then either buried in a deep hole or shot into the sun. The anti-American Speaker of the House, who has already declared his opposition to abiding by law and the Constitution on other matters, tried to conflate the bill's proposed change to voting law with "open[ing] a bank account [and] buy[ing] cold medicine," and asked "why would voting be any different than that?" Well, Mr. Speaker, the fact that voting is a right enshrined by the Constitution is a factor, not that you give a damn about what the Constitution says. Also, no one has to produce a passport or a birth certificate and, if applicable, official name change documentation to buy Sudafed or open a checking account. Yet that's what you want to require to register to vote. So let's ask you that same question—why do you want voting requirements to be so exclusionary, far beyond what would be required to open a bank account? The fact that Speaker Johnson feels the need to obfuscate and distort the truth about his bill tells us that he knows full well that it's unacceptable on its face to the public at large. Asshole.
- "Attorney General" Pam Bondi appeared at a hearing in the House of Representatives today and performed as instructed by the criminal regime for which she works. Speaking with open contempt for Congress, not even pretending that her job as head of the (former) Justice Department is in any way independent of the president, and, of course, lying her ass off.
There's more, but I have to go to an HOA meeting, so this will have to do. Later, all.
Tagged
Politics,
President VonClownstick,
The Black Hole,
Republicans,
Posted on February 11, 2026 at 7:00PM | Permalink | |
Uncoded language
Last Friday the big story in the news was that the unrepentantly racist president of the United States did an overtly racist thing and members of his party were shocked, SHOCKED, to find there was gambling going on in this establishment.
To be clear, what Felon47 posted on his janky social media app was not, in and of itself, news in the strictest sense. The headlines about it should have been nothing more than "late-septuagenarian lifelong racist commits racism in public again." But the message was resoundingly offensive and deserved all the outrage it got from people not in his cult of cruelty and grievances. (I especially liked Hakeem Jeffries' reaction of "Fuck Donald Trump and his vile, racist, and malignant behavior.") The reaction from Republicans, though—the outrage voiced by GOP legislators and others within the MAGA cult—that's something else again.
These same Republicans have no issues (publicly, at least) with Felon47’s racist policies; his blaming a plane crash on "DEI"; his indiscriminate assault on Latinos; his attempts to erase mentions of Jackie Robinson, Medgar Evers, and others from federal facilities and records; his references to majority-black nations as "shithole countries"; his slandering of Somali and Haitian immigrants en masse; nor any of the other remarks and behavior lifted right out of Mein Kampf and Stephen Miller's fantasy dystopia. But this they did. Curious.
Senator Roger Wicker (R–MS) called Felon47’s racist post "totally unacceptable" and called on Felon47 to "take it down and apologize." Congressman Mike Lawler (R–NY) said the post was a "grave failure of judgment." Senator Tim Scott (R–SC, the only African-American Republican in the Senate) called it "the most racist thing I've seen out of this White House." The post was condemned by quite a few elected Republicans, though some implied they were accepting Felon47’s ridiculous claim that it was not him but "a staffer" that posted it.
The thing about all of these GOP condemnations, though, is context.
Since they did not and do not exhibit such outrage at the rest of this regime's racism, since they did not and do not exhibit outrage and the rest of this regime's anti-American agenda, since they did not and do not publicly object to the regime's murder of both Americans in Minnesota and immigrants in detention—not to mention well over 100 Venezuelans on the open sea—it's reasonable to conclude it isn't the racism they're objecting to.
It's the overtness of the racism.
What was "totally unacceptable" to Wicker, what was a "failure of judgment" to Lawler, may well have been the lack of coding. Scott's outrage at "the most racist thing" may well be because the normal Republican rhetorical games weren't used to disguise the racism. Sen. Susan Collins (R–ME) may have been "appalled," but was she appalled at the post's content or was she appalled that the president went and ignored all the stuff she as a Republican senator has been schooled in for so many years to put a gauzy mask on bigoted remarks?
I quote the guru of Republican messaging, Lee Atwater, the disciple of arguably the most racist senator in history, Strom Thurmond, and who championed polarization and demonization as the preferred paths to political victories:
You start out in 1954 by saying, "Nigger, nigger, nigger." By 1968, you can't say "nigger"—that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights, and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.... I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me—because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut this" is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "Nigger, nigger."
Atwater died in 1991, but his playbook remains standard operating procedure for the Republican party and I submit that the GOP outrage over last week's social media post was about Felon47 not using the playbook—not about Felon47 being a racist. They're fine with that. The apology Wicker wants isn't for the public at large, it's for himself and his fellow Republican cultists, who still have to use code.
Tagged
Politics,
Republicans,
President VonClownstick,
Posted on February 9, 2026 at 10:07PM | Permalink | |
Priorities
Judging by the noise level outside, which for a time included quite a lot of firecrackers that surely freaked out every pet in the neighborhood, the hometown Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl a little bit ago. Good for them. Whatever.
I did not watch the game, I ran some errands and did some work instead, because I care not for football. But while I was out, wearing, as I tend to do, my Seattle Mariners baseball cap, a number of people at the grocery store wanted to know my opinion of the Super Bowl, whether I planned on watching the remainder of the game when I got home, that kind of thing. That's cool, striking up conversation and all, but my replies of "no opinion," "no," "I don't care," etc. were a letdown.
But there was one guy. He was stocking bananas in the Fred Meyer produce department. As I picked out a small bunch from his supply, he too struck up a conversation.
"You know what tomorrow is?" he asked.
"Tomorrow?" I said.
"Pitchers and catchers report," he declared, nodding slightly with a small smile.
Oh yeah.
We reach, Mr. banana-stocking dude. We reach.
Tagged
Baseball,
Posted on February 8, 2026 at 7:57PM | Permalink | |
SFA honors The Sisko
SAM taking in the exhibits of the Sisko Museum
The newest Star Trek show, Starfleet Academy, dropped its fifth episode this week. Titled "Series Acclimation Mil," which is the full name of the holographic alien character known as SAM, it does everything right that much of Strange New Worlds season three did wrong. It's offbeat but true to theme, character-driven in ways that are wholly satisfying, and honors what came before—specifically, major aspects of the third Trek series, Deep Space Nine—with reverent fealty.
SAM is a character that we knew nothing about other than that she's a delightful mystery. This episode, as she tells us directly in the first minute, is all about her. We learn about her background, but we also learn a lot about who she is—and so does she, which is precisely the sort of writing a show like this, with a YA focus, absolutely needs.
We learn that SAM is an emissary from the planet Kasq, created to learn about the species and cultures of the Federation and determine if they, as organic beings, are basically trustworthy or are they likely to behave as the organic beings that created the Kasqians long ago did and attempt to oppress artificially-created beings like the people of Kasq into servitude. SAM refers to the Kasqians as her "makers," and the makers are really impatient. They've given SAM a task and want results; they're not interested in SAM's experiences on a personal level or what she thinks about music, just find out if it's safe to leave isolation and present copious evidence why or why not.
So when SAM learns that there was an historic figure named Benjamin Sisko that was not only a great Starfleet wartime captain but also a mythological figure in the planet Bajor's culture as the emissary of the alien beings known as the Bajoran prophets, she immediately feels a kinship and wants to learn more. When it seems that Sisko's reluctant acceptance of being the emissary and his ultimate disappearance—believed by the Bajorans, at least, to be a transition from living as a human being to living among the prophets themselves—meant that he was not able to live the life he wanted to live, she really identifies.
It's brilliant. It uses both in-universe history and a writers' room expertise and respect for DS9 to tell a story all about this new character of SAM, one that parallels a lot of people's experience as a youngster gone off to college to fulfill a parent's desire for them—become a doctor, a lawyer, a business mogul—only to discover for themselves that they want to be something else, or at least to find their own way to a path. As with the best of DS9, we also get mysteries of spiritualism versus provable facts, ponderings of what traits are really the important ones in a personality, and questions of free will and destiny and whether they can co-exist.
There's other goofy stuff in this one too, small bits furthering the stories of other characters and a B-story developing Holly Hunter's Chancellor Ake and her War College counterpart Commander Kelrec's odd relationship and giving Bob Picardo and Tig Notaro scenes to show off their comic chops (my favorite line in the episode might well be when Tig's Commander Reno just says "No" through a mini-bullhorn to Picardo's Doctor). But really this is SAM's journey, and I'm loving it.
There's still a lot of ambivalence about Starfleet Academy as a project; it is a YA-oriented show and as such isn't as interesting to some in the demographic that has long enjoyed this now-60-year-old franchise. But this episode, written with reverence by Tawny Newsome and Kirsten Beyer, two women who both know their Trek backwards and forwards and know how to handle story structure and character development, shows how appealing to a YA audience doesn't have to mean dumbing down your material.
Tagged
Star Trek,
TV,
Posted on February 6, 2026 at 10:57PM | Permalink | |
Chuck & Hakeem audition for Dumb & Dumber II
What the hell, Chuck? Come on.
In the midst of the Congressional debates surrounding a funding bill for the out-of-control Department of Homeland Security (a name which has always sounded fascist even when we weren't being governed by fascists), Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote a letter to Senate majority leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The letter opens with a matter-of-fact, almost docile recitation of ICE abuses in Minnesota and elsewhere that lacked any outrage, then proceeds to its real substance, if you can call it that: a list of ten "reforms" to DHS and ICE policy that are presented as suggestions. (The exact language is, "we believe Congress needs to enact the following guardrails.")
The suggestions include several things that are already mandated by the Constitution under the Fourth Amendment. Other suggestions are banning masks, requiring ID badges and body cameras, and adherence to standards common to every other law enforcement agency.
I don't understand how this is "leadership."
These things being suggested should be demanded. The very idea that DHS would be permitted to ignore the Fourth Amendment, to act as a secret police force unaccountable to the law and without any of the regulation every other law enforcement agency in this country is expected to obey, without the Republicans agreeing to suggested reforms is in itself an outrage.
This letter plays into the regime's and the Republican party's corruption and authoritarian wishes by painting these "reforms" as, well, reforms. The law exists. The Constitution exists. Requiring DHS to abide by them is not a "reform," it's the status quo, it's just not being enforced.
Any letter from Democratic leadership to the Republican leadership on this topic should be a laundry list of all the laws DHS has broken and is breaking, a recitation of the Fourth Amendment and SCOTUS history reiterating its application to immigration and how DHS has been violating it. It should remind the Republican leadership that in supporting the regime and its lawless use of DHS agencies in this way (and others), they and their caucus are violating their oaths of office to protect and defend the Constitution. It should demand the resignation of the Speaker and the majority leader if they continue to refuse to accept the legal and Constitutional protections guaranteed to the public.
Instead we got this. A milquetoast, politely sedate and tepid suggestion that the Republicans ask DHS to please stop committing terrorism. Only it doesn't even name the terrorism.
Chuck and Hakeem need to either finally realize that they are not dealing with people of good faith, they are not dealing with honest brokers, they are not dealing with people that respect the values of a democratic republic; or, if they can't do that, they need to give up their leadership positions. Because they are failing to lead. They are being cowed, they are stuck in a reality that has not existed for two decades in which any member of Congress could be assumed to at the very least not be unAmerican. No more.
The Speaker of the House goes on television and declares that his caucus will never go along with the Fourth Amendment and no elected Democrat says anything about it. That is a failure of leadership.
The GOP leadership negotiates an end to a government shutdown in bad faith, promising something everyone knows will never happen, and enough Democrats go along with it to pass the measure. That is a failure of leadership.
The minority leaders write a mildly-worded letter to the majority to suggest they tell DHS to not be terrorists. That is a failure of leadership.
Tagged
Politics,
Democrats,
Republicans,
Posted on February 5, 2026 at 9:12PM | Permalink | |