'Helter Skelter': When Ringo Starr Screamed "I've Got MS-13 On My Fingers!"

 

In my last post, I marveled that Trump wasn't drunk or high, and, last night, John Oliver did the same – see above. Watching Trump, a former Democrat, in that clip, also reminded me of so many previous conversations I've had with members of the party, over, say, the 2012 Mayan predictions of the apocalypse, whether or not Jenny McCarthy was a trusted source for information about vaccines; whether or not homeopathic concoctions are "medicine," or whether or not AI is "god-like," or even whether or not the people who insisted on these things ever defended those positions.

Those conversations, which - like Terry Moran - I never wanted to have, all went exactly like Trump's. And I present Oprah Winfrey's invitation, and appearance, at every Democratic Party Convention, as evidence those insane debates were just as real, instructive, and destructive, as the one just seen on ABC News. The Democrats want to forget about them, or wish we would, because that's how we got to this place: Americans, being as looney - and as intolerable in their lunacy - as Donald Trump.

 

BTW - if you want to know the difference between Trump's two administrations - as you can see above, after his first election win, Rachel Maddow assured viewers we're "not in Hell." But, here, at the start of his second administration, John Oliver just assured Terry Moran he not only made the trip "Downtown" but even got a personal tour.

Which should answer The Atlantic's question "Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?" pretty decisively. I mean, Trump was a "celebrity" before he was a "politician," so we're straddling the fence now, or combining the two, but - whatever you call it - Taylor Swift's Palestinian Genocide Tour definitely greased the wheels for America, finally, scraping the bottom of the cultural barrel. Somebody make a casserole. We've arrived. 

 

Fluke: The Most Appropriately-Named Feminist Ever

I don't want to sully my hands dealing with this woman, so let's let Peggy Noonan do it:

What a fabulously confident and ingenuous-seeming political narcissist Ms. Fluke is. She really does think—and her party apparently thinks—that in a spending crisis with trillions in debt and many in need, in a nation in existential doubt as to its standing and purpose, in a time when parents struggle to buy the good sneakers for the kids so they're not embarrassed at school . . . that in that nation the great issue of the day, and the appropriate focus of our concern, is making other people pay for her birth-control pills. That's not a stand, it's a non sequitur. She is not, as Rush Limbaugh oafishly, bullyingly said, a slut. She is a ninny, a narcissist and a fool.

And she looks like it, too,…

 

Oh-My-God (Could It Get More Obnoxious Than This?)

I'm both speechless and ROTFLMAO: 

Jennifer Granholm, the ex-Governor of Michigan, seems to have gotten her public speaker training from watching a combination of Adolf Hitler videos and Oprah reruns.

Come on - after hearing this - are you seriously going to tell me you didn't half-expect her to end by announcing that Everybody Gets A Car?!?

Ahh, Democrats - the only political party that openly celebrates being bought,...

 

In Case ANYONE Misunderstands What's Happening

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Democrats: The Party Of Hate (The Other Guys,...)

He Just Goes On And On And On (But I Don't Have To,...)

My first thought while watching this had nothing to do with Bill Clinton, the current president, the current election, or speeches. My first thought was that I'm looking at a stadium full of people who understand how this married former president cheated, how he screwed over his wife, how he screwed over his daughter, how he screwed over the woman he cheated with, how he slandered her name, how he told everyone she was crazy, how he lied to his friends, how he manipulated his friends to lie for him, how he lied to the nation, and how he lied to the Grand Jury. So they don't care that he got impeached because - damn that proceeding, damn that woman, and damn any phony baloney "War On Women" rhetoric - they forgive him. As far as they're concerned, the woman in that whole ugly fiasco might as well not exist because, to them, the entire incident doesn't exist.

This is Bill Clinton, and that's all that matters.

And then, just to rub it in, they have the nerve to applaud his mention of an "alternative universe."

That takes balls. But, because of Bill Clinton, they've ALL got 'em - and they're permanently blue.

Why am I watching this collection of trained seals? I have no idea. The man's a liar. That's my first actual thought about him.

It sums up his performance.

 

Watching The Wheels (Fall Off The Bus I'm Now Under)

This is a video of my friend, Angelo from Fishbone - backed by my friend, frequent collaborator, and drummer, Kevin Carnes - putting on the kind of review we (all) were famous for commanding:

Giving people their money's worth.

And this is the Punk band, Flipper, doing a song I remixed for them many moons ago - long after their drummer, Steve DePace, decided to pull a certain fan aside at a concert, bought him a beer, and convinced him he should stop waiting and get his black ass out there, too (it's funny to find this when Bill Clinton is the Keynote speaker for the Democrat convention's "War On Women" tour).

Now I'm out here taking potshots at a petty "Blogfather" - promoting Lucid Dreaming while pretending he's against junk science - after HE had something to do with MP3.com (where I once caused an online mini-riot) before they sold out what was one of the greatest opportunities for independent artists in the history of music. Fuck.

It's my ever smaller and smaller world, going round and round and round,….

 

Hey, Dummy: Somebody Cue The Sanford & Son Theme

I guess we can call this The Make-Over, Part II - where Michelle goes from never being proud of this country to, all of a sudden, being totally in love because she's flown over it in Air Force One. Remarkable. And did you know she's got kids, too? Amazing. AND even an MS story to tell? Take THAT, Ann Romney's disease! (Jesus Christ, can these people be any more obvious?)

But she's got the Richie Rich's in one category - being from America's ground floor. Barack Obama drove a rust bucket, just like I do. His best shoes didn't fit well, just like mine don't. She's not talking of the financial success that comes from being born on Home Plate and getting treated like you hit a Grand Slam, but of a FATHER (!) making it to First Base, and being determined to get his kids on Second.

Do I buy it? I don't know - Michelle Obama certainly doesn't look or act like someone with common roots now (and they haven't led the country for the last four years like it) but the story elements ring true.

And while I didn't get to watch all of the Republican Convention, I don't think I ever heard the words "janitors," or "respect," or especially "values," in all of what I did see. I honestly don't think these Republicans today would even acknowledge a janitor, they're so out of touch.

Continuing back to the downside, I hate the Diana Ross hair, and, though the Democrats are cheering them, don't know where these supposed "good jobs" are. And while I understand the argument for ObamaCare, she doesn't address how it's going to be paid for OR what it's passage will do to the character of our nation. And - sorry, Ladies - but this is the wrong blog to try and push for women not being more responsible with their bodies, or paying for their own condoms "healthcare." I'm not buying it.

All-in-all, deep down inside - after doing a total gut-check - I'm not buying any of it. She really lost me when she said, "it's not political, it's personal," like I don't know why they're in the arena. Do they really think that, just because I can see cutaways to brown people nodding like they're church, I'm going to forget this is the politics of pandering and nobody's giving me any specifics or tackling our tough issues directly? (The Republicans didn't either, BTW,...) Seriously, they think I'm THAT easily conned?

Well, yeah, they do apparently - on both sides. 

And that, alone, makes this whole ordeal about as insulting as I've ever seen it,...

WTF?

And here I was, thinking that whole "Empty Chair Day" shit was nutty,...

 

So What Is The Difference Between Atheists And NewAgers? It's Easy: Atheists Aren't Hypocrites

Then:

When Barack Obama burst onto the national scene at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he represented—among many things—the shining hope for the religious left. Here was a liberal politician who was not afraid of the language of faith, who just might reclaim territory that the Democratic Party had, willingly or not, ceded to Republicans. Red America did not own religion, Obama declared: “We worship an awesome God in the blue states.

Now:

Sometimes it seems like President Obama just can't catch a break, from the long-faltering economy to the Gulf oil well explosion. But some problems are just of his own making. Nowhere is this more clear than in his clumsy use of religious language. The president cannot stop stumbling over the religious maxims that have defined us as a nation.

Forever:

The head of a pro-family political group in New Hampshire accused the New Hampshire Democratic Party of “religious intolerance” on Thursday,...

Uh-Oh: The Truth Ain't "Out There" Anymore, IV

And, let's not forget, "Crazy Rosie" ranted against us blacks who supported Proposition 8 in California - like we care - and she called for riots during the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

(Links for all this nonsense provided by The Radio Equalizer.)

Even They Can't Stand Themselves

Noonan
by burghnews

I'd Rather Shoot Lawn Furniture

“We saw Stevie Wonder sing two songs! And, uh, Sheryl Crow sing like 7,000 songs which all sounded like shopping for lawn furniture on heroin.”

-- Ken Layne, nailing my thoughts on the one-square-of-toilet-paper-for-you and ex-Mrs. Armstrong's "talents" exactly, on Wonkette

Dead Donkey

"What does it say that our last two vice-presidential candidates are absolutely persona non-grata in their own party?”

-- Lou D’Allesandro, a New Hampshire delegate to the Democratic National Convention, in the New York Times

Democrats Sure Look Different On Tee Vee,...

In case television's pre-packaged Democratic National Convention is causing you indigestion (or you find your screams getting stuck in your throat) Zombietime is snapping behind-the-scenes photos of Denver's free-range Democrats and posting them with my new friends at Little Green Footballs. Now, everyone can continue to feast on something overly-familiar, knowing it's 100% organic. Nothing can make it go down any easier though. This is just gravy.

Enjoy.

Last Resort

"Public relations guru Howard Rubenstein told The News that if Edwards were his client, he'd tell him he's 'got to resort to the truth as his defense' - or his career's over."

-- Celeste Katz, on a *brilliant idea* few seem to acknowledge, in the Daily News

Silliness: The Change You've Been Waiting For

With the Denver convention less than two months away, problems range from the serious — upwardly spiraling costs on key contracts still being negotiated — to the mundane, like the reluctance of local caterers to participate because of stringent rules on what delegates will be eating, down to the color of the food.

The Democratic National Convention Committee decided not to take cheap office space and instead rented top-quality offices in downtown Denver at $100,000 a month, only to need less than half the space, which it then filled with rental furniture at $50,000 a month.

Overly ambitious environmental goals — to turn the event into a “green” convention — have backfired as only three states’ full delegations have so far agreed to participate in the program. Negotiations over where to locate demonstrators remain unsettled with members of the national news media concerned over proposals to locate the demonstrators — with their loud gatherings — next to the media tent.

And then there is the food: A 28-page contract requested by Denver organizers that caterers provide food in “at least three of the following five colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple and white.” Garnishes could not be counted toward the colors. No fried foods would be allowed. Organic and locally grown foods were mandated, and each plate had to be 50 percent fruits and vegetables. As a result, caterers are shying away.

Even more, those involved in the convention preparations portray Denver and party organizers as having squandered precious time, pushing critical decision-making into the final hours when it is more difficult to keep a lid on costs. Already, plans to have two dozen parties for the 56 delegations at locations throughout Denver were canceled, and instead there will be a single party at the city’s convention center.

“Major decisions are being settled only at the last minute,” said one convention organizer, who requested anonymity because of the confidentiality of the contracting process.

“So the Obama camp is not pleased and is raising questions about where all the money had been going. And they look at the posh office space for the Democratic Party staff here, which is really plush, and they say, ‘They spent the money on that?’ ”

And caterers, expected to feed the 40,000 people coming to town, are throwing up their hands over the food requirements.

“Everything that the Democrats did got off to a late start,” said Peggy Beck, a co-owner of Three Tomatoes Catering. “It was such an ordeal. We’ve jumped through hoops and hoops to bid on their stuff, and we had to have certain color food so the plates would be colorful.” In the end, the parties that she had been bidding on were canceled to save money. “This was some of the silliest stuff ever,” she added.

-- Dan Frosch, documenting how the Democratic Party can't even throw, well - a party - in the New York Times.