Today is Saturday, February 12, 2022. The trucker convoy in Canada that is protesting vaccine mandates in that northern country is getting a lot of attention these days, especially when some of our more firebrand “Repuglican” activists are contributing monetarily to the movement and are basically advocating disruption as a way of life. These truckers, part of what has been dubbed the Freedom Convoy, just received a nod of approval from television host Bill Maher on Friday during his Real Time show in which the acerbic political commentator said this about the protesters: They have the right to be “pissed off” at elitists who are “staying home in their Lululemons [high-end athletic clothing].” This vote of approval by Maher is covered in an online article for the Daily Mail entitled “Bill Maher says Freedom Convoy truckers have right to be ‘pissed off.'”

During his monologue, Maher admitted that this protest movement is “becoming a big thing. It’s happening all over the world now. They’re thinking it might happen here in Washington on Super Bowl Sunday.” Maher viewed the Canadian demonstration as one that is being waged against people who can work from home and wait for money from the government. He categorized the people protesting as those who can’t afford to stay home and “wait out for a free vacation.”

Many more protesters are expected to show up in Ottawa this weekend, and several convoys from this country are heading toward the Canadian border as the protest enters its 16th day. Protest have spread to three border points, including the Ambassador Bridge, North America’s busiest land border crossing, where dozens of vehicles had crowded the area since Monday, choking the supply chain for Detroit’s car makers. Yesterday police started to clear out the blockade, and protesters were seen starting to leave.

Maher had harsh words for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who called the unvaccinated population of his country “misogynistic” who “don’t believe in science.” Maher quotes the PM’s comments from September who also said that the unvaccinated are “often racist.” Trudeau went on to further criticize this segment of society, saying, “They take up space, and with that we have to make a choice – in terms of a leader in a country – do we tolerate these people?”

This is where Maher disagreed with the Prime Minister’s assessment of the unvaccinated in his country, saying that these people are not what Trudeau characterized them as. Maher then said that Trudeau sounded a lot like Hitler. Here Maher is being quite melodramatic and maybe Trudeau’s comments are somewhat harsh. But if this were the former president Dumpf saying the same thing about people on the left demonstrating, no one in his damn party would ever call him out for his hyperbole. I wonder why some of our Republican fascists are supporting these malcontents? They are responsible for disrupting the supply chain even more and thus will affect Americans’ economic lifeblood. How dare these assholes in Washington offer their support for a movement in a foreign country! They have no shame – ever.

Despite our reservations about this protest movement, there are several convoys gathering right here in multiple cities yesterday, ahead of a planned journey to the Canadian border in support of their fellow truckers. There are fears that some may try to disrupt this Sunday’s Super Bowl or even Biden’s March 1 State of the Union address.

An organization dubbed “Convoy to Save America” (a better Trumpian name if there ever was one) said on its website that two separate vehicle convoys will converge this weekend at the Peace Bridge, a U.S.-Canadian border crossing in Buffalo, New York.

One of the convoys will leave New York City on Friday and the second from Mount Juliet, Tennessee, today. Who knows what’s going to happen with this protest? Stay tuned.

What is truly bizarre about this convoy of Canadian trucker antivaxxers is the involvement of that propaganda “news” station, Fox News, which is slobbering over itself on its enthusiastic support of these jerks. Maybe these people on Fox News should relocate to Canada forever if they love them so much!

Today I ventured to lower Manhattan to meet “Zander” and his wife, “Nalah,” at the Whitney Museum to view the Jasper Johns exhibit that is leaving after tomorrow. Zander, if you recall, is the son of my friend, “Harold,” who lives in New Jersey. Elliot did not accompany me this time since he wanted to spend the day getting the kitchen ready for our remodeling this coming Wednesday.

So I woke up early for me, around 9:15, and made breakfast for myself. I reheated some remnant of the banana pancakes that I had at Jackson Hole the other day.

Zander and his wife agreed to meet me at 12:30, so to err on the side of caution, I left at 11. I brought my new book with me, Albert Camus’s The Fall, after finishing Andrew Shaffer’s Literary Rogues, which dished on the substance abuse issues of many renowned authors – from the Marquis de Sade to James Frey. It’s a wonder that any of these celebrated writers ever completed anything, from what Shaffer reveals about their myriad addictions.

The train I boarded, the E, suddenly was transformed into an F train running on the F track, so I got off at 14th Street and 6th Avenue and transferred to the L for one stop, 8th Avenue and 14th Street. From there, I walked to the museum location, on Gansevoort Street.

I got to the museum a little early, so I contemplated getting coffee somewhere and abandoned the idea when I realized I might get back to the museum too late to meet my party.

At about 12:20, I recognized Zander’s stride as he was approaching the front of the line, so we embraced and got online. I embraced Nalah and we all got ready to show our proof of vaccination to the guard sitting at a table outside the museum’s entrance.

The principal exhibit was the Johns retrospective that featured about 250 works of art encompassing decades in the artist’s career. So we tackled this exhibit first before going to another floor to see a craft exhibit that was ending next weekend.

I knew very little about this iconic American artist. I learned much more from reading the captions accompanying his work on the fifth floor. Johns was born in 1930 and is well known for his depictions of the American flag and other U.S.-related topics. His works regularly sell for millions of dollars at sale and auction, including a reported $110 million sale in 2010. Pretty good, you would say, for a living artist. He is now 91 and living in Sharon, Connecticut. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. One thing I certainly didn’t know about him was that he is a member of the tribe, so to speak, in that he is part of the LGBTQ+ community. He has been associated with fellow artist Robert Rauschenberg in 1954 when they became long-term lovers. Johns is credited with ushering in the Pop Art movement in the 1950s, as well as being associated with abstract expressionism and Neo-Dada. There were many works of art to stare at in this exhibit.

After spending about two hours at the museum, we all walked to Little Island, which just opened this past May. This is a public park located at 13th Street in back of the Whitney Museum, so we briskly walked through this new attraction and then walked to an entrance of the High Line.

We got off around 22nd Street to go find a place to have brunch since we were all famished. I had written down a few places on 10th Avenue to scope out and we eventually entered a place called the Orchard Townhouse, on 23rd Street.

We were asked to wait about 10 minutes for a table and we complied affably with the host’s request. The other restaurant we endeavored to enter, next door, was closed.

Eventually, we were escorted to a table for four in the rear and we sat down. There was no paper menu to peruse, so we viewed the menu online. I was really seeking coffee more than anything else. Within time, we were ready to order. Nalah ordered a cheeseburger, Zander ordered the spicy crab spaghetti, and I decided on smoked salmon scramble, which consisted of sourdough toast, lox, and cream cheese. The coffee that was served came in a French press and I got two cups out of the carafe, but I deemed the coffee too bitter. Unfortunately, Nalah was none too pleased with how her cheeseburger was prepared and she asked the server to have it cooked less raw. My entree was tasty, though.

During brunch, we talked about our upcoming plans to travel once the pandemic lessens. I mentioned the imminent Turner Classic Movies (TCM) Festival in April and possibly going to England in June. Nalah spoke about traveling to Britain in August.

We did have a dessert to share, some caramel concoction. I had no more coffee to drink and I had no desire to have a refill.

After brunch, we walked to 6th Avenue where I said good-bye to my young museumgoers and said that Elliot and I will invite them over to the apartment after our kitchen is remodeled. They said that was a good idea. Nalah said she wanted to shop at a Trader Joe’s nearby and that’s when we all parted.

This time I boarded an F train that took me swiftly to Forest Hills. I did find a seat also.

When I got home, I filled Elliot in on what happened during the day. I also saw more items being moved from their usual spots in the kitchen. One of those being the coat rack which is generally outside the kitchen entrance.

I then turned on the news, almost hesitatingly. I was afraid of hearing that Russia declared war on Ukraine. So far, so good.

Anyway, enjoy the Super Bowl tomorrow for those who watch. Maybe it will be interrupted by an American version of that Canadian convoy demonstration. As long as it doesn’t happen during half-time.

Stay safe and be well.