Today is Monday, July 3, 2023, one day before the celebration of our national independence, which this year, I must say that I’m very ambivalent about where our country is in our 247th year of independence. This country finds itself in a perilous moment as a sociopath is running for president in 2024, even though he has been indicted twice, first, in New York and by the Justice Department under the aegis of special counsel Jack Smith and can still face more indictments before the year – or even the summer – is up. His standing among repugnican voters is still at a surprisingly all-time high, despite these stains against him and the only natural response to this madness is to scrunch our faces and scratch our jaws in disbelief. How could such a morally bankrupt, pathological lying fraud by the name of Donald Dumpf still hold sway with so many millions of supporters? This question will be the focus of many more scholarly examinations of what went wrong during what was known as the Trump era of disinformation and conspiracy theories characterizing his one term in office.

Americans must also ask how so many gutless politicians like “Lady” Graham of South Carolina continuously come out to stump for the bastard, even as his own supporters jeer and boo him at a MAGAt rally in Graham’s home state. This event actually took place at such a rally held on Saturday, July 1. The surreal scene of Graham being booed by a smattering of Trump supporters was mocked by Morning Joe participants for enduring “ritualistic humiliation” at this Dumpf rally. The article is found online in a Salon article by Gabriella Ferrigine entitled “‘Morning Joe’ panel panel mocks Lindsey Graham for enduring ‘ritualistic humiliation’ at Trump rally.”

So what happened on Saturday night was that Lady Graham was subjected to jeers and boos when he took the stage on behalf of his Golden Idol. Don’t ask me why these misguided souls jeered him; I don’t even care, but panelists on the Morning Joe program poked fun at the situation, stating that Graham had endured “ritualistic humiliation” at the hands of Trumpers.

Jonathan Lemire, who was subbing as host, said this about the befuddled Senator: “With friends like these, I mean, Lindsey Graham is someone who has, by many accounts, sullied his reputation over and over by his robust defense of Donald Trump.” He continued, “Yes, he broke with him occasionally on foreign policy issues. Yes, he briefly did the right thing on the night of January 6 before coming back. He is still one of Trump’s staunchest defenders, and, man, Donald Trump gave him little to no support or cover right there.”

A panelist on the segment, Sam Stein, said, “Yeah, that was what we call ritualistic humiliation, I believe.” He added, “In his home state, it’s brutal. To a degree, Graham invites this stuff.”

In his weak defense, Dumpf did little to defend the conservative lawmaker, aside from stating that Graham enlisted “liberal” support for Trump’s reelection campaign. The repugnican frontrunner also assured the crowd that he would get Graham “straight,” seemingly referencing allegations that the South Carolina Republican is gay. This is precious, given that Dumpf probably has some dirt on the status of Graham’s indiscretions as a gay man in all his years in Congress in his possession, which explains why Graham is afraid to break with the Golden Idol. He is most assuredly afraid that this information will be revealed to the public if he ever deserts him. Who would actually care in 2023? Graham’s Neanderthal base would.

A more disgusting moment has been captured in an appalling new video ad released by the Fred Flintstone of repugnicans, Ron DeMented of Florida, that is as homophobic as any video ad could be. At least with the release of this putrid ad from a most divisive candidate, it brought backlash from Democrats and conservatives alike, including Log Cabin Republicans, even. This latest debacle put out by Florida’s “antiwoke” candidate is examined in a Miami Herald online op-ed by the Miami Herald Editorial Board today that slams the DeSantis team for putting out such an offensive ad. It’s called “A desperate DeSantis jumps ahead first into the mud with bizarre, homophobic Trump attack.”

The opinion begins thusly: “Gov. DeSantis’ latest online ad attacking Donald Trump is a bizarre juxtaposition of subtle homoerotic references, Alpha male aspirations, an allusion to a serial-killer movie character – all wrapped up in the homophobia that has permeated the Florida governor’s policies on LGBTQ issues.”

The video was posted on Twitter by the account, DeSantis War Room, that highlights the presidential candidate’s “worst political impulses.” The editorial board goes on to say that “The insulting hodgepodge of footage, memes, news clips, and pop-culture references seeks to portray Trump as too supportive of LGBTQ rights.” This offensive ad prompted backlash from both Democrats and conservatives alike who condemned the ad for its obvious homophobia.

Since he’s trailing Dumpf in the polls, DeMented latched onto a desperate stunt to supposedly shore up his sagging numbers. The repulsive ad was posted Friday, on the same day the U.S. “Extreme” Court ruled in favor of a web designer who refused to create wedding websites for same-sex couples.

The video tries to portray Dumpf as soft on LGBTQ issues, which actually jars with actions he executed while he was in the White House, which included the dismantling of Obama-era federal protections of LGBTQ people and his pick of a religious zealot to be his vice president. If there was anything to run against Dumpf, it’s certainly not his record on LGBTQ issues. DeMented is totally demented here – what about Dumpf’s attack on democracy for starters, which DeMented doesn’t mention in the ad? What about his two indictments or his being deemed a sexual predator? Dumpf has a million character flaws that DeSantis could have mocked in a different ad, but he chose to portray his closest rival as sympathetic to gays which he even isn’t. He chose this route because of DeMented’s own brutality toward the LGBTQ community that makes him unfit for the highest office in the land.

The rest of the video is so chockablock with nonsense that anyone could easily see how stupid it truly is. It actually is more homoerotic than DeSantis could ever dream of – with photos of shirtless muscle men, including an oiled body builder. “One of those images is a famous meme called ‘Gigachad,’ a man with a chiseled jaw and ripped abs who’s supposed to portray the perfect human.” The bizarre video also shows DeMented with red laser beams shooting out of his eyes. There’s a shot of Brad Pitt in the movie Troy, dressed as Achilles. The hero in Homer’s Illiad was portrayed in some Greek texts as having a homosexual relationship with his male companion. If I were Pitt, I’d sue DeSantis’s ass for maligning his image in the video. And demand that he take down his picture in the ad.

It’s pretty obvious that the video drew numerous interpretations online, ranging from outrage to mockery. Whatever criticism it has generated, one point is pretty clear about this poor candidate for president: “DeSantis’ latest attempt to use homophobia to garner votes makes it clear he’s banking on hatred, ignorance, and prejudice on his muddy slog to the White House.” Let’s all “say no to DeSantis” as a rephrasing of his own, mean “Don’t Say Gay” legislation in Florida!

By the way, Elliot had a lovely time with our dear hosts “Sandy” and “Ralph” in Easton, Pennsylvania, this past weekend. I wish the weather had not been so humid and muggy, though. It threatened to rain on Sunday, but that didn’t deter us from attending an outdoor flea market nearby. I did buy one thing there: three sour pickles from a pickle vendor. Elliot did not buy anything this time, which is surprising.

We had several meals out and had extensive conversations at our friends’ house. Ralph is a consummate raconteur and he entertained us with his vision of the future of this country in thirty years or more.

What also was a highlight of our stay in Easton was seeing Ralph and Sandy’s three cats: Lola, Ziti, and Salem. All three of the cats were quite wary of us, except for Ziti, who was taken by Elliot at times. I was jealous when I heard that Elliot had Ziti visit him in bed as he napped and expected him to pet her. She actually rolled over like our late cat Jocelyn used to do and goaded him to scratch her belly.

The rides to and fro from Easton were not too bad. I believe there was more traffic on our way toward Easton than our ride back from there. We stopped in Jersey City on Saturday to have breakfast at Beechwood Cafe, on Grove Street. We made short stops on our way back. We took the scenic route, 611 North, on our way back that led us through beautiful vistas of rolling hills and green fields.

As for tomorrow, I’m not sure if I will be in this space since we could be meeting our friend “Gene” tomorrow before he drives back to Truro, Massachusetts, on the 6th of July.

So Happy Fourth of July. Let us lean toward a more perfect union in the months to come.

Stay safe and be well.