Today is Tuesday, November 19, 2024, two weeks since the worst results of any presidential election have been recorded. But we are in a two-month purgatory before the shit truly flies! So try to enjoy yourself before the storm sweeps all of us in a maelstrom of chaos, division, and terror.

Brilliantly likening the train wreak of Dump’s cabinet posts to that of the president-elect giving the middle finger to the American people, veteran reporter Bob Woodward, who wrote infamously about the Orange Menace in several critical books during his first disastrous term, speaks to MSNBC’s Jen Psaki in an online article by Sean Craig entitled “Bob Woodward Says Trump ‘Giving the Finger to the American People’ With Cabinet Picks Like Gabbard.”

Today Woodward compared the selection of these supremely unqualified and unserious picks for his cabinet to that of Dump flipping off Americans with ultimate arrogance. During an appearance on MSNBC’s Inside With Jen Psaki, Woodward wondered aloud, “Why wouldn’t Trump want somebody who at least has some experience?” Woodward soberly adds, “He’s trying to recreate the imperial presidency. He’s trying to say ‘I can do whatever I want, it’s up to me alone.”

Referring to the nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, Woodward said Dump’s “goal” was choosing officials who will allow him to consolidate power.

Some observers have criticized the qualifications of Hegseth, until recently a Fox News host, and Gabbard, a newly christened Republican who served eight years in Congress as a DINO (Democrat in Name Only), as inadequate for the critical jobs to which they’ve been nominated. In his view, though, Woodward states that’s all part of Dump’s nefarious plan.

Hegseth, who’s never held a major public office (our cat would have been just as good in my opinion), was booted from National Guard duty at President Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration because a member of his unit flagged him as a potential “insider threat” for a tattoo he has of the motto “Deus Vult.” The phrase, which originated during the Crusades and means “God wills it,” has been coopted by some far-right groups. Just think: this wanna-be dictator approves of this guy for defense secretary? But look at the character of the president-elect and it won’t be a shock to anyone, really!

On the other hand, Gabbard has been accused of expressing views sympathetic to Russian President Vladimir Putin and denying atrocities carried out by Syrian President Bashar-al-Assad, a Putin ally whom she met on a “fact-finding” mission in 2017.

To continue, Woodward calls these atrocious cabinet picks “almost unconstitutional.” But he adds, “Literally, it’s not, but look at it: Why do you want somebody who doesn’t know what they’re doing?”

In conclusion, Woodward uses this metaphor to highlight where we’re at with these abominable selections, “Check engine light has just gone off and we’ve pulled in to the wrong store. It makes no sense [whoever accused Donald Dump of having any common sense anyway!] and it is a form of giving his middle finger to the American people.”

Oh hell, all I can say again is, “You voted for this bastard. You deserve what you get.” And this tsunami of bad choices by this mental midget could just thrust Democrats into a much more favorable light if any or all of his nominations get confirmed by a pusillanimous Senate. And we suffer from their ignorance and monumental incompetence for the next two years!

That’s the only news story I’m commenting on since I am still staying away from the mainstream news stations.

And I did go to the TCM meeting, held at the Tick Tock Diner on 34th Street, at 5. The meeting just lasted about two hours. Our group organizer was absent for the third time, so once more, there was no organization or agenda. We just talked about anything that came to mind. Actually, at the beginning of the evening, we sort of covered Broadway more than the cinema. Of course, I was chomping at the bit to discuss politics, but no one took the bait. The only time I mentioned it was when one of the members asked me how I was, and I just alluded to it, without saying too much. He really didn’t say anything to indicate how he felt with the election results on that day, so I just left it.

I believe there were only nine of us at the long table tonight. The brother of the organizer, “Evelyn,” who was missing in action, took over the reins of leadership, in a loose kind of way. He didn’t point the conversation to anything in particular. I did mention about possibly going to the next TCM Festival in April of 2025, and no one indicated they were interested in going too. One guy at the other end of the table said the prices of this event were quite steep, and I agreed. I mentioned the Roosevelt Hotel that hosts the event is quite expensive. However, I did say I was a little intrigued with the idea of staying there at least one time since it’s allegedly haunted. This revelation launched another of our members into discussing having a honest-to-goodness ghost in his own house in New Jersey, I believe. Even though he himself has never seen it, his son and daughter-in-law actually have. As I said, anything was on the table.

Anyway, by 7, it was time to bid adieu until the next time in December. Everyone wished each other Happy Thanksgiving.

I walked one of the participants, the guy who asked if anyone could say who simulated a realistic impression of a heart attack in the movies (which I thought was quite strange), to the subway station on the corner. I took the E, while he ran to take the C to Brooklyn. Of course, I didn’t see that the E I boarded was going to the World Trade Center, in the opposite direction. Thus I had to stay on the train as it turned around to hurtle toward Queens. Stupid me for not looking more closely at the destination of where the train was headed. Anyway, I got home safely, and that’s all that counts.

Tomorrow Elliot and I are headed to our adopted niece’s new apartment in Sunnyside at 7 for dinner. For dessert, I baked for the first time in a very long time an apple banana cake for the occasion. I think it looks good; we’ll find out tomorrow evening. Thus I might not be here tomorrow as well. It depends on how long we stay, but I can predict it probably won’t be for too long since “Esther” has to work on Thursday. Who remembers that?

So we’ll see then.

And so it went!