Author Archives: ronqueens

And So It Goes

Today is Friday, August 29, 2025. Out of a show of support, Elliot and I attended an invitation-only screening of our polymath friend “Ralph”s film which was a filmic recreation of his Dictator for a Day musical that played off-off Broadway last October – before the election. The showing was supposed to have begun at 6:30, but it was delayed a full hour. There were supposed to have been about 50 people at this event, but I was informed there were only about 35 people instead. I had no idea that the screening was planned to take place in someone’s huge loft apartment on Canal Street, right near the Holland Tunnel. It was truly a schlep to get to our destination, but we had all the time in the world, since we left much earlier to spend some time in historic Chinatown and have dinner there.

As the film finally rolled at 7:30, the audience was treated to a pastiche of skits, musical numbers, dancing, all over about 85 minutes, and all on the gaffes and foibles of the 45th president. The Dump impersonator, J-L Cauvin, really outshone as the dimwitted president; I can’t name the other cast members since we didn’t really receive a program of any sort. I do know that some of the other performers were probably friends of Ralph. There was one who did a very good impersonation of Columbo the detective from television, but here I thought the segment was superfluous and could have been cut. But I’m no critic. There was even a Bernie Sanders impersonator who had two numbers; his latter routine could have also been pared down a bit, I think. However, after listening to some of the songs now, many things that have played out during Chump’s second term were forecasted in these songs. Remember, this played originally in October, a month before the election.

Right after the film, three cast members appeared up front to take questions from the audience. At this point, Elliot darted out to go home. I waited until the bitter end, which was about 9:30. Someone asked J-L Cauvin the question I would have asked him, which was when did he originate his Trump impersonation and how long has he been doing it. Now I can’t recall the answer. It was a long day. I have checked him out and he does have videos on YouTube, so if you’re intrigued, check him out yourself.

Of course, when Ralph wrote this skewering of Dump during his first term, he never envisioned him actually winning on Election Day. He spoke about this in remarks he made to the audience before the film was shown. He thought he would just go away, which was what everyone in the room probably thought too. Boy, were we wrong!

This is news you don’t want to hear, but there is a huge nationwide spike in COVID cases and emergency room visits as Labor Day nears. This is not very good news, considering that the head of the Health and Human Services agency is a lunatic, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is the most unqualified of Dump’s lackeys in his cabinet. There is an online article from Axios on this issue entitled “CDC warns of huge COVID spike amid internal turmoil,” by Herb Scribner.

This dire warning comes as the federal health agency struggles with its own internal chaos and the ramifications of a new COVID vaccine policy.

If you haven’t followed developments within the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) lately, there have been walkouts and resignations fostered by the stupid head himself, Kennedy, who just terminated the CDC director just weeks after she was sworn in, Susan Monarez. On Thursday, dozens of staff members and leaders at the CDC rallied in support of departing colleagues.

In an email Wednesday, a CDC spokesperson told Axios, “COVID-19 activity is increasing in most areas of the country.” He added, “Emergency department visits for COVID-19 are low but increasing” for all age groups.

Five states thus far have driven that increase: Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Louisiana. These states have a positivity rate of 15 percent to 19.9 percent.

The CDC’s warning comes as Kennedy announced new recommendations for the coronavirus vaccine.

I seriously hope that Democrats push for this idiot’s termination from the very agency that is responsible for saving lives in this country. There is no room for a vaccine denier in the highest pinnacle of this agency. Kennedy is no doctor, no medical professional of any kind, just a privileged member of an old-guard political clan whose family members have practically disowned him. If anyone deserves the boot before people die on this orange asshole’s watch, just like during the first pandemic, it’s Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. We might just be closer to a second pandemic than anyone thinks! Heaven forbid, but the warnings are there, and when this happens, this will be a total disaster!

Today’s adventure took us to a general appliance store in my old neighborhood to purchase a new refrigerator. Yes, a new refrigerator! For only about two days, we noticed that items in the appliance were not cold. We played with raising the coolant numbers in the refrigerator, but nothing happened. Today we called the store where we bought it and a spokesperson recommended a repair person to come to our apartment. And he did! Unfortunately, he declared the 15-year-old silver Amana dead and not worth repairing. Something about a hole in the back letting freon out. That it was expensive to repair the appliance, given its advanced age. Thus we drove as quickly as we could to Len Harris Appliances and ordered another similar refrigerator. This one is now a Whirlpool. Luckily for us, we were promised delivery and installation tomorrow. However, we intended to drive to Ralph and Sandy’s house in Easton, Pennsylvania, to have a sleepover with them before driving to Sellersville, Pennsylvania, to attend a retirement party for “Harold,” my childhood friend from the Bronx. Now we have to wait for the appliance to be delivered and installed before doing this.

As I just reported then, today is my last blog before Sunday or, even, Monday. I don’t know when we’ll get back on Sunday, so I might just pass on writing my blog if we come home late that day.

By the way, there are protests planned for Monday, Labor Day, to demonstrate against the authoritarian policies of this autocrat. I have participated in at least three protests against this administration but have sadly missed a few because of scheduling conflicts. I haven’t even considered going to this one if it is even going to be held in New York.

It’s hard to believe I’m writing have a good Labor Day weekend, but here I am doing just that.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Wednesday, August 27, 2025. The school year hasn’t even truly begun yet, and today, we have a shooting in Minneapolis that has left two children dead and nearly 20 other people injured, while the suspect is deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to local officials. This tragic story is reported in an online MSNBC article entitled “Two children dead, 17 injured in shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis,.” by Erum Salam.

The name of the school is the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis where two innocents, ages 8 and 10, were killed where they sat in the pews during Mass, police said. Seventeen others were injured – 14 of whom are children, including two who are in critical condition.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said, “All remaining victims are expected to survive.” But that report is little consolation to the families who lost their loved ones to perennial gun violence today.

The shooter was identified as a 23-year-old whose name I will not print here. It seems as if this troubled young man produced a manifesto and had posted videos online referencing suicide and “extremely violent thoughts and ideas,” according to law enforcement officials. These sources said the assailant left behind an apology to her family and a handwritten sketch of a church’s layout, thought it wasn’t apparent that the sketch was of the school she struck.

The Minneapolis police chief said at a news conference that the assailant wore black clothing and was armed with legally purchased weapons, including a rifle, shotgun, and pistol. She fired dozens of rounds through windows as she targeted her innocent victims for no apparent reason.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the attack “an act of evil,” and said he is “so deeply saddened, and I’m so sorry to the families I know who are suffering right now.”

Today’s shooting is the most recent of several notable violent incidents in the Minneapolis area this year. In June, Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed in what officials have described as a politically motivated attack at their home. This attack also resulted in the death of the couple’s golden retriever.

This latest assault on innocence by a gun-loving person who showed signs of mental duress (the shooter was identified as a trans woman, which will cause such an uproar in MAGA world that it will drown out any kind of empathy for the victims of this suicide-prone assailant) just highlights the urgent need to address bringing up an assault rifle ban in Congress. Of course, now that we have a dotard in the White House, this won’t happen when lawmakers come back after their none-too-deserved recess over the summer! It’s average Americans who need to press their legislators to pass sensible gun control legislation in the fall. And to give anyone running for office a litmus test on this subject.

Because of the serious nature of what happened today, I will suspend writing about my day. Who needs to hear my bullshit anyway?

All of these families have been impacted forever by this one evil incident! No one should expect to send their children to any school to be shot! No one! What is fucking wrong with this country? We just revel in gun violence and that’s a fucking, crying shame! There are more guns here than people. Ponder that raw fact, people!

It’s time to fucking do something about this!

Tomorrow I will not be writing my blog because I will be attending our artistic friend “Ralph’s” movie based on his satiric musical skewering the current occupant of the White House called Dictator for a Day which was turned down by Amazon Prime because of the fucking censorship going down in this country because of our sitting dictator. But I will not write where this event is happening for fear that some Dump law enforcement guy is keeping notes on this event because it criticizes the president to no end! We all know this guy has a sense of humor up his ass!

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Tuesday, August 26, 2025. I’m watching the most wretched piece of bullshit on Jen Psaki’s MSNBC show The Briefing in which she showed highlights of a Cabinet-level meeting with Demented Don. Everyone at the table provided the most fawning, ridiculous praise of the dismantler of democracy that I wanted to retch. Talk about having “yes men” in your cabinet and no one else. The meeting, if it went on any longer, certainly didn’t do one productive piece of business since everyone was just saying how Chump has restored the American dream and other fucking bullshit like that. One idiot member talked about Chump getting a Nobel Peace Prize, which will never happen, in my opinion.

Showing clear signs of being a true dictator, president Demented Don has now targeted a Black Federal Reserve Governor by the name of Lisa Cook for termination, something he clearly has no jurisdiction to do. This offensive against an independent agency such as the Federal Reserve serves as the subject of an online MSNBC article called “Why Trump’s offensive against the Fed’s Lisa Cook is a ‘five-alarm fire,'” by Steve Benen.

Last Wednesday, the arsonist known as Donald Chump targeted Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, by writing online that she “must resign, now!!!” A couple of days later, a reporter asked the clueless president whether he intended to fire Cook. Naturally, he vehemently answered in the affirmative, quickly sending Cook a letter saying that she was “hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately.”

As for who Cook truly is, here is some background information: Joe Biden appointed Cook, an accomplished economist, to the Federal Reserve’s board of governors three years ago, and at that point, she became the first Black woman to serve on the Fed board. Her tenure has been uncontroversial so far – until at least last week.

You must wonder if Cook is being unfairly targeted for no other reason because of her race. If you said yes, you’re correct. In order to manufacture a “legal” reason for going after her, the director of the U.S. Federal Housing Financial Agency, William Pulte, has alleged that Cook “potentially” committed mortgage fraud. However, Cook has not been convicted or even been indicted or formally charged with any crimes. But we do know for a fact that this putrid Pulte is a Chump sidekick and loyalist and is a critic of the Fed. He has conveniently started going after a variety of Dump targets with dubious claims of mortgage fraud.

Here’s the rub on Cook’s firing: it’s fucking illegal. According to multiple sources, the president cannot legally fire a Fed governor simply because he wants to. Under the Federal Reserve Act, the only reason governors can be removed from their positions is “for cause,” or some kind of wrongdoing. As thing stand, Cook hasn’t even been charged, much less convicted, so Dump’s move strongly seems to be illegal.

This starting gun in an egregious power grab by Dump over the Federal Reserve could mean economic disaster for this country if he guts the agency and replaces it with Dump loyalists. The White House is bent on seizing control over U.S. monetary policy, especially as it relates to interest rates. This orange ogre has already launched an unprecedented campaign against Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, whom he’s not satisfied with. If he forces Cook out and replaces her with a Dump automaton, this would gut the institution’s independence and shift power in the direction of this evil Oval Office.

As leading economist Paul Krugman has explained, if Dump successfully corrupts the institution and its work, “We become Venezuela. We become Turkey. We become a place where all of this stuff is just at the whims of the strongman in charge . . . No president should have the power to just arbitrarily control what the Fed does, and least of all this president. So, this is the road to things going completely wild – not five years down the pike, but months from now.” He added, “This is a five-alarm fire.”

The story hasn’t ended with this crooked president thinking he fired Cook; she’s still on the job and has taken legal action. She’s announced her intention to sue the president for this illegal action. Her lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said today that Cook will be filing a lawsuit, adding that President Donald Trump’s “attempt to fire her, based solely on a referral letter, lacks any factual or legal basis.” Not anything new, considering this president has his head up his ass.

This newest outrage is just another reason to have soundly rejected him on Election night. We certainly wouldn’t be here if we had.

One positive note today: a Democrat, Catelin Drey, has flipped a deep-red Iowa state Senate seat that the Orange Ogre carried by a massive margin. And with this victory, Democrats have officially broken Republicans’ supermajority in the Iowa State Senate.

Let’s hope that this stunning win in a Dump state is a signal that voters are indeed exhausted by repugnican extremism, tired of Dump’s chaos, and ready to restore some balance.

Drey ran on protecting reproductive rights, defending public schools, and restoring local control to Iowa communities.

Tomorrow I’m not sure if I will be writing my blog since we will be out visiting “Joseph” who’s in a rehab facility after having serious back surgery. Afterward, we’ll be having dinner with his wife “Mary.” But we’ll see. I do have to go to my comic store first.

Have a good Wednesday then.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Monday, August 25, 2025. In a hard-hitting online article for Daily Take, Thom Hartmann writes “The Great American Betrayal: Trump’s War on Ordinary People,” in which he outlines how Dump always never fulfills his promises to the American public and how he has egregiously betrayed the very base who has traditionally supported him.

Hartmann provides us a short history lesson in saying how the old Confederacy was launched. He writes that it was built on rightwing oligarchy and racism, while the Democratic Party abandoned the Klan and the Lost Cause in the 1960s, it was the Republican Party that picked up the mantle. And it was this madman who was ideally suited to lead the new GOP movement since he was a lifelong racist, notwithstanding his weak avowals of denying it.

“Trump exclusively serves whoever pays the biggest bribes, either in cash, 747s, or votes, who today are mostly big, monopolistic businesses, the morbidly rich, foreign dictators, so-called ‘Christian’ hustlers, and the Republican base of male white supremacist racists.”

One undeniable reason for Dump’s popularity is “Trump-loving white racists continue to vote for the Party because he’s working so hard to disempower women and Black people while pushing brown people out of the country or throwing them into concentration camps.”

In the meantime, in the service of their rich donors, Chump and his repugnican toadies have:

  • “Fired over 8,000 Social security workers, throwing the agency into chaos so that peoples’ experience working with them will be frustrating to the point where privatization will be accepted as the only option left.
  • Killed off research into mRNA vaccines that were showing great promise to prevent and even cure cancer, among other diseases.
  • Ruined America’s “soft power” around the world by shutting down USAID, leading to the death of millions, mostly in Africa, while China and Russia pick up our former allies.
  • Betrayed our democratic ally Ukraine by withholding new weapons for eight months now while sucking up to Putin and now openly taking the dictator’s side.
  • Embraced autocratic and dictatorial regimes around the world while dissing our democratic allies in Europe, Asia, India, Australia, South and Central America.
  • Politicized our military, something George Washington warned loudly against and every president since Jefferson has done his best to avoid.
  • Corrupted our courts and prosecutors by appointing unqualified Fox ‘News’ personalities and others, including people credibly accused of sexual assault, taking bribes, and engaging in a coup attempt.
  • Ignored due process requirements in U.S. law and the Constitution when it comes to brown-skinned immigrants.
  • Corrupted America’s reputation as a beacon of democracy for the rest of the world.
  • Intimidated media, law firms, and corporate leaders into going along with creep fascism while demanding from them bribes and tribute to the Trump Crime Family.
  • Pitted Americans against each other while whipping up hysteria around race and religion.
  • Put masked, armed thugs on the streets of America to terrorize people and turn the country into a police state.”

And this is not the whole list. Is this roster of transgressions committed on the part of this president long enough for you?

Hartmann then muses out loud as to what it will “take for average people to wake up to how badly they’ve been screwed by Trump and his bizarre crew of lickspittles.”

Hartmann then speculates that it will take a global recession created by this idiot that will eventually turn everyone against the Orange Ogre. He writes that Dump’s incoherent – and clearly unconstitutional – proclamation of a phony “economic emergency” to commandeer from Congress the power to impose tariffs is already slowing our economy, increasing unemployment, and jacking up inflation.

Let’s finally “wake up,” as California Governor Gavin Newsom warned just a while ago to the creeping fascism taking over in this country as Donald Dump tramples over everything heretofore held sacred in this country.

I now have to find Atticus who is hiding somewhere.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Sunday, August 24, 2025. The era of Dump vengeance has just begun with the toddler in chief openly going after his political enemies, and the first one on his retribution list is former White House national security adviser John Bolton. An online MSNBC article by Steve Benen explores the hypocrisy of Dump going after Bolton for precisely the same reason that the president himself was almost prosecuted for years ago and that was the taking of classified documents. The article is entitled “FBI searches home of former national security adviser John Bolton, a frequent Trump critic.”

Benen writes, “It’s extraordinary to see the FBI target a prominent presidential critic, suspecting him of the same wrongdoing that led to a Trump criminal indictment.”

It’s Dump who got the ball rolling with Bolton nine days ago when he published an online item in which he condemned Bolton as a “fired loser” and a “really dumb” person. Never mind that this little man is just projecting here as always. He knows he himself is a fired loser for losing the 2020 presidential election and is dumb as a rock. Earlier this week, the president added that Bolton is “stupid” and standing in the way of the peace process in Ukraine.

But this campaign is not just limited to juvenile name calling or online insults. In January, Dump canceled Bolton’s Secret Service protection detail, which Joe Biden had approved after the FBI discovered evidence of an Iranian assassination plot. Around the same time, the repugnican also revoked Bolton’s security clearance.

Now the escalation has reached new heights, with the FBI on Friday raiding Bolton’s Bethesda, Maryland, home as part of a “national security investigation in search of classified records.”

To put it mildly, the two men have not been on good terms since Bolton “bolted” the White House. After serving at the president’s side for a year and a half, Bolton warned the public, among other things, that Dump is “unfit to be president.” Of course, the juvenile in chief has responded to his condemnations with an endless stream of insults and complaints about his former aide because he touched a nerve in the thin-skinned president.

Another contretemps involved the release of Bolton’s 2020 book which was very critical of Dump’s presidency. Team Dump lawyers went to court in the hopes of derailing its publication. That effort failed, and the book allegedly became a bestseller.

Three months later, Chump’s Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into whether Bolton disclosed classified information when he published his memoir.

As of now, there have been no public disclosures about the nature of the new allegations, and the author has no idea whether or not Bolton improperly stored classified records in his home.

However, Benen does say it’s “short of extraordinary to see the FBI, led by a hyperpartisan Trump loyalist [FBI head Kash Patel], search the home of a prominent presidential critic – suspecting him of the same wrongdoing that led to one of Trump’s criminal indictments.” Which, of course, were never prosecuted in a court of law!

I strongly believe that the American people will grow weary of this retribution campaign as Dump goes after such personal foes like Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney, Miles Taylor et al., especially when the economy tanks as a result of his ridiculous meddling in it with the imposition of tariffs. As Democratic political consultant and author James Carville has said, “It’s the economy, stupid!” and that will hopefully be the nail in Dump’s coffin.

Wow! It’s another week ahead of us. This weekend was a perfect summer weekend. Today Elliot and I spent a few hours with our good friend “Deborah” in Brooklyn near Grand Army Plaza where we had brunch at a nice French bistro called Olivier’s and then sat in Prospect Park for a little while.

Have a good week.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Saturday, August 23, 2025. After boasting that he would patrol D.C. streets with his own version of the Gestapo, the cowardly president apparently changed his mind about doing this and this forms the crux of an MSNBC article by Steve Benen entitled “After boasting about plans to patrol D.C. streets, Trump fails to follow through.”

It was on Thursday when the repugnican raised eyebrows after he announced unexpectedly his intention to patrol the streets of Washington on a conservative radio program. The convicted felon told host Todd Starnes on Thursday afternoon, “I’m going to be going out tonight.”

Dump’s unanticipated announcement led this writer to speculate that Chump would carry zip-ties with him and wear a “Dukakis-like helmet.” But this never became reality after protesters mingled in the streets with pots, pans, and spoons in their backpacks and were prepared to bang them together to express their anger at Dump’s federal law enforcement surge in their city. Instead, Demented Don just returned to the White House.

Instead of following through on his strange boast, Dump spoke for about 10 minutes to a group of uniformed personnel outside a U.S. Park Police operations center in the city’s Anacostia neighborhood.

You would think the fool would have devoted his comments to the subject at hand, which was alleged crime in the streets, but the toddler in chief talked about his civil fraud case and a future White House ballroom, as well as artificial intelligence [that’s curious considering that the fool has no intelligence] and how much he hates wind power. These were definitely on-topic subjects for him to discuss in front of that crowd.

Anyway, those thinking unrealistically that Dump would follow through by going on patrol in the streets of the nation’s capital were certainly left disappointed by the failure of their law enforcer in chief to do exactly that.

Have you heard this new crazy opposition from the far right over a company’s new logo? The restaurant chain is Cracker Barrel and the idiots on the far right have been in a dither over the change of its branding. This ridiculous, latest culture war forms the basis of a current online MSNBC opinion entitled “Cracker Barrel’s new logo sparks a familiar MAGA outrage,” by Hannah Holland.

As you might also recall, the far right lost their shit over the new James Gunn Superman because it emphasized empathy, kindness, and civility over the forces of divisiveness and the fact that Superman is portrayed as an immigrant from another planet.

When the restaurant chain unveiled its new, streamlined logo, it sent the internet in a free fall. Now the Southern-themed restaurant found off highways across the country has unwittingly become the latest battleground in an increasingly unpredictable culture war over American identity – and who gets to define it.

“The previous logo, introduced in 1977, featured the outline of an older gentleman wearing overalls, sitting in a chair and leaning his elbow on the eponymous barrel. The new logo strips away ornamentation, leaving only the restaurant’s name in dark type inside a vaguely barrel-shaped blob.”

In the wake of the new logo reveal, it seems there is bipartisan and widespread outrage over the rebrand. Some on the left have even criticized the aesthetic change to the logo, but it’s MAGA enthusiasts and armchair pundits on the far right who have read this change as representing just another “woke” rebranding. “They are not lamenting a design failure; rather, they’ve cast Cracker Barrel’s rebrand as a capitulation to woke liberalism, an erasure of the so-called American ideology that Cracker Barrel apparently represents.”

Some background on Cracker Barrel: it was founded in 1969 and it is has a universal design in the store section before you walk into the restaurant part. There is something of a faux general store, replete with foodstuffs that we had as children and even clothing, as well as music CDs, most of which reflect the brand’s embrace of Christian gospel and country music. “Cracker Barrel’s entire ethos is early-1900s nostalgia, steeped in Southern Americana. It is a relic of a bygone era in both origin story and brand aesthetic.” That is why Elliot and I are drawn to eating at one of these restaurants when we’re on the road. I always enjoy going through the general store for the whiff of nostalgia in the items being offered for sale. I also have purchased music CDs when we had the old Nissan Altima. These were primarily country music CDs, even though I’m not too fond of the genre. Its prices are quite reasonable and that’s why it attracts Americans of all stripes to its doors.

This is not the first time the chain has been the subject of far right ire over the past few years. In 2022, almost three years to the day, the chain sparked outrage after adding a breakfast sandwich with plant-based sausage to its morning menu. Then in June the following year, Cracker Barrel incensed half of the internet again after posting in support of Pride month and debuting rainbow-colored rocking chairs. Yes, outside their stores, you will see a row of rocking chairs on display and even checker boards for those who are waiting for a table. Of course, for this terrible transgression, the chain was derided for “falling” to the “woke mob.”

In conclusion, Holland sees Cracker Barrel’s rebranding not as a woke conspiracy but only as a rebrand, with no interior motive to pull the wool over the idiots on the far right who see conspiracies in almost everything.

Have a great Sunday, everyone.

And so it went!

Here is a picture of our Atticus taken last night after I finished typing my blog. He almost looks as if he is daring me to take a picture of him in this delectable pose.

I think these are the same photos, so just enjoy them.

And So It Goes

Today is Friday, August 22, 2025. As anyone can now readily attest, new discontent with the Orange Ogre is on the rise since he took office more than seven months ago. This all stems from the dumb bastard’s handling of the Epstein scandal, the sexual deviant who died mysteriously in prison in 2019. In an online Conversation article, the basis for voter discontent over the Epstein affair is explored in detail in “Trump’s Epstein problem is real: New poll shows many in his base disapprove of his handling of the files, and some supporters are having second thoughts about electing him,” and it’s by Tatishe Ntela, UMass Amherst; Adam Eichen, UMass Amherst; Alexander Theodoridis, UMass Amherst; Jesse Rhodes, UMass Amherst; and Raymond La Raja, UMass Amherst. Yes, the article was written by a galaxy of journalists here.

A number of journalists have now pointed to recent public opinion polls in which the scandal has irretrievably hurt the pedophile in chief. Whereas others have argued that the public has largely moved on, and that the Epstein controversy no longer presents a political liability for Dump. I don’t think this is true at all!

With the recent University of Massachusetts Amherst national poll, cited here, the pollsters have definitely found this issue has done SIGNIFICANT [my caps] damage to his standing, particularly among his core supporters.

“Americans are paying close attention to the prolonged Epstein controversy. Our polling finds that 3 in 4 respondents have heard, read or seen ‘a lot’ or ‘some’ about Epstein.”

Here is a direct quote from this article: “Moreover, most believe that Trump is fumbling the matter.”

Another statistic showing trouble for this fucking administration: “Seven in 10 Americans believe that Trump is handling the matter ‘not well.'” This includes pluralities of Dump’s most loyal acolytes, 43 percent of Republicans, 43 percent of conservatives, and 47 percent of those who voted for him in 2024. This represents almost half of the respondents who voted for the jerk.

Even among the previously resilient MAGA base, 28 percent now disapprove of Dump as president.

Even more significantly, the pollsters find that among 2024 Chump voters, negative views of Demented Don’s handling of the Epstein files are associated with an increased desire to make a different choice if the 2024 election could be rerun. But, sadly, it can’t.

All I can say it is clear from this poll and other reporting that the Epstein scandal has hurt Dump among his base of voters. I love it, but we as Democrats must push for the actual release of the Epstein files when Congress comes back from this too-long recess and pounce this cruel administration with the story over and over again until it NEVER goes away. And if this bastard ever pardons Ghislaine Maxwell for any fucking reason, I predict it will end his presidency for the long term. It will set off such a firestorm of criticism that he will not be able to lie his way through the backlash.

Now that the tainted Justice Department has released audio and other data pertaining to the interview conducted with Maxwell by Dump’s own personal attorney which clearly smacks of corruption, there is no need to either believe any of the data or even Maxwell herself who would easily lie to get favorable treatment from this fascistic administration that is clearly trying to hide evidence detailing Dump’s name in those infamous Epstein files. No one will be fooled by this stunt.

On a more personal level, today I got my second shingles vaccination. I almost forgot my 2:30 appointment at a Queens Boulevard CVS since it was not something I would generally do. But as Elliot and I were driving back from having breakfast at Jax Inn Diner, I got a text reminding me about my upcoming appointment, and that was after 1. So when we got back, I puttered around the house and walked out by 1:50 or so. The pharmacy is less than 10 minutes away; I thought I would get some coffee along the way, but I was distracted by a call that I got from another pharmacy providing me an update on a dermatological prescription. It seems that the resident physician at the dermatologist that I went to on Wednesday prescribed this lotion for my skin eruptions. I hope that these are not precancerous lesions. But who really knows? A good neighbor/friend of ours, “Diane,” whom we are seeing tomorrow for an early dinner says that as we age, we seem to get more barnacles attached to us. Boy, is she ever right. You have to be so careful these days about sun exposure that it’s not even funny.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Thursday, August 21, 2025. Today I finally saw James Gunn’s new version of Superman at the local Midway Theatre at 3. Elliot eschewed seeing the film since the DC character is not his bag. I saw the film with my Austin Street Diner friend “Jerry.”

For those who haven’t seen it yet, I won’t give away the plot that much here. In the title role, Gunn cast David Corenswet who was seen earlier in Pearl and Twisters and he cast the star of television’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Rachel Brosnahan, as Superman’s earthly squeeze, Lois Lane. In this latest incarnation of the 87-year-old superhero, there is less emphasis on the origins of Superman. It’s suggested in flashbacks and a few scenes in which his adopted parents, Ma and Pa Kent, are seen onscreen. They are the most homespun couple you will ever see on the screen and they are played by Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell as Martha Kent.

All in all, I enjoyed this newest version of Superman in that the principal character is seen more vulnerable and getting his ass kicked by many of his adversaries in the film. I believe Corenswet brings all the charm, sincerity, and strength to the role of Superman. The same goes for Rachel Brosnahan who brings a modern take on the Daily Planet’s star reporter, Lois Lane. In the film, she’s been seeing Clark Kent/Superman for three months but has her doubts about continuing the otherworldly relationship.

The film opens with an extended fight sequence pitting Superman against The Hammer of Boravia which leaves him on the ropes. This adversary comes to Metropolis looking for Superman after he has involved himself in an invasion between neighboring countries Boravia and Jarhanpur. While Superman and The Hammer square off against one another, Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) works on his own plan to subvert the public perception’s of Superman in order to conquer him once and for all.

The movie gets bogged down a bit with extensive CGI usage and the emergence of another squad of heroes, the Justice Gang, fronted by Guy Gardner as Green Lantern, (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), who are brought in to pick up the pieces when Superman is sometimes injured in battles with his foes.

All of the main characters are acted quite well in the film. However, the film did seem overlong and too jumbled, with the over-reliance on pocket universes and other scientific mumbo-jumbo. The characters of Perry White (who is Black here) and Jimmy Olsen were underutilized as well as Superman’s adoptive parents. However, Superman’s dog, Krypto, is featured prominently in many scenes here. The CGI incarnation of the superhero’s dog seemed quite realistic, I must say.

My friend Jerry was more disillusioned with this Superman because he didn’t enjoy the overuse of CGI in the production. I can sympathize with him, but I did enjoy it overall. Here Hoult as Luther is not as humorous and clownish as he was portrayed by Gene Hackman back in 1978. He’s more ruthless and envious of Superman’s popularity which fuels his smear campaign against him throughout the movie.

All of social media and its toxicity is brought to the fore of this modern retelling of the comics legend. This is revealed as Luther carries out a misinformation campaign against Superman with the aid of social media. Also, the country of Boravia could then be compared, possibly, to Russia and Jarhanpur could be viewed as Ukraine according to today’s headlines. It is soon learned that Luther is secretly helping Boravia in its conflict against its neighboring country.

When the film ended, I called Elliot to meet us downstairs so that we could drive to Diner Bar for dinner. I lucked out in finding a spot around the corner and put in money for 40 minutes on the meter.

It was a nice day, despite the cool weather where I wore a jacket for the first time in August as well as jeans. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be warmer, with temperatures in the 80s. I prefer this to an early fall in August.

Well, it’s late here and I cannot force myself to parrot the news of the day after seeing this paean to kindness, civility, and morality, all of it sorely lacking in this country at the moment!

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Wednesday, August 20, 2025. I’m posting this late tonight because I forgot to mention that I was going to attend a meeting of my TCM group this evening at 5. There were eight of us sitting at a long table at the diner called Tick Tock on 8th Avenue and 34th Street. Our host, if you will, was “Derrick.” I thought I had a working knowledge of cinema, but Derrick’s grasp of world cinema really extended beyond my mere lowly grasp. He held court for the entire evening, which amounted to about four hours when we finally took our leave from each other. Derrick narrated story after story about some unknown morsel of film knowledge to everyone’s delight. The most intriguing story was his attending a film screening and coming across the acclaimed director Francis Ford Coppola sitting in the audience. Derrick mentioned that Coppola was asked to give a talk to the audience on the cuff, and he humbly agreed to do so. Derrick indicated that Coppola talked about 10 minutes, mostly about the issues he encountered on filming Apocalypse Now which forms the basis of a 1991 documentary on the problems plaguing the cast and crew during the making of Coppola’s Vietnam saga. I just finished watching this documentary last night; I recommend it to anyone interested in the film process.

The most unpopular president in American history is seeing his polling ratings dive precipitously day after day as he pursues stupid issues as caring about the depiction of slavery at the Smithsonian Institute. An online opinion piece addresses this dichotomy between Demented Don’s declining popularity and the pursuit of subjects that Americans mostly don’t care about like tackling museums and other fucking nonsense. The piece is titled “Trump is widely unpopular and losing ground fast. Why is anyone afraid of him? Opinion.” This musing is written by Rex Huppke.

According to Huppke, the burning issues for most Americans are high prices, inflation, and health care. But our increasingly unpopular president is laser-focused on “things nobody cares about him,” except him. One issue is downplaying exhibitions on the history of slavery at the Smithsonian.

“On the same day a new poll by The Economist/YouGov showed Donald Trump’s disapproval rating hitting a new high, the president took time to post this on social media: “The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL [there’s his ridiculous capping style], where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been.”

Why the fuck would Americans in 2025 worry about the depiction of slavery when it was abolished in 1865 when American voters are watching the costs of beef and vegetables skyrocket?

This idiot then instructed his attorneys to go after museums and to get rid of “woke” ideology. Huh? This is such a diversion from releasing the Epstein tapes that no one would be distracted into thinking that the federal government should be interfering with museum policy on such a high level.

Finally, the writer of this piece questions why anyone is still afraid of this bumpkin, especially when his favorable ratings are so fucking low. He actually calls Demented Don a “toxic president.”

Nearly two-thirds of Americans say the country, under the “leadership” of the pedophile in chief, is “out of control.”

Huppke wonders why no public figures are coming out to denounce the toddler in chief. Of course, repugnicans will not do it because they’re cowed by him for some strange reason. According to Huppke, “They’ve spent decades ignoring the needs of their voters, focusing instead on tossing them red meat from the culture wars and assuming that bashing liberals is all that matters.”

The writer here criticizes Democrats for going after Chump with kid gloves, except for Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and California Governor Gavin Newsom. There aren’t that many Dems out there who have taken off the kid gloves, which is irrational, given Dump’s unpopularity at the moment.

Even corporate types have been silent or outright supportive of a president liked by fewer and fewer Americans.

This is unwise, according to Huppke, especially when dealing with such a fucking bully as this ghastly man who will stop at nothing to use the power of the federal government against his enemies.

Huppke feels that there “is zero political risk to standing up to this president. There is only upside, and how more haven’t realized it yet is beyond me.”

In the meantime, the horrible Texas House did pass that ghastly GOP-drawn redistricting effort, despite full Democratic opposition to it. It is now time, according to Governor Newsom, “to fight fire with fire.”

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Did you hear this one about the current president showing further signs of dementia as he dismantles democracy, bit by bit, where he attacked mail-in voting for no apparent reason other than his strongman pal, Vladimir Putin, put the thought into him very recently. He conducted a particular rant on national television in which he told a narrative about one of his own trips to the ballot box in which a poll worker asked him for a license plate to prove who he was. He informed this supposed poll worker, “I don’t know if I have it. They said, ‘Sir, you have to have it.’ He ended this absurd story by saying, “I was very impressed, actually.”

Who has ever heard of being asked to produce a license plate when voting? No one asks for a fucking license plate before being allowed to vote! A photo ID, which would be on someone’s driver’s license, not plate, is usually required as proof of identity. So has the president just made another gaffe here or is he truly delusional?

In the meantime, Texas Rep. Nicole Collier has slept in her chair in the Texas chamber since she has publicly refused to sign some sort of “permission slip” allowing the state police to shadow them until they return to the legislature to vote on this monumental unfair redistricting of the Texas map. Collier should be lionized for her refusal to bend a knee to corrupt repugnicans in the Texas legislature who will do anything in obeisance to their Supreme Leader – like throw away their own principles and dedication to the Constitution.

In an online Daily Kos article entitled “‘Go home’: Voters boo wannabe GOP governor off stage,” by The AP, the brutal reality came home to roost for Representative Elise Stefanik (who, I believe is a total boob) who was unmercifully booed by her constituents when she appeared at an event in her district on Monday. The people in the audience voiced their great displeasure of Stefanik’s total embrace of pedophile in chief Donald Chump and her vote to pass the “one, big beautiful bill,” which is anything but, as it rips Medicaid and food stamps from millions of Dump supporters in order to cut taxes for the richest few.

Aside from booing, protesters shouted that Stefanik “sold us out!” and told her to “go home,” and also shouted that Stefanik should “unseal the Epstein files,” according to a report from HuffPost.

In her case, the boos became so disruptive that the scaredy cat Stefanik eventually left the stage without finishing her prepared remarks. She was allegedly talking about a local government building that was being named after John Zurlo in Clinton County who died in her district at the age of 86. She did not anticipate the enmity that was going to greet her as she took the lectern.

News Nation Capitol Hill correspondent Joe Khalil reported, “Rep. Elise Stefanik booed off stage at an event in Plattsburgh, NY.” “After a few uncomfortable seconds of screams and boos, she left the lectern rather than deliver her prepared remarks.”

Protesters said they chose to show up to the event to voice their frustrations with Stefanik because the New York repugnican doesn’t make herself available to her constituents.

Here is a representative who has not shown up in her district for months and months, according to Mavis Agnew, a protester who attended the event as she told a local television news station. “She won’t hold a town hall, she won’t take questions. She’s never in her office. People show up at her office constantly, door’s closed. Her representatives, her employees won’t talk to her . . . So this was her first appearance, the first opportunity we had to let her know we’re unhappy.”

And, boy, did they! As you might recall, Stefanik has remained in her district after the dementia in chief pulled her nomination to be United Nations ambassador out of fear the GOP could lose her House seat in a special election. If this event were any indicator, it would seem that many repugnicans should fear losing their seats in the midterms if the bastard doesn’t rig the election in his favor.

This news out of Plattsburgh should be a warning sign to this cunt who thinks she was going to run for governor in blue state New York against Kathy Hochul. Thus a Siena College poll from last month found Hochul leads Stefanik in a hypothetical match-up by a massive 47 percent to 24 percent margin.

I would think she would easily lose her seat based on this evidence when she is up for reelection. Democratic State Senator James Skoufis had this to say about the backlash at Stefanik for appearing at this event: “Elise Stefanik won’t even hold a town hall in her bright red district – I just held four in one week – but she thinks she’s gonna roll up into NYC and run for Governor without a problem. Congresswoman, meet rude awakening.”

I’m hearing the boos and catcalls right now on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show tonight. Another repugnican congresswoman was booed also in a town hall. I’m happy to hear that people are now standing up to repugnicans who had the audacity to pass this horrible bill without realizing how ruinous it will be for many Americans. They are all getting a rude awakening if they risk showing up at town halls in front of their constituents.

Today’s highlight was my driving to Nomad Cafe in Ridgewood, Queens, in the new car on the Jackie Robinson Parkway and having a different sort of breakfast as compared to my Austin Street Diner fare. I had their “eggscape from NY” that consisted of over-easy eggs, rosemary parmesan hash browns, Black Forest ham, and wheat toast, with fresh berries. I also had the coffee which was very good. Looking around, I noted I was the oldest patron in the cafe.

From there, I walked to the Topos Bookstore, located around the corner, on Woodward Avenue. There I browsed the used bookstore for at least a half hour. I won’t say if I bought any books; you’d be upset with me if I confessed that I did.

Later in the day, Elliot and I drove finally to the Ice King of Corona. I have nudged Elliot to go there since the beginning of the summer, and we’ve always had an excuse not to go, but this time I held Elliot to the fire and we left a half hour or so after I returned from Ridgewood. We both indulged in a medium peanut butter ice.

And so it went!