Politicians and poets, police and pundits, and words and lyrics, at play.
I’m guessing the old Incubus song, Megalomaniac — or a Black Sabbath standard, minus the C, that has a more sympathetic villian — is now seeing a barrage of new sales, Putin it back on the charts. And it didn’t exactly tank in the first place. But what historical figures would they choose to make their point? I quote: “You’re no Jesus. You’re no Elvis. Wash your hands of yourself baby. Step down, Step down …” That would be a slap in the face of Pontius Pilate. (And what would the history of the world and religion have been if Pilate had not washed his bands of it, and let Jesus go free? Good choice?)
On the topic of music, what’s old becomes new again. Iron Maiden’s most popular song, The Trooper, from back in the ‘80s, makes reference to “the mighty roar of the Russian guns.” However, such horseback warring as described in that song, goes back more than a century.
And we enter Sabbath again, and thus invoking the religion references, with War Pigs, and Maiden again, continuing the anti-nuclear conflict pitch from the Cold War with Two Minutes To Midnight.
But this is now. I saw a man at WalMart who appeared to be in an intense phone conversation. The guy was speaking with some urgency in what sounded to be an east European accent, (and would I necessarily know that if I heard it?) His facial features, although strained, also looked to be of that region. (Again, would I really know a Ukrainian from a Frenchman?)
More on firing weapons. Former police officer Kim Potter. She obviously made a huge mistake when thinking she pulled her taser, and maybe should have let up, but after the fact in the courtroom showed extreme remorse. What if in some form, there should be that harbinger of libel law, needing the presence of Actual Malice for conviction. That movie was all the rage when I was in J-School, and made Sally Field an unlikely choice as an object of desire.
Washing (of-hands) ton: There was more sitting and standing then sitting, during the state of the union address them during a church service.
In a death elsewhere, Minnesota lawmaker Jim Hagedorn was shown in possibly dated photos, with his glasses titled downward on one side – uhm, like mine often do. Still, shown at his side was his beautiful, dutiful wife. Not to be disrespectful of the newly departed, but let me get this straight: His political ilk is not exactly a collective poster child for diversity, and his wife is a younger, non-Caucasian. Much like Mr. Trump (who he resiliently stumped for) and his Mrs. Trump, the Russian immigrant, (I’d like to get a PR statement from her about the war in the Ukraine).
Another death elsewhere was the real king of bluster, (although there is an obvious Wisconsin tie-in), John Madden. These days, some sports commentators appeared to have learned from him. Heard the idea was floated about making another tie-in to the Badger State, and to the NHL all-star game and its newly created subgames, by having people chug Miller Lite until they had John’s girth, then try to win the speed skating contest. Along that line, Madden was known for hawking Miller with his bombasticness, in one commercial breaking through for a second time the paper entryway, like those seen to start the games he covered, that was full frame and then declaring “and another thing …” That more than anything else defines Joe, who is well known for slightly rephrasing content and bringing it up again and again. And along that line, one other thing … Just kidding.
Alas, Trump was found to have flushed massive key documents down the toilet, clogging it with reams of paper and excessive verbage. I guess his presidency was not the only thing to go down the crapper. Is Mr. Clean on retainer? TruthSocial?
This would not be good fodder for a vintage TV advertisement. Barefootin’ is the word. Or Bad Putin. Bad pun? Putin’ on the Ritz? Don’t need a Russian to judgment.
I do know, or strongly suspect, this concerning the remarkably similar circumstances of this to the Afghanistan exit. All those Americans who were given plenty of warning to get out but did not do so … I wonder how many of them were defense contractors and the like, who were going to stay every last day to make every last dime – or million – before getting out and almost got stung.
The state GOP spent almost $700,000 – taxpayer money actually — to pay a former court justice to dig even deeper into the idea that Trump actually won the 2020 election, and prepare a special report. The conclusion was that, as also determined by a select panel of jurists, (OK that’s just me), the impact was forking out $834.57 per chad.
And OK, the trucker blockade will no longer impact commerce, and thusly your wallet. That roll has been taken up by Putin and his war. All those idle truckers and nothing to do. We Got Ourselves Convoy, but going from zero to zero in just days, rather than the sung 100 mph. So word has it that some forms of commerce have actually picked up, such as sales of tortilla chips and Penthouse. And what if it had been goods such as masks that could not be shipped over country’s lines because of the blockade. That would make them truly optional. It all should come down to the quality of the argument you are making, while weighing how long to let such free speech protesters do their thing before an arrest is made. But I don’t know how you would arbitrate that. Another bureaucracy, the Federal Free Speech Special Exceptions And Conditions Unit?