SoINeedAName

“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”

 Posted by at 4:50 pm  Politics
Mar 252023
 

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

~ Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)

 

As someone who takes Dylan Thomas’ advice to heart, I’m please to let centenarian and “Craftivist” Grace Linn introduce herself to us all:

“I am Grace Linn.  I am a hundred years young.  I’m here to protest our school’s district book-banning policy.  My husband, Robert Nicoll, was killed in action in World War II at a very young age.  He was only 26, defending our democracy, Constitution, and freedoms.”

And with that opening salvo clearly aimed at DeSantis earlier this week, Grace Linn brought the house down at the latest Martin County School Board meeting in Florida!  Most of the 500-plus overflow crowd was there to show their support for Ms. Linn’s personal and heartfelt protest of Ron DeSantis’ fascist book banning obsession.

She continued:

“One of the freedoms that the Nazis crushed was the freedom to read the books they banned.  They stopped the free press and banned and burned books.  The freedom to read, which is protected by the First Amendment, is our essential right and duty of our democracy.  Even so, it is continually under attack by both the public and private groups who think they hold the truth.”

While addressing the crowd comfortably seated on her walker, a friend of hers displayed the quilt she made last year of just some of the books that have been banned.  At DeSantis’ goading, Florida’s public schools’ libraries have now banned close to 200 “offensive” tomes from their shelves.

Each square of Linn’s quilt shows a stack of books that have been banned and targeted – many of which have been penned by authors honored with numerous literary awards, including several by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison.

Linn said that burning books and banning books is done for the same reason: fear of knowledge.

She made clear she was there to oppose Florida’s schools that are being goaded by DeSantis to ban books that irritate right-wingers and evangelical fundamentalists – a danger she compares to the evil her first husband fought and died for fighting against Nazism in WWII.

“Banning books and burning books are the same. Both are done for the same reason. Fear of knowledge. Fear is not freedom. Fear is not liberty. Fear is control. My husband died as a father of freedom. I am a mother of liberty. Banned books need to be proudly displayed and protected from school boards like this. Thank you very much.”

On her departure, Ms. Linn was greeted as the hero she truly is …

During a later interview Ms. Linn explained the purpose of her quilt:

“To remind all of us that these few of so many more books that are banned and targeted need to be proudly displayed and protected—and read, if you choose to.”

Having lost her first husband in WWII’s battle against Nazis and Fascists, along with two brothers (one who was wounded while battling Hitler’s forces and the other suffering PTSD from personally participating in the liberation of Auschwitz), Ms. Linn (who still drives and lives by herself) promised to continue the good fight.

“I always feel that it’s my duty.  When history is forgotten or not used and not allowed to be used, history will repeat itself and we had enough of that during the Nazism that occurred in Germany.”

 

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In Chicago, It’s Not the Old Torch Song “Cry Me a River” …

 Posted by at 4:20 pm  Politics
Mar 172023
 

It’s DYE me a river … in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day!

 

And yes, the dye is safe:

“The dye used is a food grade dye also used in medicine … Illinois EPA found that at the concentration used in the Chicago River, it is completely non-toxic.” 

What Is the Chicago River Dyed With? Behind the Annual Tradition (greenmatters.com)

So let’s enjoy a time-lapse of the process:

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Iowa Greets DeSantis with God-Tier Trolling

 Posted by at 4:20 pm  Politics
Mar 122023
 

It’s always been a rite of passage for any politician hoping to become president to make a pilgrimage to Iowa in the dead of winter.  And Ron DeSantis was no exception this weekend when he began that journey in Davenport, IA – one of the towns straddling the Mississippi River comprising the Quad-Cities (Moline & Rock Island in Illinois and Davenport & Bettendorf in Iowa).  That’s where I grew up.

[SIDEBAR: Moline is the corporate headquarters of John Deere.]

DeSantis was hoping to get a warm welcome, and it seems the right-wing GQP base accommodated him.  As we all are familiar with, part of that presidential campaign ritual requires candidates to mingle with the crowd and press the flesh of the attendees.  And Ronnie was no exception.

On that cold February Saturday, DeSantis accompanied by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds was absolutely delighted when an attendee gifted both of them with handcrafted snowflake silhouettes.  They giddily grinned from ear-to-ear for the cameras while displaying their bespoke snowflakes.

 

But as the saying goes: The Devil is in the details.

If you look closely at the snowflake, you’ll note the mastermind creator has craftily and cryptically embedded mirror images of the word “FASCIST” that form each of the snowflake’s six dendrites.

 

This incomparable trolling became an instant viral sensation in the Twitterverse when someone with the nom de plume “MidlifeMisfit” or “IowaCaptive” (not sure how Twitter handles handles) Tweeted out the first photo – which has now garnered over 1.4 MILLION views!

It got even wider coverage when Washington Post reporter Steve Goffman joined in the fun of sharing this masterpiece – gaining over 2.7 MILLION views!

I’ve put together a handy-dandy GIF of the pics I’ve seen of it for your viewing pleasure:

And someone at TikTok created a cute snow globe version of Ronnie enjoying his custom craft snowflake:

I haven’t found any identifying information WRT the lady in glasses who posed with DeSantis and Reynolds for the photos.  She could be the creator – but I just don’t know.  Then again, she might have decided to remain anonymous.  (And given the type of people the GQP draws, that’s probably a wise decision.)

But I am hoping to see some T-shirts that incorporate her clever “Fascist Snowflake” theme – especially because it’s so fitting.  Hell, even I threw together a mockup for a book cover that I’d likely buy:

In all honesty, Ronnie is a fascist at heart, and he truly frightens me.  But in the meantime – let the fun begin!

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“SLAVA UKRAINI!” A United World Pays Tribute to Ukraine

 Posted by at 6:48 pm  Politics
Feb 262023
 

“SLAVA UKRAINI!” – “Glory to Ukraine!”

On the anniversary of Putin’s ill-advised invasion there have been many accolades paying tribute to the resolve and bravery of Ukraine and its people.  Out of the many options commemorating this sad day I wanted to be as inclusive as possible.  I decided by sharing the many wonderful lightings in Ukraine’s colors of landmarks around the world would be a good format.

But the problem that ensued was where to draw the line.  That’s why I’m late getting this posted: It was hard to stop downloading them – and I’m still leaving many out.

Some of the GIFs are of a landmark or landmarks in a single region, while others are of varied locations.  I’ll try to very briefly identify them below the GIFs, so look for an easily recognizable one as a marker to determine the order.

Empire State Building

 

Eiffel Tower

 

Memphis Bridge, Copenhagen Castle, Denver City Hall, Stenbock House (Estonia), French Embassy and Ludwigsburg Palace (Germany)

 

Colosseum

 

Los Angeles: 2nd Street Tunnel and City Hall

(SIDEBAR: The 2nd Street Tunnel has played a pivotal role in many movies: Blade Runner, Flashdance, Terminator, Rocky IV, Lethal Weapon 2, etc.)

 

Helsinki Town Hall, Kyiv Opera House, Parliament Building – Lisbon, Lviv Opera House – Ukraine, Cibeles Fountain – Madrid, Flinders Street – Melbourne, Metropolitan Opera House – NYC

 

San Francisco City Hall

 

UK Sites: St. George Hall – Liverpool, 10 Downing Street, The Eye – London, Trafalgar Square – London, St. Albans Cathedral

 

Niagara Falls, Oslo City Hall, Peace Tower – Ottawa, Sarajevo City Hall (Bosnia), Parliament Building – Madrid, Sydney Opera House, Toulouse City Hall (France)

 

Chicago: Chicago City Hall, the Rest Are of Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, Featuring “Art on the Mart”

 

Washington, DC: Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Kennedy Center and National Cathedral

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Elect a Clown – Expect a Circus

 Posted by at 8:53 am  Politics
Feb 112023
 

We’ve long known that when Georgia’s 14th Congressional District re-elected MTG Greene, they were sending a clown to Congress.

But little did we realize that she’d be an amalgam of all the obnoxious qualities of Bozo the Clown combined with the wicked attributes of Stephen King’s Pennywise.

(They do look like two peas in a pod, don’t they?)

For whatever demented reason she conjured, MTG decided to bring her “A” Game of “Toddler Temper Tantrums” to Pres. Biden’s State of the Union speech last Tuesday – for which we Democrats can only heartedly and resoundingly say: “THANK YOU!”

At first it was hard to tell if she was dressed as a worn out street corner Russian hooker or the bargain basement version of Cruella de Vil.  But it soon became clear when she shouted out to George:

Naturally MTG’s impersonation of Cruella de Vil was rapidly and widely recognized on the Internet:

 

MTG really did a bang-up job of mimicking Cruella’s evilness with her …

Arrogant, Churlish, Crazy, Crude, Disgusting, Loathsome, Loutish, Boorish, Narcissistic, Nasty, Obnoxious, Offensive, Rude, Tasteless, Tawdry, Ugly, Uncouth, Vulgar & ___________ [Insert your own favorite pejorative adjective here] antics.

Rep. Raskin offered a succinct observation of MTG’s lack of decorum:

And if you needed further proof:

Not surprisingly, Pres. Biden also brought his “A” game to the speech doing a great job as Dark Brandon by ad-libbing lines when confronted by hecklers:

Fortunately there is a Mrs. Frazzled who took MTG & George out into the hall to lecture them on proper decorum.  (It’s gotten over 800,000 views!  Loved her admonition to MTG: “Leave the balloon!”)

Slightly off topic, but since I’ve been commenting on MTG’s fashion sense with that white fur coat, I have a related fashion question concerning Sen. Sinema: Can someone tell me when the airbag sleeves of her Big Bird dress deployed?  I missed that.

And as long as we’re discussing fashion, how about a “Who Wore It Better” contest:

 

 

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Can You Overdose on Schadenfreude … OR Popcorn?

 Posted by at 2:31 pm  Politics
Jan 092023
 

Is it possible to overdose on schadenfreude?  Asking for over 81 million friends.

Democrats have so enjoyed watching the GQP in such a state of confusion, crisis and chaos (why, I even read they were in “DISARRAY” – a descriptor the MSM has heretofore reserved for Democrats) that Pres. Biden found it necessary to order the release of several metric tons of our nation’s Popcorn Reserves.

There’s no doubt you have all been closely following clownish antics of McCarthy, Gaetz, Boebert and other GQPers, so I’m going to try and find some that might have slipped under your radar.

As seen in this candid photo, it began when Kevin McCarthy first addressed the GQP Caucus as they set out to elect a Speaker for the House:

He appealed to their sense of unity when he closed his opening speech with this plea:

But to no avail.  As you all know, the voting dragged on and on and on and …

It got to the point that sports fans recalling the recent FIFA World Cup felt it was time to go to penalty kicks.

Putting a positive spin on it, other sports fans said that at the rate Kevin was losing round after round of voting, he at least was assured a first-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft.

Others not so sports-minded thought that Rock Paper Scissors would have been a better – and quicker – way to get this done.

But this is what America was stuck with:

(Maybe they should have tried unplugging the House and the plugging it back in again)

Someone was able to procure a list of concessions McCarthy was ready to offer to the Taliban 20 in the Freedom Caucus to get their votes:

Ad while all that was going on, on the other side of the aisle the Democrats demonstrated decorum, decency and dignity.  Why, Rep. Katie Porter even took the time to improve her mind by reading a tome that will undoubtedly prove useful over the next two years.

No, it was NOT this one:

C-Span was able to get a view of her selection:

And then Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave the speech that McCarthy should have – but didn’t – literally spelling out from A to Z how a responsible party prioritizes issues.

It won both laughter as well as cheers.  And needless to say, it went viral and has been viewed more than 2.4 MILLION times!

All in all, I think this clip from the Daily Show does more than justice to how Kevin McCarthy’s past week went:

 

But I want to close on a serious note, because THIS is what happens when you have no principles or core beliefs – just blind ambition:

We need to remember that the people blocking McCarthy were also largely the ones named as co-conspirators in the ex-president’s efforts to overthrow our government.  The great majority claim Trump won in 2020, and all but one of them voted against vote certification of the 2020 presidential election.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/01/04/us/politics/house-speaker-republicans-vote-against-mccarthy.html

 

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Trump: World’s Biggest Liar! George Santos: “Hold My Beer”

 Posted by at 4:24 pm  Politics
Jan 012023
 

The last time I can recall a politician breakout as fast as this was Sarah Palin.  And we all know how THAT ended!

If I were going to do a background report on Santos, it would not be a matter of knowing where to start – it’d be which LIE is the most outrageous to start with.

SANTOS:

“To get down to the nit and gritty, I’m not a fraud. I’m not a criminal who defrauded the entire country and made up this fictional character and ran for Congress.”

 

But I decided to use his prevarications as a springboard to showcase how the internet has handled it.

(I particularly got a kick out of the “Disinfo+”)

One of the better summaries of Santos’ “embellishments” (as he likes to call them) is this Tweet:

Or if you prefer a more literary approach, this poem from a Comment in WaPo should work:

My name is Santos,

And I’m a Jew,

A financial wizard,

And a Catholic, too.

I’m all that,

And so much more,

A gay, a straight,

Who’s keeping score?

 

It’s not all lies,

I like to embellish,

Like topping a wiener,

With pickle relish.

You know who likes me?

Kevin McCarthy!

(He even makes ME a little barfy)

I’ll take my seat,

I may as well,

The GOP has gone to HELL!

But not every Twitter poster has been unkind – some were actually quite sympathetic on learning of the death of his Mom … TWICE:

 

We all are scratching our heads about why the GQP is acting so upset by a con man winning an election.  Hell, the entire party has become one big grift that has stood by a liar, cheat, fraud and rapist for years.

Seems like Santos is a perfect fit for the party.  Lord knows that unlike the colleges he NEVER attended, he has the actual sheepskin credentials from a well-qualified source:

Perhaps his best known whopper is where he claims he NEVER said he was “Jewish” – but instead “Jew-ISH”.

As a Public Service for Santos, I’m going to provide an update:

Since time and space is limited, I’ll just share a bit of what the memes are concerning Santos by way of books, TV and movie titles:

I would be remiss if I didn’t include what has to be about the best example of irony I’ve ever come across – courtesy of a Tweet from Santos a little over a year ago:

If Santos were actually capable of telling the truth, well …

Looks like Santos is going to be seated this Tuesday as the incoming republican representative from New York’s 3rd District (which is going to make for a tight schedule given that he has that eulogy to give for Pope Emeritus Benedict in Rome on Thursday).  This, at least, proves Will Rogers, the folksy humorist from Oklahoma, was right:

“You can’t fool all of the people all of the time.  But it isn’t necessary.”

 

 

 

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