The Man With The Orange Hair/Golden Gun

 

When seeking concise and cogent insight into the political landscape in these troubling times, when one hopes to find some rhyme or reason or useful guidance when it comes to what is shaping up to be a death match between Lady Liberty and MAGA, there can be only one name that should come to mind.

Ian Fleming.

Uh...what?

Ian Fleming.

Uh...the Ian Fleming?

Absolutely. 

The Ian Fleming who, between 1953 and 1966, wrote eleven novels and two short story collections featuring the fictional 'Commander in the Royal Navy Reserve and officer in the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6.

Said Commander, of course, better known by his MI6 code number.

007.

That's right.

Bond. James Bond.

Okay. So let us now address the irrefutable obligatory question.

WTF does James Bond have to do with Biden V. Trump?

Allow me.

In "Thunderball", the Sean Connery starring movie based on Fleming's ninth 007 novel (yes, it was the fourth Connery film, but the movie versions didn't follow the book publishing chronology...and thanks, Mr./Mrs/Ms Helper...), there is a night time scene in which Bond returns to the island home of the plot's villain, SPECTRE big wig, Emilio Largo which he has visited at Largo's invitation earlier that day.

Trying to sneak back on the property that night unnoticed, he is, instead, discovered and a fire fight breaks out. 

In the confusion and darkness, Bond, at one point, steps quickly out between two factions of Largo's henchmen, fires a single shot and then ducks back out of sight. The henchmen, unable to see clearly in the darkness, return fire in the direction of Bond's single shot.

The result....Largo has to scream loudly for his mob to cease firing....

"...stop it! stop it!...you FOOLS !....he's got you shooting at each other...."

According to polling stats at this writing, a majority of Americans are preparing to re-elect to the Presidency of the United States a "leader" whose single...only...verifiable skill is his ability/obsessive neurotic need to pit one against another....stirring a 'we never close' shit  pot of below the best insults, spewing one offensive, demeaning and degrading nickname at one, any and all who don't worship his walking ground, taking a position on one day, taking the opposite position the next day, denying that he 

a) took the first position

b) switched to the second position

and telling whatever video/audio available lie is necessary to both avoid liability and accountability.

And keeps tens of millions of "god fearing, law abiding 'Muricans' sufficiently confused, conflicted and convinced that he, and he alone, is the only cure in existence for what ails them.

Even though he is, and continues to be, the primary cause of what ails in the first place.

Chaos.

Confusion.

Conflict.

It's a strategy as old as the Great Wall of China.

Divide...and conquer.

Be divided.

And be conquered.

A dramatic device conjured up in a fictional work by Ian Fleming.

Who lived in an island home he called "Goldeneye"

Proving to be a smashing success in the American political process. 

For an unequaled grifter/sociopath with a single...and sole...skill.

Who will very likely soon be re-inhabiting a legendary home at 1600 Pennsylvania.

Having lived for years in an island home he calls....

Mar A Largo.

Oh. Sorry.

Freudian slip.

Make that 'Lago". 

Be sure and vote in November.

And as you close the curtain on the booth, let this refrain come roaring into your brain.

"....you fools!....

...he's got you shooting at each other...."

"...Profiles In Courage"?...Uh, Yeah, That's Over There In American Fiction

 

Three little words.

America likes slogans/mottos that consist of three little words.

Let freedom ring.

United we stand.

We, the people.

E Pluribus Unum (admittedly four little words in the translation, but, work with me here, we're doing patriotic shit, k? )

And, of course, that rootin', tootin', flag wavin' part testimony of loyalty, part mandatory sing along anthem hook....

God.

Bless.

America.

Fess up. You're thinkin' about amber waves of grain right now, aren't ya?

Here's a lesser known, ergo much lesser heard and much, much lesser used three word phrase that is, arguably, the most critically impacting...and important...of any and all.

Truth.

To. 

Power.

The complete phrase, in fact, is "speak truth to power", but the verb does nothing to dilute the significance of the three primary words.

The 'slang' portion of Dictionary.com offers up a clear and concise "definition" of the phrase, the whole phrase and especially the phrase.

"...The expression speak truth to power implies a moral imperative to stand up for what is right,  especially to national leaders, even when it’s not the easiest thing to do...."    

History is chock-a-block full of instances, incidents and examples of said truth being said to various and sundry powers through the ages.

For the sake of brevity and getting rapidly to the point, here's an 'at this moment' example of our featured phrase in a state of "nowhere to be found".

Senator Michael Bennet, the Colorado Democrat who briefly ran for president himself, said Mr. Biden had to “reassure the American people that he can run a vigorous campaign to defeat Donald Trump.”

Senator Patty Murray of Washington, a senior member of the Democratic leadership team, put out a statement that passed for fighting words, saying that the president “must do more to demonstrate that he can campaign strong enough to beat Donald Trump.”

So far, Mr. Biden has done none of that.

And yet, Democrats on Capitol Hill are stifling their doubts and falling in line behind him anyway.

Having spent the last week and a half in various stages of private panic and public skepticism about Mr. Biden’s viability as a candidate and whispering among themselves about what the best way to push him aside might be — a strongly worded letter? a White House meeting? a high-level intervention? — top Democrats on Tuesday settled on a strategy many of them conceded could be disastrous: They would do nothing, at least for now.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut argues that Mr. Biden and only Mr. Biden can decide his future, and that it is not up to Congress to pressure him out of the race.

“He has my support, and I think he is right now the only one who will decide whether he continues to be the candidate,” Mr. Blumenthal said.

Longtime party loyalists said they were now reduced to hoping for another major public misstep by Mr. Biden, such as a serious stumble at his NATO news conference, to either persuade reticent members of Congress to speak out or to convince the president that he should leave the race on his own.

The stance struck the lone-wolf Democrats who have stuck their necks out to publicly call for Mr. Biden to step aside as preposterous — and even dangerous.

“The idea that we are going to slow-walk into fascism because we don’t want to hurt somebody that we respect’s feelings — I cannot even begin to tell you how angry that makes me,” said Representative Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee and one of seven House Democrats to publicly call on Mr. Biden to step aside.

 

Adam Smith, as the saying goes, parks one over the center field wall.

Re-read, and rethink, for just a moment.

"...we are going to slow walk into fascism...because we don't want to hurt....somebody's feelings..."

Truth to power.

Without speaking it, all the God blessing America in the world won't save it.

Time to freshen up the Congressional theme song.

 

Truth to power.

In dire need by...

We.

The.

People

"...This Is No Time For Cold Fingers...Dead or Otherwise"

 

We're only human.

We all make mistakes.

We all have bad days.

Since the debate debacle June 27th, the 'defense' expressed by those who remain steadfast in their support of Joe and insist that he should "stay the course"..."hang in there"..."keep on keepin' on" or any of the myriad of slogans/mottos/catchphrases/bumper stickers that serve as rallying cries is that....

...he's only human....

...he made mistakes...

...he had a bad day.

Here's the thing about that.

There are bad days we can have.

There are bad days we simply cannot.

There are mistakes we can make.

There are mistakes we simply cannot. 

Hold that thought for a moment.

Odds are slimmer than slim, as you peruse this essay, that you don't already know where I land on the matter of Trump and his existence on the mortal coil, let alone his "fitness" for elected office.

As a courtesy to those who might be visiting for the first time, allow me to borrow a catchphrase from another dark and disturbing 'Chief Executive', name of Nixon and "let me make one thing perfectly clear..."

Short of simultaneously detonating all of the stored nuclear weapons in the continental United States, voters could do nothing more effective at damaging/destroying the continental United States than casting their vote in favor of slapping yet another tawdry, tacky, cheap gold plated TRUMP sign over the front door at 1600 Pennsylvania.

As a matter of fact, detonating said weapons would be the more merciful of the two options.

At least with nukes, we would likely all die swiftly, many (most) without even having more than a nano second to realize the end had arrived.

Put simply...nukes would instantly disintegrate, even evaporate, the land of the free, home of the brave.

Re-electing Corleorange would have us bearing witness to a slow, tortuous demolition.

The mushroom cloud comes in a hot, roaring blinding light.

Trump comes in like a wrecking ball.

With an IQ to match.

(Should the worst happen in November, my peeps are already preparing new bumper stickers allowing me to, if only briefly, cash in....."TrumpAmerica 2.0-Kill Me Now"...)

This concludes the "just so you know where I stand" portion of the program.

We now return to our primary theme.

There are mistakes we can make.

There are bad days we can have.

There are mistakes...and bad days...we cannot.

We can have a bad day by making the mistake of speeding and being pulled over for doing 70 in a 55.

We cannot have a bad day by making the mistake of losing control of the car at 70 MPH and plowing into a grandstand filled with Little League fans, parents and siblings.

An airline pilot can have a bad day by making the mistake of oversleeping and inconveniencing passengers with an additional hour delay while he hurries to work.

An airline pilot cannot have a bad day by making the mistake of falling asleep and accidentally sending the plane into a free fall, crashing and burning and killing hundreds of people.

A doctor can have a bad day by making the mistake of over-scheduling appointments and causing numerous people various levels of inconvenience for having to experience long and frustrating delays.

A doctor cannot have a bad day by making the mistake of replacing the wrong knee or hip of the two, writing off what turns out to be internal bleeding as indigestion...or nicking/slicing the wrong vein/artery resulting in irreparable damage or death.

A sitting President of the United States can have a bad day by making the mistake of mispronouncing simple words in a speech...closing his eyes to refresh himself as a boring meeting drones on and on....even momentarily mistaking "Stans", as in Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan.... 

...after all, even the sharpest of us trips over that shit from time to time.

But a sitting President of the United States cannot come to a presidential election debate, one of only two, that will be witnessed by, literally, billions of people....and millions of voters....a debate that will refuse to fade away due to 24/7 radio and television and social media...and not only appear disoriented, confused, even lethargic but give even passionate supporters concern, and pause, that, however well intended the man might be, he is clearly not a young man and is undeniably showing definitive symptoms of the mental and physical deterioration that, through no fault of our own, affects, sooner or later, us all....

...and clumsily attempt to 'excuse' that presentation by having administration media spinners try to spin it off by reminding us that....

...we're only human.

...we all mistakes.

...we all have bad days.

We, the people, have that luxury.

Those behind the wheel...in the operating room...in the cockpit...

Behind that desk in the round room at 1600 Pennsylvania.

Not so much.

Those of us with any sense...or any heart...or any soul...understand and sympathize, even empathize.

But even the most compassionate amongst us are faced with a blunt, no exception situation.

We all fear, and rightfully so, any one we have reason to believe might plow into a grandstand at 70MPH.

We all fear, and rightfully so, any doctor we have reason to believe might mistake one joint for another, misdiagnose a critical condition or mistakenly, even accidentally, nick or slice anything essential.

We all fear, and rightfully so, any pilot who we have any reason to believe might not be razor sharp, clear as crystal and always well rested and alert.

Because, and rightfully so, we all fear being run over...bleeding out in surgery...or plummeting to earth, crashing and burning to death.

All of this...especially in light of an unavoidable truth that all of us who have, do and/or have yet to witness the inevitable deterioration of those we know and/or love know....

He's not going to improve. 

There is no such thing as a 'cure' for deterioration.

And it's not just unrealistic...it's, at the bedrock bottom, foolish, even dangerous...to not acknowledge that...and react accordingly.

All of that said...

The 'answer" is a billion, give or take a gazillion, miles in the other direction from...

"replace Biden with Trump"

That would be the electoral and societal equivalent of picking up a snake....

...to kill a stick.

What needs to happen is a unanimous acknowledgement and acceptance of the fact that a good and decent man has given all he has had to give in service to his country, should be rightfully held in high regard and appreciation for that service....

...and congratulated, celebrated...and deeply thanked....

...for concluding that service to his nation by making his final public act a demonstration of what another long ago leader was referring to when he took that same oath and gave a speech remembered to this day....

"...ask what you...can do for your country..."

What can you do, Joe?

What should you do?

Grasp that one, very noble, last chance to lead..

By grasping that torch the nice lady on Liberty Island would surely loan you.

And pass it on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On The Matter of Pinholes...

 

Evidence very often to the contrary, I don't always like to be right.

Nor (brace yourselves, those who are arching eyebrows and rolling eyes at the moment), there are moments that I, if only secretly, hope, wish, even pray that I am, in fact, dead damn wrong.

There are, have been and, no doubt, will be plenty of occasions when I sincerely hope that my instincts are off kilter, my suspicions are misleading me and my cynicism...well, my trusty old sidekick, cynicism, is affecting my judgement.

Add to that that I've honestly never seen myself, necessarily, as particularly prescient, let alone psychic and have never had any aspirations or ambitions when it come to the art(s) of prognostication or mentalism...

...and the saying of sooths has never been a pastime, let alone a passion. 

And while I'm box checking me, let's go ahead and include that, white hair and ever enlarging prostate notwithstanding, I've, good Lord willin', creek don't rise, still "got a lotta livin' (yet)...to do"...so, it's worth mentioning that you can (still) chill me, thrill me, entice me, entertain me, impress me, dazzle me, seduce me, affect me, impact me...and you can offend, insult, irritate, annoy, anger, enrage, smack, stun...even shock the (considerable) shit outta me....

But you cannot....ever.....

Surprise me.

...ever....

Never.

Ever.

Primarily because of what I know. Based on what I've experienced.

If pressed to sum up a life philosophy as succinctly as possible, I could respond with two words.

Farmer's.

Insurance.

"...I know a thing or two....cause I've seen a thing or two..."

(The trick to 'tasteful' sarcasm is in adding just the right sized smidge of "irony" to make it less hostile)

Meanwhile...

What happened on the American history timeline yesterday unleashed a tsunami of emotional reaction from sea to shining sea.

And I'd be lying if I didn't offer that I, too, reacted.

Disappointed...yup.

Pissed off...yah, you betcha.

Stunned? Only as a product of the disbelief that any group of supposedly "fair minded jurists" could be that bluntly blatant in their prejudices, their corruptions...and the spirit, if not the letter, of the oaths they took to claim the lifetime gig. (That shit needs to come to an end, too, but that's rhetoric for another place, time and rant).

Surprised?

Puh-leeze.

Anyone who has labored under the impression (pronounced "dee-loo-zhun") that this "Court" was going to come anywhere near declaring that immunity was not going to be doled out like cheap ass Chinese Red Caps that misspell the word "MAGGOT" at rallies (pronounced: "ass kissing worship orgies light years beyond nauseating") have been laboring up the wrong tree, down the wrong road or living with a head sunk so deeply in the sand or up their own ass that their ability to draw breath belongs in a new reboot version of "Ripley's Believe It Or Not".

When it comes to naivete' that can be arguably described as a case of 'reckless endangerment", the 'phrase that pays' and 'trump-ets' that ignorance is...

"..oh, for fuck's sake...that could never happen here..."

You see, the mass of mixed mental acuity hilariously, if not tragically, referred to as "we, the people" still, after all this time, has failed to log on and download to their own particular hard drive of a cerebellum another phrase that should have, by now, found its way to the number one slot on the ol' hit parade....bumping that "never happen here" malarkey right off the charts...

"Nothing....absolutely nothing....EVER happens....until it happens the first time."

But let's put a pin in that.

And return to today's thematic.

Pinholes.

The "Court" ruling that essentially converts democracy into sovereignty consists of one hundred and nineteen pages of legal mumbo jumbo (pronounced: double talkin' horse shit) that will be (is being) researched, resected, dissected, discussed, debated and analyzed most surely (bet the farm) to the point of giving birth to that oldie but goodie....

"paralysis of analysis..."

Allow me to spare you the possibility of being paralyzed and/or spending the next few days/weeks/months confused, conflicted or crazy, unable to get a clear picture of the big picture because the noise is too noisy and the smoke is too smoky and the mumbo just has too much fucking jumbo.

It turns out...that there is such a thing as 'a little bit pregnant'.

For our attention span challenged audience, let's use our weather map editing Sharpie and simplify, distilling the whole kaboodle to twelve words.

"...actually...there is now officially one person who is above the law"

Under "normal" circumstances, there would be only minor 'cause for alarm', an interpretation of law that would certainly trigger tons (and tons and...) of debate, discussion, dissent, da do ron ron. And rightly so, for it really does open not just a can but, at least, a fifty gallon barrel of legal/Constitutional worms that would/could/can/will be, metaphorically, sliced and diced for years, if not generations, to come.

But under those "normal" circumstances, we could/would take some comfort/relief in knowing that 'the President" whoever that might be at any given time, could be counted on to honor the vows made in his/her oath of office (you know, that catchy "preserve, protect and defend" thing that has become less valuable on paper than a CVS receipt).

We could, if only just enough, rely on the integrity, intelligence and authentic patriotism of that president. Trusting that while a ruling like that would be comparable to handing someone a loaded weapon capable of mass murder, that person could be relied upon to store it safely and take it out when, if and only the situation was so dire that locking, loading, even opening fire were last resorts.

Desperate times...and all that other now poetic bullshit.

But while these are most certainly desperate times, we are a million miles, and another million after that, from a time of "normal circumstances"

"Normal circumstances" took their first potentially fatal hit almost a decade ago. When a cheap and tawdry carnival barker with an uproarious combover and a stunningly sloppy spray on "tan" rode a cheap and tawdry faux gold escalator down to a gathering of media monkeys and announced that he had decided to gift America with his unequaled brilliance and make it 'great again'.

The second, now almost inevitably terminal gut punch, was delivered November 8, 2016 when the Electoral College set an all time high in its own long list of outcomes that proved, beyond any thing resembling a reasonable doubt, that it (the "College") needed to be dismantled, deconstructed, dissasembled and reassembled at some cheesy Interstate exit "World's Greatest Fuck Ups"tourist trap...

...or maybe even as a display in the Smithsonian, proving to future generations of Americans that even the Founding Fathers were just decent humans, subject to stumbling and committing big, bad boners.

January 6?

Well, one could offer that it should have been the final, fatal blow.

But, damn it, ol Lady Liberty (known in other woods necks as "Debbie Democracy) was like Rocky Balboa slamming it out with Mr.  T....refusing to stay down...determined to get back up...

And...one assumes that July 1, 2024 comes next.

And the stinging Rosie Republic face smack that tries to disguise, via one hundred and nineteen pages of legalese/mumbo jumbo, that there is now, officially, one person in the United States of America who is above the laws of the United States of America.

Actually, July 1st being bad enough, there's a darker, more ominous calendar date lurking.

Get your circling pen in hand...and flip the page(s) to January 20th.

2025.

On that day, current conditions being what they are, it's not a particularly risky gamble to bet that the Electoral College will top (lower) itself, shatter its own infamous record...and hand back over the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania to the same cheap and tawdry carnival barker with the uproarious combover and stunningly sloppy spray on "tan" it rented to eight years ago.

A clinical sociopath who has made it crystal clear in words and actions that he has no interest whatsoever in any thing....any...thing...that doesn't meet his personal demands, satisfy his personal addictions and cater to his wishes and whims.

An immeasurable narcissist celluarly incapable of demonstrating integrity, intelligence or respect for any rule, regulation or law that doesn't honor...him, himself...and only him and wouldn't recognize integrity, intelligence, respect and/or honor....

...if it grabbed him firmly by the pussy.

Six "justices" on the Supreme "Court" have issued a ruling that they insultingly insist provides a President immunity to criminal prosecution "only in certain circumstances".

Here's a quick couple of lesser known/used legal terms.

Bullshit.

Horseshit.

Think of the rule of law as a condom.

And the orange carnival barker is determined, and fully intending, to impregnate.

As of July 1, he no longer needs to force himself into the national vagina.

He simply needs to succeed in the seduction.

Six "jurists" have given Donald Trump a pinhole.