Month: September 2018

Normally when I write Freak Out Friday, I begin with a google search of Trump News to see what the idiot has been up to.

Wasn’t necessary this week. All of it played out on every TV station in this country. It was unavoidable. Indeed, being a total wuss, I wasn’t able to watch it for all that long as Dr. Ford struggled mightily–and for the most part successfully–to keep her act together. Meanwhile Judge Kavanaugh followed up with a shouting performance that utterly fell apart when the prospect of the FBI was raised.

I mean, I don’t know about you, but if a woman accused me of trying to rape her and I was offered the opportunity to have the FBI investigate it, I would not hesitate to take them up on it. “Take your time, get it right,” I’d say. Kavanaugh? Lapsed into silence, didn’t really answer, kicked it back to the committee. When someone remains unflustered and keeps themselves together, generally speaking they’re either a sociopath or have nothing to hide. Ford is no sociopath. When someone shouts and blusters and then backs down in the face of a thorough investigation, they’ve plenty to hide.

Continue Reading “Freak Out Friday – September 28, 2018” →

It’s my birthday. Not a big deal to me but if you wanna do the whole happy birthday thing, go ahead.

He almost managed to do it. Trump almost managed to act like a decent human being.

And then today his true nature rose and he blew it.

Continue Reading “Freak Out Friday – September 21, 2018” →

On April 12, “Young Sheldon” aired an episode called “A Mother, a Child, and a Blue Man’s Backside.” In it, Sheldon’s mother goes ballistic when she discovers her son is reading a smutty comic featuring full frontal male nudity. It was called “Watchmen.”

The episode seemed charmingly antiquated. I don’t really recall much offended fan reaction back when the book was initially published, although granted that was somewhat before the modern age of social media. By the way standards have changed in comics, I figured if it was done today, it would result in little reaction at all.

Well, not so much, as it turns out. In the first issue of “Batman: Ðámņëd,” well…there’s been lots of talk about Bruce Wayne’s dìçk in the past years, but it’s always capitalized and has the last name of “Grayson.” This time we see a heavily shadowed version of the real thing.

And I’m told by my wife that there are actually some fans who are offended.

Really? If it was Selina Kyle’s pubic hair, fanboys would be all over it. But depict a shadowed outline of the dìçk knight and those same fans are appalled.

I mean, you guys DO get it’s a drawing, right? That Bruce Wayne is fictional. That it’s one artist’s interpretation. That other than an attempt to justify the adult label on the book, it’s utterly pointless. That “Watchmen” was far more explicit thirty years ago.

Jesus. Chill, people. It’s a dìçk. Almost every other person in the world has one. No big deal, in any interpretation.

PAD

“With integrity, you have nothing to fear, since you have nothing to hide.” –Zig Ziglar

“Power is fear.”–Donald Trump

It makes perfect sense that Trump would make that statement. Power, of course, does not immediately require fear to be operational. Bosses have power, but a good boss is hardly considered someone who operates through promoting fear in his subordinates. And good presidents don’t inspire fear. Obama certainly did not. W. may have inspired fear since he was an idiot, but he didn’t consider fear a mandatory part of his job. Nor did Clinton, certainly or any reasonable man you can name.

But Trump believes that fear goes hand in hand with being the POTUS. That explains why he has contempt for our allies and tons of admiration for Putin or Kim Jong un, dictators who are known to have everyone from political enemies to family members poisoned, shot, or otherwise dispatched of. They inspire fear in their population, and Trump wants to do that as well. He despises the media because, rather than fear him, they dare to criticize him. He wants the media to fear him, his staff and secretaries to fear him, the voters to fear him. Or just love him unreservedly, something I’m reasonably sure even his wife doesn’t do.

Continue Reading ““Fear: Trump in the White House” Review” →

That was a question daughter Caroline asked me over lunch today.

“Of course not,” I said.

“Because some people say she is,” continued Caroline, “because she learned about being a Jedi so much faster than Luke.”

Operating on the unlikely possibility that someone doesn’t know what a Mary Sue is: She is a character who first launched in a satire of Star Trek fan fiction. Mary Sue is generally young, superb at every undertaking, serves as a sort of wish fulfillment of the author, is beloved by the existing cast of characters, typically shows up the lead, and–not required but not atypical–oftentimes dies and is grieved by everyone.

There are contentions that Rey falls into that category because she was so formidable a Jedi by the end of “The Force Awakens.” She was able to manipulate minds with the Force, could levitate a lightsaber to her hand, and defeated a trained Jedi master in their first lightsaber battle.

“Inconceivable!” shouted fandom.

“Perfectly understandable!” replied yours truly.

Here’s why:

Continue Reading ““Is Rey a Mary Sue?”” →

At a rally in Billings, Montana, Trump–as always–attempted to shift blame for his problems away from himself and to someone else. In an unusual move, his target was his own supporters. He claimed that if they did not get out and vote for Republicans in November, he would be impeached.

“I’ll be the only President in history they’ll say: ‘What a job he’s done! By the way, we’re impeaching him,'”

Well, not exactly. What will be said is, “What a job he’s done. That’s why we’re impeaching him.”

Continue Reading “Freak Out Friday – September 7, 2018” →