Old Smeller

by on July 22, 2024 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

They finally took Old Smeller out behind the outhouse. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when he wakes up at 10AM and they tell him about it. I can’t recall another time where a party picked a Presidential candidate so unfit for the office that they had to take him out of the running in the middle of the campaign. That leaves two major Democrats running for President right now. Kamala Harris and Robert Kennedy Jr. That may be an interesting factoid in the future. In the meantime, is it too soon to ask for a Proof of Life picture of our current President?

 Comment 

Secret Service Protection

by on July 21, 2024 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I haven’t said much about the nature of the Secret Service Protection we are providing our Presidential candidates. The Biden Administration completely denied it to Kennedy, and according to the Trump campaign they were denied appropriate protection even after asking for more. And given the nature of the protection offered, and the number of pictures we have of agents who appeared to be hiding from the bullets rather than rushing to protect Trump during the assassination attempt, I don’t think he should trust his life to be defended by the administration that calls him Hitler. If I were Kennedy, I wouldn’t retire my private security now that the administration is finally offering him Secret Service protection. And if I was Trump, I would beef up my private security a whole heck of a lot now.

 Comment 

Trump in a Bull’s-Eye

by on July 20, 2024 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

In a call to donors that went public after his disastrous debate, Biden said “So, we’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in a bull’s-eye.” This is after years of Biden calling Trump a racist. Comparing him to Hitler. Insurrectionist. A fundamental threat to “Our Democracy.” His blood-red “Dark Brandon” speech called Trump and MAGA Republicans extremists, and his administration investigated parents’ groups as domestic terrorists. Leaked that to the media. Biden, his handlers, his administration, and their allies have stoked violence for years. People attacked the White House. Tried to burn down the church across from it. Harassed, beat and killed people after they left Trump rallies. And his political enemies Impeached him. Twice. Sued him in court. Shut his businesses down. Took over a quarter-billion dollars from him. Tried to put him in prison. All of this rhetoric, all of these actions, had one end point. One final step. Trump in a bull’s-eye. Remember who said and did what and when. Words and actions have consequences, and we are living them now.

 Comment 

Trump Raises Fist

by on July 19, 2024 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The image an AP reporter captured of Trump raising his fist with the American flag in the background after getting up from a failed assassination attempt is one of those iconic images that I believe will become a part of the national cultural zeitgeist along side images of George Washington crossing the Delaware and the Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima. The first time I saw it I actually dismissed it as an obvious photoshop. It was too perfect. Nobody could have taken a photo that clean. But the image has spread through social media like wildfire, and I researched it to find that it appears to be an accredited AP photo. And if the recreations of it from around the world are any indication, the whole world has seen it and is going with it. In the words of Trump, “this is huge.” Now when I went to go find the original, I ran into a very curious case of webrot. I’ve read reports that some news agencies are editing out the flag. USA Today chose a picture from a slightly different angle that didn’t include the flag. I’ve SEEN many articles that USED to use the image have a different image NOW. It was loaded onto wikipedia and now when I go there wikipedia says it doesn’t know what it is. Some Internet search engines don’t find anything related to it. My googlefu is pretty good, but the number of false leads running down this image is way above normal, especially for a six-day old AP photo. AP photos are usually WAY easier to track down than this. “Curiouser and curiouser” as Alice would say.

 Comment