Results From New Hampshire Put Trump Up Against a Brick Wall

But news headlines the morning after remind me of a writer with a hangover trying to meet a deadline.

CHALLENGER NIKKI HALEY CAME WITHIN 12 POINTS OF BEATING TRUMP AFTER HE “TROUNCED” HER IN IOWA BY OVER 30 POINTS. (IMAGE BY PETE LINFORTH FROM PIXABAY)

BBBTwo, January 23rd 4th, 2024: I woke up the morning after the New Hampshire primary ready to vomit. According to reporters in The New York Times, the 2024 election is over and we might as well face it, anoint Trump the victor, and crown him King. His 11-point win over challenger Nikki Haley has Republican victory in November written all over it.

They must be smokin’ some strange stuff. If I were Donald Trump I would be shitting my pants right now. 

The New York Times reported that

“Trump’s Win Adds to Air of Inevitability …” 

And, despite Nikki Haley’s climb up from an almost 32-point loss in Iowa just a week before, they wrote:

Brushing aside Nikki Haley a little over a week after he steamrolled her and Ron DeSantis in Iowa, Mr. Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate who was not a White House incumbent to carry the nation’s first two contests. His winning margin of 11 percentage points in moderate New Hampshire demonstrated his ironclad control of the party’s hard-right base and set him on what could very well be a short march to the nomination.

I call bullshit!

It’s all in how you write the headline, I guess. And reporters needed to report a Trump victory to get readership.

Their unbridled smackdown of Ms. Haley’s 25-point gain over her Iowa result smacks of efforts of click-bait at best, blatant anti-woman prejudice at its worst.

The turnout in New Hampshire was record-breaking, in part because the state’s election rules allow “undeclared” voters … those registrants who have chosen not to join any political party … to vote in primaries. 

Over 300,00 voters turned out which eclipsed the previous highwater mark of 287,000 voters in 2016. Almost 50% of Tuesday’s turnout were undeclared voters.

A closer look reveals a slightly different story than a total Trump victory.

Here’s how ABC reported it:

Forty-seven percent of voters reported being registered as “undeclared” rather than Republican vs. a previous record of 45% in 2012. Haley won those undeclared voters by a 2-to-1 margin.

That seems to shore up some of the reporting in The New York Times where way down in the story they admitted:

…‘although his margin of victory decreased significantly from the primary in 2016, when he won New Hampshire by about 20 points over a crowded field. And he fell far short of his 30-point triumph in this month’s Iowa

and:

A significant slice of Ms. Haley’s support came from unaffiliated voters who wanted to send a message about stopping Mr. Trump — a reminder that he owns Republicans, but doesn’t own everybody else.

Just a few weeks ago I wrote about statistics that bear this conclusion out. The math shows that the Republican Party is the new “Third Party” in American Politics and cited these stats to prove it:

According to Ballotpedia, there are approximately 123.7 million voters in those states that allow potential voters to specify their party affiliation when they register to vote. Here’s how it breaks down:

38.87% or 48 Million voters identify as Democrats.

31.8% or 39.3 million voters register as Independents, or other.

29.42% or 36.4 million voters list themselves as Republicans.

So maybe the 300,000 New Hampshire voters and the 110,000 Iowa Caucus attendees … just a fraction of the millions of American voters … aren’t the end of the election as The New York Times has repeatedly said over the last ten days. Even they managed to mention that:

While Mr. Trump won the race, he failed to rack up the kind of numbers that would be expected of someone essentially running as an incumbent. He has been behaving as one as part of his strategy in battling the 91 criminal charges he is facing both in courts of law and courts of public opinion.

The fact is, Donald Trump has never won a majority of votes in a general election, and the results in New Hampshire … and history … prove it.

In the 2020 election, Democrat Biden got 81,283,501 votes to Mr. Trump’s 74,224,319. And, in the 2016 election, Trump didn’t win the popular vote either. Hillary Clinton far outpaced him with 65,853,514 votes to Trump’s 62,984,828.

It’s the antiquated Electoral College that elected Trump and we should never forget it.

All of this leads me to believe that the 2024 election is far from over. Trump’s back is against a brick wall and he knows it. Responding to Haley’s numbers, the Times reported:

He seemed visibly aware of that fact when he took the stage on Tuesday night, and signaled an uglier next phase. Using an expletive as he repeatedly attacked Ms. Haley, he said, “I don’t get too angry — I get even.”

Based on the contests so far, Donald Trump looks about as much like a winner in November as I look like the Metro-Goldwyn Mayor Lion.

Spend $37.50 on These 3 Women Before You Vote This Year

It might save our democracy.

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON, LIZ CHENEY, AND RACHEL MADDOW — THEIR THREE BOOKS SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR EVERY AMERICAN VOTER. (PHOTOS VIA WIKIPEDIA)

Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s famous founding fathers, once famously said, “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.”

But these days, elections are hard. Books are banned. Curriculums are befuddled, and college is out of reach for a huge percentage of the population.

And, keeping informed has become a full-time job. There are about a million news sites to choose from, thousands of podcasts to select from, and let’s not forget a bazillion people vying for our attention on Facebook (aka Meta), Instagram, and of course ‘X’.

Making an educated decision on anything ain’t easy.

The promise of the internet was access for all. Now we’re drowning in information and misinformation. It's kind of like when computers first landed in my office. They were supposed to lead to a “paperless workspace”. Now I have so much paper I’m suffocating from it.

We’ve come a long way from the alledged wisdom of the founding fathers. Fortunately, three women; Republican former House member Liz Cheney, Professor and writer Heather Cox Richardson, and commentator Rachel Maddow … have come to our rescue. One from the right and two from the left. But remarkably, they are all giving us the same warning.

They’ve authored three books that should be required reading before anyone casts a ballot in November.

Liz Cheney — Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning

Heather Cox Richardson — How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America.

Rachel Maddow — Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism

Cheney gives the facts about the January 6th coup attempt. Cox Richardson gives a definitive history of the political right’s effort to return to the days when men were men and women were chattel. And Maddow gives a frightening history of America’s march toward fascism leading up to the moment when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Germany declared war on America.

I included Wikipedia links so you can see for yourself what each of these books is about. And, you can get all three for the amazingly good price of $37.50 for your Kindle.

Once you’ve read them (assuming you don't die of fright) you’ll not only KNOW who you need to vote for, but you’ll be the smartest one sitting at the kitchen table when discussing our political future and how to save America from ourselves.

A lot of men have written our history, but these women capture it in a way I’ve never seen before.

Mr. Jefferson may have been a founding father, but as the old saying goes, never send a boy to do a man’s job (Sorry Mr. Jefferson), send a woman.

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy!

Giuliani got the job as understudy to Santa’s lead reindeer.

RUDY GIULIANI LEAVES THE COURTHOUSE AFTER BEING ORDERED TO PAY $148,000,000 IN DAMAGES TO THE TWO GEORGIA ELECTION WORKERS HE DEFAMED. (PHOTO BY PHILIP YABUT)

Along with my New Year’s Resolutions to make myself a more perfect person (a difficult task I must admit), I particularly try to forgive and shake off whatever disgust I have in my fellow human beings so I can start the year with a clean slate.

Like the majority of those making New Year’s resolutions they can’t keep, I seldom make it past what has come to be known as “Quitter’s Day”. That’s the second Friday in January when most people stop worrying about their promises and go back to being assholes.

But, as my mother used to say, “Hope springs eternal…” so I will try again.

However this year, I’m restricting my forgiveness to one unusually sad son-of-a-bitch, former New York City Mayor and Trump apologist, Rudolf Giuliani.

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but this guy is the poster child for how to be a monumental screw-up. No wonder he drinks like a fish. He’s reputed to drink so much scotch that Santa recruited him to serve as a stand-in during the holiday season for Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Oh, how low the mighty have fallen. Early in December Vanity Fair published a story by Bess Levin about the low points in Giuliani’s life. Here’s what they highlighted:

Appearing in a Borat movie with his hands down his pants

Having a hair dye malfunction in the middle of a televised press conference

Confusing the Four Seasons hotel with Four Seasons Total Landscaping (a business across from a crematorium and next to a sex shop)

Farting so much that the flatulence made Saturday Night Live

Being reduced to hawking gold coins on YouTube

Shaving in the middle of an airport restaurant

And as if that wasn’t enough, he accidentally married his cousin and didn’t find out for 14 years.

It’s a long way down from the lofty heights Rudolf Giuliani ascended to after the 9/11 attacks on New York City over 22 years ago. But, it shouldn't surprise anyone that he topped off his career by attaching himself as personal attorney to the biggest loser of the century, Donald Trump. It made Rudy look even stupider when “The Donald” didn’t pay him. Yet, Rudy was shocked, shocked, shocked to find out that the former president doesn’t pay his bills … particularly to doddering old fools who’ve pickled their brains with scotch whiskey.

That added to his financial woes.

Nevertheless, Rudy threw himself into defending Mr. Trump, screaming at the top of his lungs about two election workers in Georgia who, the premier election denier claimed, were single-handedly responsible for Georgia’s electoral votes going to Biden.

For full disclosure, I’ve been an election worker and it is a thankless job. The fact is, the “control” you have over the voting machine is non-existent. It’s like getting your remote to work on that new smart TV you got for Christmas.

It just can’t be done.

In any event, the women sued him. And, Rudy’s day in court didn’t go exactly as planned. In response to his bullshit accusations he has been ordered to pay $148,000,000 in damages to the two women, and they want their money NOW.

Not sure they’ll take a check. By all accounts, Rudy is a little sort in the gelt department. So he’s adding bankruptcy to his list of “accomplishments” and going into hiding, so they say. Perhaps we are finished hearing about Rudy’s failed life once and for all.

But wait. He’s about to go back to court again. Seems that back in the spring of 2023 a former employee of his filed a civil lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault, sexual harassment, wage theft, and abuse of power.

He’s screwed, but not in the way he hoped that’s for sure. I would hate to be his fortune teller. Frankly after all this, he’s going to have to keep his reindeer stand-in job just to pay for groceries.

Still though, I’m working hard on the forgiveness part. But, I’m having a difficult time for one simple reason.

It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

What Does Congress Actually DO?

The answer is … not much! The 118th Congress has been labeled the least productive in decades, as they disregard the important issues yet facing our country. (Photo by Michael O’Keene on Shutterstock)

by Kenneth Lee Warner - Published in Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs Two - Medium

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a political junkie. I can't get through the day without pouring over news sites, listening to podcasts, and scribbling notes for future posts like this one.

This morning though, I had an epiphany while scanning the NYT for the latest debacle in the House of Representatives and found myself asking a very simple question: “Just what does the U.S. Congress actually do?”

Sadly, the answer is, not much.

This year, Republicans and Democrats in Congress will be battling for control of both houses and my inbox is full of pleas for campaign donations from across the country from California to Colorado to New York and back again. They all have something in common. Each contest claims to be the most important in history and the outcome promises to determine the future of the universe.

But upon closer examination, the 118th Congress of the United States has turned out to be the most unproductive in decades. There are 12,185 bills and resolutions before them. They passed and got President Biden’s signature on just 20.

For all of my friends who hate big government, consider your wish as having come true. They’re doing essentially nothing down there in Washington.

It’s not like they don't have important issues to work on:

Protections languish in oblivion for women’s personal and reproductive rights.

Our healthcare system, proven to be a total mess by the pandemic, is broken and among the least progressive of industrialized nations. So bad is it that in the top ten list, the U.S. ranks … eleven behind Great Britain, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, France, and Canada.

Access to public education is tops, but the system has become prone to graduating a generation of dolts as politicans argue about banning books and the prohibition and teaching about evolution.

Climate change due to fossil fuels is devastating our children’s future while the United States remains the largest oil-producing nation in the world. That’s right, number one!

Voting rights for ordinary folks are being decimated and have turned clocks back to the days of poll taxing.

Of course, it would be unfair to say that Congress isn’t doing anything at all. Here are some of the things they did manage to do:

Agree to mint a coin commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States Marine Corps.

They amended the Siletz Reservation Act which clarified the hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal gathering rights of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. Certainly important for them, but hardly earth-shattering for the rest of us.

Passed HJR62 which allows the reappointment of Michael Govan as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.

They did not, however, manage to pass HR6779 which would end unemployment payments to jobless millionaires despite the noxious sound of the rich who are loudly laughing all the way to the bank.

Infighting among the Republican majority has become legendary. While they managed to kick the can down the road regarding the spending bill that keeps the government operating, they shut down for three weeks anyway as they fought to decide who would be in charge of what seems to be a circular firing squad.

To their credit, they did finally, manage to get rid of George Santos who has become infamous for lying about everything from his 8th-grade spelling grades to his prowess as a sportsman. But they let him occupy his seat for almost a full year as they needed his vote to stop progress on important legislation. (See above.)

All of this inactivity has allowed them to do what they deem as the most important duty of all, getting re-elected and crisis-crossing the country in support of Donald Trump, the most dangerous candidate of them all.

Some pundits accuse Republicans in Congress of “fiddling while Rome burns”, a reference to the Emporer Nero who in 64 AD was nowhere to be seen as a catastrophic fire devastated 70% of the city. But then again, that can’t be true. First, because the fiddle wasn't invented till the 11th century a thousand years later. And second, because Nero himself was 35 miles away at his villa in Antium.

Much like our members of Congress, who are everywhere but in Washington doing their jobs.

The Police Are The Enemy

Just ask anyone who participated in the January 6th coup

Washington, DC, USA — Jan. 10, 2020: Police officers line the streets to watch the procession for the body of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died during the Capitol Riots on January 6. (Photo by Nicole Glass Photography via Shutterstock)

The yearly reminder of the January 6th coup attempt can hardly be called an anniversary. That word is reserved for happier memories and the 6th day of January is hardly a moment of celebration. Unless of course, your address is Mar-a-Lago.

During that attack on our Democracy, 176 police officers were injured. One died. Four more were to take their own lives within seven months.

I’ve got a lot of police officers of one kind or another in my family tree. My brother is a retired Honolulu Police Officer. My father was a Military Policeman in WWII. I had an uncle who was police chief in a small Central New York Town. Even I did my bit as a Park Ranger in our New York State Parks. Which is about as far down the pecking order as you can get. It’s kind of a would-be rent-a-cop who gets paid minimum wage to be eyes and ears for the real Park Police.

And, while I’m not one with a blue light outside my front door, or who has a blue stripe on my flag, I do believe in the thin blue line that protects people like you and me from the bad guys.

These days it seems, nobody likes a cop until they need one.

That's why I don't understand my law and order neighbors who sport the “Fuck Biden” signs outside their front doors, fly Trump flags, or continue to support the conspirators of January 6th, particularly the chief conspirator, then President Donald Trump.

The people who stormed the capitol believed the police were the enemy and assaulted them in the cowardly way of a mob unleashed.

If you want to know the real story of that day, you can find no better documentation than Republican House member Liz Cheney’s book Oath and Honor which came out at the end of last year.

Her account is the definitive narrative. She was there. And, with meticulous detail documents the horrifying events of that day, the circumstances leading up to it, and the warning of the aftermath.

Here’s how one of the Capital Police Officers, Officer Caroline Edwards, described her participation in protecting our Nation’s Capital.

When I fell behind that line and I saw, I can just remember my — my breath catching in my throat, because what
I saw was just a war scene. It was something like I’d seen out of the movies. I couldn’t believe my eyes. There were officers on the ground. You know, they were bleeding. They were throwing up.

They were — you know, they had — I mean, I saw friends with blood all over their faces. I was slipping in people’s blood. You know, I was catching people as they fell. It was carnage. It was chaos. I can’t even describe what I saw. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that, as a police officer, as a law-enforcement officer, I
would find myself in the middle of a battle.

You know, I’m trained to detain, you know, a couple subjects and you know, handle a crowd. But I am not combat trained. That day, it was just hours of hand-to-hand combat, hours of dealing with things that were way beyond what any law-enforcement officer has ever trained for.

I just remember — I just remember that moment of stepping behind the line and just seeing the absolute war zone that the West Front had become.

What she is describing is “law and order” proponents taking down police officers, methodically, one by one.

All the while, the one person who could have stopped it all, President Donald Trump, sat was watching it on television from the safety of his sanctuary. And, when the attackers started chanting, “Hang Mike Pence,” he commented, “He deserves it”.

The sitting President of the United States suggested that the Vice President be hanged by an angry mob.

It’s enough to scare the pants off me. It should scare the pants off you, too.

WTF is going on?

How in the world can any American think this is ok? How can they support this lunacy?

I’ve lived through presidential assassinations, riots in our streets in the ’60s, and the gunning down of unarmed students at Kent State. But as long as I live, I will never be able to understand the carnage of this attack, nor the support many people still hold for the man responsible for it all.

Hopefully, the commemoration of the events of that day will be remembered with a moment of silence each January 6th, but with a giant, noisy clamor for justice for those dead and injured police officers come November’s election.

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy

Giuliani got the job as understudy to Santa’s lead reindeer.

Rudy Giuliani leaves the courthouse after being ordered to pay $148,000,000 in damages to the two Georgia election workers he defamed. (Photo by Philip Yabut)

Along with my New Year’s Resolutions to make myself a more perfect person (a difficult task I must admit), I particularly try to forgive and shake off whatever disgust I have in my fellow human beings so I can start the year with a clean slate.

Like the majority of those making New Year’s resolutions they can’t keep, I seldom make it past what has come to be known as “Quitter’s Day”. That’s the second Friday in January when most people stop worrying about their promises and go back to being assholes.

But, as my mother used to say, “Hope springs eternal…” so I will try again.

However this year, I’m restricting my forgiveness to one unusually sad son-of-a-bitch, former New York City Mayor and Trump apologist, Rudolf Giuliani.

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but this guy is the poster child for how to be a monumental screw-up. No wonder he drinks like a fish. He’s reputed to drink so much scotch that Santa recruited him to serve as a stand-in during the holiday season for Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Oh, how low the mighty have fallen. Early in December Vanity Fair published a story by Bess Levin about the low points in Giuliani’s life. Here’s what they highlighted:

Appearing in a Borat movie with his hands down his pants

Having a hair dye malfunction in the middle of a televised press conference

Confusing the Four Seasons hotel with Four Seasons Total Landscaping (a business across from a crematorium and next to a sex shop)

Farting so much that the flatulence made Saturday Night Live

Being reduced to hawking gold coins on YouTube

Shaving in the middle of an airport restaurant

And as if that wasn’t enough, he accidentally married his cousin and didn’t find out for 14 years.

It’s a long way down from the lofty heights Rudolf Giuliani ascended to after the 9/11 attacks on New York City over 22 years ago. But, it shouldn't surprise anyone that he topped off his career by attaching himself as personal attorney to the biggest loser of the century, Donald Trump. It made Rudy look even stupider when “The Donald” didn’t pay him. Yet, Rudy was shocked, shocked, shocked to find out that the former president doesn’t pay his bills … particularly to doddering old fools who’ve pickled their brains with scotch whiskey.

That added to his financial woes.

Nevertheless, Rudy threw himself into defending Mr. Trump, screaming at the top of his lungs about two election workers in Georgia who, the premier election denier claimed, were single-handedly responsible for Georgia’s electoral votes going to Biden.

For full disclosure, I’ve been an election worker and it is a thankless job. The fact is, the “control” you have over the voting machine is non-existent. It’s like getting your remote to work on that new smart TV you got for Christmas.

It just can’t be done.

In any event, the women sued him. And, Rudy’s day in court didn’t go exactly as planned. In response to his bullshit accusations he has been ordered to pay $148,000,000 in damages to the two women, and they want their money NOW.

Not sure they’ll take a check. By all accounts, Rudy is a little sort in the gelt department. So he’s adding bankruptcy to his list of “accomplishments” and going into hiding, so they say. Perhaps we are finished hearing about Rudy’s failed life once and for all.

But wait. He’s about to go back to court again. Seems that back in the spring of 2023 a former employee of his filed a civil lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault, sexual harassment, wage theft, and abuse of power.

He’s screwed, but not in the way he hoped that’s for sure. I would hate to be his fortune teller. Frankly after all this, he’s going to have to keep his reindeer stand-in job just to pay for groceries.

Still though, I’m working hard on the forgiveness part. But, I’m having a difficult time for one simple reason.

It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Turns Out the Lone Star on the Texas Flag is a Google Review

Results from my informal poll show Texas is in the sewer.

This participant in my informal poll of women’s opinions of Texas ranked the state “Number One” in her estimation. (Photo from the RDNE Stock Project)

People are trying to get out of Texas.

I spend a lot of time in bars and because I live in a tourist destination on the North Coast of America, I run into a lot of people from other states. Strangely, this past summer, an inordinate number of them were from Texas.

Made me wonder why so many people were looking to leave their home state.

So with all the bad reviews Texas is getting in the mainstream news these days, I decided to do a little informal polling of my own in an effort to discover why anyone … particularly a woman … would live in such a shithole part of the country.

Not all women polled disliked the state they lived in. When I surveyed one woman (featured in the photo above), she seemed to indicate that Texas is definitely number one, which kind of confused me. But, all the women I spoke with agreed that the lone star on the state’s flag indicates a Google rating.

“It’s a long way from when the state was led by Ann Richards, who was Governor from 1991 to 1995. Since then, the indignity of not having a penis in this state has become almost unbearable,” said one woman who refused to give us her name on condition of anonymity. “That’s why I’m giving Texas a single-star review. This place lives up to its nickname as the Lone Star State in my book,” she added.

Her view of the state’s flag seemed at first unusual. Texans have a long history of being proud of the six flags they have flown in their long and storied history starting with the Spanish flag, then the flag representing the Louisiana Purchase, and the Mexican flag as well as others including the flag representing the Confederate States of America.

Having lost the war to advance slavery, men in Texas have shifted their aggressions away from people of color to women in general. Texas has never been keen on its female population for anything other than those housewifey things and has always treated them sort of like chattel.

For example, men in Texas are still upset about the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 which gave women the right to have a credit card separate from their husbands.

“Y’all up north don't get it, “ said one man who told me he waited two years to report her stolen credit card to police. When asked why he waited so long to report the theft he replied, “It saved me money. Whoever stole it was spending less than my wife.”

All of the men I polled were in distinct opposition to the women surveyed. Several suggested the state re-adopt the flag of the Confederacy which flew over Texas from 1861 to 1865, apparently because it has more stars in it.

“Besides being a better review, it demonstrates solidarity with other states who got the hell away from the United States on formed our own country,” said one man who, incidentally was so proud of his patriotism that he bragged about his visit to the Nation’s capitol on January 6th a few years ago.

Must be he liked the monuments.

Recently though, male Texans have upped their war on women with the passage of the country’s most aggressive assault on women’s reproductive rights. Because of this, the National Organization for Women ranks Texas as the 7th worst state in the country for women to live.

Makes one wonder how bad it must be in the 6th that beat them out for this distinction.

The internet website Versus Texas has this to say about abortion in the Lone Star State:

“Performing or aiding an abortion resulting in the unborn child’s death is a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison, according to Texas Government Code Sec. 170A.002. Under the law, administrative penalties include the mandatory revocation of a medical, nursing, or pharmacy license. The statute also allows the Texas attorney general to seek a civil penalty of not less than $100,000, plus attorney’s fees and costs. People who can be prosecuted under the law include:

Medical personnel, including doctors and nurses

A family member or friend who helps pay for the procedure

A pharmacist who sells an abortion medication

Anyone who hands a medication abortion pill to another person

Anyone who drives the patient to a clinic or the place of the abortion

I guess those exorbitant fines are one way to balance the budget.

Apparently, lawmakers decided to use abortion laws to capitalize on some other of Texas’ “firsts”.

Texas, along with 8 of their fellow former states in the Confederacy also has the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the country.

The national birth rate among teenage girls ages 15 to 19 is 15.4 births per 1,000. Texas, though below Mississippi with its 27.9 per 1,000 rating, comes in at 22.4.

“That’s good for us”, quipped one particularly onerous Texas fisherman. Looking to me for some agreement he added, “Right?”

Texas law also allows marriage between first cousins once removed.

And, Texas ranks 14th out of 50 for incidence of forcible rapes. Neither is an excuse for an abortion.

He went on to parrot a kinship with a Republican state legislator from Delaware who summed it up this way:

“You know, we have a massive problem in this country. Our birthrate is way, way below replacement. You know, we are just not having enough babies. And, it’s all because of access to abortion. Women are doing away with fetuses before they have a chance to grow into these people that we need to support us.”

He also pointed to what he called the progressive “Romeo and Juliet Law” in his home state where Texas Penal Code 22.011 of the Texas Penal Code allows:

Anyone between the ages of 14 and 17 can legally engage in consensual sexual acts with someone within three years of their age, so long as the other party is at least 14 years old.

Interesting.

Makes one wonder if you divorce your wife in Texas, is she still your sister?

Ding-Dong, the Witch Is Dead: Trump’s Off the Ballot in Colorado

We all got an early Christmas present this week when Colorado’s top court ruled that Donald Trump will not be allowed to be on the ballot in the state’s Republican Primary.

It’s startling news and proves that every once in a while, something happens to renew our faith in American Democracy. Since the last century, there’s been a movement to replace it with an authoritarian form of government. Led by Donald Trump, the tactics used by that dark movement continue today. But with this ruling, perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel for America’s Democracy.

The court based their decision on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S Constitution which prohibits people who participate in insurrection against the Constitution when they have sworn an oath to support it.

Lower Federal Courts have already agreed that Trump was part of the January 6th, 2021 attack on the national Capitol. They also agreed that the court has the authority to enforce that part of the Consitution, but they stopped short of applying it to Trump.

Now, Colorado’s highest court has gone where others have feared to tread. They’ve ruled that everyone is equal under the Constitution… even Donald Trump.

Not surprisingly, Trump is appealing the decision to the Supreme Court. And, considering that he appointed three of the Justices on that ultra-conservative bench, we shouldn't consider it a done deal.

But it’s a start.

Yet, before we pop the corks on the champagne and shoot off fireworks, I have to tell you I’ve been doing a little light reading for the holiday season. And, it ain’t the story of Charly Brown’s Christmas.

It’s Rachel Maddow’s latest book PREQUEL: An American Fight Against Fascism.

It’s about the rise of Nazi sympathizers among our ordinary neighbors; working men and women just like you and me who bought into Mein Kampf. American Nazis included such luminaries as Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh, as well as a list of U.S. congressmen as long as your arm. They actively sought to stay out of World War II and side with Adolf Hitler. They helped fund a massive propaganda campaign in collusion with the Nazis in Germany and even conspired with high-ranking U.S. military officers to steal arms from U.S. Armories in the hope of starting a government takeover.

Headlines right out of today’s news.

It’s scary enough but what makes it worse is that despite rigorous prosecution by the U.S. Justice Department, these guys all got off scot-free.

Yeah, you read that right. The Supreme Court of the United States overturned the convictions of almost every single one of the conspirators.

Doesn't bode well for the future of Colorado’s ruling, does it?

The good news is, that Maddow’s book has a semi-happy message. The Nazis didn't win. But it leaves us all with the creepy feeling that their beliefs still loom beneath the surface of our daily lives.

So if you’re looking for a last-minute stocking stuffer, I highly recommend that you do not pass go and do not collect your $200 and go straight to wherever you buy your reading and get her book.

It might scare the hell out of you but still gives us hope that there might just be a candle burning for American Democracy.

Here are Who Gen Zers Get to Choose From for Rizzler of the Year 2023

It’s the one award we’ve all been waiting for as 2023 comes to a close, the Oxford Dictionary’s 2023 Word of the Year honor … and the winner is … “rizz”.

Invented by Gen Zers, it’s what really matters for them in the 21st century.

“Rizz” is short for charisma such as:

“… someone’s ability to attract another person through style, charm, or attractiveness.”

“Rizz” when used as a verb like “rizz-up” means to

“to attract, seduce, or chat up (a person).”

and, as a noun …

“rizzler,” a title given to individuals who possesses a lot of “rizz.”

In case you’ve forgotten, Gen Z is the generation name for those born between 1997 and 2012 which means they are from ages 11 to 26.

ELEVAN? Really? No one listened to me when I was 11. When I was that age if I said anything more than, “May I please have another Oreo cookie?” I was scolded or spanked, and condemned to my room for what seemed like an eternity.

But frankly, I’m not surprised at Gen Z’s emphasis on charisma. It’s hard to withstand. But, these days their choice of heroes ranks from the ridiculous to the sublime. So, if you’re wondering why Gen Zers seem just a little screwed up, just take a moment to scan your favorite news source to see the personalities dominating the headlines.

First let me tell you that the people getting all the attention aren’t the ones winning Nobel Prizes for science, literature, or peace. This crop of mostly whack jobs all have one thing in common. They all have “rizz”.

They’ve taught Gen Z that all ya’ gotta do to be famous is rizz-up your neighbor into sharing your rant on tic-tok, sleeping with you, or giving you their money to support your cause.

Scanning the home pages of my favorite news sites, here ae my nominations for top rizzler Gen Zers can choose from for 2023 … starting with the competition for being ridiculous, and ending with the unchallenged sublime choice.

Donald Trump of course has to be at the head of the ridiculous category. Love him or hate him, you have to admit he has rizz. Despite four federal indictments including 94 charges of wrongdoing, thousands of civil lawsuits, and bragging about grabbing women by the pussy, he continues to be considered by many as the second coming of Christ. But in my humble estimation, his latest rant at a town hall meeting in Iowa hosted by Sean Hannity about being a dictator on his first day after winning in 2024 was certainly no Sermon on the Mount.

Close behind Trump for having the most rizz is, of course, the richest person in the world, Elon Musk. He’s shown us all a unique business model of how to take 40 billion dollars and turn it into 20 billion dollars by telling all your customers to go “fuck themselves”. Now if that’s not a mogul model lesson on which to base your next Junior Achievement project, then what is? Gen Zers may not have made their share of the Billion dollars, but they have the “fuck everyone” down to a science.

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo certainly makes my ridiculous list of 2023 top rizzlers. Despite ignoring his history of letting seniors die in nursing homes in record numbers during the pandemic, he figures if Donald can do it, he can too. Remember, Cuomo resigned under pressure for operating the state capitol like his own personal harem. Now he’s toying with getting back into politics and considering running for everything from New York Mayor to King of Queens. He‘s started to believe his own press releases. Takes a lot of rizz to think we’re all stupid enough to elect this guy.

Last but not least in the ridiculous column, is my favorite punching bag, former Long Island Congressman George Santos. This guy has not only stolen thousands of dollars from political donors, he’s lied about everything on his resume from being the son of Holocaust survivors to winning the championship for his college’s volleyball team. Now, disgraced and booted out of Congress, he’s being considered as star of a reality show in 2024.

George Santos? Reality? There’s nothing real about George Santos and elevating him to a hero on TV gives even television a bad name.

At the risk of alienating the two followers I have who are under the age of 26, I’m singling out Taylor Swift, Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, as the absolute sublime of all rizzlers. If anyone on this list has rizz, she does. She’s unchallenged as the year’s greatest performing artist.

But here’s a short list of some people who’ve been Time’s Person of the Year since they started naming them in 1927.

Twenty-three presidents including Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Barack OBama, and three Popes; John XXIII, John Paul II, and Francis. A few other notables have graced the cover including Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelinski, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Egypt’s lader Anwar Sadat, and Queen Elizabeth II.

The roster of notables goes on and on and it’s a pretty top-notch community. So I’m not sure Taylor makes the cut just because young women all over the nation can break out into her songs at a moment’s notice.

Whatever happened to being famous for saving the world from the Nazis, writing the great American novel, or brokering peace between Israel and Egypt?

At the risk of appearing out of touch, I’m sticking with the rizzlers of my youth like JFK, Martin Luther King, the Challenger space crew, Rosa Parks, RFK, Cesar Chavez, Neil Armstrong, Margaret Sanger, and Rachel Carson.

Finally, I have to remember that it is the Holiday season. In case you’re wondering who appears to have the most rizz around my neck of the woods at this time of year, it’s Jesus Christ. These days where I live, in deep dark Trump Country along the North Coast of America, people have one of two signs in their front yards. “Fuck Biden” or “Jesus is the Reason for the Season”.

Sometimes both.

Confused? Don’t worry, it doesn’t make any sense to me either.

But, whether I believe it or not, about 2.8 billion of the world’s 8 billion people believe he has rizz.

The question for me remains … did he ever write a hit song?

American Camelot: Was America Really Great Back Then?

The best thing about Donald Trump’s endless legal problems is that we don't have to listen to him and the rest of his gang of fascist wannabes bombard us with their delusion of the American Dream to “Make America Great Again.”

You know what they’re talking about, don't you? It’s the time when they rule with a “fair and even hand” and the rest of us blindly struggle along to feed our families and the insatiable need of these people to line their pockets with gelt.

Trump is older than I am. But he was young around the same time I was. He should know better. I hate to burst everyone’s bubble, but America never really was great.

On Friday, November 22nd, 1963, I was a 10-year-old third grader at the Ginther School in the little canal town of Brockport, just west of Rochester, New York. Sometime after 12:30 p.m., I was walking with the rest of the students through the halls toward our homerooms for an unexpected recess that had everyone buzzing and wondering what it was all about. Alan Gardner, a kid in my class, came up to me and put his finger to his temple, his fist mimicking a gun.

“They shot the President and a Governor, too! Right in the head!” he shouted, and he pulled his middle finger on the trigger of his imaginary weapon.

John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated while in a parade in Dallas, Texas.

I didn’t know it then, but that was the end of my generation’s delusion of America’s greatness.

That was the final moment of this country’s “Camelot,” a mythical time in the United States when all things seemed possible. We were the most powerful, prosperous nation in the world. The Soviets had pulled their missiles out of Cuba. The future looked bright, and we were going to the moon for God’s sake.

For those historically challenged, Camelot referenced a 12th-century English Castle where King Arthur and his court lived in an idyllic bliss of truth, honor, and justice.

America’s Camelot was the name the media had labeled John F. Kennedy’s election as the youngest President in our history. He and his administration had been lauded for bringing with it a new Camelot that came to define an era of youth, vitality, and integrity.

I’ve come to realize, it was just that … a mythical time.

In a gunflash, life for my generation was never to be the same.

It signaled the beginning of an era of violence heretofore not experienced in America since almost 100 years before when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

Now, much to my chagrin, very few people remember the importance of this day.

The decades to come were disastrous. Within days, JFK’s assassin was gunned down while on a perp walk from a Dallas jail.

Within a few short years, our cities were aflame in riots … Harlem, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago. For me, even the nearby City of Rochester exploded in racial unrest. My father, a World War II vet and member of the New York National Guard, was on full alert and bivouacked with his unit in a downtown city park in order to keep the peace. On the highway we lived on, cars streamed past all through the next week headed into Rochester to be part of the action.

My mother slept on the couch in the living room with my father’s .380 caliber Remington automatic under her pillow like a Momma Bear armed to the teeth, while my brother and I slept safely upstairs.

Just a few, (too) short years later JFK’s brother, Robert Kennedy, was assassinated in Los Angeles while running for President. Soon after Martin Luther King was killed on a motel balcony and Malcolm X was dead in Manhattan of several bullet wounds.

Meanwhile, 55,000 Americans were giving their lives in a far-off war in the jungles of Vietnam that was supposed to stop the onslaught of communism from sweeping Southeast Asia.

And then four college students were killed at an Ohio university as they protested the war, shot dead by the National Guard

That terrible war led to yet another disaster in 1974, when another President, Richard Millhouse Nixon, resigned from office in disgrace because of his lust for power.

Is this the Great America Trump has us longing for?

In my youth prior to November 1963, in many ways, I suppose, it seemed like America really was great.

Politicians worked together to compromise for the good of their constituencies. Philandering by elected officials was off-limits to most professional news organizations. New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller expanded the state university system with the slogan, “Let each become all he is capable of being.”

My Mother, a half-American Japanese war bride, told me that even I could be President of the United States.

I wanted to join the Peace Corps.

But things were not what they seemed. Minorities were still being lynched. Drugs were beginning to over-run our communities. Our rivers and lakes were polluted and getting worse. Women had no rights and were dying in backyard abortion clinics. Hell, they couldn't even have a credit card in their name until 1973.

What the fuck is wrong with everyone.

In my estimation, America never was great. I may still think that it is the finest country in the world to live in, but reality tells me that it has been and will continue to be a great experiment in Democracy that will be changing and forming and evolving and ever moving toward a goal of equality where people are treated equal, peace reigns, the environment is safe, and no-one is left behind. And, when that happens, we will be able to call ourselves great.

Frankly, these days are barely better than the world I grew up in. Instead of killing our leaders, we’ve moved on to assassinating our children. And, what it means to “Make America Great Again” depends on how low on the shitpile you happen to be.

Now, a whole generation behind doesn’t know much about the assassination in Dallas. Their lives in America changed with 9/11, another one of America’s saddest days. And for them, there’s not much great about America anymore, nor was there ever. The baby boomers, they say, lied to them.

People struggle to get by on two incomes. College debt weighs them down. Our health care is a shambles. Congress argues on who’s in charge of the executive washroom, and a fascist is on the brink of becoming President once again.

All I know is, that as I reflect upon the anniversary of this tragic day in our history and look around at the world I see, I’ve come to realize that if this is what making America great again is all about, I want no part of it.

Bipartisanship Comes to the House in the Expulsion of George Santos Though it shows up kicking and screaming

George is applying for new jobs after his expulsion from Congress. (Photo from Santos campaign website)

Every once in a while, some good news comes out of Washington. George Santos has been expelled from the United States House by a bipartisan vote of 211 to 114.

Amazing in a couple of ways. First, that it took this long to get rid of the lying son-of-a-bitch, and second that 114 members of the House voted against expulsion. But it’s bi-partisanship, never-the-less. Something that is about as rare these days as a particle of truth coming out of George’s mouth.

Two Democrats voted to keep him. And Two voted present. Reps. Bobby Scott (Va.) and Nikema Williams (Ga.) were the only Democrats to vote against expelling Santos. Representatives Al Green (D-Texas) and Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) voted present. It really doesn’t matter because no one knows who the hell they are anyway.

For those of us who live in New York State, we’ll be happy to know that Representative Elise Stefanik of New York’s 21st District and Republican Conference Chair, voted to keep him. No surprise there. Frankly, I think she has a secret crush on anyone who is under indictment. It’s kinda’ kinky really. Her two most auspicious endorsements in Congress have been to support Donald Trump and stand behind George Santos. Both have enough indictments to keep lawyers busy for years and to remain a target for her adoration, no doubt.

It’ll be interesting to see how Georgie pays his legal fees after this. He has a 23-count Federal indictment against him. And now, his bank account is going to be $176,000 short next year (his yearly Congressional salary) as he will no longer be on the public tit. But, I guess he’ll probably just steal the money from somewhere else.

Last but not least in the “I told you so” department is Mr. Santos’ parting shot. Good old Georgie had a classic comment as he left the floor, what I will now claim as an early Christmas present … the “Santos Clause”:

“To hell with this place.” — George Santos’ last words upon leaving Congress.