Brilliant! – Page 11

Good reads

Posted on March 12, 2025March 12, 2025 by Mike

Apropos of not much, really, I just wanted to mention Tactical Hermit’s brief summation of the fire-bombings of Dresden and Tokyo towards the end of WW2, both events the impetus of a great deal of Allied angst and self-recrimination even today. Doubtless historians, scholars, and pundits will be arguing the same unanswerable questions from now until Doomsday: Were the bombings ineffectual, perhaps even pointless and unnecessary? Can we ever truly know if they hastened the final collapse of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan by so much as a single minute? Should they be thought of as simply part and parcel of modern warfare, albeit profoundly regrettable? Or were they in fact atrocities, crimes against humanity perpetrated by unfeeling monsters against blameless civilians?

The reason I bring all this up tonight is nothing so weighty as all that, thank merciful Heaven. See, it just so happens that, thanks to Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited, I have on my sail foam a seriously gripping historical-fiction novel in ePub format titled The Air Raid Killer (Max Heller, Dresden Detective Book 1). It’s one hell of a page-turner, as author Frank Goldammer’s Detective Heller doggedly pursues a mad, quasi-human serial killer through the dead, burned-out streets of once-beautiful Dresden just before, during, and after the city’s immolation and utter destruction by several thousand RAF/USAAF HE and incendiary bombs.

Steve Anderson’s translation is absolutely flawless—not often the case with ePubs, alas. In the usual run of things, the editing and/or conversion from dead tree to ePub is so godawful it can be an active nuisance, yanking you right up out of the story by your ears to leave you staring blankly at the nearest wall. You can but shake your head in sorrow, anger, and confusion, hoping against hope that whoever committed this heinous crime against lit’ratchure wasn’t getting paid for the job. Oughta be in jail, more like.

Didn’t realize it until just now, but there’s a sequel to ARK. Yclept A Thousand Devils, Book 2 features Max Heller plying his trade in the same locality two (2) years after his hometown’s nightmarish destruction. Gonna have to add that ‘un to the ol’ KU library toot sweet and give it a look-see, soonest.

End of an era

Posted on March 10, 2025March 10, 2025 by Mike

And good riddance.

BLM Plaza in DC dismantled after 5 years as bill threatens to withhold city’s funding
Work to dismantle the Black Lives Matter Plaza street mural in Washington, DC, that was put up in 2020 following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor began on Monday.

Reconstruction at the site of the huge, yellow-painted letters close to the White House follows calls to withhold the city’s funding unless it removed the mural and renamed the location “Liberty Plaza.”

“The mural inspired millions and helped our city through a very painful period,” Bowser said.

“But now we can’t afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference. The devastating impacts of the federal job cuts must be our number one concern. Our focus is on economic growth, public safety, and supporting our residents affected by these cuts.”

Plans by House Republicans to scrub the divisive BLM mural were revealed in a Post exclusive earlier this month.

Monday’s dismantling of the mural was greeted with triumph by many conservatives — and slammed by those on the left.

“The world is healing,” wrote the Libs of TikTok account on X, run by pro-Trump influencer Chaya Raichik.

“The only people celebrating the dismantling of the Black Lives Matter Plaza in DC are racist fragile white people,” wrote another.

Let’s see now: racist, check; fragile, check (if you hit me in the face with a brick, do I not bleed?); white, check. Yup, ya got me—guilty as charged, on all counts. NOW what, fuckface?

New category for this sort of thing, inspired by the awesome, blistering Minor Threat song.

Update! For more of the impossibly brilliant DC hardcore of the legendary Minor Threat, check out this complete MT discography on YewToob. All the Minor Threat classics are here: I Don’t Wanna Hear It, Filler, 12XU, Small Man Big Mouth, Bottled Violence, Screaming At A Wall, et al. There really never has been anyone quite like ‘em, I must say.

How deathless is DONE

Posted on March 9, 2025March 9, 2025 by Mike

The making of a masterpiece.

“Absence of Malice” and Why Some Movies Are Timeless
When a great satire is made, one that touches on themes that are endemic and universal to the worlds of which they make fun, what happens is that reality keeps coming back around and making those movies relevant all over again. Our tragicomic withdrawal from Afghanistan echoed the futility of the daily lives of the drafted surgeons of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M*A*S*H). Our seemingly aimless and ineffective attempts to counter Putin in the Ukraine can sometimes make us believe that nothing much has changed in the halls of the Pentagon since Buck Turgidson, President Muffley and General Ripper hammed it up in Dr. Strangelove’s “War Room.” And “The Player” and “Network” so perfectly skewer Hollywood and the News Media that all these years later, they remind us that almost nothing about those industries has changed over the ensuing decades.

But it’s not only comedies and satires that can achieve this kind of cultural resonance… history rhymes, if it does not repeat, as they say, and so dramatic thrillers like “Serpico”, “All The President’s Men”, “Three Days of the Condor”, “Taxi Driver” and “Death Wish” also seem more relevant than ever, these days.

In the same vein, Sydney Pollack’s 1981 masterpiece “Absence of Malice” is one of those movies that perfectly skewers its subject, an unholy alliance between the press and the very government the press is meant to hold in check. It is so well done, that the drama is timeless. A movie that seems more prescient now, than it did when it was made.

The opening credits of “Malice” show us a full edition of a local Miami newspaper being written, typeset and printed. As the paper evolves into its final form, the headlines tell us that a powerful union boss has been missing for six months and is presumed dead, and that the Justice Department, the Miami PD and the DA are under trememdous pressure to solve the case.

Post credits we meet the Federal Prosecutor in charge of that case, Elliot Rosen (Bob Balaban), who has decided that a successful liquor wholesaler named Michael Gallagher, played by Paul Newman who was still one of the best looking men in the world even at age 56, must himself be involved in the disappearance in some way. Rosen doesn’t believe this because of any evidence he’s collected, he has none at all, but because Gallagher’s deceased father was affiliated with the local anti-union mob and so, therefore, his son must also be “connected”… quod erat demonstrandum.

Later, when the Miami Dade DA asks him which crime Gallagher is suspected of committing, Rosen answers “what’s the difference?”

“So you’re squeezing him?” asks the DA.

“You got somebody better?” is Rosen’s chilling response.

Unfortunately for Rosen, the US Consitution exists, and he cannot arrest Gallagher, put him in a deep dark hole, and sweat it out of him. So, he decides to put public pressure on the businessman in hopes he will break. To do this, he targets a young cub reporter named Megan Carter, played by Sally Field, as his weapon of choice. He leaks the existence of his “investigation” to Carter who writes an article that comes up just short of accusing Gallagher of the crime, an inferred accusation which Rosen knows will embarrass the man and destroy both his social standing in Miami as well as his business… eggs, meet omelette.

By now this should all be starting to sound very familiar.

Certainly it should be to attentive CF Lifers, mainly because of this clip featuring the incomparable Wilford Brimley.

I’ve run it here again and again, and watched it even more times, and it ain’t never getting old.

Gat review

Posted on March 5, 2025March 5, 2025 by Mike

The Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .380, v2.0.

S&W’s Bodyguard 2.0 .380 Pistol – One Tiny Lifesaver!
The new S&W Bodyguard has earned its “2.0” status. To put it bluntly… the original 6-shot Bodyguard .380 left much to be desired. The new 2.0 version fixes what was wrong with its predecessor.

Now as it happens, I own a pre-24 (ie, v1.0) Bodyguard pocket rocket myself (this here one, with built-in Crimson Trace red-dot laser), and that “left much to be desired” remark ain’t no bull—specifically, the flimsy, way oversprung, absurdly long-throw plastic trigger, which rendered the little popgun damned near useless unless you were gonna throw it at an assailant’s head or something.

Happily though, thanks to the fine folks at Shepherd Tactical Supply, the fix for that design flaw was cheap and easy-peasy to avail myself of: an under $30 aluminum, adjustable trigger anodized in red (if I remember right, they had ‘em in plain black and silver-grey also, but once I saw the red I was hooked), which tightened everything up nicely, looks great, and made the cute li’l booger a delight to shoot.

I’d never attempted a trigger swap before, which Big Country cautioned me can be a tricky project if you don’t know what you’re doing. Was there a man dismayed? HA! Forward the Light Brigade!

In the event, the job took me no more than about twenty minutes to complete successfully with ordinary hand tools I had lying around just begging to be useful; it was a snap, no lie. Since the trigger swap, then dialing the Crimson Trace in so’s it no longer pointed up into the sky and off to the left, I’ve run a cpl-three boxes of Hornady Critical Defense through the little beastie out in the backyard—no problems, no issues, no hassles, no complaints.

The STS trigger took the Bodyguard from feeling like a cheap, shoddy kid’s toy to something a lot more like a real pistol should be. Thanks to the trigger upgrade, what had once been a dust-covered, neglected nightstand adornment has become my EDC piece. Nowadays, I never leave home without it.

The Bodyguard kit included a bottom-shelf S&W gun rug and two (2) 6-round magazines: one with the all-important pinkie extension piece on the butt plate, and one without. Take my word for it, the pinkie-rest mag is the way to go; assuming I ever do get my hands on a spare nickel again, I really need to hit Nichols Store not far from my house (FANTASTIC gun/ammo/accessories shop, one of the very best I’ve ever been in) and see about getting another one of ‘em. Then I can toss that shorty, flat-butt PoS into the sock drawer and forget it ever even existed.

Hey, a man can dream, can’t he?

Hats off to our classy, beautiful, politically astute First Lady

Posted on March 4, 2025March 4, 2025 by Mike

I suppose as I type this Trump must be smack dab in the middle of tonight’s big speech to Congress, which is of little or no real import far as I’m concerned. This story, on the other hand, struck just the right note with me.

The First Lady’s Guest List for Tonight Is Fascinating
When Donald Trump takes the stage to deliver his speech to a joint session of Congress tonight, his wife, Melania, will be in the audience, and she’ll have several unique guests with her. But they’re not celebrities or dignitaries. They’re everyday Americans “from all different walks of life” whose lives have been impacted by “disaster wrought by the previous administration.”

Some of the First Lady’s guests have been victims of crimes committed by people who are in the United States illegally, like Allyson and Lauren Phillips of Woodstock, Ga. You might know them better as the mother and sister of Laken Riley, the young nursing student who was brutally murdered on the University of Georgia campus by a Venezuelan gang member who was not only in the U.S. illegally but had also committed many previous crimes.

Mrs. Trump will also have Alexis Nungaray of Houston, Texas, at the speech. Nungaray’s 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn, was murdered by two men whom the Biden administration caught at the border and released into the U.S. just weeks before they committed the heinous crime. U.S. Border Patrol agent Roberto Ortiz will be in attendance as well. While serving in Texas, he’s been shot at many times by dangerous cartel members.

Remember Corey Comperatore, the firefighter who was shot and killed when a gunman tried to assassinate Trump at a rally last July? His widow, Helen, and their daughters, Allyson and Kaylee, will join the first lady on Tuesday night.

Former Russian hostage Marc Fogel and his 95-year-old mother, Malphine of Butler, Pa., will be there, too. The history teacher was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison for attempting to visit the country with medical marijuana. In February, after making a promise to Malphine, Trump secured his release and even invited Marc to the White House upon returning to the U.S.

A couple of the First Lady’s guests have been the victims of abhorrent gender issues. January Littlejohn of Tallahassee, Fla., is the mother of a young girl whose “middle school socially transitioned” her “to a different sexual identity without January and her husband’s knowledge or permission.” Littlejohn is now a parents’ rights advocate.

Payton McNabb of Murphy, N.C., a young female volleyball player who had to step away from the sport “when a biological man playing on the opposing women’s team spiked the volleyball at Payton’s face, leaving her with a traumatic brain injury,” will be there. McNabb is now a member of the Independent Women’s Forum and an advocate for girls’ sports.

Lots more victims of the misbegotten, illegitimate, and wholly criminal Biden junta listed at the link. I’m happy to see them all receive the recognition they so richly deserve from an actual President and his caring, compassionate wife. Speeches? We don’ need no steenking speeches—not when the guest list says everything anybody needs to know, and says it so very well.

Update! The one and only thing that might actually get me interested in Trump’s big speech.

Via WRSA.

Deep dive into some dirty water

Posted on February 28, 2025 by Mike

EXCELLENT run-down of the DOGE dustup, what it all means, the history behind it, how Real Americans should perceive and interpret it, and more, from Jeffrey A Tucker. It’s a Tweet/X/whatever, and a pretty long ‘un too, so rather than do an embed of the original post I’ll just fast forward to the inevitable “Show more…” workaround.

I’m concerned that many people do not understand the historical and institutional context in which the DOGE labor reforms are unfolding. They look at this as if these are some random, chaotic, arbitrary, strange, and even cruel measures to impose on a devoted civil service.

The reality is very different, and I’m not even sure that Elon entirely understands this. For more than a century, even dating back to 1883, the civil service has grown and grown without check from the elected branch, either the presidency or the legislature . The bureaucracies have ballooned from a few to 450 or so. The bloat and absurdities have grown too.

Get this: no one has ever known what to do about it. Not Coolidge, not Hoover, not Nixon, not Reagan, not Clinton, no one. No president has been able to crack this nut. The only reforms ever to have made it through are those that make the administrative state bigger, never smaller.

Countless cabinet secretaries have come and gone, always with the intention of making a change but leaving saddened, demoralized, outwitted, outgunned, and ultimately devoured.

No president has seriously taken on this problem because they simply did not know how. The unions are powerful, the intimidation from the deep institutional knowledge is overwhelming, the fear of the media as been powerful, and every single president comes to power vaguely feeling threatened by the intelligence agencies. The industries that have captured every single agency were also far too powerful to unseat or control.

This combination of institutional inertia has blocked serious reform for a full century. No one has dared. No one has even had a theory or strategy about what to do about this problem. It had become so terrible that most people in politics have simply surrendered, like homeowners who know there are rats in the basement and bats in the attic but long ago gave up trying to fix the issue.

All this time, the American people have felt themselves ever more oppressed, weighed upon, taxed and regulated, spied upon, brow beaten, and otherwise overwhelmed. Voting never made any difference because the politicians no longer controlled the system. The bureaucracies ruled all.

The Biden years underscored the point. We didn’t even need a conscious and present executive. We only needed a figurehead to pretend to be president, just like the Soviet premiers in the old days. The institutions ran everything and the people controlled nothing.

How to deal with this? Trump alone figured it out in his last term: he simply took charge of the agencies in a limited way. There were screams of horror and plots galore. They performed a long stream of clever schemes to destroy him and show him who is boss, which is not the democratically elected president but the forces behind the scenes.

The job of the president, goes the message from all the insiders, is to PRETEND to be in charge but not actually do anything meaningful. Shut up, mug up, obey, and disturb nothing, let the administrative state do its thing without oversight or disruption, and then you will get your honorary library and bestselling autobiography and go down in history as great.

Trump refused the deal and look what happened.

Four years have gone by and Trump is back again, this time with a determination to slay this beast, one that he knows all-to-well. The efforts of DOGE and MAHA and MAGA are epic in scope, breaking a century of pathetic acquiescence toward the deep, middle, and shallow states, at last using moral courage to confront the problem head on, come what may.

They are profoundly aware that they MUST act fast and with some degree of ferocity, even recklessness, else we will default back to the status quo of leaders who pretend to be in charge while the embedded system runs things behind the scenes.

It has been this way for TOO LONG. The voters this time have demanded change, and mustered the faith to believe that change is possible. This is precisely what DOGE is attempting, to make good on a promise, a promise that for once the voters actually believed was credible.

They simply must succeed. There might never be another chance. The way of failure is the path everyone knows the US was on, toward economic stagnation, political scolerosis, and eventual irrelevance in the unfolding of the next stage of social evolution.

As comprehensive, clear-cut, and just dead-on-point good as we’re ever gonna see, I believe. I started to do a little boldfacing here and there (I especially dug that “voters…have demanded change, and mustered the faith to believe that change is possible” bit), but then it hit me that there’s just way too much rich, buttery goodness here to easily be able to find a stopping point once I got started. Some things are just better left alone; they stand well enough on their own, thanks.

Just trying to get ahead

Posted on February 24, 2025February 24, 2025 by Mike

Only one real reason I’m running this story at all, and if you haven’t figured it out by the second or third paragraph…well, I just don’t really know what to tell ya about that.

Elon Musk’s ultimatum email to federal workers sets up power struggle in DC, among top Trump officials
Elon Musk is finding himself locked in a power struggle with top Trump administration officials over an out-of-the-blue email blast to federal workers Saturday demanding that they list their professional accomplishments last week — or risk being fired.

Multiple Trump-appointed agency and department heads — including the Department of Defense, State Department and FBI — have instructed their employees to ignore the email despite the billionaire’s public warning that “failure to respond” by 11:59 p.m. Monday “will be taken as a resignation.”

Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has already pushed for sweeping personnel cuts across the government, with the latest move raising concerns that the Tesla CEO intends to make more personnel decisions based on replies to the missive.

“If Elon Musk truly wants to understand what federal workers accomplished over the past week, he should get to know each department and agency, and learn about the jobs he’s trying to cut,” moderate Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) griped on X.

“Our public workforce deserves to be treated with dignity and respect for the unheralded jobs they perform. The absurd weekend email to justify their existence wasn’t it.”

Uh huh. Poor put-upon souls, with all those difficult, demanding “unheralded jobs” they for some mysterious reason don’t seem able to describe, delineate, or even speak about in any way, shape, or form. And now, the entirely obvious video embed.

Heh.

Talking sense

Posted on February 24, 2025 by Mike

JD Vance is truly a national treasure.

JD Vance to Young Men: Don’t Let Them Turn You Into ‘Androgynous Idiots’
Not too long ago, I decided to try a bold experiment. I returned to the University of Georgia to take some agriculture classes. The reason I considered it bold is that I was old enough to be many of the students’ mothers (had I been an extremely young teen mom, of course). I learned a lot of lessons about this current generation of teens and twenty-somethings and how college has changed since my first go-round two decades prior, but what really threw me was when a professor asked for my pronouns.

My class was given a virtual assignment to upload a video introduction of ourselves to a school website. “Tell us your name, your major, your hobbies and interests, and your pronouns so your classmates can gain a better understanding of who you are.” I’d never been asked to provide my pronouns in my life and had no interest in starting now. Before I uploaded my video, I watched through some of the others, shocked as these young men and women offered up their “hes” and “shes” and “theys” as if this was all perfectly normal.

But there was one guy, let’s call him Tyler, who gave us his name, his major, and his hobbies and interests, but instead of pronouns, he ended the video with “I’m a dude” and a slight eye roll, obviously mocking the pronoun situation. Let me tell you, he’s the only person from that class I even remember, much less ever gained any sort of understanding of who he was.

Well, JD Vance just gave all the other Tylers of the world permission to crawl out from under their rocks of submission and embrace their God-given masculinity.

On behalf of women — well, the ones who enjoy being women — I would like to say thank you to our vice president.

Vance spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Monday and said a lot of great things, some of which even earned him a standing ovation. But it was his message to young people, especially young men, that really stood out.

My message to young men is don’t allow this broken culture to send you a message that you’re a bad person because you’re a man, because you like to tell a joke, because you like to have a beer with your friends, or because you’re competitive. The cultural message…wants to turn everybody, whether male or female, into androgynous idiots who think the same, talk the same, and act the same. We actually think God made male and female for a purpose, and we want you guys to thrive as young men, and as young women. And we’re going to help with our public policy to make it possible to do that.

I don’t know about you, but I could listen to that over and over again. There’s a reason why Donald Trump won 49% of the vote from young men (ages 18 to 29) in November and 54% from men overall. Vance touched on that too.

I think this is why young men in particular are so, you know, they’re so inspired by President Trump is because he doesn’t allow the media to tell him he can’t make a joke or he can’t have an original thought. President Trump just says what’s on his mind; that’s a damn good thing.

Amen to that. “We’re fighting for you,” was Vance’s overall message to young people, and it was refreshing to hear. Our country doesn’t just face international enemies — we’re under attack from enemies within who want to debase and degrade our culture.

They’re the ones who want to tell young men that they can’t be masculine and tell women they can’t be feminine. They’re the ones who demand that boys play girls’ sports, who insist that teachers force gender ideology on elementary school students, and who truly believe there are 72 genders.

Well, yeah. Nice thing is, they’re all complete and total psychopaths, so we got that going for us at least.

Coolest. Gift. EVAR!

Posted on February 24, 2025February 24, 2025 by Mike

I sure do hope Trump properly values having this guy so firmly in his corner.

Elon Musk Given “Chainsaw For Bureaucracy” By Javier Milei At CPAC
Elon Musk is no stranger to using physical props to make a point – After his purchase of social media giant Twitter, which shocked the political left to their core, he famously entered corporate headquarters on day one with a bathroom sink in his hands. “Let that sink in” became a mantra and a meme as Musk proceeded to fire around 80% of the bloated leftist company’s staff without any visible decline in operational ability.

The day Javier Milei was sworn in as president he shuttered 13 ministries and fired over 30,000 government bureaucrats. Argentina’s economy has been a train wreck for almost three decades due to socialist mismanagement and out of control debt spending. The country has been indebted to the IMF for many years and was suffering from multiple bouts of hyperinflation since 2001. Milei ran on a Libertarian platform and his campaign promise was to eliminate government waste. He went on to reduce spending by 30% and cut monthly inflation from 25% down to 2.7%.

By all accounts, Milei’s administration has been a resounding success in terms of economic reform and he has proven that Austrian economics work in practice and not just in theory. His open disdain for the political left was refreshing to see in a political candidate – Much like Trump, he has not been afraid to say what he really thinks of progressives.

After a decade of woke authoritarianism (much of it funded with American tax dollars) it’s hard to argue with anything he says here. Milei’s disdain for the political left is only matched by his disdain for big government. His favorite campaign prop was a chainsaw, representing his intent to chop the fat off the bureaucracy.

The saw blade is engraved with Milei’s catchphrase, “Viva la libertad carajo!,” which roughly translates to “Long live freedom, Goddammit!” Musk wielded the chainsaw on stage at CPAC, swinging it wildly. Thankfully the machine appeared to be inert, otherwise Musk probably would have cranked it into action and run around the stage with it.

The saw is a real beaut; best picture I’ve seen of it so far would have to be this one:

See what I mean? Thanks for all you do, Javier.

Oversight on purpose

Posted on February 19, 2025 by Mike

Somehow, for some unfathomable reason, the people responsible for the “Official portraits of Presidents and First Ladies since 1965” (no link, because fuck them) made one glaring omission, which (presumably deliberate) omission AoSHQ’s Scampydog helpfully addressed. Ladies and germs, I give you the indisputably loveliest, most stunningly beautiful First Lady not just since 65, but in US history entire.

Melania 2025.

MAN, what a dish! Class, style, looks, brains, breezy self-confidence—whatever Melania doesn’t have we don’t need, and will assuredly never miss. She’s a First Lady all Americans can be proud of, and damned well ought to be. A real headscratcher, innit, how the White House Historical Ass’n couldn’t lay their hands on the above Official Portrait no matter how hard they “tried,” but a lowly blogger-dude somehow managed it.

Sorely missed

Posted on February 18, 2025February 18, 2025 by Mike

Jeez, has it really been four years?

Remembering Rush Limbaugh, America’s Anchorman
It is hard to believe that it has been four years since America lost the greatest of all time, Rush Limbaugh, mayor of Realville and America’s Anchorman.

And what a time would he be having now in a second Trump presidency, laughing at the Democrat derangement and cheering on the great federal reform. Rush Limbaugh was truly talent on loan from God, as he jokingly put it, and it feels as if God took back the gift too soon. El Rushbo, the “doctor of democracy,” singlehandedly launched alternative media and created multiple generations of American conservative warriors. Our nation owed him an immense debt, and he certainly deserved the Presidential Medal of Freedom that President Trump awarded him.

For the millions of all ages who listened to Rush over the years, it is remarkable that we all thought of him as our friend. For many of us who never met him or talked to him in person, his death left a gap in our lives and our hearts. For Rush Limbaugh really was unique and unrepeatable, an American original. There are other excellent show hosts, but Rush was the gold standard — literally. Who can forget the golden EIB microphone?

But Rush wouldn’t want us to mourn today. He was an eternal optimist, who brought hope to his fellow Americans even when the political outlook was blackest. Today we should remember his jokes, his laughs, his parodies, his witticisms. Thanks to Rush, America’s truth detector, we know to define a bigot as a “person who wins an argument with a liberal,” and that “Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of pop culture.” Rush kept “half my brain tied behind my back, just to make things fair,” and it is a tribute to Rush that alternative media — which used to consist basically of him alone — has now vanquished mainstream media.

Rush always believed it would happen. “Let me tell you who we conservatives are: we love people. When we look out over the United States of America, when we are anywhere, when we see a group of people, such as this or anywhere, we see Americans. We see human beings. We don’t see groups. We don’t see victims,” he stated. And again, “Liberals measure compassion by how many people are given welfare. Conservatives measure compassion by how many people no longer need it.” Americans are finally realizing that the latter view is the only one that truly helps people become prosperous.

True, every last word of it—especially the bit about how much fun Rush would be having if he were still around to witness the last month or so. Follows, an embed of one of those totally brilliant Paul Shanklin parodies that formed such a YUUUGE part of the Limbaugh program:

Kinda refreshing—comforting, almost—to hear Limbaugh’s voice again during the lead-in to the Shanklin parody, no? The rest of the article is a worthy remembrance of the Titan of Talk, of which you should definitely read the all.

Update! On further reflection, it occurs to me what a powerful tool Rush Limbaugh would have been in the Team Trump toolbox were he still with us. Imagine: rallying the troops, so to speak; putting needful information into literally millions upon millions of Real American hands; exposing and/or debunking various shitlib shibboleths, lies, and general perfidy; twisting “transgender” tails unmercifully; reminding Losercrats numerous times daily that yes, they did in fact fucking LOSE, and not by just a little bit either; providing moral and rhetorical support for Trump, Musk, Noem, Bondi, Patel, Homan, et al. Really, the possibilities are endless.

Did I say “tool” just now? Correction: a fucking FLAMETHROWER, more like.

Pure poetry, plus…ROCKETS!

Posted on February 18, 2025February 18, 2025 by Mike

One of Glenn’s finest, funniest posts EVAR, reproduced below in its entirety (links and all, for once):

HOW’S THAT SPACE PROGRAM COMING ALONG? NASA says ‘City killer’ asteroid now has 3.1% chance of hitting Earth.

Flashback:

O it’s Elon this, an’ Elon that, an’ “Chuck ‘im out, the cad!”;

But it’s “Elon, please, a rocket!” when the rocks are lookin’ bad.

When the rocks are lookin’ bad, my boys, the rocks are lookin’ bad,

O it’s “Save us, Mr. Elon!” when the rocks are lookin’ bad.

Heh. Indeed.

Finger on the pulse

Posted on February 17, 2025 by Mike

Of the heartbeat of Real America.

NASCAR fans cheer as Trump arrives for Daytona 500 in Air Force One
President Donald Trump received cheers from the crowd at Daytona International Speedway as Air Force One landed at the airport ahead of his arrival for the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

The president’s plane flew over the speedway before it landed at Daytona International Airport. Cheers from the crowd were heard on the FOX broadcast as the pre-race hosts talked to Chase Elliott. NASCAR fans and drivers watched as the plane flew over the track.

Trump released a statement ahead of landing at the airport. He will be the first sitting president to attend two Daytona 500 races at Daytona International Speedway. He attended the race the first time in February 2020.

“This iconic race showcases the fastest, most fearless drivers in motorsports, who represent our Nation’s love of tradition, competition, and automotive innovation,” the statement read. “The Daytona 500 brings together people from all walks of life—from lifelong racing fans to first-time spectators—they all join in celebrating a shared passion for speed, adrenaline, and the thrill of the race.

“From the roar of the engines on the track to the echo of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ soaring through the stands, the Daytona 500 is a timeless tribute to the speed, strength, and unyielding spirit that make America great. That spirit is what will fuel America’s Golden Age, and if we harness it, the future is truly ours.”

Well said, Mr President, sir. Well said indeed.

President @realDonaldTrump arrives at Daytona on Air Force One. pic.twitter.com/FB6xsxaVHj

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX)

February 16, 2025

Ace has another vid which might be even better than the above one.

“This is your favorite President… You’re talented people, and you’re great people, and great Americans. Have a good day. Have a lot of fun, and I’ll see you later.” –President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/65iFBFDjD7

— President Donald J. Trump (@POTUS)

February 16, 2025

You just know the driver and security personnel riding with OMB were absolutely laughing themselves sick, having the time of their lives on that parade lap. No word on whether Trump unassed the Beast and cracked himself an ice-cold can of PBR after the show was over, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to find out that he did.

About face

Posted on February 16, 2025February 16, 2025 by Mike

Strom sees the Trumpian light. Kinda, sorta, a little bit. What the hey: baby steps, man, baby steps.

I Was Wrong About Trump
No, I am not in love with Trump. He still makes me cringe sometimes, and I still don’t understand the Canada/51st state thing at all, and want nothing to do with Gaza if he is serious about that.

He should make ALL of us cringe sometimes, and anybody who agrees with Trump’s every policy, position, and statement every single time needs to see a shrink and have his head checked. Can’t remember who first coined the phrase (Milton Friedman, maybe? Eh, dunno), but it’s right as rain: if you find yourself agreeing with anyone in the political arena 99 percent of the time, then one at least of you is almost certainly insane…and it’s probably you. True then, true now, true forever.

But there are two vital things about him which I got completely, totally, and without question wrong.

Walter Kirn slapped me in the face (not literally) with a single tweet…

Boom. At least it was a “boom” for me, because I was one of those people who was absolutely certain that Trump was too immature, too narcissistic, and too lacking in self-awareness to put his ego in check and hire the best people and support them. More than that, Trump has withstood weeks of attacks on his “ceding power” to “President Musk.”

And he has shrugged it all off and pushed his collaborators to the front, empowered them, and backed them every step along the way despite the Democrats and the Pravda Media baiting him hourly on how weak he appears.

As the Democrats and the Pravda Media scream about “President Musk,” Donald Trump invites him to give a press conference in the Oval Office with Little X running around. Trump seems so comfortable in his own skin that the richest man in the world waxing about his role in the government isn’t threatening at all; he invited it, and handed the mic over to him.

Same with Kennedy. Same with Gabbard.

I was also wrong about another issue that is perhaps even more important: his competence to take on the Deep State and win.

During his first term, I came to the conclusion that Trump didn’t understand government well enough and that by the end of his term, he hadn’t destroyed the Deep State, but rather they destroyed him. I stand by my assessment of the success of the Deep State. It hobbled him in his first term, which ended with the annus horribilis of 2020. The Deep State ran the United States in 2020, leading to Trump’s narrow defeat in the 2020 election.

As Trump himself has said several times of late, he squandered most of his first term listening to bad advice from people he believed to be his friends but were in actuality no such thing. He has learned from those mistakes, and it shows.

Believe it or not, even some normal people are scared enough about change and still trust the Democrats enough to buy the “woe is me” propaganda, but enough people are waking up that the Democrats are in a losing battle. Trump won’t win every fight, but he is wracking up a lot of wins.

I supported Ron DeSantis in the primaries because I thought Trump would have the will to fight, but not a winning strategy.

I was wrong. Trump might still be stopped, but it won’t be due to his inherent weaknesses. He is performing masterfully.

He is at that, and deserves full credit for it.

Update! Even shitlib ABC journalismist Jon Karl is forced to own up to the painful truth:

ABC’s Jon Karl: Trump’s favorability is now HIGHER than it ever was in his first term.

– 63% want the government to recognize only two sexes
– 60% support deporting illegal aliens
– 60% favor expanding oil & gas productionpic.twitter.com/9fUNRCY0Yp

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok)

February 16, 2025

YEEEEOWTCH! You know saying that had to hurt him like a hydrochloric acid-dipped shiv to the heart.

Fair winds, following seas

Posted on February 13, 2025February 13, 2025 by Mike

Probably the smartest, bestest, most encouraging thing Trump v2.0 has done so far is to at last make good on his flamboyantly unfulfilled first-term pledge to hire “only the best people” for his administration. This, in turn, has yielded some unanticipated but nonetheless salutary results.

Trump shares the spotlight in his second term
President Donald Trump did a remarkable thing earlier this week: He let Elon Musk take reporters’ questions about the Department of Government Efficiency live from the Oval Office.

While Musk’s son ultimately stole the show, Trump sat at the Resolute Desk while his tech billionaire ally defended DOGE, a government-cutting project currently dominating the headlines, from media criticism. Though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt subsequently said she would be happy to have Musk in the briefing room, he didn’t sound like he was ready to compete for her job anytime soon.

It’s long been conventional wisdom that there is only one star of the Donald Trump Show and the only rule in his freewheeling political world is “don’t upstage the boss.” Yet the constant complaints that Musk is the shadow president or the unelected power behind the throne have not created a rift with Trump.

In the sequel to his first term, Trump has been perfectly willing to share the spotlight. Musk is a unique case. The richest man in the world and recent convert to conservatism — Musk is fond of posting videos of Milton Friedman, the Nobel laureate economist who was many a young conservative and libertarian’s entry point to the free-market gospel — was especially helpful to Trump in last year’s presidential election. Musk and conservative activist Charlie Kirk were up against an experienced Democratic field operation and, based on the results in all seven battleground states, at least held their own.

But it isn’t just Musk. Vice President JD Vance has kept up a brisk pace of interviews since taking office. At one point during the campaign, he made more than seven times as many such appearances as both members of the Democratic ticket combined. On the night they were elected, Trump singled out Vance to praise for his performance on cable networks Republicans generally deem hostile.

Trump’s Cabinet is stocked with proven television communicators, from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to Attorney General Pam Bondi to newly confirmed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. When Gabbard was sworn in, Trump asked the group of reporters if they had any questions. As they shouted them out, Trump said, “You know what, I’d like to have Tulsi say a few words first, and then we could answer a couple of questions.”

With a capable staff and Executive Branch appointees backing him up, all of whom he not only trusts but actually seems to like and respect personally, Trump v2.0 obviously learned all the right lessons from his first term in office—and boy, does it ever show. Small wonder, then, that the man should be more unflappable, less temperamental, and more at ease with sharing the limelight, responsibility, and credit with them, in fairly sharp contrast with his first time in the Presidential pressure-cooker. I repeat: MOST encouraging.

Steady as she goes, Mr President sir, steady as she goes. In addition to the aforementioned crew members (sober men and true/and attentive to their duty, to paraphrase WS Gilbert), maintain the heading you’re currently on and you’ll soon have nearly all Real Americans—be they lowly swabbies on their Middie cruise or salty old seadogs with more Bluewater-spray coursing through their veins than blood—solidly aboard the USS MAGA to boot.

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