Ain't That America XXXVII

A bit of good news this week as Cankles found himself smacked down by several courts, as Pammy Jo Bondi found herself smacked down from her boss, as Kristi Noem and her husband were smacked down by ginormous boobs, and the war that isn’t a war, that’s over but not over, that is killing more and more of our troops, raged on and will cost Americans childcare and healthcare among other things …

Due to his illegal war in Iran Cankles has decided the federal government can no longer take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare because, as he said:

“We have to take care of one thing: military protection.”

Cutting funds for Americans to continue to fight a war he says we already won?

 

Shortly after his rambling nonsensical speech the other night, telling us that Iran was basically obliterated, but then also saying the war goes on, the spot price for current physical cargoes of Brent crude oil soared to $141.36, the highest level since the 2008 financial crisis.

Making America Great Again.

 

Ten years ago last week, Cankles said he would pay off the national debt in the span of just eight years.

Didn’t happen because instead of paying it off he doubled it from $19 trillion to over $39 trillion and the bill will be due long after Cankles is gone.

 

ICEstapo agents will be stationed outside graduation events for the nation’s newest Marines to identify whether any of their family members are undocumented.

As the illegal war in Iran continues, the Marine Corps has begun requiring everyone to present REAL IDs, US passports or US birth certificates to access any sites.

Since undocumented immigrants are ineligible for federal REAL IDs and don’t have US passports or birth certificates they will be rounded up and detained just for visiting their families who are fighting wars for the criminal president.

 

Last week we learned that GOP Representative Elliott Engen was arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired. Now we also know that in his car was GOP Representative Walter Hudson, who was also impaired and in possession of a 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun in his waistband.

Drunks and guns; what could go wrong?

 

In the first days after Pam Bondi was appointed attorney general last year, the Department of Justice began shutting down pending criminal cases at a record pace.

The cases included an investigation into a Virginia nursing home with a record of patient abuse; probes of fraud involving several New Jersey labor unions; an investigation into a cryptocurrency company suspected of cheating investors.

In total, the DOJ closed more than 23,000 criminal cases in the first six months of Cankles’ regime so they could open cases against his so-called enemies.

And since so many of those cases were dismissed, well, read on until the end ...

Cankles shared the first images of his planned presidential library in downtown Miami, posting a video that depicts a skyscraper that appears to be about 50 stories tall.

That tall and yet not one book? What the hell kinda library is that?

 

Lindsey Graham was ineffective talking his colleagues into keeping the government open, but he chatted up Mickey Mouse last week at Woke Disney World where he had breakfast at Chef Mickey’s while Disney characters go around to all the tables for a little chit chat.

Then when he slithered back to South Carolina, he went to a shooting range to prove his masculinity, perhaps with a Pink Barbie Rifle.

 

Republicans are considering reductions in federal health spending to help pay for a budget bill containing as much as $200 billion to fund the illegal Iran war and immigration enforcement.

Say goodbye to healthcare because the illegal war is more important than We The People and remember that on Election Day.

Spain has closed its airspace to US planes involved in attacks on Iran, ​a step beyond its previous denial of use ‌of jointly-operated military bases. The closure forces military planes to bypass NATO ​member Spain en route to their targets ⁠in the Middle East though it does not include ​emergency situations.

Oh, and then Italy also denied permission for US military aircraft to land ‌at the Sigonella air base in Sicily ‌before flying to the Middle East.

And then Poland humiliated Cankles by bluntly rejecting his desperate plea for them to send their Patriot air defense system to the Middle East to help with his illegal Iran War.

You started this mess for no reason other than Epstein, asshat, so see your own way out of it.

 

The Cankles’ Regime is extending family planning grants for Planned Parenthood after a protracted legal battle. White House spokesman Kush Desai said the regime could not fulfill its goal of withholding Title X family planning grants for the nation’s largest abortion provider due to “significant legal challenges.”

 

Pope Leo said last week that God rejects the ‌prayers of leaders who start wars and have “hands full of blood,” in unusually forceful remarks as the illegal Iran war.

Of course, Faux Christian KKKarolying Leavitt completely lied about the Pope’s remarks, suggesting he said he will not prayer for the soldiers.

He said God rejects the prayers of leaders who start wars, dear. God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason.

 

In a fairly scathing ruling, Judge Richard Leon declared that “The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner...no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have” and then shut down construction of the so-called ballroom Cankles wants;

“Unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!”

We need to oppose this ballroom at every turn. It’s the People’s House, not Demented Old Pedophile’s House, and he should not get to determine what is built on it.

 

U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss has ruled that Cankles’ executive order ending federal funding for National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service is unconstitutional as it violated the First Amendment of the Constitution by perpetrating “viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type.”

 

Cankles kicked Pam Bondi to the curb last week and replaced her, for now, with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

How embarrassing to be the Attorney General of the United States and be fired by a convicted felon.

Th upside is that Pammy Jo can still be called to testify about the Epstein Scandal and still see her ass in jail perhaps. But that shouldn’t stop America from …

Today In Stoopid: Matthew Aimers Ruined The Reception

Matthew Aimers, of Willingboro, New Jersey, has been arrested on suspicion of a string of offenses, including indecent assault, indecent exposure, imprisonment of a minor, simple assault and resisting arrest  at a wedding reception held at the Northampton Valley Country Club in Pennsylvania in November 2018.

Aimer allegedly asked a teenager who was waitressing the event whether she would like to “go outside and make out,” suggesting he would do whatever she wanted. When she rejected his advances, Aimers ALLEGEDLY followed the girl into the women’s bathroom, where he sexually assaulted her and exposed himself. Then he offered her $100 as part of another proposition before she was able to flee the bathroom.

The reception continued  until police were later called to reports of a fight at the club and arrived to find Matthew Aimers “pushing and punching people.” The fight is reported to have broken out after Aimers became aggressive towards a club employee who told him that he couldn’t bring alcohol outside the venue. Aimers ignored police and got into a parked shuttle bus, prompting one officer to board with his Taser drawn. Aimers insulted that officer and attempting to goad him into a fight; following a brief struggle, Matthew Aimer was arrested.

Man, Matthew Aimer knows how to liven up a wedding reception, no? Even his own; yes, it was Matthew Aimer’s wedding day and reception when he decided to rape a teenage girl and assault strangers and the police.

The honeymoon must have been epic … after Aimers posted bail, I mean.

Bobservations

There are times when I fell the universe conspire against me and last Sunday night was no exception.

Somebody up there doesn’t like me.

It all began when we had a bad storm come through without warning. The winds whipped, the rains fell, a tree came down across the driveway; and the power went out at about 8PM.

Carlos and I sat in romantic battery-powered candlelight for a couple of hours before deciding to just go to bed. I had not been feeling well …a Summer cold exacerbated by the fact that our AC broke one day last week and the house was 91 degrees inside when we got home; that was an easy fix, and all was cool the next day.

But now, on Sunday, I have a fever, the power is out, there is no AC and no ceiling fans, and I can’t sleep. I’m thinking about the food in the refrigerator and how it’s going bad with each hour without power; I’m hearing to dog whimper because he needs to go out; I hear Carlos snoring, fast asleep and wonder how long it will take him to stop if I hold a pillow over his face; I think about how late it’s getting and how I’ll be so tired the next day.

In other words, I can’t sleep. At all.

Around 2AM I get up and get a washcloth; I dampen it with cold water and get back into bed, laying it across my forehead to beat the heat in my head. It’s starting to work … I’m getting tired, my mind is not racing, I don’t hear the dog, I don’t care about the fridge. I …am … just … about …to … fall … asleep ….

The power comes back on and all the lights that went off are now back on and for some reason the stereo received connected to the TV has come on and is blaring that static noise at a volume you might hear on an airplane runway. I bolt upright and jump out of bed. I run through the house turning off lights and turning off receivers and quieting the dog.

In the distance, down the hallway, I see a shadow of the man I love, rubbing his eyes, and asking:

“Is the power back on?”

I reach for that pillow.

Sometimes I just have to shake my head … twenty-three-year-old Kansas man, Ryan Malek, was arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious behavior for his repeated attempts to have sex with …

… the tailpipe of a parked car.

Local police answered a 911 call about a man underneath a vehicle and arrived on scene to find Malek trying to put his penis into the tailpipe of a car.

Malek, whose blood alcohol content topped out at more than four times the legal limit, continued trying to have sex with the tailpipe in the presence of officers until they used a taser to stop the vehicular sexual assault.

Like I said, I’m shaking my head.

In a Tuesday Thought I mentioned #PermitPatty, AKA Alison Ettel, the woman who called police on 8-year-old Jordan Rogers, a San Francisco girl, hoping to sell water to baseball fans in front of her apartment building.

Erin Austin, Jordan’s mother, captured it on her cell phone and posted it to Instagram. Ettel, who can be seen on her phone calling police, tries to hide when she realizes she’s being recorded.

Now known virally as #PermitPatty, Ettel has been described as not unlike so-called #BBQBecky, the woman who called police on a black family having a cookout in an Oakland park.

Ettel claims she politely asked Jordan to sell the water more quietly:

“Please, I’m trying to work. You’re screaming, you’re yelling.”

But then why not call the police for disturbing the peace? Why call the police because Jordan was selling water?

Oh yeah, racism.

Poor Sarah Huckleberry Sanders. The White House Press Secretary Liar, says she was asked to leave the Red Hen restaurant in Virginia, because …

“Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so”

Awful; but now she knows how gay couples feel when someone won’t bake them a cake for their wedding … something her boss endorses.

Now she knows how it feels to be a transgender American and told you are not allowed to serve in the military …something her boss endorses.

Now she knows how it feels to be Muslim in America, Mexican in America, and Black in America and work for a man who thinks those folks are less than.

Take a seat, Sarah, there’s always Chick-fil-A.

Stephanie Wilkinson, owner of the Red Hen, explains why she booted Huckleberry: anti-gay and anti-trans bias in this White House.

Several Red Hen employees are gay and knew Sanders has defended Trump’s desire to bar transgender people from the military. Wilkinson asked them to tell her what to do and they all agreed she should be asked to leave.

And Wilkinson says she’d do it again.

Now, to be fair, I am no fan of any discrimination, but when you work for such a racist, transphobic, homophobic, anti-Muslim boss, you kinda get what you deserve.

Remember when Ivanka _____ Tweeted about how much of an ally she was to the LGBTQ community?

Yeah, that was a lie. I mean, go figure.

Last week Complicit gave a $50,000 personal donation to Pastor Jack Graham of the Prestonwood Baptist Church; Graham is a member of _____’s Religious Advisory Council and has a long history of anti-LGBT activism:

In 2014, Graham worked to repeal a non-discrimination ordinance in Plano, Texas.

In 2015, Graham lashed at out the Supreme Court for marriage equality.

In 2016, just before the election, Graham stood by after the “pussy groping” remarks.

In 2017, following the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Graham stood by _____ even after Hair Furor claimed that there were “fine people” among the white nationalists.

And now he’s got Ivanka’s support.

Ivanka? Kindly fuck off.

Womp. Womp.

Former _____ campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has been dropped by his speaker’s bureau after dismissing the story of a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome who was reportedly separated from her mother after crossing the border illegally.

After his idiotic remarks, Leading Authorities, Inc., one of DC’s top speaker’s bureaus, severed ties with Lewandowski and his name no longer appears on the bureau’s website.

Womp.Womp.

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is rich and outspoken, and works for Fox. But that didn’t stop him from taking a swing at Fox News after Tucker Carlson had advised viewers not to believe anything they hear or see on a rival networks’ news program about the separation of immigrant families and to believe that Fox News is always telling the truth.

MacFralane Tweeted:

“This is fringe shit, and it’s business like this that makes me embarrassed to work for this company.”

And then he put his money where his mouth is and donated $2 million to support NPR’s Collaborative Journalism Network and another $500,000 to NPR’s membership station in Los Angeles, KPCC.

Nice. Now if he’d just take his show off Fox and hit them in the wallet.

The Cher Show, the musical based on Cher’s life starring three Chers … three Chers … (at different points in her life, is currently trying out in Chicago before heading to Broadway and this week the real Cher.

After the show, a reporter asked what she thought and, well, Cher being Cher, gave her thoughts:

“Some parts of it are really fabulous. We’re going to work on the other parts. In many parts, it was much, much better than I thought it would be. And there were no parts where I wanted to gouge my eyes out. It needs work. I’m not supposed to say that but I don’t care.”

Listen, it’s Cher, bitches, and she ain’t playing. Fix the parts that bored her or face the wrath of Cher and Cher fans.

Consider yourselves warned.

This past weekend we watched Man in An Orange Shirt on PBS’ Masterpiece. It’s the tale of two love stories, sixty years apart, that charts the changes and challenges in gay lives in England—from the era of jail terms to the onset of dating apps. It was beautifully shot, and sweet and sad and heartbreaking and hopeful and, naturally, had some hotties.

Oliver Jackson-Cohen [above]—whom I have featured here before, and who reminds me of a Brit Armie Hammer—played half the love interest in a story set in the days after WWII when being gay was a criminal offense.

The second story starred Julian Morris, below, as the Jackson-Cohen character’s gay grandson and his path through dating apps to finding love with Steven, played by David Gyasi, bottom. 

Like I said, sweet, sad, heartbreaking, hopeful. And hot.

Just sayin’.

Random Musings

Ever have one of those days? I did on Monday when I just felt like something bad was about to happen ... it didn’t.

Still, that cartoon certainly fit my mood.

Well, apparently _____ is “enraged” by RussiaGate, which may explain why we haven’t seen him since he returned home from the G20 and we found out Junior is a lying sack of shiz.

Look at it like this:

His son was there.

His son-in-law was there.

His campaign manager was there.

It was in his building.

He was in the building.

And yet he expects anyone to believe he had no knowledge of the meeting, or that he was at the meeting?

::::cough::::bullshit::::cough::::

Jordan Cataldo, a teacher at Carter G. Woodson Elementary School, is accused of calling elementary school students “rats” that could “infest the class” as a group of children attempted to re-enter her classroom; she also said, and saying “that’s why their race is either dead or in jail.”

Yup. And she was teaching children.

Duval County Public Schools said it will “take appropriate action in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement when school resumes for the 2017-2018 school year.”

Um, appropriate action would be firing Jordan Cataldo’s ass and making sure she is never allowed to “teach” again. Anywhere.

I always visit Raybeard to get the skinny on movies because his reviews are spot on to the films I’ve seen, and the films I want to see after reading his reviews.

He gave Brooklyn a good review but it only played an arthouse theater about forty minutes from Smallville so we missed it. Luckily I was able to see it on cable recently because it’s a beautiful film; it looks beautiful, the acting—by Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen especially—is beautiful, the story is a simple, sweet, lovely, beautiful love story of an Irish girl finding herself, and love, in America in the middle of the last century.

It doesn’t make a lot of noise, but it gives quite an impact.

So, when _____ met Putin at the G20 last week for the ... ALLEGED ... first time, reporters filmed and photographed the two men before being ordered to leave the room.

Putin was caught on camera asking _____:

"These are the ones that insulted you?"

And _____ agreed with the man who stands accused of murdering journalists.

That’s our president ... for now.

So, we’ve been having a little car trouble and last week, after the Fourth, I stopped by the mechanic to make an appointment to have it checked. The shop was closed for a week-long holiday.

I told Carlos we’d have to wait until this week to take the car in and he promptly forgot all about it. So, Monday, as we were leaving for work, I said to him:

“Don’t forget I’m stopping by the mechanic today, and if they can take the car I’m going to leave it.”

Carlos said:

“I’ll make a mental note of it.”

I replied:

“The only problem with that is you write your mental notes in invisible ink.”

Thank you! I’ll be here all week!

Out there in The Dog’s Mother country, Washington State, that is, an anti-transgender measure failed to qualify for the ballot.

The failure is a victory for equality and validation of Washington’s non-discrimination laws that ensure fair and equal treatment for LGBTQ people in housing, employment, and public accommodations.

Snap. And #Resist.

So, I told you we saw Brooklyn, and part of its charm was the male lead, and love interest, Emory Cohen. His character was so sweet and kind and funny and cute that I wanted to marry him ... if I wasn’t already married.

And then we saw a new show about William Shakespeare, starring Laurie Davidson as Will. It’s an interesting show, though it could become gratingly and cloying cute and annoying, but, for now, Laurie Davidson is Eye Candy.

And then there’s Topher Grace—from That 70’s Show ... which I never watched because ... two words ... Ashton Kutcher—in the film Truth, the story about the Dan Rather scandal when he presented a piece on Sixty Minutes about George W. Bush’s rather sketchy military service ... the man never really served, but did apparently use his daddy’s wealth and power to get out of going to Vietnam. Rather and his producer were forced out of CBS after the story. Anyway, Topher Grace is very sexy ... and yeah, I can watch a movie about news and still ogle a sexy man.

In another display of the stupidity of Fox news commentators, Harris Faulkner said that Ivanka _____ deserved to be seated at the G20 because ...

“She [was] there in a capacity of someone who has run a very successful corporation and her items are selling by the way, hot online.”

Yup, because her rip-offs and knockoffs of shoes and handbags are selling, she deserves to be a part of a summit involving world leaders.

Oh, Fox News, you really, really are stupid.

Speaking of stupid ... Arkansas women may soon be forced to notify their sexual partner or family members if they want to have an abortion, thanks to a provision passed in the state's 2017 GOP-controlled legislative session.

Bad, right? But add this in ... if the man who impregnated the woman did so during the course of a rape, she would also need to notify him.

The GOP; screwing women, and women’s rights, again.

David Bancroft went to the Sand Dollar Lounge in Las Vegas recently and, well, was such a drunken mess that he was kicked out. Before leaving, as drunken messes do, he dropped several f-bombs at the staff.

Then he went home and took to Facebook to talk about getting kicked out of the bar—a straight bar—and called it a “gay bar” and said bouncers that bounced him were “fags.”

The next morning, in the light of sobriety, he deleted the post, but interwebz stuff never goes away, and so the bar’s owner, Anthony Jamison, shared Bancroft’s post and responded like this:

“Like accusing us of being a gay bar should be an insult.”

And then Jamison announced that the Sand Dollar will hold an LGBTQ party at the club on August 6 and that the profits from the party would go to the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada.

“To use that platform to start blasting the community or blasting being gay is obscene, and for us to ignore it and let it go is wrong.”

Anthony Jamison also said they will name the party after Bancroft—who has since apologized for his rant—and will call it Davey’s LGBTQ Party.

Kudos Sand Dollar!

I Hate Loathe People ... And Holly Jones Is Just One Reason Why

Whenever my sister and I would have a conversation and the subject would turn to people behaving badly, I always told her the same thing:

“And that’s why I don’t like people.”

And we’d always laugh about that. But this story is exactly what I’m talking about, and why I loathe … some … people.

After dining at Kilroy’s restaurant on New Year ’s Eve, a woman identified as Holly Jones sent a message to the bar to complain about her terrible experience … and she has a right to do that, you know, but that’s not why I loathe her.

Holly Jones was upset because Kilroy’s manager and staff were too busy with another patron to pay attention to an issue she and her party were having with their bill and so she posted this to their Facebook page:

"I will never go back to this location for New Year's Eve!!! After the way we were treated when we spent $700+ and having our meal ruined by watching a dead person being wheeled out from an overdose my night has been ruined!!! Every year we have come to Kilroys to enjoy New Years Eve and tonight we were screamed at and had the manager walk away from us while were trying to figure out our bill being messed up. The manager also told us someone dying was more important then us being there making us feel like our business didn't matter, but I guess allowing a Junkie in the building to overdose on your property is more important then paying customers who are spending a lot of money!! Our waitress when we were trying to ask about our bill being messed up also said "what do you want me to do f****** pay your bill for you?" What a great way to talk to a paying customer!!! I get that working on New Years Eve a stressful but being a complete b**** to us all night knowing you get an automatic gratuity is not right!!!"

First off, get thee to an English class and learn about punctuation and grammar ... but I digress.

Holly Jones heard that someone in the restaurant was dying and she is upset because she got charged for two Diet Cokes when she only had one … or something as inconsequential? I wonder how she might have felt if she, or another member of her party, was overdosing, or whatever, and the manager said, “Look, gimme a sec. There’s a lady who was charged for a salad she didn’t order and I need to fix that before calling 911.”

Anyway,  Chris Burton, managing partner of the location, responded to Jones’ concerns:

"Thanks for reaching out!

We love feedback, whether it be positive or negative. I especially like feedback like this so others can see the disgusting people that we have to deal with sometimes.

First of all, the "overdosing junkie" that you speak of was a 70+ year old woman who had a heart attack. Thankfully she was finally revived at the hospital and survived. It sounds like you were very concerned about  her so I thought you should know. This poor lady, who was celebrating New Years Eve with her husband and son, had to be placed on the floor of a completely packed bar and have her shirt removed in front of everyone so the paramedics could work on her.

But I can completely understand why you think being intoxicated ***holes that didn't understand your bill should take priority over human life. I especially appreciate you making your server (who doesn't curse) cry as well. I'm sure she really enjoyed working on New Year's Eve just to deal with people such as yourself. I personally had to leave a show to take a phone call from an emotional manager telling me someone died at Kilroy's and that other employees were not doing so well dealing with this. (At the time they didn't know that she was going to make it.) So I understand how inconvenient this was to your night.

But honestly, I'm glad to hear you won't be coming back to Kilroy's because we wouldn't want anyone as cold hearted and nasty as you returning. I appreciate anyone who chooses to spend their money at Kilroy's until they act like you. You can take your money anywhere else after that, and I won't lose a second of sleep over it.

Happy New Year!" 

Oh.Snap. I think I love Chris Burton [left], who says he's surprised that the story's gone viral:

"I've been getting a lot of messages from people especially in the service industry saying that I'm their hero and calling me a crusader and things like that, so it's a little silly but the heroes are obviously the first responders that came and helped her out and saved her life."

Now, Holly Jones, or somebody pretending to be her, later posted that somebody else had hacked or hijacked her account and wrote that nasty review and that she was very upset it was posted; then she deleted her account.

On Monday, Kilroy's asked people not to send messages to people with the same name as the woman on Facebook:

“Please don't send any hateful messages to the other Holly's as they are just innocent locals who happen to share the same name.”

As for the real the Holly Jones, the one who posted that bit of hate on Facebook, she works for Serenity Salon … though perhaps not for long … and now even the Salon has been forced to  issue a statement of their own:

“Serenity Salon is aware of the most recent negative publicity surrounding one of our Booth Rent Stylist. The posting to Kilroy’s Facebook page, allegedly by one of our Booth Rent Stylist, in no way represents the views of Serenity Salon or any of our staff. We are saddened by the events that took place that evening and will continue to pray for the women who suffered a heart attack at this establishment on New Year’s Eve. This was not a company event and no other persons from Serenity Salon were present. This was the actions of one person and again do not reflect our views at Serenity Salon. We take our reputation seriously and this does not align with our code of conduct or the expectations we have for our Staff, Booth renters or any members of our team."

Now, hoping for something good to come out of the situation, Kilroy’s and Chris Burton posted this to Facebook:

How about we make this go viral? The lady survived but has a long way to go. Let's help them out! Also the family has requested not to use her name anywhere so please respect that if you know her.

Thank you all for your support!

And they included a link to a GoFundMe page [HERE] that has, as of this morning, raised $12,000 to cover this unidentified woman’s medical bills; their goal was $5,000, so there are an awful lot of good people out there, and perhaps just a few asshats like Holly Jones.

But what is the takeaway from all of this?

Well, when you are a witness to an emergency, like an elderly woman having a heart attack, maybe try and get the whole story before dubbing her a junkie on Facebook.

Stay off social media when you’re drunk, or when you’re stupid, or when you’re both.

And understand that there are sometimes things more important in the world that your dinner check being “messed up.”

And that, my friends, is why I loathe people.*

*I used to say ‘hate’ but my grandmother taught me to [try and] never say ‘hate;’ I switched, for a time to ‘dislike intensely,’ until settling on ‘loathe.’

I loathe Holly Jones … and people like her.

If You Only News