Vacation: The Funny Papers

Vacation: I Didn't Say It

Nancy Pelosi, on Kevin McCarthy reportedly promising Thing 45 he’d try to expunge the traitor’s two impeachments:

“This is about being afraid. As I’ve said before, [Thing 45] is the puppeteer and what does he do all of the time but shine the light on the strings. These people look pathetic. Kevin is playing politics. It is not even clear if he constitutionally can expunge those things. If he wants to put his members on the spot, his members in difficult races on spot, that is a decision he has to make. But this is not responsible.”

It’s all so McCarthy doesn’t rile the wingnut base who may vote to remove him from his leadership position, and be clear, many Republicans in the House are not going to vote to expunge the impeachments.

As for the Senate? Never gonna happen.

It’s Kevin McCarthy’s desperation.

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Chris Christie, on government overreach regarding transgender Americans:

“I don’t think anything can replace parents when you’re talking about major decisions that are needed to be made for our children. And I ... want all parents out there to think about something. How many other decisions do you want the government making for you in your home regarding your kids? I don’t want any of those decisions made by the government. Parents are the ones who love their children the most, who care about their children the most, who understand their children the most. And parents should be the ones making these decisions. I’ll tell you, it’s more of a parent’s decision than it’s a governor’s decision, for goodness sakes … you really think that Sarah Huckabee Sanders should be making this decision for children in Arkansas? ... I don’t think she would ever allow the government to substitute her judgment as a mother for their judgment. And that’s what I’m saying ... I want those decisions to be made by parents, not by the government.”

I don’t care for Christie, but he’s spot on about these GOP governors and such, legislating what parents can and cannot for their own children.

The GOP calls itself the party of family values, as long as there are no trans kids in the family. They paint themselves as the party of small government, then try to come into your home and tell you what you can and cannot do for your own children.

It’s hypocrisy and bigotry and hate masked by the GOP as family values.

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Jack Schlossberg, Carolina Kennedy’s on and JFK’s grandson, on his Cousin Robert’s special brand of crazy:

“President John F. Kennedy is my grandfather, and his legacy is important. It’s about a lot more than Camelot and conspiracy theories. It’s about public service and courage. It’s about civil rights, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and landing a man on the moon. Joe Biden shares my father’s vision for America, that we do things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. And he is in the middle of becoming the greatest progressive president we’ve ever had. Under Biden, we’ve added 13 million jobs, unemployment is at its lowest in 60 years. Biden passed the largest investment in infrastructure since the New Deal and the largest investment in green energy ever. He’s appointed more federal judges than any president since my grandfather. He ended our longest war. He ended the COVID pandemic, and he ended [Thing 45]. These are the issues that matter. And if my cousin, Bobby Kennedy Jr., cared about any of them, he would support Joe Biden too. Instead, he’s trading in on Camelot, celebrity conspiracy theories and conflict for personal gain and fame. I’ve listened to him. I know him. I have no idea why anyone thinks he should be president. What I do know is his candidacy is an embarrassment. Let’s not be distracted again by somebody’s vanity project. I’m excited to vote for Joe Biden in my state’s primary, and again in the general election. And I hope you will too.”

Also keep in mind that the majority of donations to RFK Jr.’s campaign are coming from the right; don’t be fooled by Fox News suggesting Kennedy is the future of the Democratic party because if he was, they’d be attacking him instead of Biden.

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Nikki Haley, flip-flopping again on Thing 45’s run for the White House:

“We have to move forward. We’ve got to quit living in the past, and I don’t want there to be all of this division over the fact that we have a president serving years in jail over a documents trial. None of us want to be talking about indictments. I don’t even know if it’s the third, fourth, or fifth indictment right now, but what I can tell you is, it’s a distraction, and frankly, the media is talking about it nonstop. But when I do these town halls, the American public is not talking to me about that. They want to know what’s going to happen, how we’re going to go and change government for the better. They’re worried about the future for their kids and I think we owe it to them to be answering that, not how Trump’s going to defend himself.”

This is the exact opposite of what she said a few weeks back, which was slightly different than what she said a few days before that.

This woman cannot form an opinion and stick to it; she’s sooooo transparent.

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Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation, calling out House Republicans’ obsession with restricting the rights of LGBTQ+ people while there are more pressing problems in this country:

“When I’m out in Wheeling, West Virginia, or Pittsburgh at the airport or anywhere else, the questions are not about beer bottles or drag queens. The questions are about making sure that we can deliver these transportation assets that people can count on. If it is socialism, then it seems to be socialism that these Republicans love when it’s coming their way. It is maddening sometimes to look at the split screen on cable TV, and I’m trying to make sure people are aware of the literally tens of thousands of good projects we’ve already supported around the country. We need to do two things and it should not be hard to do: one is to safeguard vulnerable groups as a matter of policy, which is something we believe in as administration and is the right thing to do, and another is to keep doing the work of taking care of the basics.”

The Basics? According to the GOP that's voting to remove funding for several community centers from a Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development funding bill; Republicans struck out the earmarks for three LGBTQ+ community projects out of a list of over 3000 similar, non-LGBTQ+ projects receiving similar funding, all the while claiming they are not targeting LGBTQ+ people.

And the GOP has attacked LGBTQ+ people in amendments to larger bills, too, including an air travel bill and a military funding bill. GOP presidential candidates have made LGBTQ+ issues—specifically attacks on transgender children’s rights—central to their campaigns and many GOP-controlled state legislatures passed legislation attacking transgender kids’ rights.

Think of all the problems we face in this country and yet the GOP only has one goal: punish the LGBTQ+ community. Vote them all out.

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Vacation: Bobservations

As you read this we are on our way to the Left Coast to visit my Dad and play around a little in Portland. I have a few things planned for this spot, but I have yet to decide if the laptop will come with me. So I may be commenting, and I may be taking a Technology Vacation.

Play nice and I’ll see y’all live again on August 14th.

From December 2011 …

“The Tuesday Tuxedo

You know, what goes around........

Tuxedo was my feline caregiver when I was sick--with Carlos being my human nurse. He would sit at my side, or rather, he would sit on me, leading me to think he was one of those Death Cats, waiting for me to, ahem crossover. Now, I know that all he wanted was for his Daddy to get better.

And I am getting better.

So, when Tux needed a little pampering, well, he got it. He curled up in an Afghan my mother made for me, and napped, while I periodically checked on him, and brought him, snacks, and sat on him, well, by his side.

Here's to my Round-The-Clock Nurse, Tuxedo.”

He was quite the Nursemaid for a sick daddy.

There’s a new, unexpected name at the top of the Christian music charts: Drag queen Flamy Grant.

Yes, Grant’s album Bible Belt Baby, released last October, is the No. 1 album on the iTunes Christian and Gospel chart; in addition, her song “Good Day” peaked at No. 1 alongside the album for a period.

How did this happen, you ask? It all started when Faux Christian recording artist Sean Feucht Tweeted criticism of Christian singer-songwriter Derek Webb for collaborating with Grant. And Flamy took his Hate to Twitter, er, X and the rest is herstory!

Hate loses. 

Ron DeSaster, flailing in his quest for the GOP presidential nomination, has promised that, if elected, he will overthrow the “failed ruling class”:

“We can no longer allow the failed ruling class in this nation to dictate our nation’s policies. The elites in this country have failed time and again. They’ve imposed policies that have proven short-sighted and have proven counterproductive. We are today declaring our economic independence from the failed elites and policies that have harmed this nation’s middle class.”

Of note, Ronnie’s campaign and super PAC have relied heavily on million-dollar and multi-million-dollar donations from the very wealthy, er, the ruling class, and Ronnie himself graduated from those not-at-all-elite schools of Harvard and Yale.

His name should be Dick.

Broadway and TV actor Cheyenne Jackson wants to let you know he's on Cameo and is doing so with a very hot thirst-trap photo of his, ahem, "jacked physique.”

Sidenote: Yes, I have called Madge thirsty for posting sexy pictures of herself to Instagram, but here’s the deal: she ain’t Cheyenne, and I'm that shallow.

That’s all.

If it looks like a grifter, lives like a grifter, and acts like a grifter, it’s Thing 45.

Yes, The Former Guy’s Save America PAC has spent more than $40 million on legal costs in the first half of 2023 alone to defend The Indicted One and the majority of the donations come from small donors meaning people with little to no money are paying the legal bills for an ALLEGED billionaire because he doesn’t pay his own bills.

Save America? More like Save The Fast Ass Of A Criminal.

What’s the difference between a twink and a washing machine?

A washing machine doesn’t blow up your phone for weeks and weeks and weeks after you put a couple of loads in it.

Lachlan McLean is an Australian former soccer player and model but who cares about all that? Would You Hit It?

Architecture Wednesday: Pretty In Pink In Notting Hill

This charming Victorian house is within the Pembridge Conservation Area in Pembridge Mews, a secluded cobbled road in the heart of Notting Hill, close to the desirable Westbourne Grove and Portobello Road. Built in 1850 the two-bedroom, two-story house is spread out to about 1,200 square feet, not including a private south-facing courtyard garden.

In Pembridge Mews these terraced houses are built along an L-shaped plan with this particular home sitting at the interior junction, with an open vista from the main room down the entire length of the road.  The brick façade is painted a quaint pink, with a wooden box sash and French windows defining the exterior; something never thought of when the house was new is an EV charger positioned right out front. A Juliet balcony adorns the first floor, and there is space for a bench and potted plants outside the front door.

Entry is to a vestibule opening to the spacious living room. Unusual for a mews house, which are usually built on modest square plans, this ground floor space stretches out to 43 feet in depth, making it perfect for entertaining. Light floods the entire ground floor through the front French windows with side lights and tall French windows with a large roundhead fan light at the back that open to the garden, along with a trio of large roof skylights in the back half of the space.

Pine floorboards run throughout the open-plan living space, while floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are built into recesses along the west wall. At the front of the room is a dining room, while to the rear is a spacious seating area and stone classical chimneypiece housing a remote-controlled gas fireplace. The kitchen is set off the dining area. With oak veneer cupboards, integrated appliances and quartz countertops. There is a butler sink, a five-burner gas stove and large oven, while open shelves are perfect for storing plates and glassware.

Upstairs there are two en suite bedrooms. The principal bedroom has a wall of panelled wardrobes, with one entire wallpapered in an exquisite pastoral scene; French windows open to the cast-iron Juliet balcony and frame views along the entire length of the mews. The bathroom is partially papered in the same design as the bedroom, with honed limestone tiles used throughout. The second bedroom also has paneled wardrobes and a large window with views to the neighboring gardens; the en suite wet room is encased in mosaic limestone tiles.

Pembridge Mews is between Notting Hill Gate and Westbourne Grove, one of West London’s most desirable destinations. The area is celebrated for its restaurants, cafes and boutiques, and there are several public parks nearby.

I think it would have been the perfect home for a couple of gay men with an aging dog and a couple of cats looking for something new and different, and if the Lotto had come through and given us the $3,727,950 asking price.

The Spaces

Meme Dump

I Love My Fans ...

Yes, like most places, it’s been very hot here in Camden. But I will say that we have not been unbearably hot, just a long stretch of hot days, and some amazing afternoon storms. Of course, add in the stupidity, er, humidity, and it’s Sweatin’ With The Oldies at Casa Bob y Carlos.

Which explains this post … up top is one of two fans we bought for the living room several years ago; we liked the simplicity of them, and the fact that they are solid wood, and that they know how to blow. And The Gays love being blown.

We had ceiling fans in all three bedrooms and one in the sunroom and a month ago the sunroom fan went kaput. Since that room is now Ozzo’s room, we wanted a new fan to keep it cool for him so we bought four more similar fans.

These have none of those dangling chains—they come with remotes—and you can set the lights to three different colors, depending on my mood, and there are six speed settings from Spring Breeze to Hurricane Katrina lights!

Best of all, they’re kinda swanky. And they keep us cool. Win, win.