Month: June 2024

Waiting for the Geek Show

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Thursday is the circus.  Everyone is at a fever pitch.  The newspapers and the cable news have many articles with advice for Joe Biden on how to deflect the questions away from his record in office and concentrate on fortifying our democracy against Trump.

Well, of course they are.  Would anyone expect Tapper or Bash to say anything that doesn’t begin with “convicted felon Trump?”  Of course not.  So, the only truly entertaining way to experience this fun house ride is with a sufficiently large wet bar or a smorgasbord of your favorite snack foods.  I hope to convince Camera Girl to make a few pounds of pastrami and swiss cheese into a bunch of hot sandwiches and add a pot of good coffee to wash it down.

Now I don’t expect any good coming from this Punch and Judy show.  CNN’s questions won’t even be questions.  They’ll just point at Trump and shriek “racist.”  They may ask Biden in soothing terms how he’s managed to stand up to the horror of having to confront the bogeyman but other than that it will be a straight up witch trial.

One thing I am curious to see.  They have said that they will shut off Trump’s mike during Biden’s answers.  I wonder if they will shut off Trump’s mike during his own answers if they think he’s ignoring their questions.  For instance.  Suppose they ask Trump to apologize for January 6th and instead he ignores this and slams Biden on all the problems his administration has; inflation, crime, interest rates, illegal immigration, lack of affordable housing.  I wonder if they’ll shut off his mike and claim he wasn’t following the debate questions.  I imagine if they do that Trump will show his disapproval by miming that his time is being wasted by pointing to his wrist watch.

But other than something like that I don’t assume it’ll be at all interesting.  Biden will be bellowing and shaking his fists and looking agitated.  Trump will look disgusted and disapproving.  And the moderators will look smug and bovine.

I want to watch the whole thing in case something interesting happens.  However, ninety minutes of this might be a little too much.  But what has me trying for the end is the thought that ninety minutes might push Dementia Joe too far on his meds.  Think about it.  They may be afraid to give him enough Adderall to keep him buzzed that long.  In which case he may lapse into gibberish and tales of Uncle Bosey.  Or if they do give him the full dose maybe it’ll just plain finish him off.

Here are some of the side effects from Adderall overdose:

• Restlessness.
• Agitation.
• Tremor.
• Exaggerated reflexes.
• Confusion.
• Panic.
• Aggression.
• Paranoia.
• Hallucinations.
• Elevated body temperature.
• Fast breathing.
• Irregular heartbeat.
• Tachycardia.
• Hypertension or other changes in blood pressure.
• Chest pain.
• Abdominal cramps.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Diarrhea.
• Convulsions.
• Coma.

Half of those symptoms already sound like regular Biden.  So, I’m just hanging in there to see if we hit the jackpot.  If during the third half-hour Joe lets his angry old man act get out of hand, he may just go into vapor lock and faceplant right there on the podium.

I mean that would be the ultimate Biden moment.  And if he revives let’s see Haitian Shirley Temple try to convince us that going into cardiac arrest is just a deep fake.  I’d love to see her try.

Update:

H/T to Big Mac

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Guest Contributor – The Portly Politico – 25JUN2024 – Coffee Shop Socialism

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I’m all for a business owner saying, “Okay, look, we’re going to pay you a living wage to serve coffee, but that means we’re going to have to sell this product at a much higher price than is competitive.” Advertise that to your customers—“we know you’re paying a bit more for this coffee and bagel than you would at our competitors, but you’re putting braces on our employees’ kids’ teeth.”

I frequent coffee shops, and that kind of model really resonates with the middle-class progressive clientele. It taps into the crusader/moralist mentality of the woke Left in what I think could be a productive way: the soyboy buying his coffee gets to feel good about “helping the workers”; the workers get more money and benefits.

It’s not sustainable in most businesses, but it could work in this environment. The problem is that progressives, like everyone, ultimately have to think about their personal spending, and raising prices will obviously mean fewer customers overall. Marketing with the right social justice message could mitigate some of that—and some people are very loyal to their preferred coffee shop—but it’s not easy. It sounds like the owner of OCF was trying some of these things and they weren’t working.

The Honeymooners – Complete Series Review – Episode 1 – TV or Not TV

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The Kramden’s friends; the Nortons (Ed and Trixie) are getting their second tv set and Alice Kramden tries buttering up her husband Ralph to get their first set.  Ralph rants and raves about the dangers of buying “luxuries” as opposed to his “strategic” savings plan.  But she tells him he’s just cheap.

But Ed comes to Ralph to borrow money to buy the new set because he’s already bought so many appliances on credit that the store has turned him down for the tv set.  Ralph decides that if he and Ed split the cost, they can afford the set together.

Ralph tricks Ed into keeping the set in Ralph’s apartment and thus begins the war to control the channel.  Ed Norton is a devotee of the kid’s outer space serial “Captain Video” complete with his very own space suit helmet.  Ralph wants to watch movies and the prospect of Ed watching the inane space show drives Ralph insane.  And they battle for days until finally Alice admits at the end that Ralph’s instinct not to buy a tv was actually correct.

This first episode has already in place many of the characteristics of the Honeymooners’ set up.  When we first see Alice, she is trying to unclog the kitchen sink with a plunger.  And by the sound effects and Alice’s expression we can tell things didn’t go well.  This is the status quo of the Kramden household.  Ralph’s bus driver’s salary can’t seem to permit Alice’s dreams of a middle-class lifestyle to become reality.  But she never gives up reminding Ralph of these shortcomings.

When Trixie shows up and encourages Alice to use flattery to try and get Ralph to buy a tv set, we recognize the dynamic these two wives are always bumping up against.  Namely, while Ed Norton is somewhat accommodating to Trixie’s opinion, Ralph is vehemently opposed to any compromise on Alice’s requests, especially if they cost even the smallest amount of money.  And another characteristic of the Alice/Ralph dynamic is that after Ralph rejects her request for anything she falls back on mocking his weight.  And finally, the episode leans heavily on the trope that whatever joint venture Ralph and Ed embark on will result in anger, failure and embarrassment.

This is a good representative of the series and has several memorable laughs during the battles between Ralph and Alice but especially between Ralph and Ed.  And it is plain to see that no warm-up period was needed in order for the cast to hit their stride.  The Kramdens and the Nortons are already hitting on all cylinders.

Captain Video: Calling all space rangers, it’s time to blast off with Captain Video and his video rangers.  Hello out there rangers.  This is Captain Video.  Are you all, ready join me in our trip to outer space?

Ed Norton: I am ready O Captain Video!

Captain Video: Let us all put on our official Captain Video Space helmets, adjust disintegrator guns, and now we blast off for Pluto and the Moon!