When is enough money enough money?

We are 80-yr-old retirees, recently moved from our big house into a small apartment. Wife likes to watch major league baseball but now we discover it's damn near impossible to get a MLB game on TV -- ESPN, major network, anywhere that is included in our cable package (Xfinity) -- it's almost all on subscription-required streaming services and we are NOT about to pay an extra $100-plus monthly to subscribe to a dozen or more streaming services -- not to mention it's very confusing trying to find them using our TV remote.

They likely will not miss our paltry monthly subscription fee but we, too, will not miss the hit to our bank account, that increases every time some streaming service CEO needs a raise.

We are using our public library more and more.

Under normal times . . .

. . . my comment would be dismissed as the ravings of an old man. But today . . . these are not normal times . . .

Musk is firing thousands of federal workers, screwing with social security (which is a lifeline for thousands), and generally pissing off a lot of people.

Muskrat does not understand that this country is filled with desperate people who are one paycheck, one social security check, one Medicaid visit way from starvation. Some of these people are on edge and can easily be tipped over the edge. And some of these have guns, are very good with their guns, and are about to snap.

Muskrat no doubt has Trump-directed Secret Service protection as well as private security. But they can't stop every desperate person with a Remington 700 .308 or a Weatherby Mark 5 Deluxe .30-06, with a Luepold Mark 5HD scope, zeroed in at 500 yards.

Just saying . . .

HELP!! Big decision to make -- can anyone help??

We are moving. House is empty, some cleaning stuff, bathroom necessities, etc. Giving key to new owner tomorrow.

I have to make a choice about tonight:

1. Watch Trump's rally in the Capitol, or,
2. Clean toilets, or,
3. Neither #1 nor #2. Make a big gin and tonic and watch an old cowboy movie.

Please help me by voting for #1 or #2 or #3.

Thanks.

I just turned off MSNBC for the day

Couldn't sleep. We are in the midst of moving. I got up around 0430 to sort through some junk. At 0530 turned on MSNBC "Way Too Early" mainly for the background noise.

Just before 0600 one of the young, well-coiffed, perky talking heads started babbling on about Trump's upcoming speech and wondering if he would "extend an olive branch" to Democrats.

FOR GOD'S SAKE HOW FUCKING STUPID ARE THESE PEOPLE AND WHERE DOES CNN AND MSNBC GET THEM? Trump is extending nothing but a clenched fist holding bloody knife -- never has done anything else, never will. Anyone using the words "extend an olive branch" and "Trump" in the same paragraph needs to go back to the 6th grade.

I hate to use the word "effete" because of it's past usages, but, that's part of the problem. So goddam many of the Democratic taking heads I see have little to no real-world experience.

They need to live out here in rural Virginia for a few months among the Baptists and the MAGAts -- Trump flags and signs all over the place. Guns pointed at anyone with a Democratic party bumper sticker and the sheriff just laughs it off. Two guys from the county convicted and jailed in Jan 6, welcomed home as heroes after Trump's pardon. Yard signs for Democratic candidates stolen, set on fire, shot up. At least three people I know dismissed from the Baptist church where their family has been for generations because they let slip that they are Democrats.

I am beginning to believe it's true -- Democrats really are a bunch of "Volvo-driving, white-wine-sipping, Kumbaya-singing wimps."

Three military branches

There are three military branches: Army, Air Force, and Navy (which incorporates the Marine Corps). In addition to firing the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Trump has selectively fired Chiefs of Staff, Vice Chiefs of Staff, and Judge Advocate Generals of all three services.

ALL THOSE TRUMP FIRED WERE EITHER BLACK OR WOMEN.

Meanwhile, when the Joint Chiefs of Staff meet, the door opens, there’s a roomful of generals and admirals. In walks Secty. Of Defense Hegseth – an alcoholic failed National Guard major with a swastika tattooed on his chest..

The Kennedy Center in DC and the Kennedy Library in Boston . . .

Is it a coincidence that these two places were in the news lately? Maybe so, maybe not.

I'm not a conspiracy nut, but, with Trump and Musk at the helm . . .

Think about this:
1. Trump engineered the firing of the Board of Directors for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in DC and installed his hand-picked Board members with himself as chairman.
2. Musk has now killed federal funding for the Kennedy Library in Boston.
3. Both the Kennedy Center and the Kennedy Library sit on PRIME REAL ESTATE: The Center on the Potomac, the Library on the ??? River in Boston.
4. Trump plans to drive both places into bankruptcy, buy them, convert them to condos, or, raze them and build condos.

And, no, I have not had a sip of alcohol or a whiff of ganja for the past 48 hours. But I'm off to the liquor cabinet to correct that error.

To live at the end of an era

About the filibuster

Back in the day . . . back near the dawn of human history . . . back when Democrats were Democrats, when Democratic men had balls the size of basketballs and Democratic women were a force of nature . . . there was a legislative maneuver called the "filibuster." It was used mainly by Southern Democrats to stymie any progressive legislation.

According to Senate rules, it takes 2/3 of the Senate voting to shut down debate and vote, so, one or a group of Senators could take the floor and talk. And talk. And talk, And talk. Until the rest of the Senate gave up and killed the measure. Now, all they need to do is tell the majority leader they plan to do that and whatever measure is being considered is dropped. Now, with Democrats in the minority, Republicans just ignore us, they don't need our votes. But they do need the floor.

One of my late aunts, born in 1933, had her name as well as her date and time of birth read into the Senate record -- one of her father's friends was close to Senator Huey Long of Louisiana. Long was opposed to FDR's "National Recovery Act," so, In an attempt to prevent its passage, Long held a lone filibuster, speaking for 15 hours and 30 minutes, the second longest filibuster at the time. While Long had the floor, my aunt's father sent a telegram to Long informing him of my aunt's birth and Long read the telegram on the Senate floor during his filibuster. The Act eventually passed -- thank God -- but Long staved it off for weeks.

Where is a Huey Long when we need a few like him? (Yes, I know -- Huey Long was a despotic asshole but you gotta hand it to him.)

I wonder if the sight of Democratic Senators holding the floor for days at a time would generate the groundswell needed to dump President Musk and bring Republicans to their senses?

I'm confused about the Second Amendment

The National Rifle Association tells us that the Second Amendment guarantees the right of each citizen to bear arms in case a tyrant emerges in which case, the armed citizens will defeat the tyrant.

So -- when do we bear arms and start defeating the tyrant? Where are all the "protect your right to bear arms, rebel against tyranny" champions?

Someone give me the date, time, place to meet to go after the tyrants and I'll be there. I was unarmed at the last demonstration in DC. Not this time.

In Virginia, half the state's community health centers closing or cutting services