June 1st - Today's Gospel is about the Gospel

Gospel JN 17:20-26
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
"I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you,
but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me
may be in them and I in them."

I am not a big fan of John's gospel - too esoteric and "closed community" for my tastes.  All that Illuminated Word and stuff  -  " In principio erat verbum, et verbum erat apud D(eu)m, et D(eu)s . . . " In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and . . ."

 It is a big hit with Unitarian's and Catholic Call to Action types who tune-in to NPR when XRT is playing Flashback to 1965. John's gospel is loosey-goosey on the matter of judgment and unlike the other three Matthew, Mark & Luke appeals to Clown Jesus - non-judgmental COEXIST Jesus.

My preference is  " I shall smite your ass, Hickey!" voice of the Triuun God.  I believe in consequences and pray mightily to avoid them.

John's gospel is said to be anonymous ( written by a bunch of guys at a bunch of times) but unified around the "Beloved Apostle."  There are four divisions: The Prologue, The Book for Signs, The Book of Glory and the Epilogue - like a Quinn Martin Production.

Today's gospel section comes from what scholars call the Book of Glory and takes place after the Resurrection.  The money quote is " I pray not only for these ( Disciples and hangers-on), but also for those who will believe in me through their word ( Us). 

I have been a teacher for more than forty years.   Young people are not hard-wired to read Paradise Lost, Absalom & Achitophel, Look Homeward Angel, The Divine Comedy, Canterbury Tales, or Anna Karenina.   That's the task.

Christ prayed  for teachers, cops, nurses, electricians, pipe-fitters and locksmiths - anyone who passes on the codes to Universal Truth: not my truth, or group think.

Things are Pretty Darn Good. Overcoming Trumpanoia and Worrying About What I Think

The establishment pushed the wars and free trade and their partners in the corporate-government matrix agreed to the sending off of capital (and jobs) to foreign lands.
For all the talk of partisanship, Democrats and Republicans were the two horns on the head of the goat.
And Trump voters? They were forgotten, left behind, mocked as deplorable. John Kass

This Memorial Day weekend, America paid tribute to the men and women who gave all in defense of our Nation.

I thought of my Dad and his brothers who fought in the Pacific, North Africa, Italy and later Korea , my older neighbors pre-Draft Lottery,  from the high school classes of 1962-1968, who went to Vietnam.  Fewer of us from 1969-1973, served thanks to the Lottery and Vietnamization.  I remembered the many, many kids that I taught at Bishop McNamara, La Lumiere and Leo High School who served in Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Bosnia, Iraq,  Afghanistan - kids like Adam Voight (La Lumiere 1988) who gave up scholarships to enlist as privates and eventually fly Apache helicopters in Desert Storm, and Pat Donley, Bishop McNamara 1979, who served as Marine aboard the USS Iowa, when his brothers were murdered by terrorists in Beriut.

I have it very good.


Kathy Griffin, the alleged comic for CNN, is so upset with the Trump American atmosphere that she needed to ritualistically imitate ISIS and lop off President Trump's head.  How tough is that?  The poor thing must really have a time of it opening that tricky foil cover over the Velveeta cheese logs.  It's a struggle.

Some people are upset that I do not want President Trump any more humiliated than he manages on his own.  In fact, I am more than surprised and happy with Trump's Presidency.  He has all of the worst people leading the Resistance against him.  Sadly, too many very good people have joined them.

Some say "my blog sucks and I suck,"  because I write honestly - I do not, nor have I ever held Barack Obama in anything like regard and I am not bothered a jot by the election of Donald Trump.
My blog and I might suck for reasons other than that, but not because the point of view challenges the meme du jour.

That said, love me, or leave me, lamb.  I write because I love people - all people, until they prove themselves to be bullies, grifters, sneaks, hypocrites and moral cowards. Them I might love in the big Christian thematic way, but I 'd rather not have their company, much less their good opinion of me.

I could give a . . . (you fill it in).   I have it good and that ain't bad, to quote the late Louis Prima.

As it is, I own a home, shop at Marianno's, own a car, a library card, my cable works fine, my kids are all educated, moral and employed, the grass is cut, the garbage was picked up yesterday, I teach, I write, I read, John Kass remains a powerful voice in a city of dotards, no one can force me to watch Big Bang Theory, let alone watch it, the only thing Russian that keeps me awake at night is Borscht (hate beets), I have not witnessed any mass executions of Pussy Hat owners, nor is the Planned Parenthood block-house at 51st & Ashland ablaze, my girlfriend still gives me direction on dress, manners and general deportment outside of my bubble here in the 19th Ward, my granddaughter is healthy,chubby and beautiful, gas at Thornton's in Blue Island is $2.46 per gallon, and Cracovia Pitted Sour Cherries mixed with Greek vanilla yogurt is like heroin.

If Trump has you that down, see a medical professional.  Cheer up!  Only suckers beef!  Mix some cherries and yogurt.

If that is not enough for you, House of Cards, season five will take on Trump.  Wash it down with a swell IPA and a good gulp or two of bile. That seems to be the only things that make some folks happy. 

Meet the Smith Brothers - William Wallace and Andrew Smith

The legend of the first cough drop in America begins in a family-owned, small-batch candy store in 1847 and continues with soothing relief that has remedied sore throats and coughs for generations.  Smith Brothers Cough and Throat Drops are a great tasting way to find comfort when you need it.

I have a tickle in my throat today and I wish I had a box of Smith Brothers Cough Drops; well, now they are no more and at the end they came in bags. Bags don't cut it. Though born in Poughkeepsie, Smith Brothers died right here in on the south side of Chicago. The box made them.

At one time, James Smith, a Poughkeepsie, NY candymaker from Fife, Scotland, kept his tasty remedy in sealed glass jars.   Smith had purchased the recipe for the cough drops from a peddler by the name of Sly Hawkins - if ever there was a great name, Old Sly had it nailed down.  However, he had a price for his healthy confection.

James Smith had cherry-flavored gold mine and two sons with canny marketing and public relations skills.  William Wallace and Andrew Smith took Faither's legacy on one very wild ride - from 1856 New York State to 2015 Brighton Park, Chicago:

The last Smith Bros. cough drop rolled off the factory line on Sept. 23, when an equipment malfunction shut down dwindling production for good. Smith Bros. was placed into assignment for the benefit of creditors on Sept. 25, an insolvency proceeding under state law that facilitates liquidating and distributing assets. Chicago Tribune

Back in the day, Smith Brothers dominated the market glutted with Ludens, Halls, Sucrets,  Cepocal, and others, especially the Swiss Ricola.  I loved Smith Brothers. Ludens did nothing for me. Cepocal meant you were dying of TB and Sucrets would gag a maggot.

The Smith Brothers were a testament to soothed toncils and as effective as crossed candles at  the wind pipe of the Feast of St. Blaise. 

I am sorry that this iconic box with the bearded Bros is thing of the past.

Perhaps, we might resurrect the brand. Write screenplay about the adventures of tee-totalling, pinch-penny William Wallace and his whisky tolerant and jovial sibling Andy during the 

• Civil War Camp Douglas - cough drops denied to Confederate prisoners
•  the Cross-Continental Railways competition
•  the Reconstruction of the South with carpet-baggers seeking to foist Ludens on driven-down Dixie
•  the Plains Indians Wars
•  the Rise of Captialism, and the coughing children of Mother Jones' March on the White House
•   Boxes of Smith Brothers in the haversacks of Marines defending the Legation at Peking from the Boxers
•  Smith Brothers and fellow Scot, Allan Pinkerton, unmask  and hang the Molly Maguires - no Green Lives Mattered back then
• Smith Brothers and the Knights of Labor 
• Smith Brothers sent to Panama Canal workers by Teddy Rex
• Jane Addams gives an Italian child Ludens cough drops and he dies and haunts Hull House to this day
•  Smith Brothers Cough Drops aid strikers  in the Stockyards Meat-cutters Walk-outs of 1904 and 1912.

Have Mel Gibson take namesake brother William Wallace, as he played Braveheart already and his little brother, the merry wee-Andy, could be played by the Wolverine - Hugh Jackman

William Wallace Smith - Mel Gibson





Andrew Smith - Hugh Jackman


How's that for Marvel-ous treatment.  Perhaps, Hollywood could do something useful for a change and get a good American product developed by an immigrant and his boys back on the shelves.  Look what movies did for comic books.  But, Please God, NO Stan Lee cameo.  The guy creeps me out. 

Smith Brothers, we hardly knew ye!

Democrats Continue to Get Body Slammed Like Prissy Provocateur and Fox News is Going Down Like a White House Intern of Yore

But outside a handful of small legislative races over the past four months, there hasn’t been a true test of the new, Trump-driven political dynamic at the ballot box. Tuesday, however, begins a series of special elections that will examine whether increased Democratic enthusiasm can deal Trump stinging defeats and reshape the narrative a year-and-a-half before the midterms. Politico

“And you just broke my glasses. You just body slammed me and broke my glasses.” Ben Jacobs, The Guardian




The world of the losers is bright with hope, potential, gritty determination and optimistic by gollyness.

Losers have potential.  Winners do something about losing.

Since November 9th, people who read only the New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation, Salon, Vanity Fair, Politico, The Atlantic, watch only CNN, NBC, Public Television, MSNBC,CBS and Disney, listen only to NPR, drink only craft beverages, eat organic, think globally and live in gated community have done everything but calm down, in order to unseat the Orange Monster in the White House.

Fox News, to be perfectly fair and balanced, is no CNN and its ratings have proved that in the post-Megyn Kelly era of Shepard Smith.


People who like to see every kid get a participation trophy and omnipresent bullies expelled to Ultima Thule, or at least another school district have eschewed the Phyrgian bonnet rouge of Resistence fighters past, for the pink Pussy Hat in solidarity with the vagina and the nameless oppressed everywhere.  

Women continue to be the superior gender and life matters, to most people.

In all of this Wagnerian sturm and drang  there remains the fact that most Americans ( Elector college-wise) continue to be pretty much satisfied with our hyper -texting, bumptious and Pontifically fat-shamed President and his efforts to undo the idiotically Transformed America of President 44.

In proof, voters have rejected the key puffed-up persons slotted to defeat Trump through Congressional victories, but point to the small ball races in Delaware and Iowa as signal events of our Republic's proud history.  Stephanie Hansen is a Delaware State Senator, because the DNC pumped people and plutocrats into the the local cat-fight.  Huzzah!

However, in key Congressional races in Montana, Georgia and Kansas the cowboy, the kid and ambulance chaser were thumped, dumped and Trumped,

Likewise, the First Reformed Unitarian Fox News channel has tanked.  Post-Reformation heretics like Brett Baier, Catherine Herridge, Britt Hume, Jennifer Griffin, James Rosen,  and Tucker Carlson continue to do credit to their professions. Hannity is the last man standing of the Lonesome Rhodes variety that pumped up sales of gold, silver and used cars for decades.

The Murdoch Boys have come a gutser, by presiding over a news with no pitch and timber indecipherable from CNN and MSNBC and as dry as a Dingo's donger.  Shep Smith all day and all night?  Not worth a Zack, Mates.

Voters continue to reject elitist globalism and viewers ignore the anemic Fox News because it's dryer than a Nun's nasty.  London to a brick, Cobbers!

The message - keep doing what you are doing: have contempt for people, sell style over substance, push idiotic scams couched as social justice and civil rights, exchange the truth for "your truths," and act like spoiled children, but expect real resistance.

They will, "Democrats can also draw some encouragement from the fact that this race was close even before the Republican candidate was charged with misdemeanor assault. Democratic candidates have overperformed their expected vote shares in every House special election of the Trump presidency, all of which have been held in strongly Republican districts. Donald Trump won Montana by 20 points over Hillary Clinton, so Gianforte's seven-point victory over Quist should put the wind up any GOP congressman from a less reliably Republican district."

Uh,huh. 

Matt O'Shea Works for the Good and Fran Spielman Mocks the WorK

 

“I am proud of this effort which makes it easier for our City agencies to crackdown on illicit massage parlors as well as identify some of the most vulnerable victims in our communities. This ordinance reduces barriers to inspecting these illegitimate victims and mandates preventative measures. Not only will we make our communities safer, but we will also provide the opportunity for legitimate small business growth in Chicago,” said O’Shea.    

 Ald. O’Shea seeks to rub out massage parlor abuses: Fran Spielman Headline Sun Times

I know of no massage parlors in Beverly, Morgan Park, or Mount Greenwood and that is a pretty good sized chunk of Alderman Matt O'Shea's 19th Ward. Matt O'Shea wants to hurt human traffickers who supply some massage parlors with children.  Fran Spielman of Chicago Sun Times ridicules this good work.

On Sunday, I chatted with the Alderman as he directed a blood and bone marrow drive at St. John Fisher Parish for two year old Beau Dowling.  As I read the questionnaire for donating to Life Source, O'Shea assured me that he would help me with the more difficult words like "injections and vaccinations" - He went to Mount Carmel, by the way. We did not discuss his proposed ordinance to levy greater fines and fees upon operators of massage parlors who benefit from human trafficking.

Human trafficking is slavery.

When I worked at Leo High School in late 1990's, the now abandoned and massive motel on the east side of Halsted between 83rd and 79th Street was home to a score of 15-18 year old Eastern European girls enslaved by pimps, drug dealers and the politicians who protect them.  These girls worked Racine, Vincennes and Halsted and were at death's door.  They were carefully guarded by armed men.  Leo Principal and President Bob Foster made some powerful noise with the 17th Ward and the command at District 6.  The Hotel was shut down.

Enslaved girls, very few Caucasians, continue to work Racine, Vincennes, Halsted, Ashland, Loomis & etc in Zip code 60620.  No central headquarters. The clientele continues to be a Rainbow of diversity - white working men, black entrepreneurs, Hispanic Padrones and I have even spied the odd Asian gent 'looking for love in all the wrong places.'

The massage parlor seems to be more of a suburban phenomenon to me. Where I live, high school romances blossom into families connected to a house of worship. The 19th Ward is pretty unevolved and not very HBO.  I have no doubt that various sins of the flesh get sampling here and there, but for the life me it is not a norm.  Mr. Spaulding, Mr. Talman, Mr. Washtenaw and Mr. Rockwell don't frequent sex spas; they go to Hinky Dinks, Cork & Kerry, Harte's, Dingers, McNally's, Hippos and TR's.  Horizontal refreshment, not so much; liquid refreshment - Hell, yes.

However, people who live around a church seem to appreciate children from birth and very often through adulthood.  All children matter- black, Asian, challenged, boys, girls and uncertain.    That is why Matt O'Shea had a more than husky crowd of blood donors this past Sunday.

Human trafficking pisses off parents.  Matt O'Shea introduced  this City ordinance even though the 19th Ward is a Massage Parlor Desert.  Matt O'Shea is what an elected official should be - a hard working neighbor who respects the people who vote for him.  He is a vanishing breed.

Why would Fran Spielman and the Sun Times editorial board make a sophomoric joke of O'Shea's ordinance?

Massage Parlors where the happy endings take place are hilarious?  Dreamers forced into prostitution and drugged numb make great snark?  The concerns of a Breeder Catholic whose Ward does not even have a massage parlor are ludicrous?

All of the above.  The same giggling snobs who have crashed journalism into the loam and made Donald Trump more than palatable to traditionally Democratic voters like me, get approval in hipper quarters of the City.  Here are some comments found in DNAinfo Chicago:

  abby1997  May 22, 2017 "Nothing else better to go after"

  con-man  May 22, 2017 "Damn it, gone are some of my favorites. I was so "happy" with their service!!!

  jackie-rose  May 22, 2017 "This is stupid, I doubt anyone working there was being trafficked. But the definition has been expanded to include consenting adults. Doesn't bother me if it's happening behind closed doors."  

SteveTheCubsFan  May 23, 2017 "This is definitely not a priority for our city.  What a complete waste of police manpower.  We would be better served if they went after all the idiots that endanger people's lives everyday, while trying to drive and use smartphones.  Better yet, how about the gangs, guns, and theft that is so rampant throughout the entire city?  Go back to Beverly.  What a grandstanding a**.

How about them gangs, guns and theft, SteveTheCubFan?  Sounds like this tulip is all aboard for that Textalyzer ordinance.  Tres Hip!

That was from  DNAinfo Chicago, mind you.

The Sun Times ditched commentary long ago.   They give opinion - they do not require yours.

Matt O'Shea is a very good Alderman.  He is a great elected official.

Fran Spielman works for the Chicago Sun Times.

The Target of Terror is Innocence: Public Intellectuals Parse Away Innocence

What is [terrorism] ? It’s not hard to recognize; we can safely avoid postmodernist arguments about knowledge and truth. Terrorism is the deliberate killing of innocent people, at random, in order to spread fear through a whole population and force the hand of its political leaders - Michael Walzar  Just and Unjust Wars, New York 2000  

We are all mediators, translators. Jacques Derrida

Terrorism is a pet topic for post-modernist philosophers, activists, academics and other idiots. 

Parsing the bombing of a crowd of pre-teen teenagers in a Manchester concert venue, will begin on  CNN the second a cue is given to the soul less and dead-eyed  Fareed Zakaria, or the Joe Camel of  cable journalism, Christiane Amanpour.  They will trot out public intellectuals like Noam Chomsky, or the porky and indecipherable Michael Eric Dyson to baffle with the bullshit born of Foucault, Derrida, Camus and Benjamin and Madison Avenue'd up by the likes of David Axelrod and Tom Perez*.

Terrorists are people who have forsaken life, truth and a place on the planet, President Trump translated these nasty men and women for what they are -

“So many young, beautiful people living and enjoying their lives, murdered by evil losers in life,” Trump said, speaking alongside Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem.

There,  was that so hard?  For eight years we listened to a President parsing nonsense.

Families anguish - one's child begs to go to her her/his big kid concert, right at that special time in life when one's identity has taken shape and needs to celebrate with friends in the shared joy of living through music.  Parents plan, purchase, park and patrol their children and friends through the secure venue's portals. Shortly, a bomb is detonated.  This is a nail bomb and meant to main and kill the young identities in the hall.

The bile and the blood rises as parents learn that all of their precautions are for naught. That was no "random" deliberate murder of chidren. That was a mutual exercise of terror.

Parents planned a joyful event in their child's life.

Someone else planned. Someone who will execute innocent children and later have this action be explained away by public intellectuals

That is terrorism. A mutual exercise by murdering losers and those who would justify  their actions.

* DNC Terrorism- " . . .Democrats will repudiate vile tactics that would do us harm. We reject Donald Trump’s vilification of Muslims. It violates the religious freedom that is the bedrock of our country and feeds into ISIS’ nefarious narrative. It also alienates people and countries who are crucial to defeating terrorism; the vast majority of Muslims believe in a future of peace and tolerance. We reject Donald Trump’s suggestion that our military should engage in war crimes, like torturing prisoners or murdering civilian family members of suspected terrorists. These tactics run counter to American principles, undermine our moral standing, cost innocent lives, and endanger Americans. We also firmly reject Donald Trump’s willingness to mire tens of thousands of our combat troops in another misguided ground war in the Middle East, which would only further embolden ISIS. There is nothing smart or strong about such an approach."

Mention Trump three times and ISIS Twice?  Jeepers. Tom. 

George Soros Purchased States Attorney Kim Foxx Buys More

  “There will be a concerted effort to change policy, but changing culture takes time,” Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx says. CBS News 12/02/2016

In 1947, I escaped from Hungary, by then under Communist rule, to England. As a student at the London School of Economics, I came under the influence of the philosopher Karl Popper, and I developed my own philosophy, built on the twin pillars of fallibility and reflexivity. I distinguished between two kinds of political regimes: those in which people elected their leaders, who were then supposed to look after the interests of the electorate, and others where the rulers sought to manipulate their subjects to serve the rulers’ interests. Under Popper’s influence, I called the first kind of society open, the second, closed. George Soros  international globalist villain and bi-partisan purchaser of help*

IllinoisDuring the 2016 Democratic primaries in Illinois, Soros contributed $333,000 to the Illinois Safety and Justice PAC supporting Cook County district attorney candidate Kim Foxx (D) against incumbent Anita Alvarez.[47] Foxx won the primary and faced off against Republican Christopher Pfannkuche in November 2016. Foxx, according to Chicago's PBS station, WTTW, was continuing to receive support from Soros.[48] Preckwinkle isn’t the only big donor to Foxx’s campaign. In the last month she’s also received $400,000 from prolific Democratic contributor Fred Eychaner.

George Soros, a billionaire advocate for criminal justice reforms, and the Civic Participation Action Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, have each given $300,000 to Illinois Safety & Justice, a separate “independent expenditure fund” that lists Foxx as the only candidate it’s backing. Sun Times Cop-hating scribe Mitch Dudek 

We live in an Open Society - sort of- and George Soros continues to seal it shut.  George Soros operates a Foundation called Open Society, because he wants society to have a society  "where the rulers sought to manipulate their subjects to serve the rulers’ interests. "

That would never make sense outside of a dystopian novel (Orwell/Huxley), until about ten years.   It was then that George Soros and the influence of his billions of dollars became apparent, to some, and Barack Obama became the most under-vetted person in American history and the 44th President of the United States.

After his eight years, America voted away such Soros-ian thoughts, to the great hysteria of the Soros Payroll.  Donald Trump is the 45th President of the United States,

George Soros and now his son continue their tireless pursuit of creating a very closed Open Society.

They are buying up the Office of States Attorney in many places, besides the always purchasable Cook County, Illinois.

George Soros, the billionaire financier, is ponying up serious cash to reform the US criminal-justice system.
Soros has pumped over $3 million into seven local district-attorney campaigns in six states in the past year, reports Politico.
He is pushing the money into local elections in Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas through a network of state-level super PACs and a national "527" unlimited-money group, according to Politico.
The money has benefited African-American and Hispanic candidates who ran on progressive platforms, like reducing racial disparities in sentencing and directing drug offenders to diversion programs instead of trial.

Look no further than Kim Foxx, purchased by George Soros et al in 2016.  Like Open Society, the jabberwocky meaning of Justice Reform is "open the jail cells for any black, or Hispanic, illegal-immigrant felon."

Kim Foxx is doing her owner proud**!

• No money, no problem, no Bond!  Get out of jail free. 
• Hammer cops
• Blame Predecesor
• Payoff people

This works magically in Chicago and Cook County because the media refuses to inquire, where inquiry is most necessary.

George Soros bought and paid for eight years of an Obama White House.  The American people would like a traditional open society.

George Soros is far from finished.  The bodies in Chicago and Cook County stack up like cord wood and Kim Foxx smiles all the way to her next visit with PBS and WTTW to shop reform.

*John McCain has been especially critical of Trump, even blasting him today for his stern phone call with the Australian Prime Minister. McCain and Graham also attacked Trump for implementing an immigration ban.
“We fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism,” McCain and Graham said in a joint statement, adding that Trump’s executive order “may do more to help terrorist recruitment than improve our security.”
It seems that every move Trump makes, the same characters are quick to delegitimize the president. Now it all makes sense. 2/02/2017

The Only Serious News aggregator and  crib sheet on Kim Foxx is The Second City Cop.  Only here will a citizen find the impact of a Soros-owned and operated Cook County States Attorney. 

Trump Hits the Canvas: A Boxer in a Mixed Martial Arts Cage

The Trump is down!  He's dazed.   He's confused.  The Trump's bleeding,  bleeding like a Russian Princess!  The refs are showing the four count and he's staring, longingly, for Ann Coulter and for her to give him one shred of 'Get up, Donny and Knock 'em into the cheap seats,' but this willowy blond is one cold cucumber.  This dish is colder than a mother-in-law's kiss, colder than Samantha's knockers on a brass broomstick, Fans!  He's on his own and the refs are counting faster than a speeding ticket in Martha's Vineyard. It don't look good. 

The problem is that the President has been taking shots to the noggin every waking moment since 11/09/2016 and without putting his guard up at all. In boxing one might call the President an ivory head.  Most call him a can of tomatoes.

The 45th President of the United States was elected primarily on his promise to drain the Washington D.C. swamp and swamp ain't liking it.  Swamp critters on both sides of the aisle want him gone.  Elected officials, lobbyists, journalists, academics who suckle greedily off of Lady Liberty's rack of plenty, corporatist players, Marxist oligarchs and NSA spooks with limitless loyalty to the Obama regime are Organized for Action!

The Russia Bullshit is just that.  And Americans are ravenous for bullshit - hence the powerful appeal of Barack Obama.

Donald Trump has pleased me as a voter.  He has displeased me wildly as a spectator.  He's a boxer suckered into a Tag-Team Mixed Martial Arts Caged Death Match - he's a boxer fighting a queue of MMA ninjas; as soon as he fends off one, the opposition and the allies tag off to pummel the guy.

His corner men?  Who the hell knows.  Trainer Reince Priebus was more Mitt than Romney and a doughy sap easily led into a very public pantsing on CNN, FOX, or MSNBC.  Cornerman Jared Kushner?  Who takes advice from a guy named Jared?  Christ Almighty.  Cut man, Steve Bannon is hated by all of the creeps on this planet and he seems to be getting no ear from the guy he is patching up.   Bannon seems like a guy I would want in my corner.  When all of creeps hate you, you must be doing something right.

I want to see Trump succeed, but I will be satisfied if he can go the distance and keep the DNC from political power.

Trump is no sweetheart and he is no Brian Sutherland either.

He has the skills and know-how, but he is alone in a tanked fight.  Some might call what we are witnessing a bloodless coup ( unless you count Seth Rich - I do).  As far back as February, this seemed more than evident:

I can’t believe I’m writing this after the administration has been in office for 26 days, but here goes. The idea that Donald Trump is now inexorably on a path to impeachment has taken almost gleeful hold in the wake of the Michael Flynn resignation among liberal elites and anti-Trumpers generally—and everybody better stop and take a deep breath and consider what might arise from this. This isn’t fire we’re playing with, it’s a nuclear war.
That Trump might somehow be deus-ex-machina-ed out of public life has been a consistent feature of the past 20 months. He won’t run gave way to He’s only in it for the publicity to He only wants to show Obama he’s not to be trifled with but he doesn’t want to be president so he’ll drop out to We’ll deny him a first-ballot victory at the convention and then the party pooh-bahs can take over and find a new candidate to His poll numbers are so bad he’ll quit and let Mike Pence run against Hillary to The Access Hollywood tape will finally do him in…and then he won.                                             Now that he’s president, the question I’m asked constantly is “will he serve out his first term.” The wish is father to the hope here; only the vilest and most monstrous of crimes has led to a negative answer to that question (save in the case of the first President Harrison, who caught a cold from not wearing a coat on Inauguration Day in 1841 and died a month later). No one has ever willingly or voluntarily given up the presidency. . . . 

Already pro-Trump voices on the right are calling the leaks that led to Michael Flynn’s firing evidence of an attempted coup d’etat. The fevered use of such terms is part and parcel of the way in which social media amplifies the melodrama of daily news stories.

I am myself unnerved by the evidence of high-level lawlessness in the Flynn matter, but a “coup d’etat” refers specifically to a military ouster of a leader, not a leak-driven campaign using the press to nail someone. This is sure to persist, though, if the Flynn-Russia matter accelerates—and if the reluctant House and Senate do begin investigating the matter in earnest. If the language surrounding the investigation remains florid and purple, if Democrats try to please their Trump-hating constituents by screaming impeachment and liberal media tries to garner audience by jumping openly and vociferously on the bandwagon, the Trumpians will respond in kind by stirring the pot through their media and their argumentation. Commentary

Coup? Maybe.  Slaughter the bum?  To be sure.

With Clapper, Comey, Rice, Ryan, McConnell, McCain, Graham, Schummer, and Obama sub rosa and with billions of dollars hitting your kidneys, liver, heart, ears, mouth and nose every waking moment - a fight in a phone booth with Conor McGregor might be a fine and relaxing tonic.

Donny, Take a swig and spit!

On Maple Lake: With Newspapers and You, My Dear

She :Hickey!
Me: Come here. Come here.
She: Hickey!!  We are in a row boat.
Me: Hurry up!
She: The loons.
Me: The loons.
She: They're welcoming us back.
Me: I don't hear a thing.
She: Just look at this place.
Me: It's a mess, isn't it? Sun Times. Tribune. I didn't get the Southtown, cuz it's the Tribune and the Trib is buying the Sun Times and its the same horseshit, different layout and Yes that's my wrapper.
She: Just take a second.
Me: It'll be all shipshape again. It was a PayDay and you don't like caramel with peanuts and too much salt.
She: And warmer.
Me: Huh.
She: The phone works!
Me:  At least I think it does. I got it here in my pocket, Hey, we're in a damn rented row boat.
She: Hello? Hello! Hello!
Me: Who the hell is that?
She: Who the hell's?
Me: . . .in this picture here?
She: Who the hell is this? Hello! Who's this?
Me: The operator? We are no where near a phone, but my cell phone and you won't let me turn the damn thing on when I am with you.
She:  What do you want?
Me:  The operator on the imaginary phone?
She: Well, you called.
Me: Must want somethin'.
She: Oh, wait a minute. There Mr. Hickey.  I am just showing you how it feels when you pick up your phone in mid-conversation and then segue all over the universe with Pick, or Houlie, or whomever you put on speed dial. And another thing, candy wrappers do not belong on the floor . . .
Me: Deck.
She: Deck of anything and they are not good for your dental health and "Who the Hell is that?"
Me: Yeah this guy right here on the front page.
She I have no idea, but perhaps there is a caption with his name.
Me: Nah, just the a guy over Rahm's shoulder.  I thought it was Forest Claypool but the guy's mouth isn't all slack jawed. Article tells " Emanuel has raised his profile after Trump's election" - His profile is pretty much like the pin the tail on the donkey - 15 shot and three day yesterday.
She: Oh, Hickey! It's so beautiful.
Me: Everything's just waking up.
She: Little, tiny birds.
Me: Little, tiny leaves.
She: I saw a patch of little, tiny flowers over by the old cellar hole.
I forget what they're called.Little, tiny, yellow things.
Me: Well, want to help me with the rowing?
She:  I don't have anything else to do.
Me:  Come on.
She: What were you doin' Out in the woods?
Me:  what do you think I was doing?
She: Getting wood.
Me: I love when you talk dirty.
She: That will do.  Now, you scowling. Put the papers in the trash sack with your Pay Day wrapper.  Enjoy this beautiful sunny day and nature that God has blessed us with and remember everything is not politics.
Me: You done?
She: That was rather tearse,
Me: It seems that Trump did in the Lindberg baby and sold crack to Lindsey Lohan . . .or Lindsey Graham.
She: Row. You are my Knight in Shining Armor
Me: Can we stop at Pops for Italian Beef Combos.
She: Row, You Old Poop.
Me: Pops.

Rahm's Water World: Flood the Attention Way From His Culture of Corruption

Chicago Media watch dogs are all over . . .whatever Rahm tells them to be all over.

“The pervasive culture of racism at the Water Department has been an open secret for years,” said Black Caucus Chairman Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th Ward). “We hope that this moment can serve as a wake-up call for all those in the department and in other departments where this behavior is still tolerated or even encouraged.” Sun Times

Let's see here. True reform begins and ends with three important Progressive catch-phrases

• Pervasive Culture of Racism ( the lingua franca of Progressive Oligarchs)
• Open Secret 
• Wake-up Call

Yep, young Alderman Roderick Sawyer has all three and appears to be rocking Rahm's world. He is not; he is helping Rahm deflect attention from Rahm and real big money-making ventures (Textalyzer)  for Chicago oligarchs.  Problem: Yep, attention was on Rahm.  Solution:Turn the Water Department *into the Chicago Police Department! Now, it is gone. Swept away in the flood. 

Yet only few days and weeks ago some of the newshounds wanted to know more about Rahm's private e-mails - 

"Mayor Rahm Emanuel is still receiving e-mails with ideas on city matters from "campaign contributors and others with clout" on his private account, according to the Sun-Times. The newspaper obtained Emanuel's private e-mails from January and February 2017 through a Freedom of Information Act request. The people who have been e-mailing the mayor include: "mayoral pal Peter Cunningham, JAM Productions honcho Jerry Mickelson, developer Robert Judelson and the mega-donor Abrams family, which owns Medline Industries." [Sun-Times] Chicago Reader

It seems it was time to toss his purse puppies of the Chicago media a few of  Beautiful Joe’s Ethical Dog Treats - they can not chase their tails everyday.

What better way to drown bad news than a flood of biblical proportions!

Last Friday, the see-through Irish pelts of Barrett Murphy and William Bresnahan were tossed to the snarling ShihTzu's of WTTW, the Sun Times and the always dependable Chicago Tribune.

Whenever Daley got in Dutch with the press, like his kid's bat-party in Grand Beach, Michigan, a couple of cops on the detail took the heat.

In 2004, during the Hired Truck scandal Carol Marin changed the subject to young Andy Ryan and again, in 2006, right about the time everyone was getting sick of Richie Daley, another building inspector scandal allowed Chicagoans to micro-analyze clout once again, yet never stay focused on real problems.

A poor slob, or his kids become the focus of rage and outrage!  Slap in the Face!

Same problem today, same solution. Toss the room temperature I.Q.s at the Tower or the Merchandise Mart some pink meat.

Even one of Progressive Rep. Mike Quigley's pals,Paul Hansen,  was fed to the tiny-toothed terriers.
Wee Mike was Alderman Bernie Hansen's rat-catcher and shaker-down of Gay bars like Christopher Street back in the day.

This could never have been possible without the ofay nodders of the City Council, like Independent go-along Scott Waguespeck and the pink and jowly flesh of dean Ed Burke ,“Every citizen should be appalled by it, especially that they were allowed to keep working there,” said Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward).  “We need to make sure that the human resources department is actually doing their job and rooting this activity out and firing people.”  Can I get a Harrumph!!!!!!!!

Harrumph, Harrumph, Harrumph!

Mel Brooks could not have scripted this better.

Then of course there is that corps of cagey crusaders of the City Council Black Caucus led by the Son of Mayor Mumbles,
The City Council Black Caucus on Monday said they were deeply disturbed by the alleged culture at the department.

“The pervasive culture of racism at the Water Department has been an open secret for years,” said Black Caucus Chairman Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th Ward). “We hope that this moment can serve as a wake-up call for all those in the department and in other departments where this behavior is still tolerated or even encouraged.”

I kind of flipped the order from that swell WTTW screed.

Water our most precious planetary  provision contaminated by racist, sexist, homophobic troglodytes with decades of experience in the ways of Chicago's political swamp!!!!!!  This pervasive culture of racism!  Rahm has been mayor twice now.

 Rahm thanks "The pervasive culture of racism at the Water Department (that) has been an open secret for years,” just before the runoff election in 2015

This pervasive culture of racism was the tip of Rahm's spear against Chuy Garcia ( read Mike Houlihan's new book on the campaign -Nothing Is On the Level) and "legitimized" the anti-labor actions of Mayor Emanuel with a gift of $ 53,000 from the Chicagoland Pipe Trades and the first massive bill board located on the east side of the south bound  Dan Ryan at 79th Street.  Funny.  All photos of that sign have been scrubbed on Google.

Yep the Water Guys and Rahm are cultured up!

Yet, Rahm has people looking into his e-mails.  Let the flood, Brothers and Sisters, wash away Rahm's iniquities.  It shall. Now, get you bile up about the clouted racist, homophobic cultural Irish Catholics.  Why not?

Everyone hates the Irish, including the Irish and for some very good reasons.

The two clouted but temporarily disgraced Micks will be fine.  With time and a supine media they will find six-figure salaries on the public teat!


* City of Chicago Water Department workers are heroes who fix busted water-mains at 3AM in sub-zero temperatures and then get beefed in a Chuck Goudie sham show about how much money an hour a caulker makes.  God bless Chicago workers taken for granted and treated like dogs in the media. 

Trump's Troubles Will Never Go Away - The Obama Purge of the Military Was Their Beginnings

Donald Trump is the 45th President of the United States and he was voted in because our founding fathers understood the danger of an oligarchy. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton fiercely protected the minority soul of the colonies. This minority soul still floats, for now. 

Growing up in an America where schools taught civics, we were often treated to films that warned us of the dangers of Military coup.

Seven Days in May stuff.   A group of hard-core Curtis Le May, or Chesty Puller type of brass hats, decide to save America from democracy, but there is always a lower ranked career hard-charger who foils the oily admirals and generals.

The fact that our love of Harry S. Truman, who saved the world from nuclear war, after saving millions of our Dads by using atom bombs, by firing Gen. MacArthur, pumps up the inflation of military scorn among us stay at home patriots works against us. The military is never going to launch a coup - the politicians and their handlers will and without bullets.  Tribunals later, of course.

In fact, it was President Barack S. Obama who fired, cashiered, disgraced and insulted more career military leaders than the old Rail Splitter himself. These drips and drops of deceitful discharges crystallized in the shabby and psychedelic treatment of General Stanley McChystal.  The real coup went after the military -the guardian of the Constitution.

The Obama White House ( Valerie Jarrett) steamrolled toward Iranian rapproachment and the American military leadership turned to rubble.  The more pliable 'dog-robbers' became Pentagon and later State Department spokesmen.


Americans voted for Donald Trump, because they have witnessed the rise of American Oligarchy. Before people who voted "Never Trump" get hysterical, allow me to clarify - the people who voted for Trump were not from  Vladivostok.

In 2014, a study of American Policy conducted by Princeton and Northwestern Universities concluded - Yes, we are a Banana Republic

 We report on an effort to do so, using a unique data set that includes measures of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues.
Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence. The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic-Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism. Testing Theories of American Politics, elites, special interests and average Americans.

The entire fabric of Obama's broadcloth coalition is woven by elites, special interest groups who curry favor from the elites and scorn those beneath them. Here they are -




That's Senator Dick Durbin  Mau-mouing with Champagne Wolf Blitzer of CNN - the first is the Senator Pat Geary from the Land of Lincoln and the other a news reader the equal of Herb Fuller.  One is a hapless dope who will do and say what ever the string pullers ( Big Agra, Strategic Advisers, Hennessy Gas Utility, Planned Parenthood) tell him to say and the other a self-celebrated Scud Stud who popped the bubbly preemptively on November 8, 2017.   These are the quality faces of the Resistance , along with Rep. Mike Quigley, Rep, Jan " The Turk" Schakowky, Rep. Bobby Rush, Rep. Danny " Rev. Moon" Davis and the balance of the Illinois Democratic Caucus of the Challenged. Trump wants to Drain The Swamp and creatures Senators Dick Durbin, John McCain (R.), Richie Blumenthal( D.), Chuck Schummer (D.) and Lindsey Graham (R.) want to keep their habitat.

These swamp creatures are no slouches, neighbors, these are practiced creeps. We are afflicted with consciences and become prone to shame whenever the urge to listen to our bad angels. These folks kill angels in the womb and they are supported by the media Leviathan eats our dollars and spits ink.  These swamp critters are free to roam and range like gators at a Disney Resort. Free!  Free of media scrutiny, criticism, or concern. The Leviathan is worried about Trump.

I am not.  My Civil Liberties are in better shape now, than they were back in February,  2015, right around the time that Obama  ordered NSA Boss James Clapper to twerk like Desiree Rogers at a job interview -

In national security-related cases, the F.B.I. uses the letters to obtain information from companies, including telephone records or the names of subscribers. Unlike a subpoena, no judge is involved; the F.B.I. issues the letters by itself, usually requiring that the recipients never disclose the letters’ existence.
In the new rules, “the F.B.I. will now presumptively terminate National Security Letter nondisclosure orders at the earlier of three years” after the opening of an investigation, the administration will announce, or at the close of the investigations. But an exception can be made if a midlevel F.B.I. official offers a written justification for continued secrecy.

How about that, Sparky?

Then of course Obama counted on Hillary not to screw the poodle at the polling booth - she did - and once the cast of Hamilton went full Carmen Ghia and Roger De Bris after the election , Obama tweaked the already twerking James Clapper

And in his final days in office, Obama created the largest ever expansion of access to non-minimized NSA intercepts, creating a path for all U.S. intelligence to gain access to unmasked reports by changes encoded in a Reagan-era Executive Order 12333.
The government officials who could request or approve an exception to unmask a U.S. citizen’s identity has grown substantially. The NSA now has 20 executives who can approve the unmasking of American information inside intercepts, and the FBI has similar numbers. And executives in 16 agencies -- not just the FBI, CIA and NSA -- have the right to request unmasked information. 

All of these tools are now in the chubby fingers of Dick Durbin, Wold Blitzer and nodding elements American populace. The nodders easily become shouters.

Trump could say, "Good Morning" and CNN's Dana Bash would snark, " Is it, Mr. President?  Is it really? Must be sunny in Moscow."

As America is already a Banana Report, I seriously doubt if we will notice a coup when it happens.

The Joy of the Classroom: Et ut mercedem hoc faciunt

I am monitoring a computer-based class that puts geometry and trades-skills into the hands of America's future workforce. Today, this class of sophomores create house-blue prints including steps overview, draw for depth viewing, sketch and mechanical drawings.

One young gent created a cylindrical design for a two story home buttressed by concave supports.

Most designs apply Euclidian geometry with 90 degree line of sight, transfer with dividers and more triangular aspects to design.

All are really cool.

The skilled trades are screaming for capable young people to fill in the ranks of people from my generation, who decided to forgo Loyola, or Depaul for the Washburn and union trades apprentice programs.

This 'hands on' attention to academic details, that will impact on their lives in more dramatic ways than, Moby Dick, the )Peace of Westphalia, the Treaty of Utrecht, or the Henry Wallace attempt to turn America into a Soviet-agency in 1948, has the men engaged. The Class is known as AUTOCAD and it takes the place of the old mechanical drawing and drafting classes of old.

It is a great deal of fun watching the guys at each station measure twice and cut once.

We listen to the magnificent genius of Chet Baker and Bill Evans from their signature recording sessions from 1958-1959.  Perfect for the meticulous and exact work being performed on the thirty Dell desktop stations loaded with the Auto ACad soft- ware How High The Moon, Time on My Hands and You and the Night and Music. 

I get paid to do this.