Ass Clown Special Award

I have been presenting Ass Clown Awards for more than 15 years, since presenting the first award to Der Furor in April, 2011. I find it depressing that I so frequently have a hard time selecting a winner from the swirling cesspool of eligible recipients, that so many recipients have received multiple awards, and that the number of potential recipients makes it necessary occasionally to present out-of-cycle Special Awards. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, I share that depression with you today as we present the latest 

Ass Clown Special Award

to

Secretary of Defense (not War)

Pete Hegseth

Mr Hegseth, arguably the least-qualified and most incompetent Secretary of Defense ever to hold the office, is receiving his ninth Ass Clown Award today, a record exceeded only by Der Furor (with 22 awards, including two Ass Clown of the Year designations) and Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell (with thirteen awards, including three consecutive Ass Clown of the Year designations). Today's award recognizes not the incompetence and national embarrassment we have come to expect, but a descent into behavior that is noteworthy even in an administration that routinely plumbs the depths of moral bankruptcy. 

Last week, Mr Hegseth announced that former Army Major Nidal Hassan, convicted of murdering 12 fellow soldiers and injuring 32 others at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009, would be executed by a military firing squad, and that the execution would be live-streamed.

Just to be clear: while I oppose the death penalty in general, I have absolutely no objection to the execution of a man who deliberately murdered his fellow soldiers in cold blood. My objection is to the reduction of the death penalty to a form of cheap entertainment for the masses. 

The U.S. military has not carried out an execution since 1961, when Army Private John Bennett was hanged for rape and attempted murder, and there has not been a public execution in the United States since at least 1936. No civilized nation in the 21st century makes public execution a national spectacle. Not only this, but live-streaming the execution of a man in a wheelchair (to which Hasan has been confined since being shot by a police officer during his rampage) provides a grotesque image that will be a propaganda godsend to those who share Hasan's twisted religious motivations.

I have no issue with putting this man to death for his heinous crime. But to make his execution a public spectacle for the benefit of the MAGA masses is beyond despicable. That Mr Hegseth has proposed, and Der Furor has approved such a spectacle surrenders what little remains under this regime of the moral high ground we once enjoyed. We join the august company of such paragons of dignity and human rights as North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Afghanistan.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, we present this Ass Clown Special Award to Secretary of Defense (not War) Pete Hegseth. I am thankful every day that my military service came to an end before he had the chance to bring shame on a noble profession.

Have a good day. Demand more from this regime, but expect less. You will not be disappointed.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Monday Mountains

It's a new week, and that means it's time once again for Monday Mountains! Let's get climbing ...

1 - A wonderful mountain valley to explore ...

2 - It looks as if this mountain is proclaiming that it's Number 1 ...

3 - Blue and white mountains, blue and white sky ...

4 - Mountains reflected in the water are always beautiful ...

5 - Nice framing of the mountains by the trees ...

6 - Reminds me of the Great Pyramid ...

7 - I love this beautiful mountain vista ...

8 - I wonder if this is what Tolkien had in mind when he dreamed of the Misty Mountains ...

9 - Another awesome wall of majestic mountains ...

10 - And finally, courtesy of NASA, we know that there are mountains of ice on Pluto ...

I hope that some inspiring mountain scenery has inspired you to great things in the coming week. 

Have a good day and a good week to come. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Poetry Sunday

The month of October this year has five Saturdays and four Sundays for us to use for our Halloween-themed Cartoon Saturdays and Poetry Sundays. Today is our first Poetry Sunday for the scary season, and we turn to American poet Carl Sandburg to paint the picture ...

Theme in Yellow

by Carl Sandburg

I spot the hills

With yellow balls in autumn.

I light the prairie cornfields

Orange and tawny gold clusters

And I am called pumpkins.

On the last of October

When dusk is fallen

Children join hands

And circle round me

Singing ghost songs

And love to the harvest moon;

I am a jack-o’-lantern

With terrible teeth

And the children know

I am fooling.

I hope you enjoyed this poem ... and I am not fooling.

Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your weekend as we draw nearer to Halloween! More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Cartoon Saturday

Oh, geez, just make it stop ...

In a speech in Nebraska, Der Furor ignited a firestorm when he suggested that Iran could "take out" US cities if it developed a nuclear weapon, saying "Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego,” and that "it would be a small price to pay; Margaret Hamilton, the math genius whose programming helped land astronauts safely on the moon, has died at the age of 90; Der Furor immediately a new round of tariffs against Canadian literature after Canadian poet, essayist and translator Anne Carson won the Nobel Prize in literature; Secretary of Defense (not War) Pete Hegseth announced that the execution by firing squad of convicted murderer and former Army Major Nidal Hasan will be and live-streamed and "public" - details to be announced; in the Peruvian town of Queropalca, voters chose Hitler Mussolini Simeon Flores as their new mayor; and in (where else?) California, nine people were arrested for poaching huge numbers of Pismo Beach clams ... prosecution will likely be difficult, as the arrested suspects have resisted police interrogation by clamming up.

Our second Halloween season Cartoon Saturday features the quintessential fellow who wishes he could get good head - The Headless Horseman ...

I hope his insurance covers treatment by that specialist ...

I guess it's an understandable mistake ...

'Tis the season ... election, that is ...

Sometimes the technology isn't all it's cracked up to be ...

I can relate ...

Bottoms up! ...

The lab results are in ...

Well, it's one way to deal with junk calls ...

I guess he's graduated to hundreds of horses ...

Oops ...

And that's it for this year's Halloween season Cartoon Saturday salute to the Headless Horseman - I hope you enjoyed it.

Have a good day and a great weekend, and be sure to come back tomorrow for our first Halloween season Poetry Sunday and a visit with the great American poet Carl Sandburg. More thoughts then.

Bilbo

Great Moments in Editing and Signage

 

It's time for our first collection of editorial and signage ya-ha's for October! Let 'em rip ...

Um ... I think I'll try a different market, thank you ...

Oops ... wrong tower ...

Thanks for the warning ...

It must be one of those MAGA "Christian" churches ...

I shamelessly stole this one from Debra She Who Seeks. I'm sure there's a story here, but I'm not sure I want to know what it is ...

I thought this was the hours of operation for Congress. It's an understandable mistake ...

It also helps to take the pants off ...

Perhaps they get a lot of applicants from Georgia ...

I think this may be one of the most unnecessary signs ever ...

That must be chain suitable for an aircraft carrier ...

And that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed the collection, and remember - you can always send your finds to ol' Bilbo ... I'll give you credit when they post!

Have a good day, and be sure to come back tomorrow, when our Cartoon Saturday Halloween Spectacular continues with a salute to The Headless Horseman - see you then.

Bilbo

Thursday Trees

 

Today is Thursday, which means it's time for a new edition of Mike's Thursday Trees! Let's get right to it ...

1 - a black canyon pinyon-juniper tree doin' the Twist ...

2 - an Australian eucalyptus tree ...

3 - a ginkgo tree ...

4 - Winter is Coming, and not just for the Starks ...

5 - now, that's a tree in a hurry!

6 - a juniper tree in Korea ...

7 - an olive tree that looks like I feel early in the morning ...

8 - a Pinus Longeava, the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine ...

9 - is this tree rooted, or just screwed into the ground?

10 - a tree with legs ...

And that's it for today's edition of Thursday Trees ... I hope you enjoyed it.

Have a good day, and come back tomorrow for a new collection of Great Moments in Editing and Signage ... see you then!

Bilbo

Of Potholes and Promotional Videos

A lot of things enrage me about our federal government at the moment, not the least of which is the spending of my tax dollars on self-promotional video praise of Der Furor. Also on the list is the cost of the useless testosterone screening decreed by Secretary of Defense (not War) Pete Hegseth, the cost of the undeclared and not-Congressionally-approved war with Iran, and the cost to the economy at large of Der Furor's self-destructive tariff wars. 

The Constitution, the founding document of our government, was created to, among other things, "promote the general welfare." How self-aggrandizing videos of a power-drunk autocrat, testosterone screening of the troops, wars of choice, and tariffs that cause the cost of living to skyrocket promote the general welfare is legitimately open to question. 

What should government do? What should it pay for? These are questions whose answers are colored by the political and economic philosophies of those who answer. I shouted my opinion in a howling rant of a post back in August, and people continue to howl about them every day as we approach the midterm elections. But I would say that, as a minimum and before anything else, the government should pay for things that benefit the health, security, and economic well-being of its citizens.

Which brings me to this article from the New York Times: Mamdani Is Showing the World How It’s Done. 

New York mayor Zohran Mamdani is doing at the municipal level what the federal government ought to do for us at the national level - he’s making his constituents’ lives better. Potholes in the streets are getting filled, snow is removed, trash is getting picked up, and he’s managing to do it without spending money on videos to tell everyone how wonderful he is. Mr Mamdani seems to recognize what our current elected reprehensives have long forgotten - that governments exist to serve the needs of we the people. Not just the oil people, the mining people, the technology people, the banking people, the investment people, the crypto people, the big pharma people, the ... well ... you get the idea.

We, the people. You and I.

I saw this meme* on Facebook the other day, and I think it really sums up what we, the people actually want, need, and deserve ...

The shamelessly, outrageously flagrant corruption of Der Furor, his family, and his associates at the expense of you and I as taxpayers should generate the sort of rage that leads to torches and pitchforks rather than petitions and lawsuits ...

and I can see it coming if we're not careful.

We can start by voting the bums out in the midterm elections on November 3rd. It won't be easy, and those with a big stake in remaining in power won't go easily. But if you want safe streets, world-class infrastructure, health care, safe foods and medicines, and the rest, you need to start here by reminding them that, without a doubt, those things are preferable to pitchforks and torches.

Have a good day. Vote like your grandchildren's future depends on it. Because it does.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* I'm working on a series of blog posts discussing these needs one by one. Stay tuned.

The Speech and Debate Clause

 

Article 1, Section 6, Clause 1 of the Constitution says in part,

They [the Senators and Representatives] shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

This is known as "The Speech and Debate Clause." It's original intent was to protect legislators from frivolous attacks based on their legislative work, but over time it has been interpreted to mean that members of Congress can say whatever they want without fear of arrest for perjury, slander, or any other offense. When they are questioning witnesses in committee, for example, they are not required to be sworn in (that is, to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth"), although those who testify before them are. 

What could possibly go wrong?

Last week saw a classic example of abuse of the Speech and Debate Clause when Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt angrily insulted and demeaned former Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, accusing him of perjury and calling him a "villain" and a "dirtbag," before his accusations blew up in his face when they were proven to be completely, hilariously wrong. Rather than apologizing for the error, though, Mr Schmitt doubled down, further beclowning himself not only in the hearing, but in a later appearance on a far-right podcast.

This, unfortunately, is far from the only example of despicable behavior by members of both parties under the protection of the Speech and Debate Clause. YouTube is full of video clips of angry Senators and Representatives thundering down at witnesses from their lofty perches, secure in the knowledge that they cannot be held to account for anything they say, no matter how false, defamatory, poorly researched, or otherwise inappropriate. From the time of the disgraceful Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s to the shameful treatment of Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings, the Speech and Debate Clause has been abused to protect members of Congress at the expense of truth and fairness. It enables mendacious lawmakers to sacrifice truth on the altar of sound bites.

If witnesses before Congress must be sworn to tell the truth when they testify, their questioners should be sworn to the same standard. It'll never happen, but it's one of my safer fantasies.

Have a good day. Demand more of your elected representatives, but expect less ... in the words of Alexander Pope, “Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.”

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo 

Monday Mountains

 

The first Monday of the new month offers us the chance to admire October's first collection of beautiful mountain scenery ...

1 - Good place to stop ...

2 - Westeros isn't he only place winter is coming ...

3 - The Franz Josef Höhe on the Großglockner, Austria ...

4 - I think this picture should illustrate the word "pinnacle" in the dictionary ...

5 - Lermoos, Austria ...

6 - Mount Whitney in the mist ...

7 - Patagonia scenery ...

8 - The Swiss alpine paradise ...

9 - Val Fedoz, Switzerland ...

10 - View from the Zugspitze in the direction of Garmisch, Germany ...

Enjoy the restful majesty of the mountains ... we can all use the serenity.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo