We’ve made it to Monday, but not before getting a good head start on a giant road pizza on I80 and nearly Flambeing (Steve McQueen/Bullitt-style) a carload of folks running from the Antioch Five-0 at a Pittsburg Chevron station this a.m.
Treated to a rare, quiet weekend we spent it addressing some back-end tech enhancements and monitoring the giant Ear Trumpet our site has become. Judging by the level of activity out there, you all have a lot on your minds.
Turns out folks critical of the president’s recent erasure of a portion of student debt (aka “government handouts”) have had more than a fair share of their own loans forgiven – known to them as “yeah, but I deserved it” loans.
We also noted the strident upTikTok of complaints, threats, and bombastic commentary which has consumed the blathernet since the execution of a federal search warrant in Miami Beach. The far side of the Digital Front Lines featured a host of people led by the magnetic Gen. Lindsey Graham promising “Riots in the streets” if their leader is brought to trial. Country Commandos in chin whiskers, trucker’s caps and “Joe Bob’s Fish Haven” t-shirts leaned into their daughter’s “Frozen” web-cams to threaten all manner of retribution should that come to pass.
We’re not sure if it can be attributed to the proliferation of “Punisher”-type movies, the country’s general adoration of weaponry, or the gradual severance from reality that has plagued the nation over the past few years but if we have to listen to one more DigitalWarrior intone “Ahm reddy ta dah fah ma countree” we’re going to lose it. And most everyone has guns, bro, this is America after all – it’s just that most of the people you hate don’t sleep with them and call them “baby.”
Along with the hyperbole we noticed a – dare we say it? – sense of calm and optimism beginning to surface. Many commented on a renewed and apparently effective “No Malarkey” stance taken by the current president and his staff which, when weighed against the word salad gobbledegook spewed by the opposition, has led to a fresh hope for the future among many constituents.
Offline correspondents reaching out to us expressed a wish for government legalization of cannabis, a clear plan to address climate change, a change in government direction come November, and a return to normalcy the nation hasn’t seen for a while. Wouldn’t that be nice?
After a careful 12-minute review of the weekend’s influx of emails, we’d be willing to wager the country will not be forced to undergo another Gettysburg, that Gen. Graham and others like him will have to pack their uniform away for good soon, and that the rest of us will be able to move forward as a united nation.
We have work to do and it’s time to get down to it.
Love reading your posts. Both for their common sense and wit. Happy Monday!
Grateful you were able to spend some time with us, DKO!
As one who worked to pay off my student loans I do indeed voice displeasure at what Mr. Biden has done. But my reason for writing is to request specificity regarding prior loan forgiveness you mentioned that I or others have received. As for myself I have no such recollection.
Nor do we, though we did “win” a favorite cat at an SPCA auction once. The reference would be directed to several members of Congress and others who objected to the partial waiver of standing student loans but not to the tens of thousands they received in PPP funding.
“Malarkey!” It’s risky to mess with the word wardrobe of a soon-to-be 80-year-old man.
You really lost me when you got to the “no malarkey” and “sense of calm” points. The latest legislation called the “Deficit Reduction Act” does nothing to reduce the deficit according to most outside the White House so it hits a 10 on the malarkey scale. Second, the sense of calm mentioned here is right after the president, who promised unity, declared tens of millions of Americans are fascists even while he himself is being accused of weaponizing the FBI and DOJ to knock out his main political opponent. As for addressing climate change, this same administration has no credibility after telling us climate change is an existential planet killing threat, but decided there were lots of more pressing issues and first addressed fiscal stimulus payments, gun control and taxes on stock buybacks. So instead, I sense a celebration of malarkey and a purposeful increase in hostility from this administration.
Neither a borrower or a lender be.
Doing the limbo dance. How low can you go? Contestant 1: The General has ALWAYS been a loyal servant and proclaims publicly that Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. Contestant 2: Rudy delivers sober testimony (Fifth please) to grand jury and develops a sudden allergy to microphones. Rudy receives a fifth of scotch for his undying devotion to his “criminal confederates”, and as a participation prize. The check for his contribution to the “legal strategy” is said to be in the mail. Contestant 3: Anthony, Anthony, Anthony. “Apolitical” secret service servant of the President becomes appointed political actor under Trump, then becomes “apolitical” secret service servant again. He is reportedly eager to testify under oath that Hutchinson lied about what he said about the President’s rage in the limo…No, wait, that didn’t happen. He skipped that whole under oath thing. He retired instead. There is more money to be made from his public service gig.