Laughing Through Clenched Teeth

Some humorous, yet cringeworthy things going on in the news recently.  Here's a few of my observations.

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Sarge waxed political a couple weeks ago, which is not the norm for him.  I on the other hand I'm a little more animated and energized about the topic.  There's always plenty of material of course, since our politicians never seem to behave the way they promise when they run, or what we would expect and deserve as they serve us. They seem to often forget that last part, that they serve us, not themselves. I can't even say it's only the Democrats either, as there are plenty of rinos and cowardly republicans, that are either just as corrupt as those on the other side of the aisle, or refuse to do anything about those that do act inappropriately.  I'm a little encouraged by what the new speaker of the house has done, with a little bit of common sense when it comes to removing some members from their committee positions, since they were clearly acting inappropriately with regards to anti-Semitic statements, being compromised with foreign contacts, or just plain lying to impeach the President.  These are things that would get you or I fired, or at least lose our security clearance, if not be jailed for treason, but some pigs are more equal than others as George Orwell said.  For McCarthy to get his position, there were plenty of concessions that he had to give to the Freedom Caucus in exchange for their votes, although I don't think these removals were one of those.  However, I reserve judgment for how well the rest of the promises will be kept over the next year.

Freedom Caucus members also won a slew of other major concessions, including:

• A promise for guaranteed votes on pet issues, like a balanced budget amendment, and term limits, a Texas border plan, and an end to all remaining coronavirus mandates and funding.
• A new committee to investigate the alleged weaponization of the FBI against its political foes. The committee would be modeled on the Church Committee, which investigated US intelligence agencies in 1975. It would have a budget comparable to the recently disbanded Jan. 6 Committee.
• More single-subject bills to allow members to vote on specific, narrow issues instead of thousand-page pork barrel behemoths.
• A 72-hour window for members to read any new bill before it can be voted on.
• A promise to refuse any increase in the debt ceiling in the next federal budget agreement.

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I've expressed my frustration about the security of our elections, government overreach with regards to covid, and what occurred on January 6th 2020.  Another one of those Freedom Caucus concessions is supposed to look into the lack of police response on January 6th.  We already know how doors were left unlocked, the FBI had evidence that this could happen, and how people were let inside (through doors held open by Capitol Police), almost as if that's what the left wanted.  It also seems that more and more people are realizing that the government wasn't all that truthful when it came to the safety and efficacy of COVID vaccines.  With Pfizer executives now admitting it was never going to stop transmission, and quite a few unexplained deaths and adverse reactions, like strokes and heart problems, it's clear that we were definitely lied to.

On that last point, it seems the narrative is unraveling a bit, especially with that latest video (now blocked by YouTube of course) showing how Pfizer is continuing with illegal "gain of function" research, now dubbed Directed Evolution, making the virus more deadly, and ultimately allowing them to sell more vaccines.  Was there some altruism there?  Sure, they claim they want to help people, but I think that's a far distant secondary goal after making huge profits. 

Pfizer’s combined sales from its Covid vaccine and antiviral treatment generated more revenue last year than it had in total sales in 2019  

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I realize this is not a popular belief, but I think that we were all duped. There's just too much strange coincidental evidence out there, not to mention conflicts of interest between the federal government and pharma, that could make me sound like a conspiracy theorist, but over the last decade, a lot of big power players in the world were talking about population control and using vaccines to do it.  I'm not saying that COVID is a hoax, and that it wasn't an illness that had real disastrous effects that killed people, but it now seems that our response was completely overblown, shutting down the world, keeping people from their faith, and forcing the vaccine on people who didn't need it, such as the young and healthy.  I just can't trust big pharma, especially when they can't prove to us that it came from animals and not a lab.  Also because the govt incentivized hospitals so generously to diagnose it.  We know there's a lot truth out there than we'll never have full access to because it would force the govt to show their cards and embarrass themselves (or show their corruption).   

We'll see if this new Congress has any teeth towards these COVID, election, or corruption issues, or if they will they be cowed into cowardice like we've seen so many times before.

Did you see the video about the young black man being beaten to death by five cops in Memphis?  It's tragic, no matter what the circumstances are surrounding the death, but despite the fact that this was not a white on black, or black on white death, CNN was quick to allow an opinion piece that said that the black cops were probably fueled by racism, caught up in the supposed systemic racism problem we have in this country.  I guess a death can't just be a death, a tragedy can't just be tragic.  Bad cops can't just be bad cops.  It must be spun into gaining political points and further dividing us by tagging it Racism!

I watch a lot of Dash-Cam videos on YouTube. Plenty of accidents occur where two lanes turn left and the inside car doesn't stay in its lane.  Or when one of two lanes in one direction is full of stopped traffic and a car is speeding up the clear lane. Inevitably, someone will try to jump out to get into the faster lane without signaling or looking, and a crash happens.   From the experience I've gained while watching those videos, I'm on defense- watching for the left turns, and making sure I'm not speeding next to a stopped lane.  From the Memphis video and so many others though, I ask- why do they run from the cops?  It's tragic what happened, but many of those deaths seem to have that in common.

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How about that Chinese balloon that was shot down? My sister in-law in Montana said they should have shot it down over her state, as there is plenty of land where that thing could have fallen.  Her sons with their 22's asked if they could try.  First kill for an F-22 Raptor apparently, so Biden will probably give the pilot the DFC.  Plenty of memes and tweets out there which are pretty creative and humorous.  Here's one I "lol'd" at.

 

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The 2024 run is starting to heat up.  I like Trump, voted for him twice, and he was what we needed at the time.  After 8 years of the previous Administration, with both the CINC and SECSTATE running roughshod over the rules, and with Congress forcing horrible bills down our throats through brute force politics*, we needed someone like Trump to come in and make them realize who they work for.  He was a hammer which was the right tool for the job then.  Now, we need something a little more subtle, a little more of a statesman, yet with all the same ideals as Trump.  I think the guy down in Florida is what we need.  It's definitely going to be interesting.  Unfortunately, if there is any dirt on him, I'd expect Trump may drag it out during the primaries, which isn't good for anyone.  Nicki Haley is apparently going to run as well, but with his blessing, Trump clearly isn't concerned about her the way he is with DeSantis.

If you haven't seen "The Menu" on HBO Max, it's worth a watch.  Definitely a different kind of film, not really horror, not typical drama.  Part of the reason I enjoyed it is because of what inspired the writer.  Back in 2017 or so I was fortunate to go on a NATO exchange to Norway.  The Norwegians took our group out to dinner at a phenomenal restaurant on a small island.  The restaurant is the sole occupant of the island which can only be accessed via boat.  The movie has the same premise- the writer went there too.  However, my dinner ended better than the ending the movie characters got.  That's foreshadowing, not a critique!  This photo was taken during the ride back.

All Quiet on the Western Front on Netflix was very good too.  I've also recently discovered "Derek" there too.  It's a Ricky Gervais show, filmed in mocumentary style, like "The Office" which was hilarious.  It's not as full of laughs, but still very touching, set in an old folks home, it's a compassionate look at those on the margins of society.  Apparently Ricky Gervais has many family members who work in that industry.  

Ok, enough of that.  Enjoy your Tuesday.  I expect we'll get to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.  

*Brute Force Politics:  My own term, but it's passing bills with no discussion, compromise, or bipartisanship, purely through a vicious majority.  And it requires every single vote you have, against every single vote in opposition, with no allowance for views that don't follow the party line.  Not good for politics, not good for America.