NATIONAL ICED TEA DAY UPDATES
Today's Edgy Clickbait Comment: Sweet Tea is An Abomination of Tea AND Sugar ... STOP!
-There was not a huge crowd that appeared in over-100 degree weather in Nevada last night to hear an ostensible campaign speech from presumptive MAGAGOP Presidential nominee Convicted Felon Ex-President Trump (R-apist) - but those who did got a beaut!
-To begin, Trump's warmup acts - Nevada GOP Chair Michael McDonald (no, not the guy from the Doobie Brothers) and MAGA Leader Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Z-Q-R, GA) both gushed and praised the crowd to endanger themselves with heat stroke for coming to ... and this was the exact word both used to ... "worship" Trump, with Greene adding (in a nod to many posts on MAGA Media) that "like Jesus, Trump is a convicted felon!" (Not a cult, right?)
-Trump then took the stage to immediately complain about how "I'm sweating my ASS off up here!" (EWWWWWwwwww...) and how unfair it was that the Secret Service and officials were worried about the crowd rather than him, observing at one point "I don't care about you - I just want your vote!"
-Trump then worked the crowd with more griping, this time about the teleprompters that he brought (and without the irony of the attacks Trump constantly lobbed at Barack Obama for Obama's use of teleprompters) and ripping the stagehands, adding he hoped they wouldn't be paid (and given Trump's habits of not paying workers, quite likely).
-But what really clinched the rally was Trump addressing the voters of Nevada about issues of critical importance to the voters of Nevada, an excerpt of which is posted below ...
-"...and it must be because of MIT my relationship to MIT very smart because I say what would happen if the boat sank from its weight and you're in the boat and you have this tremendously powerful battery and the battery is now under water and there's a shark that's approximately ten yards over there by the way lot of shark attacks lately notice that lot of shark attacks I watched some guys justifying it today WELL THEY WEREN'T REALLY THAT ANGRY THEY BIT OFF THE THE YOUNG LADY'S LEG BECAUSE of the fact that they were they were not hungry but they misunderstood what sushi was these people are great he said there's no problem with sharks they just didn't really understand a young woman's swimming (sic) now we really got decimated in other people too a lotta sharks so I said THERE'S A SHARK TEN YARDS AWAY from the boat TEN YARDS over here do I get electrocuted if the boat is sinking water goes over the battery the boat is sinking do I stay on top of the boat and get electrocuted or do I jump over by the shark and not get electrocuted because I will tell you he didn't know the answer he said you know nobody has ever asked me that question I said I think it's a good question I think there's a lot of electric current coming through that water..."
-Amazingly, multiple reports noted crowds - some of whom, according to a new report this morning, were paid up to $75 to attend - started leaving Trump as he yammered on and on and ON about sharks and batteries and ... if polling is to be believed, Trump is ahead of Biden by close to 10% in Nevada. (Apparently because sharks and batteries are an issue in Las Vegas?)
-And I am sad to say there may be no batteries and sharks stories from Trump today because of an appointment he has - via Zoom - with a probation officer. As part of the preparation for sentencing after being convicted of 34 crimes connected with catching-and-killing the story of his sexual dalliance with Stormy Daniels in the weeks before the 2016 Presidential election, a pre-sentencing report indicating whether a newly-convicted criminal would have any life style issues such as hanging out with convicted felons or excessive travel or a lack of remorse about the crimes that the conviction was for or drug use must be written. Trump being Trump, he gets to have this hearing virtually with his attorney present - two exceptions most convicts do not get - and that hearing is this morning. Sentencing is July 11, and it is expected that even if incarceration is recommended, serving of the sentence will be suspended pending appeals which will take any punishment to 2025.
-There was definitely good news/bad news in elections yesterday for representatives to the European Union. The bad news first: ultra-right wing parties had an excellent day, with hard-right anti-immigrant pro-Putin parties making major gains in the EU in countries including Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden, and France (more on them in a moment). The good news: even with their gains, center-left coalitions will maintain control of the EU and those countries, as even with the gains hard-right parties still are far from having enough power to alter major policies. As in the U.S., immigration and the economy were major issues - though unlike the U.S. and what its press reports, inflation has continued to weigh down the region's post-Covid recovery - along with security, given the ongoing Ukraine war and divisions in supporting Volodymyr Zelenskyy (SLAVA UKRAINI!) - but the strength of the parties was still a shock.
-The biggest shock in Europe, however, was in France, where the National Front party of Marine LePen and the new face of the party, 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, won a majority with more than double the amount of both the socialist party and French President Emanuel Macron's Renaissance Party. In response, Macron said he "heard" the electorate and called for snap elections in late June and early July - a move most observers called "a colossal gamble."
-Macron appears to be banking on the idea that when faced with a choice with an authoritarian/right-wing party, French voters will do what they have done before and vote against the NF - but the risk is that voters will be disgusted with an entrenched party and instead look to Bardella, who is adept at TikTok and is the new face of the party over the twice-defeated LePen. That the elections will take place days before the Paris Olympics is also a bit of a worry, and will also be occurring the same week as British elections (though there it appears Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is in deep electoral trouble). Gird your loins ...
-In this week's episode of Who is The Right Wing Angry At Now?, the answer will make many unhappy ... because this week, they are angry at ... DOLLY PARTON! As we all know, Dolly is an icon for many reasons, one of which is her embrace of the LGBTQI community. And as we also know, few things get MAGA angrier than tolerance over different people who have urges some of them constantly and violently suppress. So last week, the Federalist Society - the organization directly responsible for giving Trump the names of judges to insert to persecute them (and many, many, MANY other communities) published a column with the fairly-easy-to-interpret tile "There's Nothing Loving About Dolly Parton's False Gospel," and criticized Parton for having a non-Christian view of love, claiming "condoning immoral sexual behavior ... is unaligned with God's vision for humanity."
-Needless to say, the column unleashed righteous fury at the Federalist Society, so the author of the piece backtracked - but only insofar as to admit using Dolly Parton to make the argument was probably wrong. The argument itself is one they still support, as evidenced by their authorship of Project 2025, a blueprint Trump and MAGA have embraced to use should they regain power, and in which ending LGBTQI marriage, forcing transsexuals into camps, and criminalizing abortion and birth control are front and center of the plan.
-A plan Joe Biden heartily opposes.
-In case ANYONE reading this is even THINKING about not voting for Biden ...
-But let's end on a confusing note ... back to that Nevada rally, where super-genius MAGA thought Leader Marjorie Taylor Greene issued this warning about one of Trump's biggest targets - electric cars: "If you think gas prices are high NOW ... just wait until you are forced to drive an ELECTRIC CAR!"
-Uh ... er ... um ... ah ... m'kay ... phew!
-That's plenty for today, don't'cha think?
-On this date in 1692, the first execution of an alleged witch took place in Salem, MA. On this date in 1765, Benjamin Franklin flew a kite with a key at the end of the string during a thunderstorm as an experiment in electricity. On this date in 1898, U.S. Marines landed in Cuba as part of the Spanish-American War. On this date in 1967, the Six Day War ended. And on this date in 2007, THE SOPRANOS aired its still-controversial did-Tony-get-whacked-or-not finale.
-Debuts on this date: TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (1865), color photography (1907), Alcoholics Anonymous (1935), Big Brother & the Holding Company (1966), the Apple II computer (1977), FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION (1985), the MTV Movie Awards (1992), THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP (2000).
-Happy Birthday to Hattie McDaniel, Frederick Loewe, Howlin' Wolf, Terence Rattigan, Saul Bellow, Barry Morse, Judy Garland, Nat Hentoff, Maurice Sendak, Chuck Fairbanks, F. Lee Bailey, Jurgen Prochnow, Jeff Greenfield, Dan Fouts, Rich Hall, Carlo Ancelotti, Timothy Van Patten, Kim and Kelly Deal, Brent Sutter, Gina Gershon, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Jimmy Chamberlin, Elizabeth Hurley, Bill Burr, Faith Evans, Tara Lipinski, Leelee Sobieski, Kate Upton, and Sasha Obama.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Alexander the Great, Antoni Gaudi, Jack Johnson, Spencer Tracy, Michael Rennie, William Inge, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Louis L'Amour, Jo Van Fleet, John McKay, Ray Charles, Gordie Howe, and Claudell Washington.
-Feed the Worms: Ex-New York Governor and pervert sex pest Eliot Spitzer and SOTU career-killed former Governor Bobby Jindal entered Earth on this date. Havez al-Assad, John Gotti, Donald Regan and Ted Kaczynski bought it on this date.
-John Edwards was born on this date. Marcus Garvey died on this date. You decide if they get a Happy Birthday/Rest in Peace-Power or if they Feed the Worms.