What's Wrong with the New York Rangers?

 

The short answer to that question in my opinion, a lot!

First problem and most obvious, they aren't scoring. Their Power Play is the worst in the league.

Second, the Rangers had the #1 pick in the draft and they used it on the consensus #1 pick, Alexis Lafreniere. You would think that's a good thing, but people and pundits are often stupid and wrong and don't listen to me enough. I was never sold on the kid. Listen, sometimes there are no-doubt talents, like a Connor McDavid. This kid is no damn Connor McDavid. Personally, with a #1 pick, if there is an elite Center of D-man there, you take that over a winger, they're more valuable. I told my pal SULLY before he past as well as my pal Hotch the Rangers should take Quinton Byfield. 18 year old Center, 6'4" 214 pounds. I told my daughter the same thing when we sat down to watch the draft, as she wanted to see where Erie Otters D-man Jamie Drysdale went. 

Byfield may be a year away from the NHL, but the team lacks depth at Center and this kid has elite skills and skating ability to go along with his size. And from the way Lafreniere has played so far, he looks like he's a  year away from the NHL.

Next issue, defensemen. Originally thought to be a position of strength and depth on this roster, not just by us fans, but also the front office as well as NHL pundits, it has shown itself to be lacking depth, and not that fucking good. I hated Marc Staal forever. The Rangers finally get rid of the slow, overrated, overpaid, bum and replace him with slower, overpaid, bum, Jack Johnson. Johnson too was overrated at one time, but people figured that out, except the Rangers I guess. For a defenseman, dude's defense is horrendous! The Rangers also have Overpaid Brendan Smith who's defense is so shitty, they have tried to use him as a winger the last couple times, also showing a lack of depth in their forwards. Smith is playing more than Johnson and actually plays better, but they are both deadweight.

Rangers fans and the front have been hanging our hats on the number of young, talented defenseman in the system. Adam Fox (23) and Ryan Lindgren (23) stepped up last season becoming the teams top pairing. Libor Hajek was the key piece in a trade that sent then captain, Ryan McDonough and JT Miller to Tampa Bay. Hajek was so disappointing last year, he was sent down then loaned to a Czech team. He's back now after injuries and COVID issues, and is doing ok. Then there is 6'5" K'Andre Miller, who has shown flashes of brilliance and his game feels like a left-handed Seth Jones. He's settling in well, but too often is paired with a hack like Smith.

Then we get to Tony DeAngelo. At 25 the Rangers are the 3 organization he's been with. He's been a locker room headache everywhere he has gone, as well as on the ice. He was suspended in both juniors and the NHL for abuse of officials. He was also suspended twice in juniors for violating the Ontario Hockey League's policy for keeping "homophobic, racist and sexist language out of the game."

 Along with Fox, the Rangers were excited about having two offensive-minded, puck-moving, right-handed defensemen. But there's a problem. DeAngelo is an asshole and he can't stop himself from being an asshole.  He spent most of the off-season on social media, getting into it with people, including challenging a fan to a fight. He vocally supported Trump, mocked mask wearing, played down COVID, even played the COVID is a "liberal hoax" card and bashed Black Lives Matter. He was a loud supporter of the "Blue Lives Matter" crowd, you know, the same crowd that attacked Capitol Police and killed one of them. So shit probably got uncomfortable as fuck when he was paired with K'Andre Miller. (Miller is black, if you didn't know.)

When Miller scored his first NHL goal, DeAngelo snatched up the puck. This is a customary thing. Another player on the ice grabs the puck and gives it to the equipment guy who marks it and the rookie is presented with it after the game. The Rangers have made a point to share a picture on social media of players showing their milestone puck after the game it happened in. There was no picture of Miller with his puck, and it was a few days before anyone knew where the puck was. It's since been reported that the equipment manger is having it framed for Miller, but where was it that first night? That question along with lots of talk about the team not being happy with how DeAngelo had been treating Miller throughout the season, has had many speculating DeAngelo was holding it back with no one really answering why the traditional photo wasn't done before framing.

Then right after that, DeAngelo and his 2 year, $9.6 million contract were put on waivers and we learned DeAngelo started a post 5-4 OT loss, physical altercation with Goalie Alexander Georgiev. The Rangers had enough. No one claimed DeAngelo with his high price-tag and history of being a locker room cancer. The Rangers have made it clear, he's not coming back and are trying to trade him, but market isn't really strong for racist, pro-Trump, assholes who have been more productive on social media than they are on the ice.

Now, today news broke that Rangers star Artemi Panarin is taking two week leave from the team. Why the hell is the Rangers' best scoring threat taking a leave? Because for two years now, when asked questions about how things are in his home country of Russia, Panarin has spoken out against Putin and last month he showed support on Instagram for Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalty, who has been poisoned and imprisoned by Putin. 

In a 2019 interview, Panarin said, "I think that the people who hush up the problems are more like foreign agents than those who talk about them. If I think about problems, I am coming from a positive place, I want to change something, to have people live better. I don't want to see retirees begging."

What an awful thing to say! How dare he care about people. Fuck Putin!

Sunday, a smear campaign started in Russian newspapers, (where Panarin still has family) including a story from his former KHL coach, Andrei Nazarov, accusing Panarin of beating up a female in 2011 while in Latvia. Then that people were paid off to make it go away. Nazarov has in the past publicly criticized Panarin for his outspoken beliefs about Putin.

No one is saying if there are security concerns for Panarin or if his family back in Russia are taking threats, but based on Putin's history, there is plenty to worry about.

Today the Rangers released this statement:

"Artemi vehemently and unequivocally denies any and all allegations in this fabricated story. This is clearly an intimidation tactic being used against him for being outspoken on recent political events. Artemi is obviously shaken and concerned and will take some time away from the team. The Rangers fully support Artemi and will work with him to identify the source of these unfounded allegations."

Again, I say Fuck Putin!

Two Types of People

 

United States Congresswoman from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who is constantly attacked by Republicans including this week by all Texas GOP members, has raised $3.2 million to help the people of Texas and is in Houston right now working at a food bank with fellow female members of Congress, Sylvia Garcia and Sheila Jackson Lee, both from Texas.

In comparison, Texas Senator Ted Cruz tried to take a Vacation in Mexico and was shamed into coming back. Since then all he has done is try to spin his multiple LIES and excuses. If you don't know, when he was first shamed, he told the press his daughters wanted to go on a trip and he was just escorting them and coming back. Then it came out that his return ticket was originally for Saturday, and he didn't switch it to Thursday until Thursday morning. Then his wife's friends gave the "New York Times" her texts, inviting them to come join them on their "our house is freezing" trip to Mexico. So Ted started spinning how he regretted it almost immediately. Yeah, immediately after social media exploded with pics of him fleeing the disaster in the state he represents.

Then the of course it came back to the classic Republican pivot. It's not his fault. The blame belongs to media and liberals for him being a piece of shit. If the media didn't tell people he was a piece of shit, the he wouldn't be one, right? As for the liberals, it has to be some of their fault too, because they have been calling for regulation and upgrades to the system in Texas for years, but if they didn't do that, you wouldn't know the regulations and upgrades were so desperately needed and called for TEN YEARS AGO when a similar Winter storm happened.

As for the guy Ted Cruz beat out in his last election, Beto O'Rourke, who is not an elected official, he has organized volunteers, and along with him, they have made 784,000 wellness calls to seniors in Texas this week, along with getting people rides to warming centers or bringing them needed supplies.

Oh yeah, but Ted Cruz did do something. He and fellow Republican Senator from Texas, John Cornyn sent a letter to President Biden requesting Federal aide to help Texas, after Biden had already said he was sending aide. The same type of aide, by the way, they both were opposed to giving California during the wildfires and the same aide they opposed giving New York and New Jersey after “Super storm” Sandy.

There's two types of people. People like AOC, Sylvia Garcia, Sheila Jackson Lee and Beto who lead, who have compassion and get attacked for caring about their fellow humans. They take the attacks and slurs and keep on moving forward.

Then there's people like Ted Cruz, who honestly only qualifies as a person based solely on his physical form. Otherwise, he's just a piece of shit, like his fellow Republicans in Texas, Greg Abbott, Dan Crenshaw and John Cornyn, along with too many others, who lie and take no accountability and only care about their bank accounts.

I'll take the AOC, Beto type, who give a damn. Leaders that actually lead and get things done.

Rush Limbaugh Is Dead, Good.

 

Rush Limbaugh died this week and I had no intention of posting about it. My good friend BOB posted a rant about people trolling and celebrating his death online, a pointed out one of our flaws as humans, especially in this digital age where it's so easy to shit on people. I agreed with his post. I hated Limbaugh, I still hate him. People will always tell you hate is wrong, but how can you know love, if you don't know hate and vice-versa. But I thought, why pile on. I know the pain his loved ones are feeling, they don't deserve that.

Or do they? As I saw Republican politicians and "conservative"/"right wing" media praising this man and celebrating his "accomplishments" and showing my sympathy and respect to him than they have for the 500,000 Americans who have died from COVID, or for the Capitol Police Officers who lost their lives from the attack on January 6th, I started thinking about what he actually did. What he said. Who he really was. He was an awful fucking person.

Why shouldn't people celebrate Rush's death. In the 90's, this fucking scumbag had segment on his show, where he read off names of gay people who died from AIDS, while playing bells, whistles and horns, celebrating their deaths. Hate and division were his art and he made millions off of it. 

"You're a foreigner. You shut your mouth or you get out."

"Blacks are 12% of the population, who the hell cares!?!"

"Let stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work."

"Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals look like Jesse Jackson?"

"Holocaust 90 million Indians? Only 4 million left? They all have casinos, what's to complain about?"

"We need segregated buses."

"The NAACP should get liquor stores and practice robberies."

"Women still live longer than men because their lives are easier."

"Take that bone out of your nose and call back" (said to a black female caller)

"If ant race of people should not have guilt about slavery, it's Caucasians."

"Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of society."

Those are just a very small number of examples of Rush Limbaugh's sexism, racism and hate.   

Limbaugh lead the charge when it came to bashing "The Elites." Wait, what? Yeah, Millionaire, cigar smoking, on the best golf courses, pill popping junkie, five days a week rallied his ignorant listeners to hate "the elites," ignoring that he was one of them.

Republicans and Christian Conservatives gave Limbaugh great praise when he came out swinging and telling people Trump "wasn't a Republican." That was quickly followed by Rush, Christian Conservatives and the vast majority of the Republican Party laying down for Trump like a $10 Russian whore. Limbaugh carried Trump's "Birtherism" lie. He was a vocal COVID denier. And yes, he was one of the many loud voices pushing Trump's "Big Lie" about the election as well and a full throated supporter of the terrorists who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Maybe somewhere in his personal life, Rush Limbaugh was decent, but we never saw it and I find it hard to believe it was there to be seen. I don't want him to rest in peace. He can burn in hell. This bastard brought nothing good to the world and I don't think we should all place nicey-nice now that he's dead. He was a horrible person, fuck him!

Maybe I shouldn't have written this and stayed on the high ground. Does he win by his hate drawing out my anger? No! I've spent the last year using this blog and socially media (mostly) to call out lies, bullshit and hate and speaking truth. Sometimes that means getting in the mud, and I'm fine getting dirty.

What's Bigger in Texas? The Bullshit!

 

Texans love to use that old line, that "Everything is bigger in Texas." What's actually bigger in Texas is their, arrogance, their hypocrisy and their lies...Their bullshit!

For two days now, Republican lawmakers/politicians in and from Texas have been trying to cast the blame of their failures onto, "liberals," AOC, who's from New York, as well as President Biden and Vice President Harris. They are trying to say "green energy" is why millions of Texans have no power. Governor Abbott and Congressman Dan Crenshaw being the two loudest voices, along with Republican news network, FOX NEWS.

What they want you to ignore is the facts. Things that are public record, for anyone to see, as long as they actually want to see and know the facts. They are counting on people to 1. trust them and 2. be dumb or 3. both.

These lying bastards have been telling everyone that the mass power outages brought on by a historic (for Texas) Winter storm is because of the failings of "green energy." Wind and Solar being their top targets, as well as nuclear. What they aren't telling you is 88% of the power in Texas comes from coal and natural gas. Twenty hours ago, wind, solar and nuclear were all back online, while the coal and gas are not. 

They made a big stink about wind turbines freezing up and needing to be de-iced. That right there is what got me looking into this, because up north, wind turbines never stopped working. For example, 14 degrees in Toronto and those things were still going. So what happened? Texas being greatly opposed to government regulations did not choose to implement the de-icing regulation when they put up their wind turbines. As a matter of fact, the electrical grid in Texas was deregulated, privatized and taken of interconnected networks to avoid federal regulation. Yet here they are trying to blame the federal government for their failures.

Funny how Republicans who claim to be the party of "personal responsibility" are always looking to blame someone else for their fuck-ups!

Let's also not forget the the many Texas Republicans like Ted Cruz who spent a great deal of time shit talking California for having power issues and rolling blackouts during this past years wildfires. Cruz along with fellow Texas Senator, John Cornyn voted against sending California any federal aide. Both also agreeing with Trump that "Blue States" shouldn't get help, ignoring the fact that "Blue States" carry the bulk of this country's economy. Yet both Senators Cruz and Cornyn were asking for Federal Emergency Funds this weekend before the storm even got bad. The majority of those Federal Emergency Funds come from tax revenue from Connecticut, Massachusetts,  New York, New Jersey and Washington.  

So maybe next time Ted Cruz bitch, moaning and complaining about the evils of SOCIALISM, lets all tell him to shut the fuck up with his LYING and fear-mongering.

I have friends in Texas and I hate to be shitting on their state and hope they don't take it personally, but people, we have to call out the lies. Stop letting the Politicians, their corporate interests and Fox News lie to you.

Monday Moaning: "Is This America?"

 

A group of Capitol officers sat, defeated, crying, talking about what had just happened, one saying, "What the fuck was that? What the fuck? Is this America?"

That was January 6, 2021 after domestic terrorists attacked the United States Capitol. A black officer mentioned about the insane number of times he had been called a "nigger" that day. Police were beaten. One will lose an eye, one lost 3 fingers, one had a heart attack as the crowd dragged him down the stairs, beating him, trying to take his gun, and tasered him multiple times. 140 officers were injured. 1 was killed. 2 killed themselves after that day. All of this done by the hands of the people who screamed "Blue Lives Matter!" every time someone says "Black Lives Matter."  Every time a cop unjustly kills a black person, these people say "Back the Blue! Blue Lives Matter!" 

But then January 6, 2021 they attacked the Blue. Everything so many of us thought, was put on full display to prove our thoughts were right. To these Trump-loving, white supremacists, it was never about supporting Blue Lives, it was always about hating Black Lives. Blue Lives only Matter when they're killing Black Lives! 

There is video of a police officer being beaten with a flag pole, that has the idiot, "Thin Blue Line" Flag on it. Yes, I have great issues with that flag, and not only because it's been co-opted by White Supremacists.

What baffles me about these Trump-Cultists is they are the ones who claim to be the most Patriotic of all Americans. All Johnny Red-White-Blue...But their actions are the furthest thing from it. They wrap themselves in clothing with man's name all over it. They fly flags of a man's name instead of their country. Yeah, some fly both...Christ, some also fly the ignorant Confederate flag and the Nazi flag too. But I will never forget the moment on January 6, 2021 when attackers climbed scaffolding and cut down a United States Flag and hung a TRUMP flag in it's place. They have accepted to throw out Democracy and wish to have an Authoritarian ruler. 

These people aren't "Patriots" as they claim to be, or as Ivanka and Donald Trump praised them to be. They are Traitors. 

They committed treason. Treason is defined as: "the crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government."

January 6, 2021 These people's intent was to overturn our election results, as well as killing Vice President, Mike Pence and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, the next two people that were in the line of succession of power. That shit is treason and the punishment for treason is: "Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death."

You know, last week I wrote about the "Super Bowl" and commented on how odd it was that it had been so long since I wrote about sports, considering I, not too long ago, co-owned, operated and for a sports blogging site. A friend of mine, who I met through blogging at "The Sporting News" commented how he liked it when I write about sports. 

I appreciate that. 

I know I have turned a lot of people off by mostly blogging and posting on social media about politics. There are moments when I get frustrated by it...Where I wish I could just write about the latest horrible trade the Cleveland (still) Indians made, or why the fuck the New York Rangers can's score AT ALL on the Power Play. The thing is, as much as I love the Rangers, it's just not that damn important. Not when you consider we have a large portion of our country that is willing to accept Authoritarian rule. When you have sitting members of Congress who are willing to accept that. Members of Congress who have sided with a would be dictator over their country and the citizens/taxpayers they represent. 

We have people who still say COVID isn't real, ignoring that 485,000 Americans have died from it. 

These aren't minor little things going on in our country right now. These are huge, terrifying problems. I have three kids and I want them to grow up in the America I grew up in, that was full of hope instead of fear. That stood up for what is right. That aspired to greatness instead of playing down to the lowest common denominator.

To answer the officer's question, yes, this is America...But it doesn't have to stay this way.

One last thing. Going back to both sports and treason. I have a great idea for next year's "Super Bowl" Halftime show. Every single one of the these traitors, receives their punishment for treason on live TV. Halftime Executions!  SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! 

Monday Moaning : Super Recap

 

Tom Brady, back were he belongs...On Top!

It's been awhile since I did a sports blog. Odd since the first ten years I wrote blogs they were 90% sports blogs. But here we are, the day after the "Super Bowl" and we have a familiar face that will now be adding a seventh "Super Bowl" ring. 

Over the years lost of people in the media and well, just plain old, stupid fans have tried to knock Tom Brady and say it was all about Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots Way and their system. For most of his time in New England, Brady had subpar weapons around him and yet he was never out of a game. Bill wasn't throwing those passes or reading the defense's coverage in a split second. I'm not knocking the coach or the system, but too many people try to use that against Brady.  Too many people want to overlook he was a 6th round pick and works harder in the film room and on the practice field than anyone else. Too many people try to say Aaron Rogers is a better QB. How many rings does he have? Yeah, he can throw a ball through a brick wall...So what! Doesn't mean shit when he was throwing the ball top the Buccaneers defense a couple weeks ago! 

Some people get bothered that I'm fan of a player over being a fan of a team, so I'll try to explain. I'm a lifelong Notre Dame fan. My father and I were in South Bend for a Notre Dame vs. Michigan football game. Michigan was alternating QB's. Drew Henson, who got tons of press and WAY TOO MUCH hype and Tom Brady, who got no attention. As we watched the game, my dad says to me "I don't know why they don't leave this number 10 (Brady) in, he's the better Quarterback." Eventually Brady took over full-time in the second half and lead Michigan to a comeback victory. As an Irish fan I was bummed, but as a football fan, I just watched something great, and I was hooked as Tom Brady fan. 

Then you get to his NFL career, where he took over for an injured Drew Bledsoe and never let go of the job. As the years went on Brady often took less money than market value for an elite Quarterback. He left money on the table so the team could spread it around to more of the roster. Numerous times he redid his contract to free up money for the team to sign or resign other players. No other player or coach personified the New England Patriots Way or did more for setting the tone for the team culture, than Tom Brady. So when it came out that Bill Belichick tried to trade Brady a couple years back and then didn't want to resign Brady or pay him what he was worth after 20 years of undying loyalty, there was no doubt I was going to be team Brady. 

For me, this Brady "Super Bowl" win is my favorite. It's a giant fuck you to the haters. (which here in PA, I'm surrounded by them.) A fuck you to the people prematurely trying to push Patrick Mahomes as the next GOAT. Oh, and a big ole, fuck you to Bill Belichick.

You just know that miserable fuck was all kinds of bitter last night!

All this said, football is a team sport and we cannot ignore that the Tampa Bay defense was amazing, playing a nearly perfect game. Not letting the Chiefs score a touchdown is something no one in the world expected.

Now I want o address the folks bitching about the refs. Many talked about the refs making comments like "Brady always gets the calls." Those people are just straight up Brady haters. Then there were what I call typical, idiot, sports fans. Bitch, moaning and complaining about the refs as an excuse for your team playing poorly. Here's the deal fucktards, if your teams defensive backs hold on every fucking play, the refs are going to call the penalty. The Chiefs' DB's are well known for holding, so much so that the analyst, Tony Romo talked about it before a flag even flew. Suck It! Take your loss, you earned it!

Most "Super Bowl" recaps talk about the halftime show and commercials. I will, but it will be brief. 

Halftime: The Weekend. Never heard of him. Had heard a couple songs in commercials or on radio a bit. I wasn't interested. He's no PRINCE! When dude was spinning around with in lighted gold room, I got dizzy, annoyed and walked into the kitchen and heated up some spicy Queso to have with some soft pretzels.

Commercials. Honestly, I didn't pay attention to most. I looked at twitter most the time during commercials. The greatly hyped "Wayne's World" commercial was a bust. We now have another streaming service, as Paramount+  pounded us with commercials. At this point, I have to ask, how long does network TV have since we have  20 streaming services? (BTW, Peacock sucks)

The one commercial that stood out to me Bruce Springsteen's lets bring everyone down, gloomy ad, trying to push political and social unity, while also trying to get us to buy a Jeep. 

Remember when people always got upset about musicians getting commercial success, or their songs being used in commercials. People would bitch about that artist being a sellout. Nope! Bruce Springsteen's Jeep commercial, preying our social and political differences, is selling out! Fuck Jeep and fuck him!

The best commercial, in my opinion, was for diapers! Yep, Huggies won. 

Have a week.

Republicans Have Made Their Choice, Their Choice is Stupid!

 

Yes, that's Marjorie Taylor Greene on the campaign trail, she brought that cardboard cutout of Trump up to the podium, and then caressed it's crotch. That's the "Family Values" party gang! 

Yesterday the House Democrats stripped her of her Committee seats, only 11 Republicans voted with the Democrats. The night before Republicans said she denounced her past statements and apologized, to them. But when given the chance to speak on the floor yesterday, she apologized to no one. She said her past statements were in the past and were not said while she was a member of Congress. Pretty weak defense if you ask me. Especially since I watched a video of hers from after the election, where she states, "there will be no peaceful transition of power like Joe Biden wants," adding that Trump one, because of all the elected officials who have carried Trump's big lie, she has done the most heavy lifting. (I will not be posting any of her video clips. If you haven't seen them you can find them if you want, but I'm not giving her pageviews.)

On the floor she said "School shootings are real," but she didn't say Sandy Hook or Parkland were real. Those are the two she in the past specifically called fake and "false flag operations." She said that "9-11 happened." Well thanks for the BREAKING NEWS you cunt! But her QANON, 9-11 argument was never that 9-11 didn't happen. She often said how "no plane hit the Pentagon," and that it was all a secret inside job, planned by Obama. She didn't denounce anything, take anything back, or apologize for anything. Like Trump, she spoke in code, did the dance to make the Republican establishment feel better while still signaling to her lunatic base that she's all in with Q. 

She then turned all the blame on the media. Yes, it's the medias fault that they showed the world your ignorant social media posts, and your videos that you live streamed and posted on websites. Listen you stupid twat, I just wrote that you're a stupid twat, but it really didn't happen until CNN tells people I said you are a stupid twat...RIGHT!?!

She did not deny, apologize or even acknowledge her support of the the comment that the best way to get rid of Nancy Pelosi is with "a bullet to the head."

Her talk of the Secret Rothschilds space laser being used to start California wildfires was never brought up. Her repeated Anti-Semitic, Homophobic, Transphobic, Islamophobic, Racist, hate speech was not addressed. Remember folks, this bitch in 2019 went to the Capitol with a Christian Bible and wanted to try to force Muslim members of Congress to swear their oath on it, because she was pissed that they swore their oath on the Quran. Yes, she was filming this stunt, as she did with all her stunts...And she was rambling on about how they went against The Constitution by using the Quran. See, this stupid bitch has never read The Constitution, but some one told her it says freedom of speech and you can own guns, and that's all she knows about it. The fact is, the document says nothing about what their oaths of office need to be sworn in on. If you want to swear in on People Magazine, you can. 

So, here's a little lesson for Maj. 

The First Amendment:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

That means, it forbids Congress from promoting one religion over others, as well as restricting an individual's religious practices. So yes Maj, you can say your ignorant shit, but it just proves you're bigot and a fucking idiot.

Considering only 11 Republicans voted with the Democrats, it's clear, there are a lot of bigots, QANON supporters, and/or fucking idiots now in the in the House GOP. 

This next little section isn't about her crazy shit she says or believes. It's just about the type of piece of shit she is. All these QANON people think she's one of them, blue collar, regular American. Nope, like Trump, she's a grifter and hasn't earned a fucking thing in her life. "Her" construction company, she was given, by her father. She applied for and received a PPP loan, but she wants you all to ignore that, especially since she was vocally opposed to any COVID Stimulus or relief package. Oh, and after getting that PPP loan, she donated $450,000 to her CAMPAIGN. 

 

She took to twitter to when it was announced that the Democrats were going to vote to remove her from her seats, bragging that it was helping her fundraising. Then after her not-apology floor speech where she asked for forgiveness, "we all make mistakes" and said how lies have to stop, she sent out a fundraising email/social media blast full of lies about Ilham Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib. 

She is using every page of the Trump playbook and Republicans seem to be just as chicken-shit, afraid of her ignorant ass, as they have been of his ignorant ass.

I'm going to post Steny Hoyer's closing remarks from the 'debate to remove this gash from her committees. It's 17 minutes long, but you should watch it all.  The man spit fire & truth and called for Republicans to decency. They are the party that has often tried to claim that the are the moral example. Clearly, by their vote, they aren't.  

AOC is the Future of the Democratic Party

 

Last night Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had an Instagram Live where she discussed the events of January 6th from her point of view. She shared a great deal of personal information and insights to what was going on in the Capitol. She shared how she feared she was going to die and kind of made an acceptance that she may die. She conveyed her fear she had in a instance with a Capitol Police Officer. How she didn't trust him, was afraid of him, but also acknowledged she could have been projecting because of the intensity and fear of the situation.

Her fears were justified. If you have watched videos from that day, you can hear the domestic terrorists shouting "Hang Mike Pence!" You can hear attackers searching for Nancy Pelosi, calling out her name, talking about killing her. You can hear these criminals searching for AOC. Rep. Ayanna Pressley's another member of the "Squad" and her staff discovered while hiding from the attackers that sometime before the attack or before they got to their office, that all the panic buttons had been torn out. The threats of death to everyone in the Capitol was real.

But all this didn't stop idiots on the right from attacking her. I haven't heard any Republican politicians attack her about this, yet...(UPDATE: a day after posting this, Republican politicians have started attacking her for her comments)... but their supporters were off and running immediately last night. Far too many assholes on Twitter calling her trauma fake and just attention seeking...The same ones that needed time and wanted us all to give Trump time to deal with their trauma of losing the election!

What's even more sad about our state of affairs these day, Democrats knew assholes on the right were going to do this. So much so, that Rep. Katie Porter was on Lawrence O'Donnell's show immediately afterwards, not only confirming/backing up AOC's account, but sharing details from her perspective and conveying how she could see and feel her colleague's fear.  

The Right, from day one has always been on the offensive when it comes to AOC. Politicians, Right-wing/Conservative media, plain old Right leaning assholes and racists are always attacking her, trying to shout her down. They scream their favorite fear-inducing word, SOCIALISM while holding up a picture of her. They mocked her form not only not being a DC insider, but for being a bartender, because in their eyes having real life, real world experiences to go along with your education is a bad thing for politics...Which is hilarious now that one of the two top, QANON following, fresh faced Republicans in Congress is Lauren Boebert, who bartended, ran a restaurant and oh, didn't graduate from high school. But she got her GED while campaigning for Congress. (along with $70,000 from Ted Cruz. Wonder what she did for that)...So go ahead and mock AOC for having bartended! Assholes!

But why has the right gone after AOC so hard? Because they saw it well before most Democrats. They see she is the future of the party. They saw people gravitated to her because she is one of the people. She plays video games and chats with people on Twitch. She has Instagram streams like last night, openly communicating with people. She doesn't act like politician, she acts like person. Jesus Christ, why the hell do you think Ted Cruz is trying to play the Everyman? Dickhead's net worth is $3 million and his wife is a managing director for Goldman Sachs, and now he's trying to act like he's just one of us and cares about blue collar workers. Many Democrats still don't realize this. Many of them don't like her. 

 Listen, I'm a liberal guy. My father is a lifelong Democrat, Union guy and one of the smartest people I know. We agree on most things and if we don't, I hear him out completely because I know how smart he is and the lifetime of wisdom and experiences he has. He has said it to me, that he "Can't stand her" when talking about AOC. Further discussion on the topic, he shows his age and tinge of misogynism/ageism saying "She doesn't know how things work," and "she's too mouthy." So here, we disagree. Her being "mouthy" is part of her appeal to many, myself included. As for not knowing how things work, she does know, and that's why she is bucking the system. She knows how things in DC have worked, aren't working for the vast majority of Americans. 

My father and too many Democrats, feel things will be okay if we just keep the establishment politicians in office, doing the same old dance they have done for ages. What too many don't realize is the rise of Trumpism and the QANON Republicans has already changed the dance. There battle cry of MAGA: Make America Great Again sums it up. AGAIN is the key word. They want to go backwards. They want segregation. They want June Cleaver in the kitchen, in her dress, wearing her pearls, waiting on Ward Cleaver, hand and foot. They want some of the worst parts of America be normal AGAIN. 

AOC and "The Progressive Caucus " are the polar opposite. Progressive. They want us to move forward. Not just on racial issues. On fucking everything. The establishment Democrats move at a snails pace, many are just flat stuck in the mud. 

On Inauguration Day AOC bought supplies for 1400 striking workers of the Hunts Point Produce Market, in her district and then joined them in their strike. The market pulls in $2 billion in yearly revenue. The workers who have been showing up every day throughout COVID to help keep shelves stocked for over half of New York, were asking for a $1 per hour raise. The best offer they got was 32 cents. After AOC walked the line and got some national media coverage on the situation, the market came back to the table offering a $1.85 over the next three years and adding 40 cents per hour to employee healthcare. 

That is leadership. That's moving the needle. That's not just connecting to the people, but working for the people. That's what the country needs. That's the example the Democrats should embrace and follow. That's the future. No more going back to AGAIN!

Monday Moaning: SNL, I'm Over It!

 

I have to get this off my chest. Yes, I know SNL has always based much of their content around social and political issues. I'm 45 years old, I remember when the show was not only good, but when it was great. I have never had an issue with the show touching on politics and social issues, but I'm starting to get annoyed with the trending theme of how everything is awful these days. 

I love Kate McKinnon. She funny, a good writer, good actress, but I don't need Kate telling me hard the last year has been. I don't think we need to hear Kate complain about how nothing in America works anymore. I don't need her on-air meltdowns because everything is all fucked up. Yeah her doctor bit was okay and it was funny when she lost it and Colin Jost broke character, and asked "Kate are you alright?" To which she responded "no." That wall being broken down was fun but the show seemed to follow that line and now each episode has a couple skits reminding us how broken or fucked up things are.

I always watched the show for laughs and if you can make a bigger point while getting the laughs, great...But people don't need to be reminded shit blows right now. We're all looking for escapes from that, if only for brief moments.

And we really don't need to be told how bad things are by people who don't have it that bad. Kate McKinnon don't lose her insurance because she's in multiple unions that keep her insured. She still has a nice contract with SNL, so she isn't missing any paychecks. Yeah Quarantine/lockdowns suck. Lack of physical and social contact can suck. I get it people are dealing with even more mental health issues now, then ever before. People in her shoes, have a bank account with big-time movie money in it, giving them many more avenues to get help, unlike countless Americans who are scraping by, hanging on for dear life.

 Yeah, 2020 sucked and 2021 has started out shitty, but something tells me Kate and company haven't had to go through the pain in the ass and embarrassment of having to file for unemployment or standing in line at foodbanks. So when a well-off movie star/comedian keeps losing it, or harping on how bad things are over the last year, that shit kind of rings hollow. 

I don't mind celebrities speaking up for the everyman, trying to support the little guy, but I can't stand celebrities acting like their the everyman, when they have all the means to get through shitty times.

I hope, SNL gets past this phase quickly. I'll tune in this week, not to see if they do, because I doubt they will, they tend beat dead horse. I'll be tuning in solely to see Phoebe Bridgers sing.

Have a week.