Root and Branch
30/07/23 07:05
I think I'm going to listen to a little Melanie this morning to get the ball rolling. Melanie of the seventies fame that is. You'd be surprised how putting on a little music can help to grease the skids when it comes to putting something down on paper. Coffee helps, too, but that goes without saying. I saw somewhere in my travels this morning that Devon Archer is going to testify before Congress this week. He is expected to testify that Joe Biden was an active participant in many of the deals the Biden's put together to shake down this or that person or group in order to enrich themselves and their extended families. This rebuts Joe Biden's constant refrain when he says that he was never involved in his son's business pursuits. Oh, okay, Joe. Nothing to see here. Move along.
I get very irritated every time I think about the fact that by the time anyone catches up with Joe Biden, at the rate we're going anyway, he will be so far gone that we'll get very little to no satisfaction from anything that the courts may or may not decide. He's halfway there, if not more, as I sit here this morning for chrissakes. All of this gnashing of the teeth will have been for naught. The Democrats will move on to their next crisis, and we'll be off to the races all over again. It's wash, rinse, repeat. I'd love to see Dr. Jill in an orange jumpsuit along with her spawn, Hunter, and maybe a handful of Joe's brothers, so we'll see if any of that comes to pass. Do I have that right? Is Hunter Dr. Jill's spawn? Maybe not. I may have to be satisfied with the knowledge that Joe Biden will go down in history as the most corrupt President in the history of our Republic, bar none.
I don't know that I'll be watching the Republican debates when they air in late August. I hear that Trump is interested in holding an event of some sort on the night of the debate to distract from the candidates involved in the debate. That's right. As of today, he's thinking about not attending. Can't blame him, really. He's got such a lead in the polls that it makes little to no sense to have him show up so that every Tom, Dick, and Harriet can use him as a human punching bag. The lot of them would be utilizing Democrat and RINO talking points to try and take down the eight-hundred-pound gorilla in the room. I've heard rumors to the effect that Trump wants to sit down with Tucker on the night of the debate for an interview. My question would be, who is interviewing who? What if Trump turned the tables and interviewed Tucker as his prospective Vice President?
That's not to say that Trump's rivals won't be ripping him a new one even if he doesn't show up. They do so at their own peril. Trump is dangerous even when he's not in the room. I don't know that candidates like Chris Christie have much else to offer in a debate setting since taking down Trump is more important to him than winning any nomination by his party of record. That fat fuck spends more time talking about Trump on outlets like CNN and ABC than he does anywhere else. He's just a bloody bore. A broken record, if you will. I like Vivek. The guy is as smart as a whip. He'll keep the conversation on the debate stage elevated enough to secure a spot on Trump's ticket or in his cabinet should he prefer one or the other. I'd go so far as to say that should Vivek be our eventual nominee, that I would vote for him without hesitation. DeSantis has fallen so far in the polls that he may have to spend more time in the debate battling those people who are now nipping at his heels and, in some cases, threatening to surpass him in the polls.
I told the missus that I've really been enjoying the corn on the cob that we've been having lately, but I need to use less butter in the prepping process. I've never been much of a corn-on-the-cob guy, but I've eaten more corn this year than any year in recent memory. Maybe what I've really been enjoying is all of the butter and spice that I've been lathering and sprinkling on the corn. It's hard to be good when it tastes so good. Three minutes in the microwave is all it takes. I tried roasting a few ears on the grill, but that seems to be a lot of work and, quite frankly, a waste of propane just to cook an ear or two of corn. I sprinkle a little water on the shucked piece of corn, wrap it in a paper towel to absorb any excess water, and in the microwave it goes. Voila! Can I put your piece in now, little darlings? Those are the days, my friends. I thought they'd never end. Sorry, I'm listening to the song "Those Were the Days" by Mary Hopkin. This is what I'm talking about when it comes to the music. It can take you in any number of directions, some better than others. You don't know where it's going to take you until you get there.
It's two days and counting now until Target delivers the iPhone 8 that we ordered for Mrs. G. We've told her nothing about our ordering the phone, and it's probably just as well. She told us that she needed a phone with a bigger screen, so I think that this iPhone will do the trick. If I were to engage Mrs. G in a conversation about what she really wants, I'm not sure what that conversation would sound like. It's probably just as well that we show up for our next visit with the new telephone in tow. Everyone likes a surprise. Right? I don't know that there's anything to dislike about it since it is simply the PLUS version of what she already has. We've wondered somewhat recently about how much she really uses the iPhone that we gave her a couple of years back. She hasn't said so, but I'm thinking that being able to synch up her new hearing aids with her iPhone might be a contributing factor to this latest interest of hers in getting a phone with a larger screen. Let's hope nothing goes sideways with the delivery.
Speaking of hearing aids, we've been talking to Mrs. G about the various things you have to consider when buying hearing aids. First and foremost, hearing aids are a thing. I'd like to see some statistics on how many people need hearing aids as they grow older. Is this one of those things where everyone, sooner or later, needs hearing aids in order to function? I'm just ignorant about these kinds of things, but thanks to our conversations with Mrs. G, we're getting up to speed. One thing that jumps right off the page at me is how expensive they are. How does anyone justify charging some $3,000, give or take, for a damn amplifier that you stick in your ear? How is it that no one has come up with a cheaper alternative? God only knows there are thousands of manufacturers of earphones and earbud-type accessories. They can fit silicone chips on the head of a pin these days, so why can't they turn this market on its ear, pun intended, and send these companies that are fleecing our seniors packing at a time in their lives when they can least afford the expense involved?
I purchased a pair of earbuds from Amazon recently for $34. They hook up to my devices via Bluetooth. I've never had a pair of earbuds before, so I thought I'd give these a try. The price was right, and I wanted something I could use around the house while the missus was going about her business. Meanwhile, Apple sells earbuds for hundreds of dollars. I'm not sure that I could tell the difference between them, although I'm sure there's a difference in quality. Does the difference in quality justify the difference in price? I have to believe that the answer to that question is "no." I'm not spending my weekends listening to the Boston Symphony, so that should tell you a lot about my requirements when it comes to being able to listen to things with or without earbuds. I'm not saying that I want Elon Musk to pick up this ball and run with it, but it does seem to me that there's an opportunity here for someone to come up with a low-cost alternative that Auntie Harriet and Uncle Bill can afford. I hear losing the darn things is a problem as well for old folks, so add that to your requirements, Mr. or Ms. Whomever.
It sounds like Speaker McCarthy is getting ready to pull the trigger on an impeachment inquiry against Bumbles Biden. It's about damn time. When they get to the Senate's role in this thing, and the Democrats are in the majority in the Senate, will they be willing to pull the trigger on this old fool and convict him? You know that means Kamala Harris becomes President. Right? Would anyone be surprised to see her pardon every last Biden who took a dime from countries overseas? It's the least she can do for the old fart and, to a lesser extent, his detestable spawn who left her a country in tatters after three years of his abysmal "leadership." Then you have the polls that tell us all that Trump does even better against Harris than he does against Biden in the General Election. This is where good old Jack Smith, the Federal prosecutor, comes in with his quiver of indictments based on laws conceived during the Civil War era. At this point, we just need to make sure that none of these trials occur until after Trump wins in 2024. I'm voting Trump even if he's sitting in solitary confinement in Alcatraz. That's how badly we need to get these radical leftists out of our beloved White House.
Who gives a shit about UFO's? Congress is having hearings about UFO's this week, and I don't know who gives a flying fuck about tuning in. No, really. Maybe there are UFO's, and maybe there aren't. It's another one of those conspiracies that they roll out every once in a while when they need to gaslight the shit out of people. If we really are being visited from time to time by critters from outer space, I suppose we'd see something more tangible than just a few sightings by pilots who are otherwise bored to tears flying while around in circles at 10,000 feet in the air. I like the stories that have them, more often than not, circling our nuclear missile silos. They are here ostensibly to protect us from destroying our own planet with a nuclear holocaust. Right. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. It's all just a crock of hooey if you ask me. I suppose organized religion has a stake in keeping this out of the public square were it to be true, so there's that. Wait a minute. You're telling me that Jesus didn't create the world in 7 days? See where I'm going with this?
I don't know about you, but my eyes just gloss over every time I see something about the number of illegal aliens that have crossed into our country since Bumbles was inaugurated. I think we're up to 7 million or more at last count. Every time I see a picture of someone who's been arrested and whose picture appears in the media, I only have one question. Well, maybe two. I want to know their country of origin and their immigration status. You know these criminal fucks are bringing their criminality into our country, and Bumbles and his minions in the Democrat party are just counting down the days until they can turn either Texas or Florida blue. Electorally speaking, we'll never have another Republican president when that happens. They couldn't give two shits that these criminal rogues are raping our daughters and killing our children with Fentanyl. Secretary Mayorkis is before Congress today, and he'll lie through his teeth and tell you that our borders are secure. They aren't. The Democrats in Congress will sing his praises, and the Republicans will rip him a new one in their allotted five minutes. It's fucking wash, rinse, repeat. It makes one sick to one's stomach.
You should have heard Bumbles yesterday. He actually stood at a podium and said that he and his Administration cured cancer. I'm sure that came as a surprise to the millions of people in our country currently suffering from the affliction. I guess we can stop sending our donations to the Cancer Society. What a complete fucking idiot. How much more evidence do the American people need before they cart this bewildered old fuck out of our beloved White House in a white jumpsuit? He wasn't done. He went on to say that 100 people have died of Covid since the beginning of the pandemic. I think he said it twice in case no one heard him the first time. I mean, talk about addled. Some media simp asked him about the stories of him and his son being in cahoots. Maybe the question had more to do with Speaker McCarthy's recent comments about an impeachment inquiry as it relates to the alleged criminality of the Bidens. He just looked at the reporter and gave his best shit-eating grin that he could muster without saying a word. He just looked so incredibly demented in that moment.
I caught a little bit of Hannity's Town Hall meeting with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last night. It was a little hard to watch as Hannity was out of his depth with Kennedy. Kennedy, at times, looked like he having a hard time tolerating Hannity's inaneness. I stopped watching Hannity a long time ago. He's nothing but a broken record. I felt a little sorry for Kennedy. I understand why he went on Hannity's show. The mainstream media won't give him any airtime, so he's forced to find alternatives where you wouldn't ordinarily expect to see Democrat candidates. In fact, I turned to CNN at one point last night, and the host had a couple of nasty anti-Kennedy shills in the studio who had a lot to say about how Kennedy's candidacy had run afoul of the usual Democrat constituencies. They had one job: Rip Kennedy a new asshole, while singing the praises of the bumbling fool in the White House. This is what Kennedy is up against. I liked the fact that Kennedy got a very respectable reception from the people at the Town Hall. When you tell people the truth, people respond to that regardless of what political party you represent. I would also say this about the man. People like a good story, and Kennedy is a good storyteller. That has to count for something.
I don't generally follow the trials and travails of Hunter Biden. He's a degenerate crackhead with a penchant for pre-adolescent girls, and God only knows what else. That's the rumor anyway. He had a date in a Delaware courtroom yesterday where he was supposed to agree to a plea deal for charges related to tax evasion and lying on a gun application. I think I have that straight. Everyone figured that this was a slam dunk of a case. He'd show up with his attorneys, and the judge would sign off on the so-called prearranged deal. What was less clear, but has now come out, was that the deal gave him immunity for any and all charges going forward. As everyone knows, and the judge now knows, is that there are several investigations ongoing into Hunter Biden and his dad, Joe Biden, more colloquially known as the Big Guy. The judge asked the prosecutors if the deal she was being asked to sign off on included potential FARA charges. That's the Foreign Agent thing that requires the person in question to be registered as a foreign agent to work with countries outside the U.S. As bagman for the Biden Crime Family, Hunter was not registered as a foreign agent and is now potentially liable if found guilty of FARA-related charges. The short answer to the judge's question was "yes." Wrong answer.
That was the end of the sweetheart deal as we know it. The judge wanted no part of giving the crackhead, Hunter, immunity from charges in perpetuity, especially in light of the fact that there are several ongoing investigations. Biden's praetorian guard, the media, who had been signaling for weeks that the signoff by the judge was nothing more than a formality, was in shock. There was more than enough humble pie to go around, but the backpedaling by the hacks in the media was a sight to behold. Biden's Justice Department had always greased the skids for the Bidens, and there was no expectation that this deal was any different. I wonder if the amicus briefs filed by several parties asking the judge not to sign off on the agreement had anything to do with her final decision. Word had it that Bumbles had cleared his schedule for the day at the White House. He was, no doubt, on pins and needles while still feeling pretty good about his son's prospects of getting this so-called sweetheart deal. This would be yet one more example of his far-reaching ability to weaponize our governmental institutions to protect himself and his corrupt and degenerate son. Only, it didn't turn out that way. Is this the beginning of the end of the Biden Crime Family? Time will tell, but hope springs eternal.
I was telling the missus that I had good energy on my bike ride yesterday morning. You know it when you have it. Everything is easier. It's easier to push ahead, and there's a certain unmistakable spring in your step. It's so good that you want to be able to replicate it on subsequent rides. Was it something that I ate or didn't eat before setting off on my ride? I used to think that I got a little more juice (energy) than usual during my rides if I drank a glass or two of water before going off. Being dehydrated is never a good way to start off, so there's probably some truth to the "glass of water" approach. I did have a shortbread cookie, a snack of sorts, if you will, before heading out yesterday morning, so I want to try that again this morning to see if I get the same results. It may have more to do with the fact that I'm not riding in the middle of the day or at the end of the day when my energy stores are typically flagging. The air is cooler in the early morning, the traffic is less congested, and my body is refreshed and well-rested after a good night's sleep. I guess we'll see. It's not yet 8 a.m., so I'll shoot to get out on the road between 8 and 8:30. Wish me luck.
This Jack Smith bullshit is really starting to piss me off. I'm talking about the disgraced federal prosecutor who has been dispatched by Biden's Department of Justice to make sure that Donald J. Trump is not on the ballot to run against Biden in 2024. What the fuck kind of banana republic do we live in? So, while Biden's thugs are doing what they can to take Trump off the ballot, Senate Republicans are telling Speaker McCarthy not to bring impeachment charges against Bumbles Biden. Have they read the damn Constitution? You know, the part about treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors? Oh, Senators like Rand Paul say we can't impeach every president of the opposition party when we get elected. It's not good for our country, he says. What else do they need to know about the crimes of Joe Biden and his crime family that they don't already know? Have they not read the accounts of the "Big Guy" and Hunter the Bagman? If what we already know about Biden's crimes doesn't rise to the level of impeachment, we're in trouble as a Republic. Keep in mind that the Democrats impeached Trump over a phone call. They are already on record saying that if Trump wins in 2024, they are going to impeach him immediately.
Anyway, Jack Smith added even more charges to the indictment that he's already brought against Trump as it relates to the Mar-a-Lago documents fiasco. It's as if adding more charges makes it seem more serious or more damning. This clown, Smith, even indicted one of Trump's maintenance men for his role in allegedly tampering with a video camera at Mar-a-Lago. Smith is desperate to have one or more of Trump's associates turn on him, to fabricate stories that serve to support the ridiculous charges brought by Smith, or just to scare the bejesus out of them by indicting them. Smith knows that Trump has and had every right to keep and maintain documents of his choosing as an ex-president, but he could give two shits. I keep waiting for someone to step in and put a stop to all of this skullduggery on behalf of the Biden Crime Family, but it's awfully quiet out there. The reticence on behalf of the Senate Republicans, in particular, to speak up against Biden suggests to me that the lot of them are intimidated by the width and breadth of Biden's Justice Department and what they are willing to do to silence Biden's detractors. Just look at the lengths to which Biden's Department of Justice has gone to protect Biden's criminality. They need to be torn root and branch from every last one of our institutions when Trump wins in 2024. If not on day one of Trump's second term, then certainly on day two.
I love learning to play new songs on my guitar, but, man, it is slow going. I don't know if it's me or something else. Why is it taking me so long to get some of these licks down? Am I making a mistake in thinking that I have to commit these things to muscle memory before moving on to the next section of the song? It is true that the more times I play the parts I'm trying to learn, the better they sound, so maybe there is a method to the madness. The better it sounds, the more committed I am to getting it right. You might say that it's the difference between having to see where I'm placing my fingers on the fretboard and related notes while playing versus being able to play the section without looking at the strings. It amazes me to no end as well that I can play the precise notes per the tutorial, but what I end up hearing on my guitar bears no resemblance to the sound of the lick played by the guitar player in the tutorial. Go figure. It's all good, though. It keeps me coming back until I get it right. I wish I had started playing a long time ago, but that horse left the barn. It's water under the bridge.
Fast forward a couple of days here, and I can now report back on the iPhone 8 Plue that we bought for Mrs. G. The phone was in great condition, and Mrs. G was thrilled to have it. If it was a bigger screen that she wanted, then that is what we delivered. I don't know that she was expecting the iPhone so quickly, so that had to be a plus for her. No pun intended. I unboxed the puppy and jumped through a few hoops with our carrier over the telephone before I had it up and running so she could use it. I was impressed with the phone and thought for a moment that Ev might like to have one for himself. He's a little leery of having a new iPhone as he's lost a couple of newer iPhones in the past. He's had better luck with older iPhones for whatever reason. We have a few more tweaks here and there to make with Mrs. G's iPhone before it's the bee's knees, but not to worry. She's happy as clam as it is, so I think it's all good. Now if we can just get her to stop stabbing the icons on her iPhone with her index finger instead of tapping them to open her applications, we can call it a day.
I went to the Ev man's dermatology appointment yesterday in Portsmouth so his doctor could take a look at a mole he was a little concerned about. I've been to that office, and if you don't know where you're going, it's easy to get lost. I didn't want the Ev man to get lost, so I told him I'd tag along for the visit. I don't think Ev has my sense of direction, but I wasn't taking any chances. He accepted my offer to tag along, and that was that. He told me ahead of time that if he got a clean bill of health that he was going to be on top of the world. I'm paraphrasing, of course, since I can't recall his exact words. He had had the mole removed in a previous visit, and it looked to the Ev man as though it might be returning. I told him that it reminded me of the mole I'd had removed, and I had the same concerns. I didn't go into the office with him to see the doctor, and this was not the doctor who had removed the mole previously, but Ev reported that it was a nothing burger when all was said and done. Just as I had suspected all along. His doctor, according to the Ev man, actually made a disparaging comment or two about the female doctors in the practice cutting people up unnecessarily. He said that he could have spared the Ev man a few scars in so many words. I like this guy.
You know who else I like? I like this Vivek Ramaswamy guy. He's a real up-and-comer if you ask me. His internal compass when it comes to everything political is unbelievable. I caught the tail end of a Twitter Spaces meeting that he had with Elon Musk and others yesterday, and Elon was admittedly impressed with Vivek and said as much. Is there anyone who doesn't think this guy has what it takes to be president? I saw some comments that he made on Twitter when asked whether he thought the 2020 election was stolen. It was one of those questions that they ask where they can take your response and craft a thousand different ads about your being an election denier. This is how insidious they are. You know who I'm talking about. Vivek saw this coming a mile away and said something about not seeing evidence to support that contention. I think that's the best you can do, especially if you haven't seen any evidence. I also saw Vivek on News Nation with Chris Cuomo, and Vivek danced circles around the News Nation host. Vivek's raw intelligence had Cuomo looking for a place to hide, but that's difficult to do when you're conducting the interview. I think Cuomo thought he was still working as a Democratic hack for his CNN paymasters judging by his questions, but Vivek schooled him and schooled him hard.
I've always liked the idea of a non-politician being president, and that is what we got when Trump was in office. Trump wasn't perfect, but he was pretty darn close. Who doesn't think that America First is the way to go? Who doesn't think we ought to be involved in zero wars with countries around the world? Who doesn't think we ought to have a merit-based immigration system and closed borders? Inflation was like one percent under Trump, give or take, and you could buy a gallon of gas for less than two bucks. And not or nothing, Trump's putting three Justices on the Supreme Court helped we conservatives put a stake through the heart of Roe Vs. Wade. How do you like them apples?
I think the politicians in our country took great exception to a guy like Trump, who went straight to the Oval Office without having to serve a day in public office. In other words, according to our hack politicians, if you've not worked your way through the system, you have no right to be president. Just how entitled are these mother fuckers? We need more Trumps going forward, and if the creek don't rise and the good Lord is willing, we'll have a Vivek or two to serve as president of our great nation once Trump is no longer running. The establishment isn't going to like it, but fuck them and the horse they rode in on. I'm talking to you, Karl Rove, Paul Ryan, Mittens Romney, and Mitch McConnell. I think I just heard something about Vivek wanting back into the Paris Accords or some goddamn globalist organization that Trump got us out of when he was president. I may have to reconsider my support for Vivek. I won't tolerate Vivek or anyone else putting foreign workers ahead of American workers in the food chain in this country. That's not who we are.
There he goes again. Just when you thought he was too bewildered and too senile to keep doing the kinds of things that he's on record for doing, and we're talking about his extensive history of alleged criminality here, Bumbles goes and hires someone who paid $850k for one of his son's paintings to sit on some board or other whose name escapes me at the moment. We've all known that Hunter's paintings that have gone on sale in this or that gallery to the highest bidder have been just another form of pay-for-play. The chore for Republicans looking into this scam has been to nail down the donor or donors so they can establish the pay-for-play or quid pro quo once and for all. These paintings are ridiculous, and I've seen more imagination in paint-by-numbers kits sold at Walmart. It takes a certain kind of stupidity to think that they would fetch any money, much less the hundreds of thousands of dollars that people have been putting up for them. Imagine if Don Jr. was selling his paint-by-number schlock at galleries across Manhattan to buyers who didn't want to be identified. If I had to guess, I'd say that the Democrats would have impeached the Donald a fourth time. They would have subpoenaed every last receipt to ferret out the buyers, and they would have jailed anyone resisting the efforts of their investigators.
I get very irritated every time I think about the fact that by the time anyone catches up with Joe Biden, at the rate we're going anyway, he will be so far gone that we'll get very little to no satisfaction from anything that the courts may or may not decide. He's halfway there, if not more, as I sit here this morning for chrissakes. All of this gnashing of the teeth will have been for naught. The Democrats will move on to their next crisis, and we'll be off to the races all over again. It's wash, rinse, repeat. I'd love to see Dr. Jill in an orange jumpsuit along with her spawn, Hunter, and maybe a handful of Joe's brothers, so we'll see if any of that comes to pass. Do I have that right? Is Hunter Dr. Jill's spawn? Maybe not. I may have to be satisfied with the knowledge that Joe Biden will go down in history as the most corrupt President in the history of our Republic, bar none.
I don't know that I'll be watching the Republican debates when they air in late August. I hear that Trump is interested in holding an event of some sort on the night of the debate to distract from the candidates involved in the debate. That's right. As of today, he's thinking about not attending. Can't blame him, really. He's got such a lead in the polls that it makes little to no sense to have him show up so that every Tom, Dick, and Harriet can use him as a human punching bag. The lot of them would be utilizing Democrat and RINO talking points to try and take down the eight-hundred-pound gorilla in the room. I've heard rumors to the effect that Trump wants to sit down with Tucker on the night of the debate for an interview. My question would be, who is interviewing who? What if Trump turned the tables and interviewed Tucker as his prospective Vice President?
That's not to say that Trump's rivals won't be ripping him a new one even if he doesn't show up. They do so at their own peril. Trump is dangerous even when he's not in the room. I don't know that candidates like Chris Christie have much else to offer in a debate setting since taking down Trump is more important to him than winning any nomination by his party of record. That fat fuck spends more time talking about Trump on outlets like CNN and ABC than he does anywhere else. He's just a bloody bore. A broken record, if you will. I like Vivek. The guy is as smart as a whip. He'll keep the conversation on the debate stage elevated enough to secure a spot on Trump's ticket or in his cabinet should he prefer one or the other. I'd go so far as to say that should Vivek be our eventual nominee, that I would vote for him without hesitation. DeSantis has fallen so far in the polls that he may have to spend more time in the debate battling those people who are now nipping at his heels and, in some cases, threatening to surpass him in the polls.
I told the missus that I've really been enjoying the corn on the cob that we've been having lately, but I need to use less butter in the prepping process. I've never been much of a corn-on-the-cob guy, but I've eaten more corn this year than any year in recent memory. Maybe what I've really been enjoying is all of the butter and spice that I've been lathering and sprinkling on the corn. It's hard to be good when it tastes so good. Three minutes in the microwave is all it takes. I tried roasting a few ears on the grill, but that seems to be a lot of work and, quite frankly, a waste of propane just to cook an ear or two of corn. I sprinkle a little water on the shucked piece of corn, wrap it in a paper towel to absorb any excess water, and in the microwave it goes. Voila! Can I put your piece in now, little darlings? Those are the days, my friends. I thought they'd never end. Sorry, I'm listening to the song "Those Were the Days" by Mary Hopkin. This is what I'm talking about when it comes to the music. It can take you in any number of directions, some better than others. You don't know where it's going to take you until you get there.
It's two days and counting now until Target delivers the iPhone 8 that we ordered for Mrs. G. We've told her nothing about our ordering the phone, and it's probably just as well. She told us that she needed a phone with a bigger screen, so I think that this iPhone will do the trick. If I were to engage Mrs. G in a conversation about what she really wants, I'm not sure what that conversation would sound like. It's probably just as well that we show up for our next visit with the new telephone in tow. Everyone likes a surprise. Right? I don't know that there's anything to dislike about it since it is simply the PLUS version of what she already has. We've wondered somewhat recently about how much she really uses the iPhone that we gave her a couple of years back. She hasn't said so, but I'm thinking that being able to synch up her new hearing aids with her iPhone might be a contributing factor to this latest interest of hers in getting a phone with a larger screen. Let's hope nothing goes sideways with the delivery.
Speaking of hearing aids, we've been talking to Mrs. G about the various things you have to consider when buying hearing aids. First and foremost, hearing aids are a thing. I'd like to see some statistics on how many people need hearing aids as they grow older. Is this one of those things where everyone, sooner or later, needs hearing aids in order to function? I'm just ignorant about these kinds of things, but thanks to our conversations with Mrs. G, we're getting up to speed. One thing that jumps right off the page at me is how expensive they are. How does anyone justify charging some $3,000, give or take, for a damn amplifier that you stick in your ear? How is it that no one has come up with a cheaper alternative? God only knows there are thousands of manufacturers of earphones and earbud-type accessories. They can fit silicone chips on the head of a pin these days, so why can't they turn this market on its ear, pun intended, and send these companies that are fleecing our seniors packing at a time in their lives when they can least afford the expense involved?
I purchased a pair of earbuds from Amazon recently for $34. They hook up to my devices via Bluetooth. I've never had a pair of earbuds before, so I thought I'd give these a try. The price was right, and I wanted something I could use around the house while the missus was going about her business. Meanwhile, Apple sells earbuds for hundreds of dollars. I'm not sure that I could tell the difference between them, although I'm sure there's a difference in quality. Does the difference in quality justify the difference in price? I have to believe that the answer to that question is "no." I'm not spending my weekends listening to the Boston Symphony, so that should tell you a lot about my requirements when it comes to being able to listen to things with or without earbuds. I'm not saying that I want Elon Musk to pick up this ball and run with it, but it does seem to me that there's an opportunity here for someone to come up with a low-cost alternative that Auntie Harriet and Uncle Bill can afford. I hear losing the darn things is a problem as well for old folks, so add that to your requirements, Mr. or Ms. Whomever.
It sounds like Speaker McCarthy is getting ready to pull the trigger on an impeachment inquiry against Bumbles Biden. It's about damn time. When they get to the Senate's role in this thing, and the Democrats are in the majority in the Senate, will they be willing to pull the trigger on this old fool and convict him? You know that means Kamala Harris becomes President. Right? Would anyone be surprised to see her pardon every last Biden who took a dime from countries overseas? It's the least she can do for the old fart and, to a lesser extent, his detestable spawn who left her a country in tatters after three years of his abysmal "leadership." Then you have the polls that tell us all that Trump does even better against Harris than he does against Biden in the General Election. This is where good old Jack Smith, the Federal prosecutor, comes in with his quiver of indictments based on laws conceived during the Civil War era. At this point, we just need to make sure that none of these trials occur until after Trump wins in 2024. I'm voting Trump even if he's sitting in solitary confinement in Alcatraz. That's how badly we need to get these radical leftists out of our beloved White House.
Who gives a shit about UFO's? Congress is having hearings about UFO's this week, and I don't know who gives a flying fuck about tuning in. No, really. Maybe there are UFO's, and maybe there aren't. It's another one of those conspiracies that they roll out every once in a while when they need to gaslight the shit out of people. If we really are being visited from time to time by critters from outer space, I suppose we'd see something more tangible than just a few sightings by pilots who are otherwise bored to tears flying while around in circles at 10,000 feet in the air. I like the stories that have them, more often than not, circling our nuclear missile silos. They are here ostensibly to protect us from destroying our own planet with a nuclear holocaust. Right. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. It's all just a crock of hooey if you ask me. I suppose organized religion has a stake in keeping this out of the public square were it to be true, so there's that. Wait a minute. You're telling me that Jesus didn't create the world in 7 days? See where I'm going with this?
I don't know about you, but my eyes just gloss over every time I see something about the number of illegal aliens that have crossed into our country since Bumbles was inaugurated. I think we're up to 7 million or more at last count. Every time I see a picture of someone who's been arrested and whose picture appears in the media, I only have one question. Well, maybe two. I want to know their country of origin and their immigration status. You know these criminal fucks are bringing their criminality into our country, and Bumbles and his minions in the Democrat party are just counting down the days until they can turn either Texas or Florida blue. Electorally speaking, we'll never have another Republican president when that happens. They couldn't give two shits that these criminal rogues are raping our daughters and killing our children with Fentanyl. Secretary Mayorkis is before Congress today, and he'll lie through his teeth and tell you that our borders are secure. They aren't. The Democrats in Congress will sing his praises, and the Republicans will rip him a new one in their allotted five minutes. It's fucking wash, rinse, repeat. It makes one sick to one's stomach.
You should have heard Bumbles yesterday. He actually stood at a podium and said that he and his Administration cured cancer. I'm sure that came as a surprise to the millions of people in our country currently suffering from the affliction. I guess we can stop sending our donations to the Cancer Society. What a complete fucking idiot. How much more evidence do the American people need before they cart this bewildered old fuck out of our beloved White House in a white jumpsuit? He wasn't done. He went on to say that 100 people have died of Covid since the beginning of the pandemic. I think he said it twice in case no one heard him the first time. I mean, talk about addled. Some media simp asked him about the stories of him and his son being in cahoots. Maybe the question had more to do with Speaker McCarthy's recent comments about an impeachment inquiry as it relates to the alleged criminality of the Bidens. He just looked at the reporter and gave his best shit-eating grin that he could muster without saying a word. He just looked so incredibly demented in that moment.
I caught a little bit of Hannity's Town Hall meeting with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last night. It was a little hard to watch as Hannity was out of his depth with Kennedy. Kennedy, at times, looked like he having a hard time tolerating Hannity's inaneness. I stopped watching Hannity a long time ago. He's nothing but a broken record. I felt a little sorry for Kennedy. I understand why he went on Hannity's show. The mainstream media won't give him any airtime, so he's forced to find alternatives where you wouldn't ordinarily expect to see Democrat candidates. In fact, I turned to CNN at one point last night, and the host had a couple of nasty anti-Kennedy shills in the studio who had a lot to say about how Kennedy's candidacy had run afoul of the usual Democrat constituencies. They had one job: Rip Kennedy a new asshole, while singing the praises of the bumbling fool in the White House. This is what Kennedy is up against. I liked the fact that Kennedy got a very respectable reception from the people at the Town Hall. When you tell people the truth, people respond to that regardless of what political party you represent. I would also say this about the man. People like a good story, and Kennedy is a good storyteller. That has to count for something.
I don't generally follow the trials and travails of Hunter Biden. He's a degenerate crackhead with a penchant for pre-adolescent girls, and God only knows what else. That's the rumor anyway. He had a date in a Delaware courtroom yesterday where he was supposed to agree to a plea deal for charges related to tax evasion and lying on a gun application. I think I have that straight. Everyone figured that this was a slam dunk of a case. He'd show up with his attorneys, and the judge would sign off on the so-called prearranged deal. What was less clear, but has now come out, was that the deal gave him immunity for any and all charges going forward. As everyone knows, and the judge now knows, is that there are several investigations ongoing into Hunter Biden and his dad, Joe Biden, more colloquially known as the Big Guy. The judge asked the prosecutors if the deal she was being asked to sign off on included potential FARA charges. That's the Foreign Agent thing that requires the person in question to be registered as a foreign agent to work with countries outside the U.S. As bagman for the Biden Crime Family, Hunter was not registered as a foreign agent and is now potentially liable if found guilty of FARA-related charges. The short answer to the judge's question was "yes." Wrong answer.
That was the end of the sweetheart deal as we know it. The judge wanted no part of giving the crackhead, Hunter, immunity from charges in perpetuity, especially in light of the fact that there are several ongoing investigations. Biden's praetorian guard, the media, who had been signaling for weeks that the signoff by the judge was nothing more than a formality, was in shock. There was more than enough humble pie to go around, but the backpedaling by the hacks in the media was a sight to behold. Biden's Justice Department had always greased the skids for the Bidens, and there was no expectation that this deal was any different. I wonder if the amicus briefs filed by several parties asking the judge not to sign off on the agreement had anything to do with her final decision. Word had it that Bumbles had cleared his schedule for the day at the White House. He was, no doubt, on pins and needles while still feeling pretty good about his son's prospects of getting this so-called sweetheart deal. This would be yet one more example of his far-reaching ability to weaponize our governmental institutions to protect himself and his corrupt and degenerate son. Only, it didn't turn out that way. Is this the beginning of the end of the Biden Crime Family? Time will tell, but hope springs eternal.
I was telling the missus that I had good energy on my bike ride yesterday morning. You know it when you have it. Everything is easier. It's easier to push ahead, and there's a certain unmistakable spring in your step. It's so good that you want to be able to replicate it on subsequent rides. Was it something that I ate or didn't eat before setting off on my ride? I used to think that I got a little more juice (energy) than usual during my rides if I drank a glass or two of water before going off. Being dehydrated is never a good way to start off, so there's probably some truth to the "glass of water" approach. I did have a shortbread cookie, a snack of sorts, if you will, before heading out yesterday morning, so I want to try that again this morning to see if I get the same results. It may have more to do with the fact that I'm not riding in the middle of the day or at the end of the day when my energy stores are typically flagging. The air is cooler in the early morning, the traffic is less congested, and my body is refreshed and well-rested after a good night's sleep. I guess we'll see. It's not yet 8 a.m., so I'll shoot to get out on the road between 8 and 8:30. Wish me luck.
This Jack Smith bullshit is really starting to piss me off. I'm talking about the disgraced federal prosecutor who has been dispatched by Biden's Department of Justice to make sure that Donald J. Trump is not on the ballot to run against Biden in 2024. What the fuck kind of banana republic do we live in? So, while Biden's thugs are doing what they can to take Trump off the ballot, Senate Republicans are telling Speaker McCarthy not to bring impeachment charges against Bumbles Biden. Have they read the damn Constitution? You know, the part about treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors? Oh, Senators like Rand Paul say we can't impeach every president of the opposition party when we get elected. It's not good for our country, he says. What else do they need to know about the crimes of Joe Biden and his crime family that they don't already know? Have they not read the accounts of the "Big Guy" and Hunter the Bagman? If what we already know about Biden's crimes doesn't rise to the level of impeachment, we're in trouble as a Republic. Keep in mind that the Democrats impeached Trump over a phone call. They are already on record saying that if Trump wins in 2024, they are going to impeach him immediately.
Anyway, Jack Smith added even more charges to the indictment that he's already brought against Trump as it relates to the Mar-a-Lago documents fiasco. It's as if adding more charges makes it seem more serious or more damning. This clown, Smith, even indicted one of Trump's maintenance men for his role in allegedly tampering with a video camera at Mar-a-Lago. Smith is desperate to have one or more of Trump's associates turn on him, to fabricate stories that serve to support the ridiculous charges brought by Smith, or just to scare the bejesus out of them by indicting them. Smith knows that Trump has and had every right to keep and maintain documents of his choosing as an ex-president, but he could give two shits. I keep waiting for someone to step in and put a stop to all of this skullduggery on behalf of the Biden Crime Family, but it's awfully quiet out there. The reticence on behalf of the Senate Republicans, in particular, to speak up against Biden suggests to me that the lot of them are intimidated by the width and breadth of Biden's Justice Department and what they are willing to do to silence Biden's detractors. Just look at the lengths to which Biden's Department of Justice has gone to protect Biden's criminality. They need to be torn root and branch from every last one of our institutions when Trump wins in 2024. If not on day one of Trump's second term, then certainly on day two.
I love learning to play new songs on my guitar, but, man, it is slow going. I don't know if it's me or something else. Why is it taking me so long to get some of these licks down? Am I making a mistake in thinking that I have to commit these things to muscle memory before moving on to the next section of the song? It is true that the more times I play the parts I'm trying to learn, the better they sound, so maybe there is a method to the madness. The better it sounds, the more committed I am to getting it right. You might say that it's the difference between having to see where I'm placing my fingers on the fretboard and related notes while playing versus being able to play the section without looking at the strings. It amazes me to no end as well that I can play the precise notes per the tutorial, but what I end up hearing on my guitar bears no resemblance to the sound of the lick played by the guitar player in the tutorial. Go figure. It's all good, though. It keeps me coming back until I get it right. I wish I had started playing a long time ago, but that horse left the barn. It's water under the bridge.
Fast forward a couple of days here, and I can now report back on the iPhone 8 Plue that we bought for Mrs. G. The phone was in great condition, and Mrs. G was thrilled to have it. If it was a bigger screen that she wanted, then that is what we delivered. I don't know that she was expecting the iPhone so quickly, so that had to be a plus for her. No pun intended. I unboxed the puppy and jumped through a few hoops with our carrier over the telephone before I had it up and running so she could use it. I was impressed with the phone and thought for a moment that Ev might like to have one for himself. He's a little leery of having a new iPhone as he's lost a couple of newer iPhones in the past. He's had better luck with older iPhones for whatever reason. We have a few more tweaks here and there to make with Mrs. G's iPhone before it's the bee's knees, but not to worry. She's happy as clam as it is, so I think it's all good. Now if we can just get her to stop stabbing the icons on her iPhone with her index finger instead of tapping them to open her applications, we can call it a day.
I went to the Ev man's dermatology appointment yesterday in Portsmouth so his doctor could take a look at a mole he was a little concerned about. I've been to that office, and if you don't know where you're going, it's easy to get lost. I didn't want the Ev man to get lost, so I told him I'd tag along for the visit. I don't think Ev has my sense of direction, but I wasn't taking any chances. He accepted my offer to tag along, and that was that. He told me ahead of time that if he got a clean bill of health that he was going to be on top of the world. I'm paraphrasing, of course, since I can't recall his exact words. He had had the mole removed in a previous visit, and it looked to the Ev man as though it might be returning. I told him that it reminded me of the mole I'd had removed, and I had the same concerns. I didn't go into the office with him to see the doctor, and this was not the doctor who had removed the mole previously, but Ev reported that it was a nothing burger when all was said and done. Just as I had suspected all along. His doctor, according to the Ev man, actually made a disparaging comment or two about the female doctors in the practice cutting people up unnecessarily. He said that he could have spared the Ev man a few scars in so many words. I like this guy.
You know who else I like? I like this Vivek Ramaswamy guy. He's a real up-and-comer if you ask me. His internal compass when it comes to everything political is unbelievable. I caught the tail end of a Twitter Spaces meeting that he had with Elon Musk and others yesterday, and Elon was admittedly impressed with Vivek and said as much. Is there anyone who doesn't think this guy has what it takes to be president? I saw some comments that he made on Twitter when asked whether he thought the 2020 election was stolen. It was one of those questions that they ask where they can take your response and craft a thousand different ads about your being an election denier. This is how insidious they are. You know who I'm talking about. Vivek saw this coming a mile away and said something about not seeing evidence to support that contention. I think that's the best you can do, especially if you haven't seen any evidence. I also saw Vivek on News Nation with Chris Cuomo, and Vivek danced circles around the News Nation host. Vivek's raw intelligence had Cuomo looking for a place to hide, but that's difficult to do when you're conducting the interview. I think Cuomo thought he was still working as a Democratic hack for his CNN paymasters judging by his questions, but Vivek schooled him and schooled him hard.
I've always liked the idea of a non-politician being president, and that is what we got when Trump was in office. Trump wasn't perfect, but he was pretty darn close. Who doesn't think that America First is the way to go? Who doesn't think we ought to be involved in zero wars with countries around the world? Who doesn't think we ought to have a merit-based immigration system and closed borders? Inflation was like one percent under Trump, give or take, and you could buy a gallon of gas for less than two bucks. And not or nothing, Trump's putting three Justices on the Supreme Court helped we conservatives put a stake through the heart of Roe Vs. Wade. How do you like them apples?
I think the politicians in our country took great exception to a guy like Trump, who went straight to the Oval Office without having to serve a day in public office. In other words, according to our hack politicians, if you've not worked your way through the system, you have no right to be president. Just how entitled are these mother fuckers? We need more Trumps going forward, and if the creek don't rise and the good Lord is willing, we'll have a Vivek or two to serve as president of our great nation once Trump is no longer running. The establishment isn't going to like it, but fuck them and the horse they rode in on. I'm talking to you, Karl Rove, Paul Ryan, Mittens Romney, and Mitch McConnell. I think I just heard something about Vivek wanting back into the Paris Accords or some goddamn globalist organization that Trump got us out of when he was president. I may have to reconsider my support for Vivek. I won't tolerate Vivek or anyone else putting foreign workers ahead of American workers in the food chain in this country. That's not who we are.
There he goes again. Just when you thought he was too bewildered and too senile to keep doing the kinds of things that he's on record for doing, and we're talking about his extensive history of alleged criminality here, Bumbles goes and hires someone who paid $850k for one of his son's paintings to sit on some board or other whose name escapes me at the moment. We've all known that Hunter's paintings that have gone on sale in this or that gallery to the highest bidder have been just another form of pay-for-play. The chore for Republicans looking into this scam has been to nail down the donor or donors so they can establish the pay-for-play or quid pro quo once and for all. These paintings are ridiculous, and I've seen more imagination in paint-by-numbers kits sold at Walmart. It takes a certain kind of stupidity to think that they would fetch any money, much less the hundreds of thousands of dollars that people have been putting up for them. Imagine if Don Jr. was selling his paint-by-number schlock at galleries across Manhattan to buyers who didn't want to be identified. If I had to guess, I'd say that the Democrats would have impeached the Donald a fourth time. They would have subpoenaed every last receipt to ferret out the buyers, and they would have jailed anyone resisting the efforts of their investigators.