Trump fought the law and Trump won

It has been a banner week here in the Un-United States of America. Not even 7 days after our incumbent and decent human being of a president took the stage to debate a known fraud, sexual abusing felon and fell apart like a poorly timed souffle, we had our Supreme Court put an end to the standing maxim that, "No man is above the law."

Because apparently one is. 

One obscenely grotesque man with more money than brain cells has purchased himself a Presidential Get Out of Jail Free Card. 

Unironically, this is the same Supreme Court that cleared the way for justices in the highest court on the planet to accept bribes...er, tips. You know for superior service and beyond the call of duty sycophancy.

I have often said that Americans have yet to tally the untold damage Herr Trump has inflicted on our nation, now a nation that belongs to 74 million witless cultists. 

Not only has he sullied the office of the Presidency, with two impeachments, a call to Insurrection, and the less than peaceful transition of power, now he has shit all over the judicial branch. Figuratively and semi-literally.

I don't know about you but I have always respected our Supreme Court. Averse to the political machinations of Congress and the Executive wing, the court has (mostly) done what it could to put the country on the right path. Not always, but these esteemed judges gave us Roe v. Wade, they reversed Plessy v. Ferguson, and in Obergefell v Hodges, they granted gay people the right to marry.

Why the fuck would gay people need anyone's permission in the first place?

It's funny how the party of small government and individual liberties goes out of their way to stick their noses into people's business. I never got a law degree, though now I wish had just to raise bloody hell in a courtroom (as opposed to shouting uselessly at my keyboard. 

The rulings coming from this iteration of the Supreme Court are the worst in our nation's history. I feel sorry for Kagan, Sotomayer and Jackson, who have penned quality dissents in defense of freedom in America. And will forever be stained by their association with...I don't even want to type their names and give them that much dignity.

But consider this, of the nine sitting judges, one was seen flying political flags in support of Trump's election denial. And the other, was and still is, in the pocket of billionaires who can apparently buy a decision in exchange for an RV and some fishing lures. I'm looking at you, "Clearance" Thomas.

As a result, belief in the law and reverence for the law have fallen. And they can't get up.

Unless something drastic happens, like 74 million Americans waking up.  

Happy Independence Day

You may begin...

Last week I thought I had two suckers...er, buyers for my 2009 Acura MDX. If the sale was to go through I would need the pink slip for the car, stating that I owned it. And I owned it outright.

That meant a journey through my crack filing system. Libraries have the Dewey Decimal system. When it comes to organization and keeping track of all my vitals, I have Doodie Decimated System of Entropy. 

If I ever get nailed with an IRS audit, I will seriously consider the "Dog ate my tax returns" excuse. The good news, as I understand it, is they can only audit the past 3 years of income, which for me has been abysmal, at best. 

While sifting through the detritus of my misspent life, I came across a college exam from 1978. Apart from the sheepskin I "earned", I don't think I have anything from my days at Syracuse University. But I did manage to sock away this exam from Calculus 4 (Math 398). 

I know why I saved it. 

Math 398 was the only class I ever failed. Technically, I also failed Journalism 101, but that was only because I couldn't type the mandatory 25 wpm. Today, with my hybrid hunt and peck and full right hand use, I can type 65-70 wpm. 

Some of them might even be spelled correctly.

Back to Calculus 4 and the nightmares it gave me. For those who don't know, and that might include me, Calculus is the summation of everything a student learns in Algebra, Geometry and Trigonometry. Frankly, other than engineers and scientitians, these mathy courses are quite useless. I wish my daughters had been taught the essentials of finance, the intricacies of investing and the importance of good record keeping -- then I could farm out my mess to them.

I look at the photo above and can't believe it made sense to me one day. Though from my failing score that's highly debatable.

Here's the amazing thing. The test was a two hour ordeal. And consisted of 5 questions. The funny scribbles and poorly drawn pictures (seen above in Problem #3) were close to perfect. I lost three points from a possible 20, because of my sloppy math and some poorly executed additions and subtractions. 

I'm guessing it's because I was stoned when I took the exam. I was under the ridiculous, but funny notion, that I could do this kind of higher brain wave stuff better while high as a kite.

I did mention misspent life, right?

Not only did I save the "completed" test in the form of a little blue booklet which were the vernacular of the day, I also saved the test itself. Which was printed on mimeograph paper. And yes, it did smell great.

The type is faded, after close to 50 years that's understandable, otherwise I'd reproduce the questions in clean, easy to read digital format. But here's the deal, many of the symbols, graphics and nomenclature of Math 398 are not available on a 2024 keyboard.

They, like the synapses in my brain that could make sense of it (some of it),  are gone.

Like my hairline.

 

Yeah, #3 was the easy one.

The Gretch who stole the White House from Donald Trump

You're reading this on Monday. But I'm writing this on the previous Friday. The morning after the President Debate, "The Thriller of Old Vanilla."

I don't believe that readers who come to R17, willingly come for sugarcoating. In fact, my tagline for oh so many years has been: RoundSeventeen, no sugar added. So let's get out the coarse sea salt and rub it generously in the wound that was opened last Thursday Night.

Joe Biden lost. 

The debate and presidency.

I know Red Hats are not fond of brutal honesty. If their guy had a poor, career-ending performance, they would gloss it over and claim he was a victim of Fake News -- perhaps the stupidest and deadliest and most antisemitic expression to come from our cultish friends on the right.

They have no ability for introspection, otherwise they would have long abandoned their felon/adulterer/tax cheater/purveyor of perfidy. 

We, the critical thinkers on the other side of the aisle are not like that. Or at least we shouldn't be. We should have the fortitude and integrity of looking at the current situation. And making vital, existential, course correction. 

And boy do we have some correcting to do. 

Last night Uncle Joe dutifully delivered the facts and nothing but the facts. Through the stops and starts, fumbles and mumbles, he made the case for another term. But the manner in which he delivered it was a deal breaker. 

In my younger days, about 100 years ago, I did tray pass at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, NY. I walked all 6 floors delivering meals to the infirm. There, I saw the same look Joe had. Mouth agape. 1000 yard stare. A certain stiffness in the neck, pre-rigormortis, perhaps. 

And while that look is infinitely more preferable to the sweaty orange, caked-on-foundation look of his opponent, it is not the look one wants to see on the President of the United States of America.

If the race was tight before the debate, I shudder to think what the next swing state polling will reveal. 

This is particularly frightening in light of our frustrating penchant for style over substance. Seven out ten American's believe Angels (with wings) look out for us. They're not interested in facts or data or even morals. Hence, the polling power of a blustery, blowhard fake strongman, who apparently can grab women by the pussy with no consequence.

Ms. Muse, who suggested today's piece, is a big fan of Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and believes she is the right candidate to fill Joe's soon-to-be-vacated shoes. All I know of Ms. Whitmer is that she bravely stood up to violent sorelosing Red Hats who had plotted to kidnap her in 2020.

I also know she polls well, not only in Michigan but in neighboring Wisconsin and Ohio, The Rust Wall, as it were.

There are still 5 months to go before the election. Many other countries conduct presidential campaigns and elections in less time that that. Moreover, her sheer youth and vitality could be just the tonic Americans need before tossing in the towel on democracy...er, our Constitutional Republic.

Swift, decisive action is needed. Now more than ever.  

"When they go low we can't go to sleep."