Friends, today's top story is the fact that Amazon now has the James Bond franchise well and truly under its control. Even a year ago, this would have filled me with dread, because Amazon was churning out woke drivel by the barrel full. Well, now that Jeff Bezos has seen the light and is at least tolerant of Trumpism, there's hope that James Bond will emerge from his long sabbatical in recognizable form. Let's hope so! I suggest a slightly older, heavier, orange-haired Bond. Who's with me?
In an unsurprising move, Senator Mitch McConnell has announced that he won't seek reelection to the Senate in 2026. That's a wise decision, since he's in poor health and it's questionable whether Kentucky Republicans hold him in any higher regard than Republicans more generally. McConnell, lest we forget, has been a great asset to the GOP and to conservatism on many occasions. Lately, though, those occasions have been few and far between. Adios, Mitch! Enjoy your well-earned retirement.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5155235-sen-mitch-mcconnell-re-election/
Here's a shocker: Hollywood doesn't care for Trump. The attacks on Trump have been relentless on late night comedy shows, as they have been in the mainstream media, and thus we can safely assume that somewhere around 45-50% of the U.S. population will be afflicted with TDS for the next four years, unless the reach of traditional media outlets declines even further, which, God willing, it will.
Say what you want about old Mitch, but at least he voted to confirm Kash Patel as the new Director of the FBI. Republicans, conservatives, and Trumpers have high hopes for Patel, and I hope we won't be disappointed.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/02/20/kash-patel-confirmed-to-lead-fbi/
Finally, best of luck to the AfD in Germany's upcoming elections on Sunday. Although the party is widely condemned by establishment forces as "far right", it is garnering record levels of support and looks likely to finish second overall. In no major European country is populist conservatism going to command a majority of public support in the near future, but in most corners of Europe the right is on the march and is, or soon will be, in a position to transform the political conversation in long overdue ways. Let's hope the traditional right-wing parties get the message and move in a Trumpy direction ASAP. The alternative is for them to be submerged by a "far right" tidal wave and to sink into irrelevance.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: A big ditto on MItch McConnell. He has done our country an incalculable service in having been, along with DJT and the courageous nominees, indispensable in the wonderful return of Scotus to lawfulness. His salubrious effect on our legality and our polity will long outlast his tenure. Glad he voted for Patel. He has cast some counterintuitive votes lately; I wonder if his antagonistic personal relationship with DJT is an unfortunate factor. I think DJT, much as I luv 'im, can get carried away at times with ad hominem cracks.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Eventually I'd like to see a monument to him near the Scotus building featuring along with his effigy, depictions of happy kids granted access to life itself through his painful efforts.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: The right is on the march in so many places because it embraces common sense. It is the antidote to the bizarrely counterintuitive essence of far left policy;so many peoples have sickened of that viciously dreamy,incipiently totalitarian coterie and the disastrous consequences guaranteed wherever it is unwisely ceded power.
ReplyDeleteThe rise of the far right has nothing to do with common sense. It has to do with the racist tendencies of its followers who object to the increase of refugees in their countries.
DeleteRod
Hey Rod
DeleteNothing like hiding all those mentally deranged and criminally insane people by classifying them as "refugees" is there? Kind of like calling perps victims and cops perps isn't it? Unless of course you can't recognize the differences anymore.
Have a great day, dunce.
Hey Rod
DeleteLooks like you will have to get used to that "far right" because it's going to run our country for the next 12 years, beginning with Trump, and then Vance. Looks like you will just have to suck it up!
The far right is going to get bitch-slapped in 2026, and then chased in 2028. Trump's approval is already sliding.
DeleteRod
RAY TO DR. WADDY AND JACK
ReplyDeleteNo matter what Amazon does with the character of James Bond, he will ALWAYS be the creation of Ian Fleming.
Dr. Waddy from Jack I see my favorite presumptuous Federal entity , the National Endowment for the Arts, has attracted the baleful attention of DJT. Oh , its bad enough that he's taken personal charge of the Kennedy in good 'ol hometown DC and its now "goodbye drag shows "there!
ReplyDeleteHe has bade the NEA abjure works supporting the political doctrine of DEI . Why, what philistine blasphemy is this! Oh well, we should have guessed it was coming; the Bastille has been stormed; the unwashed are inside the palace walls and all manner of ersatz "culture" has been unleashed. That part , that haughty faction of the arts community which assumes undoubtable comprehensive entitlement, even unto financial support from "rude mechanicals who work for bread" and who choose to patronize "Yellowstone ", are in a rare old stormy snit over this insolent invasion of their deserved prerogative of "larning" us all, whether we like it or not.
I did some looking:
In an 8-1 Scotus decision authored by then Justice O'Conner , frantic NEA advocates were counseled thus: 'the First Amendment protects artists' rights to express themselves as indecently and disrespectfully as they like but does not compel the government to fund it" . "OK we'd better reword our Grant requests" was the NEA's reaction. No attention thus paid by these snobs to the SUBSTANCE of their oft proven tradition of financing works such as a crucifix dipped in urine or elephant dung flung upon Madonnas
The 2024 budget of the NEA was 207 million of our tax dollars. I've looked at their list of thus financed works in 2024. Most online state lists of grand opuses contain this convenient clause:". . . to support arts programs , services and activities associated with carrying out the agency's NEA approved strategic (Well!) plan." Gee you could hide all manner of counterintuitive activities which sneer at the America which funds them behind such euphemism.
I'm going to look up some of those "approved " plans and report back. Meanwhile I find on the 2024 list some real doozies: EG. an Arizona effort to use $75, 000 to support DIa de Los Muertos; ehhh, in a heavily Hispanic culture I think that very popular holiday already garners extensive private celebration , mucha gracia; how about a Massachusetts presumption of $125,000 to " 'support ' a series of community design charettes (say what?), transit guides and ARTIST designed improvement for the Essex Co. transit system; and $20, 000 to support a production in MIssourii of the exceedingly obscure and esoteric work La Cage au Folles (which actually has previously been a massive financial success not withstanding tax payer largesse).
I agree, DJT's caution to the NEA is objectionable. It should have gone even unto defunding for this arrogantly wasteful expenditure. I hope he delegates this to DOGE. None of what the NEA "gifts"us is NECESSARYand that condemns it in my view. And should anyone consider me a philistine for saying this, I'l gladly discuss the Rennaissance, Shakespeare and you know, all that good stuff, whenever you want.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Not to worry; should Federal funding for frivolous arts be insolently denied, then local and regional funding may well be the answer, since it better reflects regional values, yes? And private funding from myriad foundations and plutocrats is not unheard of in our commonwealth. Why redoubtable George Soros would no doubt be blithe to sponsor a nostalgic revival of Stalinist "social realism" in stirring depictions of Marxist tanks squashing "counterrevolutionaries" in his native Hungary in 1956. I'm sure he remembers that but you might not know it now the way he supports American Marxists, just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteKennedy Center I failed to say above Jack
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: If one agrees with me on this I would urge them to urge their Congressional reps to bid DOGE take this wasteful agency in hand.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Jack: Trump has little to gain by picking on Mitch. Well, then again, he is demonstrating what happens to a Republican who dares to defy him, and that could pay dividends. Indeed, in many ways it already has. Look at what happened to Cheney, Romney, et al.
ReplyDeleteJack, we would be much obliged if you would share your letter/report re: the NEA with us when it is finished. I agree: it would be wonderful if it, along with the NEH and PBS/NPR, were defunded once and for all. Public support for the arts, humanities, and broadcasting might be defensible, but there's no reason why it has to occur at the federal level.
While Trump did contribute to Liz Cheney's political defeat, he had nothing to do with Romney's leaving. Romney left because his wife lives with MS, and they are going to enjoy life together while her condition is moderately under control.
DeleteRod
The last thing Germany needs is a return to the 1930s. AfD is Nazi-lite and hopefully will do worse than predicted on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteRod
Rod from Jack: Please express your definition of the word racism. It has been so overused and misused that I cannot tell what you mean by it. MY guess is that you have a specific meaning in mind but what is it.?
ReplyDeleteRod from Jack: I should think Germany one of the last countries today to embrace Naziism after how it maimed them. The threat of totalitarianism has come chiefly from the far left since the 60s. The term Nazi has been worn out by reflexive leftist accusation. You have demonstrated yours to be a generally thoughtful and not automatic left wing stance and discredited use of the term is unfortunate in your case.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Yeah, "Public"BS system is completely indefensible with the vast profusion of channels we have now. And of course their obvious far left biases, on OUR compelled dime, should also earn them Doge's condemnation. That will be great day!
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: I enjoy plausible alternative history. In one I read in which Germany conquers the UK, Hitler is assassinated in 1947 by . . . Ian Fleming!
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack:Part of predominant Hollywood's animus against DJT is the especially intense disdain reserved for apostates by the cultures they have renounced.
ReplyDeleteDonald Trump at one time was very entertaining, often in the notorious
and lurid style cherished by cynical Hollywood degenerates and lotus eaters. The NYC newspapers I received in the prison libraries I managed
were full of scandalous "news" about his personal life. Why else would a NYC real estate developer attract such slavering attention? He appeared not to mind.
His rise to greatness is almost incredibly astonishing. I know when I heard he might run for Governor of NY state that I thought" he's just a silly dilletante on some things. He'll venture this just for the fun of it and get sloughed. Most people in high politics are highly experienced , albeit only in that field and not in everyday life" But he had reserves of patriotism and almost unparalleled personal and political courage and fortitude of which most of us knew almost nothing.
Did he perceive that the country was being prepared for the likes of a businessman - by definition a political outsider but also certainly a seasoned administrator- after decades of America hating incipient far leftist takeover and lukewarm GOP resistance to it (excepting that of Pres. Reagan but even he was not as bold as DJT)?
If he did, his judgement was redeemed! First he delivered us from the curse of Hillary. Then he returned one of the three nominal branches of our national government to a lawfulness it had not enjoyed since Pres. Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren Chief Justice. Not bad, not bad.
Perhaps no one other than one who has experienced it can understand the pain of losing a supremely demanding national election campaign. He did and then endured an execrable campaign of intended complete personal ruin for him and his family on the part of a far leftist captured, amoral,utterly expeditious Dem party which dreaded the possibility of his return to office and was willing to do ANYTHING to prevent it. They tried to put him in prison , for the luvva. . . ! (Actually there was a President who richly deserved incarceration , Slick Willy ,but he was the dem's darling so he skated).
DJT survived this unprecedented ordeal with the verve of a "Happy Warrior"
Maybe only a person in his late 70s can fully appreciate the 3am guts it took to wage yet another national campaign with all its trials.
Now he's back in office, far better prepared than he was before (experience after all) and his competence and fitness to be Chief Executive of our Federal Gov't is resoundingly affirmed in his amazing first month in office. He has, with seasoned judgement , recruited an outstanding array of Dep't Heads and faithful associates in his Cabinet.
All of this , of course, indicts him in the view of degenerate Hollywood. They have delighted forever in plying our entertainment product with sneering, leering garbage reflecting their withering contempt for their audiences. Most of them are consummate, unstable, cynical, drug wasted low life's who thrill to the corrosive effect they have on our civilization. Its no wonder they despise a great man like DJT, who was once perceived one of them.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: I will be sure to fully apprise you of my findings on the NEA.
ReplyDeleteA clarification: the ubiguitous statement of a state's compliance with the NEA approved plans was always placed AMONG the descriptions of specific projects rather than as a governing principle guiding all the projects. I think that's a neat little disingenuous ploy to disguise expenditures they know would garner the disapproval of the unwashed. Again, I'll check out some of those plans.
Here's another useful quote, this from Jeff Jacoby, a Boston Globe columnist: "The NEA consistently rewards novelty over quality. Its grant recipients are often distinguished by . . . intolerance toward traditional standards and art forms . . . in favor of radical politics, victim chic and anger" . Don't know the date of it but I'm confident it still applies , despite some attempts by NEA advocates to defuse deserved criticism and doubt. They are convinced of their unimpeachable righteousness and can only be disempowered by complete defunding.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: TDS: I think we MAY see a sharp drop in it as his triumphant tenure progresses.
ReplyDeleteSo many of us love a winner and he and his MAGA are big winners just now. The desperate Dems shot the bolt in their nasty effort to ruin him; they could not bear the thought of his redemption in power and as Kamala's ridiculousness became cringeworthy they retreated into Goering like denial(apparently Goering gave up sometime in '43 because he knew what was in store and enveloped himself in a haze of morphine at his sylvan lodge ). And now, well, they just don't know WHAT to do with themselves! All out ad hominem savagery didn't stop this guy; he's come back infinitely more obnoxious!
Their latest champion is clownish NY Governor Hochul, who, by jinko, is gonna stand up to Trump! I'll bet George Wallace beholds her epic stand against heretical injustice from his vantage point in purgatory and would, if he could, gently but firmly assure her of its futility. And that "gutsy" Gov. of ironclad Maine (and I don't mean ironclad ironically) who told him in very public person to go jump in one of Maine's multitudinous lakes; WELL!
These throwbacks only help to make DJT look more stately in the eyes of so much of America, perhaps an increasing majority of which is realizing we have a great President here!
Dr. Waddy from Jack : An update on my NEA research(National Endowment for the Arts , not National Education Association , though the latter is no paragon): The NEA's "Strategic Plan " for fiscal year 2022-2026 (?!) includes the airy declaration that they are "building on initiatives that seek to advance SYSTEMS CHANGE through the arts".
ReplyDeleteEhhh, did the lordly sponsors of such proven great art as that of Raphael and MIchelangelo do so with breathless anticipation of "systems change" ?No, they sought to use public largesse to enhance the positive aspects of their culture thereby. Really, why would any government willingly finance expression of inspiration to "fundamentally transform" it. Only a government which obsequiously and apologetically bows to forces fully determined to replace it with totalitarian control of all aspects of national life! And that, most emphatically, is NOT the Executive branch of our national government which now sits.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: It is customary for the far left to deceitfully take over existing institutions and misuse their structure, resources and trusting supporters to advance causes inimical to the original purposes of the organizations . A prime example is the many unions, especially those of public employees (which often count college educated persons in their membership)(excepting ,emphatically ,law enforcement officers' unions, where common sense prevails , no matter ones' "education") And so it has been in our far leftist imposed upon country with the "arts"and those who support them thus. This sitting Federal Administration is the right place to confront these antiamerican usurpers and PUT THEM DOWN!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that about Romney, Rod. I have nothing against him personally. In fact, I liked him a great deal when he ran for president. I wish him well.
ReplyDeleteRod, since the U.S. has embraced "fascism", don't you think there would be a certain symmetry in Germany doing the same? Imagine, in fact, a new Rome-Berlin-Washington, D.C. "Axis"! No wonder the Russkies are getting antsy... Of course, I am being facetious. Jack is right that modern Germans are spectacularly unlikely to embrace any form of "Nazism". They might cotton to some form of Trumpism, mind you, and I can see why the distinction is lost on you, Rod.
Jack, I'm not aware of any DOGE presence at PBS/NPR as yet, but I share your hope for a complete federal disinvestment from that sham public broadcaster.
Jack, you narrate the story of Trump's political career very capably. The part that surprises me the most is the last part, i.e. the last month in which he has proven himself far more EFFECTIVE in the role of president than I ever dreamed him capable of being. As you say, it's a team effort, and this time his team is actually on HIS side. Imagine that!
"Victim chic" is a great term, Jack. It darn near encompasses the whole leftist worldview.
Will TDS recede? That kinda depends on whether we're talking about quantity or quality, if you will. My guess is it will certainly deepen among a significant fraction of the population, and in doing so it may discredit itself even more than it already has. That would be my hope.
"Systems change", indeed! Nice euphemism, that.