TV: ABC and Colbert fizzle while NOW APOCALYPSE sizzles

It shouldn't be that hard to do a show fueled by sexual chemistry.  Maddie and Dave (MOONLIGHTING), Sam and Diane (CHEERS), Dean and Sam (SUPERNATURAL) . . .  Sexual chemistry may be like lightening in a bottle but it does happen.



Just not on ABC's WHISKEY CAVALIER.  The premise is that the FBI and the CIA work together and, as hijinx ensue, so will laughter.  We're all for anything that mocks the CIA but there's not an honest laugh to be found in this weekly, hour long show.

Scott Foley tries hard to bring the charm he provided on SCANDAL but there he acted opposite live wire Kerry Washington.  On WHISKEY CAVALIER, he acts opposite 37-year-old Lauren Cohan who's been working professionally for over fourteen years yet has failed to impress even once.  In scene after scene, Ana Ortiz sparkles in a supporting role but the camera's always searching in desperation when it zooms in on Cohan who often has a glum or foul look on her face as though someone forgot to clue her in that this show is supposed to be a comedy.

Just as four tires are required for a car to drive smoothly, two leads are required for a show that plans to rely on chemistry.  Scott Foley is a lead, yes.  But Lauren Cohan?  She's not a lead.  She's someone's who has been hired for a role she's all wrong for and every episode is an attempt to shoot around this reality.

More than anything, WHISKEY CAVALIER is a retread of SCARECROW AND MRS. KING if Meg Foster had played the Kate Jackson role.

WHISKEY CAVALIER is pure hokum and a rip off of every other show you've ever seen.  The only way it would ever work is if there was sexual friction between the leads.  Sadly for ABC, there is none.

About the only thing sadder than WHISKEY CAVALIER would be last week's THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT where the host tried to shame US House Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Stephen Colbert: Why do you want to be president of the United States?

US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard: Because as a soldier I know the cost of war and the most important job the president has is to be commander in chief.

Stephen Colbert: Do you think that the Iraq War was worth it?

US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard:  No.

Stephen Colbert:  Do you think that our --  Do you think that our involvement in Syria has been worth it?

US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard: No.

Stephen Colbert:  Do you believe that -- Do you believe that ISIS could have been defeated without our involvement and support of the local troops there?

US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard: There are two things we need to address in Syria.  One is a regime change war that was first launched by the United States in 2011, covertly led by the CIA.  That is a regime change war that has continued over the years that has increased the suffering of the Syrian people and strengthened terrorist groups like al Qaeda and ISIS because the CIA was using American tax payer dollars to provide arms and training equipment to these terrorist groups to get them to overthrow the government.  So that is a regime change war that we should not have been waging --

Stephen Colbert:  So but if -- 

US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard:  The second --

Stephen Colbert: -- someone like Bashar Assad [cross talk] or engages in War Crimes against his own people, should the United States not be involved.

US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard:  The United States should not be intervening to overthrow these dictators and these regimes that we don't like, like Assad, like Saddam Hussein, like Qaddafi and like Kim Jong Un.  There are bad people in the world but history has shown us that every time the United States goes in and topples these dictators we don't like, trying to act as the world's police, we end up increasing the suffering of the people in these countries, we end up causing a loss of life -- both American lives and the lives of people in these countries, we end up undermining our own security. [. . .] to speak of the trillions of dollars spent on these wars that we need to be using right here at home.



The Iraq War veteran is running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination and she's got serious issues to discuss like Medicare For All, ending endless wars, addressing climate change, etc. but all the talk show host wanted to discuss was whether or not she thought Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was a "war criminal."  Way to avoid addressing real issues.  Two things stood out -- one, how Colbert looked like the corporate whore interviewing Jay Billington Bulworth in Warren Beatty's BULWORTH and, two, how coming off as a pedophile in STRANGERS WITH CANDY worked to Colbert's advantage but does nothing for him on a late night talk show.

Serious issues elude the clown Colbert.   So much eludes him.

And for someone who makes his show about belittling Donald Trump, maybe he should learn to listen to others?  It's a talk show and Colbert's not interesting enough to carry the hour by himself, so learn to listen.


The chemistry Colbert and ABC can't manufacture, NOW APOCALYPSE parades.

STARZ's new show is a stand out.  Every now and then in the cookie-cutter world of TV, a show comes along with its own look and NOW APOCALYPSE has its own look.  More than that, however, it has a look that should advance visuals in TV.  It's vibrant and powerful. It's as revolutionary in the visual as Hal Ashby's COMING HOME was in the audio.  The choice of the songs and the way they were utilized changed film and that's the sort of impact NOW APOCALYPSE should have on TV.  Yes, HERE'S LUCY was a breakthrough in terms of color all those years ago but that was all those years ago.

Filmmaker Gregg Araki has worked in TV before (RIVERDALE, 13 REASONS WHY, AMERICAN CRIME, etc.) but this is the first time he's done more than direct.  He created NOW APOCALYPSE, directs every episode and co-writes each episode with Karley Sciortino (of VICELAND's SLUTEVER).

In a thirty minute format, the show follows its young cast around as they learn about themselves and the world around them.  The three leads are Avan Jogia as Uli, Kelli Berglund as Carly and Beau Mirchoff as Ford -- all three performers are talented and appealing.  Uli lives with roommate Ford -- and has the hots for Ford but Ford's involved with Severine (Roxane Mesquida) while Carly's involved with Jethro (Desmond Chiam).

Carly wants to be an actress -- even if she lacks the talent or ability to pretend she's interested in the performances of others in her acting class.  Ford wants to be a screenwriter.  Uli, when not doing night security, wants to figure out what his dreams of an alien invasion may mean or, as he puts it, "On one hand, I can't shake this gnawing dread -- this feeling that there's something going on just below the surface of everyday life.  But, on the other hand, I do smoke a lot of weed."

He also sees things.  Like an alien raping a man.

Ford sees little.

Even when he's fixing Severine dinner, Ford sees little.  He's right behind her but he never notices that his astrobiological theorist girlfriend is looking at photos of UFOs.  He also has trouble seeing that she wants an open relationship until she spells it out for him -- shortly before setting him up with a female friend to have sex with while she watches.  "You have the world's most magnificent cock," she tells him.  "It's so magnificent, in fact, I'd feel guilty keeping it all to myself."

Uli's alien dreams probably have something to do with Severine's secretive work and maybe even have something to do with Gabriel (Tyler Posey), the guy he's trying so hard to establish a relationship with -- but outside of mutual masturbation, little appears to be happening, not even texting.


Uli may be confused but NOW APOCALYPSE is sure footed and determined.  It's also the most interesting show of 2019 so check it out.

The War Whores

 

[Isaiah's "I Am The War Hawk You Have Been Waiting For" from December 1, 2009] 

Some people pretended to care about the Iraq War -- at least while they could profit off their 'resistance.'  Here are the ten worst.

1) Amy Goodman.  She was largely unknown before the Iraq War.  She was a 'freak' to those on the left who knew her because of her 2000 election day interview with Bill Clinton.  But she rode the Iraq War to fame by playing last journalist standing and never forget that it was acting on her part.  As soon as she could, she ditched serious coverage of Iraq.  She's a fake ass and one who's revealed her true war mongering ass to the world starting with her propaganda coverage of Libya.  (To its strong credit, BLACK AGENDA REPORT called her out on that.)  Read about Amy's filthy history here.
  




2) John Nichols.  Professional propagandist John once pretended to so care about the Iraq War that he called someone out on the Iraq War vote -- Barbra Streisand.  Miss Marmelstein Goes To Congress?  No, she didn't.  But John needed a villain for the column and he has a really hard time, weak-kneeded faux Socialist that he is, in standing up to actual Democrats in Congress so he tore into Streisand doing everything but arguing that "Coming In And Out Of Your Life" provided aid and cover to Saddam Hussein.  Nichols achieved a special level of whoring when, in October 2006, he was promoting his just published book THE GENIUS OF IMPEACHMENT and suddenly came to a full stop because Nancy Pelosi said impeachment was off the table.  John knows who butters his bread as well as who lubes the dildo.




3) Leslie Cagan.  Leslie will be remembered for two things.  First, helping to destroy PACIFICA's financial future via the sweet honey deal she brokered   Shame on her for making Marc Cooper look like a prophet, "The historic project of Pacifica Radio as it was conceived and nurtured over several decades is now dead. Bessie Wash, Amy Goodman, Utrice Leid, Juan Gonzalez, Dennis Bernstein, FAIR, John Murdoch and Leslie Cagan alike will serve as pallbearers."  But Leslie's most famous for posing as a peace activist.  In this capacity, she led United for Peace and Justice -- a gang of do-nothings who existed solely to stoke anger against the illegal war and harness it into a meaningless get-out-the-vote campaign for Democrats.  It was for this reason that Cagan opposed protests against the war in DC after the Democrats took over both houses of Congress and why she insisted upon closing shop the day after Barack Obama was elected president.  The man promised to end the Iraq War (he didn't).  Shouldn't a genuine peace organization remain active to hold him to his promises?  UFPJ was never a genuine peace organization.


4) Aimee Allison.  Once known for being an objector in the Gulf War, Aimee used that to ride to low key fame and a co-hosting job on KPFA's THE MORNING SHOW.  It was there that the anti-war activist or 'activist' or 'anti-war activist' lost all interest in ending the Iraq War but used her position to boost the campaign of Barack Obama, to share that she was FACEBOOK friends with Michelle Obama, to call for book burnings (specifically for banning and burning THE NEW YORKER).  She now heads the centrist Democratic front group  DEMOCRACY IN COLOR which tries to elect corporatist Democrats like Corey Booker and Kamala Harris.  On the 16th anniversary of the start of the illegal war, she remains one of the country's greatest fake asses and one who has to work in her own organizations because no one else will have her.  Remember when she got fired:

2010 was when the people had experienced enough and made a point to say so. January 8th, careful listeners were put on notice when Joseph managed to get through on the caller line and informed Aimee Allison (KPFA's The Morning Show), that despite her (repeated and false) claims that everyone on the left had supported Barack Obama in the 2008 election, many did not drink the "Obama-aide" and that the "Obama-aide" was dispensed by "media types" who were far from honest. Whether he knew it or not, Aimee was one of those "media types" and she quickly attacked Joseph on air and hung up on him. Back then, that might have appeared to be winning behavior by the Cult of St. Barack. Of course, the reality is that as the year drew to a close, Aimee Allison found herself fired from KPFA.

5) Medea Benjamin. I Need Attention Benjamin spends a lot of time screaming for attention.  She just doesn't care about Iraq.  (Which might be a good thing considering what she tried to do to Afghanistan in 2009.)  She made that clear in the middle of a 2007 hunger strike for Iraq when she suddenly switched her focus to Palestine.  She's forever dropping Iraq as though the war long ago ended when it didn't.  Medea scrambled her brain on something.  Maybe it was drugs?  Maybe she was tortured by the CIA -- during the infamous pie-ing?  Maybe she just couldn't handle the foul body odor of Jodie Evans?  Whatever it was, something pulled her focus and she's little more than a dabbler these days -- one who lacks the focus even to Tweet.  As Margaret Kimberley (BLACK AGENDA REPORT) observed in 2014:




If there were a prize awarded for truly stupid twitter posts, Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin should win with these words, "Obama spoke with Raul Castro yesterday. The ice is melting. Mojitos for all!" It is difficult to know where to begin in analyzing such nonsense. [. . .] As for Benjamin, anyone whose response to a foreign policy decision includes references to a cocktail should be ignored now and forever. 




6) Norman Solomon.  Norman was a voice of passion and truth and then along came Barack Obama.  Norman became a case study in the self-help industry at that point and could have been the reason so many books were written: WHEN GOOD GIRLS TURN BAD, WOMEN WHO LOVE TOO MUCH, ACT LIKE A LADY THINK LIKE A MAN, HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU . . .  Norman whored his reputation and good name in 2008.  He was smart enough to disclose in his syndicated column that he was a pledged delegate for Barack but he didn't bother to make that same, needed disclosure when appearing on various PACIFICA radio programs.  Norman was a powerful and needed voice.  More than anyone who whored out, we miss Norman.  If he'd admit that he was misled by Barack, we'd hug him in a minute.  But if you don't own your mistakes, you don't learn from them.


7) Michael Franti.  Another bi-racial trying to pass as Black is the way he's now referred to in the Bay Area.  Michael was once a movement in the music world.  He'd sing truths like "We can bomb the world to pieces but you can't bomb it into peace."  Like Norman, Michael's pretty head was turned by Barack and he never got it on straight again.  He was unable to call out The Drone War or Barack continuing the Iraq War.  In other words, he was a fair weather peace activist.  And no one needs that.  Too bad for Michael because, before his head was turned, he had recorded YELL FIRE which was a classic of the 00s.  He seemed to have so much going for him and he gave it all away to be a groupie for Barack.


8) Ani DiFranco.  As bad as things got for Michael, they were far worse for Ani DiFranco.  Despite recording 19 studio albums, she never managed to record a classic studio album.  LIVING IN  A CLIP, her live album, was the closest she came (it made it to number 59 on the album charts).  She pretended to care about the Iraq War.  Maybe she actually did care?  If she did it was a viral care, a 24-hour kind of care.  She walked away.  It gets worse.  She did the hideous album WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON? in 2012.  Never before had folk music harnessed its commitment in order to prop up a man killing people with drones.  It was as though BOB ROBERTS had come to life.  Kat called it out in "Kat's Korner: Ani DiFranco's embarrassing odor."  If you weren't getting how crazy Ani had become, a few years later, she was miffed because women were refusing to attend her 'retreat' on the grounds that it was on the grounds of a business celebrating slavery. 


9) Matthew Rothschild.  The original fake ass.  Yes, THE PROGRESSIVE is worse without him but it wasn't so great when he was still around.  Matthew 'cared' about Iraq when there was something in it for him.  Otherwise?  Ask him to cover Winter Soldier, as we did, and hear him reply, "Sure."  And then watch him to ignore it.  Point out that Cindy Sheehan is being harassed by the government and ask him to write about it and he'll tell you absolutely.  But then he won't.  In 2007 and 2008, he loved to play one trick in particular -- ask people why they were supporting a candidate who voted for the Iraq War.  He did that in print and on THE PROGRESSIVE's radio show.  Excuse us, he did that to people who supported Hillary Clinton.  He did not do it to people who supported John Edwards.  It was a funny form of concern.  By 2009, he was no longer concerned at all.  A film about him would be entitled HOW I LEARNED TO LOVE THE WAR AND WHORE MYSELF OUT.  For more on Matthew, see   Betty's "Kiss my Black ass, Matthew Rothschild" and Marcia's "Matthew Rothschild patronizes Black people" as well as this site's "The Black Roundtable,"




10) Kim Gandy.  She was so convincing when she pretended to care about ending the Iraq War.  Remember when she was president of NOW and Bully Boy Bush occupied the White House and she pretended it was important to end the war?  And she insisted "Peace is a feminist issue"?  Even had that slogan posted at NOW's website?  Then she never mentioned peace again once BBB left the White House. 

Roundtable

Jim: Roundtable time.  Remember our e-mail address is thethirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com and you can also e-mail us at common_ills@yahoo.com..  Participating in our roundtable are  The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava, and me, Jim; Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude; Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man; C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review; Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills); Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix; Mike of Mikey Likes It!; Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz); Ruth of Ruth's Report; Trina of Trina's Kitchen; Wally of The Daily Jot; Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ; Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends; Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub. Betty's kids did the illustration. You are reading a rush transcript.

Jim (Cont): So, Russia hysteria, where's it headed?


Ruth: Out the door, into the trash.  There was no collusion and two years time was wasted on that nonsense, time we could have spent demanding Medicare For All, an end to the Iraq War, serious efforts to combat climate change.  All we got?  Nutty conspiracy theories and we resurrected The Cold War.  All because Hillary Clinton could not acknowledge that she ran a piss poor campaign. 


Betty: Support! 


Jim: Community wide, we rejected the hysteria but, Ruth, you covered it at length at your site. 


Ruth: I did. And remember C.I.'s year end column for the gina & krista round-robin back at the end of 2016?  She was noting the rumbles and the obsession that was already starting and she said, "Do we have to be paranoid to wonder if this isn't the Obama administration pulling strings behind the scenes?"  I thought of that every time I wrote about this nonsense and it seems more and more likely that it did go straight up to former President Barack Obama and that he knew -- and if he did not know, he should have.


Jim: Thoughts?


Cedric: Yeah, I'd agree with Ruth on that.  This didn't just happen.  A lot of people were involved -- James Comey, Loretta Lynch, you name it.  I honestly believe a lot of higher ups need to be in prison for this -- for spying on an opposing campaign, using the resources of the federal government to try to spy and then to try to take down a presidency.  I'm someone who votes Democrat every time.  I will hold my nose and do it.  But my not liking Donald Trump does not make me any less appalled by what was done to him.  I really would use the term "treason" to describe what Obama officials have done with regards to Trump.  Sorry.


Ty: No need to apologize for your opinion.  I agree, this was an effort to bring down a presidency.  I don't just see it as a conspiracy, I see it as a criminal conspiracy.  I think they spied on him and tried to benefit from that and then, after the election, they tried to destroy him.  I think they had help from friends in the media.  I think James Clapper belongs in prison.  Really, all anyone needs to do is read Ruth's "Strzok spills the beans about the deal D.O.J. made with Hillary" and see if you aren't outraged.  And that's even before you get to all the print and time and TV minutes spent on this Russian hoax that never was.  I'm outraged.  And I'm outraged at how Democrats in Congress have behaved and pimped this crap. 


Marcia: I'll add my thoughts.  Crusty Lips Elijah Cummings thinking we need a hearing about whether or not FOX NEWS -- a private company -- killed a report on Stormy Daniels?  F**k you, Elijah --


Jim: Which you said in a post.


Marcia: Indeed, I did.  We can't get hearings on the Iraq War but he's going to waste our time on whether or not FOX NEWS killed a report on a porn star?  Who the f**k cares!  You are wasting my tax dollars on this crap.  I'm sick of it.  Old Crusty Lips is not working for We The People.  He's not screaming about these endless wars.  He's just whoring. And at 68 years old, he should be ashamed.  Focus on the real issues, the ones we need to address.  I'm sick of this b.s.  And I hate FOX NEWS and MSNBC.  I wouldn't watch either -- because they don't deal with real issues.


Jess: I'm going to remind everyone that we were supposed to shut down in 2009.  And, at that time, we really thought by then the Iraq War would be over.  We thought there would be no US troops in Iraq anymore.  We're only here because Ava and C.I. watched FRINGE, were troubled by some of it, had friends with the show ask them to hold off reviewing it because the problems were being addressed and so Ava and C.I. wrote a piece where they noted they'd review FRINGE in the new year and that's why we're around.  But we really thought, and we weren't crazy, that the war would be over by 2009.


Dona: But let's talk about why we thought that for a minute.  We thought that because Nancy Pelosi, as House Minority Leader in 2006, promised us the war would end.  Give us one house of Congress, she swore in 2006, ahead of the mid-terms, and we'll have the power to end the war and to launch investigations into the start of it and blah blah blah.  The American people didn't give her one house, they gave her two!  Both houses of Congress.  And she became Speaker of the House and she did not keep her word.


Elaine: Because it was too much -- it helped too much to have the war.  The war put Democrats back in power in Congress.  They realized it would turn out votes and that they could run a candidate in 2008 who could win if the war was still taking place.  So they didn't want to end in it in 2007 or 2008, not with a presidential election coming up.


Dona: Exactly right. 


Stan: And along comes Barack breaking all of his promises --


Rebecca: That Samantha Power said weren't really promises in March of 2008.


Stan: Right and that BBC interview is why she quit the campaign.  And Barack had promised all troops out within his first ten months.  Didn't happen.


Trina: You know what else didn't happen?  All those liars who were going to hold his feet to the fire?  They never did.  Fake asses like Laura Flanders and Norman Solomon and so many others.  "Oh, when he's president, will hold his feet to the fire.  We just have to be silent right now."  Liars.  Fake asses and liars.  And they have never apologized for their actions.  They won't even get honest about it.  If a David Lindorff, for example, could just say, "Boy, was I a bonehead," I'd have a little respect.  But this pretense that they didn't whore?  I have no respect.


Marcia: For me -- and I think I jumped over someone -- but for me, the worst was fat ass Pam Spalding or whatever her name was.  Little Ms. Racialicious or whatever.  Saying that Barack couldn't be primary-ed in 2012 because it wouldn't be 'fair.'  He shouldn't be primary-ed because he was Black.  Kiss my Black ass, he's bi-racial, not Black.  Second, that sort of crap right there makes me really think twice about voting for any first again -- first woman, first Latino/a, first gay, first whatever.  I don't ever want to hear that b.s. and see it treated seriously.  That was outrageous.  And let me note that not only did I jump over someone to say this, I'm yelling it as I'm speaking -- that's how outraged I still am.




Jim: So Joe Biden has entered the race.  Any reactions?


Mike: In 2016, it might have meant something.  Today?  No.  His day has passed.  Goodbye Joe. 


Jim: Anyone think they'd support his run?  Silence.  Okay, there are six women running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination currently.  They are US House Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Marianne Williamson, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar. First up, is it Kam-a-la?


Ava: Yes.  Kahm-ah-lah would be prettier but it's Ka-ma-la.  It's harsh on the ear but that's Harris.


Jim: Okay.  Anyone supporting her or Amy?  Silence.  Didn't think so.  What about Elizabeth?


Trina: I could support Elizabeth Warren if she continues to raise important issues.  Warren is from my state and I'm not a fan.  But I'm not going to vote on personality.  Warren's running a smart campaign so far and I'm impressed.  Is she my first choice?  No.


Jim: Who is your first choice?


Trina: I would rank Tulsi and Marianne ahead of Elizabeth Warren.  Marianne has spoken seriously about food safety.  That is a huge issue to our country and we are not seeing politicians take it seriously, in my opinion.  Tulsi's opposition to endless wars is principled and consistent.  I am very impressed with her as well.  Of the male candidates, I could vote for Bernie Sanders.


Mike: I'd rank Tulsi first.  I'm interested in Marianne Williamson's campaign.  Elizabeth Warren is running a better job for president than I thought she did as a senator.  I'm not impressed with the bulk of the field, to be honest.  I'd vote for Bernie.  Otherwise, not interested.


Jess: I'd just like to point out that the Republican nominee -- barring any surprise announcement -- will be Donald Trump.  That's why we're not discussing it.  As for the Green Party, we're waiting on declarations of candidacy.  We are not attempting to pretend that there is only one show in town.


Wally: Good point.  And there's a candidate for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination that C.I. has noted, Adam Kokesh.


Jim: C.I.?


C.I.: Adam Kokesh served in the Iraq War.  He came back from serving and spoke out against this never-ending war.  He has stood up for free speech even when it has meant getting arrested.  He is an activist, a strong supporter of the First Amendment as well as the Second Amendment. He has character and strength and he's highly attractive.  He notes at his campaign website, "To read the book that I started writing in jail for civil disobedience in Washington, DC, please click here. It explains how ethics can be applied consistently to politics to help humanity achieve a more peaceful, productive, and harmonious society."  He's been a talk show host for some time now.    From his website:


Adam first began his career in media with the birth of ADAM VS THE MAN as a radio show in Albuquerque on KIVA in 2010. After six months it was picked up as a TV show for RT America. After four months on the air, he was fired for criticizing Putin and went independent online to focus on podcasting and YouTube, where he has over 60 million views. He is well known for using Nonviolent Communication and Socratic Dialogue techniques in his 'man on the street' videos. Recently he has shifted focus to blockchain-based social media and is very active as a promoter of Steemit where he releases exclusive content."  

C.I. (Con't): I'd advise everyone to check out his campaign.  He may speak to your issues.  Whether he does or not, he's someone with tremendous character.  And I believe Ann has something to add on third party candidates.


Ann: I do?  Oh, yeah, I do!  One candidate has declared their intent to run for the Green Party's presidential nomination: Dario Hunter.
http://annsmegadub.blogspot.com/2019/03/bruce-dixon-and-green-party.html





Jess: I did not know that. 


Ann: Yes.  This is CRAPAPEDIA:



Dario David Hunter (born 1983), also known as Yisroel Hunter,^[2] is an American-Israeli lawyer, rabbi, educator^[3] and politician^[4] who is considered the first Muslim-born person to be ordained as a rabbi.^[5][6][7]
Hunter is openly gay and was raised by his Iranian Muslim father and African American mother in New Jersey.^[7]




Hunter was a Democratic Party candidate for Youngstown City Council in the 2015 primary election.^[8] In the 2015 general election, he won a write-in campaign for a seat on the Youngstown Board of Education.^[9] In May 2018, he joined the Green Party, becoming the only Green elected officeholder in Ohio. ^[10]
Hunter has been noted in the media for his outspoken stances on a number of school board issues, including what he sees as the Youngstown Board of Education's responsibility for low scores on state report cards,^[11][12] ethics violations,^[13] nepotism,^[13] creationism in the curriculum^[14][15] and the general dysfunction of the Board.

2020 presidential campaign[edit]

On January 21, 2019, Hunter announced he was forming an exploratory committee with the intention of seeking the Green Party nomination for President in 2020. ^[16][17] He formally launched his presidential candidacy on February 18, 2019.^[18]



Jess: And you can visit his Facebook page for more about him.







Jim:  Ann and Jess are Green Party members, FYI.


C.I.: Actually, there are two more declared candidates for the Green Party's presidential nomination.  Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza-Curry declared last year. And Ian Schlakman is also a candidate.







Jim: Would, Ann or Jess, you support Jill Stein if she went for the nomination again?


C.I.: That shouldn't be an issue.  She has announced she won't be seeking it.  Howie Hawkins might seek it and Ajamu Baraka might seek the nomination.  I believe there's also speculation that Jesse Ventura might seek it.


Jim: Okay.  Of those candidates would either of you lean towards anyone.


Ann: I would be very interested in Ajamu Baraka.  He was Jill Stein's running mate in 2016.  His work has been on peace activism since and I would be very interested in his campaign should he run.


Jesse: I would agree with that.  I also think Howie Hawkins has some organization skills that would make me seriously consider him.  If Kat Swift declares, I'd also be very interested in her.


Dona: I'm a Democrat but I'd like to make the point that rank choice voting would allow all candidates to have a better shot.  Those who use terms like 'spoilers' better be supporting rank choice voting are they're hypocrites.  We don't believe in 'spoilers' here.  We don't believe anyone owns your vote.  If a candidate wins your support, that's great.  But no one owns your vote except for you.




Jim: Beto O'Roarke is in the race.  In fact, after declaring Thursday, he went on to raise $6.1 million in donations in his first 24 hours as a candidate.  Any thoughts?


Kat: I'm giving him an honest look.  I know some are not and that's fine.  But I am willing to consider him.


Jim: Based on?


Kat: As I said at my site, C.I. pointed out Beto's strong focus in Congressional hearings.  I'd forgotten that.  We attended those and I was and remain impressed with Beto on that.  He had a way of cutting through the nonsense.  I need him to figure out what his plan is for Iraq and the other endless wars.  If his plan is something I can support, I could support him.


Jim: Some do not support him.  Kat's right?  Anyone want to talk about that.


Betty: I will.  I don't live in Texas.  So why was he shoved down my throat in 2018?  And the glorification of him was far out of step with the reality of him.  He was a media darling.  I'm not generally fond of those.  I like workhorses, not show horses. And I really grew weary of the efforts to promote him nationally.  Like Wendy Davis, he left me underwhelmed although, in fairness, he did seem to have more on the ball than Wendy ever did.  If he came out with a strong position regarding ending these endless wars, I'd consider him.


Jim: Has anyone encountered any real enthusiasm for Beto?


Kat: Today.  We stopped by to see one of C.I.'s friends, a cardiologist.  He was saying that, at his office, if he could, he'd hang a poster of Beto in the front office.  He was very high on Beto.


Ava: And to give some background, he's in his mid-30s, the Beto supporter, Latino and a cardiologist.  He's a Democrat who will vote for the nominee regardless of whom it is but he really, really wants Beto to get the nomination.


Jim: Does Beto have more male support than female?


Ava: I wouldn't know.


Jim: Kat?

Kat: Same.


Jim: Ty, you have an e-mail, right?


Ty: Reader Jodi e-mailed about the HBO LEAVING NEVERLAND and wants to know why people lied for Michael Jackson.


Jim: Ava's laughing.  Why?


Ava: Because this is a topic C.I. bit her tongue on for several years now and I believe she's about to let it rip.


Jim: C.I.?


C.I.: I do try to be nice.  We had a non-stop tribute to a cheap whore and I just kept my mouth closed.  Carrie Fisher was so pretty -- no, she wasn't.  She was a breakthrough super hero -- no, she wasn't.  She was a great actress -- no, she wasn't.  She was someone worth listening to -- no, she wasn't. 


Jim: What's Carrie Fisher got to do with this?


C.I.: The question was why people lied for Michael and Carrie used her second to last book to lie for Michael, to proclaim his innocence, why she went to that dentist and blah, blah, blah.  Reality, Carrie was a drug addict.  Reality, she had shock therapy.  Reality, she could create on drugs.  She could not create after shock therapy.  Her last two books demonstrated that and were embarrassments.  She should have held her tongue on several things -- including Harrison Ford.  So desperate for money, she'd do anything.  That's sadly how she went out.  And everyone tried to act like she was a feminist.  A feminist doesn't attack others to cover for a pedophile.  Carrie Fisher was many things, a feminist is not something she was.  In fairness to her, prior to shock therapy, she was a talented writer.  After?  She suddenly thought it was 'clever' to pick on an old man by noting he farted.  Not clever, not funny.  Petty and bitchy.  Why did he get away with it?  Michael had friends like Carrie Fisher who would lie for him and attack the families of the victims.  That's her heritage and I'm damn sorry.  I warned her when that first awful book came out, SHOCKAHOLIC, that she needed to get it together because that book was beneath her and because Michael Jackson was a predator.  She could have taken care of it.  She chose not to.  It's her real legacy.  I knew Carrie and liked her.  I defended her many times.  But she brought her problems on herself in the end and she is the reason that Michael Jackson walked -- people like her. 


Marcia: The Jackson family defends him.


C.I.: I know many of them.  Janet defending him?  It's her brother and I don't fault her.  Jermaine? I fault him.  He tried to write a book while Michael was alive, even put it together in writing, his book proposal, where he was going to call Michael out for sleeping with young boys -- sleeping with them, not sex.  Jermaine is less than sincere when he pretends shock.  Latoya called it out in real time now she pretends otherwise.  There's a lot of money to be made off of him.  Janet doesn't need the money so greed doesn't factor in with her.  The others?  Everyone suspected while Michael was alive.  Everyone in the family.  For them to pretend otherwise in the hopes of grabbing more money is disgusting and beneath them.


Ava: And to be clear, there have been many times when the topic of Carrie has come up and C.I.'s bit her tongue or removed it from our writing for Carrie's brother Todd's benefit.  We even avoided LEAVING NEVERLAND for that reason.


Ty: Which brings up another issue in an e-mail.  Brandon wanted to thank you guys for tackling "TV: Truth and lies," "TV: The lies of Ellen DeGeneres are out in full fo...,"  "TV: PBS' long con," "TV: Telling stories" and "Maybe Cher's right and some women should be called...." And he wrote that it must get weary holding people accountable.


Ava: It does get old.  We do try to vary.  This week isn't a hard hitting piece, for example. 


Rebecca: Let me jump in.  Ava and C.I. have a body of work.  An honest to God body of work that you can point to with pride.  They have all these amazing pieces.  If I just had "Maybe Cher's right and some women should be called...," I'd be satisfied.  Or to have written "TV: The Soggy Katrina retrospectives," "MEDIA: Male norms, Russia hate and lots of excuses...," "TV: Aftermath leaves an aftertaste," "TV: Why bad TV happens to good viewers," "TV: Global Boring," "TV: 60 MINUTES of gossip," "TV: Poor sports and strip teases," "TV: Exploding a stereotype," "TV: What's happy about early endings?," "TV: The Death of the TV Movie," "The Circle Jerk Swallows (Ava and C.I.)," "TV: The War Crimes Documentary," "Media: Epic Meltdown," "TV Review: Will & Grace -- goodbye, good riddance," and "TV: Katie Was a Cheerleader" -- those are all amazing pieces of writing.  I really think they have built up a body of work to be proud of.  I beat Dona to it.


Dona: You did.  But, come on, I just say they have a body of work.  You provided some examples.


Rebecca: I did a little homework, I was prepared.  In terms of politics, I am firmly behind Tulsi Gabbard but I am also impressed with Marianne Williamson.


Jim: Wally and Stan, how about you two?  Dona slid me a note saying we needed more from you and Isaiah but I have a question for Isaiah.


Stan: Tulsi.  Absolutely.  She's far and ahead of everyone else in my book.  I'd vote for Bernie if he got the nomination but my preference is Tulsi.


Jim: Anyone you wouldn't vote for?


Stan: I don't believe we need Joe Biden at all.  I think Mike said earlier that his time has come and gone.  I certainly support that. 


Jim: Wally?


Wally: Tulsi's my clear preference.  But I will look into Beto's campaign, Elizabeth Warren's, the Castro brother [Julian Castro] and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. 


Jim: Okay, Isaiah, you just did three comics in a row dealing with the Democratic Party primary -- Joe Biden, Beto, Tulsi Gabbard --  "Beto's Running," "Real Issues" and  "America's Mayor."  Do you have any plans for the primaries?


Isaiah: No.  I doubt I will live cartoon any of the early debates.  There are so many running and I think that's great.  It's always better to have more choices.  I think there are some strong candidates.  My basic sense of fairness puts Tulsi ahead of the pack because I don't like how the media picks on her and treats her unfairly. Other than that, I am open to everyone -- even Kamala Harris -- except for Joe Biden. He's been out of the White House for two years and what's he done?  Handed Bully Boy Bush an award?  That alone -- I was with Elaine on this -- that alone was enough to disqualify him but who thinks, in 2017, about running for president after being Vice President and then spends two years doing nothing to pad the resume?  He's wasted two years.  I don't have time for him.  I'm not rooting for Kamala, for example, but I don't doubt that she really wants it.  Especially after Hillary Clinton, I don't want another candidate who thinks they are owed it. 


Jim: Good point.  And now we're going to wrap up.  This has been a rush transcript.

The Dead No One Should Miss

The illegal and ongoing Iraq War has claimed many lives.   No one should have died in that hideous war that never should have started.  But here are three fake asses who have died and on one should miss them.



Isaiah's "The Hot Topics Dumpster" from March 19, 2011.

1) Danny Schechter was insulting Michael Moore on the college circuit when C.I. first came across Danny.  (C.I. was on the circuit speaking out against the Iraq War.)  Danny had a 'documentary' about the Iraq War.  Danny never had a 'documentary' do better than that one.  He turned it into a book and anything else to pull in the dollars.  But Danny walked away from the war to start his own wars with various women at PACIFICA (insisting they all thought their listeners were too dumb to understand).  He whored for Barack and did so gladly.  But slowly he began to realize that Barack wasn't ending the Iraq War.  By 2011, he knew Barack was a fake and would whine about it in e-mails to us.  We really didn't care anymore.  (In fact, our attitude was f**k you after he objected to Ava and C.I.'s "Ike Turner (Ava and C.I. feature)"  and continued to insist that Tina owed Ike forgiveness.  Ava and C.I. know Tina and disagree, furthermore, they think it takes a really stupid f**k to argue that a woman who is terrorized has to forgive her terrorist.)  Why wouldn't anyone call out Barack, he'd ask us in e-mail after e-mail even though we were, in fact, calling out Barack and even though he wasn't.  Danny would insist to Jim (Jim was the only one communicating with him by then) that the left needed to rise up against Barack but Danny lacked the guts to call Barack out himself.  Asked why, Danny infamously replied in one e-mail, ". . . because he's black."  Thanks, Danny, we don't miss you one bit.

 Isaiah's September 9, 2012 "Tom Hayden Democrats" features number five.

2) Tom Hayden.  The old whore.  The original whore.  A sexist piece of garbage.  Tom loved to gripe to Wally about the joint-posts Wally and Cedric wrote.  Maybe Tom, like Danny, couldn't call out a Black man (Cedric)?  Tom was a Barack apologist.  He was an embarrassment in so many ways.  He pretended to care about the Iraq War when he could get media attention by doing so.  At one point, Tom had an honest-to-God real thought about the Iraq War.  He shared it with Laura Flanders who, after he was off the phone, laughed at him on air, mocked him as wanting to be pen pals with al Qaeda.  We defended him.  Now we wonder why?   Sometime around "Pockmarks of the Soul," we lost all interest in defending him -- or listening to him see

"Letters to An Old Sell Out: Iraq."   As someone C.I. knew, many of us encountered him and registered our displeasure with him.  We saw him as a sell out.  He was used to being called that -- having sold out so many times in his pathetic life:  

Oh, it's Tom Hayden. The man, whom the left kicked to the curb in the early 70s only to see him buy his way back in (on someone else's dime -- Tom's purse poor, even when extorting), used the Iraq War to try to give his name meaning after his divorce from (and Brinx Robbery of) Jane Fonda meant his name was mud and he couldn't even hold on to his state legislature seat or get elected a mayor. It was over for Tom. He would rewrite the sixties repeatedly in book form but that's all he had to offer until Bush declared war on Iraq. Like Norma Shearer sizing up Irving Thalberg, Tom just knew the Iraq War was his road to renewed fame.

3) Howard Zinn was supposed to be a truth teller.  He ended up being just another sheep herder, herding the blind off to the Democratic Party.  In 2008, he really embarrassed himself and never recovered.  Truth tellers shouldn't rally for the War Hawks but Coward did.  See "Coward Zinn (1922 -2010)" for more on the sad end of Coward's life.  "Excerpt: A People's History of Children's Stories" expresses the same points but with humor.

The whoring of the presidency

The White House as bordello, who would've guessed?


No, we're not talking about the current occupant, Donald Trump.  But we are talking about two recent occupants: Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.  Whoring the presidency may be legal, but it's also tacky.  You can almost see Charlie Sheen running behind the two men, yelling his lines from WALL STREET, "How much is enough?"




Bill, Barack, Hillary and Michelle get big book advances.  Big book advances are given to them in part because the publishers do not have to pay for a security detail.  Pamela Anderson writes a book and she's going to want security at her book signings.  Bill, Barack, Hillary and Michelle don't?


No, they do.  It's just the publisher doesn't foot the bill for their security detail, We The People do.


Let's visit CRAPAPEDIA to look at the history:

With a reported one third of the currency in circulation being counterfeit at the time,^[13] the Secret Service was created on July 5, 1865 in Washington, D.C., to suppress counterfeit currency. Chief William P. Wood was sworn in by Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch. It was commissioned in Washington, D.C. as the "Secret Service Division" of the Department of the Treasury with the mission of suppressing counterfeiting. The legislation creating the agency was on Abraham Lincoln's desk the night he was assassinated.^[14] At the time, the only other federal law enforcement agencies were the United States Customs Service, the United States Park Police, the U.S. Post Office Department's Office of Instructions and Mail Depredations (now known as the United States Postal Inspection Service), and the United States Marshals Service. The Marshals did not have the manpower to investigate all crime under federal jurisdiction, so the Secret Service began investigating a wide range of crimes from murder to bank robbery to illegal gambling. After the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, Congress informally requested that the Secret Service provide presidential protection. A year later, the Secret Service assumed full-time responsibility for presidential protection. In 1902, William Craig became the first Secret Service agent to die while serving, in a road accident while riding in the presidential carriage.

Okay, but that's sitting presidents.  Why do they get it when they're out of office?




That would be the Former Presidents Act.  The huh?

a) Each former President shall be entitled for the remainder of his life to receive from the United States a monetary allowance at a rate per annum, payable monthly by the Secretary of the Treasury, which is equal to the annual rate of basic pay, as in effect from time to time, of the head of an executive department, as defined in section 101 of title 5, United States Code [section 101 of Title 5]. However, such allowance shall not be paid for any period during which such former President holds an appointive or elective office or position in or under the Federal Government or the government of the District of Columbia to which is attached a rate of pay other than a nominal rate. (b) The Administrator of General Services shall, without regard to the civil-service and classification laws, provide for each former President an office staff. Persons employed under this subsection shall be selected by the former President and shall be responsible only to him for the performance of their duties. Each former President shall fix basic rates of compensation for persons employed for him under this paragraph which in the aggregate shall not exceed $96,000 per annum, except that for the first 30-month period during which a former President is entitled to staff assistance under this subsection, such rates of compensation in the aggregate shall not exceed $150,000 per annum. The annual rate of compensation payable to any such person shall not exceed the highest annual rate of basic pay now or hereafter provided by law for positions at level II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5. United States Code [section 5313 of Title 5. Government Organization and Employees]. Amounts provided for “Allowances and Office Staff for Former Presidents” may be used to pay fees of an independent contractor who is not a member of the staff of the office of a former President for the review of Presidential records of a former President in connection with the transfer of such records to the National Archives and Records Administration or a Presidential Library without regard to the limitation on staff compensation set forth herein.
(c) The Administrator of General Services shall furnish for each former President suitable office space appropriately furnished and equipped, as determined by the Administrator, at such place within the United States as the former President shall specify.
(d) [Repealed. Pub. L. 86-682, § 12(c), Sept. 2, 1960, 74 Stat. 730. See sections 3214 and 3216 of Title 39.]
(e) The widow of each former President shall be entitled to receive from the United States a monetary allowance at a rate of $20,000 per annum, payable monthly by the Secretary of the Treasury, if such widow shall waive the right to each other annuity or pension to which she is entitled under any other Act of Congress. The monetary allowance of such widow--

(1) commences on the day after the former President dies;

(2) terminates on the last day of the month before such widow--

(A) dies; or

(B) remarries before becoming 60 years of age; and

(3) is not payable for any period during which such widow holds an appointive or elective office or position in or under the Federal Government or the government of the District of Columbia to which is attached a rate of pay other than a nominal rate.

(f) As used in this section, the term “former President” means a person--

(1) who shall have held the office of President of the United States of America;

(2) whose service in such office shall have terminated other than by removal pursuant to section 4 of article II of the Constitution of the United States of America; and

(3) who does not then currently hold such office.

(g) There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of General Services up to $1,000,000 for each former President and up to $500,000 for the spouse of each former President each fiscal year for security and travel related expenses: Provided, That under the provisions set forth in section 3056, paragraph (a), subparagraph (3) of title 18, United States Code [section 3056(a)(3) of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure], the former President and/or spouse was not receiving protection for a lifetime provided by the United States Secret Service under section 3056 paragraph (a) subparagraph (3) of title 18, United States Code; the protection provided by the United States Secret Service expired at its designated time; or the protection provided by the United States Secret Service was declined prior to authorized expiration in lieu of these funds.

This is welfare.  And it needs to end. 


When NETFLIX is paying the Obamas $50 million, it needs to end.  When they're getting $65 million in book advances, it needs to end.


The post is supposed to carry dignity.  Instead, it's a tag sale.  It needs to stop.  This is waste and corruption and it encourages other waste and corruption. 


Does no one have any dignity anymore?  Ethics?


You'd think they'd be appalled to whore the presidency.  They're not.  If they're raking in millions, they need to pay for their own protection, they need to pay for their own travel. 



Avarice and greed are not what we think of when we think of the original presidents.  It's not what we should be thinking of when we think of our modern presidents.

This edition's playlist

1) Mavis Staples' LIVE IN LONDON.


 2) Chaka Khan's HELLO HAPPINESS.


3) Janet Jackson's UNBREAKABLE.


4) Diana Ross' DIAMOND DIANA: THE LEGACY COLLECTION.


5) Sam Smith's THE THRILL OF IT ALL.


6) Cat Powers' WANDERER.


7) Ben Harper's CALL IT WHAT IT IS.


8) Alicia Keys' HERE.


9) Nick Jonas' LAST YEAR WAS COMPLICATED.


10) Tori Amos' UNREPENTANT GERALDINES.

Highlights

This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.

"Gaffe Prone Joe is in and then out" -- most requested highlight of the week by readers of this site.

"Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "America's Mayo...," "Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Real Issues"" and "Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Beto's running..."

"Iraq snapshot" -- Congressional reporting.


"BLACKLIST," "Beto, Bond, MODERN FAMILY," "dynasty returns," "NETFLIX cancels another show" and "ORPHAN BLACK, MR. ROBOT, MARTIN, MY WIFE AND KIDS" -- TV coverage.


"joe biden is walter Mondale," "Beto," "Food safety" "Crusty Lips can't see that we have real issues to address," "For me, it's Tulsi," "Idiot of the Week," "Symbolic and meaningless gestures," "Truth begins to emerge," "Strzok spills the beans about the deal D.O.J. made with Hillary," "Lisa Page's big admission," "The end of the fakery is near?," "The race for president," "Tulsi, RBG, Sandra Day O'Connor, Kamala," "Empire in plain sight," "Tulsi," "Marianne Williasmon," "Beto, Tulsi, Woody Guthrie and more" and "Two tiers of justice" -- political coverage in the community.

"Do you think about Aretha?," "Vegas?" and "Five great Pat Benatar tracks" -- music coverage.

"Quick Ribs in the Kitchen" -- Trina serves up a new recipe.
 

"The state attorney who violated basic ethics," "Jussie poisons everything," "He might destroy the whole show" and "Jussie and the brothers" -- Ann continues her Jussie coverage.


"Extinction," "Opportunity, Curiosity and generosity" and "Climate change" -- Betty continues her science coverage.


"Accountability" -- Isaiah dips into the archives.

"Racist Alyssa gets called on it" and "THIS JUST IN! ALYSSA REMAINS THE FREAK SHOW!" -- enjoy the Alyssa freak show.