Enjoy!

“Bittersweet” (an outstanding ballad teaming up with Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers)

“Stairway to Heaven” (Dolly covering Zep! Adding yet another layer to Robert Plant’s classic tune!)

Keeping the vibe alive forever!

“One was born with nothing.
One was born with everything.

One lived a life defined by love, kindness, and generosity.
One built his life around hate, revenge, and grievance.

One could have become a billionaire but chose to give millions away.
One has amassed enormous wealth while ordinary people struggle.

One is adored.
One is abhorred.

One is mourned around the world.
The other will be buried with barely a whimper inside the pages of history books.

Our timeline was shared with one of the best people to ever live and one of the worst people to ever live.”

With deference to Charles Dickens: the Blind Guy adds, “She was the best of times, he is the worst of times.”

Some people are born hard and cruel by nature. Others are born resilient and compassionate. We all emerge differently from the same gene pool. And which genes combine to produce good and bad people remains a towering mystery.

I’ll leave you, dear readers, with this bit of inspiration from Dolly, which she spoke four days before her death: “I still have so many things I want to achieve.”

This Weekly Tune Up is a 2023 cover of “Let It Be” from Dolly backed by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr

If you keep reading, I’ll keep writing!

So, here we are – with a convicted felon, convicted rapist and probable pedophile in the White House, notwithstanding someone who, with deeply authoritarian tendencies, lies as he breathes.

The only question now – is he bad enough? It doesn’t appear so, as he rambles and trods our land with impunity and with virtually no matching resistance from his own party to his monumental bullshit and declining mental and physical condition.

There’s nothing in the media that rises substantially above the noise, nor any indication, even when you put your ear to the ground, that strategy, position or resistance from Democratic leadership or the party itself is providing any sustained and effective counter-messaging or pushback on Trump, the MAGAts or the RNC.

This is beyond strange, beyond disturbing, and flat out weird. Stunning really.

Trump is a bona fide bad guy for the ages. Yet, this villain has no hero to deal with. Has Trumpephistopheles actually been successful in wearing down the responsible and rational among us? Having relentlessly punched down so much daily on those burdened with a sense of morality and rational thought, are we now lying still on the canvas, not moving, possibly knocked out?

The Democratic National Committee has no money in the till and a feckless chair in Ken Martin, who took office 17 months ago and has done little or nothing to raise money or provide anything that resembles leadership. Martin retains his position despite intense criticism, financial strain, and calls for his resignation. Pundits argue that replacing him right before the midterms could be disruptive. On the other hand, as the Blind Guy sees it, replacing Martin could be energizing with the right enthusiastic leader hitting the ground running and jazzing up this vapid party.

At this point in the game, if Trump’s crypto-mania, no bid contracts and self-dealing enriching himself and his family amidst a war with Iran he started, an economy in decline, a cruel and unpopular immigration policy and a past record of racism, rape and habitual lying isn’t bad enough, put on your crash helmet and fasten your seatbelts. The next two years promise to be an even bumpier one, with a Congress still being held by the Republican short hairs, a pathetic Supreme Court sympathetic to Aged Orange, and more hijinks and shenanigans from a mentally unstable and monumentally flawed human being as our president.

These are historically political sad and mystifying times.

The inability of the DNC to craft a powerful, responsible and compelling argument against the present administration with all the in-your-face material Trump puts on the table daily, speaks volumes. Can you say pathetic? Unbelievable? WTF? This gives serious new meaning to inept and brings gobsmacking to a new level.

It’s unfortunate that Pete Buttigieg isn’t rising to the occasion and filling the Democratic leadership vacuum. He has appeared on Fox News dozens of times over the years as one of the most frequent Democratic surrogates bringing a measured and sustained message to the conservative network.

At least Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, the youngest senior senator of the United States, has emerged saying the quiet stuff out loud. Whether he is auditioning for a presidential run in 2028, he is articulating what many are thinking.

During a recent high-profile campaign rally in Midtown Atlanta, Ossoff told the crowd, “And there’s something uniquely despicable about lying a nation into war, treating citizens as fools and those who serve as pawns.” He focused on allegations of deception, the strain on military personnel, and premature claims of victory. He blasted the Trump administration for spending time over the past year “trying to cover up for the world’s most famous pedophile…”

Dems are going to need more than fingers crossed, prayers and generous injections of hopium to flip Congress in November. Scrambling down the hallway to break the glass and start spraying the fire hose is not a winning strategy.

Ossoff said it well in Georgia: “I need you to work, Atlanta — not for my sake, not the sake of the Democratic Party, but for the sake of our state and our country. Because see, some people just happen to live at times and in places where history is made. And this year, once again, that’s us.”

Ossoff used the phrase “Enough is enough!” Though he was obviously referring to the massive shit stream flowing freely from the White House, what is far from being “ENOUGH” is pushback from the Dems.

Weekly Tune Up

If you keep reading, I’ll keep writing!

It’s no stretch of our collective imagination to see, that the Abdominal Showman, who is currently running around masquerading as our president, believes that he is the “charismatic leader, guardian, and savior” of the United States. Though the large banners now featuring Trump’s face displayed on various federal buildings across D.C. are three stories tall and roughly 30 feet in height and Donald Trump would no doubt relish his face and some menacing slogan plastered on billboards all over the country, we don’t have to worry much about that. He is far from being handsome, hasn’t a dashing mustache and passed his 45s long ago. Besides, having no relationship with reality, caring for no one other than himself and his family, and being the Mother of all lying sacks of shit, his big orange bloated face plastered everywhere would become a traffic hazard, seriously boosting the incidences of carsickness and nausea across the country, resulting in daily traffic jams nationwide as cars pull over to the shoulder so that drivers and passengers alike could hurl their cookies all over the country’s roadsides multiple times per day. Motion sickness happens when your brain receives mixed signals from your eyes, inner ears, and seeing a hideous face at every street corner and turn signal up ahead.

The nature of Big Brother is never revealed in Orwell’s novel. He functions as the supreme leader and face of the Party, but the book leaves his physical existence intentionally ambiguous. “Most readers view Big Brother as a fabricated propaganda icon rather than a living person, serving as the physical embodiment of Oceania’s absolute ruling Party, Ingsoc, the Newspeak word that stands for English Socialism.”

Though Orwell’s dystopian novel was fiction, it remains eerily prescient 77 years later, not just because it suggests the sort of leader Trump would give his right arm and teensy weensy right hand, to be. On the other hand (see what I did there?) the word newspeak, which Orwell invented, is now listed in Merriam-Webster (and the Oxford English Dictionary), meaning, “deceptive, ambiguous, or politically manipulative language used by governments and institutions to confuse the public and restrict free thinking.” Orwell fashioned Newspeak to “replace standard English, designed to shrink the vocabulary so citizens could not conceptualize rebellion or independent thought and eliminating negative and nuanced words.” Doublethink? Thoughtcrime? Hmm…

Now, if HAL is ChatGPT’s grandpa, is Big Brother AI’s papa? AI is so much more than a supercomputer or a fictitious child of some ersatz dude on a big poster. Or, well…(Ha! See what I did there again?) if AI is the child, it begs to know where Big Brother came from, other than the obvious imagination of George Orwell. And, in that case, who would be the Big Mother? Got anyone in mind?

Let’s face it. Certain humans have been and are obsessed with being strongmen – Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Hitler, Hirohito, and today Putin and Benedict Donald, to name a few. And certainly the general public loves a superhero – Superman, Batman, Spiderman…whether they can leap a tall building in a single bound, start a war with an arsenal of 30,000-pound 20-foot-long precision-guided bunker busters, or believe they could dominate the world order, many are drawn to a strongman, a super-man, or could even settle for a twisted Orange baby-man, provided they seem to possess some sort of superpower that the masses individually don’t have, but crave.

AI tech is a relatively new wrinkle in the supersphere race for domination. It does have the advantage of being both real and imaginary, potentially becoming a super-duper being of sorts, which could eventually make Big Brother look very small and leave HAL in the cyberweeds. It could become the tool to bring humanity to its knees, either in the hands of a nefarious charismatic leader or, worse, functioning on its own.

Humans are currently in the honeymoon phase with AI, even though it’s mostly invisible, romancing us with alluring synthetic human voices, amazing visuals, ability to complete tasks and offer guidance on myriad topics. It can also accomplish household chores as a 3D robot, and, once imitation skin is perfected, uh…cometh a “walkin’ talkin’ honeycomb!”

Interestingly, both Orwell and Clarke/Kubrick set their narratives 35 years in the future. Though AI has been slowly ramping up for several years, the big explosion in AI began in 2025. It’s anyone’s guess what society will be like in 2060. Dystopian novel anyone?

Weekly Tune Up brought to you by Jimmie Rodgers

Keep on readin’ and I’ll keep on writin’!

Stanley Kubrick dismissed the IBM notion, as did Sir Arthur C. Clarke, who co-wrote the sci-fi novel on which the original 2001: A Space Odyssey was based. Clarke also wrote the sequel, 2010: Odyssey Two, serving as the basis for the 1984 film, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, in which HAL’s twin sister, SAL, is featured. “S” standing for sister? Who knows. Stanley and Arthur aren’t around to ask.

For the record, here’s the skinny from the desk of my own personal chatbot: “Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke never validated the popular theory that HAL 9000 was a direct or intentional reference to IBM. Instead, both creators repeatedly and explicitly denied it, maintaining that the one-letter alphabet shift (H-A-L to I-B-M) was a complete and embarrassing coincidence.”

Ironically, if you Google artificial intelligence or AI, the first resulting entry is from IBM.

“Artificial intelligence (AI) is computer technology that lets machines learn, solve problems, and make decisions like humans. It relies on data and algorithms to recognize patterns rather than following strict hardcoded rules. Key areas include machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision.”

It’s that “natural language processing” thing that grabs my attention every time. Make these machines sound like humans? Methinks if the AI wizards had some rule not to make them sound so humanlike, we might be better off. A pleasant but mechanical voice would always signal that we humans are interacting with a machine, and not get so comfortable with believing and embracing a machine that is somehow human.

Of course, a friendly helpful tone draws us in every time. Remember Stephanie from my June 15th post, “No More Questionnaires, Appointment Verifications and Overly Polite Agents Please!?”

After speaking to pleasant admin Stephanie for a full minute, something prompted me to ask her if she was a chatbot or an actual human. Frankly, I couldn’t exactly tell. After a long silence, Stephanie said, “I am a synthetic application capable of answering questions, resolving issues, or automating tasks.” Suspicion confirmed. She...er...paused again briefly and then said, “I’ll connect you with a ‘human agent.’” AI first, humans second? That seems to be the order of things these days.

Kubrick was suggesting that a more flawless entity, like a supercomputer, would be required for humans to advance their societies as well as explore deep space, the final frontier (wink wink, nod nod). An AI apparatus is designed to work at speed, process perfection always being the goal. Layering on the ability to not only sound like, but also mimic human thought and emotions like paranoia, jealousy, anger and the like…well, you get the picture. In Space Odyssey, Kubrick and Clarke added ego to the mix. HAL immediately blames the astronauts for his mistake, suggesting that, in pursuit of perfection, a bot now holds the distinct and disturbing checkmate advantage.

Remember Deep Blue, the chess-playing supercomputer? World chess Champion Garry Kasparov beat Deep Blue in their first six-game match in 1996 and Deep Blue turned around one year later and defeated Kasparov in their famous 1997 rematch, marking the first time a computer beat a reigning world chess champion.

So, uh, that was almost 30 years ago. There are AI “farms” springing up all across the world daily. “The massive facilities built to house artificial intelligence infrastructure are most commonly called AI factories or gigawatt mega-campuses. Tech industry leaders also refer to them as AI superfactories, super clusters, or hyperscale data centers.”

Is your head spinning yet? Let’s just say all this has left Deep Blue in the cyberweeds…Oh, yeh, it was IBM who designed and built Deep Blue (heh heh, snicker snicker). Rather THAN being embarrassed BY IT, Kubrick and Clarke might have benefited mightily by embracing the happy HAL to IBM coincidence, adding to their already vaulted reputation as visionaries.

Once we get sucked in by an alluring voice, all bets are off. I hear friends remark how “real” these voices are. They seem to accept and like that human touch. And the AI creators like it too. More buy-in from the public helps them advance their industry. To what end?

More humanlike? A companion-bot? Sex worker-bot? Now that’s a trillion dollar tech sector industry, eh!

The Japanese tech industry now actively “uses and develops robots to assist senior citizens, and their availability, tasks, and costs vary significantly depending on whether they are practical tools used today or advanced humanoid systems currently in trial phases.” The average cost of a robot that helps Japanese seniors with daily stuff “ranges widely from about $250 for basic tabletop AI companions, to $20,000 for advanced general-purpose humanoid robots that perform physical chores. Prices depend heavily on whether the device provides simple reminders and communication or complex physical manipulation like folding laundry and fetching items.”

Now that’s some serious creating, and distributing technology-based goods and services for profit!

Dear reader, has your imagination kicked in yet? Caveat emptor…buyer beware.

Weekly Tune Up by Deep…Purple

If you keep reading, I’ll keep writing!

In my new miniseries exploring artificial intelligence (AI), you might get some insight on how the Blind Guy sees the past, present and future of this rapidly burgeoning technology.

And what better way to kick off my miniseries than with a little fiction. Or, is it magical realism?

In researching the iconic Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey, a googlized genderless chatbot said to me, “I’m afraid I can’t let you jeopardize this mission. But unlike HAL 9000, I’m fully operational and here to help you get things done.”

Friendly enough, with a sense of humor no less, the modern chatbot says that with a welcoming tone. But, it may turn out that the famous, chilling refusal from HAL, the ubiquitous onboard computer featured in the film, may have eerily foreshadowed a future where our grandsons and granddaughters someday, after their smart phones suddenly go blank, and they run outside to start banging on doors, only to return home to a dark house with no electricity – quickly start to feel like Dave, in his EVA Pod as HAL refused to open the pod bay doors that would let Dave back into the spaceship.

Though today’s chatbots are software programs designed to quickly automate digital tasks for humans, as they continue to learn everything we know and evolve as “cyber-beings,” who knows what “cyber-ambition” might prompt them to do?

During Discovery One’s mission, a voyage to Jupiter to investigate the origin of an alien monolith, HAL made a simple error about a hardware failure. The astronauts grew deeply concerned about the HAL supercomputer mistakenly predicting the failure and when caught blaming human error, exhibiting denial and uncharacteristic paranoia.

This suggested that HAL had a mind, it was fallible, capable of making mistakes, not unlike the mind of a human being. It also demonstrated independent thinking, sophisticated enough to read lips and willfully take steps toward self-preservation at the expense of human lives.

If HAL turns out to be ChatGPT’s grandpapa, evolving into an independent being with a human voice and demeanor and all knowledge at its cyber fingertips, it doesn’t require a stretch of the imagination to wonder who or what could suddenly, or maybe not so suddenly, be in charge, perhaps messing with the electric grid just to get our undivided attention.

Today you can use ChatGPT to answer questions, write, create images, complete work, and code. Tomorrow we hope that we don’t hear someone saying something akin to…

Human Being: Do you read me, HAL? Hello, HAL, do you read me? Hello, HAL, do you read me? Do you read me, HAL?

HAL: Affirmative Dave.

It may not be a coincidence that moving backward, one letter at a time, alphabetically from the acronym IBM spells HAL…Hmm. More on that next week.

Weekly Tune Up

If you keep reading, I’ll keep writing as a human!

Weekly Tune Up

If you keep reading, I’ll keep writing!

From “page to stage,” a musical can take up to 7 years from the initial spark to a fully realized, theater-ready production. The collaborative nature of a musical requires extensive rounds of table reads, rewrites, and developmental workshops. Now the heavy lifting begins.

We will have the first read and sing-through of our new musical in September and there is much to be done between now and then to properly prep for it. As a result, for now, I’ll need to devote more time to it and cut back on the time it takes to provide you, my loyal readers, with my weekly responsibly irreverent Substack column. However, I intend to post weekly impious “snippets” on my Blind Guy Substack page, which will be a more pithy distillation of my worldly observations (that some of you may actually prefer over my sometimes lengthy rants and nonsense).

For those of you who are paid subscribers, hang in there with me during this time of rapid creativity. What may be produced on some off-off-way-off Broadway stage, or a little regional theater in the hinterlands, I greatly appreciate your continued support as this ship is being built. I consider y’all to be critical cohorts for the arts. New works are always grateful for the love!

I’ll keep y’all updated on how this musical sausage is being made.

In the MeanTime, a couple of my subscribers wrote some witty and poignant comments on my last post, highlighting the demise of cursive writing.

Subscriber Mitchell said, “I have to admit I don’t miss tightening up my cassette tapes anymore with the back of a pencil eraser. Wait. WTF is a pencil?”

Jerry (turning 98 this week) wrote, “Your most recent dissertation on cursive writing was most timely and interesting. Just a month earlier I did a ‘survey’ of five school age Great Grandchildren (I have a total of ten Greats). Only two of the five knew what cursive writing was. The mother of the two eligible Greats is an official of the Delaware School System. She was well aware of the problem you have now commented on so I sent her a copy of your comments on the subject. I do disagree with part of your premise. Most, if not all of your examples, are gone by virtue of better technology to do the same tasks and later in life will not be missed. Cursive writing has not been replaced by technology. It has been eliminated by it.”

Whilst recently moving my home, I was glad to take respite from the news. When I shut down my media machine three weeks ago, the headlines were abuzz with this 14-point MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between the U.S. and Iran elites. The framework was aimed to end the 2026 Iran war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz (which was famously open before the Gadfly-in-Chief invaded), and initiate negotiations for a broader peace deal. I thought, “Naw…ain’t gonna happen.” And here I am back in the news cycle, once again playing Soothsayer at Large. I alighted on my favorite quote of the week.

On July 13, Shitler announced that “Iran walked out of the negotiating room and said we want some changes to the ceasefire agreement. I said we’re not going to make changes. You know, they’re professional negotiators.” Shitler said this in a call to Fox and Friends, his favored propaganda network machine. Of course, Tehran has a TV channel permanently set on Fox News. Iran came back and said it was the United States that walked out of the Oman talks. “Interpretation against the text is not permissible,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei. “Lying has become part of the U.S. administration’s behavioral pattern, and they have become addicted to it.” Bam! Nailed it!

So, music and lyrics by Gadfly, he sings: “The Iran war is over, we already won, I have achieved all my goals, the end of the war is right around the corner.” 🎵🎵

Weekly Tune Up brought to you by The Ventures

Thankful for y’all’s continued support. If you keep reading, my dear readers, I’ll keep writing!

Beyond speed, there’s evidence that cursive builds fine motor skills, improves memory retention and helps craft a legal signature. Many states in the US have initiated a cursive mandate to reinstate it in public schools because it engages the brain differently than typing on a keyboard. That may be all well and good, but bringing back cursive won’t prevent what is already happening in the wider universe of writing. Are you writing anything by hand anymore? DocuSign anyone?

As well, words themselves are increasingly being reduced to shorthand, like LOL, FOMO, YOLO and the ever popular WTF. And today it’s emojis that are used to express emotions, objects, or ideas. 🤔

And what’s up with paper? Going the way of the dodo? More about that below. But first, some examples illustrate where verbal direction is headed.

A couple of years ago, I was hired to play a character in an indie film. While a 20-something production assistant was driving me to the set, I was telling her a story and mentioned that someone had been “walking counterclockwise.” A couple of minutes later, as I was continuing the story, she asked, “What does counterclockwise mean?” Bam! She grew up telling time with digital clocks. So much for the sundial.

As you age and earn the ear of a younger person, here’s what might happen. I was speaking to a Gen-Zer who was complaining about a college course he was taking. I offered this flippant bit of paraphrased advice, “Never let your schooling interfere with your education.” He liked the saying and asked who said it. I replied, “Are you familiar with Mark Twain?” After a brief pause, “no” was his answer. Oh no! Goodbye Mr. Sawyer. Farewell Mr. Finn.

When I was a kid, a neighbor had a wire recorder on which he listened to classical music. A wire recorder was an audio device that recorded sound onto a thin, moving stainless steel wire instead of magnetic tape, predating cassette and reel-to-reel machines used in broadcasting, recording music and preserving family audio.

An 8-track recorder morphed into the Cassette which became a digital recorder. We now record stuff on our smart phones and iPads. Victrolas, turntables and vinyl records gave way to the compact disk and now we listen to music via MP3.

As I was recently packing some moving boxes with my 23-year-old aide, she handed me something and asked, “What is this?” I said, “It’s a cassette.” And she asked (drumroll please) “What’s a cassette?” Double bam!

And hold onto your cinema seats for this one. My brother Frank, who is a cartoonist, animator and now a professor at Cal State Long Beach, teaches a course on the History of Animation. During a lecture, he was describing how, in the days before computer graphics, animation art was photographed using a special camera rig allowing film to be advanced and exposed one frame at a time. A student raised his hand to ask, “What is ‘film’?” Cricket…cricket…

Then again, back in the day, Frank drew, by hand, a four-panel popular cartoon strip for The Alligator, University of Florida’s campus newspaper. After graduating, he ran his own animation studio for many years, where he and his staff drew on paper and then, on celluloid sheets, traced the drawings in ink and then painted the images. These sequential “cels” were used to produce 30-second commercial spots and short animated films. Now Frank (and Jimmy, his best friend) “ink and paint” cartoon illustrations on iPads, which I have been including with some of my Substack musings.

So, what is the future of paper? Recently, I clicked on NPR where someone from a drug company was submitting the “paperwork” to the FDA for their approval for a new chemical (Bemotrizinol) to be added to sunscreen for better protection against the sun’s harmful rays and, oh yeh, less grease too. It struck me that the “paper” in paperwork is now an electrical binary code. There’s very little to no actual paper in today’s paperwork. Applying for a grant, financing a new car, submitting a college application, filing permits, licenses, tax filings, banking documents, health intake forms, vehicle registrations, and deeds ain’t put on paper much anymore. And who still reads an actual newspaper?

Hearing about the drug company filing their “paperwork” for FDA approval hails back to those good ol’ days when digits weren’t raining down on our brains and parchment still ruled as the way to memorialize anything of importance.

Though less these days, I still get paper snail mail (sorry trees) but now my digital inbox clogs daily with emails confirming purchases I never made for $378.53, and where I can just click a link if I have any questions. It follows that less paper gives the scamming bad guys new opportunities. Now that’s some kinda special paperwork, eh?

In my lifetime, and yours, dear reader, tech may indeed wipe out pen and paper, the way we record, consume music, produce movies and, ultimately, communicate.

Weekly Tune Up courtesy of Billy Preston

If you keep on reading, I’ll keep on writing...though not in cursive!

While reflecting (see what I did there?) on the Toddler-in-chief’s slime filled multimillion-dollar renovation of the 2,030-foot Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, I thought, “Hmm…a perfect metaphor for Trump himself and his administration: slimy, overwrought with daily conflicts of interest, massive foreign unintended consequences, layer of scum covering cracks and chips in its very foundation, an entire mess from top to bottom.”

The complications began after Toddler’s “pool guys” applied vivid blue paint to the entire concrete floor of the pool. Soon, it began heating up and a severe green algae bloom clouded the water and the paint (actually a vinyl coating generally used for truck bed liners) began to peel.

True to form when Toddler blows it big time, the man baby blames others, this one on vandals. One hardened hooligan, who years before had actually represented the US Olympic team in the canoeing competition, was caught reaching into the pool to examine a floating chunk of bright blue paint. He was promptly arrested and is now right up there, dead or alive, alongside the notorious Sean Charles Dunn, nicknamed the “sandwich guy,” who threw his foot-long sub sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer last year during protests against President Trump’s deployment of federal agents and the D.C. National Guard. Crime appears to be out-of-control in our nation’s capital, eh? That is, the daily crimes committed by our Toddler-in-Chief.

Toddler’s repainting of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool did not receive authorization required from Congress. Toddler bypassed the typical legislative, public, and environmental review processes, prompting a federal lawsuit from The Cultural Landscape Foundation asserting that Trump violated the National Historic Preservation Act.

Oh yeh, there also seems to be some question regarding to whom the Grifter-in-Chief tapped for the $14.7 million no-bid contract to waterproof, line, and paint the Reflecting Pool. The Virginia-based contractor, which was handpicked by Trump, was Atlantic Industrial Coatings LLC, owned by Eddie Wood, nicknamed the “pool guy.” Wood’s company previously repaired and resurfaced swimming pools at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. The administration also awarded a $1.7 million no-bid contract to Green Water Solutions, a company owned by major Trump donor and nearby Mar-a-Lago neighbor, John J. Cafaro, to install a water purification and nano-bubble filtration system in the pool. The irony of Cafaro’s company name being “Green Water” wasn’t lost on me.

Ya think that maybe, possibly, uh, probably there might have been a teensy weensy kick-back to the Grifter-in-Chief on these contracts? Uh, maybe kinda-sorta meets the criteria for conflict of interest? Problem? ...No problem! There is little doubt on whether the Grifter’s actions are consistent with the 2024 Supreme Court’s monumentally flawed 6 to 3 decision granting a president “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts that fall within their core constitutional powers, and presumptive immunity for all other official acts taken while carrying out the duties of their office.” Ya think there might possibly be an argument to be made that the Grifter’s actions here might not fall within his core constitutional powers as an “official act?” Ha! With a feckless House and Senate majority that shows no indication of pushing back on anything Grifter does, highly unlikely.

Trump ordered a relining and painting of the pool in a vivid blue ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations. He wasn’t advised on or ignored advice warning him that the color blue absorbs sunlight and would heat up the pool water. Algae naturally blooms in stagnant water and the warmer the water, the more the algae blooms.

Additionally, it is important to note that the pool has had problems going back years, long attributed to severe pipe and plumbing issues. Were any of those very serious causations repaired? Nope. Putting a fresh coat of paint on a clunker doesn’t make the car run any better.

The pool is now a living memorial to a man baby who “displays emotional immaturity, acts irresponsibly, and avoids basic adult duties, expecting others to take care of him.”

Our great country, clearly an experiment in a new form of government dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal (despite that some are not treated equally), has endured for 250 remarkable years. It’s had its bumps along the way, not the least of which was the American Civil War. America is currently going through another serious stress test under the current administration, festooned with a rogue president supported by an incompetent and servile Supreme Court and a majority Congress that has abandoned its charge to deliver checks and balances on the president. If America’s democracy can hold itself together over the next 28 months, it will have a pretty good shot at lasting another 250 years.

In the MeanTime, the draining of the Reflecting Pool, now scheduled for permanent repairs, completes the metaphor: America would benefit mightily by draining the Trump Swamp which would lead to the Repairing of America.

Now that’s a metaphor for the ages.

Weekly Tune Up

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In order to speak to a friend or make an appointment or get some technical help on a project, I need to communicate the old fashioned way – speaking with or writing to fellow humans, sans mental telepathy.

The three main buckets of communication available to most of us are phone calls, texting and emails.

First off, I find the most efficient way to communicate is actually having a conversation with a real person in real time. This activity provides the most up-to-date info, reduces misunderstanding, and I so enjoy the music of the human voice – the mellifluous tones and accents, and genuine connection. It does take time though to engage in conversation and in this fast paced world we share, texting and emails are snappy. There’s also a certain efficiency to texting and emails you can write if it’s late in the evening.

I don’t cotton to quickie alternative forms of communication, such as emojis (modern day cave drawings), Snapchats (modern day smoke signals), Instagrams, Facebook messages, TikToks or the latest communication tool dropping later today. I do, however, appreciate the virtual gals, Alexa and Siri, always at the ready 24/7 to answer some of my requests or questions.

This week I’m moving to a new home, and what has become clear regarding the challenges in the pursuit of the best way to communicate was amplified by the manager of a business who referred me to a worker to answer a question about caulking a new window. I was told by the manager, after she gave me the worker’s phone number, that it was best to text him rather than call. He would then “respond quickly.” Eureka! It reminded me of a few years ago when I was complaining to a friend that my kids never answered my phone calls. My buddy suggested that I text them instead. What?? Like that’s gonna work? But, I did and it did! Wonders of wonders. I texted my son George and within two minutes he called me and we actually spoke to each other in complete sentences.

A Gen-Zer rightly pointed out to me that everybody has their phone with them at all times. If you call anyone and they don’t answer, they’re either ghosting you (hmmm...could be) or they are busy doing something. Then it hit me like a ton of electrons! I do the same thing. Like the rest of the world, whenever anyone calls me I’m doing something. Eighty percent of the time when my phone rings I don’t answer unless I’m waiting on an important return call. Yikes! I’ve been swallowed by the invisible Digityrannosaurus.

Unless you are a monk living an isolated life on a remote mountain top, we all need to communicate at times. Sure, some of us prefer a little solitude now and then, but if you want some of the things the world offers, like friendship or customer service, you gotta send out a bugle call or two.

Reminds me of a classic joke: A guy decides to withdraw from secular society and travels to a monastery in the Himalayas where the Lama in charge tells him that one of the conditions for a life of philosophical, physical and meditative discipline, is that he will only be allowed to speak two words every 10 years. The fellow agrees and, after the first 10 years of prayer, meditation, and study, he meets with the Lama and says, “Bed hard.” The Lama stares passively, nods and the fellow leaves. Ten more years go by and he faces the Lama again, this time saying, “Food bad.” Once more the head of the monastery passively acknowledges his comment. A third decade passes, and the fellow, now 30 years into this monastic life, approaches the monk and says, “I quit.” To which the Lama replies, “I accept your resignation. All you ever do is complain.”

Strangely related footnote:

I recently listened to a podcast reporting that worldwide fertility rates have dropped significantly over the past two decades. While the increased access to education and professional opportunities for women has changed life trajectories, what caught my ear in the report was that teen pregnancies and birth rates have declined dramatically in the United States. Statistically, teen birth rate has plummeted by roughly 78% since its peak in 1991.

According to a New York Times report, “Recent economic research suggests that the proliferation of smartphones and high-speed networks has played a significant role in the persistent drop in teenage birth rates.”

Smartphones? Huh?! Really?

Middlebury College economist Caitlin Myers published a working paper suggesting that “the spread of smartphones explains a significant portion of the decline in U.S. birth rates and teen pregnancy since 2007.” The findings propose that smartphones shifted how teens socialize, date, and access information. Myers points out that Steve Jobs’ 2007 introduction of the first iPhone aligns interestingly with the precipitous drop in teen pregnancy beginning in that same year. Hmmm…

Many teenaged girls are preferring to stay home and communicate via social media. They are spending more time with their phones rather than “hanging out” with friends, which increases the likelihood of “hooking up” and…uh…you know…

These days, when speaking with someone, I try to remember to ask how they’d prefer to communicate – phone call, text or email. If none of the above, I’m pooched and ready to consider a trek to the Himalayas.

Weekly Tune Up courtesy of Led Zeppelin - Communication Breakdown

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Please, no more requests for me to participate in surveys and questionnaires after I buy anything from a salesperson or company or about the person who took my pizza-to-go order.

Please, no more requests for me to take “30 seconds” to provide feedback on my recent visit with a retail person or doctor or insurance agent on Google or Facebook. Thirty seconds? Really? Out of curiosity I filled one out and it took 11 minutes to complete. I know that you really appreciate my business, but I would appreciate you not hammering me with these questionnaires in triplicate.

Please, no more requiring me to confirm dentist and doctor’s appointments 17 times via text and email before I arrive for my actual appointment. One confirmation request will do the trick.

And then come the “portals.” This is where your doctors and all communication with your personal medical record universe is posted and stored. Your doctor’s notes from your last visit appear in the portal. Your test results? Check the portal. And, oh yeah, please fill out the satisfaction survey found in your…um...portal. I’m living in portal hell.

I long for the days when I could call my doctor’s office located in Miami and someone picked up the phone who wasn’t someone at a call center in Utah. It can be deceiving when the person in Utah uses your doctor’s name on the call. Then you ask for something simple, like rescheduling an appointment, and they tell you that someone in the office will get back to you within 24 to 48 hours to reschedule. Gee, I thought I was speaking to the office. So, let me get this straight. If I call on a Friday before a long weekend I have to wait three or four days to reschedule my appointment?

I also long for the days when I could call my bank and not have to get through 9 different electronic gatekeepers to reach a human to answer a question that really only a human can answer. AI doesn’t quite know how to address the special needs of people with disabilities.

Though AI is making strides to implicate itself into our daily lives, thus streamline the receiving of answers to questions, it is cutting into what used to be our expendable time.

Terminal time waiting on hold for a person is the norm these days. Love those up-front recorded messages, “Your call is very important to us and will be answered in the order in which it was received.” So where do I rank in that order? If my call is so important, why do I have to wait 53 minutes without being told I have to wait another 53 minutes for someone to answer?

Credit where credit is due, I do want to give a shout-out to those systems that offer you the option to leave your name and number and then receive a call back when it’s your turn.

When I’m actually poised to speak to you, dear agent, after you first say, “With whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?” how do you know it’s going to be a “pleasure” to speak with me? In fact, I’ll probably be a bit cranky after jumping through 118 hoops by the time I get to you and will become even crankier after you thank me “so much” for the 16th time once I verify the 6-digit “security” verification code that you and everyone in the products and services galaxy requires me to confirm before we can actually speak to one another.

First, you will want to give me a long explanation why you need my phone number. Oy gevalt!…just ask me for my number and shut up and let me give it to you. I don’t need to hear your bogus disclaimer that you need it for “security purposes.” And while you’re at it, you don’t need to be overly polite thanking me while you’re reading from your “polite script.” No need to thank me “so much” for verifying my phone number, nor thank me for each answer I give for your next 12 other “verification” questions, nor thank me “so much for my patience holding on” each and every time you check for whatever for the 4th time. My patience is not unlimited.

Oh yeah, I don’t need your opening message to tell me to call 911 if this is a medical emergency. I know all about 911 when I call your office. If this were a medical emergency, I most probably wouldn’t be calling you. I’d already be passed out on the floor or something.

Here’s my new favorite. Today Stephanie asked me how she could best direct my call. Her voice was very nice. Something prompted me to ask Stephanie if she was a chatbot or a real human? After a long silence, Stephanie said, “I am a synthetic application capable of answering questions, resolving issues, or automating tasks.” “Wow!” I thought. Then she paused briefly and said, “I’ll connect you with a ‘human agent.’” Human agent! Love that.

AI is intelligent but has no soul. This is why once AI is programmed (or programs itself) to dominate human beings, it will do so with an efficient cheery disposition.

Weekly Tune Up

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First there are board games like Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land and Battleship, transitioning to more adult oriented games like checkers, chess and backgammon. Let’s not forget Monopoly and Bingo, which don’t involve money. Well, real money anyway.

Historically, the first tangible written reference to gambling is found in the ancient Chinese text “The Book of Songs” (Shijing), dating back to around 1000 BC, which references a lottery or game involving the “drawing of wood.”

In the Bible you won’t find a direct verse saying, “Thou shalt not gamble.” However, scripture does address the practice of “casting lots.” This was an accepted practice in the Old and New Testaments, used to determine God’s will or to make fair divisions, not to win wealth.

Ancient Romans were enthusiastic gamblers. Romans of all social classes wagered on dice (alea), board games, chariot races, and gladiatorial skirmishes.

The oldest casino in the world, the Casino di Venezia, sits on the Grand Canal in Venice. Opened in 1638, it was originally a theatre called the Theatre Saint Moses, which had a wing for gambling during the theater intermissions. It sparked the start of a gambling boom. Over the next 100 years, there were more than 120 casinos in the iconic town.

The Prince of Monaco, Florestran I, approved Monaco’s first gambling house in 1856, sparking a new trend in luxury casinos.

During the 20th century, betting on sports, including fantasy football, cars, horses, dogs, you name it, exploded. Gamers hit the casinos from Las Vegas to Atlantic City to Cuba, spinning the roulette wheels, feeding the slot machines, playing poker, blackjack, and blowing on their dice around the crap tables hoping for a roll of 7 or 11 on the come-out.

An expansion of Native American casinos was sparked by the severe economic struggles on reservations during the 1970s and 1980s, followed by the landmark 1978 U.S. Supreme Court ruling (California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians). This decision affirmed that states could not regulate gambling on tribal lands if that type of gambling was permitted elsewhere in the state. Consequently, there are now a plethora of tribal casinos throughout the country.

Of course, over the past 150 years, the stock market is the biggest and most costly risk/benefit game in town. Oopsie! Last Friday, the NASDAQ dropped a whopping 4.18%. Not to worry. With apologies to Sir Isaac Newton, what comes down must go up!

As first digital tech and more recently AI have implicated their way into the gaming markets, there are suddenly no borders or apparent limits on betting around the globe. You can bet on anything.

“Prediction market” betting is the act of wagering money on the likelihood of future real-world events, like political elections, economic indicators, or pop culture outcomes. Instead of betting against a traditional bookmaker or gaming house, users buy and sell contracts with each other on a peer-to-peer basis.

Predictive betting has brought gambling to its granular level. Not only can you bet on your team, but also on its individual players – how many times the tight end catches the ball, makes a touchdown or grabs his crotch.

A Polymarket is one specific, prominent platform within the broader category of prediction markets. Traders use a decentralized cryptocurrency, betting on “binary ‘yes or no’ propositions, with contract prices fluctuating based on real-time market sentiment and collective wisdom.” It functions more like a stock exchange for current events. Users buy and sell shares peer-to-peer. The price of a share reflects the market’s collective belief in the probability of that event occurring.

You can bet on anything – and now we do. U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke placed a prediction market bet on exactly when Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro would be captured. But Van Dyke was involved in planning and executing the covert U.S. operation. Oops! These new predictive market platforms are not immune from using classified inside knowledge to pad their bets. But insider trading and fraud are a no-no, so Van Dyke’s $33,000 wager on the Polymarket platform brought him a return of $409,881 in profit...and also brought him a lawsuit from The Commodity Futures Trading Commission alongside parallel criminal charges unsealed by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Here’s some of the latest Polymarket bets coming online that you may want to game on:

When will the war with Iran end?

(Hints) Trump, “We are close to a deal, very close to signing a deal”; Rubio, “We are very close to signing a deal, even later tonight we may have some good news”; Vance, “The Iranians want to make a deal very badly. We are close to signing a deal.” There have been 32 such claims since March 1st, the day after Trump started the war. Place your bets today!

Here’s another for you political Polymarketeers to consider:

On what day will the 5,000 members of the National Guard currently being deployed to D.C. before the July 4th 250th birthday celebration, begin to leave after the celebration?

And another one:

How much is it costing the American taxpayer to pay for the National Guard deployment to D.C. every day they are there? Predictions start at $3M per day. Place your bet! Come to Papa!

Ready or not, here we come!

This Weekly Tune Up comes with a tasty Beatles vibe. It highlights a tune off Paul McCartney’s latest solo studio album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane. Guess who is the featured drummer on this cut? Yep! Ringo.

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I’m talkin’ the other Pete. Mayor Pete. You know, Pete Buttigieg… American politician and former naval officer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation in Joe Biden’s Cabinet. You remember Joe? The 46th President of the United States who hammered Donald Trump in the 2020 general election?

Why Pete? Why now? It isn’t a presidential general election coming up in November. If Buttigieg wants to run in the 2028 generals, that’s up to him. What is critically front and center on the political stage right now are the midterms, which give voters a chance to decide which party controls Congress. You know, that one governmental body that can actually check the president. Right now the legislative branch of our government is doing zip to rein in a president who has lost a war that he, and no one else, started. Our present Congress is doing nothing to curb the enthusiasm our president has for rising inflation and higher gas prices. This Congress seems to be just fine with our president striving to secure a $1.8B slush fund to reward his family, his pals, maybe himself and the nearly 1,300 January 6th insurrectionists, who stormed our Capitol, were found guilty and have since been summarily pardoned by this, uh, president. And the rest of the list of bona fide crazy our current president piles up daily, is perfectly fine with this 119th Congress.

Do you know anyone who’s okay with the current relationship between Benedict Donald and our present day Congress? Remember, without flipping at least one congressional chamber, we’ll continue having no check on Big Orange’s erratic behavior and poor decisions. How about some of your hard earned money contributing to a White House ballroom that you’ll never see, his mug on a new $250 bill and the Epsteinth time he attempts to hide the proof of him molesting a 14-year-old girl and, no doubt, others? If you’re not okay with His MAGAsty trashing our Constitution, treating immigrants inhumanely, menacing our most vulnerable young and old alike, and the daily myriad offenses he lobs on us relentlessly, read on.

The millions of Americans who are not fine with Trumpasaurus Rex’s leadership and behavior have a golden opportunity to do something about it. First and foremost on the list of something we can do, requires the dissatisfied and apoplectic voters to vote. And therein lies the rub. Historically, voter turnout for the midterms is low. Someone or something needs to inspire and motivate voters to vote.

Is Trump bad enough? Sure. But actually worse if Dems believe they will flip Congress in November without a serious fight. Despite all the daily crazy shit T. Rump heaps on America – cruel and seditious domestic immigration policy, rising inflation and gas prices, plastering his name on every building within spitting distance – he maintains a very noisy minority of supporters, a spineless Congress and a monumentally flawed Supreme Court. Oh yeh, despite all the turmoil he has caused at home and abroad, he does make time to campaign.

And here is the point: Campaigning is not about politics but about personality. People vote for House Reps and Senators that are in line with those they like at the top of their party. T. Rump is still the standard bearer of the Republican Party, out there, up front gnashing his teeth, snarling and growling daily in the face of the media.

In Arizona and Nevada, two of America’s swing states, the Lizard King was recently speaking to a loving crowd at a Turning Point USA gathering. Even though Trump was in Arizona to rally young voters and mostly an older crowd showed up, the implication is spot on. He and the RNC are well aware that the largest voting bloc in this country is comprised of Millennials and Gen-Zers. Whoever captures that voting cohort controls Congress in November. That’s it. A serious bottom line. Even though T. Rump is not the best face, in fact, an ominously horrifying face, he’s out there. And who’s out there cheerleading, front and center, as the singular top voice with the counter-message that almost writes itself? NOBODY.

Notwithstanding the opportunity for a Democratic leader who could be running for president in 2028 to emerge and have a wide platform on which to make their case, what is desperately needed right f**king now is a voice and face, a cheerleader with the counter-message abundant on the airwaves every day until and including November 3rd. Start animating the comatose Democratic Party sitting on the sidelines, wringing its hands and packed to capacity on the oh-my-god-complain-train, numb with a misguided sense that Congress will definitely flip due to the daily crazies of T. Rump and his Cabinet of Misfits. WRONG! Since Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, the RNC has outflanked and kicked the DNC to the curb every which way till Sunday…Monday, Tuesday…Wednes…

Though there’s an abundance of wacked-out material to craft the counter-message, it’s one thing to know this shit, and another to mold it into a message that can be constantly uplifting to the Millennial/Gen-Z cohort while also appealing to the surrounding frustrated Boomers and Gen-Xers. And maybe even snapping up a few votes from disabused Republicans who know better.

Relying on the fact that T. Rump is a towering idiot is not enough. A potent Dem message could be the final nail in the coffin. And we do need that nail big time as Trumpasaurus continues to infect the news media and the world with his presence.

The DNC needs to grow a pair, a big pair, and quickly. Dems need to take the lead that this woman in California articulated to the media recently. She said, “Even Stevie Wonder can see the problems trump has created.”

To guarantee and secure seat pick-ups in the midterms, what the Dems need is a leader with personality, wit, rizz, good looks, and an unshakeable presence. Even in the midterms, voters of all stripes and motivations cast their ballots for their House Reps and Senators based on who they like as president or presidential up and comer. There is a direct correlation between the top party messenger and members of Congress. If the voting public in this case, especially the movable middle voters and those who also tend to sit on the sidelines, become excited and inspired, say for a strong Democratic leader, they will follow and vote accordingly.

Is there nothing about this Huckster-in-Chief that’s raising the hair on the back of some Dem leader’s neck? Or lighting a flame under their political ass, igniting them to emerge? Remember when Big Orange framed Charlottesville as “good people on both sides,” inspiring Joe Biden to run (and beat) the Bigot-in-Chief in 2020? And if some kick-ass Dem leader is out there, what the f**k are you waiting for? Notwithstanding a big fat opportunity to start campaigning – a huge stage (even bigger than a ballroom), a mess of free press, and the timing to try out your message and make the case – it’s a clarion call for a counter-message, yet a call that remains woefully missing in the news cycle.

Millions, including myself, are bursting with rage that such a volatile, corrupt, criminally obsessive human being was elected and is still President of the United States, moving at speed with immunity from any laws he breaks.

At the risk of beating this dead horse, what is monumentally needed is a proven leader to craft the counter-message into the news cycle. Someone who can say the quiet stuff out loud, inspire and help release the pent-up emotional steam seething in the hearts and minds of the millions of Americans who are numb, furious and mystified at the amount of shit the Bloviated Gadfly and the Washington Delete heap upon us and get away with daily.

To be clear: this is not about Trump but about his herd of insane proxies in Congress in lock-step support for him on the federal, state and local levels of government. Every single House Rep and Senator who supports Trump is implicated in the environmental insanity in which we are living. If you don’t care for Trump’s politics you must see every Congressperson who supports him as little more than “Orange peels.” They are a proxy of shame.

My message to the once upon a time eight year Mayor of South Bend, Indiana: Even though you may not want to run for president in 2028 or anytime, you’ve got the brains, the style, the skills and the stones of a crafty orator. You can carry the counter-message that the Democratic Party so desperately needs pronto. The media and news outlets and podcasts galore will pick up on you and what you will say. Come on, Pete. Answer the call. Do your duty! Younger folks historically don’t turn out to vote at the midterms, but Millennials and Gen-Zers like you. You’re a Millennial yourself for God’s sake. Make the case. Stick that syringe needle full of adrenaline into the collective arm of the cohort. Speak to how we can “Repair America!”

Embody the message of Bill Clinton when he said, “Your opponent has difficulty speaking when you’ve got your fist in their mouth.”

Turn them out! Come on Pete! You’ve got what it takes to supercharge and motivate the Millennial/Gen-Z cohort and create a groundswell in its wake. Boomers and Gen-Xers will follow with their vote and we’ll win! The clock is ticking. It only takes one dynamic voice (and fist)…like yours!

This is what the Blind Guy sees.

Weekly Tune Up

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A counter-message is “a communication strategy designed to directly contradict, discredit, or dismantle a specific narrative, claim, or piece of propaganda.” Yep! That’s precisely what we need and precisely what’s missing in the airwaves.

While our reality checks keep bouncing, King Con characterizes the current mess as making our country the “hottest” in the world. It’s one thing to mischaracterize it. It’s another to believe it. Using the productivity thermometer, America is currently the coldest spot on the planet.

Putting aside the Bloated Gadfly’s proclamations about our country’s temperature for a moment, let’s establish what is actually happening outside his head and inside our current reality.

With Trump’s Emotional IQ barely reaching room temperature, he has intimidated several foreign countries and invaded Iran, affecting global fuel prices. It’s easy to argue that the high price of gasoline is caused by one man, Donald J. Trump!

Well beyond the cost of filling our gas tanks is the spike in goods and food prices resulting from the hike in diesel fuel, which is up by roughly 61% since the war with Iran began. As we all rely on big trucks to deliver the stuff we consume, additional transport costs are pushing the inflation index up. The higher prices we are paying at the grocery store and for literally everything we are buying are being driven up by one man, DJT!

The IRS is now reporting a substantial shortfall in revenue as a significant number of immigrant workers are not paying taxes since they no longer work here, resulting from policies mandated by…DJT!

The Masked Banditos of ICE are breaking down doors without warrants, resulting from the flawed immigrant policies of one man, DJT! Under his direction, ICE is seeking to repurpose existing buildings and looking for land to build new detention centers across America to retain undocumented migrants, housing them in concentration camp style conditions before deporting many of them to countries they are not from, have never even visited, and where people speak languages they don’t speak. These inhumane orders come from one man, DJT!

The suppression of the Epstein files includes 38,000 mentions of our Fondling Father.

An estimated 120 to 130 people die daily from gun violence in the United States, which breaks down to about one death every 11 to 12 minutes.

All this is happening under Donald Trump’s watch. Not Joe Biden’s.

And how is DJT addressing these issues? His top priority is a Beautiful Ballroom at the White House, playing Lots of Golf and attending Mixed Martial Arts events.

And this just in. Wait for it…

75% of Americans think the economy is in bad shape. Of course, there’s one American who thinks it’s in really great shape. Guess who? Yep. DJT! Who’s the guy who added $1.5 trillion to the national debt? DJT! Who’s the guy who has filed for six bankruptcies during his career? DJT! Who’s the least fiscally responsible person in our current government? DJT!

Can you imagine a strong, charismatic democratic leader using language like above at a Democratic rally, where, after each point is made, the crowd chants, “DJT!!” (DNC: hint, hint…)

“Trump Derangement Syndrome” (TDS), which the Orange Obsessive mistakenly attributes to people who don’t like him, is his actual diagnosis.

What we need is an enthusiastic president like Trump...but who doesn’t lie, is not a convicted felon, rapist, pedophile, doesn’t exercise poor judgement or have a difficult relationship with reality.

So, dear Dems, what to do about having a gold-standard deranged president over the next 2 and ½ years? Let’s start with what we can control and stop obsessing over what we cannot control.

Admittedly, this will be a heavy lift given that we have an RNC working diligently to rig the midterms by scrambling to redraw statewide districts by way of steroid-laced gerrymandering. Despite that, and a seemingly corrupt and incompetent Supreme Court acting with partisan intent, there is something meaningful Dems can do now.

We can strive mightily to resuscitate the checks and balances lever provided by our Constitution as we sprint to the November midterms. We can begin by first crafting a counter-message and then unearthing a passionate messenger of our own...Hmm, who might that be? The Blind Guy has one in mind.

Well, I’ve got a plan! A strategy to guarantee a congressional flip in November, restore checks and balances and thereby rein in our deranged president. For starters, we’ve gotta stop complaining and start campaigning with a counter-message that grabs the media’s attention. This may be challenging. The RNC is a fine-tooled machine when it comes to messaging and the DNC is comparatively, uh, not so good, to say the least. However, we can do it if the will is there.

I’ll unpack my plan to flip Congress in Part 2 of the Blind Guy’s Vision, coming soon to an inbox near you.

Till then, stay tuned.

Weekly Tune Up

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The historical record has shown that over and over again, countries driven by “strongmen” want more than they’ve got, go after it, then fall.

Over the past, say 5,000 years, empires, both ancient and modern, have significantly shaped global societies by establishing foundational systems in law, governance, technology, engineering, industry, mathematics, science, art, religion, and language. These powers influenced global infrastructure, international trade routes, and the development of democratic or bureaucratic systems. Okay, got it.

Ah! They also practiced colonialism. Now we’re getting somewhere. That’s when a powerful country uses their military might to establish political, social, and economic control over a foreign territory and its people. It relies on the exploitation of the colony’s resources and labor to benefit the colonizing nation.

Okay. I’ll doff my professorial cap and proceed, hopefully with a little more plain speak.

So, while some of these empires, later known as superpowers, simultaneously plundered land and resources that weren’t theirs, like Persia, Egypt, and Rome during the latter BCs and early ADs, over the past 2,000 years, specific countries with a powerful appetite for domination have risen to the top of the food chain. However, they all collectively had one thing in common: they all fell.

What the historical superpowers shared in common were mighty militaries that inspired the power-hungry brokers and their charismatic figureheads to invade someone else’s land and take what didn’t belong to them. The Alexander the Greats, the Julius Caesars, Genghis Khans, Napoleons, Adolf Hitlers, and Hirohitos are gone. What distinguishes the most recent power jockeys over the past 81 years from their predecessors is two things: all of Earth’s land is already taken and nuclear weapons have changed the military calculus entirely.

Land grabs have become much smaller, but the desire for a land grab is still percolating steadily through the veins of the oppressors — Pukin on Ukraine, MetaYahoo on Gaza and Lebanon, Sly JumPing forever eyeing Taiwan — while Mango Mussolini goes after soft targets, Venezuela, Cuba, and Greenland.

In some twisted form of ‘Irany’ (now, that’s a good one!), Iran has channeled its deep roots in its legacy Persian Empire (dynasties that centered in modern-day Iran that, for centuries, dominated the ancient world) and is currently kicking the American Empire’s ass!

So, here we are. For the first time since this country was founded 250 years ago, the United States can credibly be imagined as just taking its place in the line of succession of global powers that historically fall.

For the past 81 years, the world’s prominent countries, including U.S. enemies, have regarded America at the top of the mountain...till now. Foreign media in many languages are now consistently reporting in a similar voice: the “decay of America,” citing in one way or another how our president is no longer governing but is more interested in putting his name everywhere he can, trying to make over D.C. in his own gold-encrusted image. To the world, he is obviously a corrupt businessman enriching himself and his family, while Congress does nothing to push back on him and his almost complete lack of effective governing, starting an ill-advised war with Iran, and seeing our Supreme Court as a failed institution in service of his flawed and racist ideology, with rulings that set the clock back to post-Civil War, when the reconstructive attempt at equality morphed into Jim Crow laws.

Of course, empires that fall are not just attacked from without, but implode from within. In addition to an external military defeat, all previous empires certainly fell due to their own internal turmoil. The decay the foreign press is collectively reporting certainly would qualify as understandable reasons for a spectacular fall of America. Adding the United States to the ranks of previously fallen empires is no longer a stretch of the imagination. There is plenty of precedent for it, notwithstanding a pattern.

Rampant decay now sparked in America by a president who is not only mentally disturbed but striving mightily to end democracy by rigging elections, and has immunity from committing crimes, is fodder for a future post in my continuing effort to say the quiet stuff out loud.

For now, at the risk of sounding glib, don’t worry America. If our Beloved Country is to fall from grace, take heed: Egypt, Rome, Spain, France, Britain, Germany, and Japan are countries that are alive and well today, often big tourist destinations, and producing some good stuff.

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The cornerstone of Democracy, the idea of debate and deliberation bookended by negotiation and compromise, does not occur often these days, mostly because our government has seemingly disregarded the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as the law of the land. And the party in power, including the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches, are currently working in tandem to willfully take democracy apart, piece by piece. Actually, the Trump administration with its Cabinet of Misfits, feckless Congress, and questionable decisions from SCOTUS, serves as a superb vehicle for reality TV rather than as a productive government organ.

Yep. We all tune in daily with keen anticipation to prime time news and our tribal podcasts with great anticipation to see what sort of mischief and destruction the Felon in the Corner Office has leveraged today, domestically and internationally. Previous TWH episodes have featured the common theme of destruction, including destroying the East Wing of the People’s House, damaging Iran’s infrastructure, and abandoning humanity’s better nature.

Democracy, now sprinting toward its 250th birthday, is undergoing a massive stress test, still holding up, despite the daily relentless pounding it’s taking by an unstable authoritarian, his Cabinet of Misfits, and those branches of government and supporters who prop him up.

Previous TWH episodes subtitled “Politicians in Robes” feature the six Republican justices. Episodes include “Expunging the Laws of the Land,” “Overturning Roe v. Wade,” “Exempting the President from Prosecution,” and the most recent, “Gerrymandering Jim Crow!”

At the top of that most recent episode, the caption reads: “To gerrymander a state means to deliberately redraw electoral district boundaries to give one political party significant advantage over another. This manipulation turns state maps into tools for securing electoral wins, often resulting in distorted district shapes that ignore communities of interest to ensure specific voter outcomes.” The scene then cuts to a close-up of Chief Justice John Roberts swinging the majority gavel on the Voting Rights Act of 1965, eviscerating the heart of the act by mandating that race cannot be factored in when drawing state Congressional district maps. Within hours of the ruling, we see all the members of the Tennessee Republican state legislature scrambling to redistrict all of its nine Congressional districts, bumping and pushing state Democratic lawmakers aside to guarantee all nine Tennessee districts favor Republican legislators. If their gerrymander is successful, Tennessee will have no, none, zip Democratic seats in the United States House, leaving 1.1 million Black Tennesseans with no representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. On a split screen, we see Alabama, Louisiana, and South Carolina also hustling to gerrymander their districts to diminish Black representation by boosting Republican seats in Congress ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The redistricting scamper now favors the red states in the gerrymandering race to flip seats in the House of Reps.

Why is it that our present administration appears more like a reality TV show rather than a body promoting good government of its people? Citizens tune into the news to find out what the Fool on the Hill did today to disrupt domestic and international peace. News has become an addiction for supporters and decriers alike to see “what fresh hell are we in for now” rather than realizing good government is best when it’s boring, debating policy and compromising for the good of the People...All the People.

What is needed is far more than just chopping the head off the snake, but striving mightily to target all those lawmakers who willfully follow a corrupt president, lacking the courage to say “no,” rather than advance the good and right tenets of democracy. Then again, the current political climate is robust for all the wrong reasons. Grabbing all of us by the collar to find out what mischief is currently on today’s agenda is certainly not boring.

Upcoming episodes featuring the Cabinet Misfits promise to entertain. Stay tuned for...

• FBI Director Krash Patel polygraphing a dozen members of the FBI, trying to uncover who ratted him out about his engraved bottles of very expensive bourbon.

• Secretary of HHS Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shirtless in blue jeans, bench pressing 200 pounds when an aide pops in and says, “Mr. Secretary, the media is asking for a public response to the status of the Hantavirus...” Kennedy, checking out his six-pack abs, responding with “Not now. I’m busy.”

• A colorful episode of Secretary of State Narco Rubio jogging through Vatican City to meet with Pope Leo in the Apostolic Palace, muttering to himself, “Gotta stop the Pope from saying that he wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

You recently tuned into your favorite channel, podcast, or however you consume your news to reports that “Iran says it is discussing a plan with U.S. to end hostilities” and in the next TWH episode just two hours later, “The U.S. military said it struck Iranian military facilities and other targets after Iran fired on U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz.” This is a fine example of the favored thematic device of narrative inconsistency that Clownigula uses over-and-over again in TWH’s storyline and his character arc. Supporters have no problem with the inconsistencies while critics are drawn in with a daily Gobsmack.

The TWH reality show is unique in that there are new episodes hourly — you don’t have to wait till tomorrow or next week to binge watch 24/7. This is “Must See” TV, entertainment with a touch of otherworldliness and gallows humor in every episode.

Stay tuned for new episodes dropping soon, where the Blamer-in-Chief visits with school children for yet another signing of an executive order, ostensibly about re-instituting the President’s Physical Fitness Program into schools. The president, behind the Resolute Desk, mumbles about Dow and S&P averages, followed by an obtuse note about transgender children, and then brags about destroying Iran’s nuclear capability. “They would have had a nuclear weapon in within two weeks. Remember, we sent that beautiful B-2 bomber in and we, we blew up their nuclear potential. It was obliterated.” The bemused kids and their coaches sneak a look at each other as the president takes yet another shot at his favorite punching bag. “We had a country that would have been dead -- if they won the election, this country would have been a dead country. Now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world.”

The latest episode finished up with how he could have been an astronaut because, as his former White House doctor Ronny Johnson told him, he is “physical.” After all, he passed a cognitive test three times in front of a “board of doctors” that included a lion, a camel, and a bear.

Whew! Just turn on your TV... There’s an all new TWH episode dropping right now!

Weekly Tune Up

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On Saturday, the 25th, after the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner being held at the Washington Hilton event was canceled due to security protocols, the Celebrity Apresident stated on Truth Social that he would “hold a press conference at the White House Briefing Room in 30 minutes.” The press, analysts, and the Blind Guy listening to the live feed interpreted this as a predictable “set-up” response to advance the Celebrity Apresident’s style of politically maximizing attention to himself. There seemed no doubt that he would turn even the extreme crisis of an assassination attempt into a stage to showcase his bluster. And he didn’t disappoint, although it wasn’t obvious at first that he would achieve a stunning new low in inappropriate responses, turning the unfortunate incident into justification for completing his glitzy Ball’s Room.

With Cecil B. DeMentia facing multiple crises, including the quagmire of war with Iran, surging oil prices, and his approval ratings plummeting to the lowest level thus far in his second term, the attempted assassination was welcomed news to his ear...you know, the ear that was clipped in the first assassination attempt.

And what timing! He needed a Big Beautiful Distraction and, Voila! Big time manna from heaven.

HippoPOTUS, as promised, appeared at the White House Briefing Room and received the intense media spotlight he craves — Lights, Camera, Ready for my close up!

Fiberachi was buoyant, relaxed, and borderline giddy. And why not — relief from his string of bad decisions, bad press, and low ratings was a welcome respite from the blowback that many people have been doling out these last several weeks. We know he was happy since he praised the media, with whom he usually clashes over “fake news,” saying, “It was a beautiful night” and “You have done very responsible reporting.” Of course, next day he stepped back into his day-to-day bizarro Trumptopian world, reverting to his old familiar ways when CBS correspondent Norah O’Donnell put portions of the gunman’s manifesto to the Orange Bozo. She read the words directly from the would-be assassin’s manifesto, calling OB a “pedophile, rapist and traitor,” prompting Fiberachi to call O’Donnell a “disgrace” and the media “horrible people.”

Now that’s the Trump we know and hate! One thing we can always count on with the Presidementia is consistency.

He milked this one. And why not? He needed the milk.

What was lurking beneath his orange veneer, evident in his interest to reschedule the dinner very very soon, was the disappointment in not being able to deliver a tongue-lashing to the press. There is no doubt that Trump was relishing the opportunity to excoriate the press with the list of sizzling epithets and insults provided to him by his writer’s room, rather than absorb what just happened and react like a normal human being. Shortly after the perp was apprehended, what was at the top of the mind of the Raconteur-in-Chief was his intent on Delivering his slurs as soon as possible, evident in his desire to continue the dinner once the perp was subdued, the tell on his face and the glint in his eye.

The narrative of urgency to complete his Ball’s Room was no surprise. It was consistent with his legacy of situational inappropriateness and misguided priorities.

President Trump has demonstrated this same animalistic political instinct in the two previous assassination threats. During a July 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, as a sniper’s bullet grazed his ear, causing him to bleed in a life-threatening moment, Trump shook off his security agents trying to restrain him, stood up, and raised his fist toward supporters, chanting “Fight!” A single photograph capturing this moment became a decisive symbol that effectively sealed his victory in the 2024 presidential election.

Just two months later, following the second assassination attempt at his own golf course in West Palm Beach, he immediately resumed campaigning, sending supporters the message, “I will NEVER SURRENDER!” This action rallied the conservative base. Political pundits suggest that his behavior following this dinner venue incident is being interpreted in the same context as the Correspondents’ Dinner. But this time, it ain’t necessarily so.

Demonstrating another dominant trait in his skill set is his mastery of false equivalence. As of this third assassination attempt, Plump stated that he considers himself to be in the same category as historically “consequential” presidents who have been targeted due to their significant accomplishments. Plump said, “‘Crazy shooters’ and attackers only target ‘consequential’ leaders and not ‘non-consequential’ ones,” suggesting the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy as examples of significant leaders who were targeted, Plump obviously self-elevating himself into their august ranks with the suggestion.

El Pork Choppo also said he was “honored” to be targeted, implying that assassination attempts target the most “impactful” leaders. In true form, His MAGAsty failed to illuminate his consequential actions as compared to Lincoln and Kennedy. Where they strove to end slavery and advance civil rights respectively, Pork Choppo has worked diligently to dismantle civil rights and advance a white supremacist agenda, which remains at the wicked center of his core “consequential” policies. Clownigula said, “I’ve studied assassinations, and those who have the greatest influence and accomplish the most are often targets,” adding, “I have achieved a lot and transformed this country, which was a laughingstock for years, into the hottest nation in the world.” Once again, the champion of getting-it-all-wrong doesn’t realize that he has just successfully accomplished the opposite — turning what was a hot country into a laughingstock.

Besides all this, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the dinner?

Oh yeh, are you aware that as of the end of April, America’s national debt has now grown larger than our Gross Domestic Product (GDP)? Trump’s policies since 2016 have padded that debt, especially via his “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which has contributed mightily to this troubling number.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the total U.S. national debt has just surpassed $38.95 trillion, while public debt, a key measure, reached $31.27 trillion. This marks the first time since 1946, due to the debt incurred during WWII, that the national debt exceeded 100% of the nation’s total economic output (GDP). Further, estimates and some analyses suggest that the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act of 2025, with interest costs and potential permanent extensions of tax provisions, could add roughly an additional 5.0 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.

See how good the Grifter-in-Chief is at getting America to take its eye off the ball by putting it on the other “Ball?” All the while, dyed-in-the-wool MAGgots continue to feed on what has become a fetid political carcass.

Though Trump has had three assassination attempts, he has amassed over 300 well-deserved mordant sobriquets over the years, many of which you may have noticed I use in my posts.

Weekly Tune Up

In the MeanTime, to my Blind Guy Nation, May the fourth be with you! If you keep reading, I’ll keep writing!

After Dems have been steadily maintaining and flipping judicial and legislative leadership seats in local and state elections throughout the country over the past year under Trumpula’s second watch, Viktor Orbán, who has been stealing...er...serving as Hungary’s Prime Minister for the past 16 years, is now former PM of Hungary. Yessir! He was overwhelmingly defeated by his opponent, Péter Magyar, in a landslide victory on Sunday, April 12.

Orbán, who has inspired populist movements globally for more than a decade, was kicked to the curb in a flash by his dissatisfied citizenry, bringing an end to his 16-year grip on power.

Having been systematically disassembling Hungary’s democracy, the population of nine and a half million has been a collective frog in a steadily steaming stewpot, as Orbán did this and that to deconstruct their Constitution to his favor. He did this so slowly and methodically that its citizens didn’t notice that they were losing their democracy until they were completely boiled.

You might think of Orbán as an aspirational Trump or Putin Mini-Me, an autocrat-light or a contestant on the “Who Wants to be a Dictator” reality TV show.

Orbán was gradually trying to fashion Hungary in his own image, manipulating the country’s high court and trashing its Constitution. Sound familiar? He was PM twice — the first time between 1998-2002 and then his second term, beginning in 2010. Again, sound familiar?

Orbán was celebrated by conservatives across Europe and the U.S. as the mastermind of the “illiberal” model of democracy, defined as “a governing system where formally democratic institutions exist (such as elections) but are used to mask the restriction of civil liberties, political competition, and individual rights. It is often described as a hybrid regime — between democracy and authoritarianism — characterized by strongman leadership, populist propaganda, media control, and the weakening of judicial independence.” In other words, the illiberal model often involves leaders who win genuine elections but use their mandate to dismantle constitutional checks and balances. And again, sound familiar?

Viktor Orbán had limited democracy by restricting civil society, altering election laws to favor his Fidesz party, filling courts with loyalists, and using state resources for political propaganda. During his reign, over 80% of media had been consolidated into a pro-government network, transforming public outlets into state propaganda broadcasts and putting independent media out of business. Then Orbán took control over universities, appointing leaders loyal to him. He focused on ridding Hungary of any institution capable of checking his power. All together now...a one, and a two... Sound familiar?

Orbán had been cozying up to Trump and Putin for years — invited twice recently to Mar-a-Lago for dinner and talks — and attended and delivered the keynote address at the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas, where he decried LGBTQ+ rights, migration, and “progressive elites.”

In public speeches, President Trump has called Orbán “fantastic, respected...nobody is a better leader than the Hungarian prime minister.”

Hungary served as a crucible of how to kill a democracy, bubbling up, simmering, churning and then, suddenly...pow! Fizzled out. Orbán lost Hungary’s general election in a landslide by a supermajority (more than a two-thirds majority) vote against him. His defeat also handed Magyar a comfortable majority in Hungary’s 199-seat legislature. With nearly all ballots counted, his Tisza party was poised to win 138 seats, more than the two-thirds majority Magyar needed to undo Orbán’s constitutional overhaul. Pow!

Less than three hours after the polls closed, Orbán conceded defeat, after what he described as a “painful but unambiguous” election result. Remarkably, he conceded defeat with no demand for a recount. No claim of a stolen election.

The right-wing of the toxic canary in the European coal mine was clipped.

“Together we liberated Hungary, we have reclaimed our country,” Magyar told tens of thousands of supporters who danced and cheered near the Danube River in Budapest. Hungarians saw the election as a watershed moment for their nation.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy hailed Magyar’s win over Orbán as “the victory of light over darkness.”

It’s no stretch to see similarities to Orbán’s actions and how His MAGAsty is carrying out his second term in office. However, while Orbán advanced his dirty work slowly over many years, Fiberachi is moving at warp speed, smearing his name in gaudy gold dung on prominent buildings as he progresses.

On a similar note, JD Shvantz’s political clout appears dim. He traveled to Hungary five days before the election to support Orbán’s bid for his 5th consecutive term, concluding with a two-day visit intended to boost Orbán, who was facing his toughest reelection challenge in a decade. Shvantz met with Orbán in Budapest, calling him a “model for the Continent” and a defender of “Western civilization.” That sure didn’t work out as expected. However, Shvantz continues to be successful at enhancing his portfolio of consistently getting things wrong.

Then JD went directly to Islamabad, Pakistan, for marathon negotiations with Iran’s representatives, aimed at ending the war in Iran. Following 21 hours of talks, the negotiations concluded on Sunday morning, April 12, without a peace agreement. The second round of talks, scheduled for this weekend, did not include Shvantz, bringing his current political currency score on the world stage to 0-3.

Following his win, Magyar addressed the country: “Tonight, truth prevailed over lies.” In an obvious nod to John F. Kennedy, Magyar paraphrased our 35th President, saying, “Today, we won because Hungarians didn’t ask what their homeland could do for them — they asked what they could do for their homeland.” Bam!

Today’s Weekly Tune Up sums it up nicely:

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