Over yonder in the “People’s Party”, Colonel West has thrown his hat into the wing. I think that means it is a fait accompli that he is their candidate — which bumrushes away what had appeared to be a Jimmy Dore flirtation. I can not quite figure how existent the party is — so far it had been a vanity project to grant Nick Brana a platform in an off kilter media orbit, with one state of ballot access and no candidates anywhere. If Colonel West wants to get anywhere, he will probably have to do so on a litany of party lines aka Ralph Nader’s last two campaigns — a Reform Party there, a Natural Law Party here, a Peace and Freedom Party yonder.

The Republican Party, meantime, is filling up and past its expanse. Enter Chris Christie, supposedly good for a few good shots at Trump in debate because — hey! He knocked down Marco Rubio in debate in 2016. This supposes a clean line of relationship between Rubio 2016 and Trump 2024 with the Republican Primary vote. Also in it to win it — Mike Pence, because… ? Well, he thinks he has a message.

I am needing to buy something at Target. But I do not know if I should be boycotting. The problem there is I do not know what message a boycott represents. I see a declaration that you should not patronize Target because they have caved to the anti-trans people somewhere, and doing so is like ripping away Menorah displays during Hanukkah, and I sure do not want to participate in Trans Genocide. At the same time see the story of jackasses feeling “emboldened” to harass Target employees — and I have seen one proud YouTube chest thumper post his trolling game — lying beyond what I hear the Babylon Bee podcasters say on calling up Target and saying they are not shopping there this month.

Back in the day, Tipper Gore — currently separated wife of former vice president All Gore — headed a task force and move against racy rock music lyrics — the “Raise PG Kids in an X Rated Culture” thing. Her cause was frought with horrors, but has sympathetic sense on it. The feather which lead to the explosion against Target was something about transgendered merchandise sold there being from the same clothing dedigners as Satanic fashion things. A curious message, the Satanists — no real belief system, just performative trolling of Christians. How many 80s heavy metal bands are getting promoted by the clothing designer and the boycotting of Target, I am curious to know.

I note that I am at a coffee place — that obvious one who used to be located on every third block but is now downsized to every fourth block and that is billed as a sign of the city’s decay. A year ago it was decked obsequiously in what I gather is the latest design for the pride flag — aesthetically kind of mildly annoying — for about six weeks. This year it is quietly absent. I do not know if I should tell it to anyone. I do not know if anyone will care to know.

I recall a goofy YouTube poster highlighted by always working to be even handed Jon Stewart raging righteously against Chic Fil iL on location. I note that in reminder of the headline on “emboldened” yahoos “harassing Target employees”. Indeed, I passed by a YouTube blip chumping his chest on such whom I simply offer the question — ” Huh?”

GOP support for gay marriage has dropped — and I will say that makes perfect sense. There is a slippery slope in their minds that has been confirmed — justify yourself by raging the next battle and filling new definitions, new norms established, and no acknowledgement that such has happened — just an a-historic call out against a “shocking” sudden increase of legislation trying to draw points in the new map. Herein lay a crux of irritation — the line “do not care what adult does, but –” with the line being drawn out of how much kids jump through phases and seek novelty is tough to hold and a skepticism on permanent alterations — is tough to hold. I have seen the declaration “Sorry Liberals, there are no genders” — the wokier of woke headlines beyond your problem with “xi”.

Trying to play this out in an alternate universe,because the thing that makes the boycott ers the sympathetic figures in this whole game — never mind your exciting headline —

— well, Chick Fil IL and a whole mass of “deplatformed” college speakers want to put in a comment —

and that shoves aside the immediate commenters I see of people getting huffy and puffy just because they are reaching out to a different market them them comes from the Bud Light marketing genius talking up how they need to move away from the fratty humor of the past —

Had the beer company just put out the damned can in select markets, thrown out their “Pride” sponsorship as always in tandem with their Rodeo and Jackasseey sponsorships — would this have piqued the Bud dumping?

I do not have an answer to the question.

It is that great message of the Miller ad — the “women started this whole beeringthing, and they put us in bikinis” call to send in old ads so they can mulch them campaign — the message “You have been misogynistic yahoos for enjoying our product all these years” certainly is an odd sell.

I do not particularly see an end game. Elsewhere I have seen the pop-up loving from the left on corporate “queer-washing” — put up a flag, have it on some products, treat it as a market. Not sure what else they are desired to do — like, sure, it puts a shiny gleam in not Unionizing Starbucks employees, but that theoretically should be befitting people opposed to minors’ gender affirming care. They seem to have a different end game in mind — which at least is an end game in mind. Here — Target needs to display some things they want to sell you do not want to buy personally, and always gave and always will.

Posted today with the legacy media, I think it is the NY Times, a story on the particular relationship Diane Feinstein’s staff has with Diane Feinstein. I am sure you could have run the same story in the last decade of the Storm Thurmond Senate seat. And over yonder,I hear the whisper “Psst. President Joe Biden.”

I am told it is sexist to call for Feinstein to step down. Because, after all Strom Thurmond. Stated or unstated. A peculiar argument, that.

And I am told it is age-ist to fret on Biden for the coming election campaign. Because after all, Donald Trump. As old coming in as Biden was. Peculiar argument, that. Next comes the pointing out that Biden sounded as goofy as he does now throughout his years in the Senate. Another peculiar argument. Biden also did not win in 1988 or 2008. I suppose you do have the Trump argument to fall back on — when did he start sounding goofy? 1988 and 2008?

There is this headline from I believe The Los Angeles Times saying the Democrats have a Stronger Bench than You Think. It is by way of a last ditch, perhaps simply for the intellectual exercise and to bear witness for posterity that he promoted it, effort in side lining the coming Biden re-election fight. And the problem with the bench as suggested by the columnist is it means squat — Biden does not run, you have Kamala Harris, and the Democratic is not going to be able to deflect away from internal charges of racism and sexism to jettison her. Funny thing — if not for the death of George Floyd, the vice president and potential candidate absent Biden may just be … Oh, Amy Klobuchar. I think may be more electorally palatable, but I can’t run the counterfactual alternate universe. It could be worse for the Democrats. It could have been Stacey Abrams.

The great pile of Democrats offered as Democrats who could’ve inserted into the presidency are various popular Democratic governors in strange not whole blue states, along the lines of the governor of Kentucky. And sure. Maybe you could think like Clinton 1992. Or maybe they are just the governor of Montana in 2020 who gets met an angry cry to run for the damned Senate to help gain control of congress and let us find someone who has the right points and buzzwords on transgender issues. Or, likewise, the Republicans in 2016 pining for the Great Sanity Hope of… Um… Mitch Daniels.

Meantime the guy actually staking a shadow campaign for if things fall through is the not politically palatable governor of California.

It is a gas.

I am perhaps the only person in the country who draws a direct scornful parallel with the Republican state legislators in Oregon and the disruptive Democrats in the Tennessee legislature. Yahoos not getting their way in the Democratic process so that need reprimanding, and are packaging a cause celebre status. I guess even if the Oregon Supreme Court rules the law stripping them from the ability running again is held, it works fine for them — the residents of the area that wants to be Western Idaho can just send in the next group of people to do the same act, and repeat that again for the next cycle.

But rolling through news headlines and into commentary, I constantly get gobsmacked on the … “What the Hell is this bullshit?”

A pregnant nurse. Bought use of a bike. A man, happens to be black, argued the bike he did not buy use of was his to use. And here is how the Root takes to it for contextualization…

Because whiteness is the ultimate shield of protection, over $120,000 was raised for Comrie through a GoFundMe created by her uncle. Luckily, the person in the video who was accused of violence by the hospital employee was able to walk away unscathed. AND THEN. However, in the case of Emmett Till—the 14-year-old Black boy who in 1955 was falsely accused by Carolyn Bryant of whistling at her—the outcome was vastly different. 

At this point I just stare in disbelief. This is a mutation of Godwin’s Law. Ready made answer if the courts find in her favor. They let Emit Till’s assailants off too! Meantime, a shoplifter in San Francisco … Another dumb cause celebre.

And the cultural lines get drawn everywhere I look. These banning in schools! A major point in Biden’s re-election announcement video in fighting “Ultra-Maga”, never mind my thought that… Removing a book from a school curriculum in favor of a different book, no matter the merits and detriments of the material, is not the definition of banning, and on the k-12 it is all about shaping a curriculum — but nevermind. At least I understand what is being gotten at thereabouts. But I see a headline I do not understand. Chocolate Milk has been banned from school lunch. And the headline uses that word “banned”. What the Hell does that even mean? If you want to say they dropped chocolate milk from the !inch menu, which strikes me as a good idea — chocolate is not terribly healthy after all — that would be accurate, but the loaded word… “banned”? Enter the culture warriors mad at Michelle Obama specifically for healthy lunch room initiatives.

John Thune has endorsed Tim Scott for the Republican Presidential Nomination. Yes. You read that right. John. Freaking. Thune. Are you kidding me? This changes everything!

I used to have this idea, extrapolating the Obama as Kennedy theme that we would find ourselves in a repeating history, and get a Johnson, Nixon, and then Carter in due succession. The big question I had was whether Obama would turn out to be also Johnson, as a completed two term Kennedy would likely have been — the weirdly felt promise of one into the practice of the other. Had Hillary Clinton won in 2016, she would be Johnson, as she surreally campaigned for a moment in 2008, but as Trump is so clearly Nixon I guess Obama becomes Kennedy / Johnson. Now, of course, we are at Carter. And the real possibility looms that this time, he improbably gets a second term.

I note the utterings of the National Review, who desperately want to up charge DeSantis and warn against Trump. Things move in strange circles from that point. See the very real charge that is Biden and the Democrats who want to pull up Trump — the one guy they would beat. Yeah, well, it was their successful 2022 election strategy, so maybe they have a point. But you look over at Ann Counter with this same premise — there we get the idea that this actually the reason for the indictment in New York on Stormy Daniels business — refactoring lame case that brings a rallying effect because of its lameness. Over thinking that one, I gather.

New cars are dropping the am radio. I suppose the heyday of the saving is gone — the mass audience stars of Limbaugh and Larry King and Art Bell are passed away. Even now the major rated rated talk radio station is on the FM dial, as a divide of old audiences and general as too young shifts from am / FM to FM / not radio. And am radio makes with the sound of dust.

And I was listening to a podcast series on the life and career of Art Bell. The hosts made an interesting but quite fully formed observation. We move out of an era of harmless conspiracy mongering to rancid. The new host of coast to coast, they claim, show reactionary politics where Bell only dipped into politics a smattering of times, flashing a few libertarian biases and shoving aside party politics. And on we go to the Alex Jones and qanoners. They failed to note a dividing line, even while brushing past it. 9/11. Art Bell did the 9/11show, sure, as becomes something historical and archive placed but nothing you want to actually listen to because — yep! But they failed to note something key with Art Bell and how everyone else progress forward without him. What did Art Bell think happened on 9/11? Simply put, that a group of Islamic radicals did it. On the rest, he was more than eager to have on Popular Mechanics to do spell the rest of it.

So. No. The line that he was willing to entertain any notion, and keep close lip on what he might actually believe of it, was not entirely accurate. But maybe he was a tool of the Feds.

If we are declaring the death knell of am radio, maybe this is where pirates and hams will take over as AI programs everywhere else. A tribute to Art Bell, of sorts.

From what I can tell, Zooey Zephyr was more in the right than were the Tennessee state Representatives, though I guess punished lesser for the break in protocol and disruption of legislative business. Zephyr’s offense is a bit of an eye roll — some overheated rhetoric she would not abide by if not really taking seriously. Sure. Everyone has blood on their hands. Why stop there? They have blood in their armpits. Blood and guts pouring bout of all pores! Actually, Zephyr USA little bit like Trump, who pointed at an adversary in the press as having blood. Still, for all that, she was still able to vote.

It is hard not to be desensitized to blood metaphors, is all I am saying.

But, press and media maladies:

The expulsion is the second recent instance of a Republican-controlled legislative body moving to punish Democratic lawmakers who spoke in opposition to policies conservatives support.

And maybe at bottom this is correct. That the actual reasons stated is a mask, rationalization, excuse. But danged if they shouldn’t be reported.