A Pause In The Disaster

Martin Mull August 18, 1943 – June 27, 2024

July 3, 2024

“Hold Donald Trump to the same standard. I was disturbed by President Biden, on two or three occasions during the debate, couldn’t finish a sentence. But I was more disturbed by how Donald Trump DID finish a sentence.”
                   Rev. Al Sharpton, July 2, 2024

With so much disaster busting out all over, though this is more sad news, it comes with no small amount joy attached to it. One of our favorite performers here at Paying Attention™ finally succumbed to a long illness last week. Before he became an actor, Martin Mull put out eight albums (giant CDs for you kids out there) of pithy, humorous songs between 1974 and 1978. Some great stuff, a sampling of which is featured below. If you know his work, or if you’ve never heard his music, please give a listen and have a laugh or two on us.

Dueling Tubas (my first exposure to Martin)

I Found It

Life Is Better Than Death

Bombed Anyway

Bun And Run

A Time of My Life

from the Doug Kenney funeral scene in A Futile and Stupid Gesture

I. Mangrey remembering. 

Livid In America

My brain hurts

Supreme Court v. United States of America

July 2, 2024

“With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the immunity decision

American democracy, having already been lobotomized by the Extreme Court, just had a ricin-laced pillow held over its face while it slept. In a Murder-On-The-Orient-Express-style assassination, guess which six carried out the execution and which three are not implicated. Hint below:

The Psychotic Clown Posse and three intelligent women 

At long last the nauseating words of Richard Nixon to David Frost, “When the president does it, that means it is not illegal,” which were as far from the truth as they could have possibly been at that time, are now the law of the land thanks to the most corrupt, partisan, flagrantly activist 6-3 Supreme Court majority in American history.

Under normal circumstances this decision to grant absolute immunity* to an American president – to any American president – would stand as an affront to everything on which this nation, with all of its many flaws, was founded. Putting unlimited, unchecked power in the hands of one man (or one woman some mythical day) was not one of these disgraceful flaws. Under our current circumstances, with the rapid rise of neo-fascism, including a presidential candidate from a major party (who is due to be sentenced on 34 criminal convictions next week), this can only spell disaster. Something the aforementioned candidate cannot do.

In a brief statement in response to the Court’s horrific decision, Biden said, “Trump will now be free to ignore the law.” More obvious words have never been spoken. Trump has over his entire undeserved life acted as if that were always the case, and for the most part he has been correct in this to the great and long-term detriment of this nation.

Unfortunately, President Joe Biden has made it clear that he will not abuse the powers he has just been handed. If he loses the November election, his successor will not be so respectful of what had been the law of the land for nearly 250 years. And democrats continue to bring Silly Putty to a gunfight.

We will all be very sorry that Biden is showing such mature restraint.

Next stop Christo-fascist theocracy. 

Happy Fucking Fourth of July Amerika

________________________________________________
*The decision does not say this explicitly, but it does so as implicitly as is inhumanly possible. It will surely be abused inhumanly, inhumanely and incessantly if the man who currently owns the Supreme Court (someone needs to search the freezers of Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito for wads of Trump cash) ends up appointed president by that very court in November.

I. Mangrey, livid in America. 

Broken News - Picking Nit(wit)s

Trump Picks A Ruining Mate

July 1, 2024

After witnessing the monumentally disastrous shitshow put on at last Thursday’s presidential debate, the editorial board at Paying Attention™ joins the Philadelphia Inquirer in calling for convicted felon, sexual predator, wannabe dictator and all-around fuck-up Donald J. Trump to withdraw from the race – not just the presidential race, but the human race, to which he has clearly never belonged in the first place.

We have it on good alternative authority that convicted felon/presidential candidate Donald Trump has made his decision on a running mate. In a move that surprised no one, Trump has chosen his new BFF, the man he just can't stop talking about…

The late, great Jeffrey Epstein

Oops Epstein’s dead. Wrong BFF.

The late, great Hannibal Lecter – fictional, but good enough for Trump

Joe Biden is sticking with Kamala Harris, despite rumors (planted by the Biden camp) he was going to switch to either Mike Pence – just to fuck with Trump’s nearly empty head – or Hillary Clinton – for the same reason.

In other news of Trump’s BFFs, Steve Bannon is finally headed to prison today for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena (which begs the question: what about Jim Jordan who continues to ignore a congressional subpoena, and he’s still in fucking Congress ). Bannon looks like something the cat dragged in dragged in.

Bannon – clearly well past his smell-by date

I’m sure, with his winning smile and personality, Bannon will make some real friends in prison, hopefully very intimate ones. With any luck he’ll be able to get a nice clean shiv…I mean shave.

One More Fucking Thing

Also today, we are supposed to hear what the six Mooks in Black in the Trump-packed Supreme Court have to say about absolute presidential immunity. These fucking assholes were asked by Special Prosecutor Jack Smith six months ago to fast-track this painfully obvious decision so that the American public might know if one of the candidates for president is more of a criminal than they already know he is.

The decision as to whether or not there is absolute immunity from prosecution for presidents, particularly those who engaged in election interference and insurrection, if not in fact sedition and treason, should be a no-brainer, since there is no such thing as absolute presidential immunity.

Unfortunately, this current court has made a name for itself* by wantonly overturning precedent after law after precedent. Not to mention all the grifting, grafting and nose-thumbing. And flagrant shows of solidarity, if not absolute collusion with Trump’s insurrection. So, there is no way to know just how horrifically these fuckers will be fucking us with their disgracefully delayed decision.

Interestingly, this is not the delayed decision that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s scathing dissent referred to as “an act of political chicanery before the election;” that was in reference to the Sick Six avoiding ruling on Idaho’s abortion ban because they know that would turn many more voters against their BFF Trump. Presumably, Jackson has similar feelings about the immunity case.

Either way, this fucking bullshit delay – such a long delay that these fuckers had to extend the current term (a term that featured the serial judicial gang-rape of American law and society) beyond its normal end date – is very likely de facto immunity for the subject of the current case that has been buried by the overtly partisan, anti-democratic, pro-corporate (to put it mildly) Shit-Stained, Criminal Roberts Court. 

So, stand back and stand by. At some point today, the smoke will rise from the Supreme Court, signaling that Donald Trump will be the next Pope of America.

________________________________________________________
*That name is The Shit-Stained, Criminal Roberts Court

This has been a Paying Attention™ Special Broken News report.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled ulcer.