CSotD: Not the Singers nor the Songs
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Golding channels Groening with this commentary on the upcoming 250th celebrations. I have been hesitant to comment because, while I’m astonished that anybody watches some of the braindead programming on TV, apparently they do.
It seems elitist to mock people for not having your own refined sense of style, but that’s another chance to say, “Seems,” madam? Nay, it “is”; I know not “seems.”
My workaround is to joke about big-eyed children paintings and giant wooden salad forks rather than making fun of the new White House decor. Making fun of nostalgia avoids mocking current schlock, though calling it “schlock” blows that attempt at diplomacy.
Still, erecting an MMA arena on the White House lawn is so undeniably tacky that it would be dishonest to avoid pointing it out, particularly since Dear Leader has financial and political ties to Dana White, as does the rest of the GOP, given that White has spoken at several Republican National Conventions.
Though Trump has made an effort to be fair, appointing pro-wrestling promoter Vince McMahon’s wife Education Secretary despite her thinking that AI is a steak sauce. Trump appeared with Vince McMahon in wrestling matches, which may explain why he expects elections to similarly follow his pre-approved script.
In any case, Dear Leader’s minions announced a great line-up for his big, beautiful 250th anniversary concert, and so far it’s a success in that only four of the seven acts have canceled. Or possibly six out of eight, the count being hard to keep up with.
But while Martina McBride, C&C Music Factory, Milli Vanilli, Young MC, the Commodores and Morris Day & Time have all bailed, saying they were mislead about the partisan nature of the event, Vanilla Ice and Flo Rida are hanging in there, at last report.
Milli Vanilli denounced the whole thing because the current line-up of the group is not the original singers, who also weren’t the original singers, and the concept of a Milli Vanilli tribute band seems like some kind of musical moebius strip, doesn’t it?
Never mind. If you wait until October, you can go to this concert instead, and I haven’t heard of any of the featured performers walking away, perhaps because they knew it was partisan from the start.
Getting shot down by Milli Vanilli. Geez louise.
“No thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank God somebody asked you.”
In other news, Dear Leader has found another place to stick his face, and his faithful sidekick Scott Bissent is helping promote a $250 bill with Trump’s mugshot on it, explaining that legislation currently before Congress would do away with the law against putting living people on money.
They’ve already fired — sorry, “reassigned” — an official who brought up that barrier, though given how long it would take to move the process forward, that restriction might no longer apply.
In any case, de Adder cites a more pressing objection, which is that people who can barely afford groceries don’t carry a lot of $250 bills around anyway. Though, again, it may be a matter of taste: People who peel off a C-note at the checkout stand don’t likely refer to it as “pimp money.”
Anyway, as Sack notes, with midterms coming up in five months, this is not a good time to be antagonizing the voters, and the still-rising cost of groceries is doing quite enough of that without Dear Leader needing to pile on.
Juxtaposition of Backwards Day
Today offers a pair of apparent reversals.
Benson, who is usually blindly loyal on the right side of the aisle, points out that the Republicans are facing a real problem given the state of the economy and are in danger of being swept off by a blue wave.
Contrariwise, Bramhall, generally a progressive, sees the Texas race as an impending disaster for Democrats. He’s correct to show dead donkeys tangled on the whale, given how long it’s been since a Democrat won statewide office there, but most observers are citing the nomination of Ken Paxton as setting up a very good chance for James Talarico to take the Senate seat away from the Republicans.
The Republicans have already resorted to absurd, false accusations about Talarico, questioning his sexuality and accusing him of being vegan because he ordered a potato, cheese and egg taco, which certainly suggests that they don’t have any logical reasons for people to vote against him.
And I don’t know what they think “vegan” means, but I also doubt they know much about gay or transexual people, either, and the “Say what?” factor overwhelms the “So what?” factor that should apply to such revelations.
Anyway, I admitted the other day that I couldn’t get through the book, but I do know how it comes out, and, despite Ahab’s track record, the smart money isn’t betting on the whale this time.
Meanwhile, back at the Vatican, Breen makes an historic reference, comparing Pope Leo’s encyclical, warning of the threats posed by artificial intelligence, to Martin Luther’s nailing of his 95 Theses to the doors of the church.
For a cartoon that ran in the National Catholic Register, a more conservative publication than the National Catholic Reporter, it’s significant that the cartoon riffs on the act crediting with touching off the Protestant Reformation, or, as I learned it in Catholic Sunday schools, the Protestant Revolution.
But that NCR approves of Leo’s encyclical, which seems loyal but perhaps still remarkable, given that rocking the boat is rarely saluted in conservative circles.
Meanwhile, the National Catholic Reporter did take a more progressive view, noting that the encyclical also questions Augustine’s just war theory, a point taken up by Patrick Marrin in the Leo Chronicles, which runs in that newspaper.
Not that the comic strip version of the Pope ignored the technological aspects of the encyclical.
I’m pleased to see Schopf break through the Adam-and-God clichés — and I’ve seen several on the topic of AI — to inject actual meaning into the updated scenario.
And, though no longer a follower, I’m even more pleased to see the Vicar of Christ on Earth take a stand that endorses earthly thought and active participation rather passive, hopeful prayer alone.
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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