The 2018
Brutally Honest Awards
Well, boys and girls, we have survived another year. That is important considering we have a
narcissist in the White House who could still trigger the end of the world at
any time if he feels he’s not being “treated fairly”.
But for now, we are simply on edge, on the brink, wondering when the next
shoe will drop, when the economy comes apart, when that narcissist will be
either be taken down or take us down.
As this column is being posted, it is just a few days away from the
passing of former President George H. W. Bush. The man who was in office when the Cold War
ended and who led us into a new war with Iraq.
He was a different kind of leader than the person that is in charge
today. Even if there were disagreements
with his policies and his decisions, it wasn’t personal with Bush Senior, and
he didn’t take them personally. And in
next week or so after this column’s posting, you’ll probably hear a lot about
him and the kind of person he was and the kind of leader he was simple because
that is not the kind of person in the White House today, and it’s also not the
kind of politics that we have right now.
Having said that, let’s go over the best of the best and the worst of the
worst for the year.
The Biggest Winners of 2018: The Fascistic Sociopathic
GOP and Narcissist President Donald Trump – It goes
without saying that these two groups have America by the balls and they know
it. They know it and they revel in
it. Even with the results of the 2018
Midterm Fraud, they still have everything they want, including a Supreme Court
justice just as petty as Narcissist Trump.
Bill Maher refers to what is happening as a “slow-moving
coup”, and he is not wrong in that assessment. It is a coup that has been slowly fermenting
over the years like bad wine. It didn’t
start with Narcissist Trump. It actually
started not long after Bush Senior was in office. Narcissist Trump is just the drunk in their
winery tapping the kegs.
The Second Biggest Winner of 2018: Fail-Machine Nancy
Pelosi – She will become Speaker of the House for
2019, and you will continue to see the failures of the Democrats. Sure, the Dems won the House in the Midterm
Fraud. But Pelosi isn’t going to make
waves. We’ve
seen this before when she first was Speaker. She’ll compromise and deal. She’s already said no to impeachments. There might be investigations, but they
probably won’t go anywhere. Budgets will
continue to reflect GOP demands and Trump’s wish list. She could even give Trump his wall if she
thinks she can get him to agree to something that she wants.
Think about the things that Pelosi and her sycophants have been touting
from her previous reign as Speaker. They
were made when Barack Obama was in the White House and the Dems controlled both
houses of Congress. We won’t have that
in 2019. Get ready to be let down by her
again, people.
The Biggest Losers of 2018: The United States of
America – Let’s get brutally honest here… as long as
the fascistic sociopathic GOP and the Narcissist President Trump are in charge,
we all are losers. All of us. Even the Trumpets. They just don’t know it yet. And hopefully they will realize it at some
point soon… but I won’t hold my breath on that.
The Most Disgraceful, Embarrassing Moment In America
For 2018: The Rubber-Stamping of Justice Brett Kavanaugh –
I won’t even dignify what happened as a “confirmation”. It was ugly partisan theater and a naked
power-grab by both Narcissist Trump and the fascistic sociopathic GOP to ram
through a Supreme Court appointment simply because they could.
The Benedict Arnold Award for 2018: Retired Justice
Anthony Kennedy – There was no reason in the world for
Kennedy to retire at this time.
None. He sold his soul to
Narcissist Trump and the fascistic sociopathic GOP, and he betrayed every bit of
moderation and reason that he represented during his time in the Supreme Court. He knew what kind of person would follow him. I hope he will enjoy his thirty pieces of
silver for as long as he can so he can see just what kind of devastation will follow
from his betrayal.
The Worst Lawyer of 2018: Michael Avenatti –
Otherwise known as the attorney to Stormy Daniels, adult film star and one-time
booty-call for Narcissist Trump. Why is
he the worst lawyer? Because Avenatti
basically used his client’s case against Narcissist Trump to be about himself
as the attorney. Now, it’s one thing if
you’re someone like Gloria Allred, who spent years building and defending cases
that caught the attention of the media.
But... and I hope you’re paying attention, Mister Avenatti... nobody knew
who Michael Avenatti was before the whole mess with Stormy Daniels came to
light. And now, all of a sudden, he’s
making TV appearances and he tries to find women who can say Brett Kavanaugh
was a bad boy and there are rumors of him wanting to run for President in
2020!
Hey, whatever happened to your client, sir? You know, the adult film star whose name is
being dragged through the mud by the media and is being falsely arrested by
Trump supporters. Remember why people
even know who you are?
That’s the thing: people know who Gloria Allred is because she gets out
there and works for her clients. It’s really
not about her, even though it’s her face in the media all the time. It’s about her clients. It’s about the case, not the attorney.
That’s something that Mister Avenatti needs to understand. The case is about Stormy Daniels, not her
attorney. It is about what Trump and his
people are doing to her to keep her from exposing Trump’s hypocrisy.
Speaking of Gloria Allred...
The Just Deserts Award for 2018: Bill Cosby
– I have to admit I was a bit divided on this.
We’ve all known Bill Cosby as this paragon of virtue and value, someone
involved with movies and TV for generations.
But what was exposed in the rape case against him was someone completely
different. And if not for the fact that
one of those women that were victimized by Mr. Cosby is someone that I consider
to be a friend, I’d probably still not believe it.
But it’s true. He was convicted. He’s guilty.
And now
he is in prison. Granted, it’s only
for the one victim, not the dozens that came before her, including my friend,
but at least justice is still delivered.
And it will haunt him for the rest of his life, just like what he did
haunted all those women for the rest of their lives.
The “You Will Be Missed” Award for 2018: Stan Lee
– Legendary comic book creator and writer and personality Stan Lee passed away
on November 12th. Stan “The
Man” was one of the hardest-working creators in the business. He helped make Marvel Comics what it is
today. But he did more than just make legendary
comic book characters and groups. He made
himself into one as well. Stan Lee’s
cameo appearances are just as legendary as his characters, and he even made one
appearance in a DC Animated movie.
Of all who passed away this year, Stan Lee inspired not just a
generation, but whole generations, to believe in heroes and people doing the
right things. And he never stopped doing
it. Even when he was no longer in charge
of Marvel Comics, he still encouraged others and still created and told
stories. He still made appearances. His passing will truly be missed.
The Things That Have Been Missed in 2018: Suicide,
California’s separation dreams, “While Black” calls, and Mass Shootings – Certain
tragedies this year have cause people to look at issues such as suicide and
mass shootings. And, rather than call
for real change, we play the old game of “this is horrible, something
needs to be done about it...” but nothing is suggested, or
whatever is suggested doesn’t work, and then we shrug it off and go watch
something on Netflix or Hulu.
This is especially true with the whole “While Black” subject, which
I talked about in August. There are
far too many uptight self-righteous bigots who think they are entitled to call
the police on people who are not like them.
If someone speaks Spanish, the white bigot threatens to have them
arrested and/or deported. If someone is
living or relaxing or enjoying whatever liberties the white bigot thinks should
be exclusively theirs, they a visit from the police. Again, we see these instances, we say they are
wrong, but nothing really stops. The
white bigots keep flaunting their illegal power. Sure, they lose their jobs sometimes, but,
other than that, there’s no other kind of consequence.
And... the idea to break California up into three states? We really didn’t hear anything more about it
after the initial idea was raised.
Apparently that state’s Supreme Court nixed
the idea and there wasn’t any traction on bringing it back.
The Best Superhero Movie of 2018: “The Death of
Superman” – What?
Did you really think I was going to say “Avengers: Infinity War”? Or maybe “Black
Panther”? Those were really good movies
to be certain. But when it came to “Death
of Superman”, you have a story where you pretty much know the outcome. Hell, it’s in the very title. But unlike its previous animated attempt – “Superman:
Doomsday” – we are introduced to a broader world than just Superman and
Lois Lane. You see character development
that goes beyond just bringing people together.
We learn about Superman’s life more than just these people “exist”. This is something that Zach Snyder failed to
see with “Justice
League”, and you really don’t have too much development with “Infinity War”
because there’s trying to fit in all of the Marvel movie characters and still
advance the overall story. In “Death of
Superman”, we see how the characters interact.
And not just the immediate cast, but also the Justice League members
themselves. There are discussions about
relationships and whether or not they put loved ones in danger that play out
later on. That’s important because it
shows these are people and not just figures in costumes. That’s why this movie stands out over “Infinity
War”.
And finally...
The Creeping Threat of 2018: The Economy
– We started the year with a false promise of
$1000 from Narcissist Trump. It used
to be $4000, but then it became $1000, and then we find out that it’s really
not for everyone. Most of us won’t get
that. We then get caught up with trade
wars and threats of trade wars. And what
is the solution from Narcissist Trump?
Well, it’s welfare
for the farmers, the ones that voted for Narcissist Trump, but then when it
comes to the auto workers, the ones that probably didn’t vote for Trump, it’s
threats of further penalizing sanctions on top of the tariffs Trump is giving
us.
We have the stock market going haywire, with spikes and crashes faster
and more frequent than before so that we can’t really trust them. The healthcare industry is demanding more and
more money and rationing promised services simply because they’re greedy
bastards that have been allowed to write their own rules. And, what is not being mentioned too much, is
that real wages for most Americans have remained stagnant for decades now.
In short, what we’re seeing is the fraying of the economy, and not just
like it was during the Great Recession a decade ago. The very people that foresaw the Great
Recession – and
that includes yours truly – are seeing the same things happen all over
again, only this time it’s not just the housing market.
Picture a platform that is rotting away.
Maybe you think you can walk around the bad parts, maybe patch them up
or cover them up. Maybe put a new coat
of paint on it. But you keep using it
and using it. Eventually it collapses
because of the sheer wear you’ve been putting on it.
That’s our economy, folks. And we’ve
been lucking out this past year, but 2019?
That is our Ghost of Christmas Future looming at us. And if you think Narcissist Trump and the
fascistic sociopathic GOP and the perpetual fail that is Nancy Pelosi and her
gang are going to anything to stop it, then you are delusional.
We started the year with false hope.
We end it with uncertainty.
Hopefully the new year will prove the critics like myself wrong. That would be a welcomed treat.
