Week of 02/22/2021

 A Farewell To Limbaugh
– by David Matthews 2

On February 17^th, 2021, talk radio personality Rush Limbaugh gave his last breath and died of stage 4 lung cancer.  He was 70 years old.

Now this commentator could go on with a string of crude comments and a litany of poisonous things that Limbaugh did when he was alive.  I could point out the hypocrisy of a vocally proud cigar smoker who brazenly mocked the threat tobacco products posed to our health dying of lung cancer.  The hypocrisy of a man that went through more marriages than Marilyn Monroe and yet complain about Bill Clinton’s affairs on his one and only wife.

But to just do that... would be a disservice.

Once upon a time, back when this commentator wrongly aligned himself with “conservatives”, I used to watch Rush’s short-lived TV show.  I wasn’t in an area that could get his radio show at the time, so watching him on TV was the closest I could get to his nascent crusade.  When I did move to Atlanta, the first program I wanted to hear was his.  He wasn’t always right, I kept on saying to myself, but he was entertaining.

That was the great secret to Limbaugh’s media fame.  He wasn’t a “journalist”.  He wasn’t a “news” person.  He wasn’t like the talking heads on Sunday Morning that would spend their time pontificating about the week’s events.  Indeed, he would spend his time mocking all of those people.  Ripping into them.  Gaslighting them and minimizing their words.  But he did it with laughs.  He did it with satire and comedy and even some parody.

He wasn’t Walter Winchell.  He was more the evil universe version of George Carlin.  He was an entertainer.  He was a media personality before I could even coin the term.

Eventually I would listen to those that would follow him on the Atlanta talk radio circuit.  Local talent, some of whom would later become big-time media personalities, and others that stayed big only in the Atlanta area.  They all emulated Limbaugh in one way or another.  They wanted to be like him.  Because they all wanted his fan base to love them just as much as they loved him.

And… truth be told, I wanted to emulate him when I started my first Internet radio show in the late 90’s.  I wanted to be a libertarian version of Limbaugh, smacking the two-party duopoly with mockery and ridicule in the same vein as Limbaugh did by just going after the Democrats.  Sadly, that didn’t work too well for me, although I was able to perfectly parody Rush for ShockNet Radio.

Limbaugh mastered the “book trick” that others would replicate.  Namely, get a book published, then promote your book heavily on your show, and then answer any question that comes up about it with “you’ll just have to read my book to find out.”  Then, go on vacation for a few weeks, write another book, get it published, and do the same thing all over again.

Mind you, this was before conservative groups reportedly gamed book sales to promote like-minded publications.  But it worked.  It freed him up to rip into liberal bastions, air mocking parodies, and let his legion of “dittoheads” call in to praise him.

But he didn’t do it alone.  When President Ronald Reagan did away with the “Fairness Doctrine” for broadcasters, Limbaugh wasn’t even selling himself as a media personality at the time.  It was designed more for the evangelical-owned broadcasters like Salem Media so they could push more of their ideas without having to bring in a counterpoint.  So, by the time Limbaugh’s newly-syndicated show would air, a lot of those radio stations already had their own personalities spreading their own messages in the morning and evening commutes.  They would prime the pump for Limbaugh, and then follow him with more of the same.

The other thing that happened was that liberals didn’t do anything to match it.  They were upset about the death of the Fairness Doctrine, but they spent their time bitching about it and whining that it needs to be reinstated instead of doing the right thing and starting their own media.  Or, worse, pretending like the doctrine was still in place and neutering their own message with conservative counterpoints.

Bill Maher’s show “Real Time” on HBO still does this.  He still tries to find conservative personalities to interview or to have on his discussion panel, which only serves to minimize whatever message he tries to get out.  He may get the last laugh, but the conservative personalities he brings on get credibility, and some of them really do not deserve it.

Liberals were very late to the game when it came to matching conservative media.  Their first attempt was Air America, but that ended up going bankrupt.  The closest to that is now the Progress channel on SiriusXM, which really rose to popularity following the election of Narcissist Donald Trump in 2016, Free Speech TV on DirecTV, which is mostly boring as hell, and a handful of syndicated radio shows.  And if you listen to many of their personalities, you won’t hear the kind of entertainment – mocking or otherwise – that made Limbaugh’s show different from the rest.  For all of their complaints about Limbaugh, they still fail to meet his appeal, because they never managed to replicate his method of salesmanship.

Yes, I said salesmanship.  Because let’s get brutally honest here… of all the things that can be said about Rush Limbaugh, both good and bad, whether he is a pontificator, a pundit, a failed sports reporter, an author, or a comedian, Rush Limbaugh was always a salesman.  He was always selling something, be it himself, a book, a cigar, a steakhouse, Manheim Steamroller, a candidate, or a political ideology.  And it didn’t matter if he practiced what he preached, even when it was revealed he was a deaf pill-popping oxy addict dying from the very cancer he once mocked.  His salesmanship was so good that his followers continued to buy what he sold even to his death.

This is what Rush Limbaugh truly left as his legacy.  Legions of loyal followers that helped elect two presidents and actively curse three more.  A customer-base eager for the next entertainer to amuse them and for clientele to champion their wares.  Mock him if you will, disparage what he has done even in death, but as long as people failed to learn how he managed to reach out to those “dittoheads” and get them to buy what he sold, then, even in death, he will continue to thwart his critics and opponents.

Week of 02/15/2021

 

Prosecutors Must Bring Trump To Justice Now!
– by David Matthews 2

I will never forget the ending of the 1992 movie “A Few Good Men”, when (spoilers), after all that happened, the two young soldiers still end up being convicted for killing another Marine.

The defense had pulled off what seemed to be impossible; they got the pious commanding officer to admit under oath that he ordered that Marine to be killed.  “Did you order the Code Red?” asked Tom Cruise’s character in the midst of a heated exchange about duty and following orders.  “You’re goddamned right I did!” bellowed Jack Nickolson’s character.

That was it.  He was guilty.  He admitted ordering a Marine to be executed.  The prosecution had no choice but to have him detained and charged.  It was proof that the two Marines charged were simply following the orders of their commanding officer in an environment where they had no other choice but to obey.

But it didn’t matter.  Because this was still a military court, not a criminal one.  The two Marines were still found guilty, even though they were clearly following the orders of their superiors.  They try to take solace in knowing that the truth came out and the one truly responsible was brought “to justice”, but we never really know if he was held to account.

In all likelihood, though, Nickolson’s character would never face trial or prison.  The military, like any other organization, protects their own.  He would most likely be allowed to retire with his rank and pension intact.  The matter would be hushed up and locked away in a redacted document in some file folder buried in some warehouse to protect his “honor” and “dignity”, while the two Marines would be dishonorably discharged and have to live with that on their public records.

It is a betrayal of the system, and whether it is a fictional account or a real one, it hurts just the same.  We believe that any system of governance or administration would do what is best, regardless of who the perpetrators are.  That the system in question would adhere to the facts, to the truth, and dispense justice accordingly.  We forget that these systems are made up of people who follow their own biases and prejudices over any notion of “fairness” or “truth”, and they will always protect their own over everything else.  They would rather have those structures burn to the ground than to do otherwise.

It is this feeling of betrayal that this commentator felt over the weekend when the second impeachment trial of Narcissist Donald John Trump ended with a majority of Senators voting to convict the criminal mob boss, but still failing to convict because it wasn’t a two-thirds majority.  Yes, we knew that the outcome was going to be like this, but it still hurts the same. 

We also probably didn’t know just how badly the trial was going to be rigged, just like it was last year.  Yes, the Dems are supposedly in charge, but you never would have known it looking at the managing of this trial.  No witnesses?  Again?  A rush to vote?  Again?  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is proving to be as woefully impotent as his predecessor, the dickless senile Harry Reid.  Hey Chuck?  It’s not too early to start referring to you as “Senator Chuck Schmuck”.

So, yeah, it was rigged.  And we’re talking WCW “Hollywood Hogan” versus Kevin Nash “Finger-poke of Doom” rigged.  We were betrayed by Schumer, America’s Neville Chamberlain, and his gang of fail-monkeys from giving America the impeachment trial we needed to have.  They allowed the Trump Party to prevail, to let their own Senators to ignore testimony in complete defiance of the oath that they swore in their own handwritten names, and to even go so far as to help the narcissist’s shyster attorneys in their pathetic defense.  And then, when all of that started to come out, the senator presiding over this mess failed to dismiss the so-called “jurors” who violated their handwritten oaths and showed their fealty to their fake messiah like a badge of courage.  Yes, I’m talking to you, Senator Patrick Leahy.  What?  You can stand up to the knife-wielding Joker in “The Dark Knight” but not to Narcissist Trump’s red-hat chumps?

The Senate failed America.  That much is crystal clear.  The Trump Party, formerly known as the “GOP” or the “Republican” Party, is guilty of compliance and corruption.  You know it.  I know it.  The whole goddamned world knows it.

So what needs to happen next is simple: prosecute Narcissist Trump and his criminal gang in criminal court.

Let’s get brutally honest here… every single prosecutor, district attorney, attorney general, and civil attorney with a possible case against the narcissist and his criminal gang need to bring charges to bear against them all.  And I do not mean “eventually”.  I mean now.  Tomorrow.  Today, if at all possible.

The Southern District of New York supposedly has multiple charges ready to go.  Good.  File them and get the warrants ready.

Fulton County’s new District Attorney, previously known for bringing down the Atlanta test-cheating teachers, says she’s “examining” possible criminal charges for election interference.  Don’t “examine” them.  Go into it like you did against the education system.  

Georgia’s Secretary of State is also claiming to “examine” criminal charges.  Don’t wait, sir.  You’ve seen the criminal activity first-hand and felt the threats from his cult followers.  You know what kind of person you are dealing with.  Hell, you voted for him!  Treat him like the state would treat a drug lord or gang leader.

If the Congress wants to redeem itself, they can pass a resolution invoking Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, barring Narcissist Trump from ever holding public office again.  You don’t need impeachment or a two-thirds majority for that; only the simple majority that the Democrats hold now.

The Department of Justice can file charges tomorrow against Narcissist Trump for violating Title 18 of US Code 2383 for inciting insurrection against the United States Government.  That’s ten years in federal prison.  And then they can open up the Mueller Report, which lists all of the charges that Narcissist Trump can face now that he is no longer in office.  Those did not expire just because that Attorney General is no longer in office.

Do not wait for the “perfect case”.  If you have enough to bring an indictment and thus an arrest warrant now, do it.  If you have a “sealed indictment”, or several, then unseal them and act on them.  You can always add additional charges afterward.  Don’t wait for coordination.  Do not ask for permission from some “higher authority”.  Bring the charges.  Bring the warrants.  Then bring the police to Mar a Lago and make the arrests. Perp-walk that son of a bitch in front of the media like you would any other mob boss.

Don’t try to assemble some multi-jurisdictional super-case lumping all the federal, state, and local groups into one massive charge.  That takes a lot of time and you – and the nation - do not have that luxury.  We are talking about a narcissist who has just been let off by his gang of corrupt lackeys for instigating an insurrection against the United States and who is willing to do it again if he feels like it, never mind talking about running for office again in 2024.  That is a bigger threat to the nation right now than North Korea’s nuclear bluster.

You go after him, not as a collective, but as a swarm, like you did with Big Tobacco.  Like you do against drug lords and criminal mob bosses.  So instead of the narcissist mounting just one defense in one court with his ever-dwindling number of attorneys, he would have to deal with multiple charges from multiple jurisdictions, so he would never know which one would send him to prison or send him to the poorhouse, or both.  He has to prevail over all of them to stay free, while the prosecutors only have to prevail at least once to send him to prison.  And the beautiful thing is, with multiple cases, it doesn’t have to end after that one conviction.  He can go to prison and still have to appear in court for the next charge, and the next one, and the next one.

You do that, and guess what happens?  Narcissist Trump won’t be talking about running for office in 2024.  He won’t be talking about ruling his new political party and deciding which corrupt politician deserves his “favor” in the next elections or trying to run his “new media empire”.  He won’t be able to do any of that because he would be too busy defending his life in all the court cases both criminal and civil.

To borrow from the ending of “The Dark Knight”… “sometimes the truth isn’t good enough.  Sometimes people deserve more.  Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.”  The same has to hold true here.

We know the truth.  We know that Narcissist Trump gathered a mob and instigated an insurrection to try to stop a constitutional process in which he lost.  That is not speculation.  That is not theory.  It is the truth.  You know it.  I know it.  The world knows it.  But knowing that truth is not enough.  It needs to be followed up with accountability, consequence, and actual justice for those who suffered and those who died because of that insurrection.  We have not stopped going after those who have harmed this country, be it in a nightclub in Germany, a cruise liner in the middle of the ocean, a federal building in Oklahoma City, the Olympic Games in Atlanta, or four planes on a September morning.  We have crossed oceans and waged war against other nations to bring those people to justice.  We cannot make an exception today simply because the one responsible for this horrendous act has a third of the nation under his control.

Week of 02/08/2021

 

America Needs A Full Impeachment Trial
– by David Matthews 2

Here’s a little historical tidbit that you may or may not know... Adolf Hitler, the Austrian-born leader of Nazi Germany who hated Jews and promoted the farcical “Aryan superiority” (even though he was far from it), never personally gave the order for mass genocide.  That decision was actually made by his underlings, in a private meeting far from where he was.  The only connection of the Holocaust to him was when one of his underlings mentioned “that thing” that was never said specifically, of which he approved.

Doesn’t matter, though.  He’s still responsible for it.  Him and all of his ministers and generals and foot soldiers and all of the people that enabled that fascist gang.  In fact, we’re still holding them responsible for it, even generations later!

But imagine what would have happened if Hitler never committed suicide and was instead captured and brought to trial in Nuremberg with the rest of his cohorts.  You know that the first thing he would do would be to throw his underlings under the bus.  He’d claim that he never personally authorized genocide.  He wasn’t the one that ordered the camps or the starvation or the death showers or the crematoriums.  No, that was the fault of his ministers and generals and soldiers who all “acted on their own”, even though they were all saying they were just “following orders” from him.

Of course, he’d still be found guilty.  You know it, I know it, and history knows it.  He was just as guilty for the atrocities of World War II as Saddam Hussein was for Kuwait and the Iraq War, and as Osama Bin Laden was for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  And just like a certain former U.S. president who will soon face trial.

Narcissist former-President Donald John Trump is facing his second impeachment trial in just a few days from this column on the singular charge of inciting an insurrection.  Of course his team of “lawyers”, along with his myrmidons and enablers, are claiming that he didn’t incite the insurrection on January 6^th that cost the life of a police officer and several others.  They claim that he just told his cult followers to march over to the Capitol Building and “be strong” and “urge them” to overturn the election for him.  He supposedly didn’t tell them to storm the building, wreak havoc, build a scaffolding with a noose, and try to kidnap and/or kill members of Congress.  No, no, no, that just happened spontaneously.  Just a bunch of bad actors... “on both sides”, as he likes to claim... and maybe it was that dreaded “Antifa” in disguise.

As of this column’s posting, the details of the impeachment trial are still being haggled over.  That includes whether or not witnesses should be called, or if it would be a repeat of last year’s impeachment trial, which was a farcical travesty that was rigged worse than professional wrestling.  This time, though, the Democrats are in the majority, which should mean that they would set different terms for this trial than from last year’s joke.

They should… but it seems that some of them don’t want to.

There are those that think that the orange-skinned criminal mob boss shouldn’t even be tried.  That it’s supposedly “unconstitutional” to try someone no longer in office.  Sorry, no.  They are categorically *wrong*.  Nixon v. United States gives legal precedence.  Plus there was the case of former Secretary of War William Belknap, who was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1876 but claimed that he resigned from office two hours before the articles of impeachment were passed.  Didn’t matter.  He was still impeached and the Senate still tried him, even though they failed to get the two-thirds majority needed for conviction.  There were still a majority of senators that said that it was constitutional and within their authority to try someone who was no longer in office.  So there is precedence.  It is constitutional.  Any red-hat who thinks otherwise needs to surrender their little pocket copies of the Constitution they love to waive about.

There are some that are suggesting that the House Managers shouldn’t even try to call witnesses; that they should simply “let the experiences from that day be enough”.

Are you goddamned kidding?!?

These are the same members of the Senate that just tried and failed to have the second impeachment dismissed outright for the delusional claim that it was “unconstitutional”.  The same group that continued to peddle the false claim of “voter fraud” even immediately after the insurrection ended and the dead bodies were still warm and the debris and human feces were still littering the halls!  Never mind the fact that certain members of that faction have no business serving as “jurors” for this impeachment hearing and instead should be charged with aiding and abetting the insurrection.

Then there are those that say that they should just get the trial over and done with because we all know that the Trump Party faction of the U.S. Senate will never, ever, convict their messiah.  That there will never be a two-thirds vote to convict, and that those cult followers would rather tear out their own hearts rather than vote to convict.  Yes, that’s outright perjury of their own oaths not only as member of the Senate but also as supposed “jurors” in the impeachment trial, but who cares?

This commentator says bullshit to all of that.

Let’s get brutally honest here… the House Managers should push for all of the witnesses.  All of them.  That includes the “Q-anon Shaman” and his sensitive stomach and the guy with the Confederate flag and “Captain Zipties” and anyone else that were there that are willing to say they were there because of their orange-skinned leader.  And air all of the video as evidence.  All of it.  No matter how graphic.  All of the stuff that we had to see live on TV and online.

Yes it will drag out the trial.  But it needs to happen.

Not necessarily for the trial inside the Senate, but for the other trial going on.  The trial in the court of public opinion.  And there, Narcissist Trump is not the one on trial, because he is already guilty.  Rather, the members of the U.S. Senate are the ones truly on trial outside of the Senate chambers.

Have all of the witnesses testify.  Have all of the video aired.  Instance after instance of the incitement to riot, the endless false and slanderous claims of “voter fraud” going back to last summer, long before a single vote could be cast.  The testimony from Capitol Police officers who were assaulted, the family members of those who were killed, the video footage of all of the rallies.  The proof of the destruction and desecration of that building.  Evidence so overwhelming that even Satan would scream “guilty” from the depths of Hell.

If, after all of that, those biased members of the Senate fail to convict, willingly damning their own eyes and ears, then the court of public opinion will find them guilty of complicity.  Even if they are not voted out of office later on, history will damn them for all eternity for their role in aiding and abetting the worst president in America.

And don’t think for a moment that this impeachment trial would be the end of the narcissist’s troubles.  He is still facing plenty of civil and criminal charges for his past actions.  Charges that he can no longer hold off or claim immunity.  The Muller Report itself has plenty of charges just waiting for a prosecutor to pick up and go after the narcissist with now that he is no longer in office.

Adolf Hitler may have never specifically ordered the Holocaust, but he was responsible for it. Saddam Hussein may have never personally carried out the atrocities of Kuwait and the Iraq War himself, but he was responsible for them.  Osama bin Laden never flew any of the planes on 9/11, but he was responsible for it.  Narcissist Donald John Trump may never specifically ordered the insurrection of January 6th, but he is and needs to be held responsible for it.

Week of 02/01/2021

 Gaming The Biggest Game In America
– by David Matthews 2

In the classic 1983 movie “Trading Places”, our heroes, played by Dan Ackroyd and Eddie Murphy, discover that their lives were swapped by two obscenely wealthy brothers, Randolph and Mortimer Duke.  The man of privilege was driven to poverty, and the man of poverty was elevated to wealth and privilege, and the two seemingly adopted to their new positions quite well.  When Murphy’s character discovers this was done all for a bet of one dollar, he went to Ackroyd’s character and the two plan their revenge.

This is going to give away the ending, so be warned.  The two discover that the Duke brothers were going to get the inside information about orange futures.  This discovery alone could lead to prison time.  But, of course, we all know that people like the Duke brothers are always “too big for jail”.  So they play their own game on the Dukes.  They give the Duke brothers fake information, then they use the real insider information to game the trading market for that day, making themselves obscenely rich and sending the Duke brothers into bankruptcy.  And all supposedly for a dollar.

Fast forward thirty-eight years.  A bunch of real-world people discover that some real-world rich people are playing their own games on Wall Street, and they decide they’re going to do something about it.

So a bunch of people in a Reddit subgroup find out that a bunch of companies are targeted for something called “short-selling”.  That’s when investors and hedge fund managers decide they’re going to borrow shares of a business that they will sell on the belief that the value will drop.  Enough of them do it, and the price will drop.  They then buy back the devalued stock at the lower price and give back the lenders their shares at the depleted amount and they keep the difference.  If they borrow a share for $10, short it to $2, they sell back the share to the lender for $2 and keep the $8.  This is usually done to a company that is believed to be struggling and may soon go into bankruptcy and insolvency.  The end result, of course, is that the company really does go under, and it often ends up shutting down and laying people off.

It’s a deplorable bottom-feeding activity, but it is perfectly legal and legitimate and it helps the rich become even richer while also hurting the hard-working Americans and driving them further and further into poverty.  It’s also nothing new.  They’ve been doing this for seemingly forever.

So this Reddit subgroup finds out which companies are being targeted for short-selling and they decide on their own to buy the stocks of those companies.  Because, you know, they don’t want to see companies like GameStop and AMC driven into bankruptcy and have all of those countless hard-working American lose their jobs.  And they spread the word to their friends as well.  They use trading apps like Robinhood to make these purchases of their own money, in complete defiance of whatever financial advice they may hear.  The end result is that the price of those stocks go up instead of going down, so all of those hedge fund people lose and now they have to pay back the loans with their own money at the higher value.

Now if you happen to think it’s not so bad, consider this: the value of GameStop, one of the companies targeted for short-selling, shot up 1800% in just a few days.  It’s like borrowing a share for $10, believing it will short to $2, and finding out it suddenly is worth $180.  You’re out $170!  Well for the short-sellers for GameStop, they’re now reportedly out almost $20 billion dollars!  That’s “billion” with a “B”.

But you know what?  It’s also legal.  No law is being violated.  No rule is being broken, other than the unwritten rule that rich people should be allowed to pilfer struggling businesses into destruction for their own increased wealth.  The Reddit people played the same game with the same rules as the hedge fund bottom-feeders.  The only difference is that there were enough of them to turn it around and thumb the bottom-feeders.  And, as of this column’s posting, it’s still going on, despite the howls of protest from the Wall Street elitists who are whining about losing money.

Let’s get brutally honest here... I have no sympathy for the Wall Street crowd on this subject.  None whatsoever.  I am a stockowner.  I have a 401K that is invested in Wall Street.  But I sure as hell would be pissed if some outside group decided that the business that I have stock in should suddenly make my stock worthless and drive that business into bankruptcy just so they can buy that third private jet and their tenth private home.

Wall Street is the world’s biggest legal casino.  We all know this.  There is supposed to be risk in any investment.  We hear that all the time in those overplayed investment commercials.  It’s there in the legal mice-type.  Nothing in the world of Wall Street speculation is supposed to be either a sure-thing or a sure-flop.  Nothing.

And all this talk from the Wall Street elites about how the Reddit crowd are doing something wrong is just plain bullshit.  That’s right, bullshit!  All of it.  Bullshit! 

These stuck-up prissy self-righteous self-serving millionaires and billionaires and their sycophantic enablers in the financial media have been playing this game for years, trouncing struggling businesses and driving them into failure, shutting down businesses and killing jobs and hurting hard-working Americans, and now regular people – not so-called masters of the universe, not the financial elite, not the Wall Street gang – are playing by the same rules as the bottom-feeders and they beat them at it.  That’s the “free enterprise” that you love to tout.  That’s the “free market” that you love to promote.  Those pillars of capitalism that you love to cram down our gullets being force-fed back at you.  How does it taste, Wall Street?

It probably won’t last for long.  The world’s biggest legal casino doesn’t tolerate losing any more than any other kind of casino... or at least any casino not run by an orange-skinned narcissist with his name on the building.  At some point the millionaires and billionaires and Wall Street elite will find a way to shut it off.  But in the meantime, they should take the time to realize that their games have real consequences for others.  As Jon Stewart so memorably told CNBC’s Jim Cramer in 2009, “it’s not a (bleep)ing game!”

And for those precious hedge fund bottom-feeders supposedly hurt by this, I might suggest the same advice that your brethren have been telling the rest of us for years... pull yourselves up by your bootstraps, stop buying all those houses and cars and private jets and yachts that know you can’t afford, stop buying those bottles of champagne and cans of caviar, and maybe spend some money on education so you can learn to be better people and get more ethical jobs. 

What’s good for the goose is good for the pate-eaters.