Keeper of the Clown Bell

WTF - This dude is fantastic. "Listen to the kids, bro - I still don't understand award shows." It's so hard to be... an artist? or whatever. High as a kite and feeling it. "It's about ideas, bro." "Truth." He's ready to run for President in 2020 so let him get 4 years under his belt as Veep and maybe by then he'll understand awards shows.

One of the greatest things, of many great things, about The Donald and Trumpian "ideology", as such, is the epistemological meltdown occurring among the conservative commentariat. This is happening EVERYWHERE - NatReview, Fox News, Red State.com, etc. and I could fill this blog with links to Trump bashing by every "sensible" "conservative" pundit in America if I wanted to - but keeping it short and sweet, here's a sample: He’s Neidermeyer from Animal House He Sounds Like a Drug-Addled Rock Star He's Worse Than Machiavellian He's Awesome, Terrible He's One Rich Guy And today the Mr. Chips of DC punditry warns of Caesarism and sees the ghost of George Wallace (of all people) in Trumps trumping of the trump-trumps. How's this for an opening? "Every sulfurous belch from the molten interior of the volcanic Trump phenomenon injures the chances of a Republican presidency." You don't say? And I thought the Republican

EEOC fails to take immediate action - tragic result Anyone who's ever dealt with the HR department at a regional TV station can have a little (very little) sympathy for  Vester Lee Flanagan - a German-English-Irish American who suffered discrimination because of his heavy dose of melanin and negroid features - also, he might have been gay. A gay, black Irishman is ipso facto a Human Resource departments nightmare employee but by all accounts Vester (AKA Bryce Williams) was a pretty good Journo, for what it's worth, but the persistent racism he suffered from sharp tongued reporters and producers sent him over the edge. So he made his own news by committing cold blooded murder on live TV and then posting his own video on "social media." Maybe now journalist will finally start to get the message that #BlackLivesMatter and stop ignoring the events in Ferguson, MO, Baltimore, MD and Charleston, SC - somebody had to give the News Media a wake up call and Vester just

Palmyra Syria (old) and Virginia (new) Palmyra in Syria is suffering the ravages of barbarous force but Palmyra, VA is just getting started (in a global historical way) so shed no tears for the desecration of the Temple of Baalshamin because it's just the early days of a multi-decade regional war which will see countless ancient artifacts demolished and turned to dust. The new Palmyra is the future and though it might be hideous to the eye it is far removed from ISIS and their twisted theosophy. Sure the old Palmyra is of " Outstanding Universal Value " but its destruction is a legacy of the Obama/Clinton/Kerry foreign policy initiative and, too bad, you get what you vote for. Palmyra, VA has (as you can see in the photo above) churches that make an extraordinary architectural statement , institutional schools, international shopping plazas, vending machines that deliver sugar water and filmed entertainment, lots of parking and copious storage facilities for overfl

Faithful readers of the KOTCB blog know that I already called this back in March after State dropped the secret e-mail server bomb on Hillbilly and I don't claim to be a soothsayer but as Hannibal from the A-Team used to say, "I love it when a plan comes together." Cue the aptly named Josh Earnest at this mornings presser : "The president has indicated that his view that the decision that he made, I guess 7 years ago now, to add Joe Biden to the ticket as his running mate was the smartest decision that he has ever made in politics. And I think that should give you some sense into the president's view into Vice President's aptitude for the top job," Earnest said. There is a lot to say about this quote but cutting to the chase the word aptitude is not one I would associate with Lunch Bucket Joe. He is relentless, boorish, stupid and a liar but, believe it or not, those are not natural abilities for being the President of the United States (or at le

It covers the land like kudzu Newsweak (yes, that Newsweek ) has reprinted an article originally published in The Washington Spectator  entitled " The Story Behind the POW/MIA Flag " (original title with included the word "racist" has been modified) intended to frame the well known black flag as a symbol of "invisible racism", Nixonian thought control and jingoistic justification for imperialistic murder. Why Newsweak would pick up and run this excrement evacuated during Hamilton Fish the Fifth's monthly constitutional is hard to fathom - they must have known that political rivals would pounce , but how they could overlook the honest and heartfelt anguish normal humans might feel about POW/MIA's and their plight shows just how soulless and disconnected these Manhattan/DC clowns really are. As you'd expect, Newsweek and TWS were crushed with valid and furious complaints from the American people for publishing Rick Perlstein's drivel an

More proof, as if more than what has already been presented were necessary, that Donald Trump is channeling Elvis.

Jimmy Dan Ray and I don't care Just another Friday night in Hickory, NC where an ax-wielding clown attacked a woman in front of her house at 4:32 a.m. No one was hurt in the attack, but the victim was able to get up close and personal with the rainbow wigged perp and take a look under the mask and identify him as an acquaintance. Now the Ax Clown is on the run and the local PD will have to prioritize because Catawba County has it's fair share of most wanted clowns out and about in the land. Here's a word of advise from the KOTCB - if you find yourself looking out the window at 4AM on a Friday morning and see a clown holding an ax in your front yard DO NOT establish contact with said clown. Lock the doors, get out your gun (if you have one) and call the police immediately. A clown is different from you and me (oh really, are they really so different?) and when armed they are extremely dangerous.

Jann's neighborhood I've already covered the  beach resort communities of the North East coastline but an item on Page Six of todays NYPost deserves some special KOTCB attention. My favorite target, Jann Wenner, is in the news again - not for his shoddy magazine , or its editors and writers , or his malicious influence on our culture , or his violence toward Rock & Roll - this time for an explosive beach bash in The Hamptons. Leaving aside the hideous architecture of these homes and much that could be said about The Hamptons generally, a couple of things popped out at me from this admittedly shallow report on the events of August 2nd in Montauk, N.Y. and this much we know: Wenner threw a bash for thirty (30) friends and decided to launch fireworks at 9:30 as part of the celebration. Not bottle rockets and M-80's mind you, but real, legitimate fireworks - the kind that require a permit from local authorities. 25 minutes of fireworks people - start a stopwatch an

Animal Mother: You'd better flush out your head, new guy. This isn't about freedom; this is a slaughter. If I'm gonna get my balls blown off for a word, my word is "poontang". They're in full metal jacket mode down on K Street. Trump can bust on illegal immigrants (undocumented workers) all he wants, call our elected leaders idiots and underperforms, talk and talk and talk about whatever, but if he belittles and insults that beautiful, frisky, scrappy Megyn Kelly they'll fucking crucify him. He's stepped over the line... ungentlemanly... insulting... It's... it's just too much... too, too much. We're talking about Megyn Frigg'n Kelly man, and she's just so damn adorable and playful, but smart and brave at the same time and you just can't... you just... Argh!!!! And I can see where they're coming from - most of these defenders of the little lady would give their left nut for a roll in the hay with Megyn because she's

Red, White & Blue is the new Orange "It’s a classic case of good intentions backfiring" says Wired . "Yeah, oops" - hey, just Big Government at work "protecting" the environment. CNN's headline is hilarious " EPA crew accidentally turns Animas River orange " like it's some Saint Patrick's Day prank instead of "heavy metals, mainly iron, zinc and copper" pouring into a river the government was supposed to be protecting. Not that you'll find out anything about this "mistake" on the EPA web site which is all clean energy and climate change these days. But why should that surprise anyone - the EPA isn't accountable for ruining a Colorado river. They meant well and that's all that matters. Just a "tragic" mistake says the Denver Post - one that they probably voted for.

Anyone who's ever participated in an "election" for 8th grade class president knows that democracy has inherent and uncorrectable limitations. All to often the votes are cast for the most popular kid in class or the best looking or the most conniving and ambitious who will stoop to backstabbing, rumormongering and just plain strong arm tactics to win. Alexander Payne made a movie titled " Election " about a high school variation on this theme that documents the reality in a thoughtful, humorous and (sad to say) honest way. It doesn't get any better as people grow older - in fact all you need to know about politics can be learned in high school . These early cattle call debates are really just a beauty pageant for curious voters and the media machine that needs something (anything) to write about - no sane person is even thinking about who they will vote for in 458 days. That being said, no one knows more about beauty pageants than Donald Trump. The GOP

70 Years and counting... Yes, only 70 years since the most recent " single greatest acts of terrorism in human history " but there's always tomorrow (smily face nuke emoji).

Kick'n back and watching a little Disney Channel I was sickened to see a promo for " Descendants " - A show developed to entertain children and teenagers that would certainly have Walt spinning in his grave. How the living descendants of the great imagineer can cash their quarterly dividend check knowing the shit this storied company pumps into the minds of the worlds youth is almost impossible to justify. It goes without saying that the plot is preposterous and the characters are mutant spawn from Disney characters and they turn out to be "good" in the end. The idea of making heroes out of these miscreants is a sign of the times that bodes ill for our societies future as their "example" is digested by young, impressionable minds soaking in this malicious drivel. Watch the first 6 minutes of this program and you'll see cultural rot singing and dancing into your future. Mal, Carlos, Jay & Evie belong on the Isle of the Lost and any teenage Kin

Jacob is one of my favorite biblical characters. His life and the fantastical events he experienced are surpassed by very few in human history and his legacy is magnificent. I'm not going to suppose that the "choice architecture" Jacob found himself in was much more pleasant than what we've created for ourselves , but he did not suffer from rationalism and therefor feel the need to understand what was happening or why he did what he did - he just sort of went with it and things worked out. God's will. Not so for the practitioners of  behavioral economics who worry that " We’ve Built a World That Constantly Tempts Us to Make Deadly Mistakes " and so we've got to do something like... rebuild the world? I've got no idea what to do about our current choice architecture except follow Jacob's lead. I'm not going to throw away my smart phone, or stop driving, or stop eating doughnuts. Dan Ariely claims that todays temptations are too perv

There's nothing to say, just watch it then crawl back into your hole.

Oops! Looks like I missed the deadline. I hope Jeb! found someone to give him $5K so that he can beat Hilbilly.