Keeper of the Clown Bell

Talking to an old friend over the weekend we began discussing Lincoln's abuse of power and unconstitutional actions during the course of the US Civil War. She was listing the liberties that honest Abe had circumscribed or (in many cases) outlawed during the great conflagration but I cut her off short and explained that, in my view, the war over secession was proof that the American experiment in representative government was a failure and Lincoln had no choice but to watch the South burn it down so that he might rebuild along the same designs with improvements. The issue of contention in those days was slavery, but slavery was just most prominent and visible of a host of secondary issues that supported the peculiar institution - the tip of the iceberg as they say. It was these secondary issues that split the Democrat party and allowed Lincoln to win the presidency with 40% of the popular vote and it was his lot to try to lead a fractured nation . The US congress had been trying

On Memorial Day we must remember and memories get warped over time because those who died lost their voice and those who didn't die were free to sing their song and tell their version of the endless tale we call history. For me, Viet Nam is a hazy memory of fuzzy TV news footage, hippies protesting in DC and an uncle who escaped the jungle via the National Guard. I was too young to feel the imminent vice grip of Uncle Sam's draft and not a single family member (or even a friend) died in the conflict and by the time I was called upon to register for the draft the conflict was so over that they'd stopped taking anyone into the service that didn't volunteer to fight of their own free will. So long ago that it's hard to remember what universal conscription was like or why the military even used this method of "recruitment" (if you can call it that). To jog your memory let me take you back to 1965 Macon, GA: So Duane came up with an idea and told his litt

Multi-Cult is a Tribe I was climbing my twitter wall yesterday when I came upon a tweet from WaPo titled " The Daily 202: Gianforte’s victory after assaulting reporter reflects rising tribalism in American politics " which I thought might be interesting so I cyber-surfed on over to the home page. "Rising tribalism" was on full display and while the editors of this news source are clearly concerned with the Trump Tribe they seem oblivious (maybe empathetic) to the multitude of "tribes" that comprise their readership. The Trump voter is clearly seen as a threat to pencil-necked nerd journalists (from The Guardian no less) and for good reason - The people of this country despise the contemporary journalist. @TheSwogBlog pic.twitter.com/IbC5IxN8oG — Jay (@JayIsAnimeRight) May 26, 2017 But reporters don't hold other, more dangerous tribes, to the same standards - examples from yesterdays home page include Opium from the Taliban tribe, National f

Seth Rich was murdered by the DNC brass, period. There's a lot of subterfuge going on in DC media circles focused on squashing the story and I have no doubt that they'll be successful in brushing it under the rug. The fact is, everyone in DC knew the guy was capped last summer because he leaked the DNC emails to WikiLeaks and they were fine with that punishment. That's the way the game is played and if Seth Rich didn't understand the rules, well, that's HIS fault. If you are a functioning, responsible and professional organization (political or otherwise) you simply can't have your IT staff stealing all your confidential email and giving it to anyone - especially not Julian A and his pirates. If you do that - if you're that fucking stupid - you will be shot in the back in the early morning hours. As far as the DC pros are concerned, killing Seth Rich isn't even a crime and that fundamental notion of institutional preservation is shared by Reince Pri

Eat your heart out on a plastic tray You don't do what you want Then you'll fade away You won't find me working Nine to five It's too much fun a being alive I'm using my feet for my human machine You won't find me living for the screen Are you lonely all your needs catered You got your brains dehydrated Problem, problem Problem, the problem is you What you gonna do The problem is you I was in the middle of a nice stake and potatoes dinner last night (caesar salad on the side) when the telly started squawking about Ariana Grande and exploding balloons and mass confusion. What is the Ariana Grande? I've got no frigg'n idea - is that what they call the civic arena in Manchester UK? My family laughed at me and explained that Ariana Grande is a huge pop star, actress and cultural icon very fashionable and worshiped by young girls (and the LGTB community) around the world. Not my demographic but hey, it's a free country and people can

The prison of life is still on. You can't show it any better than this. It's an interesting (to me at least) feature of my personality that I don't buy stuff. The reason for that is, I don't want stuff. Not wanting stuff in a consumption society is kind of strange because you're constantly bombarded with advertisements strongly suggesting that you should buy something - anything (and we're not suggesting - we're pleading {maybe demanding} that you purchase a thing) it's the cost of freedom. One of the most liberating machines ever invented is the automobile and I must admit that driving across Wyoming on I-80 into the sun at 90MPH on a late August afternoon is a wonderful feeling.* But that car requires gasoline which is refined from crude oil and not all crude oil is the same - Saudi Arabia has the sweetest crude oil there is and the world (not just the USA but the world) needs it . The Persian Gulf The Strait of Hormuz separates Sunni Isla

Things have been kind of quite over @realDonaldTrump for the past few days and that's usually a foreboding sign of a building tweetstorm on the horizon. Trump crushed them with the Comey firing and the reaction has been swift and terrible, as it often is when Trump drives a stake in their heart, but if history is any guide the POTUS hunkers down and waits for his enemies to exhaust themselves with spin, denunciation and doomsday prophesy before dropping another bomb (or series of bombs) that completely discombobulates the narrative and leaves his detractors speechless. Comey was the bulwark protecting many evil and nefarious people from scrutiny and, quite possibly, prosecution. At first you wondered why the Democrats, Republicans and News Media were so indignant over the sacking of a man who provided such lousy leadership for the bureau of government he was entrusted to oversee. Let's face it, Comey was a horrible choice for FBI director and his testimony , commentary and c

#RichNews Seth was @Wikileaks DNC source. Seth was killed for that reason. Seth is one of many Clinton victims. Seth is a hero for preventing Clinton. https://t.co/AfnLRMJhON — Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) May 16, 2017

With every passing day the reality of POTUS DJT sinks deeper and deeper into the fractured psyche of the deep state, but the question remains - how deep is the deep state? Because no matter how deep the Trump bunker buster burrows it's way into their mind, they still can't (won't) believe it. One of these days he's going to explode and then all hell is going to break loose, but so far he's been playing nice and trying to negotiate with them. I appreciate the presidents restraint and believe there is good reason to keep his powder dry because a hard rain is coming and he'll need all he's got (and then some) to fight off the swamp critters when they slither toward 1600 Penn. Ave. To get an idea of how fucked up his opposition is one need look no further than the NYTimes weekend missive " The Election Is Over, but Trump Can’t Seem to Get Past It " by Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman. Got that? Trump can't seem to get past the election - Trump? P

According to Goldman Sachs something called "authenticity" is the new luxury and people who care about such things will go to extraordinary lengths to experience the real deal. Out with the gold and wood finish and in with the open space "reality" that people demand - they're asking to eat in the kitchen for Christ's sake! What the high net worth individual is looking for can't be purchased but needs to be experienced and that's because authenticity is something you feel - you know it when you see it but if you don't see it then it's just not there. Hell, you can hardly even talk about it because there are no words to define it and even if there were you couldn't put that authenticity into any sentence or paragraph without loosing it in translation. @saks president Marc Metrick on authenticity as the “new luxury”: https://t.co/OTSw0wwEba #TalksAtGS pic.twitter.com/INN2hiiiql — Goldman Sachs (@GoldmanSachs) April 19, 2017 Wit

The French know a thing or two about cooking. Their cuisine is first tier and there's nothing better than walking into a Parisian pastry shop and sampling the goods. I think the government subsidizes these places to keep the prices low and scarfing them down with a strong espresso or creamy cafe latte is an epicurean dream come true. And if you have to put up with French people to experience it then so what, it's worth the aggravation because, to the best of my knowledge, they're the only people on earth capable of creating a proper macaron and so you really don't have a choice in the matter. French voters face the same existential conundrum in their presidential elections - to enjoy the finer things in life (which they do) they have to put up with themselves. And so today the Macaron won in a landslide over the Pen which was a foregone conclusion once the either/or choice was put on the table. Who in France would pick up the pen and start working when the delectable

Does this offended you? Let me apologize up front for the photo of Mika's mouth and the lewd joke I'm making at her expense. It's cruel and ungentlemanly, I know, but I'm only trying to make a point so I can't say I regret it and will do it again and again and again until my point sinks into your thick skull. The people who talk to you on TV - virtually every single person you see on TV - is pulling down six figure incomes and (more importantly) live a life that is nothing like yours in any meaningful way. This includes all politician, news readers, pundits, talkshow hosts, game show hosts, advertising pitch men, sports stars, musicians, soap opera stars and late night comedians. All of them, every single one, is rich in comparison to their broad audience and they lie to you every single day to keep it that way. Not only are their material circumstances different (better???) than yours but their personalities are different too because thespians (actors of every

Peace out - War in Trump skips the White House Corespondents Dinner and holds a rally in PA instead where he blasts the press for their #FakeNews reporting and selective storytelling. The DC press goes ahead with their dinner and, rather than honor the president (which is what the dinner is designed to do) they salute something called the First Amendment to the US Constitution and as some kind of exclamation point on the proceedings Woodward and Bernstein were invited to speak on the subject . It's all very funny and revealing - especially when you see pictures of the Trump PA event and the WHCD split screened and the irony of contemporary American life slaps you in the eyeball. Trump has no time for the preening frauds in the MSM and the "journalists" pulling down six figures + in our nations capital hate Trump so why put on the charade and play nice - Trump trying to smile through low angry jokes and the press lethargically lifting a glass to the POTUS. Besides, the