Keeper of the Clown Bell

Once Upon A Time In The Mediasphere Back in 2012, on the anniversary of 9/11, there was an attack on some US Government buildings in Benghazi, Libya and an Ambassador and some CIA guys were killed by terrorists. The whole thing was blamed on a YouTube video - and no, I'm not making that up, for while a lot of raw sewage has flowed under the Benghazi bridge in the ensuing years the fact remains that for the better part of a month the "official" story out of the White House and State Dept. (((echoed by the #FakeNews Scum))) was that the protests resulted from an inflammatory video - titled " Innocence of Muslims ." Hitlery Clampett even said "I'm Sorry" to the Islamic world - not for anything she did, but for the fact that America has a 1st Amendment and sometimes objectionable artwork gets produced and distributed - and promised to punish the filmmaker (Nakoula Basseley Nakoula AKA Sam Bacile did go to jail). There is no accounting for taste...

When I was a teenager one of my favorite comic series was the classic Marvel Comics JUNGLE ACTION! series from the mid 1970's featuring The Black Panther and his exploits in his native homeland of Wakanda. A particular favorite was Jungle Action #14, Panther's Rage part 9, "There are Serpents Lurking in Paradise" where King T'Challa battles a T-Rex to the death in some prehistoric African valley. The story and illustrations in this comic are epic in scope and theme - A man battling the dragon for survival - and I don't think my 13 year old self considered the race of The Black Panther to be of any consequence in the telling of this timeless tale. By issue #21 the Wakandan royal was in the jungle of America battling the Ku Klux Klan in "The Panther vs. The Klan!" and melanin was the root cause of everything. "Question: What proves a nation's achievement? Technological advancement or individual contentment? He is not as positive of th...

"I want a divorce!" Every married man has probably heard the bitter words of an angry and frustrated wife demanding an end to her loveless marriage and fresh start for her existence (without Him!!!). It's okay - it usually doesn't happen until after at least 5 or 6 years of trying to improve the stupid man-child and, for the husband, these will be very happy years and provide a lifetime of pleasant memories. Shotgun weddings, like the one we're living through, almost never have a honeymoon of blissful cajoling and temperate suggestions for improvement.  The declaration of hatred and separation is delivered abruptly and "out of the blue", so to speak, but anyone looking back on the previous year with clear eyes can see that it was only a matter of time until the little lady blew a fuse and demanded her freedom... well, not freedom exactly, but it's a declaration that she's going to force her man to live the life of the living dead for as lo...

“Long before Barack Obama, there was Doug Wilder. The trail blazed by Wilder, the first African-American elected Governor of any state, helped to make President Obama possible. Now for the first time, this grandson of slaves tells his remarkable story in his own inimitable fashion. Son of Virginia is an instant classic that will inform and inspire for generations to come.”--Prof. Larry J. Sabato, Director, University of Virginia Center for Politics 30 years ago a high yellow dude from Richmond got himself elected Gov. of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He was a first (and so far, the last) negro to attain this high office which caused a big stir in a State that 25 years earlier had been fighting the desegregation and racial integration imposed on it by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It all worked out - the Gov. was shagging the wife of a media mogul campaign donor which is what outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin was all about - Wild...

Republicans drink coffee When discussing the American Republic known as the United States of America and fidelity to the Declaration of Independence that initiated it, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union that formed it and the Constitution that established it I like to remember the fact that at least 1/3erd of the Colonial settlers wanted nothing to do with this "experiment in self government" and hated the fledgling nation a small group of free-thinking rabble-rousers and farmers created. Our Founding Father revolutionaries foreswore tea in testament to their republican commitment but from the birth of our nation until this very day there has always been a significant number of tea drinking cat ladies Loyal to Leviathan . "The Constitution says there can be no titles of nobility, so while the president can name his son Barron, he can't make him a baron" - so says Pamela Karlan , Cat Lady Lesbo Law Professor at Trump University . This ha...

It's November and, as longtime readers of the KOTCB blog already know, that means the annual gridiron contest between Episcopal High School (AKA The High School) and Woodberry Forest School (AKA The Forest) was fought out a few weeks ago. This was year 119 and, being the odd year, the struggle took place in Alexandria at the imposing Hummel Bowl which was donated 50 years ago by an alum who credited the moral and academic training he received at EHS with much of his future success in the game of life. For graduates of these two institutions this is the only football game that really matters and there are countless hours of engagement, reminiscence and daydreaming spent on the Maroon vs. the Tigers battle which they call "The Game." No matter how good or bad the teams regular season has been up to the 2nd Saturday in November a victory or loss in "The Game" can salvage or destroy its standing . This year my nephew suited up and ran the ball for 150 yards an...

Alive & Dead In early October, just before bow season starts, the whitetail deer are plentiful and playful in my part of the world. They're everywhere and since no one is trying to kill them (yet) they are quite bold and nonchalant in their meandering around the land, devouring crops and damaging property. This is the time of year when several unfortunate people will die as a result of a careless deer leaping into the road and smashing through the windshield at 50 MPH or (worse) forcing a car off the road and into a tree in an effort to avoid hurting the skittish animal. Noble and silent they hide out in the woods during the day, but at night they step out into the open fields and gather in herds 10-20 strong to roam the land. Go outside for a sunrise walk and you'll see them grazing on yonder hillside or strolling along the lake shore sniffing the air. They run, they jump and, from time to time, they get their hoof tangled in a wire fence where they dangle, prone and v...