Saturday at the (You Tube) movies

Tired of fighting your ever-present family members for a spot on the sofa to watch TV reruns? Ready for an interlude? Microwave up the popcorn, here’s…
The Lincoln Project:
Forced Retirement    |   Dystopia   |   Fox and Friends

Intermission (go refill popcorn and soda)

Brought to you by Republicans for the Rule of Law:
Donald Trump: Unfit. Unwell. Unacceptable     |    Everybody Should Be Able to Vote Safely

…from Randy Rainbow

All about his base    |   A spoonful of Clorox    |   That Don!    |   Randy Rainbow - pro-Cuomo

Scene from Coneheads - prescient?

Keeping Santayana in mind - "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” – let’s remember 1993 – a kinder, gentler time…
Coneheads: Trailer 1   |  Coneheads: Trailer 2

Credits:
The Lincoln Project is an American political action committee formed in late 2019 by several prominent Republicans with the goal of preventing the reelection of Donald Trump in 2020.
The Lincoln Project holds accountable those who would violate their oaths to the Constitution and would put others before Americans.

Republicans for the Rule of Law is the principal initiative of the conservative, anti-Donald Trump political group Defending Democracy Together, founded by Bill Kristol, Mona Charen, Linda Chavez, Sarah Longwell, and Andy Zwick in 2019.
These life-long Republicans, dedicated to defending the institutions of our republic and upholding the rule of law, are fighting to ensure laws apply equally to everyone, from the average citizen to the president of the United States. The group believes in fidelity to the Constitution, transparency, and the truth

(The small print: I am NOT a Republican - nor a Democrat. Rather, I’m astonished that Republicans like these two groups ARE THE ONLY MEMBERS OF POWERFUL ELITES publicly calling for sanity in an insane time. Looking at you, Democrats!)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The lawn calls. I’m mowing today.
Plus, I plan to carry my camera outside the fence near the stream.
Who knows what wildlife lurks out there?

Read Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  |  Week 5

See photos Spying on Garden Creatures 

Watch Videos of Garden Creatures

“Not worth the time and effort”

World: 2,971,669 confirmed cases; 206,542 deaths

US: 965,910 confirmed cases; 55,000 deaths 

SA: 4,546 confirmed cases; 88 deaths

BBC News
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Favorable front page news coverage and high ratings have been The Donald’s obsession for decades.
Massaging tabloid coverage of his shenanigans with women, business dealings, and lifestyle - along with his “reality” show "The Apprentice" - likely contributed to his election. 

A first-class narcissist, he adores coverage.
His disastrous comments on injecting disinfectant into the human body, however, may be his Waterloo.
Then again, this is Trump. Who knows what else his “very, large brain” cooks up before the election?

Click to enlarge

These days, even his handlers urge him away from the podium.
They fail, however, to confiscate his cell phone.

Over the weekend he went on a Tweet tirade

  … against the media Sunday, slamming a days-old story about his lax work habits and even bashing his usual favorite Fox News, calling for an “alternative.” 

Trump also called on reporters who wrote about Russia’s interference in the U.S. presidential election to return their “Noble” prizes. There are no Noble prizes for reported stories, nor are there Nobel Prizes. There are Pulitzer Prizes for journalism; there is a Nobel Prize for literature. That particular three-tweet rant about Noble prizes subsequently vanished. ... 

Hours later, Trump called his comments “sarcasm” — insisting he meant to say “Noble” prizes all along (even though he had earlier called on the “Noble Committee” to rescind the awards). 

Trump’s 10-tweet media attack (as of Sunday evening) first scorched The New York Times for what he called its “phony story” Thursday reporting that he often doesn’t arrive in the Oval Office until noon after spending the morning watching TV news — and enjoys eating Diet Coke and French fries. 

He called himself the “hardest-working president in history,” who hasn’t left the White House in “many months,” apparently forgetting a campaign rally just last month.  

One can almost feel sorry for a narcissist of his caliber to fail this spectacularly while the entire world watches. 

Back on Day 27, April 22, after his former friend Piers Morgan critiqued Trump’s (and Boris Johnson’s) woeful leadership in a time of crisis, I predicted “Piers Morgan can bid goodbye to that friendship.” 

Three days later, Donald Trump ‘unfollowed’ Piers Morgan on Twitter

Simultaneously, The Lincoln Project, and Republicans for the Rule of Law (prominent Republican groups) regularly release ad spots condemning the president, members of his administration, and other prominent Republicans. 

The next six months will be fascinating - if we survive Covid-19 pandemic. 

Trump won’t be physically removed from office – “Not worth the time and effort.”
His coterie of thugs, yes men, and Republican toadies, if wise, would limit his public announcements (including Tweets). 

After all, with Trump at the helm, they’ve succeeded in shrinking government – a decades-long goal. All that’s left is to drown it in the bathtub. That, they may accomplish before the election.
That’s terrible for the world, but powerful Republicans daily display how little “the world” matters to them. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch… 

Cold and wet enough today to pull my winter faux-sheepskin jacket from storage. While temps drop in SA (F: 61/53; C:15/12) spring gears up in California (F: 85/55; C29/18). 

Alas, with no camera at hand, I missed shooting a red-chested cuckoo with its distinctive call: “Piet-my-vrou”.  (Listen to its call) Onomatopoeia anyone? Incidentally, Piet-my-vrou is the bird’s Afrikaans name. 

No recent goldfish sightings – but now I know they’re there….

Read Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  |  Week 5

See photos Spying on Garden Creatures 
Watch Videos of Garden Creatures