A Modern Day Morality Play...

This is a little bit different kind of posting for your friend and mine, The Chuckmeister.  Ummm, that would be me.  

It is different only because it deals in what they call a "morality play."  You know, what your English teacher used to call "a lesson in good and evil." This is not about politics or wine or cars or the other effluvia I concern myself with. No, my friends, it's even more esoteric.  So, gird your loins, my friends, and read on...

We all hate "users."  You know, the kind of folks who make it their stock-in-trade to use other people to gain an advantage over others so they can get their way in life.  There have been major-league users down through the years.  And I'm sure the two users I'm going to feature today aren't very high on the list of the biggest, or the baddest, or even the most famous.  But they do offer up something for you and me to contemplate as regards how we treat each other in this bumpy trip down the Highway of Life. Ready? Here goes...

We've all heard of Sean Penn.  He's the gifted, nasty, mean-spirited, hot-headed, communist-loving method actor who's so revered in Hollyweird.  And, I would add, so disliked almost everywhere else.

Since he roared onto the Silver Screen with "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" several decades ago, he's been held in high regard for his moody dark talent by his left-wing brethern and sisteren inside the "bubble."  And he's the guy who makes it his business to sidle up next to and become fast friends with commie dictators like Venezuela's just deceased boss man, Hugo Chavez.

Oh, and he's the guy who likes to pretend he's also a qualified reporter by interviewing "El Chapo," one Senor Guzman, the most infamous drug cartel leader in the world. And the report of that meeting he filed with the New York Times was so rambling and poorly written it was universally panned by nearly everyone.  

One would think that a guy who's made $Millions pretending to be someone else would revere the capitalistic system that's given him such magnificent opportunities.  But no. He hates capitalism!  He loves socialism, even communism, perhaps even Marxism! Why?  Let's explore the possible reasons, my friends.

Sean's daddy was a guy named Leo Penn.  Penn the Senior was a WW2 veteran who settled in Hollyweird after the war. He became a B-list actor. But his politics got in the way when it was discovered that he leaned a bit more than an acceptable level to the Left.  And in that tony neighborhood, more than an acceptable level of Leftitude is pretty damn far left!  He was accused of being a full-blown communist and blacklisted. He thus couldn't work as an actor, and he was pissed! So he began directing.  Then he was shunned from doing even that due to infamous Senator Joe McCarthy's witch hunting policies, his young son Sean was forever affected by this realization and the trauma it visited upon him and his family.  

No doubt his father's political leanings influenced young Sean, even as the younger Penn began to gain fame in his own right.  He began to rack up awards for his acting, and amass the trappings of immense wealth thereby.  Even though most of his fellow actors decided to live in Hollyweird, Sean remained in Berkeley, the epicenter of left-wing political leanings here in America.  It is said that if you wanted to give the Earth a liberal enema you would stick the little rubber thingy into downtown Berkeley.  I know it has been said, because I've said it.  

Anyway, Penn built a mansion there, and stocked it with fast, expensive cars and rare artwork and an impressive gun collection.  Yes, my friends, he wrapped himself in the trappings of excess while eschewing the system that permitted that sort of lifestyle. Strange.

Enter Charlize Theron.  South African actress and beauty Charlize blazed on to the scene a couple of decades ago with "The Italian Job," Theron proved to be an immense talent.  She won an Academy Award a bit later for her performance in "Monster," in which she portrayed a lesbian mass murderer. Talk about playing against type!  She has enjoyed the opportunity to star in pretty much any movie she chooses, and has enjoyed huge success thereby.

Theron has jumped in and out of various relationships over the years.  But a couple of years back she became entangled with the newly-separated Sean Penn.  And even though Theron had made a lot of money - and fame - with a gun in her hand in the movies, in real life she was a vocal critic of guns in the hands of ordinary people.  Like you and me, for instance.  

Remember her most recent role in "Mad Max: Fury Road?" She spent much of the role with a pistol in her hand and used it to blow away a whole raft of Bad Guys throughout the movie.

But it turns out she hates guns.  It seems Ms. Theron's father shot her mother to death 23 years ago back in Benoni, South Africa, when young Charlize was only 15, so she's had a real hatred for guns ever since.  So she let Mr. Penn know that if he wanted her to continue to swing a leg over him, he would just have to have his entire collection of 65 guns melted down and turned into a sculpture!

Penn reluctantly chose to do exactly that (that Charlize thing between the bed sheets must be prettttttttty special!). Theron contacted artist Jeff Koons and made arrangements for him to turn Penn's guns into a work of art and sell it to raise money for Haitian relief.  Koons did so and his handy work was sold at auction to - guess who? - CNN's Anderson Cooper for $1.4 Million! These talking-head, left-wing, limp-wristed, limo-riding, pansy network-types make some pretty sweet money, right?

Now, I'm guessing that the $1.4 Million that went to "Haitian relief" was pretty quickly turned into private jet rental and dinner tabs for the Clintons, since they were pretty much in charge of fixing up that broken country.  And from what we've learned much of that money wound up in their pockets and the pockets of their friends.  But that's just me...  

Anyway, back to my little morality play...

So Sean's guns go away, the Haitians are supposed to get some relief, but no doubt don't, and Theron is happy as the proverbial clam over 65 guns being turned into molten goo, right?  But, was she happy enough to stay with Penn? Noooooooooooo! She dumped Penn like a bad case of chlamydia. So now we have Penn, with a forced smile on his face through clenched teeth, attempting to convince us all that, even though his guns are gone and so is is erstwhile girlfriend, he still believes, he says, that guns are bad and you and me shouldn't have them.  

I believe him.  Don't you?  

The moral of the story?  So if "getting your gun" is your major consideration, make sure the focus of your amorous attention doesn't get yours first...

A Paper Bag, Some Vowels and a Few Consonants...

Okay, enough politics for the time being.  Time to consider something else that caught my attention for a little in-depth review:

I don't know about you, but I have long wondered exactly where those football players we watch each weekend get their names.

I mean, people, hello!, some of their names are flat-out weird! Anthony and Michael and Thomas and Jeffrey seem just not good enough for some of today's mommies-to-be. They are just not satisfied with the conventional, reasonable, usual, ordinary and eminently respectable names that others consider quite alright.  They want something different!  So what dot they do?  Here's my thoughts on the matter...

I think they might just take a brown paper bag filled with vowels and consonants and some apostrophes and some hyphens with them to the maternity ward, shake it up at the appropriate moment, and then take those little pieces of paper out, one-at-a-time, until they are satisfied with the resultant name.

You doubt me?  Then where, exactly, could some of the following names have possibly come from?  Let's explore them together and just try and imagine...

     -  A'Shaun Robinson, Alabama
     -  DeForest Bunker, Oregon
     -  Beniquez Brown, Mississippi State
     -  Cre'von LeBlanc, Florida
     -  Lamarcus Brutus, Florida State (Etu, Lamarcus...)
     -  Jaquiski Tartt, 49ers
     -  De'Cody Fagg, Florida (No comment)
     -  Captain Mummerlyn, Vikings (his momma just couldn't wait for him to be promoted, I guess, so she just made him a "captain" right out of the box.  Ummm, so to speak)
     -  D'Quell Jackson, Colts (what's with all these hyphens?)
     -  LeCharles Bentley, Broncos (and what's with all these "Le's" and "De's" before the rest of the first name?)
     -  Anquon Bolden, Jacksonville
     -  Laquivonte Gonzolez, TX A and M
     -  Mister Alexander, Texas ("Just call me Mister")
     -  Ben-Jarvis Green-Ellis, Bengals
     -  Ras-I Dowling, Patriots (more hyphens!)
     -  Barkevious Mingo, Browns (sounds like the Bad Guy in a James Bond movie, doesn't he?)
     -  Yourhighness Morgan, Florida Atlantic (Yourhighness? Really?  An overactive sense of humor, I'm guessing.  Either that, or an over-inflated sense of self-worth)
     -  Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Green Bay Packers (Ha Ha? That's funny!)
     -  Queryvon Hicks, Georgia
     -  Geronimo Allison, Illinois  (Count ten, then yell "Geronimo!" as you pull the ripcord)
     -  De'Primya Wilson, Mississippi State (more apostrophies!)
     -  Le'Raven Clark, Texas Tech (and still more.  And another "Le.")
     -  Halapouluvaati Vaitai, TCU (say that five times quickly)
     -  Jihad Ward, Oakland (Jihad?  Why not just name your kid "Terrorist Killer?")
     -  Owanmagbe Odighiziwa, UCLA ( Owan...what?)
     -  Hroniss Graser, U. of Oregon
     -  Christina Michael, Seahawks (Christina?  Really?  I'll bet this guy had to fight his way home from school every day!)
     -  Kponumwosa Igbinosun, Conn. State  (Real tongue-twister, that one)
     -  Knowshon Moreno, Broncos ("Knowshon, you get yo' butt in here ratt now!")
     -  SenDerrick Marks, Titans
     -  Ramses Barden (Ramses?  Did his mom work at a drug store?)
     -  Arreluous Benn, Broncos
     -  Chrondi Chekwa, Oakland
     -  Ndammukong Suh, Miami
     -  Latavious Murray, Oakland
     -  Kalechi Osemde, Oakland
     -  Craphonso Thorpe, Colts (Craphonso?  "Hey "Crap," cut the crap!")
     -  Lucious Pusey, E. Illinois U. (Lucious?  Pusey?  really? Couldn't someone have whispered to his mom that she might ought to rethink this name a bit before actually burdening her brand-new baby boy with it?  Or at least made sure she spelled it correctly?  
     -  Dabrickashaw Ferguson, Jets (Dabrickashaw?  That's not even close to any other name!)

And, my personal favorite:

     -  John Christian Ka'iminoeanloameka'ikeokekumupa'a Fairbairn, UCLA (Something tells me this guy goes by a nickname...)    

Now then, there's plenty of other funny, strange, weird or just uber-unique names out there in NFL-land.  I could only cover a very few here for your reading pleasure. But having explored this subject in a bit of detail now, I have to opine that it's a damn good thing most of these guys are probably at least 6' 2" and weigh in at 225' or more. Otherwise, they probably never would have made it through childhood...

And oh, by the way, perhaps one of those "paper bag" mothers-to-be should consider "Le' Ha Ha Dabrickashaw Lucious" as the go-to given name for 2017...

UPDATE:  Lucious Pusey, having grown weary of the controversy over his name, and no doubt the snickering, had his name changed to "Seymour."  That would be "Lucious Seymour Pusey.  Can't make this stuff up...

I'm Thinking It Just Might Be The Salt Air...

If you live in California, there's no need for you to read this little posting.  Nope, don't read it.  It won't be good for you. Please, go back to your Jerry Springer reruns, or your whining and protesting, or your monster truck races, or something.  Reading this installment of my unassuming little blog will make your miserable little plebeian existences even more unenjoyable, and you will hang your head in disbelief at just how stupid and ignorant your State politicians, and probably more than half of its citizens, and millions of non-citizens, really and truly are.

Or, you will alternatively be amazed at just how far your once-Golden State has fallen into the depth of liberal stupidarianism.  I sure hope not, but it just might.

Of course, if you're from somewhere else, almost...anywhere else...thank your lucky stars.  You've hit the jackpot!  You don't have to be plagued by the incessant rules and regulations and penalties and fines and taxes and fees and continual micro-managing that we who call this place "home" (do the residents of San Quentin call their little slice of the world home?) must suffer through each and every day. 

Loyal readers of my little blog will note that I have often opined about just how screwed up this once piece of paradise has become.  And that's thanks to the greedy, thieving, conniving, lying, manipulating and self-serving politicians that are plaguing us like an STD.  And due to the left-over "Summer of Love" hippies who never grew up, never got a real job, never started a company, never invented anything, can't dance or throw a fastball, and never felt called upon to make a contribution to society. None.  Zero.  Zip. Nada...

From what was a reliable bastion of conservatism sprinkled with pockets of weird-ass liberalism, like San Francisco and Santa Monica, as recently as twenty or thirty years ago, California has now become what they pundits dismissively call "deep blue."  

Points to ponder:

1.   There is not a single state-wide elected Republican office holder in all of California. Not one!  The Lefties in charge up in that quaint little backwater town called Sacramento, our State capitol, for some unexplained reason (ahem!), rammed through a law a few years back permitting only the top-two vote getters during the primaries to run against each other in the General Election! Soooooo, that little voting thing that happened a couple of days ago had us choosing between Kamala Harris, our Bulllllack and female Attorney General, and Loretta Sanchez, our Lateeeeeno and female sitting member of the House of Representatives.  And they are both Democrats! So we of the more conservative persuasion could choose among a candidate we didn't like and don't trust, or one we didn't like and don't trust. Hmmmmm.

Does that make sense to anyone except dufus weenie lefty career liberal politicians?

I've briefed you in the past about our Civil Servant-for-Life and failed Jesuit priest Governor Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown. He's the guy who's never had a private-sector job, but has had nearly every single elected office you can think of, including Governor for two terms on two separate occasions, Secretary of State and Mayor of Oakland for two terms!  He's so in love with the environment that he just hates the idea of cars spewing their noxious fumes into the atmosphere he came up with the idea for a bullet train to take us from Los Angeles to San Francisco.  Being apparently unaware that cars are more than 1,000 times cleaner than just a couple of decades ago, he decided that this train was worth every penny of the $30 Billion of its projected cost.  But not to worry, he told us taxpayers, because the Feds, he said, would happily pay for it.

Now, some 6 years later, our little choo-choo train is slated to cost more than $100 Billion, the Feds say they don't have the spare cash to cover its cost, it will have to run on existing, sometimes more than 70 year-old tracks so it won't be a "bullet" train after all, lazily chugging along as it will, and it won't be taking us from LAX to SFO.  No, folks, it will take us, when finally built, if ever, which I doubt, from Bakersfield, a place where no one wants to be, to Modesto, a place where no one wants to go.  

Sooooo, my friends, and you are my friends, you'll have to take a train more than 100 miles from L.A.'s downtown train station to get to where the train leaves, and then take another one more than 100 miles from where the train winds up, to get to your destination, good ol' SFO.  

So let's review:  What was sold to us as a quick, 4-hour trip for only $200 or so, versus one hour for $100 if you flew (!), will someday - maybe never - take 15 - 18 hours and cost more than $500. Man, that's progress!  Progress, from true "Progressives!"

Do you think anyone will ever ride on this little Liberal wet dream?  Me neither...

3.  Did you know you can't buy a dog or a cat or a fish in San Francisco?  Nope, you most assuredly cannot.  Those lefty weenies think those little beasties shouldn't suffer the indignity of being bought and sold.  Or owned!  Perish the thought!  So those PetCo and PetSmart stores and all the mom-and-pops were all forced out of business and their more than 600 employees with good-paying jobs all lost them.  

Of course, if you want a little doggie or kitty or fishie, you can just drive across the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County and buy all of them you want.  Oh, and they get to keep the sales tax money...

And speaking of San Francisco, did you know you can't buy a gun in San Fran, City or County?  Nope, you can't.  They ran the last gun store out of town last year.  And by the way, it was owned by a minority military veteran!  Seems they believe that if you can't buy a gun there, then there won't be any guns there. That same sort of liberal myopia works pretty well in Chicago, doesn't it? Yep.  In Chi-town they've had more than 3,000 shootings and 600 murders so far this year, and it's by far the toughest town in America for gun control. Think of it this way: there are no guns in Chicago because there are no gun stores in Chicago.  It's that way because they want it to be so. Enough said.  

Of course, there are plenty of mainly Black folks bleeding to death each and every day from bullet wounds in the City of Broad Shoulders. But the Lap Dog Media won't report it, because it's news that doesn't benefit liberal viewpoints.  To them, it's just not news!   

These are just a few of the absurdities that have been visited upon us poor residents of Taxifornia.  But hey, there was another election just a couple of days ago.  We Californians faced a whole raft of new and odious laws that those who pay no taxes passed so that those of us who actually do pay taxes will have to suffer.    

But to make things even stranger, it that's possible, we can write up our own prospective laws here in Taxifornia and get them put on the ballot.  All we need to do is get thousands of our fellow citizens to sign petitions and the Secretary of State will certify the ballot initiative.  Then, we buy up a whole bunch of TV time so the low-information voter will feel all warm and fuzzy about voting for it and, "poof," the State Constitution is amended and it becomes law!   Of course, this "ordinary citizen" legislation process favors the billionaires and labor unions among us who are the only ones who can afford to pay for it. But you knew that already, right?

So I figured you'd get a kick out of reading about some of the 23 initiatives we were being asked to consider for General Election 2016 and how California's citizens, and very likely non-citizens, and lots of them, voted. Here's a few of them for your reading pleasure...

-  Proposition 55:  Believing that our citizens are undertaxed (we're already the highest taxed State in the nation, with a 13 and 1/2% tax on high-earners!), this Prop would raise taxes on the those earning over $250,000 by another 1%.  Where would the money go?  To aid some obtuse children's charity or other. Or not.  How did it fare?  It passed. What's that sound we hear?  It's the cabin door closing on a private jet just ready to take its owners off to Belize, or Panama, or Costa Rica, or some other no-tax locale, to bring its owners to fiscal safety. But as "Moonbeam" Brown said when he heard that Toyota had bailed and moved from Torrance, California to Plano, Texas, and took with it more than 4,000 high-paying white collar jobs, "Good riddance."  Nice, Jer, nice.

-  Proposition 56:  Always on the lookout for ways to keep the citizenry from smoking, and being always on the lookout for ways to further screw the citizens out of their hard-earned dollars, this little jewel offered to raise taxes on a pack of smokes by $2.00!  Taxes on a pack of cigarettes were $.87 cents.  That's obviously not enough, thought the powers-that-be.  Remember what happened when New York State bumped taxes on cigarettes way up?  Trailer loads of illicit cigarettes began arriving from Virginia for sale on the black market.  N.Y. lost hundreds of millions of much-needed tax revenue. But hey, the one thing we know about politicians is they are incapable of learning. Incapable!  How'd this Proposition fare? It passed... 

-   Proposition 60:  Politicians just luuuuuuv to insert themselves (pun intended) into all sorts of things in which they have no business.  Or, maybe in somebody's business (pun intended). This is one such thing.  Prop 60 would require all male porn stars to wear condoms.  I wondered exactly who would be policing this enterprise to insure compliance? How'd it do at the ballot box?  It went down for the count (pun intended).  

-  Proposition 62:  The very safest place here in Taxifornia is on Death Row.  Nobody who is sentenced to Death Row here actually gets put to death.  They all live out long, comfortable lives with no chance of any sort of intentional or accidental death from any cause.  That's because there's a wealth of anti-death penalty groups who will picket interminably to prevent its use.  Just the smallest whiff of a scheduled execution will cause these screaming bozos to materialize and picket and protest and stamp their little liberal feet!  So we might as well end it, the thinking went, since it's essentially ended anyway.  Didn't pass, however.  So you still won't die if you're on Death Row. 

Maybe those with a terminal illness should consider committing some capital crime.  If they got the death penalty, they'd surely live forever.

-  Proposition 63:  Believing that the best way to end "gun violence" is to end access to guns and ammunition, despite what the 2nd Amendment has to say about that, Gov. Brown was presented 13 new gun control laws for his review and signature this past summer.  He decided to sign 7 of the most ridiculous of them, but legislators still weren't happy. So they put this gem on the ballot for direct citizen "democratic," meaning 50% + one, action. It would outlaw so-called "assault weapons," or Modern Sporting Rifles.  With more than 20 million of them in use, do you think that would do any good?; it would outlaw ammunition magazines which hold more than 10 rounds, whether or not they were originally purchased legally, and require that they be turned in to your local sheriff's office or you'd be guilty of a felony (can't you just see that happening?); it would require one to report the theft of a gun with 48 hours or the owner would be guilty of a felony (what if you didn't know it was stolen?); and finally it would require anyone desirous of purchasing ammunition to undergo the same Federal background check you need to buy a gun. Huh?

This last item would set you back $50.00 for each purchase! So a $7.00 box of .22 bullets would now cost you $57.00! The Liberals have finally figured out that preventing citizens from buying ammunition renders guns nothing more than expensive paperweights.  

How'd it do?  It passed, of course.  So now, if you don't wish to participate in this unconstitutional little restriction, all you'll have to do is hop in your car, drive 275 miles straight East, buy a whole trunk full of ammo, without sales tax, of course, drive back home, and then sell it to all your friends, for a profit. 

Will it stop Bad Guys from buying ammo?  Noooooooo!  Will it stop anyone from buying ammo? Nooooooooooooo!  Will it stomp all over our 2nd Amendment Rights? Yessssssssssss! Will the NRA and the 2nd Amendment Foundation and the California Association for Gun Rights and the United States Concealed Carry Association and the California Sheriff's Association sue to overturn it?  Yesssssssssssssssss!  Will it be overturned in the courts, even the uber-liberal 9th Circuit? Yessssssssssssssssssss!

-  Proposition 64:  This Prop legalizes Mary Jowanna here in Taxifornia.  So we'll all be able to smoke dope all day every day without fear of "The Man."  Oh wait!  It will still be against Federal law to possess or use cannabis.  So how will this contradiction be addressed?  Good question, Grasshopper! Oh yeah, it passed.  Pass the Oreos and the Doritos...

-  Proposition 65:  And finally, this Prop would outlaw single-use plastic bags once and for all!  Yes, my friends, no more plastic bags! They're bad on the environment!  They foul the land fill!  They get caught in the flukes of giant whales!  Or something!  My guess is that they next step will be to outlaw paper bags because they're made out of trees, and trees have feelings! Or something.  It passed.

By the way, you'll now have to buy those previously-free plastic bags.  They'll now cost you at least $0.10 each, and maybe more, depending upon the store, and how hard up for cash it is.  What did all this prove? Ummm, nothing.  Except the commie pinko eco-weenies feel better.  Make something that was free now an extra cost item. Progressive-ism at its very best!

But wait, there's more!

Then a real earthquake hit!  Donald John Trump was elected President of the United States!  And how did the citizens of the once-Golden State respond to this news?  Get this.  They protested!  They marched!  They burned down buildings! They broke car windshields!  They shot each other with guns that don't exist!  They let us know how unhappy they are! Their teachers let them out of class to march!  They also got together and decided what they really needed to do was draft an initiative to place secession on the 2017 ballot and start gathering signatures. California finds itself once again on the wrong side of the Sierras and the wrong side of the rest of the Country, as it wants to now secede from the Union!  After all, my friends, Taxifornia is the Largest State in the Union and has the Sixth Largest Economy on Earth!  The dimbulbs here are absolutely certain that it could get along quite nicely without the rest of America. Or, at least they think so...

So, just in case there are any actual Californians reading this, I thought I'd give you the run-down on just how stupid and out of touch your state really is:

     -  34 state governorships are now controlled by Republicans.

     -  24 states have Republican governors and Republican-controlled legislatures.  Only 6 can boast Democrat governors and Dem-controlled legislatures.  Boast?  One of them is California, of course.  

     -  One-third of the entire U.S. House of Representative Democrat caucus comes from only three states:  Taxifornia, New Yawk and Masssachewsettts.  So one-third of the "loyal opposition" to the shiny new Republican-controlled House and Senate will come from only three states, and they will have virtually no power to legislate.  Boo hoo.

     -  3,084 out of 3,141 counties in America voted for Trump. Are we to believe that the other 57 counties should be permitted to dictate to us the fate and future of the U. S. of A.?  Me thinks not...

     -  And lastly, 20 of 25 coal-dependent states voted for Donald J. Trump.  Remember when Barry Obama shut down the coal mines due to his onerous EPA emissions regulations? And remember when Hillary Clinton promised coal miners - to their faces - that her Presidency would mean they would all lose their jobs?  I think the miners just gave them the Big Middle Finger! 

Well, there you have it.  Just another chapter in the unending story of how far Taxifornia has fallen from the once pinnacle of power.  Perhaps that "wall" Donald wants to build should be built between Taxifornia and the rest of the U.S.  Maybe that would help to keep this awful Progressive infection that plagues us poor citizens from migrating eastward.  

And by the way, all, or almost all of those 57 counties that are chock-full of commie pinko liberal weenies are on, or very near to one of the two coasts.  Close enough to smell the salt air.  Go ahead, take a look at the electoral map that last Tuesday produced.  See for yourselves that those who chose to buck the trend that overtook America stretch up and down both the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines.  And so it struck me that perhaps it's the salt air that's the culprit here!  Maybe it's the salt air that's clogging the brains of otherwise reasonable people.  And if so, we have to do something to keep that salt air contained.  Maybe that wall I mentioned above could go a long way toward keeping all that salt air from turning the rest of America into brain-dead slackers...

Some Observations About Last Night's General Election Results...

-  The Republican Party did not win last night.  The American people did.  The guy who won just called himself a Republican, which was convenient, considering he'd been a Democrat for most of his adult life.  It really didn't matter what he called himself; what he promised was to bring back the America of old.  And over half of America has hired him to do so.

-  The Republican Party will now have to rebuild itself.  The elite within the GOP never embraced Trump.  But he won anyway.  No support from the Lap Dog Media, no support from the GOP Old Guard.  So now the Old Guard have frozen themselves out, which is too bad for them.  And the people of America don't really care.  They just want the coal mines reopened, the oil and gas fracking to resume, the military to be rebuilt, the jobs to return, the border to become secure and the taxes to be lowered.  Let's see if that happens.  I sure as Hell hope so...

-  The National Rifle Association's 5,000,000 members won the election for Trump.  Each of them paid their annual dues, and each of them clings to their Right to "keep and bear arms."  They each have wives, or husbands, and sons and daughters, and aunts and uncles, and cousins.  And members of their bowling team.  And they vote! And I believe that the spillover effect of 5 Million avid, dedicated members, plus all their family and friends, could be as many as 10 or 15 million loyal Americans who voted to send the Democrat candidate and her oft-stated intent to gut the 2nd Amendment, packing.  Tsk, tsk...

-  It will be refreshing to see Melania Trump as First Lady. I've grown weary of seeing what's-her-name in that role.  

-  The poll-taking (pole-dancing?) industry in America shot itself in the pedicure.  All but one of them predicted a Clinton blowout.  They were wrong.  Really wrong!  And now they will never, ever be trusted again.  By anyone.  Ever.

-  The media in America has very special rights under the Constitution of our Great Country.  They are called the Fourth Estate for a reason; they are required, REQUIRED to bring us the news, and the facts, unvarnished and unbiased.  They get special dispensation from the law for doing so. They have finally, FINALLY admitted the truth. They are nothing but the Communications Department of the Democrat National Committee.

-  John Fitzgerald Kennedy was known as JFK.  Hillary Rodham Clinton is known as HRC.  I predict that Donald John Trump will hereafter be known as DJT.  Except by the Lap Dog Media, which will call him every name in the book and do everything within their power to destroy him and everything he stands for.  Umm, except for the afternoon he's inaugurated, during which they'll treat him with a modicum of respect. But just for that afternoon...

-  Hil(liar)y called one-fourth of America "deplorables" and "irredeemables."  I hope she lives a long life and gets to reconsider that intemperate comment each and every day for the rest of her life.  It went a long way toward helping her to lose this election.

-  With no more access or favoritism or special treatment to sell, the Clinton Dynasty will melt away into a steaming pile of horsesh*t.  Donations to its so-called "charitable" foundation will dry up and she and Billy Jeff "Blue Dress" will be forced to live their fanciful lives without any further "special" treatment.  Too bad.

Eight years ago this morning I posted perhaps my shortest blog entry yet.  It read:

"Last night I went to bed in Northern Mexico, and got up this morning in France."

Today I issue a rather different entry.  It reads:

"Out long national nightmare is almost over." 

Thank you America, and good night.  

$228,288.00 per hour...

Ever wonder how much it costs to operate Air Force One? You know, that super-special Boeing 747-200B that Barry Obama flies around on while pretending to run the Country? That really, really big airplane with more than 4,000 square feet of cabin space?  That really, really expensive airplane, the very most expensive in the entire world, that you and I own and we just let him use?  For just a little while more? Ever wonder about that?

The answer is $228,288.00 per hour!  That includes the plane, the fuel, the crew and the monogrammed paper napkins, each emblazoned in gold with the Presidential Seal. Not sure, but at that price it must be 24k gold. 

It does not include the cost of maintenance and repair of the plane, or the Secret Service detail, usually comprising a couple of dozen at least.  The cost of that is a secret.  Or something.

It also does not include the cost of a second 747, identical to Air Force One in every way, which flies everywhere the primary plane flies, a minute or so behind it, so that a Bad Guy with a Stinger missile, bent on causing havoc, won't know which one to shoot at. The cost of that has not been reported, but must cost about the same as the one transporting the Prez, given that they're carbon copies. 

And it doesn't include the cost of a cargo transport plane which ferries two Sikorsky helicopters to cart the POTUS around once he arrives at his destination; or a second cargo jet which carries the POTUS limousine, a.k.a., "The Beast," and another one just like it in case the first fails to start, or something.  Or another cargo plane which carries several specially-outfitted SUVs for use by the Secret Service guys and gals.  The cost of all that has not been reported, presumably because it's a secret.  Or something.  

And lastly, it does not include the cost of the White House Communications Team advance party consisting of at least a dozen highly-trained professionals, and their ultra-high-tech gear, which travels to the destination city to hook up all the necessary TV, satellite, radar, radio and other less common forms of data collection and retrieval a few days in advance of the POTUS trip, and then goes back and collects it all once the trip is completed.  And, once again, the cost of all that has not been reported, presumably because it's a secret. Or something.

But no longer.

Due to the indefatigable, unrelenting and ceaseless efforts of the activist Judicial Watch organization, and their issuance of Freedom of Information Requests at a machine gun pace, we now know what it costs each time B. Hussein Obama puts a Johnson & Murphy-shod foot inside the cabin of Air Force One.  Examples?  Sure...

  -  The total price for the flight to Honolulu for the Obama 2012-2013 annual Christmas vacation cost you and me, the put-upon taxpayers of this once-great nation, $4,086,355.20.

  -  The outbound flight to California in August for Obama to show his face at a fundraiser with DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, and to then appear on the "Tonight Show," cost taxpayers $1,209,926.40.  The return flight to Washington was $935,980.80.  The total cost for flight operations alone was $2,145,907.20.  

  -  The outbound flight to Martha's Vineyard for the Obama family August vacation cost taxpayers $890,323.20.  The cost of the return flight to Foggy Bottom was $1,164,288.80. Why it should cost $275,000 more to fly back from Masssachusettts than it cost to fly there in the first place is a question that's begging to be asked. Maybe they flew around in circles taking selfies for an hour or so.

We're told that Barry's recent trip to Florida to play a couple of rounds of golf with Tiger Woods set up back more than $2,000,000.  And a recent trip to Palm Springs to play some golf and look for a nice little pad in which to retire cost us at least $4,000,000. Recent data indicates that the total cost of all 51 of Barry's vacations, so far, is approaching $100,000,000.  Those are some seriously expensive vacations, my friends.

We are, of course, still in the dark as to how much all those other little items (helicopters, limos, Secret Service, Commo Team, etc.) costs us, but it's certainly several million dollars more for each and every trip.  But hey, we now know more than we did before.

Oh yeah, last Tuesday Barry and Hil(liar)y flew on our airplane to North Carolina so they could do a joint appearance at a campaign rally.  Nice.  Do you wonder who paid for that little trip?  The Clinton campaign says, "It would cover its portion of the costs."  And, of course, Barry's folks said that the Democrat National Committee would cover "...its portion of the costs."  But, due to rules in effect since 2010, the cost of using Air Force One for purely electioneering purposes is the same as chartering a 737, or a little over $11,000 an hour.  Why a 737 when we're talking about a tarted-up 747? Even a 747 can be chartered for a bit over $23,000 per hour.  Why don't they at least use the cost of renting the same size plane?  Don't know.  Seems a bit odd to me. How about you?  Me thinks advantage of us is now being taken.  Well, duh!

So we know that when Barry is flying around on our airplane and campaigning for what half of the Country really really doesn't want, we, the taxpayers, are paying well over 90% of the cost.

Sorry to ruin what's left of your otherwise wonderful day...

Alexis de Touqueville was right!

Alexis de Toqueville (1805 - 1859), the famous 18th century French sociologist, philosopher and economist, was a great fan of America. Not America per se, but rather our system of government.  

Back then France was just getting over being ruled by French kings, as it had for centuries.  And de Toqueville (AdT) wasn't a fan of monarchies, France's or anybody elses'.  He just loved the idea of representative republics (as he termed them, "democracies"). And not "majority rules" democracies, but representative republics; you elect those who will vote your wishes.  That defines America's system.  Or rather, it's supposed to.  I think we could all agree that sometimes it really doesn't.

Remember that our famous Founding Father Benjamin Franklin defined "democracy" as, "Two wolves and a sheep deciding on what to have for lunch."  We don't got one o' those...

Back to AdT.

AdT was an expert on prisons.  He studied them, wrote about them and advised the French government about how to build and operate and manage them.  It was this specialty that brought him to America in 1835 to study our prison systems. While here he developed his great love and admiration for our political and economic system.  

But AdT was also aware that, just like Rome and earlier Greece, such republics can - and do - go down in flames unless the excesses such forms of government can foster are kept in check.  What does that mean?  Read on...

Seldom has a democracy or representative republic lasted in the entire history of the world more than 200 years.  Ancient Greece didn't make it past that.  Neither did Roman Empire.   And now the U.S., itself barely past that milestone, finds itself on the precipice of failing due to its own excesses.  Too much success can cause those who get more than they produce to want even more.  More food, more housing, more entertainment, more transportation, more welfare, more, more, more!  That defines us, my friends.

But one observation AdT made should be sounding an alarm bell.  In his book, "The American Perspective," he stated that:

     "The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with their own money."  

Consider if you will, my friends, and you are my friends, the following statistics:

     -  We as a Country bring in more than $3.7 Trillion a year in Federal income tax receipts.  An all-time record, by the way. Yet, we somehow (mis)manage to spend at least $500 Billion more than that, and sometimes double that number. This level of overspending has left us nearly $20 Trillion in debt. That level of indebtedness has doubled since B. Hussein Obama began infesting the White House.  If this continues, and there's nothing on the horizon to indicate it won't, we will become Greece in a few short years.  At which point, we will become structurally bankrupt.

     -  94,600,000 Americans out of the workforce (Workforce Participation Rate, Federal Government statistic).  That leaves only 63.4% of all over 18, able-bodied Americans in the workforce, the very lowest number since Jimmuh' Carter was doing his very best to screw up our Country.    

     -  There are now more so-called 18 - 35 year-old "Millennials" in America than "Seniors."  That means there's likely more unemployed people living in their parents' basements, choking on student loan debt, waiting for their next welfare check, then retirees contemplating, or not-so-much enjoying, their retirement, while waiting for their hard-earned Social Security check to arrive in the mail.

     -  The number receiving Food Stamps has increased over the past seven and one-half years from just over 24 million to well over 46 million.  That means fully 15% of the population living off the productivity of those who choose to go to work in the morning. In other words, the "takers" are taking with both hands from the "makers."  And I would argue that this 15% represent a major chunk of the group which will almost certainly vote for the Lefty in order to insure that this gravy train keeps heading on down the track.

     -  We're told that our unemployment rate, as reported by the Labor Department, which works for and reports to Barry H. Obama, is 4.9%.  That's laughable.  That percentage does not take into consideration those who are no longer in the workforce, as listed above, and are no longer looking for work.  The real unemployment rate is over 11%!  And if you're "Looking For Work While Black?"  Well over 16%, more than 5% higher than when they elected, and then reelected, Barry Obama.  I wonder if they're happy with their choice.  Or even if they know that they made a bad one...twice!

     -  Obama and his Leftist wealth redistributors have disassembled our once-fabled healthcare system and replaced it with a hybrid of the one used in Britain/Canada. They did it by taking healthcare from those who had it, and were paying for it, and then giving it to those who didn't, along with Federal taxpayer-funded subsidies to help them pay for it.  And then permitting those who used to have it to buy it back, at a much higher monthly rate, along with a much, much higher deductible (up to $12,000!).  By so doing, the socialists among us subsumed one-sixth of our total economy in the name of wealth redistribution.  In effect, they're buying the votes of those that "take" with the money stolen from those that "make."  Reread AdT's admonition, above.

     -  And to pay for at a least portion of this liberal largess, the Lefties in charge have extricated more than One Trillion Dollars from the budget of our Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines!  The result?  We now have the smallest Navy since the day before Pearl Harbor.  Our Army is the smallest since the end of World War One. Our Air Force is the smallest since it was formed back in 1955.  As an example, the average age of our Air Force fighter planes is 23 years! These planes are often older than the pilots who fly them. We're having to cannibalize some airplanes in order to keep the others flying. Ask yourself: Are our enemies more, or less likely to attack us when we're weak, or when we're strong?  I think you know the answer.     
   
     -  Over the past 15 years the number of self-described "Democrats" or "Liberals" has increased from 29% of the population to 34.5% of the population, while the number of "Republicans" or "Conservatives" has decreased by a like percentage.  That means there is now an increasing number of people looking to the Government for food stamps, rental assistance, aid-to-families-with-dependent-children, Earned Income Tax Credits (that's the inaptly named check you get from the Feds for not making enough money to pay taxes!), and other forms of Federal assistance.  That means these are the people who will likely vote for that assistance to continue, and those who promise to give it to them are the crooks who AdT was warning us about.

The Bottom Line:  Our Country is on the razor edge of imploding.  I would suggest that those of us who actually think, should think of these unimpeachable facts when they enter the voting booth come November 8th.  Vote well, my friends. Our future, and our kids' futures, depends upon it...

"Paying Their Fair Share..."

We keep hearing from the Liberal elites in our once-great country that the rich are not paying their fair share.

Yes, my friends, and you are my friends, we're hearing from Hil(liar)y Clinton and Elizabeth "Fauxcahontas" Warren, and Joe "Plugs" Biden, etc., that everything would be just fine if the so-called "1%" could be forced (they call it "asked") to cough up just a little bit more of their enormous earnings so that we, "the little people," could live a better life.  You know, redistribute the rich guys' wealth so the poor can get some of that "free" college and stuff.  

I mean, they can afford it after all, can't they?  Why are they so awfully stingy?  If we just explain to them why they should be more giving, I'm sure they would, right?

In fact, as Hillar(ity) stated just the other day, she's going after those 1% bastards because, as she says, "That's where the money is."  Seems reminiscent of (in)famous 1930's bank robber John Dillinger who, when asked why he robbed banks, stated: "Because that's where the money is."  Seems that Clinton and Dillinger have a lot in common, don't they? 

Except that Dillinger could be prosecuted for his crimes, and the Hildebeest for some unknown reason, cannot.

So, every now and again I, The Chuckmeister, must stoop to remind those of my loyal readers who just cannot inculcate the fact that the "1%" not only pay their "fair share," they pay waaaaaaaay more!  Don't believe me?  Read on...

Follows is a schedule direct from the Internal Revenue Service showing just how much those of us pay in Federal Income Taxes, and how much some of us don't.  Remember Mitt Romney's infamous comment that "47% don't pay taxes?"  Well, he was RIGHT! And this little schedule lays it out better than anything I can say.  

Perhaps if Romney had been less ashamed of his wealth and been a bit more proud of his success, there would be a different resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The top line indicates the income earners in our once-great nation.  The line immediately below indicates the percentage of Federal income tax they pay (as of 2014, the most recent stats available from our slow-as-molasses Gummint):


        1%          5%          10%          25%          50%       

      37.8%     58.5%      69.8%      86.2%        97.2%

How's that work out in terms of income, you might ask?  In order to be considered among the "1%," one must earn more than $428,700 per year.  And if you are fortunate enough to be bringing home that much green, you would be among those earning 19.04% of all the American paychecks.  Think of it. You're earning 19% of all income, and paying 38% of all taxes!  Seems to me that they're paying quite a bit more than their "fair share."  How about you?

Yet, every election cycle some Progressive or other will stand in front of a microphone and incite class warfare by lying through their artificially-whitened teeth to their sycophants about how unfair it is for some to earn so very much and some others to earn so little.  Of course, those loudmouths never seem to preface their comments with basic facts about how the high-earners educated themselves and gained the necessary training and experience to command their exalted level of income.  

They don't connect those dots because they really want you to vote for them, hoping that they'll employ Alinskyite-tactics and steal from the rich and redistribute some of that purloined wealth to the ill-prepared poor.  Remind you of anyone?  Bernie maybe? Hil(liar)y?

Poor dumb fools.

I can tell you that the so-called "1%" among us are growing weary of being plucked like a Christmas goose.  They are no longer considering it humorous to have the Sanders-zes and the Warrens-zes and the Obamas-zes and the Bidens-zes and the Clintons-zes play this class warfare game at their expense.  Last year our country lost nearly 1,000 multi-millionaires.  They turned in their passports and beat feet to parts unknown. Except we know where some of those parts are:  Panama, Belize and Costa Rica are just three countries which do not tax, or overtax their citizenry. 

So, if you're a high earner you can take a few saddlebags full of cash, head on down to the airport, step aboard your shiny Gulfstream 550 and take to the skies, knowing that you'll no longer be beaten like a rented mule by the neo-socialists among us.  

Want to know what America will look like if we keep up this insanity?  Just take a gander at California.  We've lost more than 9,000 corporations during the past 10 years, due primarily to the highest income tax rates in the country and the most perplexing, nauseating, miserable and unfathomable set of rules and regulations imaginable.  

As I have been known to say, keep this up, once-Golden State, and there will be no one left around here but sign twirlers and Starbucks baristas.  And America?  Same deal.

Epilogue:  And just so we understand one another, if you took everything, everything from the high-earning 1%, every single dollar of earnings, EVERY ONE, the total thus confiscated would not make a dent in our Federal debt. Barely a blip.  Doubt me? Google it.  And then give the figurative bird to the next commie pinko leftist dweeb who tries to convince you that making the rich poorer will somehow make the poor richer.  

Or, as now long-gone U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said, "Trying to make the poor rich by making the rich poor is like standing in a bucket and trying to pull yourself up by the handles."

Get Ready for Hillary Clinton's THIRD Trip to the White House...

What's that you say?  Third trip?  Hil(liar)y was Billy Jeff "Blue Dress" Clinton's wife when he won the Presidency back in 1992.  So that's one.  

And if she wins a couple of weeks from now, that'll be two. So what's this about her third trip?

Because, my friends, and you are my friends, when she and Billy Boy were preparing to leave the White House back in 2000, they had no place to go.  No home, nowhere. They hadn't owned a home in more than sixteen years. Supping at the public trough, were they.  So, they looked to their old friend and chief fundraiser Terry McCauliffe to help solve the problem.

McCauliffe (TM), as you might recall, is the rich dude and long-time Friend of Bill, and current Governor of Virginia, who helped raise the money he needed to win his first POTUS race.  So Billy Jeff turned to him for help at his time of need. TM agreed to buy a house for the Clinton's, with the understanding that they could pay him back with the money they were sure to raise from their books and speeches (I'm sure he couldn't even imagine the hundreds of millions of dollars they would ultimately raise!). How nice!  We could all use friends like that, couldn't we? Especially after we'd been caught in flagrante dilecto (look it up...it's not a good thing), while supposedly conducting our affairs of State, with his pants on.

So TM looked around and found a nice little pad in upstate New York.  Tony Westchester Country, doncha' know.  Now, New York was high on their list because Hil(liar)y had in mind to run for a soon-to-be vacant Senate seat.  So, carpetbaggers that they are, they wanted to pick out a house and move ASAP so that they wouldn't be accused of being exactly who they are; carpetbaggers.  So they arranged to move directly from the White House to a sprawling Chapaqua, NY, mansion.

Oh, and their new enormous mansion was White.

This would be White House trip Number Two.

And also of note, they were broke when they moved out of our Peoples' House.  That's because, you might recall, Billy Jeff had gotten his knob polished in the Oval Office by a young intern.  Not a good idea.  And then he lied about it. Another not-so-good idea. And he was impeached because of it.  A really, really bad idea, considering the only previous POTUS example was one President Andrew Johnson, some 150 years prior. A drunken, womanizing lout of a man with no redeeming virtues of any kind.  

Oh wait.  I repeat myself... 

Now as you may know, an impeachment of a President is a trial.  And those of you who weren't around back then, including Millennials who will be voting soon, should know that it was a really big deal.  Witnesses appeared both for the prosecution and for the defense.  And it was obvious to all concerned that Billy Jeff had been a very, very bad boy! And when the jury, i.e., the Senators, voted, it turned out he skated and retained his POTUS-hood by a single vote. But he was forever shamed by his indelicate activity.  

Well, actually he should have been ashamed, if he had any shame, that is...

And because of the notoriety surrounding the Lewinsky incident, several other women came forward to make allegations against Clinton with lewd stories of rape, harassment and abuse.  One such woman, a Paula Jones, sued Billy Jeff for unpantsing his overused genitalia and wagging it at her.  

There was a civil trial. He lied during that trial. Under oath. He lost.  She was awarded a judgment of $850,000. Billy Boy was fined $85,000 for having committed perjury.  He lost his license and the right to practice law for five years. Plus, he owed his lawyers more than $5,000,000 for defending him.

Hil(liar)y likes to tell us she was broke and in debt when she and Billy left the White House.  This is the debt about which she was speaking. 

You should also be aware that they could not afford this ostentatious $1.7 Million Dollar (Big Bucks at the time!) White House.  So TM loaned them $1.53 Million with the understanding he'd get his money back in five years, or whenever the property was refinanced. And then Billy Boy and Hillar(ity) did something that is soooooo Clintonian! And soooooooo predictable. And sooooooooooooo similar to what they are being accused of even today.

The Secret Service is sworn to protect ex-Presidents for life. So they of course needed a place to stay at the Clinton compound.  So the Clinton's built a tiny little one-room shack on the far corner of their 10-acre spread.  Which they then subsequently leased to the Secret Service for $10,000 a month!

And the mortgage payment on their new White House?  Wait for it...$10,000 per month!   A coincidence maybe.  I don't think so.  You decide.

So whether or not Hillar(ity) wins a third trip to the White House, she's been there, and on our dime, twice already. Gives me an upset stomach.  How about you?

Epilogue 1:  When the Clinton's left the White House they took more than $200,000 in furniture, artwork, china and other expensive little souvenirs.  When they were called on it by the White House Preservation Fund, they were forced to return the furniture and pay back more than $85,000 for the items they couldn't return because they had already sold them.  Fact.  Look it up.

Epilogue 2:  And not to be outdone...by themselves, they also bought a new mansion in Washington, D.C. upon her leaving the State Department as Secretary of State.  And that mansion needed a whole bunch of furniture.  And it was just reported by the State Department that they stole a whole bunch of furniture from the State Department.  A whole bunch of furniture which they were just forced to return. Fact. Look it up.

Epilogue 3:  And recall the reference to Governor Terry McCauliffe above?  It was just reported his SuperPAC gave almost $500,000 to Virginia State Senate candidate Dr. Jill McCabe.  His plan was for her to win and give him a majority advantage over over Republicans so he could ram his agenda roughshod over them.  She lost, but that isn't the real story.  Her husband, Andrew McCabe, was #3 at the FBI when he made the donation.  McCabe was soon promoted to #2, second only in leadership and authority to James Comey, the Director.  And he was leading the investigation into Hil(liar)y's illegal email scandal at the time the donation was made!  Fact.  Look it up.

Could you deduce from this tawdry little tale that the Clinton's are inveterate lying scheming cheating thieving and conniving criminals?  I've made up my mind.  You?  Go ahead, decide.  I'm waiting...