Reruns

The Stupid Party (Again)

So, the party to which I belong has decided (for the moment) to exclude Carly Fiorina from their presidential candidate debate scheduled for Saturday in New Hampshire.

They're doing this despite that fact that she finished better than two invited participants (Christie and Kasich), and less than 1 point behind a third (Bush) in the Iowa Caucuses Monday night. She also polls better in New Hampshire than a fourth invitee, Dr. Ben Carson.

Now that Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum have ended their campaigns, there will be no "undercard" debate this time (Jim "12 votes" Gilmore notwithstanding), so if Carly is excluded the RNC is basically saying they don't think the only woman in the GOP race deserves a spot. Not a good look.

The fact that Senator Rand Paul has ended his campaign means including Carly would bring the number of debaters on the stage to eight, In 2012, the pre-New Hampshire Primary debates (there were two) included every GOP candidate still in the race at that time (six). Is the difference between having seven candidates take part and having eight really worth the PR black eye? I don't think so...

I signed an online petition urging the RNC to do the right thing, and Carly is making her case publicly but the RNC's track record of making smart decisions has not been stellar.

"Look who's talking."

Shut it...

Gun Salesman of the Month (Again)

The FBI reports that in January 2016 they conducted more background checks pursuant to gun purchases than in any previous January on record. The National Instant Background Check System broke its previous January record by more than 50,000 applicants.

January 2016 was also the ninth straight month to set a new monthly record, and it was the third straight month with more than two million background check applications.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank the individual most responsible for this surge in Americans exercising their 2nd Amendment rights...

"Just fuck off, okay?"

"He's VERY persuasive, isn't he?"

On this issue, yeah...just not in the way he thinks he is...

The Defiant Ones (2016 Remake)

From the pen of Chip Bok, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

My dad played saxophone (and clarinet), so his interest in saxophone players helped shape his record collection, and thus some of my earliest exposure to music. Among the artists he enjoyed was Louis Jordan, who died on February 4, 1975.

July 8, 1908 - February 4, 1975

My dad's taste in jazz music always showed a marked preference for uptempo, swinging arrangements and small combos rather than big orchestras.

Jordan's "jump blues" was right up my dad's alley, so when I was growing up I heard plenty of the songs that earned Jordan his reputation as "King of the Jukebox."

Dad also had an impish sense of humor, and Jordan's penchant for wry (and sometimes raunchy) lyrics was a big part of his appeal.




Jordan's career suffered in the early '60s, as did the careers of many popular jazz artists from the '50s, but Jordan's career ranks right up there with Duke Ellington and Count Basie. A true pioneer.

Today's send-off is "G.I. Jive," the only one of Jordan's dozens of charting hits that reached No. 1 on the mainstream charts, a rare feat for a black artist in the 1940s.
The music is paired with photos of servicemen from that era. Enjoy...