This Week's Quote

Image:  Wikipedia

I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.

Will Rogers

Source:  BrainyQuote

Ditto, Sister

 

Not Much Fun

Image:  Pixabay

I received an email inviting me to install a game:  "Embark on a doomsday survival saga in the dystopian wasteland of Zombie Waves, where waves of relentless undead zombies are a constant threat."

That doesn't sound like fantasy. That sounds like the administration.

Yes, I Protested Today

 

                                                            Image:  Maggie Mcelroy-jackson

I participated in the "Hands Off" rally in Edmonds, Wash., this afternoon. I've been waiting for an opportunity to express this particular opinion.

Tariff Titters

Image:  Facebook

You know about the sweeping tariffs Donald Trump imposed on much of the world this week, and you've probably also seen and heard the jokes about two tiny Antarctic islands landing on Trump's hit list.

The Heard and McDonald Islands are inhabited only by penguins, seals, and seabirds. There are no people or buildings. Yet according to World Bank data, the U.S. imported $1.4 million worth of goods from those islands in 2022.

I assume the people behind the facts and figures at the World Bank and the Trump administration are blunderers. If not, those penguins and seals work like Trojans.

Mission Statement

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

Even if Elon lost decisively in Wisconsin, he’s still our president.

Paul Rudnick

Source: X

Silence Isn't Golden

Image:  Wikipedia

If you're a gay man who hasn't been moved to fury by all the bigoted, illegal, and asinine actions Donald Trump has taken, perhaps this will do the trick.

Thanks to Trump's anti-DEI crusade, last month the Department of Defense removed a webpage honoring Bea Arthur's service in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve during World War II.

Yes, the DOD stomped on a Golden Girl. Is it clear to you now that nothing is sacred?

The DOD eventually restored the page, but I trust this affront to an LGBTQ icon has shaken you to the core. Now get out there and do what Dorothy would do.

TDOV 2025!

 

Saw This Near Seattle Today

 

Off-Color

Image by lillen from Pixabay

Utah has become the first state in the nation to ban Pride flags from all public schools and all government property.

Idaho has a new flag law, too, but it applies only to schools. If a red state gets outpaced in its bigotry, does it become green with envy?

May the Farce Be With You

 

There Go the Clydesdales

Image:  Facebook

Anheuser-Busch, headquartered in St. Louis, has been a major supporter of that city's Pride celebrations for 30 years.

Apparently that was long enough. Pride St. Louis announced this week that the brewer has declined to renew its sponsorship.

Funny. Decades ago alcohol companies were among the first to support Prides around the nation. They wanted queer people to drink more—as if such a thing was possible.

Now, in this political climate, Anheuser-Busch is cutting and running. It seems to me, Pride St. Louis, that after a 30-year relationship, you're due alimony.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

The Atlantic on Wednesday released the entire Signal chat among senior national security officials, showing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provided the exact timings of warplane launches and when bombs would drop — before the men and women flying those attacks against Yemen’s Houthis this month on behalf of the United States were airborne.

Tara Copp

Source:  The Associated Press

Agreed

 

War Whoops

Image by G.C. from Pixabay

It's come to light that recently top Trump officials, when discussing details of imminent plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen, included a journalist in their Signal group chat.

But her emails.

The Challenge

 

Trying to Figure It Out

Image by Christian Dorn from Pixabay

Five Republican state senators in Minnesota sponsored a bill earlier this week labeling Trump Derangement Syndrome as a mental illness. Hours later, one of the five was arrested for soliciting a minor.

Sen. Justin Eichorn, a 40-year-old married man with four children, thought he was meeting a 17-year-old girl for paid sex, but it was the cops who awaited him.

Help me here. I'm really trying to understand.

Do you think Eichorn's snarky attempt to own the libs gave him a hard-on that wouldn't quit? Did it make him feel invincible? Superior? Above the law? Like a frat boy again?

Or does he know he has issues and he backed the bill so he could deflect by accusing others of having issues? 

Or is he just another hypocrite in the long line of family-values types who have the moral fiber of a jelly bean?

Just Maybe

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Pixabay

"Plaintiffs face a violation of their constitutional rights, which constitutes irreparable harm. Indeed, the cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed — some risking their lives — to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the Military Ban seeks to deny them," Reyes wrote, adding that "avoiding constitutional violations is always in the public interest."

Reporter Casey Parks on Judge Ana C. Reyes' decision blocking the Trump administration from banning transgender troops

Source:  The Washington Post

Homecoming

Image by Alana Jordan from Pixabay

Over the weekend, a friend of mine here in Seattle returned home to a small city in Missouri for a family event.

She texted upon arrival, apoplectic that there was a "Trump Store" in town.

If she were staying longer, I'd mail her a care package of sage smudge sticks, The Nation, and Trump toilet paper.

Plain Perplexed

 

Poor Little Lamb

Image:  Facebook

In a campaign-like speech that broke all norms at the Justice Department yesterday, Donald Trump made it plain:  He's the most innocent victim since Anne Frank.

Expert Advice

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

At the Justice Department today, Donald Trump will give a law-and-order speech.

I assume his message will be how to wiggle out of both.

Affirmative

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

There were howls of protest and denial from the GOP any time we pointed out that Republicans want to cut Social Security.

Now the most powerful official in the White House goes on TV and calls it "the big one to eliminate."

Pete Buttigieg

Source: X

Pushers

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

As if we don't have enough to worry about these days from Trump and Vance and Musk, there's now another obvious threat to our national well-being.

Shamelessly loitering in front of grocery stores all across America, these brazen dealers wear green sashes and bring extra muscle along, more commonly known as their parents.

They traffic Thin Mints and Samoas, and few can say no to them, even though they stand four feet six inches tall.

The Time of Year

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

 

The U.S. sprang forward last night. To 1948.

International Women's Day 2025

 

Beat Me to It

Image:  Wikipedia

Get this.

In its efforts to purge DEI content lickety-split, the Defense Department has flagged over 26,000 images for deletion across every military branch. Women and minorities are the main targets of the directive to obliterate photos and online posts that highlight diversity efforts.

Here's the incredible bit. The AP reports that some photos seem to have been flagged because their file included the word "gay." The result? An image of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan, is on the chopping block.

If I'd had a little more time, I would've predicted this as the slapstick outcome of the DEI witch hunt. I would've been kidding.

But Pete Hegseth has his people working so hard on this mission-critical task that they made the farce real before I could make it a joke. And I resent that.

The Little Lady

 

This Week's Quote

Image by heblo from Pixabay

During his painfully long remarks before a joint session of Congress, Trump peddled so many brazen falsehoods that it was difficult to keep up with them all.

Steve Benen

Source:  MSNBC

Cisgender Identity Crisis

 

Guess I Wasn't Really Awake

Image by JamesDeMers from Pixabay

This morning I received an email from eBay whose subject line read "Your closet is calling, Leslie."

It turned out the company wants me to buy clothes. But it's a sign of the times that I first thought eBay was sending emergency instructions to queer people.

The "Meeting"

Image:  Facebook

Ukrainians have spent three terrifying and bloody years holding off invading Russian forces.

Still, I wouldn't be surprised if some war-weary Ukrainians are clamoring today to open a second front:  against us. That's one possible result of  their president's humiliation in the Oval Office yesterday by a pair of tag-team wrestlers, Donald "The Impotent" Trump and Lambykins Vance.

Boycott

Image:  Facebook

I plan to participate in tomorrow's "economic blackout," meaning for 24 hours I won't spend any money.

Of course, that's not so hard when you have nothing to spend.

This Week's Quote

Image by muqadas Muqadas from Pixabay

Sure, because putting his face on a piece of currency nobody will ever use will definitely fill the black hole of need that exists where his soul should be.

Mary L. Trump on the proposal to put her uncle's face on a $250 bill

Source: X

Been There

 

The New Victims

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Naturally I found myself venting about Donald Trump with some friends yesterday. I brought up the Trump voters now expressing anger at Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE at town halls and on social media.

"Why are these people surprised?" I ranted. "He said he was going to do this!"

"It's now hurting them," said Mary. "It was fine when other people were going to be hurt."

I knew she was right, even as I wanted a different answer, something about how these folks hold, say, deeply considered philosophical differences.

Silly me. It really can be as simple as people suck.

Too many Trump voters were simply devoid of compassion. Unable or unwilling to see beyond themselves, they were cool with mass deportations, the suffocation of transgender people and all the rest of it. If they had any compassion, it was eclipsed by fear.

Now that Trump is trampling his supporters, too, all that's left to say is:  Welcome to the club you didn't want to belong to. I'd like to think the experience will generate some compassion in you. But then again, I'm the silly one.

On the Cusp

Image by LoggaWiggler from Pixabay

The Vatican said today that Pope Francis is in critical condition.

Doubtless Donald Trump, as head of state, is prepared to fly to Rome—and declare himself Pope Donald I.

NOW He Cares About the Truth

This Week's Quote

Image by https://bosskuart.etsy.com from Pixabay

We had gay burglars the other night. They broke in and rearranged the furniture.

Robin Williams

Source:  Brainy Quote

Preparedness

 

Presidents Day 2025

Image:  Wikipedia

In the lead-up to Presidents Day, Donald Trump posted this gem on social media:  "He who saves his Country does not violate any Law."

The phrase, attributed to the meek and retiring Napoleon Bonaparte, suggests Trump now officially views himself as being above the law.

Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba. Here's hoping Trump is exiled to the island of Rikers.

What Do You Think?

 

Dead Letters

Image:  Facebook

The transgender flag still flies at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, but something else is missing.

On the National Park Service's Stonewall website, "LGBTQ" has turned into "LGB." Our community has suffered an amputation. Without benefit of anesthetic.

This can only be due to Donald Trump's spastic efforts to wipe out all evidence of trans people from the federal government. If you have another explanation . . . I ain't buying it.

Multiple ironies leap to mind. First, the site meant to memorialize the start of queer liberation now can't say the word "queer," at least not online. Second, the L's, the G's and the B's were also definite outcasts not long ago, but now have achieved enough standing that the government isn't aiming to make them disappear. Yet.

The third irony I see is that gay people often used to ignore the part played by transgender and gender non-conforming folks at Stonewall. The community largely clawed past the racism and classism and gave the likes of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera their due. Now we're watching them be disappeared again.

Some aren't having it. On X, New York's governor decried  the sudden removal of trans and queer references as "just cruel and petty."

Protesters gathered yesterday at the Stonewall Inn. A transgender woman told CBS News, "I served in the military. I didn't say I had bone spurs to get out of it."

As far as I know, no bricks were thrown at the protest, just brickbats. And the politicians in attendance were for us, not against us. Things have changed a great deal since 1969. Which is precisely what scares many Americans, and part of what propelled Trump to victory.

We have our work cut out for us in 2025, to stop the reversal of what began in 1969. If you want to make a party out of it, wear 1969 fashion to the next protest. I didn't look good in it then—I was six—and I don't now, but I'm willing to take one for the team.

This Year You Deserve a Specifically Queer Valentine

 

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

Trump appointed gay Log Cabin lapdog Ric Grenell as interim head of the Kennedy Center. Grenell has no background in management or the arts, and LGBTQ people despise him. He's George Santos only even more smarmy and corrupt.

Paul Rudnick

Source: X

Facebook Reminded Me I Posted This 5 Years Ago

 

Cancel Culture

                                                       Image:  Facebook

The following isn't a joke, something I have to point out often these days.

"At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN. I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture," Donald Trump posted yesterday on Truth Social. "We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!"

Yes, Mr. Modest plans to appoint himself chairman of the Kennedy Center.

This raises too many issues to count, starting with the fact that Trump doesn't know jazz from Jazzercise.

But what I first thought of upon hearing this news is the Kennedy Center Honors, normally bestowed for lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts. Trump will see to it that the next honorees are certified artistic legends:  Ted Nugent, Scott Baio, Kevin Sorbo and the Naked Cowboy.