Make With The MMXVII

Monday edition because yesterday...  Being the BeBe Jeezys' birthday and all...

Lessee... January was David Bowie and Alan Rickman.

February was Justice Antonin Scalia and Harper Lee.

March was Sir George Martin and Garry Shandling.

April was Prince and Merle Haggard.

May was Morley Safer.

June was Muhammed Ali and Gordie Howe.

July was Garry Marshall.

August saw the passing of Kenny Baker and Gene Wilder.

September was Arnold Palmer.

October was facts and logic.

November was Ron Glass, Fidel Castro, Florence Henderson, and hope.

And in December, with 5 days yet to go... John Glenn and George Michael.

Did I know any of these people? Not really. Did they have an impact on my life? Some more than others. Are these the only people of note who passed this year? No... Fucking Grizzly Adams, man! FISH IS DEAD... But... To be honest... We all thought Abe Vigoda died 20 years ago. It was a terrible year for "Barney Miller" I tells ya! More than one person on that list provided laughs, or took away the strife of the day through entertainment... So, they were aces in my book.

This year has sucked. I can only support this opinion from my own point of view.

In world events, January saw the Zika virus hitting the U.S.. Flint, Michigan declared a state of emergency. I think 13 people are going to be seeing jail time... Good.

February, with the aforementioned death of Scalia, saw the Supreme Court of the United States of America made "irrelevant". The Grand Obstructionist Party decided that it would rather have NO Supreme Court than allow the SITTING PRESIDENT his right, NAY, his duty, of nominating a Judge.

March saw terror attacks in Brussels. Of course, people here in the U.S. were worried about who was using which bathroom.

April saw Mississippi pass the "Religious Freedom" Bill. This allowed people/businesses with "religious beliefs" to be total assholes to anyone they wanted, without fear of repercussions, because... well... The bible told them they were special.

May saw Trump become the "presumptive nominee" of the Republican Party. In other tragic news, Harambe got shot... The best summation of that event was this:

Thanks, Opus. Also in May, Canada caught on fire.

June was just a swell month! There was the Orlando night club shooting. The UCLA shooting. That human piece of shit Brock Turner got his "sentence" of 6 months jail time (he did two months) for THREE FELONY COUNTS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT! Along with Ali and Howe, "justice" also laid to rest.

Oh, and across the pond, Britain, getting tired of the U.S. political system hogging all the "batshit crazy", decided to enact the "Brexit"... The next day, most of the populace, who were stoked into a nationalistic frenzy, were quoted as saying, "I voted for what?"

July was not much better. The FBI states that no charges would be filed against Clinton... And that was the last we heard 'bout that! (Italics denote sarcasm!) In my neck of the woods, a peaceful protest against police brutality went tragically wrong when a single individual ambushed police officers, killing five. I think there was an Olympics or something... Brazil was too busy eating itself to host it in any way resembling "orderly".

August saw Syria turning into MORE of a complete shit show. Just when you think Syria could not get more fucked... It is like Syria is taking it as a dare. "Oh, I can be more of a quagmire... JUST YOU WATCH!!!!"

Dakota Access Pipeline... That was September. People gathering to save their WATER SUPPLY and big oil saying "It's not like you people were here first!". The first of the "Presidential" debates aired. So, along with Palmer, so went the death of civility. At this point, people were just in a apathetic state with the whole election process. And there was at least a month to go...

October had Hurricane Matthew hit the eastern seaboard. Funny note... due to what the locals would call "Jesus Needin' To Have Somewheres To Stroll", and what smart people would call "Climate Change", the waters did NOT recede. The ground being super saturated and overflowing rivers in a few of the the Atlantic states caused problems with the water not really going... away...

November... We all know the terrible tragedy that befell this great nation in November. By electing Donald Trump, this nation saw hope getting grabbed by the pussy and assaulted. The Chicago Cubs won the world series... If that ain't a sign... I dunno what is.

December... I spent a cold ass week in Utah. So...  Enough said... Well.. Wait... Every nomination and appointment of the President-Elect is a dick slap in the mouth of all who voted for him. Furthering the thought from the previous paragraph, the whole holiday season was "muffled". The only way I can really summarize the way things have been since the election, is "Tainted". It is like the "Happiness Index" can only go up to 96%. That last four percent is not available as long as that Cheeto-Fucker is the President.

_______________________________

Well... That was depressing as fuck.

Some quick shots of good news: The Army Core of Engineers told the Dakota Access Pipeline to fuck off. Obama is STILL doing some nice shit in his last days to make Trump have a bit of a harder time fucking us all. "Stranger Things" on Netflix... "Chewbacca Mask Lady" made me cry with laughter...

Um... That is about it... How fucked up is it that you have to Google , "Good Things that happened in 2016" and you read through them and can only remark, "Oh, you fuckers are reaching..." One site listed "Pokemon Go!" as a good thing... Okay... Sure... The bar has been sooooooo lowered.

I will say this... The light has been shown on the two legged cockroaches. People, emboldened by the election, are showing their true colors. I never feared the skinhead, swastika emblazoned, racist fucks... They were visible... They were a known quantity.

It was all those people who were just in shadowy wings... The periphery ... Waiting... People who you thought you knew. Now, they are not afraid to show their true colors. It is a feeling of disappointment on a mass, national scale.

I steel myself with the words from what is called "The Greatest Speech"...

"To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish." - Hynkel

Well... That and this... WELL worth the five minutes...

Thanks, John. Like the man says... "Let's all try harder next year."

With no love in our souls, and no money in our coats,

d

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