Buttermilk Sky

 There is a character in Julius Caesar  called the Soothsayer who famously warns Caesar to "Beware the ides of March."  He is, of course, bang on.  Never gets any credit, never reveals the source of his information, we don't even know his real name.  Hi, glad to meet you. Save the date:  On March 28 Robert Kennedy, Jr., will reveal the name of his running mate from a list of two.  Jesse "The Body" Ventura has experience as a competent governor of Minnesota so Kennedy will undoubtedly choose the other, quarterback and conspiracist  Aaron Rodgers , because he is "battle-tested" and "our appeal is to young people."  First, football is not war, no matter what some coaches and commentators say.  Second, I think he means "ignorant people."  In addition to opposing medical science and believing the Sandy Hook children never existed (which he now denies), Rodgers  asserts  that "some of the noises from the dolphins when they're lo...

 Republicans hate LGBTQ people, immigrants, Ukraine, Hollywood, Muslims, the poor and Democrats.  You knew that.  It appears they also hate one another. Their current Speaker, Mike Johnson, wants to take the House contingent on a  retreat to a nice resort in West Virginia but only about a hundred have brought back the permission slips he sent home.  Corporations and professional associations hold retreats all the time, but in the context of Moses Mike it sounds like he plans on a lot of praying and testifying.  Of course, that's not the excuse the others are giving.  "I have to run for governor." (Kelly Armstrong, ND) "I got a farm to run." (Tim Burchett, TN) "Doing the Bill Maher show."  (Nancy Mace, SC) "This place has just devolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people." (Ken Buck, CO, quitting Congress altogether next Friday)  It seems some of the boys are disappointed that Johnson chose ...

 CNN anchor  Jim Sciutto 's book The Return of Great Powers is out today and recounts an interview with General John Kelly, one of Trump's numerous chiefs of staff.  The subject of Hitler came up one day -- perfectly normal White House conversation -- and Kelly says he tried to stop Trump from praising him by basically offering Mussolini as an alternative role model.  ("Mussolini was a great guy in comparison.")  According to Kelly, Trump "missed the Holocaust" in his assessment of Hitler along with "the 400,000 American GIs" who were killed in Europe.  Did he?  We know what he thinks of veterans in general -- Kelly himself  told us.   I don't think he "missed" two-thirds of European Jews.   Kelly thinks it's "the tough guy thing."  Trump admires strongmen like Putin, Xi and Kim because he wants to emulate them.  That's not exactly breaking news.  He promises to be a dictator "on day one."  He couldn't ...

 I haven't watched the Oscars in years but when I realized I had seen a couple of the nominees online I decided to give it a go.  First of all, I apparently need a larger TV with drive-in size screen.  The graphics were too small to read and the sound from the ironically named Dolby Theater was awful.  I see the show has been streamlined with the omission of awards they assume nobody cares about, so I couldn't tell you who went home with the coveted Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Award or the Irving Thalberg prize.  (The target audience has no clue who they were anyway.)  Same for the special Oscar to Mel Brooks.  I assume these are given at a Waffle House in Encino on Tuesday between breakfast and lunch.  (Special Oscars are the Academy's way of saying "Sorry we missed out on your career, have one of these things now."  Previous recipients include Laurence Olivier and some guy named Hitchcock.) Little did I know I was observing a satanic initia...

 Today is International Women's Day according to whoever arranges these things.  One day out of 366 feels sadly right. A Palm Bay, Florida, woman was charged with child neglect without great bodily harm after leaving a four-year-old behind at  Chuck E. Cheese.   Before you scold, recall that Prime Minister  David Cameron  once left his eight-year-old daughter behind in a pub, and he wasn't wrangling ten kids at a birthday party.  It happens.  Everyone is fine. Trump  is on Snapchat, kids, and he had fun using the filters on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.  No, not a bit demented.  Very statesmanlike, actually. It's a good thing MAGAworld have the memory capacity of goldfish.  In 2020  Trump  promised, "As far as TikTok is concerned, we're banning them from the United States."  He has changed his mind because he hates Facebook and "Zuckerschmuck" even more than Jyna:  "They are a true Enemy of the People." ...

 "Who would have thought the old man to have had so much pizazz in him?"  (Lady Macbeth, sort of) Joe Biden could never have been a great public speaker like FDR or JFK.  His childhood speech impediment and later acid reflux ruled it out.  But he has made himself into an effective, impassioned speaker who projects righteous anger and connects with people as more polished orators never could.  To put it another way, he would never be a Baptist preacher (as one listener suggested last night) but I could see him as a much-loved parish priest.  Maybe his sermons are a little long but you would wait in line to confess your sins to him.  He gets people.  To paraphrase George Carlin, three Hail Marys and you're back on the street with Father Joe. Without ever using his name he covered Trump in layers of contempt and disdain and called out January 6 for the attempted coup it was.  Trump was so angry he broke his own crummy platform.  Really....

 Yesterday Elon Musk announced he won't be bailing Trump out, at least not openly (those superPACs are tricky blighters).  Today it was  Vivek Ramaswamy's  turn.  He suggested to Neil Cavuto that the cash-strapped "billionaire" turn to "grassroots supporters" for whatever they have left after buying  Trump Bucks,  imaginary trading cards and classy gold shoes.  I would never have suspected Ramaswamy of having a sense of humor. It looks like Retired Rear Admiral  Ronny Jackson  won't be much help, on account of he hasn't been an admiral since July of 2022.  That's when the Navy responded to the inspector general's report on Fast Times at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue by busting him down to captain, reducing his pension by $15,000.  Naturally, he blames the Biden administration which, if it were really vindictive, would have demoted Michael Flynn to lieutenant colonel by now.  Yes, that's a hint. Never mind.  The Trump brand...