This Week's Quote

The president says that, if Republicans win the House and Senate in this fall’s midterm elections, all Americans will receive $5,000.

Jill Colvin reporting on Donald Trump offering bribes to voters

Source:  The Associated Press

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.

Dolly Parton

Source:  BrainyQuote

This Week's Quote

Image by kalhh from Pixabay

The writer E. Jean Carroll has collected over $5.6 million that a jury awarded in her sexual abuse and defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, court records and her lawyers said.

Jennifer Peltz

Source:  The Associated Press

Coming to Your Local Gas Pump

 

Too Late Now

Image:  Facebook

Like a lot of Americans, I was none too happy about paying taxes this week to a government that's spending mind-boggling amounts of money on a war it had no business starting.

Worse yet, I keep thinking all this waste, destruction, and loss of life could've been avoided if we'd just let Donald Trump dress like Louis XIV, and given Pete Hegseth a crusader's outfit and a rocking horse.

Agreed

Image:  Facebook

It surprised me when the White House released its fantastical budget proposal yesterday that there was one item I could get behind.

Donald Trump wants $152 million to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz. Fine—as long as he's the first new resident.

So Much Winning

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I had to put gas in my Prius this morning.

It cost more than the Prius.

This Week's Quote

Image:  Facebook

On CNBC Scott Bessent insisted that "most retirees own 10 or 12 homes." Scott wishes to be addressed as Milord and added, "Average Americans also have at least 30 crystal punchbowls, 58 gilded candelabra and 15 white stallions. I do."

Paul Rudnick

Source:  X

Park It

Image:  Facebook

National parks offer some fee-free days, and the Trump administration has tweaked the schedule for next year. No longer can you get in free on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth.

Gee, what could those two holidays have in common?

But rejoice, for one of the new additions to the fee-free calendar is June 14, Flag Day, which also happens to be Donald Trump's birthday. What a coincidence.

I suggest you and your friends visit your nearest national park on that day, wave the flag, and play rousing birthday games like pin the tail on the narcissist and Simon Says Impeach.

Moneymaking Marriages

Image by Welcome to All ! ツ from Pixabay

A study released this summer found that, in the ten years since the Obergefell decision legalized marriage equality, gay couples and their out-of-state wedding guests have poured about $5.9 billion into state and local economies.

I not only had a same-sex wedding, I also had a same-sex divorce, so I was doubly helpful to the local economy. Yet not a word of thanks from the chamber of commerce.

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.

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.

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

Largesse

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I found the Democratic Convention moving, and it gave me hope. So like many folks, I donated to the Harris-Walz campaign.

I had to keep the donation amount within my means as a writer. But I'm optimistic that $1.50 will put them right over the top.

This Week's Quote

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

If Kamala raises any more money Melania will marry her.

Paul Rudnick

Source: X

This Week's Quote

Image:  Wikipedia

Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level. It’s cheaper.

Quentin Crisp

Source:  Today

Big Bucks

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

Faith & Freedom, the prominent evangelical advocacy group, plans to spend $62 million to return Donald Trump to the presidency.

Politico notes, "The investment underscores the degree to which the white evangelical community has allied itself with Trump, even as he faces a forthcoming trial on charges stemming from hush money payments to a porn actress."

Faith & Freedom will be laying out $10 million more than it did four years ago. But that's not really surprising. Inflation has raised the price of everything—including hypocrisy.