In what was once one of the most shocking scenes in American cinema, in Brian De Palma’s 1987 gangster flick The Untouchables, über mobster Al Capone beats three treacherous lieutenants to death with a baseball bat. Ever since, baseball bats have had a way of turning up in the hands of über mobsters like Tony…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Shorter Ben Shapiro: “They call me Mr. Miasma”
Ben Shapio has a curious piece up at the National Review, “The Two Theories of Trump’s Actions in the Ukraine Affair”, which I can only consider as an exercise in pre-emptive ass-covering. Shapiro, of course, has a reputation of being one of the hottest young conservative talking heads around—he’s bright, articulate, and quite capable of…
Donnacello—“Round Midnight” Played Twice!
The Donnacello gals ain’t much for talking. I guess they believe in letting the music speak for itself. Well, if you like cellos, and you like Monk, listen up. Here are two recordings by the group, with exactly zero information about who’s who for either session. They do have a website, Donnacello. If anyone knows…
Donald Trump, making John Brennan look like a p*ssy
Donald Trump recounted the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the following manner: He [Baghdadi] died after running into a dead-end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming. The compound had been cleared by this time, with people either surrendering or being shot and killed. Eleven young children were moved out of the house…
The U.S. is betraying the Kurds? What else is new?
Donald Trump’s disastrous, incoherent withdrawal from Syria is, in all its disarray, entirely appropriate in one respect—it allows the conclusion of a disastrous misadventure to mirror its start, which was also disastrous and incoherent. (That’s enough “disastrous’s” for one sentence, don’t you think?) The plight of the Kurds, now left to the less than tender…
Don’t “feel sorry” for Republicans. You shouldn’t feel sorry for cowards.
There’s a small but persistent meme floating around that most Republican senators “tolerate” Donald Trump but find him personally, well, “tacky”, one might say. They wish someone more refined were president, but, well, there it is. They’d turn on him in a trice if only the right trice would come along, but so far it…
Shorter Hillary Clinton: Democrats can so has conspiracy theories!
I can’t be the only Democrat wishing poor Hillary would take a long walk off a short pier. I would like to feel sorry for her (in, fact I have on occasion) but her latest effusions regarding Russian influence in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections suggest that her current chapeau consists of a…
Yo, “conservatives”! Donald Trump is destroying the rule of law, and you didn’t even notice!
It is a long-running rap of Trump apologists that while the Donald may be a little rough around the edges, substantively (which is what counts, of course) he’s done little more than enact the standard Republican menu of tax cuts, increased defense spending, and, best of all, conservative judges! Well, we can pass over (for…
Yerevan Chamber Choir—“Round Midnight”
OK, a Russian choral arrangement? You can’t say it isn’t “interesting”! A hearty Literature R Us shout out to Conductor Harutyun Topikyan and all the gang in Moscow for this rare offering. Posted by YerevanChamberChoir Need more Monk? Of course you do, Go to Mostly Monk and continue your education.
Democrats gone wild! Why the Democrats be acting so crazy.
Well, you’d be acting crazy too if you had just gotten out of jail after 25 long, hard years in the slam. And that’s where the Democrats are coming from. All real Democrats, that is, which doesn’t include squishy neo-lib, “pragmatic”, compromising wimps like me—dudes who believe in free markets (most of the time) and…