Hammer Mill Days

Yes, I know the phone is ringing. Just let it ring, for crying out loud. Don't people know we're on vacation? Jesus Christ on a bike, try to take a week off around this joint! What? Oh ... okay. It's the neighbor's phone. Stupid neighbors! Hey, out there. You caught us taking a brief hiatus between the nothings that we have going on. (You can tell I'm on vacation because I say "hey" when I mean "hi" ... though that might also make me an NPR correspondent.) Everybody needs a little down time. We tend to have a little more than most people. In fact, you could argue that Big Green is a bit like a downtime reservoir. People come here to waste time; that's what makes the abandoned Cheney Hammer Mill such a regional treasure. (And one man's trash, well ... you know the rest.) That's understandable - sometimes taking a hiatus can be heavy lifting. That's how people end up with hiatal hernias. (I'm just going to leave that right the...

This just in: President Trump is a racist. Who could have seen THAT coming? The administration's childish denials of the President's "shithole countries" comments, the persistent refrain of "tough language" and swearing all around - all of that belies the reported fact that Trump was bragging about his racist tirade to some of his right-wing allies, a few of which let the story slip. Frankly, I think the administration far prefers the focus on Trump's verbal diarrhea - it keeps the press from focusing on the underlying issues, which make less compelling television. (It also reinforces Trump's message to his base that he thinks like they do about dark people, foreigners, etc.) There is also the fact that the President doesn't understand policy, isn't interested in it, and is incapable of delving any deeper than the surface of any political issue. He is kind of a blank slate, though he does obviously have deep-rooted visceral prejudices. Thi...