Hammer Mill Days

Oh, Jesus ... not again. If you don't quiet down, I'm going to call the police! What? Of course they'll come. The cops don't hold a grudge. And besides, I doubt they even remember that little note l left on their cruiser last year. It was a joke , for chrissake. Ah, hello out there. Back to domestic bliss here in the formerly abandoned Cheney Hammer Mill. I say "formerly" because in our absence during our Ned Trek Live Springtime Tour Extravaganza 2019 , not only did snapping turtles move into our basement studio, but some even more combative creatures took up residence on the third floor of the mill. I send Marvin (my personal robot assistant) upstairs to find out what the commotion was all about, and he came back with an upside-down pitcher on his head. We then sent him back up there with a bundt cake Anti-Lincoln's aunt Mildred made, but they weren't having it. They threw our peace offering into the courtyard! (It made a crater on impact. Auntie ...

I'm starting this post while watching the first Democratic debate. Too many candidates, of course - I think that's obvious. It's kind of dizzying, frankly. John Delaney wants to double the earned income tax credit ... whoopdee doo, right? What the hell is that fucker doing there? He wants to keep what's working, like ... private health care? What the fuck. This is like some kind of game show. Highlights? Well, on night one, Elizabeth Warren put in a strong performance, but with nine colleagues to compete with on time - and sixty second answers - it's hard to get to a substantive level on any issue. Foreign policy was, as always, a rough spot, with questions about "red lines" and "duty to protect". In my mind, this points to one of the biggest drawbacks of these corporate-sponsored, major network hosted candidate forums. The questions strongly reflect what the mainstream media considers the broadly held political consensus on major issues. Wi...