The Misanthrope in Chief

In the Trump Administration's ongoing efforts to ensure it is one day regarded as the least-intelligent and most-vile political entity in the history of mankind, it has dismissed a suit filed by Cody Wilson.

Granted, this doesn't appear unduly hostile. Or particularly dim. Until you learn that Cody Wilson is a gun rights advocate, and in his suit he alleged that the Obama Administration's refusal to grant him the right to post blueprints for printable guns—guns that can be created on 3D printers—on the Internet amounted to a refusal of his right to free expression.

So the Trump Administration awarded Cody his freedom of expression. Even taking into account Trump's puerile obsession with undoing any and every action of the Obama White House, this amounts to incalculable stupidity.

Predictably, the incalculable stupidity doesn't end there. 

Another gun rights activist, David Kopel, weighed in as to why we needn't be concerned that every garden-variety thug in the nation is doing cartwheels at the news they will soon have government-sanctioned access to an unlimited number of untraceable weapons.

In Kopel's words, this won't happen not because crooks are clumsy gymnasts, but because they have a thriving black market from which to acquire their weapons. On planet Kopel, felons, terrorists and drug cartels have little interest in obtaining untraceable, easy-to-conceal (and presumably cheaper) plastic guns.

Yep. He said that.

(Now might be a good time to mention that opioid abuse cuts across all economic, racial and class divides.)

In the war that Donald Trump is waging against his predecessor, it's okay that the nation's citizenry be reduced to collateral damage in the hopes that the Trump-whore is able to sate his insatiable ego.

Going way out on a limb, what do you suppose would happen if someone posted blueprints of Mar-a-Lago and exposed its vulnerabilities? Or if the weaknesses of the Secret Service detail guarding the Trump-whore were chronicled and shared with the World Wide Web?

Think that person would enjoy the same consideration as the brain-damaged, can't-get-laid hater named Cody Wilson? 

Or would that person be perceived as a threat (freedom of expression nonwithstanding)?

The mind reels.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Fuck Trump. And fuck the people who voted for him.  

Scarlett Johansson and 'Rub & Tug'

As someone who occasionally suffers from LGBT fatigue, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the LGBT community could be as narrow-minded and prejudiced as the people they purport to abhor.

Which is, apparently, anyone who isn't LGBT.

I speak of the forced removal of Scarlett Johansson from the upcoming movie Rub & Tug, in which she was to play a transgendered man.

The outrage directed at her ignores the fact that she didn't create this role, cast herself and build the movie from there. No. She was hired. Hired by the people who finance movies. But the LGBT trolls ignored that. They went after Johansson as if she were Mike Pence. 

It is my fervent hope that one day they can devote some of their screen time to learning the difference. 

By all accounts, Scarlett Johansson is an okay person. Lost in the overheated and reactionary social media outrage was that she wanted to tell this story. Face it, people. Rub & Tug stands little chance of ever being a Hollywood blockbuster. But you are aware that Johansson signed on anyway, right?

As I understand them, the tenets of the LGBT community are centered around the belief that no one should be prejudged and constrained by preconceptions and gender and sexual orientation as to what they are capable of and the opportunities that should be available to them.

Unless they're a heterosexual female.

Did I get that correct?

Scarlett Johansson, you have exhibited grace in graceless circumstances. And to the hypocrites within the LGBT community who demanded your ouster, live by the sword, die by the sword.

Hopefully, this will be your life-changing, teachable moment.

Putin's Bitch

I am amazed. Astonished. And speechless.

Acting like a beaten and broken victim freshly released from a POW camp, Donald Trump was paraded in front of TV cameras today and meekly surrendered to Vladimir Putin. He did everything but declare “I am Vladimir's bitch.”

Of course, such a confirmation is entirely unnecessary. Those of us not in 'Make America Great Again' hats figured that out long ago.

So what does Vladimir have on our president? And how soon can the charges of treason be filed?

Is it not absolutely astounding that Donald Trump is exactly the man Republicans attempted to convince us Barrack Obama was? A man sworn to and acting in the interests of a country not his own?

I, for one, want to see the Trump-whore's birth certificate.

Dick-Swingin' Donald

After having gotten pantsed by Kim Jong-un in Singapore and smearing excrement all over our allies, our brain-damaged president is now off to Helsinki to meet with his mentor, Vladimir Putin, on how best to further undermine democracy.

Of course, dick-swingin' Donald isn't letting on as such, but the lack of a formal agenda and the exclusion of any media or observers points to only one thing.

Face it, folks. Donald admires Vladimir and considers him a role-model. He adores how Putin dispatches his enemies and—above all else—disobedient journalists. Putin is his business plan.

I am confident that when the definitive history of America is written, the Trump administration will be credited with being the beginning of the end.

Like the bumper sticker says, Fuck Trump. And fuck the people who voted for him.

Hit and Run

So. Daniel Herbert, the defense lawyer for Jason Van Dyke, has filed a motion requesting a change of venue, fearing that public comments by elected officials amount to “the public execution of Jason Van Dyke.”

Funny, but I thought the sixteen shells Van Dyke pumped into Laquan McDonald's back as McDonald was walking away from him was the public execution at issue here.

And with a pro-cop judge (Vincent Gaughan) overseeing the pre-trial preparation who has already set several legal precedents insofar as keeping potentially damaging testimony and evidence from the public record, what's with all the talk about a fair trial?

That's a joke. Right? Do you really believe Jason Van Dyke is going to see the inside of a jail cell? 

Really?

The Republican-dominated Supreme Court just gifted public-sector union members with something for nothing. Thanks to their decision, union members can now enjoy the fruits of union representation free of charge.

Wow. When was the last time Republicans did anything for the working man?

Predictably, there's a big, giant string attached. What looks to be a gift is actually a harakiri sword. Because by opting out of paying dues, what do you think will happen to the union?

That's right. It will bleed to death. Short-sighted union members can now slit their own throats by opting out of union dues. And without union dues, the Democratic party loses a major source of funding. 

Combined with the Citizens United decision, the supposedly impartial Supreme Court will have effectively crippled the Democratic Party, clearing the way for unopposed Republican rule.

Aside from seeing how badly Republicans will cock everything up (remember: they're better at acquiring power than wielding it), what I want to know is this: If public-sector union members can opt-out of paying dues when the organization representing them offends their political sensibilities, can I likewise opt-out of paying federal income taxes when the sitting administration offends my political sensibilities?

I didn't think so.

Ed Schultz was a born-again Democrat. Immersed from birth in Republican hooey, he not only saw the error of his ways but possessed the strength to publicly acknowledge them and moved to serve the greater good by becoming a Democrat in 2000.

As a powerful and passionate speaker, he was able to communicate his new party's ideals, which make Democrats the strongest and best upholders of the convictions that birthed this country. His plain-spoken manner especially resonated with the inhabitants of the Great Plains, traditionally a Republican stronghold.

Sadly, Mr. Schultz died early this morning of natural causes in Washington D.C.

Rest in peace, Sir.

Finally, I have never used this blog to shill for money. I have made no attempt to monetize The Square Peg. Ever.

But there's a temporary change afoot. On June 24^th, I read a powerful article in the Chicago Tribune by Anne Kim about a dentist working in rural West Virginia. A dentist committed to serving instead of inflating her net worth.

In the Age of Trump, that struck me as profound. It left me wanting to help.

In appreciation of her selflessness, I would like to raise a thousand dollars, money that could help sustain her practice and/or herself.

If you're of a mind to, please visit the GoFundMe page I created at http://gofundme.com/helping-a-dentist-with-a-heart. If the mood strikes, please donate what you can.

Thank you.

Random Thoughts, Vol. 11

Is there a Republican out there who can explain to me why mandatory car insurance poses no threat whatsoever to our personal liberties, but how mandatory health insurance is the toxin that will lay waste to all of them?

If it weren't for gangster rap, I never would have known how Led Zeppelin sounded to my parents.

Is there anything more excruciating than watching Donald Trump attempting to look sincere?

After several people told me that Yosemite National Park would take my breath away, I wised-up and cancelled my trip.

Not all Republicans are racist, but all racists are Republicans.

Funny how when I return to my car from the supermarket, the type of vehicle which makes up half of all new car sales is parked on either side of me one-hundred percent of the time.

Donald Trump is the Albert Einstein of arrogance and stupidity.

When I think of the California home where children were starved, beaten and tortured, I'm so grateful their parents weren't aborted. Because that would be a crime.

Funny that just as our allegiance to our political parties has never been more-passionate, they have never been less-deserving of it.

Panties are next to the best thing on Earth. : )