In a dark place

 Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day.  The school authorities in McMinn County, Tennessee, decided to mark it by banning Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus from classrooms because it contains "eight curse words and an illustration of a naked cartoon mouse."  I'm sure that was their only objection.  Oh, wait.  Acknowledging that the Holocaust was "horrible, brutal and cruel," board member Tony Allman complained, "It shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids, why does the education system promote this kind of stuff?"  Pointing out that Spiegelman used to draw for Playboy, Deacon Allman (I'm guessing) added, "If I had a child in the eighth grade, this ain't happening."  Another member, Brother Cochrane, complained about "indoctrinating" kids with allusions to S-E-X.  

I never heard of McMinn County either, so I did a little research.  It's in east Tennessee right next to Rhea County, whose seat is Dayton.  That should ring a bell, as an earlier school board had a problem with a science teacher named John T. Scopes.  As Spiegelman observed, "I understand that Tennessee is obviously demented."  No, it's just that they prefer mice who wear pants and don't have to flee Nazi cats.  Like this one:

 President Joe Biden will soon nominate a Black woman to replace Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court, not just because he promised Rep. Jim Clyburn but because it's damn well time.  But there will be no unseemly haste as with Forced-Birther Barrett.  "I felt the timetable for the last nominee was too compressed," said Susan Collins.  "We can take our time, have hearings [plural], go through the process..." and drag this out until the midterms, she forgot to add, at which point Leader McConnell will think of a reason why Democrats can never appoint federal judges at any level.  She's concerned.  (For those who think Biden should name Anita Hill, I understand the emotion.  But do you think Professor Hill wants to see that little pervert every day?)

On Holocaust Remembrance Day we think of the real victims.  Like former North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, who was un-elected in 2016 and failed to get a job offer from Duke University because of "blacklisting."  Just exactly like the segregated lunch counters which were a feature of his state until the 1960s, a white man can't get a well-paid sinecure these days.  McCrory has been forced back into politics as a candidate for the Senate against formidable opponents like Lara Trump.  He's clearly expert at playing the white male victim card.  Of course, his anti-trans bigotry might have more to do with Duke's decision than his lack of melanin.  (ring-ring)  Tucker Carlson's calling!  Tell him about your bachelor's degree from Catawba College, Pat. 

Another threat to civilization from cartoon vermin has been identified by Jesse Watters, cultural critic of Fox News:  For the thirtieth anniversary of Disneyland Paris, Minnie Mouse is wearing a pantsuit.  "They're making it uncomfortable for the rest of us," he told Candace Owens, who was presumably dressed as a woman should be.  It's nothing less than destroying "the fabric of society" (no pun, Watters isn't capable).  They rambled on about the new, less sexist M&Ms (Green has lost her go-go boots), thirty-dollar "Biden bacon" and the androgyny being aggressively promoted by the confection industry to destroy America.  Of course we know what this is really about -- pantsuit = Hillary Clinton.

Stewart Rhodes of the Oaf Keepers is sitting in the pokey wishing he'd been nicer to his ex-wife Tasha Adams.  I assume.  Adams testified and shared pictures of the network of "spider holes" and escape tunnels he dug in their yard and tweeted, "Folks, if you ever feel tempted to rent a backhoe and dig escape tunnels in the backyard of your rental house, keep in mind it may come back to haunt you if you later attempt to overthrow the US government."  Revenge, served cold as Cherry Garcia.  No bail for him.

Hi, Stewie!

Trump is famously terrified of animals, especially dogs.  Anyone who knew anything about them would not have sent a rabid but toothless Chihuahua like Roger Stone to gum the shoes of Ron DeSantis.  Calling him the possessor of "an ill-fitting suit and a bad haircut" before Donald "GQ" Trump took him in hand, Stone went on to accuse him of cheating on his sick wife (a little nod to Gingrich?) with an anti-vaxer named Emerald Robinson.  Ouch.  But it's fun to watch them go at it.  What's the line from Gods and Monsters?  "Two old men slapping each other with lilies."

And lest you think DeSantis is worth defending, he's one of the worst anti-vaxers and abortion-rights-restricters around.  After the FDA announced that monoclonal antibody treatments are ineffective against the Omicron variant of covid, DeSantis began demanding they be made available in Florida where so many people have the Omicron variant because he and his idiot surgeon general have done so much to aid and abet the virus.  The usual suspects have joined in the chorus of "Give us our useless drugs!" with Rand Paul going above and beyond:  ""I've seen liberals stomping on their graves and laughing hysterically when a conservative died of covid."   Come on, people, no more stomping and laughing.  Stupidity is not funny.  Stupidity kills.

Rep. Cori Bush's car was struck by bullets in St. Louis for the second time.  She was not in the car at the time.  When her insurance premiums go up, she should send the bill to the NRA.

I'm sorry, what?  Biden called Peter Doocy a "stupid son of a bitch"?  I didn't hear it because just then J.D. Vance was thanking Empty Greene for her endorsement and calling 81 million Americans "scumbags."  Unlike Biden, Vontz has yet to apologize.  And Doocy is a stupid son of a bitch.  Three Mexican journalists were killed this month, 36 Turkish journalists were imprisoned last year, at least 58 Russian journalists have been killed under Putinism, but Doocy's hurt feelings are the real assault on freedom of the press.  Or as Trump used to call them, enemies of the people.

Is it a cry of poverty or just another grift?  The ever-classy Melania is trying to auction off her hat, a picture of her wearing it, and an NFT (that's non-fungible token for you non-cool kids) of her wearing it, for $250,000 in Solana tokens, a form of play money.  I have no idea what most of those words mean, but the minimum was not reached.  I assume you can wear the hat while staring at the painting of her in the hat and pretending to count your remaining Solana tokens.  Clearly she's not the kind of woman willing to wait...

That's a hat.