Everyone's on edge

 

In a new Netflix series Adele James (left) portrays Cleopatra and already the Egyptian antiquities ministry is angry, asserting that she had "white skin and Hellenistic characteristics."  Which may or may not be true but why pick a fight over it?  Lest you think racism is new to Egypt, back in 1983 they were already angry, banning the TV series Sadat because the assassinated president was played by Louis Gossett, Jr.

  

Crankiness is ramping up.  William Martys was using a leaf blower in his yard in Antioch, Illinois, probably not for the first time, and his neighbor Ettore Lacchei, 79, decided to do something about it.  He shot Martys in the head.  Nobody likes leaf blowers but this seems extreme.  Of course Antioch is the hometown of Kyle Rittenhouse.

Ron DeSantis went on tour to look "presidential" and try to revive his collapsing campaign.  The last thing he needed was a reporter asking him about Mansour Adayfi's claim that DeSantis enjoyed watching him force-fed at Guantanamo.  Which is what he got at Jerusalem's Museum of Tolerance.  (You can't make this up.)  "It's 2006, I'm a junior officer, do you honestly think they would have remembered me?" he snarled.  Yes, if you were laughing.

Jack Teixeira's lawyers tried to get him sent home to his parents on the grounds that he was just a gamer caught up in the excitement and out to impress his friends with the classified information he stole.  But he's still in jail because the DOJ showed the judge evidence of his plans to build an "assassination van" and stock it with his extensive collection of weapons.  (The FBI recovered handguns, shotguns, rifles, an AK-style weapon, a gas mask and a silencer from his bedroom gun locker.)  He described "culling the weak minded" and opening fire "in a crowded urban or suburban environment."  The judge was not convinced by the assertion that he never meant the information he shared with his buds to be "widely disseminated" because he didn't realize the internet works like that.  He also thought he could cover his tracks by breaking up his computers and XBox.  Massachusetts Air National Guard, try harder.

According to Lauren Boebert, "our children and our children's children will not benefit from the blessings of America" unless people are unafraid to engage in violent encounters with flight attendants.  I have no idea what set this off -- maybe she was told to fasten her seatbelt or put her gun away.  Boebert clearly goes through life looking for a fight.  Are flight attendants woke?

Randi Weingarten is not a doctor.  This was established yesterday at a session of the Overlook Committee.  But apparently the Montana legislature is full of them, and they produced SB 458 to nail down for all time the definition of gender, complete with ALL CAPS in the style of D. Trump tweeting on the toilet.  If you feel boggled, you're not alone.

A Fox News poll found that 19 percent of Democrats support regular Fox guest Robert Kennedy, Jr., for president.  And no wonder:   In an ABC News interview Kennedy accused Democrats of "censorship" but viewers didn't get to hear his views on the long-discounted connection of vaccines and autism.  Even with a disclaimer, the editing was remarkably dishonest.

There was a touching reunion yesterday in New Hampshire, when convicted January 6 insurrectionist Micki Larson-Olson got to hug the man responsible for her six-month prison sentence.  She still thinks Trump is the "real president" and she wants a front-row seat for Mike Pence's execution.  You may remember her for her Captain America costume and the way six cops had to drag her off a scaffold.  Don't be too hard on New Hampshire -- she lives in Abilene, Texas.

On Fox News Tonight Brian Kilmeade is reading all the required gibberish about fentanyl, Biden's "divisive" campaign ad and immigration, but it's not working.  The Carlson Crew won't have it, presumably sitting in the dark for an hour or using the time to catch up on their death threats.   Is Fox shopping for a new hate-meister?  I think Doug Mastriano is free.

In short, throw away the leaf blower and buy a rake.  It's just not worth it.