“Did a John Denver song get Billy Martin fired?”
“It’s worse than that, really; the ethic of Jesus has gotten in the way of successfully prosecuting the culture wars against the left. If the ethic of Jesus encourages sensibilities that might cause people in politics to act a little less brutally, a bit more civilly, with a touch more grace? Then it needs to go. Decency is for suckers.”
“But there are some positive trends peeking out from behind the fog of gloom. Let’s explore them…”
“On the contrary, what I observed in person Sunday morning, as well as what we can see from national survey data, make clear how Trump has conformed white evangelicalism to his own image, and why so many evangelicals await his second advent.”
Here’s the second half of that comprehensive list of musicians we lost in 2021.
“Trump supporters have waged a campaign of intimidation against the state and local officials who administer U.S. elections. This visual analysis explores hundreds of menacing messages – and explains why they’re difficult to counter.”
Ever wonder who actually makes the Kirkland brand products you buy at Costco?
Make the US Senate more like the House of Lords.
“One year after the Jan. 6 riot, the voices of those who broke with Trump over that day have mostly been muted, moved on, or, in certain instances, come to embrace Trump all over again.” Cowards, the lot of them.
Pour one out for the classic 3G BlackBerry phone, which as of this week is now a paperweight.
RIP, Jean-Marc Vallée, director and producer known for recent HBO series like Sharp Objects and Big Little Lies.
Ken Rosenthal deserves much, much better.
Does the name Rita Jenrette mean anything to you? Three things I did not know about this woman, who was briefly famous for being the wife of a Congressman who was arrested in the notorious ABSCAM sting and then posing in Playboy as a result of that notoriety: She was born in San Antonio, she was a correspondent for the tabloid TV show A Current Affair in the late 80s, and oh, by the way, she’s now an actual princess. (I found that Forbes story because there was a similar story a couple weeks later in the Express News, which then ran in the print version of the Chronicle. Easily one of the more entertaining things I’ve read lately while eating breakfast.)
RIP, Ann Harithas, artist and curator and co-founder of the Art Car Museum in Houston.
“Sheep are such likeable animals — maybe they can get the message over better.”
“How 38 women in Congress want you to remember January 6.”
Yeah, I don’t know why anyone would want to be on a cruise ship right now. Someday, maybe, but not today.
RIP, Joan Copeland, longtime Broadway and TV actor, and sister of playwright Arthur Miller.
RIP, Grichka and Igor Bogdanoff, eccentric French TV presenter twins, COVID skeptics who (you guessed it) died from COVID. Yes, both of them, less than a week apart.
RIP, Peter Bogdanovich, Oscar-nominated director, writer, and actor.
RIP, Sir Sidney Poitier, groundbreaking actor and director, first Black actor to win an Oscar, Hollywood legend.
RIP, Cyber Ninjas. Good riddance.
