Showing posts with label In Memoriam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label In Memoriam. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Going Feral: Wyoming corner-crossing pioneer Brad Cape dies at 55
Going Feral: Wyoming corner-crossing pioneer Brad Cape dies at 55: Wyoming corner-crossing pioneer Brad Cape dies at 55
Sunday, March 15, 2026
The Best Post of the Week of March 8, 2026. The Week King Donald's War went astray for lack of purpose.
It won't go down as a great week in American history. King Donald committed us to a war which it does not look like we can win.
No Trumps will die in this war, but a lot of other people will.
So, what were its bloodstained highlights? Let's take a look.
First we'll note something we failed to. Country Joe McDonald died this past week, sort of a poetic end, in a way. He was a veteran of the Navy.
Not Trumps have served in the Navy. Well of course not.
We finished up 1914 to 1926, by finishing up, 1916.
Wednesday, March 8, 1916. Villa crosses the border.
Let's just admit, by this point, the only people who don't think the Trump Administration is the worst administration in American history are in it, and even some of them probably think that.
An event I sort of wish had never happened:
We looked at some movies.
We looked to an historical example regarding conscription.
We decided to punish our own political party, and we're not alone in that.
Giving up completely on the GOP.
I've noted my political history here before.
I'm a Westerner and an Irish Catholic. That informs my vote pretty heavily.
When I first registered to vote Ronald Reagan was President. Marine Corps Raider veteran Ed Herschler, a Democrat, was the Governor of Wyoming. D-Day veteran Teno Roncolio, also a Democrat, was our Congressman. Republicans Malcolm Wallop and Alan Simpson were our Senators.
That was sort of the political landscape here at the time. More Republicans than Democrats, but there were still Democrats, and those Democrats tended to be pretty tough conservative people. Republicans were already tacking off into batshit crazy economic theories but they weren't completely bathed in them yet.
I registered as a Republican.
I didn't stay a Republican for a really long time. I don't recall when exactly I switched parties, but by the time I was at the University of Wyoming, I had registered Democratic. I stayed in the Democratic Party for a long time. I was still a Democrat when I became a lawyer and I know that I was when I was married. However, sometime after that, I couldn't stand the sea of blood the Democratic Party had become. I became an independent.
As an independent you missed the primaries pretty much, however, and starting in the Clinton era in general Wyoming Democrats began to drift over to the GOP. After all, the mainstream of the Democratic Party wasn't all that different from the traditional mainstream of the local GOP. After awhile, I registered as a Republican.
Little far right Dixiecrats like Chuck Gray like to scream that people like me are "RINOs", when in fact they're the malignant innovation into the GOP. That element hadn't entered the GOP at the time I was first in it, and didn't for a long time. Gray himself, who nobody really knew anything about, was probably the first, followed by Jeanette Ward, who served one term in the legislature before losing a bid to retain her seat. While she lost, that showed the direction things were headed in. Carpetbaggers who knew nothing about their state moved in and wanted to convert it into pre 1964 Alabama.
It's not as if the Democrats stood still. As moderate Wyoming Democrats left the party, it too became delusional. If the Republicans became increasingly fascistic or Dixiecratic, the Democrats lived intellectually in the Greenwich Villages' Stonewall Inn in 1969. It made going back into the Democratic Party an outright impossibility for people like myself, particularly as they lashed themselves increasingly to abortion and perversion.
More recently, I'll note, that seems to be wearing off. The Democrats are still "pro choice", but they don't talk much about it. For that matter Republicans who were really gung ho on being pro life have sort of lost their fire for that as well, following the lead of Orange Mussolini.
What the Republican Party, nationally, has become is flat out insane. No thinking person can be a member of it and be comfortable.
There are still good Republicans here in Wyoming. They began a big fight against the Dixiecrats prior to the legislature and largely prevailed this session, in spite of the fact that the diehard adherents of The Lost Cause were theoretically in control of the solons. That should give local Republicans who aren't literally whistling Dixie some hope.
But with the current national Trumpites in control, the line has been drawn.
For years people like Dixiecrat Chuck Gray, or Dixicrat Bextel, have claimed that the Republican Party here was infiltrated with Democrats. Well, it was. They're the Democrats. Democrats from 1960 Alabama. They just don't know it. But the screaming lunacy that they've espoused does have an effect after awhile. Yell at people that "you are a RINO" for long enough, and they'll take it up.
I'm remaining registered in the GOP. Chuck Gray's efforts to disenfranchise voters has been enough for me in and of itself not to change registrations. Frankly, if I was to take a run at the House of Representatives, and I've thought about it, I would switch parties as right now that would give a person a place in the November election no matter what. But I'm not going to do that. I'm old, worn out, and very tired.
So I'm remaining in the GOP in no small part so that I can vote for the decent primary candidates, of which there are some right now.
At this point, merely stating that you are "pro Trump" will be enough to cross my vote for you off the list. At least three House candidates are promising to be Trump's biggest lover, and they're all of the list. I hope I run into some of them during their campaigns. I probably will.
And I've already quit giving MAGAs in my midst slack. Frankly, since the start of the assault on Iran, that's been easy, as the "never war" MAGAs can't explain that one without sounding like hypocrites, and they know it. Even a few have begun to look as if Valentines to Trump weren't a good idea.
But in the Fall. I'm not voting for any Republicans for anything.
That won't exactly be easy. So far here only one candidate from the Democratic Party has signed on to run for a statewide office. He has my vote even though I like the only Republican whose announced for the same position. And just because I'm not voting for a Republican doesn't mean I will vote for Democrats. In my state house district a really decent Republican holds the seat and a young woman from the Democratic Party has announced against him. She's already on the sea of blood ticket. I can't vote for her, but I won't vote for the Republican I've voted for many times before.
To vote for Republicans in 2026 you have to accept that a low IQ, deranged, octogenarian should have complete dictatorial control over the Federal Government, can start major wars on his own, can demolish parts of the White House as he has the tastes of a bordello owner, can cause the hiding of files on a major pedophile ring, and can have a domestic army occupy the streets. It also means you have to be willing to sacrifice the environment of the planet for scientific denial. You have to be willing to endorse lies at a never before seen rate, which makes you a liar yourself if you do.
I can't go there.
On a bright spot, the Confederate dominated legislature went home routed.
A fellow traveler pondered the long strange trip of the NatCons and J. D. Vance.
The war started wrecking the economy.
Perverts were hitting on Chloe Winters.
Have some of you seen any daylight recently?
This is amusing. Chloe Winters is not unattractive, but the married Galwegian dresses like what she is, a market gardener. It's a dirty job. Her only adornment, normally, is a cross denoting her Christianity.
The fact that she's getting hit on for gardening videos. . . well it's just sad.
It became clear that Donald Trump had committed the nation to war on the concept that the Iranians would just collapse, even though he was warned that they would not.
Wars and Rumors of War, 2026. Part 5. Trump's forever war. King Donald's War, Part 1.
Last edition:
Best post of the week of March 1, 2026.
Tuesday, January 13, 2026
In Memoriam. Scott Adams.
Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, has died at age 68.
Adams was a peculiar character and its fairly clear that his character Dilbert was based on him. It was a hugely popular cartoon until some remarks he made, reported as racist (I can't recall what they were) got him into trouble the cartoon was widely cancelled.
Thursday, January 8, 2026
In Memoriam. Renee Nicole Good.
Renee Nicole Good, widow and mother of one, shot dead by ICE at age 37. The event was widely filmed. ICE will claim their agent was in danger, and perhaps he was, from her car. It's a needless tragedy nonetheless and the courts will no doubt sort it out. Anyway a person looks at it, masked man looking like an army of occupation are an abomination.
It was bound to happen.
Nearly since day one of the illegitimate Trump interregnum, Trump has used use ICE as if it was an uniformed, masked, Sturmabteilung, with that agency recruiting from the MAGA demographic. They were going to kill somebody, sooner or later.
The irony is, really, that they killed a white American, which means Americans might actually care about what happened.
The defense will be that the officer thought the car was going to run him over. Maybe he did. But at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is that ICE routinely gets into situations where it's hyperaggressive, something made easier by being dressed like soldiers, which they are not, and being masked. In the U.S. no policeman should ever be masked, and moreover, no policeman should look like a soldier. It makes people afraid, and people who are afraid, panic.
Officers can panic too, and of course, armed men, sooner or later are going to shoot somebody.
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
In Memoriam. Ben Nighthorse Campbell.
Former Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell died yesterday at age 92. He was an enrolled member of the Northern Arapaho tribe and a Korean War veteran of the U.S. Air Force.
Campbell was originally elected to the Senate as a Democrat, but later switched to the Republican Party.
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Dick Cheney, Wyoming oilman and former vice president, dies at 84
Dick Cheney, Wyoming oilman and former vice president, dies at 84: The divisive and powerful 9/11-era vice president was also a devoted husband, avid outdoorsman and close advisor to his daughter, Liz Cheney.
I was not a fan of Cheney when he was our Congressman nor when he was Vice President. I tended to regard his association with Wyoming, while he was in office, as thin, something I've complained about in regard to recent Wyoming politicians as well. For that matter, I regarded his daughter Liz's connection with the state as thin as well.
Liz Cheney really rose to the moment and in the latter stages of Trump's first Administration she stood out as a genuine hero, a status she has, in my view, today. Dick Cheney also remained a steadfast defender of democracy in his old age.
It'll be interesting to see how the State, and the current illegitimate administration in Washington, treats his passing. In recent years Wyoming's politics have been taken over by carpetbaggers who mentally reside in 1970s Alabama, rather than Wyoming, and Donald Trump has lost the ability to be rational in his dementia. Cheney deserves some sort of national recognition upon his passing.
Will he receive one?
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Kathy Karpan, former Wyoming secretary of state, dies
Kathy Karpan, former Wyoming secretary of state, dies: An attorney and mentor to many, 83-year-old public servant is remembered for being an insatiable reader and a "wonderful friend."
Friday, October 3, 2025
In Memoriam. James Earl Jones
James Early Jones with Barbara and George Bush.
The legendary movie actor with the deep unforgettable voice was an Army officer in the latter stages of the Korean War. Jones never served in Korea, but his service was notable in part because he attended Ranger school as an Army officer and was accordingly Ranger qualified.
Category: Actor
Passed today at age 98.
Jones was an interesting figure. He started university as a pre med major but switched to drama prior to entering the Army. He had considered a career in the service, but a conversion to Catholicism influenced him to leave the Army as he claimed that Shakespeare and the Catholic Church were the only things in his life that were not geared towards killing.
He played many roles, but is probably best remembered for either being Darth Vader by some, or Terence Mann in Field of Dreams.
He was a fairly private man rarely speaking of his private life, but he did late in life reveal a diabetic condition which plagued him and he was a devout Catholic, albeit with potentially irregular marriages, dating back to his time in the Army.
postscript:
I screwed t his up, as the comments note.
Inexcusable.
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
In Memoriam. Claudia Cardinale
Tunisian born Claudia Cardinale has died at age 87. Her entry into film came after being chosen as the most beautiful girl in Tunisia, where her Sicilian parents were immigrants.
One of the Italian (in her case Sicilian) bombshells of the 1960s, Cardinale is famous for a series of well regarded Italian movies, but perhaps best known in the US (outside of film aficionados) for her unlikely role as the Mexican heroin in The Professionals and again as the heroin in Once Upon A Time In The West. 8 1/2 may be her best known Italian film.
She was married once, and had two children, the first of whom when she was a teenager and whom was the result of a rape. Her parents raised that child as her brother until her true mother was revealed to him when he was eight years old.
In addition to Sicilian and English, she spoke French.
Overshadowed in the US by Sophia Loren, she was known as "Italy's girlfriend".
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
American film giant, Robert Redford, has passed at age 89.
He was, truly, one of the greatest film actors the nation has ever produced.
Three of my favorite movies, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Natural, and Jeremiah Johnson, are Redford films.
Thursday, September 4, 2025
Monday, July 28, 2025
Saturday, June 28, 2025
June 28, 1975. Death of Rod Serling.
American screenwriter and television producer Rod Sterling died at age 50 of a heart attack.
Serling was an extremely heavy smoker, which was no doubt the cause of his death. He'd been a paratrooper during World War Two, serving in the Pacific.
He's best remembered for The Twilight Zone.
Serling in 1959, at which time he would have only been 34 years old. This photo gives us a good example of what we've noted elsewhere, about how people aged more rapidly in the past. The cigarette in hand would have helped contribute to that. World War Two probably didn't help either. Serling's bracelet features Army jump wings.
Last edition:
Thursday, June 12, 1975. Searching for the meaning of Vietnam.
Friday, March 14, 2025
Towering Wyoming statesman Alan Simpson dies at 93
Towering Wyoming statesman Alan Simpson dies at 93: Former U.S. Senator and storied politician was known for folksy bon mots, hard-nosed politics and a signature straight-shooting style.
Friday, January 10, 2025
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
In Memoriam. Jimmy Carter.
I'm late to noting his passing and therefore everyone has already read tributes to him. Even Donald Trump, to my surprise, lauded him and indicated he'd attend his funeral. Carter did, it might be noted, feel that the early criticism of Trump was unfair. I don't know what he thought about Trump later.
I've listed to a lot of the audio obits and read a few, and what I'll note is that, as so often, they approach being hagiography and tend to omit somethings that should be of real interest.
I'll start with the biggest. Carter was a failure as a President. Coming into office with an American public sick of inflation (sound familiar?) and disgusted with the Republicans due to Watergate (sound unfamiliar?), and also fatigued by the Vietnam War, he really didn't accomplish much. He proved incapable of tackling inflation, which would fall to Reagan, and the US military, probably not surprisingly, lapsed into a weakened state, which Reagan also would address.
While he was not a success as a President, he was one in life, however.
Carter, it was often noted, was from a peanut farm in Georgia. What's oddly less often mentioned is that he was a Naval Academy graduate and a submariner. To enter the submarine service you must be an engineer and a genius. He was both. He may be the smartest man to occupy the office since the Second World War.
He was certainly the most moral.
He was a dedicated Baptist Christian, which nobody could rationally doubt. The degree of his devotion was such that its almost surprising that he was elected, particularly as he gave an interview to Playboy during the height of its influence, noting how deeply Christian he was. After he lost his bid for reelection, he devoted his remaining long life to public service, often to the poor.
Like the law, politics is an occupation that frequently initiates people into compromising their morals and attracts a certain percentage of people who are willing to do so. And power, as is so often noted, corrupts. Carter was unique in that he was a deeply moral man and the office did not change him.
Monday, October 28, 2024
In Memoriam. David Harris.
Actor David Harris, best known for his role as "Cochise" in The Warriors, has passed away at age 75 from cancer. Fans of war movies will recall he had the role as Pvt. Smalls, a major character, in A Soldier's Story.
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
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