I post this every year on my birthday. I started this back in 2004 when Flipper was running for prez which is why there are references to him in this post. Today I am 73 years old. Holy crap! I’m a frickin’ geezer! But I’m not as old as Jimbo. His boitday was nine days ago. I knew that Jon Anderson of Yes was born on this date (He’s two years older than I am) but I also found out that Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest was born on this date as well. So, I share a birthday with two rock stars that I admire. October 25 is my birthday. It is also St. Crispin’s Day which is a very important date in English history.

You’ve heard John Fonda Kerry drone on about his “band of brothers”. Do you know where that phrase came from? No, it wasn’t an HBO special. It came from Shakespeare’s Henry V. It was the speech that King Henry gave before the battle of Agincourt, on St. Crispin’s Day, October 25, 1415, where an outnumbered English army (It was 30,000 French against 6,000 Englishmen) kicked the crap out of the French. They were French after all. Some things never change. Anyway in the spirit of my Hamlet and Marc Antony updates here is the St. Crispin’s Day speech.

WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here But one ten thousand of those men in England That do no work to-day!

Holy shit! We are outnumbered! If we only had some of those bloody bastards who are sitting on their asses back in England!

KING. What’s he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland?

Why do you want that cuz?

No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark’d to die, we are enow
To do our country loss;

Nope, cousin dude. If we’re destined to get our butts kicked there are enough of us.

and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.

But if we’re gonna win, think of what an upset it would be. They would talk about us for years. It would be like the Jets beating Baltimore in Super Bowl III.

God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.

I don’t want any more men. We’re fighting the French after all.

By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,

Holy crap! I’m not doing this for money.

Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;

And I don’t care if the dudes with me are doing it for money.

It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.

I don’t even care if my men wear my uniforms.

But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.

But if it’s a sin to want honor and glory than I am the biggest sinner on the planet.

No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.

Nope! I don’t want any more men.

God’s peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!

Nope. If I had just one more man he would take honor away from me. I am the quarterback. Just like Namath I want to shine.

Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,

Tell the rest of the army,

That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart;

that if there is anyone who is a pussy, get the fuck out of here.

his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;

Give him three purple hearts. It will be his ticket home.

We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.

We would not die in the company of a phony bastard such as he that would use scratches to get purple hearts and cut short his tour of duty by 8 months. Get the fuck out of my sight! You are not worthy to die with us.

This day is call’d the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,

When St. Crispin’s Day comes around every one who returns home will look at this day proudly.

And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian.’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispian’s day.’

The night before St. Crispin’s day he’ll roll up his sleeves and show the scars and tell him he got them on St. Crispin’s Day at Agincourt.

Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day.

He may forget other stuff in old age, but not the Battle of Agincourt!

Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-

All of our names will be remembered.

Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red.

While knocking down some brewskis,

This story shall the good man teach his son;

The old veteran will teach his son.

And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,

And on this day from now until the end of the world,

But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

our small but happy force, this band of brothers

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,

Anyone who fights with me will be my brother. He won’t return to England and stab us all in the back by falsely accusing us of war crimes. (OK. I added that last part to make this more relevant to today.)

This day shall gentle his condition;

This day will make him a better person.

Make him a member of the gentry, even if he is a commoner.

If he’s lower class this will make him upper class. (And he won’t even have to marry for it.)

And gentlemen in England now-a-bed

And all those pussies back home in bed,

Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

will know that they were wusses because they didn’t have the balls to be with us.
Now lets go kill us some Frogs!
Before the Battle of Agincourt,
25 October 1415
Shakespeare
And GOC
And Kenneth Branagh.

The above clip always gives me goosebumps.

Ron rants.

Nothin to brag about this mornin … had a kinda demoralizin day yesterday, and an old sick dog woke me up whimperin about 0200, so I decided to attack politicians …… again.

Bad mood results from bein reintroduced to my mortality yesterday. Widow of the Gunny Sgt I’ve mentioned before called Reggie in a panic ‘cause she had a flat on her truck and was gonna be late for work.

So I picked her up and took her to work, then went back to fix the flat. Failed. Couldn’t bust the lugs. Had to call my son to bail me out. He got ‘em off, pulled out the nail, and plugged the tire, mostly ‘cause he’s got the tools, the air compressor, and the strength to do it . . . and he did it in short order.

Even when I’d finally managed to get the proper jack, a cheater bar to bust the lugs loose after soakin ‘em in Liquid Wrench, and got the wheel off, I’d have had to take it to Pep Boys or Big Ten to get it fixed and inflated. Woulda taken me all day. He got it done in about an hour, including 40 miles of drivin around to come get me and go work on it.

So when I came in here this mornin, I had to dump on somebody, ‘cause I still like me purty much and didn’t wanna self-recriminate. Much easier if I went after the Dems, ‘cause they ask for it so much . . . refusin their persistent insistence on comeuppance would be impolite, n’est ce-pas?

That said, here we go:

Most of the Dems vying for the nomination this cycle have completely forgotten that the Constitution was written to restrain the entrenched professional politicians in the federal government.

Basically it’s a set of statements telling legislators and executives what they CAN’T do. DingleBarry, of course, did end runs around it whenever he could get away with it using his “fone and pen,” governing by fiat when the rules prohibited what he was up to.

For example, the Constitution tells government that it can NOT “infringe” on the rights of citizens to arm and defend themselves, especially against an oppressive government. And it says absolutely nothing about a lot of things, such as abortion, or sanctuary cities, or arbitrarily selected which laws we’ll follow and which we’ll ignore.

It says that people can say what’s on their minds even when it might hurt the feelings of snowflakes, twinks, tweakers, trannies, Tinker Belles, pixie-dust sprinklers, and unicorn jockeys.

It says very clearly that neither the PotUS nor the SCotUS can write laws, and it tells magistrates and LEOs that they cannot violate due process.

And for the things not specifically mentioned in itself, the document says that power over those issues is retained by the people themselves and to be determined by the individual states when necessary, not by public opinion or by the federal guys.

What we have in Washington today is a gang of entrenched, greedy, career politicians who have about as much interest in doing what’s actually good for “the people” as I have for doing what’s best for sheepherders in Inner Mongolia.

Their primary shared goal . . . in fact their entire purpose for being in government . . . is acquisition and preservation of power for themselves and their political cronies. It’s all about winning to them, not safeguarding the nation or steadying the economy or providing affordable health care; it’s about their taking and keeping power.

That attitude is selfish, childish, hoggish, covetous, suspicious, and malicious. It does NOT serve as a good trait in leadership. Very few of the swamp denizens would make good leaders, although virtually all of them if asked would call themselves leaders of the nation. In fact, most of the honest ones who still believe they’re there to work for the people turn out to be all hat and no cattle when the chips are in and the bets are closed.

But a great disparity often exists between the quality of leadership necessary to inspire a people and the managerial skills required to run a country once you’ve taken control of it.

Biden, for example, has perhaps the best name recognition of all the Dem potus candidates, but I have serious doubts that he could lead a troop of Cub Scouts to a Pizza Hut. He’s basically a yes-man, a freakin doofus. He might be a nice guy and even may have tried to do a good job in the Senate, but he’s clearly in the onset stages of senility and terribly confused by his delusions of adequacy.

He’d be 78 when inaugurated after winning the election next year, and I’m not sure he could handle four hours of the job at a time, much less four years some major off-line time and a lot of gingko biloba and Geritol. Yeah, name recognition, and maybe even a bit of charisma, but with those and a sackful of Franklins, anybody can make out in a cathouse.

Hitler, for example – great charismatic political agitprop. Used his power of oratory to become dictator. Had about as much skill managing the best military on the planet at the time as I have in herding cats.

Sanders – noisy and tempting to ignorant snowflakes, but knows roughly the same about economic and system management as I know about constructing a space shuttle with Tinker Toys.

Mao – another ultra-successful charismatic leader. Put himself in position to evict his political opponents and negotiate on equal footing with the US and the USSR. In charge of roughly one billion people, but was so inept at actually governing that he had to murder several million potential dissenters and starve 30 million peasants.

Stalin – perhaps the greatest schemer ever to operate on a national level. Took complete control of the Soviet Union by purging (killing) 20 million people he didn’t trust, and then causing another 20 million to be killed by the Wehrmacht or starved to death by famine.

Warren – unabashed prevaricator on a par with Mao, Tojo, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and other would-be messiahs. All the leadership talent of Susan Rice and Britney Spears. Would have about the same degree of luck managing the US economy and a divided Congress as I would in creating a workable stegosaurus from lawn trimmings.

Her plan to “forgive” college debt doesn’t forgive or cancel anything; it only shifts the burden from the individual who incurred it to taxpayers who in many cases learned a useful trade instead of pursuing a worthless degree which prepares them for nothing in real life except flipping burgers and foaming lattes.

People like Liz are basically communist apprentices. They don’t yet have the authority to confiscate everything you own at gunpoint. All those entitlement programs which seemed so humanitarian and useful when first implemented have morphed into gateway drugs for communism.

I read something a few days ago which describes the D.C. scene perfectly: “There are only two parties today: The Stupid Party and The Evil Party. Once in a while the two parties get together to do something that is both stupid and evil, and that’s called bipartisanship.” — Tom Woods

The 2020 Dems’ “debates” are much like the Emmy and Oscar awards ceremonies: noisy people chanting rehearsed liberal talking points . . .except no tuxedos. And the Hollywood influence – in a nutshell it’s this: Oh, no! Trump is president, we’re all gonna die from climate change, and we MUST protect transgender rights. So . . . time to raise taxes, open the border, and burn the Constitution.

For years, these pompous hacks have clobbered ordinary folks whose only “crime” is making fun of Obama at a rodeo, or making a funny meme about liberals, or understanding that there are only two genders.

They like to go over the social media accounts of lesser mortals with a microscope, highlighting thought crimes and sometimes thoughtlessness with malignant glee. Zuckerberg feels it’s his solemn duty to teach us rubes that disobedience and defiance bring cancellation and censure. Normal people with normal attitudes are hauled up onto the Aztec altar of Facebook sacrifice to have their voice boxes cut out to appease the vicious demi-gods of wokeness.

Dems like to parse and spin every syllable that come out of DJT’s mouth, ultimately blaming all the violence on the entire planet on the things he says and the way he says them. Truth is, tho, that the things THEY say not only threaten and instigate violence but are generally unconstitutional as well.

The Dems’ approach to political campaigning is firing a cannon at a wall and then drawing a bullseye around the hole it makes. To them, that is sufficient proof of a crime to take to Congress to impeach a successful PotUS because he causes them chronic butthurt.

Look . . . if the Dems’ impeachment “inquiry” is such a vitally important action to preserve our government, why do Schiff and his henchmen need to keep their activities secret while the guy they’re “investigating” for whatever wants transparency? And why would it ever be necessary to invent an imaginary “parody” transcript of a PotUS fone call? Doesn’t that kinda say it’s the investigators who are corrupt and sneaky and not the legally elected PotUS their coup is focused on?

And again . . . if they succeed in evicting DJT, will we be better off? Do they really want Pelosi in charge? Do they really believe HRC would be an effective PotUS? Just exactly how will we be safer, richer, healthier, nicer, stronger, or in any way better off with a socialist, or a congenital liar, or just an ordinary liar, or a hypocrite, or a loon, or a guy with a husband, or a screwed-my-way-to-the-top flip-flopper?

What people want is a security guard who doesn’t keep pestering you to use your private bathroom, who doesn’t try to tell you how to raise your kids, who doesn’t raid your fridge, who doesn’t shut off your power, who doesn’t tell you how to trim your lawn or water your garden or feed your dog or how to behave in your own bedroom, who doesn’t inundate you with paperwork for a simple medical problem such as plantar’s warts, and who doesn’t make unpleasant noises while you’re trying to concentrate on your job or get some shut-eye.

Do I feel better now? Yeah . . . .

Ciao.

Nope!

Prophetic. pic.twitter.com/tprRXJ8h7z

— Denny Wilson (@Cripdude) October 21, 2019

Donating Blood in Scotland

A wealthy Arab Sheik was admitted to hospital for heart surgery, but prior to the surgery, the doctors needed to store his type of blood in case the need arose.

As the gentleman had a rare type of blood, it couldn’t be found locally, so, the call went out. Finally a Scotsman was located who had a similar blood type.

The Scot willingly donated his blood for the Arab. After the surgery, the Arab sent the Scotsman in appreciation for giving his blood, a new BMW, 5 carats of diamonds, and $50,000 dollars.

A couple of days later, once again, the Arab had to go through a corrective surgery. The hospital telephoned the Scotsman who was more than happy to donate more of his blood again.

After the second surgery, the Arab sent the Scotsman a thank-you card and a box of Black Magic chocolates.

The Scotsman was shocked that the Arab did not reciprocate his kind gesture as he had before. He phoned the Arab and asked him: “I thought you would be generous again, that you would give me another BMW, diamonds and money … but you only gave me a thank-you card and a box of chocolates.”

To this the Arab replied: “Aye laddie, but I have Scottish blood in ma veins now.”

Damn! I should have told this to my friend Eric over the weekend at his birthday party. He married into a Scottish family. His wife, Fiona, has the cutest accent.

Yannow, I used to think Bush Derangement Syndrome was bad but Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferers make BDS folks seem sane by comparison. Here’s the latest.

Rutgers Professor Blames Black Female Obesity On Trump & Racism

A professor suggested that racism and President Trump’s policies are responsible for black female obesity.

Women’s and gender studies professor Brittney Cooper made the argument during an appearance on “Black Women OWN the Conversation.”

Yep! She looks just like you would think she looked.

“I hate when people talk about Black women being obese. I hate it because it becomes a way to blame us for a set of conditions that we didn’t create.”

“We are living in the Trump era. And look, those policies kill our people. You can’t get access to good health care, good insurance.

Brittney Cooper made the argument that research points to black women losing less weight and at a slower rate than do white women, claiming that public health practitioners tie increased stress to a change in metabolism.”

Brittney Cooper made the argument that research points to black women losing less weight and at a slower rate than do white women, claiming that public health practitioners tie increased stress to a change in metabolism.

Lowest female black unemployment evah yet these are bad times under Trump. But wait a minute! We still have Obummercare. Whose fault is it that black women can’t get good health insurance?

Black women weren’t obese during the Clinton administration or the Obungler administration? Who knew?

So I guess now we’ll hear Stacy Abrams Tank say the reason she’s obese is because of Trump. It has nothing to do with the buffet at Golden Corral.

This booger eatin’ moh-ron is a professor at Rutgers University fer chrissake. Of course, she teaches Gender Studies which doesn’t take much in the way of intellect.

From Paul F.

First time I’ve ever heard this on a classical guitar.

From Rob J. (more…)

This week I’m giving it to Speaker Blinky and Chuck the Schmuck Schumer. They stormed out of a White Houe meeting and Schmuck immediately sought out a camera to say how mean Trump was to call Speaker Blinky a third rate politician. I think he was actually giving her a promotion.