FRESH AIR: In August 2016, three months before the presidential election, Republican nominee Donald Trump was behind in the polls. Instead of staying on message, the candidate was engaged in a politically damaging fight with the parents of an Army captain killed in Iraq. On Aug. 17, in an effort to change course, the Trump team appointed Steve Bannon, the former executive chairman of the conservative Breitbart News, to lead the campaign. Journalist Joshua Green of Bloomberg Businessweek says the switch would prove to be a turning point. “[Trump] was headed toward a pretty serious loss, and Bannon brought his […]
CINEMA: Bedtime For Gonzo
EDITOR’S NOTE: Hunter Thompson would have turned 80 today. NEW YORK TIMES: HUNTER S. THOMPSON, who has been lionized in two feature films, served as the model for a running character in “Doonesbury” and is the subject of enough doctoral dissertations to build a bonfire, now has a documentary devoted to him, “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson,” by Alex Gibney. Thompson, who always seemed to keep one drug-crazed eye on posterity behind his ever-present shades, would surely be pleased but not surprised. But how to freshly document the life of a man who was his […]
VIVA LA RESISTANCE: Q&A w/ Henry D’Arthenay Of Venezuelan New Wavers La Vida Boheme
BY ERIN BLEWETT Present day Venezuela is a miasma of deprivation, violence and mayhem that has become the de facto legacy of deceased socialist leader Hugo Chávez. Citizens are being kidnapped for profit by criminal syndicates and killed with shocking regularity for speaking out against the government Nicolas Maduro, Chavez’s successor. Venezuela’s beloved La Vida Bohème is known for their high-octane, politically-charged, nouveau New Wave music which eventually got them declared as conspirators against the government on live television. Soon after, their tour manager was kidnapped and their booking agent murdered. As a result, they are now living in exile […]
CINEMA: Blackmail Is My Life
NEW YORK TIMES: Roger J. Stone Jr., the subject and star of “Get Me Roger Stone,” struts through this documentary with peacock feathers fully fanned. He’s first heard from a perch in some luxury digs, dressed in a tailored chalk-stripe suit with an olive martini at the ready. “My name is Roger Stone,” he says, “and I’m an agent provocateur.” The scene suggests James Bond cosplay, although it’s worth mentioning that the definition of an agent provocateur isn’t a supercool British fantasy spy but someone who persuades others to do wrong. So, who is Mr. Stone persuading? It’s an inevitable […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: Hail To The Thief
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY The stench is unmistakable. The rot is conspicuous. The entire fetid, rancid atmosphere is stomach churning. You’ve just crossed over into the Trump administration. So, how do you begin to describe a political pestilence? How do you put words to political gangrene? How do you assign an order of disgust to the symbols of political heinousness? By now you’ve no doubt guessed that I’m no fan of Donald Trump. Well, not only am I not a fan, I’m a proud despiser. As far as I’m concerned, he hasn’t a single redeeming quality. Not one. So, […]
BEING THERE: Nevertheless She Persisted
Photo by GEORGIY MARKOV
BEING THERE: Alt-Fact Kelly Is Not A Joke
Anti-Trump protest, Frank Rizzo Statue, noonish, 1/26/16 by Jennifer Raphael This guy, who prefers to remain anonymous, is HIV positive and applying for #ACA, according the Inquirer’s Jason Nark. He made his #alternativefact Kelly costume himself, and paired it with Gucci sneakers and a large Flyers tattoo on his calf.
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: The Case For Illegitimacy
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY This just in: Donald J. Trump announces that the November results give him an unequivocal “mandate” to govern, and to do so as he sees fit. First and foremost: I’ll take those assertions as your attempt at jocularity, Mr. Trump. But as you and I both know, the closest thing you’ll ever get to a “mandate” is probably a clandestine “man date” with your equally pseudo-macho boyfriend in his private Kremlin bathroom. So, how about we clarify a few things right up front: 1) You did NOT win the election, in fact you LOST it […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: Swamp Monster-In-Chief
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY Good God, the stench is overwhelming! It’s the damn swamp again, folks. Lordy, the stink is absolutely stomach-churning! I know, I know, — yes, he definitely said he would drain it, — but it looks like he’s changed his mind; says he’s weary of the expression and wants all talk of it halted. In fact, he just recently felt compelled to bitch-slap his close buddy and confidant, Newt “Lissotriton Vulgaris” Gingrich for having tweeted some questions regarding the lingering odor. But WAIT! Apparently the swamp draining project is still on (methinks the noxious fumes gurgling […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: Swamp Creatures 2
EDITOR’S NOTE: Part 1 is HERE. BY WILLIAM C. HENRY Even with seventy-some years of suspicion, skepticism and mistrust, I never imagined that at some point I would feel compelled to opine a President-elect of this great nation of ours as being an innately ignorant, silver-spooned, immature, thin-skinned, spiteful, deceitful, xenophobic, misogynistic, money-grubbing, two-faced, lying piece of shit. But sadly that time has come. How and why do I unapologetically loathe this President-elect and soon-to-be Presidential disaster so? Allow me to present seven unassailable examples of the kind of excremental rigid-middle-finger-to-character-principle-ethics-morality-intelligence-and-the-best-interests-of-all-but-the-top-two-percent behavior that really should come as no surprise […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: Trump’s Swamp Things
Illustration by JAMES EDMISTON BY WILLIAM C. HENRY In the final days of the election, Trump promised to “drain the swamp” of corruption and self-dealing that is our nation’s capital. No more lobbyists. No more career politicians. No more corporate vultures. No more bribes disguised as campaign contributions. No more globalist middle class job exporters. Can’t argue with that — Lord knows the DC swamp is filled to the brim with snakes and vermin and leeches and covered in pond scum. So, now that the bulk of Trump’s cabinet nominees have been announced, let’s see if he kept his word: […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: #NotMyPresident
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY I just heard President Obama say that, “the people have spoken and Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States.” I don’t know about you, but I happen to believe that those 16 words constitute what may be the most bizarre — if not downright deceitful — example of absurd contradiction in the history of American politics. I mean, just who the hell does he think he’s kidding?! Unlike yourself apparently, Mr. President, I believe in the democratic concept of all persons’ votes counting equally. I don’t believe that a vote cast […]
SH*T MY UNCLE SAYS: Aftermath
BY WILLIAM C. HENRY Once again our “democracy” proves to be no such thing. Once again in all likelihood a major candidate who did NOT receive a majority of the popular vote will become President of the United States. Make no mistake, folks, the tRUMPster does NOT have a “mandate” to govern! He has nothing of the kind! He will become President because of an obsolete dinosauric leftover relic of elitist (and racist) American governance past. It’s called the Electoral College and it has no rhyme, reason, relevance or right to be ANY part of the American political process. […]