The Joke...Is On The Jokers

Sapphic Sisters Say + Sing It Better

🤬 AIN’T NOBODY SENT FOR THIS CLOWN 🤬

The ongoing police state/political theater production that Dick Tater CON-Old Chump is staging in my adopted hometown has me mad and sad beyond belief.

CONtrary to some breathless reporting, most of Los Angeles is doing just fine.

No protests. No riots. At least not in the streets. But in the hearts and minds of many Angelenos I’ve spoken with, there’s a quiet fire burning. Lit by a man without a brain, courage, or heart. A hollow shell of “man” propped up by drugs, ego, and lies.

Let me be very, very clear: I loathe this micro-penis megalomaniac, his hateful cult of personality, and everything they stand for—greed, hypocrisy, and ignorance.

And while I usually have plenty to say, today I’m invoking my right to remain (mostly) silent. Instead, I’ll let two of my sapphic sisters—Rachel Maddow and Brandi Carlile—speak and sing for me. They express what I feel with more calm and grace than I can summon at the moment.

So for today…keep calm, carry on, and don’t let the bastards win!
Clint 🌈✌️

RACHEL MADDOW (06-10-25)

I think, if we're being honest, we sort of stop beating around the bush about it.

There's really no question what the united states is up against right now. i mean the intentions of this president are not a mystery. There's no suspense. There's no ambiguity. Right?

We know exactly who he is. we know exactly what he wants to do to the country. Right? No question. No mystery. It's as plain as day. the real question we are contending with—the real black box, the real drama, the story that really does need to be dug up and explained and told in our country—because it is as yet undecided.

The real mystery is not him. We know him. We know what he wants and what he's trying to do. The real mystery is: will he succeed? Will he get what he wants? And the answer to that will not be found by looking at him. Or by watching his actions. The answer to that question will come from the people of this country.

The most important story of our time is this one:
What is this country going to allow him to do?

This is an attempted authoritarian overthrow of the United States Constitution and the us government. The attempted imposition of a dictatorial regime.

That is clear. That is unambiguous. I think it is unquestioned. I think there are very few people on any side of American politics. Who would contend with that?

The question is whether it will work. And the way we will find out whether or not it's gonna work is not gonna be something that happens in the white house. It's gonna be something that happens in the streets. And in the courts. And in the states. And in Congress. And in every other place that people are trying to say “NO!”

The strength of the movement against him is what will determine our fate as a country. And what we are seeing over and over again—in what i believe is the most important story in the country—what we are seeing over and over again is that protesting against him works.

That he wants to seem strong. But he is not that strong.

Organizing against him works.
Fighting him in court works.
Pushing back works.
Protesting in the streets works.

And so marcelo is free in Milford, Massachusetts. And Carol is free in Missouri. And the four-year-old girl in Bakersfield, California, is free and alive. And in Albuquerque, the movement to keep Antonio here means that Antonio is still here.

And none of these things are instant. Right? And they don't always work.

But push back is the only thing that ever does work.

“THE JOKE” BY BRANDI CARLILE
Written by Tim Hanseroth, Phil Hanseroth,
Dave Cobb & Brandi Carlile

You're feeling nervous, aren't you, boy?
With your quiet voice and impeccable style
Don't ever let them steal your joy
And your gentle ways
To keep 'em from running wild

They can kick dirt in your face
Dress you down, and tell you that your place
Is in the middle, when they hate the way you shine

I see you tugging on your shirt
Trying to hide inside of it
And hide how much it hurts

Let 'em laugh while they can
Let 'em spin, let 'em scatter in the wind
I have been to the movies, I've seen how it ends
And the joke's on them

You get discouraged, don't you, girl?
It's your brother's world for a while longer
We gotta dance with the devil on a river
To beat the stream
Call it living the dream, call it kicking the ladder

They come to kick dirt in your face
To call you weak and then displace you
After carrying your baby on your back across the desert
I saw your eyes behind your hair
And you're looking tired, but you don't look scared

Let 'em laugh while they can
Let 'em spin, let 'em scatter in the wind
I have been to the movies, I've seen how it ends
And the joke's on them

Let 'em laugh while they can
Let 'em spin, let 'em scatter in the wind
I have been to the movies, I've seen how it ends
And the joke's on them

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FYC = STORIES + SUBSTACKS

• Los Angeles: This Feels Like A Reality Show… (Brandon Kyle Goodman)

• My Conversation With Heather Cox Richardson (Pete Buttigieg)

• Basquiat’s Queer Urban Mythos (Rogue Art Historian)

• PalCinema Review: The Cinema Within (Dan Pal)

• Digital Distrust vs Helpful Humans (Karl Dunn)

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ON THIS DAY = JUNE 12

BIRTHDAYS

• 1858 = Henry Scott Tuke = English painter and photographer 🌈

• 1890 = Egon Schiele = Austrian soldier and painter 🌈

• 1892 = Djuna Barnes = American writer 🌈

• 1899 = Weegee = Ukrainian-American photographer and journalist

• 1916 = Irwin Allen = American director and producer

• 1919 = Uta Hagen = German-American actor and educator’

• 1928 = Richard M. Sherman = American composer and director

• 1928 = Vic Damone = American singer-songwriter and actor

• 1929 = Anne Frank = German-Dutch diarist

• 1930 = Jim Nabors = American actor and singer 🌈

• 1933 = Eddie Adams = American photographer and journalist

• 1941 = Chick Corea = American pianist and composer

• 1957 = Timothy Busfield = American actor, director, and producer

• 1958 = Meredith Brooks = American singer-songwriter

• 1959 = Scott Thompson = Canadian actor and comedian 🌈

• 1976 = Brian Anderson = American skateboarder 🌈

• 1979 = Robyn = Swedish singer-songwriter, musician, and producer

• 1985 = Blake Ross = American programmer and Mozilla Firefox co-creator

EVENTS

• 1817 = The earliest form of bicycle, the dandy horse, is driven by Karl von Drais.

• 1939 = Shooting begins on Paramount Pictures' Dr. Cyclops, the first horror film photographed in three-strip Technicolor.

• 1942 = Anne Frank receives a diary for her thirteenth birthday.

• 1963 = The film Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, is released in US theaters. It was the most expensive film made at the time.

• 1967 = The United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia declares all U.S. state laws that prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional.

• 1981 = The first of the Indiana Jones film franchise, Raiders of the Lost Ark, is released in theaters.

• 1990 = Mariah Carey’s eponymous debut album is released.

• 1994 = The Boeing 777, the world's largest twinjet, made its maiden flight.

• 2016 = At Pulse, a popular gay night club in Orlando, a terrorist opens fire, killing 49 people and injuring 58 others. It is the deadliest shooting in US history.

HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES

• Loving Day

• Pride Month (ongoing)

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PORTRAIT + QUOTES OF THE DAY

“I've learned that just because you're successful in one area doesn't necessarily mean you'll be successful in another.”
Jim Nabors

“I'm very happy that I've had a partner of 38 years, and I feel very blessed. And, what can I tell you, I'm just very happy.”
Jim Nabors