The Grouchy Editor

Above, the best meme since “Let’s Go Brandon!”

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As is sometimes the case for me with Trump-related doings, I am of two minds about his clearing-out of the “deep state.”

On the one hand, it seems obvious that entrenched civil servants who are determined to obstruct the president’s agenda — as they were during Trump’s first term — should be uprooted. He is, after all, their elected boss.

On the other hand, haven’t we all been told, for years, that it is extremely difficult for any president to “fire” government employees? How is it that Trump is so effortlessly dispatching them? Is it legal?

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I scrolled through some movie listings and noticed Margin Call. I recall liking the film (I gave it a B+), but don’t remember why. That got me thinking about movie reviews in general, and my reviews in particular.

There are so, so many films that are intelligent and well-made, like Margin Call, but that lack the “rewatchable” factor. I am often pleased that I watched a film and will admire it — but then have no desire to see it a second time.

On the other hand, there are many flicks that can only, objectively, be described as “junk.” But I will rewatch them. Movies like Deep Blue Sea. I guess emotion triumphs over reason.

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Meanwhile, over at Bluesky:

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Not sure which is having the worse week, the airline industry or Selena Gomez.

Gomez, who posted a tearful message (above) about her illegal immigrant “people,” also appears in the, uh, controversial Oscar nominee Emilia Perez. (I already pay for Netflix, which is hosting this film, so should I watch it? I can’t decide.)

But I previously formed an opinion about Gomez’s acting chops from watching her in Only Murders in the Building. To say she struggles to hold her own next to co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short would be an understatement. 

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My goodness — what a first week in office for the Orange Man!

The right appears positively giddy with Trump’s flurry of executive orders and cabinet appointments. The left seems too shell-shocked to muster more than a feeble objection.

People like Victor Davis Hanson and Tim Pool, both of whom I haven’t seen smile in four years, don’t seem to know what to do with themselves. To put it mildly, Trump is surpassing conservatives’ wildest dreams.

I’m a geezer now, and I’ve been alive for 13 American presidents — 14 if you count Trump twice — but never have I witnessed a new president keep so many campaign promises. And in just one week.

Of course, as expected, the courts and political opponents will see to it that not all of Trump’s early initiatives will come to fruition. But a lot of them probably will.

Will history label Trump’s second term a resounding success, or will he indeed turn out to be the new Hitler?

Either way, it’s going to be interesting.

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One thing hasn’t changed about Trump: his predilection for surrounding himself with good-looking ladies. Although they long ago left “the blush of youth,” Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi both qualify as political MILFs.

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Speaking of hotties, the Army chick pictured above appeared in my X feed, and I thought I would impress her with my sparkling sense of humor. 

But then I watched the short video she posted:

OK, so she might not be impressed by my clownish behavior, but I do resemble the fat guy she approves of.

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Whining (Whinging?)

Last week I said that Tim Pool hosts my favorite podcast. That’s true. But it doesn’t mean that I have no issues with the beanie boy.

Pool’s obsession with the phrase, “being on the wrong side of history,” drives me nuts. He seems to equate the word “history” with “wins.” He believes that a lot of Democrats are softening on Trump to avoid the perception of being on the wrong side of history. Because Trump won. Bullshit.

When Germans supported Hitler in the 1930s, and then he won power, were those Germans on the right side of history? After all, Hitler did win. Were Democrats on the right side of history four years ago when they voted for Biden, who then won?

There’s a reason history is about the past, and not the present. While things are happening, we have no idea if they are “right” or if they are “wrong.” The future will determine that.

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One more complaint about Pool: Why on Earth does he persist in saying “whinging,” as opposed to “whining”?

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On the one hand, good for Bondi. On the other hand, Schiff is such a clueless tool, I don’t see how even a six-year-old would be unable to “destroy” him.

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“I think George Bush was mad that Saddam Hussein tried to assassinate his daddy.” — Phil Labonte on Bush’s decision to invade Iraq

Entire books are written about momentous subjects like why we go to war, or why someone ran for president.

But sometimes the simplest explanation is correct. I suspect that Labonte might be right about Bush. I also suspect that Donald Trump ran for president (the first time) because he was mad at Obama for humiliating him at a press banquet.

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Final Whine of the Week

I am, sadly, a Minnesota sports fan. We are a cursed bunch. Take a look at this chart, detailing the pitiful “success” of our four major-league sports franchises:

We also endure insults from the national sports media, such as the lack of respect shown to our Vikings prior to the team’s loss on Monday to the Los Angeles Rams:

I’ll stop whining. Or whinging.

For now.

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Timcast IRL is my favorite podcast. I came to this conclusion after suffering through Joe Rogan’s softball interview with Mark Zuckerberg. When it comes to his guests, Rogan is clearly more comfortable discussing jujitsu with Zuckerberg, or professional wrestling with Donald Trump, than more substantial topics.

Tim Pool and company eschew the softballs for more hard-hitting stuff. The downside for Pool is his location. He streams the podcast from somewhere in the boonies of West Virginia, which reduces the availability of good guests. Too often, the show features some no-name, local politician. But when he gets a meatier guest (like Nancy Mace, above), Pool is often must-watch.

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Two pearls of wisdom this week from Mary Morgan on “Pop Culture Crisis”:

On bitter, whining celebrities — “That’s what you would think about people in Hollywood, though: that they were bullied in high school, or they were uncool theater kids, and then they got rich and famous, so it’s fine. But no, they’re still filled with resentment from it. So, it just never goes away.”

On short haircuts for women — “You will always look better with long hair, no matter what. No woman looks better with short hair.”

I agree about the haircuts … to a point. Once a woman reaches, perhaps her 50s, long hair begins to make her look desperate to retain her fading youth.

Later in the week, Morgan popped up on Tim Pool’s podcast and warned leftists gloating over Trump’s “convicted felon” designation that it could backfire. Just as Trump’s infamous mugshot added to his “cool” status, so might the term “convicted felon.”

I imagine beer mugs and t-shirts are already in the works.

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I am happy to report that season three of the U.S. version of The Traitors is off to a good start.

But I am upset with Peacock. Try as I might, I am unable to find out when the new seasons of Traitors Australia and England will debut. A.I., unsurprisingly, was unable to find this information for me.

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I think Trump should consider doing to wealthy California residents what Biden’s FEMA did to poor North Carolina hurricane victims: withhold financial aid from anyone who voted for Democrats. I’m just kidding. Sort of.

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I am still waiting for an apology from boy wonder Zuckerberg for Facebook’s role in censoring conservatives during and before recent elections.

I watched about an hour of his interview on Rogan’s podcast and, after hearing Zuckerberg’s excuses about how difficult his job is and how much “pressure” he was under to censor right-leaning voices, I’d had enough.

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I finally watched A Quiet Place: Day One. I am pleased to report that it checks most of the necessary boxes:

→  The heroine is a dying black woman. She wants nothing more than a slice of pizza before cancer or the aliens get her.

→  The main straight-white-male character sobs a lot, regularly announces that he’s “afraid,” and — spoiler alert! — is saved at the end by our brave heroine, who sacrifices herself for his sake.

→  There are no cute dogs in the movie. Dogs presumably share too many traits with toxic males. Instead, there is a feline for the childless cat ladies in the audience.

© 2010-2025 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

She’s back …

Good Asian-related News:

Squid Game season 2 is pretty good. It’s not as good as the original. This time around, the emphasis is on players’ personal dramas and relationships. That’s fine, but the selling point of Squid Game is the games. The games were better in season one.

The new season does bring back the opening challenge, in which players must outwit/outrun a giant girl-doll (above), but there is nothing to rival the first show’s best game, in which contestants play a deadly game of hopscotch over a bottomless pit.

Bad Asian-related News:

I’m not sure where to place the blame for this one, but it’s among anime distributors Funimation, Crunchyroll, and Sony. 

In December, I discovered that my Funimation library of movies and TV shows had been erased — poof! Gone without a trace.

Despite my providing them with a screen capture of my digital library (below), the jerks at Crunchyroll were less than helpful. They demanded receipts. From shows that I acquired years ago. Do you keep receipts from movies you bought three years ago?

That seems like theft, to me.  If you are considering purchases from Crunchyroll (Funimation is, apparently, defunct), be warned.

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I watched La Palma on Netflix. It was a routine disaster show about a volcano. The only thing I am likely to remember is actress Alma Gunther (on the left, below):

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If you recognize the above shot from the opening scene of a Christmas classic, then we can possibly be friends.

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Holiday Harangues

Ramaswamy’s take on foreign workers vs. American workers might be correct. He feels that too many of us are unmotivated. I’m just a stupid American, so what do I know?

But I do know this: Ramaswamy’s timing is terrible.

We need to focus first on worker IDs, and on illegal immigration. Only then should we discuss these visas. Trump supporters are not in the mood to talk about special exceptions to immigration — yet.

Also, Ramaswamy’s and Musk’s take is music to the ears of big corporations, and that can’t be good for the rest of us.

Stop sending money and weapons to Ukraine. Only then can we discuss other ways to help Ukrainians.

I have nothing against Kentucky, South Carolina, or California (well, nothing against the first two), but until the awful politicians pictured below are gone and forgotten (and possibly prosecuted), I don’t want to forgive anyone from those states who imposed them on the rest of us.

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I used to think that young women were probably the best thing about America. Young men went to war and died for “the girl back home.”

Now I think too many Western females are entitled brats: selfish, promiscuous and possibly the worst thing about America.

This woman’s YouTube video addresses the situation well — to me, anyway.

It’s no longer about “women’s rights.” It’s about “women’s privileges.”

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Ricky Gervais liked my reply to his post:

It’s nice to be recognized by a comic genius.

Twice.

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Quiet Before the Storm

Twas the week before Christmas

and all through the land,

Redsters and Bluesters

were taking a stand …

Before all hell breaks loose

Enjoy the holidays, because next year could make 2024 feel like a bridge tournament.

The election was merely a battle; the war begins next month, methinks.

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Season two of Wednesday will premiere sometime next year. I did a search for information and this photo popped up:

Turns out there is a whole industry dedicated to deep-faking our favorite movies and TV shows. For example, I’ve seen Crocodile Dundee and Alien, but I don’t recall these two scenes:

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This guy Kirby is a great government spokesman for the mysterious-drones issue.

I am being sarcastic.

I mean, at this point does anyone believe a single word out of his mouth?

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If I had to cite a movie that these bizarre drone sightings remind me of, I’d say Netflix’s Leave the World Behind.

That movie was produced by the Obamas.

Just a coincidence?

(Cue Twilight Zone music.)

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I recently got back on Twitter and was quickly bombarded by two types of followers: AI-generated attractive “girls,” and real-life hookers.

Occasionally one of these chicks has an amusing post. Like this one:

Overall, I am happy to be back on the X:

As for the people I reply to, I couldn’t say.

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