The Grouchy Editor

China apparently believes we are a nation of idiots. Just mail a package of seeds to an American, he will mindlessly plant them in his backyard and – presto! – you’re not growing carrots; you’re growing biological destruction.

That’s much more efficient for China than, say, exporting something like the Wuhan Flu, which tends to infect your own citizens.

Speaking of China … I’m sorry, but Mark Cuban and his fellow NBA owners need to make a choice: Either they are patriotic Americans, or they are in bed with China. Can’t be both.

I’d say more on this topic, but it’s Saturday and right now I have to go plant some seeds.

**

Jim Jordan – where to begin with this guy? At times, he seems quite impressive. Like when he went after Saint Fauci, who seems hellbent on currying favor with Hollywood, sports fans, and liberals in general. I also thought Jordan was spot-on during the Trump impeachment.

But Jordan was exposed as a sputtering hypocrite on Tucker Carlson’s show a few days ago, in which he repeatedly dodged questions about Big Tech’s influence over the upcoming election.

Jordan is big on expressing outrage. Problem is, that’s our job, not his. Jordan wasn’t elected to whine and complain about Big Tech; he was elected to actually do something.

Has he, too, been bought off?

**

**

Ben Jealous

Favorite Name of the Week: Ben Jealous

I wonder how often this guy has pissed people off when, during introductions, he extends his hand and says “Ben Jealous?”

**

Dinkle vs. King

**

Literally.

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

I tried to watch a baseball game and wound up feeling like Michael Douglas in 1993’s Falling Down, in which his working-stiff character no longer recognizes his own country. In my case, I no longer recognized America’s pastime.

Not only were the “fans” in the stands ridiculous-looking cardboard cutouts, but for some reason the announcers were speaking Spanish. All of that on top of Major League Baseball’s decision to get all political and … well, maybe it’s time I moved to a tiny cabin in the mountains of Wyoming. Michael Douglas could relate.

***

I watched a video last night that posed a familiar question: “Why do most Hollywood movies suck?” The answer was also familiar: Hollywood is first and foremost a business, and so the stories we get are all market-tested to ensure studios get the most bang for their (big) bucks.

Intelligent, dialogue- and character-driven narratives don’t translate well overseas, and so we have a glut of special-effects-heavy comic-book movies that play well in China. Quality stories have been exiled to the land of cheap indies and to streaming TV.

OK, but I have another question: Why are so many of the “good” shows such downers? In the past, Hollywood routinely cranked out product that was smart and – gasp! – uplifting. Not so much anymore. Today, even the comedies are cynical and snark-filled, even mean-spirited.

***

I’ve been watching The Twelve on Netflix. It’s a drama from Belgium about a jury charged with determining the guilt or innocence of a woman accused of two murders. It’s not bad, but it’s a bit bloated; I began to grow impatient with all of the subplots by about episode 7. Just resolve the mystery already, I’m thinking.

But I hope we can all agree that actress Charlotte De Bruyne looks mighty fine — front and back (below).

***

Speaking of ass, it had been awhile since Fox News entertained us with a sex scandal. But last week we learned that Ed Henry, of all people, got canned for sexual shenanigans with a co-worker named Jennifer Eckhart (above). Apparently, Eckhart wound up handcuffed to a bed while naughty Ed did all sorts of things to her. She claims this bedroom play was non-consensual.

Until this scandal, Ed was pitched to the public as the ultimate nice guy, a dutiful sibling who selflessly gave part of his liver to his sister, who was in need of a transplant.

What a swell guy — or so I thought. Then I learned that Ed also ran into trouble in 2016 when he got involved with a Las Vegas stripper.

Sounds like Ed might have given away the wrong organ.

***

I need to do a better job of monitoring the porn-star world. Someone named Mia Khalifa was in the news this week, but I had never heard of her. Apparently, she is upset that her porn background is hurting her goal of transitioning to mainstream acting work, while men face no such stigma.

Mia is also warning young women to stay away from the porn industry, which she says is toxic. Below, Lebanese-American Mia in one of her porn shoots.

She looks like she’s having a miserable time, doesn’t she?

***

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

Five years ago, I was a news junkie whose typical daily diet looked something like this:

I am still a news junkie, but today my daily diet looks more like this:

So, what happened to me? As the great political pundit Roseanne Barr famously explained to Jimmy Kimmel: “I’m still the same; you all moved.” Gradually, inexorably, my preferred news sources went off the far-left deep end.

I don’t know if Trump Derangement Syndrome was the cause of this leftward lurch, or if it was simply inevitable, but I can no longer stomach former favorites like Rachel Maddow and the HuffPost.

Tucker Carlson, Tim Pool, and conservative Web sites have their biases, of course, and I don’t always agree with them. And it’s hard to overlook the clown-like excesses of the New York Post (see above).

But they are not insane (see below).

**

We hear a lot about the culture war between big cities (predominately liberal) and rural America (Trump country). But I suspect the real battle will be between big cities and the suburbs.

It’s one thing when Antifa occupies downtown Seattle, but what happens when they try to torch a suburban Applebee’s?

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

We are in the midst of a computer swap.

And so, please forgive us for this week’s lack of content and enjoy this picture of a goat.

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

Cancel culture is clearly Anthony Fremont (above) wishing people into the cornfield in that old episode of The Twilight Zone.

The far left reminds me of nothing so much as spoiled children terrorizing the adults. Do as we say or you will be destroyed.

**

It’s the Fourth of July and all hell might break loose tonight and I’m tired of all the squabbling and fighting and I refuse to do it today so I’m just not going to say anything other than my brief observation above about the “woke” crowd and cancel culture and all of that crap so instead I’m just going to spend the day watching old Columbo episodes.

Besides, this computer is dying and it’s an effing pain in the ass to work on this site.

**

Yes, I realize that King and Rowling both come from humble beginnings. But the problem with both of them, in my humble opinion, is that they’ve spent most of their adult lives in little rooms staring at computer screens.

Or, in King’s case, a typewriter.

**

I dunno. Kind of looks to me like the chick is trying to escape.

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

Dear Black People,

Even you must be amazed at the power of yelling “racism!” at any white person who objects to progressive policies. Celebrities, corporations, politicians of all stripes, the media – all of them are terrified of being called the “r” word.

But come on now. This is getting way out of hand, don’t you think?

**

I’m watching America’s young people tear the country apart and I am thinking: I might have gotten behind some of this when it was “Occupy Wall Street.” You know, when the main villains were the 1 percent, and the goal was payback on the rich.

But now that city streets are turning into Charles Manson’s wet dream, a war between the races … no. Just no. You are not doing it right.

**

I’m not sure how much longer this chaos can go on. The rule of law doesn’t apply – unless it suits you. Democracy doesn’t apply – unless it suits you.

Are those of us who cling to old-fashioned things like the rule of law and democracy just suckers?

**

White people embarrassing themselves

Hard to say who’s more pathetic, miserable-looking Jimmy Fallon bending the knee to the idiot woman pictured above, or Jimmy Kimmel, who has decided to emulate Joe Biden by going into hiding.

*

*

Those are plants? For a moment, I thought it was a gathering of Democrats.

**

I joined Gab some years ago, but it’s disappointing because there are so few members and it has little social clout. I joined Parler the other day, hoping it can succeed where Gab fails. Supposedly, Gab and Parler are censor-free social-media sites, a welcome alternative to the Big Boys.

The problem is the unfettered monopoly enjoyed by evil giants Facebook and Twitter. Congress is afraid to place limitations on Twitter and Facebook, or Congress is simply too corrupt to act.

**

I’ve never read a Harlan Coben book, but I might have to do so. The miniseries based on his novels, while no artistic masterpieces, are always entertaining – no matter which country produces them. I enjoyed Safe and The Stranger, both set in Britain, and now I’m enjoying The Woods (above), which was produced in Poland, of all places. Next up from Coben: The Innocent, set in Madrid.

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)

It sure is easy to react emotionally to all of the bad news these days. I do it myself, daily, whenever I look at Twitter or cable news.

There will be some new outrage — cops, statues, Google, corporate cowardice — and I’ll want to rail at the heavens. Instead, I will retreat to my bathroom, close the door, and yell at the toilet bowl.

This can be problematic, as I live in an apartment and the vents allow my voice to carry to the neighbors upstairs. They must wonder why I harbor such hostility toward my toilet bowl.

At any rate, I’m certain I am not alone. I’m guessing there are millions of relatively quiet Americans who will finally do some big-time venting of their own in November.

**

Can we please stop saying that conservatives hold a 5-4 majority in the Supreme Court?  It should be obvious by now that John Roberts has joined the liberals.

**

This is a little trick used by devious news reporters, mostly in the print media but also by TV and video hacks: When you are writing something and do not particularly want to include one side’s opinion, you wait until deadline looms, then call the person and ask for a comment. You cross your fingers and hope that the person does not actually answer your call, so that you can leave a message.

You wait an hour or so, and then publish/broadcast your story. When you say that so-and-so did not immediately provide comment, what you do not say is that you only gave them an hour to reply.

I know this trick, because I would occasionally use it myself, back in my misbegotten youth when I was a (gulp) newspaper reporter.

**

Terrible Thing to Admit, But True:

I will be watching the Trump rally tonight not because I expect anything new from Trump, but rather to see what kind of circus develops in Tulsa.

**

© 2010-2026 grouchyeditor.com (text only)