The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Last week I wrote about how the Republican Party has attempted to revise the history of the Civil War and is today almost indistinguishable from the Confederates and Dixiecrats. Something else I've observed in the modern-day Republican Party is that, while they'll fight tooth and nail for a fetus to be born, after that you're on your own, sweetheart. While Jesus said to turn the other cheek when confronted with violence, the GOP has essentially contended that we should turn both our cheeks to everyone, regardless of the tone of the confrontation. Terms like collectivism , help , share , aid , unity , and togetherness seem to now be foreign to most Republicans. Not only that, but the GOP seems hellbent on believing everything happens for a reason; we're all where we deserve to be; and no excuse can be valid. Where we were born; who our parents are; what school system we were educated in; these are all irrelevant factors in who we've become today. As the GOP repeat...

Due to a #Restaurants4Sarah tweet of mine, I got mentioned on the Progress Tribune , which can be seen at this link: http://progresstribune.com/12234/sarah-huckabee-sanders-just-got-kick-pants-tweets/ If curious, all my tweets can be read here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki

I was more active this past week with regard to Twitter trending hashtags than I had been in a while. Here are my posts, ordered from the most popular to the least popular (all my tweets can be seen at this site - https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki ): 1) White Supremacist Castle #Restaurants4Sarah 4,799 Likes, 803 Retweets 2) A Cracker Barrel of Lies #Restaurants4Sarah 2,541 Likes, 396 Retweets 3) Waters: "Tell them they're not welcome anymore!" Trumpsters: "That's a threat! She's dangerous!" Trump: "Knock the crap out of 'em!" Trumpsters: "Wow, finally a grown-up in the room! So presidential!" #MaxineWaters 330 Likes, 158 Retweets 4) #SarahHuckabeeSanders gets politely asked to leave a restaurant and then calls on Secret Service to protect her. Does this mean the gay couple who was denied service at a Colorado bakery will receive similar protections? Hmm? 313 Likes, 108 Retweets 5) Kentucky Fried Bullsh*t #R...

Via a new commercial, I keep hearing the phrase, "Third time's a charm." The more I see that commercial and hear said phrase, the more I think, "Yeah, that doesn't make any sense." So, what, after a person has already failed twice, he or she will suddenly get lucky on the third try? In what situations does this happen most frequently? With job interviews, marriage proposals, lottery tickets? Do people actually go into their third attempt thinking, "Hey, the first two times were awful, but I'm due. This is lucky #3!"? Derek Desperate: "Will you marry me?" Nadia Negatory: "No" Derek: "How about now?" Nadia: "No" Derek: "Now?" Nadia: "Yes! I never thought you'd ask!" I don't think so... No, if a person fails at something two times, he or she shouldn't give up. However, no matter what they may want to believe, there's no such thing as the third time being a...

1) Donald Trump has contended he will build a wall between the United States and where? A) Mexico B) Germany C) China D) Legoland 2) When did Hawaii officially become a U.S. state? A) 1959 B) 1969 C) 2008 D) It's not. It's another name for Taiwan. 3) Who won the U.S. Civil War? A) The North B) The South C) The East D) The Bears 4) The slogan "Let's Make America Great Again" was coined by who? A) Ronald Reagan B) Abraham Lincoln C) Donald Trump D) Cheech & Chong after dying of dysentery in  The Oregon Trail 5) Who did Donald Trump refer to as "little rocket man"? A) Kim Jong Un B) Barack Obama C) Justin Trudeau D) An Elton John bobblehead 6) "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" appears in what document? A) The Declaration of Independence B) The Constitution C)  The Star-Spangled Banner D) A Will Smith movie by the same name but with a different spelling 7) How many amendments are in the U.S. Consti...

It was September 11th, 2001. We were a nation under attack, looking amongst our brothers and sisters, searching for answers. Soon we were told who the enemy was and how we were to stand together against this common foe. Hands were held. Flags were raised. Tears were shared. Songs were sung. Regardless of whether we were men or women, black or white, Christian or Muslim, gay or straight, Republican or Democrat, we were Americans. As we went to war, our president told us, "You're either with us or you're against us." There was no middle ground to be had. Dissenters were deemed traitors, as 90% were unified in trusting the president's call to action. Anti-civil rights legislation was passed in the name of security. Protesters were still scorned. Liberty was preached and praised, yet criticized. This all occurred as we were being told the attacks were due to envy of our way of life, a way to disrupt our freedoms. Fast-forward to 17 years later. Another president who...

When being interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter , late-night host Jimmy Fallon made it painfully clear that he doesn't know why his now infamous interview with Donald Trump made people angry. In the interview, Fallon said this: "I did not do it to 'normalize' him or to say I believe in his political beliefs or any of that stuff. The criticism I faced just got bigger and out of control. I saw other comedians from other shows making fun of me on Twitter and I go, 'OK, now I'm just gonna get off.' They know the show. I'm just doing five hours a week. I get in at 10 in the morning. I work 'til seven at night and I'm just trying to make a funny show. 'You know the grind and you know me. Of all the people in the world, I'm one of the good people - I mean, really. You don't even know what you're talking about if you say that I'm evil or whatever.' But people just jump on the train, and some people don't even want to hear ...

Democratic California Representative Maxine Waters has come under fire after making the following comments at a weekend rally in Los Angeles: "You think we're rallying now? You ain't seen nothing yet! Already you have members of your Cabinet that are being booed out of restaurants ... protesters taking up at their house saying 'no peace, no sleep.' Let's make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them and you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere. History is not going to be kind to this administration. We want history to record that we stood up, that we pushed back, that we fought and that we did not consider ourselves victims of this president." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has since responded to Ms. Waters' call with this: "In the crucial months ahead, we must...

Due to a #Restaurants4Sarah tweet of mine, I got mentioned in The Palmer Report , which can be seen here: http://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/stunt-sarah-huckabee-sanders-restaurant/11015/ If you'd like to check out the rest of my tweets, you may do so at this link: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki

While it may be hard to believe, the South was once dominated by the Democratic Party. This was until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson and the conservative Dixiecrats left their espoused party for the GOP (Grand Old Party). The electoral map slowly began to reverse itself, as the South went from strong Democratic to strong Republican. Regardless of the party which dominated the region, the South has always been predominantly conservative. Just look at the Civil War and the South's (Confederates') fight for expanded slavery as a prime example. ...and that brings us to today. A lot of people seem to believe that the Donald Trump phenomenon is just an aberration, that his rise within the Republican Party was just a blip on the radar and isn't emblematic of the GOP of today. I'm sorry to have to say this, but he didn't happen overnight. This has been a long time coming.  There's a reason why a large majority of...

The Top Ten Worst Branding Changes (besides IHOP to IHOb) 10. KFC: Good Finger Lickin' 9. Papa John's: Papa John's: Bitter ingredients. Bitter pizza. Papa John's. 8. Rolaids: How do you spell  relief' ? Can you use that in a sentence? What's the term's origin? Could you say the word again? 7. Allstate: You're in good reach-arounds with Allstate. 6. United: Getting Friendly in the Skies 5. Packard: Ask the Only Man Who Owns One 4. McDonald's: You deserve a break today. How's that right arm lookin'? 3. Colt 45: It Works Every Time Some of the Time. 2. Coca Cola: It's the real thing...this time... 1. (drumroll) Motel 6: We'll leave a light on for you...and watch...

I don't normally get personal with my writings, but as my first child was born 6.5 weeks ago and Father's Day was celebrated last Sunday, I thought I'd provide just a few random comments on what I've learned to this point. Breastfeeding in public may be uncomfortable, but is essential The debate has grown on the morality of breastfeeding in public in recent years. Well, 6.5 weeks in, I can tell you there really is nothing to debate. While watching mothers breastfeed their babies in public might be uncomfortable to some of us outsiders, it's essential. What are mothers supposed to do, just stay at home all day every day? What are babies supposed to do? Refrain from exhibiting any signs of hunger while outside of the home? Yeah, good luck with that! Trust me, while seeing women publicly breastfeed may not be comfortable for you, it's far less uncomfortable than the alternative option - a baby constantly crying harder than a man losing a bet on Super Bowl Sunday...

It seems the satirical site The Onion is facing a slow-down in readership, has blamed Facebook for it, and is responding by going social. At least, that's what the site says it's doing, over and over and over again. The Onion  isn't going social. It's just pretending to do so to continue poking fun at Facebook. There's even a make-believe form you can fill out to create an account. It, of course, gets rejected. The following articles regarding the non-existent social site have been posted at The Onion in the past few days: - "Onion Employees Return To Mundane Lives Of Writing Game-Changing News Coverage Read By Billions Across Globe" - "25 Million Onion Social Users Run Into Glorious Flames Of Headquarters In Hopes Of Using Website One Last Time" - "Onion Social CEO Vaporized By Wall Of Light While Trying To Stop Algorithm From Self-Destructing" - "'Humanity Deserves To Live In Darkness,' Onion Social Algorithm...

Not long ago, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple due to his religious beliefs. In the past 24 hours, it was reported that Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a Virginia restaurant due to her affiliation with the Trump administration. Since that time, members on Yelp , who have never experienced the restaurant, posted reviews based on their political beliefs. My question to all the before-mentioned parties is, is this really the America we want to be living in? I don't think the Supreme Court realizes what a mess they may have made with their bakery ruling. Can we now just refuse service to any person we may not agree with in one area or another? The Constitution may allow us to believe as we so choose, but the law is supposed to successfully counter any prejudices we may have and provide equality to all as a result. The baker may not personally agree with the morality of gay marriage, and ...

At the 2016 Democratic National Convention (DNC), then First Lady Michelle Obama passionately told supporters, "When they go low, we go high!" "They," in this case, are Republicans. While I'll be the first to admit it's not always easy to adhere to Ms. Obama's calling, there are times it does a grave disservice to our party and cause when we don't. The most recent such case is with regard to progressives focusing their time, with regard to the immigration debate, on insulting individuals like Melania, Vanessa, and Barron Trump. First Lady Melania Trump recently released a statement where she said she "hates to see children separated from their families." When visiting with the king and queen of Spain, she added she enjoyed "focusing on the ways we can positively impact children." Due to these comments, she received the following responses, among others: - "Yeah, give that a good, hard think. What could you do......?...

It's pretty amazing to stand back and think about how differently Republican congresspeople, media personalities, and voters have treated the past two presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Their knack for the double-standard is really quite incredible. Let's look at the long laundry list of examples: - They criticized Obama for being a "celebrity." At no time was Obama the centerpiece of a reality television program. Donald Trump was exactly this on The Apprentice . - Even Donald Trump himself poked fun at Obama for reading from a teleprompter. Guess who's also read from a teleprompter since his inauguration? That's right - Donald Trump. - One word: Benghazi. Guess what? A similar ambush occurred under Trump's watch in Niger. - Remember The Donald's critical tweets of then President Obama's golf outings? Well, funny story, Barack Obama didn't finish his 102nd round of golf until his 1,273rd day in office. For Donald Trump, that f...

It's been a fairly uneventful week on the trending-Twitter-hashtag front for me, but I thought I'd share what I posted anyway. Here are my tweets, ordered from the most to the least popular (all my tweets can be viewed here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki) : 1) Headline: "Trump says he's directing Pentagon to create a new 'space force'" If this results in Trump going to and finding a new home in space, I'm all for it. #SpaceForce 111 Likes, 23 Retweets 2) It can't be any coincidence that Donald Trump's birthday coincides with #NationalBourbonDay, for whenever I'm reminded of Trump being president, I'm tempted to drink bourbon. 51 Likes, 15 Retweets 3) Yes, Trump is lying whenever he moves his lips, but the guy is such a chronic liar, he's found a way to constantly lie even when he's not speaking. Whether he's speaking, sleeping, praying, or golfing, he's lying. #TrumpisLying 44 Likes, 9 Retweets 4) Don...

"We believe the children are our future Detain them well and lock them in cages Show them all the beauty they miss outside Give them a sense of spite To make them hate easier Let their crying remind us of the crisis actors we see Everybody's searching for a scapegoat People need someone to look down to We always find someone to fulfill those needs No responsibility So we learned to deny reality We decided long ago, not to think about anyone's problems If we lie, if we repeat The gullible will believe No matter how much we deceive We will celebrate victory Because the greatest fraud of all Is happening to you We found the greatest fraud of all Inside of us The greatest fraud of all Was easy to achieve Spouting lies for greed It is the greatest fraud of all We believe the children are our future Detain them well and lock them in cages Show them all the beauty they miss outside Give them a sense of spite To make them hate easier Let their cryin...

On a recent episode of the Fox News show The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton , conservative commentator and inspirer of the creatures in Alien  - Ann Coulter - said this: "They (Republicans) were exposed as a 'uniparty,' indistinguishable from the Democrats..." Let's break down just how similar the parties are: - Democrats believe in women's reproductive rights; Republicans don't. - Democrats believe in equal pay for equal work; Republicans don't. - Democrats believe in immigration reform and protecting DREAMers; Republicans don't. - Democrats believe in building from the bottom up; Republicans believe in trickle-down economics. - Democrats believe in tax reform benefitting the middle- and lower-classes at the expense of the upper-class; Republicans believe in tax reform benefitting the upper-class at the expense of the middle- and lower-classes. - Democrats believe in expanding education; Republicans believe in removing education...

I've always found it ironically comical that the Republican Party brands itself as the party of Christianity/God, high morals/ethics, family values, etc., for their actions and devolving beliefs run directly contrary to those very labels. Take the latest such poll to showcase this. It was conducted by The Daily Beast/IPSOS  and revolves around the Trump administration's zero-tolerance immigration policy. In the survey, participants were to mark their approval or disapproval based on this statement: "It is appropriate to separate undocumented immigrant parents from their children when they cross the border in order to discourage others from crossing the border illegally." Here's how some of the results broke down: Approval Overall: 27% (56% disapproval) Democrats: 14% Independents: 29% Republicans: 46% (32% disapproval) That's right; Republicans scored at a net +14%, while the general population scored at a net -29%, a difference of a whopping 43 ...

Both Samuel L. Jackson and Donald Trump Jr. have received backlash for recent social media posts, but said backlash is unwarranted, in my opinion. In Jackson's case, he tweeted the following post, which included a picture of "After Dick Mints": "Must have been a party at The White House, Mitch, Paul, Rudy & others were spotted wearing knee pads & carrying these lined up outside." The post insinuates Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Rudy Giuliani, and others were getting ready to suck President Trump's little Trump. Due to this, several responders alleged Jackson of homophobia. I disagree with this assertion. To my knowledge, the post had nothing to do with homosexuality and the morality of it. What it did have to do with was men willing to do anything for power. Jackson wasn't saying that McConnell, Ryan, Giuliani, and others were acting immorally due to performing a sexual act on a member of the same sex. He was saying the before-mentioned po...

I'd say roughly 9 out of 10 times, I think Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checker Politifact gets their grades right. When they get something wrong, though, they should be called out like everyone else. That's the case with a very recent article of theirs, written by Amy Sherman and titled "Story says poll shows Trump tied to Obama at same point in presidency." The fact-check is actually in response to an article posted at the far-right website, The Gateway Pundit , where the headline reads, "Trump approval rating better than Obama and Reagan at same point in their presidencies." The article then goes on to cherry-pick two conservative-leaning pollsters, Rasmussen and Fox News. To my surprise, Politifact then went on to give this claim a "Mostly True" grade. If one were to check the polling breakdown courtesy of RealClearPolitics , they'd quickly see Politifact was off with this grade. At this point in Barack Obama's first term as presid...

Just recently, Republican Senator from Tennessee, Bob Corker, said this regarding his party and its current leader: "We are in a strange place. It's almost, it's becoming a cultish thing, isn't it? It's not a good place for any party to end up with a cult-like situation as it relates to a president that happens to be of, purportedly, of the same party." Just how accurate is Senator Corker's claim? Let's check, shall we? According to the Cult Education Institute , there are ten warning signs to look out for with regard to the behavior of a potential cult leader and potential cult followers. Let's start with the former. Ten warning signs of a potentially unsafe group/leader. 1. Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability. I'd say Trump's intent is authoritarianism, but his execution often falls short of that. The man can't seem to hold himself accountable for anything, however. So, since I believe this to be 3/...

Due to a #TrumpKimSummit tweet of mine, I got mentioned in the Hinterland Gazette : http://hinterlandgazette.com/2018/06/chinese-gloating-trumps-huge-concession-north-korea-end-us-south-korea-war-games.html If curious, you can find all of my other tweets at this link: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki

I had some fun with the #TrumpKimSummit trending hashtag on Twitter over the past couple of days. Here are my tweets, ordered from the most popular to the least popular (all my posts can be seen here - https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki ): 1) Apparently, Trump's "Art of the Deal" is this: 1) Give up a lot 2) Receive nothing 3) Pretend it's Opposite Day 4) Repeat these inaccurate claims ad nauseum 5) Have idiots believe you #TrumpKimSummit 1,043 Likes, 477 Retweets 2) Trumpsters: "Liberals just don't get how great this deal is!" What's it do? "Bring world peace!" How? "Somehow!" By when? "Sometime!" What's specifically in the deal? "Things!" Such as? "Good things!" Ah, that explains it... #TrumpKimSummit 228 Likes, 107 Retweets 3) Trump as a North Korea tour guide: "To your right are some beaches, just fantastic beaches. Then we got great hotels in front of us. Oh, a...

I often times find myself disagreeing with fellow progressives on the reporting of news or opinions I (we) may not personally like. If I report a story about the National Rifle Association (NRA), Fox News, Sean Hannity, or the Tea Party, I am often times greeted with comments like, "Don't give them a voice," "You're only helping their cause by posting that," or "Why should I care?"  These comments rub me the wrong way, because no matter what our beliefs or how strong they are, it does us no good to live in a little information bubble or to turn a blind eye as others do similarly. The NRA is a powerful organization. Whether I post a story about them or not, they're not going to just go away. So what does it hurt to try and hold them accountable? ...to spread the full truth about their rhetoric and practices? ...to combat the extremely slanted and partisan bent the group tends to use to report their news ? How can inaccurate claims be quashed ...

Here are my Twitter hashtags for the week. I've ordered them from the most popular to the least popular (all my tweets can be seen here - https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki ): 1) #LarryKudlow: "Justin Trudeau stabbed us in the back!" Even if that were true, it's only figurative. When Donald Trump talked about grabbing women by the pu*sy, it was literal. 106 Likes, 36 Retweets 2) How Trump probably sings #GodBlessAmerica: God bless 'Murica, Land that I sold, Stand behind her, And grab her, On a bus with a guy I call Shrub, From the Kremlin, To St. Basil's Cathedral, To that hotel room, Golden showers in droves, God bless 'Murica, My home away from home. 97 Likes, 35 Retweets 3) Remember that time when we were debating whether or not Obama was going to pardon himself? Oh, that's right; that never happened... #FromBarackToCrook 51 Likes, 10 Retweets 4) Trump: "The Eagles can't run to the locker room here at the White Ho...

For as much as I'd like to do so, it's incredibly difficult to come up with any kind of rational argument that Michael Jordan wasn't the greatest player in the history of the NBA. The player which generates the most comparisons is LeBron James. Where James comes up short in the minds of most analysts is his Finals record. While Jordan was a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals, James is only 3-6. If we stand back and look at the bigger picture, however, what does James's Finals record truly say about him and is there a legitimate argument to be made that he is Jordan's equal or even superior to the former Chicago Bulls legend? While I don't like playing the what-ifs hypothetical card, I do think it's important to look at the full context of situations. In Michael Jordan's six trips to the NBA Finals, his teams were favored to win each and every one. So, in the eyes of oddsmakers, his teams equaled their expectations. In LeBron James's nine trips to the Fi...

NRA spokesperson and woman most likely to be voted He-Babe of the Year by conservatives - Dana Loesch - just said the following about the recent Supreme Court Colorado bakery decision on her show, Relentless : "This is clearly a victory for Jack Phillips (the baker). The desire of really big, statist government progressives to force people to engage in expression, of course this whole bake the cake thing is far from over. But surprisingly, over in California, a judge just ruled that baker Cathy Miller, yet another baker, was under no obligation to make a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage. Now in the ruling, Kern County Superior Court Judge David Lampe said, quote, 'The right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment outweighs the State's interest in securing a freely accessible marketplace,' and 'the right of freedom of thought guaranteed by the First Amendment includes the right to speak, the right to refrain from speaking, and sometimes the most profoun...