Yikes is right!

…seems ‘ole 45™ fell victim – once again – to self-destructive impulses, opting to veer wildly off script while ranting in Arizona and Nevada, (at least according to reports published by the New York Times here, here and here), earlier this week.

The Washington Post asserts even diehard Republican voters are suffering a severe bout of whiplash because of ‘ole 45’s™ oafish attempts to tailor his message to his audience, albeit with limited success. Even audience enthusiam appeared to wane on Tuesday night while ‘ole 45™ droned on and on and on and on…

…and organizations are abandoning Mar-a-Lago in droves, delivering what may be the most satisfying blow – right to the pocketbook of ‘ole 45™ himself! :-)

Link to .PDF version of today’s poster here.

…a.k.a. “upspeak“, “uptalk”, high rising terminal (HRT), high rising intonation (HRI) or Australian question intonation (AQI).

I don’t care what you call it, I just want it to stop!

Sure, gallons of ink have been spilled lamenting the audible plague descended upon lowly speakers of the Queen’s English over the past 25 years, but…

While the exact origins remain somewhat murky, and there’s some evidence of healthy debate surrounding a precise definition, it’s safe to say upspeak is now a world-wide epidemic, with no apparent cure in sight. In fact, the afflicted rationalize clinging to their irritating pattern of tonal inflection by claiming demands to stop will stunt their so-called “emotional range”.

Are you kidding me? Am I to believe precious “snowflakes” [sorry, I couldn’t resist] are that desperate about being perceived as “authentic” [sorry, I couldn’t resist] they’ll mindlessly – and I do mean mindlessly – adopt an absurd style of speaking without so much as a second thought?

So, if you stumble upon someone prattling on in full-tilt upspeak/uptalk/HRT/HRI/AQI mode, politely get the speaker’s attention, wait for them to pause, then gently encourage them to STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW! DO YOU HEAR ME? STOP!

On Thursday, the New York Times published an opinion piece written by Carl Hulse where he mused about the merits of the White House feuding with the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell. Surprise! Hulse failed to come up with an explanation…
Photo Credit: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Earlier today, Washington Post writer Greg Sargent outlined an approach McConnell might consider to exact his revenge for the oh-so-public flogging he’s been subjected to of late – McConnell could “fix” the ACA with the help of Democrats in the Senate!
Photo Credit: Reuters

Pop Quiz:
What’s being depicted in these images?

a) Estimate of each other’s IQ.
b) Regard for their so-called “base”.
c) Degree to which they trust one another.
d) Size of their erection.
e) All of the above.

[…excerpted from Macbeth 5.5.26-30…]

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

On Tuesday, the president* decided to threaten North Korea with what one could only interpret as nuclear annihilation. Wow, mutually-assured destruction on the table barely 200 days into this travesty called the Trump administration. Sad. Real. Sad.

Hey you, yeah Donny Dipstick™, sure, we all know how you just love to talk tough, but it’s time to shove your tiny, little d*ck back in your pants, zip up and then go back to cheating at golf, you pathetic, preening, narcissistic a**hole…

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson feebly attempted to quell fears by telling Americans to get a good night’s sleep. Yeah, right, we’ve seen this one before… “Move along! Nothing to see here folks, nothing to see. Move along!”

Yet Republican members of Congress continue to whine about the Faustian bargain they made last summer, (opting to support the singularly most unqualified presidential* candidate in the nation’s history), claiming the present-day legislative stand-still “…is not our fault!” when, in fact, it most assuredly is!

Me? Well, I won’t be sleeping well. Nope, not at all. Lose lots of sleep. You should too.