Month: June 2017

In Defense Of MTV News (Sorta)

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

So, MTV News is the latest news organization to “pivot” to video as an excuse to, well, lay people off. While I do believe that video is the future of online news, I am doubtful that it will be as successful in the near term as maybe people would hope.

There is a real need for good text journalism online and no amount of pivoting to video is going to change that. I might suggest doing video journalism in conjunction with text, but not as a replacement for it. Regardless, I think in the end all of this will be quaint 20 years from now when we’re using our iVizors to interact with AR and VR newscasts.

So, in that respects, MTV News — and others — are ahead of the curve. Though it’s amusing that Nick Denton about five or so years ago was babbling about video journalism…and then never delivered. That’s just weird. Don’t know what’s up with that.

But we’ll see. We’ll see how things work out, I gues.

Korean War 2.0: DPRK, TrumpRussia, Ukraine & A Possible WWIII

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

Something’s up. My spidy senses are tingling. I have grown very jaded and cynical about anything having to do with North Korea, but the curious statements coming out of the Trump Administration the last few days about the DPRK make me scratch my head a little bit.

I see the North Korea situation as a major gimme for Trump. It’s his huge backup fail safe should the TrumpRussia problem finally go China Syndrome and look like it’s going to end his administration. It may very well be that nothing happens. It could be that Trump will leave office in four to eight years and the DPRK will still be there and this long-term problem we have with them will be kicked down the road for another long bit.

Or…the Trump Administration is singling that they’re going to strike the DPRK in some way and let the chips fall where they will. Now, remember, the DPRK is very unpredictable and they very much want to survive, so the States might do some limited bombing and, well, nothing might happen.

Or, all hell will break loose and 500,000 people in Seoul and beyond might die in the first month of the conflict. Such an enormous regional war would have a dynamic all its own and some pretty amazing things might happen. It doesn’t take too much to think maybe Trump might use the DPRK to wag the dog. He might attack the North Koreans, sit back for them to freak out and in the ensuing chaos use pardon the hell out of people left and right and maybe even fire Bob Mueller along the way. There simply would be so much going on in Washington D.C. and beyond that the press wouldn’t be able to keep up. Add to this the possibility that Trump doing this might be seen by Russia as a green light to attack Ukraine in a big way — not to mention whatever Iran might cook up — and you have the makings of something that would be marketed by the American press as WWIII.

Or not. I am so jaded that I have a feeling the whole kick-the-can-down-the-alley option is what is going to happen with the DPRK. It would be so callus, so transparent if Trump wagged the dog with the DPRK at this point that, well, I don’t quite know what to think of that prospect. That Trump would use the potential death of half a million people — at least — as political cover to save his own presidency kind of blows my mind. But it would make a lot of sense. By the time the States finally got around to winning the war in three to six months, TrumpRussia would be a forgotten scandal and Trump would be in a strong position to win the mid-terms and potentially a second term.

But so much could go wrong with a war with the DPRK that I just don’t know. I just don’t know if I’m reading too much into all of this or what. I can’t get a handle on it. I think everything is going to work itself out and nothing is going to happen. The alternative is to horrible and bloody to brood on for too long. I mean, the Chinese and the Russians could get involved, the DPRK could attempt to bomb Japan. Or they could attempt to nuke Seoul in some sort of blackmail situation. Wars are easily started and difficult to end as the old adage goes and Korean War 2.0 would be no different.

Only time will tell, I guess.

Ok, Intelligence Community: You Say, ‘Time To Buy Popcorn’….But Why?

By Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

So, all these people seemingly in the know are atwitter on Twitter about Something Big about to come out. Something big enough that we should all buy some popcorn to enjoy it with. It seems a lot of people know about it from a wide spectrum of types of people because people on both the Left and the Right are kinda beginning to freak out.

That makes me believe that either there’s something floating around in secret that’s about to pop out, the intelligence community knows something we don’t, or some reporters are about to break a big, big story. What this super-secret information could be, however, remains a mystery.

I’m thinking it has something to do with TrumpRussia. If I got way too excited, I would go so far as to say it was the notorious “pee tape.” But, more likely it’s something that can easily be rationalized out of existence by the Sean Hannnity’s of the world. Or not even rationalized out of existence, just spun so hard that they will collectively shrug their shoulders and tell us it’s both fake news and no big deal even if it was true.

Regardless, it seems as though both sides know about it and are prepping their respective audiences for it to drop and drop soon. I have no idea how “soon” it is or how big it is. But it’s coming. It will be interesting to see how entertaining and important it actually turns out to be.

Let’s Talk Trump, Collusion & What Happens Next For The Resistance

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

It pains me to say this, but the Right is, in real time and right in front of our eyes, processing the fact that Trump probably really did collude with the Russians and by the time the process is over they will say they’re cool with it and we should just move on.

Let that sink in for a moment.

So, if you think that when and if collusion on the part of Trump and or his “satellites” is proven that we’re all going to hold hands and collectively get rid of Trump, you got another thing coming. There won’t even be a moment of silence on the part of assholes like Sean Hannity. They won’t even skip a beat. They will have their talking points prepared, they will rationalize it out of existence and for them, at least, there won’t even be a hiccup.

Let that get through your haze of fury when it is one day — maybe sooner than you think! — proven that Trump is, relative to previous standards of such things a fucking traitor. The Vichy Republicans are going to suck Trump’s treasonous cock so hard that they’re going to gag. All they care about is power. All they care about is winning the argument of the moment. They don’t care about the country, they don’t care about you and your patriotic feelings. They just care about keeping Trump president for as long as possible.

I used to think that there would be the Pence Pivot if Trump was proven to be a traitor. But given what’s going on with the Right right now, that won’t even happen. They’re going to stick with Trump until the sun burns out. And, given the evils of gerrymandering, it’s possible nothing will ever happen to Trump. He will not only survive, but prosper.

He will prosper because people like me will waste months of our time being furious about Trump’s collusion as he pushes through insane Federal judges, even more insane legislation and executive orders. So, really, we’re fucked. The only fucking thing that’s going to save our sorry asses is some sort of magical Blue Wave in 2018. Think of all the horrific damage Trump and his ilk can do to the nation between now and — at the earliest 2019. That’s only if we’re able, as The Resistance, to overcome some big hurdles.

And it’s very possible that should we manage to get anywhere close to impeaching and convicting Trump that the real crazies will pop out of the woodwork, go mainstream and demand a few states leave the Union. I’m being completely serious. It’s possible that, like President James Buchanan, Trump’s the only thing stopping a real secessionist movement from happening now instead of later. In hindsight, just like the late 1850s, we will say that the late 2010s were obviously the moment in time when the nation was about to tear itself apart, it was just a matter of the conditions being right.

So, for the duration we are stuck with Trumplandia. We live in a dystopian present. Nothing is going to happen. And it’s very likely possible that it could be four or six or maybe never before Trump is impeached and convicted. And if he is, there could be consquences far beyond what we ever imagined.

I don’t have much hope in the short term. We’re fucked. Even if there is proof that Trump colluded in some way, the Right will have already processed it and moved on to something else. This is not fiction, this is reality. This is what’s really going on in America right now and there doesn’t seem to be much we can do about it for the time being. I would thus suggest we all take a deep breath and figure out ways to engage, not rage.

There doesn’t seem to be much other course of action for the time being.

Talk To Me Internet: Sean Hannity Is An Ass, Update On My Novel, Other Stuff

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

This is sort of blah. It is what is it is. Meh.

Sean Hannity, Fuck Boi

By Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

I get it, it’s Sean Hannity’s thing to piss people like me off. But sometimes he gets under my skin so much that I get hives. Oh, how I wish he would shut the fuck up. He’s such a fuck boi. What an asshole. He’s so fucking smug and so unwilling to admit that Trump isn’t infallible that even if Trump murdered someone, Hannity would figure some reason why he was cool with it.

The world is going to hell in a bucket. It’s horrible. And Hannity seems content with pouring gas on the flames. He has got to be the worst of the worst on FOX News. Fuck that guy.

Wayward Sisters, Part In Peace, Redux: What If You Held A Civil War & Nobody Came?

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

Oh boy. All signs are pointing towards the dissolution of the American Union within, say, 10 years. No later than maybe 2025. Whenever we have another center-Left president, I’d say.

But the question is, is there any center left to hold? Is is possible that we’d go the route of the Soviet Union and split into our individual tribes peacefully? Is there really anything, at this point, that would cause the central government to attempt to keep states that want to leave, like, say, Texas or California, from doing so?

Is it possible that there would be a “wayward sisters, part in peace” movement like there was in 1860? Is it possible that we’ll wake up and the South will have risen again and no one will give a shit? I find that specifically, to be kind of doubtful because of race, if nothing else, but it’s possible that other, less complicated states may bolt the Union successfully.

It seems to me that the upper West is the most likely to leave the Union en masse because there’s not the race issue. But I could also see center-Left “Blue” states leaving and joining Canada, maybe. A United States of Canada? Regardless, unless we come up with some leadership, the United States looks pretty finished.

Only time will tell.

Holy Fraholies, If The National Enquirer Buys Time Inc, We’re Fucked

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

There’s talk on Twitter that the publisher of The National Enquirer — Donald Trump’s favorite tabloid — may buy the cash strapped Time Inc. That would be fucking crazy, brah. It would be insane. Time would be turned into a mouthpiece for Trumplandia. It would be insane and there would be no going back.

The infection that is Trumplandia would grow and grow. We would have to deal with something as otherwise respected as Time Magazine and its many properties kowtowing to King Trump. It would be surreal. I really hope it doesn’t happen, but in today’s world it seems the worst can, and will, happen at any point.

If Time falls to Trumplandia, then no one is safe.

Could someone buying The New York Times be far behind?

‘Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick….?’ What Gives, Benjamin Wittes?

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

Is something big about to drop today, or nah? Benjamin Wittes, someone in the know, as they say, is being rather coy with a ticking tweet. It’s all very frustrating. What could that possibly mean? Is it something big-good like Jim Comey has tapes that back him up or something big-bad like Justice Kennedy retiring?

It’s all very frustrating.

I want answers, I need answer.

Maybe it’ll happen today, maybe it won’t.

We’ll see, I guess.

If Justice Kennedy Retires Today, Whoa Buddy

by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls

If Justice Anthony Kennedy retires today from the Supreme Court, then abortion will be effectively illegal within 18 months. Or maybe not illegal totally, but Roe V. Wade will quickly be overturned once Trump appoints his replacement. The issue will be thrown to the states — where I think it should be in the first place — and there will be mass political chaos for a little while as the issue becomes a political, not legal one.

All I really worry about, though, is the fate of birth control in general. I am of the opinion that abortion is a fire break against those who would outlaw birth control for even married people. That will become a very real possibility simple because the Right will have to find something new to use to fund raise.

But we’ll see.

This doesn’t even take into consideration the insane people that Trump is appointing to the Federal bench just in general. We’re entering dark times. Very dark indeed. There is a lot of damage that Trump can do in two years. We have about two years before any possible “Blue Wave” makes it more difficult for the Right to cram through insane people on the judiciary.