Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

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Random notes: July 12, 2026.

Sunday, July 12th, 2026

A catch-all for several things:

Happy 46th anniversary of Disco Demolition Night! I think I may have used this before, but it has been a minute I believe:

Obit watch: Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina). NYT. WP (archived). Lawrence.

You know, for a movie that is often called one of the worst movies to win the Academy Award for Best Picture1…”The Greatest Show On Earth” is actually pretty swell. Is it better than “High Noon”? I don’t know that you can make a head-to-head comparison, but I thought “Show” was much more fun. And sometimes that’s what you want out of a movie: fun. (And I say this as a person with conflicted views about circuses.)

While we were watching it, I mentioned that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus had gone out of business in 2017. I went to double-check my dates…and ran into an interesting philosophical question.

While RB&BB closed in 2017, they restarted in 2023 according to Wikipedia. But: the new shows do not have clowns, animals, or a ringmaster.

Which raises the question: if you don’t have animals, clowns, or a ringmaster, are you still Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus? Heck, are you even still a circus at all?

The long version of the Lucille Ball story from IMDB.

We all know that Jimmy Stewart was one of the greats, but he’s brilliant in this. Especially since he spends the entire film in clown makeup, for reasons.

And how many movies can you think of that have a love…pentagon? Brad is in love with Holly, who loves him. But she takes up with The Great Sebastian, who returns her affections (though, honestly, it seems like The Great Sebastian would return the affections of anything female). He also has a past with Angel, who also falls for Brad, but is claimed by the pathologically jealous elephant trainer Klaus. (I wonder if this is patient zero for the evil elephant trainer in fiction. See also.)

This film is listed among The 100 Most Amusingly Bad Moves Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson’s book “The Official Razzie® Movie Guide.”

John Wilson should go eat a bowl of something disgusting.

(more…)

Posted in History, Movies, Obits, Politics, Sports | 3 Comments »

Obit watch: June 7, 2026.

Sunday, June 7th, 2026

Bob Packwood, former Senator from Oregon. WP (archived).

He resigned in 1995, before he could get thrown out, due to a sexual harassment scandal.

The case against Mr. Packwood, who had spent nearly half his life in the Senate, unfolded long before the #MeToo movement spurred society to take more seriously allegations of sexual misconduct against high-profile men. An inquiry by the bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Ethics dragged on for more than three years before the committee recommended unanimously that he be expelled.
That recommendation was based in part on Mr. Packwood’s diary, in which he detailed his predatory behavior, including toward women he supervised. “Twenty-two staff members I made love to,” he boasted, “and probably 75 others I’ve had a passionate relationship with.”

…

Shortly after his re-election to a fifth term, The Washington Post reported that he had made uninvited advances toward 10 women, many of whom were on his staff.
“Several said he was abrupt, grabbing them without warning, kissing them forcefully and persisting until they made clear that they were not interested or had pushed him away,” The Post reported.
Before the article was published, Mr. Packwood denied the allegations and refused to cooperate with The Post. Instead, he gave the newspaper embarrassing information about some of the women’s sexual histories to undermine their credibility.

…

But the Ethics Committee’s investigation continued.
As it expanded to include accusations of corruption, Mr. Packwood stonewalled it with legal challenges. In May 1995, though, the committee issued a damning bill of particulars, saying it had “substantial credible evidence” that Mr. Packwood had committed at least 18 sexual assaults between 1969 and 1990.
It also said that he had tampered with evidence by destroying parts of his diary, an incriminating document replete with scenes out of a bodice-ripper.
“If she didn’t want me to feather her nest, why did she come into the Xerox room?” he wrote at one point. “She knew I was copying stuff in there. I had my jacket off and my sleeves rolled up, revealing the well-defined musculature of my sinewy arms, which were always bulging with desire. I know what she wanted.”

Posted in History, Obits, Politics | No Comments »

Obit watch: May 20, 2026.

Wednesday, May 20th, 2026

Barney Frank. WP (archived).

The Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas.

The restaurant blamed major casinos and “corporate greed” for pricing average Americans out of the “quintessential American experience of affordable indulgence” in Las Vegas, it said.
“Our core value, ‘Eat big and laugh loud,’ no longer fits a city peddling $40 ‘artisanal avocado toast,’” the restaurant said.
“The honest, heavy-duty calories that built our reputation are now considered gauche by a city that has excluded the middle class and lost its swagger in the process.”

Lawrence sent over a report from Fox Las Vegas:

Posted in Food, Obits, Politics | 1 Comment »

You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#158 in a series)

Monday, May 11th, 2026

Eileen Wang resigned as mayor of Arcadia, California, today.

She also took a Federal plea deal.

Eileen Wang agreed with prosecutors that she worked with the People’s Republic of China to boost propaganda with a fake news website on US soil between 2020 and 2022. She was elected to Arcadia City Council in November 2022 — the city is located in the San Gabriel Valley within LA County.
Wang, 58, worked with her then fiancé, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, on a web site called “U.S. News Center,” which claimed to be news source for Chinese Americans, according to court documents.
But in reality the pair were carrying out Beijing’s orders through the site.
Wang and Sun “executed directives” from the Chinese government, posting propaganda designed to boost China, all while reporting back to their masters with screenshots showing how many people viewed the stories, according to the plea agreement.

…

Wang pled guilty to the federal charge at her arraignment in downtown Los Angeles on Monday afternoon. She faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

…

Prosecutors in 2024 charged Sun with conspiracy and acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.
Wang said her relationship with Sun ended that year. Her ex-lover also served as campaign manager for her City Council run. The mayor of Arcadia is drawn from the Council on a rotating basis.
Wang tried to distance herself from Sun in 2025, saying she “not responsible for the action of others,” and would not resign from the post she then held on the City Council.
Sun in February was sentenced to four years in federal prison for acting as a covert agent of the PRC.

Here’s an example:

In one case, Wang’s spymaster ordered her to post pre-written news articles, including a PRC official-written essay in the Los Angeles Times, the plea deal states.
“There is no genocide in Xinjiang; there is no such thing as ‘forced labor’ in any production activity, including cotton production. Spreading such rumor is to defame China, destroy Xinjiang’s safety and stability,” wrote Wang’s master, according to the plea agreement.

And maybe there’s not a whole lot of difference between China and Buzzfeed:

In another case, Wang’s PRC boss commended her on page views received by a certain piece of propaganda. Wang wrote back, “Thank you leader.”

Posted in California Über Alles, Law, Politics | 1 Comment »

Obit watch: March 23, 2026.

Monday, March 23rd, 2026

Valerie Perrine, actress. Other credits include “Homicide: Life on the Street”, “Walker, Texas Ranger”, and “W.C. Fields and Me”.

For the historical record: Robert S. Mueller III. WP.

Posted in Law, Movies, Obits, Politics, TV | 2 Comments »

Flaming hyena update.

Wednesday, March 4th, 2026

Misty Roberts, the former mayor of DeRidder, Louisiana: guilty of “carnal knowledge of a juvenile and indecent behavior with a juvenile”.

(Previously on WCD.)

Posted in Law, Politics | Comments Closed

Obit watch: February 17, 2026.

Tuesday, February 17th, 2026

Another one of those “it got busy up in here all of the sudden” days.

Robert Duvall. THR.

Other credits include “T.H.E. Cat”, “The F.B.I.”, and he was the original Frank Burns in “M*A*S*H.”.

Mike the Musicologist tipped me off to this tweet. I can’t find the “embed” function on X, but here’s the long version of the video.

Frederick Wiseman, documentary filmmaker.

His directorial debut, “Titicut Follies” (1967), a harrowing portrait of the Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane in Massachusetts, remains the only film ever banned in the United States for reasons other than obscenity, immorality or national security. (The ban, imposed by Massachusetts on the grounds that the film violated the inmates’ privacy, was lifted in 1991; the film subsequently aired on PBS.)

This may just be a personal reaction, but “Titicut Follies” is the most frightening film I have ever seen in my life. (I actually saw it in a screening at the old Dobie Theater.)

Mr. Wiseman’s approach to his films — shot in what he wryly referred to as “wobblyscope,” thanks to his hand-held camera — was perhaps never better expressed than during a face-off with his fellow documentarian Werner Herzog, onstage at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
Mr. Herzog, who had been espousing a theory of “ecstatic truth” and a willingness to manipulate his nonfiction films to achieve something sublime, confided to the audience that a shot apparently made through a dewdrop in his film “The White Diamond” had actually been made through a leaf to which glycerin had been applied. Asked whether he had ever done anything similar, or would, Mr. Wiseman said he had not, but admitted that he might change a lightbulb if a room seemed too dark.

Jesse Jackson.

Posted in History, Movies, Obits, Politics, Texas Rangers, TV | Comments Closed

You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#157 in a series)

Thursday, January 29th, 2026

Both Bugs and Daffy are wrong. It is forgery season! And what was that about “Forgery is uncommon among the hyenas“?

Sonya Jaquez Lewis was convicted yesterday.

A jury found former [Colorado] state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, a Boulder County Democrat, guilty of four counts — one count of attempting to influence a public servant and three counts of forgery.

Apparently, Colorado has a crime called “attempting to influence a public servant”? I was under the impression that “attempting to influence a public servant”, especially an elected official, falls under the heading of “democracy”. “Forgery”, on the other hand…

Attempting to influence a public servant is the most serious charge Jaquez Lewis was convicted of. It’s a Class 4 felony, punishable by up to six years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Forgery is also a felony, though it’s a lower-level offense and carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison per count.

The former senator got crosswise with the state senate’s Ethics Committee last year. She was accused of “mistreating” some of her aides.

She stepped down when the committee announced that Jaquez Lewis had submitted at least one fabricated letter of support, purported to be from a former aide, to the panel. The aide whose name was on the letter told legislative investigators that she didn’t write it and that she had not been in touch with Jaquez Lewis for roughly a year before the missive was sent.
When confronted, Jaquez Lewis told legislative investigators that she was relaying information she had gathered from conversations with the former aide in years past. The letter, however, appeared on letterhead with the aide’s name on it and was written in the first person.
Prosecutors found that Jaquez Lewis had actually written multiple letters purporting to be from former aides.
During a three-day trial this week, Jaquez Lewis admitted to writing the letters of support. But she denied that they were fabrications, saying they were based either on information that was relayed to her previously and, in one instance, that she misattributed a letter to the wrong former aide.

More from the Denver Post:

Her Senate colleagues convened the ethics committee in January 2025 to investigate a litany of accusations that Jaquez Lewis tried to withhold pay from one aide and used others to perform work around her house. If found to violate Senate rules, Jaquez Lewis could have faced an expulsion vote.

Yeah, don’t mess with people’s pay.

Her attorney, Craig Lewis Truman, emphasized the stress that Jaquez Lewis felt in the Capitol, compounded by an ethics committee that Jaquez Lewis felt was biased against her.
“Do you think she would put it all on the line for a letter to these kangaroo courts? Or was it because she was under the gun?” Truman said to jurors before their deliberations began.

Just leaving this here:

And keeping with our theme for the day:

Separately, Jaquez Lewis last year agreed to pay nearly $3,000 to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office to settle allegations that she violated campaign finance laws. She admitted to failing to report campaign spending on several occasions. She also admitted to using campaign funds to hire a staffer to campaign on behalf of another candidate, which is prohibited.

And, because Lawrence’s happiness is one of the fifteen to thirty-five most important things to me: the Colorado Sun mentions her party affiliation in the subhead and the second paragraph. The Denver Post waits until the third paragraph.

The state supposedly plans to ask for probation. Hattip to Mike the Musicologist again.

Posted in Law, Politics | Comments Closed

You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena! (#156 in a series)

Thursday, January 29th, 2026

It has been a minute since we had one of these, but this one is swell. Hattip to Mike the Musicologist on it.

Ayshia “Ajay” Pittman pled guilty to felony charges yesterday, and resigned from the Oklahoma House of Representatives. This moved fairly quickly: as I understand the story, her plea and resignation came just “hours” after she was charged.

She was charged with three felonies: conspiracy to commit a felony, second-degree forgery, and “violation of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act”. (Trena Byas, an executive assistant, was also charged. As far as I can tell, she has not taken a plea.)

What exactly did she do? Well, she forged a cashier’s check.

Forgery is uncommon among the hyenas, so this would be noteworthy by itself. But that’s not the best part. She forged a cashier’s check…

…and sent it to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.

The background for this is that former rep Pittman has a problem with campaign funds. Specifically, she has a problem with diverting campaign funds for personal use.

The Ethics Commission reached a settlement in 2024 with Pittman over her misuse of campaign funds. Under the 2024 settlement, she was required to reimburse her campaign $17,858 and pay a $17,141 civil penalty to the state.

The Ethics Commission wanted to see proof she was making payments.

Pittman said on a campaign report she had repaid her campaign account $2,500 on Jan. 27, 2025. The investigation found the Jan. 27, 2025, deposit was actually a $2,500 donation from the Osage Nation.

…

According to the filing, Byas — an Executive Assistant in the Oklahoma State Senate and owner of GraphixByUs, Inc. — allegedly received instructions from Pittman to alter an image of a check. Investigators say Byas used a computer to modify the document before sending it back electronically. Records also note that Byas previously worked as an assistant finance manager for Pittman’s mother.

…

Search warrant affidavits from October 2025 outline an alleged scheme in which Pittman provided the Ethics Commission with a fraudulent $2,500 cashier’s check, dated January 27, 2025, from Sovereign Bank, as proof she was making payments toward a $35,000 restitution agreement. Investigators later confirmed Sovereign Bank never issued the check.

Ms. Pittman agreed to a seven year probated sentence, with deferred adjudication. So if she keeps out of trouble, the charges won’t go on her record.

Her resignation was part of her plea deal.
While on probation, she cannot seek state office, cannot work in state government and cannot work for a government contractor. She must make restitution for misuse of campaign funds, with the money going to charity.
Under a separate settlement with the Ethics Commission, she agreed not to run for any state office, city office, county office, school board office “or any other elected position” in Oklahoma for 15 years.

…

Under her new settlement with the Ethics Commission, she must pay what was still owed her campaign − $7,858 − to a non-profit organization. She also still must pay the $17,141 civil penalty.

Posted in Law, Politics | 2 Comments »

Obit watch: January 2, 2026.

Friday, January 2nd, 2026

Back on the train.

Philip Schreier, director of the NRA Museums, passed away on Monday.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Schreier, but by all accounts he was a swell guy.

Throughout his career, Phil was a trusted and respected voice within the firearms community. He became the public face of the NRA through countless television appearances and public engagements, always warmly received wherever he went. Phil was not only an ambassador for the NRA but also a devoted advocate for the Second Amendment.

Ben Nighthorse Campbell, former senator from Colorado.

Irreverent, blunt and independent, the rough-hewed Mr. Campbell was a fiscal conservative and a social liberal who favored gun rights and abortion rights, billed himself as the champion of the average voter and refused to be bound by party lines. He switched allegiance from the Democrats to the Republicans in 1995.

…

From 1960 to 1964, Mr. Campbell studied Japanese and judo at a university in Japan. He won 48 of 50 tournament matches, earned a gold medal at the Pan American Games in 1963 and joined the United States judo team at the 1964 Olympics. (He tore a ligament, lost his first match and retired from active competition, ranked fourth in the world.)

Isiah Whitlock Jr., actor. Other credits include “Cocaine Bear”, “Law and Order”, “L&O: Criminal Intent”, “L&O: SVU”, and “Lightyear”.

Cecilia Giménez. You probably don’t recognize the name, but you may recognize this:

The group called her “a great painting enthusiast” and acknowledged Mrs. Giménez’s efforts to restore the nearly century-old fresco of Jesus. “Because of the poor state of conservation, Cecilia, with the best intentions, decided to repaint over the work,” it said.
But when Mrs. Giménez’s handiwork came to light in August 2012, the authorities initially suspected that the church had suffered an act of vandalism. The delicate misery on the face of Christ en route to the crucifixion had been replaced by a misshapen head.

…

But her artistic mishap created an economic boon for Borja, a town of 5,000 inhabitants.
Tourists flocked to see her efforts. Less than three years later, more than 150,000 visitors from Japan, Brazil, the United States and elsewhere had made a trip to Borja, paying one euro, about $1.20, to view her work under a protective clear cover.
Local officials told The Times in 2014 that the tourism spike had stabilized the town’s restaurant industry and helped the area’s institutions. The nearby Museo de la Colegiata, which houses religious medieval art, experienced a rise in annual visits to 70,000, from 7,000. Vineyards in the region squabbled over the rights to put Mrs. Giménez’s Christ on their labels. In 2016, two Americans even staged an opera about the affair in the same church.

Louis V. Gerstner, former IBM CEO.

Posted in Art, Guns, Obits, Politics, Sports, TV | 2 Comments »

Flaming hyena watch.

Friday, December 26th, 2025

(Previously on WCD.)

Posted in Law, Politics | Comments Closed

Flaming hyena update.

Thursday, December 18th, 2025

Remember Marty Small, Sr., the mayor of Atlantic City? Charged with beating the s–t out of his teenage daughter?

Merry Christmas! Not guilty on all counts!

Mr. Small was accused of using a broom to strike his daughter in the head, causing her to lose consciousness. At other times in the two-month period, he hit her in the legs repeatedly, causing bruising, and threatened to “earth slam” her, prosecutors said.
“We’re not saying there shouldn’t be disagreements in the home,” a prosecutor, Elizabeth Fischer, told jurors Tuesday in a closing statement, “but we’re saying it shouldn’t be met with violence.”
The jury began deliberating late Tuesday. Almost immediately, the panel requested to listen again to a recording, made by Mr. Small’s daughter and her boyfriend, in which the mayor can be heard threatening to slam her to the ground.
Prosecutors had said that the threats were meant to instill terror; Mr. Small’s lawyers argued that they were the warnings of a parent trying to correct the behavior of a child who, in a video also shown to jurors, was prone to extreme agitation when punished.
“A father takes a phone away from his daughter, and that results in the Tasmanian devil coming out,” Mr. Small’s lawyer, Louis M. Barbone, told jurors after replaying footage taken during a separate family conflict.
In New Jersey, corporal punishment that is not considered excessive is legal.

The charges against his wife are still pending.

Posted in Law, Politics | Comments Closed

Obit watch: December 17, 2025.

Wednesday, December 17th, 2025

Gil Gerard, actor.

Other credits include “Airport ’77”, the good “Hawaii Five-0”, and “E.A.R.T.H. Force”.

Robert Samuelson, long time economics columnist for “Newsweek” and the Washington Post.

Norman Podhoretz, conservative political writer.

(Hattip on Mr. Gerard and Mr. Podhoretz to Lawrence.)

Edited to add: archived NYT obits for Mr. Gerard and Mr. Podhoretz.

Posted in 1970s, Movies, Obits, Politics, TV | 1 Comment »

Yet another flaming hyena update.

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025

President Donald Trump pardoned Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife in a federal bribery and conspiracy case on Wednesday, citing what he called a “weaponized” justice system.

Previously on WCD.

Federal authorities had charged Cuellar and his wife with accepting thousands of dollars in exchange for the congressman advancing the interests of an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico. Cuellar is accused of agreeing to influence legislation favorable to Azerbaijan and deliver a pro-Azerbaijan speech on the floor of the U.S. House.

Posted in Law, Politics | 2 Comments »

Flaming hyena update.

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025

There’s been a major shakeup at a Houston-based hospitality company…

“hospitality company”. RCI Hospitality Holdings owns various businesses, including Bombshells Restaurant & Bar, Rick’s Cabaret, Chicas Locas, and Club Onyx.

Two weeks ago, the company announced a “strategic partnership” with Jonathan Joseph, owner of Yellow Rose Cabaret and Red Rose Nightclub in Austin. Joseph acquired a 49 percent interest in Rick’s Cabaret Austin for $1.8 million as part of the partnership.

Anyway:

RCI Hospitality Holdings Inc. announced Friday that Eric Langan and Bradley Chhay have stepped down as president and CEO and CFO, respectively.

The HouChron says it is “unclear” why they stepped down, but suggests it might be related to their criminal indictments for bribing a tax auditor.

And if that rings a bell with you now, yes, I covered this back in September. Remember “dance dollars”?

…accused of supplying a former New York Department of Taxation and Finance auditor with “at least 13 complimentary multi-day trips to Florida where he was given up to $5,000 per day for private dances at RCI-owned strip clubs, including Tootsie’s Cabaret in Miami,” plus other forms of alleged favorable treatment over a 14-year period.

Still no evidence of cocaine being involved in this case, though, alas.

Posted in Law, Politics | 2 Comments »

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