Time (Magazine) Passages

The news broke yesterday that Time Magazine named Volodymyr Zolensky (three y’s, three o’s, one v, and one z) as its Person of the Year 2022.

We find this news amazing on two fronts.  One, why was he even in consideration?  Two, did you know that Time Magazine still exists?

He was in consideration for the reason we asked question number two.  The magazine has to break through the voluminous daily instantaneous information streams to somehow remain relevant.

It attempts just that by being edgy/controversial every year around this time.  The nominees were Liz Cheney, Elon Musk, and the winner Volo Zole (we decided to shorten the short man’s name to save virtual trees).

Is naming Volo Zole the Person of the Year a bit of misinformation(it is hard to describe how much disdain we have for that word)?

BBR contacted Karine Jean-Pierre Claude Van Damme de Toulouse-Lautrec, the self-described first black female lesbian White House Press Secretary for comment.  We’ve gotten no call back at press time from Madame Presser.

However, she did take the time yesterday to admonish the House of Representatives and particularly the Republicans who rescinded the vaccine mandate for our nation’s military.  She almost made eye contact when she said, “Republicans in Congress have decided that they’d rather fight against the health and wellbeing of our troops than protecting them.”

Maybe, only runner-up (or third-place finisher) Elon Musk really knows if that, too, is misinformation.

The case for Volo Zole is strong in some respects though.  How he has fleeced America out of 68 billion with a proposal for 38 more billion on the table is, well, even more sleight of hand than FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried pulled off in a crypto-cryptic kind of way.

While the Republicans were ruining the military men and women, other Congressional leaders were busy doing the people’s business yesterday.  This Congress is no lame duck.

House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine(rhymes with vaccine) Waters informed a group of Democrats that she doesn’t plan to subpoena former Sam Bankman-Fried while judiciously investigating the crypto company’s collapse.  She’s hoping he’ll walk straight in and help.  Makes sense and cents as good old Sam is thought to have helped the DNC to the tune of upwards of $100 million in DNC campaign contributions in the last election cycle.

And, Dems on the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted against auditing the money we have sent to Ukraine.  They prefer blank checks as opposed to checks and balances.  And, aren’t paper checks as relevant as magazines these days?

Volo Zole has also managed to stay alive for about a year now in this intense war-no small fete even if you’re but five foot seven inches.  How?  He even poses for pictures with US congressional leaders who visit the war-torn region.  Why?  He’s also shut down dissidents(that thing that Elon calls freedom of speech) to the war in his country.  Why?

Notice that we haven’t mentioned Liz Cheney again in this busy news cycle?  Why?

She’s old news to us just like the Biden Administration thinks the Hunter Laptop info is an old news story to them.

Do you see how this misinformation thing works yet?

You’d better.  You’re running out of time much like Time Magazine.

 

Sunny Days

Lessons today, we have three.   Geography, English, and Math.

First, can you tell me how to get, how to get to the White House from Capitol Hill in DC?  Pennsylvania Ave. is a good guess.  But the correct answer is a quick shortcut-Sesame St.

Today’s lesson is brought to you by the letter B and later the letters R and D.  Let’s use the letter B in a sentence or two.  Do you know what BBR and BBB(short for Build Back Better) have in common? If you said two B’s that is correct.  Do you know what else?  Nothing!  Correct.  You’re off to a good start.

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin(D) doesn’t have constituents that have much in common with BBB either.  Yesterday, he told Fox News that studied the bill and was going with Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” when deciding his potential vote on the big, bigger, biggest government social and welfare handout attempted since Obamacare was railroaded through.

Some of Manchin’s fellow students disagreed with his learnings.  Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) said, “While Manchin is exercising unusual power because of the numbers and is willing to be one man, one person that will hold up assistance to the American people, is absolutely disgusting and amazing to me.”

This brings us to the dreaded math session brought to you by the numbers 1, 2, 3, 50, 51, 1.7 trillion, 30 trillion, and 50 trillion.

One sometimes is the loneliest number that you’ll ever know.  But Manchin is doing something very similar to what John McCain did just a few years back when the GOP attempted to end Obamacare.  That is, he has the right and courage to stand up for what he believes in.  Refreshing.

She continued, “In that bill, we have the child tax credit, where we’re having to eliminate poverty for children in this country. I have in that bill money for housing. The cost of housing is exploding. We need to build affordable housing. We need to do something about homelessness.”   What about free lunches, too?  People get hungry, don’t they?

Did she forget that 50 Republicans are also against this government handout?  Probably not, but there’s that pesky letter D after Manchin’s name that so upsets her.  Cause 50 R’s plus one D equals 51.  And that’s the kill shot to the $1.7 trillion bill that Biden says will pay for itself.

Sure it would have, just like it only took to two weeks to slow the curve two years ago.  Now it’s three vaccines, not Maxine’s, and counting, but we digress.

Waters added, “I don’t know how he thinks he’s going to get away with this.”  Get away with what?  His right to vote for that which he thinks is right?

Put the bill up and let him stand before the American people and tell them that he does not support child care and climate change, and housing assistance for people who are desperately in need of rental assistance and the ability to have safe and secure housing.”

Sounds like this bill could have been the panacea for nearly all that ails Americans.  And more.

It even solves the largest existential threat to our country-climate change.   And, it is way, way cheaper than the $30-50 trillion bandied about during the Democratic Nomination process.

Back to geography we go. Doesn’t Manchin know that Miami is about to slip into the ocean?  Does he even care?

West Virginia is a long way from any rising waters. Manchin is in hot water with the Dems.  And Maxine Waters is, well Maxine Waters.

Can you tell me how to get…

Class dismissed.