Punk Rock Art Corner: Faded Yield Signs On A Sunny Afternoon

<Faded Yield Sign, Left/
Photo/The Squawker>

 

<i.>

There we sat the Squawker and I, enjoying a lazy Saturday afternoon, cruising around our hometown stomping grounds, after visiting some friends at the township library, and scoping up a couple sale books for $2.50. But that was a couple hours ago, right? Now we're hungry.

We've stopped by our local McDonald's for a snack, a dollar McChicken for us both, and some large French Fries for Yer Humble Narrator.

We park in a shady area, across from The House of the Clown, when we notice these signs. 

What a sight for sore eyes they offer, too, enough to make us laugh out loud. "I've seen some faded street signs in my time, but these?" I wonder. "Seems like somebody still needs the space, no?"

"You know they're having a rough time, when they're not keeping up the disability parking signs," Squawker agreed. "After all..."

Now it's my turn to finish the next sentence. "It's not like somebody still can't use them," I nod. "Or doesn't need to use them."  

<Faded Yield Sign, Right

Photo/The Squawker>

<ii.>

Squawker and I continue tucking away into our snacks, wondering how this odd sight emerged. The McDonald's itself has only just been remodeled. Hell, they've even added a second drive through lane, so they have to be doing well, right? 

Yet there the gleaming new fast food joint sits, next to these comically faded signs. It reminds me when the oil change shop, of all things, shut down in one of the small towns we once inhabited. You know it's a tough place when that type of joint can't make it, right? 

After all, everybody needs an oil change after so many thousand miles. It's not as if any driver gets a say, if you want to keep a car for any length of time. My dad reminded me of that principle often enough, when my skimpy paychecks forced me to choose between routine maintenance, and fripperies like monthly insurance bills.

Anyway, the Squawker needs no prompting to snap the photo, which happens once we finish off our snacks. All in all, we've had a nice, low key, relaxing day, but an unsettling conclusion still manages to cross my mind, anyway.

Seeing these images again offers another reminder, as if anybody needs one, of the nitty gritty reality lurking behind the well-scrubbed, polite exterior of your surroundings, no matter how pleasant they seem. So goes life in the big city, and likewise, in Anytown USA. --The Reckoner

Punk Rock Art Corner: Some Democratic Midterm Slogans We Hope We Don't See

 

<Life Could Be Worse.../The Reckoner>

I've never bought the narrative that the Democrats' midterm doom is done and dusted. Even before the Roe bombshell dropped, and splattered in the Republicans' laps, I had the sneaking feeling that the guys striving so hard to retool themselves into an authoritarian party, as their Hungarian and Polish cohorts have done, might do something to overreach. 

<We Feel Your Pain.../The Reckoner>

We've seen this midterm movie before, notably in 1998, when Bill Clinton overcame the last serious impeachment challenge mounted against a sitting President. Thanks to special prosecutor Kenneth Starr's $50 million pursuit of his sex life, Clinton led the Democrats to a seemingly improbable comeback that fall. As much as I loathed Clinton's chronic shapeshifting, I silently thanked him for helping to usher Newt Gringrich off the national stage, where he's largely remained, ever since. Good on you, BIll. Job well done, and all that.

<We Sure Do Suck.../The Reckoner>

These days, it's a different ball game, one largely powered by the blistering anger that greeted the fallout of losing Roe. Gas prices are finally falling, which removes a major plank of Republican antagonism if the trend continues. As if that weren't enough, the constant bombshells dropped by the January 6th Special Committee have chipped away at the force field surrounding one Donald Trump.

Undeterred, he apparently plans to announce a third Presidential bid this fall, something that Republicans apparently welcome as much as they relish the chance to defend the spectacle of 10-year-old mothers, which represents the logical conclusion of a brutalist party that only sees women as walking incubators.

With all those factors falling into place, surely, the Democrats should have a field day, right? You know something funny's going on when the latest GOP phenom, Senate candidate JD Vance, is polling nine points behind his Democratic opponent, Tim Ryan, whose natural charisma falls somewhere between watching paint dry -- and listening to paint dry.

<Hey, Give Us Another Chance.../The Reckoner>

And yet -- and yet -- we've been caught in other midterm movies, notably 2020, where the Democrats fell into their famous groove of beating themselves, like the Buffalo Bills or Cleveland Browns of old. That's what inspired me to create these images. Yes, they're satire, but not so far off the mark.

Don't forget, there's a reason we see the "lesser evil" type of campaign, over and over, as Biden demonstrated in 2020 ("I'm not running against the Almighty. Consider the alternative"). It's the kind of campaign that the corporate consulting class -- who really runs the Democratic Party -- feels most comfortable running. 

What do you do, when you haven't learned a new trick in decades? You slip on the old shoe, metaphorically speaking. It's comfortable, it's familiar, it fits. Case closed. What else do you need? 

<I'm H.P. Lovecraft, 
And I Approved This Message...
The Reckoner>

Of course, the old shoe fits well -- until it doesn't, and suddenly, it feels awkward and inconvenient and irrelevant. Only then does it hit the wearer that they haven't made the best choice. Will that metaphor fit the Democratic Party, as it girds up for battle, and fend off what so many talking heads claim is all too inevitable? Or will they, against all odds, get some measure of their mojo back? 

Well, here's one way they could do it, if they bothered. Next time, give those of us who supported them some sort of return on the investment. But don't mind me, it's just a passing fancy. 

In that spirit, I'll end this post with a slight update of my last graphic. If you've read this blog at all closely, you'll remember seeing it during the 2020 campaign, when it felt like all the wheels were tumbling off the American democratic experiment, as they call it. Time will tell on that score, too, but for H.P. Lovecraft fans, enjoy this image once more. After all, there's a reason why they say you only get one true love, right? There you go, then. -- The Reckoner

Punk Rock Art Corner: For Your Consideration: Mr. Hawley, And His Ever-Changing Moods

 

<Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO),
Official Portrait>

"We're going to protect
the American people.

It’s the first job 
of the American government.

Any elected official
who has
law enforcement responsibility
and won’t do it
needs to resign.”

<Hawley, (non-)responding
to last summer's
Black Lives Matter protests,
Fox News, 8/27/20>

"The sole responsibility
left to Hawley and his colleagues
is to enforce the law
and bring Trump to justice.

"The American people
came under attack on Jan. 6.
The Republican president
refused to protect them.

"Any elected official 

who has 

law enforcement responsibility

and won’t do it

needs to resign.”

<"Law-and-Order Republicans
Like Hawley
Need to Impose
Law and Order on Trump"

<St. Louis Dispatch,
Editorial Page, 2/01/21>

"If you've been speaking
to folks at home,
I'm sure you know
how deeply angry and disillusioned many, many people are —
and how frustrated
that Congress has
taken little or no action."

<Hawley, justifying 
his objections
to certifying
Joe Biden's
election as President>

Axios, 12/31/20>

<"Fade To Black...

And Then Gray":
The Reckoner>

<"[Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell asked Hawley

to explain what he planned to do on Jan. 6, said a source on the [GOP conference] call.

"Then, Indiana Sen. Todd Young pressed Hawley on which states 

he planned to contest, and Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey defended the integrity 

of his state's elections.

"There was just one problem: they were met with silence.

"Hawley hadn't dialed into the conference call..."

<Axios, 12/31/20>

"For most of the time, 

he was in a corner 

of the room by himself 

with no one talking to him 

or acknowledging him."

<Wall Street Journal,

"Hawley Faces 

Fierce Backlash 

From Colleagues, Donors After Capitol Riot," 1/08/21> 

<Former U.S. Sen. John Danforth,

R-MO (1976-96), Official Portrait>

"I thought he was special. And I did my best to encourage people to support him both for attorney general and later the US Senate and it was the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life.

"I don't know if he was 

always like this

and good at covering it up 

or if it happened.

I just don't know."

<John Danforth, rueing
his support for Hawley's
2018 Senate campaign,
St. Louis Post-Dispatch>

"When I think of 

all the lies I've told, 

It's a wonder I can stand myself...

"It's just 

my ever-changing moral stance

is up for grabs again...

"My ever-changing 

moral stance
is up for grabs again..."

<Stiff Little Fingers,
"My Ever-Changing Moral Stance,"
Tinderbox (1997)>

Punk Rock Art Corner: Stick A Fork In This Supreme Court, Take II (So Much For Those GOP Defections)

 

<I'm H.P. Lovecraft, 

And I Approved This Message...

The Reckoner>

<"Dissents speak

to a future age.

It's not simply to say,

'My colleagues are wrong,

and I would do it this way,'

but the greatest dissents

do become court opinions.">

<Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
U.S. Supreme Court Justice,

1933-2020>

<"Box Score":

The Reckoner>

<"I have
and will continue

to support judicial nominees

who will protect

our Constitution,

not legislate

from the bench*,

and uphold the law."**>

<Senator Cory Gardner, R-CO,

rallies 'round the flag

once more this week...ugh>

<*Except when it's time 

to advance our goals...

because, well, we hate your uterus.>

<**Except those that 

don't favor our cause, 

like the Affordable Care Act, 

and mail-in voting, for instance.>

<"The American people
shouldn't be denied a voice.
Do we want a court
that interprets the law,
or do we want a court
that acts as an unelected
super legislature?"*

<Senator Charles Grassley, R-IA,

justifying his opposition

to hearings 

for Obama-era 

Supreme Court nominee, 

Merrick Garland, 2016>

*Uh, basically, yes. 

If it's one of our own. 

Got anymore stupid questions?>

 <"If the nominee 

reaches the Senate floor, 

I intend to vote 

based upon their qualifications.">

<Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT),

viewed as one of the last

potential GOP defections,

citing his constitutional duty>

>"Mitt Romney has always been

who we thought he was

and always will be..."<

>"The big pro-life victory

comes on top

of a mountain

of American deaths.

But still worth it

for Romney et al.

Still worth it."<

>"lol at all the people

who thought Mitt Romney to be one of the good guys."<

>Second opinions

this week,

from Twitter<

<"You know that these important issues are not going to go away.

They are going to come back 

again and again. 

There’ll be 

another time, another day.">

<Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
on not getting majority votes>

<Remember In November!>

<Stop The GOP's 

State Capture Project!>

Punk Rock Art Corner: Stick A Fork In This Supreme Court, It's Done

"My most fervent wish is 

that I will not be replaced 

until a new president 

is installed."

<The final declaration

of U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Ruth Bader Ginsburg,

1933-2020,

as she dictated it

to her granddaughter,

Clara Spera>

"The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice.

"Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”*

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, 2/13/16, speaking from a long, long time ago...and a galaxy far away...

<*Unless you're a racist, power grabbing pr#ck. In which case, the "rules"...whatever those are, or whatever they mean...don't really apply.>

"I want you
to use my words against me*.
If there's a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs
in the last year
of the first term,
you can say Lindsey Graham said let's let the next president, whoever it might be,
make that nomination."

<Senator Lindsey Graham, R-SC,

staking out the GOP's

consistent inconsistency,

after Justice

Antonin Scalia's

death, 2016> 

<*DONE!>

<"It is common practice

for the Senate

to stop acting

on lifetime appointments

during the last year

of a presidential term,

and it's been

nearly 80 years

since any president

was permitted immediately

to fill a vacancy* 

that arose in a

presidential election year.">

<Senator Rob Portman, R-OH,

stating the obvious, 2016>

<*Unless we're in charge, 

of course. Then the rules change.>

<"It has been 80 years

since a Supreme Court vacancy

was nominated and confirmed

in an election year.

There is a long tradition

that you don't do this

in an election year.*"

<Senator Ted Cruz, R-TX,

laying the groundwork

for another 180-degree turn,

2/17/16>

<*Until we get a chance

to lob the hardball 

back in your court.>

“One of my proudest moments was when I looked at Barack Obama in the eye and I said, ‘Mr. President, you will not fill this Supreme Court vacancy.'" 

<Mitch McConnell drops the mask with a clang, and a thud: 8/06/16>

<In Memoriam, RBG: RIP
Remember In November:
The Reckoner>

<Stop The GOP 

State Capture Project!>

Live, From The Republic Of Gilead...Kavanaugh's Confirmation Makes Me Wanna...Ralph!

"Now, I'm not saying 

that this is 

any country for

creepy old men. 

It's not."

"Sexual harassment is wrong, 

and it goes on a lot.

 And the people who do it

 should be punished.

"But this is also no country 

at all without due process."

<Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) explains

why he's sticking with the team,

prior to the 50-48 vote

confirming Brett Kavanaugh

to the Supreme Court?>

“Yes, he will have this 

hanging over him, 

just the way Justice Thomas 

has had it 

hanging over his head 

for 25 years. 

"But I’m confident 

it will not affect him 

as a justice. 

He will not 

become a partisan hack. 

"He is a fair, principled 

and independent judge, 

and that’s exactly 

the kind of justice 

he will be.”

<And if you believe that...

Constitutional law expert

John Malcolm, 

Heritage Foundation,

sunnily outlining

why he thinks 

the furor

over Kavanaugh

is overblown>

"It is particularly worrisome 

that the Supreme Court, 
the institution

 that most Americans see 

as the principal guardian 

of our shared 
constitutional heritage,

 is viewed 

as part of the problem 

through a political lens."

<Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)

ponders the big picture

as she helps to confirm

someone whom critics 
fear will become....well,

part of the problem?>

"The Maine senator 

has reduced the choreography 

of legislative head-fakes

 to a sublime art, 

in order to preserve 

her bogus reputation 

as an independent-minded 

centrist. 

"When a contentious issue arises, 

Collins will elaborately explain 

that she hasn’t made up her mind yet. 

She needs to give the issue careful study. 

"And then, wondrously,

 after very careful 

and well-advertised study, 

she almost always votes with 

[Majority Leader]

Mitch McConnell. 

"Funny how her research 
invariably leads to that conclusion."

<Author, commentator, professor

Rubert Kuttner: 

"The Fraudulence 

of Susan Collins,

The Huffington Post,

10/08/18>

"Maybe Collins will be proven right.

"Maybe Kavanaugh will defy 

the experts and 

not join a series 

of 5-4 decisions 

like Citizens United, 

the 2008 case 

that eliminated 

the spending limits 

for electioneering

 by corporations... 

"Maybe no more witnesses

 will corroborate the accounts 

of the three women 

who have come forward so far 

with stories about their mistreatment 

at Kavanaugh’s hands. 

"Maybe he will never again show the angry, intemperate and partisan face he revealed to a national TV audience on Sept. 27...

 calling into question his capacity

to be an impartial and dispassionate judge.

"Maybe none of those things will happen. 

But if they do, Collins’ vote should be remembered for a long time.

<The Portland Press-Herald:

"Our View: With a 'Yes' Vote,

Sen. Collins Ties Her Legacy

To That of Brett Kavanaugh">

<Senator Collins:
See You In 2020>

<Remember In November:
The Reckoner>

<We Believe Christine Blasey Ford>