As a long-time subscriber to DISH to be my satellite television provider, I’ve become accustomed to periodic channel losses for contractual reasons.

Some linger unresolved, like the years-long beef with AT&T Sports Pittsburgh. Because the Pirates are perennial sad sacks, and the Penguins have disappeared from the NHL playoff radar, this doesn’t bother me. I’d rather have DISH hold the line on costs and not charge me more per month just to view Pittsburgh regional sports.

As an aside, the first DISH sales people who decades back showed up at my door, misrepresented to me that being a DISH subscriber would give me the ability to watch all these regional sports networks as part of my monthly fee. They fibbed!

Last week, local ABC affiliate WATM showed up as unavailable on the channel guide. You guessed it, contractual problems.

This was only a potential problem in that there was some college football I wanted to watch on the weekend on ABC, and the Major League Baseball playoffs loom with some ABC telecasts. Apparently, a deal was struck by the past Friday and, voila, WATM was back just in time for weekend college football.

These things make me nostalgic for my youth, when access to a television station’s signal was a co-function of signal strength/geographic proximity and the quality of one’s antenna. Living in the Stonycreek Township section of Johnstown, along Bedford Street, we had the ability to pull in WJAC, WARD and, on good days, Altoona’s WFBG and maybe a few Pittsburgh outlets such as KDKA.

Our big antenna was in the attic, connected to the living room (only!) TV via 30 or 40 feet of 300 ohm antenna wire, what you oldsters might recall was two covered wires with a stretch of flat plastic between them, looking sort of like a very miniature length of Hot Wheels track.

Because I’m wired (pun intended) the way I am, this got me to musing about TV and radio call signs, and embarking on an email exchange with a cousin, who is similarly inclined when it comes to matters others might consider mundane.

Some of what follows is gospel, at least as gospel as something backed up by internet research can be. Other stuff is just the collective knowledge of a couple of guys in their 70s who are lifelong residents of the area.

Let’s start with WATM. I suggested that call sign might be a clever play on words referring to a TV station’s ability to make money W-Automatic-Teller-Machine!

This was based on a great moment in WJAC-TV history. Back in the day, stations used to have live announcers onhand to do such things as periodic station IDs. WJAC’s catch phrase was “Serving Millions From Atop The Alleghenies.”

One time, an announcer decided to have some fun and amended it to “Making Millions From Atop The Alleghenies.”

Rumor has it, he shortly after was unemployed.

Back to WATM. My cousin tells me — and who am I to doubt him? – it stands for W-Altoona-Television-Market.

During my early years working at the Johnstown Woke Gazette, the same company owned the newspaper and WJAC television and WJAC AM and FM radio stations.

Before the TV station relocated to its sumptuous digs on Old Hickory Lane, it operated out of a non-descript office along lower Main Street. Before that, it was in a building at the corner of Johns and Main streets, which gave birth to the WJAC call sign.

W-Johnstown-Automobile-Company.

Again, with my cousin as a source, he recalled a time, perhaps in the 1960s, when there was an attempt to change the WJAC call sign to WKAS, as an homage to Woke Gazette publisher Walter Krebs and WJAC-TV honcho Al Schrott.

This would not be unfamiliar ground regarding vanity call signs. The main Altoona TV station, channel 10, formerly was WFBG, said to honor department store owner and station founder William F.B. Gable.

The current call sign for Altoona channel 10 is WTAJ. My cousin notes and the internet confirms, this call sign stands for We’re Television for Altoona and Johnstown.

During the stone age TV period I referred to earlier, VHF (very high frequency) provided channels 1-13, while higher channels operated in the UHF (ultra high frequency) band.

Johnstown’s WARD-TV was channel 56. My cousin’s father, my uncle, worked as an engineer there before shifting to WJAC radio.

What did WARD stand for? Neither my cousin, nor an internet research, can answer that.

I can recall from my memory that the whole WARD radio-TV group was bought in the early 1970s by Jonel Construction, with a subsequent change in call signs to WJNL.

It seems radio/TV call signs were/are the high-buck version of vanity license plates.

I’ve pulled the plug on CNBC’s “Fast Money” program and now I’m wondering what took me so long.

I guess it was a form of intertia, in that it was easier just to keep watching as usual, rather than make a decision to stop.

As a side note, I long ago had taken to DVRing the show, the better to fast-forward through elongated commercial breaks, recurring hero worship of Apple, and more recently Nvidia, and the growing number of segments that devolved into mindless politics, obscure rock music or movie references, or a combination of both.

It got to the point that I could blow through a 60-minute show in maybe 10 or 15 minutes of content that interested me.

There also is the case of the host, who is only about an even bet to actually show up, sort of like a latter-day Johnny Carson.

After Monday’s mindless episode, I went to the DVR and deleted the timers for the rest of the week. I’m calling it a success.

Back in the early days, when the show was new in 2006 and only a once-a-week or less format, it was a welcome exchange of ideas. I remember often being on the road, rushing from the airport to my hotel room to watch, taking notes during the broadcast.

Dylan Ratigan was the original host, with original panelists Jeff Macke, Tim Strazzini, Eric Bolling and Guy Adami, each with a nickname such as Macke’s “Lone Wolf.”

All but Adami have moved on to better things and the show has deteriorated. There is one current regular panelist, a guy whose nose suggests he’s been in and lost a lot of fights, who can’t help himself from making virtually every segment a hit on President Trump, Elon Musk, or other assorted figures on the political right.

We get it, potato nose, you are on the left. Now, can we talk investing?

And this is where the decision to avoid comes into the calculus. Why risk breaking my television with a thrown object, or sit in the recliner muttering to myself about the insanity? Why not just avoid?

This has been a simple tenet of my existence for years. When out-of-control dogs – and their idiotic owners – made walking in certain neighborhoods annoying, I changed my walk routes.

When taking one of my hobby cars out for a hoped-for relaxing drive, I gravitate toward the Somerset Pike because it tends to be a serene, low-traffic, low-stress exercise.

Moving to the topic of network TV series — be they dramatic or comedic — that have been turned into left-wing propaganda, again, simply ignore. Can we have a show without several gay, left-wing types preaching to the world?

Apparently not. The solution is just don’t watch the shows.

You don’t like a cable news channel, don’t watch.

You prefer not to see the latest leftist host (who all seemingly shop for their black-rimmed glasses at the same outlet, be they male or female), change the channel.

If you tire of CNBC going full libtard with a show designed to provide investing insight, stop watching.

I’ve switched to Charles Payne on Fox Business, a 2 p.m. island of sanity. Imagine this, Payne has guests who provide insight and investing ideas. They don’t take cheap shots at Trump. They don’t try to dazzle us with their knowledge of obscure pop culture.

They don’t feel the need to flatter the host, and each other, incessantly, to the exclusion of providing investing wisdom.

By the way, “Making Money With Charles Payne” on Fox Business Network has ratings that are up 22 percent from a year ago, averaging 167,000 viewers, so I’m not alone in liking his show.

I’m also not alone in tuning out “Fast Money.” According to ustvdb.com, the show’s ratings for August were down 39 percent from July 2024, averaging 95,000 viewers. Meanwhile, a similar noon show on CNBC that has stayed more faithful to the formula, “Fast Money Halftime Report,” has growing ratings, averaging 163,000 viewers

Goodbye, “Fast Money.” Be sure to turn out the lights when the last viewer flees.

Donald Trump went to the United Nations today and some would say he was an ungracious guest by critiquing that citadel of leftist efforts funded by other people’s money.

I’d say Trump was not exactly a guest. He was still on U.S. soil. The United States pays a greater share of U.N. costs than any other country, and for that we get to endure representatives from nations that are mere pimples on the ass of the world lecturing us.

Trump didn’t wait for the lectures; he went on the offensive. Climate change and green energy are scams. Open borders are a recipe for national suicide. Buying oil from an enemy and funding its war machine is sheer idiocy. Etc., etc., etc.

And, ahead of that Trump quadruple shot of reality, in what could only be considered an extreme set of coincidences verging on the statistically impossible, Trump had to deal with an escalator that failed as he stepped onto it, with a teleprompter that quit as he began to talk, and translations that failed when he was able to carry on after the teleprompter incident.

We’ve not seen such juvenile behavior since the Clinton gang exited the White House ahead of George W. Bush’s arrival, taking with them the W keys from typewriters, a presidential seal, antique door knobs and other items, not to mention leaving obscene voicemail messages and defacing bathrooms to the tune of $15,000 in damage according to a General Accounting Office report.

This U.N. exercise in sophomoric resistance came as the unwashed U.N. masses had joked in advance about such possible occurences. Official explanations were weak.

Trump’s tough love for the U.N. was the big story, but there was much more today.

NEWS: Would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh, who chose to represent himself in court, was found guilty on all charges and faces possible life in prison. Routh responded to the verdicts by trying to stab himself in the neck with a pen.

VIEWS: Is there no end to what this walking, talking failure cannot do?

NEWS: Pregnant liberals (presumably women, but since libs believe men can be women, maybe men, too) have rushed to TikTok to post videos of themselves consuming large amounts of Tylenol in response to officials in the Trump administration suggesting a link between Tylenol use by pregnant women and the massive rise in autism.

VIEWS: Trump should post on Truth Social that it is dangerous to ingest rat poison and wash it down with a cup of mercury.

NEWS: Kamala Harris was out flogging her book on the usual leftist outlets Monday, sharing yet more snarky attacks on fellow Democrats.

VIEWS: Is there a single, less self-aware politician than Harris. She’s the ultimate DEI hire who, when she eventually was boosted to a position of guaranteed failure, couldn’t wait to blame others. I’m thinking there is not a single mirror in the Harris household. And none of those Venn diagrams she no doubt has on the walls are shiny enough to reflect her dark, negative image.

NEWS: Jimmy Kimmel is back on his late-night ABC gig tonight as Disney did the usual and caved to the Woke mob.

VIEWS: Sinclair and Nexstar, two owners of a large number of ABC affiliates, say they won’t run Kimmel’s return. I’m not even sure if my local ABC outlet is owned by either, but it is irrelevant because my plan is to keep intact my stretch of never watching Kimmel’s show. He’s a mediocre political hack masquerading as a comedian. There ought to be a large L tattooed on his forehead.

Presented without comment, here are some news snapshots from recent days.

Kamala Harris, in published excerpts from her book, says she would have loved to have named Pete Buttigieg as her VP running mate in the past election, but “it was too big of a risk” because Buttigieg is openly gay.

Names of the alleged fraudsters in Minnesota who are accused of taking money illegally from a program to help the disabled fund housing: Moktar Hassan Aden, Mustafa Dayib Ali, Khalid Ahmen Dayib, Abdifitah Mohamud Mohamed, Christopher Adesojo Falad, Emmanuel Oluwademilade Falade, Asad Ahmen Adow and Anwar Ahmen Adow.

Among the names of those who restored a vandalized Charlie Kirk tribute mural in Pensacola, Fla.: Hannah Alfredson, Mason Vickers and Ben Uitzetter.

The body of a black student at Delta State University was found hanging from a tree on campus. According to ABC News, initial reports and subsequent investigation ruled it a suicide. But, there was unrest, prompting a closure of the school Monday and the school’s white president to say, “this is not only about facts, it’s about emotions, and it’s about feelings and the way this loss and how it was discovered affects people’s lives.” The dead man’s family has hired a civil rights attorney.

The body of a white man was found hanging in a tree about 100 miles away, also in Mississippi. There seems to have been no unrest, no closures, no general interest except to ask if the two deaths were related. The dead man was reported by ABC News to be a drug user whose body was found in an area “known to be frequented by drug users.”

A former Texas State University student, expelled for mocking the assassination of Charlie Kirk at an on-campus memorial event by multiple times slapping his neck and recoiling as if shot, has set up a GoFundMe account to “grow from this experience.”

London’s Daily Mail is reporting on dailymail.co.uk that they have documents and testimony proving that Minnesota U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar did, as long rumored, marry her brother in order to keep him in the United States.

Hunter Biden, scandal-plagued recipient of one of those blanket pardons from his father, Joe, before the elder Biden left office, reportedly sat in on pardon meetings, perhaps influencing those who would receive them.

Kamala Harris, between taking swipes at Biden et al, in her book and public appearances, has spoken out for free speech, decrying the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel for lying during a monologue, saying the alleged Charlie Kirk assassin was a MAGA supporter. This is the same Kamala Harris who called in a 9-30-19 Twitter/X post for Donald Trump’s Twitter/X account to be suspended over his exercise of free speech.

John Fetterman has emerged as the voice of reason in the Democrat Party. Imagine that.

And, predictably, the left is attacking Fetterman for his outrageous thoughts such as it’s time to stop calling Donald Trump and his supporters Nazis or Fascists. Fetterman says instead it just might be time to rethink that strategy, unpopular as it is beyond left-wing echo chambers, and remember Trump was shot, but not killed, and Charlie Kirk was shot and killed.

Should you, or Fetterman really be surprised that his words have triggered (no pun intended) the screeching hypocrites who define the Democrats?

John F. Kennedy, once the patron saint of Democrats, would not be welcome these days in his party. He’d be labeled as a right-winger and, of course, a Nazi and Fascist.

How we got to this sick stage is an accumulation of hate and vitriol on the left being met with weakness on the right.

I think of George W. Bush and his compassionate conservative crap. Always willing to bow and scrape, Bush emboldened the left.

Typical was how the radicals coerced Bush into, upon any reference to Islam in the wake of 9-11, adding “the religion of peace.”

Tell that to the 9-11 victims, George.

A succession of high-profile Democrats watched and learned. If even in the immediate aftermath of thousands of Americans being killed in terror attacks on our soil, a Republican president could be cowed into political correctness, there were no limits to what could be said or done.

When Trump came along to give the Republicans a backbone again, the Bush clan was fighting him all the way, butt hurt that their anointed one, Jeb, was swept aside by Trump.

I blame George W. Bush for Shrillary Clinton being able to label Trump supporters deplorables without blowback, and for Barack Hussein Obama being able to dismiss those who did not support his rampant leftism as bitter types clinging to guns and religion.

Old Hussein Obama went further, likening street thugs to the son he never had and too often, it seemed, wading into issues in kneejerk fashion to inflame racial hatred.

Fast-forward to today and Cackling Kamala is out flogging her new book, which according to reported excerpts, blames everyone but her for the pathetic, $ 1 billion-plus alleged campaign she ran that was more like buying celebrity endorsements and failing to connect with the masses.

Hussein Obama weighed in with racial animus during that failed campaign, too. Basically, Hussein told the “brothers” they had not been backing the sister with enough passion, painting black men with the broad brush of racism and misogny.

Hussein was surprised when black men didn’t pull a George W. Bush and grovel, but instead seemed to vote for Trump in historic numbers.

Most recently, Democrats have been trying to portray themselves as victims because mouthpiece Jimmy Kimmel got yanked from the ABC late-night lineup.

Perspective? These raging leftists have none. They rail about alleged infringement on Kimmel’s First Amendment rights, neatly ignoring that he flat-out lied that the accused Kirk assassin was MAGA. Kimmel then refused requests from the public and, more to the point, his bosses, to correct the matter.

Kimmel being shelved is a business decision. His plummeting ratings and backlash from ABC affiliates who decided they no longer would run his leftist rants, forced the hand of ABC’s Disney parent company.

Yet, these Kimmel free speech advocates have no problem with Kirk being shot at a public event, for exercising his First Amendment rights. If these people weren’t so dense, so blinded by their partisanship, they might see how silly they look.

Or, if we had a truly fair LameStream media, the leftists might find themselves being educated as to their hypocrisy on the public airwaves.

Instead, we had an MSNBC bimbette describe Kimmel as “speaking the truth to power.” What truth was that? A guy having a homosexual relationship with another male on his way to becoming a female while dressing up in furry costumes, someone who preached hate for Trump, Kirk and any who supported them, that’s a MAGA supporter?

Look up “truth” in the dictionary, bimbette.

A disturbingly high percentage of Democrats suffer from TDS, Trump Derangement Syndrome. They have bought into the propaganda being spread by their party and LameStream media. They are the deplorables and, more to the point, irredeemables.

They are lost. It’s time for those on the right to face it. No civil dialogue is going to bring them back to reality.

Trump understands what George W. Bush did not. No amount of bowing and scraping will satisfy these lunatics on the left. Instead, weakness only gives them the approval to escalate.

We’ve already had both attempted and successful assassinations on high-profile Republicans. What is next for America?

Those of us on the political right, what used to be the vast majority in this country, a loose grouping of races, religions and (two) genders sharing traditional values and common sense, now sit around and marvel about those on the left, who seemingly have lost touch with any and all of that.

Democrats mostly, these leftist zealots find themselves championing violence, crime, illegal immigration, men beating up on women in women’s sports, general sexual ambiguity and any anti-religious, anti-social, anti-family, anti-humanity cause of the moment.

Of late, we have the glaring examples like Jimmy Kimmel, the late-night ABC talk host now on indefinite suspension after ABC affiliates rebelled against running any more of his left-wing rants and, probably more significantly, the FCC was going to look into Kimmel’s lastest blatant lies, those being that Charlie Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA type.

In reality, the man arrested as the killer is a deranged leftist hooked up with a trans lover/roomate. MAGA, indeed.

And this brings us to ABC (same network, of course) reporter Matt Gutman, whose reporting on the alleged assassin’s court hearing was stunk up with Gutman’s observations of how touching the love story was.

That Gutman seemed to include quotes that were not in the texts read aloud in court is just the icing on the cake of leftist propaganda.

Unlike Kimmel, Gutman apparently needs the job, and so rushed to social media to apologize. It was the typical non-apology. He’s sorry we in the viewing public, likely slobbering MAGA types, were too stupid to understand his noble commentary on the matter. So, if we were offended, he’s sorry we’re idiots.

Some have said Kimmel and Gutman are products of living in figurative bubbles, in which they only associate with similarly ideologically blind types. They wouldn’t understand the difference between good and evil if evil swatted them in the face while kicking them in their – presumably small – gonads.

It got me wondering what Kimmel and Gutman might have said if they encountered each other in an ABC lunch room.

KIMMEL: “Good bit on the Kirk killer. I wish you’ve have called me, I had the best title for it. Two males, one transitioning to female, roommates, lovers. I’m thinking “Romeo and Julius. If we wanted to turn it into a porno flick, the roommate has the perfect name, Lance Twiggs!”

GUTMAN: “Man, I should have called you. Damn. Too late now. Those meanies in upper management have urged me to apologize. What a drag (I don’t mean cross-dressing types). But they promised me if I just did a public mea culpa they would keep me on to continue furthering our agenda.”

KIMMEL: “Yeah, they want me to apologize, too. I’m not going to do it. I don’t care about the mountain of evidence to the contrary, I was right, the kid was and is MAGA. Being Kimmel means you never have to say you’re sorry. No sir, no apologies, just cry a lot and bore the viewers with yet more political screeds. Well, I guess not for awhile now, but, I’ll be back.”

GUTMAN: “Let’s face it, you can afford to make a stand, you’ve been milking the ABC cow for a lot of money through the years. I’m even more of an untalented nobody than you, so I need the bucks. Plus, this name of mine makes it tough. Older people think I’m that fat guy from The Maltese Falcon (Casper Gutman) and young people think I’m that Fox creep (Greg Gutfeld).”

KIMMEL: “Yeah, I’m pretty lucky. Kimmel is a non-descript last name, with no really famous people or characters using it. Come to think of it, Kimmel is the perfect last name for me.”

GUTMAN: “I’m just glad I bended the knee, kissed the hem of the robe, you know, folded like a tent in a hurricane to save my job. I’ve got so many great ideas. Jeffrey Dahmer, sure he was a serial killer who practiced cannibalism and necrophilia, but you could argue he was a model for the Atkins diet and other no-carb regimens. Plus, I understand he was kind to animals. Touching, don’t you think?”

KIMMEL: “I like it. Maybe do some research and find out Hitler wrote nice letters to his mother, or Stalin worked in soup kitchens during his spare time. Even if you don’t discover redeeming qualities in those psychopaths, just make it up like I did about the shooter being MAGA.”

GUTMAN: “That’s gold, man. Maybe I should do a deep dive into Donald Trump, noting neither he, nor his followers are Nazis, Fascists or crazed types in general, but just patriots who want the country to prosper?

KIMMEL: “Get away from me, you MAGA creep. I hope you die!”

Federal Reserve day was funny Wednesday, in its typical absurdly pathetic way.

Our money masters decided to reduce their desired short-term interest rate by 25 basis points, which is one quarter of a percentage point.

Beforehand, the usual suspects were on CNBC politicizing the whole thing. Afterward, more of the same.

One vapid sort was crowing after the fact how would-be replacements for current Fed president Jerome Powell showed the institution was apolitical and bigger than would-be interference from presidents by not dissenting on the cut, as in voting it was not large enough in view of roiled labor markets and incessant downward revisions of employment.

Oh, yes, the Fed is apolitical, like when it cut twice as much – 50 basis points or one-half percent – last September, just ahead of a presidential election and when so many Fed “experts” ruled that out as being too political and too close to said election; that it would be appearing to be, if not outright screaming, support for Cackling Kamala.

Fortunately, justice prevailed and the Fed was not able to push the Cackling One across the finish line in first place. Fed types then resorted to trying to hamstring Donald Trump, ignoring signs rate cuts were in order, refusing to provide them, and with its members going out of their way to crimp verbally Trump progress with their public utterances.

Add in that a DEI Fed member since has been charged with mis-stating – multiple times – what her primary residence is in order to gain favorable mortgage treatment. Just clerical error, her apologists proclaim. So, someone who can’t decide where she lives and can’t understand mortgage forms should have a hand in making monetary policy for this once-great nation?

Yeah, sure.

Part of the circus on Fed announcement day is the press conference with Powell, in which he often directly contradicts himself, but always can expect to be given verbal bouquets by his sycophants in the media.

Include in that list CNBC’s Steve LiesMan, as short on intellectual honesty as he is on hair.

I can’t recall – and couldn’t find anything on the internet — indicating him talking about a political Fed when that half-point cut was unleashed last year, just before an election. He does, however, go out of his way frequently to make snide comments about Trump and his team.

And then there was the Bloomberg reporterette at the Powell presser, who used “ums” and “you knows” about a thousand times trying to ask Powell her question.

She sounded like a grown-up (chronologically, not mentally) Valley Girl. Gag me with a spoon!

I’m not sure what she was asking. I couldn’t get past her bastardization of the language.

Alas, the Fed display was just an example of the pathetically poor media we now have on a national basis.

Earlier today, my wife was watching coverage of Trump’s visit to England, including a military display on the grounds of Windsor Castle, which included an impressive jet fighter flyover.

One high-profile Fox type noted that no doubt Prime Minister Keir Starmer was watching from his nearby country manor, thinking about how he could get Trump to drop tariffs on steel aluminum.

Too bad she apparently hadn’t been paying attention to the coverage, because moments before she spoke cameras had shown Starmer, larger than life, seated on the lawn watching the events.

My wife thought I was being too critical when I noted this. I countered that since the wife was watching it, she should consider if a media member could not get such a thing correct, regarding a event she was covering, maybe she should not trust her on other reports.

A few minutes later, Martha MacCallum did note for the record that Starmer was in attendance, just as an aside.

At least MacCallum was paying attention. If more of us paid attention. Fed circus day would have to close its tent and go back to reporting the news, not attempting to massage and influence it.

What a great thing that would be.

Were the subject not so tragic, it would be laughable to watch LameStream media types try to convey accurately details involving high-profile shootings.

Some functional gun illiterates, like the since-fired MSNBC political guy, will rush to impugn conversatives following shootings with misguided analysis such as his kneejerk speculation that Charlie Kirk might have been shot by a supporter firing a gun in celebration.

Memo to this fool should he ever again be in a position to preach to the public, the safest handlers of guns are conservatives. They do not, for example, attempt to pull street-level shootings and spray the second, third and fourth floors of nearby buildings.

I would suspect the MSNBC guy was canned as a sacrifice on the altar of public relations, and not because management really disagreed with anything he said. But, it’s a start.

We immediately heard the convenient “assault weapon” cries regarding the Kirk shooting before any details were available. Democrats were quick to rush to try to leverage the Kirk death into yet more gun control..

To borrow from one of Cackling Kamala’s favorite lines, these Gun Nazis are unburdened by the truth.

Fact: Kirk was shot with a .30-06 rifle, something millions own and would not be covered by assault weapons bans as proposed because it is bolt action, not semi-automatic, and does not have what is randomly labeled as a high-capacity magazine, defined as more than 10 rounds.

Fact: The experts were marvelling at the shooter’s prowess, as if he were some accomplished marksman. They fail to comprehend these Pennsylvania woods are full of deer hunters who could have made that shot.

Fact: The sainted 1994 assault weapons ban, at the time grandfathered in existing weapons and large magazines. This leads us toward the fatal flaw of such legislation. The gun toothpaste already is out of the tube in the U.S. and bans accomplish little to nothing. Plenty of people could have legally kept “assault weapons.” More to the point, because criminals by definition don’t obey the laws, such weapons would have been wielded with impunity by thugs, ban or no ban.

Fact: Just today (Monday) I saw an opportunistic piece about the Kirk shooting calling into question the state of Utah’s “most permissive in the country” gun legislation. Horrors, the article seemed to state, the Utah folks can openly carry weapons, even on selected public college campuses. Except . . the Kirk shooter was not carrying openly but, judging from videos since released, had the broken-down weapon jammed into his pants. I would argue that had a legally carrying gun owner seen him — the so-called good guy with a gun – Kirk might still be alive today. You will never hear that argument from LameStream media.

But, but, but, the hyperventilating gun-control types suggest we need to get rid of guns to make us all safer. This, while many high-profile types employ private security, wielding guns, to protect their hypocritical butts. I’m fairly certain a gun ban would not lead to widespread security unemployment.

If we did ban guns, would crime and public murders/assassinations disappear? In a word, no.

Did you notice the careeer criminal killing the Ukrainian woman? He stabbed her.

Knives, plus the proverbial blunt object, or hands, are weapons of opportunity for killers.

And, as far as mass killings, do you recall fertilizer and nitromethane racing fuel additive being used in part to build a truck bomb that blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 169 and injuring 685? That happened in April 1995, about seven months after the assault weapons ban was signed into law.

Fast-forward to Sept. 11, 2001, with the 10-year assault weapons ban still in place, and 2,977 perished in terror attacks using commercial airliners.

Finally, some of the highest-profile assassinations in history, were achieved without the use of “assault weapons.” Bolt-action rifles struck down President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. It was a cheap .22-caliber revolver used to slay Robert F. Kennedy.

John Lennon (.38-caliber revolver), Kennedy assassin (alleged) Lee Harvey Oswald (.38-caliber revolver),, etc., etc. etc.

Of late, we have witnessed a series of incidents here and abroad in which drivers ran autos or trucks into crowds to kill and maim.

Where are the cries to ban knives, airliners, automobiles and trucks?

There seems to be a transgender aspect to recent high-profile shootings here. Again, no cries to ban transgenderism?

Call it selective outrage. Ignore these LameStream types and their social media keyboard acolytes, for you know their agenda demands bias and precludes fair analysis.

This is an open appeal to operators on both sides of the political aisle: Do not blindly support the actions of any and all just because they are members of your political tribe.

I’m a Donald Trump supporter, but that doesn’t mean I endorse all that some of my Trump brethren do. In fact, I know personally a number of Trump fans with whom I would not share a dinner.

I bumped into a group of such undesirable Trump backers this morning, while walking home from dropping off my Mustang GT to have an intermittent miss diagnosed by my mechanic.

How do I know they supported Trump? They proudly told me so. More on that later.

I took the scenic route for my walk, past the home ballfield of our Little League Softball champions from West Suburban.

As I walked up the former road between ballfields, I saw a group of adult men with dogs running loose. This, despite signs advising no pets (remember this for later) and the state’s leash law for dogs in public areas.

I was trying to listen to an investment podcast on my cell phone when two of the lab-type dogs, one black and other yellow, rushed over to greet me.

They were not aggressive or intimidating because that is not the Lab demeanor. They did, however, bump into me in clumsy Lab fashion and were annoying, as were the half-hearted verbal attempts from the guys to call them off.

Because I am who I am, I took the opportunity to tell the group that there are leash laws and they really should have better control of their animals.

This annoyed them, which didn’t surprise me. Few things are more predictable these days than a wrongdoer being offended when their infractions are pointed out to them.

One particularly mouthy guy, perhaps emboldened by having me outnumbered 4-1, not including the loose dogs, told me to just keep moving. And it was on.

I asked if he owned the land, which obviously he didn’t. His clever rejoinder was “Do you?” It was offered with the self-satisifed smirk of a moron, or a 3rd-grader.

No, I don’t own the land and that’s the point, In public venues, dogs must be under control. That’s not just my opinion, it’s the law.

Ironically, the mouthy one noted while there are signs stating no pets, he didn’t see any leash signs.

I then asked him if he considered his dog a human or a pet. In these days of identifying as other things, perhaps the dog identified as human.

I stopped to unlock my phone and take his picture – and that of his dog — thanking him – the presumed human, not the dog. Said human and his buddies uttered some unintelligble things.

“Still standing here?’ he asked.

Apparently, yes.

I was branded as a first-timer in the vicinity. This was interesting since I’ve lived in the area for about 40 years and have walked in that vicinity for most of that time. But the guy was just throwing stuff against the wall seeing what might stick.

Again, I was told to move on and he reached out and touched my right forearm. I told him to get his hands off me and he did.

I was told I was a glaring example of what was wrong with this country, what Trump was trying to fix.

I noted that I’d voted for Trump three times. He doubted that. I asked him if he cared to wager on the matter. By virtue of this blog and interaction with those in my family and circle of friends, I can prove my political leanings.

Now, he reversed course and said he didn’t care. But he must care, he brought up the subject of politics.

Alas, he was not a taker on the bet. Instead, he and his group of pals tossed assorted verbal barbs as I walked away, including that I obviously hated dogs.

“Just irresponsible dog owners,” I told them.

I bumped into another neighbor out for a walk while we still were within eyesight of the group of brave scofflaws and I told him I hoped they were not friends of his. Apparently, they were not.

This lack of responsibility among dog owners is a common theme. The humans are supposed to be the brains of the outfit, but often are not.

Just yesterday, a woman neighbor was lamenting to my wife the owners of large dogs on our street and nearby streets, who let them roam loose, terrorizing small dogs such as hers.

Although I have owned dogs most of my life, I currently have none, so I literally and figuratively had no dog in that fight. But she is correct. Dog ownership comes with responsibility.

So does political partisanship. Whether you support Trump or Democrats, don’t mirror the actions of the idiot Trump supporters I encountered today. Think for yourself and be both brave and intellectually honest enough to point out misdeeds, even by those with whom you side politically.

Charlie Kirk has been assassinated, yet another step toward what I see as inevitable civil war in this country.

This time it will not be north vs. south, or east vs. west, it will be fought between those attempting to preserve the ideals upon which this nation was founded, and those who would tear it all down into mindless anarchy.

It truly will be neighbor vs. neighbor and it will be ugly.

Kirk was shot while doing one of his campus tour stops, in which the conservative activist engaged adversaries in dialogue. It was ironic that he was shot even as some antagonist was on the microphone trying to gotcha Kirk on the number of American trans mass shooters over the past 10 years.

“Too many,’ Kirk answered, to cheers from the crowd.

Then the questioner pivoted to how many mass shooters in the U.S. over the past 10 years.

Kirk sought a clarification of whether this was including, or not including gang violence and was shot and killed seconds later.

I didn’t bother to check right away, but I was confident hateful leftists on social media and propagandized cable “news” networks would be ecstatic that such a powerful conservative voice had been silenced. His death took some time to be confirmed, but reading quick accounts of a neck wound and spurting blood, I was pretty confident that was the case.

And I was correct, both on that snap diagnosis and on anticipating the despicable public commentary that followed from the left, judging from reporting on responses.

Some MSNBC dimbulb suggested a crazed Kirk supporter, unaware of how to handle a firearm, had shot in celebration and killed Kirk. Obviously he was projecting memories of the video that showed Tim Walz seeming to have sex with a shotgun while trying – unsuccessfully – to load it.

The talking head went on to imply that Kirk deserved to be shot dead because of his language.

Again, what inept projection from a leftist. MSNBC apologized. Big deal. I would expect this total ass to keep his job.

And what of harsh language? Remember, Shrillary called Trump supporters deplorables.

The Great Obammy labeled those on the right bitter types clinging to guns and religion – both of which are rights enumerated in our Constitution, by the way.

More recently, libtards have characterized Trump and his supporters as Nazis and claimed they are noble types fighting Trump and company – by any means necessary – to save democracy.

Just today, after the House observed a moment of silence for Kirk, it was suggested a verbal prayer might be in order. Unnamed Democrats were reported to have begun cheering in unison, “no.”

How are these leftist Democrats saving democracy, you might ask?

Within the past seven days, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine likened a Trump nominee’s assertion that rights come from God, not governments, to something one would hear in the Iran theocracy.

Kaine either is ignorant or disingenuous, because that is a cornerstone of this nation’s Declaration of Independence. It reads, in part, that citizens “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Democrats’ loose association with the truth allows them to label conservative protests as insurrections, while labeling violent leftist demonstrations as “mostly peaceful.”

Democrats profess to want to protect the Constitution, yet abhor free speech for any but their toadies and sycophants in LameStream media. They also want to disarm the populace, guaranteeing only criminals and the government would possess guns.

Democrats consider any who question election results as deniers, except when they question those results.

And so it goes.

The mood I’m sensing among the right today is a combination of sadness over the Kirk assassination and an anger it has happened once again.

Count two attempts on the life of Donald Trump (that we know of) and continue back through the years and you will find most of the violence has been perpetrated against the right, by deranged leftists or sexually confused types.

Yes, I know Democrat Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s house was fire-bombed this past April. There were attempts to paint the guy as a deranged Trump supporter, but, according to no less a source than the Pennsylvania State Police, the man hated Shapiro, who is Jewish, because of “perceived injustices toward the people of Palestine.”

As for the Minnesota state legislators shot the past June, the egregiously left-leaning Wikipedia summation of the incident paints the alleged shooter as a Trump supporter, despite conflicting records. What is known by the records is that Waltz had appointed the shooter to an advisory board for a four-year term in 2019. Presumably it was not to teach Walz how to load a shotgun.

The usual suspects high in the Democrat party, including Obama, have rushed to twitter with insincere commentary regarding Kirk’s shooting. Obama, began his post “We don’t yet know what motivated the person. . .”

Do you think indoctrinating lunatics and their close cousins that all Republicans are Nazis and an existential threat to the nation might just trigger such a thing, Barry? Do you think it was disaffected conservative who pulled the trigger?

To quote Clueless Joe Biden, come on, man!

Despite recent erroneous reports that the killer of Kirk had been apprehended, we don’t yet know who or what it was.

If and when they do make an arrest, I’m thinking it will be some pimply-faced loser with a manifesto of hate, inspired by the left.

These leftist lunatics who keep hoping to foment civil war might take a moment to reflect. I envision them as the dog that chases the car and, when it catches it, wonders what next?

A more timely description for the 2025 era is FAFO.

If and when civil war breaks out, my money’s on the right, both morally and politically.