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Friday, June 14, 2024

The Boxed-Up Rebellion

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Maybe next year old friends...

Today, Friday June 14th, is Flag Day. Which would normally see stately Jarlsberg Manor adorned with multiple American flags, a proud display of the stars and stripes.

But not this year. That flag has long represented the ideals upon which our nation was founded, but current realities make that no longer true.

We're currently seeing the jailing of political prisoners, targeting everyone from a former President to grandmothers who tarried too long while "parading" on Capitol grounds on January 6th. Conservative political consultant Steve Bannon is heading to prison for (entirely appropriate) contempt of Congress. But Democrat Attorney General Merrick Garland has also been found to be in contempt of Congress and suffers no threat of imprisonment or even chastisement. The United States, once a beacon of hope for the oppressed, has become the oppressor - silencing and punishing its citizens for dissent.

Corruption, blatant and wholesale, runs rampant through the layers of government, the judiciary, and the alphabet agencies, undermining our principles of justice, fairness, and accountability. The institutions tasked with protecting our country now erode it from within. And you'll find an American flag atop every official building.

Meanwhile, the media's portrayal of our nation has skewed reality, encouraging divisiveness and perpetuating lies. A current Washington Post editorial makes the point that the Left should seize symbolic ownership of the flag from Trump and his malign MAGA misfits. But the Left wants only to steal a politically useful symbol rather than to rededicate themselves to the Constitutional principles that flag once stood for. It's not the cloth that they should be fighting over, but rather the virtues that formed the fabric of our nation.

To fly a flag that, in practice, currently represents these betrayals is something I can't bring myself to do today. I withhold my allegiance, not out of disdain for what the flag should represent, but to preserve that flag for a future worth symbolizing. Hopefully as soon as November.

LIBERTY BELL

Just so you don't think that I'm only posting today to suck all the joy out of life,  here's another homemade musical tidbit (sorry if you're sick of these) with a bit of a story to it.

Using AI, I made a pretty credible country song and opined to some folks that a person could turn out a respectable album in a very short time and attribute the songs to an AI generated artist. And to make my point, I made an album cover for shining new country star (and patriotic pin-up) Cassidy Bell. The album title was the name of her alleged hit song "Who Cares If It's Real?" - a bit of meta humor about the fact that none of it was real. 

But then I got curious about that song title. What would her hit sound like? And so I whipped up some lyrics, used AI for the vocal and illustration, then edited together a music video to go with it. If Cassidy Bell goes viral, mum's the word, okay?

Turn on closed captions for lyrics

27 comments:

Elbarto said...

It is also the birthday of the US Army, established 14 JUN 1775. And my flag will be flying high.

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Elbarto- I salute all those flying their flags today. It's just my personal (and regretful) choice not to do so while this rogue administration is trampling the Constitution.

Mike aka Proof said...

Any comments on whether or not AI made Cassidy a little "Butch"?
(I'll let myself out.)

Anonymous said...

Sadly, Stilton, I concur with you

Old Surfer said...


Yikes, I find that fascinating, creepy and frightening. 50 years ago photoshop meant we couldn't trust our eyes, now we can't trust our ears either. Trust may be humanities biggest problem now.

Dan said...

@elBarto--you beat me to it.
Happy 249th Birthday US Army!
My flag flies.

PaBlum said...

Why not fly the flag upside down to show that our country is in distress?

Alan said...

Currently the US Army seems to be protecting every country except our own. Or maybe not protecting any country, just a political tool for stirring up trouble in other countries.

Anonymous said...

Shucky Durn!
That’s a purty good song!

American Cowboy said...

@PaBlum
That is my choice. I am a patriotic AMERICAN, but I owe ZERO allegiance to whatever the Hell this country is currently!
And I am sick and tired of people who are still advocating for a "play nice" and " go along to gt along" solution. Those people are no different than the Jews in WWII Germany who peacefully and meekly went to the showers and then into the ovens.

Anonymous said...

The anti-America crowds nearly always show their disdain for the this country by tearing down and desecrating our flag. I proudly fly the flag as an in-your-face to them, but primarily to honor those who gave all to defend our country. Every day is Memorial Day for me.

Alex G said...

We got one shot left to change all this……..peacefully.
Nov 5.
Let’s see if we can.

twocents said...

Stilton's posts are always worth the wait. By the way how about a semi-original Trump campaign song and or lyrics. The Stones don't like him using their riffs, doesn't apparently stop him because they probably signed away rights for the dough but Stilton could conjure something catchy to go viral.

Bill Clinton used "Don't Stop" and Obama used various soul creations, usually with cooperation from the artists. Kari Lake used "American Woman" to the artists distress as did Palin use Barracuda for awhile. Incredibly ironically John Kerry used "Fortunate Son". Like Kerry others used songs that turned out to be ironic or inappropriate upon minimal scrutiny - Hillary in particular.

Alej said...

We're watching the fall of Empire in fast forward; the older one is, the greater the degeneration of our Old America seems. I was naively patriotic in the '60s, but that has all washed away, now.

Pinning my hopes on TEXIT, and a return to a constitutional republic, plus some draconian consequences for wrongdoers and traitors.

TrickyRicky said...

It is hard to believe how far we have fallen in my lifetime. I would never have guessed. I pray we can halt and reverse the decline, but with all the levers of power and persuasion in the hands of the Marxist/Stalinist/Maoist bastards, I do have many doubts. I will fly the flag today, as I do the other 364 days of the year.

BTW today is also the birthday of Donald J.Trump. Make of that what you will.

Anonymous said...

We fly the Betsy Ross flag now, praying that one day the Nation Old Glory represented will rise again. God willing.

https://tempestinateardrop.com/2024/05/27/america-that-was/

John D. Egbert said...

As with PaBlum and American Cowboy, my flag has been flying inverted since 6 Jan 2021. It will continue to do so, 24/7, until 6 Jan 2025 - hopefully at the earliest, barring unforeseen occurrences after 5 Nov.

We may be approaching the need to open the fourth box . . .

John the Econ said...

I bought a new flag just before Memorial Day to replaced our 25-year-old faded one, and am displaying it today; In defiance as much as anything. I'll be retiring my old one in proper fashion on a future camping trip. Good luck to the left for thinking they can take back ownership of the flag. They've spent decades repudiating it, and now they want it back? Like petulant children, they only now want it because we own it, and I for one will not be giving it up. They can have mine after they pull my guns from my cold, dead hands.

(I also have a special one that has been flown over the capitol that I save for extra-special occasions)

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Readers- Whether our flags are flying or folded today, our hearts are clearly in the same place. Reading the comments above reminded me that I have a nice American flag emblazoned with a serpent and the words "DON'T TREAD ON ME" which is now on display on my house. I think it sends the appropriate message.

Dick Lowman said...

Sadly, I agree with Stilton's well written summary. My fear is that all the crap that's going on is intentional, designed to stir up physical / armed rebellion. When that happens we will hear "hooray, now we have an excuse to declare martial law and confiscate all weapons 'to protect you.' " Like the Patriot Act, but on steroids.

Shelly said...

If Trump is not elected and we don't attain clear majorities in the House and Senate, I am truly fearful for the state of our country. Today's leftists are truly evil. They may not have killed people as Stalin did, but they are killing the America I grew up in and fear may never return. I truly despise these people and wish them harm. They deserve it. Who recognizes a country where a little old lady in front of an abortion clinic gets jailed, but Hillary Clinton walks free as a bird. After the terror attack on 9/11, I never dreamed a sitting president would open the floodgates at the southern border, my border, and let terrorists roam our country at will. I never dreamed our constitutional rights would be trampled over a hoax virus. Who could have imagined the assault on our children by the trans mafia and have it condoned by those in the highest places. There's not enough bandwidth for me to air all my grievances.

Titan Mk6B said...

Absolutely incredible song. Your powers in AI are first rate.

I like this song so much I want to learn it.

McChuck said...

Eric Holder (Demoncrat, Obungler) was also found to be in contempt of Congress, and never prosecuted by the DOJ. It's almost like there's a pattern of a two-tiered "justice" system.

M. Mitchell Marmel said...

The flag flies proudly at my residence. :D

Oldarmourer said...

Nothing is done without a plan...it might not work but it's still planned out and the way the *resident keeps telling the citizenry that they need F-15's to stand a chance against him is a clue that they have no compunction against using the military on them...provided the one pulling the triffers decide to follow those orders...generals might be required to be armed by law, but a sidearm only goes so far when a pilot decides their HQ makes a better target than a group of cranky townsfolk, and it only takes one to really mess the plan up.

JustaJeepGuy said...


@Oldarmourer, Slick Willie Clinton started trying to purge the people who might not follow the (treasonous) orders in the US armed forces back about 30 years ago. Apparently, the Demo_Rats felt he wasn't thorough enough and Barack Hussein accelerated the policies. I felt sure that Slick would have had no problem nuking parts of America back then and even more sure Barack Hussein would have done so. Whoever is "in charge" now would do so now, too. I have hope that there's at least one person capable of "really mess[ing] the plan up" when the time comes.

Oldarmourer said...

The generals who cared were purged and the successive generations of officers carefully chosen for their loyalty to the 'new order', but you can't screen everybody and all ti takes is a grunt with a full magazine and a hesitation to fire on civilians to really mess things up. A lot of 'leaders' have been taken out of the running by the 'palace guard', sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse, Egypt and India spring to mind, so that possibility still exists and while the ones at the very top might be the hardest targets, the ones implementing their orders aren't usually so well protected and make for more effective ones. It's often better to take out the ones pulling the triggers first and then go after the ones telling them to pull them later.