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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?
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
It is also the birthday of the US Army, established 14 JUN 1775. And my flag will be flying high.
ReplyDelete@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.
ReplyDeleteSadly, Stilton, I concur with you
DeleteAny comments on whether or not AI made Cassidy a little "Butch"?
ReplyDelete(I'll let myself out.)
ReplyDeleteYikes, 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.
@elBarto--you beat me to it.
ReplyDeleteHappy 249th Birthday US Army!
My flag flies.
Why not fly the flag upside down to show that our country is in distress?
ReplyDeleteCurrently 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.
ReplyDeleteShucky Durn!
ReplyDeleteThat’s a purty good song!
@PaBlum
ReplyDeleteThat 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.
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.
ReplyDeleteWe got one shot left to change all this……..peacefully.
ReplyDeleteNov 5.
Let’s see if we can.
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.
ReplyDeleteBill 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.
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.
ReplyDeletePinning my hopes on TEXIT, and a return to a constitutional republic, plus some draconian consequences for wrongdoers and traitors.
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.
ReplyDeleteBTW today is also the birthday of Donald J.Trump. Make of that what you will.
We fly the Betsy Ross flag now, praying that one day the Nation Old Glory represented will rise again. God willing.
ReplyDeletehttps://tempestinateardrop.com/2024/05/27/america-that-was/
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.
ReplyDeleteWe may be approaching the need to open the fourth box . . .
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.
ReplyDelete(I also have a special one that has been flown over the capitol that I save for extra-special occasions)
@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.
ReplyDeleteSadly, 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.
ReplyDeleteIf 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.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely incredible song. Your powers in AI are first rate.
ReplyDeleteI like this song so much I want to learn it.
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.
ReplyDeleteThe flag flies proudly at my residence. :D
ReplyDeleteNothing 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.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete@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.
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.
ReplyDeleteI once witnessed a hip replacement procedure many years ago, and it was both fascinating and mortifying to watch. One of the tools that the surgeon employed was a Black and Decker hand drill with a ball rasp to prepare the hip socket for a nylon insert, and a foot-long drill bit to clear out marrow for the spike end of the titanium replacement ball, which was hammered into the end of the femur. This after sawing off the deteriorated ball end with what was essentially a hacksaw. Being that the patient was prone, I leave it to the reader to imagine how the buttocks was filleted in layers to provide access to the joint.
ReplyDeleteNow, imagine this whole process with an incompetent surgeon, filthy operating arena, and a screaming, semi-conscious patient who is clearly doomed – and you will get an idea of what I see whenever Biden addresses the country. I have no desire to witness the carnage of this turd attempting to debate the likes of Trump, entertaining as that might be.
@Mike Porter: That description makes my stump ache. 'Course, it's only been a bit over three weeks since my gangrenous foot (and part of my calf) was removed... ;D
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, he won't be allowed to 'debate' anyone, at the very least Trump will have 'technical difficulties' with his mic and be repeatedly cut off before his time is up or chastised for 'inappropriate comments' aka 'the truth' while bye-then will be allowed to go overtime as long as he wants and spout off nothing but vicious attacks that have already been proven false, like the 'fine people on both sides' bullshit they made up out of whole cloth.
ReplyDeleteThey might think that helps them but people today can see through such cheap tactics, even if cnn applauds them, and it might just drive the final nail in joey's coffin, or he might bugger it up so bad he'll end up being pulled from the lineup before the 'vote'...from 'natural causes' of course, well as natural as you can get where killary's involved ;)
@Mike Porter- Yesterday my doctor told me that my need for a hip replacement was more urgent than previously thought because of bone necrosis. So your description of the brutal surgery was perfectly timed! Actually, I'd previously watched the procedure done on Youtube so you didn't reveal any surprises. But damn, when I think "surgery" it doesn't usually involve power tools, chisels, and hammers.
ReplyDelete@M. Mitchell Marmel- WHAT?! Was this a diabetes thing? Frostbite from climbing Mt. Everest? An ingrown toenail treated by Dr. Fauci? Geez, I hope you're recovering well and can get a good prosthetic. Keep me posted!
@Oldarmourer- I think ANYthing could happen at the debate. Biden could screw up (and his handlers could let it happen to ditch him), Biden could announce that he's no longer running because it's so vital that Trump loses that he's stepping aside for a younger candidate with experience governing California. Or Trump could be assassinated on-air (no audience to notice annoying details). Even now, Hunter Biden may be practicing shouting "Sic Semper Tyrannis!" The one thing I don't expect is a normal debate.
@Stilton: The prevailing opinion is beetus, so everybody mind your toes! Getting pretty good care, until the insco decides to boot me out on the street...
ReplyDeleteThe movie was make-believe. Unfortunately, this isn't...
ReplyDeleteRights ? What 'rights' ? You don't need no steenking rights...
"...Shortly after Dattani was appointed to lead the [Canadian Human Rights Commission] in mid-June, National Post learned that in 2015 he had shared the stage with a member of an Islamic fundamentalist group and repeatedly lectured during “Israel Apartheid Week” at British universities about the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. According to a Government of Canada factsheet, attempts to boycott and sanction Israel are one of its six core examples of antisemitism...."