Morons of the Month - June 2026

How well timed.  Another monthly tribute to morons two days after the primary elections in California.  Ah, people, you don't let me down.  Because, once again, it is proven that democracy and voting rights are wasted on the population of this country.

Yes, Karen Bass won the mayoral primary and garnered the right to be part of a runoff for re-election in November.   She will run against some schmuck named Spencer Pratt who once was on some reality show I never heard of.  He's probably not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he did lose his home in the Palisade fires.  He is likely very genuine about his emotions and, let's face it, I would vote for a Chick Fil A kitchen worker before I would ever pull a lever for Karen Bass.   It says here she got about 35% of the vote.   Given her ineptitude in a host of political positions, I'd be surprised if 35 people voted for her.

But I have written about her here before.   When, back in 2018, she was a Moron of the Month.  Cue the flashback.

 

Let's get this month's stupidity out of the way on Day One.

This is my Congress representative Karen Bass...leave off the B.  I have never met her or seen her out in public.  She is my voice in the House of Representatives and I might as well have Marcel Marceau.  

As most people know, I think there should be a special place in Hell for anybody who's ever held public office.  To be a politician is to be a complete fraud and Karen Bass...leave off the B...is no different.  She doesn't represent my views or even has acknowledged my opinion, which I did try to share with her three years ago.   More on that later.  Simply, she is just the typical political charlatan who takes her party views and turns them into her own original thoughts.   Of course, when it comes to politicians, there really are no original thoughts.

So, two nights ago, I was upholding my long standing streak of not watching the State of the Union address.   I have not watched one since 2002 and the only reason I viewed that one was because we were still enduring the pain and trauma of 9/11.  These speeches are a pointless charade in a country which is now hopelessly and fatally fractured by two completely inept political parties. But, apparently just as the speech ended, my phone rang.  I looked at the caller ID.

OFFICE OF KAREN BASS.

I've had these calls before but was looking to be amused.  I picked it up.

Ms. Bass...leave off the B...was doing one of her phone town halls.  She was jabbering about whatever Trump said and somehow meandered into discussing how the United States should worry about poor people in Africa.

I hung up.  

I thought about my drive back from the gym earlier in the day.  I passed one homeless encampment after another.   This is a critical problem in Los Angeles right now.   Hey, the homeless are the main reason why all those fires started two months ago.   One of those folks who ignited the flames on the side of the 405 Freeway in Brentwood is not hiding in the crawlspace of my church. That's one of a dozen or so issues in my neighborhood right now.

So what is Karen Bass...leave off the B...focusing on?   Everything but.   She is just one more asshole who simply parrots her party's talking points as if Edgar Bergen had his hand up her back.   This woman represents me in Washington DC and is utterly clueless and worthless.

But I knew that already.

Flashback to three years ago.  For some bizarre reason, the office of Karen Bass...leave off the B...contacted me to help her battle Tea Party Republicans who were gunning for Obama's Affordable Healthcare Act.  Oh, and the way to defeat it was by clicking a convenient link.   It took me to her re-election campaign fund drive.

Typical.

So I chose to actually e-mail Ms. Bass...leave off the B.   I explained to this moron that health care was a very complex issue in America.   I related to her all the costs I was bearing at the time with my own private health insurance...costs that were depleting my bank account quickly.  I invited her to have a dialogue with me.

Karen Bass...leave off the B...never had the common courtesy to respond.  Likely, she never saw the e-mail.  I am guessing somebody on her overpaid staff looked at my last name, said "white guy," and immediately trashed it.

And there you have it.  American government in a nutshell.  

But, as I salute Karen Bass...leave off the B...as this month's honorary moron, I realize that it could be worse.   I could live several miles south and wind up with Maxine Waters as my Congressional representative.  I have friends who are stuck with her.   They also tried to contact her.   

They didn't get an answer either.

And there you have it.  2018 and 2026.  She was once a monthly moron.  Now I officially add anybody who voted for her on June 2. 

Dinner last night:   Korean chicken.

This Date in History - June 3

 

On this date, the poem "Casey at the Bat" was first published.  From the picture, I wish we knew the date Casey started to take steroids.

350: THE ROMAN USURPER, NEPOTIANUS, OF THE CONSTANTINIAN DYNASTY, PROCLAIMS HIMSELF ROMAN EMPEROR.

Ne-potty-anus?  Now there's a name they need to rethink.

713: THE BYZANTINE EMPEROR PHILIPPICUS IS BLINDED, DEPOSED, AND SENT INTO EXILE. BY THE OPSIKION ARMY IN THRACE.

It certainly sucks to be Philippicus.

1539:  HERNANDO DE SOTO CLAIMS FLORIDA FOR SPAIN.

His little hideaway.  Ole!

1781:  JACK JOUETT BEGINS HIS MIDNIGHT RIDE TO WARN THOMAS JEFFERSON AND THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE OF AN IMPENDING RAID BY BANASTRE TARLETON.

I guess we never hear of the midnight ride of Jack Jouett.

1861:  POLITICIAN STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS DIES.

Jeez, he didn't last long after those debates.

1862:  A 3000-STRONG RIOT OCCURRED AT WARDSEND CEMETERY IN ENGLAND, SETTING OFF RUMORS OF BODY SNATCHING.

The Invasion of...

1866:  THE FENIANS ARE DRIVEN OUT OF ONTARIO INTO THE UNITED STATES.

Who are they and why are we now stuck with them?

1885:  IN THE LAST MILITARY ENGAGEMENT FOUGHT ON CANADIAN SOIL, CREE LEADER BIG BEAR ESCAPES THE NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE.

And later opens his own ski resort in California.

1888:  THE POEM "CASEY AT THE BAT" BY ERNEST LAWRENCE THAYER IS PUBLISHED IN THE SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER.

Fitting given his size and that city became the future home of that lummox Barry Bonds.

1889:  THE FIRST LONG-DISTANCE ELECTRIC POWER TRANSMISSION LINER IN THE US IS COMPLETED, RUNNING 14 MILES IN OREGON.

Let there be light.   And, oh, yeah, air conditioning.

1911:  ACTRESS ELLEN CORBY IS BORN.

Grandma Walton!

1916:  ACTOR LEO GORCEY IS BORN.

An original Bowery Boy.

1925:  ACTOR TONY CURTIS IS BORN.

Bernie Schwartz to you.

1929:  TV PRODUCER CHUCK BARRIS IS BORN.

A Happy Birthday Kiss!

1937:  THE DUKE OF WINDSOR MARRIES WALLIS SIMPSON.

Homer's sister?

1940:  DURING WORLD WAR II, THE LUFTWAFFE BOMBS PARIS.

Mon dieu!

1941:  DURING WORLD II THE WEHRMACHT RAZES THE GREEK VILLAGE OF KANDANDOS TO THE GROUND, KILLING 180 OF ITS INHABITANTS.

Wehrmacht?  There Macht.

1943:  IN LOS ANGELES, WHITE US NAVY SAILORS AND MARINES CLASH WITH LATINO YOUTHS IN THE ZOOT SUIT RUITS.

Glad to see nothing has changed.

1962:  AT PARIS ORLY AIRPORT, AN AIR FRANCE BOEING 707 OVERRUNS THE RUNWAY AND EXPLODES WHEN THE CREW ATTEMPTS TO ABOUT TAKEOFF, KILLING 130.

Frequent flyer miles achieved: 0.

1963:  POPE JOHN XXIII DIES.

And so begins the six months of funeral proceedings.

1965:  THE LAUNCH OF GEMINI 4.  ASTRONAUT ED WHITE PERFORMS THE FIRST AMERICAN SPACEWALK.

Just in case you thought this was first done by Michael Jackson.

1968:  VALERIE SOLANAS, THE AUTHOR OF SCUM MANIFESTO, ATTEMPTS TO ASSASSINATE ANDY WARHOL BY SHOOTING HIM THREE TIMES.

That piece of scum!

1975:  ACTOR OZZIE NELSON DIES.

The last adventure of Ozzie.

1980:  THE 1980 GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA TORNADO - $300 MILLION DOLLARS IN DAMAGE.

You ever wonder if Home Depot secretly prays for these storms?

1992:  ACTOR ROBERT MORLEY DIES.

A distinguished career, but everybody remembers him for those darn British Airways commercials.

1997:  TV HOST DENNIS JAMES DIES.

But he did receive this nice consolation prize.

2001:  ACTOR ANTHONY QUINN DIES.

You just know he was a creep in real life.

2009:  ACTOR DAVID CARRADINE DIES.

Kung Fu this.

2010:  ACTRESS RUE MCCLANAHAN DIES.

She was in the same scene with me in the only sitcom camera appearance I ever made.

2011:  ACTOR JAMES ARNESS DIES.

Gunsmoked.

2011:  SINGER ANDREW GOLD DIES.

How fitting that the writer of "Thank You for Being A Friend" should die one year to the day that Golden Girl Rue passed on.

2011:  ACTIVIST JACK KEVORKIAN DIES.

So, who pulled the plug on him??

2016:  BOXER MUHAMMAD ALI DIES.

TKO.

2021:  ATTORNEY F. LEE BAILEY DIES.

Wonder what the F stands for.

Dinner last night:  Leftover SPO from my freezer.

The Best Movie of 2026

 

Look at the title of today's blog.   Yes, I know it's only June.  But, as far as I'm concerned, the nitwits in Hollywood are going to have to work overtime to top the spectacular "Pressure."  This is now one of the definitive and best movies about the D-Day invasion of Normandy Beach.   And, yes, I realize how good "The Longest Day" was.

Okay, this is not a movie that's going to have a wide range of appeal across various age groups.   I mean, the showing I went to had an audience mostly of folks aged 75 and up.   Two people came in pushing walkers.  Yep, twenty-somethings are going to wonder what the devil was all this fuss about World War II.  But that's the reason why EVERYBODY should see this movie expertly put together by director Anthony Maras.

The plotline is well-known yet simple.   The Allied forces are planning their France invasion largely by sea and air.   Success is contingent upon perfect weather conditions, which one American meteorologist has predicted.   But a British weatherman named James Stagg says otherwise and goes head-to-head with General Dwight Eisenhower.  While the main plot and argument is about storm fronts, the film is so much more.   It's about the momentous decisions military leaders have to make.

Everything in "Pressure" is superb from the direction to the writing to the set decoration.  Indeed, there are only five or six main characters and that results in a super tight movie that tells its story in...get this...101 minutes!

Meanwhile, let's chat some more on the acting.  Andrew Scott is stoic and heroic and multi-layered as Stagg.   And this is another example of how good an actor Brendan Fraser has become.  He commands every moment on the screen as Ike.  He has certainly come a long way from "Encino Man."

Oh, there might be some good movies to come along the rest of 2026 and let's hope so.   But, for the price of my ticket, there is no other Best Film than "Pressure."

LEN'S RATING:  Four stars.

Dinner last night:  Salisbury steak.

Monday Morning Video Laugh - June 1, 2026

 Welcome to June.  The month of weddings and graduations.  With bloopers galore.  Watch this giggling couple try to get married.

Dinner last night:  Pizza.

The Sunday Memory Drawer - Another Relative

 

Here's Grandma and company seated at a family summer barbecue. I have other photos from the same event and we're all in shorts, t-shirts, etc.. Yet, as I mentioned last Sunday, these two are wearing their winter coats. Just in case the nighttime air chills and the temperature dips below 80.

The other lady in the photo is Tante (German for "aunt") Emma and my grandmother's sister-in-law. She was always around, especially when both were widows and craving somebody to talk German to. I'd listen in to their conversations and, despite the fact that I didn't understand a single word, I'd be laughing at the exchange.

Tante Emma and Grandma had a pretty set routine. On Sunday afternoon, after Grandma's dinner dishes had been cleared, the front door bell would ring. Our dog would bark. We would look at the clock. It was erxactly 1PM. This could only mean one thing.

Tante Emma had come to call. Back in the day this is what people did. They went to visit each other on Sunday afternoons. And the opening dialogue between the two would always be the same. Like Abbott and Costello's "Who's On First?" routine, the lines were repeated.

"How are you feeling?"

"With my fingers."

Or...

"What's new with you?"

"New York and New Jersey."

Or...

"You still kicking?"

"Yeah, bend over. I'll show you."

There were weeks where Tante Emma got the punchline and other weeks where Grandma got to button the joke. But, the lines never varied.

Tante Emma would come to us on the bus from her basement apartment on Burke Avenue in the Bronx. She and Grandma would yak it up in German for a couple of hours and then eat a supper of sandwiches and pickles. Then, my dad would drive Tante Emma home. I frequently came along for the ride and was forced to endure a rather loud conversation with her.

Yep, Tante Emma was hard of hearing.

"WHAT GRADE ARE YOU IN NOW, SWEETHEART?"

Fourth, I'd scream back. My father didn't flinch. It was okay to yell whenever Tante Emma was in the car.

Tante Emma never missed my birthday or Christmas. I'd get the card in the mail. There was always five dollars in the envelope. Never a dollar more. Never a cent less. And never adjusted for cost of living increases.

Of course, the regular gifts had a downside. My mother was very keen on courtesy.

"Call Tante Emma and thank her."

Groan. I knew the drill all too well.

"Thank you for the card and the money, Tante Emma."

"WHO IS THIS?????"

I would repeat the sentiment in a louder voice. My mother didn't flinch. It was okay to yell whenever you were on the telephone with Tante Emma.

"YOU'RE VERY WELCOME, SWEETHEART. BUY YOURSELF SOMETHING NICE."

Then there were the Sunday afternoons when Grandma would go to visit Tante Emma. And, for some inexplicable reason, I would go along. After five minutes, I'd need a break from all the gossiping in German. Tante Emma would bring me into her living room and get the TV warmed up.

"OKAY, YOU'RE ALL SET, SWEETHEART. YOU CAN WATCH MEET THE PRESS."

To this day, I have no idea why Tante Emma thought that I, at the age of ten, had any interest in watching political talk shows. But, I'd sit there and do so, because my mother had always told me never to change the TV channel in somebody else's house. One of those weird rules from my childhood. So, I'd sit there dumbfounded, listening to Senator Everett Dirksen talk about the Vietnam War.

Ultimately, Tante Emma skipped a few gears, as my father would say. She wound up in "one of those places." But, I think she buried most of the people from her generation and, despite not hearing a single word, lasted a long, long time.

And, in my own mind, I envision this dialogue of us telling her that my grandmother had passed on.

"Tante Emma, sorry to tell you that Tante Adele died."

"OH, REALLY? WHAT COLOR?"

Dinner last night:  Dim sum plates at Dan Modern Chinese.

Classic Musical Comedy Number of the Month - May 2026

Woo hoo!  A five Saturday month lets us enjoy a classic moment from the musical comedy stage or screen.  Indeed, this iconic number has been done over and over.  But the version of  this "Company" song I saw with Patti LuPone just might be the best.

Dinner last night:  The pre-game buffet at the Dodger Stadium Club.

That Damn High School Yearbook

 

If you wanted to see what Georgia Engel would look like as a male...

And he's also a rake.

Canon has introduced the first combination digital camera/tazer.

Voted "Most Likely to Swallow a Fly in this Photo Session."

Right after graduation, there was a rewarding career as a busboy at Medieval Times.

Her head is an apartment complex for split ends.

Lips or glasses? Which are bigger? You decide.

You think this kid's school was in a very, er, urban area? I wonder how the hair-do looks after this dude has been stuffed in a gym locker.

Dinner last night:  Sandwich.