The execution will not be televised........

 10 days ago, Secretary of No Defense Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon would livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan on December 3, more than 17 years after the attack.

For once, president Trump decided, no, that ain't happening.

Trump also admitted that he was not aware that Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of his gun battle in 2009 that led to his arrest. The logic, then, you would figure, is that the firing squad won't have a standing target.

So why not switch to a lethal injection?

Hegseth is a clout chasing moron, that's why. He's got it in his tiny brain that the US needed to send a message to discourage any more mass shooters. Hasan had served in the military himself, and the execution would be the first of a US soldier, active or not, since World War II, and the first execution via firing squad in 65 years.

Trump is taking this stand, less than three weeks from the midterm elections, in an effort to help the GOP retain control of Congress, if at all possible, since the livestream of the execution reportedly is not a popular choice.

That said, we'll see if he changes his tune come November 4, after the midterms.

Weird Wednesdays: The Standells visit the Munsters (1965)

 From season 1 of The Munsters: 

The Standells, famous for "Dirty Water", do indeed pay a visit, as Herman (Fred Gwynne) is persuaded to lease the house to the band........

Unfortunately, the Standells were a 1-hit wonder......

I think we know how Dumb Donald picks his press secretaries.........

 After Karoline Leavitt resigned as White House press secretary, and subsequently went on maternity leave, Dumb Donald needed a new shill. Unfortunately, he should've had her rehearse before her first live briefing.

Katie Zacharia made her debut with a 14 minute press briefing Tuesday, and, unfortunately, not only was she caught unprepared, but she was so much more of a deer in the headlights than even Leavitt or Kayleigh McEnany (now with Fox No News). Zacharia is another former Fox No News talent, just like Pete Hegseth & Jeanine Pirro. Trump wants a female press secretary who is telegenic and attractive. It's that simple.

The panel on The View weigh in:

Already, as Whoopi Goldberg suggested, there are rumors that Zacharia may not be long for her new role. The common sense thing to do would've been to have someone coach Zacharia on how to present herself before Tuesday, but did Dumb Donald think of that? Hmmmmmmmm, wellllllllll, of course not. Trump is allergic to common sense.

Hope you survive the experience, Katie, that's all we can say.

Musical Interlude: One Less Bell to Answer (1970)

 From season 3 of It Takes a Thief:

The 5th Dimension are the musical guests, and the episode closes with a rendition of "One Less Bell to Answer". Marilyn McCoo not only sings, but, as you can see, she is also on guitar.

So a candidate is sick with the flu. You'd think the GOP would remember 2020, but.............

 "Those who fail to remember history are condemned to repeat it."-George Santayana.

Texas Senate candidate James Talarico is back out on the campaign trail, with fresh ads airing nationwide, but his recent bout with the flu became a cudgel for his Republican challenger, scandal scarred AG Ken'L Ration Paxton, who is questioning the legitimacy of Talarico's illness.

He'd have better luck questioning the legitimacy of his party boss, president Pampers.

It's gotten to the point where Donald Trump and one of his chief advisors, Stephen Miller, are also calling into question why Talarico was "hiding".

A shameless geek.

Miller, for his part, per MSN, was demanding Talarico's medical records, which prompted people on social media to clap back, since Trump has refused to disclose his true medical records and condition. Conservative shitstains Rhein Amacher and Nick Sortor falsely claimed Talarico had gone to an Ohio mental health clinic, the Lindner Center of Hope, which denied the claim, as did Talarico.

If any of this sounds remotely familiar, think back to 2020 and COVID.

Joe Biden was not taking any chances going out on the trail, and remained at home in Delaware, but Trump accused him of "hiding".  As everyone knows now, Trump lost the election, but has refused to publicly admit it since then, falsely claiming fraud when his own bumbling response to the pandemic was what cost him the White House.

What this says is that the GOP is that scared that Paxton will lose with just over 3 weeks to Election Day. Paxton is so desperate, he asked his daughter to appear in an attack ad against Talarico that is also airing nationwide. The smears won't end, but they will be playing a part in costing Paxton the election.

Paxton, Trump, Miller, and others pretend to be Christians. Talarico is a legitimate Christian, and making them look real bad. They can't have that. Unfortunately, reality's about to lay the smack down on them again.

Down to the final four: 2026 LCS preview

 There won't be any further, ah, divine intervention in these playoffs. Maybe.

Cleveland eliminated the Chicago White Sox with a 2-0 win Saturday night to earn a shot at reaching the World Series for the first time in 10 years by facing Tampa Bay. Tonight, however, the NLCS begins (8 pm, Fox) with Milwaukee facing defending champion Los Angeles.

National League:

Milwaukee vs. Los Angeles.

If the Dodgers want to be the first NL team to 3-peat, they have to go through the Brewers. Shohei Ohtani hasn't been as big a factor as he was last year, but the depth the Dodgers have is more than enough, with the likes of Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, et al, backing up Ohtani. Los Angeles and their all-star pitching rotation will be just fine. For the Brew Crew. It's wait 'til next year. Again.

Pick: Los Angeles in 5.

American League:

Cleveland vs. Tampa Bay.

The Rays have had nearly a week's rest after sweeping the Yankees. The Guardians get just one day between last night's win and game 1 tomorrow (TBS). Momentum is on their side, but it's a case of who is hungrier. Sometimes, you just have to play the hot hand.

Pick: Cleveland in 6.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Post-season record: 5-3.

On The Shelf: A cable legend makes his comics debut, and a franchise returns

 News first, then reviews.

Dynamite has a trifecta of new books out in December, in time for the holidays, and that's not including the predictable holiday specials for Red Sonja, Vampirella, & Gargoyles. More on the latter in a bit.

Vampirella also stars in a new crossover miniseries with Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, the latest collaboration between Dynamite & Archie. The two share a beach house while Sabrina's on vacation, and there's trouble afoot. Can a part-witch and an alien vampire co-exist without driving each other crazy?

Cable legend Joe Bob Briggs, who's also done time on radio with his drive-in movie reviews back in the day, stars in his own miniseries, written by David Avallone. Joe's sidekick, Darcy, must've joined him when he debuted on Shudder 8 years ago. If you haven't seen Joe on TV, well, now you'll have some idea about what he looks like.

Finally, it's the comics return of The X-Files. We're bummed that Charles Adlard, who drew the original series for Topps 30 years ago, didn't come back this time. Don't expect this to be an ongoing, but, rather, another miniseries.

Dynamite is launching another crossover with Archie, arriving this week, by having The Terminator visit Riverdale. The publisher is also doing a facsimile reprint of the first-ever issue of Evil Ernie from the 90's, also in December.

Now, on to the reviews.

Speaking of Gargoyles, the series relaunches with writer-creator Greg Weisman having Goliath deputized by the NYPD while pursuing a gargoyle egg stolen by Demona. So, of course, the rest of the clan joins in. We'll see if Weisman gets a year out of this.

Rating: Incomplete.

Cheetara gets her own book again, this time meant to be an ongoing. The writers are veering too close to the supernatural elements for my tastes. With Greg Pak taking over a relaunched ThunderCats, this may be a jumping off point for some readers. I'm just not feeling this.

Rating: C.

Over the summer, IDW acquired Zorro from American Mythology, and gave Howard Chaykin a 3 part miniseries to write. A decent tale of Zorro fighting a battle against a duplicitous Irishman both as Don Diego and Zorro. Chaykin did everything but put Diego in bed with the pirate princess fighting alongside him.....!

Rating: B-.

Also from IDW is Zorro's Legacy, written by Dan Abnett, with the first two issues drawn by Aaron Lopresti. A fill-in covered issue 3. Yep, another attempt at modernizing the hero for today's audience. No indication this will be an ongoing, which is being cautious.

Rating: B.

So why is Space Ghost fighting The Herculoids? Chalk it up to the manipulations of an old enemy of his. The conflict will resolve around the 4th issue, and the villain gets a royal whupping.

Rating: B+.

Jason Aaron wrapped his Thundarr The Barbarian time travel miniseries with the predictable tropes, but also giving fans something they've waited 45 years for in the final panel, and if you don't know what I mean, you haven't paid attention to the series at all.

Final rating: B+.

Greg Pak is also responsible for Marvel's latest Planet of The Apes miniseries, which has a lone Predator on the planet. I didn't think they'd do worse than the miniseries with the Fantastic Four earlier this year, but they have. Decent art saves this from being a total bore.

Rating: B--.