Dunce Cap Award: three female stooges

With apologies to the estates of Moe, Shemp, & Curly Howard, Joe Besser, Larry Fine, & Joe DeRita, Donald Trump's idea of Three Stooges makes the comedy legends look like MENSA members.

You know, of course, that Lindsey Halligan, the former beauty pageant contestant and personal attorney to Orange Beavis, was disqualified as US Attorney for the Northern District of Virginia due to being unlawfully appointed by Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

So Halligan & Bondi are raging, claiming that the former is still the lead attorney.

A deer in the headlights.

The only reason Halligan can even try to claim her position is because Trump finds her telegenic, malleable, and of course, gullible enough to take whatever he says as gospel. And while there are reports circulating that Trump, behind the scenes, is getting annoyed with Bondi's bumbling, she's trying to win back his trust by standing by Halligan.

Between the two of them, their professional IQ is rapidly falling underwater, right along with their boss.

And, then, there is the Dumb Dora of the White House, Karoline Leavitt.

Leavitt was whining about a CNN report, the chyron of which was largely accurate, regarding the murder of Renee Good 8 days ago in Minneapolis.

The truth hurts, doesn't it? Of course, it does. She claims CNN's reporting lacked context. 

Here's the problem, Karoline. Your boss doesn't want the truth to be out there, despite evidence to the contrary. You know, like the riot on 1/6/21. The video evidence is for all to see, and no amount of lying, whining, & crying can change any of that.

And, so, you know what these ladies will get this week:

Stop insulting our intelligence----and yours, I might add----, ladies. It may help you in the long run.

Musical Interlude: Life in a Northern Town (2025)

 Nearly 40 years after they'd first collaborated on an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of The Snark, British composer Mike Batt, the mastermind behind the Wombles in the 70's, reunited with Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward last year on a cover of the Dream Academy's 1-hit wonder, "Life in a Northern Town", released in 1985.

The lyrics appear on the screen in front of some beautifully painted pictures.

Wild West Wednesdays: The Lone Ranger settles a range war (1954)

 From season 4 of The Lone Ranger:

The Ranger (Clayton Moore) and Tonto (Jay Silverheels) discover a stream of poisoned water, leading to a range war involving a greedy robber baron who will go to great lengths to obtain the land he covets.

Robert Horton, later of Wagon Train & A Man Called Shenendoah, guest stars in "Tenderfoot":

We'll reopen YouTube Theatre in 2 weeks.

What Might've Been: They wanted a Laredo spinoff----with Chad & Jeremy?? (1966)

 This caught my attention when I was on reddit earlier today.

Now, we've chronicled how Chad (Stuart) & Jeremy (Clyde) had acted on two ABC shows, The Patty Duke Show & Batman, the latter in a Catwoman-centric two parter that also included a cameo by Steve Allen. We've also noted how the two were cast in an episode of NBC's Laredo.

Well, here it is. Seems Universal & NBC were keen on the idea of a spinoff featuring the British duo. Unfortunately, it never got past this episode.....

Now, I've heard of fish out of water, but this was ridiculous.

Rating: B-.

NFL Divisional round preview

 There are infinite cliches to toss around as we move to the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs.

If Aaron Rodgers had any sense, he'd just walk away now, rather than play the same lame will-he-or-won't-he game that Brett Favre had done before him. His season is over, after Houston blitzed Pittsburgh in the 4th quarter on Monday.

Take a look around the 8 teams that remain. Mixed in with the battle tested veterans like Matthew Stafford and Josh Allen are youngsters like Caleb Williams, a 2nd year QB with the Bears. Drake Maye, New England's quarterback, is likewise in his 2nd year, and Patriot diehards, it wouldn't surprise me, probably see him as the next Tom Brady. Houston's CJ Stroud is only in his 3rd year, and already a playoff perennial.

Now, let's take a look at this weekend's games....

Saturday:

Buffalo @ Denver (4:30 pm, CBS). Bo Nix, another 2nd year QB, leads Denver's revived offense against Allen and the Bills, who don't have the ghosts of past playoff failures vs. Kansas City to worry about this time. This figures to be a shootout right to the end.

Pick: Denver.

San Francisco @ Seattle (8 pm, Fox). 3rd meeting of the season between division rivals. Sam Darnold, now a journeyman who's been with the Jests, Niners, Panthers, and, last year, the Vikings, looks like he'll stick in Seattle, after the Seahawks let Geno Smith, another ex-Jest, walk (Las Vegas) in the offseason. The 49ers eliminated Philadelphia on the strength of their defense, with Robert Saleh back in charge following a failed head coaching stint with the Jests a while back. And while San Francisco welcomed back Christian McCaffrey, they lost George Kittle for the season with a torn Achilles tendon.

This season's all about fresh faces in the postseason, so......

Pick: Seattle.

Sunday:

Houston @ New England (3 pm, ABC/ESPN). It used to be that Gillette Stadium was a house of horrors for visiting teams. Not so much anymore, but this game matches up the two hottest teams in the AFC. With the win Monday, Houston has now won 10 in a row, and showing little, if any, signs of slowing down, other than cleaning up the persistent issue of untimely penalties. Of the four home teams this weekend, New England has the best chance of losing. It's good for the league if they do.

Pick: Houston.

Los Angeles @ Chicago (6:30 pm, NBC). Matthew Stafford has a slight injury, but that's still a red flag that Chicago can use to their advantage. 40 years after Mike Ditka's crew dominated the league en route to a Super Bowl, the Bears want to get back to the title game, and, it is, after all, Bear weather. If Stafford can't go, Jimmy Garappolo, formerly with the Niners & Patriots, could go. Not that it'd help the Rams.

Pick: Chicago.

Of course, I could be wrong.

Medical Mondays: The series premiere of Ben Casey (1961)

 Ben Casey sprang from the pen of writer-producer James Moser (Medic), who wrote & produced the series' opener, "To The Pure".

Trapper John, MD returns in 2 weeks.

More examples of GOP stupidity

 Over the weekend, it got out that the Nobel Prize committee ruled that once the award is announced, it cannot be shared or transferred for any reason.

Seems that the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Venezuela's Maria Corina Machado, had offered to at least share the award with Donnie Diapers, if only to stop his constant whining and lying about his supposed efforts.

"WAAAHHH! I stopped several wars! I deserve the award! WAAHHH!"

No, you don't. You're a serial liar, and you've done nothing to end any wars. I get that Ms. Machado was trying to placate your ego, and your kindergarten level whining. I will remind that you were never nominated in the first place.

Update, 1/15, 5:22 pm (ET): It's been reported that while in the US, Ms. Machado just gave Donnie Diapers the medal. Not a good idea.

Homeland Insecurity's head idiot, Kristi Gnoem, was embarrassed by CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday, when he played a tape of the January 6 riot to refute Gnoem's false claims about the murder of Renee Good on Wednesday.

Oh, man, South Park will have a field day when they return.

Attorney General Pam Bondi is being referred for impeachment for her abuses of power. Good luck with that.

Secretary of No Defense Pete Egghead wants to punish Arizona Senator Mark Kelly by censuring Kelly, something I don't think Petey Eggs is actually able to do.

In response, Kelly is filing suit against Petey Eggs, claiming the censure in this case is unlawful. This will be fun, seeing Petey with egg on his face again.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon wants to take away school lunches from poor families. Like, really? I think she's just as deranged as her estranged husband, Vince, used to be on TV a few years ago. There's a better chance of seeing Trump go on a diet than for the kids to go hungry. 

Yeah, right.

And, speaking of Donnie Diapers, he's threatening to have the Senators who recently voted in favor of the War Powers Act revival primaried, including Missouri's Josh "Hee" Hawley.

"WAAAHHH! Nobody tells me what to do! WAAAAHHH!"

You've overstepped your bounds way too many times in the last year, Fraud Fauntleroy, and it's way past time Congress finally put you in check.

And to read and hear of people like Jesse Ventura & Mark Ruffalo drop the hammer on Trump in recent days is refreshing. And Golden Globes hostess Nikki Glaser bit the hand feeding her (CBS) during Sunday's telecast with a dig on the news department under Bari Weiss, a Trump lackey, which is also being reported as a subtle, indirect dig on Trump.

Oh, and, finally, Larry & David Ellison, the father & son sycophants in charge of Paramount Skydance, still want a hostile takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, blocking Netflix in the process, to appease Trump. They've gone so far as to sue WBD.

This will not end well, and this is what the reaction will be when Paramount fails again.