Musical Interlude: All You Fascists Bound to Lose (2026)

 In 1944, during World War II, Woody Guthrie wrote "All You Fascists Bound to Lose", which may have been a rallying cry for the US during the war.

82 years later, actress-singer Bette Midler gathered a group of her Hollywood friends, including Barbara Hershey and Saratoga native David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) for an updated version of "Bound", adding contemporary lyrics & images taking aim at-----who else?-----president Trump.

How soon d'ya think Trump'll start whining about this?

Sports this 'n' that

 Maybe the Mets could learn something from what happened in Philadelphia earlier this week.

Rob Thomson was fired, the 2nd manager in 4 days (Alex Cora), replaced by bench coach Don Mattingly, who had come over from Toronto in the offseason. Philadelphia has since opened some distance between themselves and the last place Mets, amid speculation that Mets manager Carlos Mendoza may be the next to go, at least if you follow the drama on reddit.

Mattingly previously managed Miami and the Los Angeles Dodgers, and is the kind of experienced voice the Phillies needed.

The Mets, meanwhile, continue to be plagued by injuries. Luis Robert, Jr., one of their off-season acquisitions (Chicago White Sox) went down earlier in the week, and after Saturday's loss to the Angels, infielder Ronny Mauricio went to the IL with a thumb injury. Redditors are blaming David Stearns for some of the off-season moves, including letting professional leech Scott Boras Badenov con Pete Alonso into chasing the money to Baltimore. Alonso has been struggling, and someone suggested a trade to bring him back to Flushing.

Alonso is back in New York this weekend, but, aside from a home run on Friday, the Yankees have held him in check. The Mets will see Alonso later this season.

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani mistakenly assumed Trae Young was still with the Atlanta Hawks ahead of the 1st round of the NBA playoffs. Young was traded earlier this season.

So, the Knicks blew the Hawks out of the playoffs on Thursday, winning game 6 by 57 points. The game was actually over in the 1st quarter. In Atlanta!!!

Bank on this. Braves fans will pick up the gauntlet for the Hawks when Los Bravos play the Mets later this season.

The PGA tour is at the Doral Country Club, owned by president Trump, this weekend, and, how's this for a surprise? When the players reached holes 16-18, there were no fans in sight! Meidas Touch explains:

Welp, if Trump didn't initiate the current conflict with Iran, and actually learned how to comport himself as president instead of being an elderly man on his 4th or 5th childhood, that wouldn't happen. People see the Trump name on the building, and turn away. Why should the world's worst golfer own a course? At least grand-daughter Kai (Don, Jr.'s daughter) learned the game the right way.......!

We're reading that the Saudis are pulling their financial backing from the LIV golf tour, in its 4th season, and 2nd with broadcasts on Fox (moving over from CW) after this season. Hmmmmm. People were speculating that the Saudis might not renew their contract with WWE when that runs out later this year. And speaking of WWE......

NXT fans were jumping for joy upon learning earlier this week that the PLE's for the Tuesday brand will begin airing on CW this summer. Since the network is looking for some weekend programming to complement the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts series, and fill the void created by LIV golf's departure last year, this is great news. Last month's Stand & Deliver streamed on YouTube, but this is even better. Apparently, the new deal starts with the Great American Bash in July, after the former WCW event had been set up as a 2 part episode of the weekly NXT series the last couple of years.

The once prestigious National Wrestling Alliance is back on television, as NWA Powerr began airing on Comet (check listings) this weekend. Broadcasts will mostly air Saturday afternoons at 4 pm (ET), though a special episode aired Friday night. Unfortunately, the quality of wrestling, while it seeks to revive the studio wrestling aesthetic from the territory era, has suffered under Billy Corgan's ownership. The former Smashing Pumpkins frontman should be happy with the new deal, though, as that should bring more eyeballs to the NWA & Comet.

Classic TV: The series premiere of Hee Haw (1969)

 When Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams wrote "Summer of '69" in the mid-80's, I don't think he had Hee Haw in mind.

The series was launched in the summer, June specifically, of 1969, which led directly to season 2 in the fall. Actor-singer Sheb Wooley (ex-Rawhide) wrote the theme song for the show, but was not credited. In the opener, Wooley queues up a number by his alter ego, Ben Colder, among the highlights.

Here is the 1st episode:

Family Fridays: The Defenders, in color (1961)

 Sometimes, the family that works together, stays together.

The original Defenders has its roots in a 1957 episode of Studio One, written by Reginald Rose ("12 Angry Men"). EG Marshall & Robert Reed are father & son lawyers in this series, which ran for 4 seasons (1961-5), all in black & white, although someone began colorizing some of the episodes, such as this one, "The Quality of Mercy":

I've got something in mind for next week to start off Mother's Day weekend. You'll see it then.

Wild West Wednesdays: The series premiere of Law of The Plainsman (1959)

 Spun off from The Rifleman, Law of The Plainsman lasted just 1 season on NBC, as apparently, ABC, home of The Rifleman passed on Plainsman.

Marshal Sam Buckhart (Michael Ansara, ex-Broken Arrow) had appeared in 2 episodes of Rifleman, but audiences were indifferent to a series with a Native American lawman as the lead.

Check the opener, "The Prairie Incident".

In 2 weeks: The Three Stooges in "Gold Raiders".

The paranoia & desperation of the Trump administration on full view

 This is how desperate Dumb Donald is to have his enemies prosecuted, regardless of the lack of evidence.

On Tuesday, former FBI director James Comey was indicted for the 2nd time, this time over a long since deleted instagram post of a formation of seashells reading, "86 47", which the department of injustice claims is a call for violence against the president. No, it isn't.

For someone to be "86'd" doesn't always mean someone's targeted for death. In some cases, you lose your job, and people will say you were "86'd". Unfortunately, the DOI doesn't see it that way, because they have to cater to a president with severe OCD.

Whoopi Goldberg and the panel on The View weigh in.

"Counterfeit" Kash Patel is trying to save his job, amid rumors he might be the next one to go. If he & Todd "Bleached" Blanche can't gain a conviction from this, it won't matter, because Patel will almost certainly be gone, and maybe Blanche, too.

Oh, but that ain't all.

On the same show, former attorney Alina Habba was a guest, and her choice of words couldn't be more ironic, in that she claimed she did her job for Trump's "pleasure". In what way?

And, then, you have FCC "chairman" in name only Brendan "Used" Carr making more threats against ABC & Disney, even asking for a review of broadcast licenses of Disney-owned ABC affiliates, just because Jimmy Kimmel made some jokes ahead of last Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner, with some clever editing. Even Melania Trump was offended, or at least was encouraged to lash out at Kimmel.

Again, it is intentional misinterpretation to justify the misplaced anger.

As Whoopi said regarding the Comey indictment, it is another distraction from the growing myriad of issues facing Trump, who, of course, was made to look like a chump when King Charles of England addressed Congress Tuesday. Decorum is something of a foreign concept to Trump.

This indictment won't net the result the president wants. And ain't that just too bad.

Wartime Mondays: The series premiere of The Wackiest Ship in The Army (1965)

 Harry Ackerman, head honcho of comedy at Screen Gems, must've thought he found something in Jack Warden when he guest starred on Bewitched during the 1st season.

Warden landed his first lead role the next year in The Wackiest Ship in The Army, an hour-long comedy-drama set in World War II. Unfortunately, it lasted just the one season, but not for lack of trying. Gary Collins, Mark Slade, & Rudy Solari co-star, with Karen Steele as a prospective love interest for Warden.

Jack Soo, fresh from Valentine's Day, guest stars in the opener.