September 29, 2020

Zingers I would love Biden to fling at Dump

"His travel restrictions on China allowed 40,000 exceptions, including thousands direct from Wuhan. 40,000 people from an infected country is not a travel ban - it's a superspreader event!"

"The first broken promise of his campaign was built on a lie. We know it was a lie because five years later, Mexico still hasn't paid for it!"

Any others you want to hear tonight? The Rude Pundit came up with some good ones.

September 29, 2020

Trump PANICKING, Accused of Laundering $170 Million

Trump PANICKING, Accused of Laundering $170 Million

David Pakman Show

--Donald Trump in a panic as the bombshell NYT taxes story joins the money laundering story, painting a grim picture of the financial situation for Trump, his business, and his campaign

September 28, 2020

For a closing speech debate knockout, how about using Reagan's words to destroy Trump?

It was almost 40 years ago, October 28, 1980, that Reagan used the closing speech in a debate to frame a litany of complaints within the "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" context to draw contrast with President Carter. I think you could make the exact same argument and the impact is much worse against Trump, because he's a much worse president than Carter. Or Bush. Or Nixon. Maybe even Buchanan.

Here is a letter I sent to the Biden campaign with my recommendation:

Dear Team Biden,

We all see the polls tightening down to 4-10 percent undecided among registered and likely voters in swing states and across the nation. How best to guide them over to our side? I believe the best way is through the appeal of historical analogy as presented in this speech Joe Biden should give in the closing speech at one of the debates:

In October of 1980, Ronald Reagan stood before the nation and asked, "Are you better off than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? Is America as respected throughout the world as it was; do you feel that our security is as safe, that we're as strong as we were four years ago?"

Today ... I don't even have to ask. You know we're worse off than we were four years ago! Four years ago, you didn't have to stand in line to get in a store, searching for items frequently out of stock or at inflated prices, then be notified when you're about to pay that there's a national coin shortage. Four years ago, we didn't have unemployment exceeding the Great Recession or a GDP drop that was the worst in modern American history. Four years ago, we didn't have other countries preventing Americans from traveling to visit them because our leadership failed to keep them safe from the worst pandemic in over 100 years. It didn't have to be this bad.

I'm offering you a better way. A way to build back better and give state, local and tribal governments the necessary aid to get COVID-19 under control; to safely restart the economy with millions of good paying jobs that prioritize American manufacturing and clean energy. That means corporate America paying their fair share so that small businesses can thrive and carry the economy forward. That means treating American workers and working families fairly and that women are treated as equals. Key to all this is advancing racial equity - working to close the racial wealth gap, enact police reform and criminal justice reform to undo the systemic racism that has plagued our quest to form a more perfect union. We can do this! If you want it - I ask for your vote.

Please disseminate this speech to the appropriate people so that once Vice President Biden delivers it, the millions of Americans still sitting on the fence might realize electing Biden is the only way to change how bad things are right now. I am an enthusiastic supporter, have donated and will vote for Joe Biden, but I am not seeking any recognition or compensation for this speech - feel free to take any snippet or the entirety of it. Whatever you feel can help Biden win - do it!

Sincerely,
Robert Paulsen

Now I edited my list of just how bad things have become in the last four years to fit a closing debate speech. I think there's potentially a list long enough to talk about for hours. Feel free to list in the comments whatever you think is wrong now that wasn't four years ago. Just off the top of my head:

Four years ago...we didn't lock children in cages.

In any normal time, that would be enough to necessitate a one-term presidency.

September 1, 2020

Is social distancing summer fun possible? We tried Downtown Disney and Knott's Marketplace!

It’s the middle of summer. The scorching heat of the southern California sun is driving us crazy. Our normal knee-jerk reaction would be to get out and have fun. But with social distancing measures still necessary in the middle of a pandemic, is fun still possible? Neek, Sar and I set out for Downtown Disney, determined to find out!

February 7, 2020

Disneyland's Rise of the Resistance: Boarding Pass or Fail?

Okay, we have crappy phones with crappy coverage so we really didn’t think that we could do any of the virtual queuing that Disneyland had required to get a boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance ride at Galaxy’s Edge. But we braved the tsunami of people there to give it our best shot!

November 18, 2019

Building my own lightsaber at Star Wars Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland!

The desire for a lightsaber faded to the background as I grew older. But it reignited this year with the opening of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland. I found out that within the town of the Black Spire Outpost on the planet of Batuu, there is a place called Savi’s Workshop. At Savi’s, you don’t just buy a lightsaber, the workers there help you create your own personalized lightsaber. I had heard the experience was almost like a ceremony. Suddenly that desire from childhood was back: I had to create my own lightsaber!

November 8, 2019

Disney's Galaxy's Edge - Fuzzy Tauntaun, The Millenium Falcon, and building a Little Droid Friend

Disneyland has done a great job in bringing this film universe to reality. The details of the planet Batuu where Black Spire Outpost exists is quite amazing. The droids, ships, buildings are all scaled to realistic proportions and the skyline blends in well with the texture and color of the surroundings. It does seem like you are in another world.

November 7, 2019

Two US senators told Ukraine's president that 'only Trump' could release military aid: report

I'm guessing Graham was one of the senators. Any other guesses?

October 25, 2019

The Irishman and the Assassination of JFK

The Irishman and the Assassination of JFK

Time to end my two year sabbatical from blogging. Part of the reason why I put American Judas on hold was because I changed jobs in the summer of 2018 and I wanted to focus on learning my new job and performing it to the best of my ability, which I feel I have. But the main reason is that I just didn't feel inspired to write. So pardon me if I'm a bit rusty after a prolonged writer's block.

What's inspiring me to write is the upcoming release of Martin Scorsese's new film, The Irishman, in theatres on November 1 and on Netflix starting November 27. This movie is based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt. I received this book as a gift from one of my best friends and found it quite fascinating. It details five years of interviews, intertwined with Brandt's historical context and perspective, that the author did with Frank Sheeran. Sheeran was a labor union official in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) whose close friend and mentor was the infamous president of the Teamsters, Jimmy Hoffa. But prior to meeting Hoffa, Sheeran's close friend and mentor was Russell Bufalino, the Mafia boss of Northeastern Pennsylvania. During the interviews, Sheeran admitted that he would "paint houses" for both Bufalino and Hoffa, which was their code for murdering someone. But the biggest revelation Sheeran made in the interviews is that of the more than twenty-five hits he did for the Mob and for Hoffa, the one that haunted him most to confess to was that he murdered Jimmy Hoffa on July 30, 1975.

Scorsese is one of my favorite directors and I'm looking forward to seeing this movie because my hope is that returning to the familiar milieu of mobsters inspired Scorsese to return to the great filmmaking of Goodfellas and Casino. I'm also looking forward to seeing him reunite with Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel and Robert DeNiro, who will be playing Frank Sheeran. Yet another reason I can't wait to see this movie is that this is the first time Scorsese will be working with Al Pacino, who will be playing Jimmy Hoffa. But the most compelling reason I have for seeing this movie is to see if Scorsese and screenwriter Steven Zaillian include what I consider to be the most explosive detail of the book: that Jimmy Hoffa was murdered by the Mafia to cover up their involvement in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

more...

http://americanjudas.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-irishman-and-assassination-of-jfk.html

October 15, 2019

Oogie Boogie Bash First Fright 2019 at Disney's California Adventure!

Last year we wanted to go to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Disneyland but were too late to purchase the tickets as the event was sold out.

Fast forward one year later, we finally get our tickets and find that the event is not at Disneyland park but at Disney California Adventure. Imagine the disappointment we had when we found that the venue was changed. We figured that it was probably because of the opening of Galaxy’s Edge.

No one knew what to expect except that there would still be treat trails and the headless horseman appears at the start of the parade.

I can assure you that this event did not disappoint one bit. We had a wonderful time and saw the most beautifully creative walk through that we have ever been and an amazing water show, "Villanous". We can honestly convey that Oogie Boogie Bash was a hit!