I Don't Always Want To Write About Him, But...

America is a mess. America is in deep, deep trouble. America is losing itself.

The Schloss-Blog is watching America slip away, all its rights disappearing:

**Freedom of speech, fading;

**Journalists arrested, for doing their jobs;

**Healthcare premiums soaring;

**Citizens' rights to protest freely under attack;

**Thugs disguised as ICE/CPB officers, masked, no ID, randomly arresting, beating, killing legitimate citizens;

**Anti-semitism sprouting;

**Gun rights under attack if you're a liberal, preserved if you're a conservative MAGA-head;

We're becoming an autocracy right before our eyes and we're not doing enough about it.

***

Until now, perhaps, but too little, too late?

Americans protesting ICE and CPB actions around the country, especially in what Trump would like to see become war-torn Minnesota, are beating and even killing citizens, with no remorse, in cold blood.

Where's the outrage? Protest in Congress, from public officials, is too mild too often. They run to court and hope. Where's CNN, MSNOW, the NY Times, the Washington Post ... no, wait, especially on the latter.

Where is the media? Suppressed, cowardly, fearing a lawsuit or a visit from DOJ, or perhaps an arrest. Records seized, with DOJ seeking identities of confidential sources, as was the case for Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post, who has covered the administration's attempts to fire so many government workers, a paper published by Trump friend Jeff Bezos.

Bezos is a reporting-restrictive, right-wing story, a blogpost, unto himself. Staff cuts, elimination of endorsements, limitations on opinion columns, have become de rigueur for the once Pulitzer-proud Post, as Bezos seeks Trump's ongoing favor (see documentary, "Melania").

DEI and academia are suffering too, as at Texas A&M, which is ending its women's studies program. Colleges and universities across the country are being forced to choose between fairness and equality or loss of government research grants and the prestige that goes with them.

Oh yes, anti-semitism, is on the rise, per the Anti-Defamation League.: 

• "Post-Oct 7 Surge: The Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, acted as a major catalyst, with a 360% increase in incidents in the three months following the attack compared to the same period the previous year.
• Record Highs: The ADL reported 8,873 incidents in 2023, followed by 9,354 in 2024."

Fun, huh?

The United States is not itself anymore, and we're all paying the price for it. NY Times, where are you? Instead of just reporting on the United States becoming a autocracy, you should turn your stellar, journalistic aim at the outrage going on and express it as powerfully as the citizens putting themselves at risk around the country protesting it.

But you're not. You're reporting on it, but not expressing the outrage required to help mitigate against it. An occasional column. But not everyday outrage. When your ability to even report on it is squelched, who can we turn to? Stop being so cautious, just because Trump filed a suit against you for reporting on your surveys with Siena that show Trump's approval ratings in the toilet.

Not the Washington Post though. See documentary, "Melania."

***

**TikTok, having been sold now to Trump allies, is said to be deleting and/or prohibiting posts that are anti-Trump. Wonder how that's gonna' sit with its young audience, once faithfully dedicated to it as a news source (yikes!). Will they abandon it?

**Analytically speaking, if you keep going for it on 4th-and-short instead of kicking the field goal, instead of taking the 3, you lose the F_CKING game, Sean McDermott; you lose the F_CKING game, Sean McVay; you lose the F_CKING game, Sean Payton, and some gamblers lose their F_CKING shirts.

***

Bill Belichick didn't get into the Hall of Fame. Speculation is, out of the 40 votes (of 50) needed to make it, he didn't get 11.

Deflate-GATE, Spy-GATE and "On to Cincinnati" may have had something to do with it.

By the way, Eli didn't make it either. And if Belichick had, Eli would've been the story everyone would've been talking about.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Alex Pretti.

More Sunday nioght on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

Olympics? Or Super Bowl?

With some Retribution Campaigns in Flames, Greenland On Tap

The Schloss-Blog has been tracking Trump's retribution lawsuits and investigations, and they're fizzling out. So Trump ss countering with the once and former invasion-of-turned-negotiation-for Greenland.

Also known as, "Anything to avoid the Epstein Files." Basically, it all comes down to Trump being a dick.

BREAKING NEWS: Another day in Minnesota, another ICE shooting. Get them the f_ck out of there. For GOOD.

***

Dictator Trump has sought investigations and indictments of his supposed political enemies, but they haven't all gone as he would've liked; either being dismissed or subject to lengthy delays.

Two months ago, flimsy indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and current NY Attorney General Leticia James were dismissed.

Charges against Comey were dropped when Judge Cameron Currie ruled the hasty appointment of Lindsay Halligan as head of the Eastern District of Virginia was "invalid." If you've ever seen a picture of Halligan though, you know why Trump appointed her.

Same thing for the charges against Leticia James (mortgage fraud), who had convicted Trump on 34 felony counts in New York.

The list of investigations that Trump would like to see become successful prosecutions is long, but the cases, again, are as flimsy as Lindsay Halligan's credentials as a prosecutor. It includes Sen. Adam Schiff of California for insurance fraud; Congressman Eric Swalwell of California (mortgage fraud - what, again?); Jack Smith, the former Jan. 6 special counsel, whose recent public hearing exposed the GOP lies against him; Miles Taylor, the former DHS Chief of Staff for ... well, we're not sure what for, as it seems totally unspecified; Chris Krebs, the highly respected, former government cybersecurity director who debunked all of Trump's 2020 election claims; and John Bolton, Trump's former national security advisor, who disagreed with Trump ... on foreign policy ... and wrote a scathing book about it.

The list goes on to include former Pentagon Chief of Staff Mark Milley, a completely unfounded investigation of Fed Chief Jerome Powell; and of course, Sen. Mark Kelly (Arizona), who has cautioned the U.S. Military that it doesn't have to obey illegal orders. He and five other congressional types and veterans who appeared in a video to that effect, are being threatened, with Kelly's military rank possibly being targeted for demotion and the senator staring at a possible court martial.

For exercising freedom of speech.

There's more, but...the only thing all of this proves is that Trump is a dick.

***

Meanwhile, as to Greenland...

...Trump wants the vast, Denmark-owned island nation, rich in minerals and low on population, to be the 51st state (sorry, Canada).

Denmark doesn't want to bargain on it and Greenlanders are wearing MAGA hats (Make America Go Away). 

Thanks to Trump's posturing on this at Davos, the United States is losing its prestigious position around the world and is generally no longer respected by ... anyone.

Trump's Bored of Peace is attracting few if any, major players from NATO or anywhere else. Most are minor players willing to fork over $1 billion for a seat to be "Bored."

Trump says his "Bored" will work closely with the United Nations (it won't). Actually, it'll likely be an excuse for Trump to launch military strikes and invasions against anyone he doesn't like or more likely whose resources he wants.

And what's the United Nations going to do about it, unless it's a fellow NATO member, except Trump, a coward, has shown with Greenland, he would never do that. He's a TACO coward.

***

But if Trump, through all these fizzled-out lawsuits and attempted indictments, can try to strip all these rights away from his supposed political enemies, imagine what he can do to you or me, people without the resources of the high-profile politicians and officials he's gone after already.

America - you and me, that is - is in trouble.

***

In fact, just about everything Trump says is a lie.

*DOGE never saved us any money: we actually spent more last year, even though we are bringing in "billions" in tariff revenue. 

*Our deficit just crossed the $38 trillion threshold.

*The U.S. murder rate is at its lowest point in years - yet he wants to send troops into every major American (Blue State) city - to control crime.

*While the border is shut down, according to NPR, prices are hardly going down, as promised, and we are paying out of pocket so much more in so many ways: Thanks in large part to tariffs, "The average tax on U.S. imports today is nearly 18%, according to economists at the Budget Lab at Yale — up from 2.4% before Trump returned to the White House. EIGHTEEN PERCENT!

*He's done little to reduce the trade deficit. which he says other countries are using to "take advantage" of us. It's still at an incredibly high $1 trillion.

No wonder people feel the economy sucks - because it does.

And inflation, which is how most people equate the economy, that's still running ahead of last year, at about 2.8%. If you've been to the grocery store, you know what I'm talking about.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Renee Nicole Good, whose death has officially been ruled a homicide, and to you, Alex Pretti.

More every Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

Republican Cowards: Will Someone Just Call Trump's Number, Please, For GOOD? He's Such A Sack Of Sh_t

The Schloss-Blog has noticed, and so have you, probably, that from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), Republicans all through the ranks are cowards.

They refuse to rebuke Trump on anything, especially that which is authoritarian, because they think he'll call them out, maybe primary them.  

If they all came to their senses, admitted to the constitutional violations they see going on all around them and that they are so approving of, they'd see that the 250-year practice of democracy by which we have lived, and governed, is eroding.

All you have to do is watch any news programming (well, not any), to see Trump's violations of American democracy on the one hand and the Republican endorsement of his extreme policies on the other. But even the mainstream media (ABC, CBS) have caved to him with payouts to his frivolous lawsuits, lawsuits that most legal minds said would've been fended off and defeated.

Easily.

Yet, Trump gets away with ... murder ... as of Jan. 3, there had been 35 attacks on ships cruising in the Caribbean and the Pacific, that killed 115 people.

And one dead, one wounded, many gassed and flash-banged in Minnesota.

With no proof that they were smuggling drugs or had any aboard. If the people had been captured, instead of killed, and the cargo taken, instead of sunk, maybe there would be proof - but Trump and his minions would never dare to even make believe to present such proof and undercut themselves.

Because it doesn't exist. Never did.

No more proof, in other words, than the outright lie that he won the 2020 election, which is believed by his idiot, uneducated MAGA followers. In fact, in his speech to the Detroit Economic Club, almost everything to which he referred or claimed was false, including the 2020 election results, the nation's economic recovery and the claim that prices - PRICES - are going down. But he hasn't personally been to the grocery store in -- oh, 79 years.

Yet, Republicans cower.

Hey Democrats, you don't cower, but it's time to do what he does: for instance, he calls them "the Biden Crime family," so, Democrats, call him and his, "the Trump crime family." Say it. Aloud.

He insults every Democrat he can fit into a clumsily crafted sentence and nasty nickname. He can barely speak a semblance of a sentence anymore without appearing to be on drugs. It's time you did the same. Call out his indiscretions, loud and clear - misogynist, racist, bigot, antisemite (he is), greed, emoluments violations (aplenty), convictions, and, likely, his dementia, which appears to likely be progressing into outright Alzheimer's.

Trump is sick. Make him pay the price for it instead of just waiting for him to make mistakes.

The people of the great state of Minnesota wish you would help them get the murderous malignancy known as ICE out of their state.

For GOOD.

*** 

Football notes:

** Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula was complaining about his fans having to possibly pay for various streaming services in order to watch NFL games, especially playoffs. Pegula and other NFL notables expressed criticism regarding the league's push toward exclusive streaming services. Pegula, according to a ChatGPT search, highlighted the frustration of "Bills Mafia" members who are forced to pay for multiple, high-cost streaming services—such as ESPN+, Amazon Prime, Peacock, and Paramount+—just to watch all of their team's games, especially Bills fans outside of Buffalo.

Baltimore Ravens owner Stephen Bisciotti echoed the same sentiments.

** The Green Bay Packers are reportedly trying to extend head coach Matt LaFleur, despite the team playing "not to lose" and going so conservative in the second half of their come-from-ahead playoff loss to the Chicago Bears.

But when you play not to lose, you usually do.

** Seven times this year, including the playoffs, the Bears have come from behind - trailing in the last 2 minutes - to win. Can that trend continue against the Rams? Will it have to?

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Beth Anderson. You'll be missed.

More Sunday night, a lot more, about Minnesota and more, on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

Tackling, Football, Hegseth, Kelly and Dokoupil's Debut

Tackle with your head up, or you're not going to see what it is you're trying to hit, the great Grant Blaney once told this reporter about what he told his defense before a big playoff game.

Blaney was the head coach at Buffalo Grove High School, and they were going up against a pretty good Freeport team in the Class 5A quarterfinals in 1978. Freephot had a dynamic running back, Troy King, and Blaney, who said he doesn't mess with the defense that much, took the time to remind his coaches and defensive players to tackle this kid with their heads up.

Or he wouldn't be there when they swung and missed.

Sure enough, the grand master coach was right. Freeport went down the field and scored on its initial possession, King leading the way.

After that, Buffalo Grove tackled with its heads up, Freeport and King did little thereafter and Buffalo Grove went on to a win and earned an eventual appearance in the 5A title game.

***

Today, I have to say, if you're a defensive player, you suck. You can't tackle. Every game I've watched this season, especially the college bowls with the most-elite teams, feature players who can't tackle.

They just can't. Missed tackle after missed tackle. Head down after head down. But don't believe me, watch the film. Defensive players consistently try to tackle with their heads down.

And miss. Or else they commit a personal foul - targeting - and get ejected. 

Over and over and over. I scream at the TV, as if that's doing any good. Even during a game in which I have no rooting interest, I scream at the lack of inappropriate, inadequate technique.

Who's coaching these kids? These bad techniques will become playing-career long habits and result in a lot of missed tackles.

Which I'm already seeing. So, defensive coaches, and don't tell me you're teaching this because you're not, please instill in your players the technique of tackling with your head up. Or else missing and/or targeting and/or losing.

A lot.

***

Add the Washington National Opera to the ever-increasing list of premium artists who have backed out of performing at the (not-the-Trump) Kennedy Center since Trump awkwardly pasted his name on it.

The musical "Hamilton" and the actor/writer Issa Rae are among the ever-growing list of artists who have bowed out of performing there.

Pretty soon, the only "artist" left who's going to want to perform there is going to be Kid Rock - talk about quality.

***

Venezuela. Gaza. Yemen. Somalia. Nigeria.

But Trump promised not to get us involved in any more foreign wars.

It's actually a lot more than the above, but who's counting?

***

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has turned the food table upside down. Red meat is back.

Oh yeah, red meat. That's something I eat, maybe, once a month.

***

Tony Dokoupil's debut as CBS news' evening anchor was awash in mistakes and full of the Bari Weiss version of kissing Trump's ass.

Otherwise, it went smoothly.

***

Looking forward to seeing Mark Kelly kick Pete Hegseth's ass.

In court too.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Glenn Hall. And here's to you Renee Good and to the Minnesota Timberwolves for having a moment of silence for you before your first game after you were murdered.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

Venezuela, Resolutions and Bring Back Katy Perry

The United States sent a task force into Venezuela to capture its leader, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife (what did she do?).

The Schloss-Blog is thinking ... who's next? Iran? Colombia? Syria? Guess if Russia can invade Ukraine for no reason we can invade Venezuela or Iran or anywhere else (to get the oil; Trump wants the oil).

Trump's new year's resolution is apparently to take control of oil resources everywhere he can, if he can (so, are we going to invade Russia too, third-largest oil-producing country?).

Congressional Republicans, in response, are saying, "Yes, go get it." Apple, Tesla and Meta are supplying tech support for any mission as all of Latin America becomes the 51st state (you're off the hook, Canada). 

When Trump is no longer president and is hiding out in Russia, I hope '48' goes and gets him.

***

The fate of the world does not lie in U.S. military actions against sovereign nations for no reason. If Trump is going after drug traffickers (he's not; he wants the oil), then watch out, Mexico, because here comes Seal Team 6.

Canada remains off the hook, for now, although Trump is said to want to invade the '51st' state to get Katy Perry back.

Besides, the true fate of the world, and everybody knows this, was the result of the Ravens-Steelers game, with the personal fates of Aaron Rodgers, Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh on the line, DK Metcalf's suspension notwithstanding.

***

The Kansas City Chiefs say they are moving out of Missouri and into Kansas. Their fans in Missouri voted down a resolution that would've provided a sales tax that would've funded renovations to their current home at Arrowhead Stadium.

In other words, you piss us off, we're outta' here.

I mean, who do the Chiefs think they are, the New Jersey Giants, uh, Jets? Or the Maryland Redskins, uh, Football Team -  no, Commanders?

Why don't the Chiefs just call themselves what the Dallas Cowboys no longer are, America's Team, because Monsters of Missouri no longer fits.

***

Gary Danielson, the distinguished CBS Sports college football analyst for 36 years - THIRTY-SIX YEARS - retired last weekend after his call, with Brad Nessler, of the Sun Bowl wild shootout between Arizona State and Duke.

Following wonderful retrospectives of his life as a Purdue star and pro standout, and the many great games and calls on which he participated and the great announcers (Verne Lundquist) with whom he worked, in the middle of his final farewell, surrounded in the booth by his team, including tear-struck field reporter Jenny Dell, CBS abruptly cut off its broadcast of Danielson, in mid-sentence, saying his final goodbye.

To go to commercial.

Effing Bari Weiss is everywhere,

***

Speaking of 'Effing Bari Weiss,' no more watching CBS News, including "60 Minutes." Can't be trusted and now the new anchor on the CBS Evening News is disdaining "academics and elites."

Good for him.

***

Speaking of resolutions, we know what Donald's are: continue to deny, deflect and make believe he doesn't have dementia.

Me, I have the one and only one I make every year: Return Christie Brinkley's phone calls.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Cilia Flores.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

Trump And The End of 2025...

The Schloss-Blog has noted that Donald Trump is not ending 2025 as strongly as he would've liked. But before we get to that, we have to to say that ESPN gambling guru Joe Fortenbaugh is da' bomb.

Mr. Handicapper does impeccable research, incredibly detailed, and usually nails it, regardless of the sport, while keeping the guys (and gals) around the tables on Get Up and First Take in stitches with his sharp wit. There's also Erin Dolan, who can do all that on looks alone, but is just as capable on handicapping every aspect of every game.

The play on which Fortenbaugh sold me for good though was particularly wicked (get the play on words, huh?). Anyway, before the Bears beat the Packers last weekend, he noted that the Packers were coming off a game at Denver, which they lost, and that teams coming off games at Denver, five times out of six preceding the Packers visit to Soldier Field, lost their next game after getting beaten up by the brutally tough Broncos.

The Packers, ahead all the way, lost to the Bears in overtime.

So, gaming? Look up Joe Fortenbaugh's parlay for that week, regardless of the sport. Erin Dolan's too.

***

Hasn't been a good week for donald Trump:

**The drip, drip, drip of the Epstein Files drop, drop, drop has been nauseating. Trump's 150 long-winded, crude, language-challenged posts on Truth Social on Christmas Day were not only hardly presidential but were so unhinged as to make anyone - and everyone - want to question his sanity.

They also showed clearly that he is scared to death of the drop, scared of the content, scared of the perception of what the heavily redacted, long-delayed files will reveal.

Like, that he is in up to his crinkly skinned neck.

**One of the few times the Supreme Court has let Trump down by not overturning other federal courts was this past week, when the 'Supremes' said the president couldn't send the National Guard into Illinois (Chicago specifically) to allegedly protect ICE while performing its illicitly brutal immigration enforcement activity.

The majority said “...the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.”

In other words, Trump didn't prove his case and local law enforcement was sufficient. 

Gorsuch, Alito and Thomas, the latter two who kiss Trump's ass, dissented. 

Surprise!

***

Trump also pardoned the president of Honduras, a convicted drug-trafficker, who smuggled enough cocaine into the United States to eliminate the population of Montana, meanwhile, destroying tourist boats out of Venezuela and killing all aboard, regardless of status, without gaining access to the cargo nor capturing and questioning those piloting these allegedly drug-laden vessels..

Yeah, that all makes sense.

***

Meanwhile...

**Trump says affordability is a "Democratic hoax." The vast majority of Americans say otherwise.

**ESPN, unless it's a live sporting event, sucks. Especially if it includes Stephen A. Smith.

**CBS, once the Tiffany Network, just had its luster scraped off by new chief Bari Weiss, who shot down a thoroughly reported piece on deportation and a prison from Hell in El Salvador. The move makes Ms Weiss strongly appear to be a puppet of the Trump administration.

**Is David Kelce retiring? The Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame-bound tight end just might have played his last home game on Thursday in the team's loss to Denver. Would you retire if you had Taylor Swift waiting?

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Karla Kaelin and Wayne Ziemer (great party).

Happy and healthy new year to you all.

This Is The End, Beautiful Friend, This Is the End, My Only Friend, The End

This is the end of 2025, but is it the end of ... democracy ... civility ... peaceful coexistence ... the Kansas City Chiefs ... EV's ... the Schloss-Blog?

It's apparently the end of anything relevant out of the Epstein Files, as the Trump administration's Department of Justice defies court orders to release them in their entirety and by a lawfully set deadline. Plus, they redact the same way Trump uses a Sharpie to extend the path of hurricanes.

If only the files were released with the same transparency that Trump used to paste his name on the Kennedy Center, which is a memorial to the late president. Is Trump being an asshole or is he telling us that he is dying, as his appearance and behavior would suggest? Yes, and yes, perhaps? His approval ratings, across the board, say that he is dying. On the economy, the environment, healthcare, AFFORDABILITY, he is failing miserably, despite the success he shouts about.

Does Trump not understand though that the Kennedy Center, established by Congress, is a MEMORIAL, which means, in honor of someone who died and was a hero to and supporter of the arts, all the arts?

***

Democracy too, appears to be dying.

Immigrants snatched off the streets, out of their homes, their beds, out of their workplaces. with no hesitation by ICE, which remains armed, masked, abusive and now has a deputy being charged with sexual assault and robbery. 

Only about one-third or fewer of all those detained and deported had any criminal record whatsoever.  By contrast, two-thirds of those detained by the Biden administration did have criminal records. 

Trump is just detaining anyone who isn't ... white.

***

People are being slaughtered, on Hanukkah, no less. 

Two at prestigious Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The Reiners in Los Angeles. Fifteen at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Australia.

That's 19 in all at three different locations on the first night of Hanukkah.

I'm Jewish. I'm nervous. I'm hearing nothing about relief from or protection from such attacks coming out of Congress.

Never have. Likely never will. Congress has no interest in protecting those attacked in mass shootings. 

And never will.

***

Hey football fans, the Kansas City Chiefs are dead.

For this year, at least. Mahomes hurt. The team eliminated from playoff consideration for the first time since 2014.

If you watched any of their games, the Chiefs always seemed out of "synch" and unable to come up with the big play when they needed it, which was always their specialty with Mahomes in there. 

Not this year. Is Andy Reid signaling retirement? Is this how he'd want to go out? 

The playoffs, on TV (streaming?), on the Mahomes and the Chiefs Channel?

Get used to it.

2026, the year of Jaxson Dart.

Yeah, right.

***

So, you say you want an EV?

Volkswagen is shuttering a plant in Germany due to decreased EV demand and Trump tariffs.

Ford has announced a pretty strict cutback from EV production.

So, when United States street corners are full of electric recharging stations instead of gas stations, I'll buy an EV too.

But for now, Trump says, drill baby, drill, and to hell with the environment and the interior beauty of the United States.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Olivia Guenther, on your terrific Christmas recital.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.