Debate This!

The Schloss-Blog will be watching the debate closely. Probably. But in the debate and throughout the campaign, Biden has to hit critical themes over and over again. And he needs to get dirty doing it.

First and foremost, Joe, get in the damn gym, take some Balance of Nature supplements, perk up your look and your step. You'll be amazed what that will do to people's opinions of you. You have to shake the "feeble" look and pathetic-looking energy levels that plague your reputation. You don't seem to care about it.

You're motionless while all around people clap and sway to the music. In the picture with G7 leaders, you look Zombie-like. That may be out of context, but you have to be conscious of it and beat it back.

Fix it. Or lose.

***

TRUMP'S A FELON

The conviction has not moved the needle as much as some thought it might, but no matter, it will move it enough to likely make a difference in vote totals, possibly offsetting the impact of third-party candidates.

Trump is still ticked off about it, mightily. He rants about it, insults the judge about it, but won't go to prison over it.

Probably.

Joe, you have to needle him about it on stage and throughout the campaign. It might not make as much of a difference to voters as we might think, but it makes a difference to Donald and it shows in his out-of-kilter remarks on the campaign trail. Actually, polls show Trump could lose as much as 10% of Republican votes because of the conviction.

Much of this assumes Trump is on the campaign trail. The judge could impose tight travel restrictions outside of the jurisdiction without the parole or probation officer's permission. I mean, otherwise, could you see Trump being sentenced to public service and doing garbage pickup in Central Park daily for three months? 

Whatever the penalty, it's something else Trump will complain about. Regularly. Insultingly. Anyone else (you or me) would've gone to prison over this and even earlier for all the GAG order violations. For Trump, travel restrictions, governed by a parole or probation officer, will feel like prison and the Biden camp has to make sure to remind him of it. Always.

***

IMMIGRATION

Trump and the GOP appear to be scoring points with their stance on the southern border but they have weak spots, most notably that Trump himself was the one who sank the strictest, tightest border legislation since what ... the Reagan Administration?

Biden has to use the clip from the State of the Union address in which lead GOP immigration negotiator, Oklahoma Senator James Lankford, is seen mouthing "That's right," when Biden says the deal was struck with everything that the Republicans wanted and was then torpedoed by Trump anyway.

Lankford, one of the most conservative of the conservative Republicans, was betrayed by them and Trump, as were the American people. Biden must remind everyone of this, again and again.

***

THE ECONOMY

The economy is great but in a word, it is not and that word is: inflation.

Inflation is what Americans see when they hear and read reporting on the economy. The economy is actually pretty good: stock markets, which Trump publicly rooted for to crash, are setting records. In other words, your 401k is doing pretty well. Remind people he rooted for them to crash, to wipe out their savings and retriement accounts.

But all that is still not enough. Inflation is the word that rules the day and has Americans thinking no, the economy is not good because prices are so high. People say their personal finances are good but they're still wary of the economy overall.

Huh?

That's even though the rate of inflation was lower the last 15 months than the rate of increase in wages in the United States. 

Fifteen months! Damn it, Biden, remind people that their money has more buying power now than it has since inflation was ignited by Trump's mishandling of the pandemic and the supply-chain issues and merchandise shortages it caused.

Sucker punch, Joe: remind America that Trump killed 1 million Americans, because he did in his pandemic denial. That ought to get their minds off of inflation and thinking about getting an updated COVID shot.

***

FOREIGN POLICY

It seems almost as if Hamas is doing everything it can to not end the war in which it is getting its brains beaten.

Literally and figuratively.

Hamas appears to have no intention of settling the war, what with public opinion swaying in their photos-of-dying-children-reports way.

Israel, however, cannot eliminate Hamas completely, ever. The Hamas spirit and nature will live on as will its dedication to destroying the Jewish state and raiding Israel again like it did on Oct. 7. Hamas can be contained post-war, but eliminated, no.

The new Gaza government must shut out Hamas, which regularly sacrifices Palestinian citizens to Israeli attacks by hiding in among them and making sure they're in harms way of Israeli military maneuvers. 

Still, the killing has to stop to score a diplomatic win for Biden, pre-election. Remember how Antony Blinken did a lot of globe-trotting to try to keep Russia from invading Ukraine?

How'd that work out?

How has his globe-trotting gone to end the Israel-Hamas War? 

Menwhile, Trump says Putin will release, on his request, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, being held there on spy charges. 

If that's so, Don, why not ask now?

Trump will be a disaster on foreign policy by withdrawing us from NATO, cutting off aid to Ukraine and restricting immigration from what he calls "sh*thole" countries.

If Trump wins, it's going to pay to be Norwegian.

***

DEMOCRACY

Trump is going to do all the things professed in Project 2025.

Prosecute Biden. Prosecture Hillary Clinton. Prosecute Merrick Garland. Prosecute Alejandro Mayorkas.

And more.

He's going to do it and very little for the American people. He's already said on the campaign trail that he doesn't care about his base, just their votes.

Kiss the Constitution good-bye. All of it.

And once he and his acolytes (AG Jeff Clark? Yikes!) take away his political enemies' rights, he's coming for all of ours.

Due process? Warrants? Hah!

Advantage Biden though, because when this stuff comes up in the debate, it'll be clear what Trump plans to do to our rights.

Problem is, that's what his base wants him to do.

*** 

ABORTION

A winner for Biden and Democrats, but scores lower on the prioprity list for Americans in their concerns over the economy and immigration. Still, a solid opportunity to score points in the debate and all campaign long.

Remind Americans constantly that Republicans will take away women's reproductive rights and they have the Supreme Court they need to back them up on it. 

But Trump is proud of being the president who struck down Roe v Wade and must be reminded of that constantly. It gets under his skin.

TRUMP BEING TRUMP

Biden and the Democrats best campaign ad is Trump himself.

Stumbling over words on the stump. He's done this, everywhere, from South Dakota to Idaho to Wisconsin to one-on-one interviews. Even on Fox with Hannity trying and failing to steer him clear.

Memory? Trump is devoid. He often rambles on about anything, off topic.

In a session with American corporate CEOs, among the nation's largest, he promised to reduce their corporate tax burden to 20% from 21%

Asked why, he said, "Because it's a nice round number." Huh?

He makes it up as he goes along. And he'll kill business and the economy.

Immigration shut downs restrict employment in health care, hospitality and immigration and the quality of employees as well. Those "sh*thole-country" immigrants are not taking jobs away from Americans, as Trump claims. In a lot of cases, they're taking jobs a lot of Americans would likely never take.

The tariffs Trump wants to slap down on everyting would further restrict the economy, acting as new taxes on Americans instead of punishing foreign manufacturers.

NET/NET

Joe, Americans think the economy (inflation) sucks. Say how you'll fix it.

Joe, Americans think housing is too expensive. Say how you'll fix it.

Joe, Americans think democracy will be under attack under Trump. Say how you'll protect it.

Joe, remind Trump he's a convicted felon, a busines failure (6 bankruptcies) and is the mass murderer of 1 million Americans (COVID) - that ought to get under his skin.

Then let him trip all over himself. Trump on the stump - convoluted, confused, meandering, senseless - is your best advertisement.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Todd Rungren (missed your concert in Phoenix, damn).

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

TikTok vs Chipotle and The Four Tops Quieted

The Schloss-Blog is getting back to normal, whatever that is. After last week's "Interview With The (Trump) Juror," an exclusive, we're focusing on what's going on all around, like: Dan Hurley turning down the Lakers; TikTok going to war with Chipotle; the Pope going "frociaggine" again; and the four Tops lead singer being declared "delusional." No, really.

***

The Pope has done it again, gone all "frociaggine" again, using the vulgar term for a second time in just a few weeks in a reference to gays.

In other words, he's 87 and thinks he's Donald Trump.

***

Do you eat at Chipotle? Do you like it? Getting your money's worth?

Some people who would say "yes" and "yes" to the first two are definitely saying "no" to the third.

Youthful social-media users and especially influencers are turning to TikTok to yip and yap about the portions of food they say they're not getting at the popular quick-service Mexican chain. They take videos of foods they've ordered from the chain, plant them across the front seats of their cars and taste and fire away.

Among them Keith Lee, @saneeats and @lukefoods have millions of followers who eat up (pun intended) their blow-by-blow, bite-by-gooey-bite reviews of popular fast-food dishes they glomp through with relish (and other condiments).

Millions of followers watching "influencers" sloppily gorge through well-known chains' most-popular servings, dishing up slop (pun intended again) with every finger-licking (or otherwise) bite in the way of reviews that Anthony Bourdain never would've entertained.

In all my years as a foodservice and restaurant marketing writer and editor, I never saw this coming but would've loved to write about it.

Yeah, I could've been an influencer's influencer. And hopefully, you would've eaten it up (get it, eaten it up?). Hah!

***

UConn head basketball coach Dan Hurley, current two-time defending national champion, will not coach the LA Lakers next year.

They reportedly offered him in excess of $10 million a year to babysit LeBron and A.D.

It's a lot different coaching in the NBA than in the NCAA. Just ask the many who have tried it. Jerry Tarkanian. Dick Motta (successfully). John Calipari. Rick Pitino.

But only one has gone from NCAA champion to NBA champion. Can you name him? No Googling. Answer at the end of this blog post. (Not Dick Motta - he won an NBA title with the Bullets but never won an NCAA championship.)

***

What are your top tive songs from - oh, say - last century, top five rock songs, that is.

I'll start: Hey Jude (Beatles); One (U2); Layla (Derek and the Dominos); What's Going On (Marvin Gaye); and God Only Knows (Beach Boys).

Whatcha' got?

***

Speaking of rock, a member of the revitalized Four Tops, lead singer Anthony Morris, has sued a hospital for having him restrained and referred for psychiatric examination after not believing he was who he said he was when he was actually there for treatment of shortness of breath and chest pain.

No, really.

Turns out he's claiming that Ascension-Macomb-Oakland Hospital in Warren, Michigan, did the latter to him in April of last year. He told them who he was out of security concerns that fans might want to see him and/or get an autograph from him.

After a nurse finally believed him, he says the exam was dropped and he was treated for his actual symptoms - and offered him a $25 gift card for this trouble.

There is no truth to the report that he performed a Four Tops hit for the staff in scrubs.

***

Bump stocks are legal, says the Supreme Court.

Milwaukee is "horrible," says Donald Trump.

America is in trouble, says Schloss-Blog.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Bernadette.

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

Interview With The Juror

The Schloss-Blog, or should I say, Schloss-Blogger, a career journalist, journalism educator and native New Yorker took advantage of his New York roots and managed to land this one-on-one, so let's get right to it...

THE INTERVIEW WITH THE JUROR

***

SCHLOSS-BLOG: So, you're coming off of perhaps one of the most high-profile criminal trials in history, how are you feeling about it all?

JUROR: I know you're expecting me to say, "relieved," but really, more like honored ... honored to have served on a jury of such significance and to have rendered the verdict that will be among the best-remembered ever. We shoved it up his ass, didn't we?

SCHLOSS-BLOG: What was it like in that Jury Room? You guys, OK, people, really only met for a few hours.

JUROR: It was never intense nor heated. One juror was leaning toward "not guilty," but that juror came around after we had that session where the judge explained to us with clarity the significance and direction of David Pecker's testimony. Speaking of peckers, that guy is one.

SCHLOSS-BLOG: Pecker? Or Trump?

JUROR: Yes.

SCHLOSS-BLOG: You didn't like Pecker? Or Trump?

JUROR: Pecker is a schmuck. I mean, literally. That catch-and-kill stuff is so unethical, but that's how he sells newspapers, I suppose. What a way to make a living, burying stories about stars who do distasteful stuff, and on screen too. And all the untruthful testimony.

SCHLOSS-BLOG: You mean Stormy Daniels?

JUROR: No, Robert Costello. 

SCHLOSS-BLOG: So you guys weren't impressed with the sexual liaison st ory about Trump and Stormy Daniels?

JUROR: What was there to be impressed about? Trump's a dick who was cheating on his wife, who was nursing their newborn son while he was chasing a porn star in Lake Tahone and a Playboy Bunny anywhere else in the country he could get his slimy hands on her.

SCHLOSS-BLOG: What else had the jury leaning toward conviction?

JUROR: Trump did not impress us, regularly falling asleep at the defense table while we were all scrambling to pay attention, take notes and fantasize about Storny Daniels.

SCHLOSS-BLOG: You mean, the guys?

JUROR: No, I mean everyone. Everyone in the courthouse only noticed her from the neck down. What a rack. In the Jury Room, we were all talking over lunch about seeing one of her films or going to see one of her exotic-dancing performances. If we'd have been sequestered, we'd have asked for some of her films. Some of the jurors were pulling them up on demand at home.

SCHLOSS-BLOG: How do you know that?

JUROR: What do you think we talked about in the Jury Room? The guys, especially, were drooling over her. Those asshole Republican guys who showed up to support Trump, all dressed like him, they were drooling over her too.

SCHLOSS-BLOG: So they had no impact on the jury's decision-making process?

JUROR: Sure they did. WTF were they doing here instead of being in D.C., running the country? Besides, those guys thought we, the jury, should be tried and hung, no matter our verdict. Screw them.

SCHLOSS-BLOG: So, what are you going to do next? Autobiography? Memoir about the Trial of the Century? You could make a lot of money.

JUROR: And risk getting my house burned down and my family killed by the Trumpers.

SCHLOSS-BLOG: So, do it anonymously and make an arrangement with the publisher for royalty payments to a "John Doe."

JUROR: Nah, besides, who's going to believe a made-up story about a conversation with a juror from the Trump Hush-Money Trial?

SCHLOSS-BLOG: Yeah, you've got a point.

JUROR: Good luck, though.

SCHLOSS-BLOG: Keep your head down.

***

Quick takes:

• It's the 80th anniversary of D-Day. God bless those soldiers.
• Mexico has its first female president. And she's Jewish.
• While you were reading this, Caitlin Clark took another Flagrant 1 foul.
• While you were reading this, another Major League Baseball player got suspended for gambling.
• While you were reading this, another major rock star's concert tour was canceled.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Stephanie Clifford.

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

On The One Hand, Walton, Ohtani and Ingle ... On The Other, Butker, Scheffler and Trump

The Schloss-Blog has been noticing what's trending and it's ... bizarre .

On the one hand, we lost Bill Walton, the 71-year-old free spirit, Naismith Award winner, NBA champion and MVP, let alone Comeback Player of the Year.

Watching a game he was calling on ESPN, particularly in what he always termed "the conference of champions (PAC 12),"  was always a delight as he went off on tangents about life, rock 'n' roll and anything but basketball. You couldn't help smile.

On the other hand though, there was Donald Trump, a disgrace of a man who is going to get millions of votes for President of the United States, despite being a now convicted felon. Thirty-four times. His sickening behavior, constant and ongoing violations of a court-imposed GAG order and just general lack of respect for anything resembling the rule of law is an American tragedy.

What's worse is the cacophony of Republican U.S. Senators and Congressman rushing to condemn the verdict as weaponization of the justice system.

You'd think they might want to do something to help manage affairs in this country. Instead, they keep putting that off and playing games as members of the least-productive congress of all time.

***

Still, on the one hand, there's Doug Ingle, the voice of and lyricist behind one of America's former rock 'n' roll anthems, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.

Ingle passed this week, at 78, the man behind the music, the 17 minutes that became the national anthem in 1968 and Iron Butterfly performed it religiously in front of adoring, sometimes manic fans for years.

You couldn't help if you were a teenager or a 20-something back then; when it came on the radio, it got your full attention. I know people who pulled off the road to listen to it, even if it was only the 2-minute, 52-second version, condensed for AM radio.

R.I.P. Doug Ingle - your legacy is intact as the author of and front man for a song that earned its spot near the top of the list of rock songs that became national anthems.

***

Yet, on the other hand, there's Scottie Scheffler, who got the benefit of his famed profile from prosecutors that Donald Trump did not.

Charges against him were dropped when he drove around police directing traffic at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Ky., endangering some and defying others.

Not what you want to hear or see from the guy you want your kids to look up to for his vast talent, legacy of victories and cool, calm and collected performances.

***

Still, moving on, on the one hand, there's Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers DH who is blowing up Major League Baseball so far this season, putting up insane numbers.

He is worthy of all praise and paychecks he gets. Maybe even more worthy next season when he brings back that hot bat and takes his spot in the Dodgers rotation as the man who should be well worthy of MVP consideration.

But should he be this year? Should a DH be MVP? Is it about the games you won or the games you didn't lose? As exclusively a DH, you don't lose too many or have opportunities thereto.

Yet, on the other hand, there's Harrison Butker, the Kansas City Chiefs placekicker who made some unfortunate comments in his commencement address to Benedictine College.

His remarks were beyond mysogenistic and sexist. Women belong in the kitchen, would sum it up, pretty much, and that's putting it politely.

He's proud of and stands by his remarks. The NFL has been distancing itself from them, however,

Rightfully so and thank goodness. Wonder how Jennifer King feels about it.

***

Real quick:

• Is it Telco or Telecom?
• Look up Hamas dot com and tell me they're not the bad guys.
• There's no excuse for Alito not recusing himself. Then again, it's Mrs. Alito's fault.
• There is no truth to the rumor that Harrison Butker's recent comments at Benedictine College are going to earn him a spot on the staff at the Vatican, where the Pope is still apologizing about saying "frociaggine."

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Jen Welter.

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

What do Jeremy Fragrance, Open AI and 47 Million Americans Have In Common?

For this Memorial Day weekend, as we honor America's veterans and those around the world protecting our freedoms now, the Schloss-Blog wants to chime in.

My father-in-law, 95, lives in a veterans facility in Mt. Vernon, Mo., They take very good care of him. He can hardly walk anymore, so they lift him in and out of his wheelchair, help him dress, make sure he eats. 

And he deserves it. As do all veterans.

***

Meanwhile, do you know who Jeremy Fragrance is? He smells for a living.

Fragrances, that is. Yeah, he smells and rates various fragrances and is the biggest influencer in the genre. 

Not kidding.

Has almost 9 million TikTok followers, another million on Facebook, 3 million on Instagram.

Has his own line of fragrances. He makes a lot of money. He's 35.

Eat your heart out, Kim Kardashian.

***

Know what else smells? Joe Biden's campaign.

He's trailing a soon-to-be convicted felon in the polls who's already liable for sexual assault, financial fraud and defamation.

Is it time for Biden to get down and dirty on the campaign, do something like remind America that Trump killed 1 million Americans with his denial of COVID and left a disastrous economy behind?

Yes, it is.

***

At OpenAI, it's getting smelly.

Two of its biggest executives have stepped down, citing that its "...safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products," or, artificial intelligence will soon take over the world if OpenAI doesn't do what it has to do to make sure it doesn't.

So, you know all those movies you've watched warning us about the dangers of AI, "Ex Machina," "Blade Runner" and "I, Robot," to name a few?

Were they ahead of their time? Former OpenAI executives Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike might say 'no" to that.

***

Speaking of smelly, attempting to top a Guinness Book of World Records mark, the town of Kyle, Texas, recently had 706 "Kyles" gather there, or the most Kyles in Kyle ever. In other words, a gathering of the most people with the same name in the same place.

It didn't work. The record, set in 2017, is 2,325 people named "Ivan," somewhere in Bosnia.

Yes, Ivans in Bosnia out-gathered Kyles in Kyle.

News you can use.

**

Gunpowder is smelly and so is this about it: 47 million Americans live within a 5-minute walk of a place where a fatal shooting happened between 2020-2023.

Does that include your neighborhood?

Probably.

Four years ago, it was only 39 million Americans who lived within a 5-minute walk of a fatal shooting during 2020-2023.

In Columbus, Ohio, 41% of residents now live within a quarter-mile of where a fatal shooting occurred, contrasted to 28% before the pandemic. In Atlanta, those numbers are 58% versus 36%.

Ouch, America!

It's the same from sea to shining sea.

And that's the problem. And it smells.

***

Abe Fortas stepped down from the Supreme Court in 1970 when it was learned he'd accepted $20,000 from a financier who was being investigated for insider trading.

Fifty-four years ago.

Today, it's de rigueur for Supreme Court justices to accept gifts, donations or whatever you want to call them, some from people who have issues before or are working their way through the courts.

When it comes to the law, American juris prudence is for sale at the highest level.

And that smells. 

***

A video that depicts the horrors and depravities suffered by female hostages taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7 raid has been released by the families of hostages.

It will turn your stomach.

As Hamas continues to reject cease-fire terms in negotiation, more bodies of dead hostages are recovered by Israeli forces.

Hamas will never release what hostages it still has because most or all of them after all this time are likely dead. And when the truth of that comes out, the point of all the pro-Palestinian protests here will be blunted.

And that video, by the way, should be required viewing for all the student protesters when they return to school in the fall.

Trust me, at the very least, they'll find it smelly.

***

Famed drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch got into a smelly fist fight at the NASCAR All-Star Race at the North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Busch appeared to deliberately wreck Stenhouse on the second lap after they had seemed to tangle on the first lap.

So, in other words, you went to a NASCAR event and a hockey game broke out, huh?

Stenhouse was fined $75,000 and his father, who joined the fight, was suspended indefinitely.

***

Quick takes:

• Conspiracy theorists are claiming that the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to dull the impact of inflation in part, do not include the price of coffee in configuring the Consumer Price Index. This is FALSE.
• Avril Lavigne is dead. This is FALSE.
• Justice Alito has blamed his wife for a second flag discovered hanging from his house that shows allegiance to the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. Well, not yet.

***

Hope you're having a heck of a Memorial Day weekend. Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you. Avril Lavigne.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. Listen in and support Radio Free Phoenix by purchasing a mug or a T-shirt at our website.