(From ace correspondent Earl Troglin)
”Oh wait, it’s Exit 324, not 342.”
I Am Whistleblower.
yesteryear The HollywoodBowles
1234 Fake Street
Springfield
USA
Santo Antônio do Monte Nancy Pelosi
SPEAKER, House of Representatives
90 7th Street, #2800
San Francisco, CA 94103
Dear Speaker Pelosi,
First off, let me say what an honor it is to write to you. Longtime listener, first time writer-inner. As a diehard fan of the dinner theater that has become American politics, your program is my favorite of the reality shows — including Vanilla Ice Goes Amish!
Secondly, I’d like to compliment you on your timing regarding the Trump Impeachment Inquiry. While blowhards like myself and other cackling hens squawked for impeachment, you sat quietly, perhaps knowing Donnie Doofus would step in it soon enough. We were apes around the watering hole while you fashioned a weapon from bone. 
I’ve been entertained, as perhaps you have, by newscasters puzzling over what changed in polls to drive a majority of Americans toward impeachment.
I’ve been entertained, as perhaps you have, by newscasters puzzling over what changed in polls to drive a majority of Americans toward impeachment.I’m hearing lots about the Ukraine. Lots about the president’s flaunting of the law finally wearing on American nerves. What I’m not hearing much of is what affect your calling for an inquiry had on the process, and the public view of it. We always hear about the Trump fanbase. But there’s a Pelosi fanbase, too. You just don’t hear much about it, because we’re reasonable. But know you represent us a lot more than Agent Orange.
Which brings me to my second point. Trump has, in effect, proclaimed a Jihad on the whistleblower. Did you hear what the LA Times captured at his recent rally? That the whistleblower should be dealt with as a treasonous spy?
Trump has already ginned up his base and FOX News with his theatrical rhetoric. Speaker Pelosi, it’s time to theatricate back. I’m not sure if that’s a word, but it should be. Anyway, the point is this: One good theatrical turn deserves another. May I suggest this:
Go Spartacus on their asses.
You remember Spartacus. That 1960 historical epic about the slave leader who faced down the Romans. Even if you haven’t seen it, you surely remember the iconic scene in the Kubrick film, when fellow slaves pronounced “I am Spartacus!” to protect their champion’s identity.
Isn’t it time we did the same for the Ukraine whistleblower?
By all accounts, he or she not only followed the spirit of the law, but the letter of it as well. Contemporaneous notes. Multiple sources. Lawyers hired. Insider knowledge made public so our country’s elections are not tampered with. Again. Even the Inspector General, a Trump appointee, could find no holes in the complainant’s account, paperwork or allegations. Most importantly, the witness has agreed to speak publicly about the case. That alone is bravery worth noting, which you have thoroughly done.
So why not a step more? Why not get every Democrat to pronounce to the press, ‘I am whistleblower.’ Challenge the pitchforks.
The person deserves at least that. Already, you can see the Trump strategy to further claim pious outrage. He has referred to himself as “the chosen one.” He has stated that anyone who votes Democrat is Anti-Semitic. And now he is trying to frame an observer to his malfeasance. This is Trump trying once again to Judas an innocent.
Don’t be silenced by zealots, Madame Speaker.
I am whistleblower. All true Americans are.
My two squawks.
Isn’t It Rich?
Joker may be the most anti-comic comic-book movie ever set to film. Violent, grim and deliriously unconcerned with superhero tradition, Joaquin Phoenix’s rubber-bodied portrayal of Batman’s arch nemesis has, like Heath Ledger’s performance before him, permanently altered the definition of a comic-book villain.
Directed by Hangover and Old School veteran Todd Phillips, Joker is a superhero story as might have been imagined by Travis Bickle, and this fractured entry into the DC Comic Universe is by far the most deranged installment yet. Joker feels as informed by Taxi Driver and Network as by DC Comics, and that’s the joy of the 70’s-infused origins story; It dovetails nicely with the DC Universe, but never quite feels borne of it.
Joaquin Phoenix is the titular character, Arthur Fleck, an odd, lonely guy who lives at home with his mother (a wan Frances Conroy) he love-hates. Arthur works for a grimy rent-a-clown business, and nothing ever goes right for him. That’s clear from the moment we meet him: spinning signs in downtown Gotham he gets jumped by a mob of punks.
As Arthur’s decline continues, he gets angrier and more isolated as the world’s saddest punching bag. When Gotham’s social services close down, Arthur learns he can no longer receive counseling there, or get his meds. (He carries around a little laminated card that he holds out whenever he laughs inappropriately, which reads, “Forgive my laughter, I have a brain injury.”) The one bright spot of his dreary life is watching a Johnny Carson-style talk-show host, Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro), on television. Arthur dreams of being a stand-up comic and someday being on the show. Like Bickle, Fleck will eventually get his wish, but not before a dramatic transformation.
As you’d expect, Arthur’s downhill slide continues. He’s beaten up by a group of drunken Wall Street suits and draws a gun on them that he got from a co-worker (another Taxi Driver nod). Before long, Arthur becomes an Occupy Wall Street-style vigilante folk hero representing working stiffs tired of corporate manipulation. He inspires the masses to don clown masks, march in the streets and carry “Kill the Rich!” placards as they face off against city authorities.
All the while, the movie paints a painfully human portrait of Arthur, another break from superhero tradition. Arthur may have found a neighbor love interest, played by Zazie Beetz, but it could all just be in Arthur’s mind. So, too, may be his suspicion that he’s more a part of the Bruce Wayne’s family tree than he once thought. But in the mess that is Arthur’s brain, reality is always a guess at best.
Some scenes in Joker can’t help but fall into the trope-blender of all superhero films, and Batman fans will surely take exception to the re-writing of some age-old Caped Crusader canon. But Phillips and Phoenix are clearly unconcerned with Dark Knight conventions (or breaking from them), and the climactic scene of Arthur nearing his big TV break builds much the same tense dread of Bickle’s inevitable showdown with pimps and drug dealers. If Dark Knight left you asking it to send in more clowns, there’s no such worry with Joker. They’re already here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMQPeovhP7w
