Monday Afternoon Links

by | Jan 20, 2025 | Daily Links | 168 comments

A Day of Things Happening.

Lots going on – from the good (MLK Day – see, America does follow through on its founding promise) to the outrageous (“Biden” pardoning the whole Dick Tracy Crime Syndicate of family and Team Blue accomplices on the last day) to the newsy (OMB seizes power!!!!!!!!! er, swears in and unleashes the Hat and the Hair Part II – The Revenge)

So, discuss such amongst yourselves.

Comments are all Open

About The Author

Swiss Servator

Swiss Servator

Currently serving at the pleasure of a Swiss multinational. Previously a Soldier, rugby player, lawyer, bouncer, bartender, substitute teacher, risk manager, and cubicle mushroom. Will work for raclette.

168 Comments

  1. Sean

    I’m hoping CommaLa is deep into her box of wine right now.

    Crying.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      Don’t talk about KAMALA’S box.

      • juris imprudent

        “It’s bigger on the inside.”

  2. Gender Traitor

    Lost wager settled. 👍

    • juris imprudent

      If I was a bettin’ man, I woulda been on your side. Didn’t think he’d make it through.

      • The Other Kevin

        I thought they’d cave in to the temptation of the “first black woman President”.

      • Fourscore

        Trump will not forget Kammie, as a black woman.

      • Jarflax

        I based my prediction on Wilson’s 2nd term. If you manage to get a mentally disabled person you control onto the throne, why would you ever give that up?

      • Gender Traitor

        To my worthy opponent’s credit and honor:

        Jarflax on January 20, 2025 at 12:58 PM
        I am making a matching donation, because while I won on the terms, Biden has not been the actual President at any point.

      • Tonio

        Damn, that’s classy of both of you. Well done, kids.

      • Jarflax

        After Biden’s term (and let’s be fair the bailouts under Bush II, and Obama, plus the Covid nonsense) it takes both of us to equal one old dollar donation.

  3. Rat on a train

    Democracy has ended. Women don your handsmaid tale outfits. Open the extermination camps.

    • Drake

      When will I be issued my handmaiden?

      • Suthenboy

        Do we HAVE to take them? Can I opt out?

      • rhywun

        Can I opt out?

        #metoo?

      • Rat on a train

        Not even if you are assigned a man in a dress.

      • Gender Traitor

        Don’t you like sammiches? 😕

      • slumbrew

        Man, just when I get back on the low carb wagon, sammiches are on offer.

      • Jarflax

        Don’t you like sammiches? 😕

        I can only imagine what the handmaiden brigade would make if forced to make a sammich. I’ll make my own.

      • Aloysious

        JI, you just made me long for the relief that death will bring.

      • creech

        Are any of the non-tatted Q women left unspoken for?

      • juris imprudent

        Thank you Aloysious, I was beginning to wonder at the non-response.

    • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

      FINALLY!

  4. Suthenboy

    Mrs. Suthenboy just compared Trump’s inauguration speech to the Bill Pullman speech from The Fourth of July movie.
    She said, like the movie, he is rallying us to fight aliens that are out to destroy us. I cant really argue against that.

    • juris imprudent

      Oh boy, I can’t wait for Randy Quaid to do a strafing run on the border!

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        Randy would probably be on board with that.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Wait, I thought Strafe was in Japan?

    • The Other Kevin

      There was a second speech after that, and Mrs. TOK decided she’d heard enough of his voice for the day. 🙂

      • Tundra

        Sometimes less is more.

        I would like to know who was responsible for the first speech. It was really technically impressive and Two Scoops delivered it perfectly.

  5. Tonio

    I, for one, will miss Sug’s depiction of the Biden White House, particularly the Hunter/KJP story arc. But not needing that as a coping mechanism will be a welcome change.

    Having my conservative homo posse over later for drinks and heavy hors d’oeuvres. Got two bottles of Trump vineyards (local!) Blanc de Blancs bubbly.

    • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

      ‘Blanc de Blancs’

      Of course there is white wine but no black wine.

      • juris imprudent

        Pinot noir blinks in disbelief.

      • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

        It’s not getting served at Tonio’s place.

      • Shpip

        “Only Chardonnay, the best Chardonnay from right here in America. None of that nancy-boy Chardonnay from France. And you can’t get the stuff from anywhere east of France, believe me.

        “Look, no one knows the Swiss better than me, believe me. Lovely people, the best — excellent bankers. But the Swiss don’t even call it Chardonnay… just chard. So that’s a ‘no’ from me.”

      • Jarflax

        Hmm, does chard have enough sugar to make wine? Paging OMWC, we have a question right up your alley.

    • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

      heavy hors d’oeuvres

      What did that horse ever do to you!?!?

      • pistoffnick (370HSSV)

        I hear horse devores pair nicely with crude titties.

  6. Shpip

    1) I don’t think Donnie Two-Scoops swings that way.

    2) He can (and already is) do better than anything the Emhoff family has to offer.

    3) He’s 78. Probably not a whole lot of graphite left in the pencil, so to speak.

      • juris imprudent

        He should insist that he is 45-2 instead of 47.

      • Jarflax

        45 ^2, just like the year!

      • rhywun

        I have no idea if Donald will deliver but the end of the Biden crime syndicate as Swiss so aptly put it is worth a drunken celebration all by itself.

        It Feels So Good to watch that asshole fade away into his deserved legacy as one of the worst presidents in American history.

    • juris imprudent

      Can you imagine the Democrats trying to run the 25th Amendment argument again? I almost wish they would.

    • Pope Jimbo

      So if a deal is a deal, should Trump go big and demand a 3-way with Doug and his model/daughter Ella?

  7. Suthenboy

    Also, I am seeing a surprisingly small amount of wailing out of leftists. I guess it needs a little time to sink in. Surely by tomorrow they will be screaming at the sky again.

      • juris imprudent

        Those people don’t need an asylum, they need to be on a chain gang until they is rehabilitated.

      • Jarflax

        Synchronized Rheeeeeing, coming soon to an Olympic games.

    • Tonio

      I think they’re in shock.

      • The Other Kevin

        They haven’t decided on the narrative yet.

    • The Other Kevin

      My wife’s cousin (the teacher) was on FB talking about how this is a “dark day” for America. My wife threw caution to the wind and responded.

      • Suthenboy

        An elderly female relative gave me the same crap this afternoon.
        “I thought the US would last longer than me but I was wrong. This is the end.”

        This woman has been this way all of her life. She alluded to me once that she loved Jr. college going to the hippie professors informal gatherings, drum circles and other such commie shit. Before she told me that I had wondered how she got so brainwashed. Now I. know. Disfunctional childhood and preyed upon by communist college professors in the late ’50s early ’60s.

    • Mythical Libertarian Woman

      It’s all on Bluesky, aka the hell I must endure due to the fact that publishing universally moved over there. I’ve got 300+ content filters in place to try to block out most of the derp and dozens of posts still managed to get through today. I’ve been documenting it on the Glibertarian Matrix server, because if I have to suffer, they have to suffer

      • Mojeaux

        You’re a better writer than I, Gunga Din.

  8. The Other Kevin

    It’s been kind of slow on the news since the election, but damn today we’ve got plenty to discuss.

    • Suthenboy

      I see the AI created image of Trump with the bottom lit face. Perfect. The Trump monster that only exists in their heads.
      They aren’t propagandists, no sir. They are strictly on the up and up.

      • Gender Traitor

        “The official portrait of the president is the most printed, most seen image of the president, ever,” former White House photographer Eric Draper told the BBC.

        Seen more than this one? Come to think of it, this would have made an awesome official portrait.

    • Suthenboy

      Now I watched it. Those girls just need a good dickin’, that’s all.
      *Gutfeld cuts in “…a misogynist would say!”

      • OBJ FRANKELSON

        It worked for Matress Girl. She resurfaced a while back to proclaim that she had been turned rightward by one of her boyfriends.

        Of course, the real headline was that any man was willing to risk bionking her after her antics.

  9. rhywun

    I thought Biden pardoning Fauci and the J6 hacks was chutzpah and then he went and pardoned his fucking family?!

    It signals that you can get away with literally anything and then just make it go away on your way out the door. Is that what the “deep state” or what have you really wants?

  10. UnCivilServant

    Did something happen today?

    There are two pepper stalks that have broken the surface of the pot, and the first to rise has started lifting the shell of the seed out, I assume the starter leaves are still inside that seed case.

    • juris imprudent

      IT’S A SIGN! It will be a spicy four years!

      • Jarflax

        A nice spicy sancocho somehow seems appropriate

    • Tonio

      What type of pepper?

      • UnCivilServant

        Purple Bells.

        They plant isn’t supposed to get taller than two feet, so I can grow it indoors.

    • Gender Traitor

      😃👍🌱🌱

    • Yusef drives a Kia

      Codiletin, not seed case

    • Fourscore

      I was curious, wondering inf any more popped up. You answered before I could ask. Indoor plants tend to be more leggy because they are always searching for the sun. Good luck!

  11. The Late P Brooks

    I am seeing a surprisingly small amount of wailing out of leftists.

    See my AM Juan Williams link. They (some of them, at least) have elevated him to godlike status; invincible, all powerful ruler whose robot army obeys his every whim.

    • The Other Kevin

      They want to be the Rebels again, fighting the forces of Darth Vader, or to be Harry Potter fighting Lord Voldemort.

      • Shpip

        Harry Potter fighting Lord Voldemort

        Nah, J. K. Rowling got unpersoned for saying sensible things about troons going to battered women’s shelters.

        For a decade or more, we kept telling lefties “READ ANOTHER BOOK!!!” Unfortunately, they dumped Harry Potter and picked up The Handmaid’s Tale.*

        *they didn’t really read the book, just binge-watched the TV series

  12. dbleagle

    I listened to parts of OMB’s speech. The only he could have topped it off was by literally turning around, dropping trousers and pissing on biden.

    But I am still not confident he can actually make the Fed executive branch do as he directs.

    • juris imprudent

      Well, if he didn’t learn something from the first time around, he’s incapable of learning anything. And even I don’t think Donnie is that dumb.

      • Fourscore

        Same Ol’ Ramblin’ Don.

        His wish list is mixed in with his self back patting.

  13. The Late P Brooks

    Note to Jarflax from previous thread:

    Biden is without question the worst President of my lifetime (Johnson might possibly give him a run for his money). I agree with you on Wilson being worse. I wonder why the “noted historians” never mention Wilson’s dogged segregationism.

    • juris imprudent

      Because he was the first high priest of Progressivism. All of his faults can be ignored for the sake of that.

    • Jarflax

      Segregation is back in fashion.

      • juris imprudent

        Like the five DC cops who killed themselves, it is the highest sacrifice they can make.

    • rhywun

      I have a hard time separating “worst president” from “biggest piece of shit”.

      Biden and Obama (take your pick) clearly win the latter but I may not be competent enough to judge them on the former.

      • The Other Kevin

        He did damage the country a lot, especially the open border, but was that the worst a President ever did? I’m not sure. Most definitely he was the most corrupt.

      • Fourscore

        He had a lot of experience, TOK, with all those years in Congress.

      • rhywun

        @TOK

        Biden and Obama both spent their entire terms pitting some Americans against other Americans and telling us two plus two is five and rubbing our faces in it. Other oft-suggested “worst presidents ever” never really thought of setting us against each other like that.

        That cultural stuff is just as damaging in my mind as the more “real” damage terrible presidents do.

    • Jarflax

      On a more serious note progressives figured out that they could weaponize minority populations under Johnson and changed tactics. If the vote plantation stops being a reliable support for their side I fully expect their racism to switch from soft to hard.

  14. Tonio

    Pulling a KK, here. I was on the Zoom earlier (sorry I missed you n00bs) and will be on again later.

  15. Shpip

    So what’s the over / under on how long it’ll take before America feels unbidened by what has been?

    • The Other Kevin

      If you’re asking how long Biden will last, I say he’s gone in a year or less. He’s going to deteriorate quickly now that he doesn’t have to be on camera.

      • Jarflax

        He’s going to deteriorate quickly now that he doesn’t have to be on camera enough utility for Doc Jill to feed him.

      • creech

        Body found washed up on the beach in Rehoboth after wandering off into the surf one night. And then another presidential funeral where everyone will tell lies about what a transformative and dedicated public servant he was.

      • juris imprudent

        will tell lies

        Fitting eulogy for a serial plagiarist.

    • R.J.

      It’s going to take me a while. Maybe a few months. I got a lot of bad vibes to shake from the past four years. I think the country will be the same way.

      • rhywun

        I want scorched earth & I want Americans to learn of every crime the Joe, Barack, and Hillary cabal perpetrated against America.

  16. The Late P Brooks

    Welcome to gangsterocracy

    President Donald Trump is being sworn in today, and we are about to find out what happens when the government is actually as corrupt as our most brain-rotted conspiracy theorists imagine.

    “Trump Inauguration, Awash in Cash, Runs Out of Perks for Big Donors,” The New York Times reported, somewhat inaccurately. Sure, the Trump people ran out of VIP tickets, but that’s not what the donors were buying. This is pure, obvious corruption — the kind that used to trigger shame, back when we were a populace that could still experience that emotion.

    Contemplate the completely unprecedented notion of quid pro quo government dealmaking, and despair.

    • Suthenboy

      More of the ‘dont believe your lying eyes’ bullshit from the left. Their predictions of doom did not come to pass when he was in office before yet here they go again knowing full well it is all bullshit. When none of it comes to pass they will pretend they never said any of it and their supporters will swallow it whole.
      What was that about braindead supporters?

    • The Artist Formerly Known as Lackadaisical

      It’s like they’re taking about 2020. Wtf.

  17. The Late P Brooks

    Like the five DC cops who killed themselves, it is the highest sacrifice they can make.

    They sacrificed themselves on the altar of True Democracy.

  18. The Other Kevin

    I’m seeing that Vivek will not server on DOGE and will instead run for governor of Ohio.

    • Jarflax

      He can’t be worse the DeWine

      • Jarflax

        This site needs an edit button lol, or I need to learn to proof before clicking submit.

      • R.J.

        You’ve been hanging with me! The typos are contagious.

    • Gender Traitor

      I’m a bit ashamed to admit that I didn’t even know Vivek was from Ohio.

      Can’t disagree with Jarflax’s sentiments about DeRINO.

      • Gender Traitor

        Some of his titles referenced his emphasized dualistic nature, among these were Magic Hermaphrodite…

        🤔

      • rhywun

        I didn’t either & surely he hasn’t lived there in a long time?

        Well, whatevz.

      • Gender Traitor

        Per Wiki:

        As of 2021, he owned a house in Butler County, Ohio, [which is where Vance’s hometown of Middletown is, but also Hamilton and other more upscale areas in the greater Cincy area] but in 2023, the only real estate he reported owning was a house in Columbus, Ohio, in Franklin County.[156] A 2023 Politico profile of Ramaswamy mentions him living in a $2 million estate in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington.

      • Gender Traitor

        And to Vivek’s credit, he does NOT appear to have any background in the Cleveland area.

      • UnCivilServant

        🤔

        To be fair, Morrowind was weird.

    • Tundra

      He’s been pretty invisible lately.

  19. The Other Kevin

    My wife saw Barron for the first time today. “Wow is he tall!” LOL

    We also had a friend over this morning. She’s from Virginia, and she knew some of the people in the honor guard, including the guy who escorted the new First Lady.

  20. mindyourbusiness

    Didn’t have a chance to watch Trump’s address, but read the transcript. And a limerick I saw recently came to mind:

    Like the mythical man from Madras,
    My balls are made out of brass.
    When the jangle together,
    They play, ‘Stormy Weather’,
    And lightning shoots out my ass.

    The next four years oughta be an interesting ride.

    • Drake

      You missed the part where he milked AOC right on stage.

  21. R.J.

    Well, he just walked into the arena, making his way through the crowd.

    • The Other Kevin

      They’re doing an indoor parade now. Military, fire departments, that sort of thing. Seems to work.

      • The Other Kevin

        And now I like indoor parades better than outdoor parades. I wonder if the Shriners will show up in electric cars?

      • R.J.

        Maybe. Texas has a parade band of Indians, from India who are performing. WTF, home state?

      • Gender Traitor

        I’m glad they went ahead with this – the Middletown High School (J.D. Vance’s high school?) marching band was set to perform, and at one point there were rumors that the parade had been called off.

      • Gender Traitor

        I wonder if the Shriners will show up in electric cars?

        Fezes for Donny and J.D.! Fezes are cool! ::searches in vain for a fez emoji::

      • The Other Kevin

        Yep, that HS band made it.

        I dare say, today has been refreshingly…. normal? Not a single man dressed as a woman, or morbidly obese person celebrating their body image.

      • rhywun

        refreshingly…. normal?

        And Donald free associating from one brainfart to the next…

  22. R.J.

    I’m not one to talk much but those Butler County firemen are some seriously overweight gentlemen.

    • rhywun

      harsh but lol

    • Grummun

      I like how the AI completely loses it at the end.

  23. creech

    Watching Trump at Cap One Center. I’ve heard more articulate speeches by folks running for township supervisor. But, obviously, it worked. Vance will be a much better explainer of Trump’s policies.

    • juris imprudent

      Wife had it on and I asked her to mute it or change the channel.

      Speaking of unintelligible and the new Admin. Assault on DOGE. Dismiss all the cases, with prejudice and court costs, for lack of standing.

  24. Shpip

    Anyone have

    — Taylor Lorenz
    — In a face mask
    — At an inauguration party

    … on their Bingo card for January?

    • Shpip

      Well, shit.

      Trying again

      • R.J.

        She’s just prepping her next article on the horrors of the MAGA jungle. Should be amusing.

      • Gender Traitor

        Maybe she was posing as someone else so she’d be let in?

      • Evan from Evansville

        Would with happiness. First, I’d scold her for accessorizing with a damn glittery mask. That’ll learn her.

    • Sensei

      Those cocktail parties must be really awesome.

    • rhywun

      I thought Drake’s vid above was the daily ray.

    • Fourscore

      Some fancy base running, Thanks Jimbo

    • Ted S.

      Now that is the Daily Ray of Sunshine.

      • Fourscore

        Even the dog approves

    • slumbrew

      Phenomenal throw

  25. The Late P Brooks

    There’s a new hat in town

    As President Donald Trump entered the U.S. Capitol Rotunda to be sworn into office on Monday, he moved to kiss the cheek of his wife Melania but was blocked by a wide-brimmed hat that the First Lady wore throughout the entirety of Inauguration Day.

    The moment – and the hat – drew widespread attention on social media. Some complimented her look, saying the First Lady looked sophisticated and “stunning”. Others likened her to fictional superthief character Carmen Sandiego and questioned whether she was deliberately trying to keep distance from her husband, and why she kept the hat on all day.

    The navy, boater-style hat with white trim sat atop Melania Trump’s head through a morning church service, her husband’s swearing-in ceremony, a luncheon with Republican politicians and tech billionaires and a parade inside the Capital One Arena.

    That was entirely appropriate etiquette, according to the hat’s American designer Eric Javits.

    “Traditionally, you know, a hat should be worn all day,” Javits told Reuters. “You don’t take it off until you’re changing for another occasion.”

    There’s trouble brewing in Hat Land.

    • Gender Traitor

      Two Hats and a Hair?

      • R.J.

        Oh yes! That hat must join the crew!

      • B.P.

        Since the media just launched a huge round of heavy breathing about Musk throwing up a Heil Hitler at his inauguration speech, I look forward to regular installments of Not-so-Secret African-American Nazi Tech Oligarch.

      • Ted S.

        Two Hats, One Cup.

    • slumbrew

      We’ll know the country has really turned a corner if Melania finally ends up on the cover of the fashion magazines

  26. The Late P Brooks

    For much of the day, the hat obscured Melania Trump’s eyes for most viewers. The First Lady, who rarely attended Trump’s campaign events last year, also wore a double-breasted navy mid-length jacket by Adam Lippes, another American designer.

    Just the thing to conceal her boredom with the whole minstrel show.

  27. robodruid

    I look forward to some federal facilities figure out how to have everyone in the office at the same time.
    They will comply
    Nothing will get done.

    • juris imprudent

      I doubt they’ve staffed up so much that they can’t accommodate.

      • robodruid

        I know of at least one area that is not.

  28. DenverJ

    Well, the crookedest crook to ever steal the White House has pardoned his family. In other news, Trump has been president for 7 1/2 hrs now, and still no Nazi takeover. I reckon they are waiting for warmer weather.

    • Evan from Evansville

      The blatant fuckery *may* actually piss people off enough to give a shit. I know the Media will do their best to hide and obfuscate, but with Biden out, I don’t think people will have the same knee-jerk reaction to simply allow it.

      “𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲: 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬.” Uh. I’ve not heard of his sister’s involvement (so they did a good job!), and hardly any re: his brothers, but just include their spouses for fuck ‘n good measure, eh, Biden?! It’s so over-the-top it certainly invites mass excoriation and ridicule from society. It’s deserved and I wonder how my reaction to others’ defeat will display itself. Silent, but smirkingly, is my best shot. Some cartoony/Kramer sounds will be included. (I have to hide that trait in mixed company.)

  29. The Other Kevin

    1500 full pardons and 6 commutations for Jan 6ers.

    BAM.

    • Drake

      Excellent.

    • The Other Kevin

      Some pro life advocates also pardoned.

    • juris imprudent

      Right on the heels of the Biden family pardons – any squealing will be hypocrisy of the highest order.

      • The Other Kevin

        NBC is already so concerned. 🙄

      • Drake

        I turned on the hard left propaganda channels just for fun. CNN had Corey Booker talking about the 5 officers who died on J6. (Keeps going up despite the actual number being zero). Then a very dour Liz Warren.

        MSNBC had footage of the border and was talking about ab ACLU lawsuit.

  30. B.P.

    I caught the first batch of sad illegal immigrant stories on CBS news tonight. Get ready.

  31. Drake

    Trump is signing Executive Orders while answering reporters’ questions. Can’t imagine Biden or any other recent President pulling that off.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Nice to see his mother’s photo behind him again.

  32. Evan from Evansville

    I despise college football/basketball for the university lie they are, disguising the minor league systems as (legit, healthy) tribalism that encompasses all and gives most a good time. I was at the NCAA Museum in Indy with my 4 and 9yo nephews today. We had a really good time.

    I *DO* enjoy the championship is between lower-seed teams. As a lifelong Hoosier who was born in WV, and a raised-Catholic who has *NEVER* felt faith, I’d prefer Notre Dame win, but a tight game is the best possible outcome. The polite tribalism sport (often) provides is the safest and sanest way to let humans unleash that primal instinct. I’d like to think I wouldn’t watch mass executions or feeding prisoners to lions, but fuck, yes, I’d be watching gladiatorial games. Charioteering, as well. My biggest issue with football/ basketball? I never played. No internal context, but I enjoy watching any contest, more or less regardless. Indiana’s fairly well-spoken in sports, for our size. Go Cubs.

    • Drake

      Watching D2 or D3 is more fun these days. Fewer delays, actual students.

      • Evan from Evansville

        Makes sense. I go to the AAA Pirates (Indianapolis Indians) and Indy Fuel ECHL games here, and Double-A South Bend Cubs games when I can (rarely), so I’m not one to talk. But I’d rather watch a 80s/90s Cubs game than minor league kids play on TV. *GOING* to the game, the experience, is a whole other ball of yarn, naturally. One with 108 stitches.