They were colorful but certain to have meant something.

He just finished a long section demonizing North Korea, including attacks as being anti-Christian.

This is what despots do in beating the war drums.

Does anyone listening to MSNBC want hear Hugh Hewitt?

Have you got your Trumpy buzzword for the drinking game?

Mine is "believe me." I expect to be drunker than Cooter Brown by the time it's over.

Some days ago, I attended a funeral for an eighty-some thing year old man. The funeral was conducted in the funeral home chapel.

Before the service began, recorded music was playing. Pretty stuff - acoustic guitar. I found myself playing Name That Tune. I was amused to identify "Layla" (as in "you got me on my knees, Layla" ). Given the age of the decedent, I was reasonably certain it was not one of his favorites.

At the end of the service - during the southern tradition of parading past the open casket - I identified another tune, again on acoustic guitar. This time, it was a very pretty arrangement of "Whiter Shade of Pale."

And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face, at first just ghostly,
Turned a whiter shade of pale.

It had to be an inside joke of whoever put together the funeral home tracks. I'm afraid that I smiled quite inappropriately. "Whiter Shade of Pale" has been stuck in my head for nearly a week.

I couldn't find where this had been posted before.

After trumpeting pay raises for low level "Associates" as a result of the GOP tax-cuts, WalMart is in the second day of lay-offs at the corporate headquarters in Arkansas. There is no prior warning be given, employees show up for work wondering if they will be on today's hit list. The word on the street is that there will be another round of firings tomorrow.

[link:http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/jan/25/more-jobs-cut-wal-marts-headquarters-arkansas/|

I spent time in an airport today waiting for a flight. During that time, I heard an airline gate agent begging and then threatening passengers to gate-check their carry-on luggage. When I got off the plane, there was a crowd of people standing at the end of the jet way waiting for their gate-checked luggage making it a bit of a challenge to get off the plane.

Over the years, I notice more people with more and larger carry-on luggage. Getting on and off the plane involves the collection by passengers of luggage stashed all over the plane that then has to be struggled up the aisle. I then see some of these same folks at the baggage claim waiting for more luggage, so not all of these folks are trying to make a quick get away from the airport.

The airlines apparently want people to use carry-on luggage or else they wouldn't have started charging luggage fees. What I do not understand is why. I cannot remember the last time the gate agents didn't have to beg passengers to gate-check luggage. I cannot remember the last time I didn't see a passenger fighting a bag out of the overhead with it hitting someone. Wouldn't things run much more smoothly if the airlines encouraged passengers to check luggage? What am I missing here?

The good people of Arkansas are gullible but not stupid.

You were first elected from Arkansas crowing about your Army service. We folks in Arkansas appreciate military service. However, we folks in Arkansas still buy the idea of officers as ladies or gentlemen of honor. We know that Army values include honor and integrity. We also know that this week you have displayed neither.

One thing the good people of Arkansas don't have any time for is a liar. By lying for Trump you have earned the lowest criticism of any one from Arkansas: "Your mom 'n them raised you better that that."

This isn't about politics. This is about being a good and honorable person.

I was working on a scree about my fury that Tom Cotton, as a former Army officer - who is so proud of his service - could be such a bald-faced liar about the meeting with Trump. I tried to do some research concerning the source of his commission (officer candidate school) and was reminded of a claim he has made in campaigns in Arkansas that he was offered a commission in the JAG Corp but declined in favor of the infantry.

From my not quite 30-years of experience in the Army JAG Corp (including a time as a JAG Field Screening Officer (recruiter) as an additional duty), Cotton's story just cannot be right. Law students - even those who already have commissions - apply for acceptance in the JAG Corps. I suppose that if some young lieutenant with the Medal of Honor and a law degree might be "offered" a JAG commission. Cotton does not hold the Medal of Honor. Per his website, he has the Bronze Star Medal which I assume he received while serving in Iraq - and note that it is not with a "V" (valor) devise.

While I really don't know much about his military service, it really doesn't seem that impressive. He gets credit for enlisting with a law degree (although it seems a bit odd). I have to give him credit for going to Airborne and Ranger School. He gets a lot of credit for the Iraq service. (The time in the Old Guard just means he is tall and looks good in a blue uniform.) The story that someone in a position to do so would deviate from the system and "offer" him a JAG commission just doesn't ring true.

All of that to ask a question: Does anyone know about Cotton's claim that can clue me in?

Was it wishful thinking or was I hearing boos with the cheers?