Saturday Morning Dinnertime Blues

by | Jun 20, 2026 | Daily Links | 178 comments

As much as I complain about the rather dimwitted and entitled customer base we have, I can’t say much better for our staff. We do have some excellent people, but we also have… to be generous, tards. Except actual Downs tards are generally super nice, kind, cheerful, and diligent people. Ours are none of those things. One in particular is a persistent whiner and likes to do that in front of customers (this is the same one who notes on her orders that the customer wants “lettus” on their burger). So after increasing our beer selection to seven choices and reviewing the PRINTED list with her at least three times, she came whining to me that someone ordered a Pacifico. “I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT IS!” “It’s on the beer list.” “WHY ISN’T ANYONE TELLING ME THESE THINGS???” “We’ll talk about it later, just take care of the customers.” “WHERE DO I FIND IT???” “Ummm, in the beer fridge. We only have one.” “WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?” “Umm, it says ‘Pacifico’ on the label.”

Five minutes later, she’s back. “I CAN’T OPEN THIS NO MATTER HOW HARD I TWIST!” “Use the bottle opener on the bar.” Five more minutes. “NOBODY SHOWED ME HOW TO DO THAT!!!” I sighed, went out front, grabbed the opener, and popped the cap. Then she served the beer, apologizing for the delay, “I’m sorry, nobody showed me anything so I had no idea what to do.”

I was close to murder. Thank god she’s unlikely to ever reproduce. Oh, sorry, THEM is unlikely to reproduce because THEM is, of course, loudly “non-binary.”

Birthdays today are a meager lot compared to yesterday, but still, there’s a guy who truly led his best life; the best guitarist I’ve ever seen; an absolute killing machine; one of the most creative and insanely talented woodwind players and barbeque inspirations to ever walk this Earth; a guy who was a better Bela Lugosi than Bela Lugosi; a guy who couldn’t even quarterback for the Browns; an erstwhile hottie with an absolutely perfect voice; a guy with some involvement with Rick James’s penis; and an actor with such an outsized persona that he takes over every film he’s in (in a good way).

“Shhhh, just kill them.”

Karim don’t like it.

It’s nice to know he has a hand in my pocket. Always nice to fund people who want to kill my family.

“Our biggest worry is that we’ll be millionaires and then our friends will want to eat us.” There really is some hilarious ignorance on display here.

“Shut up and give us money.” No, no, YOU shut up and give us money!

Once again, laser pointers and cats.

Give it to them good and hard.

Time to revive the hickory shampoo?

“The toy could not be resold.”

This gave me a bit of a nostalgic twinge. But I was distressed to learn that Taylor’s Refresher isn’t there any more and wineries are charging over $100 for tastings. Thank you, no.

You mean academic social science is bullshit??? Where’s my fainting couch?

The Old Guy is in the mood for some Big Band today. But not just any Big Band. A screamingly creative Big Band. Back in the days when I was writing a jazz column for a LA-area newspaper, I got to see them and interview Tabackin afterward. Super nice and casual fellow, which of course belies the driven nature required to achieve this level of musical success in a complex genre.

About The Author

Old Man With Candy

Old Man With Candy

Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me. Wait, wrong book, I'll find something else.

178 Comments

  1. Common Tater

    There ain’t no cure.

    • Common Tater

      “Thank god she’s unlikely to ever reproduce.”

      You would be surprised.

      • Sean

        Some retard hired it. Someone may be even dumber and fuck it.

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        Hire the handicapped, but don’t let them take your rectal temperature.

    • Fourscore

      Not sure how you can run a business with employees like that, OM.

      Never, in my wildest dreams, would I have expected someone like that to last more than 1/2 a day on the job.

      • juris imprudent

        Kinda surprised she was able to fill out an application.

      • rhywun

        It’s got to be slim pickins with most of the “talent” out of town for the summer.

    • EvilSheldon

      I wonder if the parents and teachers ever feel guilty about the quality of ‘adults’ they’re producing.

  2. Shpip

    a guy who couldn’t even quarterback for the Browns

    Happy Birthday every signal-caller since Otto Graham?

    • Gdragon

      I know that it was only one season and it isn’t a perfect metric but Milt Plum did hold the NFL single-season QBR record for a very long time.

    • Nephilium

      We’re only up to 42 QBs since the Browns came back after the shithole of Baltimore and the most hated Jew in Cleveland stole them from us.

      Of course… there’s rumblings that the Browns are going to go after Sorsby in the supplemental draft, because gods forbid we go into training camp with less than 5 QBs on the roster.

    • juris imprudent

      Dawson couldn’t QB anywhere in the NFL these days, as I seem to recall him on the sideline smoking a cigarette.

  3. Ted S.

    an absolute killing machine

    Happy birthday Hillary Clinton!

  4. Sean

    “ Time to revive the hickory shampoo?”

    Water cannons. Rubber ball grenades.

    • Drake

      The hickory shampoo did knock sense into people. These entitled idiots have no concept of consequences.

      • UnCivilServant

        Whenever I watch bodycam footage, it’s not uncommon for me to be rooting for the application of excessive force.

        So many people deserve having some sense knocked into them – or at least shut up as an example to others.

      • Fourscore

        Excessive? That’s just a word.

    • rhywun

      Throw their parents in jail for “child endangerment” or whatever it takes.

      • EvilSheldon

        What parents?

      • rhywun

        Well, probably one per.

  5. Shpip

    British barrister Karim Khan was formally removed from his duties at the ICC last week after the court’s oversight body found he had engaged in “serious misconduct” over accusations he had an inappropriate relationship with a female staff member.

    a) “British” barrister Karim Khan

    ii) What good is it to get to the proverbial C-Suite if you can’t enjoy perks like getting handsy with the staff?

    • PutridMeat

      iii) It’s shockingly depressing that the only way we get accountability for any bureaucrat of any stripe is through vague accusations of ‘inappropriate’ behavior, provided ‘victim’ is of a preferred class.

  6. Ted S.

    It’s nice to know he has a hand in my pocket.

    Is the other one hailing a taxicab?

  7. juris imprudent

    adding at least $850,000 to what a typical contract would have cost

    That is a single-A rookie number. Really shows this wasn’t an experienced government contractor!

  8. Gender Traitor

    Sociology confronts an epistemological reckoning that threatens to exhaust whatever credibility the discipline retains.

    Since that is “none,” I guess we’re done here.

    • juris imprudent

      Sociology might be running out of time to fix itself, and I don’t say that for effect.

      For the life of me I can’t imagine why he is writing the present tense about something that happened quite a while back.

    • UnCivilServant

      In Re the dead thread – yes, I had a bowl of chili for breakfast. I had it in the slow cooker overnight, so I figured I’d see how it turned out.

      • Gender Traitor

        What’s the verdict?

      • UnCivilServant

        A bit watery. I added too much beef stock.

      • Gender Traitor

        That’s easily enough remedied.

  9. juris imprudent

    Khan’s lawyers said the decision of the British legal regulator was based on the finding of serious misconduct by the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties.

    [takes off glasses, wipes them, puts them back on]

    WTF?

  10. Muzzled Woodchipper

    Then she served the beer, apologizing for the delay, “I’m sorry, nobody showed me anything so I had no idea what to do.”

    This looks like firing her would be a good learning opportunity.

    You can’t do that shit. Fucking period. If I were to do that on the floor at Publix, I’d be fired immediately.

    And someone needs to teach her that being a retard isn’t an excuse for incompetence.

    • Gender Traitor

      Barring that, could she be trusted to wash the dishes? The sink could catch all her tears. 🙄

    • Nephilium

      Honestly, what fucking college student doesn’t know how to open a beer?

      You want proof our education system is lacking? There it is.

      • UnCivilServant

        *Raises Hand*

        I didn’t drink, and nobody socialized with me, so I never bothered to learn that antiquated, inferior beverage sealing technology.

        What’s next? Expecting me to have had a corkscrew?

      • Old Man With Candy

        She’s a college GRADUATE. Ummm, sorry, them is a college graduate.

      • Nephilium

        UCS:

        It’s a simple lever, one of the first tools mankind designed, and it’s not just alcoholic beverages that use pop off caps (which provide a better seal than twist offs). And yes, I expect a functional adult to have a corkscrew in the house.

      • UnCivilServant

        Please tell me she was not a hospitality major

      • Old Man With Candy

        Art History and Cinema. So thus qualified to be a barista or waitress.

      • Ted S.

        They do be like that, Mr. OMWC.

      • Ted S.

        So thus qualified to be a barista or waitress.

        “Qualified” needs to be in scare quotes.

      • UnCivilServant

        No, mr Ilium, it is a bit of crinkled metal folded over glass. we have made better closures.

        as for shoving a lump of tree bark down the bottle’s neck – only savages stoop so low

      • rhywun

        a college GRADUATE

        That explains everything.

      • Nephilium

        UCS:

        Alright, I’ll bite. You have made a home made ginger ale. How are you packaging it that’s better than a crown cap? Keep in mind that if you want it to be carbonated, it’ll need to be able to handle pressure without leaking (yes Ted’s, I know, leave it uncarbonated).

      • UnCivilServant

        You’re stealing several bases with your first premise.

        You’re switching from the context of mass market beverages to a hobbyist who is unlikely to invest in a proper bottling line. A hobbyist makes do with what their space and capital investment limitations permit.

        Mass market products cling to customer expectations, and customers have unfortunately become too accustomed to that method.

      • Sean

        And in today’s episode, UCS outs himself as a Grolsch fan.

      • Old Man With Candy

        Having spent about 15 years in the beverage closure business, I can say with some knowledge, practical and lab experience, and data, that crown caps are absolutely the best option with respect to seal quality, gas impermeability, leak resistance, and durability.

      • UnCivilServant

        @sean – you lost me. kindly explain.

      • UnCivilServant

        @OMWC – Up to now I was staking a position of argument because I was bored.

        You’ve convinced me – they need to be banned 😜

      • Nephilium

        UCS:

        No I’m not stealing any bases. Nearly every mass market food/beverage product started as a home product. Craft pop uses crown caps, as do some major bottlers. You’re out over your skiis here.

      • UnCivilServant

        “We’ve always done it that way” is a wonderful reason for an industrial process to remain unchanging at scale when the limitations can be overcome.

    • R C Dean

      I can only speculate that any of her potential replacements would somehow be worse.

      • Old Man With Candy

        One of the realities of being in a remote college town is that we can’t even find potential replacements. Especially during the summer.

      • juris imprudent

        I would think some high-schooler would be an improvement.

      • Old Man With Candy

        They can’t serve alcoholic beverages which means they can’t serve tables at dinner.

        We have two high school (age, but they’re home-schooled) baristas who are absolutely superb. Ditto our dinner cook. But they leave for college.

  11. UnCivilServant

    Morning, glibs.

    Oil change and tire rotations this morning.

    And that’s it! It is forbidden for other problems to turn up and burn my wallet and day. Comprende?

  12. Shpip

    The Guardian asked people in the US their views on the SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) and how it might affect them.

    Grauniad readers asked their opinions about the equities market and personal finance. Answers are hilariously on point.

    • UnCivilServant

      Ideally my mutual funds got in at the right time, but beyond that, I’m not impacted at all.

  13. rhywun

    He called on the crowd to help elect Jewish former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, State Assembly member Claire Valdez and former Columbia encampment organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier.

    That must burn.

    But he gets a pass because he is a communist like him and the rest – I guess that trumps Jew for some reason.

    • Common Tater

      “Columbia encampment organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier”

      OFFS!

      • rhywun

        Did not know that and completely not surprised.

        The pro-terror and pro-commie Venn diagram is a perfect circle, and (see the Tablet article again) the commie takeover of the Dems is almost complete.

  14. Common Tater

    “inappropriate relationship with a female staff member”

    Why so vague?

    • DrOtto

      He asked her to make him a sammich

  15. juris imprudent

    So the U.S. has not only won two games, but also clinched the group with a game to spare, thanks to Paraguay stuffing Turkiye. It will be interesting to see Poch’s approach to the last game – rest some guys, particularly those sitting on yellow cards? Or just keep the team firing on all cylinders?

    • UnCivilServant

      Screw the non-English spellings of places with English names.

      Its not ‘turkiye’, It’s “Occupied Byzantium”

      • juris imprudent

        Well if I used the old spelling, the pun would’ve been to obvious.

      • rhywun

        Their dictator asked the UN to direct the world to change their language and of course they agreed. Aside from how stupid it is, that’s reason enough to not comply.

    • rhywun

      I’m happy Paraguay won after the application of that disgraceful new rule to punish wrongthought.

      • Sensei

        I just read that because I wonder why covering your mouth is bad.

        Unreal. Not that I care about soccer, however…

      • juris imprudent

        I so wish Vini had been ‘racially abused’ by some Haitian players.

      • rhywun

        I care but FIFA is trying very hard to make me not want to.

  16. Ted S.

    Time to revive the hickory shampoo?

    No pictures of the “teens”, of course.

  17. PieInTheSky

    someone ordered a Pacifico – why would anyone do that?

      • PieInTheSky

        You take that back

    • DrOtto

      Pacifico used to be a decent cheap Mexican beer. It’s still decent, but by no means cheap anymore.

      • Common Tater

        Cheap beer is extinct.

  18. Common Tater

    “No arrests were made.”

    Also, no pictures of the teens. Coincidence?

    • R C Dean

      No arrests were made.

      “We just can’t figure out why this keeps happening!”

  19. Shpip

    A Florida man is accused of performing sexual acts on a stuffed “Olaf” doll in a Pinellas County Target, according to an arrest affidavit.

    Turns out the voices in his head were just Anna asking “Do you want to fuck a snowman?”

    • Gdragon

      They were probably just having a friendly snowball fight 😉

    • DrOtto

      Further on in the article, apparently a stuffed unicorn was involved. I’m wondering if the suspect was pitching or catching with the unicorn?

  20. rhywun

    The U.N. resolution is non-binding but carries moral authority.

    *taps out from laughter*

    • PieInTheSky

      What exactly is the point of the UN? Seems like it should go.away

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        To embezzle American tax dollars towards connected pockets and every fucked up progressive cause on the planet.

      • rhywun

        Mostly to cater to the whims of third-world tyrants, often by taking money from the West and handing it to them.

      • creech

        Its purpose is to keep high end restaurants and watering holes and call girls profitable in NYC.

    • Fourscore

      Like me threatening my kids.

  21. Common Tater

    “Meader is also accused of performing sexual acts on a unicorn stuffed animal”

    Gay

      • Common Tater

        Isn’t flavorless a good quality in water?

      • UnCivilServant

        not when I’m decaffinated and cranky. I want to fool myself into thinking I’m getting caffine.

    • Nephilium

      Unsweetened iced tea now, but going to run out to a local distillery for a special release today. A Black Cherry Mead Cask whiskey.

      • PieInTheSky

        Sounds gimmicky

      • Nephilium

        Pie:

        Distillery partnered with a local meadery/brewery, started with their black cherry wood bourbon (no adjuncts, but aged on black cherry wood) and then finished it in a mead barrel for three years.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        Unsweetened iced tea

        You mean Ohio ditch water?

    • Old Man With Candy

      This came in yesterday. A French customer spotted me putting it in the wine fridge and immediately ordered it without even asking the price. He was nice enough to leave a glass for me.

    • Fourscore

      Folger’s, big cup

  22. Sensei

    “Our biggest worry is that we’ll be millionaires and then our friends will want to eat us.” There really is some hilarious ignorance on display here.

    But having money in Nvidia at its current AI inflated value isn’t a problem.

    JFC. Do they understand portfolio theory?

    For those that care:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_portfolio_theory

    Actual smart people devised it because there is a desire to find an answer and make a buck. Otherwise you go into sociology.

    • Fourscore

      /Quickly turns diploma over

      • Sensei

        You’ll note it started with (((Markowitz))).

        Proof of them running the world or being genuinely smart people. Your choice!

  23. rhywun

    And this whole scheme is about nothing more than consolidating political power for the DSA, by giving it a massive war chest backed by seized NYC real estate.

    I would like to think that this would laughed out of even NY courts but I am not so sure anymore.

    I have to admit the plan is genius though. If you can’t get enough votes to implement communism just steal you’re way there. A time-honored tradition.

  24. juris imprudent

    I dare any man to write the following…

    any room containing several dozen women of a certain age and Summer Shandy on tap

    TW(s): The Atlantic, women, Democrats, Cleveland

      • Chipping Pioneer

        Yes. Sake is superior to Shandy.

    • Nephilium

      They don’t even name the suburb? How am I supposed to know who the assholes are?

      I mean… I have several guesses…

    • rhywun

      “Why don’t the Democrats have a good message?” A third woman chimed in, a little frantically: “What can we do?!”

      Sorry, ladies of a certain age. Your time is done. Let the youth take over. They have all kinds of ideas and you’re not going to like them.

  25. Chipping Pioneer

    Why do you still employ they?

    Some people have negative productivity. I have fired a couple of they.

    • Old Man With Candy

      Because there’s no alternative warm body available. Firing they is a costly and dangerous process in New York.

      • Common Tater

        Sounds like you need more Latino immigrants.

      • Muzzled Woodchipper

        It’s a bad state of affairs when not only must you hire they or risk legal nonsense, but that you also have to keep incompetent thems for the same reason.

        Fuck DEI.

      • invisible finger

        Can’t you promote them to a higher paying job like cleaning toilets and the trash dumpsters and scrubbing the tile grout until they quit such an icky job?

      • creech

        Sounds like you might need Rocco and Vinnie to visit Them and “hint” They’s health might suffer if they don’t move to Rochester.

      • rhywun

        Yuck nobody should suffer that punishment.

  26. juris imprudent

    Holy myth-making Batman!

    Town governments cultivated prudence, judgment, and deliberation, as citizens were forced to solve local problems with their neighbors. Churches instilled piety, moderation, and a sense of justice. Schools nurtured wisdom in children and prepared the brightest minds to attend universities, where they would train for important social and political roles. Militia service instilled bravery in American men, giving them the discipline and fortitude to assert their rights against foreign and domestic foes. Together, these institutions formed an education for the American soul, uniquely fitting it to our own form of constitutional government.

    • Muzzled Woodchipper

      Romanticized, maybe. Probably, even. But altogether it’s not really wrong.

      We used to have strong civic engagement from all parties involved that worked together (for the most part). It’s not until far more recently that schools have become hostile to bedrock ideas, and politicians have been working actively against good governance with really shitty policy regarding virtually everything.

  27. Sensei

    The top story on Google News is the reflecting pool. JFC.

    • rhywun

      Idiocracy was a warning.

      • Nephilium

        Have you not seen the UFC Trump/Idiocracy memes running around?

      • DrOtto

        There’s a big difference between pissing in the reflecting pool and pissing into the reflecting pool.

  28. Sensei

    I posted this last night.

    Yet the shooting officer appears to have had his firearm drawn virtually from the beginning of the encounter. He had his gun drawn before Jameson emerged. He had his gun drawn while Jameson was inside the apartment. He had his gun drawn after Marie closed the door. He had his gun drawn when the door reopened. Throughout the encounter, the officer repeatedly used profanity, focused on the dog’s size, and displayed an aggressive attitude during what was supposed to be a welfare check.

    Article I read said two shots. I wonder why the video stops after one…

    LAPD releases bodycam video showing moments before officer shoots and kills dog in Canoga Park

    • juris imprudent

      The situation ended in tragedy when officers shot and killed a golden retriever-poodle mix named Jameson.

      A notoriously ferocious breed. JFC

      • DrOtto

        Yeah, they can sound ferocious behind a door and when the door opens and I am confronted with a big poodle, I laugh every time. They are a very friendly breed.

    • rhywun

      At least the workers are going to be sent to reeducation camp.

      • R.J.

        Yay! At our expense!

    • R.J.

      Just blows my mind that people are offended by pictures of watermelon and fried chicken. Get a life.

      • rhywun

        I’m thinking if I am that food service provider, there is no way I’m wading into the field of land mines.

    • DrOtto

      So am I racist for having fried chicken yesterday, even though I have fried chicken every Fried Chicken Fryday?

  29. The Late P Brooks

    “We’ve all been forced into a giant casino,” said Tim, a 62-year-old engineer based in Alameda, California.

    You could always keep your money in your shoe.

    • DrOtto

      Smart people put it in their mattress or bury it in the backyard. Either way, compounding your returns is what can turn even a yokel into a millionaire and should be avoided at all costs.

      • creech

        I understand ultra rich people put their wealth in huge, swimming pool sized vaults?

    • rhywun

      The GOP is going to lose spectacularly in the fall so might as well go out with a bang.

      • Common Tater

        Depends what the economy is before the election.

      • rhywun

        I appreciate your optimism.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    Similar concerns were raised by Matt Reynolds, a 57-year-old professor based in eastern Washington, who worries both about his financial future and the influence of tech moguls.

    “As someone looking to retire in the next five to 10 years, I’m alarmed at big tech’s market consolidation and its impact on my savings and investments. As a human being, I’m distraught that these companies all seem to be run by people with little accountability or moral compass,” he said. “How and why do my finances have to be bound to a racist, narcissistic, baby man who does not seem to care about other human beings? Everything about this is wrong.”

    Professor of what, I wonder.

    • rhywun

      Then take your money out of it, tard. JFC.

  31. Common Tater

    “New details are emerging about the death of a 30-year-old Australian wellness influencer.

    Last year, “low-tox” food content creator Stacey Warnecke (née Hatfield) died suddenly hours after giving birth to her first child. Her husband said it was because of an “unforeseen and extremely rare complication.”

    Now, an inquest into her death revealed she bled out for over an hour before an ambulance was called, according to the Guardian. A birthkeeper, an unregulated birth worker who operates outside the medical system, was reportedly paid $6,000 AUS (about $4,200 USD) to be there….

    When questioned about her role in Warnecke’s death, Lal, the birthkeeper said: “I’m not there to make a birth safer. I can’t do that.”

    “I’m not clinically trained,” she added. “It’s not my role to assess blood loss.”

    https://nypost.com/2026/06/19/health/wellness-influencer-died-of-eminently-treatable-home-birth-complication/

    She died doing what she loved — ignoring modern medicine.

    • R.J.

      “Not my role”

      Throw that person into an active volcano

  32. The Late P Brooks

    I haven’t watched it yet, but Travis Pastrana has a video up about being part of ThumpMania.

    • R.J.

      Thumpmania sounds like a masturbation contest

  33. PieInTheSky

    Jefferson River Legacy Ranch presents a rare opportunity to own an expansive holding along the historic banks of the Jefferson River. Encompassing 2,838± acres, this remarkable Montana ranch combines investment appeal, conservation value, and exceptional natural beauty. The property is not encumbered by a conservation easement, giving a future owner the flexibility to preserve it in that manner if desired.

    Held by the same family for six generations, the ranch carries a meaningful connection to Montana’s agricultural history. Its cattle brand was first registered in 1855, reflecting a long-standing presence on this land

    Located just minutes from Three Forks and approximately 33± minutes from Bozeman, Jefferson River Legacy Ranch offers an outstanding balance of working ranch capability, scenic character, and convenient access to modern services.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BWxwGECaRc

    $25,000,000 | Three Forks, Montana | 2,850± ACRES

  34. The Late P Brooks

    $25,000,000 | Three Forks, Montana | 2,850± ACRES

    It’ll take a lot of yearlings to crack that nut.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    Just think how much better your retirement fund would be doing in Cuba.

  36. Common Tater

    “Astonishing full story of Colombia balcony ‘child abuse’ video: Texan man falsely accused by lynch mob and branded ‘MAGA pedophile’ by president finally has his say

    An American man feared he was moments from death when an angry mob stormed his apartment building in Colombia falsely accusing him of being a child predator, his lawyer has told the Daily Mail….

    He became the target of an international firestorm as the clip spread across social media, with thousands of users falsely accusing him of abusing the child.

    Even Colombian President Gustavo Petro weighed in, branding the American a ‘pedophile’ in a post on X that remains online despite authorities clearing him of any wrongdoing.”

    https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15914123/colombia-balcony-child-abuse-video-texan-sues.html

    https://archive.ph/daSSp

    CWAA

    • rhywun

      The internet was a mistake.

  37. The Late P Brooks

    America’s dark truth

    Traditional presidential libraries are usually shrines that zero in on a single man. However, the permanent exhibit in the museum space doesn’t even open with Obama’s childhood in Hawaii, Indonesia or Kansas or his early life in politics. Instead, the museum exhibit begins with the thorny contradictions embedded in America’s founding and its early conflicts. The Declaration of Independence speaks of universal equality in a country that legalized slavery. Barack Obama was elected president of a country that did not allow Black people to vote in many states the year that he was born.

    “America is a work in progress” is the first text visitors see when they enter the museum. To underscore that point, visitors see picket signs from labor strikes and suffragist marches. They see farmworkers and civil rights workers and organizers who fought for access and inclusion and opportunity.

    Only a truly exceptional individual could have fought through the crushing oppression and exclusion of this racist shithole to bring us into the light.

    • rhywun

      You’d think there are already plenty of museums telling us what a horribly evil country the US is; do we really need another one?

    • Sensei

      Well that and that his Republican Senate challenger had the whole sex club video.

  38. The Late P Brooks

    The main structure — which some have dubbed the “Obamalisk” — is bold and modern and, judging by a few of the critiques that have rolled in, it’s not to everyone’s taste. But it is on-message in that it represents what collective action looks like in steel and granite. Architects Billie Tsien and Tod Williams based their design on the image of four cupped hands coming together with fingers pointed to the sky, a symbol that also resembles an expression of “hope” in American Sign Language.

    Huh. It looks like a sledgehammer, to me.

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