My Algorithms Can't Dance

 Ran across a podcast of a very entertaining, ex-con last. I had actually seen clips of his own podcasts which feature interviews with other ex-cons. The fella's name is Johnny Mitchell and he was interviewed by Julian Dorsey, who has been at the podcasting game for a while, though he looks like a teenager. Mitchell himself looks like he could step into the role of the star of CBS's "Tracker", and no one would notice the change. Handsome fella, evidently 6'6" but he was sitting down so, probably. 

Sounds like he was always a bit of a ner do well, but one with mostly good intentions in life. He went from a smalltime weed dealer, to one who was shipping weed all over the US. He got caught and sentenced to prison. I forget how much time he did, but it was enough to learn the ways and means of prison life. Prison itself is an education system, long referred to as a college for criminals. The guy is very open and engaging. His only real crime as I see it- or hear it- is he has a ridiculous laugh. And, ya know, maybe he doesn't look as much as the guy from "Tracker" as perhaps a young, Tim Daly (from "Wings") I think everybody looks like somebody and maybe I'm wrong much of the time, but all I can do is try. 

Podcasts are a mixed bag. I look at whatever shows up on YouTube, and for my tastes that is generally, ex-gangsters, ex-Special Forces guys and now a smattering of ex-cons and comedians, many of whom should be charged with man's laughter. Like anything else in life, you have to gauge whether the person being interviewed is legit or just trying to be famous for a bit. Mitchell seems on the level, a reliable narrator and smart guy. You can be stupid and get caught, but if you bother to learn from your mistakes and get out of the crazy life of crime, you have a story that should be told. 

I was impressed that he doesn't seem to be impressed with Trump. This was refreshing because so many criminals seem to be in love with the guy. Game recognizes game. Alleged former mob capo, Michael Franzese, for example, will sing the praises of Trump on every podcast and street corner he can. He fucking loves the guy! Believes everything he says. That alone tells me someone is not honest about themselves, when they can't be honest about an obvious criminal like Trump. 

Mitchell talked a lot about the cartels and the border. There is so much that goes on down there that we don't know about or, perhaps worse, think we know about. There is more involvement with *our* CIA, government and Special Forces than we imagine. They seem to be playing on both sides. They always have though, I suspect. Fox news wants you to believe that these busboys coming over the border are humping fentanyl and heroin for the cartels and that certainly is one way to do it, but it's a dumb, unproductive strategy. So many cars and trucks cross daily that Border Patrol could never inspect them all, and the reality of the fantastic money involved is, it's better to take your chances at legit crossings. Scott Payne, whom I mentioned recently, said it often is as simple as paying off a cop in McAllen, Texas to look the other way for a few minutes. Give a guy who makes $20k a year, $15k in cash, and you'll get the job done just fine. 

As one thing always leads to another on the internet, I came across Ed Calderon, a Mexican famous for his work against the cartels in Mexico. Mitchell and Dorsey said he probably tells a small fraction of what he's seen and done, and what he does tell is "like a fucking movie". OK, cool. But as I watched him talk about the ridiculous number of political assassinations Mexico experiences on a regular basis, he talked briefly about the assassination attempts against Trump. He spoke about them as if they weren't hoaxes. This is where the guy lost me. If you have been there and done that in the violent world of cartels and political murder, and you can't see the Butler event as anything but a hoax, do you even know what you're talking about in regard to anything? They all seem to wind up sounding like your average Trump troll on Facebook. 

Calderon's take on it was that there must be more to Trump than meets the eye if they want him dead. And who are "they"? Well, he didn't go into specifics. Maybe the democrats? The deep state? A cabal of persons of interest, interested in stopping Trump from making America great again? Oh, fuck me! No. 

The ear shot, the fist pumping, the exclaiming "FIGHT!" while still exposed to gunfire, though somewhat surrounded by highly trained Secret Service who know better, didn't seem suspicious to this guy? Yeah, we all saw that movie. 

The mechanics of the hoax aside, this man seemed to really bite on the message that it was designed to bring. This guy Trump can't be stopped even though they want him stopped! And just like the umpteen times the media suggested in Trump's first term that "...he became presidential today..." Calderon said that this was when Trump won the 2024 election. Really? Trump parleyed the most under-scrutinized *assassination* in the history of US political violence into a political nothing burger that Trump himself barely talks about? He talks more about Arnold Palmer's dick than his own *heroics* that day. And Calderon and other experts don't find that suspicious? Why wasn't more political hay made out of this nonsense? The fucking bandage didn't show up until the day after the day after!

Well, I really got off the track here it seems. Or did I? Bullshit tends to get halfway around the world before reality gets its pants on, I guess. People like the bullshit though. Once you get used to the taste, it must be better than the bland flavor of reality. Jesus Fucking Christ- if you think there's more to Trump that the demented greed and assholery we are seeing every goddamned day right now, go buy a red hat and cheer for him. Sanewashing that asshole by the media is one thing, but if you fancy him as wanting more out of the presidency than hotels in Moscow and Gaza, you're an idiot.