Tuesday Trivia: How Well Do You Know the King?

Entertainment 6 Minutes

Elvis Presley, one of the most recognizable musicians of all time, undoubtedly earned his nickname as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” He’s the man who revolutionized American pop music by melding country, gospel, and R&B styles. He was also a major movie star and a beloved sex symbol whose onstage moves, highlighted by those showstopping hip gyrations (hence his other nickname, “Elvis the Pelvis”), inspired generations of performers and flustered his critics.

Decades after his death in 1977 at the age of 42, Elvis Presley continues to sell albums around the globe and remains an indelible influence on the entertainment industry. Read on to learn more about Presley’s life and career.

Elvis Presley is closely associated with Tennessee, but he was born in Mississippi.

Though he’ll forever be associated with Memphis, Tennessee, home to his Graceland mansion, Elvis Presley was actually born in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935. It was there that Presley began to sing and play guitar, sometimes even bringing the instrument to school to play gospel music for his classmates. It wasn’t until 1948, when the future King was 13 years old, that the Presley family moved to Memphis.

Music critics were fairly cruel to Elvis Presley in the early days of his career.

Though Presley is one of music’s most respected icons now, early on in his career, many critics mocked everything from his voice to his explicit dancing. “He cannot sing and his whole performance is crude and disgusting,” columnist Dorothy Ricker wrote in the Tampa Bay Times in 1956, before predicting that “in a comparatively short time he will be forgotten.” (Oops!)

In an October 1957 column, Paul Coates of the Los Angeles Mirror went so far as to write that he’d like to “smack that sneer off [Elvis’s] face and send him out for a haircut.”

The cover of Elvis Presley’s debut record influenced another classic rock album.

Elvis’s self-titled debut album, which was released in 1956, included classic hits like “Blue Suede Shoes” and his rendition of Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti.” Its cover imposed Presley’s name in simple green and pink font on a candid photo of him singing, eyes closed and mouth agape, while strumming a guitar. Another classic album cover paid tribute to this debut decades later: The Clash’s 1979 album London Calling depicts bassist Paul Simonon smashing his own instrument alongside similar text.

Elvis Presley’s identical twin brother died at birth.

Elvis had an identical twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley, who was stillborn. He was buried in a cemetery near the Presleys’ Mississippi home soon after they were delivered.

A TV appearance earned Elvis Presley the nickname “Elvis the Pelvis.”

Presley’s stage persona drew as much attention as his music, especially after he suggestively gyrated his hips while singing “Hound Dog” on the June 5, 1956 edition of NBC’s The Milton Berle Show. The performance earned the 21-year-old the nickname “Elvis the Pelvis,” along with the ire of multiple religious leaders and critics in the media. At the same time, it also gained him the admiration of even more young fans.

Elvis Presley bought Graceland when he was 22 years old.

Elvis’s Memphis mansion, known as Graceland, is now a museum devoted to “The King,” who died there in 1977. Every year, hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to see Presley memorabilia and walk through the mansion’s famously campy, tiki-influenced Jungle Room, where Elvis held some of his final recording sessions. Elvis was just 22 when he bought the estate in 1957 for just over $100,000. The mansion itself was named after Grace Toof, one of the original owners.

Elvis Presley got special permission to postpone his Army service to film King Creole.

Elvis received his Army draft notice in December 1957, much to the dismay of the legions of fans who wrote to the military urging that their hero be excused from service. He was granted an eight-week deferment to finish filming the movie King Creole before starting basic training in March 1958. Presley, who was clear that he didn’t want any special treatment, spent two years in the Army, including 18 months in Germany, where he was promoted to sergeant. His service even inspired the hit musical Bye Bye Birdie, about a teen idol named Conrad Birdie being drafted into the Army.

Elvis Presley’s love of fatty foods was prodigious, especially if bacon was involved.

Elvis is famously associated with a sandwich made with peanut butter, bacon, and banana, then pan-fried in butter like an even fattier grilled cheese. It wasn’t his only extreme dietary indulgence, though: “The King” also enjoyed deep-fried pickles and is said to have once flown from Memphis to Denver just for a massive Fool’s Gold Loaf sandwich, which involves stuffing a pound of bacon, a jar of peanut butter, and a jar of jelly inside a buttery loaf of hollowed-out French bread.

Elvis Presley had a habit of shooting at appliances and other household items.

Most famously, Elvis once opened fire at a Graceland television that was showing a performance by crooner Robert Goulet. Years later, Graceland spokesman Kevin Kern told the Associated Press that the incident was nothing against Goulet personally, saying, “Elvis just shot out things on a random basis.” (In a sort of strange twist, Priscilla Presley ended up starring opposite Goulet many years later, in 1991’s The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear.)

Presley also built a firing range at Graceland and reportedly had a habit of floating flashbulbs in his pool and shooting at them as he indulged on watermelon.

Elvis Presley appeared in more than 30 movies throughout his career.

Elvis appeared as an actor in 31 movies between 1956 and 1972, including Jailhouse Rock; G.I. Blues; and Girls, Girls, Girls. The films and Presley’s performances were often panned by critics, but at the peak of Elvis’s career, they brought his devoted fans to movie theaters in droves—then to record stores to pick up the soundtracks that accompanied the movies. In all, only one of Elvis’s movies lost money at the box office: 1961’s Wild in the Country.

Elvis Presley’s Daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, has her own music career.

While she’ll forever be known as Elvis Presley’s only child (and for marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage), Lisa Marie Presley is also a musician in her own right. She has released three albums, including the 2003 gold-certified release To Whom It May Concern, and has collaborated with a wide array of musicians, including Smashing Pumpkins lead Billy Corgan, rock icon Pat Benatar, and even Elvis himself, who posthumously joined his daughter for a duet of “Don’t Cry Daddy,” thanks to some clever editing of the original recordings.

Elvis Presley’s photo with Richard Nixon is one of the most requested at the National Archives.

Once called a threat to American decency, Elvis wrangled a meeting with President Richard Nixon in 1970. “I’m on your side,” Presley told the president, while clad in a distinctive purple velvet suit. Nixon also arranged for Elvis, who collected police insignia, to get a souvenir badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. “The narc badge represented some kind of ultimate power to him,” then-wife Priscilla Presley wrote in her memoir. In 2015, the U.S. National Archives confirmed that the photo of Elvis and Nixon shaking hands gets more requests for reproduction by the public than any other in its collection.

Elvis Presley had a black belt in karate.

While stationed in Germany with the Army, Presley began studying karate, which would remain a passion for him throughout his life. He was awarded his seventh-degree black belt in 1972, and he used his knowledge of the fighting technique to choreograph combat scenes in his movies. He would even show off some of his moves on stage during concerts.

Elvis Presley’s Manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was only kind of a colonel.

Elvis’s career was managed by Colonel Tom Parker, known for his strict control over his performances and for taking half of Elvis’s earnings as his fee. (“He takes 50 percent of everything I earn,” Parker quipped of Presley.) Despite being called “Colonel,” Parker never came close to the rank when in the Army. It was an honorary title he received from country singer and songwriter Jimmie Davis after Parker aided Davis’s successful bid for Louisiana governor.

Elvis Presley had an eclectic pet menagerie at Graceland.

Once he moved to Graceland, Elvis had no shortage of animals on site, from donkeys and a monkey to more conventional pets like dogs and horses. There was even a mynah bird that learned to mimic strings of profanity while hanging around Elvis and his friends. Visitors to Graceland can see the horses the museum keeps today in honor of Elvis and his array of animals.

Elvis Presley had one of the most successful concert residencies in history.

The singer of “Viva Las Vegas” once performed a now-astonishing 636 sold-out shows at Vegas’s International Hotel, appearing twice a night, seven days a week beginning in 1969. The appearances cemented a career resurgence that began with a comeback special, which aired on NBC in 1968. Years after Elvis and other early rockers had yielded the pop charts to newer acts like The Beatles in the early ’60s, “The King” was back.

Elvis Presley never performed outside of North America.

Although his music remains popular around the world, Elvis Presley almost never performed abroad. In fact, his only appearances outside the United States were all in Canada. The reason why is unclear, although it’s often been suggested that the decision may have been related to the uncertain immigration status of his longtime manager, Netherlands-born Colonel Tom Parker.

SOURCE: MENTAL FLOSS

https://www.mentalfloss.com/authors/steven-melendez

Thank you…thank you very much…

Unknown's avatar

Published by pat frederick

Published

205 thoughts on “Tuesday Trivia: How Well Do You Know the King?”

        1. Oh, the weather forecast this morning is predicting -30 overnight temps – NOT wind chill – coming later in the week. But next week, 3 back-to-back days above freezing! That saying really does apply: if you don’t like the weather in NE, wait 24 hours!!!

          Like

  4. sources in the tweet

    The Patriot Voice
    @TPV_John
    WHY is the US Congress involved with creating a bill called “Disease X Act” back in June of 2023??? 😳😳😳

    That slipped totally UNDER THE RADAR.

    Purposefully.

    Disease X is the mystery contagion that the World Economic Fourm is having a meeting about on January 17th, 2024 that they say “could have 20 times more fatalities than COVID”

    The origins of Disease X go ALL the way back to 2018, in an article from the WEF.

    NOT. A. COINCIDENCE.

    You better believe this is PRE-PLANNED, and they are working on bringing this SICK plan to fruition. Likely to derail the election against @realDonaldTrump
    , and ensure a REPEAT of 2020 happens.

    “Disease X’ could cause the next pandemic, according to the WHO—or Ebola, SARS, or Nipah.”

    Is this SMOKING GUN PROOF of NEFARIOUS Government COLLUSION with the WEF and the WHO??? 🎯🎯🎯

    Remember, THEY ALWAYS TELL YOU WHAT IS COMING.

    It’s up to YOU to BELIEVE IT, and PREPARE FOR IT.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. my grandpa came thru there as a baby. went thru the classes to learn english and history. took his test and became a citizen.

        so yeah I’m not in on the reparation thing–cuz that was all over before my ancestor even got here.

        Liked by 1 person

          1. yup! i have copies of all of Grandpa’s papers and the program where he name is listed as becoming a citizen. the picture of him holding that certificate–he was soo proud.
            that’s what’s lacking with these invaders–they don’t care it’s America–they just got their hands out…gimme gimme gimme

            Liked by 1 person

              1. exactly!
                reading an article this morning, the cops in NYC are saying these illegals are already onto scamming residents–by having their friends–WITH THEIR NEW PHONES FROM THE GOV’T–standing by as they “pretend” to get hit by someone in traffic. they scam the driver out of cash $500 or more–by having their friends run up with the accident on film—
                neat, hunh?
                DEPORT THESE CRIMINALS

                Liked by 1 person

      1. article this morning said she hired a RICO expert before–who wrote the book on it–for $150 an hour–but her boyfriend (an apparently the 2 other lawyers she hired) for $250 an hour

        John Floyd, who wrote a book on federal and state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statutes and is considered Georgia’s top expert, entered into a contract with the Fulton County District Attorney’s office on March 10, 2021 at an hourly rate of $150 per hour, according to a contract obtained by the DCNF. Nathan Wade, who Willis appointed special prosecutor, was retained at a rate of $250 per hour, according to the contract contained in court documents — though Willis claimed Sunday all her special counsels were paid the same rate.

        https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2024/01/15/exclusive-contracts-show-fani-willis-offered-top-rico-expert-lower-hourly-rate-than-her-alleged-lover-in-trump-case/

        Liked by 1 person

  14. we tried to tell these idiots…

    Edink
    Edink
    January 16, 2024 4:58 am

    Chicago-area Tesla charging stations lined with dead cars in freezing cold: ‘A bunch of dead robots out here’
    Desperate Tesla owners in and around Chicago were seen trying to charge their vehicles with no luck amid frigid temperatures that have gripped the Midwest.

    Charging stations have essentially turned into car graveyards in recent days as temperatures have dropped to the negative double digits, Fox Chicago reported.

    “Nothing. No juice. Still on zero percent,” Tyler Beard, who had been trying to recharge his Tesla at an Oak Brook, Illinois Tesla supercharging station since Sunday afternoon, told the news outlet.

    “And this is like three hours being out here after being out here three hours yesterday.”

    Liked by 2 people

  16. ultra maggot now wants to march in and seize patents that were developed with help from government funding if they don’t believe the rollouts are quick enough or the costs aren’t low enough. in reality it means, the gov’t can seize the patents and award them to their crony friends instead.
    FTA
    Such Big Government caprice would karate chop private investment. Why would venture capitalists license new patents if federal busybodies could march in, expropriate, and award them to politically connected competitors?

    Even worse, anti-capitalist bureaucrats could snatch licenses and sit on them while chanting, “Equity!” “Social justice!” or “Climate!”

    Biden & Co. argue that when the state goes marching in, cheaper medicines will flow like the mighty Mississippi. This will prove to be yet another Marxist mirage, as drug companies avoid licensing patents for fear of being fleeced by the Everything for All crowd.

    Taxpayers also will suffer if these patents cannot be harnessed. They never will taste the fruits of scientific developments that stay theoretical. They also will not collect the corporate taxes that commercialization now yields.

    https://dailycaller.com/2024/01/14/opinion-emperor-bidens-big-government-is-marching-in-to-seize-us-patents-deroy-murdock/

    Liked by 2 people

  18. man, these people think the can regulate what you do with your own money!!!!!!!!!
    withdraw your money and tell this credit union to f off!!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  19. couple from Illinois files complaint with Board of Elections.
    FTA
    A couple from Illinois, Jodie and Ken Zitko, have formed a group of concerned citizens who have been analyzing the Illinois state voter database. They have found serious irregularities, detailed in a formal complaint filed with Bernadette Matthews, director of the Illinois State Board of Elections on December 21.

    Here are some of their findings after almost 2,000 hours of analysis.

    There were over 300,000 votes from the 2020 election missing or deleted from the Illinois voter data prior to the conclusion of the federal retention period of 22 months.
    Over a four-year period, Illinois population decreased by 150,000, while the voter roll increased by 650,000.
    Over 2.5 million people had votes cast prior to their registration dates.
    More than 230,000 registrations show seemingly Illegal or illogical registration dates.
    There are more than 4 million apparent registration violations out of 8.9 million registrations.

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/01/illinois_citizens_group_files_formal_complaint_with_state_board_of_elections.html

    Liked by 2 people

  20. Now the storms are headed for the southern states – hitting Arkansas bigly. Over 80% of the country has below zero temps. According to Fox at least. Already canceling some schools in CT, NY. Philly supposedly broke the snow record.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. These idiots with their oh-so-subtle digs…Tammi Lahren….”I don’t think Donald Trump is going to change himself at all – I think he’s unable to change.” That beyotch is a sleeper, IMO. “We gotta stop talking about 2020….”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. not to be disrespectful Tammi but f off. NOT changing is PRECISELY WHY we want him! we don’t want someone who changes depending on the which way the wind blows. right is right and is not dependent on the current audience.

      Liked by 1 person

  23. About Elvis – he was my generation’s rock and roll idol!

    In middle school, I used to sit with my BF on her front porch swing and we would sing Elvis songs at the top of our lungs. Maybe we were hoping to be discovered and put on American Bandstand… :8-)

    Years later when I was a married mother of 2 tots, my next door neighbor was still an avid Elvis fan. She and her friends went to Las Vegas to see him perform. Then they sneaked up to the penthouse and managed to get into Elvis’ suite! They took photos of themselves in Elvis Presley’s bed! She told me they found lots of signs of drugs – hypodermic needles in the trash cans, etc. By then, Elvis was aging and needed chemicals to bolster him for all those shows in Vegas. The late come-back probably cost him his life.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. WADR, IMO, his horrible personal habits cost him his life….the drugs, eating, drinking, etc., etc. The pressure from those around him, pushing, pushing, pushing certainly didn’t help either.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Morning GA!
      the passing of time is hard for those who were so big in the spotlight i think.
      my mom adores him to this day–she has cassettes she still plays–an elvis wall clock and all sorts of memorabilia she has in her dresser drawer–that she hides–because it’s “worth something” lol
      I just nod. i do like his voice tho and he had dreamy eyes

      Liked by 2 people

  32. “The Primary Can End Next Week if MAGA Does Its Thing—Big win in Iowa sets the table. Now it’s time to run it.”
    JD RUCKER
    JAN 16, 2024

    EXCERPT: “Editor’s Note: I understand that not all of our readers are supporters of President Trump. Following the Iowa Caucuses, it’s understandable that many will not be happy to hear my personal support for him nor the call for New Hampshire to be his definitive victory, but know that I hold no ill-will toward those who supported Vivek Ramaswamy, Ron DeSantis, or Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

    Nikki Haley, on the other hand, is an existential threat and must be stopped. Trump is the person who can do that. I have been critical of Trump in the past and will continue to be critical of him when he does wrong, but Haley has no business in the White House. If that statement offends some, well, it is what it is. Haley’s supporters probably won’t want to read today’s column…

    (Conservative Playbook)—The Iowa Caucuses ended exactly how most predicted: With a resounding win for Donald Trump. The gap was so wide with wins in 98 out of 99 counties that corporate media abandoned their planned narrative that the weather pushed him over the top.

    Now, the powers-that-be who are trying to stop him are deciding how to proceed. Vivek Ramaswamy dropping out will almost certainly help Trump going into next week’s New Hampshire primary. Nikki Haley, who is polling in second place in the state, could only manage a third place finish in Iowa. Had she outperformed Ron DeSantis, the path forward for NeverTrumpers would be more clear since she’s projected to beat him next week. Losing to him in Iowa was a blow.

    Corporate media is doing their part despite claims by the DeSantis team that they favor Trump. This notion is ludicrous considering how much they attack Trump, but it’s the storyline Team DeSantis has chosen so they’re sticking with it. Of course, there’s this note from Michael Shellenberger that debunks those claims by Team DeSantis:

    ‘Both CNN and MSNBC carried the entirety of the speech by DeSantis, after openly refusing to carry the speech by Trump, even though Trump won a landslide with 51% against DeSantis’ 21%. It’s madness. CNN and MSNBC are flagrantly embracing their role as propagandists.’

    Between the blowout in Iowa and the likelihood that neither DeSantis nor Haley will drop out before New Hampshire, it seems the best bad choice for NeverTrumpers is to try to manufacture a win for Haley. In other words, they’re going to cheat.

    By the technical sense of the word, they don’t necessarily have to “cheat” by breaking the law (though that’s not out of the question). New Hampshire has an open primary which means Democrats can vote in it… and they will. Efforts have already been underway to get out the Democrat vote for Haley….”

    https://jdrucker.substack.com/p/the-primary-can-end-next-week-if

    Liked by 1 person

  34. Wow! According to Rove (I sure wish they’d get some new analysists!) the number of attendees for this caucus was about half what it was 8 years ago. In spite of that, he got about 10K more votes this time, +109 more votes per country. [county]

    Liked by 1 person

  35. graft, grift and gross negligence

    sync
    January 16, 2024 9:13 am

    Nobody in D.C. actually even cares….

    EPA WASTED BILLIONS AND THEN FAILED TO REPORT SPENDING

    How many kickbacks are in this accounting mess?

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) failed to suitably report billions of dollars in fiscal 2022 spending, the agency’s inspector general determined, prompting condemnation from GOP lawmakers.

    The inspector general’s team found EPA award-level obligations — or spending commitments — were underreported by $1.2 billion and award-level outlays — or money actually paid — were underreported by $5.8 billion, meaning that 12.9% of the EPA’s total award-level obligations and 99.9% of the EPA’s total award-level outlays were not reported in fiscal 2022.

    Also noted by the watchdog was that the EPA also did not report “any” of its Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act outlays and underreported its COVID pandemic-related outlays.

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/inspector-general-finds-epa-failed-to-properly-report-billions-of-dollars

    Liked by 1 person

  39. Hot damn! We’re cooking with gas now! Boom – from -4 to 5 in less than an hour! The sun came up! Supposed to be bright sun all day!

    Liked by 1 person

  40. Oh, Pat! The graphic Fox is showing for snow/arctic blast in your area is NOT pretty! The NE edges of PA (presumably where you are) near NY are included.

    Liked by 1 person

  42. OMG!!! I feel soooo sorry for those trash guys! IMO, in weather this cold, they need to suspend operations for a while. The mechanical arm apparently isn’t working on the truck (the cold, I’m sure) and they have to empty each of the big bins by hand! Watching them trying to pull them thru the snow…..oh, those poor guys! And riding while hanging onto the back of the truck! They do NOT get paid well enough, that’s for sure!!! It’s too fricking cold and too much snow for me to even try to pull my bin out there! If it fills up, I’ve got my own back-up bins that I’ll use in the meantime.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I need to air another complaint re: trash service. The bins are huge and I rarely put mine out more than once a month. Even a family of 2 doesn’t generate enough trash to fill that bin every week! But a lot of people will put only 1 or 2 bags in it and put it out every Tuesday, w/o fail. Why, FFS?!?! Especially in the winter when you don’t have to worry about food scraps rotting/smelling and drawing rodents! Opinion?

      Liked by 1 person

        1. Think about if you did and you lived in a more populated area —you have an issue with bears getting into the trash and such but for people who don’t have that issue, just why? I don’t get it. Just because “I’m paying for it”? Oh, BS! That employee doing the suffering isn’t getting that $$$! It’s always me, me, me!

          Liked by 1 person

            1. It doesn’t bug me enough to bundle up and go out there because, by the time I got dressed, they’d be a block’s distance down the road! LOL

              Liked by 1 person

  43. “Purity Spirals Incoming! Yet another form of group think/counter mass formation.”
    ROBERT W MALONE MD, MS
    JAN 16, 2024

    EXCERPT: “Since the fall of 2022 I have been struggling to describe a behavioral group dynamic that I keep observing which is operating within the “medical freedom movement,” and have used the historic term “Jacobin” (referring to one particularly brutal phase of the French revolution) to define a process which commonly tears apart almost all resistance movements. This natural process is actively exploited by opponents using methods such as “Bad Jacketing;” accusations of controlled opposition and the like, to sow mistrust and accelerate fragmentation.

    But recently I have discovered more modern terms for the process. Moral outbidding and its consequence – Purity spirals, and “Othering.” These terms and the social behaviors which they describe are related to group think as well as to counter mass formation, but carry their own nuances.

    Last night I allowed myself to remain on a podcast with a defrocked UK surgeon for 2.5 hours of the most aggressive, accusatory interview I have ever had. Bad on me. It started off with the surgeon telling me that a lot of people hated me (I should have just left then), and then proceeded to a series of accusations and purity tests which I was told to answer with yes or no, and then berated if I gave an answer which failed the host’s purity standards.

    It was like a rollup of almost all of the hater memes that I have been subjected to over the last three years. With the notable exception that in this instance at least I was not accused of being a mass murderer. I did my best to stay calm, but did resort to calling out BS at a couple of points.

    Afterwards, having blown the evening on this abusive exercise, I resorted to my go-to defense mechanism of intellectualizing what just happened. Thinking back over the experience, what I found particularly intriguing was that I had lead off the interview by mentioning the rise of purity spirals in these splinter hate groups, but the host just ignored that point rather than following up with the obvious question.

    What the heck is a purity spiral?…..”

    https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/purity-spirals-incoming

    Liked by 1 person

    1. “Purity Spiral: Urban Dictionary A social ratchet effect within a community. A process of moral outbidding, unchecked, which corrodes the group from within, rewarding those who put themselves at the extremes, and punishing nuance relentlessly.

      A purity spiral can contain all of these things, but it is defined by the fact that it takes place in a defined community or society, where being purer-than-thou is always being rewarded, and holding a divergent, ‘less pure’ opinion is normally punished, a dynamic which leads to an inevitable escalation as only the most extreme can ‘win’.

      After Louise denounced Nike as bourgeois, the village fell into a purity spiral where first Nikes, then all sneakers, then all shoes, and later, socks, were burnt on a pyre by the villagers.

      Foot amputations followed in the Spring.”

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I really recommend this…the further I read, the more interesting it is! And it pretty much nails where we are right now as a nation!

      Like

  44. That was kind of cute – nice of Bill Hemmer. He was on a flight somewhere and a woman nearby was struggling with a 6 month old and a toddler, who was fussing. Hemmer put the toddler in the seat next to him, read a book with her, and kept her occupied for 2 hours! Nice guy…personally, anyway! Bought and paid for by Fox but still….

    Liked by 2 people

        1. we’re currently at 12*…but the snow is still falling. very light and fluffy tho…easy to push off the deck and ramp. but a little slippery too.
          yeah, there’s a ton of snow on the roof yet. that will be hard to shovel when it comes down.
          as i sit here i can see the snow falling off the tree branches and there’s no wind…so i expect it to come off the roof soon.

          Liked by 1 person

    1. Pffffttt…that’s a no-brainer! No matter how hard I try, I just can’t understand why these people even run. The $$$ they get to keep from the campaign, I expect.

      Liked by 1 person

  48. “Why Did DeSantis Fail?”
    CLANDESTINE
    JAN 16, 2024

    “Why did it all go wrong for DeSantis? Because the DeSantis campaign was not about what RDS can do, it was about attacking Trump and being the only alternative.

    They never spent any time building DeSantis up. They allocated all their resources to smearing Trump, attacking his supporters, and being downright insufferable. An astonishing level of unjustified hubris. They were banking on Trump being pulled off the ballot, thrown in jail, assassinated, etc. They never stood on the merit of their candidate.

    This strategy doesn’t instill hope or motivate people to climb aboard. It’s the same strategy the Dems use. Nobody is a Biden fan, they just hate Trump. Same with DeSantis. His supporters don’t know a single thing DeSantis brings to the table, other than the fact that he’s NOT Trump.

    Sooner or later, these people will have to realize, Trump is not just a candidate. He is the face of a revolutionary movement against a failed and corrupt system. He is the manifestation of The People’s resistance to tyranny.

    Trump instills hope. DeSantis, Haley, and the Dems, only instill hatred and vitriol. This is the difference between us. This is the difference between another election and a revolution. Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same.”

    Liked by 1 person

          1. True but I don’t think it was in him to wait – he was soooo high on his popularity over his COVID, Disney, illegal immigrants, etc. actions that it went to his head. Poked and prodded by the beyotch, of course!

            Liked by 1 person

  49. “What Ron DeSantis Should Have Done in Iowa: Ineffective messaging, missed opportunities, and a dour personality has a promising Republican figure now teetering on the verge of becoming the biggest cautionary tale in U.S. political history.”
    JULIE KELLY
    JAN 16, 2024

    EXCERPT: “Taking a head of steam—and some delusions of grandeur—into Iowa a year ago following a resounding re-election victory, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appeared poised to give Donald Trump a tough challenge to the Republican nomination for president. Polls in early 2023 showed DeSantis behind but within striking distance; GOP donors looking for a younger alternative to Trump lined up behind the 44-year-old former congressman with a politically savvy wife and three little ones.

    What DeSantis lacked in polish and charisma he made up for with a solid record as governor. During his first term, DeSantis won the enmity of the Left and the media by bucking COVID groupthink sooner than most, taking on wokeism in schools and corporate America, and promoting Florida as the antidote to blue state misery.

    But winning battles in Florida did not mean DeSantis was battle-tested enough to prevail on the national stage. As he barnstormed the Hawkeye State throughout 2023, eventually visiting all 99 counties and winning key endorsements including Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, something weird happened—DeSantis started to lose support.

    And at the same time his poll numbers headed in the wrong direction, the DeSantis campaign descended into turmoil. The media reported internal drama at Never Back Down, the super PAC seeded with $82 million raised during DeSantis’ re-election campaign, prompting the departure of key officials as 2023 drew to a close.

    A blistering New York Times piece published before Christmas described the campaign in hospice mode. “Ryan Tyson, Mr. DeSantis’s longtime pollster and one of his closest advisers, has privately said to multiple people that they are now at the point in the campaign where they need to ‘make the patient comfortable.’”

    On the stump with a few weeks until caucus night, the candidate appeared to reflect the behind-the-scenes strife. His aloof persona got pricklier, amplifying his lack of unteachable traits—warmth, empathy, self-deprecation, humor, ability to think fast on your feet—required to attract voters.

    So, what could DeSantis have done to avoid the dropping pulse of his future political career?….

    https://www.declassified.live/p/what-ron-desantis-should-have-done

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