Thank you, Charlie, for this Chaplin info that I was unaware of. It sounds like he was a very decent person. Your piece today has made me feel better, and of course the pic of the boys warming up the bed.
Chaplin could really make hay out of Trumplandia - the family, the marriages, slavish cult, his deranged staff of characters, courtroom clowns… not to mention the sheer volume of peccadilloes from the graceless, awkward, adolescent Trump.
Maybe there’s no Chaplin these days but survival will now rest upon the shoulders of places like Substack, Bluesky and company. The freedom to laugh will be our strength now.
Let’s take our collective funny bone and beat Trump into submission. Remember when he’s wielding his sharpie today that the fat pencils were for the kids who couldn’t handle a regular #2.
Thank you Charlie, just what I needed today. I did not and will not watch one minute of the 3 ring circus 🤡 in DC today.
The cold is so bad in Wisconsin today the air hurts our face and the morning is supposed to be more of the same. Thank goodness for your “weighted blankets” 😂
I've never seen this film - just clips once in a while. I'm going to find it. Thanks, sir, for all you do. I appreciate you. I spent my day doing things I love - reading, baking, coloring - purposefully staying away from news, knowing I could read your essay and others on Substack to learn all I needed to know. Again, thank you.
The POS just signed an executive order ending birthright citizenship. And declares a national emergency on the border. He also didn't have his hand on the Bible he's hawking when he took his "oath". He thinks he's God.
Thanks Charlie. This post is just what the doctor ordered for today especially with the dog pictures that soothes the soul and are always a welcome added bonus. The Great Dictator was and still is a Hollywood classic. Chaplain’s portrayal of Hitler brought humor to a very ominous time in history. Trump’s performance, however, will be of a Hitler wannabe without any humor but with lies, disinformation, anger, hate, and revenge and retribution. We must stay strong in our fight to save our democracy from him and his billionaire/oligarchs and keep focused on gaining back control in the House in the 2026 Midterms and the Presidency and the Senate in 2028.
Thanks for this - I’ll have to watch Chaplin again, I was just a kid when I saw it. I couldn’t watch Trump today but did read the ridiculous, pathetic speech. What an embarrassment. I usually have a glass wine in these moments but think this day calls for a bourbon. The dogs always make me smile.
Thank you for your wise words (as always!) Charlie.
I took your suggestion and watched the movie again — first time doing so as an adult. I realized how much I missed when I first watched it as a kid. The mockery is brutal — and wholly deserved. It is quite impressive the degree to which Chaplin successfully captured so many aspects of these dangerous clowns. He had them completely figured out.
I didn’t watch or listen to what came before or after the inaugural speech because I can’t tolerate listening to all the sniveling cowardly subservience or seeing his resting bitch face as he eats it all up. But I did catch his speech because I wanted to see what the once and future king had to say.
And it was mostly as expected. Grievances, threats, culture wars, and bullshit. Filled with superlatives. Everything is the either best or the worst, or “like something never before seen.”
He made a lot of promises. He said we are “taking back” the Panama canal and will be expanding our territory. We will see how that goes. He even mentioned our Manifest Destiny, although that was in reference to settling on Mars. Presumably to new lives of excitement and adventure in Musk’s Off World Colonies.
It remains to be seen how all of this will play out. The best that we can do now is just try to minimize the damage coming in the next four years. In the meantime this might help:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
I am torn about the pardons biden issued. I can year the right wing media complex now saying that pardons demonstrates evidence of crimes. I wonder if daring Trump to charge someone of fictitious crimes would hold up in all the courts including the Supreme. If so then we are neck deep anyway and will need a second American revolution.
Thank you, Charlie, for this Chaplin info that I was unaware of. It sounds like he was a very decent person. Your piece today has made me feel better, and of course the pic of the boys warming up the bed.
Chaplin could really make hay out of Trumplandia - the family, the marriages, slavish cult, his deranged staff of characters, courtroom clowns… not to mention the sheer volume of peccadilloes from the graceless, awkward, adolescent Trump.
Maybe there’s no Chaplin these days but survival will now rest upon the shoulders of places like Substack, Bluesky and company. The freedom to laugh will be our strength now.
Let’s take our collective funny bone and beat Trump into submission. Remember when he’s wielding his sharpie today that the fat pencils were for the kids who couldn’t handle a regular #2.
"I was saved by God to make America great again." Anyone got an air sickness bag??
Thank you Charlie. So happy to have your writing to turn to. Hug your doggies.♥️
Thank you Charlie, just what I needed today. I did not and will not watch one minute of the 3 ring circus 🤡 in DC today.
The cold is so bad in Wisconsin today the air hurts our face and the morning is supposed to be more of the same. Thank goodness for your “weighted blankets” 😂
I've never seen this film - just clips once in a while. I'm going to find it. Thanks, sir, for all you do. I appreciate you. I spent my day doing things I love - reading, baking, coloring - purposefully staying away from news, knowing I could read your essay and others on Substack to learn all I needed to know. Again, thank you.
I feel your cold! Same in Chicago and predicted to be worse tomorrow! Stay warm
The POS just signed an executive order ending birthright citizenship. And declares a national emergency on the border. He also didn't have his hand on the Bible he's hawking when he took his "oath". He thinks he's God.
Maybe he was worried the Bible would catch fire if he touched it.😉♥️
There are days when we could use the God of the Old Testament.
Thanks Charlie. This post is just what the doctor ordered for today especially with the dog pictures that soothes the soul and are always a welcome added bonus. The Great Dictator was and still is a Hollywood classic. Chaplain’s portrayal of Hitler brought humor to a very ominous time in history. Trump’s performance, however, will be of a Hitler wannabe without any humor but with lies, disinformation, anger, hate, and revenge and retribution. We must stay strong in our fight to save our democracy from him and his billionaire/oligarchs and keep focused on gaining back control in the House in the 2026 Midterms and the Presidency and the Senate in 2028.
Thanks for this - I’ll have to watch Chaplin again, I was just a kid when I saw it. I couldn’t watch Trump today but did read the ridiculous, pathetic speech. What an embarrassment. I usually have a glass wine in these moments but think this day calls for a bourbon. The dogs always make me smile.
Cozying up between those lovies, Augie and Eli, would be heaven. And it’s a good day for CC! 7’ here in Chicago. Stay warm and well
Thank you for your wise words (as always!) Charlie.
I took your suggestion and watched the movie again — first time doing so as an adult. I realized how much I missed when I first watched it as a kid. The mockery is brutal — and wholly deserved. It is quite impressive the degree to which Chaplin successfully captured so many aspects of these dangerous clowns. He had them completely figured out.
Unfortunately, Mel Brooks Blazing Saddles would be considered politically incorrect and tossed aside like the constitution.
I didn’t watch or listen to what came before or after the inaugural speech because I can’t tolerate listening to all the sniveling cowardly subservience or seeing his resting bitch face as he eats it all up. But I did catch his speech because I wanted to see what the once and future king had to say.
And it was mostly as expected. Grievances, threats, culture wars, and bullshit. Filled with superlatives. Everything is the either best or the worst, or “like something never before seen.”
He made a lot of promises. He said we are “taking back” the Panama canal and will be expanding our territory. We will see how that goes. He even mentioned our Manifest Destiny, although that was in reference to settling on Mars. Presumably to new lives of excitement and adventure in Musk’s Off World Colonies.
It remains to be seen how all of this will play out. The best that we can do now is just try to minimize the damage coming in the next four years. In the meantime this might help:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
The courage to change the things I can.
And the wisdom to know the difference.
-- The Serenity Prayer
I actually think I'll be ordering the serenity prayer to put on my desk. I need it. Thanks for posting about it and prompting me to do this.
It's been my go to for maintaining sanity for most of the last decade.
I'm getting a rubbing stone with that on it. Sort of a two-fer...read it...rub it...repeat. LOL!
I am torn about the pardons biden issued. I can year the right wing media complex now saying that pardons demonstrates evidence of crimes. I wonder if daring Trump to charge someone of fictitious crimes would hold up in all the courts including the Supreme. If so then we are neck deep anyway and will need a second American revolution.