DAVID BROOKS’ NYT FAREWELL

Heartland  == BOB AND WILLIE

There’s a big achin’ hole in my chest now where my heart was

And a hole in the sky where God used to be.

My American dream

Fell apart at the seams.

You tell me what it means,

You tell me what it means.

Blaze Starr

The Emperor’s New Clothes


“The emperor’s noblemen pretend to lift the fabric’s train from the floor as the procession commences, refusing to admit that they are empty-handed. As the procession begins, the gathered crowd initially pretends to be impressed with the emperor’s fine clothes as well, since nobody wants to expose themselves as a “fool.” At last, a small child in the crowd calls out that the emperor is not wearing any clothes at all. The child’s words quickly make their way through the crowd before the whole town declares in unison that the emperor is, in fact, not wearing any clothes.

The emperor is distressed, as he suspects the townspeople are correct. In spite of this, he continues to walk on “more proudly than ever” (Paragraph 31), still unwilling to admit his foolishness.”

*******

Greatest Ever Quotes on Truth, Trust & Credibility

  1. Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom. ~Thomas Jefferson  
  2. Honesty doesn’t always pay, but dishonesty always costs. ~Michael Josephson
  3. Honesty is the best policy; but he who is governed by that maxim is not an honest man. – Richard Whately
  4. Alternative facts are not facts, they’re falsehoods. ~Chuck Todd, 2017 January 22nd, to Kellyanne Conway, Meet the Press (NBC
  5. O what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive! Sir Walter Scott
  6. Building trust is like building a tower, stone by stone. But no matter how high or strong the tower seems, if you remove a stone from the bottom the tower will collapse. Lying destroys the foundation needed for trust. Michael Josephson
  7. An honest man’s the noblest work of God. – Robert Burns
  8. Lies breed more lies. Each lie requires bodyguard of other lies to prevent discovery. – Michael Josephson
  9. A reputation for good judgment, for fair dealing, for truth, and for rectitude, is itself a fortune. Henry Ward Beecher (1813 – 1887)
  10. A truth that’s told with bad intent/ Beats all the lies you can invent. ~William Blake
  11. Honesty is the fastest way to prevent a mistake from turning into a failure. James Altucher
  12. A lie has speed, but truth has endurance. ~Edgar J. Mohn
  13. That a lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright truth, / But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to fight. Alfred Tennyson
  14. Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories. Amílcar Cabral (1921 – 1973) Guinean revolutionary leader and freedom fighter. Party directive
  15. With lies you will go far, but not back again. – Yiddish proverb.
  16. Never forget, someone who will lie in front of you will lie to you. – Michael Josephson
  17. He who does not bellow the truth when he knows the truth makes himself the accomplice of liars and forgers. Charles Pierre Péguy (1873 – 1914)  French writer
  18. How many lies can someone tell you before distrust sets in? How many lies can you tell before you are a liar? Once someone has lied to us we look back on past conversations and ask: “What else has he lied to me about?” – Michael Josephson
  19. Beware of the half truth. You may have gotten hold of the wrong half. ~Author Unknown
  20. A half truth is a whole lie. ~Yiddish Proverb
  21. It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place. ~Henry Louis Mencken,
  22. A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on. ~Winston Churchill
  23. Honesty pays, but it don’t seem to pay enough to suit some people. ~Frank McKinney “Kin” Hubbard
  24. The cruelest lies are often told in silence. ~Adlai Stevenson
  25. No legacy is so rich as honesty. – William Shakespeare

THE TRUTH HAS BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME (T. PARHAM )

*****************

In scene from the movie BLAZE,  Governor Long (Paul Newman ) and Blaze Starr (Lolita Davidovitch) discuss their future together:

Blaze:  I have a confession to make.

Governor Long:  What’s that ?

Blaze :  I can’t cook.

Governor Long:  We’ll work around it .

“OH CANADA “

“OH CANADA “

Yesterday, Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, offered stark remarks about the end of an American-led world order and received a standing ovation.

TP–We will be buying fresh water and oil from Canada “…til all the stars have turned to stone.”

LET THE TRUE CHURCH ROLL ON

MAUREEN DOWD–Jan. 20, 2026

It’s almost quaint to look at the misrule of W. and Cheney. At least they made up some highfalutin’ cover story about bringing democracy to the Middle East, when the real story was closer to daddy issues for W. and a Halliburton windfall for Cheney.

THIS STARTED THE WHOLE FRIGGIN MESS

” I’LL FOLLOW YOU DOWN ‘TIL MY VOICE WILL HAUNT YOU” (Fleetwood Mac, SILVER SPRINGS )

YOU DON’T KNOW JACK SMITH

JACK SMITH ON DJT FRAUD PER JAN 6 ASSAULT ON CAPITOL ( EXCERPTS )

“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful  transfer of power,” Mr. Smith said, according to the transcript.

And Mr. Smith appeared intent on making another point: that he was unfazed by Mr. Trump’s vow to prosecute him.

“I am eyes wide open that this president will seek retribution against me if he can,” he said.

According to the transcript, Mr. Smith pushed back hardest when Republicans suggested Mr. Trump’s public statements after the 2020 election were protected under the First Amendment.

“Fraud is not protected by the First Amendment,” he said in the interview.

“There is no historical analog for what President Trump did in this case,” Mr. Smith responded.

“He was free to say that he thought he won the election — he was even free to say falsely that he won the election,” Mr. Smith said. “But what he was not free to do was violate federal law and use knowingly 19 false statements about election fraud to target a lawful government function.”