Gregory Klimowicz

I like suits, mozzarella sticks and laughing with funny people. Let's be friends. Star Wars is cool too.

[James Tate @JamesTate121]

Very well written essay on the MAGA voter. This is what we are up against.

Sam is 61 years old and lives in a town where the Applebee’s closed in 2014 and people still mention it like it was a natural disaster. The old factory shut down years ago, but Sam keeps his faded employee badge in a kitchen drawer because he considers it proof that America peaked sometime around 1987, right between the release of Top Gun and the invention of low-flow toilets. He firmly believes the country began collapsing the moment they stopped letting people smoke in restaurants and started putting kale in things.

He wakes up every morning at 5:12 a.m., not because he has anywhere to be, but because decades of shift work, untreated sleep apnea, and permanent low-grade outrage have hardwired his body into a permanent state of agitation. He shuffles into the kitchen wearing camouflage pajama pants and a T-shirt that says “I Stand for the Flag” even though he has not stood up quickly without groaning since 2009. He pours himself coffee strong enough to power farm equipment and settles into his recliner to begin his daily ritual of becoming personally offended by things happening hundreds or thousands of miles away. Within half an hour, he is enraged about crime in Chicago, drag queens in Seattle, wind turbines in California, and a college professor in Vermont he has never heard of and never will again.

Sam spends most of his time marinating in an ecosystem of Facebook memes, talk radio, Fox News, chain emails, YouTube clips, and badly designed websites with names like Patriot Eagle Freedom Truth News. By noon, he has shared seven posts warning that America is under attack by socialists, immigrants, vegans, pronouns, electric stoves, and people who use the phrase “lived experience.” He believes every story because every story confirms what he already feels: that the country has been stolen from people like him and handed over to people he does not understand.

Sam is absolutely convinced he is one of the last remaining “real Americans,” despite living in a county entirely populated by people who also think they are the last remaining real Americans. He misses the America of his youth, which in his memory was a magical place where every man had a factory job, every woman made tuna casserole, every child respected authority, and nobody had tattoos, gluten allergies, or opinions about gender. He is nostalgic for a version of the country that mostly exists as a combination of old pickup truck commercials, Toby Keith songs, and stories his grandfather exaggerated after three beers.

His truck is the size of a military vehicle and has never once carried anything heavier than mulch and emotional baggage. His pickup truck is so large that small birds alter their migration patterns to avoid it. The truck has never hauled lumber, gravel, or equipment, but it does haul an enormous amount of political anxiety. The back is covered in bumper stickers warning that he is armed, angry, and deeply suspicious of the federal government, except for when it comes to Medicare, Social Security, highways, farm subsidies, police funding, veterans’ benefits, and keeping its hands off his lawn. He likes to tell people he is “not political,” which is impressive considering his entire personality has become an endless loop of cable news grievances.

He cannot attend a barbecue, church picnic, football game, or grandchild’s birthday party without eventually bringing up inflation, Hunter Biden, gas stoves, “the border,” or how nobody can say Merry Christmas anymore even though literally everyone still says Merry Christmas.

Then Trump arrived, descending from his golden escalator like a casino-themed prophet sent by God to sell steaks and grievance. Sam had finally found his perfect candidate: a billionaire from Manhattan with multiple mansions, gold-plated bathrooms, and a private jet, who somehow convinced Sam that he understood the pain of a man screaming at the self-checkout machine in Walmart.

Trump was loud, angry, theatrical, and constantly under investigation, which only made Sam admire him more. Every lawsuit, scandal, or indictment was not evidence of wrongdoing. It was proof that Trump was fighting the deep state, the media, the elites, the globalists, the FBI, the Democrats, the RINOs, and possibly the ghost of George Soros.

Every scandal, every lawsuit, every indictment, every accusation became proof that Trump was fighting the corrupt establishment on behalf of “real Americans” like Sam.

At this point, Sam does not support Trump because of policy details. He supports Trump because Trump has become the human embodiment of his anger, nostalgia, confusion, and Facebook feed. Trump says the world Sam remembers can come back, that the people Sam dislikes can be punished, and that all of Sam's frustrations are someone else’s fault.

To Sam, Trump is no longer just a politician. He is a lifestyle brand. He is a martyr, a warrior, a stand-up comedian, a victim, a patriot, and the lead singer of a traveling grievance festival. Sam owns at least three Trump hats, two Trump flags, a Trump coffee mug, a “Never Surrender” T-shirt, and a giant “Let’s Go Brandon” sign in the garage that he insists is “not political, just funny.”

For Sam, that is not politics. That is therapy. Trump is not just a candidate anymore; he is an emotional support billionaire.

He is a spray-tanned security blanket with a private jet. He is the gold-plated, fast-food-fueled mascot Sam clings to whenever the modern world feels confusing, threatening, or insufficiently patriotic.

Trump gives him a ready-made explanation for every disappointment in his life: it is not aging, bad luck, economic change, or his own choices; it is the immigrants, the liberals, the media, the globalists, the vegans, the people with pronouns, and whoever is ruining Christmas this week.

Supporting Trump lets Sam believe there is still someone out there fighting for him.

[Vince Mpls @vincempls]

#OnThisDay Apr 3 1970: Alan Fingerhut, heir to the catalog fortune, opens a nightclub at the former Northland Greyhound Bus Terminal called "The Depot." The first Minneapolis venue to serve alcohol and rock music, it would become @FirstAvenue in 1981 and launch Prince's career.

[Jemele Hill @jemelehill]

There’s no penalty for embracing Nazism in the Republican party. It’s celebrated at worst, and at best, not considered to be disqualifying. So it’s not actually “a problem.” They have no incentive to distance themselves from these beliefs. If anything, the lack of consequence has only given them more incentive to keep going.

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

This is the single most important point that most Americans are probably unaware of because our media sucks and the Democratic leadership sucks

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

I know this isn’t the main story or key point today but remember that billions of dollars are being effortlessly expended today bombing a country, which Americans don’t support and no US lawmaker voted for. Remember that next time they tell you there is no money for healthcare.

[Andy Hart @JumboHart]

Patriots had a great year. And an abysmal Super Bowl. Both can be true. Maye is young. Vrabel and McDaniels are good. The future is bright. Even if the immediate present feels like it sucks.

[New England Patriots @Patriots]

Coaches of the Year 🙂‍↕️

[Winter @LeftyWinter]

AOC: "Your primary elections, our primary elections determine the kinds of Democrats that get elected to office, because the Democrats primary elections are where people decide who they want to represent the Democratic Party. And so if you're not participating in your primary elections, you're not shaping the kinds of Democrats that go to office. And so I definitely recommend looking up your primary election and participate."

[Jimmy Johnson @JimmyJohnson]

If they are using the EXCUSE of spygate that’s ridiculous…many teams (including ourselves) tried it..Howard Mudd at Kansas City who later coached for Bill Polian and Tony Dungy gave us the idea..he was the best..we didn’t get anything and stopped but many teams gave it a try

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

These fuckers bullied everyone into deifying Charlie Kirk when he was killed, but when Ilhan Omar is attacked, this is what the president can get away with saying:

[Gregory of Yardale @buckyeffingdent]

Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson on WFAN the day after Glazer showed the "Spygate" tape on FOX: "That's exactly how I did it in Dallas." And: "I know for a fact lots of coaches were doing this. The opposing players bitching about this don't even know what their own coaches are doing."

[Jemele Hill @jemelehill]

Bill Belichick could have cussed out my momma and I would have voted for him for the HOF. A bad look for the entire committee.

[JJ Watt @JJWatt]

I can’t be reading this right.

This has to be some knock-off Hall of Fame or something, it can’t be the actual NFL Hall of Fame.

There is not a single world whatsoever in which Bill Belichick should not be a First-Ballot Hall of Famer.

[Jason Bassler @JasonBassler1]

MAGA Logic:

-IRS? Corrupt
-DEA? Corrupt
-ATF? Corrupt
-CDC? Corrupt
-FBI? Corrupt
-EPA? Corrupt
-DOJ? Corrupt
-CIA? Corrupt
-NSA? Corrupt
-Deep state? Corrupt

…but masked ICE agents, Palantir and daddy Trump are the last pure souls who’ll “save America.” Trust me, bro!

[Joshua Reed Eakle 🗽 @JoshEakle]

Trump (2016): "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters."

As it turns out, this was more accurate than we knew at the time.

[Ilhan Omar @IlhanMN]

"ICE will leave Minnesota if you hand over your voter rolls" tells you everything you need to know.

This was never about immigration or fraud. It was always about rigging elections.

[Krystal Ball @krystalball]

They murdered a licensed nurse with no criminal history because he was trying to protect his community.

[Jemele Hill @jemelehill]

Was there a moment of silence held for Alex Pretti at today’s NFL championship games?

[NFL Memes @NFLMemes]

The 2nd graders in New England who have never seen their team play in the Super Bowl will finally have that opportunity.

Their agonizing stretch is finally over 🙏