An odd piece of clothing for men developed in England and France during the late Middle Ages and on into the Renaissance period called the codpiece.  The codpiece was designed to cover and protect a man’s…uh…equipment, and is thought to have been developed originally to provide freedom of movement when tight hosiery was the in-thing fashion which covered the legs.  During this period of time, men’s jackets, or doublets, were made shorter and shorter making the codpiece an essential equipment-covering garment. During this period of time, virility was considered mandatory to be a successful warrior, so metal codpieces were made that exaggerated the size of…the equipment.  Then came Edward IV of England, who set the pace for exaggeration.  He made very short doublets de rigueur in merry Old England, enlarging the codpieces to greatly emphasize a man’s…equipment, as well as sparing no expense for the sometimes jewel-encrusted pieces.  Even though a man’s…equipment could not be mentioned by name, it seems it was very popular during the times to put the Renaissance version of a neon sign on it.  Here are a couple of examples:

Henry VIII was well known for the size and elaborate designs of his codpieces, but the odd garment disappeared by 1600 after the blousy pantaloons made popular by French nobility swept the English fashion world as well.

Since the codpiece became unfashionable 500 years ago, why in the world am I talking about it now?  Well, I’m talking about it because in very recent times it has re-emerged, this time in 21st century America, and here it is:

The AR-15, and its variants, have become the codpiece of the 21st century, normally carried by men/boys attempting to exaggerate their masculinity by carrying their firearm in front of their…equipment, or in place of it.  Putting aside the danger it poses to everyone near them, the black steel codpieces of today usually elicit giggles or gasps from normal people, probably not unlike the reactions of people to the more traditional codpieces made popular by hosiery-wearing nobility way back in the day, trying to bolster their own manhood.

Today’s codpieces look even more silly than those in the 16th century, but they are a hell of a lot more dangerous.  One can only hope that this codpiece ends up in the dustbin of history, much like its predecessor.

So now the White House is saying that they will not fund programs that “failed to meet their objectives.”

So they want to defund Meals on Wheels but let cabinet secretaries buy $30,000 tables, let Scott Pruitt live large and Ryan Zinke flit around the country with charter airplanes and charge the taxpayers.

Here’s a video of Jim Acosta eating White House budget director Mick Mulvaney for lunch.

Holy damn crap.  The Trump budget also cuts Head Start, home energy aid and rental assistance.  Which would likely hurt the single mother with two children in Detroit who he claims he’s trying to help.

You’ll notice that Trump’s budget does not cut taxes of single mothers with two children in Detroit.  Trump simply wants to defund Means on Wheels and give the money to the Pentagon. If you want to talk about a “program that does not meet their objectives,” the Pentagon would be a damn dandy place to start.

Nice going Acosta.  Hold their feet to the fire.

Thanks to Donna for the heads up.

There is place in hell reserved for those who hurt kids.

The fake viral video of Emma Gonzalez defines the rightwing.  If you haven’t seen it (and I refuse to put here here to increase its circulation), it appears to show Gonzalez standing proud with some other students while ripping the constitution apart.

The video went viral and was re-tweeted and emailed out everywhere.

It’s fake.  As is the picture they photoshopped.

These kids will change the world.  Let them.

Well, Trump just told a friend something weirder than spank me.

“… he’s expecting to make one or two major changes to his government very soon,” but “that’s going to be it.”

Seems to me I’ve heard that song before, it’s an old familiar score, I know it well, that melody.
It’s funny how a theme recalls a favorite dream total screw-up.

To make you question your own sanity, the friend adds …

Trump is “perplexed by all these reports that there’s chaos at the White House or mass staff changes.”

It’s a well oiled ferris wheel that dumps people out randomly.

One or two major changes — hmmmmm.  Anybody got any guesses who?

Some of my fun friends are measuring the time somebody stays in the Trump administration as Moochies.

Anthony Scaramucci lasted ten day before getting fired.

But I have no idea how to rate this one on the Moochie scale.

President Trump has decided not to hire two lawyers who were announced last week as new additions to his legal team, leaving him with a shrinking stable of lawyers as the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, enters an intense phase.

“The president is disappointed that conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining the president’s special counsel legal team,” Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, said in a statement on Sunday morning.

And those conflicts would be?  They don’t know anything about law?

So, they got fired before they got hired. I think that’s a -2 on the Moochie Scale.

Thanks to Maggie for the heads up.

It’s the day after the March for Our Lives events all across the country.

Alfredo over at the Dairy Queen thought you’d like to see the NRA’ latest political contribution filings.  Needless to say it’s heavy on Texas.

Which brings us to this guy who showed up in Austin at the march determined to be heard but letting it be known he will not listen.

You can see more photos here.

Thanks to Alfredo and Sarah for the heads up.

And Lynne from Juneau, Alaska sends a picture of her one protestor.

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