TBT^4,294,967,296: End the Income Tax

9 April 20268 April 2026 The Portly Politico3 Comments

Once again it’s tax season in the United States. I won’t bore you—again—with the details of our bizarre, nightmarish tax situation, but to suffice it to say that, at the time of writing, yours portly and his dear Dr. Wife are about $5500 poorer and Uncle Sam is probably paying for a federal inmates gender reassignment surgery. Next year will be much easier, but it’s always a pain.

I think what I resent most is that the federal government is now party to every economic exchange I make outside of purchasing a brownie from a sidewalk bake sale. Any money I earn gets reported. Indeed, I probably report more than I really need to, because I do take seriously Jesus’ instruction to “render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.” I just wish Caesar was spending my money in the national interest, not in the niche interests of some special interest group or immigrant group that got here fifteen seconds ago.

But it is—for another year, at least—done. Now I’m free to enjoy Spring Break and to wait, watchful and eel-like, for next year.

With that, here is 10 April 2025’s “TBT^65,536: End the Income Tax“:

Monday Morning Movie Review: Wuthering Heights (2026)

9 March 20268 March 2026 The Portly Politico8 Comments

Dr. Wife and I went to see Emerald Fennell’s adaptation/reinterpretation of Wuthering Heights (2026) the other weekend after a long day of lugging our stuff to our new home. The director’s name—which sounds like a extremely colorful spice—should give some insight into what the film was like. I’ve never read Emily Brontë novel—yes, literature girls, you can sacrifice me to Emily Dickinson—but Dr. Wife had, so she filled me in some of the details.

The original novel is the bleak tale of a doomed romance denied by the strictures of propriety, social class, and cash. The movie is an excessively plodding first act that culminates in twenty minutes of sexual depravity followed by a tragic death.

The film is gaining notoriety because it’s smut. My wife kept calling it “Wuthering Glutes,” and we had fun making jokes involving the word “wuthering” and other anatomical features. The popular consensus is correct: it is basically an excuse for a swarthy heartthrob to assert his will over Margot Robbie while women swoon lustily.

Memorable Monday Morning Movie Review: The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

2 March 20262 March 2026 The Portly Politico2 Comments

Dr. Wife and I went to see the smutty literary adaptation of Wuthering Heights (2026) this weekend, not because Dr. Wife is into that kind of thing, but because there’s been so much buzz around the film, she wanted to be part of the cultural moment. I was going to review that film today, but that’ll have to go on the backburner due to time constraints.

The quick version: like all modern movies, it’s thirty minutes too long; the script is flabby and ponderous; and the middle act is basically just chick lit p-word smut. It setup several ideas that never had payoffs. It did have amazing sets and costumes, and the sense of bleak tragedy from the novel (which, to be clear, I haven’t read) was, according to my wife, there, even if the film took great liberties with the source material.

But I digress. A piano student of mine brought in a little Mario doll he’s had since he was a baby. He asked me at the end of his lesson to film a quick movie review of the 2023 hit The Super Mario Bros. Movie; I obliged:

That being the case, I figured I’d reblog this review of the film from 2023.

With that, here 22 May 2023’s “Monday Morning Movie Review: The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)“:

Monday Morning Movie Review: Ponty Praises “24”

23 February 202620 February 2026 The Portly Politico15 Comments

Just a heads-up: this review contains a lot of Amazon Affiliate links. I receive a portion of any purchases made through these links, at no additional cost to you. —TPP

Good ol’ Ponty sent over an unexpected treat: this excellent review of the early 2000s hit television series 24—at least, it’s his review of the first three seasons, along with his initial impressions of the fourth.

I remember when this show debuted. It was the perfect show for the War on Terror, back when that conflict still enjoyed some popular support among the American people. It was quintessentially Bush-era American: a brave lone warrior, coupled with a good counter-terrorism team, found the terrorists, while also resorting to (and often being the victim of) “enhanced interrogation techniques.” It was a time when we wanted terrorists, both on-screen and in real life, to get roughed up indiscriminately, “human rights” be damned!

24 delivered. I hadn’t thought of the show much since those halcyon—and, it turns out, dying—days of cable television until Ponty sent along this review. So come bask with us in those pre-Great Recession days, when it seemed like maybe we could actually install functioning, Western-style democracies in the Middle East.

With that, here is Ponty’s review of the television series 24:

Monday Morning Movie Review: 28 Days Later (2002)

12 January 202612 January 2026 The Portly Politico4 Comments

The next film in the 28 [Unit of Time] series, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple hits theaters this weekend, and yours portly is hoping that Dr. Wife and I can squeeze in a matinee showing this Saturday. It also seems that Shudder has a couple of the earlier films on its service, including 28 Days Later (2002), which I stayed up late last night to finish watching.

I wasn’t sure I had seen this flick before, but several of the key scenes did click with me (like the father getting a single drop of infected blood in his eye, causing him to go made with the Rage virus). I have seen it, but I’d forgotten most of the major plot points and the ending. With the new film releasing this weekend, it was a good opportunity to refresh my memory (Shudder also has 28 Weeks Later [2007], which I watched recently as well). I’d forgotten what a great film it is.

Monday Morning Movie Review: Gremlins (1984)

5 January 20265 January 2026 The Portly Politico4 Comments

Over the glorious Christmas Break Dr. Wife and I sat down to watch one of my favorite childhood flicks, Gremlins (1984; that’s an Amazon Affiliate link to a Blu-Ray of the film, along with Gremlins 2 and The Goonies; I received a portion of any purchase made through that link, at no additional cost to you). She had never seen it before, and as it is a Christmas movie (at least, it takes place at Christmas), I thought we should give it a watch. I also knew that she would love Gizmo, the plucky Mogwai (she did).

I remember a similar scenario many years ago with my older brother’s first wife: we all sat down and watched Gremlins, which she had never seen before, and it was a delightful experience. Dr. Wife was feeling under-the-weather when we did our viewing together, but she thoroughly enjoyed it. I did as well, even though I did not enjoy wrapping Christmas presents (poorly) while we watched—ha!

Memorable Monday Morning Movie Review: Nefarious (2023)

15 December 202515 December 2025 The Portly Politico4 Comments

Last year, when Dr. Wife was still Dr. Girlfriend, we sat down and watched an incredible movie exploring demonic possession and spiritual warfare.

That film was 2023’s Nefarious (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link; I receive a portion of any purchases made through that link, at no additional cost to you). It’s one of the best films I’ve seen in years, and it’s an overtly Christian film (without making it feel like it’s overtly Christian). It’s an excellent example of how Christians can make compelling art that espouses our beliefs culturally.

With that, here is 2 December 2024’s “Monday Morning Movie Review: Nefarious (2023)“:

Memorable Monday Morning Movie Review: A Very Portly Christmas: A Christmas Carol (1951)

8 December 20258 December 2025 The Portly Politico8 Comments

Back in 2022 a couple of my regular contributors and I each took turns reviewing the 1951 film adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (for links to all three reviews, click here). The film has since became almost annual viewing for yours portly, a tradition I hope to continue with Dr. Wife.

With all the busyness of the wedding and last week’s school play (as well as this week’s school concert), I decided to take this morning to look back at my review from three years ago.

The film is a poignant reminder to keep the joy of Christmas alive in our hearts, something that is often difficult as the trials of adulthood responsibility exact their toll. But Christmas is the time of year to celebrate the Birth of Jesus, and to recapture—to the extent possible—the simple magic of childhood.

With that, here is 19 December 2022’s “Monday Morning Movie Review: A Very Portly Christmas: A Christmas Carol (1951)“:

SubscribeStar Saturday: Off-Cycle Post-Election Analysis 2025

8 November 20257 November 2025 The Portly Politico8 Comments

Today’s post is a SubscribeStar Saturday exclusive. To read the full post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more. For a full rundown of everything your subscription gets, click here.

Call me Portlyanna-ish, but I don’t think the off-season elections were the dire warning to Trump and Republicans that much of the media—both mainstream and alternative—have made them out to be. I think there is some cause for concern in the enthusiasm department, but the trumpeting of these elections being a massive victory for the Democrats—and a huge blow to Trump—are more overblown that Michael Moore.

Consider the big three elections that captured most of the media’s focus: Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral race; Abigail Spanberger and the violent Jay Jones in the Virginia gubernatorial and State attorney general races, respectively; and that lady with a man’s name in the New Jersey gubernatorial race. None of these races were a real surprise:

Mamdani appealed to the base of NYC voters: recent immigrants, ethnic minorities, and white socialists;
Virginia is very blue in a cycle where Trump is not on the ballot and tens of thousands of federal workers—who vote Democratic anyway—are sitting at home, unpaid, who are highly motivated to get back at Trump;
and New Jersey is… New Jersey. It always looks like a State that might fulfill our wildest hopes that, “this year, it’s finally going to happen”—the refrain of every University of South Carolina Gamecocks football fan since time immemorial (I write—painfully—as a Gamecock myself).

Democrats are naturally going to distort—their favorite pastime, it seems—these results as a clear sign that momentum is on their side and that Trump is losing support. Conservatives should not be amplifying this message if it’s not true.

At best, I think it’s incomplete.

To read the rest of this post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.

TBT^2: Trumparion Rising

6 November 20253 November 2025 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

It’s hard to believe that President Trump was re-elected roughly a year ago, and that he has been back in office almost nine months. Trump didn’t waste anytime upon taking office, putting ICE to work right away on deporting illegal aliens and deploying the National Guard to crack down on crime-ridden cities. He flooded Washington with executive orders, which, while potentially fleeting, have made it difficult for activist judges to keep up with the flurry of changes. He (sort of) started a trade war with most of the war, which, if not exactly consistent, shook up international markets and put the world on notice that the free ride at America’s expense is over.

I’m largely satisfied with Trump’s progress so far. My major concerns are that he has been too inconsistent on tariffs; too slow on swamp drainage (although the massive layoffs during the government shutdown, as well as the DOGE-payouts, were huge); and too cozy with certain lobbies. As to the first, I figure he is using tariffs more as a foreign policy cudgel and/or carrot than as a consistent policy towards repatriating American manufacturing. To the second, I think we’re facing a “root-and-branch” situation that requires a radical, near-total replacement of official Washington. For the third, even there Trump is showing signs of shaking off his dogged devotion to his donors of dubious dual loyalties.

Those quibbles aside, things are demonstrably better than they were one year ago. The Democrats are something of a national laughingstock. Major corporations are shifting into alignment with elements of Trumpism. The rampant Leftism of the culture has become more muted. I have no illusions that these changes are permanent, but they suggest that the powers-that-be are cowed.

All of that said, I’m eager to see what happens next—and to prepare for Vance’s presidency.

With that, here is 7 November 2024’s “TBT: Trumparion Rising“:

The Portly Politico

One Southerner's unique, erudite, conservative perspective in a hectic world

Tag: opinion