AWFL Calls It Quits

8 October 20257 October 2025 The Portly Politico6 Comments

Today’s post is going to be unapologetically catty. I’ve been quasi-hate-reading a blog called Robby Robin’s Journey for awhile now. The proprietor, Jane Fritz, is the smug-looking lady who inspired some of my Boomer rant last year. She came to my attention when she wrote a quintessentially Boomer comment on the excellent piece “The Boomer Mentality,” a great post by Erin over at Existential Ergonomics. Erin is way more intellectually generous than I am; after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, I’ve washed my hands of being generous towards progressives.

Except, of course, I’m writing this post, which probably suggests I care more than I wish.

Regardless, Old Lady Fritz announced on Monday, 6 October 2025, that she is calling it quits in the self-indulgent post “The time has come. I can’t wait any longer.” It’s her parting salvo with some Leftist political cartoons that compete with another to be as cringy and sanctimonious as possible (also—why do these old lady bloggers write titles that consist of two or more sentences? It’s like writing the text of an e-mail in the subject line).

Lazy Sunday CCCXXXVIII: Lethal Leftism

28 September 202525 September 2025 The Portly Politico13 Comments

Perhaps one of the biggest revelations since the assassination of Charlie Kirk is that the Left is fundamentally committed to destructive political violence—and the Right is fundamentally opposed to it. The common and relevant contrast is the difference in reactions to the deaths of George Floyd and Charlie Kirk. In the former’s case, we saw cities burned and looted in an orgiastic display of criminality masquerading as “social justice.” In the latter’s case, we’ve seen peaceful vigils and a Christian revival.

I’ve written quite a bit lately about the Left’s love of violence. Here are some of those posts:

“TBT: We Are All Deplorables Now” (and “We Are All Deplorables Now“) – My post about the failed attempt on President Trump’s life.
“SubscribeStar Saturday: Legion” (SubscribeStar; PDF on Telegram) – My call to those on the Left to repent.
“SubscribeStar Saturday: Systemic Wokeism” (SubscribeStar) – My analysis of why the Left’s woke “logic,” based in Cultural Marxism and radical subjectivism, has turned it into a lethal force in American politics.

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

TBT: VP Vance: A Worthy Successor

31 July 202524 July 2025 The Portly Politico2 Comments

It’s hard to believe that a year ago, we were gearing up for a presidential election. Now Trump is back in office—woooooot!—and he has a worthy successor in the wings.

It’s going to be tough sledding in the years ahead, but it’s reassuring to know that we have a legitimate successor ready to roll in 2028. Vance’s incredible speech to the various heads of Europe’s governments earlier this year was a call to government accountability—and for Europe to wake up. It was not an attack on Europe, per se, but a powerful plea for its leaders to do something to improve the lives of their people.

I’m excited to see more from Vance in the years to come.

With that, here is 17 July 2024’s “VP Vance: A Worthy Successor“:

TBT: Support Culture, Not Political Machines

27 March 202523 March 2025 The Portly Politico2 Comments

The big scuttlebutt in the conservative world is the rumor that Ben Shapiro‘s The Daily Wire may be going bankrupt. I have no idea if that is true or not, although their longtime co-founder, Jeremy Boreing, is apparently stepping down from his position as co-CEO.

It’s a good reminder that some of these big-named conservative commentators are often too big for their own good. In some ways, having a bigger brand and presence means you also have to walk a thinner and thinner line. I am increasingly ambivalent about Shapiro, who I think hedges his bets too much. He was flat-out anti-Trump eight years ago, and now acts like he was leading the charge for Trumpism in 2015. Balderdash!

Whatever happens at The Daily Wire, Ben Shapiro is going to be okay. He’s got book royalties, a nationally-syndicated radio show, a popular podcast, etc., etc., etc.

But you know who does need support? The small fries. But not just the political commentary small fries: the artists, authors, writers, composers, musicians, painters, craftsmen, etc., the people who are making culture on a shoestring budget and a prayer.

Not just me, either, but that would be nice.

With that, here is 19 April 2024’s “Support Culture, Not Political Machines“:

TBT: Stone Cold Sunday

23 January 202520 January 2025 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

With the dawn of the Second Trumpian Golden Age, I’ve been reflecting a bit about the First. Trump’s first administration, in retrospect, was less-focused and more carnival-esque than what his second appears to be. Trump is a wiser man, and knows who he can—and cannot—trust.

But part of the fun of the first Trump presidency was the cavalcade of grifters, courtiers, and hangers-on who hitched their wagon to Trump’s star.

One of those was Roger Stone, who actually was an important figure while also embodying the kind of naughty, playful, mirthful, bawdy side of the Trump phenomenon. I wrote a review of his book Stone’s Rules: How to Win at Politics, Business, and Style back in 2019, and it seemed like an appropriate time to revisit it.

Note that the link above is an Amazon Affiliate link; if you purchase anything through that link, I receive a portion of the proceeds, at no additional cost to you. I’m required to point that out.

With that, here is 10 February 2019’s “Stone Cold Sunday“:

Election Day in America

5 November 20243 November 2024 The Portly Politico3 Comments

Well, here it is—Election Day. Millions of ballots have already been cast, but yours portly believes in going to the polls on the day itself. God Willing, I’ll be there casting my ballot for Donald J. Trump about thirty minutes after this post is published.

I don’t have much to say, but I am cautiously optimistic. Kamala Harris has all the appeal of a wet blanket that slept its way into power. Donald Trump is like a suave gorilla caring for its young. In other words, if you’re voting for Kamala Harris, you’re either an HR czarina or an aggressively gay man, and the last time I checked (note: I haven’t), even gay men prefer suave gorillas.

Or, at the very least, you’re spiritually on the side of the HR czarinas if you support Harris. I’ve never seen an election so starkly highlight the growing divide between single women and the rest of the country as much as this one. Not even Shrillary in 2016 managed to combine schoolmarmishness with cringe-inducing cackling at this level.

I’m not focusing on the substantive issues at this point because a.) everyone has already made up their minds by this point and b.) Kamala Harris is entirely lacking in substance.

But life was good under President Trump the first time, and I suspect it will be again. His stance on tariffs increasingly makes the free trade consensus of the last hundred years look foolish, the economists be damned. Closing our borders economically is key to restoring American manufacturing; so is closing our border physically and legally. We have got to clamp down on illegal and legal immigration. I don’t care if I have to pay $40 for a shirt; by God, I want it made in America by Americans. It’ll be the best shirt I’ve ever worn and will last a decade.

Regardless, if you’re on the fence or don’t think it matters, stop being a fig leaf and go vote for Trump. Drive up that national vote! Make this bad boy too big to steal.

I’ll be up late (hopefully not too late) watching the returns, and might do some Tweeting/X-ing on X. Consider “tuning” in for my doughy reflections.

God Bless America, and God Bless Donald J. Trump!

—TPP

The Heart of the King

18 September 202417 September 2024 The Portly Politico29 Comments

On Saturday I asked whether or not we had forgotten the events of 11 September 2001. In asking, I noted that just two months after an attempt on President Trump’s life, we seemed to have already forgotten how close our nation was to bursting into the flames of political passion.

Well, Reality has a way of crashing back and reminding us of our foibles. A second would-be assassin was apprehended a day after my rhetorical post—and exactly two months to the day after the first! He concealed himself in a sniper’s nest for twelve hours, scoping out (literally) the golf course where President Trump would tee off Sunday.

The aged assassin looked pleased with himself:

Accused Trump gunman Ryan Wesley Routh hid in sniper’s nest for nearly 12 hours before he was spotted by Secret Service https://t.co/cxRb9VaMxP pic.twitter.com/s7DE78NlXB
— New York Post (@nypost) September 16, 2024

I suspect the first assassination attempt was the result of elite powerbrokers looking the other way and allowing a troubled teen unprecedented rooftop access to take a shot at the President. Maybe the kid was trained and coached, maybe he was just decided on his own that he’d take out a man the Left considers “literally Hitler” (one of the most absurd propositions ever put to paper).

This second attempt, I’d wager, was an instance where the gunman believed he was “saving democracy” through his actions. Again, if you think our opponent—who will likely win the election—is “literally Hitler,” wouldn’t you stop at nothing to destroy his chances? You don’t need a grand conspiracy when plenty of losers are looking for Leftist accolades.

What I find particularly disturbing is that we seem to be shrugging our collective shoulders. The general attitude is, “well, that’s the way it is now.” That attitude is unacceptable.

Kick Out the Cat Ladies

7 August 20246 August 2024 The Portly Politico26 Comments

Regular readers will know I have a strong, even pathological, anti-femite streak. It’s perhaps ironic, as many of my readers are women, and I actually find most women quite charming and pleasant company. That said, I can’t ignore how terrible things tend to go when women are in charge of anything more substantial than the local church bake sale or the PTA.

With the notable exceptions—and I have to mention them because women in particular don’t seem to understand the concept of “generalization“—women are not really suited for politics, governance, management, etc. What they do really well, however, is act as the social glue that binds a community together. Again, if you want your church bake sale to be a success or your PTA to hound delusional administrators, women are your best option.

If you want to direct grand strategy and pursue a sane domestic policy, leave it to the men. Women in politics seem to boil down to “kill babies, give me free stuff!” It was Republican women in South Carolina, for example, who blocked a total abortion ban in my State; all three of them were booted from the South Carolina Senate in their primary elections, leaving our State Senate blessedly free of female meddling.

Lately there’s been some hubbub over J.D. Vance’s past comments about women, particularly his claim that our country is being run by “childless cat ladies” and the “childless Left.” National Review, the bastion of fake conservative handwringers, fumed simpishly over Vance’s comments, while not exactly addressing the substance of what he said. After all, Vance said the unpopular part out loud—the cat ladies “are miserable in their own lives and the choices they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.”

Lazy Sunday CCLXXII: Harris Stuff

28 July 202425 July 2024 The Portly Politico5 Comments

Well, Kamala Harris is heading up the Democratic ticket, unless something crazy happens before or during the Democratic National Convention. Harris is the ultimate example of failing upwards—after dropping out early in the Democratic primaries in 2020, she found herself as the nominee for the vice presidency.

Now that her boss has ended his Weekend at Bernie’s-esque charade, Harris has fallen up to the de facto nomination for the presidency. The concubine-turned-prosecutor-turned-pandering-politico who checks all the intersectional boxes is now energizing a demoralized—but still quite cringe—Democratic base.

One unremarked upon quality of President Trump is that he manages to appeal to Boomers while also not coming across as unbearably cringe. The unwittingly cringe Boomer is a meme at this point (God Bless them, but I’ve got quite a few who read this website—love y’all, but wise up, fogies), but it’s pretty wild that Trump can capture that demographic and still come across as school. Of course, it’s because he’s authentic: he’s just being himself, warts and all.

Harris, on the other hand, is nobody, because she tries to be everything to all people. She has no identity beyond a lust for power (and Willie Brown’s willy, it seems). She is tokenism made manifest, and we’ll all be enduring her insufferable cackling—and fawning coverage of the same—between now and election day.

As such, I thought I’d feed the fire and look back at some Kamala-related posts:

“The Collapse of the Obama Coalition?” – Thank God for Tulsi Gabbard, who effectively destroyed Harris’s campaign.
“Breaking: Biden Picks Harris as Running Mate” – Harris’s political career was saved by a geriatric zombie.
“Biden Out” – Biden’s out, and we’re looking at an election akin to that of 1828.

May God Have Mercy on us all.

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

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Lazy Sunday CCLXXI: Trump Stuff

21 July 202418 July 2024 The Portly Politico16 Comments

With President Trump’s star on the rise and a successful Republican National Convention in the books, I figured it’d be worthwhile to look back on some classic Trump posts from yours portly:

“Trumparion Rising” – A post about President Trump announcing his 2024 election bid.
“Trumparion Rising II” – A post about Trump’s dominance in the virtually nonexistent GOP primaries earlier this year.
“We Are All Deplorables Now” – The post about Trump and the failed attempt on his life.
“VP Vance: A Worthy Successor” – My de facto endorsement of J.D. Vance, President Trump’s running mate.

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

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The Portly Politico

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

Tag: politics

AWFL Calls It Quits

Lazy Sunday CCCXXXVIII: Lethal Leftism

TBT: VP Vance: A Worthy Successor

TBT: Support Culture, Not Political Machines

TBT: Stone Cold Sunday

Election Day in America

The Heart of the King

Lazy Sunday CCLXXII: Harris Stuff

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Make a monthly donation

Make a yearly donation

Lazy Sunday CCLXXI: Trump Stuff

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