The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

AOC Goes to War With James Carville

Posted on | November 8, 2021 | Comments Off on AOC Goes to War With James Carville

You wanted more Democratic infighting? You got it:

The open and proud socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) declared on Sunday that Republicans have been using wokeness as a means to distract Democrats from pursuing racial justice.
In a series of tweets, the congresswoman said that Democrats believing in a “woke problem” will hurt their chances for reelection because they “rely on the racial justice issue of voting rights.”
“One dangerous aspect of thinking there’s a ‘woke problem’ is that Dem chances for re-election or majorities in House, Senate, & WH rely on the racial justice issue of voting rights,” she tweeted. “Dems distancing from racial justice makes protection of voting rights less likely, ensuring losses.”
According to AOC, the term “woke” has been appropriated by Republicans as a “derogatory euphemism for civil rights & justice,” charging that Fox News not only serves to indoctrinate right-wingers but also to trick Democrats into believing that racial justice is “controversial.” . . .
AOC waded into woke apologetics over the weekend when she publicly bashed Democratic strategist James Carville for arguing that “stupid wokeness” cost the Democrats in multiple elections last Tuesday, from Virginia to New Jersey to Seattle.
“[W]hat went wrong is just stupid wokeness,” said Carville. “Don’t just look at Virginia and New Jersey. Look at Long Island, look at Buffalo, look at Minneapolis, even look at Seattle, Wash. I mean, this ‘defund the police’ lunacy, this take Abraham Lincoln’s name off of schools. I mean that — people see that.” . . .
AOC then charged Carville was merely repeating talking points straight from the echo chamber of Fox News.
“Like the average audience for people seriously using the word ‘woke’ in a 2021 political discussion are James Carville and Fox News pundits so that should tell you all you need to know,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Friday.
“And before people disingenuously complain ‘woke’ is denigrating to older people, it’s actually pundits like Carville using terms like ‘woke’ to insult voters under 45 that’s denigrating,” she later added. “Don’t wonder why youth turnout falls when Dems talk about them like this. We need everyone.”

“We need everyone,” says Sandy Cortez, even while shouting at the top of her lungs how much she hates white people with jobs — which is, basically, who Republican voters are. If you’ve got a “career,” you might vote Democrats, but if you’ve got a job, you vote a Republican.

MSNBC devoted a weekend panel to denouncing Carville because they’re “sick of these white men whining and complaining.”

This “War on White People” theme is their 2022 campaign platform.




 

Category: Democrats

Guess Who’s in the NFL Playoff Hunt?

Posted on | November 8, 2021 | Comments Off on Guess Who’s in the NFL Playoff Hunt?

On Oct. 17, after the New England Patriots lost a home game to the Dallas Cowboys, NBC Sports ran a story with this headline:

Could Patriots make the playoffs despite
2-4 record? Here’s what history says

Three weeks later — and three wins later — the AFC East standings:

Buffalo Bills ………………. 5-3
New England Patriots … 5-4
New York Jets …………… 2-6
Miami Dolphins ………… 2-7

The AFC playoff competition is wild this year. The Patriots and the Bills are among seven teams (along with the Chiefs, Raiders, Chargers, Bengals and Browns) with five wins after Week Nine.

It helps New England that Buffalo got upset Sunday by the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars, but the Patriots now control their own playoff destiny, thanks to a crucial road victory against the Carolina Panthers:

Bill Belichick has the blueprint for beating Sam Darnold, and it starts with disguising coverages.
His players just seem to do the rest.
New England’s defense intercepted Darnold on three consecutive possessions in the second half — including one that J.C. Jackson returned 88 yards for a touchdown — and the New England Patriots cruised past the Carolina Panthers 24-6 on Sunday for their fourth win in the past five games. . . .
Mac Jones overcame two early turnovers and threw for 139 yards and a touchdown, rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson had 106 yards from scrimmage before leaving the game with a head injury and Damien Harris and Hunter Henry scored touchdowns as the Patriots (5-4) improved to 4-0 on the road.
“Getting a win on the road is a hard thing to do and we’ve done a good job of that this year,” Jones said. “The defense was lights-out.”


Like I said about Alabama: Defense wins football games.




 

Category: Football

Rule 5 Sunday: Dina Meyer

Posted on | November 7, 2021 | Comments Off on Rule 5 Sunday: Dina Meyer

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Lot of discussion in the comments to yesterday’s post of the wretched Starship Troopers movie,* which as we all know had little to do with the famous book by Uncle Bob. Passing over the numerous flaws of Verhoeven’s crappy adaptation, though, one of the enjoyable bits of the movie was Dizzy Flores, played by veteran actress Dina Meyer. Meyer got her start on Beverly Hills 90210 and since then has had numerous guest appearances on quite a few TV series as well as continuing roles on Birds Of Prey, Miss Match, and Point Pleasant. Here she is in the movie Lethal Seduction. 
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Not the shower scene from Starship Troopers, but that’s NSFW.

Ninety Miles From Tyranny: Hot Pick of the Late Night, The 90 Miles Mystery Box Episode #1526, Morning Mistress, and Girls With Guns. 

Animal Magnetism: The Saturday Gingermageddon, but since he was out all last week hunting, he posted totty every single day last week. 

EBL: Lauren Boebert, Brigitte Bardot, The 5th Of November, LGB Song, Winsome Sears, Suzanne Youngkin, Sarah Blasko, Braves Win!, Army Of Thieves, The House Next Door: Meet The Blacks, The Unholy, Kate Beckinsale, Chapelwaite, and the New York Dolls. 

A View From The Beach: Virginia Madsen, Fish Pic Friday – Tina Weaver, Gone Fishin’, Something to Do With Your Hands, A Long, Long Time Ago (with cavegirls), The Wednesday Wetness, Big Fish Have Little Bugs Upon Their Back to Bite Them, Tattoo Tuesday, Trick or Treat!, Some Music to Greet Trick-or-Treaters By, Happy Pumpkin Day! and Palm Sunday.

Brian J. Noggle: Helen Slater from The Secret of My Success.

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious links!

*It turns out there’s five of them. The original, two direct-to-video sequels, and two more animated sequels.

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Category: Rule 5

Defense Wins Football Games

Posted on | November 7, 2021 | Comments Off on Defense Wins Football Games

The University of Alabama survived a scare Saturday against LSU, coming away with a hard-fought 20-14 victory to keep alive the Crimson Tide’s hopes of another trip to the college football playoffs.

LSU stopped Alabama’s running game — something that is cause for concern going forward — and forced the Tide to rely on quarterback Bryce Young’s passing arm. The sophomore did well enough, throwing for 302 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, but it was close.

During the fourth quarter, my brother Kirby needed an extra dose of his heart medicine. Fortunately, the ’Bama defense stepped up.

Sophomore linebacker Will Anderson Jr. put on a tackling seminar, with 12 tackles, including 8 solo tackles, one solo sack and another shared with fellow linebacker Christian Harris. In the fourth quarter, when LSU drove more than 70 yards to threaten Alabama’s lead, senior tackle Phidarian Mathis came up with a sack which caused what looked like a fumble, but was ruled an interception. In another key play late in the first half, Harris broke up an LSU pass, tipping the ball into the air where it was intercepted by junior safety Jalyn Armour-Davis:

That pickoff gave the Tide possession at the LSU 39, and Young then hit three of his next five passes, connecting twice to Jameson Williams before hitting John Metchie III for the touchdown.

Just by the way, as my brother commented during last night’s game, Jameson Williams — a junior transfer from Ohio State — has been a “godsend” for Alabama. If he can avoid injury, Williams bids fair to follow DeVonta Smith’s path to the Heisman Trophy and first-round NFL pick. Here he catches a 58-yard touchdown bomb from Bryce Young:

Now I should perhaps mention that Kirby is not a Bryce Young fan. Although Young is listed as six feet tall, that’s three inches shorter than Mac Jones, and Kirby thinks Young, whom he calls our “midget quarterback,” is in reality no taller than 5-10. Regardless of that, even a three-inch difference in height is very significant, in terms of a quarterback’s ability to see over the onrushing defensive linemen, who tend to be very tall, and Young’s limitations are obvious enough to anyone who seriously studies the videos. Young hits most of his passes toward the outside, perhaps because of his difficulty in seeing receivers in crossing routes over the middle. While this factor may not prevent Alabama from making another run at the national championship, I think it could reduce Young’s future value in the NFL.

But of course, this is getting way ahead of where Alabama is right now. Their one loss to Texas A&M won’t hurt the Tide in terms of making the playoffs, because A&M is 7-2 (their two losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State) and will move up in the rankings this week. However, a second loss would be fatal to ’Bama’s playoff hopes. The Crimson Tide have two remaining regular season games, against Arkansas (6-3) and archrival Auburn (6-3), and if Alabama struggled against a 4-4 LSU team, how will they do against two arguably superior opponents? This is headache enough for Tide fans, but even if ’Bama manages to win those two games, then they would have to face No. 1 Georgia in the SEC title game. And my God, have you seen Georgia this year?

The Bulldogs average 38.4 points and 180 rushing yards per game. Alabama averages more points per game (43.0), but fewer rushing yards (152.7). Beyond that, Georgia’s defense has been phenomenal, allowing just 59 points in nine games — 6.55 points per game — while Alabama has given up 179 points in nine games, 19.88 average points per game.

Of course, Jesus warned his disciples against borrowing tomorrow’s troubles, and it is therefore un-Christian of Alabama fans to be looking ahead to Georgia, when we know that the Tide will have their hands full against Arkansas next Saturday and Auburn in the Iron Bowl. We must be faithful to Christian teaching, and take them one game at a time, without fretting about a possible apocalypse against Georgia.

It all comes down to the defense, I believe. Alabama returned nine defensive starters from last year’s national champions, but so far this year, they haven’t produced the kind of signature performance that many fans expected. Maybe this win over LSU is a good omen for the future.

But there I go again, borrowing tomorrow’s troubles. Forgive me.




 

Category: Alabama, Football

FMJRA 2.0: Mental Door

Posted on | November 7, 2021 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: Mental Door

— compiled by Wombat-socho

The Birds returned the favor from the beginning of the season and took 2 of 3 on Sunday. Supposed to play a two-game set against Montreal this weekend but we keep missing connections.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

The Accusatory Finger of Blame
357 Magnum
EBL

Crazy People Are Dangerous
357 Magnum
EBL

The Stars Above
Brian J. Noggle
357 Magnum
EBL

The NFL’s (Other) Race Problem
EBL
Proof Positive

FMJRA 2.0: Totem
A View From The Beach
EBL

Rule 5 Sunday: Danielle Rose Russell
Ninety Miles From Tyranny
A View From The Beach
EBL
Proof Positive

Controlled Opposition: Has AllahPundit Always Been a Democrat Trojan Horse?
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL

In The Mailbox: 11.01.21
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

It’s On You, Virginia
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL

Mayor Frogface Update
357 Magnum
EBL

Virginia: ‘Too Close to Call’? BREAKING UPDATE: Youngkin Wins!
A View From The Beach
EBL

In The Mailbox: 11.02.21
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

‘These Republicans Are Dangerous’ and Other Stupid Media Election Reactions 
Little Grandma’s Kitchen
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL

In The Mailbox: 11.03.21
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

When Democrats Say ‘Our Children’
The Universal Spectator
357 Magnum
EBL

In The Mailbox: 11.04.21
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

The Weird Logic of Wajahat Ali
A View From The Beach
EBL

In The Mailbox: 11.05.21
A View From The Beach
357 Magnum
EBL
Proof Positive

Top linkers for the week ending November 5:

  1.  EBL (18)
  2.  357 Magnum (13)
  3.  A View From the Beach (12)
  4.  Proof Positive (7)

Thanks to everyone for all the links!

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Category: FMJRA Award

13 ‘Republicans’ Hand Joe Biden a Win

Posted on | November 7, 2021 | Comments Off on 13 ‘Republicans’ Hand Joe Biden a Win

Raise you hand if your reaction to this was, “What the actual fuck?”

Nancy Pelosi couldn’t pass the “infrastructure” bill because the left-wing fringe of her party wouldn’t vote for it. And so, despite the beating that Republicans put on Democrats last Tuesday — which should have been seen as a referendum against Biden’s agenda — 13 Republican members of the House voted for this $1.2 trillion “bipartisan” monstrosity:

Thirteen House Republicans voted for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The bill passed 228-206, meaning that the bill did not receive support from 218 Democrats, and Republicans gave Democrats the necessary votes for it to pass Congress’s lower chamber.
This is similar to how 19 Senate Republicans gave Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) the votes to reach the 60 plus-vote majority needed for the bill to pass through the Senate.
Reps. John Katko (R-NY), Don Bacon (R-NE), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Fred Upton (R-MI), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Don Young (R-AK), Tom Reed (R-NY), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), and Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) voted yes on the bill.
Six progressive Democrats voted against the bill Friday, and their votes could have given House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) the needed 218-plus votes for the bipartisan bill to pass through the House.
Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) voted against the bill. . . .
In a statement Friday, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said “that 13 House Republicans provided the votes needed to pass this is absurd.”
“Republicans who voted for the Democrats’ socialist spending bill are the very reason why Americans don’t trust Congress,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) wrote.

Why bother voting, if government is going to operate this way?

Philip Klein, who certainly is not a right-wing extremist, calls this GOP sellout “disgraceful,” which is putting it rather mildly.




 

Category: Congress

The Mud Below

Posted on | November 6, 2021 | Comments Off on The Mud Below

— by Wombat-socho

“We’ve left blood in the dust of twenty-five worlds,
and our dead on a dozen more,
and all that we have at the end of our hitch,
buys a night with a second-class whore.

“The Senate decrees, the Grand Admiral calls,
the orders come down from on high,
It’s ‘On Full Kits’ and sound ‘Board Ships,’
We’re sending you where you can die.”

– March of the CoDominium Line Marines (verses 1 & 2), from Jerry Pournelle’s The Prince

Welcome back to the continued trashing of what may be the worst list of recommended SF not published on Tor.com. In this post, we’re going to talk about combat SF that is set on planetary surfaces, the province of the poor bloody infantry, tankers of various sorts, and of course the Mobile Infantry with its several imitators. 

Which is really where we should start, with Uncle Bob’s seminal novel. Starship Troopers is a surprising book for a lot of people; unlike many of the books we’re going to look at later, it’s not primarily about combat, and there’s a lot of time spent on the questions of why soldiers fight and how governments come about. This is because the book is a coming of age story, the story of how Johnny Rico matures from clueless high-school kid to a hardened professional soldier, a man among men. Contrary to the assertions of New Wave attention whores and their Pink Goo descendants, there is not one word in the book that praises fascism nor one example of how the Terran Federation in any way resembles Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany, or even Franco’s Spain. But as we all know, facts and logic are tools of the patriarchal conspiracy. Read the book anyway.

I don’t think it’s really possible to understand Joe Haldeman’s Forever War and John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War without reading Starship Troopers, since these books were both written as responses to/knockoffs of Heinlein’s novel. Haldeman’s novel, originally published as a series of short stories in Analog in the early 1970s, was extremely controversial at the time for its depiction of mandatory sex among the draftee soldiers of the UN Expeditionary Force, as well as its very negative attitude toward the military and what turned out to be an unnecessary & pointless war. One could even point out that Haldeman’s novel has little in common with Heinlein’s except that Mandella & Rico both use powered armor and rise from private soldier to commanding officer – but there again, Mandella has almost nothing in common with his cloned soldiers at the end except that they’re both human. Sort of. It is very much a product of the Vietnam War, which is logical since Haldeman spent a year there as a combat engineer and joined the Vietnam Veterans Against The War on getting out. As for Scalzi’s book, it has even less in common with Starship Troopers – it is not a coming-of-age novel, there is very little philosophizing about war and the military, and in fact it’s pretty obvious that Scalzi neither spent time in the military nor around veterans of any vintage. It’s a decent book, and not an obvious ripoff like Fuzzy Nation, but if you didn’t read it, you wouldn’t be missing a whole lot.

There have been many bad reviews of David Drake’s Hammer’s Slammers, but one of the worst and most surprising came from the otherwise respectable Eric S. Raymond, who pretty clearly demonstrates that he didn’t understand what Drake (or Pournelle) were getting at. The mercenaries of Hammer’s Regiment (originally the Auxiliary Regiment of Friesland’s army) are not good people, for the most part – they’re just very, very good at their business, and their business is killing. It’s no secret that Drake, a Vietnam vet like Haldeman, modeled the Slammers on the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment he served with there, and for which he still feels a strong bond. Anyhow, the Slammers are an armored regiment, whose core is the hideously expensive, fusion-powered, and powergun-armed main battle tanks, but a lot of the stories deal with the troopers in the combat cars, futuristic versions of the M113 expedient cavalry fighting vehicles that eventually became the M3 Bradley. The series has grown from the first story, “Under The Hammer”, to the anthology and several novels, which were eventually combined into a three-volume set. I submit that you cannot intelligently discuss combat SF if you haven’t read at least the first anthology, which really encompasses the entire history of Hammer’s regiment.

At the other end of the technology spectrum, there is Drake’s Ranks Of Bronze.  Purchased in a Persian slave market by alien traders, the survivors of Crassus’ disastrous defeat at Carrhae now fight for their alien masters under strange suns against stranger opponents, for the traders’ law prohibits the use of higher technologies against primitive natives. This is a coming of age story as well – we see Gaius Vibulenus Caper mature from a young officer to the unquestioned commander of his legionaries, and in the process, finding a way home for his men and himself while teaching the aliens not to underestimate the intelligence of humans – or their ferocity.

In the middle, there is Raj Whitehall. Co-written with S.M. Stirling, the five General novels (since collected in a bewildering variety of anthologies along with the five sequels set on other planets) depict a young officer of the Gubernio Civil on Bellevue, which has after four millenia recovered from the crash of interstellar civilization to a 19th-century level of technology, but with riding dogs in place of horses. When we first meet young Whitehall, he’s exploring the ruins beneath the capital city of East Residence with his friend Thom Poplanich when they encounter a relic of the Pre-Fall times: a sector command & control computer, which imprisons Thom in stasis and chooses Raj to be its agent in unifying Bellevue. Center gives Raj a certain amount of assistance, showing him possible results of his actions, giving him an eidetic memory, providing him historical information, and minor tweaks to his own physical ability – at one point, Raj shoots a grenade out of the air with Center’s help. With this assistance building on his own charisma and talents, Whitehall recapitulates the career of the Byzantine general Belisarius (though with a happier ending) by defeating the barbarian Military Governments and finally the Muslims of the Colony, whose technology is equal to the Gubierno Civil and whose best general, the one-eyed Tewfik, is almost as good as Raj even considering Center’s help. The comparison of the civilized Gubierno Civil and its Latino population to the “blond, blue-eyed barbarians” of the Military Governments is a running joke, as is the conflict between the official computer idolatry of the Church of the Spirit of Man of the Stars and Raj’s own (secret) status as an Avatar of the Spirit through his connection with Center. The best place to start is with the original anthology, Warlord, which contains the first two books, followed by Conqueror, which has the last three books of the original series. 

S.M. Stirling makes for a good transition to the next book, since he pretty much wrote the last third of it. The Prince is the Falkenberg’s Legion omnibus, encompassing Jerry Pournelle’s original story, “The Mercenary”, the novels West of Honor and Sword & Scepter, the short story “Peace With Honor”*, and the three novels of the Helot War on Sparta, (Prince of Mercenaries**, Go Tell The Spartans, and Prince of Sparta) which is where Stirling comes in. There’s also some interstitial material shedding light on Senator Bronson’s hatred for Falkenberg and other matters. Amazon doesn’t help in its listing of these novels; they have the order of the Helot War novels scrambled, and Prince of Mercenaries is omitted from the listing of the “CoDominium Future History”. At any rate, critics (including the aforementioned ESR) howled about the Falkenberg stories; usually not so much about the politics, oddly, but about the lack of futuristic weaponry carried by the CoDominium Marines and by Falkenberg’s mercenaries. This is annoying, because it’s explained in several of the stories exactly why the predominant weapons are chemical-powered slugthrowers instead of lasers and blasters, but some people apparently can’t understand simple English. Except for a brief scene at the beginning of The Prince, we don’t see Falkenberg as a young man; he is always the cold, remote senior officer we see in “The Mercenary” and West of Honor, and we see that façade break only twice: when he loses his temper with President Hamner in “The Mercenary” and towards the end of Sword and Scepter, when it seems he’s allowing himself to fall in love again. I have been told by people I respect that one should avoid John Carr’s Falkenberg’s Regiment*** like the plague; I sell it to you for what I bought it, as our Russian friends say. 

No article on combat SF would be complete without a brief discussion of Keith Laumer’s Bolo stories. Self-aware robotic tanks of enormous size, with the later versions being able to devastate entire continents with their Hellbore main gun and onboard missile batteries, the history of the Bolo Combat Units extends from contemporary times to the far future of the 31st century and beyond. All of Laumer’s original stories, from “Night of the Trolls” to “Combat Unit” are included in The Compleat Bolo, which seems to have been reissued as Annals of the Dinochrome Brigade if you’d rather have it on Kindle. Baen Books published a series of anthologies expanding the Boloverse, and the best of those anthologies (which were very good indeed) were collected in Their Finest Hour. The David Weber, John Ringo, and William Keith novels written as part of the series were also worth your time.

Finally, a short story which is unfortunately overlooked, although Steve Jackson Games did credit it as one of the inspirations for their game OGRE. Colin Kapp’s “Gottlos” is a grim little tale, quite unlike the Bolo stories; in tone, it has a lot of similarities to L. Ron Hubbard’s Final Blackout, although things haven’t completely come apart – yet. Manton is the pilot of a remotely-controlled warmech, Fiendish, that has dominated the battlefield until one day it encounters an enemy warmech that proceeds to defeat and systematically dismantle Fiendish, until all that remains is the camera, which shows the nameplate on the enemy mech, which reads simply GOTTLOS. Manton hits the self-destruct on Fiendish, and has to be slapped back to his senses by his commander. The remainder of the story covers Gottlos’ stalking of Manton, until the final confrontation when he finally realizes what Gottlos actually is, and what it wants from him. Unfortunately, the story has only been reprinted once to the best of my knowledge, and the prices demanded for used copies of Analog 8 and the November 1969 issue of Analog on Amazon are nothing short of extortionate. The Unz Review used to have a PDF copy up, but apparently got slapped with a copyright demand, but if you can find a copy somewhere else, it’s well worth reading. 

* This is not, strictly speaking, a story about Falkenberg or his men, but like some of the stories that are, it helps you get a picture of just how bad the CoDominium is, and the price otherwise decent men pay to hold it together, knowing that the alternative is far worse.
** Prince of Mercenaries is a fixup novel that incorporates “His Truth Is Marching On” and “Silent Leges”, and I occasionally wonder if this was a tryout for Stirling to see if he had a good enough grip on the characters to write the other two Helot War novels. It introduced a great character, the hotel girl Ursula Gordon, who has a decent role in Go Tell The Spartans but then got written out of Prince of Sparta completely. Damn shame. 
*** Not to be confused with an earlier collection of the CoDominium/Falkenberg stories, Falkenberg’s Legion. This is essentially the same book as The Prince, lacking only four pages of interstitial material that the latter has


Previous posts in this series:
“And what is good, Phaedrus, and what is not good – need we anyone to tell us these things?”
The Stars Above

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Category: Books

Aspiring Rapper Update: Mom Shocked by the Unexpected Death of ‘Lil Theze’

Posted on | November 6, 2021 | Comments Off on Aspiring Rapper Update: Mom Shocked by the Unexpected Death of ‘Lil Theze’

Say hello to Desoni “Lil Theze” Gardner, 20, and while you’re at it, you can also say good-bye, because Lil Theze was shot to death last month at a gas station in Oakland, California. According to Vibe magazine:

Lil Theze was affiliated with Vallejo rap group, SOB x RBE, a group featured on the Black Panther soundtrack with their song, “Paramedic!” Lil Theze rose to fame with his collaboration, “Hashtag,” with SOB x RBE’s Daboii.

To say that someone “rose to fame” implies a level of success and notoriety that I’m not sure Lil Theze obtained during his brief lifetime, but he certainly deserves to be known for the manner of his death.

However much money Lil Theze made after he “rose to fame” as a rapper, his musical earnings were apparently insufficient to meet his financial needs, because on the afternoon of Oct. 21, he and two accomplices were cruising around Oakland in a black 2007 Nissan Sentra looking to rob somebody. They found an intended victim — an older man, driving a white late-model Porsche, who was getting gas at a Chevron station on Castro Street, just off I-980. They chose poorly.

Ersie Joyner, 52, retired from the Oakland Police Department in 2019, after a 28-year law-enforcement career in which he rose from patrolman to captain leading the city’s homicide unit, where he led more than 300 murder investigations. After his retirement, Joyner became a businessman in the (now legal in California) cannabis industry.

Lil Theze and his crew evidently had no idea who they were trying to rob. All they saw was a man pumping gas into a Porsche, and figured he must have some valuables worth stealing. But as an Oakland native who was very familiar with the dangers of the city’s streets, Ersie Joyner certainly would never go anywhere in Oakland unarmed.

Surveillance video captured the outcome of Lil Theze’s final crime. If you’ll watch that video carefully, Desoni “Lil Theze” Gardner is the one dressed in all black, clearly the leader of this robbery gang, who first approaches Joyner. At the five-second mark, the weapon in Gardner’s right hand is visible. Joyner is clearly paying attention to his surroundings, and turns to look at Gardner as soon as he comes around the back of the Nissan. Joyner has his cellphone in his left hand. From that point, about 30 seconds elapse during which Joyner makes no resistance to the robbery, until Gardner opens the right rear door of the Porsche. Joyner then steps back toward the rear of the car, and at the 38-second mark, draws his concealed pistol. He fires first at Gardner’s accomplice in the red hoodie, then shoots Gardner. By that time, the third robber (black coat, white pants) is driving off in the Nissan, and Joyner gets a shot or two off at him before the getaway driver returns fire. Here’s a report from the San Francisco NBC affliate:

 

Joyner was shot six times but survived. Gardner died at the scene, and police are still looking for the dead rapper’s accomplices.

By far the most interesting aspect of the story, however, was the reaction of the mother of the dead rapper/robber:

The mother of a young man shot dead by a retired Oakland police captain said her son was wrong to rob the man, but questions whether use of deadly force was necessary.
“I want to apologize to everyone in the Oakland community who was affected by that situation,” Trepania Williams told the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday of the robbery attempt on Oct. 21. “But death was not the answer.”
Her 20-year-old son, Desoni Gardner of Vallejo, was identified by authorities as one of three people who tried to rob Ersie Joyner as he pumped gas near downtown Oakland on Oct. 21. Joyner pulled out a gun and fired at the assailants, killing Gardner, before being shot and wounded as the other two suspects fled in a car.
“I understand my son was wrong but he’s already been held accountable,” Williams said. She said she has watched surveillance camera footage of the shootout numerous times and wants more scrutiny placed on Joyner, “who took the initiative to shoot and kill.” . . .
Gardner is the second son Williams has lost to gun violence in just over a year. Her older son, Demazhe Gardner, was killed in July 2020. The brothers were rap musicians and had recorded several songs and appeared in music videos.

You see that the acorns did not fall far from the oak. Evidently, this woman raised her sons to believe that (a) robbery is an acceptable career choice, and (b) it’s wrong for victims to fight back.

Aspiring Rapper
North American euphemism for a member of the urban criminal class. This unusual occupation is usually mentioned in conjunction with the subject either being slain or being taken into custody for a violent or property-related crime. A relative of the subject usually points out that the subject’s demise or incarceration comes at an extremely inopportune moment, occurring just as the subject was “turning they(sic) life around.”

The aspiring rapper “rose to fame” and became an expiring rapper.




 

Category: Aspiring Rapper Update
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