I'm Beginning To Doubt The Value Of An Ivy League Education

Herein follows an incomplete list of Ivy League graduates that have recently served, or are currently serving, in our government:

(Some went to Harvard, some to Yale, a few to Princeton, and several went to two of the three.)

Ted Cruz, asshole Senator from Texas.

Tom Cotton, asshole Senator from Arkansas.

Ben Sasse, asshole Senator from Nebraska. 

Ron DeSantis, criminal Governor of Florida.

Mike Pompeo, Wilbur Ross, Elaine Chao, Steve Mnuchin, proud members of the "former guy's" Cabinet. All corrupt in different ways. (Der Trumpo himself went to grad school at Penn's Wharton School, where he was described by one of his professors as "the dumbest goddamn student I ever had.")

Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh, justices of the Supreme Court, and blights on the very idea of the Law.

Of course we must not ever forget Simple W, (George W. Bush) and the Dark Lord (Dick Cheney), those draft dodging war mongers who gave us the multi-trillion dollar sinkhole that is Iraq.

And, just for nostalgia's sake, J. Fife Symington, former Governor of Arizona, whom, when caught in some legal trouble, defended himself by saying, essentially, "they should have known I was lying."

I suppose it's really very simple:

If you went into the Ivy League as a complete asshole, chances are you will come out as a complete asshole, too.

Even the best schools can't fix that.

The Accomplishments Of Donald J. Trump

There follows an incomplete list of the major accomplishments of Donald J. Trump, soon to be a former President of the United States:

He made George W. Bush seem almost competent. At one point, I would have thought that that was impossible, but...we are forced from here on out to compare all Presidents, past and future to Trump. So, even though W. was by any fair accounting a fucking disaster, once you apply the Trump comparison meter, he was, well, still a fucking disaster--but not nearly as catastrophic a fucking disaster as Donald J. Trump. Because, for all of his faults, George W. Bush was not a racist, criminal, traitor. A combination that will henceforth be known as The Full Trump. 

At this point, all of our awful, crappy Presidents, move down one on the list of awful, crappy Presidents. Donald J. Trump is numbah 1, now and, if our luck holds, forever.

It's not all bad for Trump, though. After all, he ended the political career of Jeb "Please Clap" Bush. The "smart one" just didn't have the stones to defeat the "corrupt one". So we will have to wait another generation for a Bush to rise up and darken the land. Credit where credit is due to El Trumpo the Conqueror. 

He exposed the Republican Party for what it has been since 1968 at least: a collection of racists, hiding behind code words like "states' rights", "law and order", and "welfare queens". A party whose sole legislative purpose is to redistribute wealth upward while maintaining a permanent under class, all while appealing to the worst impulses of its base. How they got from the Party of Lincoln to this in a little over 100 years is a truly amazing achievement. 

He set an unbreakable record for lies. 25,000 of them as of today. Sure, all Presidents lie. But Jesus Christ, there's a difference between a dribble and a tsunami. Nixon and Reagan, previously thought of as the gold standard, were rank amateur liars compared to Donald J. Trump. He lies incessantly, he lies without a shred of conscience, he lies about everything and anything. He lies about things that there is no good reason to lie about. Obviously, he cannot help himself. With this amazing, unmatched, ability he really should have gone into religion instead of business. There's always a place for that level of mendacity in the Houses of the Lord. He already has the hair and the makeup, and if he can avoid prison (and that's a very big "if" hahaha) he could segue right into televangelism.

He helped to kill 265,000 Americans--and counting. And that's a lot. But at least he avoided a CoVid "panic". Right? On the plus side of the ledger, some of those were (and will be) his own supporters. When you look at it that way, it's not so bad.

I wonder, right before they intubate a MAGAt, do they ask "tired of winning yet?"

By necessity, this must remain an incomplete list. No doubt the Biden Justice Department will add many entries. 

In the meantime, he has a few more weeks to work his "magic".

A Few Words About George H.W. Bush

Someone once said that you shouldn't speak ill of the dead.

Uh huh.

But then I'd have very little to say about George H. W. Bush.

So here goes:

Willie Horton. (Ooh look! A scary black man! Be afraid! Be very afraid!)

Lee Atwater. (See above.)

Iran-Contra. (Bush famously claimed to be "out of the loop" about the Reagan White House's arms deals with Iran. Fortunately--for some--he was President and "back in the loop" when it was time to pardon everyone involved.)

April Glaspie. (Remember her? She's the one who essentially told Saddam Hussein that he could do whatever he wanted with Kuwait--we didn't care. But she did not do this on her own...)

Dan Quayle. (Having a halfwit a heartbeat away from the Presidency is never a good idea.)

C.I.A. (Once a C.I.A. boy, always a C.I.A. boy.)

Prescott Bush (His Daddy, who by some accounts was allegedly part of an attempted coup against FDR, and who was also a banker friendly to the Nazis.)

This was in no discernible way a "great" man. Was he better than his son, Simple W.? Sure.

Was he better than the oozing pustule now besmirching the White House? Of course he was. That bar is awfully low, though.

Rest in Peace, Poppy. (It's better than you deserve.)

This Ain't Normal

We have had Presidents who weren't too smart....I'm looking at you, W.

We have had Presidents who were racists. I'd guess all of the ones from the South until Carter and Clinton.

We have had Presidents who were crooks. The obvious ones being Nixon and Harding.

We have had Presidents who were liars...probably most of them at one time or another.

We have had Presidents who were fools, bigots, misogynists, sexual predators.

But to combine all of these unfortunate traits in one bloated, orange, circus clown is a first!

And throw in the strong possibility of treason to boot...

I guess this is just another example of that famous American Exceptionalism.

We will get through this--I hope.

But we will never be the same country again.

Because once you let the crazy out of the bottle, it's impossible to put it back in again.

The Voice Inside Jeb Bush's Head

"Why am I doing this? I hate this. They told me it would be easy. They told me it would be a slam dunk. We nominate you. You win the general. We're back in business! All that gerrymandering. All those rigged voting machines. Jeb, it's in the bag! It's in the bag. That's what they said.

Now, here I am. Behind three clowns. No. Four clowns. Jesus Christ. Who am I ahead of? Anybody?

And I have to ask my goddamn big brother, who is, let's face it, an idiot, to help me. Because why? Because people like him? Like him? Do any of you morons remember the glorious W years? Any of you? I say this with all the brotherly love I can muster. My big bro is an epic fuck-up. Sometimes I really regret stealing Florida for him in 2000. Because he fucking poisoned the well for me. He and Cheney.

But now, I'm married to him. I have to pretend the Iraq War was a great idea. I have to pretend that somebody else was President on 9-11. Is it any wonder I don't seem too enthused? Is it any wonder I don't have that 'fire in the belly'? Remember 'Mission Accomplished'? Try dragging that around with you. Yup, that's my brother's gift to me.

And my Mom. 'We've had enough Bushes.' Thanks Ma. Thanks loads. That was a great way to kick off my campaign. Good to know where I rate in this family.

Four clowns. Trump, Cruz, that ungrateful little prick Rubio, and the black guy. Sleepytime. What's his name? Carson? Supposed to be a doctor or something. Fuck.

So here I am down in Dixie, begging a bunch of inbred mouth breathers who are still whining about the Civil War to please, please, vote for me, y'all.

OK. We'll let it play out. There's still a few million bucks to blow through, after all. And if the good voters of the Republican Party decide they want that gasbag Trump, that oily serpent Cruz, or those other guys more than me, then fine. Just fine.

Why am I doing this? I hate this."

Repeat After Me, "The Saudis Are Not Our Friends"

You know, it's funny, but most of the 9-11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.

Not Iraq or Iran or Syria or Pakistan or even Afghanistan.

Saudi Arabia.

And yet, in the days after the twin towers fell, the Bush administration let plane loads of Saudis fly home without a second thought.

Hell, there's even pictures of W holding hands with a Saudi prince....I believe the one they call Bandar Bush.

Indeed, the Bush family has done business with the Saudis for years.

Maybe that's why W was so quick to say we weren't at war with Islam and that Islam was a religion of peace--because that's what the Saudis told him to say.

And after all, they're our allies.

Meanwhile, those "peaceful" Saudis continue to fund the most extreme madrassahs and the most anti-American Imans they can find.

Reportedly including al-Qaeda and ISIS/ISIL/Daesh.

How fucking stupid are we?

Oh, I know they buy billions of dollars of fighter planes and shit, but come on...

This is all about oil, right?

So, take their fucking oil. "Neutralize" them. And be done with it.

I don't want to sound like a Republican, but one more American life is not worth all the Saudis there ever were or ever will be.

By A Thousand Cuts

Will ISIS, or ISIL or Daesh or whatever the fuck they're called, manage to carry out an attack in the US?

I don't know.

Trump can bluster, Lindsey Graham can clutch his pearls, Bill Kristol can call for a million troop deployment, John McCain can scream "I told you so!", Jeb "The Smart One Is A Relative Term" Bush can do whatever it is he does, Ted Cruz can act dead butch, and all the Fox News puppets and panderers can froth at the mouth about Obama's "weakness/incompetence".

None of them know either.

(Although it does seem like many of them would welcome it, if only to finally put that uppity negro is his place.)

I do know that from what I've read 9-11, which got us into this particular mess,  could have been prevented if we hadn't had a smirking frat boy simpleton and a slathering oil whore chickenhawk running things...

I also know that at some point in the not too distant future a white male psychopath, armed to the teeth thanks to our Supreme Court's interpretation of the Second Amendment and our esteemed Congress's fear of the NRA, and nursing some sort of grievance against "them", will shoot up an American school, or movie theatre, or shopping mall, or.....

That is indisputable.

Now, which do you think is more likely to happen first?

Oh, one more thing that is indisputable. If the crazy nihilist Muslims are here, it won't be very hard for them to get all the guns they want.

So, how's this for a campaign slogan:

"ISIS and the Republican Party: Working Together To Keep Americans Scared"

More Republican Debate Demands

Laugh track.

Applause signs.

No "gotcha" questions. No hard questions. No questions. Just let us talk. That's what the American people want.

Don't look at us like that.

A choir.

When we lie, and we all will lie, repeatedly, don't you dare say anything.

Cool graphics. Like the Avengers.

Something to keep Carson from nodding off.

I said don't look at us like that!

More yooge. More fantastic. More winning.

Treat us with the respect we deserve.

As long as Jeb is still in the race, don't mention his brother.

(Note: find out if Jeb is still in the race)

Something for Marco Rubio to stand on. A stool, a phone book. Something.

Absolutely no fact checkers. For what are "facts" really? Just some so called "expert's" opinion.

Soft focus for Carly.

Trump's hair wants its own trailer.

Since nobody wants to stand next to Cruz, maybe we can green-screen him in.

Audience vetted by Fox News, the Koch brothers, and/or the KKK.

When we lie, and we all will lie, repeatedly, try to keep a straight face.

They Told Us You Were The Smart One

That's right, Jeb.

Or should I say Jeb! ?

All this time, all these years, we've heard W may be an idiot--but he's our idiot, dammit--and anyway, his lil bro Jebster is the smart one.

Just wait until Jeb runs! Then you'll see!

The heavens will part...the birds will sing...and all will be right with the world...

So hey, Jebbie is running...and it turns out he's just as smart as his brother! And not an ounce smarter.

Gee, do you think it's genetic?

I mean, does that sort of thing run in families?

Jebra has already been rolled, repeatedly by the Trumpster.

In fact, he seems scared of Donald J.

He's defended his idiot brother's foreign policy, uh, accomplishments, against all available evidence.

And as to his own accomplishments as Governor of Florida, you all, on closer inspection they aren't exactly stellar. Just more of the same steal from the poor to help the rich Republican crap that we've come to know and love.

The Smart One! is currently polling behind El Trumpo The Magnificent and a brain surgeon who is in all other aspects a fool. And just slightly ahead of a failed businesswoman who was paid a small fortune by her former employers to go far, far away.

Now, to be fair, Jebber Jabber did manage to help steal the 2000 election for W...and that ought to count for something...

Defining Deviancy Down

You're probably thinking, "Boy, there sure are a lot of Republicans who think they're qualified to be President of the United States of America!"

And then, after you stop laughing, you're probably thinking, "But none of them are! Not really. Not one!"

Here's the problem: after 8 years of George W. Bush, the bar was set sooooo low that anyone in the GOP with more than two functioning brain cells thought "Hey, if he was President, I could be President, too! Cool!"

Thank you, Simple W.

And then, because a (gasp) black man was elected, twice, (hahaha), the racist part of those dimly functioning brains thought, "Hey, I'm white! That automatically makes me superior to any non-white person. I should be President! Cool!"

It is a perfect storm of stupid, and hubris, and white privilege all twirling together that gives us people like Trump, Bush, Cruz, Santorum, Rubio, Perry, Graham, Kasich, Christie, and Walker.

Frankly, there is no rational explanation for Carly Fiorina or Bobby Jindal. Other than being purely delusional, that is.

And as for Ben Carson, well, a little too much surgical nitrous oxide is my guess. He's flat tripping.

Jeb!

Is this a great country, or what?

Case in point:

Here's a guy whose grandfather happily did business with the German banks that backed Hitler. And, if that wasn't enough, he also was reportedly part of a plot to overthrow FDR.

Whose father was a CIA stooge.

Whose brother is the only true imbecile we've ever had as President.

And yet, given all that, and believe me, there's more, Jebber Jabber is considered the "serious" Republican presidential candidate by both the Republican establishment and the mainstream media.

Like Don King says, "only in America!"

The Smart One

Ah, so the Chosen One has decided to enter the race!

Jeb '16!

How very, very, lucky we are!

Prepare yourselves for an avalanche of bullshit, delivered in the inimitable Bush style.

Bullshit about Iraq, and ISIS, and Iran, and the economy, and climate change, and deregulation, and oil, and Israel, and China, and Russia, and Obama, and Hillary, and abortion, and education, and job creation, and unions, and immigration.

Oh, and let's not forget "compassionate conservatism"!

Most everything Jebber Jabber says will be a lie, easily disproved with a few minutes effort.

Same as it ever was with the Bush family.

As you listen to this non-stop palaver, always remember one thing:

He's "the smart one."

Starring Jeb Bush As The Human Weather Vane

Remember that scene from Chinatown when Jack Nicholson is fed up being lied to and starts slapping Faye Dunaway around and Dunaway keeps saying "she's my sister, she's my daughter, my sister, my daughter" and so on?

Well Old Jebber kinda reminded me of that with his Iraq War talk.

Except there wasn't anybody there to slap the truth out of him.

Yup, he more or less did that all to himself.

"I would. I wouldn't. I would. I wouldn't."

That high pitched "whirrrrr" you thought was tinnitus? That's just Jeb, spinning!

And he's supposed to be the "smart" one.

Then again, in that family "smart" is a relative term.

Hey, What Happened?

I thought we were all supposed to be dead from Ebola by now? That's what they said on Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. That we were all going to die because Obama hates white people and Ebola is his way of getting back at us for slavery. And if we didn't quarantine all of West Africa, we'd all be dead by Thanksgiving!

And what about ISIS/ISIL? It was neck and neck whether we would die from Ebola before ISIS/ISIL cut off our heads because Obama, that secret Muslim, was such a lousy, weak leader, and because he detests America so much he had opened the door for his brethren to sneak in and kill us while we slept!

And gasoline was supposed to be 6, 7 maybe even 8 dollars a gallon because of Obama's stupid energy policies! But it isn't and it wasn't and...what's the deal on that?

And the economy was supposed to collapse under the threat of that Kenyan's anti-colonial socialism, yet the stock market keeps setting records and more jobs have been created than in George W. Bush's entire presidency. That can't be possible, can it?

And remember how Putin was a three dimensional chess master while poor Barack was still shooting marbles, poorly, somewhere in a Nairobi alley? And how excited the right got about manly, manly Vladimir the Stud Dictator? Jeez, it was almost like they're genetically wired to worship totalitarianism...How'd that turn out again?

This is madness I tells ya, madness! I just don't know who to believe...

I guess the good news is that we can stop worrying about climate change, and those anti-business loons over at the EPA, because noted climate scientist and oil company cuddly toy Senator Jim Inhofe is in charge of things now and he says there's no such thing as man made climate change.

Whew, we sure dodged a bullet there.

Also, and this is very important, according to a majority of our Supreme Court, and everyone at Fox News, too, we live in a post racial society now, where everyone is judged by the contents of their character, and not by the color of their skin. And therefore, the police only shoot criminals, and not just any black person who they feel threatened or disrespected, by.

Wow, that's a relief!

The Existential Nightmare Of....Existence

A long, long time ago....

This country used to work, more or less. Oh, folks had their differences. Folks will always have their differences.

And things were far from perfect. We've had some crooks in charge, I'm thinking of you Dick Nixon; and some figureheads, hello Ronnie Reagan, hello W.; several outright racists; and more than a few cyphers, Ford, Harding, Taylor, Pierce, Buchanan, Fillmore--well, yes, it is a longer list than you'd expect from the Greatest Country There Ever Was Or Ever Could Be.

But setting aside the Civil War period, which I know is impossible for some of our Southern cousins, the people who claimed to govern us would not dream of actively working to destroy the nation.

They understood that compromise was a necessary component of a functioning democracy. Hell, there wouldn't be a United States without compromise. The Constitutional Convention was nothing but a series of compromises--some good, some bad. The Founding Fathers, all of whom were human, by the way, and therefore flawed, understood that that was the only way to preserve our tenuous union.

Somehow we muddled along.

And up until, oh, 20 years ago or so, there was still the possibility of moving the country forward through a process of give and take.

But, like I said, that was a long, long time ago.

Certainly before the black guy became President.

Now, everything is a fight. Every single thing. Complex or relatively simple, it doesn't matter. And the question of whether or not something is good for the country is lost in all of the noise.

This may be because we all seem to be living in different versions of America. The commons and the idea of a common good have been shattered and all that is left is whatever each of us imagines the United States to be. Or to have been...

And that isn't any way to run a country.

Lessons From The Master

So Dick Cheney, former President pro tem of these here United States stopped by to give those wily rascals who make up the Republican part of our esteemed House of Representatives some pointers on war, Iraq, terrorism, ISIS/ISIL, and what the hell, life itself.

Naturally, these true blue patriots listened raptly, with dewy eyes and hearts all aflutter, seated at the feet of the Master, because they are, after all, nothing if not loyal boot licks.

Always on the look out for a friendly audience, Cheney, who is kept alive and amongst us by the wonders of modern medicine, offered up his "expert" advice.

Sorry...but I can't go on. We've stepped over the line from tragedy to farce one too many times.

Dick Cheney is a war criminal. He is forever stained with the blood of Americans and Iraqis. He is mendacious to his rotten core and, at this point anyone who believes a word he says is an imbecile. He should be locked in a dark, damp cell somewhere, muttering and snarling to himself, and writing his "expert" advice on the walls with his own feces.

And when the batteries in his artificial heart start to fail, three simple words:

Do Not Resuscitate.

The More Things Change

As the neocons rage about a "lost" Iraq, some of us remember how we were lied into that war by Cheney-Bush, Rice, Rumsfeld, McCain and the gang, including The New York Times, and some of us obviously don't.

Before we go all goofy with the USA! USA! chant, and more stupid country songs about how tough we are, perhaps we should pause and consider the events of June-August 1914.

A whole bunch of smart people, many of whom were related to each other, somehow managed to get their countries into a war that none of them anticipated, killed off a generation of Europeans, started the Russian Revolution, created random boundaries throughout the Middle East, and sowed the seeds of Fascism.

Which led directly to the Spanish Civil War, and World War II.

Other than that things worked out pretty well.

When I was a mere youth, there was a best selling book entitled "The Best and the Brightest". It was all about the really smart people who initially got us mired in Vietnam. Because they were so sure of their superior intelligence, they arrogantly ignored history and every single warning sign. No matter what, they were certain they could think their way out of trouble. Think and/or bomb...

Now, no book about the Cheney-Bush years could possibly be called the best and the brightest--not even in jest. But the results were the same.

And so we find ourselves in what looks like a lose-lose situation, with no clear solution. Partition Iraq? Okay, that would make the Kurds happy, but who gets the oil? What about Iran and Saudi Arabia? They'll have something to say about it. And what about our "friends" in Israel and the Palestinians? Most of us would probably be happy to sit back and watch the Shias and Sunnis kill each other off. After all, they've been doing it for over 1000 years. Why not finish the job? Of course, that could easily spill over into Egypt, Turkey, and all of the 'stans'. And that means Russia and China and India all conceivably have skin in the game.

Considering everything, I think we are very lucky that we have a cautious, intelligent man in charge, and not a hair trigger cowboy nitwit.

 

Please, Just Go Away

Dick Cheney, aka The Dark Lord, and his daughter, Liz, who isn't a lesbian, and, truth be told, not much of a sister either, but who was a laughable failure as a senatorial candidate, have spoken out, for the umpteenth time, about what they perceive to be the abject failure of President Obama's foreign policy.

By failure they mean ol Barack hasn't gotten us into any wars. Indeed, he's gotten us out of the Cheney-Bush wars, and not gotten us into wars with Iran or Syria. And for an old chickenhawk like Dick Cheney, that's a sign of weakness.

It's strange, you know, a guy who got so many deferments, the infamous "other priorities", to avoid service in Vietnam, being such a cheerleader for war. But then, most of those neo-cons are like that, aren't they? Where's dear old Freud when we really need him?

Dear Dick (and Liz), it's time to face the facts. No one who matters cares what you think. About anything. God knows you had your chances. With numbnuts in the White House you and your buddies got to run the country for a few years. And you were wrong about everything*. You fucked it up completely. So, shut the fuck up, OK? Take the big Halliburton payout, load up the old Holland and Holland, and go shoot something. Or someone. But please, just go away.


*wrong about everything is a registered trademark of the Cheney family.

Happy Memorial Day!

On this Happy Memorial Day 2014, we pause from our bar-b-ques and ballgames and parades to remember one thing:

The Republicans love our veterans.

Just ask them.

Well, not all of our veterans.

Not the gay ones. Yuck.

But other than that one small exception, Republicans can't wait to tell you how much they love our veterans.

Of course, they don't love them enough to adequately fund the VA.

Because even though VA funding has gone up by 50% under Obama (little thanks to the party of "no") the number of veterans needing help has gone up over 100% since Simple W. started his wars.

And, surprise surprise, the last bill to increase VA funding was filibustered by--you guessed it--the Republicans.

Now, before you jump to any rash conclusions, this only proves that patriotism is one thing and raising taxes on the rich is another. Obviously, they are mutually exclusive.

Still, the Republicans love our veterans so much that they will happily make more of them at the drop of a hat.

What Republicans really mean when they say how much they love our veterans is this:

We will always find enough money to start wars, but never find enough money to care for the people who do the fighting.

Oh, and God Bless America!

The United States of Amnesia

OK, I admit to borrowing the title from Gore Vidal...who is sorely missed.

But that's the way it goes. Great people die off and we're left to shuffle on without them...hopefully having learned something from them.

Anyway, Vidal's point was that we Americans, as a people, tend to forget things in an incredibly rapid fashion. Forget or perhaps never know in the first place.

The Republicans understand this, and act accordingly. Already there's a concerted effort to make us believe that the presidency of Bush/Cheney wasn't the soul destroying, mind numbing, complete disaster that it was.

And so, naturally, it follows, for reasons that have no basis in reason, that we now have a great number of voters longing for a Congress controlled by Republicans come the 2014 midterms. And maybe even a Republican president in 2016.

Coupled with a Supreme Court ruled by 5 sorry, old, corporatist white men, that would leave the Republicans in charge of all 3 branches of government.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, let me tell you:

How 'bout another war? Pick one; Iran, Syria, North Korea. Russia! What about all at once?  That would be soooo good for the defense industries! Really pump up their bottom lines.

How 'bout completely unregulated industries? Imagine the oil spills! Wow! Imagine the water and air pollution! Get rid of the EPA and unleash the beauty of unfettered American capitalism.

Climate change, slimate change. Just another liberal lie. Besides, Al Gore is fat! Drill baby drill! Frack baby frack! Burn baby burn!

While we're at it, let's do away with the Department of Education and all public schools, too. Charters are the way to go! That's where the money is...

And speaking of big money, Wall Street would do a great job with Social Security. Sure, there would be winners and losers, but, hey, that's life!

Oh, and by the way, this ain't Europe, so health care is only for people who can afford it. Remember, makers not takers.

Fuck it, let's undo all of the social progress of the last 80 years! Women belong pregnant and in the kitchen, blacks were probably better off as slaves, and gays should just turn straight--or disappear.

Finally, only white men and women with property should be allowed to vote.

The philosopher Santayana famously remarked, "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

But, what the hell? There's an old Russian proverb that translates to "repetition is the mother of learning." Let's go for it!

And so it goes...