Now I can see I've been away too long.

 Man, Charley Pride died today. He was 86 and died from complications for COVID-19. So that's another one lost to a virus that conservatives are still calling a "hoax" or a "plan." Rotten bastards. Eighty-six is a respectable age, particularly for a country singer, and Charley was one of the best. I would've loved to hear a no-holds-bar interview or read a book about his experiences in country music and Nashville. Being one of the first Black superstars - and the only Black singer of any significance since DeFord Bailey since the '30s - is something else.

 For me, one of country music's biggest shames, maybe the biggest, is the racism inherent in it. The fans would eventually give in like they did with Charley, but they're never cool about it. The business end almost refuses to believe that a black person could even like country music, much less want to sing it. I hope this comes out properly, but I've exposed a lot of black people of all ages to country music and never once have they come away without digging at least one song.

 I didn't care for the tune so much but I'm glad Lil Nas X had such a hit with "Old Town Road." No doubt due to his initial popularity with Hootie & The Blowfish, Darius Rucker's consider a country music mainstay. That's good. It's different now and there are a lot more folks sneaking around the bottom of the mainstream and Americana charts, but I can't think of any. That's on me, though, but that's how it should be. Thanks, Charley. You were the greatest.

 Well. Moving on, let's lay down some links to this week's News. It was a pretty good week overall, but there was a lot of good news going down. Monday we touched on the thuggery Florida governor Ron DeSanti launched against whistleblower Rebekah Jones. Again, for all the hooting and hollering conservatives do about "tyrannical government" and "free speech," they're pretty damn silent on this issue.

 Wednesday we looked at that goofy as affidavit slimeball Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched to get the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn voting results in four states that weren't Texas. Over two-thirds of House Republicans signed on and 18 attorney generals from Trump-supporting states signed on, even though it was poorly argued and completely nonsensical. Naturally, as we saw Friday, the Court slapped it down, pretty much killing any chance Trump had of peacefully staying in power.

 And that should be that. Of course, the yay-hoos - made up of Alex Jones, the Proud Boys, and other groups of dingbats who're pissed off at reality - are having a "stop the steal" march in Washington, D.C. For the most part, they're being roundly and rightly mocked, but there is an air of unease. Jones, for example, is calling for President-Elect Joe Biden to be removed "one way or another." He's a clown but a lot of deluded assholes take him more seriously than anyone should.

 Still, we live in a world where someone shooting someone else because that person's cell phone went off in a theater is seen as perfectly logical. We live in a culture where people still think a kid who shot up a black church after praying with them is seen as understandable. We live in a culture where folks think a teenager going to another town to "protect" someone else's business and his wind up shooting three people is considered admirable.

 Don't get it twisted, The MAGA faithful are willing to do just about anything for Trump and all the results of the last month haven't made a dent. If someone disagrees with him or doesn't do automatically becomes part of the "Deep State" and in on the worldwide conspiracy to be mean to Trump. Even the three Supreme Court justices that he appointed are the Enemy.

 Will they be violent? I wouldn't be surprised. Highland Park, Kyle Rittenhouse, the Proud Boys, the El Paso shooting, and the pipe-bomb guy show they have plenty of folks who don't have a problem with spilling a little blood in the name of their New Messiah. I'm not saying they will, I'm just saying watch yourself, friends and neighbors.

 They consider you the Enemy. They see themselves as Warriors of God. They see Trump - Donald Trump, of all people - as worth killing you over. Don't trust in them just flapping their gums and swinging their dicks. Some of them are serious and the rest will be fine with it. Believe that.