Attribution: Lorie Shaull from St Paul, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, senses the emotional intensity building up with the keeper and Phyllis as the November 3 election looms. The keeper has no clear recollection of serious political discussion during their brief courtship. But as it turned …
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Category:Politics
Kickass and Baby-Banking
Attribution: Ernest F, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, looks over the keeper’s shoulder as he appears to be enjoying the latest Fux News. “The male-dominated Republican Senate Committee in charge of women’s bodies is proposing a ‘womb rental’ fee to be levied on infants at the time of …
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The Elephant Graveyard
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The latest No Kings rally occurred this past weekend. It was a beautiful autumn day, (in the words of Tom Robbins in his novel Another Roadside Attraction) “…one of those mellow October days that seem concocted from a mixture of sage, polished brass and peach brandy.” Hundreds of people gathered …
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Kickass is Under the Bus
Attribution: Photo by Austin Pacheco on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, presents the following one-act play on behalf of the Keeper and Phylis. “Where are we?” “Under the bus!” “How the hell did we all get under the bus?” “We were thrown there by the driver, the one hired by the escaped billionaire inmates. He …
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American Watchdogs
Attribution: The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter The framers of the Constitution realized that a well-informed electorate was so vital to a functioning democracy, they guaranteed freedom of the press in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Our founders were determined to give the American …
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Into the Light
Attribution: Photo by infinyd photo on Unsplash By Geoff Carter “Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.” —Helen Keller She would know. Trapped in a world of silence and darkness as a child after being afflicted with an acute fever, fully aware that a world existed outside her perception must have …
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Kickass and Democratic Weather
Attribution: Photo by Shūto Yabuta on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, on this rainy morning of Sept. 30, 2026 joins the keeper in applauding the democracy of rain–step out into it and you get wet no matter who or what you are, or might think you are too important to get rained on. The same …
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Tipping Point
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Last week, Florida Representative Maria Elvira Salazar broke ranks with the Republican ranks by airing a television ad critical of Trump’s deportation policies. Speaking directly to the camera, she said “Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” warning him that Hispanic voters who …
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Kickass and Getting Shots
Attribution: Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, noted that the keeper and Phyllis got their “shots” yesterday at the drug store where a friendly young man said he did about 50 every day and his future schedules were full. As he waited, the keeper experienced a daytime dream of sorts: …
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The Elephant in the Room
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter We try to keep an eye on the news at our house, particularly the political news. We watch CNN, network news, some of the other more partisan cable shows, and listen to various podcasts and reading independent sources like Heather Cox Richardson. Lately—in the last two months or …
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Kickass Watches the Sunrise
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, watched from his napping position as the keeper crept out of bed sometime before 6:33 am with the inexplicable uneasy feeling that the sun may not rise as usual. As he watched the dark eastern horizon there was the gradual emergence of a red …
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The Longest Day
Attribution: UA_Flight_175_hits_WTC_south_tower_9-11.jpeg: Flickr user TheMachineStops (Robert J. Fisch) derivative work: upstateNYer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter We all remember where we were that day twenty-five years ago. I was just getting to work. It was a normal day, a beautiful day. The school year was just beginning, and an air of optimism …
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