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A wildly out-of-the-norm week politically had heartlanders reacting with phrases such as “What in the Sam Hill” and “Bless their heart” on almost every social media outlet and in pubs, diners, and coffee shops. Only six months out from a clearly important presidential contest, and instead of the economy, transgender rights, and immigration, the conversation covers Biden’s New Guinea cannibal accusations, fiery protesters, and jurors for the biggest Trump trial in the Big Apple. This all goes to show that just when we think things can’t get any weirder in America, someone will self-combust and prove everyone wrong.
Uncle Bosey
Doing his damnedest to remain relevant at story time in front of the esteemed fourth estate, President Joe Biden told a whopper in which he tried to randomly accuse former President Trump of some hideous indifference to the military he did and could soon once again command. He praised his own family, and out of his creative brain came the story of Uncle Bosey.
“Corn Pop's Uncle ate Uncle Bosey?!” This was the incredulous question from John Lichon in Mesa, AZ.
No, wait for it, John. The crowd hushed, and Biden stood ramrod stiff as he squinted toward the horizon. "He became an Army Air Corps before the Air Force came along,” Biden explained. “He flew those single-engine planes as reconnaissance over war zones. And he got shot down in New Guinea, and they never found the body because there used to be, there are a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of New Guinea."
Chad Prather writes: “Who had Uncle Bosey being eaten by cannibals on their Bingo card?”
C’mon man. That didn’t happen. According to the Department of Defense official record:
“For unknown reasons, this plane was forced to ditch in the ocean off the north coast of New Guinea. Both engines failed at low altitude, and the aircraft's nose hit the water hard. Three men failed to emerge from the sinking wreck and were lost in the crash. One crew member survived and was rescued by a passing barge. An aerial search the next day found no trace of the missing aircraft or the lost crew members.”
Oh, and Bosey, also known as Second Lt. Ambrose Finnegan Jr., was simply a passenger on the plane. RIP. However, nephew Joey opened a new can of confusion at a time when the US tried to strengthen regional relationships to counteract Chinese dominance in the Pacific region.
“The Melanesian group of people, who Papua New Guinea is part of, are a very proud people,” said Michael Kabuni, a lecturer in political science at the University of Papua New Guinea. “And they would find this kind of categorisation very offensive. Not because someone says, ‘Oh, there used to be cannibalism in PNG’ – yes, we know that, that’s a fact.”
He continued, “But taking it out of context and implying that your [uncle] jumps out of the plane and somehow we think it’s a good meal is unacceptable. They wouldn’t just eat any white men that fell from the sky.”
“Thousands of US soldiers remain unaccounted for,” Kabuni added, then asked: “They’re spread from Southeast Asia to the Korean peninsula and Europe. What is [Biden] implying? All 79,000 that were never found were eaten?”
Then, Katie Reynolds threw up her hands and declared: “I’m on Team Cannibal.”
As Protests Go
There are tomes of information on how to effectively protest for change with clear instructions: Start a clear dialogue, inclusion of other thoughts, coalition building, and social media usage. What the guidebooks do not say is light yourself on fire (Of course given the political climate of late, perhaps there should be warning labels and disclaimers.)
But that is precisely what one disturbed young man did. A self-described independent researcher who fears an “apocalyptic fascist world coup.” Max Azzarello, set himself on fire outside the courthouse where the Trump trial was seating jurors. Azzarello before the incident was seen holding aloft a sign that read: Trump is with Biden and they’re about to fascist coup us.” On that poster was a link to Substack and his manifesto: “I have set myself on fire outside the Trump Trial,” the site headline read.
Azzarello was in a mental collapse over the past two years as friends and family had observed, even spending a stint at a mental hospital. Although motives remain unclear, he was a registered Democrat and had worked on political campaigns, most recently for Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY).
Deb Groleau of Williamsport, IN, stated: “Bless his soul but people are nuts in this country.”
And Marty Cassen in Memphis wrapped it up with humanity: “It’s sad and not funny that this person burned himself regardless of whether he is a trump supporter or a trump non supporter.”
12 Angry Trump People
The Trump jury has been selected even after the fatal protest in front of the courthouse. The roll of the dice and a vow to be impartial landed an investment banker, a security engineer, a retiree who enjoys fly fishing, and a worker from California in product development. Throw in a physical therapist, software engineer, schoolteacher, and a speech therapist, and you have a Trump hush money panel of folks to decide his fate.
From St Louis, Ann Mastroianni wrote: “Welcome to Russia.”
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