The 60th episode of Bald and Bloviating takes a bloviating look at America in 2025 through the eyes (and the big bald head) of host Mookie Spitz. In this solo rant, Mookie drags listeners from the chaos of his Chicago nightclub days in the ’90s straight into today’s fractured cultural and political landscape. The connective tissue? A phrase he once shouted across a barroom floor, echoing Dorothy and her Crew in Oz—“Liars and cowards and thieves, oh my!"
That refrain becomes the lens for a blistering diagnosis of modern discourse: from knee-jerk social media comments to the collapse of nuance, from Biden’s “zombie presidency” to Trump’s scorched-earth showmanship. Along the way, Mookie dissects the FCC’s role in media consolidation, the late-night purge of comics like Jimmy Kimmel and Colbert, and the authoritarian sleight of hand happening right behind the curtain.
But his rant isn’t just another partisan tirade. Mookie skewers both sides with equal ferocity, exposing the delusion, cowardice, and theft that underpin tribal politics. He weaves in riffs on Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, Will & Grace, Nixon’s ghost, and even genetic drift—building a raw, unscripted narrative about why Americans can’t seem to think critically, why nuance makes people uncomfortable, and why liars, cowards, and thieves thrive in a system addicted to outrage.
The episode closes on a paradox: America may be boiling over with corruption, polarization, and performative rage that's headed toward direct influence and control of media by the White House, but the brand of our great nation is still freedom. The chaos itself might be the last proof that we haven’t slid fully into authoritarianism—yet.
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