The “Go The Fuck AWAY” Club

GTFA

Recently one of my close friends, comrades, and “brother in arms” Nolan Dalla, penned a list of people that he wished, to be frank, would just go the fuck away (I even stole his doormat for this article!). Because he has a penchant for politics (as befitting someone who was in the diplomatic service corps for the States of America in the 1980s) and in tribute to the current virtual Democratic National Convention, he came up with a list of right- and left-wing politicians that he bestowed his inaugural class honors on. With such an impetus, how could I avoid not doing the same thing.

I chose several right- and left-wing politicians (and celebrities too) that have certainly overstayed their welcomes. Their schtick has gotten tiresome and, either for that reason or for the fact they’ve been around too goddamn long, they need to head to the exits. Thus, without further ado, here’s my choices for the “Go the Fuck AWAY” Club.

The Right

Ted Nugent & Kid Rock: I decided to start with these two because they are trying to stay relevant in their careers and they’ve chosen fuckwit politics as the way to do it. Nugent wasn’t this bad back in the 80s, it’s a persona that he has festered into the worm he is today. Robert Ritchie (AKA Kid Rock) is a white boy who glammed onto a gimmick and is waiting for Nugent to die to take over the “white racist redneck” market. While I enjoy their musical contributions (and I’ve written about that before), they’ve both gotten a bit tiresome with the routine.

LahrenCoulterConway

Tomi Lahren, Ann Coulter and Kellyanne Conway: The three stages of a crack whore who sells their soul to promote a dying conservative agenda. Willing to say anything for a dollar, even though Coulter recently is trying to redeem herself with an “anti-Orange Foolius” stance so she can stay relevant in the party after he’s gone. And Kayleigh McEnany is moving up on this list.

Louie Gohmert, Ted Cruz & Tom Cotton: If there were any other better examples of “ignorant fucking redneck racist,” I haven’t seen them yet. They have absolutely NO scruples other than “what’s the party line” while they try to sell their “good ol’ boy” bullshit with their Ivy League diplomas (OK, Gohmert gets a pass here as far as Ivy League). If you told these three that a Democratic idea would bring back Jesus, they’d want to arrest Christ on immigration charges.

The Left:

Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer: The very example of what is wrong with the Democratic Party. There is some great faces and knowledge coming up from the grassroots, yet these two think that the ideas they’ve tried for decades to put through is the ONLY way to go? I’ve never been one of those for an “age cap” on being in Congress – Pelosi (at over 80) and Schumer (70) this year aren’t the future of the Democrats, they are the past and they should realize this and GTFA.

Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton Campaigns In Las Vegas

The Clintons: Yes, Bill…you were arguably one of the best Presidents of the 20th century for the eight years of your office. But your peccadilloes and dalliances thoroughly damaged everything you did and even trashed Hillary’s (arguably the most qualified person to even run for President) chances at the office. And this doesn’t even touch on the facetious and duplicitous manner that you (and Hillary, for her political career) handled some of those cases. Do like Jimmy Carter…find a charitable cause to get behind and go do it…just stay the fuck out of the operations of the Democrats.

Late night talk show hosts: There’s a handful I toss in here – Samantha Bee, Bill Maher, John Oliver, a couple of others – that, while I enjoy them very much, have pretty much ruined their futures in any other pursuit. Political comedy is best handled in short doses, much like what George Carlin did or Lewis Black does today, not as a weekly bitchfest for the left. It also locks you in a box, as Maher is learning, that the extreme left can turn on you when you actually show that you’re not the uber-lefty that they thought you were. (To be fair, Oliver does sometimes branch out from politics into trying to help his fellow man, so he has moments of redemption.)

This won’t be the last time we deal with this subject. In fact, we may come back with either weekly or monthly nominees. Who would you put on the list?

Now Is The Time…

After debating whether to start my own site – where I can write about many things that interest me rather than one particular subject as I do for a living – I decided to pull the trigger and start my site, EarlBurton.com. If you’ve come here, I welcome you to my thoughts as I continue on my journey of discovery.

This wasn’t something that I went into lightly. But there were two men who put their thoughts on the line everyday and, if that statement is true that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then I certainly hope that they are flattered upon seeing that they inspired me to start this trip.

One is my good friend Nolan Dalla. Nolan, who has been the Media Director for the World Series of Poker for the last decade, is probably one of the most intelligent people that I know. He has nearly an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of poker (I would love to see him take on the challenge of a poker history book), but it was only through his personal website that his true diversity shone through. In any given week, Nolan can run the gamut from picks for the NFL, discussion on fine wines, a dissection of a recently released movie and finish with the current state of the political world (and these are just scratching the surface). I may not always fully agree with Nolan, but he at least makes me think when I read…that’s something I would like to do.

The second one isn’t quite as well-known. His name is Jim Wright and he operates a website called Stonekettle Station. If your senses aren’t set to NSFW, then Jim’s site isn’t for you. He will blast into language that would make a whore blush, but the usage of such language is reminiscent of such societal critics as George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor and others. It SEEMS appropriate when Jim uses such vulgarities to get his point across. I’m not going to say that I will ever write and use the style that Jim does, but he certainly has given me the drive – along with Nolan – to finally launch this endeavor.

Now that we have that concluded, what are you going to find here? It’s going to be a mixed bag. I am a poker journalist by trade, but there is so much more that goes on around us that I would like to write about. Politics, music, sports, video games, having children (fortunate to have a great son who is a constant joy), married life (a great wife is always something that makes life exciting)…the list could (and probably will) go on to include these and other subjects. Wherever it goes, I certainly hope that it is a journey that you enjoy with me.

With that, buckle your seat belts…it’s time for the mind ship to blast off…