HOTEL BOHEMIA PRESENTS: “REHEARSALS FOR RETIREMENT"- A KNEE JERK OFF GONZO JOURNALISM REACTION TO THE TRUMP MUDSLIDE - BILL AND RICH TRY TO MAKE COMMON SENSE OUT OF SOCIAL ABUSE REWARDED

"REHEARSALS FOR RETIREMENT" WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY PHIL OCHS- "IF i CAN DREAM" WRITTEN BY EARL BROWN AND RECORDED BY ELVIS PRESLEY IN HONOR OF THE ONLY ROBERT KENNEDY IN THE DAYS FOLLOWING HIS ASSASSINATION. "THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED" DIRECTED BY ROBERT CORMAN AND NARRATED BY CHET HUNTLEY. "THE BEST MAN" DIRECTED BY FRANKLIN J. SCHAFFNER FEATURING HENRY FONDA AND CLIFF ROBERTSON. “There’s something about the guy that I love…” This is what Rich remembered that I had said about DJT. I didn’t remember saying it, but I think I can relate to the veracity of his accusation. It’s the re-incarnation of the Trickster that I recognize from myth - the nihilist Puck, whose talent to amuse - to entertain us as he foments chaos - is something that, I, (as someone who spent half his life trying to understand the nature of charisma) - can appreciate. Rich, as life-long activist, sees it differently: this, he feels, might be, perhaps, the last election he’ll see in his lifetime, and the end of every ideal he fought for in his youth. But, he’s a scrappy, latter day Dead End Kid, who ain’t ready to lie down in darkness. Dig our back and forth debate.- BILL MESNIK Let's get ready to rumble. In the blue corner, a childless, blackish Vice President from Oakland, CA who was inspired by John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" in her youth and presented with 107 days and a cat sandwich with which to salvage democracy. A piece of cake kids. In the Orange corner, a man with the graceless moves of Jerry Lewis on acid and who has never met a "fuck you" he didn't like. A piece of crap kids. Let the games begin. The ball is in your court America. I know you'll do the right thing because it's about feeding your family, right? Wrong. It never was and once again we are forced to never forget. As Robert Duvall recited in "Apocalypse Now", "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning". We do, don't we? Looking at my reflection in the mirror of social change I get it. Deep policy was replaced by the red carpet pedigree of celebrity and the racist molester won every single demographic he insulted with the vitality of an elderly pro wrestling heel. Hulk Schmuck. Trump has spent his entire life learning how to throw the spitball. Kamala had only 107 days to learn how to throw a fastball. Orange is now truly the new black and blue. Good luck and Good night.- With gratitude to Norman Mailer, Barbara Dane, Dave Van Ronk, Tuli Kupferberg, Ed Sanders, Muhammad Ali, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Hunter S. Thompson, Medgar Evers, Frannie Lou Hamer and Ruby Bridges, the first black child to Integrate an All-White Elementary School in the South, on November 14, 1960, at the age of six. RICH BUCKLAND