Happy Tuesday!

We hoped you enjoyed your holiday weekend. Now let’s gulp down some strong Brew to get this short week going. 

The Old Grey Lady is a Perv

Disney’s live-action version of The Little Mermaid made a big splash in kicking off the summer movie season, pulling in roughly $118 million at the box office.

Putting aside whether the movie is any good, and before “Under the Sea” gets stuck in our head for the rest of the day, I have a question: Is The Little Mermaid a movie and story for children?

Of course. It is a Disney film for children.

Then why in the world is The New York Times movie critic Wesley Morris complaining that the movie … for children … does not have enough “kink”? Yep. The kid’s movie doesn’t have enough aberrant sexual behavior for the New York Times.

Writes Morris: “It reeks of obligation and noble intentions. Joy, fun, mystery, risk, flavor, kink — they’re missing.”

That has gone over real well. Robby Starbuck has an appropriate observation. “Same media denies the left sexualizes kids. The reviewer needs his hard drives reviewed.”

The New York Times just put up a review of the Little Mermaid where the reviewer complains that KINK was missing from the film. The definition of kink: a person’s unusual sexual preferences. Same media denies the left sexualizes kids. The reviewer needs his hard drives reviewed. pic.twitter.com/mw8g09dv5h

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) May 28, 2023

Dodgers Attempt to Sooth Outrage Over Award for Anti-Catholic Drag Group with “Christian Faith and Family Day”

The Los Angeles Dodgers have gone to the bullpen in a desperate bid to sooth the outrage over the team’s plans to celebrate the blasphemous, anti-Catholic drag organization Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.” On Friday night, ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw announced the team is bringing back “Christian Faith and Family Day” at the stadium July 30.

Excited to announce the relaunch of Christian Faith and Family Day at Dodger Stadium on July 30th. More details to come— but we are grateful for the opportunity to talk about Jesus and determined to make it bigger and better than it was before COVID. Hope to see you on July 30th! pic.twitter.com/yNu7HyEgR9

— Clayton Kershaw (@ClaytonKersh22) May 26, 2023

No knock on Kershaw, but it’s a bit like hosting a holocaust denier, then trying to make amends by playing “Hava Negila” during the 7th inning stretch. And having your favorite Jewish employee singing.

Catholic Vote calls the Dodger move “the equivalent of putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound and in no way diminishes the harm and hurt caused by their plan to honor a vile anti-Catholic organization. Creating a ‘faith and family’ event does not balance the decision to honor a perverted, fake ‘nun’ group that exists to mock the Catholic religion.”

Statement from CatholicVote President Brian Burch: The @Dodgers’ announcement today is the equivalent of putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound and in no way diminishes the harm and hurt caused by their plan to honor a vile anti-Catholic organization. Creating a "faith and family"… https://t.co/Yq6dLMcvqW

— CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) May 26, 2023

Earlier Friday, Catholic Vote announced plans to spend $1 million in a bid to push a boycott of the fabled baseball franchise.

The Latest on Target: Bomb Threats … And Not From Conservatives

Several Target stores received bomb threats Friday in the wake of the company’s heavy-handed embrace of radical trans ideology and accusations of their sexualization of children. But here’s the twist, apparently the threats weren’t the work of someone mad at Target’s efforts. They’re the work of someone angry that Target responded to the outrage by moving some of the Pride merchandise.

Cleveland 19 News received an email threatening five Target stores, four in Ohio, one in Pennsylvania. ,

Target is full of [redacted] cowards who turned their back on the LGBT community and decided to cater to homophobic right wing, redneck, bigots, who protested and vandalized their store. … We will continue to bomb your targets until you stop cowering and bring back your LGBT merchandise. We will not be erased, we will not go quietly.

Thankfully, no bombs were found.

“Boycott Target” Rises on the Charts

It ain’t no “Times They Are a’Changin’,” but it does signal the times may indeed be changing. A protest track from conservative rapper Forgiato Blow and Jimmy Levy called “Boycott Target” is shooting up the iTune charts. In fact, on Monday it had reached #2 on the iTunes hip-hop chart. According to Blow, this is despite being “shadow banned” from searches on Apple’s music platform.

Blow pointed out the irony during an appearance Monday on Fox and Friends. “”I had my free speech ripped from me. A lifetime ban on Instagram, a lifetime ban on Facebook for speaking positivity. You know, when I was an artist before this, a degenerate rap artist, they didn’t care if I rapped about negativity and demonizing America.”

“Somebody has to stand up for the kids,” he said.

Our Aliya Kuykendall talks about the Target controversy in her new “Sunny Side of The Stream,” which will be out later this morning. What’s sunny about it? Check back with Stream.org later today and find out.

And Tom Gilson has a powerful “Why I’m Not Boycotting Target” just up. He thinks “boycotting” is just the beginning.

Debt Ceiling Deal Reached … Will It Pass Congress?

The White House and Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a tentative deal to raise the debt ceiling Friday night. Without a deal, Treasure Secretary Janet Yellen warned, the U.S. could default. But will the bill pass? Conservative Republicans are grousing about the lack of serious control on spending and that McCarthy didn’t really get anything out of it. Progressive Democrats are grousing about work requirements on certain types of welfare. Sen. Lindsay Graham is grousing that freezing budget levels for the military in the “absurd” deal will be a “catastrophe for defense.”  

The deal extends the debt limit until January 2025 … or after the next election. It includes spending caps for the next two years. It nixes about $1.4 billion in IRS funding and rescinds about $28 billion in unspent COVID funds. The Democratic spin is the deal blocked “extreme” GOP proposals.

The House votes on the debt limit bill Wednesday. As always when a bill is rushed, we have to be careful what’s added when nobody’s looking and nobody has the time to read it.

Good News Out Plains, Georgia

When it was announced a few months back that 98-year-old Jimmy Carter was returning home, refusing any more treatments, and entering hospice care, the assumption was the former president had mere days or weeks to live. That was his family’s assumption too, according to his grandson Jason.

Jason told an event honoring his grandparent last week, that Carter is in good spirits, still receiving updates on his assorted global humanitarian efforts and still enjoying his favorite peanut butter ice cream.

Since the announcement in February that Carter had entered hospice care, he has been awash in well wishes and appreciations.

“That’s been one of the blessings of the last couple of months,” Jason told the Associated Press.  “He is certainly getting to see the outpouring and it’s been gratifying to him for sure.”

“They’re just meeting with family right now, but they’re doing it in the best possible way: the two of them together at home,” he said of his grandparents. “They’ve been together 70-plus years. They also know that they’re not in charge. Their faith is really grounding in this moment. In that way, it’s as good as it can be.”

And with that we say, have a great Tuesday!

 

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and now at TRUTH Social.