Dispatch from the Briar Patch

Monday meme edition

(Note for new subscribers: On Monday, I recap some of the positive stories/funny memes I’ve come across in the last week. Feel free to add your own in the comments!)

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“I’ve got you this time, Brer Rabbit,” said Brer Fox, jumping up and shaking off the dust. “You’ve sassed me for the very last time. Now I wonder what I should do with you?”

Brer Rabbit’s eyes got very large. “Oh please Brer Fox, whatever you do, please don’t throw me into the briar patch.”

“Maybe I should roast you over a fire and eat you,” mused Brer Fox. “No, that’s too much trouble. Maybe I’ll hang you instead.”

“Roast me! Hang me! Do whatever you please,” said Brer Rabbit. “Only please, Brer Fox, please don’t throw me into the briar patch.”

“If I’m going to hang you, I’ll need some string,” said Brer Fox. “And I don’t have any string handy. But the stream’s not far away, so maybe I’ll drown you instead.”

“Drown me! Roast me! Hang me! Do whatever you please,” said Brer Rabbit. “Only please, Brer Fox, please don’t throw me into the briar patch.”

“The briar patch, eh?” said Brer Fox. “What a wonderful idea! You’ll be torn into little pieces!”

Grabbing up the tar-covered rabbit, Brer Fox swung him around and around and then flung him head over heels into the briar patch. Brer Rabbit let out such a scream as he fell that all of Brer Fox’s fur stood straight up. Brer Rabbit fell into the briar bushes with a crash and a mighty thump. Then there was silence.

Brer Fox cocked one ear toward the briar patch, listening for whimpers of pain. But he heard nothing. Brer Fox cocked the other ear toward the briar patch, listening for Brer Rabbit’s death rattle. He heard nothing.

Then Brer Fox heard someone calling his name. He turned around and looked up the hill. Brer Rabbit was sitting on a log combing the tar out of his fur with a wood chip and looking smug.

“I was bred and born in the briar patch, Brer Fox,” he called. “Born and bred in the briar patch.”

This fable is not about a briar patch — it’s about the government shutdown and the ensuing meme war! The opening salvo war fired by Trump on Truth Social:

(I maintain the meme should have used this very real audio):

Of course, this video pissed off Jefferies, Schumer, and the “Independent” media. So there was only one thing to do after seeing how upset they got.

And there were sombreros everywhere. Really the best sombreros, everybody thinks so.

Thus, the meme war was launched.

But a meme war means there’s two sides — and the Democrats are sending their best.

Wait, that’s their best? Oof.

But one of the fascinating things about the meme war is how the “very online right” leans into the jokes in a way the “very online left” seems unable to do. So pretty soon you have the right co-opting the left’s meme template.

Absolute Cinema

Here’s another perfect example. Gavin Newsom posts this meme, calling JD Vance “Just Dance Vance”:

And with just a bit of encouragement and a little editing (including learning a couple new tricks), the meme is completely co-opted BY VANCE FANS. (OK, it was me.)

If you’re not up-to-date on late ‘90s Eurotrance, that song is “L’amour toujours” by DJ Gigi D’Agostino, which was recently banned from Oktoberfest because right-wing Germans replaced the lyrics with a ‘“banned” slogan. You really can’t make this stuff up.

Gavin Newsom thinks he’s going to win the meme war with a video of fat JD Vance in a nightclub, but MAGA is way ahead of him:

To be fair, I did find one left-wing meme that cracked me up…..it just wasn’t recent or about the shutdown:

But for every one of those, there are 10 examples of hilarity coming from the right. Like this one — ICE rebrands Portland building as abortion clinic so local government will protect it.

That’s because effective memes speak to the truth of an issue while presenting it in a hilarious way. It’s easy to “meme” boys in girls sports but not so easy to meme why the border should be open.

This makes some people cry.

And cry.

The memes are ALWAYS in the room!

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Just a little more salt and Hakeem will be seasoned to perfection:

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Big props to the IT department for this one:

Off and on again, you say?

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Of course, not EVERYTHING that happened this week was shutdown-related! Gen Chang sent in this great clip to soothe the animal-lovers….

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Now and then I mention space photographer Andy McCarthy, who popped onto my radar when he adopted Gregory the sad-eyed kitty. This year, Andy’s two favorite things collide in a truly inspired cross-over….

With the proceeds from the calendar, McCarthy plans to donate $10,000 to the shelter he adopted Gregory from!

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We pause now for a brief musical interlude:

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Portland’s been in the national news this week, and while I’ll have a lot more to say about that in a serious longform article, the protests did provide some hilarious footage. First up, some tactically deployed pepper spray.

Also, you’ve heard about it for years, but now we have video confirmation that ICE agents are deploying the wahmbulance to deal with overweight protestors:

If you find yourself being wheeled into a federal building with your nose a few inches from the concrete, it’s time to rethink your life choices.

That’s what I’ve got for you this week, Screamers! I know we got a little political today, but sometimes the political is hilarious, too! Now fill up the comments section with your own memes and positive stories — shutdown related or not!

And remember, not ALL of the government is shut down……

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