The Demise of "Playboy"

When I heard last month that "Playboy" magazine was going to do away with nude centerfolds - or nudity of any kind, for that matter - I could hardly believe it. I don't think there's a single heterosexual male alive today that has not let his eyes wander over the graceful curves of the beautiful women so artfully and tactfully displayed in the pages of "Playboy", and I daresay that for most of us this was the very first time we ever saw the naked female form. It sure was for me, anyway. My father had a subscription to the magazine in the 1960's, and I used to sneak into my parent's room to look at the magazine when no one else was home. Personally, I think the '60s and early '70s were the best times for the magazine as the sexual revolution was in full swing, and Hef was doing his best to push the envelope with the pictures displayed in his magazine. The magazine almost died in the artsy-fartsy years of the '80s, and it had recovered by the '90s when I had my own subscription.

The only magazine that could ever really compete with "Playboy" was, of course, "Penthouse." Personally, I never cared for "Penthouse" all that much because what "Playboy" was to class, "Penthouse" was to raunch. Bob Guccionne was, in my humble opinion, a self-centered sexist peddler of smut who treated his models and centerfolds like pieces of meat. If you wanted smut, you bought "Penthouse;" if you wanted class, you bought "Playboy."

And that, I think, is the whole thing that set "Playboy" apart from every other men's magazine that was ever published or is being published now. "Playboy" had class, and I mean oodles of it. People who told you that they bought the magazine to read the articles weren't kidding - they had some first-class articles in the magazine about dress, cars, dining etiquette, not to mention they were the first ones to publish several authors who were unknown at the time but are now famous thanks to the magazine.

In the '60s there were the Playboy Clubs, and when I tell you those were some classy establishments you can take that to the bank. Memberships weren't easy to come by and they were pricey, which meant they were exclusive. When you obtained your membership you were given a key to the Playboy Club you had joined, and I mean it was a real key to the front door of the club. It was square and had a black background with the Playboy bunny on it, and you actually had to use it to get inside. The physical key was later replaced with a plastic membership card, but when the whole thing got started the key looked like this:



And if you showed up in anything less than a tuxedo, guess what - the manager asked you to leave, key or no key. That standard was later eased to a suit and tie, but the point was still there - only true gentlemen with class were allowed inside the hallowed and fabled halls of the Playboy Club!

The women who worked there were also a class act, despite what Gloria Steinem has to say about it. They treated the club members with respect, and that's what they expected in return. The standing rule of the club was you acted like a gentleman at all times, and you kept your paws off of the bunnies. Lay so much as a finger on them and you were out the door on your ass, and your key was taken from you before they tossed you. And no, you didn't get your membership fee back.

Unfortunately, since those days our society has lost a great deal of its class and dignity thanks to those liberals out there who are so intent on being able to do whatever they want whenever they want and however they want, and the Playboy Clubs are now a thing of the past. The last three company-opened Playboy Clubs, the flagship clubs in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles Playboy, all closed on June 1st 1986. The last U.S. Playboy Club (franchise), in Lansing, closed on July 31st 1988. The last official Playboy Club, in Manila, closed during 1991. Just like that, the Bunny was gone.

I have a feeling that the recent "no nudity" change in the magazine is going to sound the death knell for the magazine as well. Without the classy and respectful display of the nude female form, "Playboy" magazine will be no different than any other magazine out there. It won't be long before the last edition of the magazine is announced, and I have a feeling that's going to happen this year.

And that, friends and neighbors, will be the end of an era and for some of us, the official end to their youth.

IHC

Why People Hate Donald Trump

Let's get this out there first and foremost: I am a supporter of Donald Trump for President of the United States. I voted for him in the South Carolina primary and I fully intend to vote for him should - or rather, when - he wins the Republican nomination. I think he's the best hope for our country to be great again, and he's got my support 100%.

This blog entry will serve a dual purpose in that it will outline both why people in both parties hate Trump, and why I support him. I realize that both liberals - ESPECIALLY liberals - and some conservatives will not like what I have to say, but that's just too bad. Don't like what I say, then don't read my blog. Simple as that.

Ready? Heeeeere we go!

1. He's not a career politician. Which means that, should he lose the primary or the general election, he's got nothing to lose. In his interview with "Baba Wawa" several months ago she asked him what he would do if he lost the election. His reply: "Go back to work!" He's not running for office because it's his profession, he's running for office because he thinks he can do a better job of running the nation than the other folks out there. Since he's not a career politician his paycheck doesn't depend on his getting elected, and this, friends and neighbors, is the lynchpin of his campaign and the main reason I like him. It's the one single thing that drives the message of his campaign, and it drives the majority of the reasons that people - especially liberals - don't like him. (P.S. - I can't stand "Baba Wawa" so I refuse to use her name here and give her publicity of ANY type.)

2. He has the cajones to say what he means in plain language. Again, since he's not a career politician who isn't worried about destroying his career by offending people with what he says, he says what's on his mind in plain language so that anyone can understand it, and he doesn't worry about "offending" the delicate sensibilities of the vast majority of pussies out there who now inhabit our nation. He speaks the truth with the bark off of it, and that pisses people off. The truth has a way of doing that.

3. He's rich and successful. Man, the liberals just HATE this! Trump has made himself a billionaire several times over, and that just pisses off the liberals to no end! The first thing one of them will say is, "Yeah, he's rich, but he's been bankrupt four times!" True enough, but he's made himself a billionaire five times. I don't know of many people who are 100% successful in their careers and never make a mistake or two along the way. Anyone who thinks that Trump or any other candidate out there is perfect -especially "Billary" Clinton - is fooling themselves.

4. He's financing his campaign with his own money. One of the Republican candidates whined a little while back that Trump had an unfair advantage because he was able to fly to several different cities in several different states in one day to give campaign speeches while he was relegated to travelling from city to city in a bus and couldn't cover more than two cities in one state in a day. Well, all I can say is this: become a billionaire, buy your own jet, and do the same thing yourself if you don't like Trump doing it. In the mean time, the number you can call is 1-800-WAAAAAA.

5. He's HUGELY popular. This one really pisses off politicians of both parties, and for the same reason: he's speaking the truth, the truth that the vast majority of conservative Americans (and a surprising number of liberal Americans as well) know and agree with, and he's speaking it loud, clear, and in plain language. In short, he's saying what most Americans are afraid of saying out of fear of being slapped with some kind of liberal label.

At this point the people of this nation need to come to the realization that the "Trump Train" is on a roll to the Republican nomination, and there's very little that anyone can do to stop it. The old school GOP needs to realize that the new guy is a winner, the people are standing behind him, and that they need to get on board the train to make the party and the nation successful again. Instead of wasting time trying to figure out how to keep Trump from getting the Republican nomination, the "old guard" of the GOP needs to get their heads together and come up with a way to bring the party together around Trump and defeat the most likely person he'll be running against - namely, "Billary" Clinton. (There's no way Sanders can win unless "Billary" is indicted over that whole e-mail thing, and with a Democrat President and DOJ I just don't see that happening.) Regardless of who Trump will be running against, the GOP would be better served if they rallied around him instead of rallying against him.

But since we're speaking of career politicians who see their livelyhoods in peril, I ain't holding my breath.

I'm just gonna vote for Trump.

Deo Vindice.

IHC