Laughter is the Best Medicine
October 18, 2025 — Scott Johnson
In the adjacent post I excerpt Jamie Kirchick’s account of the Democratic Socialists of America, of which Minneapolis mayoral candidate Omar Fateh is one. Fateh is also an incumbent state senator and member of the Democratic Party. The Free Beacon’s Jon Levine reports that Fateh is eager to bring the mythical “Chief Rabbi of Gaza” — “Linda Goldstein” — on board his campaign: Pray it ain’t so. Minneapolis mayoral candidate
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October 17, 2025 — Scott Johnson
For the past 12 years I have leaped out of bed with a bounce on Friday mornings to edit Ammo Grrrll’s weekly Thoughts from the Ammo Line. This morning my body rhythms are off. Ammo Grrrll has left the building. I need a laugh. I’m thinking about my Grrrll. Working with Ammo Grrrll over the years made me think about the difficulty of humor in general and of political humor
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October 10, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Writing a weekly humor column for us over the past 12 years, Susan Vass has gone by the pseudonym Ammo Grrrll. I thought it would be funny to post a thumbnail photo of her so her fans would not be deceived by the pseudonym. That was my contribution. I never saw Susan Vass doing her standup thing, but I am in awe of her career making people laugh for a
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October 10, 2025 — Scott Johnson
I have done everything within my power to forestall this day. Ammo Grrrll is LOOKING BACK. MOVING ON. She writes: This will be my last column for Power Line. It’s been a wonderful ride but I am moving on. On several occasions when I was a standup comedian, Joe and I would find ourselves at a social gathering filled with important lawyers and bidness executives and someone would ask what
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October 4, 2025 — Scott Johnson
On Thursday the New York Post reported that Harvard has hired drag queen LaWhore Vagistan as a visiting professor. On Friday Post columnist Kirsten Fleming reiterated the story with an attitude “When it comes to ‘LaWhore Vagistan’ at Harvard, I’m not even outraged — it’s hilarious.” Over the past two years Harvard has spinelessly tolerated the tormenting of its Jewish students by Hamas supporters on campus. It deserves to be
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October 3, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll asks WHAT IF? She writes: WHAT IF after fasting for 25 hours for Yom Kippur yesterday, I used the impressive 3-ounce weight loss I experienced to just keep going and finally reach my modest goal weight? Nah…I have been losing and regaining the same five pounds for at least ten years now. This is the weight I will live with. This is the weight I will die with.
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September 26, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll asks a question that is tricker than it first appears: WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? Are they even HUMAN? She writes: I’m sorry, dear readers, but there will be nothing funny here today. It is time for me to “unburden myself as to what has been” and what has been since early October of 2023 is an ongoing nightmare. Made many times worse on September 10. As I have
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September 19, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Yes, indeed, it may be possible to have TOO MUCH PERSPECTIVE. Ammo Grrrll writes: In a classic scene from the hilarious Rob Reiner mockumentary Spinal Tap, the Heavy Metal fellas are all standing round the grave of Elvis Presley at Graceland. Nigel Tufnel – he of the cranking an amplifier up to “11” — opines that “It really puts perspective on things, dunnit?” and poor drug-addled David St. Hubbins says,
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September 18, 2025 — Scott Johnson
In her forthcoming 2024 campaign memoir 107 Days, Kamala Harris reveals that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was not her first choice as running mate. No, Walz was her second choice. Her alleged first choice was Pete Buttigieg. Is it wrong to laugh? I can’t stop laughing. Walz was the next best! So Victor Nava reports in today’s New York Post. The cover of Kamala Harris’s memoir does not indicate a
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September 12, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Lightening a heavy week with humor, Ammo Grrrll wonders WHAT’S UP WITH HOTELS? We are grateful for her wondering. She writes: Just one of the many problems with travel is that, unless you have relatives who are still speaking to you after the Trump election – spaced every three or four hundred miles — you’re going to need a place to stop for the night. Back in the day, there
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September 5, 2025 — Scott Johnson
For Ammo Grrrll, it’s not odes to the road, it’ JOADS ON THE ROAD or The Grapes of Severe Annoyance. She writes: Noted philosopher and former World Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson once said, “Everybody has a plan until he gets punched in the face.” Joe/Max and I had a Great Plan, as I’m confident you will agree. Commenter-Con 4 was being held at a great old iconic resort called Cragun’s
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August 29, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll has drafted 10 resolutions for subsequent generations in OK, BOOMER! Or, REVENGE OF THE GENS. She writes: As we should always remember, we stand on the shoulders of giants — not merely the courageous and self-sacrificing geniuses who created the American Republic and brought it to fruition, but subsequent generations, all of which except the Baby Boomers were named in retrospect. There probably are few quibbles about whether
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August 22, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll is just asking questions: MUTUAL VALUES – Can a Culture Survive Without Them? She writes: Last week we discussed morality and manners as two kinds of glue that hold a culture together. Today, we will discuss Mutual Values as a third “tie that binds.” When we look at the results of the fabulous Trump reelection we see that the values that carried the day were shared by multiple
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August 17, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Before her retirement Susan Vass was a humor worker. She worked as a stand-up comedian. She made people laugh for a living. It’s a tough way to go. Not many can do it. Writing a weekly column for Power Line under the pseudonym Ammo Grrrll along with a photo that facilitated the discovery of her identity, she has attracted so many fans that she runs an annual conference for her
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August 15, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll invokes Jake Barnes and does not “hide the decline” in SLOWLY AT FIRST, THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN. She writes: When Ernest Hemingway’s character in The Sun Also Rises was asked how he went bankrupt after being very well-off, he said, “Two ways: gradually at first, then all of a sudden.” That is how MANY things go to Hades, from “recreational” drug use to complete addiction to loss
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August 8, 2025 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll has a few thoughts REGARDING THAT PRICE OF EGGS…and Other Stuff. She writes: OMG, you guys, we were assured by our Democrat Talking Point Generators in The Media that Trump had been in office for well over a WEEK and the price of eggs – heretofore not worth mentioning by the Democrats – had FAILED to come down immediately! As the great Dave Barry might say: I am
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August 5, 2025 — Scott Johnson
The New York Post strikes again with its cover featuring Senator Elizabeth Warren meeting with New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on the campaign trail yesterday. The cover reads African American Meets Native American. And it adds: Mamdani and Warren in liars’ summit. The cover flags the story by David DeTurris and Matt Troutman: “Far left Sen. Warren gushes over NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani — as other high-profile
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