Insane attacks on our elected government.
Robert Costa (of the Washington Post and Washington Week) interviewed Bob Woodward (famously of the Washington Post)…
…on Friday night. They talked for a half hour, preempting Costa’s usual panel discussion in favor of an in-depth look at Woodward’s book, his methods, his concern and — sort of — his conclusions.
Donald Trump is a circus act and his presidency is little more than absurdist theater.
Source: Brett Kavanaugh’s Dangerous Right-Wing Judicial Activism
Yes, he is damaging our environment. Yes, he is enabling racists and fascists at all levels of society. Yes, he is making the U.S. look ridiculous on the world stage. Yes, his ignorance is dangerous.These situations represent real harm to our system and our people, but the destruction can be reversed, maybe in as little as a decade. So I have decided it’s better for my mental health to mock him rather than let his childish tantrums and incoherent tweeting and his obvious self-dealing raise my blood pressure.
But tomorrow is a different thing: Brett Kavanaugh starts his Senate hearing to be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice, and his presence on the Court will be something Americans will have to live with for perhaps 40 years, and for another 40 after he’s gone the decisions in which he takes part will continue to haunt the nation.
Well, who could have seen this coming? After “firing” Omarosa Manigault-Newman three times on his old game show, then hiring her for real as a “senior advisor” before canning her one last time, here she comes with a tell-all book about her year in the White House, and she’s apparently armed with a suitcase full of recordings that she made on the sneak while she worked there. Maybe Donald should have fired her personally, instead of having John Kelly do it in the Situation Room, because what he’s got on his hands now is, well, a Situation. At least he could have offered her hush money on the spot, instead of having his daughter-in-law Lara do it — apparently too late. Continue reading “Revenge of the Dog”
It’s too hot to write a coherent essay, so here’s some random noodling.
I think of Donald Trump more as a former game show host than as President of the United States. Now he’s stage-managing his second Supreme Court nomination, announcing the date he’ll announce his choice, scheduling the reveal during nationwide prime TV time, and — I’m sure — inviting multiple candidates to be present at the proclamation, all to heighten the “suspense.” He’s running the government just like a game show. And naturally Donald Trump is making it all about him.
I can’t seem to wake up from this nightmare.
Those who read here are aware of the litany of horrors that have proceeded from the election of Donald Trump — the Muslim ban, the sadistic “zero tolerance” policy at the southern border, the incompetent liars and buffoons appointed to the cabinet, the destruction of U.S. standing in the world, the reversal of efforts to deal with climate change, and so on ad infinitum.
And now Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring. The Court is currently made up of four liberals, four conservatives, and Kennedy. Kennedy is a Republican, but of the old-fashioned non-partisan persuasion. He believes in the law over ideology, and he has been the “swing vote” over the years, as the Court upheld Roe vs. Wade, acknowledged constitutional rights for same-sex couples, and found the Affordable Care Act constitutional.
Last month the Supreme Court OK’d an anti-gay cakemaker’s refusal to serve…
…a same-sex couple, saying authorities had not been properly deferential to his (Evangelical Christian) religious beliefs at his hearing.
This week, the Court upheld Donald Trump’s ban on Muslims entering the United States, an executive order that has been stopped by the lower courts for a year and a half.
So there you have it. The United States is now officially an Evangelical Christian nation. Muslims need not apply. I wonder when Muslims who are already in the country will be asked to leave? Right wing bigots are certainly getting their money’s worth out of their stolen Court seat.
The summit meeting in Singapore today was a perfect Donald Trump event.
Stagecraft, suspense, pageantry, rhetoric, photo ops, but no real results. Just like on the game show that made him famous, tune in next week to see what happens. After an hour of talking, the two leaders staged a signing ceremony, of a vague document containing promises to do something in the future, full of platitudes about security and prosperity for North Korea.
I’ll be happy if our dealmaker-in-chief pulls off some kind of binding agreement that actually reduces tensions or removes the threat of nuclear war, because hey — who wants nuclear war? But I’d feel a lot better about this whole thing if somebody smarter than Donald J. Trump were over there negotiating in my name. Political and military analysts around the world are saying that the North Koreans have reneged on too many promises over the years to be taken seriously this time without a specific agreed-upon set of requirements and on-the-ground inspections to guarantee compliance, neither of which are in today’s document.
As expected, Trump has made all the concessions so far:
