A Critique

It's about Thomas Friedman, but really it's about Thomas Friedman and David Brooks and Maggie Ball and Jennifer Rubin and Peggy Noonan and Mark Shields - all the "heavy hitters" who work very hard to avoid having to acknowledge they've been wrong about most things in the last 30 years...

... and the fairly simple fact they continue to put out a counterfeit product - while raking in large piles of cash - must give us pause, cuz holy fuck, it looks a whole lot like their real job is to keep us stuck in the middle by constantly pimping the Both Sides crapola. ie: if we can't identify the problem, we can't formulate a solution.

...and Michael Gerson (see: driftglass)

Today in Republican Detachment Disorder, the Washington Post has once again paid former George W. Bush chief speechwriter, senior Republican policy adviser and reliable Beltway Republican stalactite, Michael Gerson, to take up his quill and proclaim that his Republican Party just all of the sudden became a racist shitpile a couple of years ago.

It today's exciting episode, Mr. Gerson -- whose business is words -- pretends that he does not understand what the word "exposes" means:

Trump exposes the hypocrisy of Christian Republicans

 From the dictionary:

ex·pose

verb, 3rd person present: exposes

make (something) visible, typically by uncovering it.

Mr. Gerson -- who has worn his Conservative evangelical Christian bona fides on his sleeve right next to his "Ride or Die Republican" credentials for his entire adult life -- really wants you to believe that Good Republicans like Michael Gerson had no fucking idea that Christian Republicans are, in fact, Christopath Republicans; a word I coined 13 years ago, back when Mr. Michael Gerson was being paid to put words in George W. Bush's mouth and thoughts into George W. Bush's head.

The point is - the point driftglass (et al) have been trying to get thru to us forever - these guys are wrong all the fucking time and our "liberal" media conglomerates keep them around anyway.

Today's Tweet

I think it was an act of high
patriotism for the Rockets to lose that game so that we don't have to see Ted Cruz at another sporting event.

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) May 29, 2018

Ivanka Tweets

My ♥️! #SundayMorning pic.twitter.com/CN5iXutE5Q

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) May 27, 2018

And let the cyber-scorn rain down upon her.

Nobody's saying she isn't allowed to feel good while others are suffering. The problem is that she does this kinda shit on a fairly consistent basis - the problem is she's fucking tone deaf.

Today's Eternal Sadness

A North Texas mother is hospitalized after her ex-husband came to her home early Wednesday and opened fire, injuring her and killing their three children and her boyfriend before turning the gun on himself, sheriff's deputies say.

The identities of the children were confirmed by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office Thursday as Drake Painter, 4, Caydence Painter, 6 and Odin Painter, 8.

- and -

"All of us are letting her know that we're praying for her and I cannot imagine losing three children," said neighbor Katie Garcia.

Fuck that noise, Ms Garcia - thanks, but fuck it. Instead of not imaging the loss of 3 kids, maybe you could start imagining politicians who have the balls to stand up to the NRA, address the public health issue of gun violence, and get something done. 

So yeah - sorry not sorry, but your prayers are less than worthless.

Today's Today

It's not just about the shitty things the other guys do to our kids.

And it's not just about the shitty things our kids do to the other guys.

In the end, it's mostly about the shitty things that happen inside all of those kids because of what we teach them to do to each other in a war.

The Jig Is Almost Up

The Hill reported on the Gang Of 8 getting briefed on Mueller's probe and on the supposed DoJ investigation of the Cult45 campaign "spy". 

What McConnell said:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday after attending a classified briefing that he continues to support special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, including possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

McConnell told NPR that Mueller's investigation and a separate probe by the Justice Department's inspector general into the FBI's actions during the 2016 election will ultimately provide answers to a number of questions swirling around the presidential race.

"The two investigations going on that I think will give us the answers to the questions that you raise — the [inspector general] investigation in the Justice Department and the Mueller investigation," McConnell told NPR.

What he was thinking:

"Oh fuck - I had no idea they knew all that shit. I'd better call Elaine and make sure her dad has a nice safe boat ready so I can escape to Argentina."

Today's Tweet

I don't give a fuck how bad you imagined Hillary was going to be. These heartless asshole bastards are separating children from their parents and FUCKING LOSING THEM. If your "conscience" prevented you from voting for Hillary, guess what: you have a shitty, fucked-up conscience.

— Jeff Tiedrich (@jefftiedrich) May 26, 2018

Today's Tweet

Instagram is down. Can I come over and look at your food?

— Jeff Tiedrich (@jefftiedrich) October 29, 2014

Today's Pix

click a pic

Congressman Copperhead

Sorry not sorry - Tom Garrett's a dick.

Rachael Bade, Alex Isenstadt and Kyle Cheney, Politico:

Virginia Rep. Tom Garrett and his wife turned the congressman’s staff into personal servants, multiple former employees to the freshman Republican told POLITICO — assigning them tasks from grocery shopping to fetching the congressman’s clothes to caring for their pet dog, all during work hours.
POLITICO has spoken with four former staffers who detailed a deeply dysfunctional office in which the congressman and his wife, Flanna, often demanded that staff run personal errands outside their typical congressional duties. The couple called on staff to pick up groceries, chauffeur Garrett’s daughters to and from his Virginia district, and fetch clothes that the congressman forgot at his Washington apartment. They were even expected to watch and clean up after Sophie, their Jack Russell-Pomeranian mix, the aides said.

The staffers said they feared that if they refused Garrett‘s or his wife’s orders — both were known for explosive tempers — they would struggle to advance in their careers. It wasn't just full-time staff: many of the allegedly inappropriate requests were made of interns, the former aides said.

- and -

A spokesman for Garrett, Matt Missen, declined to address a detailed list of complaints about the office.

“We see no reason to respond to anonymous, unfounded allegations primarily targeting Congressman Garrett’s wife, made by POLITICO’s ‘unnamed’ sources,” he said. “It is easy to spread untruths and even easier to exaggerate and imply wrongdoing when none exists.”

That's a fairly lengthy "no comment", Mr Missen.

And then - I guess continuing in "no comment mode":

Missen said there is “no ethics investigation” into the office and that “to ensure that all staff follow the rules, Congressman Garrett has had lawyers from the House Ethics Committee meet with him and his staff (to include district staff via telephone) to brief everyone on the ethics rules pertaining to congressmen and staff, and to answer any questions.”

That's classic.

First, the non-denial denial, covered in a thick creamy layer of passive language.

But second - holy crap. Both Mr Garrett and Mrs Garrett assigned public employees tasks that have nothing to do with conducting the public's business - obviously in violation of ethics rules, if not strictly illegal - and the solution Garrett hits on is to get the Ethics Office lawyers to come in and explain to the staffers that what the staffers did was wrong.

Chutzpah, level: Supreme High Master Asshole.

And BTW, can you say "waste fraud and abuse", motherfucker?

Today's Tweet

Because the Christianist GOP is a big buncha pinch-faced blue-nosed puritans.

Sorry. To get white evangelicals to care about 1,475 missing migrant children, we're going to have to describe them as fertilized eggs.

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) May 25, 2018

The Buzz

So many Russians. Every time we learn a bit more about Cult45 and their election year fuckery, we get more names that are always very Russian-ey, and the rubes get even more adamant about their support for a POTUS who's obviously crooked like a mountain road.

Makes me wonder how all of this would be playing out if those names were like Ramirez or Garcia or Montano.

Bob Cesca's contribution (at about 30:20) is another good one.

This week's recap - Buzz Burbank

Today's Tweet

It's hard to believe the NFL has managed to ruin the reputation of a sport that brought us Michael Vick, Jerry Sandusky, and O.J. Simpson.

— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot) May 24, 2018

On Immigration

Nish Kumar, BBC Two:

Sam

Samantha Bee - Wednesdays at 10:30 on TBS

The basic approach is pretty simple.

First, you throw out the rules that keep powerful people more or less in line thru the reasonable expectation that they'll stay true to their word, and conduct themselves with some sense of fairness and integrity - the honor of normal decent people is what makes them generally more trustworthy than not.

Second, throw every piece of shit you can find into the air conditioning system. Keep everybody so busy just trying to catalog it that they have no time or energy even to triage all the shit.

Third, look for the pieces of shit that provide the greatest benefit (money &/or power) while attracting the least amount of attention (ie: resistance).