Today's Tweet

Reaffirming the reason we hear (mostly) "conservatives" constantly harping, "Ya cain't fix stoopid" - because so many of them have firsthand knowledge and direct experience.

Three days after Hurricane Katrina: Where was Michelle Obama? pic.twitter.com/hjwhsxHdq5

— Bikergirl4trump (@TrumpResponders) February 23, 2017

Troll Big Or Stay Home

WaPo, Michael Cavna:

At first glance, you might not notice. There’s the tangerine-tinted skin. The buttercream half-bouffante. The long red tie. Everything looks like standard-issue Trump caricature — till you get to the teeth. They jut out like a rodent’s, as if for chewing up opponents or gnawing on one’s own political tail.

This, standing 15 feet tall and puffed out by hot air, is Trump Rat. And he is set to make his Washington debut come lunchtime Tuesday on the green of Dupont Circle, for a two-day engagement a short hop north of the White House.

You Know It's Likely

In some ways it's kind of a cheap shot. At least it's a little too easy and obvious.

But I think we know that a year from now - even tho' a lot of 'em will still be getting payouts from Treasury - because it'll still be pretty fucked up down there - somebody will shake that Etch-A-Sketch and jagoffs like these guys will be right back at it.

And I might as well put my cynicism to work here and make the point that lots of cronies are about to get rich(er) because of their sudden realization that they have a burning passion to provide "relief goods" to all those poor innocent victims.

Today's Tweet

There is literally an archived Trump-as-hypocrite Tweet for every occasion.

Not only giving out money, but Obama will be seen today standing in water and rain like he is a real President --- don't fall for it.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2012

But Then We're Stuck With Pence

Pinch-faced blue-nosed purity warrior - 2005 edition:

Video: “Katrina breaks my heart...but we must not let Katrina break the bank for our children & grandchildren” Mike Pence-2005 #ImpeachTrump pic.twitter.com/SxmT8NGEA7

— Scott Dworkin (@funder) August 29, 2017

It seems like they're just being assholes - and they are - but it goes beyond that.

I think they can't stand the thought that we'll notice how well good old-fashioned Keynesian economics works when you put it in action.

If they go ahead and do the funding for a proper recovery after a natural disaster, then they prove the real value of Direct Spending Stimulus - and they hate having to admit that.

They hate it so much that they'll cut that direct stimulus somewhere else - as a political offset.

So they're not "offsetting the spending" by saving money elsewhere; they're offsetting the benefits in Houston (eg) by creating damage in places like Des Moines or Omaha.

The cynicism required for that kind of move is pretty awful, but what's truly horrifying is knowing so many Americans are so ignorant of the fundamentals of economics that they'll swallow anything these assholes put out.

Education is not optional in a free society that wants to stay that way.

Keith

Back towards Righteous Preciousness

Another Today's Tweet

Read the whole thread (15 parts)

I was the judicial clerk for the judge in the original Apraio trial. I have some thoughts on the pardon. (1/15)

— Andrew Case (@AClaudeCase) August 29, 2017

OK For Me But Not For Thee

Pegged in the red.

WaPo Fact Checking - Sandy vs Harvy:

“The problem with that particular bill is it became a $50 billion bill that was filled with unrelated pork. Two-thirds of that bill had nothing to do with Sandy.”

-- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), interview with NBC’s Katy Tur, Aug. 28, 2017

- snip -

Many Republicans said that the emergency spending should have been offset by cuts elsewhere. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), at the time chairman of the Budget Committee, was one arguing the money needed to be offset. “This legislative abuse is an insult to families facing real emergencies in the wake of the storm,” he declared.

Many Republicans in the House voted for an alternative bill, crafted by Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), now President Trump’s budget director, that would have funded a smaller emergency bill with a 1.63 percent across-the-board reduction in spending on discretionary programs. “It’s so important to me that I think we should pay for it,” he said. But his gambit was rejected.

- snip -

So was the $50 billion bill filled with pork — two-thirds of which was unrelated to Sandy?

No.

The Congressional Research Service issued a comprehensive report on the provisions, and it’s clear that virtually all of it was related to the damage caused by Sandy. There may have been some pork in an earlier Senate version, but many of those items were removed before final passage. There were also some items that appear to have been misunderstood.

How many people in Houston were among those beating the drum right along with Cruz back then, while keeping very quiet about it now?

My guess is: a shitload of 'em.

But of course it won't matter because they've grown very comfortable with having been conditioned to forget anything from even the recent past that doesn't fit the current circumstance.

Say what you will about the near-total worthlessness of Mitt Romney's GOP, but they nailed it with that Etch-A-Sketch imagery.

Today's Tweet

Confirming my bias a little bit - but then again, I don't think it's a bad thing to confirm a bias against efforts to fog things over and shovel shit to cover up the parts of our history that make us uncomfortable.

Are you wondering why those Confederate statues crumple like cheap plastic? pic.twitter.com/5YDEyoP192

— EL4C (@EL4JC) August 20, 2017

Today's Pix