A Banner Year for a Banana Republic

According to my watch, we have a little over 7 hours left in 2019 and then we wrap up this decade and leap into the next. What a decade it was, the teens. The Republican Party gave up whatever pretense it might of still had of wanting to govern in the public interest, going all in with the social Darwinistic libertarian strand of plutocracy, initially championed by the Koch Brother-financed teabagger "movement" and perfected by the White Power-fueled Trump administration.

The Democratic Party responded by clearing its throat, putting on its most serious expression, and anointing itself as the adult in the room of the U.S. polity, sanctimoniously declaring that it was the true guardian of all that was good and holy in America's political norms and institutions. Yes, if we were just to rewind the tape to January 19, 2016, then all would be restored to sanity, normalcy and decency. No need for any major reforms of our socioeconomic or political systems; their fundamentals were sound. In its mindless worship of status quo-reinforcing incrementalism, the party of FDR, JFK and LBJ chose instead to elevate insider baseball as its M.O. Go small or go consult.

Still, I'll reserve the majority of my ire for the GOP, which replaced its credo of small government, unfettered markets and a "robust" foreign policy with unbridled racial hatred and cruelty towards all but white Christian males. Finally, in American public policy, both foreign and domestic, duty bearers' word matched their deed. It has been an almost refreshing break from the hypocrisy that characterized the bipartisan agreement for the past 50 years to, depending on which party was in power, make either feeble attempts at mitigating or blustery pushes at enabling systemic racism, economic exploitation and global militarism.

Now, thanks to the GOP and President Donald J. Trump we're getting American exceptionalism unfiltered, unplugged and unhinged. And, by chance, and there appears to be a good one, should Trump be re-elected, then this new year and decade will truly herald the end of the American experiment in representative democracy and its all too predictable return to its white supremacist roots and foundational principles.

Happy New Year, let's hope its a better one than 2019.

Middle Child Meltdown

This past week, three senior U.S. foreign service officers, all of whom had dedicated multiple decades to public service, testified before the House Intelligence Committee as the impeachment process entered its public phase. Not surprisingly, the one who most got under the orange skin of Cheeto Jesus was a woman. Ambassador Maria Yovanovitch who the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine when the Donald and his fixer, Rudy "Clown Car Chaser" Guliani, decided to commit a few high jinx and muffled screamers.

His Rudeness, slithering through "diplomatic" back channels, would bring the full weight of the U.S. presidency onto the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky unless he publicly announced an investigation of Hunter and Joe Biden AND pursued the cockamamie, debunked conspiracy theory that it was Ukraine, and not Russia that interfered in the 2016 U.S. election. Were he to fail to do so then the U.S. would renege on its commitment to provide $400 million in military aid. It had all the hallmarks of the kind of scheme only the very best people with the biggest brains could pull off.

First, Rudicchio unleashed a slime campaign on Ambassador Yovanovtich. He eventually got U.S. Secretary of State, Mikey "Two Helpings" Pompeo, to curtail her tour. With her undermined and eventually out of the picture, Rudy, playing Moe to the other Three Stooges - Larry (Rick Perry), Curly (Gordon Sondland), and Shepp (Kurt Volker), went into overdrive to execute the Trump administration's extortion scheme. Not surprisingly, as we learn more, it's quickly become apparent that "only the very best people" managed to bungle their criminal scheme, practically handing, gift wrapped, to the Democrats all that they needed to make the case for impeachment a slam dunk.

When Ambassador Maria "Masha" Yovanovitch testified yesterday, she brought her A game, demonstrating what a consummate professional she is and how much she represents all that we aspire to be as Americans. Meanwhile little Donnie did what he always does. He plopped his prodigious backside on his gold-plated throne and unleashed a steady stream of sludge, tweeting furiously to further discredit and denigrate Masha, even as she delivered her testimony before the House Intelligence Committee.

The result? The world saw once again just how corrupt and constitutionally unfit Donald Trump is to hold any office besides assistant dog catcher. While Masha persevered and delivered her testimony with grace, determination and precision, Captain Chaos gave us yet another encore performance of "Meltdown of the Middle Child."

It had us all screaming for more, "Masha, Masha, Masha!"

The Sounds of Autumn

This past week, Autumn finally blew into Washington, DC. Temperatures have dropped a bit, the wind has picked up, and we all have had to scrape off the first frost from our windshields. And as the weather has grown cold, so the impeachment proceedings have really begun to hot up. Pretty soon we will be able to view these proceedings live, as the Democrats shift the impeachment to public hearings. No longer will we have to rely on leaks; everything will be broadcast for all to watch the spectacle in all of its...gory, sordid details.

Already a steady stream of administration witnesses have defied the White House's orders to resist Congress's subpoenas and have instead chosen to testify. These men and women of the U.S. civil and foreign service have admiringly chosen to remain true to their oath to the Constitution, putting country before some misguided loyalty to this corrupt regime. And, boy, has this pissed off the GOP and their demented, bloated pet orangutan. Not surprisingly, they have subjected these public servants to all manner of personal attack and smears, even making claims of dual loyalty against a decorated army veteran who earned a Purple Heart for his valor in the battlefield.

In fact, Trump and his merry band of GOP enablers have really had to strain to come up with new defenses for his indefensible behavior. The growing body of evidence collected by Congressional investigators has cut through most of them like a hot knife slices through rancid butter. No matter. The GOP simply goes back to dredge up another bucket of muck and then another and another, all from the mother lode of muck, a deep, thick vein of which seems to run straight through Trump's backside.

Do not despair. Instead just enjoy the brilliant foliage, the crisp air and sweet smell of fall leaves, slowing decaying and preparing the soil for rebirth and growth next spring. Hopefully, by then Trump will be enjoying his swamp-side villa in his new state of residence...under house arrest.

Not So Peachy Keen

My head has been spinning over the past couple of weeks. Ever since Nancy Pelosi finally pulled the trigger and decided to pursue impeachment proceedings, it has been as if the floodgates were opened. New revelations of additional examples of the Trump administration's systematic abuse of power and obstruction of justice have been almost nonstop.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, ever obedient to his master, blithely trashed and trampled on the institutional integrity of the diplomatic corps (again) to repurpose U.S. foreign policy to pursue not U.S. national interests but conduct oppo research for the president's 2020 election campaign.

Simultaneously, Tutti frutti Rudy Giuliani plunged, snake-like, into the bottomless muck of Ukraine's oligarch-controlled political netherworld to snake out some filth on Joe Biden, Trump's potential Democratic opponent in 2020, and Hunter Biden, who engaged in a little slimery of his own a few years back, serving on the board of directors of a shady, oligarch-controlled natural gas company.

Not content to live in the wreckage of his past, President Trump commissioned Attorney General William Barr to jettison whatever professional reputation he might have had left to jet around Europe in hopes of discrediting the Mueller Report. Rather than leave this task to the former federal prosecutor whom he had assigned, Barr insisted on taking the lead himself.

Meanwhile, other whistle blowers have begun to come out of the woodwork to corroborate the initial one's 7-page report to the National Intelligence Council's inspector general. That means that the White House will have to ramp up and extend its deny-deflect-trash-and-smear efforts, all the while bulldozing over the rubble of America's norms of governance.

It's all almost like some sort of twisted child's story and, more specifically, like the nightmare beginning of one of my favorite's: Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. I'll give Speaker Pelosi credit, she's one tough customer, and she'll have to be. You never know what kind of slithery vermin is likely to crawl out of that gargantuan fetid piece of fruit. Although, you don't want to judge an insect by its slimy cover: the many-legged denizens, as in the original story, seem to only want to help Pelosi in her quest to get to the bottom of things and reestablish the rule of law.

Heat-Seeking Missle

I guess we should all be grateful now that John (I am the Walrus) Bolton has been unceremoniously shown the door. True, he was an unrepentant warmonger, always pounding his little fists and flapping his chicken hawk wings, squawking for regime change, nuclear strikes or obliteration of some enemy, real or contrived. But the idea that his departure means that U.S. foreign policy is now safely back in the hands of adults? Well, let me just say that I have some mighty primo real estate to sell you down in Florida.

As many have pointed out, the only real decider in this policy arena is Cheeto Jesus himself, and there have been several pieces written about how his various advisers serve as mere props to legitimize his chaotic, impulse-driven policy making. Still, there are those who have shown themselves to be more adept than others in maneuvering to influence the White House's halfwit enfant terrible.

Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, has been one of the few members of Trump's cabinet who has been mentioned as having an almost a preternatural knack for anticipating the president's brain fart du jour. Then, elbowing aside his rivals, he rushes in, like a "heat-seeking missile," straight up into the Donald's backside, all the while mobilizing the foreign policy apparatus to make it happen. He has shown even greater skill in providing intellectually specious bubble gum and tinfoil rationales to prop up the president's numbskullery so that U.S. foreign policy maintains a thin veneer of seriousness.

Before we get too excited, let's not forget that Mike Pompeo is a Koch Brother Muppet. His failing business survived thanks only to their libertarian largess, which also underwrote his election into the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010, the Year of the Teabag. While there, he quickly made his mark by blustering about the nothing burger that was Benghazi and bellowing for U.S. military intervention in Iran. He is an unrepentant hawk who would happily see the U.S. extend its endless, needless global war on fill in the blank. The only thing that has restrained him so far from vocalizing such a vision has been his laser focus on pleasing his master in the Oval Office. I have little doubt, however, that he would push the president to plunge this nation into another dead end military boondoggle were such an opportunity to arise.

So, dry your tears for the man with the toilet brush mustache and start counting the days for when, G-d forbid, Mikey "the Missile" Pompeo finally hits his mark.

I Believe I Can...Puke

Looks like the jig might finally be up for two of the biggest super predators. I'm speaking of serial child rapists R Kelly and Jeffrey Epstein. Both were sexually exploiting and abusing girls in plain sight with only feeble attempts at bringing them to justice and holding them to account for their horrible, vile acts. Both have been protected by their wealth and connections to powerful allies. And, as a result, both have exposed the sheer hypocrisy of these allies, many of whom would otherwise have us all believe what great champions they are on this and other hot button social issues.

Well, not exactly all of them. There is of course, the crotch grabber-in-chief, Donald J. Trump, who has spent most of his adult (child)hood sexually bullying, assaulting and raping women. He has then used his daddy's money to hire a whole pack of shysters do the very same thing to these women again, this time using the legal system instead of his own underperforming member to "schlong" them.

Maybe that's why he decided to nominate Alexander Acosta, the former U.S. attorney, to be Secretary of Labor and ostensibly policy lead of the U.S. Government's anti-(sex) trafficking efforts. It makes perfect sense that Trump would put Acosta in charge after Acosta gave Jeffrey Epstein the sweetheart deal of the century to avoid federal charges of sex trafficking and rape, among others. After a mealy-mouthed defense of his spineless cave to this wealthy scion of the Manhattan "Masters of the Universe," Acosta finally did the right thing and resigned.

I wouldn't be surprised if it were Trump who told him to hit the road, if only because the Donald went on record saying he did the exact opposite. Trump is nothing if not consistent, because he always telegraphs when he's lying. In this case, when he said, "It was him not me," implying that the resignation was entirely Acosta's decision, my antennae immediately went up. Poor Donald. He was probably getting nervous that all this focus on Epstein and his sordid acts might flush out some more of Trump's own heinous history of criminal misogyny. Not that it would matter, since he's gotten away with it pretty much every single time.

Still, one can only hope the this time will be different. With both R Kelly and Jeffrey Epstein potentially being sent up the river to do some quality time behind bars, it would be nice to believe that the public might focus just enough of its attention on these two men's cases. If it does, Americans will realize just how endemic sex trafficking is, right here in the U.S., right in their own neighborhoods in many cases. And maybe, just maybe, they'll also begin to appreciate how these two sociopaths' impunity is only the tip of the iceberg for a justice system characterized by gross, systemic inequities.

I can always believe, anyway. I believe I can...puke.

It's No Joke

There was once a time, not so long ago, when a Supreme Court ruling meant something, when it actually carried some weight. The recent ruling by the Roberts Court against the Trump administration's efforts to include a question on citizenship in the 2020 census was the right one. Among other things, it called the administration's rationale for including the question "contrived."

What a perfect description of the Trump administration for nearly the past 3 years - contrived:

• the faux populism used to cover up the massive giveaways to the wealthiest 1 percent; 
• the righteous claims to drain the swamp in Washington, only to carry out some of the most brazen, systematic corruption we've seen since the Teapot Dome scandal a century ago; 
• the effort to bring back the coal industry as a justification for rolling back the U.S.'s incremental baby steps towards addressing global climate change; and 
• the fact-free claims of protecting national security to impose a Muslim ban.

So when the Trump administration claimed that it was adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census to better enforce the Voting Rights Act, you just knew something stinky just had to be there, festering not too far below the surface. Sure enough, first an estranged daughter turned over her deceased father's hard drives with troves of evidence of the GOP strategy to undercount people of color in the 2020 census. Soon thereafter, the Trump administration's Cracker Jack communications team began losing message discipline with different administration officials backing different rationales. And finally, once the Supreme Court ruling was issued, there was the President himself, babbling about the need to have the question to better demarcate Congressional districts and allocate appropriations. Oopsy!

One might have reasonably thought that this palm-smacking display of incompetence and dishonesty combined with the Supreme Court ruling would have deep-sixed this poorly planned and even more poorly executed ploy. With normal presidencies, yes, but as we all know by now, the only thing normal about the Trump presidency is the setting on the White House washing machine.

Nope. The deranged day-glo orange crotch-grabber at 1600 Penn Avenue wasn't about to let the rule of law get in his way. What Donny wants, Donny gets, all the while making a public spectacle to rile up his de-based basket of deplorables. It's his census survey, by golly, and he'll put whatever dad gum question in there he wants. Why he'll even be happy to to door-to-door himself, knocking on doors while his jack-booted ICE agents go knocking a few heads in the much anticipated round up and separation of immigrant families. It all has a familiar, frightening ring to it. So if you hear a knock at your door, be careful answering it. You never know who might be on the other side...and whatever you do, DON'T ask any questions.

Internment Camp Redux (and Rebrand!)

If anyone is having trouble keeping track of the number of asylum-seeking children who have been separated from their parents (yes, it's still happening) or of the steady decline in their safety and well-being, don't fret. You're not alone. The U.S. judiciary system continues to be just as confounded and confused by the Trump regime's continued attempts to circumvent the rule of law and carry on with its inhumane disappearing and warehousing of these innocent and now deeply traumatized children.

And before my fellow white liberal/progressive types start waving their hands like scarecrows, sputtering and fuming about how all of this debauchery of "American values" only began under Trump, well, all I can say is, you're wrong. Many of the conditions to which I refer - refrigerator-like temperatures, overcrowding, limited/no access to toiletries, basic supplies for washing and cleaning; insufficient supply of nutritious food; and conditions that make sleep near impossible - all began under...wait for it...

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

...under the administration of none other than the "Deporter-in-Chief" himself, one Barack H. Obama.

Okay, here's the obligatory disclaimer: I am not engaged in "what-aboutism." This fact by no means excuses either anything the Trump has done so far or anything it appears hellbent on continuing to do to these children. But can we all just please stop deluding ourselves that Democratic administrations were somehow qualitatively different (i.e., better) in their treatment of migrants and asylum-seekers coming from developing countries? Sure, there was a greater respect for due process, the rule of law and there was even a more efficient administration of justice in enforcing these laws.

But - News FLASH! - many of these laws were unjust and their enforcement robbed people of their dignity.

They were also part of the grand bargain the Democrats made with the white supremacist wahoos in their own party and those on the other side of the aisle to inure themselves from said wahoos' attacks along the lines of, "You're for open (insecure) borders and unregulated immigration." That sort of line would be a variation on theme of "weak on crime/defense/etc." attack line that has struck so much fear in Democrats' hearts and led them to do commit so many unspeakable acts of spineless pandering to white voters anxious about their racial status. And now that the 2020 election cycle is almost about to go into full swing - with Speaker Nancy insisting on a laser-like focus on healthcare and such - I don't see too many vertebrae being aligned and girded for this kind of fight.

Back to Trump regime's moral depravity...I just wonder how much hatred must be oozing out of these folks' pores such that they don't bat so much as an eyelash in carrying out these policies. I realize that these acts are but one small subset of their ever-expanding body of foulness, but for Pete's sake, these are children, many of who are mere toddlers. They were traumatized during their journey from their home countries, ripped out of their parents' arms by U.S. law enforcement and then thrown into enormous, caged walk-in refrigerators. The conditions of which are so mind-numbingly inhumane that you wonder if we are finally hitting rock bottom as a society.

I guess not, since ICE will only begin its nationwide deportation operation will begin tomorrow. As a dear friend of mine once said about another nation in dire straits, "I guess there's always one more swish in the toilet bowl." Flush twice! It's a long way to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.!

Down the Hatch (Act)!

We're probably running out of special places down you know where for members of the Creep Show that is the Trump Administration. They are nothing, if not consistent, continuing to outdo each other with their outlandish examples of moral turpitude. No surprise, since they're only following the lead of the Immoral Twerp-Dude-in-Chief. Still, you had to be left just a little gobsmacked by the lip-sneering show of entitlement by Kellyanne Conway when she dismissed charges made by the (Trump-appointed) head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), who called Conway a "repeat offender" of the Hatch Act. N.B. That's the law that forbids federal employees from engaging in campaign activities while on the clock at their taxpayer-funded jobs.

Conway's response? Essentially, she told the OSC, "Hatch Act, Shmatch Act, you can kiss my hairy Hatch (Act)!"

Not to be outdone, and just to make sure they cover their boss's prodigious backside, Trumpista flunkies fell over reach other, rushing to embrace their collective sense of victimhood - an increasingly regular occurrence these days - to claim the OLC was violating Conway's first amendment rights. Hoo, boy! Where do we start with that one? This little whiny bit of legalish-sounded horse puckey from the same crowd that supported Trump's calling journalists the "enemy of the people"? This from the followers of the wannabe-dictator who enjoyed whipping up his supporters into a frenzy at his rallies and urging them to assault reporters? I don't have enough time or space in this blog to list the many examples where Trump & Co. have shown their utter disdain and disregard for the first amendment (and most of the rest of the Constitution, too, for that matter).

But never mind all that, let's just sit for a moment and let it sink in that Conway's act of audacious impunity is likely to go unpunished, since the Democrats, despite winning back the House, are too busy wringing their hands and fingering their worry beads to lift, well, a finger. Okay, okay, to be fair, Conway's lawbreaking is probably exhibit #3,024 in the long, running list of crimes committed by Trump and his Creepies, but still. Couldn't the Dems muster just a little bit of moral outrage. Would it be asking too much to call before a Congressional committee or three to account for her behavior? Can a committee chair get a witness? Nope, Trump has defied and ignored all of the subpoenas issued by the oversight committees.

Doh!

But besides, we're told, the Democrats have been much too busy passing and sending bills to show us just how much better they are at governing than the other guys. You know, all that policy and legislative stuff that we, the public, are supposed to be paying attention to? And what has happened to said bills? They get sent over to the black hole that is Mitch McConnell's Senate where they promptly are given a bullet to the head and die a quiet death without so much as a proper burial. 

Which is another reason why Nancy, Chuck and the gang refuse to begin initiating the impeachment process, because they fear Mitch going all grim reaper on their you know whatsits.If you don't think you win a battle and you don't feel like doing the work to increase the probability of winning, then I guess it's okay to just delay, obfuscate, look the other way, and hope history treats you kindly in a few decades.

Hello, Mcfly? Anybody home? Impeachment IS your Constitutional obligation, even and especially more so in this dangerous political moment in which we find ourselves. Indeed, the Democrats need to figure out how to do both more effectively, but sadly, it is becoming painfully obvious that undertaking anything other than what they consider to be a safe political slam dunk is nowhere to be found in the Democratic Party's wheelhouse. So much for the loyal opposition sucking it up and putting on their big girl (and boy) pants.

I've ranted and raved enough. Time to take a break. Meanwhile, enjoy the toon and happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there. Just be sure not to let your daughters grow up to be like Kellyanne Conway, because there might still be some room in one of those special places somewhere you know where...

Tirade Policy

Score another one for the Donald. Serial crises, the likes of which would have normally sunk most presidencies, seem to buoy Trump instead. Indeed, the formula is now well-known and familiar:

Step 1 - create a totally unnecessary crisis of your own making.

Step 2 - threaten and bully your adversary with demands that are completely out of the realm of possibility.

Step 3 - wait until the world bites its collective fingernails to the quick.

Step 4 -  back down.

Step 5 - claim victory for having defused the bogus crisis, regardless of actual costs to yourself or anyone else.

In this particular case, Trump decided to conflate immigration with trade policy, which carried some significant economic costs for his wealthy GOP enablers - so much so that GOP politicos suffered a momentary lapse of spinefulness and muttered and sputtered about swallowing these costs while making maximum effort to avoid provoking the Donald's infamous temper.'

And, to make this whole exercise all the more absurd, the details of the actual "deal" reached with the Government of Mexico turned out to have been negotiated months ago between Mexico and the U.S. It makes me wonder, "Was this all a distraction? What the <bleep> was actually going on while we were so focused on the scary possibility of rapidly escalating tariffs on our #1 trading partner?

The list is probably too long, and probably involves a mixture of gross corrupt practices, obstruction of justice, and evisceration of some critical cornerstone of one of our long-established institutions. Good grief, why does all of that sound so familiar It must be déjà vu all over again and again and again and again...I think I need a nap.

The Donald Does Japan

Looks like the Donald has made yet another belly flop of a splash during his time abroad, this time in Japan. He managed to meet the new emperor, attend a sumo wrestling match, and trash one of our most important alliances for good measure. Evidently, he threatened Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with tariffs if the Japanese auto industry didn't stop importing so many of its products to the U.S. Nobody bothered to remind Trump that Japanese automakers already manufacture one-third of all of their products in the Lower 48.

For good measure, Trump gave a favorable shout out to one of his favorite dictators, Kim Jung Un, by way of agreeing with the North Korean government's communique, which called Joe Biden a low IQ individual. Never mind that U.S. presidents have traditionally followed an unspoken rule of leaving partisan politics at the American shore while traveling abroad and representing our nation. Norms are for other (lower IQ) people. What struck me is that when Trump is overseas, he's bumbling foolery is only magnified, because it is so out of context and without the usual 35% of our own population bobbing their empty heads in unison to his crass, puerile nonsense.

It all had the air of an Elementary school Model United Nations exercise, except that 10 year olds would at least make an effort to act diplomatically and avoid rupturing intentionally strategic alliances. Not Trump. He's like a big clumsy, vicious monster that revels in finding new ways to destroy whatever person, place or thing has the bad fortune of being in his path. And for measure, he teams up with other brutish monsters, to whom he has pledged his undying love and affection, so that together they can all pile on for a proper session of raze and burn.

I guess Trump's visit to Tokyo will be forgotten within a few hours in our rapid reload news cycle. He'll just go off thrashing, smashing and crashing somewhere else. We'll all gasp and shudder and then wait for the next time he does it all over again. It's exhausting even thinking about it never mind actually doing something about it. Me, personally? I'd actually prefer some big green scaly nuclear waste-powered, hellfire-breathing monster. At least, I wouldn't have to experience the same self-rewinding tape of disaster over and over and over and over again.

He's Lovin' It

I don't know about you, but watching the Democrats in Congress wring their hands while the Donald runs roughshod over the rule of law is making my stomach turn, kinda like after I scarf down a "meal" at Mickey D's. All of these so-called salty veterans of D.C.'s favorite pastime, Insider Baseball, continue to tut-tut over the idea of beginning the impeachment process, even as the Trump administration swats away one subpoena after another, further diminishing Congress as a co-equal branch of the federal of government.

Instead, they come up with one politically expedient excuse after another about why now is not the right time, sticking their heads in the sand while muttering something about, "Let's wait until 2020, and let the voters decide." What the heck are they scared of? That the Senate won't actually vote to impeach Trump? That impeachment will throw them off message as they head into the 2020 elections? That the politics aren't to their liking? Something is beginning to smell an awful lot like flop sweat, oozing out of the pores of 280 Democrats on the Hill. Meanwhile, the Trump administration strategy of stonewalling and stalling appears to be working, allowing them to continue pursuing their white supremacist mission with impunity.

Personally, I thought Elizabeth Warren had it about right when she pointed out that nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is there an exception for political inconvenience. At least there's one Democrat who is willing to assume her institutional role obligation and uphold the Constitution, protect the rule of law and stand up to Trump. Okay, to be fair, there are several others, but among the Democratic "leadership," you don't hear anything coming close to this kind of response. Just crickets. Chirp.

And Trump, who has been claiming "total exoneration" and who has been benefiting from William morphing into Roy Cohn, couldn't be happier. After all, he's insisted all along that the Mueller investigation was a "witch hunt" instigated by angry partisans of the Deep State in the FBI and the national security-intelligence apparatus. And the Democratic response to this man who would have us all believe that everything in the Mueller Report is just one big "Nothing Burger"?

"Would you like some (freedom) fries with that?"

I can only guess, he MUST be lovin' it.

Heads Up!

It appears that the Trump Administration has served notice to Congress that it will no longer be making its people available for any further testimony or anything else for that matter, in response to Congress attempting to exercise its oversight authority. The Mueller investigation was the one and only chance Congress and, by extension, the American people had at holding Don the Con and his swamp thingies accountable for their chronic slime bucketry and shenanigans.

Gosh, I didn't realize checks and balances worked that way...my bad.

Meanwhile, over at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), everything is sunny and gay (in a non-Pence-like way, of course). Climate change? To paraphrase Alfred B. Newman, "What, we worry?" Or should we? Because it sure looks like the scientists over there - remember them, those silly people who live in that bizarre-o world of empiricism and facts? - didn't get the memo on promoting climate denial from Don the Con. In fact, they just issued a report, warning us all that here in the U.S. we ought "to start planning for the fact that climate change is going to make these catastrophes (natural disasters) worse."

But not so, sez EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. Nope. According to him, “most of the threats from climate change are 50 to 75 years out.” Great, he's just given us the proverbial kick o' the can down the road. Or maybe he really does know something we (and thousands of scientists) don't know? Or maybe, just maybe, over at 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, the head doesn't know what the body is doing. Maybe that's because the "head," aka, EPA Administrator Wheeler, has got his own kopf stuck up his tuchus, a well-documented result of being a part of the skulk of foxes that has been put in charge of the myriad hen houses that are the U.S. federal regulatory apparatus.

Well, stranger things have been known to happen than a bought-and-paid-for former (?) coal industry lobbyist lying about the potential impacts of climate change, even if he did swear an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and the American people, all 327 odd million of us, and not his Carbonnsauras clients. I guess when you have to constantly gaslight the American public and their elected representatives, having your head involuntarily lodge itself up your backside is an occupational hazard. What with having to contort yourself to assume all kinds of awkward positions so that you can give at least the appearance of seriousness while coughing up another hairball of half-truths and artful dodges. Having said that, doing this particular kind of deep dive does have the added benefit of not having to witness the consequences of your action on the planet, or on your fellow human beings.

See? It's not climate denial. It's just an example of self-care, but please don't try this at home.

Holiday Road to Perdition

Is it the beginning of the end...or, to quote the last century's greatest imperialist mass murderer, is it the end of the beginning? Will there be more convictions among Mad Dog 20/20 Don and his merry band of grifters? Will Bill "Limbo Lower" Barr sell off whatever remains of his soul in his all-out defense of Don and his spawn? And will the Democrats decide that upholding the rule of law and other bedrock institutions is more important than winning the next election?

Whichever, whatever...I'm not exactly holding my breath.

First, a disclaimer. I have not read the Mueller Report. I have read some good analyses, in the Intercept among others, and the following appears to me to be pretty clear:

1. The Trump campaign did not conspire or coordinate - key finding: collude or collusion is not a criminal legal term, so let's stop allowing Trump & co, use it - with the Russians. Rather, they were (a) all too happy to be the passive beneficiaries of Russian "dirt on Hilary," because they were either (b) too incompetent to figure out how to actively conspire or (c) more focused on consummating the Moscow Trump Tower deal. Either way, their acts of omission - not reporting Russian government overtures to them - were neither illegal nor ethical. More importantly, they were perfectly consistent with their utter disdain for the norms of our political system, which, I know, is setting the Barr low (pun intended; see previous Imp Wardrobe post).
2. I agree with those pundits (see Mehdi Hassan's piece on the Intercept) who describe the Mueller Report, especially its section on obstruction of justice, as a roadmap for impeaching Trump. And it goes without saying that if there were even so much as a fraction of the number of such incidents under a Democratic presidency, the GOP would be out on the street with their tiki torches and AR-15s. But I digress...
3. Why aren't the Democrats showing more interesting in pursuing said roadmap? Ostensibly, because with a GOP-controlled Senate, there's no way that Trump would be convicted, even if the House were to pass articles of impeachment. Rather than lay out the case for why that's an unprincipled, weasel-eared non-position position, I would encourage you instead to read (or reread) Yoni Applebaum's case for impeachment in the Atlantic. Spoiler alert: the Democrats are putting (potential) partisan political gains in front of any sense of responsibility for safeguarding our political institutions. Shocked? Right...me, too.

So, bottom line, it's hard to feel too much outrage at this point, at any of these knuckleheads. Haters gonna hate, and weasels gonna put on their weasel ears. Besides, it's been a long road to trudge, and it looks like we're likely to trudge a whole lot more before it's all over. Sorta like a road trip from hell, or to hell, while traipsing down the road of perdition. But since we're talking about President Trump, aka, our national buffoon, I prefer to call the "National Buffoon's Impeachment," aka, the "Holiday Road to Perdition," which is the title of this week's cartoon. 

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend - Chag Sameach and Happy Easter to others. And for all my peeps, celebrating the former, don't forget to drink some prune juice; otherwise, enjoy 8 days of Matzoh-induced gastro-intestinal filibuster. 

Corrupt Catherine

It's not every week that I take aim at a local issue, but this week was truly special here in Charm City. This week we learned that our very own mayor, Catherine "Le" Pugh, managed not to disclose for more than eight years that she had been selling 30,000 copies of her blockbuster best seller, Healthy Holly, to various institutions over which she had played various direct and indirect oversight roles. Conflict of interest? Nah. Poor judgment? Absolutely not! Good reason to resign? Never.

What's the next book in the series? Corrupt Catherine?

And folks wonder why Bmore is such a hot mess - what with the city literally and figuratively bleeding people between the continued middle class flight and spiking violent crime rates, respectively. Just another example of inner city decay? More like city officials' inner moral decay. Some quick background: Pugh won the last mayoral race here in Bmore, beating out former mayor Sheila Dixon, mainly for one reason: she didn't have a sordid past involving nearly being convicted by a jury of her peers of a felony theft charge.

Le Pugh might actually one up her predecessor on that count, once the dust settles and she chooses to come back from her extended "leave of absence." I'm not sure she has much to look forward to. Several major public and private sector institutions, including the city council (by a unanimous vote) and the Greater Baltimore Committee, have asked her to resign, but she's not having it. No siree! She's one committed pol; committed to what exactly, outside of self-enrichment, is any one's guess.

But just as surely as spring has finally arrived in full bloom here in Baltimore, Mayor Pugh is not one to let a few naysayers get in the way of her being of service to this fine city. So the next time you walk out onto your back porch and catch a whiff of that all too familiar stench coming from your alley way, don't call 311. That's not your garbage sitting there (STILL) going uncollected. No, it's just her honor, Catherine Le Pugh, proving that she is indeed the real embodiment (and scent) of all that is right (and ripe) about our beloved city.

Why Pigs Shouldn't Fly

If anyone hasn't already, you should really listen to Democracy Now's segment last Friday, https://www.democracynow.org/…/profits_should_not_come_befo…

The segment included statements made by the lawyer and family of Samya Stumo, who along with another 156 innocent passengers died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash last month. Bottom line, the crash was decidedly not a result of a tragic "accident" but rather as a result of "'...Boeing's decision to put profits over safety … and the regulators that enabled it, must be held accountable for their reckless actions.'" These poor folks all assumed, mistakenly as it turns out, that U.S. airplane manufacturers really do put safety first, and that the U.S. Government regulatory agencies provide meaningful oversight to ensure that they do. Wrong and wrong again,.

May G-d rest all of their souls in peace.

I won't make this a long post. Suffice it to say that this example of corporate criminal malfeasance confirmed for me a few things, which have been apparent to me for a loooong time:

1. Business is in business to be in business. It cares nary a whit for the welfare of its consumers above and beyond what the beancounters tell them they need to do to reduce their exposure to legal liability. Anything above and beyond that is a pointless waste of money, which could be going to fatten up the earnings of C-suite execs and major shareholders.
2. Self-regulation by the private sector is a farce. It's worse than letting the fox into the hen house. It's tying the hens down so that the fox doesn't have to work too hard to rip the poor fowl to shreds.
3. The USG - both the executive and legislative branches - is a servile lackey to corporate interests, especially when it comes to anything associated with the military-industrial complex (N.B. that would include Boeing).

So the next time some blowhard starts crowing about "the private sector" and how it does things so much more efficiently than the public sector, tell'em to stick a sock in it. Tell'em that corporate America is nothing more than a bunch of thieving amoral con artists - sound like someone (orange) we know? - who would happily sell their own families to medical experiment if it meant boosting their P/E ratio.

I'm hoping there's a special place for these folks in the big BBQ downstairs where they spend eternity reflecting on the consequences of their narcissistic sociopathic pursuit of lucre.

Hope, too, that somebody remember to bring the Stubb's...

Victory Lap

Was I let down when Special Counsel Robert Mueller chose not to lower the hammer on Trump & Co. in his recently released report? Sure. Was I surprised? No, not really. I never really believed that Trump & Co. were really capable of pulling off a John le Carré-esque bit of intrigue and conspiring with the Russians in any meaningful way. If for no other reason, they are all a bunch of bumbling fools for whom putting their shoes on the correct feet in the morning constitutes a minor miracle.

No, what I've been waiting for is more indictments (and convictions) for the corrupt practices that are more the rule than the exception with this crowd. The number of open cases involving Trump and his family and associates, most of which have little to nothing to do with the 2016 election, never mind "collusion" with the Russians, continues to increase. Again, none of this is at all surprising, because what we're seeing is a continuation of the kind of "business" practices Trump engaged in on his way to six bankruptcies and a myriad of suits and court cases for his sociopathic lack of ethos.

What worries me is the seeming effectiveness of Trump and his GOP enablers to turn the tables and go after the Democrats, at least in the court of public opinion. No, I don't see Adam Schiff or Jerome Nadler being frogmarched off to Gitmo anytime soon. However, the fact that Trump even tries to use the machinery of the state to go after his political opponents (often with the GOP leadership's blessing) reminds me of my time living in developing countries, working on democracy and governance programs. In these countries, the thin veneer of institutional checks and balances on the executive branch was so flimsy - IF it existed at all - that most political opponents were lucky to stay alive.

Here in the U.S., we'd like to believe that nothing like that could ever happen. But let's take note of the well-documented increased levels of terrorist attacks made on the basis of Islamophobia, misogyny, racism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, nativism, etc, many of which have assumed a more political intent. Let's also acknowledge that all of these diseases of the heart have been around for decades if not centuries in our country. Finally, let's recognize that they manifest themselves at dangerously high prevalence rates in our security sector forces, which, if we're really honest, we'll recognize as having been originally designed to safeguard white lives, wealth and supremacy.

So as Trump takes his victory lap, using his Attorney General's whitewashed summary of Mueller's report to falsely claim "total exoneration" and "complete vindication," let's make sure to put a few speed bumps in his path. Let's return our focus to methodically gathering evidence and making the case for prosecuting what has clearly been a corrupt presidency with a dual mission: the pursuit of self-enrichment and the execution of a relentless hit job on our nation's institutions of governance. Otherwise, we risk giving him license to continue on his merry, psychotic way, running over all who dare to place themselves in his path with his out-of-control golf cart.

Godawful Toddler

The events of the past week have been horrific. The tragic crash of the Ethiopian Airways flight, killing all aboard, and the massacre of 50 innocent Muslims by a white supremacist in New Zealand are two of the big ones that come to mind. But what would a week of disasters be without our very own Donald Trump.

I'm speaking, of course, of his proposed fiscal year 2020 budget. Unless you're wealthy, white and male, fuggedaboutit, you're shtupped. Not only is the budget horrible fiscal policy, it also reveals in no uncertain terms the utter moral depravity of Donald Trump and his GOP enablers. Why slash the social safety net when you can light it on fire and toss it in that burning dumpster that is the Trump administration? Why bother trying to overturn "Obamacare" when you can practically zero out Medicaid instead? Pollution? Global warming? Who cares? Let's begin to zero out the Environment Protection Agency's funding and capacity to do anything about it.

You say you're concerned about the federal deficit? Thbbpthbpt! That's so last administration...

Right, go figure. The great chicken hawk himself - Ouch! Those pesky bone spurs! - is leading the party that once claimed to be the true fiscal hawks over the cliff and into the Red (Ink) Sea. While they are at it, the GOP 2017 tax cut for the über wealthy will reduce the federal government's revenue collections significantly while also failing to make good on their promise to eliminate any of the loopholes in the corporate tax system. To paraphrase the Donald, "Lies made. Lies denied."

I realize, of course, that this budget has no chance of being accepted as is. I just hope and pray that the Democrats don't try to channel their inner ca. 1980s Republicans in beating the breasts as a sign of sanctimonious fidelity to fiscal discipline. You want to reduce the federal deficit? Try reducing military spending, which was one of the few areas to receive a plus up from the White House, on top of it already being bloated, excessive and bursting with bogus corporate welfare for armchair imperialists. What about eliminating the intelligence agencies? They're never right about anything anyway (end of the Cold War?), and on the rare occasion when they are, nobody in power bothers to listen to them (9/11).

On the revenue side, how about a tax on financial transactions? What about ending corporate welfare as we know it? Carbon tax anyone? You know, because we have about a dozen years and counting before the planet begins its irreversible descent into spontaneously combustion?

At some point, probably not in my lifetime, the American public will wake up to the huge swindle that is the whole federal budget. It consistently transfers wealth upwards to those who need it least, either through tax cuts or an expansion of loopholes, as well as through discretionary spending that favors corporate interests with little to no net social benefit for the vast majority of Americans. This skewed fiscal policy is a direct result of asymmetric access and influence by the small army lobbyists serving the various interests of the wealth elite, a situation that will remain in place well into the foreseeable future, thanks to the GOP bought and paid for Roberts' Supreme Court - "Corporations are people, too, my friend!"

But that is a topic of another rant 'n' rave. Meanwhile, we are left with this hot, stinky mess left by our very own Godawful Toddler, which will likely need more than just a few butt wipes to clean up.

A Very Fine Fellow

Not surprisingly, Trump and the rest of the GOP have been all over the Democrats' recent attempts to address the genuine differences that exist among their ranks. The Democratic-controlled House finally managed to pass a resolution condemning all forms of hatred, including anti-Semitism as well as Islamophobia, homophobia and white supremacy. I'm not going to unpack all of the angst and inner turmoil the Democrats went through to finally get to that point. Let me instead just say that I salute them for taking on the issue, hashing it out, and coming to some form of an in-group consensus...unlike the very fine people on the other side.

And that is the subject of today's rant 'n' rave. Any time you have Donald Trump trying to shame someone else for anti-Semitism, you have truly summited the Mount Everest of hypocrisy. Here's a dude who has spent his entire adult life marinating in a toxic bilious brew of misogyny, white supremacy, and anti-Semitism. The idea that he or his spineless Republican lemmings have even an iota of moral authority remaining to castigate anyone else for anti-Semitism...Well, let me just tip my hat to Jonathan Greenblatt, the Anti-Defamation League CEO, who tweeted, "Those who truly care about the Jewish community shouldn't politicize #antiSemitism. No one should be grandstanding now. Elected leaders can best help us move forward by ending the blame game & genuinely committing to rebuild bonds & fight #hate in all forms."

Exactly. Because that's what Trump is and has always been about - grandstanding - transparently baseless buffoonery, puffery, bullying and the amoral, sociopathic pursuit of gratifying his painfully insecure ego. Despite all that, deep down underneath, I'm sure he's probably a very fine fellow... Nicht.

Kool Aid Luke

And suddenly, there was silence...

Go figure. After spending the last decade and some, beating the drum about bogus endemic voter fraud sweeping the nation, it turns out (surprise!) that all along it was the Republicans who were the biggest perpetrators of actual election fraud.

Quick point of information, voter fraud is carried out by individuals who seek to misrepresent themselves in casting individual ballots. Election fraud is a systematic effort to influence the administration of an election so that the playing field is skewed in favor of one candidate over another. Mark Harris, the Republican candidate for the 9th Congressional district in North Carolina, attempted the latter while the North Carolina GOP accused Democratic voters of perpetrating the former. Oh, the irony.

Funny how that works. Looks like Donald Trump didn't write the fraudster playbook after all, he was just one of its more shameless, adept users. No, in fact, ever since the enactment of landmark voting rights legislation over 50 years ago, the GOP, in pursuing its Southern Strategy, has sought to roll back and neutralize these reforms. Give them credit, though. This is not your grandfather's Jim Crow. Now, they're much more "subtle," using a variety of techniques with the advantage of enjoying a thin veneer of legality:

• gerrymandering electoral districts, either by cracking or stacking them to dilute minority voice; 
• limiting the number of days for early voting to suppress voting by working class folks unable to take time off their jobs to go to a polling station; 
• reducing the number of polling stations, especially in areas populated predominately by poor folks and people of color: and, 
• as was the case in NC, harvesting and bundling absentee ballots from voters who are unaware of that this practice is actually illegal.

To add insult to injury, last year Donald Trump established a bogus commission, led by one of the country's biggest election fraudsters, Kris Kobach, Kansas' now former secretary of state, to investigate voter fraud. After several states refused to submit their electoral data to the commission, effectively rendering it toothless, Trump disbanded it. Since then, we haven't heard too much about this false crisis, which, by my estimation, is approximately #17 of a running list of 139 false crises manufactured by Trump and his cronies and enablers.

And now, when there is finally evidence of widespread election fraud, an actual crime, all we hear are...crickets. Chirp. Chirp. Chirp. Or maybe I'm wrong, and it's not a guilty silence. Maybe the Republican Party has done nothing illegal at all. Maybe it was just poor messaging and what we really have here is just failure to communicate...

Rest NOT Assured

I read in this morning's Washington Post that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is nearing completion on his investigation - if he hasn't already - of the Trump campaign/administration and that he might deliver his report might soon. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-department-preparing-for-mueller-report-in-coming-days/2019/02/20/c472691c-354b-11e9-af5b-b51b7ff322e9_story.html

Coincidentally, amidst all of the Trump goons going down with indictments, convictions and jail time, Trump has decided - with plenty of cover from supine Democratic Party "leadership" - to party like it's 1979 and rattle his little itty bitty saber. Led by the patron saint of mass murderers, Eliot Abrams, the US has attempted to stage a "soft" coup d'état in Venezuela and is now threatening the country with military intervention if they Nicolas Maduro doesn't hit the road, prontíssimo.

Coincidence...right? Sure, and I have some nice real estate to sell you in Florida, coincidentally in the same exact spot as Mar-a-Lago.

Back to the likely contents of the Mueller report...it appears there have been major movements of the lower intestinal variety by many in the White House in anticipation of its release, and with good reason. After Congress has a chance to view and use its findings, assuming newly minted AG William Barr allows it to go public in some form, federal prosecutors will have opportunities a plenty to follow up with their various investigation: into the now moribund Trump Foundation's self-dealing; the sources of the Trump inaugural committee's funding; and of course, the biggie, hush payments to Trump's "mistresses," which might well have been made with campaign funding.

To paraphrase the inimitable Dr. Seuss, "Oh, the places we will go!"

But before we get anywhere we'll have to endure more of the GOP operatives' trashing of Mueller, his team of prosecutors, and of national law enforcement agencies more generally. Funny, how this smack down of our security sector is being perpetrated by the so-called "law and order" Trump administration and its enablers, the so-called "tough on crime" GOP. I guess their ethical compass is calibrated to point to "true South," which means when they get into a jam rather than take responsibility, they come out swinging lead pipes, collateral damage be damned. At this rate, I wonder if there will be any of our institutions left standing should Trump make it to the end of his first term without first resigning or getting impeached, such is the GOP's willingness to smash all that it once held so holy and dear.

N.B. - I'm no great fan of this particular part of the U.S. federal government. The FBI especially has a deep, troubling history when it comes to delegitimizing, harassing and even assassinating civil society leaders who were identified as potential threats to power holders. Case in point, Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, along with fellow Black Panther Mark Clark and other innocents, were slaughtered while they slept during a raid carried out by the FBI and the Chicago Police in a December 1969 raid.

I'm just observing and expressing my frustration about how it always seems to work that the full weight of the federal government's coercive powers always land 99.9% on those without power, usually people of color and those who are economically disadvantaged. But when it's the powerful who have potentially run afoul of the law? Never mind...next subject...move along. Nothing to see here.

I also realize that pointing out the sheer mind numbing pervasiveness and scale and hypocrisy of how stuff actually works in America is an exercise in pointing out the obvious. Still, I still think it's worth stating it and demanding accountability, especially of the powerful. That accountability is rarely if ever exacted of the powerful makes me imagine that there must be some sort of black market for insurance to cover the their multiple, systemic abuses of authority, which led me to ink today's 'toon. I wonder if Trump & co. are covered? Or did he stiff his insurers, too?

Witch Hunt Season

We've all probably become numb to Trump's daily attacks on everyone and everything that doesn't feed and stroke his bloated ego: journalists, who do their job reporting facts instead of making stuff up and praising the beloved leader for his innumerable feats of supreme excellence; political opponents, real and imagined, who dare to call Trump to account for his "performance" as president of the United States instead of falling in love and in line with his magnificence; his own appointees and staff, who make the foolish mistake of occasionally following the law when carrying out their duties rather than blindly doing exactly--what--he--wants; and, of course, Trump's arch-nemesis, Robert Mueller, who may or may not be close to wrapping up with his investigation of the Trump campaign/administration and its shenanigans.

Today the New York Times published an exhaustive recounting, not only of what we have all seen and heard in these very public attacks but also those that are not so public and that have been carried out on the down-low.

It's well worth a read if only to help us appreciate one of the few areas where Trump and his merry band of slime-ball wannabe gangstas have shown a modicum of competency - going after and kneecapping people. You thought soon-to-be jailbird Michael "Stoolie" Cohen was the only "fixer" in Trump's inner circle? Evidently not. It's enough to make you rub your eyes and think you're watching a rerun of some forgettable episode of the Sopranos. But then you remember, "No, wait a sec. This is Trump. Tony and his crew were actually good at what they did." So, maybe a more apt comparison would be to characters in a Looney Tunes cartoon.

And given Trump's obsession with Mueller and his interminable "witch hunt" I couldn't help but think of one of my favorite episodes - "Wabbit Season." Seriously. Look at how Trump makes a big show of doing EXACTLY the very thing his lawyers (the good ones, the ones whom he fired or who fled the scene on their own volition) told him NOT to do. I'm no shrink, but this dude clearly has got some issues when he not only behaves in (borderline) criminal ways and then boasts that he did so AND that he'll get away with it. He's almost daring you to try to stop him.

And, so far, no one has. I don't have any great faith that the Mueller report, if it's ever actually made public, will include some smoking gun. Nor am I counting on the Democratic-controlled House to do the right thing and start impeachment proceedings. Instead, they're going about trying to stage a political death by a thousand committee hearings, which, as Yoni Appelbaum pointed out in the Atlantic, is far less likely to succeed. It's less likely to mitigate the damage Trump is currently wreaking on nation on a daily basis and it does nothing at all to safeguard our institutions in the medium-term from being thoroughly delegitimized by his constant trashing of our governing norms.

It's all enough to make me channel my inner Daffy Duck and insist, no, DEMAND, that someone shoot me now!

Low Barr

While we're all fixated with the coup d'état the Donald is in the midst of perpetrating, maybe folks haven't bothered to pay closer attention to another little news tidbit. The U.S. Senate confirmed William Barr as the next Attorney General of the United States. Here's a few things to mull about our new AG as he assumes his post, as taken from an article on the website of Democracy Now:

• As Attorney General (1991-93) under President George H.W. Bush, Barr "was involved in the pardon of six Reagan officials for the Iran-Contra scandal..." 
• He "...oversaw the opening of the Guantánamo Bay military prison, which was initially used to indefinitely detain Haitian asylum seekers." 
• "Barr also openly backed mass incarceration at home and helped develop a secret Drug Enforcement Administration program which became a 'blueprint; for the National Security Agency’s mass phone surveillance effort."
• He's just as pro-incarceration, anti-civil rights and anti-immigration as Jeff Sessions.
• Barr openly supported Trump's anti-Muslim ban.
• And, yes, he inappropriately weighed in with his interpretation of presidential authority as it relates to Trump's options in reaction to special counsel Mueller's ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign/administration's possible collusion with Russia.

Etc., etc., etc.

This is not the guy I want to be the nation's chief law enforcement officer. Actually, this is not the guy I want as a hall monitor in my kids' school. Instead, let him spend the rest of his career raking in big bucks to make some fat cats even fatter.

When the question is inevitably asked, "He couldn't possibly be worse than Sessions, and definitely nowhere near as bad as Whitaker?" I have to answer, "Uh-yeah!" Why? Because unlike his predecessors, (1) he has already served as AG and knows his way around federal bureaucracies in general and the Justice Department in particular; and (2), unlike most bottom-of-the-barrel scraping knuckleheads appointed by Trump, he might actually be really good at what he does. That should give us all pause, given his track record.

So once we get through Trump's attempted takeover of the U.S. Government, we might want to turn some of our attention to the DOJ where Barr will be looking to accelerate Trump's agenda with greater efficiency, competency and, at least for now, support from Trump himself. If you thought we couldn't go any lower, then you better buckle your seat belts and be prepared for the worst.

Brown Eggs & Ham

The interminable, chalkboard scraping reality TV dramedy that is the Trump administration is now looking at airing a rerun of the recent episode, "Government Shutdown: It's My Country and I'll Break It If I Want To." Earlier this week, Congressional leaders hammered out a compromise to keep the U.S. federal government open until the end of the current fiscal year, and it appears there's a good chance that both houses will pass it. There's only one problem.

The same problem we've been dealing with for the past 2+ years.

The press is all aflutter - "Will he? Won't he?" - will Trump sign the funding bill or will he veto it? If he vetoes it, will Senate Republicans muster the intestinal fortitude, retrieve their spines from cold storage and override Trump's veto? Here's the real question, and no, it's not border security. The real question is: will Congress, or anyone for that matter, focus on the actual problem?

Rampant, unfiltered, unvarnished state-sanctioned xenophobia and racism.

Clearly, Trump and his white supremacist muse, Stephen Miller, are doing whatever they can in their limited time in power to turn this nation into a hermetically sealed loaf of Wonder Bread. And while they're at it, they are taking great delight in making the lives of asylum seekers and migrants, mostly Central Americans attempting to escape a century U.S.-sponsored violence, as miserable as possible.

The ludicrousness of it all is what led me to hearken back to the most outrageously silly stories I ever read - Dr. Seuss, of course! And one of my all-time faves is Green Eggs & Ham. Don the Con made me think of Sam I Am and his tireless travails to find some way to get his friend to try this wondrous gastronomic delight. Sadly, with Don the Con, there's simply no pleasing him, especially since he's been an unrepentant racist sociopath all is life.

Check, please!