Boyz In The Hood

It must be pretty bleak in the neighborhood around Governor Street these days in Richmond. The Boyz - all members of the power troika, the big 3, the heart of the order - whatever you want to call them - have managed to get themselves into hot water. Of course, I'm speaking about Governor Ralph Northam, Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, and State Attorney General Mark Herring.

Northam and Herring disclosed, to varying degrees of forthrightness and honesty, that they engaged in some racist behavior in their past, dressing up in blackface. For Fairfax, a survivor has stepped forward to accuse him of having sexually assaulted her. He has vehemently denied it, and while I'm in no position to know or determine the veracity of her claim the fact that she hired the same attorney as Dr. Christine Blasey-Ford indicates to me that her accusations have some merit. What has been more interesting to me, though, has been to observe the Democratic 2020 hopefuls and other party heavyweights try to tiptoe through this minefield without appearing to be too hypocritical. Successful or not, you be the judge.

Of course, now the Virginia GOP, without even a complete news cycle to exploit their newfound bounty of bad news for the Dems, has revealed - not surprisingly - it has a few bad Boyz of its own. The Virginia Commonwealth Senate Republican Majority Leader, Thomas Norment Jr., admitted that as managing editor of his college (Virginia Military Institute) yearbook he signed off on including all manner of racist garbage in the publication. Of course, he issued the standard mea culpa, but it was hard to view such a disclosure as genuine or credible. As with Northam and Herring, Norment only made the disclosure once he knew he had no other choice but to do so.

Some readers of the Imperial Wardrobe have questioned whether it's really necessary or compulsory for public figures to make such disclosures prior to assuming public office. Good question, the answer for which has changed over the years. What might have been acceptable 50-60 years ago is no longer so today, and thank goodness! Because that means we have actually made some progress, and things might have just changed for the better. Progress, not perfection, right?

I'm not sure what the future might hold but, for now, I'm grateful that we are holding power holders accountable for the actions they take and have taken as adults, even as young adults, as the case might be with these three bad Boyz. Even if none of these three change their ways as a result of their recent experience, the public outcry over their behavior and their fumbled reactions to public scrutiny will serve as a lesson for all those aspiring to hold public office. They must hold themselves to higher standards. To do otherwise will land them in hot water, or worse, in some bad neighborhoods, and that ain't no fairy tale.

Do As I Say...

So...despite not having any real desire to do so, I tried to watch the State of the Union speech last night. I think I managed to make it through the first ten minutes before the dry-heaving began. I just couldn't stomach the smarmy faux comity, bald-faced lies, self-promoting puffery and ham-fisted bullying. That's our Donald, the round-faced buffoon of bluster, the master of self-made disaster, the reason why we should each be doing our part to shake of our collective apathy and work towards rebuilding and restoring our democracy.

I know it has been suggested before, but even after only ten minutes of listening to him I realized that it's absolutely essential to have a "truth-o-meter" scrolling along the bottom of the screen any time Trump speaks publicly and especially when he is being broadcast. The amazing thing to me is that Trump knows full well that anyone with half a brain can see right through his shtick, which is chockfull of lies, race-baiting and empty threats he'll never be able to carry out.

I think he also probably knows full well that the most of the folks in his base, the real audience of his SOTU speech, don't give a hoot whether or not anything he's saying is actually truth. He's speaking directly to their racial hatreds and primal fears and he's giving them what they've never got from any other politician: validation. If all they got before from the other pols was coy come-ons, nods and winks, now they're getting heaping servings of racist red meat topped with all kinds of encouragement to proudly and openly display their animus towards the other -- whoever the other might be for that day -- immigrants, people of color, Muslims, Latin Americans, take your pick.

And how does such hatred get normalized, transformed from the dog whistle of the silent majority to be considered part of the discourse of the political mainstream? Why the Grand Old Party, of course! What used to be the party of Lincoln has now irreversibly become the party of Trump. What does that mean in practical terms? It means that the folks who once gave us the emancipation proclamation, national parks and the Environmental Protection Agency have now been reduced to contradicting every principle they once held dear - limited government, free trade, a robust U.S. foreign policy, etc. - just so they can remain in lock step with Trump as he leads them (and the rest of us) off the cliff.

And for anyone unwilling to join the lemming brigade you'll be met with the GOP's still highly effective PR machine, which takes a scorched earth approach to all political opposition. Hence, the toon for today, showing Trump making use of the only thing that he and the party have and have ever had to offer to us. And like fast food, it might feel good gobbling it up, but give yourself about, I don't know, ten minutes and you'll be rushing for the nearest commode to purge...

Wreck-It Ralph

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has been in damage (out-of-) control since this past Friday when his 1984 medical school yearbook photo surfaced, showing him either in a Klansman's hood and robe or in blackface. He initially tried to start up the apology tour only to flip-flop within 24 hours, changing his story to deny that he was in the photo altogether. Instead, he volunteered that he had earlier put on a blackface as part of a dance contest, which he won by the way, impersonating Michael Jackson doing the Moonwalk.

Hoo boy, where to start.

I've been chatting with some fellow progressives about this, and some have wanted to show that they're hardheaded tough guys by adopting the GOP approach to damage control. When one of the GOP's finest is outed as having committed some heinous act, her/his colleagues make a studied shrug of the shoulders, deflect folks' attention, engage in a little "whataboutism," and try to change the subject. Said progressives wonder why Northam is being given the "Al Franken treatment." Like Franken, they suggest, Northam did something stupid when he was young but he has since grown up and devoted the rest of his career to doing, presumably, less stupid things.

Let's be clear: there is a big difference between what Franken and Northam did. Franken acted like an ass and subsequently apologized for it before his act was made public. When it was made public, he didn't hesitate; he apologized again and resigned. In contrast, Northam chose to hide behind the little-know eleventh commandment, probably inserted by some aspiring politician from among the wandering Hebrews when Moishe wasn't looking. You know the one I'm talking about: "Thous Shalt Not Get Caught."

Northam kept his miscreant behavior buried over the course of four electoral campaigns over the past two decades and probably had no intention of ever letting folks know about it. What about Robert Byrd, some folks ask? He was a grand wizard of the KKK and went on to become one of the "lions" of the Senate. That occurred some 80 years ago, when it was not only acceptable but also probably recommended for white power holders to be card-carrying members of that domestic terrorist outfit. It's no excuse, just acknowledging historical reality, I'm afraid.

But posing as a Klansman or in blackface in 1984? Where had Northam been for the last 20 years, during the civil rights movement and subsequent enactment of affirmative action policies? Did he have his head buried somewhere? Maybe in a white hood and robes? There's really no excuse. And then failing to disclose it to the electorate not once, but four times? Pretty cowardly and bereft of any semblance of integrity.

Thankfully, most Democratic leaders and activists just aren't having it, calling for Northam to resign...by yesterday. Still, like a bad cold, he lingers, chipping away at whatever advantage the Democrats thought they might still have in the moral authority department. Evidently, he's now becoming a political liability, although I really hope that the Democratic faithful realize that what Northam did and the need to hold him accountable is important, and not just to safeguard a temporary political advantage. It's about integrity and the legitimacy of the norms that Democrats have (rightfully) been making such a big fuss about protecting.

I'm a big believer in leadership that requires someone to model the behavior they demand of others. "Do as I say, not as I do" is never a good policy, either in interpersonal relationships or in public office. Otherwise, one's leadership lacks integrity and ends up doing more harm than good. Speaking of which, did "Doctor" Northam ever consider his actions in light of his having taken the Hippocratic oath? Maybe he got it confused with his own hypocritical oath. Well, that'll learn him: his cowardice has wrecked his political career and may potentially wreck Democrats' attempts to differentiate themselves from the sociopathic narcissistic president and his amoral GOP enablers.

That's our Ralph. A closet white supremacist and quite the little House (and Senate) Wrecker.

The Schooled Are the Ruled Are the Fooled

Evidently, the Donald didn't hire some of the very best, very smart people to run his intelligence agencies. Once again, after those silly career professionals attempted to behave as such in front of Congress, they contradicted the Donald's wishful thinking on the current status of threats posed to U.S. national security. Nota Bene - I am no big fan of the intel community - they've done some pretty horrible things and with the exception of the Church Commission's work 40 years ago, they've rarely been held to account. However, I'll give them this: they're quite committed to doing what they believe to be in the best interest of protecting U.S. national security, even if their work often undermines this objective, but that's another blog.

This professionalism stands in stark contrast to somebody I know. And I think you know him, too. This somebody has the attention span of a Chihuahua on amphetamines. This somebody has the intellectual capacity of...about the same [perdoname mil veces, mis preciosos perritos, no quéria insultarles, ya lo saben, verged cue sí?]. And this is same somebody has a pathological aversion to facts when they don't conform with his own extremely narrow, always warped view of reality.

So when Trump goes out and tells the world that up is down and down is up when it came to U.S. national security and how his policies have been oh so very successful, you know his intel chiefs were going to have to set the record straight. Never to be one to countenance such fact-based truth to bluster, Trump lashed back, telling his intel chiefs that they were "naive" and that they should probably go back to school. By doing so he somehow was implying that they, with more than a century of collective experience, lacked the same depth and breadth of knowledge as him. This from a man whose main source of information comes from vacuous right wing pundits on Fox News and bloviating white supremacist pinheads on talk radio.

Which school might Trump be suggesting these low IQ intel chiefs go to? Where else? Trump U, of course! All hail our dear alma mater, that very white ivory tower of hucksterism, know-nothingism and flimflammery. Give the intel chiefs a few weeks of Trump U's best offerings, and they'll come out with their heads filled with the most beautiful, brainiest smarts and firmly planted up their backsides...The real question is, "Is our intel chiefs learning?"

Doñita the Diva

In case you hadn't been paying attention, for the past, I don't know, 27 years, the US Government has been attempting to oust the Chavista regime from Venezuela. Before I start winding up with today's rant 'n' rave, let me be clear: I am no fan of the Chavista regime, either of its previous (Hugo Chavez) or current (Nicolas Maduro) leader. Both were/are venally corrupt; have committed numerous human rights abuses; and, with a little help from US political interference and economic sanctions, managed to run the Venezuelan economy into the ground.

No doubt about it. Maduro needs to go, but por el amor de Dios, not through more gringo imperalismo! Haven't we learned our lessons from trying to play puppet master in the Western Hemisphere? This is a movie we've all seen before, and wasn't good the first time or the reruns, which we were forced to watch again and again and again, especially through the second half of the last century.

And let's not forget the sheer hypocrisy of it all. Our glorioso Presidente, Doñita Trompeta, is only too happy to cozy up to dictators and authoritarians -- Kim Jung Il, Vladimir Putin, Rodrigo Duterte, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to name a few -- so why is it he gets all hot 'n' bothered about the lack of democracy and human rights in Venezuela.

Hmmm...could it be, I don't know, the oil? Remember, this is the same knuckle head who opined about the Iraq War, "“I still can’t believe we left Iraq without the oil. It used to be, ‘To the victor belong the spoils. Now, there was no victor there, believe me. There was no victor. But I always said: take the oil.”

Or maybe he's just looking to distract us again from his myriad political and legal problems with a military adventure that, initially at least, might be less likely to blow up in his face?

Regardless, thanks to the genius of our glorious Presidente, the USG has decided to take off the opera gloves, bulldoze through the niceties of international law and foment a slow onset coup d'état. First, la Doñta had Veep Mike Pence phone our little puppet, Juan "Tally me Banana Republic" Guaidó, to pledge USG support for assuming power. Next, he sent off Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to throw some sharp elbows at the Organization of American States and bully its member states into supporting the USG's little scheme.

And where are the Democrats in all of this? As usual, sticking their collective head in the sand, just as they did right before the needless, criminal wars in Iraq, Libya and Syria (to name but a few...).  It's good to know that elections have consequences. But since they don't, not really, not in the current dispensation, I'll just sit back and enjoy the show, which I shall call Doñita, starring our Presidente playing the lead role, of course.

So Easy...

Thankfully, there's now a brief respite from the insanity of Trump's vanity. He raved, he caved and then he gave his little, teeny weeny thumbs up to fund the government for 3 weeks so that negotiations can take place. In theory, said negotiations will produce a compromise that will both salvage Trump's fragile ego by providing some funding for border security (and his thoroughly useless wall) and fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year.

Frankly, I'm not holding my breath that a grand compromise will be struck...again. Because, remember, there already was a compromise that was voted on and approved by the Senate, and the House recently approved the very same once Nancy & Co. took over a few weeks ago. What has changed in Trump's political calculus since then? The fact that he just got scorched by Speaker Pelosi? Or maybe he'll recognize how many Republican senators had begun to jump ship from the good ship S.S. Trump?

All of these questions presume a level of mental balance and capacity for basic analytical thinking, two constructs that are rarely associated with current resident of the White House. "But wait," you might say. "Surely, the adults in his administration will steer him in the right direction. After all..." After all, what? After it's been reported that Trump's immediate step after capitulation was to cast about among his closest advisers looking for someone to blame, including his very own son-in-law, Jared "the boy blunder" Kushner?

Cynical? Am I? No, not really. I'm more skeptical, since past behavior and performance are usually the best predictors of future action likely to be taken by this narcissistic president who has repeatedly shown very little inclination to heed the counsel, even that of those closest to him. No, he's made it very clear from the beginning, that only he can fix things...especially, since only (or mostly) because he has been responsible for making a complete and utter mess of things in the first place.

Government shutdown? You would think it's a no brainer to prevent a second one, given the profound consequences of the first:

• to individuals - the 800,000 public servants who went without pay for 5 weeks; 
• to institutions - the degradation of federal agencies' capacity to serve and protect us; and 
• to our international standing - yes, now the whole world really is laughing at us. 

Leave it to a self-centered, amoral, entitled and deeply troubled man to transform the world's "indispensable nation" into a smoldering hot mess of dysfunction and paralysis. And he does all this without so much as blinking an eye. And what of the fact that he got absolutely nothing from his extended temper tantrum? Who cares? The fact that he, on a national stage and, very publicly, got his you-know-what handed to him by Speaker Pelosi? All part of his grand strategy - I'm sure - whatever the heck that might be.

And, finally, will he do it again if he doesn't get exactly what he wants in another three weeks once negotiations have produced the grand bargain on border security? Hard to say, since he probably doesn't even know what it is he wants. I wager he won't hesitate to shut down the government again. And why not? It'll "energize his base" and, more importantly, it's so easy for Trump...

Oh, but wait. Even this "cave" man couldn't manage to do that. But he managed to trash our country while trying anyway.

Old McConnell's Farm

Maybe this cartoon is a bit dated, as a quick scan of the news shows that Trump may announce a deal to end the federal government shutdown for 3 weeks so that the two sides can "negotiate" and find a way to keep the government open for the rest of the fiscal year.

Oh goody.

This rant 'n' rave would like us all to take a step back so that we can see just how far we descended into the muck of dysfunction. We're getting excited, because a deal will keep the government open for three weeks. Great. The 800,000 federal workers will receive back pay (one hopes) and be able to just begin getting back on their feet only to be kneecapped in another few weeks. That's when there's a good chance we're likely to get right back on this gut churning merry-go-round when Trump flakes out (again) and welshes on some grand compromise.

All of this would not be even a remote possibility if the Senate Majority "Leader" assumed his institutional role responsibility and governed as one of the adults in the room. So... people will say that he cannot afford to cross Trump; he's vulnerable on his right flank for the upcoming reelection in 2020. Therefore, he is loathe to do anything that might provide any potential primary opponent with an opening or to tick off his Trump-lovin' constituency. Like I said, if McConnell assumed his institutional role responsibility as Senate Majority "Leader"...

Since when did "duck"-ing tough decisions and instead acting like a "chicken" sh!t coward become the politically preferred course of action for someone who is supposedly a tactical "genius." Is this what passes for leadership these days? Meanwhile, the rest of the GOP follows the Senate Majority "leader" like so many disoriented "sheep" while spouting whatever "bull"-loney to cover their prodigious behinds. With all of these barnyard references you would think I would make the highbrowed literary reference to Animal Farm? Nope, not me. I prefer to keep it simple, so I'll just go with the classic nursery rhyme, Old McConnell's Farm.

E-I-E-I-OMG!

Enjoy the toon...