26 XI 2019: America in denial about war crimes; obedient senators; “Selena Gomez Shows Off Her New Thigh Tatoo”

1) I read a report that Trump has announced that he wants to take the criminal beneficiaries of his clemency, Lorance, Golsteyn, and Gallagher, on campaign with him. Do we have here another quid pro quo? I’ll pardon you if you’ll be part of my road-show.

Right-wing propagandists were ardent in their support of these three, and Trump’s clemency is bound to play well, as he anticipated, with his BaSe, most of whom ascribe to the exceptionalist position on war crimes, sc.

          American warriors do not commit war crimes, 

          or if they do, it’s just an excess of pardonable zeal [extreme patriotism], 

          or if they do, those they abuse or kill are savage enemies of the U.S.

These pardons also appeal to the BaSe’s cult of the veteran. The American people are feeling so guilty about the huge waste of American lives in Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere that they reflexively beatify veterans and canonize war criminals.

2) Two obedient senators, obeisant to Trump’s command, voted to block the resolution that acknowledges the Armenian Genocide. One was Lindsey Graham, Trump’s factotum, the other David Perdue, the fellow whose memory played such tricks on him after the “Shit-hole countries” Meeting. Trump is trying to buddy up to his fellow strongman, Erdogan, and, of course, the Turks have always maintained that there was no Armenian genocide, just lots of war crimes. Of course, when it comes to genocide, America’s slaughter of the Indians might make us careful not to throw the first stone.

“Selena Gomez Shows Off Her New Thigh Tatoo”: This is a headline I saw on what is assumed to be a respectable news website. Isn’t this unutterably silly? Oh, maybe I’m being too confrontational. All I can say is that I do not know who Selena Gomez is, so I cannot share the excitement about her new thigh tatoo.

23 XI 2019: King Trump; Swamp Mummies; Americans’ Self-Destructive Behavior

rump’s lawyers, some of whom are paid by you and me, are claiming that the Boss don’t have to give ’em nuttin’ because of “presidential immunity.” An article that reports this referred to the President as King Trump, and this is a remarkably apt epithet. 

Trump’s lawyers are trying to cobble together an argument based on “sovereign immunity” which Wikipedia defines as “a legal doctrine by which the sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution.” In English law this was expressed as “Rex non potest peccare,” the King cannot do wrong. St. John Newman has fun with this in his Present Position of Catholics in England where he includes a burlesque newspaper article that reports a Russian chauvinist denouncing the British because of the legal tradition

We can transition to this by stealing some lines from Milton:

 His state
 Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed 
 And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest. 

Well, King Trump’s not been sending thousands to find dirt on Joe Biden, but he seems to have sent his lawyer and his star supporter. We are now hearing more indications that Devin Nunes and three of his aides flew to Europe in 2018 to dig up some dirt on Biden — it’s not yet clear whether they spent their own funds on this trip or used our money. Nunes, sounding ever more like Trump, is denying this vigorously and bellowing threats of lawsuits. Well, we will have to wait and see. If this is true it will indicate that Nunes is a hypocritical sneak, something we’ve already strongly suspected.

I saw a piece online headed: “Egypt Unveils Cache of Mummified Cats, Birds and Crocodiles.” For a moment my eyes tricked me, and I read “G.O.P. Unveils Cache of Mummified Cats, Birds and Crocodiles,” from their Swamp of course. 

A warning about the possibility of three major storms during Thanksgiving Week reported that the AAA estimates that 55 million people are expected to travel by road, rail, and air during Thanksgiving Week. Every year I wonder: Why do the American people torment themselves annually in this way. Travel during Thanksgiving Week almost always involves some civil defense crisis. Civic sensibility would suggest that we try for a drastic reduction of crowding at Thanksgiving by making a less stressful trip to visit family at a more tranquil time of year. But no, I don’t care what others may do. I’m going to go to see my family. So 55 million “I“s hit the road, and they and all the rest suffer.

22 XI 2019: Trump’s insanity defense; Prince Andrew; Rudy & Lindsey, PIs

Trump‘s marathon crying jag on Fox News made clear that his grasp on reality is steadily slipping. Therefore, I recommend that the Republicans use an insanity defense. It could be based two possible arguments: 1) he is not responsible because he is suffering from one or more psychiatric illnesses or 2) he is not fit to stand trial because can’t understand the charge against him and can’t follow the proceedings or the evidence.

Who really cares or ought to care about Prince Andrew???

Trump was unable to force the Ukrainians even to announce an investigation of the Bidens. So he has to a team of private investigators, Rudy Giulliani, his fixer, and Lindsey Graham, his apologist. The Bidens had better watch out. Rudy’s nuttiness and Lindsey’s energy Giulliani & Graham make a killer combination.

20 XII 2019: Nunes, Yoo, Giulliani, which is worse?

Devon Nunes is quoted as saying today: “We have records showing Democrats were heavily involved with Ukraine in 2106.” What records? For there seems to be no records and no truth in this conspiracy theory. Nunes did not display the “records” because they are either imaginary or are LPs made by a country and western group visiting Ukraine. What is quite likely is that Nunes himself doesn’t believe what he is saying. He traveled to Europe in 2018 with three aides (he must travel with a lot of luggage) to try, through connections provided by Mr. Lev Parnas, to create some substance for the Ukrainians Conspiracy make-believe. Looks like he found nothing but the “records” to which he alluded today. Chris Cilizza makes the excellent point that Nunes is not addressing the Committee, not the viewing public, not even the Trump “base,” but Trump himself. Devin is showing himself a loyal, if unimaginative liar to the end, because he knows that if Trump goes down, Devin will follow on his coattails.

I see John Yoo is doing totalitarian propaganda gigs. Doesn’t anyone remember his “Torture Memos” that ought to have made him a pariah? Or, maybe some people do remember and continue to think John is a really good little boy.

Mr. Giulliani has tweeted a denunciation of the Republican counsel at the impeachment hearings. I would think Rudy would keep his mouth shut and his head down these days and hope that Trump doesn’t dump the Ukraine mess on him. But Rudy, like Donald, withers away if he is not in the public eye and so, again like Donald, has to keep thrusting himself in to where he is not wanted.

19 XI 2019: Are GOP Representatives just doing what comes naturally?

The Republican representatives are ready to hurl at the witnesses any silliness their feverish brains can come up with, whether in person or through their mouthpiece. If you ask me, some of these men look and act like lounge lizards. Others, who are better dressed, are nonetheless wholly unprepared by background or temperament for serving as our elected representatives. On the other hand, they all seem very well prepared to smear, slander, and spray bull shit in the air. I wonder if this is their response to a sudden crisis or the habit of a lifetime?

17 XI 2019: Donald ©Stephen; Racial hygiene; Anyone for Twister?

A piece by Asawin Suebsaeng on The Daily Beast today predicts that all the confirmation that has come out of Stephen Miller’s racisim and xenophobia is unlikely to affect President Trump’s devotion to him. This is no surprise, for they are, after all, birds of a feather. Another piece on The Daily Beast reports an exhibition at the Wiener Holocaust Museum in London: Forgotten Victims: The Nazi Genocide of the Roma and Sinti. The report foregrounds the involvement in this genocide of a Nazi named Dr. Robert Ritter who ran the Racial Hygiene and Demographic Biology Unit and who was never brought to trial.

There was also a report of an interview with Senator Ron Johnson, exponent of make believe deluxe. The Republicans are taking so many positions as they try to cover up Trump’s incompetence and perfidy that they look like a group playing a game of Twister at a party.

15 XI 2019: Trump may not be the worst of them

President Trump and his entourage are so scandalous that other political blaggards have been able to lurk in the shadows. But the current crisis has forced congressional Republicans out of the shadows and made it clear that there is a lot more wrong with our government than Mr. Trump. Of these congressmen, the naive and contemptuous make no attempt to conceal their contempt for truth and law. The cunning are careful to obscure their real motives and attitudes. But in a time of crisis like this the cunnings’ pretenses to statesmanship fall away and their guile and fundamental selfishness are made plain. They are driven not, as it might seem, by mindless partisanship, but by passionate self-interest. What we are now observing in the Republican congressional delegation is not so much politicians putting party before country as individual putting self before all else.

14 XI 2019: Who should speak up for Trump?

There was a political cartoon in today’s Post-Dispatch by Dave Graunland that showed Devin Nunes submitting four “character witnesses” in support of Trump. They are: Kum Yong Un, Vladimir Putin, Prince MbS, and Rodrigo Duterte, rulers that Trump keeps trying to emulate. But I think these four are too far separated from Trump’s milieu and do not know him personally. I would prefer a list of character witnesses who know Trump well and have shown that they share his values. Such a list would include Michael Cohen, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Ryan Zinke, David Miller, Wilbur Ross, Andy Puzder, Alex Acosta, Tom Price, Rick Perry, David Shulkin, Scott Pruitt, and we might as well throw in Donny Junior and Jervanka. Of course, that all of the Republican members of Congress fit into this category and would rush to affirm our President’s sterling character goes without saying.

31 – X – 2019: The real meaning of Haloween

Halloween has long been without the saints and has become a celebration of the unholy. I don’t mean neo-paganism, diabolism, witchcraft, vampires, etc. Halloween is one of our national feasts of materialism: greedy kids collect lots of candy; greedy manufacturers and retailers sell lots of candy; Chinese manufacturers produce heaps of Halloween decorations; couturiers are busy with just the right costume; and farmers turn a profit on a relatively unusable crop of pumpkins. Haloween is a very American holiday, for on it social divisions are reinforced as trick-or-treaters are taught what “bad” neighborhoods to avoid, but parents bring van-loads of children from more modest areas to loot the neighborhoods of the wealthy.

30 – X – 2019: Miscellaneous

A. The Republican drive to people the Judicial Branch with reactionaries, qualifications be damned moves on. Lately a Trump nominee for the Ninth Court of Appeals, one Lawrence C.J. VanDyke, has been rated ‘unqualified’ by the American Bar Association. This evoked howls of rage from right-wing pressure groups that supervise the right-wing subversion of the judiciary. A Republican Senator, Mike Lee, from Utah, added his voice to the chorus of outrage, declaring “If this man is not qualified, I don’t know who is.” He is probably right, he does not know who is qualified. I think it is time for Senator Lee to be removed from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

B. Our Commander in Chief gave the nation a lurid account of the murder of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a report laced with inaccuracies, classified material, and remarkably bad taste. Trump carried on about this raid as if he played a leading part in it. But the fact is that Trump participated in the raid in the way he participated in 9/11, sc., he watched it on television.

Trump gloated over the Isis leader’s death like a kid telling about what finally happened to the bad guy at the end of a kung-fu movie. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was responsible for countless deaths and immeasurable damage,  I’m willing to bet he was a better man than Trump.