24 XI 2019: War on Christmas?

The website Right Wing Watch reports the resumption of the right wing’s battle against the supposed “War against Christmas,” the first shots this year being fired by an anti-LGBTQ organization called Liberty Counsel. It seems they publish an annual list called “Naughty or Nice” that rates stores according to how much the word Christmas is found in their advertising, signage, labeling, etc. This list is intended to direct us towards stores that have lots of signs that say Merry Christmas,and away from those that have too many signs that say Happy Holidays. .

They say they want to keep our focus on “the true Reason for the Season.” I suppose this is another “keep America Christian” schtick, though it seems to me that the true Reason for the Season is the mounds of money that are to be made from suckers who are annually manipulated into a mid-winter buying frenzy. What “Christmas spirit” and “the spirit of giving” really mean is “Won’t you feel terrible if you fail to buy an appropriately expensive gift for everyone who expects a gift from you?”

Rather than resist the re-purposing of a religious feast day by pagan commercial culture, the Liberty Counsel is quite ready to go along with this so long as the pagan commercial culture uses the signs that they prefer.

27 XI 2019: Trump, chosen for what?

Many of Trump’s hangers-on agree, or agree to say, that Trump was chosen by God to be President. Taking this B.S. seriously for a moment, I’ve got to ask: Why did God choose him? Oh, the evangelicals and politicians that are in bed with them will tell us that, sure, Trump’s religion is bogus and he behaves like a reprobate, but like the pagan King Ahasuerus who allowed the Jews to kill their enemies (75,000 in all, Esther 9:160) or Cyrus the Great who ended the Babylonian Captivity, Trump will defend the righteous and make them rich.

But it seems to me that Trump might be chosen instead as a punishment from God, like Rehoboam who, after his tyranny provoked a civil war, was left with half his Kingdom, and when the Egyptians invaded, gave them the treasures of the Temple by way of tribute and made Judah a vassal state of Egypt. Or he might be a punishment more like Nabuchadnezzar II whose slogan was “Make Babylon great again.” He destroyed Solomon’s Temple, took the people captive to Babylon, demanded they worship the idol he erected, and in the end went insane.

27 XI 2019: Deep state vs. bleep state, sheep state, creep state

Boss Trump told his raving base “Just this week I stuck up for three great warriors against the deep state.” I don’t know where he got the idea that the three are “great” warriors. Of course, “great” is one of the few words he can use to express his approval. At least he did not call them the greatest warriors. It appears that whatever one might find to say about these criminals, “great” is not a good fit.

Then, “the deep state.” He picked this phrase up from right-wing conspiracy mongers. They seem to mean by this term the experienced, dedicated professionals who keep this country afloat. The Trump years have shown us that government by people who do not know what they are doing and don’t care can render the U.S. ridiculous in very little time.

I think I would prefer a deep state to a bleepstate in which the President uses foul language in public, to a sheepstate in which Republicans are sure to go anywhere that Mary goes, to a creepstate of back channels and side channels and conspiracies run by 3rd-raters and thieves, while Giulliani and Stephen Miller and the Jevankas and the spooky committee of evangelicals crawl in and out of the woodwork. And I would surely prefer a deep state to a sleepstate in which the invincible ignorance, sloth, hatred, and fears of virtually uneducated voters are pandered to.

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?

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.

Unsought Counsel

Daniel Sheerin