Wednesday, September 25, 2019

A Fast-Moving News Day

So let’s see – where are we today?

1. Der Sturmtrumper’s White House released a thoroughly incriminating “transcription” of his phone call with the leader of Ukraine, one that essentially confessed that he used tax dollars to try to strong-arm a sovereign nation into supporting his petty partisan re-election campaign.  Seriously – it’s right there on the document, which (as of this writing) you can download directly from the White House web site.  The real shocker of this not that he’s basically admitted everything the Democrats have accused him of this week, but rather that he felt that this document would somehow help his case.  Not only do we have Corrupt, we have Stupid Corrupt.

2. The White House has admitted that this transcript (which is not really a transcript but was in fact put together by the Trump Administration) is not even a complete not-really-a-transcript and that there was more there.  Which of course begs the question: what could they have possibly left out that was worse than what they put in?

3. Der Sturmtrumper, not content to implicate himself, has also implicated Vice President Toady.  “I think you should ask for VP Pence’s conversations because he had a couple of conversations also.”  Seriously – why bother with an investigation when he’s happy to tell you all about it himself?

4. The White House took its talking points on how to respond to this scandal and emailed them directly to the House Democrats, because why not?  They then sent out a “recall email” notice asking for them back, just in case you thought these goobers really lived anywhere in or adjacent to the real world.

5. Der Sturmtrumper also went on CNN and announced in front of the world and on video that “Nancy Pelosi is no longer Speaker of the House.”  Uh, what now?  Did I miss an election?  Has Congress ceded the power to name its leaders to the Executive?  Or is this just more evidence of the mental instability that has defined this president since before he was elected?  Hard to say anymore.

6. In a series of tweets (and when, dear God, did Twitter become an acceptable form of communication for a political leader?  Seriously – this shit has gone on too long) der Sturmtrumper also demanded that Congress investigate Joe Biden’s son if they’re going to investigate him.  You know, someone should tell him that this isn’t his call either.

7. Aides to the Ukrainian president have publicly confirmed that it was well understood that their investigation of Biden was a necessary precondition to any dealings with Trump, just in case you’re wondering about the whole quid pro quo angle.

8. Der Sturmtrumper, when asked if he thinks Hillary Clinton’s 30,000 deleted emails are in Ukraine, said, “I think they could be.”  I don’t know, maybe he’s trying to beat the rap on an insanity plea?

9. On top of everything else, Rudy “Madman” Giuliani may well have violated the Logan Act, which is a rare treat in the world of international politics. 

10. Any movement among the GOP to recognize the corruption they’ve been propping up for the last three years?  Minimal at best, it seems.  Mostly loud defense and nonsense, as far as I have been able to see.  We’ll see where it goes from here.

May you live in interesting times.  May we all survive them.

4 comments:

Katherine McKay said...

You realize that "May you live in interesting times" is intended as a curse, purportedly from ancient Chinese, though the ancient Chinese didn't seem familiar with it, and the modern ones aren't either. But these times are so incredibly interesting. We're definitely doomed.

David said...

Oh, I know. Yes indeed, I know.

We definitely live in interesting times. "Boredom is a luxury good," as Adam Fletcher says, and we can no longer afford it. This is not a good sign.

I'm glad the wheels are finally beginning to spin, but I have no illusions about the smoothness of the upcoming ride.

LucyInDisguise said...

Late to the party. Again. This whole working for a living has got to come to an end.

1. Give an idiot enough running room and a large enough lariat and sooner or later you’ll have one hung imbecile. (Seems I’ve heard that somewhere before … )

2. Thinking about this I came up with a list. There isn’t an effective brain bleach for that. And stop asking rhetorical questions that make me do that. PleaseThankYouVeryMuch.

3. Good Impeach them both. President Pelosi has a ring to it. Also, braggarts gotta brag. Payout a little more rope.

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x_QbVDlLbI

5. No. Not hard to say. More evidence is the precisely correct descriptive phrase.

6. Correction:
“In a series of tweets, Brave and Impossibly Stupid Leader provided yet another chain of evidence of his incompetence witch can and will be used against him.”Preferably in a Court of Law.

There. Fixed that for you. And I did not misspell that word. You’re Welcome.

7. Wondering? Naw, never entered my mind.

8. You may be right. He’s certainly provided enough evidence. (See Item #6 above.)

9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13eDfrMgFQM

10. Error. Error. Danger Will Robinson! The GOP has not “been propping up” anything for the last three years. They are active coconspirators and participants. Let us not diminish that fact in any manner, way, shape or form. (What’s that patriotic catchphrase they’re always screaming? Oh, yeah: Never Forget!)

I actually do live in [an] interesting time[s] - Thank You Very Much But Could You Please Keep That Particular Curse To Yourself.

And the whole survival thingy may be a tad problematic. Maybe even as high as a ’4.2’ on a 4.0 point difficulty scale. Challenging, but not impossible.

The problem with spinning wheels is that the spinning is not evidence of forward movement. (e.g, Ice, Mud.) See also: https://www.littledebbie.com/www/snackproducts/view/50/pecan-spinwheels

Lucy

David said...

I often find that the whole "job" thing just gets in the way of what needs to happen in life. Darn this pesky addiction to food and shelter.

1. Never gets old.

2. Well, that is the thing about the modern GOP - there can always be worse and there usually is. This is a group that lives by the motto "when you hit rock bottom, start digging."

3. I'm in.

4. You know, if I lived in a fantasy world there would be a lot more fun and a lot less of this administration.

6. Thanks!

10. They are propping up corruption like a beam props up a coal mine - it seems to be their entire reason for existence these days. No argument from me, in other words. :)

Spinning wheels are necessary but not sufficient criteria for forward movement - without them nothing happens. With them nothing might happen either, but without them nothing definitely happens. So I'll hold on to what shred of satisfaction I can get from it until such time as the GOP shits all over the rest of the Constitution and takes it from me.

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