TGIF 6/19/20

Oh, what a week it was... Here's just a slice.

Take John Bolton. Liar, or teller of the most secrety of our secrety stuff? Money-hungry man without a conscience, or money-hungry man without a conscience? A would-be do-gooder, if only there'd been a subpoena, or a man who doesn't really give a rat about our country and protecting it from the Trumpeters?

Could he be all of those rolled into one? Seems like the answer is yes, or sorta kinda maybe. Here's one take on it, from The Atlantic. The author, Thomas Wright, gives a litany of reasons (and likely not a full list, it sounds) of why he's no fan of Bolton, only to land here:

But I have to acknowledge that Bolton behaved honorably as national security adviser when he told his staff to report illegality to the White House lawyers. He also defended those who served under him against Trump loyalists. He is right to publish his book. If he gives a full accounting of what he saw as national security adviser—and from a recent article in The New York Times and an excerpt in The Wall Street Journal, it seems he might have—he deserves credit for it regardless of what he did or did not do during the impeachment hearings and trial. He will have done the nation a service.

ABC's Martha Raddatz has Bolton exclusively, Sunday night; check your local listings.

And speaking of John Bolton, Mick Mulvaney - remember him, the acting chief of staff who was exiled to Ireland to serve as chief groundskeeper or something at Trump's golf course?  Among other things, Mulvaney said something to the effect that no one else who was in The Room Where it Happened mentioned anything inappropriate. And I had to laugh at that - as if Mulvaney, Pompeo, or others still in Trump's universe would recognize anything as being in appropriate? I mean, they thought an obvious quid pro quo was nothing other than a perfect phone call, for Pete's sake.

And speaking of Pete's sake, here's the question NBC's Peter Alexander asked at the presser today.

Why does the president keep hiring people who are dumb as a rock, overrated, way over their heads, whack' and incompetent?

The answer, from Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany? Trump likes "countervailing opinions" and likes to balance his own opinion with those who disagree with him, similar to Lincoln's Team of Rivals model. Except that the words Alexander used in his question are Trump's words, used to describe former staffers - and they did actually apply to Bolton, she added.

And, McEnany went on to say that even the FAILING NEW YORK TIMES!!! which is often FAKE NEWS!!! and which NOBODY READS ANYWAY!! because they're losing subscribers left and right has criticized Bolton. Except, I have to correct the part about the Times losing subscribers left and right - because they didn't have any 'right' ones, right? I mean left? Or something?

Mulvaney, for his part, felt safe in saying that the president isn't good at hiring people.

And speaking of the president, he's having his love-fest tomorrow in Tulsa OK, against the advice of Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, according to this NBC News report. I guess the docs are part of the 'team of rivals' on the White House Coronavirus Task Force?  Anyway, a couple of days ago, Fauci said he would not ("of course not") attend any of Trump rallies, being in a high-risk category, and he added

outside is better than inside, no crowd is better than crowd, and crowd is better than big crowd.

And speaking of crowds (sheesh, this whole post reads like an ad for Segues, doesn't it?), the president had this to say about what might happen in Tulsa.

And, now we learn how it will be "a much different scene" - some 250 National Guard soldiers will be there, unarmed except for shields, batons, and pepper spray, to help keep the peace. Of course, it could have been a very much different scene entirely, but the Oklahoma Supreme Court refused to issue an injunction keeping the rally from going on as planned, saying there was no law requiring masks or physical distancing.

And speaking of the National Guard, it seems some of the folks who were called to duty helping out with coronavirus efforts will be one day short of the 90-day deployment requirement for benefit eligibility.

The issue arose after the administration decided to end federal deployment orders for National Guard members on June 24. The decision would leave some who were placed under federal orders in late March just short of reaching a 90-day threshold that would allow them to collect retirement benefits early, before turning 60. The date also would cut short access to some GI Bill benefits, though that could be earned later.

Which stinks, especially when "we love the military." I can't imagine that no one knew that picking this specific date - a seemingly random Wednesday - would ensure that so many folks who put themselves on the line when asked to, who were away from their families helping protect the country from an invisible Chinese enemy, were going to be treated this way.

I'll leave you with this closing thought. My Sonofa Gov, Andrew Cuomo, is ending his daily coronavirus briefings. No word on whether he's also ending his participation in the Cuomo Brothers show on CNN.

TGIF, everyone.