TGIF 3/10/23

I could spend a lot of time on the good week / bad week lists, but I'm in the mood to keep things short and sweet tonight. 

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) made the good week list for calling out Rep. Jim Jordan (R - Blecch) for his incredibly blatant hypocrisy. 

Jordan asked folks from the Department of Justice and the Department of Education to appear before his Why Yes - Yes I am Weaponizing the Government subcommittee and be questioned about subpoena compliance.  Incredibly, Jordan must have assumed none of the Dems on the committee would remember, or question, his own lack of compliance with a subpoena from the January 6th Committee. He must have forgotten about Swalwell, who addressed the hypocrisy beautifully. 

Jordan, as always, is firmly perched on the bad week list. 

So, too, is the meme below.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been over 100 mass shootings this year. There was one today, in Florida, with five dead, including the shooter. It wasn't one of the newsworthy mass shootings; nah, it was just a murder-suicide, with four victims and the shooter all dead. 

I'm putting the meme below on the good week list. It's too good not to.

TGIF, everyone.

TGIF 9/23/22

Randomly, here's some news of the week. I'm going to let you decide who had a good week, a bad week, or something else entirely.

I happened to catch the news the other day and there was a guy pontificating on the House floor. He looked a lot like Rep. Jim Jordan, except he was wearing a suit jacket, and I couldn't imagine anything so important that he'd actually dress like a member of Congress, instead of like a cheesy accountant or an ambulance-chasing attorney. Anyone know what was going on?

Ron DeSantis. Do I need to say more? I mean, I can. There's a case going to trial over his replacing an elected District Attorney; there's the lawsuit filed by the migrants from Texas who were sent to Martha's Vineyard; and there are calls to investigate him over that stunt, which included giving them incorrect information about benefits available to them. 

And what about Judge Raymond Dearie? First, there was the dessert ruling that Donald Trump can't have is cake and eat it, and there's put up or shut up with Trump's nonsensical claims about the FBI and the documents, and there's and you're going to pay for it - hardly music to the former president's ears. 

Who else? Oh, how could I forget New York's AG Tish James, who ran on a platform of going after Trump. She did that, and this week filed a $250M civil suit against Trump and his business associate offspring. There are lots of questions on the lawsuit, and the AG's motivation, and it'll likely never go to trial. In the meantime, James referred Trump and family to the IRS and to prosecutors for potential criminal charges, so there's that. 

Roger Federer played his last tennis match in the Laver Cup.

And finally, the world said goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II on Monday. Clearly, and understandably, there were mixed feelings about her, the monarchy, Charles being king, and a whole lot more. But as someone with no personal stake in it, I thought everything was beautiful, and surely something to see people lining the streets of London and Windsor to pay their respects.

Good week? Bad week? Make your picks.

TGIF, everyone.

Wondering on Wednesday 6/29/22

Ready... Set... Wonder!

The wondering is wandering today. 

I wonder why so many people think that a House committee investigation is a trial, and that a hearing room at the Capitol is the same as a courtroom? 

And why would anyone who managed the House Judiciary Committee GOP cabal's Twitter feed would think that everything Cassidy Hutchinson said yesterday - the entirety of her testimony - was hearsay? I wonder if it's because Rep. Jim (Who's Going to Play Me in Clooney's Documentary?) Jordan is the goofball behind the keyboard?

Hutchinson seemed very clear, to anyone who actually watched the hearings (other than the aforementioned Twitter user, who said no one was watching) about what things she was personally involved in, and what things were told to her by others. 

So, for example, when she said she texted Kevin McCarthy, one could surmise that those text messages were made available to the January 6th Committee. And I wonder why so many people who obviously didn't watch are so dead-certain about the veracity of her testimony...

Happily, I'm able to report that Andrew Giuliani was not successful in his bid to become the Republican nominee for governor of NY, not that I wondered a whole lot about the possibility of him winning the primary. Truth be told, I spent zero time on that. 

Although, now that I think about it, I do sort of wonder how Andrew, son of Rudy (My Back Hurts, but Otherwise I'm Able to Walk and Stuff Like That) Giuliani would be able to withstand the rigors of being a politician. After all, male pols are frequently given a sturdy handshake and countless bicep grips and backslaps. If he's got a glass back like his daddy, he'd be in big trouble, so it's probably good he didn't win.

Incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, who took over after the Sonofa Gov's fall from grace last year, easily won the Democratic primary. Hochul won every county in the state, most of them easily, over runner-up Jumaane Williams and Tom Suozzi, who finished a distant third. 

On the Republican side, Rep. Lee Zeldin cruised to victory over Giuliani, 2014 nominee Rob Astorino, and 'turn-around expert' Harry Wilson. I don't think any of the Rs ran a good race, really - and we never heard much at all from Williams and Suozzi. It almost felt like the Rs ran upstate and the Ds ran downstate. 

So, what's the wondering on our election results? Now that the campaign will start in earnest, how bad are things going to get, advertising-wise? Hochul's raised over $34M so far, with a goal of raising $50M-$70M by Election Day. That's a whole lot of money for a whole lot of ads, to go along with a whole lot of bill-signing still to come, I'm sure. And Zeldin? He claims over $11.5M in 'pre-primary' fundraising, so we'll be seeing a lot of him I'm sure, too. He certainly wasn't shy with his ads during the primary, and I don't think that'll change. 

Early voting turnout was "anemic" in New York City, with fewer than 90,000 people taking advantage of the opportunity, out of some 3,600,000 registered voters. Not sure how that amount of apathy will impact what happens in August, or November, but it does make me wonder if we really needed to have several days of early voting in New York.

In New York, R Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his decades of sexual trafficking and racketeering; he faces additional charges in Illinois and Minnesota. My only wondering here is if any of his victims will ever feel safe and whole again. 

And finally, I'm going to drop a blanket wondering: what the heck's going on with the Supreme Court and their recent decisions, and did anyone really see all of these coming?

What's on your wondering minds tonight?

In Case You Missed It (v95)

It seems like last week was extra-long, doesn't it? Or, is it just me? 

I was surprised I managed to get four posts out; if you had asked me how the writing went, I'd have guessed two posts made it out the door - the week was a blur.

Here's a recap of the posts that made the cut. 

Sunday was the day I confronted Father's Day 15. And it's the day I confronted the moodiness that often overwhelms me three months of the year when I feel his absence most dramatically.

I know, now, reflecting on 15 Father's Days without you, that it's not out of my control. It's within my control, within my capabilities, t0 react better to January, the month we lost you; February, the month you were born; and June, the month with a day to celebrate you.

Well, maybe not react better - but to react differently. To focus differently: on what's present, not on what's missing. On the fullness, not the emptiness. To remember, rather than trying to forget. So many ways of saying basically the same thing, right? Darn words...

Darn words, indeed. 

Moving on to your Sunday School lesson, I covered three interviews; here are highlights from Dana Bash's conversation with Sen. Fred Upton (R-MI). One of the ten Republican senators who voted to impeach Donald Trump, Upton is not running for re-election. 

Among the topics they covered was the January 6th Committee hearings; he felt they are making a difference, but he also 

expressed frustration with folks who are talking to the committee now, saying

...where have they been for the last year-and-a-half? Why weren't they saying what they're saying now a year-and-a-half ago, particularly to those of us that actually witnessed what was going on, to back us up a little bit?

The other two interviews? George talked with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in the This Week classroom, and in the Face the Nation classroom, Margaret Brennan talked with Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the network's go-to guy for COVID stuff, about the newly authorized vaccine for kids five and under. 

I was going to devote your Extra Credit to Juneteenth, but there was so little discussion on that topic in the classrooms, there wasn't a post. Personally, I think that's sad.

There was Wondering on Wednesday, last week, including this piece about free speech, the NFL, and the horrible Rep. Jim Jordan.

I can only wonder when Jordan last read the First Amendment; based on his questioning of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, I'd say it's been a while. 

"You believe in the First Amendment, don't you?" Jordan asked Goodell. "Yes, Congressman," Goodell replied. "Why do you ban Dave Portnoy from NFL games? He's a journalist. In fact, he's a sports journalist," Jordan asked. "Why is he banned?"

Is Jordan seriously suggesting that Goodell has in some way stripped Portnoy of his constitutional rights? Or is he just being his usual idiotic showboating self? Dumb question, I know. Silly me. 

And there, was a piece on Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who's currently #3 in the House Republican leadership. She's more "conservative" than most NY pols. 

I often wonder if folks like Stefanik wouldn't be happier in a red state like Texas, where everything is way more bigly conservative, and where her opinions would fit right in. After all, the Texas GOP passed two resolutions as their convention last week; one declared President Biden to be the 'acting' president and the beneficiary of a stolen election. 

There was more wondering, too, of course. 

And, almost before I knew it, it was Friday, and it was time for your TGIF entry. I didn't do a standard good week/bad week list; it was more like a future bad week list. Here's a bit of the post.

 If it fits in a uterus, it will surely fit in a married couple's medicine cabinet.

If it fits in a uterus and in a married couple's medicine cabinet, it will surely fit in a same-sex relationship.

If it fits in a uterus, and in a married couple's medicine cabinet, and in a same-sex relationship, it will surely fit in a same-sex marriage.

If it fits in a uterus, and in a married couple's medicine cabinet, and in a same-sex relationship, and in a same-sex marriage, it will surely fit in an inter-racial marriage.

If it fits in a uterus, and in a married couple's medicine cabinet, and in a same-sex relationship, and in a same-sex marriage, and in an inter-racial marriage, it will surely fit in a fertilized embryo's deep freezer... 

You see what's happening, right? Remove one right, and removing the next one is easier. The one after that is easier, and the next is even easier... The question is, where does it end? 

At what point will a government so small it fits in a uterus stop trying to fit into smaller and smaller places? And at what cost?

I'll be back later, with Sunday School, or something else - you just never know.

Wondering on Wednesday 6/22/22

 

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Separate from the foolishness of a Congressional Oversight Committee holding hearings on the NFL's Washington Commandos, which in and of itself deserves wondering, I can't help wondering why people continue to think that there's a quote-unquote First Amendment issue when an employer fines, fires, or otherwise disciplines an employee for comments made, or for bad behavior, or other such infractions. 

For the folks in the back, here's what the First Amendment says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Do you see anything there about the NFL? The Washington Commandos, or Redskins, as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ick) called the team? 

I can only wonder when Jordan last read the First Amendment; based on his questioning of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, I'd say it's been a while. 

"You believe in the First Amendment, don't you?" Jordan asked Goodell. "Yes, Congressman," Goodell replied. "Why do you ban Dave Portnoy from NFL games? He's a journalist. In fact, he's a sports journalist," Jordan asked. "Why is he banned?"

Is Jordan seriously suggesting that Goodell has in some way stripped Portnoy of his constitutional rights? Or is he just being his usual idiotic showboating self? Dumb question, I know. Silly me. 

I also find myself wondering about this part, too, and whether Jordan knew how ironically funny it sounded, given the former president's well-documented proclivities....

Jordan then mentioned that Portnoy, whom multiple women have accused of sexual assault, is an established journalist who interviewed former President Trump, saying, “Seems to me, [if you] can get into the White House, you should be able to get into a football game.”

Moving from the First Amendment to the Second, there appears to be enough bipartisan agreement to pass some gun reforms this time; the initial vote to advance the legislation passed 64-34. Folks are lining up on their respective sides of the aisle, with some Dems suggesting they might not vote for it because it doesn't go far enough, and some Rs saying outright they won't vote for it because it goes too far. 

Here's one who suggests exactly that: the #3 Republican in the House, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Embarrassing NY as Best I Can). Stefanik, who's got a better-than-fair chance of becoming the House Majority Leader if the Rs win in November, given Trump's public souring on Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, released this statement today.

I will continue to stand up for Second Amendment rights against this legislation that shreds the Constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans with no effect on deterring criminals who do not follow the law when obtaining firearms. This bill contains unconstitutional gun control provisions and allows the implementation of red flag laws that take away due process rights. It would restrict men and women who are able to serve in our military from purchasing a firearm and would strip the Constitutional rights of gunowners by broadening the scope of punishment for even nonviolent misdemeanors. As this blatant government overreach seeks to make gun owners second-class citizens, I will continue to stand up for the Constitution and push for solutions, including advocating for increased mental health resources across the country.

I feel kind of bad for her, that she feels compelled to say stuff like this, particularly that last part, about her intention to advocate for increased mental health resources. And I wonder if she's even read the bill, or any news reports about it?

According to this article, the bill "provides $15 billion in federal funding to bolster mental health services..." from training programs to pediatric mental health care to community health services to intervention and prevention services t0 school-based mental health services, and more.

I often wonder if folks like Stefanik wouldn't be happier in a red state like Texas, where everything is way more bigly conservative, and where her opinions would fit right in. After all, the Texas GOP passed two resolutions as their convention last week; one declared President Biden to be the 'acting' president and the beneficiary of a stolen election. The second is below. 

Resolution against the Gang of 20 Gun Control bill:

Whereas those under 21 are most likely to be victims of violent crime and thus most likely to need to defend themselves.

Whereas “red flag laws” violate one’s right to due process and are a pre-crime punishment of people not adjudicated guilty.

Whereas waiting periods on gun purchases harm those who need to acquire the means of self-defense in emergencies such as riots.

Whereas all gun control is a violation of the Second Amendment and our God given rights.

We reject the so called “bipartisan gun agreement”, and we rebuke Senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). 

One more thing on Stefanik? Taking a page out of her Dear Leader's playbook, she's endorsing sketchy characters for office. For example, she proudly endorsed Carl Paladino for Congress in the new #NY23 district.

Carl is a job creator and conservative outsider who will be a tireless fighter for the people of New York in our fight to put America First to save the country.

I guess it makes sense that she'd endorse a guy who said Hitler is the kind of leader we need today. After all, someone very much in Stefanik's corner seems to meet the "get up there screaming these epithets and these people were just, they were hypnotized" definition Paladino used to describe Hitler... 

But, I wonder if she remembers Paladino going public with plans to threaten NY members of Congress if they didn't support Trump in 2016? Or, later that same year, when he said stuff so bizarre about the Obamas that even the Trump campaign objected? 

And that's where the real wondering comes in: is it possible that Trump's peeps have out-Trumped him? 

What's on your wondering mind tonight?

Wondering on Wednesday 2/24/21

Ready... Set... Wonder!

In no particular order, here's the stuff that's got me scratching my head tonight.

Neera Tanden, President Biden's choice to head the Office of Management and Budget, seems to be on a fast track to failure, as Joe Manchin (the most important Senator in the Universe, or something like that) is opposed and so are at least a few Republicans, including Susan Collins, Mitt Romney, and Rob Portman. The primary reason Tanden's nom is not looking good? She was a mean tweeter. 

One of her targets was Manchin's daughter, a pharma CEO allegedly having something to do with the exorbitant price of Epi-pens. Collins thinks that Tanden exhibits the kind of animosity that Biden has "pledged to transcend." Romney can't support someone who's sent "a thousand mean tweets." Portman says the OMB director needs to work "productively" with people on both sides of the aisle. And I wonder, why would the OMB director need to be held to a higher standard than the (former) president?

Merrick Garland, the guy who coulda woulda shoulda been a SCOTUS associate justice, looks well on his way to being confirmed as the next Attorney General of the United States; similarly, the standard for him is higher than for his predecessor, and for the former president. It cracks me up, the hypocrisy. Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a staunch Trump supporter, said that Garland met his 'sole' criteria - a promise to conduct investigations "without succumbing to political pressure." Really, Senator? When did you stumble upon your 'sole' criteria, I wonder?

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson? I just wonder about him generally. And Rep. Jim Jordan, too. They could be in the wondering every week.

US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Congress yesterday they'll have to get used to him because he's going to be sticking around. He offered support for a plan to eliminate the need to pre-fund future health insurance costs, so that's progress. But he also suggested improving service by slowing down delivery of first-class mail, and said something about having the USPS stop using planes to move mail around the country. I wonder if he doing a CBA on a revived Pony Express? That would surely accomplish both of his goals.

At the same time, his longevity is potentially threatened by the pesky Biden administration's efforts to fill seats on the governing board. And they are not all white men, darn those inclusive Dems. I wonder if any of them have sent any mean tweets in the past? Hope not. 

And finally, watch this video of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R Mar-a-Lago) and #3 Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Purgatory) answer a question on whether 45 should appear a CPAC (the 'hug a flag like it's a porn star conference) this weekend, and wonder with me how long the Rs are going to put up with her refreshing honesty.

What are you wondering about?

Highlights from the RNC: Opening Night

You owe me, big time. 

Here are my carefully curated highlights from the opening night of the Republican National Convention.

Charlie Kirk.

We will be a country that makes it easier to have many children, live quiet and peaceable lives, and worship your God without a tyrant getting in the way. (Young Mr. Kirk must be representing the pro-lots-of-life segment of the party?)

Rep. Jim Jordan 

President Trump has fought against each of their crazy ideas. He’s taken on the swamp, all of the swamp, the Democrats, the press, and the neverTrumpers. When you take on the swamp, the swamp fights back, they tried the Russia hoax, the Mueller investigation and the fake impeachment. (Right...Donald Trump will always be an impeached president.)

Herschel Walker, former Celebrity Apprentice Contestant

Just because someone loves and respect the flag, our national anthem and our country doesn’t mean they don’t care about social justice. (Recall video of the president respectfully mauling the flag at CPAC, and of course respectfully 'conducting' and fake singing the national anthem at his private club.)

Vernon Jones.

The Democratic party does not want black people to leave their mental plantation. We’ve been forced to be there for decades and generations, but I have news for Joe Biden. We are free. We are free people with free minds. (This is actually an interesting argument.)

 Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donny Trump's girlfriend

As a first generation American, I know how dangerous their socialist agenda is. My mother, Mercedes, was a special education teacher from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. My father, also an immigrant, came to this nation in pursuit of the American dream. Now, I consider it my duty to fight to protect that dream. (Um, Puerto Ricans have been US citizens since 1917, so I'm guessing you're at least a second-generation American...)

Sean Parnell, GOP House candidate. 

The party of Harry Truman became the party of hedge fund managers, Hollywood celebrities, tech, moguls, and university professors, all bloated with contempt for middle America. I stand here tonight, calling on all Americans to join us. It doesn’t matter what you look like, who you love, how you worship, your gender, or your job. (We do, of course, reserve the right to discriminate against you no matter what you look like, who you love, how you worship, your gender, or your job.)

Nikki Haley 

There’s one more important area where our president is right. He knows that political correctness and cancel culture are dangerous and just plain wrong. (Let's ask the folks at Goodyear, or Nike, or Macy's, or Harley-Davidson, the NFL, AT&T, HBO, Rolling Stone, New York Magazine, Univision, Apple, CNN...) 

Donny Jr.  

Joe Biden is basically the Loch Ness Monster of the swamp. Freedom of expression used to be a liberal value, at least before the radical left took over. Now the Republican party is the home of free speech. (See above under Parnell and Haley.)

Sen. Tim Scott.

Trust me though, after seven years in the Senate, I know I’m not the only one in Congress who failed civics. (I'll give him that one, for sure. I'm assuming he's including Mitch McConnell, who denies senators the opportunity to do their jobs and denies Americans their right to representation in the Senate, and negates the work of House members of both parties.)

If you want the rah-rah stuff, it's in the transcript.  

OrangeVerse XLVIII: It's Always Festivus

The impeached president did made what the White House referred to as Remarks by president Trump to the Nation last week.

It was, as you might expect, self-congratulatory, wildly accusatory, unconciliatory, filled with callouts for friends and foe alike, and, as we've become accustomed, weirdly poetic.

And it was an airing of grievances, because it's always Festivus with this president.

Elevate the Grievances (I)

We had the witch hunt.

It started from the day we

came down the elevator, myself

and our future First Lady, who's 

with us right now. 

And it never really stopped. 

We've been going through this

now for over three years. 

It was evil.

It was corrupt

It was dirty cops.

It was leakers and liars. 

I don't know that other Presidents 

would have been able to take it.

Some people said no they wouldn't have.

Thank You for Being a Friend (i)

I want to start by thanking some of - 

and I call them friends

because, you know, 

you develop friendships
 and relationships

when you're in battle
and war, 

much more so than 

"Gee, let's have a normal situation."

Everyone Knows This is Nothing

I want to start by introducing
some of the people that are here. 

I know some are going to be left out.

But they work so hard.

And this is really not
 a news conference.

It's not a speech.

It's not anything.

It's just, we're sort of.

It's a celebration because

we have something that 
just worked out.

I mean, it worked out. 

We went through hell unfairly. 

Did nothing wrong.

Did nothing wrong.

I've done things wrong

in my life, I will admit.

Nor purposely but

I've done things wrong.

But this is what

the end result is. 

Ain't No Thang...

But some of the people here

have been incredible warriors.

They're warriors.

And there's nothing

from a legal standpoint -

this is a political thing. 

And every time, I'd say

"This is unfair. Let's go to court."

They'd say, "Sir you can't 
go to court. This is politics."

And we were treated

unbelievably unfairly.

Russia Russia Russia

And you have to understand

we first went through Russia, Russia, Russia 
it was all bullshit.

We then went through the Mueller report. 

And they should have come back 
one day later. They didn't. 
They came back two years later

after lives were ruined

after people went bankrupt

after people lost all their money.

People came to Washington to help

other people. "Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed"

I say. They came - one or two or three people in

particular, but many people. 

Nasty, Nasty Boy

We had a rough campaign.

it was nasty.

It was one of the nastiest, they say.

They say Andrew Jackson was always

the nastiest campaign. 
They actually said we topped it. 

It was nasty - it was nasty -
 both in the primaries

and in the - in the election.

But you see we thought after the election

it would stop. 
But it didn't stop.

It just started. And 

tremendous corruption

Tremendous corruption.

So we had a campaign.

...It's a very tough thing. And

then we ended up winning on

Russia Russia Russia. 

Thank You for Being A Friend (II)

Then Bob Mueller testified.

That didn't work out so well for the

other side. But they should have said,

that first week - because it came out.
Is that right Jim Jordan?

They know in the first two days actually.

Devin, is that right? 
They knew that we 
were totally innocent

But they kept it going, Mark, 

They kept it going because

they wanted to inflict political pain

on somebody that had just won 
an election that, to - a lot 
of people were surprised.

Winning

I mean, we had polls that said

we were going to win.

And we did win.

It was one of the greatest

wins of all time.

And they said,

"OK, he won."

15 Minutes Can Save You 15% or More

And you know, I wrote this down

because that was where a thing called

the "insurance policy" - to me, 

when I saw the "insurance policy" -

and that was done long before the election.

That was done when they thought

that Hillary Clinton was going to win. And

by the way, Hillary Clinton and the DNC

paid for millions - millions of dollars -

the fake dossier. And now Christopher Steele

admits that it's a fake because 
he got sued by rich people. 

I should have sued him too.

But when you're president

people don't like suing. 

Thank You for Being A Friend (III)

I want to thank my legal team

by the way - not for that advice

- but for other advice. 

Pat, Jay. Pat.

You guys stand up please.

Right at the beginning, they said,

"Sir, you have nothing to worry about.

All the facts

are on your side."

I said "You don't understand.

That doesn't matter.

That doesn't matter."

And that was really true.

We're not even halfway through his remarks, even though I made a few cuts for length - some random applause lines and newspaper waving, and whatnot -  we'll see if we can finish this in two parts.

I'll also remind you that, according to research, any time the president says someone called him"sir" he's about to tell a lie. 

TGIF 2/7/20

It's list-making time again.

Religion had a bad week, I think - or maybe it was a good one, I'm not sure. I'm not religious, so it's hard for me to tell on these things.

But we do know the president, The Chosen One, according to a former Cabinet member and countless evangelicals, the guy who alleged to be a member of church but hadn't been seen in it for years, who so loves the Bible he can't even pick  a favorite verse or even say whether he's an Old Testament or New Testament guy, denigrated prayer and religion in general, at the National Prayer Breakfast.

And then went on to laugh about it with some of the same people a few hours later.

Hail to the Chief had a bad week. Sadly, because the president decided to re-celebrate Festivus - actually, every day is Festivus for him - in the East Room at the White House, he was given this ceremonial musical honor before babbling for over an hour in what the White House website refers to as Remarks By President Trump to the Nation. He described it much better himself, I think.

And this is really not a news conference.  It’s not a speech.  It’s not anything. 

Truer words, and whatnot. But he did spend time on the bodies of Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan, so I'd say they had a bad week.

Nancy Pelosi had a bad week, and I'm not going to be convinced otherwise, even given that she was attacked at the breakfast by Trump and responded appropriately, I think, after that. The rest of her week is not wiped away by that.

Susan Collins? Yeah, bad week. I mean, what on earth was she thinking, saying that she believed the president "has learned from" the impeachment? I mean, that's a 'When Harry Met Sally' moment right there - I want whatever the heck she's having, for sure.

Who else is on the list? It's not a person, but payback, the b*tch, is having a very good week. Let's see: Mitt Romney (who had a great week, by the way)? Attacked at the aforementioned prayer breakfast.  Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman?  Removed from the NSC, escorted out of the White House, and transferred to the Department of the Army - as was his brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, guilty of being his brother's twin. Gordon Sondland? Recalled as Ambassador to the EU. Expect more of that.

Let's see, what else. Iowa had the worst week ever as the first-in-the-nation vote; results from the caucus were delayed, the app was bad, Republicans supposedly jammed the phone lines (all that took was a Google search to find the number), and the vote is so close, it's almost truly a dead heat. That Guy From Vermont (TGFV) and Mayor Pete 'won', but TGFV 'lost' because he did much more poorly than expected.  The Des Moines Register had to kill their last poll before the caucus, which didn't help. And, really, nobody showed up to vote. Not nobody, really, but way fewer bodies than many (including TGFV) had hoped. That's likely bad for Democrats - not just in Iowa but more broadly.

And speaking of TGFV, there are a number of reports floating around that Republicans are planning on turning out in droves in open primary state, and planning on voting for TGFV - which shows you who the president isn't afraid of (in case you missed that in his SOTU.)

Ah yes, the SOTU, forever stained by the presentation of the presidential Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh.

TGIF everyone - TGIF.

Sunday School 11/17/19

Deval Patrick is the only Democratic presidential candidate making the rounds today; you can see what he had to say, and also what  a couple of other Dems had to say in this week's Sunday School Extra Credit.

I'm spending  time with some of the Republicans who made the classroom rounds rounds today, including Mike Turner (R-Mixed Emotions), who sat with Jake Tapper on State of the Union; Jim Jordan (R-Casual Friday), who talked with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation; and Senator Ron Johnson (R-America's Dairyland) who spoke with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press. 

First up, Tapper and Turner, who was asked if he was "alarmed" about US folks apparently telling Ukraine folks that if they want the aid money released, they have to announce they're going to investigate the Bidens and the 2016 interference (which has been attributed by the entire US intelligence community to Russia, not Ukraine). 

Well, of course, all of that is alarming, And I have said from the beginning, I think this is - -this is not OK. The president of the United States shouldn't even, in the original phone call, be on the phone with the president of another country and raise his political opponent. So no, this is -- is not OK.

Tapper next asked "Do you really think there were no Ukrainians who were under the impression that they needed to publicly announce these investigations in order to get the White House meeting or the aid, the $400 million, they so desperately need?"

The only two that I can speak to, because I'm obviously not psychic as to what Ukrainians think, but the president of Ukraine and the foreign minister...have both stated that they were not under that impression, they did not believe that it was tied, and they did not believe that there was pressure. 

And Tapper mentioned president Trump's tweet "attacking" Ambassador Yovanovitch as she was testifying, and asked, "Does it concern you at all that a witness found what president Trump tweeted to be intimidating?"

Well, I mean, Jake, I think, along with most people, I find the president's tweets generally unfortunate. But let's say this that I think is very important about all of it. And that is that Adams Schiff has been on a three-year quest to impeach this president. He replaced the staff at the Intelligence Committee with prosecutors, instead of experts in, like, nuclear weapons, terrorism and the like... So it's kind of laughable that, in the middle of the hearing, he reads a witness a tweet that she's up until that point unaware of, and then says 'shazam, eureka, I have another reason to impeach the president.' 

Good on him for that last part. Schiff was nuts to bring that tweet into things, without stating that while, it's not intimidating to Yovanovitch who was currently in the witness chair, having already been smeared by the Orange Menace, it might be intimidating to other potential witnesses who are not interested in having themselves and their families attacked by the president and his minions.

Moving on to Brennan and Jordan, who was asked if the whistleblower complaint on September 9th and the aid being released on the 11th was just the calendar, nothing else.

Well, it did and plus, remember, the aid didn't have to be released until September 30th. So it gets released on the 11th and most importantly, the Ukrainians did nothing to - as far as investigations go, to get the aid released. So there was never this quid pro quo that the Democrats all promise existed before president Trump released the phone call. 

On David Holmes, who said in his deposition that he the overheard the phone call between Ambassador Sondland and the president talking about the Bidens, is he credible?

Well, I mean look, he overheard a conversation - we don't know if the other two people are the table are going to vouch for his story. We'll see because there was four people at the table...

Brennan asked if Jordan thought Gordon Sondland was acting on his own, that 'he says he talks to the president all the time."

He's the Senate-confirmed ambassador to the European Union. Mister Volker is - is the special envoy, distinguished career serving our country in the diplomatic corps... We had Rick Perry. We have Secretary Perry, Senate confirmed, working. This whole - this whole irregular channel I find interesting because they're all Senate confirmed individuals, respected individuals, accomplished individuals working on a diplomatic mission, and somehow that's - that's - that's crazy. I just don't follow. 

Asked if he was "comfortable with the investigation that was requested," that "this is the 2020 election. Does that make you uncomfortable?"

Well, I don't think that's what took place here because there never was an investigation undertaken. There was never an announcement from President Zelensky...it didn't happen. There's - there's all kinds of talk about things, but they - it didn't happen. 

And, here's Chuck Todd and Ron Johnson, who was asked about his reaction to the president's tweet about Ambassador Yovanovitch. First, he talked about the president's comments about his own behavior.

He said, "You know, my behavior is caused by, by you. You know, the constant torment, I mean, the investigations." So, you know, listen, I would prefer he not, you know, provide that type of tweet, but you know, my concern -- and let me start out with something else here, Chuck, because I don't want to argue every point. Something we agree on. As Americans, we all share the same goal. We want a safe, prosperous, secure America. We're compassionate. We compare about each other. And generally, generally, we solve our political differences at the ballot box, not in the streets or through impeachment. I think that is really -- as we talked the other day, that's the divide that is tearing this country apart and that's what I'm primarily concerned about.

He said he had nothing against the Ambassador, that she had hosted him on one of his visits to Ukraine,

 But you know, one thing I want to point out is the damage that is being done to our country through this entire impeachment process. You know, it's going to be very difficult for future presidents to have a candid conversation with a world leader because now we've set the precedent of leaking transcripts. It’s going -- you know, the weakening of executive privilege is not good. And by the way, those individuals that leaked this, you know, if their interest was a stronger relationship with Ukraine, they didn't accomplish it. Having this all come out into public has weakened that relationship, has exposed things that didn't need to be exposed.

You know, when I was in Ukraine with Senator Murphy, one of the points I was trying to make is, as we left that meeting, let's try and minimize this. Let's talk about this is a timing difference in terms of funding. Senator Murphy's on the Appropriations Committee. We will restore the funding. I came back and I talked to Senator Durbin. He offered an amendment. That same day, the funding was released. So, this would have been far better off if we would have just taken care of this behind the scenes. We have two branches of government.

So, let's pretend that nothing's wrong, let's let the executive branch run amok and us good guys in Congress, we'll just fix everything and no one will be the wiser.  That's a plan, I guess. Not sure it's the right one, but at least it's a plan. That's more than the rest of them have put on the table.

See you around campus.

Sunday School 3/3/19

Let's dive in and see who was making the rounds this morning, starting with Meet the Press on NBC.

Here are highlights of Chuck Todd's conversations with Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), of the House Oversight Committee.

Todd wondered what the Senate Intelligence Committee was looking for in their nine hours with Michael Cohen, whether it was focused solely on Russia or if there was more. Warner said some of the "tawdry and inappropriate" stuff did come up, but they're focused in a bipartisan way on counter-intelligence, finding out what did happen in 2016 and making sure if didn't happen again.  On Cohen himself, and his truthfulness:

Well, again this guy does not have a lot of veracity. We need to get documents. We are receiving additional documents from him to prove or disprove. But I'd also say, Donald Trump doesn't exactly have a great record of telling the truth, as well. 

On the subject of collusion or inappropriate behavior, Warner had this to say:

An investigation into the president, and his organization, his campaign, involvement with Russians - a foreign power, a foreign, adversarial power, a power that this president has said nary a negative word about, a Russian despot that he, frankly, kowtowed to in front of the whole word in that hearing - in that public testimony, public hearing in Helsinki, I think that's all inappropriate. And the notion that the president has done everything possible to undermine that investigation, from firing Comey to trying to undermine Mueller, to me, that does not seem appropriate. 

When it was his turn, Rep. Jordan had trouble saying whether or not he believes that Russia meddled.

CT: Do you believe the Russians interfered with the 2016 election?

JJ: Everyone said they thought they were trying to impact the election.

 CT: Do you believe it?

JJ; The question Mueller -

CT: Do you believe it?

 JJ: Yeah, I mean, of course. That's what the intelligence community has told us. 

He went on to say there's no collusion or coordination, except between the Clinton camp and the Russians and Trump has done fabulous things for the country and that's what he's focused on.