Pathetic

I was going to write about the first hundred days of Canard du Orange, but this morning the joy of gardening sidelined the urge to plumb the swamp.  Fortunately there are plenty of other places to get capsule summaries of the highs (very few) and lows (abundant) of the tRump administration.  I find it somewhat amazing that anyone could call the first 100 days anything but a dog's breakfast.  The president is historically unpopular with virtually everyone but his base voters.   In one of his more un-guarded moments he referred to his preference for "uneducated voters".   Even then his poll numbers are hovering in the upper 30s.  Obamacare is still the law of the land.  The wall on the Mexican border is in limbo and the swamp remains undrained.  Meanwhile, the FBI continues to investigate the Russia connection and even the congressional investigations led by reluctant republican chairmen are slowly making progress.  The historical and casual corruption endemic to this executive is breathtaking.  The Donald has obviously decided the federal treasury is his personal piggy bank.  Just one example is the $36,000 Trump branded golf courses have charged for golf cart rentals for Secret Service agents assigned to accompany the president on his frequent golf outings.  This is the tip of the iceberg of charges the government will be paying Trump's businesses over the next 4 years, if he lasts that long.  One can only hope...

Changes

It is looking more and more like the spring that wasn't.  Although Thursday was a beautiful day, it rained during the night, nullifying whatever drying effect occurred.  The weekend promises cloudy cooler weather and next week's forecast is for off and on showers.  Usually we get a teaser of several weeks of dry weather in early spring, followed by excessively wet conditions.  This year is looking wet from the start.  I have room for a couple more weeks planting on well drained soil, but some areas will need a great deal of warm sunny weather before any soil preparation will be possible.   If I had to guess, I would say we will probably have a drier than normal summer and everyone in the agricultural field will be looking for rain by the first of July. 

Competence deficit

Based on the reviews of the administration's "tax reform" plan, it would seem it is DOA in Congress even if it is revised and expanded beyond the one sheet of double spaced talking points the Treasury secretary used in his introduction.  Most pundits simply laughed.   Meanwhile, the citizens of South Korea and Japan are bracing for possible nuclear attacks by North Korea as tRump ups the rhetoric directed at the renegade regime.  I'm not sure there is any long range solution to this problem that doesn't include military action.   However, the bellicose and uninformed blatherings of Trump administration spokesmen, including the president have raised a simmering problem to the boiling point.  As previous administrations have learned to their sorrow, North Korea is effectively holding 20 million residents of Seoul hostage.  The artillery placed on the border less than 20 miles from South Korea's capital could effectively level the city and kill millions before being taken out by allied strikes.  Plus, the ability of the North to launch short range missiles with nuclear warheads to hit Japan adds to the unacceptability of military action.  Let's hope The Donald is not as stupid as it would appear. 

Tired of all the winning?

As the first 100 days of the tRump administration draw to a close, it has become apparent the learning curve of the president has approached the vertical.  All of his campaign promises are about to go up in smoke.   The border wall is probably dead.  Ditto Obamacare repeal.  The same for the ludicrous "tax reform" that even republicans can't swallow.  Infrastructure is code for a giveaway to construction companies.  Even the president's daughter was booed at a seminar in Germany when she tried to defend her father's behavior towards women!  Meanwhile, a new poll shows that not only has Cheeto Jesus sunk to an historic low for new presidents, but he is actually losing some of his base voters.   Of course, thanks to FBI director James Comey's infamous letter to Congress the week before the election, Trump was elected much to his surprise.  He has demonstrated from the first day he was not only unprepared for the job, but probably never thought he was going to win, so why prepare himself for the presidency?  The accidental nature of the job may be the defining feature of the tRump administration.  We can only hope he doesn't get us into a war of choice with any number of countries in an effort to salvage his declining popularity.

The next 1365 days

It is almost impossible to believe we will have to put up with or suffer through another 1,365 days of Cheeto Jesus and his merry band of psychopathic misfits.  A hundred days of lies, corruption and the degradation of the office of the presidency is already fraying the fabric of our democracy.  For every breathless interview the media does with a highly satisfied Trump voter, I'm sure there are a dozen citizens who are horrified by the spectacle of this flailing oaf  making a daily mockery of governance.    So far, the republicans in Congress are willing and able to make excuses and dodge their responsibility for oversight of the administration, but if the present foolishness continues to the 2018 mid term elections, there is the possibility the House may fall to the democrats.  If Nancy Pelosi and senior democrats are armed with subpoena powers and chairmanships of the requisite committees it could get hot in D.C. next winter.

Slowly but surely

The grass is greening up even on the north side of buildings here on the NCR.  The soil is also drying out, albeit at a very slow pace.  As usual, the kitchen garden is workable, so most of the early planting is happening there.  I started putting in the onion plants I received late last week and it seems the Dixondale Onion Company puts more than a few extra plants in each bunch!  Even throwing out the obvious weak plants, I still averaged more than 100 per bunch.  At that rate, I'll have nothing but onions in the garden closest to the house unless I wait for the other areas to dry out.  Unfortunately with the forecast we have for the next 10 days, drying will not be happening.  The good part is I have been assured by a fellow gardener the plants can last several weeks before they expire.  I guess I'll hold off as long as possible before filling up the best locations with alliums.

The inevitable Monday morning

With the publication of "Shattered", the media will undoubtedly put the final nail in the coffin of Hillary Clinton's failed presidential campaign.  The usual crew of backbiting insiders are eager to portray themselves as the blameless victims of an unusually poorly run campaign.   What the book fails to do is explain why Hillary maintained a 3-7 percentage point lead in the polls throughout the campaign until FBI director James Comey dropped his bombshell of a continued investigation into Hillary's e-mails on October 28th.  Clinton's support dropped precipitously and while she did win the popular vote by a 2.4% margin, it was not enough to avert the loss of several key states which allowed for Cheeto Jesus' electoral college win.  A good case can be made that many voters who would have voted for Clinton changed their minds after the ephemeral e-mail "scandal" allowed them to justify voting for a racist, misogynistic lunatic.  The author's of "Shattered" would have served the public interest better by focusing on Comey's behavior and the continuing drip of evidence the Russians in collusion with Trump's campaign worked not only to undermine the US population's faith in the fairness of our elections but actively pushed for Trump's election.   These are the primary reason's for Hillary's loss.  I'm pretty sure a more exhaustive explanation of this election will be published with a more evidence based reporting.  It won't change the outcome, but it may at least let us know how the public was manipulated into electing a potentially catastrophic candidate.  

The Handmaid's and other morality tales

I admit I have never read "The Handmaid's Tale", nor will I watch the dramatization of the novel on Hulu.  I have read many summaries of Margaret Atwood's story of the ultimate triumph of the patriarchy in the Republic of Gilead.  Obviously, this is Mike Pence's wet dream of the subjugation of more than half the human beings on earth.  The breathless reviews by many media outlets would have you believe we are more than halfway there in the era of Trump.  As the father of three feisty latter day feminists, I would disagree with the consensus we are heading for a patriarchal dystopia.  My daughters were taught by a strong woman to stand up for themselves and never let their dignity as women and human beings be questioned.  Any men who encounter these ladies had best be cognizant of their views on the equality of the sexes.  There are millions of other women in this country who feel the same way.  Those who would attempt to take us to Gilead would be served by remembering this.

Glass half full kind of day

For political junkies of the left leaning persuasion, yesterday was definitely a glass half full day.  In a suburban Georgia congressional district special election, a democratic candidate almost pulled off an upset.  As it was, Jon Ossoff garnered 48.1% of the vote and now enters a runoff election against the republican who finished a distant second.  Of course the GOP and its media enablers along with the chicken littles on the dem side are portraying this as a loss for democrats because of course Ossoff should have won this historically republican district.   We'll see what happens in June.  Meanwhile, we must all bid adieu to falafel Bill O'Reilly who will undoubtedly open a golden parachute after being pushed out of his Faux News sinecure.  The Murdoch family is putting the best "family values" spin on this fiasco, but the combination of misogynistic behavior by O'Reilly and the wholesale defection of sponsors was too much for them to put up with.  As it is, another domino is falling in the continuing disassembly of the powerhouse erected by the now disgraced Roger Ailes.   Tucker Carlson is no Bill O'Reilly, although Fox's mostly geriatric audience may not notice the difference.  However, that demographic is expiring and new viewers are unlikely to be impressed by what is essentially Sean Hannity and the B Team.  All in all, it was a pretty good day for progressives.

Under the weather

Literally and physically.  Stayed home today to help my system overcome the cold which has been nagging me since last week.  A night of fairly restful slumber was a big help also. A light rain is falling, which will hasten germination of the previous week's seedings.  I won't be doing any gardening today,  however, thanks to a smartphone and the internet I was able to do enough work at my day job to keep up without overtaxing myself.  Up until the advent of aforementioned adjuncts to our work environments staying home for a day would have put me out of contact with associates, customers and suppliers.  With a single land line, keeping in touch would have been difficult and the stress level would have been incompatible with recovery from illness.  That's why most of us dragged ourselves to work instead of risking the severance of our connections to the world.  Now we are connected 24/7.  I was reminded of this on a trip to Italy in 2015.  Walking the streets of Rome, my cellphone buzzed and a customer asked when his delivery would happen.  I apologized for not knowing and suggested he call the office.  At the time, it felt natural, and I guess in a way it is.  We have now reached back to our hunter gatherer ancestors.  Our work environment, like theirs is with us constantly.  Is this a good thing?

Gardening and renewal

Most of the garden continues to be too wet to work, and with more rain on the way it looks like it will remain so for the near future.  I was able to weed, fertilize and apply compost to the asparagus beds.  I love perennial vegetables.  Once established they require minimal care and provide a yearly bounty.  Perennial weeds are a problem, but well established plantings can compete with moderate weed pressure. 
Easter was a family affair as usual.  The death and resurrection story, beloved by all religions since the ancient Greeks can be a celebration of the triumph of spring and the kindling of the power of humanity to procreate.   It was a pleasure to see the grandchildren and their parents on a spring day marked by sunshine and a brief thunderstorm.  I also felt sadness as a result of the passing of a cousin I had not seen in years.   Although a stranger with whom I have had little contact over the years, I know her parents, my aunt and uncle, well enough to empathize with their pain.   The passing of a child before her parents is a blow to the natural order of growth, maturity and death.  I hope they can come to terms with their grief.

The Mobster-in-Chief

It looks like the erstwhile President of these United States has finally figured out his modus operandi.  He must have watched The Godfather last weekend between rounds of golf and decided he would make the democrats in Congress and offer they can't refuse.  By withholding subsidy payments which make insurance affordable and keep insurance companies participating in the exchanges, the tangerine nightmare expects dems to come to the negotiating table to help dismantle the crowning achievement of the Obama presidency.  The fact that Medicaid expansion would not be affected by this petty denial of funds and that by making the implicit threat to put the insurance exchanges into a "death spiral", Trump has insured (pardon the pun) that democrats will not come anywhere near the White House.  Truly, a mobster worth his payola would have been far more discreet in his threats and left his victim with fewer choices.  As it is, Trump has basically assumed responsibility for the health care system if it breaks and voters know it.  If the Trump organization was a crime family, its competitors would be laughing behind its back.

The New Civil violence

Although I have only seen a few still photos of the aftermath, the description of the video of the forcible removal of a United Airlines passenger from his seat on a flight from Chicago to Louisville is totally horrific.  The airline overbooked the flight and needed 4 seats to transport an aircrew.  After offering $800.00 (I think it was in vouchers, not cash) and getting no takers, someone had the bright idea of randomly drawing 4 passengers' names and requiring them to get off the plane.  Three did so voluntarily, but the fourth, a 69 year old doctor replied he had to be in  Louisville the following morning to care for patients and refused to leave.  Either thanks to an idiotic protocol or an even more egregious error by some middle manager, the airline summoned the airport police who used more than excessive force to drag the elderly man out, after letting him "fall" into an armrest and bloodying his face.  Aside from the PR black eye this incident gave UAL, the use of police force is to me the most troubling aspect of the episode.  I have often thought this country could never become an authoritarian dictatorship, because the basic goodness and civility of the American people will not be suborned.  No one forced the policeman who roughed up a 69 year old to do so.  He chose that course.  The recent election of Cheeto Jesus, who memorably opined he wished he could punch a protestor in the face at one of his rallies, is making me rethink the possibility of a Stalinist regime flourishing in the "land of the free and the home of the brave".

MOT

Republicans in general seem to be much more tribal than democrats.  That would seem obvious to the casual observer,since most in the party are white and older than average. But of course if you ask the average GOPer, he would vehemently reject that characterization.  Democrats on the other hand are younger, multi-racial and generally liberal.   A recent poll asked the question would you support Cheeto Jesus order of a missile strike in Syria.  37% of Dems would support.  Fully 86% of republicans would.  This same question was asked 3  years ago when Obama contemplated the same action.  38% of Dems said yes.  Only 22% of republicans would support the action.  Case closed!
   Meanwhile, in the garden, I got the first spinach planted last night. The soil worked up very nicely and is moist enough.  Next up, carrots, beet, and parsley.

The Spicer of life

As much as I despise George Will, the aging former Faux News shill had an insightful take on the White House press secretary in the wake of his epic gaffe comparing Hitler in a favorable light vs. Assad.  "Sean Spicer is the gift that keeps on giving" he opined in his understated fashion.  Spicer justified the accolade by revising his stupid statement several times.  During this fiasco he impugned Jews, referred to concentration camps as "holocaust centers" and implied the legions of people Hitler gassed were not "his people".  The ignorance and comic ineptitude displayed by Spicer is the perfect commentary on the whole sordid corpse of this administration.   Throw in the lies and condescension Spicer is also famous for and you know he will never be fired from this job.  He is the perfect spokesman for Cheeto Jesus.  He may finally quit if he tires of the virtual war he wages every day with the working press.  I wasn't following politics as closely in the early 70s, but people who were say Nixon's press secretary, Ron Zeigler, most closely resembles Spicer.  We can only hope his reign ends in the same manner.

Mountebanks, grifters and Trumpism

In an interesting essay in the NYT today, Rick Perlstein, who has chronicled the rise and fall of Richard Nixon, makes the point that historians by and large did not anticipate the rise of Trump and his connection to American conservatism.  In a long and sometimes windy dissertation, Perlstein traces the rise of conservatism after WW2 culminating in the election of Ronald Reagan, the genial showman who was dedicated to dismantling the New Deal and constructing a government by plutocrats for plutocrats.  Perlstein also detours into the sordid history of racism and intolerance embraced by the republican party as it has devolved into a party of white nationalism.  He concludes with reference to the grifters who prey on this stew of American intolerance of the "other" to sell everything from survival supplies and gold to miracle cures.  It is a sorry history that implicates our national conscience.

More signs of spring

One of the lesser known signs of spring is the first day when the outside temperature is actually higher than inside the house.  I experienced this thrill yesterday and promptly began the first spring garden activity.  I pulled the mulch off the garlic beds and was rewarded with a view of the first sprouts emerging from the still cold soil.  I then dug up the soil in a cold frame and started the first lettuce seedlings.  As springs go, this is shaping up to be a late one.  In a best case scenario the lettuce will be ready around Memorial day.  More realistically it will be mid June before I can enjoy a tasty home grown salad.  In the meantime there will be plenty more to do outside.

Trump's foreign policy follies and Sergio's win

Despite the breathless praise from media pundits and GOP politicians, firing 59 tomahawk missiles at a foreign country does not constitute a policy.   I'm sure Cheeto Jesus is waiting for his advisors at "Fox and Friends" to weigh in before he begins work on the finer points of his policy towards Syria.  Despite republican praise for this seemingly one time shot at a Syrian airfield and democratic whispers of a Russian connection, it appears Trump has no clue as to what to do next.   This is not the kind of policy the world needs or expects from the lone superpower.  This kind of cheap reaction to the death of 70 Syrians in a gas attack by their putative government plays well with the rubes, but sends shock waves through foreign ministries.  After "no drama Obama", very few of our allies and adversaries can make heads or tails of the signals coming from the administration.  That is scary, since neither can the people supposedly making the policy on the fly.   Hopefully, Steve Doucy has some  suggestions.   Meanwhile, in a tense and exciting final round, El Nino finally broke through and won his first major eighteen years after bursting onto the golf scene.  Sergio Garcia has always been among golf's elite, but a combination of fiery temper and immaturity has held him back.  He matured on the back nine at Augusta yesterday and won in a playoff against Justin Rose. 

Bombing the s*** out of somebody

At a cost to the American taxpayer equivalent to supplying security to Mar-a-Lago for a month or so, the USN fired 59 tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield.  Most conservatives, feeling their authoritarian side praised the *president's decisive action.  Most liberals commented it was typical behavior for an administration struggling to show any behavior which would portray it as in control of at least some foreign policy area.  Judging by the reaction of MSNBC which massively overplayed the Pentagon supplied footage of missiles whizzing through the air, the media was more than happy to remain an unpaid flack for The Donald.   What does it all mean?  Probably nothing, as I'm sure Putin's poodle made sure the Russians know it was a "one off" to keep the rubes happy.   Meanwhile, it is springtime in Augusta and I will be following the Master's tournament this weekend and wishing the local golf courses were open.  Maybe next week.

Opiods and the race issue

Listening to my local NPR station this morning inspired me to tackle the issue of race and the opiod epidemic now engulfing this area.  The story was a packed house at the local theater showing the documentary "Chasing the Dragon", which I gather is a harrowing look at the slippery slope from oxycontin addiction to heroin overdose and frequent death.   Being the NCR, I'm sure the audience was 95% white as is the typical addict in the area.   Numerous studies of this latest drug epidemic have shown the victims are overwhelmingly white.  Where was the outrage during the crack and cocaine epidemics of the 80s.  It seems there is the easy answer, i.e. most crack addicts were and are black and most meth and opiod addicts are white.   Society's reaction to crack was to fill our penal system with black prisoners.  The heroin crisis has sparked an outpouring of social analysis of the mostly white victims with the emphasis on treatment, rather than incarceration.  The racial components of these programs are so transparent as to be farcial.  However, Kevin Drum points out that deaths from the oxycontin to heroin epidemic are far higher than in previous drug regimes.  While this throws a different light on the concerns many people voice for the white victims, it still doesn't explain the differing strategies for resolution of the crises.   Prison for blacks and rehabilitation for whites.  Our racial history in a nutshell.

poo flinging monkeys

As the Gorsuch nomination fracas reaches a crescendo later this week, it seems there is a veritable cage full of poo flinging monkeys determined to distract most of us from the ongoing investigation into The Donald's Russia connections.   From the trolling by media pundits on the left and the right to the latest outrages by Syria's Assad or North Korea's chubby little psychopath, there is plenty going on in the nation and the world.  Despite all these sideshows, the investigations continue to close in on the dirty little secrets of Cheeto Jesus and his henchmen.  Much like Watergate, the continual drip of facts and innuendo keeps leading us on.  All we need is the equivalent of Deep Throat to make the comparison even more apt.

Good for me, but not for thee

I find it very funny that the media pundits and even the man in the street pretty much assume the republicans are the equivalent of the schoolyard bully and the democrats are the hapless victims whose lunch money is stolen.  When the victims stand up to the bullies, the pundits are sure the sky must be falling.  Surely the dems must act like the "grownups" and allow their lunch money to be appropriated by in this case the republican majority in the Senate.   By mounting a filibuster against the hard right ideologue foisted on the body politic by the Heritage Foundation, Chuck Schumer and company have taken a page from Mitch McConnell and have forced his hand.  Everyone assumed the dems would roll over.  Now the same folks are predicting the deployment of the nuclear option and the approval of Gorsuch by a simple partisan majority with a few red state democrats lending a façade of bi-partisanship to the proceedings.  They may not have reckoned with some of the elder statesmen on the republican side who are not beholden to Cheeto Jesus.  While mostly a bunch of elderly hypocrites, some  may not wish to vote away their prerogatives for a one time win for a crippled presidency.   We'll see, but if there is anything certain over the past few months it is uncertainty.

April really is the cruelest month

As if the election of Cheeto Jesus wasn't a cruel enough joke, Mother Nature decided to bless us with 7 inches of snow on Friday evening and Saturday morning.  April Fools, indeed.  Fortunately some bright early spring sunshine melted most of that accumulation and made inroads on the previous storm's totals as well.  We may even be snow free by the weekend, as the forecast is for rain and showers from now through Saturday.  Mud season is officially on!