The headline that begs to be written

They went to Jared.  It's as if the iconic jewelry store has some sort of connection with the *president's son-in-law.  The report last night that at least four countries discussed taking advantage of Kushner because of his inexperience and financial difficulties probably would have rocked any recent presidency to its core.  Today, it is the scandal du jour.  By the end of today's news cycle it will be relegated to the long list of mildly salacious stories which make most of us wonder what Bizzaro World we entered last January.  The mere presence of Kushner in the White House is outrageous and an affront to the probity of the office.  But of course the affronter in chief will be with us for at least three more years.

Hopeful signs

Maybe it is the sunny, relatively mild weather for late February here on the NCR, but the political portents seem to herald an activist spring.  In the wake of the #me too movement and now the political wake up call being administered by the students at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after horrific shooting last week it would seem the left side of the political spectrum has the wind at its back.  Progressivism has had a rough few years.  Part of the problem is the left seems to focus all or most of its energy working on electing democratic presidents every four years. Then the activists lament the failure of their choice to work some kind of legislative magic to enact a liberal program with little congressional support.  Add to that the general torpor of the democratic base and you have a recipe for failure.  The new activism, especially by women and younger cohorts energized by tRump's election and the unprecedented corruption of the administration give hope that the left now realizes it must work from the bottom up to change the system.  Yes, a democratic president is important, but the 535 house and senate seats are where the action is and should be.  We have 9 candidates presently vying for the right to run in the 21st district in New York.  This is a harbinger of what is to come.

So much bad faith

The Nice Polite Republicans at NCR interviewed the somewhat insane governor of Kentucky on the gun control issue.  The lies he was spouting were so egregious, Steve Innskeep had to break in to explain in polite terms that Matt Bevin was just plain lying.  Bevin brushed off the facts in a reasonable sounding voice and Innskeep did not follow up, so we are left with the statement that the number of guns in the US has not increased in the last 20 years and that mental health and societal collapse is to blame for gun massacres.  It is  like America has no relation to the rest of the developed world where these mass killings virtually never happen.   But I guess we are just special....

And so it goes

The students at the high school in Florida who experienced the deaths of 17 classmates at the hands of a 19 year old shooter have behaved in a most uncomfortable manner for the NRA and its enablers.
They are calling BS on the standard "thoughts and prayers" mantra used by the arms industry to blunt the trauma and mute the calls for gun control.  They are confronting these horrible excuses for human beings such as Marco Rubio and demanding they refuse campaign contributions from the NRA.  I hope they continue to make them squirm.  However, these young heroes need to know they must harden themselves for the long haul if they expect to make real changes in gun laws.  The media celebrity will recede, but the hard work of organizing their peers and the parents and grandparents of high school and grammar school students across the country remains.  I hope they are up to the task, because the paid shills of the gun industry are doing their best to make sure hunting season remains open in schools across the country. 

Severe lack of empathy

I have posted several times regarding the solution to the mass slaughter of innocent Americans by people with guns.   Take the damn things away.  The Divine Mrs. M and I attended a candidate forum last Saturday for 9 democrats and one republican who wish to replace our execrable congressional representative from the 21st district.  In the wake of the Parkland shooting, the candidates were asked for their solutions to the problem.  They ranged from an expanded background check to a ban on assault rifles to arming teachers.   The republican candidate fondly recalled bringing rifles and shotguns to school after an early morning duck hunt and leaving them in their lockers during the day.  I grew up with people who went duck hunting and don't remember seeing shotguns in my schoolmates' lockers!  The bottom line is none of these earnest folks were willing to meet the NRA in a fair fight and call BS on that organization's fealty to gun manufacturers and their willingness to sacrifice our fellow citizens on the alter of profit.  Let's face it, an AR-15 is designed to kill humans.  Anyone who buys one of these things is only lying if they say it is for any other purpose.  The fantasy many of these assholes have of defying the "deep state" is just that, a sick fantasy.  We need representatives in congress who are willing to make this a do or die issue, because it literally is.   I have a grandchild in the third grade and I hope to attend her high school graduation without a memorial for classmates who were killed by firearms.  

We know how to do this

The studies and evidence is out there.  To reduce mass shootings, there have to be less guns.  Most people agree with that.  So let's do it.

Less and more

A new study sponsored by the Nutrition Science Initiative in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health and Stanford University measured the effects of two different diet regimes; low fat and low carb.  Interestingly enough, it turns out both diets work if you stick with them.  The low fat diet lowers bad cholesterol and the low carb diet raises good cholesterol levels.  The bottom line, as in all diets is to eat less calories than your body burns.   Exercise is good, but not crucial to the goal of weight loss.  It turns out the amount of extra calories you burn during moderate exercise will not  impact weight loss.   It will help you stay in shape.  So, to recap, eat less to lose weight, exercise more to stay in shape.  Any questions?

New words and old white men

I was going to focus the morning rant on the aspirations of old white men to continue their insidious misrule of the nation.  Then I learned a new word; kakistocracy.  It was coined in the early 19th century and means the rule of society by the least qualified and most unscrupulous members.  Sound like something we are living with?  The latest entry in the old white men kakistocracy sweepstakes is our old "friend" Willard Romney.  Mittens was last seen blathering about how he should have won the presidency in 2012, except for that pesky democracy thing.   I'm sure he is still fantasizing about an electoral college win similar to the Shrub's or Cheeto Jesus'.  But no, Mitt, you lost the popular and electoral college, so now Utah will be stuck with your outsize ego and tiny conscience for at least 6 years.  By then, you will be 77 and probably even more out of touch than you are today.  BTW, if anyone cares to celebrate, Mitch McConnell turns 76 today!  Along with our illustrious *president at 71 and an increasingly geriatric Senate and House, it seems old white men will continue to make the same mistakes they made as young white men and blame the rest of us for allowing them to perpetuate the system.   Fortunately, November is coming and hopefully we can show some of them the exit ramp for their wheelchairs.

Commonsense Soulutions

Every time anyone from Faux News to MSNBC puts together a panel of supposedly reasonable people to talk about gun violence and how to reduce it, virtually everyone calls for "commonsense solutions".   They go on to propose the same tired nostrums such as background checks, increased spending on mental health and vague reducing access to firearms by disturbed people.  Of course this is mostly pious  BS.   The US has roughly 5% of the world's population, yet owns nearly 50% of the privately owned firearms.  The only way to reduce the number of mass shootings is to restrict the supply of guns, just as every industrialized country in the world does.   Ban anything but double action handguns, single shot bolt action rifles and shotguns.  Buy back and destroy any semi-automatic handguns and rifles.  That is how you make Sandy Hook, Las Vegas and Parkland distant memories of the bad old days.  I have a feeling many if not most IRA members would support such legislation.  Are any politicians up for their Profile in Courage?

The Bell is tollng

Judging by the latest tweetstorm from Mar-a-Lago, the liar in chief was doing a little thinking over the weekend.  Probably a function of being advised the optics of playing golf in South Florida while 17 families are preparing to bury loved ones slaughtered in the latest act of senseless gun violence.   So instead he focused on trying to tarnish the FBI, congressional democrats, Hillary and virtually anyone but the Russians.  Despite initially praising the indictment of 13 Russian nationals for conspiring to defraud Americans of their right to free and fair elections, tRump is still steadfastly refusing to condemn Russia in general and Putin in particular for this latest outrage.   While it is apparent to most observers, most media figures continue to dance around the central feature of the Russia investigation; Trump was compromised by the Russians.  Whether it is the infamous "pee tape" or more likely conclusive evidence of his participation in money laundering for Russian oligarchs, something is keeping the Donald from criticizing his handlers in Moscow.  However, as the cascading scandals uncovered by the press and the special counsel's investigation get closer to the Oval Office, its current resident becomes more unhinged with each barrage of tweets.  The bell is tolling.

Rinse and repeat

The "thoughts and prayers" of the bloviating politicians have been duly noted, but the lives of the students who were slaughtered on Wednesday are over, and all the prayers in the world will not bring them back.  The rank hypocrisy of the democrats and republicans who dance to the tune played by the NRA and the gun manufacturers' lobby is a wonder to behold.  I understand the grief and rage of the survivors of the shooting and their vow to be the ones who finally force the US to join the rest of the first world in enacting some minimal gun control laws.  However, to call on the parents of Sandy Hook to join them seems a little hyperbolic.  Where were they after the horror in Connecticut?  I'm pretty sure a majority felt we should have more restrictions on gun ownership, but how many demanded action from their elected representatives?   I believe the only way to get real legislation on this issue is for gun control voters to apply a litmus test to every politician; are you for gun legislation or against it?  Then vote accordingly.

There and back again

After a blissful few days of golf with some friends in warmer climes, it's back to reality in the frozen north!   I had hoped, apparently in vain, the present administration would show some signs of maturity in the interim.   Further scandals involving a wife beater with access to classified information and the lies propagated to insulate said abuser are just the latest confirmation that tRump and his minions just don't care about truth, justice and the American way.  As comic relief we also had the *president's personal lawyer claiming he paid $130,000 out of his own pocket to a porn star who credibly claimed she had an affair with Cheeto Jesus.  Believe that and the market for used bridges is definitely on the upswing.  It would be funny if it wasn't also terrifying.

We all ___________ a parade

Fortunately for the walls at Casa Monzeglio, the Divine Mrs. M knows when to pull a punch!  When she heard the news that our dear leader has commanded the Pentagon to come up with plans for a military parade on Pennsylvania Ave. sometime this year, her reaction was volcanic.  The idea of 70 ton Abrams tanks tearing up the road, soldiers in full battle kit marching past a reviewing stand featuring Cheeto Jesus and his henchman was more than my dearest could stomach.  I believe she will have to stop watching MSNBC or indeed any MSM outlet for the sake of her blood pressure.  That the American taxpayer should be charged additional millions of dollars for a pointless display of military prowess which will annoy our allies and embolden our enemies is horrifying in its childishness.   Do you think the soldiers will have MAGA emblazoned on their helmets?

SSDI and SSI

There must be intense pressure from somewhere in the tRump administration to intensify the war on poor people.  There is a new spate of articles in the Washington Post, NYT and even Vox about the coming crackdown on "fraud and waste" in the Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income programs.  Reading the poorly informed and condescending tone of the media regarding the people who use these safety nets makes me crazy.   The reporters who do these stories approach the recipients of the meager monthly stipends as an exotic species who are unable to make it in the modern world.   To an extent, that is true.  Most people on SSI or Disability have to be willing to trade their dignity and privacy for the pittance they are eligible to collect.   Without it, many would either be living with relatives or sleeping under highway bridges.  After listening to the Divine Mrs. M's war stories from the front lines in district Social Security Offices, I believe the vast majority of people using these programs probably could not get by without them.  Of course the Rand Paul's of this world will dredge up the "Welfare Queen" meme and cherry pick the one in a thousand moocher who is willing to fill out literally hundreds of forms and lay themselves open to microscopic scrutiny in order to collect a $1000./month.  As the richest country in the history of the world, to deny even the scammer that allowance is a pathetic testimony of our moral bankruptcy.  The financial industry brought the world to its knees in 2008 and most of the perps, including our very own *president are still walking around in the fresh air.   I am sickened by ignorant coverage of this issue.

Strap in

It looks like we are in for a rough ride.  As of now, Dow Futures are down another 1,000 points.  If panicky selling continues from their, we may rocket right past what is called a "market correction" and head toward the 1987 meltdown which wiped out 20% of the stock market's value.  I wonder when tRump will warm up his twitter account to blame somebody, anybody for the performance of the stock market.  After all, he insisted on taking credit for the record peaks only a few days ago.  I think the emperors clothes are starting to come off.  The schadenfreude would be delicious if the hurting presently being doled out didn't affect the retirement accounts of so many innocent bystanders.  For all our sakes I hope the "correction" is just that and not a sign of a tRump recession.

Flying

Having not watched a Super Bowl in many years, despite attending many "Super Bowl" parties, it was with some trepidation I tuned into the latest concussion ball extravaganza.  I am a staunch Giants' fan, so I could definitely feel the Eagles' fans pain regarding their status.  Plus their was the added incentive of rooting against the Patriots and their tRump loving owner and quarterback.  Needless to say I was surprised and happy at the outcome in one of the more rousing Super games I have ever seen, and I remember watching the very first game!  Trick plays, non-stop offense and a heroic defensive stop when needed.  Maybe the Democratic National Committee should hire Doug Pederson as a consultant.  It looks like the NFC east teams are Tom Brady's kryptonite.

Some people say

The conservative media is obsessing about #release the memo.  OMG it is the most explosive scandal in Murcan history according to the redoubtable Sean Hannity.   The earthshaking implications cannot be ignored.  Meanwhile, I'm guessing the memo will be released after 6 p.m. this evening, the traditional time to make public documents which will potentially embarrass whoever does so.  As a counterbalance to the conservative feeding frenzy, most MSM have discounted the document in question as a desperate gambit by tRump and his congressional enablers to muddy the waters and perhaps provide a rationale for firing the deputy attorney general and replacing him with someone who will effectively muzzle the Mueller investigation into the tRump campaign's collusion with Russia and the quid pro quo involved.   It should be interesting...

Alternate universes

One of the NYT conservative columnists proposed and interesting thought experiment that seemed like an original thought to him, but unfortunately is an ever present nightmare for democrats.  Suppose, says Bret Stephens that in an alternate universe Hillary Clinton was elected president and a scrupulously honest Democratic prosecutor was named special counsel to investigate Clinton campaign ties to Russia.  Imagine then Hillary pursues a strategy of maligning the special counsel, firing DOJ employees who may have damaging testimony against her and encouraging her allies in Congress to denigrate the FBI and suggest it was corrupt.  What are the odds congressional republicans would echo this criticism and call for a "cleansing" of a bureau run mostly by liberal democrats.  I'll stop there, as most people will know where this is going.   The Bizzaro world has nothing on present reality.