Wierd eating

Flipping between the Nice Polite Republicans on NPR and the less politically correct types on Morning Joe is a long standing vice I indulge during my morning drive.  Today, both programs were chewing the latest revelations in tRump world, but NPR also had a quirky story about a company purporting to advise customers about their food choice based on DNA testing.  The idea being why eat a healthy balanced diet if your genes would allow you to scarf down a |McDonald's banquet every day with no health consequences!  To me it sounds like a con to get your genetic information and resell it to others who will use it to target you for other illegal schemes. 

Finally done

With the final planting of the Bush family patriarch, a few people are starting to resurrect the corpse of the Shrub's presidency and trying to burnish his image.  Of course there is no whitewashing the war of choice W. and his merry band of nihilists foisted on the American public after 9/11.  Besides the more than 4000 service members killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan fiascos, probably more than 400,000 Iraqis and Afhans have perished so far.  This is war criminality on a scale comparable to Hitler and Stalin.  And for what.  Bush's actions have de-stabilized the Middle East for a generation and served as a potent recruiting tool for anti American terrorists.  Thanks to Dick Cheney, the Darth Vader of that administration, we spent another 8 years blithely loading the atmosphere with CO2.  This will cost posterity incalculable dollars to ameliorate amid the degradation of our environment.  So, don't tell me the Shrub was a good man.  When he is planted, there will be numerous footprints on the grave as perform a Dance Macabre.

History's verdict

The gushing eulogies for G.H.W. Bush continue, including a national day of mourning.  Pundits and popular historians continue the glowing retrospectives of the great man and his place in history.  One little known episode during his term in the White House may eventually overwhelm all of his other accomplishments and shortfalls when and if there are still historians to document the past.  It would appear that the specter of climate change was already on the minds of scientists around the world in the late 1980s.   Margaret Mead, the noted anthropologist had convened  conference calling for reduced carbon emissions with the goal of ending mankind's dependence on fossil fuels.  The head of the EPA was on board and was ready to take the lead at a climate conference in Europe.  However, his mission was derailed by John Sununu, Poppy Bush's chief of staff and one of the first denier's of anthropomorphic climate change.  That alone will taint Bush's legacy for all time.

A pleasant fantasy

During coverage of the Flynn sentencing memo last night, I had a fiendish epiphany!   Just supposing tRump resigns over the mounting evidence of conspiracy with the Russians.   Of course his replacement would be the execrable Mike Pence.  However, there are some unanswered questions regarding his complicity in the Russia scandal.  What did he know and when did he know it?  Let's just say for the hell of it that Pence pulls a Spiro Agnew at some point after Cheeto Jesus' crucifixion.  The Speaker of the House of Representatives is next in line for the presidency.  After January 3rd, that person is likely to be Nancy Pelosi!  Just sayin.....

Smoking guns, saws, etc.

As per usual, the widely anticipated sentencing memo from the Special Counsel's Office (SCO) was pretty much a dud as regards new information about the crimes and misdemeanors committed by the tRump administration.  The SCO basically recommended zero jail time for Flynn, the originator or at least the most vocal cheerleader of the "Lock her up" chant which was ubiquitous at tRump campaign rallies.  The memo commended Flynn for his cooperation, noting the SCO got everything they needed from him.   Much of the memo was redacted, indicating the investigations into at least 4 areas were ongoing.  This included a criminal investigation no one seemed to know about.  If you thought Mueller and his team were going to show the public a roadmap of their investigation, you would have been severely disappointed.  If on the other hand you are legitimately a target of the SCO, I would image you are terrified by the number of blacked out lines in the report.  It seems Flynn spilled his guts, but the auguries will have to wait.  In the meantime, the CIA spilled what it knows regarding the horrific execution of a US resident by Saudi Arabia and it doesn't look good for MBS, the crown prince of said monarchy.  Despite the "Maybe he did, maybe  he didn't" BS spouted by The Donald, it looks like the Senate may have something to say regarding our relations with this band of thugs.  And so it goes....

Is this the endgame

It is liable to be more like the last 2 minutes of an NBA playoff game.  Endless fouls and free throws interspersed with commercials and prolix commentary which turns the putative 2 minutes into a half hour of boredom before the result is known.  We are in for another year of investigation, leaks, punditry and speculation.  By the time Cheeto Jesus resigns in disgrace rather than face near certain impeachment and conviction, both democrats and republicans will be exhausted.  In the reporting the latest news of the Mueller investigation, the MSM is breathlessly predicting the imminent revelation of the silver bullet which proves conspiracy between the tRump campaign and Russia, while Faux News and Rush Limbaugh dismiss the special counsel's efforts as a nothingburger.  The last 2 minutes are about to begin.

History revised once again

For those of us who lived during the 12 years of Reagan/Bush, the fulsome praise being heaped on the corpse of George H.W. Bush can seem like some sort of collective amnesia by the media.  I know it is frowned upon to speak ill of the dead, but the truth is, the father of the shrub came from a patrician family who basically felt it was his burden to serve the unwashed masses and they should be grateful for his leadership.  Having not been on his 40,000 plus Christmas card list, I am liberated from the necessity to fawn on him as so many of the MSM will continue to do at least until his remains are lowered into the prepared space at his memorial library.  Bush senior's legacy is somewhat constrained by his alleged participation in the Iran-Contra affair under Reagan, his sleazy tactics in the 1988 campaign for the Presidency and his unforgivable pick of Clarence Thomas to replace the immortal Thurgood Marshal on the Supreme Court.  Perhaps worst of all was subjecting the republic to the stewardship of his spawn for 8 years.  We dodged another 8 years of Bushism in 2016, but at the cost of being saddled with Cheeto Jesus.  Words fail me at this point.