Teapot, meet tempest

If you tuned into Morning Joe on MSNBC today, you would have thought Michelle Wolf was the newly minted public enemy #1.   Her crime, at least in the eyes of Joe, Mika and the assorted sycophants who make a living on their guess at the hosts' views on the issue of the day, consisted of accusing the Spawn of Huck of lying to the American people.   There was also an implication she burned the truth and used the ashes to create a "smoky eye".  That was the sum total of Wolf's description of the aforementioned Press Secretary, but you would think she had disclosed the woman's weight and measurements in a mean spirited way.  No one characterized the criticism of Sander's continual lying to the media as a problem.  They pounced on a marginal shot at eye makeup to imagine a full blown attack on her looks.  I don't see it and I think there will be a backlash when the full text of Wolf's monologue is printed.  In other news, man bites two dogs.

Timing

It was a dark and stormy weekend on the NCR.   Below normal temperatures and copious rainfall made for a lost weekend in the garden.  I was able to fertilize the emerging garlic, but that was the extent of gardening.   It is still early, but we seem to be in a cool, wet regime featuring persistent rain.  The start of the growing season is being impacted for most growers.  We need a couple of weeks of above average temps and drying winds to balance the weather.  

Systemic war on poor people

Paul Krugman in today's NYT reminds us that amid the mounting scandals and self dealing in the tRump administration, the perverse war on the less fortunate among us goes on apace.   While most of us fixate on Stormy Daniels and her publicity savvy lawyer, the secretary of HUD, Ben Carson announced new rules which will have the effect of raising the rents in subsidized housing for the poor.  In some cases as much as tripling what recipients will be made to pay.  For a government which just voted to explode the deficit, Carson's claim that the program in question is unsustainable rings hollow.   Our *president refers to any safety net program as welfare in the most derogatory way.  Meanwhile, Mick Mulvaney, temporary head of the Consumer Fraud Protection Bureau is gutting the ability of the agency to protect consumers, especially low income people preyed upon by the payday lending industry.  Mulvaney infamously told a group of bankers that when he was a congressman he only talked to lobbyists if they contributed to his campaign.  Payday lenders gave him over $60,000.  Nuff said.  There are many other examples of grift and cruelty in this administration, but the motto these lizards seem to live by is the opposite of the golden rule.  The live to afflict the afflicted and comfort the comfortable.

A new arena?

Discussing the latest swamp creature unleashed by the tRump administration, Ronny Jackson, seems redundant with all the other scandals swirling around the Donald.  It's getting downright boring, although at least in Jackson's case, money doesn't seem to be the deciding factor in the alleged misdeeds.   So instead of flogging that dead horse, lets talk about golf!   Specifically the decision of the owners of the Grandview Golf Course in York, Pa. to call the cops on account of slow play by a group of 5 black women!   According to the women, interviewed by a reporter for the NYT, they secured permission to play as a fivesome before teeing off and at least some of them were members of the club.  In an age of declining participation in golf, membership in a club is the gold standard.  Anyway, the women were approached by a course employee and they skipped the 3rd hole to keep up with the pace of play.  As someone who has played with someone (myself included) having a bad day, searching for lost balls and deliberating over a putt for several minutes, I sympathize with the players in question.  It sounds like they made every effort to facilitate the pace of play.  However, at the conclusion of the 9th hole, 3 of the women left and the remaining twosome was ordered to leave by the owner, who called the police when they refused.  The cops realized this was a frivolous call and left without taking any action.  The mystifying happenstance is the treatment of members, seemingly on account of either race or gender.  Their money is green, and as noted above, golf is not exactly a booming sport.  The owners of this course will regret the stupidity of their actions.

Camp Swampy

OMB chief and temporary head of the Consumer Protection Bureau, Mick Mulvaney, presumably let the cat out of the bag when speaking to a group of bankers to implore them to lobby congress to gut the regulations of the consumer protection bureau he supposedly leads.  Referring to his time as a member of the House, Mulvaney said his policy was if you did not donate to his campaign he would not speak to you.  If you did donate, he might speak to you.  As one pundit put it, that is probably most GOP congressmen's policy, but kudos to Mulvaney for providing democrats with a ready made campaign ad!

Collision course

It is looking more and more like Senator Bernie Sanders is eying another run at the presidency in 2020.  He is now calling for the federal government to supply a $15.00/hr. job with benefits to anyone who wants one.  There are no details yet, as his office is still crafting a plan.  Considering there are probably in the range of 20-30 million people presently working for less money than that, the cost of implementing such a program would be astronomical.  I assume Sanders has poll tested the promise and has had good responses.  This would amount to a real populist challenge to the Donald, who despite his agenda of "winning" for the average voter has thus far pursued the usual republican agenda of tax cuts for the rich and deregulation of business.  While Bernie's offer is truly "pie in the sky", it offers program democrats can rally around and move the overton window to the left.  All of a sudden, a $15.00/hr. minimum wage seems doable.  I doubt republicans will seriously compete in that arena.  However, if Bernie secures the Democratic nomination in 2020 it will set up a battle between a real populist and the faux version.  Two men in their mid 70s trying to appeal to the tattered American middle class.   It will be an interesting couple of years.

Seasonal reflections

The first round of local golf coincides quite neatly with the closing of Whiteface mountain's ski slopes.  It was a beautiful weekend on the NCR and it finally looks like spring may make a much delayed appearance.  I was able to make first plantings of parsley, beets, carrots and spinach as well as transplanting lettuce seedlings into the coldframes and beginning another seedbed planting.  The ground is drying out and the birds are singing, although they are still utilizing the feeder.  The next couple of days are set to feature temps in the upper 60s, followed by showers on Wed. and Thurs., so it looks like spring may finally get the upper hand over old man winter.