December, 2018 archive
QOTD 0
Rex Stout, in the voice of Nero Wolfe:
In a world that operates largely at random, coincidences are to be expected, but any one of them must always be distrusted.
Stout, Rex, Champagne for One (New York: Bantam, 2009), p. 71 (Double-volume with Too Many Cooks).
Blusterer-in-Chief, Fools Rush In Dept. 0
Jay Bookman theorizes that Donald Trump thought his “caravan” scare campaign would tip the midterm election to the Republicans. It didn’t.
Now Trump is threatening to shut down the federal government. (If you recall, that didn’t work out very well the last time Republicans tried it.)
So of course, Trump chooses this moment to threaten a high-stakes partial shutdown of the federal government, and to do so over his precious border wall. You know … the one that Mexico was going to pay to build?
(snip)
It’s clear by now that Trump came into office with an exaggerated sense of both the extent of presidential power and of his own personal ability to make the world treat him with love, fear and respect. Foreign governments, CEOs and congressional leaders aren’t contestants on “Celebrity Apprentice,” nor are they Trump Org. lackeys eager to do the boss’s bidding. After almost two years in office, they have taken his measure and aren’t impressed. Nonetheless, choosing this fight, at this time, makes almost no sense even for a blunderer of Trump’s scale.
Follow the link for Bookman’s theory as to why Donald Trump keeps on Trumpling.
Our New Robocalling Overlords 0
Aside:
Unlike Farron’s guest, I do not wonder how Facebook got persons’ cell phone numbers.
If someone installs the Facebook app on their “smart” phone, it will scarf up everything it finds; it’s in the terms of service that no one ever reads.
The End of an Era? 0
Shaun Mullen, ever the optimist, thinks that the Congressional Republicans’ Hillary witch hunts might be drawing to a close.
The Art of the Con, Undealt Dept. 0
Thom and Scott Ritter discusses Donald Trump’s un-dealing the Iran Nuclear Peace Deal.
I would add that tension between the U. S. and Iran goes much farther back than 1979.
“. . . Winning Is the Only Thing” 0
Sportswriter extraordinaire Bob Molinaro notes the irony at the spawn of Jerry Falwell:
Methinks it should rename itself Libertine University.
Aside:
I contemn these charlatans’ Christianity of cashflo Oh, never mind.
Russian Impulses 0
Elie Mystal considers the Maria Butina plea deal and concludes that it doesn’t take much to stir up those Russian impulses. A snippet:
Follow the link to read how he came to that conclusion.
Suffer the Children 0
It’s not scripture. It’s Republican policy.
