I have been thinking hard for the past few days on how to summarize what is happening in Washington on the “nation in decline” front (that would be us) and I concluded that, believe it or not, everything is actually related, which means Paul Ryan’s congressional district may well be targeted by shiny new smart cruise missiles, given the level of incompetence in the Oval Office.
That is just about how much trust I have in our strange president with his rantings and raging about everything from chemical weapons attacks to the special counsel’s deep dive into his lawyer’s underwear in search of specifics about payoffs to porno stars who apparently swooned at one point or another over President Trump.
One thing at a time.
If Syria had any of its air force stationed anyplace targetable it’s pretty sure they have popped out of the area for the time being, so any braces of cruise missiles are likely to land on vacant airfields. Big boom and the primary damage is holes in the ground. I’m sure that will stop BA from taking any more odious actions against his own folks. (NOT)
Someone got to the Orange Orationater and told him it was unwise to predict what he was likely to do, and by the time that message sunk in, the element of surprise was lost. Just a note: If you are going to use a missile attack to make THAT kind of a point, it should be launched immediately after the event that demanded it. We can do that, you know. We have weapons everywhere. Instead, we got bragging and then a deadline (which as passed) and now the elegant second thought that we just don’t know when we will attack. Christ in a cookie!
Onward.
Paul Ryan’s retirement. That was the most elegant scape from a shit-storm I have ever seen. While it is generally a vast cliche to say you are quitting to spend more time with family, I believe the speaker in this case. I hope they enjoy this and I hope moving away from the storm puts him in a cheerier place. I think he just woke up and concluded, “Golly, how fucked am I?” and realized a slip out the door would be the best thing.
No sense in being in charge while your party crumbles around you.
On the crumbling front, it’s pretty clear President Trump’s presidential victory, which he continues to claim was a remarkable, overwhelming victory, was actually a debacle wrapped in the American flag. Who doesn’t love the American flag. It’s a great mask to wear when you actually look like a critter from a swamp. Now we are seeing the critter from the swamp and perhaps realizing lots of us voted wrong (NOT ME!). This realization is cutting the knees out from the remainder of the Republican Party.
Pity.
Nothing can happen for long without Newt Gingrich stepping in to opine about it, and he has offered a doozy this time. Here’s what the man said about the raid on the Trump lawyer’s office:
“It ain’t the rule of law when they kick in your door at 3:00 in the morning and you’re faced with armed men and you have had no reason to be told you’re going to have that kind of treatment,” he said.
“That’s Stalin,” he concluded. “That’s the Gestapo in Germany. That shouldn’t be the American FBI.”
Sure it is. Just ask any drug dealer.
I just love it when people who present themselves as historians reach back into a mixed historical metaphor to explain themselves. Stalin and the Gestapo were similar only in the end result. They were, in fact, enemies to the death. So, bad choice dinosaur man. Dig a little deeper in the well next time.
I think Newt knows damned well that the feds kick in the door in the middle of the night because the don’t want to be stuck with 150 pounds of shredded paper when they show up in their suits and ask politely while presenting a piece of court approved paper. Why not grab things while they are still intact? Also, Stalin and the Gestapo would simply have killed everyone involved on scene, so the comparison doesn’t stand up well, does it?
The bimbos.
I know that’s sexist and cruel, but sometimes the shoe fits so well you just have to go for it, you know? The Playboy bunny-porn star connection to Trump is coming apart, I am delighted to say. I can’t wait to see what they find in that particular bundle of files. My short version is the man is so odious he has to pay for sex indirectly and at a very high fee. Not much the man for courtship, I suspect. I guess very wealthy people think they can buy or rent whatever they need. Now we will see how that plays out.
Anything else?
Nah. I’m going to go spend some time with my family.
Madigan’s Gleaner 