Rip Torn

Argo Revisited:  There’s a lot of shredding happening at the Olympics, not that many are watching, but the news this week has been less about the slopes and more about the FG and his habit of ripping paper into itsy bitsy, unretrievable pieces. We shouldn’t be surprised about the FG’s failure to adhere to presidential record keeping laws as some of his paper maceration took place in front of the cameras and its been suspected for a while now that the translator’s notes from at least one of his meetings with his buddy Vladimir Putin, the leader who may or may not be about to annex Ukraine, didn’t survive long enough to make it into the official files. We also shouldn’t be surprised that cartons of files, including those love letters from Kim Jong un and Barack Obama’s welcome to the White House note were shipped, along with at least one as yet unidentified piece of White House furniture, maybe the mini Resolute desk, to Mar a Lago as we saw a bunch of his minions carrying large boxes and bags on to Air Force One right before his last departure.  No reports yet about the fine China or silverware but it’s fair to assume that some of it made the journey to the once upon a time and hopefully never again winter “White House.” The consequences from all this “criming,” probably nothing because though the FG was clearly breaking the law, no one who can do anything about it cares enough to do so.

Politics As Usual:  The boxes and furniture are back in Washington as are most members of Congress with things there proceeding in their usual way. Yesterday, GOP Congressman Hal Rogers, from Kentucky of course, poked Ohio Democratic  Congresswoman/Chair of the Black Caucus Joyce Beatty and told her to “kiss my ass” after she asked him to put on a mask. He apologized later but only for the language, not for the unwanted touching, and only after his actions went viral.  For his part Mitch McConnell and a handful of other Republican Senators want us to believe that they’re truly upset about the RNC’s censuring of Representatives Kinzinger and Cheney, or at the very least upset about the suggestion that the January 6^th insurrection was just run of the mill “legitimate political discourse.”   Mitch’s exact words “It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to another” sound nice, but don’t be fooled.  What Mitch really cares about is that the RNC memo distraction could hurt his chances in the swing states that he needs to win back, like Georgia and Arizona, or hold, like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, in order to regain Senate leadership.  House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy who remains fearful of offending the Margie Q,  FG loving wing of his caucus is going a different route than Mitch.  Yesterday he was filmed running away, yes literally running, from reporters seeking his comments. Most of Congress is so gerrymandered and partisan that there’s little upside but lots of downside in him going on the record about the RNC memo and why would he bother, he doesn’t need to especially since he has party flunkies like Elise Stefanik, the Congresswoman who assumed Liz Cheney’s leadership position, willing to do so for him. When asked about the RNC memo, Stefanik said that the RNC had every right to do what it did.  Of course RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel agrees, she’s spent the last few days whining that her memo was misunderstood and that its words are being twisted by the left wing media, who to be fair have been having a field day with it. As to gerrymandering, the FG’s SCOTUS appointees see no problem in Alabama redrawing its state lines in a manner clearly intended to disenfranchise Black voters.  Their view is that there’s not enough time to fix the map now or maybe ever.  Notably Chief Justice Roberts, who is responsible for the Shelby County v Holder decision that got us into this pickle in the first place actually joined the Liberal side of the court in their dissent.    

Viral Musings:  The masks are coming off, not necessarily because it’s really time to unmask in indoor settings but because a lot of Governors fear that the growing sentiment against and exhaustion with mask mandates could result in election losses. New York’s Governor Hochul is expected to drop her indoor mask mandate today, although it’s not clear whether the easing will apply to schools.  It’s expected that her change will not apply to transit where masks will still be required and it’s highly likely that theaters will conclude that requiring masks is the only way to keep filling seats. As to the virus, it doesn’t seem to care about policy. Yesterday around 200,000 new cases were recorded in the US with 3356 deaths.  I am old enough to remember when both those statistics would have caused people to wipe their groceries, hoard toilet paper and lock themselves in their closets.  Though he’s not a virus, Florida’s Governor DeSantis who continues to be seen as the heir apparent to the FG’s legacy, is dangerous.  He doesn’t seem all that concerned about Nazis but does fear LGBTQ people.  He has expressed his support for a state bill that would prohibit the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the state’s schools. Also, though he says he is very concerned about voter fraud, he seems only mildly irked about the Republican apparatchiks who’ve been caught “helping” elderly Floridians change their party registration from Democrat to Republican, something that will prevent them from voting in their primary of choice and will also likely depress Democratic voter turnout in a state that has notoriously close elections.  

Human Resources:  It’s expected that Deborah Lipstadt will finally be confirmed as Biden’s Special Envoy on Anti-Semitism this week.  Her confirmation had been delayed six months because Senator Ron Johnson was punishing her for calling one of his racist statement’s  racist. That’s the one where he said that he would have feared for his live if the insurrectionists on January 6^th had been Black Lives Matter protesters but since they were just a mob of violent, mostly white guys he felt safe. President Biden has lost his first prominent appointee to scandal. Geneticist Eric Lander who was his top science advisor was forced to resign for bullying and demeaning subordinates. Bad timing since he was supposed to lead Biden’s anti-cancer effort.