;)
The Commentariat -- July 16, 2021
Late Morning Update:
Trump Fans (Allegedly) Planned to Firebomb California DNC HQ. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Two men have been charged in an alleged plot to firebomb the California Democratic Party's headquarters in Sacramento, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday. Ian Benjamin Rogers and Jarrod Copeland were 'prompted by the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election' and believed their attack would spark a 'movement,' according to federal prosecutors, who said the men were members of a militia group. Law enforcement officers seized five pipe bombs, thousands of rounds of ammunition and 'between 45 and 50 firearms, including at least three fully-automatic weapons' during a January search of Rogers's home and business, according to the indictment."
Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "A witness directly implicated Donald Trump in the tax fraud scheme that landed his family business and longtime accountant under indictment. Jennifer Weisselberg, the former daughter in law to indicted Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, told investigators last month in New York that Trump personally guaranteed he would pay school tuition for her two children instead of increasing a salary that could be taxed, reported The Daily Beast.... The Trump Organization was indicted five days after Jennifer Weisselberg's interview on tax fraud charges related to unreported fringe benefits like those she described, and her claims would directly tie the twice-impeached one-term president to the running scheme." The Beast story is firewalled.
Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis took a significant step toward putting the Roman Catholic Church's liturgy solidly on the side of modernization Friday by cracking down on the use of the old Latin Mass, essentially reversing a decision by his conservative predecessor. The move also dealt a blow to church conservatives who have long complained that the pope is diluting the traditions of the church. Francis, in a papal Motu Proprio -- or a document issued under the pope's own legal authority -- placed new restrictions on where the traditional Latin Mass can be celebrated, who can celebrate it and requiring new permissions from local bishops for its use. Those hurdles made it clear that Francis believes that champions of the old Latin Mass are exploiting it to oppose more recent church reforms and to divide the church. Since the 1960s, the church has used a more modern and vernacular liturgical book to make the faith more accessible to the faithful."
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Sarah Kolinovsky, et al., of ABC News: "As the first round of monthly child tax credits hit Americans' bank accounts Thursday, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took a victory lap..., speaking about the 'historic day' for American families and emphasizing the sea change the payments could represent for millions of American children living in poverty. 'Today, for families all over our country, for children all over our country, help is here,' Harris said, before introducing the president. 'This has never happened before. And America, yes, it is a big deal.' Biden and Harris marked the rollout of checks and direct deposits from the child tax credit with a White House event featuring Americans set to benefit." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Signaling that the U.S.-European alliance remained strong after the tension of the Trump era, President Biden and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on Thursday stressed their shared values, even as both acknowledged differences on a major Russian pipeline and how best to approach China. During meetings at the White House, Mr. Biden's agenda included several of his most pressing geopolitical priorities, such as restraining Chinese influence, curbing Russian aggression and waiving intellectual property restrictions on coronavirus vaccine manufacturers. While there were no apparent breakthroughs, the visit was a way to show a unified front after ... Donald J. Trump's hostile exchanges with Ms. Merkel over NATO contributions, trade and multilateralism badly frayed relations. The meeting also comes before the chancellor's term ends.... 'Good friends can disagree,' said Mr. Biden, who appeared alongside Ms. Merkel at a news conference in the East Room after the meeting." The AP's report is here.
Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "The story of voting rights in the United States looks ... like a sine wave; there are highs and lows, peaks and plateaus. President Biden captured this reality in his address on Tuesday at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, where he spoke on the gathering threat to our democracy from the Republican Party's twin efforts to suppress rival constituencies and seize control of state voting apparatuses.... As he points out, it is as focused on 'who gets to count the vote' as it is on 'who gets to vote.'... As much as Jim Crow dominates our collective memory of voting restrictions, it is the attack on suffrage in the North in those last decades of the 19th century that might actually be more relevant to our present situation.... Out of this furious attack on universal male suffrage (and also, in other corners, the rising call for women's suffrage) came a host of efforts to purify the electorate, spearheaded by Progressive reformers in both parties.... [The] claim, that Black and immigrant voters were venal and corrupt -- that they voted either illegally or irresponsibly -- was common."
U.S. Trained Alleged Assassins. Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "Some of the former Colombian servicemen arrested after last week's assassination of Haiti's president previously received U.S. military training, according to the Pentagon, raising fresh questions about the United States' ties to Jovenel Moïse's death. 'A review of our training databases indicates that a small number of the Colombian individuals detained as part of this investigation had participated in past U.S. military training and education programs, while serving as active members of the Colombian Military Forces,' Lt. Col. Ken Hoffman, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement to The Washington Post.... It is common for Colombian troops and other security personnel across Latin America to receive U.S. training and education. Colombia, in particular, has been a significant U.S. military partner for decades, receiving billions of U.S. dollars since 2000 in its effort to battle drug trafficking organizations, leftist guerrillas and far-right paramilitary groups. Colombian military and police also use U.S.-provided weapons and equipment, an agreement that came under scrutiny earlier this year after police there killed multiple protesters during demonstrations against government tax proposals." A USA Today report is here.
Joan Greve of the Guardian: "Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat of Ohio, was one of nine people arrested during a voting rights protest at the Capitol this afternoon. Beatty, who serves as the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, shared a photo on Twitter of US Capitol police (USCP) officers putting a zip-tie on her and escorting her out of the building. 'Let the people vote. Fight for justice,' Beatty said in the tweet.... Beatty shared another tweet shortly after her arrest that said simply, '#GoodTrouble'.... The congresswoman had been participating in a protest calling on the Senate to pass the For the People Act, Democrats' sweeping election reform bill. The For the People Act passed the House in March, but it is being held up in the Senate because of a Republican filibuster." The New York Times story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: What's wrong with this picture? Why is it so easy for Capitol Police to decide to arrest a group of mostly Black women singing than it was to decide to arrest a gang of mostly white men attempting to violently overthrow the government? ~~~
Marie: I wonder if the insurrection would have happened if some Capitol Police captain had got on a bullhorn outside the building and broadcast, "You are all under arrest. Remain in place. The paddy wagons are on the way."
Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post: "Nathan Wayne Entrekin, a man who wore a Roman gladiator costume to the Jan. 6 Capitol..., was arrested by federal authorities on Thursday. Entrekin, whom online 'sedition hunters' had dubbed 'Caesar No Salad,' wore his costume to portray Captain Moroni, a figure from the Book of Mormon.... He was arrested in Cottonwood, Arizona.... On [his phone, agents] found videos of him narrating the scene for his mother (whom he lives with) about what he's seeing at the Capitol. 'I'm here, Mom!' Entrekin says in one video.... Entrekin, according to the feds, continued narrating the scene for his mother as he stormed the Capitol." Read on. The guy is unintentionally hilarious, as insurrectionists go -- the epitome of a Trumpbot. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's story is here: "Police say Entrekin told them in the interview that he had entered the federal building but said he did not realize he was not allowed inside, despite video that showed alarms blaring as he walked in. FBI agents also found videos on Entrekin's phone that showed him relaying that police had sprayed tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd. 'Here comes the riot police, Mom,' he allegedly said for the camera."
Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "Rep. Matt Gaetz's campaign paid $25,000 in June to a Manhattan criminal defense attorney who lists Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who killed himself in prison, as a notable client, according to a filing Thursday with the Federal Election Commission.... The June payment, for legal consulting, went to the law office of Marc Fernich, whose website says he specializes in 'subtle, novel and creative arguments that other attorneys may miss.'... [The website] lists Epstein, along with Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, the Mexican kingpin known as 'El Chapo,' among his 'Notable Clients.'" The Tampa Bay Times story is here.
Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "More companies that pledged to pause or rethink political donations after the Jan. 6 insurrection are once again donating to Republican lawmakers who voted against certifying President Biden's victory. The flow of money is a sign that the promises issued by corporate America were temporary, especially in light of razor-thin Democratic majorities. American Airlines was among the flock of companies vowing changes after the deadly assault on the Capitol.... According to a June report from the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, more than $5 million in corporate or industry money has already gone to lawmakers who contested the election results or to aligned party committees." The Corporations for Irresponsibility & Unethical Behavior include Cigna, Aflac, UPS, Walmart, Pfizer, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman.
Dentist, Extract Thyself. Tess Owen of Vice: "The American Dental Association has donated over $75,000 to [white nationalist Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Az.], a former dentist, since he was elected to Congress in 2010, making them his top donor.... Until recently, the American Dental Association, its political fundraising arm ADPAC, and the 162,000 dentists they represent, have been willing to turn a blind eye to Gosar's controversies on behalf of 'Tooth Party' interests. But Gosar's latest antics are creating fissures in the Tooth Party.... Gosar is one of five dentists currently in Congress, and he's been one of the American Dental Association's top recipients in the past three election cycles.... [A] #CallYourDentist campaign [to end ADA's backingof Gosar] may be having some impact: According to the 'Remove Paul Gosar' website, the American Dental Association hired a reception service to take calls from angry Americans. In an email to VICE News, the American Dental Association wrote that the issue of its ongoing support for Gosar was currently pending before the Board of Trustees and declined to comment any further."
Just. Plain. Selfish. Joan Biskupic of CNN: "Justice Stephen Breyer has not decided when he will retire and is especially gratified with his new role as the senior liberal on the bench, he told CNN in an exclusive interview -- his first public comments amid the incessant speculation of a Supreme Court vacancy. Far from Washington and the pressures of the recently completed session and chatter over his possible retirement, Breyer, a 27-year veteran of the high court, said Wednesday that two factors will be overriding in his decision. 'Primarily, of course, health,' said Breyer, who will turn 83 in August. 'Second, the court.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Notes on the Former Guy*
McCarthy Works to Ensure Trump Remains a Clear & Present Danger. Ryan Nobles & Melanie Zanona of CNN: "House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy met with Donald Trump on Thursday at the former President's Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, as the California Republican is considering which members of his conference to appoint to a special committee tasked with investigating the deadly January 6 riot at the US Capitol." (An update of a story linked yesterday.)
If I Were to Coup, It Wouldn't Be with You. Jill Colvin of the AP: "In a lengthy statement [issued Thursday], Trump responded to revelations in a new book detailing fears from Gen. Mark Milley that the outgoing president would stage a coup during his final weeks in office. Trump said he's 'not into coups' and 'never threatened, or spoke about, to anyone, a coup of our Government.' At the same time, Trump said that 'if I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is' Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."
Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump has been expressing regret in recent weeks that he didn't order the White House flag lowered to half-staff for slain U.S. Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt.... Trump and his allies have been trying to portray Babbitt as a martyr shot down by a rogue police officer, rather than a rioter seen on video climbing through a broken window to a secure area where lawmakers hid in fear for their lives, and they're fixated on learning the name of the officer who killed her."
** The Washington Post publishes Part 2 of excerpts from Carol Leonnig & Philip Rucker's book I Alone Can Fix It. This part covers some of the events of January 6. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jared Kushner, Boy Hero. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Journalist Michael Wolff's new book, Landslide, describes [Jared] Kushner's role over the four years in office as staffing up the White House with his own loyalists who could circumvent Trump's demands. 'The four-year history of the Trump White House was, in one sense, the unlikely story of the rise and strange effectiveness of Jared Kushner,' wrote Wolff. 'Much of the West Wing and campaign staffs were made up of people whom Jared had picked. Their common characteristic was that, while they were tolerant of Trump, they could be counted on to slow-walk his worst excesses; some..., acting for Kushner, even often sought to put a brake on them. Kushner, both for temperamental and strategic reasons, would not, in almost any circumstance, directly confront his father-in-law.'" MB: Now, I wonder who could have been the source for this tale tale. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Book Report. Dwight Garner of the New York Times: "Two new books about the final year of Donald J. Trump's presidency are entering the cultural bloodstream. The first, 'Landslide,' by the gadfly journalist Michael Wolff, is the one to leap upon, even though the second, 'I Alone Can Fix It,' from the Washington Post journalists Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, is vastly more earnest and diligent, to a fault.... [The Leonnig/Rucker book] reads like 300 daily newspaper articles taped together so that they resemble an inky Kerouacian scroll.... A primary and not insignificant achievement in 'I Alone Can Fix It,' however, is its bravura introduction of a new American hero, a man who has heretofore not received a great deal of attention: Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A better title for this book might have been 'Mr. Milley Goes to Washington.'... But 'Landslide' is a smart, vivid and intrepid book. [Wolff] has great instincts."
Luke Harding, et al., of the Guardian: "Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a 'mentally unstable' Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia's national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents. The key meeting took place on 22 January 2016, the papers suggest, with the Russian president, his spy chiefs and senior ministers all present. They agreed a Trump White House would help secure Moscow's strategic objectives, among them 'social turmoil' in the US and a weakening of the American president's negotiating position. Russia's three spy agencies were ordered to find practical ways to support Trump, in a decree appearing to bear Putin's signature.... Western intelligence agencies are understood to have been aware of the documents for some months.... There is a brief psychological assessment of Trump, who is described as an 'impulsive, mentally unstable and unbalanced individual who suffers from an inferiority complex'. There is also apparent confirmation that the Kremlin possesses kompromat, or potentially compromising material, on the future president, collected -- the document says -- from Trump's earlier 'non-official visits to Russian Federation territory'." Thanks to Forrest M. for the link. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "But it's hard not to be skeptical of the [supposed Kremlin] document, for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it's very neat.... More to that point is the vague reference to compromising material on Trump collected during 'non-official visits to Russian Federation territory,' the long-sought kompromat of legend.... The document also shows a remarkable perspicacity on the part of the Russian government.... It is odd that this document, so closely related to the national discourse over the past five years, only emerged now." MB: I think the doc is a fake; it seems to describe what we know now, not what was known in 2015 & 2016. It is entirely possible, IMO, that the doc did come from the Kremlin, but it was cooked up last week, not four or five years ago.
Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "A self-proclaimed 'Bitcoin millionaire' is pitching a mobile device called the 'Freedom Phone' to supporters of ... Donald Trump -- but as the Daily Beast's Will Sommer reports, it looks like a massive grift. It turns out that the phone, which was created by conservative cryptocurrency enthusiast Erik Finman, 'appears to be merely a more expensive rebranding of a budget Chinese phone available elsewhere for a fraction of the Freedom Phone's price,' writes Sommer."
"I Know It Cost $28MM, but I'm Busy That Day." Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "Blue Origin announced Thursday that 18-year-old Oliver Daemen of the Netherlands will be joining founder Jeff Bezos on the company's first crewed spaceflight after the winner of a $28 million auction postponed. Blue Origin said the auction winner, who has asked to remain anonymous, would fly 'on a future mission due to scheduling conflicts.' A company spokesman said Daemen, an incoming physics and innovation management student at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, had participated in the auction and 'secured a seat on the second flight. We moved him up when this seat on the first flight became available.' The company would not say how much Daemen bid. His father is Joes Daemen, the founder and chief executive of Somerset Capital Partners, which invests in real estate, private equity and financial markets." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday are here.
Geoff Brumfiel of NPR: "With about a third of adults in the U.S. still completely unvaccinated, and cases of COVID-19 on the rise, the U.S. surgeon general is calling for a war against 'health misinformation.' On Thursday, Dr. Vivek Murthy released the first surgeon general's advisory of his time serving in the Biden administration, describing the 'urgent threat' posed by the rise of false information around COVID-19 -- one that continues to put 'lives at risk' and prolong the pandemic." ~~~
~~~ Dan Diamond, et al., of the Washington Post: "What began as 'vaccine hesitancy' has morphed into outright vaccine hostility, as conservatives increasingly attack the White House's coronavirus message, mischaracterize its vaccination campaign and, more and more, vow to skip the shots altogether. The notion that the vaccine drive is pointless or harmful -- or perhaps even a government plot -- is increasingly an article of faith among supporters of ... Donald Trump, on a par with assertions that the last election was stolen and the assault on the U.S. Capitol was overblown." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Mitch Smith & Julie Bosman of the New York Times: "The number of new coronavirus cases is increasing in every state, setting off a growing sense of concern from health officials who are warning that the pandemic in the United States is far from over, even though the national outlook is far better than during previous upticks. The 160 million people across the country who are fully vaccinated are largely protected from the virus, including the highly contagious Delta variant, scientists say. In the Upper Midwest, the Northeast and on the West Coast -- including in Chicago, Boston and San Francisco -- coronavirus infections remain relatively low. But the picture is different in pockets of the country where residents are vaccinated at lower rates. Hot spots have emerged in recent weeks in parts of Missouri, Arkansas and Nevada, among other states, leaving hospital workers strained as they care for an influx of coronavirus patients. Less than a month after reports of new cases nationally bottomed out at around 11,000 a day, virus cases overall are increasing again, with about 26,000 new cases a day, and hospitalizations are on the rise."
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
California. Victoria Colliver of Politico: "Los Angeles County will reinstate indoor mask requirements in public spaces for all this weekend, regardless of vaccination status, amid an alarming rise in Covid-19 cases driven by the Delta variant. Thursday's announcement by the nation's largest county sent a chill through the state just one month into California's long-awaited reopening. And it could prompt other local health officials to follow suit, complicating the post-pandemic recovery narrative of Gov. Gavin Newsom as he faces a September recall election."
Beyond the Beltway
Arizona. Andrew Oxford & Mary Jo Pitzi of the Arizona Republic: "Arizona Senate President Karen Fann said Thursday that the Legislature needs more materials and data from Maricopa County for an unprecedented and controversial review of 2020 election results that is deep into its third month.... Fann said during a hearing at the Capitol that she expects the demands for additional materials will end up in court.... Also during the hearing, the Senate's top contractor on the review [Cyber Ninjas] recommended reviving plans to go door to door to inquire about some residents' participation in last year's general election.... Doing both a canvass of voters and taking the county back to court means the review effort that appeared to be wrapping up is likely to last even longer. Initially, the review was slated to end in May. ~~~
~~~ Democracy Docket: "On Thursday, the Arizona Superior Court in Maricopa County deniedthe state Senate's request to dismiss a case seeking records of the Republican-led 'audit' of the 2020 election. The case, filed by the nonpartisan watchdog group American Oversight, asks for the release of all documents relating to the audit of the 2020 Maricopa County election results."
New York. Luis Ferré-Sadurní & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is expected to be questioned on Saturday by investigators from the New York State attorney general's office, signaling that a four-month-long inquiry into several sexual harassment accusations may be entering its final stages. Joon H. Kim and Anne L. Clark, the two outside lawyers hired to lead the investigation that is being overseen by Letitia James, the state attorney general, are expected to interview the governor in Albany, according to two people familiar with the matter. The lawyers have spent months gathering hours of testimony from several women who have accused Mr. Cuomo of sexual misconduct or harassment. The lawyers have also in recent weeks interviewed senior administration officials in preparation for questioning the governor." CNN's story is here.
Way Beyond
Afghanistan. Ezzatullah Mehrdad of the Washington Post: "A Reuters photojournalist was killed in southern Afghanistan while covering the fight between Afghan government forces and the Taliban, Reuters confirmed Friday. Danish Siddiqui, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer from India, was embedded with Afghan forces attempting to retake a handful of districts that recently fell to the militants.... Siddiqui was with an Afghan special forces unit attempting to retake the district of Spin Boldak, southeast of Kandahar city along the border with Pakistan. He was killed along with a senior Afghan officer, according to the Reuters report."
News Ledes
New York Times: "Following a day of frantic rescue efforts and orders to evacuate towns rapidly filling with water unloosed by violent storms, the German authorities said late Thursday that after confirming scores of deaths, they were unable to account for at least 1,300 people. That staggering figure was announced after swift-moving water from swollen rivers surged through cities and villages in two western German states, where news outlets said more than 80 people were known to have died in the hardest-hit regions and other fatalities were expected.... The storms and resulting high water also battered neighboring Switzerland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg as a slow-moving weather system threatened to dump even more rain on the inundated region overnight and into Friday." An AP story is here.
New York Times: "Esther Bejarano..., [who] played accordion in the women's orchestra at Auschwitz..., died on Saturday at a hospital in Hamburg, Germany. She was 96.... Mrs. Bejarano's death was announced by the International Auschwitz Committee, which was founded by survivors of the death camp and to which she belonged, serving as a powerful voice against intolerance in her later years."
Washington Post: "Three weeks after rescue crews began searching for victims, officials said they were nearing the end of their search for those trapped in the ruins of the Champlain Towers South condo building, a somber bookend to one of the deadliest such collapses in U.S. history. In total, 97 people have been confirmed dead -- young couples, entire families and retirees whose footprints stretched across multiple continents. No survivors had been found since the initial hours after the collapse. A Miami-Dade police spokesman said that as of Thursday, 97 missing reports had been confirmed, a number equal to the dead."
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Reader Comments (5)
Does a clown show have a strategist?
The Arizona story about the latest on the "audit" front makes me wonder.
Surely, someone must be in charge of Maricopa County's interminable election "audit," making plans, laying out its next steps and deciding if those next steps will harm or hinder the cause.
Whatever that cause is. Finding actual fraud? Not likely.
Actual questioning the election's integrity? Nope.
Keeping that question before the public as long as possible, even into the next election season? Probably.
But that requires more changes in plans, more delays, more displays of incompetence that seem increasingly desperate, sillier and sillier every day.
Are a bevy of psychics next? Hired to determine the "true" intentions of all those voters who answer the knocks on their doors and but sensibly refuse to say who they voted for.
Each week, the clown show becomes more of a side show, attracting fewer and fewer visitors, dismissed by the greater public as irrelevant, or worse, a clear sign of Republican insanity.
Or for those who don't think about it at all, it's all just boring.
Behind all this muddle, I keep reminding myself there is someone in charge.
But then there was someone in charge of the White House between 2017 and early this year, and people are writing very critical books about him.
Ken: "someone must be in charge of Maricopa County's interminable election "audit,"". The thought occurs that more than half our collective, societal problems are brought about by white men who suffer zero consequences to their actions. Orange Douche, George W. Shrub, the Porsches, Gucci PAC fraudster listed above, or Jim Jordan the associate of child molesters at Ohio State all just get away with it. Martha Stewart has more balls than the lot of those men. It sure does not surprise me that a whole lot of BLM folks are upset at a Zero Consequence world built by and for white folks. Who are these Zero Consequencers: Xians, Ivy Elites, The Oblivious, the Deplorables, the politicians? I see it as the microcosm reflecting the macrocosm like IRS tax enforcement of tax cheating former presidents* nudging DOJ to pursue criminal conduct like Dick Cheney, Erik Prince, and Haiti even if the association is yet to be determined. Every journey starts with a single step. As much as I favor Joe's current path, I recall reading just after the election that 60,000 votes spread in different districts and the Orange Turd could have won re-election. Our current steps forward could so easily have not occurred. No wonder George Washington was concerned about monarchists anointing him king: simple folk with simple solutions does not a great country make.
As I was reading today's R.C. I was suddenly shaken by a loud rumble-like noise that seemed to come from the sky above. This followed by my dead father's voice being outraged about something and then that something became clear: He had just read about the American Dental Association who donated over $75,000 to [white nationalist Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Az.], a former dentist, since he was elected to Congress in 2010, making them his top donor.
Old Charley Doyle, sitting up in heaven's Dental facility, could not fathom the insanity of this information. Charley practiced dentistry for decades and was president of the Wisconsin Dental Association for years. Here was a man who during the depression treated the poor for free. ( they gave us lots of chickens and eggs in exchange). Here was a man who refused to raise his fees even though other dentists had done so during this time, to my mother's chagrin. He was not without his prejudices but when it came to his patients they came first. So this morning I had to put up with Daddy's foul language not only for the American Dental Association but for that despicable ingrate Paul Gosar. It's been a heady morning.
@Ken: Don't you get the feeling we are experiencing some kind of bizarre scenario where all the sturdy bricks that we thought held up our structures suddenly have come crashing down? And at the same time sane voices are shouting loudly while restructuring the damage.
@PD: I for one definitely feel the falling brick analogy, as what once felt like a solid foundation tumbles like the Surfside, Florida towers. I just hope we can avoid having those two infamous last words for an epitaph..
Broken clock says:
"Nobody had ever heard of some of these people that worked for me in D.C. All of a sudden, the Fake News starts calling them. Some of them—by no means all—feel emboldened, brave, and for the first time in their lives, they feel like "something special," not the losers that they are—and they talk, talk, talk!
Many say I am the greatest star-maker of all time. But some of the stars I produced are actually made of garbage." - Donald Trump