Monday, January 27, 2020

 We're going to keep this short and to the point. I rattled on longer than I meant to last night, and I think it took more out of me than I'd planned. It's an exhausting life, I tell you what.



 In any event, the Trump defense took center stage today in the Impeachment. Apparently, their entire defense rests on "well, Obama did it too and he did it to help Hunter Biden". Amusingly, they're not trying to prove that the president didn't do what he's accused of. Instead, their tack is to claim it all wasn't against the law and, anyway, everyone does it.

 Well, hell, that's modern American conservative politics in a nutshell. "The other side is just as bad." For a party that claims moral superiority in almost all things, they are quick to excuse any malfeasance they're caught doing by claiming it's okay because the Democrats do it, too.

 Don't get it twisted, I'm not trying to defend any sort of Democratic shenanigans by pointing out the obvious moral failings of the GOP. What I'm saying is that for a party that claims to be better they seem to have no compunction to actually be better. Indeed, they're almost gleeful when they point to the other side's clay feet because in their minds it gives them to carte blanche to be right bastards.

 Anyhow, another facet of today's defense of Trump's corruption is his lackeys apparently completely ignoring the megaton bomb dropped from a book by former NSA and all-around shitty human being John Bolton. The manuscript submitted to the White House directly links Trump to trying to pressure Ukraine to dig up dirt on Biden before they got their promised aid. If true, of course, but it also proves without a doubt that Trump himself engaged in not only corruption but in attempts to hide that corruption, pretty much sinking Trump's whole case.

 That is, of course, U.S. Supreme Court Head Justice and GOP beneficiary John Roberts allows him to be called to testify. At the very least it seems to be shaking some Republican Senators (in safe seats, of course) to furrow their brows mightily and suggest they might be down with admitting testimony from witnesses. That might or might not include Bolton and his book's revelations, but I still don't see them unshackling themselves from the Trump Administration and, more importantly, his Svengali-like hold over The Base.

 In other butthole news, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo removes any doubt that he's a petulant little shit of a man. After last week's much-publicized blow up at All Things Considered co-host Mary Louise Kelly showed the world what a small, thin-skinned bully he really was, Pompeo responded today by kicking NPR diplomatic correspondent Michele Keleman off Pompeo's jet. The move, reported by Nick Schifrin of PBS's Newshour, has come under much condemnation by AFP State Department corresponded Shaun Tandon on behalf of the State Department Correspondent's Association and criticism from big timers like Andrea Mitchell. Time will tell if it will have any actual impact at all, like say, a less lapdog approach to reporting on the Trump White House.

 Speaking of those bastards, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to clear the way for the Trump administration to make it harder for people who want to immigrate to the U.S. to do so legally, because they're totally just concerned with those who break the law and not just in general racist. Long story short, it makes it harder for folks who might have to depend on public services like food stamps or housing vouchers in attempts to get a green card. Pushed by Trump thugs Stephen "Snake" Miller, AG "Wild Bill" Barr, and Ken Cuccinelli, who seems to do whatever cruelty Trump wants with glee, it puts one more hole in the argument that this is all about stopping just "illegal immigrants," which no one believed, anyway.

 Finally, in local news, the effort to legalize medical marijuana in Mississippi, which made it to November's ballot, got some thumbs up by national legalization advocates. Erik Altierie, executive director of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Medical Laws) praised the proposed motion's plan to follow Oklahoma's plan to make licensing fees more affordable. Unlike, say, Florida where licences come from a limited pool and discourage potential dispensaries from competing with groups that have more money. In essence, it's friendlier to the Free Market, which is a magic phrase for conservatives.

 On the downside, the set-up gives a lot of discretionary power to the Mississippi Department of Health, which has voiced its opposition to the measure, Initiative No. 65. Business lawyers say the Dept. will drag its feet and get nitpicky on the details - who can prescribe, where and for what - but they don't see them flat out refusing to apply the law, as it'd run up against the courts.

 However, state voters favor legalization by 70 percent or more in recent polls, and if the initiative gets that sort of turn out they may not have a leg to stand on. It still won't be covered by health insurance, either private or company, nor will it negate "drug-free" work places. If Mississippi passes it, the state will join 34 others who've legalizing the noble weed for medicinal purposes. It's also being argued that it would open up a new field of industry to chronically unemployed and under-employed Mississippians.

 As always, I'm not sanguine because this is a state full of buttholes who enjoy being buttholes for the sake of being a butthole. But we'll see, and I will be the first to admit that if I could buy some decent grass without catching hell, I'd be less inclined to get out the first time opportunity presents itself. Anyhow, in closing, here's your link to the Willie Nash petition and let's all hope things are a little less stupid in the morning.