Monday, January 6, 2020

Monday, January 6, 2020

 I've been putting this off all evening. My brain's not working today for some reason. It's not exactly like being blocked so much as I'm just tired. Still, the show must go on, as they say, for 500 words at least.



 One of this issues is this weekend was so goddamned exhausting, what with Trump trying to start a war because he's a braindead moron with a small dick who doesn't even pretend to look like he knows what he's doing or give a shit how it affects the rest of the world so long as his booger-eating fanbase keeps treating him like he's the Second Coming. Yeah, that whole affair hasn't been moved on from like his normal ham-handed attempts about being a president, and indeed is getting worse and worse.

 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, his staunchest ally not just in the Middle East but arguably the entire world - or at least the only one he hasn't insulted - is giving him the cold shoulder over Iran despite initially being all for it. Israel, he says, "must not be dragged into" something that was solely the U.S.'s doing. And while he encourages supporting the U.S. in "defending itself,"
getting kicked to the curb like that has to sting.

 Even his own lackies are turning on him. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper had the audacity to contradict The Boss, saying the U.S. military would follow the "laws of armed conflict" despite Trump's promise to target Iranian cultural sites because, well, that's terrorism. Yes, it is, despite what the Fox News creeps cheer for, intentionally going after a country's historically significant landmarks - sites that really belong to the whole world - is not only terrorism, but it's thuggery of the highest order.

 Still, that's what the Cult loves about their Blind Idiot God, and despite occasionally straying from the fold, Fox's opinionators are definitely sheep to Trump's shepherd. The rest of the Mainstream Corporate Press seems to be doing a little better. Well, better than they did for Iraq back in 2003, anyway, but that's a low bar to jump. In any event, it's hard for anyone in the press to get a foothold on what's happening when the big dogs in Washington don't seem to have too solid a grasp on things.

 The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley had to come out and announce that a letter than said the U.S. was pulling troops out of Iraq was a "rough draft" that shouldn't have been issued, regardless of whether Iraq told them to take a hike or not. Which they did. So, who the hell knows.

 And finally, since I'm tired of writing about this and getting close to my word count, vile warmonger John Bolton - Trump's erstwhile national security admirer - has said he'd be perfectly down with testifying before the Senate in impeachment hearings, should it come to that, tossing Senate Republicans into a bit of a tizzy. Given that one of the reasons for the initial strike that killed Iran's Qassem Soleimani was to keep Bolton's yap shut - as he's long had a hard-on for war with Iran - this is not only a bit surprising, but funny as hell, too.

 Closer to home, Mississippi District Attorney Doug Evens has recused himself as prosecutor in the case against Curtis Flowers, who's been accused of a quadruple murder in Winona, MS, in 1996. Evans has tried to convict Flowers six times for the murders, despite exculpatory evidence and, most recently, having the 2010 conviction tossed out due to the Mississippi Supreme Court finding that Evans used racial bias in jury selection. Indeed, Flowers has recently been released on bail because the evidence against his guilt is getting too much for even Mississippi to ignore.

 Man, this state. I've been hearing a lot of folks much more optimistic than I who believe Mississippi's right around the corner in turning at least purple, spreading the Democratic vote beyond the predominately African-American sections of the Delta and Jackson area. Me, I'm not so sanguine. There's a whole helluva a lot of the "jes a good ol' boy" white supremacy lodged deeply in the state's throat that'll take more than few slaps to the back to dislodge. We're still operating on an 1890 state constitution that was written with the specific purpose of getting "revenge for the indignities" the state suffered under Reconstruction. Hell, we didn't get around to outlawing slavery in the state until the '90s. In any event, the podcast In The Dark has spent its second season on the Flowers case and comes highly recommended.

 Finally, some good news. After legalizing marijuana sales on Jan. 1, dispensaries in the state of Illinois have been forced to limit recreation sales until they can restock. It's been so popular, selling almost $11 million in the first five days of sale, they ran out of weed. That's just beautiful, man.

 I have a deep affection for Chicago, partly because its history with the blues and partly because it's the birthplace of one of my Better Angels. Today's Julie's birthday and she's one of the few people who regularly reads this gibberish, so happy birthday, sis. To everyone else, take it easy.

No comments:

Post a Comment

All comments are moderated, & may be discarded & ignored if so chose. Cry more & die, man.