Monday, February 3, 2020

 In a bit of a funk today. I would say it's the same funk I've been in since the beginning of the year, but apparently I was in a good mood yesterday. I have no idea why yesterday was special, because today was just as if not more pleasant, but there you go. Scrambled brain chemistry doesn't have to make sense.



 With that in mind, I've no interest in this. I think I will knock out what little News needs to be discussed and then ramble on until supper's ready or I hit my word count. There's a good bit going on today but I'm really not going to get into it because, frankly, I haven't given a shit about Rush Limbaugh for nearly two decades. He's like when someone complains about South Park, all I can think is "that bullshit's still running?"

 Nor am I overly concerned about the conservative freakout at the Super Bowl's halftime show, where Jennifer Lopez and Shakira made everyone warm down in their naughty bits but since American Wingnuttia has decided to rebrand itself as fun-hating, panty-sniffing blue noses - or even more so than usual - it's the latest example of the "moral corruption of society besides", you know, the president admitting he committed impeachable acts while the GOP acknowledges he did but decides to give him a pass. Complete wastes Joni Ernst and Lamar Alexander has even gone so far as to suggest Donald Trump has "learned his lesson" and will behave from now on. Please.

 Or maybe it's got nothing to do with Trump and the blatant hackery of the GOP - not only letting Trump skate because they know the base will devour them if they cross the God Emperor but also pretending "partisan politics" isn't what everyone in politics does - but because the people Trump has put into positions of power are either full-blown ideologues or just downright cruel. While the smaller farms are being ground up in favor of big agribusiness concerns, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue wants to make it legal to pay farm workers even less.

 As the bulk of farm labor is foreign born, this program will monkey with the way immigrants become citizens, putting them into debt. In essence, Perdue - known previously as a dirtbag, graft-taking governor of Georgia - wants to increase the number of undocumented workers while allowing the bigger farming concerns to pay them even less. Right now, he wants to cap things at $15 an hour, which sounds nice but ignores facts like farm work is highly skilled, often temporary and excluded from federal overtime provisions. Something to keep in mind the next time Trump manages to scare the rubes with tales of invasion from swarthy Latinos.

 What else. Well, the Senate trial of Trump's impeachment wrapped up today and unless something outstanding happens, the crooked old shitass will probably be acquitted when they take the vote Wednesday. Like Bill Clinton, he will always be considered a president who was impeached despite his and the M-zombies insistence that it's all wiped away or he gets a free term or whatever dopey nonsense they convinces themselves of by this time Thursday and it won't do you any good a'tall to try to convince them that reality says otherwise. There is going to be some vicious payback, though. Hell, if I was John Bolton, I might flee the country. But that's politics, baby.

 Interestingly, West Virginia's Joe Manchin, a Democrat in a precarious state that party officials keep an eye on because you never know when he'll stab them in a back, urged the Senate to formally censure Trump due to him, well, breaking the law but that a vote for impeachment is worrisome because removing him from office could "potentially tear the country apart". I can never take those sorts of Chicken Littles seriously. If you don't think the country's more than happy to tear itself apart, you have no been paying attention. Hell, conservatives are thirsting to turn their guns on the Liberal Scourge and aren't even subtle about.

 Finally, the official start of the Democratic primary voting process started today with the Iowa caucuses, which no one understands how they work. It is nevertheless a fairly big deal in the nomination process and will give winners a boost going into Super Tuesday come March. Polls and scuffling over the past year really don't matter as much as when the voting kicks into high gear. It pretty much helped Obama jump ahead, though he's the only candidate besides Jimmy Carter whon went onto win the presidency.

 Still, it's the first big play in the game and this is where things get interesting if not flat out weird. No one at this time in 2016 thought, for example, Donald Trump had a snowball's chance in hell in winning not just the nomination, but also the presidency. Not even himself or the GOP.

 And speaking of games, congratulations to the Kansas City (Missouri) Chiefs for their 31-20 comeback win over the San Francisco 49ers. I'm told it was a good game, but I didn't watch because I can't stomach those commercials. Also, I wrote something about George Harrison's last hit single, "I Got My Mind Set On You," over at the Tumblr site because it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

 See you tomorrow.