9-4-17

The Washington political theater is certainly interesting of late. The GOP is doing its best impression of circular firing squad and smart dems are staying the hell out of the way. Josh Marshall's take on the President's empathy quotient is required reading. The six month DACA lifeline might be the last nail in the coffin. Boy these GOPers can really govern, can't they?

Trump might actually need a nuclear war with Korea for cover at this point. Either Korea, he doesn't care.

But he has a new candidate for head scientist at USDA, Sam Clovis. A guy who is neither a farmer or a scientist. But is a racist birther who expresses skepticism over the notion of climate change and is on record against crop insurance.

Bingo, you're hired.

This guy looks like he would be more comfortable playing checkers with Uncle Joe at the Shady Rest or getting drunk on shine with Sam Drucker up in Pixley than holding a prestigious cabinet position but what do I know?

From The Hill:

Democrats are girding for an all-out battle against Sam Clovis’s nomination to be USDA’s under secretary for research, education and economics, a position that would see him overseeing billions of dollars in research spending and serving as a cross-departmental science czar.
Clovis, a close Trump ally from Iowa who served as a key campaign adviser on rural and agricultural issues, has set off Democrats’ alarms for a number of reasons.
Clovis has been criticized for lacking scientific credentials, and he disagrees with the scientific consensus on climate change. Further complicating Clovis’s confirmation process, CNN uncovered a number of objectionable statements he has made on topics like race and politics.
Clovis, an Air Force veteran, former economics professor and former radio host, once wrote that former President Obama was being “given a pass because he is Black,” called former Attorney General Eric Holder a “racist black,” declared that homosexuality is a choice, and called progressives both “race traitors” and “race traders,” CNN reported. 

Sounds like a perfect candidate. Where does Trump find these guys? Central Casting?

*
Did you catch this? Antidepressants found in fish brains. I know they seemed a little mopey of late. I sent the link to Morty. He wrote back that he had eaten an excellent piece of neurotic whitefish that very morning. Can't really blame the poor fish for medicating. Tough ocean out there.

And Wisconsin sent 17,000 pounds of cheese to Houston to feed Hurricane Harvey survivors. Now they’re flooded, miserable and too stopped up to take a decent dump*...Morty pointed out that not only that, the sadistic bastards only sent two boxes of crackers.

They found a new intermediate black hole of staggering mass in the middle of somebody's milky way. I say let her rip, time for a big cosmic do-over. I think I need to eat some fish.

* My wife and sometimes editor Leslie is on record that she does not think this line if funny. "Making fun of people's constipation is not funny in the face of tragedy." I mentioned that I believe that there has to be an element of pain or sadness in humor but have utterly failed to win her over. At first she even contested the notion that cheese bound you up but I found ample internet evidence that it does. What is your verdict. Is a sixty year old too old to be making juvenile poop jokes in the wake of tragedy?