I once called Mitch McConnell a “reptilian vote-counter”. Well, that insult still goes, because it’s true. Mitch can count votes, and here’s what he comes up with. The last time the Republican candidate for president won an “honest” majority was George H. W. Bush in 1998. And if George H. W. ran today, he’d get…
Thank God for Charles Krauthammer! Pretty much.
Yes, Charles Krauthammer, whom I’ve often harangued and harassed, “sometimes … displays a sense of honor” (to quote myself), and one of those times is right now, as he weighs on Trump v. Comey with a well-titled commentary, “A political ax murder”. True, Charlie clings to the now-standard right-wing meme that FBI Director James Comer…
Dear New York Times: Rod Rosenstein will not save us
The New York Times writes a dreadfully earnest “open” letter1 to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein beseeching him, “[a]t this fraught moment”, in light of his “sterling reputation”—“including a 27-year career in the Justice Department under five administrations, and the distinction of being the longest-serving United States attorney in history”—yada, yada, yada to basically “save…
All that stands between the United States and moral disaster is a Republican Congress. That’s a comforting thought.
Well, the first shoe has dropped. Donald Trump’s vast capacity for unreason has moved from potential to kinesis, from words to deeds. The president who bellowed about American “carnage” in his inaugural address is now inflicting said carnage on our already sullied body politic, by firing our infamously bungling FBI director James Comey, who incidentally…
Yo, Paleoliberals! You can’t go home again! (not really)
David Ignatius reports that Charles Peters, long-time editor of the Washington Monthly and, not incidentally, one-time mentor/editor to David, has the solution to the Democrats’ electoral woes, presented in his new book We Do Our Part. In writing the book, Charlie gets in line behind paleolibs Thomas “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” Frank and Michael…
Roy Haynes, David Kikoski, & John Patitucci—“Trinkle Tinkle”
Okay, let’s do “Trinkle Tinkle” for a while. Haynes on drums, Kikoski on piano, and Patitucci on bass. Posted by emmadetten
Ross Douthat (yes, that Ross Douthat) explains it all for you
I have been perhaps overly hard on Ross Douthat over the years, though I can say with some pride that I haven’t called him “Ross Dumbfuck” since 2012. But, well, that was then and this is now. Ross more or less hits it out of the park with his latest column, “House Republicans Go Off…
P. T. Bloomberg: There’s a sucker born every nano-second
That must be the slogan over at Bloomberg, judging from the posts from such market seers as Ted Seides, Ben Carlson, and Barry Ritholtz. In “Why I Lost My Bet With Warren Buffett”, Ted “explains” why he lost the bet he made with Warren Buffet ten years ago, a bet that “pitted the returns of…
Thelonious Monk—“Nutty”, “Bemsha Swing”, “Epistrophy”, “Crepuscule With Nellie” & “I Mean You”
I was going to run the final clip from an early 60s broadcast featuring Thelonious Monk,Charlie Rouse, John Ore and Frankie Dunlop on the BBC, but it was only 4 ½ minutes, so I decided to switch to this 1961 Dutch broadcast, with a full 19 ½ minutes. Posted by crownpropeller
Yo, Senate! Move your ass!
That’s the word from conservative health care policy maven/guru/wise man Avik Roy, writing in Forbes, urging Senate Republicans to stop waiting for House Speaker Paulie Ryan to get his ObamaCare replacement bill through the House before taking action. Avik has already repeatedly trashed Ryan’s bill, but he’s too polite, or too cautious, to repeat himself,…