Even the delicate sensibilities of the Wall Street Journal have been offended, friends. Yes, even they are staggering towards the fainting couch with one hand on the string of pearls. The rest of us passed out hours ago (days in my case) so it’s left to that bastion of conservative editorial content, that pillar of journalism, the Journal, to sound the last mewling cry of protest, I guess. They actually say that Matt Gaetz as the Attorney General of these United States would “undermine confidence in the law.” Their headline is: “Matt Gaetz is a bad choice for attorney general” and their subtitle is: “He’s a nominee for those who want the law used for political revenge and it won’t end well.” Rilly? They’re joking, right?? Hey, take your entertainment where you find it. It’s always darkest before it turns pitch black, as John McCain used to say.
This is a bad choice that would undermine confidence in the law. Mr. Trump lauded Mr. Gaetz’s law degree from William and Mary, but it might as well be a doctorate in outrage theater. He’s a performer and provocateur, and his view is that the more explosions he can cause, the more attention he can get. “It’s impossible to get canceled if you’re on every channel,” he once said. “If you aren’t making news, you aren’t governing.”
Mr. Gaetz has no interest in governing. When Republicans took control of the House in 2022, it was with a small margin. Rather than work to get things done, Mr. Gaetz sabotaged Speaker Kevin McCarthy before finally leading a rebellion to oust him. Eight Republican malcontents plunged the GOP into weeks of embarrassing paralysis, since Mr. Gaetz had no alternative that could command a majority. Finally Speaker Mike Johnson emerged.
Mr. McCarthy has intimated at times that he thinks Mr. Gaetz is primarily motivated by personal grudges related to an investigation into his conduct. According to an ABC News report from April, the House Ethics Committee obtained a sworn statement from a woman who says in 2017 she “attended a party in Florida that Gaetz also attended,” where there was cocaine and “bedrooms that were made available for sexual activities.”
The Justice Department investigated possible sex trafficking but didn’t bring charges against Mr. Gaetz. This summer the ethics committee said its preliminary subpoenas and witnesses suggest “certain” allegations “merit continued review.” It is looking into claims that Mr. Gaetz may have “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations.”
Now, what they’re saying — I think, my mind doesn’t work so well these days — I think they’re saying that a libertine, lying, self serving snake who has shown himself to be more law breaking than abiding, might not be the right choice to be America’s Top Cop. Am I reading that correctly?
Then they actually go on to say, “The larger objections to Mr. Gaetz concern judgment and credibility.” Nawwww. For real?
“The U.S. Attorney General has to make calls on countless difficult questions of whom to investigate and indict. Mr. Gaetz’s decisions simply wouldn’t be trusted.” Mattie’s judgement would be called into question and his decisions mistrusted?
I’ll tell you how I feel. The other night I rescreened On The Beach, a brilliant 1959 film about the world in a post-nuclear war era, with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner. If you haven’t seen this classic, you must. The story of On The Beach is that the last bastion of civilization is Australia and a ship, helmed by the Peck character, goes in search of what’s left of humanity.
I identify with the Fred Astaire character. Astaire got a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in this film. He’s somebody who told them all what was going to happen before it happened. But it happened anyway. And then he tells them that the radiation is going to get to even the Aussies soon, and they don’t want to hear that either. They have “hope.”
I haven’t found my hope yet. I will, give me a few more days, but I’m still looking for it. Maybe it rolled under the couch. But for now, all I know is that the bomb did fall and I’m waiting for the radiation — or in this case, the kleptocracy gaining power in January — to get us all. Donald Trump nominating Matt Gaetz to be attorney general makes perfect sense to me and if the Journal didn’t see it coming, that’s on them. Who did they think Trump would pick, Mitt Romney?
And look on the bright side. It could have been Herschel Walker or Mark Robinson, right? Maybe they’ll end up in the cabinet, too. The night is young and Trump could tweet anything at this point.
I have been silently going crazy watching and listening to everything going on. I honestly want to vomit.
i wish i could like this article, Ursula, but the site hasn’t allowed me to like anything for months. I’m having trouble finding any hope also, and every day it’s become more allusive.
I can like your post ..
AND HEY URSULA GOOD ONE.
Shared on Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/lorion70.bsky.social/post/3laxfdgi5as2n
I can like your post ..
AND HEY URSULA GOOD ONE.
Shared on Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/lorion70.bsky.social/post/3laxfdgi5as2n
Ursula…as a former member of Mensa, a graduate of UNC-CH having studied ancient history and comparative religion especially with Biblical scholars, a political prisoner, a navy veteran, and a native son born in Mt Airy, the most famous small town in America, with five uncles I knew growing up who fought in WW2, I’m so disgusted with this country to the core of my being. I’ve been unjustly phucked with since I was born. I say that not living as a victim, but not lying to myself about what has gone down. I, at 71, have managed not to be radicalized to violence. I have stood over my violent drunk of a father with his 25 automatic in my hand with the safety off, after he almost beat my mother to death, and I chose not to shoot him. I always believed in my country despite hanging with political radicals. I no longer do. I understand how people get pushed into violence. For this country of pampered idiots to choose fascism over democracy makes me so full of rage, I can’t say what my response will be when the evil plays out. Most of my adopted family are poor black folks from Tuskegee Alabama. They are angry. They are in grief. I have three daughters of the heart. One is lily white. One is mixed. The youngest is black. There are other black children who call me uncle. To think what the voters have sentenced them to makes me more than indifferent to the Maga crowd. As I found out in prison, I am capable of killing someone in self defense. You phuckers think with your titles and fancy jobs that you can inflict pain with no blowback. You phuckers better think again. Death has your name as it does mine. Since I’ve faced it time and again in my life, I ask you fat deluded phuckers…are you prepared to leave this life? Do you believe in supernatural evil? Do you know there’s a world behind the world? I know there is as I survived a near death experience that CLEARLY showed me our materialistic culture has sold us a lie…that this life is all there is. Eternal evil darkness awaits those that abandon truth…and I know this to be a reality. One that lives with me the past 51 years. You can lose a lot of things in this life against your will. Your soul can’t be lost unless you sell it to evil. As Jesus was reported to ask: what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul? You phuckers better think about that because every single moment brings you and I closer to the grave. Stand with the devil and your eternity will erase whatever power and pleasure you traded your soul for. Oh that’s right…you phuckers don’t believe in the Devil because you’re afraid to. That doesn’t matter…he believes in you. Judgement…true judgement awaits. There’s no bullshitting the Almighty. Oh that’s right you don’t believe there’s a God behind all this. Nevermind and good phucking luck on your deathbed. America…the bill is due.
My husband,, a 23 year Navy vet who was in combat twuce,,agrees with you.
Thank your husband for the sacrifice of guarding our freedom at his and your expense. I’m truly sorry for the circumstances we are now in, but he did the honorable thing and all of us enjoyed the freedom he paid for us to have. Thank you!
Being a squid, even if you never served on a ‘bird farm’ you might be familiar with an old Naval Aviator’s saying. A belief they hold as core, which gets expressed in the worst of times: “Keep the faith.” I’m clinging to that since election day. Admittedly my grasp isn’t as strong as I want or need it to be but I’m fighting to summon the will to strengthen it. And then pull myself back up onto the deck and carry on with what has to be done.
Wow. How many AGs have been investigated for Dec trafficking with a minor? Gaetz has found a unique place in history.
That title image. Goddamn Ursula! The week I’ve had, trying to get my apt. into shape for management inspection, medication issues and other stuff and I see THAT? How the f**k am I to summon the capacity to make some Rube Goldberg contraption that will gouge out my eyeballs and then pour a 55 gallon drum of brain bleach into each eye socket? Please, please let someone blow up every federal legislator’s phone with that thing when they are assembled in great numbers. Not all will opening the thing but many will, and show it to people next to them and within a minute you’ll have the bulk of them including Republicans fighting not to laugh. I don’t know Gaetz can just shrug off that kind of ridicule, especially knowing that even a cowed MSM will report on the event.
Democrats should play hardball. Put up a big blowup of Gaetz’s booking photo from his DUI. If the House Ethics Committee stonewalls on releasing their report then put up the rumors and loudly and pointedly ask ‘If there’s no THERE there then why hasn’t the report been made public? Why isn’t the FBI allowed to tell us their own contributions to it? I mean HAMMER the hell out of his privileged ass. And yes, hold up a big blowup of that photo and others (how many more just as bad or worse are out there?) and ask “Is THIS what we want in an Attorney General. If Lindsey Graham freaks out f**k him.
What? You’re asking the rich democrats to put their asses on the line? The privileged aren’t trained to be warriors. Only vets have been through that fire. They talk but as we know talk doesn’t win the fight…the sacrifices of warriors does…then they get buried in Arlington National Cemetery for the draft dodging fascist to use them in a photo op and this cesspool of a nation is fine with it. I find myself ashamed to belong to this nest of vipers.
Ah, those who talk the tough talk but when it’s time for people to walk the tough walk they are nowhere to be found. A draft dodger like Bill Clinton who openly admitted working the system is one thing. But those who worked the system to avoid service, especially in war and then talk all tough are another. There’s a term for it – CHICKEN HAWKS.
The apparently now defunct but memorably iconclastic NH Gazette created a marvelous section on their website. The Chicken Hawk Hall of Shame. It was a glorious thing and always being added to as it was possible for any of us to nominate someone. A long process to be sure but I spent over two hours nominating Trump back in I think May of 2016. For some reason the nomination didn’t “take” when I hit enter. So I went through the whole fucking thing again. I was studiously careful each time to follow the instructions and format and only entered required information in the various boxes. Both times. When the site rejected the nomination of Trump a SECOND time I though something might be up.
Before long the whole thing was “unavailable” when you tried to access the thing. For a while a scaled down version that wasn’t nearly so well-formatted was out there but it too suddenly disappeared. I’ll bet Trump got wind of it through cronies like Rush Limbaugh who were Hall of Shamers and for once he willingly coughed up some money to but the site and shut it down.
The Hall of Shame was I should add MOSTLY, but not all Republicans. If Soros wants to spend some worthwhile money he should find a tech person to access the thing in that internet “wayback machine” and endow it’s hosting anew. Let Trump (if he or some other conservative bought the rights) sue. The more fuss they make the more the public will become aware. I even knew people back in the day up in WV who I know turned into full-blown MAGAs who admired Trump and so many in the Hall of Shame. Even without Trump’s name, as I showed them the site I also showed them the data on Trump (a lot of it that I’d written down) and where it came from. And made them a copy so they could check it out for themselves.
I changed some minds. Clearly not enough but we need to be hitting these asshats any way we can.
First of all, if anyone does find any small glimmer of hope, please share. We are all lacking in hope, some of us in our faith. Thank you.
It’s absolutely hilarious that the same media that, like all the magats, closed their eyes to the truth that was right there in front of them, is not asking WTF!?! Sorry, I want to say we told you, we warned you, etc., but does it matter. They gave the country the shaft for a few tax breaks and the hope of getting off tyrant’s hit list. FAFO. All of them, FAFO. Except we will find out also.
Oh Ursula, dark humor really is the way to cope with it. It’s like he got ‘The Onion’ to come up with his list of candidates as a joke, then forgot and decided to stay with it.
My only hope is that he’s picked such a bunch of incompetent ineptitude, they won’t be able to get anything done because they don’t know what they’re doing.
The kakistocracy will cancel out the kleptocracy leaving only idiocy. How deep ‘the state’ is might help there too.
Thank you, Carol and Concinnity, for the best lines I’ve heard since Election Day: “dark humor really is the way to cope with it. It’s like he got ‘The Onion’ to come up with his list of candidates as a joke, then forgot and decided to stay with it”, and especially, “The kakistocracy will cancel out the kleptocracy leaving only idiocy.”😄😁😄😁😄😁
Earlier today I saw that owners of The Onion won the Infowars liquidation auction, which brought a smile to my face.
Concinnity is dead on, dark humor really is the way to cope with it. At 79, with multiple health issues ranging from genetic cardiac issues to industrial solvent exposure during my early working years, finding something to laugh at helps the days go by. The irony of The Onion taking over and demolishing Infowars and the idiocy displayed in Von Schitzie’s Cabinet nomination, along with the emerging stories of voters’ remorse are bright spots to celebrate, however fleeting they may be. The fact that Jack Smith’s final report on the cases he brought and the House Ethics Committee’s report on their Gaetz investigation could be released before Inauguration Day will make me LOL.