So Many Idiots, So Little Time

I'm going to confess right now that between today and November 5th, and maybe sometime afterward if we get more inbred yahoos gathered at the capitol, it will be tough to write about anything but politics. I'm sorry, because there are lots of other things to concern ourselves with. The Middle East is exploding, Ukraine is turning what we all thought would be the Battle of the Alamo into perhaps San Jacinto in the making?

And of course, how the hell Fox's snidefest "The Five" managed to dominate the cable ratings with a cast of characters including the most punchable face in TV, Jesse Watters, the aggressively unfunny "comedian" Greg Gutfeld, and Judge Jeanine Winebox. Of course, there is a token liberal in the group, either former Congressman Harold Ford, who apparently pawned his manhood figuring to redeem it later, and Jessica Tarlov. Their job is the same as the fictional basketball team, the Washington Generals, who play the Harlem Globetrotters on tour. Keep it close, but lose.

Or, there's the wonderful revelation that the new President of Argentina used a speech by Martin Sheen in "The West Wing" for his UN address. Javier Milei, and yes, this is him...

...was the offending plagiarist here. An Argentine reporter, and fan of the show, noticed his address to the General Assembly was almost word for word a repeat of Sheen's President Bartlet. As I pointed out a few columns ago, Aaron Sorkin should simply run everything.

And, then there's the Oklahoma state Schools Superintendent, Ryan Walters, who mandated that the Bible would be taught in all public schools in the Sooner State. He even wangled $3-million to buy 55,000 copies to pass out. Of course, you can't just use any old version of the Good Book, but one that has the Bible itself, and several of America's founding documents inside, bound in leather, or "leather-like" material. Wow, pretty specific. I wonder where you could get one of those, you know, for like $60 a pop?

Of course, I found this on Amazon for $18, but hey, in for a dime, in for $3-million.

But I have to start with my favorite visual of the week, that being Elon Musk at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. This is what happens when you give a kid a couple of bags of Oreos and take that sugared up adolescent to Disney World...

My favorite meme from all this?

The rally itself was the usual collection of light versus dark apocalyptic visions of a battle between good and evil. Not health care, foreign affairs or fiscal policy, but biblical right and wrong. Nothing is too nefarious to assert when talking about people who literally hate America and want to give your house and AR15 to some atheist Mexican guy.

Of course, we had our Vice-Presidential debate last week. It featured that smug debater from Memorial High School I faced years ago and the aw-shucks doofus you made fun of at lunch. It also featured some remarkable revisions of history, like how President Trump saved Obamacare. What, you don't remember that? We also learned that J.D. Vance isn't a hard liner on the issue of abortion after all. I confess, it is tough to argue with a guy who continually says, "What? No, I didn't say that at all. I don't know what you're going on about."

And of course, when asked about climate change, J.D. parroted his boss in saying, 'We all want clean air and clean water." Actually, yes we do, though that has nothing to do with the climate. I mean, never mind that satellite images of Antarctica have scientists worried that it is "greening" at a faster rate than ever...

And predictably, Coach Tim didn't call him on it. He explained his own periodic exaggerations by claiming that he is periodically a "knucklehead." One can only hope the knucklehead doesn't show up in the Situation Room when President Harris needs good advice on Ukraine. "Oh, that's that deal in Europe, right?"

And of course, it was understood for some in the audience that the moderators were clearly favoring the coach who can make fart sounds with his armpits over the Ambassador from the Republic of Mabelline. Although, the aforesaid Fox buffoon, Jesse Watters, allowed that women were more attracted to J.D. than the coach. But, I don't know, without the beard?

But entertainment like that pales in comparison to the Bullshit Mountain that is being built in the hurricane ravaged parts of our fair land. It used to be that we pulled together during times of crisis. Storms, wildfires, drought were all non-partisan in their targets. It didn't matter if you loved or hated W, after 9-11 we were united for a hot minute.

When we are hit by huge storms like Helene, we can count on the government, and the President to help us with the things we need...

But now, there are those who charge the administration is depriving areas that vote red of the supplies that are essential, especially paper towels I guess. In fact, they along with, well, you know who, nudge nudge, wink wink, actually caused the storm. Yeah, you guessed it...

Jasmine Crockett's favorite colleague, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene says that "They" can control the weather.

In another post on Elon's rumor house on X, she overlaid a map of voting patterns and showed how, of course, "They" caused this only in Republican parts of a basically Republican part of the country. We don't know if space lasers were involved, but I wouldn't be surprised. Why is she spouting this twaddle? I don't know, but a diet of apples, hay and sugar cubes can have strange effects.

And of course, FEMA is helping Republicans last when it comes to rescue efforts and supplies. Trump said so. Republican Congressman Tom Tillis, says just stop it. The government is doing a great job.

"For anybody who thinks that any level of government, anybody here could have been prepared precisely for what we’re dealing with here, clearly, are clueless. They’re doing a great job. They can always work harder. There’s always kinks in the slinky. We’re working them out behind the scenes, but I think we’re all here to send a message that we’re working together, and I’m pretty proud of the effort that’s been done."

Trump said the Governor of Georgia couldn't even reach the White House, but the Governor said he had talked several times with the President who offered whatever he needed. So, who are we to believe?

How about the guy described in an article in Politico...

Trump’s former senior director for resilience policy, Mark Harvey, told the outlet that Trump refused to provide disaster aid back in 2018 to California following the deadly wildfires. Harvey claims Trump was reluctant because of the state’s Democratic leanings.

Harvey claims that Trump changed his mind after he showed the former president the Republican voting habits of residents of Orange County, California, which had been heavily damaged by the fire.

“We went as far as looking up how many votes he got in those impacted areas … to show him these are people who voted for you,” Harvey claimed.

Harvey added, “There’s no empathy for the survivors. It is all about getting your photo-op, right? Disaster theater to make him look good.”

Now, look, every President or candidate has to do this. President Gramps and Kamala made the obligatory visit, to stand in the mud wearing a pair of wellies promising everyone the moon. How sincere they are I leave to you to judge.

But the guy throwing paper towels at Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria? The Associated Press reports...

It also wasn’t until 3 years later, just weeks before the 2020 presidential election, that Trump’s administration released $13 billion in assistance for the territory (Puerto Rico). A federal government watchdog found that officials hampered an investigation into delays in aid delivery.

So, be careful about the rhetoric you toss around lest it come back to bite you. Well it would if Trump hadn't won in 2020, but since he did, no harm, no foul, eh?