CSotD: Fighting the Flood
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It was a pleasant surprise to see Signalgate back in the news yesterday. I thought it was gone and forgotten, but it turns out somebody had been looking into it all this time and now there is a report saying that what everybody knew happened happened.
Rowe combines it with the ongoing, not-to-be-forgotten Epstein saga. Yesterday, NBC teased an amazing, astonishing revelation that turned out to be a bunch of photographs of an empty building. It wasn’t too amazing, but at least it’s not forgotten.
Steve Bannon famously said the way to control the media is to flood the zone with sh*t. Keep the scandals coming so that nobody has time to focus on any of them. Think of one of those booths where a guy stands trying to snatch dollar bills that are blowing all around him. He won’t get many because he can’t focus on individual bills.
But what Bannon missed is that nothing really disappears anymore, and the sane response to flooding the zone is to concentrate only on what matters.
Signalgate was one of those minor scuffles where people say, “In any other administration …” and Hegseth could readily have admitted the screw-up and offered his resignation and, in any other administration, that resignation would have already been solicited.
But instead of taking the hit, Hegseth ran away and the moment was largely forgotten. Only now he’s also running away from advocating and directing war crimes, so his previous display of incompetence comes back to the forefront.
And if Dear Leader thinks flooding the zone is going to make Epstein disappear, he needs to take a look around him. Those little girls are grown-up women now, and they aren’t going to be distracted by whatever floods of sh*t may come along.
The question will persist: If you’re innocent, why not release the files and prove it?
Wuerker puzzles over the GOP’s inability to be shocked, scandalized or disappointed by the flood, but in the past few days we’re seen a few cracks in their solidarity. Some formerly loyal supporters are falling away, and it’s worth pushing a little harder to see what may break off besides Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rand Paul.
It’s particularly worth remembering that less than 30% of voters are Republicans. As Edmond Burke noted a few centuries ago
Because half a dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the field ring with their importunate chink, whilst thousands of great cattle, reposed beneath the shadow of the British oak, chew the cud and are silent, pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field.
Granted, he also said
Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though for but one year, can never willingly abandon it.
But the question is, is it going to be their choice? Because the proper strategy may be to ignore the grasshoppers and appeal to the cattle.
Part of that effort could be to emphasize the toxic, bigoted hatred being spread by the Trump administration, which, as Bramhall notes, is hardly subtle. Dear Leader suddenly went on a tear against Somalis that was absolutely racist, as is his plan to ban immigration from predominantly black and brown countries.
But I’m not sure you plow much new ground by pointing out that racists are garbage. People either know it or they don’t.
It also helps to point out the foolish reasoning whereby one Afghani becomes all Afghanis. Apply that logic to some other causes.
In fact, go right ahead and ask why we make this one killing into a major roundup and pogram while you can slaughter an entire classroom full of eight-year-olds and nothing changes.
Juxtaposition of the Day
And have some fun with Dear Leader’s inability to stay awake. This might be beneath our dignity, but what dignity has there been in all the “Sleepy Joe” childish insults of the past decade? All this “when they go low, we go high” stuff is nice for Sunday school, but, in the words of Peter Finley Dunne, “Politics ain’t beanbag.”
Trump’s toadlicker brigade keeps telling us what a hard worker he is, which raises the question, “Who asked you?”
But now that you bring it up, what’s with this starting the workday at 11 am? And how come he’s not out giving big speeches anymore? And what’s with the staying up all night posting on social media and then dozing off in meetings?
Today’s schedule shows him working for about an hour, then lighting the Christmas tree and calling it a day. Hope he can stay awake through such a grueling schedule!
Juxtaposition of the Day #2
Judge explores the racist side of the matter, which matters, first of all, because of human decency, but also in logistical terms because the GOP has depended on the “Latino vote,” which I put in quotes because I’m not sure speaking Spanish provides enough unity to be considered a bloc. I don’t see Chicano farmworkers and Miami Beach Cubanos mingling cheerfully over much of anything.
Until, of course, masked goons start dragging them out of their cars and beating them up. At that point, the idea that we’re also purposefully killing them in open waters seems like an issue worth discussing.
As for those who don’t fret over racism, just the illogic of attacking small-timers (who may not even be smuggling drugs) while pardoning a major supplier puts the lie to the administration’s excuses for these killings.
If you’re against drugs, be against all dealers. If you just enjoy killing people, let’s see you sell that to the voters.
Justification of the Draft
I didn’t like the draft, but I’m starting to appreciate how it might make people think twice if we eliminated all deferments except maybe “sole surviving child” by which I don’t mean “son.”
As much as I disliked the draft, I hated chicken hawks more and still do. If you aren’t of military age, if you don’t have any kids of military age, maybe you should sit this one out.
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