CSotD: No need to involve the lawyers
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We'll start with a non-political overview from Pros & Cons, the commentary to which is, "I thought Stan would agree."
One of my few professional regrets is that I foolishly passed along the advice to consumers, "Call them and talk to them." It was frequently presented by consumer reporters as well as industry sources as a way to deal with consumer problems in a rational way that would keep things from getting out of hand.
And it was a load of crap, self-serving on the part of the industry sources, just plain foolish on the part of journalists, among whom I learned to number myself.
For instance, when a town project nicked and ultimately collapsed my sewer line, I called them and said, "Let's not get the insurance companies involved. Why not just send a crew out here to fix it?"
They declined, I filed a claim on my homeowners' policy, they sent a crew out and fixed it. And I suppose that's why you both have insurance and their policy paid for it and I got my new sewer line so wotthehell and I can't imagine the company raised their rates over a $3,000 project.
But I was wasting breath when, after the paper I was editing folded, I called credit card companies and asked for an adjustment on my monthly payments, following the advice I'd peddled for years as a consumer reporter.
They basically told me to pound sand, or, more specifically, to come back after I'd gone into foreclosure and ruined my credit rating, which, according to all that good advice, was precisely what we were supposed to be avoiding.
And, to emphasize the folly, when I was finally forced to file for bankruptcy, I had to first give my creditors a chance to lower my minimum payments as an alternative.
Despite being totally unsecured, they offered a one percent reduction. It was the only really good laff I got out of that whole miserable era.
So Stan the cop is smiling and his suspect thinks they've made a breakthrough on the process and I hope you don't mind sleeping on a metal cot for a few years, pal.
Meanwhile, back at the White House …
I like Scott Stantis's take in part because he manages to make a joke that doesn't soft-pedal the seriousness of the situation, and in part because I think the reason for that is that Stantis is a conservative and is not taking a lot of joy in what is going on.
Others — many others — have riffed upon "I did not have sex with that woman," which led to only the second impeachment of a president in our history.
But Clinton was playing with the definition of "having sex" as meaning "intercourse," while, as Stantis's cartoon points out, it's pretty hard for Sessions to play dumb in quite that way.
A questionnaire from Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, asked Sessions whether he had “been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day.” Sessions answered “no.”
Fair enough. As in Clinton's case, whatever the intent of the question, the response is arguably defensible.
Howsoever:
Then, at Sessions’s January 10 hearing before the entire committee, Minnesota Senator Al Franken asked him about his views on Russia’s alleged meddling in the American presidential election, as well as reports that some Trump campaign associates had been in contact with top Russian officials during the campaign. Sessions replied that he was “not aware of any of those activities,” and added, “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.”
Yeah, no, that one isn't gonna fly.
And once the blue dresses and the recorded interceptions start turning up, maybe it's time we get some lawyers involved, unless you'd rather just blunder on.
And speaking of tapes:
Why were those guys called "the plumbers"? Wikipedia provides an answer from John Dean's book on the topic:
On Thanksgiving evening of 1972, David Young arrived home from his planning at the Special Investigative Unit, when his grandmother asked him, "What do you do at the White House?", to which he replied, "I am helping the president stop some leaks". She replied, with astonishment, "Oh, you're a plumber!" Young, Liddy and Hunt then put up a sign on their office with the title, "The Plumbers". Soon it was taken down, because their covert operations were supposed to be top secret, but the name stuck for the group.
Dear Leader is similarly more concerned with keeping the truth from getting out than behaving so that transparency won't damage him.
Nixon also promised to have his staff look into the whole nasty business, but wound up with Leon Jaworski anyway, which goes to show what bad things can happen when someone insists on getting the lawyers involved.
We'll see.
Stepping down
For comics fans, this is more "industry gossip" than "news you can use," but long-time and legendary New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff is leaving his post and will be replaced by Emma Allen, who has been editing light features for the magazine.
Mankoff is famous for his weekly sessions with cartoonists, as profiled in this 60 Minutes feature and a longer documentary film, as well as for his own cartoons which he plans to continue drawing.
I have a feeling that the change in command will be very visible for cartoonists who have built up a relationship with Mankoff and now have to begin over with Allen, but I'd be surprised if the magazine's tradition of wry, intellectual panels commenting on social trends were to change.
That is, readers will not likely feel a jolt, because the magazine has a well-defined style and, apparently, plans to keep it.
Now, here's your moment of zen
Starring a group of ducklings as Congressional investigators,
and a Great Dane as the Russian bear
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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