CSotD: Tough Love and the Education of L’il OJ
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There are several cartoons floating around about "the smoking gun" of Don Jr and his meeting with someone who unexpectedly turned out to be an agent of the Russian government, though he was told only that she was an agent of the Russian government. She denies it. He denied it for awhile. Now he only sort of denies it.
I like Chan Lowe's take because he acknowledges right up front that this is the smoking gun with which Don Sr. could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any votes.
Trump is obviously a blatant, shameless liar and not even a consistent blatant, shameless liar. The deplorables don't care.
Meanwhile, Don Jr appears to be the Billy Carter of this administration, except that Billy was kept as much on the sidelines as possible, given his eagerness to play the fool, while Don Jr gets assignment that will keep him involved but invisible transparent.
A lot of First Families have a black sheep who needs to just kinda go stand over there and be quiet, and that list would include Donald Nixon and Roger Clinton and Neil Bush and we can go all the way back to Lincoln's stepbrother whose plea for yet another loan provoked this wise response, which begins:
Your request for eighty dollars I do not think it best to comply with now. At the various times when I have helped you a little you have said to me, "We can get along very well now"; but in a very short time I find you in the same difficulty again. Now, this can only happen by some defect in your conduct. What that defect is, I think I know. You are not lazy, and still you are an idler. I doubt whether, since I saw you, you have done a good whole day's work in any one day.
The tough-love proposition that followed has not, apparently, been dished out in every other case of prodigal White House kin, and I doubt we'll see behind the closed doors of this administration for a comparison.
Specifically, of course, both pere and fils in the current case were set up through the extravagant financial support of a wealthy but distant father. By contrast, Lincoln got only the distant and not the wealthy part, succeeding despite, not because of, his father.
Anyway, smoking guns are like bloody gloves, though Trump is clearly not wedded to the OJ defense, in which you simply deny what the evidence clearly shows and count on a sympathetic jury.
While he's willing to insist "I didn't do it," he has long staked out "So what?" as his defense.
So far he seems to be on solid ground.
Juxtaposition of the Day #1
If there is a pony in this steaming pile of manure, it's that thoughtful conservatives are venturing to address the failures of what is generally their party of choice, and here Gorrell and Varvel roast the GOP for its failure to follow through on a signature promise of their 2016 (and 14 and 12 and 10) campaigns.
Their cartoons are well-drawn and well-conceived, plus, coming from the right-hand side of the aisle, contain some of the regret that makes Lincoln's letter to his brother so much more touching and attractive. Those who dislike you can always find reasons to criticize, but when friends and family feel the need to slap you down a bit, that's when you either take notice or truly fail.
Now, several conservatives are focusing their attention on North Korea, which is certainly an issue but seems like a good excuse to avoid the obvious crisis at home. Still, ignoring an issue for partisan reasons is understandable.
I can't say the same for the ones further out in the weeds who promote the counterfactual idea that, because CNN retracted a story, nothing they have ever reported is true. Actively assisting in undermining the system is quite another matter.
And please don't pretend you think nobody is watching, and seeing, because here's …
Juxtaposition #2
(Zapiro)
How on earth can you crow about "making America great again" when the object of your loyalty has clearly ceded the leadership of the free world to Angela Merkel?
Yesterday, I saw an article that said the Don Jr revelations were taking the shine off the good vibes the White House had expected from his father's trip to the G20. This odd analysis deepens my suspicion that there is no cover-up, no cunning plot, because a sensible administration would have come back from that excursion chastened and hoping the continuing loss of prestige and respect would go unnoticed.
Well, I guess it doesn't matter what the people at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue think, because the whole world is watching, either in laughter or in horror.
At least Zapiro, watching from South Africa, suggests that we aren't the only nation with a leadership problem.
Still, while misery loves company, not being miserable in the first place is preferable.
And, finally
Michael de Adder comments on the statue of Edward Cornwallis, founder of Halifax, which is under attack from First Nations activists.
Let me propose this solution: Bring it here. Boston, NYC, we'll find a place for it somewhere prominent.
We don't know Eddie from Billie from Charlie, but they all look alike anyway, and here's the thing: We don't have enough statues honoring the heroes of the American Revolution from the losing side, and we prize losing heritages down here, even though everybody on the losing side in our Revolution moved to Upper Canada Village and became artisanal.
But the Hessians stayed. They're genetically acceptable to the MAGA crowd, and we had looser immigration laws back then, one of which was that, if you were a POW and we just passed your sorry ass around the colonies long enough, you qualified as a landed immigrant.
Okay, I'm kidding. It's really just an excuse for
Today's Moment of Zen
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