"We were too slow. Th' inimy got th' first cheat.”—Finley Peter Dunne, Mr. Dooley’s PhilosophyThe Bill Barr’s work is finally done. From CNN:Despite Flynn twice pleading guilty for lying to the FBI about his conversations with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition, the Justice Department moved last month to dismiss the case against him. Sullivan did not immediately act, of the decision. If unchallenged with further appeals, the ruling exonerates Flynn after he and claimed innocence. The three-judge panel on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals decided the...…"We were too slow. Th' inimy got th' first cheat.”—Finley Peter Dunne, Mr. Dooley’s PhilosophyThe Bill Barr’s work is finally done. From CNN:Despite Flynn twice pleading guilty for lying to the FBI about his conversations with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition, the Justice Department moved last month to dismiss the case against him. Sullivan did not immediately act, of the decision. If unchallenged with further appeals, the ruling exonerates Flynn after he and claimed innocence. The three-judge panel on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals decided the...WW…

Imagine, for a moment, you’re a Republican. You already know that your party has hitched its wagon to the biggest ass in the history of American politics, and that he has proceeded to bungle a response to the worst public health crisis in a century, touching off a deep recession in the bargain. This is at the same time that he (and you, because you are a Republican, and this next thing is what you’ve been doing for 40 years) has placed himself on the wrong side of the biggest and most vigorous civil-rights uprising since the mid-1960s, a roiling combination of the March on Washington and...…Imagine, for a moment, you’re a Republican. You already know that your party has hitched its wagon to the biggest ass in the history of American politics, and that he has proceeded to bungle a response to the worst public health crisis in a century, touching off a deep recession in the bargain. This is at the same time that he (and you, because you are a Republican, and this next thing is what you’ve been doing for 40 years) has placed himself on the wrong side of the biggest and most vigorous civil-rights uprising since the mid-1960s, a roiling combination of the March on Washington and...WW…

(Permanent Musical To The Last Post Of The Week From The Blog’s Favourite Living Canadian)It was a foregone conclusion that John Bolton’s book was going to infuriate everyone. It was going to infuriate the folks at Camp Runamuck because the president* is a boob and a crook and the people at Camp Runamuck hate anyone who points that out. And Democrats were going to be infuriated because they were trying to relieve the Republic of this walking catastrophe and Bolton clearly saved the really good stuff for his book. In their own ways, it appears, in their pre-emptive fury, because, well, wow....…(Permanent Musical To The Last Post Of The Week From The Blog’s Favourite Living Canadian)It was a foregone conclusion that John Bolton’s book was going to infuriate everyone. It was going to infuriate the folks at Camp Runamuck because the president* is a boob and a crook and the people at Camp Runamuck hate anyone who points that out. And Democrats were going to be infuriated because they were trying to relieve the Republic of this walking catastrophe and Bolton clearly saved the really good stuff for his book. In their own ways, it appears, in their pre-emptive fury, because, well, wow....WW…

(Permanent Musical To This Post)Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what’s goin’ down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin’ goes on, and where the killing frost is on the ground and the autumn leaves are gone.We begin in Idaho, where the white things are. It seems that some members of the state legislature’s Seriously Deranged Caucus decided to hold their own special session of the state legislature because freedom. From the :The Idaho Freedom Foundation, whose president, Wayne Hoffman, didn’t respond to a reporter’s inquiries on Monday, commissioned a...…(Permanent Musical To This Post)Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what’s goin’ down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin’ goes on, and where the killing frost is on the ground and the autumn leaves are gone.We begin in Idaho, where the white things are. It seems that some members of the state legislature’s Seriously Deranged Caucus decided to hold their own special session of the state legislature because freedom. From the :The Idaho Freedom Foundation, whose president, Wayne Hoffman, didn’t respond to a reporter’s inquiries on Monday, commissioned a...WW…

It seems like a relatively safe assumption that the massive protests for racial justice that have sprung up across the country following George Floyd's killing at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department will lead to more COVID-19 cases. It's lots of people gathered together in close proximity, chanting and shouting. Granted, it's outside, where , and by pretty much all accounts, the vast majority of attendees are wearing masks. But there will likely be more cases now than if there were no protests.What people who support both the protests and social-distancing guidelines believe is...…It seems like a relatively safe assumption that the massive protests for racial justice that have sprung up across the country following George Floyd's killing at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department will lead to more COVID-19 cases. It's lots of people gathered together in close proximity, chanting and shouting. Granted, it's outside, where , and by pretty much all accounts, the vast majority of attendees are wearing masks. But there will likely be more cases now than if there were no protests.What people who support both the protests and social-distancing guidelines believe is...WW…

On Monday evening, the President* of the United States gave his first public remarks since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. He used it further to divide the country, to traduce the Constitution, and to declare war on citizens of whom he does not approve. A mewling tub of unresolved psychological flotsam, with the moldy stench of the bunker still clinging to him, thumping his bloated chest and threatening martial law while, just up the street, police and soldiers were deployed as special effects against peaceful protestors so this plump and odious little man could inflate his...…On Monday evening, the President* of the United States gave his first public remarks since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. He used it further to divide the country, to traduce the Constitution, and to declare war on citizens of whom he does not approve. A mewling tub of unresolved psychological flotsam, with the moldy stench of the bunker still clinging to him, thumping his bloated chest and threatening martial law while, just up the street, police and soldiers were deployed as special effects against peaceful protestors so this plump and odious little man could inflate his...WW…

Monday’s Hot Spot Spotlight falls on the vacation paradise that is Wisconsin Dells—or, as the natives call it, simply, "The Dells." As the country comes slowly to the realization that reopening as a part of the president*’s Transition to Greatness reelection brand is not the smartest thing the United States ever did, we also realize that recreational facilities probably should have been the last things to re-open. You know, bars and beaches, restaurants and theme parks. And strip joints. From :The health department reports two or more COVID-19 cases have been confirmed at at US Highway 12...…Monday’s Hot Spot Spotlight falls on the vacation paradise that is Wisconsin Dells—or, as the natives call it, simply, "The Dells." As the country comes slowly to the realization that reopening as a part of the president*’s Transition to Greatness reelection brand is not the smartest thing the United States ever did, we also realize that recreational facilities probably should have been the last things to re-open. You know, bars and beaches, restaurants and theme parks. And strip joints. From :The health department reports two or more COVID-19 cases have been confirmed at at US Highway 12...WW…

Remember politics? Voting? Elections? Those strange rituals so beloved by our ancestors in the Before Times. Well, there were a bunch of them going on Tuesday, more than anytime since Super Tuesday, which I believe occurred shortly after the Council of Trent. Nine states, plus the embattled District of Columbia, are holding one kind of election or the other. Valerie Plame, a victim of the previous Republican Worst President of All Time, is running in a Democratic congressional primary in New Mexico, which is interesting in and of itself. (It’s a three-way contest, and Plame is not the...…Remember politics? Voting? Elections? Those strange rituals so beloved by our ancestors in the Before Times. Well, there were a bunch of them going on Tuesday, more than anytime since Super Tuesday, which I believe occurred shortly after the Council of Trent. Nine states, plus the embattled District of Columbia, are holding one kind of election or the other. Valerie Plame, a victim of the previous Republican Worst President of All Time, is running in a Democratic congressional primary in New Mexico, which is interesting in and of itself. (It’s a three-way contest, and Plame is not the...WW…

Imagine what they're capable of when they're not live on national television. These officers of the Minnesota State Police were told explicitly that these were members of the press with CNN, that the camera was rolling, that their actions were being broadcast to the nation—and, inevitably, to the world. The CNN reporters say they'd already moved back once to get out of the way of an advancing line of police trying to restore order early Friday morning, after another night of . The on-air reporter, Omar Jimenez, was professional—even cordial—and said repeatedly that the crew would like to do...…Imagine what they're capable of when they're not live on national television. These officers of the Minnesota State Police were told explicitly that these were members of the press with CNN, that the camera was rolling, that their actions were being broadcast to the nation—and, inevitably, to the world. The CNN reporters say they'd already moved back once to get out of the way of an advancing line of police trying to restore order early Friday morning, after another night of . The on-air reporter, Omar Jimenez, was professional—even cordial—and said repeatedly that the crew would like to do...WW…

The first American frontier, which is to say everything west of Richmond, was settled partly by the practice of collecting the scalps of dead and dying Native Americans. It began in Massachusetts, quickly spread to New York and Pennsylvania, and, by the 1750s, when the revolutionary spirit was beginning to stir among the upper classes, it had become general throughout the British colonies in America. As the country expanded westward, so did what became known as “hair-buying.” The laws governing bounty scalping—and “governing” is too nice a word entirely—were on the books long after the...…The first American frontier, which is to say everything west of Richmond, was settled partly by the practice of collecting the scalps of dead and dying Native Americans. It began in Massachusetts, quickly spread to New York and Pennsylvania, and, by the 1750s, when the revolutionary spirit was beginning to stir among the upper classes, it had become general throughout the British colonies in America. As the country expanded westward, so did what became known as “hair-buying.” The laws governing bounty scalping—and “governing” is too nice a word entirely—were on the books long after the...WW…