Taking the Measure of a Man

 

On the second night of the DNC, something happened that to me, was entirely hilarious. Of course, Chicago was rocking because the rollcall affirmed our candidate, and who isn't turned up for the Obamas? But at the exact same time, VP Harris and Governor Walz filled the house in Milwaukee at the same venue the RNC occupied. Who the hell can cast that much shade at night?

Stars do.

I noted in the comments of an earlier post that Trump was going to speak on crime at Howell, MI, a town associated with the Klan, and it happened, and it was dull, and Trump was Trump. He lied a lot, but listlessly. He wonders why suburban women don't want him, a sex pest associated with other sex pests, a serial philanderer, a shitty role model for boys, a misogynist, and a person who does not respect women's rights over our own bodies or lives. It really makes you wonder what funhouse mirror view of himself he's always had. 

And then at the DNC, he got called out in a standup funeral. Sure, Democrats and a few Republicans were there to talk about why Kamala Harris and why now, and what needs to be preserved for our future of this great democratic experiment. 

It was uplifting and magnificent and of course I was teary-eyed and in the front pew of the church of what's happening now. It's a beautiful thing to see people come together to build a better future. I love it, and I love it for us. 

But you know what?  I stay petty. 

Never Gonna Be President

Even though one of the recurring themes of my blog is the widening gulf between the right and the left in this country, it came as a bit of a surprise to me to see a recent story that suggested that Fox News white supremacist and trust fund douche nozzle Tucker Carlson was under serious consideration for a 2024 GOP presidential run.

I mean really, sure, Donald Trump has a lot of BIG White Supremacist and Trust Fund Douche Nozzle energy, but is that the direction they think is....good actually? Because it really sounds like it is. The blather about "blah, blah party bankrupt and blah, blah swamp" really sounds to me like someone uncomfortably assembling a fig-leaf jock strap expecting to get hit in the jollies with the sad truth: The GOP has been selling tax cuts and bigotry for so long it forgot there ever was anything else. And no one stands up for free trade, or talks about the debt, or worries about Russia or national security, or basic fucking competence in the face of a pandemic, because they are all little people milling around Trump, who is an idiot. And they will do the same for Tucker Carlson, who is a younger, better-looking idiot?

The idea should be appalling. But this was seriously put forth, so, let's really look at Tucker Carlson, right the fuck now. Because he's shitting on a Somali-born Muslima congresswoman who is speaking up for ending oppression within various necessary systems (she is not, however, calling for the end of the entire US way of life, but thanks to multiple conservative media outlets and several high-profile elected figures like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for letting us know that they consider oppression and the American way of life are so neatly intertwined--I, like Rep. Omar, want to believe we can very well do the American Way without oppression--thanks!) and calling a decorated Thai-American US Senator and veteran Tammy Duckworth every damn nasty thing he can think of.

Scoundreltown

There is a saying to the effect that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, and I guess it looks a little bit to me like some folks want to set up a flag-draped resort community and throw stones from their little red white and blue glass bungalows. Of course, it's the Squad, alleged Ayatollah sympathizers, who can't be patriotic enough, or even deserving of PTSD if they came up in a war zone. According to the new hymnal,  Democrats are supposedly "in love with terrorists" now, as Rep. Doug Collins wants to put it, prompting veteran and Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth to respond explicitly:

"I left parts of my body in Iraq fighting terrorists." Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who lost both of her legs serving in the Iraq War, ripped into the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee who has accused Democrats of being "in love with terrorists." https://t.co/2NpcDSyWdk

— CNN (@CNN) January 10, 2020

I don't expect Republicans to feel the sting of that one. I remember Max Cleland, who also left body parts behind, having his patriotism questioned, too.  I remember how scurrilous lies against John Kerry (who was later integral to the Iran nuclear deal and speaks about it eloquently) led to propaganda against his presidential campaign that also had some confused partisans practically mocking all purple heart recipients.

I know Trump had no problem mocking John McCain's service, or feuding with Gold Star families (plural--more than once). All the more reason for Collins to rethink his sycophancy for Trump if he really cared about who supports Gold Star families. (Trump, by the way, penalized Gold Star families with his tax plan, habitually lies about who achieved the veteran's CHOICE bill (it was a McCain-Sanders bill, signed by Obama)  and has given lip service to reducing troop levels in our wars abroad while raising troop levels.

I Think Mark Kirk is Done, Right?

I thought Rep. Tammy Duckworth might win by thismuch given the kind of year it has been and because she has been fortunate in opponents. After all, she won her House seat in a contest against musket-grabbing Joe Walsh, whose best shot was "she buys clothes". (The actual hell?) And now she is facing Senator Mark "who actually likened President Obama to a drug dealer" Kirk, who just basically performed the dumbest possible self-own imaginable in a debate at the University of Illinois.

What she said: "There's been members of my family serving on my father's side since the American Revolution."

His comeback: "I had forgotten your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington."

She carefully said her father's side. She is a Daughter of the Revolution, and a veteran. She herself was wounded in combat. Mark Kirk probably should have known better than to challenge her known personal story.

But he basically just snapped and went "foreigner!" at her. That is really gross and not at all acceptable. I think he should lose by rather a lot now.

(Although I am reminded of what happened to Sen. Max Cleland. But 2002 feels like a very different time, somehow.)

UPDATE: hey, Mark Kirk's shop came out with a statement about his screw-up:

Yeah--consistent except that last bit. Also points deducted for continuing cheap shots. CYA grade? I give it a C-minus. (But you needed to bring your "A-game", Linus.)

Mark Kirk Might Have Metaphorically Ganked Himself

Sometimes, when someone uses a metaphor, they are taking a little poetic license, dressing up things a bit, just adding a dash of color to their wording. And on the other hand, especially in politics, metaphors remind us that words mean things. For example, when IL Senator Mark Kirk, who is challenged by Rep. Tammy Duckworth in a contest for his US Senate seat, compares President Obama to a drug dealer in a contorted metaphor about the Iran deal, it might be necessary to wonder what the hell he meant. Do drug dealers regularly pay ransoms for hostages, I wonder? Is there anything about securing the release of Americans from a hostile government that is particularly drug-dealerish? There isn't really any valid reason for his metaphor as such, except to paint the President as some kind of "thug" (hmm) because he doesn't care for his policies. I don't know how one pays hostage-takers ransom with their own money. That's not how ransom works is it?

This isn't a metaphor that is new with Kirk, anyway. AR Senator Tom Cotton described President Obama as behaving like a drug cartel. There's a lot wrong what Tom Cotton says about the Iran deal as there would be . Not sure how conducting foreign policy is a drug-dealing thing, but ok. I get that they feel some kind of way about the deal--but what the hell is up with calling Obama a drug-dealer?

Maybe they have an Obeezy for Sheezy problem with him. I don't know. Except maybe I do. This line of criminalizing, Un-Americanizing, Un-Christianinzing, has been going on for too long for observers not to gather what, exactly, is up with those kinds of comments.

But it is the jig, damn it. The jig is up. It's more than dogs that heard that one. Mark Kirk, if that is what you have left, it is a terribly bad raft to cling to.

Rep. Tammy Duckworth better win the hell out of this Senate race--because metaphors can hurt. They also reveal how one looks at things. And he's got this thing very wrong.