I have mentioned before my fondness for Juanita Jean, The World’s Most Dangerous Beauty Shop. It’s the blog Molly Ivins would have authored had she lived into the blog era.
I want to share a recent post in its entirety. It’s amusing–but like most of Juanita Jean’s observations, it’s also pretty profound.
Remember back last summer when Trump took away John Brennan’s security clearance? Brennan says he hasn’t heard from anybody about anything officially notifying him that his pass had been revoked, so maybe …
Yep. Trump never did it. Brenna still has a full clearance because …
But the White House never followed through with the complex bureaucratic work it would have taken to strip the clearance, according to a person familiar with the process.
Okay, you get to pick: lazy or stupid.
I’m going with the hybrid – too dumb to find out how but also too lazy to follow through even if they did find out how.
Trump doesn’t care about accomplishing anything. He just wants headlines.
Anyone who has followed this administration can attest to the accuracy of this observation. For most of us, the first impulse is to bemoan the fact that we have a President with a very limited intellect who clearly knows nothing about the job he was accidentally elected to do.
I have a different reaction: relief.
I’ve noted before that when Trump is sued for doing something that violates the law, or is otherwise stupid or damaging, he almost always loses. This is because he–and the Keystone Kops with whom he has surrounded himself–rarely know what the hell they are doing, and even more rarely follow the rules that govern policy change.
Think about this: Virtually everything the Trump Administration tries to do is wrong, damaging, corrupt, unAmerican and (often) incredibly stupid.
Can you imagine how bad it would be if this crew was competent? (Think of the incredible damage Mitch McConnell has done to American democracy, because he’s both evil and good at what he does.)
Thank God they are–to repeat Juanita Jean’s accurate observation-too dumb to learn and too lazy to follow through even if they did.
But they sure are good at packing the courts with right wing tea party wack jobs
Thank God Trump is not a masquerading Christian, but an obvious sociopath.
McConnell is a sociopath. Trump is a liar and incompetent.
These titles could be cast upon many in Washington, D.C. because they are skills in demand for minimal survival. Moral people wouldn’t last a month. They have the title public servant but we need the title changed to Donor servant. But they convince themselves and others they are doing the people’s work.
Not having a conscience comes in handy in the game of politics. 😉
Someday, if not in our lifetime on this blog, the heroes and heroines of Deep State will be at last recognized for their quiet noble resistance to preserve tenants of the democratic republic.
McConnell and his evil cohorts recognized pretty quickly that trump was going to be the perfect prez for them to pack the courts.
Trump has been allowing McConnell to get away with so much damage in the Senate, including refusing to move any House Bills, that it has been like Christmas every day for him. The evil turtle and his prez even love to claim that the House, “led by the lazy Dems”, has been doing nothing.
Unfortunately, Fox Noise fans continue to believe the fake stories that they are fed.
This is what worries me so much. The far right propaganda mill is so skilled at what they do. They have used fear to both entrap and motivate their followers. I don’t know how we can fight that propaganda. It works so much better than the truth.
It seems that the only way to bring out the sensible voters would be to motivate them with the fear that if they don’t make the effort to vote this time that things really truly could get much much worse than they already are.
Nancy, it’s not that the right wing propagandists are so skillful, it’s that the consumers of their tripe are so gleefully ignorant.
Nancy,
“It seems that the only way to bring out the sensible voters would be to motivate them with the fear that if they don’t make the effort to vote this time that things really truly could get much much worse than they already are.”
Absolutely right. But you have to prove it “beyond a reasonable doubt.” That’s coming from an ex-state and federal prosecutor.
The competence issue is EXACTLY why we should fear Pence much more. This is also the case with the new head of Interior; the former was just a buffoon; the new guy has deep skills to do the dirty work.
Yes, all this is probably true. These idiots ARE Keystone Kops. HOWEVER, John Bolton and company are plenty competent at starting wars. With Pompeo mouthing still more unsubstantiated rubbish and being Bolton’s mouthpiece for war with Iran, I’ll bet all of you a cup of coffee that they are competent enough to get people killed by the thousands.
That phony sonofabitch will get us into another endless war because he needs the distraction from his pathetic politics, the scandals and the real law enforcement people coming down on his head. They couldn’t pack the courts with Trump criminals fast enough.
Todd,
“McConnell is a sociopath. Trump is a liar and incompetent.”
Trump is a LIAR and an INCOMPETENT SOCIOPATH. Don’t defend him.
In normal times Trump would have remained a brand name sucked up to by people who hoped that the wealth that he keeps his name in lights by advertising was real and would rub off on them only to find out that he would suck them dry and throw their empty carcasses on the trail of trash that follows him.
These are not normal times. The republic is under attack by make more money now regardless of the impact on any others ever. Trump is now the orange flag of dying times where white men ruled the world and more money was their religion. He’s the death rattle of the past.
We need to move on. The future is on us and we have to choose between fighting reality or accepting it. First we have to find our purpose and our unity.
President Agent Orange and Pastor Pence Regime are masters of marketing. The Trumpter’s probably cheered when President Agent Orange announced Brennan’s clearance was being revoked as proof the Deep State was being attacked. It is immaterial to the Trumpter’s if it actually happened, President Agent Orange said it would and for one or two days it dominated the news cycle, which in the scheme of President Agent Orange is all that mattered.
Since the Trumpter’s believe with fervent passion in President Agent Orange – Brennan’s clearance was revoked because he said it. Alternate reality triumphs.
We should not be popping the Champagne Cork’s simply because, ” I’m going with the hybrid – too dumb to find out how but also too lazy to follow through even if they did find out how.”
We are only beginning to find out there may have been a cozy relationship between the FAA and Boeing. We would not want some safety regulations to hinder or slow down profits. How many of our other Agency Watch Dogs through the years have been compromised by “Corporate Moles” in the FDA, FCC, EPA, IRS, Justice Department or SEC???
The Flint Michigan water scandal should have never happened – It did. Can be we be reassured today it will not happen again??? Did Congress react with new laws and regulations?? Not that I have heard.
Yes, but that incompetence , and I’d call it gross incompetence, has resulted in some very damaging things, actually chilling things, that have happened and are happening in the foreign policy arena. There may be a tolerable but maddening margin for grossly stupid errors of omission and commission when it comes to Trump’s moves in domestic policy and day-to-day White House station keeping area but in foreign policy and national security policy arenas they could end up being far worse.
We have not had, for example, an actual Secretary of Defense for over six months and in the absence of one Messrs. Bolton and Pompeo have orchestrated a ever growing confrontation with Iran, something the previous SECDEF Jim Mattis advocated strenuously against. NATO is in tatters as are our alliances in the North Pacific and, added to all of that, the possibility of an open cyber-war with Russia. The abject stupidity in those realms continue to go unchecked and the potentially grave risks we run each and every day continue to increase in both severity and in number.
While I agree with the hybrid description of this Administration it is in no way any form of consolation. The margin for error remains small across the board.
Experiencing relief at Devious Don’s ineptitude is like waking up from a traffic accident (one repeated daily) to find you are still alive but in so much pain that you are not particularly pleased to have made it back to consciousness. At the behest of a criminal soul, ineptitude can cause as much damage as evil intent . Some speculate that Dopey Don doesn’t really want a war with Iran, but if his reelection prospects are improved by starting one, he is unlikely to hesitate. We know for a certainty that black bags filled with the bodies of of young soldiers coming home to Dover won’t bother him in the least, and that he will frame any efforts at resistance as a the Democratic plot or a journalistic scam.
I’m not a big Beto fan, but to his credit he raises America’s penchant for perpetual war more than any Democratic competitor. Why is killing people such an attractive pastime for American presidents? Since Trump is deeply confused about who he is and what he thinks, a little jolt from Bolton or Pompeo (after a bad presidential burger) could prove sufficient to trigger his bellicosity. America and Iran will suffer incomprehensible loss, but the Trump family will prosper even more.
Iran cannot directly attack us any more than Iraq or Afghanistan could, but if they cause us to spend three or four trillion on a pointless war, it could prove to be a form of assisted suicide for the American economy. Not to mention that it will cripple our ability to respond appropriately to Russia and China on the world stage. In other words, like speed, stupidity can kill, and its victims are not known in advance.
Dopey devious delusional demented Don hasn’t a clue about doing his job and like his business dealings is hoping that he can fake his way through it by bobbing and weaving and lying at a rate hitherto thought to be humanly impossible. He has zero redeeming traits.
Can enough of us agree on a replacement for him and Mitch to end this debacle in 2020?
Pete,
There are more each day answering our call. McConnell is currently polling in the 20% range in Kentucky.
I have no sense of relief over the appearance of incompetence in this presidency. I think most of his aims are self promoting behind the scenes, and the daily non-sense is to keep the spot-light off of their true intentions. Announcing Brennan’s security clearance removal, while we find out later, Jared Kushner was given one against policy regulations. That’s frightening! There are so many red flags flying around this White House!
in china,the first two pages of every newspaper is about Xi. now, if we did that, trump would have a wet dream in his old age. funnier,when hes booted to the curb after his reign, two pages of criminal complaints ,and his forfietures and time to spend in the greybar hotel..
hey,im dreamin,right?
In the meantime…” One of the hottest locations in Pakistan, the city of Jacobabad, hit at least 100 degrees F (37.8 C) on all but two days in May. And the scorching temperatures have continued this month. Every day in June has been above 100 degrees so far for the city, which kicked off the month with a sweltering 124 degrees (51.1 C) on June 1 and 2. This peak in temperature was 4 degrees shy of Pakistan’s all-time national high of 128.3 degrees F (53.5 C), and 3 degrees shy of the city’s record high. ” – Accuweather
“South Texas Heat Wave Sets June Record, Pushes Heat Index to 128 Degrees” The Weather Channel
“Dry heat is expected to persist for the first half of the week as a heat wave rolls through the Bay Area.
Temperatures are likely to peak Monday, when thermostats could exceed 100 degrees in parts of the North, East and South Bay valleys, according to the National Weather Service.
Record-high temperatures were tied or exceeded Sunday in downtown San Francisco and at San Francisco and Oakland airports, as well as in Half Moon Bay and Monterey, the National Weather Service said.” – SFChronicle
“Temperatures leap 40 degrees above normal as the Arctic Ocean and Greenland ice sheet see record June melting” – WaPo
These head lines and quotes are just the tip of the iceberg (pun intended). National security will be compromised in ways unknown.
When temperatures get above 120 degrees F., humans are not able to be productive in any way. People are dying by the hundreds from the heat in India and Pakistan.
All while we are distracted by the machinations of the incompetent and willfully ignorant.