Yes, he was. Anthony Kennedy was one of the unholy five justices so damned afraid Al Gore might have actually carried the state of Florida, as he carried the nation by a plurality of almost half a million votes, that they rammed through Curious George’s election the Constitution be damned. “Great cases, like hard cases,…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Donald Trump is sort of doing what Bill Clinton and Barack Obama should have done. Sort of.
Well, he is. Sort of. President Trump is recognizing that NATO has outlived its usefulness, seeing as the “Soviet Menace”, as we used to call it, disappeared, you know, almost thirty years ago, so we don’t have keep paying to defend Europe from a “threat” that doesn’t exist. Of course, cool, calm reflection and “reason’…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7BEAX0BLiw Francesco Cafiso Quartet—"In Walked Bud" Francesco Cafiso, sax; Marco Panascia, bass; Peter Van Nostrand, drums; Miki Yamanaka, piano. Posted by Luca’s Jazz Corner
Rod Rosenstein probably didn’t sign up for this. But what did he sign up for?
The New York Times has a long article, ”‘Shaken” Rosenstein Felt Used by White House in Comey Firing’”, by Michael Schmidt and Adam Goldman, that leaves me a little, you know, shaken but not stirred. Because what is the deal with Rod Rosenstein? Two weeks after being sworn in as deputy attorney general, Rosenstein writes…
George Will, a Conservative Who Actually Has a Conscience
I know I’m late with this, but nobility should never be ignored. George Will, whom I have almost endlessly berated in this blog for a good ten years, just hit one out of the park with a juicy little missive titled “Vote against the GOP this November”. So go read it.
Kim Zombik—“Ask Me Now”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wWVRbr6YRA Kim Zombik, vocal; Kate Wyatt, piano; Morgan Moore, bass; Martin Auguste, drums. Quartet: Off Jazz Festival 2014, Resonance Café, Montreal. Posted by Ted Strauss
#MeToo Comes for the Archbishop, and for Ross Douthat
A couple of weeks ago I pounded Mr. Douthat rather heavily, in a short piece titled Et tu, Ross? Aka “Catty Monday”, ridiculing the poor man for sighing over the faded plumage of the Catholic Church in a column he called “Make Catholicism Weird Again”, noting that “recently, all 34 Chilean bishops have offered to…
Political notes from all over
Maxine Waters is 1/536th as obnoxious as Donald Trump, Republicans admit Well, they would if they had any honor, which of course they don’t. Yes, Maxine has an affection for conspiracy theories, and, furthermore, she is a black chick who doesn’t act white, which in conservative circles is an unforgivable sin. Yo, Maxine! Get a…
Charles Krauthammer was a wonderful man and a shameless liar
If you want to read kind words about Charles Krauthammer, well, go ahead. By all accounts, in his private life Krauthammer was gracious and kind to everyone he met, regardless of their political convictions. But Charles isn’t famous for being a nice guy; he’s famous for being a political commentator, and as a political commentator…
Cory Lewandowski didn’t get the memo
Well, he didn’t. He didn’t get the memo saying that you should only make fun of adults with disabilities, rather than, you know, kids! In other words, this, not this. Frankly, it’s hard to blame Cory. I mean, if it’s okay to take kids away from their parents, why isn’t okay to make fun of…