Gone Guys

Tales of the contentious relationship between Donald Trump and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly have circulated for the 16 months of Kelly's tenure.  That rumor-mill will now shut down; Mr. Trump announced today that General Kelly will be leaving the Administration by the end of the calendar year.

Just another case of history repeating itself.  Ask former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Cohen, Trump, and Longfellow

Michael Cohen had the book thrown at him today.  It was recommended by Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York that Cohen receive a significant jail sentence.  That recommendation arose because of Cohen's having committed election fraud on behalf of someone identified as Individual 1.

To make a long story short:

• Individual 1 is Donald Trump.
• The fraud in question centered on paying off Stormy Daniels and Karen MacDougall so that their tales of affairs with Trump did not damage his chances of election.

Why Longfellow?  It's poetic that a charge of this seriousness arises out of an aspect of Mr. Trump's behavior that I have always found particularly repulsive - his sexism and misogyny.

Voting Fraud

Claiming voting irregularities or illegalities is a trope much beloved of the far right.  But rightisimos in North Carolina have outdone themselves in this regard.

A Republican operative named Leslie McCrae Dowless has been identified as allegedly being the "brains" behind a scheme to collect absentee and other ballots, ostensibly so as to throw said ballots away.

From the Annals of Chutzpah

The classic definition of the Yiddish term chutzpah is this: a man murders both his parents, and then throws himself on the mercy of the court, because he is an orphan.

Lame-duck Republ8icans in Wisconsin rival that.  They've just passed, and (also lame-duck Republican) Governor Scott Walker has signed, legislation that will remove a number of powers from the incoming Democratic-dominated state government.

Gives new meaning to the term temerity ...

Stone Pleads the 5th

Yesterday, Roger Stone, in a ;letter to Diane Feinstein and the other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, stated he would rely on his 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination.

Relying on the 5th Amendment to our Constitution is sometimes analogous to pleading guilty to the charge or accusation in question.

Which makes it a strong possibility that:

• Roger Stone carried out any number of dirty tricks for the 2016 Trump campaign
• Roger Stone believes he'll be pardoned by Donald Trump

What neither Stone nor Trump may realize is that the 5th is not a panacea.  Taking the 5th can preclude the pleader's ability to avoid future accusations or potential prosecutions.  As can accepting a pardon ...

Both Mr. Stone and Mr. Trump therefore appear to be facing a Hobson's choice ...

Hitting for the Cycle

One of the things I love about baseball is its plethora of statistics and jargon.  In the latter context, hitting for the cycle means that one batter hits all of a single,a double,a triple, and a home run in the same game.

One might say that Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former fixer, is attempting an analog to that ...