Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Dark humor seems to be all we have left in assessing Donald Trump's behavior.  As in, heads in the Trump Administration keep on rolling.

Within minutes of my last post, I learned that Mr. Trump has fired another individual - Gordon Sondland.

Being part of the Trump Administration appears to have become even more likely to cost you your job, and even your head, than did being one of the six wives of Henry the Eighth.

40 Synonyms

By my count, that's how many means-the-same words merriam-webster comes up with for the adjective vindictive.

I'd say they all apply to Donald Trump.  Fresh from his victory lap in the East Room yesterday, Mr. Trump began exacting revenge on those who've spoken out against him. The man who reportedly claimed that he'd have the head of any Senator who ruled against him in his impeachment trial on a spike, today fired, and without prior notice had removed from the White House grounds, Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman.

Colonel Vindman's attorney had this to say.  The truth has cost Alexander Vindman his job, his career, and his privacy.  That truth also cost the Colonel's twin brother, another member of the Army, his job and career.

We've all come to expect guttersnipe behavior from the occupant of the Oval Office.  The chasm between that and the actions of an honorable man like Colonel Vindman becomes more evident daily.

Presidential Merde de Boeuf

When I was still in the classroom, I had the distinct pleasure of working with students from around the world.  That piggybacked with my being a language maven to cause me to collect phrases in as many languages as I could.  As part of that effort, I tried to learn to curse.  Hora refused to teach me to do so in Farsi, but Karim, one of my Moroccans, did clue me in to how to say in French what Donald Trump said today, on national TV, from the East Room of the White House.

I didn't get it quite that literally correct in the subject heading for this post.  But as always, Mr. Trump's behavior is in harmony with his language, and his use today of this very un-Presidential word.

Here's a transcript of his rant; read it and weep, keeping in mind that so much of what it contains is untrue.

Indeed a Profile in Courage

Despite saying he doesn't aspire to that appellation, Doug Jones earned it  today from the Senate.

Jones took the floor to describe in detail his reasons for voting to convict Donald Trump on both Articles of Impeachment.  Most telling, in my mind, was his statement that Senators are elected to make tough choices.

Let's see how many of his colleagues do so ...

Iowa Implodes

New England Town Hall Meeting ambience aside, yesterday's Iowa caucuses left a lot to be desired.  As old a campaign hand as David Axelrod criticized the management of the caucuses.

Across the political aisle, Donald Trump used that mismanagement as more fuel for his delusions of grandeur.  Trump put the blame on the Democratic Party of Iowa.  At the same time, he suggested he could repair the Iowa caucuses and their status as first in the nation during Presidential electoral cycles..

Mr. Trump said (capitalization and punctuation his)  It is not the fault of Iowa, it is the Do Nothing Democrats fault. As Long as I am President, Iowa will stay where it is. Important tradition!

We shouldn't be surprised that the about-to-be-annointed Autocrat in Chief doesn't recognize that the Constitution doesn't allow him such an action.  This will bite his buttocks big time, but each state establishes and manages its primaries or caucuses.  Only in the earliest days of our Republic, that is, before the adoption of the 12th Amendment to our Constitution, did the definition of how a president is chosen exist as part of Article II (beloved of Mr. Trump as allowing him to do anything he wants).

Deja Vu All Over Again

Many scholars and authorities believe::

• that whoever wins the Iowa Democratic caucus today will become the 2020 Democratic Presidential nominee
• that Donald Trump will go off the rails during his delivery of the State of the Union address tomorrow, and malign at least several of the Democrats in the audience in the well of the House
• that Trump will be acquitted on Wednesday in his impeachment trial in the Senate

History supports at least the first of these.  That point in turn supports the critical need for Democrats to flood the polls not only in November, but now, in the days between Iowa and California.  The race for the Democratic Presidential nomination might very well be over after March 3, 2020.

February 3:  Iowas Democratic Caucuses 

February 11: New Hampshire Democratic Presidential Primary

February 22: Nevada Democratic Caucuses

February 28:  South Carolina Democratic Presidential Primary

March 3: California Democratic Presidential Primary