URLs du Jour

2017-06-09

Proverbs 25:19's simile is a slight improvement over the previous verse's:

19 Like a broken tooth or a lame foot
    is reliance on the unfaithful in a time of trouble.

I'm pretty sure Trump relied on this insight in his firing of James Comey.

■ We looked yesterday at the heavy-breathing excitement with which some Democrats are greeting the news that Caroline Kennedy might run for political office. Without mentioning Sweet Caroline, Matt Welch looks at the dynastic thinking on the Blue Team: Chelsea Clinton and the Democrats' Dullard Dynasty.

Like former first lady Michelle Obama, whose name has also been whispered fervently by would-be queenmakers, Chelsea Clinton could exist as a hypothetical candidate only in a party that has run out of both ideas and talent. Surely there are more interesting politicians in this country of 320 million than rich, platitude-spewing amateurs with drearily famous last names.

Republicans had the Bushes, of course.

■ Dan McLaughlin writes at NR: Comey Wasn’t Investigating Trump — But Look Who Said He Was. It's a looong list. Conclusion:

Trump is not in the clear after today: His actions in leaning on Comey over the Michael Flynn investigation were plainly improper, to pick the clearest example. But in light of Comey’s repeated confirmation that the FBI was never investigating Trump during his tenure at the FBI, and that he had privately briefed both Trump and Congress to that effect, a whole lot of people — starting with Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren — owe President Trump an apology.

I would not advise anyone to hold their breath awaiting those apologies.

■ Also at NR, Jonah Goldberg was unmoved from his previous positions by yesterday's events: Comey Testimony Confirms Trump Is Still His Own Worst Enemy.

According to Comey, Trump believed the Russia investigation was a “cloud” over his presidency, preventing him from making great “deals” for America. Democrats and the media, desperate to explain away Hillary Clinton’s humiliating defeat, surely deserve their fair share of blame for that cloud. But no sensible person can deny that Trump — with his obsessive tweeting and aphasic outbursts — has done almost everything he can to make that cloud thicker and darker than necessary. It’s like he had a fog machine installed next to his giant TV.

Trump does not have Presidential instincts. As Jonah says: he's "an amateur, a bumbler and, very often, his own worst enemy."

■ Janice Brown got "hate you" mail. Why? Because, 11 years ago, she named her blog Cow Hampshire. She responds in Cow Hampshire Revisited.

In the case of New Hampshire, it is a fabulous place to live. Folks with a “want to be better than you” envy have trouble finding serious reasons to criticize us. Those are the ones doing the derogating. Grasping at udders they use a benign nickname to evoke a heated response. The less informed, the insecure and the hostile-prone will always get offended by name calling. We should view ‘Cow Hampshire’ as a constructive and progressive term.

I left a comment at Janice's blog: she's correct to have been unmooved by this terrabull criticism.


Last Modified 2017-06-09 9:57 AM EDT