Bolton versus Putin...

John Bolton wants war with Iran, a notional conflict I am sure he defines as a cakewalk (he is wrong it'll be Iraq x 10 but who listens to me huh?), so of course the President he serves uses Block Capitals to Threaten Tehran on Twitter.
On the other hand, Putin doesn't want war with Iran since he is doing a land office business with said regime so it comes down to which puppeteer controls the Trump_Strings long enough to implement their cherished policy?  My money is on Putin, he has something perfectly appalling on Trump to compel such disgusting groveling behavior from the President  at Helsinki.
The constitution advises impeachment for "high crimes and misdemeanors" but nowhere does it mention the unique circumstance of a US President being him or herself a self destructive menace to national security. I suppose the implied corrective is the 25th Amendment, but Pence et al, don't have the guts to pull the trigger on option otherwise they'd a tossed Trump out somewhere around the time of the "stable genius" kerfluffle.
Which brings us back to Square One, which is pretty much where we always are with Trump, as for war with Iran I doubt it'll come off, so far with all his threats and tirades in chronological order the only persons he's successfully managed to hurt are unarmed parents and children at our southern border. North Korea still has Nukes, China is doing business world wide and Iran will likely abide for better and or worse.

The Boston Sunday Globe's Idea of Voter Suppression...

is to run a big frontpage article exhaustively detailing Governor Charlie "Lumpy" Baker's allegedly liberal record and contrasting it with the paleo-conservatism that characterizes the rest of the GOP.
And it is true, that the legislature has had some success imposing liberal policies on this admin (nowhere near enough IMHO but I digress), but its plainly oblivious that Baker would himself be a far more conservative governor if the legislature didn't bird-dog him.
In other words that may give Baker the pleasing appearance of moderation and liberal impulses but it also means you have to watch him every second.
Just remember Charlie likes his spreadsheets to add up to "privatization" whether or not he can impose said policy or not.
Nope, the Globe ran this piece largely to reconcile moderates, marginal democrats and independents to Baker's presumed apoetheosis in November and to make it that much more difficult for democrats to activate their base.
And all because the Globe continues to collectively delude itself there is a moderate strain of voters in the GOP who can be appealed to, and negotiated with...
And Morrissey Boulevard will go on believing that right up to the moment when they are all arrested and deported to a Labor Camp in the Northeastern Kingdom of Vermont.

"Why Die for Montenegro?"

Or so The President seemed to imply in a recent interview where he literally thought that Montenegro's innate aggressiveness could easily drag NATO into World War III.
Well two things have been on display with Trump for the last week or so, his visceral hatred for NATO (how he'd love to tweet out some provocation that would leave the alliance on the high road to annihilation) and his odd preference for the tyranny of Vladimir Putin.
Donald Trump is in some ways the creature of the corrupt falangist intellectuals who are skilled enough to stroke his fragile ego. In the case of his NATO animus Trump is more or less advocating a world of racially homogenous homelands that somehow compete and somehow cooperate with all the innate integrity of New York Real Estate Developers.
Its a crazy idea, courtesy Steve Bannon mostly but it is Trump's entirely utopian alternative to NATO.
As for Putin, well, Trump and his worst and most bloodthirsty supporter like the Russian Dictator because he is exactly the sort of violent homophobic reactionary autocrat THEY wish they could install in the USA.
Another utopian notion, albeit and dark one...but there you have it No NATO and a US Autocrat thats the New Vision to paraphrase William Blake. My only question is, what the hell is it like to have rational opponents?
I think I've forgotten.

It goes without saying that

Regardless of the President's "walkback" yesterday, Vladimir Putin has been openly and officially encouraged to interfere as much as he likes in US elections, I GUARANTEE YOU the Kremlin will pile in with both feet this fall. The States need to be prepared, I am sure there is a lot of things the Russians didn't do in 2016 that they'll happily enact now thansk to Trump's craven unmanly endorsement in Helsinki.
Putin's goals here are simple stark & profound, destroy the US's international leadership by wrecking the electoral system beyond repair, assisting in keeping outright kleptocrats in power and helpfully reduce the USA to a powerless international blusterer.
Its an ambitious plan, the very dream of Joseph Stalin but Putin seems closer than ever to achieving it, its a well played hand by Putin believe me. All the more astonishing when you consider Russia's meagre GDP and moribund economic/technological development.
The sad thing is, we aren't confronted by overwhelming odds, we are LETTING it all happen to us, it can be stopped and stopped quickly but certain political cadres have to make sacrifices and put the USA's constitution, bill of rights and sovereignty first and foremost.
Its not always "America First", but it is Always, "Freedom First".

Of the President's "Press Conference" in Helsinki

Yesterday I'll only add that Vladimir Putin's smirk of triumph was a mile wide and hundred feet deep, I have to give the Russian despot credit, he presides over a corruption ridden GNP comparable to Italy and yet he has played his hand effortlessly, the man makes the Medici look like a bunch of Teachables.
But as has been said elsewhere, the crisis is upon us, we must get Trump Out of the Oval Office, he is compromising the Nation and selling out our security openly and serenely every hour he is perpetuated along the Potomac.
Sadly, I see little resistance in congress to any of this, part of this is "partisan gridlock" some of it is the proliferation of rotten boroughs which literally insulates dozens of US Representatives from the consequences of....democracy...a lot of it is cowardice, corruption and sheer bad luck.
We MAY get an "accountability moment" this fall, then again we may not....if any of us survive as sovereign citizens until 2020 then I think someone ought to gin up a deliberate and well financed third party challenge to President Trump. Such a project requires a credible candidate who can sell himself as a Reasonable Alternative to Republican Voters. This candidacy is built on a somewhat cynical ploy it'll be withdrawn only IF the GOP declines to renominate Trump...which means we need two credible conservatives with the balls to buck the GOP's cult of incumbency "Bobby Kennedy Style".
I doubt they can...just as I doubt congress as presently constituted can act...but if something doesn't happen soon my own particular concept of self sovereignty comes into play and that may well force an unprecedented confrontation out there, "off screen" and "off script".

"The Kingdom of the Two Wallaces"

You can conceptualize Donald Trump as possibly the USA's Most Successful Third Party Candidate for President. Indeed his whole approach to the 2016 election, his rhetoric, his relationship with the GOP is reminiscent of a spoiler insurrectionist third party candidacy, one that actually won.
Indeed Trump embodies the entirely contradictory political ethos of no less than TWO famous third party presidential aspirants!  The President's foreign policy literally apes Henry Wallace's 1948 Progressive Party Fiasco, right down to opposition to NATO, attacks on the FBI and a mystic naive' belief in the Good Intentions of Stalin's Russia.  Meanwhile Trump's domestic policy is George Wallace's 1968 American Independent Party with all it's racial resentments, authoritarian tropes and white working class warfare intact.
Therefore The President is an incendiary & an insurrectionist, those are the wellsprings of his politics "Third party rebellion" its neither liberal or even conservative in nature, its just that conservatives are at the moment better served by his policies and therefore enable Trump as best they can.
Destruction & Rebellion are a political ideology unto itself, it rarely climbs into power in a democracy, but when it does really nothing but bad things happen.  Sooner or later though, it is ejected from power, but only after a great deal of mindless needless suffering.
Remember that "We Must Be Equal to Our Times".

I could almost feel bad for UK PM Theresa May

she looks perfectly miserable standing next to Donald Trump at all their events in London...and indeed why shouldn't she?
She is bound by referendum to preside over "Brexit" the UK's fabled departure from the EU, a policy she AND a majority of the electorate know will be a catastrophe when implemented.  Trump is treating her quite openly as a retarded stepchild, she can expect no worthwhile trade deal with the USA with Trump in charge thus her open promise to the citizenry seems to be "chaos, well managed".
And lets face it, the woman's main political talent seems to be stitching together rickety coalitions by which to survive another six months in power....Eduard Deladier seems to be her best and only true leadership inspiration.

And hell she looks uncomfortable as hell in that posh frock...like she realizes that one more rash tweet from Trump and her government will fall before sundown.

Putin must be chuckling...

With Trump trying his level best to bust up NATO, the Russian Tyrant is one step closer to his own Personal Iron Dream of painlessly recovering Mother Russia's Lost Belt of "Buffer States" (Poland, Romania, the Baltic States etc).
Its axiomatic that the US President's Actions are those of a Russian Asset, whether he is being blackmailed or coopted is immaterial at this point, Trump must be stopped.
Sadly, the only thing that permits Trump to persist on this suicidal course is the continuing willingness of the GOP majority in congress to enable him. Partly this is out of fear of his maniacal hold on the party base (truly has any majority in congress feared their own voters so much as the current GOP??) and partly out of a bad Faustian bargain the GOP has struck with Trump to put up with his antics as long as he cuts taxes and deregulates and appoints Falangists to the Judiciary.
Except now, to get all those wonderful gifts, they've got to sacrifice NATO and aggrandize Russia as well. So far they seem reluctantly willing to allow this...I know it's sad, but also funny to me personally since I spent the first thirty five years of my life being called a Commie by those same enabling, boodling conservatives.
Mind you this is all perpetuated by a minority of voters, the majority, who are not silent but simply not being represented, are entirely opposed to all this shit.  They need to be heard from, they need to vote they need to end some careers in DC before those careerists in DC do nothing as democracy goes the way of the Pteradactyl in the USA.

Brett Kavanaugh is Trump's nominee for

For Judge Anthony Kennedy's soon to be vacant seat on the US Supreme Court...personally I think of. Kvanaugh as "Trump's own Harriet Myer",  loaded up as he is with backroom skullduggery involving the appearance of a deal with Justice Kennedy and some allegedly chicanery involving that same Justice's son and his own business dealings.
So yeah...Harriet Myer Returns, except sheer shame and indignation probably WON'T keep Kavanaugh (a labor bashing sumbitch straight out of the Bush White House's Infamous Ideological Fever Swamp) off the Court. Of course the big irony at the moment is the McConnell et al warned Trump AGAINST nominating Kavanaugh as it was felt the Judge was insufficiently homicidal towards precedent and rule of law....don't worry he has the rest of his miserable life to put us all behind barbed wire Mitch...

Great...

Now I've got conservative pundit George F. Will on my side...we're bound to win now. He joins swelling ranks of Never Trumpers that include everyone from Kim Kardashian to Lynda Carter, Caesar's Tenth Legion to be sure....
George Will is such a priggish mealy mouthed little stiff it seems hard to believe to me at least that he wouldn't sell out his pseudo puritanism for a ludicrous tax cut and some delicious wing nut Golems on the Supreme Court. But he isn't...and thats my point, even he has a red line he won't go beyond.
I suppose that should be made clear.
But if he is willing to take that sort of a risk, Will may has well go "whole hog" and gin up a conservative third party challenge to Trump. If George & his ilk really wants to damage the President's prospects that might be the best and quickest way. It'd have to be a credible challenge from a fundraising and candidature standpoint but I'm sure someone can be found. I'd even up the ante, said candidate (say oh I dunno Bill Weld maybe or maybe Jingle Money Swift) could go on the record as declining to run IF the GOP does not renominate Trump.
If said candidate could somehow track into the double digits thats bad news for Trump out in the Heartland and elsewhere...its exactly the sort of hardball move that would drive The President  Crazy...Think About It George.

Scott Pruitt resigns from the EPA...

but what they don't tell you is that VP Pence had to go over to Pruitt's office and count the silverware...oh and Jared Kushner had to make sure the Office Supplies Closet wasn't looted.
For that fact, send Don Junior out to make a sweep of the local pawnshops....although Donnie is reputedly so stupid he'll likely come back completely penniless save for a handful of "magic beans"...

:)

This is what happens when Barbarians are elected, anyone feel safe yet?

Happy Independence Day

Just remember when a lone protester climbed up onto the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty to protest the excesses of I.C.E., dozens of police descended on her, Staties, Park Rangers NYPD you name it...that woman caused the whole island to be evacuated.

Just remember this, when Armed Nazis decided it's be fun to demonstrate in front of the Beth Israel Congregation in Charlottesville VA, the rollers couldn't be bothered to show up....

Poor Alan!

Attorney Alan Dershowitz is in a lather, apparently the Jet Set is cutting him Dead on Nantucket due to his loud (and slightly inexplicable) defense of Donald Trump in the Public Prints.
Y'know I feel for Alan, no one wants to feel invisible, unloved or unwanted...take me for example I'm being laid off in three short weeks from My Big Box Corporate Employer.  Truly there is NO ONE more Invisible, Unwanted & Unloved than a fifty five year old man trying to start over in this economy, The Boston Globe insists that it may take me eighteen months to get reestablished, IF I EVER get reestablished.
So feel for Poor Alan out there alone on Nantucket, Sandcastles for One is a Lonely Business Indeed.