It’s been a typically confusing and exasperating week in the news biz. Dismayed Democrats are having to deal with the ongoing embarrassment of administration missteps and the return of dethroned “member” of Congress, Anthony Weiner to the political spotlight. Weiner just refuses to stay down, and began an uphill battle to become New York City’s top hot dog.
Meanwhile, the vultures are circling the Justice Department. Embattled Attorney-General Eric Holder might have skirted mini-scandals like Fast and Furious, but when he decided to take on the wags and wonks of the national media, he really stepped into a steaming pile of indignation. It didn’t matter that the object of his investigation was an employee of much-despised Fox News, the press will take care of their own. It looks like Eric’s days are numbered, now that the New York Times and Washington Post have jumped on the bandwagon to the gallows. (And thanks to the reader who sent this entertaining bumpersticker. In this crazy world, who knows? It could happen!)
Meanwhile, Congressette and failed Presidential wannabe Michele Bachmann announced that she would not grace the halls of the capitol after her current term expires. The Tea Party and editorial cartoonists are in mourning, but can look forward to seeing her at her next speaking tour at the nearest Grange Hall.
In world news, 500 people were killed in Iraq during the month of May, and many others died in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and of course, Syria. The EU and Russia are gearing up for an arms race to hasten the carnage in Syria. It is preferable to let them murder each other rather than send in peacekeepers, unless you happen to live in Israel.
In France, touted as a progressive nation, hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest gay marriage. Who’da thunk it?
In Belarus, a sixty-year-old fisherman was killed by an angry beaver, which shredded his leg like a sapling aspen. Beavers are making a big comeback in the former Soviet Republic, and citizens who used to live in fear of a knock on the door must now deal with rodents gnawing through it.
Closer to home, Nevada City is locked in a battle with the goons from CALPERS, who insist that the City can their part time city manager and police chief so they can get more money for their ailing pension fund. Now readers know that I have little sympathy for overbearing state mandates, but I have to say that much of the problem is of the City’s own making. Nevada City has always been proud of their no-growth policies, and to insulate themselves from sprawl they have worked to surround the village with open space. As a result, any downturn in the tourist economy throws their budget into chaos. Still, the residents want their own Barney Fiefdom, rather than sub it out to the Sheriff’s Department to save money. Maybe the newly installed sales tax will save them, if the economy continues to recover. We’ll see…
If former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, famous for “hiking the Appalachian Trail” while having an extramarital affair as the governor, can get elected to the House of Representatives, I wouldn’t be surprised if Weiner could rise to the occasion as well and become the next mayor of NYC. Sleaze doesn’t have a monopoly on any political party. Sleaze seems to be an equal opportunity “agent provocateur”.
Weiner/Holder 2016? Let’s not suffer from a Premature election unnecessarily.
Holder weiner has a nice ring to it.
Her fellow members will miss Michele. It’s always useful to have one crazy person in Congress so the other mediocrities look good by comparison.
Here’s some more news that will give you fits, courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
Our very own Doug LaMalfa collected almost $63,000 in farm subsidies last year, making him second among the 15 members of Congress who received subsidies. A spokesman says Doug opposes the program, but apparently cashed the check.
Meanwhile, he joined his fellow Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee to cut food stamps and nutrition programs by $20 billion over the next 10 years. I wonder how many people in his district will be impacted by this.
Finally, a style note. The Journal ran a picture of LaMalfa talking to a colleague in what appeared to be a Congressional hearing room. Doug was wearing his cowboy hat.
Some people might get the impression he’s a rube representing a bunch of hicks.
All rice, no cattle.
Saw a cartoon of Michele Bachmann leaving as a gang of people begged her not to abandon them. Political cartoonists.
Please tell me we can just go to bed and pull the covers over our heads and this will all go away. It’s working for a large proportion of the American public, isn’t it? At least it appears that way.