Category Archives: Congress
Al Franken Reflection
Senator Al Franken says he won’t resign. Instead, he’s spending Thanksgiving in reflection.
Actually, I thought his staged grope gag was kind of funny. In a stupid 12 year old kind of way. True, Franken was 55 at the time. But maybe the joke is he’s not grabbing boobs. He’s grabbing a flak jacket.
Not that that makes it ok.
Nice flak jacket
And the snoozing Leeann Tweeden didn’t sign up to be a straight gal for a photo gag. No doubt it was humiliating.
Franken Reflection
Maybe Al is reflecting on Hot Lips Houlihan. A gag proving her natural blondeness was the big scene in Robert Altman’s iconic movie M*A*S*H. (Here’s the scene.) Now that would be humiliating.
But not so humiliating that feminist Alan Alda wouldn’t go on to star in the popular tv series based on the same movie.
As Harvey Weinstein said in his non-apology apology, you have to understand it was a different time:
I came of age in the ’60s and ’70s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then.
Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving!
Life and Times of Judge Roy Moore
Jailbait allegations persist against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore of Alabama. They say he chased teenyboppers in his thirties. He’s now 70.
A then high school senior claims she was pulled out of trigonometry class to take a phone call from him asking for a date. Another woman says she got him banned from a mall for for making “unwanted” advances. And another accuser says he tried to rape her when she was 16. He denied even knowing her. So she held up a high school year book he signed for her.
Roy Moore
Moore told Sean Hannity he “generally” did not date teens as an adult. The mall manager says he never banned Moore from the mall. And the judge’s lawyer implied the yearbook signature is a forgery.
By the way, Saudi women get to drive next year.
Flake Wouldn’t Rather Fight Than Quit
Republican Jeff Flake gave a speech on the Senate floor condemning the behavior of President Trump. He called him reckless, outrageous and undignified. Trump responded, “Yes, and your point is?” Just kidding.
Flake’s Republican colleague, Senator Bob Corker, chimed in on his own that Trump “debases the country”.
Finally, Flake called out Trump, “Mr. President, I rise today to say, enough. We must dedicate ourselves to making sure that the anomalous never becomes the normal.”
Then he quit.
Assignment Niger
Last week most of the media focused on an Empty Barrel in a sequined cowboy hat criticizing President Trump’s call to comfort a war widow. But Reason.com wanted to know why we have troops in Niger. Good question.
Niger
It turns out the U.S.military is stretched all over the place trying to fill vacuums before Islamic extremists do the same. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford says there are about 800 American troops in Niger and 6,000 overall in in Africa.
Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Meet the Press,”I didn’t know there were 1,000 troops in Niger”
Insurance Companies’ Very Bad Week
Last week President Trump issued an executive order rolling back President Obama’s executive order to subsidize insurance companies. The subsidies reimburse the companies for reducing certain out-of-pocket expenses to policy holders.
The only problem is Congress refused to appropriate money for the subsidies. So Obama whipped out his pen and phone and and started spending the money anyway. And Trump continued that practice. But a federal district court judge says that’s illegal.
Insurance Companies’ Very Bad Week
This week two Republican senators, Tom Cotton and Pat Toomey, introduced a bill to to partially end the individual mandate, no longer requiring some people to buy health insurance.
Yesterday two more Senators, Republican Lamar Alexander and Democrat Patty Murray, made a deal to keep the subsidies alive. Trump said nice things about it last night but withdrew support today.
Time.com tries to explain what’s going here.
