You called down the thunder. Well, now you've got it! ~~ Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp in "Tombstone"
The current occupant of the Oval Office is gloating about the firing of Andrew McCabe, the FBI Deputy Director who was going to retire tomorrow, a guy who spent over twenty years serving his country with the FBI. This puts McCabe's pension in jeopardy. I cannot begin to convey how much this infuriates and sickens me. The "president" has been bitching about McCabe for months, flat-out saying that he's partisan and part of some stupid deep state conspiracy to take him down. This is such a petty and vindictive action that it boggles my mind. Listen, I haven't seen the internal FBI report that recommended that McCabe be fired, so I don't know the whole story. But the timing of this absolutely smacks of attempting to silence a member of the intelligence community. Under normal circumstances, I don't doubt for a second that the FBI and DOJ would have said, "Hey, the guy is retiring, let's just let him retire and then issue a report saying that disciplinary action would have been taken if he had stayed on." But no. The "president" decided that McCabe had to go and pressured the spineless Attorney General Sessions to do the dirty deed. Sessions decided to toady up and try to save his own hide by doing the bidding of his boss. Woe to all who associate themselves with this toxic "president." You will be tainted forever and history will not be kind to you. There are bigger implications here. First, I don't think this will play well with anyone other than the "president's" rabid base. Most people will see someone who served his country honorably for over two decades and think that he got a raw deal. Second, the men and women of the FBI have seen some of the worst things and worst people in the world. They pursue them doggedly and do not rest until they see that justice is done. Does the "president" really think that they are scared of him?
Finally, and this is related to the second item, piss off the FBI at your own peril. The "president" has repeatedly questioned their integrity and honesty and seems to think that they owe him their loyalty. That's not how it works, idiot. These attacks against well-liked and well-respected members of the Bureau like James Comey and Andrew McCabe are going to backfire. The FBI will close ranks and protect each other and they will not let their reputation as the best law enforcement agency in the world be besmirched. Just like Comey, McCabe has memos and has turned them over to Robert Mueller. My BF in an alternate universe was none too happy and tweeted his response. But Wyatt Earp said it best.
And Windy has stormy eyes That flash at the sound of lies ~~ "Windy" by The Association
What an exhausting week. It's not that I've been physically stressed, or sick, or partying every night, or anything like that. I'm exhausted by the news cycle. While I'm heartened by the sight of hundreds of thousands of young people marching to protest gun violence (and look forward to marching with them on March 24th), I find myself tired of the constant drama coming from the White House. I miss No Drama Obama. So much. So I feel absolutely zero guilt in finding a sort of disgusted glee in the story of the "President" and the Porn Star, and I am cheering on Stormy Daniels every step of the way.
A few things: 1. I'm no fan of the porn industry and I think it demeans women and causes a skewed concept of sexuality that often genuinely harms women. But I'm not going to be super judgmental about it because whatever floats people's boats is okay with me, as long as it doesn't harm others. I don't think that is the case with the porn industry and I do think that it causes harm to others, but that is an ongoing debate and I'm not going to try to hash it out here. 2. Having said that, I like what I hear from Ms. Daniels. She knows who she is, she is comfortable with herself, she has a thick skin, and she is not taking crap from anybody. I don't know what her game is, whether she is looking to cash in, or what, but I say more power to her. She has been quite successful in her chosen field, and while it's not one that I would wish on any woman, it seems that she is a savvy businesswoman and I admire that. Kudos to her and her lawyer for keeping this story in the news. A masterclass in media manipulation. 3. I don't give a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut if the "president" has had affairs in the past. It is common knowledge that he has. It's not the most admirable trait in the world, but that's between him and his wife. What I DO care about is that he and his flunkies have actively worked to pay off, cover up, and sweep this under the rug. Such activities have left him open to extortion and blackmail, and I suspect that is what is behind much of the weirdness about Russia's influence. Finally, I care about the complete and utter hypocrisy of those people who said that Bill Clinton was incapable of doing a decent job because of his affairs. I was no fan of all of that but at least he was competent at what he did and he had the intellectual capacity to learn about what he didn't know. I am disgusted by those evangelicals who have embraced this "president" and give him a pass for this stuff. I dealt with years of guilt because of things I was taught to believe would send me on a one-way ticket to hell. Lying, cheating, cussing, drinking, stealing, smoking, dancing, premarital sex, gambling, listening to rock and roll...every freakin' thing that is halfway fun, and it was all hell-worthy. And here comes this happy asshole with his affairs and bankruptcies and shittiness towards POWs and the disabled and his cussing and they're like, "Oh, we LOVE you!" [flipping table over] It kind of makes me crazy. Hypocrites make me crazy. All I can say is, go Team Mueller and go Team Stormy!
