A Confederacy of Dunces

Good ol' Baghdad Bob. The former spokesperson for Saddam Hussein was a laugh riot during the closing days of the "liberation" of Baghdad. His amazingly inaccurate press statements were astounding, especially when one could see US military vehicles driving past while he insisted that Hussein's Klepto-Kakistocracy army was impregnable. It was comedy gold.

Bob came to mind listening to Republican defenses of Donald Trump, Jr. By now, we all know the basics of his email controversy; the thought that lingers is - what an idiot! No wonder Daddy Warbucks doesn't want to give up his business with a son like that in charge. And while no one is suggesting our own version of Uday and Qusay are guilty of perverted war crimes, they do not appear to be very bright.

Two examples of state crime families

Apples not falling far from the tree seems to be an apt analogy here. However, because his email includes wunderkind Jared Kushner - he who will reinvent government, resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, end the Opioid Epidemic and no doubt present a Cold Fusion formula to end carbon-related energy sources - one has to wonder if Trump Senior has a special knack for attracting outside dimwits as well as siring them. Yes, the very best ones: Flynn. Manafort. Gorka. Miller. DeVos. Perry. Pruitt. Price. Mulvaney. Spicer. Sanders. It's a real Murderer's Row for Team Dunning-Kruger.

Let's take a quick look at a few examples of White House Incompetence from the last week or so:

-- A couple of weeks before the vaunted G20 summit in Hamburg, the White House realized that it had not made any hotel reservations for Trump. When staff called, it discovered Hamburg hotels had been booked for months. Fortunately, the local Hamburg city government stepped in and provided a guest house for the President who is also a Hotel Magnate.

-- Because of this last-minute snafu, Melania Trump was geographically separated from the rest of the summit's spouses. She had intended to spend a day with them, but the guest house was surrounded by protestors, so she stay in by herself.

-- While representing the US at the summit, the President found time to tweet how "everyone here is talking about" Hillary Clinton advisor John Podesta and how he had "refused to give the DNC server to the FBI and CIA. Disgraceful!" Problem was this was entirely false, as Podesta reminded us all when he sent Trump a retaliatory tweet defining him as "our Whack-Job President." Comedy gold, again.

-- During a portion of the G20 Summit, Ivanka Trump sat in for her dad, next to China's Premier Xi. Yes, the President's daughter - not Secretary of State Tillerson or Treasury Secretary Mnuchin (who were in the room). This moment was memorialized by a Russian staffer photograph:

"Let's not talk about my sweat shops in China..."

-- Later, angered by the reaction to this situation, our President fired off this classy tweet:

-- To which, the vulgar and venal Ms. Clinton replied:

Chelsea Clinton 

✔@ChelseaClinton

Good morning Mr. President. It would never have occurred to my mother or my father to ask me. Were you giving our country away? Hoping not. https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/884378624660582405 …

• 546,772 likes

-- Hoo boy. Then there was the "Republic of China" moment. After meeting with People's Republic of China Premier Xi, the White House issued statements celebrating Trump's meeting. Except that Xi and his country were identified as Republic of China, which is Taiwan, sworn enemy of Xi's country. A little awkward, per usual in this White House.

-- Meanwhile, while the President was in Poland defending Western Civilization from Brown People, US nuclear plants were being hacked by Russia. This is pretty frightening stuff. But then again, we know Russian is capable of hacking lots of our things, like Elections. So, what did our President do when having a Mano y Mano with Vladimir Putin? He proposed an "impenetrable US-Russian Cybersecurity Pact." This was such a horrible idea that even Republican lawmakers blanched. He may as well have proposed an Anti-Terrorism alliance with ISIS, or an Anti-ICBM partnership with North Korea, or an Anti-Death-to-Satan agreement with Iran. 12 hours later, Trump pulled a 180, saying it couldn't happen. Sad.

These are just things that happened at the G20 Summit... there were plenty of other happenings that would fill the display cases of the future Trump Hall of Kakistocracy Fame. Just take a couple of minutes to enjoy Dana Milbank's astonished take upon coming back from a long vacation:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-is-no-rookie-mistake-the-trump-team-shouldnt-even-be-on-the-field/2017/07/11/058faec6-6679-11e7-8eb5-cbccc2e7bfbf_story.html?utm_term=.abda5b9e28e4

Yes, none of this is defensible. And surely the most distilled and cogent of analysis of the last week or so comes from an Aussie reporter. His two minutes of viral global fame begins right here:

It's difficult to conjure up a better rendering of our evolving national disgrace. Stalwart allies are shocked and amazed by this adminstration's intentions and ludicrous behavior. Perhaps the best representation for the international diplomats' public personas can be personified by our own Slovenian First Lady, as she realizes at the Inaugural that she has four years of this nonsense ahead of her:

Finally, regarding the dangers of playing with fire... John Brennan, the tough-as-nails former CIA Director, in Congressional testimony about falling under the influence of Russian meddling...

This is something to consider as we discover more and more individuals being justly tarred with the brush of Treason. As these individuals become revealed, remember Brennan's words. They are not smart people, or rather, they are people driven by baser instincts who went down the wrong path.