"An attack on our country... an attack on what we all stand for."

Kakistocracy, kleptocracy or encroaching autocracy? Why not all three? Let's take a slip on our banana republic's peel as we examine the dumb, the corrupt and the despotic.

 President Wandering Dick took exceptional umbrage the other night when he learned how the Department of Justice treated his consigliere/fixer, Michael Cohen. To Trump, the serving of these FBI search warrants on Cohen's office/home/hotel room was emblematic of all that is wrong with America, "an attack on what we all stand for." This is a great statement, one that begs the question, what do Trump and his sycophants stand for?

Today, Trump is preparing to pardon Scooter Libby, the four-time convicted felon and former VP Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff. Obstruction of Justice, Perjury, False Statements. You may remember him for his role in the 2003 "outing" of CIA covert field agent Valerie Plame, which led to her forced retirement and widespread danger/damage to her cultivated human assets and those of other agents like her. Trump is telegraphing to targets of the Mueller probe, "play ball with me and I will pardon you."

The Department of Homeland Security has announced it is compiling a database of journalists and "media influencers" under the moniker 'Media Monitoring Services'. It is "a plan to gather and monitor the public activities of media professionals and influencers and are enough to cause nightmares of constitutional proportions." Read on for how an American fascist state would begin its control of information:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michellefabio/2018/04/06/department-of-homeland-security-compiling-database-of-journalists-and-media-influencers/#65b0943a6121

In a move that caused severe whiplash among economists and foreign policy dweebs, Trump told Larry Kudlow (White House Director of National Economic Council) to get the US back into the TPP!! Yes, the same Trans-Pacific Partnership trade alliance that Trump demonized throughout his campaign ("a rape of our country") and then, four days into his Presidency, pulled out ("It's a fraud"). Most knowledgeable folk have always said it is a great way to manage China... but no one knows why we've had to go through a year of nonsense to get back to it! Meanwhile, China plows ahead!

The Opioid Crisis continues unabated. Jared Kushner was the original Opioid Czar, tasked to take down this scourge. But he has been too busy staying out of jail and securing loans from Middle East states for his troubled NYC office building. So Kellyanne "Alternative Facts" Conway has stepped in, and for someone supposedly well-versed in communication skills, she really stepped in it:

http://www.miamiherald.com/article206521084.html

She really is a schmuck: "Eat the ice cream, have the french fry, don't buy the street drug. Believe me, it all works out." Ha Ha, she is a wit, at least half of one.

For restaurant owners, the Trump Administration has your back! The Department of Labor and Office of Management and Budget have paved the way for owners to skim up to $640 million in tips from their workers! It's more of the Trickle-Up-To-The-1% Theory that the GOP loves...

https://bnanews.bna.com/daily-labor-report/mulvaney-acosta-override-regulatory-office-to-hide-tips-rule-data

The ongoing effort to Drain The Swamp has not lost steam! Most know about HUD Secretary Ben Carson's $31,000 office dining set, which he courageously explained as being the work of his wife, though he approved it. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke spent nearly $140,000 on three doorways. This from the guy who has travel cost issues, and loves to let people know he's at the office by having a special flag flown when he's there. Then there is Scott Pruitt...

Yes, Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, something he's been busy destroying while not abusing its budget. Who leased an apartment from a lobbyist for $50 a night (a smart spender!). Who spent millions for extensive 24-hour security personnel, a "Get Smart" phone booth in his office, and first-class air travel.

Who demanded that all his travel be booked through Delta Airlines so he could accumulate travel points at the expense of taxpayers. And who removed the whistleblower staffer who issued the report on all his very questionable expenses. On the other hand, progress against clean air/water and climate change mitigation continues.

And there is the resignation of John McEntee, Trump's personal aide, who was discovered having a vigorous and unhealthy appetite for online gambling and subsequent tax issues. But the President likes him, so the next day he was hired by Trump's 2020 Re-Election Campaign, along with serial wife-beater Rob Porter.

Here is a Rogue's Gallery of Deplorables for your consideration. Kevin Sabo, the official Department of Interior liaison with Congress, said some nasty things about the Parkland Massacre survivors (they are Nazis). He even suggested it was a False Flag event designed to rile up anti-gun sentiment. Ximena Barreto, deputy communications director at HHS (Health and Human Services), unhealthfully flogged the demented Pizzagate conspiracy theory, called Islam "a fucking cult", and suggested "African-Americans are way more racist than white people." She seems nice. Jon Cordova, also of HHS, used social media smears against Gold Star father Khizr Khan and others (he's been placed on leave). And John Gibbs, a senior advisor at HUD, spread more false conspiracy theories that Hillary Clinton's campaign was practicing child-sex-ring-Satanic rituals. Hoo boy!

Yes, President Trump truly hires the best people. Then there are the ones who are trying to get a new gig, or working to repair an image. Wendy Vitter is seeking a lifetime appointment as a US Federal Judge. Her remarks to the Senate Judiciary Committee raised a few eyebrows. She seemed to not agree with the landmark civil rights cornerstone of anti-segregation, Brown vs. Board of Education:

https://twitter.com/civilrightsorg/status/984135758440263702

She went further, dissembling over her previous remark that 150,000 females die each year because of Planned Parenthood:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/wendy-vitter-abortion-judge-trump_us_5ace68cfe4b06487677655eb?xjk

OK, she's a religious zealot. And a racist. But she's a strong Christian woman who is STILL married to former Senator David Vitter (R- Pervert), the guy who was outed by the DC Madam as a "john" who preferred sex wearing a diaper (ya can't make this stuff up) and may have a "love child" with another prostitute. She can forgive him, but not Planned Parenthood.

Then there is the legendary Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. People still speak of her early Sunday morning call to Anita Hill, nearly 20 years after Hill's testimony that Clarence was a big ol' perv. Since that failed attempt, Mrs. Thomas has been helming an ultra-conservative political advocacy group. Earlier this year she presented an award of "excellence" to James O'Keefe, the notorious video sting guy who was caught by The Washington Post trying to get them to publish a very fake story during the Roy Moore election. Recently, she volunteered a lovely tweet about Parkland Massacre survivor/student leader David Hogg:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/conservative-still-cant-stop-attacking-parkland-shooting-survivor-david-hogg?source=articles&via=rss

Weird stuff from a whole bunch of weirdos. The problem, of course, is that they are running the country. Many are just dumb. Some are motivated by our mendacious President to follow the corrupted path to Unrighteousness. And some are wannabe storm-troopers who loathe anyone perceived as getting something for nothing, particularly POC.

It's enough to really wonder about the future of the country. But then there are people like this, and the future doesn't seem so bleak:

Ladies and Gentlemen, for your consideration, Sally Yates and Preet Brahara, two real American heroes.

And we'll leave you with this bit of contemplation from the poet, Wendell Berry: