A chill in the air

 Yesterday was Constitution Day but you wouldn't know it by my little pocket calendar from Disabled American Veterans (www.dav.org).  In September they recommend flying the flag on the second (VJ Day), the sixth (Labor Day) and the eleventh (Patriot Day?), and also advise about Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, POW/MIA Recognition Day and Gold Star Mother's Day.  The Constitution of the United States, signed  in 1787 by delegates from every state but Rhode Island, gets no more recognition than Talk Like a Pirate Day, which I had to pencil in myself.  (Sunday the nineteenth, shipmates.)  So relations between the military and civil authorities have always been a bit strained, despite half a dozen generals ending up in the White House.  When Mark Milley testifies before Congress next week we may learn more about this vexed question, especially if you hit <mute> when a Republican starts talking.

Have nominal allies ever gone to war over "unacceptable behavior"?  That sounds like somebody got drunk at an embassy party and dropped caviar down the ambassador's cleavage.  France is throwing a right old hissy about Australia breaking a deal to buy diesel submarines from them, deciding instead to spend a little more for nuclear-powered subs from the US.  Yes, the comparison shopping war.  French ambassadors have been recalled from Washington and Canberra and the lights burn late in the Quai d'Orsay.  France still has a fragment of empire in the region, mostly tourist destinations like Tahiti, but basically it's about the money.  And the jobs.  Who uses diesel-powered subs in 2021?  Did the Australians finally see Down Periscope?  

Of course the big story here is that Joe Biden momentarily forgot Prime Minister Scott Morrison's name during the virtual press conference to announce the deal, greatly amusing Boris Johnson.  Expect many demands that he be 25d, as soon as the disloyal opposition get home from the underwhelming Washington demo.  Meanwhile say hello to the new trilateral defense partnership AUKUS (Australia, US, UK) and no, stinky old France is not invited.

Really, I just had a look and even Fox is not covering "Justice for J6."  It's no fun when the cops outnumber the insurrectionists.  When it became clear that Putsch 2 would fizzle, organizer began warning about antifa infiltrators doing bad stuff to make Trump supporters look bad, or look worse, and according to the Washington Post the crowd was even smaller than the 2017 inauguration.  Sad.

When Texans travel they bring a little whiff of Texas along.  Like the three gals who were arrested at Carmine's restaurant on Manhattan's Upper West Side.  All they did was attack the hostess when she asked them to show proof of vaccination, punching her and breaking her necklace.  They must have thought they were on a plane.

Wait till they get home and find out that the Southern Baptist Convention, which denounced Biden's vaccine mandate, promptly announced one of its own for the new missionaries it sends out to bother people.   Mormon missionaries already have a choice:  get vaccinated or don't get an assignment outside the US.  In the Catholic Church Pope Francis is supposed to be infallible but apparently all he can do is make suggestions to his rebellious bishops and laity, though he's willing to go to the mattresses to prevent the return of the Latin mass.  Remind me why we tolerate the religion industry.

Steve Bannon and Margie Greene have become the Ed and Pegeen Fitzgerald of podcast crazy (do I date myself?  Very well, then, I date myself), but when Margie claimed the title "most effective member of Congress this session" it was too much for her glamorous cohost.  Margie famously has no committee assignments, unlike other signatories to the Insurrection Proclamation; her effectiveness is limited to demanding a roll call vote on each question before the House, allowing the other members to slip out to the toilet, check their email and roll their eyes with boredom.  (The Fitzgeralds were a married couple who did a weekday radio show on WOR from their apartment; he reviewed books, she talked about cats.)  Also, her insane jealousy of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez exploded again when AOC went to the Met fashion wingding in a joke dress with "TAX THE RICH" emblazoned across the back "so people would look at her ass."  Keep hitting the gym, Marge, maybe one day...

Proclaiming herself "a white common-sense conservative" Sarah Palin says she's unvaccinated because she "believes in science."  What she believes science to be is anybody's guess.  Once again, thank you, John McCain.

Here are some freedom-loving Idaho moms encouraging their children to burn masks in front of the state capitol six months ago.  This Thursday the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare issued a Crisis Standards of Care declaration because Washington can no longer accommodate its overflow.  That's right, death panels.  No surgeries, no accident or shooting victims, just covid.  Live free and die.