An American tragedy 2023

 "Transgender Oath Keeper insurrectionist" is a phrase which has not featured in history so far.  Last May Jessica Watkins was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison for her part in the January 6 coup attempt, which went well beyond pooing in the Rotunda.  Watkins, an Army veteran, does not want to be sent to a men's prison and has appealed to three of the most transphobic members of Congress -- Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan -- for help.  As all insurrectionists are officially martyrs to the sacred cause of Trump, it will be interesting to see where they draw the hate line.  I hope she gets her wish, but I also wonder why she signed on with people who would kill her in a minute if they seized power.  

If these three do something decent in spite of their records, I assume they will be "primaried" by opponents even viler than themselves.  "Trans-lover Gaetz is probably one himself, or should I say herself?  Flies to Hollyweird to snack on aborted full-term fetuses with Soros and the other globalists!  Vote for me and save America!"  Oh, yes, there's always something worse.  

Of course I didn't watch the Big Debate but I hear it was...unsurprising.  Nikki Haley observed, "Trump is the most disliked politician in America.  We can't win a general election that way."  Then the contestants were asked if they would vote for him and all but Hutchinson took a knee.  Their strategy appears to be hoping he will fall into an open sewer and die.   

As of this writing he has not cooperated.  Trump is too preoccupied with staging his appearance at the Fulton County jail like a movie premiere out of Singin' in the Rain.  He fired Drew Findling and replaced him with Steve Sadow who, according to the New Republic, "has experience working on racketeering cases and defending reality television celebrities."  He sounds too good to be true.  

Of course, Trump is equally well matched with Tucker Carlson, another reject desperate for a return to relevance, so it was hardly surprising that they hooked up to siphon off viewers exhausted by the intellectual firepower in Milwaukee.  Richard Wolffe in the Guardian compared it to the worm frozen in Siberia 46,000 years ago and recently re-animated by scientists -- "a totally unnecessary and reckless exercise."  The two old pals ("I hate him passionately") agreed that television is dying, especially MSNBC, that Jeffrey Epstein probably killed himself and that rioters like Jessica Watkins were "peaceful and patriotic."  Baby Tuckoo tried to jolt the conversation awake by asking if Trump fears assassination by those he called "savage animals...sick, really sick," without success.  Carlson suggested that both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are senile and that Biden has "skinny legs" -- why would he have swollen legs? -- but he couldn't drag the "conversation" away from Trump's obsession with poll numbers.  They must be all he has left, as the fingerprinting and weighing loom.  Will his mug shot be as impressive as Giuliani's?

Where is the list of aliases?  Trump still won't pay what he owes, but failed gubernatorial candidate Andrew Giuliani persuaded him to show up at a fundraising dinner for Pop, providing it's held at Bedminster so he can overcharge for the food, and that anyone will pay $100,000 to watch Roodles cry and get progressively drunker and slobber into his pasta e fagioli.

It's 92F in Atlanta, but this gentleman is not deterred.  

He'll stand out there until the trial starts, which will be October if Fani Willis prevails.

Word salad chef Dan Bongino has been called the thinking man's Joe Rogin (no, he hasn't) and he has some advice for Trump:  Don't post bail, stay in jail.  That'll show "smartass tyrant little socialist communist" Fani Willis, because the Secret Service would invoke their "absolute federal authority supremacy clause" to shut down the whole entire total jail in honor of its most distinguished guest.  Then characters like Mr. Above would surround the place every day demanding something and then, you know, the Supreme Court would finally have to look at Mike Lindell's evidence.  9-0, Biden out!  This is even less likely than Margie Greene going to bat for a transgendered insurrectionist.  But funnier.

(The hate is so deep, the International Chess Federation will not allow transgender women to compete against cis women.  Chess.  I thought they had more sense than the swimmers and hurdlers.)

Tennessee -- need I say more?  All right, the legislature is holding a special session on gun reform and began by ejecting people silently holding signs in favor of it.  The officials get mad at printed material because they don't like to read.

Today is Independence Day in Ukraine.  May the next one be celebrated in peace and victory.