Venality on steroids
The national degradation that won't go away
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We have to talk about the Very Stable Genius again. I’ve steered away from writing about him of late, and for about the same period of time, I’ve scrolled on with a shrug of the shoulders when I’ve come across his latest outrage. Not that I’m minimizing any of it. It’s just like an egregious bodily discomfort that one bakes into daily life. You have to keep moving through the arthritic flareups.
But the level of depravity is reaching new depths.
Consider how the Iran situation has devolved since I wrote this in June:
More unforced errors from the Very Stable Genius’s administration, most broadly the way the whole Iran war has been handled. There’s a pretty wide consensus across the global spectrum that post-America got taken to the cleaners with the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran. They’re keeping their missiles, keeping control of the Strait of Hormuz, and punting on the issue of proxy terrorist groups. How the “nuclear dust” (the VSG’s term for enriched uranium) is to be handled gets discussed in some vaguely envisioned future stage of talks.
And here’s the state of affairs in early August:
Iran has warned that it stands fully prepared to target key Israeli infrastructure and American energy installations throughout the region should it come under attack, following reports that Washington and Tel Aviv may be coordinating new military operations against the Islamic Republic.
A senior Iranian security official told Tasnim News Agency on Friday that Western media reports regarding prospective strikes on Iranian infrastructure represented "a kind of madness".
According to Tasnim, the official stated that Tehran has formulated comprehensive retaliatory strategies encompassing strikes on critical installations in Israel and US energy assets across the Middle East, asserting that Iran maintains complete readiness to execute these measures if provoked.
And a day ago the VSG shot off his mouth to the effect that Minnesotans were responsible for cyberattacks on municipal water systems in their state.
No, Occam’s razor is applicable here. The culprit is much more obvious:
And now, such attacks seem to have happened in six other states as well.
Or remember the one about radical vandals causing the peeling problem in the reflecting pool?
Man, has that backfired:
The Justice Department moved Friday to dismiss a criminal case charging a former Olympian with deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, saying evidence prosecutors had recently received refuted the idea that vandals were to blame.
Government lawyers said in a 20-page court filing that additional documents provided by the Interior Department since the indictment of David Hearn show that the damage was the result of a botched installation by a contractor as well as “the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026.” In addition, a recent visual inspection revealed damage throughout the pool, including in the middle — where prosecutors say a vandal would not likely have attempted to peel the lining.
“Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt,” said the filing from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, which asked a judge to formally dismiss the case.
Where does Mr. Hearn go to get his reputation back?
Then there’s the way the VSG makes it clear the continuing ravaging of Ukraine by Russia is not what comes to mind for him when he thinks about Ukraine:
Trump: “Ukraine has very rich, very fertile soil in terms of rare earth. We have a contract signed having to do with rare earth, we can go in there at any time we want to take pretty much whatever we want.”
And then there’s the fact that he’s willing to forego Todd Blanche’s confirmation as actual Attorney General in order to dig in his heels regarding the anti-weaponization fund. Senators Tillis and Cornyn ain’t playin’:
President Trump’s threat to withdraw the nomination of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is raising questions about the future of the “anti-weaponization” fund as well as the power of the Senate GOP.
Blanche faced a singular roadblock in winning GOP backing for his nomination: a call by many in the party to put in writing that the Justice Department would kill the $1.776 billion fund many see as a way for Trump to funnel money to his allies.
But weeks of negotiations over how to formally kill the fund have bubbled up into a feud, with Trump saying he would consider withdrawing Blancheto simply wait out the two lame-duck Republican senators holding him up, John Cornyn (Texas) and Thom Tillis (N.C.).
The move has left some Republicans bitter over Trump’s battles with his own party, particularly as the exiting Cornyn and Tillis take political cover for GOP colleagues who likewise oppose the fund but have not had to become the face of the issue.
For Democrats, it’s a sign Trump is simply not willing to give up the much-maligned fund as well as a related memo giving immunity to him, his children and businesses. That document would give Trump and his family broad protection, including over past tax filings.
I’m not the first to make the point that the reason it’s going to take a long, long time - at the least - for any possible repair of US relations with allies throughout the world is that those countries are considering that the American populace was willing to vote this grotesque being into office twice in a decade. What has become of American judgement?
It’s true he’s less well liked than ever. But who is in a position to stop him from inflicting this venality on us?
And what kinds of potential successors stand in the wings? There’s a thought to keep you up at night.
We've seen the leaders those countries have elected. They should be kissing our asses, not the other way around.