On Trump...

On Trump...  A good piece by Eliot Cohen, writing at The American Interest.  An excerpt:

Moral rot.

Politicians have, since ancient Greece, lied, pandered, and whored. They have taken bribes, connived, and perjured themselves. But in recent times—in the United States, at any rate—there has never been any politician quite as openly debased and debauched as Donald Trump. Truman and Nixon could be vulgar, but they kept the cuss words for private use. Presidents have chewed out journalists, but which of them would have suggested that an elegant and intelligent woman asking a reasonable question was dripping menstrual blood? LBJ, Kennedy, and Clinton could all treat women as commodities to be used for their pleasure, but none went on the radio with the likes of Howard Stern to discuss the women they had bedded and the finer points of their anatomies. All politicians like the sound of their own names, but Roosevelt named the greatest dam in the United States after his defeated predecessor, Herbert Hoover. Can one doubt what Trump would have christened it?Roosevelt named the greatest dam in the United States after his defeated predecessor, Herbert Hoover. Can one doubt what Trump would have christened it?

Do go read the whole thing...

Headline of the day...

Headline of the day...

Meerkat expert cleared of assaulting monkey trainer in love spat over llama-keeper

I'm not quite sure how one could top that one!

On the other hand...

On the other hand ... this one from my pistol-packing mama I understand completely!

An old priest lay dying in a hospital. He had served the people of the nation’s capital for many years.

He motioned for the nurse to come near.

“Yes father?” said the nurse.

“I would really like to see Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama before I die” whispered the priest.

“I will see what I can do” said the nurse.

The nurse sent the request to Washington and waited for a response.

Soon an answer came back; Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would be delighted to visit the priest.

As they were driven to the hospital Hillary commented to Obama “I don’t know why this old priest wants to see us, but it certainly will help our images and may even help my election prospects”.

Obama agreed it was a good thing.

When they arrived at the priest’s room the priest took Hillary’s hand in his right hand and Obama’s hand in his left hand.  There was silence and a look of serenity on the old priest’s face.

Finally Obama spoke “Father of all people you could have chosen, why did you chose us to be with you at this time when your end is so near?”

The old priest slowly replied “I have always tried to pattern my life and behavior after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

“Amen” said Hillary.

“Amen” said Obama.

The old priest continued “Jesus Christ our savior died between two lying thieving bastards and I would like to do the same.”

My mom sends me things...

My mom sends me things ... and I'm not always sure how to interpret them.  Like this one, for example:

Mama taught her well! You've got to love this little girl. What a woman she'll make.

A teacher asked her class, "What do you want out of life?" A little girl in the back row raised her hand and said, "All I want out of life is four little animals, just like my Mom always says".

The teacher asked, "Really and what four little animals would that be?"The little girl said, "A mink on my back, a jaguar in the garage, a tiger in the bed and a jackass to pay for all of it.

The teacher got a coughing fit and had to leave the room.

Northern Pluto...

Northern Pluto...  This is just awesome – a composite photo of Pluto, made from dozens of photos taken by the New Horizons robotic explorer during it's fly-by of Pluto last July.  The photos are still being downloaded from the spacecraft; the last of them won't be received until later this year.  Via APOD, of course.  Magnificent full resolution version (3477 × 2143 pixels) here...