Last Call For Orange You Glad He's Gone, Con't

Apparently the GOP is now resorting to participation trophies in order to keep Donald Trump from turning on them, because they own the Tangerine Temper Tantrum Tyrant for the rest of his days.

On Saturday night, Donald Trump embarrassed Republican donors by delivering a rambling, grievance-laden speech that attacked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as a “dumb son of a bitch.” This morning, by an odd coincidence, the National Republican Senatorial Committee announced it was creating a new annual prize: the Champion for Freedom Award. And the inaugural winner is … Donald J. Trump!

There are several unusual things about this award. One is that there is no evidence the NRSC had any intention of giving it out before Trump attacked the party’s leader. The second is that Trump, who adores awards so much he sometimes invents them, did not even bother to put on a sport coat to receive this. The third is that the NRSC apparently plans to give it out every single year from now on.

But perhaps most interesting is the basis for the award. The silver bowl seems to have been awarded on the basis of four criteria:

1) Conservative leader
2) Work tirelessly
3) Protect values that make our country great
4) Stop the Democrats’ socialist agenda

Trump’s strongest claims are No. 1 and No. 3. He is definitely a conservative leader (indeed, some would describe him as outright authoritarian bordering on fascistic). And while the “values that make our country great” are highly subjective, the NRSC and Trump clearly share those values, and it couldn’t have hurt Trump’s application that “make our country great” is very close to his campaign slogan.

And yet the other two criteria would seem to be highly problematic for his application. Trump does not work tirelessly. As innumerable staffers have told the media over the years, he barely works at all. As president, he would roll into the office around 11, check out at six, and spend much of the time watching television or ranting on the phone with his buddies. He could barely be bothered to listen to a briefing.

The biggest shortcoming on his résumé is No. 4. If you want to “stop the Democrats’ socialist agenda,” at minimum you need to prevent them from gaining control of at least one of the presidency, the House, or the Senate. Republicans controlled all three when Trump took office. Now, they have none.

This is literally something given to appease Trump because he is a toddler who likes shiny objects. His pathological malignant narcissism demands that he be recognized or he will destroy everyone he can, and both Trump and the GOP know he can do fatal damage to Republicans heading into 2022, particularly in the Senate.

So they gave him a "sorry your coup failed" trophy.

Jesus, what a bunch of losers.

Black Lives Still Matter, Con't

As the trial of George Floyd's killer, Derek Chauvin, continues, the Twin Cities were rocked Sunday by another police killing of an unarmed Black man, Daunte Wright.

 

A Brooklyn Center police officer fatally shot a man during a traffic stop Sunday afternoon, inflaming already raw tensions between police and community members in the midst of the Derek Chauvin trial.

Relatives of Daunte Wright, 20, who is Black, told a tense crowd gathered at the scene in the northern Minneapolis suburb Sunday afternoon that Wright drove for a short distance after he was shot, crashed his car, and died at the scene.

Protesters later walked to the Brooklyn Center police headquarters near N. 67th Avenue and N. Humboldt Avenue and were locked in a standoff with police in riot gear late Sunday night. Officers repeatedly ordered the crowd of about 500 to disperse as protesters chanted Wright's name and climbed atop the police headquarters sign, by then covered in graffiti. Police used tear gas, flash bangs and rubber bullets on the crowd.

National Guard troops arrived just before midnight as looters targeted the Brooklyn Center Walmart and nearby shopping mall. Several businesses around the Walmart were completely destroyed, including Foot Locker, T Mobile, and a New York men's clothing store.

Looting was widespread late Sunday into early Monday, spilling into north and south Minneapolis. Reports said that stores in Uptown and along Lake Street were also being looted.

Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott issued a curfew order until 6 a.m. Monday. Precautions were being taken into Monday, with Brooklyn Center canceling or closing all school buildings, programs and activities.

Sunday's fresh outrage came as Twin Cities officials and law enforcement are already on edge as Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, stands trial on murder and manslaughter charges in the death of George Floyd.

Another Black man killed by police for no good reason. Another round of rage and looting. The cycle continues.

Black Lives Still Matter.

Meathead Matt's Me Too Moment, Con't

While NY Dem Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues to hold on to power after revelations of multiple women accusing him of sexual assault and now racking up nearly two-thirds of a million in private plane fees, if seems the fortunes of GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, also facing sexual assault accusations, are headed the other way as Florida Republicans are circling his House seat like sharks with blood in the water.

Rep. Matt Gaetz insists he’s not resigning amid an ongoing federal investigation, but Republicans in his deep red Florida district are already eyeing his seat.

Several Republican elected officials and others who live in the sprawling Panhandle district said they received a robo-call over the weekend asking voters if they thought Gaetz would step down due to his legal woes. They were also asked about potential candidates — including Laura Loomer, the provocateur who mounted an unsuccessful campaign for a South Florida congressional seat last year.

“The seat is not open. Congressman Gaetz isn’t resigning,” said State Rep. Alex Andrade, a Pensacola Republican. “If the seat became open at some point I would strongly consider it.”

Andrade won’t be alone. For many Republicans in the area, a spot in Congress may be the pinnacle of their political career. And Florida’s 1st congressional district — one of the safest Republican districts in the country — has only come open three times in the last 40 years.

 

At least a half-dozen Republicans are looking at replacing Gaetz, and the only question is how quickly he goes down to federal charges.

We'll see.

StupidiNews!

 We're back on a normal schedule this week with StupidiNews!

• Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says that the White House expects "major action" by Congress on the American Jobs Plan bill by Memorial Day.
• Thousands of low-level prisoners currently under house arrest due to COVID-19 concerns could soon be headed back to prison in states like Texas, Georgia, and Florida.
• Iranian state TV is declaring a power blackout at the Natanz nuclear site to be "nuclear terrorism" and says swift action will be taken against the perpetrators.
• Voters in Ecuador went to the polls Sunday to choose a government with the fate of both an International Monetary Fund relief deal and an alliance with the US at stake.
• A US appeals court has ruled that Florida grocer Winn-Dixie not making their websites accessible to the blind is not an violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.