Disappointed

 Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) pronounced himself "angry, disappointed" after video surfaced of one of his staffers enjoying a tryst in a Senate hearing room.  Anyone who didn't think there was a security camera is too dumb to work in plumbing supply, much less the Senate.  "It's presented a lot of anger and frustration," said Cardin.  

Welcome to America in December 2023.  Everybody is angry and frustrated who is awake and paying attention.  Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman were still coming to terms with their record-shattering judgment in the Giuliani defamation suit when Trump's favorite drunk defamed them again, first in front of the courthouse and then on Newsmax.  When you're broke, you don't care how many judgments you pile up, I guess.  Moss and Freeman are suing him again, not for money but asking that the court make him shut up.  If this one comes with jail time, it will be a blessing for all of us.

Pope Francis thought of a way to piss off his reactionary cardinals, et al., while making LGBTQ Catholics feel welcomed by their church.  He issued a new rule allowing priests to bless same-sex unions, making it clear that this was not to be confused with the sacrament of matrimony.  That only infuriated author Matt Cain, who took to the Guardian to express his disappointment.  "You can stick your blessing, Pope Francis," were his precise words.  As a child, the church made him feel ashamed of being gay; as an adult he endured more abuse from the tabloid press and the Thatcher government.  (Maggie was way ahead of Ron DeSantis, though not as bad as the Victorians whose values she loved to promote.)  Eventually he married a man who grew up as an Orthodox Jew, in a ceremony complete with chuppah and broken glass.  Holy Mother Church isn't there yet and Matt is still mad.

This Rabelaisian affair is an annual event in Boston, a holiday party for elected officials of color.  It has been held for over ten years without causing any shifts in the earth's tectonic plates.  Suddenly it's being denounced as racist and divisive because the host was Boston's first mayor of color (and female persuasion) Michelle Wu.  All you need to know is that the loudest yips are coming from the New York Post, Fox News and such disinterested observers.  As you can see, first they have dinner and then, over dessert, they plot the subjugation of white people.

The end is near for the Taylor Swift juggernaut -- Megyn Kelly has called for a boycott.  Only by "Israelis and Jewish Americans," but that's probably a significant minority.  Kelly found out that Swift attended a comedy show by Ramy Youssef knowing that a portion of the proceeds would benefit American Near East Refugee Aid (here's a link if you want to help refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank, you monster).  It's not clear if she brought her boyfriend Travis Kelce, so maybe boycott the Kansas City Chiefs to be on the safe side.  And here's a bit of standup by Youssef -- judge for yourself.

Want to see a disappointed charity?  The Isocrates Foundation was established in 2011 to support "the protection and promotion of public debate."  Now the founder, Nicolas Puech, has changed his mind.  He plans to cut ties to the foundation, which he funds, and leave half his fortune of twelve billion Euros to his former gardener.  The other five members of the foundation's board say they will contest this.  I haven't told you the details that make it the plot of a goofy comedy:  Puech, 80, is an heir to the Hermes line of wildly overpriced handbags and is moving to adopt the ex-gardener.  (I see Ian McKellen as Puech and Rufus Sewell as the gardener.)  Will Puech leave the other half to his cat?  Coming soon to Netflix.