Up in the air

 Happy Canada Day to those who celebrate, mostly Canadians, I assume.  I haven't seen much of your country, just a bit of Ontario, but I really liked it.  The people were a little cool toward strangers but so am I, and you're much more polite.  It's easy to forget how different we are.

For example, can your prime minister or governor general or even the king in London do whatever they want without fear of being held to account?  Apparently our presidents can.  Nobody seems to know what "limited immunity" means except that it's intended to make it harder to prosecute criminals who try to overthrow the government from inside it.  If you don't already have a supreme court, for crom's sake don't get one.  Do you have a constitution or do you make it up as you go along like the British?  Ours nowhere says the chief executive is more than that, an officer whose job is to execute the laws passed by the Congress.  That went out the window long ago, when he got sole authority to decide who gets nuclear bombed.  It's now called the imperial presidency; Congress doesn't even get to declare war anymore, just nod politely when the troops are already on the ground.  So maybe this "immunity" is just confirmation of a dictatorship we don't like to acknowledge.  

You don't care, dear Canadians, you have problems of your own like all the fires.  I am truly sorry your beautiful forests are burning, and not just because the smoke reaches New York City.  I am sorry we haven't been better neighbors.  I like the effort you make to accommodate two languages; Americans lose their shit if the ATM has instructions in Spanish and English.  I like your anthem, which does not require four years of operatic training to sing.  I wish I could ride the train through your Rocky Mountains.  Have a wonderful day.

                                                                                 *************

Eight, nine, ten, he's out, right?  Apparently not all Americans got the news that the election is over because Joe Biden had a cold and a bad night.  Some are voting already, with their credit cards.  It seems the Biden-Harris campaign raised more than $33 million in the forty-eight hours since the debate, some $26 million in small ("grassroots") donations.  That's less than Trump demanded from the oil and gas CEOs in return for a promise to destroy all environmental regulations, but those people only get one vote apiece.  In the post-Citizens United world we tend to forget that.  And as I keep writing all over Blogenheim, Barack Obama had a bad first debate with Mitt Romney in 2012.  Nobody remembers that because he was easily re-elected.

A cursory glance at his business record reminds us that Trump has always been his own worst enemy.  His team thought he would pick up support among Palestinian-Americans and others dismayed by Biden's unflinching defense of Israel (if not Netanyahu).  Trump trashed that notion Thursday night.   When Biden said the war is continuing because of Hamas, Trump responded, "Israel is the one, and you should let them finish the job.  He's [Biden] become like a Palestinian, a very bad Palestinian.  He's a weak one."  

On Wednesday supporters organized an event at Rocky's Barbershop in Atlanta.  Trump was in the city but couldn't be bothered to come in person, phoning instead.  Rocky Jones, the owner, said he was never told this would be a political event:  "I feel like I have been betrayed."  Jones says he was paid for the two hours he had to close to real customers but would gladly return the money:  "I'm letting everyone else know you need to be aware of these calls."  He was given to understand it would be about the Black business community, not Trump.  

I'm not saying it will be easy for Biden.  He's up against superior intellect like this:

"...They don't have any clue.  All they know is electric.  They want electric army tanks, they want electric planes.  What happens if the sun isn't shining and you're up in the air?  'Well, sir, you know, I told you there'd be problems, sir.'  They want electric everything.  They want electric boats.  The problem, the boats, they don't float because the battery is so heavy, it sinks the boat.  They say, 'we don't care, we want 'em anyway.'"

There are people who will stand in the sun in triple-digit heat and listen to this as if it makes sense.  It's a shame Uncle John, the MIT professor, isn't alive to slap some sense into his embarrassment of a nephew, and then explain how batteries work and how ships weighing many tons manage not to sink.  Wouldn't help but he could try.

Lara Trump dropped in on Maria Bartiromo, making almost one functioning brain, to explain that Trump is already practically "leading the country."  If by that she means making deals with foreign dictators like Putin and threatening vengeance against practically everyone, it's time for the DOJ to look into more charges.  In the second Biden administration I would like to nominate Jamie Raskin for attorney general.  

Trump is already driving his "presidential immunity" around the block by demanding that Judge Juan Merchan be "removed and charged" for the crime of sending Steve Bannon to prison.  He stopped short of promising to deport Merchan to Colombia but it's early days.  Bannon reported to the federal prison in Danbury this morning; I hope they have enough DDT.  Merchan will be sentencing Trump later this month.  Let's hope it gives him something to whine about.

The Trump Organization can't do business in New York anymore but it's a world of opportunity -- a Trump Tower will be erected in Jedda, Saudi Arabia, the land of glowing orbs, dismembered journalists and skeevy partners like Jared Kushner.  Best of all, no labor unions or contractors who think they should be paid for their work.  Winning!

Just for old times' sake and because he never forgets a slight, Trump decided to bash Liz Cheney pronouncing her "guilty of treason" and calling for military tribunals.  (It's sentence first, trial after in Chunderland.)  Cheney responded, "This is the type of thing that demonstrates yet again that you are not a stable adult -- and are not fit for office."  The Philadelphia Inquirer agreed, with a post-debate editorial calling him "a danger to democracy."  "Trump is an unserious carnival barker running for the most serious job in the world...We cannot be serious about letting such a crooked clown back in the White House."

Speaking of clowns, Bill Maher and Fabio agree that the United States is basically the Roman Empire in decline, and all because of the southern border.  Did you know immigration brought down the Caesars?  What do you say to that, Edward Gibbon?  I have a pretty good idea about Maher, but what does Fabio smoke?  Read their dialogue, it's better than Pete & Dud.