In and out

 The past is never dead.  Well, you know the rest.

Roadkill Bob Kennedy saw Kimberly Guilfoyle being appointed ambassador to Greece (I'd call that a raised middle finger to the birthplace of democracy but Trump isn't that subtle or well informed) and decided to promote a nepo hire of his own.  According to Axios he wants his daughter-in-law Amaryllis Fox Kennedy to become deputy director of the CIA so she can finally "get to the bottom" of President Kennedy's 1963 assassination.  He believes the agency was involved, despite the conclusions of the 1979 House Select Committee on Assassinations, and that they're probably stalking him, too, because paranoia and conspiracy theories go hand in hand.  Unlike Guilfoyle, Lara Trump and virtually everyone else the racist rapist wants to hire, Fox Kennedy is actually qualified, having worked for the CIA.  She even wrote a book about her experiences, which was published without being reviewed by the agency's Publication Review Board.  I'm sure they'll welcome her back.

Ambassadors can't do much damage, Richard Grenfell notwithstanding (Germany repeatedly asked him to stop encouraging its neo-Nazi right), so a sigh of relief was breathed at the rumored appointment of Kari Lake to be ambassador to Mexico.  No such luck.  Today we learn that she has been announced to run the Voice of America, or more accurately the Voice of MAGA.  Not so fast:  According to AZCentral, it's not a done deal:  "Contrary to what Trump may think, presidents don't actually appoint directors to run the Voice of America, which prides itself on award-winning journalism free from political interference...the VOA director can only be hired -- or fired -- by a seven-member board comprised of experts representing the media, mass communications and international affairs."  The law was written in response to Trump's packing of the place last time around with sycophants who would -- let's see how he styles it -- "ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media."  No exclamation points.  Very PRESIDENTIAL.

A couple of records were shattered yesterday as Joe Biden granted clemency to 1,500 former federal prisoners and granted clemency to 39 who were convicted of non-violent crimes.  The 1,500 were inmates released during the covid pandemic to serve the rest of their sentences in home confinement; the incoming Congressclowns actually planned legislation to force them back to prison because fuck your humanitarian feelings.  This is the largest one-day clemency ever, so Trump will have to scour the prisons for "hostages" to set free.  

And in Singapore, Gukesh Dommaraju of India became the youngest world chess champion in history at age eighteen, defeating Ding Liren of China.  In a display of excitement usually reserved for Premier League footie, the Guardian's Bryan Armen Graham writes, "Ding made one of the worst blunders in the 138-year history of world championship matchplay."  That's pretty cold, Bryan.  "55Rf2??"  It's like watching Mookie's grounder go through Buckner's legs all over again.

Well, so much for sports.  Remember how President Joe reversed Trump's ban on transgender Americans in the military on day one?  Yeah, looks like they're being kicked out again by Trump's hegseth Henchman.  Henchman Hegseth.  Whatever.  But Hegseth now says he misspoke when he said, "We should not have women in combat roles.  It hasn't made us more effective.  Hasn't made us more lethal.  Has made fighting more complicated."  What he meant to say was, "I need Joni Ernst, Susan Colllins, Lisa Murkowski and some of those other broads to vote for me, so, lock and load, ladies!"  Someone also alerted him that the straight white Christian men he seeks are just not volunteering in significant numbers.  Maybe it's because of the 227,000 jobs added in November, including many in the field of oilfield service.  It looks like we're already drilling, baby, drilling.

Among the Assad prisoners emerging into the light of day is this man...

...Travis Timmerman of Missouri.  On a Christian pilgrimage he crossed from Lebanon into Syria on foot and was found in a village east of Damascus this morning, barefoot and somewhat disoriented.  He was last seen in Budapest last June.  At first it was thought that he was Austin Tice, the American journalist who vanished twelve years ago.  Tice's family is still hopeful.

Remember Dean Phillips, the Minnesota Congressman who offered himself as an alternative to Biden in the primaries?  No, thanks, said Democrats.  They were right.  Here's what he says now:  "Donald Trump is a serial liar, cheater and philanderer, a six-time declarer of corporate bankruptcy, an instigator of insurrection, and a convicted felon who thrives on portraying himself as a victim.  @GovKathyHochul should pardon him for the good of the country."  Phillips left out Russian puppet.  More depressingly, John Fetterman agrees:  "The Trump hush money and Hunter Biden cases were both bullshit and pardons are appropriate...the case against Hunter Biden was really politically motivated, but I also think it's true that the trial in New York for Trump was political as well, too."   Gentlemen, right now there's a positive groundswell of support, or at least sympathy, for the accused assassin of Brian Thompson -- a legal defense fund; a statement from a Penn professor, since retracted ("the icon we all need and deserve"); demands from fellow inmates that he be freed because he doesn't have TV in his cell.  Maybe Governor Hochul should pardon Luigi Mangione.  Any thoughts?