June 9

Another nice sunny day. The haze is still muting the blue of the sky but it isn't as noticeable today. Nothing pressing today. We have a pasta salad I made up yesterday for supper. I got the last plant, a chives, planted and everything watered yesterday and I don't think I need to worry today.

So The Former Guy has been indicted--again. One of the commentators said that some RepTHUGlicans who are, of course, claiming the poor little (allegedly) rich boy is being persecuted and offering prayers for him. I am sure those prayers are more sincere than those offered for the victims of gun violence and I hope they are no more effective.

A bit of good news was the death, after a 93 year misspent life, of Pat Robertson. He won't be missed in my corner of the universe. I am not a fan of any of the "evangelicals" who have encouraged intolerance, bigotry, and somehow missed all the "red words" in the New Testament.

Joe Perticone, writing on the Presspass at the Bulwark, sums up the situation in the House today:

Dysfunction seems to have become a hallmark of Congress when Republicans are in charge. In the early to mid-2010s, Tea Party insurgents regularly disrupted the regular order, prompting House Speaker John Boehner to abruptly quit in 2015. The Trump-era GOP majority brought about multiple government shutdowns, including one that lasted 35 days just before Christmas in 2018—the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history. Now that Republicans have returned to power in the House, the dysfunction has gotten so bad that business—even bad business—can’t get done.

I have two new books on my "night stand" (my reading queue on my iPad): Presidential Payola about presidential financial scandals from Tea Pot Dome foreword and one on Tea Pot Dome specifically. I seem to remember some historian saying that the only reason Warren G. Harding, whose scandal plagued administration set the low bar before The Former Guy, wasn't indicted was he died first.

I agree with Bill Astore on the point of voting for someone who reflects your values and that, at this point, none of the candidates really do reflect those values. I have complained for years that the two parties are only slightly different wings of a "Wall Street" party. Both are beholden to the financial and big business interests. The Democrats do support some policies that favor the people on the lower end of the socioeconomic scale but when push comes to shove they always quietly shove those policies in favor of finance. Actually I should describe the dominant interest both parties serve first and foremost is the finance/big business/"defense"/energy axis. Note how quietly the Biden administration approved controversial energy permitting. I don't think much of what I have seen of RFK, Jr. or most of the lesser knowns. I don't know who I would vote for and I don't know who will survive the pre-election period to be listed on the ballots in the general election.