Off To the Magic Planet?

Hi there. 

Taking a break from ye olde blog today.  

I can't say why but....

.   
I have some things to think about.  

Avengers: Infinity War

So I saw Avengers: Infinity War yesterday and wow! This is a thing I cannot believe exists. 

While Thanos and his minions are off collecting Infinity Stones, our heroes are mixing and matching. Thor falls in with the Guardians of the Galaxy who, a part from Peter Quill, are a bit mesmerized by Thor's manly musculature.  With the refugee Asgardians decimated by Thanos and his crew, Thor heads off with Rocket and Groot in search of new god weapons while Peter, Gamora, Drax and Mantis seek to head off Thanos from getting another stone.  

On Earth, the Hulk crashes into Stephen Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum; Bruce Banner has an urgent message that Thanos is coming. The Sorcerer Supreme is of special interest to Thanos as the good doctor of the mystic arts is the keeper of an Infinity Stone, the one that controls time. Dr. Strange recruits Tony Stark to Iron Man up since, no matter how hard he tries, Banner cannot summon the Hulk. A giant donut from space descends on New York which also draws in Spider-Man.  

Meanwhile, Vision and Scarlet Witch are attacked in Scotland where they are on a romantic getaway. Thanos minions are after the Infinity Stone in Vision's forehead. It is an attack thwarted by the timely intervention of Captain America,  Falcon and Black Widow. Then War Machine joins them on a trip to Wakanda to get help from the Black Panther where we find the erstwhile Winter Solder waiting for them. Boy, I love comic book team ups.   

it's like watching an event comic book unfold with different characters joining up in differing configurations in service to a large threat, a threat that grows in dire significance.  

Thanos finally steps up and boy does he step up big time with a plan to kill half the universe which is of course fundamentally evil but also mathematically sound.  

Like most villains, he doesn't see himself as such. He doesn't want the power of the Infinity Stones just for the sake of having power. His goal is to wipe out half of the life in the universe, to bring balance to a universe teeming with too much life. Killing half of the universe makes life better for the other half that doesn't get killed.  

For all the growing darkness surrounding events, there is humor. Tony Stark and Stephen Strange are oil and water, masters of science and magic with egos to match. Peter Parker's unexpected foray into an outer space adventure sets up some funny moments. Peter Quill tries to out-tough Thor  and then looks to hold his own against Tony Stark works to comedic effect. 

Who would ever expect that a primary source of comic relief would ever be Bruce Banner? It seems that even though Bruce actually WANTS to turn into the Hulk, the Hulk refuses to cooperate.  

But for all the comic banter and all the action scenes, be warned that Avengers: Infinity War is building towards something dark and tragic. If you know that this film leads into the 4th Avengers movie next year, it will probably not come as a surprise that our heroes do not come out on top. And our world, indeed our universe, pays an incredibly fatal price for that failure. What will be a surprise is the full extent and manner in which that price is paid. 

You may go into this movie with "Let's go see Avengers: Infinity War!! WOO-HOO!!!" 

You will come out of this movie with "Just saw Avengers: Infinity War. No one talk to me." 

There is a LOT to keep track of in Avengers: Infinity War and directors Anthony and Joe Russo do a good job keeping things on track. Or I may be a bit biased as I have a lifetime of reading comic books like this to train my brain to help keep track of things. I imagine that without that comic book background, another viewer might find the movie a bit disjointed.   

Avengers: Infinity War was fun and action packed but caution: it will hurt you in the end.  And we have a year to live with that hurt before Avengers 4 comes our way in May 2019 before our heroes can try to make things right. 

Perhaps with a little help from a certain super powered female captain?   

Counting Down To Infinity: Almost But Not Quite

So, have I seen Avengers Infinity War yet?


No, not yet.

But soon.


Today even.


But my anxiety levels are going up a lot. I'm really trying to avoid spoilers or even the hint of spoilers but my genre savvy brain can't help but try to connect some dots. 


You never know what might come up. Some comic book blogger will want to pontificate on some random issue of Avengers where Tony Stark bakes a pie.


And I wonder, why did that blogger post about that issue today. Then my mind makes the link to the movie. 


"Oh my God! Pie rhymes with die! This means, Iron Man is going to die in Avengers Infinity War!"  


Or something like that. 


Or maybe something like lunch.


I was out for lunch around 1 PM on Friday. These young men got in line behind me and the youngest one was talking excitedly about something, very quick and I wasn't picking up the details but I caught the word "Thanos". Then he started to say, "Then Tony Stark said..." I turned and made eye contact which made the young man stop.


"Uh oh!" he said.


"S'alright, dude," I replied (cause I'm down with the young people, yo!). "I just haven't seen it yet."


He apologized again but I assured him it's all good. "I don't blame you for being excited. It is good, right?"


"Oh hell yeah!" he answered with a broad smile. Giving a thumbs up, I said, "Glad to hear it. Look, when I get my food, I'm gonna sit in that corner way over there reading some stuff off of my phone. I won't hear a thing."


And lunch went on spoiler free.


Now, a day later, still no Avengers Infinity War yet.


But soon.

Chasing Out the Chaplain

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan decided that it was time for Rev. Patrick Conroy, Chaplain of the House of Representatives, to go.

 

Ryan is keeping to himself the exact reason for firing Conroy as House Chaplain with even fellow Republicans kept out of the loop.  

 

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.: “He just said that there was dissatisfaction among members with Father Conroy. And that was it. I think we deserve more of an explanation on why. The speaker said it was just because certain people thought he was not compliant with their requests, or not giving good counsel. I never heard that."

 

Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, said Ryan told her Conroy was asked to resign "because the chaplain is not administering to the pastoral needs of the Congress,” a complaint Pelosi had not heard of before.  

 

At least 148 members sent a letter Ryan requesting more information. The letter notes that “the sensitive nature of this situation requires a description of the process followed to arrive at the decision and a justification for that decision. We believe that, absent such details, questions will inevitably arise about the politicization of the process for hiring and dismissing a House chaplain. Not revealing such details could also risk resurrecting prior questions of religious bias."

 

"I’m very sorry Father Conroy was forced to resign as a House Chaplain. He is a good man. No explanation and no consultation," tweeted Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., one of the few Muslim lawmakers.

 

Also in the dark is apparently Father Conroy himself. “I was asked to resign, that is clear," Conroy said. Asked why, however, he said, "that is unclear."

 

In the absence of facts, we are left with only hints and allegations. 

 

Rep. Mark Walker, R-Ala., chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, heard some stuff from people who heard some stuff. Walker said, "I cannot give you any information on what the issue was. The only that we know is that members went to Speaker Ryan with concerns about Father Conroy.”  

 

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., called it a "shameful anti-Catholic move motivated by conservative extremists in Congress."

 

The most consistently espoused theory as the reason behind Conroy’s ouster as Chaplain stems from a prayer Conroy gave on November 6^th last year.  

 

Here is the prayer as posted in the Congressional Record.

 

                                

 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Patrick J. Conroy, offered the following prayer:

  God of the universe, we give You thanks for giving us another day.

  Bless the Members of this assembly as they set upon the work of these hours, of these days. Help them to make wise decisions in a good manner and to carry their responsibilities steadily, with high hopes for a better future for our great Nation.

  As legislation on taxes continues to be debated this week and next, may all Members be mindful that the institutions and structures of our great Nation guarantee the opportunities that have allowed some to achieve great success, while others continue to struggle. May their efforts these days guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans.

  May Your blessing, O God, be with them and with us all this day and every day to come, and may all we do be done for Your greater honor and glory.

  Amen.

 

The alleged offending part of that prayer was “there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans”. 

 

Ryan read that as playing to the Democrats because it implied criticisms of the tax cuts being more beneficial to the rich.

Seems to me Father Conroy was just urging the House to be fair.

It will be a shame if that is I why he had to go.  

The Trump-Media Feedback Loop (From Politico.com)

Earlier today in this post right here, I lamented the difficulty of posting about politics.  There's just so much stuff going on and it never seems to end. 


Well the fine folks at Politico.com who do this for a living feel my pain. I came across this item this morning and felt it summed up so much of what is going on in Washington these days, I wanted to share it here.

Courtesy of writer Derek Sullivan and artist Andrew Rae, here is, in all of it's glory....

The Trump-Media Feedback Loop

The Trump-Media Feedback Loop

The Trump-Media Feedback Loop

The Trump-Media Feedback Loop

The Trump-Media Feedback Loop

I hope that helps make sense of things.


Meanwhile, back to waiting for Avengers Infinity War. 

This Woeful Blogger and the Lament About Political Blogging

I haven’t done a lot of blogging on politics lately. It’s so hard to do when there is so much going and the ground can shift under your feet at any minute. Take for instance the recent drama over the Veteran Affairs (VA).

 

Donald Trump fires VA Secretary David Shulkin. Li’l Donnie once remarked that Dabid Shulkin would never hear the words “you’re fired” from Trump. But Trump was getting an earful from the hard right that Shulkin was not cooperative enough with Trump’s agenda which includes efforts to privatize VA operations, a step most veterans oppose. 

 

So Li’l Donnie nominates Ronny Jackson because he’s a doctor, an admiral in the Navy and he was standing there.  Basically the vetting the process for Trump boils down to essentially “Hey, why not this guy? Yeah, let’s see what happens.” Early on there were no questions about Jackson’s rep as a doctor or his personal character but what the fuck did this guy know about running a sprawling agency like the VA?

 

Then some other stuff starting bubbling up, allegations that Jackson was a little too quick with the prescription pad for pain pills and sleeping pills and “hey, I need help waking up” pills. And what’s this we hear about Jackson drinking too much? And creating a hostile work environment? 

 

To be fair, a lot of these allegations were just that, allegations. Allegations with some weight to them, enough to give both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate pause to think, “Whoa! What is the deal…really… with this guy?”

 

Whatever the basis for these allegations, this whole mess should’ve never gotten this far.

 

A competently run White House would have checked Jackson’s background before the President would’ve nominated him.

 

A  competently run White House would’ve unearthed these concerns before letting this guy get anywhere near a Senate confirmation hearing.

 

A competently run White House would have answers for any allegations if there was nothing to them.

 

This is NOT a competently run White House.

 

Here was Li’l Donald Trump’s process for picking Ronny Jackson to head up the VA:

 

“OK, fired David Shulkin from the VA. Shuilkin was Obama’s fault. Need cheeseburger. Also need new VA head. Maybe a doctor? Military guy? Military doctor guy? That would be YUGE! America will love it, like Hawkeye on MASH. And America will love ME for picking him! Speaking of love, I need a cheeseburger. OK, stay focused, Donald. Military doctor guy for head of the VA? Hey, what about that Jackson guy? Lonnie? Donnie? Ronny! Yeah, that’s it. He’s a military guy. He wears a uniform. Army? Marine? Navy? Nah, can’t be the Navy. He would be on a boat. And he’s a doctor. He’s the most important doctor in the world. He’s my doctor. But he doesn’t have a lot to do since I’m the most perfectly healthy person on the planet. I’m putting a lot work into this; I’m gonna need two cheeseburgers. So it’s done; Ronny Jackson will head up the VA. Perfect! Now, where are my cheeseburgers?” 

 

The problem is this whole mess with the secretary of Veteran Affairs is just ONE thing. 

 

What about Scott Pruitt at the EPA? What’s up with Trump attorney Michael Cohen? What about Stormy Daniels?  What’s Robert Mueller up to with the Russia probe? What’s going to happen with the Iran nuclear deal? What’s going on with North Korea? What’s with these trade wars that Trump seems determined to start?

 

There’s just too much shit to keep track of. Between Trump’s own moronic incompetence and the ultra right wing conservatives who are only too happy to be complicit in Trump’s moronic incompetence as long as they get what they want, it is a recipe for endless chaos and disaster.

 

And way too much for this woeful blogger to try and keep track of. 

Counting Down To Infinity

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is coming!!!

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is coming!!!

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is coming!!!

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is coming!!!

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is coming!!!

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is almost here!!!!

You know, I may have turned 55 on Tuesday but I have a 15 year old fan boy inside my brain going....

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

So far, so good with the reviews with Rotten Tomatoes tracking the film at 87%. Not the giddy 90% range numbers for THOR: RAGNOROK or BLACK PANTHER but still pretty damn good and better than the 75% score for AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON. 

The family has our tickets ready venture forth from the Fortress of Ineptitude to see AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR on Saturday so I need to be high alert NOT to see any spoilers.  

My friend Cory gets to see AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR on Friday with people from work at 11 AM. I hate Cory and whatever he does for a living. 

Be strong, 15 year old Dave-El inside my brain. 

Be STRONG!!

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is almost here!!

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is almost here!!

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is almost here!!

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is almost here!!

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is almost here!!

Watching Television: Super P.I.s, Zombie Realtors & More

Hey, I'm still working to keep my New Year's resolution to watch MORE television.


How is that going?_____________________________________



A week ago, my wife Andrea and I finished up season 2 of Jessica Jones. Now we’re going back to season 1 for a re-watch for Andrea but a first time watch for me. Andrea only watched the first season because of her near fanatical need to watch stuff with David Tennant and Matt Smith. It was because of Matt that we wound up watching The Crown which we may continue to do even with the recasting due to aging that takes Matt out of the game as of season 3.

Back to Jessica Jones season 1, we’re only up to episode 3 and oh my God, David Tennant as Killgrave is a completely fucked up evil bastard. Andrea has assured me the worse is yet to come.


What makes Killgrave particularly evil is the casual way he exerts his mind control power over his victims. There's no dramatic force of effort, no straining while in pops a blood vessel in his nostril. He just calmly walks up to someone and calmly tells that person to do something and that person just as calmly does what they've been told to, even its to commit homicide. Or suicide. 


Oddly, it does seem Jessica does look less dour in season 1 than she did in season 2.
______________________________________


This past weekend, I finished up season 1 of Santa Clarita Diet and now I’m ready to get to season 2 which just dropped a couple of months back. The story of Sheila Hammond (Drew Barrymore) as a normal workaday suburban mom turned flesh eating undead thing continues to be LOL funny. Just don’t do not watch this show while eating or right after you eat or right before you eat. It is seriously very, very, very, very gross.


A very funny part of the show is Timothy Olyphant as Joel Hammond who is desperately but not entirely very well trying to hang on in a life where his wife is an undead person who has to kill and eat people. Sheila's like, "Killing and eating people is what I do now." Sheila being undead makes her feel more alive than ever. Sheila being undead makes Joel feel varying degrees of frantic. 
____________________________________




My daughter Randie and I have gotten into Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It’s not on Netflix, it’s on Hulu and quite frankly, there are only so many hours in a day I have for watching TV so I’m not going to spring for multiple streaming services. But Brooklyn Nine-Nine airs on TBS so we’ve been DVRing those episodes. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a comedy set in a New York police department precinct populated by eccentric characters who are more or less good at their jobs. It would be easy to come up with comedy based on the cops being incompetent. Mostly, the officers of the Brooklyn Nine-Nine are weird goofballs but they get the job done. 



Andy Samberg stars as Detective Jacob "Jake" Peralta who is a surprisingly effective police officer with a penchant for obscure and awkward pop culture references.  The centerpiece of the show is Jake's interactions with Captain  Holt; played by Andre Braugher, Holt is a literal minded by the book who has little patience for Jake's care free style.
_____________________________________


I started season 4 of Arrested Development, the season created for Netflix several years after Fox cancelled the show after 3 seasons. I just watched 2 episodes and it is a bit of an odd duck. Each episode covers the same time frame from different perspectives. Episode 1 follows Michael who has fallen a long way down from where we last left him at the end of season 3. He's rooming with his son George Michael in his son's dorm room. Unwillingly. And by "unwillingly", I'm refer to son George Michael who is desperate to get his father out of his dorm. Michael, as usual, thinks he and George Michael are having a ball.


Episode 2 follows George Sr who is working a con to hold on to land on the United States/Mexican border where he figures to score big when the government comes calling to build a border wall. And given that topic, I will remind you that the Season 4 dropped on Netflix on May 26, 2013, a few years before a certain bloated orange con man with small hands made a border wall the central piece of his presidential campaign.


The pacing is a bit odd, slow even. With the premise of focusing on one principal character per episode, the wild freewheeling interactions of the cast from the original run are missing here. Still, it is an interesting experiment in television that I'm quite curious to see unfold.  

Is Dave-El Stressed?

A day after Dave-El's birthday, another year older and closer to death, am I feeling stressed?

YES! Yes, I am a bit stressed!!! 

National Panchayati Raj Day

In addition to it being my birthday, April 24th is also National Panchayati Raj Day which is celebrated annually on this date in India since 2010.

Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh established the first National Panchayati Raj Day, noting that if Panchayati Raj institutions functioned properly and locals participated in the development process, the Maoist threat could be countered.

To be honest, I do not know what the fuck that means.

So if you're threatened by a Maoist, remind them that today is National Panchayati Raj Day and I'm sure that mean ol' Maoist will turn tail and run away.

Take THAT, you mean ol' Maoist! 

Happy National Panchayati Raj Day, everybody! 

World Day For Animals In Laboratories

In addition to my birthday, today is World Day For Animals In Laboratories (WDAIL) which is observed every year on April 24th.

The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) describes the day as an "international day of commemoration" for animals in laboratories.

It pays to be nice to animals in laboratories because you never know when some laboratory mice might take over the world.  

HE'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!

Today is April 24th.

Art by Bill Watterson

Happy birthday to me! 


By the way, I got a birthday greeting from Bing!   

The Wheel of Death and Life Turns

Putting the “fun” in funeral, at the service for former First Lady Barbara Bush, former President Barack Obama made current First Lady Melania Trump smile. A lot of people were surprised to see Melania look this happy and relaxed as her normal facial expression around Li’l Donnie Trump is dull acceptance or anguished sorrow.

 

By the way, Li’l Donnie was not in attendance at Barbara Bush’s funeral “out of respect”. Yeah, let’s go with that. Barbara Bush, as a woman of intelligence, wisdom and compassion, really did not care for Li’l Donnie and made her feelings about him known.  “Out of respect”, my ass. Trump, like most bullies, is a sniveling coward, scared to face people who stand up to him, even if one of those people is lying dead in a coffin. Li’l Donnie Trump, severely lacking in intelligence, wisdom and compassion, had no place at Barbara Bush’s funeral.  

 

You know that Barack Obama making Lady Melania Trump smile just royally pisses off Li’l Donnie.

 

And the wheel turns. As we move from a life ended, let’s turn to a life beginning as the former Kate Middleton gave birth Monday morning.  The Duchess of Cambridge went into labor early Monday and was driven to St. Mary’s hospital in London by the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William.

 

Wait! Prince William drove Kate to the hospital? There’s not a royal retinue that takes care of this sort of thing?

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their 3rd child. 

Also, congratulations to First Lady Melania Trump on discovering she can still smile and may one day smile again. Maybe Barack and Michelle will invite you over for dinner. Li'l Donnie will not attend "out of respect" of course.

Birthday Lasagna

Yes, tomorrow is my birthday.  Sorry for the reflexive whining on the subject in today’s previous post. I’m afraid this post won’t be much better in spirit.

 

But birthdays and I do not have a good working relationship. I really don’t want it to be a big deal. Mostly because it’s never been a big deal. I have never had a birthday party. Ever. Not even when I was young. Now that I’m old person, I sure as hell wouldn’t want one now. And who would attend if there was a party. I really don’t have any friends. Well., not the type who would make time out of their schedules to come a party for me.

 

The closest I ever came to a party was about 40 years ago. I was in a church youth group thing that met on Sunday nights. Parents would take turns providing food. One Sunday night happened to fall on my birthday and it was my mom’s turn to provide dinner. She made lasagna. She made a really great lasagna.

 

Now, I need to clarify that my mom happening to be on rotation to provide dinner to the youth group which happened to be on my birthday was very much a coincidence. There was no secret plan to provide me with a stealth birthday party with a captive audience. It just worked out that way.

 

So other than that lasagna dinner 4 decades ago, I’ve never had a party.

 

Once you get to a certain age, birthday parties are really not cool. When you’re young, it’s a celebration of reaching a milestone that  will lead to new accomplishments. “Yeah, you’re old enough to go to school now.” “You can get a driver’s license now.” “You’re going to graduate from high school and go to college.”

 

By the time you hit 30, you become more aware of the opportunities lost and a shrinking window to accomplish anything. “Great! I’m 30 and I’m still not married, I don’t have kids, I’m still wearing t-shirts from my junior year of college and I really need to look into getting my own place.” Starting at 30, life becomes a countdown.

 

At 40, you realize twenty years ago, you just wanted to get laid, get drunk, get high and get laid again.

At 40, you realize twenty years from now, your junk won’t work, you’ll be on so many meds, you’ll be staring down retirement and oh my God, my junk won’t work?

 

Yeah, there’s not a lot of incentive to party. You just mutter miserably to yourself, “It’s my birthday? Big fucking deal. Just closer to death, that’s all that means.” 

 

Well, that’s how I approach it. 

 

So tomorrow is my birthday. I will be 55 years old. Physically, I’m feeling every single damn day of it, especially in my knees. Mentally, I’m stuck about 4 decades back.

 

I miss my mom and I miss her lasagna. She made really good lasagna.  

Dennis the Menace In "Life's a Bitch..."

Sorry for the bad mood but....

...tomorrow's my birthday.

Sigh.   

Action Comics#1000

Shhhhhh!

I'm reading Superman in Action Comics#1000!  

And it....

is....

AWESOME!!!

Carl Kasell

I was saddened to hear of the death of Carl Kasell, a distinctive voice on NPR’s "Morning Edition" and "Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me!" before retiring in 2014. It was particularly troubling to hear that age 84, he passed away from complications with Alzheimer's, a disease that took my mother’s life and the lives of too many other people in my family.  



Like me, Carl was from North Carolina. As a child, he would play records and perform “commercial breaks”, something I used to do when I was child as well. Unlike myself, Carl transformed that play into a long and fruitful career in radio.  Attending the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Carl worked on the campus radio station, WUNC. He was also a morning DJ and newscaster at WGBR-AM in Goldsboro, NC. He spent a decade at radio station WAVA in Arlington, VA, going from morning anchor to news. 



Carl Kasell joined NPR part-time in 1975 for "Weekend All Things Considered" and then announced the news on the first broadcast of "Morning Edition" in 1979.

In 1998, Carl took on an additional challenge at NPR when he joined the Chicago-based news quiz show "Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me!", a show that has long been a favorite of mine with a very funny and comprehensive look at the week’s news. A prize for winning quizzes was Carl Kassell’s voice on your answering machine.



"I look out the window in the morning sometimes, and the sun is rising, and the people are going to work. I look at Washington as being that big, sleeping giant, just stretching and waking up, and going about its business. And to know that I'm working in the capital of the most powerful nation in the world — I feel good about that."  
Carl Kassell upon his retirement in 2014  



You did good work, Carl. Rest in peace. 

Loyalty Is a One Way Street

Li’l Donnie Trump is a big believer in loyalty… to Donald Trump.  For him, loyalty is a one way street. 

 

Last week, Trump put on his big boy pants and did some “presidenting”, giving approval last week for rolling out airstrikes in Syria as well as new sanctions on Russia.

 

It seems Trump changed his mind about the sanctions. Whoops! That might upset Putin. Li’l Donnie wouldn’t want to upset his boy-crush. 

 

It appears that nobody bothered to clue in U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley before she announced the sanctions plan Sunday on national television.

 

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters Tuesday that Haley simply “got out ahead of the curve” on the sanctions, which Haley referenced  on “Face the Nation” and “Fox News Sunday.”

 

“There might have been some momentary confusion,” Kudlow added.

 

Haley later pushed back against that characterization, saying in a statement: “With all due respect, I don’t get confused.”

 

You go,girl!

 

Per a senior administration official, “Russia sanctions were a part of the agreed-upon plan going into the strike and going into the weekend. As recently as Saturday, that was reconfirmed as part of the plan.”

 

The Republican National Committee distributed talking points on Saturday morning in the wake of Friday’s airstrikes that specifically mentioned new sanctions: “We also intend to impose specific additional sanctions against Russia to respond to Moscow’s ongoing support for the Assad regime, which has enabled the regime’s atrocities against the Syrian people.”

 

Trump halted the sanctions plan on Sunday night, according to a Washington Post report.

 

This is not a new thing. Li’l Donnie will sign off on policy proposals only to change course days, weeks or months later, undermining advisers and Cabinet members, leaving them unprepared and twisting in the wind. 

 

There has been a scramble to come up with reasons for the sanctions turnaround. Treasury Department didn’t have the sanctions package ready to go? Russia’s muted response to Friday’s strike gave the administration reason to hold off on the sanctions? Recent changes to the National Security Council? 

 

Or it could be Trump decided to just fuck with people.

 

My money is on that one.  

 

Trump likes it when his surrogates go on TV to supplicate themselves to how great Trump is. He doesn’t care for it when others dare to act like they have some authority. Nikki Haley presents herself as strong and in control; Li’l Donnie isn’t going to put up with that shit. 

 

Remember that Nikki Haley came late to the Trump party. As governor of South Carolina, she spoke out against Trump ahead of that state’s primary in 2016. Trump has a looooooong memory for people who are not loyal to him personally.  

 

Haley’s senior adviser, Jon Lerner, was up for a job as national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence.  Lerner helped produce anti-Trump television ads during the Republican primary. Reportedly, Trump was royally pissed at Pence for wanting to hire Lerner. Lerner has since withdrawn his name for this position on Pence’s staff.  

 

Last year, Nikki Haley told  CBS News that women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct “deserve to be heard” while the White House has dismissed their claims out of hand. Yeah, you know that pissed Li’l Donnie off. 

 

As U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley has enjoyed a physical remove from the battles of the Trump White House. As a strong and independent person, Li’l Donnie Trump figures she was overdue for a smack down. 

 

Or it may have just been a matter of servicing his own ego, a chance to remind everyone who is really in charge. Not his administration, not his White House, just him and him alone.