Midnight Meme Of The Day!

by Noah

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... A Witch Hunter's Christmas Tree!!! See how it rises as I chant and cheer Witch Hunt, Witch Hunt! Trump must have been right all along! Witch Hunt! Witch Hunt! Witch Hunt!!!!!

"Everyone Needs To Have Something They Can Feel Good About Hating" (Cully Barnaby)

The Barnaby family: Joyce (Jane Wymark), DCI Tom (John Nettles), and Cully (Laura Howard)

"Witch hunts never are [concluded]. You burn
one, you have to find another. . . .
"Everyone needs to have something they can feel
good about hating." -- Cully Barnaby

by Ken

Among the luxuries I've been allowing myself during an already-perhaps-nervously-long period of, er, transition is a slowly ongoing traversal, via Netflix, of the whole of the British mystery series Midsomer Murders (1997-present) -- for my money (in this case literally) the best thing Netflix has to offer, with the whole of the first 19 series already available and Series 20, which just aired in 2018, presumably to follow. (According to Wikipedia, Series 21 is scheduled to begin shooting sometime this year.)

While watching the 34th episode (out of 122 to date, including Series 20), I was stopped in my tracks by an exchange near the start of the final scene, which finds the Barnabys -- DCI Tom (John Nettles), his long-suffering wife Joyce (Jane Wymark), and adult daughter Cully (Laura Howard) -- at home in the kitchen, in various stages of sitting down to family dinner. At this point Tom is nearing wit's end over his seemingly stalled investigation of a series of ostensibly witchcraft-related murders-by-fire in the village of Midsomer Parva -- the first in an actual bonfire on the village green, the others custom-created "individual" mini-bonfires.

Passing the torch of hate

I was so taken by Cully's insight that the, um, logic of witch hunts dictates that they don't end, can't end -- "You burn one, you have to find another" -- that I paused the proceedings in order to undertake the ever-so-laborious process of transcription and then the additional labor of trying to do something about the need I hope you'll understand I felt to do something with the result of those labors. For me this all resonates wildly in the Age of Trump, who himself (we need to remember) is less a cause than a symptom of the social malignancy afflicting us here and now in the year 2019, though of course Trump has spent his whole life doing everything in his malignant powers, in the spirit of his mentor Roy Cohn, to accelerate the malignancy. What Cully is describing is a habit of mind generally found in in right-wing movements and autocracies, and positively beloved of both masters and subjects in right-wing autocracies.

As the scene began, poor Tom Barnaby -- so restless that he's unable to sit or stand still -- has been poring over some sort of old bound book, clearly not getting the answer(s) he's looking for.

CULLY BARNABY [to her father]: So, how's the witch hunt?
DCI TOM BARNABY: The witch hunt is not concluded.
CULLY: Witch hunts never are. You burn one, you have to find another.
JOYCE BARNABY: That's horrible, Cully!
CULLY: It's true! Everyone needs to have something they can feel good about hating. Plus, everyone loves a bonfire.

-- from "The Straw Woman," Episode 6 of
Series 7 (2004) of Midsomer Murders

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Midnight Meme Of The Day!

by Noah

As the indictments pile up and up and up... How many witches is it now Donnie? How many witches Donnie? The memes can't even keep up with them. The courts and hearings are going to have a hard time doing so, too. Every night on the news, it's more! We hardly need to hunt for them now. They're coming out of every corner. They're in your tower. They're in your bank. They're in your family. It's now your tsunami of pathetic denying tweets vs. the tsunami of indictments and testimony. How many witches? How many you vile, crooked, colluding, treasonous piece of shit? How many witches? They're there Donnie, in every corner of your past and present. See them? Witches wear black but guess what, Donnie, orange really is the new black. These are your witches of holidays past. Oh I wish you really would go to prison. And I wish it was the kind of prison I'd have in mind for you. If I was in charge, you'd already be there, sitting on a stinking, cold, damp floor in the dark, counting the squeals and squeaks of the rats, felling the centipedes crawling up your flabby legs. If you do go, be sure to stay dressed up as Cleo. Did Pence make that wig? It's nice. The boys in the slammer will love it. They'll want a piece of you in the first five minutes. How many witches Donnie? Not to worry. All the big prisons have an Aryan Brotherhood gang. You can join. They'll protect you from the MS13 dudes. You're an idol to the Aryan Brotherhood, but you best be getting some ink on your arms and chest. You know. Get some nice white supremacy symbols and slang. The kind your White House staffers throw around. You can ask Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mitch McConnell, too! And, learn some additional hand signs. I'm sure Stephen Miller can help you there. How many witches, Donnie? How many witches?

Señor Trumpanzee Finally Gets His Witch Hunt

The most dysfunctional and chaotic regime in American history is now breaking down entirely, as Trump sets employees against one another, like some Orwellian nightmare. They are scouring Bob Woodward's new book, Fear, line by line to see if they can identify anyone who has been disloyal to the would-be Führer. Speaking of which, in 1934 there was no going back for Germany when Hitler changed the Reichswehreid, the military pledge , to the Führereid. The original:

I swear loyalty to the Reich's constitution and pledge, that I as a courageous soldier always want to protect the German Reich and its legal institutions, (and) be obedient to the Reichspräsident and to my superiors.

The shiny new authoritarian version:

I swear by God this holy oath, that I want to offer unconditional obedience to the Führer of the German Reich and people, Adolf Hitler, the commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht, and be prepared as a brave soldier to risk my life for this oath at any time.

Trump is going batshitcrazy over the Woodward book and is lashing out in every direction. CNN reported that "he's privately on a mission to determine who did-- and didn't-- talk to Woodward." Who's going to stop him? Lindsey Graham? Chuck Grassley? Ben Sasse? I wouldn't count on it.

Two officials who have spoken directly to the President say he is pleased with the denials offered by chief of staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis.

In Trump's eyes, what makes or breaks aides who are reported to have made disparaging comments about him is how strongly they push back on the accusations.

But he is also taking note of the silence from several other former administration officials.



"He wants to know who talked to Woodward," one of the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity amid the highly tense atmosphere in the West Wing in the wake of the book.

The search for leakers inside the administration contrasts with the White House's defense that the book was fueled by "disgruntled employees," offered by press secretary Sarah Sanders and others.

One source close to the White House said people inside the administration are "frustrated because they know it's true."

Trump has talked openly with allies about his suspicion that former national security adviser H.R. McMaster cooperated, suggesting that McMaster likely turned over his notes to Woodward. The President has aired a similar belief about Gary Cohn, the former chief economic adviser.

Both men, of course, play key roles in the book.

The President is directing the response strategy personally, officials say, in consultation with top communications official Bill Shine and other aides. At this point, it seems unlikely that anyone is immediately fired because of the book, one official says, because that would "lend credence to a book he is trying to discredit."

...[T]he White House's emerging strategy to push back against Woodward's reporting seems to be going after those former officials suspected of sharing documents and stories, according to several people familiar with the game plan.

"You don't discredit Bob Woodward. You discredit the motives of the people" who provided the information, one person said.

Evidently caught off guard by the level of detail in the book, White House officials were soliciting advice from allies on how to respond to the book as recently as this weekend, a person familiar with those conversations said. One Republican who Trump doesn't think of as an ally-- although he votes for all Trump's crap, is Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse. He was on the Hugh Hewitt Show today: "The drama of this op-ed, the drama of the Woodward book, the drama of the Omarosa tapes, the drama of Cohen, the drama of Manifort, the drama of just the three-ring circus that is the White House almost every day, I think that it exhausts the American people. And I know that the founders would regard anything like this as you know, really unhelpful. You don’t run the country as a soap opera."

Midnight Meme Of The Day!

by Noah

See, Donnie, there are witches, and not just the ones that have been caught so far. But, this witch, the one in tonight's meme, is a good witch. She's a witch that not only has the country's best interests at heart but yours as well. If you only had the mental capacity to realize it.

Come on Donnie, even with your severe mental illness, you surely must know that the time has come for you to resign. Lincoln said "You can fool some of the people some of the time but you can't fool all of the people all of the time" and that thing has peaked for you, more than peaked.It peaked long ago and has been sliding down ever since. Are your delusions fooling you? You act so guilty. You act like the cornered rat that you are. No need to call others rats.

You will never have a better time to make a deal, leave, and drag your giant cellulite farm of an ass and your mail-order bride back to your laughingly tacky Trump Tower abode in NYC. If you're lucky, maybe you can cut a deal that will allow you to still play golf wearing an ankle monitor that will keep you from fleeing to Russia.

You've always claimed that you make the best deals. You even had Tony Schwartzwrite a book under your name called The Art Of The Deal or was it steal? Have you ever read "your" book?

It's only going to get worse for you and, the worse it gets, the worse any deal you can make to stay out of jail, avoid impeachment, avoid forced removal from the White House, avoid asset forfeiture, avoid a trial for treason and all those things that those who believe in justice would like to see, will end up being. I know you're counting on a free pass like Nixon got. He got the "Get Out Of Jail Free" card and even walked with his pension intact. In his case, even the investigation of his crimes was part of the cover-up. Like I always say, Washington takes care of its own and obviously your whole party is doing that for you already. But, can Washington protect you forever? Look how bad the last 10 days have been, and the way it looks now, one day you'll be looking back on the dog days of August 2018 as the good old days!

So listen to the message of the good witch Donnie. She's risked violating the airspace above the White House to deliver it. Maybe you should cut your coming losses, make a deal and get on with the rest of your ridiculous life as a con artist supreme. There will still be plenty of suckers out there for you. Personally, I would prefer to see you impeached, removed, tried, and hung along with all of your crime family and co-conspirators in Congress and the media. I know such a righteous thing will never happen, true justice is rare, but, it's sure looking like something is going to happen and it's not something you're going to like. Keep in mind that your co-conspirators like Ryan, McConnell and their troops of treason puppets like Lindsey Graham, Orrin Hatch, and Devin Nunes would probably like you to leave before you take them all with you. What if that tipping point comes and it's too late for you? What happens if rats like that jump ship? Same with your staff? Your lawyer and your accountant are already singing. You've lost your guy at the National Enquirer. What about when you cabinet members get immunity? Think of the things your White House aides have seen and heard. Can you be sure that Omarosa is the only one who has taped the goings on in the White House? Can the shredders get everything? Who made copies? You think Pence is going to save your ass? He may be your version of Agnew, or worse!

If you really are a master of the art of the deal, then you already know that the best deal you will ever be able to make is the one you can make right now, today. Don't pass go.

Midnight Meme Of The Day!

by Noah

Thursday marked the one year anniversary of the Mueller investigation. Señor Trumpanzee marked the anniversary with, you guessed it, a childish tweet wherein he once again referred to the investigation as a "Witch Hunt," in fact "the greatest Witch Hunt in American history." It figures that Trumpanzee would refer to his "Witch Hunt" as "the greatest." It's only a matter of time until he claims that this "Witch Hunt" has "the highest ratings of any previous 'Witch Hunt."

In his tweet, Trumpanzee also once again, chanted his patented "No collusion. No collusion" personal mantra. Judging by the ever-increasing amount of indictments and guilty pleas, his mantra isn't working. Keep chanting you obese orange mini-handed freak. Maybe this time, America will burn the real witches. Yeah, I know. Fat chance of that. I do have a dream though. I have a dream that you will be judged by the content of your character.