Democrats think they are playing a game of chess, and agonize over whether to move their rook or their king, while their opponents simply bring a f**cking axe to smash the board. —Charlie Sykes, Playing Scrabble in the Thunderdome
Greetings from the far left coast.
The Oregon Society of Artists Gallery was a nice discovery when I happened upon The Portland Rose Festival Art Show on exhibit there. The gallery is a short stroll from Washington Park and the International Rose Test Garden in an almost idyllic, tree-shrouded neighborhood that belies proximity to downtown and the NW 23rd district. It is readily accessible and easy to take in during some afternoon wandering.
Several pieces on display struck me as quite nice, to my taste at any rate, in particular two by Natasha Ramas, with the caveat that photographs online can convey only some imperfect sense of an actual canvas. The gallery exhibit closed June 29. The show remains available online through August 2. New exhibits are featured almost monthly.
Another feel-good moment came with yesterday's blood donation, something I can do that I know will help someone. I recommend it.
Onward into the muck. The Trump era is notable for its remarkable assemblage of scoundrels, toadies, bootlickers, crackpots, scallywags, bamboozlers, blowhards, psychopaths, and zealots. I could go on. It is good to be reminded from time to time that over against this unsavory bunch stands a less numerous but genuinely impressive roster of women and men of courage and conscience who have borne witness to the dazzling array of transgressions and offenses that are the legacy of Trump's presidency. Fiona Hill. Alexander Vindman. Brad Raffensperger. Gabriel Sterling. Rusty Bowers. And others. This week Cassidy Hutchinson joined their number with her revelatory, compelling, and credible testimony before the January 6 committee. Amanda Carpenter at The Bulwark summarized Hutchinson's testimony in her customary first-rate fashion: Hutchinson Puts Trump’s Violence on Display.
The campaign to discredit Hutchinson launched full throttle before Bennie Thompson gaveled Tuesday's hearing to a close. Questions have indeed arisen that should be addressed by the committee. Thus far nothing has come to light that would call into question her credibility or the thrust of her testimony, which is consistent with what we have learned from other witnesses and evidence presented at these hearings.
It is reasonable to be wary of taking just whatever she says at face value. The same holds for those who reportedly dispute her testimony but have yet to do so under oath. It is worth noting that the veracity of one of them, former deputy chief of staff Tony Ornato, has been questioned on other occasions (Aaron Engel, Anthony Ornato has repeatedly disputed key White House conversations, Washington Post, June 30, 2022).
It is also worth noting that Mick Mulvaney, who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget and as acting chief of staff under Trump, and Sarah Matthews (no relation to your oft humbled scribe), former White House deputy press secretary, have taken to America's public square to speak up on Hutchinson's behalf. Mulvaney says that this is explosive stuff. He knows her and does not think she is lying (Mulvaney tweet, June 28, 2022). Matthews wrote that "Anyone downplaying Cassidy Hutchinson’s role or her access in the West Wing either doesn’t understand how the Trump WH worked or is attempting to discredit her because they’re scared of how damning this testimony is." (Matthews tweet).
Many within Trump's orbit still either refuse to appear before the committee or repeatedly plead the fifth when questioned. On Tuesday the committee showed video of Liz Cheney questioning former national security adviser and certified dingbat Michael Flynn.
- Do you believe the violence on January 6 was justified morally?
- Do you believe the violence on January 6 was justified legally?
- Do you believe in the peaceful transition of power in the United States of America?
To each question Flynn responded by taking the fifth, asserting his right not to incriminate himself. The response speaks for itself.
Former President Donald J. Trump's political organization and his allies have paid for or promised to finance the legal fees of more than a dozen witnesses called in the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack, raising legal and ethical questions about whether the former president may be influencing testimony with a direct bearing on him. (Charlie Sykes, The Big Lie Is Just the Pretext, The Bulwark, July 1, 2022)
Hutchinson came forward publicly on Tuesday only after firing a lawyer recommended by former Trump aides and paid for by his political action committee. Her testimony added detail and depth to the coherent narrative being meticulously assembled by the committee to document the president's efforts to remain in power by any means and at whatever cost necessary, in the course of which he displayed pathological indifference to the safety of others, to institutions of government, to the laws of the land and the Constitution.I may elaborate on this rant at greater length in coming days.
A New York Times video documents the Proud Boys role in orchestrating the assault on the Capitol: How the Proud Boys Breached the Capitol on Jan. 6: Rile Up the Normies. At 17 minutes it does not require a substantial investment of time. I found it worth viewing even after everything else we have learned.
The geniuses at the Democratic Party have poured millions into the campaigns of Trumpist candidates in Republican primaries on the presumption that they will be easer to beat in November than moderate Republicans. These are the same geniuses who welcomed the Republican Party's nomination of Donald Trump in 2016 because he would be easier for Hillary Clinton to defeat, the same geniuses confident that the 2020 election would bring big Democratic gains in House and Senate. As Charlie Sykes so eloquently put it, WTF could go wrong?
Administrative housekeeping. The website's site member section has been removed due to lack interest, which is to say, no one has used it. I enabled guest comments for blog posts so a reader can comment without having to go through the rigmarole of logging in as a site member. Comment and good faith disputation are always welcome. Comments that go beyond the pale will be deleted, with your oft humbled scribe reserving the right to be sole arbiter of what is beyond the pale.
New blog post: A Government of Laws and Not of Men: Thoughts Prompted by Tuesday's Hearing. June 25, 2022. The saying that ours is a government of laws and not of men came to mind while I watched the January 6 committee hearing on Tuesday. Adam Schiff was right when he noted at one point that the system held, but barely… read more>>
Keep the faith.
Stand with Ukraine.
yr obdt svt
Pictured below: A Kalamkari portrait of crows by Sophia Helstrom-White
