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- Please accept our early birthday wishes, Mr. President. We know you’re a faithful reader.
- Marjorie Taylor Swift: simple four-toed pop politician who sings nasty, airy songs about rules she hates because she feels wronged by them.
- Kevin McCathy is the least effective House Minority leader in modern times. His caucus has no message except to be anti-everything. He’s seen multiple transformative pieces of legislation passed. His members are acting like prepubescent children who McCarthy can’t control. And he is scared. Very very scared. Everyone can smell (and hear) the fear.
- Nancy Pelosi is the most successful Speaker of the House in my lifetime. She will have a federal building named after her.
- The Rittenhouse case hinged on one thing: one of the shooting victims admitted that he was carrying a gun, which Rittenhouse testified made him scared for his life–Rittenhouse, who was armed with an illegally-purchased assault rifle. Why wasn’t everyone else allowed to act on their fear of an unknown individual carrying an AR-15-style assault rifle? Surely Rittenhouse made others fear for their lives, right?
- Glad to hear that Biden’s physical went well and that he’s healthy. Also glad that his doctor didn’t say he’d live to be 200 years old and was the “healthiest individual ever” because normalcy.
- When the definitive retrospective on the January 6th domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol gets written in five years, the as-yet unreleased White House call logs will show Trump, Meadows and various other White House staff calling over to the Bannon and others in the War Room at the Willard Hotel, demonstrating in real-time that Trump wanted to capitalize on the attack to grab power.
- Neither Bannon nor Trump (nor, for that matter, Eastman, Stone, Miller or Kushner) want the call logs released because it would show a conspiracy to undermine the Constitution. While Bannon hoped that’s what the attack would do all along, Trump opportunistically and enthusiastically joined it as it proceeded, believing it was the only way to stay in the White House. The call logs would show how frequently and manically Trump and his minions coordinated with the Bannon war room.
- I endorse pressure cooker risotto. I mean, I endorse ALL risotto, but in this instance I’m endorsing the technique of using a pressure cooker to make it. One-third the time and 0% the stirring.
- Democrats are the most transformative presidents: FDR (The New Deal), LBJ (The Great Society), Bill Clinton (opening the Age of the Internet). Joe Biden will likely have a transformative presidency with his infrastructure program. What can the GOP lay claim to?
- Why members of Congress–all Republicans–are decrying their claimed loss of “executive privilege” is baffling. Congress should want weaker protections and more transparency to facilitate their oversight duties of the Executive Branch.
- Turkey will likely be barbecued this year. (It’s easy, inexpensive and flavorful.) Although deep-fried has not been ruled out. Potatoes and a corn pudding. Spinach. Carrots. And my wife’s pumpkin pie. And then, it’s cookie-baking season.
- Top songs about alcohol (not drinkin’ because songs about drinkin’ and love ballads to alcohol are two different things): “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” by George Thorogood. “Alcohol” by Barenaked Ladies. “Gin and Juice” by Snoop Dog. “Red Red Wine” by UB40. Half of today’s country songs, and a third of Jimmy Buffet’s catalog, could be included in the “drinking” category, but not in the Alcohol Appreciation list.
- There are no good Thanksgiving songs, and no, I’m not upset about that.
- UPDATE FROM LAST WEEK: So it turns out the bread I made that I described as “nicely subtly salty” was really, really salty, according to Mrs. Jack. My taste buds are apparently in a Long COVID downturn and couldn’t taste it, so I must apologize to my wife for making her such an unpalatable loaf.
