Rethinking
I read this book over the holidays, about the 2016 election. Published in 2017, the author has been described as a Bush insider (credited with the expression “compassionate conservative”) so he’s definitely tilted against Hillary but not necessarily a fan of Trump’s.
I dunno. He wrote an authorized biography of the Trump White House in 2019, so probably on balance a fan of Trump. He croaked in 2021.
ANYway, I came away with a higher opinion of Trump. I was astonished at the amount of anti-Trump stuff I had absorbed unconsciously. As much as I hate the media, they still snuck a bunch of ideas past me.
For example, his family is genuinely loving, close-knit and protective of him and each other. From what I can tell, that includes Melania. I had taken the cynical view of his relationships on board.
It would seem, too, that between Giuliani cleaning up crime and Trump cleaning up a crumbling downtown, the two of them rescued NYC from the brink. I did not know that.
It’s no wonder he and Giuliana are close. It’s astonishing the City has such disdain for him, though. Ingrates.
I had forgotten what sleaze buckets the Clintons were, too. And that their own party worried about them and their recklessness. Renting out the Lincoln bedroom? Remember that?
It was an odd experience reading a history book about something so recent. I would have I thought I could remember it all completely, but it took me by surprise. I enjoyed it.
p.s. Holy shit, the first 24 hours have been GLORIOUS. I’ve never seen anything like it. We’re so accustomed to getting big promises and tiny payoffs, watching him sign all those wonderful EOs and chat easily with reporters – MORE OF THIS, PLEASE.
January 21, 2025 — 5:57 pm
Comments: 14
*exhale*
Iowahawk is the best. Remember his blog?
Not going to lie: I held my breath until the swearing in was over. I mean, not literally. I can’t hold my breath that long. I sighed deeply a lot.
Also, I had to bail on the speech. I have a very, very low cringe threshold. He was calling them all kinds of terrible shit AND THEY WERE SITTING RIGHT THERE.
Did you watch?
January 20, 2025 — 7:16 pm
Comments: 13
Parting shot
This is an act so silly, I’m going to assume it was a 26-year-old comms intern who came up with it.
To recap, the ERA (born in 1923(!)) made it through the House and Senate in the early Seventies and was sent to the States for final approval. There was a hard deadline of 1979 built in to the text (later extended with dubious legitimacy to 1982).
It need 38 and it got there, but only after both deadlines had passed. The last one was Virginia in 2020. Some states that voted to ratify it voted to rescind after the deadline passed (nobody knows if they can do that). It’s a mess. The one certain thing is that constitutional amendments have nothing to do with the president.
The irony is, one of the questions that soured women on the ERA was the possibility it would make separate bathrooms unconstitutional (the big one, of course, was the draft).
This executive flourish is so stupid, I don’t think the Supreme Court will even bother. I wonder if he’ll try any other foolishness on his way out the door.
January 17, 2025 — 5:34 pm
Comments: 9
Alexander, can you hear me?
We were tidying the office today (not my idea!) and I came upon the wrinklies, rattiest, fadedest dirty rust-stained(!) sawbuck I have ever seen. It’s thin as a tissue, as though it’s been abraded somehow. A puff of air would disintegrate it.
I can’t throw it away. Somehow, I cannot make myself put ten bucks in the trash.
If I were home, I could probably take it to a bank and get it replaced, but that’s not going to happen. I’m stuck.
I’ll probably die clutching this thing in my hand.
January 16, 2025 — 7:45 pm
Comments: 8
Smoooooooth
I wasn’t kidding that I started a skincare routine. I was kidding that Jen Ruben’s face made me do it, but she has sure stiffened my resolve. I’ve never paid much attention to my skin, and it’s really starting to show.
It is a confusing mess of peptides, retinoids, exfoliants, moisturizers, scrubs, serums, creams and fluids, all of which are screamingly expensive because people will pay anything. Fortunately, there’s dermatology YouTube to guide me. The skin channels I’ve run across are mostly men and their faces look like they are entirely composed of baby buttocks.
Those two guys in the picture are Drs Maxfield and Shah. There are plenty more, but I found those two especially helpful.
Any advice?
p.s. Earlier, I watched a snippet of Pam Bondi and her confirmation hearing for Attorney General. She looks about 25 – not near old enough for her resume. I checked her bio and holy crap, she’s 60! I wanna know her skin care routine!
January 15, 2025 — 6:38 pm
Comments: 6
See ya!
The egregious Jen Ruben has left the Washington Post. Who cares if she fell or she was pushed; the woman has been insufferable for years. This is taken from the Donald Trump portion of her Wikipedia article:
Rubin denounced Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Paris Agreement as “a dog whistle to the far right”, and designed to please his “climate change denial, right-wing base that revels in scientific illiteracy.” Previously, after Barack Obama had approved the agreement, Rubin characterized it as “nonsense” and argued that it would not achieve anything.
Rubin described Trump’s 2017 decision to not implement parts of the Iran nuclear deal as the “emotional temper tantrum of an unhinged president.” She had previously said that “if you examine the Iran deal in any detail, you will be horrified as to what is in there.”
Rubin strongly supported the United States officially recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Early in his presidency, she criticized Trump for not doing so, saying that it was indicative of his tendency to “never keep his word.” She concluded that Trump “looks buffoonish in his hasty retreat”. In December 2017, after Trump announced that he would move the embassy, she said it was “a foreign policy move without purpose.”
See, it’s one thing to have a policy opinion, it’s another to have a different opinion because you don’t like the guy who said it. Jen and the Never Trumpers are so screwed. They convinced the left they were useful. Now it turns out they were a tiny, feeble constituency that appeals to no-one, right or left. Where will they go?
Jen’s new gig is a substack called The Contrarian. It will feature news, opinions, podcasts, recipes, pets. No, I didn’t make those last two up. They really think they’re going to make a brand.
Go watch the introductory video, if you can bear the cringe. Seriously, go watch it – Jen is looking absolutely ghastly. I poked around Google to see if she’s been ill, but it would seem not. I looked her up to see how old she was – thinking mid to high seventies – and folks she’s two years younger than me!
I went straight out and learned a skin care routine.
January 14, 2025 — 5:39 pm
Comments: 12
Bonus Karter Kontent
Jimmy Carter had four children, three older boys and a daughter, Amy. She was the only one young enough to live in the White House. Unlike many presidential children, she was in the limelight a fair bit.
After Jimmy’s term was over, Amy was an activist for a while, then went on to get a masters degree in art. This is an illustration she did for her father’s children’s book, The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer. As you can see from the illustration, degrees in art are not helpful.
More from last week’s book (last excerpt, I promise):
In recent memory, according to agents, the brattiest offspring of a president was Amy Carter, who was ten when her father became president. “Amy was spoiled rotten,” an agent on her detail says. “Amy Carter was a mess,” says Brad Wells, an Air Force One steward. “She would look at me and pick up a package of [open] soda crackers and crush them and throw them on the floor. She did it purposely. We had to clean it up. That was our job.”
Secret Service agents guarding Amy — code-named Dynamo — at school often found themselves in the middle when Amy wanted to play with friends after school instead of going home to the White House to do her homework, as she was supposed to do. When agents told her she had to go home, “Amy would call her father and hand the phone to the agents,” Dennis Chomicki, who was on her detail, remembers.
“The president would say to take Amy anywhere she wants to go. Amy just had her father wrapped up.” Since Amy would often stay at a friend’s house through the evening, agents wound up working longer hours than if they had taken her directly to the White House. As a result, says Chomicki, “the detail would always try to get Mrs. Carter, the first lady, on the phone, because she would say, ‘Nothing doing, she’s coming home. She’s got her homework to do.’ ”
Of all the presidential children guarded by the Secret Service, Carter’s second oldest son, James Earl “Chip” Carter III, was one of the least liked. Twenty-six when his father won the presidency, Chip had helped campaign for him in 1976 and again gave speeches on his behalf when Carter ran for reelection in 1980. “He was outrageous,” a Secret Service agent says. “Chip was out of control. Marijuana, liquor, chasing women.”
Separated from his wife, Chip would “pick up women in Georgetown and ask if they wanted to have sex in the White House. Most of them did. He did it as often as he could,” the agent says. At one point, Rosalynn Carter told the press that all three of her sons had experimented with marijuana. Their oldest son, John William “Jack” Carter, was discharged by the Navy for smoking weed.
When you visited tonight, did you get the message “Please wait while your request is being verified“? Yeah, me too. Huh.
January 13, 2025 — 5:44 pm
Comments: 6
Dead Pool 181: Farewell to Jimmy
The day has come at long last; Jimmy Carter has shuffled off and BullDawgGuy takes the dick. First president to live to 100.
What will you remember him for? Telling you to turn down the thermostat and put on a sweater? The lust in his heart? Smacking a swamp rabbit with an oar?
Me, I’ll remember him for the hilarious spectacle of all the living presidents, vice presidents, first ladies and second gentleman interacting awkwardly at his funeral. Thanks for the laughs, Jimmy!
Ready?
0. Rule Zero (AKA Steve’s Rule): your pick has to be living when picked. Also, nobody whose execution date is circled on the calendar. Also, please don’t kill anybody. Plus (Pupster’s Rule) no picking someone who’s only famous for being the oldest person alive.
1. Pick a celebrity. Any celebrity — though I reserve the right to nix picks I never heard of (I don’t generally follow the Dead Pool threads carefully, so if you’re unsure of your pick, call it to my attention).
2. We start from scratch every time. No matter who you had last time, or who you may have called between rounds, you have to turn up on this very thread and stake your claim.
3. Poaching and other dirty tricks positively encouraged.
4. Your first choice sticks. Don’t just blurt something out, m’kay? Also, make sure you have a correct spelling of your choice somewhere in your comment. These threads get longish and I use search to figure out if we have a winner.
5. It’s up to you to search the thread and make sure your choice is unique. I’m waayyyy too lazy to catch the dupes. Popular picks go fast.
6. The pool stays open until somebody on the list dies. Feel free to jump in any time. Noobs, strangers, drive-bys and one-comment-wonders — all are welcome.
7. If you want your fabulous prize, you have to entrust me with a mailing address. If you’ve won before, send me your address again. I don’t keep good records.
8. The new DeadPool will begin 6pm WBT (Weasel’s Blog Time) the Friday after the last round is concluded.
The winner, if the winner chooses to entrust me with a mailing address, will receive an Official Certificate of Dick Winning and a small original drawing on paper suffused with elephant shit particles. Because I’m fresh out of fairy shit particles.
Note: I am woefully behind on dick deliveries. If I owe you one, you’ll know how long. I ain’t gived up, but I haven’t drawn much since lockdown. Some day, your heirs might hear from my heirs.
January 10, 2025 — 4:00 pm
Comments: 62
And tomorrow we dance on the grave
I always had him pegged as a petty and spiteful man. Not sure why, but some news must have trickled out to youthful me to create that impression.
While he publicly denied it, Carter would personally schedule the times when aides could play on the White House tennis courts. “Carter said, ‘I’m in charge,’ ” a former Secret Service agent says. “ ‘Everything is my way.’ He tried to micromanage everything. You had to go to him about playing on the tennis court. It was ridiculous.”
Agents were convinced that Carter as president was in over his head and that Rosalynn was the smarter one. She had a loving relationship with her husband and acted as an advisor, sometimes firmly correcting what he said. Unlike her husband, she treated agents with respect.
“Rosalynn really was the brains of the outfit,” says former agent Repasky. “She kept him in line and constantly advised him. She was very pragmatic and organized. He would make an ultra-liberal comment, and she would ground him and tell him he had to be more centrist. If he didn’t listen, she could get cold and steely.”
“I think the presidency was too big for Carter to comprehend,” says former agent Ramon Dunlap.
Oh, and stupid. I forgot stupid.
After he left the presidency, Jimmy Carter often went skiing and fishing with Rosalynn in Colorado. “He’d go skiing, and he’d take lessons, and his wife would take lessons, too,” a former agent says. “But he wouldn’t listen to his instructor. He thought he was an expert. He’d go skiing, and she’d go skiing, and he’d keep falling down or not doing things right, and she would do everything right the way the instructors taught her. He’d get pissed off because she was a better skier than he was.”
The same pattern played out when the couple went fishing. “She’d go out there in the middle of the stream and go fishing, and he’d be out there thinking he was the best fisherman in the world,” the former agent says. “He’d be tossing that line out there, and she’d be catching fish, and he’d get just furious because he couldn’t catch a fish and she could.”
Picture is the Jimmy Carter rabbit incident, if you don’t recall. Dead Pool tomorrow!
January 9, 2025 — 5:22 pm
Comments: 4
Carterpaloozala continues
Elsewhere in the book, it went into some detail about the rules governing the nuclear football, which explains why making his agent stay 15 minutes away was such a serious breach (Biden as Vice President was careless about it, too).
Personally, I never thought the football itself mattered. If you’ve got to retaliate, you’re already screwed. But it was an important deterrent for other nations to know there was a football and a system in place to shoot back.
Carter would regularly make a show of arriving early at the Oval Office to call attention to how hard he was working for the American people. “He would walk into the Oval Office at 6 A.M., do a little work for half an hour, then close the curtains and take a nap,” says Robert B. Sulliman Jr., who was on Carter’s detail.
“His staff would tell the press he was working.” Another agent says that at other times, he could see Carter through the Oval Office windows dozing off in his desk chair while he was ostensibly working.
“Carter was a phony, an absolute phony,” an agent says. “When he was in a bad mood, you didn’t want to bring him anything,” a former Secret Service agent says. “It was this hunkered-down attitude: ‘I’m running the show.’ It was as if he didn’t trust anyone around him. He had that big smile, but when he was in the White House, it was a different story.”
“The only time I saw a smile on Carter’s face was when the cameras were going,” says former agent George Schmalhofer, who was assigned periodically to the Carter detail. Perhaps because of his aversion to the military, Carter refused to let the military aide with the nuclear football stay in a nearby trailer when Carter was visiting his home in Plains, Georgia. “Carter did not want the nuclear football at Plains,” a former agent says.
“There was no place to stay in Plains. The military wanted a trailer there. He didn’t want that so the military aide had to stay in Americus.” The town was a fifteen-minute drive from Carter’s home. “Carter didn’t want anyone bothering him on his property,” the former agent explains.
“He wanted his privacy.” Terrence Adamson, Carter’s lawyer, denied that Carter refused to let the military aide stay near his residence. But Bill Gulley, who was in charge of the operation as director of the White House Military Office, confirmed it.
This book was written in 2014 and he spends a lot of time talking about how terrible conditions are at the Secret Service. Grossly incompetent management, overworked agents, regular breaches of the rules for political reasons (John Hinkley could never have gotten close to Reagan if aides hadn’t overruled rules for crowd control).
Imagine adding 10 years and DEI to that mix. That’s how you get an Agent Cindy.
January 8, 2025 — 4:00 pm
Comments: 4