To those of us who have followed him for years, it was no surprise when Bill O’Reilly got the boot from Fox Noise yesterday as a growing stream of victims accusing him of sexual harassment overwhelmed the network.  After virtually all of its female anchors left, Roger Ailes was fired, and Fox’s payouts reached $13 million to Billo’s victims, the network finally took the step it should have taken years ago, but only after over 50 sponsors had pulled out.

Trevor Noah of the Daily Show described the whole sordid affair best.  Here ya’ go:

Fox News has parted ways with the falafel guy hisownself.

Bill O’Reilly has been forced out of his position as a prime-time host on Fox News, the company said on Wednesday, after the disclosure of multiple settlements involving sexual harassment allegations against him.

Can Sean Hannity be far behind?

Jason Chaffetz is going to need a new Twitter handle.

@jasoninthehouse is no longer going to be in the House.  After family yadda yadda and prayerful boogaloo, the Chairman of the House Oversight  and Government Reform Committee has announced that he has no more interest in Oversight (of a Republican Administration) or Government Reform.  Or government in any form, apparently, for now.

“I have decided I will not be a candidate for any office in 2018,” he announced today, leaving open the possibility for other offices in other years, once the heat has died down.

Chaffetz’ announcement immediately presents a mystery: why would anyone with his career arc step away from national power in a district that – despite his town hall bumps – should be an easy win for himself?

@JasonOutHouse – if I may suggest a new handle – is trying to cut such speculation off (good luck!): “For those that would speculate otherwise, let me be clear that I have no ulterior motives. I am healthy. I am confident I would continue to be re-elected by large margins. I have the full support of Speaker Ryan to continue as Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. That said, I have made a personal decision to return to the private sector.”

For the record, Chaffetz’s previous foray into the private sector was Nu-Skinning suckers via pyramid schemes “multi-level marketing.”

Down and OUT
(Thanks, Salt Lake Tribune)

Also, for those of you keeping score at home, Chaffetz is a climate-denier, anti-vaxxer, ACA-hater, and Planned Parenthood attacker.  He hates gays, women, net neutrality and town halls.  He investigated the hell out of Benghazi, Benghazi, and Benghazi, but saw no reason to pursue the treason of General Michael T Flynn, Trump’s first NSC adviser who is now desperately trying to avoid prison by shopping his testimony to investigators who don’t appear to need it.

He also feels that the following things require ZERO House Oversight or Governmental Reforms: Trump and the Emoluments Clause, Trump and the Russians, Trump and the Hatch Act, Trump and Prosecutor Bribing, Trump and the IRS, Trump and the Fake Voter Fraud, and Trump and the Fake Wiretapping.

It’s as if, once Hillary lost, Jason lost his zest, his joie d’vivre, his drive for justice, his whole and entire raison d’être.  Unless there was a Clinton Administration to blatantly libel, maliciously harass and falsely impugn, there was no more reason for Jason to be in the House.

I’m here to tell ya: there never was.  But if it turns out that on top of all this he has committed obstruction of justice by not investigating the many high crimes and misdemeanors of the von Trump Crime Family, he’ll need another Twitter handle:

@JasonInTheBigHouse

Since Howell Cobb, for whose family Cobb County, GA, is named, Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District was represented by Democrats.  But to understand the Democrats representing it, you should know that Howell Cobb was the first head of the Confederacy, until they elected Jeff Davis.

Dixiecrats owned the seat until Newt Gingrich, including fifty years of segregationist Carl Vinson, whose namesake aircraft carrier is currently lost somewhere in the South Pacific, going by the Drumpf MalAdministration’s befuddlement as to where, exactly, Carrier Strike Group 1 actually is.

Once Newtie was forced out of office in ignominy, it was won in a special election by a Republican with 65% of the vote, over another Republican with 25% of the vote, over a Democrat with 5% of the vote.

So, this is not exactly a blue district, and never really a progressive district, until last night.

Jon Ossof, a centrist Dem, came within 2% of winning the seat outright!  He garnered 48.1% of the vote, far beyond the 19.8% of the highest Republican vote-getter, Karen Handel, who advances with him beyond this “jungle primary” to the run-off election, to be held in June.  It was an amazing run, but despite his huge “victory” last night, the national GOP is going to drop on this one-on-one race like a ton of burning crosses.

It’s going to be an uphill climb.

Eric Trump, the family’s Fredo, defended his Dad’s obsessive golfing to a fawning Irish reporter:

Two things that happened in March:

Thing one:  Three Caterpillar corporate offices were raided by federal agents from the US Attorney’s office and the IRS.

Caterpillar has been dogged by accusations that it slashed its domestic tax bill by shifting corporate profits from the United States to a subsidiary in Switzerland. A 2014 congressional investigation concluded that a scheme to move cash between the company’s American and foreign subsidiaries cut its tax bill in the United States by $2.4 billion over 13 years.

Thing two: While owing us $2.4 billion, Caterpillar gave $200,000 in contributions to members of Congress.

You might want to go see if your congressman got any money from them so you can ask him to please give it back so Caterpillar can pay their taxes like you do.

I am willing to bet my best pair of pink boots that nobody goes to jail over this.  However, if you robbed a bank and then bribed the cops to look the other way, you’d never, ever get out of jail.

Thanks to Alfredo over at the Dairy Queen for the heads up.