Guys, I’ve been cleared to come back to work next week.  It’s gonna be great to play with y’all again.

Meanwhile stay safe.  Just as an aside, this is where I usually spend New Years Eve.  It overlooks Discovery Green in Houston.  There’s usually a mob there.

Well done, bartender and HPD.  It appears that this guy has a problem with guns and alcohol.

Yesterday, the New York Times published a blockbuster article that fingered the guy who triggered the Russia-Trump investigation.  That guy?  He’s George Papadopoulos, a then 28 year old kid who was “advising” the Trump campaign on energy and international issues.  As early as April of 2016, Papadopoulos was aware that the Russians had hacked into Hillary’s and the DNC’s emails due to his contacts with Russian operatives.  In May of that year, during a drinking session with an Australian diplomat, Papadopoulos bragged that the Russians had dirt on Hillary.  Two months later, Australian intelligence alerted US intelligence of the hacking.

This chain of events is what kicked off the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign and its contacts with Russian operative.  Papadopoulos, who planned to ride Mike Flynn’s coattails into the NSA, ended up riding his coattails into a guilty plea of lying to the FBI.  He’s now, along with Flynn, fully cooperating with the investigation.

Tick, Tick, Tick

Trump has ranted and raved about North Korea and “Little Rocketman” this year, has severely criticized China for not being tougher, and for continuing to truck and ship fuel oil into the country.  Visibility to that practice and further sanctions have served to choke off fuel to the Hermit Kingdom.  For a while, North Korean ships were loading in Russia and delivering into the country.  When that was discovered, surely that would choke off Kim Jong Un’s oil and drive him to the negotiating table, right?  Not so fast.  It’s now come to light that Russia has been loading fuel oils in Russia and then…wait for it…transferring those fuels to North Korean ships on the high seas.  That’s a direct violation of the UN sanctions agreed to by all, including Russia, and now they’ve been caught red handed smuggling into North Korea.  Trump’s response?  Dead silence.  Not one tweet or threat has been made since the news hit the wires today.

Now what is his orangeness to do?  Does he criticize Putin for violating international sanctions risking disclosure of the Pee-Pee Tapes, or does he stay silent, confirming his fealty to Russia?  We’ve never, in the history of the US, had such a compromised and ignorant buffoon infesting the White House.

God help us.

I’m getting stronger every day – thanks for your best wishes.  I’m also getting meaner!

Watch ’til the end.

If you’re not familiar with Terry Tate, here’s some background material:

https://youtu.be/RzToNo7A-94

LOL.

Michael Schmidt of the New York Times landed a private interview with Trump at Cheeto International Golf Club where His Orangeness was “working”.  During the 30 minute interview, Trump was obsessed by the Mueller investigation and denied collusion with the Russians SIXTEEN TIMES, even though Schmidt didn’t actually ask if he had colluded with the Russians.  The rest of the interview was vintage Latter Day Trump, where he has gotten so bad about repeating himself that he now repeats himself repeating himself.  An example:

“Well, I think it’s bad for the country. The only thing that bothers me about timing, I think it’s a very bad thing for the country. Because it makes the country look bad, it makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position. So the sooner it’s worked out, the better it is for the country.”

These phrases used the word “bad” FIVE times.  Also he did some serious boasting.  Here’s a little gem:

“I know the details of taxes better than anybody. Better than the greatest C.P.A. I know the details of health care better than most, better than most. And if I didn’t, I couldn’t have talked all these people into doing ultimately only to be rejected.”

He’s the smartest; the best at everything, right?  The transcript of the interview is really hard to read, so (editing out attributions to Trump and Schmidt, I made a word cloud of the transcript.  Here it is:

The more he repeats the words the larger they show.  It’s tough sledding, but a revealing read.