This is the Washington Post but headlines like this are all over the Internet machine.

Yeah, but did they count the white nationalists inside the White House?

Thelma wants to know, y’all, because we don’t want no fake news.

A few days ago, MarketWatch posted an historical perspective of the Emoluments Clause in the Constitution.  Article 1, Section 9.  Specifically,

“No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

The Founders knew that corrupting the President would corrupt the entire US government, and gave Congress the power to remove that corruption.  Over 230 years ago, they envisioned a Donald Trump.  What they didn’t envision, though, was Congress being just as corrupt and complicit. The result is that Trump, a living, breathing, walking, and screaming violation of the Emoluments Clause is ripping the country apart while running the US government like it’s some gigantic reality television show.  He’s illegally sitting in the Oval Office, working full-time to honor himself, destroy Barack Obama’s legacy, appoint dozens of unqualified partisans to the federal bench, wage trade wars based on lies, collude with enemies, jail innocent children and undo regulations that protect health and the environment.

None of this should be happening, but it is.  And it will continue to happen until we change the Congress by getting people in there who will do their goddam jobs.  And THAT can’t happen too soon.

There is a place for anger, and THIS is it.

Roland Laurenzo, son of famed restauranteur Mama Ninfa Laurenzo and owner of Houston’s popular El Tiempo cantinas, really stepped in his refried beans yesterday.  His Navigation Blvd. Facebook page posted this photo of Jeff Sessions with Domenic Laurenzo (Roland’s son) taken while Sessions was having dinner there:

To make matters worse, they cross posted the photo on their other locations’ social media pages.  Predictably, the social media world erupted in protest.  Apparently unprepared for the firestorm, Laurenzo (or his employees) first tried to quell it by deleting negative comments, but finally gave up and simply deleted the original posts.  By the time they did that, though, the post had gone viral, but not in a good way.  Still trying to make this all go away, Laurenzo posted this statement last night:

It didn’t work.  At the time of this post, there have been 509 comments, virtually all pretty ugly.  Many have been deleted.

So, the question is this: How could Laurenzo be so stupid?  I’m not talking about serving Sessions his dinner, I’m talking about Laurenzo bragging about it on Facebook where he knows that thousands of customers and social media users would see it.  The decision to serve a shitbag like Sessions is his decision.  Personally, I couldn’t do it, but a business owner runs his own business, right?  The fact that Jeff Sessions stands against common decency, common sense, humanity, diversity, justice, equality, and honesty is well documented.  Since El Tiempo is a Mexican restaurant whose staff is 100% Latino and whose customers are as diverse as Houston itself, you would think that Laurenzo would never dream of saying to the world that he was “honored” to serve him even adding a little little American flag emoji as the crowning blow.

In his flurry of excuses/explanations, Laurenzo says he was only told by the Secret Service that a “government official” was coming to dinner, and didn’t know it was Sessions until he walked through the door.  He’s also said that the braggadocios Facebook post was made by an employee and had not been approved. Those explanations don’t pass the straight-face test.  First, just how many people NOT a Trump official/family have Secret Service protection? Answer: none, except past presidents.  Second, it appears that Laurenzo himself is a Trumpist.  How do we suspect that?  In October of 2016, Laurenzo approved a pro-Trump rally at the Navigation El Tiempo location.  A pro-Trump music video was produced at the same location on the same day.  Third, I’ve eaten at El Tiempo restaurants all over Houston for years.  I’ve NEVER seen either Roland Laurenzo or his son Domenic at any location where I’ve eaten.  That’s not to say that they don’t ever visit his restaurants, but what are the chances that he or Domenic just happened to be at the precise location in a personalized chef jacket at the precise time Sessions showed up for a photo op?  Answer: not likely.  Let’s face it…Sessions was doing some reputation polishing (See: Trump’s taco bowl moment) and arranged a few show ups in Houston after his speech announcing a crackdown on violent crime, which happens to be at a 40 year low.  Laurenzo gave an assist.  As a side note, Sessions had breakfast at La Mexicana yesterday morning, but, unlike Laurenzo, the Treviño family wisely kept their mouths shut about it, especially on Facebook.

What’s happening to Laurenzo is what often happens to people who are tone deaf (like Trumpists) and who live in an echo chamber.  When people live in that echo chamber, they are often caught flat footed when normal people are violently repulsed by something they do or say.  I’m sure that Laurenzo was all starry-eyed that Sessions came to dinner and then had to brag about it on social media.  The easily predicted backlash was 100% self inflicted, and will likely have long lasting effects on Laurenzo and his business.  It’s a shame, but he should have seen that coming.

As for me, I’m certainly going to miss the Dos Lunch special along with my Tecate.  Dammit.

UPDATE: Laurenzo threw in the towel yesterday and shut down all of El Tiempo’s social media accounts.  Was he humble and apologetic?  Of course not.  He’s a Trumpist. In several interviews, Laurenzo has called the brouhaha “a big misunderstanding” and that “we never intended to offend anyone.”  He also again threw a nameless employee under the bus for the original post.  Yesterday, explaining why he shut down El Tiempo’s social media pages, he said, “People are insulting us in such a dramatic fashion, and we feel like we don’t deserve it.  At least temporarily I had it taken down because I don’t want to be insulted, my children to be insulted, my family to be insulted.” Well, I’m pretty insulted that the owner of my formerly favorite TexMex restaurant openly supports easily the worst president in US history and his merry band of criminals tearing my country apart as fast as they can. If he’s so worried about being insulted, I’m wondering if he’s as insulted by the fact that 360 children remain locked up in detention centers after their parents were deported without them.  I think not.  He’s worried about his own family and his own business.  Besides – these newly orphaned kids will probably make good dishwashers and waiters for him, right?

There is a place for anger, and THIS is it.

Okay, just when you think that Louie Gohmert is the world champion goofy politician, along comes Missouri and blow us out of the water.

Please meet Steve West, who won the Republican primary for the state house in Missouri.  Steve has a bit of problem with some people.

Missouri Republican who won a primary for state representative on Tuesday has a history of making anti-Semitic and racially insensitive comments, reported the Kansas City Star.

In 2017,  West told a radio show that “looking back in history, unfortunately, Hitler was right about what was taking place in Germany. And who was behind it.”

Kinda make you wonder who he beat in the primary.  A guy with a boil on his nose and an I Love Jane Fonda bumper sticker?

Thanks to Deb T for the heads up.

Okay, so you already know about about Republican Chris Collins being arrested for insider trading with stocks called Innate Immunotherapeutics.

My favorite part was when a CNN legal analyst called it “dumbest insider trading crime” he’d ever seen. I mean, that’s saying something considering that his competition for that title is Martha Stewart.

Now here comes the fun blow back.

Mullins

Oklahoma Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin, has had the bad news fairy visit his bank account. Mullen’s financial report in January of 2017 said he had between $100,000 and $250,00 in Innate stock, no doubt recommended by his fellow congressman. But, bless his heart. Yesterday, he filed his financial report and, oops, that stock is now worth $1,000 to $15,000.

And it’s not like Mullins didn’t totally deserve something like this happening.

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

UPDATE.  Holy cow, Markwayne is really having a very bad day.

The House Ethics Committee announced Friday that Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) will have to repay $40,000 to his family plumbing business following a roughly five-year investigation.

Damn, I bet he’s glad it’s Friday.

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Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press

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