Steve Stockman, disgraced former congressvarmint from the Houston metro area, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison yesterday for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars of charitable contributions.  He used the money for personal expenses and campaign money.  Stockman rode into DC on the coattails of Newt Gingrich; and you might recall that he was pretty quickly named Congressman Clueless by Texas Monthly the next year, 1996.  Worthless and crooked, Stockman is finally getting his after all these years.

The Notorious RBG fell at the Supreme Court building yesterday and was hospitalized today.  Apparently, she has 3 broken ribs.  If you’re the praying kind, here’s your chance.

Warning: This scene contains violence.

As I watched Trump’s post election response yesterday, including the unceremonious firing of Jeff Sessions, I was reminded of this scene from the Untouchables where Robert DeNiro, as Al Capone, dispatches one of his “team” with a baseball bat for disloyalty.  The impression was reinforced for me, though, when Trump went full-on De Niro during his press conference, gloating about how Republicans (which were individually named) who refused to kiss his ring were defeated on Tuesday.  The meltdown came, thought, after members of the press started asking Trump really tough questions.  He paced, shouted at reporters, and almost walked off the stage as Jim Acosta from CNN pressed him about the racist fake caravan issue that Trump had relentlessly flogged in the run-up to election day.  The day ended with Acosta being banned from the White House and Sarah Sanders falsely accusing him of putting his hands on a WH intern when she tried to wrench a microphone out of his hand during Trump’s meltdown.  In a statement, CNN responded to Sander’s lie, calling her lie a lie.

After Sander’s false allegations, the Twitterverse erupted, attacking Sanders, and pointing out the irony of the White House accusing a reporter for touching a young female intern after defending Trump against almost two dozen accusations of actual sexual assault.

So what’s really going on here?  What’s going on is that Trump is terrified of what happens next.  The Dems can now subpoena his staffers and his sycophants.  He’s installed a goon as acting AG.  The Dems have already requested document retention of all communications between said goon and the White House for further investigation.  In January, the House will most certainly subpoena him to testify under oath about his record of partisan defense of Trump and his allies.  Mueller is coming, and I have to believe that he has disceminated his findings among other law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction.  Trump most certainly understands that he’s in a box now that he’s lost the House.  If he fires Mueller, the House will ask him to testify before the Judiciary committee and he’ll sing like a bird.  If Trump’s goon, Matthew Whitaker, is nominated for permanent AG, that hearing in the Senate will be ugly.

Many, including me, have predicted that this presidency will not end well.   We’re getting ever closer to that end, and the strain on His Orangeness has turned him, if that’s even possible, into an even more clownish figure with his heavily made up tanning bed glow that exaggerates his raccoon eyes and ugly ducktail hair weave.  Add that to his ever increasing erratic behavior and temper tantrums, and the picture is ugly.  Really ugly.  My only question now is not how his presidency will implode, but when.  I just hope he doesn’t get a lot of innocent people killed or injured before that happens.

The White House released Jeff Sessions undated resignation letter today, throwing the government once again into absolute chaos after a frenzied election day that ended less that 12 hours earlier.  After forcing out Sessions, Trump named a radical partisan talking head, Matthew Whitaker as interim AG.  Whitaker has often talked on television about how the Mueller investigation is too far reaching and that he would have indicted Hillary Clinton for her emails.  What a great choice as the US’s top cop.  The drinking game continues where you name the absolute worst person Trump could name for a top job, then when that person is named, DRINK!  This is how the day began (after he threatened to use his political power in the Senate to retaliate if House Democrats dare investigate him for his numerous violations of the rule of law and common decency.

It’s clear now that Trump is going to try to shut down the Mueller investigation.  I’m hoping Mueller is about done, if he’s not, he better hurry.

Tomorrow, we’ll be talking about Trump’s meltdown during the press conference today.  That’s worth a post only about that.

I am spending a few days on Galveston Island recovering and joining with other nerds to break down the numbers of what happened.  El Jefe is gonna try to keep things going here but I will drop by when I can.

So Trump got snitty with reporters?  Well, that’s a shocker.  I think there’s gonna be a whole mess of snitty after January 1.  It’ll be fun to watch.

It’s 80 degrees here so I’m gonna go lay on the beach for a little while.

Meanwhile, have some fun with this …

Top Ten Things The New Democratic Congress Should Do Right Away

1. Give Maxine Waters a bullhorn
2. Make Presidential Tax Return Day a national holiday with lots and lots of fireworks
3. Declare Robert Mueller a national monument
4. Auction off Florida
5. Issue a proclamation saying they feel real bad for Jeff Sessions losing his job but not really.
6. Challenge Russia to a dodgeball game.
7. Require Trump to sign all vetoes “Tiny Hands, Tiny Brains.”
8. Come on, you gotta be able to come up with some.

As we all know, Cruz beat Beto last night in a tighter race than anyone could have imagined a year ago.  In his victory shout, Cruz actually offered a fragment of an olive branch to Beto supporters saying, “I want to also say millions across this state were inspired by his campaign. They didn’t prevail and I am grateful the people of Texas chose a different path.   But let me say to all of those who worked on his campaign, all of those who were inspired that I am your Senator as well. My responsibility is to represent every Texan.”  Questions for Raphael – does this mean you’re going to stop trying to destroy health insurance and public schools in Texas?  I doubt it.  Are you going to stop demagoguing and spending all of your time running for president in Iowa?  No way.

In more dark news, Kim Olson lost to the worst human being in Texas, Sid Miller, and all other statewide offices were kept in the death grip of deplorables.  It’s so depressing.  I’m reading that turnout was even larger than in 2014 AND 2016, but straight party voting was the kiss of death to really good statewide candidates on the Dem side.

One really bright spot, though, was that “Liberal Lizzie Fletcher” decisively beat John Culberson.  Lizzie is a real breath of fresh air, and the message was clear that Houstonians are sick and tired of being unrepresented by an unresponsive, out of touch career politician.  Don’t let the door hit you on the ass on your way out the door, John.

Dems also had strong showings in Dallas and Tarrant Counties as well as in Harris and Fort Bend. At a minimum, the Dems wrested control of the House of Representatives from Republicans, so at least one part of the legislative branch will begin doing its job holding His Orangeness in check.  That should prove to be ugly, but I’m looking forward to the entertainment value.

All in all, though, I am personally sick to death of Texas being controlled by stupid people.  I’m sick and tired of the Texas Democratic Party being the millstone around great candidates necks instead of the wind at their backs.  I’m tired of poor turnout that simply hands races to the Repubs.  Yeah, I’m still in the ditch, but I’m still here.