Donald Trump has a new Chief of Staff.  Yeah, and you thought once Chris Christy turned it down it was mission impossible. Lots of people wanted that job. Lots. Fast Eddie over at Baytown Adult Entertainment and Bicycle Factory was begging for it.

Hey, I’m still wondering who the secret court session was about.  Mike Pence, maybe? Don, Jr? Individual 2?

Trump tweeted this morning that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is out.  This is the…I’ve lost count now…umpteenth  one of Trump’s cronies out on the street and under DOJ investigation.  Zinke has been rushing to burn down the Interior Department ever since he infested the office in early 2017.  Recall that Zinke is the one who approved a tiny two man electrical contractor from Montana to rebuild the entire Puerto Rican electrical grid that was destroyed during Hurricane Maria.  The company, Whitefish Energy, once employed Zinke’s son.  That contract, of course, ended in incompetence and scandal.  Since that disaster, Zinke has been running roughshod over the country’s federal lands, slashing budgets at the US Forest Service, BLM, and other critical agencies under the authority of the department.  He has attempted to undo decades of environmental protections and putt our nation’s resources up for sale.

Zinke is now the subject of at least six federal investigations for ethical misconduct and policy violations.  One, thought to be related to a shady land deal Zinke did with Halliburton’s CEO, has been referred to the Justice Department as a criminal case.  What a nice guy.

Zinke is now going the way of the many before him, his reputation destroyed by being touched by Donald Trump.

And, in the words of Sonny and Cher, “The beat goes on.”

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A 7 year-old girl died in Border Patrol detention yesterday, apparently from dehydration and hunger.  This tragedy came to light almost immediately after a story reported by NPR revealed that 15,000 immigrant kids are being held in detention and that facilities are full.  What we are witnessing live on national television and on the net is nothing short of massive crimes against humanity by a lawless administration while invertebrate Republicans in control Congress do NOTHING to stop this continuing violation of US and international human rights laws.

I’ve had just about enough of this shit which goes virtually unnoticed, buried in the blizzard of reality television tweets and the outrageous lies spewing from Trump’s mouth in continuous volcanic eruptions.  While he lies to cover up felonies committed by himself and his cronies, our government, along with our society, is dying from this cancer that is being negligently allowed to metastasize and threaten our very survival.

It’s long past time for the Congress to get off its collective ass and do its goddam job.  I have no hope for the Senate, at least yet, but the House Dems, led by Nancy Pelosi, can at least throw out an anchor to slow our careening government from slamming into Trump’s giant wall (not the one on the border, but the one of lies he’s constructed in DC).

Enough is enough.

Well, there’s Newt. Oh, good Lord, just when you think it can’t get worse, there’s always Newt.

Mr. Impeachment?  Newt Gingrich?

Hey, maybe he could bring along Tom DeLay, Bob Livingston, wife 1 or 2, that look down his nose at Bill Cinton’s sex life, and his once last desperate chance at relevance.

I mean, the more Trump talks about a government shutdown, the more Newt Gingrich feels comfortable.

I’ve had a touch of whatever-that-is-that’s-going-around so I ran out and got a medical alert bracelet just in case.

Thanks to everybody for the heads up.

Houston’s First Baptist Church is an enormous joint.  Just look at their staff.

So no wonder it took them so long to discover the one of their ministers swiped at least $800,000 from them.

Prosecutors say Altic allegedly spent the stolen funds on overseas trips with his family, groceries and to pay for his doctorate in divinity from Lancaster Bible College.

They added that he stole the money in a number of ways, including forged payments authorizations.

I guess the other ministers thought manna from heaven was falling on their colleague.

Tuesday afternoon, his attorney said he has learned his lesson: “He’s actually met with the church and he’s asked for forgiveness.” said James Alston, Altic’s attorney.

The church says their insurance will pay $500,000 of it.  You mean they have insurance for this kind of thing in the Baptist church? And that donors say they will make up the rest.

When it takes you this long to discover their theft, you have too much money.

Thanks to SGray for the heads up.