File under: How Can You Be This Stupid?

Last night on national television, the Iowa Democratic Party shot itself in foot, and this morning it’s holding the same gun to its own head.  At this writing at 6:00 am, results of the caucus last night are still not in, and no one can say when they will be.  Holy Jesus.  With the 2020 election being probably the most significant presidential election in US history, some genius in Iowa decided it was a REALLY GOOD IDEA to roll out a new app to report caucus results.  AND, employing typical state party incompetence, training on said new app was between lame and non-existent.  Chaos ensued during the evening caucuses and the app, as apps are wont to do, locked up.  The state party then told precinct chairs to phone it in, jamming phone lines.  Some precincts actually had to take a photo of the app screen and drive the results in.  Stupid.  Incredibly stupid.

I’ve never really understood why Iowa has been so important for the last 40 years since Jimmy Carter put it on the map.  Or why it goes first.  Or why it still uses the caucus system which has never been all that reliable. Along with New Hampshire and Vermont, Iowa is probably the least representative of national diversity.  It’s sparsely populated and overwhelmingly white. I do know one thing – the Democratic Party didn’t need this, and is a terrible start to the 2020 election cycle.  Also, I predict that this is Iowa’s last time to be first and last caucus.

I have a suggestion for reforming Iowa’s caucus system and it goes like this:

1. Print up a whole bunch of sheets of paper with the candidate’s names on them.
2. Find a whole bunch of buildings around the state (churches, schools) that people can easily find.
3. Provide some little tables that have some privacy (We can even call them voting booths).
4. Have people come to this place, take a form, and put a mark next to the name of the candidate they want.
5. Count the marks for each candidate.
6. Send the totals in.
7. Go home and drink a beer.

I know this is a really unique approach to picking a presidential nominee, but it might just work, especially if the precinct chairs could read and count.  And, it would eliminate the idiocy of hopeful candidates spending years and millions of dollars drumming up support among the three dozen or so people living in the goddam state.  Iowa never deserved to go first with it’s stupid caucus system, and richly deserves to be moved to like the last on the list of Super Tuesday (or later).

Sheesh

Trump gave his own Super Bowl party.  For some damn reason, I can’t get the video to post here, but if you go here, you can see a stable genius enjoying the National Anthem by acting the fool

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said all Americans should “stand proudly” during the national anthem, and publicly chastises those who don’t as disrespectful of the troops.

But during the national anthem at his own Super Bowl watch party Sunday night, a brief video posted to Instagram shows Trump greeting guests, adjusting his chair, and straightening his suit jacket as other attendees — including first lady Melania Trump and their teenage son — stand with their hands over their hearts. As “The Star Spangled Banner” crescendoes, Trump raises both of his hands in the air, and twirls them around as if conducting the music.

He looks like he’s making fun of everybody else for standing and holding their hand over their heart.

And there’s this.

The video was included in an Instagram story by a real estate agent for a Russian-American firm who frequents Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties and events.

I guess he was showing off for Putin.  Or on drugs. Ya never know.

Thanks to James for the heads up.

I got notes from several of y’all about Iowa’s Senator Joni Ernst promising to impeach Joe Biden if he’s elected president.

Obviously, the senate can’t impeach anybody, only the House can do that, but nobody told Joni.

Well, she’s re-thought that.

Sen.Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) on Monday walked back her comments a day earlier warning that Congress could immediately impeach Democrat Joe Biden over his Ukraine dealings if he’s elected president in November.  

Speaking with reporters just off the Senate floor, Ernst said her weekend remarks were overblown and that she was trying to argue that Democrats have made impeachment — once a political tool reserved for extreme circumstances — the new normal in today’s partisan warfare.

Ya know, I suspect her remarks were “overblown” because they are incredibility dumb, and secondly because they really did sound like a threat.

Ernst also “spilled the beans” about the real purpose of the Republicans going after Biden – to lower his vote in Iowa.  So, there may be one person in Washington dumber than Trump.

According to CNN, Trump and Nancy Pelosi have’t spoken “in months.”

According to a Pelosi spokesman, the two have not spoken since the October 16 meeting in which Trump insulted Pelosi, including calling her a “third-grade politician,” before she and other top Democrats walked out and later accused Trump of having a “meltdown.” That meeting was supposed to be about Syria.

Maybe when he walks up to the podium, Pelosi should just pick up where they left off.

Or throw something at him.  Or give him that, “my, my, aren’t you a big boy” clap.

USA Today measured which Super Bowl commercials people liked best. President Trump’s came in dead last.

That’s #62 for the record books.  It came in lower than PopTarts.

That’s low.

And, if you missed any of the commercials, they are all right here.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is just really tired of living in Austin, a location he views as a pit stop on the way to the White House.

He wakes up every day with a complaint about Austin.  Right now, he’s concerned about homeless people in Austin.  He appears to believe that homelessness exists only in Austin.  Thank goodness he has a solution.

And Texas does have the leadership to do this?

Austin has a Democratic mayor, which is what causes homelessness.

Thanks to Deb for the heads up.