A Hole to be Filled, The Hellfire Club

Gullible’s Travels: When he’s not golfing on weekends he’s tweeting. President Trump put out a false claim yesterday that North Korea had agreed to “denuclearization.”

Trump wrote, “Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd of Fake News NBC just stated that we have given up so much in our negotiations with North Korea, and they have given up nothing. Wow, we haven’t given up anything & they have agreed to denuclearization (so great for World), site closure, & no more testing!”

He spelled it right but got it wrong. North Korea announced that it would stop nuclear weapons testing but said nothing about giving up the nukes it may already have.

The President has an insatiable desire to be credited with good things that happen, and he’ll make them up if they haven’t. Author Diana Butler Bass writes in the NY Times, “Gratitude is central to Mr. Trump’s politics. He demands it of his followers, his cabinet and, indeed, of all citizens. He deploys gratitude against his enemies and critics to embarrass and shame. Being grateful is not an option. It is a requirement.”

Why is the President so needy? In an interview with David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, former FBI Director James Comey said, “I think he has an emptiness inside of him, and a hunger for affirmation that I’ve never seen in an adult. It’s all, ‘What will fill this hole?’ ”

The Gun Beat: Police in Tennessee are hunting a gunman who shot and killed  four people at a Waffle House restaurant just before dawn yesterday in Nashville. The shooter also wounded four other people with an assault rifle.

Witnesses said the gunman, identified as 29-year-old Travis Reinking, wore a green jacket and nothing else. They said he took the jacket off and ran away after one of the restaurant patrons snatched away the rifle.

Reinking is reported to have gone home, put on a pair of pants, and disappeared.

Police Chief Steve Anderson said, “We suspect some mental issues, but at this time there’s no notes, no verbal explanations.”

Reinking was arrested near the White House last July after he crossed a barrier and refused to leave saying he “wanted to set up a meeting with the president.” His guns, in particular his AR-15, were taken away at the time but returned to his father, who gave them back to his son.

It’s Political: Over the weekend former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney failed to win the Utah Republican Party’s nomination for US senator. At the nominating convention, Romney lost to state Rep. Mike Kennedy 49 to 51 percent, forcing the two into a runoff.

Once the governor of Massachusetts, Romney recently returned to the state where he was raised, seeing an opportunity to win a senate seat with the retirement of Orrin Hatch. It won’t be a slam dunk.

Permawar: A suicide bomber blew himself up at  a voter registration center in the Afghan capital Kabul yesterday, killing at least 57 people and injuring more than 100. Attacks intended to disrupt October elections are increasing.

Hearing Loss: South Korea has stopped broadcasting propaganda over arrays of loudspeakers along its northern border in advance of meetings between the two governments this week.

The South has dozens of loudspeaker stations along the border, blasting everything from K-pop music to reports critical of the North that can be heard by soldiers along the border. They once broadcast a message to the impoverished North saying, “We have six million cars.”

Frat Boys: Eighteen members of the Theta Tau fraternity at Syracuse University have been removed from classes after the discovery of a second video showing them participating in a racist and anti-Semitic skit at a fraternity event. A university statement said, “Alternative class and study arrangements will be made for these students as the judicial process moves forward.”

The Royals: Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, was in labor this morning delivering her third child. The baby will be fifth in line for the throne of England.

The Book Section: CNN anchor Jake Tapper, one of the most incisive political reporters on television, is a man who seems never to rest. He anchors a daily show, draws political cartoons, and tomorrow his first novel hits the bookstores.

“The Hellfire Club” is set in the 1954 Washington of the McCarthy era. It’s about a freshman congressman, power, money, a dead cocktail waitress in Rock Creek Park, and a secret society called “The Hellfire Club.”

Critics who’ve read the work of fiction say there’s a lot in it that parallels what’s happening in Washington today, although we don’t have a dead cocktail waitress. Not yet.

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Monday, December 23, 2024

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The “Great” President

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It's Been Said

"Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again, we'll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to vote."

  • Donald Trump courting the vote of the Christian right

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