Conspiracy or Merely Clueless?

A very strange story broke today:

Multiple Women Recall Sexual Misconduct and Retaliation by Gordon Sondland

 ProPublica

 —  Three women recall Sondland made unwanted sexual contact in business settings.  One says he exposed himself.  All recall professional retaliation after they rejected him.  Sondland denies the allegations….

Using the #MeToo movement, a Portland publisher decided to “even the score” with European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland sixteen years later.

But the ONLY outcome one can readily see is that it’s a crypto-GOP attempt to smear Sondland during the impeachment inquiry:

Train Wreck At Mark Penn Station

You might remember the name:

Former Clinton strategist Mark Penn counsels President Trump on impeachment

Washington Post —  As President Trump’s White House battles impeachment, he turned to a familiar face last week: Mark Penn, one of President Bill Clinton’s top strategists.  —  Penn came to the Oval Office for more than an hour last Monday …

Mark Penn was pollster and strategist for Hillary Clinton’s 2000 and 2006 New York Senate campaigns AND for her 2008 presidential campaign. So, seriously? Donald Trump is relying on Hillary’s former campaign chief strategist? For advice?

(Hillary 2008 isn’t something you’d want on your résumé, after all.)

And vice versa.

Emphasis on “vice.”

Another John Dean Moment

I’ve seen this once before, and what he says is true:

Gordon Sondland Leaves Us With No Other Option
Noah Bookbinder / New York Times

History will remember Wednesday as the day a United States ambassador testified under oath before Congress and laid out a clear, simple and damning case that President Trump abused the power of his office and committed bribery, an act for which the Constitution leaves but one outcome….

I saw the first John Dean moment. I remember it well.

On June 25, 1973 I had left sacking at Furr’s Supermarket to learn to make salads and eventually the basics of French cooking at The Compound, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.* (* Which is, I think, still there).

Least Surprising Crime in History, Alleged

In perhaps the least surprising scandal in human history,

House investigating whether Trump lied to Mueller
Katelyn Polantz / CNN

Washington (CNN) The House of Representatives is now investigating whether President Donald Trump lied to special counsel Robert Mueller in written answers he provided in the Russia investigation, the House’s general counsel said in federal court Monday….

Donald J. (as in “Judas”) Trump lied to the Mueller investigators, under oath?

Socrates and the Barbarians

Or, Use The Mace (If Needs Be)

The food fight continues to clatter off the rails:

Rishika Dugyala / Politico:

Trump labels top Pence aide a ‘Never Trumper’  —  President Donald Trump on Sunday labeled one of his vice president’s top national security aides a “Never Trumper,” a day after it was disclosed that she had said the president’s July call with Ukraine was “unusual and inappropriate” in a deposition to Congress.

I had a great hook. I was going to talk about how Aristophanes’ play The Clouds upset Socrates (and Plato) because Aristophanes lumped Socrates in with the Sophists, whom Socrates considered his arch rivals. Wikipedia:

Bust of Socrates

Retrospectively, The Clouds can be considered the world’s first extant “comedy of ideas” and is considered by literary critics to be among the finest examples of the genre. The play also, however, remains notorious for its caricature of Socrates and is mentioned in Plato’s Apology as a contributor to the philosopher’s trial and execution….

But, alas, facts got in the way. For a Republican, this is not an impediment (that’s called “foreshadowing” kiddies) but it is problematic for everyone else.

Veterans’ Day

Née Armistice Day.

Some visual thoughts: