I won't claim to have a perfectly functioning nose. It was broken when I was in high school, and I never got it fixed. The left nostril is almost a lost cause, and the right isn't much better. Going to bed at night requires a complicated set of rituals to keep my nasal passages, such as they are, partially open and allow even a minimal alternative to mouth breathing. Clearly my smelling ability will never meet The Economist’s ideal diagnostic nose standards.
But there's something rotten in DC. You almost have to laugh at the simple conniving gamesmanship of Trump. As far as demagogues go, he is good at learning people's prices. For this group, it is appeal to their racism. For this group their desire to pass anti-choice or tax cut legislation. For this one particular pol, a sickening sweet job for his spouse.
The swamp rot spreads rather than is drained, taking forms that morph from one human frailty or disease to another. They say if you're around smells, bad or good, long enough, you get used to it. Is that true? I guess I could Google it.
That seems to be happening to the bastions of reputational candor and smelling ability within the GOP. Senator John McCain, ye olde Navy Pilot maverick in his own mind, will soon have a Trump liaison in close quarters. Cindy McCain needs a job, so envisioned the salesman Trump. Trump calls her, pitches her, and creates a job for her that we didn't know we needed.
For months, President Donald Trump has been trying to convince Cindy McCain—a respected voice on refugees and other humanitarian issues and wife of Sen. John McCain, a Trump critic—to join his administration. Now, it’s a “done deal” for both parties, according to two senior administration officials.
After months of being offered—and rejecting—several potential posts in the Trump administration, Cindy McCain and the president came to the agreement of a Washington, D.C.-based ambassador-at-large position, which would focus on anti human trafficking efforts, refugees, and humanitarian-aid matters. The title being kicked around internally is “U.S. ambassador-at-large for human rights,” though that title is subject to change, and it is unclear if a new office within the State Department would be created for her.
(www.thedailybeast.com/...)
I don't doubt that Cindy McCain is more qualified than most of the rotten apples hired by Trump. She seems to be genuine in her concern for human rights. But, come on, with the greatest constitutional crisis in at least a generation facing the country, with her husband one of the few Republican members of Congress with a modicum of reputation for fairness, well sure—this is perfect. Heckuva job McCains.
I have no slight expectation that the Republican establishment can bring itself to stand up for decency at any point in the Trump saga. My expectations are low to non-existent for mavericky ethicky blowhards like McCain.
As a democratic socialist who is also a Democrat because I feel that is the most productive political party affiliation I can have, I'm almost embarrassed to not be talking about the serious issues of the day, including health care, poverty, and climate change. But realism includes taking candid assessment of the players on the political field. And the Republican team is rotten.
The McCain family just smells different, though rot is rot.