Loose Ends (74)

I know yesterday was Earth Day, but did you know that people are so apathetic about Earth Day that the greenies turned it into “Earth Week” quite a while ago, as though that will help. In any case, if you’re up for an epic rant about the matter, I recorded a special Earth Day podcast yesterday with my pals at the Pacific Research Institute, and you can listen to or download it here. I really get rolling toward the end about how much I cheer when another corporate socialist electric utility (like PG&E) files for bankruptcy.

What is the probability that House Democrats will vote to impeach Trump? My totally scientific estimate is that the probability is .95459. In other words, you can virtually count on it. Even though House Dems know there is no possibility the Senate will muster 67 votes to convict Trump (barring any kind of explosive new information, which seems unlikely), they have to go through with it or risk demoralizing their base. Plus, a drawn-out impeachment process heading into Trump’s re-election campaign might inflict some wounds that hurt his re-election chances. But it could easily backfire on them, too. One reason the impeachment of Bill Clinton didn’t work out so well for Republicans back in 1998-99 is that the economy was humming along nicely, and a majority of Americans quite sensibly didn’t want to rock the boat. I’ve often thought Nixon might well have survived Watergate if the economy hadn’t been in the tank and the residue of the Vietnam War bitterness not still so fresh in mind.

What is the probability that the French will botch the restoration of Notre Dame? My totally scientific estimate is that the probability is .95459. In other words, I think you can count on it. I joked on Twitter a few days after the fire that the French would be well advised to keep modern architects like Norman Foster as far away from Notre Dame as possible, recommending pre-emptive arrest and internment at Gitmo if necessary. Take no chances. (Foster is the architect of, among other things, the Pompidou Center in Paris, which one critic—I think maybe Tom Wolfe?—described as looking like an insecticide factory run through a car crusher.)

Well lo and behold, a couple days later who should turn up recommending that Notre Dame be “modernized”? Yup, Norman Foster himself:

No. Just no. Get a black ops team on this right away. Look, if we’re going to screw up Notre Dame, let’s at least do it right:

Did the Mueller Report include some damaging info on Bill Clinton? The Washington Examiner thinks so:

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report mentions a claim that Russians recorded President Bill Clinton having phone sex with White House intern Monica Lewinsky — but the reference was redacted from the version released to the public. . .

According to the report, Center for the National Interest President Dimitri Simes sent Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner a 2016 email with recommended talking points to counter Hillary Clinton’s Russia attacks. The email referenced “a well-documented story of highly questionable connections” between Bill Clinton and Russia.

At a meeting in New York, Simes told Kushner the details: Russia allegedly recorded President Clinton on the phone with Lewinsky, opening questions of foreign leverage over the ex-president-turned-potential first spouse.

The Examiner offers this pic of the relevant page:

Let’s see where this goes. Could be fun times ahead.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses