The Debt Ceiling Deal Is The Best Deal
Crowing about it is the law
Links are at the end.
So why is it that roosters crow and crows roost?
Yr. editor here has been brutally instructed that the Bidennaires did a splendid job negotiating concessions with Republicans on the debt ceiling deal—which the Bidennaires, some of them, continue to define as something other than a debt ceiling deal—and that they had no choice but to negotiate lest Joshua breach the walls, economically speaking.
If they had to make a deal, which they didn’t, the one they made seems to give up less to the ravening hordes than it might have, which is good, except for the part about their insistence on making a deal other than the initial no-deal deal.
Some of the proposed cuts—“proposed,” because of course the legislation hasn’t passed yet—will hit federal agencies for which one might prefer to see funding increase, as with the Centers for Disease Control, although the warring parties differ on the size of the hit the agency will take.
The CDC leadership have not especially distinguished themselves during these plague years, but they’ve done better than, say, the House “Freedom Caucus.”
No doubt we’re all relieved on this Memorial Day (it’s still Memorial Day here, as of this draft) to have confirmed that the budget for blowing up people and places, and, primarily, enriching Ministry of Death-related corporations, will remain intact under any version of the deal.
Biden supporters are most adamant on the issue of invoking the 14th amendment to circumvent the debt limit. Couldn’t be done, they say, couldn’t be attempted, for reasons.
Whatever.
Josh Hawley has garnered another sterling review of his new book, When I Grow Up To Be A Man. Sarah Jones at Intelligencer does the damage in a piece called “Josh Hawley’s Masculine Failings.”1
Hawley, though, is not the leader he tells other men to be. Any serious accounting of his record must conclude he is a coward. Before the attack on the Capitol, Hawley cheered on crowds; later that day, he ran away from them in the Senate. Manhood does not rescue his image. The book itself is a gutless wonder. Masculinity cannot fail but rather can only be failed by others. It is strong enough to save the nation, but too weak to protect itself from “Epicurean liberalism,” Hawley’s term for a mythical ideology focused on the pursuit of personal happiness above all else.
Josh Hawley is a crime scene.
A suspected Russian spy has turned up off the coast of Sweden and nobody is sure why. Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who ideally should be hanging out with his extended family up by Greenland, is instead surveying unbountiful waters further south.
[Hvaldimir, who] turned up in Norway wearing a harness in 2019, prompting speculation it was a spy trained by the Russian navy, has reappeared off Sweden’s coast.
First discovered in Norway’s far northern region of Finnmark, the whale spent more than three years slowly moving down the top half of the Norwegian coastline, before suddenly speeding up in recent months to cover the second half and move on to Sweden.
The U.S. has yet to levy sanctions against the whale.
"The condition of the remains of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster has understandably generated widespread interest and raised important questions," the diocese said. "At the same time, it is important to protect the integrity of the mortal remains of Sister Wilhelmina to allow for a thorough investigation."
"Incorruptibility has been verified in the past, but it is very rare. There is a well-established process to pursue the cause for sainthood, but that has not been initiated in this case yet," the diocese added.
This regards the founder of a nunnery in rural Missouri, who as of today is under glass in the church there. Prior to that, visitors were allowed to touch the potential saint—ew?—and take dirt from her grave, the latter of which is still permitted.
The little town of Gower may have hit the lottery with this one.2
The Boston Celtics . . . LOL.
Yr. editor doesn’t watch a bunch of eastern conference basketball these days because most of it happens on subscription cable channels, but when I do watch it’s always to root for whichever team is playing the Celtics.
This is a bit unfair to the team, as they’re not responsible for the appallingly racist fans intermingled with their more normal ones; nevertheless, watching them lose to only the second eighth-seeded team to reach the NBA finals, and the first in 25 years, was fun.
Go Heat. Go Nuggets.
The Surfrajettes are maybe not the greatest surf band ever, but they were the music today.
The Surfrajettes, “Roller Fink.”3
That, Comrades, is all there is. Share it if you like it, and please consider subscribing if you’ve not—it’s free unless you want to pay.
Take care, be well.