Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread

Cartoon by Bruce Plante

Good Afternoon!!

Here we are on the first day of Spring 2019, and a madman is still “president.” He’s getting crazier and crazier with each passing day.  Here’s proof, in case you need it:

What a fucking moron!

Cartoon by Andy Marlette

Then there are the moronic “B-boys.” There are four of them: Biden, Beto, Bernie, and now Buttigieg, the latest Democrat to dump on Hillary.

Hey Pete, Hillary’s slogan was “Stronger Together.” Are you sure you want to attack her millions of supporters who collectively said, “I’m with her?” Too late, you already did.

Margaret Sullivan at The Washington Post: Beto, Biden and Bernie: The B-Boys and the media’s dangerous, self-fulfilling prophecy.

As amorous embraces go, few could be more ardent than the one Beto O’Rourke got this month from Vanity Fair magazine.

The perfectly timed cover treatment was the full monty: Rugged-glam photo by the legendary Annie Leibovitz, the former Texas congressman’s earnest Kennedy-esque gaze, and the ripe-for-parody headline including this immortal quote: “I’m just born to be in it.”

Most Americans wouldn’t see the magazine itself, of course, but the rest of the news media — including network evening news — helped spread the image around as they gave over-the-top coverage to O’Rourke’s kickoff….

Somehow, despite a remarkably diverse Democratic field — which includes a record number of women, a gay man and several people of color — the B-Boys (that is, Beto, Biden and Bernie) — were off and running.

The news media undoubtedly was part of the equation. With more than 18 months to go before the 2020 election, the love and attention was not being dished out in equal measure.

As author Rebecca Traister described it, she woke up one morning this week thinking about the flawed notion that being a white man is actually a disadvantage, given this diverse field.

The reality is quite the opposite, she wrote on Twitter: “Early metrics would show it to be an extremely powerful polling & fundraising boon, as it has always, always been.”

And now we can add another B-boy to the list of white men getting all the attention.

I’m already sick and tired of the 2020 election campaign and it’s still early 2019.

More suggested reads and then some cartoons.

Barbara McQuade at USA Today:The bread crumb papers: Why Cohen document dump should worry Donald Trump and others.

Robin Marty at Politico: I Am an Abortion Rights Activist. I Hope the Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade.

Politico: Kellyanne Conway defends Trump after he attacks her husband.

Kevin Drum at Mother Jones: Centrists Have Great Bullshit Radar (in Sweden, Anyway).

Mother Jones: “Detached From Reality”: Following Twitter Lawsuit Over Mockery, Devin Nunes Again Gets Mocked.

Vox: Robert Mueller’s team says it will be very busy in the coming days.

Natasha Bertrand at The Atlantic: The Enigmatic Russian Paying Maria Butina’s Legal Bills.

Gabriel Sherman at Vanity Fair: “Everyone thinks they’re going to sell”:  Hellfire at Fox as Hannity mulls leaving and Lachlan goes full Donna Brazile on Trump.

Cartoon by Andy Marlette

by Steve Sack

By Bob Gorrell

By Clay Jones

By Dave Whamond

By Dave Whamond

By Ed Wexler

By John Cole

By Mike Luckovich

By Mike Luckovich

By Pat Bagley

By Clay Jones

By Pat Bagley

By Mike Thompson

Even the cartoons aren’t funny anymore. Sad.