The Weakest, Wimpiest, Most Pathetic Crop Of Needy Nincompoops In U.S. History

I always smile when a serious writer uses the word "nincompoop." (Click here to read previous posts about this cool word.) Now conservative Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Kathleen Parker, writing at the Washington Post, has this to say about Republicans in 2021: 

With the electoral eviction of Donald Trump from the Oval Office, Republicans had a shot at redemption and resurrection.

They missed and failed — and deserve to spend the next several years in political purgatory. The chaos now enveloping what’s left of the Grand Old Party after four years of catering to an unstable president is theirs to own. Where conservatism once served as a moderating force — gently braking liberalism’s boundless enthusiasm — the former home of ordered liberty has become a halfway house for ruffians, insurrectionists and renegadewarriors.

What does Trump have on these people, one wonders? The continuing loyalty of so many to a man so demonstrably dangerous can’t be explained by “the base,” a word never more aptly applied. What secrets were shared by Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who, after blaming Trump for the Jan. 6 mob attack, visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago this week to make amends? It seems that The Don, yet another appropriate nickname, need only purse his button lips and whistle to summon his lap dogs to Palm Beach, there to conspire for the next Big Lie.

The party’s end was inevitable, foreshadowed in 2008 when little-boy Republican males, dazzled by the pretty, born-again, pro-life Alaska governor, thought Sarah Palin should be a heartbeat away from the presidency. The dumbing down of conservatism, in other words, began its terminal-velocity plunge, with a wink and a pair of shiny red shoes. Palin cast a spell as potent as the poppy fields of Oz, but turned the United States into her own moose-poppin,’ gum-smackin’ reality show.

Forget Kansas. We’re not in America anymore.

Eight years of Barack Obama added insult to injury and paved the way for Trump — a gaudier, cinematic version of the “thrillah from Wasilla.” Seizing upon our every worst instinct, he turned Palin’s lipsticked pig into a herd of seething, primitive barbarians. Now, the Department of Homeland Security is warning of yet more violence by domestic extremists, presumably from the ranks of the mob and QAnon conspiracists who stormed the Capitol with blood on their minds.

For Donald Trump, you went down this road? Either Trump has a stockpile of incriminating videos — his people have people, you know — or today’s Republicans are the weakest, wimpiest, most pathetic crop of needy nincompoops in U.S. history.

Suddenly, the “good ones” are worried about their newest member, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a QAnon-promoting female version of Trump — only without the charm. You begin to see how this monster mutates like a certain virus into ever-more-dangerous versions of itself. Among other things, Greene embraces the conspiracy theory that the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and the slaughter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., were staged. One struggles for words, but I’ll settle for “creep.”

Recently unearthed video shows Greene chasing David Hogg, the Parkland student who rose to public prominence as a gun-control activist after the February 2018 shooting, goading him to respond to her insinuation that his ability to get appointments with U.S. senators when she couldn’t obviously meant he was a public relations spawn and not a survivor of a terrorist attack.

I confess to early uncertainty about Hogg, who was preternaturally adept at media management and public speaking, suddenly materializing from the fog of horror. But the notion that he was somehow complicit in a manufactured act of mass murder is beyond the pale even for the farthest right.

Good work, GOP. You got yourself a live one. Naturally, Greene has been assigned to the Education and Labor Committee.

Going forward, not only will House Republicans be associated with a colleague who “liked” a Twitter post calling for Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s murder. They’ll be attached to QAnon, which promotes the extraordinary fiction that Trump was leading a war against Satan-worshiping pedophiles and cannibals, whose leadership includes Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks and, oh, by the way, yours truly, as well as U2’s Bono.

To those Republicans who can read: You own all of this. The party isn’t doomed; it’s dead. The chance to move away from Trumpism, toward a more respectful, civilized approach to governance that acknowledges the realities of a diverse nation and that doesn’t surrender to the clenched fist, has slipped away. What comes next is anybody’s guess. But anyone who doesn’t speak out against the myths and lies of fringe groups, domestic terrorists and demagogues such as Trump deserves only defeat — and a lengthy exile in infamy. Good riddance. (This is the column in its entirety.)

The Return Of "Nincompoop" - Updated

On February 15, 2017, I wrote a post titled "Word of the Day: Nincompoop." Here's what it said, and as you read, remember that this was written on the 27th day of Donald's presidency:

"Nincompoop: fool, simpleton." (From my trusty Merriam-Webster dictionary)

"Nincompoop" isn't a word you hear very often when discussing or reading about serious national issues. I would think it's used mostly by six-year-olds throwing shade on other six-year-olds. As best as I can recall I've only heard it used to describe an important or famous adult twice. Once was from Peggy Noonan, discussing Sarah Palin, which I (gleefully) wrote about here.

The second time was this morning, in an article titled "This Is What Incompetence Looks Like," at The Washington Post. Who was the author referring to? The current President of the United States:

While Trump’s top advisers go on television and describe him as a kind of living god with infallible judgment and superhuman accomplishments (“We have a president who has done more in three weeks than most presidents have done in an entire administration,” said [Stephen] Miller on Sunday), those a level or two below are rushing to the media to warn that their boss is a complete nincompoop. (Read the article here.) 

The article was posted Monday, prior to Micheal Flynn's "resignation," and events are only more chaotic as I'm writing on Wednesday morning. It looks like things are spiraling out of control at the Trump White House and there's no way yet to know how this all ends. I'll keep watching.

Nincompoop still isn't a word you hear very often, but it did pop up Friday in a Slate.com podcast titled "Devin Nunes Is a Nincompoop." I haven't listened to the actual podcast, I was just struck by the title, although based on what I read about Mr. Nunes I would probably agree that the title is correct. Mr. Nunes is a nincompoop. Furthermore, after almost three years of Donald's presidency, it's clear that he is one too. (Listen to the podcast here.)

And one more thing: There's been some question about Donald's health since his unscheduled hospital visit Saturday afternoon. The video below is from this afternoon, during his first public appearance since Saturday. Watch it and tell me. Does this man look normal to you:

A White House official *SCREAMS* at reporters to get out of the Oval Office as Trump makes bizarre facial expressions pic.twitter.com/Q8fJZQpuug

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 19, 2019

Update on Thursday morning, with video from Donald's Texas visit last night:

Why is he using the downstairs door with the shorter stairs?  Did he trip on Saturday and require a CT scan? https://t.co/0rfhnKH4oE

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) November 21, 2019

The physician is the one in the sunglasses, walking down the stairs behind Ivanka. My understanding is that a physician is always close-at-hand when any president travels, but not quite as close and visible as this, and not in the presidential limousine. Is there something medically wrong with Donald, mentally or physically? Probably. He's obese, his diet is terrible, he doesn't exercise, I've read that he doesn't sleep much and he's got some kind of early heart disease. And now he's in the process of being impeached. Contrary to White House spin, Saturday's visit to Walter Reed was almost certainly not "routine." Watch carefully going forward. Not what the various Trump sycophants say, but what Donald says and does. I wouldn't be surprised if within the next few months Donald Trump is almost completely non-functional.

Word Of The Day: Nincompoop

"Nincompoop: fool, simpleton." (From my trusty Merriam-Webster dictionary)

"Nincompoop" isn't a word you hear very often when discussing or reading about serious national issues. I would think it's used mostly by six-year-olds throwing shade on other six-year-olds. As best as I can recall I've only heard it used to describe an important or famous adult twice. Once was from Peggy Noonan, discussing Sarah Palin, which I (gleefully) wrote about here.

The second time was this morning, in an article titled "This Is What Incompetence Looks Like," at The Washington Post. Who was the author referring to? The current President of the United States:

While Trump’s top advisers go on television and describe him as a kind of living god with infallible judgment and superhuman accomplishments (“We have a president who has done more in three weeks than most presidents have done in an entire administration,” said [Stephen] Miller on Sunday), those a level or two below are rushing to the media to warn that their boss is a complete nincompoop. (Read the article here.) 

The article was posted Monday, prior to Micheal Flynn's "resignation," and events are only more chaotic as I'm writing on Wednesday morning. It looks like things are spiraling out of control at the Trump White House and there's no way yet to know how this all ends. I'll keep watching. 

No Boys On The Second Floor

If you think you've already heard enough about Sarah Palin to last you until doomsday and beyond, my advice is that you take to your bed, cover your head with a pillow and don't come out until Thanksgiving of 2012, because it's about to get a lot worse. Tonight TLC airs episode 2 of "Sarah Palin's Alaska", Monday is Bristol's Dancing With The Stars finale, and Tuesday brings the debut of "America By Heart, Reflections on Faith, Family and Flag," Sarah's second book. Wow.

With the amount of media attention this woman and her family get, you'd almost think she's the next President of the United States, which is a thought that drives me to despair and makes me want to pack up my stuff and move to Tahiti. When I calm down and think it through, however, sanity returns and I remember that Sarah Palin is a media phenomenon, not a serious politician. She gets media coverage because she's good for ratings, not because she's proposing good solutions to the serious problems facing our country. If you don't believe me, ask yourself this: Would any of this be happening if Sarah Palin looked like Susan Boyle?

Anyway, if you look beneath the surface of the nonstop media deluge, you'll see that some serious Republicans are beginning to state that the emperor (empress?) has no clothes. Peggy Noonan, Republican columnist for the Wall Street Journal and speechwriter for President Reagan, recently called Palin a "nincompoop." Mark McKinnon, who was a media advisor for George W. Bush and John McCain, said "Palin is getting close to her 'sell by' date... her stock is falling and pretty rapidly now, I think." Karl Rove recently expressed concern that Palin lacks gravitas, a perception not likely to be erased by shots of Sarah on television, wearing running shorts and hollering "No boys on the second floor" at her 16-year-old daughter Willow. Conservative blogger Mona Charen piles on, stating that Palin "quit her job as governor after two and a half years, published a book (another is due next week) and seemed to chase money and empty celebrity. Now, rather than being able to highlight the accomplishments of Sarah Palin's Alaska, we get "Sarah Palin's Alaska," another cheesy entrant in the reality show genre... Palin as a presidential candidate? Absolutely not." And I loved hearing former first lady Barbara Bush tell Larry King, in an interview to be aired tomorrow night on CNN, that Palin is "beautiful, and I hope she stays in Alaska."

Even the Weekly Standard, usually the usually the loudest and cheeriest of Palin's right-wing media cheerleaders, calls her TV show "tacky," and that's before we've even seen the very special episode co-starring Kate Gosselin.

Will Sarah Palin run for President? I don't think so. Running for President is really, really hard work. More to the point where Palin is concerned is that you do it as a volunteer. There's no salary that comes with declaring yourself to be a candidate for president. That fact alone reassures me that I probably won't have to move to Tahiti.