Eric the Palm-Faced

Hours after the New Yorker, hardly a bastion of Trump-style conservatism, reported that one of Trump's greatest adversaries, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, was engaged in all sorts of forms of verbal and physical abuse against four former girlfriends, Schneiderman resigned in disgrace and humiliation.  Trump's minions are expressing their glee over Schneiderman's fall instead of engaging in the classy act of expressing sympathy or sorrow for the women involved because of the abuse committed against them.

And the abuse is brutal.  Schneiderman literally slapped them around, and tried to choke some of them in the process.  He even used racial epithets against one girlfriend, Tanya Selvaratnam, an author an actress of Sir Lankan descent. it seems he called her his slave.  Schneiderman professed his innocence in stepping down, saying that he was quitting so as not to distract the New York State Attorney General's office from the numerous cases it is pursuing - including a suit against the Federal Communications Commission for killing Net neutrality and protection of immigrants.  But get this - Schneiderman also handled a case against Harvey Weinstein and was a supporter of the Me Too movement.

Awkward!

Trump may have been handed is biggest gift yet, because there will now be a state of disarray as the the state of New York has no short-term direction in pursuing the many suits against Trump's administration - some of which would involve prosecuting's Trump aides under New York State law if Trump pardons them. The New York state legislature will select a new Attorney General by the end of the week to finish the remaining months of Schneiderman's term - unlike in New Jersey, where the state attorney general serves at the pleasure of the governor, New York chooses state attorneys general by popular election - but with the New York State Assembly under Democratic control and the New York State Senate under Republican control, a consensus candidate may not emerge so easily.  And whoever is chosen might end up being a lame duck.

And if Schneiderman's successor is someone who decides that he or she has no business going after Trump, states like New Jersey and California will lose a powerful ally in their own battles against the White House.

Even if Schneiderman's explanation of the charges were to be taken seriously, it's best that he quit.  He admitted that he was involved in questionable sexual behavior with his girlfriends (he's not married, having been divorced since 1996), but it was consensual sex in acts of role-playing.

Oh, my God, he's one of them!

As long as people like Schneiderman are allowed to serve in public office, the Democrats will remain the party of deviancy and hedonism in the eyes of Middle America.

The New Yorker article was co-written by Jane Mayer and - you guessed it - Ronan Farrow.

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Net neutrality? Done! Finished!  Even though five out of six Americans supported keeping it, Federal  Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said no and nixed it.  Now Internet service providers will get to do with Uncle Charlie's blessing all of the nasty, evil things I kept talking about.

Fortunately, we don't have to worry about paying extra for content or getting our blogs blocked just yet.  Many pro-Net neutrality groups are immediately calling on Congress to stop Pai under the provisions of the Congressional Review Act, which allows the legislative branch to review bureaucratic regulatory actions, and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is already suing the FCC to stop the rollback.

And how about Doug Jones's victory in the U.S. Senate special Alabama?  Roy Moore's personal issues obviously had a lot to do with it, but a growing distrust of Trump and of his poisonous populism turned off important demographic groups, like white women with college degrees and independents, and most Alabama voters said that pedophilia allegations against Moore were not an important factor in their decision - mainly, no doubt, because there were so many other factors that turned them against Moore. Like when he said slavery was a force for preserving black families?  Or that homosexuality should be criminalized?  Imagine being too reactionary even for Alabama . . . and you imagine Roy Moore.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell won't allow Jones to be seated before the vote on the tax bill, likely on the grounds that Jones was not involved in the debate and so should not vote on the legislation - even though he demanded - and got - the seating of Scott Brown of Massachusetts after a special election in 2010 to get the 41st vote for a filibuster against health care reform legislation (which the Democrats managed to get passed in the filibuster-proof reconciliation process) when Senate Republicans were in the minority.  But keeping Jones out until after the tax reform vote may not help; a few Republican senators have expressed doubts about the final bill.  That smooth path to passage may not be so smooth after all; Trump may end up being able to sign it by Christmas, provided he means Eastern Orthodox Christmas (January 7).   But then Trump loves people who celebrate Christmas thirteen days later, like the Greeks; he once proposed that more Greeks be able to emigrate here after Greece's economy tanked big time.  

You don't suppose that was because Greece is a so-called white country, do you?

Things are getting more interesting . . ..  

You win some, you lose some . . ..