by John Walters

Starting Five

Khaki Power Move

When you show up at CPAC dressed like a blogger on that one day of the week he leaves the house, well, you’re telling the Boss (DT) that you can do whatever the hell you want. Look, in contrast, how Reince Priebus is dressed.

If you didn’t listen, Steve Bannon spoke quite clearly and and articulately to his conservative base. His three points: 1) national security, 2) wants no part of economic globalism, 3) deconstruction (his word) of administrative state.

 

Please tell me somebody else saw Priebus’ reaction to Bannon trying to touch him. #CPAC2017 pic.twitter.com/oNXGEvgNhv

— Kyle Alvarado (@KJAlvarado124) February 23, 2017

If you’re wondering why this administration pretty much chose the worst people they could possibly find for some cabinet positions (Betsy Devos for Education; Scott Pruitt for EPA; Rick Perry for Energy), my guess is that had nothing to do with them being poor choice makers. It was all about them not wanting those agencies to actually function.

p.s. Bannon still hates the media, which is odd, since we seem to shop at the same clothing stores.

2. Leak As I Say, Not As I Do

Earlier this week White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, breaching protocol (what else is new?), reached out to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe asking them to disavow stories by The New York Times and CNN stating that the Russians had contact with some members of Trump’s posse during the presidential campaign.

When McCabe essentially told Priebus to step back into the batter’s box and stop worrying about whether the pitch was inside, he redoubled efforts by once more reaching out to McCabe as well as to his boss, FBI Director James Comey. This time he asked them to at least LEAK such info to news organizations.

 

The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security “leakers” that have permeated our government for a long time. They can’t even……

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2017

So of course, what happens? What gets leaked is Reince’s effort to persuade the FBI to do Trump’s biding. And of course this a.m. Prez. Donald tweets about the upsetting notion that there are leakers inside the FBI not blindly loyal to him as opposed to the possibility of corruption and the certainty of attempted coercion. Again, remember about Trump: 1) Never apologize, 2) Never admit you’re wrong about anything even when you are caught red-handed.

3. Hidden in Plain Sight Figures*

*The judges will also accept “Weekend, Getaway”

When I heard there was a film titled Get Out, I wondered if you could do an entire movie about Elaine Benes’ signature move. Turns out Jordan Peele (of Key & Peele) has directed a film about an interracial couple (Allison Williams and Daniel Kaluuya) living in NYC (Brooklyn?) who head upstate to visit her parents for the weekend, a la Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? and run into the plantation version of The Stepford Wives.

Why is the film, which opens today, garnering so much attention? For one reason it has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

4. Get Off My Lawn!

Why did NBC Nightly News lead off its national broadcast last night with the story of an off-duty (WHITE) cop pulling a gun on some (HISPANIC) teens who were trespassing on his property? One, because they had the video and two, my theory, because it is a microcosm of the entire illegal immigration issue.

It’s been a long time since I’ve lived in the suburbs, or in a home with a lawn and this may surprise you, but though he certainly overreacted (Step No. 1: Don’t carry a pistol tucked in your waist band aimed at far more valuable personal property than your hedges), I’m on his side. From what I can recall about these types of situations, he probably warned them multiple times not to walk across his yard and they probably either ignored him or enjoyed  annoying him, particularly since he’s a cop. That’s an assumption, I grant you.

A few thoughts:

–Here’s an essay I wrote last April about the “Get Off My Lawn” phenomenon that I truly hope you read (I’ll wait until you finish before typing further).

–Here’s what I don’t understand about illegal immigration (and this is not to say that I’m in favor of deporting everyone who is here illegally): Liberals love to talk about how we are a nation of laws, and so when someone who is conservative Christian hates the idea of same-sex marriage they might argue, Go ahead and hate it; We’re not asking you to bless it, just respect that it is the law. Okay, fine.

So there are also laws against (and billions of dollars spent and entire agencies in existence to prevent) illegal immigration. So why do so many liberals who fight for laws to respect their rights and admonish officials to enforce them suddenly turn  a blind eye to these laws?

–If you believe we need to relax immigration policies, fine. We all know that most illegal immigrants are here simply because they want a better life for themselves and their families, to have a good job and to be safe. I think most of us can respect that. But why even have a border patrol or fences or laws on the books if the policy is going to be, Oh, if you get past the velvet rope and the bouncer, then you’re in da club.

–It’s dishonest and disingenuous when Donald calls Mexican “rapists” and “drug dealers,” but it’s no less disingenuous when MSNBC’s Joy Reid (and others) refers to illegal immigrants as “dreamers” and “angels.” If you don’t want a pejorative label put on people, great; don’t put an equally dishonest beatific label on everyone, either.

–I work with illegal immigrants in the summer and love them as people and greatly admire their work ethic. I also know the ones that I work with are resourceful. There’s a market for everything in the USA, which is to say that if ICE keeps cracking down on illegal immigrants, I think you’ll see a big uptick in the rate of weddings between illegals and natural-born U.S. citizens.

5. Around The World In 12 Books

I love visiting nationalgeographic.com because visually it serves as an aspirational site to what all of the web should and hopefully one day will look like. Also, because the people there seem to get that this is a planet worth cherishing and that, you know, maybe we should be using our minds once in awhile (in other words, they’re the polar opposite of the “dude” who lives in the White House.

Here’s a fantastic photo essay they have up today on traveling the globe in a dozen tomes.  Check it out.

Music 101

Sing A Song

Why don’t you own Earth, Wind & Fire Greatest Hits? You really should, you know. This is just outstanding get up-and-shake-your-booty music. This particular tune was released in 1975 and it went to No. 5 on the Billboard charts.

Remote Patrol

SUNDAY

The 89th Oscars

7 p.m. ABC

The Super Bowl of Hollywood! By the time the Red Carpet ceremony starts at 7 (Jimmy Kimmel doesn’t take the stage until 8:30 p.m.), I may be the only person left publicly willing to defend La La Land for Best Picture. Haven’t seen enough movies to make educated guesses, but when has that ever stopped anyone? Here are my WILL Wins, as opposed to SHOULD Wins:

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis, Fences (I hope Octavia Spencer goes up to accept it just to see how many Americans realize it’s not Viola)

Best Actor:  Casey Affleck, Manchester By The Sea

Best Actress: Emma Stone, La La Land (My heart is telling me to pick Isabelle Huppert for Elle)

Best Picture: Hidden Figures (the backlash against La La Land has been strong of late)