by John Walters

Tweet du Jour

When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America…America will triumph over you. https://t.co/uKppoDbduj

— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) March 17, 2018

Don’t sugarcoat it, John.

And here’s a retired four-star general…

 

Reluctantly I have concluded that President Trump is a serious threat to US national security. He is refusing to protect vital US interests from active Russian attacks. It is apparent that he is for some unknown reason under the sway of Mr Putin.

— Barry R McCaffrey (@mccaffreyr3) March 16, 2018

Starting Five

Dead Pool

Of the 12 schools seeded 3 or better, half are gone after the first two rounds of March Madness…two of them, Queen City schools Cincinnati and Xavier, squandered 22- and 14-point second-half leads on Sunday…Number one overall Virginia became the first top seed in 136 to lose to a 16-seed, U Must Be Cinderella (Stringer Bell’s old school in The Wire)…Loyola and Michigan won on last-second prayers on Saturday, one of which was answered by a 98 year-old nun…Right now we’d take a Final Four of Kentucky, Gonzaga, Duke and Villanova, but what do we know?

 

When you’re trying to file your story on deadline but a dad needs to kiss his son right now. @LarryLage @Cuse_MBB pic.twitter.com/MyWCiWJJ2S

— David Guralnick (@DavidGuralnick) March 18, 2018

Also, our last three pool entrants were knocked out on the same day, yesterday. Nobody wins this year.

2. McCabe and Mr. Mueller

Attorney General Jeff Sessions demonstrates that while he may be a recuser, he’s no excuser, firing FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe less than 48 hours before his retirement (full pension) kicks in, a day that also happened to be McCabe’s 50th birthday. Then Trump’s lawyer, John Dowd, tweets that he is “praying” for Rod Rosenstein to fire Robert Mueller.

 

Mr. President, the American people will hear my story very soon. And they can judge for themselves who is honorable and who is not.

— James Comey (@Comey) March 17, 2018

Meanwhile the president is suing a porn star for $20 million for not swallowing…word of their liaisons back in 2006 and 2007.

3. Erin Go Ba Ha Ha

On St. Patrick’s Day, SNL gets the ire of some Irish up with their skit, “Kiss Me, I’m Irish.” We laughed, but then being offended is…relative.

4. The Life Aquatic

Meet Faith Pescatore, 61 whom The Wall Street Journal profiled this weekend. She’s someone who used to attend her daughter’s swim meet and then began competing herself and now does so nationally. We’d be able to share more if we subscribed to the WSJ, but we did do some digging and learned that Ms. Pescatore won a $19 million suit against Pan Am back in 1995 after her husband died in the infamous Lockerbie terrorist plane bombing.

5. All Whites*

 

Rugby players attempt to play on through virtual whiteout conditions before being forced to abandon the match. https://t.co/M4aFWw7B0O pic.twitter.com/EGlA9ZaG35

— ABC News (@ABC) March 19, 2018

*No, this is not another entry about Trump’s voting base….

A recent rugby match in Yorkshire, England, got a little intense. Related: March is windy.

 

Kansas Highway Patrol trooper’s dashcam caught this semi-trailer toppling over as strong winds ripped across the Plains. No one was injured in the accident. https://t.co/ZAF2h2kELI pic.twitter.com/rtMst9yTYq

— ABC News (@ABC) March 19, 2018

Music 101

You Still Believe In Me

The second track off The Beach Boys’ immortal and ethereal 1966 album, Pet Sounds. The opening track “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” is a minor departure from their “Fun, Fun, Fun” era, but this is the song where Brian Wilson informs his audience that he’s about to get weird. Instruments include a clarinet, harpsichord, timpani drum and bicycle horn.

Remote Patrol

Bonnie and Clyde

8 p.m. TCM

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were both gunned down before their 25th birthdays, but they left behind a legacy of robbery, kidnapping and even murder. Immortalized by Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, their 1967 film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards (in all the major categories), but only won for Best Supporting Actress and Cinematography.

Upon its release, many critics—including Newsweek‘s–panned it as being too violent or for glorifying violence, but Roger Ebert gave it four stars out of four. It’s not always easy to watch, but it is certainly captivating. Also starring Gene Hackman and Gene Wilder. The Genes.