Good Sunday morning, my friends! I haven’t unleashed my snarky side for several days now, and it’s bubbling over. So, what better way to start Sunday than with a few snarky snippets?
Election security?
While Mitch McConnell continues to refuse to even allow the Senate to consider election security bills that have passed the House already for fear it would upset the tender feelings of Trump, there are some positive things happening in the area of election security. Tentatively.
The intelligence community (IC) is picking up slack where the Senate is falling down on the job. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats has installed a new czar to oversee election security efforts on a large-scale basis. His choice is Shelby Pierson, an intelligence veteran. According to Coats …
“Election security is an enduring challenge and a top priority for the IC. In order to build on our successful approach to the 2018 elections, the IC must properly align its resources to bring the strongest level of support to this critical issue. There is no one more qualified to serve as the very first election threats executive than Shelby Pierson, whose knowledge and experience make her the right person to lead this critical mission.”
It’s good to know that somebody in our federal government ‘has our back’… but wait. You will note that in the first paragraph, I added “tentatively”. There’s a reason for that. See, Donald Trump doesn’t want to talk about election security, doesn’t want to hear about it. Why? Because, it was the very lack of adequate election security that enabled him to be placed, albeit not elected, into office. The proven Russian interference, without which it is highly unlikely he would be sitting in the Oval Office today, is a sore spot, a blow to his ego.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said she was told to keep any efforts at election security “below his level”. Never mind that when it comes to the security of the nation, his personal feelings ought not to matter … everyone in his administration is so scared shitless of him that they will go to great lengths to hide things from him. 
Consider this … earlier this month, it was reported that no less than five people in Trump’s administration said (anonymously, of course) that he is eager to tell Dan Coats to “hit the road, Jack!” If that should happen, then all bets on election security are off. This wouldn’t be the first time Coats has butted heads with Trump. He has been critical of Trump’s relationship (bromance?) with Russia’s Vladimir Putin (who hasn’t?) and he told a Senate panel that North Korea is unlikely to be willing to give up their nuclear weapons, contrary to Trump’s claims and his relationship (another bromance?) with Kim Jong-un. We now know that Coats was right, Trump was wrong, but that does put Coats in an awkward position.
Speculation is that Trump is considering replacing Coats with Fred Fleitz, former chief of staff to National Security Advisor John Bolton. Fleitz met with Trump recently, and has made no secret that he would like to scale back the Office of the Director of National Security significantly. If that happens … there can be no doubt that election security will become the lowest of all priorities, if it doesn’t fall off the bottom of the priority list altogether.
Partisan … straws???
You’ve heard, unless you’ve been living on a desert island without communication for the last few years, about the effort among environmentalists to reduce and eventually cease the use of single-use plastics, right? Plastic straws are one of the worst culprits, for they are so numerous, they do not decompose or biodegrade, therefore they stay in landfills, or worse yet end up in oceans, and unlike some other plastics, there is a relatively simple solution … good old-fashioned paper straws! But guess what, folks?
Paper straws are ‘liberal’, read democratic, and therefore plastic straws are republicans! Who decided this? Well, none other than Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale.

Brad Parscale
“I’m so over paper straws, and I’m sure you are too. Much like most liberal ideas, paper straws don’t work and they fall apart instantly. That’s why we just launched our latest product – Official Trump Straws. Now you can finally be free from liberal paper straws that fall apart within minutes and ruin your drink.”
Um … I remember the 1950s, before the advent of plastic straws, when all we had were paper straws and they worked very well, thank you. However, if there is anyone reading this who really wants to make sure they are getting bona fide republican straws, you can head on over to the Donald Trump campaign store (yes, there really is such a thing … where do you think people get all those ugly red hats?) and pick up a 10-pack of reusable plastic straws, which are red and emblazoned with “TRUMP” in silver, for a mere $15.
What a deal, eh … $1.50 for one lousy straw that … who could put something in their mouth with that word on it??? Oh, and shipping takes two weeks. Meanwhile, try explaining to your grandchildren why your use of a plastic straw was more important than their life. Oh, and one other thing … there is yet a third option … you can pick the cup up, bring it to your lips, tilt it a little bit, and drink without any straw! What a novel idea, yes?
“We will do our best to go on without him …”
Trump was scheduled to attend the 110th annual national convention of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) this weekend. Historically, presidents of both parties have spoken and attended a Q&A session at the annual meeting of the oldest civil rights organization in the United States. As a candidate in 2016, he declined an invitation to attend. Trump declined to attend the convention in 2017 … no reason given. But this year, he had accepted the invitation … until he found out about the Q&A session.
“I very much wanted to go, but we had a date. The date got changed and unfortunately they wanted to do it in the form of a question and answer.”
The date was set far in advance and did not change. Nor did the format, but he thought he would just give a speech and leave. In light of his recent racist tirade that is largely dominating the media these days, he was apparently afraid to face questions by a civil rights group.
Wendell Anthony, the NAACP Detroit Branch President, said …
“He blew an opportunity quite frankly, but we will do our best to go on without him.”
Dripping sarcasm … I love it! He continued …
“There is a format; every candidate has said that he or she would be glad to participate in. It’s beyond us as to why that would be of some discomfort for the president. We are American citizens. We have a right to question our presidents and ask the leader of the free world what our future will be.”
Absolutely. If Trump wishes to continue playing ‘president’, then he must play by the rules of the game … oh wait … for him, there are no rules, right? Take heart, however, for intelligent people who know how to speak and have something of importance to say will be there: Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker, Stacey Abrams, Rashida Talib and Bernie Sanders, to name a few. Who needs Trump anyway?
The interesting thing is that this wasn’t widely published in the media. I only saw it on BET’s website and a local Detroit station. Puzzling. Muzzled? Chicken?
Well, that’s your daily dose of snark for this Sunday … now go have some fun, enjoy the rest of your weekend.