It’s been a long and newsy week. Part of me wants to hide under the covers, but I can’t help peeking. I’m going to break this post into segments like an Ikea bookshelf. I’ll try and keep the directions simple. Mercifully, there’s no translation from Swedish to English involved.

Publisher’s Note: I nearly plotzed when Athenae told me that she was leaving First Draft. I took her presence for granted, but didn’t try to talk her out of it. I still, however, miss her distinctive voice. Nobody drops F-bombs with her verve and grace.

I was pleased when Athenae asked if I wanted to succeed her as publisher. I’ve been telling jokes here since 2009. I love this joint and our readers.

I’m proud of the group of writers we’ve assembled over the course of the year, Both Tommy T and Michael F have been here longer than I have. I encouraged Tommy to branch out knowing that our readers would be interested in what makes him tick, tick, tick. His random ruminations have been a joy to behold. As to our photoshop wizard Michael F, I love using his images in my own posts. I only steal from the best.

I asked two old friends, Shapiro and Cassandra to join First Draft earlier this year. They’ve settled in nicely into their respective slots: Cassandra on Wednesdays and Shapiro on Tuesdays and Fridays. He received an excused absence today because of his son’s wedding. Our newest addition, Jamie O, agreed to fill in for our wandering blogger. He’ll be back doing matinees on Monday and Thursday next week.  Cassandra commended Jamie to my attention. Thanks, C,

I wish that my buddy Ryne Hancock posted more BUT his contributions have been exceptionally good. Quality is better than quantity, after all. I provide the latter.

I’m still open to submissions from guest writers and returnees. The more others write, the less I have to. I’m not quite as bone idle as Onslow in Keeping Up Appearances but I aspire to it.

I’d like to thank our writers for being such good team players. I seem to be achieving my goal as publisher: to let them to do their thing with minimal input from me. I think of myself more as a traffic cop than an editor.

First Draft endures because of the strong foundation built by Athenae, Holden, Scout, Jude, Doc, and everyone else who has written for First Draft. Thanks, y’all. We’re still walking in your footsteps.

Cue musical interlude:

Enough self-back-patting, on to the news of the week, which was on the bleak side. We’ll wrap it up in a neat package after the break.

Sausage Making Blues: Trying to accomplish big things with narrow congressional majorities was always going to be difficult. The Man of La Manchin and the Sinematic Senator have exercised their power as the decisive votes in the senate in an arbitrary, capricious, and whimsical manner. They seem to delight in throwing monkey wrenches into the legislative works. They’re not exactly saboteurs, but they’re close. Neither is a team player at a time when compromise and cooperation should be Democrats’ watch words.

I continue to be impressed with the leadership of Pramila Jayapal in the House. The House Progressive Caucus has compromised until it hurts because the components of the social infrastructure plan are so important. America is playing catch-up in so many areas. It’s time to put Reaganism in the rear-view mirror. I wish we could do the same with Trumpism, but it remains a clear and present danger to our democracy.

The title of this George Duke tune sums up the state of sausage making as of this writing:

More Troll Talk: Rick Perlstein is a liberal who specializes in writing about the American right. He wrote a droll troll piece for New York Magazine in the wake of the Baldwin mishigas. It will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps even kvell.

One flaw in Rick’s piece is that he continues to call these bozos conservatives. Conservatism as we knew it is dead. They’re radicals now, stupid radicals at that.

The Ugly Side Of American Catholicism: I’m so old that I remember when most American Catholic lay people were liberal Democrats. Joe Biden met with Pope Frank today. Both are unpopular with the right-wing of their church. Some clerics have become so radicalized that they even Tweet favorably about QAnon related events. I am not making this up.

That brings me to a sensational story in Slate by Molly Olmstead. She takes a look at the extreme views of Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas. That’s the home of the rose of Texas, but Strickland is all thorn, no petal. He’s a COVID-denying, Dipshit Insurrection-loving, homophobic asshole who makes Ted Cruz look like a hemophiliac liberal. I stole that phrase from James Garner. I only steal from the best.

The Bishop also believes that only bad Catholics are Democrats. Of course, the only Catholic presidents in American history are JFK and Joe Biden. Bishop Strickland can go fuck himself.

Strickland seems to want to be a 21st Century Father Coughlin. It may be time for Pope Frank to silence Strickland in the same way Pius XII brought down the hammer on Coughlin. And Pius wasn’t even a liberal. Stay tuned.

I didn’t mean to go on so long. A wrap up post should be short and punchy like this song first recorded by Sam and Dave and later by the Fabulous Thunderbirds. They get the last word: