Tom Toles for October 27, 2019

“Quid pro quo” just means “this for that.”

It is just an exchange of value.

It is not necessarily illegal.

It is only illegal if the “quid” or the “quo” is illegal. If both the “quid” and the “quo” are legal — a legal exchange, such as a trade deal — no problem. But if either the “quid” or the “quo” are ILLEGAL, big problem.

In the current object of newsworthiness, the “quid pro quo” regarding the Ukraine, the “quid” is Trump asking Ukraine to investigate a political rival. This is illegal. Even without a “quo,” the simple act of asking a foreign nation to interfere in our elections is a felony (which Mueller should have charged Trump with simply for when he said, “Russia if you’re listening…”

The “quo” doubles down on the illegality. It goes beyond the ask (the “quid,” the illegal solicitation) to raising the severity to the level of extortion. So the “quo” is also a crime. It is not merely asking a foreign government to interfere, it is backing it up with a threat: “If you don’t give me the ‘quid’ I asked for, I’m going to withhold aid that has already been appropriated by Congress (and thus illegal for me to withhold) that you need to prevent Russia from invading and taking over your country, and deny you other things you want.”

In the case of Ukraine, both the “quid” and the “quo” are illegal: Two crimes for the price of one.

Republican response: But what will happen to all the firefighting jobs if we stop incinerating the planet? Responsible reduction of pollution and proper stewardship of natural resources will destroy our economy! Derp!

Colossal Fools – {a rhyme}

Aren’t we being colossal fools?

We burn so much of our fossil fuels

that Mother Nature pays us back; -

- and yet we continue to drill and to frack.

Then Mother hits us again and with More; -

- and yet we continue as heretofore:

We continue as benefactors

of greedy carbon extractors

and therefore suffer the consequence.

Will Never we get some common sense?

. . . . . . . . . . .

Four of the five major mass extinctions have been associated with climate change. The fifth extinction seemed to be associated with an asteroid. One of the worst mass extinction occurred at the Permian-Triassic boundary called the Great Dying, 250 million years ago when super volcanoes spewed out vast amounts of carbon dioxide. Approximately 96% of marine life and 70% of terrestrial life forms went extinct. The dominant life form after the extinction event was a clam. It took millions of years to recover.

Some scientist predict that the worst scenario of the coming current extinction event will not be that bad. They say that only some parts of the earth will be rendered uninhabitable for only tens of thousands of years.

Some pundits say that teenagers worried about the future should just shut up and leave energy policies to the adults and the paid oil company PR consultants.

These people should shut up and listen to the young people.

he has got the fires on the wrong coast

{Off-topic:}

Disbar this Barr – {a rhyme}

Attorney General Barr // is sneaking off to war

with tactics furtive,

distractive, divertive, -

- to help The Donald spar // so’s to keep his gig as our czar

and our thief-in-chief

and the source of our grief.

Surely Barr’s going too far; // – this Barr we oughta disbar.

. . . . . . .

Fossil fuel will never fly again!, but the garbage head is pushing it..coal mining, strip mining, coal ash every where, lung cancer every where, HE DOES NOT CARE! As long as he’s got a cut to hell with everyone else.

We’ll be saved by floods—floods of bad news about Trump.

{Off-topic:}

Off his Hinges – {a rhyme}

Trumpites watch from the lunatic fringes

as their would-be Caesar comes off his hinges.

They used to exult in his power-binges,

but now they’re stunned as their hero cringes, -

- now that impeachment so bigly impinges

on Trump as his potbelly snarls and twinges.

… PS:

Our Constitution this perp infringes.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

As the conservative side likes to point out, “these things are cyclical; they’ve happened before.” This is a true statement. Unfortunately, homo sapiens (an oxymoron these days) may be the species that this cycle takes out. But the planet will eventually recover. It will just find a new species to replace us.

{Off-topic:}

Let’s Kick his Nethers – {1.60 limericks}

My, how much I would relish

their making impeachment hellish

for our Mussoloni,

chock full of baloney. …

… His impeachment they oughta embellish

with tar and feathers

and by kicking his nethers.

My, wouldn’t This be swellish.

. . . . . . . . . .

So.. stop using electicity and driving.. problem solved

It might not be a crime, but it sure as hell is a sin: “The only sin is stupidity.”

[off-topic, but it was ON topic at Clay Jones, and I couldn’t resist]

Trump to his bootlickers and azz kissers AND the current Miss Lindsay to the former Mister Lindsey:

“Do as I say, and not as I do

If you cannot or do not, well then we are through

My case of brain fever? Much worse than the flu

But do as I say, and not as I do

Although our defenders, not many, are few

Our mob rule can outrank the many—Phew, PHEW!

Our unlearned supporters? They haven’t a clue

With brains just a step up from rancid dog doo

Three cheers for our hero: Vlad Vladdie-poo!

a song for some hope and action,WORLD ON FIREWorld’s on fire— It was a slow burn, now the heat is higher.World’s on fire—the Amazon is burning down,Oceans are rising up, tundra’s ancient secrets, rising, too. World’s on fire—Bye, bye, Miami; gone the golden keys.Farewell, Charleston, surging storms, flooding seas.

World’s on fire— It was a slow burn, now the heat is higher.World’s on fire— Goodbye fresh apple pie—Gone are the busy bees. Bye, bye blackbirds, bye-bye.

World’s on fire— It’s been a slow burn, now the heat is higher.North Pole’s melting down, Disney World’s all submarines,Tundra’s ancient secrets in the air.

Bye, bye-bye Mumbai, Shenzhen, and New York’s Queens,Ta-ta, London, adieu to New Orleans.

Where’s there fresh water? —There’s our next war. And the heat is higher.Yes, time is running out—time’s always running out,Yet, right now, the time is here at hand.

Increase carbon capture. Start planting more trees. Work with wind and solar.Time to drive electric cars; take high-speed trains to travel far.Buy local foods, and learn to grow your own.

World’s on fire— It was a slow burn, now the heat is higher.World’s on fire— World’s on fire— World’s on fire—!

For Gretaw/m/arr.: c.2019, Matt Levinvocals, bass, engineering: Tom KnightWORLD ON FIRE —https://soundcloud.com/user-308500730/world-on-fire

Whip it! Whip it Good!

Reminds me of Faux Snooz: “Fair and balanced”. Forgetting the “fair” part, for a moment, note that a balance can be achieved if the amount of nasty is the same on both sides.

“Now I used to think that I was cool running around on fossil fuel,Until I saw what I was doing was driving down the road to ruin”

Arlo Guthrie: “Traffic Jam”

What are the fossil fuel oligarchs thinking?

“We better hurry up and push fossil fuels so we can make as much money as possible before the catastrophes! That way we can have enough money to build super-bunkers and ride it out. Who needs 95% of the world’s population anyway?”