Capt. Morton: [on the loudspeaker in reference to his "missing" palm tree... ] All right! Who did it? Who did it? You are going to stand sweating at those battle stations until someone confesses! It's an insult to the honor of this ship! The symbol of our cargo record has been destroyed and I'm going to find out who did it if it takes all night!
With Emperor George down to his underwear, the Department of State memos this week come across as incredibly petty. One wonders if the other cabinet departments are going to be similarly instructed to throw monkey wrenches once Obama's plane touches back down in the states.
I'm recalling an episode Sister Mary M., O.S.B. told us, about the second protest (1991) at the School of The Americas, Fort Benning, GA.
Better organized than the first, when the march reached the gates and the guest speakers began prepared remarks, 5 huge tractor lawnmowers came over the hill like Sherman tanks. The mowers proceeded to ride back and forth inside the fence, for the entire speechifying part of the protest. (The amusing followup is down in the replies)
My question is "Where in the World Is Donald Segretti?"
As Commander of the Ship of State, Bush is now coming off like James Cagney's Captain Morton of the U.S.S. Reluctance ("The Bucket") in Mister Roberts. How long will we be standing in the sweltering sun until somebody throws his Palm Tree overboard?
If there was a weekly meeting of a Torture Committee in the White House, it doesn't take much imagination a Cabinet Level "sabotage the skinny kid" strategy session taking place.
The embassies are instructed NOT to cooperate with campaigns, and the foreign service employees in Berlin are chained to the desk on the one day they might drag out the dusty Uncle Sam tophat.
It would not surprise us if Air Traffic Control diverts Obama's plane to Anchorage on the eve of the Denver Convention. Or the park service turned off the spigot to Ol' Faithful when Obama visits Yellowstone.
In today's cynical morning moment, recalling G.Gordon Liddy has a radio audience, and Karl Rove was a member of C.R.E.E.P., I came across this little Wikitidbit, which I snip out 3 paragraphs, a "clue" someone might want to pursue.
Segretti's full Wikientry
Donald Henry Segretti (born September 17, 1941 in San Marino, California) was a political operative for the Committee to Re-elect the President (Nixon) during the 1970s. Segretti was hired by friend Dwight L. Chapin to run a campaign of dirty tricks (which he dubbed "ratfucking") against the Democrats. His actions were part of the larger Watergate scandal. Karl Rove was Segretti's protege during the 1972 Nixon campaign.
In 1974, Segretti pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of distributing illegal (in fact, forged) campaign literature and was sentenced to six months in prison, actually serving four months. One notable example of his wrong-doing was a faked letter on Democratic presidential candidate Edmund Muskie's letterhead falsely alleging that U.S. Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson, a fellow Democrat, had had an illegitimate child with a 17-year-old.
Segretti was a lawyer who served as a prosecutor for the military and later as a civilian. However, his license was suspended for two years following his conviction. In 1995, he ran for a local judgeship in Orange County, California. However, he quickly withdrew from the race when his campaign awakened lingering anger over his involvement in the Watergate scandal. In 2000, Segretti served as co-chair of John McCain's presidential campaign in Orange County, California.[1]
Given Obama's penchant for a few hours at the gym before a major speech, I would advise keeping an eye out on the Secret Service.
Who knows, when pressed for ideas, the only thing the Secretary of Treasury can come up with is filling Barack's jockstrap with irritating substances, like novelty shop itching powders.
I wouldn't put it past him, nor for the Prez to approve the use of gymnasium pranks.