Kevin Siers strengthens my belief that a cliché is only a cliché if you simply trot it out so you can knock off early.
The Rob Portman issue is, by contrast, an excellent time to quote Louis Renault, the corrupt cop from "Casablanca," though I wish that particular expression were not so overused, because this is such a good application.
In the scene, Louis has bent to the will of the German officer to close Rick's cafe, and cites gambling as the excuse, his hypocrisy revealed a moment later when the croupier comes up to hand him his own winnings.
That's not strictly applicable: Kelly may be spinelessly kowtowing to a bully, but he hasn't personally profited from having a wife-beater on staff.
He must have known, though, because Porter's security clearance was reportedly held up by having multiple verified cases of abuse in his FBI file.
Had the FBI known of the cases but cleared him anyway, it's possible nobody at the White House would have heard about them.
But Portman's job involved handling sensitive materials and being in the room when certain topics were discussed. He probably shouldn't have been allowed to, and surely the chief of staff must have asked the FBI about the problem with his clearance.
Though we're dealing with paranoid nitwits who found a conspiracy against Dear Leader in Obama's request that the FBI keep him in the loop on the Clinton email probe.
At least, that's what they want you to think Obama was asking for.
He really wanted the minutes from the latest meeting of the secret League Of Liberals, as outlined in today's La Cucaracha.
Another moment in "Casablanca" worth noting, BTW, is when the young, beautiful Bulgarian newlywed asks Rick for advice, given that they don't have the money for a visa and she has been offered another way to obtain it from Captain Renault.
Rick signals the roulette wheel operator on behalf of her naive husband, who "wins" the money they need.
Louis is not amused.
In case you felt the expectation of wink-wink solidarity were a recent invention.
And while we're on both that topic and on how to keep a much-used image from being a cliché, check out Peter Brookes' commentary on the Big Parade.
Seems a bit underhanded.
Incidentally, one of the suggestions has been that Donnie IV-F hold his glorious parade to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.
Maybe the best counter-demonstration would be mass screenings of King Vidor's 1925 classic, "The Big Parade," which memorialized that war the way "The Best Years of Our Lives" memorialized WWII — perhaps too honestly.
This plot summary from IMDB indicates how early in the film Dear Leader and John Gilbert go their separate paths:
In the period before World War I, James Apperson lives a good life thanks in large part to his father's fortune. … He's something of a disappointment to his father but thankfully, his more serious brother plays the good son and is involved in the family business. When the U.S. enters the the war, James is caught up in all the hoopla and enlists. He makes new friends, particularly Slim and Bull, and they're soon off to France. While awaiting their move to the front lines, James meets a young Frenchwoman, Melisandre. Life is good for all of them but when they move up, they experience the horrors of war and James is forever a changed man.
And speaking of barstool patriotism …
Jack Ohman combines Dear Leader's demands for applause and approval with the bizarre Trump tweet — if that's not redundant — in which he complained that the Dow wasn't behaving as it should.
This is particularly weird, because the fact that Trump has no idea how to be President, or how all Presidents are regularly treated by the public, the press and the opposing party, is supposed to be explained by the fact that he's not a politician. He's a business man.
So he's a businessman who has no idea how the stock market works. What does this guy know? And when will he show he knows it?
Meanwhile, however, leave us not become too proud, because I've seen cartoons and commentary in which people look at the fall in the Dow and declare that now they can't retire. That demonstrates some pretty massive ignorance of how it all works, too.
You don't spend it all the first month you retire, or at least you'd better not. And if you need to, then you were screwed no matter what the Dow did.
And if you sit in front of your computer on E*Trade like those zombies with their Solo cups full of nickels repeatedly pulling the levers on the slots in a casino, you're also likely to be screwed regardless of what the Dow does.
A sensible 401k or IRA is not going to be filled with speculative stocks and, while it will rise and fall with the Dow, will, over the long run, pretty much reflect the real-world economy.
If you're dipping into it deeply enough that a mini-plunge like this one seriously impacts your retirement plan, you'd better plan on checking out early, because you're either an irresponsible spendthrift or you didn't have enough saved in the first place.
Meanwhile, in the working world
Not sure I can go along with Cooper's thinking in today's Retail, but maybe that's because I work in newspapers, where "my previous employer sucked" is not only acceptable but a given.
But I can sure relate to Jill in Pajama Diaries. You need a lot of self-discipline to work at home, but it's best if you also have the self-discipline to not work at home once in awhile.
Breakfast by noon is achievable, but she's fooling herself about that shower unless it's Rob's night to cook.
First rule of job hunting: Be confident
Second rule: Know when it's time to put the buck-buck-bucket down
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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