26 March—He who hesitates gets scooped. And a double whammy to boot. Yesterday I had intended to disquisite at moderate length on the negative impact the U.S. Department of Education has had on all levels of education since it was created in 1979. But I got sidetracked by Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat. So Michael Ramirez beat me to it brilliantly and succinctly in this morning’s two-panel cartoon with this text:

Public education Before the Department of Education . . . National Report Card: Reading C, Science C, Math D+. [For a cumulative grade of] C-.

Public education After the Department of Education . . . National Report Card: Reading D, Science C-, Math D-. [For a cumulative grade of] D+.

Truth be told, Ramirez is being too kind to the Department of Education. Too bad it will never be dumped. But thank Ramirez for deflecting my words.

🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️

And then there’s the recent notorious Trump war cabinet security breach using the Signal app to discuss classified or unclassified (depending whichever administration spokesperson is obfuscating and at what time) plans to bomb Yemen. Democrats kvetching and exaggerating gleefully, as expected; Republicans minimizing, denying, lying, as expected.

Yesterday I had intended to compare the Democrat reaction to what’s being creatively called Signalgate with the Republican reaction in 2016 to what was creatively christened Hillarygate, the kerfuffle over Hillary Clinton’s emails when she was secretary of state. But again I was sidetracked by Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats, so others have noted the obvious comparison before I got to it.

Is Hillarygate responsible for Trump 45 and 47 or is it Hillary herself or is it the Democratic National Committee? Spilled milk. Sour milk?

To his credit, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz has fallen on his sword for allowing Signalgate to happen: “I take full responsibility. I built the group.” It was “embarrassing.” Indeed it was. But Trump and his intelligence (?) mavens have downplayed the security risks and insisted that no classified material was involved.

So we can’t wait to read the transcript in The Atlantic . . .