{"id":78009,"date":"2020-02-20T18:34:26","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T23:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=78009"},"modified":"2020-02-20T18:35:19","modified_gmt":"2020-02-20T23:35:19","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-wednesday-february-19th-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=78009","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Wednesday, February 19th, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>It&#8217;s Wednesday, February 19th, 2020&#8230;but before we begin, here&#8217;s an encore presentation of Stilton Jarlsberg&#8217;s classic Presidents Day cartoon&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Try-the-Crow-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77896\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Try-the-Crow-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"271\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Try-the-Crow-1.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Try-the-Crow-1-300x176.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;as well as the reason Hillary has as much chance of being named Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s running mate as we have of running a 4-minute mile:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/image.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77910\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/image.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"693\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/image.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/image-200x300.png 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Now, here&#8217;s <em>The Gouge<\/em>!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Following up on our characterization of the Great Gaffe Machine as possessing\u00a0&#8220;less-than-penetrating perspicacity&#8221; (i.e., he was hiding behind the door when the brains were handed out!), courtesy of Speed Mach,\u00a0<em>Spectator USA<\/em>\u00a0suggests, at least for the benefit of Bernie Sanders, Michael Bloomberg and reelection of The Donald&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"article-header__title\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/spectator.us\/joe-biden-town-halls-forever\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #800080; text-decoration: underline;\">Joe Biden should do town halls forever<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<h3 class=\"article-header__standfirst\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/spectator.us\/joe-biden-town-halls-forever\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #333399; text-decoration: underline;\">Look, fat<\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #333399;\">!<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qMbeWmSeZr0\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Turning from the Dimocrats&#8217; Crazy Uncle in the Attic to his bestest buddy Barack, Steve Scalise offers the perfect comeback for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/no-obama-doesnt-deserve-credit-for-trumps-economy\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>The Dear Misleader&#8217;s latest attempt to rewrite history<\/em><\/span><\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/scalise.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77941\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/scalise.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"298\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/scalise.png 450w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/scalise-300x199.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Yeah, and in a similar fashion, some four-score and seven years ago you brought forth upon this continent a new nation&#8230;<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>NOT<\/em><\/span>!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Next up, courtesy of George Lawlor and\u00a0<em>The Federalist<\/em>, Mollie Hemingway reveals how&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a title=\"Source: Democrat Senator Held Secret Meeting In Munich With Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif\" href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2020\/02\/17\/source-democrat-senator-held-secret-meeting-in-munich-with-iranian-foreign-minister-zarif\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #333399; text-decoration: underline;\">Democrat Senator Held Secret Meeting In Munich With Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/download-3.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77922\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/download-3.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/download-3.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/download-3-300x169.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;<span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and other Democratic senators <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>had a secret meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during the Munich Security Conference last week<\/em><\/span>, according to a source briefed by the French delegation to the conference.<\/strong> <\/span>Murphy\u2019s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment by press time. <span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>(<em>Though <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/chris-murphy-meeting-zarif-iran-foreign-minister\" class=\"broken_link\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">they later did<\/span><\/a><\/span>, at which point <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Murphy lied about the Senate&#8217;s Constitutional role in foreign policy<\/span><\/em>.)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Such a meeting would mean Murphy had done the type of secret coordination with foreign leaders to potentially undermine the U.S. government that he accused Trump officials of doing as they prepared for Trump\u2019s administration<\/span><\/em>. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">In February 2017, Murphy\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.csmonitor.com\/USA\/2017\/0213\/Democrats-seek-probe-into-Trump-adviser-Flynn-s-Russia-call\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">demanded investigations<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0of National Security Advisor Mike Flynn because he had a phone call with his counterpart-to-be in Russia.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>\u201cAny effort to undermine our nation\u2019s foreign policy \u2013 even during a transition period \u2013 may be illegal and must be taken seriously,\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.murphy.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/murphy-markey-statements-on-troubling-reports-of-flynn-discussion-with-russian-ambassador\">Murphy said in 2017<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>after <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>anonymous leaks<\/em><\/span> of Flynn\u2019s phone call with Russian ambassador Sergey Kisylak were published.<\/strong> <\/span><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>He also\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationaljournal.com\/s\/30370\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">strongly criticized<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>\u00a0the open letter some Republican senators sent Iranian leaders during the Obama administration\u2019s campaign for a nuclear agreement.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>However, Murphy has previously defended<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><strong><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chrismurphyct\/status\/1042182630043803648\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rogue meetings<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>if they\u2019re done by Democrats such as former Secretary of State John Kerry.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8230;<span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>Both Murphy and Zarif spoke publicly during a two-hour session on Middle East policy, with Murphy and Zarif both<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/iran-crisis-an-unbridgeable-gap-over-the-gulf\/a-52399174\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fiercely criticizing<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>U.S. policy<\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>We don&#8217;t blame Murphy; he&#8217;s just acting on his nature as a fellow-traveler and useful idiot.\u00a0 Rather we blame the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>benighted Nutmeg nincompoops<\/em><\/span> who <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>voted him into office<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaking of benighted nincompoops, as the <em>WSJ<\/em>\u00a0and <em>NRO<\/em> report&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"wsj-article-headline\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/trump-has-commuted-sentence-of-rod-blagojevich-11582051259?mod=djemalertNEWS&amp;tesla=y\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\">Trump Commutes Sentence of Rod Blagojevich<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<h3 class=\"sub-head\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/trump-has-commuted-sentence-of-rod-blagojevich-11582051259?mod=djemalertNEWS&amp;tesla=y\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\">Former Illinois governor was serving 14 years for corruption<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pkq7y.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77920\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pkq7y.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pkq7y.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pkq7y-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"article-header__title\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/news\/trump-pardons-former-49ers-owner-eddie-debartolo-jr-in-gambling-fraud-case\/?utm_source=email&amp;utm_medium=breaking&amp;utm_campaign=newstrack&amp;utm_term=19477825\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\">Trump Pardons Former 49ers Owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. in Gambling Fraud Case<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pkp8c.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77919\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pkp8c.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pkp8c.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pkp8c-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"sub-head\"><strong>The Donald also saw fit to pardon former junk-bond king <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Michael_Milken\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>Mike Milken<\/em><\/span><\/a> and NYPD commissioner <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bernard_Kerik\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em>Bernie Kerik<\/em><\/span><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>If the pardons of DeBartolo and Milken had us <em>merely scratching our head<\/em>\u00a0(after all, now is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>hardly<\/em><\/span> the time to be pardoning <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>billionaire<\/em><\/span> ex-cons), Blagojevich&#8217;s commutation and Kerik&#8217;s pardon <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>truly left us flummoxed<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kerik accepted and failed to report a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>$250,000 interest-free loan<\/em><\/span> (e.g., &#8220;bribe&#8221;) from an Israeli <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>billionaire<\/em><\/span> while serving as Iraq&#8217;s Interim Minister of the Interior; which, at least in our eyes, while not <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>totally<\/em><\/span> overshadowing an otherwise noteworthy career of military and law enforcement service, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>certainly eliminated him as candidate for a pardon<\/em><\/span>, at least <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>before Trump was a Lame Donald<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Blagojevich, on the other hand, was the veritable poster child&#8230;and we <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>mean<\/em><\/span> &#8220;child&#8221;&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/download-4.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77943\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/download-4.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/download-4.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/download-4-300x266.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;for the political corruption endemic in Dimocratic machine politics&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nI67dSs3dXU?start=6&amp;end=11&amp;\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;Obama-style!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Compare the reasoning of the five remaining Illinois Republican House members&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\u201c<span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>Blagojevich is the face of public corruption in Illinois, and not once has he shown any remorse for his clear and documented record of egregious crimes that undermined the trust placed in him by voters. <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">We believe he received an appropriate and fair sentence, which was the low end of the federal sentencing guidelines for the gravity of his public corruption convictions.<\/span> As our state continues to grapple with political corruption, we shouldn\u2019t let those who breached the public trust off the hook.<\/strong><\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;with The Donald&#8217;s unintelligible illogic:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\u201c<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>We have commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich,\u201d Trump said Tuesday. <span style=\"color: #333399;\">\u201cHe served eight years in jail, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>a long time<\/em><\/span><\/span>\u2026That was a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence<\/em><\/span>, in my opinion<\/strong>.<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sorry, but you&#8217;ll forgive our French as we question <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>WTF<\/em><\/span> DOES THAT EVEN <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>MEAN<\/em><\/span>?!?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Now, explain to us again why the DOJ didn&#8217;t go after Andrew McCabe?!?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>In a related item, also courtesy of <em>NRO<\/em>, David Harsanyi highlights&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<header class=\"article-header article-header--full\" data-component=\"articleHeader\">\n<div class=\"article-header__inner\">\n<h1 class=\"article-header__title\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2020\/02\/roger-stone-double-standard\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600; text-decoration: underline;\">The Roger Stone Double Standard<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"section-content--primary\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\n<h3 class=\"article-content\" data-component=\"iframeEmbed\"><span class=\"article-header__subtitle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/2020\/02\/roger-stone-double-standard\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #800000; text-decoration: underline;\">For all the hullaballoo around the Stone case, he still faces prison \u2014 while his partners in dishonesty are lauded as patriotic heroes<\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #800000;\">.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/afb021720dAPR20200217044509.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77940\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/afb021720dAPR20200217044509.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/afb021720dAPR20200217044509.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/afb021720dAPR20200217044509-300x215.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"small_caps\"><span class=\"drop\">&#8220;<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>W<\/strong><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>hether<\/strong><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>\u00a0<em>Roger Stone<\/em>, the loopy, self-aggrandizing political operative, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>deserves<\/em><\/span> nine years in Supermax for obstructing an investigation into Russia\u2013Donald Trump \u201ccollusion\u201d is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>debatable<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">Whether the <em>powerful men who helped create the investigation that ensnared Stone<\/em> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>have been allowed to lie with impunity is not<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> They <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">have<\/span><\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Only a few days after prosecutors melodramatically\u00a0left\u00a0the DOJ after Trump tweeted a defense of Stone <em>and the DOJ subsequently revised its sentencing recommendation to be more lenient<\/em>, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe was informed that he wouldn\u2019t face charges<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">McCabe faced an inquiry into <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">whether he broke the law when he denied to investigators that he had leaked information concerning a Clinton Foundation probe to the press<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>McCabe went on CNN, where he is <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">now<\/span><\/em> paid <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">to lecture citizens about the decaying state of American democracy<\/span><\/em>, and\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\"><em><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.redstate.com\/nick-arama\/2020\/02\/15\/784190\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"broken_link\">claimed<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0that <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>being branded a liar<\/em><\/span> was \u201cone of the most sickening and demeaning experiences of my life.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">It\u2019s a<\/span> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>confusing statement<\/em><\/span> \u2014 not merely because <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>the IG report found that McCabe<\/em><\/span>, once entrusted with immense power, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>had repeatedly lied under oath<\/em><\/span>, but because McCabe himself had<\/strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2020\/01\/02\/andrew-mccabe-said-he-lied-to-fbi-about-wall-street-journal-leak\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">admitted to lying and apologized<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>for it.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Was he <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>lying about lying<\/em><\/span>?<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Maybe he\u2019ll tell us more in his next book<\/span><\/strong>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Which we continue to hope he pens from prison.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>And in the\u00a0<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><em>Here&#8217;s a Quarter: Call Somebody Who Cares<\/em><\/span>\u00a0segment,\u00a0<em>NRO<\/em>&#8216;s Mairead McArdle informs us&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"article-header__title\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/news\/stacey-abrams-says-shes-open-to-joining-dem-ticket-as-veep-after-vowing-not-to-run-for-second-place\/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=NR%20Daily%20Monday%20through%20Friday%202020-02-17&amp;utm_term=NRDaily-Smart\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #800000; text-decoration: underline;\">Stacey Abrams Says She\u2019s Open to Joining Dem Ticket as Veep<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pi5wh.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77906\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pi5wh.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pi5wh.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pi5wh-300x175.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Which brings us, appropriately&#8230;or <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>in<\/em><\/span>appropriately&#8230;enough, to\u00a0<em>The Lighter Side<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/lester-2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77897\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/lester-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/lester-2.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/lester-2-300x194.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/kelley.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77898\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/kelley.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"366\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/kelley.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/kelley-300x238.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/varvel2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77899\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/varvel2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"332\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/varvel2.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/varvel2-300x216.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/stiglich-2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77900\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/stiglich-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/stiglich-2.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/stiglich-2-300x205.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/varvel-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77901\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/varvel-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"328\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/varvel-1.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/varvel-1-300x213.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/bernie-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77935\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/bernie-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/bernie-1.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/bernie-1-300x197.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/cross.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77902\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/cross.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/cross.png 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/cross-300x229.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Minimum-Rage-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77936\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Minimum-Rage-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Minimum-Rage-1.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Minimum-Rage-1-300x145.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Image-2-17-20-at-8.14-AM.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77895\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Image-2-17-20-at-8.14-AM.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Image-2-17-20-at-8.14-AM.jpeg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Image-2-17-20-at-8.14-AM-300x284.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/poster-meme-of-people-looting-a-payless-shoes-store-which-is-certainly-one-way-of-paying-less.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77893\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/poster-meme-of-people-looting-a-payless-shoes-store-which-is-certainly-one-way-of-paying-less.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"398\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/poster-meme-of-people-looting-a-payless-shoes-store-which-is-certainly-one-way-of-paying-less.jpeg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/poster-meme-of-people-looting-a-payless-shoes-store-which-is-certainly-one-way-of-paying-less-300x258.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/250-cable-channels.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77894\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/250-cable-channels.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"426\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/250-cable-channels.jpeg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/250-cable-channels-300x277.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pgeww.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77904\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pgeww.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pgeww.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pgeww-300x219.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Finally, we&#8217;ll call it a day with these three memes, courtesy of Ed Hickey, Balls Cotton and Fielding Cocke, respectively:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/ed-hickey.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77908\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/ed-hickey.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"424\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/ed-hickey.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/ed-hickey-300x275.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Balls-Cotton.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77909\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Balls-Cotton.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"304\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Balls-Cotton.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Balls-Cotton-300x197.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pljns.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-77938\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pljns.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pljns.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/3pljns-300x136.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Magoo<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s Wednesday, February 19th, 2020&#8230;but before we begin, here&#8217;s an encore presentation of Stilton Jarlsberg&#8217;s classic Presidents Day cartoon&#8230; &#8230;as well as the reason Hillary has as much chance of being named Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s running mate as we have of running a 4-minute mile: Now, here&#8217;s The Gouge! Following up on our characterization of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1988,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1988"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78010,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78009\/revisions\/78010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}