Our corrupt, clownish leadership.

All dissent is a Russian operation. Anything bad that happens to America has nothing to do with our corrupt, clownish leadership, but is Putin’s fault. This is where all of this is going, and it’s further evidence that the American empire has entered a much more pronounced and dangerous period of decline.

"Our corrupt, clownish leadership" seems harsh but these times call for clear assessments.

The Republicans have yelled about Obamacare from the git but come time to come up with a replacement that's not a modified version of that leftist monstrosity they've got nothing in their bag of tricks. Not only didn't they have a colorable scheme of what might be a better approach, but what they did come up with was hush hush and rolled out as just another exercise in jamming it down the throats of the people. Take it or leave it, suckahs.

No discussion beforehand. No attempt to show how something as simple as allowing insurance to be purchased across state lines could stimulate competition and lead to more options. No focus on the problem of the uninsurable and what we should do as a nation, whether pretend it's a problem to be dealt with by insurance or a matter of taking care of people in a bad way as a matter of public policy. Ryan knows best!

No discussion of the aberration of employer-provided health insurance as an artifact of WWII price controls.

And sure has shootin' no discussion of the known defects of socialized care elsewhere in the world.

Similarly, the seemingly sacred rule is that no other national problem can be dealt with other than in a "comprehensive" manner. Nope. Can't just build a wall to stop illegal immigration as in stanch the flow of newcomers before we decide how to get rid of the other invaders who got here earlier. We have to come up with the perfect plan for Indians to come take American jobs and seasonal agricultural workers to come from Brunei and deportation and the wall and sanctuary cities. Got cancer? How's that dandruff?

Tax system a bit cumbersome? Why, of course, we must have a "comprehensive" reform such that the deductibility of hobby expenses must be carefully examined. Just take a pen and change corporate tax rate – now the highest in the universe – to 15%? No, no, the clowns have never heard of the 80-20 rule.

These things take time. Arterial bleeding there, Rufus? We hear you but, first, what's the history of diabetes in your family?

"U.S. Propaganda is Embarrassingly Bad (and Why it Matters)." By Mike Krieger, Liberty Blitzkrieg, 4/19/17.

H/t: Zero Hedge.