There's so much happening under the Big Top these days that we all tend to forget the many remarkable attractions along the current carnival's midway. For example, here's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, one of the world's top pediatric neurosurgeons—and, apparently, a gifted interior decorator—demonstrating that he doesn't know anything about his job and cares even less, and that he simply doesn't have time for these bothersome ladies with their bothersome questions.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to present this very special Adaptation of an Old Joke:

Q: What's the difference between a neurosurgeon and God?

A: God doesn't think he's a neurosurgeon.

As we return to our regularly scheduled programming, Carson finds himself crossways with Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a former member of the Boston City Council and, therefore, someone who has seen political charlatans far more gifted than Dr. Ben Carson, and who did not have the time for his act. From the Washington Post:

During one particularly contentious moment, Carson said, “Reclaiming my time.”

“You don’t get to do that,” Pressley retorted.

Pressley then asked Carson if he would allow his grandmother to live in public housing under his watch.

“It would be very nice if you could stop . . .” Carson trailed off, and Pressley’s time expired.

Meanwhile, The Daily Beast landed a scoop with a report that former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had stopped by the House Foreign Affairs Committee for a friendly six-hour chat. Tillerson, you may recall, was a Cabinet member when this president* was first sworn in some 62 years ago. He also was so well connected in Russia through his days as an international oilman that Vladimir Putin gave him an award. Naturally, the subject of the administration*'s relationship with the Volga Bagmen came up.

Tillerson reached out to the committee and expressed a willingness to meet, a committee aide said. In a more than six-hour meeting, he told members and staffers that the Trump administration actively avoided confronting Russia about allegations of interference in the election in an effort to develop a solid relationship with the Kremlin, a committee aide told The Daily Beast...

Since leaving his post, Tillerson has rarely made public appearances, save for speaking at a panel in Houston in December. During that appearance, he said there was “no question” Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. “So often, the president would say, ‘Here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it,’ and I would have to say to him, ‘Mr. President I understand what you want to do but you can’t do it that way. It violates the law,’” Tillerson said.



Nothing But The Best People never will not be funny.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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