Here is a story from Politico that is so innocuous that you might be lulled so deeply into pleasant oblivion that you don't hear the sound of the other shoe dropping.

Graham said he expects Barr will screen the report for grand jury information, which is legally prohibited from becoming public. He also said authorities will need to scrub the report for intelligence sources and methods. And lastly, Graham said he expects the White House will have a chance to claim executive privilege on elements of Mueller’s findings.

If this keeps up, the president* will be showing Lindsey Graham at Westminster next year, probably in the Toy Group.

In other news from Camp Runamuck, the Defense Department is sending a billion dollars to help with the big, beautiful, stupid wall, repurposed from anti-drug programs just as the House failed to override the president*'s veto of the measure passed to prevent the administration from doing this. Democratic congresscritters are predictably agog, and spoiling for a fight over it. From Military Times:

But in a statement released as Shanahan was testifying before the House Armed Services Committee to discuss DoD’s 2020 budget request, the chairman, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., released a letter informing DoD it would not be allowed to do any such reprogramming. “The committee denies this request,” Smith wrote. “The committee does not approve the proposed use of Department of Defense funds to construct additional barriers and roads or install lighting in the vicinity of the United States border.”

The denial sets the stage for a potential legal challenge, based on DoD’s reasoning for selecting the fund in the first place. The $1 billion was to be pulled from the Pentagon’s counterdrug account, which allows its use to construct some fencing and lighting, but may not support a full wall. In prior discussions, defense officials have said this account was selected because they believed it could be used without getting reprogramming permission from Congress, due to the intended use of the funds.

Getty Images

And, finally, Betsy DeVos, the unprincipled, unqualified incompetent installed as Secretary of Education, has decided that her department can't afford the Special Olympics any more. From the Detroit Free Press:

It calls for eliminating billions in grants to improve student achievement by reducing class sizes and funding professional development for teachers as well as cutting funds dedicated to increasing the use of technology in schools and improving school conditions. In many cases, DeVos said the purpose of the grants has been found to be redundant or ineffective. In the case of the $17.6 million cut to help fund the Special Olympics, a program designed to help children and adults with disabilities, DeVos suggested it is better supported by philanthropy and added, "We had to make some difficult decisions with this budget."

DeVos's budget cuts all come at the expense of public schools. Her budget increases all come to benefit the deeply corrupt and dishonest charter school industry, which should continue to be very proud of the people its movement attracts.

But, seriously, an attack on the Special Olympics?

So much winning.

Respond to this post on the Esquire Politics Facebook page here.

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

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io