(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To The Last Post Of The Week From The Blog's Favourite Living Canadian)

WASHINGTON—Stay down here long enough, and you hear almost anything. Once the real business was out of the way on Friday morning, the Senate moved on to speeches for and against the ridiculous nomination of Betsy DeVos to be Secretary of Education. One of the speakers was James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma. I was only half-listening because, frankly, I'd heard it all before until Lankford came up with a line of argument so toweringly ahistorical and inapt that I'm surprised every book in the Library of Congress across the street didn't hurl itself off the shelf in despair because it had given up trying to educate anybody.

I hear people all the time say, there's a problem with vouchers and how could the federal government be involved with any money going to private schools or public schools or whatever that may be. We settled that issue decades and decades ago. It's called the GI Bill.

Wait, what?

When the GI Bill was passed after World War II, the federal government told those veterans coming back from the war, you can choose to go to any school you wanted to, public school, private school, wherever it may be. The GI Bill is still considered to be one of the most effective tools that our nation ever has done in higher education. It's a voucher program and for many people, they have not been able to think through what does this mean.

Before we get into the depth of the horse-hockey in this statement, we should provide a little context.

Lankford dropped this prairie pancake into the middle of a speech in which, only seconds earlier, he had been praising DeVos' dedication to local control, which he then supported by citing one of the most massive big-government programs of the 20th century, and one that the James Lankfords of their time bitterly opposed. (There was such a huge row in Congress over a provision granting unemployment benefits to returning veterans that it almost sank the bill. It passed the House by one vote. And, it must be said, sadly, that the law was adapted to comply with the Jim Crow system still prevalent in so much of America.) Also, he had been talking about charter schools and slid smoothly into an argument for vouchers, which is the way that usually works.

The Serviceman's Readjustment Act of 1944—which the American Legion rebranded the GI Bill of Rights, thank the Lord—was created by FDR and Congress to avoid the crisis that occurred when members of the armed services had demobilized after the previous World War. Nobody wanted another Bonus Army marching on Washington and being routed by armed troops the way it had happened in 1932. (FDR specifically cited that sorry episode in his appeal for the GI Bill.) The bill was an omnibus that included, in addition to tuition assistance, the construction of hospitals, the provision of low-interest mortgages, as well as the controversial $20-per-week unemployment insurance.

In every sense, it was an emergency wartime measure. It was a massive, Washington-based interference in the American higher education status quo and, despite its shortcomings, it worked splendidly. To use it as an example in support of allowing local school boards to funnel money to private and parochial schools with little or no governmental oversight, local or otherwise, which has been the experience with voucher programs all over the country, and which has been Betsy DeVos' bread and butter, is to turn history on its head.

Keep an eye on Lankford. I think he's a rising star.

This observation is almost a cliché at this point, as it can be employed about three times a day now, given what's going on at the White House, but shouldn't it be a bigger story that one of our businessman president*'s businesses got socked with a $6 million judgment this week? From The New York Times:

In his ruling, the judge said that Mr. Trump, by sending a letter in late 2012 denying access to members who wanted to resign from the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter — a process that could take years — had set off a contract clause that should have resulted in an immediate refund of their membership fees. Instead, the money was withheld.

What a cheap-ass scam this is.

"I quit. Give me my money back."

"No. Sue me."

Wednesday's ruling — by Judge Kenneth Marra of Federal District Court in West Palm Beach, an appointee of President George W. Bush's — calls for the club to pay $4.85 million in withheld fees to 65 club members involved in the lawsuit, plus an additional $925,000 in interest and other costs. As a result, those members will receive refunds of $35,000 to $200,000, depending on their level of membership in the club. Amanda Miller, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization, said the company planned to appeal. "At the time Trump purchased the club, it was suffering financially, making it unlikely that these members would ever get back their deposits," Ms. Miller said in a statement. "At trial, we presented overwhelming evidence that the plaintiffs' memberships were never recalled and that the plaintiffs had waived this argument during the course of the litigation."

This is simply an amazing time in history. The president of the United States is still enmeshed in business dealings that are getting smacked with lawsuits left and right, because as a businessman, the president of the United States is something of a grifter and has been throughout his career. Now, he's starting to lose these lawsuits left and right, and he refuses to divest himself of these troublesome connections.

Instead, he expects the country to believe that his spalpeens are running everything without his knowledge. (The Onion has a fine analysis of this arrangement.) And nobody turns a hair and it's something like the 17th story in the news cycle. Fresh hell, delivered fresh, every morning.

One little victory was scored on Friday when Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the least excusable man in Congress, was forced by a public outcry to withdraw a bill that would have accelerated the process of selling off public lands and hastening the day when we have to pay 50 bucks to see the Progressive Insurance Old Faithful Geyser. Word got around and Chaffetz, never a profile in courage on his best day, backed down. From Vox:

But this week, Chaffetz decided to yank the bill after a fierce backlash from hunters, sportsmen and women, and conservationists on both the left and the right. Privatizing public land, it turns out, is a lot harder than it sounds. Chaffetz announced on Instagram that he was pulling the bill, HR 621, saying, "I'm a proud gun owner, hunter and love our public lands." He insisted that the lands he wanted the government to sell off are "serving no public purpose," but that "groups I support and care about fear [the bill] sends the wrong message."

No, it sends exactly the right message, and a huge number of conservationists and (yes) hunters got that message loud and clear.

Conservationists and hunting groups noted that selling off even small parcels of land to private interests could cut off public access into national forests for hunters or campers. But perhaps more relevant, many groups seemed to see this as a gateway to a much bigger fire sale of federal lands down the road. The precise lands in play here were less important than the larger principles at stake. One group, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, raised a particular fuss. "For Mr. Chaffetz, you've kicked the hornet's nest, and the army is amassing," said its CEO, Land Tawney, on a widely shared Facebook video. "And I will put my money on the people every single time. The only thing you can do to make this right is to pull those bills back." A coalition of outdoors groups — including the National Wildlife Federation, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Pheasants Forever, Trout Unlimited, and Remington — started circulating a petition to stop the bill, with over 46,000 signatories.

OK, "the army is massing" is a little overwrought but, once again, the people are way ahead of the politicians here. I also would not cross either the National Wild Turkey Federation or Pheasants Forever. Those folks play rough.

Weekly WWOZ Pick To Click: "Ain't No Use" (Brother Tyrone): Yeah, I pretty much still love New Orleans.

Weekly Visit To The Pathe Archives: Here are some British folks enjoying a rainy day on the world's oldest bowling green. There are no shots of the massacre because who wants to look at those, right? You will note that America's primary contributions to bowling include moving it indoors, providing garish shirts, and the beer frame. History is so cool.

Despite the obvious ideological problems, I am staying a local yokel as regards to the big American football brawl on Sunday, but I heartily endorse Josh Gondelman's solution for politically aware Patriots fans. For every touchdown, send some money to the progressive organization of your choice. I find this a very American way of solving a major dilemma.

As to the game, as far as I'm concerned, the key names to listen for are Marcus Cannon and Dont'a Hightower. Cannon's going to have to keep the president*'s favorite QB upright, and Hightower is the key to a New England defense that's taken a bad rap for almost half the season. I also think Barnwell's pretty much right on the money here, but I think the game's going to be closer than he does. I make it 27-20.

My favorite recent idiot controversy involves people who think that Starbucks is selling donuts with calls to jihad written in the icing. Turns out it's the dark speech from The Lord of the Rings. (So that's how the dwarves got so fat.) One cruller to rule them all! Please, America, stop being such a dumbass.

Is it a good day for dinosaur news? It's always a good day for dinosaur news! From the BBC:

The researchers studied the fossils of a Lufengosaurus dinosaur using infrared spectroscopy with a synchrotron in Taiwan. Preserved fragments of collagen and iron-rich proteins were found within the walls of blood vessels running through rib bones. They think the remains of dinosaur blood may have preserved the collagen for almost 200 million years.

This seems to be of major interest primarily to scientists, unless, of course, we can clone the Lufengosaurus from this stuff. That, by the way, is one of the clumsier dino monickers I've ever heard but it is in keeping with our central premise that dinosaurs lived then to make us happy now.

The Committee was fairly confident that this week's Top Commenter of the Week would come from the Top Commenters who commented (toply) on the president* and his unconventional appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast. Y'all did not disappoint. And Top Commenter Eileen Hotham spoke the plain, unvarnished and (yes) gospel truth.

What the hell. I'm an atheist and even I know this is inappropriate.

The blessings of Ra upon your head, my sister, and 71.981 Beckhams to you.

I'll be back on Monday. In fact, I might even be back down here on Monday, because all of the whacky nominations are coming to a floor vote at the same time. (DeVos has to go first because they need Sessions as a senator. Lovely.) Be well and play nice, ya bastids. Stay above the snake-line and hang onto your wallets. They're coming for them.

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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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