More stupidity masking more corruption

The two biggest news stories of the past 24 hours are the government shutting down because Congress couldn't pass a spending bill by the end of fiscal year last night, and the pathetic attempted-fascist assembly of the United States' general and flag officers in Virginia yesterday.

We'll take the dumber one first:

• Jennifer Rubin shakes her head in sadness, but not surprise.
• Matthew Yglesias has 17 thoughts about the shutdown, and Brian Beutler has 20, but how many thoughts does Rabbi Eliezer have?

And then there's failed Minnesota National Guard major (and current Defense Secretary) Pete Hegseth's demonstration of why he never got promoted to lieutenant colonel:

• Glenn Kessler calls out the most prominent and stinky piles of bullshit in the OAFPOTUS's speech to the assembly.
• Tom Nichols shudders, "the commander in chief is not okay."
• Karen Tumulty suggests that Hegseth wanting to return the military to 1990 may not have been the best message to send *cough*Tailhook*cough*.
• Paul Krugman points out that most members of the military—other than Hegseth, obviously—are more valued for their brains than their biceps.
• Alexandra Petri wonders if the meeting could have been an email.

In other news:

• Conservationist and chimpanzee specialist Dr Jane Goodall has died at age 91.
• Nikole Hannah-Jones has a considered and sober reflection on Charlie Kirk's legacy.
• Anne Branigin marvels at how "cancel culture came for everyone."
• The secret to getting better sleep may be as simple as going to bed at the same time every night.

Finally, the forecast for Friday has us at 29°C (85°F) by late afternoon, exactly when we would hit the treeless McRory Trail north of Lake Forest. We have altered our planned route to use the tree-lined Sheridan Road from near the Lake Forest Metra station up to Lake Bluff Brewing, but it will still be wicked hot. It got that hot the day I attempted a marathon walk in 2022, but you'll recall I only got to Evanston before throwing in the towel. In 2023, it hit 29°C, and we did all right—but we moved the walk to mid-October last year and had much better weather.

We'll see how we do. It might just come down to how much sleep I get this week.