FRIDAY 'ROUND-THE-HORN.

These guys don't get enough play.
•   The only products for which demand never relents, even during natural disasters, are water, bread, milk, and guns, apparently. I thank Media Matters for pointing out that conservatives are now frothing because the government of the Virgin Islands, threatened by Hurricane Irma, issued an order allowing the authorities to seize guns during the impending emergency. The governor says it's to supplement government ordnance at a crucial time, but the NRA knows what it's really about: The thin end of the statist wedge! "This dangerous order violates the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens and puts their lives at risk," says NRA executive director Chris W. Cox, and Tucker Carlson brought on NRA rageclown Dana Loesch to yell about it. "It really is confirmation that the pro-Second Amendment people have a right to be paranoid about gun registration!" cries Carlson; later in the broadcast he repeats that said people are not paranoid, as if he realized this were a thought that might flash through some of his less effectively brainwashed viewers' minds. I wish I could figure out a way to convince them that the Goldurn Gummint wants the death tax paid in firearms, so these idiots can do shows and op-eds about how corpses will be left defenseless against grave-robbers without their shooting irons.

•   The Republicans in Congress are supposed to be mad at Trump for cutting a deal with the Democrats to delay the debt ceiling crisis by three months. Ha! Most of them voted for this deal. Also, the GOP are still holding up their end of what we may call the Grand Bargain:

GOP again moves to help keep Trump’s tax returns secret 

...[Democratic Congressman Bill] Pascrell, who's measure demanded Trump’s personal and business returns, argued, “How can we debate tax reform proposals without seeing the president’s tax returns? […] Congress has the authority and the duty to obtain and review President Trump’s tax returns to ensure there are no potential conflicts of interest in the tax policies he is proposing.” 

This, evidently, did not prove persuasive. The Ways and Means Committee voted 21 to 14 to reject the New Jersey Democrat’s motion, which would’ve directed the Treasury Department to provide the documents to Congress, with literally zero Republicans breaking ranks.

What have I been telling you for months now? Notwithstanding the smokescreen of the debt ceiling: Trump gives them the policies they crave, and in return the Republicans let him grift. If you find what's happening on Capitol Hill confusing, just remind yourself of that.