Solvent and … er … No, I’m Not Doing the Mugwort Joke

[#dontask]

This is not really a note about middle age and being completely detached from my cohort, but, sure, it can feel like it. In my life and times, “Goop” is this stuff you find in auto garages and other places people handle motor parts with oil and grease all over them; you clean your hands with it, and seems a better option than dipping your hands in a tub of solvents, which people probably still do. I saw the logo on a restroom accessory not long ago; in truth, it was only significant enough to note, remarkable enough to be fulfilled in remarking upon it, because I don’t spend a lot of time cleaning auto parts, and only ever see the stuff when wandering through a store looking for motor oil or a light bulb.

All of which, of course, means I had no idea what the headline meant: “The 23 Most Ridiculous Moments in Goop History, Ranked”:

What began nearly ten years ago as actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s weekly newsletter of various rich-people frivolities has morphed into a full-fledged lifestyle and “wellness” empire, doling out dubious health advice, selling $15,000 vibrators, and generally enraging scientists and people who aren’t a part of the one percent. Most recently, the watchdog group Truth in Advertising filed a formal complaint asking regulators to look into the company.

#WhatTheyVotedFor (#swampstyle rebrand remix)

#DrainTheSwamp | #WhatTheyVotedFor

“This kind of thing is becoming routine in Trump’s administration, in part because he’s fostering a culture of corruption in the government, and in part because Republicans in Congress have decided to let him get away with it. They could put a stop to the routine self-enrichment fairly easily, or force him to divest his assets and set up a blind trust, but they have chosen instead to do nothing.”

―Brian Beutler

If one believes in morals to the story, then there ought to be something of value in the latest outrage to earn a few seconds notice in the presidential pageant of deviant misadventure. Via The New Republic:

Donald Trump is using taxpayer dollars to enrich himself while asking Congress to fund his government. Multiple State Department websites were found promoting President Trump’s private club at Mar-a-Lago Monday, and not in particularly subtle ways.

Once upon a time, Republicans complained about this sort of thing.