Swamp Merger

In the early days of blogging, conservative bloggers would tag the more radical/irrational leftist regions of the blogosphere the Fever Swamp. The "alt-right" of the mid-teens seem to be a rightist analog to that; indeed, a quick Google of "fever swamp" generates more digs at the right than at the left.

That came to mind as the announcement of the first two picks of the nascent Trump administration were announced over the weekend, with RNC chair Reince Priebus becoming chief of staff and campaign manager ne Breitbart boss Steve Bannon as "chief strategist." The irony of that is that Trump fans have little love for establishment Republicans, as "clean the swamp" has been a frequent mantra this campaign in the Trump camp.

I'm not sure if Breitbart is full-scale alt-right, but if it isn't in that territory, you can see it from their offices with a so-so set of binoculars. A leading beltway Swamp Weasel is first among equals with a fever swamp piranha in close proximity.

Both will be useful in a just-win-baby sense, but the ship of state seems particularly soulless.