Dead Drop: April 2

TOO SOON? Last week, C-Span promoted a segment that was set to air on March 26^th in which they covered Former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo making remarks at a breakfast held by the Westside Conservative Club in Urbandale, Iowa. The banner on their promotion was titled “The Road to 2024” – leaving no doubt that they saw the appearance as early steps by Pompeo down the road he hopes leads to the White House. We are not sure what kind of reception Pompeo got in Urbandale but most of the folks responding to a C-Span tweet about it were unimpressed and many said it is WAY too early to start another presidential campaign when the smoke (almost literally) hasn’t cleared from the last one.  Comments on twitter ranged from “Why are you airing this?” “Must be a slow night,” and “Fortunately, I have to get a root canal that day.”

THE JOKE IS ON US: Two weeks ago, The Dead Drop carried an item about the lengthy National Guard deployment to defend Capitol Hill.  We asked (tongue in cheek we thought) whether someone should be designing a special campaign ribbon for those who have undertaken that mission adding we were “thinking something with red, white and blue with a set of Shaman horns for extra color.” Turns out…a few days before our item, Stars and Stripes reported that those who answered the call on the Hill will receive one of two ribbons either the new “District of Columbia National Guard Presidential Inauguration Support Ribbon” or the “District of Columbia Emergency Service Ribbon.” The ribbons indeed have stripes of red, white, and blue, and the presidential inauguration ribbon includes the three red stars. Marine veteran and author Elliot Ackerman took to the pages of The New York Times to argue that for some, donning the new ribbons contribute to the politicization of the military. We are guessing he would have hated our suggestion to add Shaman horns.