Spectacle of Lies 🌻 🌻 🌻

Handmaiden to Malignancy:  Never one to mince words, yesterday during a discussion of the Kaitlin Collins hosted Trump town hall, Andrew Weissmann, the former US Attorney and Mueller prosecutor, called CNN a handmaiden to malignancy.  Unfortunately, that’s an apt description.  The town hall was about as awful as expected.  Trump got a free political rally at the expense of democracy.  He lied about all the things he always lies about: he called the 2020 election rigged, E Jean Carroll a whack job and her allegations about him sexually assaulting her a fake story; he again complimented the “smart” Vladimir Putin while refusing to side with Ukraine; he doubled down on how his Mar a Lago document grab was totally legit; he said he’d be inclined to pardon all of the January 6^th rioters; and, my personal favorite, encouraged Republicans to let the government default. He also called Kaitlin Collins a nasty person.  She’s not nasty but she was out of her league, partly because she’s relatively inexperienced, the likely reason that Trump agreed to her serving as his emcee, and partly because she was set up by her ratings hungry bosses to fail. Even the New Hampshire audience, mostly Republicans with a smattering of right leaning independents thrown into the mix, were hand selected to make Trump feel comfortable which explains why they were all in on applause and giggles.  CNN CEO Chris Licht was in on the charade, he met his ratings goal, getting a few more viewers than usual, but only for one night.  Reports are that many inside CNN were furious about his decision to hold the town hall and then distraught about how it turned out, and that’s probably true since a few including CNN’s own media reporter, Oliver Darcy, called it a “spectacle of lies” and Trump a “professional lie machine” who “fired off falsehoods at a rapid clip while using his bluster to overwhelm Collins.” Sadly, Chris Licht isn’t backing down, he’s thrilled with how well the town hall went.  To push that point, last night he had Anderson Cooper defend it on his nightly show and then had It Girl Collins, who followed in what was once Chris Cuomo’s time slot, call her town hall sh-it show “a major inflection point” in the Republican party’s search for its next nominee. If by inflection point, she means, an acceleration in the decline of both CNN and democracy, she’s right. Expectations are that Licht will soon announce that Collins will be taking over the Cuomo slot permanently, or whatever permanently means on CNN these days. Trump who is appealing his E Jean Carroll trial loss, walked away deliriously happy and CNN is now one step closer to becoming Fox. Who knows, maybe a merger or sale is in the works? One more thing, E Jean Carroll’s lawyers say she is now considering suing Trump again for defamation.

Bespectacled Spectacle: That other liar, George Anthony Devolder Santos was indicted yesterday, not for claiming he was a volleyball star, but on thirteen counts related to money laundering, stealing public money, wire fraud and making false statements to Congress.  Those counts include allegations that he misled donors, telling them their contributions would be used for campaign purposes, while instead using some of their money to support his lifestyle.  Remember those photos of him traipsing around with an iconic orange Hermes bag, could be his donors paid for whatever was in that bag too because those making $55,000 per year don’t generally shop at Hermes where a Birkin bag can cost upwards of $55k.  He’s also accused of overstating his income and receiving unemployment insurance while fully employed, particularly ironic because yesterday he was one of the sponsors of legislation seeking to clamp down on unemployment fraud.  As to the overstated income, it looks like more charges could come later, once the DOJ figures out where he obtained the $700,000 that he says he contributed to his campaign from the earnings he didn’t have.  Santos of course pleaded not guilty, posting a $500,000 bond so that he could rush back to DC to vote for that unemployment fraud bill.  While he went the “I didn’t do it, I am just the victim of one of a witch hunt” defense with regard to the DOJ charges, he finally admitted to his Brazil theft, working out a deal with Brazilian prosecutors which means that he won’t be extradited there so we’re stuck with him. 

Supremacy? Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville is all in on white supremacists serving in the military because as far as he’s concerned, they’re just Americans. He didn’t misspeak, when asked about his comment he doubled down, querying what’s wrong with white supremacy anyway.  Tuberville is also holding up all general and flag officer nominations in protest of new reproductive health policies which provide leave and travel allowances for troops and their families who, because they’re based in states which prohibit abortion, have to travel to receive care.  Supreme leader to some, Trump is being investigated for so many things, has been indicted, was twice impeached and has now been ruled a sex offender.  All that probably explains why Republicans, most notably House Oversight Chair James Comer are pushing allegations that President Biden and his family are crime figures.  Despite Comer’s allegations, and he’s made many, so far even he admits that he has nothing tying Joe to anything illegal but that hasn’t stopped him, nor some of his friends at Fox and the Murdoch owned NY Post from talking endlessly about the “Biden Crime Family.”  Admittedly troubled son Hunter eventually may be charged for something, likely related to unpaid taxes or possession of a gun, but the rest is likely just political BS. Last night Title 42 pandemic era border restrictions expired.  That means more of the thousands of migrants hoping to cross into the US will be allowed in at least temporarily.  This isn’t a change in policy, just a return to the rules that governed immigration before the pandemic.  Nevertheless, expect to hear a lot about the marauding dark skinned masses coming to takeover. If you haven’t already, considering reading Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, it’s an allegorical take on how war and climate change are contributing to the worldwide growth in refugees. The bottom line is that building walls is not a solution, not that there are any easy solutions, because people fleeing destitution or worse will keep on seeking better homes. Not all that surprising as we are a nation of immigrants and most of our families didn’t arrive first class with pockets full of cash.  

And:  Remember that poll that everyone was talking about last weekend and on Monday, the one that showed Trump trouncing Biden.  Well, it turns out that it really was an outlier. A new one from Yahoo News/YouGov, released on Wednesday, shows Biden narrowly ahead of Trump. Not totally comforting but still a reminder that polls, particularly at this point in the election cycle should be taken with a grain of salt.