A Crisis by Design

The national news media has succumbed to the threat of being yelled at by the biggest bully in the whole damn valley, and all of the major networks will give free airtime to the president so he can tell us all about the crisis at the southern border that, frankly, is entirely by design - his design.

Now, don't get me wrong - we have long had an immigration problem, and it needs to be fixed - about that, there should be no question. But, that immigration problem is not defined by the need for a wall, and it won't be fixed by the construction of a wall, whether it's a big beautiful concrete one (about which the president knows more than anyone) or some variation on a theme of steel slats that is equally aesthetically pleasing (about which the president knows more than anyone) or even just concertina wire and chain link fence (about which the president surely knows more than anyone).

Since he announced his candidacy, "Build That Wall" has been the cry around which his supporters will reliably rally, because we are meant to fear the dark skinned people who cross the southern border.

It matters not whether they have crossed legally or illegally really - because just by looking at them, we are unable to tell which is which, just like we can't tell a good black person walking down the street, or shopping in a store, or making a phone call in a hotel lobby, or swimming in a pool, or hailing a cab, or driving down the highway or doing any number of other things that human beings do, from a bad one.

That's the point of fear. And that's the basis of this 'crisis' that the president has created, embraced, and exacerbated, and which he now must trying and convince us is real.

TGIF 11/9/18

Most of the midterm elections have been decided, but there are a few key races still unsettled, including some US Senate seats, governors and some House races.

The fact that votes are still being counted is a good thing, compared to the alternative: legitimately cast ballots being cast aside for some self-serving process. That appears to be the hope of some in the GOP, but it's hardly the American way.

They all need to keep counting - the world isn't going to come to an end if we don't know who's going to be the senator from Florida or Arizona, and it's not going to come to an end if we don't know who's going to be the Governor of Georgia.

The best thing, I think everyone agrees, is that the political ads are now a thing of the past. We've been waiting for these days since August. Now, the signs? Yeah, that'll take a little longer. I'm thinking there should be a timeframe for getting those out of the way and recycled, what do you think? By the time the last vote is counted?

The president has left the country, off to France to join others in Armistice Day celebrations, commenting that

It should be a very beautiful period of time, the 100th anniversary of the ending of World War I. We have many countries - the leadership of many countries will be there, especially since they heard the United States will be there. And we look forward to that.

Sigh.

You may recall the alternative was that he'd be here, having a tens-of-millions-of-dollars parade, ostensibly to celebrate our veterans, but perhaps more to get a sense of what it would be like if "his people" gave him the same level of respect that Kim Jong Un gets from his people. Sure, it was a sarcastic remark... right?

Trump also said he didn't know Matt Whitaker, the man he just appointed as acting Attorney General (Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III was ordered to resign, of course) which appears to be a lie, and that the video of CNN's James Acosta allegedly placing his hands on an intern was not doctored, which also appears to be a lie.

It also seems that he may have been more involved in the payoffs to the porn star and the Playboy bunny than he has maintained, which could mean he has committed at least a tiny bit of campaign finance shenanigans. And that's the Wall Street Journal bringing us this news, not CNN or MSNBC.

For his part, Whitaker comes off like a hot mess: comments about the courts, about the Mueller investigation including that there was no collusion; his involvement with a shady company... all great qualifications, right?

 There are bipartisan calls for protecting the investigation, but Mitch "I'm only here to pack the courts" McConnell is not interested in that. It will be interesting to see if that ew spirit of bipartisanship we've had for the past two or three days will still be noticeable by this time next week. My hope is yes, my fear is no.

TGIF.

PPOD 3/6/18: The Nunberg Trials

It's been over a year since I did a Pet Peeve of the Day, or PPOD, post.  The last time I was so inspired, it was Mitch McConnell who made me do it. This time, it's Sam Nunberg and all who got caught up in the whirlwind that was yesterday.

Nunberg, a former Trump campaign staffer who, according to this opinion piece, was fired not just once but twice by Trump, received a subpoena from Robert Mueller's grand jury, asking for any and all documents of any kind related to Carter Page, Corey Lewandowski,  Donald Trump, Hope Hicks, Keith Schiller, Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Roger Stone, and Steve Bannon. Nunberg might once have been a nothingburger with the campaign, but someone seems to think he's a somethingburger with a plateful of sides.

So he gets a subpoena, and he starts feeling his oats, and before you know it, he's all over the cable networks, calling in a la Trump to show after show, expanding his resistance to the subpoena, expanding his thoughts on whether the president might have done something worthy of Mueller (yes to that one, or maybe not, or maybe maybe), #JoeBidenliterally expanding everything, before our very ears. He ended the night with one last phone call to a reporter for New York magazine.

To say it was a cluster is an understatement. To say it was a media sh*tstorm is not even coming close. In one interview, Nunberg was asked if he had been drinking. Not because the interview would have been stopped, had he been - oh no. It would have only been better if he had been under the influence!

Nunberg may be seeking treatment after he gets acquainted with the grand jury on Friday; he's cooperating, now that he's had some time to think about it, and to consider the advice he received from CNN's Jake Tapper and MSNBC's Maya Wiley.

Stephen Colbert had this take on things. Michael D'Antonio, author of the opinion piece linked above, had this take on things.

Let's get something straight. I am Sam Nunberg. You are Sam Nunberg. In a way, every American who feels disoriented by the bizarre reality of Trump World is Sam Nunberg... 

Comforted by his wealth and power and with apparently little empathy for those he hurt, Trump  has made an art out of denigrating others and promoting himself. Along the way he has collected effective enablers and jettisoned those, like Nunberg, who didn't quite fit the paradigm Trump established. The same dynamic rules the White House, which explains the turmoil there, and it impacts every American who recognized that Trump is at best incompetent and at worse, destructive...

Nunberg deserves our empathy. Yes, he brought some of the pain upon himself. However, he has also been abused and misused. He's a man who reached the end of his ability to cope with Trump. Most of us have an idea of how that feels.  

Dan Rather called had this take on things (a mixed message, to be sure).

As one saw all of this unfold, one didn't know whether to laugh or weep. It was a sad spectacle for journalism but, worse than that, it was a sad sight for the country (that the president would have had a political advisor who) gives every appearance of being one of those people who score in the high 90s on the Dumb Test.

That's where I'm going to leave it.  A journalist calling it a "sad spectacle for journalism" while making himself a sad spectacle by insulting a man who clearly - clearly - was out of his element, and who was taken advantage of by the media, who acted as if they simply couldn't help themselves.

And that's why this is my Pet Peeve of the Day.