“A Republic, if you can keep it.”
- Imagine having to make a case for re-nomination and re-election and somehow work around a collapsing economy, nostalgia for George Wallace, a bromance with Vlad Putin and the globally-noted, derelict mismanagement of a pandemic that has negligently cost AMERICAN LIVES.
- Nothing epitomized a Trump-fealty GOP convention quite like the McCloskeys—the low-caliber, St. Louis homeowners who pointed guns at protesters this summer.
- “The only way we’re gonna lose this election is if the election is rigged.”—That’s the rigger-in-chief reminding his base–as well as those who value the sanctity of the U.S. Constitution–that he won’t, if he loses, go unescorted. If so, may the optics be not unlike a perp walk.
- Rhetorical retread: “Don’t buy GOODYEAR TIRES—They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS.” But about those Goodyear tires on the presidential limousine…
- “The stakes have never been higher, and we need your help to send a message that this is YOUR Country, NOT THEIRS.”—From a Mike Pence fund-raising email that cast the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket as a “radical duo.”
- Hardly surprising that the White (Nationalist) House is pushing the Justice Department to crack down on affirmative action, a familiar GOPster target. Most recent case in point: The DOJ has accused Yale University of violating federal civil rights law by discriminating against Asian-American and white applicants. The devil is in the legal and partisan-pandering details—as the DOJ charges Yale with violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which the university is required to comply with as a condition of receiving millions of dollars in taxpayer funding.
- “The future of our country and indeed our civilization is at stake on Nov. 3.” Even the prevaricator-in-chief can on occasion speak the truth about America’s existential threat.
- Steve Bannon charged with fraud? How ironic. There would have been no need for an online crowdfunding “We Build the Wall” campaign had Mexico simply agreed to pay for it.
- That was then: Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez spoke at the Trump coronation—but not in the way she had previously spoken. She had called him “The biggest con man there is” during the 2016 campaign—when she was backing Marco Rubio.
- Political Harlots Speaking for Trump: Campaign advisor Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s girlfriend and a former Fox News host, raged on about dystopian Democrats and reminded all minions that “President Trump is THE law and order president.” And then there was Tampa’s own Pam Bondi, now a co-chair of “Women For Trump.” She proceeded to attack Joe Biden for nepotism—in the name of a president who is the avatar of familial conflict of interest. She’s also the former Florida attorney general who took a 25-k re-election contribution from Trump while making the calculated call not to go after the fraudulent farce that was Trump University. Beyond embarrassing and infuriating.
- “He has no principles.” That was a long, long-time Trump insider, older sister and former Federal Judge Maryanne Trump Barry. And, oh yeah, “He doesn’t read.”
- Reportedly among those still on Trump’s self-serving, pardon list: Edward Snowden, the former national security contractor who ultimately fled to Russia after leaking information about government surveillance programs. Not that long ago, Trump had referenced him as “a spy who should be executed.” Too bad he can’t negotiate with his Russian handler to bring back Snowden—for a pardon or an execution.
- No, Trump is not trying to scare “suburban housewives” into voting for him to protect their neighborhoods from the “other” who want in via affordable housing. “This is an economic and real estate issue and not a racial one,” explained Paris Dennard, the senior communications adviser for black media affairs at the Republican National Committee. BTW, Dennard, an African-American, is a former CNN commentator who was fired last year after a Washington Post story reported that he had been expelled from Arizona State University in 2014 for sexual harassment. Dennard is also a member of the Black Voices for Trump Advisory Board. Yes, there really is such a thing.
- If Trump loses in November, will that presage the return of normalcy to the Republican Party? That could be wishful thinking. To many Trump enablers, a loss could pave the way for the ascendancy of someone such as hawkish, reactionary Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton.
- “What, Me Worry?”—Alfred E. Trump.
“It is what it is.” May it soon be “It was what it was.”