* Donald Trump and Kanye West deserve each other. The rest of us deserve so much better.
* Speaking of that bizarro visit of West to the Oval Office, it was yet another reminder that “Saturday Night Live” continues with its ongoing, Trump-era challenge: How do you spoof a farce?
* Trump rally playlists have typically included “Purple Rain” by Prince. Now the late rock star’s family members are asking Trump to rein it in and stop using it. No official word yet from the White House, but speculation grows that this might mean more exposure for Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and maybe Kanye West.
* “I think he’s sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth.”–That was Trump recently on “60 Minutes,” in reference to Defense Secretary James Mattis. It was a reminder of why Trump no longer refers to Mattis as “Mad Dog.” The former Marine Corps general is too globally-oriented, too NATO-centric and too, well, geopolitically normal. Indeed, the Mattis exit signs are increasingly manifest–put, please, not John Bolton as a replacement.
* Maybe Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke, should he knock off Ted Cruz in their uber-hyped, “America is watching” senatorial race, will be catapulted into the Democrats’ 2020 presidential-ticket scenario. Stranger things have happened. Ask Barack Obama. Although O’Rourke, 46, still trails in polls, his campaign just raised $38.1 million in the third quarter, which is a U.S. Senate record–and a lot more than Cruz is raising.
And it’s likely this quote from 2016 is making certain constituency rounds: “Ted (Cruz) is a nasty guy; that’s why nobody likes him.” That was Donald Trump, who certainly wants Cruz re-elected in defense of a Republican Senate majority.
* Every First Lady has a cause. We get that. A presidential spouse has an awkward niche–and optics matter. So why not use the high-profile forum for something bipartisanly good? What’s not to get? Well, this: Melania Trump has chosen an “anti-bullying” campaign for her cause. How, uh, ironic. At best. She married a celebrity misogynist with a life-long reputation of bullying people–from subcontractors and adultery enablers to immigrants and non-Fox media. “Be Best”? First, be honest.
* I miss Mikhail Gorbachev and Barack Obama. The world was better off, even if they were taken for granted and subject to inevitable, global-leader criticism.