Attribution: White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Dave S., Mark M., Mark O., Dennis C., John K., Michael D., and Geoff Carter
Hey bots,
I am still reeling from the last episode of The Donald Trump Amateur Hour. Pam Bondi’s appearance in front of the House Judiciary Committee looked more like an episode of Divorce Court than a congressional proceeding, but I guess there’s nothing surprising about this, is there? She screamed, yelled, hurled insults, and preened herself like a Siamese cat for over three hours in front of a (mostly) serious-minded panel. I half-expected her to lie on the floor and stamp her feet.
This is Trump TV. He’s been running everything like reality television. You have the teasers, the cliffhangers, the media baiting (which always works), and the never-ending drama, and it’s nothing but entertainment—and self-enrichment and self-aggrandizement for the chosen few.
The next episode will be entitled “The Great Vote Robbery” and will follow ponderous and evil rancher Big T as he tries to use his hired guns to take over an entire town (see Open Range—or dozens of other Westerns). This is the Trump TV loop.
Submitted for your approval. A group of boomer college friends caught in a loop of dire unreality inside the television tubes they grew up with. This is the Idiocracy Zone.
G
Tasteful piece from the zone.
Bondi: History is watching.
-D
Dude,
Pam Bondi must stand in front of the mirror practicing her insults. “Loser-lawyer!”, “You’re a failed politician!” And, in all honesty, this isn’t even the most idiotic episode of Trump TV that we’ve seen.
I want to turn this in a slightly different direction. The Epstein files, the second and “final” tranche, have hit. It doesn’t take a bloodhound to detect the stench of a cover-up.
Part of Bondi’s and Trump’s problem is that it’s not only the media and the victims’ lawyers who want the full unexpurgated story from these files. It has galvanized two ambitious and, so far, relentless politicians, who want to ride whatever findings they can unearth to future glory and political position. These guys are not going to stop. The Democratic rep Ro Khanna, in particular, is highly ambitious. He definitely doesn’t want “US Congressional Representative” as the highest job title on this Wiki page. Thomas Massie, the iconoclastic conservative Kentucky rep, is not quite so easy to read. Right now, with his career in Trump’s crosshairs, he is going to use the files to the fullest extent possible just to save his own job. Trump has endorsed a former Navy Seal to run against him in the upcoming primary. Massie may or may not have higher ambitions.
(And this is where I simply don’t understand the resignation of Marjorie Taylor Greene. This was a moment made for her brand of self-aggrandizing populism. It could be that the MAGA death threats really got to her. So she’s basically out of the picture at this point.)
The Injustice Department has been pretty shocking in its clumsy handling of the files. It took Khanna and Massie a total of two hours to find a “child sex trafficking” email with the names of six men redacted. What else is in there? And what else have they destroyed?
I make two predictions.
1. Howard Nutlick is a dead man walking. He denied associating with Epstein, like the Apostle Peter in the courtyard denying Jesus. But the cock crowed and whaddya know, he sailed to Epstein island for a brunch (with his wife, children, and let’s not forget, the nannies). Trump is famously disloyal, except in cases like this, where cutting loose an underling would be embarrassing. But more slop is going to come out on Nutlick, and he’ll be leaving his position by summer “to spend more time with his family”.
2. One year from now (Mardi Gras ’27), Epstein and his files will still be in the news.
–Mark
Re: SCOTUS 6-3 decision slowing down our administration on tariffs.
I guess we should take what we can get…but I’m greedy and wuz thinking about the what if of a 9-0 decision to defang our Tariff whisperer. Just imagine what a message that would’ve sent to spineless republicans in his MAGA nation (yes a shoulder shrug to the crazies, but dissonance to those in the middle) and worldwide. Hopefully, it represents the beginning of sanity and an early beginning to his lame duck years.
SCOTUS shoulda, woulda, coulda ruled 9-0. As I understand it, this is not a vague issue requiring esoteric legal debate. Proof is Barrett and the other conservatives finally acting like adults. AI has been suggested to replace lawyers—and though I understand many grey issues require thoughtful consideration, (and sometimes theatrical skills in closing arguments—Johnny Cochrane getting OJ off the hook), I also know many issues are black and white. Lawyers don’t take on no win cases, aye. And if Barrett voted in favor of the constitution, I doth conclude this is black and white and AI would’ve come to this decision in a nanosecond—no need to wait to get it on the docket when it first came up a year ago, aye.
Related: “Everyone is 12 now” (from an Atlantic Review dissing on Wuthering Heights (the new movie). A nice way of acknowledging all these tantrums and knee jerk switchbacks our leadership exhibits.
-D.
Hey bots,
I agree this seems to be a pretty cut-and-dried issue, but I could never in a thousand lifetimes see Clarence Thomas taking any sort of stand against Trump. Ginny wouldn’t let him. Same for Alito. Roberts and Barrett are conservatives, but I actually think they pay attention to the law more than their personal ideologies. I get the impression Kavanaugh only sometimes goes with the law, but his ridiculous opinion outlining a blueprint for Trump to reinstate tariffs was just one knee short of a blowjob.
I don’t really know the law, but I know less about AI; parts of the law are so quirky and human that I don’t know if AI could handle the law–or the truth. Imagine Scarlett Johannson’s voice from the movie Her saying “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit” or a hologram of Assistant DA Jack McCoy in every courtroom. Of course, you could (and people have) argue that music, literature, or art could not be handled by AI.
I’m going to rewatch The Terminator tonight. Beware SkyNet. It is coming.
G
Bots,
Also, on a separate subject, we were appalled when we found out about the violence in Mexico last night on social media—not a whisper of it on mainstream media—because one of the targeted cities, Puerto Vallarta, was a major target. I had to watch Univision and try to figure out what was happening with only my half-assed Spanish. Apparently, this was a retaliation for the assassination of El Mencho, the chief of the CJNG cartel based in Jalisco. There were dozens of cars and a few buildings set on fires. I have not heard about any civilian casualties.
A number of the fires were in the neighborhood we stayed in and know pretty well. It’s a wake-up call when you see homes and businesses you know on fire. I had to wonder if something like this could ever happen here. Would our own government start a blitzkrieg against us? Will the Blackhawks be circling overhead?
Spooky and getting spookier.
G
The LA riots after the Rodney King verdict come to mind. Total breakdown of authority.
How could this not be covered by U.S. media? I suppose because no news organizations have foreign desks anymore. They “report” foreign news from their State Department and CIA sources and maybe this was too spontaneous for our spooks to have a narrative on it.
MarkO
Sounds pretty crazy in Puerto Vallarta. Geoff, I imagine it’s strange to see the neighborhood you have traveled to and lived in go up in flames. The war on drugs with Donnie Darko at the helm has gotten increasingly violent. It sounds like the US is supporting and pressuring the Mexican government to take military action against the cartels. It’s likely another lieutenant will step forward to take El Mencho’s place or another cartel will violently fill the void after this latest killing. The collateral damage of innocent lives lost and homes businesses being destroyed is the price of business. It’s disturbing the level of likely US involvement in this “shadowy” war. The US media is starting to report the news and events more heavily today. Like you say Mark, coverage is not too spontaneous without foreign correspondents in the field.
It really makes me wonder what the end game is with the new war on drugs and other (mis)adventures Donnie Darko and his minions are perpetrating. It reminds me of Mr. Burns and Smithers from the Simpsons as they plot to control uncontrollable events in a dark back room. I can just imagine Donnie looking like Mr. Burns and Stephen Miller playing his trusty aide Smithers. A funny, but disquieting thought.
On a totally unrelated note, I can’t help but include the image of RFK Jr and Kid Rock from their recent workout video. As absurd and unreal as this looks, it’s apparently real and not AI generated. I will say, RFK Jr is all jacked up on something and Kid Rock looks like the 99 pound weakling from those cartoon ads from our childhood. I really try not to be a bully, but given the opportunity I would kick sand in Kid Rock’s face. Others younger than me say they like his music, but his new gig as MAGA and MAHA cover boy borders on satire and absurdity.
JK
US Dept. of HHS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Speaking of “end games”. The other concern is unanticipated consequences.
For example, Trump is putting the squeeze on the Mexican government. They crack down on El Mencho, and the result is a spasm of violence in the Mexican street. What’s next? The cartels don’t take kindly to interference. If Mexico becomes off limits to tourists due to violence, that could be highly destabilizing. Ultimately. throwing hundreds of thousands or millions of Mexican hospitality workers out of work leads to higher immigration pressure at the US border.
Similarly, what happens in Cuba? Marco is getting his revenge on the authoritarian regime there. But economic conditions are getting bad. What’s the escape valve?
I remember back many years ago when the Syrian civil war got underway. I didn’t foresee one of the main consequences— the flood of refugees to Europe. That led directly to the rise of right wing movements across Europe. We’re one election away from right wing populist governments in France, Germany, Holland, Denmark. They already won in Italy.
MM
Good morning bots,
The sun shines brightly through my kitchen window on this early March morn as the world outside churns and burns. As many of us may feel, I am conflicted about the new and endless battles in the Middle East, the war to end all wars. Iran has a truly awful government that slaughters its own people and exports death and destruction around the world. At the same time, these battles seem orchestrated to distract us from other issues like Epstein, Israeli dominance and Trump’s utter failure to do anything positive (can’t think of anything positive at this moment).
Of course there was another way to deal with this dilemma as Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran demonstrated 10 years ago. In retrospect, it was a flawed arrangement that didn’t address Iran’s long term nuclear ambitions or shorter term terror threat. Nonetheless, it was an attempt to deal with Iran in a peaceable way and make the world a safer place. Maybe the deal should have been viewed as a starting point to address Iran’s nefarious ambitions.
Where does this road lead us: a quick victory with new responsible leadership in Iran taking hold or a protracted battle that leads to a fractured, balkanized Iran that is still dangerous.
Maybe it is all about the oil. Who knows.
Just the reflections of an old coot looking out his window on a sunny morning far from the strife.
John
Hey bots,
Another great day in Trump world. I read some interesting insights in a recent Heather Cox Richardson column. She outlined how Jared Kushner and the Trump family had allied themselves with and obligated themselves to Iran’s enemies. Remember how Trump got the golden jet, sweetheart crypto deals, and other perks? The fact that Netenyahu has wanted the US to go after Iran for years has also played into the Trump strategy. Remember how he was saying how great it would be to build luxury hotels along the Gaza coast?
This is a quid pro quo. I guess the US military is now a for-hire mercenary outfit, and Trump is now padding his offshore accounts. He might even buy Epstein Island.
G
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