Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

It surely was predictable. Much of the media has gone down its favorite rabbit hole ... finding a way to castigate Trump ... this time for the COVID-10 devastation. He coulda done more in January to stop the Wuhan virus ... so that it woulda not turned into a pandemic.  He shoulda declared a national emergency and shut down the country. Spittle-flecked Joe Scarborough says everyone knew what a huge problem this was in January ... see: Diagones’ Middle Finger entry.

This blog likes to juxtapose images. But this time I am asking you, dear reader, to juxtapose time frames. Imagine for a moment one of Trump’s nightly coronavirus task force pressers ... with VP Pence and Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx and the generals and FEMA et alia ... but imagine instead this is all happening in January of this year ... when Trump still might have nipped this pandemic in the bud. Got the image? See Trump directing the task force to ask people to social distance? To not travel to or from impending hot spots? To self quarantine?

Now switch to Chris Cuomo on CNN or Morning Joe on MSNBC or George Stephanopoulos on Sunday morning ABC. Can you see them pointing angry fingers at Trump for trying to  distract America from his impeachment trial?  The snarling rhetoric would be vicious. Adam Schiff would be beside himself eviscerating Trump for compounding his heinous guilt ... lying about the threat coming out of China.

Most of our national media woulda been dripping with hypocrisy just like they are now in their trying to rewrite history.

Disappearing Act

Something struck me recently about the national news ... what was banner headlines or led many TV news programs say three weeks ago, that has now disappeared almost entirely?

The Squad!

How can this happen? What has inspired this disappearing act? I’m sure that this foursome is still uttering inflammatory stupid things ... they can’t help themselves ... but it is just not being reported.

Did Nancy Pelosi send a text to the “Morning Joe” show saying “Stop it, you’re killing me!”

Did Kieth Ellison tell Jeff Zucker that CNN’s ad revenue would not be forthcoming from the DNC next year if any of these women were featured in any more stories?

Clearly, something happened and it wasn't just the two mass shootings. After all, wouldn’t The Squad have some choice words to say on this juicy subject?

Maybe they actually have been sent back to the countries of their origin?

Just saying ...

Mind Readers

Increasingly ... particularly on “Morning Joe” ... liberal TV pundits play psychics ... surmising with grave authority and absolute certainty what Trump really meant by some utterance or gesture  ... or what he was surely thinking about a particular event. They will assemble remote Trump utterances into a montage of nonsense to support this pap ... all said with the seriousness of a shaming parent. Quite a talent!

And the Trump haters ... or, like myself, the pundit mockers ... find this all very entertaining ... intrigued as to how much further such faux insight/madness can go. When the world finally does return to normalcy, there is going to be miles of video footage that these pontificating mind readers are going to have to live down or destroy.

Untaveling

Clearly the fabric of our society is unraveling. Is this the fault of Trump or of the never-Trampers? To answer this, we should look at motivations. Trump is obviously driven by patriotism ... saving America from the Davos-driven self interests. 

Trump's enemies, at least the more spittle-flecked vocal ones ... Comey, Wolfe, Stormy Daniels, Morning Joe, Avenatti, Omarosa, Michael Moore, Bob Woodward, Anonymous, etc., etc. ... seem driven by notoriety  ... and from notoriety comes pelf ... as demonstrated over and over again.

Trump's motivations seem more noble than his legions of opponents. So, by this measure, I think I'll stand with him.

Snake in the Grass

Yesterday, the House Democrats in televised Intel hearings and,  this AM, the snide partisans on "Morning Joe" were all twisting themselves into strange shapes to defend that smirking FBI snake, Peter Strzok. Banal  excusing of such blatant bias and traitorous behavior cannot benefit these demagogues in the eyes of us "smelly" American voters.

Be careful and be warned.

Headlines

New York AG sues Trump, children and charitable foundation

FBI agent's text reportedly disclosed by Justice IG: 'We'll stop' Trump from becoming president

[Comey] Used Gmail for FBI business ..

'Trump voters are all poor, uneducated, lazy, POS' [FBI agent quote]

Supreme Court strikes down law banning political clothing at polls

People are turning away from Facebook to Whatsapp for their news, study says

[FBI] Agents regularly received handouts from journalists ...

WH does not endorse Ryan's amnesty bill ... fails Trump's Four Pillars ...

Trump's backward-looking trade policies threaten America's future, experts say

'Morning Joe' compares US immigration detention facilities to concentration camps

'Vive le Resistance': Mueller attorney removed for anti-Trump text ...

Japan's Abe considers meet with Kim

Headlines

Is this the year Georgia turns blue?

FBI agents allegedly texted about 'secret society' the day after Trump's election

Trump approves tariffs on some imports ... Mexico slams ...

Report: Ivanka headhunting for new chief of staff to replace Kelly

Liberals livid after deal to end shutdown

Report: [Current] FBI director threatened to resign over pressure to fire McCabe

Billionaire keeps pushing Trump impeachment. Dems rattles ...

Amazon opens first automated grocery store without cashiers

Puerto Rico's governor plans to privatize electric utility

Conservative group threatens to sue Texas over thousands of no citizen voters

Pats vs. Jags: highest rated TV program in year ...

Cringe-worthy: 'Morning Joe' airs Women's March anthem

Trump's Reality

Mika and Joe on MSNBC's Morning Joe proclaim (a fancy word for "yell") it at every opportunity -- Trump is crazy ... or Trump is suffering from early-onset dementia. A group of psychiatrists recently gave their group diagnosis that Trump was cuckoopie. And now Trump himself, in his tweets, is  sometimes showing a distorted reality ... he really didn't say what was on the Billy Bush "grab 'em by the pussy" tape. Or he fired Flynn because he lied to the FBI as well as Pence. (It is very unlikely he knew about the Flynn FBI lie which occurred, if it occurred at all, well after Comey's firing.)

Anyway, yes even I sometimes get twinges of concern over Trump's concept of reality. But these twinges have not yet overtaken my concern about the mania on the Left as they see Obama's crooked house being demolished brick by brick.

I am still willing to view Trump's sometimes quirkiness as a result of his oversized ego ... and it being an asset that keeps true nutjobs like lil' Kim off balance. The stock market is roaring not just because of Trump's recent tax win ... but because they see Obama's crooked house being razed.

Our "demented" president is doing things on the economic, immigration, anti-terrorism, trade, climate, and national defense fronts that are far more rational than our previous "sane" president. And, if you Hillary-ophiles think that your attempts at a slow-motion coup is perfectly rational, then I think you too need some couch time with those puffed-up psychiatrists who have diagnosed Trump as nuts.

Accuse me, if you will, of living in Trump's version of reality. But, when I see our previous understanding  of  what was sanity crumbling with each new sexual harassment revelation ... and many adults, like Mitch McConnell, buying into the Trump way, I am more comfortable with Trump's form of dirangement.

Headlines

All from Internet news sites. Guess which from Politico?

Tillerson is fiddling with PowerPoint while the world burns

Conyers reluctantly leaves House Judiciary Committee

Franken embarrassed, ashamed and back to work ...

Court documents: Roy Moore accuser has 'violent nature,' history of criminal fraud against own family

Thune predicts the tax-cut bill will change on the Senate floor, but pass

A third Las Vegas survivor has been killed, this time in a hit-and-run

Report: Israel vows to destroy Iranian positions within Syria ...

Real fake news: Morning Joe caught pretending pre-taped show was live

Graham, Durbin disagree on new CFPB director

France set to make gender-based insults illegal

Surge in migrants creates abysmal conditions on Greek islands ...

Bannon: Macron and Merkel 'Ken and Barbie' of globalism

Ebb Tide

The tide comes in. The tide goes out.

Yesterday, the Trump tide ebbed a bit when Democrats won the governorships in Virginia and New Jersey ... as well as a number of lesser posts in mainly blue states. This AM the lighting on "Morning Joe" has been dimmed to compensate for the ultra-white shine coming from the teeth of all the ear-to-ear smiling mouths.

I am far from a political pundit, but it is clear to me that the last two elections have been driven by negative emotions ... anti-Hillary and now anti-Trump. Just the fact that Salem, Massachusetts voted to become a sanctuary city indicates that those on the left are motivated enough to stick their thumbs in Trump's eye ... even if this means that they are doing damage at home. The constant anti-Trump drum beat from the lefty media is clearly working and this trend is likely to carry over to the mid-term elections next year ... particularly if the Republican Congress remains asleep at the switch.

By himself, Trump has accomplished much under the covers domestically ... and, much more obviously, internationally. The most public measure of these hidden wins has been the U.S. stock market -- up more than 20% in one year -- and surging consumer confidence. This equity inflation is unlikely to continue, particularly if Congress insists on being obstinate. In fact, lack of legislative tax reform could well cause the tide to go out on the stock market too ... which would knee-cap any hope of Republicans holding onto their Congressional advantages.

Off the Mark

Facetious hat?

Mark Halperin is my favorite liberal journalist. But, it seems that he too has been caught up in the latest societal pogrom as five women have accused him of sexual harassment ... and he has been sacked at MSNBC ... see: CNN Story

Why is he my favorite? Because about two years ago he was asked on Morning Joe what he thought of President Obama. He said, after being assured his answer would be bleeped, that Obama was "a dick" He obviously wasn't bleeped ... and was then suspended for just a few weeks.

Why Trump?

I was watching Morning Perjoritive, er, Joe this morning and sighing Mika was dropping mortar rounds on Trump again as she does every morning without fail ... and she asked every guest to join her in her fusillade. This was all in the context of Jeff Flake's denouncement of Trump on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday. Flake is now considered to be the conscious of conservatism ... even though he is for open borders and the kind of free trade that bleeds the U.S. of jobs.

Is Trump Sir Galahad? Hardly! He is a bit of a blowhard. And an egomaniac. His tie is too long. He does stretch the truth, but doing a Google search on his "lies" does not turn up many whoppers. Most of his lies are a consequence of his oversized ego ... like exaggerating the size of his inauguration crowd (and his pickle.) But compared to Hillary's and Obama's monstrous mendacity, he is a piker.

So why did I vote for and still support this "mentally deranged idiot?" It really comes down to the lesser of two evils. The previous administration was so corrupt, so dirty, so anti-American, so self-serving, so duplicitous, so mendacious, so slimy, so dangerous ... I could go on for quite a while ... that it couldn't be allowed to continue. However, sometimes doctors use one malady to defeat another ... like when they use malaria to cure cancer.

And to me,Trump is the lesser malaria defeating the more lethal cancerous scourge of the Obama/Clinton threat. This would-be terminal disease is now being pushed into remission and yet, many myopics and slope-heads like Mika are incensed that we are suffering the ague of the Trump malaria. I myself am more than willing to suffer some night sweats to avoid our country's big sleep.

Now, my liberal friends and readers, you know why I have said and written such heresy.

Plain Talk

The Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, was interviewed on Morning Joe this  morning to talk about President Trump's decision to decertify the Iran nuclear deal. He kept the panelists there stippling their coffee with the strength and clarity of his arguments. If you, dear reader, think that Trump is wrong with this decertification move, please listen to the ambassador's plain talk and try to refute his logic.

Listen to the interview: MSNBC Video.

Fooling Themselves?

MSNBC shows like the Rachael Maddow Show and Morning Joe have been climbing the cable TV ratings charts ever since they moved to the vanguard of the never-Trump movement. CNN on the other hand is emulating the Hindenburg. What's the diff? I think that the audience expectation for CNN is for news ... an area where it has lost great credibility ... whereas MSNBC is looked at for opinion which it offers in abundance ... mostly rabidly anti Trump and anything he stands for.

The question is: Is MSNBC and other "resistance TV"  channels fooling themselves? Surely, many Hillary voters are finding solace in the anti-Trump spittle spewing on these channels. But those on the right, like myself, also tune-in to see how over-the-top the rhetoric can go on these channels. The fact that Fox News has also moved leftward has also freed up some conservative viewership looking for comic relief.

Bottom line: If the liberal cable channels think that these ratings bumps are permanent, they may be disappointed once the American psyche adjusts to Trump's unorthodox style ... and these opinion rants become hyperbolic, like too much rich food ... and it's time for a diet.

Headlines

The following headlines have all been found on Internet news sites. Guess which ones came from Politico?

'Morning Joe' hosts question Trump's mental state, say he lied in tweeting

Mika Brzezinski: I didn't have a face lift, just some chin work

Bill Gates: Deadly mosquito-borne pandemic greater threat than global war ...

Levin to journals: Want Trump to start acting presidential? Start respecting the office ...

De Blasio now says city will cover $2 million of his legal bills

Bernie Sanders continues dodging questions about FBI investigations into his wife

Now Maxine Waters wants Trump exiled!

House passes 'Kate's Law,' sanctuary city, immigration reforms

Hawaii challenges Trump's stance on Supreme Court travel ban ruling

Trump says U.S. is renegotiating its trade deal with [South] Korea

1,000 active FBI investigations into ISIS in U.sA

Poll: Most voters defend bakers' right to deny baking gay wedding cakes

Headlines

The following headlines have all come from Internet news sites. Guess which ones came from Politico?

Trump tweets about Mika 'bleeding badly from a face lift'

Republicans condemn Trump for crude Tweets about 'Morning Joe' host

Gallup: 61% support big tax cuts ...

Bolton: Venezuelan instability could spread throughout the region

Philadelphia DA sent to jail after admitting to accepting bribes

Manhattan skyscraper owned by Iran can be seized by US gov't

 [Sen.]  Grassley goes after acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe

[Valerie] Jarrett: Obamacare process 'was all very transparent,' 'open and honest'

Death threats after universal health care shelved in California

Pentagon: 'Rookie' ISIS fighters are accidentally blowing themselves up in Mosul

Trump to meet Putin on sidelines of G-20 gathering next week

EU rattled by Trump's visit to right wing, anti-migrant Poland

Proportionality

I absolutely had to watch Morning Joe this AM after President Trump's tweetings yesterday hitting back at Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough for their daily doses of vicious vitriol directed towards him ... see: NY Times Article.Without trying to defend Trump's puerile behavior that is not befitting a president, I was expecting and did watch a conga line of outrage by the invited guests on this show. If there is a stronger word for outrage then I would use it, but I can't think of one now.

However, I was also struck by the contrast between these highly emotional reactions and the almost matter-of-fact reactions by these same players to the baseball field shooting of a Republican Congressman, Steve Scalise, last month. Not that there wasn't condemnation, but I don't recall the foaming mouths and the shallow breathing like I saw this morning on MSNBC. What we are basically comparing here is an infantile insult of two rabid Trump haters versus the attempted mass murder of Republican Congressmen.

I guess, very simply, what I am looking for (and not finding) is a sense of proportionality in our media. And it is this lack of proportionality that permits Trump to keep up this compulsive behavior (which most of us would prefer him not doing.)

Afterward: What Morning Joe and the NYT focused on was that Trump's tweets were a sexist attack on Mika. Not quite true ... he also called Joe "Psycho". Now to see why this might be apt, Google "Why Joe Scarborough left Congress" ...

After Afterward: I find it curious that the media never seems to label attacks on conservative women (Ann Coulter, Kelluanne Conway, Sarah Palin) as "sexist" ...

Morning Joe

I have watched the MSNBC show "Morning Joe" for enough time now that I think I can reproduce the typical banter between its two co-hosts ... viz:

Joe Scarborough: Trump has tweeted out this morning that he is under investigation by the Special Counsel Mueller ...

Mika Brzezinski: We've known Trump for a long time.  I'm just saying ...you can't trust anything he says because he is a liar ...

Joe Scarborough: But his lawyer said yesterday that he was not under investigation!

Mika Brzezinski: Sigh! Both Trump and his lawyer are liars ... Trump lies about lying ...

Joe Scarborough: If I were still in Congress, I would look my red-neck constituents in the eyes and tell them the truth ... like I always did and that's why they elected me ...

Mika Brzezinski: You told the truth, Trump lies ...

Joe Scarborough: My voters could always tell when I tried anything funny or political ... My voters loved my honesty ...

Mika Brzezinski: Sigh! That's what I love about you Joe ... and Elizabeth Warren ... not like Trump's constant prevarication

Joe Scarborough: And that's what I love about you Mika ... among some other things ...

Mika Brzezinski: Sigh, I mean ... I really can't fathom why Trump keeps lying all the time ... even in his tweets ... especially ... he constantly lies in his tweets ...

Joe Scarborough: You look so sexy this morning. Let's throw the show to Mike Barnicle ...

Mika Brzezinski: You look very hunky too Joe ... OK, I'm game. Did I mention that Trump is a liar? ...

[Fade to a Planned Parenthood commercial] ...

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites. Guess which ones came from Politico?

Deep-pocketed health-care lobbies line up against Trump

Puerto Rico declares bankruptcy ...

Comey: Russia favored Trump because Putin 'hated' Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump: 'Not good' Susan Rice refuses to testify

Poll: Trump approval hits 49% ...

Hannity on Comey testimony: 'How stupid do they think we are?'

MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' hosts engaged

Colbert walks back 'crude' Trump-Putin joke

Trump to visit Israel, Vatican, Saudi Arabia on first foreign tripZ

Another man says Seattle mayor paid him for sex ...

Tillerson defends outreach to foreign leaders who deviate from American 'values'

Coulter: Swamp People: 47; Trump: 0

Taking Our Medicine

The gang at Morning Joe has already elected Hellary Clinton president. The establishment might be right ... they usually are. But still the stock market has been in a swoon since Donald Trump's polling numbers have started rising. If he were to prevail on next Tuesday, it is likely there will be a continued sell-off as the nabobs at Goldman Sachs and others in the Wall Street canyon realize that their huge investments in Hellary Clinton have gone south ... see: CNBC Article. Of course, in time, investors would adjust to this new reality ... but it would take some time ... particularly since I expect that there would be some additional financial shocks ... for example, I would predict a half point increase in interest rates by the Fed in December as Janet Yellen tries to show Trump who is the real boss.

There also might be a few foolish big money investors who would pull the plug (Mark Cuban?) which would also roil the markets further, but by next Spring I expect that things would settle down as Trump and his financial advisers begin to remedy many of this country's structural problems. Of course the rest of the world would also likely be in a Brexit-like panic ... expecting Trump's opening negotiating positions on world trade and international relations to prevail. However, as these stances were softened, volatility might subside.

This exercise in parsing the consequences of a Trump victory is obviously premature, but world stock markets are usually quite predictive and, therefore need to be heeded. A Trump victory would entail swallowing a big dose of medicine ... but cures sometimes require such bitter potions.