I woke up feeling uninspired this morning. Mercifully, Cassandra was ready with her latest piece on her Senator. I hesitate to call her our Manchin whisperer but if she writes about him I don’t have to. Thanks, C.
The filibuster remains a salient topic. Angus King the mustachioed Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats stated that he favored dealing with filibuster reform on an issue-by-issue basis. He *would* abolish it on voting rights issues. I’d blow the pernicious thing up, but the votes aren’t there.
The first two paragraphs are an attempt to live up to the post title. The Kaiser of Chaos left Mar-a-Doorn to speak to North Carolina Republicans last Saturday. There was good news for those of us with terminal Trump fatigue:
Fox News and CNN both decided not to broadcast Trump’s speech live. MSNBC did end up airing portions of the speech but only as background while correspondents commented on the event. The right-wing networks that are vying for Trump supporters, Newsmax and One America News, did air the former president’s speech.
CNN even devoted a bit more attention to the speech than Fox News. While Fox News decided to air a pre-taped Watters World show while the former president was speaking, CNN did have a segment in which guests discussed Trump’s speech and talked about how the former president seemed to be losing power. “The fact that CNN is not covering him live tonight with his speech. This is the first time—he hasn’t been out in three months,” David Gergen, a former presidential adviser to several administrations, said, according to Mediaite. “Fans are eager to know how he is evolving. CNN decided not to cover it. I think it is exactly the right decision. But it’s because he’s become less relevant to the future. He spent so much time trying to win arguments about the past, he is now losing the future.”
That’s the first time David Gergen has said anything noteworthy since the Clinton administration. His picture is in the dictionary next to the phrase Conventional Wisdom.
It is, of course, more significant than Fox passed on the latest epic 90-minute rant by the Impeached Insult Comedian. In the clips I’ve seen, he looked washed-out and low energy to use his own epithet; not that he knows what an epithet is..
It’s ironic that someone who attacks his enemies as socialists gives speeches as long as such past luminaries as Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Republicans keep name dropping Chavez as part of one of their election conspiracies without mentioning that he’s been dead since 2013. Apparently, Zombie Hugo is a busy boy.
Trump himself may be fading out but Trumpism is alive. I almost said well but that’s not a word I’d apply to a movement that’s based on lies, fantasies, nativism, racism, and outright stupidity.
As much as I hate to agree with David Gergen on anything, Trump is the past. The future remains unclear but any speech by former President* Pennywise is a blast from a grotesque recent past. I stole that image as well as the featured image from my colleague Michael F. I only steal from the best.
Speaking of the best, the last word goes to The Beatles:
I think more telling then the tv coverage (or lack thereof) was Lara Trump “deciding it was in the best interests of her children” not to run for the Senate. The shine is off the name even for far right wingnuts.