Politics is a tough game for tough people. That’s always been true and it won’t change. But one change that has happened in the Era of Trump is that the level of dirtiness and dishonesty has ramped up like we have never seen before. Mary Trump cites the cheap fakes which you have seen in the past week of Joe Biden allegedly wandering off from a group in Italy, when in fact he was talking to a skydiver who was on the ground nearby, as one example. Another example is Biden purportedly forgetting the name of his own Secretary of Homeland Security, when in fact that didn’t happen. In both cases either the photo was cropped or the audio was clipped.
Side by side videos exist of both the cheap fakes and the actual event as it took place, so why in the world would Fox News or any other right-wing outlet do this? The obvious answer is to play to their own audience. Why that is, is anybody’s guess. The hard core MAGAs will vote for Trump no matter what he does. That’s a given. The Independents will not vote for Trump now, or at least 21% of them recently said that they were swayed by his felony convictions. And of course just today Trump saw a Fox News poll that put Biden at 50% and himself at 48% and he went bonkers over that. So niece Mary is not exaggerating in the least that Uncle Donald is coming unglued. And so it’s her conclusion that her beleagured uncle should step aside.
Apparently, Fox hasn’t learned a damn thing from having to fork over $787 million for lying to the American people about the 2020 election while defaming Dominion Voting Systems, because they’re doubling down on their dishonesty.
And the cheap fakes aren’t just dishonest—they’re dirty. Even for politics. Even for the paid propagandists at Fox. Even for the Republican Party. They’re right up Donald’s alley, though—an effective low-blow strategy (and we can’t underestimate how much influence they’re having, especially among younger voters) that underscores just how desperate Donald and his enablers have become. And they are desperate. But not because he’s losing—or not only because he’s losing—but also because he’s losing it. They know it and, on some level, he knows it, too.
In a way, the cheap fakes are just another form of projection. Everything we know to be true about Donald—his tendency to wander off aimlessly, literally and rhetorically, his propensity for waving to people who aren’t there—we’re suddenly seeing Biden doing in manipulated videos. Of course, we know that only the Republican nominee is suffering from the impairments and lapses they accuse Biden of, and there’s only one solution:
For the good of the Republican Party, and the country, Donald needs to step aside and let some other authoritarian, America-hating extremist take over the nomination.
I think it would be a wonderful thing for both the GOP and the country if this was to take place. I also think we stand a better chance of seeing Klaatu and Gort land on the White House lawn. Mary summarizes why she feels this way, the 34 felony convictions, the adjudicated rape of E. Jean Carroll, the classified documents case which has seen endless delays. She concludes, “he’s a criminal and a traitor.” No argument here. She shares Trump’s now-famous Nevada speech about sharks and batteries but that one’s gotten quite a lot of play. I want to share this one with you.
Remember, we began this post talking about Trump’s cheap fakes and his projection. This is why he needs to make Biden look bad, because this is the sheer idiocy and blather coming out of his mouth.
Here are 3 minutes straight of Donald Trump confusing and forgetting people's names, the names of cities he is in and more pic.twitter.com/OJSixOIBR9
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) June 19, 2024
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the best that the Republican party has to offer our country in the Year Of Our Lord 2024. Mark it well. And know that generations to come will be as aghast, perhaps even more so, than you are right now.
Definitely, somebody else should be on the GOP ticket. That would solve a great many problems. But it didn’t happen during the primary and you’re not going to see it happen at the 11th hour, barring something truly unforeseen taking place. Trump needs to gamble on getting back in power so he can divest himself of his legal problems. That he’s wrecked the GOP in the process and that he will further wreck our system of government if he succeeds is of no consequence to him.
“Definitely, somebody else should be on the GOP ticket. That would solve a great many problems.”
I disagree. There was a story line that ran roughly a full season on “South Park” where the notorious Eric Cartman gets a girlfriend, Heidi, who, as a vegan, tries to get Eric to change his diet only for him to hide real meat-based products as vegan forms (like taking a KFC bucket and slapping a “Not” label over it and saying it’s a non-meat version) and during the course of that episode, she starts becoming as big as Cartman. As the story line progresses, Heidi begins behaving more and more like Cartman–becoming self-centered and ill-mannered. At one point, she’s told she has to judge a “special kids” science fair (which she’d volunteered to do before becoming Lady Cartman) and she pretty much melts down. At one point, she makes a threat if she’s forced to judge the fair and “PC Principal” (the school’s principal–Matt and Trey weren’t exactly being subtle with their attack on all things PC at that point) and Counselor Mackie turns to him and basically says that she’s like Cartman but with the ability to follow through with the threats.
I bring up all that to suggest that getting “somebody else” on the GOP ticket could lead to someone as bad as Trump in political terms but with the actual ability to keep focus on the issues. Sure, losing Trump might cost the GOP the hardcore MAGA contingent but it could have the side effect of allowing the “never-Trump” independents to take another look at the candidate. I mean, Nikki Haley is really no better than Trump in terms of her political views but she’d definitely take that portion of Independents who might refuse to vote for Trump but would be willing to vote for down-ticket GOPers (even those who are allied or aligned with Trump). And Haley’s just one name. Burgum (who already seems to fancy himself as Trump’s VP) isn’t really any better; if he’s willing to sign on as Trump’s VP, then he’s willing to push through the same ideology that Trump will do (especially with that Heritage Foundation project sitting there just waiting to be implemented; that is not going to go away just because Trump might be replaced at the top of the ticket). None of the folks who ran against Trump were really doing it because they had REAL differences with Trump; they just hoped that Trump’s legal woes would’ve done him in before the primaries really got underway.
Even some Democrats and Independents who’ve been willing to back Biden solely because they’re (rightly) afraid of a second Trump term might be more willing to splinter to third party candidates or just stay home because they’ll believe that the GOP’s only real problem is spelled “D-O-N-A-L-D T-R-U-M-P” rather than all the right-wing plotting and scheming that’s largely gone unnoticed or simply ignored by the mainstream media (it’s worth noting, for instance, that the big SCOTUS scandals du jour involve justices placed on the court by Bush 41 and Bush 43; while Trump’s SCOTUS picks have clouds over their nominations and confirmations, none of the three have gotten in as much deep ethical doo-doo as Thomas and Alito).
Good points Joseph. I’d rather keep the stupid clown. At least people will know the circus is in town. A smarter, evil clown will serve poison popcorn while smiling in your face. God…we’re a country of half educated, self absorbed, lazy people.
In Lawrence of Arabia, his Bedouin guide couldn’t fathom how this Englishman was riding through the desert without water. He asked:”are you from a desert country?” Lawrence told him where he was from in England. The guide asked:”is that a desert country?” Lawrence replied:”no. it’s a fat country full of fat people.” We’re a fat country, full of fat people, riding in fat trucks, shooting off our fat mouths about being patriots. Real patriots are buried in the ground and at sea.
can always write in Taylor Swift on the ballot, that’s allowed.