The saga of the Lincoln Project is a fascinating one and George Conway is one of its co-founders. Right-wing media focused on the recently revealed problems of the sexual predator allegations against co-founder John Weaver with a vengeance, aha, their chance to bring the wonderfully successful anti-Trump group writhing to the ground. Most recently, the Lincoln Project hired the law firm of Paul Hastings to do a thorough review of the Weaver matter and it released its employees who were previously under non disclosure agreements from those agreements.

Then who should jump into the holier than thou shouting match than Kellyanne Conway.

The last part in brackets is particularly comical, coming from her, and considering who she worked for.

Then hubby leaped in this morning.

Whoa. George Conway is one of the co-founders. He’s talking about the Lincoln Project like he’s not one of its principals? Or wasn’t one? Granted, he stopped away in late August, 2020, citing family issues, but in March of 2020, wasn’t he a key player? Yet he’s exculpating himself and saying other people had responsibility, but not him?

I think the Conways are playing us. That thought has occurred to me for quite some time. It’s the only logical thing. A marriage between somebody who is one of Donald Trump’s most fervent lieutenants and somebody else who loathes the man and is determined to bring him down has always seemed the height of implausibility to me. Unless: unless this is the plot of a reality TV show and they’ve got a talented but twerky daughter who’s on her way to Hollywood. Think I’ve gone nuts? Here’s somebody else who’s reached the same conclusion.

If anybody would know how to do a reality TV show, it would be Kellyanne Conway. After all, she worked for the top guy in the genre, and look at where it got him. This is who America is in 2021. This is certainly who America was in 2016, or we wouldn’t even be talking about this woman or her family.

And here’s more

This is what The Guardian said about Cheri Jacobus:

Cheri Jacobus is a political strategist, pundit and writer. A frequent guest on CNN, MSNBC, FOX News and CBS.com, she has been an adjunct professor at George Washington University’s graduate school of political management since 2007, and a political columnist at The Hill newspaper since February 2009. Formerly, Cheri was a media spokesperson at the Republican National Committee. She founded Capitol Strategies PR and public affairs in 1998, building a client base that includes political campaigns, coalitions, political grassroots and public policy campaigns.

This is all very disillusioning to read, because I am a fan of the Lincoln Project. I will say two things:

  1. I never could wrap my head around George and Kellyanne Conway being on opposite sides of the political spectrum and staying married. Not with the families and friendships I’ve seen destroyed by this polarized political climate we live in. That always struck me as bullshit and this is a good explanation of why. That said, I still greatly enjoyed George Conway’s wit and his good political analyses;
  2.  Regardless of what went wrong at the Lincoln Project, they did some terrific work and I believe they were instrumental in Trump getting defeated. If “instrumental” is too strong a word, let’s say they carried the message well and I would like to see more of that caliber of work in the future. Trumpism is real and it needs to be defeated. I don’t want to see the Lincoln Project go down in flames. If the individuals who founded it do, so be it. They did it to themselves. I would hope that the work could be carried on by somebody there. Those videos took the work of a lot of talented people to do.

Maybe I’m just naive.

 

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8 COMMENTS

  1. Very disturbing stuff. Meanwhile, as we await further clarity, what’s happening with TLP? Who’s running the thing and are videos being made? This is not a great time for that project to go tits up. It did sterling work and really needs to continue if at all possible.

  2. Claudia is being abused. Showing Kelleyanne in the video to Claudio on AI – ewwwwww. If she does go to Hollywood (I think they are there now being taped) she’s going to get eaten alive. She doesn’t sing as good as so many others. Katy said she will figure it out when she gets there. Sad. This kid is on the altar of her parents narcissism.

  4. “Reality” TV will I believe turn out to be one of the defining factors in the decline of our country’s position in the world. Conservatives spent decades furiously gutting education (including civics) to dumb down the public and it left us more easily open to vapid so-called entertainment such as reality TV. It was a flourishing genre before Trump got involved in it lest we forget. But the genre in general exploits the fascination people have with drama and other people’s “issues.” It gives even screwed up people a chance to look at others and feel superior. In many ways it’s like motor racing. Don’t get me wrong – what those drivers do takes incredible skill and even endurance. I even learned from a pal back in the Corps (he took me to Dover for the 500 one year) that there are intricacies to it I hadn’t known about and therefore been able to appreciate. That day reminded me of teaching my ex-wife about what goes on during a baseball game if you know what you’re looking at. (When we were dating she decided to humor me by going with me to Philly so I could see my Cubbies in action) Still, whether they admit it or not the bulk of people go to races to see the wrecks!

    I never kept up with the Kardasians. Other than “Snookie” I can’t name a single “real” housewife (I had to be told who she was when Obama once referenced her way the hell back) and I’ve talked before about how stupid Survivor was and is. And so on. Never watched Trump’s show either and I wouldn’t have watched it even if someone else had been the “star.” It’s all bullshit. But it sells and that’s a sad and depressing thing. At least to me. I fear you’re on to something, and that the country is going to be treated to “Capitol Conways” or whatever the hell they name it. Who knows? Maybe that’s been George and KellyAnne’s plan all along. They are that skeevy in my mind. But if they do something like this I think they will make money by the trainloads and that doesn’t say anything good about the taste or judgement of the population of this country.

    As for LP, it will be interesting to see what the self-directed investigation turns up. Did, as the one tweet suggests they properly address a matter when a rank & file employee would raise an issue? At least other than with the Weaver dude. Since they worked/interacted (the principles) mostly remotely how much did other top dogs know, and more importantly when about the accusations and what if anything did they do by which I mean how hard did they look into them? Did they blow them off? Did they do some checking but not nearly deep enough? We’ll eventually find out.

    There’s no doubt that the recent news has hurt them and badly. I’m sure certain key people knew even before the big story broke recently what was coming. Here’s why. It was made clear by LP leaders that with Trump’s loss they were turning their guns on the conservative movement’s funders. Not just mega donors but corporations and their donations that are the lifeblood of the GOP. You don’t think those people were going to sit back and take a hit on their taxes, have to give back some of those undeserved breaks they’ve gotten from conservatives again and again without a fight did you? These are people who don’t just lobby. Some of them are quite willing to engage in far nastier stuff including paying large sums to retired LE types with top investigative skills and connections to not just dig up dirt but put pressure on people. Think what Brown and Williamson (and other big tobacco companies) did with Jeff Weigend. I’d have thought LP would have been ready for that, and gone the extra mile to stay squeaky clean but maybe they got hit by hubris.

    Anyway, think back to the last week and in particular that speech from McConnell. He knows full well how much the financial spigot being turned down has hurt the GOP and that LP is a big reason why. If as I believe he was tipped off that LP was about to take a major PR hit I’m not surprised that he was prepared with that speech to give right after the impeachment vote concluded as it did with Trump being let off the hook. It was ALL about opening the umbrella to start providing cover for corporate America to start coughing up the big bucks again and soon. With LP sidelined and no heir apparent to lead the charge (love em or hate em they were VERY good at hard hitting stuff that got attention and sparked people to act) corporations will have some room to maneuver. Even if he didn’t have advance notice the news right before the conclusion of the trial is something someone as canny as McConnell would recognize as significant. A few phone calls and he might have been comfortable placing a bet so to speak. It’s not like HE has to worry about getting re-elected if he wants to stay on in the Senate. And for all the talk, he also knows where a LOT of bodies are buried and I don’t see him being deposed as Minority Leader either. That’s especially true if he’s communicated privately to his caucus that LP is going to be sidelined and the corporate money spigot will soon be flowing again like a fire hose. Not right away. They have to make things look good but if he’s got promises to make up for lost ground down the road and that come time for the midterm campaign everyone’s war chest will be filled to overflowing like nothing ever happened he’s going to keep his status with the GOP caucus.

    • Your reading of McConnell’s motives is plausible, and from his POV probably the best he can do for himself under the circumstances, but the GQP hasn’t changed one iota unless it’s gotten even worse. And just as many people in this country (the majority) are just as PO’d with them as before, if not more. SO how has this changed the situation for the donors. They are still under the same pressure, even if the LP is temporarily or permanently out of commission. If the corporate donors think that they’re now in the clear to donate like they did before to that steaming mess of a party, I think they are making a big mistake. But I think McConnell’s intent was different. I think what he was trying to say to the donors was, if the candidates loyal to me are going to be primaried by candidates loyal to Trump, then as Fats Waller said in “Serenade to a Wealthy Widow” — “They tell me you’re flooded with currency … Well come on then, give, give, give.”

  6. As for TLP, I never trusted them. Any more than the former GOP hacks getting facetime on that faux-left-wing station MSNBC. Which is the love child of Microsoft (the MS part) and General Electric (the NBC part). If that doesn’t scream corporate media to you, you’re not listening.

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