OK, Now What?

I sit here at 1:30 CST to begin my weekly piece, which I had all planned out, and I see the breaking news that President Biden is stepping aside as the Democratic Party candidate. Well, great. Thanks Joe.

I was all set to talk about political lies and the sheer, overwhelming number of them coming out of the pie hole of the Republican candidate and his sons Uday and Qusay.

For example, his comment that Taiwan should pay for it's own defense against Chinese aggression, like some sort of Dumb Corleone observing that "It's a nice little country you have here. Be a shame if something happened to it."

I was going to talk about the obviously excruciating efforts of the actual news operations trying to normalize the stuff happening in Milwaukee despite the best efforts of correspondents like Major Garrett on CBS and Daniel Dale on CNN to call out the BS cascading down on America's head from the podium like a Niagara Falls of misinformation.

By the way, I used to interview Major Garrett quite a bit in the 90's when he was at Newsweek. He no doubt grew tired of my asking every time, why he hadn't been promoted to colonel yet. "Yeah, I've never heard that one before, Rog."

I was going to call out said prevarications like our supposed energy independence under Trump, the claim that he actually built a wall with Mexico. If so, then how are they still getting in? And just to settle the question, we have a roughly 2000 mile border with Mexico, and Trump added a total of 80 miles of new fencing. But I'm sure it was perfect, beautiful fencing.

Crime rates going up was the claim, when they are actually going down. Illegal aliens running criminally rampant in American cities when they commit crimes at a much lower rate than the rest of us.

How about Democrats wanting them to vote? Well they can't, don't, and have never been able to. And yet the guileless crowd stared dewy-eyed at the stage buying it all. Folks, Jose' came here for a job, not to elect Biden.

As to oil, we produce more now than ever before, and more than anyone else. We import oil as well, and did under Trump, even from Russia back then. That is due to the intricacies of cost, oil grades and refining, not government policy. The government doesn't sell or buy oil, Exxon does, so take it up with them.

Then there is Ukraine. Trump says he will end the war on day one. Actually, that is easy. It's called surrender. Roaming around the RNC was none other than Paul Manafort, recently released from prison, and hoping to resume the pro-Putin influence he had on Trump policy toward Ukraine.

To keep it short, Manafort had worked for years with the pro-Russian puppet government of Ukraine, headed by Viktor Yanukovych, and when they were thrown out, he looked for ways to steer US policy in that direction again as a Republican advisor. As recounted by political historian Heather Cox Richardson...

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s 2019 report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election explained at least one answer: Manafort and Kilimnick, a Russian operative, “discussed a plan to resolve the ongoing political problems in Ukraine by creating an autonomous republic in its more industrialized eastern region of Donbas, and having Yanukovych…elected to head that republic.” The report continued: “That plan, Manafort later acknowledged, constituted a ‘backdoor’ means for Russia to control eastern Ukraine.”

By the way, if you are wondering where former President Yanukovych is living since he was removed from office, it is Moscow. And Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov cheered J.D. Vance’s nomination, saying: “He’s in favor of peace, he’s in favor of ending the assistance that’s being provided and we can only welcome that because that’s what we need—to stop pumping Ukraine full of weapons and then the war will end.”

Well, yes, it certainly will.

But if we present this as "America First" and stay out of foreign conflicts, maybe we can sell it, eh? Forget the war crimes and threats to NATO, we stop the arms shipments, Russia wins and Bob's your uncle. Speaking of NATO, one presumes that given Trump's self-admitted lack of understanding of the organization, and his pusillanimous fawning toward Putin, Europe may be on their own as well.

But hey, that's all so complicated. Come on, people, we have Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock (?) and Tucker Carlson jangling like car keys before a toddler. When you have a fake athlete, fake rapper and fake intellectual, what more do you need?

And, as mentioned, the actual news networks, you know the ones who at least pretend not to have a dog in the fight, sat grim faced and listened to people like Marco Rubio explain why he ignored the childish insults, swallowed what little pride he had left and endorsed Trump. Nikki Haley was the most honest opponent during the primary fight, endured her share of 2nd grade schoolyard insults like "birdbrain," but eventually even she acquiesced...

To be honest, it was such a show of abject fealty, one might be forgiven for contemplating Aaron Sorkin's NY Times Op-Ed suggestion that the Dems should nominate Mitt Romney, just to rub a moderate Republican's name in their faces. In 1968, again in Chicago, and after LBJ didn't run and RFK was assassinated, Hubert Humphrey got the nomination even though he didn't enter any primaries, so it's a jump ball.

But now, with President Gramps out of the race, what are the options? Well, it probably won't be in a smoke-filled room.

I presume the President will release his delegates to vote as they please. He did endorse his Vice-President, so Kamala is in the mix, but not necessarily the heir apparent. The Clintons have endorsed her as well, along with virtually everyone who ois anyone, so it would be tricky politically to bypass her. In fact, she is solidifying her grip on the nomination daily. So hopefully, we can avoid the sexist and insulting line of attack from many Republicans that somehow the former District Attorney, California Attorney General and US Senator "slept her way to the top."

Really, guys? Was the DEI crap not working for you?

Trump must see the threat as well which is why, in his new found spirit of unity borne of his soul searching after being shot, he said at his rally Saturday, “I call her Laughin’ Kamala. You ever watch her laugh? She’s crazy. She’s nuts. She’s not as crazy as Nancy Pelosi. Crazy Nancy."

I'm trying to imagine in the 1979 general elections in the UK, James Callaghan of the Labour Party calling Margaret Thatcher, "Crazy Maggie."

Of course, in 1983, Screaming Lord Sutch of the Monster Raving Looney Party might have. And by the way, that was an actual candidate and actual, sort of, party.

When asked about comments like that, the soft-spoken Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, said in his most soft-spokeny way, “Look, I articulate things in a certain way, and Donald Trump does as well.”

That masterpiece of understatement rivals my personal favorite from a British Airways captain after his plane flew through a volcanic ash cloud...“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.”

They landed safely, by the way, and I don't know if that captain has been invited to speak at the DNC in Chicago, but I'd prefer him to Hulk Hogan.