How Many A-Holes Can You Fit In The Sunday Shows? A Lot, Apparently.
We watch so you never have to!
When we watch movies like Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, The American President, or Dave, we are inspired by the decency and good that can be done with political power.
But the reason those movies touch and entertain us is one we rarely admit: They are a fantasy. That’s why, while we thirst for good people in politics, assholes continually succeed in it.
So let’s dive into some clear examples this week.
Jake Tapper
We begin with the part-time host of CNN’s State Of the Union, who this week interviewed Michigan Democratic Senate primary candidate, Abdul El-Sayed.
Tapper dispelled any notion of a “left-wing media bias” that right-wing clowns are constantly chirping about in this Fox News-like interview. This second audition tape for his future Paramount/Skydance overlords, after fawning for Donald Trump last week, was revelatory, and more than anything showed off El-Sayed's ability to handle a contentious interview.
After playing a clip of El-Sayed getting his rally crowd to shout that they would not allow big-money donors or PACs to “steal the elections,” as they’ve done since Citizens United, Tapper attempted naive obtuseness as he asked:
TAPPER: Are you saying that if you don't win this election, it will be because it was stolen?
El-Sayed explained to Tapper the corrupting and antidemocratic influence of that all that PAC money, like Tapper was five.
Tapper then switched to criticisms about personal attacks on El-Sayed’s primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens. While acknowledging that El-Sayed recently put out a statement condemning personal and non-policy attacks on his opponent, Tapper tried to get at what he felt was a “gotcha.”
TAPPER: "She's a suit with a large AIPAC bank account. That's it. She can't string together two coherent sentences. She's a sellout who forgot how to think for herself. Corporate money can't buy her a personality." Do you know who said that? That was you and your campaign.
Has Jake Tapper ever heard of an “empty suit”? It’s a pretty common phrase used to describe feckless executives, politicians, etc. We once called Marco Rubio a “sentient empty suit.” Another example of an empty suit is a certain 1991 Dartmouth College graduate on our TV right now.
El-Sayed stayed on message, even as Tapper tried to make the interview all about Israel:
EL-SAYED: Well, Jake, I will tell you this. There's always room in the tent for folks. And I'm for human rights. I'm for equal rights to peace, dignity, and self-determination. Every time I come on CNN, you guys ask me the same questions […] I'm running for Senate in Michigan. And, in Michigan, people can't afford their basic needs. They don't get the health care they need and deserve. They're worried about the quality of their kids' school. And the question seems less to be about the interests of Michiganders than the fact of something happening 6,000 miles away. I'm running for Michigan Senate, and I want our tax dollars spent in Michigan on our schools and on our health care. And the idea that somebody wants to vote to send that money away, to me, just seems -- seems to be an anathema. […] I just think my tax dollar should be spent here. And I'd rather have a conversation about Michiganders than what's happening 6,000 miles away.
Let’s move on to another asshole.
John Fetterman
Well, what do you know, the next one was Jake Tapper’s next guest!
Basically to have a rebuttal to El-Sayed ready, CNN hosted the Pennsylvania “Democratic” senator/Temu Shrek, who strongly hinted that, if the Dems win the Senate in November, he will leave the Democratic Party like a common Kirsten Sinema.
But the question is: How would being “independent” be different from what he’s doing now?
Fetterman is basically already following one-term Senator Sinema’s playbook, down to probably a future reelection primary loss. In fact, he’s actually worse! He’s like a chimera of Sinema and former West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin. Fetterman is constantly booking appearances on Fox News to attack the Democratic Party (like Manchin), instead of being content going on spending sprees or going on winery internships (like Sinema). Manchin, at least, had a proven track record of electoral wins in a hard state to back up his ego. (Yes, we will be steel-pad scrubbing ourselves later for lightly complimenting Joe Manchin.)
A perfect example of Fetterman’s uselessness as a Dem was his kid-glove criticisms of Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s attempts to delegitimize the 2020 election, as a pretext for ratfucking future elections.
FETTERMAN: I don't know why the president is dragging up all of this stuff. You're the president. Do something positive, and you are talking about 2020. That's been settled over six years ago. It's deeply unhelpful, and that distracts important things, especially like the Iranian war right now.
Truly, how could we lose such a “strong voice” for Democratic values?
Bill Maher
We end with Maher’s interview on ABC’s This Week.
In this (or the longer version if you’re a masochist) segment, Maher reiterates that his future “vote is up for grabs.” (This isn’t an airport. No one needs you to announce your departures.) He also talks about “winning” of the Mark Twain Prize, but that word is doing a lot of heavy lifting considering his own sucking up to Trump and his ilk. But quite frankly, nothing we could say about Maher would be as insulting or embarrassing as watching the trailer for said Mark Twain Prize ceremony.
Whitney Cummings? Jay Leno? Stephen A. Smith? A Trump impressionist? Louis C.K.? Wow! Quite a who’s who of comedic mediocrity, skeevy creepiness and “Who?” If the lack of illustrious comedy peers didn’t give it away, the smug expression on the thumbnail above seals it.
Bill Maher truly is the King Of The Assholes. Congratulations.
(We know, as historical experts on Maher in this matter.)
Have a week.
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“It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.”
― Mark Twain
The Oligarch-owned media isn't doing Israel, or Jewish people worldwide (who are not the same thing as the nation-state of Israel), any favors making the policies of the current Administration of Israel the focus of US elections.
They're running out of ways to smear the US Left, and it's becoming self-destructive.
When I was a little kid, and I turn 60 next month, Israel was probably the most-admired nation on Earth. That isn't true among younger voters now. And the skill with which AIPAC has used Citizens United to push a fascist agenda has yielded powerful results, but that isn't working so well under the spotlight. The spotlight is, albeit very slowly, revealing that a great many Jewish people don't support the current Israeli fascist regime.
The Oligarchs are getting very worried, more and more every day, by the rise of the US Left. Their typical attacks of antisemitism are losing traction. Their attacks of misogyny are working less and less well as the outrageous woman-hating of the Right comes into clear view.
Good for El-Sayed for being prepared. Hopefully he's had his own campaign fixers go through his personal past with a fine-tooth comb because once the anti-Arab smears stop working, they're going to look for some other stick to beat him with because they're scared.