Every week, we descend further into the enshittification of this country. Not because Donald Trump and his goons are some Machiavellian geniuses, but because, as we’ve all learned, this whole democracy thing was being held together by the spit and bubble gum that were “norms” and “honor.”
Let’s visit with one of the prime enshittifiers on the Sunday shows.
Mike Johnson
Speaker (soon-to-be-replaced, hopefully) Mike Johnson made dual appearances on CNN’s State Of The Union and NBC’s Meet The Press. On CNN, he was asked about proposed regulations and guardrails on AI from “tech leaders,” and his answer was a combo of lies and a tacit admission of Congress’s uselessness.
JOHNSON: I have been speaker for almost three years. We started working on this almost immediately after I was handed the gavel. One of the first things I did was put together an A.I. Task Force in the House […] At the same time, there is an obvious corporate responsibility, that the people who are creating these models have to have to ensure that their products are safe. […] And we need to get them all in a room at the same time and agree on what the guardrails are. That's the only way to do this. If Congress just races in and does some sort of emergency session to try to regulate A.I., we will lose the race to China, and that is a threat to every single American.
Johnson doesn’t care about AI. Coming up empty on regulations after three years of an “AI Task Force” is quite the indictment, though. But we suspect we know why his “task force” has failed, because he’s basically admitting to it here: He’s waiting for the “tech leaders” to tell him the rules, rather than the other way around. He’s waiting on lobbyists to write the regulatory legislation, and they’ll add congressional letterheads to the top. The reason this is “priority” now for Johnson is that midterm voters really hate data centers the Trump administration has pushed for, on account of all the land/electricity/water they consume, while offering little to help them as it makes some of their jobs obsolete.
Because when Trump was putting out executive orders preventing states from enacting AI regulations (so much for “states’ rights”), Johnson didn’t say a peep. As Trump’s failsons enriched themselves on AI data centers and crypto scams, Johnson’s “task force” either didn’t notice or care.
Jake Tapper called Johnson out on another matter he pretended to care about until he conveniently didn’t.
Yes, Mr. Covenant Eyes has all the smoke for the “barbarians” of the DSA or Hasan Piker’s evil jumbotron seduction, but is fine with Republican congressional candidate Brandon Herrera’s misogynistic and bigoted “online persona.” I guess this is just another instance of Johnson’s rare condition of internet and news blindness.
Johnson’s uncontrollable bullshit affliction flared up later when he was asked on NBC about Trump’s proposed $5,000 bribe for votes scheme.
Johnson, like all Trump stooges, praised the naked emperor for his fabulous outfit.
JOHNSON: [T]he president was […] reminding the American people of our extraordinary record of success. […] Under the — this regime and under this presidency and our Republican majorities, […] wages are going up. […] So that’s an idea, a new one, an idea that we’ll process through Congress and talk through and debate and discuss.
Yes, Mike, there can be bad ideas in a brainstorm. Also, gonna point out the Freudian slip of calling Trump’s presidency a “regime” might be one of the few accidental truths Mike Johnson has ever told.
Host Kristen Welker wasn’t quite sold on Johnson’s math and pushed back.
WELKER: I hear you saying wages are going up. It’s worth noting wages went up 3.1%, inflation 3.4%, so not keeping pace with inflation. But to my question, do you support sending $5,000 to every American citizen if Republicans hold on to the House and Senate?
Johnson continued praising Trump as an “idea generator”, despite most of them coming from a sundowning idiot. Welker pointed out a critique of this from a very concerned supporter of Trump.
WELKER: I want to read for you something that Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine […] said about these $5,000 checks. […] “Tax and spending decisions should be made based on the needs of the American people and the state of the economy. They should not appear to be tied to election results.”
Johnson tried to use a false equivalency to excuse the bribery scheme, and Welker quickly shut him down:
JOHNSON: Remember the Democrats who are making that claim are the same ones who gave out COVID checks and all sorts of stimulus checks and everything else —
WELKER: Well, she’s a Republican.
JOHNSON: It’s not an unprecedented —
WELKER: Susan Collins is a Republican —
JOHNSON: You know, the president is not —
WELKER: Susan Collins is a Republican —
JOHNSON: Yeah, I understand that. I understand. Sure — sure, but that’s right.
Johnson is the embodiment of empty-suited evil. We can’t wait until he’s replaced.
Have a week!
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Mike was an "A" student at the Betsy DeVos School of Smirking.
Slimy little bastard having a dandy time making us all pay for him getting pantsed and called "Tiny Johnson" in school.