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This is a sweet video about a woman who raised three baby squirrels who were left alone, and several years later, when she finally released them to the wild, one felt so close to her that she built her nest on the property. But even more to the point, the squirrel would even occasionally drop her own babies off with the woman to babysit them when needed.
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Your reminder that -- according to House MAGOPs who voted on March 11, 2025 in order to keep from having to end the false “national emergency” that Trump wanted so he could declare emergency tariffs -- today, March 11, 2026, one year later, is still (officially) in the House, March 11, 2025. Really!!  This is a follow-up of sorts to my article last week about the Texas primary. In it, I noted that I thought the biggest story wasn't who won, but that 200,000 more people registered to vote for Democrats than MAGOPs, something that hadn't happened in Texas in six years. I felt that this was so significant because most of those new voters likely came from Independents, who are the group who decide close elections -- and who I've been writing are breaking heavily for Democrats since Trump took office. And so those results impacted all races across country and not just Texas.
By the way -- yes, I know that polls aren't votes. And as the expression goes, they are just a snapshot of a moment in time. And that the Mid-Term election is still eight months away (although early voting kicks in before then). But snapshots nonetheless have meaning, especially in perspective with earlier polls and what they might confirm or the direction they show. Which brings us to the Economist/YouGov poll that was done from February 20-23. It didn't deal with Trump’s overall approval in that poll, just about Independents which it said are cratering from Trump. And with these numbers are likely why Democrats are gaining 16 points on average in every Special Election. Which is why even “leans Red” seats are at risk. What the poll showed is that, among Independents, Trump’s approval is down to…just 25%!!!! His disapproval soared to 66%. That’s a minus -41 points among Independents. I believe the correct word is “Yowza!” The article also noted that the CNN-SRSS poll has Trump at 36%. And that polls from CNN/SSRS, Ipsos/Washington Post/ABC, and American Research Group all have Trump around minus -15 points. More importantly, though, the article notes that Nate Silver writes that these numbers may be hiding even worse news for Trump – since Silver says almost all approval for Trump has shifted fairly substantively from “strongly approve” to just “somewhat approve.” That's the problem: “strongly approve” are the people who definitely go the polls – especially in off-year elections – while “somewhat approve” people have to be motivated to vote off-year, or who may even drop their support. It also said that Trump’s “strongly approve” result for his State of the Union Address was the lowest since before Barack Obama. That’s telling for two reasons – 1) usually most people who watch the SOTU are from the president’s own party. So, if Trump’s "strong approval" dropped, that’s almost certainly coming from his own party. And 2) as Nate Silver noted above, a president losing points from his “strongly approve” numbers isn't just a shift while still approval, but a serious warning sign. But mostly – the one thing to focus on among all the morass is: 25% approval and 66% disapproval among Independents. And worse for Trump and MAGOPs, this confirms other polls among Independents I've been referencing, which (again) is specifically what I wrote about the other day on the Texas primary where 200,000 more people registered for Democrats than MAGOP – a number that I suspected was mostly from Independents. When combined with the results on Independents from The Economist/YouGov poll -- 25% approve/ 66% disapprove, at minus -41 points has to be horrifying for MAGOPs running in swing districts. Or even "leans Red" districts. And even at the edge moving into some lightly "safe" districts. Which is why gerrymandering in Texas could backfire. And all this is before Trump went to war in Iran. And gas prices skyrocketed. And the jobs report of 92,000 jobs lost in February. And Kristi Noem being fired. Along with the problematic economy. Tariffs continuing to kick in. The Epstein files revelations as more files get released. And Trump's dementia, which is degenerative, so it's not like he's going to be getting better. While surrounded by unqualified incompetents -- including his DHS replacement Markwayne Mullin. More to come. But for now, that's quite a start. Or actually, continuation... If you didn’t see Last Week Tonight with Jon Oliver the other night, the Main Story was on Trump cutting the USAID department. It's actually an old story, since USAID got dismantled under Elon Musk and "DOGE", but most of the coverage of that at the time was largely shorthand for what USAID did. This show here takes a very deep dive, and also now has the perspective to make clear the tragic results of the Trump cuts. It's an excellent report, galling but filled with sarcastic humor. At his press conference yesterday, Trump said a lot of gobbledy-gook, mind-numbingly idiotic things. But to me, one statement above all stood out, and not just stood out, which doesn't do it justice, but was so far above the rest it can't be bunched together with the other imbecilities and has to be put in its own unique category. Just…"Oh, my god, he actually said that???!!" territory. It was a horrific press conference, and then all of a sudden there was Trump being asked -- REPORTER: You said the war is 'very complete.' But your defense secretary says 'this is just the beginning.' So which is it? TRUMP: You could say both. Both?? Yes, you could say both. But you'd look like a clueless fool if you did say both. Which is why few people who don't have dementia wouldn't say both. And here's the thing - that wasn't the mind-numbingly idiotic thing Trump said. Because at the same press conference yesterday, Trump also was asked - REPORTER: You promised the Iranian people you would help them. TRUMP: Will I help them? I'd like to, if they can behave, but they've been very menacing, Trump promised to help the Iranian people. They were fighting in the streets. Over 30,000 of them got murdered by their government - the government that Trump just went to war against. Their country is getting bombarded by the United States - and Trump is asking the people he promised to help…to behave??! Behave against what? Behave to who??? The people who Trump to help aren't "misbehaving" against the United States. They've probably running to find protection and save their lives. And here's the thing - that wasn't the mind-numbingly idiotic thing Trump said either! Because at the same press conference yesterday, the truly Trump mind-numbingly, utterly, soul-crushingly idiotic thing Trump said came after he was asked about an Iranian school being tragically destroyed by a Tomahawk missile-- REPORTER: You just suggested that Iran somehow got its hands on a Tomahawk and bombed its own elementary school…but you're the only person in your government saying this…Why are you the only person saying this? TRUMP: Because I just don't know enough about it. Yes. Really. Trump, the president of the United States, chief executive, the commander-in-chief of the U.S. military forces he is leading in a war was just asked why he's the only person in his administration to say something about a disastrous tragedy in that war…and his response was, "Because I don't know enough about it"!!! This is one of those things where no one should take my word for it. So, here's the video. In fact, it's important to see the full video because his whole answer was even worse. And yes, "even worse" is possible. "Because I don't know enough about it." Y'know, when most people don't know enough about something…they usually don't say anything! (Quick disclaimer: unless they're on a sports talk show.) And it's one thing to not know enough about something and keep yammering, as if you want to be seen as an expert - about something you know you don't know enough about. But it's taking your stupidity to another level to actually admit it out loud, as if admitting is a defense of you having said something so idiotic in the first place. And…and going even further, and making this incredibly bizarre response by Trump even worse -- and, yes, as I said, amazingly with Trump that is always possible -- is that in trying to defend his explanation (of something that he says he doesn't know enough about), Trump attempted to show his expertise by remembering something he likely heard somewhere in some other context and says, "Tomahawks are used by others, as you know." Adding, "They buy them from us." The problem with this is -- Iran does not have Tomahawk missiles!!! Yes, Tomahawks are used by others, as we know. But what commander-in-chief Trump doesn't seem to know (as he tries to sound smart) is that Iran is not one of those others. And yes, also, other countries do buy Tomahawk missiles from us. But no, Iran is not one of those countries. Or to put it another way: No, we did not sell Tomahawk missiles to Iran! As you know. Iran is our enemy. It's part of the Axis of Evil. Iran is the country Trump tore up our nuclear treaty with. Iran is the country Trump literally bombed just eight months ago. They're who Trump said we supposedly "obliterated" their nuclear arsenal. (Though now says, no, not so much.) We did not sell Tomahawk missiles to Iran. Nor did any other country. Especially Israel. Since Iran is an even bigger enemy to Israel than to us. For that matter, even if Trump ever wanted to throw Israel under the bus and blame them for an errant Tomahawk from Israel being who accidentally bombed the school, here's the thing -- Israel doesn't have Tomahawks either! In fact, the only country using Tomahawk missiles in Iran is...the United States. Well…at least Trump was right about one thing. He just doesn't know enough about it. And that's the main thing. As worse as Trump made it with his Tomahawk gumfummery, that was only an addendum. That was "only" worse because it was screwing up his defense of the U.S. military accidentally, tragically blowing up a school with 150 children. (Something really awful to be "only" worse about.) The core problem, the statement that should have lead every news show, that should have gotten every MAGOP in Congress running for the door to disclaim any loyalty to him, that Democrats should have leaped on - that everyone should leap on, out of national concern of the U.S. president, the commander-in-chief, overseeing an actual war, making a point-blank, blunt statement of supposed fact - and then defending that he's the only one saying it by responding, "I just don't know enough about it." But it not only wasn't the lead story (and honestly, I get that, even if I don't agree), it wasn't even covered on the news at all. It was just a shrug and, well, that's just normal, that's just Trump being Trump. Whatever. But -- no, that's not normal. Imagine if President Biden had said that, as Commander-in-Chief during a war! Making a blunt, unequivocal statement about something that was demonstrably wrong and then defending being so completely wrong by responding, "I don't know enough about it." On the positive side, it's perhaps the first honest thing Trump has said since he first took office. Your reminder that Trump has dementia, which is degenerative. I haven’t had a “50 People Try to…” video from Epicurious for a while, so let’s correct that. These are the videos where Epicurious magazine sets a pretty basic cooking task and brings 50 people into their kitchen to see if they can accomplish it. And since none of the people tend to be accomplished with cooking, the results tend to be entertaining. Then, at the end, an Epicurious chef comes in to show how it’s done. This time, they try to sharpen a knife. |
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 
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