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If you didn't see Jon Stewart's Monday hosting of The Daily Show, the Main Story was about the maniacal Epstein circus in MAGA world. Though to get there, he goes through a very funny, unexpected route that Stewart seems to be having great fun with. I will just say it harkens back to some things he would occasionally do the first time he hosted The Daily Show. Without giving anything away -- it's too fun to discover -- I'll just say about the full video that it all is is very funny. And pointed and smart. I will add, too, that the report has the first mention I've seen anywhere on TV about what I posted this morning on Trump threatening to take away Rosie O'Donnell's citizenship. So -- good for that, too!!
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About 10 days ago, I wrote a long article about my efforts to get Steve Carell's commencement address at this year's Northwestern University graduation ceremony posted on YouTube. It wasn't there, but at least I was able to track it down -- buried in the full graduation video that was buried on the Northwestern website.
Well, we have a Breaking News Update: It took WEEKS – and I like to think my repeated noodging of several Northwestern officials may have had something to do with it, but… Northwestern has finally posted Steve Carell’s commencement address on YouTube!! O huzzah! Now, yes, I know it could be pure coincidence, and something they were planning to do anyway. But – a) when I wrote all these people several times, no one ever said “We plan to post it on YouTube. Please leave us alone.” All I got was telling me where it was buried, and b) it took almost a month to post it, which could have been done in one day. So, I’m going with my noodging assertation, and will stand by it until contradicted by school officials. Which I think is unlikely to happen, so I’m on very safe ground. If you chose not to check out the commencement address when I first sent the convoluted link, because it was too much a bother, but you wanted to see the speech -- which is a light-hearted, but a lot of fun and very funny -- the DIRECT link is...here! Just scroll down to the bottom of the page. Victoire! Gee, and it seemed like such a good idea at the time...
Readers here may recall an article I posted here a few weeks ago about a crackerjack plan by the National Park Service to put up signage that would ask visitors to report what they thought in the park showed American history in a negative light. Sort of act like Minutemen Watchdogs. When contacted by NPR, the Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service explained: "The effort ensures public lands reflect an accurate portrayal of American history and heritage." Because, of course, visitors on vacation from across the country and around the world are all considered experts in American history and heritage -- rather than are there to learn about it. Anyway, NPR thought it was worth checking how things was going with the whiz-bang idea. And so they took a look at many dozens of comments submitted during the week of June 4 to 12 about the signs in parks throughout the U.S. It turns out that visitors had a mind of their own. "The point of going to a park is to enjoy nature, not to whistleblow something that casts the American people in a bad light," said Evan Sutterfield, a San Francisco school teacher on his summer break. "I think you need to tell the whole story," said Russ Harwell, visiting from Charlotte, N.C. "If you're gonna write it out of history, then you're doomed to repeat it." Linda Mosinian from Milwaukee, Wis. wrote: "I think this is a waste of time." In none of the submitted comments that NPR reviewed did anyone, they said, "suggest that the parks need to change their depictions of people or history." Some did at least say that politely. Like -- "The park rangers and volunteers go above and beyond to tell the full American story," stated a comment about Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland. And as it happens, some even said that national parks should reflect even more of the country's difficult history. "Need more history on how black and indigenous people have been exploited," one comment stated. Furthermore, as NPR wrote, "Accuracy isn't a given, because feedback can be submitted through a general website or email address accessible from anywhere in the world. That was reflected in a statement from Clara Wooden, a member of the board of The Coalition to Protect America's National Parks. "What would stop somebody with an agenda from posting fake comments? People at both ends of the ideological spectrum can game the system without even setting foot in a national park." If you want to read the full article, you can find it here. Stephen Sondheim's song “Getting Married Today” from the musical Company is a breathtaking tongue twister. However, the full number is sung by three people, each with a separate part, so the lead (with the tongue-twisting) has a chance to at least catch her breath and prepare for her next pass. However, this is Julie Andrews performing all three parts! No chance to pause, no chance to get ready before barreling into the tongue-twister. Notable, too, is that with her renowned diction, it’s possible to understand almost all of Sondheim’s maniacally twisting lyrics. This is really a tour-de-force performance. Trump had a big meltdown weekend. Most notable, which got all the attention, was his bizarre, incredibly long rant about the Epstein list. It was so weird that people were posting on social media thinks like, "I hadn't cared much about the list, but after reading Trump's posting I'm now convinced that he's named." I referred to what he wrote as being Shakespearean -- because "Methinks thou doth protest too much." It was crazy flailing. But that wasn't his only social media rant. And the other was, in some ways, even worse. But Trump got saved since it got almost no attention -- which is because of a) it was posted on the weekend which is slow time for news. Unless, b) you have an Epstein list meltdown. By way of background, Rosie O'Donnell posted a TikTok video critical of Trump and FEMA's problems dealing with the Texas flood, as well as criticism of the his budget bill. And this upset Trump a lot. Though with Trump, you only have to mention the name "Rosie O'Donnell" within 100 paces and there's a good likelihood that he'll throw a tantrum. So, imagine her posting a critical video (sorry, I mean a TikTok video) while he's under pressure from the Epstein files, getting horrifically terrible approval numbers from a new Gallup Poll, a major natural disaster he's handled poorly from his budget bill cutbacks, having a stay put on one of his deportation efforts in California, and just his general dementia getting worse.  Okay, first things first: Yipes! And second, a couple quick things. Not that it matters, but just to get it out of the way, Ms. O'Donnell was born in Commack, New York. A few miles from where Trump was born. And also, I'm still trying to decipher, "Rosie O'Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country." Okay, even more to the point -- Whatever you think of Rosie O'Donnell, and even if you utterly adore Trump, you have to know that this is really creepy and not in the realm of acceptable by a rational president -- let alone a rational politician, or rational American who understands the basics of the Constitution, or even only understands the Rules of the Road drivers ed pamphlet. And if someone doesn't think it's incredibly creepy or irrationally unacceptable from a U.S. president, that's on you. It's not just that first sentence about Rosie O'Donnell not being "in the best interests" of America. Or even considering taking away the citizenship of someone born in America to American citizens. Or thinking he can just order it done. Let alone thinking that anyone can. But it's all that, and then calling comedian/actress Rosie O'Donnell a "Threat to Humanity." (If someone considers Rosie O'Donnell a "Threat to Humanity," their bar for such things is incredibly low. Keep in mind that Trump just sent a fleet of the U.S. Air Force to bomb and destroy nuclear warhead sites in Iran. I think that if you've already used up "Threat to Humanity" to describe Rosie O'Donnell, you have almost nothing left to describe an effort to demolish nukes. Which might be why he's kept repeating the word "obliterate," even though it wasn't true. But what else was there left to say after using it all up on Rosie O'Donnell?) And all that because she posted a TikTok video he didn't like. However that tweet was not just weird and lunatic, but also deep fascist at its most core and may also be his dementia kicking in, especially with all the pressure he's under these days. And the thing is, even if his staff later says he was just joking, which is their long-standing default except, it's just as creepy and irrational and fascist, because a) being Trump, it's likely that, no, he wasn't joking because Trump is humorless and doesn't joke, and b) it's still creepy and a fascist effort by the most powerful man in the world to create fear in everyone against a private citizen, sending a dog whistle to his base. "Say something I don't like, post a TikTok video that annoys me, and whatever meaning you think I have behind it, I will call you a threat, say you are not in the best interests of the country, and I will make sure that all of my loyal, and even the most violent followers know that I consider you an enemy of America and not worthy of having your citizenship." Even if it was "just" a joke. Which it wasn't. And it wasn't not just because Trump doesn't joke, but also because it's near-impossible to find "the joke." But mainly, it was just creepy, irrational and fascist. With a touch of dementia on the side. But beyond all this, I think these two meltdowns this weekend, one of them major, are the dam breaking for him. We saw it, too, at his press conference in Texas when a heart-broken questioner asked about his response to FEMA problems, and he told her that she was "evil." His base is furious at him. But also at Kash Patel (who some of the base now think is part of the hated Deep State). And at Pam Bondi, who the MAGA world base think lied to them and want fired. And FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino has threatened to quit or may be fired. And Trump is not going to release anything -- "dam'd" if he does, "dam'd" if he doesn't -- which will upset his base even more. And the Gallup Poll published on Friday was universally seen as devastating to Trump. And he doesn’t have anyone qualified and competent around him to help fix any of these problems. Live by the conspiracy theorists, die by the conspiracy theorists. And there will be more natural disasters, many. And prices will rise. And dementia is degenerative. And Democrats are now figuring out that a direct, honest, blunt attack may be best. Like over the weekend when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote – “Wow who would have thought that electing a rapist would have complicated the release of the Epstein Files?” And Jon Ossoff, running for reelection to the U.S. Senate from Georgia, who said – “Did anyone really think the sexual predator president who used to party with Jeffrey Epstein was going to release the Epstein files?” Yet in the immediate moment, Trump's own words linger. And every MAGOP in Congress should be asked to respond to Trump's threat to revoke the citizenship of an American for criticizing him. And if they refuse or run away, or try to dismiss the threat as a joke, at least that will be on the record -- or perhaps posted as a video on TikTok.
We have a new one this week. The contestant today is Diane Lusk from Southport, North Carolina. If you don’t get the hidden song within five seconds, you’re not trying. If you don’t get it at all, you weren’t listening. For the composer style, there were a few possibilities, and it was sort of a toss-up -- but the one I guessed…was correct. So, huzzah! |
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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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