Since the NFL season starts next week, I thought this would be a good way to move into it.  And so, live from Pittsburgh, on this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the guest contestant is former football coach and now broadcaster Bill Cowher. Very appropriate because he won the Super Bowl as Pittsburgh Steelers coach. He has a funny story about dealing with Steelers fan, and gives a brilliant example of how a coach can answer a question without answering, but explaining the narrative he wants to get across.
 
This is the full Wait, Wait… broadcast, but you can jump directly to the “Not My Job” segment, it starts at the 18:30 mark.

​The guests on this week’s Al Franken podcast are Molly Jong-Fast and Mark Leibovich.  As Al writes, “We’re joined once again by Mark Leibovich from The Atlantic and Molly Jong-Fast, host of the Fast Politics Podcast! The Democrats just wrapped up their National Convention and nominated Kamala Harris to be the nominee for President. Can she carry this momentum all the way to Election Day? Meanwhile, Republicans were caught flat-footed when Joe Biden dropped out and Donald Trump is spiraling out of control. There’s still a long way to go before Election Day!”

In 1993, Bonnie Hunt created, wrote and starred in the sitcom, The Building.  She also served as executive producer with David Letterman.  When she recently did a Naked Lunch interview for the podcast with Phil Rosenthal and David Wild, she told a story about how she asked Letterman to act in one of the episodes – he agreed, but with one caveat, he didn’t want to be seen.  So, the show had to figure out how to make that work.  They came up with an idea where Bonnie’s character, a good girl who had a somewhat high profile in town, had to go to a video porn store to pick up her brother’s wallet -- when a robber breaks in…played by Letterman in a ski mask. (All the funnier, still smoking his cigar.)  And eventually the police and TV news show up.  And…well, rather than explain more, here’s the sequence –
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The other week, Trump created another unforced error for his campaign.  (It's a long list that starts with selecting "JD Vance" as his running mate.  Interestingly, just yesterday, "JD Vance" created yet one more unforced error of his own after getting booed by firefighters, never a good start, and he insulted them back by calling the firefighters, who risk their lives to save people, "haters" -- something always considered not ideal strategy when running for political office, particularly to run the country.)  That was the time,  two weeks ago, when Trump suggested the Medal of Honor given by Congress was a lesser tribute than the Presidential Medal of Freedom, since Medal of Honor recipients, he said, were usually either badly injured in war or killed in battle.  Given his previous statements belittling the military, such as calling them "losers" and "suckers, and saying he didn't want anyone who had been wounded to be in parades he was involved with, his denigrating the Medal of Honor didn’t sit well with people who…well, had an ounce of decency.
 
This was exacerbated on Monday by his using the hallowed Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery for an election promotional film, which his team was told was illegal, as well as him giving a creepy “thumbs up” when surrounded by the families standing among gravestones.  This not only brought about an incident report and press statement by officials at Arlington National Cemetery after a physical confrontation with an employee that required the military police intervening, but also a rebuke by the U.S. Army.  Just the sort of strategy you’re going for when running to be president and commander-in-chief of the military.  And the controversy grows, aided in part by it turning out that Speaker Mike Johnson was involved as the person who contacted Arlington to get them to allow Trump permission to be at the event.
 
By the way, given that there is past footage of Trump on camera demeaning soldiers in war by saying, "I like people who weren't captured," why would one think Trump cares anything for soldiers who actually died for their country?! And think he was therefore at Arlington to actually honor them??  But I digress…
 
One would think that after all this, a reasonable person – especially one running for president – might lay low on the subject or figure out a way to say things really positive about the military.  But “a reasonable person” and “lay low” (and “really positive”) are not words often associated with Trump.  Like pretty much ever.
 
And so, at a speech in Michigan yesterday, Trump doubled down on his “Which is the Best Medal” comparison test.  For reasons known only to him.  It came about because, as part of the speech, he was honoring James McCloughan, a war hero who had been given the Medal of Honor, awarded by Congress, during the first year Trump was in office.  Trump, of course, could have just said nice things about Mr. McCloughan and left it at that.  But hey, this is Trump.  And so, he chose to veer off during the speech.  For reasons known only to him.
 
"I always say,” he noted, “I'd rather get the presidential medal, because the guys that came in — other than you and a few others — oftentimes they've suffered greatly, right? They've suffered greatly, or they're not around. But it's our highest honor."
 
Yes, really.
 
Trump not only repeated once again that he preferred the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Medal of Honor – but said so to the face of a war hero who had received the Medal of Honor!!  Risking his life in the service of his country.

But that’s okay.  It’s just Trump being Trump. (tm) And if you happened to miss it this time around, not to worry, he’ll likely say it again.  Or something worse.  Because dementia is degenerative.
 
And thoughtless, egomaniacal, hate-filled insensitivity lives forever.

Periodically, I've posted songs that I've written.  I thought I've posted this one, but I was talking about it with a friend and went to look for it on the site, but couldn't find it.  I'm surprised, since it might be my favorite I did in the songs I wrote with Andy Marx, who did the music.

It has a bit of an odd history.  We wrote it, but then for a variety of reasons, it took a very long time to get it recorded, so that we could send it around.  (And whatever number you're thinking, you're low.  In this case, "a very long time" shall be defined as three years.  Yes, really)  But all's well that eventually ends well.

No, the song is not about me.  But when I wrote the lyrics, I was thinking about two couples very close to me who I knew.

Anyway, here's the song, with Andy singing and playing.  The lyrics are below, so that you can sing along.  All that's missing is the bouncing ball.

The world was born the day we met.
Tomorrow would shine on forever.
We made such plans, we dreamed such dreams.
And the way we'd reach them was together.
But no one's said 
That what we want is what we get.
Someday the rules may change,
But it hasn't happened yet.

     We did the best that we could do.
     We felt for sure somehow we'd make it.
     The power of hope's so strong, it almost pulled us through.
     We did the best that we could do.

The Winter fire is safe and warm.
A Summer alone's the coldest season.
I wish I knew what turned out wrong.
And I wish to God I knew the reason.
I've been with you through heaven,
And I'm without you now in hell.
I can't help feeling angry, 
But I'll always wish you well.

     We did the best that we could do.
     We felt for sure somehow we'd make it.
     But one plus nothing can never equal two.
     We did the best that we could do.

But no one ever said 
That what we want is what we get.
Someday the rules may change,
But it hasn't happened yet.

     We did the best that we could do.
     We felt for sure somehow we'd make it.
     Two different stories, and both of them were true.
     We did the best that we could do.

     We did the best that we could do.

     We did the best that we could do.

     We did the best that we could do.

There's a strange story that hasn't gotten much attention, but is very telling.  (Since it was uncovered, in part, by CNN, it may get traction, at least online where they reported the scoop.)  It's that tweets are being sent out from fake TwiXter accounts using the photos of popular European influencers that endorse Trump.  Many, if not all of them, having the Blue Check Marks validating the accounts that, thanks to Elon Musk, anyone can buy.

What makes the story crazy, if not bizarre is that while the photos are of real people -- European influencers, as I said -- the accounts for them are under fictitious names.  This means that few people in the United States (y'know, the people who actually vote) would have the slightest idea who they are and therefore would mean absolutely nothing to them.  So, why on Earth, use these people?  The thinking is that using real people makes the fake accounts seem more personal -- totally understandable, except that if that's what you want, you could use the photos of anyone.  And if you didn't want to use photos of American citizens who might be recognized here, okay, makes sense, then use photos of people who live in Lithuania.  Or Slovenia.  Or Albania.  (Actually, Liechtenstein would be ideal -- it's not only tiny, but begins with "Lie.")  You'd probably be pretty safe from detection with any of them.  But instead, for some crackpot reason, they decided to use photos of among the most popular influencers in Europe!  Who have a reasonable chance of being recognized by fans in Europe and bring attention to the scam.  Maybe they thought more eye-catching photos were available they could use -- but posting intimate photos of oneself is a feature, not a bug on social media.  Perhaps even more so for private individual more than professional influencers with a high profile.  So, it's…well, weird.  One more weird thing in the weird Trump campaign.

By the way, to be clear, this isn't a funny story, but something deeply serious.  It's just that the handling of something this sophisticated was so comically screwy that it helped allow the scam to be uncovered.

One example, in this article from CNN, is a a fake TwiXter account with a very large following for someone named "Luna" - who is fictious  -- however it uses a photo of Debbie Nederlof, a German fashion influencer who, of course, can't vote in the United States.  CNN contacted, Ms. Nederlof - who is a trained optician and single mother working two jobs (a social media manager at an engineering firm and as a mode).  As CNN described it, she was "was angry and frustrated that her face was being used to push pro-Trump propaganda" on the social media platform.

"To be honest, 'what the f**k?' was my reaction," she said. "That was my reaction, because I have nothing to do with the United States. With Trump, the political things over there. What the hell do I - from a small place in Germany - care about US politics?"
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