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?"
​

 
Special prosecutors were assigned to investigator the matter and completely cleared the newspaper of any wrongdoing.  Meanwhile, lawsuits have been filed against the city, its then-mayor, several town officials and the sheriff, Gideon Cody, who resigned a little over a month later.
 
Well, last week, Sheriff Gideon Cody was arrested for obstruction of justice.  The charge was for persuading a witness to destroy emails and withhold information from an investigation into Cody’s involvement in the raid.
 
Owner-publisher Meyer notes that the charge is only for the cover-up, not for the raid itself, and feels there’s been local political influence in blocking efforts.  However, he said he was “happy something happened, at least.”  He also said that they paper has “probably exhausted all options here” over the raid, there are still those lawsuits pending, and it’s likely that they will pursue legal charges in federal court.
 
For reasons I don’t know I can’t find the articles I wrote about the raid, however this is a good piece about it by NBC News, and it includes video of the MSNBC interview with Eric Meyer.  You can find it here.
​

 
You may have noticed that there has been a lot of news coverage about the question whether President Biden should drop out of the race.  I’ve been watching very little of it.
 
Not because I don’t think it’s an important question – it’s an incredibly important question.  Not because I think it’s certain he’ll be staying in…or guaranteed he’s dropping out – I have no idea.  Not because he’s sure to lose or likely to win – I don’t know this early before people are paying serious attention.  Not because I don’t know the answer to any of these questions – I don’t know the answer to many questions, which is often why I do watch, to find out the answers.
 
I’ve been watching very little of it because no one talking knows the answer to any of the questions.  And they still answering with great certainty.
 
There’s only so much time I can spend watching pure uncertainty and total guesswork answering questions they don’t have the answers to.  Especially when so many of them are rock solid sure they’re right.
 
Of course, this is critically important.  And I’m riveted into what the outcome will be.  And occasionally nuggets of news are dropped in, like who has called for the President to drop out.  Or stay in.  But no matter how certain they are of their position, even they don’t know if they’re right.  “They” being on either side.
 
And some of them will be right.  But it’s still just a guess.  And it’s okay to guess.  But 24/7 guessing has its limits for me.  Especially since after about 15 minutes, we’ve heard the thoughtful reasons why President Biden should leave the race – or stay in.
 
Here’s how much this is a Moebius Strip.  The ribbon that’s a continuous loop with only one side that twists back on itself. 
 
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as wise a politicians as there is in the Democratic Party today, was asked her position of President Biden.  And she said, ““It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We’re all encouraging him to make that decision, because time is running short. He is beloved, he is respected, and people want him to make that decision.”
 
To which MSNBC’s Jonthan Lemire replied, “He has said he has made the decision, he has said firmly this week he is going to run. Do you want him to run?”
 
To which Ms. Pelosi responded, “I want him to do whatever he decides to do. And that’s, that’s the way it is. Whatever he decides, we go with.”
 
To which the response would be – but he says he’s decided. 
 
And the comeback is – “I’ll go with whatever he decides to do.”

About a week before President Biden sat down for questioning by Special Counsel Robert Hur last year, he did a 20-minute interview with long-time journalist John Harwood, formerly of CNN who worked with ProPublica to film it.  Because of heightened interest following last Thursday's debate -- and because of House MAGOPs trying to get the Hur questioning released -- ProPublica decided to release Harwood's interview with President Biden done as virtually the same time.

(They did earlier release a somewhat edited and "produced" version that used five cameras and had cutaways between the President and Harwood, as well as a few minor edits of crosstalk with camera operators.  This new video is completely unedited and uses only the camera focused on President Biden.)

As Pro Publica notes, this is not current, but from late September, almost nine months ago.  So, it is not offered as "evidence" of anything.  Just the best footage available of the most recent lengthy sit-down interview that the President has done.  They mentioned, as well, that John Harwood did not submit his questions ahead of time, nor did he get approval for the topics.

Here's what they wrote about it --

"In the wake of President Joe Biden’s poor debate performance, his opponents and most major media organizations have pointed out that he has done few interviews that give the public an opportunity to hear him speak without a script or teleprompters.

'So much has been made of this limited access that the impressions from Special Counsel Robert K. Hur about his five hours of interviews with the president on Oct. 8 and 9 drove months of coverage. The prosecutor said Biden had 'diminished faculties in advancing age' and called him a 'well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.' Biden angrily dismissed these assertions, which Vice President Kamala Harris called 'politically motivated.'"

The interview was done on Sept. 29, nine days before the Hur interviews began. ProPublica writes that they know this video won't settle any arguments about President Biden today, but they say believe it important to let the public see one of Biden’s rare, extended conversations with a reporter.  They add that --

"Recording began as soon as Biden was miked and sitting in the chair that Friday at 2:50 p.m. Earlier that day, Biden’s press staff had said the president would have only 10 minutes for the interview, instead of the previously agreed upon 20 minutes. We requested that the interview go the full 20 minutes. You can hear during the unedited interview a couple of moments when White House staff interrupted to signal that the interview should come to a close. Biden seemed eager to continue talking."

To repeat, this is from almost nine months ago, and not a document of President Biden today.  But it is a document of President Biden just a week before talking with Republican Robert Hur who unnecessarily went out of his way to make comments about the President's memory and demeanor.  What we see here is an 81-year old man who is thoughtful, knowledgeable and insightful on everything asked of him for the full twenty minutes.  Without a single lie in sight.

It should be added that, while this is from nine months ago, the last interview I can recall Trump doing with a serious journalist, Jonathan Swan of Axios, was almost four years ago.

​Al offers a memorial of sorts this week.  He writes, “My friend Howard Fineman died this week. He had a long career as one of Washington’s most respected political reporters and began his career at the Louisville Courier Journal. There, he was able to witness the rise of Mitch McConnell and learn what kind of politician he was. In this episode from 2019, we discuss what makes McConnell tick and Howard’s career. May his memory be a blessing.”
 

If you didn't see Jon Stewart on The Daily Show last night, his news segment was very funny -- and angry, notably when getting into how the media asks questions of public officials.  And he was spot on.