On this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the guest is country music singer-songwriter Jason Isbell, a four-time Grammy-winner. His conversation with host Peter Sagal is very breezy, quick-witted, self-effacing and fun, which is somewhat unexpected since he’s known for writing sad songs. By the way, not discussed in the interview was how much Isbell said he loved and was inspired by John Prine, growing up listening to his recording, noting that “I value that time that I spent with John about as much as I value anything.” And Prine always said that being the inspiration for Jason Isbell was one of the best compliments he’d gotten. I mention this in particular because when the Country Music Association failed to acknowledge the death from COVID of John Prine – as well as the deaths of Jerry Jeff Walker and Billy Joe Shaver – on the annual CMA broadcast, Isbell and his then-wife, country performer Amanda Shires, both put their admiration to action and publicly resigned from the organization. This is the full Wait, Wait… broadcast, but you can jump directly to the “Not My Job” segment, it starts around the 18:15 mark.
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The guest on this week’s Al Franken podcast is Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler. As part of what he plans to be periodic, ongoing discussions), Al writes -- -“The Republican Party has spent years undoing the will of the people in the state of Wisconsin. With gerrymandered voting maps, they’ve been able to lose the popular vote and still have a supermajority. But things are changing thanks to Ben Wikler and the Wisconsin Democratic Party! In our first Battleground State episode, Ben explains the work that is being done to preserve democracy in this critical swing state and how they are organizing to secure a win for Joe Biden in November.”
Okay, a day late this week (under HBO's new "Thursday drop" schedule), if you missed Last Week Tonight with John Oliver this week, the Main Story was about healthcare, but specifically Medicaid. The report is terrific. Extremely interesting, largely about changes that have been made to the program, largely by specific states who administer it, all of which are creating hurdles for the people the Medicaid is meant to assist. And in some cases, essentially eliminating access. The piece is very detailed, information, galling, fascinating and often extremely funny. We'll let Tim O'Brien have his say today. He's a biographer of Trump, who Trump sued for defamation (claiming that O'Brien didn't make his as rich as he insisted he was),and O'Brien not only won -- but he got to see Trump's taxes on a non-disclosure agreement. O'Brien was a guest on Nicolle Wallace's show yesterday, and told a story that speaks loudly about who Trump is on a couple of levels. The first is something that got hinted about early on, but has eventually gotten largely lost amid all the other Transgressions of Trump, like trying to overthrow the government, four indictments, being found liable for the equivalence of rape, being found guilty of business fraud, enabling white supremacists and, well, y'know, the whole fascism and wanting to be a dictator thing. What O'Brien talks about is Trump's ties to the Mob. And the second thing is that Trump swaggers and talks tough, but like most insecure bullies, if there's a risk of getting pushed back, he retreats. O'Brien began his conversation this way -- "Donald Trump's first partners in Atlantic City, Ken Shapiro, a bag man for the Philadelphia mob, and a labor racketeer named Danny Sullivan. Those were his two partners in Atlantic City. When Trump Tower got built, 80 percent of Trump Tower was built with concrete at a time when all the skyscrapers in Manhattan had long since converted to building their high-rises out of steel." "Why?" Nicolle Wallace interrupts. "Well, I mean, you know, I suspect because he was getting a sweetheart deal from the mob, and why he needed to get concrete and it was very mobbed up," said O'Brien. "He built a very palatial apartment. When Donald and I talked about this down in Mar-a-Lago, he said, you know, I went to John Cody and I told him what's what and that guy never, ever messed with me because he knew who he was dealing with. And then he pauses and he says, he's still in jail, right? It finally dawned on Mr. Tough Guy that John Cody isn't somebody he'd want to tangle with in public, and he'd want to make sure he's still in jail because Donald Trump, like every classic bully — if you push back, it's often masking infantile weaknesses." O'Brien went on: "He's not a tough person when you scratch past the surface, but he fetishizes mobsters. When we talked in the top of the hour, what he said to me about John Gotti, that he sort of wanted to model himself on John Gotti. Because John Gotti was such a tough S.O.B. He would sit in the courtroom, and he wouldn’t flinch, and he wouldn’t cry, and he’d stare down the judge and the jury, and that’s how you should roll. And he’s compared himself on the campaign trail to Al Capone. This is someone who has a cartoonish, juvenile and dangerous fixation on how mobsters are to be honored, and how they roll in society, and he models himself on that." You can watch it here, as well. (Normally, I'd have just posted the video, and O'Brien tells the story so well. But I thought it read particularly well. So, you get a Daily Double, of sorts.) We interrupt this website for a Jimmy Kimmel Special. Our regularly schedule Main Story from Last Week Tonight will return tomorrow. This is because on Wednesday, in the midst of his criminal trial in Manhattan as he runs for president, Trump found the time to write a meltdown social media rant against Jimmy Kimmel for reasons known only to him. It dealt with the Oscars, which were five weeks earlier and from which most of the world had moved on. Before we go any further though, here's what Trump wrote -- Kimmel had a great response on Twitter. Replying to this post he wrote, “In fairness to our former President, many stable geniuses confuse me with Al Pacino.....” I’m sure he’ll say something about it on his show tonight. By the way, I responded with something all other respondents missed. I noted that starting all the way back in 1989, the Motional Picture Academy has not said "the famous and mandatory" (sic) line "And the winner is..." -- but instead have long been required to say, "And the Oscar goes to..." Apparently, it seems that the "very stable genius" hasn't noticed this change for the past 35 years! You read this and it's hard not to think, "This is the Republican nominee for president??" Putting aside the attempt to overthrow the government, the rape, the business fraud, the four other indictments, and the whole, y'know, fascism -- even on just this bizarre tweet alone and it's bewildering that there are people who not only don't think he's a malignant narcissist, has borderline dementia, and nuts, but actually think he's smart, a leader, hand-picked by Jesus and should be in charge of the safety and security of the United States and have responsibility for the nuclear bomb. I read a comment that Trump’s rant might have been prompted by a very funny piece Kimmel had done the night before where he used a chalk board to break down Trump’s infantile Gettysburg Wow! analysis. But the thing is, if you’re Trump and so upset that a guy had such a funny, scathing monologue breaking down your words in careful detail, why would you think that if you send a long rant, the guy won’t do the same thing again???! As it happens, I had recorded Kimmel's show that night because they had a guest on who I wanted to see -- but I also wondered if Kimmel would address Trump's tweet. Okay, actually I didn't wonder, I was absolutely sure he would. And not only, of course, did he, but Kimmel dove into Trump immediately. For almost 10 minutes (!), and it was hilarious and scathing. Watching it, I was reminded of the famous admonition about going after newspapers – never attack someone who buys ink by the barrel. Trump trying to go after Kimmel, who clearly relishes such things and is generally magnificent in how he responds, is the electronic equivalent of that. I was going to describe the monologue, but far-better is just watching the full clip. No need to scroll through to the find the part on Trump, he gets into it right off. It’s magnificent and touches every note, include some you don't expect. He even references (although subtly) the point I made about the Oscars long-since past "...and the winner is..." line. This is a maestro at work, who just loves what he's doing. The other day, I wrote online that it's gotten to the point where today's MAGOPs lie as easily as other people breathe. But then, that's understandable when they follow their cult leader who has 30,000+ documented lies during his time in office, culled by the Washington Post. Further, that's mesh by the foundation of today's MAGOP basing their concept of "news" from conspiracy theories and a literally-anonymous source like QAnon, and so have come to actually believe in things like that JFK Jr. is going to come back to life and run with Trump. And that Anderson Cooper eats people. So, it only follows that they would accept it when Trump's spokesperson Kellyanne Conway says that she is offering "alternative facts." And when Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani says that "Truth is not truth." It's gotten deeply out of control the last few months, even more so now that Trump is actually on trial and melting down in his daily pronouncements that have little-known relationship to the truth or reality, and his supportive acolytes follow suit. It's times like leaves when you wish Dragnet was still on television, so that every week, people could be reminded of what matters when they hear Joe Friday always say to a witness who starts going off on a tangent. "The facts, ma'am, just the facts." I was trying to think what to write about this -- when I realized I already had, last August. So, rather than dive in again and drive myself loopy, I thought I would just repeat it, because it remains spot on. The Fact is...
It’s been said that America today is a divided country. And it is. That suggests the divide is like cutting an apple in half, and both sides are just different portions of the same apple. I would suggest that the divide is not that at all, but something very different. This doesn’t mean all Democrats agree on everything among themselves. They don’t. Nor does it mean all Republicans agree among themselves. They don’t. But for the most part, Democrats are Democrats because foundationally they generally agree with one another. And Republicans are Republicans because they, too, all have largely the same grounded beliefs as other Republicans. Democrats factually watch as people break into the U.S. Capitol, cause damage, and build a hangman’s noose and recognize that these actions meant members of Congress were in danger. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats factually see an ongoing increase in Stage 5 hurricanes, wildfires, sub-zero winter cold and blizzards, and temperatures reaching the highest ever for a month in recorded history as evidence of Climate Change. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats accept the certified facts that Joe Biden get seven million more votes than Donald Trump, and 306 Electoral votes for Biden to 232 for Trump, which got Biden legally and fairly elected U.S. President. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats see, as fact, a unanimous jury find Trump liable of sexual assault, which the judge described in a written ruling as the equivalence of rape, as being how the Justice System works and the Rule of Law. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats hear scientists say, as fact, that COVID-19 is a deadly disease that can cause a world pandemic. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats understand that Russia has factually been and remains a major adversary of the United States, and that Vladimir Putin is a dictatorial despot. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats know, as fact, that when you get your information from a totally anonymous Q-source, you have absolutely no idea who it actually, truly is, and so there is literally no way you can accept anything said as fact. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats trust the volumes of factual research evidence from accredited scientists that says COVID vaccines are safe and effective. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats see 1,000 people, as fact, plead guilty or be found guilty for their actions on January 6 and consider that the U.S. Judiciary System and the Rule of Law is working. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats read the Mueller Report that factually says in black-and-white that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats see horrified scientists insist that no one should take ivermectin horse paste or ingest bleach or use UV rays to treat COVID because it doesn’t work and can actually kill you. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats hear a factual audio recording of Trump illegally asking the Georgia Secretary of State to find 11,780 votes that he’s told don’t exist. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats look at photos the FBI took of documents they factually recovered from Trump’s home. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats know that, as a fact, Bill Gates did not put microchips into the COVID vaccine and that the vaccine will not magnetize you. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats learned when they were children that the way the Judicial System factually works is that it is the citizens sitting on a Grand Jury who vote whether or not to indict a defendant, and the verdict is not ordered by the president. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats see Barack Obama’s official birth record as factual proof of citizenship. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats know that science is based on empirical research and facts, and is not a belief system. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats understand, as fact, that the FBI went to a judge, provided evidence to justify getting a search warrant, and the judge determined that cause had been met, and signed the legal order. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats accept, as fact, the results of a four-year investigation by Trump Special Counsel John Durham and a five-year FBI investigation that find no accepted bribes, no crimes, no transgressions by Joe Biden. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats mourn the fact that 1.2 million Americans have died of COVID. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats understand that when Trump was indicted by three Grand Juries, this is the way the Judicial System is factually supposed to operate and is the Rule of Law. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats watch Barbie as, factually, a light-hearted movie fantasy romp and not a threat to both national security and male virility. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats understand that selling the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head toys in the same box factually cuts the cost of production, and is not an attack on male virility. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats look at M&M's as factual pieces of chocolate candy, not sexual objects. Republicans believe otherwise. Democrats see the graves of John F. Kennedy and JFK Jr. and mourn the fact that they died. Republicans believe otherwise. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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