Donald Trump could have blamed the Stay Puft marshmallow man. It would have been as plausible. Instead, he chose a 400-pound couch potato. One obese hacker. In his first debate with Hillary Clinton in 2016, Trump shrugged off evidence of Russian cyber-sabotage of our elections, saying it could be “somebody sitting on their bed that…
Details“Fake news.” How many times? How often has Donald Trump used that throw-away slur to deflect news coverage he doesn’t like? Hundreds? Thousands? It’s an effective dodge for questions from actual reporters for actual newsrooms for whom credibility and accuracy are their coin of existence. “Fake news.” For the right audience, it has a “Seig,…
DetailsFor Martin Baron, April 5, 2018, is the day the euphemisms died. No more “untruths.” No more “misstatements of fact.” No more “bending the truth.” The Washington Post, of which Baron was editor, would now call Donald Trump’s lies what they were. Lies. In his book “Collision of Power,” Baron writes that the paper’s prior…
Details“Highly anticipated,” said the TV anchor. Highly anticipated? Come on, dude. For millions of Americans, the first criminal trial of Donald Trump is Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Ramadan, all in one. Throw in Toyotathon. It’s the first criminal trial ever of a former president — he who swore to uphold our laws and now pleads “King’s…
DetailsDigging deep for a pretext to ignore what the 14th Amendment prescribes for insurrectionists, one ex-president in particular, the Supreme Court acceded to wringing its hands. Giving states the power to keep Donald Trump off their ballots, the court equivocated, might be what the law requires, but it would unleash — um — “chaos.” We…
DetailsIts handle is golden-sheathed. Its cup is bronzed and monogrammed. It’s the Trump Flush America plunger. “The plunger is my favorite tool,” says the golden pitchman. “I use it daily.” “Make your toilet great again.” OK, that’s a joke. I need to make that clear. Considering what else Donald Trump has hawked – parts of…
DetailsI should have confined my mind to what spring was doing. Everything was greening under azure skies as I strode from the bus stop to where I teach. A season born anew should have won every ounce of my attention. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help but notice the litter of winter — a yellow fast-food wrapper; a…
DetailsHearing Donald Trump prosecute the Big Lie and Republicans parrot it reminds me of another masterwork in group duplicity. Back when the George W. Bush White House hewed to shifting fallacious pretexts for invading Iraq, a friend remarked: “They have to meet every morning to keep their stories straight.” False comparison, I know: There’s nothing…
DetailsNot since Rocky Marciano relocated Ezzard Charles’ chin to an adjoining county. Not since a Chuck Stobbs fastball took a 565-foot ride on Mickey Mantle’s bat. Only in sport’s annals can adequate comparisons be found for the thumping Joe Biden laid on stationary Republican targets in Congress in his fourth State of the Union address.…
DetailsBased on any reasonable interpretation of Texas law, the highway cop who stopped Brandy Bottone on a Dallas thoroughfare asked the wrong question. Instead of, “License, insurance and vehicle registration,” he should have asked, “Do you have an embryo inside you? And what do you plan to do with it?” As the news story reported,…
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