April 25, 2019--Jack: Running Scared

A number of friends have been asking about Jack. One wrote, "I'm rested and can take a few stories involving him."

So, after a restful nap of my own I sucked it up and called Jack to see what was on his mind.

"You're calling to gloat?" Jack, already edgy, said.

I was but said, "I'm just wanting to know what you thought about the Mueller report."

"No collusion, no obstruction."

"So, you're still drinking the Kool-Aid?"

"Quite the opposite, I'm reading the report carefully. So I can come to my own conclusions."

"With the no-collusion-no-obstruction spin it sounds to me as if you're still on page one."

His not responding confirmed that Jack is not famous for being much of a reader. Like his president.

"If nothing else," I said, "If you do read any of it I recommend looking at volume two, the section about all the things Trump did to, well, obstruct justice. Like demanding that the White House counsel, Don McGahn, fire Mueller. McGahn refused and offered to resign. If he followed those orders that would have been a very big deal and Trump would likely have been indicted."

"I thought a president can't be indicted?"

"This may or may not be true. That policy has never been tested in court. But I didn't call to get into a constitutional debate, which neither of us knows enough about to have."

"So then to what do I owe this call?"

"Just to get your general view of things. Particularly what it means politically." I deliberately didn't mention that quite a few of my friends were asking about him. Talking with him could be unpleasant enough that I didn't need to have to also deal with his vanity. But it is true that a lot of people I know like hearing about him. 

"I think he's running sacred."

"Trump? Really? That doesn't sound like him."

"So why did he send out 50 tweets in 24 hours while he was in Florida this past weekend? That sounds like running scared to me."

"But you said he's feeling exonerated. He even said he's never been happier. So I don't get how he can believe he received a clean bill of health and at the same time be scared. Scared of what?"

"First of all you need to understand how right-wingers experience and respond to reality. We are at our best when we feel victimized. When we think things are unfairly stacked against us even if they aren't. That makes us furious and we act accordingly. That's why if you listen to Fox at night, to the Sean Hannities, or the ultraconservative radio talk show people, they're always in a rage even when winning. One would think they'd sound triumphant with Trump in the White House and until last November having majorities in both houses of Congress. But, no, they still raged as if Hillary was president and Pelosi and Schumer were running Congress. It would also be as if there was no Fox news. Just fake news from the New York Times and Washington Post."

"Interesting."

"Trump talks about winning and even when he does still sounds aggrieved. This is our default mode--frustration, fear, anger, rage."

"This sounds right to me," I said.

"But Trump is no fool. He knows the truth--he can claim vindication by Mueller all he wants, but he saw his poll numbers plummet to all-time lows earlier this week. Down to 35, 37 percent who still claim he's doing a good job. This is the core of his core. He knows with numbers like this even Kirsten Gillibrand or John Hickenlooper could beat him in 2020. So the 50 tweets, so the mobilization of his clown lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and that horror show Kellyanne Conway."

"You too," I said, "are sounding pretty worked up. Who are you feeling good about?"

"At the moment, no one. This includes his son-in-law, who looks to me like a bloodless vampire. He said really stupid things over the weekend--that the Mueller investigation is more dangerous to the United States than the Russians' involvement in the 2016 campaign. That was even hard for someone like me to swallow."

"So, that's it? That's all you have to say?"

"Hardly. Since you were nice enough to call me, I'll let you in on a little inside baseball."

"Shoot."

"Trump has a strategy to get reelected that depends on the Democrats. Like ju jitsu it takes one's enemies' strength and turns it against them. That's what Trump is up to."

"What's the Democrats' strength that he's using to his benefit?"

"Your sense of righteousness and fairness. You aways want to feel you're doing the good and right thing, which doesn't always translate into winning strategies."

"Give me some examples."

"OK. Let's talk about impeachment."

"Do we have to?"

"Only if you want to learn how to be smart."

"Shoot." I was feeling exasperated.

"Trump knows that half the Democrat caucus is obsessed with impeaching him. But they're the ones who represent mainly secure blue districts and won't be punished in 2020 by voters who don't want to see Trump impeached. These politically safe Democrats want to see Trump impeached."

"I agree that that could be true."

"But then there are those Democrats who are not wanting to make impeachment a priority because they are in red or purple districts and could be vulnerable to Republicans in 2020. For them, if the Democrats proceed with impeachment they will likely lose their seats and Nancy maybe her majority and speakership."

"But what about the race for the presidency? How does impeaching Trump help him get reelected? Your ju jitsu analogy?"

"It takes the Dem's eye off the ball. It gets them so worked up about impeachment that they don't talk about things people really care about--health care, preexisting conditions, student debt, women's issues, jobs for working class people, all the things that make Democrats strong. Again, Trump plans to turn this against them. And by doing so--he wins. Keep an eye on how he'll move to bait Democrats into impeaching him. As counterintuitive as it may sound he actually wants to be impeached."

"What a nightmare," I said, "Why did I ever listen to my friends and call you?"

"Aha!" Jack said, "I knew someone put you up to this!"

Cackling, he rushed off the phone.

March 22, 2019--Conways On A Hot Tin Roof

A cousin and I with whom I used to be very close have not exchanged a work with each other for more than two years. Another cousin has refused to spend Thanksgivings with his parents and siblings, also for the past two years.

Then there are the shattered family stories I have been hearing from friends for about as long.

And there are the sad stories of what has happened to so many who somehow believed in him, went to work in the White House, and by now have become lifelong enemies.

These stories, and perhaps millions more, have one thing in common--Donald Trump.

Now, in plain sight, we are witnesses to the breakup of a longterm marriage.

Attorney and constitutional authority George Conway and his wife, presidential advisor Kellyanne Conway's relationship is coming apart in tweets, live on social media and cable news.

In this regard they can be thought of as surrogates for the unravelling of civility and the social fabric of American life.

Some time ago someone, I think Joe Scarborough, said that everyone who gets involved with Trump inevitably is "slimed." And the rest of us, even if at a great distance, in frustration and rage, are being brought low when we descend to the use of mockery and vitriol, sadly severing relationships, especially with those we have loved, because we so despise, even have come to hate our president.

The most recent Conway flareup began with husband George blatantly questioning Trump's sanity. Among other things he tweeted--

"Americans should be thinking seriously now about Trump's mental condition and psychological state."

Then, after Trump's smackdown response George Conway, further turning up the heat, posted a link to the diagnostic criteria for narcissistic personality disorder, and about Trump wrote: "You. Are. Nuts."

Trump snapped--

“George Conway, often referred to as Mr. Kellyanne Conway by those who know him, is VERY jealous of his wife’s success & angry that I, with her help, didn’t give him the job he so desperately wanted. I barely know him but just take a look, a stone cold LOSER & husband from hell!”

Coming to Trump's defense, Kellyanne told Politico--

"He (Trump) left it alone for months out of respect for me. But you think he shouldn't respond when somebody, a non-medical professional accuses him of having a mental disorder? You think he should just take that sitting down????"

And so here we are. What began as a joke of a political soap opera is now destroying lives. Including, in many cases, of people with whom we have been close to us.

We are all being slimed.

December 20, 2018--Trump's Distractions

If you are wondering why Donald Trump is ordering the removal of all U.S. military forces from Syria, declaring ISIS defeated even those they aren't--up to 30,000 ISIS fighters remain--the answer by now should be familiar: this retreat, which he initiated without consulting Congress or his State Department or Pentagon, is to distract us from the Michael Flynn fiasco and the humiliating collapse of his own private family slush fund, the Donald J. Trump Foundation.

You do have to admit that pulling the Syria withdrawal seemingly out of a hat is impressive in one way--who but Trump has our 2,000 troops on their radar screen ready to be brought home as a distraction from his political troubles. As of 5:00 am this morning on the New York Times webpage it is the lead story. Flynn and the Foundation are buried somewhere. He managed to turn both into one-day stories.

But don't mishear me--Flynn and the Foundation will contribute to bringing him down, especially when we get to see what is redacted in the Flynn charging memo: that he and Flynn openly conspired to play politics and strategic footsie with the Russians. As I have speculated here, Flynn was likely wearing a wire during some of those conversations, including in the Oval Office, and these tapes will turn out to be Trump's smoking gun.

And if you are wondering why Trump seems so adept, so quick in coming up with distractions of the Syria kind I suspect there is a simple explanation for that too--he has a pre-bickered list of them in his jacket pocket which he can pull out at a moments notice. 

(Ever think about why he never buttons his suit jackets? Not because they don't fit any more after he's gained at least 50 pounds since moving into the White House where the vanilla ice cream is available by the bucket, but to allow easy access to the distractions list.)

Investigative reporter that I am, from unnamed sources I have a copy of the list which I will share with you--

DJTRUMP DISTRACTIONS

Withdraw troops from Iraq

Withdraw troops from Afghanistan

Withdraw troops from Honduras

Withdraw troops from Japan

Withdraw troops from South Korea

Withdraw troops from Germany

Withdraw troops from all NATO countries

Withdraw troops from all bases in the United States
Start war with Honduras
Start war with Panama
Start war with Costa Rica
Start war with Mexico
Start war with California

Fire all Internal Revenue Service personnel

Fire all traffic controllers

Fire Ron Rosenstein

Fire Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Fire Kellyanne Conway

Fire Kellyanne's husband

Fire Jeff Sessions

Fire Rex Tillerson

Fire Reince Priebus

Fire Sean Spicer

Fire Jeff Sessions

Throw Sessions under the bus

Trow Spicer under the bus

Throw Kellyanne under the bus

Fire Wolf Blitzer

Fire Rachel Maddow

Fire Mika Brezezzzinzki

Throw Mika Bzezinzkiz under the bus

Throw Don Jr. under the bus

Throw Eric Trump under the bus

Throw Jared Kushner under the bus

Throw Ivanka under the bus

Throw Melania under the bus

Fire Omarosa

Fire Alec Baldwin

Fire Donald Trump

August 17, 2018--A Pocket Full of Distractions

I finally figured out why Trump doesn't button his suit jackets. Until now I thought it was a vain attempt to hide his William Howard Taft-like girth. 

Now I realize it was for another, to him more urgent reason--to give him quick access to the list of distractions he has secreted away in his inner jacket pocket so it is always ready at hand for him to refer to in order to change the subject when he does something wrong or makes a fool of himself. To distract us and the media. 

To change the subject, for example, from Omarosa and the N-word tapes to cancelling former C.I.A. director John Brennan's security clearance. 

Trump has this list nearby in the same way he has the nuclear codes at the ready. Those are schlepped along wherever he goes by a military aide in the so-called "football." 

The list of distractions, to him much more important, Trump carries himself. Close to the heart.

I was able to sneak a look at the list the other day, and for the sake of checks and balances and the historical record I here for the first time reveal what's on it.

He has the distractions categorized--so, for example, there are distractions in waiting about immigrants. They include--

Point out serious felonies perpetrated by illegal immigrants to remind your supporters they are murders and rapists.

Announce all children separated from their parents at the border have been reunited.

Claim Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi support amnesty.  

Mention Nancy Pelosi along with "no-collusion" at every opportunity or whenever her name comes to mind.

Under the distraction category Women--

Mention Maxine Waters every time you appear in public. Remind people that she supports Nancy Pelosi and this is evidence of her low IQ.

Talk about how smart you are: where you went to college, your IQ, how much money you are worth. About that, triple what your personal accountant itemized on your most recent 1040 form. (Don't worry about the tax implications)

Invite Laura Ingraham, Janine Piro, and Megyn Kelly to the White House for, like Obama, lunch on the lawn. (Don't mention Obama)

On August 26th, National Dog Day, announce you've changed your mind about Hillary Clinton. (Your supporters will stop chanting "Lock her up" every time you mention her name. Instead, they will bark)

Announce that you and Melania will be adopting a shelter dog. (You're the first president since FDR not to have one)

African-American distractions include--

Talk about black people who are some of your best friends: Don King, Mike Tyson, Dennis Rodman. Invite them to lunch on the White House lawn. (Consider inviting Obama, who is a black African)

Invite Miss Universe Pageant winner Paulina Vega to lunch on the White House lawn. (She may be from Colombia but she is still black)

Call Nancy Pelosi a low-IQ dog to demonstrate you are not a racist.

There are many media distractions. Here's just one that touches a few bases--

Announce you're going on Don Lemon's show to talk about your black friends. (He's black)

It's on CNN. (This shows the intrepid side of you--your willingness to venture into enemy territory. It's not the same as visiting Afghanistan, but we all know that's the last place in the world you'll be visiting.)

And with Lemon you get a three-fer: His blackness, CNNness, and his gayness. (He's out of the closet)

Then there are North Korea distractions--

Reprieve "Little Rocket Man." (To flatter him consider "Big Rocket Man")

Shoot down a North Korean jet off the coast of South Korea.

Bomb Syria

Bomb Tehran.

Bomb Venezuela.

Bomb Pyongyang.

Nuke Pyongyang.

Bomb San Fransisco (Nancy Pelosi's district).

Finally, there are the firings distractions--

Fire chief of staff Kelly.

Fire Jeff Sessions. (The attorney general)

Fire Stephen Miller. (Your senior advisor)

Fire Kellyanne Conway. (Counselor to the president--you)

Fire Sarah Huckabee Sanders. (Your press secretary)

Fire Mike Pence. (Forget that you can't do that. Fire him anyway)

Fire Sean Spicer. (Ignore that you already did that)

Fire Michael Flynn (Ditto. Fire him again)

Fire Steve Bannon. (Ditto)

Fire Paul Manafort. (Ditto)

Fire Anthony Scaramucci. (Ditto)

Fire Omarosa. (Ditto)

Fire Jared. (Your son-in-law)

Fire Ivanka. (Your daughter)

Fire Melania. (Your wife)

Fire Barron. (The youngest of you 3 or 4 sons)

Fire Nancy Pelosi. (Soon again to be Speaker of the House)

March 1, 2018--President Pence

Yesterday I began to worry about what kind of president Mike Pence will be.

Among other things what will it be like having a genuine religious fanatic in the Oval Office after the current narcissist-in-chief resigns. 

I worried that Pence may do more harm by actually being effective, with "effective" measured by what he will be able to get done by strokes of the executive-order pen as well as through legislation--enough members of Congress will be so relieved that Trump and his enablers packed up and left that they gleefully will vote to pass bills to allow prayer in schools as well as arm the teachers leading those prayers.

I know, I really do, that contemplating this is premature and overblown--I don't want to jinx it--but after eternally-loyal Hope Hicks up and quit, beaten-down Jeff Sessions hit back after Trump savaged him again on Twitter, calling it "disgraceful" that Sessions did not do enough to investigate Obama's alleged illegal surveillance of the Trump campaign and transition, feeling safe to do so because he sensed that Trump has been substantially diminished, I'm imagining Pence in charge because, in addition to the above, Jared Kushner is a politically deadman walking, and, above all else, Robert Mueller allowed the news to leak out yesterday that Trump is now officially a target of his widespread investigation--that he may be indictable for colluding with the Russians and leading the obvious obstruction of justice--for these reasons and more, time is running out for Trump, running out faster than senior staff of the White House are running out on the incredibly shrinking presidency (Kellyanne Conway is the latest from the inner circle apparently about to leave), for these reasons and more this is why I've begun to think about what a Pence presidency will look like.

To move the process along here's what I think Trump should do. My two-cents--

Surprise everyone by holding true to all the things he put on the table yesterday before congressional leaders regarding what to do to implement gun controls. Follow Dick Sports' and Walmart's example by raising to 21 the age required to buy all types of guns from 22 pistols to semi-automatic weapons; require "hard" background checks for all gun purchases, including those through gun shows; provide money to enable schools to become "hard targets"; consider limiting the sale of military-style rifles, especially to the mentally disturbed; and forget the crazy idea to arm teachers.

Work hard at this during his remaining time in office and not by tomorrow abandon the agenda to the NRA.

Then, return to the deal that a bipartisan congressional group agreed to last month that peeked Trump's interest for 48 hours before he jettisoned it and the DACA youth it was intended to legalize. It was a potential piece of legislation that had a good chance of being enacted into law. Many Republicans as well as most Democrats want to dispose of this politically toxic issue so take advantage of that. 

By doing this Trump would leave behind something of an actual legacy. Not just the obverse of everything Obama stood for and accomplished. 

Thus fortified by history, before things with Mueller get worse for Trump, as they now rapidly will, Trump should declare victory and join Omarosa, Kellyanne, Hope, and Ivanka wherever they settle. 

If Gerald Ford who succeeded Richard Nixon after he resigned the presidency claimed when he assumed the presidency that as a result "Our long national nightmare is over," Trump justly would be able to say his long nightmare is over.

Then we know what happened to Ford after he pardoned Nixon--in 1976 he lost the presidential election to Jimmy Carter. If this is a harbinger that would mean we'd have to endure President Pence for just a couple of years.

But we will be able to quote what Gerald Ford also said on the day he assumed the presidency--"Our constitution works."

December 29, 2017--Predictions for 2018

As the new year looms, the news media have been looking back over the past year. Much of that review is political, some elegiac. They list those who died, mainly from the entertainment world; and this year they are devoting a lot of air time to reviewing Donald Trump's first year as president.

Yesterday on CNN and Morning Joe, while reviewing the year, in addition to talking endlessly about the Mueller probe, the tightening of the noose around Trump's inner circle, and the passage of the new tax bill, unable to control themselves, they even made lists of his top-ten tweets. It's come to that.

Since I've had it up to here with most things Trump I will resist doing that.

I used to enjoy watching the McLaughlin Group, a weekend TV talkshow hosted by the curmudgeony John McLaughlin. Each show ended with him asking his panelists for predictions. As his guests made them he would tell them which ones were right and which, his favorite, were wrong. Then, ex-priest that he was, he would make predictions of his own, declaring all of them, of course, "ontologically certain."

I'm not that good at the predictions business and so will acknowledge in advance that most of the ones below would not please McLaughlin. In spite of this, to make them feels like fun and I could use some fun.

So here are my predictions for 2018--

Before the end of his first term, President Trump will not have an opportunity to appoint anyone else to the Supreme Court. He might have his eye on 110 year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but I know these Jewish ladies and she is going nowhere fast.

Speaking about terms in office, don't get you're hopes up. Trump also is staying put and Mueller, whose report will be issued a month before the midterm elections, in September, will not find enough evidence to indict Trump. He will, though, cite him to be an "unindicted co-conspirator."

Son-in-law Jared will be indicted for lying to the FBI and Trump promptly will pardon him. This will precipitate a "constitutional crisis." Minimally, we'll finally find out what a constitutional crisis means.

It, though, will mean that the Trump stock market bubble will burst. Expect the Dow to lose 25 percent of its value. So hold onto to your cash and be prepared to buy in next fall when this happens.

These events will contribute to a Democratic landslide in November. Expect to see them regain control of both houses, unless another dozen Democratic congressmen are forced to resign because of not being able to keep their hands or tongues to themselves. 

Like Lyndon Johnson, Trump will decline to run for a second term, citing evidence that he has successfully reversed every single one of Barak Obama's initiatives and that means he has erased Obama from the history books and thus America is great again and there is nothing more for him to accomplish. 

Senator Rubio will defeat Steve Bannon for the Republican nomination and will begin to appear in cowboy boots so no one ever again will call him "Little Marco."

At least half the newly elected Dems plus Anthony Weiner will immediately begin to seek the nomination for the presidency. They will join the 17 already reviving up their campaigns. 

Longer term prediction--neither Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, nor Elizabeth Warren will win the nomination. The twin Castro brothers will. Both of them will be nominated. Voters will get two for the price of one and taxpayers will save all sorts of money as there all be no need to hire a body double to protect whichever one is the actual president. We also won't need a Vice President. More taxpayer money saved.

And, no, Hillary Clinton will not run. It's more likely that she'll be locked up than Trump.

Omarosa will get a $10 million advance for her tell-all book, and it will be number one on the NY Times best seller list until 2019, followed by Sean Spicer's tell-all book, followed by Anthony Scaramucci's tell-all memoir, followed by Kellyanne Conway's. She will have resigned in May to get in on the lucrative tell-all action.

Alabama, the Crimson Tide, will not win the college football championship in 2018. Clemson will. There's a limit to what one can expect to happen in one year in Alabama. Almost electing a pedophile to the Senate is for them accomplishment enough.

And forget the New England Patriots. The won't get to the Super Bowl much less win.

But the Yankees will make it to the World Series which will suggest that the moon is again in the seventh house.

And, in case I forget to mention, Ruth Bader Ginsburg will still be sitting on the Supreme Court. She may no longer be living, but there she'll be. For a preview, look carefully at the picture below.

She's Not Praying

July 20, 2017--A Week Without Trump

As previewed yesterday, here's what I wrote on Wednesday, March 1, 2017 after two days of trying not to mention him but then, succumbing, as if on autopilot, I referred to him that week four times on Monday and then three times on Tuesday.

*   *   *

Though I noted some improvement earlier this week--mentioning Trump a regressive four times on Monday and then doing a bit better yesterday, mentioning him "just" three times--perhaps, then, since I am still disappointed with my progress, maybe I need to adjust tactics for a day to get to my goal sooner--to shake my year-long addiction to all things Trump.

So today, midweek, I'm going cold turkey. I'm taking a day off from blogging. I have an early doctor's appointment to see if my Lyme disease has abated and so I thought to take advantage of my busy schedule and not write anything today.

That's one way to deal with my Trump problem--ignore it. Admittedly, not the best way to proceed--taking it head on would be more impressive--but perhaps it could still be therapeutic.

This of course means no comments about Trump's speech last night, no mocking allusions to his having just discovered that repealing and replacing Obamacare is "unbelievably complex" or, better for satire or snarkiness, that "nobody knew [it] . . . could be so complicated."

Nobody?

This latter comment alone could under prior circumstances have been subject matter for at least two blogs.

Ignoring Trump, as I am now doing, I will make no public comments about his budget outline that sees a ten percent increase in military spending offset by massive cuts in domestic allocations. This would mean gutting food and healthcare for the poor to build more weapon systems. Cruel priorities.

But, as I've indicated, I will have nothing to say about that.

I will also not comment on the attempts to plug leaks by White House staff and how press secretary Sean Spicer forced those reporting to him to turn over their cell phones so they can be checked to find out who's been talking to the New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN.

And I won't be writing about the White House banning reporters from these and other "fake news" outlets from attending the first Trump "gaggle." A briefing for a select group of reporters,
including one from Fox and another from Breitbart News, Steve Bannon's old shop.

Though I am tempted, you will not hear anything from me about this.

And you will not hear a word here about what is my thus-far favorite flap of the week--the Twitter storm about how Kellyanne Conway took her shoes off and folded her legs under her while sitting on them on the Oval Office couch as President Trump met with a group of distinguished presidents of historically black colleges and universities.

What was she doing there anyway? But you won't see me asking or speculating about that.

When Kellyann's disrespectful behavior was brought to the attention of Trump and his senior staff they were quick to publish pictures of Barack Obama sitting with his feet on the presidential desk. The same president Trump accused earlier this week of being behind all the leaks and leaving a "mess" when he left office.

But there will not be a word today about me about that. No leaking here. For me it's still Trump cold-turkey-detoxification time.

As New York City Mayor Ed Koch used at ask, "How am I doing?"

Rereading what I wrote in March, I see that (1) in spite of my intentions I did not take the day off from blogging, and (2) I mentioned Trump by name nine times. Nine! Not very impressive.

March 1, 2017--A Day Without Trump

Since I noted some improvement earlier this week--mentioning Trump a regressive four times on Monday and then doing only a bit better yesterday, mentioning him "just" three times--perhaps, then, since I ams still disappointed with my progress, maybe I need to adjust tactics for a day to get to my goal sooner--to shake my yearlong addiction to all things Trump.

So today, midweek, I am taking a day off from blogging. I have an early doctor's appointment to see if my Lyme disease has abated and so I thought to take advantage of my busy schedule and not write anything.

That's one way to deal with my problem. Ignore it. Admittedly, not the most therapeutic way--taking it head on would be more beneficial--but perhaps it could still be helpful.

This of course means no comments about Trump's speech last night, no mocking allusions to his having just discovered that repealing and replacing Obamacare is "unbelievably complex" or, better for satire or snarkiness, that "nobody knew [it] . . . could be so complicated." Nobody?

This latter comment alone could under prior circumstances have been subject matter for at least two blogs.

Ignoring Trump I will have no public comments about his budget outline that sees a ten percent increase in military spending and offsetting cuts in domestic allocations, which means cutting back on food and healthcare for the poor to build more weapon systems. Cruel priorities. But I will have nothing to say about that.

I will also not comment on the attempts to plug leaks by the president and White House staff and how press secretary Sean Spicer forced those reporting to him to turn over their cell phones so they can be checked to find out who's been leaking to the New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN.  And I won't be writing about the White House banning reporters from these and other "fake news" outlets from attending the first Trump "gaggle" briefing for a select group of reporters,
including one from Breitbart News, Steven Bannon's old shop.

Though I am tempted, you will not hear anything from me about this.

And you will not hear a word here about what is my thus-far favorite flap of the week--the Twitter storm about how Kellyanne Conway took her shoes off and folded her legs under her while sitting on them on the Oval Office couch as President Trump met with a group of distinguished presidents of historically black colleges and universities.

What was she doing there anyway? But you won't see me asking or speculating about that.

When Kellyann's disrespectful behavior was brought to the attention of Trump and his senior staff they were quick to publish pictures of Barack Obama sitting with his feet on the presidential desk. The same president Trump accused earlier this week of being behind all the leaks and leaving a "mess" behind. But there will not be a word about me about that. No leaking here. For me it's still Trump cold turkey detoxification time.

As New York City Mayor Ed Koch used at ask, "How am I doing?"

February 27, 2017--A Week Without Trump: The Curated Life

This is not going to be easy.

I am addicted to Donald Trump and the only way out is to go cold-turkey. I am obsessed with all things Trump from the entertaining to the outrageous, the infantile to the crypto-totalitarian, and also the hallucinatory. So I need to dose off for a week to see if that works. If it doesn't, I may have to check into the Betty Ford Clinic. I suspect they're offering a new Trump Intervention Program for which there's probably a waiting list.

This means no Fox News, no MSNBC, no CNN. And of course no Steve Bannon, no Reince Priebus, no Ivanka, and, the one I'll miss the most this week, no Kellyanne Conway.

But if I want to cleanse myself, after writing and posting 207 pieces about Trump and his world, it has to be for me no-Trump-none-of-the-time. I'll leave all-Trump-all-the-time to the cable news networks.

One caveat--if it is revealed that Trump knew about or, better, orchestrated the reach-out to the Russians working to undermine Hillary Clinton's campaign in order to help himself win the election, or if the gossip in the infamous BuzzFeed dossier is confirmed, I will not be able to contain myself. I know I will fall off the wagon and immediately resume blogging about Trump.

So, between now and then, here is Monday's Trumpless piece about curated lives--

While waiting for the Trump era to implode, out in LA, some, a few, are living the very good life. A life of unimaginable luxury or vulgarity--take your pick--that is being curated for them because they lack the confidence and taste to figure out what in fact constitutes a lavish life.

For example, there are a couple of places for sale, one asking $250 million, the other twice that, both of which can serve as metaphors for this new Trompian version of conspicuous consumption.

The former, the one that can be yours for $250 mil, at 38,000 square feet, sprawls across the hills of Bel-Air and comes with12 bedrooms, 21 baths, a four-lane bowling alley, and three kitchens. It has an 85-foot infinity pool and a 40-seat theater with reclining seats and a film library stocked with more than 7.000 pre-selected titles. There is a mammoth wine cellar with nothing by the finest wines, carefully pre-selected because, I am certain, the Russian oligarch who will likely buy this pleasure palace does not have the taste buds nor nose to appreciate anything other than icy shots of Stoli. Wine to him will be all Gallo. Dare I say a case of Lafite Rothschild before swine.

But here's my favorite part--as the New York Times reported four-weeks ago, a story that got lost in all the Trump clutter, in addition to the multi-million dollar art collection (included in the purchase price) the less expensive of the places comes with a 12-car garage, or "auto gallery," that includes a collection of collectable cars, including a 1936 Mercedes worth, they say, $15 million. But--a downside--there is no car elevator like the one Mitt Romney famously had in his La Jolla beach house. Nothings perfect.

And how could I forget--in this Age of Trump for two years the place also comes with a fully-paid seven-person staff, including a chef, chauffeur, and masseuse.

As the seller said, "It's all about the feeling and experience you get when your in the house." Or pool, or bowling alley, or movie theater, or one of the nearly two-dozen bathrooms.

*   *   *

For the second day of my week without Trump, with spring training underway, I am working for Tuesday on a baseball story.

So far, so good. Today I managed to mention Trump only four times. For me I consider this progress. Tomorrow . . .

February 24, 2017--Jack, On Immigrants

"So tell me what you and your friends would do about the more than 10 million illegal immigrants."

It was the morning after the Trump administration unveiled a new executive order that outlined plans to round up and deport millions of undocumented workers and their families and Jack was sounding excited.

Before I could respond, he continued, "My boy was back on his heels last week what with the Flynn fiasco, Kellyanne Conway, and that press conference. But with this he's back. And the general he appointed to replace that crazy Flynn is everyone's favorite. Even your crowd's."

"Well I do agree about General McMaster but about the immigration executive order, I'm not so sure."

"Perfect bleeding heart material for you liberals. Feeling sorry for all those displaced Latin Americans. See, I didn't say 'Mexicans.'" I sensed that made him feel good about himself. "But we've got a lot of problems and needs of our own not to have to worry too much about them."

"Well, they're here and for the most part are hard working and law-abiding. I just read that the crime rate among undocumented people is actually lower than among citizens."

"Probably from your New York Times. But aren't they all doing illegal things? I mean, just being in the country without documents or visas is itself illegal."

"So you'd round up everyone? Even the so-called Dreamers? Young people who were brought to America when they were very young children?"

"Maybe not them and as I understand it for some time at least the Trump immigration police will leave them alone."

"Just send their parents back?" I hope he heard my sarcasm.

"You know your American history."

"And?"

"And wasn't it true that when your grandparents as well as mine came to America, because they didn't have the money, many left family members behind? Isn't that a version of the same thing? Isn't it in the nature of immigration itself?"

"I'll have to think about that some more. But it is true that for almost everyone--though they faced a lot of discrimination--they had legal status. They in most cases were sort of welcomed here as laborers, to build railroads, or settle and work on farms in the Midwest."

"Don't we have a guest worker program here that allows people to legally cross borders so they can work on farms and restaurants?"

"We do," I acknowledged.

"But we're getting sidetracked," Jack said. "I come back to my initial question--what would you do about the millions and millions of illegal immigrants? And I should remind you that your president Obama was the deporter-in-chief. He rounded up and sent back about two and a half million. More in total than all his predecessors combined."

"That's true but he didn't do it in the same kind of mean-spirited way. Unlike your president." It upset me that I was beginning to sound like Jack.

"Sure, Obama didn't publicize it because he didn't want to get legal Hispanic-Americans all upset. He wanted their votes. And pretty much got them."

"Can we forget Obama? Trump is now our president, so let's limit ourselves to what he's doing. Not much good as I see things."

"So you're Ok with all the illegals living here, sending their kids to our schools and hospitals, and . . ."

"The evidence is overwhelming that from an economic point of view, from a cost-benefit perspective, immigrants, even undocumented ones, contribute more that they get in government services. In other words, in bottom line terms, we get more in return than we pay out. Also, most of the unassimilated immigrants do work that, forgive the expression, real Americans don't want. Like a lot of the restaurant and field work. How many Americans do you know who want to wash dishes, cut lawns, or pick lettuce?"

Jack was silent so I said, "I take that to mean you don't know too many field hands who are citizens."

"Up here plenty of the farmers are Mainers. But to tell you the truth there are also a lot of Hispanic agricultural workers. Again, we keep getting off the subject. So let me try again--what would you do about the millions of illegals? Just let them be? Make them all citizens?"

"First of all, can you find another name for them. 'Illegals' sounds really nasty."

"Let me come at this another way. You live half the year in New York City, right?"

"Right, but where are you going with this?"

"You're a so-called sanctuary city, right?"

"Right. But again?"

"Which means that you don't cooperate with federal immigration enforcement people."

"Not entirely true because if an undocumented person commits a felony in most cases they do get turned over to the ICE people."

"But basically, if they obey the law, illegals, sorry, illegal immigrants, can stay in the city as long as they want, get drivers licenses, have any kind of job, etcetera."

"Basically true. And most New Yorkers are fine with that. In fact, we feel good about being welcoming and tolerant."

"We're not talking abut refugees, right, but people who came here or overstayed their visas to live and work?"

"Again, I don't have all day so can you get to your point because it feels as if you're building up to some revelation."

"I'll cut to the chase."

"At last." I was feeling exasperated with Jack. I liked him better when he didn't call so much. I did have things I wanted to get to and he has the ability to get under my skin.

"You have any immigrants living in your building?"

"I haven't checked but I assume so."

"They'd have to be rich ones, right, considering how much apartments sell for?"

"That's true," I admitted.

"So you're OK with where you're living?"

"Pretty much."

"It doesn't disturb you that your place isn't diverse?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"That everyone, I assume, is pretty much like you? All rich and . . . "

"There are some who have lived here for decades, before prices shot through the roof, and they are more modest than most of the rest of us. And again, your point is?"

"That you live pretty isolated from your typical illegal immigrant. My guess is, and it's an easy one, that you don't have any Mexicans who snuck across the border living in your building."

"Could be."

"And so this subject for you is pretty theoretical because the only illegals you maybe encounter are working in restaurants, cleaning up after you're finished with dinner?"

"Could be." I was starting to feel defensive.

"I'll bet you don't wake up in the morning and meet any in your elevator when you're heading out for breakfast. Except if someone is renovating their apartment and some of the illegal construction workers are around."

"Could be."

"How would you feel if somehow one morning you woke up and half the apartments in your building were occupied by Guatemalan or Syrian refugees?"

"That is . . . ," I sputtered.

"Go on. You can say it. You'd hate it."

"I don't know. This is all so crazy."

"But it's not theoretical to people here in Lewiston, Maine, where more than 5,000 refugees have been relocated. Altogether, including the refugees, there are only about 35,000 living in Lewiston. Some for generations. They wake up in the morning and see their neighborhoods and downtown turning into Somali enclaves. Ask them, from your Manhattan sanctuary, how they feel about that. And these are good people. But it's not how most want to live."

"But other places like Buffalo, New York, seem to be welcoming refugees and undocumented people because they contribute to their economy. Things are pretty bleak up there and new arrivals rent places, do the work that a lot of local people don't want to do, and buy things from Buffalo merchants. So it appears that it's good all around."

"I read about that too. In your Sunday Times, and I get it. But in just as many places, again like Lewiston, nobody asked the local people what they wanted. Refugees from Somalia just began to show up with the assistance of the U.S. government."

"I can understand that. I want us to be welcoming but local people should have a say in relocation programs. And I'll concede that refugees are not the same as undocumented people."

"As long as they don't move into you building."

I was out of gas and didn't respond.

"I hear you, you've got other things to do. I'll call you next week."

I said to myself, "If you must."

Somalis In Lewiston Maine

February 22, 2017--Milo Yiannopoulos

More evidence of implosion--

General Michael Flynn is gone, fired as National Security Council Advisor, replaced by an adult, and with him goes some of the paranoia and conspiratorial thinking that pervades the West Wing.

Many on both sides of the aisle are hoping that chief strategist, Stephen Bannon and his protégée Stephen Miller will soon follow. Kallyanne Conway has already been marginalized. Have you seen her recently? Is she still being "counseled" and reeducated for hawking Ivanka Trump's schematas? Is she the next one to be jettisoned?

If so it could be that there is some low-wattage light flickering at the end of the very long Trump tunnel.

More good news--

The ever-hypocritical Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) has just withdrawn its invitation to senior Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos to address their upcoming convention.

Greatly "admired" by Bannon, according to the New York Times, for his alt-right orthodoxy which includes dollops of racism and anti-Semitism, Milo has been in the headlines recently for having been driven away from speaking at Berkeley where protesting students proclaimed with some violence, forgetting the free-speech history of their institution, that there is "no free speech for hate speech."

CPAC made a big deal of this, totally enjoying the irony at Berkeley and, mounting their high libertarian horse, invited Milo to address them as evidence that conservatives are less politically correct and more constitution-minded than liberals.

They were OK with the hate speech part of Milo's repertoire but when it leaked out that he also has spoken positively about man-boy pedophilia, including among Catholic priests, that was too much even for CPACers. They pulled the plug on him and made frantic rounds of the morning talk shows to try to explain away their hypocrisy.

They are for free speech but not when it "crosses certain lines." Clearly one of those lines doesn't include forbidding a CPAC speaker to hint with winks and nods that it's all right to be a white supremacist or anti-Semite.

Does this foretell Stephen Bannon's fate? With Yiannopoulos on the loose and CPAC at a boil, Bannon's presence, whispering in Trump's ear, may embolden Bannon's White House enemies (Reince Priebus and Jared Kushner among others) to put pressure on Trump to do a little more house cleaning.

February 13, 2017--Jack On "Sane Republicans"

"I read what you wrote the other day about how ridicule has the power to bring Trump down."

Once again, Jack was calling. "That could be true," he said, "It can be powerful when it gets under the skin of someone as thin-skinned as Trump."

"That's what I'm thinking," I said.

"On the other hand," Jack said, "a lot of Democrats are thinking it has to be 'sane Republicans' like John McCain and Lindsay Graham who need to step up and begin to openly take Trump on. Everyone knows they hate him, but so far they have been muted in their criticism. This makes sense to me. You can see them seething and at some point Trump'll do something so outrageous, there will be some sort of smoking gun, maybe from the Russians' secret files, and that will signal the beginning of the end."

"You're beginning to sound like one of us," I said.

"Not one of your kind, but maybe I'm one of those sane Republicans." I knew if we were seated across from each other at the Bristol Diner he'd be winking at me.

He added, "I watched Saturday Night Live on Saturday, knowing they'd be going after Trump again, to check out how potent their humor is."

"So what did you think?"

"I thought the Melissa McCarthy takedown of Sean Spicer was the best of the three political sketches. He's a very angry man and she got to the heart of that. And was savagely funny. One more week and Trump will ready to pull the plug on him. Not just to end the mocking but because he's jealous of Spicer stealing the spotlight. I read some place that his daily press briefings, which the cable news people are carrying live, are getting higher ratings than General Hospital and the other soaps. Not too mention Fox, CNN, and MSNBC. All are seeing their ratings at all time highs"

"People can't seem to get enough of Trump," I sighed. "In any form."

"But then the skit about Kellyanne Conway, where she goes after CNN's Jake Tapper the same predatory way Sharon Stone did to Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct, was so vicious that it went beyond humor and came out on the dark side. It wasn't really as funny as Steve Bannon the week before when he played the Grim Reaper. That was very dark but funny. I guess with comedy there are no limits. But if I'm thinking about political effectiveness--and I do think the SNL people are out to bring Trump down--for me that bit didn't work."

"I felt the same way," I said, "It crossed too many lines to have much impact, though I did think it was bold."

"You're getting to my main point and the reason I called."

"I was wondering about that."

"Take the last sketch where Baldwin played Trump appealing his travel ban to the courts. Not the Ninth Circuit or the Supreme Court but, of course, The People's Court. A reality show court. This should have been funny but I felt it was predictable and more manufactured than inspired. To be consistently funny you need to avoid slipping into into routines and cliches. Things have to be fresh and the Alec Baldwin version of Trump is getting to be overexposed. My sense is that after another week or two people will begin to tune out. Ditto for McCarthy's Sean Spicer. This week the innovation was to motorize the podium. Pretty thin stuff."

"I also was thinking been-there-done-that and started to nod off."

"So, from an effectiveness perspective, SNL, as fresh as it seemed three weeks ago, is feeling stale and a little boring. Boring is the opposite of funny."

"Here's one more thing," Jack said, "I'm thinking that the Trump act is also wearing thin. He too is in danger of slipping into predictability. His act is wearing thin. This could be a good thing--to rein Trump in--or a bad thing--we'll stop paying attention to what he's up to. He might be more dangerous out of the spotlight than basking in it."

February 10, 2017--Ridicule

Thursday morning we finally made it down for breakfast at 10:00. At least an hour later than usual. We lingered in bed as the snowstorm intensified. It was magical to watch our terrace turn into a giant snow globe. And we also lingered, in truth, because so much was going on. With and among Donald Trump and his band of co-conspirators.

By 10:00 AM the following had already happened--

In a series of three tweets he savaged John McCain for criticizing the ill-fated Navy SEAL operation in Yemen. McCain, he raged has been "losing so long that he doesn't know how to win."

Senators from both parties who had informal one-on-one meetings the day before with Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, were quoting him as saying that he was "demoralized" and "disheartened" by Trump's overnight tweets and comments that disparaged the federal courts. He made it known to the senators that he was comfortable with their quoting him directly.

I have been following these matters for decades and cannot recall anything even vaguely comparable.

Rona said, "That's because there has never previously been anyone like Trump in the White House. Even Nixon was more restrained in his assaults on the courts and never has a Supreme Court nominee allowed his words to be quoted publicly."

Trump took to mocking one of the senators who shared Garland's lament--Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal. In yet another tweet Trump blasted him for inflating his resumé in regard to his service in Vietnam, something Trump himself did when, after receiving four or five deferments, claimed he did his service in high school when he attended the New York Military Academy.

Then there was the Ivanka Trump flap. Trump began it himself when he called Nordstrom out for cancelling Ivanka's line of clothes. Trump said it was for political reasons, the store said it was because they weren't selling.

Brother Don, Jr., chimed in suggesting in a tweet of his own that shippers should boycott Nordstrom and signal they are doing so by cutting up and returning their credit cards.

Not to be outdone, favorite flunky Kellyanne Conway, while being interviewed on the inane "Fox and Friends" called for Trump supporters to "go buy Ivanka's stuff.  Doing so, as a government official, may be against the law. She was reportedly "counseled" for this infraction later in the day.

Finally, over coffee, wondering what this all means, Rona said, "I know how we can get rid of Trump."

"Impeachment?"

"No, resignation."

"No way but I'm interested in what you're thinking."

"Through ridicule."

"Say more."

"What's the one thing he craves the most?" She answered her own question, "To be in the center of things, in the spotlight, with all eyes on him while being adulated. That's why he's so obsessed with how he's faring in the polls, how large his crowds are at rallies and the Inauguration. That's why his touchstone no matter the purpose of the meeting is 'The Celebrity Apprentice.' He even began his comments at the Annual Prayer Breakfast by mocking the ratings Arnold Schwarzenegger was pulling after taking Trump's place as the host. 'Pray for his ratings,' he incredibly said."

"And so?"

"He thinks of himself as the entertainer or celebrity in chief. That's why he watches TV all the time. To see what people are saying about him. To be famous is his highest aspiration and that's why he's so protective of his image, his brand and can't stand it when late night talkshow hosts make fun of him or, much worse, how a show he used to appear on regularly, 'Saturday Night Live,' ridicules him mercilessly week after week."

"We don't watch it that much," I said, "But did the last few weeks. Via On Demand, and they sliced him up savagely, hilariously. Alec Baldwin has taken on his essence and the skit with Melissa McCarthy mocking his press secretary were works of comic genius. But I'm not entirely getting your point about the political impact of this."

"If all of these folks keep it up, Trump will not be able to appear in public. He certainly will not be viable in Manhattan at his favorite 21 Club or soon in Palm Beach. This would be like cutting off his oxygen supply. And so he'll wind up living alone in the White House. Don't underestimate the power of satire and ridicule. In his case, it could very well do him in."

"He'll resign?"

"That's what I'm thinking. Comedy as another of our checks and balances."