Out of respect for the recent tragedy that swept through the Caribbean and Florida, As The Donald Turns, has taken more of a low key approach. But while some news outlets are still 24/7 hurricane coverage there is a lot of “stuff” going on in Donald Land. People are saying things….bad things…incorrect things….out and out balderdash, and the staff here knows a light must be put on such gibberish. It is thus, that we are back with the episode, “They Said It.”
As The Donald Turns; They Said It
- Let’s start with White House gibberish-disher-outer Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She gets paid to dole out the nonsense. In fact, some speculate she gets paid for nonsense quotas. Ok, no one but us is speculating that, but it still counts.
This week Sanders has said that the department of justice should investigate former FBI director James Comey. Tuesday, she was asked why and her response was “I’m not a lawyer, I will let the professionals deal with that.” Hey, she said it, not us. Sanders apparently took the LSAT, went to law school, graduated and passed the bar all in one day, because by Wednesday she was Miss Legal Eagle.
She knew she would get asked a follow up and this time she quoted law and case precedent. Unfortunately, what she quoted was really a case precedent that had to do with the stealing of work product. Her claim is that Comey sat in a FBI vehicle and typed notes from his meeting with Donald on an FBI laptop, and therefore that was company property. She also reiterated the long-debunked claim that he leaked classified information. Now, she may have a point with the work product issue. But that would be a matter for the “Human Resources” department, and since Comey has already been fired by the head of “Human Resources,” well, we suspect this is just a red herring.
Asking For People to Be Fired
Wednesday Sanders also said ESPN should fire sports reporter/host Jemele Hill. If you are not familiar with Hill, she has been with ESPN in various duties and on a variety of shows since 2006. Earlier this week, Hill went on a twitter rant against America’s Donald.
- “Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.”
- “Trump is the most ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime. His rise is a direct result of white supremacy. Period.”
- “The height of white privilege is being able to ignore his white supremacy, because it’s of no threat to you. Well, it’s a threat to me.”
ESPN issued a statement that made it clear they were not pleased with her public position on Donald, but made no employment change beyond that. Sanders was not pleased. At the White House briefing Wednesday, she called on ESPN to fire Hill. “I think that’s one of the more outrageous comments that anyone could make and certainly something that I think is a fireable offense by ESPN.” Clearly, the podium of the White House briefing room is the best place to tell corporations which private citizens they should and should not fire.
Hey, We Read
- Of course, the president said stuff this week. That’s his job. Sometimes there is truth to it as well. He tweeted about Hurricane Irma and committed that federal help would be there when they needed it. Of course, many of his spokes people said the federal government’s role was to stay out of the way and let the state and local agencies handle it, but that’s an argument for another day. Donald apparently has been reading books this week. Or maybe talking to people who read books. Or talking to people who know what books are.
@realDonaldTrump Sep 12
“Fascinating to watch people writing books and major articles about me and yet they know nothing about me & have zero access. #FAKE NEWS!”
Now the tweet could be about any number of people. It could be about Hillary. Her book is out this week, relitigating what happened in the 2016 race. NBC reporter Katy Tur also has a book out this week, capturing what it was like to be on the front lines as a reporter covering the Trump campaign in 2016.
Tur, who comes from a journalism family legacy, was often called out and publicly humiliated at rallies by Donald. At one point, she needed Secret Service protection just to get through the hostile crowd and back to her vehicle. It got bad enough that NBC eventually put her in the studio as an anchor/reporter for her own safety. Some of the details in her book are very unflattering when it comes to Donald. Both of these people had tremendous insight into Donald, so he is just being cranky. We are going to guess he is more upset at Tur.
Seriously?
- Brian Kilmeade said stuff this week. He really does get paid to say stuff. Unfortunately, most of it lacks the intellectual efficacy of a third grader’s work, but it’s what he does. He is the guy that sits at the right end of the couch for Fox on their “Three People On A Sofa” show that airs 3am-6am Pacific time. Yes, we watch so you don’t have to.
He was interviewing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on September 11th. Zinke was talking about his appearance with Vice President Mike Pence at the memorial to passengers on hijacked United Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 11, 2001. Kilmeade asked if Zinke was worried that 100 years from now, “Someone’s going to try and take that memorial down like they’re trying to remake our memorials today.” Yes, Brian Kilemade said stuff that compared the heroes of United Flight 93, to the confederates who fought for the right to keep, beat and kill slaves. Amazing the things some people will say.
- Steve Bannon had a lot of things to say this week. Unfortunately we were distracted by his wearing a polo shirt, under a button down collar shirt, under a sports coat…. all in black. It’s like Johnny Cash just kept dressed over and over. But, with some Visine in the eyes and pancake makeup for the face, he looked “refreshed” for his 60 Minutes interview with Charlie Rose. Bannon said it was new chief of staff General Kelly who pushed him out. He said he would go back to Breitbart, (which, by the way, is run out of his apartment dining room), and fight for the things that got Donald elected. He swore to keep up the struggle for the nationalist and populist views that he believes carry America and Donald.
Of course, there is one thing he forgot to mention. He has no horse to carry those views. Donald has nationalist views in his heart but the staff that totes that for him is mostly gone. As for being a populist, child, please. Donald has no actual ideology other than his scorecard of personal victories to check off for prosperity and legacy sake, so, pinning populism on a guy who has gold embossed toilets in his homes is an absurdity.
- Of course, if you want absurdity, you have two more choices. You can go to the official White House release of Donald meeting with South Carolina Senator Tim Scott…..or “Tom” as the White House called him.
- Or it’s back to Fox News to see who they interviewed. If you cannot figure out what is wrong with that photo, go Google Mike Ditka. The answer will be obvious.
