If you didn't see Jon Stewart's hosting of The Daily Show on Monday, it was wonderful. He had a blunt, scathing and hilarious takedown of Sen. Robert Menendez's corruption trial -- which he then followed with an equally blunt, scathing and hilarious look at political corruption in general. Here's the video --
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I admit to being fascinated by the very recent parade of VP wannabees coming to court to pay homage to Trump, along with a few others who find it in their best interest to show their fealty, like Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). I'm fascinated for many reasons. Among them - None of them showed up for the first couple of weeks of the trial - they only popped in for the highest visibility days when Michael Cohen was testify. None showed up, though, on the other high-visibility days when Stephanie Clifford testified. Apparently being tarnished with nearness to a porn actress wasn't in their best interests. Though, in fairness, it didn't seem to bother Trump when he had sex with her when married. Some of them, if not many of them, if not most of them don't even go into the courtroom to "show their support" (which is really where support would be most shown…), but they just stand out from, make a speech and leave. (Which is pretty much what Speaker Johnson did.) All the wannabees who showed up yesterday were dressed in their Trump Uniforms. A dark suit and red tie. It was hilarious, almost like a club or frat mixer. Funny, too, was that Speaker Johnson didn't get the memo and had the wrong tie. Up to yesterday, Eric Trump was the only Trump family member who drew the short straw and had to show up in court to show support for his dad. Though yesterday, finally, another Trump family member popped in, Eric's wife Lara. What made that so notable is that she is, of course, the newly appointed co-chair of the Republican National Committee - and it took her to yesterday (!!) to finally get there to show support to a) her father-in-law and b) the presumptive presidential nominee of the political party he helped make her co-chair of. For all the VP wannabees and other politicians who have made their guest appearance at the courthouse and make their outraged statements about the trial, they almost all screw up in some way. JD Vance (R-OH) described Trump as "lonely." (Which is just want you want for your party's presidential candidate…not to mention, how on earth is a former president and your party's presumptive presidential nominee "lonely"?? It seems to suggest, with good reason, that he really doesn't have friends, and no one wants to be tarnished by this trial.) Vivek Ramaswamy, in his attempt to do his Ramaswamy swagger, screwed up and called Trump a "sham politician" - before correcting himself to say he meant it was a sham trial. (It was hard to know if that was a Freudian slip or projection about himself. Or perhaps the rare Daily Double.) Speaker Johnson -- who wears his religion and deep morality on every sleeve, pant leg, shirt pocket and jacket lapel -- was put in the awkward position of saying how Trump was a friend he supported fully… while at the courthouse where his "friend he supported fully" was on trial for sleeping with a porn actress while his wife had just given birth -- before Johnson ran away. Though my favorite -- even more than Ramaswamy's "sham politician" -- was Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) smearing the jury as being made up of "supposed Americans." Pathetic for the smear, and reprehensible for trying to suggest that all jurors are, of course, required to be American citizens. But then, being Tommy Tuberville (a supposed American, for all we know), he might be ignorant of that. Almost more to the point, what is most fascinating is that while all these wannabees and supporters expressed their support and outrage at the sham politician - sorry, I mean trial -- not one of them said that they thought Trump was innocent of all the charges or even just not proven guilty by the prosecution beyond a shadow of a doubt -- or that every witness was lying under oath, and all the documents are untrue -- just that there shouldn't be a trial. And this doesn't even touch on the fascination that Trump has been witnessed editing statements for some of those outside being "outraged" and slamming witnesses and the jury -- which is a violation of Trump's gag order, since he is not allowed to direct others to violate it for him. This includes mental giant Tuberville literally saying he was there to help violate the gag order, and Speaker Johnson attacking the Judge's daughter. (Indeed, as legal experts have noted, if D.A. Alvin Bragg wants to subpoena any of them, or them all, into a gag order violation hearing, he can.) But most fascinating of all is that none of these people who are showing up outside the courthouse or deign to go inside - including just one of Trump's five children - for all the attention they're trying to get in front of the cameras, really matter to the jury. Indeed, as many legal experts have noted, there is only one person that a jury will really care about here, showing support, believing that Trump has been wrongly accused and proudly standing by him - and that's the person who is most notable by her absence. His wife. Well, I made it back. A bit wiped out at the moment, though I've unpacked, so that's done and out of the way! (I'm an "unpack right away" kind o' guy.) Focusing my thoughts rationally enough beyond this isn't going to happen tonight (for starters, I initially wrote, "isn't going to happy" -- and when writing this explanation, it was "for srarters" and "initually"), but I figured this short song from Fiorello! should suffice. Heading out from Chicago this morning, and back to Los Angeles later today. I may write something this evening -- or I may have too much to catch up. We'll see. The elves taking care of the homestead have been given advance warning, so my assumption is that they'll clean up the place and leave it in the same state they found it. As we said from my days in the park service, "Leave only footprints, take only memories." Though I don't expect to see any footprints. Ahem... The trip has been excellent. I got to see some favorite spots -- the Chicago Art Institute and Chicago Botanic Garden (actually in Glencoe, long-walking distance from where I grew up) -- the Disneyland of Botanic Gardens. And I stuffed myself at my favorite spots: Charlie Beinlich's Food & Tap, Del Rio's, Walker Bros., and Chicago pizza (this time at Lou Malnati's). And of course, the Cubs at Wrigley Field. All a joy to get back to after five years away, because of the pandemic. I also spent a wonderful Mother's Day with my 96-year-old Aunt Joan (who I'm staying with) and cousin, up at the 96-year-old Deerpath Inn for their excellent buffet. Be back soon... Last week, for logistical reasons, Jon Stewart did his Daily Show show on Thursday. If you didn't see it, his "news recap" section was very funny (as well as pointed). As they write, he deals with "the media's obsession with Trump's hush money trial, while the GOP freaks out over Biden's new energy efficiency standards and a name change for the Boy Scouts. Meanwhile, Biden slows the flow of weapons to Israel, and after Trump shames Jewish Biden supporters, the Best F**kin' News Team stops by to give Jon a guilt trip." Here are a couple of videos that are offshoots of Jimmy Kimmel's "Celebrities Read Mean Tweets About Themselves." This from his show is Celebrities readings real texts from their moms. This first has gems from Kristen Bell, Will Forte, Anna Farris and more. And here's a sequel. Including, as you see below, a tweet from Gwyneth Paltrow's mother, actress Blythe Danner. And another with Elle Fanning, Emily Blunt and...well, again, more. |
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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