Friday, August 21, 2026

Weekend Music

 

Liverpool's Echo & The Bunneymen have been making music since the early 80's, when new wave music was peaking in the UK and America.  Through a series of lineup changes and a hiatus, two of the band's original members -- lead guitarist Will Sergeant and vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Ian McCulloch -- have been the steady core of the group.  They have an album coming out next month, "Apples for Isaac," and have released this single, "The Light That Surrounds You," which we hope you'll enjoy.

Chance Of Flipping The Senate Improving


An analysis by the Cook Political Report shows several seats occupied by incumbent Republican Senators and open due to retirement have moved from "lean" status to "toss up".  The Senate races in Maine (Troy Jackson), Alaska (Mary Petola), and Ohio (Sherrod Brown) are now toss ups, while the open seats in Texas and Michigan are also toss ups, where Dems James Talarico and Abdul el-Sayed are running for seats where incumbents retired or were primaried out.  If you want to donate to any or all of the campaigns, ActBlue has a directory that you can use.

Check out the Cook Report's interactive map at this link, but always remember that the only poll that counts is your vote. 

U.S.S. Donald Trump?? Never!

 



Slapping the narcissistic sociopath's Malignant Fascist's name on everything is reaching new lows with this especially egregious report:

The US Navy is working to rename an aircraft carrier under construction that was set to honor a Black sailor hailed for his heroic actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor, three sources familiar with internal discussions told CNN.

During President Donald Trump’s first term, the Navy announced that the Ford-class carrier would be called the USS Doris Miller, recognizing an enlisted sailor who helped defend US forces from Japan’s attack.

It’s unclear what the Navy is seeking to change the name of the carrier to, though two of the sources said there have been internal conversations about renaming it to honor Trump. It would be an unprecedented move to name an aircraft carrier after a sitting president.

The Navy is looking instead to rename another warship after Miller, according to one of the sources, and is recommending him for the Medal of Honor, the highest decoration for military valor. The final authorization for the award is up to Congress and approval from Trump.

Thomas Bledsoe, Miller’s great-nephew, said Miller’s family had not been informed of the change or the renewed effort to award his great-uncle with the Medal of Honor. The family has been working to get him the Medal of Honor “for years,” Bledsoe said, and called the Navy’s move to recommend the honor “very positive.” [snip]

The effort to rename the USS Doris Miller has been underway since earlier this year, the sources said. Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao and his office have also been looking into updating the official guidance for how ships should be named and specifying who they can be named after, including presidents, two of the sources said.

Amid conversations over the ship’s name, the Navy has effectively stopped referring to the ship as the USS Doris Miller internally and is only calling it by its hull number, CVN-81, one of the sources said. A recent White House executive order on shipbuilding also referred to the ship only as CVN-81, tasking the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy to report back with a plan to replace the ship’s electromagnetic aircraft launch system with steam and hydraulic systems.

Here's why the honor belongs to Doris Miller, and not to the sick, racist, draft-dodging, servicemember- maligning, fraudster and sexual abuser Malignant Fascist:

Former Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly announced the new carrier’s name in honor of Miller in January 2020, during a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day ceremony in Pearl Harbor.

“Dorie Miller was the son of a sharecropper,” Modly, a Trump nominee who had Navy leadership positions from 2017 to 2020, said at the ceremony, according to a Navy release. “And, he was an American sailor – so designated by the uniform that he wore — the same uniform all sailors wore, and still wear, regardless of race, ethnic background, or political persuasion.”

Doris “Dorie” Miller, from Waco, Texas, enlisted in the US Navy in 1939, according to the National Museum of the Pacific War. On the day of Japan’s attack, Miller — a Mess Attendant Third Class at the time — was retrieving laundry when bombs began falling on the US fleet. Mess attendant was one of the only jobs in the Navy open to Black men, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs. Damage by Japan’s attack kept him from returning to his assigned battle station. 

Miller proceeded to aid his wounded commanding officer, and then, despite having received no training on the system, took control of an anti-aircraft gun and opened fire on the Japanese aircraft.

“Although untrained,” the VA’s website says, “he laid down effective fire and stopped firing when he ran out of ammunition and the ship began to sink. Even then, he persisted in helping his fellow sailors to safety until he finally made his way to shore.”

Miller was famously portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the 2001 film Pearl Harbor.

In 1942, Admiral Chester Nimitz presented Miller with the Navy Cross, and he was then sent out on a War Bond tour with several white service members, “making him the first African American allowed on the speaking tour,” according to the VA. Roughly a year later, Miller was killed during the Battle of Makin when his ship was hit by a Japanese submarine’s torpedo.

There's more at the link.

The person responsible for the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln crew's dire condition should have an aircraft carrier named for him?  The person who holds the lives of servicemembers past and present in contempt (remember him calling the fallen "suckers" and "losers"?) should have an aircraft named for him?  Would there be a greater insult to them or to anyone who ever wore the uniform of the United States military?  

Every monument to his vanity, everywhere he has his name defacing an edifice -- everywhere the name of the Malignant Fascist appears it must be erased and and every building or structure he built must be demolished as a fitting end to the most rancid era in American history, sooner rather than later.

(Image:  proposed USS Doris Miller (CVN-81), via US Navy)


Thursday, August 20, 2026

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Steve Sack, stevesacksubstack.com)

(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)

(Randy Bish, @bishtoon)

(Rick McKee, caglecartoons.com)

(Adam Zyglis, The Buffalo News)

(Paul Duginski, caglecartoons.com)

(Monte Wolverton, caglecartoons.com)

(Bruce Plante, caglecartoons.com)

(John Cole, The Philadelphia Inquirer)

(Jonathan Brown, caglecartoons.com)

(Dave Whamond, caglecartoons.com, Canada)

(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)

(Matt Reuter, The New Yorker)


QOTD -- Fantasies

 

"... Trump, then, is at war with the world he has made. Alex Bruesewitz, working busily with the White House trolls, now churns out videos of Trump to prop up his image as the alpha male. Trump is the towering leader of 'Guardians of the World' with jets and warships bombing Iran; Trump is the 'Cosmic Commander: A New Era Begins Among the Stars'; Trump is a swashbuckler seizing an Iranian ship, crying, 'It’s Our Oil Tanker Now!'; Trump is a superhero with a red Superman cape rescuing George Washington falling off Mount Rushmore; Trump is dignified standing next to John F. Kennedy in front of the White House; Trump is Vegas Elvis in a rhinestone jumpsuit unbuttoned to display his muscled chest.

"The Iranians, for their part, have produced viral, AI-generated videos to portray Trump as a petulant and impotent Lego character. The Iranian Trump figure naps at the Resolute Desk, frantically launches missiles to hide his name in the Epstein files, and sweats playing dice in a casino. The Iranian portrayal of the little plastic toy is far more realistic than the White House fantasies..." --  Sidney Blumenthal / The New Republic Substack, writing on "Two Years Ago, They Revered Trump; Now, They Ridicule and Revile Him."  The AI slop that's generated for the MAGAt faithful to reassure them that the Malignant Fascist is still on his game (and aging backwards!) and is seen as the hero of mankind is playing to a much-diminished audience in a demographic that he could always count on:  the "manosphere" of self-deluded "alpha males" and incels (think "Proud Boys").  That's toxic for any would-be dictator / strongman, but with the MF's plummeting polls and the increasingly mocking and derisive zeitgeist, it's approaching fatal.

 

Skeets Of The Day

 

Operation Kim Kiss Up:  rejected! --


WSJ tees up the Ultimate Humiliation. @wsj.com www.wsj.com/world/asia/t...

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— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) August 20, 2026 at 7:26 AM


The Malignant Fascist isn't the only one with a "human binky" --


Totally normal that the Secretary of Defense needs a babysitter.

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— Brian Finucane (@bcfinucane.bsky.social) August 19, 2026 at 8:30 PM


Speaking of binkies, why the reluctance to have a background check? -- 


The question is: why did Natalie Harp resist applying for a security clearance? What doesn't she want anyone to find out? www.ms.now/news/trump-a...

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— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu) August 20, 2026 at 4:15 AM

 

She didn’t have a clearance but she was the gatekeeper for phone calls from foreign leaders. Im sure this was all well documented too in compliance with the Federal Records Act and Presidential Records Act.

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— Bradley P. Moss (@bradmossesq.bsky.social) August 19, 2026 at 11:15 PM


Our crazy national debt and MAGAt hypocrisy -- 


Looking forward to all the "fiscal conservatives" who have never said a thing about runaway war spending or costly tax cuts for a rich to immediately become fiscal hawks again the moment a Democrat becomes president www.nytimes.com/2026/08/19/b...

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— Jonathan Cohn (@jonathancohn.bsky.social) August 20, 2026 at 7:52 AM

 

its just funny because during obama the debt and “certainty” were the most important things to ever exist for businesses and corporations and the media

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— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew.bsky.social) August 20, 2026 at 8:22 AM


Sen. Jon Ossoff rattling the corrupt and dysfunctional Trump regime and corporate press --


Listen to the clarity with which Jon Ossoff describes the dynamics of the Trump White House. Does any political journalist with half a brain disagree? And yet they won’t use those same words. And they won’t tell the public what he’s saying, beyond one short soundbyte. www.ms.now/the-last-wor...

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— Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News (@froomkin.bsky.social) August 20, 2026 at 7:54 AM

 

I gotta say, Jon Ossoff is getting more negative press for noting that Trump enjoys traveling with the one aide who (as he's remarked) actually cares deeply about him—a fact Trump wouldn't even deny—than Trump has ever gotten for calling for his political opponents to be executed

— Seth Abramson (@sethabramson.bsky.social) August 20, 2026 at 12:58 AM


The Trump - Epstein scandal isn't going away -- 


Re-upping my thread from a year ago because the Trump-Epstein scandal isn’t going away.

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— Mark Jacob (@markjacob.bsky.social) August 20, 2026 at 6:51 AM


Poll that the MF won't like -- 


Trump has lost 38 points of white working class support in under two years

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 19, 2026 at 7:42 PM


My Pillow guy ranting that the MN Republican primary election was "rigged".  Total clown. -- 


Mike Lindell has finally surfaced after losing his primary for MN governor. He says his election was rigged and stolen because there was “major deviations and anomalies on election night” and he’s demanding a recount.

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— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) August 19, 2026 at 8:56 PM


The Onion reports -- 


“This custom, state-of-the-art service container is covered in beautiful 24-karat gold and outfitted with the latest security and antimissile technology,” Donald Trump said as he showed off the luxury catering truck, which reportedly cost U.S. taxpayers $900 million.

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— The Onion (@theonion.com) August 19, 2026 at 7:00 PM

 

 

Republican Crime Blotter -- Child Sexual Molestation Edition

 

The adjudicated sexual abuser Malignant Fascist's party/ cult seems to harbor more than its share of pedophiles, doesn't it?

A former Florida lawmaker and political ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis was arrested Tuesday and accused of molesting a young boy at the child’s home, on fishing excursions and while on a family cruise, arrest records show.

Michael Caruso, a 67-year-old Republican whom DeSantis appointed as Palm Beach County’s clerk of courts and comptroller a year ago, was taken into custody by local police and officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

“Being in a position of public trust provides no shield from accountability,” Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a statement Tuesday.

After the arrest was announced, DeSantis suspended Caruso from his post and noted in an executive order that the allegations include lewd or lascivious molestation, lewd or lascivious exhibition, kidnapping, child abuse causing mental injury, and luring or enticing a child.

Caruso had regular and unsupervised access to the child, a probable cause affidavit released by the governor’s office said.

Caruso is accused of preying on the boy more than half a dozen times since Thanksgiving 2024, sometimes under the guise of playing “tickle monster,” according to the affidavit...

Also, he was proud to support the crime-fighting (except for pedophilia) Malignant Fascist:


It's as if a large sieve was placed over America and all of the pervs, fascists, crackpots, criminals, liars, etc., were collected, and they called themselves "MAGA / Republicans."


National Debt Hits $40 Trillion Under Trump

 

The reckless, tax cuts for the rich Malignant Fascist has succeeded in increasing the national debt to a staggering $40 trillion, a development that will surely impact the cost of living and interest rates on purchases.  From the Associated Press:

"The national debt surpassed a record $40 trillion on Wednesday, a staggering milestone as defense costs, social programs like Social Security and Medicare and interest on the burgeoning deficit make up an enormous share of federal spending.

The milestone figure was recorded just five months after the U.S. hit a record $39 trillion debt in March. It reached $38 trillion five months before that, in October.

The unprecedented $40 trillion figure highlights competing administration priorities, from boosting defense spending that the U.S. relies on to carry out President Donald Trump’s almost-6-month-old war in Iran to lowering the cost of gas and groceries. [snip]

...experts say the exploding debt and the latest record milestone are already affecting Americans’ pocketbooks by raising borrowing costs for things like mortgages and cars, lowering wages from businesses that have less money available to invest, and creating more expensive goods and services." (our emphasis)

The billions of dollars in tariffs that filled the Treasury's coffers and had to be paid back after the Supreme Court ruled that they were collected illegally factors into this figure.  The MF, in his five and a half years in office, has racked up $11.5 trillion in debt or 28% of the total.  That should be in every Dem's stump speech from now until the mid-terms. 


Dementia Don's Further Descent Into Madness: "ECONOMIC D-DAY"!

 

Another day, another bonkers piece of performance "art" from Demented Don, this time threatening Iran with "the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY!"  Those all caps signify he really means business this time!

We can only imagine how these puerile screeds are seen in the capitals of the world, much less in Iran.  The projections ("These maniacs are on the ropes" -- you look like the maniac on the ropes, Don) and the irony ("Their navy is gone" -- the men and women of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln would like a word) is the Malignant Fascist's mouth once again writing checks that he can't cash.

"ECONOMIC D-DAY" -- what genius came up with that bit of bombast?  He won't get any allies with any sack to step into his self-made quagmire.  And you know who the biggest supporters of the Iran regime are?  His besties in Russia and North Korea.  We seriously doubt he intends any "TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences" for his mentor or his love letter correspondent.

But, anyway, "THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER" (so you won't be paying attention to the economy, Epstein files, corruption, ICE assaults, election subversion, etc., etc.).

BONUS:  Amplifying on the performance "art" nature of the threat:

“Iran’s largest trading partner is China; its second largest trading partner, I believe, is Russia. It also trades with North Korea, a little bit with India. These are not countries that the Trump administration has that much influence over,” [CNN's Fareed] Zakaria said on Wednesday’s edition of “Anderson Cooper 360°.”

Zakaria added that it was a dubious proposition for the U.S. to cut off trade with China over the issue of Iran.

“We’ve already seen how that would work ’cause the Chinese would cut off their exports of rare earth, and all kinds of crucial things that the United States depends on. So it seems unlikely that you’re actually gonna get at the core problem,” Zakaria said.

 #TACO.

 

Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

(Jack Ohman, Tribune Content Agency)

(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)


(Daniel Boris, @cartoonmovement)

(Mike Smith, Las Vegas Sun)

(Benjamin Slyngstad, @slyngstad_cartoons)

(Nick Anderson, Raw Story)

(Ann Telnaes, anntelnaes.substack.com)

(Morten Morland, The Times, UK)

(Michael de Adder, caglecartoons.com, Canada)

(Joel Pett, Tribune Content Agency)

(Gary Markstein, Creators.com)

(Emily Flake, @eflakeagogo)


Dementia Don's Temper Tantrums Driving Staff Away

 



The demented, narcissistic sociopath with the nuclear codes is getting crankier than ever and taking it out on White House staff (sad!):

President Donald Trump is reportedly yelling louder, for longer periods and acting significantly "meaner" toward his inner circle, driving a wave of recent high-profile White House departures.

According to insider reports detailed on "The Daily Beast Podcast," multiple senior officials are exiting the administration due to a toxic, increasingly hostile West Wing environment.  [Ed.: very sad!]

The reporting coincides with a series of major staff exits at the White House.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced she will step down at the end of August. While she publicly cited a desire to spend time with her family, insiders indicate the intense internal pressure and Trump's sharpening temperament heavily influenced the timing.

White House Counsel David Warrington departed his post amidst the shifting operational environment.

Deputy National Security Advisor Andy Baker, a key ally of Vice President J.D. Vance, has also exited the administration.

"It's a clear sign that people see how badly this second term is going," said David Rhode, senior executive editor on national security for MS NOW on Monday, August 17.

While Trump has historically been known for an aggressive management style, sources close to the administration note a distinct shift in his behavioral patterns during his current term.

Insiders report that his pattern of blaming staff for self-inflicted political problems has left top aides completely burned out, with some describing the daily work environment as "total misery."  [Ed.:  very very sad!]

The White House and Trump allies have generally pushed back on these characterizations, framing staff turnover as typical for a high-pressure administration or a natural rotation ahead of the midterm elections.  [snip]

Multiple former aides, including former White House lawyer Ty Cobb, have publicly stated that Trump's cognitive and behavioral shifts are "palpable," pointing to an escalation in his volatile outbursts.

Reports from the West Wing frequently detail longer, louder screaming matches directed at senior staff. Outside observers note a distinct increase in public temper tantrums, verbal reprimands of judges and lawmakers and rambling speech patterns during his second term... (our emphasis)

Well, first, it couldn't happen to more deserving fascist clowns, who worked hard to get him elected (twice!). 

We should note that his Chief of Staff Natalie Harp Susie Wiles is departing soon after the November mid-term blue tsunami, doubtless to dodge the flying ketchup.  We expect by the time next January rolls around, the concept of "total misery" will have to be re-defined by those remaining in the Malignant Fascist's orbit.  Maybe his new Chief of Staff/ co-President Natalie will be available to empty his fecal extrusion device.


Skeets Of The Day

 

Operation Epic Fail / let's talk about it / Bone Spurs doesn't want to --

 

We aren’t talking enough about those Destroyed American Bases….

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— Brant Reeves (@bireeves95.bsky.social) August 18, 2026 at 8:58 PM

 

Trump calls concerns about the conditions on the USS Lincoln a “CNN fake news report”

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) August 17, 2026 at 2:39 PM

 

Netanyahu gone wild --


Israel struck an air base in northwest Syria early Tuesday, saying it aimed to prevent Turkish troops from deploying there. Turkey, which has close ties with the Syrian government and has been providing assistance to Syria's military. n.pr/4x41sVr

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— NPR (@npr.org) August 19, 2026 at 9:10 AM

 

Trump's insane decision punishing ally South Korea --


"Scaling back the exercise is, of course, an insane decision, which does nothing but hurt an ally, and tempt an adversary to think—correctly—that American leadership is feckless." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

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— Tom Nichols (@radiofreetom.bsky.social) August 16, 2026 at 10:28 PM

 

Step aside Stephen Miller, Natalie is the new co-President / babysitter --


“She has at times ruffled feathers among White House aides by immediately following through on Trump’s directives without first checking in with the chief of staff, the communications office or the national security team.” Fantastic.

— Brian Finucane (@bcfinucane.bsky.social) August 19, 2026 at 6:44 AM

 

Dems, this is how politics works --

 

Sen. Ossoff mentions Natalie Harp, it got some social media buzz, then professional media jumped on it. Two theories of politics that are wrong: 1) Do economic policy, act above the fray, media will do the rest on its own 2) Public opinion is static, politicians’ job is to measure then follow it

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— Nicholas Grossman (@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social) August 19, 2026 at 7:48 AM

 

Sen. Jon Ossoff says Trump is a “draft-dodging crook president” at Georgia town hall meeting

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— Jon Cooper (@joncooper-us.bsky.social) August 18, 2026 at 6:23 PM

 

Making America Sick Again, measles outbreak edition --


NEW: Measles Used to Be in Our Rearview Mirror. Now Cases Are Reaching Record Highs. In other parts of the world that have let their guard down to vaccine-preventable diseases, long-forgotten scourges have roared back and killed and disabled children.

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— ProPublica (@propublica.org) August 18, 2026 at 8:00 AM

 

Democrats in array and winning everywhere --

 

Democrats in array, once again. Nice to see.

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— Kevin M. Kruse (@kevinmkruse.bsky.social) August 19, 2026 at 7:31 AM

 

Pennsylvania State House District 12 Special Election 27 of 27 Precincts Reported: 🔵 Brandon Dukes – 8,434 (50.2%) 🔴 Scott Timko – 8,346 (49.6%) Trump won this district by 18 points in 2024.

— VoteHub (@votehub.com) August 18, 2026 at 10:17 PM

 

Huckleberry Graham's sister 🎵 don't know much 'bout foreign policy (or her state) --

 

Darlene Graham just bumbled through one of the worst responses to a question during a political debate you'll ever see

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 18, 2026 at 11:05 PM

 

Trump-endorsed senate candidate Darlene Graham: “There’s 50 million people in SC.” The population of SC is 5.5 million.

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— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) August 18, 2026 at 9:53 PM

 

The right partner at the right time --

 

No one wanted to be his partner, but she saw the champion no one else saw. Original post

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— Massimo (mirror) (@rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social) August 19, 2026 at 2:26 AM

 

 

Mid-Week Song


Singer / songwriter Gracie Abrams' latest album "Daughter from He'll" was released last month, following tours with Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo, and last year's American Music Award for New Artist of the Year. She's a gun safety and reproductive rights activist when she's not writing, recording and touring. Today's choice is a studio version of "What If It's Right?", with Marcus Mumford, off of her album.  

QOTD: Full Time Babysitter

 

At the risk of over-covering the Natalie Harp story (nah!), here, from the ever-readable Amanda Marcotte, writing at Salon.com, the coda of her article on the declining Malignant Fascist's "security blanket / human binkie" Natalie Harp and her role to boost the MF's morale and ego:

"Whatever the extent of Natalie Harp’s duties, it seems undeniable that she is there to keep the temperamental president calm by distracting him from his own failures with words of praise. That he needs this is a sign of profound weakness. Stable adults do not need full-time babysitters. That Harp’s job even exists is a testament to Trump’s incredible narcissism, but it also carries more than a whiff of elder care and suspicions about medical conditions that require monitoring and placating.

The White House’s extreme response only serves to underscore how worried they are about the narrative being created — one they themselves weaponized against another aging president, Joe Biden. By flipping out at anyone who brings it up, they’re only ensuring more people are paying attention." (our emphasis)

The explosive, over-the-top reaction to Sen. Ossoff's mild dig at her constant presence hit a major nerve in Trumpworld, as Marcotte notes. The signs of the MF's physical and mental decline are simple to spot, and increase every week. While there's ample innuendo of a physical relationship between the two (even though the elderly MF is looking physically feeble), the real "service" she seems to perform for the extreme narcissist is psychological, telling him how successful and potent he is, reassuring him constantly. It's troubling that he needs the reinforcement and that she believes it herself. 

 

How The Natalie Harp Affair Should Guide Us

 

Jamelle Bouie has a smart take on Natalie Harp, the smart Ossoff attack line, the White House / MAGAt "hit dog hollers" reaction, and what the lesson is for Democrats going forward (hint: don't be afraid to be aggressive and down-and-dirty). This is a good explainer video to share.

 

BONUSSteve M. has a similar take and advice.

BONUS IIMore Harp weirdness reported.