It’s That Time
As we enter the warmer, lazier days of summer, there are two developments that seem to occur, especially in an election kick off.
1. Politicians take a break and are out of Washington. That reduces the daily drumbeat of news.
2. The primary news heightens and it’s easy for the media to cover, so we hear more about the division in any party having a primary.
What that means for this blog is, we will back off too and not clog your mailboxes just to say something. So, you’ll hear less from us and only when we think there is news we want to comment on that you may want to hear.
Some Short Takes Today
The Republican primary field for 2024 is ever expanding.
Three additional candidates are announcing this week. Mike Pence, Chris Christie and North Dakota’s governor, Doug Burgum, are expected to announce bids.
One thing for sure, the front runners, Trump and DeSantis, did not scare others off.
Nikki Haley took a step forward yesterday with her CNN Town Hall. It’s too bad it did not get the pre and post coverage that former President Trump’s did. She was impressive.
Senator Scott is also taking an interesting approach. He is on The View, after they called him names for being a black conservative. If it goes well, he can take a step forward too.
Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, had a good kick off week. He had been criticized for his lack of interpersonal abilities, but showed some positive skills on the trial opening week.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump was Trump and shooting from the hip. He had a real negative moment when he said Gov. Cuomo did a better job with covid than Gov. DeSantis.
I had to listen to that twice to make sure I heard it right.
Then, DeSantis said that it was funny since he and his whole family moved to Florida in that period!
The other interesting interaction between the two was when the Governor tried to make the point he could serve two terms. This was done to point out that the former President would be a lame duck on day one.
Trump attacked immediately and said he needed six months and if DeSantis needed eight years he is unqualified. Boom.
But then, DeSantis replied that Trump had four years, why didn’t he do it then? Boom.
The other place that the former President took a hit, in my opinion, was his attack on his former press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany. This attack and incident reinforced for me the character flaw of the former President.
McEnany was one of his most loyal supporters. She took the bullets daily in the press room and defended him at every turn. She survived breast cancer, had two children and now the boss, to whom she has been loyal, turns on her. Why?
The answer is because she said he was 25 points ahead of DeSantis in Iowa and the former President said:
“Kayleigh Milktoast McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers … I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious…..”
McEnany said it on FoxNews, and Trump added that the station “should only use REAL stars.”
To me that’s Donald Trump. Loyal to only Donald Trump.
I repeat, Trump policies, yes, Trump ego and actions, no.
Speaking of phonies. Here’s a great example of two, and of course in an election year. The story:
Senate Votes to Block Biden Student Loan Bailout.
All Republicans and Arizona Independent Kyrsten Sinema voted for the bill.
They were joined by only two Democrats: Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana.
So Manchin and Tester are back to their election year conversion to fool the people once again.
Think back to when it really mattered, how they were 100% in lock step for every spending program.
Let’s close with this story because of the hypocrisy of it all.
Rep. Marjorie Greene, she of the yelling out of “liar” during the State Of The Union, while presiding over the chamber, urged members “to abide by decorum of the House.” Democrats, not surprisingly erupted in laughter.
Now to add to the hypocrisy:
Some members, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.), stood up and shouted back at her “decorum” request.
Imagine that. We don’t need to hear from them.
To make it worse:
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) tweeted his response: “I haven’t laughed this hard in a while — but Marjorie Taylor Greene just called for ‘decorum’ on the House Floor.”
The congressman, who may be the biggest liar in the House, is calling out another hypocrisy? Give me a break.