From the golden eagle under the table in the lower left to George Washington's camel-toe pants to the 3 shades of blue in the too-tight clothing of the 3 human figures to the insane line-up of gold objects on the mantle to the now-iconic desperate gesture of hiding behind binders, the photograph is perfect.
You're either there or you're not. You can't concoct a way to not be there when you are there. It's like the way a baby might think in the early stages of learning the game of peek-a-boo. It's reminiscent of thousands of photos of perps — walked in front of the press — trying to hide behind their collar.
There were far more Democrats than Trump fans there, but Harris stayed away, though they let her appear as a pre-recorded video (in which she off-loaded the comedy to Molly Shannon, who deployed her old SNL Catholic schoolgirl character, and I couldn't hear any laughter in the room).
Trump sat there — between Melania and the Cardinal — and laughed at gibes from Jim Gaffigan, who plays Tim Walz on SNL. Gaffigan is funny — and Catholic — and he handled his task well. Scroll to 2:25 to see him step up to speak as the camera pans to Donald Trump, who knows he's going to get kicked around and is sitting facing the audience, with only the Cardinal and Chuck Schumer between him and Gaffigan. But he knows he's not the one who chickened out and he knows he's going to get the last word.
Here is my selection and ranking of Jim Gaffigan's Top 7 jokes:
7. "This room is is undeniably impressive... the prestige, the wealth, the allegations. I mean, wow, and don't feel bad if you don't have any allegations yet, okay, which reminds me Letitia James is here. She had a great year. She's just back there watching all of you. She's watching."
6. "This event has been referred to as the Catholic Met Gala. 22% of Americans identify as Catholic. Catholics will be a key demographic in every battleground state. I'm sorry: Why is Vice President Harris not here?... This is a layup for the Democratic nominee. I mean, in her defense I mean she did find time to appear on 'The View,' Howard Stern, and the long-time staple of campaigning the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast."
5. "You have to admit the Democrats have done an amazing job rebranding Vice President Harris.... The term 'Joyful Warrior' was used so many times at the Democratic Convention. I felt like I was at a yoga retreat. Let's start off in a Joyful Warrior pose and then go straight into Downward-Facing Doug."
4. "I watch that [video appearance of Kamala Harris]... I couldn't help but think of: Now I know how my kids felt when... I FaceTimed into a piano recital."
3. "I don't know if you've heard about these people who publicly say they would never vote for Trump, but then when they go in the voting booth, they do. It's a small group. They're called the Biden family."
2. "Joe Biden was our second Catholic President, right after JFK. President Biden couldn't be here tonight. The DNC made sure of that."
1. "The Democrats have been telling us Trump's reelection is a threat to democracy. In fact, they were so concerned of this threat, they staged a coup, outed their democratically elected incumbent and installed Kamala Harris."
AND NOW: Here is my selection and ranking of Donald Trump's Top 7 jokes comedic riffs:
7. "A major issue in this race is child care, and Kamala has put forward a concept of a plan.... The only piece of advice I would have for her in the event that she wins would be not to let her husband Doug anywhere near the nannies. Just keep them away. That's a nasty one. That's nasty. I told these idiots that gave me this stuff, that's too tough."
6. "When I heard that Kamala was skipping the Al Smith Dinner, I'd really hoped that she would come because we can't get enough of hearing her beautiful laugh. She laughs like crazy. We would recognize it anyplace — in this room."
5. "You can't do what I just saw on that screen, but my opponent feels like she does not have to be here, which is deeply disrespectful to the event and in particular to our great Catholic Community.... The last Democrat not to attend this important event was Walter Mondale, and it did not go very well for him.... Shows you there is a God.... I understand the real reason that she's not here is she's hunting with her running mate — spending a lot of time hunting...."
4. "It's a true pleasure to be with you this evening — amazing pleasure... really a pleasure to be anywhere in New York without a subpoena.... Anytime I don't get a subpoena, I'm very happy. They've gone after me. Mr. Mayor, you're peanuts compared to what they've done to me. And you're going to be okay."
3. "All polls are indicating I'm leading big with a Catholic vote. As I should be. But I don't think Kamala has given up yet.... Instead of attending tonight she's in Michigan receiving communion from Gretchen Whitmer."
2. "If Democrats really wanted to have someone not be with us this evening they would have just sent Joe Biden."
1. "A good job tradition holds that I'm supposed to tell a few self-deprecating jokes this evening, so here it goes. Nope, I've got nothing I've got nothing. There's nothing to say. I guess I just don't see the point of taking shots at myself when other people have been shooting at me for a hell of a long time. They shoot, right? You know, they say about presidents, they say that Andrew Jackson was the President that was the most meanly treated. His wife died, she died of heartache. She was heartbroken at the way they treated him. And they say that second was Abraham Lincoln, but he was in charge of the Civil War, you know, so but those were the two... up until me. Now, they say it's not even close. There's never been a president that's been treated so badly as me. And now, people aren't happy about it, but I was treated a little bit rough, but I don't mind it somehow, and I think it's just part of the game."
"It’s part of what fueled critical media coverage of her during the first year of her tenure, and which led the White House to largely sideline her during the first half of the Biden presidency.... As the first female, Black, and South Asian vice president, Harris was always doomed to receive an extraordinary amount of scrutiny and bias — and emphasized her persona as a 'joyful warrior' in part to combat some of those stereotypes. The joyful warrior, it seems, is sometimes a goofy one too. Harris delivers many of these lines in a genuinely funny way, with an affect unlike many politicians (described sometimes as just vibing along).... Plenty of people are... meme-ing their way to a new celebration of Harris — unburdened by what has been."
There are various embedded tweets at that link, including, "How are you supposed to exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you AND be, unburdened by what has been at the same time? Waiting for her 3rd great revelation that synthesizes these two." That's a reaction to this:
Four straight minutes of “what can be, unburdened by what has been.” It’s incredible. I had no idea she used it this much. pic.twitter.com/TClfC1EyH6
I can understand her interest in being "unburdened by what has been," but she's stepping into the candidacy without having had to fight off rivals who offered new visions or even needing to present anything of her own.
ADDED: I didn't know people had taken to calling Kamala Harris a "joyful warrior," but this year is a lot like 1968 — President withdraws, VP steps into candidacy, convention in Chicago — and the candidate, Hubert Humphrey was famously called "The Happy Warrior."
That's a gift link, so you can click over there and see them dream up the Whitmer/Booker ticket. Perry Bacon Jr. says:
Why pair Whitmer with Booker? He, like Kamala D. Harris, tried to run in between the left (Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren) and the center-left candidates (Biden) during his 2020 presidential run. That strategy didn’t work in such a crowded field. But a candidate who is not a clear leftie or moderate could be a unifying figure. Booker remains very well-liked in the party. Diversity matters, so it’s important to have a non-White candidate. Booker (who is 55) combined with Whitmer (52) are a ticket that could address some of Biden-Harris’s current shortfalls among younger and Black voters as well as appealing to the majority of voters who don’t want a president in his 80s.
Diversity matters, that's why we're kicking our diversity-matters VP Kamala Harris to the curb and replacing her with a new repository of diversity. We'll split the diversity of Kamala in two and run with a white female presidential candidate and a black male vice presidential candidate. The young folks will love it. And besides, we can do what we want because Donald Trump is clearly out of his mind.
But the "out of his mind" man knows it's got to be Kamala:
HIGHER QUALITY VIDEO:
Trump says Joe Biden is “quitting the race"
"I got him out” he’s an “old broken-down pile of crap… Now we have Kamala. She’s so f—king bad”
"I got [Biden] out of there, and that means we have Kamala. I think she's going to be better. She's so bad. She's so pathetic. She's so fucking bad."
***
There's much more at that WaPo link — so many crazy statements from people who smugly declare Donald Trump to be out of his mind. I could write 10 blog posts excerpting different quotes and riffing on them, but I need to spread the love around. Happy 4th of July!
"It is entirely possible that the debate will not much change the polls; it is entirely possible that Biden could have a much stronger debate in September; it is not impossible to imagine that Trump will find a way to lose. But, at this point, should Biden engage the country in that level of jeopardy? To step aside and unleash the admittedly complicated process of locating and nominating a more robust and promising ticket seems the more rational course and would be an act of patriotism.... To stay in the race would be pure vanity, uncharacteristic of someone whom most have come to view as decent and devoted to public service. To stay in the race, at this post-debate point, would also suggest that it is impossible to imagine a more vital ticket. In fact, Gretchen Whitmer, Raphael Warnock, Josh Shapiro, and Wes Moore are just a few of the office-holders in the Party who could energize Democrats and independents, inspire more younger voters, and beat Trump."
Does trying to "energize" people — at this late stage — about Gretchen Whitmer/Raphael Warnock/Josh Shapiro/Wes Moore seem "more rational" to you? Gretchen Whitmer/Raphael Warnock/Josh Shapiro/Wes Moore did not go through the primary process, interacting with real people across the country and standing up to months of scrutiny, outlasting others. And what would this alternative process — this "admittedly complicated process" — consist of? It seems as though it would resemble the process of picking the VP candidate — similar to the way Kamala Harris was picked 4 years ago. Why would voters be "inspir[ed]" to have such a person foisted on them by the same people who presented Biden as excellent and are now asserting that he's hopelessly decrepit? I know they just want to win, but that's not the stuff of hopes and dreams.
Remnick worries about Biden's "self-delusion," but what about his?
By the way, is it "entirely possible that Biden could have a much stronger debate in September"? Not only is it entirely possible for Biden to have a much stronger debate in September, it's entirely possible that if you calm yourself, clear your head of preconceptions, and cue up last Thursday's debate and watch it again, you will perceive it as a much stronger debate than it seemed on first watch.
And I will resist putting my time into a little exercise in cynicism, but this sentence is begging for a paraphrase: "To stay in the race would be pure vanity, uncharacteristic of someone whom most have come to view as decent and devoted to public service."
To bolster [the informant's] testimony, the government played recordings for the jury in which one of the defendants, Brandon Caserta, is heard telling the informant his opinions....
"Doctors who advocated mandated vaccines — bullet to the face," Caserta is heard saying in recordings captured by Dan.
"Buildings that manufacture the vaccines, blow them up. I'm not even kidding. Any lawyer that supports a vaccine mandate, decapitate them in their own home" Caserta said....
"I don't call it contact tracing, I call it constitutional trampling," Caserta said in a recording.... "We create a dynamic where no one wants to be a contact tracer because they might f****** die."...
To him, [Whitmer] was just a servant, Dan said, adding he wanted to go after her "handlers."
"I want Zionist banker blood," Caserta is heard saying in one recording....
As for Biden, unnamed Democrats have "concerns... that they’re ending up with the worst of all worlds: a blunt policy that won’t go into effect but that will saddle them politically." As one "strategist" put it: "it’s just another thing added to the pile of shit that he’s already been dealing with." We're told: "Aides are convinced that the mandates are necessary to finally tamp down the pandemic, which they believe is Biden’s political end-all, be-all."
Supposedly, Biden "wanted to steer clear of the politicization that has hampered much of the Covid-19 response, viewing mandates as a concept that could easily spark blowback." He's the President. Why didn't he get what he wanted? Others prevailed, somehow, and he's stuck with the political problem.
"They're going to run over you, you're going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate.... You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again. We’re doing it in Washington, D.C. We’re going to do something that people haven’t seen before."
What's the "something that people haven’t seen before"?
I tried some other news sources but I couldn't get an answer. I did find this response from Gretchen Whitmer, one of the governors on the phone call:
"The president’s dangerous comments should be gravely concerning to all Americans, because they send a clear signal that this administration is determined to sow the seeds of hatred and division, which I fear will only lead to more violence and destruction. We must reject this way of thinking. This is a moment that calls for empathy, humanity, and unity. This is one of the most challenging periods in our nation’s history, but as Americans, we must remember our enemy is racial injustice, not one another. Let us heed the powerful words of President Obama today to ‘channel our justifiable anger into peaceful, sustained, and effective action.’ It’s time for all of us to pull together and do the hard work of building a nation that works for everyone."
“New York is going to have to toughen up,” Trump said. “And we’ll send you national guard if you want. What’s going on in New York is terrible, it’s terrible. Philadelphia, you gotta toughen up … You’ve got a big national guard out there that’s ready to come out and fight like hell.”
But Trump also repeatedly praised Minnesota governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, who he said “knocked [protesters] out so fast it was like bowling pins.” The president described Minnesota as a sort of “experiment” for how to handle the protests, saying the first part of its response was “weak and pathetic” but the second “was domination.”
Also: Trump talked about getting a new law banning flag burning. Yes, the Supreme Court said there's a First Amendment right to protest by burning the American flag, but it was only 5-4, back in the 80s, so who knows, maybe take another shot... even though Scalia was one of the 5.
But seriously, there isn't going to be a statute, so it's not going not going to court anyway. It's just a rhetorical bowling ball.
(Just accidentally ran into that image — from a WWII propaganda poster, here, at HistoryNet.)
Let's dip into the rhetoric from yesterday's task force press briefing. Donald Trump was full of energy, ready to talk and talk until you just can't stand it anymore. And his word of the day was "appreciative." Why won't people appreciate him?!
TRUMP: Well, I think we’ve done a great job for the State of Washington and I think the governor, who is a failed presidential candidate as you know, he leveled out at zero in the polls, he’s constantly chirping, and I guess complaining would be a nice way of saying it. We’re building hospitals. We’ve done a great job for the State of Washington. Michigan, she has no idea what’s going on. And all she does is say, “Oh, it’s the federal government’s fault.” And we’ve taken such great care of Michigan. You know the care we’ve taken of New Jersey. I think if you ask Governor Murphy of New Jersey, “How are we doing?” I think he’d say great. I think. He’s a Democrat. Governor Cuomo has really said we’re really doing a great job... and Governor Cuomo has been appreciative. But a couple of people aren’t.
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