TWGB: Indefensible

Chuck Todd was left gobsmacked by Sen. John Kennedy when the GOP lawmaker said the ex-Ukrainian president “actively worked” for Hillary Clinton. https://t.co/q02pvS1hx3

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 1, 2019

It seems like it was just last week that (wait, it was!) that Senator Kennedy was on another Sunday news program spreading Russian propaganda, before walking it half-assedly back a little while later. As of last week, I had assumed that the better-educated than he pretends to be gentleman from Louisiana was lying to toady up to Trump but actually did, in fact, know perfectly well that Russia was the main culprit in interfering in the 2016 election, that they did so on Trump's behalf, and that Ukraine's involvement was negligible and was being discussed only as a distraction. It now appears that Sen. Kennedy is making the claim that he knows no such things, because he never attended the intelligence briefing that would have informed him of these things.

That is astounding, even gobsmacking. What, pray tell, was he doing instead? Resting his simple country ears so they would not hear any evil, resting his simple country eyes so they would see no evil, or resting his mouth so he could go lie on Sunday news programs in a pinch to defend the indefensible by talking about the unproven? Because, apparently, "Hear no evil, see no evil, but speak all the evil you want" is the new watchword of the day. And Chuck Todd (and others) should take it under advisement that this senator has chosen not to actually be reliable in interviews, and, accordingly, not have him back on. The "articles" that Kennedy has suggested would enlighten us as to the Ukrainian involvement are basically one Politico news story, which has just been cited in other right-wing media articles an awful lot, but which doesn't rise to the reams of information we have about Russian involvement.

He really probably should have attended intelligence briefings about this. Just because the president blows off opportunities to learn new stuff doesn't mean everybody around here gets a pass. The grossest thing that Kennedy claimed, though, was that Trump has any kind of record at fighting corruption anywhere. He certainly hasn't fought it here at home, let alone anywhere else in the world. It's a whole damn lie.

Anyway, I'm not sure that Kennedy is trying to defend Trump plausibly for the benefit of people like myself, anyway. Look, this guy just got this Senate seat. He will be there for a term. It would extend beyond Trump's second term, were he to have one, and neither of them are young men. He doesn't actually need to do this, so what really disturbs me is that even reasonably intelligent right-wing pols are walking around with literal Russian propaganda and right-wing shit clogging their thinking apparatus to the point that "Yeah but Ukraine wanted Clinton" sounds anything like a defense for extorting a country we promised aid to. It doesn't bother him in the least that Trump used our state department and OMB personnel in a plot to benefit himself politically. That Trump basically used taxpayer funds and taxpayer-paid people to act like his opposition research team.

That's indefensible.

Now, Trump seems to know he's indefensible. He has now responded to Rep. Nadler's very nice cordial invitation with a scathing letter to explain that they most certainly were not planning on participating in the partisan impeachment spectacle although they certainly could. Maybe. Later on. If the weather was nice and everyone was going to play fair about it. Sniff. (I can't blame Patty Onions for the way the letter comes off. Everyone in TrumpWorld gets reduced to taking dictation from the dictator, eventually.) In the meanwhile, TrumpWorld minion Doug Collins also has something to say about the upcoming hearings--maybe there should be more people defending Trump. I mean, I think that's what he wants. I mean, if there's more people testifying, surely at least one of them will say extortion is great, right?

But the thing of it is--that has nothing to do with the process, and they all know it. The trial, so to speak, is the Senate part. The GOP-controlled Senate part. They will certainly get to the part where a defense can be put on for Trump, if there is one, so why get all pee-faced about it now?

Because there isn't one. There you go. Ta--fricking-da.

In other fascinating news, check out this interview with Lisa Page by Molly Jong-Fast. Trump's paranoia about people being out to get him has had him punching down at a federal employee who just did her job, while using really ugly and gross ways of doing so.

At his rally in Minneapolis, Donald Trump did an impression of former FBI agent Peter Strzok having an orgasm pic.twitter.com/JLms1il0xp

— Edward Hardy (@EdwardTHardy) October 11, 2019

Not one thing from the FBI investigation leaked during the election. Not one thing. And yet Trump was all over these guys with a vengeance--for the crime of, I guess, not liking him? Because that might just be it. He heard they didn't think he should be president, and no matter how professionally they otherwise went about their business, that was enough.

Trump does indefensible stuff all of the time. He also gets other people to do indefensible stuff. At some point, these cheap, lying, half-ass defenses have to end, and the going along to get along has to stop. I don't know when. But even the defense of Trump is becoming indefensible. We've just seen too much of his act.