CSotD: Facts, or something like them
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President Trump’s speech last week has drawn poor reviews, which is an unusual response to presidential addresses, though in this case, the message was so clearly partisan that ABC and NBC declined to cover it except on their online news channels, and CBS and even Fox cut away and downplayed it when it became obvious that the speech was purely political.
Smith seems on target with his accusation that Dear Leader saw nothing wrong with the speech despite the generally negative response it has earned, even on Fox, where it was greeted with a level of silence that observers commented on, speculating that the network was unwilling to echo his charges of a corrupt election, having paid a fine of $787 million for backing up his lies about magical vote-fixing machines in 2020.
Smith’s accusation is relatively gentle compared to German’s response. Smith suggests a lack of perspective that, unfortunately, fits in with the president’s clumsy, much mocked appearance at the World Cup, where he attempted to crash the Spanish team’s victory photo and had to be gently led off by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
German is more focused on Trump’s unending accusations of cheating on the 2020 election, that none of his charges have ever gained a scintilla of confirmation when examined, and the apparent fact that his faithful followers will believe them anyway, particularly since he has now released material he claims confirm his charges but which those who have read it say does not.
Varvel goes even further than the MAGA fans in German’s cartoon, and further even than Trump himself. The president charged China with having gained voter rolls, which most commentators shrugged off, since the rolls are public material, stripped of sensitive personal material like Social Security numbers and easily downloaded by anyone who wants them.
But in Varvel’s imagination, the accusation is that the Chinese used that material to submit false ballots in the 2020 election. Even Trump didn’t make that charge.
Bish draws a more accurate, though mocking, picture of Trump’s accusation, which was an unfocused accusation of some sort of interference that the documents he released didn’t back up. The most that seems to have happened is the China ventured a bit of online propaganda, which is fairly standard international foolery, but made no major effort to swing the election one way or the other.
Bish is careful to list three obvious Trump lies, but to put the accusation against China is the form of speculation, which is more in keeping with how Dear Leader framed the matter, and those old enough to remember Maxwell Smart may chuckle over the catch-phrase with which that comic spy introduced clearly fake explanations.
Juxtaposition of the Day
There may be more fruitful discussions to be had in domestic politics.
There was little surprise in the appointment of the sister of the late Lindsey Graham to serve out the remaining months of his term in office, though it raised some grousing from the left side of the aisle. But spouses and adult children have often been appointed to that role or won special elections to replace older relatives, and some, like Lindy Boggs and Lisa Murkowski, have done so with distinction. Even Lurleen Wallace, elected governor of Alabama to succeed her term-limited husband George, gained recognition as a competent politician.
On the other hand, Artley has a point in that Graham’s sister is expected to be as faithful a Trump follower as was her brother, and the fact that Trump is now promoting her as the candidate for a full term suggests he shares that expectation.
Meanwhile, Stantis echoes the Red Scare tactics currently seen on the right, adding a hammer and sickle in order to conflate socialism with communism and add panic to the prospect of left-leaning populism in the appeal Democrats are making to younger voters.
As with empty accusations of voter fraud, the charge of communism doesn’t have to be backed up in order to be efficient, and the latest example of this approach is an attack on NYC Mayor Mamdani for offering a night of free babysitting so that 500 sets of parents can enjoy a night out.
Commentators at Town Hall saw the horrors such an event poses.
To echo a phrase from World War II, don’t you know there’s a war going on? MacKay suggests that Trump’s off-again-on-again approach to the conflict leaves the rest of the world feeling the impact of the energy crisis his attacks have launched.
Baron, however, focuses less on the economic distress and more on the human costs of having Trump and the mullahs dueling for control of the strait while deaths mount on both sides.
Gasoline, natural gas and fertilizer shortages are surely a burden on the world, but now we’re seeing American bombings of Iranian water supplies and bridges, which has major impact on civilians, while Iran is striking back at American-friendly bases in neighboring countries, and there is growing suspicion that the Americans are not honestly reporting the toll in lives or in destruction of materiel.
Juxtaposition of Happy Talk
Varvel and Benson report that Iran is on the verge of collapse. Varvel says they foolishly deny how badly they have been damaged, while Benson suggests they are close to destroying themselves because they refuse to admit defeat.
There is precedent for such optimistic analysis, but it tends to fall under the rubric of “the lady doth protest too much.” When asked about the two servicemembers killed in an attack on an American base, the president replied
Have you ever asked how many people died in Vietnam? Have you ever asked how many people died in Afghanistan in one day? In one day — run by Sleepy Joe Biden.
Note that neither war resulted in American triumph.
He went on to explain that the Americans had died in this conflict in order to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and, asked about the Memorandum of Understanding having been abandoned, replied “I couldn’t care less.”
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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