"I'm from the Lincoln Project and I'm here to help"
The most terrifying words in the English language.
Now that we’ve all gotten a good laugh about The Lincoln Project’s shameless tiki-torch stunt in Virginia, let me say that I agree with this guy: it was never meant to trick people into thinking that a real group of neo-Nazis showed up at Glenn Youngkin’s campaign bus to show their support. The fact that one of said white supremacists was very obviously African-American should have been the tip-off that it was an obvious stunt.
Maybe they forgot that it was 2021, and that so many people have had their brains so thoroughly fried by Trump-era politics that they will literally believe anything that confirms their priors. This includes several Terry McAuliffe campaign staffers and even one Congressman.
I suppose it’s to Democrats’ credit that they believe all Republicans are secret neo-Nazis, compared to Republicans believing all Democrats are into adrenochrome harvesting. But this is the kind of thing that plays right into the hands of the Trumpers and anti-anti-Trumpers who’ve taken over the GOP.
One of the few things for which I’ll give Donald Trump credit is that he made no effort to pretend he never tried to bend the rules or try to rig the system for his own benefit. Just the opposite: he gloated about it.
Trump’s extremely cynical message was that everyone does this kind of thing, so he might as well be open about the fact and promise to do it for his supporters’ benefit. Corruption, dirty tricks, election shenanigans, lying…that’s just how the game is played.
Now, along come the Lincoln Project jackasses, making him look like he has a point. Republicans don’t have to pretend they’re squeaky clean, just that “the other guys are just as bad.”
And, to be fair, sometimes the other guys really are terrible. When you’re protesting a wedding because the Senator presiding over the ceremony is the subject of your latest two minutes’ hate, that should be an “are we the baddies?” moment for you.
The temptation to play dirty when the other side plays dirty must be overwhelming. But all you end up doing is furthering the race to the bottom - and, in Virginia, having it blow up in your face and help the other guys win.
Then again, the Lincoln Project guys are well-known for their ruthless tactics in helping Republicans get elected. Maybe they haven’t changed as much as we think.
[Deep breath]
Now that I’ve gotten all of that out of the way and suggested that there might be some moral equivalence between the blue team and the red team, let me say that, no, there is absolutely no moral equivalence between them at all. None. Zero. Not even close.
Item:
As Vice President Mike Pence hid from a marauding mob during the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol, an attorney for President Donald Trump emailed a top Pence aide to say that Pence had caused the violence by refusing to block certification of Trump’s election loss.
The attorney, John C. Eastman, also continued to press for Pence to act even after Trump’s supporters had trampled through the Capitol — an attack the Pence aide, Greg Jacob, had described as a “siege” in their email exchange.
“The ‘siege’ is because YOU and your boss did not do what was necessary to allow this to be aired in a public way so that the American people can see for themselves what happened,” Eastman wrote to Jacob, referring to Trump’s claims of voter fraud.
Eastman sent the email as Pence, who had been presiding in the Senate, was under guard with Jacob and other advisers in a secure area. Rioters were tearing through the Capitol complex, some of them calling for Pence to be executed.
Item:
Donald Trump Jr. is selling shirts lampooning actor Alec Baldwin for the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on a film set last week.
The eldest son of former President Donald Trump has shirts that say, "Guns don't kill people Alec Baldwin kills people" for sale on his website.
Trump Jr. is selling the shirts for $27.99. They come in four different colors and three different styles.
Item:
Ohio has Sherrod Brown as one of its Senators, so I actually don’t think the Senate race is a gimme for the Republican candidate. But if Mandel does win, I don’t the question is whether he will ever be on a GOP ticket in a Presidential race, but whether MTG or Lauren Boebert is his running mate.
“Did Charlie Brown poison the town’s water supply or something?”