One way or the other, I think we're going to be talking about the Donald Trump presidency for the rest of our lives…which Trump would probably consider a "win" for him, even if we're all saying what a monster he was. He strikes me as the kind of guy who would prefer that to not being mentioned at all.
You may find this hard to believe but there are moments lately when I kinda feel sorry for the guy. I know he's the cause of a lot of his woes and I know he gleefully did the same things to his opponents but, for example, I didn't think any pundit or commenter from afar knew as much about the Clintons' marriage as they pretended they did. I didn't think any pundit or commenter from afar knew as much about the Obamas' marriage as they pretended they did. And I don't think any pundit or commenter from afar knows as much about the Trumps' marriage as they pretend they do.
I also think there is such a thirst out there for jokes and insults of Trump that the Stephen Colberts and Seth Meyerses of the world are faulting him for every stupid thing he says (which is fair) and a lot of picayune, arguable ones (which is not). There are plenty of the legit kind, guys.
The other night, Michael Wolff was on with Trevor Noah, and I didn't get that Mr. Noah had a high opinion of Mr. Wolff. He kept pressing Wolff on his new allegation that Trump is currently having an affair with someone on the White House staff and that you can figure this out if you "read between the lines" of Wolff's new book. It sure sounded like Wolff has insufficient proof to say it out loud but he's suggesting it anyway because, hey, the idea is to sell books, right?
I haven't made it all the way through Wolff's Fire and Fury yet and I may not. Much of it feels a little too National Enquirer for me…and by the way, I flipped through the latest Enquirer while waiting in the supermarket check-out line lately and I think their new Mission Statement is to make Fox News look fair and balanced by comparison. Did you know that every bad thing you hear about Trump is a lie planted by Barack Obama? Apparently, he's even found a way to make Trump say stupid, racist things. If Obama could do that, how come he couldn't get us real, bulletproof Universal Health Care? Now this…
- Fred Kaplan has one of those Good News/Bad News columns. The good news is that with regard to foreign action and military operations, Trump is doing what the generals tell him to do. The bad news is what the generals are telling him to do.
- Trump has been tossing red meat to his base, warning them that to let one immigrant in is to let in dozens. Politifact explains how it really works and — surprise, surprise! — it's not the way Trump says it does. Also, immigrants have a much lower crime rate than he'd like you to believe.
- Here's two views on the same matter. Zack Beauchamp says the Obstruction of Justice case against Trump is pretty strong. Andrew Prokop thinks otherwise.
- Jonathan Chait makes a good case that "Trump Hasn't Destroyed Obama's Legacy. He's Revealed How Impressive It Was." Part of the reason Trump's approval rating isn't in the twenties is that most of the economic news is fairly good. But if you look at any chart of any indicator, I don't think there's one that doesn't show the good news is all continuing some trend from the Obama years or before.
- Matt Taibbi discusses the Trump News Cycle, where it's All Donald, All the Time.
- And finally: Evangelical leaders are still standing behind their boy Trump despite the story about him cheating on his wife with a porn star and paying hush bucks to cover it up. I'm sure they'll apply the same standards of judgment to the next Democrat who gets enmeshed in a sex scandal.
Speaking of that scandal: The porn star, Stormy Daniels, was out of the business but she's back now, touring strip clubs with her "Make America Horny Again" tour. Donald always was a great Job Creator.