Who wrote the anonymous NYT op-ed? Insider Trump Resistance?
Guess #1. Kirstejn Nielson. Homeland Security. Guess #2. Nick Ayers, Pence Chief of Staff. Guess #3. Melania Trump’s hairdresser.
Competing Chyrons
As the EU Head and Trump addressed the White House Press today, these chyrons appeared on the bottom of each cable news screen:
Trump Makes Surprise Statement as Pompeo Grilled on Russia – CNN
President Trump: The EU will Work toward Zero Tariffs – FOX
Trump Speaks on Trade After Trump, Cohen Audio Surfaces – MSNBC
That’s the American Media today in a nutshell.
Fox & Friends
Emily Jane Fox & Friends. Hawking her new book, Born Trump. Hanging out with Maureen Dowd and other media glitterati and the Vanity Fair crowd at Ludlow House downtown. Ridiculing Ivanka as no longer an elite. That’s rich. Irony notwithstanding. Trashing Trumps is fun for the vain coastal cocktail contingent. But. Beware. In the end deplorable Fox & Friends viewers will outfox the Ivy League punditry again. With votes.
Melania Maelstrom
Melania creates a media cyclone. So easily. It’s funny. Where is she after her surgery? Countdown until she’s seen in public. Has she moved back to New York? Had a nervous breakdown? Facelift? Did she run away with Barron back to Slovenia? The conspiracy theories abound. And. Feminists who hold women’s voices as so valued are saying that she has no brain of her own. She is controlled by Trump. Her staff needs to tell her what to do. Really?
Then she wears a jacket with a cryptic message on the back. The press goes into a tailspin. As expected. Melania is just a terrific troll. Love it.
White Wolfe
Author Tom Wolfe. His books stand the test of time. No one ever coined cultures better. Social x-rays. Limousine liberals. Radical chic. The ME generation. University athletics as centers of corruption. Astronauts as heroes of a generation. Wolfe’s white suits and literary legacy live on.
I Am Charlotte Simmons. Bonfire of the Vanities. The Right Stuff. Back to Blood. All-time favorites on the Book-Treks shelf.
It seems that Tom’s first job in journalism was as a reporter at The Springfield Union, in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Media Finally Woke
Some in the media got a clue. Michelle Wolf’s outrageous yet often apt comedic rant rang true. Three op-eds in the NYTimes today discuss the media’s Trump obsession and overreach which give him a constant stage and control of his agenda. Dowd. Douthat. Kristof. Well done. Stormy on SNL. That’s funny. Right place and time. Not on CNN and MSNBC all day.
Derby fire soundly doused. As was the track. Tiger still in play on the course at Quail Hollow. Phippy carded a 64 yesterday.
Rocket Man Summit?
Unprecedented deal according to South Korean security advisor. Diplomacy over missiles. At least that’s tonight’s announcement. Little Rocket Man to meet Big Rocket Man by May. Is Dennis Rodman lurking in the background? I’ll buy tickets to that show.
But. Hey. Tear down that wall! Credit to sanctions bloviating and bluster. Press corps taken by surprise. Stormy and Russia obsessions off the cable news panels for a few minutes. Priorities.
On to Top Chef finale.
Writing Wrongs
Just finished the novel Golden Hill by Francis Spufford. Manhattan 1746. Richard Smith, a young handsome man, appears at a counting house after a long voyage from London. He has a note for an extremely large sum to be paid to him in sixty days. Everyone is wary because his plans for the money are secret. Smith finds New-York gritty and dark where a sense of morality seems out of place. During the days he awaits payment, Smith has many misadventures as a result of bad luck and bad choices. Especially his love for a combative clever girl. But in the end. He rights some wrongs. Historical redemption. A beautifully written read.
Speaking of horrific wrongs. Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is named for a journalist who turned activist protecting the Everglades. As with the shooting in her eponymous school, journalists converged to report the story. Yet they lost objectivity and immediately became anti-gun activists, even going so far as to exploit students in shock. It’s okay to have opinions. Editorialize. Show sadness in the face of tragedy. But do it after the story has been reported. And tell your audience that it’s an opinion piece. Not news.
Crossed Lines
School shootings no longer covered door-to-door on cable news.
So-called journalists overtly perpetuate the Trump “resistance”.
Olympic “doctor” finally brought to justice.
James Franco denied Oscar nom by disgruntled actresses.
Christopher Plummer gets Oscar nod replacing true perp.
Blurring lines. Diluting real criminal actions with creepy encounters.
New Yorkers struggle. Pats or Eagles? Neither nemesis. Alexa predicts Eagles.
As injured NFL players languish in locker rooms.
Misfired Ire
Hair on fire! Trump is a racist misogynistic tyrant! Finally we see him for who he really is!! What? This is the same guy whose immigration policy was to ban all colorful people from entering the country, hung out at the Playboy Mansion, owned beauty pageants, led the birther movement. BEFORE he was elected President. What is with this surprised outrage? Have you met him?
None of the ire directed at Trump will win the next election. Broken record alert! Jamie Dimon said it yesterday. Dems don’t have a centrist candidate who can win the general election in 2020. That’s where the biased media should be focusing its rants.
Side Trek . NYC 