Monthly Archives: September 2020

Get ready for Republican Supreme Court bizarro land

Vigil for late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at U.S. Supreme Court

With the death of U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week, attention is rightfully being paid to what happens next on the Court. It appears that Donald Trump, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and just about all Republican Senators are ready to jam another justice onto the Court this year, even though doing so just weeks before the 2020 elections is antithetical to their 2016 blocking of President Barack Obama‘s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland.

Perhaps surprisingly, however, the Democrats may be the ones capitalizing on the Republicans’ Supreme Court plans. First, the Democrats are racking up crazy donations since Ginsburg’s death. Second, the latest polls continue to have plenty of good news for Joe Biden and bad news for Trump. Indeed, in a new poll asking whether Justice Ginsburg should be replaced before the presidential election on November 3, 62 percent of respondents said that the winner of the election (meaning quite possibly Biden) should make that nomination afterward, versus only 23 percent who think Trump should get the choice now.

Today’s Snark: Republican Waahmbulance edition

Republican waahmbulance on its way to rescue Donald Trump

This week, Donald Trump did poorly in his ABC News town hall, so he was “ambushed” according to Fox “News.” Then Joe Biden did well in his CNN town hall, so he must have been given the questions and answers in advance, according to former Fox “News” host Bill O’Reilly. That sound you hear is the GOP waahmbulance on its way to rescue poor helpless Donald Trump.

Photo by Ashley Buttle, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/K5M9K0

A great way to reframe a Republican argument

Black Lives Matter protest, Columbus, Ohio, June 2020

As we know, Donald Trump, Fox News and many Republicans right now are trying to distract from the COVID disaster by complaining about Black Lives Matter. Specifically, these Republicans are framing the Black Lives Matter protests as the big problem in America, rather than the police killing of black civilians that led to such protests. That is why it was noteworthy when a discussion with Republicans a few days ago contained a wonderful moment of Democratic reframing of a major Republican  argument.

The Great Republican Distraction is underway

Americans continue to die of COVID while Republicans distract

Anyone who tunes into the news or follows political discussions in the media today might think that the overarching issue in America is something to do with protests, riots, “thugs” and “law and order.” If so, then give credit to Donald Trump and leading Republicans for trying to create one of the greatest distractions in U.S. history, in order to avoid a historic election defeat just two months from now. If Trump has one skill, it is media manipulation and distraction. He knows that, rather than the mainstream American news media doing their jobs and investigating and reporting on the biggest stories which, in their professional editorial judgment, affect most people’s lives, Republicans can get the media to chase distracting Culture War shiny objects that then become the focus of most discussions, to the Republicans’ advantage.