When I first contemplated writing a weekly essay on the machinations of Trump and his cohort, I wondered if I would have enough material every 7 days. Ha! The stuff I have to leave out this week is “Gold, Jerry, Gold”. Now I am faced with a much more insidious problem. How do I add humor and irony and satire to this ongoing circus? There’s no way. The reality is already a Marx brothers farce.

So, I’m left with just laying out the incidents as they occur. Here are 2 of this week’s top hits and possibly a light at the end of this dark night.

Media Firing of General Michael Flynn

A few hours after I published my essay on General Flynn, Trump’s National Security Adviser, and his lying to administration officials about his conversations with the Russian ambassador, Trump fired him. Such is the power of this site. I feel terrible, of course, that I cost the man his livelihood, but I did my job and protected the country. It’s what any incredibly brave man would do.

I spent 1200 words discussing General Flynn in a previous post and I have no wish to re-take that ground (military term!). I’d just like to point out that since Trump made the move, ostensibly because he had “lost trust” in his adviser, he has repeatedly stated that the media was the cause of his being fired. What? I mean what? YOU fired him. YOU did it just 24 hours ago and you are saying from a podium that the media and “fake news” fired him. The media reported what he did and whom he lied to. If it was “fake”, why did you fire him? Where’s the looking glass?

Bigger issues here, though. Trump’s people talked to Russian intelligence agents throughout the campaign. Russia hacked Dem files and released them to Wikileaks during that campaign. Who would think 2 years ago that you could type those 2 sentences back-to-back and not follow them with a third saying there was an immediate Congressional investigation?

“Bat Shit Crazy” Press Conference

To quote a famous American from awhile ago, “What the hell was that?” Trump called a press conference supposedly to announce his new choice for Labor Secretary, Alexander Acosta. This was Trump’s first solo press conference since he became President and were we in for a treat. Acosta was immediately forgotten. Trump treated us to a display unlike any other in the history of the Presidency. His interaction with the press pool made the Dan Rather-Richard Nixon confrontations look like a reunion of old friends. There were so many areas of concern in these 77 minutes that it is impossible to cover them all in one manageable essay.

The press has already focused on the President’s disjointed ramblings and hate filled rants, but I’d like to hone in on his back-and-forth with 2 reporters towards the end of the presser. Trump called on Jake Turx, an Orthodox reporter from a Jewish magazine. Mr. Turx attempted to ask what the government plan was for dealing with the rise of anti-Semitism in this country and the frightening increase bombing threats to Jewish centers across the nation. Never got through the question. Trump cut him off and stated emphatically, “Number one, I am the least anti-Semitic person that you ever met in your life. Number 2, racism, the least racist person.” Bear in mind, the reporter was not accusing Trump of personal anti-Semitism, just asking the leader of the country an important question about how the US intends to deal with this potential terrorism. By the way, this IS terrorism in its simplest and most basic form. And, this terrorism did not come from homeless, destitute refugees. You know where this terrorism comes from? Yeah, exactly. Trump told the reporter as he attempted to complete his question, “Quiet. Quiet. Quiet.” and called the question “very insulting”. Ok, so he’s definitely not anti-Semitic.

He wasn’t finished. A little while later, Our Leader called on a black, female reporter, April Ryan. As he called on her, he actually said, “Oh, this is going to be a bad question.” When Ms. Ryan asked about his plans to fix urban areas (a campaign promise), Trump responded, “That was very professional and very good.” He was both blatantly surprised and patronizing that the black woman could ask a good question and do it professionally. In my opinion, that should shelve any thought you may have had about Donald Trump being racist. Emphatically put that notion to bed.

The he really went in deep. When Ms. Ryan asked if he was planning to include the Congressional Black Caucus in his planning, Trump asked, “Invite who?” When it was clarified who the CBC was to the President, he asked if this professional journalist wanted to “set up a meeting”. OK, this is the President asking a reporter if she would set up a meeting between the CBC and the White House. When she seemed nonplussed by this asinine request, Trump dug deeper and asked, “Are they friends of yours?” Because, of course, all black people in DC know each other. Not only shouldn’t this guy be President, he shouldn’t be allowed out on his own. Not racist, though.

Jake Tapper

Thank God for Jake Tapper of CNN. I don’t even believe in God, but thank God for Jake Tapper. I firmly believe that the New York Times, Washington Post, and Jake Tapper (not CNN) represent our journalistic bulwark keeping much of this insanity under some sort of control. Tapper has been looking at this carnival since day one with a jaundiced eye and calling them out at every opportunity. His lengthy interview with Kellyanne Conway opened the floodgates that permitted other television journalists to confront her about her constant obfuscation and prevarication. She’s finally been banned from numerous news programs and even Matt Lauer, the puff piece host of the Today show, confronted her last week and essentially called her a liar.

Jake Tapper will become famous because of the Trump administration and he will deserve that fame. Tapper manages a look of absolute incredulity simultaneous with a level stare that seems to say, “This is pure bullshit and I’m calling you on it.” and then he does call them out. His appearance on CNN immediately after the conclusion of this armageddon of a press conference was brilliant. He was obviously astonished at what he had just witnessed and he conveyed that to the audience. He described the presser as “Festivus” and “an airing of grievances”, referring to the fictitious Seinfeld holiday celebration. Tapper also carefully trod a fine line by saying the entire incident was “unhinged” but carefully not using that adjective to describe the President. Yet.

We need all the real news organizations to step up daily and not let these lies and misdeeds go unchallenged. On television, Jake Tapper is leading that offense.

That’s all. What will next week bring? We shall see. Gets you out of bed, doesn’t it?