The Antagonist General

By now, I presume you’ve already seen all the coverage of Pam Bondi’s Congressional testimony, wherein she provided nothing but insults and presidential glorification while refusing to answer even the most basic questions about the Epstein files.

Obviously, she was performing for an audience of One, seeking His Majesty’s favor by being boorish and acerbic to her questioners, and effusive in praise for her horned-up Master. I’m sure to him, she did exactly what he wanted her to do. Do you think those Burn Books hadn’t been audience-tested yet? He knew the game plan. Of course, if she draws too much heat, it’s not like HE’LL take the fall. He’ll cut her loose for it and assign a new AG who is just as morally pliant as she is.

We ought to note that it’s been another week without a single Justice Department action on the information released in the Epstein files. Zero charges filed, zero investigations announced, zero activity. Oh, and zero fucks given about “accidentally” releasing the names of a handful of Epstein victims. Bondi wouldn’t even acknowledge their presence in the room when called out. Common decency would have at least called for an apology for outing them publicly. But then, that would have flown in conflict with a prime Republican axiom, “Never apologize, never admit you were wrong, always double down.” One can only conclude that those names were released as a warning to other victims and witnesses.

Right now, all we can hope for is that other countries, where they still condemn the raping of children, release the details that Justice is so actively suppressing. At least then the public may act on the information, even if the US legal system refuses to do so. Boycotts and civil suits may be the only alternative until the balance of power is returned to the non-pedophiles.

How the Media Shows Bias, Continued

The newly Conservative-owned Baltimore Sun continues to frame the main news section stories in favor of Republicans, or at a minimum, against Democrats.

This was front-page, upper-right corner material. You can see the focus of the headline is about Maryland’s governor, Wes Moore, criticizing the “Trump Agenda,” despite adopting a couple of items from the Big Ugly Bill. It could have just as easily been characterized to give credit to the governor for using a political enemy’s idea, because it benefits the public. But they’d rather infer some kind of hypocrisy instead, because it goes against common Republican behavior. Because THEY will eschew anything a Democrat says, just because a Democrat says it, they assume that Democrats do the same.

I can say, personally, that I think there are a couple of points where I agree with the otherwise-nutball RFK Jr, like eliminating artificial dyes and sketchy preservatives from our food. I don’t think that makes me a hypocrite, just an informed consumer. It certainly doesn’t mean I buy into his anti-vax lunacy. But a Democratic governor doesn’t get the same courtesy.

Here’s another hatchet job, this one about the governor’s upcoming (at the time of the article) State of the State speech. You can see the fix is in from the first sentence: “Some political analysts have a question ahead of the governor’s State of the State address… will the governor use his speech to take shots at the president…” Who do you think those “political analysts” are? I guarantee they’re from Fox “News” or elsewhere in the Sinclair conservative universe. This isn’t news; it’s a fishing expedition designed to short-circuit any prospective criticism of their own leader. And that’s fine, in the OP-ED section. But not on the front page.

Governor Moore can’t even wind his watch without some hack from Sinclair or The Sun calling his motives into question. They really have it in for the guy. And I have no doubt it comes right from the top. It’s not an accident that Governor Moore was one of only two people who were “uninvited” from the annual Governor’s meeting with the president. Trump doesn’t like this guy, not only because he’s a Dem, but he’s a Black Dem who lives right in DC’s back yard, and he refuses to roll over for him. TFG obviously has no qualms about expressing his thoughts to media outlets about how they cover the news. Every story about the governor gets framed as something negative, regardless of the details. At the absolute best, they filter it through a lens of how it affects Republicans.

Last week, the Super Bowl halftime show got the same treatment:

This is all about the widely-trumpeted FCC investigation into whether there were suggestive lyrics broadcast during Bad Bunny’s halftime show. The tell is that it took them seven paragraphs to let us know that they found nothing objectionable, once the translations were done. They spent the first six paragraphs quoting Republican politicians who were lobbing charges and insults. This could have easily been headlined, “No bad language found in halftime show.” But that’s not what they want us to think about; it’s the possibility that there might have been. Someone who only sees the headline might easily think there was something indecent included, and that’s what The Sun wanted.

After the declaration, they give the remaining four paragraphs to Republicans criticizing the show and the NFL anyway. Also note that the source that they’re quoting, “On the Money,” is a column from the conservative mouthpiece, the New York Post.

It’s typical of the way Republicans operate now. They did the same thing with their investigations of Hillary Clinton. They speechify and ask incendiary questions. And when the answers provide nothing actionable, they talk about the juicy questions and hypotheticals again. Or open another investigation.