AUGUST 2018 IGNOMINIOUS ABUSRDITY AWARD: THE IGGY

1. President Trump’s Lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. As the most public member of Donald Trump’s legal team, Giuliani’s assigned role is apparently to make what seem to be “slips”—incidents in which he reveals jaw-dropping information that appear to undermine Trump’s position concerning Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, and Russian collusion— appear to be misstatements. But in each case, the shocking things that Giuliani lets drop quickly become the standard position for Trump. Giuliani is Trump’s ice breaker.

In an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, Giuliani appeared to be caught out in another lie, and to drop another in his series of bombshells. Asked about Trump’s request to former FBI director James Comey that he “give a break” to former national security advisor Michael Flynn, Giuliani at first claimed there had never been such a conversation.

Jake Tapper: So you’re saying that President Trump and James Comey never discussed Michael Flynn?

Giuliani: That is what [Trump] will testify to if he is asked that question.

Then, reminded that he had already discussed the conversation he was claiming never happened, Giuliani attempted to deny that conversation.

Giuliani: I never … I never told ABC that. That’s crazy. I never said that.

Which is when CNN went to the tape. However, while forced to admit—after watching himself discuss it—that he had previously accepted the reality of the conversation between Trump and Comey, Giuliani this week shifted his claim to say that was only “talking about their version of it.”

But the Rudy-man wasn’t done with his absurdities. He made waves on NBC's "Meet the Press," responding to a New York Times report that the president's outside legal team was not aware of the extent to which White House counsel Don McGahn cooperated in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation during the 30 hours of interviews he sat for. Giuliani told "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd that the president should not sit for an interview with Mueller because he could end up trapped in a lie and charged with perjury.

Giuliani: “When you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he’s going to tell the truth and he shouldn’t worry, well that’s so silly because it’s somebody’s version of the truth. Not the truth,” Giuliani told Todd.

Todd: “Truth is truth,” Todd responded.

Giuliani: “No, no, it isn’t truth,” Giuliani said. "Truth isn't truth."

His words, taken in the vein of counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway's much-mocked "alternative facts" argument from last year, quickly caught fire online. A day later, Giuliani sought to clear the air.

"My statement was not meant as a pontification on moral theology but one referring to the situation where two people make precisely contradictory statements, the classic 'he said, she said' puzzle. Sometimes further inquiry can reveal the truth other times it doesn’t," Giuliani wrote on Twitter.

Giuliani often acts as a surrogate for the president, appearing on television in his capacity as Trump's lawyer to counter news reports about Mueller's probe. The president has long complained about the special counsel's investigation, branding it a "witch hunt" stacked with "angry Democrats," even though Mueller himself is a registered Republican.

SCRUTINIZING THE HIROSHIMA MYTH AND ITS LEGACY (A REPOSTING)

Hiroshima After the Bomb 

August 6th marks the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the “Little Boy” atomic bomb on Hiroshima. As has been the case on every anniversary of the bombing, the atomic bomb’s use will undoubtedly be commemorated by politicians, media sorts, and most Americans as being responsible for ending the war and thus negating the need for an invasion of Japan’s home islands that would have caused enormous losses on both sides. This belief has achieved numinous status in the United States; most Americans accept it as an article of faith. It has become, as historian Christian Appy put it, the most successful legitimizing narrative in American history. There’s only one thing wrong with the Hiroshima narrative: it's not factual. There is perhaps no greater myth in U.S. history than the belief that the atomic bomb was the "winning weapon" that ended World War II. It’s what I call the Hiroshima Myth.

Despite doubts about the necessity to use the bomb expressed by a number of top military and political leaders at the time (and later in their personal reflections), challenges to the traditional Hiroshima narrative by several historians, and declining overall American attraction to nuclear weapons, the Hiroshima Myth remains deeply embedded in the consciousness of the overwhelming majority of Americans. How did it get so embedded? Why didn’t the highly authoritative 1947 U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, which concluded that the Japanese would have surrendered "certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to November 1 1945--even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, the Russians had not entered the war, and no invasion had been planned or contemplated," establish a different narrative?

Were the bombings instrumental in ending the war? Did they avert an invasion of the Japanese homeland and thus save lives? There’s much at stake in the answers to these questions, for if the bomb wasn't necessary to end the war, then its use on Hiroshima and, especially Nagasaki, was wrong, militarily, politically and morally, especially when one considers that these two cities were not vital military targets.

At the risk of being called unpatriotic, un-American, or worse, because the issue still touches raw emotions (Americans don't take kindly to questioning the morality of our country's purposes), I will attempt to refute the Hiroshima Myth. Fortunately I am able to draw upon information that wasn’t available when early histories of the bombings were written. This information includes a declassified paper written by a Joint Chiefs of Staff advisory group in June 1945, the personal accounts of a number of top Japanese leaders, and various bits of documentary evidence uncovered by enterprising historians. These discoveries enable a more accurate picture of bomb’s role in ending the war.

In a previous two-part essay, posted in August of 2015, I argued that Truman’s atomic bomb-use decision was not primarily motivated by a desire to end the war quickly in order to save American lives that would have been lost in a land invasion and that the use of the bomb was not the main factor inducing Japan to surrender.  I also argued in a Part III that our enduring belief in the bomb as “the winning weapon” has had a profound impact on American culture and on how we approach national security.  These essays challenged the prevailing beliefs of the overwhelming majority of Americans.  In the hope of stimulating an ongoing dialogue on the Hiroshima Myth and its implications, I’ve decided to re-post these essays as a single post on this, the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. I will re-post it every August 6.  Critical comments are encouraged.  

JULY 2018 IGNOMINIOUS ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH: THE IGGY

1. President Trump. We are all used to Donald Trump being the crookedest man ever win the presidency. He lies constantly, about everything, all the time. Most of those lies are designed to prop up his own ego; he is forever telling tales about the size of his rally crowds or how he heard from an unnamed so-and-so, in private, who praised him for his brilliance. Other lies are attempts to dodge responsibility for his blunders or to hoodwink his audience about his own past acts. But then there are the lies that can only be described as dementia-like, in which Trump claims to have seen things that nobody else around him have seen and be roundly furious that nobody else will acknowledge them. Things that he may have seen in movies or had a vivid dream about, but do not comport with the reality the rest of us inhabit in any way, shape or form.

In his latest demented fiction, he said:

“The Democrats are making a strong push to abolish ICE, one of the smartest, toughest and most spirited law enforcement groups of men and women that I have ever seen. I have watched ICE liberate towns from the grasp of MS-13 & clean out the toughest of situations. They are great!

The notion that he has “watched ICE liberate towns from the grasp of MS-13” is so wrong as to not even be nonsensical. It is a flat delusion. There are no towns “under the grasp of MS-13” to begin with; despite the gang’s new status among anti-immigrant lobbyists and Republican neo-Nazis as a talking point, it is a violent but largely powerless collection of teenage schoolyard thugs targeting local victims. Their role in the drug trade is minimal, and their role in human smuggling non-existent. The goals of local gang leaders are to control schoolyards–the notion that they could seize control of a “town” is a lunatic claim.

Which brings us to the next bit; not only are there no “towns” that have been liberated, but ICE, a border agency, would not be liberating squat to begin with. That is not what they do. It is not even close to what they do, and it is not clear the sitting president even knows what they do. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency enforces border security; it does not conduct military operations to liberate cities. The region most commonly associated with MS-13 violence even in Republican minds is Long Island, New York; ICE does not conduct paramilitary town-liberation efforts on Long Island. If Trump is referring to the liberation of some non-American town, ICE does not go there. It processes immigrants, refugees, tourists, and the contents of shipping containers. It does not liberate towns!

What appears to have happened here is that Donald Trump has taken a Republican talking point–the identification of “MS-13” as the only majority-brown-skinned gang that anybody can think of, now inflated into a racist stand-in for all Latino immigrants everywhere because racism remains the only force capable of uniting Republican voters, and made up a movie in his own head in which not only had they taken over entire (United States?) towns, but were then met by border patrol and customs agents who swept in and “liberated” the town in daring raids.

This is evidence of dementia or other mental illness, including pathological fiction-inventing, malignant narcissism run amok, or something else. It goes beyond his usual egotistical polishing; the man either earnestly believes he has witnessed something nobody else in the world has seen, a story populated by figures that bear no resemblance to their real-world counterparts in the slightest, or his compulsion to lie is so extraordinary that he cannot help but invent claims. Whatever one calls it, Donald Trump is not fit for public office.

DONALD TRUMP: THE CONSUMMATE NO-DEAL MAKER

By Ronald T. Fox

“Deals are my art form. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks.”    
-- Donald Trump

No modern president has sold himself on the promise of his negotiating skills than Donald Trump. In “his” book, The Art of the Deal, his TV show, on the campaign trail, or to anyone within earshot, he has boasted about being the consummate deal-maker. On the campaign trail, he unabashedly promoted himself as a deal-maker nonpareil who could always get the best deal in any situation. Applying the skill he learned in the business world to the world of politics, he would be a master policy-maker and diplomat,. Unlike other humans—or presidents before him—deals would be easy, clean and quick, and they would exceed all expectations. As he put it, he would make “beautiful deals that no other president could make.”

Well, how have things worked out so far for the consummate deal-maker?

JUNE 2018 IGNOMINIOUS ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH: THE IGGY

1. Designated Trump Liar Rudy Giuliani. The self-promoting Giuliani told CNN that the statement regarding Donald Trump’s involvement in dictating an excuse for why his campaign staff met with Russian operatives in Trump Tower was just a “mistake.”

“He wasn’t involved. He knew, but he didn’t write it. He weighed in, but he didn’t dictate it. He dictated it. "I swear to God, it was a mistake."

What Giuliani appears to be claiming is not that Trump made a mistake in dictating the letter, or that previous White House officials and Trump surrogates made a mistake in covering up Trump’s connection to the statement. What Giuliani is disavowing is a statement included in the letter sent by Trump’s legal team to special counsel Robert Mueller.

That letter, contents from which were released by the New York Times over the weekend, included an admission that Donald Trump had dictated, while on Air Force One, the excuse that Donald Trump Jr. provided when the story broke. But Giuliani didn’t just deny that Trump was involved in drafting the statement originally released by his son, Giuliani denied the letter drafted by members of Trump’s legal team—a team to which he supposedly belongs.

Giuliani also said he only agreed with "about 70, 80%" of the letter from Trump's team in January, before Giuliani was brought on.

There’s a reason why the Trump Tower meeting between the top tier of Trump’s campaign officials and a set of Russian operatives remains a focus of the Mueller investigation. And a reason why even Rudy Giuliani, whose first appearance as Donald Trump’s lawyer included an admission that Trump had “funneled” money through Michael Cohen’s shadow corporation to pay off Stormy Daniels, feels compelled to continue covering up Trump’s involvement with the Trump Tower statement.

Not only do the actions of Donald Trump Jr. Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner represent a textbook case of conspiring with a foreign power to interfere in a U.S. election (regardless of whether or not the meeting led to further action), but the letter covering up the purpose of that meeting is textbook obstruction. And as many times as Trump’s team may say he’s immune to any charge, they’re in no great hurry to fight Robert Mueller in court.

MAY 2018 IGNOMINIOUS ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH: THE IGGY

1. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). As many media outlets have reported, John McCain does not want Donald Trump at his funeral … because … well, who the hell would? If anyone could make someone else’s funeral all about himself, Trump could. But that’s not good enough for Hatch. Proving that congressional Republicans — even the ones on their way out of Congress — will go to all possible lengths to bow and scrape before their ocher overlord, Hatch recently vomited this pabulum:

"Well, he's the president of the United States and he's a very good man. But it's up to [McCain]. I think John should have his own wishes fulfilled with regard to who attends the funeral."

When asked about McCain’s desire to keep Trump away from his memorial service, Hatch said, “I think it's ridiculous."

Look, Sen. Hatch. McCain wants to be remembered for his military heroism, his more than 30 years in the Senate, his maverick sensibility, even his defeat at the hands of Barack Obama — anything but his tenuous association with Trump.

Trump being at McCain’s funeral would be a little like playing the Benny Hill theme over the closing credits of Saving Private Ryan. McCain deserves to be honored, not sullied by the presence of Bone Spurious the Yellow.

APRIL 2018 IGNOMINIOUS ABSURDITY AWARD: THE IGGY

1. Devin Nunes. The Trump era has brought forth a multitude of ignominities. We seem to jump from crisis to crisis. In his first year in office, President Trump has visited numerous horrors on Americans as well as citizens throughout the world.

So, what does Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Select Intelligence Committee, consider to be one of the most serious hazards facing America? Well, of course, it's late night television comedy, and specifically Stephen Colbert. Nunes was interviewed on Fox News by their resident Financial Distortion Anchor, Neil Cavuto. The segment had nothing to do with the economy, but it did get to the bottom of the frightening assault on America by radical satirists. It began with this probing exchange:

Cavuto: "You mention that the media doesn't present a fair case of [Trump/Russia]. Maybe the indication of that is that you've recently become the butt of late night comic jokes. Particularly Stephen Colbert was up on Capitol Hill. I think making you the butt of some jokes. What did you think of that? Did Colbert make any effort to talk to you?"

Nunes: "Well, I think that this is the danger that we have in this country. The left controls not only the universities in this country, but they also control Hollywood in this country, and the mainstream media. So, conservatives in this country are under attack and I think this is a great example of it."

Exactly. Stephen Colbert absolutely is "the danger" that America faces. And kudos to Cavuto for bringing up this looming peril. Where else but on Fox News could this travesty be exposed? Nunes points out that the reason the nation is undergoing such unprecedented turmoil is that leftists have seized control of the most powerful institutions in the country -- universities and Hollywood -- and are using them to enslave the minds of decent citizens. However, he doesn't explain why these scurrilous lefties allowed Republicans to control the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the White House.

Also unexplained is how the special counsel, Robert Mueller, managed to get (so far) 19 indictments and five guilty pleas connected to his investigation of Trump's unsavory connections to Russia. But rest assured, somehow it's the fault of universities, Hollywood, and Colbert. And Nunes isn't taking it lying down. He doesn't intend to be the butt of anyone's joke, no matter how much he deserves it. In fact, he likes it:

Nunes: "So I hope they continue to do it. Because on the one hand you'll see the left and the media running out there saying 'OMG, this is the end of the world. The Russians attacked our democracy. And we have evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians.' However, they can't show it. They have no proof [...] they resort to going to their friends in Hollywood to make fun of people and attack people who are trying to get to the truth. I enjoy the attacks. If they want to continue to attack me, that's fine."

Well, we certainly wouldn't want to disappoint him, would we? Although it's puzzling that he says he enjoys it while simultaneously complaining that it's an unfair attack and a danger to the country. Is he an unpatriotic masochist?

Nunes' remarks were rife with allegations as to the identity of the real colluders -- naturally, Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. And when Cavuto asked him about allegations that he was "doing the President's bidding," he curiously replied "I don't know." Then quickly stammering to add "I mean, we don't get any orders from the White House." Which makes perfect sense. They are probably coming from Mar-A-Lago, where the President spends most of his time.

Nunes went on to praise his committee's work and insisted that he "follows the facts where they lead." So long as they lead to Clinton and the Democrats. He refused to allow his Democratic committee colleagues to call witnesses. And he wouldn't hold White House witnesses accountable when they refused to answer questions. Nunes falsely claimed that 'no one would know ... that Fusion GPS was paid by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party' but for his efforts. In fact, it was reported by the (fake?) media long before he ever got around to it. No surprise his committee subsequently ended its investigation of a possible connection between the Trump campaign and Russian meddling in our election.

Once again, Fox News uncovers the atrocities in Washington that are neglected by the "mainstream" media (which, for some reason doesn't include Fox News). And heroes like Devin Nunes are permitted time to inform the American people about what is really going on in this gawd-awful country. With journalism like this we will hopefully soon be rid of fake reporters like Colbert who are working tirelessly to destroy America.