Trumpo Wacko

Trump has set himself up very well for 2024 - assuming that 2024 is when the law catches up with him and throws him in prison or it's when Melania finally decides to have him committed.

Even though he's an announced presidential candidate for 2024, Trump has suggested terminating the Constitution and having him restored to the Presidency because of fraud in the 2020 election that never happened.  This came after Trump dined at Mar-a-Lago with anti-Semitic rapper Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who both subsequently appeared on Alex Jones' InfoWars program and expressed a fondness for Adolf Hitler that took Jones aback.  

“Well, I see good things about Hitler also," West said, masked in a black stocking for unknown reasons.  "I love everyone and Jewish people are not going to tell me: 'You can love us and you can love what we're doing to you with the contracts, and you can love what we're pushing with the pornography.'  But this guy [Hitler] that invented highways and invented the very microphone that I use as a musician, you can't say out loud that this person ever did anything good." he said. 

Then West, further ensuring that his Jewish ex-fans who hadn't gotten around to deleting his recording files or throwing out his CDs would do so, concluded, "Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler."

Jones disagreed and refused to go along with West and Fuentes.  Imagine Alex Jones with two guys so crazy that they make Jones the sane  one in the room.

Hitler never brought anything of value to any table, least of all the table that got destroyed when Claus von Stauffenberg tried to assassinate him.  While he expanded the autobahn system in Germany, he did not invent the modern express highway; Americans built the first one on Long Island in 1908. He did not invent the microphone, period; the type of microphone that Kanye West uses as a "musician" was in fact made possible by the contributions of black American engineer James West (no relation to Kanye).  And no, Hitler didn't invent the Volkswagen. Ferdinand Porsche did.

As for Trump suspending the national constitution - a popular ploy among right-wing military juntas in Latin America - Trump is suggesting the tearing up of a document he once took an oath to protect, and he obviously has no desire to protect it if he's even given that responsibility again.  (Heaven forbid!)

The only difference between Trump and Hitler, as far as I'm concerned, was that Trump lost 54 percent of the popular vote in 2016 while Hitler got to be the leader of his country because his party got the most votes.   

Something's Happening and He Doesn't Know What It Is

Under duress, right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones admitted in court that the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012 actually happened after insinuating that it was staged.  Jones defended himself on the stand by saying that he merely posited the possibility that it could have been faked.

Let me posit this: Jones is going to have a hard time paying the $49.3 million in damages to two Sandy Hook parents that the court ordered him to remit.  Even if he has the money, he'll end up broke, and then he's going to rebuild his life with his reputation in tatters.

The only problem is, Jones has proven that conspiracy theories are big business, and there's a whole army of "Jones clones" who will come up with conspiracy theories that shock and outage people with mature brains and pique everyone else but will not cross the line that Jones pole vaulted over with Newtown, because now Jones clones know where the line is. Hopefully like Jones' hair, that line will recede even farther back so that conspiracy theorists are eventually put out of business.

And yes, sometimes it turns out that a conspiracy theory is true.  And liberals are hardly immune form this - they've come up with conspiracy theories of their own, like Black History Month being in February because it's shortest month or that government agents sold crack in minority-nominated neighborhoods.  I must admit that I subscribe to the conspiracy theory - though I won't categorically say it's true, because I could just as easily be wrong - that right-wing CIA agents or someone like that were involved in the deaths of John Lennon, Bob Marley and Harry Chapin, three socially conscious and politically liberal musicians who died within nine months of Reagan's election to the Presidency.  (I also have a conspiracy theory of my own: Madonna signed Candlebox and the Rentals, two '90s grunge bands that have since been forgotten, to her vanity record label to undermine and kill grunge because she saw it as a threat to her continued success as a pop singer.  And if that's true, the plan obviously worked; grunge rock - indeed, all rock - is out, and the synth-pop/hip-hop/R&B culture that Madge helped foster reigns supreme today. Candlebox was as lightweight as you could get; grunge fans dismissively called them "Crayon Box."  Also, Cherielynn Westrich, a lead vocalist for the Rentals, clearly embraced the accoutrements of grunge but not the culture; she's a pro-Trump Republican Iowa state legislator now.)

All that said, Jones' conspiracies have gone way beyond the pale, having been all based on lies, and with regard to his Sandy Hook theory, that goes double.  And like any lie, Jones' lies have been found out. 

Alex Is Back

CNN is making another attempt at broadcasting its Alex Jones documentary tonight.

The documentary was originally scheduled to air this past March, but CNN pulled it at the last minute when viewers complained that the film would merely give Jones and his cockamamie conspiracy theories more exposure.  But, as I argued back then, it was necessary for CNN to air it so that viewers who do not follow Jones would have a better understanding of who he is and how dangerous he is - the better to show what we're up against.  CNN apparently agreed after some deliberation, hence it will air tonight at 8:00 PM Eastern.  And not a moment to soon.  He must be getting ready to spin new conspiracy theories about some evil plot being undertaken by the January 6 House select committee.

No Info

Last Sunday (March 6), CNN planned to air a documentary on right-wing "InfoWars" radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.  I tuned in at the appointed time, only to find continuing news about the situation in Ukraine.  I looked on CNN's Facebook page to see when it would be rescheduled and failed to find even an acknowledgement of it.

I found out later what happened.  CNN decided not to air the documentary - but not because of the war in Ukraine.  It turned out that CNN did not postpone but canceled the Jones documentary at almost literally the last minute due to pressure from Jones' detractors.  It  seems that they had a problem - a big problem - with CNN giving Jones even more attention than he was already getting from the mainstream press.    

Personally, I think this was the wrong decision.  Jones is one of those obnoxious, toxic celebrities (like the previous White House occupant) who always find a way to get attention no matter how much you try to ignore them.  Take it from someone who tired to treat obnoxious, toxic people - celebrities or otherwise - like a bad headache by not thinking about them and hoping against hope that they would go away.  But Jones is also dangerous, thanks to his spewing of falsehoods and misinformation (again, like the previous White House occupant).  It would have behooved CNN to air the Jones documentary so those of us who are his detractors could see exactly what and whom we're up against.

You can expect to see far fewer CNN documentaries as the war in Europe drags on.  The second season of Stanley Tucci's Italy travelogue series has already been delayed until spring because of Ukraine, and, I'm not sure, but I think CNN pre-emptied a documentary about Anthony Bourdain for more war coverage.  CNN just realized it's the Cable News Network, not the Cable Documentary Network.