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Thursday, September 28, 2023

Having not watched the second Republican Trumpless event, a look toward who you might trust as having worth-the-time online coverage.

First, the lens used for this image makes all but the center three look portly:

(From L) North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, former Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie, former Governor from South Carolina and UN ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, US Senator from South Carolina Tim Scott and former US Vice President Mike Pence attend the second Republican presidential …
Breitbart homepage image

Only three got both feet on the Presidential seal flooring, making them front runners.

None stepped on the eagle. My observations, before reading anything but headlines and search return blurbs. Six dark suits and a red dress. Ramaswamy looks taller than DeSantis. Ramasamy looks to be waving at people in an airplane.

While the seven (you said "Magnificent," I didn't) were doing their thing Trump and offspring in his businesses were getting a partial summary judgment against him/them for fraud against banks and insurers. Everyone earned what they got?

But who got what, at the seven-fest? What do the pundits say?

Donald Trump sang the praises of American autoworkers in a speech in the battleground state of Michigan Wednesday night, creating a stark contrast between the former president and rivals for the Republican nomination who were debating in California.

“I want to begin this evening by saluting these truly great Americans who do not get the credit they deserve,” Trump said.

The tone of Trump’s discussion of autoworkers was very different from what listeners heard from the Republicans at the official GOP debate in the Reagan Library in California.

At the opening of the GOP debate, Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) was asked about the strike by the United Auto Workers union seeking better wages and working conditions for its members. He recently praised Ronald Reagan for his decision to fire air traffic controllers in 1981, drawing a parallel with the current UAW strike. One of the debate moderators asked in Scott would fire the striking autoworkers.

“Obviously the president of the United States cannot fire anyone in the private sector,” Scott said.

Rather than leave it at that, Scott took the opportunity to criticize the strikers.

“One of the challenges we have in the current negotiations is that they want four-day, French work weeks but more money. They want more benefits working fewer hours. That is simply not going to stand,” Scott said.

The language deployed oddly echoed the words of President George H.W. Bush who responded to Iraq’s invasion of neighboring Kuwait by declaring: “This will not stand.” Eight years later, the character known as The Dude used the phrase in the film “The Big Lebowski.”

“I do mind, the Dude minds,” the Dude said. “This will not stand, ya know, this aggression will not stand, man.”

Trump’s remarks stayed away from criticizing the benefits and wages for which the workers are negotiating.

Trump addressed his remarks to the “welders, assembly line workers, machine operators, forklift drivers, pipefitters, tool and dye makers, mechanics, electricians, technicians, and journeymen.”

“We love being with you,” Trump said. “You love this country. You built this country. And you are the ones that make this country run.” [Breitbart]

The implication is Lebowski won the event. (The welders are all robots, and the UAW built automobiles, not "this country.") And tell Breitbart it's "tool and die," not "tool and dye." On a parallel Breitbart post, throwing more shade:

Many critics on social media pronounced the debate “unwatchable,” after the anchors failed to control the candidates and asked questions that once would have been expected on a left-wing network, not on a Fox platform.

I was a step ahead of those "many critics online" because I deemed it unwatchable before it happened, without watching. That second Breitbart item mentioned only Burgum, among the seven, as if declaring him winner, while most people would ask, "Who?" A third Breitbart item, second on the unwatchable theme, where all pictured except Pence have a hand in things: 

Haley's dress looks purple in that image. Getting into the more interesting "who won" punditry; Politico: Christopher Cadelago Scott won. Sally Goldenberg Scott won. Steven Shepard Haley won. Adam Wren: Nobody had a great night. Are we supposed to recognize those names as pundits we trust? Anyway, South Carolina did okay, seems the trend.

Vox, give credit for a clear headline, "1 winner and 3 losers from Fox’s dud of a second GOP debate." Read it, if you know and trust: " Andrew Prokop is a senior politics correspondent at Vox, covering the White House, elections, and political scandals and investigations. He’s worked at Vox since the site’s launch in 2014, and before that, he worked as a research assistant at the New Yorker’s Washington, DC, bureau." He wrote it, hence winner. Subheadline: Vivek lost.

It is difficult to keep at it, so, winner/loser commentary links: WaPoNYT. The Hill. [correction, the intended The Hill link, is supplemented by that first given]

Without exhaustive search, nobody was found to write, "Donald and the Seven Dwarfs," or "Convicted  Adjudged Fraudster and the Seven Dwarfs," so it is likely here is the first place you see that. ("Convicted" would only apply in a criminal trial.)

Opinions can differ, but Don v. Joe seems everyone's conclusion, with lip service to anything else. There, Joe gets the Crabgrass vote - of that pair. 

Joe only faces Republican banter and theater. Finger pointing and clucking about bribe-taking. Trump's now an adjudged fraud, in a civil action, while facing four indictments with countless counts. Best and brightest.

Are Hunter Biden paintings selling at a discount?