Announcer Dennis Haysbert: Welcome to a special Monday edition of Meet the Press.

Moderator Chuck Todd: Well, he has finally done it. Much as he said he could, on Saturday morning President Donald Trump stood in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shot somebody. What does Washington think of this bold display of power? Is the President right that it won’t lose him a vote in the 2020 election?

My guests today include South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Presidential Attorney Rudy Guiliani, and Wayne LaPierre, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association.

First to join me is a frequent guest on this show, the senior Senator from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham. Senator, your thoughts on the shooting.

Senator Graham:  You know, President Trump just cares so much for Americans and America. I can’t believe the hostility you are showing to a man who has never even been charged with jaywalking. If he shot a man, he was right to shoot a man. That’s what his success is all about.

Chuck Todd: I don’t believe I have been hostile. But shooting someone makes him a successful President?

Senator Graham: He told his base he could do it, and he did it. Unlike Pelosi and Schumer who do nothing.

Chuck Todd: Hmph. Turning now to former Special Counsel Mueller. Mr. Mueller, what consequences should the President face?

Robert Mueller: Consequences? I think that is for others to decide. I can’t even tell you if in shooting a man President Trump committed a crime or not. Well, I could tell you, but I won’t tell you. I think I’ll write a report instead. It will clearly say that the President did, or perhaps did not, commit a criminal act in shooting a person for no reason in the middle of 5th Avenue.

Chuck Todd: I see, or maybe I don’t see. Mr. Guiliani, can you shed some light on the President’s behavior.

Rudy Guiliani: Chuck, did you see him fire a gun? I didn’t see him fire a gun. Is there a smoking gun? The police did not find a smoking gun. So no, he didn’t fire a gun.

Chuck Todd: But Mayor Guiliani! 200 witnesses saw the fatal shot fired and have given statements to the police.

Rudy Guiliani: That’s THEIR truth, Chuck. It’s not MY truth and certainly doesn’t have to be the President’s truth.

Chuck Todd: Grrr. Mr. LaPierre, you look eager to get a word in.

Wayne LaPierre: As an honored military veteran, registered gun owner, and as good a guardian of charitable foundations as I am, President Trump has the right to shoot anything in his sights.

Chuck Todd: Uh, Mr. LaPierre, the President is NOT a military veteran, I DOUBT he owns a gun registration card, and his foundation had a “shocking pattern of illegality.”

Wayne LaPierre: So did mine, Chuck. What’s your point?

Chuck Todd:  I do not believe this. But it’s time for insight and analysis so let’s turn to our panel: Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, New York Times moralist David Brooks, token conservative Peggy Noonan, and  Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post.

Doris Kearns Goodwin: In President Lincoln’s time…

Brooks, Noonan, Robinson: Doris, please shut up with all the Lincoln crap! We are so sick of hearing it from you.

Chuck Todd: I see that’s all we have time for but remember, if it’s Sunday, or sometimes Monday, it’s Meet the Press.

President Donald Trump, via Twitter: I told yu I culd get awai with it! Covfefe.

---

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A lament to the tune of “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.”

You don’t show us tax forms

You won’t reveal your K1’s

You blamed it on the auditing rules

You claimed when you ran you would do it someday.

 

I remember when

You said that you were wealthy

You said that you were manly

 

Now after watching Fox late at night

When they sing your praise

And you’re tweeting delight

You misspell most words

There’s no time to rewrite

 

You aren’t Presidential anymore.

 

Congress issued a subpoena

Tried to get the tax docs

But subpoenas just don’t work anymore

They all get ignored

Mnuchin throws them away

 

Putin, does he own you?

Do Saudis control you?

You know how to lie.

And keep supporters appeal.

You know how to cheat

And fake the “Art of a Deal.”

You’d think we’d have learned

That this nightmare was real.

‘Cause you aren’t Presidential anymore.

 

Yes, you’d think we’d have learned

That this nightmare was real.

Cause you don’t show us tax forms

You aren’t very truthful

No you aren’t Presidential

Anymore.

Apologies to:

• Neil Diamond
• Barbara Streisand
• Alan and Marilyn Bergman

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Hello Chicagoland. Did you know the Illinois 2020 Presidential Primary is less than a year away? It’s on March 17th, 2020 to be exact. And with Joe Biden getting ready to announce, the Democratic field is almost set.

Do I know who I will vote for? No, but I have my wants and my desires. Any of the potential candidates can meet them.  They are easy. By the way, I ran them by William Barr; he might have done a bit of redacting. So here are

Ten Things I Will Look For in Candidates Before I Vote in the Primary

1. Don’t be a d*ck. And if you have a d*ck, don’t think with it.
2. Don’t be a p*ssy either. Stand up for what you believe.
3. When they go low, don’t kick ’em in the cr*tch. Aim higher than that.
4. If you think your sh*t don’t stink, smell again. Don’t preach, act.
5. When facing dictators and oligarchs around the world, have some b*lls. And if you don’t have any, grow some.
6. Be careful about whose *ss you kiss. And don’t make your opponents kiss yours.
7. Someday your world view may go t*ts up. Be strong enough to know what you still believe.
8. Don’t p*ss away opportunities to work with those across the aisle. They aren’t all *ssh*les.
9. Everyone has f*cked up once or twice in their life. Use it to become smarter. Don’t let your opponents use it to hem you in.
10. Don’t be a b*tch to your husband, wife, spouse, partner, significant other, kids. We will be watching the way you treat your family.

Come to think of it, these rules would be good for all of us.

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Exactly two years ago I decided to give then President-Elect Donald Trump a chance. I put aside my doubts and fears, shook hands with my one Conservative friend and bit the bullet of inevitability. But I did lay out 10 Commandments for Trump to follow. Simple things like respecting (or at least understanding) the Constitution, putting country above personal and family allegiances, and talking about bridges instead of just talking about walls.

Now, it’s time to list 10 reasons I need to see the end of Trump. Maybe I am over-cocooned in my New York Times/Huffington Post world, but this is what it looks like from here.

10 REASONS TRUMP MUST GO

1. Ignoring the environment putting future generations at greater risk
2. Allowing foreign intervention in domestic affairs
3. Promoting racist ideology
4. Initiating harmful trade policies
5. Establishing bullying as the currency of the land
6. Turning a blind eye to vicious foreign allies and while promoting untrustworthy foreign foes
7. Lying, exaggerating, and amplifying to suit his needs
8. Filling his administration with crooks and incompetents
9. Responding poorly to natural disasters
10. Lowering the esteem of our country in the eyes of the world

Not each of these is an impeachable offense. Perhaps individually none of them are. But as a record of the first two years of his presidency, they are a blueprint for disaster. The next two years could be worse.

Can we strap President Trump onto the next mission to Mars?

 

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photo credit: x-ray delta one <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/40143737@N02/26797379889″>1981 … John Young – comm. Shuttle 01</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/”>(license)</a&gt;

Happy days, it’s time for another investigation! In case you haven’t been following the news, Jamal Khashoggi, a correspondent for the Washington Post and critic of the Saudi Arabian Royal Family disappeared on October 2nd after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. It is widely believed he was murdered by a Saudi hit squad, with the knowledge of the Saudi royals.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met today with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who denied knowledge of the alleged assassination. This was followed by tweets from President Trump stating:

Just spoke with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who totally denied any knowledge of what took place in their Turkish Consulate. He was with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during the call, and told me that he has already started, and will rapidly expand, a full and complete investigation into this matter. Answers will be forthcoming shortly.

But I think the “full and complete investigation” may come with some limitations. Based on recent history we can assume:

1. The investigation must be completed in 72 hours.
2. No members of the Saudi Royal Family may be interviewed.
3. The suspected Saudi killers (they were reportedly seen on video) may not be interviewed.
4. Any evidence discovered in the Saudi Consulate in Ankara may not be considered.
5. The investigators must ignore any evidence presented by women.

You say that may result in a biased and inaccurate investigation? Now what ever gave you that idea?

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My plans changed twice this morning.  First the weather. The rain put a damper on my plan to train for next week’s SEABlue Prostate Cancer Awareness 5K run. So I chose my other option, to climb down to the basement and beat up my heart on the elliptical machine. One-half hour, the killer interval setting.

Lately, my entertainment when pumping away has been streaming an episode of Veep, the profane comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer, the single-minded, self-important politician who transitions from V.P. to POTUS to just plain frustrated over a course of six HBO seasons. It is raunchy, it is foul, and it is just plain hilarious. And according to my one political insider, it is damn accurate.

But on my way to the basement, I noticed the TV in the kitchen was tuned to NBC, where the memorial service for Senator John McCain was about to begin. I stood and watched the preliminaries, all the dignitaries, the past Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Cabinet members. Warren Beatty and Henry Kissinger. Henry Kissinger! And of course the grieving family, especially the three generations of McCain women; mother Roberta, wife Cindy, and daughter Meghan.

So when I went to the basement to get my miles in, I opted for pathos over comedy and tuned into the memorial. Meghan McCain filled my eyes and ears as I pumped away. Bathed in a daughter’s love, the full measure of the man–the father and the hero–came across louder than any viciously funny one-liner that I would have heard from Selina on Veep. My accelerated heart rate was due to more than just my physical exertion as tears repeatedly came to my eyes.

I listened to all the others; Bush and Kissinger and Lieberman and Obama. Their reverence for McCain was obvious, their subtext just as obvious. It saddened me to think of our current state of discourse; it made me wonder who still among us will be able to command such respect, such bipartisan respect, in the years to come.

John McCain may have been as profane and at times outrageous as Selina Meyer, but unlike the TV character, and unlike so many real-life pols, he had character and a shining vision for our country. I never met him, I never voted for him, but I will miss him.
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I saw it with my own eyes. I was sitting at the breakfast counter Sunday morning, grooving on my weekly dose of “Meet the Press.” Moderator Chuck Todd was doing the interview duet with Trump attorney Rudy Guiliani, Todd’s favorite guest of the last few months. The tough-talking former New York City mayor was being quizzed on the reasons why the President might be reluctant to appear before Special Counsel Robert Mueller.  His response, “Truth isn’t truth,” put a look of wild-eyed amazement on Todd’s face. along with the realization he had just hit ratings gold.

But was Guiliani wrong? Well, that’s as tricky as pinning down Bill Clinton on the meaning of “is.” Although the Merriam-Webster Dictionary lists a couple of definitions for thw word truth, for most of us, it means definition 1, being in accordance with fact or reality. Leaving alternative facts aside for a moment we can all agree on some things. 1+1=2 is a truth. Donald Trump is the President of the United States is sad but a truth.  I am getting older every day; also sad, but true.

So it’s all simple; Guiliani was lying or talking nonsense, right? Well, not quite. You see, one of those Webster’s definitions of truth is “a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true” (italics mine.) Aye, there’s the rub. Accepted by who?

Acceptance is in the eye, or more correctly the brain, of the beholder. If I accept that winning 6 NBA Championships in eight years makes Michael Jordon a better player than Lebron James, but you accept that Lebron has more all-around talent than Michael in his prime and is thus the better player, we have different truths as to who is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time for you non-sports nerds,) Michael or King James.

So by this definition truth can be an awful squishy property, like Silly Putty picking up an image from the comics and then oozing out between your fingers, the image now distorted and unrecognizable. The Trump/Guiliani truth may not match the Mueller truth, but by that last definition, both can be “the truth.”

Guiliani might be right. Sucks, doesn’t it?

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