Is Trump losing his marbles?

Donald Trump’s performance in the The Economist magazine interview was widely ridiculed because his responses to questions were “unimaginative and incoherent” and “riddled with falsehoods and confusion”. Who would have thought the day would come when George W. Bush with his malapropisms and Sarah Palin with her word salads would be seen as exemplars of lucidity by comparison? The magazine published its own scathing review of the interview.
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Political comedy on network TV

Donald Trump has been lashing out at Stephen Colbert. What is pathetic is that Trump spends so much energy and time lashing out at others, such as light night talk show hosts. Presidents in the past have been able to pressure TV networks into muzzling critics who were comedians. Perhaps the most well-known example is how president Johnson tried and later president Nixon succeeded in leaning on CBS management to can The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1969. Long before there was cable TV with its greater freedoms, Tom and Dick Smothers were the trailblazers for today’s TV political comedians.
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It’s the little lies that get you, not the big ones

One of the things that one learns about lying is that it is the little lies that get you caught. If you are trying to lie your way out of trouble, the best strategy is to talk as little as possible. Put out the big lie that matters and then shut up. It is when you try to add to it in the effort to create added verisimilitude that you trip yourself up and fall flat on your face.
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The weird aftermath of the Comey firing

There has been considerable distancing by the FBI from Donald Trump in the wake of the firing of its head James Comey, with the new acting head already contradicting the White House version of events that the rank and file had lost confidence in Comey.

When confronted with the Trump administration’s claim of Comey’s unpopularity, Andrew McCabe – who has been the FBI’s acting director since the sacking – told the Senate intelligence committee: “That is not accurate.”

“I can tell you he and I worked very, very closely from the time we started at the Washington field office,” McCabe said on Thursday. “I hold Director Comey in the highest regard for his considerable abilities and his integrity. It is the greatest honour of my professional life to have worked with him. He enjoyed broad support in the FBI and he still does to this day … The vast majority of FBI staff enjoyed a deep and positive connection to Director Comey.”
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McCabe’s testament to the high esteem Comey was held in within the FBI came a day after the White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: “The rank and file of the FBI had lost confidence in their director.”

McCabe also contradicted the White House on the scale of the Russia investigation. Huckabee Sanders had said it was “probably one of the smallest things” on the FBI’s plate. McCabe denied that, calling it a “highly significant investigation”.

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The Daily Show correspondents reunion

Stephen Colbert invited many of his former colleagues on The Daily Show to reminisce about the old days. It included Jon Stewart, Rob Corddry, John Oliver, Samantha Bee and Ed Helms, and the appearance was split into many parts. One of the interesting comments by Corddry was that the so-called ‘real’ news media were now copying what the fake correspondents of The Daily Show were doing a long time ago, and that is play old clips of politicians contradicting their present statements


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Watch this video

At a town hall meeting in New Jersey, a voter named Geoff Ginter gives an earful to his Republican congressperson Tom MacArthur for drafting and voting for the amended Republican health care bill. This kind of heated meetings have become commonplace but this one is exceptional because Ginter provides a passionate and articulate attack on the bill and an insightful analysis of what is wrong with the system in the US. I was highly impressed that although he was clearly extremely furious, he did not let his anger take over and lose control. He was very lucid and coherent and the congressperson had to just stand there and take it.
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Portrayals of minorities in films and the media

Richard Gere stars in a new film that has just been released called Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer, about a Jewish ‘fixer’ or dealmaker in New York. He happens to do an expensive favor for an obscure Israeli politician who later becomes prime minister of that country and this suddenly makes Norman a highly sought-after influence peddler. Jeffrey Salkin writes that he cringed many times while watching the film and explains why.
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Why did I suddenly get a lot of pop up ads?

I had never had a serious problem with pop up ads. There would be occasional ones but not so many that they were a nuisance that required action. But suddenly starting with the last week I was flooded with them. They seemed to be mostly from a few legitimate business sites like Hotels.com and another for discounted eyeglasses. I don’t know why they started.

I downloaded AdblockPlus and it has stopped the ads so the problem has gone away. But I am curious why they suddenly exploded. Anyone have any ideas?

The Comey affair

US news is all abuzz with the firing of FBI Director James Comey by Donald Trump and speculation is running rampant as to the possible motives and I thought I might as well put in my two cents. One thing we can ignore right off the bat are the rationales put out by the Trump administration for the firing because Trump is a petulant man-child who lies about everything and sees everything in terms of how it affects him. If he thinks that people are on his side, he praises them. If he thinks someone is disloyal to him, he attacks them viciously.
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