Before I post a more substantial essay today I will have to puck the skull pieces and brain bits off of my living room ceiling, carpet, furniture and TV screen after making the mistake of watching CNN’s Abby Phillip show for ten minutes. As usual, her panel of partisan idiots (with the exception of CNN token Republican Scott Jennings) were babbling on with today’s Trump hate. I expected that, but as I routinely switch channels whenever this thing passes my eyes, I did not expect that the level of discourse would be beneath what I would expect late in a cast party when all of the woke actors are half- or totally crocked.

There was no expertise, useful analysis or objective commentary at all, just indignant repetition of Axis talking points as fact: gaslighting, or fake news for the ignorant and gullible. “Trump has used the Executive Orders to get around Congress, and changed the Presidency by doing so!” (Barack Obama openly and specifically established this as a “norm.”) “Trump just defies the Constitution and the Supreme Court lets him get away with it!” (The comment came up regrading SCOTUS taking up the birthright issue, regarding which the Trump administration has made a legal argument, and has not defied the Constitution.) “Yes! It’s just like abortion…” (No, you idiot, it is not “like abortion.” Abortion was never mentioned in the Constitution: an activist Court bent the document out of shape to turn abortion into a right that not a single Founder would have endorsed. Birthright citizenship IS in the Constitution, which is why it is unlikely that the Trump theory will prevail.) “Everything Trump does is to line his own pockets!” (Pure talking point, and one that I read or hear every single day from the Trump Deranged. How does enforcing the immigration laws, purging illegal discrimination against whites and men and trying to dismantle mainstream media and educational political manipulation “line his pockets”? “The economy is in bad shape!” (The third quarter (July-Sept) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose by a 4.3% annualized rate, the best in two years, which means that the economy is not in bad shape, but never mind.) And so on. All the women on the panel were wild eyed and angry (this is not professional deportment for television “journalism,” and the men, with the exception of Jennings, sat back and sagely nodded their head,s quickly shutting up if they tried to make a factual correction and were shouted over. Jennings just composed his next articulate rebuttal in his head, and waited for an opening.

Proof that Trump has the oligarchs wrapped around his little finger? Why, Facebook and “X” eliminated their “factchecking!” (Pssst! The word you are looking for is “censorship.” That was the contention that actually detonated by already rumbling head.) The number of false statements being made was staggering. Here’s another exchange: “Foreign nations aren’t investing in the U.S!” “Well, they are, but not because they want to…they hate us in Canada!”

In the ten minutes I watched until KABOOM! time, there was literally not a single accurate, enlightening claim backed by reality. This is standard for Abby Philip and her gang, however. In April, Phillip kept telling Jennings that illegal immigrants were not “criminals”—this is also a standard Axis lie. Trump had promised to deport criminals, but, Abby said, now he was deporting innocent “migrants.” Jennings asked if entering the country illegally (that’s a big clue) doesn’t make someone a criminal.

ABBY PHILLIP: No, it doesn’t.

SCOTT JENNINGS: To come across the border illegally?

ABBY PHILLIP: Coming into the country illegally is a civil offense. It’s not a criminal offense. 

Wrong. 8 USC 1325: Improper entry by alien, from Title 8-ALIENS AND NATIONALITY CHAPTER 11-NATIONALITY SUBCHAPTER II-IMMIGRATION specifically states that illegal immigration is a crime punishable by imprisonment or fines.

The lying. The emotionalism. The hate, The anger. The absolute absence of any objectivity or balance. The incompetence. The unwarranted certitude. This is not informing the public or making them more competent and responsible citizens. It is the exact opposite. How can anyone in good conscience defend that?

Well. maybe after I stuff a bit more of my cerebrum into my skull I’ll be able to answer that…