When Your ‘Moment’ Becomes A Total Disaster

Yesterday there was a litmus test to see how well informed voters are. Those who pay close attention shook their heads in disbelief at the grandstanding; those who do not pay close attention were impressed by what they thought was courage. Of course, I am talking about Corey Booker’s performance at the Kavanaugh hearings yesterday.

Today Townhall posted an article about Corey Booker’s Emily Litella moment. For any youngsters who might be reading this, Emily Litella was an early Saturday Night Live character played by Gilda Radner. She was known for saying “never mind” after totally misunderstanding and misreporting a news story.

Townhall reports:

Booker’s theatrics came at the very beginning of the hearing. He interrupted Chairman Chuck Grassley’s opening remarks to announce that he had broken Senate rules and released “committee confidential” documents about Kavanaugh’s opinions on racial profiling. He even referred to himself as “Spartacus,” as if he was some kind of martyr. 

Well, two things. First, it turns out that those “confidential” documents he was talking about had already been cleared for release. Bill Burck, the former Bush administration lawyer overseeing the production of Kavanaugh’s documents, said so in an email, adding he was surprised by Booker’s histrionics.

“Yes, we cleared the documents last night shortly after Senator Booker’s staff asked us to,” Burck said. “I was surprised to learn about Senator Booker’s histrionics this morning because we had already told him he could use the documents publicly.”

So, his “sacrificial” heroics were all for show. Second, the document in question showed Kavanaugh was against racial profiling. So, just like that, both of his narratives were debunked.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reacted to Booker’s display Friday morning on Fox News by giving his colleague some friendly advice.

“If you’re gonna use a document to disqualify a nominee, read it,” Graham suggested. “If you read the damn thing,” he added, you’ll see that Kavanaugh “was against racial profiling.”

Please understand that Corey Booker is planning to run for President in 2020 on the Democrat ticket. I hope he puts someone on his staff that can read. Otherwise, we can look forward to many Emily Litella moments in the coming two years.

Some Of The Names Have Changed, But The Actions Of The Mainstream Media Have Remained Consistent

Breitbart posted an interview with Linda Tripp today. Linda Tripp was a major player in one of the many scandals that surrounded the Clintons during Bill Clinton’s years as President.

The article reports:

During a radio interview broadcast on Sunday, Linda Tripp, who was famously portrayed by John Goodman on Saturday Night Live during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, blasted SNL for what she described as a political campaign to “make me into a villain” instead of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Tripp says she was prompted to go public about the issue in response to the NBC comedy sketch show’s negative portrayal of President Donald Trump and top White House officials. She charged the show and the mainstream news media were engaged in a deliberate “campaign of disinformation, confusion, and essentially propaganda.”

Tripp also opened up about the personal toll she said the media’s negative portrayal had on her, describing how she banned television from her house for three years in the late 1990’s and at times engaged in binge eating as a coping mechanism.

The media has been turning people they did not agree with into villains for a long time. The only thing that has prevented most Americans from seeing President Trump as a total villain is the alternative media. The attacks on Linda Tripp were meant to take away her credibility and portray the Clintons as innocent victims. Fortunately because of the Drudge Report and Monica Lewinsky‘s blue dress, it became obvious that Bill Clinton was guilty of exactly what he was accused of.

The article also makes some observations about how the mainstream media continues to operate:

Meanwhile, Tripp said during Sunday’s interview that she sees SNL’s current negative portrayal of Trump and top administration officials, including Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway and White House Spokesman Sean Spencer, as part of a larger news media campaign aimed at discrediting the president and his policies.

“Now I think what is going on on SNL is a part of it,” she said. “It’s all of a piece, though. It’s almost a psychological warfare tactic. I worked with special operations for many years. And I can’t overstate the effectiveness of this campaign that they are waging.

“You have to understand that the media backed one candidate. And after she was defeated and after a campaign where the so-called mainstream media, which is a true misnomer, advocated essentially as an arm of the DNC. After her defeat, they have done nothing but double down in an attempt to take down what they perceive as their opponent. Because he had the nerve to actually win. When, if you will recall, virtually everyone in the mainstream media laughed on air about even the possibility of his winning.”

Tripp called the rampant anti-Trump media coverage a “campaign of disinformation, confusion, and essentially propaganda.”

“It is a sabotage of the truth. And it’s on a grand scale. And for me it is painful to watch because even though the president has a bully pulpit, even he is at the mercy of what people refer to as the mainstream media. A private citizen has no chance. But even the president will face obstacles because this is an orchestrated effort.”

Political divisions have always been part of America and will continue to do so. However, the job of the press is to report the news objectively. Editorials belong on the editorial page. Unfortunately, at the moment, honest reporting is the exception–not the rule.

I strongly suggest that you follow the link above and read the entire article. I don’t blame Ms. Tripp for removing the television from her house. I am wondering if I should follow her example.