Why are you hitting yourself?

The White Supremacist Tour continues.  Last month Trump was in Howell, Michigan, one-time Klan capital of the Midwest.  Today it's Wilmington, North Carolina, site of an 1898 coup when the elected government was overthrown by a white mob.  As an extra feature, the MAGA candidate for governor, who called himself a "black NAZI" on his favorite porn site, was politely asked not to attend.  Parse that if you can.  Is Trump scheduled to visit Tulsa?  Elaine, Arkansas?

Fans of Slap Shot, the Citizen Kane of minor league hockey movies, will recall the fashion show the Charlestown Chiefs are forced to participate in.  This is better.  There was a Trump fashion show in Ronkonkoma before the big event and Jeff Tiedrich's indispensable blog covered it.  Believe me when I tell you these were among the more tasteful creations:

James Comer could have submitted his three-hundred-page "we got nothin'" report on the impeachment of Joe Biden and gone home to Kentucky to cry, but he was born with a "KICK ME" sign on his back so he convened the committee.  Jared Moskowitz's presentation (with visual aids) was called "A Legacy of Incompetence:  Consequences of the Comer Chairmanship" and he concentrated on the Trump/Project 2025 proposal to shut down NOAA:  Would weather thereafter be predicted with a ouija board, a Magic 8-ball, or perhaps one of Trump's Sharpies?  And what's all this impeachment garbage?  "Hunter Biden is going to be sentenced on December 6," Comer retorted.  "Hunter Biden's not the president," Moskowitz reminded him.  "You need to take your medication and leave," was all the chairman could muster.  

Having softened him up, the Democrats rolled out Maxwell Frost.  "This committee functions as an extension of the Trump campaign.  First we went after President Biden...now we're going after the vice president...I hear from my staff that you're planning a hearing on Governor Tim Walz even though he's been governor for five years and his name hasn't been uttered in this committee until something happened recently...oh, yes, he became the vice-presidential nominee."  "His son's going to jail."  "Oh, OK, I'm talking about Governor Tim Walz."  It's Comer's proudest accomplishment -- Hunter Biden, a private citizen, might go to jail.  Your tax dollars at work.  Millions of them.

Comer dried his eyes and sought the welcoming embrace of Maria Bartiromo, where he outlined the charges against the Walz family.  Having spent a week mocking Gus for his emotional response to his father's convention address, MAGA has moved on to Gwen Walz and the "turn the page" gesture she likes to use in rally speeches.  For some reason they find it hilarious.  Comer told Bartiromo, "That's a scary family there...it looks like the type of family that's been indoctrinated and they believe that there's a better way to do business."  Two retired teachers, a son with learning disabilities and a daughter who's a vegan and a social worker -- what the hell is wrong with these people?  They're a little too fond of China, Comer suggested, struggling to re-introduce the story about "Chinese sleeper agents."  Struggling and failing, because that's his brand.

It took a lot of pharmaceuticals to get Trump to Wilmington because he was up all night raging at Bill Maher, of all people.  Maher's guest was Stephanie Ruhle, who Trump described as a "'dumb as a rock' bimbo" because she attacked his anti-immigrant rhetoric.  Peppering his rant with words like "insane," "degenerate" and "crazy," he also went after Bret Stephens ("Steven's") for calling him "antisemitic adjacent" -- only adjacent? -- and renewed his unending attack on the "FAILING New York Times," which has carried more water for him than Hoover Dam.  It was astonishing -- Trump actually pays for HBO?

Then, pulling out the ALL CAPS -- it's a shame there's nothing noisier he can access, like sound effects or RED LETTERS -- he outlined his policy for the gals:  They're poorer, unhealthier, less safe and more depressed than they were four years ago but "WE WILL FIX ALL OF THAT AND FAST.  WOMEN WILL BE HAPPY, HEALTHY, CONFIDENT AND FREE!  YOU WILL NO LONGER BE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION. BECAUSE IT IS NOW WHERE IT ALWAYS HAD TO BE, WITH THE STATES, AND A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE.  I WILL PROTECT WOMEN AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE.  THEY WILL FINALLY BE HEALTHY, HOPEFUL, SAFE, AND SECURE.  THEIR LIVES WILL BE HAPPY, BEAUTIFUL, AND GREAT AGAIN!"  

What more do you want?  The rapist says he'll protect you.  Now shut up and vote and don't think about abortion.  In particular, don't think about Amber Nicole Thurman, the Georgia woman who died when she was denied a timely abortion two years ago post Roe.  Trump loves to boast about overturning Roe.  Kamala Harris made Thurman the centerpiece of her Atlanta speech this week.

Popular chew toy J.D. Vance was asked about the Mark Robinson story and his first response was to duck into a room in the Capitol while he apparently considered his answer.  After some thought he tweeted, "I was *walking* to the doctor (because one of my kids gave me the plague) My comment on Mark Robinson is that Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote on the Inflation Explosion Act and because of that a lot of Americans can't afford groceries."  Way to stay on message to the point of incoherence, Jay.  Dare we hope you really have plague, or is it just a cold?  So what about the "black NAZI" who says he'd like to own some slaves?

John Fetterman says Pennsylvania has "bonded" with Trump since he got his ear scratched by something in Butler, and that Democrats need to stop calling the convicted felon a felon.  Has he had another stroke?

This must be what set Trump off:  Bill Maher put on his "serious pundit" face and said, "The big story this week is they tried to shoot Trump again."  One audience member laughed, because "they" didn't try to shoot anyone, and Maher reprimanded him.  "It's not funny," he said, as the laughter spread.  "OK, I'm being serious now, this is the second time this has happened.  It's not OK.  It's not OK to wish it happened."  But it is, and Maher began to laugh, too, because he finds himself funny.  "The guy was laying [sic] in wait.  Beside the shooter, there were two other shooters beside him waiting to play through."  A golf joke!  Not a good one, but it's Bill Maher, not Bill Hicks.  

Kamala Harris has agreed to CNN's offer of another debate on October 23.  Trump has wimped out, saying it's "too late" because people are already voting, and for no other reason.  Many people are saying he won and only losers want a rematch and the lighting on ABC made him look old and confused and all moderators are unfair!  Did I miss anything?