Regrets, they have a few

 

Since Trump's career began in show business it may as well end there.  

In U.S. News on October 16, John D. Miller, who used to head up marketing for NBC, begged America's pardon for promoting The Apprentice and persuading people that Trump was a successful businessman, mostly because real CEOs had no time for game shows.  Multiple bankrupt Donny had nothing but time, especially if it involved flattery.  "He has an unfillable compliment hole.  No amount is too much."  He's also easy to manipulate, thin skinned and contemptuous of facts, but we knew that.  (The Apprentice was never first in the ratings, no matter what you will read for the next week on TruthSocial.)  Miller says he regrets taking so long to speak.  He's not the only one.

The Archdiocese of New York probably regrets inviting Trump to bring his comedy stylings to the Al Smith dinner.  Dinner, not roast, although they may as well change it to accommodate the borderline sociopathy Trump was spewing.  The account in The New York Times sets a new standard for both-sidesism, acknowledging that Trump brought "bitter grievances and crude and at times profane personal attacks" while criticizing Kamala Harris for appearing on video.  (They grudgingly admit that presidential candidates did not attend in 1992, 1996 or 2004.)  "I used to think the Democrats were crazy for saying men have periods, but then I met Tim Walz," was Trump's idea of a knee-slapper.  It doesn't sound like something Democrats say, and what exactly does it mean?  When a crude remark failed to get applause Trump followed up by blaming his writers ("idiots").  Even Jim Gaffigan bombed, and he's the most Catholic comedian alive.

In front of Timothy Dolan, a putatively celibate man who wears a dress, Trump decided to impugn the masculinity of all Democrats, not just Walz.  To Chuck Schumer:  "Considering how woke your party has become, if she loses, you still have a chance to become the first woman president."  To White Dudes for Harris:  "Their wives and their wives' lovers are all voting for me."  (Did Melania laugh at the adultery joke?)  And it wouldn't be a Trump set without self-pity:  "I'm supposed to tell a few self-deprecating jokes...nope.  I got nothing.  I do not see the point in taking shots at myself when other people have been shooting at me for a long time."  Yes, he's suffered worse than Lincoln or Jackson.  Many people are saying that.  

 The crowd was convulsed with silence.

This morning Shecky was on Fox complaining about the laughs he didn't get for mispronouncing Kamala and reminding everyone that Obama's middle name is Hussein.  He also wants Fox to stop running paid ads for Harris.  Maybe if he didn't pay inflated salaries to third-rate talent like Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, Trump could afford to run commercials, too.  Fox might even give him a discount.   

Meanwhile the funnyman is continuing to cancel public appearances, from those that might be a tad challenging like an NBC interview scheduled for Wednesday, to a guaranteed love-fest with the NRA.  Trump was booked for their "Defend the Second Amendment" party in Savannah but pulled out because of a "scheduling conflict."  More likely someone was afraid to put him next to the murder lobby's new CEO, Doug "Cat Torturer" Hamlin.  Trump has a narrow lead in Georgia and the record turnout of early voters does not bode well for it; probably better to keep him away.

Dan Bongino, a MAGA podcaster, went to Trump Tower to interview his candidate so all Trump had to do was put on a fresh diaper and apply his makeup, but he cut the program short citing "exhaustion."  "Off the record, I gotta get going," he told Bongino, apparently unaware that he was at home.  Spin that, Times.

Maybe Trump wouldn't be so tired if he wasn't up all night rage-tweeting about the Sixty Minutes interview which Harris gave and he bugged out on, what, two weeks ago?  (Mike Johnson says he doesn't need sleep.  He is wrong as usual.)  Calling it "SORDID AND FRAUDULENT" and "A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY," he wants Harris "forced" off the ticket and CBS's "news license" revoked.  And his one-time lawyer Christina Bobb is even more rabid, raving about the need for a "purge" in an interview that conflates celebrities, Democrats, the Justice Department, the transgendered, pedophiles and Diddy.  It was Bobb who signed off on the first FBI search of Motel a Lago, swearing that no stolen documents had been overlooked, so she's not even a good lawyer.

Not quite an apology, but Bret Baier admits it was a "mistake" to use deceptively edited video in his Kamala Harris interview.  It wasn't the one where Trump calls Democrats "the enemy within," and she didn't let him get away with it.  Nor would she call Trump supporters "stupid," as he urged.  If you think you're dealing with a "moron," you didn't hear her response to hecklers in LaCrosse, Wisconsin:  "You guys are at the wrong rally.  I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street."  

Wrestler-turned-Fox Host George "Tyrus" Murdoch has been tasked with improving Trump's standing with African Americans.  Today he praised the white supremacist for his kindness to Nelson Mandela.  It was hard to get shy Donnie to talk about all the good things he does, Tyrus suggested, like putting his private plane at Mandela's disposal during a US visit in the 1990s.  But then that rascally Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler ruined a lovely story:  The plane belonged to Trump Shuttle and was about to become the property of the banks whose loans Trump defaulted on, and he only charged Mandela $130,000 for its use.  "I love doing it.  I don't need praise for it.  I just love helping people."  I bet.  This is funnier than any of his Smith zingers.

This is bound to appeal to Trump and other rapists.  A Texas preacher named Joel Webbon proposes that women who falsely accuse men of rape be executed.  Publicly.  He doesn't specify but I'm going to guess -- burning?  "MeToo would end real fast," the reverend gloated.  He also believes women should not vote and that Black doctors have not passed medical exams.  I don't know his position on keeping women off juries but that might affect the number of rape convictions, wouldn't you say?  

The rally in Coachella, California, is being described as "Trump's Altamont."  Way out in the desert, the venue had to be reached by shuttle bus, and traffic slowed them down.  One driver, an army veteran, was punched when he stopped to check on a possibly injured passenger; he needed treatment at the hospital.  People were hot and thirsty and already disposed to violence, being MAGAts.  Some stranded rally-goers were driven home by police because there were not enough buses.  Trump has less chance of winning California than Xi Jinping, so what was this all about?