Jim Jordan Furious, Ohio GOP May Be Redistricting Him Out; Chuck Todd Nails Sen. Scott; McConnell Caught Writing His Forward Under Trump's Name
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JIM JORDAN FURIOUS THAT OHIO REPUBLICANS MAY BE TRYING TO REDISTRICT HIM OUT
Gerrymandering is one of the single biggest reasons a minority of Americans can so easily gain a majority in the House of Representatives. It should be declared unconstitutional and all boundaries determined by a neutral party - from out of state (or country) - if necessary.
But given that the Republicans now have gerrymandering down to a computerized science, right on down to the block, one cannot blame the Democrats for wanting to exact a bit of revenge, as might happen in Ohio, and a certain district currently held by the guy who cannot afford a jacket, Jim aka “Gym” Jordan.
But wait. The Democrats don’t hold Ohio’s legislature? So who could possibly be thinking about redistricting Jordan’s seat if it’s not Ohio Democrats? It couldn’t be… could it?
From Fox News:
Allies of Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan are furious with the state Senate GOP for potentially putting the prominent House Republican’s seat on the line in a proposed redistricting map, Fox News has learned.
The Buckeye State’s Senate Republican Party proposed a redistricting map last week that turned heads and drew ire from Jordan’s allies.
According to the proposed map, Jordan could be billed up against Democrat Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio for the 4th Congressional District's seat.
Ohio Republicans are looking to cast Jordan out??? Hmmm. We know that Kevin McCarthy likes having him around.
Regardless, it doesn’t take a politician or a reporter to know that when one reads “Jordan allies,” one can rest assured that Jordan feels the exact same way. He might just look a bit more desperate if he let his fury fly… in this context. This couldn’t possibly happen to a more deserving guy and it might say something about what Ohio Republicans know about Jordan’s past troubles (a whole different column) than we in the general public.
CHUCK TODD TAKES FLORIDA MAGA SENATOR RICK SCOTT FOR A GATOR ROLL
The left loves to rip Chuck Todd as being too soft on guests, especially Republicans.
Rightly or wrongly, I’ve never been able to join the “Chuck Todd is the worst!” crowd. Many on the left have lived their entire lives free to opine on issues and frame issues favorably to their point of view. It’s an American right and it is easy. It is not easy to find some kind of middle path. And for the few that do, it ensures that both political sides of this polarized country are angry. Tough spot.
The spot is made even tougher when one is expected to book important guests from the highest levels of government and business, all while knowing that if that guest gets questioned too aggressively, it makes it that much more difficult to book guests into the future, rendering oneself irrelevant. Tough spot, tough job.
But on Sunday’s Meet the Press, Todd did a fantastic job holding Florida Man Senator Rick Scott over the gator gullet, asking simple questions that Scott found exceedingly difficult to answer, questions like “Was Joe Biden legitimately elected president.” I have some of the transcripts via Huffington Post. The video is below, and I also use some of the transcripts in the commentary below:
Todd started out by saying that only 22% of Republicans believe that Biden was legitimately elected president and asking Scott for an explanation. Scott sort of answered:
“I can tell you Joe Biden is the president. We went through the constitutional process that, you know, he was elected,” Scott said. “Now, I do believe there’s a lot of buyer’s remorse,”
Yes, of course. Back to those talking points, as if soooo many Americans would prefer Trump as president right now. But Todd wasn’t letting this go and interrupted:
“I understand what you’re saying, but why ― then you’re part of the 22% that believe he was legitimately elected. Why do four in five Republicans not believe that?”
SCOTT: “You’d have to ask them,”
Yes, Chuck, go out and ask 78% of all Republicans why they believe Biden didn’t receive more votes than Trump, or you might just watch Fox News and listen to people like Scott.
So, Chuck followed up, but this time he wasn’t playing games. He used Trump’s own words and put them in Scott’s face:
“Senator, I think we both know the reason why that is,” Todd said. “And let me put up something that the former president put out on Oct. 21st. Not, like, six months ago. This is, like, three weeks ago.”
In an Oct. 21 statement, Trump tried to justify the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, saying, “The insurrection took place on November 3rd, Election Day. January 6th was the protest.”
And Todd did the only thing he needed to do, ask Sen. Scott whether there was any part of that statement he agreed with.
“Is there any part of that statement that you agree with?”
Scott dodged again, saying something about looking forward, not backward, and why they’d win in 2022. Todd then asked why Trump would put something like this and Scott disingenuously said, “You’ll have to ask Trump.”
We on the left, especially on certain websites, hear about Chuck Todd leaning conservative or not asking enough tough questions. Those issues won’t be settled today. But because the topic is so often brought up, it is only fair to point out when Todd does do a fantastic job, as he did with Sen. Scott on Sunday.
McConnell Wrote Trump’s Forward FOR Trump in McConnell’s Own Biography
The general public fully understands that when they read a writer’s biography, whether written in a newsletter (ahem), a website, or even a magazine, the writer is the one writing about himself or herself. It is expected, we’re all such “glowing” people living fascinating lives.
But when an official biography goes through an official publisher, things get a bit more serious. They get especially serious when certain names, like the names of former presidents, are put under certain works, like someone else’s biography. The publisher’s reputation is on the line.
I don’t know who published McConnell’s biography and really don’t care. What we all know is that if the forward was purportedly written by Trump (and it was), but was written at a high school level, no one - not even a MAGA, would believe Trump wrote it. But readers even expect that. They imagine Trump speaking to an aide offhand about McConnell and the aide having to somehow have it make sense while using correct grammar and punctuation.
Today, we learned that Trump didn’t even go that far. Trump just told McConnell to write it and he’d put his name under it. Maybe Trump got used to Washington, Congress writes laws, he just signs them. He never cared about what any law said anyway. This time, however, McConnell got caught, looking like an ass… again, writing his own forward as Trump. According to The Guardian:
Donald Trump once described Mitch McConnell as his “ace in the hole” and wrote, in a foreword to the Senate Republican leader’s autobiography, that he “couldn’t have asked for a better partner” in Washington. Except, according to Trump, he didn’t.
Speaking to the Washington Post for a profile of the Senate minority leader published on Monday, Trump said he told McConnell: “‘Why don’t you write it for me and I’ll put it in, Mitch?’ Because that’s the way life works.”
McConnell did not dispute Trump’s account, about the book The Long Game, telling the paper: “I really don’t have anything to add related to him.”
Did anyone ever have anything to “add” as it related to Donald Trump? Unpossible! Because that would mean Trump lacked something and…
And that’s not what McConnell meant. It meant that there wasn’t a damned thing he could say that wouldn’t make it look even worse and thus, at that point, and only that point, did he say, I don’t have anything to add…
If only McConnell had the same approach about the Senate’s role in filling SCOTUS seats or standing in the way of the filibuster, “I don’t have anything to add.” It would be just as true and infinitely more valuable.
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jmiciak@yahoo.com and on Twitter @JasonMiciak
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