It appears as if the chief executive of the (dis)United States of America may not be entirely truthful.

From The New York Times.
“Highly polished, Statuary marble!” Mr. Trump declared on social media as he posted images of his new Lincoln bathroom, even as some households planned on handing out canned soup in lieu of candy.
A man of the people.
From the same New York Times article regarding the President’s recent M.R.I. scan.
“’I gave you the full results,’ Mr. Trump said, mischaracterizing the summary that was released by his physician. The summary did not say that Mr. Trump had an M.R.I. scan and had few details on what testing the president had undergone. When asked why he had undergone an M.R.I., the president said, ‘you could ask the doctors.’ Magnetic resonance imaging, a noninvasive technology that creates detailed images of the inside of the body, is often used for disease detection and monitoring, or to detect bone or joint abnormalities.
The only conclusion to draw from this absurd softening of his boldface lie is that the “paper of record” is afraid of the Mad King’s army of lawyers. Which means our democracy is even more imperiled than we realize.
Here’s how it would’ve read in a vibrant democracy. “I gave you the full results,’ Mr. Trump said, blatantly lying about the information that was released by his physician.
From Peter Baker in the New York Times:
“Some applicants for jobs in the second Trump administration were asked whether Mr. Trump won the 2020 election that he actually lost; those who gave the wrong answer were not helping their job prospects, forcing those rooted in facts to decide whether to swallow the fabrication to gain employment.”
No real visuals to speak of. Consequently, won’t make the evening news.
From Bloomberg. “Trump Unveils Plan to Scrap Power Plant Pollution Controls”.
“The Trump administration revealed plans for repealing mandates that force power plants to curb greenhouse gas emissions, representing its most significant action yet to reverse policies combating climate change.
The proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency, which could be finalized later this year, is being coupled with a plan to ease limits on mercury and other toxic air pollution from the facilities.
. . . ‘In repealing the carbon pollution standards for power plants — without a proposed replacement — EPA is going beyond climate denial to outright climate surrender,’ said Meredith Hankins, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. ‘EPA is attempting to claim with a straight face that power plants, the nation’s largest industrial source of carbon pollution, don’t significantly contribute to climate change.’
In addition to repealing the greenhouse gas curbs, the EPA is moving forward with plans to unwind standards that limit emissions of mercury, a neurotoxin that impairs brain development, as well as other hazardous air pollutants. EPA limits on mercury pollution, which effectively compel pollution controls at coal-fired power plants, date to 2011, though requirements were strengthened under Biden last year.”
Outright climate surrender. Simultaneously, gut the federal agencies that help people and places devastated by extreme climate events.
Us Democrats.
Did you see the story about the Mad King and drug prices? Here’s an overview from (cough, cough) Fox Business News.
“President Donald Trump used the story of an overweight friend getting weight-loss medication at a much lower cost overseas to illustrate why he’s working to cut prescription drug prices for Americans.
Speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity earlier this week, the president said one of his ‘slightly overweight’ friends purchased what Trump called a ‘fat shot’ in London for significantly less money than in the U.S.
‘He called me and he said, ‘Hey, strange thing happened. I just bought a drug, same company, same plant, same everything, everything was the same. In one case, I paid in New York $1,300 and in London, I’m paying $88,’ Trump recounted. ‘He said, ‘What’s going on?’”
I heard multiple Demo opinion leaders rip the MK for flippantly using ‘fat shot’. They probably preferred “weight control injection”.
More important is what Fox left out of its own reporting on its own interview. At the end of the story, the MK smirked and added, “I told my friend, it’s not working.”
Demo opinion leaders were appalled. How dare the MK call his friend fat. They were genuinely upset. Uncouth. Not presidential.
I wondered, were they asleep from 2016-2020?
The Mad King’s secret sauce is the contrast with all the politicians who came before him who said exactly what they thought everyone wanted to hear, not necessarily what they were thinking. And his contemporaries who regularly measure their words too closely to connect with anyone.
People dig the Mad King for saying things no one else will. Telling his friend his “fat shot” was not working harkens to the middle school nature of my friends’ group text.
Sometimes I wonder whether some Demos have had their sense of humor surgically removed. Telling his friend his fat shot was not working was rude, crude, and funny. People like that it’s unexpected and not at all presidential. That’s the point. That the Demos still don’t get.
Some Demos are trying to get it by using the “f” word more often. I agree with Michael Adam’s take on that.
“I think that in the case of the Democratic candidates … the swearing reflects their sense of crisis,” said Michael Adams, a lexicography expert and author of the book “In Praise of Profanity.”
The Mad King’s calculus is “If all of your peers are trying to appeal to the largest possible audience, do the opposite.” Talk like and to non-elites, who greatly outnumber the humorless, and too polite for their own good elites.
From the NYTimes.
“Republicans are seeking to extend Mr. Trump’s 2017 tax cut and temporarily enact his campaign pledges not to tax tips or overtime pay. They want to partly offset the roughly $3.8 trillion cost of those tax measures — as well as plans to increase spending on the military and immigration enforcement — by making cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and subsidies for clean energy.”
Don’t be fooled by the easy to spot “Eat the Rich” signage in downtown Olympia, WA. The guiding principle of the fairly elected kleptocracy is “Feed the Rich”.
Postscript: Welcome new readers from Germany.
The theme is “Make America Safe Again”. Which can only mean one thing. The Trumpblicans ignore data that doesn’t align with their feelings.
Turns out, it’s not the Demos who are all in their feelings.

Somehow, I’ve stumbled into a Stranger Things episode. And thanks to Biden, Trump, and the Lakers, I can’t get out.
Democratic Party leaders and Biden officials say I shouldn’t trust what I’m seeing and hearing. They know what I, a certified bed-wetter, don’t. The President is not aging. The debate was a one-off. His voice, energy levels, and communication skills are all fine. And will continue to be throughout a second term. He continues to be the exact right person for the job at the exact right time.
Following the debate, the Serial Liar said, “As I walked off the stage on Thursday night, at the end of the highly anticipated ‘Debate,’ anchors, political reporters and all screamed that I had had the greatest debate performance in the long and storied history of North Korea Presidential Debates. They all said, effectively, ‘Trump was fantastic!'”
Cue JJ Redick, the Los Angeles Lakers’ new head coach who today said, with a remarkably straight face, “Rob (Pelinka) and I did not give Bronny anything. Bronny has earned this. … Bronny has earned this through hard work.”
Bronny, who is shorter than me, averaged 4.8 points on 36.6% shooting (26.7% from 3), 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 19.3 minutes per game at some loathsome college. But the Lakers are saying I shouldn’t trust that sample set and that they would’ve picked Bronny even if the team wasn’t desperate to make his dad happy and resign him.
Biden’s Reelection Team, The North Korean, and the Los Angeles Lakers all think we’re too stupid to think for ourselves. So they’ll do it for us.
Our eyes, ears, and brains be damned.
Told the Good Wife I’m on Team Kendrick Lamar in the second highest profile feud going today. After, of course, Trump-Cohen. She asked what he’s like. I explained, “He’s edgy, from Compton, more of a populist. More substantive lyrics. Drake is more commercial, always seeking the limelight, and will never have a Pulitzer.”
Then this dropped. Oops. If I’m honest with myself, maybe I’m not the rap connoisseur I think I am.
Postscript: The article says Drake lives in a $100m mansion, so I guess Kendrick Lamar can still claim to be more of a commoner.