Trump Presser Lawyer's Firm "Russia Law Firm of the Year"

Ugh. What a preview. Image from source, Law Newz

It's difficult to know how to begin this year, as a blogger. Especially as a mostly absentee blogger of late. How do you just jump in to this vortex of hard-to-believe Trumpgasms and Tweetstorms and just cartoonish, badly written alt-reality fiction we seem to be somehow living in?

Today, Donald Trump finally held a press conference, on the heels of both President Obama's farewell speech (which was tremendous, believe me), and the release of damning information both linking Trump to Russia, and showing him to be something of a perv. The usual painful, embarrassing delivery was on display, of course. The word salad was in evidence. Occasionally, he made sense for a few minutes. And apparently, when he had his lawyer speak, it was a welcome event, since she seemed to know what she was talking about (but still couldn't get through it without a slew of pro-Trump talking points). But even her apparent professionalism was tainted with potential scandal.

If this story is to be believed (and it's pretty believably sourced), that lawyer representing Trump is from a firm that won "Russia Law Firm of the Year" in 2016. No joke. I can't even. . .

[Excerpt]

Law Firm Representing Trump Rated ‘Russia Law Firm of the Year’

Earlier today, Donald Trump held a press conference, where his attorney, Sheri Dillon, spoke regarding Trump’s business interests. As LawNewz.com noted, Dillon is a partner at the law firm Morgan Lewis & Bokius. Using the services of the firm makes sense for Trump, as Morgan Lewis is a world-renowned organization. In fact, just last year, Chambers and Partners rated them as the top firm in a certain country, and guess which one it is. . .

Read more at: Law Newz

Jay Carney Steps Down as White House Press Secretary

As my Swiss friend Romie might say, "What the big deal is?" Why should it be suspicious or controversial that a press secretary would resign? It's a position with a rather high turnover rate. George W. Bush had four of them in eight years. Jay Carney was President Obama's second.
[Story continues below]




I'm also seeing a bunch of Twitter and other commentary from Right Wing World, calling Carney a "serial liar," and worse. Which I find kind of amusing, since the position is about "spin," though not everyone would call that lying. It's a rather thankless position, one that does not lend itself well to blunt honesty. And I wonder, who would the right consider an honest press secretary? Ari Fleischer? Ha! Dana Perino? Haha! The late (and former FOX "News" Sunday host) Tony Snow? No way.

So no, I don't think Carney set himself apart as particularly worse than any of his predecessors.  But frankly, I haven't been a fan of very many of these guys (and gals). Historically, I rank them right in there with the heads of the DNC and RNC for people I don't particularly like to listen to.  All of them are in a position of spinning to their own advantage, all the time. But that might be the difference between a liberal like me, and your typical hardcore conservative: I don't love the person in this position simply because he's "on my team." What do I mean? Scroll down below the excepted article below, and I'll show you.

[Excerpt]

White House press secretary Jay Carney leaving

Jay Carney is stepping down as White House press secretary, President Barack Obama announced on Friday. Obama said Carney told him of his decision in April, and Carney later said he plans to leave the position in mid-June. The President announced that deputy press secretary Josh Earnest will step into the role. . .

Read more at: CNN

Now, what did I mean by the hero-worship some on the right have had of the president of their party's spokesman? Well, here you go. Right wing outpost FreeRepublic.com had a love-fest with Bush era press conferences, particularly those of Tony Snow, who was himself--it is alleged--a "FReeper." This image would accompany any post regarding a White House press conference. Can you imagine a fawning graphic like this for any other politician?

President Obama's Second Press Conference

I did my duty as an American and watched President Barack Obama's press conference tonight. Well, watched would be stretching the term, since my eyes did find themselves closed on occasion. This economy stuff--while important--isn't exciting stuff.

Obama is a better speaker than George W. Bush of course, though that bar is quite low. I didn't feel like grabbing the remote and hurling at the screen, as I so often did in the last eight years. But I hope as he gets more seasoned in the job, that he truncates his answers a bit, and realizes that he doesn't have to fill every second with his voice. Rather than draw out "aaaaaand" or "thennnnnnnnn" he could just pause. Other than that, he was pretty good, and clearly thoughtful and engaged. I think if I had a better grasp on all of the economic issued, I would have been more engaged myself.

If you missed it, here's the entire conference.

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Obama's Press Conference, Reviewed by FReepers

Image from source, the hilariously creative FreeRepublic

Every once in a while, I like to check on the wingnuts at FreeRepublic, the popular far-right political commentary site. Now, I don't recommend this for everybody. It's like an alternate universe, where everything that has ever gone wrong is a Democrat's fault, and where George W. Bush was the best President ever! Still, it can be educational, even a little bit of snarky fun.

When they're not keeping tabs on the dreaded gay agenda or fighting the War on Christmas, they're picking apart whatever relevant Democratic politicians they can find. Or, as they might say at FreeRepublic, members of the "Democrat Party." Big D Democratic will never cross their keyboards. And the biggest Democrat right now is of course, our new President, Barack Obama.

While watching last night's presser, I was certain that over at FR, they'd be assailing Obama for something. I figured what they'd zero in on was the "ums," the "uhs," the "aaaaaands" and the pauses in Obama's speech pattern. Bingo. According to them, he's an empty suit. Worthless without a teleprompter. And they read those halting moments as proof that he doesn't have a thought in his head. Mmmkay.

I saw something different. I saw a man measuring his words. A man wishing to be honest with America, while at the same time being sure not to say too much. After all, a wrongly worded phrase would bring the weight of the world down on his head. And the FReepers would lead the charge. So, he was thoughtful, and he was careful. And his words--once delivered--didn't for a moment indicate that he was short in the intelligence department. Given the fact that he was doing this for the first time as President, I'm willing to cut him a little slack.

He also pronounced "nuclear" correctly. Which brings me to the reality check. For supporters of George W. "The Decider" Bush to be picking apart the way the current President speaks? That's just too funny for words, man! I mean, come on! We've endured eight years of foul-ups, bleeps and blunders from The Commander Guy. The comparison couldn't be more stark. Still, I guess they have to cling to something.

A sampling:

"Missed the first question. Mr. Articulate he ain’t—he may be clean though."

"He’s making W look like a Rhodes Scholar!"

"It’s pitiful. More dead air than words, words strung together almost nonsensically when not dead air. Poor camera presence, pale and wan, uncertain aura."

"This guy is almost incoherent: “Most economists almost unanimously agree...” Can you imagine Bush saying this?"

Editor: No, I imagine W. saying something more like this:

"A lotta econo. . .uh. . .eco. . .uh. . .money guys, kinda uniformarily sees it my way! 'Nother words, the people who knows 'bout this stuff agrees with me! Nukuler!"

Source: FreeRepublic

President Obama's First Prime-time Press Conference

I'm sure that President Barack Obama's first prime-time press conference, which focused on the stimulus bill, will be fodder for the right-wing noise machine. Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh and others will pick apart words, edit the uhs and uhms together for cute little sound clips, and pounce upon any ill-chosen word.

But there is one thing I can say about the event that I haven't been able to say for eight years: I wasn't embarrassed by our President when he spoke. Sure, I got a little drowsy a couple of times, but never flinched out of shame. That's another big change.

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