Just say no to interregnum
There is no throne. There is never not a president. And we don’t (yet) have a declaration of martial law.
A commercial to go with it
“A spray-tanned, drugged-up pitchman for Regeneron.” Now there’s a TV commercial. Or a “TV commercial.”
A concise description
“A spray-tanned, drugged-up pitchman for Regeneron”: on MSNBC, David Plouffe just offered this concise description of Donald Trump*.
Debate advice
C-SPAN’s split-screen.
Calamari on the beach
Many people found Rhode Island’s presentation delightful. But mileage varies. I found this bit deeply, unintentionally weird, in that low-budget-TV-commercial way.
A debate review
Hank Stuever, television critic.
Crossover candidate
“Hey, you’re that guy!” ”The thousand-dollar-a-month guy!”
C-SPAN reveals all
As with two-person political debates, the best place to see the Trump Fourth speech was C-SPAN, which cut away again and again for shots of the crowd.
Oswald
A lying narcissist with a big tie. But any resemblance to a real person is purely coincidental.
Screen life
“By all accounts, Mr. Trump’s consumption of cable television has actually increased in recent months.”
Reality TV and the White House
“Omarosa was fired three times on The Apprentice, and this is the fourth time we let her go.” “We”? The blurred line between reality TV and the White House could not be clearer.
Treason?
I didn’t clap during the State of the Union address. Then again, I didn’t watch. On purpose.
TV days
The Times reports that “people close to him estimate that Mr. Trump spends at least four hours a day, and sometimes as much as twice that, in front of a television.”
“An image of the audience”
Neil Postman on the politician as an image of the audience.
Sean Spicer at the Emmys
Ugh.
Current events
Alliances, rivalries: it’s Big Brother in the White House.
Jon Stewart plays president
“Super-long tie, dead animal on head.”
Life imitates Gilmore Girls (and doesn’t)
“You mean people would rather vote for a moronic twink who they liked over someone who could actually do the job?”
“That bastard Donald Trump”
“Oh my God — it’s the title search for the Rachel property. And guess who owns it!”
Things to do on Friday
I too would like to think that changing the channel or turning off the television will somehow bruise a certain outsize ego. But it’s not happening.
No TV news
I dread what the next four years might mean for my country, but I don’t need a television to know about it.
Awkward metaphor of the day
“He’s not going to be a wallflower that’s going to get pushed around.”
Block that metaphor
“They’re trying to find the middle ground where they can straddle this awkward situation.”
Reality TV?
Is the cheap-looking background in Donald Trump’s self-serving taped “statement” meant to look like the kind of background one sees on cable news? Is the background meant to give (someone) the impression that Trump is answering an anchor’s question and not merely reading from a script?
Recently updated
An old SNL skit is online.
Steve Bushakis and Donald Trump
“I’ve had gonorrhea five times.”
Eyes on the plane
Andrew Sullivan’s recent lament about the failure of “elites” to protect democracy from the likes of Donald Trump misses the point that Trump’s candidacy is itself the product of an elite — not a political elite but a media elite, one that has kept Trump (and even his parked plane) front and center for months now.
CNN fail
John King’s map and people of color. Appalling.
“A-Tisket, A-Tasket”
CNN’s John King and his baskets of votes.
False drama
Brian Williams, on MSNBC.