MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2026
We may not agree with its message: With the release of additional Epstein files, the stumblebum conduct continued.
That said, was this really stumblebum conduct? Or might it have been a gesture of contempt from within an undeclared "silent secession?" Let's hear from the Wall Street Journal:
Epstein Files Release Exposes Names of at Least 43 Victims, WSJ Review Finds
The Justice Department exposed the names of dozens of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, including many who haven’t shared their identities publicly or were minors when they were abused by the notorious sex offender.
A review of 47 victims’ full names on Sunday found that 43 of them were left unredacted in files that were made public by the government on Friday, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. Several women’s full names appeared more than 100 times in the files.
Could they really have been that inept? Or was that just the latest gesture?
Whatever the answer to that question might be, the madness has continued unabated. With respect to Rep. Omar, the president quickly returned to the practice of calling for—well, we'll let Mediaite explain:
Trump Rages At Ilhan Omar In Early Morning Rant Days After Attack—Demands Sending Her To Jail Or ‘Back’ To Africa
President Donald Trump attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in an early morning rant suggesting she be jailed or “sent back” to Africa just days after she was attacked onstage.
And so on from there. In a somewhat similar gesture, he announced, early this morning, that he may sue celebrity host Trevor Noah because of the bad thing he said:
Trump Aims Next Lawsuit at Trevor Noah Over ‘Defamatory’ Epstein Joke at Grammys: ‘Get Ready Noah, I’m Going To Have Some Fun With You!’
President Donald Trump said he is going to sue “pathetic” Trevor Noah after he made a “false and defamatory” joke about the president hanging out with dead sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein while hosting the Grammy Awards on Sunday night.
Trump went off on Noah in a Truth Social post at 1:01 a.m. on Monday.
And so on from there.
More accurately, the president only said that he may decide to sue Noah. For the record, he returned to his "George Slopadopolus" construct in the course of this post:
Ask Little George Slopadopolus, and others, how that all worked out. Also ask CBS! Get ready Noah, I’m going to have some fun with you!
It was actually Little George Slopadopolus to whom his post referred.
Have recent events in Minneapolis damaged the president's political standing? It seems that they actually have! But after replacing Bovino with Homan, the president continued along on his rather unusual way.
Consider this surprising announcement, to cite one example:
Trump Drops Big News About His ‘Trump Kennedy Center’—It’s Closing For 2 Years
In a lengthy Truth Social post Sunday, President Donald Trump announced that his renovation plans for the Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts will involve closing the facility for a full two years.
And so on from there. Will "Kennedy" still be part of the name by the time the renovations are done?
Regarding those naming rights, we wouldn't bet one way or the other. Meanwhile, also this construction project, according to this report in Saturday's Washington Post:
Trump wants to build a 250-foot-tall arch, dwarfing the Lincoln Memorial
The White House stands about 70 feet tall. The Lincoln Memorial, roughly 100 feet. The triumphal arch President Donald Trump wants to build would eclipse both if he gets his wish.
Trump has grown attached to the idea of a 250-foot-tall structure overlooking the Potomac River, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe his comments, a scale that has alarmed some architectural experts who initially supported the idea of an arch but expected a far smaller one.
[...]
Trump has considered smaller versions of the arch, including 165-foot-high and 123-foot-high designs he shared at a dinner last year. But he has favored the largest option, arguing that its sheer size would impress visitors to Washington, and that “250 for 250” makes the most sense, the people said.
Of course! You always design the height of a project based on how many years it has been!
The president tore down the East Wing in order to build a ballroom; the ballroom just keeps getting bigger. So too, it seems, with the triumphal arch.
And yet, the most remarkable post-Minneapolis walk-back moment would almost surely be this:
FBI Raids Georgia Election Office in Probe Related to 2020 Voter Fraud
The FBI has raided a Georgia election hub as part of an investigation into 2020 election fraud, Fox News Digital reported on Wednesday.
Agents were seen entering the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center just outside of Atlanta on Wednesday in an operation related to the 2020 election, the outlet reported. A law enforcement official later confirmed to Reuters that a search warrant was executed at the facility.
President Donald Trump has claimed repeatedly—and without evidence—that the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden, was stolen and rigged against him.
More than five years later, this madness hasn't stopped! Tulsi Gabbard was on the scene—and also, there was this:
Trump Revives #Italygate—The Weirdest 2020 Election Conspiracy of Them All
In the middle of a late-night online posting spree on Wednesday, President Donald Trump resurrected what may be the most bizarre conspiracy theory to emerge from the aftermath of the 2020 election: the idea that the vote was stolen in a globe-spanning covert operation involving Italian military satellites, U.S. intelligence agencies, and China.
Between posts declaring former President Barack Obama a “traitor” and inaccurate claims Walmart is shutting down in California, the president reshared a screengrab of an X post to his 11.6 million followers on Truth Social alleging that “Italian officials at [defense contractor] Leonardo SpA used military satellites to help hack U.S. voting machines, flipping votes from Trump to Biden using CIA-developed tools like Hammer and Scorecard.”
“China reportedly coordinated the whole operation,” the post claimed, while “the CIA oversaw it” and “the FBI covered it up.”\
[...]
This particularly elaborate conspiracy theory, dubbed “Italygate,” is not new and was, in fact, mainlined from QAnon channels to staffers in the first Trump administration during the months between the 2020 election and former President Joe Biden’s inauguration, while Trump was pushing claims the election was “rigged.”
And so on from there. Should that post have been front-page news in the New York Times? We'd say that the answer is yes.
More than five years later, the president has returned to that peculiar claim about the Italian military. In a new column for the New York Times, David French reacts to that news as show:
This Is Not a Drill
[...]
After the F.B.I. raided the Fulton County election center, Trump demanded Obama’s arrest on social media and threatened the prosecution of election workers. He claimed, among other things, that Italian military satellites had hacked the 2020 election and that Obama had “conspired with foreign powers, not one, not two, not three, but four times to overthrow the United States government in 2016.”
The Italian satellite theory is a jolting reminder that Trump will demand that his core supporters believe almost anything he says, no matter how wild or delusional.
As Jonathan Karl reported for ABC News, this theory “was brought to the White House by a woman who went by several aliases, including ‘The Heiress,’ and was known at the Pentagon for her claimed ties to Somali pirates.”
More than five years later, that peculiar theory is suddenly back!
French delivers a frightening warning in the course of that new column. We'll summarize that warning in the days ahead.
We mention these things because of a song we thought we may have heard in several other recent columns in the New York Times.
We've been hearing a version of that same song on MS NOW as Blue America responds to the latest startling election win. We refer to the Democratic win in a Trump-friendly district in a race for a seat in the Texas State Senate.
The "song" to which we refer is more like a storyline—a pleasing claim, proffered by many, according to which the end may finally be drawing near for the MAGA Express.
According to that storyline, it's looking worse and worse for the GOP in this year's scheduled midterm elections. That theory may turn out to be perfectly accurate—though we toss the word "scheduled" into the stew in deference to David French's extremely dire perspective.
Where were we hearing that song sung Blue? In his new column for the Times, Jamelle Bouie worked beneath this headline:
Minneapolis May Be Trump’s Gettysburg
Ezra Klein's new column was published beneath this banner:
Trump Has Overwhelmed Himself
Also, Ruth Ben-Ghiat—she's more of a (highly insightful) academic—almost seemed to be singing the same song in the course of this nuanced guest essay:
History Shows Trump’s Worst Impulses May Backfire on Him
We thought we've heard this song before, dating at least to 2015. It's rarely worked out quite right.
French's new column stands in extremely gloomy opposition to this possible "song sung Blue." We ourselves would suggest a different perspective, one which may be less dire his.
Have we Blues returned to that upbeat song? We'll pick up here tomorrow.
Tomorrow: A major blue note from French
ReplyDeleteNice.
Actually, as far as I am concerned, “250 for 250” yards makes most sense.
"Minneapolis May Be Trump’s Gettysburg"
The walls are closing in!!! Ha-ha-ha. Thanks for the laughs, Bob.
"President Donald Trump has claimed repeatedly—and without evidence—that the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden, was stolen and rigged against him."
Yes, that's what your Idiot-Democrat cult media have claimed repeatedly. And you, idiot BlueAnons, pretend to believe it, even though y'all know perfectly well that the election was rigged. Do your heads hurt, idiots?
Trump won when Democrats were President and lost when it was rigged while he was President. So he rigged it against himself dumb ass Sherlock?
Delete"Idiot-Democrat cult media have claimed repeatedly."
DeleteExpanding on this thought, not only the media but all courts, state and local election officials and Trump's own campaign staff and attorneys and Attorney General repeatedly made the same claim.
The same claim that trumptard here, like one of Saddam's dead enders, continues to deny.
Oh well.
It's the corruption stupids.
ReplyDelete"@ChrisMurphyCT
·
Trump reversed decades of national security objections to selling advanced AI chips to UAE. National security experts were alarmed.
But there was a secret. Before the deal, UAE had sent $187M to the Trumps and $31M to the Witkoffs in secret payments.
Mind blowing corruption."
So, what exactly is Somerby saying today? It is very hard to tell. He talks repeatedly about a pleasing song sung blue, but is he denying that Trump's opposition is making political inroads that may result in Republicans losing seats in Congress? Or is Somerby mocking the hopes of Trump's political opposition? Somerby displays some negative attitude toward Dems. None of us on the left would call today's political situation "upbeat" in any sense. We are mostly determined to continue our opposition to Trump. So what is Somerby's point?
ReplyDeleteWhen you read other political blogs, Somerby's comes across as largely incoherent. I have no idea whether Somerby is advocating support or resistance to Trump, and no idea why he keeps repeating that this "song sung blue" has been sung before. Trump hs been president before, so of course there is opposition again. But what is his point?
Yes, exactly the point.
DeleteHe’s making a fairly specific meta-argument about how liberals and mainstream commentators are interpreting recent Trump news, and warning that one popular interpretation (that he has overplayed his hands and is going down and happy days are here again) may be wishful thinking.
DeleteIn other words, 12:05, Somerby is saying “they could be right, but they could be wrong.”
DeleteBrilliant.
By the way, saying “liberals…” as you did sounds as though you are saying that ALL liberals feel this way, which is not true.
I don't hear liberals saying "happy days are here again". We will say that when Trump is removed. Every day is a new atrocity. How can that be happy?
DeleteMany of us are anticipating an approaching depression to rival the Great Depression. It worries us that Trump is dismantling the social safety net, on purpose. Why is that not on Somerby's radar?
"Song sung blue" refers to depression, not to hope. The mood among Democrats is grim determination to do whatever we can to limit Trump's destruction of our nation.
ReplyDeleteSomerby is trying to tell us that resistance is futile:
"We thought we've heard this song before, dating at least to 2015. It's rarely worked out quite right."
Does Somerby mean to imply that the reemergence of a Q-Anon theory about Italy stealing the 2020 election is the "song sung blue"? He doesn't quite explain himself. But he does promise to describe the theory for the rest of the week. Why?
David French is an anti-Trump conservative with strong evangelical religious ties. He is not blue. Why is he worth spending a week discussing here? And what were the random headlines Somerby quoted doing in this essay?
Meanwhile, the Grammys were full of anti-ICE protest from the podium, from Trevor Noah to Bad Bunny. It is clear how top musical artists feel about Trump, and Somerby fails to note that the reason the Kennedy Center is closing is because no one will perform there under Trump's control. That too is a protest.
Meanwhile, the biggest news is that Trump is still all over the Epstein files in the latest release and the DOJ is still covering up for Trump and the men in Trump's orbit. More Republicans are jumping ship, as they should. No one with a shred of integrity can remain attached to Trump in the face of what he and Epstein did by pimping young girls to rich and famous men, perhaps generating Russian kompromat in the process (given Epstein's ties). That is the big story, which Somerby continues to ignore.
The issue for Democrats is can they recover from all of their mistakes over the last 16 years. Can they rebuild a brand that a majority of the people now find wanting?
DeleteThe bigger issue is good old-fashioned Republican voter suppression, but thanks for playing.
DeleteLeave your address, and we'll send you a participation trophy.
?????
DeleteIt's not a binary issue.
Delete???????
11:52: Somerby is rarely specific about what Democrats need to do. “Don’t make mistakes”.., good advice! But when you get to making specific recommendations about the direction of the party, (more centrist, more progressive, etc), advice is conflicting and all over the map. Many bloggers make specific recommendations. Somerby hasn’t looked at the recent flips by Democrats, such as the one in Texas, to see if there’s any message there.
DeleteAnd voter suppression isn’t exactly an issue that can be waved away as some sort of branding issue for Democrats. It can prevent Democrats from winning despite the will of the voters.
Delete
DeleteYes, as a retarded Democrat I want to vote by farting while sitting on my couch.
16 year old mistakes? What mistakes were made 16 years ago by Democrats? Obama was in the middle of his first term in 2010. Was it a mistake to nominate Obama? The electorate didn't seem to think so. Is Somerby arguing that Trump is retribution for putting a black man on the Democratic ticket? If so, it is understandable that he doesn't want to come right out and say so, given how racist that idea is.
DeleteThat may be the motivation for MAGA, but Trump was put into office by Russia, not by racist Republican voters. There are still people who think that it was a mistake for Democrats to nominate two female candidates, Hillary and then Kamala. Given how many women have been elected to lead other countries, and how well they have performed, and how qualified both Hillary and Kamala were (especially compared to male alternatives), it can be argued that misogyny is the main mistake being made by voters, not the Democratic party. But that is not a party or pundit mistake, but a failure of our citizenry to appreciate the strengths of women. Somerby has not yet argued that we are in the midst of a backlash based on sex/gender, although I wouldn't put it past him to argue against women as nominees. So far, he hasn't had the courage to state that argument either. He just hints.
Men who hate women enough to consign them to the margins of society are not going to do well themselves. Among the recent victories by Democrats in red states and districts, many are women beating Republican male candidates. And yes, the proportion of women among Democratic voters and the recent attacks on women by ICE and by Epstein/Trump are generating sympathy for them. Electing a woman is the sure way to avoid electing a man who will later be revealed to have been a predator against teens who is listed in Epstein's black book.
But I doubt Somerby is hinting that the Dems have nominated too few female candidates, even if the women who have run have outperformed expectations.
The Republican mistake is to allow guys like Vance and Miller to bluntly describe their war on women. There is no surer way to mobilize the women voters who are solid Democrats when we need their edge to counteract the right's corruption and manipulation of voting.
"Is Somerby arguing that Trump is retribution for putting a black man on the Democratic ticket?"
DeleteSpoiler alert:
Turns out, the USA was the shit hole country all along.
"Is Somerby arguing that Trump is retribution for putting a black man on the Democratic ticket?"
DeleteA highly implausible reading that says more about your deep-rooted antipathy to Somerby than about his thinking.
You tell us -- what happened 16 years ago that Somerby would think was a mistake made by Dems?
DeleteTrump is a clown, who doesn't understand how "discovery" works in a court trial.
ReplyDeleteBut, for some mysterious reason, Republicans elect him because he treats minorities poorly.
The Epstein files are simply astonishing to me. What is in there is sickening, and it goes beyond even sex trafficking to political events all over the world. It’s as if there really was some sort of cabal directing events, compromising rich powerful people and then blackmailing them. Trump was a major player in there. Ho hum, eh?
ReplyDeleteSomerby grabs things out of context and uses them to advance his own ideas, rather than clearly stating his beliefs. When people read what he has said, remembering the context of his quotes, it introduces confusion because Somerby does not intend any of the meanings of the original author. In this case, the lyrics of "Song sung blue" have nothing to do with what Somerby is saying, but because he doesn't explain himself, we have no idea what he means, except he thinks blue America is making mistakes of some sort and have no right to think Trump is self-destructing.
ReplyDeleteThe point of the Neil Diamond song is that even though someone is blue (depressed), by singing they will feel better. But Somerby ignores that meaning and instead implies that we blues, by singing our blue song again, are making mistakes and have false hope. Somerby says it is wrong for us to keep singing, which is the opposite of Diamond's point.
He says he might show some evidence in tomorrow's essay that blue America believes Trump is self-destructing, losing power. But even if he can produce evidence that blue America has false hopes, does that mean any of us should stop opposing Trump, stop working to hold back the forces of evil? We have no alternative but to keep up our resistance.
Trump can fight Democrats and scramble to gain money and political power, but there is nothing he can do about his advancing age and his health problems.
ReplyDeleteIran/Contra happened during George H.W. Bush's term. When he went away, so did his co-conspirators. Trump may have a team of schemers surrounding him, but when he leaves office, they will lose power. There may or may not be prosecutions, but they will be out of office and thus unable to continue their bad acts. That is something to be happy about.
I would like to hear Somerby explain why this isn't something to look forward to.
Correction, started during Ronald Reagan's second term and ended during Bush's term, when he pardoned the guilty.
DeleteTrump's faults primarily arise when he takes action and attacks problems. If a President, e.g., Biden, does nothing, he will never be found to have done anything wrong. But, Trump takes action. That allows him to be criticized for the way in which he took action. Here is a partial list of problems Trump is addressing which Biden didn't deal with :
ReplyDelete--Open borders
-- tens of millions of illegal immigrants in the country
-- Need to protect Greenland
-- Gaza war
-- Ukraine war
-- Waste and fraud in government.
-- Drug smuggling into the US
-- Antisemitism on college campuses
-- loss of US manufacturing
-- Weakening of Europe: militarily, economically, culturally, and civil liberties
It's better to deal imperfectly with problems than to ignore them. In the long run, the ones you ignored cause the worst disasters. WW2 for example.
Calling Biden a do-nothing president is ludicrous. You are a troll. Go away.
DeleteShorter David: It is better for a president to be a criminal than to be Biden.
Thanks for your comment, @1:16. Can you please provide a list of Biden's accomplishments?
DeleteGo take a flying fuck , dickhead, you fucking fascist freak
DeleteDavid, we have described Biden's accomplishments here every day during the election and you apparently didn't read them then. Why should anyone think you would read them now? You are trolling. That isn't nice. Go away.
DeleteBut gosh darn it, the voters just don't seem to getting the message, DiC:
Delete"Almost 100,000 voters turned out Saturday in a special election for a Fort Worth–area Texas state senate seat.
The result was startling: Democrat Taylor Rehmet, a 33-year-old union leader and Air Force veteran, won by more than 14 points in a Republican district that Donald Trump won by 17 points in November 2024."
Yes, Hector. The Dem strategy of criticizing an opposing Trump's actions, while offering no solutions, is working. The public is focused on Trump's mistakes and alleged mistakes. The Dem strategy is good for their electoral success. I expect a Democratic rout in the midterms.
DeleteSomerby is irritated because Democrats are winning elections, such as the Gov of VA and the state district in TX (that Trump won +17 but just swung to a Democrat). What liberal is upset by Democratic wins? Why shouldn't we on the left celebrate our wins without Debbie Downer Somerby telling us we can't feel glad? Righties feel sad when Dems win. That makes it more likely Somerby's sympathies are not with the left, as he claims, since he couldn't be sadder about our success if he were Ted Cruz himself.
ReplyDelete"Somerby is irritated because Democrats are winning elections,"
ReplyDeleteNo he isn't.
Prove it.
DeleteLiberal websites have been touting the positive election results, which are very strong for Democrats. Somerby says we are singing a happy song about Trump's demise, when we shouldn't be, just as we have done before without Trump going away. He is clearly telling us not to gloat, which implies he himself is irritated by the gloating, considering it premature or inaccurate (at best) or annoying because we are singing that hopeful song again (he himself says).
DeleteHow do you put any other construction on Somerby's message today? Explain.
Well, the burden of proof is on you since you made the assertion. That's how logic works.
DeleteI have explained myself. Now you...
Delete