Fruitful Testimony

Impending Cooperation 1

The House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed 81 individuals and entities associated with Donald Trump, his campaign, and just his general orbit.  And boy, I really don’t expect that to yield much, especially if the Michael Cohen testimony was any indication.  I mean, Cohen WANTED to testify.  He wanted to put things on the table, and volunteered whatever information he could between being called a liar and a criminal.  I can’t even imagine what things are going to look like with all the people who don’t want to be there.  And there will be plenty.  Among the people who got subpoenaed, who really gives you an idea of what these testimonies could end up looking like is Sean Spicer.  He’s already started on the snark, with his passive aggressive suggestion that he fully intends to cooperate but suggests there isn’t anything interesting to unearth.  In his case, that might be true, seeing as I don’t think Donald Trump really respected Spicer enough to tell him anything, but I still think Spicer knows a lot of things that he’s going to end trying to avoid speaking about to Congress.  And while he may not end up utilizing the 5th amendment, his testimony will probably feel like he is.

Alternative Facts Redux

alternative facts return1

So much like his inauguration numbers, Trump’s first State of the Union numbers couldn’t match his predecessor’s.  More than that, people’s general reaction to Trump’s State of the Union fell very flat compared to Obama.  I think we’re all just waiting for Trump and his people to brag about how successful his SOTU was, how well watched and received it was.  I wonder if we’ll even see the revival of “Alternative Facts”? One can only hope.

Update: I came up with the idea of this panel before Trump actually came out and said his ratings were the highest recorded for the State of the Union.  I would take credit as some kind of prophet, but let’s face it, anyone could have made that prediction if they were following Trump’s behavior even sort of.