For a view from the conservative side of the confidential memo of Representative Nunes concerning the FBI, Jonah Goldberg presents one on National Review, and is clearly feeling sqeamish:
Again, there are some legitimately disturbing facts (and allegations of facts) swirling around the FBI, the Mueller investigation, etc. But there’s also an astonishing amount of manufactured outrage, absurd dot-connecting, and near-hysteria. It’s as if everyone who shouts about the other side being conspiracy theorists needs to have a conspiracy theory all their own as well.
Meanwhile, this #ReleaseTheMemo campaign is obviously a PR stunt. But that in itself is not damning. PR stunts are sometimes valid efforts to get a real story out. I’m actually impressed that congressional Republicans were effective at messaging for once. I wouldn’t have predicted that it would work this well. After all, Republicans insinuating that a memo written by a Republican committee chairman in a Republican-controlled Congress during a Republican presidency is being hidden from the public by some force or entity other than the Republicans strikes me as kind of hilarious. As is the idea that all of these Republicans saw it, but no one leaked it because leaking is just wrong. (It is wrong, but come on.) That said . . . hey, it was just crazy enough to work.
Of course, this stunt — and so much else — will look not just absurd but dishonorable if the memo doesn’t live up to the hype.
That’s why I’d caution Republican politicians from taking their cues from President Trump’s Twitter feed or the media platforms that unapologetically fuel his persecution complex. If professional opiners want to go the way of Alex Jones and Jim Hoft, fine. But the GOP itself should think twice. If Ron Johnson’s performance on Special Report last night is a preview of what is yet to come, I think some Republicans may be painting themselves into an ugly corner.
Ugly corner? Just think of it as campaign fodder. The neediness of the Party Leader is really leading the GOP right down into a toxic waste dump. I know a few conservatives I talk to are really tired of the entire politics thing, even if they still suck down the fallacious swill about the Democrats – as persistent readers of this blog know from my occasional vents on the matter.
Meanwhile, Senator Johnson (R-WI), who Tuesday claimed he had a real live informant that would provide proof positive of a secret organization within the “deep state” out to get rid of President Trump, is retreating:
Johnson backtracked somewhat on Wednesday, saying he had merely “heard” about the existence of a secret society and did not have direct evidence of such a rump organization within the FBI.
“All I said is when I read those in those texts, that’s Strozk and Page’s term,” Johnson said when pressed by reporters on Capitol Hill on whether he believed such a group existed. “I have heard there was a group of managers in the FBI that were holding meetings offsite. That’s all I know.” [NBC News]
Ho hum. I think he’s a fantasist. How Wisconsin voters could pick this deceitful twerp over Russ Feingold is beyond me.
I’m beginning to think the mid-terms will be more interesting in terms of advertising than usual, because it will be all about presentation during the campaigns. These mid-terms could mark inventive new ways to bring the missteps of both sides into sharp focus for voters.
The question will be whether or not the voters will be willing to go out and verify the claims, or not. I wonder if the advertising will be adjusted to make verification a little easier than starting cold – or if either side will simply lie its ass off.
