Ronald Reagan was once dubbed the Teflon President because nothing derogative ever stuck to him. It just slid off. Donald Trump is the beneficiary of a different dynamic. He’s like a pan that is so covered with crud that there is no room for any more crud. His wrongdoings, his violations, his improper actions are numerous and extensive, and they blur together into a huge blob of scandal in which individual acts of malfeasance become hard to discern or care about. After all, what else can you say about a guy whose ineptitude led to the preventable deaths of at least 400,000 Americans and who incited a violent attack while trying to mount a political coup? Why bother with his (many) other sins and iniquities?

Yet…they keep coming. Here’s an example: A few days ago, the CIA released a study reviewing how Trump, as a presidential candidate, president-elect, and president, utilized (or failed to utilize) intelligence community briefings. It was part of a book published by the agency’s Center for the Study of Intelligence, which produces scholarly articles and histories about intelligence-related matters. Overall, the report was not a shocker. It turns out that Trump usually did not read the President’s Daily Brief—the short report compiled each day by the intelligence community summarizing the most pressing national security matters of the moment. “He doesn’t really read anything,” one of his CIA briefers said. And while many presidents schedule a daily intelligence briefing related to the PDB, Trump deigned only to sit through two short sessions a week. Another of Trump’s intelligence briefers said that she and her colleagues had to “script” briefings with “story-telling” to keep Trump’s interest. That’s absurd. They had to trick the commander in chief into paying attention to critical national security information. Did they also offer him ice cream? The title for this report was an understatement: “Donald J. Trump—A Unique Challenge.”

Not all of the major media outfits jumped on this. A Google search turned up no news coverage in the New York Times or Washington Post. But there were headlines elsewhere: “US intelligence community 'struggled' to brief Trump, CIA study says” (CNN), “It's no secret: A CIA book looks at fraught relations with Trump” (NPR), and “Trump was 'far and away the most difficult' new president to brief, CIA-published book says” (Insider). The outlets that reported on these revelations tended to miss or downplay one of the most outrageous elements of the story: For the last month of his presidency, Trump received no intelligence briefings at all. He apparently was too occupied with trying to overturn the 2020 election results in order to retain power. This was an extreme dereliction of duty. A key part of the president’s job is remaining fully informed about potential national security threats. Yet Trump was spending far more time watching cable television and conspiring against the Constitution than meeting this fundamental responsibility. A chief executive shirking this task ought to be front-page news—especially given that he is considering running again for the job. Yet this disclosure has yielded minimal media coverage and no popular outrage.

Now I know what you’re thinking. It’s Trump. Of course, he cared more about conspiracy theories claiming the Chinese and the Venezuelans used Italian satellites and thermostats to hack election machines to steal an election from him. (I’m not making any of that up.) So how can anyone be shocked by this? Isn’t this dog-bites-man news? Bor-ing! And how can you expect any of his cultish devotees to be upset about it, if they’re not put off by the Access Hollywood tape, his Russia betrayal, his gross and lethal mismanagement of the pandemic, or his assault on American democracy?

This is how the Cruddy Pan dynamic works. Trump is not measured by normal standards. Imagine what the Fox-heads would do if it were revealed that President Joe Biden spent hours a day watching television and blew off his intelligence briefings? They’d be demanding cognition tests and calling for impeachment. (Some are already doing that.) Yet Trump’s abnormal and malignant behavior has become so normalized that new offenses don’t—or barely—register. For his tribe, he can do no wrong. And for many of the rest of us, it’s enough already.

I admit I don’t have a remedy for this, and I realize a lot of folks would like to not think about Trump for a good long while. But he is the likely Republican frontrunner for 2024, and there’s even a chance he could become speaker of the House in 13 months. We—and the media—cannot ho-hum him out of the picture. All his crud deserves notice.

Got anything to say about this item—or anything else? Email me at thisland@motherjones.com.

Peter Thiel, Kingmaker?

In a recent issue, I asked, “How dangerous is Peter Thiel?” and examined a speech the Big Tech billionaire recently delivered that was loaded with right-wing, pro-Trump dogma, misguided analysis, and reactionary thinking. (Read the excellent Josh Marshall piece that pivoted off my article.) Citing his $10 million commitment to helping J.D. Vance, the trollish Hillbilly Elegy author who once worked for Thiel’s VC firm, win a US Senate seat in Ohio, I highlighted Thiel’s attempts to amass political influence as particularly alarming. But I neglected to mention that he has also dedicated another $10 million to assist the campaign of Blake Masters, who is seeking the Republican Senate nomination in Arizona. This gives Thiel a stake in two critical Senate elections next year.

Masters is the chief operating officer at Thiel Capital and the president of the Thiel Foundation—and a Big Lie advocate. In a recent ad and tweet, he declared, “I think Trump won in 2020,” adding, “America’s most powerful institutions conspired to manipulate the 2020 election. Donald Trump should be president today.” This is typical of the Big Lie gang: issue vague accusations and rile up the dupes. Which of “America’s most powerful institutions” conspired? Masters, of course, doesn’t say. He’s just another purveyor of disinformation.

But the National Review recently published a positive profile of Masters in which this Thielite explained that the “countless conversations I’ve had with Peter over the years have really been instrumental in forming my political outlook and beliefs.” This is concerning, given that Thiel’s biographer, Max Chafkin, who wrote The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s Pursuit of Power, has described Thiel’s political and economic philosophy as “bordering on fascism.” Masters, a political novice, is in a crowded GOP primary field that includes the state’s current attorney general. But his guru’s money could give him a boost. Even if Masters doesn’t have much of a chance, Thiel’s financing of his campaign is another worrisome sign that a Trump-loving, bordering-on-fascist billionaire is investing in American politics.

Dumbass Comment of the Week

Sometimes you have to go with the most obvious winner… One of the steepest descents in the history of modern mainstream journalism belongs to Lara Logan. She was once a globe-trotting foreign correspondent and star for 60 Minutes and CBS News. Then in 2013 she was caught using fabricated material as the basis for a bombshell (and false) 60 Minutes report on the Benghazi attack. The network suspended her. A few years later, she departed CBS and drifted into Kookland, hurling conspiracy theories and screeds against the supposedly liberal media. Naturally, she ended up with a Fox show that was dubbed Lara Logan Has No Agenda. What does it signify when the very title of your program is a lie? And Logan’s agenda was in full view this past week during an episode of mega-(or MAGA-)crazy.

It began when Logan, appearing on a different Fox show to discuss the news about the Omicron variant, compared Dr. Anthony Fauci to a Nazi war criminal who was called the “Angel of Death”: “This is what people say to me, that [Fauci] doesn't represent science to them. He represents Josef Mengele, Dr. Josef Mengele, the Nazi doctor who did experiments on Jews during the Second World War and in the concentration camps.”

Logan’s idiotic remark prompted a justifiable tsunami of outrage. (The comment was also dangerous in that it could provoke violence against Fauci.) The Anti-Defamation League denounced Logan for “making outlandish and offensive analogies,” and the American Jewish Committee slammed her remarks as “utterly shameful.” The Auschwitz Museum—Auschwitz was the death camp where Mengele conducted his horrific crimes—weighed in: “It is disrespectful to victims & a sad symptom of moral and intellectual decline.”

None of this caused Logan any pause. She did not withdraw her remarks or apologize. Instead, she posted links to conspiracy websites that attacked Fauci and promoted the claim that AIDS was a hoax and HIV does not exist. She amplified tweets that cheered her Mengele comparison. She also apparently blocked the Auschwitz Museum on Twitter.

Logan has been in loony world for some time now. As the Washington Post noted:

During a Saturday night appearance on Jeanine Pirro’s show [on Fox], Logan inaccurately asserted that Sweden has had “no vaccinations”—in fact, the country of about 10 million people has administered at least 15.6 million doses, according to a Reuters tracker—and that “every oncologist who deals with bone cancer identifies hundreds of coronaviruses within our bones,” an unsupported assertion that Pirro did not challenge. In separate Fox News appearances in September, she claimed that Food and Drug Administration-approved mRNA vaccines for the coronavirus are “not really a vaccine,” accused the Biden administration of “hiding evidence of vaccine side effects” and seemed to imply that a surge of Haitian migrants at the border could be a “virus attack” on the United States.

Pushing this disinformation, Logan is a public health threat. She also recently decried the Open Society Foundations, which was founded by billionaire George Soros to support civil-society organizations, as “puppet masters” who “when they are done, there will not be an America.” The organization retorted that her attacks “borrow from long-standing antisemitic tropes and conspiracies.”

We are long past the point where it’s worth wondering if there is anything a Fox host can say that will get him or her kicked off the air. Logan wins the Dumbass Comment of the Week award not only for her own hateful lunacy but also for demonstrating that there are no limits and no decency at Fox.

The Mailbag

The This Land inbox was overflowing due to the holiday break. I apologize for not being able to get to all the quality correspondence that came in. There were strong reactions to this recent item: “Should Democrats Really Push the Panic Button?” Bill Gee wrote:

Began reading This Land today not expecting much since it seems like I’ve been saturated in recent days by the dire analysis of the Dems’ political plight, but instead I found great value in the fairly simple message you gave that at this moment in time, messaging (over and over) why the GOP is not deserving of leading the country is in Biden’s and the Dems’ best interest. I hate the concept of negative politics and vilifying the “other side” and I really appreciated Biden’s approach in trying to bridge the partisanship divide as he came to office, but your article really crystalized for me what needs to change…calling out the opposing party. Thanks for the clear-eyed view to start off my weekend.

Chela Grey had a different reaction:

I will attempt to send this message without getting into a rant, but I must admit that it's difficult. First, I am so tired of reading and hearing comments about how the Democrats are in such a bad way in the opinion polls, especially since Mr. Biden has not been in office very long and has been confronted with all kinds of issues and all kinds of media BS about what he "shoulda done" before things have hardly gone on long enough to tell. Will someone (perhaps you?) please write about what he's doing/planning that is right and helpful for the country, the world and people?...[M]ore positivity would help the world. Thanks for listening and keep up the good work!

I will try to keep your plea for positivity in mind, Chela. It can be tough these days.

Dave Burn wrote:

David, I am grateful for your terrific prolificness. Or is it your prolific terrificness? Either way, grateful. In your latest you prescribe the actions Biden and the Dems ought to take to counter the ennui that has gone viral despite the significant accomplishments and steps forward since January 20th. I completely agree. Trump took total command of the era in which a lie repeated and amplified long and loudly enough become the truth for people who are seeking strongmen (read: white authoritarian leaders) solutions. In the face of that extant reality, how is it that the Dems never seem to act on the equally powerful reverse truism: The truth and facts—repeated and amplified tirelessly—reclaim the number one spot in the reporting and the ratings, and in the awareness of the voters. Is it your sense that the leaders of the Democratic Party are afraid of poking the GOP bear?

I’m not sure that the truth always wins out in politics, Dave. But a loud, clear, and consistent message is usually necessary to prevail. I don’t believe the Democrats fear “poking the GOP bear.” But I think they too often are focused on governing—which is hard—more than messaging and that they believe that delivering the (legislative) goods is the best message that can be sent to voters. What we are seeing these days is that this may not be so.

Nicholas Sinisi had a related query:

Hi David! I agree with you that Biden and the Democrats who are running in the midterms need to aggressively remind voters that they enacted vastly-popular social spending (which the GOP opposed) but how do we get past two huge obstacles? Fox “News” and Newsmax and OAN will continue spreading lies to their seemingly easily-duped viewership, and at the same time the GOP will actively take credit for what they voted AGAINST, thus allowing them to muddy the waters with voters and refocus on polarizing cultural issues like CRT? That strategy worked wonders for Youngkin.

The Democrats can’t blast their way through Fox and the rightwing media. They need to dodge them—focus on different constituencies. They will not change the minds of Fox cultists. They must develop a comprehensive campaign, using the media, advertising, voter-contact projects, and news events, to try to convey their story to voters, and that tale ought to include fiercely calling out Republicans for thwarting popular initiatives. It’s a tall task.

Bette Piacente wrote in about my recent abovementioned piece on Peter Thiel’s speech at a conservative shindig:

This latest newsletter regarding the National Conservatism Conference, chilled my bones. I am actually afraid to re-read it. The very idea that Thiel can influence so many people to believe that normal hard-working Americans like myself are portents of the end-times just because we believe in liberty and justice for all, astounds me. I feel like I am living in the upside-down. When even David Brooks is alarmed, what is a poor “leftie” like me supposed to think!

This edition is so jarring that I am tempted to retreat from all newsletters everywhere and throw away my subscriptions to the NYT and WaPo. This is some scary stuff…I subscribe to a lot of newsletters including Charlotte Clymer, Preet Bharara, John Stoehr, Political Orphans, etc. And, frankly, none of you are making me feel safe in my home anymore! Not sure I ever was, come to think of it. Anyway, thanks for your writing and I will become a paying subscriber.

Hang in there, Bette. You’re reading a lot of fine folks, and thanks for subscribing. But go beyond reading. Volunteer, work on a campaign, organize, organize, organize. It might make you feel better.

After I mentioned that some readers had complained about this newsletter being too long, several of you wrote in and requested I not trim. Nancy Krempa noted:

I so look forward to your deep dives into current political events, music, dumbasses, and the latest on Moxie. I deeply appreciate your analysis and enjoy comparing your takes to that of other writers that I follow regularly. I feel that I get a more well-rounded view of the DC doings, as well as a different perspective on the music scene...Having lost our 12-year companion (Daddy's dog, Buddy) last month, I especially love hearing about Moxie. Please give her a hug from this fan!

Nancy, I’m sorry for your loss, and Moxie will appreciate that hug. So without further ado…

Got a question or anything else for the Mailbag? Email me at thisland@motherjones.com. Please include your full name.

MoxieCam™

“Was this really necessary?” Moxie asked.

“You want to look your best at holiday season.”

“Can I at least lose the bow?”

Read Recent Issues of This Land

November 30, 2021: One big reason to fear a Trump restoration: revenge; why The Beatles: Get Back is one of the greatest documentaries ever; Tick, tick…BOOM! is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s love letter to theater geeks; and more.

November 23, 2021: How dangerous is Peter Thiel?; No Time to Die as a daddy-daughter film; spending time with Nick Offerman; Aimee Mann’s fabulous new album; and more.

November 20, 2021: Should the Democrats really push the panic button?; the Steele dossier and Donald Trump’s betrayal of America; Dumbass Comment of the Week; the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.

November 16, 2021: New information on how Donald Trump killed 400,000 (or more) Americans; Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. on the witness stand in a Trump corruption trial?; American Rust shines with Jeff Daniels; Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp face the final song; and more.

November 13, 2021: Does blue-state America care more about red-state America than vice versa?; Dumbass Comment of the Week; how to get back issues of This Land; the Mailbag, MoxieCam™; and more.

November 9, 2021: Why an ex-Trump aide just told me to “burn in hell”; Matt Damon’s compassionate portrayal of a screw-up from Trump Country; behind the scenes at the Beatles’ Let It Be sessions; and more.

November 6, 2021: The Democrats’ anger problem; Dumbass Comment of the Week; the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.

November 2, 2021: Whatever happened to Christian Nationalism and the January 6 attack?; thoughts and prayers for COP26; Rock ’n’ Roll Flashback: Bob Dylan, Jesus, and me; and more.