Remember how Hillary Clinton in her concession speech and President Obama in his first remarks after the election claimed they were determined to do all in their power -- and more! -- to make sure that Donald Trump succeeds?
Yeah, I didn't believe them either. Now we're seeing concrete evidence that it was empty rhetoric and the shivs are out. Any time a liberal tells you that all he wants to do is help, you deserve the inevitable con that follows if you fall for it.
Last night the con came by way of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, who has somehow managed to shake the unspeakable horror of last week's election and now appears more upbeat than ever. She really ought to send Trump a thank-you card for that, he's surely added years to her life.
Maddow set a daunting task for herself, namely to persuade her still traumatized viewers to take comfort in the fiction that Trump and the people around him are imbeciles --
MADDOW: So this is an unusual development. As you know, the president-elect visited the White House along with his wife Melania last Thursday. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who's now serving in an official role in the presidential transition team, on that Thursday visit Jared Kushner was apparently also part of the Trumps' entourage on their visit to the White House and Mr. Kushner apparently left a real impression while he was there. The L.A. Times says that Mr. Kushner "drew notice from Obama's staff when he asked, as they toured the West Wing, how many of the individuals there would remain into the next administration. (Theatrically long pause for emphasis, Maddow's eyes widening in mock amazement). None of them! No, no, no, did you ever -- did you ever see that TV show The West Wing? It sort of ...
Maddow doesn't finish the sentence, leaving her viewers to fill in the blank. Here's one that comes to mind -- It sort of looked the way the White House was supposed to look if Bill Clinton could have kept it in his pants and not repeatedly perjured himself. Not a surprise that Maddow was a fan, considering how the show was filled with painfully earnest policy wonks oozing empathy and devotion to The State.
MADDOW: None of them stay. The West Wing staff, when the president leaves all the president's staff, whoop!, out the door! You're supposed to bring in all new people. The West Wing staff will all leave when President Obama leaves and the Trump transition team apparently doesn't know that. (another pause for theatrical effect). Woo-hoo!
Conspicuously absent from the L.A. Times' story is a quote with Kushner's actual words and little in the way of attribution beyond the vague suggestion this tidbit came from "Obama's staff." And notice who Maddow quickly inflates Kushner allegedly asking this to it coming from the entire "Trump transition team."
Maddow neglected to mention something else in the story, namely this --
To be sure, some of the observations made by White House officials could be colored by partisan differences or concern that Trump appears set to dismantle Obama's legacy achievements. Many had counted on a smooth transition to a Clinton administration in which top personnel would likely include former coworkers.
Translation: Take it with a grain of salt, coming from people who are decidedly bitter. Let's hope they don't cling to that, very unhealthy.
After noting that Trump's team has not returned calls from the Pentagon, CIA and State Department, Maddow compared Trump -- I'm not making this up, we have video -- to a child learning to ride a bicycle. Yes, the man who just got elected president in the most stunning upset in American history is obviously clueless --
MADDOW: As for Mr. Trump himself, the Wall Street Journal reports today on something that I don't know quite what to do with. I'll just read you how they reported it. (ostentatiously clears throat) -- "During their private White House meeting on Thursday, Mr. Obama walked his successor through the duties of running the country, and Mr. Trump seemed surprised by the scope. ... After meeting with Mr. Trump ... President Obama realized the Republican needs more guidance. He plans to spend more time with his successor than presidents typically do ...
Don't be misled that this is coming from the Wall Street Journal. While its op-ed pages are conservative, its reporting emits the occasional waft of bias. As with the L.A. Times story cited by Maddow, for example, there is the curious lack of quotations. And if Obama actually said this, why didn't he do so at that pointless press conference on Monday?
One possible scenario: Trump being gracious in saying the president's duties are broader than he expected and it's only the person working in the Oval Office who truly grasps this. Any such observation making the rounds of bitter West Wingers quickly gets translated into, the man is an idiot, as Maddow would shortly imply --
MADDOW: And if that's true that's a nice thing for President Obama to be doing.
No, it's passive-aggressive and imperious for Obama to suggest, and disingenuous of Maddow to claim otherwise.
MADDOW: It also puts a whole different cast not just on what President Obama wants to do in the next 66 days to cement his legacy. It also puts a very different cast on how much help, like, what kind of training wheels he may need to provide for these folks who are coming in next who apparently don't yet think that it's important to return a call from the Pentagon. Who apparently as recently as last week had no idea that they're responsible for staffing up the whole White House! I don't know what Obama's going to do with his lame duck period. I'm quite sure he didn't plan on it having to be this.
And I'm quite sure it's not going to cost him a single day on the links.
