It was like a Saturday Night Live sketch. Gathering on the various Sunday news shows this weekend, an array of partisans showed extraordinary gall in their disregard for the facts.
Were it not so serious, it would have been funny.
Leading the pack was Republican congressman and top ally to President Trump, Rep. Jim Jordan. Jordan, jacket asunder as usual, told CNN’s State of the Union that the real story with Ukraine was a president trying to ascertain Joe Biden’s corruption. Biden, Jordan told Jake Tapper, had unjustly pressured Ukraine to fire a prosecutor because he was investigating Biden’s son’s business dealings. Tapper, rightly, wasn’t buying it. He noted the overwhelming evidence that the prosecutor in question was deeply corrupt. Jordan didn’t care. He stuck to his pathetic talking points.
Adam Schiff did much the same, just from the Democratic side of the aisle.
Challenged by ABC This Week’s George Stephanopoulos as to why he made up quotes and then attributed them to Trump, Schiff was unfazed. Unleashing his sanctimonious I’m-an-angel-voice, Schiff shifted attention to what he said was Trump’s obvious wrongdoing. Alongside another performance on NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd, where Schiff basically made clear he’s already made his mind up about Trump’s conduct, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee showed he isn’t interested in following the evidence. Schiff wants Trump gone, now, and he’ll use whatever evidence is at hand to make it happen.
Then there was the White House’s Stephen Miller. Up against Fox News Sunday‘s Chris Wallace, Miller appeared to think he was storming the beaches of Normandy. He actually made himself a one-man clown show. Miller attacked Wallace for challenging the laughable White House narrative that Trump was only concerned about stopping Ukrainian corruption.
When Wallace pushed, Miller replied by pointing to the nearest shiny object. “Chris,” he said, dropping his voice, “I don’t understand how you can ask that question while admonishing the president for wanting to get to the bottom of perhaps one of the biggest corruption scandals concerning Ukraine in the last few years.”
Wallace and Miller then began a shouting match, in which Miller accused Wallace of judging Trump and avoided answering any questions. The interview’s basic truth was obvious: Miller wasn’t interested in even basic introspection Trump’s conduct.
So that’s where we are. The partisan battle lines are drawn, the facts are irrelevant, and our politicians are treating the Sunday news shows as their very own Saturday Night Live. Contrast these pathetic performances with that of another top Washington figure on Sunday. Outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford released his departure video, calling for high patriotism beyond the partisan hysterics.
