February 4, 2023

Is is right for The Daily Show's Jordan Kepler to interview idiots at Trump rallies?

Is is right for The Daily Show's Jordan Kepler to interview idiots at Trump rallies?
By Hal Brown

I caught a rerun of Morning Joe from a few days ago when Joe and Mika interviewed comedian Jordan Kepler. Kepler has been following Trump around the country for years interviewing people attending his rallies.

In this segment of Morning Joe he interviews people like those shown below:

Jordan Klepper crashes Trump's recent 'intimate event' in South Carolina, speaking with MAGA fans who think the former president is still the current president.

Some do dress normally:

You can do a web search for Jordan Kepler YouTube and find "best of compilations" like the following:

Click above to view (aprox. 25 minutes)

He interviews people who think Trump is still president, that he controls the military, and who don't know what happened of Jan. 6th. Some of those who know what happened on Jan. 6th think Nancy Pelosi planned it to blame it on the Republicans.

They think JFK Jr. is still alive having faked his death, one of the QAnon conspiracies, and he plans to expose people called globalists.

Kepler admits he seeks out people at these event s like those wearing outfits like those shown above because he doesn't have time to interview numerous random people. He told Joe and Mika that "most of the people he interviews you can tell (their views) by the capes that they wear." He doesn't claim that they represent a statistical sample of the beliefs and opinions of most Trump supports at the rallies.

Kepler is very good at eliciting what's behind these people's outrageous opinions by engaging them with empathy. He listens and repeats what they have to say as if he takes them seriously. He manages to get them to, by any objective measure, make utter .fools of themselves.

This makes me wonder whether these people know that their appearances will be cringeworthy for those like us. It isn't really the kind of comedy we see on Saturday Night Live, for example, where actors mimic various Republicans. In fact, I am not sure we can call what Kepler does so masterfully as comedy.

What I think would be helpful is having the people interviewed sit down with someone, perhaps a psychologist, and be shown the clips of themselves as used on the show. I'd like to know how they react to seeing themselves as objects of mockery. Do they "get it" or not?

A retired psychotherapist friend said after I talked to her about this that she doesn't like shaming and humiliating people who don't even realize they are so stupid. She said she finds it painful. She said it isn't their fault that they are so stupid and ignorant.

I wonder if any of these people, for example, watched the video above and looked at YouTube comments like these:

Rob Liston

12 days ago

Jordan Klepper is literally mocking all of them in front of their faces and they all don’t realize it. 

TruthOverFear

12 days ago

The mental gymnastics required to see proof of Trump's crimes and immediately dismissed it is amazing and terrifying at the same time.

jay disqus

12 days ago

This man deserves hazard pay.

Katharina von Heydekampf

12 days ago

I love Jordan Klepper,  how he keeps a straight face in a lot of these interviews is beyond me

Tania Rosen

12 days ago (edited)

Jordan Klepper is a national treasure! Not just anyone can spend that much time with trumpsters, it has to make a sane person mad.

Scapegoat Iscariot

12 days ago (edited)

This is quality journalism with a twist of satire and wit.

Rachel Joseph

11 days ago

As a Michigander, I am SO proud that Klepper is a native of my state.  His intellect is astounding and he’s so well-informed before he goes to to mock these asshats. Keep it going Jordan!!

Yourdeadmeat69

9 days ago

Please remember Klepper is literally risking his life to do his shtick.

Don McAllister

10 days ago

I’ve never laughed so hard at people’s ignorance and stupidity… and been so extremely terrified … at the same time ! Thank You… social media!

Bee Leigh

12 days ago

He never gets through to any of them, but the two women that said “we should go”?! A true win!! I hope they really left and thought about it!!

Bthsr71

12 days ago

We laugh so we don't cry and scream.

Uthman Baksh

12 days ago

Jordan Klepper is such an under rated correspondent on the Daily Show!

Sad to the Bone

12 days ago

Always love Jordan. 

"2000 Mules." Brought to you by the dude who said climate change doesn't exist because it was snowing in Australia.

Dee Leach

11 days ago

Even when they’re shown the proof, they still don’t believe it! Then we have two “airhead” young ladies that don’t even know what January 6 was

KATHRYN TAnner

8 days ago

Klepper is such a quick wit, and so calm in the face of nuttiness.  I have seen a few guys trying to emulate his approach, but Klepper is by far the best.

tom schmitz

12 days ago

never ever ever ever underestimate the human animal's capacity for pathological stubbornness, self absorption and narcissism. "don't you dare tell me i'm wrong, even if I am wrong, and I know i'm wrong and you can prove i'm wrong, don't you dare tell me I am!"....

Paul WOLSTENCROFT

12 days ago

Weird thought! I imagine these people watching themselves in these YouTube videos and being proud of themselves. Probably showing them to all their friends and not thinking for one second how insane it all looks.

The AJ

12 days ago

Thank you for your service, Mr. Klepper.

matt manley

12 days ago

Jordan should be the new host!!

Opinions No One Cares About

11 days ago

How has Klepper not lost his mind?

I am a psychotherapist who during the 40 some years before I retired I diagnosed and treated countless people. I am curious about how I, or another mental health professional, would diagnose these Trump supporters, and other adherents of QAnon.

Do some of them suffer from easily treatable delusional psychotic disorders? If they do it is a shame they don't receive the help that would help them.

I am sure there is a mixture of psychopathologies manifest in these MAGA cultists, and included among these people are psychologically normal people who just have very low IQ's.

DeSantis and Mussolini" Thom Hartmann compares the two

DeSantis and Mussolini: Thom Hartmann compares the two
By Hal Brown

Above: Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler at Munich Station in Germany in September 1937, with DeSantis who happens to be walking in lockstep added by me. Scroll down to see how photo was made.

Below is the photo that was used to illustrate Thom Hartmann's Raw Story article

America finally facing politician who has Mussolini’s guile, ruthlessness and willingness to see people die

Above: It only took me a few minutes to add DeSantis to the photo.

Here's the comment I added to Hartmann's Raw Story + option essay:

Thank you for the important history lesson, Thom. The comparison between Mussolini and DeSantis is right on. The evils of Mussolini don't resonate with most Americans the way those of Hitler do, arguably because he didn't, from what I know of Italy, have an easy to demonize portion of his population to try to exterminate. Had one been in the place of the other I think Mussolini would have had his own version of the Holocaust. DeSantis is a straight on sociopath minus the grandiose narcissism and delusional thinking of Trump. It is chilling to think he could become president.

Hartmann makes excellent comparisons between DeSantis and Mussolini. He also has examples of quotes from people sharing their stories of how DeSantis' policies hurt them. The article is on the subscription Raw Story +.

Hartmann's main point can be summarized in this excerpt:

Historians and political observers have been predicting that America would get our very own Mussolini ever since the days of Barry Goldwater. And there’s been no shortage of candidates: bribe-taking Nixon; Central American fascist-loving Reagan; Gitmo torturing and war-lying Bush; and, of course, Trump.
But with Ron DeSantis, we may finally be facing an all-American politician who has Mussolini’s guile, ruthlessness, and willingness to see people die to advance his political career, all while being smart and educated enough to avoid the easily satirized buffoonishness of Trump.

Since the essay requires a subscription to read, here are a few bullet points for those who don't subscribe:

Ron DeSantis refuses to expand Medicaid, even though 93 percent of the cost is covered with money from Washington, DC. It’s the principle of the thing, apparently: he’s one of 11 red state governors who believes that working poor people simply shouldn’t get health coverage. After all, they didn’t have the good sense to be born into a wealthy family!
Violence, hate, bigotry, and cruelty are the four cardinal points of fascism. Compassion and concern for the greater good, for the poor and weak, for the victims of fate and accident have no place in the fascist world.
George Washington, in his Farewell Address, warned us of the possible rise of politicians like DeSantis who would suggest other Americans are enemies of the nation’s values, who would exaggerate policy differences in war-like terms, and who would ascribe the most evil of motives and intentions to simple political opponents.
Using rhetoric that feeds bigotry and hate against gay, lesbian, and trans people.
Intimidating the college board so they strip the Black Lives Matter movement out of their advanced placement African-American Studies curriculum.
Lying to asylum-seekers to get them on a plane to Martha’s Vineyard as a stunt to elevate his own political fortunes.
And now as many as 2 million more Floridians will join the ranks of the uninsured in the coming months.

In giving examples of Mussolini-like things DeSantis has done, Hartmann inserts these lines eight times:

Quote of the day is from Mika Brzezinski

"I mean, we're saying this with all seriousness and without trying to -- I mean, it's hard," she said. "You have to say it like it is. We have a stupidity problem on the Republican side, literal stupidity, or something worse then -- stupidity with a violent edge to it. I mean, they want to have loaded -- this is -- what has become of Republicans in Congress?" In
'Headache-inducing' Lauren Boebert claim shredded by MSNBC's Mika

This relates not only to many members of Congress, particular those in the House Freedom Caucus, but probably more significantly and tragically to many of the people who voted for them and are eager to vote for Trump, DeSantis, or another far-right candidate.

It has become, perhaps always has been, a third rail of American politics to disparage the intelligence of one's opponents lest you be considered an elitist. Whether it is true or not doesn't matter.

Here's another way to put it:

For my aprox. 200-300 weekly readers in Russia:

Лучшим веб-сайтом для чтения последних американских новостей является Raw Story. Я суммирую статьи на веб-сайтах, доступных только по подписке, а если вы подписаны на Raw Story +, на нем есть отличные эссе с мнениями.

Using InPixio

Hunter Biden tells House GOP I'm going lower when you go low

Hunter Biden tells House GOP I'm going lower when you go low
By Hal Brown

Left, DonkeyHotey caricature, right my adaptation

It was was impossible to miss this article on The Washington Post website this morning: It has since moved further down the opening page.

When I looked it was just below articles about Ukraine:

As often happens an article featured prominently either on the New York Times or the Post isn't on the other papers main page at all. The Times main page had nothing about Hunter Biden today.

When Michelle Obama first used the phrase "when they go low, we go high" it garnered a lot of publicity. During her speech supporting Hillary Clinton at the 2016 Democratic National Convention she said:

“When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level. No, our motto is: ‘When they go low, we go high’.

Her subsequent explanation went deeper than just a catchy meme. This is how she described it shortly thereafter:

In a new interview with Stephen Colbert that aired on Monday night (14 November), the author and attorney was asked if people “really have to go ‘high’” when politicians “go low”.
The Late Show host said: “I totally understand going high when somebody goes low, but the bar is so low that staying at your own altitude still means higher. Do I actually have to go up here or can I just be normal? Do I have to be a saint? Because down here, I’m pissed off!”
Obama replied: “For me, going high is not losing the urgency or the passion or the rage, especially when you are justified in it.
“Going high means finding the purpose in your rage. Rage without reason, without a plan, without direction is just more rage. And we’ve been living in a lot of rage.”
She added that going low is “unsustainable” and explained: “If going low worked, we’d do it. It might be a ‘quick fix’ but it doesn’t fix anything over the long term.
“I’m trying to push us to think about solutions that will actually unite us and get us focused on the real problem. That’s what I mean when I say, ‘go high’. So yes, go high. America, please go high.” From YahooNews

Back to Hunter Biden...

I wrote How the Hunter Biden probe can backside fire on the GOP on Nov. 18, 2028.

This was the gist of my blog:

The Republicans are downright drooling over their plan to investigate Hunter Biden and try to tie him to then vice president Joe Biden and make the case that the vice president somehow colluded with his son in what amounted to treason against the United States.
The fly in this ointment is that all this all comes down to is that like with Benghazi there's no there there.
The more one looks at Hunter Biden's past behavior the more an objective observer with a modicum of empathy who is not blinded by a zealous quest to hurt President Biden the more they will feel sorry for the president.

The Washington Post article by Matt Viser begins:

Hunter Biden’s lawyers, in a newly aggressive strategy, sent a series of blistering letters Wednesday to state and federal prosecutors urging criminal investigations into those who accessed and disseminated his personal data — and sent a separate letter threatening Fox News host Tucker Carlson with a defamation lawsuit.
The string of letters, which included criminal referrals and cease-and-desist missives aimed at critics and detractors, marked the start of a new and far more hard-hitting phase for the president’s son just as House Republicans prepare their own investigations into him.

Hunter Biden isn't letting the out-for-blood House Republicans and their right-wing media cheerleaders flood the airwaves and take the lead unchallenged because Hunter Biden knows that if there's absolutely no there there, there's very little there.

The article details the moves Hunter Biden's lawyers are taking, for example:

threatening Fox News host Tucker Carlson with a defamation lawsuit.
challenging the nonprofit status of Marco Polo, a group that is run by conservative activist Garrett M. Ziegler
asking state and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate individuals who came into possession of the (laptop) data
request investigations into former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was given the material from Mac Isaac and later distributed it; Robert Costello, who is Giuliani’s lawyer and also received the material; and Stephen K. Bannon, who has also had the material and helped facilitate initial news stories about it.

The article notes the following:

Taken together, the actions represent the boldest and most aggressive moves to date from Biden, who has often heeded the advice of those who urged him not to make public waves. Those close to President Biden and the White House have preferred a more conservative approach, but some individuals around Hunter Biden have wanted to be more assertive in telling his side of the story and going more directly after his opponents.
“This marks a new approach by Hunter Biden and his team,” said one person familiar with his strategy, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private plans. “He is not going to sit quietly by as questionable characters continue to violate his rights and media organizations peddling in lies try to defame him.”
The new strategy marks a calculated risk that it is better to forge a combative path and take on Biden’s longtime critics, even if it means inviting more news coverage of a dark chapter in his life and draws additional attention to the trove of personal and embarrassing material included on a laptop that has been disseminated by his detractors.

One could say that this approach isn't an example of going lower when your opponents themselves go low. You could say it is taking a page out of their playbook, but then analyzing their "plays" and not merely trying to devise defenses against them but to take an idiom which originated in sports and apply it here:

The best defense is a good offense.

The idea is that if you attack them while they are attacking you it will distract them and cause them to mount their own defense and derail their strategy.

More than distracting them all of these legal machinations are likely to shape the media coverage of the various hearings which the House GOP is hoping will cast Hunter Biden as a felon and somehow implicate the president as an enabler or worse.

The next, and as I see it, crucial decision Hunter Biden and his lawyers have to decide on is how he presents himself when facing Jim Jordan and other inquisitors in hearings. Should he let the lawyers be the aggressors and he take a more passive or measured approach trying to come across as a sympathetic figure?

I will have to do more thinking on this.

As I finish this blog this story was just being covered on MSNBC.

Click above to enlarge

Bonus: (Scroll left to view in entirety)

..

Hal Brown's Blog - changed to Hal Brown's Stressline

February 4, 2023