February 6, 2023

Will he become Jim Janus-faced Judas Jordan and run for president against Trump?

Will he become Jim Janus-faced Judas Jordan and run for president against Trump?

By Hal Brown

Note to regular blog readers: I doubt I will be putting a new blog on today since due to upgrades my Internet provider is working on all day I won't have any service.

After reading Heather Digby Parton's column about Jim Jordan I wondered why this vomit inducing congressman wasn't being talked about as a possible primary candidate for president.

Click above to read

I did a web search "Jim Jordan for president" and all I found was a letter in Cleveland.com.

Jordan decided not to run for the open Ohio Senate seat of the retiring Rob Portman in 2022. There's no way this was because of a lack of ambition. I think he decided he'd rather wield incredible power in the House which he thought correctly that the GOP would control than be a freshman member of the Senate.

Jordan is power mad. I believe that as a staunch supporter of Trump he has no real loyalty to him, hence the alliterative title of this blog.

I think the chances are slim to none that he'd hesitate to run against him in the primary if he saw an opening in what is sure to be a crowded field even when the long shots drop out.

While DeSantis and Trump compete for media attention with each other, Jordan will be all over the news for the next two years. He'll be center stage without trying while Trump, DeSantis, and anyone else trying to get media attention will be desperate to be booked for interviews. I wouldn't be surprised to see some of them, horror of horrors for most Republicans, on MSNBC.

Nobody has ever accused this congressman of being a shrinking violet. His belligerent personality is constantly on display in the media. We've seen his scowling, sneering, or screaming mouth and his pointing finger ad nauseam.

I wonder if his right index finger is insured for a million dollars.

He is sometimes called "Gym Jordan" because of accusations that as a wrestling coach at Ohio State he ignored and covered up allegations of the sexual abuse by the team doctor of some 150 athletes (reference).

Jordan received a BS from The University of Wisconsin - Madison, a masters degree from Ohio State, and went on to get a law degree from the less than stellar Capitol University Law School. It is an ABA accredited private law school located in downtown Columbus. U.S. News & World Report listed Capital's full-time Juris Doctor program as "Rank Not Published" in 2018, but in 2022 it was ranked as tied for No. 147-193 out of 197 schools in Best Law Schools. (Wikipedia)

Call him Gym or not, I have never heard Jim Jordan called dumb. His deciding to get a law degree at a school that might have been easier to get admitted to than a highly ranked school might have been a smart decision.

Ron DeSantis seems positioned to be Trump's number one competitor although while the field has some other top contenders it is interesting to note that absent from this list is Jim Jordan:

Declared Candidates

Nikki Haley, Former Ambassador to the United Nations
Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States

Possible Candidates

Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas
Liz Cheney, U.S. representative from Wyoming (At-Large District)
Chris Christie, Former Governor of New Jersey
Bob Corker, Former Senator from Tennessee
Tom Cotton, U.S. Senator from Arkansas
Daniel Crenshaw, U.S. Representative from Texas (2nd District)
Ted Cruz, U.S. Senator from Texas
Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida
Doug Ducey, Governor of Arizona
Mike DeWine, Governor of Ohio
Joni Ernst, U.S. Senator from Iowa
Josh Hawley, U.S. Senator from Missouri
Larry Hogan, Governor of Maryland
Adam Kinzinger, U.S. Representative from Illinois (16th District)
Mike Lee, U.S. Senator from Utah
Kristi Noem, Governor of South Dakota
Mike Pence, Former Vice President of the United States
Mike Pompeo, Former Secretary of State
Mitt Romney, U.S. Senator from Utah
Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator from Florida
Ben Sasse, U.S. Senator from Nebraska
Rick Scott, U.S. Senator from Florida
Tim Scott, U.S. Senator from South Carolina
Elise Stefanik, U.S. Representative from New York (21st District)
Chris Sununu, Governor of New Hampshire
Glenn Youngkin, Governor of Virginia

If it turns out that Jim Jordan does decide to run I will expect major prognostication points.

Update:

I thought this was a joke:

It was real. Maybe it is an example of Jordan's idea of what's funny. It did get him in the media.

Hiding the gullible Greene and brainless Boebert boneheads, GOP pushes out higher IQ members on mainstream TV

By Hal Brown

Marjorie Taylor Greene made the news (temporarily pulling ahead of her estranged BFF Lauren Boebert in their media spotlight hogging competition) with her tweet suggesting people try to shoot down the Chinese spyloon:

A few days ago Boebert also demonstrated the obsession with guns among some Republicans:

Currently you can tell who the most gun obsessed by seeing who is wearing these assault rife pins:

Click above the hear his tweet.

The Representative responsible for handing out the pins has been identified (story).

The Washington Post published this yesterday:

EXCERPT: Awakening from a traditional media hibernation, House Republicans have begun to blitz the airwaves they previously shunned with brushoffs about the “lamestream media.”
On any given day now, the new GOP majority posts a half-dozen or more members on CNN and MSNBC — two networks that increasingly became no-go zones for conservative lawmakers in the Trumpian era of “fake news” attacks. Republicans have appeared on streaming network news shows online and done interviews on those nightly news shows for cable.

From an MSNBC article:

About a week ago, Republican Rep. Scott Perry sat down with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos and expressed confusion about the White House’s line on the debt ceiling. “I don’t know why President Biden says he’s not going to negotiate,” the chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus said.
Exactly seven days later, Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska — known as a far more pragmatic lawmaker than his Freedom Caucus colleague — appeared on the same Sunday show and said largely the same thing.

This is just in from NBC News:

Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, on Sunday criticized the Biden administration over its timing in taking down the Chinese surveillance balloon off the Carolina coast.
“The president taking it down over the Atlantic is sort of like tackling the quarterback after the game is over,” Turner said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” “This should never have been allowed to enter the United States and it never should have been allowed to complete its mission.”

saw one or two other GOP members of the House interviewed on an MSNBC show but can't find their names.

Here's another example:

ABC host pops Marco Rubio's balloon rant: It 'happened three times' under Trump

Here are those Republicans on non-right-wing media I easily found form the past week:

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was on Meet the Press for the first time in four years. He is either toning his act down of taking a lot of Valium and he's put aside the screaming banshee version of himself.
ABC’s “This Week” and “Fox News Sunday” heard from a pair of prominent House Republicans, Reps. Michael R. Turner (Ohio) and Michael McCaul (Tex.).
CBS’s “Face the Nation,” had House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), newly empowered as the chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, has his pick of prime opportunities every day, particularly on Sundays. From: Reference.
Rep. Scott Perry
Rep. Don Bacon
Rep. Mike Turner
Sen. Marco Rubio

I am curious whether there has been a high level decision to rehabilitate the image of House GOP members among people who don't watch Fox News or NewMax exclusively.

Perhaps the final straws breaking the GOP's back were the media slavering to get hallway interviews with George Santos where came across like an arrogant idiot...

... and the statements and behavior by their two biggest stars, Greene and Boebert. The media has a new version of the "if it bleeds, it leads" saying referring to local news:

If it bleeds bullshit bloviating babble it leads.

It seems that a group of sane strategic GOP leaders are trying to convince viewers of the mainstream media that these people are on the fringe by putting their higher IQ and reasonable sounding House members on shows viewed by people whose votes may actually swing critical elections.

The risk to them of course to having these Republicans on stations that aren't firmly in the bag with the right-wing is that they will be subjected to questions that may range from mildly critical to downright provocative making them look like liars, fools, or both.

Whether they can counter moronic statements like this from Marjorie Moron Greene who doesn't understand that $5 billion is the same as $5000 million and would build and fund many elementary schools remains to be seen:

At the risk of piling on, I must note that even Fox News covered this Santos story:

Not to belabor McCarthy's "oh shit what did I do" thoughts about not booting Santos out when he could when all the lies were revealed, and my own schadenfreude at following the Santos saga, but I bet McCarthy was at least happy he could score a few points by having an openly gay member of his caucus. A "good gay" like Pete Buttigieg rather than one who likes to dress in drag but is also a predatory sexually harassing gay.

There hopefully are enough voters in the country who are truly independent and thoughtful in making decisions about who they want to elect for national office to realize that even the more rational sounding Republicans are selling them a bill of goods.

These Republican strategists know that in order to win elections even with all the impediments the GOP run states have put in place to prevent fair voting the have to get people who aren't members of the MAGA cult (like those shown below) to vote for Republicans.

Below: This is my best, although perhaps not my last, attempt at coming up with something new that MAGA can stand for. Please don't tell me how lame it is unless you can come up with something better.

My comments and illustrations on some of today's news stories:

Most people think it is hair dye, but perhaps it is brain fluid leaking in this famous picture:

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.

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

February 6, 2023