Three Things Making Me Mad (Right Now)

From Congress to cameras outside the courtroom, the lying goes on and on

Marjorie Taylor Greene doing Vladimir Putin’s bidding. (Photo by Kent Nishimura via Getty Images)

I gave a speech last night on democracy and the threat of fascism. I was grateful for the opportunity. But there were a number of troubling facts that ended up on the cutting room floor. So I thought to share with you a handful that are making me mad right now. Goodness knows, the list could be much longer, but here are three.

1. While pro-Putin Republicans have been playing games in Congress, Ukrainians are struggling to fend off the Russians. The refusal of House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring a vote on a Ukrainian aid package—until the last minute—means that more and more soldiers and civilians are dying every day as Ukrainian forces lack sufficient ammunition and weaponry to adequately defend themselves and go on offense.

The mounting deaths should be enough for Congress to support an American ally, but the larger reality persists: An ultimate Russian victory would not end with occupying Ukraine; the murderous Vladimir Putin’s ambitions extend well beyond Ukraine’s borders. That means Poland, the Baltics and other NATO allies will be at even greater risk of Putin’s hunger to expand Russia and rebuild a latter-day version of the USSR. That’s a danger for everyone who cares about democracy and believes in national sovereignty. It should be as plain as day that supporting Ukraine is in America’s national interest.

“Without this aid, we’ll have no chance of winning,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a PBS interview this week. He said Russians can fire 10 shells for every one from Ukraine. “Whatever we do, with these numbers,” Zelensky said, “they will push us back every day.”

Yes, Johnson now says he’ll bring up separate votes for individual foreign aid bills involving Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and Gaza, rather than voting on a combined package that the Senate has already passed and a majority of the House will support. His bills’ roughly $90 billion total, including about $60 billion for Ukraine, match the earlier Senate version—and their passage will depend on Democrats.

But for months and months Johnson has allowed himself to operate at the mercy of Putin-loving extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz who take their talking points from Moscow. Greene is still mouthing the lie that the Ukrainians are Nazis—and calling the motivation of Ukraine backers “weird, sick and evil”—while Gaetz calls Johnson’s plans for a vote “surrender.” The kowtowing to Putin and the abandonment of Ukraine and American interests are appalling.

2. Every day at the Trump trial, the criminal defendant stands outside the courtroom and spews nonsense and lies. This hush money/election interference trial may begin to crack the myth of strongman Donald Trump as the public learns about his inability to keep his eyes open, his childish antics in the presence of a jury mount and he makes a mockery of our judicial process. Maybe some legal facts will reach beyond the bubble of those paying close attention.

But the existence of microphones and a bank of cameras before and after the court proceedings means that the Trump cult will only learn what is happening from Trump. I get that Judge Juan Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg are focused on what goes on inside the courtroom, but surely Trump could be forced to spread his disinformation elsewhere each day the non-televised trial is in session. This criminal case is first and foremost about holding Trump accountable, but its proceedings are also an opportunity to strengthen the public’s trust in our system of justice. But not if Trump succeeds at drowning out the facts. Perhaps someone can ask Rudy if Four Seasons Total Landscaping is available for spreading disinformation?

3. Trump is continuing to make money by grossly lying about the criminal trial. In a request for money I received—how I’m on the list, I don’t know—the words were an even more extreme version of his usual drivel. “I’ve been fully gagged. I sat in court and watched as Crooked Joe Biden WEAPONIZED the courts to ERASE ME. But for you, Friend, I was PROUD to endure yet another WITCH HUNT. It’s your support that keeps me going even as I face LIFE IN PRISON.”

I didn’t know that life in prison was an option here. We should be so lucky.

His pleading is laughable. But what makes me mad is the fact that this malignant conman still has millions of followers who believe this . The so-called billionaire may be having a harder time convincing them to hand over their money—small-money donations are reportedly down about two-thirds from four years ago.

But he’s still succeeding at convincing too many of our fellow citizens to believe his lies, including that President Biden is somehow responsible for his criminality. The constant repetition will continue to turn them against our judicial system. That is a terrible thing. We all will pay for this poison for years and years. As I’ve said before, only an overwhelming defeat in November gives us a real chance of quickly changing this troubled trajectory.

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