Now it's Maggie Haberman who seeks to shock us

(image from penguin/random house)

Maggie Haberman has won a Pulitzer Prize. She is thus an anointed member of the Beltway privileged class. These people look out for each other more than "the rest of us" realize. George Conway's wife Kellyanne is supposedly the polar opposite of him politically. Our common sense should tell us that this is impractical. 

But life goes on for all these folks who manage their behavior as members of a privileged class. All while pretending to clash sometimes, and presenting their published works as if they spring from the fountain of rapier-like analysis. 

The conflict exists up to a point. It gets obfuscated for the correspondents' dinner, an event that even the group members sometimes caution about. "Is this really appropriate?" Their real concern is "will the general public wise up to us?" Karl Rove dances around onstage while pretending to be a rap artist. Funny! The formally-dressed audience members join in their amusement.There have been very real consequences for all of America, of Rove's involvement with government. He pushes an agenda that may often not be in line with Americans' best interests. 

But in front of all the suits and ties at the correspondents' dinner, his frolicking is supposed to be cute. We see the video on top news/discussion shows. The hosts grin.

So now let's consider the Pulitzer-winning writer of the New York Times - the top imaginable resume in journalism - coming out with her book on Trump. I predicted long ago in one of my emails to John Ziegler, we'd see a parade of books once Trump left office. Not really such a bold prediction, of course. 

"Books" are tedious things that fewer people take the time to really read. I mean really read, to consume. You might "buy a book" and set it aside indefinitely, for a longer time than you'd want to admit. Like the books by Michael Wolff about the Trump presidency. I checked out one from the library. I admire Wolff more than many of the other denizens. But as a regular watcher of MSNBC news programs, I found as I turned the pages that I already knew everything he had in there. I withdrew about a third of the way in. Correction: it was probably earlier than that. 

Wolff is refreshing because he has no pretense about sourcing everything to death! If we can't enjoy a little gossip from the Beltway, what is life for?

If Trump says it?

An article this morning (Thursday) tells us that Haberman's new book is the "one that Trump fears most." Does he really? Is Trump embarrassed or humiliated by anything anymore? We have gotten virtual piles of absurd revelatory stuff about Trump up to now. 

The late Tony Snow was a spokesman for George W. Bush. He said of the series of books about Bush's war management, that they all had a certain "taste." He said it to put down the often-not-charitable books. Because back then, naturally, "conservatives" like Bush and Snow got their followers to be war-mongers. That was the meme in that crowd.

Trump has turned this upside-down, now to push the war skepticism stance.

Snow's point about a certain strain of books with their "taste" can be applied now to the very much-expected stream about the absolute disgrace and infamy of the Trump presidency. On and on it goes, this gravy train for Beltway journalists who churn out the eye-popping stuff. 

Eye-popping? What's new in terms of Haberman's book? Oh surely there is something new and beyond stupid. So we get that: Trump flushing wads of printed paper to clog a toilet. I'd say "you can't make this stuff up" but why bother coming up with cute little rejoinders anymore? We should be past that, past having to read books that are no longer revelatory. Such books should not lead to "Pulitzers." But they will be candidates. The writers are the anointed folks. 

Who is to say my own perspective is any less informative or revealing, than that of a Beltway inhabitant who attended an Ivy League school? I live in Flyoverland, as I remind Ziegler regularly. I attended a state college out here on the tundra. And yet when Jim Lehrer did his big sit-down interview with Bill Clinton when the Lewinsky thing broke, it was I who immediately noticed it was strange how Clinton chose words for one of his answers. "There is no inappropriate relationship," Clinton said.

To recall: I'm sitting here in Flyoverland, having had my cup of morning coffee at McDonald's probably, and I'm thinking "why did the president say 'is' ?" Oh my goodness, I didn't fall off a turnip truck, so I know what's going on: Bill is trying to weasel out with his answer, and Jim Lehrer, the big league, big shot Beltway-blessed journo, just sits there. Oh, Lehrer has a sort of earnest look on his face. "Look, I'm Jim Lehrer and I have the privilege of interviewing the president of the U.S." 

Yes, they are both Beltway creatures, Jim and Bill. They inhabit the same ecosystem. Unsaid: "You scratch my back, I scratch yours." 

Lehrer could have changed history perhaps, by pushing back and saying "Mr. President, with all due respect, you answered my question in the present tense, and I would like to know if you have ever had an inappropriate relationship with Ms. Lewinsky." 

Then of course, Bill could probably have played games with the definition of "inappropriate." Just like, if in a deposition he was asked "did you sleep with (a certain woman)," he'd say no, and explain later that his answer was based on how the two didn't sleep when they were together. 

I have wondered how Bill would have handled himself if Mr. Lehrer had been more, in my opinion, professional. But rather than be professional, Lehrer behaved like a Beltway creature. As I explained to Mr. Ziegler, Lehrer "wanted to be sure he'd be invited to the correspondents' dinner."

 

What comes of it all?

The Beltway creatures were at it again this morning for three hours on "Morning Joe" of MSNBC. They just went crazy talking about how Trump was so absolutely nuts with so much of what he did. They'll describe some of his actions as illegal, which becomes journalistically questionable if no charges are filed. They did that one morning in reporting about Mike Pompeo, when Trump was still in office. If it's a fact that Pompeo broke the law, there should be consequences. I was sitting alone in my house, because I live alone now of course, and I spoke up to the TV set: "Will he be arrested?" Well, I knew the answer. 

Maggie Haberman

Let's get to the essence here: Trump has been a total gold mine for people who try to make their living in news and commentary, or who write books of course. Would Haberman be in the spotlight now without Trump? Without the revelations of Trump clogging up toilets by trying to get rid of documents? We're talking about people in rarefied positions who inhabit this sacred place called the "Beltway." Who can win the Pulitzer Prize. While I'm settled out here in Flyoverland, just sipping coffee at McDonald's, and I'm left only with the satisfaction of recognizing all this bulls--t that is going on. 

Haberman's book is called "Confidence Man, the Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America." 

Whoa, has Trump really "broken America?" Just thought I'd ask. Seems kind of a scary point to be making. But if true, where are the legal consequences for Trump and his top lieutenants? The wacky Rudy Giuliani. The slick Mark Meadows. The oddball Michael Flynn. Steve Bannon who wants to burn the house down. 

Trump was able to pardon some of these dudes. They are all still basically just moseying around. While Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are doing the absolutely heroic work, as they take serious brickbats from the Republican Party. We want these two to be heroes in the end. But we are far from knowing how the story will end.

Haberman's book is of no consequence now. We already know enough, or too much. She and the other Beltway creatures walk the treadmill, that's all. The state of mind of Merrick Garland is all that matters. This is what will determine the future course of America. 

Sometimes I wish we could go back to watching "The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson" and listen to Johnny's jokes about people having consumed too much alcohol. Escapism. Relax and just let good people run government.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com