CSotD: Often in Error, Never in Doubt

There have been a number of chicken jokes about Trump backing out of his agreed-upon September 10 debate, but I like Adam Zyglis’s use of the “Cowardly Lyin’,” because he combines Trump’s unwillingness to step into the ring with a solid contender with his dishonesty in explaining his refusal.

Trump claims that he won’t debate somebody who is not yet the official Democratic candidate, but he already did when he debated Biden.

Harris cleared the bar yesterday for enough delegate votes to become the official candidate when the Democrats hold their convention August 19-22.

I have an idea for a compromise: How about if Trump agrees to debate the Official Democratic Presidential Candidate on September 10?

Oh, he has. He just has a few ridiculous, chickenshit requirements.

Why not “Only I get to talk”?

Ann Telnaes offers this vision of what a legitimate debate might look like. Actually, she’s offering a vision of what the whole campaign looks like so far.

Things aren’t going so well for Trump and Vance, or, as they’re beginning to seem like, “Weird and Weirder.”

Our theme today is “Often in error but never in doubt,” and there is an astonishing confidence with which fools do things that come back and hit them square in the chops.

Frank Mariani offers a reasonable interpretation of Trump’s promise that we only have to vote this year and then, I dunno, work will make us free or something.

I like it, but we should remember that Trump genuinely has promised to build concentration camps and he’s aligned himself with a lot of people who don’t think the Nazis were really so bad.

So it’s useful to point this out to people who don’t admire Hitler, but not so effective for persuading anybody who likes the guy.

And “Democracy or Dictatorship?” is the question in November, so this may be skating on thin ice.

The other problem is that Trump and his MAGAts routinely dismiss logical arguments as “Fake News.” He wasn’t wrong when he said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose a single vote.

But bullies can’t stand being laughed at, and his crew certainly can’t stand being laughed at by a young, attractive woman-of-color.

Cue Sarah Cooper:

Meanwhile, boy, we’ve had way too many cartoons like this one by Michael de Adder pointing out that a guy who paints himself orange shouldn’t question what color anybody else wants to say they are.

I like de Adder’s because he actually uses the concept of spray-on. I don’t know how Dear Leader applies his make-up in the morning — and, BTW, his use of make-up has also been weaponized against his attacks on drag queens — but I like the notion of people in HazMat suits applying it with air hoses.

The problem, incidentally, is that he made a mistake in purchasing his tanning lotion. He should have chosen Man Tan, but instead bought Orangu Tan, with predictable results.

Speaking of mockery, Dave Whamond weighs in on both the efficacy of the term “weird,” which really gets under MAGAt skin, as well as the growing realization that a very poised, confident woman is totally pwning a pair of hapless bullies.

On a related note, I’m already on record as objecting to promoting the couch lie against Vance, because there are so many honest things that can be said about a fellow with a serious foot-in-mouth problem.

And now we’re hearing rumors that the boy wears eyeliner. I don’t know if that’s true or false, but it’s one more thing that won’t track well with the homophobes and transphobes who make up a portion of his fanbase.

Speaking of which, here’s our

Juxtaposition of Ignorant Bigotry

Lisa Benson — Counterpoint

Warren Brown

Steve Kelley — Creators

Gary Varvel — Creators

I’m willing to accept that none of these hatemongers are old enough to remember back when Russia and East Germany were dominating women’s Olympic sports by recruiting female athletes with not-so-rare XXY chromosomes that altered their muscular development. Of course, they had to also exhibit some extraordinary athletic talent. Being a little physically stronger is an advantage, but it’s not magic.

And whether the Ruskies hopped them up on steroids, they were still biological women and neither tested as male nor presented themselves as male. Suggesting that they are transgender because they have XXY chromosomes is just plain wrong. One has nothing to do with the other.

But while there is a difference between being ignorant and being stupid, ignorance is a hallmark of bigotry, which is on exhibit here, along with an appetite for spreading hate that leads them to focus on what would otherwise be an unremarkable moment in a preliminary match in a minor sport.

There’s nothing funny about being ignorant or stupid or hateful, but I did see a funny observation on social media, which is that the same sanctimonious bluenoses who wanted Harry Potter books banned as Satanic are making a hero of their author, JK Rowling, since she’s come out as a major transphobic hatemonger.

Jesus must be so proud of y’all.

Though who cares what a childless, unmarried 33-year-old thinks?

Not, John Auchter points out, that MAGAts are bigoted.

No, they don’t care if you’re white or purple or green or blue, as long as you can do the job. Without being Black or brown.

Which reminds me of when I was in college and volunteered to help a student group “update the housing list,” which was a cover for making sure landlords were complying with Fair Housing standards.

This nice little old lady confirmed the rent and number of rooms, and then I asked if she discriminated on the basis of race or creed, and she replied, “Oh, no.”

Then added, “Of course, I don’t rent to colored.”

Dr. MacLeod notes the haste with which Trump and Vance are backing away from the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025,” which Trump had earlier endorsed and for whose leader’s upcoming book Vance wrote a glowing foreward.

Tap-dancing aside, one thing the rightwing wants to do is to eliminate no-fault divorce.

It’s not just a women’s problem. Here’s a 1960 chart-topper from the cruel days when ending a dead marriage could be all but impossible: