Well, we've named the Ass Clown of the Year for 2017, and now it's time to start skimming the top of the sludge pond for Ass Clowns who can make the grade in the new year. If you thought there was no shortage of candidates last year, then you'll be amazed at the teeming throng of potential winners as we move into 2018. The job of evaluating the candidates and making the right choice continues to be difficult, but I'll step up to it by naming
The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for 2018
Unless you've been living in a cave in the remote Himalayas for the last two weeks, you know that Michael Wolff is the author of the wildly popular and extremely controversial book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, which presents an unflattering and deeply unsettling picture of Donald Trump and his administration.
There is, of course, no shortage of books, articles, opinion pieces, essays, blog posts, and hand-painted signs critical of Donald Trump and questioning his fitness for the presidency. The problem with Mr Wolff's book, though, is that while much of it can be confirmed by multiple sources, much of it - including some of the most devastating claims - cannot. Mr Wolff notes in his introduction that
Many of the accounts of what has happened in the Trump White House are in conflict with one another; many, in Trumpian fashion, are baldly untrue. Those conflicts, and that looseness with the truth, if not with reality itself, are an elemental thread of the book. Sometimes I have let the players offer their versions, in turn allowing the reader to judge them. In other instances I have, through a consistency in accounts and through sources I have come to trust, settled on a version of events I believe to be true.
The willingness of Donald Trump and his supporters and enablers to play fast and loose with the truth has come home to roost in the form of a brutal book whose author "settled on a version of events [he believes] to be true."
Michael Wolff has greatly complicated the legitimate concern over Donald Trump's fitness for office with a book that comes across as more tabloid exposé than as objective investigative journalism. While much of what is here may be true, enough of it is open to question to allow Trump supporters to continue to shoot the messenger who delivers the news they don't want to hear. Donald Trump is clearly unfit to be president ... the way in which Michael Wolff has sourced and written this book allows partisans of the right to complain of unfair hatchet jobs while denying the reality of the world they've created.
Ladies and gentlemen, Dear Readers, Michael Wolff is named as the Right-Cheek Ass Clown for January, 2018.
Have a good day. More thoughts later.
Bilbo
Note: because Agnes and I will be traveling without routine and reliable Internet connectivity for the next two weeks, making it hard to keep up with current events and issues, I will not be posting daily as I normally do. The usual Great Moments in Editing and Signage, Cartoon Saturday, and Musical/Poetry Sunday posts have already been written and will appear on schedule; however, I will not be naming a Left-Cheek Ass Clown on Friday, January 26th. The next Ass Clown Award will be presented on February 9th. Don't despair - we'll be back!
Bilbo
There is, of course, no shortage of books, articles, opinion pieces, essays, blog posts, and hand-painted signs critical of Donald Trump and questioning his fitness for the presidency. The problem with Mr Wolff's book, though, is that while much of it can be confirmed by multiple sources, much of it - including some of the most devastating claims - cannot. Mr Wolff notes in his introduction that
Many of the accounts of what has happened in the Trump White House are in conflict with one another; many, in Trumpian fashion, are baldly untrue. Those conflicts, and that looseness with the truth, if not with reality itself, are an elemental thread of the book. Sometimes I have let the players offer their versions, in turn allowing the reader to judge them. In other instances I have, through a consistency in accounts and through sources I have come to trust, settled on a version of events I believe to be true.
The willingness of Donald Trump and his supporters and enablers to play fast and loose with the truth has come home to roost in the form of a brutal book whose author "settled on a version of events [he believes] to be true."
Michael Wolff has greatly complicated the legitimate concern over Donald Trump's fitness for office with a book that comes across as more tabloid exposé than as objective investigative journalism. While much of what is here may be true, enough of it is open to question to allow Trump supporters to continue to shoot the messenger who delivers the news they don't want to hear. Donald Trump is clearly unfit to be president ... the way in which Michael Wolff has sourced and written this book allows partisans of the right to complain of unfair hatchet jobs while denying the reality of the world they've created.
Ladies and gentlemen, Dear Readers, Michael Wolff is named as the Right-Cheek Ass Clown for January, 2018.
Have a good day. More thoughts later.
Bilbo
Note: because Agnes and I will be traveling without routine and reliable Internet connectivity for the next two weeks, making it hard to keep up with current events and issues, I will not be posting daily as I normally do. The usual Great Moments in Editing and Signage, Cartoon Saturday, and Musical/Poetry Sunday posts have already been written and will appear on schedule; however, I will not be naming a Left-Cheek Ass Clown on Friday, January 26th. The next Ass Clown Award will be presented on February 9th. Don't despair - we'll be back!
Bilbo
Definitely an appropriate choice for the post-truth world.
ReplyDeleteHow much of his book is believeable?
ReplyDeleteHere's your first book Bilbo. "The Truth About Michael Wolff's Book".
ReplyDeleteI suspect that couples feel right about it when they do - no specific program.
ReplyDeleteYou've thought up another perfect phrase: and now it's time to start skimming the top of the sludge pond;love it!
ReplyDeleteA good choice for AC, and an excellent argument to prove your case.
Enjoy your journey!