The Left-Cheek Ass Clown for April, 2019

We've come down to the last days of April, and on this final Friday of the month it's time once again to find another Ass Clown worthy (and I use the term loosely) of recognition - however passing - above all others. The choice is always difficult, given the enormous number of candidates and the fact that I've already excluded Donald Trump (a lifetime award winner) from further consideration, but sometimes it's easier than others. So it is today.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, I give you

The Left-Cheek Ass Clown for April, 2019

and the award goes - for the fifth time - to

White House Press Secretary

Sarah Huckabee Sanders

As the public face of the an administration, the Press Secretary fulfills a vital function, presenting information to the public and answering questions about administration policies. This can be a difficult and thankless job even in a relatively popular administration, but it's an especially tough one when the administration is headed by an egotistical, prevaricating blowhard like Donald Trump. Nevertheless, Sarah Huckabee Sanders has risen (or sunk) to new levels of mendacity in her full-throated defense of the indefensible and her tendency, like that of her boss, to double down on falsehood even when confronted with overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Consider this excerpt from the Mueller Report:

"Sanders told this Office that her reference to hearing from 'countless members of the FBI' was a 'slip of the tongue.' She also recalled that her statement in a separate press interview that rank-and-file FBI agents had lost confidence in Comey was a comment she made 'in the heat of the moment' that was not founded on anything."

It's important to note that, when testifying under oath, Ms Sanders grudgingly admitted lying to the press and the American people. But once the report was published and she was no longer under oath, Ms Sanders reverted to type, shifting the blame for her performance to someone else, as is the style of the Trump Administration:

“Those were Mueller’s words that they weren’t founded on anything. What I said was that it was in the heat of the moment . . . meaning, it wasn’t a scripted thing, it was something that I said, which is why that one word has become a big deal. But the big takeaway here is that the sentiment is 100 percent accurate. The FBI is a better place without James Comey. He disgraced himself and he undermined the agency that he was supposed to be in charge of.”

I see no reason to take anything Sarah Sanders says at face value, and neither should you. And if she's not going to do a daily. Or weekly. Or even monthly press conference, why should we be paying her?

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, Sarah Huckabee Sanders is named as the Left-Cheek Ass Clown for April, 2019 - her fifth award, and well earned.

Have a good day, and be sure to come back tomorrow for more thoughts on Cartoon Saturday. You know you need it, the way things are nowadays.

Bilbo