After Donald J. Trump opened the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend with a swipe at Rep. John Lewis, I wrote this for The Hill.
Please understand that the Hon. Rep. Lewis needs no help from me. His record speaks for itself, but this is become a reflex on my part, and I promise I’m scattering about for ways to be a more effective dissenter.
But meanwhile, check out this viral video on Rep. Lewis’s district:
Dating Jesus 
Very nicely done indeed.
The juxtaposition of life experiences provided a perfect illustration of privilege and its effects on race relations in America. Kudos.
Speaking of juxtaposition, be sure to check out the comments of Dr. Alveda King and Martin Luther King III here on FOXNews yesterday.
I noticed CNN ran a story that Trump could be losing some of his support from White Nationalists, Richard Spencer in particular. You wouldn’t know it reading the comments to your article. (I didn’t know you were a Soros puppet. Congrats.)
The real menace of the Trumptini has yet to be realized.
Thank you. As I make it my mission to never read the comments after anything I write, this is the first official word I’ve had that I’m a Soros puppet. I cannot wait until the first check arrives, as I assume it will be huge. YUGE!
But help me with this: What’s a journalist to do when her career has become Whack-a-Mole with a president elect? There are a lot of us playing and I’m not sure it’s the most effective use of our time. You can keep pointing and saying “That’s just wrong!” but is it doing any good? I honestly don’t know.
I would expect a sizable sum. Now that the Clinton Global Initiative is shutting down, he’s sure to have more moola to spread around…somewhere.
My advice would be: Don’t play the game. The Mole rules the game.
Focus more on the Trumptini than Trump. See here. As much as that Trumptini is a perversion of the classic libation, politically speaking the Trumptini is a perversion of American politics that includes more components than just Trump. And whoever is stepping up to the bar, make it clear that they’re not going to get what they expect. (Example)
Focus on policy. Make it clear that no matter how rich the vodka and vermouth, they’re not going to able to get to that olive without fishing through some ice, (Ice? Really??), in a brandy snifter, (again…Really???). Or sitting around waiting for the ice to melt, disposing of the remaining swill, and then still getting your fingers all over the olive.
The Republican Trumptini lacks the simple sophistication of the Democrats’ Long Island Ice Tea. And it’s not nearly as intoxicating. Which renders it much more vulnerable.
The Mole rules the game.
The hagiography that Lewis has routinely exploited to reinforce his political credibility is now in tatters. As is that credibility. And with that comes right-wing legitimization of everything Trump has said about him. Because Lewis lied. Not an uncommon problem with Congressional Democrats, but one they better learn how to manage if they’re going to play Trump’s game.
I find it fascinating that this wrong statement — that he hasn’t skipped an inauguration before — is being given equal weight to the multiple piles of bullshit spouted by the president-elect. What am I missing? I understand that when you speak out against the new leader, you must have an air-tight case, but I refuse to get my panties in a bunch over Rep. Lewis’s comment. We disagree that anything is even remotely “in tatters.”
As far as the Republicans are concerned it is.
You don’t really need to have an airtight case when speaking out against a new leader. That’s proven every day in the media. But what you must have is credibility if you want your criticism to reach beyond the limited sphere of influence of your political base of support.
Lewis lied. It wasn’t a wrong statement or a memory glitch. He lied to elicit sympathy for his rationalization to boycott the inaugural. In doing so he not only damaged in own credibility, but the credibility of anti-Trump efforts in general.