“Rise up to the seriousness of the moment.”

April 29, 2024

[Audio version will return tomorrow; I am still on the road.]

President Biden appeared at the White House Correspondent’s dinner on Saturday. Unlike most such dinners, the event took on serious overtones of historic significance. Although President Biden delivered the usual scripted jokes, he asked members of the media in attendance to “rise up to the seriousness of the moment.” President Biden said (video here),

The defeated former president has made no secret of his attack on our democracy. He said he wants to be a dictator on day one, and so much more. He tells supporters he is their revenge and retribution. When in God’s name you ever heard another president say something like that?

And he promised a bloodbath when he loses again. We have to take this seriously. Eight years ago, you could’ve written [it] off as just Trump talk but no longer. Not after January 6. I’m sincerely not asking you to take sides, but ask you to rise up to the seriousness of the moment.

Move past the horse race numbers, the gotcha moments.”

“Rise up to the seriousness of the moment” is a challenge for each of us, but it is especially appropriate for members of the media. I will spare you a recitation of the media's daily failures. Readers of this newsletter are familiar with the incomprehensible normalization of Trump—a normalization that begins with the uncritical acceptance that “horserace” polls are a valid framework for assessing the electability of someone who has vowed to destroy the democracy he seeks to lead as president.

The ongoing failure of the press to “rise to the seriousness of the moment” is especially puzzling—and galling—given the emerging consensus that the media was complicit in Trump's disinformation campaign over the non-story of “Hillary’s emails.” Most of the media appear to have learned nothing from their failures in 2016. Indeed, most outlets continue to defend their non-stop coverage of a story about nothing. (Looking at you, NYTimes. See Vox, Study: Hillary Clinton’s emails got as much front-page coverage in 6 days as policy did in 69.)

Therefore, it was appropriate for President Biden to speak directly and earnestly to the media, imploring them to rise to the moment. What more can a president do with an unwilling and jaded press? Let’s hope they listen.

It is worth noting that Trump broke a decades-long tradition of appearances by the sitting president. He did so in the first year of his presidency and continued his boycott in 2018 and 2019 (the event was canceled due to Covid in 2020). See NPR (5/25/17), Trump Will Be First U.S. President In 36 Years To Skip WHCA's Dinner.

If the press wants to preview its place in a possible second Trump term, it should reflect on the fact that Trump boycotted the dinner on every possible occasion during his presidency. It’s all downhill from there.

The evening was also poignant. Although emcee Colin Jost delivered jokes at the expense of both President Biden and Trump, he also honored his late grandfather by praising Joe Biden’s decency. Jost said (video here),

My grandfather, a Staten Island firefighter, voted for you, Mr. President. He voted for you in the last election that he ever voted in.

He voted for you and the reason that he voted for you is because you’re a decent man. My grandpa voted for decency and decency is why we’re all here tonight.

I will leave it to others to report on the one-liners and zingers that are making the rounds. Suffice it to say that President Biden was willing to accept incoming barbs and return them with equal force and good humor. Indeed, he was even willing to engage in self-deprecating humor—something his opponent could never do.

But there is more. On Friday, Biden dropped in on “shock-jock” Howard Stern for a live, one-hour interview in Manhattan—at the very moment that Defendant Trump was sitting in a Manhattan courtroom on trial for election interference. The interview showcased Biden’s humanity and decency.

Although the headline from the interview was Biden’s willingness to debate Trump, the real headline was Stern’s praise for Biden’s compassion and accomplishments. See Howard Stern thanked President Biden for his compassion and lists a number of reasons why Biden is the best option come 2024.

So, as Trump is being showcased at his worst in a Manhattan courtroom, President Biden is making high-profile appearances to good effect. That is good!

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Ignore the polls

It’s a close race. Ignore the polls. If you can’t, read Simon Rosenberg on Hopium Chronicles, New CBS Polls Find Biden Gaining, Erasing Trump Leads in Key Battlegrounds.

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Upcoming this week in Trump trials

The Manhattan election interference trial resumes on Tuesday. On Thursday, Judge Merchan will hold a second hearing on the prosecution’s motion for contempt based on Trump's continuing violations of the gag order. See WaPo, The Trump Trials: Escape from New York. (Accessible to all.)

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More on Supreme Court hearing on Trump's presidential immunity defense

I have exhausted myself and broken my pick on criticism over the Supreme Court’s apparent intention to recognize presidential immunity for violating the criminal laws of the US. While we can still hope for a miracle, hope is not a strategy.

Today, I recommend Lucian K. Truscott IV’s article on Substack, This Supreme Court has broken my heart. Truscott writes, in part,

Which raises the obvious question:  why did they agree to take the Trump appeal in the first place?

The answer to that question is the reason my heart is broken.  This Supreme Court has shown itself again and again to be disinterested in the facts and the law and has reached the point that it now bluntly says so. 

The idea that the Constitution not only established a democracy but provided protections for it in the clear language of its text is less important to Roberts and his court than what outcomes they can fashion for the anti-democratic masters that put them there.

I also recommend this excellent article in Rolling Stone, Team Trump Is Celebrating the Supreme Court Immunity Case, Win or Lose. Rolling Stone discusses the fact that Trump's defense team did not expect the Supreme Court to grant review of the case but were overjoyed when it did:

But the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority, which Trump built as president, came through for him in a way that many Trump advisers didn’t believe was probable. When news broke in late February that the court would take up Trump’s claims of vast immunity, Trumpland was so elated that a lawyer close to Trump told Rolling Stone they were “literally popping champagne.”

From Trump's perspective, it does not matter whether he wins big or small. The deed is done—thanks to the reactionary majority’s willingness to entertain review of a preposterous claim. Rolling Stone quotes one Trump adviser as follows:

“We already pulled off the heist,” says a source close to Trump, noting it doesn’t matter to them what the Supreme Court decides now.

Expand the Court. It is the only short-term path for stopping the reactionary majority from operating as the political arm of the Trump campaign.

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Opportunities for reader engagement

Join Force Multiplier for a Zoom with Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. Rep. Slotkin is the presumed Democratic nominee for the Michigan Senate seat vacated by Senator Debbie Stabenow. On Tuesday April 30 at 7:00 PM ET, you will have the opportunity to hear f about her race against a Trump-endorsed candidate, the precariousness of the all-important swing state of Michigan and how she plans to win in November.  A third generation Michigander, Elissa has dedicated her life to serving our country and protecting our homeland – first in the CIA, where she served three tours in Iraq alongside the U.S. military, and later at the White House, State Department,  the Pentagon and most recently three terms in the House. She  will take questions from the participants and it should be a fascinating session.  Register here for this exciting event. 

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Concluding Thoughts

I am signing off early tonight. I spent the weekend helping to open the water system for our small mountain community. An unexpected late-season snow meant that a small band of volunteers trudged through fresh snow opening water valves, searching for and digging out water service boxes from under a couple of feet of snow, climbing the steep hill to the water tanks, and chasing a 1.0 gallon per minute leak hiding somewhere in a couple miles of buried pipe. My usual fitness routine of reading online news articles and typing on my laptop was poor preparation for such exertion at 7,000 feet. It was a humbling experience.

But it was also fun and beautiful. We celebrated my 68th birthday with a sit-down dinner for fifteen people in our small cabin. (Only Jill could pull off such a feat!) We had to dig our way through five feet of snow to get into the cabin—and then had to keep shoveling every hour on Friday to keep our exit pathway clear! As a Los Angeles native, I have a new respect for my fellow citizens in colder climes!

What does all of this have to do with politics? I am certain there is a deep connection to be made. But that will have to wait for another night when I am not so tired!

Talk to you tomorrow!