Dispatches from Vilnius

As they stand in a barn full of cow manure at the Butler Farm Show grounds, look how Elon Musk towers over Trump.  Mind you Donald claims to be 6'-3" (191 cm).  Yet, Musk is listed at 6'-2" (188 cm.).  Musk does appear to be wearing heeled boots, but then Trump is also known to wear lifts to boost his height.  The rally was pretty much a bust with Musk becoming an overnight viral sensation with his flying leap.   Yet, Team Trump hailed it as a victory in returning to the scene of the crime, where Trump allegedly had his ear clipped by a bullet.  No sign of any damage to his ear lobe upon his return.  These tell tale signs matter, as it shows the depth of Trump's pathological lying.  Yes, he did get shot at, but it was the fireman who took the bullet behind him, not Trump.  He paid a tribute of sorts to Corey Comperatore, but in retelling the incident he focused on himself, noting that he is "bulletproof."  It was this incident that supposedly led Musk t

As we inch toward E-Day we are being led to believe that support for Kamala Harris is eroding and that President Trump once again is seen as inevitable.  I really don't get these projections especially given how off the rails Trump has been ever since Kamala replaced Joe Biden at the top of the ticket.  In recent weeks, he has appeared disoriented and lost. Take for example a "town hall" hosted by the infamous dog-killer Kristi Noem where Trump broke into dance about half way through and quit fielding questions.  No problemo with his audience, which joined him in celebrating his favorite songs.  Is this really the kind of guy Americans want to see in office for the next four years? According to Nate Silver, yes.  He has revised his projection yet again, giving the Trumpster a 50.2% chance of winning the electoral college.  I wouldn't put too much stock in Nate's projections, as he reversed course while still at 538 in 2022 to give the Republicans a 60% of taking

Kamala took to the airwaves this week to counter all the accusations that she has been ducking the press.  The big one was a special 60 Minutes segment on Monday night where she batted away the more pointed questions and fielded the more genial ones.  She also had interviews with Howard Stern , The View and a podcast Call Her Daddy , which seemed to generate the most controversy largely because the host, Alex Cooper, normally doesn't interview politicians, but made an exception given the historic nature of Kamala's campaign.  Oh, and she had a beer with Stephen Colbert. It's hard to say what the impact of these interviews will be on the campaign.  Trump provided a running commentary for his MAGA folk, filled with the invectives we have come to expect from the anointed one.  He had a chance to do a separate interview for 60 Minutes but bailed at the last minute , saying he wasn't going to allow himself to be fact checked on air.  If there is one thing these MAGA folk

More and more, Trump resembles that man on the street corner holding up his apocalyptic sign.  His "normies," as Jonah Goldberg calls his normal defenders, dismiss the vile rhetoric as "trash talk," saying they wish Trump would "stick with the issues" but that we shouldn't put too much stock in his vitriol.  The question remains is this doomsday talk working for Trump?  Can he really pull that many persons out of their bunkers and basements to vote for him on election day, which is now only 32 days away, with most states already engaged in early voting? At this point, he needs them to offset all the Republicans who have openly expressed their support for Kamala.  It's an ever growing list that now includes Jeff Flake , the former Republican Senator from Arizona, a crucial state.  The Trump campaign dismisses these defectors as RINOs but surely they still have some pull in their states.  Every vote counts, especially in a presumably close election.