You Can Only Fail Upwards

Conservative pundits in the Trump era can only be rewarded it seems, and the more ridiculous and irrelevant that they were eight years ago, the more of a hot commodity they are today.  Take Hugh Hewitt, the often-mocked and even more often-wrong conservative radio host.  MSNBC leaped at a chance to make him a contributor (one of the many reasons I've stopped watching the network completely) and they've vindicated my boycott by floating the idea of giving Hewitt his own show. 

Today MSNBC announced that Nicolle Wallace––former McCain-Palin ’08 senior advisor and current NBC News political analyst––will be hosting a new 4 pm weekday show on the network. And now it appears conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt may be next up for a hosting position.

Hewitt, an MSNBC political analyst, has not only appeared on the network for a while now, but he has made appearances on Meet the Press panels in the last few months.

Yashar Ali reports for New York Magazine that the liberal network is in talks with Hewitt for a program that would air on “weekend evenings.”

Wallace’s 4 pm program and Hewitt’s reported show will be in addition to Morning Joe––Joe Scarborough being a former Republican congressman––and Greta Van Susteren––formerly of Fox News––in providing analysis that won’t exactly win over all of MSNBC’s liberal audience.

People say "But Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, and Lawrence O'Donnell have been ripping into Trump for months now!"  Somewhat True.  But people forget that Maddow started out her show by giving Pat Buchanan a voice, that Hayes has been rolled by conservative guests because he's too nice, and that O'Donnell and Matthews are more interested in bashing Obama than Trump these days.  Oh, and remember Ed Schultz, now literally working for Putin's English language propaganda network where he's free to rip on Dems all day?

Also let's not forget how MSNBC treats black pundits: firing Melissa Harris-Perry and Tamron Hall and demoting Joy Reid and Al Sharpton from weekday regulars to weekend shows.  Now in the Trump era when MSNBC is looking to grow, they staff the network with white conservative voices like Nicole Wallace and Hugh Hewitt.  Now that Obama's gone, being black doesn't work for ratings it seems.

So now, I've avoided watching MSNBC for more than a year now.  If I wanted a network where  could see 16 hours of Obama/Clinton bashing, I'd run by the TV in the breakroom at work.

The Sheriff Of Going-HAM

White the Trump regime Minister of Homeland Security post may have gone to John Kelly, remember "law and order" in the Trump era means a populace needs to be held in constant fear, and that means headknockers and knuckledraggers like Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke will always have a Homeland Security job if he wants it.

Clarke is in line to be appointed as assistant secretary at DHS’ Office of Partnership and Engagement, which coordinates outreach to state, local and tribal officials and law enforcement. The position does not require Senate confirmation.

A senior administration official cautioned it’s “not a done deal yet.”

Clarke, a longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, has long been rumored as a possible candidate for a job in the administration and met with Trump in November at Trump Tower. He also spoke at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last year.

He has come under fire in recent days amid revelations about the case of Terrill Thomas, who died of dehydration last year at the Milwaukee County Jail after guards turned off the water in his cell.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, has said he won’t remove Clarke from office over Thomas’ death.

Clarke also has faced criticism for participating in a National Rifle Association-backed trip to Russia in 2015, where he and other members of the group’s delegation reportedly met with Dmitry Rogozin, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deputies. Rogozin was sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2014.

Somebody willing to kill an inmate in his care though neglect and to also be willing to meet with Putin's thugs?  No wonder Trump wants him on the team to tell the country's cops that it's open season on criminals.  There's no clearer signal to the nation's LEOs that the federal government and and AG Jeff Sessions will absolutely look the other way if perps end up in graveyard rather than a cell, and that's doubly true if the inmate is black.

Clarke's reward for overseeing a county sheriff's department that kills an inmate through dehydration is a major promotion in the Trump regime.  Let that sink in.