Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture

Mooch

12 Comments

We hardly knew ye:

Jonah had a righteous rant about this on Friday:

…the cursing is not the issue, it’s the context. I recall some conservatives defending Donald Trump’s tweets at Mika Brzezinski on the grounds that Andrew Jackson had a filthy mouth too. Okay, but he kept the blue talk out of his official statements.

The reason why the Scaramucci brouhaha is so dismaying isn’t the less-than-shocking revelation that a guy who refers to himself in the third person as “The Mooch” curses. Nor is it the suggestion that Steve Bannon is one of only a handful of men to master the art of autofellatio (there’s a Wikipedia entry on this topic that I will refrain from linking to, for the children). That bit of rhetorical excess seems the single best illustration to date of the imperative in the Age of Trump to take some statements seriously, but not literally.

No, there are two main reasons the unfolding Scaramucci clown show should arouse concern. The first is that he has no idea what he’s doing and he might just be nuts. This is the White House communications director. But he apparently doesn’t know how off-the-record interviews work. Now, for roughly 99 percent of the American public, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. But, again, he is the White House communications director. I am not ashamed of my ignorance about how to do all manner of things, from how to remove a gallbladder to how to fly a plane. But I expect these skills from surgeons and pilots.

The Mooch also doesn’t seem to grok that a public financial-disclosure form is . . . public. Nor does he know that it’s wrong for him to reach out to his FBI “buddies” in an effort to sic them on fellow members of the White House staff. Oh, and most communications professionals know that it’s probably a bad idea to explain away your stream-of-consciousness character assassinations with the fact that you didn’t appreciate the fact that journalists are scum.

Professionals? Trump don’t need no stinkin’ professionals.

[Update a few minutes later]

Call the burn unit, stat!

[Update a while later]

From what I’m hearing, Kelly canned him after he refused to accept that he wouldn’t report direct to Trump. Sounds like the new Chief of Staff is putting the hammer down. Not sure how he’ll be able to deal with the daughter and son-in-law, though.

[Update a while longer later]

12 thoughts on “Mooch”

    1. … More like:

      “What is your favorite color?”

      Blue! No no Red!! aaaaaaarrrrrrr!

      This must be some kind of record for short-lived White House staffer, other than unexpected death….

      1. > This must be some kind of record for short-lived White House staffer, other than unexpected death

        As others are pointing out, Scaramucci’s official EOD date was 15 August, meaning that he actually lasted minus 16 days.

        I wonder if there’s any way to bring imaginary and complex numbers into such considerations: “Tenure was -16 + 37i days.”

  2. This is Alternate Universe West Wing, with Gary Busey portraying the President instead of Martin Sheen.

      1. Awesome. Thank you for that link! I’ll have to watch that episode! I came late to Seinfeld in the 90’s regrettably….

  4. Trump don’t need no stinkin’ professionals.

    Keep in mind, professionals are what got us here in the first place. Brooklyn boys are like this as I told ya’ll a long time ago about Trump.

    Still, it’s impressive (not in a good way.) Mooch would have been more Trumpish than Trump (really blowing some minds. Oh well. It would have been fun.)

    Kelly will be a new page. I look forward to seeing anybody try to give him crap.

      1. We are here. So whatever you call them got us here.

        Since you make the distinction, who could have changed our course?

  5. Just heard that Rosie O’Donald wants to start a woman only political party. Let’s all encourage this!

  6. Just five Democrats opposed Wray: Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley, Ron Wyden and Kirsten Gillibrand.

    Which sounds encouraging.

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