"Another day, another big President Trump controversy!" That's how Bill began Wednesday's No Spin News, referring to the war of words involving the president and a Trump-hating Democratic Congresswoman.
"This is about a family that lost a soldier," Bill explained, "named Sgt. La David Johnson, who died in Niger. The president called his family and spoke with the widow on the phone. Unbeknownst to Mr. Trump, also in the car was Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, a virulent anti-Trump Democrat. There is no recording of the conversation, but moments after the call Congresswoman Wilson, wearing a cowboy hat, went on CNN to trash the president. She said he was 'insensitive to the widow and the family of the slain sergeant. None of the press was in the car, but Frederica's charge is now being taken as fact."
Continuing with the story, Bill posed a couple of hypotheticals: "Why would a Congresswoman be in a car with a widow when this private call came in? And why would the president of the United States call a grieving woman and insult her? Nobody would do that, and to me this looks like a setup. President Trump didn't know Congresswoman Wilson was in the car, and she has been hateful to Trump from the jump. I think President Trump did a noble thing by calling the widow, but whatever he does the Trump-haters try to make him look bad."
This led neatly into a new poll showing that 46% of American voters believe the media fabricate stories about President Trump. "Here's why those 46% are correct," Bill opined. "We journalists have to report only on what we know to be factual, but what happens with President Trump is that anonymous sources can call reporters and make accusations that get published. Honest standards have evaporated since President Trump won the election."
Bill turned to the NFL, which held a meeting in New York City Wednesday to address player protests and the league's response. "Commissioner Roger Goodell came out," Bill reported, "and said the league would like all players to stand for the National Anthem, but it won't force them. Also, the league will lobby for sentencing reform that would change some mandatory federal sentencing on drug dealing and other crimes. So he doesn't want to get involved with politics, but he wants to lobby for this law? What's going on here is that the league has some star players who don't like the United States and the owners don't want to alienate them because they're paying them millions of dollars. This is all about money for Goodell and the owners."
On that note, former Monday Night Football analyst and Bill's regular banter partner Dennis Miller joined the conversation. "First off," Miller began, "I see nothing in Donald Trump that would make him call this poor widow and wind her up. He seems to love the troops, he goes out of his way to laud the troops, so I can't see him turning on the widow of a soldier. But I also believe that everything he says is taped by the leakers in the White House. People are tapping everything he does, including conversations with top foreign leaders."
Miller then put forth a unique recommendation for the National Football League: "They've got major concussion problems in the NFL, they should change it from the National Football League to the National Knee-ball League. They should take a knee before the game and then play the entire game on their knees. They won't get as much speed built up and we will have fewer concussions and other injuries."
On a more serious note, Miller denounced league boss Roger Goodell as a manipulative charlatan. "He's my idea of a bad guy," Miller declared. "He does everything to shine the brass buttons to look like a good guy, but he will do whatever the owners want because they pay him $40-million or $45-million a year. He's there to put a good face on this complete avariciousness; all the league is about is money!"
Finally, Premium Members joined the fray with their emails and message board comments. One PM took Bill to task over the football flap: "Bill, your suggestion that NFL players stay in the locker room during the National Anthem is dumb! They are disrespecting the flag and that doesn't change just because we can't see them." Bill responded, "The offense many Americans are taking is exacerbated by watching these guys, so if I owned a team I'd tell them to stay in the locker room." Another Premium Member suggested that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a big football fan, would make a great NFL commissioner.
Other PMs opined on Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's guilty plea, the still-dire situation in Puerto Rico, and the need for more and better history education in our public schools. Particularly gratifying was an email from a PM who emigrated from Azerbaijan and who expressed his love for the USA and his appreciation of Bill's books.
Bill will be back in the studio Thursday, once again decked out in a tie and jacket. We'll see you then. |
