Donald Trump wants a national sixteen week abortion ban. He says that he likes it because it is “even. It is exactly four months.” FACT CHECK: Sixteen weeks from January 1, 2024 is not April 30, 2024. It is April 21, 2024.

He can screw up even the simplest things.

In the meantime, he still leads in the South Carolina polls over the state’s former governor Nikki Haley by 30 points. And it isn’t because Nikki Haley is unpopular. It’s because 40 percent or so of this country believes that Donald Trump is another Jesus. And once you believe that someone is another Jesus, it is hard to change your thinking.

I am not a Christian (never have been), so I don’t understand thinking that even Jesus is Jesus. But that’s OK. And I know that Christians have varying views (to put it mildly) about him. That’s OK. But once you believe that Jesus walked on water or revived the dead or turned water into wine (or was it the other way around?) or was born of a virgin or came back to life after three days and then ascended into heaven, it is difficult to change your mind by pointing out what might be considered as facts, or as to impossibilities. It doesn’t matter. You have your set of facts, and you’re sticking with them.

And this is the way that a significant portion of American voters view Donald Trump. And anyone who dares to disagree finds themselves guilty of heresy or blasphemy, or both.

Moving on…..

I didn’t (and probably won’t) watch the Tucker Carlson interview with Vladimir Putin, but I did see Fareed Zakaria’s commentary on it this morning, and suggest that you find it and listen to it.

Digression: I must confess a conflict of interest. When my law firm moved out of its offices at 1050 17th Street NW, we were replaced (I don’t know if it was in whole or in part) by Tucker Carlson’s consulting firm (I don’t know if it still exists) and, worse than that, Tucker Carlson took over my very nice, bright corner office. Somehow, I have always felt dirtied by that move – if I had known that was a possibility, we might have stayed.

In addition to kowtowing (as I understand it) to Putin during the interview, apparently Carlson expressed a number of alternative facts that no fact checker would support. According to Zakaria, Carlson talked about the lack of inflation in Russia (Russia says it is about 7% a year, twice ours), the lower interest rates (Russia’s interest rates are about 3 times ours), and the cheaper groceries in Russia (compared to average incomes, Russia’s groceries are much more expensive than ours). He also said that, compared to American cities (which he derided), Moscow is a much better place to live. Zakaria pointed out that Moscow, outside of its impressive downtown core, is basically a city of disintegrating Soviet era high rises, lacking much that all American cities offer.

Zakaria went on to agree that the cities that Carlson mentioned as much better than ours were by and large the product of authoritarian regimes, who are clearly better than us at creating architectural masterpieces, but that these edifices come at the expense of democracy and vibrancy and innovation. It was an elegant defense, I thought, whether or not it is correct in fact. And he used Moscow’s beautiful subway stations as an example of what authoritarian leaders can do, when they are out to create monuments of their regimes, and where cost is not a concern.

By the way, I have noted that Putin himself did comment on the Carlson interview, saying something (I paraphrase, as usual) like: “I was prepared for hard questions, but he didn’t ask me any. I really thought it was a disappointing interview. I didn’t enjoy it.” So there, TC!

In all of his rally ranting yesterday evening, I understand that Trump concentrated on the prosecutors that he was going to exert revenge against when he is elected, and the terrible Biden Migrant Crimes (his words) being committed by people coming across the border, but did not mention Alexei Navalny. That isn’t surprising, I guess, but I saw Liz Cheney this morning (on CNN) suggest that Trump couldn’t say anything because this was a great example of his “revenge” ideology that he himself would implement (to some extent, at least) if he gets back into office.

It isn’t surprising that Navalny died in prison, although the circumstances were a bit surprising, I guess. I must admit that I didn’t understand why he returned to Russia when he did, after surviving the poisoning incident, and wasn’t surprised when he was arrested the day he landed at Moscow’s airport. But it does make for worries that similar fates might envelop for those others, including WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, and activist Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Finally, for today, I watched a YouTube video yesterday of a road trip thought Georgia (the former SSR, not the US state), and noted the degree to which Georgian citizens seem to be openly pro-Ukraine, even while its government seems to sidle up to Putin. Why do I mention it? Just because I find it interesting.