My Sunday mornings are pretty standard.\u00a0\u00a0The dogs are up between six and seven and there\u2019s no going back to sleep, especially now that we\u2019re adopting a new year-old puppy, Keelie.\u00a0\u00a0What used to be a guaranteed post breakfast snooze with \u201cold man\u201d Buddy and three year old Atticus, is puppy playtime \u2013 at least for Atticus and Keeley.\u00a0\u00a0So\u00a0Buddy is now supervisor.\u00a0\u00a0When things get out of control he wades in with barks and growls. Everyone settles down for a few minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So once we\u2019re up, we\u2019re up. It gives me a chance to drink lots of coffee, and watch an array of Sunday morning news shows. And this morning I got to watch Velshi<\/em> on MSNBC, This Week with George Stephanopoulos <\/em>on ABC, Fox News Sunday <\/em>with Chris Wallace, Meet the Press <\/em>with Chuck Todd on NBC, <\/em>and finally Face the Nation <\/em>on CBS with Margaret Brennan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There was lots of talk about COVID-19, from doctors and Secretary Azar, and responses from Governors Cuomo of New York and Hutchinson of Arkansas. And the breaking news this morning was the New York Times <\/em>article about Russian Special Operations paying the Taliban bounties to kill American soldiers. There was a lot to say about that, from Speaker Pelosi to former National Security Advisor John Bolton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I like to hear the \u201coriginal\u201d sources, Pelosi, Bolton, Azar and the rest. I want to hear them respond to questions, even to listen to their dodges. It tells a lot about what\u2019s going on. But I also like to her \u201cthe panel\u201d talk about the news. They all seem to have a political \u201cside\u201d. There are the traditional liberals, the \u201cnormal\u201d conservatives, and the \u201coutside of the box\u201d characters on one side or the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What stood out to me today was the obvious Trump campaign “talking point”. It must have been passed to all of his supporters this Sunday morning. Today\u2019s topic: the radicalization of the Democratic Party. Everyone managed to work it into their \u201cspiel\u201d: the \u201cSanders-AOC\u201d Democrats are dragging Joe Biden to the left. Sara Fagin, on ABC, <\/em>led the charge with this statement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJoe Biden is not the leader of the Democratic Party right now, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are. He put Congressman Ocasio-Cortez in charge of his climate policy\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chris Christie, a Trump advisor, former Governor and bridge traffic director from New Jersey added his bit on the same program. He said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026The liberal wing, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is very, very suspicious of Joe Biden. They didn’t support him during the primary season. They didn’t want him as the nominee.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And while Chris Wallace on Fox <\/em>didn\u2019t specifically reference the radicalization of the Democratic Party, he still did his part. He invited invited Hawk Newsome, a Black Lives Matter leader, to discuss previous comments to Fox News. Newsome said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf this country doesn\u2019t give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it. I can be speaking figuratively or I could be speaking literally, it\u2019s a matter of interpretation\u201d. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The President responded by Tweeting that Newsome was speaking of \u201ctreason and insurrection\u201d. It all fits well with this weekend\u2019s theme of Democratic radicalization. I guess Chris Wallace got the word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, Republican talk show host Hugh Hewitt, who has transited from a Never-Trumper to a Trump apologist (maybe because his son works in the Administration) \u201cdiscovered\u201d the same theme. His statement on NBC<\/em> was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Democrats have gone hard left, HARD LEFT, and the phantom of Joe Biden on the top of that is not going to cover over the AOC and the Squad’s effect on the Party\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So this week\u2019s narrative, courtesy of the RNC and Trump 2020, is that Joe Biden is a weak leader, far out of touch with what \u201creal Democrats\u201d want to do. \u201cReal Democrats\u201d, according to the Trump 2020 talking points, are left, \u201cHARD LEFT,\u201d and Biden somehow just ended up the candidate due to\u2026something that they really don\u2019t explain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I can explain it. Joe Biden became the nominee of the Democratic Party because the Democratic voters, overwhelmingly, chose him. They voted for him over Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren, both candidates of the \u201charder left\u201d that the Trump campaign wanted to run against. Democratic voters chose Joe Biden because they trusted him to get elected, and they wanted a return to the decency and honesty that Biden represents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Trump narrative is that Donald Trump represents \u201claw and order\u201d, and will put down the chaos of protests and destruction brought on by the death of Floyd George and others.\u00a0\u00a0The flaw in that theory is that most Americans see that it is the lawlessness of the institutions that caused those deaths that is the real problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joe Biden is a man of the center, of decency and civility, of willingness to compromise to solve problems. He is willing to work with the \u201chard left\u201d but he is also just as willing to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Trump campaign wanted to run with a booming economy, and they wanted to run against Bernie Sanders. Now they\u2019ve managed to botch the COVID-19 crisis, trash the economy, and they\u2019re dealing with Joe Biden. All Trump 2020 can do is to divide America against itself, using fear of \u201cradicals\u201d as the wedge. Since Joe Biden doesn\u2019t fit that model, they ignore him and move onto their \u201cdream opponents\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The American voter will see through that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Headline News<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Talking Points<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Hard Left<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Democrat’s Choice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n