Sordid and salacious. The details hardly seemed relevant to the proceedings. The defense objected and the judge sustained all along the way as Stormy Daniels testified in the hush money trial. She apparently was quite nervous and ran off her mouth about her encounter with Donald Trump in 2006—a long time ago. An encounter, by the way, that over the years she has denied ever happened.

On cross-examination I guess one of Trump’s lawyers tore Ms. Clifford a new one, found numerous holes in her testimony and exposed her hatred for Trump. So it doesn’t sound like it was the best day for the prosecution, other than possibly establishing that the encounter actually did occur.

Anyway, it feels like this case is starting to take a turn toward nothing burger. The real meat and potatoes cases may or may not ever arrive in a courtroom, which would be quite the revolting development– the rich(?) and powerful(?) pretender avoiding consequences yet again.

There should be no more reasons for the country to have to put up with this attention hound’s shenanigans. He’s already taken up way too much of our time. The painful slog has to end. The loser has already won way more than he deserves.

It’s always been the thing, the amazing thing: the understanding and the follow-through of competing in an election, conceding when one loses, and moving on. The peaceful transfer of power is a wonder.

Maddow insists that when that flow, that long-standing tradition is suddenly questioned and disregarded and attacked as “unfair,” then democracy starts breaking down.

We are there now. Poll workers threatened and leaving numerous unfilled vacancies; members of law enforcement, judges and jurors castigated and threatened.

We don’t have a democracy anymore when one side decides to start hammering the bedrock, when one side decides not to accept results. When one side decides not to go home when he loses, and perhaps evaluate and ponder and come back and try again.

When the expectation no longer is that both sides abide by the results of an election, that instead one side claims malfeasance and unfairness and that “it was stolen,” when one side even proactively warns that the process and future results will probably be suspect, then things have taken a dark turn.

We are there. Have been for a while.

Has Trump actually been sleeping in court, or is he just trying to shut his eyes and his mind to the things people are saying about him? I’m surprised this has gotten as much attention as it has, since it seems incredible to me that Trump would actually be able to fall asleep. I guess it could make sense, given that he’s often awake at an ungodly hour to gripe-Tweet.

Maybe instead, he’s just trying to ignore everything, maybe it’s just a defense mechanism, a different way of burying one’s head in the sand or plugging one’s ears and singing “La, la, la…” Or maybe he has just found a new way to thumb his nose at the whole proceeding—by making it look like he couldn’t care less.

Maybe what he’s doing is committing things and names to memory, filing away the slights and the disparaging remarks as ammunition for future reference. Whatever the schtick, it’s a bit hard to believe he’s not taking notes somehow.

Beside and below the preview of a story on the border crisis in Texas and the detrimental effects it’s having on both those seeking refuge and the environment were two scintillating tidbits: the betting at this year’s Kentucky Derby soared to a record $320.5 million, according to ESPN; and the theme of this year’s Met Gala is… wait for it… “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion.” Riveting stuff.

An appropriate split screen for America to take in, a perfect snapshot. Oh, and there’s a possibility of more tornadoes and “giant” hail in the Midwest today.

The only thing missing was an update on Taylor Swift’s latest platinum drivel.

Speaking of the Derby—are the horses really athletes? Can trainers and keen observers really sense an animal’s competitive spirit, see the fire in its eyes? Or is this just what people tell themselves as they try to defend one of the last vestiges of a gilded age when no one gave a shit about anything but their own legacy and amusement?

Hey, it’s survived a lot longer than the Hegins Pigeon Shoot.

So now the real test kicks in. We as readers and observers have to decipher, and wade through the noise. The water is getting murky, so to speak, as the campus protests drag on. More people are getting involved, counter protesters are making an appearance. Who knows where they’re coming from or who might be riling them up?

We see pictures, we see the lines more definitively drawn between Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Israeli sides. One picture has a group of younger white protesters, assumed to be pro-Israeli, verbally attacking a group of pro-Palestinian protesters. It’s all starting to feel staged, moving toward theater and pageantry and something that’s losing its immediacy and relevance. More like a show.

Violence has broken out in places, the whole thing has long become another political hot potato with implications for the presidential race. Just another thing about which to have an opinion and engage in finger pointing.

It feels more and more like manipulation for political purposes, including the reporting. Less effort is being exerted to parse the intricacies and acknowledge shades of gray, or to give a nod to those who are simply protesting against war in general. The essence of the “struggle” has been lost in the fog of partisanship, and demon racism appears to be rearing its ugly head.

Kristi Noem must have done the calculus before she decided to divulge that she needed to kill her 14-month old dog—in part to show potential readers/voters that she wasn’t afraid of making hard decisions.

OK.

Nevermind that she could have put the animal up for adoption, brought it to a shelter or obedience school, given it to someone who could handle it. Whatever the details actually are, however contrary and untrainable the dog was, this seems like something that was not necessarily worth sharing with the general public, and as a bit of a boast at that.

Stuff like this only adds fuel to the perceptions many have of far-right politicians. It’s like many of them have several screws loose, synapses that aren’t firing. They see things differently but in a more skewed, strange, even creepy way, like they grew up missing something, perhaps under the thumb of people who messed with their heads.

One might think that Ms. Noem would have anticipated the possibility of blowback here, but maybe not. Somehow, where she was coming from, her decisions and actions would be portrayed as virtuous.

Maybe the liberal media is making a mountain out of a mole hill, but in a country where pets– and dogs in particular– are often treated better than humans, Ms. Noem’s revelations come across as cold-hearted, and more than slightly tone deaf.

But let it never be said that she can’t handle a firearm. That ought to gain her some good will, sell some books.

A lot of words have become cliché because of their seeming overuse. One of these is “xenophobic.”

The latest headline is that President Biden has accused Japan and India—two of our needed allies— of being xenophobic. He’s probably not off base in his claims– various cultures around the world make no bones about their desire for purity, for “unadulterated” DNA. It’s just that one might wonder why this is news now, when only recently people were talking about how much the U.S needs Japan and India as allies, given the indisputable emergence of China and its no limits relationship with Russia.

There are those in this country for whom the label would seem to apply, namely the Republican “Freedom” Caucus, along with governors in southern border states. Well, and probably millions of Americans who have bought into the ugly effluence gushing from Trump’s pie hole at the behest of people like Stephen Miller.

What is it, exactly, that these people have against those who, despite what we may see and hear on a daily basis from the paranoid Right, prefer to see America as the shining city on a hill, a place that can offer them escape from the hell they’re running from? The fact that so many want to come here says a lot about where they’re coming from, doesn’t it?

There’s a difference between working out a border policy that takes into account the monumental tasks of processing and assimilation and the myriad attendant needs, and harboring a hands-off attitude of suspicion and even hatred of anyone who isn’t white and (Protestant?) Christian.

Citizenship in America demands a fair amount of all of us, including an ongoing effort to tamp down the irrational suspicion and fear, and to recognize the humanity of those who are making mindboggling journeys to get here.

And dare to take a look at your own family trees, for crying out loud!

Ah, Gettysburg. Haven’t been there in almost five years. I miss the place. It’s always been nice to head there in springtime, when the redbud is blooming and before the crush of summertime visitors commences.

We lived there for four years. It felt, and still feels like a privilege.

And there it is: the reason for the timing of moving marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug.

It’s not only because it would revisit the criminality of possession and remove certain barriers to employment and education opportunities, but also because it’s an election year and maybe it will help Joe Biden’s flagging poll numbers with younger voters.

Nothing like flagging poll numbers to heighten a sense of urgency.

The student protests are fine. This is what college students do, though they need to be prepared for pushback from campus administrators, police and other law enforcement bodies when they start occupying buildings and offering up antisemitic sentiments.

Protesting probably gives them a sense of purpose and belonging, gives voice to their idealism, and maybe it gets them out of classes. But it’s difficult not to question the intensity of their civil disobedience. There often seems to be a gathering of steam coupled with the aspect of unrealistic demands, a tendency to jump on a bandwagon for a while, simply because it’s something to do, and not necessarily something they’re passionate about, or convicted by.

That being said, I don’t know what’s going on in their heads. I’m sure some are motivated by the senselessness unfolding in Gaza and the West Bank. Divestment from anything associated with Israel appears to be at the root of student demands, but I guess I wonder if this is all a bit of an overreaction.

And what role do current politics, including a presidential election, play in all of this? What about Russian influence, or other players who have a stake in the outcome in November? Is this unrest organic, or is there a component of nefarious outside influence that has roiled the waters?

David Brooks says watch out for the Chicago Democratic convention—it has the potential to be a replay of 1968. It’s almost as if someone’s been studying their history and dusting off an old playbook…

… in hopes of getting Donald Trump, of all people, back in office? Can’t happen.