Spocko's Brain

I’m a HUGE fan of A Closer Look on the Seth Meyer show. It’s written by Sal Gentile and the supervising producer is Emily Erotas.They have a limited series podcast called A. Closer Look Back, talking about what they learned during Trump first term & what they can do to prepare for Trump 2.0. It’s insightful & funny and I highly recommend it.

Listening to this podcast and Rachel Maddow’s recent show on preparing for Trump’s next term got me thinking.

Who has a media and social media strategy to mess with Trump this time around? And, because nothing seems to hurt Trump, who is focusing on busting his nominees & minions? I ask because I don’t see the Dems doing it.

I wondered what I can do. Who can I help that I think is doing good work to counter the RW narrative? I looked at what was breaking thru the RW narrative IN MULTIPLE SPACES. One was comedy. So I wrote the best comedy writers & producers I knew about & asked them this question:

Dear Sal & Emily:

How can we on the left help you prepare for the scandals of nominees, so the COMEDY bits can be used to define them first?

What struck me in your A Closer Look back podcasts was how you talked about what you learned during the first Trump term and how you were overwhelmed by new scandals daily. You said you forgot about some scandals, but you remembered the jokes. I believe the same is true for a LOTS of people. 

You know that people need something goofy to see & discuss about people and issues. You saw how Weird got a reaction. It reached Trump & Fox News, but the scandals didn’t, so I’m looking for things that have broken through to the right, and want to make more of them. 

For Trump 2.0 I think getting out the weirdest information about Trump’s nominees & minions is one way to hurt them, since nothing seems to hurt Trump. So, how can I help you “flood the zone with good jokes about them?” 

I KNOW that jokes aren’t enough, but when I hear “Follow the money” from the Watergate days, I point out that today, if it’s from the Koch’s & the usual suspects, it’s totally legal! Thanks Citizens United!  

[BTW, if it’s not a crime for Trump to take millions from any source these days, who cares? However we have seen that Trump’s minions can still get into trouble around money and their other crimes. My favorite example is Rudy Giuliani. There are lots of weird stories about Rudy and the money he owes to Ruby Freeman & Shaye Moss for defaming them. I just found out he is hiding $16,300 per month in income he gets a charity founded in memory of a firefighter killed in the September 11 attacks. That is repulsive but BORING for video, so can use the video where he said he has never broken the law!

You talked about how hard it is to keep up with the news about the nominees. My friends at Democracy Labs created a tool that shows the links between the Billionaires, the cabinet picks, Project 2025 people and Influencers to Trump. I talked to the creators and suggested they should add YouTube links to the people’s names so you can do research for A Closer Look.

Here is the link to the tool. https://thedemlabs.org/2024/12/01/trump-nominees-map-dec-1-2024/

I used the tool/site to look up information and links on Sean Duffy, Trump’s nominee for Department of Transportation. Trump picked Duffy because he saw him on TV and is a MANLY MAN, especially compared to the GAY Pete Buttigieg. Sure Pete was in combat, but DUFFY was a LUMBERJACK* contest winner! 

 I expect Duffy will attack Pete Buttigieg for this year’s “Christmas Transportation” problems that Duffy, the LUMBERJACK, will fix by throwing axes at them, just like Pete Hegseth! (Who happens to be Duffy’s wife co-host on Fox and Friends Weekend!)

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We know Fox will position Duffy as being there for travelers with families, unlike Buttigieg who Duffy attacked for being on paternity leave and not doing anything about Transportation problems!  Duffy WOULD never go on Paternity leave, even though Duffy & his wife have 9 kids. But we can’t talk about politicians kids, especially since one of them has Down’s syndrome, HOWEVER you can talk about Duffy’s traveling with kids during the holidays. How do they do it!?

How many nannies do the Duffy’s have? Are they here legally?  Have the Duffy’s paid them correctly?

Where will the Duffy’s go for Christmas? To the 50-acre Hawaiian ranch they just bought for $3.5 million.  

(Fox doesn’t believe Real Americans vacation in Hawaii. Obama did, but only because he claimed to be born there, but we all know he was born in Kenya!)

Where did the Duffy’s get the money? Their Fox News salaries are one area. You might point out Duffy quit Congress because he said couldn’t live on $174K a year. The boring “Follow the money” people would ask, “Did you know that since 2019 Duffy has accepted almost $1 millions from BRG Group to lobby for the airlines, and transportation companies?” Link to Duffy and OpenSecrets lobbying profile WHO CARES!? It’s totally legal! BORING!!! 

But, what if you heard Rachel Campos-Duffy got a $1 million dollar settlement from Fox News for sexual harassment? EXCITING!

Sadly nobody will talk about sexual harassment at Fox News because both of them work there.  Also, she likely signed an NDA, and it was around the time she was named co-host of Fox and Friends Weekends. HOWEVER, you could play this clip from 2017,  when she talked about Al Franken and said,

“There are a lot of sexual harassers on the Hill who are quivering in their boots right now… Talk about draining the swamp. Let’s get rid of them. Let’s get rid of this secret fund that they have. Let’s let constituents know who are these people who’ve been accused of sexual harassment and are using a secret taxpayer fund to quiet their accusers.” — Rachel Campos-Duffy Nov 17, 2017

link to the video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10155941251265238

If that’s too serious for A Closer Look, I want to direct you to some wacky comments from his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy. 

“Former reality TV star Rachel Campos-Duffy has spent eight years spreading extremism and conspiracy theories as a contributor and host at Fox News, where she has pushed the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory, complained about “the eugenics mentality of the pro-choice movement,” and claimed that feminism is about “abortion and communism.”

Here is a link to a BUNCH of her wacky comments

Link https://www.mediamatters.org/rachel-campos-duffy/reality-tv-warping-reality-rachel-campos-duffy-has-made-career-pushing

* Sean Duffy’s Lumberjack videos

Duffy Bulls Eye throwing axes 
Duffy Climbing poles
Duffy log rolling

You could compare Sean Duffy’s Axe Throws and Pete Hegseth’s (Which I know you love) But that’s not enough, when people see Lumberjack they instantly think of the Monty Python song, maybe you can use that as a connection. Remember the lyrics to that song? 

MOUNTY CHORUS

He’s a lumberjack and he’s OK
He sleeps all night and works all day
PALIN
I cut down trees, I wear high heels
Suspenders and a bra
I wish I were a girlie
Just like my dear papa

Link to Money Python Lumberjack video with lyrics 

Thank you for your work on A Closer Look. I’m a big fan. I even have a jackal mug and a Late Night with Seth Meyer’s t-shirt.

LLAP 
Spocko
Mastodon: @spocko@mastodon.online 
Bluesky: @spocko.bsky.social  

Twitter/X @Spockosbrain 

P.S. BTW, I suggested to my one rich Democrat friend that he pay me to feed you folks raw material to work with in advance so you can confirm it & write some of the 100 jokes Seth demands every day. He suggested I do it for free, because I love Democracy. Frankly, if the Democrats were smart, they’d hire comedy writers to help them with Zingers. I’ll bet Scollins or Baze would love to write jokes for Chuck Schumer…

P.P.S. I write for the progressive blog Hullabaloo, the video site Crooks & Liars and my own blog Spocko’s Brain based on two classic episodes, A Piece of the Action and Spock’s Brain. Since 2006 I’ve COST rightwing media 100’s of millions in lost revenue. Here is the link to the New York Times story about me and the Spocko Method which has resulted in the loss of 100’s of millions of dollars in advertising revenue for the distributors and broadcasters of right wing radio and TV. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/technology/15radio.html

I was on the Nicole Sandler Show on 12-2-2024 singing the praises of Sal and a Closer Look. I mentioned my idea on the show, here it is cued up.

I just saw a great video from my old friend Cliff Schechter on his new YouTube channel, Cliff’s Edge.

Is It Time to Start FIGHTING Dirty Against Donald Trump?

After I watched it, I liked, subscribed and joined the channel as a paying member. I’d like folks to do the same. Then I called Cliff to talk about it.

I’ve known Cliff for years and we talked about “fighting” on camera on RW media, and the opportunity for a lefty billionaire to buy a media outlet like CNBC and MSNBC. I hope it happens. If it DOES happen, we need to understand the fear of funders on the left to fighting back and what to do about it.

One thing that I’ve seen is that people who consider themselves journalists in the mainstream media don’t see “fighting back” as their job. That’s the job of activists. That’s the job of Democrats. Many see their role as reporting the facts. (Or “documenting the atrocities” as Atrios would say.)

I’ve written about what happens to journalists when they do report the facts, do the “both sides” bit, and talk to experts. They get threatened. Accepting death threats IS . . . → Read More: What’s Behind The Fear of Fighting Back?

NEW YORK— A time-traveling man from the 22nd century revealed Monday that, while many timelines are terrible, the current version, as of Nov 17, 2024 is one of the worst ones. Wolcott, a self-described physicist and adventurer who traveled back in time from 2147 New York City, expressed sorry for the pain people in America will be suffering.

“Look, time travel isn’t like in the movies. When we go back and change something, a whole new timeline is created. Sometimes the people in that timeline are happy, but in some leftover timelines, it’s TERRIBLE! For example, in the timeline where Al Gore is President everyone wears brown. Sure they stopped global climate change & Americans have universal health care, but not everything is perfect! The Wire doesn’t exist! Breaking Bad was never made!

Another timeline has the first female President, but it’s not great either. Sure women’s reproductive freedom is assured. But that timeline doesn’t have an MRA vaccine for COVID-19, because there was no botched response by the other President who ignored the pandemic playbook. The show trials for her impeachment are still continuing. Also, there are NO FUN press conferences! Late night comedy is horrible!

Those . . . → Read More: Time Traveler: Sorry about your timeline

Now that it’s clear that Elon is “Dark Gothic MAGA” he’s using multiple ways to help Trump return to power. Here’s one I spotted the other day, from Doge Designer (a suspected Musk sock puppet account).

He says Elon Musk’s PAC launched an X Community focused on “exposing voter fraud and election interference” and it asks people to post videos or information about “election interference” or “anything compromising election integrity” in the X Community.

What’s this really about? It’s a place to dump false and unverified stories that can be used to create the appearance of widespread voter fraud. It will be used right after the election to demand that the votes not be certified until the “fraud” is investigated. It’s also about “flooding the zone with sh*t” in social media so that the media, who are all still on Twitter/X, will have to address all the “fraud” that is posted. Especially since the Musk X algorithm will be amplifying them.

I went to X’s “Election Integrity Community” and found a handful of posts. Three were looking to dox someone who delivered ballots. MAGAts are going after a postal worker for doing his job. Just like they . . . → Read More: Musk’s X community is being used to dox election workers & spread lies

NPR just reported that one of two staffers involved in the altercation at Arlington National Cemetery is a deputy campaign manager for Donald Trump’s reelection bid. The two staffers, according to a source with knowledge of the incident, are deputy campaign manager Justin Caporale and Michel Picard, a member of Trump’s advance team.

I thought it was Chris LaCivita or Cory Lewandowski. One of the misogynistic a-holes on Donald Trump’s campaign staff pushed a female employee at Arlington National Cemetery. It’s probably Chris “I’m the a-hole who created Swift Boating” LaCivita, but it might be Cory “I don’t have to be honest with the media” Lewandowski. As of Sept 5th 2024, the DoD and the DOJ aren’t going after them for what happened at Arlington. Why?

Trump at Arlington. L to R Cory Lewandowski, Justin Caporale, Chris LaCivita

The FEC isn’t going after the Trump campaign for their use of campaign footage from Arlington in an ad. Why?

The outlet that broke the story, NPR, KNOWS exactly who did what, but they aren’t revealing that information. Why?

None of them are pursuing the Trump campaign for their blatant disrespect and law breaking for 3 reasons, . . . → Read More: The DoD & the DOJ are afraid to bust the Arlington pusher on Trump’s campaign staff