Catching up...

Go away for one or two days and so much happens! I'm catching up, I'm catching up.

Right now, I must belatedly add my small voice to the worldwide chorus expressing shock and horror at the Manchester terror episode. What can one say? A blog of this sort exists to offer a "slantwise" or off-kilter view of events, but no such view is necessary or desirable or even possible in this situation. You don't need me to tell you that one would have to be unimaginably evil to set off explosions at an event designed to appeal to young girls.

I suppose I should also offer a few words about candidate Greg Gianforte's assault on reporter Ben Jacobs in Montana. Although many mainstream periodicals have withdrawn support for Gianforte, I believe that he will win his special election, and will, in fact, do better than expected. The Gianforte campaign issued a statement which explained the event as an assault by an evil "liberal" journalist.

Tonight, as Greg was giving a separate interview in a private office, The Guardian's Ben Jacobs entered the office without permission, aggressively shoved a recorder in Greg's face, and began asking badgering questions. Jacobs was asked to leave. After asking Jacobs to lower the recorder, Jacobs declined. "Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Greg's wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground. It's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ.

Even though the particulars of this statement conflict with the audio recording of the event, voters in the red states have been trained to see all "liberals" as monsters addicted to deception. In short: Gianforte excused himself by offering up unadulterated right-wing paranoia. He filled the needle with strong, pure junk and gave the addicts a shot of what they crave. They'll worship him for it.

What set off Gianforte was Jacobs' impertinent insistence on asking a discomforting question regarding the CBO's bad news about Trumpcare. However, I suspect that part of what set the candidate on edge was the following:

And is there a Russian angle to this story? Of course there is. On April 25, Jacobs reported that Gianforte owned almost $250,000 in shares in a couple of index funds that are tied to the Russian economy. It doesn't seem like Gianforte is a full-scale kulak yet based on these investments, but it does suggest that his animus toward Jacobs might pre-date Wednesday evening.

Keep these words in mind when liberals blabber optimistically about capturing the House in 2018. The Trumpists, the right-wingers, and the Russians have plenty of money for bribes, and those who cannot be bribed are usually vulnerable to kompromat.

I'll be back soon with more on the "Russian front."