Pun Salad

As I type, the election punters are saying (with their own money):

It's been a pretty quiet week odds-wise. The bettors seem to be increasing their hopes that Michelle Obama will come to the rescue and prevent another Biden-Trump rematch. And can anyone deny that she'd be a formidable candidate if she chose to run?

But "Other" continues to be a strong contender.

Also of note:

• What's that song again? Oh, right. It's "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club. 'Twas a big hit back 40 years ago, kids. And Vivek might consider it for his campaign song.

  Max Burns takes a look at Vivek Ramaswamy’s no good, very bad week. Example:

  On Monday night, Ramaswamy sat down for what should have been a softball interview with Fox’s most outspokenly conservative anchor, Sean Hannity. The conversation quickly derailed when Hannity called out Ramaswamy for misrepresenting his position on ending aid to Israel.

  When Ramaswamy claimed Hannity was misquoting him, the anchor doubled down, offering to read Ramaswamy’s exact quote to the audience. Hannity’s unexpected jab sent Ramaswamy into a cascade of stutters and stumbles — and revealed how much of Ramaswamy’s campaign strategy depends on doing interviews with reporters who won’t challenge his ideas.

  He comes and goes, he comes and goes.

• Maybe that book was written by some other guy named Vivek Ramaswamy. CNN reports a bit of cognitive dissonance: Ramaswamy makes two false claims about what he wrote in his own book

  Over a span of four days, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy made two different false claims about what he wrote in his own 2022 book.

  At the first Republican presidential debate last Wednesday, Ramaswamy claimed rival candidate Chris Christie was not telling the truth when Christie said Ramaswamy had said “much different things” about former President Donald Trump in the book than the glowing assessment he was offering at the debate. But Christie was correct. Ramaswamy’s book, “Nation of Victims,” contains sharp criticism of Trump as well as some praise.

  Then, on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Ramaswamy delivered another falsehood while trying to deflect moderator Chuck Todd’s questioning about the book’s pointed rejection of Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was “stolen.”

  Ramaswamy claimed that, if Todd had actually read “Nation of Victims,” he would have seen that, in the very same chapter as the criticism of Trump’s claims about the 2020 election, Ramaswamy had written about how “big tech” had interfered in that election by suppressing a late-campaign story related to Hunter Biden’s laptop. Ramaswamy said “about 20 pages” of the book were devoted to that subject, which he said he had also brought up in his 2021 book “Woke, Inc.”

  Ramaswamy was wrong again.

  Not bad for CNN. But that's a low bar. To their credit, they did notice (because everyone else was noticing): Biden tells three false personal anecdotes in economic speech.

  But theit "fact check" page reveals the double standard we discussed a couple days ago. From the headlines:

  …debunking Trump's dishonest attacks…
  …27 Donald Trump elecion lies…
  …10 of the lies Trump used…
  …Trump lies again…
  …21 Donald Trump election lies…
  …Trump tells another election lie…
  …Trump's blizzard of dishonesty…

  Well, you get the point. Will CNN (etc.) ever get around to calling Biden a liar? Breath-holding is not recommended.

• What "transparency problem"? I can see right through him. C.J. Ciaramella seems to think it's an issue, though: Joe Biden's Email Aliases Are a Potentially Serious Transparency Problem.

  The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has more than 5,000 potential emails from three aliases President Joe Biden used while serving in the Obama administration, according to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed Monday.

  The New York Post first reported in 2021 that Biden used at least three pseudonyms—"Robin Ware," "Robert L. Peters," and "JRB Ware"—on emails that mixed family and government business. The aliases were reportedly discovered in emails found on Hunter Biden's infamous laptop.

  C.J. goes through the sordid history of government officials hiding behind email aliases. And of course, Hillary's homebrew server.

• They are "furious", because it will be obvious he's doing what Joe and Kamala can't. I have no idea how reliable the Townhall "Tipsheet" is, but this is too good to check: Biden, Harris Aides Furious That Newsom Plans to Debate DeSantis: 'Disrespectful'

  Aides to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are reportedly less than thrilled that Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) plans to debate his rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.).

  As rumors swirl that Newsom is next in line to replace Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, several Biden staffers view the governor as a nuisance.

  "It's disrespectful," an outside Harris adviser said, according to a report from NBC News. “Joe Biden is running with Kamala Harris. That's the Democratic ticket.”

  FYI, Politico reports that the negotiations about that debate have "reached an impasse". DeSantis wants a live audience, Newsom does not.

  I hate to say it, but I'm with Newsom there.