It wasn’t a great day for news. Here are a few of the lowlights:
* Feckless Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg blamed Donald Trump for the East Palestine train derailment and consequent chemical spill:
We’re constrained by law on some areas of rail regulation (like the braking rule withdrawn by the Trump administration in 2018 because of a law passed by Congress in 2015), but we are using the powers we do have to keep people safe. https://t.co/xRyyYpGOwd
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) February 14, 2023
Buttigieg has held his sinecure for more than two years now, without apparently having done anything. To be fair, though, no one ever expected much from him.
* John Fetterman checked into Walter Reed Hospital to be treated for clinical depression:
Senator John Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed last night "to receive treatment for clinical depression," Fetterman's chief of staff says in a new stmt.
"While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks." pic.twitter.com/XAprqJDSq1
— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) February 16, 2023
I feel sorry for anyone who suffers from depression, and wish Fetterman well. But the fact is that there has never been a time when he was remotely capable of discharging his duties as a senator. One wonders how many of those who voted for Fetterman in November, likely in media-induced ignorance of his incapacity, now regret their choice. Very few, I suspect.
* CNN host Don Lemon insulted not only Nikki Haley, but millions of women by saying that Haley is “past her prime,” on his theory that a woman’s prime is her 20s and 30s. Just Google it! Worse, Lemon loosed this howler for political gain: he was criticizing Haley for questioning 80-year-old Joe Biden’s acuity when she, herself, was “past her prime.”
Outrage followed, leading Lemon to issue a non-apology:
Notice the distinct lack of any apology to Nikki Haley. https://t.co/vXCPN6nE9h
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) February 16, 2023
I’m not sure that saying he has countless women in his life was exactly the right tack to take. In any event, apologizing to a Republican is not something Lemon is willing to do. He is, to put it charitably, a stupid person. A real news network would be embarrassed to put him on the air, but CNN, as the saying goes, don’t embarrass easy.
Let’s hope tomorrow is better.
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