Illustration by Henry Chamberlain. What A Tangled Web We Weave When First We Practice To Deceive!
Maybe you’ll never read the Mueller Report. Well, don’t feel too bad.
Many a House Democrat hopes that Americans may finally be convinced that there is overwhelming evidence that Trump should be frog-marched out of office byway of the Mueller Report. They believe that if only Americans read the report or even a Cliff Notes version or maybe even seeing the big man himself forced to testify about his own report that then a collective light bulb would go off across the land. Well, there’s an even easier way to achieve that eureaka moment. Just go see the new Spider-Man movie.
Illustration by Henry Chamberlain. What supervillain would Bill Barr be? Doctor Octopus?
Nothing hits a person harder than to be betrayed by someone that they’ve grown to trust. Just think of this magical connection that Trump has with his base of supporters. It’s pure magic, right? Well, Spider-Man develops a bond with Mysterio in this new movie: one raw talent finds a mentor in a mature and seasoned superhero from another world. Pure magic! And then Mysterio delivers the greatest cut of all. He not only totally betrays Spider-Man’s trust, he proves to be a master of deception who doesn’t care who he hurts since he sees everyone as more than willing to be decieved. If only Mysterio could be impeached!
Illustration by Henry Chamberlain. Trump Demands Loyalty from Comey.
Well, there’s no impeaching Mysterio or even sadly hoping he’ll just go away with the next election cycle. Mysterio is around for as long as he wants striking fear over and over again. You gotta wonder if Trump finds anything useful in the Mysterio playbook. Mysterio and Trump would get along. Heck, they’re both already sharing from the same dictator playbook: strike fear, sow distrust, promise everything, discard any rules or sense of decency. If that were crystal clear to citizens, they’d want a guy like that out of office pronto, right?
Illustration by Henry Chamberlain. Lots and Lots of Fire and Fury!
And then the house lights go up and the movie is over. Mysterio is only fiction, right?
You know you want to read it.
Gee, if you had a guy like Mysterio running the country, it would make sense to impeach him, wouldn’t it? People wouldn’t just pretend there wasn’t a problem, would they? Well, truth is always stranger than fiction.
Nice analogy. I’d be laughing if I didn’t feel like crying.
I also love the Trump/Barr drawing: Bill’s tiny little head dwarfed by Trump’s gigantic arm and head, whispering his poison into Bill’s little ear.
It does seem, amazingly, that we do need a Mysterio so that things are crystal clear to people. Or….are people willfully ignoring the truth because they think they’re *finally* getting what they want out of a leader? Either way, truth IS stranger than fiction, and we’re eating, sleeping, and breathing strange these days, aren’t we?
Have you seen the new season of Stranger Things? Well, I won’t spoil anything just by saying that the Soviets play an important role in the plot. Since the Putin-Trump regime, we’ve returned to those stranger times and then some. One thing that is crystal clear in the Mueller Report is how the Russians interfered in the 2016 election. This basic fact is repeatedly dismissed and/or denied by Trump. We have a long, long list of reasons now to pursue impeachment or invoke the 25th amendment but we don’t. Ah, strange times indeed.
Great post. Truth certainly is stranger than fiction – and often more sinister too as in this case – sadly.
We’re right in the thick of these strange and sinister times! However, there are a number of individuals, like Robert Mueller, who have set in motion corrective measures within the legal system.