Distractions, Real and Fake

One of the common statements by our side is that a lot of what Trump says is a distraction. For example, as I noted the other day, Nancy Pelosi said that the Epstein mess is a “distraction.” I would argue that it isn’t. But let’s start with Mexican Coke, or Coca-Cola made with pure cane sugar. This is a classic Trump distraction. He’s underwater with his base on Epstein, so he starts talking about something completely unrelated. And, my God, does the DC press love it. Explainers about the difference between Mexican Coke and US Coke abound (here’s the AP, here’s the Post — they pushed their Mexican Coke vs US Coke story out as “breaking news” with an alert in the app yesterday).

Trump is very good at picking distractions. The Coke distraction is a great example because it’s a bit of novel knowledge, concerning a popular consumer product. You don’t need to know much to talk about it, it has very little real consequence, and anyone can strike up a conversation with you about it. This is one of Trump’s talents — he’s a 90’s TV guy, and a Coke controversy is right in that wheelhouse. And you can joke about it:

Anyway, the Epstein case is the opposite of Mexican Coke. It’s relatively complex, and if considered seriously, it has deep political consequences. There’s a small group of conspiracy theorists who are formulating theories around it, but it’s not a conspiracy theory at its core. It fits in a narrative about the wealthy, their abuse of power, and their ability to get away with crimes that would land average folks in jail (deservedly so).

If the institutional Democrats were interested in drawing a distinction between Republicans and Democrats, one way to do it would be to demand the release of the Epstein files, and to throw any Democrats in those files under the bus. We could talk about the way that powerful men have abused young women forever, and how that needs to change. I mean, shit, it shouldn’t be that hard to be the anti-pedophilia, anti-rape party. But, apparently, it is. Apparently the risk that Bill Clinton or someone like him did something bad outweighs the obvious political benefit of jumping on an issue that clearly has Trump flustered.

Speaking of Mexico and fearlessness, here’s Claudia in a crowd, unarmored SUV, no obvious security, as usual.