The truth is out there

But why pay attention to it when you can look at old UFO images? My latest guide to distractions in the news.

NEW ORLEANS — It’s been another jam-packed week of news. The Iran war entering its 11th big week. The price of gasoline going up. The cost of mortgages going up and, it looks like, the taxpayer share of the White House ballroom going up.

With so many outrages developments, it’s easy to bog down on one disgrace story and let it distract you from others.

So, once again, here’s a partial rundown presented in (what I hope is) a helpful Q&A format:

Q: Is there still a ceasefire in the U.S. war against Iran?

A: If by ceasefire you mean the actual ceasing of firing, well, no.

If by ceasefire you mean firing at each other while the government insists there is still a ceasefire, and while various media reports describe said ceasefire as “strained” or “fragile,” then, yes.

Q: Based on previous statements by Donald Trump, this war, which we’ve won several times now, should be over. How has Trump sought to assure the nation that he’s got everything under control?

A: By taking a motorcade trip to inspect work on the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial. He is having the pool painted a soothing, tranquil blue color in order to give it the YMCA lap pool atmosphere that Lincoln, as we all remember from our high school history lessons, so admired.

Q: Should Trump be so obsessively focused on painting the Reflecting Pool when the nation is tied up in a wa… uh… fragile ceasefire?

A: Gee! As it happens, Rachel Scott of ABC News asked that very thing Thursday and Trump, responded with typical presidential dignity …

Q: Uh-oh.

A: … respectfully telling her, “It’s such a stupid question you ask” and calling her a “horror show,” among other disparagements.

Q: Speaking of respect, did a white Louisiana state senator call the executive director of the state Democratic Party, who is Black, “boy”?

A: It’ not entireley clear. However, it should be noted, for background that state Sen. Jay Morris, pushed a bill during the current legislative session that knocked Calvin Duncan — a Black man, exonerated former prisoner and underdog politician in New Orleans — out of office after he received 68% of the vote for the post of clerk of criminal court. Also, legislation Morris handled before a committee last week, prompted by a Supreme Court ruling, will likely lead to Black people, one-third of the state’s population, being under-represented, again, in the state congressional delegation.

At the end of his committee testimony, Morris clearly told Black opponents, “Y’all need to shut up” as he left the witness table. Available recordings picked that up. But, amid the noise, he cannot be heard calling state Democratic Party Executive Director Dadrius Lanus “boy.”

Lanus says he did.

Morris says he didn’t. So the question here is whether he said the quiet part out loud.

Q: Did the Trump administration finally release a trove of “never before seen files” on Friday?

A: Yes.

Q: What do those files tell us about Jeffrey Epstein?

A: Nothing. The files contained information on decades of possible UFO sightings.

Q: What did we learn about UFOs from the files?

A: About as much as we learned about Jeffrey Epstein.

According to NBC News:

“Many of the declassified videos consist of grainy U.S. military footage from infrared sensors, and the release included a slew of mostly indiscernible photos showing points of light or dark and unusually shaped objects.”

Q: Speaking of unusually shaped objects, was a 22-foot-tall, gold-leaf-covered bronze statue of Donald Trump unveiled Wednesday at the Trump National Doral golf course in Miami?

A: Yes. According to The Daily Beast, which also references earlier reporting from The New York Times:

“The 22-foot structure reportedly cost $450,000 and was funded by a group of crypto investors, who commissioned the Trump likeness as part of a promotional campaign for their memecoin, $PATRIOT.”

Q: Doesn’t that smack of the kind of idolatry that would upset Trump’s conservative Christian followers?

A: Actually, it kind of smacks of influence peddling. But don’t worry about the idolatry part. Mark Burns, an evangelical pastor who led the unveiling ceremony said, according to The Daily Beast, that it was “blasphemy” to compare the statue to the golden calf from the of Exodus.

Q: Well, at least these Trump vanity projects like the giant statue and Trump’s new White House ballroom aren’t being funded by taxpayers. Right?

A: Not so fast. Senate Republicans have included $1 billion in a funding bill for security measures at Trump’s ballroom. Axios reports, however, that the proposal is running into opposition among House Republicans.

Q: Won’t a fight over funding draw more attention to the fact that Trump promised the new ballroom wouldn’t cost taxpayers anything?

A: Never mind that. The Pentagon says additional UFO files are on the way.

Q: Really!?!

A: Yes, according to NBC the Pentagon said more UFO files will be added to a website as more distractions are needed “on a rolling basis.”