Bipartisan Style Tips. Free of Charge.

“If you're explaining, you're losing.

― Ronald Reagan, The Reagan Diaries

I wanted to start with a comment my Republican friends can agree with. I mean, if a conservative can't agree with St. Ronald, then what has the world come to?

And I would add to that, "If you are insulting people, you are losing as well."

Here's an example, though they happen daily now. At the NATO summit in The Hague, the President said this about new reports that the damage done in the Iran bombing mission may be lighter than he first declared...

“CNN is scum. MSDNC is scum. The New York Times is scum. They're bad people. They're sick. And what they've done is they've tried to make this unbelievable victory into something less."

Oh, and of course, the reporters involved should be fired, if not tried for treason. Is it just me, or is the bar for treason much lower than it was before?

Our Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, went even further...

“You cheer against Trump so hard; it’s like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad that you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes,” he told them.

“How many stories have been written about how hard it is, I don’t know, to fly a plane for 36 hours? Has MSNBC done that story? Has Fox? Have we done the story?” he added.

“How about how difficult it is to shoot a drone from an F15 or 16 or F22 or F35? Or what it’s like to man a patriot battery, or how hard it is to refuel mid-air?”

He then proceeded to berate his former Fox colleague Jennifer Griffin, a frankly (for Fox) even-handed reporter on the military. But the hyperbole didn't end there...

“President Trump directed the most complex and secretive military operation in history, and it was a resounding success resulting in a ceasefire agreement and the end of the 12-day war.”

For the record, D-Day, the June 6, 1944, Allied invasion of France, took a year of planning, involved 156,000 Allied soldiers and 195,700 naval personnel, and required cooperation of leaders from thirteen countries. It remains the largest seaborne invasion in history, but apparently pales in comparison to this bombing mission, excellent as it was.

But this stuff is par for the course, and seems to be the default argument for the administration. Make your praise so over-the-top as to border on parody, or, when in doubt, demean. Karoline Leavitt, the administration spokes-harpy, is a good example.

Her attitude is that of the ultimate "Karen" who looks at a room full of reporters and wants to speak to all of their managers.

By the way, my wife Karen, is not pleased with this nomenclature and would like to speak to someone about it.

But it doesn't stop at that. It shows in the questions that she or Hegseth or Trump, for that matter, don't want to answer. When that happens, demean the question as dumb, biased or incredibly naive. Then insult the reporter and their employers as "fake."

And if all else fails, invoke former President Biden. I know, he's gone relaxing in Rehoboth Beach, but whatever the answer may actually be to any given situation, you have to A): blame the situation on Biden and B): praise the inconceivably creative solution by President Trump. Both must be included for the full hat trick.

Foreign leaders have learned this as well, after the shameful treatment of a couple of them in the Oval Office. At the NATO meeting, the praise for Trump was florid and unstinting, while at the same time, as fawning as if from a Speaker of the House. That was publicly, anyway. The Daily Mirror Newspaper hired a professional lip reader to determine what world leaders were saying in quiet conversations...

The lip-reading pro picked apart a chat involving Mark Rutte (the Secretary General of NATO), Croatia's President Zoran Milanovic and Netherlands' Prime Minister Dick Schoof, where they appeared to be poking fun at the US President.

Their banter reportedly veered toward Trump when Rutte posed a question to Milanovic: "Did you get together at all?" Despite the basic nature of the inquiry, Rutte appeared tense, peering through narrowed eyes and leaning in, which it's alleged hinted at a deeper meaning behind their words. It is claimed Milanovic then tossed back a sardonic: "This is the Prime Minister of the USA. What a tosser. He wants to meet in France and speak there."

Schoof, taken aback by this, reportedly interjected with a stunned: "Are you mad?", clearly worried about the implications. To which Milanovic is said to have given a cryptic: "It depends what he wants."

According to the lip reader, Schoof echoed: "You are mad."

It is claimed Milanovic added: "Obviously it affects the world, doesn't it?" Affirming the significant impact of their topic, a sentiment to which Rutte concurred: "Yes, it does."

Milanovic concluded his thoughts on Trump saying: "What a tosser."

For those unaware of European slang insults, a "tosser" is technically a reference to masturbation, but is also a general insult directed at someone who is just plain dumb. Make of that what you will. Much of MAGA-world is upset at Queen Maxima of the Netherlands making a face during a photo with Trump...

And of course, he struck that standard pose he uses for every photo...

Then there is Karoline Leavitt's eerie doppelganger over at the Justice Department, Pam Bondi.

During congressional questioning, she took the Biden gambit and cranked it up to 11...

MORELLE: Would you suggest that the January 6 pardons would cover activities or crimes potentially committed outside of that?

BONDI: I don't know if you're referring to Joe Biden pardoning his son.

MORELLE: No. I'm actually referring to January 6.

BONDI: Do you mean the ones done by the autopen?

And so on. The technique, and that is giving it far more sophistication than it deserves, in this case, simply involves tossing out bumper stickers in lieu of answers. In fact, the questioner here simply gave up on getting an answer and handed it back to the committee chairman.

And on the subject of the autopen, which I have discussed before and Trump has used as well, the fixation on Joe Biden has now produced actual hearings, chaired by Rep. James Comer (R-Kaintuck), on whether President Gramps was getting old and feeble. Yes, hearings with witnesses and questions and everything. I can save everyone some time and trouble. Yes, he was. We all saw it. And your point is?

I suppose this constant hostility is appealing to the MAGA base, but it's essentially on a par with the average internet troll. Read any exchange of comments after an article in the Huffington Post or Drudge Report, and you'll see the same level of sophisticated repartee at work. For example...

• Holy Cow  Blue Bear2 hours ago Fewer illegals on the tax payers back. 
• thesecondsight  Holy Cow2 hours ago Go back to Breitbart, loser. Another troll flushed.
• Todd20036  Holy Cow an hour ago Illegals pay taxes.
• LLifeSafetyTech  Holy Cow8 minutes ago Proving just how clueless you and your kind are. 

An actual exchange on Mediaite this afternoon. Notice the rapier-like wit involved here. It's almost Truth Social quality. It will inevitably descend into "your MAMA" insults.

Seriously though, if you are unhappy with some of the reporting about the administration, why in the world do you think insulting said reporters is your answer? A little wit and style go a long way. Here are a couple of examples these guys might want to consider. One for my Republican friends...

And one for the Democratic side...

Look and learn.