Did Jon Ossoff Actually SAY That?

The Democratic U.S. senator from Georgia definitely said something. Was it nasty or anodyne? Crafty or guileless? Sexist or innocuous? Whatever it was, it was definitely incendiary; Republicans are in a sanctimonious frenzy, attempting, for once, to place themselves as champions of women in the workplace, a stance that seems to fit them every bit as snugly as an oversize Florsheim shoe.

So, what do you think has just happened?

To recapitulate: Speaking at a campaign rally in Atlanta on Sunday, Ossoff contrasted the plight of sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln with what he described as Donald Trump’s disengagement— playing golf, trading stocks, etc. “See, he doesn’t want to do the job,” Ossoff said. “He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar.”

The crowd roared its snark. Ossoff’s face remained impassive, as though he had just mentioned, say, tariffs in Canada.

Natalie, of course, is Natalie Harp, Trump’s 35-year-old aide who travels with a portable printer and battery pack and is known for feeding her boss complimentary clips about him all day, to reassure him he is beloved. She is said to be fiercely devoted to him, having once reportedly left him a note saying “You are all that matters to me.”

She has disdainfully been called Trump’s “Binky” or “Comfort Blanket.” Notably, she was one of a handful of aides with whom Trump chose to ride home from Ankara after being clandestinely shuttled off Air Force One in an airport catering truck, and transferred to a separate military plane, because of reported Iranian threats to his life. Among the people Trump did not take with him on the supposedly safer flight were Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, both of whom rode on the “decoy” flight.

Yesterday, nettled after CNN correspondent Kristen Holmes had asked him about about Ossoff’s statement — he ducked a straight answer — Trump then told her to “be quiet,” saying she was a “fake reporter.” The White House issued their own statement afterwards, calling Holmes “a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to journalism,” adding that “someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question.”

So, things are all hetted up. The GOP stalwarts have been all over social media talking about how dreadful a thing it is to imply that an attractive woman in the workplace had slept her way to the top.

Obligatory snark paragraph: It has been pointed out that Ms. Harp bears a super-superficial resemblance to Ivanka Trump.

So. Suddenly, the whispering rumor mills have ground this up and sprinkled it over overcooked sirloin. It is a meaty news story, now.

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Okay, two little financial items. Today, for the first time, the national debt is expected to hit the $40 trillion mark. This occurs after the government had to give back more than $100 billion in Trump’s shoot-from-the-hip tariffs, which were ruled illegal. Separate billion-plus checks went out to Walmart, Apple, Costco and Target.

The other financial item is a report that Trump’s crypto meme coin, $TRUMP, which was issued a year and a half ago, has decreased in value from $75 apiece to a buck and change. This has created vast losses for a lot of Magats who bought them at prices inflated by high-roller insiders — the people who bought fast and low and got out faster and high once the financially uninitiated hoi polloi had created a slush pool of exuberant overspending.

Financial experts will tut-tut you if you call this a Ponzi scheme — which they acknowledge it might seem to be because early investors profit off the money brought in by later investors. But the experts caution it is not exactly that. They will tell you it is more properly called a “Pump-and-Dump Dynamic,” or “The Greater Fool Theory.” Makes you feel much better, no?

(Trump and his corporate entities, being the “bank” here, are said to have walked away with $636 million. They got money for every trade, regardless of the amount, skimmed right off the top.)

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Two quick items about names:

I have just learned, exclusively, that the prime minister of Poland is named Donald Tusk. This just seems wrong to me and I thought I would share it with you.

But more important, I have just been informed of the existence of one Blaze Jordan, who is the third baseman of the St. Louis Cardinals. Blaze is his real name. It is on his birth certificate. Blaze Jordan seems to be a wee bit porky.

Here is the kicker: According to available metrics, he is among the slowest running third basemen in modern times.

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I work exhausting hours on The Gene Pool. You could reassure me and keep me calm and placid if you become a paying subscriber. You could be my Binky.