What in the world has happened to the Manhattan DA’s office this week? Alvin Bragg has managed to foul up what Adam Baldwin calls “a mid-level provocation, trying to provoke Trump or his followers into some sort of over-reaction.” It hasn’t worked, Adam argues, since Trump supporters “have become hip to the scam of agent provocateurs.” But what is Bragg’s real aim, and why are progressives so angry at Van Jones for calling him out?
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Welcome back to my VIP video series “The Amiable Skeptics,” featuring my friend Adam Baldwin! Adam is well-known for his long and storied Hollywood career, starting with My Bodyguard, and especially for his roles in Full Metal Jacket, Firefly, its film sequel Serenity, Chuck, and The Last Ship.
Speaking of mid-level provocations, Adam and I talk briefly about the deepfaked photos of Trump supposedly being arrested. That didn’t work people up either, although it’s not yet clear who created those and why.
This entire exercise reminds me of another hyped-up prosecutorial flop, I tell Adam. “It’s beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas,” I say, “when the Left was absolutely sure that Patrick Fitzgerald was going to nail Karl Rove over exposing Valerie Plame’s name to reporters.” It has other parallels too: “It’s this idea of using prosecutorial power not to seek justice but to wreak revenge on your political enemies.” We’re seeing the same kind of hyperventilation over what is a loser of a case from Bragg, which may end up diluting other attempts to prosecute Trump.
That was Van Jones’ point, and even Michael Avenatti thinks this is a loser, as Adam and I discuss. We also talk about the New York Times’ own dive into a conspiracy theory via a thoroughly discredited source, and much more. Be sure to watch the whole show and join the conversation in the comments!
