This week, in a prelude to the upcoming debates, presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump participated in NBC's "Commander-In-Chief" Forum, moderated by Matt Lauer.
Although the forum was ostensibly an opportunity for the candidates to discuss issues related to foreign policy and the military, nearly half of Clinton's time was spent talking about her damn emails.
Meanwhile, Trump was given free reign to say whatever he wanted, facts be damned.
After lying about his support for the Iraq war, mansplaining PTSD to a female veteran suffering from it, denigrating U.S. generals, defending an incredibly offensive tweet about sexual assault in the military, sharing his impressions from classified intelligence briefings, and calling for the commission of war crimes, Trump moved on to his favorite subject (other than himself)—Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
Trump then proceeded to lavish praise on Putin, both for his strength and popularity, while dismissing concerns about his brutality.
Suffice it to say, this did not sit well with all of Trump's supporters in Congress—but his running mate dutifully had his back.
And, the next day, Trump found an audience that was even more sympathetic to his pro-Russian/anti-American message when he (unknowingly) appeared on Larry King's Kremlin-backed TV show.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson; Roundtable: Tom Brokaw (NBC News), Democratic Strategist Stephanie Cutter, Audie Cornish (NPR) & David Brooks (New York Times).
Face The Nation: CIA Director John Brennan; Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA); National Security Panel: Jeffrey Goldberg (The Atlantic), Former Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend & Journalist Steven Brill; Roundtable: Peggy Noonan (Wall Street Journal), Mark Leibovich (New York Times), Jamelle Bouie (Slate) & Amy Walter (Cook Political Report).
This Week: Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson; Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (9/11); Former Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS Gen. John Allen (Ret.); Roundtable: Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), E.J. Dionne (Washington Post), John Heilemann (Bloomberg Politics), Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard) & Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D).
Fox News Sunday: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R); Rep. Xavier Beccera (D-CA); Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson; Roundtable: Republican Strategist Lisa Boothe, George Will (Washington Post) & Julie Pace (Associated Press) & Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton; Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson; Former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card; Republican Strategist Mary Matalin.
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on "Gold Star Parents" (preview); and, a report on the high incidence of earthquakes in Oklahoma, where oil and gas production is injecting vast amounts of waste water into the earth (preview).
Late night shows:
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Monday: TV Host Dr. Phil McGraw; Actor Alan Cumming; Musical Artist Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam.
Tuesday: Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Actress Millie Bobby Brown; Band The Head and the Heart.
Wednesday: Actress Emma Roberts; NBA Hall of Famer Allen Iverson; Rachel Maddow (MSNBC).
Thursday: Actress Tracee Ellis Ross; Actor Andrew Rannells; Musical Duo Phantogram.
Friday: Guests TBA.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Monday: Hip-Hop Artist Tip "T.I." Harris; Tuesday: theSkimm Co-Founders Danielle Weisberg & Carly Zakin; Wednesday: Internet Personality Hannah Hart; Thursday: Guest TBA.
And, elsewhere...
At this week's "Values Voter Summit," Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) took a page out of Donald Trump's book and projected his own deficiencies onto Hillary Clinton.
Rep. Louie Gohmert dove fully into health conspiracies about Hillary Clinton on Friday, declaring the Democratic presidential nominee "mentally impaired" multiple times.
"A true believer does what Jesus did ... you don't make fun of people who are impaired, have special needs, and whether you like her or not, Hillary Clinton's made clear, she is mentally impaired," Gohmert joked, to some laughter from the crowd.
Seemingly invoking conspiracy theories about Clinton's health that have been debunked, Gohmert referenced a concussion Clinton sustained in a fall in 2012 as his guess for the start of her "impairment."
"Maybe it was the concussion, the fall back when she did, or maybe who knows, they won't tell us what really is going on with her, but if I were going to smash cell phones, BlackBerrys, I'd use a two-pound sledge," he said, referring to a recent FBI report that said at least one of her phones as secretary of state was destroyed with a hammer. "Maybe someone got to whaling around, hit her again. We ought to be praying for Hillary Clinton. There's special needs there -- mental impairment."
Gee, I wish we had one of them doomsday machines.
– Trix