twitter is abuzz about an article by Jonathan D. Karl in The Atlantic — “Inside William Barr’s Breakup With Trump,” which has snippets of interviews done by Karl with disgraced AG Bill Barr. It is yet another attempt by Barr to whitewash the stains off his so-called reputation by stating about trump’s Big Lie — “We realized from the beginning it was just bullshit."
Jonathan D. Karl is the chief Washington correspondent for ABC News. His book on the last days of the Trump administration, Betrayal, will be published on November 16, 2021.
Among the various revelations in the article is this little bizarre conversation that took place at the White House on Dec 1 -
The details of this meeting were described to me by several people present. One told me that Trump had “the eyes and mannerism of a madman.”
“I think you’ve noticed I haven’t been talking to you much,” Trump said to him (Barr). “I’ve been leaving you alone.”
Barr later told others that the comment was reminiscent of a line in the movie Dr. Strangelove, in which the main character, Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper, says, “I do not avoid women, Mandrake, but I do deny them my essence.” Trump, Barr thought, was saying that he had been denying him his essence.
Surely Barr is familiar with Brigadier General Jack. D. Ripper’s character in the Stanley Kubrick masterpiece Dr. Strangelove, but does he really understand what the word “essence” meant in the film? Here is the segment from the film of General Ripper ranting about fluoridation, “commies”, precious bodily fluids and denying women his “essence” -
From the movie —
Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper :
- Well, I, uh... I... I... first became aware of it, Mandrake, during the physical act of love.
- Yes, a uh, a profound sense of fatigue... a feeling of emptiness followed.
- Luckily I... I was able to interpret these feelings correctly. Loss of essence.
- I can assure you it has not recurred, Mandrake.
- Women uh... women sense my power and they seek the life essence. I, I do not avoid women, Mandrake.
- But I, I do deny them my essence.
You tell me what Barr was thinking and what he thought trump was thinking in this bizarro conversation.
Perhaps, Barr always thought of trump as a modern day Jack D. Ripper, totally insane with a head full of conspiracy theories and the power to blow up the world. Perhaps, Barr was just demonstrating how little he thought of trump.
The conversation continued with some more sexual profanity -
Trump brought up Barr’s AP interview.
“Did you say that?”
“Yes,” Barr responded.
“How the fuck could you do this to me? Why did you say it?”
“Because it’s true.”
The president, livid, responded by referring to himself in the third person: “You must hate Trump. You must hate Trump.”
Yes, these statements by Barr do not amount to a hill of beans, given Barr’s role in turning the DOJ into a tool to serve trump, but every little bit helps. Let’s use these words to neutralize trump, McConnell and the right-wing machinery. The dark monster called the republican party and the stranglehold that trump and his lunatic supporters have on the GOP, is still lurking out there, chipping away at our Democracy and our national sanity. Let’s keep exposing their lies, their madness and let’s keep working to win the House and the Senate in 2022.