CrankyYank Vol. 46: From Ivanka with Love | Rerun #Election2016 | Peak of @HighValley & More

Call it a collision of conflicting moral compasses.

Respected Russian-born journalist Julia Ioffe got shit-canned from Politico yesterday because, well, she tweeted some edgy (read: funny and true) stuff about Donald Trump and daughter Ivanka. And despite being an earnest, inside-the-Beltway online political rag, Politico still generally—generally—maintains a veneer of journalistic decorum.

Currying favor with authoritarian regimes does not appear in any journalism-school textbook, however. For example, Politico had no problem running with an unsourced story in October 2015 about Joe Biden “self-leaking” his son’s dying wish that he run for president.

That post reads like a Page Six castaway—where anonymous, unnamed sources are given full reign to speculate at will.

For her part, Ioffe issued a multi-tweet apology and said statements like that will “never happen again.” Which is a shame, actually, because her tweet got people talking about the issue at hand: nepotism in the Trump White House.

In addition to touching on Donald Trump’s gross past comments about his daughter Ivanka, her tweet also shines a light on the inappropriate role Ivanka and her siblings are poised to have in a Trump administration. Late yesterday it was widely reported that Ivanka will take over the space in the White House usually dedicated for the First Lady.

Despite claims of a “clear wall” between him and his company, Trump’s children have been included in very high-profile meetings already, and it’s rumored that one of his sons could be named in a significant capacity simultaneously to running the family business.

All these promises of a firewall are utter nonsense, of course. He has no intention of a dividing line based on his and his family’s actions. Ivanka, after all, sat in on Trump’s very first meeting with a foreign head of state. And that’s just the beginning of his disgusting and alarming conflicts of interest that will gravely harm our country.

Related: The real trouble in canoodling with Russia (Fiscal Times)

 

Let’s play the Alternate Universe game: a Democrat (Clinton or Sanders) was obviously assisted by a foreign power in being elected the 45th POTUS. Republicans would accept the result and go quietly in to the night, yes?

If you believe that then I’ve got a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. Hold that thought.

Two videos caught my attention this week about the state of our Electoral College and how the electors should vote their conscience. Both Keith Olbermann and a cadre of politics-forward celebs are urging electors to swing their votes away from Donald Trump.

While pleading to electors is an admirable cause, it’s not the right course of action. And you can bet your ass that Republicans wouldn’t be engaging in this type of civil pleading; either in court or in congress, the GOP as a unified bloc would be trying to reverse the injustice and illegality of a foreign power determining the outcome of the U.S. election.

We should be working toward tossing out our existing election results and calling another general election.

And that’s what we should be doing. We should be working toward tossing out our existing election results—particularly when you factor in Greg Palast’s work on voting problems in a state like Michigan—and calling another general election.

Finding a moderate republican to replace Trump would be hilarious if they weren’t actually advocating for it. First, I can count on one hand the number of genuinely moderate GOPers in America. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million, and she is the rightful person to be granted the honor of the presidency.

 

Even though I’m a city boy at heart, exposure to artists like Matthew Kahler and Shawn Mullins broadened my appreciation for bluegrass, country and southern soul. (Shawn Mullins is my personal hero, but I digress.)

Enter High Valley, who’s been making some kick-ass music—and also one of my cherished Tweeps. With songs like “Make You Mine” and “I Ain’t Changin'” they’re reinventing the country genre and doing it in style.

Jump on over to iTunes and make sure to follow them on Twitter.

 

What’s better for healing than a good laugh? I give you some of the best jokes of the week from my Twitter friends.

 

That’s a wrap guys. We’ll see you right back here next Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m.

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Will Pollock is an Atlanta-based freelance multimedia journalist focusing on pop-culture, politics, journalism & media, retail, real estate, travel, politics, and human interest. 

He is the author of two books (Pizza for Good & Leaving Triscuit), with more on the way. Sign up for the mailing list, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram—and check out the book links below.

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