Posts Tagged ‘reality television’

Ivanka Retooling for White House Exit Strategy

November 13, 2020

Ivanka Retooling for White House Exit Strategy

Presidential Advisorsweatshop shmata merchant, book marketer, multimillionaire wifenanny-hiring mother, retail brand and former runway model Ivanka Trump is also an hôtelièr, earning millions by renting out rooms in a publicly-owned building her Dad’s company leases in Washington. Recently, she became an administration employment coach, urging the 30 million Americans who lost jobs during the pandemic to “Find Something New,” implying that their rich daddies can find them something.

Facing her own unemployment, Ivanka is looking for “Something New” herself, possibly a reality TV show. Good choice. she’s been a cast member of the White House reality show for the past four years.

More:

“What will Ivanka Trump do next? Probably try hard to stay in the public eye,” Arwa Mahdawi, The Guardian

“Goodbye, Ivanka,” Dahlia Lithwick, Slate

Related:

“Ivanka Trump obsessed with status, says former friend in tell-all essay,” Rory Carroll, The Guardian

“Six Things We Learned About Ivanka Trump From Her Ex-BFF’s Vanity Fair Essay,” Mimi Montgomery, Washingtonian

“Ivanka Boldly Highlights Trump Administration’s Big Pandemic Success,” Brian Kahn, Gizmodo Earther

“Ivanka Trump Applies for Job as Biden’s Daughter,” Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

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Top image (Ivanka’s book-like object) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

How ‘The Apprentice’ Manufactured Trump

November 14, 2018

“How ‘The Apprentice’ Manufactured Trump,” an Atlantic video.

In 2004 the first season of The Apprentice reintroduced pro wrestling promoter Donald Trump as an incredibly successful and intelligent businessman, the biggest real estate developer in New York City (had to be true, it was on TV, right?). The show was a hit, and boosted the Trump brand. The show’s producers created his persona and sold his image to America. How did they create a reality TV president?

More:

“The Inside Story of How ‘The Apprentice’ Rescued Donald Trump,” Michael Kranish,Marc Fisher, Fortune

“How Reality TV Made Donald Trump President,” Joy Lanzendorfer, Vice

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Showtime!

July 9, 2018

Showtime!

It’s spectacle showtime for charlatan-in-chief Donald Trump, who’ll select his prime-time pick for America’s next top model Supreme Court justice tonight at 9PM Eastern. Suspense mounts! Which conservative ideologue will win? Who will go home with a consolation prize?

More:

“How Trump turned the US Supreme Court into prime time television,” Ephrat Livni, Quartz

“Trump pushing for another reality-show reveal of Supreme Court pick,” Andrew Restuccia, Politico

“A ‘Supreme’ show: Trump savors big reveal for court choice,” BY Catherine Lucey and Zeke Miller, AP via Charlotte Observer

“Trump’s New Pageant: SCOTUS Pick Will Have To Look ‘All-American,’ Jibe With Trump,” Nicole LaFond, TPM Livewire

“Trump Is Picking His Supreme Court Nominee Like He’s Casting the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition,” Bess Levin, Vanity Fair

“The Supreme Court Show,” Ross Douthat, New York Times

“The most interesting late development in Trump’s Supreme Court derby,” Aaron Blake, Washington Post

Inside Baseball:

“The Five Frontrunners,” Adam Feldman, Empirical SCOTUS

“Trump’s 2018 Supreme Court Shortlist and Their Views on Administrative Law,” Chris Walker, Notice & Comment

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Top image (“Let’s Make a Supreme Deal!”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Trump Narrows Supreme Court Picks Down to Three

July 6, 2018

Trump Narrows Supreme Court Picks Down to Three
Drama! Suspense mounts on the reality-TV show known as the Trump presidency as we near the prime time Monday night announcement of Mr. Trump’s nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Whatshisname. The president has narrowed the list prepared by the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society to three possible nominees, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Raymond Kethledge. While Republicans argue about which one is the most stalwart conservative ideologue, Mr. Trump makes personnel decisions based on a candidate’s looks. That’s certainly worked out well for him so far!

More:

“Trump pushing for another reality-show reveal of Supreme Court pick,” Andrew Restuccia, Politico

“Trump’s New Pageant: SCOTUS Pick Will Have To Look ‘All-American,’ Jibe With Trump,” Nicole LaFond, TPM Livewire

“Trump Is Picking His Supreme Court Nominee Like He’s Casting the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition,” Bess Levin, Vanity Fair

“The Supreme Court Show,” Ross Douthat, New York Times

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Top image (“Let’s Make a Supreme Deal!”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Trump Supreme Court Pick: Worst TV Game Show Ever

July 2, 2018

Trump Supreme Court Pick: Worst TV Game Show Ever
President Donald Trump has accepted the resignation of Supreme Court Justice Whatshisname, and scheduled the announcement of his replacement nominee for July 9th. The president will ponder this momentous decision while spending the July 4th weekend in his Fortress of Solitude Trump Bedminster National Golf Club in New Jersey. There is said to be a shortlist of 5 possible contenders, none of them Gary Busey or Meat Loaf. “I may have two of them come up, like the old days to Bedminster,” said the president, “could be this weekend…It is exciting.” Suspense! Imagine the ratings. May the best conservative ideologue win!

There will be no swimsuit competition, even though two of the candidates are women. Senate Democrats and civil rights groups are asking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to delay the confirmation vote until after the midterm elections, but he just smiles.

More:

“Supreme Court Announcement Scheduled Just Like The World’s Worst Game Show,” Joe Patrice, Above the Law

“It’s ‘The Apprentice, Supreme Court Edition,’ as Trump Summons Finalists to White House,” Maggie Haberman, Michael M. Grynbaum, and Ron Nixon, New York Times

“Online bettors see Kavanaugh as likely U.S. Supreme Court nominee,” Reuters

“Chuck Todd: GOP ‘may fully pull that hypocrisy muscle’ by confirming SCOTUS pick in election year,” Jacqueline ThomsenThe Hill

“Mitch McConnell shows there’s no honor among Supreme Court thieves,” Scot Lehigh, Boston Globe

Updates:

“Trump Narrows Supreme Court Shortlist To 3 — With 2 On The Inside Track,” Nina Totenberg, NPR

“Gamblers betting on Kavanaugh as Trump’s Supreme Court pick,” Matthew Nussbaum, Politico

Related:

“Just Like LeBron James, Justice Anthony Kennedy Is Now A ‘Free Agent,’” Staci Zaretsky, Above the Law

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Top image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Next White House Chief of Staff?

June 29, 2018

Next White House Chief of Staff?

Word around DC is that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly will be the next to leave the realty TV show that is the Trump Administration, and the president is looking for a replacement. We suggest Julie Chen, host of the CBS show Big Brother. She’s said nice things about Mr. Trump, and has the perfect résumé, 20 years of monitoring a bunch of immature, self-involved, bullying backstabbers.

More:

“Why a new chief of staff wouldn’t change Trump’s White House,” Annie Karni, Politico

“John Kelly, Scott Pruitt, and the Epic Turnover of the Trump Administration,” Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker

Update:

“John Kelly intends to remain as Trump’s chief of staff through 2020 reelection,” Philip Rucker, Washington Post

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Top image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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White House Admits It’s a Reality Show

February 12, 2018

White House Admits It's a Reality Show

On the Celebrity Big Brother TV show, former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman made critical comments about President Donald Trump and her time in the West Wing. White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah noted that Manigault Newman first met Mr. Trump while she was a contestant on NBC’s The Apprentice:

“Omarosa was fired three times on The Apprentice, and this was the fourth time we let her go.”

More:

“On ‘Big Brother,’ America Gets the Reality-TV Politics It Deserves,” James Poniewozik, New York Times

Related:

“Omarosa Was Reportedly Fired for Abusing the White House Car Service,” Madeleine Aggeler, The Cut

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Image (“Trump on TV, with apologies to Dalton Avalos Ramirez“) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Trump TV Reality Show in Cleveland

July 19, 2016

Trump TV Reality Show in Cleveland

Donald J. Trump, middle-aged spoiled rich kid, a 6-times-bankrupt businessman, and former reality TV star, is featured in a TV miniseries this week in Cleveland, Ohio (“the Open-Carry State”). Speakers include minor show-biz celebrities who didn’t make the cut for Mr. Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice series:

Scott Baio, from the 1982 TV show Joanie Loves Chachi

Kimberlin Brown, soap opera actor (The Young and the Restless [1973], The Bold and the Beautiful [1987])

Ben Carson MD, former surgeon, a motivational speaker, … somehow

Chris W. Cox, Executive Director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action

Jerry Falwell Jr., gun-totin’ Christian lawyer famously sired by televangelist Jerry Falwell Sr.

Natalie Gulbis, 492nd-ranked LPGA golfer (and “Blonde Bombshell,” adds the Daily Caller)

Laura Ingraham, right-wing radio host

Brock Mealer, “inspirational speaker” and car crash victim

Willie Jess Robertson, Duck Dynasty TV personality and duck call company executive

Phil Ruffin, Las Vegas casino owner, partner in the Trump International Hotel and Tower

Antonio Sabato Jr., underwear model

Darrell Scott, pastor of Cleveland’s New Spirit Revival Center, a “prosperity church

Lisa Shin, optometrist, of Korean Americans for Trump (founded in April), who formed a new non-certifying optometry association and then resigned from it; one of very few non-blonde  women speaking at the Convention

Melania Knaus Trump, Slovene-American former model and the incumbent Mrs. Trump

Tiffany Trump, out of Marla Maples by D.J. Trump, Internet celebrity who is famous for being well-known

Dana White, President of the mixed martial arts organization Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

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Donald Trump Cancels GOP Reality Show

December 14, 2011

Donald Trump Cancels GOP Reality Show

Donald Trump, celebrity casino owner, beauty pagent producer, reality TV star, and part-time wanna-be politician, canceled his upcoming Las Vegas extravaganza, a GOP presidential debate starring not one but two candidates (not counting himself). Of all the dubious contenders for the Republican nomination, only Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum signed on.

Rather than staging a two-contestant reality show, The Donald (all together now) fired himself, cancelling the production. He says he did it so he can run for president himself. We think he did it so the television audience wouldn’t learn the answer to that age-old question,”What if Donald Trump threw a party and nobody came?”

On second thought, The Donald could have augmented the debate panel with his other celebrity chums. Certainly Charlie Sheen, Paula Abdul, or Paris Hilton can match the political wisdom of Mr. Trump and the moral integrity of Mr. Gingrich.

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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The Palin Bus Tour: Why

June 4, 2011

The Palin Bus Tour: Why

Sarah Palin is spending her summer vacation just like you, on a simple family trip funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars in political donations. Mrs. Palin, along with her parents, sullen pre-teen daughter Piper, and husband Todd (Alaska’s former First Thug), is motoring between historic East Coast sites in a chartered luxury coach with her name painted on it.

Is the trip a vacation or presidental campaign tour? Mrs. Palin won’t say, to the consternation of the media. The bus is being tailed by reporters and news crews as it meanders along its secret itinerary. Far from keeping the trip private, the “magical mystery tour” aspect merely spurs the media frenzy. Where will she be next?

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