* Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull went on a satiric riff at the expense of Donald Trump recently. Leaked video showed the Aussie PM spoofing Trump at the Australian Parliament’s annual Midwinter Ball in Canberra. Its give-and-take humor is similar to the fare served up at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the one that Trump didn’t have enough guts to show up at this year. And, BTW, it’s “Turnbull,” not “Trumbull,” as Sean Spicer keeps pronouncing it.
* Amid all the media-dominated details about Russia-related investigations and stalled legislation, it was easy to overlook a certain Trump Administration-supported House bill. Among other things, the so-called Financial Choice Act would lessen the powers of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and ease many of the regulations under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.
True, the Wall Street-friendly bill has little chance of passing as is in the Senate, but it is a reminder of what you get from a billionaire, con-man “populist.”
* It was hardly unexpected that there might be some dissenters on the Golden State Warriors when it came to visiting the White House in celebration of their NBA championship. An audience with Donald Trump is hardly on most black hoopsters bucket list. So, maybe this would be the time to finally come to grips with this athletic atavism.
The White House, regardless of administration politics, is an appropriate forum to celebrate, say, Olympic victories or World Cups. That would be about athletes representing their country. A moment of national pride. We get it. This, however, is about millionaires representing franchises. Not nearly the same thing, even if Trump badly wants some inclusive photo optics.