Balloon Juice

Someone shoot me pic.twitter.com/ud84LPFPA4

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) May 2, 2024

So this is what that's about:

"This is the New York Times’ performative objectivity: publishing a stupid piece by [Schmitz] that depicts a traitorous criminal as an 'outlaw hero,'" Jacob scoffed. "[The Times] apparently will treat this crisis like a Netflix series until the last editor is led out of the newsroom at gunpoint."

The editorial argues that MAGA now sees Trump as an "outlaw," so that's a 'win' for Trump.  Of course, MAGA also sees Trump as a religious figure and as the only hope for America, which they seem to think is Rome in its last days, and Trump will somehow "drain the swamp" and overthrow Biden/Caligula.  To be honest, I don't think they go that far, because they don't know that much.  I kind of was through with them when they decided Trump was sent by God.

But the editorial is serious:

"Lil Pump and Bandman Kevo have criminal records, a distinction they share with 70 million to 100 million other Americans," Schmitz writes, "comparable to the roughly 100 million who have college degrees. It’s possible that a rap sheet is a political asset."

I understand black people like sneakers, too!  Will Trump start wearing his pants with the waist around his ass?

Trump's public image is not Robin Hood, or Jesse James. It's closer to Al Capone, with a touch of the Joker thrown in. He's going to burn the place down, but make sure he comes out on the other end with his pockets full of loot.

— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) May 2, 2024

Times op-ed buys Trump efforts to paint him as "the outlaw hero, a figure of defiance with deep roots in American culture who exposes the injustices and hypocrisies of a corrupt system."
No, he's a fascist.
Trump Embraces Lawlessness, but in the Name of a Higher Law…

— Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) May 2, 2024

All good points, but I still come back to the brevity and clarity of the NYT Pitchbot.  I'm still not sure how that column merits column inches at the vaunted Grey Lady.