So I was off for a few days at the start of the year. Did I miss anything?

I’m joking, of course. Hang out in the DC area when it’s too cold to do anything outside. It feels like sitting smack dab in the center of a three-ring circus.

Fire and Fury (Signifying Nothing)

The main act, at least in the media’s mind, has been a trashy, campy account of the Trump campaign and White House. Fire and Fury was written by admitted tale-spinner and proven falsifier Michael Wolff with a hefty dose of scoop from ex-White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon. Bannon apologized Sunday for his role in the semi-factual farce. Kind of like Deniro apologizing for The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Bannon’s comments had even admirers sputtering: “What on earth was he thinking?!?!”

Liberals and the media are panting over the book like Fifty Shades of Grey. Knock yourselves out. Americans are too busy applying for the jobs that are opening up.

Sure, chunks have already proven to be fake news. But it’s also old news. Who is surprised the early days of the Trump White House were filled with chaos and backstabbing, colorful antics and attacks on the President? Forget that the daily leaks that already made that clear. Or that there were people who joined Trump who had no love for Trump, but loved the access to power. Forget those who thought they could handle this blustery, billionaire political neophyte or who hungered for his approval.

It’s Donald J. Trump. The Donald. His life is always a double-diamond run played out on a mountain of material. You want to talk “Fire and Fury”? His first wife confronted his mistress (and second wife) high on an Aspen ski slope one Christmas with tabloid cameras catching all the action. And still the skyscrapers and resorts got built.

What we’re reading about now is popcorn stuff. Not serious. I mean, think of the Clinton Administration. Their early months had a body count.

Meanwhile, just like a tabloid flipped through while waiting in the grocery store line, Fire and Fury is available for quick, free read. Wiki Leaks released the full book on PDF on Sunday for all to enjoy. (The release gives credence to the rumors Trump and Julian Assange are working out a deal. But that leads down another rabbit hole.)

The Mental Health of Trump or “Using the 25th to Destroy 45”

More serious: the concerted, coordinated effort to attack the mental fitness of President Trump. CNN’s hapless Brian Stelzer thinks it’s “fair” to question Trump’s mental facilities. He cites all the media reports quoting other media reports.  The New York Times is among them. (Understandable, given its collusion with Comey, Fusion GPS, et al, and the daily disintegration of the Trump Russia narrative.) This Week‘s George Stephanopoulos couldn’t even bother to ask U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley about Iran on Sunday. He was too busy questioning the President’s marbles.

Democrats even paraded a Yale psychiatrist around Capitol Hill for two days to declare the President as Mad as a Hatter.

It’s not just an echo chamber, but one walled with Marshall Amps cranked to 11. We see here how coups are made. As liberal Harvard law legend Alan Dershowitz pointed out this morning: 

The psychiatrizaton of political difference is much more dangerous. It’s what they did in Russia, it’s what they did in China, it’s what they did in apartheid South Africa. If you don’t like a candidate first lock him up. If you can’t lock him up, commit him to a mental hospital.

And day by day, bit-by-bit, the maneuvers of the “Destroy Trump” Band and “Insurance Policy” Players come to light, the more desperate that effort will become. It ain’t just politics at this point. It’s self-defense. 

Yet, here’s the funny thing. This “Trump is unstable” meme also plays into Trump’s hands. Haley alluded to it when asked about Trump’s “big button” North Korea tweet: “I think that he always has to keep Kim on his toes.” This goes for other foes around the world. Said Haley, “I think they don’t know what the U.S. is going to do at any given time, and so for that reason they’re getting much more cautious and they’re paying attention to how they work with us.”

Secretary of Defense Mattis put the same idea another way the other day. When asked his concerns for 2018, Mad Dog replied, “I don’t have concerns. I create them.”

Uncle Sam’s Work Out

Things are good. The economy is thriving, ISIS is dying, the Koreas are talking, taxes are falling and hope is rising. 

Maybe it helps to summarize the scene this way: For eight years, Uncle Sam grew fat, week and whiny. However, now we see him hitting the gym, getting fit, getting firm, getting his mojo back. While he’s pumping away on that exercise bike, he’s watching this D.C.-based soap opera called Days of Our Trump. It gives him some laughs, lends him some intrigue, makes the hard work of shaping up a nation breeze by.

And coming soon to Days of Our Trump, the “Fake News Awards.” Trump tweeted Sunday that his “Fake News Awards” originally scheduled for Monday have been pushed to Wednesday, January 17 because interest exceeded expectations.

The Fake News Awards, those going to the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media, will be presented to the losers on Wednesday, January 17th, rather than this coming Monday. The interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018

So many questions: When does balloting close? Is Trump drawing massive attention to the event only to pull a bait-and-switch? What happens if he draws higher ratings than the Golden Globes? Finally, can we laugh at the fact that as Hollywood award shows grow more political, political events are becoming far more entertaining?

And we still have 51 weeks to go ….

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream. He is also co-author, with John Zmirak, of the upcoming book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. Coming May 21, 2018 from Regnery Publishing.