By Sherman Frederick/Properly Subversive

Forrest Gump’s momma was right: Stupid is as stupid does, which this week in American politics means “stupid” is clearly Donald Trump and the “journalists” who hate him.

Everyone knows the Nick Fuentes story by now thanks to “journalists,” hair a-fire, who never miss an opportunity to bash the former president. In this case, Trump had dinner with his pal, Kanye West, and West brought his pal Fuentes, a racist and holocaust denier (which is all I’m gonna say about this nutjob).

Ever since the meeting became public Trump’s been trying to explain it away.

The latest came in a Truth Social post in which Trump blamed “fake news” for the backlash and he only agreed to meet with West because he’s been a friend and he’s a “seriously troubled man” in financial distress.

It was West, he said, who “unexpectedly” brought Fuentes.

Trump’s probably telling the truth about not knowing Fuentes. There’s no evidence otherwise. But it makes not a whit of a difference for Trump-hating journalists who have no problem kissing the Devil if it means smearing Trump.

Look, Trump isn’t endorsing Fuentes. Nor is he suggesting anything Fuentes says is something he believes. Hating Trump so much you are willing to give a guy like Fuentes ink and air time is, well, disgusting “journalism” in my book.

Look, Trump should have been more careful. I’ll grant you that. But that should have been the extent of the story. Instead, Trump-hating “journalists’’ are going to tell us more than we ever wanted – or needed – to know about a guy who is nothing more than a sidebar at best to the big picture of covering Donald Trump. These guys will gleefully write that story, but turn a blind eye to the attempt of a politicized Justice Department to put a political rival in jail.

Momma Gump’s saying about stupidity applies to Trump who should be more careful with his dinner partners and to the journalists who hate him so much they’re willing to lie to tell the “truth.”

AS TIME GOES BY

“Cissy” Marshall died last week at 94. I love the story about her being an NAACP stenographer tasked with transcribing the legal briefs for the Brown v. Board of Education decision. She married the lawyer who successfully argued that case,  Thurgood Marshall, who became the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. (Hat tip to the New York Times.)

WHAT I’M WATCHING

If you get a chance, take in “The Innocent Man” now on Netflix.

The six-part series is based on John Grisham’s bestselling 2006 nonfiction book “The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town.” Grishman tells you at the start that if he would have written this story as a novel, no one would have believed it.

And, trust me, this is true. It follows two murders in Ada, Oklahoma, and the so-called “justice” that followed.

COVID JUSTICE

Nevada Democrats are trying to explain the defeat of Gov. Steve Sisolak by painting him as a brave victim who had to make hard decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic. This, of course, is not what happened.

Gov. Sisolak made a long series of bad calls, choosing policies that infringed on the basic liberties of Nevadans, shut down the state’s economy, and harmed children in public schools. He could have gone the way of Arizona or Florida. Instead he went the way of California.

When Nevadans got a chance to vote him out, they did.

He’s not a bad guy. Just a guy totally unprepared to lead us in a crisis.

ONE MORE THING

– It’s ironic that the two o’s in the word “cooperate” require their own different sound.

– Can we get a drag queen in Florida to adopt the stage name “Rhonda Santis.”

– I fell off a 50-foot ladder today. Thankfully, I was only on the first step.

– Holiday Tip No. 1: There is no “we” in chocolate.

– Holiday Tip No. 2: When taking home pictures for your Christmas newsletter, be sure to check the mirror. (See below.)

That’ll do for this week. Thanks for reading. I hope you had the best possible Thanksgiving. Until next week avoid soreheads, laugh a little, and always question authority.

“Properly Subversive” is commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick, a Nevada Hall of Fame journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@ gmail. com.