Good Move

 

By Hubie and Bertie

It may be Moose & Squirrel's 54th birthday, but we Democrats are the ones who got the best present. One day after a POLITICO story broke about the pooh-bahs at The New York Times printing anti-Biden stories out of spite, the President gave an hourlong interview to radio host and erstwhile shock jock Howard Stern on Sirius XM.

This is Dark Brandon at his finest.

Not only did Biden chat up Howard about a range of topics — his life in politics, his family, SCOTUS, the Violence Against Women Act, and more — he ended up making news by saying he'd be willing to debate Benedict Donald in the general election. This is hilarious, because of course Trump has avoided all Republican debates this season, and most likely will be incapacitated enough mentally and cognitively that he'll have to duck any head-to-heads this fall. But Stern getting the scoop still has to rankle at the Times.

It could not happen to a nicer newspaper. We cats have been torn about keeping our (very expensive) print and digital subscription to the Grey Lady, but have dithered on it because so much of their reporting — arts, books, science, New York-y stuff — is enriching and valuable. But their political coverage is frankly terrible. In the old-media days, they just had to one-up The Washington Post, but now they're up against a proliferation of journalists at online vehicles like The Daily Beast who often put them to shame. Or who at least act more honorably and less thin-skinned than the sniffy people at 620 Eighth Avenue.

Side note: President Biden was in New York because he attended a fundraiser headlined by the actor Michael Douglas last night. Meanwhile, Trump was in criminal court, whining that he couldn't be with his cheated-on wife for her birthday (who could have easily joined him in Manhattan for his court appearance and natal-day celebration), unable to campaign, dial for dollars, or do anything else to promote his alleged candidacy. A really good day for Biden-Harris, we'd say. We cats PURR.