A media stupid season

It’s media stupid season. I know it’s hard to tell when it seems like every day is the same, but the last eight weeks of a close campaign are, I assure you, the dumbest.

This week alone we’ve seen PolitiFact’s chief correspondent “fact-check” former President Donald Trump for saying Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine had Trump still been in office.

Now, this is a campaign-trail claim for sure, though there’s some merit to it. Russia invaded countries on every 21st-century president’s watch but Trump’s (Bush got Georgia, Obama got Ukraine, and Biden got Ukraine again). Further, the 45th president earned and cultivated a reputation for unpredictably sudden and vicious reprisals when crossed (Soleimani, Syria, MOAB, etc.).