Sanewashing ...
Today, I learned an interesting term: sanewashing, which means, "A growing trend where both the media and the public normalize or excuse alarming political behavior simply because it has become familiar to them. Especially when it's coming from Donald Trump or members of his administration."
Evangel
When I first read about Trump wanting to keep the freeway open during this military entertainment event, I thought it was reckless. Thank god Newsom ordered it shut. A CHP vehicle (part of Vance's detail) was hit by shrapnel and, yes, it could have been a lot worse had the freeway remained open.
Here's a quote from CHP Border Division Chief Tony Coronado: “It is highly uncommon for any live-fire or explosive training activity to occur over an active freeway. As a Marine myself, I have tremendous respect for our military partners, but my foremost responsibility is ensuring the safety of the people of California and the officers who protect them.”
Any way you look at it, shooting live-fire or detonating explosives over an active freeway is not just risky, it's insane, and the consequences (though minimal this time) proved that point. Sane washing is one way to look at this, but a lot of people are still entertained by Trump's antics. They don't see him as a deep-state president (which he is), they seem him as an entertaining figurehead.
Slipstream
Thanks for posting this piece. His calm voice describes exactly what's happening. Sane people see the crazy, but somehow people who are enamored with Trump seem to think it's okay coming from him and make all kinds of excuses, but if a democrat were behaving this way, they'd be screaming for his removal.
The firing of live ammunition over Interstate 5 is one more example. If, instead of a slow travelling or stopped security detail, the car had been a family driving at 70 miles an hour and pelleted by shrapnel from an exploding rocket, who knows what that would have looked like. Teenage boy behavior of "mine is bigger than yours" from top officials is not what America needs.