Its basic thuggishness was one of the first signs in 2016 that the Trump campaign was definitely Not Of The Body. It wasn't just the assaults on protestors. Each rally was thick with thick-necked, ear-plugged, shades-wearing refugees from a Scorsese film. If the Gambino family had held primary elections, this is what one of them would have looked like. Later, we learned that Michael Cohen was the head goon in charge; Cohen, of course, is now in jail after a brief stint as a cooperating witness.

That streak of mean-streets swagger never has left the operation, as this latest memo from Trump campaign HQ shows. It appears that our newest campaign tough guy is named Tim Murtaugh, and he has some thoughts on television news that he'd like to share. Murtaugh, who apparently got a button-man starter kit in the mail this week complete with fake brass knuckles that double as a whistle, listed six people whom, he said, were not fair to the completely innocent President* of the United States over the past two years. He then sent a memo to various TV news producers in which he flexed out his opinions.

"Moving forward, we ask that you employ basic journalistic standards when booking such guests to appear anywhere in your universe of productions. You should begin by asking the basic question: Does this guest warrant further appearances in our programming, given the outrageous and unsupported claims made in the past? If these guests do reappear, you should replay the prior statements and challenge them to provide the evidence which prompted them to make the wild claims in the first place. At this point, there must be introspection from the media who facilitated the reckless statements and serious evaluation of how such guests are considered and handled in the future."

This preliminary pass at an Enemies List included Senator Richard Blumenthal, Representatives Eric Swalwell, Jerrold Nadler, and Adam Schiff, former CIA director John Brennan, and DNC chair Tom Perez. While they're busily searching for a rope up which Murtaugh can piss, we can all speculate which news outlet will be the first to capitulate. My money's on CNN.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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