Little Man

In a less sophisticated age with far less scientific information available, orthodox doctors with patients interested in their own health would say of nutritional supplements "if you think they'll help you, go ahead. They won't help you but they can't hurt you." 

In a political, contemporary variant, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador had an idea. He probably figured it wouldn't work because, well, who would be stupid enough to buy it? But it was worth a shot and he took it. The senior senator from the State of Maryland went to El Salvador on April 17 and as reported then by ABC7 Chicago

"Everything happens because Bukele says it could happen. And if you look at the video you sent out right afterwards with the fake margaritas, you can see that all of that was a setup," Van Hollen told reporters.

The senator poked holes in the story that was being spread by Bukele's and Trump's allies and said the entire meeting was suspect from the beginning.

After being denied access to CECOT, the super prison that the government originally said was holding Abrego Garcia, Van Hollen said he was ready to fly back to the U.S. Thursday but got a message that the deportee was available to meet.

The El Salvador government tried to have the meeting poolside, but the senator said he had them take it indoors in a dining area. During the meeting, Van Hollen and Abrego Garcia had glasses of water and a coffee cup on their tables, which appeared in a photo posted by the senator.

The senator said that at one point during the hourlong meeting, officials put glasses on the table that appeared to have liquid inside with salt or sugar rims on top. Van Hollen said he had no idea what the liquid was.

The glass in front of Abrego Garcia had less liquid than the other glass, according to Van Hollen.

"They tried to make it look like, I assume, that he drank out of it," the senator said.

Van Hollen said the insinuations about the margarita glasses don't hold up under scrutiny.

"They made a mistake," he said of the government officials. "If you sip out of one of those glasses, some of whatever it was, salt or sugar, would disappear. You would see a gap. There's no gap. No one drank anything."

Facts be damned, someone fell for the deepfake. In a fiery confrontation with Van Hollen when Little Marco testified on May 20 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

“In the case of El Salvador, absolutely, absolutely. We deported gang members, gang members, including the one you had a margarita with,” Rubio said during the hearing, a reference to the cocktail glasses that Salvadoran officials brought to the senator during his meeting with Abrego Garcia....

“And that guy is a human trafficker, and that guy is a gangbanger,” Rubio said, before Van Hollen cut in and began talking over the secretary.

He's a little man with a big job, that Marco. Democrats should henceforth refer to Secretary Rubio as Little Marco and if he complains or asks for respect, remind him that he was first recognized as Little Marco by Donald Trump.  If instead Donald Trump defends the Secretary, Democrats can point out that in the spirit of bipartisanship, they will side with the President when he is right, as he was when he called Rubio out.

    

This wouldn't be difficult to understand and apply, if Democrats are committed to winning. They can continue to play by Marquis of Queensberry Rules- or come to realize that this is real life and a constitutional republic slipping through our hands.

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