So it still looks like conjecture then that this was satire. Like you said, even Matt Vespa struggled with it. He was not even sure. Even you said "possibly".
Like I said earlier, I read all of the comments on the thread, and you are the only one I could find that was swimming upstream on this.
Unless Bump comes out and says he was having some fun with the president, which he has no history of doing....he's a harsh critic of Trump, I will believe that it is a typical Washington Compost hate-Trump piece.
I could be wrong but then I would be in good company. All of the other FReepers that commented and the negative comments attached the WP article itself all assumed it was a hit piece and not a satire.
Only 300 sandwiches? This isn’t a soccer team POTUS!
My point about the satire tag was that it shows FR has an acknowledged tendency not to get the joke. It happens enough that JimRob had to start putting satire training wheels on some threads.
My comment where I said “it’s possible” was tongue in cheek! Sort of like saying “it’s possible the sun rises in the east”.
Also, I think another poster responded to my comment and agreed it was satire. The reason there weren’t more of us is probably that 1) it’s nearly futile to prove a joke to those who don’t want to get it, and 2) no one wants to rile up a crowd yelling at a joke they don’t get.
My deeper point is that when you’re ungenerous with people and don’t give them the benefit of the doubt — even people you don’t like — you wind up missing their meaning and possibly doing them an injustice. That whole thing with Rep. King is fresh on my mind. The NYT was completely unfair and ungenerous in interpreting what he said. Giving him even the tiniest iota of the benefit of the doubt makes it clear what he meant — but they *wanted* to see/portray him as a racist and so they did.
Obviously this thing with Bump isn’t on that scale, but if you grant that maybe, just maybe, a leftist is capable of humor, then it’s pretty clear his piece was tongue in cheek and actually somewhat enjoyable in its wit. Personally I just about can’t stand Philip Bump but I am willing to give him that.