RNC Chairman: Trump is a "net positive" for the Republican party http://t.co/RNvjcnX7A8 pic.twitter.com/w48ESTZYUg
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) August 24, 2015
Is he willing to say that under oath? https://t.co/o7MfnCU8ZU
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) August 24, 2015
…. of course he is, and that’s why Politico is hot to report how “State GOP leaders plot to tie Donald Trump’s hands” (just in Virginia and North Carolina — so far).
And speaking of sad nasty jobs, here’s a summer sweetener from the Daily Beast — “Undercover Republican Goes Hillary-Hunting in Clinton Library“:
… The RNC staffer has a vague list of the materials contained in the boxes and, to the untrained eye, they look pretty mundane. Press clippings, photos, memos, and “stuff to be signed by the by the first lady”—but to the opposition researcher, something previously overlooked in the pages could become newly relevant under the right political circumstances.
There are roughly 751 Hillary Clinton-related boxes in the library. They represent a tiny sliver of the 78 million pages of documents, 20 million emails, 2 million photos, and 12,500 videotapes the William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum houses, according to the library’s website.
Since just 1 percent of the total collection has been digitized, being on location is key. The RNC staffer has personally gone through about 200 boxes, averaging about two a day or 20 a week…
The idea for the deep research dive came from defeat. In 2012, American Bridge 21st Century, the Democratic-aligned super PAC, spent months assembling an oppo file on Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Long before he became the Republican standard bearer, the group had an arsenal at its disposal.
When the general election campaign began, American Bridge was able to hit hard, respond quickly, and try to wound Romney on every aspect of his record.
After the election, Shah and like-minded colleagues founded America Rising, an outside group focused on opposition research in support of Republican candidates…
Which says a lot about the Repub mindset — even today. When Rommey was their standard-bearer, his opponents found a metric ton of vile stuff he’d done and said that could be aired in contradiction to the new, improved Mitt Mk. 2. Ergo, now that HRClinton’s due (probably) to pick up the Democratic flag, there must be a ton of nastiness buried in the Clinton archives… if only some lowly drone were to peruse every page, one by one. The facts that Hillary (a) is not Willard Romney and (b) has pretty much lived under the hostile glare of Repub oppo-researchers for the last twenty years just don’t matter; they know there’s a pony in that manure pile somewhere!
***********
Apart from watching the RNC apply the Green Lantern principle to their own principals, what’s on the agenda for the day?
Major Major Major Major
Guess who’s getting three MRI’s next week and a double backup HIV test just to make sure on Thursday!
And insomnia!
Hint: he has two thumbs and is me.
Mustang Bobby
@Major Major Major Major: Best wishes.
We were waiting for Hurricane Danny, but he couldn’t keep it up, so now it’s Tropical Storm Erika, predicted to be a Category 1 by Sunday and crossing the Bahamas. 5-day track puts it east of Miami, but I remember Katrina 10 years ago trashing through Miami before it headed for New Orleans.
Patricia Kayden
Repubs have already thrown everything including the kitchen sink at the Clinton’s. Can’t imagine that there are any more “scandals” to discover.
@Major Major Major Major: Hope all goes well.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major:
Hoping for the best.
BillinGlendaleCA
Been watching Morning Joe, Hillary is DOOMED, DOOMED I tell ya. Handsome Joe Biden will save us from DOOMED Hillary. The people that Joe talks to in the White House tell him they don’t like Hillary.
Major Major Major Major
This is actually really terrible and I appreciate the support so much even if it’s just a passing line on a blog comment thread. Thanks :) seriously
geg6
Well, the powers that be have decided I need to blow up my scholarship list, a project that takes me from January to August 1 to complete every year. On what I consider a whim. The students have all gotten their letters and most have turned in thank-you notes to the donors. It a all adds up to about a half million dollars that I have to re-allocate ( no students will lose $) but I could just cry over it.
raven
We’re going to see how the Bohdi takes to a round trip walk to the bakery after a couple of months of me driving him home. His back seems pretty good since I stopped throwing the ball to him so we’ll see how this goes.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Until she loses the nom. Then his show will be all about how Democrats hate women and really shot themselves in the foot by choosing Joe or Bernie.
Major Major Major Major
@geg6: make a facebook group and hire an intern? Granted I don’t know the details.
Schlemazel
@Major Major Major Major:
Hoping for the best outcome for you. I know what the waiting is like so not only wish you a healthy outcome but a fast resolution.
Major Major Major Major
@BillinGlendaleCA: I’ve met hillary, she’s delightful. How anybody who worked so closely with her could hate her is beyond me.
Schlemazel
@Patricia Kayden:
Don’t worry, they’ll make up several to fill the vacancy.
@Baud:
You know they will!
Also too, anyone else noticed long response times on BJ? Everything else seems to return normally but long waits here.
Baud
@Schlemazel:
Mobile site is working fine, but the main web site has been slow apparently.
Schlemazel
@Major Major Major Major:
There is always someone to hate anyone. Let’s, for the sake of argument, say Joe is telling the truth (I know this is a less likely scenario but for now let’s pretend) It could easily be someone harboring a grudge about Clinton tactics in 08. Some people in politics want to play the game but resent having the game played against them. Then there are the grown-ups. That could be it.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: mobile is slow as stuff too
Schlemazel
@Baud:
thanks
Central Planning
Since there is so much HRC material to go through, who is the job creator? Repubs for hiring an opposition researcher our Hillary for having so much material that the repubs needed to hire someone?
Baud
@Major Major Major Major:
Not for me. Are you using the mobile site or the regular website on a mobile phone?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: I’m sure the President doesn’t share his feelings with Joe Scar, these are unknown people that allegedly work in the White House that talk to Joe Scar. Sort of like the Democrats he’s always talking to that tell him stuff, probably just Mika.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Schlemazel: I’m having trouble with other stuff(Ubuntu updates), there’s stuff, stuffing up the intertubes. I think we need a plunger.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: guessing it’s the regular site in mobile form but don’t know how to be sure.
I’m passing out now finally so you’ll have to get back to me about the distinction.
WereBear
@Major Major Major Major: Damn. I hate terrible.
May the Force be with you.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major:
The regular site is bluish like the website and has all the ads. The mobile site is grey and only has the newsmax box at the bottom.
Sleep well.
Schlemazel
@BillinGlendaleCA:
I have said for some time the Internet needs a good enema!
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemazel: And here I am!
Kay
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Political media hate Hillary Clinton. Whether or not Biden jumps in I think they’ve made that clear. They’re already going into amnesia mode with their outraged defense of going after her on this email/server thing because before the email/server thing they attacked her on Benghazi for a year and a half. They never found one thing on Benghazi- nothing.
It’s just something we’re all going to have to live with. Just like they loved George W Bush, they loathe Hillary Clinton.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
I feel better already.
David Fud
Mid life seems much more dramatic than I thought it could be. My cousin, one week older than me, died of a heart attack at age 44. I grew up with him.
To balance this out cosmically, I am surprised to find that I am now slated to have a third child early next year.
Karma can be a real bitch, but it seems she gives and takes, not just takes.
Baud
@David Fud:
Regrets and congrats.
MomSense
@Major Major Major Major:
Sending you a big hug. It’s tough not to start spinning when the doctors call for more testing. They are being thorough and that is a good thing. We are all rooting for you.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud:
You are one sick puppy.
Your dog has the sh!ts,
Throws up what he eats
But everyone knows
You are the sick puppy.**
**stolen from a local poet whose name I can not remember but was one funny guy.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Kay: I read “The Hunting of the President” last month, they HATE the Clintons.
MomSense
@David Fud:
That is an emotional whiplash day. Condolences and congratulations.
OzarkHillbilly
@David Fud: Karma is just another word for “Life.”
MattF
@Kay: And they write these essays, “Hillary is hereby required to take my advice. Immediately, or else she can’t possibly win the nomination or the election.” Like, Hillary is going to take advice from someone who obviously despises her. What’s the point of this, besides proving you’re a charter member of the Clinton Haters?
Bill
Someone needs to tuck a few articles from the Onion in one of the boxes.
WereBear
@geg6: That has happened to me. And it always sucks.
MomSense
@geg6:
What does blow up the scholarship list even mean? It sounds like weird marketing-speak, it also sounds like being told to fix something that isn’t broken. Ugh. Sorry.
Kay
@BillinGlendaleCA:
I never read it. I did read Bill Clinton’s book one summer (really long, should have been edited, not recommended) and his whole life was basically about trying to muscle his way into a segment of society where they didn’t really want him. He seems acutely aware of this, in a way that’s almost painful but he buys the whole premise- merit matters, he’ll be recognized as belonging- he wants to be in there. It’s just so funny that they had so much contempt for that kind of ambition because it’s a compliment, right? They ARE the Best and the Brightest, which is why he tries so hard to crack the code.
bystander
@Major Major Major Major: All best wishes for the best results.
I could swear somebody posted a tweet from Trump, after Jeb!’s triumphant visit to the border yesterday. Jeb! delivered some part of his comments in Spanish, and Trump tweeted something about Jeb! speaking Mexican. And the ever popular imperative, “You’re in America. Speak English!” But I can’t find it online. It’s hilarious if I didn’t hallucinate it.
Iowa Old Lady
I’m a little worried about the pony in the manure pile. If you dig long enough on anyone, you find something, even if it turns out to be lying about a blow job rather than whatever it was Ken Starr was supposed to be investigating.
@Major Major Major Major: Ack. This sounds bad. Keep us informed.
@geg6: What a pain. This is what happens when people in charge think your job is much simpler than it is.
WereBear
I must admit, part of my HRC support is based on what I hope is a YOOOOOGE need for VENGEANCE.
A real Sicilian vendetta thing aimed at Republicans. Now that I would stand in line to vote for!
brantl
This should be a permanent tag line for the Republicans.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Kay: I’d recommend reading it. I read Bill’s book when it came out as well as Sidney Blumenthal’s book.
ETA: When Joe Scar says in his show that if they NYT is saying something bad about Hillary, it’s a really bad thing. The NYT has hated the Clintons for 25 years, it’s not a new thing.
Kay
@Iowa Old Lady:
The same is true of Biden though. He’s been in the White House for 7 years and Obama was such a lightening rod Biden emerged without a scratch. That won’t last if he jumps in.
I don’t have any problem with him running but there isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden on policy and the capacity for real or imagined scandal hasn’t been explored on his end. The whole argument rests on what is assumed to be his ability to “connect” but I don’t totally buy that. I think Obama won those elections. I don’t think people make a decision based on the VP.
WereBear
@Kay: I couldn’t get through it, but yes, that was my impression.
Wish he had caught on to that aspect of it. Quit trying to be accepted. Because it’s not about who you are, it’s about what you represent.
They would never let him in, especially in the South, where no one, no matter how rich or accomplished, is ever allowed to forget who their daddy was.
Another Holocene Human
@WereBear: In opera those vendettas seem to end in pyrrhic victories, so, I dunno.
Tommy
@Kay: They sure seem to. I am nothing close to a raving fan of Hillary, but I respect her. If for no other reason then when attacked by the right she will fight back. Oh and her resume. Watergate lawyer. First lady of both a state and the nation. Senator. Secretary of State. That is some pretty impressive stuff.
Another Holocene Human
Curious about origin of vendetta, turns out it’s from “vindicta”. Cause in its modern form it sounds like it should be the word for a farmer’s market stall or a vending machine.
Kay
@BillinGlendaleCA:
They have a piece this morning that could have been (and probably was) planted by Jeb Bush’s campaign. It is ridiculously favorable to Bush. He’s running a sober and serious campaign but must hit back hard at Trump although he’d rather discuss policy matters…like that.
Political media’s romance with the Bush Family continues. Blech.
OzarkHillbilly
@Iowa Old Lady:
Don’t be. Oppo research is as old as politics. Obama didn’t invent it in 2012, contrary to what the idiot who wrote that article thinks. The Clinton’s have been fighting it all their political lives and know how to deal with it. If anything trips up Hillary, it will be their tendency to hubris.
NotMax
@Schlemazel
Site’s been balky for a couple of days now.
In the past, that has fairly quickly led up to it eventually crashing but this time it’s just slow, slower, slowest, back to close to normal, repeat.
WereBear
@David Fud: If heart issues run in the family, a CRP and calcium scan are far more valuable than cholesterol. (Ignore it. Honest.)
Inflammation is what causes them, and curbing inflammation is what makes the issue go away.
Tommy
@Kay: Kay Maureen Dowd as recently as last week brought up in Biden’s first run for President, he plagiarized part of a speech. I always felt that was much to do about nothing but the daggers will come out if he runs.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: The soul of the NYT in one paragraph:
The New York Times Public Editor, Margaret Sullivan, acknowledged that the paper “does tend to go overboard sometimes” on how much it reports on the rich and famous. She does argue that “The Times does great work on subjects like homelessness, pay inequity, prison abuse and workers’ rights.” Undoubtedly true. But that doesn’t change the fact that the paper moved the only reporter covering the race and ethnicity beat to cover the Bronx courthouse in January and created a new beat for TV critic Alessandra Stanley to new beat covering “the 1 percent of the 1 percent.” Though the 1 percent of the 1 percent make up a tiny share of the population, they garner their own beat—those suffering under white supremacy or poverty will have to wait. The real question is not how meticulously newspapers scrutinize the richest 1 percent, but whether the project is worth embarking on at all.
Tommy
@NotMax: I do WordPress sites for a living and this site runs WP and I’d love to see the backend. I know Cole is a loyal person and I am sure he is a fan of the person that did this site, but the issues I often see here are just not acceptable if the person is being paid.
Kay
@WereBear:
Everything they hated about him was what I liked, and vice versa. I liked the maneuvering and ambition- it seemed authentic to me- and I hated the stern, serious “centrist” thing he adopted second term.
I listened to a speech of his in Ohio last cycle and I was disappointed. It was all that Aspen Institute claptrap you can hear anywhere, from any of them. I miss the brawling, socially unacceptable Bill Clinton :)
WereBear
@Another Holocene Human: Well, you have to do it right. And this isn’t inherited.
This is the source.
satby
@Major Major Major Major: Seriously best wishes. I hope it all goes well.
NorthLeft12
Your morning laugh;
Talking about damning with faint praise!
Please feel free to make up an analogous title which reflects the esteem that Mr. Ryan might be held in.
ie. Head spell checker and grammarian of the Red State comment section.
Baud
@Kay:
I hope the media is successful there. Jeb! seems like a good opponent to have in the general.
Baud
@Tommy:
Does that line actually work for you?
chopper
the move to seattle is in full swing. also, the motel 6 in mt vernon IL is pretty straight-up shabby.
WereBear
@OzarkHillbilly: As part of my work tasks, I often dig through the NYT of 1900-1930.
The society pages were always a huge part of their coverage. Ridiculous minutia about people who were not very significant even in their time. But if Miss Sweet-but-Homely Binham got a mercy invite from a deb daughter to the summer home, she got in the paper.
debbie
When the only way to win is to play dirty, you don’t deserve the win.
satby
@David Fud: Condolences on the loss of your cousin, 44 is much too young. And congrats on the impending new baby. That’s the circle of life really turning fast there.
NotMax
@Kay
NYT has always viewed the Clintons as the Drysdales did the Clampetts.
WereBear
The Cruel Horse’s Ass of the Republican Party…
debbie
@Kay:
Last night, the local Fox station hinted there was a second server. It will never go away, like the birth certificate.
danielx
@Patricia Kayden:
In which case they’ll fall back on an oldie but goodie: making shit up.
Kay
@Baud:
I used to listen to satellite radio in my car and they had a political media program hosted by this sort of unbearably savvy woman from Boston. She was in national media and she covered President Bush for 8 years. She would invite other members of the media on and they would chat. She’d tell these stories about covering Bush and it was like she couldn’t hear how adoring she sounded, particularly for such a sophisticated professional. “After the photo op he took off on the three-wheeler and pretended to hit us!” They freaking LOVED him.
Keith G
@Baud:
That he would, but I would not be surprised if John Kasich comes on strong as a choice for many insiders and eventually is one of the GOP finalists – possibly the strongest.
NotMax
@NorthLeft12
Done this dance in an thread yesterday morning..
Tommy
@Baud: Not with a lady but often with a website :). WordPress is used by around 23% of the highest trafficked sites on the Internet. There is either a theme issue. Plugin issue. Hosting issue. Or combo of the three. Cole should not have to endure this. My gut is it is a theme issue. This is a custom theme. The PHP programming is just not done well.
Stella B
@WereBear: @WereBear: The calcium score is an unvalidated test. It might be useful in the right population, might not be. We don’t know. CRP is pretty non-specific, very volatile and how do you treat it? (I know, I know; this week’s version of paleo/China/newer fad diet)
debbie
@David Fud:
My dad died in 1974 at 44. Way too young and still incomprehensible. I’m sorry for your loss.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Never did for me, but I like Asians.
Frankensteinbeck
I agree with your whole assessment, Laurie. Spot on.
@MattF:
Ego. I am floored, again and again, by how the national media think they’re the true, wise sages of America, beloved and listened to by all, masters of every topic. They seriously do not know that they’re vapid stenographers who become more and more irrelevant every day.
NotMax
@Tommy
It is extremely easy to inadvertently tip WP over into clunkiness. Unfortunate, but the nature of the beast.
OzarkHillbilly
@WereBear: The more things change, the more they stay the same. It has always been the case that most people are far more interested in how the rich live than how the poor do. It is soooo depressing reading about the poor….
Tommy
@NotMax: I can’t gauge what the issue is. Taking like ten seconds to post a comment. About as long to refresh. Something is off.
lonesomerobot
It also makes the private email server thing look even more stupid.
Every time there’s a complaint about how Hilary Clinton is hyper-scrutinized by the GOP, her decision to use a private email server while at State seems monumentally idiotic. This is the same woman who in the 90s (probably rightly) claimed that there was a vast right-wing cabal out to get her and her husband.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: If you aren’t willing to get a little dirty, you won’t win. Every body does it debbie, it’s part of the game.
Keith G
@Kay:
When one looks at the arc of W’s existence, it’s so easy to see that there is not a lot to him except an ability to create an interpersonal chemistry.
As bad as his presidency worked out, sometimes I feel we dodged a bullet. W’s negatives were powered more by a vapid nature than ill will. Had his “Aw shucks” demeanor been a facade covering focused malevolence, the damage might have been exponentially greater.
Instead, he was often satisfied by playing America’s older frat brother.
edited
WereBear
I think it’s because Bush would pretend they were, briefly, Cool Kids.
Some people never get over high school. A lot of them apparently rise to be prominent members of our Elite Journalism Class.
lonesomerobot
@WereBear: It’s no surprise. All the journalism students at my high school wanted to know what the cool kids were doing. They just kept doing what they’d been doing all along.
Another Holocene Human
@Keith G: I kind of think the impact of Bush’ presidency was more negative that you’re making out.
Obama’s tenure has fixed a lot of Bush’ blunders (as much as he could, given the limitations, &cet) but what was done in Iraq cannot be undone, for one thing.
OzarkHillbilly
@lonesomerobot:
No “probably” about it, their called the “Republican Party”. The same party that declared their only job was to make Obama a failure.
WereBear
@lonesomerobot: But there is nothing, nothing, NOTHING they won’t do.
At a certain point, trying to dodge their mudballs with one’s behavior is a futile task that burns up energy better spent elsewhere. So many prominent people ran their emails that way.
President Obama avoids a lot of mudballs of substance, so they attack he and his family for what they wear, the feet on the desk, the slant of his tie.
Republicans are like emotionally abusive parents and none of us can get away from their criticism. “You stupid idiot, bringing home a B. Oh, now that you have straight A’s, you think you’re better than us.”
Yes, don’t be an idiot, Democratic politicians. But at the same time, I’m not going to get overly critical myself. Because if the worst that can be said is that Republicans are complaining, that itself means nothing.
WereBear
@lonesomerobot: Wow. I only saw such things at a distance. I was in no way a Cool Kid, but then again, I really didn’t care.
Svensker
@Major Major Major Major:
Best wishes, indeed! Hang in there. Hugs.
Another Holocene Human
Can’t wake up this morning. FUCK. Also have a sour stomach due to my allergies. (If you don’t know how that works, you don’t wanna know.)
I have a meeting today, fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.
OzarkHillbilly
@Keith G:
Must disagree, his “Aw shucks” demeanor was a facade covering a focused malevolence named Dick Cheney.
Keith G
@Another Holocene Human: Oh no, I am not minimizing the impact at all. Notice that as far as an evaluation, I am saying that it could have been worse…not that is was a stroll in the garden.
Mack
Since I could not locate my whip…I decided to flog myself by watching Morning Joe…and I still don’t believe what I heard. These entitled SOB’s whining about homeless people in their neighborhood, and lamenting the fact that the city cops have been instructed to leave them be. What made it worse was their feigning concern for the homeless “safety”. I don’t have a clue about DeBlasio, but when Scarborogh attacked him then claimed it wasn’t “political”, I about threw my shoe at the TV. Breathe. Breathe.
PurpleGirl
@chopper: I think I stayed at a Motel 6 in Easton (PA). It was pretty shabby. Don’t think I’d stay at another Motel 6 after that experience. A friend and I were returning to NY from a trip to a Mineral & Gem Show in PA; when she booked the motel she didn’t realize how close we were to NY. She picked it by cost, unfortunately. It took us over 40 minutes to find the damn place because the address was on the main road, but the motel itself was set back away from the road and the signage wasn’t clear.
Baud
@WereBear:
Yep.
Keith G
@OzarkHillbilly: Maybe so, and yet that was not his original intent. In W, Cheney found the perfectly witless decoy for his festering paranoia.
WereBear
@WereBear: Mind you, there’s huge swathes of high school existence I opted out of. No prom, no clubs, no extra-curriculars, few friends.
It’s okay; I don’t miss it now and I sure didn’t then.
lonesomerobot
@WereBear: I wasn’t a cool kid, either. But I was on the yearbook staff so I saw it all every day.
I agree there is no point in living down to GOP expectations, but the server thing was an unforced error. The reason for doing it is always going to seem sketchy, and it gives your opponents something to hammer.
I don’t dislike Hilary, and I should be clear: I will vote for Bernie Sanders, or if he’s not the nominee, against any one of the clowns the GOP will be running.
rikyrah
@Major Major Major Major:
Prayers that it all comes out well for you.
WereBear
@lonesomerobot: I’m a Bernie fan more than an HRC, but she is streets ahead.
And yes, especially for something that can be outsourced to a minion, this is an easy one to dodge.
Jeffro
@NorthLeft12:
Exactly. Says a lot about Ryan, says even more about the current state of the House GOP.
rikyrah
@Kay:
They despise Barack and Michelle Obama because they don’t give A PHUCK about belonging with them. They resent Barack Obama’s self-containment, because he should be desperate for their company – and he could care less.
Amir Khalid
To cheer everyone up, especially Major Major Major Major who is undergoing all those medical procedures, a story about the funniest jokes of the Edinburgh Fringe, with both the Top 10 and the Honorable Mentions lists.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Sober and serious?
Privatizing Social Security
Medicare into vouchers
No citizenship, but the opportunity to be a permanent worker class…
this makes him serious?
Thoughtful Today
“Morning Joe”
…
Republican MSNBC for breakfast.
Breakfast of Champions. You betcha.
lamh36
My nephew the celebrity did a commercial with the Manning boys ! Tre is the “men’s husky” one…lol
Here is the commercial Tre did
Watch “Gatorade Sweat It to Get It | High Knees Ft. Peyton and Eli Manning” on YouTube
https://youtu.be/OPf9Wk1x3CQ
Belafon
@Kay: He’ll always be fighting for it, but Chelsea has been accepted.
I sort of understand. When I was a kid, I was the only kid from a poor family in the gifted and talented program at my school. There were the nice kids, but there was a group that could not stand me being there and I spent two years being bullied by them until my family moved.
There are circles where it’s obvious that it’s not your hard work that gets you there, and working hard is exactly why they don’t want you there.
MattF
@OzarkHillbilly: Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, plus a regiment of courtiers. It’s good to be King, particularly if the lower ranks do all the dirty work.
Amir Khalid
@rikyrah:
Sober and serious? I wouldn’t apply that description to Jeb’s anchor-baby boo-boos.
bystander
@Tommy: Don’t worry about Biden’s plagiarism issues being brought up on Moanin’ Joe. Not with Special Consultant Mike Barnicle and Special Guest Star Ben Domenech on the panel, at least.
Another Holocene Human
@bystander: JoeScar is the sort of insecure host who would love a plagiarist, obviously these ja-mokes can’t come up with a good witticism on their own and have to borrow others’.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: Currently Jeb has the highest favorables among Hispanics of all the R candidates:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/polltracker/donald-trump-gallup-poll-hispanics
I was shocked that any of them is in positive territory, but several are. Obviously, Trump is the all-white-all-the-time bet. But just going by this, I could see Jeb as the candidate to be worried about, even if he’s a poor campaigner.
Edit: Pretty sure this sample was taken before this “anchor baby” business.
ET
The lowly drones they are sending to comb though the files likely wouldn’t know what they are looking at anyway. People have no critical thinking skill and given that likely the average of the drone is about 25, they don’t know enough to tell the difference between gold and dross.
D58826
Well if the GOP follows thru and adds a new face to MT Rushmore, I nominate the poor staffer who is going thru Hillary’s documents at the Clinton Library. Talk about above an beyond the call of duty just to earn a pittance for your daily bread!
OzarkHillbilly
@Keith G: But that was exactly Cheney’s intent. ;-)
Thoughtful Today
Erm…
Jeb Bush managed to turn his insult of Hispanics to an insult of “Asians”.
Is that considered “The Full Trump?”
Joel
Well, in this case, the Democrats did it first (and better). And are probably doing it again, and aren’t fucking dumb enough to broadcast their intentions to the press.
raven
Can’t one of you web geniuses figure out what the fuck is wrong with this website???
shell
@Major Major Major Major: Damn, why so many?
Sorry, I know thats a personal question.
WereBear
@D58826: Might make a Democrat out of them!
SiubhanDuinne
@Keith G:
The “focused malevolence” was the Vice President.
Just One More Canuck
@BillinGlendaleCA: that would be the voices in his head?
catclub
@BillinGlendaleCA: Me too. It was very thorough. My refrain is that the Clintons have been attacked in the media for over 20 years and are more popular than when they started. The US people actually like them. The media, not so much. NYT probably the worst of the bunch. (You know the Washington Times will hate them, it is more unexpected for the NYT to be so bad.)
Waysel
@Schlemazel: Very long BJ reload time for me as well. At home laptop. The last two days, methinks.
Mark B.
@Waysel: There’s something going on with the server. Without more details about the kind of arrangement it’s on, I couldn’t guess the problem.
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: Wow, Major Major, that’s gotta suck. May I call you Major Major? :-)
On the plus side (please don’t smack me, I know it can be aggravating when someone tries to see the positive when you are feeling totally shitty) it does appear that you have finally gotten someone’s attention.
That’s what I think, anyway, when I see the double backup HIV test – they really want to be certain so they can rule that out for sure, which will narrow the things they look into. That looks like good troubleshooting to me.
I was an IT person for most of my career (I switched after I left the university) and if I was trying to figure out a server or network problem, I would often try something to even though I was absolutely certain that that wasn’t the problem – just so I could close the door on that line of thinking with absolute certainty.
If you’re an IT person you already know this, but in troubleshooting, any time you can eliminate something as the problem, you have moved further toward the solution. So to me, even though it’s stressful for you, it seems like a good thing that they are going for the double backup HIV test.
This is totally a guess on my part – apologies if I’m wrong – but if the 3 MRIs are for different body parts, it really seems like you have someone who really wants to help you and really wants to figure out what the problem is. I bet a lot of doctors would order one MRI, and then dink around for days/weeks/months and THEN maybe order the second one, and then the third.
If I’m right, you really have someone who is on Team Major Major, who will figure out what’s going on. And sometimes that’s what you need the most. When trying to navigate any bureaucracy – medical, legal, governmental, I always feel like you’ve hit the jackpot when you find a person who resembles this: “competent + gives a shit”.
If I’m wrong, maybe I’ve distracted you while you’re reading this, at least, or maybe you will be mad at me for getting everything wrong, and that would be a lovely distraction, too.
All the best, Major Major. We’re all rooting for you here!
Brandon
This thing hasn’t even really started in earnest and I already have Clinton fatigue.
Bobby Thomson
@Kay: lightning. Sorry, it’s a peeve.
Bobby Thomson
@OzarkHillbilly: the author also apparently doesn’t know that candidates prep the public record before they announce.
Bobby Thomson
@NotMax: DOS attack by a recently banned techie?
WaterGirl
In case this is a clue for someone trying to fix the BJ website slowness – oading the BJ page is slow slow slow, but editing a comment is super zippy.
J R in WV
@Major Major Major Major:
Hope it isn’t as terrible as you anticipate! Non-destructive testing, after all.
Best of luck, Major^4, best of luck.
Tom Q
@Brandon: Which, you know, is the point: get wishy-washy Dems to say, oh, I just can’t go through this, and decide to pass on the candidate who wins in every match-up with GOPers. Or at least make the primaries ugly enough that she’ll be hobbled a bit.
geg6
@MomSense:
I spend months matching students to the scholarships, based on whatever the criteria for the scholarship may be: major, financial need, high school attended, geographic area, basically whatever the donors have decided. It is super time consuming and a giant balancing act, as we always award more than we actually have money to cover (kind of like a wedding guest list, you know that about 25% are going to turn you down for admission or transfer to another school). Then it is a whole other task to get the students to turn in the forms allowing donors to have their names and thank-you notes to the donors. I was just about done with one of the most challenging awarding seasons I’ve been through in my 17 years here, when they decided, because of two last-minute but very large donations, that they want me to approach the whole thing differently because the University Trustees decided that no tuition increase would happen this year (which hasn’t happened on my campus for the last 3 years anyway) and each campus may have to give back a percentage of their budget (something like 2%) if the state budget stand off doesn’t go our way. In order to save the campus that money in the event we are required to cut the budget, they want to use the new donations to cover what the campus would normally have to directly kick in for scholarships. Thus my entire scholarship list is blown up (don’t know what students will qualify for the new funds because the criteria are not in the system, so I can’t pull up a list). I now have to reverse engineer the entire thing. And it has to be done in the next 8 days.
maurinsky
@MajorMajorMajorMajor – I’m sorry. I hope they isolate whatever is ailing you and it’s fixable.
I’m currently waiting for the doctor to call me back with test results from my pap smear; he called me yesterday and said he didn’t want to leave a message, so surely it’s good news! My doctor, btw, is about 15 years old, a lovely young man, super attentive and excellent bedside manner, but a sproutling.
Applejinx
@lonesomerobot: That’s how I feel as well. I’ll work and vote for Bernie Sanders, and if for any reason we end up running Hillary, I’ll vote for her against the Republican.
In that event, what I’ll be hoping is that we have made enough evidence that the zeitgeist went full socialist, and that she needs to do her best Elizabeth Warren impression every second of her Presidency.
Hil’s a natural pol. She will inevitably triangulate and sell out somebody. It is OUR job to make damn sure she sells out the bankers, because it’s not primarily money she wants at this point, it’s votes and a legacy.
She’s taken tons of money from banksters: they ALL have except Trump and Sanders. Doesn’t mean she can’t turn on them. Believing she must be faithful to those who gave her campaign money is being really naive, and Hillary is not naive. We only have to make a compelling case that the 80s are over and she must represent an utterly different electorate now.
She’ll turn. But ONLY if it is that obvious. So, we go whole hog trying to get Bernie nominated, and put the fear into her, and keep the pressure on. It’s actually a better situation by far than if you wanted a neoliberal hawk and got Bernie, because with him it wouldn’t matter what pressure you brought: he’d stay Bernie.
Hillary can be steered, Bernie can’t (otherwise he wouldn’t be the Bernie currently berning up the charts and filling stadiums)
Trump can tell Hillary ‘I have literally given you money to do what I want’ but if she’s smart she can come back with ‘so sorry, the electorate called. They want me to betray you. Can I get an ‘awwwww’ from the studio audience for poor ripped-off Donny, who didn’t get value for his bribe money?’
…well, actually that would be terrible, but there are ways to spin a ‘yes, everybody did it, and now we are stopping all that’. The awkward thing is that she actually did take Trump money, so she’d better have one hell of a comeback. Writing him a check on the spot, maybe? Nah, too creepy.
Let’s just use Bernie, because it’s hurting my head trying to come up with zinger responses to that one. :P
Ruckus
@Kay:
I liked Biden in 08. But I donated to Obama’s campaign, worked and voted for him. I like Biden as a person, but I don’t see him now as president, unless you just hate Hillary. And we all know there are plenty of people who fall into that group, on both sides of the isle. For me the last 8 yrs have seen Hillary mature into a much better politician, which let’s face it is the type of person we need to run a political entity. And governments are all political, even if they manage to be nothing else.
Ruckus
@OzarkHillbilly:
It’s how you do everything else that really counts, the assholes only do the dirty stuff. And really it’s politics, so almost by definition it’s dirty. At least that’s how it’s been for most of recorded history.
Bobby Thomson
@Ruckus: it’s not maturity. She now has a record of her own instead of glomming onto her husband’s successes and side stepping his failures.
MomSense
@geg6:
OH MY DOG that is even worse than I thought. Damn, I am so sorry.
Ruckus
@Major Major Major Major:
Your situation sounds more serious than mine but I am going through something like this myself. Did an MRI last week, won’t know the results for a couple more and maybe not then. I’ve resigned myself that whatever they tell me, I’m still here today, still have the symptoms that have caused many tests, with more on the way, and few answers. They do know that it’s probably not just one thing gone wrong so the fixes may not be compatable but will all probably be life altering.
All of that is to say, hang in there and hope for the best or at least an answer that has a fix.
Ruckus
@Bobby Thomson:
Yes that too but she really has matured. She handled the SOS job pretty well and that in this day and age is a big deal. I believe she learned a lot from her 2008 run and the current administration. That’s maturing, not just being yourself. I like that in a candidate, that they can learn, that they can grow, that they can see mistakes and benefit from them. That’s maturing. It’s not that she was all that bad 6-8 yrs ago but she was not good enough. She is now. That’s maturing.
SWMBO
@Major Major Major Major: Peace and comfort to you through the whole process. DREAD can be worse than RESULTS. All the best to you and yours.
SWMBO
@geg6: And without functioning glasses. That’s enough to give you headaches. Jump through this hoop. NO! Jump through this flaming hoop of death! After we soak you in kerosene. Are you sure it was Lovey that chewed the glasses or did you gnaw on them while trying to reverse engineer this whole mess?
Central Planning
@maurinsky:
My experience is that not leaving a message is not good. About 6 weeks ago, the doctor didn’t leave a message saying I have (had now!) testicular cancer. He just said “call me back”. I go “Hi doc, it’s CP. Since you didn’t leave a message I think something is amiss”. Yup.
Anyway, to make a long story short: cancer free after a 45 minute surgery. Turns out testicular cancer is one of the easiest ones to treat and has a high survival rate because men notice they have a problem because they are outside the body.
Good luck to M^4, maurinsky, and ruckus!
PSA – Men, do your self exams monthly! Women, tell men to do their self exams monthly! Early detection is key to successful treatment.