Irish Setter slander! Had I the skillz, one of those pianos would be labelled “John Miller” and another “John Barron“…
.
Congratulations on becoming a U.S. citizen, Alicia. Enjoy casting that vote. https://t.co/jewmwZrrOA
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 20, 2016
IMO, this is another great HRC jab at the short-fingered vulgarian: While reminding decent voters that Trump is a bigoted sexist pig (‘Miss Housekeeping’ for a Latino pageant winner, really?) it also tweaks Trump on his failed second marriage, his lost pageant ownership, and his once-less-embarrassing combover…
Speaking of which, commentor Rikyrah pointed out an interesting Steve Benen article — “Why it matters that Donald Trump never vetted himself”:
It’s Campaign Management 101: It’s not enough to research your rivals; you have to research yourself. Taking a close look at your opponents’ backgrounds will help uncover their strengths and weaknesses, which in turn will help shape your strategy, but digging through your own background will help you anticipate and prepare for upcoming lines of attack…
… Mother Jones’ David Corn reported yesterday on a detail that should make Republicans nervous.
For most major presidential campaigns, it is a routine act: You conduct opposition research on your own candidate. The reason is obvious; campaign officials and candidates want to know what they might have to contend with once the you-know-what starts flying. But not Donald Trump.
At least not at the start of the campaign that would lead to him becoming the presumptive GOP nominee. According to a source with direct knowledge, when Trump was considering entering the presidential race early last year, his political advisers, including Corey Lewandowski, who would become his campaign manager, suggested that he hire a professional to investigate his past. But the celebrity mogul said no and refused to pay for it…
It would be a mistake for any national candidate to skip this part of the process, but for a guy like Trump – whose record includes a long list of personal and professional controversies – it’s incredibly reckless.
Corn’s report added, “The candidate, who now refuses to release his income taxes, did not want his own campaign scrutinizing his past. He was not willing to be transparent – not even for his own team.”
To be fair, Trump’s doing his whole campaign on the cheap. Maybe he just couldn’t afford to pay for better research.
***********
Apart from waiting for a millipede’s worth of further shoes to drop, what’s on the agenda for the day?
ICYMI: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's Yr Donald Trump Bumper Sticker Generator https://t.co/Z2KRLPztpb pic.twitter.com/4MwiRsbNjS
— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) May 20, 2016
Kropadope
Trump is disgusting. Just a vile misogynistic loser. The disparity in expectations for Democrats and Republicans is breathtaking.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kropadope: You forgot racist and xenophobic.Trump just mirrors today’s GOP.
OzarkHillbilly
Today in Republican governance: Judge to decide if death-row inmates in Louisiana need air conditioning Meh, right? So what else is new? Republicans live to sh!t on people just because they can. And then there is this little nugget:
Ahh yes, spending millions of taxpayer dollars when their state is on the verge of bankruptcy just for the pleasure of shitting on someone they deem beneath them. Today’s GOP.
BillinGlendaleCA
That’s sort of like a defendant not telling his defense counsel his side of the case. Hey, guess you all!
Baud
I vetted myself in preparation for my White House run.
May God have mercy on my soul.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Oops, thought you said you wetted yourself. Never mind.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Man, Freddie really is a nut job (photo) and a coward.
All last year I told readers how the DudeBros were attacking women and POC, and there were some, especially Cole, who refused to believe the ugliness. Well, better late than never.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Speaking of vedding. Meet the man who vedded Obama (link)
satby
Going to be a bittersweet day today, the memorial for my mom is today. Lots of funny stories, good memories, good friends; and my youngest son is in town from California and I haven’t seen him since last June. It promises to be a worthy sendoff for herself.
OzarkHillbilly
Well, it is Texas:
Baud
@satby: We’re there with you in spirit.
@OzarkHillbilly: Looks like Texas will have to pass a new law changing the rules of English grammar.
Baud
@Steeplejack:
Baud 2020! Get wet just thinking about it.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack: Well, we are talking about Baud; so that too.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@satby: Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that satby. It’s hard losing a loved one. Thinking of the good times always helps during tough moments.
BillinGlendaleCA
@satby: It’s a difficult day to get through, good that your son will be with you.
Punchy
About to run another half-marry. This one is for pride AND company points, which means balls-out effort is expected. Going to be in some epic pain come tee time this afternoon. Of course, thats after I prep for tomorrow’s triathlon….
Larv
This is why I’m extremely dubious of think pieces claiming that Trump could win by appealing to economic insecurities and soft playing the less appealing parts of Republicanism. I think it’s very unlikely that this election will be decided on the basis of competing policies or platforms. Instead, it’s going to be all about personality and how well the candidates stand up to the rigors of a presidential campaign. I’m pretty optimistic about Hillary there – she’s got a lot of experience with handling attacks. But the Donald is a time bomb of braggadocio and insecurities. There’s a ton of toxic shit in his past just waiting to be unearthed, and I don’t see him handling it well. He already has a habit of blowing up at any media outlet or figure that runs anything critical of him (Megyn Kelly, WaPo, NYT, etc…). Over the course of a long, highly stressful campaign I don’t think that act is going to wear well.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: The opened up the choo-choo train to the beach! So, once we get a clear day down by the ocean; I’ll head down on the train a get some infrared shots of the Pacific.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Punchy: Gee, all I’m thinking of doing is hike 2.5 miles.
(Though there is a bit of risk of radiation exposure, the nuclear kind.)
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Neat. I’m curious to see if the ocean has a similar heat pattern to the river.
OzarkHillbilly
A redneck buddy of mine passed along this great 2 minute bit from the Liberal Redneck. I’d never heard of him before, a comedian out of Tennessee. Too f’n funny..
Mai.naem.mobile
Trump places such a high value on looks and yet he’s pretty unattractive himself – now and even when he was younger. He’s definitely more unattractive than Hilz. And thats just physically. Trump’s ugly on the inside too.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Phrasing!
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: It’s not heat with near-IR, it’s the reflection and absorption of the near-IR wavelengths of light.
ETA: The heat pattern camera only works are relatively short ranges, about < 50 yards.)
BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: I saw him, I think on LOD. Very funny guy.
rikyrah
Good Morning ☺, Everyone ?
Off to swim and run errands
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA: Gotcha.
rikyrah
@satby:
I hope being with others who loved and respected her gives you some comfort.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: So basically the ocean will be a dark blue or black; it will still be an interesting picture especially with the Santa Monica pier.
BillinGlendaleCA
I found out a my mom’s funeral, that the reason I didn’t get invited to my 10th high school reunion(it was the same year as my mom’s passing) is that that they thought I was dead. The folk that searched for alum saw my dad’s obituary and thought it was me(idiots).
OzarkHillbilly
Oooofff. What a hangover.
BillinGlendaleCA
Here’s something interesting I shot yesterday evening, a 360 degree video of Downtown Glendale.
Betty Cracker
@satby:
That’s the best way to remember a loved one, IMO. May it comfort you and your family.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA: WTF is that?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: It’s a short video taken with a 360 degree camera. The YouTube window has directional controls and you can move in any direction in the video.
ETA: It’s like a photosphere, but video.
satby
Thank you all: Baud, David, rikyrah, Betty. It’s going to be lovely as long as no one plays “On Eagle’s Wings”, because if that happens one red headed mourner will be breaking the organist’s fingers.
Edited to add, we could probably do a long thread on worst dreck ever passed off as a “hymn”.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA: ok, that was cool. I didn’t realize I could scroll the video, so all I saw was this hand for 30 seconds.
Baud
@satby: Isn’t that the song John Ashcroft used to sing?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud:
Listen to The Hand!
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
Sometime in the last couple of days, I noted that an LGF commenter was lamenting that the Sanders campaign confirms the impression that the left side of the left is whiny, incompetent and inflexible (I’d say “brittle”).
I’ve been accused a long time of hippie punching online, when I react to the antics of the left of the left (or as I now refer to them, “Bernsheviks”, who would burn it all down in order to seize the means of production, yards yadda). I prefer to think of it not as hippie punching, but instead as a curb stomping with some gratuitous final face kicks with golf cleats and high grade Italian loafers, with some final slams by a hand stitched leather carryon….
Baud
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class:
Speaking of, how’s your trip going?
satby
@Baud: yes… and one of the many reasons I hate it.. but it’s now used pretty often in the Catholic funerals I’ve been to. No one who appreciates music could even bring themselves to play it. Especially favored with the aspiring to be Evangelical crowd.
Reaffirms why I left that church in my teens.
OzarkHillbilly
@BillinGlendaleCA: I’ve never been invited to any of my HS reunions. Maybe they’re trying to tell me something.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
Earlier this week, I decided that an idea I have had progressed far enough that it was worth thinking of it as my next novel, though there are still a lot of pieces missing, like the middle 80%. I have a beginning, most of an ending, 3-4 characters, and a partial setting. What I don’t have is what the plot is about. But I wrote up a really, really rough draft of might be the opening scene.
Here it is. I am very interested to hear what people think, though I recognize that this is far from polished prose and probably runs on way too long for the eventual scene. It’s more to get a feel for what I’m doing. I’m not sure how much I’ll be paying attention to BJ threads this weekend, as I’m kind of busy, but you can look me up on Facebook if you have thoughts to share.
The thing that I don’t think comes through right is the relationship between Randolph and Walsh. They don’t especially like each other, complicated because Walsh’s legal status is, at best, that of an indentured servant to the FBI, so Randolph is as much her overseer as her co-worker.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@OzarkHillbilly: I’ve never been invited to any of my high school reunions, either, though in my case, it may be in part because I moved out of state and legally changed my last name.
MomSense
@satby:
I hope the memorial and time with your son is healing for you.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Baud:
Sadly, I’m back to work, and the jet lag was more awful than usual. Still, it was a glorious experience for us.
Weirdly though, I got a recent itch to go tent camping. I bought all kinds of stuff, and figured out a “crown jewel” spot in the state park system which I’ve booked next weekend. We’re also going to visit middle daughter in Southern Illinois in June, and I’ve got a spot reserved there, too. We’ll see how it goes.
I know we’re supposed to meet in Vegas in August (ugh) after one off her trade shows for a few days, and I’ve already paid for us to do a dive week at a dedicated dive resort in Bonaire in November (gotta remember to vote absentee). I’m finalizing a friend on buying a dive shop in the Keys in a few weeks – he’ll want me to do some celebratory dives in conjunction with that for a few days – I’ll be incapable of refusing that. Will probably do something in between then and November as well, maybe a spin around a Sandals or something.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
I finally tracked down a classmate who did that – in his case, He was a writer with a long and complicated last name that I think hung round his neck like an anchor.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class: I stumbled onto one of their web sites yesterday and it’s nut-job central. Their whole “movement” is based on conspiracy theories and longing for their lost youth in the 60s.
I read one post that was a phone book full CTs on how they believe Hillary stole the election.
It’s sad. I thought our side believed in reality, but there’s a big slice that are nothing more than neo-truthers.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class: I spent the first 27 years of my life named Michael Jackson. I finally had enough.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
The Man is keeping them down, y’dig….
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
Oh, geez – yeah, that would be painful.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: In Catholic funerals??? Oh Gawd in heaven save us all.
OzarkHillbilly
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: I think in my case it’s because I absolutely loathed and despised 629 of the people in my graduating class of 633.
NotMax
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym
Sharing that name with a respected, intelligent, skilled and cultured liberal radio personality is a good thing.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: I know, right? Somebody decided they were losing too many authoritarian followers to the Evangelical Protestants and decided to mimic the ostentatious awfulness of the worst of the megachurches. Ewwww
!
satby
@MomSense: Thanks!
geg6
@OzarkHillbilly:
As an ex-Catholic in a county spilling over with Catholics, I’m pleased to say that no recent Catholic funeral here that I have attended (and with my age and demographic means I’ve attended a lot of them) has ever featured that hymn. I have a hard enough time sitting through a funeral mass due to my utter contempt for the Church but that would just send me round the bend. Don’t know that I’d be able to contain myself.
ET
Trump thinks he is fabulous. He thinks he is blameless and all his actions or at least justified. He thinks he always right. And he thinks because all of that is self evident why would that exercise be necessary?
lollipopguild
@ET: Trump also knows that they would have found several wharehouses full of material that can and will be used against him so why bother to pay someone to dig it up?
Miss Bianca
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Ach, ach, ach, ach!
@satby: I hope there is more sweet than bitter for you today. Sending good thoughts your way!
hedgehog mobile
@satby: Hugs.
scav
No idea what horrows lurk as funeral music, but after years of reading about the historical Kirk, well, look who’s trundling along into our century? Church of Scotland votes to allow ministers to be in same-sex marriages. Basically, just let the local parish decide although we officially have our opinions. You’ld think the creator had endowed people with free will or something. Plus they seem to be nice to refugees and to be on speaking terms with the UN. The Kirk?! Really should start paying attention to things that happened since John Knox was thundering about.
Miss Bianca
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: @NotMax: To say nothing of the renowned Beer Hunter….
WaterGirl
@OzarkHillbilly: I loved that!
WaterGirl
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: I went to high school with a guy who changed his name as soon as he got old enough. Original name was Joe Kotek – we used to joke that he changed it to Tampon. I’m sure he appreciated how funny we were at 17.