Just a heads up over this holiday weekend: There will be an independent candidate–an impressive one, with a strong team and a real chance.
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) May 29, 2016
Or let's put the Kristol question this way: what General would be stupid enough to let Kristol talk him into a vanity run for POTUS?
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) May 29, 2016
Ahmed Chalabi? https://t.co/MQcFAgBUbW
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) May 29, 2016
If Mark Cuban is Bill Kristol's mystery date, it's just for people who said this election couldn't get more surreal.
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) May 31, 2016
Britney would be a better president than Trump because she'd realize she's in over her head. She'd just lip sync, like she does at concerts.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) May 31, 2016
Today, Mark Halperin and John Heilborn are ON IT, at Bloomberg Politics:
Two Republicans intimately familiar with Bill Kristol’s efforts to recruit an independent presidential candidate to challenge Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have told Bloomberg Politics that the person Kristol has in mind is David French — whose name the editor of the Weekly Standard floated in the current issue of the magazine.
French is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. According to the website of National Review, where French is a staff writer, he is a constitutional lawyer, a recipient of the Bronze Star, and an author of several books who lives in Columbia, Tenn., with his wife Nancy and three children…
Shortly after Kristol fired off that provocative missive on Sunday, he left for Israel and has been avoiding the press, speaking only through a series of tweets taunting Trump for responding to Kristol’s Sunday tweet. Speculation had centered on 2012 Republican nominee Romney, freshman Nebraska senator Ben Sasse, and other current and former state and federal office-holders…
“The mountains have labored, and brought forth a mouse. But did it have to be a wall-eyed mouse in a clown suit?”
Looking for video of David French? Two appearances on C-SPAN https://t.co/R2ZnIx7gwB cc: @MarkHalperin pic.twitter.com/izTgS5QtJZ
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) May 31, 2016
Bill Kristol has been wrong for 2yrs-an embarrassed loser, but if the GOP can't control their own, then they are not a party. Be tough, R's!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2016
Corner Stone
David French will never admit he is actually running.
Mike J
@Corner Stone: Admitting you’re running is a sign of weakness, that’s not what America needs now.
debbie
I’ve seen a couple parody Kristol Twitter accounts. Are we sure this isn’t part of that?
rikyrah
well, duh
……………..
SUNDAY, MAY 29, 2016 09:30 AM CDT
Donald Trump exposes the GOP’s dirty secret: They build everything by nurturing white rage
For decades, GOP has used the war on drugs or voter ID laws as cover for race-baiting. Trump just blew their cover
CAROL ANDERSON
Paul Ryan is angry with Donald Trump, not so much for failing to espouse conservative values, as for exposing America’s dirty little secret — white rage: that deep-seated determination to block black progress in this country. For years, conservative politicians have relied upon the cover of high-minded principles and slogans – “protecting the integrity of the ballot box,” or waging a “war on drugs” — in order to cloak their determination to restrict African Americans’ citizenship rights. The racism fueling Trump’s campaign and his followers, however, is so overt, that it is undoing decades of hard covert work by the GOP.
When Trump didn’t immediately disavow an endorsement from Klansman David Duke; when the GOP front-runner condoned the beatings African Americans endured at his campaign rallies; and when 20 percent of his followers insisted that the Emancipation Proclamation, which ended slavery, was bad policy, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan’s carefully stitched plan of “racism with plausible deniability” began to unravel.
Corner Stone
The last thing Bill Kristol was correct about was in the early 90’s when he said if D’s pass healthcare reform it would doom the Republicans for decades.
He’s missed everything since, and the banality of his evil in that lucky prognostication is out there for all to see.
boatboy_srq
Has Kristal ever been right?
Roger Moore
Yes, this really is the best Kristol can do. I still think the Libertarians are the best choice for any “principled conservatives” who can’t bring themselves to vote for either Trump or Clinton.
Julia Grey
Bill Kristol has been wrong longer than 2 years, Donald.
Corner Stone
@Mike J:
French has a chin that makes Jello jealous and shoulders you could not land a paper airplane on. He gets nothing and nowhere. I’m not too familiar with the man but the idea of it…if he had that kind of raging priapic ego I think we would know more about him lo these many years.
Baud
I can’t believe that when this is all over I’m going to finish among the top 3 on the list of most serious presidential candidates of 2016.
Corner Stone
Duck Mango!
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
I thought wingnuts hate the French.
A Ghost To Most
Ok, Ahmed Chalabi made me snort and laugh out loud.
Brachiator
Wow. Kristol is trolling the GOP establishment. Cool.
Exurban Mom
@A Ghost To Most: Me, too. That is some hilarious twittering, there. One can only pray that they split the conservative vote and usher in a Democratic president…
Davebo
@Corner Stone: It’s really just not as clever as you seem to think it is. It wouldn’t even make a good punk rock band name.
Now… Splendid Gagging Flamingos! That’s classic!
Olivia
HaHaHaHaHa!!! Nancy French is(or was, until a few weeks ago) Sarah and Bristol Palin’s ghost blog writer!
Davebo
@Exurban Mom: Well, by nominating two elected Republicans the Libertarian Party is hoping to double it’s vote count over 2012.
Frankly I think 1.98% of the popular vote is optimistic but they have the courage to believe!
p.a.
@Corner Stone:
fixt
different-church-lady
@Corner Stone:
That’s how he plans to keep his approval ratings high.
Villago Delenda Est
OK, first problem is with name recognition. As in none.
Second problem is this is Bill Kristol’s idea. Sarah Palin was Bill Kristol’s idea.
Splitting Image
If Kristol does persuade David French to lead a unity ticket, I suggest that he choose Iowa state representative Joel Fry as his running mate.
French-Fry 2016!
Wag
Oh Donald, you are so far behind the times. Bill Kristol has been wrong for far more than 2 years.
Roger Moore
@Davebo:
As long as the increase is coming from Trump rather than Hillary, I’ll be happy with whatever they can get.
AnotherBruce
David French? I know he did a bang up job of taking care of Buffie and Jodie, but c’mon he’s way too old.
divF
Props to AL for the R.A. Lafferty quote.
Corner Stone
@Davebo: You go to hell. You go to hell and you die.
Mike J
In Defense of Sarah Palin’s Endorsement of Donald Trump
Hal
Jan Crouch has died!
http://pictorial.jezebel.com/jan-crouch-lover-of-purple-hair-and-jesus-christ-has-1779658210
El Caganer
A brief recap of some of David French’s greatest hits: http://alicublog.blogspot.com/2016/05/pardon-my-french.html
Steeplejack (phone)
@Corner Stone:
Have you settled on a superhero costume for the Duck Mango alter ego yet?
different-church-lady
@Corner Stone: …Private Eye.
Villago Delenda Est
@Hal: Good.
raven
Every fucking officer that can breathe gets a Bronze Star. Show me a V device and I’ll rethink it.
Villago Delenda Est
@raven: Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that this guy, like Tom Cotton, was very lucky to leave Iraq without taking the proverbial trip down a flight of stairs in a wall locker?
Villago Delenda Est
@Mike J: Holy flurking schnitt.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I don’t know if you heard, but you’ve lost the Cole endorsement. He’s pushing Zander now.
Omnes Omnibus
@raven: Not true. You have to have a commission and breathe in a combat zone.
germy shoemangler
I’m thinking of eliminating NY Mag from my reading list:
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/05/desperate-kristol-recruits-blogger-against-trump.html
Admittedly that’s a low bar but WTF?
raven
@Villago Delenda Est: As much as I hate Cotton at least he was infantry, this clown was JAG.
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack (phone): Haven’t yet found a porkpie hat I like.
Mike J
@BillinGlendaleCA: Worse than pushing Zandar, he compared Baud to Ben Carson. That’s just low.
raven
@Omnes Omnibus: Yea, I should never assume.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA:
@Mike J:
Got a link?
germy shoemangler
@raven: Warren Terra asked this question at LGM:
Roger Moore
@germy shoemangler:
I think that’s an attempt to damn with faint praise– a fairly decent one, to boot.
raven
@germy shoemangler: As we know, a bronze star is not an award for valor, a bronze start with “V” device is.
germy shoemangler
@Roger Moore: The subtlety went over my head. It sounded to me like the NYMag writer is praising French. I read a sampling of French’s views and he sounds like a maniac to me.
gindy51
His wife is, or used to be, Bristol Palin’s ghost writer for her blog. I imagine her mom is a bit put off by this “announcement”. Of course Nancy has all the dirt on the Palins….
Davebo
@Corner Stone: Friends don’t let friends promote lame ass meme’s!
Villago Delenda Est
@raven: My very first real first sergeant (in the company where I was a platoon leader) made me familiar with “assume”…makes an ass out of you and me…
raven
@Villago Delenda Est: copy
Omnes Omnibus
@germy shoemangler: A BSM is not a valor medal unless is award with a “V” device. Otherwise, it is an award for meritorious service in a combat zone.
ETA: Or what raven said.
germy shoemangler
ok
Origuy
@germy shoemangler: “arguably” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.
Major Major Major Major
So I get on one lousy airplane and we get two new Bernie dead-ender trolls downstairs? Shame on y’all.
Mike J
@Baud: https://twitter.com/Johngcole/status/737766617174573056
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mike J: That was really unfair, Baud! is much more high energy than Dr. Carson.
ETA: Although that is a very low bar.
Anne Laurie
@Olivia:
Y’know, that’s the best explanation I’ve seen for Mr. French acquiescing to this stunt — the threat of blackmail!
germy shoemangler
@Corner Stone: You could make your own porkpie hat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LIucjouJPE
chopper
Johnson and Weld were just heard yelling “fuck, come on, man!”
Mary
That Trump tweet is surreal. He truly does not realize that he is now supposed to be the de facto leader of the party.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Corner Stone:
Be very, very careful.
(Yes, I know, not a pork pie hat.)
sukabi
@A Ghost To Most: well it would have to be the ghost of Ahmed Chalabi, since he died a couple of years ago….but still a better choice than Drumpf.
Eta,…Ok not years, several months ago, perhaps reanimation is still possible…still couldn’t be worse than Donald…
Baud
@Mike J:
@BillinGlendaleCA:
That’s so offensive. I’m nothing like Ben Carson. My self portrait is with FSM, not Jesus.
Adam L Silverman
@Corner Stone: @Mike J: French was a Staff Judge Advocate during OIF. His bio doesn’t indicate any command experience. He was one of several legal specialists on the staff for 2nd Squadron/3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (2/3ACR). Given the time difference between his deployment in 2007 and now, he was likely a captain at the time, so he wasn’t the 2/3ACR Staff Judge Advocate, just one of that officer’s staffers (2/3 ACR is the equivalent of a Brigade Combat Team. The Staff Judge Advocate, the Officer in Charge of the lawyers, would be either a major or a lieutenant colonel with a staff of several more junior lawyers working for them).
Currently he’s a major in the US Army Reserve; specifically in the Individual Ready Reserve. This means he doesn’t have any military responsibilities unless he actively seeks them out. He’s written a neo-Con polemic about the Islamic State and he’s wired directly into several religiously conservative legal groups. He’s not going to run for president. He’s not going to run for vice president. And based on his writings at National Review he doesn’t have the foggiest understanding or notion about national security, strategy, and policy issues. This is why we do not let captains and majors set policies and develop strategies. They do not have the experience, the education, and/or the training to do so.
Davebo
@BillinGlendaleCA: Ronald Reagan is currently much more high energy than Ben Carson.
Jeffro
@Baud: is there a Baud! shop where I can pick up a T-shirt and a couple a bumper stickerS?
SiubhanDuinne
@BillinGlendaleCA:
germy shoemangler
@Baud: No poverbs on your wall?
Steeplejack (phone)
@Mike J:
Dang, that’s cold.
Mnemosyne
@germy shoemangler:
Roger Moore is right — that’s high-quality snark. C’mon, one of the 10 best National Review bloggers? Praise doesn’t get much more qualified than that.
Baud
I can’t believe the BJ Party will schism before we’ve elected our first candidate.
Adam L Silverman
@A Ghost To Most: Especially because he died last November.
evodevo
@Corner Stone: I knew him and have kept track of him for years. Religious right, conservative lawyer who works for the ACLJ, and jumps in at every opportunity to push the “religious freedom” laws cropping up in a lot of states lately. Not exactly a 7-Mountains Dominionist like Cruz, but near enough that I wouldn’t vote for him in a million years.
Mnemosyne
@Steeplejack (phone):
Plus, the most famous wearer of the pork pie was this guy.
Baud
@Jeffro: I had to pawn those to raise some needed campaign funds.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: I can.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: That isn’t Charles Mingus. That isn’t Charles Mingus at all!
raven
Charles Mingus – Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
Adam L Silverman
@raven: I almost put that in my comment about him at #66, but didn’t want to seem out of place as I’m just a silly civilian subject matter expert augmentee. He did the standard tour up at FOB Warhorse in Diyala. The only two real problem areas in Diyala Province were in Diyala city itself and down at the border with Mada’in Qada. The lower portion was an assumed risk area for the battlespace owner of Mada’in Qada. in 2007 that was 3/3ID. We backfilled them and ran the op to clean out southern Diyala in AUG 2008, which got plenty of press coverage. Given he was, at best, a captain/O3 at the time of his deployment, it is unlikely he ever left the FOB.
Baud
Here is Vox’s review of French. Not a good guy.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: Heretic!
Steeplejack (phone)
@Mnemosyne:
Thank you. I knew that would be like the bat signal to you.
Baud
@germy shoemangler: I’m more into pronouns.
Jeffro
@Baud: bummer…been there, dude. Well not really, but i can empathize. Usually.
Adam L Silverman
@Villago Delenda Est: he was a staff legal weenie. Cotton got his Bronze Star in Afghanistan – also no V device – for being the staff weenie as an O3/captain on a Provincial Reconstruction Team. He was the ops officer for the Interagency personnel, development specialists, and contractors on the PRT. It was his job to handle the money for PRT operations, book flights and rides (the PRTs were dependent on the Coalition Military Forces for transportation), beds, bunks, and chow. This was not a glamorous assignment.
Davebo
@Baud: I’m going to go out on a limb and speculate that it wouldn’t take a lot of air time to push a significant number of voters to a new BJ party.
No credit card required!
BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: Neoliberal!
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
Wouldn’t Mingus be the most famous NON-wearer of the porkpie, given the song?
Mnemosyne
@Steeplejack (phone):
Before I was a “Hamilton” fanatic, I was a Keaton fanatic. Ask me anything.
JustRuss
Have to say that beard works for French. Wish I could pull that off, I’m closing in on that hairline.
Oh, and don’t ever change, Mr. Kristol! Not that there seems to be any danger of that.
raven
@Adam L Silverman: Well, I hate to be fair but not only did any officer who breathed (in a combat zone) get one, they would all use it in any kind of bio published about them. Here’s the might BS ceremony for my company. Lot’s of officers and senior nco’s but a couple of em as well.
eta Looks like some arcoms in there too.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: Not joining that cult either.
chopper
@raven:
FFS, Major Major Major Major has four of the goddamn things.
Baud
The BJ primary process is rigged!
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: We are not going to enable you.
Adam L Silverman
@germy shoemangler: Without the V device its become a standard deployment award for some, The 03/captain/staff officer, who was USAR on my team (also an artillerist by Branch and MOS), was awarded the a number of medals/commendations at the end of his tour. I do not remember all of them.
As for IRR status, here’s the link to the page:
https://www.hrc.army.mil/STAFF/Individual%20Ready%20Reserve%20Homepage
And the answer is it depends on what status he’s got himself in. Some of the folks in IRR are in it because of the requirement to be reactivated should they be needed for X number of years after they separate. Others are in it to do minimal requirements towards retirement benefits. That he’s made major and is listing himself as USAR in the IRR, my guess is he’s attached to a unit and doing the requirement to build credit towards the retirement benefits.
Major Major Major Major
@BillinGlendaleCA: splitter!
chopper
@Mnemosyne:
how long did it take to get him into the batman getup every day?
raven
@JustRuss: Try this one.
Omnes Omnibus
@raven: Quite a few ACMs there.
Mike in NC
Bill Kristol never disappoints. If only HBO would give him a comedy special.
raven
@Omnes Omnibus: Yea, I amended the post to reflect that. We called them Green Weenies.
Mnemosyne
@BillinGlendaleCA:
@Omnes Omnibus:
True fact: I got to meet and briefly chat with his widow, Eleanor, who died in 1998 (she was much younger than he was). I still have her business card somewhere.
smith
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Well if John Cole thinks the Baudistas are just going to fall in line behind Zandar because of the backing of a corrupt party apparatus, he’ll have to take responsibility in November. If Trump wins it’ll be because the Zandar camp thought that browbeating and insulting 10 million plus BJ commenters because they didn’t adore Zandar enough in the primary would be an effective strategy.
Germy Shoemangler
@Mnemosyne: What amazed me after reading one of the biographies of Keaton: They never told him he had lung cancer. In those days I guess they didn’t believe in giving the whole story to patients. He thought he just had bronchitis. They gave him some painkiller and he thought he was being cured.
A nurse finally gave him a shot of something that ended his life.
If you want to see someone who was really influenced by Keaton, watch Richard Lester’s “Hard Day’s Night” (the scene where the Beatles run around the field to “Can’t Buy Me Love” before being interrupted by the angry groundskeeper is right out of “The Cameraman”
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: That’s what I’ve heard in the Valley.
Renie
Haven’t commented in awhile – was binging on Netflix watching all seasons of Dexter. Loved that show! And just finished Season 2 of Bloodline – WOW. Anyway, impressed by the new trolls that have popped up. But can someone explain why any fairly intelligent person is going to decide who they vote for by depending on what other commenters say on a blog? The trolls blaming Hillary supporters’ comments on why Bernie’s supporters won’t vote for her — come on that is some pretty stupid decision making.
Germy Shoemangler
@Mnemosyne: The clip I saw of them playing cards (and Buster singing with his uke) they were both smoking like chimneys.
Fascinating that Buster spent his life slowly going deaf. He said it made him “half crazy” (as someone struggling with progressive hearing loss I can relate)
Julia Grey
@Davebo: Splendid Gagging Flamingos!
This would make a nice alternative expostulation for “Great Googly Moogly!”
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: @raven: These guys use them to pad the bio for the civilian stuff. As you both know better than I, most civilians don’t have any clue what this stuff means.
BillinGlendaleCA
@smith: There’s going to be a messy convention in…where the hell is the BJ convention?
chopper
@smith:
I’m baud or bust, baby.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA: That place in your photostream looked nice.
Benw
@Adam L Silverman: now that’s an endorsement for the ages!
chopper
@BillinGlendaleCA:
i once asked a cop that and got in trouble.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Germy Shoemangler:
I’m keeping an eye on the kid. All she’s done so far is tell me to eat prunes.
Mnemosyne
@chopper:
I shouldn’t encourage you, but that made me snicker.
@Germy Shoemangler:
We have commenters right here on this blog who have similar horror stories of doctors withholding the truth about their relatives from them. Apparently it was a common practice with untreatable cancer back in the 1960s (Keaton died in 1968). Given Keaton’s drinking and smoking habits, it’s a wonder he managed to make it to 70.
Major Major Major Major
@smith: I don’t owe my vote to ANYBODY but Baud!. Stop trying to force me into your two-party false dichotomy!
raven
@Adam L Silverman: Lot’s of military folks get confused too. CNO Jeremy Boorda killed himself after it was revealed that he wore one with the V device when he wasn’t authorized to do so.
Origuy
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Cole’ back yard. Don’t anyone tell him.
Mnemosyne
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Just don’t let her take a job at Glendale Adventist. I’m still a little wary of that place.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Many there do know about BJ’s, some professionally.
Shell
He looks a lot like the old guy who lives next door to Kevin’s house in “Home Alone.”
Adam L Silverman
@Benw: I’m also pretty sure given the full beard he’s been sporting for a while, that his IRR service does not include anything that requires him to show up in uniform and to conform to official grooming standards.
Adam L Silverman
@raven: I remember that. Absolutely bizarre and tragic that was.
Corner Stone
@Origuy: Wouldn’t that be the greatest fricking thing ever? Just flash mob the fuck out of Cole by all showing up on his porch with food and sleeping bags?
You know he couldn’t say no. He’s a sap.
Mnemosyne
@Germy Shoemangler:
He initially lost a big chunk of his hearing to an ear infection in WW I, and it got progressively worse. That’s probably one of the reasons for the odd flatness of his speaking voice (very common in people with hearing loss).
raven
@Adam L Silverman: He was a mustang and a GED grad, both close to y heart.
ThresherK
@Mnemosyne: Not this guy?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: The wife went there for wrist surgery, they didn’t seem too bad. I was at Glendale Memorial and was less than impressed. The kid is doing her clinical at Ceders now, and that may help land her a job there after she passes her boards(and actually graduates, she still has one more day of clinical rounds and a philosophy final to go).
hedgehog mobile
@Baud: Yergh.
Shell
In the early 1950s my grandmother came down with pneumonia. The doctor told my mother that he was keeping that from her because, “to someone from her generation, pneumonia was a death sentence, and it would only scare her.” So she was just told she had a really bad cold, was given the new antibiotics and recovered nicely.
Like you said, a different mindset.
jake the antisoshul soshulist
@Julia Grey:
I think The Donald accidently left off the zero after the 2.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mnemosyne:
At this point I couldn’t say exactly when it was, but I do remember a public service ad campaign around that time that showed photos of ordinary-looking men and women with captions like “Grandpa Joe” (“Aunt Agnes,” “Cousin Flo,” and the like) “died of embarrassment.” The idea was that everyone — doctors, patients, and family alike — needed to get over their shame at discussing or even asking questions about cancer (which was routinely referred to as “the Big C”) and start being proactive and maybe extending lives.
BillinGlendaleCA
@jake the antisoshul soshulist: He needed the extra zero to add to his net worth.
Poopyman
@Major Major Major Major:
I believe you mean stop ramming it down your throat, but I could be mistaken.
billcoop4
@Villago Delenda Est:
It’s a stupid expression, at best. Unless you include the qualifier “unreasonable”. We assume stuff all the time–such as the sunrise, or the operation of alarm clocks, or ….
WMC
Splitting Image
@Germy Shoemangler:
The scene with the Beatles piling into a cab and going out the other door to get away from their fans was also lifted from “Seven Chances”.
hovercraft
When will the superdelegates understand that they have an obligation to select the strongest candidate possible for the general election. Notice I said select not elect. Bernie is only looping out for the best interests of the democratic party and the country.
When will the media stop telling me that the Bernie supporters are the most enthusiastic and loyal to their candidate? If only there were a way to quantify the level of each candidates support. Louder is not more.
Ultraviolet Thunder
@Renie:
That’s why we’re here, dear.
Villago Delenda Est
@Adam L Silverman: Ah. So, for all practical purposes, no where near actual troops. Makes it more difficult to have the wall locker thing happen to you (my troops in my signal platoon joked about that ALL the time…)
Major Major Major Major
@Poopyman: No that would be if I was a right-winger. What is it with those guys and ramming-down-your-throat/bend-over imagery.
chopper
@Corner Stone:
have you tried a trilby?
Villago Delenda Est
@billcoop4: This was in the military context of “I assumed that Sergeant Jones would follow up on that…”. No, Sergeant Jones did not follow up, and it’s your job, LT, to see that he does!
Major Major Major Major
whatever happened to J. Hollandaise Bechdel Test anyway?
Ultraviolet Thunder
@chopper:
I visualize Duck Mango in a Fez, though I’m trying not to.
Villago Delenda Est
@Adam L Silverman: IRR is pretty much “on your own” except for two weeks of active duty for training, when you of course do have to conform to the grooming regs.
Patricia Kayden
@Corner Stone: Just saw French on Joy Reid’s Sunday morning show. He seemed alright for a Conservative but I’m quite astonished that anyone would think he’s Presidential. But Kristol thought Palin was Vice Presidential so there’s that.
smith
@Major Major Major Major: You can only miss him when he’s gone.
hovercraft
@raven: @Poopyman:
There is no ramming down the throat this year we have a wide open field, Baud, Jill Stein, David French, Gary Johnson, Hillary, and Trump. This is a very strong field, all with an equal chance of winning.
Davis X. Machina
@Splitting Image: RIchard Lester gave Buster Keaton his last role in film, Erroneous in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Adam L Silverman
@raven: From what I understand/remember from when that happened it was pretty clear that he had never meant to claim something he hadn’t earned. But once there was blood in the water, the sharks started circling and…
Villago Delenda Est
@hovercraft: Poe’s law at work here.
Corner Stone
@Patricia Kayden: I saw a lot of that interview as well. He did seem pretty ok for a rwnj, at least what I saw of that piece. I kept waiting for him to do what all the nutters used to do on the MHP show, and just start repeating talking points non-stop and derail the otherwise good conversation but I did not see him do that.
And no, he is like that tall red bearded comedian guy with glasses, that always reminds me of a living big bird type.
BillinGlendaleCA
@hovercraft: That’s Dr. Jill Stein, and you forgot Cole’s preferred candidate Zander.
Jeffro
OT but seriously folks, the TrumpUniversity document dump is going to cost Drumpf some serious support and drive away anyone still in the middle. Scummy stuff
hovercraft
@Villago Delenda Est: @BillinGlendaleCA:
We need a national debate with all of them on the stage together, they can make it a pay per view. It will be like that insane gubernatorial debate in Idaho in 2014.
I tried to paste the link but it got lost, it’s on youtube
redshirt
@Jeffro: While you might be correct, who would now be supporting Trump who wouldn’t after these docs are released? I feel like that’s a very small crowd.
Omnes Omnibus
@hovercraft: I think I’d rather watch Pride and Prejudice and Zombies instead.
Adam L Silverman
@Villago Delenda Est: My understanding is that Senator Cotton had a platoon command on an earlier deployment. The PRT stuff was from his second one. As for French, he was a staff JAG. In my BCT one of the two most senior staff JAGs below the Staff Judge Advocate would, occasionally go outside the FOB to assist the National Guard O6/colonel on our ePRT with Rule of Law engagements with the local Iraqi judges and lawyers. The other one had an affair with the Ops/S3 Sergeant Major, which destroyed both her marriage and career and his once word got out about it.
BillinGlendaleCA
@hovercraft: At least there won’t be a “Happy Hour”* like the Republican primary debates.
*(H/T) Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Adam L Silverman
@Villago Delenda Est: For some of them. For others it means not having to do anything at all. It depends how one is classified. One of the Reserve Component officers at the war college my final year there wrote his strategy research paper about why it was important to make the IRR an actual, functional, and dependable portion of the Reserve Component and how to do it.
hovercraft
@Omnes Omnibus:
It’s only the highlights, and I think it’s better or at least on par with the rent is too damn high NYC debate. But I hear you I’ll take Jane Austen any day.
gogol's wife
@Major Major Major Major:
I think he changed his name to Micky Jackson.
Jeffro
@redshirt: I think I said it would primarily cost him anyone still in the middle/undecided. But it’s so over the top scummy – “Cash out your retirement funds to invest in real estate! Your finances haven’t done so good and you better hurry up!” – that yeah, he might even lose some current supporters.
A Ghost To Most
@chopper:
I was mistakenly thinking she was an Alex Keaton groupie, which seemed odd.
redshirt
@Jeffro: I sincerely wonder how anyone could be undecided. Then, I usually overestimate the intelligence of my fellow citizens.
Omnes Omnibus
@A Ghost To Most: Most guys of a certain age were Mallory Keaton fans back in the day.
Major Major Major Major
@gogol’s wife: I see what you did there.
A Ghost To Most
@Omnes Omnibus:
I was too old at that point to get it. Now Susan Dey …
MattF
Hmm. Well, French doesn’t seem… all that impressive. I guess Kristol sees him as the ideal ‘none of the above’ kind of guy. Or something.
Patricia Kayden
@Hal: Wow. Didn’t live much longer than her husband. I guess one of the sons will take over the money making ministry. Grifting never ends.
Omnes Omnibus
@A Ghost To Most: I was too young at that point.
germy shoemangler
Major Major Major Major
Hi Denver! I see you renamed Udi’s.
Patricia Kayden
@hovercraft: If only Clinton would pick Baud as her VP, Balloon Juicers would have it made.
Omnes Omnibus
@Patricia Kayden: I thought you wanted Clinton to win.
Adam L Silverman
@germy shoemangler: I saw that. Given his work with Pat Robertson’s legal advocacy group and a couple of other religiously conservative outlets, it would seem they have quite the traditional, patriarchal relationship going.
If you want to be that controlling, just take up BDSM. Its healthier for everyone.
Patricia Kayden
@germy shoemangler: Well, better safe than sorry and all that, right? You know how trifling we women are if we’re not kept in check. Now it’s starting to be clear what qualities attracted Kristol to French.
Major Major Major Major
@germy shoemangler: Good god.
Patricia Kayden
@Omnes Omnibus: And what are you implying? Tsk tsk!
Schlemazel Khan
@Jeffro:
No because most of Drumpf’s supporters are smug enough to think it could never happen to them. In their mind anyone who got suckered by Drumpf got what they had coming & it would have been wrong not to take them to the cleaners. That attitude it half of why they are Republicans in the first place.
Major Major Major Major
@germy shoemangler: Seriously, that’s fucked up.
Origuy
I bought a porkpie hat from a vendor at the Norcal Renaissance Faire last year. The company name is Singletree, the brand is Bad Hatter Dude. I don’t think they have a website. The classic porkpie has a turned-up brim, as opposed to Keaton’s flat brim. The distinctive feature is the indentation that goes all the way around the edge of the crown. The crown on mine is taller than Keaton’s, too. I wear it a lot.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman:
It’s consensual and designed to give mutual pleasure to the people involved. You can see where that would be a problem on the right.
Roger Moore
@Germy Shoemangler:
That was pretty standard practice back then. The general feeling was that it was cruel to tell patients they had a fatal illness, and this was justified by claiming it would make them give up. Doctors would tell the patients’ loved ones but not the patients themselves. I assume a lot of people figured it out and got their friends and relatives to tell them the truth, but plenty died without knowing what was happening. It’s essentially the opposite of the situation today, where patients are entitled to know everything and doctors aren’t allowed to tell their friends and relatives without permission.
hovercraft
@Patricia Kayden:
BiP would lead a revolt against all the juicers. And then all of Sanders nation would stay home and not vote or comment.
Baud has exhibited DLC tendencies. He’s a sellout. I heard he gave $500,000 speeches to netroots.
Schlemazel Khan
@Hal:
There better be some large pineapples coming her way in Hell!
This clown told people NOT to pay their credit card bill. Instead they should write the check to her ministry then mail the check along with the credit card bill to her. She would burn the bill on a “Prayer pyre” And Jesus would take care of the bill! She had another scam where instead of paying for your groceries you should send her the money & Jesus would make it all OK.
If there really were a God this woman would have been hit by a bolt of lightning from the blue so her days of damaging believers would have come to a speedy end.
Shana
@Mike J: I just checked the recipe for potato gnocchi from the class I took. It says that the dryer the potatoes are the less flour you need to use, which makes the gnocchi lighter. The recipe I have doesn’t call for eggs. Quantities are: 2 lbs. potatoes – russet or baking, 1 1/2 cups flour, plus more as needed, 1 t. salt. Bake the potatoes, rice and let dry on a lightlly floured surface. Sprinkle 1 cup flour and salt over the potatoes. using your hands work into a soft smooth dough. If sticky add the other 1/2 cup flour. Divide the dough into sections, roll each piece into a 3/4 in. diameter rope, cut into pieces and roll onto gnocchi board or across the tines of a fork. Cook in boiling water for 2-3 minutes.
ETA: this comment is directed at Corner Stone, not Mike.
Villago Delenda Est
@germy shoemangler: Oh, cripes. How did that marriage survive anything with bullshit like that going on?
The implication is not that he can’t keep it in his pants, it’s that she can’t keep her legs closed. Seriously fucked up.
Working for Pat Robertson, a man who openly stated that he’d only allow Christians and Jews to hold public office, in total conflict with James Madison and the black letters of Article VI makes him a no-go from the get-go.
NotMax
@Germy Shoemangler
Not at all an uncommon medical protocol at the time, particularly involving elderly patients (those over 60).
Keaton’s last silent film – the only such in color, made in 1965, when he was 69 (he died in ’66).
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
Or at least lose with dignity.
Gravenstone
Sending up the Bat signal for Mnemosyne – Lin-Manuel Miranda to star in a sequel to Mary Poppins..
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: To be fair, I think you’d do well in the interpretive dance portion of the VP debate.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: it’s spelled “loose with dignity”
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: Thanks! I always assumed the swimsuit competition would be my strong suit.
Troublesome Carp fka Geeno
@hovercraft: Dude – you’re full of eels.
@Omnes Omnibus: That’s ALWAYS preferrable
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: Thanks. Sometimes I feel like moran.
Davebo
@Julia Grey: Zappa reference or not, using words like expostulation makes you an elitist establishment type.
You’ll be feeling the Bern I’m sure!
Roger Moore
@redshirt:
It’s not their intelligence; it’s how well informed they are. Plenty of people just don’t pay attention until pretty close to the election. I can imagine, though, that something really damning might get through even to people like that.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: Baud!’s loose morals are well known in the BJ community.
Davebo
@Baud:
Just please, for the love of all things sacred, don’t wear a Speedo.
Schlemazel Khan
@Gravenstone:
I just saw that. I wonder if he will rap the part of Jack the Chimney sweep
Baud
@Davebo: Don’t worry. I won’t be wearing a speedo.
Mike J
@BillinGlendaleCA: That’s why he has as much support as he does.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: That’s true. I did not account for that in my comment.
Troublesome Carp fka Geeno
@Baud: I’m not reassured – wear AT LEAST a speedo.
Roger Moore
@Major Major Major Major:
Who doesn’t want women who are loose with dignity?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Troublesome Carp fka Geeno:
Baud!’s not a Libertarian.
Roger Moore
@Troublesome Carp fka Geeno:
I will not buy this tobacconist, it is scratched.
Major Major Major Major
@Troublesome Carp fka Geeno: Maybe it’ll be one of those Speedo-brand full body suits.
hovercraft
@Troublesome Carp fka Geeno:
Dudette.
Omnes Omnibus
@Major Major Major Major: Let’s not take any chances.
hovercraft
@Troublesome Carp fka Geeno:
Sanders pitch today once again is that the supers don’t understand.
Also too his supporters are the most enthusiastic and passionate, so they should count more.
Hence sarcasm.
Davebo
@Major Major Major Major:
Seriously, we don’t need a Baud™ Speedo shot of any kind circulating on the innertubes.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus: It’s Baud! we’re talking about, what could possibly go wrong?
Omnes Omnibus
@BillinGlendaleCA: I don’t have the time for that much typing.
Mike J
@hovercraft:
I asked them for Adidas and they bought me Zips!
Mnemosyne
I’m waiting for my takeout pizza and looked up to realize that they have a rack of Scientology crap on the end of their counter. WTF?
English does not seem to be anyone’s first language, so I’m not sure what’s going on.
schrodinger's cat
@germy shoemangler: I read that link. That was some crazy shit. Its as if these people exist in some bizzarro Universe. Since when did K-Lo become an expert on marriage?
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
Depends on which circles you travel in. Mingus, for example, wrote Goodbye Porkpie Hat in tribute to Lester Young.
Hmm. I wonder if one can get a six degrees of separation link from Buster Keaton to Lester Young to Richard Lester.
hovercraft
Looks like the most hated man in the senate may have learned his lesson.
schrodinger's cat
Saw David French’s photo on the Bloomberg site. He makes Florida’s Governor Scott look handsome. Was Rick Starbursts Lowry not available?
Jeffro
@redshirt:
I think at least half of the “undecided” think it makes them look smarter…as if they’re carefully weighing the pros and cons of, say, spaghetti vs tire rims and anthrax.
Schlemazel Khan
@hovercraft:
Let us all hope he can do for other Republicans what he did for his own run for POTUS. It would be one of the 3 things he could do to actually make a positive change in America
Major Major Major Major
@Jeffro:
CHICKEN MARSALA OR BUST
Amir Khalid
@hovercraft:
You have to wonder how many “no thank you” responses Ted’s going to get from his fellow Republicans.
Jeffro
@hovercraft:Re: Cruz making nice, from POLITICO:
Ya think, Politico??
And exactly what % of these newfound friends of Cruz’s won’t know that he’s doing it just to win the nom in 2020? That number is not zero, but it is quite possibly less than 1%.
Villago Delenda Est
@hovercraft: No Rethug Senator who is serious about holding on to their phoney-baloney job will let Rafael get within a light year of them.
smith
@Amir Khalid:
Wonkette counts them for you.
divF
@hovercraft: I’m sure netroots is like what Calvin Trillin and Molly Ivins used to say about the Nation: they pay their speakers in the high two figures.
redshirt
@Jeffro: Um, Bring tha Noize?!
Jeffro
@Major Major Major Major:
LOL
The level of inside baseball in this place, I swear…
hovercraft
@Schlemazel Khan: @Jeffro:
Yeah I can’t imagine there will be a whole lot of takers. How the hell does a bible thumper lose the bible belt to an orange yankee ?
catclub
@Corner Stone: He was wrong on that too.
Have you seen the 2010, 2014 elections? The GOP was not killed by the people loving government healthcare.
Shana
@Patricia Kayden: We also have Kristol to thank for Dan Quayle remember.
redshirt
If I can ask a serious question: What party is Kristol’s savior going to lead? How will he get on 50 ballots?
BillinGlendaleCA
@hovercraft:
Whose morals make Baud! look the paragon of virtue.
danielx
Ahmed Chalabi is dead, but such things are merely details to an intellect like that of Bloody Bill. On the other hand, knowing Kristol’s ability to pick long (and losing) shots, he may well have Zippy the Pinhead in mind. Zippy would show as much, if not more, intellectual and logical consistency than Trump has to date.
Hey, it could happen.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Baud:
Wouldn’t that involve you putting on more clothes than usual?
Patricia Kayden
@Shana: Didn’t know that but don’t find it surprising. He really knows how to pick up the rocks and get the slugs to run out, doesn’t he? Quite a skill he has.
BillinGlendaleCA
@redshirt:
They covered this on Morning Joe today; he won’t need to be on all 50 ballots, just enough states to ensure that the Hillbeast or the Orange yam with the opossum on his head don’t get a majority and throw the election to the House.
Troublesome Carp fka Geeno
@Jeffro: DUCK MANGO OR NOTHING!!!
I swear to god, I will devise a recipe for that.
It just sounds so delicious.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack (phone):
Yes.
divF
@redshirt: I originally read that to mean “how is he going to get 50 votes”, which is also a serious question.
Troublesome Carp fka Geeno
Oh, BTW, I just wanted to remind all and sundry of the thread below. I know not commenting isn’t the same as ignoring, but that it went so quiet disturbed me slightly.
hovercraft
@BillinGlendaleCA:
The immorality hypocrisy doesn’t surprise me, it’s always the most pious who are caught either cheating or are closeted, and yet they are still considered pillars of the community. When it’s one of their own they don’t care. They just wanted someone who could be a bully for them, like Obama has bullied them and rammed stuff down their throats. I’m not referring to Baud with the throat stuffing.
Brachiator
@redshirt:
I think that an existing party, such as the Libertarian Party, could agree to allow a candidate to run under its banner. A very unlikely proposition. I think that Kristol just can’t accept the idea that the nonsense he has supported for much of his political career has rebounded on him so spectacularly.
hovercraft
@redshirt:
The plan is not all 50 just a select few where there are competitive senate races and the swingstates. Siphon enough electoral votes so no gets 270 then the house gets to choose the next president.
Patricia Kayden
@hovercraft: We need to demand transcripts to make sure he wasn’t backstabbing BJ Frontpagers in those speeches!
Patricia Kayden
@efgoldman: Lol! Poor Kristol. He has got to know that he’s the butt of jokes all over the Internet.
redshirt
@Brachiator: Would make sense except Kristol made this announcement after the Libertarians picked their candidates. I don’t know of any existing Right party that would have the reach or the means to mean anything.
hovercraft
@Patricia Kayden:
What’s he trying to hide, first no speedo and now no transcripts.
redshirt
@hovercraft: If that’s the plan, please proceed Mr. French. That’s an iron clad guarantee of a Clinton win.
NotMax
@hovercraft
A plan which, on its face, is ludicrous. Siphoning some raw vote does not siphon electoral votes, winning a state’s raw vote does.
The chance of a third-party or independent non-favorite son candidate winning a state this year is cheek to cheek with nil.
Kristol must have quite the impressive file of negatives of incriminating photos stashed away. It’s the only thing that explains why Villagers give him ink.
Brachiator
@redshirt: I just offered the Libertarian Party as an example. I don’t know what other active parties might exist who might also be amenable to this GOP desperation move. Others here have noted alternative political plays, but I don’t see that anything less than a full 50 state push would make this gambit anything other than assuring a solid Democratic Party victory.
Buffalo Rude
@Corner Stone: I only know about French because national treasure and blog-land bad ass, Roy Edroso, beats him like a stunned mule every once in a while…
Tom
@Omnes Omnibus: I certainly was.
redshirt
Also too, I so hope that Real Republicans hopes rest in a guy named French.
TRAITOR FRIES!
hovercraft
@redshirt: @NotMax:
Shh don’t say it so loudly they may hear you. You’re missing the brilliant strategery at work here.
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: Does that mean you’d actually like to watch Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or just that, given a choice between the debate, PP&Z, and having your eyes put out by a railway spike, you’d choose PP&Z?
Inquiring minds want to know. For some reason.
NotMax
@hovercraft
Kristol is French kissing the media.
Schlemazel Khan
@BillinGlendaleCA: @hovercraft:
But that just does not work either. He has to win states He would have to draw votes away from Hillary in states Clinton would have won, taking from Clinton & giving them to the Drumpfenstein monster does no good. Someone would need to show me polling that indicates that sort of miracle is remotely possible because I see nothing that suggests anyone could pull it off.
Julia Grey
I’m Berned out. I thought he was okay at first, but over the last 6 weeks or so I have become a fanatic supporter of the elitist establishment. They’re “Bernie or Bust,” I’m “Hill or High Water.”
supporter
Miss Bianca
@hovercraft: err…that would be Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. Technically.
The Golux
@A Ghost To Most: Whenever I see a reference to Ahmad Chalabi, I think of one of the great “Get Your War On” strips:
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: If you don’t account for that, you’ve kind of missed the point of the exercise.
redshirt
@Schlemazel Khan: A dispatch from Planet Kristol:
If we run an incredibly weak 3rd party candidate as a write in we’re guaranteed to send this election to the Congress. Where they will vote Sarah Palin. Praise Space Pope.
Villago Delenda Est
@BillinGlendaleCA: In other words, a fable less grounded in reality than Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings.
redshirt
@The Golux: Chalabi should go down in the “Greatest Con Men” of all time books since he partially conned a superpower into engaging an incredibly weakening elective war. Chalabi himself got fame and power and I assume money but I have no facts to back that up. But like I 99% assume he made millions if not more.
Villago Delenda Est
One of the things about third party candidacies is that as Ross Perot discovered, lots of popular vote doesn’t mean a damn thing in the Electoral College. You have to actually win states outright to get into the only election that counts.
hovercraft
@Schlemazel Khan:
There is no such polling, it does not make sense. There is no rule that you have to win a majority to win a state, you just need a plurality. So a nonsense scheme, produced by a nonsense person, is nonsense.
I think the theory may have at one point had merit prior to Trump sweeping the north-east, when they thought moderate republicans would reject him. Now there is no moderate who would beat him in the northeast, or conservative to beat him in the south.
Adam L Silverman
@Amir Khalid:
I’ve been waiting forever to use that quote in a way that would also be factually accurate!
redshirt
@Adam L Silverman: It’s a great quote, meaning “I’m totally bullshitting”. A modern meme that I hope lasts a while.
Adam L Silverman
@redshirt: I know, but in this case its not totally bullshitting. Other than Senator Lee, its going to be every single one of those guys in the Senate. I’m sure some of the House members will have him campaign for them, but they’re special.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
I’m one of those people. Grandad had cancer but his second wife would not allow the docs to tell him, he “couldn’t” handle it. Fuck that, that old coot could handle pretty much anything. (Just in case you can’t tell, I liked him a whole lot, even if he was a man of his generation, a racist) My mom told him because she thought it was bullshit. He was furious that people wouldn’t trust him with not only his own health but took the decisions of what to do with his life away from him. He spent his last two weeks in a hospital and died from, as I was told, cancer of the everything.
Oh and because I haven’t said it yet today, Fuck Fucking Cancer.
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
There were lifers and officers that would not walk outside alone after dark when underway. You might imagine what might happen if they ran across the wrong people doing that. A whisper of, “Man Overboard” doesn’t carry very far. And finding someone in the sea, without a life jacket and light is almost impossible at night.
chopper
@Julia Grey:
could be worse, you could be a libertarian. “gimme lots of johnson!”
Omnes Omnibus
@Patricia Kayden: What makes you think he is that self-aware? I’ve seen no evidence of it.
satby
@Corner Stone: hey, you may have already mentioned so sorry to repeat, but you doing ok with all the flooding near you? Sounds horrible.
Major Major Major Major
@chopper: You could have stopped after ‘libertarian’.
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: I just watched it. It is Pride and Prejudice set in an early 19th Century England that just happens to be infested with zombies. The skills that make a young lady “accomplished” change somewhat, of course, but the need to marry well still exists. It was great fun. Plus boots and stockings and bodices – and Lily James is far more attractive as a natural brunette than she is a fake blonde. FWIW, there is also plenty of eye-candy for those who prefer it in male form.
redshirt
@Ruckus: Cancer can only exist because we are alive. As such, it’s a by-product of life. An inverse life – as it grows it kills. But it still grows, like a life.
Is cancer alive? Do we need to give it species rights?
satby
@Baud: but you won all the delegates of our caucus!
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: you’re serious, then? I read the book and thought it a clever concept that quickly grew boorish and gross, and therefore tiresome. Maybe the movie has a lighter touch. (altho’ how you really *can* have a lighter touch with zombies, I know not!)
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: The movie may well have had a lighter touch. I also dove in with very low expectations. Did I mention boots, stockings, and bodices?
NotMax
@Miss Bianca
The series In the Flesh managed to do so, albeit intermittently.
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: Oh, well…yes, yes as a matter of fact, you did. Tracking, as a certain person likes to say.
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: As I noted before, there is opposite side eye-candy as well. And it really follows the story arc as much as it can in a zombie infested world. Honestly, the movie was as good as the concept permitted it to be. And everyone in it seemed to be having fun.
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: Then I think it must go in the queue – thanks for the tip!
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: Don’t go in with your expectations set too high. You know the premise. Just enjoy the ride. It is fun.
Seanly
Don’t know if anyone posted this above thread, but Roy Edroso has had a lot of fun with previous David French articles from whatever shitshow of a conservative magazine he writes for.I see Roy is on it already… LINK
David French is clinically insane. He combines the stupidity of Jonah Goldberg with the overly religious zeal of Rod Dreher.
Another Holocene Human
@Corner Stone: Lol, not even that. The Dems are winning now because of demographics. Did Obama staking his political capital on healthcare and winning (mostly, except for Roberts medicaid cutout) help Dems as a brand? Of course. But Bush’s Medicare D gambit was not very successful. The GOP voters care more about race hate than getting free stuff (=social welfare).
Another Holocene Human
@Olivia:
Did anybody read that but liberals anyway? Key takeaway: liberals can read.
Another Holocene Human
@El Caganer: He’s a nobody. Doesn’t even make the Encyclopedia of American Loons. Feh.
Another Holocene Human
@Major Major Major Major:
Gainesville’s “Bernie Grassroots HQ” (right across street from actual Hilary HQ where they phonebank and actually organize) redecorated in honor of Bernie’s upcoming Total Victory. Waiting for the Jill Stein posters to go up after next Tues.
Chris
@germy shoemangler:
@hovercraft:
One of my favorite moments from Boston Legal, when a Republican group is considering running Denny Crane for president:
“Our records show you enjoy spending time with prostitutes.”
“Who doesn’t? I like sex. I like women. I’ll hump anything in a dress. I’ll even get down on the floor with you if they’ll turn down the lights. But know this: the American people will find it refreshing to finally get a Republican candidate who isn’t a moralistic, sexually repressed, crusading hypocrite who cruises airport men’s rooms late at night. Denny Crane rides high in the saddle! I’ll go into office with my boots on, I’ll die with my boots on. What’s next?”
I still think it’s funny, and I still think that’s at least partly the explanation for Trump’s success and the complete inability of the religious right killjoys to stop him. Even on the Republican side of the aisle, people increasingly just roll their eyes at that shit. Yes, yes, we hate gays too and we think women should be subservient too, but seriously, enough with the Junior Anti Sex League already.