The last couple of days, we’ve heard over and over again from many Republicans the same sort of thing, typified by Charlie Sykes, the dean of conservative talk radio in Wisconsin:
Do you know how old I am? Old enough to remember when speeches like this would've been given at GOP convention… Not Dem one. Brutal.
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) July 29, 2016
Snark aside: GOP needs to understand what is happening to them tonight…
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) July 29, 2016
I cannot believe I'm watching the Democrats become the party of patriotism.
— Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) July 29, 2016
Now first things first. Dems were always patriotic- it was Republicans who confused patriotism with just agreeing with whatever bullshit the government said while we rushed into war and had their heads so far up Rush Limbaugh’s ass they couldn’t see straight
At the same time, this was the most overt display of patriotism I have ever witnessed, but without what I felt was the jingoism of the right. And I gotta add, I find overt patriotism unsettling and uncomfortable outside World Cup events and the Olympics. I’m more of a hang a flag out front of the house and watch white people dance awkwardly on the PBS 4th of July specials than I am the tattoo an eagle on my chest and scream “USA!! USA!!” while pissing Budweiser on a stack of back issues of Le Monde. But that’s just me.
At any rate, what we can probably expect to see is that people of the, well, professional left, the guys who thought it was necessary to scream at a Marine General speaking during the convention (a guy who went all out for the Iran deal PRECISELY because he doesn’t want war) are probably going to start braying that the Democratic party left them and what not, and fail to realize that the Democratic party didn’t leave them, the Republican party just left their fucking senses.
That’s right. We Democrats get ALL THE GOOD SHIT NOW. We get the most progressive platform and agenda in my lifetime, we get to cheer for our troops and say NO MORE STUPID WARS. We get to stand up and say Black Lives Matter and thank the cops who risk their lives because we’re fucking smart enough to hold two god damned ideas in our heads. We get to stand up for a woman’s right to choose and gay people to marry and still get to rock the house as Rev. Barber brings down the fucking roof in the name of the almighty.
We get it all. We get all the good stuff. The whole kit and kaboodle. The Republicans get Trump and his dingy digits and we get to make them wear it and own it. Progressives didn’t lose the Democratic party. Republicans lost their fucking minds.
Sucks to be them. We get all the balloons, too.
See that look of pure joy on Bill’s face? That’s what I look like in the ice cream aisle at Kroger, btw.
Kristine Smith
“Come over to the left. We have balloons.”
Baud
We also have Baud!
satby
Perfect John! And it has always irked me that my patriotism was questioned because I was a liberal. Good to see the misery on the right.
AndyG
Spat out my tea laughing at that one. Some days I just want to give you a big ol’ hug.
MattF
@Kristine Smith: Here’s more on the Bill/Balloon issue. Seriously, I think he’s found his role. The last GIF in the set made me laugh.
Baud
@satby: Were you away for a while?
RaflW
The GOP threw all they had in the outhouse, shat on it, lit the shack on fire, and now they complain that liberaks took what was “theirs.”
the Conster, la Citoyenne
LOL at Balloon Bill.
This is what a revolution looks like people – a real one, where the first black president hands the baton off to the first woman president, while everyone not an angry white guy cheers and cries. Obama built this, and there’s no going back. So proud to be a Democrat and an American. Go forth Hillary – we’ve got your back.
Feudalism Now!
Hey GOP. I drink your milkshake.
Villago Delenda Est
@satby: Apparently my DD214 (and John’s, and raven’s, and Omnes’, and anyone else with one who comments here regularly I left out) isn’t proof of our patriotism.
To those who assert that, a most hearty and heart-felt “fuck you”.
Villago Delenda Est
@Baud: Which trumps anything the GOP can throw at us!
Baud
This is karma for the purple bandaids.
Baud
@Villago Delenda Est: Maybe they will throw balloons. We like balloons.
Quinerly
Charles Koch rejected a meeting with Trump in CO Springs today.Top Repug donors were pushing for the meeting. Politico reporting
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: I was working to destroy the army from within. Weren’t you?
raven
@Villago Delenda Est: It’s one reason I focus on my veteran status. Nixon said we weren’t vets when we protested his bullshit and, ever since, I’ve wanted to represent!
MikeBoyScout
We’re on a roll. Let’s keep rolling. POTUS, Senate, House, State Houses & Governorships, Town Councils & School Boards.
Somebody not very far away from where you are right now is not yet registered to vote in the November election.
We can make the change we believe in. More good stuff can be had.
If we all do our little bit we can win the whole kit and caboodle.
Yes.We.Can.
Naedre
I think it was Al Frankin who said that conservatives love America like a child loves their parents, without any understanding of nuance or flaws. and liberals love America like you love your spouse, a mature grown-up love where you acknowledge flaws and love them, warts and all.
This has always been my belief. Loving America means you love the good and work on the bad.
I’m just glad the media has started to notice what has always been true.
Earl
Really? Let’s be just a bit restrained by reality. What’s the betting pool for Hillary finding another little middle-eastern adventure for us within her first 12 months in office? I’m going to vote for her — as if there is a choice! — but let’s not pretend the Hillary who witnessed the debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan, still wanted regime change in Libya, and even then wanted to be neck deep in Syria isn’t itching to get the military shooting or helping shoot at someone.
Villago Delenda Est
@MattF: “Sorry, little girl. That’s Bill’s balloon.”
Baud
@raven: Fuck Nixon.
Trollhattan
PREACH! [in an agnostic kinda way, but anyway…yes to the infinity]
schrodinger's cat
Republicans need to lose and lose big.
lamh36
You can’t forget that Hillary Clinton is a player as well, and she’s an awful candidate.”
Mitt Romney calling HRC “an awful candidate”….. Really governor…really BWHAHAHAHA
dexwood
Excellent summary, John.
Quinerly
Heard the balloon count today. 100,000 balloons!
Baud
@Quinerly: How many did Trump have? Did we win the balloon race?
dmsilev
Poor babies. Who could have possibly guessed that spending the last ~50 years playing to people’s hate and fear might have had some unwanted side effects?
Keith G
BuzzFeed has a clip of Bill walking off the stage with his souvenir balloon. Some young girl reaches for it and the former Prez removes it from her grasp. You can see her mouth form “Oooh”.
Best thing on the web
Hunter Gathers
We are all up in their base, killing the shit out of their doodz.
Trollhattan
@Earl:
My betting pool’s got a deep end, into which I invite you. Here’s a rock.
dmsilev
@Quinerly: And a whole lot of campaign volunteers with sore lungs this morning.
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus: Yeah. FTA, man!
This was a bit before your time in Germany, but when I was there some LT had organized his platoon to knock over the payroll at Kaiserslautern, I believe it was. One of his troops squealed, but his CO was just shocked…best LT he had, and the entire operation was put together in a very military manner and planned meticulously.
So some guys were actually doing this, ala Kelley’s Heroes.
Jeffro
@Baud:
DAMN STRAIGHT!!!
guhm61
And the Rev. Barber actually acknowledges Dorothy Day. A great woman.
Quinerly
@Baud:
Didn’t hear a count re Trump.
Baud
@dmsilev: It is a lot of balloon juice.
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: I never really trusted V Corps.
RaflW
@Naedre:
This also explains Trump’s multiple divorces.
Jeffro
Also John, for this:
I see you are channeling your inner K-Thug, who set the record straight today while Brooksie tried his usual pseudo-high-minded backstabby stuff. It was quite the contrast.
Tom Q
I think the Professional Left, especially the older portion (my chronological peers), have got very comfortable thinking of themselves as being out of the mainstream of American life. Sanders, to these holdouts, represented being able to declare themselves lord and master over those dreary people who make up most of America. They’d still be separate, but in charge.
Barack Obama — and both Clintons — want us, with our values, to BECOME the mainstream. And we’re well on our way now. If we win this election, we can start locking things in. And it’s why we get all those things John so succinctly refers to in this post.
Quinerly
@dmsilev:
We had more organized balloon disposal. All ours were herded together and burst. RNC had volunteers chasing them around with sticks with nails on the end popping them. Sad!
Villago Delenda Est
@Earl: As opposed to selling Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to Vlad in exchange for forgiving about $900 million in Drumpf debt?
Are you high?
Felonius Monk
@Baud:
Yes, we do. And, thank FSM, we don’t have Mike Pence(aka Trump’s Pet Rock).
scav
Well, if Green Balloons is our safe word, All the Balloons! can be the battle cry.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Quinerly: that’s interesting, the R’s shot themselves in the foot in CO, and that same suffolk poll that show HRC up big in PA showed Katie McGinty pulling ahead. Maybe an outlier but another all, per RCP, showed them tied when Toomey had been up big a month or so ago
sm*t cl*de
That is a worship word. Yang worship.
guhm61
And the Rev. acknowledges Dorothy Day. A great woman.
lamh36
the GIFs of BillC and the balloons on twitter are hilarious
but my fav is just this twitter pic captioned:
@ingridostby
MikeBoyScout
@Earl: I don’t give it a week before a Clinton administration continues the military policy of the Obama administration against terrorist threats in the Middle East.
Glad to hear your alternative.
In the meantime, maybe give pause to think about how she succeeded in setting and implementing the policy which makes the decision to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran the least likely in 30 years.
gbear
We also get everybody’s favorite fun high school teacher as VP.
RepubAnon
@Felonius Monk: They can have the Bud – I’ll take a local brew…
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Tom Q:
Propane Jane is taking Bernie and his faux bro revolution apart on twitter today. His sour puss and lack of grace even with a constant stream of shout outs pissed her off. PROTIP: Don’t piss Propane Jane off.
debbie
@Villago Delenda Est:
Since no one else has, I’d like to point out that “those” never served.
Elmo
@Villago Delenda Est: I don’t have one, but my wife does! I will bask in her reflected glory.
lamh36
Another great Bill C balloon GIF
Quinerly
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I think I read that HRC feels so comfortable about CO that the campaign has pulled its commercial advertising for now.
lamh36
In case you thought Bill was the only one enjoying the balloons last nightAgnes Mazur @amazur
Hillary is having the time of her life.
Quinerly
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Wow!
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus: And you were wise not to. After all, I was in the Crazy Eights and 4th Bde 4th ID.
Joel
Does that mean we get to rock out to Lee Greenwood and Rick Derringer now?
gogol's wife
Beautiful post! I agree with every word.
Amanda in the South Bay
@Villago Delenda Est: don’t leave us trans vets out!
Keith G
Lord, it is going to be a mighty long campaign considering that the battle is most going to be fought in 7 states.
debbie
@Quinerly:
She shouldn’t be easing up on anything anywhere. It’s going to be a very long 3+ months.
lamh36
Don’t care what nobody says I like Tim Kaine’s hokey-ness
John Revolta
@MattF: I know how Bill feels. Many years ago, I went to a party. At this party there were many many balloons hanging from the ceiling and the light fixtures. Wheeee!
Of course, all these particular balloons had what we used to call a “reefer” in them. Oh, what fun we had!
jon
@Villago Delenda Est: He forgot Poland!
patroclus
@Villago Delenda Est: That’s a cool story – I never knew LaDainian Tomlinson was in the military.
lamh36
Trump’s Speech Was Worst Gallup Has Polled via @politicalwire
NCSteve
They’re both obviously saying “holy shit, we’ve seen a bunch of conventions in our time, but no one told us this one was going to be the BEST, MOST SPECTACULAR MOTHERFUCKING BALLOON DROP EVER!”
dmsilev
@Quinerly:
They didn’t use guns? Sellouts!
dww44
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: I honestly don’t know who Propane Jane is, so a link would probably answer that question for me.
gogol's wife
@lamh36:
I love him, but John Oliver and Colbert made pretty good fun of him. He’s adorable.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
oh god, Tweety’s getting into his gender roles again, calls Dems more feminine, but it’s not a gender thing, Tim Kaine is a very Alan Alda kind of guy.
Anyone here under forty understand talking about Alan Alda in that context?
Kathleen
@Baud: Didn’t Norman Lear produce a show about you in the 70’s?
gogol's wife
@dww44:
I assume it’s Jane Hamsher.
Villago Delenda Est
It is SO difficult to pull one speaker out of the bunch from last night to heap all the praise on, but this:
Is most definitely one of them. Khizr Khan was another. And of course our next President herself.
gogol's wife
Ha ha Nancy Reagan is on my teevee, welcoming Gary Merrill back home from a crash landing.
dmsilev
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s Tweety. He probably doesn’t understand the things he says.
MomSense
@raven:
You earned it. Fuck Nixon. Fuck LBJ, too.
Quinerly
@lamh36:
I don’t think they have had enough time to poll hers. Will be interesting to see that comparison.
hueyplong
@Keith G: I assume I live in one of those states (NC), and we got good news today. I don’t have much in the way of electioneering skills, but I’d be pleased to spend election day driving a list of people to the polls if that kind of work is needed.
rikyrah
YES YES YES YES YES
ACLU NationalVerified account
@ACLU
Court orders immediate halt of Kansas dual registration system
Baud
@Kathleen:
That uncompromisin’, enterprisin’, anything but tranquilizin’,
Right on Baud!
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Salon is still pimping Bernie. You know election fraud etc.
Jeffro
@Keith G:
Spare a thought for those of us in the ‘key 7’, eh?
Actually it’s pretty motivating…and having a home-state senator in the mix for VP (again!) is doubly so
Jacel
@Keith G: My theory is that Bill was saving one big balloon for the grandkids to play with later.
Keith G
@Earl: I would not doubt that Hillary is a bit more aggressive on some foreign issues that Obama, but I doubt it will be apocalyptic.
The thing is, within fine degrees of policy difference, we do not know what the best approach is – or if there is only one best approach at all. We have a good idea of what some of the broad lined “don’ts” are, but there is no guarantee that the current president has the right mix of “do’s”.
rikyrah
DA PHUQ??!?!?!?!
Harold Itzkowitz @HaroldItz
Trump just said that the military shouldn’t communicate electronically because of hacking. He said they should use couriers. He is mad.
4:06 PM – 29 Jul 2016
Baud
@Keith G:
Oh bull. The internet knows.
Mnemosyne
As I was saying last night, the Republicans were so careful to prevent Obama from triangulating them on legislation, they didn’t notice until it was too late that he instead triangulated them right out of patriotism.
That’s right, you fuckers — Reagan’s “shining city on a hill” is OURS now. And we’ve made it inclusive.
gogol's wife
@rikyrah:
Has he invested in passenger pigeons or something?
O. Felix Culpa
If we’re going to talk about balloons…not quite as cheerful as last night though.
rikyrah
WTF????
Dudette
@Dudette9t9
Olympic athletes told to ‘keep your mouth closed’ when they swim through feces-infested water
Baud
@rikyrah: Jobs program.
lamh36
I know HRC was the biggest speech of the night but I gotta admit guys… Mr Khan’s speech and his “you have sacrificed nothing and no one” line stayed with me all night and still stays with me…
ETA: Tweety said Mr Khan will be the interview on Lawrence O’Donnell tonight
dww44
@Villago Delenda Est: But then there was David Brooks on NPR this afternoon with his usual Friday exchange with David Brooks and whoever the NPR host is. He graded Clinton’s speech as a B, and also said there were a lot of great speeches this week but that the weakest ones were from the 2 nominees. Also said that Hillary has an aloofness problem, akin to that of Frances Perkins, FDR’s Labor Secretary. Said they both needed their privacy and didn’t have the “warmth” factor, a la Ronald Reagan, I presume.
At. least E.J. took up for her;said she gave a speech full of meat and that she did what she needed to do and that she won’t be alone. That folks who work for her remain intensely loyal and the campaign needs to figure out how to get voters to be aware of that loyalty inspiring characteristic of hers.. Normally Brooks gets the last word. Today E.J. did.
Splitting Image
I’ve seen a few people make the distinction between patriotism and nationalism in that patriotism is love of your country while nationalism is love of your ethnic or racial group, and pride in the fact that it makes up a majority in your particular country. In that sense, the Republicans gave up on patriotism when they became a white nationalist party.
The big difference between being a patriot and a nationalist is how you treat people who are outside your nation but inside your country. The patriot wants the “others” to be proud of their country. The nationalist wants them to be grateful that they aren’t hung from the nearest tree branch, and will even be offended when recent immigrants, or children of immigrants, have the gall to say that they are just as American as anybody else. This is why the Republicans and Democrats are so far apart with respect to Muslims, Mexicans, and many other ethnic and religious groups, and why the patriotic party is the inclusive one.
Keith G
@lamh36: Trevor Noah did a bit last night that included some comments on Kaine’s whiteness. Superb!
PsiFighter37
NYT is reporting that Russia hacked the Clinton campaign’s accounts.
Fuck Donald. He basically gave Putin the green light to use cyber warfare to try and influence the outcome.
gogol's wife
@lamh36:
Khan and Barber are the ones staying with me, although she had several excellent moments (“70 odd minutes,” etc.). But then there were so many great moments over all four nights. Last night was amazing, though, I had whiplash from — oh, 4-star Marine general, oh, Reagan speechwriter, oh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar — that it’s hard to say what was the greatest.
Villago Delenda Est
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: “We need clicks. We need them BAAAAAAAAD!”
Baud
@lamh36: Yes, clearly. Given that speechifying isn’t her string suit, and how strong the speeches were throughout the convention, I thought Hillary did really well.
Kathleen
@gogol’s wife:
Link to Propane Jane
dww44
@lamh36: Today on NPR ATC, E.J. Dionne said his speech was the most consequential one of the week.
Villago Delenda Est
@gogol’s wife: “Hi, I’m Michael Jordan!”
The Thin Black Duke
@rikyrah: Please proceed, combover.
gogol's wife
@lamh36:
But as you say, “you have sacrificed nothing and no one” probably wins as the greatest statement of the whole convention.
rikyrah
Christopher MathiasVerified account
@letsgomathias
.@FoxNews usually loves displays of American patriotism, sacrifice… just maybe not from Muslim-Americans
Villago Delenda Est
@rikyrah: The extent of this guy’s “military experience” has been played out in a movie theater.
dmsilev
@rikyrah: How about going back to basics and sending messages by hanging lanterns in church steeples and having people ride horses through the night?
Keith G
@rikyrah: We can use dogs and runners just like in WWI. Pro tip: watch Gallipoli to see how that works out.
rikyrah
TOPEKA
A Shawnee County District Court judge ruled Friday afternoon that the votes of 17,500 people whose registrations had been questioned will be counted in Tuesday’s primary.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit against Secretary of State Kris Kobach on behalf of three Kansas voters who were told they could vote in federal elections, but that their votes in state and local elections would not be counted.
Many of the voters in question registered under the federal “motor voter law.” Though they satisfied federal voting laws when they registered at motor vehicle offices, they did not provide proof of citizenship like a U.S. passport or a birth certificate. Under a 2013 Kansas law, a new voter must show proof of citizenship to vote in an election.
The elections director with the secretary of state’s office estimated earlier this month that more than 17,000 voters could be affected by the requirement. That number could grow to 50,000 around the time of November’s general election.
Kathleen
@Baud: Uh huh!
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: It was never Reagan’s to begin with.
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
That’s the one that seemed to gut-punch a lot of people, including a lot of Republicans.
Seriously, treating a man whose Army son died in the line of duty as though he’s a suspicious person based on his religion …
There are no words for how despicable that is.
dexwood
@rikyrah:
Maybe now is the time to begin that carrier pigeon monopoly I’ve always dreamed of owning.
rikyrah
southpaw
@nycsouthpaw
Sen. Tillis (NC), Graham (SC), Cruz (TX) and Lee (UT) filed an amicus brief defending NC law the court called “intentional discrimination.”
gogol's wife
@Kathleen:
Thanks for the correction. I was misunderstanding.
scav
@rikyrah: Only the Military? Shouldn’t he be protecting our financial infrastructure as well?! Restrict international bank and finance institutions to non-digital communications!
<slow smile>
rikyrah
Say it again, Cole.
Say it again.
Truegster
Clinton needs to steal the 2nd Amendment from Trump during the debates. Clinton just states the entire 1st amend out loud to the audience and then asks Trump “bet you don’t even know the 2nd amend which you claim to hold so dear”
NO WAY Trump starts with “A well regulated militia…” All right-wingers just know the last part, after the semi-colon, even the NRA erased the first part of the sentence from their headquarters.
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
His name was never on the lease, but he and his buddies squatted there for quite a while.
MomDoc
@gogol’s wife: Definitely not. She’s an African-American physician/activist on Twitter. I keep her Twitter feed open all day — she has been incredible during the primaries.
ETA: My linking was not working here. Her Twitter name is docrocktex26.
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: He just advocated wiping out the Signal Corps.
Keith G
Now for something completely different:
11 centuries later, the Vikings finally get stopped….by federal regulations.
Emma
@rikyrah: Alabao sea Jesucristo! OK, anyone wants to go in with me on a pony business?
dexwood
@scav:
Pneumatic tubes. Lots and lots of tubes.
rikyrah
@lamh36:
I like it too, lamh
?BillinGlendaleCA
@dexwood: Isn’t that what the internet is?
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@dww44:
She’s a black professional woman from Texas who breaks it all down for us white folk.
Bernie take down
rikyrah
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Alan Alda was metrosexual before metrosexual was a word.
He was the ‘ sensitive man’, who wasn’t a homosexual.
dexwood
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Except for the pneumatic part, yeah.
dmsilev
@Emma: At long last, we all get a pony!
Mandalay
rikyrah
@lamh36:
That, and him holding up the Constitution.
So powerful.
Baud
@Mandalay:
Hmmmm.
dmsilev
@Mandalay: I was wondering what they changed in wording, and fortunately the article had that:
Of course, there’s also this:
Someone’s going all Bayesian on us.
? Martin
Man, this Ailes stuff is going to be so ugly. It’s just all bad – the way he treats people (which I won’t quote) and the ongoing admission that Fox was just a GOP mouthpiece:
Baud
@dmsilev: Bayes or Bust.
rikyrah
Propane Jane’s tweets on Tim Kaine:
Propane Jane @docrocktex26
Which brings me to why @MMFlint and the Bernie Bro left’s irrational dissatisfaction with Tim Kaine rubs me the wrong way.
10:32 AM – 25 Jul 2016
Propane Jane @docrocktex26
By all accounts, Tim Kaine is the epitome of an ally. A White man who’s shed a lot of privilege to commune with and serve people of color.
10:33 AM – 25 Jul 2016
Propane Jane @docrocktex26
To the predominately Black woman base of the Dem Party, that’s revolutionary. To the Latinos whose language he speaks well, that’s radical.
10:35 AM – 25 Jul 2016
Propane Jane @docrocktex26
Meanwhile he’s not pure enough (i.e. laser focused on Wall St to the exclusion of all else) for the Angry White Dude™’s delicate palate.
10:36 AM – 25 Jul 2016
Propane Jane @docrocktex26
You aren’t an ally of you’re too busy complaining about purity and process when the rest of us are trying to prevent a Nazi invasion.
10:40 AM – 25 Jul 2016
Propane Jane @docrocktex26
This isn’t a time to be shunning/delegitimizing White allies (i.e. #ClintonKaine) who have made it their life’s work to cross the tracks.
10:43 AM – 25 Jul 2016
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus: Yeah, so I noted.
“You can talk about us, but you can’t talk without us!”
Quinerly
@rikyrah:
I saw that. He was criticizing General Allen’s speech and support of HRC. He wound around that he doesn’t use email and doesn’t believe in it. The crowd was cheering. Then he connected it all up that the military shouldn’t relay its plans by email….should go back to how we used to do it by couriers. It is well worth watching that portion of the speech. It came on the heels of his saying he was taking the gloves off and agreeing with the crowd on locking up HRC. The crowd was clearly anti email and pro courier and possibly pro passenger pigeon.?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@efgoldman: No, it’d just be SOP for Trump to invest in something that doesn’t exist.
hueyplong
@ rikyrah
“Sen. Tillis (NC), Graham (SC), Cruz (TX) and Lee (UT) filed an amicus brief defending NC law the court called ‘intentional discrimination.’”
Just like those guys to think that an amicus filing by four GOP senators would convince the panel of the apolitical nature of the legislation.
Villago Delenda Est
@Quinerly: I’ve stated this before, here and over at Yr Wonkette, that General Allen is really, in my view, a stand in for a whole bunch of flag officers on active duty who need to communicate what a disaster a President Drumpf would be. The friggin’ platoon of retired flag officers and other vets behind him was, I think, there to make exactly that point. Active duty soldiers, by law, cannot do that. Active duty soldiers who appear at political events in uniform as political players (not as a color guard, for example) are subject to UCMJ discipline.
Mandalay
@dmsilev:
The software powering google’s self-driving cars uses Beyes’ Rule, and guess what:…………people died!
The chair of some Republican committee is probably trying to get Bayes to appear before him right now, to account for his murderous ways.
Miss Bianca
@Earl: Wow…so, you imagine that Sec. Clinton is just ITCHING to get us into a war? Just…because, evidently. As if “just because” were the only reason for US involvement in any of the countries you mention. As if, as Secretary of State or Senator, she had somehow made the decision all by herself to go to war. H’mm…nuance, shades of grey, treaties, international obligations…how do these things work?
ETA: Now I’m starting to realize how a reflexively “anti-military engagement” stance in my youth managed to irritate members of my family or friends who actually DID work for the military or the government in some capacity.
Emma
@efgoldman: That’s what Republicans always say about women who kick ass and take names.
David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch
Thanks Obama
ThresherK
@rikyrah: To quote Roger Rabbit, “Noseplugs would be nice!”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I have this whacky idea the Libyans had something to with what happened in Libya
LesBonnesFemmes
I’m watching Tim Kaine right now. I really really like him just personally.
Jeffro
@Villago Delenda Est:
I agree with this, completely. Allen spoke at a conference I was at a couple months ago and it was pretty clear that there was quite a bit of concern and urgency amongst the top brass about how this election might go (i.e., if somehow people ended up voting Trump into office). Could be wrong – perhaps there is a contingent equally pro-Trump – but I don’t think the military is up for Trump’s highly erratic nature, temper, ignorance, and immaturity, ’cause they’re the ones that end up paying the price. Flynn didn’t seem to have a whole lot of folks behind him at the RNC.
Tom Q
@Miss Bianca: Remarkably, all these people who insist Hillary is going to have the same economic policies as her husband — despite her specifically campaigning for very different things — have no problem ignoring the quite non-interventionist foreign policy of the Bill Clinton administration and assuming Hillary’s going to be Cheney Part Deux. It’s almost like heads they win, tails she loses.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@dww44:
Frances Perkins? Oh er fuck sake, white men’s ability to deny what’s under their own damn noses is so amazing, they have to reach into the distant past to find the squid ink to use to deny Hillary any credit or praise.
Baud
@Tom Q: No almost about it.
Major Major Major Major
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: shush, everybody knows Muslims don’t have agency.
Truegster
Omg, vacuum tubes instead of electronic communication.
After 4 years of a Trump presidency, the U.S. really will look like Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.
The vacuum tubes, all the incompetent spying, he’s bringing back torture.
Even down to the failed real estate projects.
dmsilev
@efgoldman:
The Chicago GOTV operation would beg to differ.
lamh36
@Mandalay: I saw Tweety talking about that…but if the poll was conducted during the 3 days of the convention, does that really reflect the convention bump…shouldn’t there be a poll after the totality of the convention?
Quinerly
@LesBonnesFemmes:
Watching it too. He’s so comfortable in his skin. She seems really happy with him. Good chemistry. The spouses are with them on the bus. Bill was so cute with Kaine’s wife. They were all at a party until 3 this AM.❤
Baud
@lamh36: I think it’s too early, and it’s only one poll.
Quinerly
@Villago Delenda Est:
General Allen has rattled them. I know he was on her shortlist for VP. Love Kaine, but that would have been an interesting campaign. His voice! Allen debating Pence…Wow. That would have been some show.
Emma
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: No, no,no! It’s the US. Always the US. Other people are toys to be moved around. No history, no politics, no interests. Just toys for Hillary.
David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch
@rikyrah:
I just bought 10,000 shares of Amalgamate Pigeons.
john fremont
@Villago Delenda Est: This! USMC 1986-1991!
Tom Q
@Baud: No polls showed any convention effect for Trump till Monday. Releasing one today is trying to influence the narrative.
I once heard an honest pollster say doing a survey during or just after a convention is like taking someone’s blood pressure after they’ve run up a steep hill, Technically it’s an accurate reading, but it doesn’t give a true vision of overall health. Really, the first deeply meaningful poll will be about a week to ten days from now.
hueyplong
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: I find it hard to believe that sentient people wouldn’t laugh at a Frances Perkins comparison.
Jeffro
Meanwhile, “Tim Kaine Is Your Nice Dad” is already up and selling well on Amazon for Kindle…true!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Hillary: I find it the height of… somethin’ or other, not quite sure what… that Trump claims he’s gonna make America great again when he doesn’t make anything in America..
I kinda liked the something’ or other
? Martin
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: As exhausting as it is to contemplate, we’re going to go through the last 8 years all over again, where a black president caused half the country to release their inner racists, now we’re going to repeat half the country losing their shit because a woman might possible be good at something other than cookies and blowjobs.
This is all going to be very revealing to the next generation of voters, and for that it’ll be worth it. Long, long fucking arc, though.
Baud
@? Martin: Women have more votes.
Jeffro
@Tom Q: And it’ll show a bounce for Hillz, which will get “unskewed”, etc etc. I can see her coasting along at 52-50% nationally while Trump continues to not clear 45% nationally (probably more like 42%). And it won’t matter, ’cause we’ll need to see how the EVs are shaking out.
And for those, I still see her at over 310 EVs from now through November. Won’t change my resolve to get out there – we all need to ‘run scared’ – but there is no need to stress. Don’t boo – vote. Don’t hang out on BJ without a commitment to GOTV in the real world
Quinerly
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap:
I was never a huge DWS fan. Salon needs to drop it. It was a great convention and when you stop and think about it, it was essentially DWS’s show. It was all put together under her watch. She didn’t even get to attend.
Baud
This part about education seems strong.
Ryan
But Ted Nugent rolls on…
Kathleen
@gogol’s wife: No problem!
LesBonnesFemmes
@Quinerly: I’m with you there re DWS, and I’m not crazy about her either. I liked what Van Jones said last night, Donna Brazile deserves a huge amount of credit, as well.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Quinerly: She was in audience, at least last night.
ETA: The camera panned to her last night. She was part of the Florida delegation since she’s a superdelegate(she was still DNC chair and a sitting Congresscritter).
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@? Martin:
Yup, but I think it’s a largely overlapping set of people, so it’s not like we have to start from scratch with a new group of sexists who were never racists. Also, women are more than half the country and way more represented in white America than blacks are so there will be way more pushback from women on all fronts. Keep it up angry armed white guys, and you’ll all end up in FEMA death camps in Nevada with those nice Bundy boys.
Kathleen
@MomDoc: I. Love. Her. So smart.
donnah
Reading your post, I just have to say, “I love you, John Cole!”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Quinerly: I don’t like DWS, but if we’re going to talk about FL politics I’m more concerned with Marco Rubio being up double digits (as of two weeks ago… I’m surprised how few Senate polls there are)
Baud
@Quinerly:
@LesBonnesFemmes:
Thirded.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The Dem primary hasn’t happened yet. Rubio has the name recognition right now.
trollhattan
@David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch:
Which exchange? Guessing Chicago.
? Martin
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Yeah, I know it’s largely the same people, but you have the same cohort of old white men at the top of the food chain that will give license to all of this shit, put it on TV, etc.
I obviously made some wrong decisions in life that I don’t have as an old white guy any veto power here to spare y’all.
Gwangung
@Tom Q: Um, weren’t upper bracket taxes higher under Clinton than they were under Reagan, Bush I and II and Obama?
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: Also, it’s a particular poll that doesn’t have any history in this cycle to compare it to, so it’s hard to say whether it represents any change.
? Martin
@Baud: And you have the problem with Grayson having reasonable name recognition being (rightly) called out by many top Democrats to drop out of the race.
Baud
@Gwangung: It depends from when in Reagan’s term you compare it too. Otherwise, yes.
ETA
http://www.cch.com/WBOT2013/029IncomeTaxRates.asp
Mandalay
@rikyrah: Wow! Here’s a link to the actual video of that humdinger: https://twitter.com/tgreene319/status/759148158182096896
Trump has certainly said more offensive things, but that might be his dumbest comment ever.
Matt McIrvin
@Tom Q:
Though that might be partly because the only part of Trump’s convention that people thought was worth watching was his acceptance speech at the end (which actually beat Hillary in the Nielsen ratings, though the DNC had been crushing the RNC for the other three days).
danielx
Now there’s a vivid image, and one that may keep me awake nights.
Bill E Pilgrim
Oh man that brings back memories.
In my case it was because I woke up after a night of drinking in Paris, remembered that George Bush was President, and was too drunk to figure out where the bathroom was, but still.
Villago Delenda Est
@Ryan: He’s like four years overdue delivering on his “dead or in jail” promise. He’s a deadbeat, like Donald.
Gwangung
@Baud: So basically, if they;’re afraid of Hillary imitating Bill, it’s for an era of higher taxes. Which makes all this fear about her being just for the rich a big bunch of….malarkey.
rikyrah
Josh Marshall @joshtpm 5h5 hours ago
3: For Trump campaign, Pence now basically the guy who shows up at the hotel with apologies & a checkbook after the rock band pulls out.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@rikyrah: that Josh Marshall feller likes long tweet streams so much, I wouldn’t be surprised if he started one of them new-fangled “blogs” to write longer posts on
? Martin
Maddow reporting that Trump Jr. campaigned for his dad in Philadelphia, MS this week. I missed that, but holy shit. If you were trying to shake your associations with white supremacists, that’s a pretty fucking big fail right there.
PsiFighter37
@Baud: I hope the DSCC drops a shitload of money once Murphy wins. Rubio is a vacuous asshole who has done nothing in the Senate and was a complete deadbeat the past couple of years. He couldn’t even convince his own party to give him no strings attached Zika funding.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
He’s lost it. What’s the over under on when he wears his underwear on the outside.
different-church-lady
@? Martin:
Shake them? What makes you think they want to shake them?
PsiFighter37
@? Martin: Well that’s a goddamn waste. Campaigning in Mississippi?
I know the symbolism re: Reagan’s announcement, but there seriously can’t be any more water to squeeze out of the white supremacist rock at this point.
Matt McIrvin
@rikyrah: But at the same time, the character he was best known for playing on TV was this horny lecherous hetero guy, who did a lot of stuff we would probably consider sexual harassment.
Baud
@? Martin: It’s Reaganesque.
Matt McIrvin
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Paul Ryan was saying the same thing with a straight face.
Bill E Pilgrim
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Okay I’ve almost gotten used to the epidemic of people spelling the word “lose” as “loose” but he’s the first one I’ve seen illiterate enough to make the mistake in the opposite direction.
Actually I think a lose canon accurately describes whatever playbook or script Trump is operating from.
Gin & Tonic
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Really? With the spelling mistakes and all?
PsiFighter37
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: A treasonous asshole who wants to hand over our allies on a platter to Russia deserves them even less.
Also, he apparently can’t spell for shit now either. SAD! What a LOSER!
jenn
I laughed (sort of) at this response:
((Jon Fox)) @TheBigFoxx 58m58 minutes ago
((Jon Fox)) Retweeted Harold Itzkowitz
So Hillary should have had a courier sent to Benghazi to save the staff?
((Jon Fox)) added,
Harold Itzkowitz @HaroldItz
Trump just said that the military shouldn’t communicate electronically because of hacking. He said they should use couriers. He is mad.
8 retweets 11 likes
I mean on the one hand, it’s hilarious – on the other, it’s really really not. At all.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Gin & Tonic:
This shouldn’t really surprise you, should it.
gogol's wife
@efgoldman:
I wish Sgt. Saunders could have been here to speak at the DNC!
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
I wonder how drumpf gets any vets or military to vote for him. If one isn’t a self-centered asswipe, any thing he says should make you hate him, if one is a self-centered asswipe then you should realize that he hates you and wouldn’t mind you died. Not a positive message in either direction.
? Martin
@PsiFighter37: Well, I think it signals that there is no pivot. They’re going to (continue to) run a straight-up white supremacy campaign hoping to land some impossibly large fraction of white voters. Remember, Reagan ran the same campaign and got enough non-racist whites to fret about their safety and those welfare queens to jump on board. And given that 70% of the electorate is white, it’s a strategy that inside some spreadsheet I suppose could work. But it may mean that Democrats need to adapt their campaign in some respects, not so much because Hillary might lose (again, 52% of the electorate is female) but again because of that downticket impact.
gogol's wife
@rikyrah:
Good stuff.
gogol's wife
@efgoldman:
I’m wrong again! I meant homing pigeons.
SiubhanDuinne
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
@Bill E Pilgrim:
@Gin & Tonic:
@PsiFighter37:
I read somewhere recently that he dictates his tweets to Hope Hicks (his communications person) and she is actually the one to key them in and push “send.”
I assume Hope Hicks is drinking heavily at this point, and can be forgiven a fistful of spelling errors.
(I know this is going to be moderated because of too many links/replies. So I will just ask politely, please, whichever FP person may be on guard duty tonight, please release me. TIA!)
? Martin
@Bill E Pilgrim: Worth repeating:
sigaba
@SiubhanDuinne: I wonder how she decided where to put the exclamation points.
gogol's wife
@Quinerly:
She was there. I told this anecdote whichever night it was, I think on Wed I saw her in the audience and said, “There’s Debbie.” My husband said, “Debbie who?” I said, “I love you so much for not knowing.”
Jim Parish
On patriotism: Stephen Decatur famously said, “My country, right or wrong!”, but I’ve always preferred Carl Schurz’ corrected version:
My country right or wrong; when right, to keep her right; when wrong, to put her right.
Bill E Pilgrim
@SiubhanDuinne: There’s video.
Villago Delenda Est
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: It’s all projection with Teh Donald, 24/7/365.
Baud
@gogol’s wife: Ha!
geg6
@Jeffro:
Agreed. Just motivates me more. But we’re both in perennial battleground states. Imagine how wild this must feel in Utah or Missouri where the outcome is usually not in doubt. Trump has opened up a lot of territory that we’d never contest. And a lot of those voters are under the radar of the pollsters. It’s going to be an interesting election.
Quinerly
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Thanks for reminding me. I think I did see her last night but she wasn’t there the other nights. Look, I have no great love for her. My point was in response to another commentator’s post about a Salon piece. Giving credit where credit is due..great convention and it was planned and organized under her watch. I wish now that it is over that I never have to hear her name. But I also feel that way about Bernie.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Quinerly: I’ve noted that DWS should get alot of credit for a really perfect convention, though I also share you lack of affection for her.
Quinerly
@LesBonnesFemmes:
Jane Sanders was praising Donna to high heaven today. Love Donna. They need to give the position to her permanently. As for DWS, I had read Monday she went back to Florida late in the day and wasn’t going to be in the hall for the roll call on Tuesday. I figured she went and stayed. It’s been a long week, for sure.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim Parish:
I’ve known “My country, right or wrong” all my life, but I never knew it was Stephen Decatur. Thanks for making me marginally less ignorant tonight than I was when I woke up this morning.
Lizzy L
@rikyrah: OMG: for realz? Do we know where he was speaking? Could there be video of this?
Quinerly
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Thanks.
SiubhanDuinne
@Bill E Pilgrim:
ROFLMAO
? Martin
I know it’s pointless, but there really should be an ad that starts with the purple heart band-aids in the 2004 GOP convention that mocked a silver star awardee, and ends with Khizr Khan asking Trump what he has sacrificed for this country.
There isn’t enough shame for what Republicans should be feeling.
Jeffro
Btw if anyone’s interested, Sara Benincasa’s book, “Tim Kaine is your Nice Dad” is HOT on Amazon Kindle right now, and it’s hysterical! I think it’s like 3 or 4 bucks and half of that goes to charity (which is an EXTREMELY Tim Kaine thing to do, if you think about it).
FIRE IT UP!!!! (but of course have an extinguisher handy!)
hovercraft
@? Martin: @Baud:
According to Rachel he was there to thank them for their support and to share his and presumably his dad support for keeping the Confederate flag on their state flag.
Kathleen
@? Martin: Did Rachel asks Trump’s sons if they talked to any Bernie Sanders supporters?
SiubhanDuinne
@rikyrah:
@gogol’s wife:
I heard him say it on radio but it was hard to tell whether he was saying “courier,” “carrier,” or “career.” He did not specifically mention pigeons; that was the commentariat.
Mnemosyne
@? Martin:
I’m kinda pissed at “progressive” men who continue to champion Grayson despite what seems to be a very well-documented history of domestic violence. Assholes.
ThresherK (GPad)
@gogol’s wife: You call her Debbie? I had to check myself from saying DWS to Spousal ThresherK. She likewise wants to know who Tweety, Cokehead,and Bobo are.
Said wife and I are going to beach tomorrow. I need to remove myself from politics for two-three days.
Aimai
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: frances Perkins brought us Social Security. its a hell of a compliment.
Seanly
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Yup.
And another great post by John!
Lizzy L
He spoke in Colorado Springs today. I don’t have the stamina to listen to the replay.
? Martin
@Mnemosyne: Yeah. There are things more important than elections.
Skerry
@SiubhanDuinne: I don’t know how to copy a tweet with a video clip, but @tgreene319 has video of Trump discussing couriers vs “wires”.
sunny raines
to republicans, patriotism is about wearing flag pins.
Jeffro
@? Martin:
Or for how they’ve fallen in line w/ Trump’s shameless comments about McCain, or how they treated Max McCleland, among a million other sins.
It’s not pointless, and if done right, it doesn’t have to cost a lot – just get it up on the Intertubes and let the press know it’s there, it’s payback, it’s an explanation for everything we’re having to deal with this cycle.
Not sure the R half of the country is ready for it, but rather than soft-pedal their issues, probably better just to get it up there and let them screech it all out as quickly as possible. Own it Rs.
Technocrat
We’ve always had the best shit, Cole
hovercraft
@SiubhanDuinne:
He said courier, which makes no sense, if we’re at war do the orders have to be hand delivered all over the world or are they delivering orders over the phone? Or maybe we’ll have courier drones? Who knows. Charlie Sykes moniker for him is The Orange GodKing.
Nora Carrington
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Alan Alda as “feminine,” (usually shortened to “pussy” as it’s meant to be a diss) has an ancient history, grasshoppers. It goes all the way back to MASH, which was seen as an anti-war/anti-Vietnam show, and he played a doctor not a soldier, so that was already suspect. Then he teamed up with a bunch of other pinko commies including Marlo Thomas and Rosey Grier (football player who liked to knit) and made “Free to Be You and Me,” which advanced the radical idea that some boys liked to knit and some girls liked to play with stick and stones, etc. After that he was doomed to always play the slightly doofy nice guy, and he mostly did.
Kathleen
@Skerry: Trump decrees the return of the telegraph!
hovercraft
@Lizzy L:
His basic schpeel is that Hillary and the democrats were very mean to him all week, so now the gloves are coming off and he’s going to start going after her really hard. Step number one in that was to egg on his crowd as they chanted lock her up.
Soylent Green
@Ruckus:
He will in fact get about two-thirds of active duty military to vote for him. That’s how they roll.
Seanly
@dww44:
Brooks can die in the Trumpster fire he’s spent 40 years fomenting. Plus I am about sick of NPR and their not-so-subtle bias for all things Republican.
ThresherK (GPad)
@Kathleen: Return? Hey I have a classic Navy J38 key I never stopped using.
I wonder if that’s a dogwhistle to the amateur radio community, a group with too much intersection with gun nuts, sad to say.
Omnes Omnibus
@Soylent Green: That’s not how they are currently polling. He is around 50% and Clinton is around 23%, IIRC.
SFAW
@patroclus:
Fuck that shit. There’s only one LT, and it ain’t Tomlinson. (At least, as far as football is concerned.)
Omnes Omnibus
@SFAW: 1LT is a higher rank than 2LT. Just saying.
Ruckus
@Soylent Green:
I know that he will. And of course the answer is racism. It was still quite visible when I was in and I’d bet while it may be better 45+ yrs later, it hasn’t gone away.
Mothra
Preach it!
Monala
@rikyrah: The comments in that Propane Jane thread pointed out that Kaine, unlike Sanders, continued to push for civil rights for the long haul, and instead of pandering to the NRA, he took them on in their own backyard.
Xecky Gilchrist
I LOVE THIS POST! enough to shout.
Miss Bianca
@Tom Q: Interesting point – I hadn’t stopped to think about it in quite that way, but you’re right!
Matt McIrvin
@Omnes Omnibus: 50% is about two-thirds of 50%+23%, so if undecideds break similarly that’s how it will go.
Bob2
But is the professional left in its enclaves on the coasts mounting a fifth column?
Matt McIrvin
@Tom Q: Bill Clinton was fairly interventionist; he was just relatively less so than Bush (either one).
Omnes Omnibus
@Matt McIrvin: The polling I saw at Military Times said a lot of them would go third party. OTOH, it is still July, so polling is unreliable.
J R in WV
@Villago Delenda Est:
Me three, or six, or whatever. Fuck that shit! as I’ve heard a Chief say once or twice.
J R in WV
@raven:
You and me both. And Secretary John Kerry three!
Villago Delenda Est
@Matt McIrvin: The Bushes were interventionist when there was oil to be had. Poppy avoided the Kosovars because they didn’t live on top of oil, like the Kuwaitis did.
J R in WV
@hueyplong:
It just proves that those four senators think nothing of using racism for political advantage, just as was done in Jim Crow times.
Just as despicable as the slurs being hurled at Mr’ Khan’s family?? Surely!
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: There is interventionism and adventurism. We can argue about the first, but anyone who buys into the second is a whacko.