As a liberal Democrat living in upstate NY I feel funny saying this, but I really am proud of upstate Republicans sometimes, whether it’s voting for marriage equality (Jim Alesi), voting against the Iraq war (Amo Houghton), joining the Obama administration (John McHugh) or this (via):
U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, a three-term Republican, said Tuesday he will vote for Hillary Clinton for president because Donald Trump is “unfit to serve our party and cannot lead this country.
All the Republicans who wank about being upset by Trump but continue to say they’ll vote for him are acting like cowards, plain and simple (I’m looking at you, Paul Ryan and John McCain).
Rafer Janders
They are not “acting like cowards.” They are cowards.
low-tech cyclist
Can’t forget Mitch McConnell.
Trentrunner
Tactically, I understand why Obama in his DNC speech aimed to distinguish Trump from Republicans/conservatives.
But, factually, Donald Trump is the apotheosis of the conservative core, and after he loses in November, the sound of Republicans flushing his boorish misogynist racist hate down the memory hole will be deafening.
sdhays
@Trentrunner: Until conservatives stop voting for boorish misogynist racist hate, it’s going to keep coming back up the memory hole.
MattF
It merely repeats the nasty things DFHs have been saying about DC Republicans for quite a while now. Why get upset about that?
Jeffro
@low-tech cyclist:
Yes – Ryan, McConnell, and McCain – the three top GOPers who could, and should, withdraw their support of Trump (oh excuse me, I mean, ‘the nominee’)
There are several from the “deep bench” who better figure it out quickly, too. Rubio, Perry, Walker, Santorum, Jindal, Santorum all eventually got on the Trump Train. Christie has no hope of ever being part of this party again – he should go open a sub franchise or something.
Oddly enough, besides Kaisch, only Cruz comes away from this with a “I never* supported this clown” award. (okay and technically Fiorina too) Ugh.
*meaning, “if you forget that I was Trump’s biggest booster during the primaries, until it got down to him, me, and Kaisch”
Considering that, Kaisch should be a near-lock for the 2020 nom…at least until Cruz does his usual Cruz thing…
MattF
Trumpism in action.
lowercase steve
He is not running for reelection. Call me when a Republican actually puts something on the line for his principles.
Balconesfault
Not cowards. Pure power hungry cynics. They’re willing to risk America’s future for a chance at finally eliminating the New Deal. The only thing that they really fear is a successful Democratic Presidency that restores America’s confidence in government.
Jeffro
@Trentrunner:
Yes and yes – you’ve got the whole picture. Split ’em now, hope to keep a few in the fold down the road. Cruz will be busy with his ‘hate the sin love the sinner’ schtick in 2020, but if he beats Kaisch, the Dems can probably keep a few of these R defectors.
scav
@lowercase steve: To repeat myself: First straw doesn’t have to be the bravest or the most intact — especially for a herd of sheep. Anything could get the parade started. We’ll just have to watch the flock. [added: and there have been broken reeds before that haven’t yet lead to systemic haystack failure so breathing while waiting probably a good idea.]
Major Major Major Major
I hope Kasich doesn’t inherit the party. I hope it stays with the whackaloons for a while.
trollhattan
@Jeffro:
Y’all are engaging in wishful thinking. They’ll shove the kneejerk social conservatism and boorishness back into the clubhouse where it’s supposed to stay. Trump’s main sin was broadcasting their “secret” dark side. I’d presumed it would kill his candidacy–boy was I wrong. If the party abandons boorish racism and misogyny, where do the votes come from?
Punchy
@The Ancient Randonnuer: HE AINT RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION. This is like a beaten down worker wanting props for telling off his/her boss on his/her last day of work. This is like a man seeking high-fives for calling his ex- a bitch 2 minutes before the divorce papers are signed.
Show me the congressmen/women currently running for re-election who repudiate this wanton fuckdummery.
(post moved from last thread to this one)
Peale
@Major Major Major Major: Tired of the same old republican ideas? Try Trump! Tired of the same old republican ideals? Now try Kasich! Tried of the same old republican ideas? Try Perry! He’s got hair and cowboy boots. They’ll love him in Ioway.
MJS
Sorry, not far enough for my tastes. The fact is, Trump got significantly more votes in the Republican primary than any other candidate. Therefore, because Republicans vote in Republican primaries, Trump IS the Republican party. Only those who indicate they are leaving the party because Trump AND Republican voters are nuts deserve any credit.
ChrisB
This is too easy but Chris Christie with a sub franchise?
He’d consume all his inventory within a week.
Chris
Huh, I guess the liberal/moderate/Northeastern wing of the GOP really does have a few vestigial rains.
Peale
@trollhattan: In mid terms it’s where they get votes from and its mid terms where their power is anyway.
The Thin Black Duke
Reading the Boston Globe this a.m., I saw that Scott Brown (!) criticized Donald Trump for his brutal attacks on the Kahn family. Bless my Stars and Garters, Trump is going to lose big in November, isn’t he?
scav
If this were a less important election, I might worry more about the exact moral standing of everyone pulling the lever in the same direction I am.
MattF
@Chris: In some places– Hogan here in Maryland, for example. He’s popular and stays far, far away from Trump.
Chris
@Trentrunner:
They’re not going to flush him down the memory hole. They just got a reminder that in their party, white racism trumps everything (pun intended). One way or another they’re going to have to learn to live with the legacy of what he did here.
Or become Democrats. Which they won’t.
SFAW
@The Thin Black Duke:
Was that before or after he nattered on about “Professor” Fauxcahontas Warren, etc.
Brown’s an asshole, whether he criticizes Trump or not. (Yes, I know that’s not grammatically correct.)
Dadadadadadada
@Jeffro: I think Cruz is going to have an awfully hard time holding his Senate seat in 2018. He came out of nowhere to unseat a popular Establishment guy in the 2012 primary, then proceeded to make a fool of himself with the gov’t shutdown thing, then further antagonized the party by refusing to endorse their nominee. And everyone hated him even before all that. I can’t think of anyone that’s more ripe for a primary challenge.
sigaba
@MattF: Michael Gerson wrote an OpEd in the Wapo this morning calling on Republican leaders to repudiate Trump and if they didn’t, they’d be repudiating all the American ideals we claim to cherish.
This all sounds well and good, though you do wonder where HE’S been the last few years. There are a lot of right-leaning wonks and speechwriters and intellectuals who have been in deep denial for a long time– they kept fighting to cut entitlements and kill Obamacare and restrict voting, and we kept telling them this stuff indulged the worst instincts of people, and they didn’t believe it. People like Gerson really believed these things were good and that all those little Trumps out in the hinterlands were all just deeply concerned about individualism and free enterprise and voter fraud.
Democrats, we the tribunes of the people, unfortunately knew why people were actually voting for this stuff, and we knew if you took the racial and cultural bias out of Republican tax policy, or you took the flagrant religious bigotry out of the War on Terror, people wouldn’t support it and they’d fail politicially.
There was a similar interview in Slate with Avik Roy where he in so many words gave up on the Republican Party, because at the RNC he’d had this epiphany that it was all just white resentment and cultural prejudice. And he still believed the ACA was wrong, and he was still going to oppose it, but he now knew why all these people were voting against it and he didn’t like the reasons at all.
Bethesda 1971
@SFAW: Brown is still voting for him isn’t he? Then who cares what the weasel says.
sigaba
@Dadadadadadada: Cruz is very popular nationally, on RedState and TAC and other places he’s the crown regent of the Republican Party in Exile.
Dork
@ChrisB: I thought that meant he was moving into defense spending lobbying, with a focus on tubular underwater vehicles the Navy uses.
kirbster
@The Thin Black Duke: Yeah, but Scotty’s going to be there for a big Trump fundraiser on Cape Cod this Saturday hosted by Mr. and Mrs. William Koch.
Major Major Major Major
@scav: generally agreed.
MattF
@Dadadadadadada: Cruz has his constituency. And it’s Texas, so it will be hard to outnumber the Cruz fans within the Republican party. The people most likely to vote against Cruz are Democrats, after all.
Keith P.
The editorials are absolutely BRUTAL today. Even the WSJ is all over this.
Dadadadadadada
@sigaba: But RedState is having a schism with the Trump people that make up the GOP’s base. They fought Trump and lost. The party doesn’t answer to them.
Perhaps if Trump’s November loss is epic enough, the Trump wing of the party will disappear and Cruz will be the guy who picks up the pieces and runs the party for a while. But I doubt it. Because if Trump’s November loss is a loss at all, a whole lot of howler monkeys are going to blame Cruz for it.
yellowdog
@Trentrunner: Extra points for ‘apotheosis’.
Chris
@sigaba:
Yep. This is the big takeaway from the primary, possibly the election: how completely Republican elites had fallen out of touch with their voters and misunderstood what they were really in it for.
sigaba
@Dadadadadadada: Depends on how big the loss is but yeah that’s possible. Cruz could still be disliked and be nominated and hold office, he has a strong personal brand everyone has the good sense to hate, with the exception of Texas Republican, who seem to like that he stirs the shit.
I will say if anything else he’s more independent than most Republican pols but that is a ridiculously low bar, most Republicans are nonentities and careerists.
yellowdog
@Dadadadadadada: Yeah, but given the Texas GOP it would probably be someone even worse (same horrible politics, marginally more human-like), like the current Lt. Governor. I do not think there is a bottom to their awfulness.
SFAW
@yellowdog:
I prefer commas and interrobangs, myself.
Trentrunner
OMG OMG Obama is hitting Trump & GOP with the chair right now at live press conference…
“Trump is unfit, and I said that last week.”
“The question is why GOP is denouncing the statement but still endorsing as standard-bearer for president.”
Much, much more….
aimai
@Trentrunner: Right, but even if its true (which it is) that Trumpism = GOP you have to figure that refusing to blame everyone in the modern voting population for the sins of Trump is a good strategy. People respond better to a hand and comfort than they do to a bitch slap and a personal attack.
Its the difference between a politics of terrorism, which Trump is enacting, and a politics of inclusion, which both Obama and Hillary practice. It may feel good to the rest of us to have our beliefs and our anger validated. But if we want (some) of those voters to feel comfortable enough to listen to our candidate and maybe even to vote for her we have to be more welcoming and less confrontational.
In the long run I believe (Absit Omen) that if you can just get a few more republicans to climb out of their deep ditch of fear and denial and listen, just really listen, to our candidate and our policies that we will be able to permanently shave them off from the Republican voting population. Not, by any means, all of them. But just a few.
nonynony
@trollhattan:
They won’t be able to. I predict that the 2018 midterms are going to be hella ugly and the racism and misogyny will be thick.
And they’ll win – because Republicans have an advantage in off-cycle elections AND will have the advantage of a Dem in the white house to vote against so double advantage. And that will convince a whole lot of them that the problem isn’t Trumpism but just that Trump was a poor standard bearer.
Getting crushed again in 2020 won’t be enough either. In fact I don’t see any way that they put the pieces back into the box now. George W Bush broke the party leadership and Obama outraged the dark underbelly of the GOP enough for them to rise up and seize control at the ballot box. Trump losing will infuriate them, but it isn’t going to stop them. It will just make them work harder next time. My only hope is that the folks disgusted by Trump this time around are actually disgusted by his racism and misogyny and not just by his crudity and his incompetence. The folks in the first group there’s a shot they abandon the GOP for good – the folks in the second group will be back in as soon as a less crude, more competent racist is in the driver’s seat.
(And no – I don’t think “work harder” means “moderate their tone”. I think it means doing the things that Trump refuses to do – GOTV operations, fundraising, etc. The Koch brothers would absolutely back a racist, misogynistic monster if they thought he could win. Their problem with Trump is that he’s crass and a loser – if he were just crass they’d be shoveling money to him hand over fist.)
trollhattan
@kirbster:
Whoa, commencing praying for meteor…now.
SFAW
By the way, Doug —
Was your intent (when picking a post title) to call attention to the Cowardly Ryan (or Cowardly Lyin’ Ryan, as the case may be)? Or was that just fortuitous circumstance?
Major Major Major Major
@yellowdog: right?
p.a.
In the past this eruption of ‘fundy’ for lack of a better word political activism would last for an election cycle or 2/3 then become quiescent after losses, almost a generational thing. But with the advent of 24/7 ‘news’ the agitation doesn’t abate. Plus they’ve won elections: Raygun, Shrub.
(And historically, it’s not always a negative from a progressive perspective: abolitionism, the non-racist strands of progressivism.)
jonas
As a number of folks have already pointed out, Hanna’s retiring, so it’s not like he’s really sticking his head out here. Nonetheless, he’s a sitting member of Congress and thus this is getting well-deserved attention and underscoring the cynicism of other Republicans like McCain and Ryan. He’s also a pretty popular figure from a well-known political family here in NY-22, a large, deep purple district that has several left-leaning urban enclaves surrounded by (sparsely populated) meat-red Trump country. The Republican assemblywoman hoping to replace Hanna, Claudia Tenney (an ultra-conservative Tea Party darling) has endorsed Trump, which probably helped put her over the top in a closely-fought GOP primary race, but we’ll see if it ends up dragging her down in the general against sporting goods heiress Kim Myers, whom I’m sure will be using this to galvanize Democratic turnout.
sigaba
@Chris: It goes further than that though. It’s not just that their voters were racist, everybody’s a little bit racist.
This is racism they made, these are beliefs and attitudes they have consistently reinforced and rewarded. At the beginning of the 70s people could have gone either way and the Republicans gave racism a redoubt, and where the old bigotry died they invented new ones.
SFAW
@yellowdog:
There may be, but you have to dig through to Australia (or New Zealand, for The Mighty Trowel’s benefit).
bemused
Four years ago, Lindsey Graham said the GOP was losing the demographics race. They couldn’t generate enough angry white guys to stay in business for the long term. They couldn’t or wouldn’t deal with that reality and not only continued to court and coddle their certifiable segment but upped the game. It can’t be a surprise to many in the party that someday the jig would be up but I don’t think they believed they would lose all control after a decades long operation and be rendered helpless by Trumpism. A spectacular implosion.
Come to think of it, haven’t heard much from Lindsey in quite awhile.
sigaba
@jonas: Wow is Hanna from the same Hanna family as McKinley’s Mark Hanna?
trollhattan
@nonynony:
Yeah, probably right. The astroturf Tea Party “movement” was packaged, ready to go and unleashed April 2009, three months after Obama took office and it rolled over and flattened them in the 2010 midterms. They’re confident they can repeat in 2018 but maybe, maybe somebody can counter them by inoculating the populace in advance. And maybe I can have my rainbow-shitting pony at long last.
Uncle Cosmo
@Jeffro: It’s Kasich (Czech/Croatian), not “Kaisch,” which sounds like dialect German for either a cherry or an egg pie (or maybe an egg pie with cherries). IIRC you’ve been quite consistent in this misspelling throughout the election season. C’mon, man!
DougJ
@SFAW:
Nothing so clever. I just like that song from the movie
gene108
Bah…Trump is the most clearly visible part of the drift the Republicans have been going on ever since Bill Clinton won in 1992. He’s the tip of the iceberg that you can actually see and notice.
Sure there was some race baiting with Nixon, Reagan and Bush, Sr., but those fuckers actually thought governing was part of the job description.
Reagan worked out a much needed fix for Social Security and Medicare. He worked to reduce nuclear stockpiles in the USSR and USA. He even got the Senate to ratify a U.N. treaty on not torturing people, on his way out the door.
Bush, Sr. signed the Clean Air Act of 1990 into effect, which used cap-and-trade to combat acid rain in the Midwest. He also signed the Americans with Disabilities Act.
But after Bill won, they pretty much started drifting away from the idea they need to govern, starting with Kristol’s recommendation to oppose “Hillarycare” to deny Bill a victory to Newt and his Clown posse shutting down government and impeaching Bill.
Bush, Jr. got married to the idea of right-wing economics, with free-market-esque solutions for everything from Medicare to healthcare reform and that only tax cuts could be used to stimulate the economy. And I remember many right-wing pundits declaring Bush, Jr.’s tax cuts would pay for themselves because that’s what Laffer drew on a napkin, in the 1970’s, so it must always be true.
It reached it’s final conclusion with McConnell, et. al. actively working to throw sand in the gears of Obama and the Democrats at every turn for short term electoral gains.
Trump, in my opinion, is just the top of the iceberg of the rotting mass of the GOP that’s been lurking under the sight of MSM and most of the nation’s, for over 20 years.
SFAW
@Uncle Cosmo:
At least he gets your name right, Comso.
RSR
@DougJ – What’s your opinion of Rachel Barnhart and her campaign for state assembly? Are you in her district?
MattF
@aimai: But you don’t need that many. My usual complaint about elections is that they tend to be decided by people who can’t make up their minds. I haven’t been saying that this year because, well, WTF. But under more normal circumstances, elections are decided at the margin.
SFAW
@DougJ:
You gotta work with me here, pal. When I give you a gift (such as it is), just agree. (Unless you think it sucks; in which case, “Never mind.”)
Jeffro
@trollhattan:
I don’t know but let’s help them abandon racism and misogyny, and find out together! ;)
Seriously, once their ‘fever’ breaks (a big IF, honestly) then we go back to talking about HOW we solve climate change, not whether or not it exists. We go back to talking about how progressive tax rates should be, not this silly ‘flat tax’ or ‘9/9/9’ stuff.
/hopeless dreamer
Jeffro
Btw my understanding is that Obama just thoroughly demolished Trump (‘unfit’, etc) and called upon McConnell, Ryan, etc to withdraw their support.
I have a funny feeling it’s going to be a very interesting week!
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@MattF: That page doesn’t exist. Screenshot?
Jeffro
@Uncle Cosmo: Apologies, Uncle Cosmo. I think at some point it stuck in my head and I’ll just have to work to ‘unstick’ it.
Kasich, Kasich, Kasich,…
hilts
“(I’m looking at you, Paul Ryan and John McCain).”
I’m looking at Susan Collins
gene108
@trollhattan:
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the GOP success, in 2010, and later coincides with the CU decision and later on gutting the VRA.
Get a liberal majority on the SCOTUS and roll back the damage caused and you’ll see a far less dominant GOP, in mid-terms.
SFAW
@Trentrunner: @Jeffro:
Re: Obama’s tearing Trump et al. a new one:
Deadbeat Donnie’s tweets in response should be interesting.
Dork
So they go from demonizing browns, yellows, reds, and vagina-enhanced, and move to demonizing Jews, gays, browns, blacks, single moms, and those with Obamacare?
Sounds like a winning platform.
Major Major Major Major
@MattF: I thought modern elections in this polarized era were decided by turnout.
Jeffro
@Dadadadadadada:
Me either, but from where – further right? I can’t see the Texas GOP (its voters or its establishment) ousting Cruz in favor of a moderate. heavens no.
Mike J
Reminder: Ballots are due in Washington today. If mailing, it must have today’s postmark to count. Better than mailing, look for a drop off point near you (King county locations here)
Keep in mind that the founder and primary donor to Trump’s super PAC, Bill Doddridge, yesterday gave $25k to Bill Bryant. Makes it a no brainer to vote for Inslee.
Shalimar
@Trentrunner: Trump is the GOP base, and he is preparing his followers for a “stolen” election. The base isn’t going to abandon Trump after the election. They are going to turn on all the leaders who didn’t support him enough. Ryan and McConnell and Cruz and Kasich may want to retake their party. They won’t be able to.
lamh36
did this mofo say “this one was much easier” like a Purple Heart is some random participation badge???
The Ancient Randonnuer
Had the GOP invested as much effort in keeping Trump from the nomination as they’ve invested in keeping minorities away from voting they might not find themselves in this place.
RK
Ironic that Trump is being taken to the cleaners by a Khanman?
Punchy
Assumes really, really iffy facts not anywhere close to being in evidence. If by “crudity and imcompetence” you mean “rigged elections”, I agree with you. There’s no way his base sees him a flawed candidate; but they will absolutely see a “stolen” election. With the intense fury and bewilderment that will follow.
The Thin Black Duke
@SFAW: Of course he’s an asshole, I’m not disputing that. But since the last time that Scott Brown actually made a principled stand on anything was never, his disgenuous and opportunistic comment is telling me that even a dimbulb like Scottie can feel which way the wind is blowing.
Jeffro
@Dork:
Cruz isn’t going to “demonize” anyone…overtly…he already took his 2020 campaign for a test-drive in his RNC speech. “Love the sin, hate the sinner”; “educate, don’t demonize”; “freedom, choice, dignity”. I’m paraphrasing here but he’s going to do his best to cloak his agenda as one of love, looking out for his fellow Americans, and offering more choice & freedom than the ‘socialists’ in the D party.
Yes, I know the jokes write themselves…only Cruz could pull this off with a straight face, but this is where he’s going, nickel bet.
also “Kasich” ;)
See, Uncle Cosmo?
Mike J
@lamh36: I think he’s trying to tempt people into making a joke about doing violence to a presidential candidate. I hope nobody falls for it.
SFAW
@lamh36:
Who said “I always wanted …”? Trump, or the vet?
If Trump, then one possible response is “Not enough to prevent you from seeking four or five deferments, you coward.”
I can’t parse why a vet would say that, however.
schrodinger's cat
So true. My apolitical husband kitteh thinks Ryan and McConnell will repudiate Trump. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at this naivete.
MattF
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Looks like the tweet was taken down. It showed Muslims at a Trump rally being ‘asked’ to leave.
Waldo
Ah, yes, Donald Trump. The human wedge issue. The poo-flinging ape at the company picnic. The hydra with a thousand exploding heads. The grift that keeps on giving.
Have to admit I’m enjoying the idea that McCain, Ryan, McConnell etc. are looking at three more months of Trump-inspired squirming, dodging and cringing. Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch.
Jeffro
@SFAW:
Ya think? Between people in his own party calling for him to step down, and Obama, I think they’ll be calling in a Code Blue to Trump Tower any moment now…
Gin & Tonic
The WaPo tells me that fucking is going out of fashion.
JPL
@SFAW: I might try to see if CSPAN has the speech later.. It sounds as though, he is daring those little fingers to tweet away.
scav
@lamh36: If that’s all the fucker needs, Quick! somebody scribble “Presdent” on a hat and give him that and an oval desk.
SFAW
@The Thin Black Duke:
Understood. But, according to comments upthread, it seems he’s still going to Trump fundraisers.
MattF
@Major Major Major Major: Well, GOTV efforts tend to cancel out, IMO, leaving the undecided. I don’t think it will be true this year, but we shall see.
Kay
It’s more than “voting for him” from the GOP leaders and electeds. Paul Ryan is sending fundraising appeals on Trump’s behalf and Ohio state reps are appearing at his rallies.
To me, there’s a meaningful difference in levels of responsibility for Donald Trump. “A voter” is less responsible because “a voter” has less power than GOP leaders.
What they want is the power and celebrity of “leader” or “elected official” without the additional duty. They can’t have that. One comes along with the other.
lamh36
Obama on Trump…VIDEO
trollhattan
@Jeffro:
Cruz in a nutshell. Dr.Freud approves. ;-)
nonynony
@bemused:
Graham said that Trump’s attacks on military families were over the line. The quotes there sound more measured than I would be, but Graham has been asking fellow Republicans to “un-endorse” Trump since June, when Trump attacked Judge Curiel (remember when attacking a Federal judge for his Mexican heritage was the most outrageous thing Trump had done? It seems so long ago…)
It does make McCain’s moral cowardice even more stark, though. He and Graham are two peas in a pod, so you know that in private he thinks the same as Graham. But he can’t actually say “don’t vote for Trump” because he would lose his primary race. I wonder if after August 30th he comes out with a Trump un-endorsement or if he keeps with his support of Trump even as he condemns everything Trump actually does. Either choice makes him a coward.
pseudonymous in nc
New York politics is weird. Lopsided, of course, but also some terrible Democrats in the state legislature, and a pretty crappy Dem governor right now. Shitty voting laws, too.
Ian
@Jeffro:
Why do you hate the people of Jersey so much?
lamh36
I unabashedly love these two!
FLOTUS & POTUS awaiting Singapore state visit arrival
JPL
@lamh36: Thank you so much. BTW, Zoe is a sweetheart!
trollhattan
I know it’s Daily Beast but you know you want to read the whole thing.
TopClimber
@jonas: My first thought on seeing this was whether it was going to put the GOPer who wants to replace Hanna in a tight spot. She is an NRA, Citizens United kinda Republican, and has already distanced herself from gun control and climate change realism espoused by the outgoing Hanna, so I doubt she dumps the Donald. But Hanna’s gonna hurt her among moderate Republicans, of which there are more than a few in NY.
Felonius Monk
@pseudonymous in nc:
NY voting laws are just fine.
Kay
Another flat-out lie from the GOP standard bearer. Romney raised way more than that. They probably called Clinton “the devil” to distract from the latest huge lie Trump told. He knows he’s way under-performing Romney though. Must really rankle the Trump family.
lamh36
BR
@Kay:
This is a key question. The fundraising is really important — if Ryan is still fundraising for Trump, that’s a whole other level of responsibility for him, beyond just saying he’ll vote for the party’s nominee.
Miss Bianca
@sigaba: Cruz was the overwhelming pick of the Republicans in CO. Trump’s not at all liked here – as someone (was it hovercraft?) pointed out here a few days ago, if Trump can’t win over El Paso County – home to Colorado Springs, famously home of Focus on the Family as well as several military bases – he has no chance in the state. Bottom line being: I don’t think Cruz is going anywhere *near* fast enough for me.
I do have to give the smirking monitor lizard credit for something, tho’: whether it was self-serving or not, he did issue a nice big “up yours” to Trump and Trumpism at the convention. Takes a certain amount of courage.
Shalimar
@Ian: The people of New Jersey voted for Christie twice. They’re stuck with him forever now. No returns.
SFAW
@lamh36:
Nice tweet responses from the traitorous bunch.
I SO wish that Obama would have a prime time speech, wherein he says “Don’t drink antifreeze, it’s poisonous. Don’t jump out of a fully-functioning airplane without a parachute. Don’t swim in shark-infested waters.” And so on.
MattF
@Kay: Just lying, repeatedly, about easily checked facts. Numbers, fer Pete’s sake. Is X > Y? Or not. Forgive me for being incredulous, but I just can’t help it.
Kay
Another upbeat day on the Trump campaign trail:
Other candidates kiss babies. This one incites 10 yr olds to scream slurs.
nonynony
@Gin & Tonic
jeebus. Now are we olds supposed to be panicking because the young people aren’t having enough pre-marital sex? I can’t keep up!
Am I shocked to discover that the current generation of 20-somethings – who live in their parents homes far longer than my generation did due to economic concerns – are having less sex than my generation did? Hmmm. Let me dwell on that for a few moments before I say no. Also without reading the study I will go ahead and assume that it’s pretty much like any other psychology study done in the US in the past 100 years meaning that it’s data collected on college freshmen/sophomores at a handful of typically Research I universities then extrapolated to the rest of the population as if the population attending college at those universities was actually representative of the rest of the population as a whole. If that’s right, then this is actually saying that 20-somethings attending competitive colleges are having less sex than previous generations of 20-somethings attending competitive colleges. Which would not be surprising to me – college is more stressful now than it was in the 90s when I attended and it was more stressful then than it was for my dad in the 60s/70s (when dropping out twice and then coming back to finish the third time around wasn’t such a huge financial burden that you’d never recover from it. Admittedly it did get him sent to Vietnam, but since he survived the GI Bill paid for that last go-round in college…).
Taylor
@trollhattan:
From socially conservative hispanics and AAs, if the party had half a brain…..
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@The Thin Black Duke:
Coupled with his attacks on the fire marshals, there goes the entire state of RI too. The biggest firefighters union in NC came out against him last night. NC is a swing state. 3 months of this to go.
Shalimar
@Kay: Trump said either yesterday or Friday that he was still self-financing most of his campaign. I don’t know how he reconciles that obviously false statement with his claims to have the bestest fundraising of any Republican ever.
patrick II
@nonynony:
Courage comes in different shapes. McCain had the physical courage to face long term torture, but not the moral courage to disavow a clear sociopath running for president because it would hurt his own career.
I have no doubt McCain still would jump in front of a car to save his granddaughter, but the thought of losing an election and the loss of pride and power that would entail is too much for him even in face of the indignities he is going through now.
MattF
@Kay: One supposes the kid is repeating what his dad says.
dmsilev
@Kay: It is unheard of and unbelievable. Unbelievably small, that is. Like Trump’s fingers.
jonas
@sigaba: He’s the nephew of the late four-term Utica mayor Edward Hanna who was a popular and controversial character in CNY politics for decades. Richard Hanna, however, first gained prominence as a local businessman — owned a major construction firm.
Kay
@MattF:
I;m past “the wonder of it all” on his incessant lying and headed straight for “pissed off”. Because it’s not an act or a persona- Donald Trump is a coddled, privileged person who believes the rules don’t apply to him and was never called on it over 70 years. That’s how this happened.
Tom Q
I have to say, I was getting a tad worried that Trump’s over-the-edge attacks on the Khans might actually provoke GOPers to dump him and replace him with someone the Village could coddle for three months. But now that Obama’s essentially said they should do that, it’s ruled out as an escape route.
NickM
This is schadenfreudelicious – Trump gives a shout out to Paul Ryan’s primary opponent: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-paul-nehlen-ryan-primary-challenger.
I would like to send Paul Ryan a message asking him to remember that quote about first they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist, etc.
Quinerly
@Shalimar:
He said he was self funding at a rally yesterday. He acknowledged that he has received some small contributions.
MattF
@Kay: Also, Trump has always made it very clear that anyone who challenged him would pay for it.
Gin & Tonic
@MattF: Romney raised $40.1M in July of 2012.
Central Planning
@yellowdog: On an atheist forum I once said Hitchens was the apotheosis of something or other. They got pissed off about that.
Dadadadadadada
@Dork: That’s the thing: they’re in such a demographic hole, and have alienated so many potential supporters, that NO strategy is a winning one. The party very well may not make it to 2020.
dmsilev
@SFAW:
I’ve long believed that Barack and Michelle should star in a PSA of “don’t drink bleach or lick live power outlets”. We’d have a much saner country in about a week.
nonynony
@Taylor:
So give up the racism and double-down on the misogyny? Because “social conservatism” these days is literally just racism plus misogyny. I’m not even certain that it’s ever been anything but that given the history of the movement conservatives in the US, but if it ever was it isn’t anymore.
Seriously – if you give up the racist aspects of social conservatism what’s left? Anti-abortion politics, some anti-gambling (that the libertarian wing hates), and anti-drugs (see anti-gambling). Their coalition is very fragile – racial animus is about all that is keeping it together. Without the racism what unifies the Anti-Regulation Nutter faction and the Evangelical Nutter faction? Low taxes? (I suspect that they could actually ditch social conservatism altogether and run purely on low taxes provided they weren’t also cutting services, but the racism is the excuse they use to cut services. Cut out the racism and you’ll find plenty of white voters who like the idea of social services even if they don’t want to pay for them.)
MattF
@Tom Q: Good point. Don’t drink that battery acid!
amk
@Kay: The ‘devil’ raised 90 mil per usatoday.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Kay:
Babies are crying at today’s Trump rally – he had the first one kicked out.
Miss Bianca
@Tom Q: Heh! There’s some 11th-dimensional chess for ya!
Now I want Obama to break out into, “Don’t sleep in the subway, baby…certainly not on the tracks…cause that would be *wrong*…”
gogol's wife
@lamh36:
Looks like me and my husband. So cute.
Mike E
It’s Hillary’s America, or that’s what the rotating ad in my browser sez…a Dinesh d’Souza meth addled fever dream. Rapture!
trollhattan
@Kay:
Was just noting to the spouse that while I’ve been startled at the casual racism I hear in “polite circles” since 2008 it has always been modulated to an extent, i.e., no “N-word” etc. but the unrestrained misogyny I’m getting re. Hillary has singed the hair right off me. Usually begins with “You can’t trust her” and launches from there. That kid has been hearing dad yell those words at the teevee his whole life.
dmsilev
@Tom Q: There’s no easy route for the GOP to dump him even if they seriously wanted to (and never mind the efforts of President Troll-in-Chief’s reverse psychology). At this point, he’d have to agree to step aside or would have to have a really serious medical event that forced him aside. The latter is certainly possible, but the former is basically impossible to imagine at this point.
BR
@Tom Q:
Honestly, I’d rather the GOP get rid of Trump and replace him with someone else. I’d rather have a 20% chance of Paul Ryan getting elected than a 5% chance of Trump.
gogol's wife
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Anecdata here: a friend just got back from a few days in South Carolina. She said, “Everybody down there hates Trump!” (I think she may have been with some Connecticut expatriates, but still.)
scav
@nonynony: There’s also an increasing social and cultural freedom to not just put sex at the top of all possible fun things to do; to not make it the sine qua non denominator of all significant personal relationships. There have always been people who could take it or leave it — but given that it was fetishized as a marker of being hip, modern and a requirement for mental health, they just went along with the jive (which is easier to fake than the act itself).
gogol's wife
@Tom Q:
If we ask the Republicans to repudiate Trump for the good of the nation, then we also have to hope that they replace him before the election, for the good of the nation, whatever the political calculus. That’s how I feel, anyway.
Kay
@trollhattan:
I wrote the other day here that Don Jr. gave me the creeps and someone said “Eric is worse” and that turns out to be true:
There’s no bottom with these people. It’s like they arrived on earth from the planet “privilege”.
gogol's wife
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Did they rough him up as they ejected him?
jonas
@TopClimber: She’s easily the most right wing member of the NY state assembly — would probably be a “mainstream” Republican in Texas or Idaho, but she’s way out there, even in CNY. A more typical Republican around here is someone like Rep. John Katko of Syracuse — a conservative former prosecutor, but also a reasonable guy who is interested in policy and actually holds the record for having the most bills passed in Congress among the class of 2014 reps.
Gin & Tonic
@Kay: More Eric Trump. Lies just as freely as his father.
dmsilev
So, this just happened:
A reminder, in case anyone has forgotten: Trump had 5 draft deferments back in the Vietnam era, 4 student deferments and one …dubious medical deferment.
Kay
@MattF:
Well, it’s just more proof of his idiocy that he makes idle threats. “Pay for it” how? He’s going to lose and he and his grifter family will go back to scamming people, except now everyone knows they’re all coddled, privileged morons.
How will he make them pay? Not cut them in on the next scam?
jonas
@Kay: It’s right up there with “let them eat cake.” Except Trump actually said this — there’s no historical evidence that Marie Antoinette was that callous.
? Martin
Every Republican is going to be watching Hanna. Hell, I bet they are paying for polls in his district now. If he doesn’t take a hit, or worse if he improves, that’ll signal that other Republicans can take the ‘brave’ step into rejecting Trump for Clinton.
dww44
@Major Major Major Major: I’m with you. I want to see a whole bunch of the Republicans who surround me, both friends and family, confronting what their party and movement has become. Particularly one close relative who listens to talk radio all day every day and has done so for years. She’s not dumb either.
jonas
@dmsilev: Assuming Trump is not lying — his lips *were* moving — what vet would want to “honor” Trump this way? It’s insane.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@gogol’s wife:
LOL, probably. Also, some Trump supporting moron (but I repeat myself) gave Trump a Purple Heart – Trump said how great it was to get one this way, cuz it’s so much easier that way! *chuckles*.
So in case every veteran’s family wasn’t insulted today, he’s doing his best to finish that group off and now he’s starting in with mothers who have ever had to contend with crying babies in public.
Shalimar
@Quinerly: Thanks. I can’t stand listening to Trump ramble anymore, but I am still fascinated by the summaries people post and knew he had said that at one of the recent rallies.
Major Major Major Major
@dmsilev: well that isn’t callous at all!
Sean
@low-tech cyclist: Mitch McConnell is a horrible person as well though. Of course he would prefer Ted Cruz because of the religious nutjob angle but Trump is down on his level as well.
jonas
@? Martin: That’s the thing — he’s not running for reelection. The GOP candidate running to replace him is a far-right conservative who has endorsed Trump. It will be interesting to see how this effects her numbers, though. (ETA: she narrowly beat the Hanna-endorsed candidate in the GOP primary earlier this summer, so his views probably don’t carry much weight with her base anyway)
Kay
@Gin & Tonic:
I know it’s screaming into the wind, but imagine for a moment if Candidate Obama had groped one of his daughters on stage at a national convention. I mean, Jesus Christ. They’re appalling people in any set of circumstances and they think they should be President! I would be horrified if that happened in my house and they were a father-daughter team selling time shares or something.
MattF
@Kay: He’s notoriously quick to sue. But I think the point now is that people have caught on to his lies and tricks. Anyone who claims to believe anything he says should be presumed to be lying as well.
1,000 Flouncing Lurkers (was fidelioscabinet)
@bemused: I think Senator Graham is off somewhere doing a comparative survey of Carolina vs. Georgia-style barbecue styles, or writing an ode to livermush, or dedicating an historic site plaque in honor of Clemson Cheese at the Stumphouse Mountain Tunnel or something uplifting like that. Brunswick stew might even be involved.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@Trentrunner:
They will say he was not a “real” conservative. (Nor were GWB, Mitt, McCain, GHWB…)
And yet the voting bloc of the party keeps on selecting these guys. Funny, that.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
He’s a fucking psychopath.
Miss Bianca
@trollhattan: I think “a banner day for bullshit” might be a candidate for rotating tag line…it’s certainly a fine ringing phrase I plan to avail myself of, often!
Calouste
@Kay: So far on this topic I have seen statements of Ivanka’s father and Ivanka’s brother, but none of Ivanka herself. Look like Trump’s comment that Mrs. Khan wasn’t allowed to speak was projection as usual.
Geoduck
Ryan is particularly pathetic at this point, after Trump sent an approving Tweet to his (Ryan’s) GOP primary opponent.
cmorenc
@Chris:
No, the GOP elites were decidedly *not* “out of touch” with the resentful bigotry on many fronts that potently afflicted a substantial portion of their base – instead, they believed (correctly for several decades) that they could successfully harness and control it with coded messaging (helped by the brilliantly malevolent skills of the likes of Frank Luntz) to their primary end of serving the economic elites (aka the “makers”) and the economic philosophy of the Wall Street Journal editorial writers. Nixon knew exactly who and how he was catering to bigotry with the “southern strategy. Reagan knew exactly who and how he was catering to bigotry by initiating his 1980 general campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi. George H. Bush knew exactly who and how he was catering to bigotry with his “Willie Horton” ads and reliance on Lee Atwater as a key campaign strategist. George W. Bush knew exactly who and how his chief campaign strategist Karl Rove was catering to bigotry and resentment against DFHippies.
What’s happened is that Donald Trump has stoked and strengthened the Frankenstein monster the GOP has cultivated for decades into breaking its shackles and openly stomping down main street, out of control of its former masters. The surprise, disgust, and weak mea culpas being expressed in the last few days by GOP figures is being directed at Trump because he let the monster out of its cage where they can no longer control it safely from risk of grave political harm to themselves, not because he created it. He didn’t – it’s been around since at least 1968, about the time the racists first began leaving the democratic party where their welcome had finally been worn out, and into the welcoming arms of the GOP.
It is also true that the GOP establishment elite has, for decades, deluded itself that the bigoted rabble they cultivated was with them in largest part for their anti-regulatory trickle-down economic philosophy.
Jeffro
@trollhattan: You know, I’m having one of those days…”Kasich not Kaisch”…”hate the sin, love the sinner”…”i before e, except after c”…
Too funny
Jeffro
@Ian:
I didn’t say where he should open it…maybe he could open a food truck and follow Bruce around on tour? Keep him from settling down in any one state?
Dadadadadadada
@Jeffro: Why do you hate Bruce so much?
patrick II
@aimai:
I would separate the voters from the national politicians, and I would do that by showing the, particularly white working class voters, how they are the mark in a long term con game.
Some years ago California created a series of of anti-smoking commercials that only encouraged young people who didn’t like being told what to do to smoke more. Finally, the state created a commercial that showed the tobacco company’s CEO’s as flim flam men and the young smokers as the marks in a harmful scam. That commercial was finally successful enough the tobacco companies sued (unsuccessfully) to stop it. People do not like to see themselves as being dupes.
If I was a rich guy and had my own PAC, showing Ryan, McConnell as con men who point to and blame blacks, browns, gays, trans, for the problems of the white working class while picking the pockets with the other hand is the image I would like to be the theme, and point to specifics of the top 1% getting all of the economic gains of the last 35 years, Ryans attempt to roll back FDR’s new deal (privatize the New Deal, Medicare, Medicaid). Instead of “redistrubtion” I would call a more equitable salary structure “fair distribution”, etc. Show the base republican voter what is behind the curtain.
Soylent Green
I know, don’t read the comments, but the comments on Obama’s presser today are full of Trumpsters bitching about PBO “hijacking” the election by speaking out.
We will hear more and more of this, calling it rigged, fixed, unfair, stolen, well before it actually goes down. This is Trump’s exit strategy. He will parlay the gross injustice of losing unfairly into a Faux News gig and lifetime invite from Chuckles to flap his gums every Sunday morning. And he will make life miserable for any R pols who dare to cross him now.
Jeffro
@nonynony:
Well, when the dust settles and the truly hardcore white nationalists split off, whatever remains of the GOP will likely get back to a what-passes-for-normal conservative party. It would almost have to be more inclusive, less reactionary (baby steps people, baby steps) and it’s up to them to figure out where to find the votes to regain the WH. I’ll be glad to see them back from the brink so that we can back to some semblance of normal governance in this country – the past 8 years have been like having to live with a coke fiend or something.
And remember no matter how this all plays out, we still have the Kochs & Co carpet bombing down ticket races with hundreds of millions of dollars. That has to be priority #1 for President Clinton and (hopefully) a Democratic Congress.
Jeffro
@Kay:
Yup – privilege squared. Gretchen Carlson is letting them all have it today, too. Go Gretchen!
Jeffro
@Dadadadadadada:
He doesn’t have to come out and meet with Christie…Chris is used to being ignored already…
Shalimar
@West of the Rockies (been a while): I don’t think the establishment will get away with saying Trump isn’t a true conservative. He is the true conservative the base has been waiting for, and the election will be stolen from him if he loses. It is all the other Republican party members who aren’t really loyal to conservatism. They sold out Tea Party principles This is what talk radio has been preparing the base for year after year after year.
Miss Bianca
@trollhattan: That whole article is made of win, actually – I particularly liked this bit:
Redshift
@sigaba:
Gerson is desperately trying to maintain the fiction that Trump is doing something different from what he and the rest of the party have been doing for several decades. He has to convince the both-siders of that to preserve his career prospects. He’s as craven as Ryan and McConnell, it’s just that his incentives go in the other direction.
Redshift
@patrick II:
Also has the advantage of being true.
Miss Bianca
@Jeffro: I think I’m starting to see a pattern with the disaffected white leftists who refuse to get with the program – they’re really just the other side of the white nationalist right. They’re so fixated on what a “disappointment” PBO is, and so steeped in Hillary hate, that they really sound like right-wingers. They’re totally into tallying up the potential brown targets of drone programs, and yet they seem strangely cavalier – flippant, even – about how enabling a Trump presidency would be disastrous for brown Americans, simply saying – in the most extreme cases – that if a Trump presidency is what it takes to burn the whole system down, man, well so be it. And they refuse to check their own attitude for privilege – absolutely get livid at the implied accustation that they might be sexist or racist.
Yup, I think we’ve gone beyond “right-wing” and “left-wing”, at this point. At this point, I think we can sum up rejection of Obama’s legacy and HRC as the Democratic candidate as simply: THE WHITE WING of America.
Jeffro
Funniest baby tweet I have seen so far:
“Why don’t you lazy goddamn millennials put down your tweets and your snaps, do some *real reporting* and reach out to the baby.”
(@EliotNelson)
Denali
@Doug J,
But what about our own Bill Nojay,R, State Assemblyman, who is unswayed by Trump’s shady business dealing and is quoted as saying that Americans don’t regard a moral core as an important qualification for the Presidency. Democrats did not even offer a candidate to vote for against Nojay in the last election. Democrats need to organize from the ground up.
JustRuss
Republicans have painted themselves into a corner. They’ve spent 8 years talking about what a horrible person Obama is–not just his policies, him personally–and a lot longer vilifying Hilary. So Trump comes along, and as horrible as he is, he’s not any worse than the make-believe Democrats that they’ve been selling to the rubes. So how can they not endorse him? They’d have to admit they’ve been lying about the Democrats.
Ben Cisco
@Kay: A pair of Black Hole Sons.
philadelphialawyer
l@Shalimar: Sure they will. Already, the never trumpers claim that it was Democrats who made Trump the GOP candidate. And, with some justice, they point to all of Trump’s flip flops on social and other issues. The guy has been a NYC player his whole life. And a Clinton contributor (and if you think that doesn’t raise their hackles, you don’t know them!). That doesn’t make him a liberal, but he was never overtly anti gay, anti abortion, and so on, until now. His personal Studio 54 lifestyle also makes him, as both the Cruz and Kasich sides of the base, and the leaders, see it, not a real conservative. And Trump does not consistently toe the conservative line on free trade or “defense” issues, either. Plus, assuming Trump loses, no failed candidate is/was ever a True Conservative, because, by definition, if they had been, they would not have lost. Closed circuit reasoning. Trump doesn’t give a damn about “small government,” either. And he doesn’t even know what the terms “federalism” or “separation of powers” mean.
Ben Cisco
@cmorenc:
And Black Hole Son #1 knew what he was doing when he went there as well.
sukabi
@MattF: “sorry that page doesn’t exist”
That kinda works too. _/:-)\_
sukabi
@Calouste: naw, Ivanka is still traumatized from her father groping her in public ON NATIONAL TV, ffs.
It’s one thing if it’s in private, but in public….
Uncle Cosmo
@SFAW: Well played! ;^)
@Jeffro: I believed you were capable of it. Now I know you are. Keep up the good (i.e., properly spelt*) work!
* British usage. Sue me.
Kenneth Kohl
@lamh36: maybe he thought it is akin to Bronze Star. Maybe he’s not clear on what has to happen to qualify someone for a Purple Heart. I’m guessing Purple Heart honorees may not be too happy with this particular vet for cheapening (IMO) this recognition.
Maybe Trump will claim the Purple Heart for his “bone spurs”…
Kenneth Kohl
Doug J,
As a liberal Democrat living in Western New York… fuck Chris Collins. He is one detestable jagoff.
gex
@nonynony: Well, you forgot the anti-gay, anti-trans portion of social conservatism.
I am not sure what that poster was talking about. Social conservatism is all about who is supposed to be despised, not about actual economic or foreign policy.
philadelphialawyer
@Kenneth Kohl:
I get your point. But Trump would have no business “winning” a bronze star the “easy” way either.
According to Wiki:
“The Bronze Star Medal may be awarded by the Secretary of a military department or the Secretary of Homeland Security with regard to the Coast Guard when not operating as a service in the Navy, or by such military commanders, or other appropriate officers as the Secretary concerned may designate, to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard of the United States, after 6 December 1941, distinguishes, or has distinguished, herself or himself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight—
“(a) while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;
“(b) while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or
“(c) while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.
“The acts of heroism are of a lesser degree than required for the award of the Silver Star. The acts of merit or acts of valor must be less than that required for the Legion of Merit but must nevertheless have been meritorious and accomplished with distinction. The Bronze Star Medal is awarded only to service members in combat zones who are receiving imminent danger pay.”
As I see it, the proper thing for any politician to say when a veteran offers him one of his military medals, no matter what it is, would be something like, “I am very touched and honored that you want to give that medal to me, but you earned it, I didn’t, and it would not be right for me to take it. Why not, instead, you pass it along to your wife/husband, children or grandchildren or some other family member or friend who can then keep it as a remembrance of you and your valor in service to our country….”
Trump, with his “dodgy” draft record, his take down of POW McCain, and his shenanigans with veterans’ charity, would be even more well advised not to take the medal, much less gloat over having gotten it the easy way.
J R in WV
@jonas:
Actually, I believe that the cake that Queen Marie A. spoke of in that famous quote wasn’t what we think of as cake, as in birthdays and weddings. At that time, bread bakeries had dough stick inside the ovens when loaves were made and removed, and that was called “cake” and scraped from the ovens before the next batch of loaves went in.
That surplus baking material is what Queen Marie was thinking of in that quote, cheap, hard and tough, maybe even partly burnt, but nearly as healthy to eat as the real bread, and much cheaper. So still an arrogant member of a ruling class, but not nearly as hateful as that quote, poorly rendered into modern English, makes her out to be.
Jeeze, here am I, nearly a socialist, and coming to the mild defense of a Queen… but not Trump, never Trump.