Maybe a little too apt…
Newt Gingrich has said that Trump will be "at least as reliable" as Andrew Jackson as Pres. A historian responds: pic.twitter.com/ExXqLgULRg
— Adam Smith (@aipsmith) August 9, 2016
Ed Kilgore, in NYMag:
Newt Gingrich’s comment to the New York Times today that Donald Trump is at least as mentally stable as President Andrew Jackson feels refreshingly honest in the world of political flacking. This is his answer in response to the question of whether Trump is psychologically fit for the Oval Office:
“Sure. I mean, he is at least as reliable as Andrew Jackson, who was one of the most decisive presidents in American history,” Gingrich continued. “Nobody would have predicted Abraham Lincoln’s capabilities before he became president, and most people didn’t believe him while he was president.”
….But as a serial duelist and someone who became completely unhinged at any insult to his or his country’s perceived honor, Old Hickory might not have been considered well suited to the presidency in an era of complicated, real-time diplomacy — much less nuclear weapons.
Indeed, what is known as the “Jacksonian tradition” in U.S. foreign policy is the highly anachronistic belief that America should remain disengaged with other countries unless they provoke Uncle Sam and hence earn total annihilation. Trump has already been identified with that tradition by a number of experts who observe in him a “deep repugnance” toward diplomacy, alliances, or the limited use of military power. It is not a compliment.
Y’know, Newton Leroy Gingrich is a failure as a human being, a blot on the political landscape, and a joke as a ‘historian’, but he’s a very good con artist. None of President Jackson’s misdeeds are going to hurt him with Trump’s voting base, but it’s going to come as news to some low-info voters who may vaguely remember that there was some kinda media fuss about that Jackson dude when Treasury announced the new Tubman currency proposals. Now that President Donald Trump is looking less and less liable to happen, could it be that… just possibly… The Newt wants to shiv a guy who’ll be looking to muscle in on Gingrich’s “former celebrity stateman” grift, come December?….
Naaah.
piratedan
so in place of a trail of tears, we have instead a Trail of Fears, strangely enough, that does appear to be apt… congrats Newtie, you’ve earned yourself an unintentional stopped clock moment!
jl
I didn’t know James K. PolK, but ii can tell you, Donald J. Trump, you are no James K. Polk. Well, at least Donald J Trump is no James K. Polk.
Maybe, Andrew Jackson, but without the ability to focus, mentally or emotionally? Which might make things go better this time? Run that up the PR flagpole maybe?
Edit: the bigot white person’s argument for another bigot white person is ‘well, you could imagine worse, so unfair and biased to criticize’.
schrodinger's cat
Jackson was a Senator and was a colonel before, he was not singularly as unqualified as Trump. Has anyone more unqualified than Trump ever won a major party nomination before?
Ryan
@schrodinger’s cat: Trump did build a yuuuuge, tacky phallus in NYC.
jl
@Ryan: He did a great pro wrestling show appearance once.
Edit: and ran a long running TV show where he fired people.
I just don’t know what people want these days, the guy can flap his arms and fly to the moon? Or what? Unfair. Very unfair!
catclub
@piratedan: That hair could be a veil for ears.
Bill E Pilgrim
Gingrich went on to say that Trump would be as honest as Nixon and as svelte as Taft.
We may need a new hashtag here, #GingrichFlattery
Bill E Pilgrim
@Ryan: I heard that someone “scaled” it yesterday though, I’m hoping down to around 1:1600, to match his tiny shriveled soul.
schrodinger's cat
@Bill E Pilgrim: With hair as gorgeous as Ike’s.
Keith P.
Seems like every year, I find a surprise comedy that I initially ignored but upon seeing it, it becomes one of my favorites. Black Dynamite, MacGruber(!), That’s My Boy(?). This year, it’s Neighbors 2. The first was OK, but I’m watching the sequel just dying of laughter. Especially the clown. OMG, best clown since Pennywise.
Feebog
When Dan Quayle said a mind is a terrible thing to waste he was talking about Newt Gingrich. What a maroon.
Mnemosyne
I got to see a nutty Facebook post about how the EEEVVVIILLLL Clintons stole Elian Gonzalez from his loving family and gave him to Fidel Castro because someone I know made a snarky comment on it.
They’re still pissed about Elian frickin’ Gonzalez being returned to his father, you guys!!!
Bill E Pilgrim
@Feebog: Oh no much worse, what you wrote is the original line from a United Negro College Fund TV commercial. I heard it a hundred times as a kid. Quayle, trying to quote or paraphrase it, said:
While addressing the UNC Fund in person. I kid you not..
Mnemosyne
@jl:
Actually, they switched his show to the “Celebrity Apprentice” format because it turned out that people didn’t really like seeing him be a jerk to regular people, but liked seeing him yell at other celebrities.
And let’s call The Donald what he is, folks. He’s not a “reality show star,” because “The Apprentice” is a game show. He’s a game show host.
JPL
Polls look good for Clinton, but it’s not over yet.
FlipYrWhig
@efgoldman: “Old Hickory’s Nukes” is either the worst steampunk ever, or the best.
Keith P.
Heh, when I came home, I hear something go through my window (I keep it open during the day so my cat can go outside at will). It’s the feral that lives under my deck, getting out of the heat and hanging out with my female cat. He still takes off when sees me, but he’s definitely getting more and more domesticated (right now, he’s sitting by the back porch every morning waiting for me to feed him)
Mnemosyne
@efgoldman:
Plus he defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans, so he actually had some chops as a military commander.
On the other hand, Jackson ignored the Supreme Court’s ruling and forcibly (not to mention illegally) ejected the Cherokee from their lands, which is definitely something I could see The Donald doing, so Newtie’s not all wrong.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Ryan: And some guys just buy a big gun to compensate. Sad.
Roger Moore
@Bill E Pilgrim:
He’ll have Hoover’s economic chops, and Reagan’s attention to detail.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Keith P.: Clowns frighten me.
FlipYrWhig
@Mnemosyne: I thought that’s what Gingrich meant: “if you go back in history you’ll find some mercurial bigmouth presidents, so Donald Trump, even being exactly what he seems and not an act, wouldn’t be the worst of them all.”
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
Complacency is our enemy.
That said, I have a feeling this election is going to end up feeling rather anticlimactic. Which is a shame, considering its historic and groundbreaking (ceiling-shattering) status.
Roger Moore
@Feebog:
The actual quote is:
schrodinger's cat
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Me too. Very scary.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@srv: Gawd, you’re an idiot.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@schrodinger’s cat: Omnes agrees with us.
FlipYrWhig
@srv: Maybe widespread p0rn has palsied them from overuse.
Woodrowfan
Jackson was a devoted husband, which is a point in his favor over the angry circus peanut.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Roger Moore: I think he was talking about St. Ronnie.
Gin & Tonic
@Keith P.: Tell me if it’s none of my business, but has your health coverage situation taken a turn for the better at all?
robert thompson
Ukrainian military now on combat alert. Russian saboteurs interdicted at the existing border with Crimea. You want Jackson wanna-be handle that situation? The possible scenarios scare the shit outta me. And Newt? Well he too is completely out of his depth to salve that mess.
Roger Moore
@efgoldman:
FTFY.
Villago Delenda Est
History professor wannabe couldn’t get tenure, went into asshole politics instead.
Film at 11.
Mike in NC
@Mnemosyne: You know all those gambling establishments that are operating on Native American reservations? President Trump will shut them all down. In the name of National Security or something.
Schlemazel
@srv:
People are doing much less manual labor than they were even 30 years ago. OTOH, I bet men type much faster & more accurately then they did 30 years ago . . . can’t imagine what has changed, we must be more feminine, thats the only possibility.
I feel all guys should spend the next 89 days punching each other in the shoulders and telling dirty jokes, that’ll fix us!
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
OT, but here’s a really nice Above the Law story about a really sweet natured judge from here in the People’s Democratic Socialist Republic of Louisville.
She’s an absolute doll, and while she isn’t on my regular family court beat, I’ve appeared before her several times and found her to be unfailingly courteous to counsel and kind to people who appear before her.
Keith P.
@Gin & Tonic: A little better. I got two more weeks on the job (last day is tomorrow), so I’m not in total crisis…will have enough money to pay non-mortgage bills for the next couple of months. Thank God (or Democrats) for Medicare, though.
I had an angiogram on my arm after the hospital, and there’s a blockage on the fistula vein going into my chest. They ran a wire through it, bit my arm is still a bit swollen, so I probably have to go back in next week. My blood pressure was good up until a couple of days ago, so I’m a bit worried about that (with it comes headaches).
In the meantime, I’m looking for remote work and am going to be investigating freelance programming gigs (although I hear there’s about a 5% success rate on bids) before trying to suffer through a full time contract again.
@?BillinGlendaleCA: If you don’t like scary clowns, it’s also got Minions. I’ve never seen the movie, but they are freaking HILARIOUS in Neighbors 2.
Schlemazel
@robert thompson:
Drumpf would know EXACTLY what to do – withdraw and let his good buddy have the place, he already told us Putin won’t invade
@Schlemazel:
HA! Just realized who I was replying too – I should have guessed but I thought it was a real guy being ironic.
Mnemosyne
@srv:
Just out of curiosity, do you have any clue how many men type these days as opposed to 30 years ago? Any idea what carpal tunnel injuries do to hand strength?
That’s what I thought.
scav
@srv: Well, that might certainly explain why you and so many other core Trumpeters are seemingly unable to get a grip.
Andrey
@Mnemosyne: You don’t even need carpal tunnel. Grip strength just isn’t important for as many jobs. People lift less. This is likely to be disproportionately true for men, because the jobs that once required heavy lifting are disproportionately male.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: In srv’s world, typing is for chicks.
ETA: And I’m off to take some pics of another space shuttle.
M. Bouffant
It’s soccer. If men were playing man sports, firmly gripping bats, catching & throwing balls, yada … also powered/riding lawnmowers, & not as many paper routes. Country’s gone to hell.
Saskexpat
@Andrey:
The 12 year old in me wants to make a joke about this so badly!
Bill E Pilgrim
@FlipYrWhig: Therby setting the bar absolutely as low as possible, I think is the reaction.
Plus there’s no way any President we’ve had was as stupid and uninformed as Trump. And definitely never one as smarmy.
robert thompson
@Schlemazel: Yes That is just one of the possible scenarios that is nagging me. At least giving in to a tyrant buys a little time until he gets hungry again.
Patricia Kayden
Sorry Newt, but Trump is not “reliable” at all. His flip flops are well documented.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-flip-flop_us_57ac3753e4b0db3be07d4192?
Iowa Old Lady
Mr IOL just sent me an excited text. He’s at a bridge tournament in Council Bluffs, and Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are there playing.
SiubhanDuinne
@Iowa Old Lady:
I assume every trick is No Trump.
Patricia Kayden
@robert thompson: Given how chummy Donald is with Putin, I assume Russia would be given a free pass to do whatever it wants to do in the Ukraine without any American criticism under a Trump Presidency.
On another topic, with all the voter suppression going on, I don’t think our side has any reason to be complacent despite the great polls for Secretary Clinton. LGM had an article about a voter ID law which was upheld in Wisconsin. The battle on voting rights is still being litigated which makes our elections very tenuous.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/08/wisconsins-voter-id-law-back-books
Gin & Tonic
@Iowa Old Lady: That is exciting. Do those two play together, or is each on his own team?
robert thompson
@Iowa Old Lady: That’s really cool. How interesting to watch some notables exercise their intelligence.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Bill E Pilgrim:
Born to wealth, lazy as fuck, a meritorious inheritor of many millions, and always surrounded by cringing, fawning, obsequious “yes” men who affirmed every ridiculous comment and brain fart that oozed from his mouth for the last 5 decades.
It was entirely predictable.
Mnemosyne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
There’s another space shuttle? Where?
Omnes Omnibus
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Clowns frighten all sensible people (and me).
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Omnes Omnibus:
I thought that clowns were the reason for the invention of the easily swappable high cap mag, just to be sure.
Iowa Old Lady
@Gin & Tonic: I don’t know. I have the impression they play together but I’m not sure. Anyway, a sighting of two real billionaires!
? Martin
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class: And now people are saying he was behind the kidnapping of the president of Argentina. It’s true, I’ve heard many people – smart, smart people – talking about it.
robert thompson
@Patricia Kayden: That’s just one possible outcome. What if Trump lets Putin swallow the Ukraine whole and we are by treaty bound to protect the Baltic states. Will Trump go to the mat for them? He has already stated only if they pay for protection will he consider defending their sovereignty. So swollowing them too we are pre-September 1939. What a great place to be!
Amir Khalid
@Mnemosyne:
Maybe they’ve conveniently forgotten that Elian’s mother was dead, which gave his father the strongest claim to custody — stronger, for sure, than the American great-uncle who wanted to keep him in Florida. Another thing: Bill Clinton has since said that if he had acted for the American side of the family, the US government could never again go to another country and stand behind an American parent making a custody claim like Elian’s dad did.
debbie
Has this been posted yet?
F*ck Donald Trump, sung by Barack Obama.
Baud
@srv:
Internet porn has made men have to work less for it and thus has made us soft.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Mnemosyne: These are the same sort of people you read about in Appalachia, Europe, etc, who hold grudges for four hundred fucking years, down 20 generations, and can’t even remember why they’re mad in the first place.
I mentioned something about “domestic terrorism” in front of our office Trumptard and she said “oh yeah, like the Weathermen!” Lady, that one incident happened several years before I was born. McVeigh, mass shooters, Malheur, all that: Never heard of most of them and the ones she had: liberals. Liberals did ’em all. She really thinks that. No point in arguing.
robert thompson
@Baud: It’s made me soft. Repeatedly!
Kay
You could do this all day. Just follow him around and try to verify stuff he says:
Gin & Tonic
@robert thompson: Which is why I think Trump will do more poorly than he expects in PA and OH. A large population (still) of post-WWII immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Baltics, and their children. Lithuanians, Poles, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Hungarians. And they vote.
Miss Bianca
@Baud: Wait, I haz a confuze. I would have thought Internet porn would, if anything, have the potential to *increase* your grip strength. Because…reasons.
Gin & Tonic
@robert thompson: TMI!
Baud
@Miss Bianca: Think about it in terms of the number of reps you have to do in each workout session.
Peale
@robert thompson: Please. Its nothing like that. Putin is only swallowing countries with significant Russian populations who feel that all Russians should be part of Russia. He’s trying to protect them from the West and their homosexual loving sophistication and bring them back to the true fatherland.
I don’t see the parallel.
Miss Bianca
@debbie: HA!
@Baud: Uh…do I gotta? //
Jeffro
@srv: is it all the soy, vaccines, or the existence of ISIS (which Obummer created!) that is making us menz weaker?
robert thompson
@Gin & Tonic: That is a very valid point which I had not thought about. I know that in particular Estonians generally hate the Russians. Not that Estonians are a large emigre population in the the States, but still it has to be present in the ethnic groups you mentioned to some degree or another.
Omnes Omnibus
Fiji is beating the ever-loving shit out of the Brits.
debbie
@Kay:
Kay, thanks for your response this morning. I can’t imagine they’ll get away with it.
robert thompson
@Gin & Tonic: All apologies. I am a low restraint person. Like Trump.
Baud
@robert thompson: Don’t sweat it. Restraint is for the real world.
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: er…in what? rugby?
FlipYrWhig
@Kay: The guy blatantly lies about everything all the time.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: I can’t believe people aren’t yelling “Brexit” every time a Brit athlete loses.
Peale
@Miss Bianca: The internet porn Olympiad.
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: Rugby Sevens. 29-0 at half time.
robert thompson
@Peale: It’s always projection isn’t it. I think the Ukrainians in the Donbass would really object to being Russianized.
JPL
Where’s Melania?
Hal
All my enthusiasm for the new Star Trek is officially gone for two reason:
Great, another prequel. Wasn’t Enterprise nad enough?
and
Steve in the ATL
@schrodinger’s cat:
George Washington. He had never held elected office in the USA before becoming president.
Amir Khalid
@Peale:
Ethnic Russians who want to be part of Russia really need to move back to the Motherland. Plenty of room there; in fact, Russia is mostly empty space.
Baud
@Steve in the ATL: He was a legislator in the Virginia assembly.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: Then you should include Grant and Eisenhower as well.
robert thompson
@Baud: Apt advice. My fantasies can remain over-inflated.
Pogonip
@srv: I would not be surprised if that is because of incipient carpal tunnel syndrome. Fortunately all the gents I know are still able to open lids.
We had a meeting where I work. Afterwards I went to the pop machine, which dispensed one of those bottles that was missed by whatever machine puts the little perforations on the white plastic cap. I couldn’t budge the cap. Hearing male voices a couple of aisles over, I called out, “Don’t go away! I need a man!”
I like to think they were disappointed, rather than relieved, that all I needed a man for was to open the bottle.
RaflW
Since this is tagged a Rebubs in Disarray! thread:
New Fox News poll: Latino registered voters ~ Men: Clinton 56 / Trump 26. Women: Clinton 75 / Trump 14.
Captain C
@Roger Moore: And James Buchanan’s moral courage.
Pogonip
@Omnes Omnibus: Stephen King wrote a zillion pages that summed up to “Clowns sure are scary!”
Roger Moore
@SiubhanDuinne:
Getting to No Trump is the trick we’re after.
Schlemazel
@Saskexpat:
The 12 year old probably has things well in hand
Kenneth Kohl
@srv: Well, I’m 65 and may be a ted weaker than I was 30 years ago. And, my De Quervain’s tendinosis has definitely weakened my grip strength. So, yeah, science. baby! :)
Schlemazel
@robert thompson:
September of ’39 with nukes! What an exciting thing to imagine.
David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch
Trump knows it’s ovah.
U could see it in his behavior yesterday.
He was hoping his star-studded convention could turn it around (at least keep it close), but seeing himself down by double digits in so many polls has brought reality home.
He’s all too familiar with the feeling of impending bankruptcy.
So at this point, knowing all is lost, he’s just going to through a tantrum on a daily basis.
It’s like his failed marriages: when he knew it was over he would go on a bender and flaunt his philandering.
Steve in the ATL
@Baud: I was making a joke, but if you want to get all factual (just like a libtard!), I believe that his service in the Virginia Assembly ended in 1775, prior to the founding of the USA, which is why I specifically added the qualifier “in the USA”. Don’t make me regret voting for you in the primary….
Roger Moore
@Amir Khalid:
They can’t have forgotten those things because they never knew them. They just knew that Elian got to the USA, and we’re the greatest so he should have stayed here. I’m sure the idea that this might have affected other custody disputes never crossed their minds.
Schlemazel
@Amir Khalid:
Well, then what the hell are the Marines for? They could go into any country & take any kid any American might claim! The problem with you lefties is you want to play nice with those little countys that just not matter.
Baud
@Steve in the ATL: Like God, the USA is above and outside the sphere of time.
Uncle Cosmo
@SiubhanDuinne:
FTFY. Or maybe every bid. From someone who spent 5 nights a week in his senior year of university slurping down coffee & setting SLOLs at one duplicate game or another.
(ETA: SLOL = Sweet Little Old Lady. From at least a generation before the Net.)
robert thompson
@Schlemazel: Even more exciting is imagining Putin claiming since Poland pre-1917 was part of Czarist Russia he’ll want Poland as well. Which makes Russian desire for NATO Poland a valid point to Trump. The list is endless.
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: The thing is that by now, probably four or five generations after Stalin’s dekulakization and de-ethnicization, it it hard to still say “ethnic Russian.” There are plenty of people in the Donbas who may have roots there back to the 1930’s, and who may speak Russian at home, who consider themselves Ukrainian patriots, just as there are people there of similar or indistinguishable origin who consider themselves Russians in exile. You can’t know who’s who without talking to them.
I am reminded of the Brit Graham Phillips, who was an RT stringer in eastern Ukraine. He shot some video in Slovyansk (site of pitched battles between “separatists” and Ukrainians back in 2014) in the Donbas, trying to get “man in the street” reaction in his abysmal Russian. He grabbed some older woman and asked some tendentious question and she walked away from him saying, in Russian-accented Ukrainian “Glory to Ukraine!”
Schlemazel
@Steve in the ATL:
Neither had Grant or Ike but all had led men in battle, organized large armies and dealt with the bureaucracy that comes with them. I don’t happen to believe it is a great training ground for POTUS but at least it is something.
Villago Delenda Est
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I’d wager that srv has all the military experience of Donald Drumpf. BTW, I’m a veteran, and I can type!
schrodinger's cat
@Steve in the ATL: He was the commander of the Revolutionary army wasn’t he and Eisenhower was a general who won WWII.
Roger Moore
@Peale:
You know who else seized parts of neighboring countries to reunite speakers of his language with the fatherland.
Cermet
@Steve in the ATL: Then Eisenhower is also on that list; yet, both these men had really vast experience running large armies over very long distances. So, the Rump is a few steps below these men (on a log scale, f course.)
robert thompson
@Schlemazel: Ike was selected over Marshall due to FDR wanting Marshall at home and Ike’s ability in politics, getting along with the British. He wasn’t particularly seasoned having never led men in battle, but interestingly after WWI led a expedition across the Great Plains and Mountain West to show the need for interstate roads. So that was something as well. Not much but something.
schrodinger's cat
@robert thompson: His daddy didn’t give him a million bucks to get started, either.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
NBC chyron a few minutes ago: Trump falsely accuses Obama of founding ISIS
Steve in the ATL
@Cermet: OMG DOES NO ONE ON BJ UNDERSTAND HUMOR ANYMORE????!!!??
Cermet
@robert thompson: And don’t forget Palin country called “I can see Russia from my doorway” Alaska. It too belonged to Czarist Russia and Putin will want that back, too. Now, if it was Texas Putin wanted, I’d work with that, however.
Baud
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: I absolutely love that all of his sycophants were like “he’s talking about Obama’s policies” and he comes out and says, “no, in my hand is the the certificate of incorporation with Obama’s signature on it.”
Steve in the ATL
@Schlemazel:
Your liberal bias is showing as you ignore the leadership and organizing skills required in filing multiple bankruptcies
robert thompson
@schrodinger’s cat: Absolute truth. Officers after WWI were expected to maintain a certain social profile on a pay scale that was genteel poverty wages and on their dime, entirely.
Cermet
@Steve in the ATL: No – whats that? wait, you were being humorous … oh, sorry, my tRump.
Pogonip
I know Cole has to do the Poop Scoopin’ Boogie first, but is anyone else interested in what else he plans to do with his house?
jl
@Mnemosyne: Thanks for info. I never followed the Trump game shows. I was vaguely aware of them, and remember some bizarre intervention involving Trump and Gary Busey (it was him, right?) which I never understood. I remember a youtube clip with Busey acting weird in some work room. That incident prompted me to make a mental note to avoid Trump game shows entirely.
dedc79
@Gin & Tonic: I once backpacked with a friend through Russia. We were on a train to Novgorod and got into a conversation with a young Ukrainian woman who was trying to convince us to cut our Russian trip short and head with her to Ukraine instead. She said “Ukraine. . . class. Russia . . . no class.” And then to make sure we heard it, she said it again louder. Repeatedly. The russians on the train – the ones who spoke english at least – were not amused.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steve in the ATL: @Steve in the ATL: Sure we do. Sometimes pedantry is more important. This is why your second joke will fly a little better.
drdavechemist
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
And NPR has also been clearly and consistently saying the claim is false on this evening’s All Things Considered. No wishy-washiness, though they do entertain but mostly dismiss the notion that POTUS and HRC bear any sort of responsibility for the rise of ISIL.
robert thompson
@Cermet: Yikes! Well at least Palin would truly know what Russia would truly look like, ex post facto, but still.
bemused
The editor and owner of tiny, weekly local newspaper is an over 70, white male wingnut. His editorials are the usual RW crap, never writes about Obama without using his middle name and has even mentioned the Clinton body count conspiracy theory. He hasn’t liked Trump from the beginning saying several times Trump is a loudmouth bragger but he creates thousands of jobs and Hillary is crooked. I started laughing reading his editorial this week. He stayed completely away from politics, not even trashing Hillary. I think the Trump fiasco must be getting to him. When rightwingers go out of their way to not talk politics, you know they’re flummoxed how to defend their tribe. Of course, it’s only temporary.
Schlemazel
@robert thompson:
Thats not entirely true! Ike led forces against American Vets during the “Bonus March”
But he was a tank commander in WWI, if only in the US it was still leading
Keith G
@piratedan:
No. What we have is a trail of Tweets.
Say that five time, fast!!
gogol's wife
@debbie:
Ooh, that’s good.
NR
@RaflW: So overall that’s like Clinton 68ish, Trump 20ish? Looks like Clinton is about where Obama was while Trump is underperforming Romney by a bit.
? Martin
Just going to leave this here.
Schlemazel
@Steve in the ATL:
Sorry, this election has us all on edge
Jibeaux
Kind of cute, read the description for the election season Cards against humanity expansion pack. And a steal at $4 for a good cause.
Amir Khalid
@? Martin:
Pout.
Baud
@? Martin:
@Jibeaux:
Haha. And this
Haha.
1,000 Flouncing Lurkers (was fidelioscabinet)
@Steve in the ATL: Reality is killing the sarcastic interjection business, son.
debbie
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
He’s been doing that all day. He also named Clinton as ISIS’s MVP.
hovercraft
@Baud:
Did you see Kelly Ann Conway trying that line and Chucky actually pushing back on her repeatedly, quoting Donald this morning on Hugh Hewitt’s show rejecting that excuse. Chuck actually grew a pair and held her feet to the fire and rejected every attempt to pivot to Clinton ‘scandals’. She tried the media bias, and pointed out that all the crap she was spewing she was only aware of because of media reports. It’s almost as if having to have one of their own escorted to their car by the SS because Trump singled her out for his vitriol at a rally has caused the media to grow a pair. What is the world coming to if the media actually do their jobs?
The Other Chuck
@Amir Khalid: That would assume they ever knew those facts in the first place, or cared about those facts, or in fact cared about facts, truth, or knowledge at all, ever.
robert thompson
@Schlemazel: Ouch. You are correct. But I will forgive the burning of the Anacostia Hooveropolis as he was just following orders from the most over-hyped generalissimo in US history. MacArthur was and will always remain the largest ass in US military annals.
Mike J
@Schlemazel:
Ike was a junior aide to MacArthur. He didn’t really have any choice.
inventor
@Miss Bianca: A common misconception; it’s about precise control, not brute strength.
Iowa Old Lady
@Steve in the ATL: Think how writers for The Onion feel.
JPL
@Steve in the ATL: hahaha We are all suffering from, omg this guy could be presidentitis. We’ll recover quickly, but probably not before Nov. 9th.
I thought that Trump would bring up, Hillary is a Lesbian by now…
scav
@Jibeaux: I love those people. EntitledWhining.
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: Surely you have a friend or acquaintance in the US who could buy a set in your behalf.
Baud
@hovercraft:
Right. Next thing you’ll be telling me is that men can have babies.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: It could happen.
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic:
Nope, I can’t send them money to buy American campaign swag for me. That’s an illegal foreign contribution, as was explained to me in these threads back in 2012.
satby
@Amir Khalid: @Gin & Tonic: Tell me which one and where to send them Amir.
Schlemazel
@robert thompson: Ah yes, I vas only vollowing orderz! that covers a lot of sins. MacArthur was a POS from start to finish. It is a shame FDR didn’t leave him for the Japanese Imperial Army, would have done the nation a real favor.
jl
@Baud:
The boundaries blur between Trump and standard GOP memes on Democrats being a fifth column enemy within. So Trump is trying to get a meme started with an outrageous metaphor.
I think best response it to point out that Trump is lying yet again. Trump supported the Iraq invasion, to the extent that he worried about it all (which going by his own words, he did, in fact, not). I read in Josh Marshall’s twitter feed that Trump also supported the Iraq withdrawal. So, skip the outrage and just go straight to the fact that this whole smear effort rests on bald faced lies by Trump about he would have done anything different.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: Only on the seventies.
satby
@Amir Khalid: my treat.
Schlemazel
@Amir Khalid:
could someone here buy them & gift them to you?
jl
@Baud: If you had been able to run a decent campaign, you could be the nominee, then we would be worrying about a Trail of Beers coming from the Oval Office, not a new Trail of Tears. Just look at what you have done, young man.
hovercraft
Skeletor, James Carville calls Trump impotent, flailing his stubby hands out there because in his mind he’s losing to a girl.
Miss Bianca
@inventor: SOMEONE IS MAKING ME GIGGLE AT WANK JOKES ON THE INTERNET!!
satby
@Schlemazel: look at comment above^
robert thompson
Thanks to all for the scintillating conversation and I am being serious here, but I have to open a bottle to pour into the marinara sauce I am making. That bottle must be tested thoroughly before adding it to the mix; to bring it up a notch as it were. Of course one test is not enough. One has to be sure of these things.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Steve in the ATL:
Inorite. This surreal campaign has sent us right off the map.
ETA: People gun-shy about jokes because they’ll laugh and then someone will say, “No, Trump really said that today.”
Baud
@Miss Bianca: But enough about Trump….
satby
@robert thompson: Happy to come help test.
Can you tell I’m bored by packing and hiding inside from the 100° heat index?
Roger Moore
@robert thompson:
Robert E. Lee would beg to differ.
Baud
@jl:
That’s not how Trump did it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Roger Moore: Curtis LeMay?
jl
@Baud: You know that I meant ‘decently outrageous immoral, and offensive’/ Don’t patronize me, dammit..
C.S.
“Decisive.” I’ve gotta give it up to Newt. I didn’t think he had it in him, but that’s Greg Maddux/Pedro Martinez level spin.
Mnemosyne
@Amir Khalid:
It may have to be eBay, then.
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: Not if the FEC doesn’t know about it.
japa21
@Keith G: Trail of tweets, trail of tweets, trail of tweets, trail of tweets, twail of treats, Damn, I almost did it.
Roger Moore
@Amir Khalid:
You could politely ask an American friend to buy you a pack as a present.
JPL
@shomi: That’s a wonderful image!
Schlemazel
@satby:
I just saw that. I was going to add if he felt guilty (ot that was still a problem) about $4 and postage he could pick up a similarly priced good there & call it an exchange.
As a Gopher Women’s hockey booster I have had to learn a lot about what the NCAA will allow and won’t allow. FOr instance, we became good friends with one of the players parents but I couldn’t by her dad a cup of coffee when we bumped into each other at the coffee shop – thats an NCAA no-no. Some of the rules I get others make no sense at all anf the whole thing requires a department of professionals to deal with it.
Baud
I can’t believe handball is a sport.
Jibeaux
@Amir Khalid:
Because of the political donation thing. I’ll send you a pack, tell me what you want. I really will, I once bought a drink for a guy in an Irish pub who sang beautifully, and I bought it by mailing him a bottle of liquor from home.
Didn’t notice Martin got my link first, though, doh!
Roger Moore
@Baud:
And the nineties.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Enough with the wank jokes already.
rikyrah
BWA HA AH AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
THE POTUS NIGHTTIME PLAYLIST PROVES PRESIDENT OBAMA SAVED ALL OF HIS REMAINING FUCKS FOR THE BEDROOM
Schlemazel
@Omnes Omnibus:
Yes, after a while they are just beating around the bush
robert thompson
@satby: 100F justifies many things and I have empathy for you. It’s 2014 Chateau Haute Sorillon Bordeaux. Not a great Bordeaux, certainly not Chateau du Pape, but then I cant afford Chateau du Pape so I will use what I can. Next is a reasonable 2014 Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel in case the Frenchy fails and anyone accuses me of being unpatriotic.
jl
@C.S.: Perot was very decisive when he raved about the Clintons sending secret agent lesbians and talking dogs to do something or whatever to destroy his daughter’s wedding somehow, whatever messages he was picking up in his tooth fillings.
There was no going back for Perot. We need that kind of decisiveness in a president.
General Pickett was very decisive too. As was Hood at Atlanta in front of Sherman. And hey, so was Union General Burnside. Newt is a historian. I’m sure all that decisiveness worked out great in whatever alt history is rambling around in his head.
Baud
@Roger Moore:
You just made Trump’s best case for him.
JPL
@Baud: In all seriousness, it is a sport that you have to be there to appreciate. I saw Egypt beat someone during the 96 Olympics.
It was the medal round but fun, nonetheless
Roger Moore
@Omnes Omnibus:
George B. McClellan
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: We’ve been through this. It’s been a sport forever.
What I love about it is that perhaps the greatest-ever player was the inimitably louche Paul Haber, who could show up to a tournament drunk, not hung over from last night, and still beat the pants off of anyone.
Pace Roger Moore.
Baud
@Gin & Tonic: That’s not the same sport I saw on my TV.
raven
@Baud: It’s team handball, a totally different sport. You know, like FOOTBALL and FOOTBALL.
robert thompson
@jl: Excellent pedantry. I bow before your nym.
Steve in the ATL
@Baud: it was an intramural sport at my college, so that gives it gravitas. Also, I once lost a match against an SAE who went on to voice Cleveland on “Family Guy”
satby
@robert thompson: You inspired me to consider making a margarita, but ennui overcame me and I settled for a shot of rum in my strawberry lemonade.
Which is ok, surprisingly.
jl
@robert thompson: It is decisive pedantry. That is what counts.
And, someone tell Baud that it’s OK to drink a beer while watching whatever kind of handball there is. Then he’ll settle down.
robert thompson
@satby: That works equally well. It shows efficiency too.
Omnes Omnibus
@satby:
What kind of rum?
Roger Moore
@Schlemazel:
The NCAA concept of amateurism needs to FOADIAF. It’s mostly a lame excuse to put money in the pockets of coaches and administrators instead of the athletes.
raven
@Steve in the ATL: Washington and Lee?
Trollhattan
@rikyrah:
Thus guy…. Massive senioritis. (Not that I begrudge him)
Steve in the ATL
@raven: Yes indeed. Go Generals!
ETA: and you get bonus points for typing “Washington and Lee” rather than “Washington & Lee”. The ampersand is only used in the abbreviation, kids! (W&L)
tybee
@dedc79:
that reminded me of a skit
https://youtu.be/VHfroJBMlVM
robert thompson
Off to prepare the pasta. Fusili, that crazy bastard of course, (stolen). Again to you old timers, all joking aside, you all are an intertubes treasure. The laughs and commentary are epic.Thanks to all.
Truegster
Not really breaking news – Trump just retweeted a white supremacist today – DSF2020. Check dsf2020’s page and his recent response to “whitegenocide” and more. There wasn’t even some obvious reason for Herr Trump to retweet it from that source either, it’s not a unique or clever observation, just a basic “keep it up, fight the librul media”. Check yourself, tell me I’m wrong…
raven
@Steve in the ATL: I know a guy who played football there who lives in the ATL.
Steve in the ATL
@raven: There are so many W&L alumni in Atlanta that the local alumni group has a board of directors
Peale
@jl: one quibble. I know it’s a moot point, but I think Perot was accusing the Republicans of the wedding disruption, not Bill and Hillary. I know it’s fun to think they are behind everything evil in the world, shameless in thought and wretched in execution, but let’s not add to their crimes.
ThresherK
W’s field hockey: USA goes up on India getting a third goal with ~5 mins remaining, lead 3-0.
Okay, a bit late to ask, but I know how ice hockey works. What’s the difference in field hockey?
And is it always a blue field?
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: Yeah, the stuff you saw on your TV is for weenies from Yurp. Real handball is for guys named Timbo or Peewee or Lefty Eddie.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@debbie: Yah, it’s the pushback that got my attention. “OMG, did they really use the word ‘falsely’?!?”
jl
@Peale: Thanks.
jl
@Gin & Tonic: Baud’s policy on handball is ignorant, unhinged, and dangerous. Sorry I ever supported him.
Amir Khalid
@ThresherK:
Field hockey is an 11-a-side sport, played on artificial turf instead of a very big sheet of ice. (Or, at the lower levels, often on a grass field.) With a cricket ball, instead of a rubber puck. Over two halves, instead of three thirds. Physically assaulting opponents is generally not tolerated. It’s the more common version of hockey in most of the world, especially where the weather does not allow very big sheets of ice to form outdoors.
Baud
@jl: In America, it’s called soccer.
raven
@Steve in the ATL: Makes sense. He’s actually an ATL native so he’s go a big in!
satby
@Omnes Omnibus: Myers Dark.
Omnes Omnibus
@satby: Well done.
Truegster
@srv: maybe we should make keyboard buttons really really hard to depress? Also, the pressure required to use staplers and staple removers should be increased greatly, I assume.
srv, do you have any other solutions for weak office betas like me to increase my grip strength? I don’t want the obvious “grip-strength” gap between the U.S. and Russia to increase. I’m drinking the filtered rain water like you suggested…
Seriously though, more paper pushing and less wrench turning over the last 30 yrs may have something to do with that stat srv
jake the antisoshul soshulist
We now know why Newt wasn’t Trump’s Veep choice.
They are both too dumb to run a two man con.
So Trump brought in Pence as the fall guy.
Gin & Tonic
@satby: Indeed.
jl
@Truegster: Geneticists have shown that the Y chromosome is slowly falling apart. That’s the problem. No help for it. Nothing to be done. We men should just lie back on the couch, watch the TV and enjoy the time we have left. Soon, won’t even have hands left for grip strength. Then it will be easy to measure.
ThresherK
@Amir Khalid: Oh, I sorta get that part. But the things like the penalties or violations, and how you can or can’t hit the ball, is there an offsides?
I saw a yellow card, and that’s even different than soccer.
That said, I hope they show more of it.
Iowa Old Lady
@efgoldman: I suspect betting is not allowed at this tournament. Apparently there’s a bridge over the Missouri between Omaha and Council Bluffs, so Buffet often plays at this regional tournament.
Poopyman
@Steve in the ATL: “Go Generals”? Have they ever beaten the Globetrotters?
schrodinger's cat
We need a new thread.
Steve in the ATL
@Poopyman: LOL. It’s a similar basketball team–all white guys who couldn’t make it in a real league
Schlemazel
@Roger Moore:
Agreed. I see a lot of it that was designed (I assume) to prevent people from buying players. Other riules make no sense at all. The problem is the rules don’t prevent all buying and, yes, they certainly do ensure that the kids get very little if anything while the NCAA and successful schools make a bundle. I think the end for it all is coming soon but like peak wingnut, that may just be wishful thinking.
schrodinger's cat
@ThresherK: Guess, they didn’t have Shahrukh Khan to coach them this time.
satby
@Omnes Omnibus: @Gin & Tonic: Only one I really like. Never to be sullied with (spit) Coke.
Omnes Omnibus
@satby: Wow, you are more of a purist than me on this question.
satby
@Omnes Omnibus: eh, I just don’t like pop.
Omnes Omnibus
@satby: Try the rum with just some lime juice and ice.
schrodinger's cat
@satby: Pop?
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodinger’s cat: Explanatory notes.
Steeplejack
@satby, @Omnes Omnibus:
I will relate my rum anecdote.
Last week a really good friend returned from a trip to Cuba and said she had a bottle of rum for me. I was ecstatic, imagining a fifth of some dark, exotic stuff forbidden to the gringos lo these past 60 years. She came by Sunday and dropped off some stuff on her way to someplace else.
I didn’t open the bag until later, and I found a small bottle—maybe a pint, although there is no volume given on the bottle or the label—of a white (clear) rum. Eek! Warning sign right there. It’s Havana Club, which I vaguely remember as an “authentic” Cuban brand from back in the day.
Last night I finally broke down and had a rum and tonic with it, and it is awful! Awful as in “I may just pour this down the sink and not tough it out with subpar drinks.”
Went on line and found a semi-interesting article in the Washington Post from last month. Had to laugh at the attached video of “rum aficionados” taste-testing Havana Club vs. Bacardi. A plague on both their houses! It was like “Beer aficionados compare Budweiser and Miller Lite.”
My go-to rum is Mount Gay (Barbados). Also like Barbancourt (Haiti) and, if you want really dark and motor-oil grade, Gosling’s Black Seal (Bermuda). Big squeeze of lime (one-eighth of a fruit) and Schweppes only, please.
Iowa Old Lady
@satby: You drink it straight? What are you, Long John Silver?
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack:
Club soda or tonic water?
schrodinger's cat
@Steeplejack: Respectable Indian aunties like to drink rum and coke, so they can pretend it is coke. Me, not a huge fan of rum.
Steeplejack
@satby, @Omnes Omnibus:
Fie! But at least it wasn’t Ron [anything].
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
Har-de-har-har, mister. Very funny.
Steeplejack
@schrodinger’s cat:
Rum and Coke are too sweet together. Tonic water is also a little sweet, but it has the other subtastes going on, and—I can’t emphasize this enough—you need a really big squeeze of lime to tart up the drink and take the edge off the sweet. And dark rums are miles ahead of clear rums. The usual generic bar version of a rum and tonic is awful.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Not kidding.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
Tonic water.
Deducting five hipster points from your account.
ETA: Deduction rescinded. I was too harsh. Just surprised.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Try rum and soda with a little lime. You’ll be surprised
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’ve had rum and soda. It’s awful. Bond should stick to his martinis.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: We’ll have to agree to disagree.
satby
@Iowa Old Lady: No, I like mixed rum drinks, just not with pop (soda). I have to try Omnes suggestion.
satby
@Steeplejack: true dat.
Bess
@Miss Bianca:
Honey, it ain’t like milking a cow.
Ask some of your previous encounters for feedback on your technique…
Matt McIrvin
Right after 9/11 there was a fad for particularly bloody-minded people calling themselves “Jacksonians”.
jonas
“Nobody would have predicted Abraham Lincoln’s capabilities before he became president, and most people didn’t believe him while he was president.”
That’s completely wrong. Lincoln’s speeches in Congress and performance in his debates with Stephen Douglas are precisely what got him elected President — people recognized this guy was a very serious thinker and politician. That was of course back when most people apparently expected their presidential candidates to exhibit a modicum of decorum, dignity, and facility with the English language and, well, reality. O tempora, o mores.