YOU CAN'T JUST LET HIM LIE ABOUT THAT
— Katherine Miller (@katherinemiller) September 8, 2016
How on earth does Matt Lauer let Trump get away with the well-documented lie that he opposed the Iraq war without a single follow-up?
— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) September 8, 2016
And that was within the first minutes of Lauer’s Trump tongue-bath!
To be fair, a lot of the tweets here are from newsroom professionals. But the suits in charge of what gets said on the Big Megaphone are blatantly tipping the scales for a thoroughly unqualified, self-confessed liar and amateur. Because optics! horse race! eyeballs! both sides! chickenshit cowardice!…
Let's Reviewhttps://t.co/oo6wHfe5Nk pic.twitter.com/3YoC8U0i8z
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 8, 2016
Nope, not sarcasm. Trump said all that — and more!
Trump was on stage for 30 minutes and managed at least 8 statements that in another year would be a major scandal.
— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) September 8, 2016
VIDEO: Trump says he could tell his classified intel briefers aren't happy with Obama because of their body language https://t.co/vBEAPKJk7d
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) September 8, 2016
It seems possible the uncomfortable body language of Trump's classified briefers was because they had to brief Trump.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) September 8, 2016
Trump managed to kiss Putin's ass and lie about the American economy in the span of a minute. Clearly, he's pivoted.
— Daniel Drezner (@dandrezner) September 8, 2016
Much more below the fold — and, believe me, it’s still a heavily pruned selection…
Trump on Putin: "I think when he calls me brilliant, I’ll take the compliment. OK?” Putin didn't. He called Trump "яркий" (bright/colorful)
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) September 8, 2016
Trump, in response to Putin's record: "Well do you want me to tell you some of the things Obama's done?"
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 8, 2016
A nominee of a major party is praising a thug who kills journalists, invades neighbors and steals billions. https://t.co/BhKGf20QjL
— stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) September 8, 2016
Anti-Trump GOPer emails: "every R candidate should be asked if they agree with Trump that Putin is better president than our president"
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) September 8, 2016
If in '08, Senator Barack Obama had praised Putin as a better President than the American, Republicans would have demanded he quit race.
— stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) September 8, 2016
Trump praising Putin: "he does have an 82% approval rating"
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) September 8, 2016
Trump reveres Putin. He wants Putin's power. He wants to be a dictator. Every American — every American — should be terrified about that.
— Tony Schwartz (@tonyschwartz) September 8, 2016
A Michael Bay remake of The Manchurian Candidate would still be more subtle than Trump's pro-Russia campaign.
— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) September 8, 2016
“I have a substantial chance of winning. Make America great again. Make America great again. Have a substantial chance of winning.”
REBOOT!
— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) September 8, 2016
Veteran: what is your plan to beat ISIS?
Trump: *babble* take the oil *gibberish* victor, spoils #CinCForum— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 8, 2016
Trump: "Just, you would leave a certain group behind and you would take various sections where they have the oil." pic.twitter.com/XBYaqZJszX
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) September 8, 2016
We definitely wouldn't have had an Islamic insurgency problem in a country whose oil wealth we were siphoning away by brute force .
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 8, 2016
Has Trump given a substantive or even factually correct answer to any question he was asked?
— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) September 8, 2016
Better question. Did anyone hold him accountable. Same answer. https://t.co/vSiEnyGGhG
— Chris Fisher (@chrisfishsea) September 8, 2016
Donald Trump can’t name a single thing he’s reading to prepare for being Commander-in-Chief / President of the United States of America…
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) September 8, 2016
Trump's on how much time he's devoting to boning up on nat'l security issues: "I'm running a business. I'm wearing a lot of hats right now"
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 8, 2016
What Lauer failed to ask Trump at the #NBCNewsForum, per @mlcalderone. pic.twitter.com/NTAeOZcSmy
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) September 8, 2016
5-Deferment Don insulted every man & woman who, unlike him, served in uniform. @realDonaldTrump #NBCNewsForum @iava pic.twitter.com/4bKjQxZMFq
— Col. Morris Davis (@ColMorrisDavis) September 8, 2016
"When I do come up with a plan that I like and that perhaps agrees with mine or maybe doesn't, I may love what the generals come back with."
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) September 8, 2016
So Trump says he's planning to purge our senior officer corps. Can we let that sink in for a minute?
— Mike Breen (@M_Breen) September 8, 2016
Trump saying “they’ll probably be different generals” is not something said by someone more like a president than like a dictator.
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 8, 2016
Somewhere in Trump Tower there's a crayon drawing of a 1950s bomb falling on a guy in a turban captioned "sekrit plan"
— Julian Sanchez (@normative) September 8, 2016
Lauer to Trump: "Nobody would expect you" to have researched deeply into foreign policy issues. Nobody? Before *running for president*?
— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) September 8, 2016
There are two men on that stage dangerously unqualified for the job they imagine themselves having.
— Andy Barr (@bustipsover) September 8, 2016
NBC News Forum so far
– Clinton should have had clearer answers to questions
– Trump should have had actual, factual answers to questions
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) September 8, 2016
I don't blame Lauer for asking the email question. But it's ABSURD that he started off with Trump, "Why should you be Commander-in-Chief?"
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) September 8, 2016
Did Trump campaign approve moderator? I assume he wouldn’t agree to do the event unless he was certain it wouldn’t be a tough moderator
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) September 8, 2016
Rough go for Trump surrogates in the morning answering whether they share his desire to govern like Putin AND want to fire generals.
— Jesse Ferguson (@JesseFFerguson) September 8, 2016
Thank you to our fantastic veterans. The reviews and polls from almost everyone of my Commander-in-Chief presentation were great. Nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 8, 2016
It's not a lie, if *you* believe it. https://t.co/XpgHCqSzgz
— Jonathan Cristol (@jonathancristol) September 8, 2016
He literally has no idea what he's talking about. #evergreentweets
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 8, 2016
If Trump simply shows good judgement in his foreign policy answers tonight, he wins the forum.#NBCNewsForum
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) September 8, 2016
Well he insulted the generals, praised Putin and didn't know the US military has a court system. How'd he do? https://t.co/ZHU98DN96m
— Adam Barken (@adambarken) September 8, 2016
If you're supporting a total head-case like Trump purely out of resentment of the "elites," damn right I question your love of country. /1
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 8, 2016
I mean the people who watched #CICForum and said: "I think this loon would be awesome as CinC with over 1500 nukes." /3
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 8, 2016
A journalist's entire job — literally the whole job description — is to report what's true and what's not.@MLauer @chucktodd
— Dylan Scott (@dylanlscott) September 8, 2016
I think the measure of an interview is whether we learn about the subject from it, and I think we learned a lot about Trump tonight.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) September 8, 2016
Final debate — i.e., the one that might “matter” on election day — is moderated by a Fox anchor who’s said it’s not his job to truth-squad.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) September 8, 2016
JPL
CBSnews is carrying the President’s press conference. link
A reporter asked about the general reduced to rubble. The President said he doesn’t think Trump is qualified to be President of the United States.
Mustang Bobby
It was like watching a nightmare version of Robin Williams doing the genie’s opening number in “Aladdin.”
Betty Cracker
President Obama is giving a press conference in Laos. A reporter just asked him to comment on absurdist performance artist / GOP candidate for POTUS Donald Trump’s statement last night that the Obama administration has reduced U.S. generals “to rubble.” Rough transcript of the first part of his response:
Boom.
rikyrah
Good Morning ?, Everyone ?
JPL
@Betty Cracker: Who asked him the question? It would be awesome if it was a nytimes reporter, because he was talking to them.
Kay
I don’t know why they’re asking him “how” he would take the oil. His half-assed plan for taking something that doesn’t belong to him doesn’t matter.
They don’t even have to know anything about Iraq or oil or laws to know that. They just have to know “stealing? wrong and illegal”
“But HOW were you planning on knocking them down and stealing their wallets?” They’re operating wholly inside the ethics-free, bully-world he makes up. There’s no rule that says they have to do that.
Betty Cracker
@JPL: AP, I think.
@Kay: Something like, “Isn’t that a war crime?”
rikyrah
Great group of tweets in the post.
Cpl. Cam
Well he insulted the generals, praised Putin and didn’t know the US military has a court system. How’d he do? https://twitter.com/frankluntz/status/773678820419219456 …
Other than not knowing about the UCMJ how is he wrong here? Putin’s running circles around us in Syria while we continue to back Islamic extremist mercenaries. What the fuck are we doing? If trump wins it’s in part because we’re fucking up so bad around the globe.
rikyrah
@Betty Cracker:
I love that POTUS is speaking so plainly on him. With no “room for interpretation. “
Kay
I feel like it’s wholly predictable that Trump would brag about the intelligence briefings. It’s wholly in keeping with Douchebag 101 that he sees “insider” information as power he’s gained and he’s just itching for an opportunity to use it against someone.
Tell this person something at your peril. You’ll regret it. Nasty piece of work, thru and thru. I almost wish he had “told all” about his relationship with the Morning Joe hosts, like he threatened to do. They deserve a hard lesson in sucking up to snakes.
shomi
Of course Drumpf would try abuse access to intelligence briefings and come about as close as possible to violating some law by talking about it.
I’m willing to bet he will eventually cross that line at some point before Nov….and probably get away with it.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
There’s no rule that says they have to operate within the ethics-free Trump zone. You can say to someone “I’m not going along with your premise- stealing is off the table”
The entire universe of possible actions are not up for discussion on specifics. This has been going on since 2012. Chanting that he’s planning on “locking up” his political opponent is wrong. We don’t need to get into where the prison for Trump’s political opponents will be located.
Lit3Bolt
Every Republican should be forced to defend or support Trump’s remarks about Putin every single day until the end of time. Unreal.
amk
putin couldn’t be prouder and happier.
also. too. bin laden.
raven
Mika thinks Lauer “was great” last night.
Immanentize
Hello, All.
I have not been a worry wort at all about this election but these press people are playing with fucking fire. I just cannot express how form has (bad form at that) is now the absolute ruler over substance. Ugh.
Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)
@raven:
He was.
In the same sense that Xaveria Hollander’s customers thought she was great.
Like her, Lauer is good at giving lip service.
amk
@Kay: Exactly. He is advocating international thuggery and the murkan msm is abetting it. Does he think his pal, putin, would be standing by idly while he loots the oil?
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: @rikyrah: It won’t matter.
Schlemazel
@amk:
Fuck Putin, does anyone think the Iraqis would idly watch their wealth being stolen? Or that the rest of the world would be OK with the theft?
Stella B.
So Lauer asked the man questions about the military and the “girl” personal questions? Weird, huh?
Kay
@amk:
“How much will the fantasy wall cost and who will pay for it? How high will it be?” Is this a conversation with a 2nd grader?
I was watching Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood once. He apparently told his mother he wanted to marry her when he was little. Cute, right? So she’s nice and he’s a small child but that’s a bad idea on a lot of levels so she says “I’m already married”. A practical objection that is on his level. Something he’ll “get” immediately. Spares his feelings, when he’s older he’ll get the rest.
That’s how they treat Donald Trump.
Just One More Canuck
He doesn’t want to be Putin- he wants to be Stalin
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly: It may not sway voters here, but I think it is very important to the international community — especially foreign leaders — that Obama say these true things. And it will help Hillary when she wins.
amk
@Kay: Hopefully the american electorate is smarter than the msm. We shall see.
Betty Cracker
@raven: Trump is right about one thing: Mika is dumber than a sack of hammers.
@OzarkHillbilly: I’m not so pessimistic. By virtue of his office, the president’s words have weight. There will still be dumbfuckery aplenty among the Beltway press, of course, but PBO’s is just the latest voice calling out this reprehensible failure to hold Trump to account for his absurdity and lies. Maybe the tide is turning. I have hope, anyway.
amk
I am wondering what & how exactly nyt thinks it is gaining by going through this route of blatant journalistic malpractice.
Kay
@Stella B.:
Reince Prebuis:
Clinton doesn’t smile enough.
Trump rarely smiles. I’ve noticed. Only Hillary Clinton gets the “smile!” order. Why is she so angry?
Kay
@amk:
It’s nice to watch Democrats fight back, though. It’s not all the pros, either. There’s a whole chorus of regular people on Twitter who aren’t letting this slide. Working the refs used to be reserved for Republicans. That’s over.
Mustang Bobby
Since this is an open thread — sorta — I’d like to remind those of you of a certain age that today marks the 50th anniversary of the premiere of “Star Trek.” I tuned in then — I was almost fourteen — and I still like it.
amk
@Kay: I agree. The much derided social media is quite handy in calling out the courtiers. I liked that the tweets were happening fucking live too.
Peale
@Kay: I can only imagine the foofaraw that would have erupted if she had smiled during the question about e-mails, or the one about how she needs to apologize to veterans for turning against the war.
Chyron HR
@Mustang Bobby:
Happy Anniversary #StarTrek50! Kirk defeated some aliens by playing the Beastie Boys at them.
PsiFighter37
What a shitload of fail that was. I hope this precludes Matt Lauer from ever being considered for any kind of serious journalistic work ever again. Stick with making funnies with Al Roker and talking about baking cookies.
amk
Next time the media minions ask her about iraq vote, she should just finger colin powell. I trusted him and he lied.
p.a.
@Betty Cracker: Betty how ’bout this for your artwork: Donny ‘I wear a lot of hats’ tRump with a propeller beanie on a fool’s hat on his cheap baseball cap on the dead gopher. (badger?)
JGabriel
Warning – Jessica Jones Spoiler
Hillary Clinton to Reince Preibus.
Kay
Because that’s true in job interviews, right? The unqualified, stupid applicant gets easier questions. That way it’s fair.
Also, the applicant who submits 50,000 back-up documents is at a disadvantage with the applicant who scrawls his name on the application, turns it in empty, and then refuses to complete it.
sherparick
I guess the first question one starts with is what is the Business Model of Broadcast News, Cable News, and Mass Print Media as Internet Age reaches its 25th birthday?
1. The core audience is old, aging, and white.
2. Because of the massive number of alternative site and interests the younger audience is fragmented in the sense that a pane of glass dropped from Empire State building is fragmented and distracted as well.
3. If you run one of these media businesses you are judged by revenue, revenue depends on audience share of eyeballs watching your show and clicks to your web site, which allows you to sell advertising.
a. Hence you want to put on something that will bring eyeballs to your shows
b. Encourage links and thereby clicks to your web sites.
Trump is therefore, as Les Moonves of CBS says, great for the Broadcast News & Cable News since the old white audience, especially the male part, here him channeling their inner id and anti-Clinton stories are great for click bait. So we get more Trump all the time on Cable and we get a constant parade of the same Clinton “there is something shady, but can’t prove it stories” in the Times and WaPo.
Frankly, from an Infotainment perspective of the Media Biz, the trainwreck of a Trump Presidency would be great for business, at least until the nuclear bombs started falling. So don’t expect Rupert, Moonves, Phil Griffin, and Jeff Zucker to change what has been a money making model over the next 60 days.
Mustang Bobby
@Kay: This is the same mindset I’ve run into from local candidates for office. One candidate stopped me on the way into the polling place for a primary election and said, “Vote for me; I’ve never held political office!” I replied, “Would you go to a doctor who’s never practiced medicine?” and shouldered past him. He won anyway.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: Do they vote?
@Betty Cracker: Obama has been saying these things for some time. The press has not changed their behavior one iota. (He is just another Dem and besides, he doesn’t give press conferences) The voters, those who listen anyway, have already made up their minds. Obama is an honest, hard working man who is trying as best he can to lead his country thru difficult times. Or he is Satan incarnate. Either way, the number of people he is able to persuade is minimal at best.
My natural cynicism grows stronger every day this election cycle.
Patricia Kayden
@Kay: Exactly. So Trump is advocating re-occupying a foreign country so we can straight up colonize it and steal its natural resources? And that’s how we defeat a terrorist organization — by acting like terrorists and colonialists? And this makes sense on which planet?
One of my friends said that every time Trump speaks he disqualifies himself from being President. From what I’m reading about his performance last night, he’s done it again.
Gin & Tonic
A Ukrainian journalist by the name of Maxim Eristavi just Tweeted this:
NorthLeft12
I am a little amazed that anyone was expecting anything more from Matt Lauer. Matt effing Lauer? Are you kidding me? Lochte, who is a dopey egoist with a well known penchant for lying, owned him. And Deadbeat Donald, for all his similar shortcomings, is much more intelligent than Lochte. Anyone counting on Lauer to do anything but ask Sec. Clinton foolish questions was kidding themselves.
You need someone as moderator who has enough confidence in herself and who does not have any f–ks to give, who will push back against the most obvious falsehoods. Although in the debate format, I would count on Hillary to pointedly assert that Deadbeat Donald is lying. Those assertions should be timely, as in interrupt the lying douchebag to correct him. After a couple of those, Trump will lose it.
debbie
@Mustang Bobby:
I didn’t watch, but I’ve read a lot of comments and quotes. Donald Trump IS Eric Cartman.
amk
@Kay: Why? Because luntz says so? Going by that logic, why is donnie dreck running the apprentice show? Why can’t he let newbies run his ‘vast business empire’? The sheer arrogance combined with stupidity burns.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: I replied as follows: So Clinton takes the GRE & Trump the GED. Makes sense. It’s not like they’re applying for the same job. Oh wait…
Immanentize
@Gin & Tonic:
BURN!
Matt McIrvin
@Gin & Tonic: I can’t decide whether they’re betting he can’t win and therefore treating him as a silly human-interest story, or hedging that he might win, and they’d better suck up to him now to avoid dying of mysterious brake-line failure or a ricin umbrella.
Kay
@Mustang Bobby:
I have a theory about everything (as you know!) and my theory about this is it’s part of the general devaluing of peoples’ work.
I’m on a school committee and I cannot tell you how many otherwise intelligent people assume they could walk into a school and just kill as a teacher. Okay, I sit with these people, for hours, at meetings- some of them lack a lot of the skills a teacher might need. Because they went to school doesn’t mean they could DO this! I’ve been on an airplane. I don’t know how to fly it or if I would be good at it. I’m a bad teacher. I’m impatient, I skip around, I get bored with going over and over things. And that’s okay! Luckily there are people who are good at it!
I get it in my own work. People hire me “just to do the paperwork”. So that’s the legal work? The work I trained to do and know how to do and you don’t? There’s this kind of blowing off – “I would represent the kid myself of course, ‘cept I’m too busy”. Okey doke.
p.a.
Can things have gotten so much worse in 4/8 years?: the ‘press’ couldn’t put War Hero ™ McCain or White Billionaire ™ rMoney over the top against an African American. And they did try.
I don’t think so. BUT has the decades-long smear campaign against the Clintons made a difference so that the typical press incompetence matters more this year?
NorthLeft12
BTW, This “take the oil” bullshit, since when did the holier than thou US become a nation of thieves? I remember this starting with Dubya’s administration but I am not particularly clear on who first publically said this. I am thinking it was Rumsfeld, but not clear.
That alone should be thrown in the face of every Republican candidate, and every Christian supporter of those right wing clowns.
Peale
@Kay: I’m not sure which way to go with the probing questions. Do you focus on the unethical and immoral part of it? Or dig into the stupid part of it?
“not many people know Iraq has large oil reserves.”
“If we would have taken the oil, Isis wouldn’t have the oil”
Someone should ask him where we would put the oil reserves we had taken. it seems like he thinks oil reserves are easy to move. Why shouldn’t he be asked about that?
Matt McIrvin
@Kay:
Trump has had rallies in which he turns red and bellows to the audience at the top of his lungs that he’s sick and tired of Hillary Clinton’s screeching voice.
debbie
@Kay:
But isn’t doing that a violation of confidentiality? Can’t he be held accountable?
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay:
I do exactly that, because I would screw it up beyond all undoing.
Matt McIrvin
@NorthLeft12: Some of the crazier neocon pundits said explicitly that the end goal was to conquer the entire Middle East, with the last act being the invasion and robbery of Saudi Arabia. Of course, the Bush administration was never really going to do that; the criminals who rule Saudi Arabia were their personal friends. But I think there was real nostalgia out there for 19th-century robber-bandit colonialism, in which it was just taken for granted that the resources of the entire world naturally belong to the white guys who can grab it.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
Of course. Also a decades’ long paper trail means she’s less “transparent” than the person who refuses to release anything. Because of her inner thoughts. She’s hiding how secretive she is behind that wall of documents they have access to.
It’s a disaster and it’s been a disaster since 2012, Trump coverage. Everyone thinks they’re biased. I don’t. I think top media self-selects for “conventional”- people who followed a track- high achievers who follow a rigid set of rules. They can’t adjust to a new scenario. They’re “normalizing” him because they need it to be normal. It’s not but they’ll die trying rather than break out of this.
Peale
@debbie: he didn’t say much about what the disaster was…just that Hillary and Obama created a disaster that he can’t tell us about. He’s got an inside scoop. He’ll probably try to sell it to us someday.
raven
Barnicle just asked Gary Johnson what he would do about Aleppo and Gary looked at him and said “what’s Aleppo”?
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Head? Meet Desk.
Betty Cracker
@raven: For realz?
Applejinx
Back when the rightwingers were all watching ‘Red Dawn’, who would have guessed that those REAL Amuricins were right about Russia’s intentions… but wrong about which side they’d be on?
Back when he was watching ‘Red Dawn’
American Jingoist John
Guessed rightly the Redskis
Would fuck up our country
But guessed not which side he’d be on…
(no intent to slander our esteemed bloghost, but I was trying to rhyme ‘Dawn’)
amk
@raven: mittbot thinks sir gary smokesapot should be on the debate stage.
MomSense
@raven:
OH FOR FUCKS SAKE. Please pick up the clue phone Gary Johnson. You may want to brush up on some motherfucking current events if you want to run for the highest office in the country.
Frankensteinbeck
@Just One More Canuck:
So does Putin.
MomSense
@Peale:
You mean the oil that is in “various sections” of Iraq? Am I alone in thinking that if we put a map of the middle east without labels on the wall and asked him to just identify the countries, he wouldn’t have been able to correctly ID a singe one (which would have translated to a grade of C since apparently we grade him on a curve)?
MomSense
@NorthLeft12:
I thought it was Wolfowitz who said something something oil something something the war will pay for itself.
Dadadadadadada
@Mustang Bobby: I am most definitely going to watch The Man Trap tonight. Been planning it for months.
Also, I went to my first Star Trek convention on Saturday, and had a lot of fun.
geg6
@Mustang Bobby:
I was eight and I tuned in, too. Actually, it was my oldest brother who tuned in and who was babysitting while my dad was working second shift in the steel mill and my mom was taking night classes in preparation for getting her degree in journalism and becoming a newspaper reporter. One who took her job seriously. Don’t see many of those these days.
Tokyokie
I didn’t watch that shit show, but (and I’m asking this rhetorically) how fucking stupid does Matt Lauer have to be to not follow up on Trump’s displays of stupidity? So we’re going to leave folks behind and steal Iraq’s oil. So who will protect those drilling crews? And how much will that cost? And will all the natives of the Middle East be OK with that? What if suicide bombers in speed boats start targeting the oil tankers that we’re filling with stolen oil? Will we need to deploy a carrier group to the Persian Gulf to ensure the transport of the stolen oil? How much will THAT cost? What if Iran considers a U.S. carrier transiting the Strait of Hormuz to be a violation of its national sovereignty? Would we be able to protect a carrier from an onslaught of anti-ship cruise missiles fired from relatively short range? And how much would THAT cost? And beyond that, do you think that our imposition of a brutal colonial regime on a foreign culture will not have any negative repercussions for us?
Those are just questions that come immediately to mind and show that Trump is incredibly stupid for even suggesting such measures and that he has not thought them through for even a few seconds. And Lauer is even stupider for not calling him on it. And that’s just one instance of something on which Trump should have been called.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Just One More Canuck: I don’t know, he doesn’t strike me as a commie. I’d say Pinochet is more like it.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Kay: Wasn’t Frank Luntz the Repubican focus group wordsmith who was terrified of Trump during the primaries? I guess Trump’s only scary when he might beat a better Republican. When he’s about to become POTUS…well, what’s scary about that?
craigie
@Kay: This has always been true. Everyone thinks everyone else’s job is easy.
Tokyokie
And let me just add that tearing apart unconsidered glib “solutions” isn’t something just reserved for journalists, it should be done with anybody who resorts to them. A conspicuously Christian fellow used to attend our weekly football parties, and day he suggested the solution to the world’s problems would be wiping out all Muslims. So I pointed out to him that in order to kill every Muslim in the world each and every U.S. citizen would need to kill about 4 Muslims apiece. Was he willing to do his part, and personally blow out the brains of an entire Muslim family, including the Muslim babies? And by the way, how do you square that with the religious principles you like to parade for all to see?
He squirmed and mumbled something and never attended another football party. And although he continues to be the fascist pseudo-Christian he’s always been, the universe in which he could safely spew such evil narrowed considerably, and all those in attendance could see him as the horrifying hypocrite he is.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
What’s everyone’s opinion on Trump’s dumbest statement of the night? I thought it was
Like, who hasn’t known that since the Pappy Bush was POTUS, if not earlier? Just because you didn’t know it until 5 minutes ago doesn’t mean everyone else hasn’t known it for decades.
cleek
all those tweets are wonderful.
but it’s like reading a comment section of a lefty blog.
let me know when the press actually starts asking those questions to his face.
Miss Bianca
@Mustang Bobby: Well at least this day has *something* positive going for it already!
NorthLeft12
@MomSense: DING! Correct you are.
From Wikipedia.
I guess to Wolfowitz’s “credit” he is not advocating stealing the revenues, but is talking about using them to rebuild Iraq rather than the US having to pay for the rebuilding. How’d that work out for ya, Paulie?
James E Powell
@cleek:
Exactly. We need a tweet & social media campaign – “The questions the press/media is afraid to ask Trump”
catclub
@MomSense:
Didn’t Matt Lauer give Trump a pass by saying he (Trump) did not need to take time to do any deep research on Foreign Policy?
catclub
Google news headlines: I bet these did not show up as quickly in 2000. Countering Gored effect by Krugman is having an effect.
nutella
Here’s the thing, though: Everyone agrees that Matt Lauer did a stunningly bad job last night. But will he be fired or demoted for it?
No, he’ll probably get a raise or a new job offer that pays more.
catclub
@nutella: Good point. Always fail upward.
NoraLenderbee
@Kay: Absolutely true. I’m a writer. “Oh, I could write a great book if I had the time. How hard could it be?”
I’m a technical writer. “Oh, we’ll just have the engineers write the documentation themselves. How hard could it be?”
wuzzat
But does Trump know what a leppo is?
Shana
@Just One More Canuck: To be fair, I think Putin wants to be Stalin too.
Debbie1
@amk: @amk: What’s a debate stage?
Elizabeth
You quoted a single woman.
Interesting.