National treasure, Samantha Bee:
Here is Michelle campaigning for Hillary yesterday. I’m about ready to watch it. Heard she managed to surgically destroy Trump without ever mentioning his name. So that should start my work day off with a smile.
Open thread…
TaMara (HFG)
Also, just saw this for those who are interested:
Iowa Old Lady
I hope Trump is stupid enough to go after FLOTUS. I want to see him blow himself out of the water.
At breakfast, I finished reading Louise Penny’s new mystery, A GREAT RECKONING. If you don’t know this series, they books are set in a small town in Quebec and stand out, I think, for their sense of place and their concentration on human relationships. So I got to the end of this one and for some reason read the acknowledgements in which Penny talks about the kindness and support she received from friends and neighbors as her husband’s dementia grew worse. I think this is the only book I’ve ever read in which the acknowledgements are more moving than the story.
WereBear
@TaMara (HFG): I loved The Frisco Kid.
So many folks have never heard of it!
Percysowner
Things got nasty last night when Clinton accuser Juanita Broaddrick to Chelsea: ‘Your parents are not good people’
I know we are supposed to believe women when they say they were raped, so I’m not touching what did or did not happen to Ms. Broaddrick, but going after someone’s kid is horrible.
Humboldtblue
Colbert has a good segment as well and it aint about Trump.
rikyrah
@TaMara (HFG):
Thank you.
rikyrah
@Iowa Old Lady:
Oh please..let him be that stupid.
amk
Sam Bee. The only gem out of js show.
SFAW
Ms. Bee seems … angry. That’s too bad, because I’m sure she would have something valuable to say, if she weren’t so … off-putting.
Actually, what I’d really like is for Hillary to say about Trump, at the appropriate moment: “Don’t you think he looks tired?”
[Note: Yes, I’m joking in the first line.]
Alce_e_ardilla
@WereBear: Harrison Ford was really funny in that movie playing it straight with Wilder. I also love the scene where Wilders rabbi meets up with some Amish farmers.
SFAW
@amk:
No love for Oliver?
waysel
@Percysowner: O Christ. Broaddrick must be on Trumps payroll. This will be his next debate bomb to drop on Hillary. I hope the campaign is doing plenty of digging on this woman.
Jeffro
Still trying to keep track of the major Trump scandals, any one of which would have derailed ANY Democrat, much less one who is subjected to “Clinton Rules” (ie, anything Clintons do other than breathing is ‘shadowy’ at best)
– using a charitable foundation as a tax-avoiding slush fund…and using those funds to buy things like self-portraits and signed football helmets
– illegally conducting business with a foreign country under embargo by the US government
– strong ties to a foreign country implicated in cyber-warfare attacks against the US government and major institutions
– ongoing investigation into fraudulent business venture, with attendant bribes to multiple state AGs to NOT look into said business venture
– not releasing tax returns, primarily because said returns would indicate no taxes have been paid for years if not decades
– strong ties to racist hate groups within the country and overseas
And that is before we get to slandering Gold Star families, entire religions and ethnicities, women, our current military leadership, most every news outlet and reporter save Fox…you know, the ‘soft’ stuff.
Picture Hillz doing anything on that bullet-point list and marvel at what would happen…I’m pretty sure if she accidentally took home a pen from her SoS office, they’d have her up on charges.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Iowa Old Lady:
I’ve read one of her books – How the Light Gets In – and loved loved loved it. I picked it up at the airport, and now I have to start at the beginning of the Gamache stories. I’ve been through that part of Quebec a bit when my daughter was going to school at McGill, so it was easy to imagine the setting and the people.
And yes, Donald – don’t let Michelle attack you without attacking back – otherwise it shows how weak you are. You’re losing to a girl, and now you’re letting a black woman yank your chain. Sad!
MJS
@waysel: I hope they’re not, and expect they’re not. This line of attack, such as it is, may (but only may, given the unproven nature of the allegations) disqualify Bill Clinton from the presidency. However, because he has already served two terms as president, Bill Clinton is barred from running again, and is therefore already disqualified from the presidency.
These allegations regarding Bill have been around for years, and the Clinton campaign is best advised to leave them alone. No one who is truly undecided now is thinking, “Trump’s an idiot, but, you know, Bill may have raped someone so I think I’m going to vote for Trump.” This is more red meat for the already Trumpers, nothing more, nothing less.
MattF
@Jeffro: The criterion is ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’, and stealing a pen is a misdemeanor. QED.
SenyorDave
@waysel: The question is if Trump brings out up Borderick, what do you do? She did submit an affidavit saying Clinton never made advances toward her, but then recanted.. Starr never used her, it sounds like he realized she was too unreliable.
On the other hand Trump does currently stand accused of raping a 13 year old, I believe they will determine soon whether Statute of LImitations ran out.
rp
@amk: That’s crazy talk:
S. Colbert
S. Carrell
S. Bee
J. Oliver
L. Black
E. Helms
W. Cenac
L. Wilmore
J. Williams
D. Martin
Major Major Major Major
@Jeffro: she shouldn’t do the hate groups thing, at least not as her main point. It doesn’t play well for whatever reason. This is not intended as a statement about the merits of it not playing well.
Russ
“It doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are.”
Major Major Major Major
@SenyorDave: what I’d do is make a nice humanizing response that shows her as the bigger man, with a harsh insult that most viewers won’t notice but Trump will thrown in. Leave Trump as the sputtering bully yelling at a woman. No need to counterattack. IMO, 7am, I am not a politician, etc.
@rp: I like Hodgman too. Not a treasure but amusing.
different-church-lady
I know this is a lighthearted thread, but it did just occur to me that if she does defeat fascism, we are still going to have to deal with the fact that 40% of the electorate was willing to vote for it.
Elmo
@WereBear: My old boss is a Conservative Jew – keeps kosher, observes the Sabbath, etc. But as a VP of a big corporation sometimes it’s hard to get out of the office in time to make it home by sundown on Friday. He would go around the office as the afternoon wore on, joking that people shouldn’t stand too close to him for fear of lightning strikes.
One of our running inside jokes is a reference from that movie, where Wilder’s rabbi insists on walking because it’s Saturday, but keeps leaning waaaaaay over to make the sun appear to set faster so he can get on the horse. Hilarious!
MJS
@SenyorDave: I think if Hillary is forced to answer that question (which would only be either in front of the press, or in the debate) the answer is: “All allegations of rape should be taken seriously, but so should the right of the accused to defend himself be taken seriously. I know my husband, and I know he’s not perfect. None of us are. But I don’t believe that he raped Ms. Broderick.”
Follow-up question: “Why would she lie?” Answer: “I don’t know. There have been so many ridiculous allegations made against my husband and me that I’ve stopped trying to determine why they are being made.”
Elmo
@SenyorDave: Also his then-wife swore under oath that he raped her in a fit of rage after a failed scalp surgery. She has never recanted that testimony.
lamh36
Sigh…this is my fear for my nephew who’s 17 and will be driving soon…check this timeline
One of my favorite students had his car stolen last night. He’s a 17 year old black male. Thought it would be a good idea to call the cops.
Major Major Major Major
@lamh36: that’s awful.
rikyrah
@lamh36:
Lawd, hammercy
D58826
OT and haven’t seen it discussed – the override of the veto yesterday. Haven’t been following it so what is the deal? What if any are the up-side to the law and the downside? Do the 9/11 families really think they are going to get a dime from the Saudi government? The Saudi’s will drag this out till the 22nd century if need be.
WereBear
And she has a witness! Can you imagine if this was Bill Clinton? We’d be hearing it in our sleep.
The Ancient Randonneur
“Anybody who complains about the microphone is not having a good night.”
OUCH!
bemused
@lamh36:
Where did this happen? When will stupid white people realize that cops racial profiling is real?
Mai.naem.mobile
I wonder if the Dems are trying to create the storyline from the American President where they get Obama defending Michelle. I would like to see Jill Biden go after Trump next week and have Joe Biden hitting back right before debate. BTW,I am fully aware that both these women are fully capable of defending themselves and do not need their honors defended by ‘their’ men.
burnspbesq
@Percysowner:
Say what, now? Treat them with respect and allow them to retain/regain their dignity to the extent possible? Absolutely. Investigate thoroughly? You betchum. Believe unsubstantiated allegations for which there is no evidence? Why?
Major Major Major Major
The Times story about The Arizona Republic getting a bunch of cancellations contains one very strange piece of information.
Apparently you need two people to work a microfiche machine. Who knew?
WereBear
@Elmo: That was a delightful scene. He’s a rabbi, so this is what he would do any way; hairsplitting with learning.
Major Major Major Major
@burnspbesq:
According to parts of e.g. lefty twitter, yes.
jeffreyw
@D58826: I saw a report this morning that a clause was slipped in that gives State Dept a veto.
catclub
@Percysowner:
oy.
um… everyone is someone’s kid. Trump is someone’s kid, so you shouldn’t go after him?
As Curt Flood said, “They called me every name but a child of God”.
lamh36
@bemused: somewhere in Illinois.
the teacher said he would ask the student and his mother if they wanted to tell their story to some of the folks who have been asking
ETA: you could understand though if the mom and student didn’t want to get targeted
Major Major Major Major
@D58826: the consensus here seems to be that it’s somewhere between pointlessly dumb and a really bad idea that would open us up to reciprocation.
@jeffreyw: had not seen that.
LAO
To all you New Jersey B-J’s hope you are all right. Massive transit accident on the Path train this morning.
waysel
@MJS: I’m afraid the ‘Hillary covered for Bills rape, she can’t be trusted’ story could have an impact. As usual, just saying it, no matter how unsubstantiated, will sway some people. Too many H converts with qualms. Too many teetering millenials who are toying with voting for H, but could be tipped. This election is way too close, dammit.
hovercraft
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Unfortunately it seems one thing he as been able to absorb, is not to mess with Michelle. She’s been going after him since the convention, and so far he hasn’t bitten, but we can live in hope. As she turns up her criticisms maybe he’ll snap and go after her. I think if they put Michelle and Elizabeth Warren out there beating him up alongside Hillary, it may push him over the edge. Three mouthy, old, fat women not bowing down to his greatness, maybe…..
catclub
@jeffreyw: So does that mean that they even had a text for the law? Did anyone read it?
I expect a request for backsies when Russian citizens start taking the US government and its employees to court in Russian courts.
Or Turkey! Erdogan already wanted to run the German courts his way.
Nicaraguans want to sue for damages from the US backed contras – IN Nicaragua – the nerve!
Karen S.
I’m still floored by how thin skinned Trump is. He’s so easily baited. He spent the early part of this week, after the debate, dragging a former beauty pageant winner through the mud … again. He brought up his feud with Rosie O’Donnell … again. it just amazes me.
PPCLI
@Elmo: Yes, the whole account from Ivana’s deposition is quite chilling, and part of its inherent plausibility is how compellingly it presents a portrait of an abusive spouse. The kicker for me was that when Ivana returned to the bedroom in the morning after crying all night behind a locked door, and she stares at ripped-out hair all over the bed, he glares at her and asks with a cruel, but quiet tone: ‘Does it hurt?’”
I find it hard to believe she made that up. That would have been an accomplishment for a great novelist to come up with, were it not true.
hovercraft
@different-church-lady:
I can’t remember which one, I’ll root around for it in a minute. But one of the polls yesterday said if he loses, something like 80 % of his supporters do not believe the result will be legitimate. So yes it’s going to be ugly, even if he talks them down, their anger and resentment won’t simply melt away.
jeffreyw
@Major Major Major Major: Here is one article, the date looks wrong but it may be an updated column.
eclare
I have been told on more than one occasion I didn’t smile enough. In one performance review, I was told I didn’t give other people the “warm fuzzies”, even though work wise I did good work. I assume other women have been through the same. I would crawl over broken glass to vote on November 8. And I can’t wait.
waysel
@Karen S.: I sometimes suspect he intentionally tries to distract or redirect the press and the public, when he wants to remove focus away from how crappy he did in the debate, for example. Like a magician who says “Watch my left hand closely” and the press dutifully stares intently on that left hand. Sad.
eclare
@SFAW: She just needs to smile more! And look pretty for her husband when he gets home!
SFAW
@shomi:
You know, in your own bizarre way, you are not unlike Trump. You’ll have a day when your comments are, amazingly, non-assholish. Maybe you have a teleprompter which tells you what to write, I don’t know.
And then, you return to form (“You all fucking SUCK!”), perhaps when your teleprompter has a glitch.
I realize you have the best brain, and we should “Let shomi be shomi,” but you might think about whether your “action plan” is actually getting results.. Just a thought.
[Of course, I don’t discard the idea that being able to say “You all fucking SUCK!” is the primary or perhaps only reason you write here (or anywhere).]
MomSense
@Jeffro:
Wasn’t he also doing business with a guy who was probably skirting the Iranian sanctions.
Major Major Major Major
@waysel: except that the left hand is flipping you off while punching a gay Jewish Latina immigrant, so it doesn’t really work.
Mnemosyne
@SFAW:
I think Samantha Bee needs to smile more. Unless she smiles too much, of course.
SFAW
@eclare:
Well, yeah. Isn’t that what the wimmins are all supposed to do?
hovercraft
@lamh36:
That poor kid. This shit has to end.
The worst thing, is that this is a good story, he’s still alive.
Matt McIrvin
@MJS:
The danger isn’t that, it’s: “Trump is evil, but Hillary may have covered for a rapist, so I think I’m just not going to vote”.
I actually think this is the single biggest thing that could sink Hillary.
Kay
Gross.
Imagine Trump and Ailes leering at…people. Yuck.
Roger Moore
@different-church-lady:
We’re also going to have to raise our estimate of the crazification factor to whatever Trump wins. The guy is manifestly unsuited for the job for multiple reasons, but people are going to vote for him over Hillary basically because she’s a woman and a Democrat.
BR
We need FP posts about the debate Q site:that’s going to be used for the town hall debate. Looks like a lot of right wing Qs now.
Think Lakoff and progressive framing when you ask Qs there.
Barbara
@D58826: Should the U.S. get sued for the deaths of Iraqis because it ignored evidence that Hussein did not have WMD and invaded Iraq anyway, leading to the foreseeable deaths of so many people? Do people have no sense of turnabout? I am sympathetic to victims of 9/11 terrorists, of course, everyone is, and I guess they are taking as their model Libya and the Lockerbie incident, but in general, the U.S. inflicts more mayhem in foreign countries than its citizens suffer at the hands of foreign sovereigns. I seriously doubt that the government of Saudi Arabia was behind the 9/11 attacks. Maybe some government officials had information or knew the attackers, but S.A. is way too reliant on us to perpetrate as an official act what would in effect be an act of war against us.
hovercraft
@LAO:
Me and mine are all fine, my sister takes a different line, I called to ask her if she’s alive, and she said yes. That was the full extent of our conversation.
Kay
Also, it made me laugh out loud when Clinton said Trump was “hanging around” beauty pageants.
She has to say that again next debate.
Mnemosyne
@Percysowner:
I’m trying to figure out how to put this delicately: the fact that the right wing was able to move the Paula Jones lawsuit forward after she claimed that Bill showed her his willie but never even attempted to get Broaddrick’s case in front of a judge says something about the strength of her case, shall we say.
(Also, too, fellas? Waving your willie at a woman is more likely to make her bust up laughing than it is to seduce her. Just sayin’.)
Roger Moore
@bemused:
When it happens to them, i.e. never. The kind of people who don’t believe racial profiling exists are people who don’t want to believe it. A lot of them will also happily justify why racial profiling is a good idea even as the pretend it doesn’t actually happen.
hovercraft
@Kay:
Trevor Noah had a bit about the phrase, showing Trump as a creepy peeping Trump, offering to help the women dress and undress, offering massages with his tiny hands.
eclare
@Mnemosyne: Did not work for Favre, who dick-picked some woman a few years ago. Why any guy (hello, Weiner!) thinks that is a seductive move is beyond me.
SFAW
@Mnemosyne:
Or smile the wrong way.
Kay
The dopes may have the wrong woman.
waysel
@Major Major Major Major: Yeah, there is that.
Calouste
@catclub: Iran can start suing for the CIA involvement in the 1953 coup, and Chile for the same for the 1973 coup.
Kay
@hovercraft:
I love “hanging around” because she sounded like an exasperated parent.
amk
@Kay: That and plenty of donald’s . He is already fuming about that.
dmsilev
@Kay: Have you seen this article from today’s LA Times yet?
It was front page above the fold in this morning’s print edition, and is currently the headline story on their website.
D58826
@waysel: Titanic hits iceberg and sinks. Hillary never reads the book ‘a night to remember’. She is responsible for the ship hitting the iceberg. Clinton rules
eclare
@Calouste: Is there a statute of limitations on this? Seriously just asking. I agree with those here that wow, this has opened a Pandora’s box.
D58826
@Major Major Major Major:
Must be if Congress passed it overwhelmingly. Profiles in cowardice.
MJS
@Matt McIrvin: Respectfully disagree. The subset of voters who were 1) going to vote for Hillary until 2) an allegation made 20 years ago resurfaced is tiny, if existent at all. No, this will not sink Hillary because, again, the allegation is almost 20 years old. She has been elected Senator since the allegation was made. She has been confirmed as SoS since the allegation was made. She came very close to beating perhaps the single best campaigner in my lifetime (50+ years) since the allegation was made. She won the Democratic nomination for president since the allegation was made. She has led the race for president since she entered it. There is a reason the media continues to grasp at anything and everything that casts Clinton in a bad light. It’s because none of the myriad “scandals” have served to end her political career, so they have to keep inventing new ones. This is an old one, and will be treated as such.
WereBear
@dmsilev: Binders full of women? Pish tosh.
I want an avalanche of women. I want them pouring out of the woodwork, telling the truth about Donald Trump, over and over and over.
hovercraft
@amk:
Preparation can be a good thing I guess, especially when you actually pat attention to the information you are getting. Who knew? What ever they paid for that psychological evaluation of him, it was a bargain.
debit
@SFAW: Yep.
dmsilev
@WereBear: One interesting thing about the LA Times story is that it’s not new. It’s based on depositions from lawsuits against the resort from several years ago. The Times reporter did, you know, journalism by going back and reading those depositions and then tracking down some of the people involved. Why did it take 15 months worth of Trump For President before anyone bothered to take the time to do this? And, importantly, what else is there that we haven’t found out yet?
hueyplong
Set aside the flimsiness of the Brodderick allegations as evidenced by the GOP’s decision to “litigate” them exclusively via the media in the 1990s, when everything else managed to find its way into court (or Congress). The real reason this warmed over B.S. won’t dislodge Hillary’s support is because the accusatoin is not even made against her. The seeming failure to comprehend that Bill and Hillary Clinton are separate human entities pretty much identifies the speaker as the kind of misogynist likely already to be in the Trump camp, doesn’t it?
Patricia Kayden
@waysel: No digging necessary. Nobody cares about these old allegations and smear tactics against President Clinton. That’s not important when we have to choose between Secretary Clinton and an unqualified, dangerous Bigot.
amk
@Matt McIrvin: Oh, god. There, you go again.
hovercraft
Calouste
@eclare: Congress probably thinks the limitation is “If America does it, it must be legal.” Why would there be a time limit against an entity that has pretty much an unlimited lifespan, and we’re talking about crimes that are just a notch or two short of war crimes?
catclub
@eclare: Schumer may have put in a State Department waiver/ halt to proceedings clause.
If so, that is good news.
Otherwise, yes, Iran 1953, Chile 1973, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera…
Mai.naem.mobile
I don’t think that the Miss Universe gained 60 pounds. Is anybody ever think these things through?
60 pounds is a lot of weight to gain over a year, never mind that she was doing events and stuff.She was being physically active. Donald just lies about everything.
amk
@D58826: yet another eyerack vote. profiles in courage indeed.
WereBear
Media in the tank for Republicans. ANY Republicans.
That’s why we have to crowd source Trump pushback. My dream is to see people too humiliated to show up and vote for him.
catclub
I think the Cuba embargo breaking by Trump – plus massive hypocrisy – may be a nice touch for Florida voting.
Somebody else noticed that the NYT, among others, have totally changed their election reporting. Zero on emails on Clinton foundation any more.
Only question: how long will it last?
bemused
@Roger Moore:
I know the answer which is painfully clear. I was basically shouting the question about our willfully stupid Americans to the sky in frustration.
Major Major Major Major
@catclub: I think they finally realize what they did and are correcting course. Then again, my theory has always been that they’re incompetent, not malicious
WereBear
Is there anything more illustrative of male privilege than Donald Trump his own self?
Without the money spent on his clothes and hair he’d be the guy sitting alone in the back of the VFW who constantly explains why he doesn’t believe in tipping.
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@Iowa Old Lady:
Are you aware that Michael passed away about ten days ago? Louise’s announcement on her FB page was one of the most beautiful and moving things I’ve ever read:
Only a couple of weeks earlier I heard her speak in Asheville, NC. She was incredibly engaging, thoughtful and hilariously funny.
vhh
@MJS: For example, there was at least one decade long lawsuit accusing Hillary of murdering Vince Foster. I seem to recall reading that the judge involved declared the instigator a “pernicious litigant”, but have not dug up the link. Trump, BTW, has expressed interest in this conspiracy theory. Trump seems to be in the denial phase of a classic narcissistic meltdown in response to being “humiliated by a girl” in the first debate. He may be so spring loaded by the time of the second debate that he tries to blame Hillary for Bill’s affairs and brings up a whole list of conspiracy theorist faves from Vince Foster to Benghazi. This will further endear him to his base. I presume that Hillary and her staff are preparing for a wounded bear attack from the get go. She sure seemed disciplined and cool in the first debate and as she made fools of the Gowdy Benghazi witch hunt committee. If she can turn Trump’s enraged energy back on him, she is likely to win.
Joel
@rp: John Hodgman, Kristen Schaal, Rob Corddry, Beth Littleford, Rob Riggle, Jessica Williams…
bemused
@hovercraft:
These ugly, philandering pigs are the poster boys for white privileged white male sexism and misogynism.
eclare
@catclub: Yes, just wondering. And I know there are attorneys here.
singfoom
@WereBear:
What’s amazing to me is the lessons he hasn’t learned in his 70 (he’s 70 right?) years on this earth. I’m just about to 40 and while it was painful, I’ve learned that you have to be kind to everyone and give them the benefit of the doubt.
This comes more easily to some people and it’s harder for other people. It’s not something that’s automatic and I at least have to work at it every day. Being a nice human being requires attention and energy. Every single thing the guy says or does says to me that he despises basically all other people and has no interest in seeing them as human beings other than in the context of how it might allow him to make more money.
I know that 27% of our electorate is basically insane, but it’s the numbers over that just shock me. How can anyone look at this man and think he is anything other than a fraud and a mean spirited bigot is beyond me.
cmorenc
@Barbara:
The valid rap against the Saudi government is that: 1) the state religion is a particularly puritanical variant of Islam (Wahhabism) and the Saudi government gives substantial support to madrassas (schools) that promote islamic radicalism in their students; 2) the ruling Saud family at the center of the Saudi government nervously fears that if they crack down on the radicalism of many of the madrassas, they significantly increase the risk of provoking a rebellion to overthrow the government and the Saud family’s grip on it. And so, the Saud family and the government look the other way and continue to give substantial financial support to radicals in the madrassas who foment students toward becoming the sort of radicals who become terrorists (i.e. of the sort inclined to get aboard with Bin Laden and the 9/11 terrorists). In other words, the Saudi government knowingly permits radical terrorists to be cultivated within their country, who then go abroad to commit terrorist mayhem, such as 9/11.
NorthLeft12
@Roger Moore: Yeah, include my father in that list of people who think racial profiling is natural and logical. Of course being a lily white Catholic Polish-Canadian means he’ll never be profiled so he is okay with it. Basically, his thoughts were that it is a useful practice with small minorities in Canada [Blacks, Muslims, Asians] but not with larger groups. Civil rights? What are those?
Kay
@dmsilev:
One of my sisters thinks it’s good they didn’t do any vetting on Trump until the last weeks because that’s when most people plug in.
They’re scared about that debate he lost. They must believe that was the first (real, sustained) impression of Trump for a lot of people. It probably was.
Skerry
@Mai.naem.mobile: I read that she said she gained 12-15 pounds. The photos of her during that time are certainly not of a woman who gained 60 pounds when she started at 117-118.
SFAW
@catclub:
It will last until the polling shows her kicking Trump’s fat ass again.
cmorenc
@WereBear:
Mitt Romney suggests we assemble some binders full of women qualified to spill the dirt on Trump.
Major Major Major Major
@cmorenc: if that level of connection is sufficient to sue a state then America is in deep shit.
NorthLeft12
@dmsilev: Personally, I believe that these negative stories on Deadbeat Donald have been being developed for months now. Some of them have been sitting on the shelf ready to go for awhile. They are being released now to get maximum exposure and have maximum impact on the number of clicks/viewers/sales.
different-church-lady
@Barbara:
In a sane world, yes.
Villago Delenda Est
@lamh36: That.Is.Insane.
This shit has GOT to stop. If we have to gut every fucking police force in this country to do it. This amateur hour shit has GOT TO STOP.
Iowa Old Lady
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: I didn’t know that. Thanks for the update. She’s a wonderful writer.
Major Major Major Major
@NorthLeft12: I am also getting this impression.
nonynony
@Kay:
Also, and I don’t know if you’ve had this experience Kay – some Republicans deluded themselves into thinking that they were going to see a Ronald Reagan performance on Monday. I’ve been hearing from older relatives and older neighbors that I would be “surprised” by Trump in his first debate because – just like Reagan – Trump was going to show that he wasn’t as nutty as everyone thought he was and surge like Reagan did.
They’ve shut up about it now. I will admit that he surprised me – I didn’t expect him to perform THAT poorly.
WereBear
He’s never had to learn them. Ever. That’s what a certain amount of money does to and for you… lets you create a world where only ass-kissers surround you, your every utterance is praised, and never is heard a discouraging word.
I understand Louis the 14th was the same way…
catclub
@Skerry:
I have read far more on this than I should have … but anyway.
She is 5’7″ so 117 is her weight in the pageant; BMI =18.3 very skinny.
she gained to about 160: BMI = 25.1 exactly normal.
Villago Delenda Est
@cmorenc: That’s basically it. Back in the 70’s Faisal put the country on a reform push, trying to bring it into say the 18th century for starters. He was killed for it, and Saudi Arabia had a number of religiously inspired incidents (to include a takeover of the main Mosque in Mecca) that convinced the remainder of the House of Saud to give the Wabbists more of what they wanted, to prevent a revolution that would turn Saudi Arabia into an Islamic Republic. It would be like the Federal government giving in to the demands of Focus on the Family or one of the other jeebofascist groups in this country to keep the christianists from staging an armed revolt.
singfoom
@Barbara:
Well, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith (I’m sure I’m forgetting someone…) should definitely be sued and/or prosecuted for war crimes, but it was unfortunately decided long ago that we will look forward and not backwards.
Also, to echo different-church-lady, yes, in a just/sane world we’d pay reparations for the death and destruction we caused in Iraq.
catclub
@different-church-lady:
In that same sane world, Russia would also be sued for Downing a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine. Dinna hold your breathe.
MomSense
Jesus I cannot believe we are dealing with basic vetting with just over a month to go before the election. This is a spectacular failure on the part of our press. It is completely irresponsible.
This train crash is a nightmare. Do you think any of our journalists will make the connection between Republican desire to starve our government and these kinds of accidents? Gee I wonder what happens when you refuse to invest, maintain, replace, repair, and provide basic support to a major means of transportation for decades.
different-church-lady
@singfoom:
The frightening conclusion is that they know he’s a fraud and a mean spirited bigot and they like it. He’s not fooling anyone, he’s being who they want him to be..
singfoom
@WereBear:
I get that. I don’t think it’s necessarily the outcome in all situations. I’ve met some people who are filthy rich and whose parents/grandparents were filthy rich and each generation seemed to put a very very large effort into making their children understand that their wealth was a gift and that they still had to learn hard work and treat people kindly. But I do see your point, Donnie wasn’t one of those rich kids who was made to internalize the lesson that their money didn’t make them better.
cleek
@catclub:
two weeks.
the anti-Clinton stories come in waves, every four weeks. we’re about two weeks past the last batch of anti-Clinton reporting.
and you can clearly see the effects of this in the polling graph at RCP.
hovercraft
@catclub:
If she gets a big bounce, they will turn. Must. Have. Horse. Race.
Barbara
@cmorenc: Of course, and the U.S. government should be flexing its diplomatic muscle to the extent it can to get Saudi Arabia to change. But looking the other way as radicals undertake criminal activities abroad isn’t the same as perpetrating the crime. That’s what is different about Lockerbie — Gaddafi directly knew about and funded the crime. What upsets me somewhat about this (and not wanting to speak too generally) is that the focus appears to be on getting reparations, instead of starting some kind of effort to get S.A. to change.
WereBear
There is a persistent rumor than the administration of the first Black President was directly threatened with incidents of armed insurrection and general mayhem should anyone move in a Bush/Cheney/war crimes direction.
Considering their followers and the amount of money they have access to, it would have been a serious threat, if so.
In any case, such things are never easy, even when it is a single person with clear guilt, like a William Calley. Makes us all look bad! Shut up! those in charge will say.
Mike J
FEC decides to remove the word “telegrams” from regs, opening another avenue for corruption!
Lurking Canadian
@burnspbesq: This was a big deal here at the time of the (later debunked) Rolling Stone rape story. There is a fairly common position that victims must be believed.
In cases that come down to one person’s word against another’s it does seem that some people think there should be a presumption of guilt, and require the accused to prove innocence.
singfoom
@different-church-lady: Sure, the insane 27% want him as a living embodiment of Cleek’s Law. They already hate anyone who likes tolerance, so he’s perfect for them.
LAO
@hovercraft: Glad to hear.
Other happy, O/T news — On Saturday I’m meeting my potential new puppy! I’m super excited and nervous. For the record, I took all of yours B-J’s advice and haven’t bought any big stuff (ie. crate or bed, since that’s size dependent) but did pick up some bowls and toys because I COULDN’T HELP MYSELF.
WereBear
@singfoom: I agree. I’ve always been impressed with the way the Rockefeller and Kennedy families emphasized public service and character building.
In contrast, the Vanderbilts emphasized social climbing and cruelty, and they have completely self-destructed over the years from rampant drug, alcohol, and suicide problems.
I have also met well-off people who managed to overcome their not-very-good upbringing, and also jerks who nonetheless were able to have some human qualities.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, seems to have absolutely no redeeming value whatsoever. It’s really extraordinary; one has to delve into our Supermax prisons and examine the careers of out and out psychopaths to find a person with less appeal than he does.
The new face of the Republican party, by golly.
Kay
@nonynony:
I read that there’s no surge in registration for white non-college. If Trump has really identified a group of people who don’t vote but will vote for him they have to register first. It’s one of the things they looked for in 2008 with Obama and young people because the conventional wisdom was “if you’re relying on new voters you’re losing”. But they were registering with Obama so there was a solid indication he could rely on them. It’s a document. It can be counted.
singfoom
@WereBear: Oh I remember those times. I think there was some argument here about it if I remember correctly. I still think we need a truth and reconciliation commission or something along those lines, but that ship sailed years ago.
I hadn’t heard that rumor myself but it makes sense. That kind of thing is hard to do, regardless of the time passed. Maybe someday it’ll happen.
SFAW
@Lurking Canadian:
It’s a reaction to the years-long treatment of rape victims as the (figurative) criminals. Doesn’t make it right, but it’s not surprising.
hovercraft
Trump in full whine mode last night with Bill’O, he was just trying to be nice to her, and look what he gets.
Watch
Kellyanne with Megan Kelly, complaining because Hillary is mean.
Watch
Matt McIrvin
@Lurking Canadian:
In a court of law, obviously you can’t do that. I think the argument is that rape in ours society is so prevalent, and automatic disbelief or blaming of rape victims is also so prevalent, that it behooves feminists outside of a court of law to start with a default position of assuming rape reports are true just to push back against the forces in the larger culture.
Now, in this particular case, we may be way beyond the case of needing to assume any default position.
Barbara
@Kay: Totally agree, and the first debate is likely the one that will receive the highest audience. I have always found the townhall format to be meh. It actually takes training to be effective at communicating on tv or in public forums. The fact that they are unleashing the Clinton Follies does not lead me to believe that the next round will show Trump in a better light, but who really knows. Maybe he will learn discipline between now and then. The problem is, his idea of what is good is so warped that he might think he did really well when by objective standards what he says is totally appalling.
MAC
People are talking themselves into voting for Trump because they hate Hillary Clinton that much and they want her to lose. Had a suprisingly civil conversation about politics with co-workers yesterday and I heard “the Clintons are evil” and “it’s the Supreme Court” and “he won’t be allowed to do anything stupid” while I continuously expressed my disbelief that anyone could even consider voting for Trump.
My dad, registered independent but votes Republican almost exclusively, has had similar conversations with his friends. He can’t fathom voting for Donald Trump either but there are people who just hate her that much.
Origuy
@Iowa Old Lady:
This book got a lot of attention on a blog I read because it features an orienteering map.
Barbara
@hovercraft: Slightly different take. It’s almost like a sequence or pattern. The press really wants the horse race in August and September in order for the campaigns to be fighting and people to being paying more attention during normally quiet periods, but as October rolls around, people are naturally interested even if the election isn’t quite as close, and what’s more, in the end, they do want to be accurate. So the need to fan the fire so to speak does gradually recede.
Percysowner
@catclub: And if they were going after Trump for his father’s actions and told him that his father was a “bad person”, then yes, that would be out of bounds. Although his father is part of the Housing Discrimination suit, Clinton has aimed her critiques at Trump for HIS ACTIONS in denying housing to minorities not his fathers. Don’t be a supercilious jerk.
Brachiator
@MJS:
Bill Clinton is not on trial, nor is he running for president.
It does not help Mrs Clinton to make any statements about the Broderick case, not even to state that she doesn’t believe that he raped Broderick. Trump stumbled badly because he could not resist defending every taunt and accusation. Hillary Clinton does not have to respond to questions that have nothing to do with her own behavior. She could say that none of Trump’s wives are responsible for his behavior, if pushed.
amk
Detroit news breaks its 143 year old of endorsing rethugs ….
and endorses the know nothing libertarian nutter.
LAO
@Iowa Old Lady:
When my mom gave me her copy, she instructed me to read the acknowledgements first — I love Penny’s Three Pines mysteries — but that just wrecked me.
Villago Delenda Est
@MomSense:
You’re coming from the Ben Franklin school of what the press is supposed to be about, not the William Randolph Hearst school, which is about selling papers. Hearst won. Our media is totally obsessed not with finding the truth, not with unmasking villains, but with getting as many clicks, scoring the highest ratings, selling the most papers. It’s all about the benjamins…not Benjamin Franklin.
WereBear
Didn’t stop W any.
Barbara
@hovercraft: OMG. He is clueless. Hearing him say this reminds me of the time I was walking home in college and some guy decided that I needed a ride and proceeded to follow me in his truck, stopping along the way and telling me obsessively, “I’m just trying to be your friend, I’m just trying to help you.” I was so freaked out I hid in a grocery store until a friend could come pick me up.
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
Old advice. I’m thinking of Burr’s advice to Hamilton.
More seriously, I think Bee nailed the BS of creating stupid expectations of Clinton and then condemning her for failing to meet them. Here’s a weird comment by Jill Abramson, writing in the Guardian.
ETA: totally off topic, are you following the various “Hamilton” stars post-theater career, eg. Daveed Diggs on “blackish?”
Shell
According to Newsweek:
“A company controlled by Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, secretly conducted business in Communist Cuba during Fidel Castro’s presidency despite strict American trade bans that made such undertakings illegal, according to interviews with former Trump executives, internal company records and court filings.”
Villago Delenda Est
@Brachiator:
Trump’s skin has little rough groves on it that catch the water that just slides off of Hillary’s back, and rips his thin skin to shreds. He can’t help it. Any time he’s called, on anything at all, he lashes out. Classic example: “Short-fingered vulgarian”.
catclub
@amk: Even the Arizona Republic did better than that.
hovercraft
@Barbara:
I think you are right with respect to the polls, I remember someone doing an analysis after the last election. They pointed out that even the outliers like Rassmussen came closer to the median at the end, with the exception of Gallup, which is why they forswore presidential polling. But I think the reporting will stay skewed towards promoting a horse race as long as possible. Pollsters pay a real price if they are way off, whereas pundits who are consistently wrong are not punished for their wrongness. Thomas Friedman Units are a thing, This is Good News for John McCain Halpern, the endless columns and articles telling us that the terrible economy would doom Obama, he had disappointed his supporters, so they would not turn out, it was the revenge of the white people election, but then he won by 5 million votes, and it was just Oops, carry on.
nonynony
@singfoom:
The thing that you have to understand to grasp what is going on with this election is the same thing you had to understand to grasp what happened with the election of 2008.
And that’s this – Republicans will vote for a Republican. It doesn’t matter who the Republican is. It doesn’t matter what the Republican says. Once that individual has an R next to his name, he’s going to get the vote of Republicans. They are not Democrats – they don’t try to make some kind of grand statement to the party with their votes. They vote for Republicans every time.
I’m not talking “Republican leaning” voters here. There’s a core that seems to be roughly 45% of the voting public in national elections who will just vote for the Republican no matter who it is. That isn’t sufficient for them to win the presidency, so they need “Republican leaning” voters to come over to them and vote. They weren’t able to convince them in ’08 or ’12 (or at least not enough of them) but they were in ’00 and ’04. The Republican leaners need a candidate that they can feel good about – Republicans do not.
Punchy
@amk: That’s some funny shit. Like this:
Competent and capable = unable to name a single sitting foreign leader. Yeah, that’s competency. Uh huh.
Trollhattan
@Mike J:
Heh. Has the last telegram been sent, or are they still a thing? #TooLazyToGoogle
hovercraft
@Brachiator:
She still has vestiges of her NY Times Hillary hatred, that she struggles to contain.
Trollhattan
@Punchy:
Jesus. not one of those words describes or predicts Johnson. #AuthorDrinkingFlintWater
hovercraft
@nonynony:
I think the number you are looking for is “47 %”.
amk
@hovercraft: And the multiple stupid kenyan’s katarinas.
patrick II
Drudge explaining why their hero got his ass kicked monday. Evidently not only did she have an earpiece, but one with telepathic powers that can make Trump say stupid lies, like paying taxes is smart, or never saying global warming is a chinese hoax.
Back in the day I half believed Bush had an earpiece on during one of the Gore debates to help him give more informed answers, but in Hillary’s case the person from Hillary’s campaign with enough expert policy knowledge to help the candidate from backstage would be Hillary. So, what would the purpose be?
Also, she allegedly gave hand signals to the moderator to interrupt Trump at the right moment. Really. When she touched her face with her finger it was a secret signal.
Immanentize
@amk: @jeffreyw: @Major Major Major Major: @D58826:
here is the text of that section JeffreyW =mentioned — Interesting. Now I got a student meeting….
SEC. 5. STAY OF ACTIONS PENDING STATE NEGOTIATIONS.
(a) Exclusive Jurisdiction.—The courts of the United States shall have exclusive jurisdiction in any action in which a foreign state is subject to the jurisdiction of a court of the United States under section 1605B of title 28, United States Code, as added by section 3(a) of this Act.
(b) Intervention.—The Attorney General may intervene in any action in which a foreign state is subject to the jurisdiction of a court of the United States under section 1605B of title 28, United States Code, as added by section 3(a) of this Act, for the purpose of seeking a stay of the civil action, in whole or in part.
(c) Stay.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—A court of the United States may stay a proceeding against a foreign state if the Secretary of State certifies that the United States is engaged in good faith discussions with the foreign state defendant concerning the resolution of the claims against the foreign state, or any other parties as to whom a stay of claims is sought.
(2) DURATION.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—A stay under this section may be granted for not more than 180 days.
(B) EXTENSION.—
(i) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may petition the court for an extension of the stay for additional 180-day periods.
(ii) RECERTIFICATION.—A court shall grant an extension under clause (i) if the Secretary of State recertifies that the United States remains engaged in good faith discussions with the foreign state defendant concerning the resolution of the claims against the foreign state, or any other parties as to whom a stay of claims is sought.
Iowa Old Lady
@nonynony: I’m hoping that 45% baseline gradually shrinks as old white people die off.
piratedan
ty all for the comments on my post in the overnight thread
Calouste
@Brachiator: The Guardian has quite a few columnists that are purity pony leftists, the Corbyn contingent so to speak. CommentIsFree is their op-ed page, which is worth what you pay for it.
Face
FTYA
MomSense
@Villago Delenda Est:
I was considering journalism when I was in college and then I spent a couple months with the white house press corpse watching them fall all over themselves to get a boat ride on the Fidelity. Decided against it.
RaflW
Whoo! Just arriving at the internet now for my day, and not much can be better than a hot cup of locally roasted fair trade coffee and Samantha Bee and Hillary Clinton ripping the mold-topped yam (and the misogynist press) collective new ones.
Also, my favorite moment of the entire debate was HRCs very real, unscripted and delightful Whoo! she let out right before the shoulder shimmy.
Hal
@nonynony: Really, what has Trump said that many Republican leaders and party members haven’t said before. What people are use to is a seemingly sane candidate for president who can push those people aside in the general while accepting their support and votes. Trump is simply openly embracing those people by being one of them.
The modern Republican party is a party that coalesced from the merging of racist former Democrats with racist Republicans to become what we see today. Doesn’t mean all Republicans are racists and bigots, but those that are not are willing to overlook those traits. Trump is the natural result of a slow breakdown of the Republican party.
D58826
@patrick II:
Well since Hillary is in a wheelchair using an oxygen tank she has to feed the answers to the body double at the podium. Easy to explain. :-)
RaflW
@Calouste: That’s a good line! But to the Brits comment is free means the comment thread is open. Think of Mrs. Slocombe announcing she is available to serve at Grace Brothers.
Jeffro
OMG, Harry Reid laying it. All. OUT: “Trump is their Frankenstein monster…they built him, they own him.”
Trollhattan
@patrick II:
It would be a yoooge advantage, like in football toady when the coach radios to his quarterback, “Now would be a really good time to throw for a touchdown.” Instant six points, just for the asking.
Shell
@LAO: Congrats! Happy News
Bill
@different-church-lady: This is my biggest concern. She’s going to win, but I have no idea how she can govern a country where 40% of the population wanted an overt racist in the White house. I’m worried we may have some very bad days ahead.
amk
@D58826: Actually, it was the she-devil’s double on that stage. You libruls are so clueless.
Trollhattan
@Jeffro:
Sen. Reid continues his role as World’s Best Mormon. Gonna miss ya, Harry.
Jeffro
@Bill: True but at least they will be better than if the overt racist wins
Brachiator
@Villago Delenda Est:
i think of him now as Mr Sniffles.
gogol's wife
@Brachiator:
I liked the show, but they totally wasted Diggs.
Trollhattan
Courtesy of LGM, Newt and Jonah reassure all that Ms. Machado is really a fat cow after all. This probably assures Jonah continues his NPR Monday a.m. chair along with Cokie. Balance, you know.
Why does Newt still have people who pay attention to him?
MJS
@Brachiator: If you don’t think this question will be asked by the moderator at the next debate, or in a press “gaggle”, you’re wrong. And if you think that Hillary can simply say, “I’m not going to comment” or “It’s not relevant”, or something along those lines, you’re also wrong. Especially in the debate setting, such an answer will be spun as “I don’t care about any rape allegations against my husband.” I agree it’s immaterial. I agree it’s not relevant. But the press, unfortunately, gets to decide what is and isn’t relevant, not us.
Brachiator
@gogol’s wife:
Totally agree. But it could be worse. The previous episode was little more than an extended commercial for Disneyland with a little comedy thrown in to appease the viewers.
amk
@MJS: She handled 13 hours of ben ghazi!!! shitshow without batting an eye. I think she got this. Enough with she gotta do this, she gotta do that.
Iowa Old Lady
@Brachiator: Once you notice how much advertising and promotion goes on in TV shows, it’s hard to unsee it. Once Colbert gets past his opening bit, you might as well be watching the Home Shopping Network for entertainment.
Brachiator
@Calouste:
Jill Abramson, who contributed to the Clinton debate assessment is the former executive editor of the NY Times.
catclub
OT: but not really. Election TV advertising – with interesting graphics showing which states the money is and is not going into.
Virginia – where Clinton has gone to zero, is only place where Trump spends more.
It does not look like it includes superpac ads.
MJS
@amk: Please note that what I’m suggesting be said only needs to be said if the question is asked. I know very well that she’s more than capable of handling anything that’s thrown at her. My original responses were to commenters saying this was going to “sink” her candidacy. I don’t agree with that, and I don’t agree that she needs to address this issue, unless it is an actual question posed to her either during the debate or during a press “gaggle”. Because if she refuses to comment on it in either setting, the headline will be, “Clinton refuses to deny her husband is a rapist.”
Do you believe she can simply ignore the question if it is asked of her directly?
catclub
@Trollhattan: I am surprised Giuliani was not in there digging that hole with women voters.
Maybe he was out cheating with another girlfriend.
different-church-lady
@Hal:
Correct. But they’re working on it.
sukabi
@MJS: REALLY STUPID for drumpfs team to bring up Bill’s past transgressions real or fabricated as drumpf has CURRENT rape allegations wending their way thru the court system…
But no one has ever accused drumpf or his campaign of being smart.
hovercraft
So with a little more digging, they’ve found video if Trump trashing Kim Kardasian for being large (while pregnant), and for choosing to dress like she’s 120 pounds. Yes Trumpsters, this man is very respectful of women. Where’s Lucretia to tell us how her father is the biggest promoter of women?
Enhanced Voting Techinques
@patrick II:If it was Baud up there he would have had some guy slipping the moderator a twenty every time he interrupted Trump because when Baud wins, everyone wins!
Moderator (taking money): “Thank you”
Trump “What is that?”
Baud “Payolla dude. A businessman like you should know this is a capitalist system”
Trump “Now wait a minute!”
Moderator “Please, back to the question; which is more bitchen – a Firebird or a Transam?”
SFBayAreaGal
@Iowa Old Lady: I love Louise Penny mysteries.
James E Powell
@Barbara:
That’s pretty hard to do. And not just because of a need to keep the oil flowing. The Saudi royals have taken positions that more or less guarantee that their end, when it comes, will be violent and total.
Brachiator
@MJS:
I never said these questions would not be asked. The second debate is a town hall style meeting. The question, or one like it, could come from the moderators, a “regular person,” or from Trump.
I said that Clinton cannot say that she does not believe that Clinton raped Broderick.
There are no rape allegations against Bill Clinton. There is innuendo and gossip. No Bill Cosby level charges or accusations.
I leave it to Clinton’s advisers to help her come up with some responses. But Clinton is in a tough spot. If she spends much time on this, in any way, it opens up a sexist line of attack that holds a woman somehow responsible for the actions of her husband. Which is absurd. The debate could degenerate into a pointless re-evaluation of Bill Clinton’s term as governor and as president.
There is also a sexist assumption here that maybe she should have divorced Bill to distance herself from him. Or opted for the conservative’s handy do-over, “The Lord forgives him, so we’re totally absolved of all blame.”
This is not entirely true. The press can pursue all kinds of stuff, including areas that are clearly irrelevant. And the voters in the end will decide. But politicians and any other public figure has a right to push back against pointlessly intrusive questions.
Iowa Old Lady
I am heading out to vote now. Enthusiastically!
Gelfling 545
@hovercraft: I don’t think there will be all that many, whatever they may be saying now. Once he loses, we’ll be hard put to find anybody who supported him (or is willing to admit to it).
James E Powell
@MAC:
I have heard many people express a deep hatred for Hillary Clinton that appears to come from somewhere deep inside. It isn’t really tied to any particular event or set of facts. For example, they will rant about the e-mails, but when questioned admit that they hated her before that. Same with Benghazi. They will reference other similar “scandals” but admit that they hated her before them, too.
Hillary represents something that generates this reaction in some people. The press/media tend to fixate on them and try to figure out “what it all means” about Hillary, but it doesn’t mean anything about her. It’s about the haters and how they view the world and the other people in it. I don’t think Hillary or her campaign or the Democratic Party or the rest of us should waste any more time thinking about them.
redshirt
@nonynony: It will never happen for obvious reasons, but I’m now convinced the Antichrist himself could appear on Earth, announce himself as the Antichrist, maybe kill some babies or something, and run for President as a Republican and he too would get 40-45% of the vote minimum, including getting the Evangelical vote.
“He may be the Devil, but at least he’s not a Democrat”.
Bill
@catclub: Actually a BMI of 25.1 is just in to the category of “overweight.” But BMI is a terrible measure of weight and/or health.
redshirt
@James E Powell: Agreed. It’s the result of 30 years of hate mongering by Republicans. “If there’s smoke, there’s fire” has become the default assumption by many.
I like to challenge them on specifics. Oh, Hillary is a liar, eh? Give me an example.
No one can, cause there’s nothing there. It’s all slander.
debit
@Gelfling 545: My fear is that he’ll replace John McCain as the go to guy for every Sunday morning press the flesh show.
Trollhattan
@catclub:
And just what’s the weight of that new girlfriend?
Love how Goldberg cites Gingrich–known expert in these things–to give himself cover while diving straight into the deep end. “What Trump said may have bee put poorly–really Donald, must you be so blunt?–but the substance is essentially correct.”
Hoo-boy.
eric
@patrick II: i just saw that she had a teleprompter too. ha
raven
@different-church-lady: just now huh?
Trollhattan
@debit:
Nah, Walnuts dutifully spews Republican talking points. Trump ain’t that guy.
nonynony
@hovercraft:
Nah – the 47% Romney got includes the leaners. unless you were talking about Romney’s version of that same statistic in reverse – that 47% of people will vote for Democrats because of “free stuff”. I think that’s way too high – I think that there’s a reliable core of D voters who will also vote for any Democrat no matter how lousy, but I suspect it’s lower than the Republican equivalent. Fortunately we’ve been lucky and haven’t had to test that theory with a truly awful candidate in my lifetime.
@redshirt: You say it will never happen for obvious reasons, and as an atheist I’d agree. And yet Donald Trump shows all of the characteristics of the fundamentalist Anti-Christ and here we are.
singfoom
@nonynony:
So, there’s truth to what you say. I understand it. There is a large group that will vote for that R even if he was the antichrist. That said, I know of at least one (and yes, I know that anecdotes are not data), my Rockefeller Republican father has said he’s voting for HRC and that Trump is a fraud and a moron. He’s never voted for a Democrat in his life. It gives me hope.
Here’s to hoping.
eric
@Trollhattan: This i expect, and that is why i thoguht the miss housekeeping was way worse. there is no white male, non racist, rationalization for that
MomSense
@gogol’s wife:
Daveed Diggs is a terrible thing to waste.
SFBayAreaGal
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: Thank you for posting this. I didn’t know her husband had passed away.
Bill
@Jeffro: No doubt.
patrick II
@eric:
I looked it up:
Hand signals, secret earpiece, teleprompter — at some point it becomes information overload, especially for someone on all of those medications. I am surprised Hillary so thoroughly kicked ass with all of those distractions.
nonynony
@singfoom:
Anecdotes like these worry me. Because I promised someone I’d eat my hat if Trump actually got less than 45% and I like my hat :)
Actually I hope I’m wrong and the floor for “will vote for any Republican no matter how incompetent and horrible he is” is lower. It would give me back some of the hope I lost when more than 49% of the voters in this country voted for W in 2000. (I would also take a lower voter turnout even if Trump ends up getting more than 45% as a sign that maybe Republicans aren’t so horrible, I guess, since that would mean a number of them just sitting it out. It would increase my disgust in a lot of Democratic leaners if they can’t be arsed to show up and vote against Trump though).
redshirt
@nonynony: True, though he’s not literally claiming to be the Antichrist. Yet.
Wouldn’t matter much to “good Christian” Republicans.
Villago Delenda Est
@patrick II: They’ve given up on the “Donald Won!” meme, too absurd, even for them, now it’s trying to figure out how Hillary cheated and kicked his ass to the orbit of Neptune.
Elizabelle
I liked the Sam Bee spot, and about to listen to FLOTUS bring it.
All the “she should, she should” in the media in run-up to the debate. Did those wankers ever talk about issues? If so, I missed it.
Gindy51
Anecdotal stuff here, but all the usual R female voters I know are NOT voting trump. They cannot stand him.
Elizabelle
It’s good there’s nothing going on today other than that Hoboken transit crash, right?
CNN on crack.
Trollhattan
@nonynony:
I can think of at least three good bakeries in town that can make a lovely and delicious hat-shaped cake.
It’s an option.
Gindy51
@nonynony: Buy another hat now, maybe one made out of candy.
gogol's wife
@MomSense:
I agree! But I guess I’ll be watching this sitcom for as long as he’s on it!
cmorenc
@MAC:
This is sounding eerily like the conversation I had the other night with a 60-ish white guy I often run into in one of the workout rooms at the local gym I belong to, who’s the prototype of the likely Trump voter who will never openly admit it. There’s a bank of TVs tuned to CNN and Fox (also a sports channel and the Food Network) in front of the workout area which provides the seeds for our discussions. He always starts by asking how we wound up with two such astonishingly awful nominees from the major parties, sounding at first as if he’s inclined to stay home in November rather than go 3P – but as soon as we get even slightly into substance, he always says something that, even without overtly revealing his hand, poker players recognize as a “tell”. One of the talking heads on CNN was mentioning the Clinton Foundation issues vs the Trump Charitable Foundation issues – and the guy I was talking to commented how much worse Clinton’s corrupt harvesting of million$ of dollars from influence-peddling at the State Department was than Trump’s misuse of his own charitable foundation, because “after all, he was a businessman at the time, not a government official”. From that and other comments he’s made, it’s obvious he primarily receives his info from watching Fox at home, even while passing himself off as a harshly cynical skeptic “independent” about all of the Presidential candidates, and praising Bernie Sanders as an honest man who pushed unworkable policies. He also mentions how he’s concerned about the “Supreme Court” and wants justices who will only interpret law, not make it (another “tell”). Of course, he will never volunteer who he intends to vote for, and to keep the conversation civil, I never ask him. But geez, if this was a poker game, I could read his hand every time.
singfoom
@nonynony: @Trollhattan: I also think it’s acceptable to eat a hat shaped confectionary instead of the hat itself.
Brachiator
@WereBear:
Does that include newspapers, none of which have endorsed Trump? Especially the ones that have never endorsed a Democrat before?
Shell
Just to show how saturated we are with this campaign, my first thought after the shock was, “Has Trump claimed it was terrorism yet?”
James E Powell
@Trollhattan:
Because the press/media, and not just the RWers, need someone who will say what Newt will say. I don’t see anyone trying to take his place, but if he disappears, the press/media will find someone else who will say the same things.
Shana
@WereBear: Why do you think so many jews are lawyers? It’s part of our DNA.
Brachiator
@Elizabelle:
Well, there’s this:
Shell
Theres always Guiliani.
MJS
@Brachiator: Actually, what you said is this:
“Hillary Clinton does not have to respond to questions that have nothing to do with her own behavior.” My point is that, yes, unfortunately, she does have to respond to such questions. I do agree with you, that her campaign advisors will come up with suggestions on how to respond, and I am aware that those suggestions will be significantly better than my amateur suggestions.
MJS
@Brachiator: Those are the opinion pages. Until recently, the “news” pages were most certainly in the tank for Trump.
TriassicSands
@F:
Not for president, but it’s been tested at the congressional level and it holds, at least to some extent. Think of former Representative William Jefferson in Louisiana. He was caught with $90,000.00 wrapped in aluminum foil in his freezer. He was ultimately convicted and went to jail. But along the way, he was re-elected in 2006. He was subsequently defeated in 2008, after he’d been charged, but before he’d been convicted. (He’s currently in prison.)
The problem is fairly simple. There are no acceptable candidates from the “other” party. If John Kerry had been indicted and convicted of some crime in 2004, I wouldn’t have voted for Bush. I would have either stayed home or, much more likely, cast an anti-Bush vote for a third party candidate. There are lots of prominent Republicans who oppose Trump, but most of them have announced they won’t vote for Clinton (she’s just not acceptable). Rather they will choose to not vote or vote for a third party or write-in candidate.
I think you’re right. The question is, for those who won’t vote for a truly horrible Democratic candidate, could they even consider voting for a “modern” Republican. (There are virtually no Rockefeller Republicans left running for office.)
S. holland
@Iowa Old Lady: got hooked on her books a month ago…I’m now up to 6….I just hope she writes faster than I can read!! Feel badly about her husband, I had no idea……
Shana
@MomSense: That’s exactly what’s happening with the Washington Metro system. It’s become a disaster. Funding comes, not from a dedicated source, but the Feds, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Every year the folks at WMATA have to go to all four governments and beg for money. The result is that they never get enough money. They’ve had to do upgrades and maintenance on the pittance they get each year, and maintenance has only been done for emergencies for ages. We had a crash on one lines several years ago that killed several people. There was a fire on the tracks due to deteriorated insulation on a different line and the headquarters put on both fans blowing into the tracks instead of one blowing in and one out. One woman died and several people went to the hospital.
Right now we’re in the midst of a massive 2 year program where they shut down parts of the system for weeks (or more) at a time in order to take care of issues and make repairs to the tracks, couplings, insulation, electrical problems, you name it.
You’d think, it being DC and all, that Congress would be concerned but they aren’t. They get driven to work so they don’t care. Their staffs use Metro, and vast numbers of Federal workers do, but it doesn’t make a difference. They put it all down to “waste, fraud and abuse” of which there is a fair amount, but that doesn’t make up for NOT GETTING ENOUGH MONEY TO KEEP THE SYSTEM IN GOOD REPAIR AND RUNNING.
Rant over.
nonynony
@TriassicSands:
No, I don’t think so. Or at least not many. I think there are plenty who would just sit the election out if a Dem as unacceptable as Trump is managed to win it though. (They’d have to be awful in some other way though – an outright misogynist racist is never going to win a Dem primary given the current makeup of the party).
MomSense
@gogol’s wife:
I’d tune in every week to watch him just sit in a chair though.
Brachiator
@MJS:
The Editorial is the official voice of the newspaper. The editors also control and direct the activities of the reporters who write the “news” pages. Reporters ain’t freelance bloggers doing their own thing.
We disagree on this point. But we agree that the press may put these questions to her, and that her people have to give her some good answers.
There is also the issue of a precedent here. A male presidential candidate is not held responsible for his wife’s actions. What journalistic principle is at play here by using Mrs Clinton to get details about Bill Clinton other than salacious curiosity, especially during a debate, which is supposed to be about the candidates?
catclub
@Brachiator: yes, I also thought that ‘India makes military strikes into Pakistan’ could be a big deal.
At least neither of them have nukes.
gogol's wife
@MomSense:
Pretty much. And that’s pretty much what they’re having him do. Maybe his storyline will develop in future weeks.
philadelphialawyer
@Trollhattan:
Hard to say why anyone pays attention to Newt or Jonah. But the last two sentences of Jonah’s comment that you quoted:
“Of course, if their [ie TV anchorwomen’s] bosses handled the problem by referring to anchors in public as ‘Miss Piggy,’ the bosses would be in even more hot water. And if management used phrases like
‘Miss Housekeeping,’ they’d probably and deservedly be in danger of losing their jobs.”
indicate that even Jonah gets the point. Because while Ms Machado’s weight gain was arguably a legitimate source of concern to Trump, the way he went about expressing that concern was, and should be, actionable and fireable under employment law and HR practice, for its demeaning and sexist and racist content.
Jonah goes on to say:
“But you know what’s even more bizarre? That three days after the first presidential debate, Trump and his top surrogates are still talking about this topic. I thought Trump lost the debate, but not disastrously so. In fact I was sympathetic to some arguments that it was more like a draw or that Trump may in fact have won by being ‘normalized.’ But as we all know, what often matters more than the debate itself is the post-debate conversation about the debates. And if Trump lacked message discipline Monday night, it’s been completely absent in the days that followed.”
So, even Jonah sees that trying to justify his bullying, abusive and nasty behavior towards Ms Machado is hurting Trump. And Jonah also sees that Trump’s behavior was outside the tolerated legal norm in American corporate culture, and should be.
philadelphialawyer
@Elizabelle: And notice that even in this thread, which is supposedly in response to the Bee’s right-on condemnation of the “Hillary MUST do this” and “Hillary MUST do that,” bedwetting, bullshit, there is a ton of just that.
Really, people, she has FUCKING got this, OK? Hillary does NOT need your peanut gallery, scaredy-cat, “concerned” advice.
The Lodger
@WereBear: Apologies if someone already caught this, but how would Trump get into a VFW hall in the first place?
Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)
@nonynony:
They were expecting Ronald Reagan and got cranky Dan Quayle on meth.
Original Lee
@Iowa Old Lady: Wow. Just went to request copies of some of her books from the library, and there are 53 people ahead of me in line for Great Reckoning. That rarely happens in my sleepy little branch library.
redshirt
@The Lodger: He’s got a Purple Heart now!
gorram
@catclub: Uh. I hate to be the bearer of bad news.
SFAW
@debit:
Ya know, I’ve been hearing that song since I were a lad, but I never listened to the lyrics, until your link.
Holy shit.
SFAW
@philadelphialawyer:
Oh, thanks be to Jesus that you are here to take up shomi’s slack.