I’m in media blackout mode, choosing instead to devote that time to GOTV efforts for the duration. But I turned on the TV moments ago and was involuntarily exposed to the tail-end of Natasha Fatale’s Melania Trump’s speech as I scrambled to locate the “INPUT” button on the remote.
Her topic was about how we must be more respectful and kind to one another, treat women with more respect and stamp out bullying, particularly on social media. Hearing that from her was like:
— Listening to Mrs. Bernie Madoff hold a seminar on the importance of honesty in investor-broker relationships
— Hearing Mrs. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. call for abolishing the internal combustion engine
— Enduring a lecture on the evils of wealth inequality from the Walmart heirs
…all at the same time. I need to install a Valium lick at my workstation to get me through this week. Open thread!
SiubhanDuinne
Valium lick. Hahahahaha!
I'm so tired of all of this
I’m trying to stay in media blackout mode but I keep checking in horrified fascination.
FlyingToaster
I haven’t turned on tv news (other than New England Cable News to find out the weather/traffic) since September. And my blood pressure thanks me.
How is your GOTV going down in FL?
donnah
Where can I get a Valium lick, plz?
Litlebritdifrnt
Betty – you and Matthew Dowd think alike:
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Her accent is just perfect to go with her husband’s Putin love. It’s amazing to imagine any of Trump’s known, admitted proclivities were exhibited by the Dem candidate. You just simply can’t. The right wing is a cult, and occupies an alternate reality – like the one in Stranger Things.
WereBear
Don’t get out of the boat again!
Jeffro
TV news bites.
Tuesday can’t come soon enough!
trollhattan
@SiubhanDuinne:
Pairs nicely with a lithium lollypop. To addend Betty’s earlier Comey post, The Guardian has been reaching out to FBI insiders.
Somebody needs to dig up Hoover’s coffin and check whether it’s occupied; this is our grandfather’s FBI at work.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
SWMBO
@efgoldman: Enduring a lecture on family values from the Duggar family?
Dog training seminar by Michael Vick?
The importance of privacy by Anyone Kardashian?
jacy
I have likewise turned off the news for the duration.
As for Melania, when The Boyfriend listens to her, all he hears is “Must stop Moose and Squirrel.” I would say that’s unfair and she’s probably a lovely person, but that would be a lie. She married Trump and hasn’t managed to poison him yet, so she gets no benefit of the doubt from me.
JPL
A friend called and mentioned the Melania’s outfit. Teenage boys will come home after school and watch on mute, just to see if those boobs are real.
The Moar You Know
Do these exist? Asking for a friend.
Betty Cracker
@FlyingToaster: Humbling, mostly. Other volunteers are so much smarter, kinder and more dedicated than I am. It threatens to restore my faith in humanity.
Anoniminous
The Infotainment Mediums are going to go crazy pushing the HORSE! RACE! message until next Tuesday. Ignore ’em. We need to be steadfast on GOTV. If we do Clinton will win and the Senate will flip.
I am less sanguine about the House.
catclub
@trollhattan:
I think I read there ARE Fentanyl lollypops.
JPL
Trump keeps mentioning that this is like the Brexit vote. Let us hope he is correct, because those opposed were always behind, just like he is. They didn’t catch up. The front runner won.
Ruckus
@trollhattan:
Actually someone needs to check to insure that it’s occupied.
One never knows what rituals that tRump supporters might be inclined to indulge in. Or even wants to know.
Gin & Tonic
@trollhattan: The FBI and the FSB are more alike than different.
Lyrebird
Media blackout good.
Cat catching baseball video good.
I’m still reading blogs, though… this video is about the election, it is vulgar, and I absolutely loved it. Quote:
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@JPL:
The US is way more diverse than Britain is.
Brachiator
I enjoyed this little story, courtesy of the LA Times
schrodinger's cat
This song makes me yearn for a city close to my heart and monsoon rains falling on the Arabian Sea
Gin & Tonic
@JPL: I don’t think teenage boys are very discerning judges of which ones are real.
Anoniminous
Roll Call has an interesting article up: GOP Aides Predict Trump Loss, Control of Both House and Senate.
In a three-way GOP faction fight House Dems hold the power … IF Peolsi has the guts and determination to do it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
So the word of the day on MSNBC seems to be that the most recent polls showing a consistent Clinton lead in spite of tightening polls is good news for Clinton, after the previous round of polls showing a tightening race in spite of a consistent Clinton lead were a very bad thing.
@trollhattan: neo con (I’m pretty sure) Eli Lake, who last week pretty much called the email thing much ado about nothing, is also calling out the FBI.
catclub
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
I think Jamelle Bouie posted ( July or August) that the non-whites in the US will save us from a brexit-like fate.
JPL
you tube song
Special thanks to the Guardian
amygdala
Thanks for this, Ms. Cracker. I was thinking the exact same thing, along the lines of, “Hey, Melania… could you talk to your husband about this? We’ve been trying to go high, on Michelle’s advice, but that doesn’t seem to be working.”
In better news, got the confirmation email this morning for my White House tour later this month, and I’m psyched. And I hope to check out the new Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, too.
Anoniminous
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
National polling is rapidly running out of predictive power. Need to look at the States and we’re in good shape there.
RK
Some polls appear to moving the wrong way at the moment.
Betty Cracker
@jacy: I would find her accent utterly charming if she weren’t shilling for Trump. I like the sound of just about any kind of accent, but yeah, her efforts to put her monstrous husband in charge of the nuclear codes makes me ill-disposed to be fair or kind to her. I despise her and the rest of Trump’s appalling family. I hope to dog to see and hear much less from them after Tuesday.
Dave
They are now saying that this speech was plagiarized too – evidently this time it was from Marla Maples!!
schrodinger's cat
@Betty Cracker: Whatever happened to the investigation into MT’s immigration status?
Calouste
@JPL: Also, Boris Johnson aka “Donald Trump with a dictionary” didn’t get his hands on the price he wanted. And Brexit itself isn’t really going anywhere fast at the moment.
khead
Just voted. Elkton, MD. Very red county. Last day of early voting and I was surprised at the line. Apparently we set early voting records for the county this year.
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
I hope to dog to see and hear much less from them after Tuesday.
How about the only thing we hear that include the name Trump are guilty verdicts?
I’d be satisfied with that.
ETA With fines large enough to really bankrupt him and everyone associated with him. Like his entire family. If they hadn’t come out in support I could see not involving the family. But they did so fuck them. Figuratively speaking of course.
trollhattan
@efgoldman:
Sometimes keycaps get stuck to the forehead, to great comic impact.
nonynony
@Anoniminous:
No, this is what they had before the election. This is pretty much what they’ve had since George W Bush ran the Republican party into a ditch in 2006 and left them leaderless. Hell this is what they had in the 90s too after George HW Bush lost the election in ’92 and left them leaderless, though it wasn’t quite as bad.
A lot of Republicans didn’t realize that the Ted Cruz/Tom Cotton wing also included the Trump wing, but that was their own damn fault. A whole lot of outsiders easily recognized that the “Evangelical Christians” contained both theocrats and white supremacists, but they kept denying it.
Calouste
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Political affiliation is far less of a race issue in the UK than it is in the US. Labour (which is of course significantly to the left of the Democratic Party) has been able to win elections fairly regularly. Scotland is 96% white, yet the Tories hold less than 25% of the seats in the Scottish Parliament. And Scotland voted 62-38 against Brexit.
Mnemosyne
I am ignoring the news and keeping my head down. It helps to be doing NaNoWriMo, so I have other things to think about.
misterpuff
This made me about throw up.
Bubble, what bubble?
see link:
Bias? Because they reported what he said on camera in front of a mike?
This “Opinion” is why the Press will never stand up to a driven focused Fascist, too many of them are fifth columnists, spinning the upending of democratic principles as Normal and the public’s opposition as unpatriotic and weak-minded. As Bush-Cheney demonstrated in the run up to the Iraq war.
Bob
It would something along these line – “The poors have it way too good.”
Elizabelle
You could not pay me to watch cable news today, or listen to any more NPR public-splaining the Trump supporters they are finding, in full, while they cannot find or feature any positive Hillary fans.
Last night’s Cubs game was fab, and maybe the most the TV will be on until Tuesday night.
Meantime: The Economist just endorsed Hillary Clinton. And the Democrats, to take the Senate and as much of the House as they can. No vote of confidence in any way for Republicans.
Suck on that, FBI coupsters.
Here’s the end of the endorsement, but it’s a good one throughout. Not just “don’t vote for Trump.” They even caution against splitting the vote — Hillary and GOP to keep her in check, because they think the GOP has to lose big to have any hope of reforming itself.
It’s a vote for Hillary and for her party.
Affirmative reasons to vote for Hillary, whom the Economist deems to be a middle of the road Conservative, if in the UK. (To your fainting couch, Susan Sarandon.)
This presidential election matters more than most because of the sheer recklessness of [Trump’s crusade to tear the country apart to restore it]. It draws upon the belief that the complexity of Washington is smoke and mirrors designed to bamboozle the ordinary citizen; and that the more you know, the less you can be trusted. To hope that any good can come from Mr Trump’s wrecking job reflects a narcissistic belief that compromise in politics is a dirty word and a foolhardy confidence that, after a spell of chaos and demolition, you can magically unite the nation and fix what is wrong.
If she wins, Mrs Clinton will take on the burden of refuting the would-be wreckers. In one way she is the wrong candidate for the job. The wife of a former president, who first moved into the White House almost 24 years ago, is an unlikely herald for renewal. In her long career she has at times occupied a no-man’s-land between worthy and unworthy, legal and illegal. That is why stories about the Clinton Foundation and her e-mails, which the FBI is looking at again, have been so damaging. They may barely register on the Trump-o-Meter of indiscretions but, in office, Mrs Clinton’s reputation for rule-breaking could destroy her.
In another way, she is well-suited to the task. Herding bills through Congress to the point of signing requires a tolerance for patient negotiating and a command of sleep-inducing detail. Though it has been hard to hear above the demand to “lock her up”, Mrs Clinton has campaigned for an open, optimistic country. She can take heart from the fact that, outside Washington, there is more bipartisanship and problem-solving than most Americans realise, and from the fact that popular pessimism has far overshot reality. Around 80% of Trump supporters say that, for people like them, America is worse than it was 50 years ago. That is false: half a century ago 6m households lacked a flushing lavatory. It is also a most un-American way to see the world. The time is ripe for a rebound.
In elections we have sometimes hoped for Congress and the presidency to be controlled by different parties. Some who cannot bring themselves to vote for Mr Trump but do not care for Mrs Clinton either will opt for that choice. Yet the loss of Congress would increase the chances of a Republican Party reformation that both the party and the United States need.
Hence our vote goes to both Mrs Clinton and her party. Partly because she is not Mr Trump, but also in the hope she can show that ordinary politics works for ordinary people—the sort of renewal that American democracy requires.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Calouste:
We’re still fighting the Civil War.
Iowa Old Lady
I had to turn off the radio in my car today because I couldn’t stand NPR for another second. Then I was embarrassed to find out how difficult it was to drive around in silence with only my own thoughts for company. I used to do that all the time, and found it to be good thinking time. Apparently I need more practice.
Anoniminous
@nonynony:
The interest of the article, to me, is it is openly predicting a faction fight..
Mnemosyne
First World Problem of the Day:
When I got this turkey sandwich yesterday, I forgot to tell them “no sprouts,” so now I’m having to eat soggy, day-old sprouts.
And it’s no use telling me to take them off, because you know how tiny the little bastards are and how they cling to everything.
JPL
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: My point was that the vote always had Brexit up, and stay behind until the end. Our election has always had Hillary up. Trump phrases it just the opposite.
She’s gonna win
Elizabelle
I screwed up the block quote function for the Economist endorsement.
This was from them:
Brachiator
@Anoniminous:
Sorry, this does not compute. Which Congressmen are Trump people?
It is way too soon to speculate how Congress will shake out. Or even what the impact of the election will be on the Republican Party.
Right now, I don’t even see Short Attention Span Trump paying attention to national politics if he loses. And if he wins, god help us, we don’t know which conservative vermin might flock to him for a role in his administration.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@JPL:
Got it – the only reason Trump has stayed behind, though, is because of our greater diversity and increasingly this cycle, because of women.
Feathers
@trollhattan: That is true of almost all law enforcement and the security state. I was born and raised inside the Beltway and when I go back I’m horrified by all the anti-government rantings from federal law enforcement, military and NatSec folks. It’s the worst I hate my job/boss whiner from the worst place you’ve worked, pumped up into a morally righteous froth by Rush and the Fox folks.
And they just love the secrecy. There are always the craziest conspiracy theories and dark doings being whispered about. All of which no one in the lame stream media has the balls to admit to. Of course, they don’t have the balls to tell you where this story came from, just that it was someone who would lose their job if they went on the record with it.
And patriot=Republican. Even when they hold the power of the government, it’s always the Dems screwing things up. I truly think they hate the Clintons so much because they blame them for causing all of the Bush administration disasters. Didn’t you know – if Clinton hadn’t hacked the guts out of the military, we never would have had to invade Iraq!
Sad!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I don’t know, I could see him keeping up the rallies, it’s clearly the part of all this he loves most, and he is vindictive. I think Trump and Obama might be the two X factors in the next couple of years
tobie
@khead: Waving to you from Chesapeake City!! I’m not sure record voting in Elkton, MD is a good thing for the Democrats. My sense is that rural, conservative America has come to look at Trump as its standard bearer. But here’s hoping more Dems came out to vote in Cecil County this time.
Elizabelle
@Iowa Old Lady: After the election, we need to write NPR’s leadership and tell them exactly why we find their reporting to have declined so badly, and why we will no longer fund them.
I heard a tiny snippet in the car yesterday, late afternoon, on Obama’s speech in Chapel Hill. They pivoted from that to discussing that — oh no! — African Americans aren’t turning out for Hillary Clinton.
Correspondent Ed Horsley (??) talked about how Obama’s speech in Chapel Hill, NC might inspire more voting with souls to the polls this weekend.
Folks: early voting closes in North Carolina this Saturday at 1:00 pm. There will be no early voting this Sunday.
Now, it’s possible that Horsley meant “around the country”, but in Virginia and NC, there is a closed window on the Sunday and Monday before the election. What’s it like in your state?
NPR. They can’t find enough Trump supporters to highlight; when I listen, it’s all Trump folks they’re spotlighting, I never hear enthusiastic Clinton supporters, and they’re kind of sloppy with the facts too.
Makes me wonder how much I can trust any of their reporting, very honestly. If we’re seeing such holes in US coverage, why assume they get it right overseas?
Anoniminous
@Brachiator:
Have to ask Roll Call for a definitive answer. My guess is “Trump people” = “people who voted for Trump and elected officials who agree with him.”
JaneE
And it looks like part of this speech may have been plagiarized as well. Instead of plagiarizing the woman she wanted to replace as first lady, she apparently plagiarized the woman she did replace as trophy wife – Marla Maples. Her speech writers must hate her with a passion.
Hungry Joe
I’d go see a band called Valium Lick.
rbnyc
Pop quiz. does Melania’s speech best examplify:
(a) self-absorption and lack of awareness;
(b) wishful fantasy world in which her husband was a nice person
(c) blatant and knowing hypocrisy?
Elizabelle
@Lyrebird: C. U. Next. Tuesday.
Love it.
gogol's wife
@Lyrebird:
Wonderful video! Best one yet!
Brachiator
@Iowa Old Lady:
I sometimes listen to sports talk radio, and fortunately some of the hosts (especially Petros and Money on AM 640 KFI) are funny and know stuff other than sports.
And fortunately, the public radio station out here, KPCC 89.3 has programs like Air Talk which are better than most typical NPR fare.
Shell
Is there a law that if you want to be a Trump surrogate on TV, you must have long blond hair? The women, I mean.
Brachiator
@Anoniminous:
Right now, I don’t think there is any such thing as a Trump person in Congress. No political gain in it, yet.
Elizabelle
@Anoniminous: Republican aides, hmmm?
They’re going to lose the Senate.
We need to turn out our vote and make sure of it.
And turn Daryl Issa’s staff and “investigators” out to pasture too.
geg6
I am not watching a single political show this week with one single extraordinary exception.
Barack Obama on Bill Maher.
gogol's wife
@Iowa Old Lady:
Two words for you: Hamilton cast album. Three words for you.
nonynony
@Anoniminous:
The thing is these factions have been openly fighting since 2006. It’s pretty much what made Boehner’s job impossible (well that and the stupid tactical decision he and McConnell made to just say no to everything Obama and the Dems wanted to try to make him a one-term president).
JPL
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: True
Betty Cracker
@JaneE: For realz? Hahahahaha!
geg6
@Iowa Old Lady:
Put music on. I can’t understand why anyone would listen to NPR, especially in the car. Talk about inducing road rage. Music is much better for your disposition.
trollhattan
@geg6:
He’s finally going on Maher? Maher’s been giving him shit four years for never appearing–lordy I hope he doesn’t go purity pony on him. BTW, the Samantha Bee Obama interview is priceless.
geg6
@Elizabelle:
I have the same advice for you as for IOW. Turn that shit off.
I simply don’t understand watching/listening/fucking funding shit media. They suck. Why do you keep supporting them? They should die the same death that CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and MSNBC are going to die in few years.
M. Bouffant
@rbnyc: All of them, Katie.
shortribs
@Elizabelle:
I really wish the media would focus on that more. We’re, in almost every measurable way, better off than we were 50 years ago. It’s the media’s failure that 80% of Trump supporters think we’re not and that negativity is *everywhere*.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
that may be when Obama finally baits the Shitstain into the final meltdown
geg6
@trollhattan:
There was YouGov petition to get him to appear. LOL!
He was giggling like a little girl when he announced it. I don’t think we have to worry too much about any purity ponies.
Well, maybe some pot questions and why he allowed those dispensary raids early in the first term. But that’s probably it.
jacy
@khead:
Last day of early voting was Tuesday in Louisiana — unprecedented turnout. In EBR Parish, where I am, they said they had an average of 78,000 a day for the week of early voting.
Elizabelle
@geg6: I agree. Done with NPR “news” products, although I find the hourly recap helpful, and like Terry Gross and a few other shows tremendously.
But done with Morning Edition and All Things Considered. They’ve been ruined.
Very happy to be listening to what I find valuable, and not paying NPR a red nickel for any of its “content.” You’re welcome, NPR.
I like classical music, jazz and roots music, so it’s always good to find an NPR station. But Mara Liaison and the rest of their co-opted news team can take a flying leap.
PatrickG
Since Betty mentioned GOTV, must vent briefly. Got a very polite 63 D F in Colorado last night who is leaning Hillary (husband voting Trump), but is just so undecided. Her biggest concerns:
* Hillary doesn’t care about the middle class
* Hillary wants to ship jobs overseas
Handled with kid gloves, because “Lean Hillary”. Not sure how well it went. She seemed very sincere, and wanted to talk about it at length! I tried (gently) to point out that Hillary is going to be much better than Trump (using the standard doesn’t-pay-contractors/has-actually-shipped-jobs-overseas talking points), but just kept running into this wall of “Oh, but he wouldn’t do that as President — that was just business!”.
After, I had to get up and walk around the block twice, because it’s just so goddamn frustrating to run into this kind of dissonance. Just What. The. Fuck.
Oh, also, Hillary hates the police and is “all up in with those Black Lives Matters people”, and Trump has said he loves the police. Why won’t Hillary say she supports the police? ARRRGHHH!
Back to it tonight, and up in Reno for election day. Just needed somewhere sympathetic to vent!
Elizabelle
@PatrickG:
She’s an embarrassed Trump voter. Who will turn out to vote for him, or might not. But she’s full of crap, and wasted your time. She might be an elderly Dem who’s had her ass parked in front of Fox News a little too often.
Good of you to be calling, though.
Calouste
@shortribs: Let’s think about what was different 50 years ago.
JMG
@PatrickG: Too bad. But it sounds as if her husband has been (conversationally only, of course) working her over with the Trump line. That “it was just business” is totally a man’s talking point, not a woman’s.
dww44
@Elizabelle: is there a link to this Economist post? Or do they have their firewall around it?
japa21
In past elections I have liked to follow what is happening during the day, see what turnout is like and then watch the earliest returns.
In 2004 that was a big mistake. In 2008 and 2012 it was a joy because I was so confident in Obama’s victory.
This year, I won’t be able to so because I will be an election judge and by the time we close up shop, get everything put away and I can check into what is happening, there is a good chance the results will already be known. And if not know, at least have a good sense where it is headed.
I think I prefer it this way, specially since I won’t even have time to worry about what is happening.
Betty Cracker
@PatrickG: Kudos to you for your efforts! It can be frustrating, but it’s truly important work. Thank you.
Vhh
@Anoniminous: I love the Republican party so much that I want there to be three of them.
Elizabelle
@dww44: Got it by email, and can’t get it to give me a link.
So, here’s the whole of The Economist endorsement of Hillary Clinton.
America’s best hope
tobie
Just breezed past CNN on the TV and they were saying that African-American turnout in FL and NC was still significantly down, whereas white turnout was soaring. I knew that was a problem earlier in the week but I thought the tide had turned some.
I don’t know what to make of polls these days. Different firms have wildly different predictions.
D58826
@SiubhanDuinne: to prervent a run on them a bit of news from KOS:Pollster.com just moved election for Pres and Senate strongly out of GOP chance. Wang now at ~100%
Gin & Tonic
@dww44: Here you go.
Drunkenhausfrau
I want a Valium lick, too. Kickstarter product?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I don’t know what’s more bizarre, the fact that the Trump campaign apparently sincerely belief that Melania can make a difference, or MSNBC breathlessly cheering them on in that odd belief.
Miss Bianca
@gogol’s wife: When I wasn’t listening to audiobooks these past four or five weeks in the car, the “Hamilton” cast album was my go-to listen, Hand aufs Herz…
Elizabelle
@tobie: I wonder if African American turnout might be down due to Hurricane Matthew’s effects (Florida and North Carolina, especially). Or — and does effing NPR or anyone else ever go there — voter suppression since Big Chief Roberts and his conservatives overturned the Voting Rights provisions?
And take heart — a lot of those white voters are women who could not vote for Hillary fast enough. I think they are going to vote us the Senate, too.
This election has taught us (so far) that the Republican party is fatally wounded, as is Big Media. Self-inflicted wounds. Money over accuracy and patriotism.
Elizabelle
@Gin & Tonic: Thank you. Isn’t it odd that the link just reads economist.com?
Also, FWIW, the NY Times has announced it will make its Election Day coverage accessible to everyone.
You had to pay to endure all the Clinton-shaming and Foundation-rumor mongering, though.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Elizabelle
The NY Times press release:
Oh goodie. People who cancelled their subscriptions in disgust with your crack-addled political team — particularly the Hillary hit squad — and moronic new “Public Editor” can mainline your product, for 72 exciting hours.
Anyway, enjoy. K-Thug and lots of good arts and culture and travel stuff.
nonynony
@tobie:
Okay so yesterday someone (and now I can’t remember who – some journalist) on Twitter was saying that African-American raw numbers were up in NC over 2012, but that as a percentage of the early voting they were lower than in 2012.
If this is correct then ALL OF THE REPORTING ABOUT LOWER AFRICAN-AMERICAN TURNOUT IS MEANINGLESS. What this means is that more people are turning to early voting for whatever reason. Possibly because of overall GOTV efforts, possibly because they expect Tuesday to be a clusterf*ck and want to get it out of the way, possibly because of some other reason.
I want to know more about this story – if overall early voting turnout is up then reporting on differences in percentages between
’12 and this year is pointless. Other than to scare the crap out of Democrats and get them to turn out and vote, I guess.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Steve Schale (I think an ex-Obama staffer) has been keeping people pretty nervous about FL, that looks like some good news
gogol's wife
So no oppo dump today? I keep checking for it. I was hoping for that FSB tape of the little party in the Ukraina (although I’m sure he’d stay somewhere classier).
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@gogol’s wife: Heh, just checked Liz Mair’s and Rick Wilson’s twitters since they’ve been coyly teasing these big stories but won’t spill, but Wilson had these
glory b
@Elizabelle: I’ll give a shout out to “On Point” and BBC World News on npr.
But still, not one red cent.
Kay
So of course the FBI came down on the side of keeping base Republicans happy, because who cares about the other 75% of the public? They knew we wouldn’t kick up a big fuss.
The kowtowing to the screaming toddlers on the Right continues.
Elizabelle
@glory b: Yes! “On Point.” I like what I hear of that.
Gawd. Do you think this is a case of NPR giving us a show we like, because they realize how much their flagship morning and evening news shows have jumped the shark? Their trying to be all things to all people?
Anyway, thanks NPR, for a free show I like and feel no responsibility to fund, whatsoever.
JMG
@tobie: This is not true. AA turnout has been increasing in NC because now more polling places are open. It’s still down but rising. Same for AA turnout in FL which has been moving closer to its percentage of registered voters in the last few days. No Democrat in either state thought it’d match turnout from the Obama elections, On the bright side, a disproportionate percentage, almost 55 percent, of early voters in FL have been women.
jenn
@Elizabelle: My understanding in NC is that the voter suppression tactics have had a real impact. Precisely how much impact they will end up having by the end of election day – who knows. From what I’ve heard, NC decided to gouge early voting in black/Democratic areas – that ended up getting ruled against, and early voting was reinstated to the same number of hours that there were in 2012 in those areas – however, the number of polling places was often reduced. So they may be open the same number of hours, but a lot of people are having to travel farther. For example, the student vote so far is evidently way down this election – Duke University used to have early voting actually on campus – now it’s a 20 minute bus ride.
Not sure about Florida.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Kay:
I think that’s in large part because the (a big chunk of the) FBI agrees with the toddlers. And they’re armed. It’s extremely disturbing – it’s like we live in a banana republic except with shitty weather and no beaches.
Than you for your eloquently stated righteous indignation on this Kay. How’s the early vote turnout up your way? It’s been a little down in numbers here from 2012, but considering losing a week of voting days, it feels more robust. I have a 12-4 shift Saturday observing at the BoE.
jenn
@JMG: Yes, I’d heard this too, that more polling places were opening up, and numbers were increasing. Plus, I don’t know how many folks it will amount to, but elsewhere I’m certainly hearing more about Hispanic previously unlikely voters who are voting. Hopefully that will continue!
gorram
@Calouste: Arguably isn’t that because the UK has a big divide between English (or sufficiently similar) White people, celtic White people (either living on ancestral land like the Scottish, Welsh, and some of the northern Irish, or displaced by English colonialism into other parts of the UK), and the miscellaneous bag of all other White people (everyone from Bulgarians to French people).
The voting dynamics of none of those groups is really equivalent to people of color in the US, of course, but the idea that nothing like US-style racial and ethnic voting blocs exist within the UK seems to miss that racial categories don’t exactly work the same over there.
Brachiator
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: This big story stuff has less impact when you get to the days before the election. More people look at this as dirty tricks and deliberate attempts to anger and confuse voters.
cmorenc
My wife insisted last night on keeping CNN running on the teevee while she caught up on some electronic paperwork for her medical practice. I escaped by taking an hour and a half trip to the grocery store, not returning until an hour I was sure she would have gone to bed. Just before I left, she was freaking out over the upcoming election – CNN’s theme was “the polls are tightening” like a drumbeat. I replied as I was on my way out the door: “CNN is trying their best to portray this election as a thrilling horse race to glue you to your teevee”.
Gin & Tonic
@Elizabelle: I am a paying subscriber, so I’m not sure my URL’s will work for everyone.
Enhanced Voting Techinques
,.. listen to Donald Trump lecture Bill Clinton about sexual morality?
But I am sure the real reazon for this is like the FBI leak – to gove the moderate conservatives their excuse for voting for Trump.
waysel
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I assume Michelle will give that same speech word for word. It would be hilarious.
hovercraft
@tobie: @Elizabelle:
The AA vote is down in terms of percentage, but is up in terms of the total raw vote. ’08 and ’12 were record turnouts for the AA community for obvious reasons, for the media and everyone else to suddenly wake up to the fact that AA’ are not as excited by Hillary as they were for Obama is disingenuous. The Latino vote is at record numbers in the early vote for some reason, maybe because they have a historic incentive this time to make their voices heard. Last time you had black people willing to line up for hours or even days if necessary because it meant something to us personally, as no election ever mattered to us before, for many Latinos this year is that for them, and they are voting for what it means for their families and communities.
From GOS
1,000 Flouncing Lurkers (was fidelioscabinet)
Betty, we’ve discussed the valium lick extensively at my workplace, and we concluded it would be unsanitary. We decided a gumball machine, full of those little two-piece plastic things loaded up with appropriate medication instead of cheap little plastic toys would be a better bet–it might even be self-funding.
GrandJury
Was subject to CNN in a public place today for a few minutes where I had no option but to listen. It was wall to wall Trump this Trump that. What crazy thing did Trump say. It was all anger, fear, and negativity. His speeches, the supporters.
Really crazy rhetoric from people they interviewed like saying that Hillary should be killed. That if the tangerine ballsack doesn’t win there will be riots blah blah. I know it’s just rhetoric but still made me ill. CNN was just lapping it up. A few more minutes and I’m sure the next story was probably Hillary’s emails.
I nice landslide victory will shut them up quick.
Jeffro
@Anoniminous:
The only problem with that scenario in Roll Call is, Paul Ryan and John Kasich won’t have a wing (or anything else in the GOP), period, and Rubio will just suck up to/fall in line behind the Trump/Cruz/Cotton triumvirate.
The Tea Party ate the GOP. Who’d a thunkit?
Elizabelle
I hope CNN’s reputation takes an enormous hit for all the pain and misinformation and anxiety they have inflicted on us. MSNBC seems to be only slightly better (although it sounds as though they air PBO and Hillary and FLOTUS events in full, in addition to whatever wall to wall Trump they’re doing).
This has been a disgrace. Cable TV news deserves the woodshed.
It’s so lovely not to watch them, or even check their website. I hear plenty from you all!
Jeffro
@Brachiator:
True, but it’s fun, so let’s keep at it!
Well, for that, here’s a pretty spot-on take: Trump can (will) happen again.
Jamelle Bouie seems to have nailed it.
I think we’ll see a mostly-settled-but-with-some-flare-ups truce between the Cruz/Ernst/Cotton (still actually in the party) and Trump/Bannon/Kushner (outside the party, busy “monetizing” their voter contact lists and jerking the GOPs chain as necessary). Kasich and Ryan have nowhere to go.
Peale
@1,000 Flouncing Lurkers (was fidelioscabinet): I don’t know. the public valium lick would probably be just as sanitary as a salt lick. All the viruses and bacteria in contact with it will become benign. It won’t kill them. But virulent viruses will just not give a care about doing the angry parts of their jobs.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Elizabelle: I turned on MSNBC long enough to hear Katrina Vanden Heuvel say that CNN reported a record billion dollar profit recently, and she chalked that up to Trump. I take some heart when I remember when Bill O’Reilly was bragging about his ratings and Rachel Maddow did a great segment on all the cable shows/networks that get higher ratings than O’Reilly, including the cooking channel, the real estate porn channel, and Sweet Honey Boo-Boo.
Shorter me: Most of the country still has no idea who Katrina Pierson is.
Jeffro
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I think you’re entirely right – Trump can and will keep doing his “Rage-a-Paloozas” for years, flitting in from rally to rally a couple times a week and calling in to Morning Ho most days. It’s what he does best and it’ll direct people to his & Bannon’s new media thing.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
also, too, this:
Peale
@Elizabelle: We the post-elections “winners and losers” articles are written up after the election, CNN is one of the biggest losers. When they hosted debates they were awful and their moderators were uniformed. They made a joke out of the debate process, especially in the GOP primaries. Yeah, the candidates didn’t help, but it was clear that they thought their role was to get them fighting with each other more than anythings else. They are not a serious news organization at all, and people still think they are in the same way people think there is still meat in fast food hamburgers now because there used to be meat there 30 years ago.
Elizabelle
@Peale: Agreed. re the Debates and their promo spots: It was amazing they didn’t have the candidates in wrestling jerseys, with a vat of Jello in the background.
#so over CNN
Elizabelle
New thread up.
WaterGirl
@Lyrebird: Great video, it might just be the best one yet.
@Elizabelle: Are you sure you didn’t mean C. U. Next. Tuesday? :-)
Kathleen
@Iowa Old Lady: I stopped listening to NPR months ago. My drive time is much more relaxing. I do not miss it one bit.
Kathleen
@Elizabelle: I’m all for defunding them. They tongue bathed Bernie during the primaries too.
KithKanan
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Speak for yourself. Great weather and nice beaches here, though you’re gonna want a wetsuit if you stay in the water any length of time.
Matt
@trollhattan:
In the interest of bipartisan comity, President-Elect Clinton should offer the FBI Trumpkins a one-time amnesty: resign now and you get to keep your pension. They’ve already demonstrated they’re fundamentally unqualified for a career in law enforcement.
Karmus
Band name!
Singing Truth to Power
I am unable to watch or listen to MSNBC or CNN right now, and being a bit of a TV junky, network pap is all I can have on. However, I have to say that the Clinton commercials running in Wisconsin are terrific – compilations of Donald’s bile. Very effective. I am also cheered by the polling group which reports that 28% of early-voting Republicans in Florida voted for Clinton. 6% of Dems voted Trump.