The Washington Post offers tips on how to keep your EV battery running in frigid temperatures. The link at the end of this graf is supposed to be a "gift link" (from me, Marie Burns, the giftor!), meaning that non-subscribers can read the article. Hope it works: https://wapo.st/3u8Z705
Monday
Aug012016
The Commentariat -- August 2, 2016
Afternoon Update:
** Michael Shear of the New York Times: "In his strongest denunciation of Donald J. Trump so far, President Obama on Tuesday said Mr. Trump was 'unfit to serve as president' and urged the leaders of the Republican Party to withdraw their backing for his candidacy. Mr. Obama said the Republican criticisms of Mr. Trump 'ring hollow' if the party's leaders continue to support his bid for the presidency this fall, particularly in light of Republican criticisms of Mr. Trump for his attacks on the Muslim parents of an American soldier, Humayun Khan, who died in Iraq.... Mr. Obama said that ... Mr. Trump ... had demonstrated that he was 'woefully unprepared to do this job.' The president said Mr. Trump lacked knowledge about Europe, the Middle East and Asia." -- CW ...
... C-SPAN has video of the full joint press conference, held with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
David Goodman & Al Baker of the New York Times: "William J. Bratton, the commissioner of the New York Police Department and the most widely recognized face in American policing, will step down next month to take a job in the private sector, ending a 45-year career in public life that spanned the country, from Boston to Los Angeles, and that reshaped the image of what a police commander could be." -- CW ...
... Amber Jamieson of the Guardian: "Protesters in New York City began occupying the park next to city hall in Manhattan on Monday, declaring they would not leave until police commissioner Bill Bratton was fired. Organized by Millions March NYC, a group affiliated with Black Lives Matter movement, the #ShutDownCityHallNYC protest has been inspired by protesters setting up encampments in public spaces in Chicago and Los Angeles to fight for the abolition of the police." CW: Hmm, nothing about this is the Times story. But then the Times often doesn't think protests are news fit to print.
Julie Zauzmer of the Washington Post: "In May, Pope Francis remarked that the Catholic Church should study whether women could be 'reinstated' as deacons -- a proposal that could introduce a role for women in the Catholic clergy that has been open only to men for centuries. On Tuesday, he made good on that comment.... The Vatican announced the members of the new Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women...." -- CW
Air Force mom attacked by Trump supporters: Matthew Nussbaum of Politico: Catherine Byrne, "stood before [a] crowd of hundreds at a town hall-style event [in Carson City, Nevada] with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and announced that her son serves in the Air Force. The crowd applauded. But then the woman said, 'Time and time again, [Donald] Trump has disrespected our nation's armed forces and veterans. And his disrespect for Mr. Khan ... ' The reaction of the crowd was immediate and fierce, drowning out her words.... [Byrne] continued to speak through the jeers." Akhilleus: Anyone wondering if Trump's continued attacks against a Gold Star mother bothered the stormtrumpers has their answer. There will be no questioning of der Führer. Achtung!
Trees and Rotten Apples: Little Eric Trump appeared on CBS morning to further rip the Khans and lie some more. Surprised? David Wright of CNN: "Eric Trump defended his father Tuesday from criticism for his treatment of the family of a slain Muslim US soldier and said that he had already apologized to the Khans and Gold Star families -- despite the fact that the senior Trump has pointedly declined to apologize. Appearing on 'CBS This Morning,' Trump was pressed about his father's lack of apology for his criticism of the Khan family, even amid stinging bipartisan condemnation for his remarks." Akhilleus: Another proficient Trump liar. Even better, little Eric began the segment by implying that the Khans were ruthless for "attacking" daddy. A bit later, in response to a question about sexual harrassment in the workplace, especially if it involved his sister, Ivanka, Trump sniffed that she would never allow herself to be "objected" to such a thing. Another English scholar.
Not just an excuse: Trump's declaration that the upcoming election will be rigged is a lot more than just a cover for losing: Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Meanwhile, longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone is explicitly encouraging Trump to make this case to his supporters. 'I think we have widespread voter fraud, but the first thing that Trump needs to do is begin talking about it constantly,' Stone told a friendly interviewer, adding that Trump should start saying this: 'If there's voter fraud, this election will be illegitimate, the election of the winner will be illegitimate, we will have a constitutional crisis, widespread civil disobedience, and the government will no longer be the government.'" Akhilleus: What Trump and Stone are trying to arrange with their scheme is nothing short of treason. Republicans have been trying to deligitimize any government run by or even with Democratic input. This goes far beyond that. This is preparation for an uprising and for directing supporters to ignore the rule of law in favor of anarchy and the Rule of Trump.
*****
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama said on Monday that his administration had made strides in turning around the veterans health care system, highlighting a decline in the number of veterans facing long waits for doctor visits. The president acknowledged that many veterans remained frustrated by the health care bureaucracy, calling continued delays in seeing doctors 'inexcusable.' And he said the country needed to do more to help economically struggling veterans. But veteran homelessness, he said, has been cut almost in half since 2010, when the administration outlined a national strategy on the issue. He vowed to continue working with states and cities toward 'ending the tragedy, the travesty of veterans' homelessness.'" -- CW ...
Adam Goldman of the Washington Post: "A longtime FBI employee with top-secret clearances pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of China and providing officials in that country with sensitive information, prosecutors announced Monday. Kun Shan Chun was secretly arrested in March and held on charges of lying repeatedly about his contacts in China, who lavished him with prostitutes, cash and expensive hotel rooms, according to the criminal complaint." -- CW
Presidential Race
Eric Bradner of CNN: "Jeb Bush's top adviser, Sally Bradshaw, has left the Republican Party to become an independent, and says if the presidential race in Florida is close, she'll vote for Hillary Clinton. Bradshaw, who's been close to the former Florida governor for decades and was senior adviser to his 2016 campaign, officially switched her registration to unaffiliated. She told CNN's Jamie Gangel in an email interview that the GOP is 'at a crossroads and have nominated a total narcissist -- a misogynist -- a bigot.'" -- CW ...
... Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "In a scathing letter read on CNN, Sally Bradshaw, who co-authored an RNC report showing what went wrong in the 2012 election [-- CW: the so-called 'GOP autopsy report' --] said she would hold her nose and vote for ... Hillary Clinton if the election is close.... 'As much as I don't want another four years of Obama's policies, I can't look my children in the eye and tell them I voted for Donald Trump,' she wrote. 'I can't tell them to love their neighbor and treat others the way they wanted to be treated, and then vote for Donald Trump.'" -- CW
Trump Sets Up His General Election Loss. Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "Donald Trump on Monday took his complaints about the 'rigged' political system one step further. 'I'm afraid the election's going to be rigged. I have to be honest,' Trump told voters in Ohio, a crucial swing state....Trump added that he has heard 'more and more' that the November election will be rigged -- suggesting to his supporters that the outcome of the election is out of the hands of voters." -- CW ...
... Update. Greg Sargent: "It is perhaps not a coincidence that Trump has suddenly stopped tweeting about polls (which are now showing Clinton taking a meaningful lead) at precisely the moment that he is escalating his efforts to cast doubt, in advance, on the legitimacy of the general election's outcome. Trump and his supporters have now said in a series of new public remarks that the outcome of the election is likely to be 'rigged.'... It's also about delegitimizing the Hillary Clinton presidency, should she win. Indeed, it bears recalling the GOP convention itself was to no small degree framed around this idea." -- CW
Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump unabashedly trumpeted his support for warmer relations with Russia at a campaign rally [in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania,] on Monday night, acidly mocking opponents who say he is too friendly to Vladimir V. Putin, the country's strongman president.... Mr. Trump also reiterated his view that NATO, the security alliance formed as a bulwark against the Soviet Union, was 'obsolete.'... He derided Mrs. Clinton at length and accused her Democratic primary opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, of having made a 'deal with the devil' to support her in the general election. 'She's the devil,' Mr. Trump said of Mrs. Clinton." -- CW ...
... A Neville Chamberlain for Our Times. David Graham of the Atlantic: "Speaking on Monday in Columbus, Ohio, Donald Trump delivered a new series of head-spinning remarks. Most notably, Trump defended controversial comments he made about Ukraine and Crimea over the weekend, and he preemptively questioned the legitimacy of the elections, suggesting that the election might be 'rigged.'... 'So when I said, "Believe me, Russia's not going into Ukraine...." The person said, "But they're already in Ukraine,"' Trump said. 'I said, "Yeah, that was two years ago." You want to go back? You want to have World War III to get it back?'" ...
... CW: No, that's not what Trump said. Not at all. It was crystal-clear in the interview that Trump had no idea Russia had taken control of part of Ukraine "two years ago." Or ever. He doesn't seem to know Crimea is -- or was -- part of Ukraine. Trump promised, "He's not going into Ukraine, OK? Just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down and you can put it down, you can take it anywhere you want." When George Stephanopoulos said, "... he's already there, isn't he?" Trump replied,
OK, well, he's there in a certain way, but I'm not there yet. You have Obama there. And frankly, that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama, with all the strength that you're talking about and all of the power of NATO and all of this, in the meantime, he's going where -- he takes -- takes Crimea, he's sort of -- I mean
Well, [Vladimir Putin has] done an amazing job of taking the mantle. And he's taken it away from the president [Obama?? Ukraine didn't have a president at the time], and you look at what he's doing. And so smart. When you see the riots in a country because they're hurting the Russians, okay, 'We'll go and take it over.' And he really goes step by step by step, and you have to give him a lot of credit. Interestingly, I own the Miss Universe pageant. We just left Moscow. He could not have been nicer. He was so nice and so everything. But you have to give him credit that what he's doing for that country in terms of their world prestige is very strong. -- Donald Trump, on Fox "News," April 2014
Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "In an interview with a local Ohio television station on Monday, Donald Trump said that Khizr Khan was really bothered by his position on border security -- specifically his promise to keep radical Islamic terrorists from entering the country.... [Trump said,] 'And border security's very big. And when you have radical Islamic terrorists probably all over the place, we're allowing them to come in by the thousands and thousands. And I think that's what bothered Mr. Khan more than anything else.'" CW: See also stories linked today & yesterday about Trump surrogates claiming Khan is a secret member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Trump doesn't go that far, but that's what he means, wink, wink. ...
... Richard Cowan & David Morgan of Reuters: "Donald Trump's presidential campaign appealed to Capitol Hill for support on Monday as his attacks on the Muslim parents of a decorated American soldier killed in Iraq drew sharp rebukes from fellow party members." -- CW ...
... Scott Horsley of NPR: "In an implicit rebuke of Donald Trump, President Obama praised the nation's Gold Star families, saying those who've lost loved ones in military service are 'a powerful reminder of the true strength of America.' 'No one has given more for our freedom and our security than our Gold Star families,' Obama said Monday, in a speech to the Disabled American Veterans in Atlanta. 'Our Gold Star families have made a sacrifice that most of us cannot even begin to imagine.'... While Obama did not cite Trump by name Monday, there was no mistaking the target of his remarks.... The president also took a veiled swipe at Trump for criticizing America's military readiness. Back in January..., [Trump] said the U.S. military was 'a disaster,' and last month he told a Virginia TV station 'we have a military that's depleted and in horrible shape.' Obama told the veterans group, 'I'm pretty tired of some folks trash talking America's military and troops.'" -- CW ...
... Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "A bipartisan constellation of decorated combat veterans, members of Congress and family members of slain soldiers admonished Donald Trump on Monday for criticizing the Muslim American parents of an Army officer killed in Iraq, threatening to undermine Trump's support among core Republican voters. The condemnations by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and dozens of veterans and family members of those killed in the line of duty served as the most forceful rebuke yet of the mogul's comments and his anti-Muslim rhetoric.... A bipartisan coalition of veterans, family members of military personnel killed in the line of duty, a veteran serving in Congress and an ex-diplomat sent a letter to Trump calling his criticism of the Khans an affront to each of them. It also called for him to apologize." -- CW ...
... Margaret Hartmann has a good overview of Trump's latest slanders of the Kahns & on Republicans' reactions (and non-reactions). -- CW ...
... And Away We Go! Judd Legum of Think Progress: "New Hampshire [State] Representative Al Baldasaro..., co-chair of the Trump campaign for veterans' issues..., told ThinkProgress that he believes Khizr Khan ... is an agent of the Muslim Brotherhood. Baldasaro explained that he believes Khan has 'long ties to the Clinton and Obama campaign.' That is damning because 'in the White House there is the Muslim Brotherhood.' Baldasaro suggested 'looking it up on the internet' for more information. There is no evidence that Khan had any connection to Clinton or Obama prior to agreeing to speak at the Democratic convention.... Last month, Baldasaro called on Hillary Clinton to be executed by firing squad and refused to apologize." -- CW ...
... The Sacrifices of the Donald, Elaborated. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump surrogate Scottie Nell Hughes defended the GOP hopeful over the weekend after he came under fire for appearing to equate the death of a soldier in the Iraq war to 'sacrifices' he made during his business career.... 'Is creating a job considered a sacrifice?' CNN host Fredricka Whitfield wondered. 'You know what, creating jobs caused him to be at work, which cost him two marriages,' Hughes asserted. 'Time away from his family to sit there and invest.'" (Emphasis added.)
... CW: Now I feel terrible about being so mean to Trump. ... Okay, I'm over it. Let's go to #DonaldTrumpTheMovie.
Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "The investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett unleashed a withering attack on Donald J. Trump on Monday for refusing to release his tax returns, asserting he had something to hide, and for misleading voters about his success as a businessman and ability to improve the American economy. Mr. Buffett, known to investors as the Sage of Omaha, said a monkey throwing darts at the stock pages in 1995, when Mr. Trump first offered stock in his Atlantic City hotels, would have come out far ahead of anyone who listened to Mr. Trump's 'siren song' and invested in his company that lost money year over year.... Mr. Buffett appeared at a rally with Hillary Clinton..., in his hometown, Omaha. Taking on Mr. Trump, he pledged to personally transport 10 Nebraskans to the polls on Election Day on behalf of Mrs. Clinton and urged others to do the same." -- CW ...
... Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: Warren Buffett challenged Donald Trump to a tax release "duel." "'I'll bring my return, he'll bring his return, we're both under audit,' Buffett said.... 'He's not afraid because of the IRS, he's afraid because of you, he [told the crowd at the Clinton rally].... In addition..., Buffett criticized [Trump] for suggesting that "building a bunch of buildings" is a sacrifice like the one made by the families of fallen soldiers. 'I ask Donald Trump: Have you no sense of decency sir?'" -- CW ...
... CW: Reporters suggested yesterday that Hillary Clinton's trip to Omaha in search of a single Electoral College vote was a bit of a fool's errand. Evidently not.
Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump reveled in The Washington Post's recent fact check [linked here yesterday] of Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, tweeting a video and alleging that the Democratic nominee has lied on multiple occasions about her use of private email while secretary of state. 'The Washington Post calls out #CrookedHillary for what she REALLY is. A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR! Watch that nose grow!' Trump said in tweeting a 60-second video from the campaign featuring footage of Clinton denying wrongdoing, the nose on a cartoon version of Clinton at the bottom of the screen grows precipitously." ...
... CW: Thanks, Hillary, for forcing me to agree, at least in part, with Both-Sides-Do-It King Ron Fournier: "I'm not angry at Trump; I expect him to be repugnant. I am angry at Clinton, because she followed up her convention with another unnecessary lie; another excuse for people to distrust her...." Politifact, BTW, also gave Clinton a Pants-on-Fire rating for her false claim on Fox "News" that "FBI director James 'Comey said my answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people.'" A commenter today wrote, "... she's made mistakes but I believe she learns from them." No, she doesn't. And her failure to learn creates openings for Donald Trump, of all people, to credibly call her a pathological liar.
<'>Brian Stelter of CNN Money: "By the looks of Donald Trump's Twitter feed, you might think he is running against CNN, not Hillary Clinton. On Monday afternoon Trump fired off six tweets in a row attacking CNN's news coverage and accusing the network of being the 'press shop for Hillary Clinton.'" -- CW ...
You look at The New York Times, I mean, the fail [[ I call it 'The Failing New York Times' because it won't be in business for another, probably more than a few years unless somebody goes in and buys it and wants to lose a lot of money. But The New York Times is so unfair. I mean they write three, four articles about me a day. No matter how good I do on something, they'll never write good.... They don't write good. They have people over there, like Maggie Haberman and others, they don't -- they don't write good. They don't know how to write good. -- Donald Trump, on Sean Hannity's show, Monday
For one thing, Haberman seldom confuses a common adjective with a common adverb, and if she does, she doesn't repeat it five times in short succession. -- Constant Weader ...
... Because They Don't Write Good... Kelsey Sutton of Politico: "Donald Trump suggested that his campaign may take away press credentials from The New York Times, his latest attack on the media over the course of his presidential campaign. At a campaign event in Columbus, Ohio, Monday..., [Trump] called the Times' coverage of him 'very dishonest' and suggested adopting the same ban on the newspaper as he has on The Washington Post. Trump revoked the Post's press credentials in June after the newspaper published an article critical of Trump's statements about a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida." -- CW
New York Times Editors: "... even as [Donald Trump] creates a political whirlwind with each utterance, leading members of his own party haven't the spine to rescind their support. Sure, some have come out with strong criticisms, but none have gone far enough. Repudiation of his candidacy is the only principled response." -- CW ...
... Mark Weiner of the Syracuse (New York) Post-Standard: "U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, a three-term Republican, said Tuesday he will vote for Hillary Clinton for president because Donald Trump is 'unfit to serve our party and cannot lead this country.' Hanna becomes the first Republican member of Congress to publicly declare he will vote for Clinton in November." -- CW ...
... Here is Hanna's letter to the Post-Standard explaining his decision.
Robert Kagan in a Washington Post op-ed: "The fact that Trump could not help himself, that he clearly did, as he said, want to 'hit' everyone who spoke against him at the Democratic convention, suggests that there really is something wrong with the man.... The man cannot control himself ... even when it is manifestly in his interest to do so.... His psychological pathologies are ultimately self-destructive.... What we have seen in the Trump campaign is ... a personality defect that has had the effect of stirring up anger. And because it is a defect and not a tactic, it would continue to affect Trump's behavior in the White House." -- CW
Dana Milbank: "Donald Trump's long-tortured relationship with the truth is nearing a point of total estrangement.... Journalists hesitate to call these falsehoods 'lies' because it's hard to know whether ignorance or malice is to blame. But in Trump's case, there's a third possibility that is particularly alarming: He may not be able to tell fact from fiction.... In March, Politico analyzed a week's worth of Trump's words and found that he averaged one misstatement every five minutes." -- CW ...
... Jim Fallows also runs down a shortlist of Trump's recent calumnies & foibles: "I want to steer clear of 'medicalizing' discussion of Trump's fantasies, his microscopically thin skin, his seemingly uncontrollable outbursts. I have no idea whether we're seeing his basic personality and temperament, or something else. And from a civic perspective, it doesn't matter. Either he doesn't know the difference between truth and falsehood, or he knows it and does not care. Either is a big problem in a president. Either way, something is wrong with him." -- CW ...
... Yeah, Trump Lies about Everything. Steve Eder & Dave Philipps of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump's public statements about his draft experience sometimes conflict with his Selective Service records, and he is often hazy in recalling details." For instance, "In a 2011 television interview, Mr. Trump described watching the draft lottery as a college student and learning then that he would not be drafted. 'I'll never forget...,' he said in the interview, on Fox 5 New York. 'I was going to the Wharton School of Finance, and I was watching as they did the draft numbers, and I got a very, very high number.' But Mr. Trump had graduated from Wharton 18 months before the lottery -- the first in the United States in 27 years -- was held." -- CW ...
... No, Trump Can't Let Go Any Criticism. On July 29, 2016, Donald Trump made an extended excuse for attempting to imitate the effects of reporter Serge Kovaleski's physical disability. Glenn Kessler runs down the lies in Trump proffers in his self-defense, including the Big Lie -- that he didn't mock Kovaleski.
It remains a mystery why Trump feels to need to revisit past controversies, particularly ones that reflect poorly on his tenor and judgment. But, as the evidence shows, Trump clearly mocked Kovaleski -- who in any case never 'groveled' [as Trump claimed] or in any way took back his reporting [as Trump also claimed]. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post
... Steve M. is unimpressed over all the sturm und drang over Trump's mistreatment of the Kahns: "By November, no voter is going to say, 'I would have voted for Trump, but he attacked those Muslim Gold Star parents; -- either you were already disgusted by Trump's hatemongering or you're incapable of seeing people like the Khans as human. And if you're in the latter category, you're in the majority of white Americans -- which is the real problem." The video Steve posts in an update is instructive. ...
... CW: I think Trump's attack on the Kahns will make a difference, albeit a small one. Steve is right on the minutiae, and he's right about the press's (and, incidentally, my )overreaction. But most of the stories about Trump's instability & his lies don't trickle down to disinterested voters. However, each individual story of Trump's Barbarity of the Day increases the odds a low-info voter will get wind of a Trump atrocity, and that atrocity could repel the voter. For some conservative voters who are paying attention, there will be a cumulative effect of story after story that reveals Trump's pathology. After awhile, a decent conservative is going to hit a tipping point, just as Jeb!'s advisor Sally Bradshaw did.
Danielle Keeton-Olsen of TPM: "Donald Trump's efforts to make the Republican National Convention 'unlike any we've ever seen' produced an unexpected first: the first time more voters came away from a convention less likely to vote for the party's nominee than they were to support him or her, according to Gallup. Gallup has surveyed on this question since 1984, and the 2016 GOP convention was the first time where a candidate ended up in negative territory.... ... In direct contrast, 45 percent say they are more likely to vote for Hillary Clinton based on what they saw of the Democratic National Convention, with 41 percent saying the opposite." -- CW ...
... Jeffrey Jones of Gallup: "Trump's speech was rated less positively than any Gallup has asked about since 1996. The positive rating of [Hillary] Clinton's speech is slightly below the historical average of 47%, but similar to Barack Obama's 2012 acceptance speech.... Also, Obama's job approval rating is now up to 54%, tied for the highest it has been since early 2013." CW: So more people watched Trump's speech than Clinton's (possibly because he asked supporters not to tune in to Clinton's speech), but Trump turned them off. Great strategy, Donaldovich. Guess what? Nobody dumb enough to follow your instructions is likely to vote for Hillary Clinton anyway.
Jonathan Chait thinks he has found "the craziest endorsement of Trump yet." It comes from Hugh Hewitt, who argues that "'Hillary Clinton is thoroughly compromised by the Russians,' because Russia has hacked her emails, and thus, 'Hillary is already a Putin pawn.' On planet Earth, the evidence that Trump is compromised by Putin is vast.... If you care at all about Russian influence in American politics, Trump is ... the most alarming major-party candidate in history by a huge margin. It is also clear to reporters who follow the subject closely that Putin loathes Hillary Clinton." -- CW
News Ledes
Reuters: "A Syrian rescue service operating in rebel-held territory said on Tuesday a helicopter dropped containers of toxic gas overnight on a town close to where a Russian military helicopter had been shot down hours earlier. The opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) accused President Bashar al-Assad of being behind the attack. Assad has denied previous accusations of using chemical weapons." -- CW
Washington Post: "Federal health authorities on Monday urged pregnant women not to visit a South Florida neighborhood where new cases of the Zika virus have emerged, the first time officials have warned against travel to part of the continental United States due to the outbreak of an infectious disease." -- CW
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Reader Comments (30)
I just had to finally say this, contrary to everyone else it seems, I found HRC's acceptance speech at the Convention to be excellent. It did everything I wanted, told me what she wanted to do, a few hows and whys, and I thought she spoke well about herself and her history without being a self adulating crazy person. I have belatedly listened to Shields and Brooks and they drove me crazy with the "She doesn't connect emotionally". What does that mean? I'm not voting for a grandma to come live with me. HRC seems serious, thoughtful, deep, a details person who hates talking about herself. She knows stuff. She does stuff. I don't understand what people possibly mean when they say "But who is the real Hillary?" Like Bill said, she's right there in front of us every day, knowing stuff and doing stuff. I don't care about her damned emails, I care that she's made mistakes but I believe she learns from them. I want someone intelligent, capable, thoughtful, and experienced to lead the country, and have a positive influence in an increasingly complex world.
Before the Convention I was cool, but now feel at ease with Hillary.
Gloria--I couldn't agree more (except about being cool before the convention). The media seems to have decided to push the theme of Hillary not connecting emotionally in defiance of the significance of this "flaw", as well as the facts. Brooks was especially irritating a couple of months ago when he said in his dismissive tone that it just doesn't seem like a big deal that we have a woman as nominee. Maybe not to you, Mr. Brooks. But as a privileged white male, you really don't get to tell us what is or is not exciting and momentous about this
achievement.
We are making some progress. The Kagan and Milbank articles are approaching reality. 'Really something wrong with this man', 'He may not be able to tell fact from fiction'. Yea! Now I am beginning to wonder if Trump changes his story from one day to the next because anything he says today is the truth or he doesn't remember what he said yesterday. Well, the good news is we have about 100 more days of abnormal behavior before the election. Maybe someone at the right level will finally tell the truth.
Thank you, Gloria and Nadd2. I am also tired of the lukewarmness toward Hillary. I listened to people at work yesterday who hate trumpenator, and then they turn around and say they don't like Hillary either. I also don't care about the dang emails, and Benghaaaaazi was certainly a meeting of unfortunate circumstances but she didn't kill the ambassador who went there against better judgement. Enough already about how people just aren't falling in love with her. That's not why we are hopefully electing her.
@Gloria: I've been with Hillary from the beginning and thought her acceptance speech was just fine (see my comments yesterday re: talking head's parsing). One of the issues that wasn't mentioned in that speech was the closing of Gitmo which is one of the most complicated endeavors ever. While secretary she stuck her neck out trying to broker deals. According to Connie Bruck's (one of the best) piece in the New Yorker on Guantanamo during one particular meeting where her only ally was Holder, she challenged Gates, saying that Obama had argued in a speech that closing Gitmo would restore the rule of law. Clinton said that relying on military tribunals would badly undercut that claim. "Worse, holding tribunals would mean giving up on closing the prison––in effect, throwing the President's stated policy 'in the trash can.' She picked up her stack of papers and let them fall on the table with a thud."
Hillary was "standing up for the President––but she was also standing up to him."
Some say she has a temper. You bet! Any woman in those positions better have one or they'll end up with tummy problems.
There is no choice in this election–– unless, of course, you want to get screwed.
Trump was on Hannity last night–––the two talking as though both were capable, responsible human beings. It was breathtaking to watch ––it was as if listening to two people who had just escaped from a car crash talking about where to get the best burgers.
Well, I'm a guy and I agree with the above four comments. I donated to Bernie's campaign but I find all the second guessing about HC a little over the top. She has been fighting the good fight against the "other party" for a long time and has shown herself to be competent and a fighter against all the slander she has been on the receiving end of. I only hope this country has the smarts to make her president of the USA.
I love the clip showing clearly, one of the lamest of brains, Scottie Hughes, a regular Trumpskyev apologist and a howling piece of work, trying to claim that Donaldo has done a lot of sacrificing...I mean, like a LOT. A wicked lot! He sacrificed two marriages, that's two, count 'em--one, two--for....er....for what? Power? Prestige? Personal wealth? But a sacrifice entails giving up something you cared about, right? Sure, but in this case, I'm gonna have to say, as his Russian comrades might put it, "Nyet".
Donaldo's problem--one of the many--is ego. That's why he's on his third marriage, not because he stayed late at the office. And let's not quibble, plenty of powerful, prestigious, and wealthy people remain married. Donaldavich is on his third try because he's an asshole not because of his assiduous work ethic.
The Huffpost published a lengthy and revealing piece written by a lawyer from New Jersey, Thomas Wells, who once worked for Trump. Here's what he had to say about The Donald's approach to the sanctity of marriage: "After the initial interview, my client contact with Donald was actually not very much. One low point I do remember (actually will never forget) is a limousine ride to a meeting with the editorial board of a New Jersey newspaper in which my married client sought to regale me with the number and quality of eligible young women who in his words 'want me'."
It's all about ego stoking and being desirable, one reason, perhaps he has such a difficult time with those who don't want him and why he takes criticism of any kind so poorly.
Oh, and one other thing Mr. Wells mentions, mentions right up front as a matter of fact, among the many reasons not to put Donaldo in the Oval Office: He lies. All the time.
Of course, we knew that already, but hearing it from someone who had a front row seats to the invariable mendacity, lying to everyone from reporters to judges to land use commissions, is a nice extra. Maybe the lying is a sacrifice too. Poor Donaldo. All those hardships.
And, according to the recollection of at least one woman whom Donaldo must have believed "wanted him", he was a lousy date. Picked her up in a flashy car but didn't get out to open the door for her. Got to the restaurant and made her pay the bill. Told her he'd pay her back. Never did. One other observation that we've all come to recognize: "I didn't think he was very bright."
Boy, she didn't know the half of it.
All things considered, after the years of being hounded by that vast right-wing conspiracy, every dick, dick, and dick from the right (and plenty from the left) after her and her husband for decades, calling her a murderer and a monster, I'm surprised she's not a whole lot rougher around the edges. If she's cautious and controlling, there are plenty of good reasons for it. Just think of what a barking mad, loony tune mental case Donaldo would be by now if he had had to deal with a tenth of what Clinton has had thrown at her. Does Brioni make designer straight-jackets?
Okay, she learns from her mistakes, except for those damned emails.
I've never had a problem with HRC, although I can understand why some might.
But, who cares? Everyone who has a vote has a choice:
1. Vote for HRC
2. Vote for DJT
3. Vote 3rd party
4. Don't vote
If enough people choose 2,3 or 4, the US is screwed.
So the REAL discussion should be about how to elect the down-ticket folks and get a government that believes in governing.
And about how to get people to register, so we can get that.
It is all and only about GOTV.
Regarding all the snickering snark and batshit both-sides bombast flung at Clinton, she is, as the president said memorably during the convention, the most qualified candidate to ever run for office (at least in our lifetimes). The presidency is a learn on the job thing for most newbies. I can think of a few who had plenty of experience in government, LBJ, for one, but who ended up having a pretty difficult time of it nonetheless.
And perhaps Clinton's peccadilloes may cause some presidential heartburn, but in no conceivable universe has there been a less qualified major party candidate than Donald Jackboot Trump. And the stunning fact is, that they are so close, statistically. Take it away Samantha Bee who reviewed the embarrassing four day circle jerk in Cleveland at which semi-celebrities and fourth class whiners gave half-assed thumbs up to Donaldavich.
"'Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, was endorsed as the Democratic candidate by former presidents, the first lady, a whole host of lawmakers, preachers, self-made billionaires and “half the fucking Pentagon,' said Bee.
Yet Clinton may still lose to Trump, who Bee described as 'the least qualified candidate ever to lurch into the public spotlight and shit on Gold Star moms while cradling Putin’s sweaty sack.'"
(Doncha just love Samantha?)
@Patrick. I'll hum, you keep singing that tune. I volunteer for my local Congress critter, because the down ticket is how we got in this mess to begin with. He isn't my idea of a perfect candidate, but he's far better than the opponent. The district is a squeaker to say the least.
On L. O' Donnell last night Stewart Stevens, Romney chaff, said he suggested Trump could step down and let Pence become the top of the ticket. I was momentarily petrified at the thought. I'm waiting to see if it gets any further buzz.
"They'll never write good. They don't write good. They don't know how to write good, and they don't write good."
Noted critic and language maven Donald Trump, who has all the best words.
This guy went to Wharton? Sheesh. No wonder he's hiding his college transcript. Prob'ly didn't write good.
Glad to see Warren Buffet remind all of us (and especially Hillary) that from now until election day, the mantra should be "tax returns, tax returns, tax returns."
He clearly has something to hide. Probably many things to hide. Hey, I know, we can all agree to sign a non-disclosure contract, since Donaldavich loves those things so much he has all his wives sign them. Whatever it is, it must be a doozy, at least in his small mind. He's had no problem showing his ass in hundreds of other ways, but these tax returns scare the bejesus out of him. It's just amazing to me that the press has allowed him to skate on this issue. Even though the Rat and Queen Ann only showed a few years of their tax returns ("We've given you people enough!") they eventually felt compelled to do so by public pressure from the press.
As far as I can see, there is literally zero pressure this time around, outside of people like Krugman and a few others. Has Upchuck Todd ever mentioned the words "tax returns" when basking in the parlous orange glow? Fuck no. And he won't. Going after important information is not his job. His job is to make nice with his guests (Republicans, anyway), otherwise they may not come back to visit him in the playhouse.
I'm beginning to see what Marie is getting at. There is no way the Trumpsters will change their minds. He could shoot an infant in the head in front of a hundred news cameras, then blame Obama and Hillary and not lose a single Trumpoid vote. But here and there, people who aren't terminally dense or wedded to the hate will decide there is no way they could ever vote for this malignant whacko.
Then all we have to worry about are the douchebag "undecideds" (if you're undecided in this election, you have no capacity for thought. None.) and the Bernie or Busters, who can enjoy their purity in some cell after they're rounded up by the stormtrumpers.
In North Carolina we are HIGHLY motivate to support the down ticket!!!
Obama calling Trump 'unfit to serve as president'. How polite was that?
I agree that the Clinton campaign should hammer the "tax returns" theme daily. but.....No way we're ever going to see those tax returns, short of the IRS being hacked. The base doesn't care anyway and the media seems to have gotten tired of bringing it up.
Greg Sargent in a piece linked above quotes Roger Stone, a Trump dog-robber, as saying:
"Stone also said: “I think he’s gotta put them on notice that their inauguration will be a rhetorical, and when I mean civil disobedience, not violence, but it will be a bloodbath.”"
A "rhetorical ... bloodbath." "Civil disobedience" but "not violence?"
These people are losing control of their tongues, perhaps a sign of synaptic degeneration prior to lapsing into pre-political-death delusions. Rhetorically, of course.
No matter what these guys say about their impending loss ... GOTV. Trump delenda est.
Patrick,
Delenda indeed.
I could go for an updated form of Carthaginian peace. We can start with Stone and Trump. That would put an end to the current Puny War (the war started by the guy with the puny hands--Hanndibal he ain't). Sorry for the bad puns. Must be some kind of safety valve reaction.
Fun with Latin: I just cross-translated the "carthage must be destroyed motto" I used above, and sought the Latin translation of "Trump". Here is the verb "confingo", a Latin translation of "Trump":
confingo
make up, fabricate, fabricate completely, form, shape, trump
So now we know his family came to Germany from someplace that spoke Latin. Or perhaps a returning visigoth?
The bar just keeps getting lower:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/02/donald-trump-says-he-always-wanted-to-get-the-purple-heart/?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_campaign-1120am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory#comments
Patrick,
Yeah, I'm guessing that the family branch that produced the current Orange Headed Idiot were cousins of the Confingos: the Smallfingos.
Ak- the progenitor was Lenonius Smallfingos
lenonius
pimping, jerkwater, miniature, minikin, piccaninny, small
OK. I'm done.
@Ak & Patrick, Not in production yet, but, I understand an investment team is still trying to get "Smallfingos" to the big screen. The plot has to do with some vile, gold leaf flaunting villain who has plans to encase the world with a glitter coating and his name in YUGE letters everywhere.
Supposedly, Sean Connery has turned down the lead.
Kids, you should check out Patrick's link to the story about Trump getting a Purple Heart ("I always wanted one!"). Just think of the chore it would be to try to come up, every day, with three or four of these incredible incidents. It would be exhausting and yet Donaldo reels them off with ease. But in case you don't read the piece, here's the deal: Trump admirer, a veteran who had been wounded in combat, gives this grinning ape his Purple Heart. Trump's first reaction? His very first? He wants to know if it's a phony. He thinks the guy might be scamming him. Why? He's running scams all the time. Nothing about him is real. He's always lying, so why shouldn't everyone else?
"Is that the real one, or is that a copy?"
Are you fucking kidding me? I mean, just think about the context here. For days, Trumpskyev has been defiling the memory of a dead American serviceman, insulting and attacking his parents. He claims that he has sacrificed things just like that family sacrificed their son. He's a great friend of veterans, he is, and he admires and respects them. But as soon as he gets his tiny hands on the medal of a veteran who actually did sacrifice something in a combat situation, he wonders if it's a fake. Then when the guy says it's real, grins like an idiot and stuffs it in his pocket like a little kid getting a stick of licorice. He actually takes the guy's medal. I can't even begin to parse how fucked up this is.
I'm sure somewhere along the way, he'll try to convince someone that he actually did receive that Purple Heart. He probably got it in the Sex Wars of the 80's. Whaddaguy. With any luck, the color of the ribbon will change to the appropriate shade to match his own heart, black.
MAG,
Who'll play Oddjob? Chris Christie? He'll have to get him one of those cool hats.
Oh, one quick last thought about Trump's Purple Heart.
Trump says "I always wanted one of these!" I wonder how many Purple Heart recipients said that as they went into combat? "Gee, I hope I get all shot to hell this time. Maybe forty years from now I can give my Purple Heart to some jerkoff politician who played army dress up, marching around a parade ground like some weenie-ass."
"I always wanted one of these!"
What a complete jerk.
@Akhilleus & Patrick: Enjoyed the "confingo" translation, but I don't write Latin good, so I was wondering if "Delenda est Trumpus" or "Delenda est Trumpo" would be good-written Latin. I think we need a motto here until the election or Trump has to quit because Hillary rigged the election or till Trump has a complete public meltdown, whichever comes first.
Marie
Currently out of the reach of their owners and gaining ground every day, Trump plays keep away with the balls of Ryan, McConnell and McCain. As Melissa McCarthy might say, Trump has their teeny tiny mouse balls stored in a Chicklet container. I hear the strains of the Titanic theme song echoing softly in the distance and it brings a smile.
Diane,
I don't hear good. What's that rattling noise from the Chicklet box?