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
Sep262016
The Commentariat -- Sept. 27, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Nate Silver: "Democrats woke up on Monday to a spate of bad polls for Hillary Clinton, which brought Donald Trump to perhaps his closest position yet in the Electoral College... Clinton bested Trump in the first presidential debate according to a variety of metrics, and the odds are that she'll gain in head-to-head polls over Trump in the coming days." -- CW
Josh Barro, a moderate conservative, of Business Insider: "... Clinton got the best of Trump at Monday's debate. Prediction markets moved toward Clinton during the debate.... TV news focus groups said Clinton clearly won.... Trump's own surrogates won't argue forcefully that he won.... A CNN panelist who gave the win to Clinton noted, approvingly, that she 'took control of the situation.'... Trump skipped a post-debate victory party he was supposed to attend and went straight home.... Maybe he was sad, or was feeling low-energy, or lacked the stamina to greet his supporters." -- CW
Jonathan Chait: "Before the first presidential debate, a conventional wisdom had formed that Donald Trump merely needed to appear 'presidential,' which the campaign media had defined as 'non-sociopathic.' He failed to clear that bar.... The final exchange of the debate was the most devastating. Clinton lacerated Trump for his dehumanization of women -- the kind of sexualization that offends social conservatives and social liberals alike.... Clinton ... maintained her composure and her dignity, something no Republican who confronted (or was bullied by) Trump in the primary debates managed to do. She had facts at her disposal, she apologized for her poor choice of email systems, and she conveyed that she is sane and competent. The contrast between an obviously and eminently qualified public servant and a ranting bully was as stark as any presidential debate in American history." -- CW ...
... Claire Landsbaum of New York: "In 1996 -- the year Donald Trump took over the pageant -- Alicia Machado was crowned Miss Universe. After her victory, she gained weight. Trump ... reportedly called her 'Miss Piggy' and 'Miss Housekeeping' (because she's from Venezuela) and even forced her to work out in front of hordes of press. Hillary Clinton brought up Trump's comments about Machado at the tail end of Monday night's presidential debate, using them to illustrate Trump's attitude toward women. Then her campaign released a well-timed ad featuring Machado, who talks about how Trump called her 'fat' and 'ugly.'... If you thought all this would cause Trump to rethink his fat-shaming comments, you would be wrong. This morning, during a phone interview on Fox & Friends, Trump doubled down on his insults, calling Machado's weight 'a real problem.' -- CW
Ezra Klein: "The first presidential debate featured a man who didn't know what he was talking about repeatedly shouting over a woman who was extraordinarily prepared. The debate was a collision between Donald Trump's politics of dominance and Hillary Clinton's politics of preparation. Clinton's politics of preparation won." Also, Klein provides a few good examples of Trump's word-salad, stream-of-unconsciousness answers. -- CW
Tom Sullivan in Hullabaloo: "The Republican candidate who boasts at rallies he will negotiate the best deals, great deals, tre-men-dous deals with world leaders last night could not negotiate 90 minutes against an American one. Hillary Clinton demonstrated she is a leader with knowledge, experience and intelligence that far outstrips Trump's. Within the first half hour, dry mouth set in and Trump had to keep sipping water to stay lubricated. (It didn't make his answers any more coherent.) At one point, he seemed to wipe a bead of sweat from his upper lip. But it was the regular, audible sniffing like a cokehead that started early and continued through most of the debate that had Twitter buzzing. Likely, Donald Trump is allergic to being around strong women." -- CW ...
... Frank Rich enjoyed Clinton's near "pitch-perfect delivery" vs. the Trumpdebacle debate style, including this: "To the vast delight of the internet, Howard Dean tried to explain this performance by tweeting: 'Notice Trump sniffing all the time. Coke user?'" CW: Dean was a family practice doctor, so who nose? Dean might be right.
Trump Points (very short) Fingers After Debate. Could be last debate. Kyle Cheney of Politico. "Donald Trump's long night on Long Island morphed into a morning of finger-pointing Tuesday, as he revived his brashest personal style to explain an erratic debate performance against Hillary Clinton... Trump's camp is already hinting he's considering taking a pass on the next debate. [Rudy] Giuliani told reporters Monday night that he'd advise Trump to drop out of the next meeting because the moderators wouldn't be fair...Akhilleus
My Mic was bad! No, really! Trump's latest conspiracy theory: Alex Griswold of Mediaite. "According to the Associated Press, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump immediately told reporters following Monday's presidential debate that there was something wrong with his microphone during his one-on-one with Hillary Clinton. Trump visited the media spin room after the Monday night debate and said, 'They gave me a defective mic!' AP reported. He said he 'wonder(s), was that on purpose?'" Akhilleus: Reminds me of a kid who played on my high school baseball team who, every time he struck out (and he struck out a LOT) would look at his bat, incredulously, as if it had somehow caused the latest embarrassment. Sure, kid. Must've been the bat.
Trumped in Maine. Paul Lepage's Binders of Black Drug Dealers. Kelly Weil of the Daily Beast: "Governor Paul LePage, Maine's miniature Donald Trump, has said over 90 percent of the state's drug trafficking comes from black and Hispanic dealers. But his own binder full of alleged drug dealers proves him wrong...contrary to LePage's claims, '90 percent' of the alleged dealers do not appear to be black or Hispanic. In fact...of the 92 alleged dealers pictured, more than half appear to be white." Akhilleus: Lepage's response? Something, something, something, er, he didn't actually mean it quite that way. BUT he still thinks its a capital idea to shoot black people suspected of being drug dealers. '"You've been in uniform?' he asked a fellow Republican legislator during a press conference. 'You shoot at the enemy... and the enemy right now...are people of color or people of Hispanic origin.'" But, just like his hero Trump, Lepage has never been in uniform either. Nonetheless, calling for the peremptory execution of black people, has Trump has done in the past, is just the thing to cure all ills. Whatever happened to the good old days when binders were full of women?
*****
CW: I haven't been able to post this morning because of a computer-generated emergency! but I'll be back at about 10 am ET if all goes well from here on in.
Presidential Race
Philip Rucker & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump aggressively blamed the nation's chronic problems on Hillary Clinton yet found himself mostly on the defensive in their first debate here Monday night as she accused him of racist behavior, hiding potential conflicts of interest and 'stiffing' those who helped build his business empire.... Where Clinton was measured in her attacks, Trump was a feisty and sometimes undisciplined aggressor. He regularly interrupted Clinton, as well as the moderator, 'NBC Nightly News' anchor Lester Holt, and raised his voice. At times, Trump delivered rambling, heated and defensive answers." CW: This is a straight news report.
Gail Collins: "Trump lost. Really, I think we can work under the assumption that when a candidate is accused of cheering for the housing crisis, it's not a good plan to reply: 'That's called business, by the way.' There had been some speculation that all Trump needed to do was speak in complete sentences to beat expectations, and if that was the bar, the man did great. When Hillary Clinton suggested he might be withholding his federal returns because he never paid any taxes, he responded: 'That makes me smart.' Complete sentence." -- CW
Josh Marshall of TPM: "Clinton clearly went into this debate ... looking to hit [Trump] with a rat-tat-tat series of taunts and jabs to see if she could get him to lose his cool and throw him off his game. It ended up happening a lot more quickly than I expected. No more than fifteen minutes in he was getting visibly angry. And he stayed that way for the next hour plus. From maybe a half hour into the debate Clinton had almost entirely seized the initiative. She was attacking while he responded, sometimes angrily, sometimes with new attacks and very often by doubling down on demonstrable falsehoods he's been pilloried for for months.... Just a mix of easily demonstrable lies and nonsensical statements." -- CW
Two Americas. Brian Beutler of the New Republic argues that no debate will make a difference to voters in such a polarized nations. CW: For what it's worth, I think these debates can make a difference to low-information voters who have never seen how Donald Trump behaves. In the two-shot that dominated the debate, more often than not, Clinton looked serious or amused; Trump, IMO, looked angry or annoyed, or fidgety most of the time Clinton spoke, when he wasn't interrupting her. As Gloria wonders (satirically) in today's Comments, "Who'd vote for that face?!"
Josh Voorhees of Slate: "Donald Trump attempted to bully his opponent, the moderator, and reality on Monday night. Hillary Clinton fumbled at first but grew increasingly confident as her opponent's concentration waned. The question, then, is whether any significant number of American voters will change their minds after watching a 90-minute encapsulation of a general election that's been dragging on for months."...
... CW: During primary season, a number of commentators noted that Trump seemed to lose energy during the debates. Eventually, he refused to do the primary debates at all because they were "boring." Apparently the same thing happened during his debate preps. One insider said the team had to move the location of the sessions because there were "too many distractions" at the original venue. That is, Donald Trump does not have the ability to concentrate long enough to make the critical decisions a president must make. The reason he accuses Hillary Clinton's of lacking "stamina" is that he doesn't have enough stamina himself to handle the presidency.
Two Americas. Brian Beutler of the New Republic argues that no debate will make a difference to voters in such a polarized nations. CW: For what it's worth, I think these debates can make a difference to low-information voters who have never seen how Donald Trump behaves. In the two-shot that dominated the debate, more often than not, Clinton looked serious or amused; Trump, IMO, looked angry or annoyed, or fidgety most of the time Clinton spoke, when he wasn't interrupting her. As Gloria wonders (satirically) in today's Comments, "Who'd vote for that face?!"
Dana Milbank: "Donald Trump was trying very hard to be on his best behavior.... Within minutes, he was hectoring and interrupting Clinton when she spoke, glowering, pursing his lips, shaking his head and interjecting one-word retorts.... Soon, Trump was hurling playground taunts.... Trump was louder and nastier. But Clinton wasn't bullied. She continued talking when he tried to talk over her. Again and again, she forced him to explain himself -- his business bankruptcies, his refusal to release his taxes. Trump replied with a series of interruptions and retorts." -- CW
Emily Crockett of Vox: "... Trump interrupted Clinton 25 times in the first 26 minutes of the debate. Moderator Lester Holt interrupted Clinton 15 times, bringing the total to 40.... Trump started loudly talking over Clinton and at times interrupted her with snide, even childish-sounding remarks.... Many commentators were expecting it would cost Trump dearly if he came off as too domineering or bullying -- and that he would moderate his style as a result. Apparently not." -- CW
Eliza Collins of USA Today: "Four years ago Green party candidate Jill] Stein was arrested for disorderly conduct and handcuffed to a chair at the Hofstra University debate. She tried her luck again this year and has already been escorted off campus." -- CW
Tonight's presidential debate begins at 9 pm ET. Brian Barrett of Wired lists many of the media outlets that are airing it. -- CW (Also linked yesterday.)
Kelsey Sutton of Politico: "Bloomberg TV will conduct on-screen fact checks of statements made by both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton during Monday night's debate, Politico has confirmed. The channel's decision to conduct an on-screen fact-check sets Bloomberg apart from the other major TV networks, none of whom have committed to doing on-screen fact checks during the debate. Most will leave the fact-checking to segments in the post-debate analysis coverage." CW: Thanks to contributor Diane for the lead. I don't know where Bloomberg is on my channel lineup, but I have a handy remote that allows me to say "Bloomberg" & the TV cuts to the channel.
Carolyn Ryan of the New York Times: "... The New York Times has assembled a team of 18 fact-checkers for Monday night, drawing on the expertise of some of our most seasoned reporters.... We will also provide continually updated highlights for those joining the debate after it has begun." ...
... Update. The Times' "real-time analysis" is here. At 8:32 pm ET, reporters are already chatting. The blow-by-blow is here. The Times' fact-check is here. The fact-check is worth at least a quick read. -- CW
"Post-Truth Politics." Charles Pierce: "What I am fairly sure of now is that there probably is no way for Hillary Rodham Clinton to win the debate." Pierce revisits what the Al Gore during the 2000 campaign. -- CW
TPM: "Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus further blurred this surreal election year's line between reality and reality TV on Monday, suggesting that Donald Trump's tenure as a host on 'The Apprentice' prepared him to face off against Hillary Clinton in the first presidential debate.... 'He did a great job in our primary debates. He's also been through, what, 14 seasons, season finales....'" -- CW
Judd Legum of Think Progress gives Politico the well-deserved prize for "the worst fact-check ever." CW: This is exactly what I meant when I argued against having a team of fact-checkers sit in on the debates & sound a buzzer every time they "instantly" decided one of the debaters had lied.
Jonathan Chait: "A strange air of unreality has hung over the presidential campaign, in which a candidate who poses a mortal risk to the sanctity of American democracy and world peace has a disconcertingly high chance of winning.... Nate Silver has called the race close to a tie.... You should be freaked out." -- CW
Yuuge Tax Cheat. David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's charitable foundation has received approximately $2.3 million from companies that owed money to Trump or one of his businesses but were instructed to pay Trump's tax-exempt foundation instead, according to people familiar with the transactions. In cases where he diverted his own income to his foundation, tax experts said, Trump would still likely be required to pay taxes on the income. Trump has refused to release his personal tax returns. His campaign said he paid income tax on one of the donations, but did not respond to questions about the others.... The gifts begin to answer one of the mysteries surrounding the foundation: Why would other people continue giving to Trump's charity when Trump himself gave his last recorded donation in 2008?... The laws governing the diversion of income into a foundation were written, in part, to stop charity leaders from funneling income that should be taxed into a charity and then using that money to benefit themselves. Such violations can bring monetary penalties, the loss of tax-exempt status, and even criminal charges in extreme cases." -- CW ...
... Jim Fallows of the Atlantic: "In my memory of politics, this is the closest thing we have seen to prima facie evidence of financial misconduct since Spiro Agnew had to resign as vice president for accepting cash bribes.... For years, and most recently yesterday on the front page of the New York Times, the affairs of the Clinton Foundation, have been the subject of stories about 'lingering questions,' 'clouds of doubt,' 'images of corruption.' Nothing that has even been alleged about Clinton Foundation finances comes close to what is now on the record about the Trump Foundation." -- CW
Jim Tankersley of the Washington Post: "A new, 30-page analysis of Trump's economic proposals, penned by two of his senior policy advisers and issued Sunday evening by Trump's campaign, provides the most detailed look yet into how Trump envisions his economic plan boosting growth, wages and wealth -- through policies that together defy partisan convention. It demonstrates, in quantifiable terms, that trade policy is as important to Trump's economic promises as tax cuts -- and that if he fails to change the terms of globalization, he will face a huge budget shortfall." -- CW
Other News & Views
Timothy Williams of the New York Times: "The number of murders in the United States increased sharply in 2015, with significant rises in several large cities, according to an annual report released on Monday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The 10.8 percent increase in the rate of murders from 2014 to 2015 represented the largest year-to-year jump in at least 20 years, according to the F.B.I. data, but the murder rate remained about half the level from the 1990s, when violent crime reached a modern peak." -- CW
Beyond the Beltway
... Ted Sherman & Matt Arco of NJ.com: "The day David Wildstein Mark Sokolich for his refusal to endorse Gov. Chris Christie, he claimed the governor's own campaign manager was already aware of the plan. Testifying for the second day in federal court in the Bridgegate trial, Wildstein said he informed Bill Stepien, who now works for the Trump campaign, that he was moving forward with a ploy to shut down local access lanes at the George Washington Bridge in a scheme of political retaliation targeting the local mayor.... Wildstein also testified he told Port Authority Commissioner William 'Pat' Schuber, considered 'a loyal member' of Gov. Christie's team and an appointee of the governor.... Neither Stepien nor Schuber have been charged ... and both denied Wildstein's assertions." -- CW ...
... Noah Remnick of the New York Times: "Even as details of the plan to shut down access lanes to the [George Washington B]ridge have come into focus through the trial of two top officials in the Christie administration, the chronology of the scheme remains somewhat mysterious. It was about two months [before Bridget Anne Kelly of the governor's office ordered the GWB lane closures], [David] Wildstein said, that Christie officials learned that [Fort Lee Mayor Mark ] Sokolich, a Democrat, was 'no longer on the favored mayor list' after declining to endorse Mr. Christie, a Republican, in his 2013 re-election campaign. Now, it was clear they were looking to exact some retribution. '[Kelly] told me the reason was to send Mayor Sokolich a message,' said Mr. Wildstein, a former top official at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge.... 'The purpose was to create as big a traffic jam as possible,' said Mr. Wildstein...." -- CW
Lindsay Ellis, et al., of the Houston Chronicle: "Nathan DeSai ... had two .45 caliber firearms and 2,600 rounds of ammunition as he peppered morning commuters with bullets near the corner of Law and Weslayan in southwest Houston, near upscale West University Place. The troubled Houston lawyer, who shot and wounded seven people, was wearing a vintage military uniform and had a Nazi emblem on him when he was killed by police, officials said." -- CW
Way Beyond
Rick Gladstone & Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: "Undeterred and infuriated by Western accusations of war crimes and barbarity in the aerial assault on Aleppo, the Syrian government and its ally Russia intensively bombed the city in northern Syria on Monday for the fourth consecutive day. Residents and rescuers there described the bombardment as among the worst yet in the five-year war. Both the Kremlin and the Syrian government appeared to harden their position that the United States and its partners had caused the disintegration of a fleeting cease-fire last week." -- CW
Nicholas Casey of the New York Times: "In a Caribbean resort city, far from the jungles where guerrilla battles once raged, the Colombian government and its largest rebel group signed a peace agreement on Monday evening. A large crowd had gathered for the signing ceremony, held in Cartagena, that brought an end to a 52-year-old war with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, whose Marxist insurgency marked the last major war in the Americas." -- CW
Ames Alexander of the Charlotte Observer: "Charlotte-Mecklenburg police did not capture key video footage of last week's fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott because a responding officer apparently didn't turn on his body camera until after police had already shot the victim -- a violation of department policy." -- CW ...
... Mark Price of the Charlotte Observer: "The Charlotte man accused of killing a protester Wednesday during a crowded march in uptown has admitted to the shooting, Assistant District Attorney Clayton Jones said in court Monday. Police say Rayquan Borum, 21, shot and killed Justin Carr, 26, during the second night of Charlotte protests that erupted over the police killing of Keith Scott on Tuesday outside an apartment in the University City area. Borum is charged with first degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon.... It remains unclear if Borum knew the victim." -- CW
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Reader Comments (52)
Just read that Bloomberg TV is the only station doing real time fact checks during the debate. We get it thru Comcast, dont know about other providers.
"A strange air of unreality"...really? Why not go for the full theater production? One might hope for Lester's microphone to be lowered from the rafters and buxom bikini-clad women walking across the stage with the debate questions printed on placards. Nope. I'm opting out. There is nothing to be learned from this spectacle, except another riff on the human condition.
OMG - did Lester Holt just announce "Mrs. Clinton and President Trump?"
OK one hour in. Clinton comes up with policies and Trump says she is wrong. That 's it! Does he have any ideas?
Watching but can't listen.
He's so ugly!
Who'd vote for that face?!
;)
Gloria, you missed the best part. Looking at Trumps face where he shows his serious problem with Clinton's comments says it all.
He reminds me of the SNL Weekend Update segments with Seth Meyers and Cecily Strong, "The Girl at the party you wish you hadn't started the conversation with. " He's the girl.
He needs to smile more.
Actually, he needs to smile.
OK, she comes across as a serious leader. He looks like a full time complainer without one real idea. She looks like a serious professional. He looks like he is desparate to say something serious.
I know I am biased but she looked like POTUS and he looked like a loser. The thing I liked best was at the end when she defended the Iran treaty and he had not one word to object.
Now the best part is this post mentions no names, just he and she. Hillary's problem is that she is she.
HRC response to "stamina" was very solid.
@Gloria: You made me laugh out loud. Three times. Your running commentary surely beats the Times', which I haven't read.
I did watch on Bloomberg, paid no attention to the chyrons, so I might as well have watched anywhere.
Right before the debate began, I had the sound on mute, & I recognized Sahil Kapur commenting. That was when I realized -- Oh, Bloomberg. Oh, that must mean Mark Halperin. Sure enough, as the debate ended, Along Came Halperin. I was ready to turn off the teevee, when what to my surprise, Mark Halperin, Celebrity "Journalist," said Clinton did a great job & Trump bombed. Then I turned over to MSNBC where Christ Matthews was shouting, which is his only mode of "speaking." Enough.
Marie
Didn't see any live commentary on Bloomberg as advertised. Maybe on live stream? Followed along at NYT. Very disappointing commentary. Lester let Trump ramble at great length, allowed himself to be bullied. I'd like to see the minutes for each debater. Maybe there weren't time discrepancies, but it felt that way. Just way too much of the same Trump nonsense. Trump seemed to be the one with no stamina. Snorting, pursing his lips and ranting.
Better chance of him ditching the next 2 debates. Maybe we could get that Flint pastor to moderate. She seems to be the only person not to fall to his bullying.
Hillary Clinton absolutely cleaned his clock.
Donaldo came across like a 7 year old with hot sauce in his underwear. He couldn't keep still, couldn't shut up, rolled his eyes and made stupid faces, and kept repeating the same bullshit all night long. The part where he whined and yelped that he did so have the right temperament! Did so! was just embarrassing. It's like a little kid saying "Spell? Sure I can spell: Ess pee ee el. Spel.
Nice to see Lester Holt at least try to not let him get away with non stop lying, although most of the time, instead of answering the question, he went off on some wild tangent with sentence fragments that went nowhere, random words and half assed thoughts left hanging. Borderline unintelligible. Hillary got in some good smacks without ever coming as across as petty or snide. She was in control and had some fun with Trump's residence in la-la land.
A good start, but I have yet to hear from pundit land. Can't wait for those reports.
@Diane: I thought Holt did better with Trump than the Sunday showz hosts usually do. He kept telling Trump to STFU. And several times he fact-checked Trump's most egregious bullshit. He never did that to Clinton. This is the kind of fact-checking I think a moderator should do -- when the candidate tells a flat-out lie, the moderator should say, as Holt did, that the candidate was bullshitting. Holt also told Trump at least twice (and more, I think,) to answer the question instead of rambling on on some unrelated grievance.
Holt made Clinton look good.
Clinton herself of course made Clinton look good. Could I do as well as she did? Nope. Although I would have responded when Trump bragged about his new Washington hotel by noting that all the stuff in the hotel was made in China but it was nice of him to provide guests with copies of the Quran.
Marie
He looked and sounded so ill. All that hyperventilating and wheezing and slumping over the lectern. I hope they have an emergency vet on stand-by.
Gloria,
Hopefully his handlers will have him wormed by the next debate. And a chew toy would be nice too; keep with those doggie anxieties.
Well, I was thinking how like Pepe, the Fat Frog he looked.
So NAFTA was the worst deal in the history of the country, but then the Iran nuclear deal was the worst deal in the history of the country. Which one was really the worst, and why? You have two minutes, mr trump.
@Marie. I heard Holt tell Trump his time was up, etc, but I didn't see much follow-up. Much rambling ensued. Maybe I'm just on overload from Trump idiocy. Maybe Holt allowing the rambling helped Clinton overall. Consensus of pundits is leaning toward a Clinton blowout. May change by morning. Also pundits not thinking Clinton will gain much in the polls but Trump won't lose much either. First CNN poll said 62% viewers thought Clinton won, 26% Trump. The audience was identified as 42% dem and 28% rep.(probably not exact). Looks like swing voters went for the Clinton win too.
Seems like a consensus that Clinton won the debate "bigly" despite Trump having the greatest words in his very, very smart brain.
Well, that's a humbling experience. According to the Merriam-Webster, bigly actually exists. Must be an East Coast thing. And I just improved my vocabulary thanks to the yuge brain of Drumpf. Even complete morons can teach you a thing or two.
What with the pre-game warmup, the game itself, & the post-game wrap-up, it was an all-nighter for those of us who live 6 time zones away from the action. I'll skip the next two in the series. * A comment from a European: American presidential campaigns are the paralympics of politics, but then the commenter was slammed for mixing the two because the paralympics are a serious event.
The view from Mars.
I sometimes use the "view from Mars" test to see how someone completely new to a situation might respond. For instance, would someone from Mars believe that a guy who adds up numbers for a corporation or large bank (and gets it wrong) is compensated 100x more than a person tasked with educating young earthlings? Well, maybe if they had a Wells Fargo on Mars.
But anyway, how would it be possible that any viewer tuning in to last night's curb stomping with no prior knowledge of either candidate come away thinking that Trump was qualified to be a doorman, not to mention being chosen for the most important job in the world? Rude, wildly misinformed, barely intelligible, excitable past the point of real concern, eye poppingly immature, smirking, insulting, whining, and overmatched by country miles in every possible category. They'd have to wonder whether or not the whole thing was a joke.
Unless they have a Trump on Mars. Then they'd probably say "Holy shit! Those earthlings better pick that lady. Mars used to be a lovely paradise until we voted for a guy like that."
I watched on NBC last night - no chyrons, nothing but the participants' images and their voices. This morning's commute, I listened on CSPAN radio -- just about 40 minutes' worth.
On the video, DJT was a clear loser. That split screen really did him in, showing his impatience and nervousness compared to HRC's composure and sure-footedness.
But on radio, even though DJT's words conveyed his problem with coherence and facts, the voice-only experience did not convey as strongly his flop sweat evident on the split screen. In short, he came off better when we could not see him. Shades of Kennedy-Nixon.
Since communication to the undecided or the unmotivated these days is in visual screen grabs, GIFs, etc., the media repeats over the next few days should reinforce the visual image of DJT -- jumpy, ill-prepared, thin-skinned. Don't expect a lot of media repeats of HRC's command of the visuals -- that's not where the media fun will be.
So, a good first inning. Let's hope that HRC and her handlers know how to prep for reversion to the mean for the next one.
@Patrick: The split screen provided the best comparative viewing and the most compelling ninety minutes of why Trump is totally unfit for the office. When the debate first started the camera was in hard close-ups on the speakers and I thought, "no, no, no...glad they pulled back.
Other observations: #1 (not in any particular order) After the 'debate' it was interesting to see that the 'pros" for each candidate were seated on the opposite sides. Hillary supporters (first several front rows sat in front of Donald, Trumps family and his supporters were in the rows in front of Hillary).
Observation #2: When the families joined the candidates on stage at the very end, the expression on doting daughter Ivanka face in the few seconds the tv cameras captured her did not come across as "oh-daddy-dearest-you-were-fantastic." Looked more like 'we're screwed.'
Observation #3: Starting in the beginning...the sniffles.
(Is Trump's excuse going to be I was under the weather? Will his doctor suddenly discover Donald is suffering from a rare form of hoof-in-mouth and will not do the next two debates or will drop out of the race?).
Observation #4: I thought Lester Holt did just fine. Elsewhere I read comments and some media pile-on (NYTimes, Andrew Rosenthal) about his technique....but, it despite Trump's impervious talk-overs, Holt's calmness allowed the bluster to bloom and make the candidate look like the inept, unprepared dolt that he is.
There was a debate last night. There were two candidates: One fully prepared to take on the role of President of the U.S; the other unprepared, undisciplined, unhinged, and unbelievably devious.
To piggy back on Akhilleus' first comment here, the 7 yr. old persona is exactly right. It's really quite remarkable to watch this man in action and it's doubly remarkable that he is being considered at all.
The "That makes me smart" comment after Hillary said Trump may not pay any taxes ( possible reason why he won't release his tax returns) tells us exactly how Trump thinks of himself and his dodgy dealings. Taxes pay for the things he says are falling apart––just not with his money.
Those little green guys from Mars who came down to observe us are shaking their heads this morning and muttering, "And what was that thing about a 400 person on the couch breaking into the DNC? Was that that Chris Christi who was telling everyone how great Mr. Trump did? They are clearly confused at what they observed and have decided to stay put. Mars might be cold, but insanity is at a minimum.
I heard on MSNBC this morning (Morning Schmo) the "pundits" all agreeing that it was Blowout Clinton. Dumpsterfire was out of patience in no time flat, and while I give Lester a few huzzahs, for actually bringing up some black marks of Dump's, he was plainly out-shouted by the guy saying WAIDAMINIT LET ME TALK, and he was too polite. He cut off Clinton at precise times. However, it did allow her to be dignified, in command of the facts, and sometimes amused at the dumbkoph sharing the stage. Brief NPR fact-checking on the morning drive today gave it almost completely to the Orange Toad for his lies. Mr. Flopsweat Sniffles. My daughter in India wondered how much coke he had had...
On Huff post: According to a poll conducted on AOL.com during the debate, Clinton was the winner. Of respondents who voted during the debate, 55.4 percent said Clinton won, while 44.6 named Trump.
Of course this is random, not structured but my concern for America is that more than 4% thought Trump won.
Another observation to add to MAG: I thought the trump family body language after the debate was very cool. Melania seemed particularly aloof, strained and isolated, really didn't want to be there. In contrast the Clinton family looked bubbly and joyful. I was taken aback by the differences.
I am tremendously qualified to be president! (snort, sniff)
The question about Donaldo snorting coke before the debate (he certainly looked like a cokehead...excitable, uncontrolled, sweating, jittery, sniffing, unable to stop talking, or maybe that's just the way he is all the time), while not overly useful (stopping to his level really isn't helpful, but it's funny, at least in this instance) brought out the StormTrumpers in force. Just check out any site carrying the story about Howard Dean's tweet to that effect. The concept of irony was obviously never covered in their English literature classes. Neither was English, judging by many of the responses. The criticisms of "low blow" and "unfair, unfounded accusations" are a hoot, especially coming from idiots ready to vote for a guy who has "unsubstantiated charges" tattooed on the back of his neck.
A couple of more points. Like Patrick, I listened to snippets of the debate on the ride in this morning. The replay of Trvmpvs screaming (and it really was a scream) that it's about time someone who knew something about money was running the country was especially enlightening, in, well, a penumbrous sort of way.
First, as far as Trump is concerned, the only thing he knows about money is how to take it from other people and put it in his own pocket. He does this through sleazy maneuverings, shady business deals, arm twisting bankers, and often by not compensating workers or contractors, and by declaring bankruptcy so that he might be legally excused from paying his bills.
Are these the sort of money management skills most effective in running a country? Not to mention the fact that few presidents really "know about" money any more than they know about nuclear fission. The idea is that they know enough to have a sound vision about how money and finances and budgets need to work to fulfill the greater goals of their administration. For Republicans, that usually means implementing practices that will make them and their rich friends richer while screwing the middle class and blaming any economic fallout from such predatory practices on the mooching poors. If this is what Donald is referring to as what he knows about money, then he can be quiet now. We all know how that works. Many of us have been "beneficiaries" of that sort of approach. Presidents bring on other people with expertise in all sorts of areas. I shudder to think of the sort of Ponzi scheme pirates and flimflam fuckers Trump would rely on in "running the country".
One other thing I found humorous (among many others) was Trumpy's insistence that Clinton has been working on a wide assortment of issues, and making yuuuuuuge mistakes on each and every one of them--for thirty years. He must have snorted that number out of a pile of coke just before taking the stage because he repeated it like he was trying to remember the access code for claiming a free prize from Publishers' Clearing House.
Clinton was elected to the senate in 2001. This is 2016. That makes 15 years in which she has been able to deal directly with national policy. Not 30. Not to mention the fact that there are several hundred other congressional types involved in those decisions. No one person is able to "fix" anything. That's the way it works, Donald. But there again, magical thinking is also a way of life for the Trumps. And the idea of one person in charge, responsible for everything is called a dictatorship, not a democracy. A slight distinction lost on Donaldavich.
I also noticed, as MAG observed, the frozen smiles on the faces of the brood of Trump Spawn at the conclusion of the evening's curb stomping. Eric always has that gruesome Halloween rictus plastered across his puss, Junior looked pissed that he'd be late to the post debate analysis in one of his white power chat rooms, and Ivanka looked like someone had just informed her that a hundred reporters from Cosmo were backstage waiting for her.
All in all, a very satisfying night.
Oh, and hopefully Trumpty Dumpty was able to get some sleep finally, after all that blow. Jesus, buddy, lighten up. You do know that Freud almost lost his nose from that shit, right?
And on another piece that will not make the news, did anybody notice the comparison between Trump and Hillery on the matter of HEALTH. The person who just recovered from pneumonia looked perfectly fine. The other one looked like he was coming down with pneumonia. Drinking water, wheezing and looking like he was having trouble standing for 90 min. If Hillary had this pattern there would be a giant conspiracy about her health!
Gloria,
Melania looked that way because she really DIDN'T want to be there. She was afraid Lester might ask her for her green card, and not remembering that, despite the fact that she was herself an illegal immigrant, she is now a US citizen, she never HAD a green card in the first place.
A sweaty night for all the Trumpies. The poor dears.
A quick report from Red State USA. The general consensus (among a relatively small group) is that Hillary Clinton is a BULLY. She was not very nice to their Donald last night and should be ashamed for acting so pushy and mean.
It's hard not to laugh. Really.
About sniffles:
http://www.humanillnesses.com/Behavioral-Health-Sel-Vi/Tic-Disorders.html
Possibly another stress-induced neurological problem.
I observed DJT's breathing got shallower as the stress built, and he sometimes had to gulp for air after his torrent of speech. I have seen that sequence before in people who are in situations involving high risk of bodily harm, and in high stakes meetings where they are losing their argument and will suffer major setbacks.
It's called choking for a reason.
I don't think Trump was sniffing because his nose was running for health reasons. It looked to me like he was taking breaths in an effort to calm himself and keep himself under control. That idea was bolstered by his camel like water consumption. You breath fast and loud when your scared or mad. He was quite livid which really was obvious with his rambling incoherence. "She's been fighting Isis her entire adult life."
Gotcha!
Plenty of politicians suffer through Gotcha! moments, but I cannot recall ever hearing or hearing of a politician who Gotachaed themselves in so dramatic a fashion, before a live audience of 100 million people. Last night, Sniffles the Clown did just that.
It's like this moment from "A Few Good Men" in which Tom Cruise's lawyer has hinged his entire case on getting Jack Nicholson's marine colonel to admit that he ordered a "code red" resulting in the death of a marine under his command. It's an electrifying moment and the colonel doesn't even realize that, by being tricked into admitting the truth, he's signed his own arrest warrant in front of a stunned courtroom.
Last night, as Clinton pondered the possible reasons Sniffles the Clown might want to keep his tax returns out of sight, she voiced what everyone wonders about, "Maybe he has something to hide, maybe he hasn't paid a cent in federal taxes, ever."
Trump, helpfully slitting his own throat said "That makes me smart", essentially corroborating Clinton's entire thesis.
Yeah, Sniffles. Smart is the word.
I could only tolerate the first 20 minutes so I may not have heard the sniffles. What I did hear, or thought I heard, was Drumpf sucking air in through his teeth as a mouth-breather would do.
Today I voted for the next president and vice-president. But then I'm
wondering what if something happens to Hillary or Tim before Nov 8.
Does my vote count or is it thrown out? Never voted this way before.
Also, hopefully before the next debate trump's "handlers" can see to it
that he gets an enema. Can't believe the buildup of crap coming out
of that mouth.
And the pot calling the kettle black---when Hillary reminded him that
he had called certain women fat and ugly, his reply was "nobody likes
Rosie O'Donnell anyway". On national television. Very presidential.
Houston shooter: The shooter's name sounds like he is from South Asia, maybe Tamil Nadu or Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka his name would be pronounced "Noddin DeSie", both fairly common names in the Tamil community.
It made me think of "amok", which is associated with Malay and Pilipino societies, but also happens frequently in Sri Lanka. Someone (almost always male) just starts killing people who are nearby, like in a PSP rage, until (usually) cut down.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC181064/
As the above link asserts, such behavior is not really cultural, it shows up in all societies. Some stress drives a disturbed individual over the brink.
Look for the word "amok" to start showing up in news reports and "expert panels."
Oh noes!
"Trump Wins Debate in Landslide!"
Source? Drudge, Fox, Breitbart.
(Cue laugh track.)
Okay, okay, knock it off. The funniest part of this report is that only 80% of the Drudge dingleberries think Trump won. That means a full 20% of the knuckledraggers admit that he lost.
Better than that are the comments by the Foxbots.
One whines that "Hillary is SOOO negative. We don't need negative!"
Hahahahahahahahahaha....
Oh, and Lester Holt? Most biased moderator in history, natch (also, black!). If holding Trump to a modicum of accuracy is biased, so be it.
But my favorite is the criticism of her teeth. "Her teeth look wooden" some idiot complained. Clearly an American history scholar. Hmmmm....what other person in American presidential history had wooden teeth?
Morons. All of them.
The most infuriating part of Trump's bloviating is that one moment he was ranting about the sorry state of the country's infrastructure and the next moment as much as admitting he doesn't pay taxes (because he's smart). How does he think that infrastructure gets built? Oh, that's right. OPM.
Pence said that Holt should have asked Hillery about her Foundation. I was disappointed that he didn't. I would have loved to see her mention that Trump used his foundation to by paintings of himself and bribe an AG. And of course for Trump and Pence it is all Holt's fault. You know the 'democrat'.
And BTW, when is the IRS going to seriously investigate the Trump fake foundation and fine and arrest the crook.
Radio Silence.
Shhh....listen. Do you hear anything? Anything at all? No?
That's because there's complete silence. Complete and total stillness. From the gun knobbers. After Trump said this last night:
"We have to take the guns away."
Full stop.
Take the guns away. Exactly the words Confederates have been dreading for years. Except now their own gun nut is the one uttering them. He's talking about the black helicopters landing and disarming American citizens. He's talking about an unconstitutional taking of weapons. He's talking, folks, about Gun Control.
Any sound from the NRA? From imbeciles in congress who would rather hand caches of weapons to terrorists rather than breathe "gun control" under their breath?
Is this one of the more extreme examples of IOKIYAR? Or is it the usual jaw dropping hypocrisy of the right? At this point, who the fuck knows? They certainly don't.
But just imagine the fire across the airwaves and online this morning had Hillary Clinton said "We have to take the guns."
It's not an argument about law, or Constitutionalism, or morality, or ethics, or personal safety, or rights, or any of that shit. It's all about tribalism. There's no logic to their intransigence about gun control, no morality, no nothing. It's all about "We are always right, you are always wrong. Automatically. No matter what."
Otherwise, why the radio silence after Sniffles the Clown just kneecapped--however inadvertently and thoughtlessly--the lot of them?
Oh, wait. He didn't mean take guns away from white people, did he? Because white people are never involved in crime. He meant those awful nee-groes.
Well, then. It's all okay.
Marvin wrote: "...when is the IRS going to seriously investigate the Trump fake foundation and fine and arrest the crook."
And it occurs to me that this whole presidential campaign is DJT's way to inoculate himself against prison time for tax fraud/evasion.
If he wins, the IRS could not go after him without creating a constitutional crisis.
After he loses, the IRS would be wise to overlook his tax shenanigans so that it does not create the appearance of HRC&Co punishing him through the tax code a la Nixon. That would be reveille fodder for the militia guys with the snake yellow license plates.
He IS brilliant!!! Because now he can lose and doesn't have to do the hard work of being president and signing over his "unbelievable" business.
One last thought about last night.
What was that business, toward the end there, about Douglas MacArthur??? Where the hell did that come from? It would really concern me if I were thinking of supporting someone who all of a sudden, out of nowhere, for no apparent reason, started yelling that a guy who had been dead for 50 years would not be calling Hillary Clinton up to ask for help. No sirree bob! And not only that, Stonewall Jackson has retracted his invitation for tea. So there.
Wow. The deep end is calling, Sniffles.
Ted Cruz sure smeared a lot of conservatives after praising Trumps performance last night and then stating that the only people saying Clinton won were card carrying members of the liberal media.
Re: Debate??? My dogs and I debate the value of an early afternoon bisque; I provide facts, they mug; I win. About the same last night. As long as Hillary channels Angela Lansbury's character on"Murder She Wrote" she'll do fine. Tough, fair, informed, relaxed; almost a spark in the eye. Donny looked like a D student in a science lecture.
Driftglass does it again & has the best words on last night's debate: "Zero Days continued" ... Some of my tweets from debate night, which I delivered to you the consumer until it became such a comprehensive beat-down that I had to just sit back and marvel:.
Got go read Driftglass, I'm still laughing...here's a few bits:
"Trump: We need law and order. I love Charlotte. I have a lot of money there. Also that other city where that other thing happened.
Trump: Gangs of roving bands of armed immigrants. Cops are refusing to enforce the law. Cats and dogs living together!
Trump: In Chicago, Barack Obama is stalking the streets. With Hispanics. And I have a lot of money there!"
JJG: Have missed your posts since the encounter. Just don't piss
off Marie again. This is her domain. She does most of the work,
which us nerds have no idea how to accomplish. Took me two days
to figure out how to change a password (Yahoo).