The Commentariat -- October 17, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Daniel Drezner of the Washington Post: "After reading all three speeches [Hillary Clinton gave to Goldman Sachs] ... I don't understand why Clinton didn't make them public back in the spring.... What comes through is Clinton's comfort talking about the subtleties of international relations. The contrast with the current GOP nominee is rather striking.... There is nothing in the way of bluff or bluster in these transcripts.... These transcripts mostly reveal a person who says similar things in private that she does in public." -- CW
Mark Stern of Slate: "Poor Rick Scott! The Florida Republican governor had just one job this election season: Vigorously enforce the state's voter disenfranchisement laws to disqualify as many Democratic votes as possible. Unfortunately for Scott, over the weekend, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker barred the governor from deploying one of his best disenfranchisement tools through two equally excoriating rulings. Both decisions provide an excellent example of the federal judiciary's increasing skepticism over irrational voting restrictions." Read on. CW: Walker is an Obama appointee. If thousands of Democratic votes count this election, we can thank Mark Walker for not letting Rick Scott's designated "handwriting analysts" toss our ballots in the trash.
The First Amendment in the Age of Trump: Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times. "Donald Trump's increasingly febrile denunciations of the news media as part of a conspiracy to elect Hillary Clinton have garnered all the attention on the press freedom front, as is typical of his ranting. But they shouldn't distract from a genuine attack on the 1st Amendment being waged by prosecutors in North Dakota. There, prosecutors are threatening journalist Amy Goodman with a jail term and criminal fine for reporting on a public protest against an oil pipeline project.... State's Atty. Ladd Erickson, who brought the charges, told the Bismarck Tribune that Goodman 'put together a piece to influence the world on her agenda, basically. That's fine, but it doesn't immunize her from the laws of her state.' Goodman observes in response: 'We have a 1st Amendment. Is he saying that journalism is a crime? I think what he's doing is sending a message to reporters: 'Do not come to North Dakota.'" Akhilleus: Goodman was first charged with trespassing and threatened with jail time. When Erickson couldn't make that stick, he opted for charging her as a "rioter". The charges change depending on what the Confederates think they can get away with, the goal being to quash reporting. Oh, by the way, the day the bulldozers, contractors, and their attack dogs went after protesters, Goodman was the only national reporter on the scene. Trump's daily assaults on the First Amendment embolden Confederates to decide who has rights and who doesn't. If he's elected, it will be much worse.
Zimmerman Wins Again! Jason Silverstein of the New York Daily News. "The Florida man who fired a gunshot at perpetual menace George Zimmerman was sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday for attempted murder. Matthew Apperson, 37, had testified that he shot in self-defense during a road rage incident with Zimmerman last year. He said Zimmerman's intimidating reputation -- especially for his fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin -- made him fear for his life...'The crux here is Mr. Apperson's blatant disregard for my life, any life,' Zimmerman told the judge Monday. Akhilleus: Wait, wasn't Zimmerman's excuse for murdering an unarmed teenager that "he feard for his life"? As to the murderer Zimmerman's astounding quote about Apperson's "disregard" for his life, I am stricken speechless. There's justice and then there's the law. They ain't the same.
High Quality Polling Says.... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post. "The polls are coming fast and furious right now, and they're increasingly bad for Donald Trump. In fact, we can now say this: Were Trump to actually win, it would represent the biggest late comeback in the history of presidential polls...Monmouth University is the most recent to show a big swing in Hillary Clinton's favor. Its just-released national survey has her leading Trump by 12 points, 50-38. That 12-point margin is the biggest so far this month...and other recent high-quality polls have shown her up 9 points (NBC-WSJ last week), 8 points (George Washington University), 7 points (Fox News) and 4 points (Washington Post-ABC News)." Akhilleus: I could be wrong, but I can't recall ever hearing so many polls qualified as "high quality" to differentiate them from the numbers generated by psycho fascists, the typical sources of Trump's polling data, after polling other white supremacists -- who also live in their parents' basements or in some fortified double wide -- all of whom spend their daylight hours cleaning the guns and their nights jerking off to Nazi porn.
John McCain promises no Supreme choices for Clinton. Chris Massie of CNN: "[John] McCain promised that Republicans would be 'united against any Supreme Court nominee' put forth by [Hillary] Clinton. 'I promise you that we will be united against any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary Clinton, if she were president, would put up,' McCain said. 'I promise you'"
(Later in the afternoon, McCain's staff, realizing how outrageous that sounded walked that statement back--a bit.)
"'Senator McCain believes you can only judge people by their record and Hillary Clinton has a clear record of supporting liberal judicial nominees,' said McCain spokesperson Rachael Dean. 'That being said, Senator McCain will, of course, thoroughly examine the record of any Supreme Court nominee put before the Senate and vote for or against that individual based on their qualifications as he has done throughout his career.'" Akhilleus: Oh yeah, just like he's been considering Merrick Garland for the better part of a year. Don't believe a word this guy says. When McCain says Confederates won't consider anyone Clinton nominates, he means it. Trump is only the ugly tip of the winger iceberg. It's the ones under the water line, like McCain and Ryan and McConnell who will tear open the hull of the good ship United States.
*****
Presidential Race
Nate Silver: "Our forecast model ... shows Clinton with a 6- or 7-point lead. That translates to an 86 percent chance for her to win the election according to our polls-only model, and an 83 percent chance per our polls-plus model." Silver discusses factors that could change the dynamic. -- CW ...
... James Hohmann of the Washington Post: "The deeper you drill into the crosstabs of our new [presidential] poll, the clearer it becomes that [Trump] will have a very hard time getting more than 46 percent of the popular vote. That would translate into a landslide loss in the Electoral College." -- CW
The Omaha World-Herald, which hasn't endorsed a Democrat for president since 1932, endorses Hillary Clinton. That brings Donald Trump's total number of endorsements from major American newspapers to zero. It's a global conspiracy (more evidence: it's called the World-Herald). -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Rebecca Morin of Politico: "Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine on Sunday became the first candidate on a major-party presidential ticket to deliver a campaign speech entirely in Spanish. 'Buenos dias a todos. Estoy bien contento a visitar con ustedes el aqui in el Pneuma Church,' Kaine began his speech at Pneuma Church located in Miami...." CW: Poor Jeb! He could have made speeches entirely in Spanish, probably has. ...
... Get to Know Your Vice President. Evan Osnos has a long profile of Tim Kaine in the New Yorker. -- CW
High in a gold-encrusted Manhattan chamber, as you were getting ready for work this morning, there sat a crazy man holding an Android phone & blasting out his deranged thoughts in 140-characters-or-less bursts. -- CW
By Driftglass.Jonathan Martin & Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Republican leaders and election officials from both parties on Sunday sought to combat claims by Donald J. Trump that the election is rigged against him, amid signs that Mr. Trump's contention is eroding confidence in the vote and setting off talk of rebellion among his supporters.... Mr. Trump ... is alleging that a conspiracy is underway between the news media and the Democratic Party to commit vast election fraud. 'The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary -- but also at many polling places -- SAD' Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday. Mr. Trump made the incendiary assertion hours after his running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, tried to play down his running mate's questioning of the fairness of the election.... Mr. Trump's words, though, appear to be having an effect on his supporters, and are setting off deep concern among civil rights groups.... Chris Ashby, a Republican election lawyer, said Mr. Trump's attacks on the electoral process were unprecedented and risked creating a fiasco on Election Day. Mr. Ashby also said the Mr. Trump was 'destabilizing' the election by encouraging his supporters to deputize themselves as amateur poll monitors." -- CW ...
... See also Trump's crazy claim that Clinton is responsible for firebombing a North Carolina GOP HQ under Beyond the Beltway.
Harper Neidig of the Hill: "Donald Trump on Sunday attacked House Speaker Paul Ryan on Twitter, just a day before he's scheduled to campaign in the Wisconsin Republican's home state of Wisconsin. 'The Democrats have a corrupt political machine pushing crooked Hillary Clinton. We have Paul Ryan, always fighting the Republican nominee!' Trump wrote." -- CW ...
... Greg Sargent provides a handy chart to help you keep track of all the international conspirators aligned against Trump. Sadly, Sargent's chart is already out of date, because it does not include "Paul Ryan, always fighting the Republican nominee!" -- CW
The Republican Presidential Nominee Is Insane. Philip Rucker & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "In the presidential campaign's home stretch, Donald Trump is fully inhabiting his own echo chamber. The Republican nominee has turned inward, increasingly isolated from the country's mainstream and leaders of his own party, and determined to rouse his most fervent supporters with dire warnings that their populist movement could fall prey to dark and collusive forces. This is a campaign right out of Breitbart, the incendiary conservative website run until recently by Stephen K. Bannon, now the Trump campaign's chief executive -- and it is an act of retaliation.... Trump, bolstered by allies on talk radio and social media, has been creating an alternate reality -- one full of innuendo about Clinton, tirades about the unfair news media and prophecies of Trump's imminent triumph. The candidate once omnipresent across the [mainstream media' these days largely limits his interviews to the safe harbor of the opinion shows on Fox News, and most of them are with Sean Hannity, a Trump supporter and informal counselor." CW: This is a straight news story. ...
... David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "When Trump is feeling cornered, in business or politics, he has a go-to strategy: He lies, and he just keeps lying." -- CW ...
... Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker: "Trump and Bannon have given up on trying to defeat Clinton. They seem more interested in creating a platform for a new ethno-nationalist politics that may bedevil the Republican Party -- and the country -- for a long time to come." -- CW ...
... Alex Griswold of Mediaite: "The Financial Times reported Monday that ... Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is in talks to set up a Trump television network following the November election. According to FT, Kushner contacted Aryeh Bourkoff, chief executive of LionTree, a boutique investment bank with a history of media deals, within the past couple of months." CW: We predicted this months ago.
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump declared himself 'a big fan of Hindu' and praised India's nationalist prime minister, Narendra Modi, at an Indian-American charity event on Saturday. Mr. Trump spoke at a benefit put on by the Republican Hindu Coalition at a convention center in Edison, N.J., a non-battleground stop that is hardly typical for a presidential nominee three weeks before an election.... While polls show that Hillary Clinton draws far more backing from Indian-Americans than Mr. Trump does, his anti-bureaucracy and country-first language closely tracks that of Mr. Modi, who has tapped into the disgust that India's Hindu majority feels toward its government. This has given Mr. Trump a foothold of support among Hindus in the United States, some of whom are also drawn to his strong talk about Muslims, their longtime adversaries on the subcontinent." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. In their biggest project, the Clintons used $400 million in aid and U.S. taxpayer funds to build what amounted to a massive sweatshop. And guess who set it up? Cheryl Mills. -- Donald Trump, campaign rally in Panama City, Fla., Oct. 11
The Clintons, including Mills, were supporters of this project and helped facilitate the planning.... The Caracol Industrial Park project ... was financed through U.S. tax money via USAID and grants from the Inter-American Development Bank. So far, $270 million have been paid -- for the whole park, not just the factory.... The United States was not involved in building the factory. While some workers have raised concerns about the working environment at the factory, there were no findings in the latest inspection that it would 'amount to a massive sweatshop.' In fact, the company pays at least minimum wage for all full-time workers and provides paid time off and free transportation to and from the factory. -- Michelle Lee of the Washington Post
Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "Indiana Gov. Mike Pence delicately broke with Donald Trump on a range of topics Sunday, including his running mate's personal attacks against women who have accused him of sexual assault and on whether Russian hackers are responsible for leaking Democratic Party emails. Pence said he would not have disparaged the women who have accused Trump, even while defending Trump against the accusations.... Pence also sought to play down his running mate's rhetoric about the 2016 campaign's being 'rigged.'... Trump's critics say this could lead to violence and voter suppression." -- CW
It is a 'he said, she said' situation. -- Rep. Renee Elmers (R-N.C.), on CNN
To correct you, it's a 'he said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said, she said' situation. -- Jake Tapper of CNN
Wherein Rudy Giuliani explains that only "inner city" Democrats are guilty of voter fraud. He left Jake Tapper shaking his head. CW: Waiting for Rudy to have a complete meltdown & just start screaming the N-word on national teevee. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jake Sherman & Steven Shepard of Politico: "The American electorate has turned deeply skeptical about the integrity of the nation's election apparatus, with 41 percent of voters saying November's election could be 'stolen' from Donald Trump due to widespread voter fraud. The new Politico/Morning Consult poll -- conducted among 1,999 registered voters Oct. 13 through Oct. 15 -- shows that Trump's repeated warnings about a 'rigged' election are having effect: 73 percent of Republicans think the election could be swiped from him. Just 17 percent of Democrats agree with the prospect of massive fraud at the ballot box." CW: Remember that this isn't just TrumpSpeak, but a long-running GOP claim, designed to justify voter-suppression laws.
Other News & Views
The Wingers' Dystopia. Paul Krugman: "In [Donald Trump']s vision of America -- clearly derived largely from white supremacist and neo-Nazi sources -- crime is running wild, inner cities are war zones, and hordes of violent immigrants are pouring across our open border.... Meanwhile, you find almost equally dark visions, just as much at odds with reality, among establishment Republicans, people like Paul Ryan.... Mr. Ryan's vision of America ... is ... completely familiar to anyone who read Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged' as a teenager." -- CW
Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: "As Democrats aim to capitalize on this year's Republican turmoil and start building back their own decimated bench, former Attorney General Eric Holder will chair a new umbrella group focused on redistricting reform -- with the aim of taking on the gerrymandering that's left the party behind in statehouses and made winning a House majority far more difficult. The new group, called the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, was developed in close consultation with the White House. President Barack Obama himself has now identified the group -- which will coordinate campaign strategy, direct fundraising, organize ballot initiatives and put together legal challenges to state redistricting maps -- as the main focus of his political activity once he leaves office." -- CW
** Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "... in more than half of the states, 'a person can be married on Saturday and then fired on Monday for just that act,' as one federal court explained in a recent opinion." Ian Millhiser describes some pending court action that may -- eventually -- change state laws that allow discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation. CW: I'll have to admit I thought Obergefell pretty much ended all forms of legal discrimination & nullified state laws that allowed discrimination. I was wrong. Obergefell is limited, & federal courts so far have allowed many discriminatory state laws to remain operative.
Beyond the Beltway
Liam Stack of the New York Times: "A firebomb tore through the Republican Party headquarters in North Carolina's Orange County on Saturday night, and graffiti warning its members to flee town was painted on the walls of a neighboring building, the party and police officials said on Sunday. The party posted images on Twitter of the damaged building in Hillsborough, N.C., on Sunday afternoon that showed blackened walls, charred couches and burned campaign signs for Donald J. Trump and several local candidates. A window was broken, and a swastika was spray-painted nearby alongside the words 'Nazi Republicans leave town or else.'" -- CW ...
... Chris Cioffi of the Raleigh News & Observer: "The Orange County Republican Party headquarters was firebombed overnight Saturday and graffiti was spray-painted nearby in an attack that the GOP called 'political terrorism.'... News of the attack spread quickly, and presidential candidates of both major parties condemned it on social media.... Donald Trump in a tweet Sunday evening said: 'Animals representing Hillary Clinton and Dems in North Carolina just firebombed our office in Orange County because we are winning @NCGOP.'... But Clinton's campaign tweeted, 'The attack on the Orange County HQ @NCGOP office is horrific and unacceptable. Very grateful that everyone is safe.'" -- CW ...
... CW: Pardon my bias, but I'd be surprised if Democrats or even unaffiliated leftists did this. We'll see. ...
... Jeff Stein of Vox: "Trump didn't provide any evidence for the claim that people representing Clinton were behind what Republican officials in North Carolina are calling 'an act of political terrorism.'... Authorities have said nothing to give any reason to suspect Clinton or North Carolina Democrats orchestrated the attack.... In isolation, Trump's wild claims would be worrisome enough: presidential candidates don't normally make unfounded accusations that their opponents are using covert agents to carry out fire-bombings.... But there's another critical context for understanding Trump's Tweet: The Republican presidential nominee has begun making increasingly conspiratorial claims that a cabal of 'global elite's is rigging the election for Clinton.'... Baselessly accusing Clinton of being behind the firebombing is crass. But it's also being used to fit a broader narrative his political opponent is so dangerous, so crooked, that she's willing to commit acts of terrorism to influence the voting results." -- CW
... Jim Fallows: Authorities have not determined responsibility for the firebomb, & described the perp as "somebody." "Somebody, from people concerned with facts and evidence. Animals representing Hillary Clinton and Dems, from the man asking to be put in charge of the countless judgment calls a president makes each day.This was the same judge-and-jury, rush-to-judgment thinking style that Trump displayed years ago with the 'Central Park Five.' This man demonstrates each day that he has reflexes rather than judgment and would be dangerous in any responsible role. And the supposedly 'responsible' leadership of his party, to their shame, continues to say: Put him in command!" -- CW ...
... Update. Mark Price of the Charlotte Observer: "An online campaign reportedly set up by a group of Democrats to help rebuild the firebombed Republican party headquarters in Orange County, N.C, met and surpassed its $10,000 goal in only 40 minutes. The GoFundMe account had raised $13,117 as of Monday morning. It was set up by a group of Democrats who said they hoped to make a statement against such tactics, which the state's GOP leaders have called 'political terrorism.'" CW: Must be a branch of the Democratic party that isn't taking its marching orders from Molotov Hillary & her international gang of terrorists. Either that, or Donald Trump is a disgusting, fear-mongering, incendiary liar.
Way Beyond
Rod Nordland of the New York Times: "After months of maneuvering, the Iraqi government's battle to reclaim Mosul, the sprawling city whose million-plus population lent the most credence to the Islamic State's claim to rule a fledgling nation, has finally begun. In the early hours Monday, an announcement by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of the campaign's opening was accompanied by artillery barrages and a rush of armored vehicles toward the front a few miles from the city's limits. -- CW
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Reader Comments (20)
Like Marie, "I'd be surprised if Democrats or even unaffiliated leftists" fire-bombed the GOP office in NC. However, I wouldn't be surprised if it is part of Trump's war on the GOP, carried out by "Crusaders."
Some questions about that firebombing in North Carolina, photos appear to show significant 'burn' damage inside the space, WHY was it not discovered sooner? Why didn't the fire burn longer? or destroy even more? Paper items in that office were well charred, how come it didn't spread to adjoining spaces? Was a sprinkler system in place at the strip mall? Or smoke detectors? Do firebombs come a limited burn time? Inquiring minds want to know!
According to News Observer "it went unnoticed until"
"The damage was found Sunday morning by the owner of another business in the Shops at Daniel Boone center, south of Hillsborough near Interstate 85 and Old NC 86.
The Republican Party office closed at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Orange County GOP chairman Daniel Ashley said.
Don't be surprised if Donaldo announces this morning that that GOP office in NC was firebombed by George Soros and Chelsea Clinton.
Interesting to hear the Confederate governor, one of the most virulent opponents of democracy (at least for non-wingnuts), describing the act as an attack on democracy itself. One would think, if that was the case, that he'd be pleased.
I've read that a number of Stormtrumpers are calling for "pitchforks
and clubs" if their great leader doesn't win on Nov 8. They must all
be history buffs since the call to arms is to be Nov 9, which will be
the 78th anniversary of Kristallnacht in nazi-Germany. Will they
be attacking only those who voted D? Will the names be supplied
by the Kremlin? Inquiring minds want to know.
It's only 8 AM and so far I have seen 'crazy, lunatic and insane'. Let me clarify. Trump is not a racist. Trump doesn't give a damn about Putin. Trump is only one thing, a trump. If blacks had supported him he would be their hero. If Putin hadn't said something nice we never would have heard of Russia. His position on everything is only about one thing, himself. Putin and racists kiss his ass and that is his position. Since he is perfect, the only way to lose is by 'rigging'.
My guess is that if Trump won, on day one and thereafter the only things that would happen at the White House is Trump setting up more business deals for himself. After all he is not the very richest person on earth.
The good news is that the media and much of America are catching on. But I am still frustrated that while we hear 'crazy' we don't hear mentally ill. It is time for a serious diagnosis.
A tiny piece of good news. The NYT daily analysis of the election has been showing Hillary's chances at 89% for the last 2 weeks or so. Today it finally went 90%!!!!
Forrest,
Wow. Amazing historical confluence. Don't think the white supremacist pigs who support Trumpy haven't thought of that. What with Trump's screeds about the International Banking (read: Jewish) Conspiracy to steal our freedoms and control decent white Christians, don't be surprised if there aren't a few broken windows (or worse) if Herr Drumpf loses. He's counting on it.
Marvin,
Those numbers in favor of Hillary Clinton are certainly encouraging, but the number that concerns me greatly is 46. The possibility that this raging, ignorant, narcissistic, lying, know-nothing demagogue could get 46% of the vote is deeply disturbing, because after Trump departs the stage (I don't think anyone believes he'll go quietly; he'll flap his lips 'til the bitter end) the despicables/deplorables he has enabled will still be there, looking for their next Moses, to lead them to the promissory land. And we'll still have the Confederate Party to deal with. Damaged or not, they still get to vote in congress and they can still impose a LOT of suffering.
I'm going to venture out on (what I think is) a pretty sturdy limb and predict that, should the Orange Headed Bigot's numbers seriously tank after the next debate (anyone think Trumpado is working on debate prep for Wednesday?), Mr. Morals, aka Lyin' Ryan, will declare that he is retracting his endorsement of the Coward Trump because of.....er....well, because......ummm.....integrity. Yeah, that's the word: INTEGRITY! He's got too much integrity. Shitloads of the stuff, just lying around; so much, he doesn't know what to do with it.
I expect politicians to be calculating and occasionally conniving, but Ryan has created an entirely new level of shabby, self-serving deviousness that makes scheming liars like Bush and Cheney come off like little Georgie Washington holding his axe.
Westside Guns is having a "pre-Hillary Sale." Only $699 for S&W's AR-15-like bullet launcher. You can get the same item at Cabela's for $629.
So, a $70 mark-up for a commodified item, nationally available, because Hillary? Suckers gotta bite.
@Akhilleus: I agree. Pundits keep writing about the GOP breaking up, becoming a minority party, are in disarray, doomed, etc. But that isn't really true even though there are more Americans who vote Democratic than vote Republican.
First of all, as the story about the Holder/Obama plan reminds us, the distribution of Democratic voters promises more state legislatures & the House remaining in Republican hands.
But much more important: 46 percent is not much of a minority. The Green party is a minor party; the Libertarian party is a minor party. The Republicans are temporarily a minority party, but they'll be a majority party come November 2018 when the so-called majority party voters sit home watching football & planning their Thanksgiving get-togethers.
And by then there will be one more super-Palin, super-Fox, super-Limbaugh monstrosity whipping up the crazy, fevered imaginings of Joe Six-Pack: TRUMP TV!
It seems to be axiomatic among millions of white American men especially (but perhaps among all of us to some degree) that every failure is somebody else's fault. Trump is of course the paradigm for that mindset, but he has an extraordinary number of followers who are looking for scapegoats to explain away their own setbacks or dashed dreams & are more than easily persuaded that their "oppressors" do not look like them in some particular.
Marie
Akhilleus, I agree. We don't have any real idea of what the 'right' will mean after Trump loses. My dream is Trump and his followers create a new political party. How about the 'Tazi' party (tea-nazi). In any case the concept of Republican is going to require a serious reevaluation. In any case the proves your calling the Republicans confederates is correct. The Civil War is not over.
And a note: If you look at the times data on polling, it is easy to find 10 states that might give Trump 80% of the votes that are actually worth less than 1 state (CA) that gives Hillary 52%.
On his blog Charles Pierce notes remarks made on a Sunday Show by one N. Leroy Gingrich, who despite being "A Historian and a Leading Intellect" made a stupid statement. No, make that several
in his pitiful defense of Trump, among them this bon mot.
Gingrich: "... Barry Casselman in his blog, where he said this is a coup d'etat.
Pierce: "First of all, as all actual historians know, you can't have a "coup d'etat" against a candidate because there's no "etat" to coup against."
Everyone else: "...Who the hell is Barry Casselman?"
Personally, I think Charlie's line is worthy of the Akhilleus Achievement Award for Spectacular Wordsmithing.
You can Google Barrycasselmanblog and read what he said. It was
that this is a "media coup d'etat". Like, the media is too involved in
the selection of the next president. And also, the media is left-leaning,
blah, blah, blah,
MAG,
Gingrich's mal mot may, in some small (as in digits) way be correct if one considers the very real likelihood that Trvmpvs believes himself to be some kind of 21st century Roi Soleil, who at any moment may come out with what he really thinks, "L'etat, c'est moi".
Not sure if Trumpy knows much about Louis XIV, (hell, he doesn't know jack about American history of the 20th century never mind French history of the 17th) but I'm betting if he gets down to redecorating his little groping pad in Florida, it could end up looking like this, so there's at least a certain, je ne sais quoi, similar taste in decoration (although Trumpy's is decidedly more cheesy-gauche than Louis').
In any event, that would make a coup against l'etat (Le Donald) tres possible.
And if so, where do we sign up? I'm ready to coup that etat, with eclat.
But what I'm really hoping is for Le Grand Orange to show up at the next debate dressed like this. Tres chic, non?
For a moment, pretend you're Chris Wallace, and leave aside the Confederate proclivities, at least for the duration of this thought experiment. We can also ignore the somewhat amazing fact that Wallace is a Democrat (does that make him a DINO?).
So, you are getting ready to serve as the hall monitor for the debate on Wednesday.
Where do you begin? One of the candidates has the same ol', same ol' e-mail bullshit and some mildly interesting Wikileaks revelations (newsflash: Hillary is running a scripted campaign. Well, okay. As opposed to what? The seat of the pants, flat spin, Mayday clusterfuck from the other side?). Fine. A few questions about those vastly intriguing topics.
Then....you have Trumpado. A veritable cornucopia of gropia dystopia. The choices spin the head around. Campaign advisor getting tight with Vlad and his hackers, promising Armageddon if not elected, shouting about rigged elections, other surrogates talking shit about "inner city--you know who I means" stealing elections, and dead people voting (always for Democrats, doncha know. Probably seen too many evil Republicans gone straight to hell in the afterlife and, like Marley's ghost, seek to do the right thing, post dee-mise), blaming Hillary and her "animals" for firebombing a NC Confederate outpost. And that's just stuff from the last week!
And it's a lead pipe cinch that Donaldo will be crying about all the mean questions he is forced to answer but, seriously, it's like you have two people to interview, Bartleby the Scrivener, on the one hand, and Jack the Ripper on the other. From the first you'd ask, "Why stop writing?" but the rest of the time you'd want to grill the Ripper. And why not?
We all know it won't go like that because Wallace will want to get into the Benghazi weeds and ask about Hillary laughing at a girl who was raped. You know, the usual factless Fox screeds.
But the possibilities are immense. Especially the chance that the Ripper could lose it, live on national TV.
Again.
Hoo-boy. Gettin' out the popcorn.
@Ak: Brilliant riposte! By the way, I've heard Trump has Brioni cutting the fabric for one of dem smashing Louie ensembles.
Tres elegant for the Inaugural Ball.
MAG,
Hope Brioni can do better than the usual boxy blue sack he slouches around in. Like to see him in those Louis tights and garters though. Very recherché. He will, of course, have to change out that dark wig for the neon Clown Orange he so favors.
Not sure what the upside is for a 3rd debate for the country or Hilary. The only place it has any support is in Trump's mind.
Just heard on NPR on the way home that Trump is now accusing Joe Biden of "hugging" ( read grope) women at events. There's a Breibart piece on it. No link as well...who needs more river bilge at this point.
@Akhilleus: Chris Wallace is a true DINO. He lives in Washington, D.C., where all the political action happens during the Democratic primaries, not in the general election. He registers as a Democrat so he can vote in the primaries when the D.C. elections are effecitvely decided. A lot of people do that when they live in areas more-or-less controlled by a party they don't support.
Marie