.
Also, I still {heart} my senior Senator…
What happens next will test the character for all of us – Republican, Democrat, and Independent.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) May 4, 2016
It will determine whether we move forward as one nation or splinter at the hands of one man's narcissism and divisiveness.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) May 4, 2016
I'm going to fight my heart out to make sure @realDonaldTrump’s toxic stew of hatred & insecurity never reaches the White House.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) May 4, 2016
***********
Apart from that, what’s on the agenda for the day?
tybee
it’s going to be a fascinating summer.
OzarkHillbilly
Working on my pig farming buddy’s barn. So far we have broken one ankle (mine) and dislocated one toe (his) in the process. Maybe Dog is trying to tell us something?
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
New break?
JPL
@tybee: I find it horrifying that Trump is going to be trusted with classified information. It certainly will be an interesting few months.
Amir Khalid
@OzarkHillbilly:
That there’s a reason why pork is haram? ;)
AnonPhenom
Donald Trump is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever…
#RepublicansFallInLine
Villago Delenda Est
“He needs therapy”.
Out of the mouths of losers…
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: No. The one from December. I broke it on the first day building cribbing to jack the barn up so we can replace the sill plates (they’re only 150 yrs old). Last week, on the first day we were getting back at that job (finally!) he dislocated his toe (thought he’d broken it) while walking down his stairs. We got thru Tuesday relatively safe. We’ll see if we can get a streak going.
Villago Delenda Est
@AnonPhenom: Multiple upfists.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: Stay safe. We need your vote in November.
Baud
Kind of wonder what would have happened of Kasich had dropped out sooner.
Betty Cracker
It’ll be interesting to see what lesson the Beltway media learns from its failure to foresee the Trumpocalypse. Will they recognize that they failed to vet Trump as they would anyone else they considered a serious candidate? Such self-reflection might compel them to challenge the many whoppers Trump repeats on the stump, such as that he opposed the Iraq War, when in reality he supported it and said so publicly many times. Or maybe they’ll decide they were wrong to treat Trump as a sideshow and start acting as if his ignorant pronouncements are serious policy proposals.
OzarkHillbilly
@Amir Khalid: Now you see, bacon is one more reason why I’m an atheist. Any God who would allow us to create such a perfect food, and then deny us the eating of it…. I could never follow such a sadist.
Emma
@Betty Cracker: Get your first two cups of coffee and rethink. You know what will happen.
JPL
@Betty Cracker: It’s all about the ratings. Facts no longer matter.
What Emma said also…
Jeffro
@AnonPhenom:
LOL and oh so painfully true.
I don’t think we’re quite done on the GOP side here, though. I do think some Establishment R with nothing to lose (Mitt, I’m primarily thinking of you here) will offer himself up and/or promote another R as a write-in to Trump. There are clearly some forces within the GOP who are not going to get behind Trump’s candidacy (i.e., anyone at all associated with the Bush family, Romney, etc).
Also excited to see some anemic fundraising and of course a lack of GOTV on the R side…even more excited to help out with Democratic voter registration during the next six months (and our own GOTV close to Election Day), that’s for sure!
We need something short and sweet to remind us that it’s fun to gab on BJ, but active involvement in GOTV is a MUST. Can anyone think of a good reminder?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Would anybody have noticed?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Betty Cracker:
Ah Betty, you’re so damn funny.
rikyrah
Good Morning Again ?,Everyone ?
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
Trump’s lying will be a problem for Clinton. I watched some of a post-win interview with Trump. He’s saying he won women, AA and Latinos along with lying about opposing Iraq. It all went completely unchallenged.
oldster
So the elder Bush, whom I hated, and the younger Bush, whom I loathed, are both refusing to endorse Trump.
Should I allow myself a certain grudging respect for their stance? That is my first reaction.
But then I remember:
1) not supporting a manifestly unqualified narcissistic Berlusconi clone is a very low bar for respect;
2) they’re only doing it because Trump destroyed Jeb, and for the Bush crime syndicate, family comes before America’s welfare;
and
3) it’s early days! They’ll probably cave and support him, too, like the rest of the Republicans.
Okay–no respect for them.
OzarkHillbilly
I just found out mu p/u has one of those wonderful exploding airbags in it, but the PDF at the NHTSA website has it listed in the Priority 1 group and the Priority 2 group. At least, here in the Ozarks with our high humidity…
Considering it will take years to replace them all, I think I’ll be disabling my airbag.
rikyrah
The Dems should follow Senator Warren’s lead. She is showing the way as to how to attack Trump.
Bravo Senator
BillinGlendaleCA
@Kay:
All 3 of them, as in 3 votes.
ETA: Kay, I think Hillary has some experience dealing with guys that lie to her.
Villago Delenda Est
@Betty Cracker: The only thing they can see is the ratings boost, which means more lucre. Only thing they care about.
On edit: JPL beat me to it. Great minds, etc.
Baud
@Kay:
Didn’t work for Romney.
Kay
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Right. But they allow him to do it. They allow him to pretend he won a general election. OTOH, the Iraq lie might be worth focusing on because it’s such a big part of his attacks on Clinton. He probably assumes she won’t go there because she’s vulnerable on it, but I would if I were her- she’s already gotten all the damage she’s going to get on that. If he didn’t oppose Iraq (and he didn’t) then 1/3 of his Clinton attacks fall apart.
Kay
@Baud:
It’s funny because it’s similar to Romney in that Trump is tricking the base into believing he’s stronger than he is. Republicans genuinely believed Obama was “toast”. It’s for donors, too. Trump needs a billion dollars. He has to convince donors he can win. I would say the donors will be harder to bamboozle than the base but that’s not true. I was smiling listening to pundits say “the consultant class” won’t back Trump. Of course they will. He’ll hire all of them.
Baud
@Kay:
Trump will call them “investors,” and they will get a Tweety sized tingle up their legs.
The Lodger
@Jeffro: I don’t think GOP fundraising has been anemic, more like uncoordinated. Every sugar daddy has wanted to steer the boat in a different direction. If they get their shit together in 2020, this could be a problem.
Meanwhile it’s 4:15 fkn AM out here; too late for melatonin and too early for beer.
debbie
@Betty Cracker:
Forget what the Beltway media will learn. What matters is if the GOP will learn anything. My bet’s on No.
Schlemazel Khan
@Betty Cracker:
My Congressman, Keith Ellison, posted a video yesterday of his appearance on the ABC Sunday blab thing. In the video he says something about if Trump wins the nomination, Judas Stephenopolis and what ever other airhead is there with him start laughing wildly. Judas says “you don’t really believe that.” when he finally regains control. That should be on an endless loop in newsrooms across the county
The Lodger
@oldster: Any option that includes disrespecting Bushes is always worth considering.
debbie
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Don’t discount that she’ll be speaking to voters who also think she’s lying. There’s going to be some very tough hills to climb.
Kay
@Baud:
That’s what Bush did. As it turns out, George W Bush was the high water mark for Republican politicians. Best in a generation! :)
I feel like he’s smug about that down there in Texas. None of them want to be seen with him, yet he’s a better politician than any of them.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay:
I think they are learning, something anyway. In 2012 they threw hundreds of millions of $ at Romney and it was a complete waste. Post Citizens United you still can’t buy the Presidency if your candidate is a clueless out of touch plutocrat and I don’t think they will throw much, if any, at Trump. They have been very cautious this year and for good demographic reasons.
When it comes to down ticket races tho… I haven’t read any reporting on how CU affected those races.
Schlemazel Khan
@Schlemazel Khan:
HERE is the FB page, the video is the first entry
Baud
@Kay: He could appeal to all of the various GOP constituencies. No one since has been able to pull that off.
Schlemazel Khan
@OzarkHillbilly:
Slow motion suicide?
but really, farm work has always been more dangerous than we imagine, Sray safe out there!
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
CNN Poll — General Election — April 28 thur May 1 (link page #33)
All Respondents:
Clinton……….54%
Trump………..41%
Women Only:
Clinton…………61%
Trump………….35%
BillinGlendaleCA
@debbie: The voters that think she’s lying are in two sets: those that think ALL politicians lie, and those that have CDS. These two sets have a large intersection. The first group are votes she can get, the second would never vote for her.
Hal
So it turns out you can get food poisoning from old salad. Stupid me didn’t pay attention to the use by date of some salad I ate Tuesday night and was rewarded with 24 straight hours of trips to the bathroom every 1 to 2 hours. My second sick day today, but I am feeling much better. No Darwin award for me this time.
Matt McIrvin
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Which means men are split 50-50.
edit: 47-47, I guess.
Betty Cracker
@debbie: That’s true. However, it’s absolutely necessary to explode the myth that Trump is a brave truth teller who always tells it like it is. He lies all the goddamned time, and he becomes really pissy and flustered when called on it. Remember that bizzaro press conference with the Trump-branded steaks, water, magazine, etc., after Romney called Trump on his phony Midas touch? That’s what I’m talking about.
Schlemazel Khan
@OzarkHillbilly:
I think (hope) the early numbers convince the big money boys decide to ignore the main event. The scary part is they may decide to spend their millions on local races so we do not get the big boost down ticket we deserve.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@Matt McIrvin: YES!
That’s exactly they way Tweety and Howard Fineman were spinning on Tuesday night. They were furious and incredulous with everyone who gave a data based answer on why Trump is stuck at the bottom of the well.
Rich old white guys, at or near 70, can’t figure out why calling women “pigs”, “fat slobs”, “dogs”, “I’d like to punch her in her fat face”, “disgusting”, “blood coming out of her where ever”, “flat chested women can never truly be beautiful” would turn people off.
eta: I saw Chuck Todd today and he was saying data doesn’t matter, what matters is your “gut”. Hilarious coming from a guy who got his job at NBC 8 years ago as a data analyst. Corruption occurs fast in the Beltway.
debbie
@Betty Cracker:
The debates will be very interesting. It will really point out Trump’s buffoonery and lack of substance.
Schlemazel Khan
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Although I sometimes would love to see Drumpfs reaction to some of the weirder things that have happened in the recent past. For instance, imagine it came out that a conservative group hag been sending a gay dom hooker to WH press conferences posing as a reporter. :)
Schlemazel Khan
@Schlemazel Khan:
was supposed to be “had” not “hag” hard to type (which I don’t do well to start with) with a cat on your lap and FYWP won’t let me edit the comment, says I don’t have permission
Kay
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Trump will go up in polls though because Republicans will come home, so prepare for that. It’s inevitable but they’ll call it a Trump Surge. He goes up from here.
Baud
@Kay:
Aren’t there going to be Democrats who come home too once the primary is officially over?
Betty Cracker
@debbie: I’ve heard TV pundit speculation that Trump will refuse to participate in general election debates, but I don’t see how he can. And given that he’s an ambulatory palette of personality disorders, he probably looks forward to them and thinks he’ll be great! After all, he won the Republican debates by insulting his fellow candidates, which he no doubt takes as evidence of his debating genius.
On the other hand, I’m still haunted by the 2000 election. The Beltway media set the bar so low for W that all he had to do was show up and remain continent on camera to be declared the winner. I could totally see the talking heads building up to these set of debates by citing Hillary’s masterful face-down of the Benghazi witch hunt, etc., and contrasting that with Trump as the untested neophyte, then praising him for “holding his own” and getting in a few shots.
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemazel Khan:
I am certain they will and my question is, will it be money well spent? My gut says yes, but I have no data or reporting to back that up, just the takeover of so many state legislatures by Republicans. Correlation is not causation.
amk
@Kay: so will dems and probably some crossovers.
The Lodger
@Betty Cracker: The media will present this as a contest between two equivalently sane, truthful candidates. There simply isn’t any money in doing anything else.
The media used to pay top dollar for no-talents, now they’re just buying whores.
Schlemazel Khan
@OzarkHillbilly:
I think they get a better ROI on the money spent in House & Senate races but their egos do not get the same boost.
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemazel Khan: That is my feeling too.
Eric S.
@OzarkHillbilly:
I’m not sure that’s the best course of action although I’ll admit I’d have to do some research. The question to answer is what is the likelihood of any one Takada airbag that deploys hits the driver with shrapnel versus not doing so and saving the driver from serious injury or death? I honestly don’t know the answer but the logical answer, I suspect, is to leave it enabled. I acknowledge also that logic is easier in the abstract than when there may be a loaded gun in front of you.
Just One More Canuck
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: One of the interesting tidbits about that poll was that Trump had only 52% of the white vote – Romney had 59% and lost(per Roper Center)
OzarkHillbilly
@Eric S.:
Seat belts have been saving lives since long before airbags. If I lived in the desert SW my calculations would be different, but this particular truck has been inhabiting the humid environs of S, MO for over a decade.
rikyrah
@Betty Cracker:
You believe that they’re actually that deep?
They went along with it for ratings.
And, I just don’t mean this election season.
rikyrah
@Kay:
And, they allowed Willard Romney to do it too.
Remember, the main reason I even know Steve Benen exists, is because he created
” The Lies of Willard Romney”
First, at the Washington Monthly, and he continued it when he went over to the Maddow Blog.
There were so many, he could have a weekly column on it.
Remember Kay, Chuck Todd has already told you: it’s not his job to tell you about GOP LIES.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Someone posted here yesterday a link to a story.
The Donors spent $375 MILLION
on the other Clowns in the GOP Car.
375 MILLION
And they got Trump.
I’m quite interested in watching him get the funds needed.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Remember Kay…
one of the most important things we learned in this political cycle:
W was ‘THE SMART ONE’.
creeps me out everytime I type it.
bemused
@Schlemazel Khan:
That was just this last Sunday? Just wow.
satby
Good morning and Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Betty Cracker
@rikyrah: Ratings are always a driver, sure. But I do think the Beltway yappers are genuinely surprised that Trump won. So am I. So are most people.
rikyrah
@Betty Cracker:
I believe that the Dems need to put out as many women to call Trump on his bull as they can.
He can’t help his misogyny. Being told off by a woman, or women,would get to him.
rikyrah
@Betty Cracker:
I’ve read that too, and like yourself, I don’t see how he gets out of it.
If he tries, it will be the equivalent to McCain’s ‘ I’m going to suspend my campaign because of the financial crisis’ moment.
People don’t expect much during election season, but they do expect to see a debate between the two candidates for the highest office in the land.
satby
@Betty Cracker: He led from the beginning. Surprise was warranted for the first several primaries, but after that it wasn’t. They just couldn’t detach from the crack pipe of clicks, ratings, and $$ long enough to fact check or vet him like a real candidate though he obviously was, nor to consider how to cover truthfully what a disaster he would be in a position of real power.
bemused
@bemused:
Ok, that was last July. I need more coffee.
rikyrah
President Obama in Flint:
Tell it, POTUS. Strike at the heart of that small government bullshyt.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
The one I heard saying eh wouldn’t show up for debates is the increasingly weird Lawrence O’Donnell, always a moderate establishmentarian (did you know he was the most important Senate staffer ever? practically ran the place) who apparently has some major beef with HRC and or both Clintons.
Trump is such an unpredictable mix of ego and canniness, I could see him going either way on debates. What’s really scaring me is the thought of him getting intelligence briefings. I wonder if Obama can restrict what they tell him, and if we’ll start seeing anonymous (because John McCain does not want a riled up base) GOP Senators calling on him to do so.
Betty Cracker
@rikyrah: That is the perfect observation to make at this time. It needs to be a theme every Democrat takes up, every where, in every race.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Great quotes from Mark Bowden’s twenty year old interview with Trump
I love that “and he was trying to make a good impression”
Immanentize
@Jeffro:
This morning in the NYT story about a Trump’s first 100 days, we are reminded that as soon as he wins the election he will find a Supreme Court candidate just like Scalia to nominate. Is that short and sweet enough?
amk
@rikyrah:
That’s “telling it like it is”. Not what the short fingered vulgarian lies/whines about.
Miss Bianca
@Hal: Oh, noes! Don’t eat the brown acid either, OK? I hear when it turns brown that that’s past its sell-by date, as well.
Immanentize
@rikyrah: This:
Elizabeth Warren is a great start, but I suspect Michele Obama might bring some of the evil racist gasbag inside Trump out into the open — and bring hundreds of thousands of votes out as well
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Hal: Oy, I’ve gotten home and opened a couple of those bags that I hadn’t checked the date on… the smell of that slime is almost enough to make wash and chop (and wash again) whole vegetables….
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
I think this is pretty good.
Jack the Second
I’m cautiously optimistic about Citizens United. If it doesn’t really have that much of an impact on elections (eg, most elections are determined by strong or weak candidates or gerrymandered districts or other structural biases that have existed since forever) and it just allows billionaires to piss away their ill-gained loot that much faster, isn’t it a net win for the rest of us? Every dollar the Kochs spend supporting Donald Trump in the fall is a dollar they don’t spend on climate-denying think tanks.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I heard yesterday (sorry can no longer recall the source, but probably NPR) that McCain had volunteered himself to, essentially, tutor Trump on foreign affairs. Somehow, that fails to reassure me the way McCain probably intends.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’ll believe Grassley’s in real trouble the day after the election, but if as I’ve read his participation in the Garland blockade is not going over well in Iowa, I don’t think this will help
@SiubhanDuinne: Dear god, the deluded leading the uninterested. Though the transcript of Trump trying to be diplomatic with McCain would be a helluva read
Uncle Cosmo
@oldster:
That’s it. That’s the term I’ve been looking for.
Trump is Berluscloni.
WarMunchkin
@Uncle Cosmo: I was at a party recently and met this woman from Italy – she was a researcher who talked to me about Italian politics and developments of their right wing; the ascent of Berlusconi in particular was a subject she wanted to talk about. She was horrified that she had to live through that twice with Donald Trump. I assured her that there was no way we were going to let him through.
But here we are.
Your daily reminder that Donald Trump will be receiving classified intelligence briefings soon. Who will be the first person to ask him to commit to making those briefings public so that a small elite doesn’t have access to all of the intelligence? /s
J R in WV
@OzarkHillbilly:
You be really careful, working on a farm is one of the most dangerous occupations in the nation. Where most of my personal damage is from, since I got out of the Navy.
One of my scarier moments was visiting a work site where most of my hard-working friends were under an old house, preparing to jack it up to level it and put a real foundation under it. What if it had fallen? Just come apart? Nothing bad happened, but the possibilities were so bad…. you be careful!!
bupalos
I couldn’t hate this “he’s insane, he’s stupid and vulgar, look no one likes him!” any more than I do. Starring Jeb! Bush and TrussTed?? I swear to god, we’re going to play this thing into a net loss in congress and a concurrent uptick in domestic terrorism.
Do not run against “DONALD TRUMP, WHO REPUBLICANS HATE.” Run against Republicans, who’s best angels and best practices have led them inexorably to nominate Donald Trump as their champion, even if they themselves seem confused about this. Show how Donald took his tax plan from Mitt Romney. Show how Donald took his thoughts about immigration and furriners from Jan Brewer and Steve King. There are probably a total of 0 people in the whole country that you both CAN and NEED to convince that Donald trump is an asshole. So don’t do that. The quicker we figure out that we’ve already won potus and need to play ‘pin the asshole on the elephant’ here the better.
catclub
@oldster:
I felt the same way when I learned that ted Cruz loves “The Princess Bride”.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@catclub: if things had worked out the way they were supposed to and trump had dropped out after getting his 15% and endorsed Jeb, they’d be having up to Walker’s Point and asking him to record robocalls on Benghazi for carefully selected targets in October
catclub
@WarMunchkin: Berlusconi owned the media. Trump is getting free media. That could change. I hope.
I heard and interview of Richard Russo. Author of upstate New York books. He said that he is disappointed that ‘his people’ would go for Trump.
But he did not say “Trump is fundamentally selfish. To believe that he would go to bat for anyone other than himself is delusional.”
Stacy
@SiubhanDuinne: Remember too that Paul Manafort is his campaign manager and Putin’s former ally/lobbyist.
Amaranthine RBG
@OzarkHillbilly: contact the dealer. Send a letter. Explain that you have to drive. Explain you are terrified of ending up like the people in the attached photographs. {graphic pics are easy to find on interner[.
This will move you up in queue
BR
@bupalos:
I agree — Trump is the GOP now.
Irony Abounds
I love Elizabeth Warren, but it pisses me off she isn’t running and we are stuck with supporting Hillary. Quite ironic the the only Republicans that HRC can beat are Trump and Cruz, and the only Dem candidates that Trump could possibly beat are HRC and Bernie. So, instead of a blowout where Trump would have no possible chance, he has, as Jim Carrey might say, a chance.
Aleta
Maybe mentioned somewhere, but Elon and Emily’s baby is born. His Twitter is very moving, and admirable
Villago Delenda Est
@catclub: Rafael is Vezzini in the flesh.
nastybrutishntall
BernieBros on FB are saying things like, “Trump’s a moderate because he doesn’t mean what he says because it’s all for votes and anyway NAFTA and fuck Hillary.” And there’s lots of “I’m writing in [Bernie or Unicorn of the Moment].”
People suck.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@nastybrutishntall:
These were formerly Paul voters. They can be held in contempt, and safely ignored.