Journalists who use the words “serious” or “thoughtful” or “integrity” should be first against the wall in the revolution:
Donald Trump and I have talked at great length about things such as the proper role of the executive and fundamental principles such as the protection of life. The list of potential Supreme Court nominees he released after our first meeting was very encouraging.
But the House policy agenda has been the main focus of our dialogue. We’ve talked about the common ground this agenda can represent. We’ve discussed how the House can be a driver of policy ideas. We’ve talked about how important these reforms are to saving our country. And we’ve talked about how, by focusing on issues that unite Republicans, we can work together to heal the fissures developed through the primary.
Through these conversations, I feel confident he would help us turn the ideas in this agenda into laws to help improve people’s lives. That’s why I’ll be voting for him this fall.
It’s no secret that he and I have our differences. I won’t pretend otherwise. And when I feel the need to, I’ll continue to speak my mind. But the reality is, on the issues that make up our agenda, we have more common ground than disagreement.
For me, it’s a question of how to move ahead on the ideas that I—and my House colleagues—have invested so much in through the years. It’s not just a choice of two people, but of two visions for America. And House Republicans are helping shape that Republican vision by offering a bold policy agenda, by offering a better way ahead.
Donald Trump can help us make it a reality.
They always fall in line. Always. There is never anything too disgusting for them to sign on to if it has an (R) after it.
schrodinger's cat
He folded like a cheap suit that he is.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
All you need to know about Paul Ryan is that he is over 45 and wears his baseball hat backwards.
dan
Good news everybody Paul Ryan will continue to speak his mind.
Corner Stone
I have a more important question. If there were an all white “Stella Got Her Groove Back” who plays AB?
Baud
I hope Ryan at least got a a Trump steak out of it.
lollipopguild
If Ryan did not endorse Trump and trump became President, Ryan’s career would be over. It may be over anyway but Ryan is covering his bases. If Trump loses then Ryan was a good soldier.
Schlemazel Khan
@dan:
You mean “mind”
Corner Stone
@lollipopguild: Ryan’s career is over. It was over when he accepted the Speaker role. Maybe when he accepted Mitt’s VP role.
He will remain in place, but to what end? Much love by the Village press?
piratedan
I think I can safely say…. “fuck that guy”.
damn fascists….. I’m so incredibly sad that these bastards have so little faith in the actual reality and possibility of an America that believes in its founding principles.
Baud
I agree with that.
I agree with that.
Virgil
Today’s fantasy lunchtime image I have in my head is Ryan, taking a bite from his peanut butter and jelly sandwich while watching Clinton’s speech – choking – gagging, then reaching for his glass of milk while auto-dialing Trump: “Ok! Ok! Ok! I’m in! I’m in!”
Major Major Major Major
I hate these people so much.
JPL
Ryan must be so proud because the Trump told the WSJ the judge listening to the lawsuit against him, must step aside because he is of Mexican heritage. What type of judge does the Trump want to hear his lawsuits?
SFAW
“Donald Trump can help us make it a reality. Which will be huuuuge, because those grannies ain’t gonna starve themselves, amirite?”
JPL
@SFAW: yes
Mike in NC
Poor Paul Ryan: once rejected from admission to Trump University. He wanted to do his thesis on the awesomeness of Ayn Rand.
NotMax
Two good reads.
1)
2) Olbermann.
SFAW
@Major Major Major Major:
Well, then you must hate Hitlary, too. Because I have it on good authority that
BushTrump andGoreHitlary are exactly the same.Matt McIrvin
Suppose Trump had run as a Democrat (as it’s conceivable he might have done at some point in his life), and suppose that by some happenstance he actually got the nomination. He’s Donald Trump, with the same personality he’s got today, the same poor impulse control and authoritarian leanings. Maybe he says racist shit every few days. But he promises to enact liberal social, economic and foreign policies, sign anything a Democratic Congress gives him, and appoint liberal Democratic Supreme Court justices. He’s running against somebody like, oh, Mitt Romney. What would you do?
WaterGirl
@Baud:
I’m shocked that Ryan is willing to say that out loud.
If I hadn’t written off Ryan long ago, I would surely do so now. The man has no principles. Ugh.
dmsilev
@JPL:
One that agrees with Trump on the awesomeness of all things Trump.
Duh.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin: That’s like asking what number you get when you divide by zero.
Baud
@WaterGirl: Right. I think a lot of Republicans were hoping to distance themselves from Trump.
Corner Stone
Does anyone know what the tie-in is between the all male cast of the NBA Ghostbuster ads and the new all female cast of GB movie is?
NonyNony
Least. Surprising. Endorsement. Evar.
Elie
@Baud:
He picked a bad day to look like Donnie’s bitch. His limp “endorsement” against Hillary’s ass kicking? Wow — lame doesn’t cover it…. But that’s Paul — Biden made him look like a limp dick also…
lollipopguild
@piratedan: You can include all of the right wing Christians who hate democracy and really do not believe the christian religion that they profess to love so much.(I am a christian). They constantly talk about Obama/Clinton/democrats hating America when they are the ones who really hate our country and want to destroy it.
JPL
@Matt McIrvin: For me that is easy, he’s a racist pig, and I’d vote for Romney.
I could never vote for a racist pig.. I would hope the democrats would disavow him though.
raven
If you thought Kobe Bryant was going to take time off after dropping 60 in his final NBA game — or that he would just fade into retirement — think again. Kobe is wasting no time in taking on new projects and making moves off the court.
His next move?
Ghostbuster.
The Black Mamba let The Players’ Tribune ride along for his Ghostbusters promo shoot.
To see Kobe’s debut as a Ghostbuster, tune in to Game 1 of the NBA Finals tonight on ABC at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET.
NotMax
@JPL
Sarah Palin, on her upcoming TV
giggrift.Corner Stone
@Elie:
Our press tried their best to make it seem like PR’s endorsement would drown out HRC’s speech.
So far that has not been the case. We’ll see when they sleep it off tomorrow and write headlines.
smith
@NotMax:
Hmmm…that sounds familiar. Oh yes, “If the president does it, it’s not against the law.” On this score, the main difference is that Nixon didn’t tell us in advance.
Elie
@Baud:
The old blank eyed granny starver ghoul has teamed up with the zombie pig — He had no choice… There is nothing to Ryan but puff air and no spine. He would never stand strong on his own…. he could only succumb. He is a complete, weak nothing. I bet the Romney folks have a few words about him. Interesting that he ended up supporting Trump over the head of the ticket he ran on (Romney). We all knew him to be a useless, granny starver grifter and so it is still so.
dmsilev
@Corner Stone: A couple of news aggregators that I quickly checked are both leading with Clinton right now with Ryan as a second story. Lead headline on Google News (no search, just the News homepage) is “Hillary Clinton’s evisceration of Donald Trump” (headline courtesy of CNN).
Seems encouraging.
Elie
@Corner Stone:
Yeah, but unless Donnie has a good response, he is to deep in to separate himself at this point. He is just weak sauce….
Helen
@Corner Stone:
Me. I got my groove back.
benw
They fall in line because no one wants to be THE LAST IN LINE
Baud
@Elie: He needs to pump some more iron.
Frankensteinbeck
@SFAW:
No, I’ve been assured $hillary is WORSE than Trump, and will bomb Iran in day one just to prove she has bigger balls than any man (the actual argument I was told here), and she’ll cut Social Security because her only true motivation is Centrist Triangulation. Trump, who said the Iraq War was dumb and called for increasing Social Security, will run to her left.
Gin & Tonic
@dmsilev: Yeah, I just saw that on Google News. I’d have preferred “emasculation” but I’ll accept “evisceration.”
Omnes Omnibus
@benw: If that link is to something about the human centipede, there will be consequences.
benw
@raven: I just saw that ad! They’re also running an add with Spike Lee and Carmelo as Ghostbusters.
NotMax
@Helen
Never lost my groove. Know right where it is, still pristine, sealed in the original factory packaging.
;)
benw
@Omnes Omnibus: Dio your worst!
Patricia Kayden
@schrodinger’s cat: Wonder why he went through all that drama of not endorsing Trump immediately. We all knew his worthless behind was going to fold anyway.
Helen
@Helen: Juice@Major Major Major Major:
LOL See me here in January at Balloon Juice during one of the debates. Almost verbatim:
“I m a cynic and a bitch and even I cannot believe how much I hate these people.
It is stunning, ain’t it?
Patricia Kayden
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: Don’t forget that he works out and has muscles!
Thoughtful David
@Matt McIrvin:
It isn’t just that Trump has poor impulse control and has promised to sign everything a Republican congress sends him: he has actually advocated war crimes, more than once, advocated trashing the Constitution, many times, and advocated economic policies that would trash the US and world economies. That is what Ryan is endorsing.
And no, if he had run as a Democrat, I would not be endorsing those plans and would be calling him out loudly on it.
Face
@benw: I knew where that link was going 5 seconds before you linked it. Why couldnt all Ronnies be as awesome as RJD?
NotMax
@Patricia Kayden
Like a lawn chair from the 99¢ store.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Corner Stone:
I haven’t read through the thread yet, but, not Susan Sarandon.
Frankensteinbeck
@Matt McIrvin:
I understand what you’re trying to say – would we choose an idiot rubber stamp over a hard Republican? But the thought exercise doesn’t hold up for all kinds of reasons. Trump’s racism IS the Republican Party, they just wish he dog whistled. Trump isn’t just stupid, he’s dangerously ‘nuke China’ stupid. Democrats care about policy and competence, and Republicans haven’t for ages. The closest the Dems could get was Sanders, he was already losing, and when he turned out to be an empty suit he shed people in droves.
For the record, I would vote for Romney before Trump, because a bullet in my head is better than my entire neighborhood being firebombed. That’s about how I view them.
smith
The whole charade of NeverTrump has been weird and pointless. They first make a big deal about how dangerous and unacceptable he is, then all meekly fold with hardly a whimper just as everyone knew they would. It only underlines how unfit he is and how weak they are. Way to project strength and confidence, ‘Pugs!
dmsilev
@efgoldman: Early/mid afternoon, I think. Early enough to make the news broadcasts.
Our feral troll showed up in one of the threads earlier today gloating about how Ryan had stepped all over Hillary’s big moment. Much to everyone’s shock and horror, the troll’s analysis does not seem to have been all that accurate.
NotMax
Shorter Ryan: “You’re looking especially attractive today,
Mrs. CleaverMr. Trump.”Technocrat
@Matt McIrvin:
Racist/sexist/homophobic speech is pretty much the kiss of death for a Dem candidate. The real thought exercise is a non-racist, but otherwise similarly uninformed Trump. A racist will never get the nom in the current Democratic Party. A moron, maybe.
amk
@Matt McIrvin: Meaningless ‘intellectual exercise’?
Betty Cracker
Larry O program showed a clip of Trump at a speech tonight, and he’s still got nothing on HRC’s speech. She rattled the rat bastard.
gogol's wife
@NotMax:
lol
? Martin
Of course they fell in line. The only Republican core principle is beating Democrats. If gay Hitler polled well enough, they’d make him the nominee and all endorse
benw
@Face: DIO! TIME TO GO!
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Patricia Kayden: Oh my yes, he claims to do P90 even though he has a bad back, not to mention his awesome marathon time.
FlipYrWhig
@Corner Stone: Diane Lane? Jennifer Lopez (depending on how you define “white”)?
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Helen:
LOL. Me too.
NotMax
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap
His front is nothing to write home about either.
;)
different-church-lady
Shorter Paul Ryan: “This is all going to fall to shit. I can admit this is all going to fall to shit now, or I can put up an act until November. No brainer.”
Aleta
If awareness of affected family members, close friends, aides, and mentors did not affect their campaigns against gay rights, health care, consumer protection and anti-discrimination laws, we cannot expect them to take a moral stand on anything ever. It was clear the day in 2004 the House voted to cut billions in veterans funding while passing a resolution in support of troops just sent to Iraq.
lumpkin
@Matt McIrvin:
Yeah, right. Call us back when something like that actually happens, dingus.
Felonius Monk
Proving only that Paul Ryan is indeed the naive idiot we have always believed him to be.
NotMax
@different-church-lady
Falling back on his experience at Oscar Meyer: pushing baloney.
Dog Dawg Damn
@Aleta: This about blew up my family vacation with the in-laws.
We were subjected to a rousing defense of NC’s HB2 because calculating various minimum wages is *hard* for accountants, so it’s preferable to just have one (naturally small). Nevermind that demonizing the gays (their own flesh and blood) is part of the pogrom.
Just the price you have to pay for convenience!
Ramping Up
If Trump is such a horrible no good awful candidate, why do the polls have this baby as “too close to call”? Maybe the American people think a little differently than the typical liberal.
Trump is quietly redrawing the map. Quietly, but surely. As you pay attention to the media back and forth he is turning blue states in the Midwest blood red.
gene108
@Corner Stone:
Being Speaker of the House of Representatives is a pretty big fucking accomplishment.
Other than the Presidency there ain’t many jobs that are clearly above being Speaker.
If his career is going to end, he’s going out on top, unless he loses his re-election bid this year.
Frankensteinbeck
@Ramping Up:
The polls currently have him losing roughly 300-200 in electoral votes, so I’m afraid your whole premise is off.
Ramping Up
@Frankensteinbeck:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/mi/michigan_trump_vs_clinton-5533.html
Clinton falling into the margin of error in–wait for it–Michigan, a state won easily by Obama and not contested seriously by Romney or McCain.
The Midwest Rustbelt is once again the battleground and Trump has real appeal to white downscale voters that dominate the region.
NotMax
@Ramping Up
Ah, so liberals are not Americans. Gotcha.
Open a basement window and let some fresh air in. Please.
What a maroon.
Patricia Kayden
@Matt McIrvin: If he says “racist” things every few days, he doesn’t get the nomination. Period.
Trump just said that Secretary Clinton needs to be in jail. He’s awfully shouty!
Corner Stone
@gene108: Give me a fucking break. He’s a monkey with a collar around his neck, dancing to the tune the TEA Party chumps grind out for him. He’s not driving policy. He’s a chump. A punk.
The Village venerates him as a wise man of deep policy thought but he’s nothing.
Corner Stone
And 1!
Patricia Kayden
@NotMax: Can’t you tell that srv and Ramping Up are Republican trolls? Should be obvious by now. Get some trolls-be-gone spray and ignore.
Betty Cracker
@Ramping Up: Please go swallow a carton of Mentos, guzzle a gallon of Diet Coke, jump and down on a trampoline and report back when you explode.
BBA
@gene108:
I think you’re confusing this House of Representatives for some other legislature.
Ramping Up
@NotMax:
They’re not a majority of taxpayers, that’s for sure. Leeches and moochers, maybe. Outhouse at the park
Corner Stone
I don’t normally do this, but this is fucking genius. I can’t ignore the use of “quietly” in this formulation. That’s just straight genius at this point.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@gene108: Even before his past was exposed, Denny Hastert was never more than Tom Delay’s meat puppet. Boehner was and is by any non-broderist standard a blazing mediocrity. I’m sure there are Speakers in out history as useless as those two, but I don’t know the names.
Patricia Kayden
@gene108: And Ryan is young which means that he’ll be Speaker of the House for years to come unless the House flips. He’s done alright for a pretty dull person.
A Ghost To Most
@Ralphing Up:
Damn I hate the stink of fascist in the evening; it smells like vomit.
Betty Cracker
Larry O showed a bit more of Trump’s ongoing speech, and boy is that rat bastard rattled but good. He was sweaty and snarly and more buffoonish than ever. I just hope the nasty little prick doesn’t stroke out before Hillary cleans his clock.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Ramping Up: Hi there ! It sounds like you need some pancakes. Here’s a really good recipe.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Betty Cracker: but unless I am very much mistaken he had the opossum colored and reset
Rolling Along
Best run states are Republican States:
http://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/best-run-states-are-heavily-republican-study-finds/
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Betty Cracker: She is going to bring the pain to dog shit Donny. Wait until she gives P90 Ryan some of this. I think Hillary is already in No F*cks Left to Give mode.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@WaterGirl: I haven’t read the whole piece, just JC’s excerpts. What struck me about it is how absolutely vacuous it is. Do they agree on domestic policy? Do they agree on foreign policy? Do they agree on the budget? Or do they mostly but not completely agree on some sort of nebulous “policy agenda”?
It doesn’t say anything. He’s climbing on board the Trump Jalopy and leaving himself an out that “I never said I agreed with him about …!!1”.
I get the impression that Trump agrees. I hear his reaction to Ryan’s endorsement was:
while the press makes it sound like a new edition of “peace for our time”.
(sigh)
Cheers,
Scott.
PsiFighter37
Paul Ryan’s a little bitch, this just seals it.
If he even bothers trying to run in 2020, it’s simple: how can you trust a man who thought Donald Trump was fit to be president?
Hope he enjoys riding that anchor all the way to the bottom of the ocean.
Patricia Kayden
@WaterGirl: What does Ryan have to lose by endorsing Trump? Nothing. He has no dignity to be lost.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Rolling Along: Well they do get more Federal tax dollars than they pay in, so they should be more solvent. But as you guys keep telling us, mooching is bad. Oh, have some pancakes.
gogol's wife
@Betty Cracker:
You do?
Mike J
Fucking morons are throwing bottles at Trump supporters, burning American flags.
You. Are. Not. Helping.
RaflW
Dunno if it will get much press, but I watched a couple minutes of Trump’s fusilade this evening on the stump. Clinton got to him. Fallows called Trump “almost insane” this evening on Twitter, but he is of course a partisan and not a straight news person.
I think Ryan may regret his boot licking sooner rather than later. LA Times has a piece up that reminds us that the GOP is down to 27% of the CA electorate over the absolutely shitty Republican stand on immigration. Trump triples down on that.
cckids
@Baud:
That just never gets old. Makes me smile every time.
What a tool.
amk
@gene108:
In a party that just elected a carnival barker of a clown as their prez candidate, becoming the defacto speaker is not a bfd.
Reggie Mantle
You did it! Y’all managed to go 100 posts without shitting on Bernie Sanders or his supporters! (Well, one post kinda did, but it was oblique).
It’s a start…maybe you’re finally getting over the trauma of someone actually not adoring Hillary Clinton.
Victory!
El Caganer
@Corner Stone: Remember, Doughy Pantload is considered a leading conservative intellectual.
geg6
@PsiFighter37:
Yup. Put a fork in him. Dimwit thinks he’s too clever by half, but he just threw his future away. Course, I’ve thought that sincexI saw he “great” bargaining skills when tapped for Soeaker. He folds like a cheap suit every time, after a bad Hamlet act that the Villagers lap up like cats do heavy cream laced with some killer ‘nip.
Major Major Major Major
@Mike J: Dafuq. Morons.
Patricia Kayden
@Betty Cracker: Trump cannot take ANY criticism. If that thing on his head was actually his, it would turn white by November because Secretary Clinton is going to do nothing but criticize him.
Mnemosyne
@Reggie Mantle:
Bernie who?
NotMax
@Ramping Up
1) That’s not what you said in black on gray.
2) Citation, from the IRS perhaps? Aren’t you a-feared of contracting “moocher” cooties by hanging out here?
What a maroon.
@Patricia Kayden
Well aware, thank you very much.
srv (when not in fisticuff mode) can evince a sly sense of humor when he/she wants to. The other one (with a proven track record here as a racist, anti-Semite, misogynist and vehement advocate for losers) is the Pakled of BJ trolls. Low hanging fruit, to be sure, but every once in a while needs to be reminded that silence is not consent.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I also noticed that the marmoset carcass on Trump’s head looked a bit lighter in color and wound more tightly around his bare pate.
@gogol’s wife: Only because I want Trump to feel the sting of being stomped by a woman and to suffer the ignominy of taking the party down in flames along with him. If he strokes out, they might pick someone who is better at masking his white nationalist tendencies.
@Mike J: Fucking idiots.
Adam L Silverman
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: Its a Mercatur Center Study. It says whatever the Koch funding wants it to say.
hovercraft
OT
GOS has a diary roundup of headlines about the speech
Helen
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
IK,R?
I am SO not at a rich peoples resort where all the hot guys hang out. Bummer.
Hey Balloon Juice. Where are all the hot guys at??
RaflW
@Patricia Kayden: He’s awfully shouty!
He had a Dick Nixon sweaty upper lip tonight as well. I saw it live (streaming, not fvking in person, thank pasta).
cckids
@Mike J: Yeah. Protesters are throwing things, egging one woman’s face, stealing hats & lighting them on fire, throwing bottles. No police presence to speak of. What a collection of asshats.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Adam L Silverman: Oh yeah, anyone half aware knows a lot of the stuff coming from George Mason is bullshit, paid for by the Kochs.
geg6
@Mnemosyne:
Old news. Some people are too busy to catch up. Or something.
Meanwhile, LO’D has some asshole reporter is trying to drum up a riot at the anti-Trump protest at Trump’s rally tonight. Being egged and pushing and shoving is now worthy of massive police presence. Because that always ends well.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I think Tweety gave him the number of a good colorist
srv is one of the weirdest trolls I’ve ever seen, coming from just about every angle at different moments, and going for long stretch (though the last stretch was a good stretch back) of being a fairly normal commenter
Patricia Kayden
Anti-Trump protesters are acting like fools. The police need to shut it down.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@hovercraft: Thank for posting that.
geg6
@Patricia Kayden:
Apparently, according to MSNBC, a lot of Bernistas.
Mnemosyne
@Mike J:
San Jose. That means the Black Bloc anarcho-kiddies took the BART down from Oakland, so I’m not surprised. Pissed off, but not surprised. Assholes are assholes.
Adam L Silverman
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: They have hiring, firing, tenure, and promotion authority for the Mercatus Center and the Department of Economics. So nothing is going to be published by the Mercatus Center that doesn’t advance their argument.
geg6
@Mnemosyne:
But not really violent. A huge police presence would most likely have made things worse.
El Caganer
@Patricia Kayden: I wouldn’t be shocked to find out that Trump had hired them. Good way to (a) play the victim and (b) provide a shiny object to distract The Liberal Media from Clinton’s destruction of The Donald.
Patricia Kayden
The police have arrived. Finally.
Elie
@Patricia Kayden:
I am sure there are some r–fckers in the mix — just so easy to do and helps them immeasurably, so why not?
Gin & Tonic
Warriors are tearing this up!
A Ghost To Most
@Rolling Along: Isn’t sockpuppetry grounds for the banhammer?
Mike in NC
@Rolling Along:So now you’re Ramping Up and Rolling Along and Eating Shit all at the same time. Impressive cretin troll. But still so sad!
rikyrah
I don’t know why Cole is upset. I have said repeatedly that there are NO policy differences between Trump and the rest of them. They just didn’t like that he won’t speak in dogwhistles.
chopper
@Ramping Up:
because it’s the beginning of June, you feeb. dukakis was ahead at this point in 88.
Patricia Kayden
@geg6: They have been pushing and throwing objects at Trump supporters, so there is some violence.
Patricia Kayden
@Mike in NC: When will he and all his aliases be banned?
Mnemosyne
@rikyrah:
I think he’s mad at the press, not at Ryan. The press was acting like there was some kind of doubt that Ryan would fall in line.
Patricia Kayden
@Elie: Possibly. Not sure if that can be proven though. Not good.
Joel
@geg6: Throwing shit at people is usually an indication that things are getting out of hand. A police response is merited.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mnemosyne: I thought he would draw it out longer, play the reluctant but ultimately loyal soldier, especially after Li’l Marco jumped on the Trump train, since as I see it this is all about posturing for 2020. I don’t believe the wannabes want him to win.
? Martin
Man, Trump really was unhinged at his San Jose speech. He’s usually embarrassing/entertaining – he typically has an affect that he’s putting on a show. But tonight was anger, yelling. Less funny/embarrassing and more scary/embarrassing.
I think Hillary should back off on her technique tonight and save it for the debates. I think it puts Trump on tilt.
Major Major Major Major
Fucking Oakland black bloc assholes, I agree with Mnem. Buncha dipshit dumbfucks.
? Martin
Well, I think that settles game 1…
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@? Martin:
The consensus seems to be forming on twitter that he’s not going to make it to November.
Elie
@Patricia Kayden:
Its precisely that it can’t be proved — people slide in and then out without being identified with any organization, much less motive… All we can hope is that the violence doesn’t get too bad… wish there were some way to identify the legitimate peaceful protesters from those who want to incite violence and mayhem. Certainly they must know this just helps Trump? If they know that and don’t care, or are Trump advocates — either way its not good…
Omnes Omnibus
@Reggie Mantle: Is it that important to you? Fucking focus on the big picture. But one suspects that you are focusing on it and that’s why you want to drag Bernie back into the conversation. The rest of us have moved on.
? Martin
Warriors up by 20 isn’t the painful part. Curry with only 8 points, Thompson with 6 must really sting.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@gene108: Being Speaker is an important job and worth a lot in normal times. Why? Because the Speaker determines what the House does and what it accomplishes. But Ryan doesn’t do that now, because the Teabaggers believe their job is to gum up the works and do nothing.
Ryan won’t be able to point to any accomplishments. He’s got no patronage to shower on supporters, and he can’t punish any opponents. Why will anyone care? “Hey, I passed several continuing resolutions. Hey, I didn’t let Obama fix anything. I took a historic GOP majority and did less than nothing with it. Aren’t I great?”
Ryan will be quickly forgotten, or used as a counter-example. Even Speakers who took their job seriously and ran things reasonably well are quickly forgotten. How many people remember Tom Foley?
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Cat48
Well, Trump is done, now we have the riot afterwards which upsets the press.
chopper
@Reggie Mantle:
it must have been hard to type all that out through the tears. you use voice recognition software or something?
Elie
@? Martin:
I like that. A little like Great White or other large sharks. They will take a big plug out of large aggressive prey and then swim away and sit back until they are weakened from loss of blodd before coming in for a second go. Prevents injury from a victim that’s still vigorous at the time of the first bite — time is on its side…
Mnemosyne
@? Martin:
Today was the test to see how Trump responds. Now they watch his reaction and the reaction of the press and decide their next move to keep Trump off-balance.
Mike in NC
@Patricia Kayden: This nutcase spent most of 2012 gleefully licking Mitt Romney’s butthole under a dozen different IDs. Then sucking off the stupidest member of the Bush family for a few more months this year with another dozen IDs. Loser is stuck in his mother’s basement with nothing but a case of Mountain Dew and several bags of Cheetos. Like most Drumpf fans, an idiot with the psyche of a petulant child.
Patricia Kayden
@chopper: Lol! Y’all are cruel.
GregB
@Betty Cracker:
She had a line about leaving the analysis of Trump’s brain to the psychiatrists.
If the Dems are smart they’d hire those two amoral ghouls who developed the torture program for G.W. Bush and have them get to work on gaslighting Trump.
He’s going to snap like Greg Stillson or the cowardly survivor from every 70’s disaster film who ends pushing a child put of the way only to plunge down the elevator shaft when the canle breaks.
Thoughtful David
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Actually, that idea alone, that he might not make it to November, might be enough to drive him over the edge.
Cool!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
a respite from the madness
Mnemosyne
@Elie:
It’s the Oakland Blac Block anarchist assholes. They show up at every protest in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley to break shit.
Patricia Kayden
@Mike in NC: I thought he was banned for making a racist comment. Surprised that he’s back and running his mouth. There should be a way to ban people based on their email addresses.
chopper
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
considering the last gooper in the job was a drunk and the one before that was a child molestor i figure ‘quickly forgotten’ is the best he can hope for.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Mnemosyne:
reports that the San Jose police have lost control. sounds pretty bad…
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: I had presumed there was a “present company excepted” clause attached to the comment.
NotMax
@efgoldman
Bloody Iron: vodka, tomato juice and Geritol.
;)
Patricia Kayden
@Elie: I am surprised the police aren’t protecting Trump supporters more effectively. I see people throwing things at Trump supporters.
Elie
@Mnemosyne:
Are they anarchists or some such? Sheesh — cops should be used to them if this is a regular shtick of theirs…
Elie
@Patricia Kayden:
Oh alls we need is for one to get hurt….
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Mnemosyne:
the footage I saw looks like Mexicans throwing punches and shit – one had a Mexican flag wrapped around him – almost looks staged. Buncha dumbasses anyway – only makes the nazi look good.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Patricia Kayden: NBC reporter tweeted a picture of a Trump supporter hit with an egg, says bottles also thrown
@Elie: yeah, I’ve never heard of this group.
Mike J
@Elie:
The same fuckwits that show up in Seattle for May Day.
magurakurin
@Reggie Mantle: Bernie who? Fish or cut bait, asshole.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
I haven’t seen HRC or DJT’s comments today, but it sounds like Hillary has probably helped destroy the (recent) tradition of televised presidential candidates ‘debates’. We know how Donnie hates to be treated “unfairly”. I’ve thought for a while that he would never agree to debate her, and I’m even more convinced of that now.
Having the Commission on Presidential Debates die would probably be a good thing. The LWV should be running the debates like they used to do. It would help return the debates to a forum for educating the voters rather than for reporters to try to be clever…
Make it so!
Cheers,
Scott.
magurakurin
@cckids: What would really be interesting is to find out what percentage of them are actually registered to vote and then in November what percentage actually bothered to vote. I’m guessing the first number is high and the second number will turn out to be low.
Like Obama said, “don’t boo, vote.”
Dog Dawg Darn
Watching the HRC coverage, and I think the media is turning on Trump in a big way.
Hillarys stacks were pitch-perfect, and the foreign policy angle is the best she has. She also makes Bernie look incompetent to the task of beating Donald in the C-in-C game.
Major Major Major Major
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: They’re a local group of anarchist fuckwads. As @Mike J noted, same sort of people who fuck shit up in Seattle on May Day. These types like to use big lefty protests to prove… something? But it’s the vehicle for their mayhem and ends up reflecting poorly on the real protestors.
Dog Dawg Damn
Watching the HRC coverage, and I think the media is turning on Trump in a big way.
Hillarys stacks were pitch-perfect, and the foreign policy angle is the best she has. She also makes Bernie look incompetent to the task of beating Donald in the C-in-C game.
Mike J
@Patricia Kayden:
You don’t think anybody puts their real email address in here, do you?
? Martin
@efgoldman:
Problem is that he may learn how to cope with it. His speech in San Jose is nothing – nobody is watching. If you know how to tilt your opponent, don’t push it in the nickel stakes game – save it for when it really counts. When he’s live on national TV, there’s no hiding it. ‘Please proceed, governor’ was like a hammer-blow. You could see it on Romney’s face – he didn’t expect Obama to back off, and as soon as Obama did, he knew he was about to tossed. That’s what Clinton is trying to get.
Major Major Major Major
@Patricia Kayden: @efgoldman: Or you could have a blog host who actually reads his own blog and can determine who this one person is based on patterns that are easy for a human to determine with their eyeballs.
Real pie-in-the-sky technology there, I know.
Betty Cracker
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: He’s caught between a rock and a hard place — if he shows up to debate, she’ll wipe the floor up with him, and if he doesn’t, he’ll look like a craven chickenshit.
Redshift
Ryan:
Yes, it will surely be a “driver of policy ideas” once Ryan rolls out that ambitious policy agenda he’s promised real soon now. Any day. For sure this time. They’ve only been in power for five years; why would anyone doubt that now they’re really going to get serious?
I’m not surprised Ryan endorsed Trump; in a little surprised he didn’t wait a bit longer, since his “get the press to admire me for being so thoughtful” schtick was working so well.
Helen
@efgoldman: OH hi and how is efgoldmangradaughter?
Redshift
@efgoldman:
Especially since the system doesn’t send an email to verify it. (Though that’s easy to get around, too.)
smith
@? Martin:
That certainly would be the case with a normal politician, especially one with savvy advisers that he/she listened to. Trump may not be malleable, however. He’s impulsive, convinced of his own genius, and used to interacting only with yes-men. He himself admits that he doesn’t think, just goes with whatever feels right at the moment. I think there’s a possibility Hillary could keep him in a frenzy for months, or at least until he strokes out.
amk
@? Martin:
Jeez, this is the first time she attacked him so directly and you are already concern trolling that she is overdoing it?
Redshift
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
I’m looking forward to Election Night, when Donald complains that the voters have treated him “very unfairly.”
jl
@Betty Cracker: Trump has already chickened out of a debate with a Democrat twice. He probably realizes that he has to debate, but if he got creamed by both Democrats, that might leave a real mark on his campaign.chances. I think he wants to get by with as few as possible. I expect outrageous stunts. Like having one and then cancelling the others because it was ‘unfair’.
The very idea that the GOP could produce this walking disaster for a nominee, and GOP fakes like Ryan will line behind him is frightening and disgusting.
? Martin
@amk: Overdoing it? No, I didn’t say that. I’m saying when you find a tactic that works, use it at a time that yields the best results. Since stakes are low this far out, test other tactics, find other things that work, mix it up, keep him off balance in terms of what he needs to respond to. Once you know what is and isn’t effective, then you can deploy them when they will do the most good.
If she’s out there attacking constantly, he’ll never need to address policy. By engaging him in different ways he can’t form a single defensive strategy and the media won’t get bored by making the same report repeatedly. You want his campaign to wake up each day not knowing what’s going to hit them.
Mike J
? Martin
@efgoldman: I suspect you are correct, but I still prefer a strategy of being unpredictable, mixing up approaches and leaving them unable to prepare. I’m not saying to be soft, just don’t be predictable.
Villago Delenda Est
Translation: Sluts need to be punished.
cckids
@magurakurin: I’m pretty sure most of the trouble-makers aren’t voters.
One guy, wearing a Mexican flag bandanna, told the MSNBC reporter that “this land was ours before it was America or whatever you call it”. I’m sure that will get huge play on all the right-wing sites.
Omnes Omnibus
@? Martin: Meh, you sounded pretty concern trollish to me. So far she has handled things well. Why get worried now?
Villago Delenda Est
@efgoldman: Prezactly. This tiger cannot change his spots.
amk
@? Martin: I am sure she, Obama, Biden et. al. know how to yank his chain in many different ways.
jl
From the news, right now Trump seems to think he is running against a federal judge, and racist ad hominem attacks are a winning strategy. But, maybe Trump knows he has to find a way to stomp out all the bad news about his sleazy schemes.
We also see miserable failure of press to do substantive reporting on the GOP candidates during the primary. The got a free pass compared to Clinton (mostly GOP attack gossip passed off as reporting) and Sanders.
Mnemosyne
@cckids:
Yep. Anarchist jackasses. Especially in California, it’s not just a white guy thing.
(It’s mostly white guys, but not exclusively.)
jl
@Omnes Omnibus: i don’t think it is possible to overdo attacks on Trump’s BS passed off as policy. The vicious nitwit did say to hand out nukes to allies and let them fend for themselves, and if it resulted in mass death, well, that’s how things will roll. He’s said just as bad on numerous issues.
I hope Clinton was just warming up today.
burnspbesq
@Ramping Up:
You lie 102 percent of the time.
Mike J
Every reporter on twitter is now getting flooded by right wingers complaining that they ignore violent liberals, even reporters who are there on the scene in the middle of the violence reporting on it.
? Martin
@Omnes Omnibus: Not worried at all. She’s got a tactic that I think works really well. Why give him time to practice defending against it?
Nobody watched the game tonight? Warriors played their bench while they were ahead. Why put their big guns out there now? When Warriors need them, Cleveland will be less practiced at dealing with them, making them more effective.
Look, you don’t win general elections in primary states in June. Test the waters and use the good stuff when it counts.
Omnes Omnibus
@? Martin: When, in your view, is it appropriate to attack Trump as incompetent? Just suggest the month.
Mike J
@Omnes Omnibus:
Or as Le Monde put it, « inapte à la fonction » de président.
jl
@? Martin: I watched the game tonight. Good start. But I am geographically biased. The warriors rely on a healthy bench and particularly their centers, who don’t seem to do much, but are important in very old school center ways we haven’t seen in over 30 years. So, I am optimistic if their bench can produce.
gwangung
@Omnes Omnibus:
Round robin? After attacking him for being racist, attacking him for being misogynist, and attacking him for being a scam artist?
Enzymer
Totally off topic, but in response to Betty’s exhortation I listened to the full HRC speech. Wow, that was just a totally brutal evisceration not just of The Donald, but of the whole Republican schtich. The highlights played on the cable shows leave out the most devastating parts… Too long, require more than 10s of thought.
Hilarious & sad that O’Donnell had on Andy Card (one of the W architects of disaster) & Fred Malek (Nixons Jew counter) to give theRepublican response… Even they couldn’t defend Trump, but of course had many petty, untrue, criticisms of BHO & HRC. Curious that O’Donnell didn’t make any pushback, let alone challenge their moral standing… Alas, American liberal media are weak, stupid & spineless….
Unlike Hillary!!
Dog Dawg Damn
Trump’s Twitter Feed on election night is going to be the funniest thing ever.
Tegdirb
@El Caganer: I’ve been thinking the same thing. A lot of the same folks who were probably at the anti-Hillary protests in Oakland yet as nasty as that one was – it didn’t get violent. But this one has. Hmm.
And such good timing for Trump – just in time to change the narrative before going into the weekend. Wow, how lucky!
? Martin
@efgoldman: Sure, but did he respond by talking about policy or by talking about Hillary? That’s what I’m getting at. He wants this to be a battle of personalities so that he can skip over the metric ton of shit he doesn’t know. Now that he’s rattled, she need to pivot in a way that gets the press to push him on policy rather than talk about her. When he inevitably fucks that up, she rattles him again, but on domestic policy, or on Trump U, etc. Then back on policy. And so on. And attacking him in different venues, in different ways.
Bullies are successful when they define the parameters of the fight in a way that favors them. Trump will keep seeking that approach and she needs to keep denying it from him by forcing him to respond in ever-different ways.
Look, just to be clear, I think Hillary punches MUCH harder than Trump does. I think she’s infinitely more strategic than he is. I have zero concern that she has this. But Trump has no depth, no ability to pivot successfully, no ability to really respond on his feet because he doesn’t know anything. All he does is counter-insult. If the attacks are consistent the media will accept a consistent counter from Trump. Why give him that? That doesn’t help her.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Mike J: Because of course he did.
:-/
I can’t wait for Trump’s Lebensraum speech, saying we need to annex Mexico because it would be more effective to build the Wall across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec than along the Rio Grande. And since Vicente Fox was mean to him, we have to teach Mexico a lesson, also too.
Cheers,
Scott.
(Who shouldn’t be giving him any ideas…)
Omnes Omnibus
@gwangung: That is also a thought. I think, however, that today was the opening salvo in the HRC general election campaign – a major portion of which will be “Trump is a shit choice because [fill in the blank].”
Ruckus
@efgoldman:
Yes she sure did. But if she does this constantly he’ll complain about her attacks, not the substance. And he won’t respond with the policy he was attacked with, that is following not leading (or in his case bullying) I believe waht Martin is saying is to change it up. His example of the Warriors is exactly right, save the first team stuff till it’s needed. Martin didn’t say to do nothing, he said to change it up, keep trying different stuff, angles to attack on. But don’t attack too much this far out. For those on the fence she needs to discuss policy, what she wants for the country. In other words run for the job. Yes part of that is to make his tiny balls retract all the way up to his throat, but she needs to show that she really is ready to do the job of president. And not to most of us, we already know that. Besides if she does this right it will be a blow out and I’d really like to see that.
Yellowdog
@? Martin: He won’t debate her. He will make up some excuse (I don’t talk to crooks or some other nonsense). But it is really because 1) he is afraid, and 2) he could never accept a woman as an equal and worthy of his attention.
Villago Delenda Est
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: Also, too, he needs to get his hands on that golf course in Mexico City that’s going to be hosting the World Golf Championships, after the PGA slapped him silly moving it from the Trump Doral.
Villago Delenda Est
@efgoldman: The evil seem to live on forever. For example, Dick Cheney.
burnspbesq
@Major Major Major Major:
Anarchist fuckeads? GoBlue 72 must feel right at home.
patroclus
This was clearly Hillary’s best speech of the campaign! Totally eviscerating Don the Con! “He thinks he has foreign policy experience because he ran the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow.” “I’m willing to bet that he’s composing a tweet right now.” Just one incredible put-down after another. That one left a mark! I can’t wait until Barack and Joe and Barney and Bernie and Al and Elizabeth and a whole bunch more start doing the same. This is gonna be fun! He really is a proto-fascistic imbecile and the Republicans are really going to nominate him for President. He’s a dangerous, unstable thin-skinned small-handed incoherent nincompoop and he should be lambasted for it day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day.
? Martin
@Omnes Omnibus:
Always. But do it in different ways, from different angles, through different venues. Be quiet and studious about it sometimes, do it by leading with your policy and draw the media to seek that contrast.
Knowing how to do it is invaluable now, but it’s not going to shift the electorate this far out. Nobody is really invested in the election and won’t be until the debates start. People aren’t like us. We’re weird. So use the opportunity now to test every tactic. Deploy the better once when they will do the most harm – around the debates, when people are watching and every news report will carry it. Trump was pretty unhinged tonight – how many of you saw it? How many reports are you seeing? Ok, so Trump blew up in front of 3,000 people which was quickly eclipsed in the news cycle by a basketball game and a bunch of anarchists. So what? If you are trying to get a reaction out of your opponent, what good does it do if nobody ever sees that reaction? Save it for when people will see it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@efgoldman: only 79, according to wiki. I forget what muck he was mucketing in the Romney campaign, but his name was in the papers, so to speak, a lot in 2012
ETA:
I’m sure he’s typing something in support of the bottle throwers at this very moment
Omnes Omnibus
@? Martin: Her campaign has been doing a pretty shit job so far, right? Do you think they don’t have a plan?
Dog Dawg Damn
Anyone have any links to a round up of Trumps speech tonight? I don’t want to watch but wouldn’t mind a hot take. Or even a tepid one.
Villago Delenda Est
@? Martin:
Political junkies ARE weird. Most people don’t even think about this crap until after Labor Day of a Presidential election year. Off year elections? Fuggitaboutit.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Villago Delenda Est: Indeed!
And he already said we should have taken Iraq’s oil. Mexico’s is much closer. Why not take it first?!
So many reasons!!11 Let’s do it!!111ONE
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
(Soundtrack – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBweqmLk6dU )
burnspbesq
In a sane country with a sensible electorate, the only open question remaining after today’s events would be whether Clinton can get to 400 EV.
Omnes Omnibus
@? Martin: Oh for fuck’s sake, you were just being trite? Sorry for getting involved.
? Martin
@Yellowdog: Maybe. But I suspect not. Part of Trumps personality flaw is that he can’t tell when he gets his ass kicked. He’s a perpetual winner. He could call her a c#nt on national TV and think it was the greatest moment of his campaign. He’s certain he’ll mop the floor with her – why wouldn’t he debate?
Major Major Major Major
@Omnes Omnibus: I saw a Slate piece about how the Hillary camp is, so far, failing at coming up with a simple message to define Trump with. Traditionally speaking, you’re supposed to pick one:
–Vile racist misogynist
–Crook and fraud
–Know-nothing bully
And Hillary has decided to go with vile racist misogynist know-nothing crooked fraud bully. I don’t know if that’s right–does fighting against Trump really work on just one axis?–but that’s what the piece said.
For instance, with Willard, we had “out-of-touch plutocrat who thinks you’re ‘entitled’ because you want food.” But that took a while for the Dems to zero in on.
Mnemosyne
@? Martin:
Wait for it. I seriously doubt that Hillary’s team has only one trick up their sleeves.
Mike J
Some pics from riot of PSL people burning a Trump hat, and their web site suggests you should, “Join the socialist campaign that’s in the struggle!” over pictures of armored cops. So morons.
And while I don;’t believe the Sanders campaign endorses violence the way the Trump campaign does, there were some of his more fuckwitted followers throwing punches. https://twitter.com/smahaskey/status/738573795896610816
#notallberners
Frankly, I blame Les Misérables for getting impressionable kids all het up.
? Martin
@Omnes Omnibus: Did I say that? I think she’s been doing a fine job, and I think today was great. Very effective. I think she does have a plan. Does nobody else think she has a plan? My saying to mix it up is no more of a refutation of an unpublished plan than ‘don’t mix it up’ is a refutation of an unpublished plan.
Jesus people. I offered an opinion of what strategy she should employ and got jumped on by a bunch of people that offered an opinion of what strategy she should employ.
Fuck it. I’m out.
Omnes Omnibus
@Major Major Major Major: She’s already nailed the vile racist misogynist know-nothing crooked fraud bully vibe. She just needs to work it. Bit by bit and in toto.
Matt McIrvin
@magurakurin: I don’t think these black-bloc types vote. Smashing shit up and imagining it’s a revolution is all they care about. Trumpists of the left.
jl
@Major Major Major Major: I thought she went with incompetent unstable irresponsible know-nothing today. But, yeah, hard to find a phrase that sums up the horror of a Trump presidency and is punchy.
I think Clinton will get a message for herself as soon as Sanders loses, probably a modified Sanders pitch of some kind.
But summing up Trump’s awfulness will be hard.
Omnes Omnibus
@? Martin: Bye.
Villago Delenda Est
@Major Major Major Major: Slate. Pffft. They live to be contrary and stupid.
patroclus
@Mnemosyne: Oh sure, she’ll use different tactics, but what’s key is to get out early and define the opposition candidate in a way that future events and occurrences will merely confirm that impression. That’s why today’s broadside was so great. All this stuff will stick. Thin-skinned. Bully. Tweeter not thinker. Constant insults and mocking. Dangerous incoherence. Praising tyrants. Picking fights with friends. Likely to start a war over nothing. No honor. Willing to break laws. Would use military unadvisedly. Ad hominem racism, misogeny, sexism. Anti-immigrant. Unstable. She (and surrogates) can now all sorts of stuff based on today’s set-up.
Major Major Major Major
@Villago Delenda Est: “Define your opponent” is pretty bog-standard analysis, really… And sometimes Slate is good. I feel like they got over their Cavuto Mark period.
Enzymer
@Omnes Omnibus: @efgoldman: Yepp, or at least the quick Googling that I did combined with some comparisons of pictures say it is the same guy. Remember he was a young, rich guy in 68. Now, not sure but I’d guess early 80’s
Omnes Omnibus
@patroclus: It might be too much. You should check with Martin about prefect tactics.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@? Martin: He won’t debate her because he’s a coward. He was afraid of Megyn Kelly for crying out loud. He’s afraid of hard questions.
Don’t forget that he’s been surrounded by yes-men for decades. He doesn’t know how to handle people telling him that he’s wrong, that his proposals are incompetent and dangerous, that he would destroy the country. That’s he’s not a good negotiator, that he doesn’t know more than people who have worked in government for decades. That he’s not clever, he’s not funny, and he’s not brilliant.
I’m reasonably confident predicting that he won’t debate Hillary. He’ll try to throw something shiny up as a distraction for not doing it. But I don’t think many people will be fooled.
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
Bobby Thomson
@Major Major Major Major: They don’t conflict, though.
Deadbeat Donald (A failure and an anti-Lannister. Sad!)
Diaper Donald (Whining crybaby with paper thin skin)
Dumbass Donald (Idiot know nothing)
Douchebag Donald/Don the Con (Crooked fraudster)
Dickhead Donald (Vile racist piece of shit)
All of them, Katie. It’s such a target rich environment you really can’t go wrong.
Omnes Omnibus
@jl: FWIW, Sanders already lost.
Major Major Major Major
@Bobby Thomson: I, personally, like Don the Con. Especially with this Trump U stuff. He’ll remind everybody of the timeshare guy, the used-car lot owner who sold you a lemon…
chopper
@? Martin:
Hilz seems to know what she’s doing here, armchair quarterbacking aside.
RaflW
@efgoldman:
Yeah, I think he’ll chicken(shit) out. He’ll say lots of crap about how unethical or unfair she or the debates or the moderator or the venue or the networks (all of them) are or somethingmumble and the press will howl for 1.5 news cycles and then pretend that it is the new normal for there to be no presidential debates. “I mean, look what a mess having 15 kajillion primary debates were, amirite?”
Major Major Major Major
@efgoldman:
Not quite. There will be a very small number of people who will.
Mike J
@chopper: The biggest danger to Clinton is listening to the 40 million people who just KNOW she’s going to blow it unless she does exactly as they think she should. Let’s bring back and adapt the Obama meme.
She got this.
Enzymer
Various smart folks here have mentioned the need for Hillary to make a positive case for herself. For me, that was what made this takedown extremely brutal was that she didn’t just ridicule the orange scalp-rat, though she did harshly & hilariously.
The 2nd half of the speech was an extended compare & contrast of “Donald” vs what a real foreign policy looks like. She made simple sense that even the evangelicals in Iowa can understand. That part doesn’t lend itself to 10s video clips, but if we can get enough folks to sit still for 5-10 minutes & think about things… I have hope.
I want to see more of this no-fucks Hillary. Much better than triangulating Hillary.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
The Thin Black Duke
I think the people who have doubts about Clinton’s strategy have forgotten that she has been dealing with assholes like Trump for most of her professional career, and I believe she knows exactly what to do. There’s an old saying in boxing that goes, “Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the mouth”, and from what we’re seeing, Trump has a glass jaw.
RaflW
@Enzymer:
+1
Enzymer
The other thought I’ve had is that if she repeats this argument in other military strong-holds (eastern NC, navy VA, Pensicola Fl) we might start alienating the patriotic military families from the Repug’s. I’ve enough of that in my family & history to hear the music. She was singing from the right hymnal.
Course as a fellow Methodist, I frequently hear old ancestral phrases in her speech, even when I disagree. I’ve no doubt that her religion is authentic & deeply felt. I’m an ex-Methodist myself, but you never lose your ear for the harmonies of your youthful
Faith. I find myself humming along with her, she frequently quotes or paraphrases Wesleyan hymns in her speeches. Something the national political press is tone-deaf to.
Major Major Major Major
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: booo
Fair Economist
@Enzymer:
She already has; she has an awesome issues page. “She’s got that” was true nine months ago.
Elie
She was dispassionate. Just a day at work. It was like she took care of Donnie, filed her nails, ate a bucket of fried chicken and worked a crossword puzzle, all at the same time. He won’t be able to touch her. She will, however, have to come across as warm and inspiring to the public she wants to recruit to her side. She will do that. I saw a woman in full — warm but absolutely taking care of business. She looked loose, comfortable with her power. She showed Donnie the stick today, and she put it to him firmly, but held back some. Plenty of time for more. Good for him to get the first taste. And oh boy, Bernie trying to get some juice off of this. He is shameless — almost funny. Ho-hum.
burnspbesq
@efgoldman:
There is a small but significant difference between violating the law and challenging the legitimacy of the government.
Ruckus
I can’t believe how many of you chased off Martin for his suggestions. He never said she did a bad thing in roasting drumpf’s tiny balls, only that she should change it up, not attack in the same way every time. He has other tiny body parts that need to be verbally roasted. drumpf has many faults, hell he displays them proudly, why not keep him spinning and not knowing what is coming next. That will show off her strengths and allow her to get out her own policies to those who are not paying attention. However I hear people talking about politics and this election who have never talked about politics or elections before. Even if they have had limited interest in the past they are more interested now. Those are the people who possibly can be cajoled to vote for her and possibly down ticket democrats. But if all they know is she is a nasty piece of work then constantly trashing her opponent is not the way to win them. They have to see that she is who most of us think she is, a good person for the job. And that he is not even in the same state, let alone ballpark.
burnspbesq
@Elie:
If only she’d done that to Sanders, using the Daily News interview for material …
BillinGlendaleCA
I just wanted to point out something that I think many are missing in HRC’s speech and it’s context today. Remember the CA primary is next Tuesday, she wants to show to the CA primary electorate that she will be a competitive candidate against Trump.
Elie
@burnspbesq:
Naw — I am not gonna backseat drive her at this point. Her target is his followers, not him. It will work out fine. Today put him in his proper place. He’s had his opportunities but decided to blow them. His choice but I think she has run a class campaign that was careful of ALL her resources…
Major Major Major Major
@burnspbesq: The bros would have called foul. Winning votes by being mean just proves that politeness is rigged against Bernie.
Frankensteinbeck
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
I strongly disagree with you. The Teabaggers can’t gum up jack shit without Ryan’s direct and willing assistance. Let’s not pretend that there was any precedent for Boehner’s outrageous ‘Hastert Rule’ jackassery. He could have gotten budgets and debt extensions through with Democratic help. In fact, he eventually had to do just that. Only because Boehner decided to be an unprecedented obstructionist and refuse to let Democrats help pass anything, ever, did the Teabaggers have enough power to block things. Ryan has this same power, and it is a mighty power indeed, especially since he has a scapegoat.
@efgoldman:
How? For who? Boehner couldn’t retire until he found his own replacement and talked Ryan into it and the moderates into voting for him. The Tea Party can’t kick out Ryan. They have as much power as he gives them to spite Nancy and Obama. No more, no less.
Elie
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Oh no, THAT was PRIME. She actually took care of two today — Trump and Bernie… Pantsed both right in time for the big CA…Jerry Brown gave her a nice lift yesterday and then Mama took care of the family’s business today.
Fair Economist
@Elie: She seemed very Presidential in that speech. She reminded me a lot of the “no-fucks-to-give” Obama we’ve seen lately – really in command of details, funny when she wanted to be, serious when she wanted to be, and somehow radiating an “I’m in charge” aura. It felt like President Clinton addressing the crisis of Candidate Trump, not Candidate Clinton attacking Candidate Trump.
Bob In Portland
https://consortiumnews.com/2016/06/02/the-bigger-nuclear-risk-trump-or-clinton/
agorabum
Translation: We think we can control him. He’ll enact the boilerplate Republican agenda.
Basically, Paul Ryan is Franz von Pappen.
Elie
@Fair Economist:
Yeah, she was smooth… She enjoyed it but she wasn’t over eager — just smooth. She commanded her space and the role she will have in November. You saw, like you said, President Hillary Clinton.
magurakurin
@burnspbesq: It shows great strength of character that she didn’t after all the fucked up shit he and his surrogates said about her. She’s the Ice Lady, but in a good, charming super hero kind of way. Like Storm or the Black Widow. Cool, calm and deadly.
Fair Economist
@burnspbesq:
She could have but that wouldn’t serve her goals. She wants Bernie and her supporters on her side in the general. Besides, after the Daily News interview and the NY primary she’d won anyway.
TriassicSands
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap:
And he wants to kill my grandmother.
Elizabelle
@Enzymer: I’ve enjoyed your comments here. Like the more positive stuff. Nice change from how the media frames Hillary.
Will have to watch HRC’s speech online over the weekend. Good on her.
NotMax
@Bobby Thomson
Don Warleone.
Or Boorleone. Take yer pick.
Mnemosyne
Anne Laurie is falling down on her job of posting late-night threads before I have to go to bed. I have a bleg that I want the early morning Chicagoans to see, damn it.
pseudonymous in nc
@Ruckus: I agree with this. Stage 2 of the Clinton pivot to the general is, in essence, to make it impossible for the press to ignore the smell of bullshit in the room.
The US political media makes it easy for someone to bullshit, but makes it hard to say “hey, X is a bullshitter”, because saying that is rude and uncouth. Well, fuck that. I think it’s important for the Clinton campaign to establish that level of derision early on, and if you can’t say “bullshit” on CNN, you can say “BS”.
Jeff Spender
What’s funny is that I have friends that have been picking apart every little Clinton issue for days, and suddenly today not a peep.
Interesting correlation, that.
But I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve finally gotten a few to admit that the Dem primary wasn’t rigged, and that trying to overturn the popular vote and pledged delegate totals via the superdelegates was hypocritical.
Maybe I can get them to admit that the line they walk ain’t so different than Clinton (who they think is corrupt).
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: Only losers blame the media.
Brachiator
@? Martin: We can react and speculate about Clinton speeches and tactics, but it doesn’t much matter what advice we give. Whether she continues hitting Trump in Beast mode or mixes it up is up to her and her team.
I would like to see her and her surrogates take it to the GOP as well. And ask, why are you supporting this clown?
Otherwise I am just enjoying this speech and how Clinton nailed it. Nailed it to Trump’s thin skinned hide.
Mike J
@Jeff Spender:
Josh Marshall’s bitch slap theory at play again. If you are the one out front (rhetorically) roughing people up, you’re winning. If you’re responding to being hit, you’re losing.
Ruckus
@pseudonymous in nc:
That is perfect. You said it better in many fewer words. She can’t just bullshit, she has to, as @Fair Economist: stated be, President Clinton. She has to leave no doubt who she is and along the way what her opponent is. People want to vote for someone, not just against someone else. They don’t want the lessor of two evils. Even if that’s who they feel they are voting for. Most are not happy about our politics because they think all politicians are the same. They aren’t of course, but some are so far worse than even what ever normal is. And we get lied to so often by both politicians and the media that it’s hard to believe otherwise. Of course not this election. This is what President Obama did. He made the race about who he was and as that’s damn good it was enough. Clinton is far better at this election stuff this time around and so people are being able to find out who she really is and what she really wants to do.
Ian
@Matt McIrvin:
False premise. Democratic party voters do *NOT* like bigoted assholes low on policy details. He would do no better than Lyndon Larouche or Mike Gravel.
TS
@Matt McIrvin:
There is NO happenstance wherein Trump would get the dem nomination
Mike J
@Ian: It’s sort of like talk radio. Right wingers like it, liberals don’t. People have tried again and again and lost millions. Yeah, there are a few liberals on radio, but they’re niche programming for the few liberals who like that format.
Yes, shouty white guys that insist they and they alone have all the answers and everyone else is not only wrong but evil do have a very vocal fan club in the Democratic party, but they don’t do as well at the ballot box. There’s a reason why Trump chose to run as a Republican, even though the Democratic party puts far fewer roadblocks in front of a vanity candidate who wants to join the party.
RK
Dems don’t find the infantile, authoritarians or infantile authoritarians attractive.
sherparick
@NotMax: So right. It should be pointed out that this is probably the No1 reason Olbermann no longer has a job on Cable TV, not that he is a prima donna (Bill O’Reilly, Scarborough, Lou Dobbs, Nancy Grace, etc. are probably shown themselves far bigger assholes to work with and work for then Olbermann, but Olbermann names names in the hypocrisy of the TV business, especially management, and that cannot be tolerated. As much as I like her, Rachel Maddow is very careful not to call out anybody else in the news business. She understands the rules of the Club. Also Chris Hayes. If they want to keep their good gigs and paychecks, they keep their mouths quiet about the cesspool MSNBC is on its morning program. See also Driftglass at http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2016/06/if-youre-not-part-of-solution.html and http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2016/06/how-to-make-punditing-lot-more.html
Applejinx
@Elie:
I’m not convinced of that. Who is going to believe her but the choir? I too like this ‘no fucks to give’ Clinton.
My concern with attacking Trump is that it’s an identification campaign. Attack him for being a bullshitter, full of shit, knowing nothing, and half the electorate just supports him more fiercely because they too are full of shit and know nothing and don’t really have billions of dollars and they’re like ‘fuck you! he is my guy!’
This is why the hint that Bernie’s well-off and Jane is exploitative, is damaging. Bernie raised important issues and changed the conversation in a vital, necessary way, but if he’s not really walking the talk that’s a problem.
Trump IS walking the ‘blowhard bullshitter’ talk. I think the ‘utterly and completely incompetent and full of shit’ argument is still good, but what’s even more effective is to say he’s tricking you. He doesn’t really believe anything he says (trump supporters sometimes treat this as a positive!) but he’s got the soul of a weasel and he’s just going to grab loot and run, possibly launching nukes just to DISTRACT from the fact that he’s grabbing loot and running. He’s not even a disciplined villain, he’s the kind of guy that gets kicked out of bars because he just fucks with people and hates everybody.
In that light, him bullshitting about all the money he has cuts both ways. On the one hand Joe America is like ‘fuck you, I don’t have ten billion dollars either’ but the condition of Trump being better than you IS that he has ten billion dollars and can do anything he wants. If that’s not true, then you’re toadying to the wrong person and he’s letting you down. And Republicans don’t like losers.
Still thinking the ‘I was pushing for health care in 1991, Donald. What were you doing, besides going bankrupt?’ is the biggest bite that can be taken out of Trump. Maybe add ‘America is bankrupt enough’?
I do hope Hillary is prepared to be radical to face what’s coming, and I don’t mean hawkishness or war. We are going to see an economic collapse. We can’t NOT see one. Some of her 90s playbook would work (jacking taxes on the rich and telling them to suck it up, the economy will bounce and they’ll end up making more, which is perfectly true). Some of it was done for wrong reasons: the 90s economic advisers are discredited now and we’ve got to switch to a demand-side economy to keep things going.
If the winner fucks it up their party will die, full stop. It’s either death of Republicans or death of Democrats. Pretty obvious how if Trump won, the catastrophe would destroy the Republican party. But if Bernie somehow got nominated, won, and was blocked at every turn the Democratic party would not survive the fallout. And if Hillary wins and fucks it up, same deal: the only hope is for specifically insider Hillary to run, and then for her to handle governance authoritatively and progressively at the same time.
Nothing matters if capitalism prevents the American people from at least surviving. The way things have gone it’s beyond Gilded Age and we must either bail Main St the fuck out, or start mass executions of the poors, because there is no place for humanity in modern capitalism. Only numbers and algorithms prosper and this does NOT benefit anybody who isn’t sitting on substantial ‘numbers’ of capital in their investments (like, sadly, a hell of a lot of Balloon Juice oldsters… not that it’s sad that you have capital, it’s just that you risk being on the wrong side when things get challenging)
I think Hillary might be the best choice at handling this transition to post-worker capitalism (by which I mean, she might be better at changing direction than Bernie). Neither of ’em are really quite prepared. I think Bernie wanted 1940s style socialist worker support. Somebody’s got to deal with what it means to be in a post-worker society and figure out how to still have markets and capitalism without workers, and I think it probably involves just paying people to be that market and consume stuff so others can be capitalist and bring goods to the market.
sherparick
Basically, it comes to this in that we will support a bigoted authoritarian who is running on a platform of committing war crimes and threatening other nations because he will go along with our Randian vision of tax cuts for rich people and putting people on the Supreme Court who believe Lochner, Slaughter House, and Dred Scott decisions were the bestest decisions ever by a Supreme Court. Ryan and the Plutocrat funders of the Republican Party, are summed up in this Bertrand Russell quote: “Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.”
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/bertrandru408841.html
NorthLeft12
Although I am Canadian, I seek out news and opinions about US politics. I’ll admit that I mostly frequent left of center blogs and news outlets, but I do go to the NYT and WaPo and other more mainstream news outlets, and yes I read the comments when I can. When the topic of Trump and the US election in general come up, I am constantly hearing from other Canadians who don’t understand how Trump has virtually taken over the Republican party. They keep asking about the reasonable Republicans and how this state of affairs has come to be. When I try and explain that the Republicans have been rolling down this path since Reagan [1980s] and that the other GOP presidential candidates were on some levels far worse than Trump, they get this glassy stare and shake their heads. They just don’t believe it.
I imagine that is what you guys in the US must face on a daily basis whenever politics are discussed. The media supported myth of the Repubs being a party with people who are worthy and able to lead the US and to govern competently is just too ingrained. People cannot believe that the GOP wants to run the government into the ground to prove that the government is not the answer to anything except providing decisive, violent, and lethal responses to foreign and domestic problems through the military and justice system.
You guys have a tough job ahead of you. Good luck, you will need it and a lot of other people around the world are hopeful for your success.
Little Sonny's Bubbie
@efgoldman: Life is short. Have some Cheetohs.
SFAW
@NorthLeft12:
Yeah, well, if you REALLY cared about the situation, you’d immigrate to the USofA, register to vote, and vote for Bernie (or Hillary, if she somehow games the system enough to get the nomination).
Oh, almost forgot to ask: are you Caucasian? Because if you’re not, it might be harder for you to find a place where you can legally vote.
Anyway, to be serious for a second: thanks very much for your thoughts and support. And I certainly understand your friends’ confusion/disbelief — I’ve been following politics since the 1960s, and I can hardly believe it. Well, actually, I can hardly believe that inmates in this country have finally taken over the asylum. In a righteous/just America, most of the Republican “leader”ship would be jailed (or worse) for sedition or treason, because they’re actively trying to subvert the Government, and their actions sure as hell provide aid and comfort to our enemies.
SFAW
@Mike in NC:
Do you mean Racist Hump? Because that’s what he is, and one of the reasons he got banned when Jeb! was still polling above 0.00 percent.
I’m hoping that racist, misogynistic, lying motherfucker opens the e-mail I sent him — there’s a little something “extra” to help “fix” his computer.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Frankensteinbeck:
Of course!
But he can’t do the sensible thing because he’s an ideologue without the ability to see beyond his dogma. And his dogma is exactly the same as the Freedom Caucus that he wants everyone to believe is working against him. It’s all shadow puppets. He’s biding his time, convinced that the Teabaggers are going to ride Trump’s popularity to huge majorities and then he’ll usher in a Randian Paradise. He’s trying to wait the country out (“if we just hang on and don’t do anything for one more cycle, then we’ll get the power we need to do what we want!”).
So, he’s powerless and a failure because he’s one of them – the tiny reactionary rump that has grabbed the levers of power in the House and can’t figure out what to do with them because the House as an institution cannot work without a majority of the votes. He can’t pass a budget because – even with his historic majority of seats – he can’t get votes for what he wants from his side on something that would make it through the Senate and not be vetoed. That would require Democratic votes and he won’t get them without compromises. He can’t do that.
(Yeah, I’m not explaining it well, but it comes down to this: he is a prisoner of a rump of the party that he agrees with.)
Cheers,
Scott.
Aardvark Cheeselog
@Matt McIrvin:
See, that’s where you have to show your work. That “suppose” is getting crushed under the weight you’ve put on it.
Rob
And there’s never a corporate shill too center right enough for John Cole or Ann Laurie so long as she’s got the “d” after her name.