Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

This blog will pay for itself.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

In after Baud. Damn.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Open Thread: Cravens Cowed by A Revenant

Open Thread: Cravens Cowed by A Revenant

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The mainstream GOP goes in fear of the angry, shambling corpse of resentments past, and Paul Ryan is… well, not their leader, but the most visible media figure. Word in the media is that he timed his tepid endorsement of Donald Trump to coincide with Clinton’s big speech yesterday — whether to bigfoot the speech or to take advantage of a distracted media remains a question — but enough people took notice in any case:

Mr. Charles P. Pierce, on the man he calls the “Biggest. Fake. Ever.“…

… Moody and morose, Paul Ryan has stalked the parapets of his own ego ever since it became clear that He, Trump would be the nominee of the Republican party for president of the United States. (It’s helpful to write it out that way a couple of times a day just to make sure you haven’t subconsciously blotted the reality out of your memory.) He invited several of his more prominent acolytes in the elite political press to join him in his lengthy walks along the fogbound ramparts of his carefully cultivated public persona. What is a policy wonk, public intellectual, numbers guru, sympathetic friend of the working poor to do?

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of an outrageous charlatan, and take arms against a sea of playground insults and, by opposing them, end them…

…or you can just take to the pages of The Janesville Gazette and surrender so abjectly that you ought to be hanging on the wall in the game room at Mar-A-Lago…


Reader Interactions

190Comments

  2. 2.

    NobodySpecial

    Well, you can’t expect him to go out and find a private sector job now, can you?

  4. 4.

    germy shoemangler

    Onion headline:

    Report: 70% Of Trump Endorsements Made After Staring At Bedroom Ceiling For 4 Hours

  5. 5.

    germy shoemangler

    Think about all the terrible things Trump has said about Romney, Ryan’s 2012 running mate & he still endorsed him. What a coward

    Sarah Palin didn’t seem bothered by what he said about her running mate. Jumped right on board.

  7. 7.

    cmorenc

    Paul Ryan now joins Marco Rubio in the annals of principled political courage in standing up to a dangerously unprincipled, bigoted bully. This would almost be fun to watch them try to ride and tame Trump for the pleasure of watching Ryan get trampled underneath Trump’s hoofs, if it was actually impossible for Trump to win the election – as opposed to merely unlikely.

  8. 8.

    Mnemosyne

    Any Chicagoans or Chicagolanders in the house? G and I are thinking of spending a couple of nights in the city in mid-July (for our 10th anniversary) and I’m wondering if anyone has recommendations for hotels that aren’t insanely expensive. We’re thinking of the Magnificent Mile or Millennium Park areas for a Thursday and Friday night. The Loop is okay, too, depending on where it is.

    I have my eye on the Hotel Monaco since I know people who have stayed at Kimpton hotels in the Bay Area and they’ve always been happy, but if you have any other recommendations, let me know!

  10. 10.

    Omnes Omnibus

    This should be hung around every Trump endorser’s neck for the rest of their careers. Albatrosses, baby!

  11. 11.

    rikyrah

    I will continue to say this. They don’t have POLICY disagreements with Trump. They are mad that he doesn’t use dogwhistles to hide what they want to do.

  15. 15.

    dmsilev

    @Mnemosyne: There’s a Red Roof Inn just off the Magnificent Mile which isn’t too bad price-wise.

    And there’s a nice Tuscan restaurant in the same building (“Coco Pazzo Cafe”) which is well worth eating at.

  16. 16.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mnemosyne: Any Chicagoans or Chicagolanders in the house? G and I are thinking of spending a couple of nights in the city in mid-July (for our 10th anniversary) and I’m wondering if anyone has recommendations for hotels that aren’t insanely expensive.

    I hear booking are down at Trump hotels, so they may be offering a discount…

  17. 17.

    Kristine Smith

    @Mnemosyne: I’ve stayed at Dewitt Place a few times, and liked it. Just off Michigan Avenue and around the corner from the Drake. Older building/tiny elevator. All rooms are like small suites with kitchenettes. Bathrooms are miniscule. But since it’s “corporate housing” instead of a regular hotel, you save some money in extra fees.

    I was clued into it by a friend whose husband is a stagehand. Apparently many shows house their casts there. It’s become more popular over the years, so rooms fill fast and prices have gone up. But I think it’s a better deal than most unless you can get something via hotels.com or similar.

    I also like Club Quarters. You don’t need to be a member to stay there.

  19. 19.

    Ramping Up

    Assaults of Trump voters, burning American flags while flying Mexican ones, widespread destruction of property, when will Hillary denounce the Fascist tactics of her supporters?

  20. 20.

    hellslittlestangel

    For the next five months, Trump will grow uglier every day. As the truth about him comes out, he will lash out with increasing fury and hatefulness. And when it’s over, Paul Ryan may no longer be Speaker of the House. Hell, he may no longer be a Congressman.

  21. 21.

    Yutsano

    @rikyrah: This. Trump blew the doors off their wink and nudge society and now they have zero way of putting all that back into plausible deniability. If it wasn’t for the pockets of overt racism in the suburbs and rural areas this country could go the way of California.

  27. 27.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @rikyrah:
    And that’s why I wanted Trump to win the nomination. I want to hang him on the neck of the whole GOP. He is their true face, and everyone should look at the Republican Party and know they stand for bigotry and mindless, idiot hate.

  31. 31.

    Ocotillo

    Someone needs to unearth the Trump presser from Mar Lago after one of the early primaries where he essentially threatened the Zombie Eyed Granny Starver. Make a nice You Tube of the the threat followed by the endorsement.

  32. 32.

    singfoom

    @Mnemosyne: Chicagolander here. My advice is to not stay at a hotel and get an airbnb. It’ll be cheaper and nicer and you’ll have a kitchen. Most of the hotels are in River North or the loop. Lived in the West Town / Ukie V neighborhood for a decade, I’d look around there.

  33. 33.

    Aleta

    I used to think Trump entered the race just to get his next TV gig as a political anal ist. I still think he will end up with a show after he loses. With his ratings now, even Rs who believe he’ll lose in Nov. would want to get him on their side for when he hosts that Fox show.

  34. 34.

    Thoughtful David

    A couple of threads back there was a mention of Michael Gerson’s latest column. I’ve been enjoying–that is schadenfreuding my head off–poor Lil Gerson’s columns lately. You want to see denial and total lack of self-awareness personified, that’s Gerson. Poor Lil Gerson. He just can’t believe that his beloved Republican party has fallen so low. He’s one of the Republican establishment types who imagines that, why, really, all they want is the best for everyone. “Why, we Republicans just want to let them all eat cake–even the darkies.” He’s horrified at what Trump says. Not that he disagrees with the policy, but that Trump is just so _crude_. And he wonders how the Republican party got to this place. Gee, I dunno, Michael. Maybe it was all those speeches you wrote for Junior Bush that villified all non-white males and any non-wingnut idea? Maybe you’ve been building Trump for 40 years?
    Clueless asshole.

  35. 35.

    Ramping Up

    @Mnemosyne:

    They’re Clinton supporters. To paraphrase Lee Atwater, we’re going to make Black Bloc protestors Clinton’s running mates.

  36. 36.

    Mr. Mack

    Trying to post a link…but there’s talk of Sanders skydiving into California?

  37. 37.

    Jeffro

    @germy shoemangler:

    Sarah Palin didn’t seem bothered by what he said about her running mate. Jumped right on board.

    It’s interesting to see the 2012 GOP ticket split this strongly over supporting/not supporting Der Trumpster. Only the sad capitulation of McCain keeps us from making the same observation about the 2008 ticket. Nevertheless, it has to be said: at least the Bushes and Romney are refusing to get behind this historically unfit-for-office clown. Ryan, Haley, even Graham – they’re all going to pay the price down the road, no matter how they try to finesse their support for Donald Trump.

  39. 39.

    Citizen_X

    @Ramping Up:

    when will Hillary denounce

    Yesterday. Do try to keep up:

    Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders’s campaigns both condemned the violence in San Jose. John Podesta, chairman of Hillary Clinton for America, tweeted that “violence against supporters of any candidate has no place in this election.”
    …
    Mike Casca, Sanders’s rapid response director, tweeted that “we cannot stop Trump’s violent rhetoric with violence — only peaceful protest in a voting booth can do that.”

  40. 40.

    Jeffro

    Oh, and I love the Bobic Tweet, too. An enterprising bumper-sticker maker might have to save that for when Ryan runs in 2020 or 2024…

  41. 41.

    Shell

    They’re Clinton supporters.

    Naah. I think Ill use the Republican play-book and claim they’re outside agitators.

  43. 43.

    JPL

    @Ramping Up: At least the democrats condemned the violence, which is more than I can say for Trump.
    Protesting is okay, violence is not.

  44. 44.

    Shell

    but there’s talk of Sanders skydiving into California?

    Oh, man. Torn between, “Yes, please,” and “Can this campaign season get any more bizarre?”

  45. 45.

    Ramping Up

    Every time you point to white supremacists, we can point to Black Bloc and AntiFa and the media will shrug and say “both sides do it!”

  46. 46.

    Thoughtful David

    @Jeffro:
    Oh, have faith in the Bushes and rMoney. They’ll come around to endorsing Trump, even if only in the Nikki Haley ” I don’t like him but I’ll vote for him anyway” way.

  48. 48.

    Brachiator

    This Twitter comment is really interesting

    Do people who endorse Trump not realize that this will be used against them for the rest of their political careers?

    Of course, the problem is that if any of these bozos fail to endorse Trump, the Donald will yell at them from now until November and, if by some fluke he wins, he will put these “losers” on is permanent shit list.

    Once the Republicans agreed that Trump would be the nominee, they had no choice but to fall in line. And they will risk it all for the short term gain of possibly winning the election.

  49. 49.

    singfoom

    @Mnemosyne: If you do end up going the River North / Loop hotel route, the W is right by the lake and it’s nice. The Hard Rock Hotel is right on Michigan and Wacker basically in the middle of everything.

    They were both very nice when I was there, but like you said, might require some splurging. You guys planning to do touristy things? When I was not living in the area, my first thought at returning was to go to J.P. Graziano’s and get a proscuitto & fresh mozzarella sandwich. Great place by all the fancy restaurants on Randolph. I hope you guys have a fun time!

  51. 51.

    Brachiator

    @Ramping Up:

    Every time you point to white supremacists, we can point to Black Bloc and AntiFa and the media will shrug and say “both sides do it!”

    “We?”

    Must be crowded down there in your mother’s basement.

  53. 53.

    hovercraft

    @rikyrah: @Thoughtful David:
    I think there are elements of both within the GOP, the ones who always knew exactly what was going on, and then there’s a contingent of people who were to stupid to know. They were so naïve that they bought the line that every claim of racism or bias was believed to be “playing the whatever card”. I’m not sure which lot are worse the cynics or the true believers who bought their bs. The questions for the idiots now is what are you going to do about it, and no lamenting that the democrats were right does not count as doing something.

  56. 56.

    Jeffro

    @Thoughtful David: Nah, I really don’t think so. It’s not to say that they aren’t craven on other issues, or that they’re some sort of statesmen – perish the thought. But here they have at least cleared the minimum bar for decency and respect for the country.

  57. 57.

    Mike J

    @Brachiator:

    Of course, the problem is that if any of these bozos fail to endorse Trump, the Donald will yell at them from now until November and, if by some fluke he wins, he will put these “losers” on is permanent shit list.

    Also keep in mind that when Trump loses, there will be plenty of people out there looking for somebody to blame. The problem couldn’t possibly be with Trump’s ein volck, ein reich platform. If you think rank and file Republicans hate their leaders now, wait until Trump loses.

  58. 58.

    Brachiator

    @JPL:

    Since Jeb Bush is running for office, he can afford not to endorse. He’ll keep a low profile until 2019.

    I would really be surprised to see Jeb Bush revive any national political career.

    @Thoughtful David:

    Oh, have faith in the Bushes and rMoney. They’ll come around to endorsing Trump, even if only in the Nikki Haley ” I don’t like him but I’ll vote for him anyway” way.

    I am waiting to see if Romney endorses Trump. Trump’s putdown of the Mitbot was an act of extreme public humiliation. And Trump would be crass enough to bring it to everyone’s attention again.

  59. 59.

    Brachiator

    @Shell: RE: but there’s talk of Sanders skydiving into California?

    Oh, man. Torn between, “Yes, please,” and “Can this campaign season get any more bizarre?”

    This ain’t nuthin’ compared to the media and political circus when the Governator was running for office during the recall mess.

    Fly, Bernie, fly!

  60. 60.

    singfoom

    @Mr. Mack: That seems like a very poor idea. I can just see it now. Bernie decides to skydive into the rally, something goes wrong with the chute, he’s hurt or dies and the BernieBros go apeshit because of course Hillary cut the chute….she’s so crafty and evil.

  61. 61.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @hovercraft: Problem is, as I said in an earlier thread, the bottom doesn’t exist. As long as there’s a possibility that Trump might win, it doesn’t matter how repellant and unqualified he is. They don’t care. And whether this willful blindness is due to bigotry or stupidity, it really doesn’t make a difference because they will do what they’re told to do.

  65. 65.

    trollhattan

    @JPL:
    Dog catcher? JEB!’s glorious career seems well past its sell-by date and if he gets any puffier he’ll require tethering.

  67. 67.

    Brachiator

    @Thoughtful David:

    He’s horrified at what Trump says. Not that he disagrees with the policy, but that Trump is just so _crude_.

    This hypocrisy has been the heart and soul of the Republican Party since the post war era (long before any Nixon/Atwater shenanigans). The modern party was built on the idea of genteel bigotry, with people of the right sort using the compliant middle class to help put the boot to people of the wrong sort.

  68. 68.

    Roger Moore

    @Shell:

    Torn between, “Yes, please,” and “Can this campaign season get any more bizarre?”

    He hasn’t tried to jump his motorcycle over a shark tank yet.

  70. 70.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Roger Moore: As pissed off as I am at Bernie, I really hope this a rumor. What has already happened to his reputation is bad enough. He doesn’t need to turn into a pathetic game show contestant.

  71. 71.

    chopper

    @Mnemosyne:

    don’t forget, hillary said ‘rough em up’ and ‘knock the crap out of em, i’ll pay your legal bills’. it’s totes the same.

  73. 73.

    chopper

    @Shell:

    but there’s talk of Sanders skydiving into California?

    if we’re lucky, it’ll be like in the old cartoons where he pulls the ripcord and a bunch of pots and pans come flying out.

  75. 75.

    delk

    @Mnemosyne: I’ve had friends stay at the Monaco and they all liked it. If you ask for North view you can look at the Trump sign scarring his building. :-)

    Everybody has given you some good choices. Inn of Chicago is another reasonable hotel east of Michigan on Ohio.

    My order of personal choices if we are having a staycation would be Michigan Avenue, Loop, and then River North. I do like the Crowne Plaza in the West Loop (my neighborhood) a lot, but for staying just two days I would not recommend it (unless you have serious Randolph Street restaurant reservations).

    If you plan on using the L, then the Loop is your best bet because of the ease of getting on any of the lines. Plus getting to and from the airports.

    If you need food recommendations, just ask.

  76. 76.

    JPL

    The republicans are already suggesting that a vote for Trump, is okay because if they can’t control him, they will impeach him.
    I can’t even come up with a campaign motto for that one.

  77. 77.

    dmsilev

    @The Thin Black Duke: There’s apparently at least some possibility that Skydiving Bernie might actually happen:

    Jimmy Halliday, president and jumpmaster at NorCal Skydiving, an airport-based business, said he had been told by Sanders staffers Thursday that they would offer the 74-year-old Vermont senator the option of parachuting into the rally site.

    “I’ve been told they will run the idea by Bernie,” Halliday said. “I can’t confirm that’s the plan. I know that’s a possibility.”

    The Sanders campaign did not immediately return a call requesting comment.

    I eagerly await Trump entering one of his rallies by gliding in wearing a squirrel suit.

  78. 78.

    dmsilev

    @JPL:

    The republicans are already suggesting that a vote for Trump, is okay because if they can’t control him, they will impeach him.
    I can’t even come up with a campaign motto for that one.

    “Vote Trump! We’re sure his VP pick will be saner than he is!”

  80. 80.

    Matt McIrvin

    @chopper: It’s charming how quickly our friend pivots from saying the thing as if he believes it, to going “ha ha, the media will believe it! Suck it libs!” And back again.

  81. 81.

    Shana

    @Mnemosyne: If you like cajun food, check out Heaven on Seven. The original location, 111 N. Wabash, 7th floor of the Garland Building, is terrific. The chef trained with Paul Prudhomme and it shows. One of the things (of many) that I miss about Chicago.

  82. 82.

    trollhattan

    @JPL:
    Holy shit, that’s straight out of the Libertarian playbook: we don’t need an EPA, if your neighbor’s pollution is killing you, just take them to court.

  83. 83.

    amk

    The final schadenfreude will be if the blue eyed policy wonk fraud gets shitcanned by a teabagger nut in november, a la cantor, even after his kissing the donnie dreck’s ass.

  85. 85.

    Paul in KY

    @Mnemosyne: I am staying at Swissotel for Lollapalooza. It ain’t cheap, but is in line with other hotels in that vicinity.

  87. 87.

    Natonthetrain

    @Mnemosyne: Hotel Burnham. It’s also Kimpton and has a terrific restaurant, Atwood Cafe. Architecturally significant to boot!

  89. 89.

    Percysowner

    @Shell: I’m a little younger than Bernie, but the only way I can see a stunt like this ending is with him saying “OW! My knees, My Ankles, My back! I want Bengay and a hot tub and I want them NOW!” Contrary to how TV shows parachute landings it’s not dignified, you don’t always hit the target, and you can hurt yourself. A friend who was trying for a pilot’s license, had to parachute as part of her training, to prove that if she ever had to do that, she could, and she hurt her shoulder and was in pain for months and she was 22.

  91. 91.

    Mnemosyne

    @Shana:

    We are seriously considering going to the Pump Room for our anniversary dinner, if only because it’s one of those legendary places my dad would use as an example of me wanting to be overly fancy. (Where do you want to go, *the Pump Room*? I’m not made of money!)

  93. 93.

    bemused

    @Brachiator:

    Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. They willingly created their own tightrope. Yet, they will learn nothing.

  94. 94.

    Tom

    @Ramping Up: Re your admiring post about Lee Atwater. You clearly are aware of politics, which is good. However, you approvingly cite and choose to emulate one of the most evil, viscous, amoral political consultants of the last hundred years, a man who’s actions were so repugnant that on his death bed he begged those he had harmed to forgive him. Let me suggest that you pick a more lofty idol to emulate, and you may be pleasantly surprised at the results.

  95. 95.

    rikyrah

    @Mnemosyne:

    I have no residential recommendations. Only food.
    Get to Taylor street and have an Al’s Italian beef, onions, peppers, dipped.
    Then go across the street to what looks like a little shack, and get a fabulous italian ice. It’s only open Memorial – Labor Day. Get the largest size possible. They have plenty of flavors, but I never leave the lemon…it’s divine :)

    Pizza – I’m a Giordano’s gal.

    If you are vegetarian/vegan – try Karen’s.

    BBQ – try County BBQ on Taylor Street

    Take the train to Chinatown and just enjoy

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    @rikyrah: Do you get hot or sweet peppers? Or both? I am a hot girl, myself. We just do not get good italian beef here in Champaign-Urbana. Restaurants put italian beef on the menu, but it’s not italian beef. :-(

    I had forgotten about the wonderful italian ice we always had when I was growing up.

  99. 99.

    Shana

    @rikyrah: Oh man, now I’m really missing Chicago. I so enjoyed the last few years when my girls were at UofC. Several visits that HAD to include Heaven, Chinatown, a real Chicago hot dog and fries.

    When Grandpa was alive, he’d drive in about once a month or so from Rock Island and always took the girls to dim sum.

  101. 101.

    Cat48

    @Percysowner:

    Dangerous idea for Berni. My husband was Airborne when in Army. Everytime they jumped, someone was badly injured or sometimes killed.

  102. 102.

    Cacti

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    As pissed off as I am at Bernie, I really hope this a rumor. What has already happened to his reputation is bad enough. He doesn’t need to turn into a pathetic game show contestant.

    Au contraire. I hope he skydives in, wrestles an alligator, and bites the head off a live chicken.

  103. 103.

    Ramping Up

    @Tom:

    Had Atwater been alive Bill Clinton would have never been elected President.

    As Nixon used to say “the important thing is to win”.

    Just win, baby.

  104. 104.

    Jeffro

    @JPL:

    The republicans are already suggesting that a vote for Trump, is okay because if they can’t control him, they will impeach him.

    Perhaps reporters should start asking said Republicans, “Would you find that kind of arrangement – ‘attempt to control; but impeach if not’ – acceptable if the Democrats were suggesting such an approach with their candidate? Does that sound like something the American people should feel inspired by and vote for?”

  105. 105.

    Gravenstone

    @germy shoemangler:

    Report: 70% Of Trump Endorsements Made After Staring At Bedroom CeilingInto the Fiery Pits of Hades For 4 Hours

    Seems more accurate. Small people selling what little is left of their souls to a huckster just to keep their corrupt political party afloat one more year …

  106. 106.

    Cacti

    @Ramping Up:

    Had Atwater been alive Bill Clinton would have never been elected President.

    If “ifs” and “buts” were candy and nuts, etc.

  107. 107.

    Jeffro

    @dmsilev:

    “Vote Trump! We’re sure his VP pick will be saner than he is!”

    Before too much longer, one of them’s going to come out and say something to the effect of, “Look – at this point we are stuck with him, and we’ll make sure he’s just a figurehead, to please the rubes.” They’re almost there now with this silly “he’s okay and if we can’t keep him in check we’ll impeach him” stuff.

  108. 108.

    Thoughtful David

    @hovercraft:
    Yes, they’re part of the Fool Bloc of the GOP. Bought in to the b.s. Like I said, Gerson is in denial and totally un-self-aware.
    The other two blocs are the Evil Bloc and t he Idiot Bloc.

  109. 109.

    hovercraft

    I’m just going to place this here for anyone who would like a laugh. From The Hill:

    Eric Trump, the son of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump

    Yes it’s exactly the same thing.

    , on Thursday drew a comparison between Harvard University and Trump University while pushing back on criticism of his father’s now-defunct real estate education program.

    He said some former students who have filed lawsuits accusing the program of fraud may be feeling “buyer’s remorse” but argued that such complaints aren’t unique to Trump University.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    “There’s probably people that go to Harvard and say, ‘Listen, I went to Harvard, I got a great education and I can’t find a job or I didn’t become the success that I could have been,” Eric Trump said on Fox’s “America’s Newsroom.”

    “Sure, I mean, you probably have that at every major university,” he added.

    Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton

    slammed Donald Trump this week for his controversial program, calling it a “fraudulent scheme,” a phrase used by a former Trump University sales manager.

    The sales manager said in testimony revealed Tuesday that Trump University “preyed upon the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money.”

    Trump University is facing lawsuits in California and New York. But the presumptive GOP nominee has defended the program while campaigning for a likely match-up against Clinton in the fall.

  110. 110.

    Jeffro

    @Mnemosyne:

    Any Chicagoans or Chicagolanders in the house? G and I are thinking of spending a couple of nights in the city in mid-July (for our 10th anniversary) and I’m wondering if anyone has recommendations for hotels that aren’t insanely expensive. We’re thinking of the Magnificent Mile or Millennium Park areas for a Thursday and Friday night. The Loop is okay, too, depending on where it is.

    Jeffro Jr and I were just there for Memorial Day weekend (go Cubs!) and stayed between the Magnificent Mile and Navy Pier. (Stayed at the Doubletree Magnificent Mile – not bad). I liked that area better than staying in the Loop a few years back. Be sure to get breakfast/brunch at Yolk! at least once!

  111. 111.

    J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford

    @Mnemosyne: Check the properties connected to the Club Quarters hotels in the city. The River Hotel on Wacker and Central Loop Hotel on Adams are usually very reasonable.

  115. 115.

    Ernest Pikeman

    Trying to post a link…but there’s talk of Sanders skydiving into California?

    He is bailing out of his campaign? He wants to show that he’s in free fall? He wants to look like Dubya prancing about with the chute straps emphasizing his junk?

    Actually sounds some campaign flunky was trying to impress a skydiving instructor, who turned around and made some publicity for his business.

    I wish Hunter S. Thompson was alive to write about the weirdness of *this* election season.

  121. 121.

    rikyrah

    @Mnemosyne:

    As far as Navy Pier is concerned – they just opened the new Ferris Wheel just a few weeks ago. Brand new. And, you can never go wrong taking a tour by boat at the Pier. If you stay downtown, while everyone remembers the Art Institute, don’t forget the Museum of Contemporary Art right off the Mag Mile.

    Don’t forget the Museum Campus – if you have to choose two of the three, I always go with Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum. You can take a day and do both, if you get there when they open. You can’t do all three in one day. but, the walkway between the Shedd and the Adler Planetarium is where to take the best, quintessential Chicago Skyline pictures. It’s the most beautiful spot in the city, and gets breathtaking after dark.

  122. 122.

    Brachiator

    @JPL:

    The republicans are already suggesting that a vote for Trump, is okay because if they can’t control him, they will impeach him.

    Which Republicans are these?

    It’s hard to imagine that these bobos are so naive that they actually believe that they can contain a raging egomaniac such as Trump.

    We are approaching a near Godwin moment in GOP cluelessness. “Yeah, make him Chancellor. We can always pull him back down if he goes too far.”

  125. 125.

    Cacti

    @Quinerly:

    Hello Republican troll pretending to be disgruntled progressive.

    ETA: Or perhaps I misunderstood and you were saying you’re done with Susan Sarandon.

  126. 126.

    El Caganer

    @Mr. Mack: Nah, he’s gonna wear a flight suit and get out of a fighter on an aircraft carrier at the San Diego Naval Station. W/ a big banner that reads “#FeelTheBern.”

  127. 127.

    El Caganer

    @Matt McIrvin: That’s the problem, though. The media would salivate over the opportunity to make this into a both-sides-do-it story. I think the troll is correct about that part.

  128. 128.

    hovercraft

    From Ed Kilgore at NY Magazine.

    A big part of the hope and fear partisans have about Donald Trump’s general election prospects is that his atavistic message of resentment toward elites and uppity women and minorities will not only win a big majority of white voters, but will boost white turnout as well. Sean Trende’s famous “missing white voters” hypothesis for one of Mitt Romney’s fatal defects suggests that marginal white voters tend to be the kind of people who voted for Ross Perot in 1992 — a peak year in white turnout. Trende has subsequently confirmed that the same kind of white voters have been turning out for Trump in the GOP primaries. But are there enough of them to make a difference, particularly given Trump’s big problems with minority voters?

    At FiveThirtyEight, David Wasserman takes a close look at this question and arrives at an ambivalent conclusion:

    The good news for Trump is that nationally, there’s plenty of room for white turnout to improve. If non-Hispanic whites had turned out at the same rate in 2012 that they did in 1992, there would have been 8.8 million additional white voters — far more than Obama’s 5 million-vote margin of victory. But before Democrats panic, here’s the catch, and it’s a doozy for Trump: These “missing” white voters disproportionately live in states that won’t matter in a close presidential race.

    This makes sense if you think about it for a minute. If the “missing white voters” are basically marginal voters, they’re less likely to bother to vote in states where their votes “don’t count” in the sense of affecting the outcome. Meanwhile, the same voters are more likely to show up at the polls in highly competitive states where their votes do count, and where, moreover, they are the object of all the dark arts of base mobilization.

    The bigger problem for Trump, as Wasserman notes, is that it’s by no means clear Trump’s going to win all the votes cast for Mitt Romney, much less add on many millions of marginal white voters in the right places.

  129. 129.

    WaterGirl

    @rikyrah: They gave me hot & sweet once, and I have to admit, it was good. I always got italian beef when I went home to see my parents, but now that they’re gone I am seldom in Chicago. Now I want a good italian beef sandwich. :: sigh ::

  130. 130.

    WaterGirl

    @rikyrah:

    Don’t forget the Museum Campus – if you have to choose two of the three, I always go with Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum. You can take a day and do both, if you get there when they open. You can’t do all three in one day. but, the walkway between the Shedd and the Adler Planetarium is where to take the best, quintessential Chicago Skyline pictures. It’s the most beautiful spot in the city, and gets breathtaking after dark..

    Did I miss it? This must be “make WaterGirl think about growing up in Chicago Day”. I have such vivid memories of all those places, I am getting choked up thinking about it.

    I think the only thing you’ve left out is getting to go to Marshall Fields where they had those gigantic suckers with the bright swirls of color.

  131. 131.

    Percysowner

    @hovercraft: I know 80 year old people CAN do it, especially ones who have been doing it for a while. I’ve never heard that Bernie skydives and as a first time thing, well it’s a stunt I wouldn’t try.

  132. 132.

    Ian

    @Jeffro:
    IANAL but doesn’t an impeachment require a crime to be commited? Not doubting the trumper will commit many, but do the people threatening impeachment realise what it is?

  133. 133.

    Percysowner

    @dmsilev:

    “Vote Trump! We’re sure his VP pick will be saner than he is!”

    And this is why I say he picks Sarah Palin as his VP. Rumor had it that the reason Nixon picked Ford was that Ford’s reputation was such that impeaching Nixon would not be seen as a upgrade. IIR, the phrase was “Ford can’t walk and chew gum a the same time.”

  134. 134.

    dr. luba

    @Cacti: Sadly, no:

    UPDATED 1:05 P.M.: The Sanders campaign confirmed Friday afternoon that Sanders will not be parachuting into the rally.

    “The senator will not be parachuting or skydiving into the campaign rally today,” spokeswoman Symone Sanders said in a statement to The Hill.

  135. 135.

    Quinerly

    No troll here. Life long Dem. Done with Sarandon. Pretty obvious by the posting.

  136. 136.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @dr. luba: Damn. Parachuting Bernie! had the potential to swing almost as many House seats as Susan Sarandon and Dr Whores combined. Ah well, we will live to Revolutionize another day, in another way.

  137. 137.

    normal liberal

    @Kristine Smith:
    A little late, but I stayed here years ago under previous management and a different name. (The management was a little unpleasant, but presumably are long gone.) The location is terrific, and the building is amusing. There are several other not-too-pricey options tucked in between N. Michigan and Rush, back behind 900 North Michigan, the shopping venue that isn’t Water Tower Place.
    Have fun. It’s all only two hours away, but I never seem to get up there.

  138. 138.

    father pussbucket

    Well, yeah, he did nail my head to the floor. But other than that…

  139. 139.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Quinerly: Good god. I believe Nicholson retired from acting because his recreational habits made it too difficult to remember lines. I can’t believe this one can still give a credible performance, her brain must be at Busey levels of rot

    Sarandon made clear that she believed because of the lack of media scrutiny placed on Clinton’s record, she viewed Clinton as actually more dangerous than the blustery strong-man running on the Republican ticket.

    let’s see that again

    the lack of media scrutiny placed on Clinton’s record

  140. 140.

    Cacti

    @Quinerly:

    No troll here. Life long Dem. Done with Sarandon. Pretty obvious by the posting.

    My apologies then.

    And agree about Sarandon. Louise can go drive herself off the nearest cliff.

  142. 142.

    eric

    @Paul in KY: it is a standard steak house but in the building (particularly valuable in winter). the jamaican place by hard rock and the taco place around the corner are cool places to eat

  143. 143.

    Brachiator

    @hovercraft:

    A big part of the hope and fear partisans have about Donald Trump’s general election prospects is that his atavistic message of resentment toward elites and uppity women and minorities will not only win a big majority of white voters, but will boost white turnout as well.

    Lots of problems with this loosey goosey analysis. The white vote is not monolithic. You have to consider gender and age. “Uppity women” includes a lot of white women, many of whom are repelled by Trump. On the other hand, resentment of elites is an across the boards hatred, and can appeal as much to nonwhites as white voters.

    And although a nasty core of bigots may be Trump supporters, Trump himself is trying (unsuccessfully) to thread a needle. He claims that “Hispanics and blacks” love him, that his proposed ban on Muslims would only be temporary or is a thinking exercise, that his rips against Chinese and Mexicans are about those countries anti-competitive practices, and that ultimately he will bring more jobs for everybody. He has time to try to refine his message, or to just double down on its worst implications.

    Also, Perot was 24 years ago. There are plenty of new white voters who cannot be easily pigeonholed (and obviously many new nonwhite voters as well). Some analyses note how Trump is appealing to white voters who are conservative and resentful, but who have felt abandoned by both parties, including a sizable number who had stopped voting. And much reporting stops here. They don’t go on to interview nonwhite voters with similar profiles to see how their views line up with white voters. This also complicates considerations of who these voters are and what they want.

  144. 144.

    rikyrah

    @Mnemosyne:

    IF you have a car and are adventurous. I consider it a safe neighborhood, but people might try and scare you, because it’s a Black neighborhood. Take the Dan Ryan expressway , get off at 75th street, turn left on 75th street. Maybe 3 blocks east, on the south side of the street – Soul Vegetarian East – a soul food restaurant made the vegan way. Go down one block more on the same side of the street, in what appears to be a shack, Lem’s BBQ- I love the large rib tip/link combo, hot and mild sauce.- it will cause the itis. One quarter block down, across the street is a bakery -serving up pure diabetes on a plate. The cakes are delicious, the slices are huge, and the cupcakes are divine. Their peach cobbler is too sweet for me, and others rave about their puddings ( I don’t do puddings). My favorites are the yellow/chocolate,the devil’s food/chocolate, the carmel, the lemon, the coconut (with pineapple). They even have a cake called The Obama -I’ve never had it though.

  147. 147.

    Brachiator

    @Ian:

    IANAL but doesn’t an impeachment require a crime to be commited? Not doubting the trumper will commit many, but do the people threatening impeachment realise what it is?

    The Republicans have lowered the bar considerably on impeachable offenses since Obama was elected, where it was not unusual to find some GOP nutball wanting to draw up charges against the president because Michelle Obama looked at Boehner the wrong way at a White House dinner.

  148. 148.

    Quinerly

    My point basically was that I’m not sure Bernie will walk away quietly from his run and endorse. I have been pretty much done with him since March (I admit that I was “Bernie Curious” in the fall and sent him 50 bucks). Sarandon is always identified as a “surrogate” which implies more than a supporter to me….that she is directly wired into his campaign. I was willing to give her and his campaign a bit of a leeway when it seemed like she had walked back those controversial statements a few weeks ago. Yesterday’s interview is beyond the pale. Yes, she’s a celebrity but if she is a “surrogate” she should be on the same page as the official campaign. I fear this is going to get really ugly….especially if HRC loses CA. As an aside, been following this blog for many, many years and brag to other political junkies how informed and witty the commentators are. Don’t be so eager to crucify. I’m essentially a lurker here….probably have commented 3 times in 10 plus years.

  151. 151.

    Paul in KY

    @eric: Thank you, sir. Will check it out! There used to be a little hole in the wall Bulgarian/ethnic place on left of it (as you face bldg.) that had an outdoor area on sidewalk with wrought iron fence surrounding it (man, are there wide sidewalks there) & I had a pleasant afternoon getting drunk & watching Chicago people go by.

    Will also be my 1st (and probably last) Lolla, so I’m stoked about getting up there.

  154. 154.

    Gravenstone

    @chopper:

    if we’re lucky, it’ll be like in the old cartoons where he pulls the ripcord and a bunch of pots and pans come flying out.

    Acme anvil

  155. 155.

    Mnemosyne

    @Quinerly:

    We’ve had a couple of avowed Bernie dead-enders with unfamiliar names pop out of the woodwork lately, so I think people are a little gunshy. But if you’re sick of Sarandon’s you’re definitely not alone.

  156. 156.

    Feebog

    I am so ready for June 7 to come and go. I am still hoping Hilz beats Bernie solidly here in California, not that it matters in terms of the eventual outcome overall. I have a lot of liberal friends who are voting for Bernie, and just can’t or won’t understand that this thing was over on March 15. Fucking math, how does it work?

  157. 157.

    Mnemosyne

    @rikyrah:

    Ribs are my weakness, but I’m not sure we’ll have time. The problem with having both of our families living in the same area is that we end up driving back and forth between Gurnee and Oak Park about a thousand times. That’s why we’re taking a couple of days in the city for ourselves before the driving marathon begins.

    Though I do see they’re open very late … hmmm.

  158. 158.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Quinerly:

    I was kind of rooting for the old coot too last fall, but jeebus, with every passing day I’m getting angrier with him and his dead enders. For the life of me, I don’t understand his appeal any more, now that he’s shown his hypocritical, cranky, holier than thou tax hiding ass. He lost me back in January with his dismissiveness about all the structural barriers to his “revolution” and his airy fairy bullshit proposals based on fantasy projections, and his inability or unwillingness to let the fact that in this country, racism is the obstacle to his agenda enter his mindset as evidenced by his failure to take the delegate rich South seriously. He’s been flailing around ever since Super Tuesday, whining and moving goal posts, while being handled with kid gloves by Hillary. He’s a total fucking fraud, and now we get to see what all of his colleagues see. He’s not even the most effective Senator from Vermont.

  159. 159.

    Cacti

    @Feebog:

    I am so ready for June 7 to come and go. I am still hoping Hilz beats Bernie solidly here in California, not that it matters in terms of the eventual outcome overall. I have a lot of liberal friends who are voting for Bernie, and just can’t or won’t understand that this thing was over on March 15. Fucking math, how does it work?

    February 20.

    That was the last time Bernie had a delegate lead in the race.

  160. 160.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Quinerly: It’s worth mentioning in that context that, so far, there have been zero polls in which Hillary loses CA. There are a bunch (mostly automated and Internet polls) in which she’s 10 points ahead or more, and another bunch (mostly traditional live-phone polls) in which she’s about 2 points ahead. What that split means and who to trust, I have no idea and I don’t think anyone else does either, but it’ll be interesting to see.

  161. 161.

    Kristine Smith

    @normal liberal: Definitely different management. Stayed there in 2012, 2013, and Dec. 2014. Great staff. But the manager was working his butt off to increase visibility, and it’s been paying off in higher rates and rooms booked for weeks in advance.

  162. 162.

    Cacti

    @Matt McIrvin:

    It’s worth mentioning in that context that, so far, there have been zero polls in which Hillary loses CA. There are a bunch (mostly automated and Internet polls) in which she’s 10 points ahead or more, and another bunch (mostly traditional live-phone polls) in which she’s about 2 points ahead. What that split means and who to trust, I have no idea and I don’t think anyone else does either, but it’ll be interesting to see.

    There’s also the fact that CA has been early voting for a month now, and the polls that sample early voters showed Clinton with anywhere from a 9-18 point advantage in votes already banked.

    Maybe if he’d spent more resources on GOTV than venues for ego-stroking rallies, things might have gone differently. But, old man is drunk on the cheers of college kids and is doing everything to stave off the inevitable hangover.

  164. 164.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Cacti: And it should probably go without saying, but there’s no indication whatsoever that Sanders could win by the enormous margin he would need to close his pledged-delegate gap. That would require an industry-wide polling failure bigger than Michigan. At best, he might pull off a narrow popular majority that would net him and Clinton essentially the same number of delegates, and get bragging rights for winning the state.

    (Also, he’s going to lose New Jersey.)

  165. 165.

    gentlewind

    Native Chicagoan here. All good tips but the Field Museum is the most boring ever. Shed and Science and Industry are way more interesting and fun.

  166. 166.

    Cacti

    @Matt McIrvin:

    (Also, he’s going to lose New Jersey.)

    Indeed. California is the last stand of an old man’s ego, to the extent he’s written off everything else.

    He’s down 20-plus points in Puerto Rico, New Jersey, and New Mexico. No data for the Dakotas or Montana (where I would guess he’s faring better).

  167. 167.

    Millard Filmore

    @JPL: “if they can’t control him, they will impeach him.”

    It would have to be some disastrous treason to get him impeached before he nominates a few justices to the Supreme Court. And as long as he signs Republican bills there will not be any hurry to push him out.

  168. 168.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Ramping Up: It was a very strange “Clinton Mob” in that they were carrying signs saying to not vote for Trump or Clinton.

  169. 169.

    Millard Filmore

    @trollhattan: “if your neighbor’s pollution is killing you, just take them to court.”

    That assumes you have maybe 10 million dollars, even if you win, to take the case through all the appeals? Do you have 10 or 20 thousand dollars in loose change to be able to even ante into the court game? This is a Let Them Eat Cake solution.

    Besides (West Texas, and Bhopal), winning will not bring your kids back to life.

  170. 170.

    Librarian

    As I understand it, Sarandon has said she wanted Hillary to be indicted so Bernie can win the nomination. This is beyond cynical, it’s just plain evil. I hope yesterday’s speech helps Hilz win Tuesday’s primaries big. I want Bernie crushed. I want him to be annihilated. I want her to defeat him, to see him driven before her, and to hear the lamentations of the Berniebots.

  171. 171.

    Millard Filmore

    @Percysowner: [mention of all the owies from jumping] Bernie is not a qualified jumper. He would have to come down with an instructor strapped to his back.

  175. 175.

    pat

    Re: Sarandon
    Just goes to show, once again, that brains are not necessary for a career in show biz.

  178. 178.

    The Other Chuck

    @Ernest Pikeman:

    I wish Hunter S. Thompson was alive to write about the weirdness of *this* election season.

    I think he killed himself party because of the possibility of this being the new normal.

  181. 181.

    The Other Chuck

    @Mike J: The VP is a powerless figurehead, and not quite the path to the presidency that it once was. Warren would have way more clout chairing senate committees.

    My money’s on one of the Castro brothers. No illusions they’ll turn Texas blue, but I’m willing to bet it would get a lot more purple.

  184. 184.

    catclub

    @Millard Filmore:

    It would have to be some disastrous treason to get him impeached before he nominates a few justices to the Supreme Court.

    Whoever is his VP will nominate much more reliable SC justices. Who could Trump pick for VP to insure protection AGAINST impeachment?
    Ted Nugent?

  185. 185.

    PST

    @Mnemosyne: I’m late but I want to add my two cents. I’m not too surprised about the Courtyard at Hubbard and State being so reasonable. It is very well situated, but if there are no big conventions in town rooms are half the price of busy times. I haven’t been in it, but it is an easy walk to Michigan Avenue and to clubs and restaurants on the river and on Hubbard and Kinzie. I have friends who love both the Monaco and the Hard Rock, in part because they can stay there on what their companies allow. They are on the same block right at Michigan slightly south of the river. Despite the off-putting name, the Hard Rock is in one of the most beautiful and best restored buildings I know. I’m told the rooms are small but very nice. Don’t let it bother you that I’ll be able to see in your window from my desk. The only place I saw mentioned that I would affirmatively caution against is the Inn of Chicago, which I found to be a real dump when I booked it for a friend on a tight budget. The nearby Red Roof Inn is nicer and Coco Pozzo Café is indeed pleasant. It is across the street from Northwestern Memorial, so I always go there if I have good test results to celebrate. (I plan to go there a week from Monday after an MRI.) I would avoid the Crowne Plaza on Halstead unless your prime objective is hitting the restaurants on Randolph Street in the West Loop. I live nearby, and other than food, the neighborhood doesn’t have much to offer visitors. Chicago has great food at all levels of formality. I would respectfully dissent from either the Palm, which is an undistinguished transplant, and the Pump Room, which is out of the way and an exercise in nostalgia that doesn’t generate much interest these days. For an activity, I would consider the Chicago River architecture tour. There are several, but the real one is the one that leaves from the south side of the river, east of Michigan Avenue, conducted by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. It is usually a pleasure just being on the river, and if you have a decent docent you learn a lot too. Might be better than inside a stuffy museum in June.

  186. 186.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    I think it took brains to create some of her roles, but maybe too much “better living through chemistry” did her in? (Imagine a Terri Gross upspeak reading.)

  188. 188.

    Cacti

    @The Other Chuck:

    The VP is a powerless figurehead, and not quite the path to the presidency that it once was. Warren would have way more clout chairing senate committees.

    VP has actually rarely been a stepping stone to POTUS in terms of lineal electoral succession.

    Out of 14 VPs who became POTUS, only 4 were elected directly from that office to the Presidency, and only one of those came in the last 175 years (Poppy Bush).

  189. 189.

    Origuy

    I heard Bernie say that he hoped his staff had more sense than to let him skydive.

    Re Chicago: Geno’s East is my favorite, but Giordano’s is a close second. Uno’s is too hard to get into. No one’s mentioned Greektown for food. Also, the Oriental Museum at UC is good. In this context, Oriental means Middle East; think Babylon and Persia. Don’t forget about the comedy clubs.

  190. 190.

    chopper

    @Origuy:

    the oriental institute is pretty rad. my dad worked there when he was putting himself through grad school at UC.

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