Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Not all heroes wear capes.

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

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

The revolution will be supervised.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Second rate reporter says what?

Battle won, war still ongoing.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

I was promised a recession.

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Reader Interactions

205Comments

  4. 4.

    The Thin Black Duke

    “When someone shows you who they are, believe them; the first time.”

    ― Maya Angelou

  6. 6.

    RaflW

    @The Thin Black Duke: Exactly. And I will say this, Trump will not be pivoting to the general election. Not in any real way.

    I think that will prove disastrous. Either for his campaign, or for this country.

  7. 7.

    lamh36

    Some discussion about the Tony Awards tonight in the aftermath of the incident in Orlando.

    I agree with this tweet:

    @andymientus
    I hope gay kids scared by Orlando watch the #TonyAwards tonight to see countless successful, empowered, Out Queer people loving each other.
    12:40 PM – 12 Jun 2016
    https://twitter.com/andymientus/status/742048871895928832

    So many of broadways actors, workers, stage folks, chorus people, dancers, etc…are LGBT, out and proud. I certainly want young LGBT youths who actually do turn into the Tony’s to see OUT and Proud performers not afraid.

  9. 9.

    Suzanne

    I can’t even deal today.

    Someone on Twitter pointed out that, for some of the victims, this may be how their families find out that they were gay. Someone else pointed out that it is likely that some of them may have been disowned and not have family members who come to claim their bodies.

    Nope. Can’t do it.

  10. 10.

    JPL

    Thanks, Betty!

    The person who intended to do harm at the pride parade in Los Angeles has been identified. His name is James Howell and he is from Indiana. Social Media should be able to provide more information later.

    Checked again and here he is.. https://twitter.com/BNONews

  12. 12.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Sure, Donald. A ban. Of all military grade semi-auto firearms in the hands of civilians, no exceptions, ever.

  13. 13.

    TaMara (HFG)

    So catch me up – I’ve been gone all day and can’t bring myself to read any news sites. Besides an 11th hour phone call pledging allegiance to ISIS, is there any actual evidence that this asshole’s actions were anything but a hate crime against the LGBT community?

    Didn’t his own parents claim he hated LGBT people?

  15. 15.

    RaflW

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Trump’s proposed ban would have done nothing to prevent this.

    Well, Trump is just telegraphing that once his immigration ban would be in place, then the Cruz-style ‘extra police patrols’ of’ y’know, certain neighborhoods. Then deportations, and camps for ‘Merican Muslims.

    I mean, it was a great success packing up all those Japanese folks back in ’42, wasn’t it?

  17. 17.

    JPL

    Police work stopped a possible massacre in Los Angeles. The person had enough bomb making material and arsenal to inflect great harm. Since he doesn’t appear to be Muslim, I wonder if the media will notice.

  22. 22.

    Harry Hardrada

    @JPL: The guy who was arrested in CA for planning to shoot up a gay pride parade is a white dude from Indiana.

    Obviously, we should build a wall around Indiana.

  24. 24.

    Helen

    @Baud:

    BAUD! 2016.

    I just had 2 beers. They didn’t help. Will there be booze in the Oval office during the Baud! administration?

  26. 26.

    RaflW

    @JPL:

    Then there are pictures of parents looking for their son or daughter.

    Saw a piece today on a kid texting his mom while trying to hide early this a.m. in the bar. I won’t recount the horror. Just too guttingly awful…

  29. 29.

    Elie

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    What is even worse is that ISIS may just be a proximate label to put on his impulse…His former wife said that he was not religious but had been a physically abusive husband and very labile emotionally. A lot of crazy people are drawn to crazy ideas to give their mental state a framework. He was at the least a very angry and isolated man and could have been a full blow paranoid schizophrenic — organized enough to plan and cary out this attack. Many severely mentally ill people are too sick to form a coherent plan. He obviously was not one of those. In these angry and fearful times, these sick people have plenty of options to bring their hostile and violent delusions to life. Trump unfortunately is one of them…
    I find it so sad following so closely on Muhammed Ali’s funeral where there were so many love filled and inspirational messages of hope. That is what we have to fight this. It is powerful but our faith in ourselves and each other must be strengthened. We must start with battling our fear….. and self doubt….

  33. 33.

    JPL

    @Baud: LA Times released his name earlier and said he planned to do harm. Josh Barro just a few minutes ago, linked to David Frum.
    That’s all the information you’ll get because he doesn’t appear to be connected to radical islam.

  37. 37.

    lamh36

    Apparently a tweet from “lgbtpheonix” alleging to be an LGBT group send a tweet endorsing Trump and saying it was based on Orlando…smh

    @fawfulfan
    Trump’s campaign set up the fake account to pretend to be a gay rights group. Twitter took it down for violating TOS. @millenialcons

  38. 38.

    jeffreyw

    I read something today that just tore me up: The forensic responders are going through the scene, taking pictures and placing markers and so on. All the while the cell phones of the victims are ringing, ringing, ringing. On the other end are the friends and relations calling, hoping, calling, crying, hoping, calling again…”be there, please…answer please”.

  40. 40.

    hovercraft

    @The Thin Black Duke:
    The fact is he has never tried to hide who he is, he has been showing us for the last 40 years. Republicans want to pretend he is not a racist, misogynist, con man because he is their nominee and the base loves him for it not in spite of it. The media pretends it’s just an act because if is real they would have to call him and the GOP out on it.

  43. 43.

    Cat48

    I’m with her! She’s tough enough to handle,Isis without banning specific religions and races from the US.

    Maybe we should deport the GOP House since they can’t pass the 2016 Budget that Obama, McConnell, Boehner, & Reid agreed to last year and passed. They won’t appropriate the funds approved for each agency last year.
    Huge Ryan Fail.

  45. 45.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @hovercraft: The GOP is in deep denial of what they have been all about ever since 1968 and Nixon’s “Southern Strategy”.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    @lamh36: I just read a new story about Trump’s business dealings. Being the actual nominee is a lot different from competing for the nomination in terms of media scrutiny.

  49. 49.

    maya

    Just a thought about the new role of instantaneous reaction through twitter and whatever else pertains. Now our elected, or soon to be elected, leaders are expected to tweet something. To tweet or not to tweet, is not even an equivalent question. Got local police chiefs doing in my woods.

  50. 50.

    JPL

    @Baud: Truthfully, the news media could come up with a scenario that if the person was Muslim, it would be a big deal.

  51. 51.

    LAO

    I missed most of the coverage today, so I just spent a couple of hours watching MSNBC. Is there anyone else irritated by Brian Williams’ fixation on the first responders and their trauma because 11 of them discharged their weapons? He is so irritating.

  52. 52.

    MisterForkbeard

    @schrodinger’s cat: This is the first thing I thought of as well. The ban not only is a horrible fucking idea, it also… wouldn’t have impacted this in any way. Except maybe to make it more likely, since more Muslims here at home would (rightfully) think the nation was out to get them.

    Sigh.

  53. 53.

    D58826

    aP is reporting that the guy arrested in LA with guns and explosives said he wanted to ‘harm’ the gay pride parade.

  54. 54.

    RaflW

    Ken Burns at Stanford Commencement today:

    We no longer have the luxury of neutrality or “balance,” or even of bemused disdain. Many of our media institutions have largely failed to expose this charlatan, torn between a nagging responsibility to good journalism and the big ratings a media circus always delivers. In fact, they have given him the abundant airtime he so desperately craves, so much so that it has actually worn down our natural human revulsion to this kind of behavior.

    More excellent takedown at the link above.

  55. 55.

    Karen

    Now that there is more than a suspicion that the shooting was against LGBT and not foreign terrorism, how long in the news cycle will that last?

    I say it’s the same as with the Planned Parenthood shooting. It will be looked at (and cheered by RWNJ) as a mental health issue.

    What do YOU say?

  57. 57.

    c u n d gulag

    tRUMP is a festering pustule on the anus of a dung-beetle!

    ‘Nuff said……………

  58. 58.

    Emma

    @lamh36: When I told my father this (uber-Republican, not voting in November) he told me the best strategy would be for Hillary to surround herself with female spokespersons and hit him where it hurts. “Get ten like that Warren lady, and go after his gonads.” He thinks it would drive Trump over the edge.

  60. 60.

    Doug R

    @Elie: It seems to be a common thread. The lone asshole who shot up Parliament Hill started out asking for mental health help.
    He then radicalized himself and eventually went on a rampage.

  61. 61.

    hovercraft

    @RaflW:
    I’m thinking he’d institute something like ‘operation wetback’ but with muslims instead. Declare a state of emergency, and round ‘them’ up and send them back.

    Last night, our nation was attacked by a radical Islamic terrorist. It was the worst terrorist attack on our soil since 9/11, and the second of its kind in 6 months. My deepest sympathy and support goes out to the victims, the wounded, and their families.

    In his remarks today, President Obama disgracefully refused to even say the words ‘Radical Islam’. For that reason alone, he should step down. If Hillary Clinton, after this attack, still cannot say the two words ‘Radical Islam’ she should get out of this race for the Presidency.

    If we do not get tough and smart real fast, we are not going to have a country anymore. Because our leaders are weak, I said this was going to happen – and it is only going to get worse. I am trying to save lives and prevent the next terrorist attack. We can’t afford to be politically correct anymore.

    The terrorist, Omar Mir Saddique Mateen, is the son of an immigrant from Afghanistan who openly published his support for the Afghanistani Taliban and even tried to run for President of Afghanistan. According to Pew, 99% of people in Afghanistan support oppressive Sharia Law.

    We admit more than 100,000 lifetime migrants from the Middle East each year. Since 9/11, hundreds of migrants and their children have been implicated in terrorism in the United States.

    Hillary Clinton wants to dramatically increase admissions from the Middle East, bringing in many hundreds of thousands during a first term – and we will have no way to screen them, pay for them, or prevent the second generation from radicalizing.

    We need to protect all Americans, of all backgrounds and all beliefs, from Radical Islamic Terrorism – which has no place in an open and tolerant society. Radical Islam advocates hate for women, gays, Jews, Christians and all Americans. I am going to be a President for all Americans, and I am going to protect and defend all Americans. We are going to make America safe again and great again for everyone.

    – Donald J. Trump

    His longer more ‘reasonable’ statement does not inspire any confidence. He is still a demagog.

  64. 64.

    schrodinger's cat

    @RaflW: Even on PBS, Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff keep constantly giggling when covering politics as does one of their frequent guests Amy Walter. I fail to see what is so funny. Its all a joke to the MSM Pundits.

  65. 65.

    gene108

    @JPL:

    Police work stopped a possible massacre in Los Angeles. The person had enough bomb making material and arsenal to inflect great harm. Since he doesn’t appear to be Muslim, I wonder if the media will notice.

    He was a mentally ill lone wolf. There’s a big difference between that guy and ISIS-boy in Orlando. /snark

  69. 69.

    The Other Chuck

    @Karen:

    Now that there is more than a suspicion that the shooting was against LGBT and not foreign terrorism, how long in the news cycle will that last?

    The killer had a muslim name, so facts don’t matter.

  70. 70.

    TheronWare

    I sincerely wish they would change the description to lone gunman or assailant or terrorist. I happen to love wolves…

  71. 71.

    bluehill

    The one time right wing religious zealots are more in agreement with ISIS than they will admit. Sad.

  72. 72.

    WaterGirl

    @jeffreyw: you are making me cry in front of everyone on the train.

    When the news broke on the earlier train, people were talking and responding in horror. No anti gay sentiment, just appalled at the violence. On the train tonight, no talk of this at all and I am sitting near the jerky guy who talked about getting out of the navy when everything changed (don’t recall the year) but the tucking it up about how the gays ruined the military seemed even worse than usual in light of this horrific attack. Can they not hate for even one day?..

  74. 74.

    lamh36

    @MichaelSkolnik
    Orlando: AR-15
    Aurora: AR-15
    Sandy Hook: AR-15
    San Bernardino: AR-15
    Umpqua Community College: AR-15
    2:26 PM – 12 Jun 2016

  75. 75.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @hovercraft:

    We need to protect all Americans, of all backgrounds and all beliefs, from Radical Islamic Terrorism – which has no place in an open and tolerant society. Radical Islam advocates hate for women, gays, Jews, Christians and all Americans. I am going to be a President for all Americans, and I am going to protect and defend all Americans. We are going to make America safe again and great again for everyone.

    Will we protect all Americans, to include people who work at Planned Parenthood offices, from Radical Christian Terrorists? If so, how? By banning Radical Christians?

  76. 76.

    Elie

    Sometimes I wonder why all this horrible stuff is happening now — at a time that we also paradoxically are moving ever more towards justice, equality and freedom. It ocurrs to me that this is precisely why and why the reaction to progress is so intense and ruthless — desperate. There are people who hid or harbor deep sadness and spiritual disease who are challenged at their core at the presence of this energy towards justice and the joy of people achieving this deepest of all freedoms — the freedom of self respect, of dignity and standing up strong to be authentically themselves. These people, for whatever reason, either fear or emotional poverty, cannot appreciate the victory of the human spirit. We must keep on with vigor and optimism…. WE are winning. Like healers who act to heal these boils and infections, we must be prepared to see all the ugly pus, stink and inflammation roll out, and see a whole lot of pain and fear, before healing begins. We are finding the infected wounds, manifested in these acts and we must be patient and dedicated as we tend to them.

  78. 78.

    SiubhanDuinne

    A former boss of mine (and, I must say, a good friend) posted to Facebook earlier calling (more in sorrow than anger) for a crusade (his word) against Muslims. I lit into him, politely but firmly, and rather to my surprise, and pleasure, lots of mutual friends supported me in the comments, and my former boss eventually admitted that he actually agrees with me.

    So I’m feeling pretty good about my persuasive skills :-)

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    @jeffreyw: the day my mom died, I lost it when I saw her purse sitting there on the chair. It looked so absurd… It’s entire reason for being was no more. Your story about the phones ringing reminds me so much of that, what a horrible personalizing thing that must have been for people working at.the scene. Do they answer the phones? And the relief on the other end turns to horror as a stranger answers the phone? So awful.

  81. 81.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @WaterGirl: Then there are the guys who got out of the military when “everything changed” by allowing women into combat support roles. Then there are the guys who got out of the military when “everything changed” and racial segregation was ended.

    It’s always the same story. White straight males being dissed by being forced to serve with non white straight males. Oh, the horror.

  83. 83.

    hovercraft

    This is great news on this terrible day.

    If you or someone you know is reporting ANY of the symptoms of depression or hopelessness, please know your life matters. Call 1-800-273-TALK (8755) and speak to someone about it. Several of us at Crooks and Liars know firsthand what it means to lose someone to suicide. Please call.

    More than 6 out of every 10 gun deaths are the result of someone taking their own life. And 22 veterans take their own life each day, most often with a firearm. It makes sense that veterans, who are more familiar with a gun and are also more likely to have a gun in their home, experience much higher than average gun suicide rates.

    ADVERTISING

    In an attempt to mitigate this crisis, two people who have personal experience with gun deaths and suicides have come together to create a new group to prevent more tragedies.

    Gen. David Petraeus and retired astronaut Mark Kelly announced Friday they are forming a new gun control group for veterans.

    The Veterans Coalition for Common Sense will push to strengthen gun background check laws and help prevent veterans from committing suicide. It pointed to several alarming statistics about the military and gun violence.

    According to the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), about 22 veterans kill themselves each day. Since September 11, 2001, more Americans have been killed by gun violence than combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    “As service members, each of us swore an oath to protect our Constitution and the homeland,” said Kelly, who formed another gun control group with his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), after she was shot and seriously wounded during a mass shooting in 2011.

    CNN Reports: “Gabby and I are grateful to all of these incredible veterans and leaders who are using their voice to call for commonsense change that makes our communities safer,” he added. Petraeus isn’t quoted in the release.

    A Veterans Health Administration report said nearly 70% of suicides among male veterans were committed with a firearm between 2001 and 2011.

    Trump loves to cite Petraeus as a hero, someone should ask him about this effort to support veterans.

  87. 87.

    trollhattan

    @lamh36:
    Add D.C. sniper, who used the same brand as Lanza, AND had scary Muslim name.

    But nope, no correlation between spree killings and military-derived rifles.

  88. 88.

    RaflW

    @hovercraft: Agree. And he’s full of shit on yet another level:

    we will have no way to screen them, pay for them, or prevent the second generation from radicalizing

    Well, we do have options. But they cost taxpayers some money. Absolutely can’t possibly have that!

  89. 89.

    redshirt

    I try and imagine an undecided voter out there, theoretically choosing between Trump and Clinton. I know they must exist, but I cannot even imagine a fictional person who could be so blinded.

  90. 90.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: I never read the paper, but got a free USA today weekend on the train. TRUMP’S TRAIL OF UNPAID BILLS is the headline.

  91. 91.

    hovercraft

    @Villago Delenda Est:
    Don’t be silly, those crimes are not committed by radicals, but by lone wolves. Don’t you know that if your loved one is killed by a ‘radical islamic terrorist’ it is worse than if they are killed by a real American. Now I know you are going to say this shooter was an American, but he wasn’t a ‘real’ American. 1st generation doesn’t count unless your mother was from Scotland.

  92. 92.

    gene108

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    The GOP is in deep denial of what they have been all about ever since 1968 and Nixon’s “Southern Strategy”.

    I don’t think the knuckle-draggers ever figured for society to change so much, since 1968.

    Women can get credits, without their husbands signature. Something like half of med-school and law school students are women. Interracial marriage is no big deal. And gay marriage is becoming widely accepted.

    I mean it’s easy-peasy to pass budgets and such, when you know Those People are still in their place.

    Now right-wingers have to spend all their time to stop nearly 50 years of social progress.

  94. 94.

    Cat48

    @Emma:

    Sounds like u have a good father! Republicans really were a lot more reasonable in the past. I miss that. They negotiated and everything.

  95. 95.

    debbie

    @Emma:

    “Get ten like that Warren lady, and go after his gonads.” He thinks it would drive Trump over the edge.

    Good idea. His head would explode.

  98. 98.

    redshirt

    @Emma: We need to compare notes on our Dads as election day draws near. Mine is also an uber-Republican who says he’s not voting Trump this fall. I’ll believe it after it doesn’t happen.

  99. 99.

    trollhattan

    @hovercraft:
    Twenty-two per day?!? Wow, I had no idea. Do recall reading the rate of U.S. military suicide is much lower when stationed in countries with tight gun laws. Ready availability=higher suicide rates, military or civilian.

  100. 100.

    debbie

    One of my brothers is convinced that the increased “nuttiness” in this country is due to the water. Between all the drugs that are peed into the system and the lead and other heavy metals that are leeching from the deteriorating infrastructure, he thinks we don’t stand a chance.

  102. 102.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @debbie: Anne Laurie said this the other day: in one of the debates, Hillary is going to manage to goad Teh Donald in to using the c-word. And yes, heads will explode all over the country. Or (and this is more likely) Elizabeth Warren or another surrogate will get him to say it, or the n-word.

  103. 103.

    Emma

    @Cat48: I know. We arrived in the US in 1970 and even then you could find Republicans who were actually sane.No longer.

  105. 105.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @trollhattan: I know that in Korea, if you have a POW (privately owned weapon) it must be stored in the unit arms room. Which means that even the unit commander must go through a process of checking a weapon for say target shooting out and back in when play time is over.

  106. 106.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @hovercraft: Oh, I’m painfully aware of this. People of color know what Donald Trump is and have known for a long time. Woman who have been on the wrong end of those short fingers jabbing in their faces know what Donald Trump is. And after that foul turd of a tweet, the LGBT community knows what Donald Trump is as well. And of course the news media knows what Donald Trump is, because not only does the emperor have no clothes, he’s proudly whacking off every day and night on TV because he’s good for ratings. However, what the problem is for those “moderate” Republicans, embittered “Bernie Bros”, and idealistic but mush-brained libertarians who won’t vote until there’s an unicorn in every pot is that it’s getting harder for them to pretend that Donald Trump isn’t what he is. Ultimately, I think some of these people won’t vote for Donald Trump in November, but not because it’ll be the right thing to do morally, but because it will be too embarrassing. Hey, whatever works, right?

  108. 108.

    Trentrunner

    @Villago Delenda Est: I wish, but that won’t happen.

    What will happen is that Donald will not be able to mask his condescension and derision for THAT WOMAN with THAT FACE who dares to challenge him.

    And Clinton will then win ALL women by 20+ points.

  110. 110.

    Cat48

    @hovercraft:

    I want proof that hundreds of Muslims have been implicated in terrorism in the US. I’m sure I would have noticed that. Gah

  111. 111.

    Helen

    @jeffreyw:

    Same thing after 9/11. There were lots of chirping sounds coming from the pile. NYC police and firefighters had a beeper system that chirped like a bird when one of them fell. All of the fallen first responders’ chirpers went off at once.

  114. 114.

    trollhattan

    @efgoldman:
    Is it safe to assume they had night vision gear? My hope is they only took confirmed shots but I also fear the killer used human shields. That’s a lot of guys shooting.

  115. 115.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    My dad (78) has been a life long moderate old-school Republican. We stopped talking about Presidential candidates when GWB was nominated. His disgust was palpable. We confine our discussions to things that we agree on, which is a lot. I doubt he’ll be able to hold his nose and pull the lever for Trump. Depends on how many of Fox’s lies about HRC he’s absorbed.

  117. 117.

    Schlemazel Khan

    Damn hilbots! Trying to convince me there is a difference between these two! I’m gonna vote for DR Jill Stein – that’ll teach you.

  119. 119.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: agree. But what’s really amazing is that they are starting to report this stuff. How sad that that’s amazing.

  120. 120.

    hovercraft

    @trollhattan:
    Yes a terrible statistic, Rachel Maddow has had IAVA and Paul Riecoff on a few times to discuss it after these massacres when gun control is brought up.
    Here would be an opportunity for Trump to really support the vets.

  121. 121.

    LAO

    @Cat48: when a problem is complex, i.e. How do you deal with the violent radicalization of a definable set of people, I fear that our response (the us) is always an oversimplified, general, over the top reaction.

  122. 122.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @WaterGirl:

    agree. But what’s really amazing is that they are starting to report this stuff. How sad that that’s amazing.

    It’s column inches and eyeballs. The public will always gawk at a tragedy and Donald has left plenty in his wake. Expect them to be dusted off in the MSM. He’s going to HATE the newspapers by November. So far they’ve been on his side because he draws readers. But they’ll dig up his dirt when they need new stories. Press attention is a double edged sword (to continue the mixture of metaphors).

  123. 123.

    Brachiator

    @hovercraft:

    The media pretends it’s just an act because if is real they would have to call him and the GOP out on it.

    The media has never pretended that it was just an act. No one took Trump seriously, including many Balloon Juice posters. Also, the idea of the media having some impact on reaction to Trump is ludicrous. Declare him a dangerous demagogue. His supporters will only embrace him more fervently. And right now, the GOP seems intent on backing him no matter what, despite some high level defections. I think that some Americans believe that the country could never be taken over by a monster. And there are so many fools who thought that Obama was the devil that they are incapable of recognizing real danger when it comes offering false hope and obvious bigotry.

  124. 124.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Pretty powerful contrast.

    U can see why Susan Sarandon is so attracted to a Trump presidency.

  125. 125.

    greennotGreen

    @Elie: Beautiful and I agree with every word.

    Strangely, I guess, I haven’t shed a single tear about this. I have lots of gay friends whom I love. I think Sandy Hook where the six year old daughter of dear friends died took all my tears. What kind of country are we when we let little children die and do…nothing.

  126. 126.

    hovercraft

    @The Thin Black Duke:
    From your lips to gods ear. But yesterday he did posit a new reason for his lower poll numbers. He suggested a reverse Bradley effect, people who support him but are too embarrassed to say so, but will quietly vote for him. I think it’s bullshit like everything else he says, but hey you never know.

  128. 128.

    hovercraft

    @Cat48:
    Proof? You have your proof the Donald said it. To his supporters his word is gospel to anyone who wants proof, SHUT UP.

  129. 129.

    Emma

    @hovercraft: I think there will be some of that, but also a lot in the other direction, especially Republican women that will quietly vote for Hillary.

  131. 131.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Elie: There are people out there who cannot enjoy their food unless they know someone else is starving.

  132. 132.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    OT: I’ve just returned from seeing the kid become a new nurse.

    ETA: She still has her boards next month.

  136. 136.

    Shawn in Showme

    @redshirt:

    I’m not buying it either. Trump’s reaction to the massacre should drive his support in the general election down to 27%. But it won’t. Because xenophobia account for at least 40% of the electorate. When you go about 50 miles away from the major cities, the xenophobe ratio goes way up.

  140. 140.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @Baud: I’m looking, but can’t find it. Can you help a buddy with a link.

  142. 142.

    hovercraft

    @Brachiator:
    While I disagree about the media being unwilling to call him out until recently, I do agree about the utility of the having done it earlier. But I think that’s chicken and egg territory, the media is terrible and focuses on stupid shit, so people ignore them and they get more desperate for eyeballs/clicks that they focus even more on the nonsense. While each tribe is probably not persuadable there is a group in the middle who do not follow politics who would be well served by real journalism, not who called who what each day. Journalists should say what a candidate said, investigate and report what the facts are. This one said this and that one said that is what created this situation where they have no credibility. If they covered news as these are the facts and here is what so and so said about the facts, they could be useful.

  147. 147.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    That’s wonderful! Congratulations to her (and to you and Mrs. Billin). What a day to underscore the importance of the profession she chose.

  148. 148.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: yeah, tried to reply on that thread, but my edit was lost. they said e dad who murdered the son was 66′ so that must be Mel’s husband who murdered his own son? Mel had a daughter right?

  151. 151.

    Cat48

    @Elie I haven’t cried yet either, but I am having trouble breathing & no appetite. The memorial services always make me cry.

  154. 154.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: so Mel’s daughter lost her mom, and now her dad killed her brother? Hoping I have that wrong.

  159. 159.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Yutsano:

    I just leaked my Twitter handle.

    Honestly, if you hadn’t pointed that out I would never have noticed.

    (I don’t do Twitter.)

  160. 160.

    Psych1

    Suicide is most often an anger directed inward. Better inward than outward, Many mass, and other, killings are a prelude to and a part of a planned suicide.

  161. 161.

    jl

    I read that the shooter in Orlando was born in the US. So, Trump going to expel all Hispanics and all Muslims from the US?
    I’m sure that will be, as Trump has assured us, done in a very kind and considerate manner.
    Kind and considerate war crimes and various geno- and ethnicides are always the very best kind of ‘cides And the US will always be the best.
    /snark tag here, if needed.

  163. 163.

    scav

    @jl: Apparently all-mecan second amendment solutions in the name of reeee-ligious freedomz and beliefs is not an offer open for all citizens.

  164. 164.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: I know her husband had issues, but was her son violent, too? Or more of an innocent victim? I really feel for the daughter.

  165. 165.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @jl: not only that, under the trump doctrine, he would torture and kill every member of his family.

    just like you know who

    Infuriated by Heydrich’s death, Hitler ordered the arrest and execution of 10,000 randomly selected Czechs. But after consultations with Karl Hermann Frank, he tempered his response.
    ***
    Beginning on 10 June, all males over the age of 16 in the villages of Lidice and Ležáky were murdered.

  166. 166.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: that’s just around the corner from my friend carol. Murders and bodies lying in the street don’t really happen in that neighborhood. I used to live blocks from there.

  167. 167.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: Don’t really know, he was born after I left. I just know the daughter by communicating with her after Mel fell ill. The best case scenario is that it was self defense and that would be awful.

  168. 168.

    WaterGirl

    I don’t know how you guys can use mobile devices with BJ all the time. It’s really annoying!

  172. 172.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @sm*t cl*de:

    I saw much earlier today that Tuck Choad told Bernie Sanders on Press the Meat to stop politicising the Orlando shootings. On one of the many downstairs threads, but I can’t be arsed to look for the comment, sorry.

  173. 173.

    Carl W

    @hovercraft: Can somebody explain what’s up with the magic words “Radical Islam”? I mean, IMHO every terrorist is radical, and some terrorists are Muslims (and, of course, some aren’t). What’s the big deal about saying the words, or not saying the words?

  175. 175.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Carl W: I’m far more concerned about Radical Christianity. It’s more likely to strike close to home.

  179. 179.

    hovercraft

    The choice.

    Before the emergence of Barack Obama, the idea of an African-American President was less a matter of political reality than it was the stuff of fantasy. With apologies to anticipatory figures from Frederick Douglass to Jesse Jackson, a black President resided for decades in the realm of popular culture, a figment of the liberal imagination.

    There were many such exhibits. Take the stereotype-flecked movie musical, released during the Depression, called “Rufus Jones for President.” Ethel Waters, in the role of the protective mother, urges her little boy, played by seven-year-old Sammy Davis, Jr., to endure the taunts of the local bullies and aspire to greatness. “You’s goin’ to be President!” she tells him. “Me?” Rufus asks, incredulous. The mother falls into a reverie. She sees a crowd carrying placards that read “Down with the Reds, Put in the Blacks,” and the boy is soon dressed in a sharp suit, speaking before the Senate. Such films—all the way to “Head of State,” in which Chris Rock plays a local pol who ends up on Mt. Rushmore—mapped the yawning distance between the wish and its fulfillment.

    For most of this nation’s history, the prospect of a woman in the Oval Office had also reposed in the realm of speculative fiction. In 1964, Polly Bergen starred in “Kisses for My President,” in which she played Leslie Harrison McCloud, the first female President. Naturally, her husband, played by Fred MacMurray, is the focus of the movie. The First Man wanders the White House, staring at paintings of Martha Washington and Abigail Adams, and wondering if he, too, will be depicted in such a portrait, wearing a bonnet. He especially resents the many hours during which his wife neglects him for matters of state. The natural order of things is restored only when President McCloud gets pregnant and resigns her office.

    Now Hillary Clinton, having won primaries from New Jersey to California, has clinched the Democratic Party’s Presidential nomination. And the battle she faces is likely to be more bizarre than even “Mars Attacks!,” in which Natalie Portman, playing the President’s daughter, Taffy Dale, becomes the first female Commander-in-Chief only after the entire government is wiped out by alien invaders. Clinton will have to campaign with unwavering poise against the most dangerous and unpredictable variety of opponent—a demagogue who is willing to trespass every boundary of decency to win power.

    Has a national election ever suggested a more vividly divergent choice? Hillary Clinton has been in the public eye for decades, and her ideology, her instincts, her mistakes, her victories, her intelligence and character, her resilience are as exposed as those of any candidate in recent memory. Donald Trump—gaudy real-estate brander, reality-show star, educational huckster—has been in the glare just as long, but as a bit player in the national phantasmagoria. Not anymore: with his puckered scowl and his preposterous narcissism, he clinched the Republican nomination with ease, serially vanquishing sixteen rivals rendered hapless by a campaign that made improvisation its organizing principle and fuelled itself on an unending stream of personal insult, racist woofing, and misogynist bile.

    The current leadership of the Republican Party and most of its traditional funders show every sign of knowing that a pernicious buffoon has become their standard-bearer. And yet they have largely fallen into line. They dare not betray “the wisdom of their voters.” There’s Orrin Hatch, of Utah, with his reputation for integrity, telling his constituents that Trump “doesn’t have a prejudiced bone in his body.” There’s Paul Ryan, the self-advertised model of Republican probity and deep thinking, allowing that, yes, Trump is guilty of “textbook” racism, but refusing to edge away from his squeamish endorsement. And there is Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, providing this piece of moral discernment: “Well, what I am willing to say is that Donald Trump is certainly a different kind of candidate.” McConnell has hinted that he could rescind his support, but what are the odds?

    Some members of the G.O.P. rank and file have expressed clear disgust for Trump, and the Bushes have announced their refusal to vote at all. Even the Party’s most ardent supporters in the press sense doom. “Have Republicans no shame?” Erick Erickson, the conservative blogger and broadcaster, wrote last week. “They’re handing their nomination to a gold-plated fraud who will cost the party not just its integrity and not just its soul but also its chances of winning for at least a generation.”

    O.K., “at least a generation” might be overstating it. But, in a rational world, you would think that the table is set for Hillary Clinton to become the first woman President in the history of the republic. The electoral map, particularly in the battleground states, is leaning, at this point, in the Democrats’ favor. Trump lacks a cohesive campaign apparatus, unless you count his tireless Twitter account.

    In fact, Clinton’s supporters, and all those who reject Trump as some noxious combination of Father Coughlin and Ethelred the Unready, had reason to feel a surge of optimism last week. Her party’s most prominent surrogates—in particular the President, Joe Biden, and Elizabeth Warren—all issued unalloyed endorsements. Even Bernie Sanders showed signs of coming down from the sugar high of campaigning in front of adoring crowds and redeploying his impressive energies against Trump.

    Yet, as Clinton herself has said, there is little room for complacency. If her concentration slips, if she falters in the debates or is upended by some ethical failing, if some event (a terrorist act, for instance) takes place that allows Trump to twist its meaning and rally voters to his banner of America First—if any of that happens, not only could the prospect of a female President remain a fantasy but power will be in the hands of a malevolent fraud. And then what? A disaster beyond the imagining of any screenwriter. ♦

    David Remnick has been editor of The New Yorker since 1998 and a staff writer since 1992. MORE

  180. 180.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @Carl W:

    Can somebody explain what’s up with the magic words “Radical Islam”?

    It’s a spell that opens up the possibility of bombing some brown people on the other side of the world in retaliation.

  181. 181.

    Ruckus

    @trollhattan:
    The VA is very active and direct about vet suicide. They ask you directly if you are considering, have ever considered, have a gun or even just access to one.

  189. 189.

    different-church-lady

    @redshirt: OK, you think you can get me to say, “Fuck millennials. Fuck them in their stupid ear.”

    Won’t work.

  190. 190.

    hovercraft

    @Carl W:
    If you don’t say the words it means that you don’t understand the threat. Didn’t you get the GOP memo? Saying those words is more important than any actions.

  192. 192.

    Elie

    @Shawn in Showme:

    By the election, I think you will see something amazing happen…. I pray that my vision and gut are right — but its not about me being right — its about my sense of where we really are and our strength in time of this great adversity….

  193. 193.

    aimai

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: Its magic, however, decreases in inverse proportion to the number of times it is said by a Democrat. If a Democrat were to use the words, they would lose their power and all their power would be transferred to some term, perhaps as yet unknown, that will be built in the secret laboratory of Luntz, Rove, and some other guy.

  196. 196.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    I am outright Atheist and truly, not enough bad things can be said about Trump. How un-American of him, to bad Obama wasn’t the bastard the Right imagines Obama to be and deports Trump to Russia were Trump belongs.

  197. 197.

    Elie

    @greennotGreen:

    I feel FIERCE about this. Not angry but standing and claiming my emotional and moral ground. Yes, I will have tears. I know however, that this is as I said upstring, a manifestation of deep disease and as a nurse, I defer my emotions to some extent, to tend to the wounds and promote learning and healing. I know, as MLK said, we can’t bring about justice with hate — only love can stand up to hate — but that love is hard — HARD and must be built from our deepest core values. If I must die for something — there is nothing better because if this is a lie, we are all dead. This rage, this violence comes not from strength but from weakness — we MUST understand that and claim/stand up for or values and morality…. There is NO choice.

  198. 198.

    different-church-lady

    @redshirt: If I recall correctly you’re of a New England persuasion. Are you old enough to remember the bumper stickers that said “KILL YOUR TELEVISION”? We need to update those. “KILL YOUR SMARTPHONE” “KILL YOUR FACEBOOK” “KILL YOUR TWITTER”

    PS: Maybe this wasn’t a good thread to go on a “KILL YOUR (BLANK) rant..

  200. 200.

    different-church-lady

    @redshirt: I know it was a thing in Boston — maybe beyond, maybe not. Every once in a while I try doing some research on the origin of it, and always come up empty.

  202. 202.

    Elie

    @debbie:

    He might be right. There have been other great civilizations that have disappeared after some sort of overwhelming and ongoing “poisoning” or deficit…. Its actually pretty Darwinistic —

    You can see my ambivalence given my previous spiritual and hopeful comments.. this might be my fear speaking….

  203. 203.

    The Other Chuck

    @debbie:

    One of my brothers is convinced that the increased “nuttiness” in this country is due to the water.

    Because all water supplies are the same everywhere across the entire country? Or lemme guess, THEY are keeping the truth about flouride blahblahblah, no need to keep listening.

    You could point out that right wing hate radio is one thing that is the same everywhere…

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