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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Open Thread: YUUUUGE Joker Beats Three Kings — Right?!?

Open Thread: YUUUUGE Joker Beats Three Kings — Right?!?

by Anne Laurie|  June 14, 201610:14 pm| 157 Comments

This post is in: Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality

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A presidential candidate just accused me and thousands of other troops of embezzlement while in a combat zone. https://t.co/Seiu5P0KcB

— Ben Kesling (@bkesling) June 15, 2016

Trump suggested tonight that American soldiers in Iraq stole cash intended for reconstruction of Iraq, are "living very well" now

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) June 15, 2016

We are witnessing history, folks. https://t.co/5CmVef9TXY

— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) June 15, 2016

Someone tell Trump that that this was the plot to Three Kings. https://t.co/qenNVNtjPC

— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) June 15, 2016

It was predictable that the first place Lord Short Thumb’s brain went would be “There was cash sitting around unguarded? Hey, who wouldn’t steal a brick or six?”

Which is not to say that “some people” aren’t “living very nicely” on the proceeds of such theft… but most of them would be ranking members of the Republican elite, like Michael Ledeen’s daughter.

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Previous Post: « Copa America Argentina v Bolivia Open Thread
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Reader Interactions

157Comments

  1. 1.

    Corner Stone

    June 14, 2016 at 10:18 pm

    So, another voting block he has offended?

  2. 2.

    Lamh36

    June 14, 2016 at 10:19 pm

    just came from free screening of Central Intelligence with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart!!!!

    it was really funny. Kevin Hart played the straight man and The Rock played he comic relief. Kevin was funny as hell, no surprise, but The Rock was AWESOME!!!! FUNNY AS FUQ! Hell they even had really good action sequences at least 4 scenes of action including hand to hand and car chase!

    Review: Solid A!!

    Oh and Rock BAE was looking fawun GURL!!!

  3. 3.

    schrodinger's cat

    June 14, 2016 at 10:23 pm

    R-troll has changed his tactics and become D-concern troll instead. Nice.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    June 14, 2016 at 10:23 pm

    @Debsite: Rachel was talking about that, but I think the question was badly worded.

  5. 5.

    Corner Stone

    June 14, 2016 at 10:23 pm

    @Debsite:

    Racism, Islamophobia, and fear will bring Trump to victory as we have a very stupid and fearful country.

    I agree Debbie, and am very concerned at this point. Very concerned.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    June 14, 2016 at 10:24 pm

    @Corner Stone: Not Debbie.

  7. 7.

    sherparick

    June 14, 2016 at 10:24 pm

    I believe everything Trump knows about Iraq he learned from “Three Kings” (which was set in the First Gulf War, 1990-91).

  8. 8.

    sherparick

    June 14, 2016 at 10:25 pm

    @Corner Stone: We have a very stupid 40%, but I don’t think he can get near a majority.

  9. 9.

    Facebones

    June 14, 2016 at 10:27 pm

    There was a Facebook meme going around last fall saying that Trump would tear off the mask soon and reveal he was Andy Kaufman the whole time. Seems like the best explanation.

  10. 10.

    schrodinger's cat

    June 14, 2016 at 10:27 pm

    @Baud: He is another iteration of R-along R-up etc, but this time he is in a Dem concern troll skin.

  11. 11.

    redshirt

    June 14, 2016 at 10:28 pm

    Is the Albania v. Mozambique thread up yet?

  12. 12.

    Corner Stone

    June 14, 2016 at 10:28 pm

    @Baud: Debbie Downer. Not the BJ debbie.

  13. 13.

    Debsite

    June 14, 2016 at 10:29 pm

    @Baud:

    I saw it too. How do you think it was badly worded?

    Remember when Bush used Terrorism to his advantage? We could be seeing a return of that. This election may come down to who is more Islamophobic.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    June 14, 2016 at 10:31 pm

    @Debsite: Can’t remember the exact wording, but it wasn’t a standard “who do you trust to deal with the issue” question? It was more like a “who do you expect will be more aggressive” question?

  15. 15.

    chopper

    June 14, 2016 at 10:32 pm

    i can’t even with this guy.

  16. 16.

    sigaba

    June 14, 2016 at 10:33 pm

    Every day is Christmas with this guy.

    To quote a certain British monarch in a certain hip-hop musical, “Jesus Christ this will be fun!”

  17. 17.

    Debsite

    June 14, 2016 at 10:33 pm

    @Baud:
    But this country generally favors violent aggression even on the ostensible left.

  18. 18.

    Corner Stone

    June 14, 2016 at 10:33 pm

    This is silly.

  19. 19.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 14, 2016 at 10:34 pm

    @redshirt: Gotta wait until the fourth quarter.

  20. 20.

    dmsilev

    June 14, 2016 at 10:34 pm

    Trump is going to goad himself into an aneurysm at this rate. Despite that note his doctor wrote about him several months back (‘Mr. Trump is so healthy that sick people are cured simply by being in his presence’), he doesn’t look like he’s holding up well under the stress of the campaign schedule, and it’s only going to get worse from here on out.

  21. 21.

    debbie

    June 14, 2016 at 10:35 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Please don’t confuse us!

    I can’t imagine this badmouthing of the military will go down well with Republicans. Maybe he really has lost his mind.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    June 14, 2016 at 10:35 pm

    @Debsite: Then the country has someone who will give it to them.

  23. 23.

    Princess

    June 14, 2016 at 10:36 pm

    This Storify of tonight’s rally is worthwhile and appalling reading:

    https://storify.com/case_face/a-trump-rally-in-greensboro-anger-in-here-is-palpa

  24. 24.

    Mary G

    June 14, 2016 at 10:36 pm

    Hurry up and say something over the offensive line so Adam can ban you again.

  25. 25.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    June 14, 2016 at 10:37 pm

    I really cannot begin to fathom what the hell is going on. Is Donald Trump trying to throw the race? Is he taking drugs? Has he lost his mind? What the fuck is this guy doing? It’s like watching some kind of deranged, really awful performance art. Does he know what the hell he’s doing? Does anybody? This is surreal.

  26. 26.

    Corner Stone

    June 14, 2016 at 10:37 pm

    @debbie: No one is confused about Dubstep posting the relentless concerning concerns of the concerned.

  27. 27.

    daves09

    June 14, 2016 at 10:39 pm

    I’m totally sure that much was stolen from those baskets of money-but not by the soldiers.
    Can anyone imagine the shitstorm if a democrat said anything even remotely like this

  28. 28.

    Chip Daniels

    June 14, 2016 at 10:40 pm

    The conversation we should be having, is starting…
    Repeal the Second Amendment

    No its not going to happen soon.
    But getting people to imagine a different future is a start.

  29. 29.

    Corner Stone

    June 14, 2016 at 10:41 pm

    @daves09: WHY DO YOU HATE THE TROOPS!?

  30. 30.

    Baud

    June 14, 2016 at 10:41 pm

    @daves09:

    Can anyone imagine the shitstorm if a democrat said anything even remotely like this

    We’ve left IOKIYAR in the rear view mirror in this election.

  31. 31.

    Mike J

    June 14, 2016 at 10:43 pm

    Hallie JacksonVerified account
    ‏@HallieJackson Hallie Jackson Retweeted John Harwood
    Trump spox tells @NBCNews the candidate was referring to Iraqi soldiers, not US

  32. 32.

    daves09

    June 14, 2016 at 10:43 pm

    @Corner Stone: WHY DO YOU HATE AMURRICA?!?!?!?!?!?!?

  33. 33.

    redshirt

    June 14, 2016 at 10:43 pm

    @Corner Stone: Why do you hate redshirt so?

    I just want to chat about stuff, bro.

    And yet you ignore me, completely.

    Why?

  34. 34.

    chopper

    June 14, 2016 at 10:45 pm

    @Mike J:

    americans, iraqis, what’s the difference.

  35. 35.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 14, 2016 at 10:45 pm

    @redshirt: Man, he’s really living inside your head now. This is beyond funny.

  36. 36.

    NorthLeft12

    June 14, 2016 at 10:46 pm

    P R O J E C T I O N !

  37. 37.

    rikyrah

    June 14, 2016 at 10:46 pm

    @Lamh36:
    Yeah.
    Glad to hear a good review. Definitely want to see it. ?

  38. 38.

    Mnemosyne

    June 14, 2016 at 10:46 pm

    @Baud:

    I’ll be very curious to see the next poll after today’s competing speeches by Hillary and Trump in the wake of a “terrorist” attack. I think those numbers are going to flip in a big way.

  39. 39.

    NotMax

    June 14, 2016 at 10:47 pm

    Hey, if Carson could get away with using the Pokemon film as a campaign adjunct, why not Trump stealing Three Kings?

    Le sigh.

    @daves09

    Baskets?

    Pallets.

  40. 40.

    debbie

    June 14, 2016 at 10:51 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    It wouldn’t surprise me if Trump benefits from his speech. Scared people like to be scared.

  41. 41.

    Bobby Thomson

    June 14, 2016 at 10:52 pm

    I assumed the cash was stolen by the people it was meant to be stolen by and is funding off book black ops. Or Dick Cheney’s perpetual life machine. If a few grunts took it they would be living the rest of their lives under scrutiny. Unlikely.

  42. 42.

    GregB

    June 14, 2016 at 10:52 pm

    @Lamh36:

    Much of the filming was done in the Boston. I have a few friends who worked on set. Will have to look for them when I see it.

    I saw Food Fight about the Market Basket feud between two factions of the DeMoulas family. Great documentary.

  43. 43.

    redshirt

    June 14, 2016 at 10:53 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: LOL, right?

  44. 44.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 14, 2016 at 10:54 pm

    @debbie: The GOP will shit on the military any time it suits them to do so.

  45. 45.

    Patricia Kayden

    June 14, 2016 at 10:56 pm

    @Debsite: Let’s wait before we predict a Trump win. Demographics suggest a Clinton win. Not panicking at all.

  46. 46.

    bluehill

    June 14, 2016 at 10:56 pm

    Here’s a random thought – we should award Purple Hearts to everyone that was killed in a mass shooting. They gave their lives in defense of the 2nd amendment.

  47. 47.

    JPL

    June 14, 2016 at 10:57 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Winning is everything..

  48. 48.

    The Sheriff's A Ni-

    June 14, 2016 at 10:58 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): The GOP’s enabling of his boorishness is allowing him to go full tilt now.

  49. 49.

    Patricia Kayden

    June 14, 2016 at 10:59 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Trump started his campaign by insulting a large minority group. That should have made him ineligible but here we are. I don’t think there is anything Trump could say which would cost him the nomination. Sad but true.

  50. 50.

    Matt McIrvin

    June 14, 2016 at 10:59 pm

    @Debsite: I don’t know, I’m way more deeply concerned about the BRINKS TRUCKS.

  51. 51.

    robert thompson

    June 14, 2016 at 11:00 pm

    It is gob smacking that Trump would boldly say that US troops would abscond with the cash delivered in bales to Iraq. But I think what is worse is his insistence that all the eggheads forgot to take the oil too! Like how were we going to do that? Very long directional drilling or maybe load up all the armored troops tankers with all the crude. How many boots on the ground would that require until we sucked the world’s second, or so, oil reserves dry. The man is beyond delusional. He is flat out psycho. It took awhile for Donald to be labeled fascist as their was reticence by many to go there. Now we are seeing people calling him crazy.

  52. 52.

    Wapiti

    June 14, 2016 at 11:00 pm

    @Chip Daniels: It would be near impossible to change the 2d Amendment at this time. But since the Congress has seen fit to make it impossible to sue the gun-makers, I think the American people need to pick up the bill.

    There could be a separate line on our tax forms, a surtax to cover the costs of gun deaths, medical expenses, survivors benefits, etc. Let Americans see the costs, understand how many died, and pay for it, until Americans say that they are tired of paying.

  53. 53.

    Redshift

    June 14, 2016 at 11:01 pm

    @sherparick:

    I believe everything Trump knows about Iraq he learned from “Three Kings” (which was set in the First Gulf War, 1990-91).

    Very Reagan-esque!

  54. 54.

    Patricia Kayden

    June 14, 2016 at 11:02 pm

    @bluehill: Or give awards to the actual guns which were used to exercise 2nd Amendment rights. Just waiting for the NRA to make this suggestion.

  55. 55.

    Corner Stone

    June 14, 2016 at 11:03 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Not me. I am much more concerned about ON DEMAND FUNDING, and the Hedge Fund Boys.
    Ad buys, oppo research and so forth and so on.

  56. 56.

    aimai

    June 14, 2016 at 11:04 pm

    If Trump can’t get AA votes, and pisses off the white military vote, are we going to end up seeing the military turn, with relief, to the Democrats and Hillary Clinton? This could finally push Trump’s voters down below 27 percent.

  57. 57.

    Matt McIrvin

    June 14, 2016 at 11:05 pm

    @Mnemosyne: SHOCK POLL! SHOCK POLL! This is the very one our friend is trying to spin as very concerning up there. Maybe an outlier. Will wait and see.

    I don’t know, I thought Trump had it in the bag when the Orlando shooting happened, but the man seems incapable of pivoting to a general-election audience so far. He can’t even properly demagogue a Muslim guy committing mass murder. George W. Bush was actually far better at this game.

  58. 58.

    Luthe

    June 14, 2016 at 11:06 pm

    The Lord was obviously in a very good mood the day Hillary prayed He make her enemies ridiculous.

  59. 59.

    robert thompson

    June 14, 2016 at 11:06 pm

    @aimai: It’s not empirical, but I believe that there is nothing below 27%. There is no lower to be found below the cretin threshold.

  60. 60.

    lgerard

    June 14, 2016 at 11:07 pm

    @GregB:

    I want to see the Food Fight doc.

    The whole Market Basket story was pretty incredible, you don’t see communities supporting workers that way very often

  61. 61.

    bluehill

    June 14, 2016 at 11:08 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Shouldn’t be too long. There’s nothing left for the NRA to say. Well I guess they could start praising how effective the guns were.

    Anybody hear Rubios comment that this could happen anywhere and it was just Orlandos turn. Talk about leading from behind.

  62. 62.

    Boidica

    June 14, 2016 at 11:09 pm

    According to a Politico article, 115 officers and enlisted have been convicted of theft, bribery and contract-rigging since 2005. Not cool of the Donald to mention it though.

  63. 63.

    dmsilev

    June 14, 2016 at 11:10 pm

    @Corner Stone: Speak for yourself. I’m petrified that we might soon see FLAMETHROWERS.

  64. 64.

    redshirt

    June 14, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    Will no one take up my cause?

    Ask CornerStone!

  65. 65.

    Boudica

    June 14, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    Hmmm. How did my nym get misspelled?

  66. 66.

    Mnemosyne

    June 14, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    W was very underrated as a campaigner by Democrats because he was such a lousy president. He was actually a very good campaigner, and most sources say that a lot of Rove’s dirty tricks actually originated with W, who was smart enough to keep his fingerprints off them.

    Campaigning was probably the one thing W was actually good at.

  67. 67.

    lamh36

    June 14, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    @GregB:

    Much of the filming was done in the Boston. I have a few friends who worked on set. Will have to look for them when I see it.

    Cool

  68. 68.

    amk

    June 14, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    trumpites are already spinning it as that he meant iraqi soldiers.

    soldier on, kkkklown.

  69. 69.

    dww44

    June 14, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    @Baud: There was more than one badly worded question. But, I agree. We are all screwed if the American voter opts for Trump. I honestly don’t think that’s gonna happen. But we shall see in November, won’t we? Never mind that my SO, a true independent if there is one, says that Trump won’t make it till November.

  70. 70.

    Mnemosyne

    June 14, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    @debbie:

    I think he’s going to lose more than he gains. Scared people like to think someone is in charge that knows what they’re doing. The Donald is standing in the corner going, “Game over, man! Game over!”

  71. 71.

    The Dangerman

    June 14, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    Is Donald Trump trying to throw the race?

    Today’s Bloomberg poll is nothing good for him; the last thing he wants is an ass-kicking. I wonder if he drops out for Medical reasons before long.

  72. 72.

    redshirt

    June 14, 2016 at 11:16 pm

    As an 11:11 disciple, that was a lot of shade.

  73. 73.

    redshirt

    June 14, 2016 at 11:17 pm

    @dww44: Your posts have been amazing, thank you.

  74. 74.

    chopper

    June 14, 2016 at 11:17 pm

    @amk:

    right. in spite of the fact that the first thing we did after defeating iraq’s military was to disband it, clearly we then let iraqi soldiers disburse all the cash we brought back in the country.

  75. 75.

    Percysowner

    June 14, 2016 at 11:18 pm

    Maybe Trump is playing Bingo. He has a card to fill and then he picks a group to alienate out of a hopper and when he finally gets what he needs he’ll yell BINGO! and call himself a winner? Because that makes as much sense as anything else to explain his behavior.

  76. 76.

    Kropadope

    June 14, 2016 at 11:27 pm

    I’m still hog for Trump to decline the nomination, using the occasion of the Republican convention to shame primary voters for being and odd collection of scared sheep and vicious sociopaths.

  77. 77.

    Dupe70

    June 14, 2016 at 11:27 pm

    @Corner Stone: So he’s playing Civ 5 on Deity difficulty level.

  78. 78.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 14, 2016 at 11:29 pm

    @efgoldman: It needed some CGI effects.

  79. 79.

    Mnemosyne

    June 14, 2016 at 11:30 pm

    @shomi:

    Trump thinks that if a black guy can run for president and win, anyone can, because it’s clearly so easy that even a black guy can do it.

    It’s a racist assumption that has bitten more than one white jackhole in the ass in the past 8 years.

  80. 80.

    ? Martin

    June 14, 2016 at 11:30 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Self-described Master of the Universe convinces majority of a minority party that he is Master of the Universe, nation recoils in horror that he really, truly believes he is Master of the Universe and that it wasn’t some kind of act.

  81. 81.

    fuckwit

    June 14, 2016 at 11:33 pm

    what happens if he abandons the race like one of his bankrupt hotels?

    who goes on the ballot?

    do the rethugs ressurrect JEB?

    he didn’t quit, just suspended his campaign.

    i suspect he’ll be back…. or at least wsnts to be…

  82. 82.

    dmsilev

    June 14, 2016 at 11:34 pm

    U.N. Warns Trump May Be 7 Months Away From Acquiring Nuclear Weapons

    NEW YORK—According to an alarming new global risk report published Tuesday by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump may be just seven months away from acquiring nuclear weapons. “A year ago, the threat didn’t seem great enough to warrant serious concern, but at this moment, a nuclear-capable Trump is now a very real and very imminent possibility,” said UNODA high representative Kim Won-soo, adding that the agency’s current projections showed Trump potentially procuring nuclear weapons, as well as advanced ballistic missile technology, as early as January of next year.

  83. 83.

    patroclus

    June 14, 2016 at 11:35 pm

    @Princess: That seems worse than a Klan rally and they aren’t even wearing sheets. This is only going to get uglier.

  84. 84.

    Tenar Darell

    June 14, 2016 at 11:36 pm

    At least one correspondent in the crowd at Greensboro rally. His storified tweets are here. The worst sections are those after he (Trump) was through speaking, beginning with “Just overheard…” because that toxic sludge will remain long after the election is over.

    I also keep on thinking of bad similes, eg. that Trump is distilling hate like a supersaturated solution. (Pace chemists). But, I really know too much history to remain sanguine about what he (Trump) is saying. ETA clarity

  85. 85.

    dmsilev

    June 14, 2016 at 11:37 pm

    @fuckwit: Before the GOP convention? There’s probably something buried deep in the party bylaws about what to do if a candidate drops dead (or …suffers an accident), though calling it chaotic would be an understatement for the ages. After the convention? Probably whatever maniac Trump chose as running mate would move up to the top slot.

  86. 86.

    Mnemosyne

    June 14, 2016 at 11:37 pm

    @fuckwit:

    I keep telling you guys who it would be if Trump dropped out at or after the convention, but no one will believe me:

    Alan.
    Keyes.

    Bank on it, libs!

  87. 87.

    ? Martin

    June 14, 2016 at 11:37 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Trump thinks that if a black guy Kenyan can run for president and win, anyone can

    FTFY

  88. 88.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 14, 2016 at 11:39 pm

    @efgoldman: Exactly.

  89. 89.

    Kitty

    June 14, 2016 at 11:39 pm

    LOL what a clown! So Troop loving Trump, in one day, accuses them of being thieves, and by saying “we’re going to lose the country” proclaims that the most lethal military in the world, can’t possibly vanquish rag tag ISIS (who are a problem, but c’cmon).

  90. 90.

    dmsilev

    June 14, 2016 at 11:41 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I believe that proper usage is “bookmark it, libs!”.

    That said, I believe you. I swear Alan Keyes is following me around the country. I lived in Baltimore when he ran for a bunch of things in Maryland (including Governor, if memory serves). A year after I moved to Chicago, 2004 happened. And the first election after I’ve moved out of Illinois, it would be only fitting to once again see Alan Keyes on the ballot.

    Does anyone know where I can get a good rate on an exorcist or something? This is kind of creepy.

  91. 91.

    Mnemosyne

    June 14, 2016 at 11:45 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Supposedly, the first thing W said to Obama when they met after Obama’s election in 2004 was, “You and I have something in common, senator — we both debated Alan Keyes.”

  92. 92.

    GregB

    June 14, 2016 at 11:46 pm

    @lgerard:

    The thing was it was a pretty big chunk of New England that stood in solidarity.

    There were 71 stores at the time in MA, ME, NH and a few other states.

  93. 93.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 14, 2016 at 11:47 pm

    @dmsilev: Restraining order?

  94. 94.

    dmsilev

    June 14, 2016 at 11:48 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I remember that debate. It was like reality colliding with anti-reality.

    That election, I saw a grand total of one (1) Alan Keyes For Senate yard sign, and I’m pretty sure it was put out as a joke. I think Obama won Hyde Park with something like 99 or 99.5 percent of the vote.

  95. 95.

    ? Martin

    June 14, 2016 at 11:48 pm

    @Tenar Darell: This is what scares the GOP leadership. They know full well that the difficulty with campaigning on resentment isn’t stirring it up, but keeping it contained. The job of the candidate is to denounce the ugliness, to stay above the fray. Trump doesn’t get that. As you move out of the primaries you inevitably should be seeking a more diverse (ideologically) audience and you need to be seen as accepting of that. By letting his supporters run wild like this, and worse, by encouraging it, that effort is doomed. It’ll be impossible to hide. How do you win over married white women when your audience is running around in ‘Trump the Bitch’ t-shirts?

  96. 96.

    patroclus

    June 14, 2016 at 11:48 pm

    @dmsilev: As a Chicagoan I remember 2004 all too well. With a face and voice that literally scared small children, Keyes kept claiming that my very existence violated the Declaration of Independence. He got like 29%, which I thought was way too high.

  97. 97.

    amk

    June 14, 2016 at 11:50 pm

    @? Martin: what majority?

  98. 98.

    dmsilev

    June 14, 2016 at 11:52 pm

    @patroclus: Alan Keyes got 27%, finally allowing data scientists to quantify the Crazification Factor.

  99. 99.

    Mnemosyne

    June 14, 2016 at 11:53 pm

    @patroclus:

    Keyes got 27 percent of the vote. Obama vs Keyes is the actual origin of that meme.

  100. 100.

    ? Martin

    June 14, 2016 at 11:54 pm

    @efgoldman: I was feeling generous.

  101. 101.

    Mnemosyne

    June 14, 2016 at 11:54 pm

    @efgoldman:

    “It’s 1800 — ladies, tell your husbands, Vote for Burr!”

  102. 102.

    ? Martin

    June 14, 2016 at 11:55 pm

    @dmsilev: I believe it’s now referred to as Keyes Constant.

  103. 103.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 14, 2016 at 11:59 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Burr was easily the most pro-feminist Founder-ish person. It may be do the fact that his only child was a very gifted daughter.

  104. 104.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 15, 2016 at 12:00 am

    It was predictable that the first place Lord Short Thumb’s brain went would be “There was cash sitting around unguarded? Hey, who wouldn’t steal a brick or six?”

    Projection.

  105. 105.

    KS in MA

    June 15, 2016 at 12:04 am

    @dmsilev: Brilliant.

  106. 106.

    Bobby Thomson

    June 15, 2016 at 12:07 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Colonel Burr was a feminist before Theodosia, who had his eyes and her mother’s name, was born. Aaron and Theodosia (who wrote him letters daily while her first husband kept Georgia in line) had a marriage that was unusual for the time in that it was based on mutual respect and not on convenience. She told him when she thought he was making mistakes and he sent her articles and pamphlets he thought would interest her. They both made the decision to raise their daughter in the same way a boy would have been raised by the elite. Of course, those decisions fell to Aaron after his wife died of stomach cancer.

  107. 107.

    Jeffro

    June 15, 2016 at 12:07 am

    @Baud: ok but let’s honor Dave09’s question, so yes, I can imagine the shitstorm. It would be apocalyptic…it would be Hiroshima on steroids.

  108. 108.

    Splitting Image

    June 15, 2016 at 12:12 am

    SurveyUSA has released a poll of the historic battleground of Utah:

    Hillary Clinton: 35%
    Donald Trump: 35%
    Gary Johnson: 13%

    I wouldn’t count on Utah going blue just yet, but if Trump does manage to fumble it away, it makes winning that much harder for him.

  109. 109.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 15, 2016 at 12:15 am

    @Debsite: And back into time out with you! I can’t take ten minutes away…

  110. 110.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 15, 2016 at 12:17 am

    @Bobby Thomson: I was being gentle with a “Hamilfan.” Burr also unequivocally opposed slavery. Just saying. Burr and Hamilton are our real political ancestors – Jefferson-Jackson Dinners aside.

  111. 111.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 15, 2016 at 12:19 am

    @debbie: He’s just crapped on a significant constituency. Very large numbers of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines, of all ranks and cohorts, as well as Interagency civilians were involved with development projects that required the disbursing of funds. And while there were a few bad apples that had their hands in the till, they were usually caught. He’s just told the military that he doesn’t trust them to do their jobs and be professionals. The US military prides itself on being a Profession of Arms. This is a whole new class of out there.

  112. 112.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 15, 2016 at 12:20 am

    @Mary G: Already did. The line that was crossed last week is enough for me to ban whenever he or she pops back up.

  113. 113.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    June 15, 2016 at 12:21 am

    Please, please Hillary, rap this conspiracy theory around his neck with an anvil.

    /Support The Troops

  114. 114.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 15, 2016 at 12:21 am

    @daves09: The CPA lost a number of pallets, but that wasn’t the military. Several of them were recovered a year or so ago in a cave in Lebanon. No one is sure how they got there.

  115. 115.

    dmsilev

    June 15, 2016 at 12:24 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Trump’s press person apparently is now trying to claim that Trump was attacking Iraqi soldiers, not American soldiers.

    I’m actually kind of impressed. Up until now, it’s taken a few days before the walkback and the “well, he really meant to say…” started. Apparently Trump’s rapid-response team is improving. Now, granted, on an ordinary campaign, the rapid-response folks respond to things that the _other_ candidate says or does, but things are different in Trumpland.

  116. 116.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 15, 2016 at 12:26 am

    @Boidica: out of a total of 556,000 Army Soldiers serving during OIF. That’s not counting the Marines deployed to Multi-National Division West (MND-W) or the Sailors, Airmen, and Interagency civilians who deployed, let alone the total number for the other services.

  117. 117.

    Luthe

    June 15, 2016 at 12:31 am

    @Adam L Silverman: *applauds* Thank you!

  118. 118.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 15, 2016 at 12:32 am

    @dmsilev: Its going to be a little hard. We didn’t actually pay Iraqi soldiers. The Government of Iraq did. We did pay the Sons of Iraq out of one of the contract vehicles.

    ETA: Also, there’s video that will be replayed over and over and over and over.

  119. 119.

    Miss Bianca

    June 15, 2016 at 12:35 am

    Uh-oh. I really wonder what in the hell made him think he was going to be able to get away with this. Wile E. Coyote sawing off the branch he’s sitting on – SuperGenius!

  120. 120.

    sigaba

    June 15, 2016 at 12:44 am

    @Mnemosyne: Talk less, smile more.

  121. 121.

    Anne Laurie

    June 15, 2016 at 12:46 am

    @fuckwit:

    what happens if he abandons the race like one of his bankrupt hotels?

    who goes on the ballot?

    do the rethugs resurrect JEB?

    Ted “Mr. Congeniality” Cruz was the last to “suspend his campaign”, and IIRC had the most delegates lined up. That’s been part of the Never-Trumpers’ problem — nobody wants to see Cruz as the GOP candidate either.

    At this point, even John ‘Not Obviously Insane or Stupid’ Kasich has a better chance than Jeb, and that includes last cycle’s luzers Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan. Somebody will have to stand at the podium if Captain Overdraft has a major medical incident or otherwise disqualifies himself in the next few weeks, but right at this moment that’s looking to be crowned King of the Landslide Loser…

  122. 122.

    sigaba

    June 15, 2016 at 12:49 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Burr and Hamilton were proto-Whigs. it used to be if you wanted to make a name for yourself as a learned Republican intellectual, you’d write a biography of Hamilton (Henry Cabot Lodge, Teddy Roosevelt and Arthur Vandenburg each did just this.). I don’t think progressives can claim a lineage back to Hamilton– liberals possibly.

  123. 123.

    maya

    June 15, 2016 at 12:53 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    Somebody will have to stand at the podium if Captain Overdraft has a major medical incident

    Saa Rah! Saa Rah!

  124. 124.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 15, 2016 at 12:54 am

    @Anne Laurie: It’ll be Ryan. That’s what the maneuvering will attempt to produce.

  125. 125.

    Mnemosyne

    June 15, 2016 at 12:54 am

    @Omnes Omnibus
    @Bobby Thomson:

    His only surviving child — their other three children died in infancy, with only Theodosia surviving to adulthood. Then Theodosia died in a shipwreck, and her son (and only child) died by age 12. That poor bastard Burr must have felt like he was cursed.

    Meanwhile, the Hamiltons had 8 children, all of whom survived to a healthy adulthood: even the one who died young was shot in a duel. The play may have planted this idea in my head, but it’s hard to imagine that Burr wouldn’t envy the Hamiltons for that.

    And Burr did own a few slaves as an adult, though he manumitted them. The only known surviving descendants of his are the children of one of his freed slaves. At least according to Wikipedia, she was actually Indian (from Calcutta), not African.

  126. 126.

    Anne Laurie

    June 15, 2016 at 12:56 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The CPA lost a number of pallets, but that wasn’t the military. Several of them were recovered a year or so ago in a cave in Lebanon. No one is sure how they got there.

    Was the mysterious discovery before or after those ‘untaxable offshore accounts’ got busted? Cuz that about the time the Heritage Foundation officially ceded its ‘academic’ veneer to go full Teahadi…

  127. 127.

    Mnemosyne

    June 15, 2016 at 12:57 am

    @Bobby Thomson:

    Also, Theodosia Sr. (?) was about 10 years older than Burr. They didn’t get married until about 2 years after she was widowed, and it’s thought that she wasn’t quite sure about marrying a younger man who was still a law student.

  128. 128.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 15, 2016 at 1:00 am

    @sigaba: Read more.

  129. 129.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 15, 2016 at 1:00 am

    @Anne Laurie: The money for CPA uses disappeared, or started to, in 2003.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/08/usa.iraq1
    And some was found in 2014 in Lebanon:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/world/investigation-into-missing-iraqi-cash-ended-in-lebanon-bunker.html

  130. 130.

    Anne Laurie

    June 15, 2016 at 1:02 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Yeah, probably. But this time I actually believe Ryan when he pulls his let-this-cup-pass-from-me routine, because apart from permanently alienating God-King Cruz and his cultists, the eventual nominee looks to get an epic beating on a scale that will make McGovern and Mondale look good. Ryan wants to run in 2020, probably on a “don’t look at me, I warned you guys” Bring the GOP Home platform. Even being Not-So-Gifted-As-Boehner for another four years looks good by comparison!

  131. 131.

    Anne Laurie

    June 15, 2016 at 1:09 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Thanks. Looks like I should probably get a copy of Pay Any Price, but I’m afraid it’ll send my blood pressure into medically dangerous territory.

  132. 132.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 15, 2016 at 1:11 am

    @Mnemosyne: And?

    Burr was better on a number of things. Hamilton was better on others. Between them, we created us.

  133. 133.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 15, 2016 at 1:14 am

    @Anne Laurie: I think he’s thinking that, but he’s so avaricious that if it comes down to it he’ll go the savior route. And by 2020 he’ll be really past his sell by date. He’s worn out his welcome with the Freedom Caucus and Tea Party folks already. The longer he stays as Speaker, the less chance he has in 2020.

  134. 134.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 15, 2016 at 1:18 am

    @Anne Laurie: Have a cup of chamomile tea first.

  135. 135.

    Mnemosyne

    June 15, 2016 at 1:20 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    It was more of a factoid — even today, it’s not that common for men to marry older women.

  136. 136.

    Suffragete City elftx

    June 15, 2016 at 1:20 am

    I saw a reporter claim Trump accused soldiers in Afghanistan of stealing last Sept. Can’t find the tweet now or would have copied it.

  137. 137.

    pseudonymous in nc

    June 15, 2016 at 1:24 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    Ryan wants to run in 2020, probably on a “don’t look at me, I warned you guys” Bring the GOP Home platform.

    Were it not for an actual authoritarian mob rally 200 miles away, I’d be worried about 2020: potential for the inverse of 1992, plus redistricting prizes for whoever’s in charge. But, y’know, mob rally.

    Ryan’s long game is surely “no personal culpability for Trumpismo” plus control of the House and some leverage over the Freedumb Caucus. I’m sure he wouldn’t even mind the Senate going over to the Dems, because that lets him be Head Boy Republican for the next two years in meetings with Madame President, without Yertle stealing his thunder.

  138. 138.

    Mnemosyne

    June 15, 2016 at 1:26 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Oh, and if we’re back to the slavery thing, Burr and Hamilton worked side-by-side with John Jay at the New York Manumission Society, so they were essentially equals when it came to abolitionism.

  139. 139.

    Bobby Thomson

    June 15, 2016 at 1:39 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    Then Theodosia died in a shipwreck

    Or was killed by pirates in the Outer Banks. There are stories.

    To add to the whole curse thing, she was traveling to New York from South Carolina, where she was First Lady, because her son had died.

  140. 140.

    Bobby Thomson

    June 15, 2016 at 1:42 am

    @Mnemosyne: well, Burr wasn’t the lover of John Laurens. That has to give Ham a little bit of an edge.

  141. 141.

    ruemara

    June 15, 2016 at 1:43 am

    @? Martin: No, Mem had it right the first time.

  142. 142.

    Susan K of the tech support

    June 15, 2016 at 1:54 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    Campaigning was probably the one thing W was actually good at.

    All the more reason to be glad he’s sitting this one out. More paint to smear on a canvas somewhere.

    Dear Georgie, try the Cadmium Orange. Oh, and some of that Raw Umber while you’re at it.

    As for us’ns out here, we’re full up to here with Raw Umbrage as we still do cleanup from your disaster of a presidency.

  143. 143.

    Susan K of the tech support

    June 15, 2016 at 1:58 am

    Ooh la la! I’m all joyous at discussion of Hamilton and Burr, et. al. Because I got the earworm this evening, as Bernie and Hillary had their meeting. I wanted to be in the room where it happens, the room where it happens, the room where it happens.

  144. 144.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 15, 2016 at 2:14 am

    @srv: Facts don’t matter for Drumpf, either.

  145. 145.

    Anne Laurie

    June 15, 2016 at 2:26 am

    @efgoldman: As long as Ryan doesn’t blot his copybook (to use the kind of metaphor that would enchant them), the Serious RWNJ Thinkers will have a cozy, well-compensated position waiting for him. And Ryan will enjoy being one of Those Guys, penning op-eds and giving speeches to explain that only Serious Thinkers stand between America’s virtue and the ravening hordes of takers, feminists, ISIS, and other Democrat supporters.

    He’s already gotten as high as second-and-a-half place (VP to a losing presidential candidate), and he doesn’t need an elective position to feed his family. Nothing less than a plausible presidential candidacy of his own is liable to tempt him beyond his safe space.

  146. 146.

    SRW1

    June 15, 2016 at 2:35 am

    Trump suggested tonight that American soldiers in Iraq stole cash intended for reconstruction of Iraq, are “living very well” now.

    That Trump dude probably watched ‘Kelly’s Heroes’ once too often.

  147. 147.

    ChrisH

    June 15, 2016 at 2:35 am

    Listened to Maddow and heard some of the “pastors” that put up youtube videos declaring they were happy that 50 people lost their lives. As far as I’m concerned the headline for those should be “Pastors Declare Allegiance to Daesh”

  148. 148.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    June 15, 2016 at 4:16 am

    @SRW1: You can’t watch Kelly’s Heroes too often.

  149. 149.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    June 15, 2016 at 8:51 am

    A presidential canidate just attacked combat vets? Trump understands he’s running to be president?

  150. 150.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    June 15, 2016 at 8:54 am

    @Facebones:

    There was a Facebook meme going around last fall saying that Trump would tear off the mask soon and reveal he was Andy Kaufman the whole time. Seems like the best explanation.

    Well isn’t that what Trump is normally on things like The Apprentice?

  151. 151.

    Citizen_X

    June 15, 2016 at 10:13 am

    @srv:

    Three Kings were robbing Saddam. But of course facts don’t matter for liberals.

    “Facts” about fictional movies? Nope, afraid I don’t care all that much.

  152. 152.

    les

    June 15, 2016 at 12:43 pm

    @daves09:

    I’m totally sure that much was stolen from those baskets of money-but not by the soldiers.

    Hey, sending pallets of cash into a war zone, in the charge of a bunch of Liberty U. grad true believers cozied up to local political grifters–what could go wrong? Of course it was the troops.

  153. 153.

    jonas

    June 15, 2016 at 12:51 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I thought the dig at McCain’s capture and imprisonment in Vietnam would have done him in, at least with vets, but if that didn’t, why would this? He’d probably have to literally take a dump on the Tomb of the Unknowns to lose a significant number of the vet community that supports him now.

  154. 154.

    Paul in KY

    June 15, 2016 at 1:04 pm

    @dmsilev: Those assholes on the Atlantic City zoning board are probably sweating at that report.

  155. 155.

    jonas

    June 15, 2016 at 1:04 pm

    @srv: How about you get your facts straight. The gold in the movie had been looted from Kuwait by Iraqi forces. So technically, the soldiers were ripping off the Kuwaitis, not just Saddam.

  156. 156.

    Paul in KY

    June 15, 2016 at 1:05 pm

    @dmsilev: As long as keeps receiving epic beatdowns, don’t worry about it.

  157. 157.

    Paul in KY

    June 15, 2016 at 1:12 pm

    @jonas: Johnny McCain isn’t exactly Audie Murphy in military circles.

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