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You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / Open Thread: Pastor Dobson Has A Sad

Open Thread: Pastor Dobson Has A Sad

by Anne Laurie|  June 29, 20169:29 pm| 191 Comments

This post is in: Grifters Gonna Grift, Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Religious Nuts, Republican Venality, Assholes, I Read These Morons So You Don't Have To, Just Shut the Fuck Up

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James Dobson Walks Back The Story of Trump’s Conversion https://t.co/NgvQuCeniU

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) June 29, 2016

James “Focus on the Family (While I Pick Your Pocket)” Dobson is very, very disappointed by all us haterz who cruelly mock his optimistic embrace of “baby Christian” Donald Trump…

Here is leading evangelical James Dobson saying Trump has become a born-again Christian – or a "baby Christian": pic.twitter.com/x5oxBs6YY8

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) June 26, 2016

And it's a great contract, folks, believe me, no one got a better deal with Christ than me. Jews love me, they do. https://t.co/Foog4Ph2N6

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 26, 2016

@BuzzFeedAndrew "A relationship. Okay, it's mostly a creditor-debtor relationship, if you get my drift."

— Doug MacLeod (@kdm_TO) June 26, 2016

Trump schedule:
1. Golf course
2. Hat design meeting
3. Find a relationship with Christ
4. Insult Mexican judge
5. Cracker/wine forgiveness

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 26, 2016

And not just the unsaved Christianist-haters, either:

@saletan @jlupf Paula White is a charlatan and recognized as a heretic by every orthodox Christian, of whatever tribe.

— Russell Moore (@drmoore) June 28, 2016

Poor saintly Mr. Dobson just wanted to remora Deadbeat Donald’s #WINNING grift while that shark is still moving — living off a host’s, uh, leftovers is an honorable tradition among his clan. How was he to know how rapidly the gilt would wear off the Trump scampaign, once it was exposed to the acid examination of non-believers?

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Reader Interactions

191Comments

  1. 1.

    JPL

    June 29, 2016 at 9:33 pm

    I have a vision of Trump being baptized, in a river while they all praise the lord.

    You can imagine the rest of the vision..

  2. 2.

    Scratch

    June 29, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    The things is that it’s really hard to say who’s a bigger asshole, Trump or Dobson? It’s not like either of them would be any sort of wonderful endorsement for the other.

  3. 3.

    Splitting Image

    June 29, 2016 at 9:38 pm

    And to say it once more: Trump is strictly an amateur.

    A professional Republican politician would have “embraced Jesus” long before the primary season, and would have been sure to mention that in his fundraising emails.

  4. 4.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    June 29, 2016 at 9:39 pm

    Jesus. Dude says, “I think he is listening.” I have a tough time believing Donald Trump ever listened to anybody, ever.

  5. 5.

    Ruckus

    June 29, 2016 at 9:39 pm

    How was he to know how rapidly the gilt would wear off the Trump scampaign, once it was exposed to the acid examination of non-believers?
    He should have known, he and drumpf are in the same line of work. Maybe it’s just too dark where his head is located.

  6. 6.

    jl

    June 29, 2016 at 9:39 pm

    Dobson is a real profile in Christian(ist) courage and perseverance.

    Dobson is the guy who beat the crap out his dachshund because it looked at him funny one day, right?
    For a long time I thought the story was that Dobson beat the crap out the dog because it wasn’t housebreaking according to his plan. But then I read that it was just because the dog had an impertinent look on its face (I think I read Dobson’s story itself).

    Makes sense I guess. Losing it and beating up a dog that was not housebreaking to one’s satisfaction is too understandable (not excusable, but understandable). Beating up a dog because it doesn’t look at you right is just inscrutably nasty and mean, which I think fits Dobson better.

    Edit: and does not a dachshund usually have an impertinent look on its face? I believe that is one of the breed’s default facial expressions.

  7. 7.

    rikyrah

    June 29, 2016 at 9:40 pm

    Patrick SvitekVerified account
    ‏@PatrickSvitek
    Page Six: “‘Morning Joe’ hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough could soon go public as a couple.”

  8. 8.

    Luthe

    June 29, 2016 at 9:40 pm

    When asked his favorite part of the Bible, Trump replied, “Bankruptcy, chapter 11.”

  9. 9.

    jl

    June 29, 2016 at 9:41 pm

    @rikyrah: I hope that is a joke. Their on-air relationship is too dysfunctional to think about as it is.

  10. 10.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    June 29, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    Jesus. Dude says, “I think he is listening.” I have a tough time believing Donald Trump ever listened to anybody, [email protected]jl:

    What a titanic dick. I hope there is a God, and that one day Dobson gets to meet it/her/him/whatever and has to answer for that one.

  11. 11.

    cbear

    June 29, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    So Dobson and Trump are joined together in Jeebus now?
    Sounds pretty nasty to me, I hope they doubled up on the wetsuits before the union.

  12. 12.

    Emma

    June 29, 2016 at 9:43 pm

    @rikyrah: And I have just thrown up in my mouth. Gah.

  13. 13.

    SenyorDave

    June 29, 2016 at 9:45 pm

    @Luthe: When asked his favorite part of the Bible, Trump replied, “Bankruptcy, chapter 11.”

    To quote Norman Chad, who covers poker and other sport-related entertainment, “pay the man (or woman), Shirley.

  14. 14.

    JPL

    June 29, 2016 at 9:45 pm

    @rikyrah: Just ick..

  15. 15.

    hovercraft

    June 29, 2016 at 9:46 pm

    @rikyrah:
    Aren’t they both married to other people ? Eww.

  16. 16.

    Sheldon vogt

    June 29, 2016 at 9:46 pm

    Given his embrace of torture, i’d say trump is a stillborn christian at best

  17. 17.

    Immanentize

    June 29, 2016 at 9:46 pm

    @rikyrah: we truly must be living in end times.

  18. 18.

    Immanentize

    June 29, 2016 at 9:49 pm

    @Sheldon vogt:

    Given his embrace of torture, i’d say trump is a stillborn christian

    Or just a real traditionalist?

  19. 19.

    jl

    June 29, 2016 at 9:49 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): I do remember that I did stumble across Dobson’s own version of the story. IIRC, the dog was not looking or acting sufficiently deferential to Dobson’s authority. But Dobson was extremely vague on exactly what the problem was. Dog had some kind of very difficult to describe ‘attitude problem’. My recollection was that I concluded that Dobson wanted to beat up on something and the dog was around. But I have to admit my memory is hazy. Maybe someone can post Dobson’s account of his righteous beat down of the stiff-necked and stubborn dachshund who would not walk the straight path in the Way of the Lord.

  20. 20.

    JPL

    June 29, 2016 at 9:49 pm

    Dobson called him a baby Christian, after during a debate talked about the size of his pe.nis. As jl said at comment 6, the guy is sick. Anyone who abuses a dog, needs to find a special place in hell and soon.

  21. 21.

    jl

    June 29, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    @efgoldman: I admit I can obsess over the dachshund thing. They are one of my favorite breeds, though they do know how to be very irritating at times.

  22. 22.

    Shana

    June 29, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    @hovercraft: Joe S got divorced a few years ago. Evidently Mika got “quietly divorced” recently.

  23. 23.

    Shana

    June 29, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    @efgoldman: And every cat in the world.

  24. 24.

    jerry

    June 29, 2016 at 9:53 pm

    New Yorker magazine cover channels Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks to address results of Brexit vote

    http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/cover-story-2016-07-04

  25. 25.

    Gvg

    June 29, 2016 at 9:53 pm

    I am an atheist, but I don’t consider Dobson to be a real Christian. Frankly the popular tv evangelists especially the political types have all struck me as immoral non Christians for some time. I don’t think most of them realize they are not because many of them are really demonstrated lay stupid and I think the corruption happened at least a couple of generations ago.
    Real Christians exist but they aren’t rich or famous.

  26. 26.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    June 29, 2016 at 9:53 pm

    @jl:

    Why is it that the more aggressively people proclaim their holiness, the worse they are as people? Somebody should do a chart with “how loudly and unendingly they tell you how much more moral and upright they are” on one axis, and “how gargantuanly horrific and inhumane they are” on the other.

  27. 27.

    hovercraft

    June 29, 2016 at 9:57 pm

    According to PPP Obama would only beat Drump by 9 points 52 to 43. And they have Clinton up by 1 point 45 to 44. Strange untill you see this next one :
    If the choice for President were Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republican Donald Drump, and a Giant Meteor hitting the earth which would you choose?
    Clinton 43 %
    Drump 38 %
    Meteor 13 %
    Not Sure 7%

    Those Bernie or bust people are hard core, death of mankind before Hillary.
    EDIT to add not sure.
    Sorry is it too soon?

  28. 28.

    Anne Laurie

    June 29, 2016 at 9:58 pm

    @jl:

    Dobson is the guy who beat the crap out his dachshund because it looked at him funny one day, right?

    And we know about that story, which Dobson himself repeats, because he was using as it as a teaching tool about how sometimes a good Christian(ist) patriarch is just required by his faith to physically abuse his children, for Jeebus. Because defiant kids, like little dogs, have to be “broken” so that they understand who God put in charge (praise Him!).

    It’s like Mitt Romney repeating the dog-on-the-car-roof incident as a funny, heart-warming family tale… hosing down a trapped, terrified pet while his kids cowered in the back seat. These guys seriously LACK some kind of empathy chip in their robo-programming.

  29. 29.

    Lurker Extraordinaire

    June 29, 2016 at 9:58 pm

    Dachshunds are notoriously hard to house break and stubborn to boot, but extremely cute and oh so funny. I’ve had the pleasure of owning a few. Dobson is just an asshole of the Huckabee variety.

    Trump is an asshole of the Trumpian variety. Christian, my ass.

  30. 30.

    Immanentize

    June 29, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    @Anne Laurie: this makes me so mad/sad.

  31. 31.

    RepubAnon

    June 29, 2016 at 10:01 pm

    Here’s the real story: TRUMP’S BID TO BECOME BORN-AGAIN FAILS AS JESUS TURNS DOWN FRIEND REQUEST

    “NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—The billionaire Donald J. Trump’s bid to become a born-again Christian failed over the weekend after Jesus Christ turned down his friend request, campaign officials have acknowledged.”

  32. 32.

    muddy

    June 29, 2016 at 10:01 pm

    It’s from Dobson’s book: The Strong Willed Child. Here’s a quote:http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=33;t=001112;p=1

    ETA: never mind that link, here’s Dobson’s own link: http://drjamesdobson.org/articles/parenting-discipline/the-wild-and-woolly-will

  33. 33.

    Ryan

    June 29, 2016 at 10:03 pm

    Is no one immune from the grift? Jeepers, I would have asked Dobson what God thinks of Trump Tower, why are they so bad at what they do? As they say, “”It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

  34. 34.

    Anne Laurie

    June 29, 2016 at 10:04 pm

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

    Why is it that the more aggressively people proclaim their holiness, the worse they are as people?

    Heck, most of the people in this country making themselves public pests by parading their RELIGION!! are doing so in direct disobedience to the guy they call God:

    “And whenever you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. I tell all of you with certainty, they have their full reward!”

  35. 35.

    muddy

    June 29, 2016 at 10:04 pm

    I got moderated for providing 2 links to Dobson’s words, one from Snopes and one from Dobson’s own blog.

  36. 36.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    June 29, 2016 at 10:04 pm

    Will Dobson walk back the miracle of the loaves and fishes next?

  37. 37.

    The Lodger

    June 29, 2016 at 10:05 pm

    @JPL: I’m rooting for piranhas, myself.

  38. 38.

    Randy P

    June 29, 2016 at 10:08 pm

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

    Why is it that the more aggressively people proclaim their holiness, the worse they are as people?

    Jesus (or the Gospels, anyway) actually covered that. Shows human nature hasn’t changed much.

    And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:5, King James Version, which is still my favorite)

    Also shows what we see repeatedly, that they don’t do a real good job of following the teaching of their supposed founding teacher. They prefer to ignore the stuff he actually taught and go with the third-party version.

    ETA: Dang, Anne Laurie (#36) typed and bible-quoted faster than I did.

  39. 39.

    redshirt

    June 29, 2016 at 10:10 pm

    I don’t know what’s more hypocritically pathetic here: Trump’s “conversion” or Republican Christians vouching for it.

  40. 40.

    laura

    June 29, 2016 at 10:10 pm

    @jl: yes. Weiner-dogs are indeed impertinent about the face. At least Chet is.
    But he sure as hell lacks the stench of sanctimony,god-bothering or oily, greasy grift. In his name.

  41. 41.

    hovercraft

    June 29, 2016 at 10:12 pm

    @Ryan:
    The prosperity gospel is the hot trend among a certain segment of the evangelical movement these days. God wants you to be rich and being flashy with your material wealth shows others how God has blessed you and can bless them too if they give money to their church. In Drumps case that would mean giving money to him so that you can become rich like him.

  42. 42.

    muddy

    June 29, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    @hovercraft: It’s like monetary homeopathy.

  43. 43.

    Brachiator

    June 29, 2016 at 10:17 pm

    I read something about how Trump is supposedly close to Clinton in a recent poll. This says nothing about what will happen in November, but I am still amazed over how some people cling to the Donald. But I am astounded by how desperately Ryan, Dobson and other conservatives try to make Trump into one of their own. They reject the evidence right in front of them. “Oh, no. Trump is one of us. He is a true conservative. He is born again.” Trump doesn’t have to try to fool them. They want to be fooled. They are born again chumps.

  44. 44.

    dexwood

    June 29, 2016 at 10:20 pm

    I don’t understand the problem, Mr. Dobson, you and Mr. Trump are a perfect match in your idea of Heaven.

  45. 45.

    Patricia Kayden

    June 29, 2016 at 10:20 pm

    James Dobson is such a homophobe and all around nasty person so it’s always good to hear that he’s having a sadz.

    @JPL: With “the lord” being Trump, right? That’s the only way your scenario would work since Trump is a self-worshipper.

  46. 46.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 10:20 pm

    @Splitting Image: Is it an important thing for members of Iceland’s parliament to know someone is born again and had a personal relationship with Christ before they make illegal campaign contributions?

  47. 47.

    Patricia Kayden

    June 29, 2016 at 10:22 pm

    @Brachiator: Rachel Maddow highlighted a poll where Secretary Clinton only leads Trump by 1%. **shudders**

  48. 48.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    June 29, 2016 at 10:22 pm

    @muddy:

    You used naked hyperlinks, which FYWP is choking on again. You can easily avoid moderation by dressing up the URLs with the “Link” button above the comment box.

  49. 49.

    Schlemazel Khan

    June 29, 2016 at 10:24 pm

    @Shana:
    I hope Mika has a good life insurance policy

  50. 50.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 29, 2016 at 10:25 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: It’s YUUUUGE!

  51. 51.

    Patricia Kayden

    June 29, 2016 at 10:26 pm

    @rikyrah: Lol! I can’t stop laughing. Why would anyone care? She acts like an abused wife with no voice anyways so no surprise. Sounds like a publicity stunt.

  52. 52.

    Joel

    June 29, 2016 at 10:26 pm

    So, here’s a wild fucking story that’s spreading around scientific Facebook circles right now.

    I have the distinct misfortune of not only having met this man, but also having introduced him for an endowed lecture (disclaimer: he wasn’t my choice).

  53. 53.

    Amaranthine RBG

    June 29, 2016 at 10:26 pm

    He beat a dachshund?

    Seriously?

  54. 54.

    Calouste

    June 29, 2016 at 10:26 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: That’s a poll where the Hispanic vote is Clinton 50 Trump 33. Obama-Romney was 71-27 for the Hispanic vote.

  55. 55.

    Patricia Kayden

    June 29, 2016 at 10:27 pm

    @The Lodger: You devil, you!

  56. 56.

    K488

    June 29, 2016 at 10:28 pm

    @muddy: That is truly disturbing. I read the account – beating a dog with a belt? Establishing authority? I simply cannot abide the thought of the man. He’s always given me the creeps, but his preening self-regard in the account just makes my skin crawl. I’m going to go hug my cats.

  57. 57.

    Tokyokie

    June 29, 2016 at 10:29 pm

    Trump and Dobson’s relationship with Jesus is about as substantial as the one I had with Claudia Cardinale when she was in her 20s.

  58. 58.

    Lurker Extraordinaire

    June 29, 2016 at 10:29 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: is that the Quinnipiac poll? No one takes them seriously. They have terrible polling methods.

    Husband has to work on the 4th, so on the 5th we are going to the Columbus Zoo for free (military, veterans, and family members get in free from the 2nd to the 8th). Has anyone been? Excited to take the little one there. She’s only been to the Lowery Park Zoo in Tampa for comparison.

  59. 59.

    Lurker Extraordinaire

    June 29, 2016 at 10:30 pm

    @Schlemazel Khan: Well damn! Lol.

  60. 60.

    Anne Laurie

    June 29, 2016 at 10:30 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Rachel Maddow highlighted a poll where Secretary Clinton only leads Trump by 1%. **shudders**

    I’m getting the impression Rachel Maddow likes to tell ghost stories around the campfire, to scare her more timid fellows.

    She might argue, in her own defense, that we need to stay scared, to GOTV & make sure Trump is beaten like a rented mule.

  61. 61.

    Schlemazel Khan

    June 29, 2016 at 10:31 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:
    He bragged about it. Also beat his children. For the same ‘reason’, they must submit wholly and any sign of resistance has to be beaten out of them. As I recall he spanked his few month old children’s bare bottoms for what he perceived as resistance.

    And yes, with a belt or leather strap because that is the way of his lord I guess

  62. 62.

    redshirt

    June 29, 2016 at 10:31 pm

    @Tokyokie: And Morgan Fairchild. Yeah….

  63. 63.

    Mary G

    June 29, 2016 at 10:32 pm

    The dog was sitting in his favorite spot, on the furry toilet seat cover in the bathroom near a heater and wouldn’t go to his own bed when ordered to, so he got a belt (a small one, like that excuses anything) and hit the dog until it obeyed.

    Colossal asshole doesn’t begin to describe this guy.

  64. 64.

    dogwood

    June 29, 2016 at 10:33 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:
    Highlighting outlier polls that show Trump close or winning is the number one 1 job of every cable and network newsroom. Get used to it for the next 4 months.

  65. 65.

    Schlemazel Khan

    June 29, 2016 at 10:34 pm

    POLLS

    Remember, always ignore the outliers, always look at the trends of the mass of them not individual polls. This is the simple trick you can use to be as accurate as 528

  66. 66.

    hamletta

    June 29, 2016 at 10:35 pm

    @hovercraft: Prosperity gospel is not a hot trend. It’s been around for years.

  67. 67.

    Felonius Monk

    June 29, 2016 at 10:36 pm

    If Jesus had to choose which one to save: Dobson or Trump. I believe he would pick Trump.

  68. 68.

    Roger Moore

    June 29, 2016 at 10:36 pm

    @Lurker Extraordinaire:

    Dachshunds are notoriously hard to house break and stubborn to boot,

    And any caring, diligent dog person would find that kind of thing out before settling on a breed. Getting a pet is a choice; if you aren’t willing to put up with the downside of the pet you shouldn’t get one. For example, I know that cats tend to scratch the hell out of things, so I have to factor occasional reupholstery and drape replacement into the cost of having one.

  69. 69.

    hellslittlestangel

    June 29, 2016 at 10:37 pm

    At Trump Seminary, my hand-picked spiritual advisors will show you tried and true ways to get the best deal with god. You’ll learn all my secrets, and I guarantee your salvation.

  70. 70.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 10:38 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Well played!

    Did you see this:
    http://www.koamtv.com/story/25862613/homeowner-assesses-damage-after-14-inch-artillery-shell-enters-house

  71. 71.

    burnspbesq

    June 29, 2016 at 10:38 pm

    @JPL:

    You can imagine the rest of the vision..

    Does it involve the EPA declaring the water unsafe to drink because of the unauthorized release of millions of gallons of hairstyling products?

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 29, 2016 at 10:39 pm

    @Lurker Extraordinaire: Columbus, Ohio? The aviary is cool. Mexican wolves. It is a good zoo. Don’t tease the gorillas.

  73. 73.

    muddy

    June 29, 2016 at 10:40 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): Thanks!

  74. 74.

    redshirt

    June 29, 2016 at 10:40 pm

    @hellslittlestangel: How much? Also, sign me up.

  75. 75.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 29, 2016 at 10:41 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The gun range owner says the weapon was fired safely by professionals at a downward projection.

    Bullshit. Ballistics don’t work that way.

  76. 76.

    Schlemazel Khan

    June 29, 2016 at 10:43 pm

    @hellslittlestangel:
    JAY-Zeus, don’t give him any more ideas!

    He is gonna need a new grift after November & that one he could pull with no fear of fraud charges

  77. 77.

    Roger Moore

    June 29, 2016 at 10:43 pm

    @hovercraft:

    In Drumps case that would mean giving money to him so that you can become rich like him.

    Like Trump University.

  78. 78.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 10:44 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I know that, you know that, my guess is that the law enforcement, insurance, and state regulatory investigators are going to know that. What worries me is that either the guy who owns the range and the people he has working for him don’t know that or are dumb enough to think that anyone would buy that as an explanation.

  79. 79.

    Patricia Kayden

    June 29, 2016 at 10:45 pm

    @hellslittlestangel: “For the low price of $100,000. Just mortgage your soul. It’s a huuuuge bargain. Believe me.”

  80. 80.

    Schlemazel Khan

    June 29, 2016 at 10:45 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    I didn’t read the story but it might have bounced. Mythbusters ‘skipped’ a projectile off the range, through a minivan & into a house by accident.

  81. 81.

    scuffletuffle

    June 29, 2016 at 10:45 pm

    @Lurker Extraordinaire: oddly enough, i had no problem housebreaking my dachshund…the jack russell terrorist on the other hand…

  82. 82.

    Patricia Kayden

    June 29, 2016 at 10:46 pm

    @Schlemazel Khan: The rumor is that Trump will start his own cable news channel when he loses in November. Just what this country needs.

  83. 83.

    The Dangerman

    June 29, 2016 at 10:47 pm

    @hovercraft:

    If the choice for President were Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republican Donald Drump, and a Giant Meteor hitting the earth which would you choose?
    Clinton 43 %
    Drump 38 %
    Meteor 13 %
    Not Sure 7%

    Those Bernie or bust people are hard core, death of mankind before Hillary.

    May not be BernieBros; the Meteor is a rightwing thing, mostly abbreviated SMOD (Sweet Meteor Of Death).It, of course, has a Twitter account:

    https://twitter.com/smod2016/status/739868514031259648?lang=en

  84. 84.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 10:47 pm

    Dobson is as much a grifting hoofwanking bunglec#nt as Drumpf is.

    Fuck him. With a rusty chain saw.

  85. 85.

    redshirt

    June 29, 2016 at 10:47 pm

    @efgoldman: The MSM HATES it!

  86. 86.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    June 29, 2016 at 10:48 pm

    @Schlemazel Khan:

    This is the simple trick you can use to be as accurate as 528

    Are they as good as 538?

  87. 87.

    muddy

    June 29, 2016 at 10:48 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: He doesn’t have that kind of money.

  88. 88.

    FlyingToaster

    June 29, 2016 at 10:48 pm

    @hovercraft: No, Joe’s been divorced for a while, and Mika just got her nisi.

    Link

    Kinda gross, but not really weird.

  89. 89.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 29, 2016 at 10:48 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Scariest thing to hear on an artillery firing point: Cease fire. Freeze. Tubes stay at current elevation and deflection. Someone, on some FP, put a round out of safe. ::shudder::

    @Schlemazel Khan: Still utterly unsafe.

  90. 90.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 10:48 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: The Trump Channel. More lies that Rupert Murdoch imagined in his wildest dreams, and that’s saying somthing.

  91. 91.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 29, 2016 at 10:49 pm

    MICHAEL ANTHONY: Wow.

    I just want to use this line again and again. Rotating tag, response to trolls, whatevs. I love it. It is perfect.

    MICHAEL ANTHONY: Wow.

    MICHAEL ANTHONY: Wow.

    So awesome.

  92. 92.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    June 29, 2016 at 10:49 pm

    @Schlemazel Khan: That was a cannonball.

  93. 93.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 10:49 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Terrifying. I’ve only heard stories of this, but they chill you to the bone.

  94. 94.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 10:50 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Actually the announcement, or leak, is he’s opening one win or lose. Apparently he’s decided that he should be making the money the networks are for covering him. I would expect that if he was elected he’d have an exclusive arrangement for all coverage to only be through the Trump Networks, with a large licensing fee for any other network to cover him. He’s just that uninformed about how things work.

  95. 95.

    Schlemazel Khan

    June 29, 2016 at 10:50 pm

    @efgoldman:
    when I type that is as accurate as I can count on being . . .

  96. 96.

    Schlemazel Khan

    June 29, 2016 at 10:52 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:
    I knew that but doubt he can get enough investors stupid enough to finance the thing so like any good conman he will have to start with a cheap to run game until he builds up his poke.

  97. 97.

    The Dangerman

    June 29, 2016 at 10:54 pm

    Baud/SMOD 2016

    {this refers back to my comment in the mid-80’s}

    ETA: Curious if it was the link that sent me to moderation hell:

    https://twitter.com/smod2016/status/739868514031259648

  98. 98.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 29, 2016 at 10:54 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Heard it once at Graf. My platoon’s guns had not fired for a couple of hours. I knew I was okay, but one’s stomach still tightens.

  99. 99.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 10:54 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Without a doubt! I don’t see how anyone buys that argument. They already know the trajectory of the round. They know it hit a tree and then bounced off the ground. So they should be able to reconstruct the path pretty easily.

  100. 100.

    p.a.

    June 29, 2016 at 10:54 pm

    One can ‘vote’ in a poll but not necessarily vote in an election.

    They’ll resort to violence this year. It’s what fascists do. It’s in the DNA.

  101. 101.

    PhoenixRising

    June 29, 2016 at 10:55 pm

    Some wag: If Donald Trump found Jesus, he’d deport him.

  102. 102.

    Anne Laurie

    June 29, 2016 at 10:55 pm

    @hamletta:

    Prosperity gospel is not a hot trend. It’s been around for years.

    Media attention to it comes & goes in waves. It always seems to return to the spotlight in election years, for some reason (she said sarcastically). Or when there’s a particularly ripe scandal, especially of the rentboy/pedophilia ilk.

  103. 103.

    muddy

    June 29, 2016 at 10:55 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: A few years ago in a nearby town (rural Vermont) a man was shot to death while sitting on his porch. Two guys were target shooting, overshot their inadequate backstop (woodpile I think it was) and it went through the woods for 1/2 mile without hitting any trees. Poor old guy watching the sunset gets shot in the neck.

    Last time I heard shooting in back of my house, I called the cops and asked them to go check it was safe. I was told you are allowed to shoot in the village as long as you are at least 50′ from a house. I said I was aware, but that didn’t speak to the safety of the backstop. Cops had no interest. So I went and checked for myself.

    But who would think of checking for themselves 3 miles away!

  104. 104.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 10:56 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: That’s why everything is frozen in place if a round strays.

    There’s a fuck up there somewhere, and by all that is holy and unholy, the Army will find the fuck up.

  105. 105.

    PurpleGirl

    June 29, 2016 at 10:57 pm

    Trump has claimed be a Presbyterian and member of Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan. When a Church official was asked about it several years ago, the official said that he wasn’t an active member. (Possibly he only show up when he’s getting married.) Marble Collegiate is a very liberal congregation. It was the home church of Norman Vincent Peale and the base for his Institutes of Health. I have a hard time believing that Trump was a member there.

  106. 106.

    Schlemazel Khan

    June 29, 2016 at 10:58 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    safe is relative. If they did everything the way they thought was right, may have done it before even, and something unexpected happened that is different that some wacked up cowboys randomly shooting off shit they do not understand. Funny things happen with high speed projectiles.

    @BillinGlendaleCA:
    True but depending on the shell it could bounce also.

    none of this is to defend their incompetence only to say it might actually be an accident not total stupidity. Perhaps it would be best not to do this sort of thing that close to humans.

  107. 107.

    Baud

    June 29, 2016 at 11:01 pm

    @The Dangerman:

    Baud/SMOD 2016

    I’m not sure SMOD adds anything new to the ticket.

  108. 108.

    Schlemazel Khan

    June 29, 2016 at 11:02 pm

    @muddy:
    Hardly a deer season goes by that there is not at least one person killed by a bullet that traveled 1/2 mile or more. Clown can’t hit a deer 25 yards away but kills someone, often another hunter but just as likely some guy or girl having a cup of coffee in their kitchen.

  109. 109.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 29, 2016 at 11:04 pm

    @muddy: Speaking of rural Vermont and guns, this guy had a facility that straddled the VT-QC border. I have a friend who lives in the area, and we drove around the property after he was assassinated but before someone, um, cleaned up after him. The facility straddled the border so things could come in one side and leave out the other.

  110. 110.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 11:04 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: This wasn’t an Army range, nor was it Army artillery. This was a private range running a private function.

  111. 111.

    muddy

    June 29, 2016 at 11:04 pm

    @efgoldman: Yeah. If he wins, he doesn’t need it. If he loses, he’s a LOSER and his fans won’t want to watch.

  112. 112.

    Roger Moore

    June 29, 2016 at 11:05 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Don’t those idiots know about squibs?

  113. 113.

    Anne Laurie

    June 29, 2016 at 11:05 pm

    @Schlemazel Khan:

    True but depending on the shell it could bounce also.

    none of this is to defend their incompetence only to say it might actually be an accident not total stupidity

    Forgive my ignorance, but is there some good reason why anyone would need to be firing an artillery shell from a private shooting range?

    I mean, everybody luvs them some Fourth fireworks, but really?

  114. 114.

    redshirt

    June 29, 2016 at 11:07 pm

    @Baud: Global destruction?

  115. 115.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 11:08 pm

    @Schlemazel Khan: A well trained artillery team (forward observer, guns, fire direction center) can tell you within 100 meters where an artillery shell will land. The entire process is about getting the rounds to land EXACTLY where you want them to land. Omnes can provide mind numbing details of this, but I had enough arty training in my military career to know the basics of the process. The US Army developed artillery targeting to a science in WWII and have only been further perfecting it since then. When the crews are properly trained, there are no errors. When an error crops up, the entire “freeze” process is in place to determine PRECISELY where the error occurred. Please believe me, if it’s done according to the book, it’s as close to a certainty where the rounds will fall as you can hope to get.

  116. 116.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 11:09 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Small arms are a whole ‘nother thing. While you can with reasonable accuracy predict where things will go, there’s way too much random human fuckups involved in small arms. With artillery, there’s a record that can be traced back to determine what mistake was made.

    Oh, wait, this was someone actually firing private artillery? All I can tell you is in the Army, this shit is investigated out the wazoo, as there are records kept of every round that leaves the tube. Once you get out of that situation, who knows what will happen. I don’t trust the “private sector” to not engage in massive ass covering.

  117. 117.

    MomSense

    June 29, 2016 at 11:10 pm

    @jl:

    I was going to say that it would be strange if a dachshund didn’t have an impertinent expression.

  118. 118.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 11:10 pm

    @Roger Moore: I do not know. The only thing I’ve ever had to do with both Oklahoma and Field Artillery together was teaching a week’s worth of classes at the Army Field Artillery School in August 2013 and then, despite my POC their retiring abruptly, technically being that school’s cultural advisor until August 2014. I was asked to this from my office at Carlisle Barracks in PA, but after the initial trip, when the senior civilian who was the deputy to the commandant retired, no one there ever followed up.

  119. 119.

    Baud

    June 29, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    @redshirt: I think having me at the top of the ticket already covers that.

  120. 120.

    muddy

    June 29, 2016 at 11:12 pm

    @Anne Laurie: I used to go to a weekend long 4th party featuring homemade cannons and automatic weapons as well as the usual weaponry. Cops would come and make sure who was doing it, and then take themselves off. It’s been these 30 years and more, and never had any kind of injury or incident. Even back in the day when we were all young and drunk (everything set up and laid out ahead of time). It’s possible to be cool about it, but I have to say it seems more common these days for there to be idiocy.

    It was better when the NRA was about gun safety and not showing off.

  121. 121.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 11:12 pm

    @Anne Laurie: Its Oklahoma.

  122. 122.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 11:13 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: All bets off the table. I don’t trust anyone in the “private sector” NOT to not destroy records to cover their ass.

  123. 123.

    seaboogie

    June 29, 2016 at 11:14 pm

    @laura: Chet is a great name for a weiner dog!

  124. 124.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 11:14 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Oklahoma automatically made me think of Ft. Sill. Home of the Field Artillery.

  125. 125.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Exactly. This was a private range, private event. I’m glad it wasn’t an Army event because in Oklahoma that likely means Ft. Sill. Too many of my former students are currently assigned there to wish this on them. As if living in Lawton wasn’t bad enough…

  126. 126.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 29, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    @Schlemazel Khan: Funny things don’t happen with high speed projectiles. They behave predictably. It an artillery shell ricocheted, it was direct, rather than, indirect fired. If that was the case, the people running the range should have taken that possibility into account..

  127. 127.

    MomSense

    June 29, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    @muddy:

    WTF that man is troubled. The poor little dog was probably terrified.

    I really dislike people sometimes.

  128. 128.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 11:17 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Having lived in Lawton for three months (CE Staff Officer School) I can only say “um, yeah…”.

  129. 129.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 11:18 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Tracking. The range owner and the knuckleheads that produced this result may try to cover their 6s, but between the police, the homeowners insurance company, and state regulators, they’re in a world of hurt. And since its 2016, I’m sure someone took video.

  130. 130.

    hovercraft

    June 29, 2016 at 11:19 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: @Adam L Silverman:
    It was also implied that the network/ media empire would be more fair to him, since everyone is biased against him including FOX.

  131. 131.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 29, 2016 at 11:21 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: What do you need to know about Lawton? Buy foreign beer. Visit Geronimo’s grave. Learn the difference between the officer and enlisted strip clubs. Leave as soon as you can.

    ETA: There is no good beer at the Blade and Wing, but the Officers Club requires driving.

  132. 132.

    redshirt

    June 29, 2016 at 11:21 pm

    I went to a a rich person’s party in Virginia once across from DC that had a huge artillery piece on the lawn overlooking the Potomac and DC. The White House was supposedly in range. They filled it with some kind of firecrackers that shot out over the river.

  133. 133.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 11:22 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Longest week of TDY ever. Wasn’t even a decent steak house in town. So chow was terrible. Fortunately the La Quinta was nice. It was over a hundred degrees, I was in a suit and tie all day, I had to deal with a whiney group of majors and captains from the teaching cadre who could care less and were pissed that because of the realities of OIF and OEF they’d had to be planners, not lanyard pullers for the first half of their careers and no one was going to ever make them do that again.

    I did go to that grass fed beef burger place outside of town in the National Monument/Park area one night for one of their burgers.

  134. 134.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 11:23 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I think that’s actually from the brochure.

  135. 135.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 11:24 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: There’s a great steak joint north of post nearly in the Wichita Mountains, or at least there was back in ’79, that was de rigeur for every young LT to visit while they were at Sill, at least once.

  136. 136.

    Chip Daniels

    June 29, 2016 at 11:25 pm

    People who beat dogs need the Ramsay Bolton treatment.

    That is all.

  137. 137.

    muddy

    June 29, 2016 at 11:28 pm

    @MomSense: I would hope that the dog pissed on his pillow or something to get revenge, but he’d only have beaten it again. I’m betting he never gets a big dog either. Little dogs, little kids, damn bully.

  138. 138.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 11:28 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: I don’t think its there any more. If it was, no one pointed me in that direction no matter how many times I asked about a good steak house.

  139. 139.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 29, 2016 at 11:29 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: No memory of such a thing. Racing up Mt. Scott was a thing. I had a GTI, others had more powerful cars. I tended to win. Handling matters.

  140. 140.

    PurpleGirl

    June 29, 2016 at 11:32 pm

    Or you get one or two scratching posts for the cat to climb on and scratch.

  141. 141.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 11:32 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: It must not be if no one pointed you there. It was practically a legend when I was at Sill in ’79.

  142. 142.

    frosty

    June 29, 2016 at 11:33 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    What do you need to know about Lawton? Buy foreign beer. Visit Geronimo’s grave. Learn the difference between the officer and enlisted strip clubs. Leave as soon as you can.

    LOL. I’ll have to ask my son what he thought, since he did his Natl Guard MOS training at Ft. Sill.

    Most interesting factoid I learned from his arty training. On one drill, his battery of four 777s fired four rounds each. $100,000 worth of ammo. How the hell could we afford a war these days?

  143. 143.

    MomSense

    June 29, 2016 at 11:34 pm

    @muddy:

    And they create a bully God in their image. I bet he raised his children that way.

  144. 144.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 29, 2016 at 11:36 pm

    @frosty: I was told that my TS/BI investigation cost over $100,000. In 1988.

  145. 145.

    Mike J

    June 29, 2016 at 11:39 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Why would a howitzer be fired at “a downward projection”? Wouldn;t a howitzer, almost by definition, be fired >45° ?

  146. 146.

    Brachiator

    June 29, 2016 at 11:39 pm

    @Joel:

    scientific Facebook circles

    Scientific Facebook circles? Well, OK.

    The article about the science researcher was sad and sordid.

  147. 147.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 11:39 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: The only thing back in the mountains mentioned was that family owned cattle ranch and restaurant that did grass fed beef burgers. Its called Meers:
    https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g51510-d514686-Reviews-The_Meers_Store_And_Restaurant-Meers_Oklahoma.html

  148. 148.

    Suzanne

    June 29, 2016 at 11:39 pm

    @PurpleGirl: Presbyterians aren’t really into born-again stuff, either. They’re mainline Protestants, so it’s all about guilt for sloth. Dobson is trying to make him seem more acceptable to evangelicals who often don’t know much about mainline denominations, other than that they’re all going to Hell (because there is nothing that Christians love more than telling other Christians that they’re going to Hell).

  149. 149.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 11:40 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: That’s still about what they cost. Up to, sometimes a bit over.

  150. 150.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 11:40 pm

    @Mike J: It’s possible to fire a howitzer in the “direct fire” mode. It’s just that the situation would have to be pretty damn dire to do so. Artillery is supposed to be well away from the front and deal it’s destruction indirectly, which, yes, requires some elevation to the tube.

  151. 151.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 11:42 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: That sounds familiar, but “Meers Burgers” were not the draw when I visited the place up north of post…it was steak. Might be a new establishment occupying the footprint of the one I remember, but gosh, that was 35 years ago!

  152. 152.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 29, 2016 at 11:43 pm

    @Mike J: Depends on terrain. Also, the old difference between cannon and howitzer had been eliminated. I’ll save me the typing and you the reading. Current guns are howitzers.

  153. 153.

    Roger Moore

    June 29, 2016 at 11:43 pm

    @PurpleGirl:

    Or you get one or two scratching posts for the cat to climb on and scratch.

    Scratching posts can reduce but not eliminate cats scratching at things. Scratching is one way they mark their territory, so they want to scratch all over the place. And even if they aren’t deliberately marking, they use their claws for grip, so they can wind up scratching stuff accidentally. You just have to decide if you love your furniture more than your cat. If you do, you should not have a cat.

  154. 154.

    Suzanne

    June 29, 2016 at 11:43 pm

    @Suzanne: Also, joining a Presbyterian church is easy, and they take your name off the membership if they don’t see you for a while. Not like evangelical and LDS churches. So it’s possible that Trump was a member when he got married and then stopped going and was removed from the membership rolls.

  155. 155.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 29, 2016 at 11:45 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: @Villago Delenda Est: Meers is a thing. North of the post. General store, post office, and burger place – all in one.

  156. 156.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 11:47 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’m pretty sure they used to have a steak joint there, but like I said, it was back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.

  157. 157.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 29, 2016 at 11:48 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Burgers was only when I was there.

  158. 158.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 11:48 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Meers has been there for ever. The founding director of my higher HQ at the time, a retired Navy O6 who grew up in Oklahoma, told me about it. Said its a local legend. The closest recommendation I got to a good steak place was in town and looked like some type of Oklahoman chain. Sort of a local version of a Cody’s or Texas Roadhouse.

  159. 159.

    redshirt

    June 29, 2016 at 11:49 pm

    Dang. Guys talking about artillery and meat.

  160. 160.

    Davebo

    June 29, 2016 at 11:50 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Wow. I’m learning way more about cats than I probably want to know seeing as I’m dating a girl now that has one.

  161. 161.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 29, 2016 at 11:50 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: The only other thing I saw on my way out to Meers was a National Park Service welcome building near the turnoff. And since my GPS had trouble finding the place, I spent an extra forty minutes tooling around the area. So its definitely moved on.

  162. 162.

    muddy

    June 29, 2016 at 11:52 pm

    @redshirt: Independence Day is coming up, seems appropriate.

  163. 163.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 11:54 pm

    @redshirt: You want me to talk about VHF multichannel equipment? I’m the only person here who knows about this stuff, best I can tell. Omnes and I share some time in the arty (since he was a redleg, much much more than I do, although I was the Signal Officer of a Division Artillery for 2 years, so I know a bit about it) so we have a perverse tendency to talk former shop :).

  164. 164.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 29, 2016 at 11:56 pm

    @redshirt: Okay hermit, improve our convo….

  165. 165.

    redshirt

    June 29, 2016 at 11:57 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Have you seen the movie UHF with Weird Al?

  166. 166.

    muddy

    June 29, 2016 at 11:58 pm

    @Roger Moore: I have never had luck with scratching posts or other purpose made devices. What they do love are door frames. If I let them scratch those, they don’t (deliberately) scratch other stuff. I’ve decided that the casings are now disposable. After 10 years, they dig all the way through it, and then you go buy another 1×4 and replace. They really get a good texture going.

    I just had this idea while typing: I could make things with the cat gouged wood, and sell them online, sculpture made by cats.

  167. 167.

    redshirt

    June 29, 2016 at 11:59 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Did you know you can talk to birds? And they’ll talk back? And you can understand this conversation through years of listening?

  168. 168.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 29, 2016 at 11:59 pm

    @redshirt: No, but I really need to one of these days.

  169. 169.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 30, 2016 at 12:00 am

    @Adam L Silverman: It is a local legend, but it seems they moved on to burgers from the steaks I remember.

  170. 170.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 30, 2016 at 12:01 am

    @redshirt: I can’t talk to birds. but wolves get me.

  171. 171.

    Mnemosyne

    June 30, 2016 at 12:04 am

    @Roger Moore:

    Feliway spray helps a LOT with territorial scratching. But, yes, accidental scratches will also occur.

  172. 172.

    Timurid

    June 30, 2016 at 12:05 am

    @JPL:

    Did it involve a crocodile?

  173. 173.

    muddy

    June 30, 2016 at 12:06 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Try this.

  174. 174.

    redshirt

    June 30, 2016 at 12:10 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: You’ve never talked with a wolf.

    Go birding! It’s like hunting except you’re just looking at (hopefully!) birds. It ticks the same primal hunting trigger.

  175. 175.

    Adam L Silverman

    June 30, 2016 at 12:11 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: These things happen.

  176. 176.

    redshirt

    June 30, 2016 at 12:12 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: It’s great. It’s a Weird Al movie. You know what you’re gonna get – parodies. Lot’s of them.

    It’s so dated now it’s even better. Victoria Jackson used to be actually funny?

  177. 177.

    Miss Bianca

    June 30, 2016 at 12:13 am

    @Anne Laurie: Prosperity gospel has been around at least since the advent of Calvinism. Verily, not a new thing at all.

  178. 178.

    Mike J

    June 30, 2016 at 12:13 am

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    You want me to talk about VHF multichannel equipment?

    I know hailing frequencies and working frequencies and how to use digital selective calling by hitting the MOB button on the GPS.

  179. 179.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 30, 2016 at 12:14 am

    @PurpleGirl:

    (Possibly he only show up when he’s getting married.)

    So, a regular attendee then?

  180. 180.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 30, 2016 at 12:15 am

    @Mike J: Way beyond me. I was still mucking with VRC-12 family equipment when I got out. SINGCARS was a long delayed dream.

  181. 181.

    Mike J

    June 30, 2016 at 12:18 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: To be clear, I don’t know a lot about how digital selective calling works, I just know that when you press this button, the Coasties get your lat/lon, and I hope to never have to press it.

  182. 182.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 30, 2016 at 12:24 am

    @Mike J: Heddy Lamar (NOT Hedley) actually was a pioneer in spread spectrum technology. I understand it in theory, but haven’t worked with the actual equipment. Things have progressed significantly since 1990 when I left the Army.

  183. 183.

    Miss Bianca

    June 30, 2016 at 12:39 am

    @muddy: Recent headline from my local newspaper: “It’s Out of Control: Cliff residents want ban on discharging firearms”.

    Turns out that some residents of Silver Cliff are starting to get unhappy about their neighbors’ tendency to blaze away on their “homemade firing ranges”. The problem is that Silver Cliff Ranch, a subdivision that’s sort of within and sort of without the town limits, is considered “agricultural” land, and so different rules apparently apply. The other problem, tho’ is that even with five-acre plots, a lot of the houses are only a couple hundred feet apart.

    So you get classic lines like this from one of the residents: “I have nothing against guns, I own some. (The obligatory genuflection). But I want my grandchildren to play in the forest like I did, but with neighbors firing away all the time, it’s not safe. It’s out of control.”

    Surprisingly, the paper goes on to note, “it is not illegal to discharge a firearm in the town limits…as long as it is not done carelessly. The definition of careless…is a hard one to define. The law states that as long as a bullet stays on the property, then it is not a careless discharge.”

    Think about that one for a while. But the good news is that the town council has noted your concerns, citizens, and they promise to keep discussing the issue at later meetings!

  184. 184.

    dww44

    June 30, 2016 at 12:54 am

    @hovercraft: I don’t think the closeness of the polled vote between Hillary and Trump is a reflection of the Bernie supporters. It’s more a reflection of the sheer hatred that so many of my fellow GOP voting friends and relatives have for Hillary. Husband channel surfs and one of his favorite stopping places is Fox News. Just tonight he said, “Wow, Fox is ginning up the Hillary hate big time. They won’t let the Benghazi report go and they are lying. Roger Ailes must have given them their marching orders to take her down.”.

    More than two decades of being fed the unrelenting anti-Clinton and anti-Democrat rhetoric will seriously warp an otherwise sane person’s thinking. Husband actually made the comparison tonight to Hitler and propaganda minister, Goebbels. Rigidly partisan media does Democracy no favors and does enable the rise of fake populist leaders, and not just here.

  185. 185.

    Mnemosyne

    June 30, 2016 at 1:26 am

    @Miss Bianca:

    I saw the kitten pictures late today, and squee’d.

  186. 186.

    Origuy

    June 30, 2016 at 2:54 am

    @Miss Bianca: Doggone bullets just ignore the “No Trespassing” signs.

  187. 187.

    Lurker Extraordinaire

    June 30, 2016 at 5:08 am

    @p.a.: That is my biggest fear. The Trumpenproletariat will take out their loss on women, PoCs, etc.

    Omnes, thanks for the Columbus Zoo recs.

    Dachshunds are awesome, no matter how stubborn they are, and anyone who beats them (or any animal) is a dingleberry on the taint of humanity.

  188. 188.

    Matt McIrvin

    June 30, 2016 at 7:34 am

    @Lurker Extraordinaire: Digby was right about this though: they’d take out a win on women, PoCs, etc., in exactly the same way only with the arrogance of power. Look at the Brexit aftermath: the people harassing Poles and Indians to “go home” the morning after are the same sort of people.

  189. 189.

    Chris

    June 30, 2016 at 9:34 am

    @Scratch:

    The things is that it’s really hard to say who’s a bigger asshole, Trump or Dobson?

    What’s worse, a guy who does the wrong thing strictly out of selfishness, or a guy who does the wrong thing because he thinks it’s right? I.e. what’s worse, a gangster or a terrorist? I’ve never actually figured out what my answer to that is. They’re both horrific in their own ways.

    @Splitting Image:

    And to say it once more: Trump is strictly an amateur.
    …
    A professional Republican politician would have “embraced Jesus” long before the primary season, and would have been sure to mention that in his fundraising emails.

    Au contraire.

    Trump understands what’s really firing up the Republican base, including most of the people in the pews of the religious right: bigotry, pure and simple, the ugly belief in their own superiority against anyone of a different cultural background, and also women, LGBTQA, etc. Trump understands that the Jesus shtick was always a thin veil covering that reality. And he understands that as the religious right’s power wanes, its charlatan leaders like James Dobson matter less and less. He didn’t “embrace Jesus” because he doesn’t need to; he can appeal to that crowd directly with the things they really care about.

    It’s the same dynamic that we’ve seen between him, the voters, and the Republican establishment politicians: he’s stealing their audience because he understands better than they do what actually makes them tick.

  190. 190.

    Paul in KY

    June 30, 2016 at 1:00 pm

    @Randy P: They are the modern Pharisees.

  191. 191.

    Paul in KY

    June 30, 2016 at 1:13 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I read that as a 14″ naval type shell & when I saw story, I was like ‘why is his house still there?”

    LOL. Sorry for homeowner & hope he can sue the shit out of them.

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