Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

It’s the corruption, stupid.

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

When they say they’re pro-life, they don’t mean yours.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

This blog will pay for itself.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Because of wow. / We All Need A Giggle

We All Need A Giggle

by | 97 Comments

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An hairpiece-free excursion (by request!) to bring howls of joy to your day:

 

And, (apologizing for the nod to the orange one from whom we so need respite) a reminder of the wellsprings of political philosophy that animate our “friends” across the aisle, not just the nominee, but his entire foreclosed on, possession taken, bust-out-begun party.

 

I know what’s happening when Donald Trump is one tight election away from Götterdämmerung ain’t even remotely funny.  But Messrs. Python are, and sometimes we all can use a break.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

97Comments

  1. 1.

    Matt McIrvin

    I actually started tearing up during the Corden bit. It started to hit me just how much I’m going to miss having the Obamas in the White House, after everything that’s happened.

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    Via Kevin Drum, Trump has numbers:

    David, I have statisticians, and I know, like if I went to Pennsylvania, I say, “Give me the statistics on what is going on with respect to manufacturing.” Numbers — 45, 55, 65, I have states that are so bad. New England.

    I’d try to figure out what he’s saying, but it’s not even 9 AM here on the left coast and it’s far too early to start drinking.

  5. 5.

    Immanentize

    LAO posted that Carpool Karaoke in comments a couple of threads down. I am with Matt McIrvin — it made me tear up with both joy and sadness. Of course, when Missy Elliot joins the carpool….

  9. 9.

    hovercraft

    Coolest FLOTUS ever. I’m sad to see them go, but seriously driving down the road with your favorite jams playing loud enough to drown out your terrible voice is one of the joys of life, and she’s been unable to do it for 8 years. As much as we’ll miss them, I have no doubt that she is counting down the days till she’s free. Fly buterfly fly.

  10. 10.

    Brachiator

    This is great. And yet, in a parallel universe, stick up the butt pearl clutchers would see this and foam at the mouth over how Michelle Obama is destroying the dignity of First Ladies, which can only be exemplified by bland white women.

    The Obamas have been a wonderful gift to this country.

  11. 11.

    Face

    I’m amazed at how off-the-radar the Obamas have kept their daughters. Yes, the Bush twins were older and thus more prone to shenanigans (read: drunk stupid shit), but they regularly made the news for dumb things and statements. Whereas the 2 Obama girls have been almost completely non-existent in the media, for anything and everything they’ve done. It’s admirable to be both such an effective leader of a nation and also so focused on molding successful behavior in preen and teen daughters.

  12. 12.

    Aimai

    Im crying. I really hsve loved bring represented by them on the eofld stage. It was an honor to have them as our first family.

  13. 13.

    rikyrah

    I loved that. I am going to miss FLOTUS so much. Michelle Obama as First Lady has been more than I ever expected. More than I dared to dream when I realized we were going to have the first Black First Lady. Love her. Loved her way before I loved him. I am a Michelle Obama Stan, and I will miss her terribly. In so many ways, it was more important to me to have HER in the White House than even POTUS.

  14. 14.

    Dork

    @dmsilev: So “45, 55, and 65” are numbers reflecting manufacturing. Uh huh. Are those expected unemployment percentages in PA under a Trump presidency or the just the ages of the 3 employees left working for Heinz during a Trump presidency?

  15. 15.

    Punchy

    @dmsilev: I simply cannot fathom how he expects to debate HRC on….well….pretty much anything. He really knows almost nothing about anything. He can bluster during a stump speech all he wants, but in a non-primary debate not lead by Foxies and not involving 27 questions on how much they hate the ACA, he simply cannot seem to muster a cogent, error (lie?)-free statement of import about anything of global significance.

    I realize that the MSM will give him 1,931 free passes in order to maintain the facade of a horserace, but ordinary peeps will likely be aghast at his wanton dumbfuckery.

  16. 16.

    dogwood

    @Aimai:
    The irony of the Obama family is that they really exhibit the values that “conservatives” like Brooks claim to admire. Respect for institutions, self-respect, self-restraint, good manners, and discipline. A terrific family.

  17. 17.

    MDC

    I was thinking the other day that this Python skit was a fair substitute for a live feed from Cleveland:

    a href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsQM9HKtvA4″

  20. 20.

    Miss Bianca

    OK, so right in the middle of “Put a Ring on It” Lefty Kitty jumps on the screen and starts patting Michelle O’s face. Cute!!

    Oh, now every time she sings Lefty wants in on it! She’s perched on the screen and getting all excited by Missy E.! Her little paws are just going now. How am I supposed to do anything today but laugh??

  22. 22.

    Percysowner

    @Punchy:

    I simply cannot fathom how he expects to debate HRC on….well….pretty much anything.

    Well, the first debate venue (Wright State in Ohio) has already pulled out due to security concerns. If he can ramp up the rhetoric enough he may be able to get all the venues to bail and there would be no debates.

    @Face: Lord knows the Clintons really tried to keep Chelsea away from public scrutiny. Sadly Rush Limbaugh and his despicable ilk refused to allow that.

  23. 23.

    Cckids

    I saw this late last night; so cool. The part that got me crying a bit was when Cordon asked her what will be hardest about leaving the White House, and she said; leaving all the people working there, that you get to know them & their families & it will just be difficult to walk away. How many FLOTUSes past would say that?? Michelle’s just an amazing human; our country’s been lucky to have her there.

  24. 24.

    Amir Khalid

    @Punchy:
    I presume Donald will do everything he can to rattle Hillary: try to Gish-gallop his way past her, claim that her carefully-considered responses are a sign of womanish weakness, pound the table/lectern, insult her. That’s what you do when you know jack about the subject being debated. It worked for him in the Republican debates because he had such feeble opponents, and the moderators couldn’t control him (or didn’t dare try). I think she’ll be wise enough to ignore his provocations and concentrate on making her case.

  26. 26.

    MomSense

    @rikyrah:

    Oh definitely. That’s why PBO used to call her “the closer” in Iowa and NH. Once you were in her presence-deal was done. She really is extraordinary.

  28. 28.

    sinnedbackwards

    @dmsilev: Today the latest unemployment filing numbers were released.

    Lowest absolute number since NIXON was president. I haven’t figured %% but it may be lowest since statistics have been kept, since there is a very much larger labor force since Nixon. This sets the stage for higher wages.

    And the Village yawns. But Trumpzilla is about to give a shiny new stream-of-unconsciousness speech.

    Look, bunnies!

  29. 29.

    rikyrah

    Roundup: Trump’s Son Slams Public Education

    Donald Trump Jr. trashes U.S. public schools (though he didn’t attend one)
    By Valerie Strauss
    July 20 at 4:45 PM

    Donald Trump Jr. doesn’t think much of American public schools — even though he never attended one.

    In a speech Tuesday night at the Republican convention, the son of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said the following:

    The other party gave us public schools that far too often fail our students, especially those who have no options. Growing up, my siblings and I we were truly fortunate to have choices and options that others don’t have. We want all Americans to have those same opportunities.

    Our schools used to be an elevator to the middle class. Now they’re stalled on the ground floor. They’re like Soviet-era department stores that are run for the benefit of the clerks and not the customers, for the teachers and the administrators and not the students. You know why other countries do better on K through 12? They let parents choose where to send their own children to school.

    That’s called competition. It’s called the free market. And it’s what the other party fears.

    They fear it because they’re more concerned about protecting the jobs of tenured teachers than serving the students in desperate need of a good education.

    They want to run everything top-down from Washington. They tell us they’re the experts and they know what’s best.

    Actually, most other countries don’t let all parents decide which school to send their children to. And a new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found, according to author Eunice Han, that “highly unionized districts actually fire more bad teachers.”

  30. 30.

    father pussbucket

    @Punchy:

    I simply cannot fathom how he expects to debate HRC on….well….pretty much anything.

    I anticipate that he will keep interrupting and name-calling and the moderator will have to keep shutting him up, and then the Trumpistas will carry on about how the moderator was totally in the tank for Hillary.

  31. 31.

    Dadadadadadada

    @father pussbucket: I wouldn’t be too surprised to see him attempt a physical assault. That seems to be a well-used option for men like him when they feel “belittled” by women.

  32. 32.

    Roger Moore

    @Punchy:

    I simply cannot fathom how he expects to debate HRC on….well….pretty much anything.

    Insults, derogatory comments, snide sexist bullshit, and a few more insults for good measure. He expects to be able to reduce her to hysterics and/or cause her to act like a stereotypical bitch, which will automatically make him the winner.

  34. 34.

    Cacti

    Turkey to “temporarily” suspend the European Convention on Human Rights.

    The “coup” against Erdogan is starting to look very much like the burning of a certain parliamentary building in 1933.

  36. 36.

    Immanentize

    @Roger Moore: And the whole media narrative will be “Did Trump get under Hillary’s skin?” and “Thin skinned Hillary” and “Humorless Hillary!” (Hey, I should copyright that last one….)

  37. 37.

    Hal

    Speaking of giggles, from Facebook today. Posted by friend of a friend.

    90% of the people who are against Trump are the real racists in this country – FACTS.

  38. 38.

    gogol's wife

    Why are all the cool, nice people on our side? I didn’t used to feel that way. Nelson Rockefeller, Lowell Weicker, and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., were cool and nice. Wha happened?

  43. 43.

    O. Felix Culpa

    Love FLOTUS and her joie de vivre.

    As for whatever it is that spews out of Trump’s mouth, HRC’s challenge will be debating someone who is through the looking glass:

    “When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.”
    “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”
    “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master— that’s all.”

  44. 44.

    Iowa Old Lady

    The Clinton campaign is capable of debate prep that includes having someone play Trump saying, “I never said that,” and having her practice a variety of good answers. Trump’s team will be lucky to get him to do any prep.

  46. 46.

    Jeffro

    @shomi:

    Hillary will eat him alive on that act though. All she has to do is just stand there quietly with that disapproving mother look and let Drumpf be Drumpf. Let everyone else see it.

    Agreed.

    You know, I don’t want to ‘count my chickens before they hatch’ here, but…once the GOP train wreck of a convention wraps up, and then we have the all-star A-team Democratic one, I think it’s entirely likely that Clinton clears 50% nationally and just never comes down. (It’s unfortunate that so much anti-HRC propaganda will keep it from being a historic rout, but it should still be impressive.)

    Trump is only going to get worse as he realizes his campaign is heading for utter disaster, and he doesn’t do too well when he’s on the way down. The GOP can look forward to 10+ weeks of that kind of thing.

    We can’t get complacent, but it puts a whole new spin on the season called ‘fall’

  47. 47.

    Iowa Old Lady

    OT whining: We’re under an excessive heat warning, and when I went to B&N for my afternoon writing session, the AC was broken. I gave myself the afternoon off. I just wish I could have done it for the workers there.

  48. 48.

    MomSense

    @father pussbucket:

    I hope he has a YUUUUGE tantrum and she just rolls her eyes and makes the yapping sign with her right hand. Make him look like the spoiled brat he is. He acts like a bratty child. You can’t have a rational conversation with a toddler having a tantrum. Can you imagine if she asked him to use his words or his inside voice? I think anyone who has experienced a tantrum from a bratty child would cheer.

  49. 49.

    Trentrunner

    I always admired Hillary’s 2008 primary debate response to the question “Why aren’t you more likable?”

    Hillary: “Well, that hurts my feelings.”

    (This was right before Obama’s infamous “You’re likable enough, Hillary.)

    I always thought that was an amazingly tough, astringent response. Like, filtered through Hillary’s Sarcasm Translator: “I know you think that question should dissolve me into a puddle of helpwess female low-self-esteem, but here’s a big steaming cup of FuckRightOff.”

    I am less worried about Hillary in the debates w/Trump than I was about Obama against Romney. (And I wasn’t that worried then.)

    I look forward to them.

  50. 50.

    Cacti

    @Jeffro:

    Agreed.

    You know, I don’t want to ‘count my chickens before they hatch’ here, but…once the GOP train wreck of a convention wraps up, and then we have the all-star A-team Democratic one, I think it’s entirely likely that Clinton clears 50% nationally and just never comes down. (It’s unfortunate that so much anti-HRC propaganda will keep it from being a historic rout, but it should still be impressive.)

    Trump is only going to get worse as he realizes his campaign is heading for utter disaster, and he doesn’t do too well when he’s on the way down. The GOP can look forward to 10+ weeks of that kind of thing.

    We can’t get complacent, but it puts a whole new spin on the season called ‘fall’

    If Trump comes out of the GOP convention without a lead: checkmate.

    The post convention bounce is typically a candidate’s high water mark.

  52. 52.

    Amir Khalid

    @Dadadadadadada:
    If Trump is stupid enough to physically attack Hillary (ETA: and he just might be; one never knows), it will be interesting to see what his hair looks like when it emerges from beneath a scrum of Secret Service agents.

  53. 53.

    Roger Moore

    @Immanentize:

    And the whole media narrative will be “Did Trump get under Hillary’s skin?” and “Thin skinned Hillary” and “Humorless Hillary!”

    That’s assuming Trump actually succeeds. Hillary has a pretty thick skin, and she’ll be expecting it, so I don’t expect him to be able to ruffle her. OTOH, I expect she’ll be subtly- or not so subtly- needling him the whole time, and that he won’t be able to take it for a whole debate, much less a whole string of debates.

  54. 54.

    dr. luba

    @Iowa Old Lady: Try the local public library. That’s what I do when the power is out. Just as distracting as B&N (all those lovely books), but at least I don’t feel the need to buy something.

  55. 55.

    dmsilev

    @shomi:

    For all the (usually unfair) criticisms of Hillary, handling someone like Drumpf during a debate is something she will probably be better at than anyone else I can think of.

    Obama, maybe, would be better. He seems to have a singular gift for getting under Trump’s skin. But it’s a tough call.

  56. 56.

    catclub

    @Cacti: High point for Turkey looks to be the week before they were turned down for entry in the EU.
    Hard to guess how long and how low they will go.

  57. 57.

    dmsilev

    @Roger Moore: I think there’s a good chance that she’ll needle him into losing control at least once, and a nontrivial possibility of goading him into a full-out screaming meltdown.

  61. 61.

    Cacti

    @dmsilev:

    I think there’s a good chance that she’ll needle him into losing control at least once, and a nontrivial possibility of goading him into a full-out screaming meltdown.

    I think of it in terms of experience in dealing with types.

    Hillary has a lifetime of experience handling boorish men who talk down to women.

    Trump has virtually no experience having strong women tell him he’s full of crap, or laugh derisively at his nonsense.

  63. 63.

    ? Martin

    Clinton will eat him alive. She’s quite good in debates, and she’s taken so many punches that she’ll shake off any of his. It’ll really come down to *how* she plays the debates, either as informative to the audience or as trolling Donald to force him off balance. I think her instinct is the latter based on how she did previously.

  65. 65.

    cckids

    @shomi:

    All she has to do is just stand there quietly with that disapproving mother look and let Drumpf be Drumpf.

    It makes me wish they’d do a debate sitting down, so she could give him her “chin-on-hand, bring on the bullshit” Benghazi-hearings face. Including brushing him off her shoulders.

  67. 67.

    Bex

    @rikyrah: I saw her speak a few months before the ’08 Iowa primary. She was great, and talked a bit about how she and Barack met, which is the subject of the upcoming movie, “Southside With You” to be released in August.

  68. 68.

    Matt McIrvin

    I think there’s an excellent chance that Trump will just find some excuse to not debate Clinton at all. Probably at the last minute. He’s done it before, at least twice, and it got praised as a strategic masterstroke, like he’d pantsed his opponents.

  69. 69.

    dedc79

    Compare:

    TRUMP: If we cannot be properly reimbursed for the tremendous cost of our military protecting other countries, and in many cases the countries I’m talking about are extremely rich. Then if we cannot make a deal, which I believe we will be able to, and which I would prefer being able to, but if we cannot make a deal, I would like you to say, I would prefer being able to, some people, the one thing they took out of your last story, you know, some people, the fools and the haters, they said, “Oh, Trump doesn’t want to protect you.” I would prefer that we be able to continue, but if we are not going to be reasonably reimbursed for the tremendous cost of protecting these massive nations with tremendous wealth — you have the tape going on?

    and

    The Dude: I–the royal we, you know, the
    editorial–I dropped off the money,
    exactly as per–Look, I’ve got certain
    information, certain things have
    come to light, and uh, has it ever
    occurred to you, man, that given the
    nature of all this new shit, that,
    uh, instead of running around blaming
    me, that this whole thing might just
    be, not, you know, not just such a
    simple, but uh–you know?

    I’ll tell you what I’m blathering
    about! I got information–new shit
    has come to light and–shit, man!
    She kidnapped herself!
    Well sure, look at it! Young trophy
    wife, I mean, in the parlance of our
    times, owes money all over town,
    including to known pornographers–
    and that’s cool, that’s cool– but
    I’m saying, she needs money, and of
    course they’re gonna say they didn’t
    get it ’cause she wants more, man,
    she’s gotta feed the monkey, I mean–
    hasn’t that ever occurred to you…?
    Sir?

  70. 70.

    BR

    Sadly, I think the thing that would lose Trump the most support is if the slow motion video clip of him trying to kiss Pence is replayed for his base over and over. And add in the video of him with Giuliani in drag, and I think his base would melt. They can’t handle that sort of thing.

  72. 72.

    dmsilev

    Ezra Klein, notable as a Villager-in-Training, has penned a pretty good why Trump shouldn’t be President piece if anyone happens to have friends or relatives that (God forbid) are Trump-curious. Doesn’t rely at all on policy, but purely his character (or lack thereof).

  74. 74.

    dedc79

    @Chyron HR: I tried to include that line, but it screwed up the formatting. Hard to pick favorite scenes from the film, but that one is up there for me.

  77. 77.

    rikyrah

    How the RNC turned into The Mistake by the Lake
    07/21/16 01:05 PM—UPDATED 07/21/16 01:10 PM
    By Steve Benen

    It’s not as if we haven’t seen bad nominating conventions before. During the 1968 Democratic convention, there were literal riots outside the hall. At the 1972 Democratic convention, the presidential nominee chose a running mate, then felt the need to swap him out for someone else.

    As the 1992 Republican convention, the American mainstream recoiled when Pat Buchanan declared a religious war. Twenty years later, Clint Eastwood got into an argument with an empty chair – and somehow managed to come out on the losing end of the quarrel.

    And yet, reading the New York Times’ David Leonhardt’s summary of the 2016 Republican gathering, it’s hard not to marvel at this week’s developments in Cleveland.

    Screaming matches between delegates. Past nominees who refused to attend. Speakers who seem allergic to mentioning the nominee’s name – or policies. The runner-up refusing to endorse the winner.

    Plagiarism. Lies about plagiarism. Talk of Lucifer from the stage. Humanizing stories about the nominee relegated to obscure time slots. Multiple speakers calling for the jailing of the opposing nominee. A prominent delegate calling for that nominee’s execution by firing squad.
    Well, sure, when you put it that way, it sounds like things haven’t gone well.

  78. 78.

    dmsilev

    @Matt McIrvin: It worked in the primary, but it would backfire badly in the general, especially if he tried that stunt for the first debate. Clinton would say that Trump is afraid of her, and that she’ll show up anyway to answer questions and so forth, and the press (which loves those debates) would eat Trump alive.

  84. 84.

    gogol's wife

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    If you could see my comment, you could look at the YouTube of her debate with Rick Lazio. As he’s talking, she’s looking at him with eyes of steel.

  85. 85.

    Matt McIrvin

    I’ve been watching the national polls that came out over the course of the convention. There aren’t that many yet. I think the best you can say is that Trump didn’t obviously get a negative bounce from the first few days. Hard to say whether he got a positive one or not–if he did, it was small.

  86. 86.

    Mnemosyne

    @gogol’s wife:

    IIRC, Lazio was dumb enough to try a bit of physical intimidation by walking some kind of list over to Clinton’s podium. It did NOT go over well with NY state voters, to say the least.

  87. 87.

    Dadadadadadada

    @Matt McIrvin: Then the convention was a disaster for him. Candidates usually count on a large bounce from the convention. He got the media’s undivided attention (for free!) for a solid week, and the best he could do was break even. He is toast.

  88. 88.

    cain

    @Dadadadadadada:
    Please. He isn’t toast. You’re talking about a man on national tv, who outright said that he would hand off the duties of the president to his vice president. He has said so many things that would sink any other candidate, but not him. So, let’s not for a moment believe he is toast until voting day.

  89. 89.

    gogol's wife

    @Mnemosyne:

    Yes, he takes some kind of pledge over to her and badgers her to sign it. She stays cool. It was amazing. Too bad BJ won’t let me link it. I hope Donnie tries something similar.

  90. 90.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Dadadadadadada: Convention bounces are generally short-lived anyway–the best you can do is parlay it into some positive media buzz for a week or two.

  91. 91.

    Dadadadadadada

    @cain: If he were “sunk” by such comments, what would that look like? I don’t think it would be much different from what we see today: a lot of desperate flailing, denial from the insiders and deafening silence from a lot of people that should be his strongest supporters.

  92. 92.

    Brachiator

    @Dadadadadadada:

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Then the convention was a disaster for him. Candidates usually count on a large bounce from the convention. He got the media’s undivided attention (for free!) for a solid week, and the best he could do was break even. He is toast.

    The convention bounce, for either party, is one of a number of meaningless reactions about which the media dutifully writes during campaign season. It’s like a reporter talking about airport snarl during Thanksgiving or Christmas. It’s filler. Nothing more.

    I think that Trump is in trouble, and would be even if he had a perfect convention. But the real test will be when both campaigns hit the road after the convention.

  93. 93.

    Brachiator

    @? Martin:

    Clinton will eat him alive. She’s quite good in debates

    Clinton is OK in debates. Have people entirely forgot her debates with Obama in 2008?

    Clinton can overwhelm Trump with her mastery of background and experience. But the question will be how she will do on conveying leadership.

    And obviously, viewers are not neutral. Trump supporters are ignorant rubes who simply want to see Trump project power and authority. I keep hearing his supporters proclaim that Trump doesn’t need to know anything about foreign or domestic policy since his notably key strength is his ability to assemble the best advisors. Oddly enough, people said much the same thing about Dubya back in 2000. This was a tremendous error in judgment, but some people never learn.

  94. 94.

    J R in WV

    @Cacti:

    I suspected this a day or two after they were shut down so fast. Then the lists of people to be fired and arrested showed up, before the “coup”…

    Fascists are everywhere. They appear to use the same tools over and over. One way to recognize them. Perhaps we should recognize Kurdistan sooner rather than later, and invite it to join NATO?

  95. 95.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    As we saw during the primary, Trump’s debating style is to challenge his opponents to whip it out and have a measuring contest. So, yeah, this is going to be like a drunk frat boy challenging the Rock to a fistfight even if Hillary is not objectively the greatest debater in all of American history. “Pretty darn good” (which is what she is) will be more than good enough.

    ETA: Also, Obama is himself a terrific debater, so “came in second to Obama in the debate” is a recommendation in itself.

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