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You are here: Home / Open Threads / This Really Happened

This Really Happened

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Mike Pence appeared on ghostly apparition Hugh Hewitt’s radio show today and complained about President Obama calling Donald Trump a “demagogue:”

While speaking to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence took issue with Obama calling Trump a “demagogue” during his speech, saying that it made him feel disheartened.

“You know, I don’t think name calling has any place in public life, and I thought that was unfortunate that the President of the United States would use a term like that, let alone laced into a sentence like that,” he said.

Emphasis mine, because are you fucking kidding me? Has this half-wit not seen his own running mate’s Twitter account? Did he not watch any of the GOP debates? Here you go, Mike; try not to knock your head on the mahogany trim during your swoon:

fainting-couch

Honest to dog, y’all, if I could add an immutable law to the universe, it might be to set a maximum level of hypocrisy that would make any creature exceeding it spontaneously combust. It might reduce every elected Republican Party official to an ash heap inside a week, but we could live with that, right? Open thread!

Reader Interactions

214Comments

  1. 1.

    aimai

    I hope someone starts a hashtag and forwards Pence all of the Donald’s twitter insults of everyone around. Especially if they happened right on stage in front of Pence.

  4. 4.

    FlipYrWhig

    I’m pretty sure Mike Pence doesn’t know what “demagogue” means. Someone should tell him his epidermis is showing and wait to see how embarrassed he gets.

  5. 5.

    RaflW

    Mike Pence has bolted himself to an insane con man. Of course he has no sense of self-awareness. One cannot, and also say yes to Trump.

  6. 6.

    John M. Burt

    Saying Trump is a demagogue is no more “name-calling” than is saying he has an ugly combover — and the truth of both statements is equally obvious.

  7. 7.

    George Spiggott

    I fully endorse Mike Pence’s freedom of speech to complain about Obama calling Trump a demagogue…over…and over…and over…and over…

  8. 8.

    Felanius Kootea

    Pence can complain all he wants, Trump voters should appreciate politicians calling Trump exactly what he is, since they say they favor “honest speech” and “telling it like it is.” Goose, gander, etc. The Democrats know better than to let up because of Mike Pence’s complaints.

  12. 12.

    dmsilev

    Mike Pence at one point was named the stupidest member of Congress, and consider the competition. It’s possible that he doesn’t actually know that he’s running with Donald Trump.

  14. 14.

    Mnemosyne

    I think commenter singfoom has said that he (?) has a part-time job selling jewelry and would be able to fit Mr. Pence with a lovely set of pearls to clutch at a very reasonable price.

  16. 16.

    jl

    Why has Pence gone all politically correct?
    That is the kind of thing that is ruining the country, which we won’t have much longer unless we get politically incorrect and fight fire with fire.
    Trump should fire his under-performing Apprentice loser ass.

  18. 18.

    Mnemosyne

    Since this is an open thread, I’m going to see “A Chorus Line” at the Hollywood Bowl tonight and I am SUPER EXCITED. I know the original cast album by heart because my dad was a big fan when it premiered, but I’ve never seen a production of it.

    I sometimes regret that he didn’t live long enough to see the “Hamilton” phenomenon, because we were always able to bond over Broadway. ?

  20. 20.

    jl

    @lgerard: Some commenter said it was a result of stuffing his fat ass into a suit a few sizes to small as an instant slimming program. Maybe that is it.

  21. 21.

    James E Powell

    OT a bit, but Chuck Todd and the guy who does the map are both clearly filled with glee at the thought that Trump has a path to 270, that he might sweep the rust belt.

    Why is this the topic of the day?

  23. 23.

    NotMax

    Republicans: More projection during any random week than in the entire existence of Radio City Music Hall.

  25. 25.

    gogol's wife

    Ran into our former minister in the parking lot of Stop & Shop today and we stood in the hot sun for a half hour fangirling about last night’s convention! We’re fired up and ready to go!

  27. 27.

    tjlabs

    See here’s the thing, dear Betty. It’s not that they THINK their supporters are really stupid. It’s that they KNOW their supporters are really stupid.

  28. 28.

    Redshift

    I think it’s a good thing if Pence periodically reminds the country that he is extremely stupid. Voters need to know that, and it’s not like the media are going to tell them. They have to pretend all the candidates are equally smart, or someone might think they’re biased.

  29. 29.

    rikyrah

    This man hates on ‘ the gay’ 24/7/365, and even put it into LAW. But, because he didn’t go around calling homosexuals/lesbians – ‘faggots’, it makes it all good. And, those of us who point out the utter HATRED that he’s tried to codify in law…well, you just exaggerate.

    I TOLD YOU ALL….

    The only reason that they are mad with Ferret Head is because he doesn’t use Frank Luntz-approved dogwhistles.

    Oh, and Pence?

    Go Phuck Yourself.

  30. 30.

    Mnemosyne

    @Redshift:

    I’m already picturing the Pence/Kaine debate. I mean, if you thought it was an unfair match when Biden was punching Paulie Blue Eyes, well, just you wait …

  32. 32.

    Captain C

    This would make a hilarious campaign ad. Juxtapose audio (over a still of his face) of Pence saying this with many different vids of Trump insulting people. I’m sure one of Clinton’s people (or her SuperPAC’s people) could think of a great tag line. Maybe one pointing out that he ought to tell this to his new boss.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    @tjlabs:

    It’s not that they THINK their supporters are really stupid. It’s that they KNOW their supporters are really stupid.

    I would think the same thing if were them.

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    @James E Powell

    Because the network laid out beaucoups bucks for the “cool” giant touchscreen apparatus, and they’re damned well going to find any excuse to use it.

    Must Speculate Now, By Cracky.

    “On the other hand, if a giant sinkhole swallows up Massachusetts and Connecticut (swipes screen to make pictures dance), then all bets are off.”

  39. 39.

    Trentrunner

    I’m not going to live through this campaign. Let’s watch Trump’s mind in action:

    At the start of today’s Colorado rally, Trump began by saying that we have “thousands” of people in the next room who want to get in, but the fire marshall won’t let them.

    Trump then said:

    – This is why “our country is going to hell.”
    – This is why we can’t do things.
    – The fire marshall is probably a Hillary supporter.

    Cogitate on that, for a moment, seeing how he thinks: Fuck safety if it affects my optics. And anyone in my way (in this case, of my fucking big-crowd optics), must be an enemy. Why else would anyone thwart me?

    And remember, this is your “law and order” candidate, who wants to violate room capacity fire regulations and blame Hillary.

    I can’t even. I can’t even “I can’t even”.

  41. 41.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Someone should tell him his epidermis is showing and wait to see how embarrassed he gets.

    That “someone” should be one of those Thespian women who were all over the place at the DNC. Or perhaps a college student who was caught matriculating in public.

  42. 42.

    Miss Bianca

    @Trentrunner: Uh, Trump is somewhere in CO today? I’m betting it’s Colorado Springs. Doug Lamborn is such a tool I bet he’s up there with him.

  43. 43.

    Joyce H

    @jl:

    Horse race = $$$$$$ for the media.

    In light of that – I think we should start a Gofundme page, contributions to go to the reporter who asks Mike Pence to define ‘demagogue’. Because I really don’t think he knows what it means. And I think his response would be pure comedy gold. Not unlike that famous Chris Matthews take-down of the right-wing shouter who kept accusing Obama of ‘appeasement’ a la Neville Chamberlain.

  45. 45.

    MattF

    @Trentrunner: I’m guessing that it’s the result of his ethnic heritage in real estate development– real estate moguls regard people who enforce fire codes as their natural enemies.

  47. 47.

    Mnemosyne

    @Redshift:

    You know that old saying about how smart people hire people who are smarter than they are, but dumb people hire people who are dumber than they are so they don’t get shown up?

    Now we know exactly how dumb Trump really is.

  52. 52.

    Trentrunner

    @Miss Bianca: Yes, it’s Colorado Springs.

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: And, yes, I thought the same thing. For Trump to think this, though, he’d have to entertain the possibility that he might have made a mistake.

    If I don’t see an HRC convention bounce next week, Imma gonna…hell, I don’t know…help me, Jesus…

  54. 54.

    scav

    @Felonius Monk:

    Mike Pence — The man who makes fence posts look smart.

    Well, he was apparently the #2 pick of the litter and what makes a better deep bench than a thick plank?

  55. 55.

    NotMax

    @BillinGlendaleCA

    Been their M.O. all along to print up and try to pass out many, many more tickets than the number of people the venue could possibly hold and then point to the number of tickets printed as evidence of no shows.

  56. 56.

    dee

    Correct me if I am wrong,but,I don’t think President Obama mentioned Tweety McThinskins (not my original,but isn’t it great?l) name when talking about demagogues.

  57. 57.

    Trentrunner

    I’m having a bad day. For reasons stated above, I decided to switch off news and flip over to my TV balm and refuge, Turner Classic Movies.

    They’re showing Hellcats of the Navy, starring…Ronald Reagan.

    #YouGotMeUniverseIGiveUp

  58. 58.

    Mnemosyne

    @Trentrunner:

    Don’t forget, the media is dying to maintain their horserace, so make sure you look at the internals of the polls before you panic. There are a lot of ways they can fiddle with the results by using different definitions of “likely voter” or oversampling specific demographics.

    (Same caveat goes for outlier polls that look awesome for us. Trust, but verify.)

  59. 59.

    Miss Bianca

    @Trentrunner: So, if someone yells “fire!” at a crowded Trump rally, are they a) exercising their First Amendment rights, per Donald Trump’s copy of the Constitution, or b), in the pocket of Big Fire Marshal?

  60. 60.

    piratedan

    So… let me make sure I have this right, the guy at the #2 spot on the GOP ticket believes that Obama is being uncivil for calling Mr. Trump a “demagogue”… lets review what President Obama has been called by the right shall we?

    no… this is a family blog but I have to say, I think Mr. Pence is taking the high road, but I’m not sure marijuana is legal in Indiana….

  62. 62.

    Mary G

    @Mnemosyne: I saw Chorus Line years ago when it first came to LA. The people who took me also took some elderly relatives visiting from Norway. It cracked the crowd up when one of them asked what tits and ass were.

  66. 66.

    Smiling Mortician

    My favorite thing about the Pence quote: he’s not just upset that Obama used the word “demagogue,” but that he had the audacity to use it in a sentence. The syntactical nerve of that guy, making “sentences” out of “words.”

  69. 69.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    Wasn’t it just ’08 that the notorious “macaca” event spelled the end to what’s-his-name’s career? That would probably produce a quickly-forgotten half-day news blurb nowadays in Trumptopia.

  71. 71.

    jl

    Another day in Trumpmerica:

    Jeet Heer
    ‏@HeerJeet
    Fun fact: America closed its base in Saudi Arabia in 2003.
    Ben JacobsVerified account
    ‏@Bencjacobs
    Trump is now complaining “we pay rent for our base to Saudi Arabia”

    Edit: for a supposed billionaire, Trump has a real cheap landlord mentality. He thinks national productivity and finance is tied to looking through the books to see how much spare change can be shaken out of anyone and anything that has any dealings with the US. He has been doing nothing but license deals for a looooonnnggg time, I guess.

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    @Trentrunner

    Only film he made with Nancy. They’ve been showing Nancy Davis movies all day (strictly B and C fare), and billing them in the onscreen promos as starring Nancy Reagan.

  75. 75.

    Betty Cracker

    Was listening to an NPR news report a moment ago, and they played a clip of Trump’s CO rally, which he opened by bragging that the RNC beat the DNC in ratings. This is a bald-faced lie, correct? NPR did not dispute it.

  76. 76.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Trentrunner:

    I’ve never seen it, but wasn’t his costar in that movie one Nancy Davis?

    Edit: Oops, sorry, didn’t see NotMax @73.

  78. 78.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Betty Cracker:

    I haven’t seen the ratings for the comparative Thursday nights, but TTBOMK the DNC beat the RNC each of the first three nights.

  79. 79.

    Trentrunner

    @NotMax: Yeah, I saw her in an earlier scene with Ronnie.

    They’re both rotting in the grave, and here we are with their shit. Still.

  81. 81.

    Trentrunner

    @SiubhanDuinne: Nielsen said the GOP Thursday had more viewers than DNC Thursday (approx 32 million to 30 million).

    Trump led with it today at his rally, and he was correct about that, at least.

  85. 85.

    Mnemosyne

    @Baud:

    Here in sunny So Cal, Republicans don’t put their party affiliation on their campaign signs anymore just so people don’t dismiss them out of hand.

  87. 87.

    Mandalay

    Well I am dumbfounded, but it is true…..Lyin’ James Clapper is the about only public figure who is correct about the DNC’s emails getting hacked:

    Spy chief James Clapper said Thursday that U.S. intelligence services are facing a “version of war” with Russia — but it’s too soon to blame the old Cold War rival for hacking the Democratic National Committee’s emails.

    He said it’s also too early to say whether the people who leaked those emails are trying to throw the presidential election to Donald Trump, as Hillary Clinton’s campaign has charged.

    But I’m sure our media won’t let reality get in the way of a good story.

  92. 92.

    Quinerly

    @Trentrunner:
    He is now agreeing with his supporters at this rally in CO when they scream “lock her up.” Says he is rethinking his position on just beating her in November after all the lies told about him at the convention.

  94. 94.

    Mnemosyne

    @ThresherK:

    Excuse me, but I have to make a correction that’s been bugging me for a while. Trump is not a “reality show star,” because “The Apprentice” is not a reality show. It’s a game show.

    Trump is a game show host. Let’s call him what he really is.

  95. 95.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @FlipYrWhig: Y’think mebbe he’s under the depression that a demagogue is somewhere Democrat Jooz go to drain the blood out of Gentile babies?

  98. 98.

    Mandalay

    @Betty Cracker:

    he opened by bragging that the RNC beat the DNC in ratings

    He he is lying, but I suspect he is carefully baiting the media to challenge him so that he can then stuff this specific number down their throats:

    Four million fewer people tuned in to see Hillary Clinton accept the Democratic nomination Thursday night than watched Donald Trump accept the Republican one.

  99. 99.

    jl

    @Betty Cracker: From what I see on the intertubes, only the broadcast network numbers are out and only for early to mid evening of DNC night 4. So, Trump is running with whatever numbers he has, doesn’t care what they are.

    Anyway it’s the olds. I read someplace that DNC social media viewership dwarfed network and cable on first nights.

    I think for first three nights where complete numbers are in, DNC was beating RNC for network and cable, which I take to be mostly oldsters.

  100. 100.

    Quinerly

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    As I understand, the on line watching numbers weren’t even close, so that’s good. I, too, know a lot of hate watchers re RNC. I suspect very few hardcore Trump lovers watched our convention. From what I’m reading on line, they seem convinced that there wasn’t a flag anywhere.

  101. 101.

    Brachiator

    @James E Powell:

    OT a bit, but Chuck Todd and the guy who does the map are both clearly filled with glee at the thought that Trump has a path to 270, that he might sweep the rust belt.

    I think I saw the same segment, and I don’t think that anybody was filled with glee. They used an electoral map to clearly demonstrate a couple of possible outcomes. Would you have preferred that they lied? Do you honestly believe that the election is in the bag for Clinton?

    Also they showed how a number of states, notably Utah and Arizona, were in play for Hillary.

  103. 103.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mandalay:

    Well, he doesn’t exactly exonerate them:

    “In the environs of the former Soviet orb, the Russians will push to exert influence, will attempt to influence political processes in these countries, as we’ve seen them do,” he said. “To me it’s not a great leap to assume they’re similarly motivated to do the same here.”

    I actually wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Russian hackers that were paid by some oligarch rather than the actual Russian government, but so far, all of the circumstantial evidence points towards a Russian origin of some kind.

  107. 107.

    debbie

    @Betty Cracker:

    I thought I heard them disputing it, but it could have been a different segment. Their new formatting isn’t as organized as it used to be.

  108. 108.

    Miss Bianca

    @Quinerly:

    Says he is rethinking his position on just beating her in November after all the lies told about him at the convention.

    Uhh…right. “Rethinking his position”? What, if he can’t get her on emails, he’s going to throw her in jail for *making fun of him*?

    Jesus, that dark-skinned Palestinian Jew, wept.

  109. 109.

    Quinerly

    The ratings are in. If you go purely on that.. his night vs her night…more people watched him. The other 3 nights, the DNC beat the RNC. He said earlier today that ratings are more important than polls. I kid you not.

  110. 110.

    Feebog

    Not sure why this hasn’t received more attention today, but the 4th circuit completely invalidated North Carolina’s voter suppression law today. I just finished reading the 83 page decision and it slams the state legislature from beginning to end. Can we get a post up about it? Adam, looking at you.

  111. 111.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Mnemosyne: You just know that routine-violator-of-survey-ethics Rasmussen will slam both of King Kong’s thumbs & Godzilla’s lizard arse on the scale by cobbling up an appropriate “turnout model”.

  113. 113.

    Keith G

    Been catching up on last night’s video from the festivities. Bill and the balloons is a gift from heaven. I have been watching the GIF of him tossing the two red balloons. It’s a giggle every time. One of his strengths was also his weakness – he is such a boy.

  114. 114.

    Suzanne

    Pence is an intellectually bereft fuckalope, but I don’t know if it matters. I am worried that we will lose, not because we nominated Hillz or Bernie or because of email or marching with MLK. There are just a lot of stupid, mean people in this country who cannot be swayed by anything. No evil Drumpf comment or pesky fact or change in position will change their minds. They like Drumpf because they are douchebags and they only like other douchebags.

  115. 115.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @jl:
    It is also well established that the old white men of television news are consistently offended that anyone could win an election without the support of old, white men. Their dismissive attitude towards ‘minority voters’ is omnipresent.

    @Trentrunner:
    This isn’t a Trumpism, per se. Or rather, it’s one of the ways he’s in tune with his audience. Conservatives hate being told what to do. They actively resent the existence of public regulations, which tell them the can’t fire their shotguns in the backyard, lock disobedient kids in the trunk of their car, or just leave big piles of newspapers lying around. Mocking regulations they don’t understand is a conservative humor style. I grew up around it. Along with taxes and being stopped from abusing minorities, those are the three reasons they hate the federal government.

  116. 116.

    NorthLeft12

    @jl

    Trump: You’re fired Pence!
    Pence: Fired?!? I quit!

    I imagine this happening on Election night, after the returns are in.
    These two asshats deserve each other.

  117. 117.

    Quinerly

    @Miss Bianca:
    Wolf Blitzer actually challenged his spokesperson Katrina Pierson on this…he basically went there..”locking up your enemies.” She says that Trump was essentially “communing” with his crowd..word salad.

  120. 120.

    mike in dc

    So, this Russian hacking thing: Turns out they hacked the DCCC and the Clinton campaign as well. But no reports of the RCCC, RNC or Trump campaign being hacked. How…odd. Why would a foreign power hack the systems of only one of a country’s major political parties? At best, Putin is putting his thumb on the scale for Trump because he thinks he’ll get everything he wants under a Trump administration. At worst, this is being done in coordination/collaboration with the Trump campaign, which would constitute treason against the United States.

    Uh, shouldn’t this be a bigger news item than it seems to be at the moment?

  121. 121.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @piratedan:

    I think Mr. Pence is taking the high road, but I’m not sure marijuana is legal in Indiana….

    When I dream about the meth labs by the Wabash,
    Then I long for my Indiana home…

  123. 123.

    Felonius Monk

    @efgoldman:

    It’s an existential argument. Who’s dumber? Bag of hammers (Gohmert) or Fence Post (Pence).

    I agree. It is pretty much an existential argument. OTOH, Pence took the job as Trump’s #2. Stupid move for a stupid guy. I’m betting Trump will try to fire him before election day.

  124. 124.

    Formerly disgruntled Clinton supporter

    @srv: You’re adorable :)

    But seriously, if Donald “takes the gloves off”, might he say something that would offend Mike Pence’s delicate sensibilities?

  125. 125.

    Jeffro

    It’s clear that the Trumpistas have decided just to brass it out from now ’til the election…why not? Hard to vote straight when your head is spinning. They just might get lucky!

  126. 126.

    Mandalay

    @Miss Bianca:

    Is it too early to call you a chortling ass? What does James Clapper have to say about it?

    In the past week it has been almost universally presented as a fact that Putin was responsible for the DNC’s emails being hacked. Now Clapper is someone I could trust about as far as I could throw him, but his word on the issue matters more than anyone else:

    Anonymous federal officials have been telling media outlets for days that, within the intelligence community, officials were sure Russia was responsible for infiltrating the DNC’s servers and stealing thousands of emails and internal communications. Asked if his unnamed colleagues were jumping the gun, Clapper unequivocally answered “Yes.”
    “I don’t think we’re quite ready yet to make the call on attribution,” he said    . “I mean, we all know there are a just a few usual suspects out there, but in terms of the process that we try to stick to, I don’t think we’re ready to make a public call on that yet.”

    So keep hurling abuse at me, and if you have evidence that the Russian government is definitely responsible then let’s see what you’ve got. But otherwise you should probably STFU.

  129. 129.

    Brachiator

    While speaking to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence took issue with Obama calling Trump a “demagogue” during his speech, saying that it made him feel disheartened.

    Did he say this with a straight face, or bust out laughing and declare that he was just being “sarcastic?”

    Or maybe Pence needed to have someone explain what “demagogue” means. He does seem to be thick.

  130. 130.

    hueyplong

    There is no way to resolve the Gohmert/Pence stupidity contest, because the Obamas stubbornly refuse to make an official announcement arrogantly ordering real Muricans not to drink bleach, and even if one of them did make such an announcement, the contest would end up in a tie, with endless arguments over which of the GOP luminaries died first.

  131. 131.

    jl

    @SiubhanDuinne: I don’t think all the cable outfit ratings are in yet for the whole evening. But i’m not sure. But I don’t think it means much, given what I’ve read about broadcast and cable making such a small proportion of Democratic convention viewership. Sorry no links. I went through the stuff fast.

  134. 134.

    debbie

    @Miss Bianca:

    I Googled and am listening to his speech again. So powerful, I almost want to go to church!

    “We have a heart problem in America.”

    And how great is it that he’s from North Carolina?

  135. 135.

    Jeffro

    @Brachiator:

    Would you have preferred that they lied? Do you honestly believe that the election is in the bag for Clinton?

    It is, but I’d really rather ‘run scared’ all the way through Nov 8th. Heck I’ll run through Nov 9th, 10th, if need be. We need to pretend that the EV map is so red…or if you prefer, Cheeto orange…that we’re up against impossible odds, are almost out of photon torpedoes, and have only one chance to hit the exhaust port.

  136. 136.

    Quinerly

    @mike in dc:
    Trump spokesperson just said if there is anything that harms HRC, the campaign will use it. All being discussed on CNN right now. Campaign is saying that if HRC campaign hacked, it shows she is not fit to guard national security. Crazy talk.

  137. 137.

    Miss Bianca

    @Mandalay: Dude, you seem awfully anxious to take the FBI’s word on this – and in any event,”we’re not quite ready to make the call” is not exactly the same as “nope, no way, nuh-uh” or being “correct” about the DNC NOT being hacked by the Russians.

    Now I can tell you’re one of those “leftists” who seems to take unholy delight in trashing anyone or anything you perceive as being to the right of Stalin, but really…your shit is just weak.

  138. 138.

    Villago Delenda Est

    You know, if someone walked in to a major publishing house with year’s election story and tried to offer it up as a work of fiction, it would be rejected as absolutely implausible.

  141. 141.

    mike in dc

    @Quinerly:

    There’s no indication at this point that the hackers even attempted to hit Republican organizations or the Trump campaign. I’m pretty sure even a hack of the Fox News servers would produce some seriously embarrassing stuff for the Republicans. If this was simply an anti-establishment hack, why not hit both parties? It seems to be directed at engineering the defeat of one party.

  142. 142.

    NotMax

    Those were the days.

    Scene in crappy film on right now has the airplane pilot holding a plastic cup of coffee in one hand and a lit cigarette with the other while in flight.

  143. 143.

    Quinerly

    @Miss Bianca:
    He’s basically saying because he feels the DNC lied about him,the gloves are off. At his rallies when the crowd screams “lock her up” he says we just are going to beat her. Now, since the DNC maybe he will start agreeing with them. It’s not like he joined in the chant..but he did seem to put out there that he agrees in locking her up if he wins.

  146. 146.

    Trentrunner

    All this shit happened on ONE day in the campaign. Gah.

    I need a drink, but I don’t do alcohol…

    I need to pray, but I’m an atheist…

    I need to get high, but I don’t do drugs…

    Shit, am I Mormon?

  147. 147.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mandalay: It’s not worth the exercise to dig through the archives, but I bet you were singing an entirely different tune when Clapper was impugning the integrity of Mr. Snowden.

  153. 153.

    Mandalay

    @Miss Bianca:

    you seem awfully anxious to take the FBI’s word on this

    James Clapper is the Director of National Intelligence you clod.

    Stop advertising your complete ignorance on the subject. Just stop.

  155. 155.

    Mnemosyne

    @Jeffro:

    See, this is where temperaments differ. I want to play this like Hillary/Kaine are the Harlem Globetrotters and Trump/Pence are the Washington Generals. We know that victory is inevitable, but we’re going to have SO much fun running rings around them first.

  159. 159.

    Calouste

    @mike in dc: My theory is that servers on both sides have been hacked, and so far what has been released from the Democratic side has been a big yawn. And the Republican side hasn’t been released yet because there is real shit in there and they are still negotiating over the ransom.

  164. 164.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    I can’t remember the name of the film, but I remember seeing, years and years ago, a movie about an airplane crash. Most of the movie was trying to piece together what happened to cause it. (SPOILER) It turned out that the pilot had asked the stewardess to bring him a cup of coffee, had accidentally knocked it over, the liquid spilled on some vital electronic controls, and boom crash whomp.

    Anyone recognize this from my quite inadequate description? I don’t even remember who was in it. Maybe someone like Glenn Ford or Rod Taylor or similar.

  165. 165.

    Mandalay

    @Betty Cracker: Riiiiight – make me the subject of Clapper’s statements, just as everyone else responding has done.

    Heaven forfend that you should even acknowledge that folks here (including OPs who should know better) gleefully swallowed the media bait that Putin was definitely responsible just because Team Clinton and CNN said so.

  166. 166.

    Baud

    @jl:

    While Trump’s speech was slightly higher-rated on TV, the results were reversed on Facebook, which measured the volume of conversation about each convention.
    Facebook said the final day of the DNC generated “46.5 million likes, posts, comments and shares” from 12.6 million American users, slightly ahead of the final day of the RNC, when the site had 45.1 million interactions from 12.2 million users.

  167. 167.

    Matt McIrvin

    @mike in dc: We don’t even have to speculate about that–who knows who the hackers hit, but Julian Assange says outright that he personally wants to destroy Hillary Clinton.

  168. 168.

    Quinerly

    @Trentrunner:
    I was actually making fun of all of us who have been obsessed and off our regular schedules/routines for 2 weeks. I’m taking my life back tomorrow. Overload.

  171. 171.

    Baud

    Via Kos

    Trump’s speech got the least positive reviews of any speech we have tested after the fact: 35% of Americans interviewed last weekend said it was excellent or good. Of the nine previous speeches we have rated, the top one was Barack Obama’s in August 2008, which 58% of Americans rated as excellent or good.

    High ratings are not necessarily good.

  172. 172.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Quinerly: So we know that Donald Trump is planning on personally having his enemies locked up out of spite. Good to keep in mind.

  173. 173.

    hueyplong

    srv makes Bill Kristol look like Nostradamus.

    Either that or he makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X.

    Can’t remember which. Maybe both.

  178. 178.

    Brachiator

    @Jeffro:

    It is, but I’d really rather ‘run scared’ all the way through Nov 8th. Heck I’ll run through Nov 9th, 10th, if need be. We need to pretend that the EV map is so red…or if you prefer, Cheeto orange…that we’re up against impossible odds, are almost out of photon torpedoes, and have only one chance to hit the exhaust port.

    I appreciate your cheerleading, and even your mixing of the streams of SF film tropes.

  181. 181.

    Quinerly

    @Matt McIrvin:
    I think we always knew it. Today he came very close to saying it in the guise of being in the “moment” of the rally and “communing” with his supporters.

  183. 183.

    delk

    Filed under 2+2=4

    After Michelle’s speech the local news said that she would be returning to her Chicago home but there were no plans for her to appear anywhere,

    Today pictures of Malia at Lollapalooza hit the net.

  184. 184.

    Kathleen

    @James E Powell: Chuck’s wife’s company has a contract with Trump like she had with Sanders? (Hint: Chuck, Donald doesn’t pay his suppliers. Just sayin’).

    Or Chuck is just evil.

  185. 185.

    Mandalay

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Julian Assange says outright that he personally wants to destroy Hillary Clinton.

    Right. The mystery about Assange is not whether he detests Clinton – he has made it very clear that he does – but why he chose that specific time to leak the emails. Although the media said it was carefully timed, I would have thought a Monday evening leak – after DWS had opened the convention as originally planned – would have been far more damaging to Clinton.

    Perhaps. the best (or worst depending on your point of view) is yet to come, with the further emails Assange has up his sleeve.

  186. 186.

    Brachiator

    @lamh36:

    This editorial cartoon may just make you wan to “avert your eyes”!

    Perfect! I just hope that somebody shows it to Trump. He’s just gotta see it.

  188. 188.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mandalay:

    I’m sorry you felt attacked when I quoted from the article to show that Clapper’s statement was a lot more equivocal than you presented it as being. Perhaps not posting in a tone of HA-HA LOOZERS WERE WRONG ABOUT RUSSIA! when that wasn’t what the article said would get you a better response.

  189. 189.

    Mike E

    That Dinesh d’Souza “Hail Satan Hillary” hack piece is the ad on my chrome browser now…Rapture!

  191. 191.

    Trollhattan

    @jl:
    Odds Trump recalls one of Bin Laden’s complaints against the Great Satan was our base in Saudia Arabia, sorta kinda putting it in Mecca’s holy backyard? 1:3,000.

  192. 192.

    mike in dc

    @srv:

    Nope. If the Russians had tried to hack them, they would have reported the attempt, in order to make that very argument.

  194. 194.

    Kathleen

    @hedgehog the occasional commenter: Or Principal Kaine put him in detention? Imagine a Breakfast Club remake starring Trump, Pence, Joni Ernst, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina (“The Princess”) and a special guest appearance by the ferret on Rand Paul’s head.

    ETA Make sure you try the veal and tip the bartender!

  196. 196.

    Emma

    @delk: So an 18 year old decided to rock out with friends instead of attending a political event? And Mom and Dad were cool with it? NEWS AT 11!

  197. 197.

    Mnemosyne

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Now I’m taking a moment to imagine what would happen if St. Assange was caught including fake emails in a “leak.”

    It would be irresponsible not to speculate, n’est-ce pas?

  198. 198.

    Poopyman

    @SiubhanDuinne: Freaky. I’ve been trying to remember the name of that film for the past couple of days. I can’t even remember how I started obsessing.

  199. 199.

    Kathleen

    @Betty Cracker: NPR TV reporter said Dems beat Rethugs viewership the first 3 nights of the convention. Last night Hillary drew 33 million viewers for acceptance speech while Trump drew 35 million. Of course, he may have drawn viewers from the National Association of Trainwreck Watchers.

  202. 202.

    Citizen Alan

    @Joyce H:

    True story: In 1992, Barbara Walters interviewed Barbara Bush and actually asked; “You described Pat Buchanan as ‘a dangerous demagogue.’ What is a demagogue?”

    Followed by 3 full seconds of deer-in-the-headlights staring and then 7 seconds of babbling before Walters decided to move on.

  207. 207.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mandalay: It wasn’t just Team Clinton and CNN. But don’t let that stop you from attempting to shape the facts, which aren’t all in, to fit your preferred narrative.

  209. 209.

    Mandalay

    @Betty Cracker:

    It wasn’t just Team Clinton and CNN.

    It certainly wasn’t. Russia was branded as guilty throughout most of the media.

    Now Putin may very well be behind the leaks, though we may never know for sure either way, but that isn’t the central issue with respect to Clapper’s comments. The media and politicians certainly pushed the narrative that Russia was definitely guilty based on the known “evidence”, and you – among many – accepted it as a fact. Clapper said otherwise.

    from attempting to shape the facts, which aren’t all in

    I’m not “shaping” anything. I am pointing out that Clapper is disputing the prevailing narrative that Putin is already definitely guilty. You and others are the ones who have been shaping the facts when they aren’t all in, by going along with the media’s nonsense.

  210. 210.

    Wumpus

    Al Capone was also never tried or convicted of murder. THINK ABOUT IT, PEOPLE. THINK ABOUT IT.

  211. 211.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Quinerly:

    Trump spokesperson just said if there is anything that harms HRC, the campaign will use it. All being discussed on CNN right now. Campaign is saying that if HRC campaign hacked, it shows she is not fit to guard national security. Crazy talk.

    So that’s Trump’s idea of law and order “you get robbed, it’s your fault?”

  214. 214.

    Aardvark Cheeselog

    @OP:

    Honest to dog, y’all, if I could add an immutable law to the universe, it might be to set a maximum level of hypocrisy that would make any creature exceeding it spontaneously combust.

    Well fvcking done.

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