Some day, when things calm down, I'll tell the real story of @JoeNBC and his very insecure long-time girlfriend, @morningmika. Two clowns!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2016
I expect we’ll get this inside scoop on Joe and Mika from Trump right after we hear back from his Hawaiian birth certificate investigation team, but damn! Will Trump get away with this because he is Trump, or will a personal attack like this create blow-back from the Beltway press, which likely takes a dim view of references to infotainment celebrity side salads?
And really, MIKA is the insecure one? Joe Scarborough sulks like a toddler if anyone contradicts him or implies that one of his many stupid and uninformed opinions are rooted in ignorance. He’s an insecure bully, like Trump, so it’s unsurprising Trump is blind to it. Morons, the lot of them.
dedc79
They all deserve each other.
SenyorDave
And the pivot lasted slightly longer than a three year old’s time out (and I do apologize for insulting three year olds by using them in a comparison to Trump).
MattF
Raises some questions, given that projection is Trump’s main rhetorical tactic.
Major Major Major Major
I read that as “his manly stupid and uninformed opinions are rooted in ignorance,” so, feel free to take that edit.
Immanentize
Why would Trump attack those two? They seem to be in the bag at least for a solid horse race which only helps Trump. He really cannot help himself. We really need Liz Warren to start trolling him again.
gogol's wife
The extent to which this man has lowered the public discourse is incalculable.
Tom Levenson
I’m just loving the fact that a serially married, repeat adulterer is throwing shade on anyone else’s hanky panky. #FamilyValues
Mustang Bobby
It may have something to do with the fact that all morning — or at least as long as I could stomach them — Joe and Mika kept calling Trump a Democrat.
japa21
@Immanentize: Morning Joe was one of the biggest enablers of Trump during the early primary season. Those two deserve each other.
one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer
The fuck? If anybody has no room to say anything about other people’s extracurriculars, it’s this asshole.
Dmbeaster
Why is he on Joe and Mika’s case now?
randy khan
Need. more. popcorn.
randy khan
More substantively, I heard a news report this morning that Trump is denying the supposed pivot on undocumented immigrants.
Shocking.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
I watched a Frank Luntz focus group on CBS this morning of all white undecided
moronsvoters, who all agreed that Trump is erratic, immature and acting insane, but they liked his “apology” a lot and thought if he could keep that up he’d win them back over. LOL.Corner Stone
There. Thought I’d throw in a little early AM FTFY to get your day started off right.
lamh36
Joe has already responded to Trump on behalf of his baby Mika
AWWW.
I am LMAO…first cause he’s not wrong about the show…Joe does have Mika come off as that neurotic woman and he treats her as such. Second cause other than Politico the media, who likes to report on Trumps tweets sure ain’t talking much about the tweet you mentioned, rather they are focusing on the initial tweet about Morning Joe being “low rated and unwatchable”
schrodinger's cat
Joe-Mika dynamic had always made me uncomfortable, it always struck me as unprofessional and borderline skeevy, even back in 2008 when I had cable and MSNBC.
amk
I am rooting for vicious and deadly cage fights with all the cable noise dickheads, who built and let the thug to literally phone it in.
Take’em down, donnie.
schrodinger's cat
@Mustang Bobby: Joe and his concubine deserve all the shade they are getting from the Rage Cantaloupe.
MattF
@randy khan: The Multi-Pivot.
lamh36
@schrodinger’s cat: Yep there had always been a flirtatious vibe between the two.
then once Mika told the story of how Joe fought for her to get equal pay (I don’t buy it…I still think Joe gets more)..Mika has had stars in her eyes. Joe has always come off as being totally condescending and overbearing to his “old lady” Mika.
it was disgusting to watch
amk
@randy khan: 360 degrees is a pivot.
Kay
She placates him so he doesn’t get insulted or mad, because that’s the role of women- women can’t approach anything directly and have to take this circling route so no one gets their feelings hurt. They also have to smile constantly and defend, defend, defend.
I just can’t even believe they consider that show “modern” or “contemporary”. It’s almost olde timey.
schrodinger's cat
@Kay: Please, Lucy in the I Love Lucy show, showed more backbone than Mika does.
schrodinger's cat
@lamh36: Amen sister!
BTW how is your family in Baton Rouge?
lamh36
@Kay: yep then she smiles at the camera like “you ladies get it”. I’m like screaming at the tv at her saying “woman da fuq” up already.
it’s exactly like they were a couple and not just on air partners. so I was not at all surprised about the story of them being a real life couple
Hal
Weren’t they just sucking up to Trump a few months ago and purposely going easy on him?
JPL
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Luntz did say if, Trump became more presidential and talked about policies important to you, then would you consider voting for him. The only thing Luntz didn’t promise was free ponies for all.
lamh36
@schrodinger’s cat: BR family is good.
Texas family is bout to get bigger!
My baby sister is gonna be induced today and I’ll have a new niece when she pushes her out..Layla Grace. To go along with Niecy Zoe
Kay
@lamh36:
Part of her supposed thing is advancing women! OMG, stop apologizing for disagreeing with him. My mother in law is more assertive and she’s almost 90.
JPL
@lamh36: Congrats!
amk
@Hal: scorpion and tortoise tale.
MattF
@schrodinger’s cat: Also, IRL, Lucille Ball was absolutely in charge of that show, and everyone knew it.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
I see someone got his phone back. Looking forward to Campaign Reset #37 any minute now.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@lamh36: Congratulations!
SiubhanDuinne
@MattF:
You wanna see a multi-pivot? I’ll show you a multi-pivot.
laura
Insider gossip alert, my little brother had the opportunity to tell the rage can’t elope to F Off twice, ten years apart. The first time was when the Donald wanted to meet an underage singer who is now a panelist in a current musical talent show. Brother kept asking why a grown man wanted to come into a dressing room while she was changing, didn’t care for Donald’s answers and had to threaten to call the cops on him and his security goons. And then he slunk away.
A decade later he showed up backstage at Madison Square Garden after a rockshow and was knocking on the dressing room door. Brother answers and there’s Donald and Marla along with a slew.of others. Brother asks Axl if he’s wants to meet The Donald, and oh, by the way, Carol King is out there too. In response, Axl responded as any sentient being would -but with some swear words. So the response back is go F yerself, and Ms. King, please, right this way, come on in and make yourself at home.
WaterGirl
@MattF: I know! That’s what I’ve been thinking in reference to the new “Hillary has some terrible illness” idea that Team Trump has been pushing.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Oh my. Someone found his manic phase and phone and the same time.
ETA: someone needs to tell Trump about the dead intern. He’ll take that bait.
schrodinger's cat
@MattF: He pivots in integral multiples of 360.
lamh36
A 12-year-old is running a Trump campaign office in Colorado
MattF
@CONGRATULATIONS!: And then put his fingers into a nearby electrical socket, just because.
Corner Stone
@Kay:
You have to hand it to her though. She apparently made the calculations so she could, “Know Your Worth” and this was her best outcome.
Mike in NC
We’ve long accepted that Der Drumpf can get away with absolutely anything in public.
nonynony
Uh oh! Donald found where Kellyanne hid his smartphone!
You need a better hiding place Kellyanne. I suggest his peas – you know how hard it is to get him to eat his peas so he’ll never look there!
brendancalling
@schrodinger’s cat: I’m one of those poor saps that can’t afford cable, so I didn’t even know that there were rumors about Scarborough and Brzezinski. Google confirms that there are indeed rumors, so now -ugh- I’m imagining these two carrion birds consummating their passion. It sounds like metal scraping together and smells like brimstone.
amk
Richard Hine
Ian
I hate it when I agree with the ferret headed shitgibbon.
SenyorDave
I have come to realize that Trump is a racist, misogynistic pig who genuinely likes being a racist, misogynistic pig.
Thomas Friedman (see broken clock correct) said it very well: “Forget politics; he is a disgusting human being. His children should be ashamed of him.”
Trump enjoys insulting people, he enjoys scamming people.
Immanentize
@JPL: Also, we know that undecided voters are not REALLY undecided. Although this year some regular R voters may be too turned off by Trump to vote for him.
MattF
@SenyorDave: Yes, Trump follows his bliss.
Iowa Old Lady
@Mustang Bobby: They insult Trump by calling him a Democrat? That’s their worst epithet? Sad.
schrodinger's cat
OT on the house hunt.
Meeting with the realtor this evening to move on House #1.
We went there yesterday in the evening to check out the light, how it felt etc., At the end of street I saw a not so nice house with the stupid Don’t tread on me flag. Cause for alarm?
schrodinger's cat
@Corner Stone: Do you think peroxide damages brain cells?
CONGRATULATIONS!
@schrodinger’s cat: Nope. Now you know where to buy your meth!
catclub
From this mornings Plum Line:
Not sure FOX News would like the new kid on the block, calling THEM establishment sellouts.
I think a battle between FOX News and this possible organization, with slapping and biting, could be amusing.
JPL
@Immanentize: In fairness, I think he has lost the person who said Trump was insane. There were gasps among the others in the focus group. It’s going to be difficult for Trump to win back independents who think he is insane. imo
btw.. Hillary needs to solve her Powell problem. The fact that he said his email was a year after she set up hers, is going to garner lots of MSM. The media wants a fight, darn it.
rikyrah
True that.
NEVER forget that Murdering Joe actually got up and left the set because Maddow challenged him on tv and called him out.
Betty Cracker
@Mike in NC: I don’t think that’s necessarily true. Trump does get away with outrageous shit that would tank anyone else’s campaign. But there are lines he gets burned for crossing, the smears against the Khans and Judge Curiel being two examples. The press roasted him for those incidents — rightly so — and polling indicates it hurt Trump with voters who are not among the fart-huffing GOP base.
JPL
@schrodinger’s cat: Every neighborhood has a bigot.
MattF
@catclub: Particularly if Ailes is lurking in the background of the new group. Could become a ‘how low can you go’ competition.
dmsilev
@schrodinger’s cat:
He’s a boson?
rikyrah
@Hal:
Ah…someone with an actual MEMORY……
bystander
Trump’s comments remind me of those of the drag queen who ran the midweek get together at the Ice House in Cherry Grove. “Who was seen in the bushes last night, Miz Thang? I mean besides YOU!”
rikyrah
@lamh36:
I didn’t realize that it was so soon.
Many blessings, and hopefully, a safe delivery of a healthy Layla Grace :)
schrodinger's cat
@JPL: Its also the ugliest house with the messiest yard.
satby
@lamh36: Congrats! Beautiful name for the newest niece.
NorthLeft12
Betty, Ms. Conway cleared this up on Sunday. Mr. Trump does not do “personal attacks”. To suggest that this simple tweet, a promise to provide his many followers with important and pertinent facts, is a personal attack on an unnamed person is being completely disingenuous.
Ms. Conway and her four small children would be horrified if Mr. Trump actually did such a thing. I am sure she would not stand for it.
BTW, Trump is an ignorant and bigoted loser.
rk
@schrodinger’s cat:
Probably. But at least you know who to avoid. In my neighborhood I’m using the Trump signs as identifiers for the certifiable lunatics. I’ve noticed that Trump supporters are unusually aggressive. For example there’s one house which has a pro Trump sign as well as “Hillary for prison” side by side. A friend’s neighbor has a pickup truck with a pro trump sign and all sorts of hateful anti Obama and Hillary decals. Trump supporters are just horrible people!
sdhays
Not exactly surprising, but it really stuck out to me that, when given the chance to attack the man who has been and should be his ally on Morning Joe, Lord Dainty Digits (I love this moniker!) chose the nasty attack on the non-Joe side of the host lineup. Hmm… I wonder why that is…?
The clips I’ve seen of Morning Joe just look awful. Both hosts come off as vapid idiots, and I can’t imagine how anyone manages to watch them for more than very occasional, very short YouTube clips. How do they have jobs in entertainment/journamalism?
Mr. Mack
I live in a solidly red state. In prior elections, the lawns have been awash in a sea of signs for whomever the GOP was running. This year? None. zero. I have no idea what that means, but it can’t be a good thing, amirite?
That said, I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop. It looks good for Team Hillary, but this implosion of Trumps campaign and he is still polling in double digits gives me pause.
Lost interest in Joe/Mika years ago.
schrodinger's cat
@rk: No Trump signs or Hillary signs either, saw a couple of Bernie signs.
satby
@schrodinger’s cat: Just avoid them, they’ve helpfully advertised how stupid they are anyway.
CaseyL
@schrodinger’s cat: Quelle surprise. “Don’t tread on me” = “I don’t wanna clean up my room! You can’t make me!”
Was it House #2 that has the mountain view?
Corner Stone
@schrodinger’s cat: Despite who her parents are, I always got the feeling Mika did not have an over abundance of smahts to begin with.
nonynony
@Mr. Mack:
My street usually has a number of Republican signs out on lawns. This year almost nothing. There is the guy with the Confederate Flag on his porch with a “Hillary for Prison” sign on his lawn, but even he doesn’t have a Trump sign up.
I’d assume it’s just bad campaign management on Trump’s part and that he doesn’t have signs to give out. Except that there was one guy up the street from me who had a Trump sign out on his lawn for the primary for about a month. Then one day it was gone before the primary was over.
I’m still not sure what any of this means. My neighborhood is a pretty solid Ohio Republican area. But the lack of visible support for Trump is interesting to be sure.
Frankensteinbeck
@Iowa Old Lady:
Goodness, no. They’re trying to hang Trump around the Democrats’ necks. The last thing they want is for whites to consciously admit that the Republican Party is based on asshole racism.
schrodinger's cat
@CaseyL: Nope, its the one we are moving on. House #1.
Major Major Major Major
@schrodinger’s cat: careful with that comment. As every Gadsdeneer knows, calm verbal criticism is creeping fascism.
cmorenc
Morning Joe can be annoying (aside from the fact that he’s incurably a Republican) – but much less so than Chris Matthews aka Tweety, who nominally is a beltway Democrat but never lets anyone finish more than a couple of sentences without talking right over them. Also, Joe is what passes for a “moderate Republican” these days. Unfortunately. But at least he and Mika turning on Trump shows that there are Republicans who haven’t gone completely insane, even though many of the policies they want would damage the country if they got control of the entire government in 2016.
sunny raines
trump would always be more derogatory towards a woman than a man.
schrodinger's cat
@satby: They are at the very end of street, far enough away from the actual house we are interested in. If you don’t want to drive and want to take the bus in the winter, you have to walk past this house.
Chris
When it comes to being slammed from the populist right, the media has never had any backbone or any self-respect. Four decades of “liberal media” slurs have only ever encouraged them to lean farther and farther right in an attempt to prove that wrong, not that it’s done them any good, ever.
(Getting slammed from the left, now that’s different).
WereBear
We are seeing the audience for mass entertainment break up like a glacier calving into multiple new icebergs. With so many choices, people are subscribing online to services they prefer, from Youtube to HBO, going Hulu instead of network, or just not watching TV when they have options like online gaming or blogs or forums.
What television, basic cable, and antenna are becoming is truly the lowest common denominator. With Mr WereBear having a chronic illness (and myself only just figuring out my health challenges) we are more dependent on such than most, yet we cannot stand to watch it any more. We have Netflix and HBO and our own DVD collection and books and artistic projects so we don’t have to be subjected to a show that is 1/3 commercials and 2/3 ridiculous idiocy.
But there is a market for such, and that is who they are all playing to now. Race to the bottom? Even the most outrageous science fiction satire is now matched by our reality.
satby
@schrodinger’s cat: I wouldn’t worry too much about them. For a lot of them flags and bumper stickers are as ballsy as they can manage.
Betty Cracker
@nonynony: My little town is solidly red, and I’ve noticed a similar phenomenon. There were three Trump signs early on (that I noticed). Now there is only one. At first I put it down to lack of organization on the Trump team, but when we’ve taken road trips through the country, we see plenty of Trump signs. I think the more upscale Republicans are ashamed of Trump. I hope their antipathy accompanies them to the voting booth!
cmorenc
Down at Sunset Beach, North Carolina, out on the island where we have a second home, there were two other second homes on the next street over with Trump signs late last spring – but next time I was down over Memorial Day, both signs had come down. My hunch is that both families who own the houses have a Trump-dude in the family who visited during the spring and put them there, but when other not-so-Trump members visited and saw it, they insisted the Trump signs come down cause not exactly everyone in the family was on-board or comfy with it. BTW: neither house is in the rental market during season (nor is ours) – and so not off-putting potential renters was not involved in whatever internal decision / directive within the family led to the removal of the Trump signs from their yards.
Frankensteinbeck
@Chris:
It doesn’t help that they just can’t stand the thought that anyone might think they’re icky, juvenile liberals who love ni- don’t understand how important it is to curb entitlements.
cmorenc
@Betty Cracker:
Let’s hope instead that their antipathy leads them to an irreconcilable conflict on election day between going to their polling place and a hair or nail-salon appointment, and the latter wins out. Or for the guys in the family, a conflict with an errand trip to the hardware store. OR, for voters getting an absentee ballot, that they somehow never get a round tuit to sending it back in, cause other stuff like raking the leaves etc.
amk
@cmorenc:
nope, the corrupt cowards will be back to kissing his frazzled ass next week.
rk
@nonynony:
I’m not seeing any signs in my area either except for a few Trump signs. I’m just assuming that all the usual suspects are silently supporting Trump except they’re a little bit smarter than Trump and have enough self awareness not to be overtly racist and stupid. Supporters with Trump lawn signs are proud and loud racists. Rest are closeted.
one_particular_harbour, fka Botsplainer
@Chris:
Conservatives never learned the lessons they should have learned over Agnew and Nixon.
schrodinger's cat
@satby: The flag did look worn and old and droopy. Probably bought during the heady days of the Tea Party revolution.
gvg
a lot of the angry base seem not to stick with anybody long. they may support Trump this cycle but would turn on him soon if he won…based on my observation of signs over time. Hero this election, corrupt before the next according to what I see. The tea party types, not the original fake populists, but the ones that became their own version of tea party. I think the Koch’s created another monster.
Schlemazel
@Corner Stone:
That Carlson woman on Fox Knews graduated with honors fron Stanford. She apparently was smart enough to figure out that a dumb blond gets more money on TV than a smart one. Mika might be in on the scam too.
“I am not an idiot but I play one on TV!”
The Other Chuck
@rk: Deep red Colorado Springs here, not a single Trump sign or bumper sticker. I’ve seen three Ben Carson stickers, no Trump.
El Caganer
Donald Trump, master of the divot pivot. Digs himself into a hole while spinning in a circle.
Enhanced Voting Techinques
@sdhays:
Rumors is they are best of friends of the CEO of MSNBC, who loaths the whole liberal theme to his channel.
geg6
@schrodinger’s cat:
If I found that to be a reason for alarm around here, I’d be homeless.
Peale
@randy khan: LOL. So that’s how it is going to be. MSM will pick up any non-extreme statements as a sign of a pivot and a moar better presidential Trump. Trump will try to get the message out to his 13 million followers that he is still the same.
The Other Chuck
@El Caganer: Didn’t Bugs once trick the Tasmanian Devil into spinning himself into the ground just like that?
misterpuff
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: They hate Hillary that much. My folks are Right to Lifers and say they can’t vote for Drumpf but they might vote Liberatarian. But no way will they vote for Hillary….
Iowa Old Lady
FYWP ate my comment.
Heard on guy on the radio this morning claim he voted for Obama twice but is going for Trump this time because it’s been a downward spiral for 8 years and Clinton would be more of the same.
Reality check: Can he really have voted for Obama? I suspect he’s trying to cover himself from the charge of racism.
Miss Bianca
@The Other Chuck: I have a feeling that Springs is Cruz territory, rather than Trump.
1,000 Flouncing Lurkers (was fidelioscabinet)
@lamh36: Best wishes for everyone involved in this process! We’ll remember when we vote that we’re voting for a better world for Miss Layla.
Iowa Old Lady
Test. Did my comment have a bad word and thus disappear?
Iowa Old Lady
@Iowa Old Lady: Wow I wonder what I said wrong.
Let me try to rephrase. A guy on the radio claimed he voted for Obama twice but is now a Trump supporter because we’ve gone downhill for the last eight years.
Can that be true? Or is he trying to cover himself from the charge of bigotry?
Peale
@Chris: Yep. Attackers from the right are always eventually taken up into the MSM body as sources of refreshing, frank, ideas. The left, well, they get a few guest spots on MSNBC from time to time.
1,000 Flouncing Lurkers (was fidelioscabinet)
While we were out running errands yesterday I spotted at least a couple of Clinton/Caine yard signs, but none for DT, although I’ve seen a few of his bumper stickers. Nashville is a violet city in a red state, so that’s not too surprising.
Aleta
@lamh36: Layla Grace: Her name already melts my heart. Congratulations to Zoe on new sisterhood.
randy khan
@Peale:
That may be the plan, but CBS radio news led with the 360 degree pivot on its 9:30 EDT update this morning. The press always likes to use the phrase “flip flop,” and this was an easy target for that.
jacy
@nonynony:
Two houses on my street have yard signs. One has three Gary Johnson signs, and directly across from him is a house that sometimes has a Trump sign. The Trump sign seems to just randomly appear and disappear. Haven’t figured out if the guy with the Trump sign occasionally takes it down in a fit of disgust, or if the guy with the Gary Johnson signs across the street keeps stealing the Trump signs. Intrigue!
Feathers
OT – from the textbook thread yesterday, dead when I arrived
Betty – the textbook situation is horrendous. One thing to look for is unbound three ring punched textbooks. These are offered for many texts. I’ve found them on Amazon. They are often a bit cheaper and FAR more useful than the hardcover versions. You can take the pages for the current unit, put them in your binder, and have them with you in class, study group, etc. without having to lug the textbook around. When I was needing textbooks, I always hunted those down.
I am currently doing an online program (WGU) and one of the saving graces is that the textbooks are all online, no costs beyond the (low) tuition. When they get to higher ed reform, included textbooks in the price of tuition, at least for required classes needs to be on the table. The price of non-textbook academic books wasn’t discussed, but the increases on those are often worse. When I went on my second go-around of getting my degree, I took some classes where I still had the books. One had been about the same cost as a trade paperback – $12 or so, but 15 years later it was $50.
Best luck to your fledgling.
Shalimar
Tyler is the one who said Trump was finally swapping his diaper for big boy pants. Trump went after Mika because he always goes after women. He seems especially thin-skinned to insults from women, and Mika did say he seemed drunk during his “blacks have nothing to live for, they might as well vote for me” speech over the weekend.
Corner Stone
I live in a deep red CD but the R peeps I talked to at the polling place during the primary were thoroughly disgusted at the thought of voting for Trump. I pushed a few of them with, “Aw, come on! You know when the time comes you’re going to pull that lever for your boy Trump!” They all said some variant of No Way or “None of the above”. So I guess we’ll see when all the shouting is over what they end up doing. Almost definitely none of them, including R women, would ever vote for HRC. As I mentioned last night, I saw the first “Trump the Bitch” bumper sticker on an SUV driven by a white lady.
Absolutely zero Trump signs anywhere around the several neighborhoods by me. And there are a lot of bigoted anti-immigrant, pro-voter suppression people here who have always been very vocal in their ignorance and beliefs. So…
SiubhanDuinne
@Iowa Old Lady:
Was that guy on the radio the guy who was interviewed on NPR this morning? I am slowly training myself not to snap on Morning Edition as soon as I wake up, just because I don’t like starting my day hearing from idiots like that — but I forgot this morning ?
Aleta
@Mr. Mack: Same thing (no lawn signs) here. This town always goes Rep. (Though, could it be that the thriftily unorganized Mr. Tr has not provided signs to many areas?)
jacy
@Miss Bianca:
Grew up in the Springs. I always found it an odd mix of right-wing religious nuts and granola liberals. Further east is crazy, closer to the foothills full of hippies and pagans. Course I haven’t lived there in 20 years. My best friend lives in Woodland Park and is constantly bemoaning the gun nuts in Teller County.
Lizzy L
I was attacked by a neighbor’s loose dog a bit before 7 pm last night. Big dog, 130 lb mastiff/pit bull cross. I have puncture and soft tissue crush injuries to my right forearm, and lacerations and crush wounds to my left wrist, thumb, and hand. I will be fine and will regain full use of everything. As you see, I have my fingers. Called 911 myself. 6 hrs in Kaiser ER last night. Got x-rays, numbing agent, cleaning, stitches. (Also discovered that I am allergic to Dilaudid. Didn’t know.) I’m on Tylenol w/ codeine & amoxicillin. My neighbor swears that the dog’s rabies vaccination is current, and Animal Control came and got the dog.
I really will be fine, though it will take some weeks for the left hand to heal. It could have been SO much worse.
lamh36
OT, @psddluva4evah
Today may be the day…#NieceyLayla is coming! Final picture before birth!
Come on LayLay!
Corner Stone
@Feathers:
Can I ask what the desired outcome is in taking this online course? I guess I am asking what your goal is that this assists with.
Eric U.
that would be funny if there just aren’t many trump signs to give out. I have seen a few. The farmer down the way that always has an oversized rethuglican candidate sign doesn’t have one yet
Josie
@schrodinger’s cat: I read the other thread too late to comment, but I am glad to see you moving on house #1. It sounds like a good decision. One RWNJ in the neighborhood should not put you off. When you are in your nice back yard sipping a mojito (or whatever), you won’t even know they are there.
catclub
Old white people (just guessing here) are on board with Trumps’ ‘shoutreach to the blacks’:
Ideas, newsletter, cut of jib, etc
Iowa Old Lady
@SiubhanDuinne: Yes. I didn’t hear his interview, just the tease because I was on my way to the gym. Do you believe him?
Miss Bianca
@jacy: Your impressions may be 20 years old, but they are still substantially correct! Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs full of neo-pagans and hippies, the rest RW cray-cray…
Iowa Old Lady
@Lizzy L: Holy crap. That sounds traumatic.
catclub
@Shalimar:
Elizabeth Warren may have been on vacation the past few weeks.
Elizabeth, our nation turns its twitter attention to you.
Miss Bianca
@Lizzy L: Great gasbags! What a terrifying experience! So glad none of the damage appears like it will be permanent!
lamh36
@Aleta: cousins actually. I’m the oldest. My 2nd youngest sister is Zoe’s mom. And Layla’s mom is my YOUNGEST sister
So her and Layla are first cousins.
WaterGirl
@Lizzy L: My eyes got really big while reading your post and I can’t think of anything useful to say. Holy shit, that must have been terrifying! I’m glad you’re okay.
That’s all I’ve got, but my eyes are still really big. Did this dog attack you out of the blue? You must have thought/wondered if you were going to die. I am so sorry.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
She is already adorable! Can’t wait to see her later. Congratulations to you and all the folks who already live her!
WaterGirl
@lamh36: Always efficient, I see that you have a nickname picked out already. :-) Congratulations!
shomi
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: “I watched a Frank Luntz…..”
I know I don’t need to read any further than that.
My only question is why did you watch that? Sticking needles in your eyes would be more entertaining.
Also, I though Franky boy got all burned out after the Romney loss and moved to Las Vegas to be a magician or male escort or something.
SiubhanDuinne
@Lizzy L:
Yikes, how terrifying! I’m so glad that there will be no permanent damage, but what an ordeal!
WereBear
@Lizzy L: You were lucky, considering. Glad it’s okay, but really: sounds like a case of a careless neighbor who can’t train or handle their dog.
shomi
Watch out people wrong way Cole says we should fear ole small hands pivot to the left. Like his call out to lazy poor blacks to take a chance and vote for him because Dems are so bad. Clearly Cole, the dog whisperer, really knows what he is talking about.
Josie
@Lizzy L: What a frightening experience! It’s good that no permanent damage was done, but you will certainly have your share of pain and aggravation. i cannot imagine why anyone would own a huge vicious dog and not keep it safely locked in.
ET
OT – but there is an ad on the home page for One Fast Cat which is a cat exercise wheel and I have this vision in my head of my cat on it. I should say fantasy and not vision, because if I bought it he would just ignore it. I still can’t help smile at the thought of a cat on an exercise wheel.
lamh36
@WaterGirl: lol…my fam has a tradition of 2 syllable nicknames…lol.
MikeMike, Piggy, RayRay, DeDe, Fabo…lol
It goes on and on…lol
Chyron HR
@srv:
Fun fact: A “block” is the distance from one cross street to the next, not the cement blocks that make up the sidewalk.
Denali
@Lizzy L,
That’s awful. I always am aprehensive when people approach with an unleashed dog. It is inexcusable – surely the owners will be responsible for payment of your medical bills. And for the trauma incurred.
mike in dc
Trump hasn’t publicly addressed the groups he’s offended…that is, hasn’t spoken before an audience of gold star families, former POWs, African Americans, Latinos and Hispanics, people with disabilities, Muslim Americans, or women. When he does, then it will be clear that he has really pivoted.
Miss Bianca
@Josie: I cannot imagine why anyone would own a huge vicious dog, period, but that’s just me. (and mark you, I have a huge dog who, until she settled down from Pound Hound trauma, would occasionally fear-attack other dogs. It meant a long time on-leash and socializing under very carefully controlled circumstances, which I never would have bothered with if she had shown the slightest sign of being unreliable around people).
jacy
@Miss Bianca:
I grew up on the edge of Old Colorado City. (Went to Coronado High School, but had lots of friends in Manitou). Now I’ve connected with a lot of high school friends on Facebook and it’s pretty split right down the middle: half of them are raving RW lunatics and half of them are ultra-liberal.
SiubhanDuinne
@Iowa Old Lady:
It is beyond belief to me that anyone could vote twice for Obama and give Trump even the slightest consideration. But NPR guy is not the first person I’ve heard make that exact claim during this beyond-weird election season. Either they’re all just flat-out lying or they all have some kind of disorder that allows them such an egregious internal contradiction.
lamh36
@NBCNightlyNews
JUST IN: Speedo says it has ended its sponsorship of US swimmer Ryan Lochte; follows Rio incident – @CNBC
Good..fuq him Give it to Simone Manuel or Katie Ledecky or Lily King.
Besides…this was likely it for Lochte as a swimmer anyway…so I’m guessing Speedo was ready to dump him anyway
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@shomi:
I was in another room and heard people talking about Trump acting insane, so I wandered in and watched the shitshow. I thought Luntz had gone off to some other wingnut gig too, but I guess it’s hard out there for a pimp.
J R in WV
@schrodinger’s cat:
Well, there you go, then. The flag is just one of a bunch of signs that “Here lie idiots”.
I have to confess, we have lots of tools, bags of mulch, plants in pots not yet planted, etc, etc in our front yard. But our driveway is nearly half a mile long and we are invisible from anyone else’s property – well, you can see lights glistening in the woods in the wintertime.
Lizzy L
@WaterGirl: I was walking my dog, and we went passed the yard where the dog lies. He is untrained and un-neutered. He always jumps against the chain link fence and barks and growls, but last night the gate was not locked securely, and he got out and came after me.
Thanks for the good thoughts. Everything takes 3x as long to do, but I dressed myself this morning, took my meds, fed the dog. Go me.
SiubhanDuinne
@ET:
Yeah, but he’d love the box it comes in. So you should get it anyhow.
btom89
Hi, I’m commenting here because I know I’ve read a number of authors commenting here. Remember two weeks ago, when there was a story going viral about Bill’s apparent obsession with the balloons on the last night of the DNC after Hillary’s speech? Bill’s 70th birthday last Friday prompted me to share something with you, if you’d be willing to look at it. The pictures and the story seemed to be perfect material for a children’s book so I thought I’d create one based on the pictures (in watercolor form) and set it in PDF form. I wanted to post a link to the PDF here if it’s okay with the blog administrators here, and have people read it and let me know if it was any good or if there were potential in it. I’m a long, long time lurker here. The children’s book is titled “Bill Gets A Balloon.” The link is to a shared dropbox file so I hope it works okay for anyone would want to download it. Thanks.
dropbox.com/s/ydsxibz2p6x40rv/Bill%20gets%20his%20Balloon.pdf?dl=0
Miss Bianca
@jacy: Yeah, that’s been my experience with Colorado Springs. Seems to run to extremes around there! It would be really interesting to see what happens to the region if the ultra-liberals started voting in really large numbers!
Feathers
@Corner Stone: The goal is just to have a degree. I did well in high school, got into very selective college, bombed out there, tried going back several times, bombed out multiple times. Finally discovered I have learning disability which makes non stream of consciousness writing extremely difficult. Doing the online degree in Business with IT Management, hoping to do a career shift. It’s a great program for where I am, don’t know if trying to actually learn it all this way would work as well.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Lizzy L: Yeah, you’ll be OK but it’s not going to be fun for a while. Hope the owner’s insured. And can afford their new, much bigger insurance payments.
Hate stories like these. In every case, you dig down enough, the dog was never trained properly in the first place. A chihuahua can put you in the ER. Golden retrievers have killed people. You got bit. None of this needed to happen, and it could all be taken care of with just some fairly simple basic training.
Seriously, it’s much harder to train your dog our of stealing your socks than it is to train one not to bite people. No excuse for this.
catclub
OT: Better retirement savings plans. At WaMonthly ( Atrios sneered mightily – just raise Soc Security – with which I strongly but not totally, agree.)
Sounds good, except that is fees 10 TIMES higher than fees at the Federal Government employee retirement fund – TSP.
My plan is to automatically enroll everybody in the TSP. I also would like a pony.
Matt McIrvin
My most Clinton-hating quasi-anarchist online acquaintance has switched from proclaiming that only Trump can give us the shakeup we need to believing that Trump is an agent of the Clintons, and he’s got people agreeing with him.
ET
@SiubhanDuinne: Sadly I think I have the only cat in the northern hemisphere that doesn’t care all that much for boxes (or bags). If it wasn’t for his love the many, many toys on the ground, the ones I have to hide on top of the bookshelf, and his love of chasing my toes (and the purrs of course) I would wonder if he was defective.
lamh36
@JesseLehrich
Pence laughs out loud at Trump’s claim that he’ll win 95% of the African American vote by 2020.
catclub
@SiubhanDuinne:
I think desire for attention. And it works! They are on the radio or the TV.
Lizzy L
@WereBear: It is EXACTLY that. And barring infection, I should be fine. Nothing compared to what some other folks are dealing with.
Shell
Pardon, me. But during the 2012 campaign wasn’t the GOP lambasting black voters for supposedly just wanting free stuff from the Democrats? So what are they saying now? Vote for us and well give you all those goodies you want.
lamh36
Anyone here watch Archer?
Do we ever find out if the Russian guy was Archer’s father?
Josie
@Miss Bianca: Exactly. I had a huge dog – a 140 pound Akbash. Socializing her was a long project, but she turned out to be the best dog ever. She was with me for 13 years, has been gone for 3 and I still miss her terribly. She was reserved with strangers but never aggressive. Once she knew you, you only fear was of being knocked over by being leaned against. Training and discipline are vital for big dogs.
Matt McIrvin
Iowa went for Obama twice and it’s currently pretty much tied up, so if you want to look for Obama->Trump voters, that might be the place to look.
On the other hand, Clinton is currently running ahead of where Obama was polling in Iowa at this time in 2008. But 2008 was much closer before Lehman Brothers melted down.
Cat48
@lamh36:
Congratulations, Auntie Lamh
J R in WV
@Lizzy L:
Ouch!
That had to be terrifying. Our youngest dog was attacked by a large dog at the neighbor’s, it was scary enough just trying to rescue our lab mix from her.
Best of luck, just rest and heal as long as you can.
Applejinx
@srv:
Since that is basically ‘how liberal can Hillary get away with being when she wins’, I’ve got no problem with it either ;)
SiubhanDuinne
@ET:
That’s downright unfeline!
I’ve seen photos and videos of all manner of big cats squeezing themselves into odd shapes just so they could sit in a cardboard box.
MattF
@Matt McIrvin: So… voting for Stein? I’m pretty sure Bakunin is unavailable.
Feebog
Don’t watch the Moanin’ Joe show out here on the West Coast. And I try to avoid clips that may be posted here or there. The few times I have seen a clip, it seems woefully dull and boring. Needs more circus clowns.
WaterGirl
@Lizzy L: Holy cow, that is terrifying. Did someone pull the dog off of you? What did your dog do? I love dogs but those dogs that jump at short gates really scare me. Guessing he is okay since you didn’t mention any injuries there.
Even for a dog lover, that’s gonna leave a mark. I hope they can throw the book at the guy and his dog.
J R in WV
@btom89:
Wow, those watercolors are great! I did see a typo or two in text, but that’s a great job.
You should be very proud of the job you did! Keep up the good work, and don’t be a stranger so much, it’s pretty easy to hang around here.
catclub
@ET: We have purely indoor cats, and their indolence rate is fairly high. I also have fantasies of them spendinga bit of quality time on that big hamster wheel. Huge fantasies.
gvg
@catclub: I think they are lying. I have never seen any evidence to believe the claims. In fact, a lot of times it’s someone saying they know someone who etc.
Ruckus
@MattF:
So it’s confirmed, Trump is a true republican, no matter how much they deny it.
The Other Chuck
@jacy: @jacy:
Who are making fewer and fewer friends as they continue to crap up the forests strewing beer bottles and garbage all over their shooting spots. I just saw some brand new “no shooting” signs pop up in parts of Pike forest so that’s a sign things are going the right direction (could be they just replaced old ones, I dunno)
Steeplejack (tablet)
@lamh36:
Nope! [Lana Kane voice]
Feathers
@gvg: My assumption is a nasty, nasty breakup/divorce. What is being left out is that the ex was an Obama volunteer, and now the kids are spending weekends at Dad’s house, the one with all the Trump signs in the yard. The MRAs seem to be going full Trump. They think they are showing her, but she is just breathing a big sigh of relief. And canvassing extra hard for Hillary.
SiubhanDuinne
@btom89:
I tried but got a message that it was an invalid address. It sounds charming, though! I was simply enchanted at the sight of Bill’s face that night with ALL THE BALLOONS!!
Frankensteinbeck
@Iowa Old Lady:
Anything can be true. In a nation of millions, there are probably at least a dozen people who voted for Obama twice and will vote for Trump now. I suspect they leap on a chance to tell everyone they know how contrarian they are.
However, there are two much larger groups: Partisans who want everyone to know how independent they are (and their core group, bigots who want everyone to know how unbigoted they are), and conservatives who want everyone to know that they represent a tidal wave of sentiment. Both groups are not only deeply wedded to lying, they tend to believe their own lies because their specific case might not be true, but they believe that they’re part of a group that’s like that.
SiubhanDuinne
@catclub:
That could also be it!
SiubhanDuinne
@Lizzy L:
You have an excellent attitude.
JPL
@Lizzy L: You are lucky, and just be careful so it doesn’t get infected. You should consider having the neighbor’s insurance company pay for your injuries. That way the insurance company can inform
the policy owner, that in order to continue coverage, the dog has to go. You shouldn’t have to fear walking in your neighborhood.
Lizzy L
@WaterGirl: The dog let go, and then lunged at me a second time. The owner heard my screams and came out of the house — he chased the dog back into the yard. He walked me back to my house and waited until I washed the wounds. He was very shocked, but I was not surprised. I’m not happy to have been attacked, but I’m glad it was not a child!
SiubhanDuinne
@ET:
@SiubhanDuinne:
By “big cats,” I did not mean Tunchian, or even Stevesque, orders of big cattitude. I meant lions, tigers, panthers, leopards, cheetahs, pumas….
Brachiator
Who says that the Beltway press gives a rat’s ass about this?
This is third tier TMZ stuff.
And the press is an inconsistent moral agent. It doesn’t dole out punishments, but indulges after the fact in tawdry messes that catch the public’s fancy.
However, it is nice to see Trump staying on message and not getting distracted by petty feuds. His new campaign team must be very happy.
cain
@schrodinger’s cat: Here in the people’s republic of Portland, there are no hillary or trump signs. Also trump canceled his trip here. He would have gotten a riot if he did.
I don’t think anybody is happy with the choices out here. I’ll vote for Hillary, but it wasn’t the way it was with Obama where I was out there pounding the payment like a righteous angry angel. Hilary doesn’t just inspire me that way. That’s okay. We don’t need that right now, we need someone who can push the country leftward and be a lightning rod to the crazies. Hillary is going to be like Jesus, taking in all the hate of the other side. We are going to be seeing a lot of shit that would make what Obama went through pale in comparison.
Ruckus
@sdhays:
Who do you think makes up a portion of the audience, or the human race actually?
The answer is obvious, vapid idiots.
Trump may be in the bottom percentage of people idiot wise but he isn’t alone.
Calouste
@catclub:
Uhm, defense contractor?
Mnemosyne
@Frankensteinbeck:
You’re leaving out misogynists who won’t vote for Hillary because she doesn’t have a peni$. It’s a relatively small group, but there are probably a few tens of thousands of them in a country of 320 million.
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
Really? Everything I’ve seen suggests that Trump is just a shallow opportunist who saw that the best way to pull his presidential aspiration scam was to hustle the GOP.
lamh36
@Steeplejack (tablet): dang…I’m late to Archer…so I’ve been watching the late night re-broadcast of the previous seasons. I’m pre-baby seasons
WaterGirl
@Lizzy L: “The owner heard my screams…” That in itself is chilling. I am so sorry this happened to you. But yes, better than a child. You are being very gracious. I suspect I would be making a ruckus with the insurance company and any regulatory body that would listen.
bemused
@Ruckus:
Ha, I misread republican as reptilian.
Brachiator
@gogol’s wife:
The public discourse has always been as crappy as Florence Foster Jenkins’ singing voice.
First Palin and now Trump just updated it for the age of the Internet.
Aleta
@lamh36: I jumped to conclusions! My cousins and I had great times together in our teens and 20s. Took road trips. 30 years later, still best friends.
Anyway, congratulations and best wishes to L’s mom for delivery and resting.
Miss Bianca
@btom89: deeply hilarious. love the water colors. “Earnest Balloon” is going to have to be someone’s new nym around here, I can feel it!
schrodinger's cat
@SiubhanDuinne: My friend who is planning to sit on her hands this elections, voted twice for Obama. First time around she was a huge Obot, standing in the snow to hear him speak etc. She was more reluctant in 2012. This time around I think she would have voted for a Republican had it not been Trump. In 2008 and 2012 she lived in blue areas and now she is in a blood rate state.
Calouste
@Mnemosyne:
Way, way, more than that. Of course there is a big overlap with the groups that won’t vote for Clinton because she is a Democrat or because she is a Clinton, but were talking about tens of millions, not ten of thousands.
Stan
@Mr. Mack: No ground game, no field offices to organize that kind of stuff.
This weakness won’t show up in polling, necessarily, but it sure as hell will on election day.
Brachiator
@cain:
This is a very interesting admission. I wonder if this might affect GOTV efforts. It’s getting closer to election day and yet it seems as though some might be voting for Hillary more out of a sense of duty than genuine enthusiasm.
btom89
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Does anyone know how to share a PDF file other than a dropbox link? I thought they were more straightforward than that but apparently not. Maybe it’s an issue of universal access. When I clicked on the link, it took me to the dropbox website and displayed the PDF fine for me, but I don’t know if that was because I was the administrator or not. Can someone else let me know if they have the same problem?
MattF
So… that cute story about the 12-year old who is co-chair of Trump campaign office? Not so cute, it turns out.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@lamh36:
The first season was a little ragged, but then they found their groove. I’m surprised at how funny I still find the reruns, even though I know what’s going to happen.
“Who is Archer’s father?” is a recurring joke.
rikyrah
@lamh36:
Archer is hilarious…just go along with the ride.
Lizzy L
@WaterGirl: I made a ruckus with Animal Control last night before the ambulance took me away. And I am going to call my insurance company right now.
@lamh36: Congratulations on the newbie!!
Gindy51
@Lizzy L: I had to pull a neighbor’s dog off my 6 month old deaf puppy, kicking the shit out of it and calling the idiot neighbors every name in the sailor’s and marine’s cussing dictionary. They never walked their dog on our road again. We always carry a big walnut sapling stick and mace. If that doesn’t stop them the pistol will. I hate guns but after that first dog attack I won’t risk me or my animals again.
Miss Bianca
@MattF: Does it surprise me to learn that a larval Trump supporter would also be a larval asshole? It does not.
Brachiator
@schrodinger’s cat:
But the change in state couldn’t cause a change in voting preference. Did your friend ever talk about why she switched?
eric
@lamh36: have you seen the episode with the gunfight on skimobiles? my second favorite line is in that one. My favorite line is in the one where Archer goes to Odin to work. and third favorite is in the one where he trains Cyril. ;)
Miss Bianca
@Brachiator:
I don’t care how they fucking feel about how they vote for her as long as they fucking vote for her.
btom89
Also, when I saved the word processor file as a PDF, I compressed it to 50 percent to make it workable for any reader device/tablet, and it reduced the size to less than 1 MB. It also reduced the quality of the watercolor images within the PDF. What size would be sufficient for someone who’d want to read it on their tablet, do you think? A max size of 3 MB? 5 MB?
Aleta
@schrodinger’s cat: One can hope the flag will cause increased conversation and common ground among others on the street.
MomSense
@SiubhanDuinne:
That video sent me down a delightful youtube rabbit hole. Watching Xenia and Takatos Zhiganshina dance Corsair at their graduation performance. Talk about pivots!
schrodinger's cat
deleted by the author of the comment.
raven
@Aleta: right
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Gindy51: I’m training a Guide Dog, which means that the animal is not legally mine, and live in a very upscale neighborhood full of negligent dog owners who think their dog is perfectly safe off-leash. No dog is safe off-leash. I’m prepared if somebody’s dog attacks mine, and expect that the owner of said dog isn’t going to be happy with the outcome – I absolutely don’t ever want to have to hurt an animal, but if that animal attacks mine, my dog is not going to get hurt, and I can guarantee it.
catclub
@schrodinger’s cat:
Peer pressure only affects teens…. and everybody else.
lamh36
@eric: Honestly, I’m not sure what season I’m watching…lol.
I’m at the end of Season 3…the space shuttle episode. I’m realizing now I missed most of the first 2 season and much of the 3rd.
Brachiator
@lamh36:
I fear for da future of our yoots.
schrodinger's cat
@Brachiator: She is a human emotional sponge, she is affected deeply by the people who surround her. Her rightward tilt began when she moved to Idaho, right now she is at the both-sides-do-it junction.
ETA: She has been unhappy and isolated since her move. She moved across the country to be with her ailing mother. Their relationship has always been fraught and didn’t get any better after the move.
hovercraft
@Schlemazel:
“Dumb Blonde” can be a lucrative role, or it may just be a person/persons being ‘book smart’ and totally lacking in basic common sense. Some actually are blithering idiots, Elizabeth Hasselback, others just play dumb in order to fufill a chosen role, Megan Kelly.
Mnemosyne
@Calouste:
I think you lost the thread — we’re talking about people who voted for Obama but are now voting for Trump and why they might have made that 180 degree turn. I seriously doubt there are tens of millions of them. If nothing else, they would be showing up in the polls by now.
SiubhanDuinne
@btom89:
@SiubhanDuinne:
Finally got to Dropbox and was able to read the story. It is a delight, and the illustrations are perfect. I had completely forgotten about the little girl who wanted Bill’s balloon! Thank you, and please don’t be a stranger around here.
lamh36
@ReutersUS
UPDATE: Ralph Lauren says it will not be renewing Ryan Lochte’s contract
Here comes the outrage over the douche losing his contracts…
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
Then you aren’t looking. Which is of course understandable, why do that to yourself? But he is a republican, he’s running for the head job as one, he holds the worst ideals of them and has for a long time. Yes he’s an opportunist, that doesn’t release him from being exactly what he looks like. In fact I’d say that is another point tilting the scale in the direction republican. He’s not doing this solely based on the WHCD at which President Obama sliced and diced him. He isn’t attracting the worst of the worst being a democrat in disguise. He’s not even close to being almost good enough to pull that off. He is what he is. A very current day republican. It’s the republicans who are waking up to the fact that the last 40 yrs has been not a valid display of opposition politics but the ranting of loons that are the outliers, those are the ones who can be convinced that the political ideals they held are wrong, because they aren’t actually the political ideals of their leaders. Trump is the last 40 yrs. The fact that he has no filter doesn’t change the views that he holds.
SiubhanDuinne
@schrodinger’s cat:
Well, that could be a factor. Is she particularly susceptible to what other people think?
Ruckus
@bemused:
Both valid interpretations. Even in the same sentence.
Miss Bianca
@Steeplejack (tablet): btw, I finally got the link to that 60s dance video from last night to work…and, OOHHH MYYYY, YES, gold lame stretch pants with (apparently) built-in go-go boots! WANT WANT WANT!
MattF
@SiubhanDuinne: I was really pleased that Bill had found his balloon-bliss.
SiubhanDuinne
@btom89:
It’s fixed now, as I mentioned in my #226 comment. May have been because I’m on an iPad and the app wasn’t loading properly.
Mr. Mack
This thread is fast! Lizzy, so sorry to hear of your experience. I’ve been bitten, (by my own dog, after she was hit by a car) and it takes a toll physically and emotionally. I wish you the very best. Not the dogs fault. Too many people do not spend enough time with their dogs, and won’t learn the basics to train them. as someone put it upthread, it isn’t hard to teach a dog to not bite people.
On the yard sign thing…I know there probably isn’t much to the idea that a bunch of yard signs are any type of outcome indicator…but I have wondered in the past if people who don’t really know anything about candidates or policy just want to side with their neighbors. people have to be pretty strong to “not belong.”
Wapiti
@Lizzy L: iirc, California has some serious dog bite laws, I think as a reaction to the woman being killed by a pit bull about 10 years back. The dog must be quarantined for 10 days. The dog owner is strictly liable for any damages, though I think that’s probably between Kaiser’s lawyers and the dog owner.
Brachiator
@brendancalling:
I don’t have cable, never have time to watch it. I barely know who these people are and don’t care at all about their personal lives.
But I love that it is providing another Trump distraction.
SiubhanDuinne
@MattF:
You know he absolutely relishes being a grandfather! There has always been something about him that says “Just a big ole kid!” The look on his face during the balloon drop crystallized that.
Eric U.
@JPL: my health insurance company asks us if an ER visit was due to some else’s negligence. I don’t know if you can call them up and tell them ahead of time
Seth Owen
@Betty Cracker: given that Trump is cratering badly in the polls, how much worse would he have to be doing for his campaign to have ‘tanked?’
I think he got away with a lot during the primary, but it seems to me the pigeons are roosting now.
eric
@lamh36: 4th best line. “unicorn.”
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
And yet understandable. I was not a Clinton fan in 08. I think she ran a crappy campaign, while her opposition ran a great one. For me the difference was not the views of the candidates but the management styles, management being a major part of the job. And she is not as charismatic as President Obama. But neither are millions of very competent people. So I am enthusiastic about Clinton this time around because of her views, and her much improved management style. She learns and adapts. What could be better. However I can see that lots of people might not agree totally with that. They will back her, because she is by far, like a million country miles far, the best choice. But not their favorite choice.
WaterGirl
@Lizzy L: Go, you!!!
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
You note his opportunism and distinct differences with other Republicans, and yet ignore what should be very obvious. To say that he is just another Republican is very similar to the equally false assertion of Jill Stein types that Democrats and Republicans are the same.
Shana
@Mr. Mack: Very late to this thread so it may be too late, but here’s my sense of why there are so few Trump signs this year:
1. He’s truly awful and a lot of Rs aren’t supporting him
2. He has no ground game, no offices locally, local R committees are underfunded. Most people get campaign signs from either their local campaign office or the local committee and since they’re pretty nonexistent this year there’s no where to go pick up a sign and the last time I checked they’re selling them at Trump’s site for $20 for two signs.
I think there are an awful lot of regular Rs who won’t vote for him (please!) but also a lack of access.
Emma
@btom89: I think you should send it to Hillary!
Shana
@schrodinger’s cat: Wanna bet he doesn’t shovel his walk in the winter either?
Aleta
@SiubhanDuinne: I’ve been told that, too. For the ones I’ve heard say it, I’ve thought of it as proof of the effectiveness of one message the Rs or TPers have been injecting into vulnerable brains. “Obama is weak, terrorism is worse now, things are scarier, a tough guy is needed to save us. Or else we might die.”
It could also be a sign of a brain that needs to rationalize what it can’t acknowledge: “I’m afraid of a woman with power over me.” I think there are some people of all parties and philosophies and characters, who still have some of that at a deeper level.
(Not saying that this is true of everyone who opposes HRC. I have friends, unhappy about voting for her, for whom this is not the case at all.)
Matt McIrvin
@Shana: I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again: The Trump lawn signs are in blue states. Places where Trump will lose by large margins, but the Republicans there absolutely love him, because he’s like a middle finger in human form, and the signs are a way to give that finger to all the Democrats in the state. I see them all over in Massachusetts and NH.
Mr. Mack
Hey! I think I finally made it to moderation! Is there where we get the secret handshake or sumthin?
Patricia Kayden
@schrodinger’s cat: It’s even skeevier now that they’ve both separated from their spouses and are rumored to be dating. Funny how they both hate Trump now after being in the tank with him all through the GOP primaries.
@Lizzy L: How horrifying. Hate to say it but that dog needs to be put down as it could have killed you.
Lizzy L
@Wapiti: My next call is to State Farm’s Claim Department. Gonna get reimbursed, you betcha.
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca:
That’s where I’m at, too.
About a month ago a good friend said in an email message: “i’m still not sold on Hillary. Not thrilled with Trump either. What to do…what to do?”
This was my reply, perhaps I went overboard?
After over a decade of discussing politics, he replied:
“Wow! You’re very passionate. But I’d rather not discuss my politics.”
I’m sad that I may have lost a friend, but iIt’s really hard not to look at him differently if he can even consider voting for trump. sigh.
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
For me, it was not a matter of campaigns. Obama was the superior candidate in 2008.
Makes sense, and I largely agree with you on this. Others may vary.
D58826
The latest on the Clinton Foundation ‘scandal’. I saw both on twitter so can’t link but buzzfeed has a long piece about how Bill and Chelsea have been planning the transition of the foundation if Hillary wins. And Bill posted a long piece about the foundations plans over the next few months. Basically they want to spin off the various programs to other groups that will continue them. It seems that according to the VSP/MSM, feeding hungry kids in Latin America and providing drugs to Aids patients in Africa is a scandal
sukabi
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: was it the same focus group that was talking to former drumpf voters? Cuz apparently they’re jumping ship because “he’s going to get us all killed”
That terrifying moment when you wake-up from a nightmare…
MattF
@D58826: I think the problem with the Clinton Foundation is the word ‘Clinton’. It just makes some people crazy.
sukabi
@Hal: yes, some of his most loyal admirers.
MattF
Also, Roger Stone is totally ooga-wooga.
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
A question to ponder. Are all democrats the same?
No? I didn’t think so. We aren’t all the same on this blog. We are individuals. So are the republicans. We sometimes put them all in the same box, because they seem to like being in the same box, but they really don’t. Now that they are seeing what the party they belong to, seem to like belonging to, is really all about, some of them are trying to figure out how to quit the party they have been a part of for a long time. But that is their party, it isn’t monolithic, any more than ours is. It just used to speak with seemingly one voice. Trump is a member, he is a racist, misogynistic, wealthy asshole. That is one of their sub groups. And he always has been one. Declaring it and running under the banner wasn’t a switch for him like it was for Sanders. He didn’t have to ask to be allowed to join, he’s been a republican.
Brachiator
@schrodinger’s cat:
Sounds like she needs a friend to help in trying times.
Maybe the political shift is a way of trying to adapt and feel less isolated.
Iowa Old Lady
I care about enthusiasm only as it affects turnout. I can count on one finger the presidential candidate I was enthusiastic about, and I will miss him deeply come next year. But mostly, I view voting as hiring someone to do a job. I don’t have to be emotionally worked up to hire someone.
Miss Bianca
@WaterGirl:
GIVE ME CAKE OR GIVE ME DEATH!!
Well, at least you just got called “passionate” when you tried to point out the facts of life. My departing White Wing friends called me “nasty”, “vicious”- let’s see, did the b-word get thrown in, or was that a bridge too far even for them? – “out of touch” with history and/or reality, “ignorant”…it was the Golden Shower of Hits!
Aleta
@Lizzy L: Wish you a speedy recovery.
I was biking one day, looked down to see a flying silent dog a few inches from my calf. The bite wasn’t huge but the next days’ bruise and pain were. It took quite awhile before my leg stopped remembering whenever I biked past a dog. Eventually my reaction dissolved.
I wish dogs that leap up against fences would be required to have double enclosures.
I’m sorry to hear of your experience. Admire how you got away and are handling it.
MomSense
@Lizzy L: How terrifying! I hope your injuries heal quickly. My god that seems like a dog far too large and powerful to not be contained completely at all times.
Shana
@Lizzy L: I had a dog bite several years ago and bought a box of disposable latex gloves to wear on the injured hand when I had to bathe or wash dishes. Thin enough to not limit mobility but protected the injured hand.
Keith G
Trump isn’t getting away with ….
In the short term, some things slip by, but Trump has cratered his ‘long term’ and the press is allowing us to watch.
mike in dc
I think Kellyanne Conaway is likely to be the first of the new managers to go. She’s clearly the one trying to soften him for a broader audience, and Bannon is the hatchet man to throw red meat to his base and attack Clinton and the media relentlessly.
schrodinger's cat
@Brachiator: I think so. She used to complain how all the women in the aerobics class and at the shelter she volunteers were right wingers, when she had just moved. Now she doesn’t any more.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@sukabi:
I didn’t hear the intro, but yes, I think they had mostly voted Republican, now undecided. There was a lot of murmuring in assent and head shaking when that one guy said Trump’s been acting insane, yet, there they all were hoping against hope that a new Trump would emerge at this late date. It’s all mind boggling to me – apparently no one cares about the debts owed to China or the Russians, and all the anti-NATO Putin love if he would just act non-psychopathic for more than a day.
I don’t think Bernie would be doing any better than Hillary, and I think he’d be doing worse because he’s another thin skinned tax return hiding Russian sympathizing old white man with no skills at outreach to PoC, but if Sherrod Brown had run, or if Martin O’Malley had gotten traction, there would be a staggering lead, due to these white people who just can’t seem to stop being Trump curious.
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca: Yeah, I’m sure it would be a lot worse if I did Facebook, so glad I have never done that.
So this was a real friend and over email, and maybe yours were, too. It’s hard. But any reasonable person who is considering voting for Trump automatically loses the right to “reasonable”. Crazy times. I don’t see how it would be possible to have a starker choice. To even think about voting for Trump at this point means a person is completely unable to recognize that there’s a difference between the danger of touching a hot radiator with their hand and stepping in front of a moving train.
J R in WV
@btom89:
I had no problem, but I DID have to click an inconspicuous linky at the bottom of the log-in box, and then did the same for the download box. But other than the extra click on the small linky, worked well, great watercolor work on hard to render subjects. Hillary in the white suit is gorgeous!
MattF
@Keith G: I think that’s right. I’ve seen a lot of oooh scary stuff about Trump setting himself up to be a white nationalist media mogul… but… has everyone forgotten about how often he’s cratered as a businessman? I’m no fan of his potential partners, but if they’d asked me, I’d say “you’d better watch out”.
glory b
@CaseyL: Late to this but I can’t help myself:
I would counter with the3 Black Power flag, red, black and green with a black fist in the middle.
Fly it with an American flag on the same pole.
D58826
@MattF: Without a doubt it is the word Clinton. There were a couple of articles about the Bush family ties to the Saudi royal family during 43’s presidency but it was never a ‘scandal’ In fact I remember a photo of 43 holding the King’s hand. Apparently a sign of respect but can you imagine the reaction if the had been Obama or Hillary?
Anoniminous
@MattF:
That is some crazy-assed stuff.
J R in WV
@btom89: I routinely download multiple meg images, maps, and articles so go for more detail. You could even offer a choice for smaller images for bandwidth constrained users, larger for high-bandwidth people.
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
You’ve said this already. It is easily contradicted by what we know about Trump and by the diverse GOP reaction to his candidacy.
He’s clearly Republican by association, but it’s only on his terms. It will be interesting to see if he has any interest in politics after he loses the election.
As an aside, I think he will continue to withhold his tax returns, because he wants to protect the Trump brand, and he will need this cover when he returns to private life. And if he continues to mouth conservative platitudes, it will only be because he is a sore loser. He is all about his ego needs, not political affiliation.
catclub
@Eric U.:
Whereupon, if you answer yes, the job of getting the bills paid falls to you. PLus, you no longer get the insurance compnay discount rate, you gte the list price for everything. This works to your favor if: You can hold off paying until you get a settlement from their insurance. you can pay any bills that come due in the meantime. You scrupulously collect and document all bills.
and Finally: The settlement is X times all medical bills, where X is greater than 3.
Good luck on that. I fulfilled most of those for my accident, but not all.
Aleta
@WaterGirl: In the last hour or so, Dr. Barber has been posting a string of good answers on his twitter to Tr’s what-have-you-got-to-lose slogan.
mobile.twitter.com/revdrbarber
Kevin Robbins
@Hal: More blowback from coddling Trump. May he take them out as well as the GOP and all of Right Wing Media. Thank you, Donald.
Aleta
@D58826: Taking donations from the wealthy to assist the poor works for me.
Brachiator
@MattF:
This “you are not the father” crap and the Hillary secret illness is just confirmation that the Republicans are stooping to tabloid level dirty tricks in attempt to control the news cycle. And Trump loves this approach because he is a petty little shitpustle.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@WaterGirl: I speak bullshit; let me help.
When someone says this, they will never vote for Hillary and they never had any intention of doing so. What they’re asking you for is both permission and reasons to vote for Trump. The reply you received confirms that.
Miss Bianca
@WaterGirl: Mine weren’t Trumpers – but one was “Johnson curious”, and inclined toward Stein, the other wasn’t going to vote for Stein, because she was too flaky even for him, but was going to dedicate his “awesome organizing skills” into…a write-in campaign for Ralph Nader. Yes, the mind reels. so, even tho’ Trump is an obvious disaster, we’re going to throw away our votes on third-party and write-in candidates because PRINCIPLES, damn it! Emails! Corporate Democratic sellout! Someone named CLINTON! is running for President, but oh noes it’s the WOMAN CLINTON, which is EVEN WORSE, somehow!
Every time LGM runs this meme (which it did again this morning), I just laugh and laugh. Bitterly. But it’s still laughter.
WaterGirl
@Aleta: Thanks for that! Off to look at it now.
Rand Careaga
@Wapiti: The episode to which you refer is probably this one from 2001 which involved a pair of Presa Canarios, not a pit bull. The dogs’ owners, both attorneys, were jaw-droppingly unrepentant. The legal proceedings did not go well for them.
Miss Bianca
@Aleta: @WaterGirl: btw…Dr. Barber? I totally have a crush on him. Yes, I know. It would never work. He’s too good for me.
The Lodger
@dmsilev: He’s four fifths of a boson.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@Rand Careaga: Neither the husband nor the wife got the death penalty. Hell, neither one got life without parole. Given that the wife set the dogs on Diane Whipple deliberately, and both of them trained the dogs to kill, the wife at least should have received a death sentence. I’d say it went as well as they could have hoped for, given the circumstances.
daves09
@JPL: Jeebus, is there a bigger hack than Luntz?
Recall his focus groups during the dem debates. Everyone one of them showed Sanders winning overwhelmingly. Even the network was so embarrassed it stopped showing them.
scuffletuffle
@Lizzy L: make sure the neghbors insurance reimburses you for your medicals and some extra for psin and suffering. Put them on notice now.
The Lodger
@Miss Bianca: I remember Manitou Springs from an old, old vacation. Loved it. Too bad it’s in such close orbit to the Death Star, though.
Frankensteinbeck
@Mnemosyne:
Your point is well made. By instinct I lump them in with bigots who would never have voted for Obama, but the overlap is not total and tens of thousands seems reasonable.
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca: I do, too. Those eyes are powerful! I tried to listen to him speak at the convention while I read balloon juice, but those eyes made me put down the computer and rewind Tivo to the beginning of his speech.
I won’t fight you for him, but he is truly amazing. Too good for both of us, no doubt!
Peale
@D58826: It was only supposed to be a way for them to hide their assets. It wasn’t supposed to be doing anything! Its all supposed to be a show they put on to cover up a scandal.
Miss Bianca
@WaterGirl: yeah, I’m still living off the high I got from some of the speeches at the DNC – Dr. Barber’s, the Khans, FLOTUS, POTUS, HRC’s et al’s – which is kind of what started the whole thing with my friends, when I noted, “Gee, you seem to have seen a completely different convention than I did.”
Still can’t understand how someone could have watched those speeches and come away with the notion that the Democratic Party was some kind of war-mongering, neoliberal Moloch that just can’t want to sell out and devour the One True Left. But apparently, if you’re a butthurt-enough white leftist, it’s not only possible, but almost inevitable
burnspbesq
@randy khan:
If Trump were as rapacious a predator–erm, as good a businessman–as he claims to be, he and his Russian partners would have quietly bought up all the popcorn futures before he announced his candidacy.
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, acts like a duck, looks like a duck, swims like a duck, fucks like a duck, has the genitalia of a duck, claims to be a duck, is liked by the other ducks, it’s most likely a fucking duck.
Dee Loralei
@btom89: lovely, lovely watercolors. I even d/l’d drop box to view. Glad I did!
cmorenc
@Immanentize:
Warren is probably holding her fire until after Labor Day, when far more people resume paying closer attention to the election campaign. From the start of the Olympics onward until then, the political campaign is in the shadow of the partial eclipse of those events. Why use her best ammo then, when any further Trump gaffe she can provoke will be far more effective in drawing people’s attention after Labor Day? For that matter, Clinton herself has actually benefitted from being shadowed from quite so much focus during this period, especially since Trump’s blustery offensiveness and nefarious connections have been potent enough to break through those distractions with the public. After Labor Day, it will be game on trolling Trump much more so than during the August “eclipse” period.
James E Powell
@D58826:
I’m thinking – though it’s still early – that Clinton Foundation will be the Whitewater of Hillary’s administration. Has anyone used the word Foundation-gate yet?
gogol's wife
@Aleta:
Much as I loved Khizr Khan, I was sorry that Barber’s fantastic speech didn’t get more attention. He made me proud to be a Christian!
cain
@Brachiator: This is a very interesting admission. I wonder if this might affect GOTV efforts. It’s getting closer to election day and yet it seems as though some might be voting for Hillary more out of a sense of duty than genuine enthusiasm.
I don’t know anybody who is an enthusiastic hillary voter. It isn’t that we don’t like her platform, it’s just that we know that her presidency is going to be rife with dramatic crap from Republicans. Few people drive Republicans more crazy than Hillary and Bill. These guys will be out 24/7, plus MSM, plus whatever.. Obama pretty much took it on the chin, but I suspect Hillary will fight back. But I just know that it is going to be an exhausting mental excercise to deal with Republicans who will be out there investigating her or trying to impeach her etc.
I expect impeachment hearings to start within weeks of her taking the oath. The republicans will likely still have the house, so you can expect complete gridlock on everything as they go nuts. And Hillary is perfect, the republican base hates her and the Republican party can fundraise off her that hate like gangbusters. There will be a huge cottage grift industry off of Hillary Derangement Syndrome.
WaterGirl
@gogol’s wife: A decidedly unapologetic progressive christian!!!
J R in WV
@btom89: May I/we send your work to friends I think will like it?
Thanks for sharing it with us here!
JR
D58826
@Ruckus: or a republican
NorthLeft12
@schrodinger’s cat: Do you think your friend is just reflecting the preference of the majority of people she is around, or is she a long time Hillary hater?
NorthLeft12
@Shana: Is charging for lawn signs normal in US politics or is this another grift by the Donald?
In Canada if you call the candidate’s office, they will rush right out and stick it in your lawn themselves. Free. Is this another example of the socialist hellhole that Canada has turned into?
catclub
@NorthLeft12: Clinton campaign is selling them on its website.
NorthLeft12
@WaterGirl: I am grateful that here in Canada, the choices are not that extreme when it comes to elections. Even our Conservative party is nearly as moderate as the Democrats in the US. Don’t get me wrong, I would never vote for the Cons and loathe their policies, but they are not attempting to punish the poor, and promote discrimination, etc. like the Republicans.
Ruckus
@cain: @cain:
There are several on this blog who are enthusiastic Clinton voters. I’m one. And why not? She has a great platform, she has learned how to manage a campaign a lot better, she is a woman and while that might not make a difference – it really might. Very few of the men that have been in the job have been at her level, including several during my lifetime. She couldn’t possibly be any worse than over half the people I’ve had to vote for in the last 45 yrs. So what’s not to like? It’s past time to give someone besides an old white asshole the job. We tried a black man and he’s done a great job. Let’s get some more diversity in there.
I posted a comment a long time ago here about electing a black man. I thought he was the best for the job but that the country as a whole might not. I was properly and with good cause figuratively beaten about the head and shoulders for that comment. It took a horrible lack of foresight on my part to even suggest it. There is never a good time to change the course of history. There are always good reasons not to. But there is always a great reason to try to make a change for the better. If that change values people rather than fucking them over, if that change is way past due, then it is always time. Always. And it will be worth the hassle and the bullshit to do it. For it is the right thing to do. It is time. We have a great candidate. Fuck the losers who want the world to revolve backwards into the 15th century. We’ve had decades of that and it sucks hairy donkey balls.
tybee
@btom89: pretty cool. thanks.
NoraLenderbee
Enthusiastic Clinton supporter here.
randy khan
@MattF: The piece on Slate just boggled my mind. The idea that the Clinton Foundation should be shut down for what essentially are optics reasons without considering even for a second what it actually does is incredible. The harm that would be caused by shutting it down would be significant; the benefit of doing so is purely speculative and orders of magnitude less than what would be lost if the foundation went away.
Ruckus
@randy khan:
Haven’t bothered to look but do the Clintons even make any money off of the foundation? It sounds like an actual charitable foundation to me, the vast majority of the money goes to the people it is trying to help in one way or another and little goes to operations.
satby
@btom89: Eons late, but cute story and nice watercolors.