Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Giving up is unforgivable.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

Bark louder, little dog.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Money Can’t Buy You Gandalf

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Money Can’t Buy You Gandalf

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Yes, it makes me happy that Douche Flotilla Admiral Sean Parker’s wedding will never stop being mockable.

As a reminder, Sean Parker’s cri du couer:

Weddings Used To Be Sacred And Other Lessons About Internet Journalism
…. When I got started in this industry almost 20 years ago, things were different. Back then there were no blogs, no Twitter or Facebook, and the editorial world was still a growing business. The reporters I interacted with diligently researched their stories, tracked down sources, conducted interviews, and even fact-checked their stories before publication. The trouble with online media is that there’s no incentive for them to do any of this. It’s easier to generate traffic with snarky stories than hard news, and there’s no downside for getting the facts of a story wrong, or even making it up entirely. The law offers no recourse, since being a “public figure” denies you, for all intents and purposes, any protection under libel laws. The blogs attack you, do their damage, and then move on to their next target. Now, because of the permanence of the Internet and the ease of Google, these vicious online attacks leave behind a reputational stain that is very difficult to wash out…

Always think before you hit the publish button, my friends!

Apart from cheap mockery, what’s on the agenda for the day?

trump pivots flat faced morin

(Jim Morin via GoComics.com)
.

Reader Interactions

177Comments

  2. 2.

    Patricia Kayden

    Morning to you, rikyrah.

    Trump’s grifting is going fabulously. He doesn’t want to win, folks. He’ll come out of this scampaign just fine (and maybe a lot richer).

  3. 3.

    bemused

    Ahh, nothing better than the first few gulps of strong, black coffee in the morning. Bliss. I have to get serious about buying a new coffee maker. Our Cuisinart 10-cup with thermal carafe is on it’s last legs. We’ve had other Cuisinart and Krups coffeemakers but our main must is a machine with stainless steel thermal carafe and on sale, under $100.

  4. 4.

    p.a.

    Good morning! Fall cleanout time; donated some books and clothes yesterday, may try ebay/craigslist today to sell some film cameras. No Leicas, so I’m realistic about what I can ask.

  5. 5.

    TS

    So it’s emails again today – and the media wonders why Hillary doesn’t stand in front of them to be harassed with questions about emails

  6. 6.

    Lurker Extraordinaire

    Good morning! Workout completed, coffee down. Next up is a shower before the kiddo wakes up, hit the lit review for the thesis hard (I am WAY behind), possibly call my advisor for a Skype call, and get husband and kiddo out the door for a fishing trip/overnight camp out before little one starts Pre-K. Plus, figure out my Florida ticket situation so I can finally register to vote here in Ohio and maybe enjoy this fall like weather. Oh, and nap with the dog.

    Everyone have a wonderful day!

  7. 7.

    Baud

    @TS: Did they find the ones where Hillary orders Chelsea to get pregnant so she can give birth during campaign season?

  8. 8.

    Betty Cracker

    @TS: I’ve seen stories alleging that there are 15K “new” emails. Aren’t these the same emails Comey discussed during his prosecutorial post-investigation statement? Near as I can tell (and truthfully, I haven’t followed the story all that closely since I can’t bring myself to give a damn about these emails), the only thing “new” about them is that the wingnut Judicial Watch outfit received a favorable response about their release. Am I missing something?

  9. 9.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    I aborted my attempt to climb Mt. Lee(the mountain the Hollywood Sign is on) yesterday; I may try again today.

  11. 11.

    satby

    Good morning everyone! I think today is raven’s surgery day? Wishing him the best of luck and a quick recovery!

    More packing and moving today. And for the next 7, that’s all I will be doing because my goal is to be in the new place fully by Sept 1. The circa 1970s rugs (ewww) are starting to be removed today. But I will only have time to repaint the living room before I move in. On the other hand, I will need stuff to keep me busy this winter, painting is as good as anything else.

  12. 12.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: I’m guessing my decision to NOT watch Morning Joe was a wise one. Instead, I’m scanning negatives from madame and my trip to DC in 1991(it was a gift from me after she became a US citizen).

  15. 15.

    TS

    @Baud: No – but they found the one where Sec Clinton ordered anyone that contributed to the Clinton foundation should be given the keys to the kingdom.

  16. 16.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: I’m using an Epson V550 and VueScan. The Epson will handle slides(various sizes), negatives, and prints. Vuescan is not the program that comes with the scanner, it does a much better job; but there is a bit of a learning curve.

  18. 18.

    Mustang Bobby

    Good morning and here I am back in South Florida after a weekend in Cincinnati for Dad’s 90th birthday party. We had a great time with a houseful of siblings, spouses, grandchildren, one great-grandchild, nieces, nephews, fiances, girlfriends, and lots of food and drink. And no fighting or “Well, what’s THAT supposed to mean” moments, which I think is a record for my family.

    I was about to call in for another day off just to catch my breath, but my co-worker is taking the day off, so I’m on. And only 32 e-mails to catch up on.

    Best wishes, raven, for a speedy and uneventful recovery.

  19. 19.

    Baud

    @TS: I saw a WSJ headline about someone “seeking access.” That was a tell that they were manufacturing a story. But I didn’t read the article.

  20. 20.

    TS

    @Betty Cracker:

    I really have no idea – I thought there were 3 of interest which came down to 1 which was then cleared by the State department. After that they lost me. The aim is to confuse and the anti Hillary brigade has done that very well.

  28. 28.

    Baud

    @TS: That’s the thing about about the “scandals” these days. At least in the 90s, they felt the need to create a narrative. Now it’s all confusion designated by a name. Emails! Benghazi! I guess that’s one way to avoid scrutiny.

  29. 29.

    amk

    rnc pr bs has done such heckuva job that he get to do it twice.

    and da establishment wonders how they chose a clown to represent them.

  30. 30.

    David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch

    Trump has an actual fraud case pending and the media ignores that.

    Trump refuses to release his tax returns from prior years and the media ignores that. (imagine the wall-to-wall firestorm if Clinton refused to release her tax returns).

    But they obsess over gefilte fish emails that even an hostile FBI deemed insignificant.

    eta: imagine the nixonian-like conflagration if Clinton blacklisted just one member of the media, let alone scores of them.

  32. 32.

    raven

    @eric: No, they were having fun of the urologist who went on Hannity and diagnosed HIllary while wearing a lab coat.

  35. 35.

    frosty

    @rikyrah: Good morning back atcha…. and this is the earliest you’ll ever hear me say that. I can’t believe how many Juicers are functional at oh-dawn-30.

    Up early waiting for the plumber. Good: First step on the bathroom remodel. Bad: The only tub/shower in the house will be out of commission for at least a week and a half.

  37. 37.

    Mustang Bobby

    @raven: Having a urologist discuss Hillary Clinton’s medical condition while wearing a lab coat puts him right up there with the guy on late-night TV who sells “natural” boner pills.

  40. 40.

    frosty

    @p.a.:

    ebay/craigslist today to sell some film cameras

    I checked with a camera store awhile back about an Olympus OM-1. No resale value but he suggested a donation to the local college. Photography students still need to learn shutter speeds and f-stops manually.

  44. 44.

    raven

    Now they are showing the clip of Heilman(SP) googling Guliana and dementia while in scrubs and a nurses hat!

  45. 45.

    David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch

    BWHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAH

    US Olympic coach Geno Auriemma blasts Trump:

    We live in a Trumpian era where it’s okay to be sexist and degrade people that are good, just because they’re the opposite sex. We are what we are. We’re never going to apologize for being that good. We’re never going to apologize for setting a standard that other people aspire to achieve.

    These are Olympians. They’re supposed to play at a high level. They’re professionals, they’re supposed to put on a show, they’re supposed to entertain. So, what are we supposed to do? Just go out there and win by a little? We’re not bad for women’s basketball. What’s bad for women’s basketball is when nobody’s great.

    Well, Trump is right – to the victor goes the spoils (photo)

  47. 47.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @frosty: You can do that with most digital cameras(not phones).

    ETA: For the first several months after I got my camera, I forced myself to use manual mode exclusively.

  50. 50.

    frosty

    @raven: No Y membership, although I thought about it. My wife goes to a gym down the block and I’ve got a workout room and shower at work. My son? His friends will be seeing a lot more of him for the next two weeks.

    We were hoping to use the shower in our trailer but unfortunately it’s still in the shop getting a bent axle replaced from our road trip this summer.

    ETA: Hope everything goes well today!

  53. 53.

    debbie

    @TS:

    Sherrod Brown acquitted himself very well this morning on NPR in regard to Trump’s allegations about Clinton’s focus on fundraising. The interviewer could barely get a word in!

  55. 55.

    raven

    @frosty: We went without a kitchen for 2 months last summer. Fridge and microwave in the hall and my gas weber were how we did it. Field expediency!

  58. 58.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Betty Cracker: According to GMA, the new emails show that Clinton gave favors to those who donated to her Foundation, I.e., met with them while Secretary of State. One of the Reporters even suggested that the Clintons had to cut the Foundation loose.

  60. 60.

    frosty

    @raven:

    We went without a kitchen for 2 months last summer.

    We’re used to camping so the kitchen wasn’t too bad. Interesting finding though? You can do without a faucet (water from the bathroom) you can do without a fridge (cooler) or microwave and stove (Coleman stove) but you really really need a drain! We had an old sink in the basement for washing up.

  68. 68.

    Immanentize

    @raven: yesterday you said you used a water smoker. I use a (slightly modified) Webber bullet and I love it. Mine also burned hot until the inside got seasoned with some grease and soot on it as the new enamel reflects heat. Yours will cool down….

  69. 69.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Just heard from my wife. She got on the plane in Palma and promptly fell asleep. Wakes up when the plane is landing. Madrid! Next leg up is….. Uh, wait a minute, this airport looks just like the one in Palma.

    So she is still in Palma. Maybe she’ll get home by Friday.

  72. 72.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Baud: The claim is that within 48 hours after a donation, a Middle Eastern donor was scheduled for a meeting with Secretary Clinton.

  73. 73.

    raven

    @Immanentize: I looked long an hard at those baby’s! I think that was part of my problem compounded by throwing in big oak chucks that made it burn hotter.

  74. 74.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I’m less worried about the Clinton Foundation than I am about the emails. I’m not worried they’ll find something in the emails. I think the constant email news is damaging. I’m to the point where I wish she’d hold a press conference devoted to the emails- as many questions as they want. She needs some kind of demarcation – an end. I don’t kid myself that the speculation WILL end, but she should at least try – do her part. I think we have to remember that younger people don’t know the history. They don’t know that these controversies don’t end when the Clintons address them. She should do it for no one other reason than there’s a large group of voters who don’t know the history and backstory. She has to reach them where they are, not where they “should be”.

  77. 77.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    This explains the hate from the Right:

    Forty-six million children have better educational opportunities, more than 110 million women and children have better access to health care, and clean drinking water is more available to over 27 million people, he said…

    Moochers all.

  78. 78.

    Kay

    @TS:

    Seems the threat to discuss the personal relationships worked.

    It’s a whole other horrible aspect of Trump I hadn’t considered. He knows all these people and has for a while and he’s an absolute loose cannon. He can (and will) threaten them.

  79. 79.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Baud: From what I gleaned from GMA, the donor had asked to meet with Secretary Clinton three or four times previously but was only scheduled to meet with her within 48 hours after the donation. I think it’s an issue of the timing.

  80. 80.

    Baud

    @Kay: Maybe she should do a town hall with young people. No point talking to reporters.

    I don’t give young people a pass. They are usually good at smelling bullshit when they want to be. But the goal here is to maximize turnout.

  83. 83.

    amk

    @Kay: She has done that many time before including offering many apologies. Why would / should she do that again & again? The voters who are going to vote based on emails!!! aren’t going to vote for her anyway.

    Funny how donnie dick gets to dodge his tax returns, russian connections, corrupt business practices and gets no such demand to explain them all.

  84. 84.

    Baud

    @amk:

    Plus, there’s no good time to do it. There are always more emails coming. Still waiting on the Russians.

  85. 85.

    Just One More Canuck

    @Mustang Bobby: One of my favorite lines from Taxi (the Judd Hirsch/Danny DeVito show) was DeVito’s character saying “If I knew you were coming, I’d have baked a ham”

  86. 86.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Hillary Clinton emails recovered by FBI to be released just before election day

    State department lawyers say they expect to make nearly 15,000 emails public in batches starting three weeks before election

    But the video of Trump’s deposition in the Trump University fraud case won’t be released until after the election because it is so damning and would skew the election unfavorably against him. I guess we really shouldn’t complain. During the last 3 weeks the MSM will all be yammering about the e-mails 24/7 and if people aren’t listening now they sure as shit aren’t going to listen then.

  87. 87.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Republicans make this mistake with young people. It was a matter of much hilarity in 2008. Young people genuinely did not know why they were supposed to hate Jimmy Carter. They also don’t know what they’re supposed to love Ronald Reagan. I have had a 20-something ask me if Nixon was a Republican or Democrat.

    It’s a kind of blindness, right? When you know something you forget that at one time you didn’t know it. I can say when I cast my first vote I did not know the entire modern history of the Democratic Party. I wasn’t harkening back to Truman. I knew what I knew.

  89. 89.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Betty Cracker: I was confused because stories about both sets of emails seem to be in the news at the same time right now, and the headlines rarely differentiate. I think a lot of people don’t even realize that the emails Assange keeps dropping didn’t come from Hillary Clinton’s personal server.

  93. 93.

    Baud

    @Kay: They are arbitrarily cynical. They are not the only ones who are, but they may be impossible to reach. If they are wedded to a Clinton-hating culture, they will choose to believe the media this time.

  94. 94.

    JMG

    @Kay: I almost always agree with you on political tactics, but not this time. A press conference would just allow a group of venal, shallow and not too bright people to make insinuations framed as questions for an hour or so so they can be the heroes and heroines of their own psychodramas. Nothing she could ever say except “I confess” will satisfy them. The best time to respond to this will be in the debates, where for sure it will be brought up, where Clinton can say, “I did nothing illegal, nothing unethical, and in Grace Slick’s immortal words, it doesn’t mean shit to a tree.”
    Or words to that effect, anyway.

  95. 95.

    Kay

    @Patricia Kayden:

    But an explanation isn’t for them. It isn’t for media. It’s for voters. It’s a kind of good-faith offering. We know media won’t take it on good faith, but she has to trust voters will. They might. People are pretty generous, they really are. Obama didn’t stop explaining when he realized the media filter was useless. The trying is the point. That’s the offer. They can reject it or take the media spin but she has to offer.

  97. 97.

    Taylor

    @Kay:

    A press conference town hall meeting would just allow a group of venal, shallow and not too bright people to make insinuations framed as questions for an hour or so so they can be the heroes and heroines of their own psychodramas.

  98. 98.

    Kay

    @JMG:

    But they’re doing that anyway! It isn’t for them. Give up on them. Stop thinking about what they want or what they’ll do. She can’t control that. She CAN control what she does.

    Do it in the spirit of addressing voters directly. I don’t care if it’s a “press conference”. It can be a speech with questions. It can be a town hall! Do it at a college and let young people ask questions.

  101. 101.

    JMG

    @Kay: I still believe the debates will be the best place for a response, as it will compare and contrast with Trump’s refusal to provide basic data on his career, which will also for sure be brought up.

  103. 103.

    Bex

    @Kay: It won’t help to hold a press conference. BTW when was Trump’s last press conference? Oh yeah, never. Everyone in the press corpse wants to be the next Woodward & Bernstein. They only want to ASK QUESTIONS, which will lead to nothing but more questions. It’s not about answers. It’s about ratfvcking.

  104. 104.

    Baud

    @JMG: It will also have a large audience that’s not subject to the media filter. How many people will watch a press conference live?

  105. 105.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    they will choose

    They absolutely will choose media’s interpretation if we don’t give them a choice at all. It’s a guaranteed negative versus a possible partial positive. To me it’s a no-brainer. Take the possible benefit.

  108. 108.

    Hal

    Some Conservatives think Clinton committed actual treason with the email server and should spend the rest of her life in prison. None of those folks will ever be dissuaded or convinced they should vote for Hillary.

    My only real concerns is for the fence sitters who might be affected by the server issue, but I’m not convinced there are that many of them to begin with.

    I’m also convinced that just having a news conference would be framed as an admission of guilt and panic! from the Clinton campaign by the media.

  109. 109.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    I don’t think the press conference is the answer. I would love her to say that she has gone through the most intense scrutiny of any candidate and they have found nothing. I happen to believe that’s true.

  110. 110.

    Kay

    @Bex:

    You’re still focusing on them. That’s a trap. We already know she can’t win with them. Can she possibly reach some voters? Yes? Then try. Forget about them. Include them as all negative and then look at it from the perspective of voters hearing her.

  111. 111.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:
    Absolutely Kay. Maybe you missed it during the past couple of weeks. Someone pointed the probable reason why Fox news couldn’t punch back at Trump -he knew, by knowing Ailes’ PR person, all of Ailes’ business.

  113. 113.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: Let’s just hope you aren’t going in and out of the anesthesia just aware enuf to hear, “Oooopps.”

  114. 114.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Okay! No press conference. But she should specifically and publicly address it in some forum. Create a demarcation for voters. Close it as to them and then go on. It won’t end media fixation. I know that. Who cares? They’ll stay fixated whatever she does so she can do the best thing.

  115. 115.

    Betty Cracker

    @Matt McIrvin: You are absolutely right that the SoS email server and DNC emails are being conflated in the media, and voters who aren’t paying close attention no doubt believe they are a single phenomenon. At this point, I’m not sure what the Clinton campaign can do other than hope the constant purveying of nothingburgers damages the emails meme the way the Congressional hyperventilation over the video issue WRT Benghazi killed that campaign narrative for unaffiliated voters.

    Speaking of Assange, I’ve been following the WikiLeaks Twitter account and looking at his recent interviews. WikiLeaks has morphed into a wing of Breitbart at this point, i.e., a division of the Trump lies and grift machine. Assange is blatantly trafficking in conspiracy theories about Clinton’s health now, using State Department emails to falsely insinuate that she was incapable of decision-making. What a piece of shit. Not to mention exposing private info on innocent bystanders. I don’t know how any alleged liberal or progressive can still defend that organization.

  116. 116.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    It honestly never occurred to me until I read it yesterday.

    He did this in the primary, right? He threatened to reveal something about another candidate or something. I have some vague memory of him bellowing out threats.

  119. 119.

    satby

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: hey, I saw that you wanted to ask Adam about the pebbles on the Jewish gravestones. When I visited a cemetery with a friend who was Jewish, he left a pebble on the graves we stopped at (no relatives, just an old cemetery) and said it was the sign that someone had visited. I thought that was such a sweet custom that I have left pebbles on gravestones ever since if I stop at a cemetery.

  120. 120.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Kay: A press conference focused solely on the email “scandal” may be a good thing, I suppose. Of course, many voters (like myself) could care less about email servers and view the Clinton Foundation as a force of good. But yes, of course you’re correct that Secretary Clinton must address the email server issue and reach out to potential voters.

    This is becoming a “when did you stop beating your wife” situation for Secretary Clinton though.

  124. 124.

    Cat48

    @Patricia Kayden:

    The Supreme CT said meeting with people is irrelevant — See Bob McDonnell who met and his family received all types of gifts from Johnnie the pill peddler.

  126. 126.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    I don’t know how any alleged liberal or progressive can still defend that organization.

    Who does? That may be a sign that they should not be regarded as liberal.

  127. 127.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Baud: Secretary Clinton would do well with a Baud advisor among her confidantes.

    By the way, it would be nice if Senator Sanders repeats his debate comment that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about Clinton’s emails.

  128. 128.

    D58826

    @Betty Cracker: As far as I c an tell they are the same 15k e-mails that Comey:
    1. said the FBI found
    2. the Clinton team didn’t intentionally hide them
    3. they were attachments, dups, deleted in the way normal people delete e-mails and/or subject line didn’t indicate it was a business document (the Clinton team used the subject line only) and
    4. were part of the process when deciding that there was no criminal case.

    Unfortunately for much of the media when Judicial Watch says jump the media asks how high and how often.

    One of life’s little mysterious is, if the Clinton’s murder all the ‘little’ people (like the DNC staffer) who have threatening information why is Larry Klayman still alive? He certainly has caused them more grief then all of the other people on the usual ‘murdered by Clintons’ list combined.

  129. 129.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Cat48: That probably only works when we’re talking about a Republican politician. You must be forgetting that the Clintons are monsters and that everything they do is wicked evil bad no good.

  130. 130.

    Lurker Extraordinaire

    I’ll care about Clinton’s emails when Rethuglicans start caring about Powell/Rice having private email servers/the outing of Valerie Plame/GWB “Wonderfuckstick” lying us into Iraq/Cheney’s nefarious multitudes of fuckery. So, in other words, never.

    And Assange seems like a sexist asshole. No surprise there.

  131. 131.

    D58826

    @Kay: As part of that forum put out a detailed timeline/explanation. From that day forward if any one asks about the e-mails :
    1. w/o saying a word hand them the document
    2. turn to someone else and say next question

  134. 134.

    D58826

    @Lurker Extraordinaire: And the 3-4 million WH e-mails that were run thru RNC e-mail accounts and just by pure bad luck disappeared when the federal attorney firing investigation was taking place.

    And speaking of Plame, when Fitzpatrick decided not to indict Chaney he did not give a press briefing listings all of the evil things he had found out about Chaney’s role in the affair.

  135. 135.

    Iowa Old Lady

    The Republicans killed the power of Benghazi by giving Clinton 11 hours to answer every hostile question. And, with another committee, they required Comey to argue (against his will?) that Clinton should not be indicted. Maybe we need them to haul Clinton in again.

  137. 137.

    Baud

    It’s been said that the Dems have a hack deficit. We are seeing the consequences of that.

  138. 138.

    Kay

    @D58826:

    The Obama campaign were really worried about Rev Wright. Media loved it, they played the clips constantly and they even invented a “what did he know and when did he know it?” frame on whether Obama was in the room for Wright’s more controversial statements.

    Obama himself addressed it. He trusted voters enough to try. Did it ‘work”? As far as media? No. They kept asking about it. As far as voters? Yeah. It worked.

    Trust works two ways. She has to trust voters or they won’t trust her. They will be MORE generous than media. They always are.

  139. 139.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: A couple of folks popped up to defend WikiLeaks’ honor in Russian hacking threads here, and plenty of so-called liberals on Twitter apparently still believe Assange is a martyr to transparency.

  140. 140.

    Kay

    @D58826:

    The Clintons already know this. Bill Clinton was much more popular with the public than he ever was in DC or media.

    They forgave him.

  142. 142.

    Betty Cracker

    @Iowa Old Lady: Good point — it wasn’t just the Republicans’ overplaying their hand on Benghazi, it was Clinton’s masterful handling of the inquisition that deflated the issue as a political football for anyone who isn’t already a wingnut.

  143. 143.

    Lurker Extraordinaire

    @manyakitty: No. I’m finishing up my master’s at USF. Just have to get this thesis done. Possibly contemplating going whole hog and doing the Ph.D. at OSU, though. I don’t know if I am ready to give another 4-7 years though, as I am almost 40 and have no career.

    @D58826: Ya nailed it! No mention of millions of missing emails from the Bushies. Shocker. /s

    @Betty Cracker: If anyone is a “martyr to transparency,” a case could be made for Chelsea Manning. But I don’t see conservayuppies going to bat for her. And that was before she wanted to transition. But those assholes are all about Assange/Snowden. Fuck them.

  144. 144.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Betty Cracker: As he hides from a rape indictment in an Ecuadorian embassy? Most of the martyrs I know of were hung on a cross or burned at the stake.

  145. 145.

    Kay

    Going off the Rev Wright speech, and maybe this is crazy, but she could put the emails in the context of being in the public eye for 30 years. Tell that personal story, the way Obama made the entire history of race in America personal. Tell us what it’s like to be her.

  146. 146.

    Lurker Extraordinaire

    I feel like someone far more creative than me can come up with a “Can’t Buy Gandalf” tune set to “Can’t Buy Me Love” from the Beatles.

  147. 147.

    Kay

    Andrea Tantaros charged in a lawsuit that top executives at the network punished her for complaining about sexual harassment by Roger Ailes.

    Gross sewer and horrible place to work. Conservatives must be so proud of what they created. The rot comes from within.

  150. 150.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’m fascinated by her life and other people are too. She’s had an amazing life. What’s it like? Clinton has a reticence I recognize. She doesn’t talk about herself.

    People think it’s aloofness or arrogance but I would bet a 100 dollars she was raised like that. I think it comes thru in a very endearing way with her complete disinterest in her appearance. Clothes wear her, she doesn’t wear clothes. I bet she was raised to think it’s vain to worry about that.

  151. 151.

    D58826

    @Betty Cracker: Yep. It gets to that problem with the ‘public’ part of public service that she talked about at the convention. I wonder how many non-political junkies are aware of how much she has done by way of public service by emphasizing the service part and downplaying the public part.

    Given the witch hunting of the past 30 years I understand her defensiveness but maybe now is the time to let a little light shine into what she has done over the years to actually live her Christian faith and not just talk about it.

  152. 152.

    D58826

    @Kay: There is a parable in the Bible about the two men praying. The one does so loudly and in public and the other quietly in a dark room. God hears the prayer of the quiet man. Many Christians view charity work/public service in the same way. You do it because your faith demands it not because it makes a good talking point or resume item.

  153. 153.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    Usually I am with you, Kay, but I’m not about this and the emails. There’s nothing that she could say. Nothing. I would like the Town Hall idea with young people.

  154. 154.

    Kay

    @D58826:

    Right? And don’t you get the sense that the Rodham household was not a place where people went into long, personal trips thru angst and agony? They were like “you have it better than a lot of people. Get to work” :)

    It’s a whole way of thinking and being. A lot of people would recognize it.

  155. 155.

    gvg

    @Kay: I just disagree. Don’t think it will work because reachable voters won’t even watch. It’s too old. no one but media and RWNJ’s care. it’s dying down and we should let it. complete always nothing burger to most people. Normal people who care seem to be ones whose jobs dog them about proper email security so they think she should know this was wrong. Extreme rule bound organizations, who have rules different than what Hillary chose. What I see is email isn’t really secure the proper way either, seems to me she tried and she is at the level where she has to set rules, there is no cover in just following some lesser committee’s rules.
    I’d perfer to here more about how to make our government agencies email secure and our citizens too. but no, they have to waste my time on nonsense over and over.
    In other words press conference wouldn’t work. I think she did that a long time ago and Obama too, and it didn’t work. Why waste time again? She HAS addressed it, but the press won’t accept an answer. The voters have mostly accepted it or not.

  156. 156.

    James E Powell

    @Kay:

    But an explanation isn’t for them. It isn’t for media. It’s for voters. It’s a kind of good-faith offering.

    No matter how much good faith is in the offering, there will be none in the receiving. If HRC says anything now, and it varies by so much as a preposition or a verb tense, they will scream “Clinton gives new story on e-mails. Everything before was a lie.”

    There is no story in the e-mails themselves so the only aim is to get the words “Clinton” and “e-mails” into the headline or lead story on cable. This reinforces the idea that there is something wrong, that it matters, and that it is not over and in the past. Clinton holding a press conference to address the e-mails will do her or the Democrats no good at all.

  157. 157.

    Peale

    Nope. I really don’t see Trump getting away with a pivot on deportation policy. Not certain why they’d bother trying. I can’t remember a politician ever flipping on their signature issue during a campaign. This is the equivalent of Bush in 2004 changing his mind about the Iraq invasion, calling it an expensive humanitarian disaster, and pledging to remove the troops as soon as possible.

  158. 158.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    He did this in the primary, right? He threatened to reveal something about another candidate or something. I have some vague memory of him bellowing out threats.

    I don’t remember that. I just remember someone posted the story here within the last 2 weeks in the comments about TRUMP being the broker between Ailes and a settlement with his former PR person. Trump KNEW everything that the PR person did….

    Didn’t we all wonder why Fox didn’t go TOTALLY full throttle against Trump during the primaries? Yeah, they took shots here and there..but, not the way Fox usually does when they want to destroy someone.

    Well, you got your answer.

    PS- we did have that Enquirer story about Cruz – remember?

  159. 159.

    Punchy

    I would think (naively, perhaps) that this story would get more play in the press. It paints a picture about as clear as can be that Trump is running a pure grift campaign; that he’s here to enrich his bank account, not actually run for pres. This info, coupled with his aversion to spending real $$ on ads, confirms he’s here simply to transfer a majority of this filthy lucre into his pocket.

    But Hillary and emails and imaginary health issues….so, no. No follow up.

  160. 160.

    Kay

    @James E Powell:

    there will be none in the receiving

    Okay, but I disagree. It never hurts to go back to what and who this is supposed to be for. Voters. That’s the media claim. They ask these questions on behalf of voters. Clinton has one job. Reach voters.

    That’s the good faith part. She has to pretend she doesn’t understand this game because she can’t assume voters understand it. It puts media in a box, in a way. If she’s talking to voters they can scream all they want- THEY SAY it’s about voters.

  161. 161.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    I now have an explanation for why FOX anchors look like crazed hostages. Imagine that fucking place, with this disgusting pig trolling the halls and everyone kissing his ass. Toxic, top to bottom. Systemic.

  162. 162.

    MCA1

    @TS: Warning, professionals sports reference ahead: I want to see Hillary do a press conference and go the full Iverson. “E-mails? E-mails! We’re talkin’ ’bout E-MAILS!!!”

  163. 163.

    MCA1

    @bemused: You sound like someone who very much enjoys, and appreciates their coffee. In the words of Andy Dufresne, you’ve come this far, maybe you’re willing to take one more step: ditch the old school coffeemaker and go pick up a V60 and some good filters. It’s cheaper than a new pot, anyway, the process is a nice little meditative ritual to start your day, and if you use freshly ground single origin beans, the resulting coffee is revelatory.

  164. 164.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    I’m fascinated by her life and other people are too. She’s had an amazing life. What’s it like? Clinton has a reticence I recognize. She doesn’t talk about herself.

    I’m not fascinated by her life, but what I wouldn’t give for her to just unload on those muthaphuckas. They have hounded and lied on her for 25 phucking years.

    I hear you, but, I’d sorta be scared for Hillary. No way, I could go in front of that pack of azzholes and keep my calm. I just couldn’t. They’ve phucking lied or aided and abetted the liars for 25 years. I understand why she treats them the way that she does.

  165. 165.

    Miss Bianca

    @Kay: How much *actual evidence* is there that enough *actual undecided voters* actually give *enough of a damn* about the emails for her to bother with such a farcical aquatic ceremony? Seriously.

  166. 166.

    rikyrah

    A Shift in Battlegrounds
    by Nancy LeTourneau
    August 19, 2016 9:00 AM

    In recent presidential elections, we’ve gotten used to the fact that it all comes down to states like Ohio and Florida. We tend to not pay much attention to what is going on in deeply red or blue states because everyone knows the outcomes. The closer the election gets – the more we focus on the battleground states. But this year there has been a pretty big shift in which states are included on that list. So let’s take a look. I’ll be using the polling averages from Real Clear Politics – which tend to be the most conservative.

    First of all, there is a group of states that have sometimes been included, but really don’t belong there anymore. Clinton has big leads in:

    Michigan (+7)
    Pennsylvania (+9)
    Virginia (+11)
    Colorado (+10)

    Next come the traditional battlegrounds where Clinton has a small lead:

    Ohio (+2)
    Florida (+4)
    North Carolina (+2)
    Nevada (+2)

    But the real battlegrounds – where it is not clear who is leading – are new to the list. And both of them used to be considered red states.

    Georgia (Clinton + 0.3)
    Arizona (Trump + 0.3)

    Here is where it gets interesting. If you include the non-battleground blue states that Democrats have historically won with wins in that first four (where Clinton has big leads), she’s already at 272 electoral votes. Did you see what we did there? Clinton could lose Ohio, Florida, North Carolina and Nevada and still win. That is how overwhelming the Democratic majority is in the electoral college right now. The much-ballyhooed battlegrounds are gravy and – at least in the era of Trump – Democrats are starting to play on Republican turf (Georgia and Arizona). Beyond that, states like Texas and South Carolina are trending towards being battlegrounds.

  167. 167.

    D58826

    and along the same line –

    Experts: New Clinton State Dept. emails show donor ‘access,’ not ‘favors’
    According to experts, the emails confirm donors were gaining access to Clinton, yet there is no evidence she granted them special favors, an important distinction that may determine how damaging the controversy is to Clinton’s campaign.

    “These emails show that there was a long line of Clinton Foundation friends who had no qualms about asking the Clinton State Department for meetings, favors, and special treatment,” said Scott Amey, general counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, or POGO. “Not shocking, but it is disappointing that there were such blurred lines between State Department officials and outsiders. I see little action on these latest requests, but I think further investigation is needed.”

    “It’s not clear from these emails what actually happened after most of this stuff,” said Meredith McGehee, policy director at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan government oversight group. “That’s the missing piece of this puzzle.”

    Imagine that, the rich and powerful having access to top government officials. I’ll bet no one in the oil industry every had a private chat with either Bush (41 and 43) or Chaney. Nope just a Clinton failing. As far as the contributions are concerned the rich and powerful will find a way to drop a little cash in ways to make a politician happy with or without a Foundation. If nothing else works the old suitcase full of C notes still works.

    http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/experts-new-clinton-state-dept-emails-show-donor-%e2%80%98access%e2%80%99-not-%e2%80%98favors%e2%80%99/ar-BBvWtHr?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp

  168. 168.

    hovercraft

    @Betty Cracker:
    While the media freak out over this nothing burger, Hillary is burying him with ads like this one “Just One”. Just as happened in the last couple of months, when the media kept telling us that all the Ad dollars being spent by Hillary and Priorities were not moving the needle, they are going to look up in a month and wonder why all these new e-mail ‘revelations’ are not hurting her more.You cannot spend a year and a half telling the public that a person is corrupt because of he private e-mail server, and the CGI, and then be surprised when your new hot off the presses e-mails are just more of the same crap that turns out to be nothing doesn’t move people. Telegraphing the “October surprise”, kind of takes out all of it’s potency. Whereas all Clinton is doing in the Ad is allowing America to listen again and again to Trump in his own words, disqualifying himself. Someone is going o regret the all Trump all the time exposure they’ve gotten in the last 14 months.

  171. 171.

    hovercraft

    @hovercraft:
    The media will continue to focus on bs like the e-mails and CGI, but the campaign and Priority USA are not sitting around waiting for the media to call bs on all this. Last time I checked ‘good government’ types and liberals have been calling foul for years about donors gaining access from their donations. It’s the reason we want public financing, so that everyone is on equal footing. Apparently the media has suddenly discovered today that water is wet and big donors have more access that the rest of us. Who knew? Meanwhile Priorities has an even more devastating new Ad. So let the media work itself into a tizzy, the democrats are more interested in winning votes, not news cycles. If you beat a horse to death, continuing the beating has no more effect, it’s dead. Benghazi, e-mails, CGI, come talk to me if you find an actual smoking gun. Otherwise STFU.

  172. 172.

    amk

    @Kay:

    Clinton has one job. Reach voters.

    Which she has been doing quite admirably for an entire year, emails !!! scandal !!! notwithstanding. No need of any further purity pony hoops she has to jump through, especially when the other side is getting away with 24×7 bs.

  173. 173.

    HRA

    Hillary cannot give a speech the way President Obama gave the one about Reverend Wright and IMO he could have given more by saying why Reverend Wright was right in saying “God damn America”. Hilary cannot say why I chose to stay with my cheating ass of a husband for all of these years. A lot of us recognize the need to not speak about it whether we are in a sordid similar past or present.

    During the Clinton administration there came a time when I knew she was the one really running the presidency and knew she was highly intelligent. Others did not understand my admiration. They will never understand it.

    She already said enough about those GD emails. Let them run out of steam by themselves.

  174. 174.

    D58826

    @gvg:

    I’d perfer to here more about how to make our government agencies email secure and our citizens too. but no, they have to waste my time on nonsense over and over.

    Maybe this is a make lemonade moment. Do the press conference/speech as Kay has suggested as part of a large pitch for increased cyber security. Going forward any future questions then just hand out the transcript from the speech.

    Whither it convinces any one, I’m not sure that it will. But then how much of the ink and pixels being spilled in an election campaign are convincing any one of anything they didn’t already believe in.

  175. 175.

    Denali

    I used to admire Assange but no more since he has decided to sway the election. He is not a US citizen. He should stay out of it.

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