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You are here: Home / Politics / An Unexamined Scandal / The Best People

The Best People

by Tom Levenson|  August 26, 20163:31 pm| 103 Comments

This post is in: An Unexamined Scandal, Election 2016, Hail to the Hairpiece, Proud to Be A Democrat, Republican Venality, Vote Like Your Country Depends On It, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome, Assholes, Blatant Liars and the Lies They Tell, Flash Mob of Hate, Shitheads, Sociopaths

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There is this guy.  He’s running for president.  He himself is not particularly experienced at most (all) of what a president does, but we’re not to worry.

Why not?

Because he’s not the detail guy.  He’s the big picture guy, the boss.  He hires the folks who lift and tote.

But that’s OK.

Why?

Because:

“My motto is ‘Hire the best people…”  (Donald Trump: Think Big, 2007).

And now, let us savor:

Donald Trump’s new presidential campaign chief is registered to vote in a key swing state at an empty house where he does not live, in an apparent breach of election laws.

Stephen Bannon, the chief executive of Trump’s election campaign, has an active voter registration at the house in Miami-Dade County, Florida, which is vacant and due to be demolished to make way for a new development….

John_Sell_Cotman_-_Ruined_House_-_Google_Art_Project

Election officials in Miami-Dade make clear to prospective voters that they are required to actually live in the county and to use their home address in election paperwork. “You must reside in Miami-Dade County,” their website states. It adds: “When you register to vote, an actual residence address is required by law.” A county spokeswoman did not respond to questions relating to Bannon’s situation.

Three neighbors said the house where Bannon is currently registered to vote had been abandoned for three months. When the Guardian visited the property on Thursday a large window in the front aspect was missing. A soiled curtain was blowing through it. The driveway was a mess of tree branches and mud.

Bannon never appeared at the house, according to the neighbors.

What’s most striking is that this apparent prima facie  voter fraud — while the more likely to get Bannon into actual legal difficulties — is in a moral sense the lesser of two scandals that have dropped over the last twenty four hours.  Because we’ve also learned this:

Stephen K. Bannon, the new CEO of the Donald Trump campaign, was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, battery and dissuading a witness following an incident in early January 1996, though the case was ultimately dismissed, according to a police report and court documents.

That witness:

The Santa Monica, Calif., police report says that Bannon’s then-wife claimed he pulled at her neck and wrist during an altercation over their finances, and an officer reported witnessing red marks on her neck and wrist to bolster her account. Bannon also reportedly smashed the phone when she tried to call the police.

The details get uglier:

Bannon then got his lawyer on the case, who allegedly “threatened” Piccard and told her she “would have no money [and] no way to support the children” if the case went to trial.

Bannon then told Piccard to skip town.

He said “that if I wasn’t in town they couldn’t serve me and I wouldn’t have to go to court,” she claimed in the document.

Piccard left for two weeks before Bannon’s attorney said she could return, according to the declaration.

“Because I was not present at the trial, the case was dismissed,” she said in the documents.

That second quote is from The New York Post. That would be the Rupert Murdoch-owned Post, which is an added twist to this tale.  What is the true state of Trump-Murdoch relations?

But leave aside that kind of political inside baseball.  The most compelling element to the story of Bannon’s thuggery is that it is an unexpected, deep look into his character.  Through it we can discover what kind of person Donald Trump — a major party nominee for President, with a genuine, non-zero chance of achieving that office — thinks is one of  “the best people.”

It ain’t pretty.  The Post‘s coverage continues:

Bannon had allegedly also earlier told Picccard, who was then his girlfriend and the expectant mother of their twin girls, that he would only agree to marry her if the kids were “normal.”

He married her on April 14, 1995, three days before the twins were born.

George_Romney_-_Mother_and_Child_-_Google_Art_Project_(2220591)

Worst of all — at least it seems to me — Bannon is a man who would do this:

Piccard alleged in another document that Bannon believed in corporal punishment for the girls, even though he rarely saw them.

She cited as one example that Bannon allegedly spanked one of his toddler daughters to try to stop her from hitting her head against the crib.

Piccard claimed that when she intervened, he exploded, calling her “f—ing crazy” and saying if he hadn’t been interrupted, “she wouldn’t be banging her head anymore.”

Beating any adult is reprehensible.  Whacking on a child, a toddler? (And no, I don’t think “spanking” in this context is likely to have been a gentle swat on the bum.)  There are special circles of hell for those folks.

I left out the last half of the Trump quote at top.  In full, it reads “My motto is ‘Hire the best people, and don’t trust them.’”

As none should him.

Images:  John Sell Cotman, Ruined House,  betw. 1807 and 1810.

George Romney, Mother and Child, undated, before 1802.

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Reader Interactions

103Comments

  1. 1.

    Wiesman

    August 26, 2016 at 3:34 pm

    Yes, bigfoot that mfer…

  2. 2.

    Tom Levenson

    August 26, 2016 at 3:35 pm

    @Wiesman: There is no big foot. There is only foot, and bigness.

  3. 3.

    Patricia Kayden

    August 26, 2016 at 3:36 pm

    With all this mess surrounding his campaign, Trump must know by now that he is damaging his business brand. Not only is he going to lose badly and drag down the Republican Party in November, but he’s going to have a hard time selling his products to the public now that his name has been dragged through the mud. He associates with awful people like Bannon because he has no judgment. We would end up with people like Bannon in key cabinet positions if this country lost its collective mind and elected Trump.

  4. 4.

    Wiesman

    August 26, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    @Tom Levenson: Woah, if true.

  5. 5.

    Nom de Plume

    August 26, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    You left out his new guy in charge of field operations, who’s so crooked even Chris Christie had to fire him.

  6. 6.

    dmsilev

    August 26, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    When I saw the title, I assumed the post was about the news that Trump had hired one of Christie’s Bridgegate operatives as his national field director.

    We need a scorecard or something to keep track of this stuff.

  7. 7.

    redshirt

    August 26, 2016 at 3:38 pm

    “Yes, but he’s a good Christian and I forgive him.”
    – Christian Republican Voters

  8. 8.

    jeffreyw

    August 26, 2016 at 3:42 pm

    What is the sound of one big foot? You can hear faint echoes of it in the ghostly moans of the commentariat.

  9. 9.

    catclub

    August 26, 2016 at 3:42 pm

    synchronicity:

    Slate lede:

    Steve Bannon does not, at this point, seem to have been a good hire for Donald Trump’s campaign. It has emerged that he was charged with domestic violence and battery in 1996 and allegedly threatened his wife to keep her quiet. He is illegally registered to vote in Florida as the resident of a vacant house. His presence has helped Clinton to solidify in voters’ minds the connections between Trump and the right-wing fringe. And, most relevantly to the prospects of Trump’s campaign organization, the last project he ran, the alt-right propaganda outlet Breitbart, saw an exodus of people disgusted with his character.

    As it turns out, Breitbart wasn’t the first project to implode on Bannon’s watch.

  10. 10.

    Trollhattan

    August 26, 2016 at 3:43 pm

    George Romney was really, really well preserved back when running for president. His kid didn’t turn out as nice as the sketch.

    Trump attracts these folks with amazing consistency. How many have the stones to ask for cash up front?

  11. 11.

    jl

    August 26, 2016 at 3:43 pm

    I heard a news report that the Trump campaign, or maybe the MN GOP, or maybe both working in delicious harmony together, did in fact mess up the electors. So the comments about it I read on this blog were true. Trump campaign apparently has no legal electors for MN.

    Won’t make any difference, I suppose, since MN surely will vote for HRC. But, more evidence the election is rigged, right?

  12. 12.

    catclub

    August 26, 2016 at 3:43 pm

    @jeffreyw:

    What is the sound of one big foot?

    A tree falling in the woods?

  13. 13.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 26, 2016 at 3:46 pm

    With all the Rmoneys and Mittlets and Anns and Rafalcas, I had managed to forget that there was a painter named George Romney. Always quite liked his work. That Mother and Child sketch is new to me, and lovely. Thanks for finding it, Tom.

  14. 14.

    shortribs

    August 26, 2016 at 3:46 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: I’m not sure the public really ever bought his brand, but now he has a very committed segment of the public to market to. He and Bannon will start up their alt-right media network and will probably run that carnival for a few years and he may even be more successful than he has been, at least until his schtick wears out ala Palin.

  15. 15.

    catclub

    August 26, 2016 at 3:47 pm

    @Nom de Plume: Also left out is the REASON for the election fraud in FL. Tax avoidance in California by claiming he is not a resident there, where his houses and employment are.

  16. 16.

    Tom Levenson

    August 26, 2016 at 3:47 pm

    @Wiesman: PS.

  17. 17.

    jl

    August 26, 2016 at 3:47 pm

    @shortribs: Trump needs to get some top people to look into his top people. Many people are saying that.

  18. 18.

    jl

    August 26, 2016 at 3:51 pm

    @catclub: Oh dear. Sleazy and stupid tax avoidance schemes among Trump’s top people. I don’t want that to get around. That will make Trump fans forgive his immigration flip-flop-flip flip-flop wafflegab.

  19. 19.

    danielx

    August 26, 2016 at 3:51 pm

    Eh. Anybody who would voluntarily take a highly visible position in the Trump campaign is a doucherocket by definition. This is additional confirmation, if any were needed, that Bannon is indeed a flaming, roaring, screaming asshole.

    Plus, somebody should tell him that this whole “too busy to shave” thing does not do a thing to improve his appearance and in point of fact makes him resemble a particularly ugly-ass baboon.

  20. 20.

    geg6

    August 26, 2016 at 3:55 pm

    Not to mention that he’s now hired Bill Stepien (of Bridgegate fame) as his national field director. Seriously. You can see it at TPM because linking here is next to impossible, regardless of device. It didn’t used to be but it is now so don’t expect me to ever link to anything. I’ll just tell you all where I saw it and you can look it up yourselves.

  21. 21.

    NotMax

    August 26, 2016 at 3:56 pm

    From Putin to Rasputin.

    @jeffreyw

    That would be the final bit of audio in the opening credits of Monty Python’s flying Circus.

  22. 22.

    SFAW

    August 26, 2016 at 3:58 pm

    @danielx:

    in point of fact makes him resemble a particularly ugly-ass baboon

    Better that than a shitgibbon. Were he a shitgibbon, his ferret-headed shitgibbon boss would have to fire him, because of the competition.

  23. 23.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    August 26, 2016 at 3:58 pm

    @catclub: Yes. It seems like he may have violated CA tax law in addition to FL election law. Nice twofer.

  24. 24.

    Barbara

    August 26, 2016 at 3:59 pm

    Well, there is something karmic about Bannon getting a high profile job with Trump and all of a sudden finding his various frauds against the states of Florida and California exposed by real journalists.

  25. 25.

    Yutsano

    August 26, 2016 at 4:00 pm

    @catclub: Oh dear. The Franchise Tax Board makes the IRS look like pikers when it comes to enforcement. Bannon probably has tax liens out the wazoo.

    @jl: I heard tell they got that fixed. It wouldn’t surprised me if it was still knackered up though.

  26. 26.

    jeffreyw

    August 26, 2016 at 4:00 pm

    @catclub: I’ve heard tree falling in the woods, scary sound, but nothing like what a big foot makes.

  27. 27.

    Barbara

    August 26, 2016 at 4:01 pm

    @geg6: Stepien has managed campaigns, at least in New Jersey. Presumably this means that Republican turn out in New Jersey at least might be close to normal for a presidential year. I wish Republicans didn’t have such a built in advantage with turn out.

  28. 28.

    redshirt

    August 26, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Future Trump tweet:
    “Crooked Hillary is a tax cheat and doesn’t really live in FL. Sad”.

  29. 29.

    catclub

    August 26, 2016 at 4:04 pm

    I thought this was important. PLum line pointed out the same thing. There is no team with Trump.

    When Silence is the Story
    by Nancy LeTourneau
    August 26, 2016 12:00 PM

    Let’s face it – Hillary Clinton’s speech yesterday was a devastating blow to the racism that is fueling Donald Trump’s candidacy. As Kevin Drum put it, “Trump has made his bed, and Hillary is making sure he has to lie in it.” The candidate himself responded with an unhinged twitter-storm of lies and distortions. But in the wake of that agenda-setting speech, who had Trump’s back?

    WaMonthly.

  30. 30.

    bupalos

    August 26, 2016 at 4:07 pm

    I’m coming around more and more to the TrumpTV thesis. The campaign mismanagement is going into the range where I have to question whether it’s even an honest attempt. It may well be that Trump is trying to suppress his own vote and make sure on the day he loses the election he also badly underperforms his polls. This would be a key log to throw on the “system is rigged against the silent majority of whites” fire that is going to run the boilers at TrumpTV.

    Trump may only be down 6% in overall national numbers, but I think strategically he’s down at least 8-10 in terms of the lowest hanging fruit he’d need to pluck to get to 270. This is already not surmountable and still heading in the wrong direction for him. The national election is over and we need to start looking at the damaging aftermath of this white nationalist/xenophobe empowerment. I feel like Hillary needs to start sounding like a postbellum Lincoln around September 20th or so.

  31. 31.

    eclare

    August 26, 2016 at 4:07 pm

    @Yutsano: Seconded, CA FTB does not deal.

  32. 32.

    Matt McIrvin

    August 26, 2016 at 4:08 pm

    Rick Perlstein is upset about Hillary’s speech, saying it gave too much slack to non-Trump Republicans.

  33. 33.

    catclub

    August 26, 2016 at 4:09 pm

    @Yutsano:

    Bannon probably has tax liens out the wazoo.

    And if not now, he soon will.

  34. 34.

    Hoodie

    August 26, 2016 at 4:09 pm

    Trump is moving downmarket because he’s shit in his own bed and is running out of options. He’s no longer a legit developer, banks won’t touch him, his Russian connections are going to be dead, he screwed his gig at NBC, and his brand is becoming worthless. The only thing he has now is the hate he originally mined with the birther stuff. All of this because Obama made fun of him and he couldn’t take it. Trump’s biggest problem is that he actually took himself seriously. Obama made fun of him because he is a joke and has been one for years. You can make a lot of money as a joke if you’re funny and don’t take yourself too seriously. Trump was doing ok with the Apprentice and related gigs, but he veered out of his lane when he starting mouthing off on Fox. He got publicly humiliated by Obama, and now he’s doubling down and stands to lose even more, because now the joke isn’t funny.

    The NY Post thing is interesting, maybe Murdoch realizes Trump is trying to set up an alt-right media empire that is screwing with the audience for Fox and his tabloids, and wants to put a torpedo in that before it leaves the dock. The best way to kill Trump is to suffocate him in loser spunk, and making him shuffle his campaign management again and explain what he’s doing swapping spit with a bunch of white nationalist losers like Bannon works in that direction.

  35. 35.

    catclub

    August 26, 2016 at 4:12 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: And that is a valid complaint.

    But selling to GOP voters “Trump is uniquely bad, don;t vote for him” is much easier than “Your party of racists has nominated this racist, don’t vote for him.”

    OTOH, once you get them to not vote for Trump because he is uniquely bad and racist, they are more likely to examine other GOP candidates.

  36. 36.

    Hoodie

    August 26, 2016 at 4:14 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: That speech gave the non-Trump Republicans just enough rope to hang themselves. A brilliant move taken from the playbook of Barack Obama.

  37. 37.

    Mnemosyne

    August 26, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    @Yutsano:

    I had to pay an unusually high tax bill for last year because an investment did better than expected, and I got a letter from the CA FTB saying, “You wrote a paper check for this. Never do that again or we can fine you,” along with a citation of the applicable CA code.

    I’ll probably never run into the situation again, but that letter kinda freaked me out, to say the least.

  38. 38.

    Calouste

    August 26, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Clinton’s aim is to convert a chunk of the non-Trump Republicans over to her side and wipe the floor with the GOP. She can only do that if she gives the non-Trump GOP some kind of an out.

  39. 39.

    glory b

    August 26, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    @Barbara: Big Journalism!!

  40. 40.

    Trollhattan

    August 26, 2016 at 4:16 pm

    @jeffreyw:
    This here tree, supine next to my tent, standing the previous day, is absolutely the loudest fvcking thing I’ve ever heard, especially at three in the morning. Since it was in the southern Cascades bigfoot may have been in the neighborhood, but was smart enough to leave the scene if it was.

  41. 41.

    Calouste

    August 26, 2016 at 4:18 pm

    @jeffreyw: And a big foot is nothing compared to a 16-ton weight.

  42. 42.

    WereBear

    August 26, 2016 at 4:18 pm

    @catclub: These RWNJ gigs — there’s just no way to fail. Maybe if they get caught carrying around a head in a bowling bag.

    Maybe.

  43. 43.

    schrodinger's cat

    August 26, 2016 at 4:19 pm

    Sad, not sad! This is going to be Yuge but not very classy.

  44. 44.

    catclub

    August 26, 2016 at 4:20 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    and I got a letter from the CA FTB saying, “You wrote a paper check for this. Never do that again or we can fine you,” along with a citation of the applicable CA code.

    This makes me want to open a one time bank account for that transaction. I presume that Electronic transaction (withdrawal) from your bank account was the required method. Makes me nervous.

  45. 45.

    The Dangerman

    August 26, 2016 at 4:22 pm

    @Hoodie:

    Trump is moving downmarket because he’s shit in his own bed…

    I almost feel for his Kiddies; I don’t see Daddy Trump being so benevolent as to give The Spawn a monstrous pile of money. Surely big, but big enough to continue their lifestyle?

    They might actually have to get a real job someday. Poor souls.

  46. 46.

    VOR

    August 26, 2016 at 4:22 pm

    @jl: The problem has been fixed and Trump is now on the Minnesota ballot. The State of Minnesota has 10 electoral votes in the Electoral College. The ballot application requires 10 Electors and 10 alternate Electors. The Minnesota GOP forgot to elect 10 alternates at their convention a few months ago. They had an emergency meeting a few days ago and named the alternates. The deadline was August 29th. Problem: they subverted their own process and hence opened the door to potential legal challenges to Trump’s candidacy.

    Seven minor parties were able to figure out the process and got their applications in well ahead of the deadline.

  47. 47.

    Mnemosyne

    August 26, 2016 at 4:22 pm

    Also, too, I have a manifesto about dealing with the alt-right:

    There is no point in directing anger and outrage at them over the shit they say, because that’s what they want. That’s what they live for. They feed off it like the emotional vampires they are.

    What we need to do is combine mockery and contempt. Take, for instance, that stupid frog thing. Our reaction shouldn’t be, “OMG, I’m so offended at these images of sex and violence and Nazis!” That’s the response they’re trying to evoke.

    Our response should be, “What’s with the frog? No, I see the Nazi stuff, but what does the frog have to do with anything? I mean, I guess I would be offended if I understood why the guy has a frog’s head. It just doesn’t make sense — why did you pick a frog?” And keep that up until they get angry and flounce away.

    There’s nothing these alt-right idiots hate more than people not understanding their codes and forcing them to explain themselves, so let’s make sure to do that. In spades.

  48. 48.

    PhoenixRising

    August 26, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    The reason for the voter registration fraud was…the state tax fraud.

    And I’m reading this only at the B-J comments section because our press corpse wore themselves out trying to find an angle on the chicken of ‘Clinton Foundation takes money from connected rich people, some of whom think they are buying access but ask a private college consortium how that works’.

  49. 49.

    SFAW

    August 26, 2016 at 4:24 pm

    @Calouste:

    And a big foot is nothing compared to a 16-ton weight.

    Or a pointed stick.

  50. 50.

    Tom Levenson

    August 26, 2016 at 4:26 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I think this is right. I’m sad at the co-optation of Pepe, BTW. A while back, one of my son’s pleasures was showing a new absurd Pepe. Not so much now.

  51. 51.

    jeffreyw

    August 26, 2016 at 4:27 pm

    @Calouste:
    load a big ol’ foot
    go into debt
    get older

  52. 52.

    Tom Levenson

    August 26, 2016 at 4:28 pm

    @PhoenixRising: Give ’em a little time. The story has some legs, I think, and I agree w. commenters above that the CA FSB won’t ignore it either.

  53. 53.

    Iowa Old Lady

    August 26, 2016 at 4:28 pm

    @redshirt: Hee. Projection for the win!

  54. 54.

    Mnemosyne

    August 26, 2016 at 4:28 pm

    @catclub:

    I think technically it was supposed to be a wire transfer, which is a slightly different (and better regulated) beast than a regular electronic transfer.

  55. 55.

    danielx

    August 26, 2016 at 4:29 pm

    @WereBear:

    Depends on whose head it is.

  56. 56.

    jeffreyw

    August 26, 2016 at 4:29 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    I’m not sure I understand…

  57. 57.

    les

    August 26, 2016 at 4:30 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    He associates with awful people like Bannon because he has no judgment.

    I dunno, I’d like to think so. But I think he associates with awful people because he’s an awful person.

  58. 58.

    redshirt

    August 26, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    @Tom Levenson: THEY STOLE OUR FROG!!!

  59. 59.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    August 26, 2016 at 4:35 pm

    Apparently Trumpster doesn’t believe in extreme vetting of his future employees. Many people,not me,would say that Donald Trump’s lack of vetting of possible hires would worry them about staying at a Trump hotel since they might hire rapists,even the Mexican kind or child molesters! Just imagine your bell boy or concierge being a convicted felon! But that’s not me saying it. It’s other people.

  60. 60.

    shomi

    August 26, 2016 at 4:35 pm

    This post is great for one reason and one reason only. Because it bigfooted DougJ and his nonsense.

  61. 61.

    PhoenixRising

    August 26, 2016 at 4:36 pm

    @Tom Levenson: Hope so–everyone who lives and works in CA has a horror story about the FTB. They don’t play.

    B coincidence: A lot of the growth in Reno in the past decades has been work-flex folks who are running from the FTB to Carson City County, Nevada, where they sleep 181 nights per year and keep the receipts to prove it…many of them were in Hillary’s audience yesterday.

  62. 62.

    The Other Chuck

    August 26, 2016 at 4:39 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Not to mention that once you have them going on about the frog, it demonstrates to everyone else watching how completely unhinged they are.

  63. 63.

    catclub

    August 26, 2016 at 4:42 pm

    I assume shomi is from missouri.
    eta: just to state the obvious

  64. 64.

    PhoenixRising

    August 26, 2016 at 4:43 pm

    It gets better: regardless of which other place he might have registered to vote, VOTE fraud is not the most relevant type of fraud he was committing.

    If Bannon really lives in DC, as he sometimes claims, DC non-residents who work in the District have to file a form to avoid income tax there.

    These people just don’t know how to do ANYTHING, do they?

  65. 65.

    redshirt

    August 26, 2016 at 4:47 pm

    @PhoenixRising: Yes but we all know it’s liberals who do vote fraud and also the system is rigged VOTE TRUMP!

  66. 66.

    ChrisGrrr

    August 26, 2016 at 4:54 pm

    @redshirt: This has never driven me as nuts as it does now. The denominations more Righteous than us had few exceptions that were blunt about forgiving lying for the sake of saving the heathens / accomplishing some Higher purpose. And yet it is rare to see any church folk acknowledge the ongoing behavior of, much less criticize the most lie-spouting candidate I have ever seen.
    If Clinton was such a dangerous possibility, and relentless sin was the holy mandate to ruin her, I can’t imagine why all criminal charges have been (surreptitiously ?) avoided.
    I’m no gaga fan, registered no-party-affiliation, went door-to-door for Obama both elections and worked at length for a D congressional candidate… but I’m fighting more and more fear.
    Fundigelical choices are yet another reason I dread the next few years.

  67. 67.

    liberal

    August 26, 2016 at 4:56 pm

    OT: LOL:

    He added, “God forbid your name is Garcia, of which there are 858,000 in the U.S., and your first name is Joseph or Jose. You’re probably suspected of voting in 27 states.”

  68. 68.

    Redshift

    August 26, 2016 at 4:59 pm

    @bupalos: There is no secret plan that explains all this. Trump is an incompetent boob who only hires yes-men and doesn’t believe that people with actual skill and knowledge can possibly be better than his own unquestioned genius.

    He’s “succeeded” in real estate only because of his dad’s money and connections, and he succeeded in reality TV only because he’s an outlandish buffoon who was already famous.

    It really is just because he’s that bad, and he was able to win the primaries because the GOP has been building a base of gullible bigoted marks for several decades, apparently not realizing that the old Democratic line about how people will vote for a real Republican over a fake Republican also applies to racist demagogues.

  69. 69.

    gene108

    August 26, 2016 at 5:02 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    There is no point in directing anger and outrage at them over the shit they say, because that’s what they want. That’s what they live for. They feed off it like the emotional vampires they are.

    What we need to do is combine mockery and contempt. Take, for instance, that stupid frog thing.

    What they want is to get their message out to the widest possible audience. They want their memes retweeted or shared on social media.

    Somewhere, lurking out there are thousands (maybe millions) of like minded individuals, who worry about the future of the white race, but are too scared because of the political correctness police to do anything.

    By co-opting the already popular Pepe the Frog meme, they have been able to show there are other white supremacists out there to a broader audience than those who frequent their 4chan chat rooms.

  70. 70.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    August 26, 2016 at 5:02 pm

    Tax avoidance in California by claiming he is not a resident there, where his houses and employment are.

    @catclub: Oh dear. I surely hope so. My state is, for want of a better word, complete assholes to tax dodgers. ESPECIALLY if you’re dodging property taxes. Which is one of about twenty million things I love about California.

  71. 71.

    catclub

    August 26, 2016 at 5:04 pm

    Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense under President George W. Bush, said in an interview published Friday that he may vote for Hillary Clinton, citing Donald Trump’s “disturbing” comments regarding foreign policy.

    At least it is not Doug Feith (stupidest man in the world) … yet.

  72. 72.

    Redshift

    August 26, 2016 at 5:09 pm

    @Calouste: The explanation I found most compelling is that the most effective way to win more Senate and House seats is to drive down Republican turnout. Telling Republicans who only vote in presidential years that Trump is an awful person who isn’t representative of “their” GOP is a more effective way of doing that than trying to convince them that the party they’ve supported is racist and despicable.

    It would be great to get them to abandon the GOP permanently, but there’s no way Hillary Clinton is going to get them to do that.

  73. 73.

    jl

    August 26, 2016 at 5:09 pm

    @VOR: Thanks for info. They must have gotten it fixed just at the final final final deadline, since I heard a news report saying that some deadline had passed, the Trump campaign did not submit correct lists, and some expert was talking about the implications for the electoral college count (but that wouldn’t make any difference if MN voted Dem).

  74. 74.

    bystander

    August 26, 2016 at 5:09 pm

    A Trump homocon rainbow t-shirt?

    Could be a real collector’s item.

  75. 75.

    Redshift

    August 26, 2016 at 5:12 pm

    @catclub:

    At least it is not Doug Feith (stupidest man in the world) … yet.

    Well, keep in mind that being stupid doesn’t mean you always make the wrong decision, just that you do a lot of the time when smarter people wouldn’t. “So obvious the stupidest man on the planet can get it right” isn’t necessarily a negative.

  76. 76.

    Roger Moore

    August 26, 2016 at 5:17 pm

    @PhoenixRising:

    everyone who lives and works in CA has a horror story about the FTB.

    I’ve lived and paid taxes in California for more than 25 years, and I have never had a problem with CFTB. I think they once sent me a small refund check because I had made an arithmetic error in my form, but that’s the strongest interaction I can remember having with them.

  77. 77.

    Barbara

    August 26, 2016 at 5:17 pm

    @Trollhattan: A tree falling — or even a big branch of a tree cracking or falling — makes a loud sound. The sound the tree in my front yard made when it lost one of its biggest sections was so loud it woke me up at 4:00 am, nearly 30 feet away and through a closed window.

  78. 78.

    Gelfling 545

    August 26, 2016 at 5:23 pm

    One could almost think Trump was running some sort of weird sting operation for some law enforcement agency. First a Russian agent, now a tax evasion & voter fraud. They come to work for Trump, they get found out. It never seems to occur to them how much added scrutiny a presidental campaign brings. Hiring the best people. Oh, my.

  79. 79.

    PhoenixRising

    August 26, 2016 at 5:28 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    I’ve lived and paid taxes in California for more than 25 years

    My guess is that you have income from W2 employment. Paid by a business that withholds your income tax because it too is registered with the FTB.

    If those conditions don’t apply and you STILL have no horror story about FTB overreach in your bag, you are one lucky exception.

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    August 26, 2016 at 5:29 pm

    @gene108:

    Somewhere, lurking out there are thousands (maybe millions) of like minded individuals, who worry about the future of the white race, but are too scared because of the political correctness police to do anything.

    And farmers want to be called “sons of the soil,” but it ain’t gonna happen.

  81. 81.

    Mary G

    August 26, 2016 at 5:31 pm

    @Roger Moore: I had an epic showdown with the California FTB in the 80s, because the second year after I bought my house I failed to declare the previous year’s refund as income, due to ignorance. I ended up having to go to their office in El Monte or something, where a very nice woman sorted it out.

    Reporting and paying sales taxes used to be a giant pain, but they’ve transitioned it all online and now it takes a minute at most once a quarter.

  82. 82.

    Ruckus

    August 26, 2016 at 5:31 pm

    @Roger Moore:
    Had a guy worked for me a long time ago who didn’t like paying taxes, so he did everything possible to get out of it. Unfortunately he also did things not possible and they didn’t play nice.
    An accountant I had a long time ago said that anyone can get out of paying taxes, if you know the law. But you’d be audited for sure and although he’d win every point, the cost of paying him to prepare and defend the legal ways he would use to avoid taxes would cost more than the original tax bill. His next comment? “Pay your damn taxes. If you made enough money to owe them, you have more than enough to pay them and they benefit all of us.” A wise man.

  83. 83.

    Ruckus

    August 26, 2016 at 5:34 pm

    @PhoenixRising:
    I’ve owned two businesses in CA spanning nearly 25 yrs and lived here over 50 yrs and never had a problem with the FTB because of it.

  84. 84.

    SFAW

    August 26, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I don’t know why s/he even bothers to come here. S/he obviously hates it. Bitch, bitch, bitch.

    S/he is the stalker equivalent/alter-ego of Reggie M.

  85. 85.

    gogol's wife

    August 26, 2016 at 5:41 pm

    @Trollhattan:

    No, this is the GREAT George Romney. Such a great draftsman.

  86. 86.

    Dmbeaster

    August 26, 2016 at 5:45 pm

    @jl: Trump people made the required filing today – deadline was Monday. He is on the ballot in MN

  87. 87.

    PhoenixRising

    August 26, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    @Ruckus: That is the most astonishing thing on this entire comment thread.

    Everyone I know with business interests both within and outside CA requires regular consulting from a CPA and legal team to prevent being held liable by the FTB for business activity that isn’t taxable by CA. Maybe that is their only area of overreach, but it is consistent.

    I’d be deeply amazed if Steve Bannon registered to vote in FL in order to vote in FL, rather than as a tax avoidance strategy, is the point. Both CA and DC have extensive collection infrastructure for income and business tax, and they will see that you pay…anything you can’t prove you don’t owe.

  88. 88.

    Jeffro

    August 26, 2016 at 5:50 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Rick Perlstein is upset about Hillary’s speech, saying it gave too much slack to non-Trump Republicans.

    Rick is a good guy and a great author, but Clinton’s speech was a) devastating and b) a clear last warning to Ryan & Co: stand with this guy, with all of this dolt-Right nonsense going on (on top of everything else) and be forever tarred. Most won’t jump ship, but at least now she has a very clear date/speech to point to when dealing with these clowns.

    The ads are going to be quite pointed from here on out, too.

  89. 89.

    Gindy51

    August 26, 2016 at 5:50 pm

    @Hoodie: I knew Ailes was going in as an agent of Murdoch….

  90. 90.

    bystander

    August 26, 2016 at 5:52 pm

    @efgoldman: I believe in this time of gender identification awareness, the proper formulation is “s/he/it”.

  91. 91.

    PhoenixRising

    August 26, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    b) a clear last warning to Ryan & Co: stand with this guy, with all of this dolt-Right nonsense going on (on top of everything else) and be forever tarred

    Fallows had an angle on that I found plausible. The silence has the purpose of letting them go back to the saner plurality of Republicans next winter and say: Look, we stood behind this guy because voters chose him, but we can’t keep saying the quiet part loud or we will never win another national election. That leverage with the next primary’s voters, which they will lose if they risk fulfilling Trump’s frame (I’m the only truth teller; these other guys are wimps; they refuse to face the horror of _______), is their last hope for their party.

  92. 92.

    gogol's wife

    August 26, 2016 at 6:07 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    OT, it’s Boris Karloff day on TCM.

  93. 93.

    The Lodger

    August 26, 2016 at 6:07 pm

    @catclub: shomi is from Hell. He/she just lives in Missouri.

  94. 94.

    Mnemosyne

    August 26, 2016 at 6:15 pm

    @gogol’s wife:

    Aw, man! I probably have most of my favorites already, though.

    My recs for what’s still to come today:

    “The Walking Dead” (1936 — in progress, but should be available to stream on WatchTCM)
    “Black Sabbath” (1964)

    And, well, everything from “Black Sabbath” through “Bedlam,” though if you can only choose one, pick either “The Black Cat” or “The Body Snatcher.” They’re showing all three of his Val Lewton films, of which “The Body Snatcher” is the first and best, IMO.

  95. 95.

    SFAW

    August 26, 2016 at 6:38 pm

    @bystander:

    s/he/it

    Is that pronounced “Golly”?

  96. 96.

    Ruckus

    August 26, 2016 at 7:04 pm

    @PhoenixRising:
    That accountant that I commented about? He taught tax law. He’s a smart guy and his advice about paying made life a whole lot easier where the tax man was involved. The accountant before that made keeping books a pain in the ass because he didn’t really know his business. I had to pay more, got less and spent a hell of a lot more time until I hired the good guy and found out what was really necessary.

  97. 97.

    eclare

    August 26, 2016 at 7:06 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Set the DVR for The Black Cat, thanks!

  98. 98.

    JR in WV

    August 26, 2016 at 7:17 pm

    deleted

  99. 99.

    Mr.Mack

    August 26, 2016 at 7:21 pm

    Is there a point, perhaps, that Hillary should just stop responding to Trumps outrageous comments and behavior and just continue to outline the ways in which she intends to make our lives a little better? My wife is a HUGE Hillary supporter, (not sure I structured that right) and she remarked that she was concerned that staying the gutter too long will ultimately hurt her…I kind of agreed until I read this thread, but I’m throwing it out here to see if the cat licks it up, so to speak…

  100. 100.

    nutella

    August 26, 2016 at 8:19 pm

    @Mr.Mack:

    No, because when she just goes out giving policy speeches the press ignores her and Trump claims she’s hasn’t been seen for weeks. So she’s got to throw out some sharp jabs now and again to get the attention of the press.

    It makes me sad that your wife is worried about HRC staying in the gutter too long after ONE critical speech.

  101. 101.

    Matt McIrvin

    August 26, 2016 at 9:27 pm

    @Calouste: My purity ponier friends are getting upset by all these neocons endorsing Clinton. It’s all proof she’s a secret Republican.

  102. 102.

    Matt McIrvin

    August 26, 2016 at 9:32 pm

    (I have to admit, there’s a little part of me that feels like the George W. Bush-era Republicans: every vote we get from the other side over the 50% + 1 required for victory is a waste, because fuck them. But this isn’t how you make giant lasting changes.)

  103. 103.

    The Other Chuck

    August 27, 2016 at 9:47 am

    @Matt McIrvin: Noam Chomsky told the purity ponies to STFU about the endorsements. But I guess that just means Noam’s a sellout too. Some people you just can’t reach.

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