@Rschooley everyone woman recognizes this tale. The guy who didn't get the attention he was certain he deserved.
— Irene Adler (@IreneAdlerCal) September 4, 2016
She doesn't even know I exist! What can I do to impress her? I know, make up stuff about her! pic.twitter.com/pzeGZ3KXCx
— Bob Schooley (@Rschooley) September 4, 2016
@Rschooley Any similarities between press corpse and "how to talk to a woman wearing headphones guy" are entirely uncoincidental.
— (((drbloor))) (@docbloor) September 4, 2016
Anything interesting going on in your neighborhood(s)?
MattF
There’s a message there. What could it possibly be?
Renie
I hope she keeps ignoring them.
Question: has anyone here tried one of those lightbulbs that can play music from phone or ipod?
geg6
Getting ready to pick up a few provisions for dinner. I have almost everything I need, with just a few exceptions. It’s a grilled red onion and fennel spinach salad topped with grilled sweet Italian sausages and blue cheese and sprinkled with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. Cheddar cheese and herb biscuits on the side. A nice red blend, hobo cake and chocolate ice cream round it all off. I love Sunday cooking.
ETA: And Hilz should keep ignoring these bastards in the Village press. Keep doing what she’s doing, interviews with local reporters, minority press and small gatherings (rather than giant rallies). The Villagers are useless assholes and have nothing to add to the national conversation.
Corner Stone
Speaking of rotting meat…anyone who was wondering if Billmon had returned from his derangement:
Corner Stone
@Renie:
She’s a witch! Burn the witch!
Baud
We got your back, Hillary.
What a clarifying election this is.
@Corner Stone: case in point.
redshirt
@Renie: Me too. The only way to win their game is not to play.
Talk to real media. Local media. Maybe even blogs. But to hell with Fox and the rest.
I’m encouraged by this, as it shows Clinton understand the game and won’t get sucked into it.
Baud
@redshirt: She was pretty good about sticking with her game plan when Bernie was surging. That’s a good sign.
geg6
@Corner Stone:
Jesus, I haven’t gone to his place in years but he really has lost the plot, hasn’t he?
Splitting Image
That’s a comparison I hadn’t thought of myself, but if the shoe fits….
Clinton is giving the press corpse what it has long deserved, in my opinion.
Adam L Silverman
I believe the term everyone is looking for is stalking.
http://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/stalking/pages/welcome.aspx
Joyce H
@Renie:
This group of reporters is the pool following her around. They have to report on the day’s events on the campaign trail and they’ve heard her stump speech a million times. Why not give them a thought of the day?
“I wonder what percentage of voters know that the FRAUD lawsuit against Trump and Trump University is scheduled for several weeks after election day?”
“Why is there so little attention paid to the fact that Trump canceled his own nephew’s health coverage when he and his wife were dealing with a seriously ill baby? Imagine what he would do with the entire executive branch at his disposal?”
“Aren’t you glad you’re covering me? The reporters covering Trump sometimes have to have the Secret Service escort them to their cars after Trump has his mob whipped up into fury against them.”
Have Robbie Mook or someone in her message shop generate the thought of the day and deploy it as needed.
lollipopguild
First things first, I think we should all plan on having dinner with geg6. I am sure that geg6 will not mind a few extra people/a couple hundred people over for dinner. Am I right?
Mike E
@Renie: No but Marshall McLuhan approves
Juju
@geg6: that sounds like a great meal, but I’ve never heard of hobo cake, but it goes with chocolate ice cream so it has to be pretty good. I would have to pick the bleu cheese out because migraine.
Give Koda and Lovey a skritch for me.
Adam L Silverman
@Renie: Unfortunately the more she does, the more they will look for ways to abuse her. As I just posted from the NIJ definitions section, what they’re doing is a form of stalking. If they weren’t journalists and she wasn’t a politician/public figure, what they do and how they do it would be considered not just creepy, but criminal. She has to find a way not just around them – so I agree that she keeps going to local journalists and those outside the DC/political journalist clique, but she has to find a way to coopt this group. If she doesn’t they’ll death by a thousand cuts her right into being the first woman to be major party nominee for President who wasn’t elected because everyone now knows, because that’s what the media decided she was, is unelectable because she’s been involved in a 40 plus year series of criminal endeavors. For which she may have escaped criminal prosecution, but the American voter knew better… Even though none of that is true.
Baud
FWIW, I think Hillary will start to engage the press corspe in the final push. But it’ll be on her terms.
Shell
Since this is new and an open thread, Ill repost this:
This was over at Daily Kos: “Donald Trump and I are both going to release our tax returns. I’ll release mine in the next week. Donald Trump will be releasing his tax returns at the completion of an audit,” Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said…’
The comment was “Whose bright idea was this?” The medias’ pretty much given him a pass on this; just assumed that he does pay low taxes and gives little to charity. Time to move on. So why bring the subject up again. And again with the phony excuse of the audit. The IRS has already debunked that one. And seriously, who gives a damn about Pences returns? Its Trumps who people want to see.
Mike E
@geg6: That reminds me, gotta roast a chicken!
Corner Stone
@geg6: I swung by and that was at the top of his page. I read through the brief twitstorm and it is quite clear he has misunderstood badly what Bob Cesca said (that set Billmon off).
And I am zero fan of Cesca and Cescites. But, IMO, what Bob is saying is “baseless attacks” need to be viewed as what they are – positives for Trump.
If our candidate is roasting puppies then we need to face that, deal with that. But saying bullshit like, “Those emails though…”. Give me a fucking break.
Brendancalling
Pool party in an hour. 6:00 pm run. Station Inn bluegrass jam at 7. Chris Scruggs (yes, Earl’s grandson) at 9, at the Country. Dancing too probably
Baud
@Corner Stone: Has Billmon said who he’s voting for?
I really find it difficult to respect concerns over the email thing.
Corner Stone
@Splitting Image: I say a flowchart on someone’s twit page that had a box up top that said, “Is woman wearing headphones on fire?” and arrows to Yes, “Yell ‘You’re on fire!'” and No, “Don’t speak to her.”
D58826
But they have to ask about the e-mails.
Saw on Twitter that Chuckles Todd, the moderator of MTP, aka ‘Make Trump President’ is personally offended as an American that the FBI didn’t record Hillary’s interview. Ok Chuckles this is what you do:
1. resign from your cushy well paying job
2. get Trump to appoint you to the lower paying director of the FBI
3. see if Hil;lary will stop by and submit to a taped interview.
Chris Clizza is concerned that she said she didn’t remember to 39 questions
Every helpful Trey Gowdry is upset because the only notes released were from Hillary’s interview. If they would only release the notes from all of the other interviews (and personal privacy be d***ed) then the public will really know what happened.
Another yapper is concerned, based on his reconstruction of the the timeline, that Hillary’s folks destroyed evidence under court order. Never mind that the FBI determined there was no criminal intent to destroy evidence
A right wing nutter says Hillary is unfit to serve because in one e-mail out of thousands she missed a lower case ‘c’ that denoted classified. Never mind that even Comey agreed it was easy to miss and confusing as to what it was.
This is a perpetual motion machine. Get a set of documents and compare them word for word for any inconsistencies. Drag the people who wrote the documents in and question them about the inconsistencies. Then compare those statements to the originals looking for differences. Which of course raises more questions. Compare person A’s statement to person B’s word for word looking for differences. Check to see if the story changes slightly over time (which it will since memory is not a video tape).
This process can go on forever or until a Gooper moves into the WH.
hovercraft
Todays Trump flack who shouldn’t be allowed to speak in public is Paris Dennard. First he went on Joy Reid’s show this morning and tried to use Jesse Jackson as a shield for the Donald, he did the same thing on her show yesterday, so Joy was ready for his bullshit. She paused him and said, hey you know what, I’m going to get him on the phone and let him speak for himself, sputtering ensued. He then said he was due at church and left, now one would assume he went home to lick his wounds, but no, two hours later who re-appears on msnbc? Paris, this time to defend Gulliani’s assertion this morning that Trump does not owe Obama an apology for birthirism. He said he agreed with Rudy because Trump had raised a legitimate issue with the birth certificate, and black people don’t care about that, and if they did they would blame Hillary for it, since she started it.
Trump really knows how to pick ’em. So far in the last week his people of color surrogates have:
-Tweeted blackface image of Hillary, and then been busted for claiming military service he doesn’t have, fake degrees.
-Taco trucks on every corner.
-Birtherism was a legitimate question.
Keep it up . Oh and go Joy!
MomSense
One of the reasons I’m so pissed at the press corpse is because I want to defend them because I believe in the important role a functioning free press plays in our democracy. What passes for our free press now is so disgustingly irresponsible and terrible that I cannot defend them.
They are not only failing to provide the accurate information that an informed citizenry needs in order to do their civic duty and vote, they are turning the biggest defenders of the free press (liberals!) against them. This situation is what threatens our democracy more than anything else. We would not have such an anti democratic, anti science, pro oligarchy, and racist Republican Party if the fucking press were on the ball.
Frankensteinbeck
@Joyce H:
Because that’s not what they want and they won’t report it if she does. They don’t report what she says. They report what they feel like reporting. There is no control system or incentive for them to do anything else.
@Adam L Silverman:
The stalking metaphor is apt, but that means it’s also tagged to an abusive relationship. If she pays attention to them, they will use that vulnerability to hurt her. When she takes their questions, they ask her ‘Why are you so unpopular?’ She is damned if she does, and damned if she doesn’t, so she’s cutting them out and focusing on positive return strategies.
Baud
@MomSense: The GOP had made me feel the second way about the two party system.
hovercraft
@geg6:
Where are you located and what time should I be there?
Geoduck
@Baud: He just posted a tweet saying that if he feels he absolutely has to in order to stop Trump, he will vote for Hillary, the implication being that otherwise he’ll sit on his hands on election day.
Doug R
No taco trucks around where we live. So we went to Costco and got tortillas, tomatoes (BC hothouse on sale), spring salad mix, tex-mex shredded cheese (on sale), sour cream and of course Que Pasa lightly salted tortilla chips on the way out.
scav
@Splitting Image: Another comparison that springs to mind is that of the defiantly grumpy police organizations: explicitly threatening to not do their job in toto at certain events unless specific individuals pander to their self esteem. “Suck up to us or else.” seems to be the clarion call.
hovercraft
@lollipopguild:
You beat me to it.
Adam L Silverman
@Corner Stone: I only do so when at the gym if 1) I notice something dangerous – for instance, on one occasion what the person was trying to do – balance on a bosu ball – was being done directly in front of the end cap of a barbell. Had she fallen off, she’d have cracked her head; 2) untied shoe laces or some other piece of loose damaged equipment that presents a danger/hazard.
I wear headphones and work out using a TRX. I’m often suspended upside down (feet straight in the air, face facing the floor) – I can’t hear because of the ear buds, so I keep an eye out on anyone and anything around me so I won’t get hurt because someone else isn’t paying attention. And this goes for male or female.
That said, a young woman in the gym yesterday had an Arabic phrase tattooed down the outside/back of her left forearm and I was trying to read it, which was difficult given the first word (what would normally have been the most rightward word) was just under her elbow, she was moving, and I was 30 feet away. I was able to make out two words, but this was more professional curiosity as to what she’d had inked than anything else.
ThresherK (GPad)
I can only surmise she’s learned about this from how the WHPC-level (or aspirant) press treated the first President Clinton. Or Al Gore. (Or John Kerry. Or President Obama.)
Good for her. She may become the first President who got there as much by listening as by speechifying. And we’ve already seen the value she places on conversing v. speechifying, and the press corpse is one big reason why.
germy
@MomSense:
But don’t fall for the myth of a “golden age” of journalism. There’s always been some good, some outstanding, and most horrible. Last year I read a collection of essays from the 1930s. “The Wayward Press” by Guy Fawkes (pseudonym of Robert Benchley) and the same stupid stuff we see today was happening a century ago.
germy
@Adam L Silverman: Maybe it said “if you can read this you’re too close”
Baud
@Geoduck: smh
Frankensteinbeck
@Doug R:
See? Their culture is very aggressive, and is coopting you!
Actually, the thing that made me go ‘Eh?’ out of that interview was the guy saying that the Spanish never conquered Mexico. I was like ‘Montezuma would like to have a word with you.’ Hell, so would the Maya in the Caste War of Yucatan.
EDIT – @scav:
One of the defining traits of an asshole is that they demand to be praised for being an asshole. It’s a constant conservative refrain.
Amir Khalid
It doesn’t make this former journo proud to see other journos acting like PUAs with a woman they’re covering. I think Hillary is quite right not to give the DC press corps any face. I am worried, a little, that by playing up her “untrustworthiness” and “secretiveness” they might do her just enough damage to throw the election to the Donald.
hovercraft
@Shell:
That is not a change from what they’ve been saying the whole time, apart from the timing of the Pence timeline which we did not have. So basically it’s still never, because if he was sincere he would release his older returns, which are no longer under audit.
germy
So.. the debate moderators. Drumpf insisted on no “unfair” moderators. Therefore we see no Hispanic moderators. Drumpf likes Lester Holt; says he’s a good guy. And he gets to close the debates (if he makes it that far) with Chris Wallace. A nice fox news tongue bath?
The only problem I see for Drumpf is if Anderson Cooper shows up in a bad mood.
Baud
@germy: I agree with this. The real problem nowadays is their isn’t much out there for people like us. The NYT is fine for nonpolitical reporting, but not politics, and we’ve all witnessed the steady decline of MSNBC. What to do?
Corner Stone
@scav:
Isn’t that amazing?
Person in relatively famous position: “I’m saying I have a real problem with the selective way our country, and our country’s law enforcement deal inequitably with certain groups.”
Local LEO: “If the team doesn’t punish him we will leave you all on your own to the criminal thugs!”
Me: “Looking for the emoji that is rubbing it’s chin and rolling its eyes”
Just One More Canuck
@Adam L Silverman: “professional curiosity”? Sure thing
Adam L Silverman
@germy: no the last word was Allah/God. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the Shahada (statement of Islamic faith), as the first word started with either a ha or a jeem (aspirant H or J), but I couldn’t make that one out. If it was Quranic, it had to be a verse – it was too long for any of the Suras/Chapters – even the really short ones (like Sura 1).
Adam L Silverman
@Just One More Canuck: I learned Arabic for professional reasons. And while I’m really, really rusty, I’ve almost never seen an Arabic phrase tattoo. I supposed it could be something from Rumi or the 1,001 Nights, but it was trying to figure out what it said that was interesting. Also, I’m sure she’s very popular with TSA when flying if she wears short sleeves.
Iowa Old Lady
Clinton has done interviews with local press, so maybe we don’t have to throw out the entire press. The problematic ones are the DC corps. They depend on access for their added value, so they resent when it’s cut off and are easily suckered by the sources who feed them information.
The blogosphere has undercut their role. Anyone right now can see the FBI notes. A smart, hard-working person can analyze them and put the report online. The DC press won’t do that because it won’t draw enough eyeballs to cover their salaries.
Baud
@Adam L Silverman: Extremists may not like it either.
lollipopguild
@hovercraft: You were much more concise and to the point.
Corner Stone
@Just One More Canuck:
My bench judge wasn’t buying it, either.
germy
@Baud:
The important thing is that we know the NYT sucks at reporting politics. The real tragedy would be if we came here to Balloon-Juice saying “Here’s what the NYT just reported!”
I don’t now what the future holds for good journalism. Locally, I see some citizen journalists writing blogs about local issues. Some of it is good, some of it is just terrible.
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: I’m sure. Was just one of those: “never seen that before” types of things.
scav
@germy: Well, the choice of moderators may prove a mixed blessing for the Orangeapus. It does rather depend on whether an unfettered, unmoderated, Donald Trump will actually prove as attractive to the widened audience as it plays to the bubble base. Also on how same public reacts to an press-unfiltered view of how Hillary responds under pressure, especially when viewed in immediate juxtaposition to a presumably free-range, unscripted, Donald with softballs.
Villago Delenda Est
The vermin of the Village: Every last one of them arrested their development in high school.
D58826
@germy: Or the era of yellow journalism and William Randolph Hearst that helped talked the US into the Spanish American War. So Bush and Judy Miller are not unique. For much of American history newspapers were just information/propaganda conduits for a particular party or candidate. If there was a golden age it have been 50-70’s era where reporters did view the job as a profession and the major daily’s (and the three networks) viewed what they were doing as a public service and not a profit center. But even there it took awhile for the media to break with the government line on Vietnam.
Amir Khalid
@Adam L Silverman:
I wish I could help you out, but getting a Quranic-verse tat doesn’t seem to be a thing among Muslims in my neck of the woods.
germy
@Adam L Silverman: If you find out, let us know. I suspect she’s an interesting person with some important stories to share.
Baud
@germy:
You think that’s gone forever? I’m less optimistic, especially once Clinton starts having to make policy calls.
Maureen Dowd is ready for her comeback.
redshirt
I’m not worried about the debates for Clinton. She’ll be prepared, she knows what to expect from Donald and the moderators.
What I am worried about – and there’s nothing Clinton can do about this – is the media will spin the result they want, regardless of what actually happens.
As such, you can already predict Trump will come out the winner.
Will it matter? Hope not.
Iowa Old Lady
Here’s a kos report on Soledad Obrien scolding CNN for normalizing white nationalism. Sample:
lollipopguild
@Doug R: Can you get together with geg6 and we will all come over for dinner.
The Ancient Randonnuer
Betty’s excellent 10 Questions for Trump post provides a sharply drawn relief as to how the press treats the two candidates differently. I did this article in Wapo the other day that pointed out Trump still has not explained his wife’s immigration status as he has promised. Which is a good start but imagine them hitting Trump with questions about his business practices and tax returns. Political journalism is a failed experiment. We need better journalists who understand that false equivalence this cycle has normalized racist and bigoted rhetoric. That is as troubling as the Trump candidacy itself.
Baud
@Iowa Old Lady: I’ve always liked her.
Corner Stone
@Adam L Silverman: Maybe she was just a Tupac fan?
Kay
Everyone hates Hillary Clinton yet an enormous number of people have voted for her over the years:
It’s a mystery how this she-devil has garnered millions of votes in several races over nearly a decade when she’s so universally loathed.
If she wins they’ll discredit the achievement because she was running against Trump,but that’s bullshit. She would have beaten McCain in 2008, and media love McCain. They should give some serious thought to whether their opinions are truly representative.
germy
@D58826: The tabloids have always been with us, and the ’80s gave us the “Headless Body In Topless Bar” headline. But you’re right, when journalism became a profit center rather than a public service, that’s when the downhill slide began.
Baud
@Kay:
Black magic woman.
lollipopguild
@Baud: Devil in a Blue Pantsuit. RUN!
Doug R
@Adam L Silverman: Ahsalam alakehem?
Adam L Silverman
@germy: She’s maybe 20. Her parents belong to the gym and she only shows up when home from university. I see her about once every three months if she’s home visiting her family on a break. She usually brings a posse with her that she’s showing how to work out properly. Funniest thing I ever saw is one of the regular women gym rats was in doing her workout during the winter holidays last December. This young woman comes in with two friends in tow. Heads right for the free weights section. The regular, an acquaintance, is doing her usual full tilt workout. At one point she looks to her left as the three young lady gaggle has moved into the space she’s lifting in and the look on her face to the lead girl (the one now sporting the Arabic tattoo) was: “what are doing in my space little girl?” It was priceless.
germy
@Baud:
My point was that Maureen isn’t fooling anyone here at Balloon-Juice, or at LawyersGunsAndMoney or Cleek’s or TalkingPointsMemo.
Adam L Silverman
@Amir Khalid: That’s why I thought it was strange. Not something a Muslim would do based on my understanding/knowledge of Islam.
Renie
@Corner Stone: Did you see that new movie, Witch? Very scary.
Frankensteinbeck
@germy:
Speaking of, I was at the grocery store and saw the latest issue of the Inquirer. Their headline feature is ‘Michelle Obama gained 92 pounds’ accompanied by what you might expect is an ugly picture of some other woman that dominates the cover. I know it’s a tabloid, but Jesus, that’s some mean-spirited shit.
Baud
@germy: We are an island of sanity in maelstrom of crazy.
D58826
@The Ancient Randonnuer: One of the pundits did a quick comparison on how many pixels have been burned over the diplomatic passport non-scandal vs Trump’s paying off the Fla. AG to drop her investigation of Trump U. Needless to say most of the coverage involved the passports.
redshirt
@Iowa Old Lady: I assume O’Brien is now completely banished from the MSM?
What happened to her anyway?
Amir Khalid
@Doug R:
No, that phrase begins with an alif.
Kay
@Baud:
It would be fun to see how many people will vote for Hillary Clinton for President for the third time.
08 primary, 16 primary and 16 general. Votes. Not polls. In their business I think that’s what they call a “vote- getter”.
“Joylessly and with great misgivings, tens of millions of people wearily voted for Hillary Clinton again yesterday, despite her clear email management issues…”
daves09
@Adam L Silverman: Quite a few guys have Arabic calligraphy tats. Whether they are used just for the ornamental-very-or mean anything I do not know.
germy
@Frankensteinbeck: I saw one while I was waiting to check out some groceries; the headline was something about Hillary blowing up to over 200 pounds. There was an obviously photoshopped pic of her looking like Mr. Creosote (from Monty Pythons “Meaning Of Life”)
Adam L Silverman
@Corner Stone: That wasn’t it, the last was Allah/الله, which is not the last word in the tat you linked to.
D58826
@redshirt: She left CNN to form her own documentary production company. Kinda of a long form video journalism.
Adam L Silverman
@Doug R: Too short. This was a seven or eight word phrase.
The Ancient Randonnuer
@Kay:
It reminds me of the sports guys who argue about which team is the all time greatest. I got a good laugh from a few former NBA stars who were adamant that this years Cleveland Cavaliers would have gotten beaten badly by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. What? All this fantasy sports and fantasy politcs bullshit is for people who want to believe they know more about a subject than they actually do. Even former athletes and politicians can’t possibly predict the outcome. So many variables have changed that the speculation is a pointless exercise.
germy
@redshirt:
She has a cameo in Batman V Superman, playing herself.
I’d love to see her as press secretary in a HRC administration.
Baud
@Kay:
I’m going to bring my own dirge music when I go vote.
Amir Khalid
@Frankensteinbeck:
The First Lady is out in public a lot. If she were in the process of gaining that kind of weight (this is the first I’ve heard of it) someone would have noticed.
Kathleen
@D58826: It also took the press a long time to cover the Watergate break in seriously. They pretty much ignored it until WAPO started reporting it. Regarding the NYT, in the 30’s it was one of the publications that showed Hitler in a favorable light.
ETA Can’t get the link the post. It was from a college in Buffalo.
D58826
@The Ancient Randonnuer: But it keeps the fantasy leagues going and fills in the long months between what ever sport season you are arguing about.
Renie
@Joyce H: Because I don’t think they will report that. They will just say she won’t answer their questions, what is she hiding. Another article in NYT is how she only talks with her big donors. It’s getting ridiculous.
Adam L Silverman
@daves09: I must be living in seclusion as this is the first one I’ve seen. I’ve seen a number of Evangelicals, almost all guys, with Hebrew or Aramaic (Eli, Eli lamach sabathani seems to be a favorite) ones. This is the first person I’ve seen, who isn’t Tupac, that had an Arabic one.
Suzanne
@Kay: My boss is really conservative and complains about the “liberal media”, and he says things like he considers Politifact deeply liberal and Fox is the only unbiased source out there. to quote rikyrah, uh huh uh huh. I’ve had to explain to him that the real problem with the media isn’t even the left/right axis, it’s the sensational-emotional/rational axis. These douchebags need everything to be exciting and fraught with emotion, as it is more compelling to casual viewers, never mind that it is bad for facts and people who want genuine understanding. To this end, they dislike HRC, because she won’t give them access to craft these bullshit emotional manipulations and she is just not the kind of person in her temperament who appeals to that kind of viewer. Neither is BHO, for that matter, but he is “cool”.
Whatever. Americans really need to get over this moronic idea that celebrity is worth anything in terms of credibility, and that our leaders shouldn’t be smarter, more rational, and more calculating than the rest of us. Trump is the perfect candidate for a nation enraptured by Kardashians and distracted by gladiator battles. In some respects, we get the media we deserve, and the candidates we deserve.
Berto
They have to make-up crap to criticize Clinton.
The owners of the media don’t want them pointing out that she’s just another in a long-line of politicians who work in service to the corporate elites, because they are the corporate elites.
Kathleen
@lollipopguild: I wanna come, too! I don’t know where geg6 lives, but I can fly to the closest city that begins with the same letter!
mayyouliveininterestingtimes
@hovercraft: Whenever a Trump surrogate talks I’m reminded of a scene in BASEketball where Robert Vaughn’s character is trying to bribe one of the main characters, Trey Parker or Matt stone I can’t remember which, and as he slowly realizes this person is literally too stupid to bribe he makes the most perfect face of disgust and exasperation that I’ve ever seen. There’s a great gif of it but I’m not sure I can post it here. That’s essentially my reaction every time they talk.
Renie
@Mike E: He said ““The medium is the message” because it is the “medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action.”
I think our media is the problem because of how they control the message.
Baud
@Berto: Absolutely! That’s why we need to support Hillary, to show them that they can’t get away with it. Are you with me!
geg6
@redshirt:
I know she is now one of the correspondents on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumble. I love that show. I especially love the fact that Bernie Goldberg has a vendetta against Trump going back a decade or more and keeps doing scathing reports about the Trump golf course in Scotland.
Kathleen
@D58826: She also does segments on Real Sports, Bryant Gumbel’s HBO program (one of the best programs on TV IMHO).
Corner Stone
@Kay: “With deep sorrow in their hearts, and a grave sense of misgiving, 55% of all total voters pushed back from the table away from their cold gruel, draped dull gray cloaks around their gaunt shoulders and trudged off. To cast a vote not for the future, but a vote to embrace their past.”
geg6
@Kathleen:
Pittsburgh.
geg6
@Kathleen:
Great minds!
Kathleen
@geg6: You beat me to it, geg6 (Soledad on Real Sports). ETA Great minds, indeed! Love that show.
Kathleen
@Kathleen: I can fly from Cincinnati to Philadelphia!
sukabi
@Iowa Old Lady: I disagree to a certain extent…. DC press is lazy, biased, and self-important. THEY want part of the story to be about THEM, too lazy and or stupid to actually do the work to INFORM, ie read through the FBI transcripts in their entirety and summarize for their readers. Similarly, the 8 or so “investigations” into bengazi and emails have turned up nothing, except to make fools out of investigators, and yet there is still more column inches devoted to breathless reportage of nothing. All to keep the stink of potential scandal clinging to her.
They are too stupid to realize that if they actually did the work their profession requires they may actually end up with a juicy story, but it wouldn’t involve the Clintons being evil or criminal.
Gin & Tonic
Went to the beach. Blue sky, but strong wind and serious waves. I’m a pretty strong swimmer, but thinking I’ll sit today out.
MomSense
@Baud:
Ha!
scav
@Baud: Oh, but what about rushing out in support of the other long-term, big-business fostered Hollywood Storybook meme that electing and supporting the “outsider” in reel 3.7 inevitably produces a universally never-before-attainable happy ending by reel 3.99? Oh, decisions, decisions.
Wapiti
@Shell:
Well, Nixon released his taxes when they were under audit, and I believe there was a deduction fraud of like $500k involved. So if Trump can’t release his taxes we can guess that the fraud/mistake/error/whatever is more than half a million.
Elizabelle
@Renie: Yeah. Saw the dueling NYTimes headlines.
Hillary is hanging with the ultra rich.
Trump is at a black church, emoting empathy. Credit to his audience: they’re skeptical.
Sad!
Scamp Dog
@Adam L Silverman: Speaking of foreign language tattoos, you can find some photos on line of people with incorrectly drawn, inappropriate or otherwise inadvertently hilarious tattoos of Chinese characters. I wouldn’t be surprised to find something similar happening in some Arabic tattoos. Hopefully not hers…
Mike E
@Renie: he spoke to GE lighting engineers in the 60’s and told them they were on the cutting edge of IT…they didn’t get what he was saying that day, but everybody certainly does now. He’d have liked the idea of a musical lightbulb, just saying’!
As far as the free press goes, social media have more integrity now than these clowns ever had since day one, sadly
Renie
@The Ancient Randonnuer: If you mean you wrote the article you did a good and thorough job. This is the type of reporting we need not one based on unsourced articles other people wrote then someone creates into their own new article without checking facts. Or as is happening lately, an article that has content that only remotely applies to the headline for the article or one that in fact, contradicts the headline that is so obviously written just for eyeball clicks.
randy khan
@Frankensteinbeck:
Done right, it could be pretty funny and a way of making news for the reporters covering her.
The key thing to understand about Hillary’s press gaggle is that what they really hate is that they have nothing interesting to cover. (One of the most revealing parts of The Boys on the Bus, Tim Carman’s great book on the press coverage of the 1972 campaign, is that the reporters covering Nixon largely hated it because Nixon basically gave them nothing at all, while the reporters covering McGovern loved it because he kept giving them stuff to write about, even if much of it was damaging to him and they nearly unanimously voted for him.) So if she gave them a tidbit – even a scripted, once a day tidbit – that they could use to get more attention in the news cycle, they’d be thrilled. She even could have her press people mention in advance that if someone asks a question about x, she’d probably answer it.
It’s tricky, I admit – it has to be something that’s going to rise above the noise and maybe also be Trump bait, but also doesn’t suggest she’s worried about him. I’d trust her and her staff to navigate those waters, though.
They’re *never* going to like her, but it would be helpful to her if they were even a little less resentful.
Amir Khalid
@Elizabelle:
As I understand, what happened at the black church was that Trump read prepared answers to pre-selected questions.He took no off-the-cuff questions from the congregation or clergy. I wonder how such an event gives him any credibility at all.
hovercraft
@Frankensteinbeck:
Here’s a video of Michelle from last week, where she surprised the students with an appearance with Seth Myers and Nick Cannon. She looks the same as she always does, fabulous.
bystander
@Adam L Silverman:
You did report her to authorities, didn’t you?
Just read EJ Dionne’s heartfelt plea for moderate repubs to step forward and reclaim their party. He might as well have summoned the Kraken.
germy
@bystander:
If you see something, say something.
germy
@hovercraft: Have you seen her portrayed in “Southside With You” ? I’m still thinking about that movie and we saw it last week.
Miss Bianca
Well, for once I’m not following the news, simply writing, and testing various combinations of hops and rose hips for the next experimental mead batch. May take the hounds out and scout for more rose hips out on the property before getting down to the actual brewing. Or since peeling the little suckers is a major PITA, I may decide to make do with what I got.
PPCLI
@hovercraft: But moderators need to shut down that “Clinton started birtherism” crap right away. Some fairly lunatic Clinton supporters sent around an email. Neither Clinton nor her campaign people supported it. Does Trump want to take responsibility for the content of every email forwarded by Trump supporters?
catclub
@Frankensteinbeck:
She should answer: “Because I have not yet been elected President.”
catclub
@Wapiti: The lesson Trump learned from 2012 was that Romney was hurt badly by releasing his taxes. I did not see that, then.
hovercraft
@germy:
I haven’t seen it yet, but I will.
mayyouliveininterestingtimes
@PPCLI: He can start with Paladino’s emails. Of course the media would shrug it off as more guilt by association.
PPCLI
@D58826 “:the moderator of MTP, aka ‘Make Trump President’ is personally offended as an American that the FBI didn’t record Hillary’s interview.”
Ah, yes. Recorded interviews. Perhaps Chuck “History Started Yesterday” Todd might want to look up the provenance of the famous taped interview of Bill concerning Monica etc. His people and Starr negotiated that they would do the interview, but that it was for the Independent Prosecutor’s office eyes only, and the tape was to be destroyed after it had served its purpose. As soon as it was completed, Starr announced that he couldn’t destroy evidence. And released the whole thing to the public. Where TV news gleefully broadcast it 24/7.
(I may have one or two minor details wrong, but the basics are correct.)
Sure, Chuck. Hilary would love to give a taped interview. She knows that investigators and journalists will respect any agreements about what to do with it….
Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again, as W put it.
Shell
Saw one shot where he was singing with the congregation. There was one woman swaying next to him and I thought, “Well, theres one enthusiastic member of the church, happy to have him there.” Then I realized, it was Omarosa.
hovercraft
@PPCLI:
Regardless of what some lunatics did in 2008, it migrated to the fringe after the election, and did not become ubiquitous on the right until Trump brought it front and center in 2011. The moderators should call him on that if he tries that excuse.
lollipopguild
@catclub: I thought that Rmoney was hurt more by his “47%” remarks than his tax returns. Trump does not want to release his tax returns because he is D Trump and he should not have to.
Iowa Old Lady
@PPCLI: A few years ago, I was moaning about what a pain it is to transcribe interview tapes, and a friend who’s an FBI agent told me they never record interviews. Surprised the heck out of me, but it seems to be standard practice, not something negotiated for Clinton.
James E Powell
@catclub:
Romney didn’t release everything and he got away with holding back returns from earlier years (something neither Obama or Clinton would ever get away with). Trump also learned he could tell press/media to pound salt and they would let it go. He is, after all, a Republican.
Cleos
@Baud:
I plan to bring a weapon (not a gun).
Cleos
@Elizabelle:
The evangelicals have him a Jewish prayer shawl, and there’s a nifty photo of the congregation in prayer and Trumpie trying to exude prayerfulness.
Tellyawhat, I almost busted out crying. It was that touching.
germy
Is it a conflict of interest having Chris Wallace moderating the final debate? Wallace’s ex-boss Roger is prepping the Donald.
gogol's wife
@hovercraft:
And suppose she had gained weight, whose business would that be besides herself?
D58826
@PPCLI: No you have the basic facts correct on the Bill tape. If I remember correctly public opinion was running against Clinton at the time. After the tape came out and it was obvious that the persecutors were badgering Clinton and trying to trick him into a lie, public opinion shifted in Clinton’s favor and it showed exactly what Starr was up to – a kangaroo court. So GOOPER overreach blew up in their faces again.
geg6
@Kathleen:
Cincinnati or Philly, you’re driving 5 hours or so to get to Pittsburgh.
Corner Stone
“And you can tell them…to go.. Fuck themselves.”
I love that ad. It has a real sing-song quality.
MomSense
@Cleos
We have a background check referendum question on the ballot this year. I’m thinking the gun nutz will be out in full measure. Ugh
ruemara
@Geoduck: Man, fuck this Billmon character. If there’s on thing this election has taught me it’s that the allyship of certain largely white & male “progressives” is predicated on a subservience to their issues by everyone else. If you can pretend Trump is not so bad and you don’t have to be all hands on deck with us to stop him, you’re just as arrogant a bigot as a Trump fan. Other people mean nothing to you and you don’t view their safety and rights as just as important as yours. Fuck him, his martini glass and everything about him.
D58826
@efgoldman:
Her murder or the VSP’s? :-). Of course the VSP’s should be thankful that Hillary isn’t as evil a person as they claim. What with her record of offing Vince Foster, the DNC aide and 50 or 60 other people, they should give thanks that the only thing she does is ignore them
redshirt
@MomSense: Also MJ legalization so maybe they’ll be checked by the hippies.
germy
@efgoldman: I agree it’s gotten much worse with media consolidation.
D58826
@efgoldman:
And a couple would be in the tank for the GOP and others for the Democrats. So I guess you had to buy at least two papers to get the ‘full effect of ‘both sides do it’.
redshirt
@efgoldman: Agreed 100%. The only way we fix our media is to break up conglomerates and require independent ownership in media markets.
Be liberal, be conservative, who cares. But don’t allow 3 or 4 voices to dominate the entire country.
Elizabelle
@MomSense: great comment at 26.
MomSense
@redshirt:
Let’s hope so.
MomSense
@Elizabelle:
Thanks. How are you adjusting to life back in the states?
Gindy51
@lollipopguild: And since he will get away with it, no Republican candidate will have to release them in the future. Democratic candidates will.
Denali
@Momsense, 26
Second vote of strong approval!
Gindy51
@D58826: This is like the FBI changing the emails around to try and trick Hillary during the email probe. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fbi-releases-anticipated-documents-heart-hillary-clinton-probe/story?id=41822909
redshirt
@MomSense: It’s a Presidential year. No worries. If this were 2018, yeah, that initiative might be troubling.
Major Major Major Major
@efgoldman: We laugh, but that sounds like the sort of lede I’m expecting. Reminds me of something from Futurama. “And the winner, in a narrow landslide…”
NorthLeft12
I am sure this has been asked before, but here goes; Does the bulk of the members of the press/media realize how childish, ignorant, and biased they appear towards Hillary Clinton?
I get the feeling that since the RWNJs continually call them “the liberal media”, that they feel this justifies all the Secretary Clinton bashing and derangement.
I have seen the question asked in numerous comment threads on the NYT, WaPo, etc. but it never gets answered or treated seriously.
raven
@NorthLeft12: Nobody really give a fuck.
Major Major Major Major
@NorthLeft12: I feel like they’re starting to. Look at Ezra Klein.
D58826
And with friends like Bernie who needs enemies. Bernie (you know the one who didnot release his tax returns or file the required FEC documents or just bought that expensive new house) is demanding that the Clinton shut down the CF immediately. Aside from give ‘old little hands’ a talking point, what happens to all of the people who depend on CF programs? I thought Bernie was for the little people. Or is his definition of ‘little people’ just me and mine?
JMG
The media is the only business I know of where people in it think that if the customers hate them and complain all the time, they must be doing a great job. They LOVE to hear the complaints about how they’re treating Clinton. In the green-skied world inside their minds, it’s a feather in the fedoras they wear with their trench coats, because it shows they’re hard-hitting truth tellers.
Peale
@Kay: because a few people voted for her because Trump scared them, none of her other votes counted and we are still clearing a right wing nation with some centrist impulses.
Kathleen
@geg6: Geography isn’t my strong suit. Maybe I should run for President on the Green ticket.
Kathleen
@Peale: Don’t forget the votes of POC don’t “count” either, so there’s that.
Larkspur
@Miss Bianca: Oh, mead, delicious mead. If only I could join you and the hounds, and even do some PITA work for you, I would, cause I feel a need for mead.
gogol's wife
@Iowa Old Lady:
But you know, I just tried to watch a little bit more of that segment, and after O’Brien they have Mark Leibovich, who says it’s not appropriate for journalists to question Trump’s fitness since he is the nominee of one of the two major parties. And he manages to preface it with a mention of how many days Clinton has gone without a press conference. So O’Brien’s point gets almost immediately negated.
stinger
@geg6: Alas, too far for me to get there by suppertime (try to conceal your disappointment), but I can get the ingredients and make it myself! Sounds delish!
gogol's wife
I have to stay rigorously away from all cable news stations for the duration. Just watching that five minute with Leibovich pontificating has made me physically ill.
bystander
@Corner Stone:
I’ve yelled, “Sing out, Louise,” at the tv countless times. Love that ad.
Also, Hillary has a really good ad about her plan for creating jobs. It’s believable and to the point and she comes across smart and ready. I’m in northeastern Pennsylvania on weekends. It’s hit hard with joblessness, heroin addiction, but I’ve seen a lot more Trump bumper stickers than HRC. But I think her team is smart to buy as heavily into this market as it has. Toomey is smearing McGinty in the Senatorial race pretty effectively, and McGinty does not appear to be responding. Wish somebody would come to her rescue.
D58826
@efgoldman: Never was a Bernie supporter but always figured he was just your garden variety political hypocrite. None of them walk on water. He just turned out to be a bigger fraud than I expected.
frosty
@Joyce H:
I like this idea. It may not get reported, but at least it gets a new and different message out to the bored cynics following her around.
JMG
@gogol’s wife:
if the nominee of one of the two major parties is not fit for the office, isn’t that kind of a big story journalists should be all over? What Leibovich really meant was “I’m a gutless slug.”
Iowa Old Lady
@gogol’s wife: Oh yeah. You can see how hard a task O’Brien has.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Amir Khalid:
The one thing I’ve learned from my spirit animal Propane Jane on twitter, is that Obama beat a war hero media favorite, and a presidential looking white vulture capitalist from central casting, who both won a much larger percentage (it’s a relative number) of blacks and latinos and educated whites than Trump is polling. There are simply not enough on the fence whites who will tip to Trump to make a difference. She’s got this.
Redshift
@JMG: Ah, but remember: viewers/readers are the audience, advertisers are the customers.
I don’t think most journalists think of it that way, but it’s the reality of the business. If you’re not paying, you’re not the customer, you’re the product.
Frankensteinbeck
@hovercraft: and @Amir Khalid:
I’m not sure you understand. I guess Amir would have no reason to know. This is the Inquirer. They’re a tabloid. Telling giant, obvious lies is what they do. ‘Bat Boy’ stories, and so on. What bothered me wasn’t the dishonesty, but the sheer asshole mean-spiritedness.
redshirt
@Frankensteinbeck: The Weekly World News – aka the home of Batboy – was very different than the tabloids, in that it was clear (to most) that the WWN was satire/humor, whereas the Enquirer like tabloids are fact based.
aimai
@D58826: Are you shitting me? How I hate that alte kocher.
Splitting Image
@ruemara:
2008 made that clear enough for me. McCain has had his ups and downs over the years, but he did as much to disqualify himself from the Presidency in that campaign as Trump is doing in this one. Some of the PUMAs are still fuming about not getting their way and are now supporting Trump. They’re all – you guessed it – white males.
redshirt
@efgoldman: Well, that was part of the fun. But the WWN would never be sued for libel because they were clearly a humor newspaper. To most judges.
Redshift
@bystander: I saw my first actual Trump/Pence ad here in NoVA last night. We thought it was an SNL parody at first, it was so cartoonish. The first half talked dark tones about how under Hillary, everything will be terrible like with Obama, only worse. (I swear that is nearly an exact quote.) She will raise your taxes, jobs will disappear, immigrants will flood across the border. Mostly gray still photos and graphics with text over them.
Then the shift to Trump color stills and pleasant music. Trump will fix the economy and cut taxes for the middle class. You’ll have more money. He’ll create so many jobs. He’ll restore American greatness. Again, those aren’t summaries, those are nearly exact quotes. And they couldn’t even manage to put in his slogan verbatim!
It was pretty bizarre, and laughable rather than annoying, which is something I never expected from a Trump ad. I can’t imagine it convincing anyone who isn’t already a Trump voter.
Major Major Major Major
@Splitting Image: We’re the worst.
Cat48
Hillary should take the press with her to China, but they can’t land in Bejing. The press traveling with Obama is having a rough time. Obama said, “Don’t Overcrank it, as this has happened before in other Communist countries”.
The poor press is fretting. China is angry about the TPP, they’re not included.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
My god, they consider Clinton a bitch because she won’t talk to them? Jesus Christ, what are these clowns, teenagers? I mean seriously, the vibe the press gives is Hilary chews them out when she doesn’t like what they write, not she just doesn’t like talking to them.
MattF
Trump the theologian.
Redshift
@ruemara: Yeah, he finally lost mea few months ago, and I’d been reading him since the glory days.
The one small but of slack I give to the people who are fixated on “their issues” even in the face of Trump is that we’ve been told for years that the reason we don’t win in issues like abortion and gun control is that the wingnuts have single issue voters who will turn on Republicans they vote the wrong way, and we don’t.
But I only give them a very small bit. This year, far too many of them have shown the that their vision of progressivism is that they get to define what it is, and people who aren’t like them are welcome to be supporters of the movement as long as they don’t expect to have any say in it. Just like conservatives treat anyone who isn’t a white make. Funny, that.
Aleta
@Adam L Silverman: That’s a really interesting and insightful take on it. Thanks.
pat
@Adam L Silverman:
I wonder what would have happened if you had approached her and said something like, That’s an interesting tatoo you have there and my Arabic is pretty rusty and I wonder what it says.
I always think these youngs with the tatoos all the way down their arms are TRYING to say something. Maybe she would have been happy that someone noticed..
Or maybe not, I do not understand why anyone would want to live their entire life with that sort of thing on their body.
redshirt
Trump attacking Jeff Flake on Twitter right now.
In what world can a Repuke win President while at war with most of his party?
The answer is, not many.
Michael Bersin
Heh. This morning, via the Twitter machine, I chastised a NYT reporter covering the Clinton campaign for his whiney “no press conferences, but she takes questions from donors” tweet.
“@mikiebarb It’s not you, they just ask much more intelligent and relevant questions. Well, okay, it is you. Dunsel.”
I really liked the last little touch in my response.
He blocked me from viewing his tweets. A might bit touchy there.
Sixteen years ago:
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose – the 2016 presidential campaign edition (February 28, 2016)
Kay
I have questions about these Trump University investigations:
Thousands of ordinary people were robbed and we now have two GOP AG’s who allegedly got in the way of investigations.
The scam operated in multiple states – maybe the FBI could conduct some interviews. Let’s put the AG’s under oath.
Kay
@redshirt:
Have you noticed the only issue that is covered now is immigration? Donald Trump and the GOP base are directing issue coverage.
Is immigration the top issue for most voters, or just the top issue for Donald Trump?
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Kay:
And tape the interviews!
As an American citizen, I would be disappointed in anything less.
debbie
@Kay:
Trump also made a $35,000 donation to Greg Abbott, the TX AG who is now the governor.
Mike in NC
@Redshift: The Trump ads running here now are about 30 seconds long and would insult the intelligence of a 3 year old. He’ll cut taxes and create millions of new jobs because he’s Trump! Amazing!
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@efgoldman: I think the White House does a nearly daily gaggle with the press corps. When the GOP has the WH, they dutifully carry the message. For Obama? Not so much. They didn’t much for Bill either, IIRC.
I’m sure her team has tried things like a “thought of the day” and will continue trying after January, but I think they’re smart enough to realize that she’ll often have to work around the White House correspondents…
Cheers,
Scott.
redshirt
@Kay: The Republicans get to set whatever agenda they want. It’s their MSM, not ours.
SFAW
@Kay:
I blame Crooked Hillary.
Of course, when THEY “don’t recall,” it will also be because of Crooked Hillary’s e-mails or server or Benghaziiiiiii!!!
Major Major Major Major
@Kay: I saw the phrase “immigration crisis” used without scare quotes in a headline today. And so it begins.
SFAW
@redshirt:
Don’t be silly.
They’re all Lie-berals, this I know
Because the wingnuts tell me so.
SFAW
@Major Major Major Major:
The appropriate response, to this and other items, is:
“Where are your tax returns, Mr. Trump? WHAT ARE YOU HIDING? No, ‘I’m being audited’ is not a legitimate excuse. WHAT ARE YOU HIDING, MR. TRUMP?”
usw.
Jeffro
@ruemara:
I was thinking about this a bit, about Billmon (and other purity ponies) only voting for Clinton to stop Trump “if they absolutely have to”, other wise they’ll be sitting on their hands. You have the ‘subservience’ part exactly right, ruemara. Otherwise, anyone/everyone with half a brain would know that since we can’t afford to take chances here, even purity ponies should be voting Clinton and then arguing about progressive policy later.
They think they’re somehow maxing out the value of their vote, or being listened to, or both. They’re not – they’re just making the unthinkable that much closer to reality.
Villago Delenda Est
@SFAW: Well, in a sense, they are “lie-brals”. They don’t go to Drumpf rallies unless they’re assigned to cover them, they don’t freak out when a transgender shares a public restroom, they don’t overtly, at least, consider ni*CLANGS* to be subhuman “mud people”, they have no problem with gays in the military, they probably purchase food items at taco trucks, they probably are agnostics at best. Never mind they are corporatist pigs, suckups to the richer but less famous, etc.
SFAW
@Villago Delenda Est:
I was thinking more of their (direct) paymasters — editors, publishers, etc. Not to be confused with their indirect paymasters — Thiel, Kochs, Scaife, et al.
Not that there’s a ton of difference between those two sets. Outside of net worth, that is.
redshirt
@SFAW: I don’t give the Repukes much credit, but you have to stand impressed at how they’ve gamed the system: They’ve taught their followers not to believe the media, as it’s all “liberal lies”, and the media in response does everything they can to cater to their whims for fearing of losing access. Thus, they get a propaganda channel that their most zealous followers think is slanted for the EVIL OTHER.
redshirt
@SFAW: The Thiel experience is a preview of our future. If you dare actually try and publish the truth, you’ll get sued till you break by billionaires and their agents.
FREEDOM!
SFAW
@redshirt:
I agree. They’ve been working the refs for 30-40 years, and the general cowardice of the MSM is one result.
@redshirt:
Although I think Thiel is a vile character, I feel a slight bit of sympathy for him (assuming I understand things correctly, which I might not). As I understand it, Thiel was in the closet, until Gawker outed him. Unless there’s some mitigating circumstance, such as Thiel persecuting anyone in his sphere who was openly gay, then who the fuck was Gawker to out him? If he wanted to stay in the closet, that’s his own business.
But his use of Hulk Hogan as a proxy is bullshit, and Thiel’s general mindset is not one I want anywhere near anything of value, such as this country.
redshirt
@SFAW: Moving past whether Gawker outed Thiel or not, and the morality of that, the fact that a billionaire was secretly funding lawsuits against a journalism outlet completely unrelated to himself and succeeded in shutting them down via that process is chilling.
Imagine the lessons the Kochs and their ilk learned.
Miss Bianca
@Larkspur: Oh, yeah – just got back from a foraging expedition. Found about a half-cup of fresh rose hips. And the hip-hopped brew is almost ready for its yeast!
sukabi
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: not teenagers, prepubescent…all the crazy, without the fun bits.
JR in WV
@germy:
You’re quite wrong about this. I grew up in the media business. When I was a kid, the Washington Post Company and the NY Times were making clear profits between 20 and 30% annually.
Newspaper companies sold for millions of dollars that only had 40,000 subscribers. Because they were full of full page and double-truck (both pages) advertisements, which cost thousands of dollars an issue to run. The most highly paid person at the newspaper business I grew up at made a 5 figure income in the 1960s – she sold classified ads, mostly to auto dealerships, again double-truck ads.
Those ads are gone now. Most auto dealerships don’t even buy commercials on TV, much less in the newspaper. There were two big newspapers locally, until this year. Now there’s one, with two editorial pages, one Democratic and one Republican. That’s an effort to retain subscribers from the afternoon (R) newspaper.
So, as profit margin has vanished, quality of reporting has diminished; perhaps there is causation there, as in shitty reporting draws fewer eyeballs, which lowers the cost of ads.
Back in the day, newspapers made money like a gold mine with good ore to mine. Not so much any more.
Washington DC isn’t a two-newspaper town any more, except for the Reverend Moon-funded Times, which is a joke. NYC is only a two-paper town if you’re counting Murdock papers, and the Post!
JR in WV
@Kathleen:
Hitler was very popular, especially with the business people. Ford loved him, IBM sold him the equipment used for tracking the logistics of war, and of the final solution.
He fell out of favor when he bombed Pearl Harbor! /s
Google images has many photos of Madison Square Garden filled up standing room only, with giant swastikas and banners, for the German-American Bund meetings. Many of them, from the late 1930s, right up until Germany declared war on the US after we declared war on the Japanese Empire. no snark here!
My dad was puzzled because his Jewish friend wouldn’t even test drive a Lincoln, but needed a ride to the Cadillac dealer. I explained that it was because Henry Ford was a famous antisemite who supported Hitler as long as he could without prosecution. He had no idea…
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
If anyone would like something to take the taste of talking about the press corpse out of their mouth and brain, here is Ursula Vernon’s reactionto the women with headphones whiner.
redshirt
@JR in WV: Nice summary. The newspaper does not seem long for this world.
Procopius
@D58826: The FBI’s long-standing policy is to not tape interviews or take notes during them. This is to protect the FBI from accusations of lying when what they testify in court is not what is on the recording. This has been widely known for many years, so the cries of outrage or claims that this was somehow unusual are piffle.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Procopius:
In other words, when they’re lying.
So not recording anything or taking notes allows them to say whatever they “remember.”
Jeffro
@JR in WV:
It’s kind of strange to think that there are really only 4-5 big-city newspapers of national reknown these days (if that?), with the NYT and WaPo being the big dogs. It’s unfortunate.
Jeffro
@Steeplejack (tablet):
Well, when they’re lying, shading the truth, shading it a lot, etc.
And it’s probably not fair to say they’re not recording…they’re just not letting the interview subject know about the recorder in their pocket…
Bonnie
After reading Mother Jones’ article on Trump’s model agency, I am convinced that he engages in human trafficking. Trump is a poor excuse for a human being; and, I will never understand why the press ignores this and his other egregious behavior. I will also never understand the American citizens who will freely vote for him; and, possible make him President.
Glennis
Oh “When she’s speaking with voters she doesn’t allow us to interrupt her.”
Nora
@D58826: I thought Bernie said she has to dissociate herself completely from the foundation if she’s elected. I think he backed down from the idea of closing it altogether, admitting that it does good work.
So it does good work and helps people, but because her name is on it it’s a bad thing and she should walk away from it? Does this make sense to anyone else?