It’s perfectly understandable to be worried about the election. The polls are tight. The media is largely comprised of lazy hacks who privilege phony balance above truth. But worrying is utterly useless unless it spurs you to action.
Freaking out while taking no positive action is worse than useless — it’s demoralizing. So don’t be that person, okay? President Obama often says, “Don’t boo — vote.” To paraphrase him, don’t freak out — volunteer. Or donate.
Open thread!
Mike E
Yep. My last GOTV effort, so, gonna make it count.
Bitches.
Miss Bianca
I’m so on beyond freaking out at this point – this clip captures my sentiments perfectly.
Except it’s usually a white *man* I’m slapping into sense in my head. Hmmm….
Corner Stone
“Faith without works is dead.”
Corner Stone
@Miss Bianca:
Forget about white males. Lost cause. Helping some married white women into shape (electorally speaking) may actually help us all out in the short and long run.
Waldo
I’ll volunteer and donate — just as soon as my backyard bunker is built and fully stocked.
OzarkHillbilly
Just gave an extra $100 in honor of ‘The Deplorables’>
Mike E
@Corner Stone: where the white women at?
Matt McIrvin
It’s worth comparing this to a case we actually lost. At this point in 2004, Kerry was down by about the same amount that Clinton is up. Electoral-vote.com had him at about 200 EV. He did really well in the debates and he fought super-hard in the home stretch, and he came from behind and damn near pulled it off. It was almost as close a photo-finish as 2000.
Trump could do that, if he campaigns at least as well as Kerry in 2004. Will he? I seriously doubt it.
Now suppose the Democrats campaign at least as well as Kerry in 2004. Should be feasible.
J R in WV
Going to Ohio to canvass for GOTV, going to HC HQ to phone bank, call wherever they want us to.
We’ve been auto-contributing monthly for quite a while, and dropped money on Emily’s List, Russ Feingold, Tammy and some other Senate candidates. Don’t know what else we could do.
Can’t fix the MSM… I guess a writing campaign to advertisers might work, but it would take hundreds of thousands, like the one for Lush Rimbaugh and his hate radio show, which seems to be working OK. But we don’t have the years that has been going on to work on this thing.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
But, but, more chickens need to be abused.
EBT
Don’t be Arzy as we used to say in 2008.
Woodrowfan
looks like I picked the wrong week to give up sniffing glue
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Woodrowfan: It’s never a good week to stop sniffing glue.
jacy
I’m annoyed. I’m disheartened. But I’m not worried. Things are going to be stupid — keep your eye on the ball. Donate, volunteer, talk to people who will listen, and even some you don’t think will. We Democrats are worriers by nature — just put it to good use.
Corner Stone
@Mike E: “They’re right over there, Bill. Yep, that’s it. Right past the falling balloon shower. Get through that and you’ll have all you need.”
Corner Stone
@Woodrowfan: I was so proud of my son. First time we watched this together he noticed the propeller engine noise for a jet aircraft. I was like, “That’s usually a second or third viewing call out!”
jl
The idiocy of the media might start creating public health problems soon.
Heard a clip of a some pundits babbling about HRC ‘transparency’, then a mention that Trump is going to release more health info. Sound bite of Trump: ‘it’ll be good, I mean, otherwise I wouldn’t tell you about it’ (paraphrase).
Then idiotic chatter about whether Trump’s purported graciousness in wishing HRC well ‘I hope she gets better, but you know, something is going on with her…’ (another paraphrase) will give his campaign a boost.
Maybe there is a sinister plot by the corporate media to stupefy the population? If people are so confused and incoherent that they can’t exit their domiciles without getting lost or killing themselves, that would be a great voter suppression scheme.
Redshift
As a bonus, getting involved will help you avoid freakout, because you’ll see all the hard work being done, and talk to the many enthusiastic supporters that the media seems unable to find.
And one quibble – the polls may be competitive, but they are not tight.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Corner Stone: Yes, but did he know who the guy in the cab was?
Keith G
Press Secretary for the Clinton campaign Brian Fallon says that within a few days more information from Clinton’s doctor will be released in order to “put to rest lingering concerns….” He noted that “Yesterday the staff could have provided more information more quickly, and that’s on us.”
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@jl: One of the most frustrating things is to see Hillary treated as “secretive” when Trump won’t release his tax returns and won’t let his press detail near him much less ride on his plane with him. Not to mention that to date the only info he’s released about his health is a self-penned note from his “doctor” saying outlandish and undoctorly things. The press could maybe focus on his lack of transparency once in a while.
Trinity
Thank you for this Betty.
Feathers
Watching that clip I’m reminded of the time I had to explain to a young co-worker that if someone was upset and getting upsetter, slapping them across the face was considered a perfectly acceptable thing to do, even to a stranger. They had seen an old movie and were complaining about the abusive behavior. I did also explain that this was before psychiatric medications or really any sort of effective psychiatric treatment. Slapping people back to reality was what folks had.
Hmmmm. Has the introduction of psychiatric medicines and treatments helped bring upon this new world where how we treat other people is seen as less of a concern?
JPL
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Let’s not forget that the Trump campaign is going to release Melania’s U.S.Visa information.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: As Kay has noted, we really know nothing about Trump.
Kay
Early ballots are out in Ohio. You can ask people to return them. I would do it now before the creeps succeed in dragging the moron over the finish line. They might fold any moment to his demand that there be “no moderator” at the debates. They seem to be frightened of him-I’m not clear why.
Miss Bianca
@Corner Stone: point taken ; )
Iowa Old Lady
Today I have read nothing about Clinton’s health because it’s stupid. The basket of deplorables will twist it for their own use. I have better things to read.
germy
Did anyone else see the Barbara Ehrenreich quote from twitter? She calls HRC an elitist snob. Or does she? It’s supposedly from her twitter account, but the only place I’ve seen it is in Isquith’s reply. When I visit her actual twitter page, it’s a different photo of her and she doesn’t mention HRC at all.
Did someone set up a spoof account in her name?
Mike in NC
In 2008 the corporate media was in the tank for John McCain, who they portrayed as a war hero and maverick. He still lost.
In 2012 the corporate media was in the tank for Mitt Romney, who they portrayed as a business genius and moderate. He still lost.
So is it any surprise whatsoever that in 2016 the corporate media is in the tank for Donald Trump, who they portray as a colorful celebrity billionaire and real estate tycoon? Gotta make sure the asshole loses…
JMG
@Kay: I don’t think they’d do that. Getting the moderator job for one of their own is a big prestige thing for the networks. Obviously Trump doesn’t want a moderator because this would allow him to start yapping and never shut up for 90 minutes. That’s really about all the moderator does, control the clock.
Mnemosyne
I have an auto-donation set up. It gives me peace of mind at times like these.
The Other Chuck
@Feathers:
Maybe in the movies. I’m pretty sure it was never really acceptable to do that to a stranger.
Anyway, I’ve had more than a few times lately where I wish someone would have just slapped some sense into me.
Feebog
@Matt McIrvin:
I think 2004 is an apples to oranges comparison. Bush was an incumbent President. We were a year and a half into Iraq and it was not yet clear to a large swath of voters that it was already a clusterfuck. The economy was not great, but it hadn’t tanked yet. Yes, Kerry did really well in the debates, but so did Gore, the MSM still spun it the way they wanted it to be spun.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@germy: Someone said it was Facebook. It’s fucking stupid wherever it exists.
Keith G
I doubt that. Not only have they already been picked, but moderators are a part of prestige branding for a corporation (Matt Lauer excepted). Trump may actually be a bit concerned that Lester Holt will be on an assigned mission to make amends for his network’s earlier fiasco.
edit…and what JMG said.
Eric S.
I had to pull a friend off the ledge yesterday when he heard about the pneumonia. It’s not changing his mind, he’s voting for Hillary, but he started to panic about the outcome.
Based on the infrequent news links he sends me he’s getting most of his news from CNN. So I have to keep that in mind.
jl
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Well, I dunno, Trump was really gracious, very gracious and courtly in wishing HRC gets better. Geez, that could really give Trump a boost. I mean, will voters worry about all the mean things PC people say about Trump if Trump says a gracious thing once in a while? Could give him a boost. Trump can be very gracious and chummy, look how nice he was to the nice reporters who got a fun ride in his helicopter. That was very gracious.
Can HRC be that gracious? I dunno, I doubt it. There are clouds and nebulous misty things hanging over HRC’s graciousness. When she tries to be gracious, she doesn’t do it right. It seems calculated and doesn’t count. Has HRC given anybody helicopter fun ride?. Could be a problem… Trump gave those kids a fun ride in his helicopter a while back. That was fun, and gracious.
rikyrah
Obama Rises While Clinton Falls
by Martin Longman
September 12, 2016 11:01 AM
The latest Washington Post/ABC News survey has the president’s approval number at 58%, which is higher than it’s been at any point since mid-summer of 2009. As Philip Bump explains, this is very good news for Hillary Clinton because it’s been historically much easier for a candidate to succeed a popular president of his own party than an unpopular one. I think that’s what we’d all intuitively guess to be the case, but the numbers do back it up.
As of now, the Post/ABC News poll is an outlier, showing somewhat stronger support for Obama than other surveys in the field, but they agree that the president has been rising and that he’s at over fifty percent approval.
Of course, what the actual candidate does matters more than how people feel about the incumbent, and Clinton has been going through a rough patch in her campaign of late. This probably explains why her polls and the president’s seem to be heading in opposite directions and the presidential horserace numbers have narrowed considerably since the conclusion of the two party’s conventions in July.
It’s not unlikely that widespread dissatisfaction with the choice between Trump and Clinton is the main driver of Obama’s improving approval numbers, as people increasingly reward him for looking good by comparison. If that’s the case, Philip Bump may be overstating how much Clinton stands to benefit from Obama’s popularity.
Corner Stone
Even white girls got to shout, “Gimme that smack!”
MSNBC is doing as bit on the opiod crisis in OH. They just interviewed all white girls in jail for drugs.
The Dangerman
@JPL:
Although it’s a curiosity, isn’t this issue effectively dead since she married a US citizen? So, she’s a citizen now. Yes, how she got there is curious but, in the end, it’s rather unimportant…
…as compared to, say, Trump’s taxes? Any day that doesn’t include a “Hey, Donald, taxes, motherfucker” is a day wasted.
germy
@Mnemosyne:
So do Trump supporters. Some of them just don’t know it yet.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
TNC weighs in on the “Basket” and of course nails it. Link
? Martin
@Keith G: Trump is just making sure everyone gets the message that its rigged. He probably knows in an unmoderated debate he’d get his ass handed to him. So he gets credit for being the tough guy claiming to want to do this without a net, and gets the excuse for when he gets his ass kicked.
inventor
I have an odd problem and I would like The Collective’s advice:
I have a dear friend who has “swallowed the hook” on a perpetual motion scheme. It is, I suppose, typical of these schemes: they couch their claims in pseudo-technical jargon, they carefully avoid scientific inspection (their “business model doesn’t support 3rd party investigation”). They claim they can split water into it’s constituent hydrogen and oxygen then run that hydrogen through a modified internal combustion engine at a net energy gain of a whopping 667%. That’s right. Their special black box “ultrasonic hydrogen generator” will generate hydrogen using only 15% of the electricity the generator attached to the hydrogen burning motor produces.
They, of course, have mumbo-jumbo reasons why the unit has to be connected at all times to city power and water supply. They won’t answer why it can’t sustain itself once started even though it produces 100 W for every 15 W of input. They also won’t answer why the water created by hydrogen combustion can’t be recycled through the system. This is an obvious fraud, and one that has made the rounds before.
The problem is, my friend has attached a great deal of his reputation if not his money to the endeavour and is absolutely beyond reasoning with. Can I save him from himself?
Gin & Tonic
More from the annals of Florida Man.
It didn’t.
Corner Stone
@JMG:
Of course he wants a moderator. This way he can pre-set his whole fucking whine about being treated “unfairly” and the “rigged system”. It’s totally rigged, ok?
If it were just He, Trump, and HRC on stage he would have no one to blame when she grabs him by the scruff of his neck and pushes his face all over the stage like a shitgibbon topped mop.
JPL
@The Dangerman: Yes and no. Trump said he was going to release it. He promised!!
oldgold
Trump has a safe media home, available to him 24/7, to push his message without a filter – Fox “News.” Hillary has nothing even close. The advantages this affords him, given the oddities of this particular race, is tilting the playing field markedly in Trump’s favor. Appallingly, the rest of the damn media ignores this and actually aids and abets this travesty by obsessing over the nonsense Trump injects through Fox “News.”
Gin & Tonic
@inventor: No.
germy
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: This, from your link:
Hoodie
@jl:
No, they already are that stupid or, at least, the target audience is that stupid. Most folks know someone who has had walking pneumonia and knows how crappy that makes someone feel and that, no, it doesn’t mean Hillary is at death’s door and couldn’t possibly serve. Only morons who buy the other 12,000 stupid ass things that have been said about Hillary will make anything of it and the media will harp on it incessantly because it’s something that allows them to engage in unending speculation that doesn’t involve any actual reporting. It’s the same as reality TV. If you know the biggest part of your audience is kind of dumb and has a taste for National Enquirer, you go for the easiest way to give them that. Today’s press, particularly cable TV, makes its living out of entertaining the more suggestible among us, and that generally means rumor mongering. It’s a successful formula because, in addition to feeding the morons, you’ll get a sizeable number of non-stupid people who will watch out of boredom, addiction to media, hate watching, etc., kind of like people on liberal blogs like this watch cable TV crap even though they know it’s ridiculous. I suspect that’s largely why Discovery Channel morphed from wildlife studies and climate change to naked neurotics running around in a swamp with a camera crew. Real news just doesn’t sell as well as fake reality.
Went to Ira Glass’s show the other night and he kind of touched on this subject. He explained that people don’t want to hear substance because it’s too unpleasant and they already know it sucks. His example was covering Syrian refugees. He knew that straight reporting wouldn’t get him listeners, so he focused on a story about wild pigs infesting a Muslim refugee camp in Greece as a hook to get people to listen to a story that ends up humanizing the refugees. Unlike Glass, cable TV media leaves out the humanization part.
jl
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: Skimmed the link. I’ll read more carefully later.
This line stood out as very true:
” White racial grievance enjoys automatic credibility, and even when disproven, it is never disqualifying of its bearers. “
Frivolous
I’m Filipino. I’m in the wrong country to volunteer and of the wrong nationality to donate.
Still worried. A Trump presidency would be nasty for everyone.
cokane
I get the sentiment here. I’m not worried, more like just consigned to the electorate being a bunch of stupid fucks, at least for a few more cycles. I’m confident Clinton will win, but not confident that the Dems will take the Senate and almost certainly won’t win the House (and then odds are strong they lose ground in both in 2018). So, we’ll get a liberal Supreme Court which is huge. But almost no legislative action for the next four years.
Brachiator
Speaking of Airplanes and disasters, I saw the movie “Sully” over the weekend. Box Office Mojo says that the audience was 56 percent female and 80 percent were over age 35. At my theater, the genders were about balanced, but the 80 percent were probably over age 65.
The movie comes in at a brisk 96 minutes, and is generally pretty good. Tom Hanks delivers his standard excellent performance as an Everyman who humanizes heroism. Some of the other performers come across as bland despite their best efforts. I found out later that director Clint Eastwood shot almost all of the film using IMAX cameras, and I think the movie might best be seen in IMAX 2D (I saw it on a regular screen), but this might be too much excitement for some grannies and grampas. But it’s worth watching on a big screen.
I liked how the muted colors, lots of blues, help lend the film a tone of understated tension. Ultimately, you get a sense that lives were saved not through bad ass heroic dazzle, but a combination of competence and luck.
There are little touches that everyone has seen before on actual flights, for example, the flight attendants showing the emergency cards and going through their pre-flight routine, before everything goes to shit, that everyone can relate to, and which draws you into the film (and the film also shows that the flight attendants and other staff also behaved like boss heroes by keeping their heads and focusing on getting the passengers out of the plane after it landed).
Spoiler alert: lots of people were rescued.
Overall, a good night at the movies.
ETA: A nice break from “Oh my God, what’s wrong with Hillary!!” election madness. Get out the vote.
cokane
Lemme add in a second thought to put this in context. It’s entirely possible that Donald fucking Trump gets a higher vote share than John McCain did in 2008. Say what you want about the tenets of the Arizona Senator, but at least he’s a politician that genuinely cares about shit. I just cannot stomach this driving narrative behind Trump support — that the system is fucked and corrupt and rigged — so let’s elect one of the most bald craven sociopaths? Anything above 40% on election night is just a serious condemnation of the general public.
germy
@Hoodie: There is a certain type of idiot who believes it is wise to vote for HRC and then, in the interest of some sort of “checks and balances” concept, vote downticket for people who will obstruct everything she wants to do.
Two different people recently told me they’d vote this way (not spelling out the obstruction part, but still) and I think it’s because they were half-awake during high school history class and absorbed something vague about the founding fathers not wanting one person getting too much power.
SiubhanDuinne
@The Dangerman:
It is important, though, not because it affects Melania’s current status, but because Trump promised, weeks and weeks ago, that she would address all the questions about her path to citizenship in a news conference. Since then, she’s effectively disappeared and there’s been no further talk of a clarifying statement/Q&A. And of course our crack media folks haven’t pressed for it, because healthgate, basketgate, emailgate, etceteragate.
Suzanne
I’ll be doing GOTV at least 50% of the weekends between now and the election, health willing.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: Yup, it’s on her Facebook page.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Mike E:
I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t know exactly what you mean, but it can’t be good.
Lizzy L
@inventor: Doubt it. Sounds ugly. Eventually the truth will out; you can only hope not too much damage is done to your friend. You might consider in advance what you and other friends might be able to do for him to support him when the fantasy finally does fall apart. Good luck.
germy
@Brachiator: I haven’t seen the movie, but the trailer and reviews make it sound like Sully is a John Galt who goes up against evil government regulators. Is this an oversimplification? I thought the CAB’s job was to find out what went wrong and prevent it from happening again, rather than being depicted as the villain trying to blame a brave pilot for doing his job.
Again, I haven’t seen the film so maybe i’m misinterpreting.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
@Keith G:
He shouldn’t have bothered.
Shoulda said “Fuck you, its none of your goddamned business. Nothing more to follow, assholes.”
Betty Cracker
@The Dangerman: No, it’s not a dead issue for someone who has made rounding up “illegals” the centerpiece of his campaign. If we can talk about Hillary’s emails for two straight years and dredge up all of Bill’s misdeeds, we can damn sure examine Trump’s wife’s possible illegal activities, for which her husband prescribes deportation for those in the exact same situation. And marrying a US citizen doesn’t automatically make the spouse a citizen; you have to jump through all sorts of hoops — including not lying about your work activities — and pay lots of money over a period of years to obtain citizenship. Taxes AND visa info — perfectly legit to demand both.
Corner Stone
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap:
One of the lower days of the Obama administration.
Chip Daniels
Its also worth remembering that outside of the Village and us political junkies, few other Americans give a shit about any of this.
For most people 90% of what we talk about here is just inside baseball stuff that they click thru to get to something that interests the.
Brachiator
@Frivolous:
President Trump and President Rodrigo Duterte. Dream match-up or nightmare press conference?
germy
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap:
Very disappointing. I’ve always regarded her as a thoughtful person, and this sounds like more of a “knee jerk” reaction. If she comes out for Stein I’ll move beyond disappointment into grief.
The Dangerman
@Betty Cracker:
It doesn’t? OK, than disregard all the previous. I thought it was an automatic.
Brachiator
@inventor:
Probably not. Some people are perpetual gullibility machines.
inventor
@Lizzy L: He maintains it’s not a perpetual motion machine, but when I diagrammed for him that it was exactly that he stormed out of my house exclaiming “Oh, I suppose all of those people investing are idiots!” and “They have a patent!”. The arguments of a mark.
He’s a very intelligent guy, but these schemes seem to always rope in smart people.
Betty Cracker
@cokane: I don’t think Trump will out-perform McCain’s 2008 margin, but really, anything over the 27% crazification factor is a stain on our national character.
JPL
@The Dangerman: It appears that she worked here while on a travel visa, which is a no no. Trump volunteered to take care of the matter, by releasing additional information. It’s standard practice for Trump to say one thing, and then do another.
germy
@Betty Cracker:
I’m pretty sure these laws don’t apply to beautiful European models.
JPL
@Betty Cracker: Powell on CBS the morning, said candidates should discuss intolerance, not racism. Yeah, that will show Trump and the other supremacists.
Brachiator
@germy:
Yep. The NTSB are made to look like bad guys, but they are not particularly evil, nor is is a matter of bad gummit vs Our Hero.
In fact, some people might be disappointed that the movie is more about bad big government. There is a brief but very sympathetic focus on the air traffic controller who tried to help Sully find alternate landing sites.
And the movie is a big wet kiss to New York, where lots of people are shown doing their fucking everyday job, which sometimes ends up being involved in something heroic.
I suppose that right wing cranks will huff and puff to try to turn their impression of the film into some jingoistic wet dream, but I give Eastwood credit on consistently focusing on the heroism of the everyday. It might even be a touch too mundane for some.
Frivolous
@Brachiator:
I don’t even want to think about the insane-asylum hell-world where both of them are Prez.
The best thing about Duterte’s presidency is that he doesn’t have nukes to play with.
lurker dean
@inventor: perhaps ask him for the number of the patent so you (and all the engineers and scientists on BJ, there are many) can look at it. the patent office will not issue a patent for a perpetual motion machine because it’s an impossibility. if there is a patent, it will not be a perpetual design and you can see what it’s really about and discuss the shortcomings. if there isn’t a patent but a representation has been made, that’s a huge red flag.
or it may merely be a patent *application*, which has not yet been “issued” as a patent and which has no real rights attached to it, other than giving you the right to call the invention “patent pending.” another alternative is that the product may have a design patent, which is a different kind of patent that doesn’t go to the process at all, but could go to the shape of a particular piece of the gadget for example. getting a design patent is a way crooks fool their marks into thinking they have a real invention. as is the “patent pending” appellation, which many incorrectly assume means a patent has been granted, when all it means is that an application has been filed, which may or may not ever be issued as an enforceable patent. one can file a patent application for anything, so the mere filing means nothing.
Thoughtful David
@cokane:
So why do you think that? If we don’t have the Senate, they’ll just decide that “the people didn’t really speak” and continue to refuse to hold votes on Supreme Court nominees for four years, hoping that Ruth Nader Ginsburg get sick or does.
Miss Bianca
Question, all-knowing and opinionated list:
So the person who is contacting me to volunteer for the Amendment 69 (Colorado Care) campaign has basically just outed herself as a Jill Stein supporter. Is that enough to doom it in my eyes? Or is the fact that the campaign hasn’t yet managed to convince me that Colorado Care is really going to pay fior itself as easy-peasy as they make it sound? In any case, having volunteered to help out, how do I back away from it at this point without offending friends and neighbors if it’s starting to smell a little fishy to me?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@The Dangerman:
No. You don’t become a citizen when you marry a US citizen. You can apply for a green card and ICE will check to make sure you’re actually married. If you have immigration violations prior to being naturalized that are later uncovered, your citizenship can be revoked.
Miss Bianca
@inventor: No. If someone is hell-bent on throwing their money away on some crackpot scheme, there’s usually very little you can do to dissuade them, and then you just end up with the person pissed off at you. (Speaking from experience? Moi?)
Calouste
@The Dangerman:
No. it’s not dead. Melania became a citizen about a year after she married Trump. To get citizenship by marriage, you need to be married for 3 years. So she got it another way, and it is possible that she withheld relevant information (i.e. working in the US without a visa) when applying. That could be a reason to take away her citizenship and deport her.
Betty Cracker
Huh. This is interesting:
Tisket, tasket, etc.
Thoughtful David
@Thoughtful David:
FY autocorrect:
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg gets sick or dies.”
cokane
@Thoughtful David: this wont happen
rikyrah
For Kay:
Real Journalism: 10 Questions Our Media Refuses to Ask Donald Trump
Trevor LaFauci September 12, 2016
It doesn’t get better.
With the latest episode of #LaueringTheBar in which our media has once again failed to do its most basic job, it is now officially time to put the myth of the liberal media to bed once and for all. Matt Lauer’s gutless performance this past Wednesday at the Commander-in-Chief forum was only the latest in a string of episodes where our media has failed to challenge Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump for fear of hurting his wittle feelings. While the major networks have consistently given Trump $2 billion of free airtime, even alleged “liberal” networks like MSNBC have shred any kind of perceived bias by not only giving Trump his own personal Town Hall but also by having Trump cheerleader Joe Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski offer Trump softball questions on live TV. Combine all this with the fact that the Trump campaign refuses to participate in interviews with Rachel Maddow, who would be one of the few journalists with enough integrity to actually challenge Donald Trump, and what we have is a candidate who will seemingly go unchallenged all the way to Election Day.
And that is a problem.
It is a problem because the role of media is to present the truth, even if the truth hurts a particular individual. When Donald Trump is allowed to lie about his support for the Iraq War for over a year and he still is allowed to continue this lie, that is a problem. That is a problem because people rely on our media to present factual information. If we are comparing two presidential candidates and determining which one is more qualified to be commander-in-chief, it is damn well important to ask one of them why he is insisting upon something that simply isn’t true. That speaks to the candidate’s character, his judgment, his ethics, and his morality. Do the American people want someone in the Oval Office who lies about his past? Someone who shifts his views only after popular opinion has changed? Someone who refuses to acknowledge his support for a war even though his support is clearly documented? These are all valid questions that the American people need answered.
But these answers won’t come. Not in the Age of Trump, where interviewers refuse to challenge a presidential candidate for fearing of losing him and the advertising dollars that come with him. Sure, the man lies 70% of the time, but people tune in to watch him which is the important part. As Chuck Todd famously said, it’s not the media’s job to fact-check certain claims being made by political candidates. Because when you fact-check candidates, they get upset. Rather than man up and admit their mistake, these candidates often double down on their assertions. If they still receive pushback then they can simply claim that their interviewer/interviewer’s network is clearly biased against them and refuse to do future interviews. When that happens, the interviewer gets an earful from his/her boss as to how terrible it now will be with that candidate no longer appearing on the network. Because no candidate wants to go on a show where they know they will be consistently challenged but to go on to a friendly network with softball questions, no pushback, and free airtime is a opportunity that simply cannot be passed up.
WaterGirl
@Mike E:
Now you have me worried. Hoping you are 115 years old and are thinking you won’t make it to 123.
Hal
One thing about Pneumonia gate! I think many may be under estimating is the fact that many women will probably relate to the idea of being sick and still having to do their job. Raise their kids, take care of the household and hold down their full time job. Women are not going to ding Hillary for this, and men who do may find themselves courting a backlash by trying to make this a sign of weakness in Clinton. She is not losing votes over this and I think she can turn this into a ripe opportunity to tout how tough she really is in this election. Clinton should ride this thing into the sunset. Also, Trump is bound to shove his foot in his mouth when he speaks with Dr. Oz.
Tenar Darell
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: This was the thing that made the reaction to what Clinton said a Rorschach test of #mediafail combined with #whitefragility:
It’s the “Lie to me. Lie to the country. Lie to everyone.” impulse of the Dunning School of history writ today by today’s reporters/political commentators.
inventor
@lurker dean: Agreed on the patent. He, I doubt, has seen the patent if it exists. If there is one, the claims may have nothing to do with anything. My guess it’s just a gold seal and ribbon on a Powerpoint slide.
If I could lead him into acknowledgement that it’s a PMM, I think he would see the light. I’m not sure the friendship can take the rancor at the moment.
catclub
@The Dangerman:
Smart people are saying that He is hiding his taxes to hide a six figure donation to nambla.
JPL
@Hal: Forget Dr. Oz. They will spend the entire time talking about Hillary.
Iowa Old Lady
I love the way the MSM casually throws out that Clinton should step aside and wiser heads will choose a better candidate than the primary voters did. Democracy much?
Brachiator
@cokane:
Not necessarily. If I were Obama and Hillary wins, I would go to the Senate and say, “Why don’t you vote to confirm all those judicial nominees of mine that you’ve been sitting on. Better the Devil you know right now than the coming Liberal Menace that you’re so afraid of.”
But we are probably set for more obstructionist bullshit. It’s all the GOP knows.
Omnes Omnibus
@Brachiator:
And that gets us our liberal Court.
daves09
@OzarkHillbilly: Donated and have been doing voter registration-can’t decide whether the chasm of ignorance about something so basic is funny or depressing.
Answers I’ve gotten:
*if I register does it mean I have to vote?
*I don’t want to register as a democrat because that means I have to vote democratic.
*I’m an independent because I vote the candidate not the party.
*I don’t vote because both parties are the same.
*When’s the election?
*Is there an election this year? this was for real.
*I’ll register when I go to vote.-no you have to register by Oct. 17. that’s not what I heard.
Corner Stone
@Miss Bianca:
I just can’t make heads or tails of that amendment.
WaterGirl
@Feathers: When I was 19, my mom slapped me when I was crying-crying-crying after learning that my 21-year-old boyfriend had died instantly after diving onto a lake. I think that’s something people did back then.
Bicycle accident with a car (me on the bike) then limping home, only to get the news that my boyfriend had died. Not a good day.
catclub
@JPL:
He also promises to donate money to various causes, and then doesn’t. Not keeping his word is SOP.
For instance, after 9/11 Trump made zero donations. But he did collect money from a Federal Government small business recovery program.
dogwood
@Betty Cracker:
This election is beyond weird. Among my circle of friends and acquaintances, mostly college-educated white women, there is an agreement that we don’t even talk about politics because it’s too upsetting. Many have expressed the anxiety they feel in social situations when Trump comes up because they fear finding out that someone they know is a supporter. And that’s a deal breaker for so many people like me. This is beyond politics and policy. It’s a test of character and common decency.
catclub
@daves09: Just remember, the average USian is not very smart. And half of the population is dumber than that.
Epicurus
Ms. Cracker, don’t ever change. You are one of the best and brightest (and funniest!) writers on this site, and that’s some pretty steep competition. I will try to follow your advice; I don’t really want to subsidize more TV advertisements, but I can sure as hell volunteer my time to GOTV. We can not allow a madman to enter the White House.
Hal
@JPL: That’s what I’m counting on. Trump is going to go after her for being weak while touting his own prowess and manly man strength and I think it’s going to backfire. I want him to talk about Hillary’s health, because he will do it in the most sexist way. Maybe Dr. Oz will go the way of Dr. Drew. One/two punch.
lurker dean
@inventor: yeah, may very well have been a power point. but perhaps if you “innocently” approach it as your being interested in seeing the patent so you could understand it better (and perhaps even invest – though that suggestion may be going too far, lol), that might lead to questions in your friend’s mind if he can’t actually get the patent or finds out there isn’t one. sometimes little steps can lead to a more questioning mindset. i can understand wanting to avoid rancor, though.
WaterGirl
@rikyrah: This is the part of what BooMan wrote that I am upset about: (bolding is mine)
I am afraid BooMan has gone over the edge.
Cat48
I’ve been donating once a week, but I’m too depressed to move much. I have two Dr. Appts this week, things are not getting better.
Brachiator
@oldgold:
I can live with this. I don’t want candidates I like running to some left wing propaganda machine for cover and comfort.
And the people who most believe in Fox News are a shrinking and older demographic. This is not a good long term strategy for these network nitwits.
schrodinger's cat
@dogwood: What do you do if your friend says that she hates both Trump and Clinton and is going to vote for neither. But then reads Brietbart for “balance”. We have been good friends for 10+ years. I just can’t look at her the same way any more.
SgrAstar
@germy: According to The Guardian, Eastwood seized the opportunity to invent and interject an ebil gubmint story which is totally not borne out by the facts. Sully’s own memoir praises the work of the investigators, but Clint just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to slam the government.
KS in MA
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: Thanks for the link. He sure did nail it.
schrodinger's cat
@SgrAstar: Never liked Clint Eastwood, and I feel vindicated since the episode with the chair at RNC.
germy
@SgrAstar: The script was written by Todd Komarnicki, who seems to be rather conservative.
lurker dean
@dogwood: agreed on the weirdness, i just found out a bunch of family friends are trump fans and it’s made me apoplectic, particularly because they are people of color. i just have no understanding of how intelligent persons of color can support a racist and white supremacist, it’s mind boggling. i totally agree it’s a question of character and common decency, which is why i’m finding it hard to retain any respect for them.
schrodinger's cat
@?BillinGlendaleCA: You mean USCIS. ICE is the law enforcement arm.
Before the latest changes, ICE+USCIS was INS.
WaterGirl
@schrodinger’s cat: I loved Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates on Rawhide!
Bess
@inventor:
See if you can get him to understand the Law of Conservation of Energy.
If he can get his brain around that then there are only two possible answers:
1) The inventor has found a way to get around a law of physics. They have found a new “physics” totally unknown to humans. They’ve become the new Newton and the new Einstein wrapped up in one. They have discovered a way to make something out of nothing. They may be the hypothesized Supreme Being.
or
2) They’re just the latest group of con artists looking to make an easy buck off the gullible.
(Is this eCat coming back to life? Someone steal their magic act and repackage it?)
jacy
@inventor:
Also, the fallacy of sunk costs doesn’t only apply to tangibles. Sometimes when someone has invested enough belief into a failed scheme, it’s hard for them admit it’s a failure. Nobody wants to be seen as as gullible, which tends to make them all the more gullible.
JPL
@Hal: The Hill is saying that Trump is going to release his medical records to Dr. Oz. Over/Under on the Dr.s name be blacked out.
Cat48
@lurker dean:
You’re right, that is mind boggling & scary for likely voter counts’
FlipYrWhig
@WaterGirl: Booman is a dick.
dogwood
@schrodinger’s cat:
I don’t know what you do. But it’s not surprising that you can’t look at her the same anymore. I don’t have that many people in my life that I love and accept unconditionally. I think we all set boundaries. Sometime the things people say and do cross those lines and you have to make a decision. Living in a red state, I know, like and respect many people who voted for W., McCain and Romney. Those votes weren’t deal-breakers for me. Trump is.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@schrodinger’s cat: I sit corrected. Madame’s dealings with them was in the INS era.
Hal
@lurker dean: So that’s where that 1% of voters comes from.
Mnemosyne
@JPL:
I guess somebody forgot to tell Trump that Dr. Oz is one o’ them scary Mooslim immigrants (his father immigrated from Turkey).
p.a.
Thought 1: Hilz is a good candidate (meaning campaigner/politician); Obama ’08/’12 was better.
2: tRump is far worse than even rMoney and TireSwing (although Pailin levels that off)
3: The Deplorables are about the same % of the population as 08/12, but now they’re out from under their rock, and vociferous. No more dog whistles.
Question: Will Hilz as their opponent bring them to the polls in greater #s than with B-rock Islamic Shock Hussein Obama as the nominee twice? DOUBT IT. THEY DIDN’T HAVE INCENTIVE 08/12? Therefore a loss will have LITTLE OR NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MSM, and EVERYTHING to do with our GOTV and R vote suppression. Focus on the MSM should be secondary- does anyone think they will change in the next 2 months? Call em on their bs, but the main focus (i.e. money) should go to GOTV and legal defense of voting rights. We’ve won most of the court cases, but local Rethug parties are attempting sleaze-arounds.
inventor
@jacy: That’s precisely the mechanism at work.
Bess
@schrodinger’s cat:
I’ve had some luck by asking people why they hate/dislike Clinton. Then asking follow up questions about what underlies their answer.
“Clinton is a liar.” OK, what lies has she told that makes you think that?
“Clinton is a warmonger.” OK, what wars did she start?
People can’t answer those questions except with an “All of them, Katie” non-answer. I follow up with a simple statement that I’ve looked for the lies, wars started stuff and I can’t find anything to back them up. And sort of leave it there for the time being. Hopefully it gets them questioning their beliefs without putting them too much on the defensive and cause them put up a wall.
Sometime later I’ll return to the issue and ask them if they’ve found any lies, wars, whatever. It seems like they often don’t believe as strongly as they did. If they’re receptive I’ll tell them about the facts as I know them. Ask the person to check and see if they can find more. Turn it into a fact seeking exercise.
There are a few in the basket that are unreachable. Just look for those you can reach and use them to counterbalance the basket people.
Mike E
@WaterGirl: @Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class: I ain’t dead yet! My badass canvassing days are behind me, but they kept me in the game up til now doing it via the telephone but I’ve discovered my youthful energy is no longer there, sadly…just time to say ‘last time’ is all.
It’s been uh, an interesting run in NC nonprofit political outreach to say the least!
FlipYrWhig
@Betty Cracker: I think what it reveals is, sadly, that many people who openly and honestly concede that Donald Trump is a hateful, unprepared pig will still vote for him because “Republican” comes after his name.
Gin & Tonic
@Mnemosyne: But he’s a con man just like Trump, so that cancels it out.
gogol's wife
@Mike in NC:
Good comment. I need all of this I can get.
Matt McIrvin
@inventor: Speaking as a person with some specialized training in physics and knowledge of just about all the available arguments against these things… I haven’t had any luck whatsoever convincing people who start out wanting to believe.
Brachiator
@germy:
Well, he did produce Will Ferrell’s “Elf,” which, as we all know, is secretly a crypto-fascist screed.
Keith G
@Betty Cracker: Been listening to David Axelrod in dialog with Peter Hook. The pollster seems to be thinking that Trump cannot overcome the trends that are now in place – unless Hillary’s head spins 360 while spewing green slime (my characterization). Both Hook and Axelrod are solidly complementary of Hillary, but wonder if her campaign could do a better job a brushing up some of the image problems – – they delicately advance that that is the case.
Kay
Cleveland reporter writes piece about bigoted attacks from Donald Trump supporters:
Local reporters make about as much as school teachers in Ohio. Much, much less than cable tv pundits.
lurker dean
@Hal: to be more accurate, they’re asian and not black, but it’s still mind boggling. i commiserated with my brother that only 19% of asians see trump favorably but somehow we apparently know them all. smh.
Mnemosyne
@Bess:
IIRC, that is also the method that science has shown is most likely to get people to change their beliefs. Giving them counter-facts is likely to harden their position, but asking them to explain their position or present their own facts is likely to get them to rethink their position.
James E Powell
Okay, I get what you’re saying, but I’m not so much freaking out in my occasional comments as I am ranting. I also shout at clouds from time to time.
I’m a teacher and I’m not allowed to bring my rage to work.
@Mnemosyne:
You are absolutely correct. Also, asking them to explain the differences between [—-] and [—-] can illustrate to them what they may be overlooking.
JPL
@FlipYrWhig: I mentioned to a friend,what decided it for me was his economic plan. Trump’s team feels that the banks have been rightly penalized and will behave from now on. There is no need for pesky regulations. That hit home.
Okay, in all honesty, I didn’t say, I’d never vote for a republican again, because they support rac.ist pigs.
Betty Cracker
@Keith G: Haven’t heard it, but it sounds interesting. I’ll admit that the medical thing yesterday rattled me as nothing has before. But once more facts came in about it and HRC turned up outside her daughter’s apartment looking alive and well, I was back to not complacent but confident that we’ll win this thing.
Yes, there is definitely room for improvement. I don’t think the lack of transparency charges and the perception of dishonesty are fair, but the perceptions exist and have to be addressed. I think Clinton was on the verge of a new approach — with the tarmac press conferences, etc., as a kickoff of the final phase. So the timing of her illness sucks, but then, illnesses are never convenient.
I hope and believe the campaign has got this down the final stretch, and I’m doing all I can to help. That’s all I can do.
James E Powell
@Keith G:
Both Hook and Axelrod are solidly complementary of Hillary, but wonder if her campaign could do a better job a brushing up some of the image problems – – they delicately advance that that is the case.
For understandable reasons, HRC has been stressing the CinC role, the foreign policy, and such. I would like to see more of the domestic policy statements that were in her convention speech along with TV ads that emphasize the love that she says she wants to be part of this campaign. RWs will make fun and thereby lose the grandmother vote.
dogwood
@James E Powell:
I’m a retired US Government and Politics teacher. Can’t tell you how happy I am to be out of the classroom during this election.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@jl: That was pretty brilliant. Kudos.
Cain
@Bess:
Funny thing, that’s what somebody did when I started going off about Jill Stein. :-)
CONGRATULATIONS!
@germy: If so, that would be a horrendously inaccurate portrayal of the man. He’s all about regulating the shit out of the airlines, much more and as soon as possible. You’ll note the Right has never lionized the man. There are reasons.
How would I know? Well…my father was the master pilot at US Air until he retired in 2005. He oversaw all their training and did the final check ride for every single pilot the company employed, including Sullenberger.
Sully’s also militantly pro-union and raises Guide Dogs for the Blind. What the hell else could you want out of a hero?
PaulWartenberg2016
I personally lived through two bad low-turnout elections here in Florida to know that goddammit we gotta panic and we gotta get 80 million Democrats and Hillary voters to the booths this November.
GET THE DAMN VOTE OUT DEMS.
Omnes Omnibus
@PaulWartenberg2016: Why does getting out the vote require panicking?
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: OMG WHY ARE YOU EVEN ASKING THAT QUESTION??! WHAT HAVE YOU GOT AGAINST PANICKING??!11?!
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: Good point.
Brachiator
@Miss Bianca: Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up amphetamines.
Seanly
I have auto-donation set up for HRC, but I threw in an extra $25 today.
My NPR station is doing its biennial fundraising. Just as I was thinking that maybe I should do $10 a month, the morning show had on Cokie Roberts and some conservative asshat from The Federalist to talk about how HRC is dying. Roberts actually discussed that maybe Biden would be called in to take over the nomination. WTF? Needless to say that after that rage inducing “balanced” segment, I won’t be founded my local NPR.
sukabi
@The Dangerman: yes Melania’s visa issue is moot, BUT not the other models or other immigrants he brings in to work on his properties and businesses… Mr. Deport them all should be hammered all day, every day about his propensity to hire illegal immigrants over US citizens.
PaulWartenberg2016
@Omnes Omnibus:
Because asking nicely didn’t work.
Shana
@daves09: I’ve worked with our local Democratic Party to make sure people at naturalization ceremonies have actually registered. It involves standing outside the venue (usually a school) where a naturalization ceremony is taking place and making sure people have their receipt showing that they’ve registered and handing them a welcome letter from our county committee with lots of info about voting early and what IDs are allowed, etc. The weirdest question I got was “Do I have to pay to vote?” Considering that some of these folks have come from very repressive countries it wasn’t really that surprising but still threw me for a loop.