Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Consistently wrong since 2002

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

So very ready.

Reality always gets a vote in the end.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Friday Morning Open Thread: “Knock on ten doors, beat 100 media reporters”

Friday Morning Open Thread: “Knock on ten doors, beat 100 media reporters”

by | 158 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

Many thanks for the link to respected commentor Omnes Omnibus, especially since the video includes two of my favorite actors (AT & MT).

Also from Omnes:

I found this at Sam Wang’s joint. It is an app that will show competitive house races within up to 100 miles of your address. Check it out. Places to work on getting out the vote.

As your mom didn’t quite say, If you’ve got enough spare time/energy to panic, you’ve got enough to do some Get-Out-The-Vote gruntwork.

***********

Apart from girding up for the last battle, what’s on the agenda as we wrap up the week?

Reader Interactions

158Comments

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Prewparing to endure all the joys of Republican governance in the wake of the Misery state lege veto over ride session:

    New Missouri gun law changes the rules, but some restrictions remain

    Here’s what the law does and doesn’t do, according to the NRA, summaries by the legislative library and interviews with legislators and law-enforcement officers:

    • Come Jan. 1, lawful owners of firearms will be able to conceal and carry them anywhere in Missouri, subject to the limitations that already exist — not in the likes of courthouses, jails, polling places or businesses, such as grocery stores, that post “no guns” at their doors.
    • Background checks for buying weapons still apply as required.
    • Only holders of Missouri concealed-carry permits can carry concealed weapons outside of the state, and Illinois still requires visitors to have Illinois permits. The other seven states surrounding Missouri honor its permits. There also are some places in Missouri, such as some school districts, that give more rights to permit holders.
    • Local governments, such as St. Louis, still can prohibit people from carrying weapons openly unless they have concealed-carry permits.

    Gov. Nixon slashes spending on schools, roads after Missouri lawmakers enact tax breaks

    JEFFERSON CITY • Gov. Jay Nixon made good on his threat to slash more money from the state budget after Missouri lawmakers overrode his vetoes on bills that give tax breaks to so-called “special interests.”

    In an announcement Thursday, the Democrat cut $59.1 million from the $27 billion spending blueprint. The money would have gone to schools, roads, universities and farmers.

    I might as well live in Texas.

  4. 4.

    raven

    @Mustang Bobby:Synchronicity? I just, and I mean 5 minutes ago, was reading “Behind the Shades Revisited” about Dylan. The chapter I read is about the John Wesley Hardin album and has some interesting criticism of Sgt Pepper. Apparently Dylan really disliked the overproduction of the album and the stripped down nature of JWH may have been a reaction.

  6. 6.

    Schlemazel

    @Mustang Bobby:
    Happy birthday!

    edit: that was an odd FYWP experience! When I clicked reply there was only your comment when my reply posted it was #6 and tagged as replying to Bill.

  10. 10.

    raven

    @Mustang Bobby: Ooops, Happy Birthday! I’m looking at my holiday schedule and trying to figure out what I want to do on my birthday. We’re going to the beach for two weeks on the 14th but now I realize my birthday is the day after the election and the next day is veterans day. Our fine organization does not take Veterans Day off so, if I take leave, I will be off two and a half weeks!

  12. 12.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    I linked to the picture of the Milky Way I took at one of our local beaches earlier this week. It was about a 100 mile r/t drive out there and that drive was the first time I didn’t think the old VW would make it home. I’m really starting to think about replacing the car; I bought it new in December of 1985. I’m thinking of getting a used Prius(probably a 2010 or 2011), any of you all have any experience with Prii of that vintage?

  13. 13.

    Micheline

    I live in Florida. I’ve started canvassing last weekend and will continue to do so until election day. One of the problems is that we need volunteers. A lot Democrats who are not political junkies still think Hillary has this in the bag. Other than that we’ve been getting great responses.

  16. 16.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @raven: I’ve already asked the kid to take me to ‘Lawry’s the Prime Rib’ for my b-day(it’s right by the hospital she works in).

  17. 17.

    shomi

    Women could not prevent Al Gore from losing. So it’s hopeless.

    Read it right here on Ball Juice and this is where all the presidential campaign experts hang out. So it’s just a fact.

  21. 21.

    StringOnAStick

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: We were just given a 2007 Prius from my brother in law, and I have to say I really love the car, very solid and nicely made. He took wonderful care of it, and it is a huge step up from the 2000 Corolla we had as our commuting vehicle. It is a bittersweet thing; his oncologist told him yesterday that he’s got maybe a month left. 56 is too young.

  22. 22.

    raven

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Uh, I hesitate to point this out because you will probably say. “OH SNARK” but

    Synchronicity is a concept, first explained by psychiatrist Carl Jung, which holds that events are “meaningful coincidences” if they occur with no causal relationship, yet seem to be meaningfully related.[1] During his career, Jung furnished several slightly different definitions of it.[2]

  24. 24.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Ah yes, Ferguson is the gift that keeps on giving:

    At issue is whether Watson ever pleaded guilty to any of the 11 charges he once faced. On Aug. 1, 2012, Watson was arrested by Ferguson police after playing basketball. While cooling down in his car, he was approached by a police officer, who requested his identification. Watson, who had violated no laws, refused. So the officer took him in on a variety of traffic-related offenses, including not having a driver’s license or insurance. Watson had both.

    After posting a $700 bond, he complained to Ferguson higher-ups about what he called his harassment. So they added two new charges, failure to comply with the order of a police officer and false declaration.

    Watson is on his third attorney in the case. He says he never pleaded guilty to the charges. His previous two attorneys have signed letters saying they never agreed to any plea agreements. But in 2013, the city of Ferguson applied his bond to fees related to his alleged guilty pleas. Karr says she and Watson’s first attorney, Freeman Bosley Jr., agreed to settle the cases with guilty pleas for littering and illegal parking. But it’s her word against that of two attorneys and an empty case file.

    “Is there anything signed by either of the attorneys?” Judge Micah Hall asked Karr.
    “No,” she said. “At that point in time, we weren’t doing that.”

    …..

    But despite a record that shows no guilty pleas by Watson, despite two letters from attorneys who say they never agreed to any plea bargain, despite a court record that shows Karr’s answers on the status of the case changing back and forth over a two-year period, she insisted his convictions were righteous and should stand. “They sat on their hands for two-and-a-half years,” Karr argued of Watson and his attorneys. “That’s not on the city.”

    Three times in the morning court hearing, Karr accused Watson of “sitting on his hands” for two-and-a-half years. Three times, he tensed up and stifled a verbal response.

    Voss had plenty to say, though. He outlined his client’s documented attempts to clear up his case. He pointed to attorney Bevis Schock’s letter, which describes Karr’s changing positions on whether Watson faced any pending charges during the time he represented Watson.

    Fred Watson says he never pleaded guilty to anything.
    There is no written record that he did.
    But in Ferguson, until further notice, he’s guilty because Stephanie Karr says so.

  27. 27.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @StringOnAStick: 56 is too young(I’m currently 56), sorry to hear about your BIL’s diagnosis. I’m looking at the 2010 model year and up since that’s the year they came out with the 3rd generation Prius.

  28. 28.

    Botsplainer

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I was talking to one of my clients at a mediation yesterday who was fondly recalling my uncle (a sportswriter of some national note); I was reminded that I am the same age (54) he was when he dropped dead of a massive coronary in his driveway after a short morning walk with my aunt.

  30. 30.

    gogol's wife

    Okay, I watched the video again today. Why don’t they say Vote for Clinton? Is there some regulatory reason? Because just saying “Vote” could mean “Vote Stein.” And I’m sorry, but their affect is pleasing to me but probably not to the broad public.

  31. 31.

    Kay

    Al Giordano is great as a cheerleader but he consistently downplayed how bad 2010 was so I just don’t think he’s credible. Even cheerleaders have to have SOME credibility as to what things look like- it’s almost not fair to ask people to work and not tell them how it actually looks. They’ll do the work anyway. He doesn’t have to blow sunshine up their ass. Turn out is like 2 or 3 points. It’s absolutely worth it but 2 or 3 points isn’t 5 or 7. It can’t be the whole plan.

  35. 35.

    Kay

    Donald Trump is currently the CEO of a company with an extraordinarily complex web of interests and arrangements both here in the United States and around the world that could be directly affected by his decisions as president, and he refuses to tell us what they are.

    Says they need an “enormous mobilization of journalists” . They could put the Clinton email team on it.

    Combine the Benghazi team (2+ years) and the email team (18 months) and they might get something accomplished in 50 days, although they really need more time to do any kind of thorough investigation.

    That one WaPo reporter is busy with the foundation, but surely there’s more than one?

  36. 36.

    Montanareddog

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I have a 2010 3g Prius for 5 years. Get 45 mpg on it in urban driving. Never had to replace anything on it except oil and headlight bulbs. Easiest car to drive I have ever had. Smooth too. Only complaint is there is a bit of a blind spot on the lower extremes of the windscreen, esp. on the passenger side. Surprisingly roomy for the size

  37. 37.

    Kay

    Just so we record this for posterity, I have been following whether anyone is investigating Trump’s business interests.

    The NYtimes did a piece in August. What is the possible explanation for no follow-up? They raised tons of questions and then zip-nothing- silence.

    I can’t come up with any valid reason for why they wouldn’t pursue this. It’s incredibly fertile ground for further inquiry but it was one and done. It’s weird. A lot of this real estate and the records are IN New York City- this is in their backyard, yet it’s one piece in August and never mentioned again. I swear to God it’s like someone got to them. Why would they pursue the Clinton Foundation so doggedly but drop Trump’s business interests?

  38. 38.

    Kay

    But an investigation by The New York Times into the financial maze of Mr. Trump’s real estate holdings in the United States reveals that companies he owns have at least $650 million in debt — twice the amount than can be gleaned from public filings he has made as part of his bid for the White House. The Times’s inquiry also found that Mr. Trump’s fortunes depend deeply on a wide array of financial backers, including one he has cited in attacks during his campaign.

    The NYTimes describes Trump’s business interests as a “maze of opaque ties” in August and then never returns to it.

    Come on. That’s bizarre. What happened? They raise 50 questions with the August piece and then shut the investigation down?

  44. 44.

    Patricia Kayden

    @shomi: Beyoncé wakes up flawless. You wake up angry.

    P.S. Perhaps you need to get yourself to a different type of website where no anxiety is ever expressed.

  45. 45.

    Kenneth Kohl

    “Knock on Ten Doors, Beat 100 Media Reporters”

    So, Anne, you’re asking us to do two things?

  50. 50.

    Kay

    I hope someone great is doing a book or documentary on birtherism.

    It’s central to Trump’s rise and for me it pretty much defines the insane reaction to the first AA President.

    I’m afraid it will be treated like a blip, like any one of the stupid things that went on for the last 8 years, and it’s more than that. It was the beginning- it’s like all roads lead back to it. When they wouldn’t denounce it and instead promoted it that’s the exact point they lowered the bar. All bets were off after they bought birtherism.

  52. 52.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    I see the NYTimes reporters on Twitter and they keep linking to this same piece when challenged on their coverage of Trump. But that piece ran in August and they haven’t done a single follow-up.

    The thing even reads like the first part of a series. When I read it I thought “there will be more to this”. What happened? That’s the extent of the investigation? They raise a bunch of questions and never answer them? Did they shut that inquiry down? Why?

  54. 54.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Kay:

    They raise a bunch of questions and never answer them?

    The media these days only think their job is to “raise questions”, the readers evidently are supposed to come up with answers.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I don’t know, but would you expect kid-glove treatment of a 2nd generation NY real estate developer by the NYTimes? They should know more about him than anyone. They’ve been covering him for 30 years. I would think they’d be the go-to for Trump info. Nothing. Nada. They have less coverage than the Washington Post.

    During Obama’s run, Chicago journalists were front and center. They had been covering him since he was in the statehouse. They were much tougher on him than national media. It made sense. They knew more.

    It’s just weird. It really requires an explanation.

  58. 58.

    Applejinx

    @Kay: Pretty sure the reason the media is so desperate to get Trump elected (besides them all being millionaires wanting further tax cuts) is this:

    If Trump wins, we will be GLUED TO THE NEWS 24/7, watching to see how we are going to die.

    I believe The News has figured this out.

  59. 59.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:
    Bought isn’t the right word.
    They humored and pretended that it was rooted in anything other than pure D RACISM.
    Just like this bullshyt of the Alt-right.
    They are WHITE SUPREMACISTS -their predecessors HUNG MY PEOPLE FROM TREES.

  60. 60.

    greennotGreen

    @Kay

    I don’t know, but would you expect kid-glove treatment of a 2nd generation NY real estate developer by the NYTimes?…It really requires an explanation.

    SATSQ: The Donald hires prostitutes. Just not for sex.

  63. 63.

    Weaselone

    @Applejinx:
    Eh… I don’t think the media is looking that far ahead. If they were, certain publications would be considering the existential crisis posed by Trump’s election given his views on press freedom and the high probability he will select 3+ Supreme Court justices. They are simply too lazy to do their own grunt work, willing to repeat any scrap of info Trump gives them because he supplies so little, and unwilling to challenge him too much for losing what access to him they have and the page clicks it generates.

  67. 67.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: It really is outrageous that Trump hasn’t faced an absolute media shit-storm over the birther issue. He was all over TV just a few years ago demanding the president’s papers like a South African apartheid goon. It’s was a blatantly racist issue that Trump is on tape lying about repeatedly. However, it looks like Trump’s own childish refusal to admit he was wrong is reviving the issue right now. Megyn Kelly was all over it last night. It’s on the front page of the WaPo and CNN.

  70. 70.

    Betty Cracker

    @OzarkHillbilly: Maybe they’re dead?

    The GOP candidate for POTUS was implying a hit job just a few years ago. Seems kinda newsworthy to me.

  71. 71.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    They humored and pretended that it was rooted in anything other than pure D RACISM.

    I’ve said this before but a state birth record is all the evidence one needs in a court. That was what was so insane about it w/media. They were acting as if we regularly question state birth records. No, we don’t. Ever. There is no further inquiry other than the state record. Not the “long form”, not interviewing people or looking for the attending physician, not any of that bullshit.

    Thousands of times a day, all over the US, that record is accepted without question. Except for Obama. With him they conducted a years-long discussion on the validity of his birth. Fucking incredible. 100% race-based.

  72. 72.

    shomi

    @Patricia Kayden: Do you know of one? Dkos is even worse. If there is one where there are (non-existent) reasonable progressives let me know.

    For now I am happy to hang out making fun of the stupidity. But thanks for your very helpful advice. I will keep it in mind or not.

  73. 73.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    People who work with public records knew it was a joke. During the height of birtherism, I had to call Indiana to get a “duplicate original” birth record. The clerk joked about whether I wanted the “long form”.

    It’s a joke. Yet they all took it seriously.

  75. 75.

    JMG

    Sam Wang: “For Democrats, it is a very good thing the election is not today.” That’s his quote this morning, gang. Shomi, don’t bother responding.
    This is not a prediction on my part. But we need to admit that right now we are behind, and start acting like it.

  76. 76.

    Kay

    Here’s some inspiration for you-all. This is one of the Trump kids in his new role as National Leader. They’re assuming they’re up for a big promotion. They’ve all adopted this “serious” tone, like we’re supposed to accept this as the natural ascendancy of this horrible family of crooks.

    They think they hit the jackpot. The grift will be incredible. Add Rudy and Christie into the mix and they’ll be stacking cash on pallets and shipping it out of DC to off-shore accounts. LOoooW standards. Rock bottom.

  77. 77.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    I wonder if the media vow of silence about all this stuff is because of Trump’s well known habit of suing.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    Here’s some more inspiration. The same GOP that created Trump will be the “check and balance” on Trump in Congress.

    We’ve all watched Paul Ryan’s incredible bravery and patriotism? That’s the level of oversight Trump will get. Nada. He’ll roll right over them like he rolled them in the primary, and they’ll beg for more.

  80. 80.

    Patricia Kayden

    @JMG: Agreed. There is no benefit to pretending that everything is fine. Things can get better and the polls can shift again in Secretary Clinton’s favor. No need to despair — just get up and work and donate as much as you can. Yes We Can!

  82. 82.

    Glidwrith

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I have a 2010 Prius. Bought it used with 35,000 miles on it for 15K for Hertz. It is up to 150,000 miles and never had an issue beyond standard replacements of tires, brakes and struts. Great mileage – I can get about 50 miles/gallon.

  83. 83.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Betty Cracker: This is what I hope keeps happening. Trump has no self control so I know he’ll continue to make stupid comments right up to Election Day. I’m hoping that he makes such an outrageous comment that everyone will have to take notice and it will sink him in the polls once and for all. Really hoping that Secretary Clinton can goad him into doing this at one or all of the debates.

  84. 84.

    Kay

    Raise your hand if you think the upcoming blanket coverage of Trump’s birtherism turns into an opportunity for Donald Trump to lie to millions of people with no pushback of any kind.

    I just have no faith they can do this job. I don’t know if I could do it either, but that’s okay, because it’s not my job.

  86. 86.

    JMG

    @Patricia Kayden: I think the best way for Clinton to goad Trump in the debates is to kind of ignore him. Just keep making positive statements about her own policies and make him lash out first since he cannot stand not being the center of attention. The Michelle Obama “them low, we high” strategy. When, or should I say if, Trump makes policy statements of his own, she should dismiss them with the same genial contempt Biden showed Ryan. But of course, I’m just some guy on the Internet. She will do as she thinks best. If she doesn’t do well, it won’t be for lack of preparation, that much I know.

  87. 87.

    SenyorDave

    Can someone explain why there has been no extensive media examination of this? I remember Juanita Broderick and Kathleen Willey, and their claims were certainly headline news for a while. The headline was from Snopes, and it is real in that this is a suit filed in New York in June, 2016.

    Lawsuit Charges Donald Trump with Raping a 13-Year-Old Girl

    His buddy Jeffrey Epstein was also named, and Epstein, according to Snopes, is a registered sex offender for life.

    Epstein likes to tell people that he’s a loner, a man who’s never touched alcohol or drugs, and one whose nightlife is far from energetic. And yet if you talk to Donald Trump, a different Epstein emerges. “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” Trump booms from a speakerphone. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

    Epstein has been named in multiple similar lawsuits over the last several years, served 13 months in jail, and is registered as a sex offender for life:

  88. 88.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mustang Bobby:

    Today you are the cube of four,
    The square of eight, and so much more!

    Power six of number two,
    With black and white, a chessboard, you.

    The cube of four, the square of eight,
    A number fit to celebrate!

    Perfect cube and perfect square:
    Such perfection’s rather rare.

    A million, you, in binary;
    In Roman terms, LXIV.

    Are you feeling rather keen?
    Quadruple, then, the sweet sixteen.

    In 64 A.D., I learned,
    Nero fiddled while Rome burned.

    North latitude of 64°
    Knocks upon an Arctic door.

    McCartney (music), Lennon (sage)
    Wrote famously about your age.

    Play sixty-four fast notes as favours:
    Hemidemisemiquavers.

    I wrote this poem as a hobby.
    Happy birthday, Mustang Bobby!

  91. 91.

    Kay

    @SenyorDave:

    Oh, there will be a LOT coming out on Donald Trump after the election. Widespread panic as they realize they don’t know they first thing about him and they just gave him the nuclear codes. We’ll have to wait until the elaborate sophisticate veneer drops off and raw self-interest comes into play. The worst part is we’ll be depending on the morally and ethically bankrupt GOP to provide “oversight”. Good God.

  92. 92.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Kay:

    Raise your hand if you think the upcoming blanket coverage of Trump’s birtherism turns into an opportunity for Donald Trump to lie to millions of people with no pushback of any kind.

    How about; this will truly offend the minorities who’s vote Trump needs.

    This whole election reminds me of Brown verses Witmen in 2010 for California Governor- Jerry Brown, carrier politician with media induced bad rep and Meg Whitmen a corporate CEO narcissists and self declared success. She clearly took the white vote but her racism got the Hispanced turned out for Brown in droves.

  93. 93.

    rikyrah

    Should Democrats Be Nervous About the Presidential Election?
    by Nancy LeTourneau
    September 15, 2016 10:26 AM

    In August, the presidential election was looking like a Clinton landslide. This month, the race has tightened and some people are suggesting that Democrats should be nervous. Here’s Ed Kilgore:

    Those who have laughed off Donald Trump’s chances while believing his election would represent a turn for the worse in their own lives should be nervous right now.

    On the other hand, Sam Wang says otherwise.

    My reason for generating the best prediction I can is to reduce the noise of campaign news. I thought it would clear mental space for thinking about policies, or downticket issues…

    Because of intense polarization, few voters are movable. The calculation says that Clinton’s win probability is 90%…

    Still, the comment section is still peppered with anxious questions about Clinton’s chances. Honestly, some liberals can be total ninnies.

    Wang says Clinton’s probability of winning is 90%. The Upshot has it at 76%. FiveThirtyEight says its at 64%. In other words, none of them are saying that Trump has more than a 36% chance of winning. Those are not great odds for him. If this were any other presidential election in recent memory, it would constitute pretty good news for Democrats. But coming off the talk about a landslide, it has some people worried.

    Much of that concern comes from the fact that polling in swing states has tightened. So let’s take a look at that. Here is Sam Wang’s latest electoral map.

  94. 94.

    Kay

    @MomSense:

    I just don’t find it plausible that Russian hackers are only interested in information on Democratic candidates and party officials.

    I don’t either. Oh, please they know it’s weird. That’s why the GOP official lied about it and said it included the RNC and then had to walk it back. That was defensive. They know it looks hinky.

  95. 95.

    rikyrah

    One gaffe can make HRC have a bad week compared to the dozens of negative actions and lies that Trump and his surrogates put out in ONE DAY!

    when your campaign is trying to clean up Holocaust and birther messes….but she’s having the bad week?

    — Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) September 16, 2016

  96. 96.

    rikyrah

    Don’t let the smoke and mirrors fool you. Trump is birtherism. Always has been. He created, nurtured and fed on it. Still does.

    — Ben White (@morningmoneyben) September 16, 2016

    Trump needs to say it himself. On camera. And admit he was wrong for trying to delegitimize the country’s first African American President

    — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) September 16, 2016

    HRC now on Trump birtherism: “He did it again… This man wants to be our next President? When will he stop this ugliness, this bigotry?”

    — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) September 16, 2016

    He needs to apologize to @POTUS and the Nation.

    — Paul Begala (@PaulBegala) September 16, 2016

  98. 98.

    jonas

    @Applejinx:

    If Trump wins, we will be GLUED TO THE NEWS 24/7, watching to see how we are going to die.

    Ok, but couldn’t they also just as easily figure that a Hillary victory will also have everyone glued to the news waiting to hear about whatever scandal it is that will definitely, totes 4-shurz Bring Her Down This Time™?

  99. 99.

    amk

    The recent gallup poll sez msm is at its worst ratings ever in terms of trust. Most peeps across the board, from rw to lw, do not believe or trust them. Yet, people here are hand wringing over their ‘influence’. I find it odd.

  100. 100.

    Betty Cracker

    Via ABC:

    Although Trump Jr. said he was unsure if his father would come out and directly say Obama was born in the United States, he didn’t rule out a future tweet along those lines. But he told Stephanopoulos he thinks the statement from the campaign was enough and this should be the end of the conversation.

    The fucking arrogance.

  101. 101.

    Betty Cracker

    @amk: Lack of trust does not equal lack of influence. Everyone relies on the mainstream media for information. Even if you never read a major daily or watch a TV news show, the information you get from other sources is dependent at least to some extent on mainstream news sources. Non-journalist citizens don’t have the time, expertise or resources to conduct investigative reporting on their own.

  102. 102.

    jonas

    @rikyrah:

    when your campaign is trying to clean up Holocaust and birther messes….but she’s having the bad week?

    As they say, the press has always graded Trump on a curve. Hillary’s expected to act like a grown up; Trump like a petulant, brain-damaged moron. Hence Trump makes headlines when he *doesn’t* act like an idiot, whereas they’re all over Hillary when she so much as coughs. Of course no-one stops to ask in the first place why one of the two major parties has nominated an utterly unqualified, bigoted buffoon for president.

  103. 103.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    and something else “Bothsides do it” now comes back on Trump because the media has their horse race now. It was really clear to me the media was giving Trump a pass since he was self destructing by himself and they didn’t want to be seeing as kicking Trump while he is down. Everything I read says they think Trump’s a useless idiot like the rest of us. Now “Both Sides Do It” demands they have to tear into Trump too.

  104. 104.

    Kay

    Was Trump really going to hold his press conference in his new DC hotel? And they’d all flock to cover it in the hotel that isn’t doing so well?

    Ivanka will be selling her shoe line from the White House. It’ll be third world corrupt dictatorship level. Rudy will have an office for War On Terror profiteering. Chris Christie will be selling highway contracts. And Republicans in Congress will be in charge of “oversight”.

  105. 105.

    MomSense

    @Kay:

    It looks hinky because it is. I think we should start asking journalists if they are keeping silent on Trump because they have been hacked and are being blackmailed.

  108. 108.

    jonas

    @Betty Cracker:

    The fucking arrogance.

    I bet the HRC campaign is kicking itself for not just sending a spox out to say that there was nothing to see in those emails and they respectfully request that the press not ask any further questions of the candidate herself about this, mkay? That would have closed down the whole thing right there!

  109. 109.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    And i@rikyrah:

    Because of intense polarization, few voters are movable. The calculation says that Clinton’s win probability is 90%…

    That and Colin Powel, if Trump can’t get no love from the most prominent Black Republican in the country he an’t getting anyone who’s skin isn’t white as the walls.

  110. 110.

    MomSense

    @jonas:

    Yes,the prospect of endless faux Clinton scandals and Clenis misadventures would be just as good for ratings. And I really don’t think the press look forward to the inevitable crackdown on journalists that Trump would bring. Look at the way they are treated by his campaign. He invites crowds against them (Secret Service have escorted Tur to the bus after rallies) and banned journalists from covering him. This is why I think there is something more happening.

  111. 111.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    The fucking arrogance.

    Nobody questions Big Daddy, Betty. The Trumps do what they want, when they want. Just think of them as an organized crime family and it makes a lot more sense.

  113. 113.

    MomSense

    @amk:

    Because the misinformation filters down to people who aren’t paying attention and who discount the quality of I formation. I spend a lot of time on the phones just dealing with what people think they know.

    Also the low quality of what is reported can flip the apathy switch in people. If it is too hard to get accurate information or they get the notion that both sides are awful, they just say rhymes with bucket and opt out.

  114. 114.

    Kay

    @MomSense:

    Well, we’ll find out if he wins, right? Except I don’t know who will do the reporting, investigation or oversight because it will be the exact same set of people who failed this time, and Trump will have actual state power. Unless Paul Ryan suddenly develops a conscience and a spine we are shit out of luck.

    They all still think this is amusing, but this is how it happens. This is literally how nations die. It’s a cascading series of institutional failures. If it all lines up just right it collapses.

  118. 118.

    JMG

    @Kay: President Trump will be graded on the ultimate curve. Any day without nuclear war and he will be judged as having won the morning. PS: Our institutions have been in failure mode this entire century. An exceptional individual, Obama, stemmed the tide for eight years, but he couldn’t alter that mode.

  119. 119.

    Kay

    Trump is lying about his opposition to Iraq on FOX with no rebuttal. Did anyone check if Ailes was still threatening those journalists, or has he released the hostages?

    It’s kind of remarkable we have this absolute corruption sewer operating as a news network, as if no one still knows about it.

  120. 120.

    Micheline

    Even Sam Wang is lowering Hillary’s chances of winning the election. He said that she may still have a chance to win since she’s been ahead of Trump for most of the year, but the high number of undecideds and third party candidates makes the outcome uncertain. I have to admit that I am bit confused about this election where turnout is supposed to be based on 2004, yet the percentage of the white vote has declined. Another thing, in Texas Trump is running ahead of Hillary by 7 pts but he is a point behind. Something is amiss. I am doing my part in GOTV but this is depressing.

  121. 121.

    hovercraft

    @Betty Cracker:
    Was it enough when President Obama issued statements saying he was born in Hawaii and released his certificate of birth, was that the end of the story? President Obama was asked on camera many times and answered yes he was born here, was that enough? The state of Hawaii issued statements saying the President was born in Hawaii, was that enough? No it wasn’t. Your fucking asshole of a father was still not satisfied. The state of Hawaii had to invent a bogus “long form birth certificate”, which is against their regulations. And then it took the President of the United States of America pawning your fathers ass in public on national TV to get him to shut the fuck up. So no you piece of shit the ‘statement from the campaign is not enough, it’s not over just because he says it is. We demand that he go on TV to hold a press conference apologizing for the accusation, and to everyone who he offended beginning with the President of the United States of America Barack Hussien Obama. He is a successful two term president, something you will never be Donald Trump. Now everyone get to work, lets do this. NR time for you to post your link again.

  123. 123.

    Amir Khalid

    @Kay:
    I have to wonder: if the first African-American were named, say, Cassius Jones, and his parents were both American-born Christians, what might be the equivalent of birtherism that was directed against him?

  124. 124.

    Botsplainer

    @Kay:

    Donnie is Rodrigo Borgia, Ivanka is Lucretia and the boys are Cesare and Juan. Don’t know why nobody has figured it out yet.

  125. 125.

    Kay

    Trump campaign statement: “Mr. Trump believes that President Obama was born in the United States.”

    Not that it matters, but this is a bullshit construction. It’s not up to douchebag to “believe” or not.

    Trump has been sued so many times he plays games with words. It’s an obvious scam and I’m sick of pretending he’s not doing it. It’s not “smart” or “savvy”. It’s what lying scumbags do when they’re challenged.

  126. 126.

    Betty Cracker

    @amk: Because there’s no other source of information. I’ve seen this over and over while canvassing. People don’t trust the mainstream media, but the form opinions based on it regardless, whether they realize it or not. Critiquing the media is an absolutely legitimate activity because democracy depends on a functional media. We’re seeing the results of institutional media failure right now.

  127. 127.

    Kay

    @ruemara:

    I disagree. Telling people who work for you what they’re up against is basic respect. Democrats were in trouble in 2010. He pretended they weren’t. That doesn’t inspire confidence.

  128. 128.

    Botsplainer

    @Kay:

    There’s a reckless Brexit aspect to this. Low info white parole voting protest and resentment, which is their interest.

  129. 129.

    low-tech cyclist

    @rikyrah: So we’ve got a mere 10% or a 24% or a 36% chance that we’ll experience the moral equivalent of Visigoths sacking our cities.

    I’m so comforted.

    Guess I may have to get my butt out and knock on some doors. One of those purple districts on Wang’s map isn’t terribly far away.

  130. 130.

    Hoodie

    New art work for your living room. Themes include:

    – Donald Trump in outer space with an eagle who stole a flag from somewhere and is gasping for breath because, well, he’s in outer space
    – The Statue of Liberty several hundred miles out in the Atlantic Ocean (climate change?)
    – The entire western US a charred wasteland (climate change?)
    – What looks like a nuclear explosion in North Africa (the sun is already illuminating the US, so that can’t be the sun)

    One would tend to conclude that this is a depiction of the end of Trump’s presidency, as he’s sucked the life out this planet and is now moving on to conquer other worlds.

  133. 133.

    Walker

    Al Giordano is wrong on the states to focus on. I have been playing with the maps all morning. In the worst case scenario (assuming loss of Florida and Ohio and a lot of other swing states) it looks like NC is going to decide this. The western states simply do not have enough ECs to make more than a difference than NC.

  135. 135.

    low-tech cyclist

    @SiubhanDuinne: Did you write that? It’s great! My sister turns 64 next April. (And my turn comes the following year.) I’m gonna have to spring this on her, after appropriate modifications to the last couplet.)

  136. 136.

    Kay

    @Botsplainer:

    Because they won’t admit that there’s a huge organizational government operating in the background that makes their lives orderly and predictable. They take it for granted that this stuff exists and runs okay most of the time. It doesn’t have to. It was never a guarantee.

    I try not to judge because I’m basically sympathetic with low income or less powerful people, but they have to start thinking of the origins of the things they take for granted. I ask people if they’re on Medicaid and they say “I have a Buckeye card”. Buckeye is one of the Medicaid programs. It didn’t land in their wallet from Mars. It was like pulling fucking teeth to get that program. At least recognize it- “I’m on this program, I need it, I know what it is”.

  138. 138.

    Amir Khalid

    @Amir Khalid:
    Whoops. Sorry, that should be

    I have to wonder: if the first African-American President were named, say, Cassius Jones, and his parents were both American-born Christians, what might be the equivalent of birtherism that was directed against him?

  140. 140.

    ruemara

    @Kay: I’m sorry but he doesn’t tell anyone to not vote and not work. Keeping people from despairing is critical. I’ve completely checked out this election. If you think screaming about the polls would bring me back in, nah.

  142. 142.

    MomSense

    @Kay:

    I think we are seeing cascading failures in the way this election is being reported. We saw it in the run up to the Iraq war. The birtherism and conspiracy about birth certificates was and is a big deal. Birth certificates are important documents and so much of our ability to travel, work, drive requires that we all recognize them as legitimate. The significance of this Trump smear and conspiracy theory has been completely downplayed.

  145. 145.

    hovercraft

    @Amir Khalid:
    The second phase of birtherism would have still been in play. He’s not qualified, his credentials are fake, no one knew him in school. He is the result of affirmative action so everything he has achieved, which is nothing, he is where he is because of white guilt. He’s a puppet of the Jews and the gangs, both at the same time. Then they would have dug into is past and used his history of drug use, found everyone who ever sold him drugs and paraded their bad deeds as Obama’s fault, to make him out to be a Trojan horse to give the “thugs and gangs” power, and to take over America. They would search his family to find thugs who had criminal records. It’s not hard, it would have been be afraid America be very afraid.

  147. 147.

    CaseyL

    @Kay: Thank you for putting into words exactly what I’ve been thinking. Even if Hillary wins, she won’t have a Congress she can work with – Congress will be just as obstructionist as it has been for every Democratic President since 1992, and the MSM just as complicit.

    The US was really very lucky for a long time, mostly due to a series of historical black swans of the right people being in place at the right time – and staying there, a la FDR’s 12-year Administration followed by 4 years of Truman carrying on his legacy. That’s over, and it was undone in much the same manner, with “Reaganism” in office for 12 years under Ronnie and Bush the Elder.

    It’s no fun to experience a historical epoch in person. But it sure is interesting if you’re fascinated by history, by the eternal question of “How could that have happened?”

  148. 148.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @low-tech cyclist:

    Did you write that? It’s great! My sister turns 64 next April. (And my turn comes the following year.) I’m gonna have to spring this on her, after appropriate modifications to the last couplet.)

    Thanks, yes. I wrote it two or three years ago for a friend, and have used it several times since, changing only — as you note — the final couplet to personalise it for the recipient.

    For your own use in 2018:

    You’re never on my “take-a-hike” list —
    Happy birthday, low-tech cyclist!

    :-)

  150. 150.

    Elie

    To me its up to Hillary to turn the tone around and momentum. She’s had a hard week or two but she has to want this thing and get after it. This is no different scenario than she would face if elected with the various media and other opponents up in her grill work. Hopefully she can feel it in her gut. Bill can’t help her. Obama can’t help her. She’s got to kill the lion so to speak…

  155. 155.

    J R in WV

    The video networks will tell you how little power they have, claiming they have none at all. They don’t need to be regulated at all, since they’re powerless, completely unable to effect any cause at all.

    We know this is true, because no one spends money to pay the video networks to manipulate the opinions of people, to make people do things they otherwise would never do. There are no commercials for things no one needs or wants. No politicians being elected by people they promise to keep under the heel of their shoes.

    Obviously TV is paid billions of dollars/pounds/euros etc every year to cause viewers to buy new cars they can’t really afford, clothes that are poorly ade, not protective, and goofy looking. Ineffective cleaning products, like Mr Clean scrubbing blocks, pre-soaped sponges you can’t rinse and reuse but must throw away once they’re dirty. All this junk is sold to people who can’t really afford it, by TV ads.

    Politicians can lie about one another, like Trump, and the TV executives tell everyone it doesn’t matter, because no one is controlled by the TV they watch all day long. We know this is the truth because no one is paying TV executives billions of dollars for their services. Right?

    So no need to regulate them, it would be like regulating chipmunks.

    TV will be the death of our civilization, for money. We’re watching it happen, right now. I had intended to do door-knocking, but my knees are going down-hill so fast it’s scary. So I’m going to try to save them for essential things like grocery runs, and do phone work instead. I can’t do replacement surgery until late next summer. Drat!

    Getting old sucks when parts are wearing out. There should be a pill for it! Interesting times, indeed!

  156. 156.

    Emerald

    @Applejinx:
    This. Same reason they pushed the Iraq war. War sells da nooz. The bloodier the better.
    They confidently expect wars from President Trump.
    That’s the reason.

  157. 157.

    Miss Bianca

    @J R in WV: SO, I just emailed the Amendment 69 lady – who has a “Vote for Jill Stein” tag on her email, btw – that I had to devote my energy to the national campaign to get Hillary Clinton elected President.

    We’ll wait to see if I get any response.

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