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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Open Thread: (Some of) The Kids Are All Right

Open Thread: (Some of) The Kids Are All Right

by Anne Laurie|  September 18, 20161:29 pm| 92 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Hillary Clinton 2016, Open Threads

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Bernie to non-voters: "Ask your friends why the Koch brothers are spending hundreds of millions of $ if this election is not important."

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) September 17, 2016

We haven’t had a good “Bernie fans boo when he asks them to vote for Hillary” clip in awhile. High hopes today! https://t.co/c9cNJshCpx

— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) September 17, 2016

Anecdote as data: millennials outside the Bernie event trying to get middle-aged Stein voters to back Hillary pic.twitter.com/Y8pI5yqoTO

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) September 17, 2016

it's not anecdote

it's small batch, artisanal data https://t.co/JNny8OZgC2

— Seth Trueger (@MDaware) September 17, 2016

Farm-to-table data https://t.co/A98CFLfbGo

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) September 17, 2016

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Previous Post: « Electile Dysfunction (Open Thread)
Next Post: Open Thread: The Balls on These Repub ‘Birtherists’ (Racists) »

Reader Interactions

92Comments

  1. 1.

    Trentrunner

    September 18, 2016 at 1:30 pm

    Trump’s team & the RNC this morning continue to gaslight America by saying Hillary started birtherism.

    I’m now convinced that how Holt and Hillary handle this in the first debate will determine the outcome of this election.

    Trump’s “acceptance” line on Friday and the attending circus stopped Hillary’s decline in the polls.

    Trump’s pimping of this lie for five years encapsulates his bigotry, his disregard for truth, his stubbornness, his blameshifting. This issue IS Donald Trump.

    So if Holt & HRC allow him to continue gaslighting America on birtherism at Monday’s debate—in front of 100+ million Americans—Trump will win the election:

    He will have inoculated himself by successfully bothsidesing the issue, sullied Hillary and blunted her most effective line of attack, and shown that the media will not forcefully correct his most blatant, bigoted lies.

  2. 2.

    Botsplainer

    September 18, 2016 at 1:47 pm

    @Trentrunner:

    She just needs to serve up a closing line of “I really want to know what was so interesting and unbelievable about what his alleged investigators found, and who they were. He was dropping that vague turd very casually for a long period of time, Lester.”

  3. 3.

    Botsplainer

    September 18, 2016 at 1:48 pm

    I keep saying he’s Rodrigo, the boys Cesare and Juan, and that Ivanka is Lucretia.

  4. 4.

    BR

    September 18, 2016 at 1:49 pm

    @Trentrunner:

    I think the key is for her to focus on the last five years. Say, “ok, so after 2011 when even the most conspiratorial thinkers stopped pushing this bigoted lie, you kept going. In 2012. And 2013. And 2014. And 2015. And 2016. And then five weeks before an election, you decided to read a statement written for you to take it back. Will you apologize for the last five years of pushing this outlandish conspiracy, for becoming the face of this bigoted conspiracy theory?”

  5. 5.

    BR

    September 18, 2016 at 1:49 pm

    @Botsplainer:

    Ah, that’s a lot better than what I came up with. Because your phrasing drags him into the specifics of his nonsense, which he’ll happily indulge with more nonsense.

  6. 6.

    ? Martin

    September 18, 2016 at 1:51 pm

    Miami down 21 early in the 2nd quarter. Expect to hear complaints about the headsets in a few hours.

  7. 7.

    The Sheriff's A Ni-

    September 18, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    @Trentrunner:

    So if Holt & HRC allow him to continue gaslighting America on birtherism at Monday’s debate—in front of 100+ million Americans—Trump will win the election

    With thinking like that, you could get yourself a Sunday morning show gig. Maybe even a position at CNN.

  8. 8.

    The Sheriff's A Ni-

    September 18, 2016 at 1:55 pm

    @Botsplainer: “Where’s the five million you promised.”

  9. 9.

    msdc

    September 18, 2016 at 1:57 pm

    You know, if we get the millennials to vote Hillary but lose the angry middle-aged Nader 2000 4eva greybeards to Stein… I’ll take that trade.

  10. 10.

    Botsplainer

    September 18, 2016 at 1:57 pm

    @BR:

    Either that, or more likely, he’ll deny ever having said it.

    The man is a conman developer. Lying is his chief method of communication, and denying something that he said minutes before is just part of the grift.

    In his world, you say what you want, when you want, all in order to get what you want, consistency be damned. You’re constantly winging it.

    Thing is, America being America, white people are so credulous as to what a white guy wearing a nice suit says that they’ll ignore his own counter statements. They’ll happily get robbed blind by him, because it is very much in their interest to do so. We white folk have a severely diseased culture that way.

  11. 11.

    Renie

    September 18, 2016 at 2:02 pm

    Just saw Walter update and am wondering if any more funds are needed for his care?

  12. 12.

    Corner Stone

    September 18, 2016 at 2:03 pm

    “Food you wanna fork”

    That is Trump smacking Ivanka’s ass on stage level of full on fucking creepy.

  13. 13.

    Trentrunner

    September 18, 2016 at 2:03 pm

    @BR: And Trump will bellow “You started it! Your people said it first! Blumenthal, Penn, all those people they said it first, your people started it, they started it!”

    And so, to make my point again: How Holt & HRC handle Trump’s predictable response will determine the election.

    @The Sheriff’s A Ni-: ¯_(ツ)_/¯

  14. 14.

    The Sheriff's A Ni-

    September 18, 2016 at 2:05 pm

    @Trentrunner:

    And so, to make my point again: How Holt & HRC handle this will determine the election.

    I think I read that in a column at Politico. Or was it The Hill?

  15. 15.

    Botsplainer

    September 18, 2016 at 2:05 pm

    By the way, anybody know (without making me google) who the heads of the news divisions at CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS re to hold to account on all the bullshit reportage that provided this free ride to Trump? I’ve got some accounting that needs settling.

  16. 16.

    Botsplainer

    September 18, 2016 at 2:06 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Lucretia…

  17. 17.

    DCrefugee

    September 18, 2016 at 2:13 pm

    Ya’ll are fighting the last battle. By the time of the first debate, there will be another outrage du jour, and Birtherghazi will have faded from the popular media’s focus.

    I’m rather enjoying the spectacle of Hilz knowing how and when to push his buttons (It seems to be a two-step process: Say/do something guaranteed to get a boorish response, then hammer him on the boorish response, and sit back and watch.). Looking forward to seeing her push those buttons again that in the debate(s). Nobody persuadable at this point is going to believe Clinton started birtherism, and it just helps remind them they need to GOTV. Smart.

    But projection is such a thing with the other tribe…WTF?

  18. 18.

    Amir Khalid

    September 18, 2016 at 2:13 pm

    @Renie:
    debit hasn’t mentioned any such need. I’m sure she and John Cole will let us know if it arises.

  19. 19.

    Keith G

    September 18, 2016 at 2:15 pm

    @Botsplainer: Part of the joys of corporate America is that there are so many layers of “vice presidents in charge of ….” Who on the outside knows who is accountable?

  20. 20.

    CaseyL

    September 18, 2016 at 2:22 pm

    @Botsplainer: @Keith G: The entire point of corporate structure is to evade, obfuscate, and escape accountability.

  21. 21.

    Hal

    September 18, 2016 at 2:22 pm

    Jill Stein is supremely annoying. She is not winning this race, and at this point I’m convinced she’s just in it to shit on Hillary Clinton. Does she even talk about Trump? Does Gary Johnson? I wish these two would make the case for themselves by juxtaposition of their positions with Trump’s instead of “Hillary and Trump are both awful. Vote for me instead!”

  22. 22.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 18, 2016 at 2:24 pm

    @Hal: Well of course everybody, the press included, is only attacking Hillary. She’s the front-runner by a mile, don’tcha know, so she deserves heightened scrutiny. It’s not like Trump is every really going to be President anyway.

    What’s that? Everybody acting this way might make it not true? Hoocoodanode!

  23. 23.

    daves09

    September 18, 2016 at 2:25 pm

    Conway this morning said that when Trump says it’s done, it’s done-that’s just the way he is. Which means of course that when he wants to say it again he can-because that’s the way he is. Nice.
    Meanwhile Christie and Pence both claiming that Trump stopped talking about it 5 years ago. These guys were already soiled goods, but going out there and putting stuff out that everyone knows is a lie, that the interviewers call them on as a lie-Trump is utterly corrupting of everything he touches.

  24. 24.

    bago

    September 18, 2016 at 2:26 pm

    @Botsplainer: White guy in a suit is the biggest hacking technique ever. People are programmed from birth to respect the white guy in a suit, and with that you can bypass almost all security measures.

  25. 25.

    Calming Influence

    September 18, 2016 at 2:28 pm

    Sure, Trump says “trust me” more often than a hundred shady used car salesman, but pay attention to how often he says “you won’t even believe it!”.

    It’s clearly a cry for help.

  26. 26.

    debbie

    September 18, 2016 at 2:30 pm

    I say keep the birtherism garbage alive, if only because Trump will find it irresistible and will be pulled off script just when he needs to stick to it most.

  27. 27.

    Corner Stone

    September 18, 2016 at 2:31 pm

    @Calming Influence:

    Sure, Trump says “trust me” more often than a hundred shady used car salesman

    “Booking dot com, Booking dot Yeah!”

  28. 28.

    Waynski

    September 18, 2016 at 2:36 pm

    OT – But I just saw Kelly Ann Conway shilling for Trump and God forgive me I hope that woman is marched through the streets with her head shaved when Hillary wins the election. The lies. THE lies. THE LIES!!!!

  29. 29.

    Emma

    September 18, 2016 at 2:43 pm

    @srv: Absolutely. No caesarians or epidurals.

  30. 30.

    Calming Influence

    September 18, 2016 at 2:44 pm

    @Botsplainer:
    Mighty white of you! Now let me show you this little beauty over here. It was owned by a grandmother who only used it to drive to bingo once a week… ;)

  31. 31.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 18, 2016 at 2:45 pm

    @srv: @Emma: In all seriousness though, there aren’t any actual requirements, right? You could be a Norwegian infant.

  32. 32.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    September 18, 2016 at 2:45 pm

    @Waynski: if we’re talking about shaving heads post election I do believe Trumpy would be the most embarrassed being marched in the streets with a shaved head.

  33. 33.

    Brachiator

    September 18, 2016 at 2:46 pm

    @BR:

    . Say, “ok, so after 2011 when even the most conspiratorial thinkers stopped pushing this bigoted lie, you kept going. In 2012.

    Nope. Trump was always deeply a part of the nutcase lunatic fringe. And the lunatic fringe has never stopped pushing the lie.

    Make Trump own it, but do it briefly and sharply.

    “Trump lies when he says that I had anything to do with this ridiculous smear. He is solely responsible for repeating this ridiculous lie for 5 years. It is not sufficient for him to lie for 5 years, and to suddenly say that he is tired of lying, now. He owes president Obama an apology, and he owes the American people an apology for deliberately fanning hatred and racism. And frankly, I don’t think he is man enough to offer that apology, right here, right now.”

  34. 34.

    Botsplainer

    September 18, 2016 at 2:46 pm

    @Calming Influence:

    It’s incredible! The best! Believe me…

  35. 35.

    gorram

    September 18, 2016 at 2:46 pm

    @msdc: I kept saying that was what was going to happen. It’s the Mondale diehards you need to be more wary of. For all their bluster, I could see some of them breaking for Johnson even (probably some even are, looking at the polling). It’s strange to see that a lot of people outside of this site presume that it’s the millennial Bernie voter that has to be won over by Clinton, when that’s the group she’s had the most success so far with.

    A lot of the millennial criticisms of Clinton are criticisms of the system as a whole – and she remains the best option for reforming things (which is an attractive option to a generational cohort raised with the looming horror of wars). I wasn’t exactly in that group (I feel like I skipped to the end and viewed whoever clinched the nomination as Good Enough), but as a millennial I never really worried about that part of the Obama coalition coming home. Clinton has more or less a monopoly on feasible politics for us, and the ability to cast protest votes for Bernie probably ingratiated that group to her more in the end. By being able to indirectly voice concerns and make it clear that we could walk out, we’ve forced her hand, and we got a much more left-leaning party platform than historically possible. She’s the only viable mainstream candidate for us, but younger voters in general are a necessary part of her voter base – there’s a kind of mutually assured destruction going on here and both sides have negotiated in good faith as a result of it and come to a mutually beneficial arrangement more or less.

    The older Bernie-or-Bust demographic, however, tends to actually be more demographically distinct from the broader generational pack – more White people, more men, and more driven by a stylistic political difference than policy concerns compared to the younger Bernie holdouts. For a variety of factors, although lifetimes of sexism and decades of negative mainstream media coverage doesn’t help probably, Clinton is anathema for them (this time around – remember she picked up a sizeable chunk of this group in 2008! All about relative choices I suppose…). While a lot of the people in this demographic aren’t doing too well economically (and hence, might like certain Democratic economic policies), they tend to be at least sometimes interested in more conservative takes on social issues. Anecdata alert, but the few millennial-aged people I know who are acting like this older demographic tend to not only be White guys who “care about class issues”, but the types who excuse violence and marginalization that unfortunately has a long history in this country of being part and parcel of a lot of pro-union organizing (think union segregation, demonization of immigrant workers, sexism in the workplace, anti-LGBT sentiment being excused, etc).

    There’s a way that a Sanders campaign predicated on economic inequality but quick to jettison reparations as an issue and cavalier about the distribution of wealth in, say, Qatar, plays into those bigotries. For a lot of millennials, those were regrettable statements that made it hard or even impossible for some of us to even view this as a reasonable protest vote in the primaries (Hi!). For a larger chunk of this older cohort, that’s not necessarily to the detriment of the candidacy. Stein is a bad match for appealing with that specific mix of breaking down hierarchies within communities while retaining hierarchies between communities (see: her involvement at Standing Rock), but Gary “Aleppo?” Johnson has enough of a libertarian edge that he can kind of appeal to that. Notice it’s Johnson who’s been doing fairly well for a third party candidate in the polls. Jill Stein is barely breaking margins of error still, because the average millennial Bernie voter wanted feasibility, because getting elected is necessary to make policies.

    Basically though, where there was one contender who shared primaries with Clinton (and who she still trounced), there’s now two different parties trying to soak up almost diametrically opposed groups of disaffected people, so it’s not possible to really do it with coordination or effectively.

  36. 36.

    fuckwit

    September 18, 2016 at 2:47 pm

    I have a pet question, and this blog seems a great place to ask.

    Neighbor has been feeding two kittens, look to be about 6mos old. They have flea collars and one has a bell collar on too. They don’t seem to be fixed. Shots, who knows. One of them will occasionally “nurse” on the other one.

    They leave dry food and water outside for them in discarded plastic containers. The kittens are out at night in the alley between our houses. It doesn’t seem like they let the kittens in, but maybe they do and just aren’t home often. I just moved in recently and haven’t met these neighbors yet. The house is pretty shabby, old computer monitors and microwaves rusting outside and in the alley, desperate need of paint job, garage doors askew, etc.

    The kittens have started “moving in”. I let them in when they want in, give them some treats and fresh water and pets and such, and last night they stayed in here all night.

    Have knocked on neighbor’s door but they haven’t been home.

    What’s the proper pet/neighbor etiquette here? If they’re strays, I’m inclined to offer to adopt them, and if not, at least to take them to the vet to get them their shots and fixed.

  37. 37.

    BR

    September 18, 2016 at 2:47 pm

    @Brachiator:

    The last part — he isn’t man enough to own his own lies and apologize — that’s the strongest part. Because it puts him in a bad position either way.

  38. 38.

    shomi

    September 18, 2016 at 2:50 pm

    Fuck the Bernie babies. Those people were never Dem voters anyways. In 2000 their ilk probably voted for Bush or Nader.

    Anyone willing to vote for Stein or Johnson or whoever is just a waste of skin and teeth. Fuck them.

  39. 39.

    The Sheriff's A Ni-

    September 18, 2016 at 2:51 pm

    @Hal: Jill Stein is becoming as relevant to this election as Vermin Supreme.

  40. 40.

    dmsilev

    September 18, 2016 at 2:52 pm

    @BR: I think that’s also the approach to take with his tax returns; that he isn’t releasing them because he’s afraid to and everything else is just hot air to cover that up.

  41. 41.

    Peale

    September 18, 2016 at 2:56 pm

    @Brachiator: yep. And they replaced it with “he’s a Muslim and you can’t understand his foreign policy unless you accept that he loves Muslims more than America”.

  42. 42.

    Botsplainer

    September 18, 2016 at 2:57 pm

    Rodrigo and Lucretia share some common interests in 2013….

  43. 43.

    ruemara

    September 18, 2016 at 3:00 pm

    @fuckwit: It’s fair to send them a note asking if they own the kittens. Give it a few days. If no response/no, but they seem to be home, then you have your disinterested answer.

  44. 44.

    Ivan X

    September 18, 2016 at 3:05 pm

    So the NYT ran this today, in which the headline actually had both the words “Trump” and “Alarming”, and it had the kind of accurate language about Trump I’d been cursing at the paper daily for not having. Granted, it was on page A4, but the front page also actually had a critical article of him (about how he’s fleeced the taxpayers to build his buildings). If they’d just do this between now and election day, without a corresponding “Clinton’s bad too” article like they also ran today, and the puff piece on Mike Pence, I might be able to enjoy it again.

  45. 45.

    Peale

    September 18, 2016 at 3:06 pm

    @Hal: I’m not worried about her as a spoiler. This will be pretty much the last election the greens will appear on the ballot. They chose a poor candidate in 2012 and their worship of her led them to do it again in 2016. If you watched her concession speech in 2012, you know she has no political instincts and stopped attacking the party and instead attacks citizens. the fact that they had to choose her again shows just how uncommitted greens are to being a political movement. They are basically a subsidiary of Jill Stein Inc. and if there ever will be a sustainable leftist movement in the country, it won’t come from them. They would rather be led around in circles by the same fuckwads who’ve been leading them around in circles for 30 years. She’s Not Moses, though. She’s just the latest of the directionless nitwits.

  46. 46.

    Gelfling 545

    September 18, 2016 at 3:06 pm

    @Emma: ?

  47. 47.

    Corner Stone

    September 18, 2016 at 3:07 pm

    @Botsplainer: That’s the…I don’t even know what the hell to say next.

  48. 48.

    gogol's wife

    September 18, 2016 at 3:08 pm

    @Ivan X:

    When I clicked on it, “Dangerous” seemed to have been replaced by “Alarming.” Not the same thing at all.

  49. 49.

    JPL

    September 18, 2016 at 3:10 pm

    Carl Bernstein said Willaim Weld might drop out. The idea that Trump might win, scares him, and he doesn’t want to take votes away from Hillary.

  50. 50.

    Ivan X

    September 18, 2016 at 3:10 pm

    @gogol’s wife: I must have substituted it in my mind. I want to believe, apparently. Alarming is still truer than anything else they’ve said to date, and the article itself was pretty blunt. But yes, not the same thing.

  51. 51.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 18, 2016 at 3:14 pm

    @gorram: I don’t know if polls bear you out but my anecdotal experience sure does. The Bernie-or-Busters among my acquaintances are all middle-aged or older men, and you can cut the sexism with a knife. Hillary is Nurse Ratched to them.

  52. 52.

    Brachiator

    September 18, 2016 at 3:15 pm

    @DCrefugee:

    Say/do something guaranteed to get a boorish response, then hammer him on the boorish response, and sit back and watch.). Looking forward to seeing her push those buttons again that in the debate(s).

    This won’t work during the debates. Trump’s people will be looking for this and Trump loves to counterpunch.

    It might be more useful for Hillary and her surrogates to push Trump’s buttons in the days leading up to the debate. Make him fume and retweet something ridiculous prior to the debate (even though I bet that his handlers will do everything to keep him away from his Android phone the weekend before the debate).

  53. 53.

    Botsplainer

    September 18, 2016 at 3:16 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Right. What man thinks that is OK? She’s a total shill for the family grift and reprehensible in her own way, but does seem to try to have a sense of propriety with regard to how her public statements are perceived.

    He just went straight to gross.

  54. 54.

    BR

    September 18, 2016 at 3:16 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I know of some Stein-leaning Berners who are middle-aged white women who live in extremely liberal, white, wealthy bubbles. For them there’s this notion of “why can’t we just be more like Europe — Bernie wants to be like Europe, Clinton doesn’t” and they’re not at all interested that his policies never added up mathematically (I tried, and the answer was something like “oh, I figure he’d find a way to make it happen”).

  55. 55.

    Botsplainer

    September 18, 2016 at 3:17 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Maybe Lucretia can duct tape and krazy glue his stubby little fingers together while he’s, um, distracted.

  56. 56.

    Doug R

    September 18, 2016 at 3:18 pm

    @Botsplainer:

    NBC News and MSNBC chairman Andrew Lack was the one calling the behind-the-scenes shots.

    From this Page Six article on how Matt Lauer was “hung out to dry”.

  57. 57.

    BR

    September 18, 2016 at 3:18 pm

    @Brachiator:

    It might be more useful for Hillary and her surrogates to push Trump’s buttons in the days leading up to the debate. Make him fume and retweet something ridiculous prior to the debate (even though I bet that his handlers will do everything to keep him away from his Android phone the weekend before the debate).

    This. They need to do an oppo dump two nights before the debate (and do it late enough in the evening that his campaign spox can’t respond). That way in the morning Trump will be tweeting about it, going way off message and the day before the debate will be about damage control rather than keeping him focused.

  58. 58.

    msdc

    September 18, 2016 at 3:21 pm

    @gorram:

    I kept saying that was what was going to happen. It’s the Mondale diehards you need to be more wary of.

    They are the ones most accustomed to losing. It’s the basis of their political identity; they don’t know how to handle the responsibilities of leadership because they never got there.

  59. 59.

    Corner Stone

    September 18, 2016 at 3:22 pm

    What a horribly thrown ball. Jeebus.

  60. 60.

    Immanentize

    September 18, 2016 at 3:23 pm

    @? Martin: I hate Miami so much, even when I lived there. I am also excited to see the Pats win all four games when Brady is out.

  61. 61.

    Elizabelle

    September 18, 2016 at 3:30 pm

    @JPL: I hope that’s true about Weld.

    It’s a dangerous vanity project to run as a third party candidate when you have Trump as the GOP nominee.

    The Richmond Times Dispatch endorsed Johnson, and are now calling for him to be included in the debates. They have endorsed every single GOP presidential nominee since Reagan.

    Didn’t read their endorsement, but will sometime because it will be entertaining to see how they slide past admitting that having the former mayor of their very city and current US Senator of their state as VP nominee of one of the two major parties is not going to help their city. Tim Kaine lives in Richmond, for dog’s sake.

    Fuckers. Wankers. No principle whatsoever. They built Trump, just like they supported Massive Resistance (to integrating the schools, which, I guess, is now blamed on Democrats).

  62. 62.

    La Caterina (Mrs. Johannes)

    September 18, 2016 at 3:31 pm

    @fuckwit: Rescuer here. There is no etiquette.

    If the kittens are socialized to humans, get them inside and fixed (and tested and vaccinated) ASAP before one of them gets pregnant. It’s the ONLY humane thing to do. A flea collar is no indicia of a responsible human steward for the animal. Good on you for being wiling to take them in. Even if you can’t keep them forever, you will save them (and their progeny) a lot of suffering if you get them off the street and find them a home.

    I’m sure the BJ readers will help financially if needed.

  63. 63.

    Brachiator

    September 18, 2016 at 3:31 pm

    @Ivan X:

    So the NYT ran this today, in which the headline actually had both the words “Trump” and “Alarming”, and it had the kind of accurate language about Trump I’d been cursing at the paper daily for not having.

    Very good article, even though the Times seems blind to the implications:

    Routine falsehoods, unfounded claims and inflammatory language have long been staples of Mr. Trump’s anything-goes campaign. But as the polls tighten and November nears, his behavior, and the implications for the country should he become president, are alarming veteran political observers — and leaving them deeply worried about the precedent being set, regardless of who wins the White House.

    This has always been Trump’s style, but his new team has him more focused and themselves are more on message in helping Trump in selling the lie. They get the message out to Pence, to surrogates, to right wing media and to GOP bigwigs.

    Some pundit, maybe James Fallows, noted that the GOP leadership has helped Trump by being absolutely silent about his birtherism turnaround, which prevents the press from asking them questions or getting deeper into the story. And then everyone can accuse Clinton of negative campaigning when they comment on the issue.

    Trump’s people cannot contain him, but they have learned how to use his madness for political advantage. That’s the story. Not potential precedents.

    Stephen Hess, who served in the Eisenhower and Nixon administrations, could not even contemplate the prospect of Mr. Trump as commander in chief.

    “It’s incredibly depressing,” Mr. Hess said of Mr. Trump. “He’s the most profoundly ignorant man I’ve ever seen at this level in terms of understanding the American presidency, and, even more troubling, he makes no effort to learn anything.”

    One of the conservative guests on Bill Maher’s program hinted that it doesn’t matter whether Trump is ignorant, or whether he tries to be a tyrant. He is convinced that constitutional safeguards and Republican leadership can contain Trump if necessary. This makes it possible for them to keep pushing Trump as an anti-establishment agent of change, which seems to be having some effect with voters.

  64. 64.

    tobie

    September 18, 2016 at 3:33 pm

    Is anyone here receiving emails from the Donald Trump campaign asking for money? I find this whole thing strange. I’m a lifelong Dem, and I’ve never given money to a Republican candidate or any national Republican organization. Are they just emailing anyone who’s made political contributions before even if it’s to the DNC, DCCC, DSCC, ActBlue, etc?

  65. 65.

    BR

    September 18, 2016 at 3:35 pm

    @tobie:

    No, but click on his ads anywhere you see them. Each clickthrough will cost his campaign money (depending on the site, could cost him a dollar per click.

  66. 66.

    ThresherK

    September 18, 2016 at 3:41 pm

    Okay, the Giants DE was offsides, leading to the Saints OL holding him so Drew Brees isn’t carted off. Offsetting penalties? Hasn’t the NFL figured this crap out yet? I thought they’d actually had something in the rulebook here.

  67. 67.

    Brachiator

    September 18, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    @gorram:

    It’s strange to see that a lot of people outside of this site presume that it’s the millennial Bernie voter that has to be won over by Clinton, when that’s the group she’s had the most success so far with.

    This is supported by polling data.

    A lot of the millennial criticisms of Clinton are criticisms of the system as a whole – and she remains the best option for reforming things .

    While this is probably true, Clinton has had a relatively hard time convincing this group of voters that this is true.

  68. 68.

    Botsplainer

    September 18, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    @Brachiator:

    I’m putting Trump’s IQ somewhere between 105 and 115. He’s not smart, but born to money substitutes for smarts, as does a willingness to lie constantly.

    And yeah, he’s dangerous.

  69. 69.

    Percysowner

    September 18, 2016 at 3:48 pm

    @La Caterina (Mrs. Johannes): I agree. Get them vaccinated and fixed. At least their won’t be any more kittens. Your neighbors may not own the cats. We have a cat in my neighborhood that one lady feeds and waters outside. Now this one is semi-feral i.e. you can’t get near it, so it’s a little different. Many times cats pick you, not the other way around. Usually once they do, they are the greatest pets you can have.

    If you do keep them and need help financing anything, let us know. I’d be happy to chip in for medical expenses.

  70. 70.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    September 18, 2016 at 3:48 pm

    @Botsplainer:

    I’m putting Trump’s IQ somewhere between 105 and 115.

    I think you may be over estimating that, but I agree with the rest of your comment.

  71. 71.

    Immanentize

    September 18, 2016 at 3:49 pm

    @tobie: I am also getting daily trump emails at work. I’m assuming they are just spamming everyone in my line of work. Maybe they got my name from the economist?

  72. 72.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    September 18, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    @Botsplainer: The Borgias had better taste in art.

  73. 73.

    satby

    September 18, 2016 at 3:56 pm

    @fuckwit: @La Caterina (Mrs. Johannes): Agree here and with rumara too, leave them a note and in the meantime see if you can arrange for spaying/neutering. AlleyCat Allies may have a low cost program near you, especially if you just say they’re strays that have been hanging around your yard. So should the local humane society. Google “low cost spay neuter” and your location for alternatives. One of them could already be pregnant at about 6 months.

  74. 74.

    Botsplainer

    September 18, 2016 at 4:01 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    1 Hjalmar Schacht 143
    2 Arthur Seyss-Inquart 141
    3 Hermann Goering 138
    4 Karl Doenitz 138
    5 Franz von Papen 134
    6 Eric Raeder 134
    7 Dr. Hans Frank 130
    8 Hans Fritsche 130
    9 Baldur von Schirach 130
    10 Joachim von Ribbentrop 129
    11 Wilhelm Keitel 129
    12 Albert Speer 128
    13 Alfred Jodl 127
    14 Alfred Rosenberg 127
    15 Constantin von Neurath 125
    16 Walther Funk 124
    17 Wilhelm Frick 124
    18 Rudolf Hess 120
    19 Fritz Sauckel 118
    20 Ernst Kaltenbrunner 113
    21 Julius Streicher 106

    Trump, by his comments, sounds like he’s in Streicher territory.

  75. 75.

    Elie

    September 18, 2016 at 4:01 pm

    Hillary must not be pulled into the negative dynamic of name calling and the stuff that works for him. She has to disrupt him with her calm dignity a little sense of humor and command of facts. She will have to deal with the media successfully and it might as well start now cause it will be even worse if she is President. She has to be the happy warrior who is calm and centered. She and her team ignored Trump in August which was a mistake. No panic. Just grab a hold of those reigns and look like you want it and are having a good time, thank you for asking.

  76. 76.

    D58826

    September 18, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    @Botsplainer: street smart. cunning like a fox. maybe not smart in the Einstein sense

  77. 77.

    JPL

    September 18, 2016 at 4:04 pm

    @Doug R: Lester Holt has the ability to be a good moderator, although Andrew will probably want to see the questions before the debate. How would we know they were for his eyes only?

  78. 78.

    Botsplainer

    September 18, 2016 at 4:06 pm

    @D58826:

    Cockroach smart….

  79. 79.

    JPL

    September 18, 2016 at 4:06 pm

    @Immanentize: I had it on the radio, and had to turn it off. ugh..

  80. 80.

    Betty Cracker

    September 18, 2016 at 4:07 pm

    @JPL: Wow. That would be huge if true. I lived in Massachusetts for a few years. Weld was the governor at the time and seemed pretty decent for a Republican — not a demented, Bible-humping, hypocritical crook like the Republicans we have in FL, anyway.

  81. 81.

    Corner Stone

    September 18, 2016 at 4:07 pm

    @D58826:

    street smart. cunning like a fox.

    Trump is neither of those. He has had every advantage this world could afford him. He nickel and dimes in every situation he can. He grifts and outright steals. He has used an inherited amount of wealth to bully and bludgeon those weaker or less wealthy than he, essentially to steal from them. Etc, etc.
    And yet, with all those advantages he has over reached and gone bankrupt multiple times. He is neither street smart nor cunning. Just a dumb, vicious bully/coward who does not give a shit about anyone but himself. He clearly does not give a shit about his family either, as evidenced by his actions this campaign season and prior. That thing Botsplainer linked to where he talked about sharing “sex” as his favorite thing in mind with his grown daughter was fucking disgusting in ways I am not sure what to say about it.

  82. 82.

    Miss Bianca

    September 18, 2016 at 4:14 pm

    @BR: I know a surprising number of middle-aged white women who are/were Bernie Busters. At least a few of them are Stein-curious. I keep wondering how they can be this clueless. But then, I’m always the annoying one who keeps asking, “so, exactly how is the Great Socialist Utopia *actually* supposed to get voted in?” and “sure, single-payer health care in Colorado sounds great, but what if the Federal government subsidies for ACA that you’re counting on actually *won’t* support the new system?”

    Guess that makes me a Bad Leftist.

  83. 83.

    MoxieM

    September 18, 2016 at 4:24 pm

    As Republicans go, Bill Weld is almost decent. He is really smart (if also arrogant in the way that only old money, white shoe East Coast WASPy repubs can be.) Still 10,000x pref to Trump, and I hope, smart enough to drop out if he judges the Libertarian run to be an actual threat (i.e., supporting Trump). My guess is he did it for a lark, and to get his name on the list. It must chafe wicked awful to have dumb-as-a-stump Johnson head the ticket.

  84. 84.

    tobie

    September 18, 2016 at 4:35 pm

    @Immanentize: i’ll ask around at work if others are getting spammed by the trump campaign, since it’s my work email that is getting these unwanted solicitations.

  85. 85.

    D58826

    September 18, 2016 at 4:36 pm

    @Botsplainer: that’s saying something since it’s assumed the cockroach would be one of the survivors of a nuclear war.t

  86. 86.

    bystander

    September 18, 2016 at 4:58 pm

    @Betty Cracker: After Johnson had his “why Aleppo?” moment, I wondered how embarrassed Weld was to be playing second fiddle to someone so clueless. Withdrawing now would elevate him immeasurably. And he could go back on the martinis.

  87. 87.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 18, 2016 at 6:16 pm

    @tobie:

    Suggestion: Ask your colleagues if any of them are being spammed by “any political campaigns,” and if they are, let them volunteer which. If you start out specifying “the Trump campaign,” it might tilt the responses.

  88. 88.

    workworkwork

    September 18, 2016 at 7:36 pm

    @tobie: I’m getting those. During the primary, I was getting emails from Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.

    No idea why. But it’s interesting to see the different sales approach.

  89. 89.

    bluefish

    September 18, 2016 at 10:34 pm

    @Botsplainer: Wow! Just unbelievable. Thanks for the link. That needs to go viral and I expect it will. Utterly gobsmacked.

  90. 90.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 18, 2016 at 11:52 pm

    @fuckwit: Get ’em fixed at the very least, I’d say. You don’t want those kittens to have kittens.

  91. 91.

    Matt McIrvin

    September 18, 2016 at 11:56 pm

    @Brachiator:

    One of the conservative guests on Bill Maher’s program hinted that it doesn’t matter whether Trump is ignorant, or whether he tries to be a tyrant. He is convinced that constitutional safeguards and Republican leadership can contain Trump if necessary.

    This is probably a guy who already doesn’t regard extrajudicial police killings of black people as a big deal.

  92. 92.

    fuckwit

    September 19, 2016 at 1:24 am

    @satby: That might explain the one kitten nursing off of the other. Maybe that one is a she, and indeed maybe she’s already With Kittens. Damn.

    I went through this before as a child with a stray cat that my family took in. The cat was already a few months pregnant when we took her in to get her fixed. Basically, a cat abortion. Her large c-section scar took a while to heal and she had to wear one of those cones because she kept licking the sutures out.

    The etiquette question is what about the neighbors who have been feeding these and may consider these cats theirs now? I will leave a note.

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