Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

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

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

The willow is too close to the house.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Cole, when it comes to calico cats, restraint is overrated.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

You cannot shame the shameless.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Open Thread: Spearing the Old Boar Boor

Open Thread: Spearing the Old Boar Boor

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Trump didn’t have to respond to Clinton baiting him about his treatment of women. A smarter man would’ve remembered it didn’t go over well when Megan Kelley did it the first time. And a more capable campaign team would’ve figured out that Hillary had something up her sleeve, especially after the ‘Mirrors’ ad. But nooooo….

And then he spent the next day trying to re-litigate the question! As though behaving like a pig and a bully after the fact was going to convince anyone that he wasn’t a pig and a bully!

You go, Ms. Machado! Enséñales, chica!

Reader Interactions

164Comments

  4. 4.

    Baud

    Chuck Todd ✔ @chucktodd
    Clinton campaign had this debate hit pre planned.

    Preplanned and overprepared. That’s our Hillary.

  6. 6.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I have a pretty large amount of contempt for Kellyanne Conway already, but it just increased exponentially. Seriously, can’t anyone on his team put some kind of governor on this man? Can’t anyone suggest that doubling down on the Miss Universe grievances and Rosie O’Donnell insults and interrupting and talking over his opponent might, just might not be the best way to attract female voters? Kellyanne? Melania? Ivanka? Hellooooo?

  7. 7.

    dmsilev

    Chuck Todd might want to consider that ‘this hit’ wouldn’t have worked unless (a) The Clinton campaign was convinced that Trump was a misogynistic bully, (b) Trump really was a misogynistic bully, and (c) Trump could easily be baited into demonstrating point b in front of a live audience of 80 or 90 million people.

    Pretty good planning on the Clinton team’s part, I’d say.

  8. 8.

    greennotGreen

    Alicia Machado is a beautiful woman, and I’ll bet a very high percentage of heterosexual men would be willing to get next to those curves of “massive, massive” weight.

  9. 9.

    hilts

    Another newspaper endorsement for Hillary

    Since The Arizona Republic began publication in 1890, we have never endorsed a Democrat over a Republican for president. Never. This reflects a deep philosophical appreciation for conservative ideals and Republican principles.

    This year is different. The 2016 Republican candidate is not conservative and he is not qualified. That’s why, for the first time in our history, The Arizona Republic will support a Democrat for president. The challenges the United States faces domestically and internationally demand a steady hand, a cool head and the ability to think carefully before acting. Clinton has the temperament and experience to be president. Donald Trump does not.

  12. 12.

    japa21

    @hilts: This is at least the fifth paper that has not endorsed a Democrat in 50 years or more which has endorsed Hillary. Does the trumpster have any endorsements yet?

    ETA: I know the National Enquirer has, but any serious ones.

  16. 16.

    Jeffro

    @dmsilev:

    Chuck Todd might want to consider that ‘this hit’ wouldn’t have worked unless (a) The Clinton campaign was convinced that Trump was a misogynistic bully, (b) Trump really was a misogynistic bully, and (c) Trump could easily be baited into demonstrating point b in front of a live audience of 80 or 90 million people.

    Pretty good planning on the Clinton team’s part, I’d say.

    Amen. As we say around the house, “it’s not being mean if it’s true.” I guess the version that might enlighten Chuck Todd would be, “it’s not a ‘hit’ if it’s simply the facts about this issue”.

  17. 17.

    sphouch

    It seems a bit beyond the pale for a candidate who invited Gennifer Flowers to the debate to criticize his opponent for “going back into the years” to find a girl.
    Trump should be ashamed of – ah, who am I kidding?

  18. 18.

    jl

    I guess Trump is going for the ‘loves the crazy boss’ vote. Must be some out there. He should have gone for it more directly.

    “So, yeah, we had this Machado Miss Universe, I tell you, there were problems. Weight gain problems.. many problems, wasn’t following the contract. Many many people tell you there were problems. So, what you do, what a great deals kind of person does in that case, is, you be a total jerk about it, call her names, and humiliate her in public. The thing you do is try to break the person, and then, whatever happens you just keep at it. I mean, even after the problem is resolved, you never forget it, not for a second. All you do is talk about the problems and just be a total dick. You just be a total asshole about everything concerned with the person, and never say a nice thing about her, ever, no matter what. Very important to always talk about her in a dismissive critical way. America needs that kind of real leadership to become great again”

  19. 19.

    Lizzy L

    Alicia Machado is a beautiful woman, and Donald Trump is a pig.

    Also: The WaPo reports that former senator John Warner of VA will endorse Hillary Clinton tomorrow.

  20. 20.

    Mary G

    I love that Hillary sprung Ms. Machado on him like that and he went all Khan on it. I’m hoping she has more aces up her sleeve. She had an architect in the audience that Trump stiffed and didn’t even need him.

  21. 21.

    jl

    @Lizzy L: If there is a pic of her where her weight was a serious problem to her dong the Miss Beauty Pageant job, I haven’t seen it. But maybe that is just me. But the way he talks about her, and the supposed problems, even if there were problems, is just poisonous. That guy shouldn’t be allowed to run an ant farm. It’s just too much responsibility and what about the ants!? Who will think of the ants!?

  22. 22.

    Howard Beale IV

    From our fellow travelers at Little Green Footballs, a UK citizen muses about Brexit and Trump:

    No matter how many rationalisations are put out there – living through something like i’ve been describing where 90% of the polling was overturned and all the conventional wisdom was thrown out the window – thats a pretty damn scary thing.

    When it comes down to it and you realise your friends and neighbours are willing to sacrifice your countries economic future on a stark yes/no – and they choose to completely tank your economy because they don’t like foreigners, it’s a big fucking deal.
    Trump wants to tank your economy and get elected on the basis people dont like foreigners. I am living through it now and will be living through the consequences of it for decades. Families will be torn apart by what has happened here – good friends may have to leave, people who have made lives here in good faith and with every best will in the world to make the UK a better place.

    So, I will beg indulgence that I don’t want to see that happen anywhere else. One of our tabloids ran a headline just yesterday about how long it would take to deport all EU migrants – not illegal immigrants, genuine EU citizens. It gets very nasty very fast.

    Europeans are being beaten up on the streets – hate crimes are going through the roof, people are openly feeling legitimised in their hatred and bigotry. Once the lid comes off it’s really fucking bad.

    Trump doesn’t even have to win to have that effect on discourse or actions, the open overt racsim is bubbling again at his rallies and on the fringes it’s even worse.

    The UK is looking at a future where an iron curtain comes down and we send people back home, a lot of people back home – we are looking at reducing the number of refugees and migrants from all corners of the globe. Because it couldn’t happen here.

    Friends I have known most of my life may be forced to leave, but it could never happen here. It did and it hurts like hell and its is incredibly raw and incredibly personal. I’m sorry if your offended.

  24. 24.

    Adam L Silverman

    @LAO: Not like Doocy or the other idiot are any smarter. That other guy is basically a high school assistant football coach who basically got a gig on national television and can’t figure out how he got there. As for Doocy, he’s the guy that would rat out his parents to the secret police thinking he would get a reward.

  27. 27.

    greennotGreen

    Since this is an open thread, I want to relay a conversation I had with an undecided voter. When she said she didn’t know who to vote for, I, of course, said, “Hillary,” and explained why. She said they both lie. I explained their comparative levels of honesty. Then she said, why can’t we have two presidents, one democratic and one republican?

    My mother, a conservative who may sit this election out (although my sister and I are still working on her) also witnessed this conversation and commented afterwards on the stream of irrational statements coming out of this woman’s mouth. Generally, I believe this woman has no information on which to base a decision and she doesn’t want to have to make a decision. Maybe she really shouldn’t vote.

  28. 28.

    Eric U.

    @jl: I imagine she gained a little weight after winning. Totally different routine, lots of traveling, who wouldn’t gain some weight? But in the video of him springing reporters on her at the gym, supposedly after the massive weight gain, there is very little evidence of that at all. Trump is just hyper-sensitive to a woman’s weight. I guess he doesn’t look in the mirror with his shirt off.

  30. 30.

    geg6

    That FOX and Friends clip is fucking hilarious. When you can embarrass Doocey, you’ve completely lost the plot. Assuming he ever had it, that is.

  31. 31.

    Adam L Silverman

    @greennotGreen: @jl:

    This is a pic of her when he forced her to exercise in front of the press:
    http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/xx_factor/2016/05/17/when_donald_trump_humiliated_miss_universe_for_gaining_weight/160516_dx_jumprope_gettyimages52011932.jpg.CROP.promovar-medium2.jpg

    Here’s her swimsuit pic from the pageant:
    http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2643774.1463748003!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_750/machado21n-1-web.jpg

    There is no way that is 65 lbs heavier than when she won several months before. I’m not even sure that’s 15 lbs more.

    This was because she was Latina and voluptuous (as opposed to the Central/Eastern European statuesques he prefers). It had nothing to do with her actually gaining significant amounts of weight. Also, remember this is the same guy who wanted to do a reality show to teach women how to behave properly.

  33. 33.

    hilts

    @japa21:

    This is where it stands so far:

    Hillary Clinton newspaper endorsements

    Akron Beacon Journal
    The Arizona Republic
    The Berkshire Eagle
    The Cincinnati Enquirer
    The Dallas Morning News
    Houston Chronicle
    Los Angeles Times
    New York Daily News
    The New York Times
    Portland Press Herald
    San Francisco Chronicle

    Gary Johnson newspaper endorsements

    The Caledonian-Record
    New Hampshire Union Leader
    Richmond Times-Dispatch
    Winston-Salem Journal

    Donald Trump newspaper endorsements

    Zero

  34. 34.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @greennotGreen: This is why I can’t phone bank for this election. “What the fuck is wrong with you?! Trump is a fucking catastrophe in the making! Jesus Fuck! Vote for fucking Hillary or a fucking shit ton of us will die!”, while accurate, is not persuasive.

  41. 41.

    CaseyL

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’m inclined the same way, though reserving special vitriol for special snowflake “progressives.” I have to suffer a few fools at work; I’m not gonna spend my downtime trying to talk sense to people whose brains are only useful for keeping their skull bones apart.

    I’m not scared by what Trump has set loose in this country. Maybe I should be, but I’m too goddamn pissed off.

  44. 44.

    NotMax

    Not my usual style, but got a polling call from the NRA and gave them an earful. In fact, several earfuls and elicited a promise (which I made them repeat) to remove my number from their lists.

  45. 45.

    jl

    @Eric U.: Thing is that Trump could make this attack go away for a lot of people, not me since what he did was just too jerkish, but a lot by simply admitting he made a mistake and did some unwise and jerky shit when he was younger, and he learned from it.

    I do hate to reveal my deep cynicism, but my suspicion is that Trump got his bigot brain and PR brain together and is was all BS, done to get attention. Probably the usual Miss Universe rounds and routine appearance PR wasn’t getting enough publicity. Which makes him a jerk squared. But that is just a hunch on my part.

  46. 46.

    Adam L Silverman

    @geg6: The working title was “Lady or a Tramp”. The idea was pitched, unsuccessfully, to Fox:
    http://fortune.com/2016/09/08/donald-trump-the-apprentice-burnett/

    As The Apprentice’s numbers soared, Trump explored ways to extend his TV brand. In 2007, Fox announced that Trump would be executive producer of a show to be called Lady or a Tramp, a reality competition in which “rude and crude party girls” would be sent to charm school to get a strict reeducation on manners. In the wake of Britney Spears’s shaving her head and Lindsay Lohan’s and Paris Hilton’s snaring headlines for all the wrong reasons, Trump would reprise his Apprentice role as judge, evaluating the contestants’ progress. The show was never made.

  47. 47.

    Linda

    Why would he relitigate a losing battle? Because Trump’s base is all about Never Being Wrong, above everything else. Admitting he screwed up, or even just shutting up, would be an admission that he was wrong, and he and his fans have a huge emotional investment in never being wrong.

  48. 48.

    eclare

    @efgoldman: Good grief, Drumpf is still aggrieved over that editor that called him a short fingered vulgarian, what, 20 years ago? Crowds come to hear the band play the hits, this one is still a hit and could have staying power.

  49. 49.

    Adam L Silverman

    @greennotGreen: She’s 5’7. I’m in the gym 4 days a week. There is no way that woman had gained 65 lbs between the swimsuit pic at the pageant and the photo of her jumping rope at the gym. Again, I’m not even sure there’s 15 lbs of weight gain between the two pictures. This was simply about being the new boss – he’d just taken over the pageant – and showing everyone who was in control and how that control was going to be exercised.

  53. 53.

    hilts

    @redshirt:

    Trump will certainly get endorsed by the WSJ, NY Post, and NY Observer.

    I’m curious to see how many more endorsements Hillary can get from conservative, Republican newspapers.

  56. 56.

    RaflW

    “[Trump’s] cruelty to Alicia Machado was unleavened by any apparent respect for her as a human being in any role other than as an envelope of flesh.” Read the whole thing from Adam Gopnik in the New Yorker.

  59. 59.

    Neabinorb

    @Mary G: I have to believe that they have surely done opposition research on this guy. And though there must tons of it, they haven’t had to use it since he has volunteered so much to work with. But they must have more like this.

  62. 62.

    JR in WV

    I dunno what to do…. people are commenting too prolifically for me to keep up, while also eating, drinking, etc, etc. Fed cats, Fed dogs, let her in – let her out. Etc.

    How am I gonna keep up? #00 comments here, there. I feel like I should at least look at the comments on the Trump rally post, tho I can not, will not watch Trump speechify to the deplorables.

    What to do? What to do…. maybe listen to music and read some of the books I got at the library last time I went to town, to phone bank for Hills… Yeh, that sounds good.

  70. 70.

    hilts

    @amk:

    The Chicago Tribune endorsed Obama twice despite its general preference for Republicans, so maybe they’ll go for Hillary. She’ll definitely get the Boston Globe’s endorsement.

    The list I posted comes from Wikipedia which may not be fully up to date.

  75. 75.

    Prescott Cactus

    Arizona Republic endorses Hillary.

    “Since The Arizona Republic began publication in 1890, we have never endorsed a Democrat over a Republican for president. Never. This reflects a deep philosophical appreciation for conservative ideals and Republican principles.

    This year is different.

    The 2016 Republican candidate is not conservative and he is not qualified.

    That’s why, for the first time in our history, The Arizona Republic will support a Democrat for president. ”

    Endorsement: Hillary Clinton is the only choice to move America ahead

    HUGE !

  76. 76.

    greennotGreen

    It hasn’t been uncommon for Trump to be compared to a certain Austrian who rose to power in the 1930s in Germany, but I think a more accurate comparison is to Slobodan Milosevic who used tribalism to tear a multicultural country apart in a bloody civil war.

  77. 77.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @chopper:

    he’s like a 20 year old frat boy.

    I was once a 20 y/o frat boy. And I must object. I’ll also note that my frat would not have taken him since he was a full of himself douchebag. No one who talked about his money like Trump does would have received a bid.

  79. 79.

    chopper

    @greennotGreen:

    remember the old innocent halcyon days of old when we made fun of john ashcroft for covering up the boobs of statues in the justice department? imagine now trump giving a press conference in front of those and making some remarks on how “stacked” lady justice is and how he’d like a few minutes alone after the scrum leaves.

  85. 85.

    Aleta

    @Mary G: He said something like: Where did you hear that? Either he remains intentionally uninformed about the news, or he thought he could bluff his way out, and then immediately collapsed. Now he attacks her, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to damage her career at some point for revenge. She’s so much more courageous than a lot of reporters and media careerists who are afraid of him.

  87. 87.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @chopper: Fraternity member.* And most of my fellow alums can’t stand him (Trump). One is Kerry’s press monkey.

    *We were not without sin.

  88. 88.

    Prescott Cactus

    @redshirt: In the land of red, where the hair is grey they still read newspapers. Not as fast, not as many. But this is really meaningful. AZ’s largest newspaper. This may hurt McCain.

  91. 91.

    Lyrebird

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yea verily I agree, but I did by some locally-made bread today with which I will make yummy sandwiches to load into lunch bags for canvassers!

    I will not, like Adam, don a tiara
    for this bit of culinary politicking
    because I do not own a tiara.

    I do need to sleep!

    Peace to all!

  92. 92.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @redshirt: Trump doesn’t have a title he can be referred to, as Hillary Clinton does. So she called him “Donald” all night long.

    And there wasn’t a blessed thing he could do about it.

  94. 94.

    trollhattan

    @Mary G:
    Not to worry, Hillary has binders full of them. Donny has four decades of raw material to plumb and Team Hillary has good plumbers.

  95. 95.

    Adam L Silverman

    @greennotGreen: Especially that Milosevic was really in it for profit from control of the North-South and East-West routes for trafficking women, drugs, and weapons.

  96. 96.

    redshirt

    @Villago Delenda Est: A thing of beauty. Out of politeness she could have referred to him as Mr. Trump, but like you say, never once. Donald all night. The best through line of the debate – it infantalized him, as he should be treated: As a child.

    A dangerous, cunning 14 year old.

  99. 99.

    Aleta

    @hilts: That editorial at the Arizona Republic impressed me. A couple of good parts:

    Arizona’s been there on immigration (it doesn’t work)

    What’s more, Arizona went down the hardline immigration road Trump travels. It led our state to SB 1070, the 2010 “show me your papers” law that earned Arizona international condemnation and did nothing to resolve real problems with undocumented immigration.

    Arizona understands that we don’t need a repeat of that divisive, unproductive fiasco on the national level. A recent poll shows Arizonans oppose both more walls and the mass deportations Trump endorses.

    We need a president who can broker solutions.

    Clinton calls for comprehensive immigration reform, a goal that business, faith and law enforcement leaders have sought for years. Her support for a pathway to citizenship and her call for compassion for families torn apart by deportation are consistent with her longtime support for human rights.

    As secretary of state, Clinton made gender equality a priority for U.S. foreign policy. This is an extension of Clinton’s bold “women’s rights are human rights” speech in 1995.

    It reflects an understanding that America’s commitment to human rights is a critically needed beacon in today’s troubled world.

    Trump’s long history of objectifying women and his demeaning comments about women during the campaign are not just good-old-boy gaffes.

    They are evidence of deep character flaws. They are part of a pattern.

    Trump mocked a reporter’s physical handicap. Picked a fight with a Gold Star family. Insulted POWs. Suggested a Latino judge can’t be fair because of his heritage. Proposed banning Muslim immigration.

    Each of those comments show a stunning lack of human decency, empathy and respect. Taken together they reveal a candidate who doesn’t grasp our national ideals.

    Many Republicans understand this. But they shudder at the thought of Hillary Clinton naming Supreme Court justices. So they stick with Trump. We get that. But we ask them to see Trump for what he is — and what he is not.

    Trump’s conversion to conservatism is recent and unconvincing. There is no guarantee he will name solid conservatives to the Supreme Court.

    Hillary Clinton has long been a centrist. Despite her tack left to woo Bernie Sanders supporters, Clinton retains her centrist roots. Her justices might not be in the mold of Antonin Scalia, but they will be accomplished individuals with the experience, education and intelligence to handle the job. They will be competent. Just as she is competent.

  100. 100.

    eric

    I am not Latino, but to my ear, the “miss housekeeping” part was even worse than the fat part. The fat part is standard male pig, the housekeeping part was racially harsh, i not motivated by pure racism and classism. I suspect that will work on the undecided latino vote.

  107. 107.

    eric

    @redshirt: I would not be too sure of that. I would be very interested to see how that polled with all Latinos. Though I suspect Trump has some good migrant farm worker material to level the paying field.

  108. 108.

    Central Planning

    Talked to my son who turned 18 today. He sent in his voter registration form a few weeks ago, so he’s all set to vote. He said all his college friends hate Trump and would never vote for him. I suspect that is true for my 19 year old as well.

  109. 109.

    hovercraft

    Alicia Merchado was on Brian Williams tonight, she looks great. She said he is racist not because of what he said about her, but because of what he said about black people, and because he doesn’t like black people. The interview was a clip from an interview with Natalie Morales, that will air on the Today Show tomorrow.

  110. 110.

    Aleta

    @Eric U.: I think it’s possible she refused to sleep with him, and because he owned the pageant and felt entitled to her, he needed to get revenge. Not uncommon in workplace harassment. She also said she was never paid for part of her contract.

    Regardless, he used her as a way to publicize himself, and is, as she’s said, inhumanly callous. And narcissistic..

  112. 112.

    redshirt

    @amk: Really? You don’t think that endorsement was done grudgingly, and reluctantly, and only because of the spectacular failure as a serious candidate that is Donald?

  113. 113.

    hovercraft

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    So if an Ex published a story saying he has the world’s tiniest dick, what would he do? Would he be forced to drop trou? Or would he say believe me! If all the villagers were talking about said woman complaining about his manhood how would he cope?

  114. 114.

    Lyrebird

    @eric:

    The fat part is standard male pig, the housekeeping part was racially harsh, i[f] not motivated by pure racism and classism. I suspect that will work on the undecided latino vote.

    To me, it’s both. In the new HRC ad featuring Ms. Machado, it definitely looks like she gained a modest amount of weight post-pageant. I have never been in that world, what do I know, but that “Beaty Treated Like a Beast” headline (shown in her scrapbook, in Spanish) is right on. But it was a long time ago, sure. If he could admit even a little bit of wrongdoing and pivot to some evidence that he’s less of a boor now, that would be one thing. The fact that Trump and his campaign staff are [bleep]ing doubling down on insulting this woman is just hard to believe. I dunno, one of the tweets from a (male) pundit last night said something like, “Trump keeps interrupting… I wonder if that will harm his chances with female voters…” What chances? What a creep!!!!!!!!!!

  117. 117.

    hilts

    @Aleta:

    Agreed, it was a well written editorial. All the editorials endorsing Hillary have been very impressive especially the ones from conservative Republican newspapers.

  118. 118.

    SFAW

    @hilts:

    She’ll definitely get the Boston Globe’s endorsement.

    That’s only because it’s Trump. Had it been Kasich or Jeb! or Rubio, they might have flipped.

    Or were you under the impression that the Boston Globe is still a liberal paper? Sadly, no.

  120. 120.

    redshirt

    @amk:

    “Since The Arizona Republic began publication in 1890, we have never endorsed a Democrat over a Republican for president. Never. This reflects a deep philosophical appreciation for conservative ideals and Republican principles.

    This. Everything that follows is gritted teeth, and we should be happy for it.

  124. 124.

    hovercraft

    @Suffragete City elftx:
    According to the director of the Frontline doc. his father drummed it into his head that there were only two types of people, winners and losers, and he was a winner, and must never let himself become a loser. Winning is everything. I didn’t watch it, did anyone here watch it?

  125. 125.

    SFAW

    @redshirt:

    she could have referred to him as Mr. Trump, but like you say, never once. Donald all night.

    You have no idea how hard it was for her NOT to call him “Deadbeat Donald.” I certainly don’t have that kind of willpower.

  130. 130.

    Eric U.

    Trump actually made money off of calling Merchado fat. She got weight loss endorsements, and her contract said he got part of that. She says she has suffered from eating disorders, it probably wasn’t hard for him to manipulate her on this issue.

  131. 131.

    redshirt

    @chopper: I know, right?

    I try not to hate in this world. There’s too much already, and I don’t want to add to it. If I could subtract from it…

    But anyways, Frat Boys are everything that’s wrong with America. An essay forthcoming.

  132. 132.

    hovercraft

    @redshirt:
    I think the Latino vote is projected to be 11 to 13 % this time, so 5 is about right. But the question is the percentage in the swing states. NV, FL, CO, and VA have higher percentages of Latinos, so offending Latina’s will be more damaging in those states. And at least 2 if not 3 are must win states for him unless he can win PA, MI, and WI.

  139. 139.

    redshirt

    @hovercraft: You’d think the damage would be baked into the polls by now. I mean, he’s been terribly and scarily offensive towards Hispanics for many, many months now. What’s changed yesterday? Nothing.

    It’s Racism v. Diversity.
    Hate v Love.
    Regression v Progression

  140. 140.

    Aleta

    @Lyrebird:

    If he could admit even a little bit of wrongdoing and pivot to some evidence that he’s less of a boor now, that would be one thing. The fact that Trump and his campaign staff are [bleep]ing doubling down on insulting this woman is just hard to believe.

    great point.

  141. 141.

    amk

    @redshirt: Again, read the endorsement, instead of their first graf, which by itself is not teeth grtting. If you still see it, it’s your problem, not mine.

  143. 143.

    redshirt

    @hovercraft: Oh, I hear you. This is exactly the electoral calculations you need to be making all the time, everywhere.

    Trump is not. He’s casually insulting voters, thinking them so small it doesn’t matter (i.e. Latinas). What he doesn’t get, as you say, is that slander could make the difference in a close election in Virginia or North Carolina, Colorado or maybe even one day, Tejas.

    Let us take advantage of our enemy’s failings.

  144. 144.

    Feebog

    @Aleta:

    I think it’s possible she refused to sleep with him, and because he owned the pageant and felt entitled to her, he needed to get revenge. Not uncommon in workplace harassment.

    This. Knowing his overfed ego, I’m willing to bet this is exactly what happened. I have taught, investigated, litigated and adjudged sexual harassment issues over the course of 40 plus years and this is absolutely the pattern when a female employee is not sexually submissive to “the boss”.

  145. 145.

    Aleta

    @Original Lee: And he pocketed 100% of her commercial shoot revenue, and she so needed to survive his “winning” that she had to walk away, as people must from the most abusive relationships. Just a guess.

  148. 148.

    MaryRC

    @wuzzat: I can’t help wondering what Ivanka’s life as Trump’s daughter would have been like if she weren’t pretty. I don’t think it would have been easy.

  149. 149.

    Brachiator

    @eric:

    .

    I am not Latino, but to my ear, the “miss housekeeping” part was even worse than the fat part.

    As has been noted, there is significant Latino interest in this election. From a recent story.

    . According to Google, searches for the phrase “registrarse para votar” have surged 2200% in the last week. For comparison sake, the English equivalent “register to vote” has gone up only 430% in the same timeframe. It’s unclear how much these spikes compare to previous presidential elections.

    I hope that Team Clinton has a strong GOTV bilingual effort in Latino communities.

  151. 151.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @greennotGreen:

    Then she said, why can’t we have two presidents, one democratic and one republican?

    Just a wild-ass guess here, but this woman never made it out of third grade, right?

  153. 153.

    MaryRC

    @Adam L Silverman: Strange as this may seem, a similar show called Ladette to Lady ran for several seasons on British TV. Young women were sent to an ersatz “finishing school” where they were taught deportment and etiquette. It was done tongue-in-cheek and didn’t take itself very seriously, especially since the mentors at the school weren’t exactly models of deportment themselves (one of them, Lady Colin Campbell, was involved in an unladylike brawl at her hairdresser’s). But oddly enough one of the faculty was a Trump-like figure: a blowhard called Charlie Lush who pretended to be a baron and was discovered to be a member of the neo-fascist British National Party. So you can see where Trump may have thought that this was a good fit for him.

  154. 154.

    MaryRC

    @Lyrebird:

    The fact that Trump and his campaign staff are [bleep]ing doubling down on insulting this woman is just hard to believe.

    Scottie Nell Hughes was slut-shaming Ms Machado on CNN, calling her a “cookie” and alluding to a Playboy magazine shoot that she apparently did, as though Melania Trump never posed nude. It’s the same weird dissociation that you see when Trump talks about Bill Clinton’s philandering. It’s as though they’re so insulated in their self-satisfaction that they don’t even see the parallels between their behavior and the behavior that they criticize.

  156. 156.

    Mnemosyne

    @MaryRC:

    There was a reality show called “Charm School” that was a spin-off from one of Flava Flav’s shows and was hosted by (I think) Mo’Nique in her pre-Oscar nomination days. It was oddly charming even if it was basically training them to be spokesmodels.

  157. 157.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Clinton campaign had this debate hit pre planned.

    Todd really is that stupid. Of course she did, that’s called politics.

    Hmm I wonder, is Putin backing Trump because he’s terrified of what the Hilary Beast is going to do to him if she’s president? I mean she just did nuke some other American politician’s brain. God help those people she’s allowed to use real weapons on.

  159. 159.

    Bruce K

    Yeah, in retrospect, Hillary took a pretty sharp corner to get to Ms. Machado – but The Donald was doing that whole revisionist-history thing where he claimed to have been critiquing Hillary’s stamina when everybody knew he’d flat out said Hillary didn’t look presidential. He blatantly tried to rewrite the question he’d been asked, so pardon me for not being annoyed at Hillary looping the subject back around to the question itself as asked.

  160. 160.

    Sab

    @redshirt: Not sad. Sensible. My local paper, once the flagship of Knight newspapers, has reduced itself to toxic SO stories and rummaging on their archives for 50 year old innocuous backgrounds that the locals all know and the imported news team doesn’t care about but thinks might be interesting to the locals (not because we already knew it)

  164. 164.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    Jesus Fuck, Chuck, it’s like you’ve never seen a Presidential campaign before. Goddamned straight that hit was planned – the Clinton campaign would have been guilty of political malpractice for not hitting such a soft target as hard as possible. And they’re going to do it again, and again, and again until Trump either explodes in a pink mist on stage or until the rest of the country fucking gets it.

    Trump simply is not fit to be dog catcher, much less President of the Goddamned United States, and the fact that Chuckles and the rest of the VSPs want to pretend otherwise is what’s going to doom the Republic.

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