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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Two Score and One

Two Score and One

by Betty Cracker|  September 28, 20162:55 pm| 239 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Assholes, General Stupidity

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The NYT (yes, I’m still occasionally reading it even though I canceled my subscription in a huff…) has an account of how Team Trump is handling the debate debacle and planning to improve on their man’s calamitous performance. An excerpt that describes how things went so wrong:

Mr. Trump’s debate preparation was unconventional. Aides have introduced a podium and encouraged him to participate in mock debates, but he has not embraced them, focusing mostly on conversations and discussions with advisers.

During the primaries, the group briefing him for debates was small and closely held. By the weekend before the debate on Monday at Hofstra University, there were nearly a dozen people preparing Mr. Trump, including the retired Army generals Michael Flynn and Keith Kellogg, neither of whom has experience in presidential debates.

There were early efforts to run a more standard form of general election debate-prep camp, led by Roger Ailes, the ousted Fox News chief, at Mr. Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, N.J. But Mr. Trump found it hard to focus during those meetings, according to multiple people briefed on the process who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. That left Mr. Ailes, who at the time was deeply distracted by his removal from Fox and the news media reports surrounding it, discussing his own problems as well as recounting political war stories, according to two people present for the sessions.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and a friend of Mr. Trump’s who has been traveling with him extensively, took over much of the preparation efforts by the end. But with Mr. Trump receiving so much conflicting advice in those sessions, he absorbed little of it.

The team had primed Mr. Trump to look for roughly a dozen key phrases and expressions Mrs. Clinton uses when she is uncertain or uncomfortable, but he did not seem to pay attention during the practice sessions, one aide said, and failed to home in on her vulnerabilities during the debate.

Trump aides, including revolting sexual predator Roger Ailes and serial 9/11-humper Rudy Giuliani, are casting about for a new strategy so Trump doesn’t get steamrolled during the upcoming town hall-style debate in a week and a half.

But doesn’t the story behind Trump’s shitty debate performance raise a larger question, such as whether a candidate who relies on a degenerate like Ailes, is unable to focus and retain information, etc., is fit for the presidency in the first place? Not to Trump super-fans like the Twittiot below, who are coming up with absurd conspiracy theories to explain why Hillary kicked Trump’s ass:

I think we all know why #TrumpWon pic.twitter.com/nwZRxvkX81

— USA For Trump 2016 (@USAforTrump2016) September 27, 2016

“Coughing prevention machine”? OMFG! Or maybe it’s a lapel mic power pack — do these people not watch “Ellen”?

It would be odd indeed to wear an earpiece on one’s back. But even dudes — gay or straight — understand that bras often have hooks in the back to allow the wearer to put the bra on rather than the bra magically enfolding the wearer’s boobs, right?

41. More. Days.

[H/T: Buzzfeed story on loopy conspiracy theories]
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Reader Interactions

239Comments

  1. 1.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 3:00 pm

    But even dudes — gay or straight — understand that bras often have hooks in the back to allow the wearer to put the bra on rather than the bra magically enfolding the wearer’s boobs, right?

    My only knowledge of bras is the concrete kind that form when one dips their aforementioned good times into a wet mix accidentally.

  2. 2.

    dedc79

    September 28, 2016 at 3:01 pm

    Hadn’t heard the coughing prevention machine conspiracy theory, but have heard the one about the man who takes a folder of paper off of clinton’s podium and surreptitiously hands it to lester holt after the debate. Don’t believe it? Well, they’ve got video. Sure the video doesn’t show what they claim, but when has that ever mattered?

    I think it’s long past time we acknowledge the 27% number was way too low. It’s more like 40%.

  3. 3.

    Enhanced Voting Techinques

    September 28, 2016 at 3:02 pm

    How many times do Democrats like Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama have to humilate Republican “Master Debators” like Trump before conservatives get lawyers are good at debating?

  4. 4.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 28, 2016 at 3:02 pm

    Just like Bush in 2004, it’s body armor.

  5. 5.

    Amir Khalid

    September 28, 2016 at 3:02 pm

    “Microphone?”
    How do they think Hillary talks?
    “Coughing prevention machine?”
    Which end of Hillary do they think produces coughs?
    “Earpiece?”
    Where do they think her ears are?

  6. 6.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 3:03 pm

    But with Mr. Trump receiving so much conflicting advice in those sessions, he absorbed little of it.

    Trump is unable to retain any information or clues to react to. His brain is constantly on the lookout to any possible slight or dig that he must, MUST, respond to. He is the classic example of someone who leaves nothing on the table.

  7. 7.

    germy shoemangler

    September 28, 2016 at 3:03 pm

    Memo: Fox News VP reminds staff that online debate polls ‘do not meet our editorial standards’

    A Fox News executive sent a memo to television producers and the politics team on Tuesday afternoon reminding employees that unscientific online polls “do not meet our editorial standards.”

    Dana Blanton, the vice president of public-opinion research at Fox News, explained in the memo obtained by Business Insider that “online ‘polls’ like the one on Drudge, Time, etc. where people can opt-in or self-select … are really just for fun.”

    “As most of the publications themselves clearly state, the sample obviously can’t be representative of the electorate because they only reflect the views of those Internet users who have chosen to participate,” Blanton wrote.

    As the Fox News executive pointed out, users who participate in such polls must have internet access, be online at the time of the poll, be fans of the website in question, and self-select to participate.

    “Another problem — we know some campaigns/groups of supporters encourage people to vote in online polls and flood the results,” she wrote. “These quickie click items do not meet our editorial standards.”

  8. 8.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 3:05 pm

    Memo: Fox News VP reminds staff that online debate polls ‘do not meet our editorial standards’

    A Fox News executive sent a memo to television producers and the politics team on Tuesday afternoon reminding employees that unscientific online polls “do not meet our editorial standards.”

    Dana Blanton, the vice president of public-opinion research at Fox News, explained in the memo obtained by Business Insider that “online ‘polls’ like the one on Drudge, Time, etc. where people can opt-in or self-select … are really just for fun.”

    “As most of the publications themselves clearly state, the sample obviously can’t be representative of the electorate because they only reflect the views of those Internet users who have chosen to participate,” Blanton wrote.

    As the Fox News executive pointed out, users who participate in such polls must have internet access, be online at the time of the poll, be fans of the website in question, and self-select to participate.

    “Another problem — we know some campaigns/groups of supporters encourage people to vote in online polls and flood the results,” she wrote. “These quickie click items do not meet our editorial standards.”

  9. 9.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 3:05 pm

    I hope Howard Dean pulls a Harry Reid and just lets the dirt lay out there, and never retracts a damn thing.

  10. 10.

    Amir Khalid

    September 28, 2016 at 3:05 pm

    The NYT story is basically saying that Trump’s debate coaches reckon he can’t be trained, and are reduced to praying for a miracle

  11. 11.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    September 28, 2016 at 3:06 pm

    Trump is a 70 year old ugly babyman incapable of any self-reflection and exhibiting any humanity. Why anyone expects anything from him is beyond me.

  12. 12.

    LAO

    September 28, 2016 at 3:07 pm

    I’m officially done. Elementary School shooting. Thank G-d for the 2d Amendment.

  13. 13.

    NorthLeft12

    September 28, 2016 at 3:07 pm

    Betty, I’ll go with the simplest explanation for Deadbeat Donald’s calamitously terrible debate performance; he is an ignorant, thin skinned boor who does not have the ability to match up with Hillary Clinton in any kind of mental endeavor.

    Mr. Schwartz [his biographer] called this a long time ago, and anyone who watched his primary debate performances would have too.

  14. 14.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 3:08 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techinques:

    like Trump before conservatives get lawyers are good at debating?

    Good debators are good at debating. Lots of stupid lawyers I would never put money on to win a “debate”.
    And I am not saying smart people are good at debating, because Ted Cruz. Debating champion, putz at life.

  15. 15.

    hovercraft

    September 28, 2016 at 3:08 pm

    @dedc79:
    The 27% is where the virus is most virulent, but 45% are infected.

  16. 16.

    Jeffro

    September 28, 2016 at 3:08 pm

    They can conspiracy-theory their little buns off…all they’ll get is another “Clinton Wiggle” of delight, and the heavy artillery.

  17. 17.

    dr. bloor

    September 28, 2016 at 3:09 pm

    @Corner Stone: The paranoia of narcissism.

  18. 18.

    catclub

    September 28, 2016 at 3:09 pm

    The best fact is that dozens of sources are talking with the press to cover their own asses, rather than support the candidate.
    Also, the ‘many voluble coaches talking at once’ mode is ideal for getting across a clear message.

    No drama Hillary’s campaign does not have this problem.

  19. 19.

    DCrefugee

    September 28, 2016 at 3:11 pm

    @germy: Fox News has standards?

  20. 20.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 3:11 pm

    I’ve gotta be honest with you guys here. I avoided The Wire when it first came out because I’m not a fan of hype. I’ve recently been trying to binge watch my way through just to see what it’s all about. Hit Season 4 and it’s like a brick wall. I can’t even be bothered to click on it any more.

  21. 21.

    Eric U.

    September 28, 2016 at 3:11 pm

    I wonder how trump would do in the unlit labyrinth

  22. 22.

    infovore

    September 28, 2016 at 3:12 pm

    “What’s on Hillary’s back?” The fastenings of a bullet-resistant vest would be my guess.

  23. 23.

    Betty Cracker

    September 28, 2016 at 3:12 pm

    @Corner Stone: I’ll never live that down, will I?

  24. 24.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    September 28, 2016 at 3:13 pm

    @catclub:

    Robby Mook is the unsung hero of this election cycle, keeping the signal to noise ratio out of that campaign very high. The thing is, he wants to remain unsung. Compare and contrast to 2008, and the shitshow fail parade that was the Clinton campaign then.

  25. 25.

    jl

    September 28, 2016 at 3:13 pm

    Maybe Trump could get a new format where the candidates sit around eating junk food, watching TV, and riffing off stuff they see on the cable news channels?
    Might work better for Trump.

    Edit: Who gets to work the remote will be a big issue. But we need something to replace moderator controversies.

  26. 26.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 3:13 pm

    My heart is broken. The lady from the GE “Digital & Industrial” commercials apparently has a significant other. Although, he does seem a little intimidated at how proficient she is at her work…
    So you’re telling me there’s a chance?!

  27. 27.

    SiubhanDuinne

    September 28, 2016 at 3:14 pm

    Fuck. Elementary school shooting near Greenville, SC.

    God DAMN it.

  28. 28.

    Betty Cracker

    September 28, 2016 at 3:14 pm

    @dedc79:

    I think it’s long past time we acknowledge the 27% number was way too low. It’s more like 40%.

    Yeah, I think you’re right about that.

  29. 29.

    Trollhattan

    September 28, 2016 at 3:15 pm

    @LAO:
    Oh no. Fervently hope those poor kids survive.

  30. 30.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 3:16 pm

    @DCrefugee:

    Fox News has standards?

    Who knew?

    Actually, they don’t. Their on-air people will still shout about “winning every online poll” even if the fine print on the bottom of every poll says “Note: This is not a scientific poll. The results reflect only the opinions of those who chose to vote a million times for Trump because they have dishonest shit for brains.”

    And the same racists who scream about “voter fraud” go and vote multiple times on these online things, just to feed the wingnut noise machine.

  31. 31.

    Painlord

    September 28, 2016 at 3:16 pm

    @dedc79:

    Yeah. Lend me your ears for the 4:30am thought: we’re about to establish a new 27% Crazification Factor…this time for racism and sexism. Remember KungFuMonkey’s post? How he defined the baseline of Obama vs. Keyes? He factored out race…and sex wasn’t an issue.

    “Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy.”

    Now we will have a new baseline.

    Trump and Clinton are both white, from NY, and both are seen as untrustworthy. Trump, as was demonstrated in the debate, was proven wholly inept, unprepared, and an ignoramous…not to mention a huge and unrepentant liar. There is nothing coherent, sane, or rational in any of his proposals. He can only appeal to sexism and racism. That’s it. (Some might argue that it’s authoritarianism, but no, that’s wrong. It’s really just racism that makes stop & frisk okay and not fascist, for instance.)

    That’s the new baseline that we are testing. We have a sane and experienced candidate in comparison. And yet some portion of the populace will vote for crazy. However, this time it will be more than 27%.

    Now we can measure the coefficient of racism/sexism of the Crazification Factor. If Trump gets about 40% of the vote, then we know the racism/sexism coefficient is about 1.5.

  32. 32.

    Trollhattan

    September 28, 2016 at 3:16 pm

    Is “coughing prevention machine” modern lingo for an iron lung? Sure have gotten smaller.

  33. 33.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 3:17 pm

    @jl: I’m thinking “Trump Watches Ancient Aliens“.

  34. 34.

    Felonius Monk

    September 28, 2016 at 3:17 pm

    From the article it sounds like Trump has surrounded himself with a group of master-bators instead of master-debaters.

  35. 35.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 3:18 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    Robby Mook is the unsung hero of this election cycle, keeping the signal to noise ratio out of that campaign very high. The thing is, he wants to remain unsung. Compare and contrast to 2008, and the shitshow fail parade that was the Clinton campaign then.

    I was very pleased when I saw that Clinton was hiring the best and the brightest. Mook handles himself well on the morning shows, without drama or raging stupidity.

  36. 36.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 3:19 pm

    I agree with Trump that there was something wrong with his mic during the debate.

    It was on.

  37. 37.

    FlipYrWhig

    September 28, 2016 at 3:20 pm

    @germy: It also helps in muddying the waters that “online poll” can mean either one of those freepable messes, as here, OR something conducted by a legitimate polling organization with solid methods that happens to take place over the Internet.

  38. 38.

    Schlemazel

    September 28, 2016 at 3:21 pm

    Betty, you canceled in a huff? I must be slow, it took me a minute and a huff!

    h/t the one, the only . . . Groucho

  39. 39.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 3:21 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Or those things on her back could be, you know, the fasteners for a bulletproof vest. Jesus, these people are idiots!

    Just did a quick Google search and saw right near the top some loon claiming it’s a defibrillator vest. Apparently that is a real thing, but c’mon . . .

  40. 40.

    trnc

    September 28, 2016 at 3:21 pm

    “The team had primed Mr. Trump to look for roughly a dozen key phrases and expressions Mrs. Clinton uses when she is uncertain or uncomfortable, …”

    I can’t think of any example in the last 25 years where Hillary has looked uncomfortable or uncertain (in a vulnerable way) about anything.

    He’s getting ready to have 2 more of the longest 90 minutes of his life.

  41. 41.

    WereBear

    September 28, 2016 at 3:22 pm

    Trump’s candidacy might be the definition of trying to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear.

  42. 42.

    ...now I try to be amused

    September 28, 2016 at 3:22 pm

    All the king’s horses and all the king’s men can’t stop Trump half-assing it.

  43. 43.

    dmsilev

    September 28, 2016 at 3:23 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    The NYT story is basically saying that Trump’s debate coaches reckon he can’t be trained, and are reduced to praying for a miracle

    I think that might be wrong way to look at the story. I’d read it as follows:
    1) “It’s not our fault! Look what we have to work with!”
    2) “Mr. Trump, you’re losing and we’re afraid to tell you that to your face, but we know you obsess over news coverage of yourself, so…”

  44. 44.

    jl

    September 28, 2016 at 3:23 pm

    @trnc: That was funny. So, HRC throws something that indicates she is uncertain or uncomfortable, and then Trump does what, exactly? Yell a little louder, pile on an extra lie?

    A dumb person’s idea of what a smart plan would look like?

  45. 45.

    hovercraft

    September 28, 2016 at 3:23 pm

    Actually, Trump Should Skip the Next Two Debates

    By Isaac Chotiner Slate

    Canceling would prompt some bad press and even (briefly) more concerns about his suitability for the presidency. But that’s preferable to two more nights like the one he had on Monday……… For this unfortunate reason, declining to debate Hillary Clinton again might just be Trump’s best strategy……

    It’s near impossible for any nonphilosopher or nonexpert in the mechanisms of the universe and freewill to say whether Trump “could” have prepared for last night’s debate or “might” be capable of doing so next time. What is certain is that he didn’t, and as the night wore on his answers got closer and closer to gibberish, his lack of knowledge strikingly apparent. I don’t see that changing.………..

    As painful as it is for pundits and television executives to admit, skipping the debate is probably the right thing for Trump to do.

  46. 46.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 3:24 pm

    @Corner Stone: She’d dump him for you in a heartbeat if she read your balloon-juice comments. Have you thought of sending her some links?

    I had a crush on the AT&T commercial young lady. Turns out she was a refugee and she’s doing important work on the behalf of Syrian refugees.

  47. 47.

    FlipYrWhig

    September 28, 2016 at 3:24 pm

    I don’t think Trump knows what studying is, or learning, or working. His whole life has been either handed to him or is the product of impulse and snap judgments. He takes risks but gets bailed out so he’s never learned anything. He has no attention span and doesn’t comprehend complexity. Like if you told him about the “Trolley Problem” he’d just say, “easy, push the fat guy, end of story.” It’s possible that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are over-cautious, but Trump is remarkably under-cautious.

  48. 48.

    chopper

    September 28, 2016 at 3:24 pm

    yeah, hillary has an earpiece on her back. sounds legit.

  49. 49.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 3:25 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: They’ve been muddying the waters for as long as I can remember.

  50. 50.

    PsiFighter37

    September 28, 2016 at 3:26 pm

    Apparently Trump sounded even more stuffed at a speech in Chicago today. It would be irresponsible not to speculate on why Trump has continued doing coke after the debate.

  51. 51.

    Schlemazel

    September 28, 2016 at 3:26 pm

    @DCrefugee:
    One thing I learned from”COPS” was that even the cheapest whore has standards. Like Fox though they are really really low

  52. 52.

    SenyorDave

    September 28, 2016 at 3:26 pm

    @hovercraft: Can’t imagine him skipping the next two debates, election be would be over. If he is bad again next debate he might say f it and skip, and just do a scorched earth campaign. But he still has a brand to protect (hopefully a deteriorating brand).

  53. 53.

    Villago Delenda Est

    September 28, 2016 at 3:27 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Nailed. FSM will not hear them, though.

  54. 54.

    WereBear

    September 28, 2016 at 3:27 pm

    @Corner Stone: There is a trap of appreciating a ground-breaking series after waiting too long: once everyone and their trained dog have copied it, it doesn’t look so ground-breaking any more.

    It’s like young people who don’t understand what was so amazing about Elvis or The Beatles: they were competing with “How much is that doggie in the window?”

  55. 55.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 3:28 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    It would be irresponsible not to speculate on why Trump has continued doing coke after the debate.

    I think someone catnipped him with a bag of lidocaine.

  56. 56.

    Cacti

    September 28, 2016 at 3:28 pm

    The last ditch effort by the Trump handlers for the impending debacle was to work the media to push expectations so low, Trump would be declared the winner so long as he didn’t crap in his hand and fling it across the stage.

  57. 57.

    Villago Delenda Est

    September 28, 2016 at 3:29 pm

    @germy: Keeping that idiot Mark Penn on the other side of the continent is not a bad move, either.

  58. 58.

    SenyorDave

    September 28, 2016 at 3:29 pm

    @PsiFighter37: What is he doing in Chicago anyway? I have to assume that is pretty safe Clinton territory. I hope Hillary isn’t going to Oklahoma or Montana anytime soon. Does he have a hotel there to pad expenses?

  59. 59.

    dmsilev

    September 28, 2016 at 3:30 pm

    @hovercraft: I can’t see that working out for him. Every pundit, comedian, and Democratic politician in the country would be calling him a coward who was too afraid to face Hillary Clinton a second time. It would directly, and massively, undercut his “I’m the alpha dog who dominates everyone” shtick that’s at or near the core of his persona.

  60. 60.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 3:30 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    He takes risks but gets bailed out

    I don’t know if I’d even give him that much credit. Opening a small business is taking a risk, etc. Getting massive subsidies to open a cas!n0 in AC? Not much of a stretch to me, somehow. I just think all the “risk” he takes is because he’s an incredibly inept businessman who refuses to hire or listen to credible business people. All the people he surrounds himself with all seem to be lower level grifters and Yes people.
    He fired the only competent person in his sphere that I have ever heard of when she became too popular for her work on The Apprentice, Carolyn Kepcher, who he replaced with Ivanka!
    That does not seem like foreshadowing at all!

  61. 61.

    dmsilev

    September 28, 2016 at 3:31 pm

    @SenyorDave: He’s got a big hotel building in Chicago, but I assume he’s there for a fundraiser or similar.

  62. 62.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 3:31 pm

    It’s always playing the victim and pointing fingers to assign imagined blame on someone, anyone, else.

    Always.

    (Which, by the way, works great when running through a session of the RPG Paranoia. In real life, not so much.)

  63. 63.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 3:32 pm

    @WereBear: Play Buddy Holly’s Words Of Love to a young person. They don’t understand that it literally sounded like nothing else being produced in 1957.

    Because that style has been copied by every British invasion group from 1964 to 1984 and beyond.

    My cat likes it though.

  64. 64.

    Villago Delenda Est

    September 28, 2016 at 3:32 pm

    @germy: And, to the surprise of no one, the irony of their behavior is totally lost on them.

  65. 65.

    catclub

    September 28, 2016 at 3:32 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Like if you told him about the “Trolley Problem” he’d just say, “easy, push the fat guy, end of story.”

    “shoot the fat guy, just cause he’s fat, then pull a donut with the trolley like I did with my dad’s Rolls”

  66. 66.

    rk

    September 28, 2016 at 3:33 pm

    I have a suggestion on how to train him. Poke him with a cattle prod every time he makes a mistake or says something stupid and offensive. Daily 4 hour sessions and he may be ready in 10 days. That’s their only hope.

  67. 67.

    Elizabelle

    September 28, 2016 at 3:34 pm

    @Painlord: I would not leave “authoritarian” out. It’s a definite factor in Trump’s appeal to some of the deplorables. They’re magical thinkers, if they can be called thinkers for what they’re doing.

    Racism and sexism; it’s not that easy (although those are definitely present). You’ve got fundamentalism, and despair, and disgust (combined with not enough curiosity, or even intellectual ability, to pay attention and learn what really happened.)

    It’s a bitter brew with a lot of sour tastes blended in. Racism and sexism, period, is too pat and sounds a bit on the self-congratulatory side (“we’re not like that”).

  68. 68.

    Doug R

    September 28, 2016 at 3:34 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Bush in 2004 was wearing a lifevest because of his TIA. He also wore one on the pig ranch.

  69. 69.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 3:34 pm

    @Corner Stone: Did you see this tweet from Mark Cuban?

    Has Trump offered a single proposal to reduce the friction of starting a business? @HillaryClinton has

  70. 70.

    Schlemazel

    September 28, 2016 at 3:35 pm

    Teacher and 2 students shot by a teenager. Kids helicoptered to Greenville SC teacher taken by ambulance.

    The tree of liberty is once again watered with the blood of tyrants.

  71. 71.

    Villago Delenda Est

    September 28, 2016 at 3:35 pm

    @dmsilev: All they have to say is “Donald got beaten up by a girl, and is afraid of a rematch”. The subsequent sniffing will not be the result of inhaling a white powdery substance, but detecting his crusts burning.

  72. 72.

    JGabriel

    September 28, 2016 at 3:36 pm

    Betty Cracker @ Top:

    The NYT (yes, I’m still occasionally reading it even though I canceled my subscription in a huff…)

    1. If you’re using Google Chrome for your browser, go to Settings.

    2. At the bottom of the page, click on Show Advanced Settings

    3. Under the Privacy heading, click the button labelled Content Settings…

    4. Under the Cookies heading, 5 lines down click the button labelled Manage Exceptions…

    5. At the bottom of the right hand column labelled Behavior, there is a button/drop menu with Allow selected. Click on that drop-down menu, and select Clear On Exit.

    6. In the field to the left of that button/drop-menu, enter [*.]nytimes.com

    7. Click Done. Click Done again. Close the Settings page.

    That’s it. Whenever you close your browser, it will now delete any cookies set by nytimes.com. I think you can figure out what the result will be.

  73. 73.

    ...now I try to be amused

    September 28, 2016 at 3:36 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    He takes risks but gets bailed out so he’s never learned anything.

    Trump is like George W. Bush (pre-presidency) in that respect. Bush showed that there the disasters a president makes for himself are too big for anyone to bail them out of.

  74. 74.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 3:36 pm

    @WereBear: I just don’t get it. Why is McNulty so pissed about the murder of Stringer Bell? Was I supposed to care about Stringer Bell’s character? He was shit. Is Omar the anti-hero we’re supposed to root for? What the fuck is Bubbles doing and why doesn’t someone rob him every single day. And Bunny Colvin? The man is a sociopath who should be behind bars for the rest of his life, not working with kids.
    The groundbreaking-ness of it may have faded a bit with time but I’m not knocking it for it being a bit dated or even judging against any other efforts that have come since. It’s shit characters and shit plot with excellent acting. I can’t seem to get why anyone would ever give a damn about any of these people in actual real life.

  75. 75.

    hovercraft

    September 28, 2016 at 3:36 pm

    @SenyorDave:
    I’m not buying the it yet, but with Trump, every time I say there’s no way, he goes there. If you listen to him the last too days, he ‘won’ the debate, and it was rigged against him. He is out there telling lies about what he said in the debates, he tells his rallies that he hit hard on immigration during the debate, perhaps that was one of the times his mic was out, who knows. He is saying the s**t in full view of the press who he knows will call him out, so he can make up bulls**t stories for his fans and they’ll buy it. The one thing that would be different, is the media would go ape, they would harp on it so hard that in this particular case it would take more than his usual SQUIRREL to distract them, this is their bottom line.

  76. 76.

    Bodacious

    September 28, 2016 at 3:36 pm

    OK, so my curiosity was peaked. THIS seems pretty spot on. Maybe if Donald placed his up his ass his microphone really wasn’t working the way he wanted it to.

  77. 77.

    Villago Delenda Est

    September 28, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    @Elizabelle: “Christian” fundamentalism is deeply tied to racism and white supremacism. “Christian” fundamentalism got its start when denominations broke up in the 1850’s over the issue of slavery, which in this country has always been race based.

  78. 78.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Hell, it sounds like Trump’s debate coaches can’t be trained either.

  79. 79.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    the irony of their behavior is totally lost on them

    Introspection or self-awareness is not in their bag of tricks.

  80. 80.

    WereBear

    September 28, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    @rk: I like that idea. Don’t care if it doesn’t work. Do it anyway!

  81. 81.

    singfoom

    September 28, 2016 at 3:39 pm

    Narcissist who knows nothing won’t listen to anyone who tries to tell him anything. Film at 11. Ailes and Guiliani and Trump deserve each other. Please, keep the same team for the next debate, but go after Clinton for Bill’s infidelities. Oh please. Please please please please.

    Because it’ll be another example of what a petty little shit heel Trump is.

  82. 82.

    Brachiator

    September 28, 2016 at 3:39 pm

    I got distracted, wondering whether it should be home in or hone in

    but he did not seem to pay attention during the practice sessions, one aide said, and failed to home in on her vulnerabilities during the debate.

    Because otherwise, the story is pretty dumb.

    The second debate is a town hall style debate, with questions from regular people, and this may help Trump somewhat. His partisans may try to ask him easy stuff that they want to hear.

    One local radio host, not a Clinton supporter, thought not only that Hillary cleaned Trump’s clock, but also thought she did what she needed to do in coming across as more human and natural. This host also noted how Trump got rattled, babbled nonsense, and made everything about himself when he got nervous (I’ve got some great real estate in Chicago, my son knows computers, may become a cyber criminal).

    The other host thought Trump did fine until the last half hour, but then swerved into an odd “What he said/what he really meant” to try to buff up Trump’s dismal performance. So, when Trump says that he was smart when he paid zero taxes, what he really meant was that he knows how to fix the tax code so that corporations pay more. This guy doesn’t think that Trump should get bogged down into the minutiae , but do what he does best, talk plainly to people, and bash Hillary.

    I bow down to Clinton and her team. She stayed relaxed, and found a sweet spot where she could make her points and deliver precise jabs at Trump that rocked him, mocked him and bruised his ego so bad that he could not perform with any of his usual swagger.

    Being able to get questions from regular folks may help him recover. But if he is seething over how Clinton bested him, and tries to go for obvious low blow crap, he might well be done for.

    The clock is ticking now. People are starting to vote. If Clinton gives another good performance, it may help sew things up.

    BTW. I don’t think the upcoming VP debate matters to anybody but deep political wonks. One possible interesting, but ghoulish question: “if you became president because your president become sick or died in office, how would your administration differ from your predecessor?” If reporters and pundits want to obsess over the health and age of either candidate, they need to take it all the way.

  83. 83.

    hovercraft

    September 28, 2016 at 3:39 pm

    @Cacti:
    As we saw Monday, the expectations cannot be low enough for him. Now that he s**t the bed he has to actually be good to erase that deplorable performance from people’s memories.

  84. 84.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 3:40 pm

    Heard about the Donald J. Trump doll?

    Pull its string and it lambasts Barbie for not curing cancer and achieving universal world peace over her more than half century of prominence.

  85. 85.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    September 28, 2016 at 3:41 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: I’m assuming that Clinton informed Penn that she has armed lookouts stationed at every airport making sure he doesn’t board a flight to anywhere. She probably has his phone bugged, too.

  86. 86.

    FlipYrWhig

    September 28, 2016 at 3:42 pm

    @Brachiator: “Hone in” doesn’t mean anything. “Hone” means “sharpen.” I prefer “zero in” to both “home” and “hone.”

  87. 87.

    Joyce H

    September 28, 2016 at 3:43 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    My heart is broken. The lady from the GE “Digital & Industrial” commercials apparently has a significant other. Although, he does seem a little intimidated at how proficient she is at her work…
    So you’re telling me there’s a chance?!

    My heart belongs to Owen. Planning on sneaking into the office dressed as an elf with a message.

  88. 88.

    hovercraft

    September 28, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    @dmsilev:
    I hope and pray you are right, I want him to debate and hit Hillary real hard with all of her abuse of women in the 80’s and 90s. I want pissed and loaded for bear. I want the media to spend the rest of this week panning his performance, I want his surrogates telegraphing the bimbo eruptions hits. I want him attacking a Latina about her weight. I want him to continue to talk only to FOX and talk radio. And then I want him to walk out on to that stage and let her have it.

  89. 89.

    WereBear

    September 28, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    @Corner Stone: I see it as kind of like Sartre. Only in Baltimore.

    The writer was going to do this big non-fiction book on the hopelessness of the racist drug war. And then he said, “Naaaah. Hardly anyone would read it. But as a mini-series…”

  90. 90.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 28, 2016 at 3:45 pm

    The House passed the veto override. It will now be legal for American citizens to sue the Saudi government over 9/11.

  91. 91.

    aimai

    September 28, 2016 at 3:45 pm

    @dedc79: Having watched the video purportign to show that Hillary wasn’t at a rally attended by several thousand people but, instead, was green screened in because she’s dead/missing/a robot I can believe anything of these idiots. Anything. And the comment section in below the youtube video making this argument? Holy crap but they seem to have emptied the mental hospitals right into the comments section without demanding anyone get off, or on, their meds.

  92. 92.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 3:46 pm

    BTW, format for the 2nd Clinton/Trump debate (emphasis added):

    The second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which half of the questions will be posed directly by citizen participants and the other half will be posed by the moderator based on topics of broad public interest as reflected in social media and other sources. The candidates will have two minutes to respond and there will be an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate further discussion. The town meeting participants will be uncommitted voters selected by the Gallup Organization. Source

    Actually, there will be two moderators, Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper.

  93. 93.

    MomSense

    September 28, 2016 at 3:46 pm

    @LAO:

    No no no no. Why do we have to suffer these senseless tragedies? This isn’t freedom. It’s madness. My heart breaks for the students, the teacher, their families and community.

  94. 94.

    PsiFighter37

    September 28, 2016 at 3:47 pm

    @SenyorDave: He does. There’s a huge Trump tower right in downtown…saw it this weekend when I was in town.

  95. 95.

    catclub

    September 28, 2016 at 3:48 pm

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym: The story about the midget who got to bat for the Cleveland Indians is similar.
    He was told there was a sniper in the crowd, and if he dared to swing at any pitch, he would be shot. He didn’t.

  96. 96.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 3:48 pm

    @Eric U.:

    His hair would never survive the wind tunnel.

  97. 97.

    aimai

    September 28, 2016 at 3:48 pm

    @hovercraft: Can I just say that when it comes to Trump merely being the obvious Id of the Republican party this whole “attack a latina” thing reminds me of the way the entire elected “respectable” republican party lost its collective shit over Sotomayor’s “wise latina” remark and continued throwing it in her face as if she had used some obscenity instead of the mere word “latina.” Trump is really like the poor white trash version of racism w/r/t its upper class counterpart. They are all professionally horrified that he says X really loudly, or while farting, but they said the same damned things just five minutes ago but somehow more respectably. Argh.

  98. 98.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 3:48 pm

    @WereBear: “Sartre is smartre, but Camus can do.”

    Arguably, I couldn’t help myself.

  99. 99.

    Calouste

    September 28, 2016 at 3:48 pm

    @germy: I think Trump’s proposal was the same as Romney’s: make sure you are born to rich parents.

  100. 100.

    hovercraft

    September 28, 2016 at 3:49 pm

    @Bodacious:
    You know that that is just the cover story made up to fool people like you. We know the truth!!

  101. 101.

    scav

    September 28, 2016 at 3:49 pm

    Are spell-checkers suddenly out for blood in the political realm: Trump’s D.C. hotel menu misspells Amerrrica?

  102. 102.

    debit

    September 28, 2016 at 3:49 pm

    I got nothing. Nothing but a short video of Walter and Ellie holding hands in front of a fire.

  103. 103.

    LAO

    September 28, 2016 at 3:50 pm

    @Corner Stone: Eh, like the Wire, don’t like the Wire.

    My partner and I, paraphrase this line, every time we get discovery in a criminal case. Never fails to crack me up. (And for the record, I loved the wire except for season 2, which was terrible)

  104. 104.

    StringOnAStick

    September 28, 2016 at 3:50 pm

    From that report, it sounds like Ailes was a big help. Instead of coaching Trump he spent his time telling war stories, I suspect a bunch of “bitch set me up” with a few “she has a purty mouth” (say hi, Gretta!) to make himself look powerful as he complained about the raw deal he got. Skirts, amirite? Ugh. Any woman who has worked with pigs like him knows exactly how that bit of debate “prep” went.

    The only reason Faux underlings were told not to use those online polls is they were too nuts, even for a Faux audience. Seriously, one post debate “poll” said 82% thought Trump won. Not even the right universe….

  105. 105.

    Aleta

    September 28, 2016 at 3:50 pm

    According to my source, there was a third suspicious thing, besides the Cleaner handoff and the robot wiring:
    “At the very least, there are three very things odd:
    1) Hillary’s fully written notes on her notepad when Trump’s were quick jot one or two word angled text”

    Political analysts who extract meaningful information from digital photos have informed me that:
    “Trump’s pad had a bunch of sketchy writing on it, later in the debate. Hillary’s has been alleged to have had some kind of pre-applied writing on her pad, early in the debate.”

    Complete sentences are a dead giveaway.

  106. 106.

    LAO

    September 28, 2016 at 3:51 pm

    @MomSense: Personally, I’m just really angry.

  107. 107.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 3:51 pm

    @NotMax

    Should add that as Gallup announced way back when that they would NOT be doing polling for this election, they would seem uniquely unqualified to discern and choose “uncommitted voters.”

  108. 108.

    hovercraft

    September 28, 2016 at 3:51 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:
    Morons.

  109. 109.

    catclub

    September 28, 2016 at 3:52 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Should be fun if SA calls George W Bush and Cheney as defense witnesses.

    I wonder how soon before the Congress will ask for backsies when the Saudi’s sue US Government officers.
    Or Russians sue.

  110. 110.

    p.a.

    September 28, 2016 at 3:53 pm

    Goddamnit I’m still waiting on the patent on my Coff-Off ™ to clear. Hilary was supposed to a) speed the process, and b) not use it until then. This blows everything.

  111. 111.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    @Corner Stone

    And Nietzsche is pietzsche.

  112. 112.

    catclub

    September 28, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Arguably, I couldn’t help myself.

    Otherwise, an existential crisis?

  113. 113.

    Brachiator

    September 28, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    The House passed the veto override. It will now be legal for American citizens to sue the Saudi government over 9/11.

    This should make for an interesting debate topic. Does it help Trump?

  114. 114.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    @MomSense: I’m assuming the shooter is white. Because apparently he is alive and well and in police custody.

  115. 115.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 3:55 pm

    @LAO: That whole, “Robert’s Rules of Order” and shit though. WTF was that? Was that supposed to be a comedic insertion or interlude? Stringer Bell was a stupid person who should have died way before he got got. Why would anyone have given a shit about that character? Why does McNulty seem to?

  116. 116.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 28, 2016 at 3:55 pm

    @Brachiator: I think 9/11 truthers split evenly between Johnson and Stein. Note that this has nothing per se to do with them, but they’re the only people I could think of who might care that much.

  117. 117.

    scav

    September 28, 2016 at 3:55 pm

    @NotMax: But Kant can’t.

  118. 118.

    hovercraft

    September 28, 2016 at 3:55 pm

    Fox Host Awkwardly Hints Body-Shaming Former Miss Universe Was Ailes’ Idea (VIDEO)

    When Fox News personality Greg Gutfeld wondered aloud “who gave [Donald Trump] that advice” to double-down on his body shaming of a former Miss Universe Tuesday, it seemed the entire panel on “The Five” was eager to move on.

    In a discussion of what Trump could “get away with,” as a candidate known for running against political norms, panelist Juan Williams brought up Trump’s fat-shaming of Alicia Machado, who won the Miss Universe pageant in 1996.

    “The other one that caught my attention was when he said the business about Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, and this morning he came on ‘Fox & Friends’ and just doubled down, and said, ‘You know what, she got fat.'” Williams said.

    “I wonder who’s giving that advice?” Greg Gutfeld quipped, to laughter from Williams and fidgety silence from the rest of the table.

    “What’s next!” he continued, undaunted.

    Gutfeld did not mention Roger Ailes by name. But the former Fox News CEO, who resigned from leadership of the network after two decades as chairman and CEO amidst mounting allegations of sexual harassment, has loomed large over the Trump campaign after it was revealed he was helping the GOP nominee with debate prep.

    If true, Trump should continue to take Ailes advice, it works so well.

  119. 119.

    Formerly disgruntled Clinton supporter

    September 28, 2016 at 3:55 pm

    @NotMax: Wow, it’s been a long time since I heard “Paranoia” mentioned! Played that a lot in middle school…

  120. 120.

    catclub

    September 28, 2016 at 3:56 pm

    @Aleta:

    there are three very things odd:

    I didn’t guess Yoda would be a Trump conspiracy theory maven. Learn something new every day.

  121. 121.

    Botsplainer

    September 28, 2016 at 3:59 pm

    I’m going to give everybody the secret of good trial practice, which I also believe translates well as a debate tool.

    You ready?

    “Don’t worry about the points the other guy is raising so much. Worry about presenting your case, and only address what the other is saying to the extent they’re refuting you.

    Everything else is noise, a useless distraction that can send you way off into the weeds if you don’t ignore or minimize it by a dismissive wave.”

  122. 122.

    James E Powell

    September 28, 2016 at 3:59 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Why is McNulty so pissed about the murder of Stringer Bell?

    Because Barksdale & Bell were his white whale. He wanted to nail them, expose them, get them to reveal their connections to others, etc.

    Omar is not the anti-hero, but he is one of the anti-heroes that I could not help but root for.

    Bubbles is one of the real hearts of the show.

    Bunny Colvin is not a sociopath as I understand that term. He was doing what quite a few cities have done – create a red light district so that people in neighborhoods could live normal lives.

  123. 123.

    Eric U.

    September 28, 2016 at 3:59 pm

    @JGabriel: if you’re so smart, how do you get that stupid autoplay ad on BJ to be blocked by adblock plus on chrome? I finally gave up on firefox, which blocked the ad

  124. 124.

    SFAW

    September 28, 2016 at 4:00 pm

    @DCrefugee:

    Fox News has standards?

    I think it was actually an Onion article.

  125. 125.

    hovercraft

    September 28, 2016 at 4:01 pm

    @Brachiator:
    It will because, the only way for Hillary to win on this is to be as demagogic as him, which I hope she won’t be. It’s the type of thing that sounds good to people on the surface, but is terrible. It takes time explain the unintended consequences, and viewers and the media will get bored and tune out. It will be reduced to Trump supports the families, and Hillary doesn’t.

  126. 126.

    Brachiator

    September 28, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    “Sartre is smartre, but Camus can do.”

    Renoir got some Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh.

  127. 127.

    SFAW

    September 28, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    @debit:

    Thanks!

  128. 128.

    LAO

    September 28, 2016 at 4:03 pm

    @Corner Stone: In the end, its just a TV show — I enjoyed it because it wasn’t black and white — some of the “bad guys” were decent people and some of the cops were horrible people. And as a criminal defense attorney — the show felt like realistic representation of the criminal justice system. I enjoyed but wasn’t super invested to the point where, years after watching, I can answer any of your questions.

    But seriously — “is you taking notes a criminal fucking conspiracy?” not a great line?

  129. 129.

    jl

    September 28, 2016 at 4:03 pm

    @hovercraft: The election may hang on a few arrogant and abusive semi-senile old codgers totally losing it. That would include Trump, as well as his weirdo rageaholic cronies.

    Edit: at first I typed ‘advisers’, but that is giving them too much dignity. They are old cronies.

  130. 130.

    JGabriel

    September 28, 2016 at 4:04 pm

    NYTimes via Betty Cracker @ Top:

    There were early efforts to run a more standard form of general election debate-prep camp, led by Roger Ailes, the ousted Fox News chief, at Mr. Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, N.J. But Mr. Trump found it hard to focus during those meetings …

    … distracted as he was by the siren call of Hooters, like Ulysses sailing home in the Mediterranean.

  131. 131.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 28, 2016 at 4:04 pm

    @JGabriel: Does this mean we can stuff his mouth with wax?

  132. 132.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 4:05 pm

    @Calouste:

    I think Trump’s proposal was the same as Romney’s: make sure you are born to rich parents.

    McCain’s advice was to marry a beer heiress.

  133. 133.

    sigaba

    September 28, 2016 at 4:05 pm

    @Corner Stone: There’s nothing Nietzsche couldn’t teach ya ’bout the raising of the wrists.

  134. 134.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 4:06 pm

    One thing I learned from Trump during the first debate:

    Obama will spend the rest of his life playing golf after he leaves the White House. I honestly didn’t know that.

  135. 135.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 28, 2016 at 4:07 pm

    @germy: Marrying a food magnate worked for John Kerry too.

  136. 136.

    dance around in your bones

    September 28, 2016 at 4:08 pm

    I’d just like to announce that I CAN’T BELIEVE NO ONE linked to The Specials ‘A Message To You Rudy’ in DougJ’s post Stop Your Messin Around yesterday, re: Rudy(NounVerb911)Giuliani.

    Prolly messed up the link oh my gah.

    Yeah, I’m still around, a permanent denizen of Lurkistan. I futz’d around semi-trying to watch the debate until my attempts to connect to wireless gasped, clutched its pearls, and fell on the fainting couch, At which point I did what a sensible life-form would do and hopped on the BJ bus to read reactions, comments, etc.

    Thanks, I feel better now. I can’t go on, I’ll go on.

  137. 137.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    @Eric U.

    If anyone doesn’t care to install or fiddle with ad blockers (or with NoScript) for Firefox, install the Privacy Badger add-on (trustworthy, provided by Electronic Frontier Foundation – info). When the BJ front page comes up, click on the little Privacy Badger icon and move the slider for http://www.ora.tv into the red. Only need to do that once.

    An add-on added with elation to my own Firefox must have list.

  138. 138.

    Immanentize

    September 28, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I’d like a piece of that well financed litigation!

  139. 139.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    @James E Powell:

    Bunny Colvin is not a sociopath as I understand that term. He was doing what quite a few cities have done – create a red light district so that people in neighborhoods could live normal lives.

    He created and enforced Hamsterdam. A place with no electricity, no sewage, no running water, no schools and dooming future generations to repeat the cycle. The latter day social service of condoms and STD treatment did not mitigate what he left those people and kids to deal with. Basically just saying don’t kill anyone down here where we can find the body and anything else goes.

  140. 140.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 4:11 pm

    Le sigh. Moderation with a post for Firefox users. Please liberate

  141. 141.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 4:11 pm

    @LAO: In the final analysis, many things are just many things.

  142. 142.

    Cat48

    September 28, 2016 at 4:12 pm

    I read that article in Nyt early today, twice, bc it was just hysterical to me for some reason. They sounded so afraid of Trump, like nobody wanted to tell him how bad his performance sucked. “He didn’t even bring up Benghazi”. Whenever, he hit her with a zinger, she just parried it back, etc.

    Here’s a pro tip for Trump, keep your damn mouth shut during Hillary’s 2 minutes to talk. I honestly have never seen a presidential candidate perform that badly. Nixon and Obama are vindicated. Heh

  143. 143.

    dedc79

    September 28, 2016 at 4:12 pm

    @aimai: it’s a prolonged mass hallucination

  144. 144.

    debit

    September 28, 2016 at 4:13 pm

    @SFAW: Thanks! I was trying to get a shot of Walter cleaning her ears, but he stopped once I had my phone ready. Then he crossed their paws and I melted.

  145. 145.

    Brachiator

    September 28, 2016 at 4:14 pm

    @hovercraft:

    It will be reduced to Trump supports the families, and Hillary doesn’t.

    Yeah. Good point.

    @Major Major Major Major: I think 9/11 truthers split evenly between Johnson and Stein. Note that this has nothing per se to do with them, but they’re the only people I could think of who might care that much.

    The Republicans are throwing their dear friends, the Saudis, under the bus in order to hurt Hillary and help Trump. They will have to do some serious butt kissing and fence mending when the election is over. Down side: if Trump wins, anti Saudi sentiment may get out of control.

  146. 146.

    FlipYrWhig

    September 28, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    @Corner Stone: I think I’m trying to say the same thing: he makes (impulsive) decisions about how to invest and so forth, but those aren’t real risks. I don’t think he fathoms the idea of a downside; if something doesn’t turn out for him he just walks away, so in his mind he never loses. Like when Kramer and Jerry make the bet about whether he’s going to make over his apartment so that the whole thing is “levels,” and then Kramer decides he doesn’t want to do it but insists that means he doesn’t have to pay up.

  147. 147.

    Eric U.

    September 28, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    @NotMax: what about users that recently dropped firefox?

  148. 148.

    dedc79

    September 28, 2016 at 4:16 pm

    Painlord:

    Now we can measure the coefficient of racism/sexism of the Crazification Factor. If Trump gets about 40% of the vote, then we know the racism/sexism coefficient is about 1.5.

    Agree with this. Trump’s percentage on the 8th is as accurate as picture as we are likely to get of the prevalence of racism and sexism in America.

  149. 149.

    Aleta

    September 28, 2016 at 4:16 pm

    @debit:

    Noblest dog in the Midwest
    you shall have your happiness

    (doggerel inspired by Madeline of course)

  150. 150.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 4:16 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    She’s nice. Dunno about the slight “make fun of the Asperger/autistic kid” vibe of the commercials, though. I think they’re very funny, but it’s getting in that zone where I assume I probably think it’s funny because my sensibilities are wildly out of date and hence barbaric by current standards. But it got passed by the weasels at the ad agency, so there’s that.

    As I ease into my golden years, sometimes I worry a little bit about turning into that old guy who lived down the street when I was much younger: “Yeah, the Japs are starting to make pretty good cars these days.” Don’t even get into it with him about “Japs,” because then he’ll tell you how it was on Guadalcanal, and you really don’t want to know.

    It’s sort of amazing how these seemingly ephemeral “people” in commercials catch on from such short moments. Repetition is the key, of course. If you Google “Lily” from the AT&T commercials, there are whole Web pages devoted to her. Ditto “Jan” in the Toyota ads. In fact, I just Googled “Toyota ad woman” because I couldn’t remember her name, and I got all that plus the info on the actress (Laurel Coppock).

    . . . Dang, the one I can’t find on Google now is the blond with almost cat’s-eye glasses who is in the furniture ads. Has a very slight dominatrix “sex-positive” vibe that is hilarious.

  151. 151.

    JGabriel

    September 28, 2016 at 4:16 pm

    Eric U.:

    if you’re so smart, how do you get that stupid autoplay ad on BJ to be blocked by adblock plus on chrome? I finally gave up on firefox, which blocked the ad

    Well, I use Spyware Blaster and Privacy Badger. Also, I set Chrome to let me choose when to activate plugin content:

    1. If you’re using Google Chrome for your browser, go to Settings.

    2. At the bottom of the page, click on Show Advanced Settings

    3. Under the Privacy heading, click the button labelled Content Settings…

    4. Under the Plugins heading (6 sections down) select the radio button for: “Let me choose when to run plugin content.”

    7. Click Done. Click Done again. Close the Settings page.

    Now you’ll have to right click on anything (like video) that requires a plugin, and select play.

  152. 152.

    Immanentize

    September 28, 2016 at 4:17 pm

    @LAO: @Corner Stone: Just to show you that law professors can mess with anything, here is an article by (my really good friend) Frank Rudy Cooper discussing Hyper-incarceration, multi-dimentionality, and The Wire.

  153. 153.

    Trollhattan

    September 28, 2016 at 4:18 pm

    @NotMax:

    The town meeting participants will be uncommitted voters selected by the Gallup Organization.

    Just great, a hall packed with morons. They’ll like the cut of Donny’s jib due to the accompanying gibberish.

  154. 154.

    FlipYrWhig

    September 28, 2016 at 4:18 pm

    @Steeplejack: I think you mean Emily Tarver of Haverty’s fame.

  155. 155.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 4:19 pm

    @Eric U.

    It’s my go to choice of browser, so the one have the most familiarity with and about.

    In case my disappeared comment never shows (trying again here sans linkage) Google “Privacy Badger” and install it on FF. Uncomplicated and intuitive how to block the offending video.

  156. 156.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 4:19 pm

    @Trollhattan:

    Transistors.

  157. 157.

    Aleta

    September 28, 2016 at 4:20 pm

    @debit:

    Noblest dog in Minnesota
    You shall walk like John Travolta

  158. 158.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 4:21 pm

    Global Warming – CO2 Level Permanently Above 400 PPM
    Climate Central: The World Passes 400 PPM Threshold. Permanently
    by Brian Kahn
    …never to return below it in our lifetimes, according to scientists.

  159. 159.

    Iowa Old Lady

    September 28, 2016 at 4:22 pm

    @aimai: My favorite moment in the questioning of Sotomayor was when one of the Rs told her, a la Ricky Ricardo, that she “had some ‘splainin to do.” My mouth dropped open. Do these people not know what they sound like?

  160. 160.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 28, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    @Immanentize: Contingency, or retainer?

  161. 161.

    Iowa Old Lady

    September 28, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    @debit: OMG, that is so cute! Walter and Ellie forever.

  162. 162.

    Gelfling 545

    September 28, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    @dmsilev: But it might be worse to have HRC wipe he floor with him again. also, the next one is a town hall, where he’ll have to speak to actual humans. I don’t think he enjoys that.

  163. 163.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    @WereBear:

    This is true. When you’ve always been swimming in it you don’t even realize it’s there, or that “it’s a thing.”

  164. 164.

    Mnemosyne

    September 28, 2016 at 4:24 pm

    @hovercraft:

    Hillary and Robby Mook are thinking, Yes, Donald, throw us in that briar patch …

  165. 165.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 28, 2016 at 4:24 pm

    @Brachiator:

    The Republicans are throwing their dear friends, the Saudis, under the bus in order to hurt Hillary and help Trump. They will have to do some serious butt kissing and fence mending when the election is over. Down side: if Trump wins, anti Saudi sentiment may get out of control.

    It passed the senate 97-1.

  166. 166.

    Immanentize

    September 28, 2016 at 4:25 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Cash up front for this particular show.

    ETA, maybe the best plan would be “Both!”

  167. 167.

    Sandia Blanca

    September 28, 2016 at 4:25 pm

    @Brachiator: The correct usage is, indeed, “HOME in”–like a homing pigeon. Here’s a nice explanation of the difference.

  168. 168.

    Eric U.

    September 28, 2016 at 4:26 pm

    @JGabriel: thanks, not sure I’m ready for that solution, but maybe. I think that ad crashed my computer last night. Adblock plus seems to want me to uninstall and reinstall. I guess the player the ads used isn’t flash, JW Player

    I hope Cole is getting rich off of that thing, because it’s really problematic

  169. 169.

    Honus

    September 28, 2016 at 4:26 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: actually, I believe it was a food magnate’s widow.

  170. 170.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 4:26 pm

    @Steeplejack: First of all, I want to shop for furniture wherever it is your regional commercial viewing population might choose to shop.
    I don’t get an autism-spectrum off that kid, unless we’re now saying that deficiencies in any area of reasonable communication or being slightly off in putting two and two together lean toward those characteristics.
    As for the rest of the women you mention in those ads…I think my Tamron Hall obsession fandom precludes me to make further speculation and/or observation.

  171. 171.

    LAO

    September 28, 2016 at 4:27 pm

    @Immanentize: Spoken like a law professor. ;-)

    I downloaded it and will give it a go. Thanks

  172. 172.

    JGabriel

    September 28, 2016 at 4:27 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Does this mean we can stuff his mouth with wax?

    Go for it. Try to do it when the Secret Service isn’t around. They might have objections.

    Of course, on the other hand, they might help.

  173. 173.

    Uncle Cosmo

    September 28, 2016 at 4:28 pm

    @Schlemazel:

    The tree of liberty is once again watered with the blood of tyrants.

    The scrub of infamy is once again watered with the blood of infants.

  174. 174.

    seaboogie

    September 28, 2016 at 4:30 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I believe you have to think really creatively when Trump is your candidate. He invites the ultimate in blue skying spit-balling….and the results are more cray than if you did your corporate retreat on acid or shrooms. “Mannnnn….I’m not sure those whiteboards are even white anymore…look at all those colors” (because the only marker that worked was the green one)….

  175. 175.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 4:32 pm

    @Honus

    You’re thinking of Kerry. McCain married the beerionaire.

  176. 176.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 28, 2016 at 4:34 pm

    @Honus: Ah yes.

    @NotMax: Check what they’re responding to before responding ;)

  177. 177.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 4:34 pm

    RUSH LIMBAUGH: This fact-check technique is the latest. Let me tell you what it really is. There is no fact-checking. The fact that The New York Times, and The Washington Post, and USA Today, and all these other papers and networks now have fact-checkers is for one reason. It allows them to fool you into thinking they have an objective, nonpartisan staff or person analyzing everything the candidates are saying, and telling you what they’re saying is true, or what they’re saying is false.

    When in fact the fact-checkers are no different than the biased left-leaning reporters and columnists at these papers and on networks. But the fact-check, the idea that it is a fact-check story is designed to say to you that it is objective and analytically fair, and all it is is a vehicle for them to do opinion journalism under the guise of fairness.

    Which, if you fall for it, gives it even more power, because if you think that the fact-checkers like PolitiFact or Snopes, or whoever else, if you quote them constantly as the Bible, well then you’ve fallen for it.

  178. 178.

    debit

    September 28, 2016 at 4:35 pm

    @Aleta: Hah! An elderly Travolta for sure.

  179. 179.

    Ghost of Joe Liebling's Dog

    September 28, 2016 at 4:36 pm

    @dance around in your bones: Hey there – glad to see your nym!

  180. 180.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 4:37 pm

    @Major Major Major Major

    My bad.

    However, got to coin on the fly the term beerionaire, so not a total wipe out.

  181. 181.

    MomSense

    September 28, 2016 at 4:38 pm

    @germy:

    Yup.

  182. 182.

    Immanentize

    September 28, 2016 at 4:40 pm

    @germy: This Rush quote reminded me of an opposite view that someone recently wrote which was along the lines of: “Fact checkers were created by news outlets so that they could continue writing opinion pieces and horse race articles rather than reporting on the relative truth of statements made by the powerful people they cover. In the past, fact checkers were called “reporters.”

  183. 183.

    jonas

    September 28, 2016 at 4:40 pm

    Speaking of political humiliations, the Russians just got their asses handed to them by the Dutch-led taskforce investigating the downing of MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014. Tl;dr = it was a Russian Buk anti-aircraft missile fired from a mobile launcher parked in a rural area near the rebel-held city of Snizhne. The amount of evidence the investigators amassed, including intercepted calls between the pro-Russian rebels who fired the damn thing, and the painstaking detail in which they laid out their case in this narrated animation is really quite interesting to watch.

    Russia’s response has been a bunch of Trump-esque spluttering and bombast about how unfair all these countries are ganging up on them.

  184. 184.

    Mnemosyne

    September 28, 2016 at 4:41 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    As Villago said, the racism and sexism are baked in, sometimes so deeply that people don’t realize that’s what the origins are.

    Take the modern pro-life movement. As Fred Clark at Slacktivist likes to say, evangelical opposition to abortion is younger than the Happy Meal. Until it became politically expedient to ally themselves with Roman Catholics, most Baptist and other Protestant evangelical denominations said that abortion was unfortunate but necessary.

    Now you have a whole generation that was raised to think that abortion is mass murder that’s worse than the Holocaust, and they really do think that. They don’t know about the cynical roots of that decision and how it’s tangled up with racism and sexism, they just know what they’ve been taught.

    So it’s entirely possible for otherwise well-meaning people to not realize what the roots of something they’ve been taught are even though the roots are there and visible. Does that make sense?

  185. 185.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 4:41 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Yes!

    @Corner Stone:

    See for yourself.

  186. 186.

    JPL

    September 28, 2016 at 4:41 pm

    @debit: That put a smile on my face. Lucky dogs!

  187. 187.

    Uncle Cosmo

    September 28, 2016 at 4:41 pm

    @Brachiator: “Home,” the verb, as in “to be guided to a target,” like a homing pigeon. “Hone,” the verb, means “to sharpen, enlarge or smooth.”

    People who say “hone in” instead of “home in” are fucking imbeciles who ought to be physically prevented from interacting with or spawning children.

  188. 188.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 28, 2016 at 4:43 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo: Lousy semantic drifters, get off my lawn!

  189. 189.

    Chip Daniels

    September 28, 2016 at 4:43 pm

    More and more, Trump and his followers resemble the guys in Anchorman, freaking out about the girl anchorman.
    I half expect one of them to squeal about how bears can track the blood from menses.

  190. 190.

    Brachiator

    September 28, 2016 at 4:45 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    It passed the senate 97-1.

    You’re right. But nobody expects anything from the Democrats. The Republicans are all supposed to be about business and realpolitik. And with the GOP backing Trump’s anti-Muslim play, I would think that Republicans may be hurting themselves more.

    But yeah, this stunt vote makes things interesting for the US, no matter who is elected president.

  191. 191.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 4:46 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    “Job Interview.”

  192. 192.

    Enhanced Voting Techinques

    September 28, 2016 at 4:46 pm

    I think that picture is showing the upper half of the sign that says “Kiss me here Donny” Hillary had tapped to her backside.

  193. 193.

    catclub

    September 28, 2016 at 4:48 pm

    @germy:

    McCain’s advice was to marry a beer heiress.

    Someone should ask Trump how many houses he has.

  194. 194.

    Trollhattan

    September 28, 2016 at 4:48 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo:
    One might say you’ve honed your argument.

  195. 195.

    Iowa Old Lady

    September 28, 2016 at 4:48 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Digby has a post up about how crazy it makes Trumpians that the first black president is likely to be followed by the first female president. It drives home their sense of a lost time when they were in charge.

  196. 196.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 4:50 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I don’t get an autism-spectrum off that kid, unless we’re now saying that deficiencies in any area of reasonable communication or being slightly off in putting two and two together lean toward those characteristics.

    Point taken. I guess I’m searching for the currently permissible way to indicate that someone is slightly “off” rather than out and out stupid. “Retard” worked so well for so long. Kinda miss it. //Trump mode

    As for the rest of the women you mention in those ads . . . I think my Tamron Hall obsession fandom precludes me to make further speculation and/or observation.

    I get it, you’re a one-woman guy, and I salute you for that.

  197. 197.

    Mnemosyne

    September 28, 2016 at 4:51 pm

    @dance around in your bones:

    Hi, you! Hope all is reasonably well. I will be knitting Tiny Hillarys and (Taco) Trucks from Mochimochi Land for my upcoming road trip to Nevada to canvass for Hillary.

  198. 198.

    James E Powell

    September 28, 2016 at 4:51 pm

    @Cat48:

    “He didn’t even bring up Benghazi”

    As if bringing up Benghazi is some magical incantation. Please proceed Mr Trump.

  199. 199.

    catclub

    September 28, 2016 at 4:52 pm

    @JGabriel:

    Try to do it when the Secret Service isn’t around.

    What happens if Bill Clinton rushes the stage to punch Trump? Who has the larger Secret Service detachment?

  200. 200.

    catclub

    September 28, 2016 at 4:54 pm

    @Trollhattan: needs more homophones.

  201. 201.

    Brachiator

    September 28, 2016 at 4:56 pm

    @germy:

    Climate Central: The World Passes 400 PPM Threshold. Permanently by Brian Kahn
    …never to return below it in our lifetimes, according to scientists.

    They’re only eminent scientists. What do they know?

  202. 202.

    piratedan

    September 28, 2016 at 4:57 pm

    @LAO: I thought The Wire was significant in that there were no heroes, just people. Lots and lots of flawed people. The actual concepts of right, wrong, made the whole hero “thing” just a joke to indicate that there aren’t any heroes, just people. People trying to survive the best that they could under the realities they existed in, that supposedly was the drama.

    ymmv

  203. 203.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 4:58 pm

    @dance around in your bones:

    Link certified blog-compliant by me!

    Good to see you here, stranger.

  204. 204.

    Amir Khalid

    September 28, 2016 at 4:58 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:
    Actually, John Kerry didn’t marry a food magnate. Theresa Heinz was the widow of a food magnate’s heir.

  205. 205.

    Villago Delenda Est

    September 28, 2016 at 4:59 pm

    @germy: Facts, as everyone knows, have a liberal bias.

  206. 206.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 5:01 pm

    @Brachiator: Should be front page news everywhere, but it isn’t.

  207. 207.

    dance around in your bones

    September 28, 2016 at 5:01 pm

    Thanks, Ghost of Joe……..Dog. Its been so long since I’ve commented that
    A. I cannot seem to make the Reply button work. and
    B. I am nowhere on Majorx4’s graph thingy. And I’m too lazy too look me up on the spreadsheet.
    …after all. “I” know I still exist. Sort of.

  208. 208.

    hovercraft

    September 28, 2016 at 5:02 pm

    @germy:
    Isn’t that basically what the head of the debate commission said? The example she used was the unemployment rate, she said different people may have different numbers, and how would a ‘fact checker’ know which was right. The fact that whichever asshole was interviewing didn’t say, the one using the Dept. of Labor stats.

  209. 209.

    germy

    September 28, 2016 at 5:02 pm

    @catclub:

    Someone should ask Trump how many houses he has.

    “you’ll have to ask my wife. i can’t remember.”

  210. 210.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 5:02 pm

    Okay, I am coming off a raging three-day cold—extremely sore throat, lots of coughing and sneezing—and I’m going to try to put the kibosh on it by going out for Mexican food with an ex-colleague from Barnes & Noble. Spicy salsa—the cure for all that ails you! Back later. (Although I’m not leaving quite yet.)

  211. 211.

    Corner Stone

    September 28, 2016 at 5:03 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    I get it, you’re a one-woman guy, and I salute you for that.

    I’m currently a no woman guy. But I get paid this Friday.
    Boom! Bah-duh-duh, splash!!

  212. 212.

    dance around in your bones

    September 28, 2016 at 5:03 pm

    @Steeplejack: Thanks Steep!

    Weirdly, the reply button now works. Thanks Obama!

  213. 213.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 5:04 pm

    @catclub

    But enough about Grindr….

    ;)

  214. 214.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    Thanks again for that tip. I would have been awake tonight trying to identify her. Hell, I couldn’t even remember Haverty’s (which says a lot about our advertising culture—how many times is there a great ad but you can’t remember which product it’s for?).

  215. 215.

    Brachiator

    September 28, 2016 at 5:09 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    “Home,” the verb, as in “to be guided to a target,” like a homing pigeon. “Hone,” the verb, means “to sharpen, enlarge or smooth.”

    How did a good noun like “home” horn in to the verbs, as in “home in?” And “homing” as in homing pigeons is really an adjective with feathers.

    But I take your point, and was only semi-serious. Even so, growing up, I heard more speakers say “hone in” as opposed to “home in.” The Grammatist notes some regional element to this:

    Hone in began as an alteration of home in, and many people regard it as an error. It is a very common, though, especially in the U.S. and Canada—so common that many dictionaries now list it—and there are arguments in its favor…. A few American and Canadian publishers clearly favor home in as a matter of policy, but most apparently have no strictly enforced policy one way or the other.

  216. 216.

    Felonius Monk

    September 28, 2016 at 5:10 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I’m currently a no woman guy. But I get paid this Friday.
    Boom! Bah-duh-duh, splash!!

    There’s a Rodney Carrington song for you, but I won’t link to it. :-)

  217. 217.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 5:10 pm

    @dance around in your bones

    Both you and your full-throated astuteness have been missed.

    M⁴’s compilation covered only this past June and July, IIRC, so that would explain the omission.

  218. 218.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 5:12 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    The eagle flies on Friday
    Saturday I go out to play

  219. 219.

    Joel

    September 28, 2016 at 5:16 pm

    @germy: Kurtis Blow sounds positively ridiculous nowadays but hip hop was revolutionary then.

  220. 220.

    FlipYrWhig

    September 28, 2016 at 5:16 pm

    @Steeplejack: My superpower* is that I am excellent at recognizing people in commercials from other commercials. What’s weird is that at the same time I’m beyond horrendous at recognizing faces in real life. Stupid brain.

    * I didn’t say it was a good or useful superpower.

  221. 221.

    Steeplejack

    September 28, 2016 at 5:22 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    I’ve got the visual part—I’m constantly tying some bit player on a Law and Order rerun to his/her later appearance on some other show, even years later—but I get bogged down in the “Who is that, actually?” part sometimes.

    Other useless superpower is identifying voices on voice-over commercials. Ditto for lead guitarists circa 1960-8?.

  222. 222.

    Major Major Major Major

    September 28, 2016 at 5:22 pm

    @dance around in your bones: Welcome back!

    @NotMax: June up through last week, but the graphs are for people with more than 100 comments during that time.

  223. 223.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 5:25 pm

    Some of the advertising actors are so skilled at creating a persona that they nearly instantly become memorable faces.

    Recall Joe Isuzu?

  224. 224.

    Brachiator

    September 28, 2016 at 5:30 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Actually, John Kerry didn’t marry a food magnate. Theresa Heinz was the widow of a food magnate’s heir.

    Sounds like there was an heir in someone’s food.

  225. 225.

    FlipYrWhig

    September 28, 2016 at 5:35 pm

    @Steeplejack: I do the voiceover thing too! Just the other day I was, like, “I got it, Stanley Tucci”!

  226. 226.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 5:42 pm

    @FlipYrWhig

    And some, like Mason Adams, possess(ed) voices readily recognizable even if one couldn’t pin a name to the speaker.

  227. 227.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    September 28, 2016 at 5:50 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    We should be in (or form) the Useless Avengers.

  228. 228.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    September 28, 2016 at 5:53 pm

    Ah, spicy, spicy salsa is flowing past my gozzle! Marg on the way.

  229. 229.

    Bitter Scribe

    September 28, 2016 at 5:54 pm

    Boy, I could sure use a coughing prevention machine right now.

  230. 230.

    NotMax

    September 28, 2016 at 5:55 pm

    @Steeplejack

    Inferior Five?

  231. 231.

    dance around in your bones

    September 28, 2016 at 5:55 pm

    Mnemosyne, Majorx4, NotMax, Steep et al …… thanks for noticing my nym. I really am here all the time but don’t comment. This whole election cycle with that farcical orangeopponent makes me fear for my sanity. So I’ve been alternating between reading Fear and Loathing LV (again, first read it in our huge clawfoot bathtub from the frequently escaping pages of the then newspaperish Rolling Stone) and A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson which gives me perspective on the totally strange way our Universe banged it’s way into existence and on the immensity of Space, the Universe and Everything.

    Heavy, man.

  232. 232.

    Eric S.

    September 28, 2016 at 6:00 pm

    @SenyorDave: He was out in the deep red suburbs at s golf course, I believe.

  233. 233.

    Formerly disgruntled Clinton supporter

    September 28, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    @dance around in your bones: Sounds like good reading!

  234. 234.

    vhh

    September 28, 2016 at 6:48 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I wonder if citizens of other countries will now be able to sue the US government, too.

  235. 235.

    Humdog

    September 28, 2016 at 6:53 pm

    @Corner Stone: I kinda figured you were parter less right now because you talk to us about hanging around the house naked. If you were partnered up, you might find more interesting things to do with your naked time ; )

  236. 236.

    Exit 135

    September 28, 2016 at 7:03 pm

    In a series of interviews, Tony Schwartz, co-author of “Art of the Deal” said the same thing about trumps attention span. It only lasts a few minutes. This is a horrifying feature of trumps personalty disorder. He can not be elected President.

    Trump is a clear and present danger to The Republic.

    *Tony Schwartz’s name is on the dust cover of the book. He was not a ghost writer. He is a co author.

  237. 237.

    dance around in your bones

    September 28, 2016 at 7:12 pm

    @Formerly disgruntled Clinton supporter:

    It IS good reading! Someone linked to Fear and Loathing LV a couple days ago (to clarify comments re: bats everywhere!, ‘when the ether kicks in’, etc and it reminded me how much fun I had reading Hunter S. Thompson back in the day so I d/l’d a pdf. I’ve carried around A Short History for years and tend to dip into it when life gets tough. It always cheers me up, the sheer improbability of Life, The Universe and Everything! Hey, if things get too outrageous, this Universe will just collapse and give another Big Bang at it!

    So, I’ll just add So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish! o.O

  238. 238.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    September 28, 2016 at 8:39 pm

    @NotMax:

    Too right.

  239. 239.

    JGabriel

    September 28, 2016 at 11:29 pm

    catclub:

    What happens if Bill Clinton rushes the stage to punch Trump? Who has the larger Secret Service detachment?

    Well, Bill Clinton has had a Secret Service team a lot longer than Trump, so I imagine Bill is probably friends with most of his detail. Additionally, Donald has several times advocated things – like Second Amendment remedies against Hillary or disarming her protection – that endanger the lives of Secret Service agents.

    So if Bill rushes the stage to punch Combover Caligula, I’m guessing most of the Secret Service will cheer him on.

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