Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

If West Virginia and San Francisco had a love child.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Democrats are back in array!

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

He really is that stupid.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

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

If marriage is the equivalent of selling yourself into slavery, women with self respect should reject the offer.

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

Days Since JD Vance Insulted Women Across America: Zero

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

It’s a doggy dog world.

ha ha ha! Nice try weird people.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Going Low

Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Going Low

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Meanwhile, per TPM:

Eric Trump on Wednesday joined Donald Trump’s surrogates in applauding the Republican nominee for not bringing up Bill Clinton’s sex scandals during the Monday debate, even saying that the moment is “something I’ll always remember.”

“I mean, he very well could’ve looked down—and he said it when he came off the debate stage, ‘I wasn’t gonna respond to that question because I saw Chelsea in the front row and I just wasn’t gonna go there out of respect for her,'” Eric Trump told Iowa radio host Simon Conway, according to a clip highlighted by Buzzfeed News. “And that was a big moment for me and probably will actually become — my life and this campaign — and probably something I’ll always remember.”

He said his dad “really took the high ground where he had the opportunity to go very, very low.”…

Not to worry, though, the kids have figured out the real problem with Dad’s campaign — lousy advisors!

Folks, it’s time to repurpose those playground jokes to target a group that really deserves it…

How many Trumps does it take to change a lightbulb?

***********
Apart from going low, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

Reader Interactions

306Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    He said his dad “really took the high ground where he had the opportunity to go very, very low.”…

    He added, “he won’t make that mistake again.”

  3. 3.

    Matt McIrvin

    Bannon, Conway and Bossie (and Roger Ailes), as evil as they are, have probably put Trump’s campaign on as sound a footing as it could ever have had. If the kids try to kick ’em out again, it’s popcorn time.

  5. 5.

    gf120581

    Yeah, go ahead and fire your campaign heads 40 dayd before the election. Real winning move there.

    If they need to sacrifice someone for Monday’s debacle, they’d ax Bossie if they were smart. But they’re not, so it’ll be Conway.

  6. 6.

    jl

    The Oval Office will be interesting during the Trump years. In between the trashy gilded gee-gaws, fake European coats of arms, and bric-a-brac will be giant video screens tuned into cable channels spewing out wingnut news and reality shows. Trump will sit around with Rudy, Roger and Chris in the midst of a few days of fast food wrappers chowing down on cheeseburgers forming policy from their stories of the crreps, heels and bums what crossed them in the past.

    Meeting and interviews will be interrupted while Trump has to catch random stuff coming out of the tube, or to chew out a groundskeeper who he thought looked at him funny and needs to understand who the bass is.

    Never a dull moment.

    Edit: would be like a Baud administration except no beer, and probably no one would be allowed to crash on the office sofas. And Trump would harrrass the help with crazy boss stuff, while Baud would try to cage small change.

  7. 7.

    ? Martin

    I remember when I was at the park and there was this cute disabled girl by the restroom who was struggling to get her wheelchair from blocking the men’s room. I so wanted to punch her square in the face – but I resisted because I thought that might actually cause her to take longer to get out of my way. That was a big moment for me and I’ve never been more proud of myself. One of those disability agencies should give me an award.

  8. 8.

    Humdog

    If the Trump campaign surrogates are all trashing Hillary for being mean to Bill’s bimbo and not being able to “control Bill” now, then Eric loses his pride in his dad? Scary the number of blond women who are willing to slime Hillary on behalf of the orange ball sack.
    I honestly did not think Trump would go lower. And you know he will keep the frikken “Christian” vote with this muck. I hate how I am hating on my fellow Americans right now.

  11. 11.

    FlipYrWhig

    And that was a big moment for me and probably will actually become — my life and this campaign — and probably something I’ll always remember.

    Remember how at the convention none of Trump’s family had any heartwarming memories of time spent with Dad? It’s probably true that “That Time When Dad Didn’t Talk About Bill Clinton Nailing Broads” is one of their great shared moments.

  13. 13.

    Ryan

    Throw the campaign advisers under the bus, can’t imagine what could go wrong! Wait, let’s fire them, start fresh with 40 days to go! Campaign staff, you better collect your pay up front.

  17. 17.

    Felonius Monk

    think campaign is hurting business

    Maybe they should have thought about this before he ran. Don’t think the Trump brand will be worth much after Nov 8. Loser stink lingers for a long time, especially for this POS.

  19. 19.

    Jeffro

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Bannon, Conway and Bossie (and Roger Ailes), as evil as they are, have probably put Trump’s campaign on as sound a footing as it could ever have had. If the kids try to kick ’em out again, it’s popcorn time.

    The great thing is, the Trump kids think it’s when Bannon & Co came in that things started to head south…unbelievable. The attention-span thing must be congenital

  20. 20.

    Jeffro

    Here’s some more cold comfort for Republican dead enders who are positive, just POSITIVE, that the dumb email non-issue is going to save them: Comey’s like, “get over it”

    Pretty much literally, he said that today.

  21. 21.

    Joyce Harmon

    You don’t get credit for not mentioning something if immediately afterwards all your surrogates fan out to brag to the media that you didn’t mention the thing.

  23. 23.

    Baud

    I really hope Hillary wins because when the dust settles, I would like to read all the books that come out about this campaign season. (Maybe I’ll write my own!). I don’t think I could do that if the result is horrible.

  24. 24.

    Jeffro

    “I hope some day when this political craziness is over you will look back again on this, because this is the FBI you know and love,” Comey responded. “This was done by pros in the right way. That’s the part I have no patience for.”

    But no, it wasn’t just a political hatchet job designed to sink Secretary Clinton’s political viability, oh no…

  25. 25.

    maya

    @? Martin: Excellent! You win the intertubz.

    Does Reader’s Digest still exist? That would be perfect for “Life in These United States.”

    Also too, was the Polish Brigade at Donald’s polish summit?

  26. 26.

    Trollhattan

    @jl:
    Baud Oval Office: supermodels for everyone!
    Trump Oval Office: supermodels for president–hands off the rest of you, I mean it!

  27. 27.

    debbie

    So the House committee went nuts on Comey, enough to drive him to say this:

    “You can call us wrong, but don’t call us weasels,” he told the House Judiciary Committee. “We are not weasels, we are honest people and we did this in that way.”

    I haven’t been able to find a transcript. Does anyone know if one of the Republican members actually called Comey a weasel?

  30. 30.

    Walker

    How many Polish people are supporting Trump with his Putin sympathies. My first generation Polish wife (with family in Poland) is horrified by all this.

  32. 32.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mike J:
    @Ryan:
    @maya:

    The work was done by hundreds of undocumented Polish immigrants known as the “Polish brigade.” The men toiled through spring and summer of 1980 with sledgehammers and blowtorches, but without hard hats, working twelve-to eighteen-hour days, seven days a week, often sleeping on Bonwit Teller’s floors. They were paid less than $ 5 an hour, sometimes in vodka. Many went unpaid and were threatened with deportation if they complained. In 1983, the year Trump Tower opened, members of the Housewreckers Local 95 union filed suit claiming that Trump had illegally permitted undocumented immigrants to work on the tower. John Szabo, an immigration lawyer representing the workers, said a Mr. Barron—that name again—had called him from the Trump organization and threatened a lawsuit if the workers didn’t drop their demand for back payments. In 1990, after years of delays, Trump testified that he did not know the workers were undocumented. He blamed Kaszycki & Sons.

    (From Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power, by Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher. I’m currently reading it. It’s fascinating — have read a number of articles about him, but never a full biography of Trump.)

  33. 33.

    jl

    @Trollhattan: Just remember that the Baud Administration definition of supermodel is a chick who will always float you some change for beer and smokes, and not a drag around the poker table.

  34. 34.

    Renie

    So in TrumpWorld if you don’t say or do something horrible to another person this is not equal to being a decent human it is equal to being THE GREATEST PERSON EVAH!!

    I don’t think anyone in that family has normal values.

  35. 35.

    MisterForkbeard

    This is so weird. Trump said he took the high road by not talking about how his opponent’s husband had cheated on her DURING THE DEBATE, and then talked about it after the debate. And claimed he was an awesome and good person for only mentioning it afterwards.

    And his son thinks this a defining moment of his father that he’ll always remember. Sweet baby Jesus.

  37. 37.

    jl

    @Trollhattan:

    Just remember that the Baud Administration definition of supermodel is a chick who will always float you some change for beer and smokes, and not a drag around the p k r table.

    Edit: The Baud administration will put a long needed policy focus on biker chicks and old muscle cars that don’t quite run. A lot of room for those on WH lawn. And, means a possible role for Biden where he can really shine.

  39. 39.

    dmsilev

    So, apparently Trump himself responded to Katy Tur:

    Your sources, if they even exist, are probably sources that have been fired long ago and have no knowledge of what is happening in the campaign. Hard to be unhappy when we are doing so well.

    If we pass this statement through the Trump-truthifier (invert all statements), his campaign is a car that’s just blown two tires on an icy road above a precipice and three separate people are wrestling for control of the wheel.

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    One, to bark at a flunky to change the damn bulb and order ten lawyers to sue the company for making inferior bulbs.

  42. 42.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @jl:

    chowing down on cheeseburgers forming policy

    One exception: When they’re forming border policy, they’ll be chows get down on taco bowls.

  43. 43.

    ET

    The campaign is hurting business???? WTF. If I am reading that right what they thought is that the purpose in him running for president was to boost the bottom dollar for Trump Inc. Boy are they daddy’s children or what.

  44. 44.

    jl

    @MisterForkbeard: You don’t understand. The unfair and rigged circumstances always conspire to make Trump look bad. If it weren’t for the PC conventions that are destroying this country, Trump would have told HRC off to her face about her horn dog husband and ugly daughter in front of the whole country.

    Actually, you do understand and just won’t admit it. You know what I meant!

  45. 45.

    Baud

    @jl:

    The Baud administration will put a long needed policy focus on biker chicks and old muscle cars that don’t quite run. A lot of room for those on WH lawn.

    I’ve already ordered the cinderblocks.

  48. 48.

    different-church-lady

    Gosh kids, maybe you should fire them and bring in your fourth set of campaign leaders in a single election.

  50. 50.

    ? Martin

    @ET: And they don’t know the whole of it. Once this campaign is over, the right will also turn on him as fucking up their chances to defeat Hillary and they’ll be boycotted far worse than they are now. The family name will (finally) be trash.

  52. 52.

    Walker

    @Baud:

    Unfortunately, with my experience with my in laws, this is true for a lot of them (and I am from the South). But they still are not racist enough to let Putin take Ukrain.

  54. 54.

    Jeffro

    @debbie: Great minds and all that (see #25) =)

    No, no one actually called him a weasel. They just implied that there was a “heavy hand” behind Comey absolving Clinton…or a “shadow”, as the NYT would say…

  57. 57.

    Felonius Monk

    This Trump son-of-a-bitch not only needs to be humiliatingly defeated in this election, but also needs to be put out of business, have his wealth (if he really has any) confiscated, and be reduced to homelessness. This gutter rat should be returned to the gutter.

  59. 59.

    Jeffro

    @chopper:

    so trump wants a fucking award for not being a scumbag?

    He wanted credit for making his buildings handicapped-accessible…you know, like he was required to do by code? LOL

    In this case, he wants to get people talking hateful & hurtful stuff about the Clintons while still maintaining that he technically didn’t say anything about it.

    I think Hillz has got this.

  61. 61.

    SiubhanDuinne

    “And that was a big moment for me and probably will actually become — my life and this campaign — and probably something I’ll always remember. It was as special as that time I killed an elephant and cut off its tail as a trophy. Hell, it was even more memorable than that other time Eric and I killed a leopard and posed with its carcass for a Facebook picture.”

  63. 63.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @Baud:

    Oh, man… I didn’t uncork that little bit of trivia until after we moved in together!

  65. 65.

    MCA1

    Off topic, but telling nonetheless:

    I was helping my 4th grade son last night with some homework (English). It involved a bunch of old campaign slogans (“I like Ike,” “All The Way with LBJ,” etc.), finding alliteration and describing what makes them work, etc. There was a question that laid out the Clinton and Trump slogans, and instructed them to choose one and describe what appeal it’s attempting to make, blah blah blah. He gets halfway through reading me the question, looks up with a sour lemon look on his face and, direct quote, says:

    “Make America great again?!?! That’s stupid. America’s already great.”

    I beamed. 9-year-olds get it.

  71. 71.

    Lurking Canadian

    @Jeffro: He also apparently expected a biscuit for not banning minorities from his golf courses.

    He really is like a little kid who expects praise for pooping in the potty.

  73. 73.

    scav

    @NotMax: Farage is right out as a potential campaign advisor for Trump now. Poles are part of the dirty scum contaminating foreigners that need to be driven from his pristine shores.

  74. 74.

    Aleta

    @Baud: Only thing now that’s giving me pause about Hillary is she still hasn’t offered cabinet positions to anonymous commenters on the internet.

  75. 75.

    Soylent Green

    Who’da thunk that the current Republican nominee for president would make George W. Bush sound like Winston Churchill?

  77. 77.

    SFAW

    @Felonius Monk:

    This Trump son-of-a-bitch not only needs to be humiliatingly defeated in this election, but also needs to be put out of business, have his wealth (if he really has any) confiscated, and be reduced to homelessness. This gutter rat should be returned to the gutter.

    You seem awfully mellow — got any more luuuudes?

  79. 79.

    Hal

    I’m just wondering what Conway and Bannon’s nondisclosure agreements involve as penalty. If it’s monetary, say a fine of a certain amount, or some sort of agreement to forfeit profit from any sort of tell all? Is that possible?

    That seems foolish to sign unless you were sure you were going to end up in a much more powerful position. Whatever the case, when Trump loses the tea will be hot.

  80. 80.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Ryan:

    “Hey, Ivanka! Remember that time we were all having dinner together and Dad refrained from announcing that he’d like to boink you right there on the dining room table, out of deference to Jared? What a great man our father is, such restraint! I’ll carry that moment in my memory for as long as I live!”

  81. 81.

    Mary G

    California’s treasurer has pulled all state business with Wells Fargo for a year.

    They include suspending investments by the Treasurer’s Office in all Wells Fargo securities, not using Wells Fargo as a broker-dealer for buying investments, and stopping to employ Wells Fargo as a managing underwriter on negotiated sales of California state bonds where the treasurer appoints the underwriter.

    Would that the federal government could bestir itself to do something like this.

  82. 82.

    Mnemosyne

    All my knitterz will know what I’m talking about when I say it’s driving me nuts to know that I have all of the supplies to start making Mochimochi Land’s Tiny Hillarys but I’m stuck at work for another two hours. Argh!

  87. 87.

    SFAW

    @Jeffro:

    Here’s some more cold comfort for Republican dead enders who are positive, just POSITIVE, that the dumb email non-issue is going to save them: Comey’s like, “get over it”

    Well, it’s not because he WANTS to drop that investigation, it’s because his time will be taken up by the latest this-will-kill-Hillary’s-chances investigation, to address Rep Chabot’s serious concerns

    Thanks, Kay! He’s one of yours! .

  88. 88.

    Mnemosyne

    @Mary G:

    Wells Fargo is headquartered in SF, so it’s (relatively) easy for the CA state government to do this. Not sure the Feds do enough business with them to really make a dent.

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    “they’ll be chows get down on taco bowls.” = “they’ll be chowing down on taco bowls.”

    FYWP,AC,SC,E. (Fuck You WordPress, AutoCorrect, SpellCheck, Etcetera.)

  92. 92.

    SFAW

    @Mike J:

    There’s antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium, And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium…

    Are those the only ones of which the news has come to Hahvahd?

  93. 93.

    Jeffro

    @SFAW: OMG, this is whatever’s beyond “beyond parody”

    Use the FBI to see if, dang it, she AT LEAST violated her alma mater’s honor code 40 years later? They’re going to GET HER ON SOMETHING, by god…

    …there are no words…

  94. 94.

    lamh36

    @maddow 3m3 minutes ago
    2 exclusives at top of the show tonight: (1) new poll, (2) advance look at a bombshell story that will hit the campaign tmro. 9pm ET, MSNBC.

  96. 96.

    RedDirtGirl

    @Baud: I think it came up pretty early. First date was a 7:30 am walk across the Brooklyn Bridge before I headed off for a day of canvassing for Hillary in PA.

  98. 98.

    NotMax

    @SFAW

    We recently got a name for element #118.

    Oganesson. Which doesn’t rhyme, I think, with anything else on the periodic table unless a really not so near rhyme with xenon or neon is utilized. Probably the same tortured rhyming situation with #117, Tennessine.

    (Yes, I am aware whence the song reference originates.)

  99. 99.

    hovercraft

    The fact that they just ‘think’ that business is being hurt. Check that family tree for inbreeding. Qusay’s comment is revealing, if your father refraining from being a gutter rat is one of the highlights of his life to you, then he is a despicable person period.

  102. 102.

    Aunt Kathy

    Haven’t been thru’ all the comments in the past few threads to see is this is a duplicate, but Rainbow Randy’s got one of the best debate parody videos I’ve seen. Delicious!

  103. 103.

    Trollhattan

    @Mary G:
    May well also signal Chiang’s increased interest in the governor’s chair.

    For the next 12 months, the state will not invest in Wells Fargo securities, the bank will not be used as a broker-dealer in investment purchases by the treasurer’s office, and the bank will not be considered for managing underwriter on sales of California state bonds where the treasurer assigns the underwriter, Chiang’s office announced.

    Additional punishment could involve severing all ties between the treasurer’s office and the bank, Chiang’s office said. In addition, Chiang said he will work with colleagues on the boards of the mammoth CalPERS and CalSTRS pension systems on changes to ensure “this type of behavior and systemic corruption does not reoccur.” The two pension funds have a total of $2.3 billion invested with Wells Fargo.

    Chiang’s office, the largest issuer of municipal debt in the U.S., oversees nearly $2 trillion in banking transactions a year and manages a $75 billion investment pool. Chiang said the sanctions imposed Wednesday involves “lucrative” business for Wells Fargo but the exact amount of the fiscal hit to the bank is unclear.

  106. 106.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @SFAW: There may be many others, but they hadn’t been discarvard. At least not at the time of lyricization, i.e., anything from rutherfordium (N=104) or dubnium (N=105) on out.

  107. 107.

    Enhanced Voting Techinques

    @Baud: and I was so looking forward to crashing on the Oval Office sofa during your presidency. I would be sleeping in the footsteps of Joe Biden,..

  108. 108.

    debbie

    @SFAW:

    Chabot’s always been a dick, but this is a new low. I hope Wellesley releases a statement telling him where he can put his insinuations.

  110. 110.

    Roger Moore

    @different-church-lady:

    Gosh kids, maybe you should fire them and bring in your fourth set of campaign leaders in a single election.

    I think they should just run the campaign themselves. Why do they need a bunch of incompetent help who would just screw everything up?

  112. 112.

    Felonius Monk

    WTF is the matter with MSNBC? A Gary Johnson town hall —- Jeebus Crisp, have they no decency?

  114. 114.

    Calouste

    @? Martin:

    Are there any queers in the theater tonight?
    Get ’em up against the wall (get them up)
    now, there’s one in the spotlight
    He don’t look right to me
    Then get him up against the wall (get them)

    Now, that one looks Jewish
    And that one’s a coon
    Who let all this riffraff into the room?
    There’s one smoking a joint
    And another with spots

    If I had my way, I’d have all of them shot

    Roger Waters should start “dedicating” In the Flesh to Donald Trump.

  115. 115.

    eclare

    @Jeffro: Don’t forget how he bragged in the debate that his club let in African Americans and Muslims. Hey, we followed the law, yay us!

  116. 116.

    Aleta

    “I will probably remember this even more fondly than the time my best friend touched a sidewall on the limo and Mr. Barron wanted to jump out and to break her kneecaps but Dad stopped him and said no, her mother might be watching, and they started wrestling in the far back seat until Mr. Barron gave up and Dad said he had won because his whole life is about winning.” -Autobiography of Eric T.

  118. 118.

    Felonius Monk

    @debbie: Dear Mr. Chabot, The College of William and Mary respectfully requests that you promptly return the diploma that was granted to you some years ago. An egregious error was made by our administration in granting said diploma as we now realize that you were/are to stupid to be considered a graduate of our fine institution.

    Sincerely, William & Mary

  119. 119.

    dr. bloor

    @chopper:

    so trump wants a fucking award for not being a scumbag?

    Starting with his parents, I suspect this has been the chief strategy with those trying to get him to behave in an at least vaguely prosocial manner.

  123. 123.

    Peale

    @SFAW: Who the hell cares about this? Really? What kind of shits sit around the club talking about honor codes at alumni meetings? It’s like it’s 1920 and the only firms of entertainment are squirrel hunting and singing the ole college fight song.

  127. 127.

    SFAW

    @debbie:

    I hope Wellesley releases a statement telling him where he can put his insinuations.

    That would help, but I’d rather have Comey say “Are you a fucking moron? Do you hate Hillary THAT MUCH that you’re willing to WASTE THE FUCKING TIME of professionals on some stupid-ass clusterfuck that came to you when you were jerking off to slasher porn? You should get down on your knees and thank whatever God you pray to that there is not yet any law which allows me to shoot you for being one of the bigger dicks and morons ever to walk the Earth. Now — and please forgive me in advance for what I’m about to say — but please go fuck yourself. And YOU, Ryan, you smarmy fuck, you better get this imbecile off any committee that is allowed to be near sharp objects.”

    I would pay serious money to see that.

    Of course, the answer to Comey’s 2nd question would be a resounding YES

  130. 130.

    Enhanced Voting Techinques

    Any campaign that lost a debate indulged in this kind blame storming in public like this? Generally they spin it better than our candidate has the mentality of a nine year old on a sugar high or the campaign manager sucks the big one.

  133. 133.

    Jeffro

    @Matt McIrvin: I heard she once left a wet towel on the floor of her bedroom.

    Wait…that’s actually MY kids, most days.

    Hillz did something though, dang it, and YOU ALL KNOW IT!! lol

    Whatever committee this clown is on, I almost hope it keeps the comedy coming. At a certain point, President Hillary Rodham Clinton will take their subpoenas all the way to SCOTUS, where they’ll be branded as ‘nuisance suits’ and the cost will come out of Gowdy & Co’s own pockets, as they should.

  134. 134.

    Roger Moore

    @ThresherK:

    If you’re gonna follow in Biden’s footsteps, you need to answer one question: Bitchin’ Camaro, or Bitchin’ Trans Am?

    That’s Onion Joe Biden. Real world Joe Biden has a Corvette.

  135. 135.

    Jeffro

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Comey is a Republican. I hope this experience is teaching him something about his party.

    Oh it most definitely has. I mean, look at his remarks. “One day, when we’re past all this political craziness”…he’s not talking about Clinton there…

  136. 136.

    Enhanced Voting Techinques

    @ThresherK: Good point and a hard call. I am going to have go with a bitchen Trans-Amm. It’s total WWBD? (Who would Biden Do?) moment.

  137. 137.

    JPL

    @lamh36: IMO, Hillary should open every event with with this
    TRUMP in IOWA: “Raise your hand if you’re NOT a Christian conservative. I want to see that. There’s a few of them. Should we keep them?”
    Several before me have mentioned this, but it’s frightening. I’m not sure there is a bombshell that can top that. That quote is in Hitler territory.

  142. 142.

    JMG

    It is very foolish for a pol to call the FBI corrupt. The FBI has the ability to investigate said pol down to his/her underwear.

  144. 144.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Ryan:
    I love that he thought the right thing to tell a group of Poles is how smart they are. Polock jokes are the first thing that came to his mind, and he HAD to make sure he addressed them to ingratiate himself with his audience. It’s like telling AIPAC that he loves how good Jews are with money.

  145. 145.

    dr. bloor

    @Jeffro: His too-clever-by-half damn-her-but-won’t-indict-her press conference re HRC server issues was every bit as low and sleazy as the shit he’s taking from his fellow travelers at the moment. Karma is gasping because she can’t stop laughing.

  147. 147.

    bemused

    I wish I could remember where I read an article about the Trump family a few months ago. One of the kids, it may have been Ivanka, was quoted saying how much fun the family has when they all get together…they crack each other up, joke around and laugh and laugh. No details what they all find so amusing but what we now know of Eric and Jr’s personalities, chips off the old cheeto, I picture a good ole boy/girl, white supremacist chucklefest.

  149. 149.

    dr. bloor

    @MCA1: Your 9 year old is at least three years above the mental age of the typical Trump base voter.

    Parenthetically, in retrospect that “All the Way with LBJ” slogan is a little….unsavory.

  150. 150.

    hovercraft

    @Kenneth Kohl:
    Trump Tower, the old Bonwit Teller building was demolished using undocumented workers who not only were stiffed for their full wages, but were also not given adequate safety gear, to tear down an asbestos and who knows what else laden building.

  154. 154.

    patrick II

    I am not always a Frank Bruni fan, but today I am.

    Go ahead and laugh at Donald Trump’s claims that he was foiled by a finicky microphone on Monday night, but I can relate. When I write a bad column, it’s all my keyboard’s fault.

    The other columnists have reliable keyboards. I’m not saying it’s a conspiracy, but they do…

  155. 155.

    D58826

    We could have a debate every Monday night from now till election day and Hillary would still not be able to get to all of the dirt on Trump. It is a bottomless pit but then so is he.

  163. 163.

    Mary G

    @hovercraft: And he promised to save rare decorative panels on the face of the store for a museum, but decided that would cost too much money and time and had them jackhammered off to pieces.

  164. 164.

    bemused

    @D58826:

    Ugh. What a thought. Still Ivanka’s husband must be well aware of dear fil talking about dating her and other loving daddy thoughts but still supports him.

  166. 166.

    Eric S.

    @Baud:

    ordered the cinder blocks

    I am so, so, so sorry I voted for Hillary overt you in the primary now. Why want this platform released earlier?

  168. 168.

    eclare

    Friend said that he heard that Rick Perry is joining the Trump campaign. I’ve been on Google and can’t find anything, has anyone heard anything? Just find it very coincidental he was just on Dancing with the Stars, now this.

  169. 169.

    Millard Filmore

    @MCA1:

    “Make America great again?!?! That’s stupid. America’s already great.”

    Well for this old fart, America was great before all these kids came along, giving me gray hairs and a bad back.

  173. 173.

    ThresherK

    @Roger Moore: I know Onion Joe Biden, but wasn’t aware the Real Joe Biden had a Vette.

    @eclare: Ah, the Amphicar! “For a car, it’s a pretty poor boat. For a boat, it’s a pretty poor car.”

  176. 176.

    hovercraft

    @Mary G:
    They weren’t quite gaudy enough for the Donald, despite being nude women they lack enough gilding. If it’s not gold how can it be valuable.

  180. 180.

    jl

    @Baud:

    ” I would like to read all the books that come out about this campaign season. (Maybe I’ll write my own!). ”

    You gotta put in the part about the time Big Gus from Reno swiped all those sacks of soda bottles you were going to use for big campaign ad buy. You borrowed Whizzer’s sting ray bike to go look for him. There will be lessons for many future campaigns there.

  186. 186.

    SFAW

    @hovercraft:

    They weren’t quite gaudy enough for the Donald, despite being nude women they lack enough gilding. If it’s not gold how can it be valuable.

    Pro tip: don’t ask Shirley Eaton.

  188. 188.

    trollhattan

    @SFAW:
    Jesus you people are creeping me out, if only for the plausibility of it all.

    We have our answer: what would the Palins be like with unlimited money?

  190. 190.

    jl

    So, I see on Josh Marshall’s twitter that Trump is making up online polls where majority say he won the debate and gong on TV to obsess over his Miss Universe feud.

    I guess that is a good sign. When a vicious loon has a chance at the presidency, I settle for anything that helps him lose.

  191. 191.

    SFAW

    @bemused:

    Still Ivanka’s husband must be well aware of dear fil talking about dating her and other loving daddy thoughts but still supports him.

    “Now we’re just haggling over the price.”

    [Note: Just to be clear, in this case, it’s a conversation between D. John Trump and Jared Kushner]

  192. 192.

    lamh36

    @kurteichenwald 4m4 minutes ago
    Apparently rachel @maddow is going to break the findings of my latest investigative report on trump in about 10 minutes on @MSNBC. .

  195. 195.

    Elizabelle

    Town Hall with PBO on effing CNN in a few.

    Effing CNN. But it is President Obama. We could use some freshness and grace.

  198. 198.

    SFAW

    @trollhattan:

    Jesus you people are creeping me out, if only for the plausibility of it all.

    Quit whining. I’m the one that had to hose down my keyboard after typing that.

  199. 199.

    NotMax

    @lamh36

    For those unfamiliar with the spectrum of fraternities, DU has traditionally been the crewcut jock house on campuses where it has a presence.

  200. 200.

    Aleta

    @Mary G: Yeah, and he promised to save the marble and other elements of the DC Old Post Office Building. And got the lease to develop it partly after courting a prominent architect-advocate for that building’s preservation. Already some doubt about what he’s done to the marble and other features, but no one is allowed to inspect it now. Somewhere he said something like: “promise anything, then do what you want,” which is what he did to the Bonwit Teller panels. Why couldn’t he wait to let the museum take them as he promised? I think he just wanted to hurt the preservationists once he had the upper hand. A thug if ever there was one, and a dangerous lover of revenge.

  203. 203.

    lamh36

    Maddow… Newsweek cover tomorrow…

    “CASTRO CONNECTION”

    “How Trump’s company violated the US embargo against Cuba”

    Eichewald story…Maddow has excerpt…not full article

  206. 206.

    SFAW

    @lamh36:

    Eichewald story…Maddow has excerpt…not full article

    Wasn’t Eichenwald the guy who broke some “big story” 2 or 3 weeks ago, only to have it turn out to be complete bullshit? Or am I mis-remembering (or confusing him with someone else)?

  207. 207.

    lamh36

    @JoyAnnReid
    .@kurteichenwald’s new @newsweek scoop is titled “The Castro connection: how Trump’s company violated the U.S. embargo against Cuba” #maddow

    @JoyAnnReid Joy Reid Retweeted Joy Reid
    This one could have big implications in Florida. Marco Rubio, who opposes ending the embargo/opening to Cuba-other GOPers will have to react

    @JoyAnnReid 17s18 seconds ago
    Republicans don’t win Miami-Dade County. But if Cuban-American Republicans turn on Trump, it could impact overall R turnout for him in FL.

    They don’t have the full article, just an excerpt and the cover image.

    I think the scoop wasn’t what Eicenwald wanted

  208. 208.

    Karen

    @JPL:

    When he says

    TRUMP in IOWA: “Raise your hand if you’re NOT a Christian conservative. I want to see that. There’s a few of them. Should we keep them?”

    . is he saying he’ll kill non Christian conservatives? Or do a mass deportation of non Christian conservatives? The options are terrifying. The novel “A Handmaid’s Tale” comes to mind.
    ,

  211. 211.

    hovercraft

    @Aleta:
    He said that he had them evaluated, and they were according to him only worth $9 k, and it would cost $32 k to remove them, and it would delay him a week and a half.

  212. 212.

    BlueDWarrior

    Donald Trump being a double-dealing douchebag is not news in and of itself, but actually getting reporting on the actual particulars about it are still galling to be. Christ almighty, and there are a lot of supposed “good Christians” that are going to vote for this man and not feel one little bit of cognitive dissonance about it.

  214. 214.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @lamh36: I’m beginning to think Trump will wind up with serious legal problems once he loses the election. Shows you how stupidly unaware he was of the level of scrutiny to which a presidential candidate is subjected. Or, if you’re HRC, a presidential candidate has been subjected to for decades.

    Never gonna be president now. One less thing to worry about. Thanks, Hillary!

  215. 215.

    lamh36

    @SiubhanDuinne: naw…the author of the article said that.

    Maddow apparently got a scoop from Newsweek about the article and cover story coming out tommorrow or overnight.

  216. 216.

    hovercraft

    @SFAW:
    His story was the one about Trumps international ties with all sorts of shady characters, which was legit. A few days later he tweeted :

    Sep 14, 2016 … “I believe Trump was institutionalized in a mental hospital for a nervous breakdown in 1990, which is why he won’t release medical records.”.

    There was no proof for the tweet, so the repubs used it as an excuse to disregard his story.

  217. 217.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    ETA: If the video won’t play, go to Randy’s main Facebook page, ix-nay the Join/Log In box, then scroll down and select the video. It should play all right then. Stupid Facebook.

  219. 219.

    mike in dc

    Eichenwald and Farenthold competing to see who wins the Pulitzer. Hell, if they help keep Trump from the WH, they both deserve a Medal of Freedom.

  220. 220.

    lamh36

    @SFAW: he wrote a previously article about Trump and the Trump foundation and businesses and what he would do if elected Prez. Trump said, he wasn’t going to resign as HRC said she would about the Clinton Foundation, instead, he said he’d “hand the reigns” to his kids.

  221. 221.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Well, I do have a question: In your frequency ranking of comments, do you count FP posts? (I’m guessing not, only because we’d be seeing a great deal more of Anne Laurie, Richard Mayhew, Betty Cracker, probably Tom Levenson and TaMara, and I expect I’m forgetting some really obvious and frequent names.)

    Might be interesting to do something just on the front pagers so we could laugh and point at John.

    (Edited to try and sound smarter.)

  223. 223.

    lamh36

    @redshirt: at this point it’s not just about Trump…what will Lil Marco have to say bout this…especially since he’s been gungho on not lifting the embargo.

    Also as Joy Reid, if it comes to a close election…having a number of Cuban American either not voting or not voting for Pres…it could be just the margin to put FL in the blue column

  224. 224.

    SFAW

    @lamh36:

    Thanks very much. It was the “breakdown” thing that hovercraft noted that I was thinking of. Clearly, not one of his better moments, but glad it didn’t make him a pariah.

  225. 225.

    Baud

    @lamh36:

    Joy retweeted a Politico tweet that black turnout was bad in Florida. It was Politico so I took it with a grain of salt. Hope it works out.

  226. 226.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Never mind. When I read comments from the bottom up, I always miss something useful just a few comments earlier, and when I read them chronologically starting at the top, I always end up realizing I should have read on just a few more comments. Can’t fucking win for fucking losing on this blog //

  227. 227.

    hovercraft

    @Iowa Old Lady:
    He’s sweating bullets now, because when he loses, every federal agency and their mother are going to be up his ass. He thought he knew from media attention being a celebrity, but the scrutiny that has come with this I’m sure has been a revelation. Remember way back when people close to him said that he never expected to get this far. Once he started winning he probably thought some of this might surface, but then he’d drop out and go back to his gilded life. Then when nothing came out and he was still winning, he thought it would never come out, but now he’s stuck. The only chance he has is to win and squash all this when he gets in.

  228. 228.

    lamh36

    @Baud: I’m real wary of all the polls talking about the lower Black turnout. I know PBO got record numbers, but if HRC get the same or higher number that past Dems have gotten, along with an increase in other voters of color…unless we think ALL the Black folks in America are planning to not vote?

    Naw…the anti-birther, insulting PBO, anti-Trump vote is strong.

  229. 229.

    Baud

    Hahahaha

    Lawrence O’Donnell – Verified account ‏@Lawrence

    Tonight @glennbeck joins @TheLastWord 10pm to share his disappointment with @tedcruz for endorsing @realDonaldTrump

  232. 232.

    SFAW

    @hovercraft:

    He’s sweating bullets now, because when he loses, every federal agency and their mother are going to be up his ass.

    He’s not worried, he’ll just go into the Witness Protection Program.

    In Russia.

  234. 234.

    SFAW

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I figured FP posts are different in kind from comments so they’re in separate buckets.

    Probably a good thing, because a non-pet-related Cole post would probably peg the “Joy” meter, and the rest of us will look like Gloomy Guses.

  237. 237.

    The Lodger

    @Mary G: There isn’t a single person at the federal level who could cut a big bank off like that. For Wells Fargo,losing California is like losing a major organ.

  245. 245.

    Major Major Major Major

    @schrodinger’s cat: under Roger Moore’s normalization scheme, turns out it’s shomi.

    People vary a lot in terms of baseline emotionality but generally have the same fingerprint when you look at ratios. I’d need to compare to something else to see what the “balloon juice effect” is.

    One thing that might be fun is finding the phrases most unique to each commenter.

  246. 246.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I remember you started out looking at big-footing stats, but anything you want to do with FPs or just us garden-variety vanilla B-flat ordinary civilian pedestrian commenters would be interesting.

  247. 247.

    Jeffro

    Btw, I sent my RW dad & brother the latest (about Comey being all, “come ON guys, give this shit UP!” when talking with Congress today)…no word yet from my brother but dad thinks there’s a major conspiracy across multiple branches of government to cover for Hillz, everyone’s been granted immunity and pardons, etc etc. Ai-yi-yi. Once again, like Obama, she’s all-powerful and yet so incredibly dumb that she used ‘1234’ as her email password, and so on.

    I asked him to picture former Secretary of State John Kasich under siege for the 8th time by congressional Democrats like Rangel and Pelosi…or if a Democrat-appointed FBI director was trying to get congressional Dems to understand there’s no “there” there and drop their Kasich witch-hunt…we’ll see if that sinks in? I am thinking not but you know, hope springs eternal.

  248. 248.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @lamh36:

    Well, honestly, I would have been more surprised if Trump hadn’t violated the Cuba sanctions. Marco may fuss, but this seems like more “dog bites man” stuff, and it will roll right off the Teflon Don.

    Hope I’m wrong, but there have been way too many “this’ll kill him for sure” moments during the course of his unlikely campaign.

  250. 250.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Major Major Major Major: I can sometimes tell who wrote a comment before I see the name, so I assume we use characteristic language and talk more about some topics than others. Also, we probably respond to some people more than others. And some kinds of comments draw more responses.

  255. 255.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Iowa Old Lady: this is all true, but a lot of these things that are easy for humans are really hard to program very insightfully. Most analyses would just use a bag-of-words approach, which could probably identify commenters well enough but that’s not very fun to look at. For instance, some kinds of comments are more response-ful, but what’s a “kind” of comment?

    Graphing response networks could look cool.

  258. 258.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Hey, some Trumpy troll on Facebook (that I’ve never heard of) said “FU, liberal bitch.”

    Am I wrong to take this as a badge of honor?

  259. 259.

    RSA

    Trump talking to the Polish-National Alliance today in Chicago: “These are great people.”

    No one will be able to say, “He forgot Poland!”

  262. 262.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @redshirt:

    I’d love to see how often a poster obviously responds in a thread without reading the comments. It’s fairly common, but I have no idea how you could track that.

    Could start by tracking the word “sorry.” It’s never used for actual apologies, because those rarely show up on BJ; it’s going to be either “Sorry for going off-topic….” or “Sorry, should have scrolled down to read all the comments before weighing in….”

    How I know this is, such posts constitute around 73% of my own commentary. Pretty sure I’d win that one.

  263. 263.

    redshirt

    @Major Major Major Major: It’s usually a response to a troll who posts early. Then multiple posters will correct the troll, sometimes hours later. Maybe if you tagged it to NR or Shomi posts and responses you could find it. Still don’t know how you’d determine how it was a poster who hadn’t read the thread though.

  270. 270.

    Elie

    @RSA:

    What somehow does not translate is how much Poles HATE RUSSIA and Putin. I have not idea what he thinks or the actual Polish people from that country, but they are probably NOT going to like a close relationship with Putin — nor any of the other Eastern European countries. The Poles hatred for Russia is deep and long….

  271. 271.

    SFAW

    @efgoldman:

    I need to make sure that “go fuck yourself” is dropped in somewhere in every comment I write.

    Does that increase your “Joy” rating, or your “Trust” rating?

  273. 273.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal bitch

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I, for one, welcome our new liberal bitch overlords (overladies?).

    I have a terrible feeling I’m not going to be able to live up to the new nym. But I will do my best.

  275. 275.

    SFAW

    @Elie:

    I was under the impression that they hated everybody — Russians, Germans, Jews. Prussians, probably some more that I can’t recall at the moment.

  276. 276.

    jonas

    @Walker: I was just going to say. How does the Polish (or Ukranian, Lithuanian or Czech, etc.) community feel about his diffident attitude toward NATO and suggestion that our allies are only worth defending if “there’s something in it for us”?

  277. 277.

    SFAW

    @efgoldman:

    It’s for my anger rating.

    Right. I guess you’re unaware that people here refer to you as “Mr. Mellow” and “The Dude” (or perhaps “His Dudeness”) when you’re not around?

  279. 279.

    Felonius Monk

    @efgoldman: Your fingers are too old for that. Just use GFY. We will know what you mean. Or you could use the short form of the Tom Levenson version — GFYWARFI.

  288. 288.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    An idle moment of wondering: the pronunciation of the first vowel of “polish” changes from short to long when the initial consonant is capitalized (“Polish”).

    Are there any other English words that do this? Asking the BJ hive mind. Don’t make me bother Will Shortz.

    (Edit, to whom my concern: Go fuck yourself.)

  289. 289.

    SFAW

    @efgoldman:

    Oh, and go fuck yourself

    Thank ‘ee kindly

    Kimbrel makes two

    Had to look that up (as I’ve said, not a Sox fan).
    In any event: Holy Shit! Was he throwing underhand to the Yanks? I feel your pain. (The Sox are still going to make it into the Playoffs, right?)

    ETA: Oh, and regarding this:

    I’m much to old to be a punk-ass “dude.”

    you’re only three or four years older than he is.

  292. 292.

    Aleta

    @Major Major Major Major: “finding the phrases most unique to each commenter”
    Is it possible to give commenters an option to request inclusion or else to opt out (whichever is easier to do), in these analyses?

    I don’t want to end up invited onto some NBC show because the number of times I speak of Fucking Trump makes me look interesting, for example.

  295. 295.

    SFAW

    If we’re going to have unique phrases, can I have “Lasciate Ogni Speranza“? [The “Voi Ch’entrate” can be optional, I guess]

    I am a Jets fan, after all.

    ETA: Or, if I’m going to be more uplifting, and true to my heritage: auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn

  298. 298.

    NoraLenderbee GFY

    Aw, I’m in moderation. Is “radish” a banned word? It can’t be because I said “fuck.”

  300. 300.

    cokane

    These cats are going to become the next fucking Bushes. Just watch, Ivanka will run in one of the next cycles.

  302. 302.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @Felonius Monk:

    Interesting, and I hadn’t thought of that, but no, I’m looking for something that is spelled exactly the same but changes pronunciation upon being capitalized.

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