.@Fahrenthold got a random call at 11am with the offering of the tape https://t.co/6CmcZFTkRQ
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) October 8, 2016
… Fahrenthold didn’t hesitate. Within a few moments of watching an outtake of footage from a 2005 segment on “Access Hollywood,” the Washington Post reporter was on the phone, calling Trump’s campaign, “Access Hollywood” and NBC for reaction.
By 4 p.m., his story was causing shock waves…
Fahrenthold, a 16-year veteran of The Post, said he knows who pointed him to the “Access Hollywood” video, but he will not reveal the identity because he promised anonymity to his tipster. But like many readers, he said he was surprised and shocked by what he saw on the tape…
Fahrenthold’s story proved to be the most concurrently viewed article in the history of The Post’s website; more than 100,000 people read it simultaneously at one point on Friday. The interest was so heavy that it briefly crashed the servers of the newspaper’s internal tracking system…
To be honest, I don’t think Trump’s boasts were about sex — they were about establishing his superior power/potency to a younger (better-looking, higher-status) young man. Of course, most sex crimes are less about sexual urges than about establishing the criminal’s “power” over another person, but Trump turns every human interaction into another simple-minded display of primate dominance. I could fuck her, if I wanted to, believe me! Because I’m a powerful hard-driving guy, with lots of money — a STAR!
Meanwhile, at the same paper, Chris “Mad Bitcher” Cillizza:
Republicans I talk to tonight are sort of stunned. They knew Trump was dangerous for the party. They didn't know he was this dangerous.
— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) October 8, 2016
Mr. Cillizza: Delete your account. Fuck it — delete your career.
[ETA:]Translation: they knew he was bad, but they were hoping there wasn’t tape. https://t.co/RcKcmRoKmY
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) October 8, 2016
===============
Doesn't add up. 'Access Hollywood' knew about the tape but couldn't manage to report it? NBC also knew but no story? https://t.co/7dcM4IygHp
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) October 8, 2016
… On Monday, according to an NBC source, one of the entertainment newsmagazine’s producers remembered Trump’s 2005 taping session with former “Access” co-host Billy Bush…
By mid-week, executive producer Rob Silverstein and his producing team had taken a look at its contents…
By Friday morning, Silverstein had decided to broadcast it, and a script had been written. The story was not slated to air on Friday night’s edition of the show, however.
That means the earliest it would have aired is Monday night — after Sunday’s presidential debate.
Another NBC source confirmed that “Access” was working on a story, and that NBC News knew about it, but said that as of Friday morning the story “wasn’t quite finalized.” …
— on tape in the hands of an NBC property, but did nothing to tell the rest of us, or alert his employer. https://t.co/nGUOwXEQuM Bad. 2/
— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) October 8, 2016
Sounds to me like NBC was dragging the process out until they could see who “won” the debate Sunday night. If Clinton does well (as even the haterz are assuming she will), they’d have a little nugget of tribute to indicate their good intentions. If things weren’t so clear-cut, well…
And speaking of political criminals, yes Billy is one of THOSE Bushes…
… Bush, 44, is the nephew of George H.W. Bush and cousin of George W. Bush. He got his start in radio before landing a job at the NBC affiliate in New York. He joined NBC’s syndicated entertainment program “Access Hollywood” as a correspondent in 2001 and has been a constant presence on NBC platforms ever since; he was eventually promoted to “Access Hollywood” co-anchor and frequently reported for the “Today” show, from award shows to Olympics coverage…
Bush was presumably added to the “Today” show roster to improve ratings for the 9 a.m. hour. But on Friday, as the Trump video circulated the Internet, comments flooded in, many from women — the “Today” show’s target audience….
Nobody who hangs around Donald Trump comes off unscathed. Even the Bush crime clan can’t keep the stench off, and their founding father was a Hitler profiteer.
seaboogie
And yet, Jeb! failed to bring this up, of the Bush family “knows their way around a smear….” Sad. Weak.
BethanyAnne
Hmm, not sure how to paste these 2 links in so they work.
https://twitter.com/iboudreau/status/784619899385708544/photo/1
BethanyAnne
Ok, maybe this copy/paste worked. Shot:
and chaser:
sigaba
Jay Rosen’s right; it doesn’t add up. NBC was either really incompetent or they were afraid of reporting a negative story on Trump. For some reason.
BethanyAnne
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CuOHn48XYAEGjtI.jpg
piratedan
it is kind of telling from that way that Mr. Rosen presents it just how many fingers the media has on the scale for this election to keep it a horse race.
What is incredibly ironic is how the wingnuts feel that Hillary has been given a “free pass”, as if months of Benghazi, the Wall Street Speeches, and the e-mail “scandal” haven’t been prevalent in the news for the last two years. It boggles the fucking mind. Obviously all of these folks were too busy with Duck Dynasty to notice.
Jeff Spender
I have been surprised by the number of conservatives in my little berg who have Clinton signs up. A few Trump signs–one large one. But for a conservative area? It’s sad.
BethanyAnne
trying to link the image in the 2nd one so people don’t have to click through to it.
Singular
This is just fucking priceless. It’s 7:40 am here, I’ve just gotten up after a night out, and already this is shaping up to be a great weekend.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@BethanyAnne: Just write, “Tweet,” or whatever the text you want is, highlight it, then click the “link” box above your comment, and paste the link address into it.
BethanyAnne
My favorite comment I saw today, though, was
“But if Trump’s the nominee, nothing you can do folks. Well, I don’t know. 19th Amendment people, maybe you can”
Turns out to be at least a few weeks old, but damn, it’s on point today.
BethanyAnne
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Yeah, I didn’t know how the embed code was going to work with the link code thing. I was sort of hoping to show folk the pics without needing a click.
Major Major Major Major
@BethanyAnne: I like one of the followup tweets: “Trump is the only candidate I’ve seen who plays one-dimensional chess”
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
I have an entirely unrelated question. Has anyone dealt with fruit flies? I’m trying to deal with an infestation that keeps coming back. The problem is that my cats have become both finicky and unpredictable about what they’ll eat, often turning their noses up at something they ate just fine a couple of days before. So, I have a lot of uneaten cat food that I have to dispose of. I have not found a way to keep the fruit flies from eventually swarming and breeding in the garbage can. I’ve tried soaking the uneaten food in bleach before I throw it away, and that doesn’t do the trick; it seems like once the water in the bleach evaporates, the flies are perfectly happy eating away. This time, when I changed the garbage, I poured some bleach into the bottom of the new garbage bag after I put it in. If that doesn’t work, I don’t know what I’m going to try next.
Is the only alternative to just not throw it away indoors? That would be a pain, because my kitchen isn’t anywhere near the door to the outside.
BethanyAnne
omg, this
BethanyAnne
@Major Major Major Major: hahaha
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@BethanyAnne: This site is set up so that you cannot post a picture into a comments thread; they will have to click the link.
Major Major Major Major
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: As a wiser man than myself once said, time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
BethanyAnne
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Ah! That sounds … wise. Thanks :)
sigaba
Mike Lee calls for Trump to step aside.
Those Mormons…
Bailey
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
Put a bunch of small bowls filled with apple cider vinegar and a bit of dish soap. It attracts the flies and then kills them when they get stuck. Eventually they’ll all die off.
BethanyAnne
RaflW
This is what happens when Josh Barro stays up late on a very big news night. I love it.
sigaba
Still vote. Still vote. Still vote. Still vote. Still vote. Still vote.
Viva BrisVegas
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
I assume you are bagging the disposed cat food?
You could try a short spray of malathion into the bin.
Arclite
Hillary: “…basket of deplorables”
Trump: “…grab her by the pussy.”
Media: “Both sides do it!”
RaflW
Oh, and to hell with all the GOPers who are somehow suddenly “stunned” by Trump.
You shit-eaters have known who you’ve been in bed with all along. You just wanted to win. I don’t even think you scumbags hate America, at least not in they way you think of it when you throw that at liberals. You’re just so goddamned selfish and power-hungry you don’t give one tiny bit of care if the country suffers for your ‘victories.’
The whole damn GOP structure, with a .00001% exception rate, is venally, totally corrupt and (to use a very old and silly sounding, but far too apt word) decadent.
lamh36
The Late Show is on break for Columbus day holiday and they taped last night ep the day before the AH Trump Tapes came out so the show released a video of StepheN’s reaction
Stephen Colbert on Donald Trump tape
Major Major Major Major
@sigaba: Don’t worry, we’ve seen Election.
piratedan
@RaflW: wasn’t josh on board with the righteous at one time? Hard to find out that the people who purported to be driven by faith are driven by something else entirely different.
Keith P.
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Yes, I have had them for a while, for the exact reason you have – my cat won’t eat all her fancy feast, drawing flies. Well, I’ve also had some forgotten bags of onions/potatoes a couple of times. I started taking the uneaten food outside for the ferals and raccoons living in my backyard. And I also had to eat out for about a week so that they don’t have any garbage to get to for a couple of lifecycles. My garbage service shows up at 8am promptly, and because of the raccoons, I can’t put the garbage out the night before. Missing pickup just once will extend the gnats/flies for another lifecycle.
My f’n dialysis clinic has had them for over a year. One of the techs made a comment to me she shouldn’t have, so as retribution, I ratted them out to their corporate office as well as the state ESRD network. Gnats are still around, though. Drives me nuts because if there are gnats, then there are maggots somewhere, and I don’t want them anywhere near my blood.
BethanyAnne
@sigaba: I’m taking voting day off, and driving people to the polls. First time I’ve ever done that, and I’m in Houston.
seaboogie
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Put out a dish with some balsamic vinegar in it -fruit flies love…fruity things. Usually drink, fall in, and die.
I live in wine country in NorCal, and when grapes are being pressed, it is fruit-fly city here. Shallow dishes of balsamic vinegar work extremely well.
seaboogie
@Keith P.: Hokay – this is one of the ways in which I am an odd duck: I freeze my funky garbage. Anything that is animal-based and destined for the garbage, or is just generally going south in warm weather, gets popped in the freezer (with a baking soda deodorizer), until garbage day, when I pop it in the bin.
Consider it cryogenic garbage disposal, and it works. Also froze a dead cat that I couldn’t bury until the next day.
Prescott Cactus
@seaboogie:
Coffee grounds or used tea bags work wonders !
seaboogie
@Prescott Cactus: I will keep that in mind, PC. You were my very supportive buddy in that moment when the freezer was making ticking noises…
I thank you for your silliness in that moment, and for the good hospice work that you do and share.
amk
Fahrenthold, with just a good old reporter’s notebook and prolly with a low reporter’s salary, has done more in the last few weeks than chris delete your fucking career cillizza, has ever done in his entire bw life with his prolly six figure rethugs ass sucking job.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
Thanks. Several things to try.
RealityBites
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: put the uneaten food in a freezer bag and keep in in the frig. The day before garbage pickup, or when it will be convenient for you to take it outside for disposal, freeze it. It will keep in the frig for a while without getting smelly, and freezing it will keep it from attracting flies until it is safely out of the house.
RaflW
@piratedan: Barro I think still considers himself conservative. But he’s clearly not down with all this shit. No idea if he has described himself in faith terms. He’s good on twitter, I don’t read him much at Business Insider.
piratedan
now remember, there are a bunch of fucking loons out there that still think that Bill Clinton has raped a boatload of women and will gladly give The Donald a pass on this. Granted not everyone, but remember, we’re talking about 30+ years of anti-Clinton shit that needs to be overcome and in some cases, it simply can’t be done.
Not saying don’t enjoy the moment (because I certainly am) but have to remember that there are people who will excuse any and every fucking kind of behavior from a candidate that has an R beside their name because in their opinion, anyone with a D is obviously working for the anti-christ.
Major Major Major Major
@piratedan: plus Hillary gave a speech to xerox one time so really, both sides.
BethanyAnne
@cshirky
Every single thing revealed about Trump in the last 10 days boils down to whether he gets 46% of the vote and loses, or 48% and wins.
patrick II
@seaboogie:
You should also freeze Donald’s dead chances of being a decent human being.
Arclite
Hey can someone get my comment out of moderation?
Also, why did it go to moderation? My comment:
Hillary: “…ba.sket of dep.lora.bles”
Trump: “…gra.b her b.y the pu.ssy.”
Media: “B.oth sid.es do it!”
Major Major Major Major
@Arclite: Second one.
mtmofo
Keep this in mind for the inevitable false equivalencies from the right. Obama saying ‘pussy’ during his 1995 book reading.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/christophermassie/watch-this-rare-recently-surfaced-speech-old-obama-speech-fr?utm_term=.ftYyKKm3#.noPLNN3l
amk
amk
Keith P.
@seaboogie: I even had gnats go into my fridge and freezer. Was cleaning the damn thing every week for over a month before they stopped.
BethanyAnne
and last from twitter: @karyewest #BenAndJerrysNewFlavor Go Shawty It’s Sherbet Day
BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: That’s the way it came up on the local news here in LALALand. First the Trump Hostage Video and the Hilz hacked speeches, both sides.
I’ve been in that hallway* in the photo in the top of the OP, it was just outside the old Carson Tonight Show studio. Even saw Carson in that hallway.
* I was on the NBC studio tour.
seaboogie
@Keith P.: Oh my – poor you!
Bruce K
The things I miss by being seven time zones ahead of the East Coast. On the bright side, I found a scene from the movie Titanic that probably mirrors the mood in the GOP war room right now:
“Titanic will founder.”
seaboogie
@patrick II: Unfortunately, he is exposing a deep, pustulent putrefaction of racism and hatred that has been long festering….and that carcass is getting dragged into the sunlight, and is now getting poked….it ain’t pretty, and it’s been a long time coming.
ThresherK (GPad)
I can’t make enough popcorn for this.
And BJers love their gardens, and their fresh goodies recipes, so it only stands to reason we know what to do in the war on fruit flies. The time-honored bowl of some vinegar and dish soap gets another rigged vote from CT.
seaboogie
@Keith P.: A while back I was enjoying a juicy hamburger on an outdoor patio, but a wasp was busy pestering me. So I took a bit of hamburger and put it on a dish a foot or so away from me. Told the wasp “this is mine, and that is yours….” The wasp figured it out pretty quickly, and enjoyed his own meal, as I did mine. And it was interesting to watch the wasp carve off a bit of the meat to take back to the nest while I supped.
Steeplejack
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
This is wet cat food, I presume? If you have a garbage disposal in your sink, you can put it down there. If not, the other alternative is to put it in (sealable) plastic baggies before putting it in the trash.
My cat is old and skinny. She eats very little at a “meal”—not quite a forkful—but she likes to eat many times during the day, maybe four or five times. So I keep her “current” three-ounce can of wet food in a sealed baggie on the kitchen counter. She goes through it quickly enough that it doesn’t need to be refrigerated—she goes through about a can a day—but keeping it sealed prevents bug problems. And occasionally she will just not have a big appetite for the flavor of the day, so I end up with a little in the can that there is no point in saving. The whole baggie can go right in the trash.
ETA: If you don’t have a garbage disposal, you can flush the cat food down the toilet.
AnderJ
I’m hoping tv news will connect the dots. We have the video + a statement from Trump that this was just locker room banter and thus fine + a lawsuit against Trump accusing him of sexual assault + a whole lot of women confirming his predatory behavior = don’t let this man near women and babies
patrick II
Billy Bush is not running for president, so it is not as important, but did anyone notice after he and Trump got off the bus that he was pushing Donald on that young lady? He asked her to give Donald a hug, tried to get her to walk next to Trump in the hallway, and said something (I forget exactly what) along the lines that Donald gets what he wants.
Donald Trump abuser, Billy Bush pimp.
DLew On Roids
I strongly doubt NBC News was sitting on this. In 2016, you can’t do that. It took one call to Fahrenthold and the story takes over the world in five hours.
The more likely scenario is that Access: Hollywood was operating at traditional entertainment news speed, where they can sit on an celebrity interview for a couple weeks before a premiere. It’s an 8×5 operation, not 24×7 (TMZ they ain’t). Someone in the building realized it was holding a political keg of dynamite, uploaded the video to Dropbox or something, and called Fahrenthold. I’d bet NBC News didn’t really know what AH was sitting on.
Arclite
@Major Major Major Major:
So, which one puts you in moderation? Tru.mp? Or pus.sy?
Major Major Major Major
@Arclite: Second one.
AnderJ
@AnderJ: And I forgot to add that one of his past wifes testified under oath that Trump raped her.
akryan
This is not surprising in the least. He’s bragged about his affairs. He’s bragged about his sexual exploits. This was already on the public record and has been baked in. This will not change the minds of his base. They will only dig in harder. Trump is the rich asshole bully with a hot wife that they all wish they were. He straight up says all the deplorable things in public they wish they could. He may lose this election, but the 40% of the electorate that supports him isn’t going away. They are what the Republican party has become and no Republican candidate is going to jettison what Trump’s message is. Pretty soon a much more effective candidate will come out that sells his message. We’ll get a Marie La Pen in next time and after 4 years of continued Republican obstruction and lies (which will be even worse than Obama faced) a candidate like that will have a really good chance of winning.
NotMax
@Arclite
pussy
Generally used alternative is to use pu$$y instead to get around FYWP..
Keith P.
@Steeplejack: I’ve been mixing in those Sheba 2-packs (with the smaller servings) along with the Fancy Feast broth packets, since my kitty mainly licks up the gravy, takes a few bites, and moves on. But even with that route, I have to throw in dry Fancy Feast as well for her grazing meals. It’s a struggle to stay ahead of her interest. And I also have two ferals, two raccoons, and a possum in my backyard, all of whom readily come inside the house to eat said dry food (I keep a window open so the kitty can come and go as she pleases…I don’t mind except for the possum, which is a big, DUMB rat)
Steeplejack
@Arclite:
Heh, just confirming that pussy is the forbidden word.
piratedan
@akryan: problem is, have you seen the GOP bench? That’s who the base picked… do you anyone slick enough to continually fool the current sent of rubes and by fool them, I mean throw them enough red meat who doesn’t have a shit ton full of red flags in their closet?
Maybe a little known governor could fly under the radar, but I’d be hard pressed to name one, maybe Doug Ducey of Arizona? It would have top be someone way outside the current three circles of death that are currently circulating the wingnut toidy.
OzarkHillbilly
So…. Anything happen while I was gone?
Steeplejack
@Keith P.:
The housecat has a bowl of dry food that she nibbles on occasionally, but, like your cat, she’s mostly interested in the juice/gravy. Hence the many small feedings instead of putting out the whole can for the day (and letting the food dry out). Her teeth are okay and her appetite is good, but she’s just a little old lady. I think she’s 16. I got her four years ago after a checkered past. No abuse, just neglect, I think, and being passed from person to person.
m.j.
How should Hillary Clinton handle this?
I think she should be a lawyer and let it play out. The comments weren’t made in public. Even though it expresses character, it was a private conversation.
I think Clinton should, perhaps, even empathize by saying something like, “We’ve all said, and done, things that we regret.”
low-tech cyclist
@RaflW:
Bingo. Since waking up to this story (hadn’t heard a lick of news since maybe 2pm yesterday until I woke up half an hour ago), I’ve been going “who the holy fuck is surprised by this?!”
TriassicSands
@BethanyAnne:
Sorry, but I don’t buy it. Nothing Trump has done so far has negatively affected his core supporters. They can justify, rationalize, and excuse anything Trump does. I don’t see why this will be any different.
The woman in the story will be characterized as an opportunist trying to use Trump for monetary gain. Even she realizes that her behavior was questionable.
Anyone surprised or shocked by this recording hasn’t been paying attention to Trump. The only thing surprising — maybe — is that it was recorded, so absolute, irrefutable proof exists. That’s what made Trump “apologize,” though his apology does stress that Bill and Hillary Clinton are actually much worse than he is. Trump, true to form, uses his apology to blame other people.
Singular
She is gonna destroy that walking turd in the next debate. Look what she did with Alice M. If Trump has any sense, he’ll be shitting himself.
lollipopguild
It will be interesting to see if this is the straw that finally breaks Trump’s back.
Brachiator
@sigaba:
“Access Hollywood” and similar shows probably have tons of audio and video clips of celebrities saying (and sometimes doing) outrageous stuff. They treat this as “off the record” because they see themselves as mindless puff piece shows whose entire reason for being is their ability to get a celebrity to appear.
They didn’t know what to do when Trump went from being a typical celebrity to a political figure.
OzarkHillbilly
@Singular: If Trump has any sense he’ll come down with an acute case of pneumonia. No, wait a minute….
sukabi
@DLew On Roids: going to call bullshit. Drumpf has been doing the apprentice for how many years? A guy that walks onto a set and starts talking to another person like drumpf did is going to do that AND MORE in his own studio… it’s beyond ridiculous that NBC wasn’t getting complaints and or law suits regarding his behavior… the studio where drumpfs show was being done was probably pretty much like the environment at FOX, with a lot more sexual assault.
Arclite
@lollipopguild:
If his back hasn’t been broken by now, I’m not sure this will cause him any great trouble. He’ll lose a point or two at most.
I really don’t understand the mindset of any woman who still supports him. He’s literally a walking nightmare. Only Ted Bundy is worse. Can hatred for Hillary really be greater than an actual sexual predator?
Amir Khalid
@m.j.:
In the event, she’s said something quite different.
Brachiator
@TriassicSands:
Trump can’t help himself. He will be who he is until the bitter end.
The wild thing is that Trump is being defeated by himself, by his own words, more than by any of his political opponents.
It will be interesting to see how Trump’s parade of surrogates dance around this on the Sunday pundits shows.
Singular
@OzarkHillbilly: This is true, but come on! I know his base is locked in, and I know this is a close thing, and still has to be fought, but… he’s fucked. He’s finally did it, he has fucked himself. And there’s time for even more before November, lots more. He can’t take this. He doesn’t have the balls or the skin or the stamina. Or the sense.
hilts
Chris Cillizza:is paralyzed from the neck up.
“Sounds to me like NBC was dragging the process out until they could see who “won” the debate Sunday night.”
Speaking of NBC, fuck those cocksucking bastards Lorne Michaels (I realize many people like the SNL skits mocking Trump, but having Trump host the show was an unforgivable act) and Jimmy Fallon for trying to normalize this scumbag.
Arclite
@sigaba:
They were holding on to it until they had something equivalent on Hillary, for “balance.”
hilts
@Brachiator:
It would also be interesting to see if any retired Republican senators or governors have the guts to crawl out from their hiding places and publicly call for Trump to drop out.
Amir Khalid
@hilts:
As already noted, it’s too late for Trump to drop out. The filing deadlines for any new nominee are all past, the ballots are already printed. The Republican party’s nominee is a dead,man walking.
Steeplejack
@hilts:
I don’t want to see Trump abort his campaign. As Cole and others have said, make Trump and the Republicans carry it to term, defending it and making excuses for it every goddamn day.
OzarkHillbilly
@Singular:
But he does have the ego.
Kay
Exactly. It’s part of why it sounds so horrible. She’s not even a person. The two men only see her in relation to themselves- their own status and power.
OzarkHillbilly
@m.j.:
Been thinking about this, trying to put my finger on why it bothers me. I think it comes down to this: Would anyone advise a man to respond in this fashion?
TS
@m.j.:
Way too much both sides in that response. The Clinton response to date is fine. It may get raised again if Trump “goes there” in the debate.
sukabi
@Arclite: with as openly disgusting as drumpf is as a person, there has been readily available dirt that the ENTIRE GOP and political press somehow missed for 15 months…doesn’t add up. Unless with his penchant for listening in on phone calls he also likes electronic peeping… how many of those news and gop people have used drumpf properties for a bit of their own debauchery? A little threat of “film at 11” would certainly keep most of their lips sealed.
sigaba
@DLew On Roids: That makes sense but treating this like an entertainment story is malpractice.
Kay
This isn’t just who Republicans ran for President. This is who they chose to run against the first woman who is likely to be President.
It’s not just a blunder. It’s aggressively and specifically a terrible choice for this historical set of circumstances. It’s like if they had gone out of their way to nominate an out and proud racist in ’08.
Kay
@TriassicSands:
Because he’s a coward. I’m just pleased he’s panicking. We haven’t seen that before. His usual process is to deny he’s horrible for 2 weeks while doubling down. He’s scared, and to me that means he thought this was within his grasp. He thinks he has something to lose.
TS
That horrendous apology – “anyone who knows me, knows these words don’t reflect who I am”.
I’ve never heard anything that better reflects who someone is than the words of Trump discussing his attacks on women.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: Could he have actually come to the realization he has everything to lose?
sukabi
@Kay: forced apology, it’s not his usual handlers, they haven’t been able to kep him subdued for more than a couple of hours… someone else maybe…a debt holder?
Brachiator
@hilts:
The GOP can’t call for Trump to drop out. It’s too late to substitute another candidate.
Trump has apologized and he’s got two debates left to sell himself.
You can also bet that someone is looking hard for something to use against Hillary.
MattF
Two points:
1) Cillizza doesn’t say Republicans are stunned because Trmp is ‘dangerous’– he says Republicans are stunned because Trmp is ‘dangerous to the party‘. There’s a difference.
2) Trmp apologizes for his words, but, um, what about the sexual assaults?
TS
@sukabi:
someone else maybe…a debt holder? Not @kay but
Robert Costa is saying the apology was demanded by Priebus & Paul Ryan – no idea how true – but he says Trump did NOT want to apologize.
Jeffro
It’ll be a fine day – tomorrow, perhaps? – when someone notes that serial sexual predator Roger Ailes is advising Trump, and that Trump has stood up for him.
Kay
We maybe don’t need to rank his offenses- he has no redeeming qualities so can certainly be both a racist and a sexist, but this to me was the worst thing Trump has ever said:
They were kids and they were bullied and coerced into confessing, caught up in a media/police panic reaction they had absolutely nothing to do with. The adults around them lost their damned minds in a frenzy of career promotion and ass-covering and they were the victims.
He wanted them executed and he still wants them dead. He’s mad they were exonerated because it makes him look like a moron. They’re not human beings to him.
Jeffro
@Brachiator:
True, but people who want to disassociate themselves from this sicko (including oddly enough Mike Lee) will be calling for him to do it anyway.
We’re getting an early start on the upcoming GOP civil war…wow are they going to go at it…
ThresherK (GPad)
@OzarkHillbilly: Winning question right there. If I were in her spot I don’t know what I could come up with that strikes the proper knowing nerve.
I’d probably be so full of schadenfreude that Iid use the word “deplorable”, so it’s good she’s there and I’m here.
Brachiator
@Kay:
There were some who probably thought it was just the thing to run a “manly man” against Hillary. And there were those who wanted this supposedly tough guy Trump to put a woman in her place.
There was a piece in the Guardian in which some conservative women said that a woman should never be one of the “three p,” police, priest, or president. So Trump was their kind of man. And obviously there are men in Trump’s base who believe this as well.
OzarkHillbilly
@Brachiator:
Maybe they will finally go after her on Beghazi or the e-mails. I know, Whitewater! That’ll do the trick! And nobody has ever been able to square the circle that is the death of Vince Foster. What about the Clinton Foundation? Has anyone really looked at that? And remember when she fired everyone in the WH travel office? Nobody ever got to the bottom of that. And using the Lincoln bedroom as a fund raising tool? What about that? And let’s not forget her birther campaign against BO….
Really, what’s left?
JR in WV
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
Put it in a small plastic bag, make it airtight with a knot or twist tie. That way when they hatch out, they won’t be free to fly around. At worst case, take your garbage outside at least once a day, before bed for ex.
I really hate using pesticide spray anywhere, esp not indoors. That shit is poison, just read about one formulation on line.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
This is going to hurt Trump badly. Not just because of what he said and did, but because of how it’s going to play out. This is the scandal that’s going to be the one that, in its mechanics, is just like the “scandals” that Clinton has been dealing with: it’s going to come out piece by piece, with something new to put in the headlines every day. It’s going to be more women coming out and telling their stories about Trump, one at a time. It’s going to be reporters digging around looking for the next woman, and quite possibly finding other trails that they explore. I really doubt that anyone even vaguely connected to the Clinton camp is responsible for this; it seems much more likely that it was someone at NBC who thought they were foot dragging. But you can be assured that the oppo file the Clinton campaign has is full of juicy leads that they can feed to Fahrenthold or someone else that will keep them going. And it gets started a month before the election.
This is all anyone is going to talk about with regards to Trump for most of that time.
sukabi
@TS: Ryan & Preibus? Don’t believe it, they’ve been holding their noses and swallowing their pride? thru all his previous self-inflicted bull…and still supported him, even when they COULD have gotten rid of him. I don’t think there is anything they could do to actually get drumpf to toe their line as he’s rubbed their noses in the dirt for the last several months.
OzarkHillbilly
@ThresherK (GPad): I certainly don’t know what I would say, even less what Hillary should say, but equating my past fairly minor and mostly benign transgressions with sexual assault perpetrated by my political opponent is NOT among them.
Kay
@Brachiator:
They knew though. They knew Trump was specifically unpopular with women well before he won the primary.
It’s more than a tactic. It’s a deliberate, aggressive move against women voters and the first woman major Party candidate. They basically told women voters to fuck off – they made a decision to hope they’d find some enthusiasm among men who ALSO hate women.
This isn’t standard political party behavior. These people need a psychiatrist. It’s one thing to be white male centered. It’s another to actively alienate everyone except white males. It’s a kind of malice.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
Trump will try to tie Hillary Clinton to her husband’s behavior, which will just highlight the fact that he doesn’t consider women human beings apart from their interactions with men.
Jeffro
@Kay:
ahem…older white males…
/middle-aged guy
You’ve got it, Kay, accurate on all counts. This is what the rage spiral that the GOP has been in since about 1994…with accelerations in 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2015…looks like. Complete loss of rationality and principles, just acting out of sheer spite.
sukabi
@OzarkHillbilly: well there is bunnygate
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
To me his fundamental mistake re: Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton is he assumes Hillary Clinton approaches the world like Donald Trump does.
Hillary Clinton isn’t ashamed of Bill Clinton’s behavior because Hillary Clinton actually believes she is a person separate and apart from her husband. She knows this. Donald Trump does not know this.
Kay
@Jeffro:
Trump doesn’t even poll well with non-college white women. They knew that too, going in.
They made a conscious decision to line up against most women.
TS
@sukabi: I’m just the messenger – quoting Costa – but again – according to MSNBC (where Costa made his remarks), Priebus (& Christie) was with Trump when the story broke – and will now stay with him until the debate. Ryan uninvited him from a Wisconsin event today.
sukabi
@Kay: it’s who they are and what they’ve been doing with their anti woman legislation. White male dominance is what they’re after. That’s what the gerymandering, vote supressing, close the borders bullshit is about. Cementing in law that white males ate in charge.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: The GOP has been trying to do that (with some success) since 1992. As far as I can tell, it’s played out as a tactic. So is the “Hillary is EEEEEEEEvil” card.
Matt McIrvin
@OzarkHillbilly: The electoral-vote.com guy was just fretting about the Wikileaks stuff being incredibly damaging, on the basis of some Slate article I haven’t had the nerve to read. But it sounds like the kind of stuff that at worst would drive a few more Bernie people to Jill Stein, not the kind of stuff that would put Hillary in jail or undo Trump’s continuing meltdown.
Kay
What rank and file Democrats loved about Bill Clinton in the 1990’s was that he was a really ruthless competitor who would fight. He didn’t have any illusions that he was above political brawling and there’s a weird lack of ego in that- in his first Presidential race he didn’t pretend to be the person who takes the high road. He was willing to take a personal black eye to his dignity if that meant he won. My recollection is that “fancier” Democrats wouldn’t admit that- they talked about how smart he was or that he was self-made, but for rank and file they loved him more the more ruthless he was because they were kind of starved for a politician like that. His “populist” appeal was never policy. It was that he wasn’t too good or high-minded or abstract to brawl. Hillary Clinton’s campaign the last 2 months reminds me of that.
sukabi
@TS: well that’s the “official spin”, doesn’t mean it’s the truth…but funny that he’s got new babysitters. Also funny that Cristie is going to be tied to the train wreck all the way down…not sure if moving from ball washer to babysitter is a promotion though.
OzarkHillbilly
@Matt McIrvin: The wikileaks stuff being a few of the Wall street speeches she gave? If that is what you are referring to, I think it is already baked in and that your “at worst would drive a few more Bernie people to Jill Stein,” is accurate.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: It’s what I liked about Bill. To hell with being better than the other guy, just f’n destroy him. (what I like about Obama is that he destroys his opponents, but he does it in such a quiet way)
amk
@m.j.:
And that false equivalence is supposed to achieve what exactly?
Brachiator
@OzarkHillbilly:
Didn’t the Wiki leaks guy promise some devastating revelation?
sukabi
@amk: the only thing it would do is get the beltway hacks endlessly yammering on about what they think Hillary regrets… it’s a loser strategy.
Brachiator
@Kay:
Trump told blacks, Latinos, Muslims, Asians to fuck off. Why do you think he would be sensitive to women or to history just because the Democrats have a woman candidate?
And the GOP and Trump’s most passionate supporters desperately believe that a strong white man can turn back the tide of “the wrong kind of people” being in charge of the country.
OzarkHillbilly
@Brachiator: What @Matt McIrvin: and I @OzarkHillbilly:
I just don’t see any there, there.
amk
@sukabi: Why the fuck she has to commiserate with what this misogynist ratfucker has done all through his life. If she did that, it will sound phony since it is.
sukabi
@amk: the only thing she should say, if she says anything at all, is “There is no excuse for that deplorable behavior whether you’re 18 or 70. It constitutes sexual assualt and it’s illegal.”
amk
@sukabi: If it were up to me, she should just say, he did them all, let him answer for them all.
Matt McIrvin
@OzarkHillbilly: Yeah, the speeches. If it’d come out during the primary campaign it probably would have been the big story for a couple of weeks, but…
m.j.
@amk: It makes her the better human-being.
amk
@m.j.: She has nothing to prove on that front. What you are saying is the typical boyz will be boyz bs excuse that she has to extend this thugly moron.
gogol's wife
That ad up top hit me like a ton of bricks. I’m sobbing.
Barbara
@m.j.: Do you think anyone is in doubt on that point? Why does she have to go out of her way to soothe Trump’s distress? He has a family for that. It isn’t the job of every woman to make every man feel better.
m.j.
@amk:
If that were the case, this election would be a deadlock cinch.
Look.
It’s a way of taunting Trump. It’s just another stick to poke in his innards. Get it?
Chris
“They knew he was this bad, but they were hoping it wasn’t on tape.”
The party’s come a long way since Nixon, hasn’t it?
nominus
@OzarkHillbilly: Obama’s awesome style is that chess game where opponents are maneuvered into losing without realizing it until the very end. Bill’s awesome style is that he telegraphs his intentions and his goals the whole way and dares you to stop him, knowing that you can’t. Different styles, both admirable and entertaining to watch.
m.j.
@Barbara:
Apparently no one you know.
Gvg
I think the speculation NBC was stalling on the tape is right. The Apprentiss was NBC. They must have a lot more and worse on tape than this and never did anything to rein Trump in. Lots of lawsuits are likely. Access Hollywood was originally NBC, had several other distributor companies then came back to NBC according to Google. I think NBC had a conflict of interest here.
evodevo
@Kay: Strangely enough, that is the way politics used to be – remember LBJ wasn’t afraid to go to the mat – most politicians were like that. That’s why you DIDN’T get involved in politics unless you had a good oppo game and a thick skin.
Percysowner
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: If the balsamic vinegar isn’t enough, try a bug light It attracts the flies and they get stuck on the fly paper. If you still have them, you may have drain flies. I’ve been fighting an infestation for most of the summer and finally treated my kitchen drains with a biological drain gel. It helped a ton. You pour the stuff down the drain every night for a week. Then once a week thereafter. Good luck.
Uncle Cosmo
@Bailey: Better: Start with an empty 2l soda bottle. Cut it in 2 width-wise about an inch below where the bottle widens to its full width. Put about an inch of apple-cider vinegar in the bottom, add a few drops of dishwashing liquid. Invert the top piece & shove it into the bottom so that the neck points down. Fruit flies get in & are too stupid to get back out; eventually they dive into the liquid & expire..
Barbara
@m.j.: Anyone who would be impressed by Clinton’s “forgiveness” of Trump is already voting for her. Stated another way, Clinton’s “forgiveness” of Trump will be styled by those who support Trump as an admission (the Clintons are just as bad) and permission to keep supporting him. No one will be impressed that she is a better person as you suggest. They will see her as someone who is just as bad, but weaker.
m.j.
@Barbara:
Who said, “forgiveness,” except for you?
They will see her as someone who is just as bad, but weaker.
How does this make sense?