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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

He really is that stupid.

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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Open Thread: Righteous Anger

Open Thread: Righteous Anger

by Anne Laurie|  October 8, 20165:24 pm| 136 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Hillary Clinton 2016, Open Threads, Religious Nuts, Republican Venality

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I wasn't *emotionally* invested in Hillary until I found out she cold-cocked a dude for fucking with baby rabbits. pic.twitter.com/sP7Vi8jP3O

— Ahm Scary (@Ahm76) October 6, 2016


(Srsly)

As racism and sexism came to be considered impolite, a lot of Republican voters decided politeness itself was a problem.

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) October 8, 2016

For decades, gays take the brunt of your "family values" shit and then you support this rapacious, mentally unstable cretin for president.

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) October 8, 2016

PERKINS: "My personal support for Donald Trump has never been based upon shared values" https://t.co/NMhGoZBazQ

— Rosie Gray (@RosieGray) October 7, 2016

“Issues like my ability to milk the angry rubes who can’t understand why beating up women / people of color / gays / their kids is no longer considered acceptable. C.R.E.A.M. for Jeebus!”

I cannot stress strongly enough that the man who runs **the Values Voter Summit** said this on Friday. https://t.co/yqwgmZ5ZDM

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) October 8, 2016

Evangelical leaders on Trump's comments: "locker room banter" https://t.co/xaU3q0lTao

— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) October 8, 2016

Please remember this next time some unctuous journalist talks about the political sacrament in this country that is "people of faith." https://t.co/WplMPwOWdA

— corey robin (@CoreyRobin) October 8, 2016

I usually assume they only pretend not to know better, but times like this I have to think maybe they are this fucked up https://t.co/HCrdS3tQhJ

— Roy Edroso (@edroso) October 7, 2016

Note from a hardcore religious-not-evangelical conservative Republican…

For those of you too young to remember, this is why Reaganites kept their distance from the evangelical nutbag wing of the party in the 80s.

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) October 8, 2016


Or at least had the good sense to preserve the hypocrisy of ‘plausible deniability’.

at some point, those who've spent years demonizing President Obama have to face the fact that he's been a sterling exemplar of family values

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) October 8, 2016

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Reader Interactions

136Comments

  1. 1.

    Jeffro

    October 8, 2016 at 5:31 pm

    Already saw and liked that Harwood tweet…there is absolutely no denying that Barack and Michelle Obama are stellar parents.

    Shocked to see the cracks in the dam starting to mount. Tomorrow’s debate is going to be ep.ic.

  2. 2.

    Jeffro

    October 8, 2016 at 5:32 pm

    Whoa…both Pence AND Melania aren’t ‘standing by their man’?!?

  3. 3.

    Betty Cracker

    October 8, 2016 at 5:32 pm

    Wait, we’re supposed to think it was wrong of grammar-school-age Hillary to punch her classmate in the nose for not protecting the rabbits? LMAO! I’m with the tweeter…

  4. 4.

    sigaba

    October 8, 2016 at 5:32 pm

    Google Doc with various Republican officeholders’ present position on Trump

    NY Mag article with summary to the hour. Actually quite a few senators in the last few hours.

    I don’t know how he’d quit but I suspect in a week he’s going to be running a Potemkin campaign, with no RNC money or support; unless Daniel Webster possesses his body tomorrow during the debate.

  5. 5.

    cynthia ackerman

    October 8, 2016 at 5:34 pm

    Hardcore family values?

  6. 6.

    raven

    October 8, 2016 at 5:34 pm

    Xin Loi MOTHERFUCKER!

  7. 7.

    raven

    October 8, 2016 at 5:34 pm

    I wonder what Imus has?

  8. 8.

    Hal

    October 8, 2016 at 5:35 pm

    I’m watching the reaction on facebook from Trump supporters and it ranges from; they’re both awful candidates, let’s start over, to hey, Bill Clinton sexually harassed women, so what’s the issue? Liberal hypocrisy!! Bill Clinton isn’t running for president and they haven’t got shit on Obama. Honestly the reactions are hilarious in their total resistance to reality. Hilarious and frightening.

  9. 9.

    Jeffro

    October 8, 2016 at 5:35 pm

    McCain’s also out.

    Well, in several ways this has been an election unprecedented in American history…who knew it would be unprecedented in ALL the ways?!?

  10. 10.

    Ruckus

    October 8, 2016 at 5:36 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    I wasn’t *emotionally* invested in Hillary until I found out she cold-cocked a dude for fucking with baby rabbits.

    I laughed out loud when I read that.

  11. 11.

    scav

    October 8, 2016 at 5:37 pm

    I’ve seen this up close and personal with my very own Reverend Aunt, long-time Lutheran Minister. She hid it well for a long time, but is now complaining about all the hispanics around during her visit to San Diego, won’t support Hillary because HC isn’t a feminist whereas the Reverend Aunt is (while commenting about how Diane Feinstein had really let herself go) and how she didn’t care at all about any possible consequences (up to and including being an actual Godwin-event) from the election of Trump. I’m so enjoying thinking of her wreathed in her superior morality with her flutter of elderly Iowa friends watching this unfold.

  12. 12.

    rikyrah

    October 8, 2016 at 5:37 pm

    I wasn’t going to watch tomorrow…
    But now……
    ???

  13. 13.

    chris

    October 8, 2016 at 5:38 pm

    Poor Paul Ryan, booed and heckled in Wisconsin. Via @ddale8

  14. 14.

    raven

    October 8, 2016 at 5:38 pm

    Trump on Imus and school teacher.

  15. 15.

    Jeffro

    October 8, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    @Hal:

    Honestly the reactions are hilarious in their total resistance to reality. Hilarious and frightening.

    I saw a friend post something quite funny and anti-Trump on FB a bit ago…I guess one of his other friends is a Trump fan and she went ballistic, leading with BENGHAZEEE! of course and then alluding to X number of Clinton-related murders.

    They were about 4 exchanges into it when I recommended to him that “…we just let these Alex Jones fans be as their world (and candidate) collapses…eventually they’ll wonder why what their ‘news’ sources tell them keeps not squaring with reality, and think about rejoining the land of the rational…”

    Yes, she went apeshit. LOL

  16. 16.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 8, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    this is why Reaganites kept their distance from the evangelical nutbag wing of the party in the 80s.

    HA HA HA HA no they did not.

  17. 17.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    October 8, 2016 at 5:42 pm

    Trump: “I was a different person then. Classier now. Now, I would have said “carpe cattus”. “

  18. 18.

    James E Powell

    October 8, 2016 at 5:44 pm

    Pence out? That’s not going to help his political future.

    Who would be willing to take his place?

  19. 19.

    Ruckus

    October 8, 2016 at 5:44 pm

    @raven:
    No kidding.

  20. 20.

    WereBear

    October 8, 2016 at 5:45 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: There was the fundamentalist wing, but also the Birchers, Jewish Banking Conspiracy theorists, the Illuminati blamers, those who wouldn’t pay taxes because of some guidebook that told them how to get away with it…

  21. 21.

    dedc79

    October 8, 2016 at 5:46 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Mr. Nichols should reacquaint himself with one James G Watt

  22. 22.

    dmsilev

    October 8, 2016 at 5:46 pm

    @rikyrah: The TV ratings for tomorrow are going to be sky-high. Wonder whether the broadcasters are going to put in a few seconds delay just in case they need to bleep Trump.

  23. 23.

    James E Powell

    October 8, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    @chris:

    Poor Paul Ryan, booed and heckled in Wisconsin.

    I watched that on MSNBC. Someone yelled “You turned your back on him!” The talking head made no note of it or any other heckling but I could hear very clearly.

  24. 24.

    Jeffro

    October 8, 2016 at 5:48 pm

    Btw may have been mentioned earlier, but even Tic Tac is disavowing Donald Trump on Twitter. True!

  25. 25.

    ? Martin

    October 8, 2016 at 5:49 pm

    @Jeffro: They still stand by him. He’s a changed man now, dontchanow.

  26. 26.

    p.a.

    October 8, 2016 at 5:49 pm

    Banana Republican Party has now turned this into a banana republic election. Photoshop tRump’s face on every one of these fuckers. They made it (him). They own it (him).

  27. 27.

    Ruckus

    October 8, 2016 at 5:49 pm

    @James E Powell:
    Not out as in not running, but out as in not supporting the top (?) of the ticket. IOW he’s publicly dising the man he was hoping to be his boss.

  28. 28.

    WereBear

    October 8, 2016 at 5:50 pm

    A earlier thread touched on how religion of all kinds are losing adherents these days, and I wonder if it is this kind of blatant hypocrisy that just mounts up and overwhelms religious defenses.

  29. 29.

    mayyouliveininterestingtimes

    October 8, 2016 at 5:52 pm

    @scav: “For a man to become a Christian, he must first pluck the eyes out of reason.” – Martin Luther.

  30. 30.

    p.a.

    October 8, 2016 at 5:53 pm

    @James E Powell: Judas! And we were worried about Hillary being in physical danger. Can’t think of a better bunch of fascists who need to buy some body armor.

  31. 31.

    Ruckus

    October 8, 2016 at 5:55 pm

    @dmsilev:
    I hope not. That would be grand to have him run on in a profanity laden remark and have all those supposedly religious bigots who still support him heads splode.

  32. 32.

    Keith G

    October 8, 2016 at 5:55 pm

    Swear to god this is happening:

    I am scanning online commerce sites for post-op supplies that will make a few upcoming weeks of my like less onerous. (Things relevant to having a catheter). The seemingly endless stream of Tweets – profound, profane, and/or hilarious – is keeping me giggling as I plan out some challenging times ahead.

    Tweeters who are rocking it are TBogg, Jon Favreau, Dan Pfeiffer, David Plouffe, Jon Lovitt, and Patton Oswald. Fuck, this is an awesome weekend in American history – and at least parts of it (most of it?) are amazeballs funny.

  33. 33.

    dmsilev

    October 8, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    Make sure to tune in at the beginning of the debate tomorrow:

    Clinton will address the comments and Trump’s fitness for office at or near the beginning of the debate, the aide said. The aide spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe some of the internal discussion.

    The debate is expected to draw significant viewership, which figures in the strategy for Clinton’s in-person response.

    9 PM Eastern.

    Edit:

    With Trump’s support among Republicans eroding rapidly, and the GOP nominee rejecting calls for him to drop out, several Democrats said they believe he will come into the debate with the mind-set of a “wounded animal” — a factor that they say could make him more dangerous.

    “I’ve never seen a candidate walk into a debate with this much at stake,” Carville said. “He’s overweight, he’s old, he’s tired and he’s crabby. And he’s going to have a very long hour and a half.”

  34. 34.

    sam

    October 8, 2016 at 5:59 pm

    It might be a sign of who I’m friends with, but the baby rabbits story was all over my facebook page yesterday (before trumpmageddon), posted lovingly and approvingly by all of my female friends, as possibly the most endearing thing we had all ever seen about her.

    My contribution was wanting to know when they were going to make an American Girl doll with this precise backstory.

  35. 35.

    Jeffro

    October 8, 2016 at 6:00 pm

    Apparently all Mike Pence events have been removed from the Trump website…holy moly Trumpman…

  36. 36.

    Elizabelle

    October 8, 2016 at 6:00 pm

    @efgoldman: Paul Ryan losing his seat would be ab fab.

    Give him more time for the gym and Ayn Rand.

    I want to see BoehnerCam today and tomorrow. Bring it on!

  37. 37.

    Ruckus

    October 8, 2016 at 6:00 pm

    @p.a.:
    Judas is right. It’s not like Ryan was going to actually govern (minimally such as it would be) any different that Trump, he just wasn’t going to say it out loud.

  38. 38.

    Roger Moore

    October 8, 2016 at 6:01 pm

    As racism and sexism came to be considered impolite, a lot of Republican voters decided politeness itself was a problem.

    Only very narrowly. They’re more than happy to hide behind a need for civility when somebody calls them a liar, bigot, misogynist, etc. Remember that calling somebody a racist is the real racism.

  39. 39.

    hovercraft

    October 8, 2016 at 6:01 pm

    @Jeffro:
    Wake up!!
    Those children were stolen from their parents. Barrack and Michael are holding them prisoner. We must all do our best to get them back to their real family.

    My schaden is overflowing, I can’t contain it, the republicans in disarray is just so delicious. We’ve got back stabbers, rats scurrying off the ship, the last stand at the Alamo, people denying reality, it’s all there. Everywhere I turn there’s another fire breaking out, and the fire brigade is overwhelmed.

  40. 40.

    gogol's wife

    October 8, 2016 at 6:02 pm

    @rikyrah:

    I cannot beLEEVE this is going to get me to turn on the TV tomorrow night — but I think it just might.

  41. 41.

    ? Martin

    October 8, 2016 at 6:02 pm

    @efgoldman: His district is R+3. I don’t know anything about his challenger other than he’s an Iraq war vet. Ryan won by 18 points in 2014. He should be fairly safe, but who the fuck knows this year. And I suspect this is all pretty calm and predictable relative to what’s yet to come.

  42. 42.

    James E Powell

    October 8, 2016 at 6:04 pm

    @dmsilev:

    I will be very disappointed if she does not use the word deplorable. In fact, if that is all she says, I’d be happy.

  43. 43.

    sigaba

    October 8, 2016 at 6:05 pm

    Just gave another couple bucks to Kander. Hollywood moneez pouring into MO elections!

  44. 44.

    patrick II

    October 8, 2016 at 6:06 pm

    @Ruckus:

    I agree with you domestically, but I think Ryan is at least rational on foreign relations. I have no idea what Trump would do — break up NATO?, encourage nukes in japan and south korea? be putin’s stooge? Hit on Angela Merkel? strke the last, she’s not a 10. Anyhow, Ryan is devious but Trump is oblivious.

  45. 45.

    Lizzy L

    October 8, 2016 at 6:06 pm

    Yeah, it’s all fun. The Republican nominee for President has been revealed to be a foul-mouthed racist misogynist. Except that he’s always been a foul-mouthed racist misogynist, his voters LOVE it that he is, and the Republican establishment is between a rock and a hard place. Per Sam Wang:

    “… the idea that the recording comes as a surprise does not make sense. Trump’s record of misogynistic comments is abundant, and his unfiltered comments are part of his core appeal. As a reality television star with thousands of hours of candid footage, it was inevitable that such comments would come to light…though it’s taken a while.”

    He won’t resign. They can’t dump him. If they continue to try they will piss off his voters, and the down ticket races might suffer. If they continue to support him, they will look like what they are, greedy, unprincipled hypocrites, and the sane portion of the country [I continue to believe that the country has a sane portion] will recoil from them and look for other options. And the emessem will continue to sell tickets to the show. Karma’s a bitch.

  46. 46.

    catclub

    October 8, 2016 at 6:07 pm

    @sam:

    My contribution was wanting to know when they were going to make an American Girl doll with this precise backstory.

    Our family always wanted a Molly Maguire American girl, in a pose to throw an old-fashioned bomb with lit fuse.

  47. 47.

    Calouste

    October 8, 2016 at 6:07 pm

    @Jeffro: I checked the waybackmachine, there were never any Pence events scheduled past 10/7. Which raises the question why not, with a month to go to the election.

  48. 48.

    Jeffro

    October 8, 2016 at 6:07 pm

    @hovercraft:

    My schaden is overflowing, I can’t contain it, the republicans in disarray is just so delicious. We’ve got back stabbers, rats scurrying off the ship, the last stand at the Alamo, people denying reality, it’s all there. Everywhere I turn there’s another fire breaking out, and the fire brigade is overwhelmed.

    I agree, I’m there with ya…

    The one thing I’m trying to take it easy on is rubbing it in with friends and relatives who kept justifying their support for this clown. I’m trying to keep it to, “This was always going to happen with this unprincipled clown – maybe next time, y’all could stand on principle, outcomes (and opposition party) be damned.”

  49. 49.

    ? Martin

    October 8, 2016 at 6:09 pm

    @gogol’s wife: I’m not looking forward to it, to be honest. Trump has a serious personality disorder and is under unimaginable levels of stress right now. Depending on how the next 24 hours go, this could be like throwing a hand grenade into a fire.

  50. 50.

    hovercraft

    October 8, 2016 at 6:10 pm

    @sigaba:
    Roy Blunt is one of the ones who is standing by his man Trump right? If he is we need to make him live to regret it. Donate, volunteer, lets get him out of there.

  51. 51.

    catclub

    October 8, 2016 at 6:10 pm

    @? Martin:

    I suspect this is all pretty calm and predictable relative to what’s yet to come.

    Another poster put it: “The october surprise is that every day in October is going to be like this.”

    Given the way the Clinton campaign has made ads about how Trump talks about wormen, it is either very lucky or part of the plan to have this come out.

    very lucky is admirable, and usually shows good preparation.

  52. 52.

    Jeffro

    October 8, 2016 at 6:10 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Grandpa Walnuts has bailed. His internal state polling must be really scary.

    Should be exciting to see McCain singled out by The Donald for some special criticism in the next few days, deepening the divide in the GOP…other relatively sane Rs will use this as an excuse to dump Trump, when they couldn’t find it in themselves to do the principled thing earlier this year (re: POW comments)

  53. 53.

    Fair Economist

    October 8, 2016 at 6:10 pm

    @efgoldman:

    From our Wisconsin contingent, any chance at all that he loses his seat?

    Not from Wisconsin, but the short answer is: it’s a very special case. He’s in a marginal district for this election, R+3 IIRC, which after this would suggest “probably out”. However, he’s personally popular and his opponent has no electoral experience, although some as an activist and volunteer. So the question is whether the Republican implosion gets bad enough to outweigh his substantial edge in fundraising and recognition.

  54. 54.

    Hal

    October 8, 2016 at 6:12 pm

    Trump has brought this meme back

  55. 55.

    gogol's wife

    October 8, 2016 at 6:13 pm

    Sassy Trump is dang good.

  56. 56.

    catclub

    October 8, 2016 at 6:13 pm

    @Jeffro: I was thinking along lines of “You know, if Trump had some real added value in foreign policy or other useful expertise, this might get overlooked. But he doesn’t”

  57. 57.

    hovercraft

    October 8, 2016 at 6:16 pm

    @Jeffro:
    You’re right, we have to kind to the people we know in real life, because we still have to deal with them. But on the internets we can rub their faces in the shitstorm that they’ve created for themselves.
    I’m waiting for someone with the stomach for it to venture into the conservasphere and bring back reports. I ventured over to FOX last night, and Kelly did cover it, but she put it on par with the new wiki dump, and then they focused on Matthew.

  58. 58.

    sigaba

    October 8, 2016 at 6:16 pm

    @hovercraft: yup.

    So why are they all freaking out at Puzzygate? When Trump has said so many things? What is it about this?

    Sam Wang speaks sense: it’s not about this revelation, it’s because Republicans realize the door has shut, he has less than a 10% chance of winning, his polls have collapsed. This latest story just happens to be the nearest exit.

    I would argue that this weekend’s public blowback is triggered by a growing realization of what will happen on November 8th. After the first debate, it became obvious that Trump was going to lose the general election. Clinton’s bounceback is small, but by modern (i.e. post-1996) standards it looks large. There isn’t enough time for opinion to shift back (for instance, within my random diffusion assumption), especially given the natural setpoint of the race (my Bayesian prior that assumes regression to the mean). In other words, people’s intuitions started telling them that time had run out for Trump.

    If Trump had been holding the race close they wouldn’t be bailing. To quote one of my favorite films, the issue here isn’t pussy.
    (True, this scene takes place in a men’s locker room.)

  59. 59.

    catclub

    October 8, 2016 at 6:16 pm

    @Hal: I thought it would be a reprise of Melania’s ( whatever happened to her?) convention speech that ended with Rick Astley’s rickroll tagline. Didn’t Trump have that in his apology?

  60. 60.

    dmsilev

    October 8, 2016 at 6:18 pm

    @catclub:

    Another poster put it: “The october surprise is that every day in October is going to be like this.”

    Someone (on Twitter I think) described it as being an October Advent Calendar.

  61. 61.

    realbtl

    October 8, 2016 at 6:20 pm

    I just had an inadvertent brain bleach moment. If (shudder) Trump was elected, what would be his Bush/Merkel/backrub moment?

  62. 62.

    Millard Filmore

    October 8, 2016 at 6:21 pm

    @efgoldman:

    For the sin of wanting to control her own body.

    I do not remember where I saw this, but a good replacement for “anti-abortion” is “pussy-police”

  63. 63.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 8, 2016 at 6:21 pm

    Can an post in an open thread be OT? This is totally about me so ignore and continue to rant, please. But I’ve seen the cover blurbs for my new book:

    “Winsor is a meticulous writer who expertly balances intelligence and delight.” –Saladin Ahmed, author of THRONE OF THE CRESCENT MOON, Finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Gemell, and British Fantasy Awards.

    “This story is all heart. Dorothy Winsor’s DEEP AS A TOMB is a poignant coming of age adventure that explores the bonds of friendship, the demands of family, and the responsibilities of heritage and community. I couldn’t stop reading.” –Amy Bai, author of YA fantasy SWORD.

  64. 64.

    Joyce H

    October 8, 2016 at 6:22 pm

    @sam:

    but the baby rabbits story was all over my facebook page yesterday (before trumpmageddon), posted lovingly and approvingly by all of my female friends, as possibly the most endearing thing we had all ever seen about her.

    I had exactly the same reaction. And little girl Hillary punching the guy over the baby rabbits proves something I’ve suspected for a while.

    Hillary is Hermione.

  65. 65.

    quakerinabasement

    October 8, 2016 at 6:23 pm

    Let’s speak plainly: Trump is an admitted sex offender.

  66. 66.

    Lizzy L

    October 8, 2016 at 6:23 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: You go!! Those are terrific blurbs. I’m looking forward to reading the book.

  67. 67.

    The Golux

    October 8, 2016 at 6:23 pm

    @Keith G:

    …relevant to having a catheter.

    As someone who had to endure that a couple of years ago, you have my utmost sympathy. Aside from the discomfort and inconvenience, a male member with a catheter is one of the most pathetic looking things I’ve ever seen. Sad!

  68. 68.

    gogol's wife

    October 8, 2016 at 6:23 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Hurray!

    Hey, I’ve heard of you!

  69. 69.

    Roger Moore

    October 8, 2016 at 6:24 pm

    @dmsilev:
    I would not be at all surprised to see Trump storm out in the middle of the debate if he’s unhappy with the questions. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see him become physically violent. He’s completely unpredictable at this point, except that he’s extremely likely to lose it one way or another.

  70. 70.

    Elizabelle

    October 8, 2016 at 6:25 pm

    @dmsilev:

    October Advent Calendar

    That’s funny.

  71. 71.

    raven

    October 8, 2016 at 6:26 pm

    @Roger Moore: Physically violent, wmith who? That fat punk isn’t man enough.

  72. 72.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 8, 2016 at 6:26 pm

    @gogol’s wife:

    Hey, I’ve heard of you!

    Really? I’m very small fry. Teeny fry with a teeny press. Unless you mean on BJ.

  73. 73.

    Adam L Silverman

    October 8, 2016 at 6:26 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: I believe Reagan told the Moral Majority: ” you can’t endorse me, but I can endorse you.” When he was running for president.

  74. 74.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 8, 2016 at 6:27 pm

    @efgoldman:

    From our Wisconsin contingent, any chance at all that he loses his seat?

    I could see some Trumpites voting for Trump and leaving the rest of the ballot blank, but I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up about Ryan losing. I’d laugh my ass off it it happened though.

  75. 75.

    gogol's wife

    October 8, 2016 at 6:27 pm

    @raven:

    That’s what I was gonna say. Nah gonna happen.

  76. 76.

    Medicine Man

    October 8, 2016 at 6:28 pm

    It is interesting how conservatives like Tom Nichols are so good at bluntly stating what is really motivating (many) Trump voters.

    Regarding durable evangelical support for Trump: “Their hatred and resentment of others is stronger than their religious beliefs. They won’t let go of their supposed instrument of revenge.”

  77. 77.

    Elizabelle

    October 8, 2016 at 6:28 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Three cheers!

    Now I will be reading your prose too.

    And yeah, an Open Thread cleansed of GOP-themed topic would be minty.

  78. 78.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 8, 2016 at 6:28 pm

    @Lizzy L: I was super pleased that Saladin Ahmed blurbed. He’s a big deal.

  79. 79.

    gogol's wife

    October 8, 2016 at 6:28 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    You haven’t been mentioned in the NYTimes Book Review?

    Anyway, those are fantastic blurbs.

  80. 80.

    Roger Moore

    October 8, 2016 at 6:28 pm

    @Lizzy L:

    The Republican nominee for President has been revealed to be a foul-mouthed racist misogynist. Except that he’s always been a foul-mouthed racist misogynist

    No. The Republican candidate has admitted to being a sexual predator, corroborating all the women who have accused him of being one. That’s a big Biden deal.

  81. 81.

    ? Martin

    October 8, 2016 at 6:28 pm

    @catclub: The Clinton campaign should now start going after Pence hard. There’s a pretty undignified opening to suggest that if the Republican Presidential candidate raped your daughter that the Republican Vice Presidential candidate would oppose letting her get an abortion.

  82. 82.

    Lizzy L

    October 8, 2016 at 6:29 pm

    Josh Marshall:

    The last 24 hours has probably lost him significant support in the race against Hillary Clinton. Perhaps he’s fallen from the low 40s to the very high 30s. Just a guess. But in the context of intra-Republican politics that leaves him with massive levels of support intact. This is a pivot establishment Republicans tried to pull off at numerous points on the road to October. They were never able to do so. Indeed, realizing the scope of the challenge they essentially never tried. Despite the news of the last 24 hours, there’s little reason to believe they’ll be successful now. And by ‘successful’ I mean leading a party abandonment of Trump as opposed to ripping open a massive hemorrhage in the party just weeks before the election.

    If any part of Trump was buckling or feeling he had to give way (which I think is unlikely), these boisterous voices claiming betrayal will stiffen his resolve. They will make him want to fight and convince him – correctly – that many are on his side.

    We haven’t seen the level of intra-party civil war that this looks like it might become at any time in recent political history. If it does it could radically alter what we’ve expected to see as the outcome of the 2016 election.

  83. 83.

    Bruce K

    October 8, 2016 at 6:29 pm

    So help me FSM, I just saw this in my Twitter feed. It’s too bad I have no idea how to search old comments here, because I have this desperate need to crow “I called it”…

    .@realDonaldTrump My Lord, I have a cunning plan…— Tony Robinson (@Tony_Robinson) October 8, 2016

  84. 84.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 8, 2016 at 6:29 pm

    @Elizabelle: I’m embarrassed to admit it but I might miss Trump when he’s gone. He’s always doing outrageous things and as long as he’s defeated, that gets my blood circulating.

  85. 85.

    Lizzy L

    October 8, 2016 at 6:32 pm

    @Roger Moore: Not to his supporters. They will insist it’s locker room talk, that all men talk like this, and that Bill Clinton argle bargle Vince Foster Benghazi. It will prove nothing to them.

  86. 86.

    dmsilev

    October 8, 2016 at 6:32 pm

    @Roger Moore: His only real chance is to show up and calmly and soberly answer questions, reassuring the audience that he has the temperament to be President.

    Given who he is and how the last day or so has gone, that’s about as likely as all the gas molecules in a room suddenly and spontaneously ending up in one corner.

  87. 87.

    Jeffro

    October 8, 2016 at 6:32 pm

    @Lizzy L: A GOP civil war was inevitable here from the moment Trump got nominated. They could have gone down in flames on principle back in March, but they all thought they were just. So. SMART. that they could thread the needle as they always have – grab the voters without delivering the goods. They forgot: they haven’t delivered in over 30 years.

    Enjoy your Trump death-spiral, GOP die-hards, he’s all yours.

  88. 88.

    gogol's wife

    October 8, 2016 at 6:33 pm

    @Lizzy L:

    Who cares about his supporters.

  89. 89.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 8, 2016 at 6:33 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Congratulations!

  90. 90.

    Roger Moore

    October 8, 2016 at 6:35 pm

    @Joyce H:

    Hillary is Hermione.

    This is a fairly popular sentiment; just try googling it.

  91. 91.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    October 8, 2016 at 6:35 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:Sweet!

  92. 92.

    ? Martin

    October 8, 2016 at 6:36 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Hey, I’ve heard of you as well. Along my travels I hired technical writing instructors. I know your book – it’s really excellent.

  93. 93.

    Roger Moore

    October 8, 2016 at 6:37 pm

    @raven:

    Physically violent, wmith who?

    Hillary or the moderator, I’m not sure which.

  94. 94.

    bemused

    October 8, 2016 at 6:37 pm

    OMG, the bunny story is supposed to prove Hillary is dangerous! These people are batshit crazy.

  95. 95.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 8, 2016 at 6:38 pm

    @gogol’s wife: The Republicans do–they’re entertaining bizarre fantasies about somehow slotting in a replacement candidate, and without the Trump loyalists it would be just another way of massively losing.

  96. 96.

    ? Martin

    October 8, 2016 at 6:38 pm

    @bemused: Especially when they stand just shy of shooting black people for sport.

  97. 97.

    Suzanne

    October 8, 2016 at 6:38 pm

    I don’t think I have ever heard a story about a politician that makes me love that person more than hearing about how Hillary Rodham punched a boy in the nose in order to protect some baby rabbits. HOLY SHIT. That is incredible.

    When someone shows you who they are, believe them.

  98. 98.

    Splitting Image

    October 8, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    I went to bed early last night and have been spending the whole day getting caught up. The thread that keeps going through my mind is how successful Reagan’s “11th Commandment” was for so many years and how important it was to the conservative movement’s success: “Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican”. Or in plain English: “Everything bad in the world is somebody else’s fault”.

    For years, they were able to paper over all the cracks in the party just by invoking this rule. Was a Republican a thief? An adulterer? A pedophile? Didn’t matter. Every Republican had dozens of comrades who would call him a devoted family man and turn every negative story, no matter how true, into a “partisan attack”.

    This wasn’t just about presenting a united front to the world. It ensured that the party faithful had only one group to blame for everything bad in the world: Democrats. As soon as you have two groups of Republicans, each group will blame the other for everything that is going wrong. At this point I’m not sure it even matters which faction wins. Trump will certainly attack every Republican who abandons him and will blame them for his loss. His die-hard fans will follow suit, and will be blamed in turn for any down-ticket losses the GOP suffers in November. Those losses don’t even have to be large. Losing one or two Senate seats could put Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court, and the fur will fly when that happens.

    I thought things had settled into a “more or less the same as 2012” map with maybe one or two states flipping, but that depended on the GOP maintaining a united front. That train just left the station and only the Trickster God knows where it is going.

  99. 99.

    ? Martin

    October 8, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    @raven: Possibly with himself. I witnessed someone under less stress shoot themselves on live tv.

  100. 100.

    Elizabelle

    October 8, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: I have a small amount of compassion for DJ Trump. He’s so outlandish, and human, even while saying all these inhumane things. There is something — a lot of things — not right with that man. Then think I should reserve my compassion for the Haitian hurricane victims and survivors, etc.

    Trump has been entertaining, but he’s been demoralizing too, with how fatuous American politics has become. Institutional fail. Media fail. Idiocracy nation, a lot of it.

    I feel a great amount of compassion for Hillary, reaching a pinnacle — first woman nominee of a major political party — and she has to wade around the mud, day after day. And get told she’s unlikeable and untrustworthy while doing it.

    We all need cleansing after this.

    Mostly, I still can’t believe the Trump family let him run. How could this stuff not come out? And what else is coming out? He is a tower built on sand.

    You would not believe this plotline in a novel, and it would not be edifying or pleasurable enough to finish it.

  101. 101.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 8, 2016 at 6:39 pm

    @bemused: They’re in such a bubble that they read a story like that and all they get out of it is “she’s alarmingly unladylike”.

  102. 102.

    Lizzy L

    October 8, 2016 at 6:40 pm

    @gogol’s wife: Don’t say that, please. We live in the same country — in many cases, on the same block. Our kids go to school together, we sit in the same church pew, when our houses catch fire, they burn side by side. We have to find a way through this that doesn’t require us to write each other out of the story.

  103. 103.

    Jeffro

    October 8, 2016 at 6:40 pm

    Would love to see an article or piece (Wang? Silver?) about what happens if half of GOP voters go with Senate candidates who’ve repudiated Trump and the other half don’t (maybe they write in Pepe the Frog?)

  104. 104.

    Baud

    October 8, 2016 at 6:41 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Congrats! Well deserved.

  105. 105.

    Feebog

    October 8, 2016 at 6:41 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    He can’t afford to walk out or become physically violent onstage. Clinton is going after him in her opening statement and try to completely flummox him. I think it will work. He will mostly just repeating talking points to every question he gets and checking his watch repeatedly to see how much time is left.

  106. 106.

    Roger Moore

    October 8, 2016 at 6:41 pm

    @Lizzy L:

    Not to his supporters.

    They aren’t enough to win the election, not by a long shot. He needs to convince waffling Republicans and undecideds, and this is going to hurt him badly with both groups.

  107. 107.

    chopper

    October 8, 2016 at 6:42 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    DAAAAAAANG! you’re a star!

  108. 108.

    Baud

    October 8, 2016 at 6:43 pm

    @Suzanne: I know. It’s great.

    @Elizabelle: Feel the same about Hillary.

  109. 109.

    hovercraft

    October 8, 2016 at 6:45 pm

    @bemused:
    You’re supposed to think eco terrorist.

  110. 110.

    Mustang Bobby

    October 8, 2016 at 6:45 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Yip yah!!

  111. 111.

    Ella in New Mexico

    October 8, 2016 at 6:46 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    I would not be at all surprised to see Trump storm out in the middle of the debate if he’s unhappy with the questions. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see him become physically violent. He’s completely unpredictable at this point, except that he’s extremely likely to lose it one way or another.

    We have a pool at work: 25% of my money’s on him not showing up entirely, 25% he has a massive stroke/cardiac event somewhere around the first 15 minutes and the rest is that he doubles down on Bill’s being a houndog/Hilary the angry wife.

  112. 112.

    hovercraft

    October 8, 2016 at 6:46 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:
    Congrats.

  113. 113.

    Princess

    October 8, 2016 at 6:47 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Congratulations! Richly deserved, I am sure. And thanks for giving us something unambiguously good to cheer about. All this Schadenfreude is delicious, but too sweet.

  114. 114.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 8, 2016 at 6:49 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Ooo! I was looking for a new book, and this looks fantastic. You’ll have another sale when I can get to my tablet.

  115. 115.

    Lizzy L

    October 8, 2016 at 6:49 pm

    @Roger Moore: I agree, and I am happy.

  116. 116.

    Roger Moore

    October 8, 2016 at 6:53 pm

    @Feebog:

    He can’t afford to walk out or become physically violent onstage.

    I don’t trust him to have the self control necessary to do what’s in his long-term best interest. I sincerely think he’s going to lose it in the middle of the debate and do something stupidly impulsive.

  117. 117.

    scott alloway

    October 8, 2016 at 6:55 pm

    @Betty Cracker: As am I. Good move, H.

  118. 118.

    cynthia ackerman

    October 8, 2016 at 6:55 pm

    @Bruce K: My Indo-European is a little rusty, but pretty sure “cunning” comes from the same root as c*nt.

  119. 119.

    Kathleen

    October 8, 2016 at 6:56 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Congratulations!

  120. 120.

    Sloane Ranger

    October 8, 2016 at 6:56 pm

    @Hal: I think what you’re forgetting is the hardcore mysogany of these people. Just as Southerners during Reconstruction believed that the African Americans elected to political office were front men for Northern Carpetbaggers because those people were too simple to have ideas of their own and,even in the 21st century, some thought the same about President Obama, there are people who think that Hilary is simply Bill’s mouthpiece allowing him an unconstitutional 3rd term. Therefore attacking Bill is relevant as he is the ‘real’ candidate.

  121. 121.

    raven

    October 8, 2016 at 6:58 pm

    @? Martin: Ding!

  122. 122.

    raven

    October 8, 2016 at 6:58 pm

    Navy beats Huston!!!

  123. 123.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 8, 2016 at 7:00 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Hillary was in charge of the rabbits. She delegated the authority to look after the rabbits to a subordinate, with specific instructions on what to do. The subordinate ignored the instructions. There were consequences for the subordinate for abusing the authority that they were delegated.

    She was acting like an actual leader even then!

  124. 124.

    Mary G

    October 8, 2016 at 7:01 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Well deserved, congratulations! I’m looking forward to reading it. We can say we knew you when.

  125. 125.

    Feathers

    October 8, 2016 at 7:03 pm

    @Lizzy L: What you are missing is that they have already written us off. The Republicans have always been the party of respectability. From their founding as abolitionists, through Prohibition, up to Nixon’s Law and Order and Pat’s “good Republican cloth coat” and the Wars on Drugs and Terror. That’s who they’ve claimed to be. But they aren’t, not at all. So there really can’t be reconciliation until they let go of that.

    ETA the MSM is a huge part of the problem and until they start to let go of both siderism it will be hard for individuals Reps
    To let go

  126. 126.

    bemused

    October 8, 2016 at 7:03 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:
    @hovercraft:

    People who read people like Klein and Trump fans are actually quite creative. It’s not ordinary minds that can dream up fantastical reasons to believe bizarre nonsense….and completely reject reality.

  127. 127.

    bemused

    October 8, 2016 at 7:05 pm

    btw, my local PBS station is re-airing Frontline Choices, Clinton and Trump lives, before the debate tomorrow night.

  128. 128.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 8, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    @efgoldman: I’m timid over there but the discussions are good.

    @? Martin: My past life. That was fun.

    @MisterForkbeard: The new one (Deep as a Tomb) won’t be out for another week or so. With small presses, these things are flexible.

    Thank you for all the good wishes. I’ll tell you when it comes out and then try to shut up about it.

  129. 129.

    Joel

    October 8, 2016 at 7:12 pm

    @sigaba: sam’s wrong. The difference is that Trump is explicitly describing himself as someone who commits criminal, violent acts. This is a different shade than the other stuff.

  130. 130.

    skerry

    October 8, 2016 at 7:13 pm

    @raven: I’d like to see him take off a shoe and bang it on the table/podium a la Nikita Khrushchev

  131. 131.

    sukabi

    October 8, 2016 at 7:59 pm

    @raven: My Dear Raven, In light of current revelations you might want to rephrase your sentence… purely revolting imagery springing forth from that sentence.

  132. 132.

    satby

    October 8, 2016 at 8:08 pm

    @efgoldman: Fuck John McCain. He says he “won’t vote for a Democrat” so he’s going to write in the name of a qualified Republican. Party first!
    Fuck him with a chainsaw.

  133. 133.

    satby

    October 8, 2016 at 8:12 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Wonderful, congratulations!

  134. 134.

    Ruckus

    October 8, 2016 at 8:15 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Mostly, I still can’t believe the Trump family let him run.

    Donnie is the supreme human being. If you don’t believe that just ask him. No one is going to tell him he can’t. Not family, not his lawyers, not anyone.

  135. 135.

    JR in WV

    October 8, 2016 at 9:27 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    This looks like a dead thread, but congrats on your book blurbs, those are great!

  136. 136.

    Bruce K

    October 9, 2016 at 2:44 am

    @cynthia ackerman: Oh, Lord, I didn’t even think about that. I was geeking out too much about the man who played Baldrick voicing a Blackadder scenario for the yam…

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