Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

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

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Pull the Chain

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Pull the Chain

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trump-pivot-toilet-toles

(Tom Toles via GoComics.com)
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Political cartoonists have to be among the small minority of those who’ll regret Trump’s return to his native fever swamps. Regardless of anyone’s personal stance, how can you not miss a guy who gave you so many easy targets?

Apart from the happy thought of Deadbeat Donnie getting beaten, what’s on the agenda for the day?

Reader Interactions

100Comments

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Jill Abramson: Did Hillary Clinton intimidate Bill’s accusers? Let’s look at the evidence

    I’ll begin with Willey, who says Bill Clinton groped her in 1993. Before and after she testified in the Paula Jones case in 1998, she says, the Clintons have carried on a campaign of intimidation against her involving the vandalism of her car, the theft of her recent book manuscript and a cat skull on her porch. No evidence has surfaced linking either Clinton to these nefarious deeds.

    …..

    “She came directly to me as soon as she hit the door … She caught me and took my hand and said: ‘I am so happy to meet you. I want you to know that we appreciate everything you do for Bill.’”

    Broaddrick says she found these comments “scary”, especially after Hillary repeated them a second time when her “smile faded on the second thank you”. The former nursing home worker said she was “in state of shock … nausea went all over me”. It takes a lot of reading between the lines to interpret these words as a threat to stay quiet.

    ….

    Jones has leveled no personal allegations of being threatened by Hillary.

    Hillary is just sooooooo…. nefarious.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    Has anyone else noticed people still giving an inordinate amount of advice to Clinton about how to run the campaign?

  10. 10.

    Kay

    Our municipal court is sort of the Trumpian faction of the local legal community- both the muni judge and prosecutor are wingnuts. The Common Pleas court (“felony court”) is more moderate Republicans and, frankly, smarter Republicans.

    I’m rarely over there because muni court is not my thing, but I was there yesterday and they are bitter as hell– more than they usually are, which is saying something. It’s a pretty miserable place on a good day, wholly due to the “leadership” of the judge and prosecutor who are morally offended by just about everyone who has the misfortune to land there.

    They’re not finding any of this amusing and they’ve moved from belligerent and boasting to cranky and serious.

  12. 12.

    Immanentize

    @Baud: In 2008 — I was alternately ecstatic and freaked out. Often both at once. I think most were like that and not focused on tactics of the campaign.

  14. 14.

    NorthLeft12

    @OzarkHillbilly: I see exactly what the RWNJs mean. Hillary’s intimidation tactics are so subtle that any rational person would never realize they were being intimidated! Well played Secretary Clinton, well played.

  15. 15.

    Chyron HR

    RNC, November 9, 2016: We need to keep this from happening again.
    RNC, 2017: We amended the rules to say “No Trumps”.
    RNC, 2019: It says “No Trumps”, we’re allowed to have ONE.

  16. 16.

    p.a.

    What’s the SS, Justice Dept, FBI policy on releasing info on presidential death threats? I can’t imagine the BHO admin hasn’t broken records, whether the threats are credible or not. The nuts have been emboldened for a decade.

  22. 22.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Baud: I glanced at ABC News prior to leaving for work and saw them discussing the latest Clinton “scandal” which involved the hacked emails from Podesta. Just another nothingburger which the media is determined to turn into a scandal. The media just cannot admit that one candidate is scandal-plagued and unqualified while the other is qualified and relatively clean given her lengthy political career.

  24. 24.

    NorthLeft12

    @Baud: I understand that the Clintons [yes, including Chelsea] would change the “Best Before” dates on their opponents groceries. RIGHT IN THE SUPERMARKET!!11!!
    Daaah dun dun DUNNNNNN!

  25. 25.

    OzarkHillbilly

    “He’s like Captain Quint in the original movie Jaws,” Huckabee said. “He’s vulgar, he’s salty, he might even get drunk … But hold on here: he’s the guy who’s gonna save your butt and save your family. And so, at the end of the day, when he kills the shark, you’re happy about it.”

    Huckabee, who has long been a critic of American popular culture, continued with the analogy. “Now, Hillary is the shark,” Huckabee said. “She’s going to eat your boat, she’s gonna have open borders, immigration out the kazoo, and so the choice is, do you vote for Captain Quint, who’s gonna save your family, or do you vote for the shark? That’s the choice you get to make.”
    …..
    “Now, governor, I hate to be the one to tell you this,” Kelly said. “Captain Quint got eaten by the shark.”

  26. 26.

    Immanentize

    @Kay: In San Antonio, it was a bit the opposite — the county court was much more laid back than felony court. It was also much more Hispanic (judges and prosecutors). It makes me sad to think how much damage to port people’s lives grumpy wingnut judges can do.

  36. 36.

    NorthLeft12

    @Patricia Kayden:

    the latest Clinton “scandal” which involved the hacked emails from Podesta. Just another nothingburger

    I thought I read a story from Eichenwald that the latest release of hacked emails had shown clear evidence of being tampered with. Specifically, some wording that he recognized that came from some of his own research and was not a part of the original email.
    http://www.newsweek.com/vladimir-putin-sidney-blumenthal-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-benghazi-sputnik-508635

    So it appears that this may actually be a problem for Deadbeat Donald to explain why the Russians are producing propaganda to support his Presidential campaign. Not that he will bother.

  38. 38.

    Kay

    @Immanentize:

    It’s affected the whole staff. They’re public employees and they’re rude and dismissive to everyone who walks in there, because the people at the top have cultivated that kind of environment. I periodically lose my temper when I see a long line of people waiting to pay fines while the staff studiously ignores them- “hey! these people are waiting!” It’s just wrong. If you believe poor people are some lesser species maybe you shouldn’t take a job where 90% of what you do involves poor people. These are good jobs in this city. A lot of decent people would be happy to have them. They should do their jobs and leave their moral outrage and righteous judgments at home.

  39. 39.

    p.a.

    @Patricia Kayden: NBC mentioned them too this am, BUT in reference to connections between tRump campaign and Putin! Apparently Stone telegraphed Podesta release earlier this year. Journalamism; sometimes it works. (The NBC crew basically said no hard evidence of linkage between tRump 4 Pres and Putin/GRU, but plenty of circumstantial evidence. (It is GRU again, isn’t it?)

  40. 40.

    NorthLeft12

    @Joel: That is one of my favourite quotes. My top two;

    “Imagine how stupid the average person is and then realize that half the people are dumber than that”
    – George Carlin

    “It is far easier to fool a man, than to convince him that he has been fooled.” – Mark Twain

  43. 43.

    OzarkHillbilly

    After guest Maria Cardona pointed out that the GOP presidential nominee has yet to make an unconditional apology, McEnany took offense — then played the Jesus card.

    “We can all stand here in judgment and say he didn’t apologize when in fact he did five times now, and it was heartfelt,” she frantically explained. “And Dr. Ben Carson came out today and he said, ‘I saw him pray for forgiveness before the debate.’ You have James Dobson saying he’s a recent Christian and recently accepted Christ into his life. You have Sam Clovis, his co-campaign chair, saying he’s a witness to his faith conversion. This is someone who is a changed person, and he’s apologized for it. I’m not going to stand in judgment. On the is panel, we can be self-righteous or we can forgive.”

    Given a chance to respond, former Bernie Sanders campaign spokesperson Symone Sanders — who grimaced through McEnany’s ‘holier than thou spiel’ — had a few things to say.

    “First of all, Donald Trump only apologized because the tape came out and people found out he was saying it,” she began. “Let’s not forget that he led with, ‘These are just words.’ Well, words have power, first of all. Secondly, these aren’t just words. He described predatory sexual behavior that women all across this county can identify with.”

    “Let’s not bring Jesus down on into the gutter where Donald Trump and his thugs are,” she continued. “Let’s leave the Lord out of this one. I think Donald Trump definitely has to own up to these actions and he’s not helping himself or the party.”

  44. 44.

    Brachiator

    @Baud:

    . Has anyone else noticed people still giving an inordinate amount of advice to Clinton about how to run the campaign?

    Actually, no. More stuff is along the lines of the SNL skits encouraging Trump to keep doing whatever it is that he is doing, because he is doing so well at sabotaging himself that Clinton doesn’t have to do much of anything.

    But I guess there is dumb stuff. The level of reporting is bad and reporters can’t find the story. There was some moaning about Clinton abandoning Ohio. Before she had a massive rally there.

    And then there is the Trump nonsense painting her as the Moriarty of politics, an evil.mastermind who subverted Saint Bernie of Sanders.

  45. 45.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay:

    They should do their jobs and leave their moral outrage and righteous judgments at home.

    You mean like a county clerk should just issue marriage licenses w/o regard to sexual preferences? How unChristian.

  48. 48.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    A fun thing about the Jaws Trump-as-Quint analogy is that before being eaten, Quint was an arrogant braggart who thought he was invincible and the superior of any shark.

    Of course, Quint did have a previous record of actual success. All analogies are imperfect.

  51. 51.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I love the pharmacists too. “I think I’ll take this job and then refuse to do it”. Those programs are competitive. Step aside. Go be a pastor or a Wal Mart greeter.

  52. 52.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Ceci n’est pas mon nym:

    Quint was an arrogant braggart who thought he was invincible and the superior of any shark.

    Actually, no he didn’t think he was invincible and the superior of any shark. He feared them as only a man who had watched ‘hundreds of his shipmates’** be eaten by them could. That’s why he refused to wear a life jacket. He’d rather drown than be eaten by a shark.

    ** the movie and the legend has it that hundreds of survivors of the sinking of the USS Indiana were eaten by sharks, but this is disputed by scientists and historians who say far more simply drowned.

  53. 53.

    NorthLeft12

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Yes, I believe there is a Reuters story along the lines of why Hillary’s big lead in the polls is a problem for Democrats. I could not bring myself to click the link and read the story. Life is too short.

  54. 54.

    p.a.

    @Kay: Won’t happen, but I fantasize these ‘my religion > my job’ people need an EMT and the EMT is a Witness. Transfusion? Pray harder.

  55. 55.

    PPCLI

    “She came directly to me as soon as she hit the door … She caught me and took my hand and said: ‘I am so happy to meet you. I want you to know that we appreciate everything you do for Bill.’”

    Broaddrick says she found these comments “scary”,

    Yes, that is the big threat. The whole thing.

    It reminds me of a sketch on the Canadian mock-news comedy show This Hour Has 22 Minutes” during the impeachment fiasco. Announcement: Canadian woman propositioned by Bill Clinton! Cut to middle-aged, frumpy tourist looking all verklempt with husband by her side. She explains that she was on a tour and accidentally wandered into the oval office. The newscaster asks: “What did he say?” She answers: “Well, he said “hello”. But with him, you know what that means.”

  57. 57.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay: I had no idea that refusing to do ones job was an exercise of religious freedom. Who’da thunk it? I should have refused to hang drywall as it was against the teachings of the Church of Gawd the Almighty and the Utterly Indifferent (who created the world in 6 days and on the 7th said, “It’s your problem now.”)

  58. 58.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    @OzarkHillbilly: Oh all right. So If Hillary is the shark and Quint is Trump, and his deep hatred actually comes from being terrified of the shark and knowing he would have no chance in a face to face meeting … yeah I can still live with that analogy

  61. 61.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @NorthLeft12:

    “Imagine how stupid the average person is and then realize that half the people are dumber than that”
    – George Carlin

    Harumph. Carlin should have learned that there’s a difference between average and median. Harumph, harumph.

  62. 62.

    Baud

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I should have refused to hang drywall as it was against the teachings of the Church of Gawd the Almighty and the Utterly Indifferent

    And then demanded payment.

  64. 64.

    NorthLeft12

    @OzarkHillbilly: Sorry, I don’t want our conservative trolls to endlessly mock us for our lack of knowledge regarding military history/trivia.

    I can imagine shomi and NR chuckling to themselves and their cohort on Redstate about those unpatriotic morans on BJ who don’t know the difference between the USS Indiana and USS Indianapolis.

  75. 75.

    amk

    House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi brought in nearly $35 million for Democrats during the third quarter of this year, further cementing her role as Democrats’ big money raiser as she surpasses her fundraising total for the last election cycle.

    Pelosi (D-Calif.) reported a $34.6 million haul for the months of July, August and September, including nearly $29 million for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

    Pelosi has raised nearly $128 million for House Democrats this cycle, already surpassing the $101 million she brought in during the 2014 election.

  79. 79.

    msdc

    @OzarkHillbilly: For his next analogy, Huckabee will compare Trump to the Big Lebowski… you know, the philandering embezzler who isn’t worth nearly as much as he pretends to be.

    No, wait… the Big Lebowski wasn’t faking his war injuries.

  80. 80.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @msdc:

    No, wait… the Big Lebowski wasn’t faking his war injuries.

    The Donald isn’t faking his STDs either.

  81. 81.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @NorthLeft12:

    Yes, I believe there is a Reuters story along the lines of why Hillary’s big lead in the polls is a problem for Democrats. I could not bring myself to click the link and read the story. Life is too short.

    Ha! I was making jokes we would be seeing this from the press this election.

  82. 82.

    philadelphialawyer

    @OzarkHillbilly: Quint also had enough sense to realize that he had been beaten, and enough humility to ask Hooper (the Richard Dreyfus character) what he can do to kill the shark. Even though he resents him and has mocked him as a “college boy” who never worked for a living. And Quint clearly is impressed that Hooper has the courage to go into the water in that flimsy cage with just the little needle (which he has to somehow get into the shark’s open mouth). I see nothing similar coming from Trump, ever. Then too, of course, there is the little matter that Quint seems to be a self made, working class man, and a combat veteran of WWII. Not to mention actually competent (in normal circumstances) at his job.

    So, to review, even assuming that Quint shares Trump’s negative qualities, there is nothing at all to suggest that Trump shares Quint’s positive qualities.

    Analogy fail, even if Quint had killed the shark…

  83. 83.

    catclub

    Worth noting why this is happening: InfoWars is offering people up to $5,000 to do this and get on TV.

    I bet they never pay the promised money – just like Trump.

  84. 84.

    Matt McIrvin

    @NorthLeft12: The way I read that story, he didn’t say the released emails themselves had been tampered with. He said Blumenthal quoted his Newsweek article, a Russian propaganda outlet excerpted the quote as if it were some new shocking revelation that Blumenthal himself wrote, and then that same misattribution showed up in one of Trump’s speeches.

    I’m with Josh Marshall here: I think this isn’t evidence of some Russian mole feeding Trump applause lines; it’s a sign that Trump’s campaign gets much of its information off of Nazi/white-supremacist crackpot sites that are themselves infested with Russian disinformation.

  85. 85.

    catclub

    @NorthLeft12: Eichenwald story was on NPR this morning. I was surprised it got there. It is very complicated compared with even Trump’s tax returns.

  87. 87.

    randy khan

    @craigie:

    Since we’re being pedantic, “average” isn’t the same as “mean.” The mean is just one kind of average; the median actually is used as another kind of average. (And so is the mode.) Also, in a large enough population that’s in a normal distribution, the mean and the median are going to be nearly the same.

    So Carlin was at least kind of right.

  89. 89.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    “Let’s not bring Jesus down on into the gutter where Donald Trump and his thugs are,” she continued.

    Since when does Trump have the coloreds working for him? (I mean, other than as a butler.)

  90. 90.

    SFAW

    @randy khan:

    The mean is just one kind of average; the median actually is used as another kind of average. (And so is the mode.)

    Um, no.

    The median is not “another kind of average,” except by people who don’t understand what it is. Unless the meaning of “midpoint” has been changed to “the average” and I missed it. (Yes, I realize that “midpoint” is an incomplete definition, but it’s close enough for these purposes.)

    And the mode is merely a frequency count.

    ETA: To be clear (or perhaps not): “mean,” “median,” and “mode” are all terms that can be used to describe a population/set, but each means something different.

  91. 91.

    Gin & Tonic

    @SFAW: Oh, goody, let’s you and him fight. After (was it last week’s?) near-TBoggish thread on whether English is a Germanic language, the quants need to show they can argue as long as the language-arts cohort.

  93. 93.

    Larkspur

    I saw this comment over at Buzzfeed Trump Declares War on GOP (article by Salvador Hernandez):

    Don’t forget that Karl Rove started all this in 2000 when he convinced the GOP that people wanted a “fun and charismatic simpleton”. Don’t forget either that if McCain were the POTUS today, Sarah Palin would be the candidate of this party right now. So if Trump decides to blow himself up with the GOP as his hostage, I’m ok with that.
    (Carlos Lara)

    Thank you, Carlos. Meanwhile, what’s Rove been up to these past few days? Silence or bullshit? Maybe I’ll check it out.

  94. 94.

    NorthLeft12

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: I actually went onto a site that had that discussion [I think it was a newspaper web page down South] and the jackassery of the commenters that mocked us libtards for not knowing the difference between full auto and semi-auto was mind boggling. I liked one comeback from a liberal that pointed out that she knew enough that either one could kill a lot of people in a very short period of time. End of story.

  95. 95.

    Brachiator

    @msdc:

    For his next analogy, Huckabee will compare Trump to Noah Cross from Chinatown.

    Given Trump’s often mentioned appreciation for his daughter, this might hit too close to home.

    Also, Noah Cross was a successful businessman with a vision of the future. Trump, not so much.

  97. 97.

    SFAW

    @different-church-lady:

    RCN, 2020: “Okay, just how did we let David Duke get the nomination?”

    At which point, Sen. Blake Farenthold will proudly and boldly state “If he says ‘I wanna lynch all the niggers and Jews,’ then I’ll have to decide if I can still support him as strongly.”

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