Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

I was promised a recession.

People are complicated. Love is not.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

The willow is too close to the house.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Republicans do not pay their debts.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

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

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2016 / Friday Morning Open Thread: TGIF

Friday Morning Open Thread: TGIF

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(Tom Toles via GoComics.com)
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Apart from placing odds on the contents of today’s Trump trash dump, what’s on the agenda as we wrap up the week?
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Reader Interactions

156Comments

  3. 3.

    JGabriel

    @RedDirtGirl:

    I don’t get that first tweet…

    Colon vs. comma changes the meaning. With a colon, Hillary is telling women they can do anything. With a comma, Trump is saying he can do anything to women.

    (I had to study it a few seconds to figure it out too. The typographical and semantic differences between the colon and comma don’t leap out at first glance.)

  4. 4.

    Truegster

    @RedDirtGirl: Hillary is addressing women telling them that they can do anything. Trump is saying you can do anything you want to a woman. Very clever way to make the colon comma distinction important.

  5. 5.

    bemused

    Does the Donald dye his own hair? It’s blinding neon yellow seeing him from yesterday rally.

  9. 9.

    Kay

    @ShaneGoldmacher
    In conference call, Robby Mook says total vote in 2016 will break records. Relevant amid talk of dispiriting campaign driving down turnout.

    That’s interesting. They know a lot by now so I bet he has something to back that up and it’s against the conventional wisdom, right?

    One of the nice things about the Obama people in 2008 and 2012 was they told the truth about numbers and chances to local people. The Kerry campaign were more about keeping the thing in control of the professionals, which is partly why there were conspiracy theories about voting in Ohio on the Left and people were way too confident. The Kerry campaign didn’t trust volunteers with real information.

  11. 11.

    HeartlandLiberal

    @RedDirtGirl: Well, as my first career, I studied Germanic linguistics, and linguistics and language in general. One of the most fascinating things I remember learning was the phrase “intonation is morphemic”. This means that whether or not a structural element in a word or sentence receives voice emphasis during pronunciation of the words can change the meaning of the word. or sentence A morpheme is defined as the minimal meaningful language unit. What the tweet shows is the fact that, in this case, punctuation is morphemic.

    The semi colon versus the comma entirely changes the meaning of the sentence. Clinton is telling women they can do anything. Trump is telling women he can do anything to them.

    Here is a nice post illustrating how intonation changes on selected words changes the entire meaning of sentences: http://www.englishbaby.com/lessons/4771/member_submitted/how_intonation_changes_meaning.

  13. 13.

    Kay

    Donald Trump was nearing the end of a raw, red-faced tirade at his rally here Wednesday afternoon when he paused to make an unexpected confession.
    “If we don’t win this election,” said Trump, his voice ragged from shouting, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
    The note of desperation was jarring amid the cacophony of machismo and triumphalism that defines a typical Trump rally — but, then, these are desperate times for the Republican nominee. Facing a party in revolt, a free-fall in the polls, and a feeding frenzy in the press as more than a dozen women have come forward to accuse him of inappropriate behavior, Trump is turning increasingly to his loyal crowds for reassurance — and redemption — in the final weeks of the presidential race.
    Campaigning across Florida, the besieged candidate has appeared in recent days visibly agitated as he addresses his fired-up fans — careening unpredictably between angry chastisements, needy pleas for validation, and dark claims of martyrdom.

    Clinton’s really the best opponent for Democrats against Trump. She’s much tougher than he is and I’m not sure that would be true of a lot of Democrats. He hasn’t gotten to her at all- not one bit.

  14. 14.

    Schlemazel

    Be prepared for November 9th, on that day we will learn that Trump was never a conservative, that he really was a Democrat, you know he ran for POTUS as a Dem, right?

    Back in the 60s I heard a song called “I Was Not a Nazi Polka” it made fun of Germans who suddenly had no idea there were any Nazis in their country and didn’t know what you were talking about.

  16. 16.

    balconesfault

    “Intriguing that Obama is arguing Trump is a true reflection of the GOP rather than an anomaly, contra Clinton in her Aug. alt right speech.”

    It seems that Obama is arguing that Trump is a reflection of what the GOP has been willing to tolerate in their midst in order to keep their anti-governing coalition in the majority in the House and Senate. Hillary’s alt right speech was a call out for the non-racists in the party who have pretended to not hear the dog whistles to see who they’re in bed with.

  17. 17.

    satby

    Good [email protected]rikyrah:

    And to everyone! First frost here in Michiana, and the fall colors have slowly been brightening up. Should be a nice week of mild autumn weather ahead. That and the impending end of this election season has me feeling pretty good.

  19. 19.

    Schlemazel

    @Kay:
    I noticed in his FL speech a lot of “poor me, I have sacrificed so much and suffered so greatly to save you people”. The clown really does believe he is the massiah

  21. 21.

    Kay

    He’s his father’s son:

    Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., dismissed workplace sexual harassment in a 2013 radio interview — and suggested that women who couldn’t take it should become kindergarten teachers.
    The comments came in a March 2013 episode of The Opie and Anthony Show, during a discussion of whether women should be allowed in all-male golf clubs. And they offer a glimpse of the family’s perspective on workplace sexual harassment at a moment when the elder Trump’s conduct toward women inside the workplace and out has become the center of the presidential campaign.
    “If you have a guys’ place you have a guys’ place,” Trump Jr., the candidate’s eldest son and executive vice president at the Trump Organization, said, describing himself as a “guy’s guy.”

    “I’m of that mindset — and I’ll get into trouble, I’m sure I’ll get myself in trouble one of these days,” Trump began, “if you can’t handle some of the basic stuff that’s become a problem in the workforce today, then you don’t belong in the workforce. Like, you should go maybe teach kindergarten. I think it’s a respectable position.
    “You can’t be negotiating billion-dollar deals if you can’t handle, like, you know,” Trump said, without elaborating. “But listen — there’s a place where you have to draw the line — but today the stuff you get in trouble for …”

    I get a huge kick out of the destruction of the Trump brand. That fraud went on too long anyway. “Billion dollar deals”. Guffaw.

  22. 22.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Kay: Joe of the Morning and panel were saying the President would be 20 points ahead of Trump as opposed to Hillary only being up 7.

  23. 23.

    Lounger

    I’m ecstatic to see the Democrats making their pivot. Obama last night:

    If your only agenda is … negative — negative’s a euphemism — crazy, based on lies, based on hoaxes, this is the nominee you get…. So don’t act like this started with Donald Trump. I mean, he did take it to a whole new level, I gotta give him credit. But he didn’t come out of nowhere. That’s why we have to win this election at every level.

    Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes!

    I confess I was probably leaning toward the position that the party should’ve advanced this line during the convention rather than reaching out to “reasonable Republicans”. But I’m giddy imagining the effect this attack will have now that their opponent is irredeemably weakened.

  24. 24.

    bemused

    Other than Trump winning election which isn’t going to happen, my next worst nightmare would be if all of our neighbors were Trumpers that adore the guy. We live in a rural area but neighbors are not wide apart. Years ago we had one nutjob next door that was a mean old white guy that would most certainly be a Trump fan if he was alive today. Every neighbor was ecstatic when he sold the house and moved far away.

    I’m guessing most Trumpers that go to Trump rallies are neighbors from hell.

  27. 27.

    Kay

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Joe of the Morning and panel were saying the President would be 20 points ahead of Trump as opposed to Hillary only being up 7.

    Oh, sure. There’s a cottage industry around diminishing anything Hillary Clinton does and making it somehow less-than.

    Have they explained why they basically ran a PAC for Donald Trump for 6 months? I hope that media outlet isn’t a sewer of cretins molesting women like FOX is. I might need to see everyone’s emails.

  29. 29.

    Kay

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Mika should apologize for kissing Trump’s ass in her role as “advocate for women” if only because it damages her personal brand. Big career blunder on her part. I wouldn’t be attending any of her “success” seminars if I were a young woman. She makes bad bets.

  33. 33.

    Kay

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    I was thinking about Morning Joe as an organization. Isn’t it a little backward and archaic to have a panel of men and then one girl sidekick? That’s like 1970’s era.

    These people aren’t sophisticated at all. They’re more rigidly conventional than our Rotary Club.

  35. 35.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Kay: They have Katty Kay there today and they often have Nicolle Wallace there as well, but it’s mainly doods there. At least Halperin wasn’t there today.

  36. 36.

    JMG

    I’m going to ask this every day until you all stop. Why do you torture yourselves watching Morning Joe? Do something happier and more productive with your wake-up process.

  38. 38.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @JMG: I like to see what the other side in talking about, I don’t wake to it. I’m getting ready for bed.

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:
    I actually listened to part of Ferret Head’s speech yesterday. It turned my stomach. Nothing but a bunch of hate. I know that is who he is, but it was jarring to hear it, and the cheers from the deplorables.

  41. 41.

    Jeffro

    @Botsplainer: Royko was a real gem…somewhere up in heaven, he, Molly Ivins, and Art Buchwald are smacking their foreheads, wondering why they couldn’t have had this much material to work with while they were here on Earth.

  44. 44.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @Kay: Mika’s brand. That’s all you need to know about Mika’s brand. And what’s all the obsession with “brand” these days? What’s wrong with reputation, integrity, and credibility? Do we need to reduce every fucking thing to marketability?

  46. 46.

    germy

    Sam Altman is one of those extremely young tech billionaires who’s been trying to encourage young people to vote. Came up with something called VotePlz.

    In nine swing states he’s providing them with registration forms and stamps. By Election Day, VotePlz’s app will call an Uber to take them to the polls.

  51. 51.

    hueyplong

    This is your daily reminder that it’s a good thing our presidential selection process lasts forever. The nasty, fetid soul of Trump has been laid bare, and there are still more than 3 weeks left for him to get to the point where he delivers an actual Downfall rant for all to see.

    More than three weeks to prove beyond doubt that Trump never harms his enemies, but totally destroys his “friends”/lickspittles.

  53. 53.

    Jeffro

    Good morning everyone.

    I saw last night that Tbogg was congratulating Drive-By Truckers for having a Black Lives Matter banner up on stage; also happened to see that Jason Isbell is apparently catching some of that ‘shut up and sing’ nonsense from folks on the right who like good music, but aren’t fond of having to think. Springsteen is of course the king of this sort of thing since he’s been around quite a while and been vocal about his political leanings for almost as long. Any given day you can check out his Facebook page and laugh yourself silly at some folks’ comments…they just can’t seem to enjoy “Born to Run” anymore (cue violins)

    It does say something about the right-wing mindset that not even music/art that appeals to them on some other level can break through, or cause even a moment’s reflection. Nothing seems to spark any empathy; nothing causes them to turn a situation around 180 degrees and try to see what these folks are singing about. No wonder they prefer Ted Nugent and Kid Rock…no danger of thinking, there.

    So anyway, good on DBTs and Isbell and Springsteen (and hey Nobel prize winner Bob Dylan, too!) for fighting the good fight while giving us some great music. If you all haven’t already checked out “American Band” by the Drive-By Truckers, you really should…they’re firing on all cylinders, that’s for sure.

  54. 54.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JMG: I’m going to ask this until you stop: Why do you torture yourself over others enjoyment of ridiculing the nearly meaningless Morning Ho?

  56. 56.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Schlemazel:

    To our Israeli allies, now let us raise a toast!
    (Sing the “I Was Not A Nazi Polka!”)
    Sure there were some Nazis. Two or three at most!
    (Sing the “I Was Not A Nazi Polka!”)

  57. 57.

    Aleta

    Republican nominee Donald Trump claims he gave generously to help his city in the dark days after the deadly terrorist attacks. But new records show a pledged promise to donate $10,000 to a major 9/11 charity must have somehow slipped his mind.

    City Controller Scott Stringer conducted a review of hundreds of pages of previously sealed records of the two main 9/11 charities at the request of the Daily News, and found that Trump and his charity hadn’t donated a dime in the months after 9/11.

    “For the periods covered by the audits, we did not find any record of a donation from Trump himself or a Trump entity to either the Twin Towers Fund or the New York City Public/Private Initiatives Inc.,” Stringer’s office said in a statement to the Daily News in response to a Freedom of Information Law request.

    This appears to contradict Trump’s prior boasts of spontaneous generosity, made as his hometown reeled from the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil in history. The records show that through mid-2002 there is no evidence that Trump personally or through the Trump Foundation gave to either group.

    The controller’s office pointed out that because the reviewed period only covered the year after the attacks for the Twin Towers Fund, they “are unable to conclude definitively that Trump never gave to either of these two funds.”

    -Daily News

    PS At least 3 other items about Trump lies and behavior have also appeared today.

  58. 58.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay:

    Isn’t it a little backward and archaic to have a panel of men and then one girl sidekick? That’s like 1970’s era.

    Ooh, I know, they could instead have a bunch of women (in short dresses) and one guy in the middle and have a title commenting on how freaky it is, like “Outnumbered”! Progress!

  59. 59.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Aleta: Trump’s big on promising money to charity; actually writing the check, not so much. Remember his “benefit” for veterans on the USS Iowa?

  60. 60.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Penguin proved there is so much more love in the world than we could possibly imagine. Regardless of how bad things get, compassion, friendship and support can come from the most unexpected places. And no matter how lost, lonely, defeated or damaged we feel, accepting the love of others and loving them in return, to whatever degree we can, will help to make us whole again.

    A photo essay, well worth the trip.

  62. 62.

    MattF

    @hueyplong: I agree. A Presidential campaign reveals what you need to know about a candidate– it’s long, difficult, and arduous, and so we get a look at how candidates deal with tough and difficult problems that won’t go away.

  63. 63.

    p.a.

    tRump/R’s found themselves in a hole, dropped their shovel, then climbed into a backhoe. Keep digging guys.

  65. 65.

    JPL

    There’s a question that hasn’t been asked, why hasn’t Russia released emails relating to Trump and/or the republican party. I assume that they are holding those, to use to blackmail Trump, if he wins.

  66. 66.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    Oh please, Universe, let Trump break down in tears in the middle of a speech. It would ameliorate all the pain of having had to witness this political season.

  68. 68.

    workworkwork

    Day 2 post-hospital.

    Overall things are going okay. I’m able to get in and out of bed without as much trouble as I thought. (Our bed is lower than the hospital one and it’s adjustable).

    Still not quite back to a normal sleeping schedule which I suppose is understandable. Just taking it as it goes for now, napping when I feel like it.
    Moving at about half speed which forces me to notice what’s going on around me even more.
    Need to get out later and pick up some fresh veggies and salad fixings. I’ve set out my smaller cooking appliances (electric wok and multi-cooker ) so they’re convenient and I’m not just microwaving things.

    Good news – after much sniffing and pacing, our female kitty Emma finally decided to accept me. A while later, Henry, who had been holding back, climbed up on my lap and gave me a few head bumps and rubbed against my seventeen day beard so he’s okay with me now as well. (I didn’t want to tell him I’m shaving today.)

  69. 69.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MattF: @hueyplong: I have to disagree. We all knew exactly who Trump is and what he stood for by the end of his announcing his candidacy. Hell, if you had paid any attention to him, you knew long before that. What we did not know was just how low, how completely lacking in principles of any kind, the Republican party had become.

    I for one thought they still had a last shriveled remnant of a soul. They don’t.

  70. 70.

    Jeffro

    @MattF:

    Yeah, Hillz has seen it and heard it all before, for the past 25 years, at least.

    They were calling her a sulfur-smelling demon long before Obama arrived on the scene.

  71. 71.

    debbie

    @JMG:

    We need reminders how stupid the other side is. I have the day off and I plan on listening to Glenn Beck, just to hear his tears.

  72. 72.

    Jeffro

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I for one thought they still had a last shriveled remnant of a soul. They don’t.

    I thought they had a soul, and that at least a few of them had some smarts…when a Donald Trump takes over your party, it’s time to start a new party.

    Every one of these clowns who thought they’d be able to finesse his, um, shortcomings until Nov 9th has demonstrated they need to be doing something much less cognitively demanding…

  73. 73.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay: It’s an interesting change from him talking about the nice retirement he was going to have when this was over, the last time he was way down in the polls.

  75. 75.

    TS

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Meeka’s not there today, off in “The South of France”.

    Mika is hiding from Michelle Obama’s speech – showed up the true face of women who have been support the GOP nominee

  76. 76.

    Brachiator

    Love that “to women you can do anything” contrast. Going to be a very busy day today. Will try to make time to laugh at the inevitable Trump stupidity du jour.

  78. 78.

    Currants

    @JGabriel: (I had to study it a few seconds to figure it out too. The typographical and semantic differences between the colon and comma don’t leap out at first glance.)

    …unless you taught writing, and then you just laughed out loud because every single one of your students will have gotten that point instantly. ;-)

  80. 80.

    raven

    As Lloyd rang up Carol Smith’s bill at the register, the scheduler for a local orthodontist group said she is worried that Trump could kill Obamacare. She said that would be bad news for those with preexisting conditions, including her husband, who has heart disease.

    “It would devastate us,” Smith, 48, said.

    Yet she still plans to vote Trump.

    “I just feel she is corrupt,” said Smith, adding she wouldn’t put it past Clinton to somehow steal the election.

  81. 81.

    bystander

    Lately, the best thing about Moanin’ Joe is the barrage of Humira commercials and various other deadly medications. Far more interesting than anything Joe has to say.

  82. 82.

    p.a.

    We’ve all joked about Peak Wingnut, but did we really understand that
    => Peak Wingnut = fascism? We do now.

  85. 85.

    hueyplong

    @bystander: Political cable shows are a steady stream of contraindications/warnings intoned over soft-focus, slow motion of people outside in bright sunshine. It seems pretty clear that there is an assumption that no young person watches that type of programming.

  88. 88.

    Patricia Kayden

    @raven: Secretary Clinton doesn’t have to steal an election when she’s leading in most national polls and swing state polls. Idiot.

    P.S. I wish there was a way to take away ACA benefits from anyone who voted Trump. That’s exactly what they would deserve. Yes, I’m petty.

  89. 89.

    TS

    @Baud: Shame I couldn’t get the grammar correct – but otherwise – first thing I thought of when she wasn’t sitting next to her man this morning.

    I also found a link to the tweet when the nominee threatened Joe & Mika – funny how they’ve been on his side ever since. This is how the GOP nominee treats every person he knows. If you think he is a “friend” – you will be proven wrong the minute you say one word of criticism

    Donald J. Trump Verified account @realDonaldTrump
    Some day, when things calm down, I’ll tell the real story of @JoeNBC and his very insecure long-time girlfriend, @morningmika. Two clowns!

    4:29 AM – 22 Aug 2016

    Link to tweet

  91. 91.

    Patricia Kayden

    @JPL: Trump is in the Russians’ pocket so they have no need to release any emails to harm him. Plus, I assume that Russians own a lot of Trump’s foreign debt and that’s why he is always praising Putin and also why he refuses to release his tax returns. The media needs to explore his ties to Russia in more detail.

  93. 93.

    GregB

    Republican base 2008-2015: We need someone to restore honor and dignity to the White House, we are tired of Obama’s arrogance.

    Republican base 2016: Trump!

  95. 95.

    Hal

    SNL should feature someone playing Melania but have her character just read Michelle Obama’s speech as the opener this weekend.

  96. 96.

    hovercraft

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    My sentiments exactly. I watch to see how stupid Joe of the morning can prove himself to be each morning. Take today for example, bringing Steve Kornacki on to prove to his fellow travelers that there is still a plausible path for the Trumpster to win, polls showing him 6 points down in swing states are his evidence that the race is not over. I enjoy watching him have to beg Steve to agree with him that even though it’s highly unlikely, there’s still a chance.

  97. 97.

    hovercraft

    @Aleta:
    Mort Zuckerberg, another real billionaire has no use for Trump. Funny how the people who know him best and are supposedly his ‘peers’ dislike him the most.

  98. 98.

    Elizabelle

    @Hal: Great idea re Melania. Does she wear the “pussy bow”?

    She’s a gold digger, but I feel sorry for her, having to reside with Trump. There does not seem to be much warmth between them lately, which we can confirm since Trump told his audience yesterday that their marriage has never been better.

  99. 99.

    Elizabelle

    @Hal: Great idea re Melania. Does she wear the “[kitty cat] bow”?

    She’s a gold digger, but I feel sorry for her, having to reside with Trump. There does not seem to be much warmth between them lately, which we can confirm since Trump told his audience yesterday that their marriage has never been better.

    (in moderation for speaking of cat fashion)

  100. 100.

    hovercraft

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Trump’s big on promising money to charity; actually writing the check, not so much.

    This is also the source of a great deal of bitterness for him. When he first came across the river into the City, when he “made it”, he was invited into “society”, but since they are very big on charity, and he swiftly developed a reputation for pledging money at Charity Galas and the like, but never actually handing over the money, he was soon removed from Society guest lists. So despite having made it, he was still on the outside looking in, which is why he switched over to the celebrity scene. He was supposed to be Mr New York, but high society rejected him and his cheap ass gaudy ways. People with real money don’t brag, they give back, a concept he never learned.

  101. 101.

    StringOnAStick

    @OzarkHillbilly: The story of Penguin Bloom is a wonderful one; thanks for that link.

    My boss’s 18 year old son became a paraplegic on July 4 this year from a diving accident, and the family is truly struggling, so this story is extremely relevant right now.

  105. 105.

    hueyplong

    A mind game to divert us as we await today’s obscenities:

    1. Make a list of everyone who strongly supports Trump but is neither being paid by him nor related to him.

    2. Ask yourself whether that person is better off today than he/she was on the day that person hitched his/her star to the Trump bandwagon. Is that person’s reputation — in general and not just here on an anti-Trump website — better or worse?

    Not too difficult to conclude that you’re better off being his enemy than his friend. And yet, which path did the RNC think was in its own self interest when the unraveling began? None of these people has the judgment to direct the nation’s affairs.

    Maybe the Republican Party did us all a favor when it chose pure obstruction over affirmatively promoting anything at all from 2009-now.

  106. 106.

    Hal

    @raven:

    Yet she still plans to vote Trump.

    Maybe that’s just what she says in public. Or she’s hoping she can vote Trump but he’ll still lose.

  107. 107.

    Chris

    Intriguing that Obama is arguing Trump is a true reflection of the GOP rather than an anomaly, contra Clinton in her Aug. alt right speech.

    Interesting point indeed. I wonder which is more effective. My gut wants to see Trump tied to the GOP, but the Clinton strategy of driving a wedge further and further between Republican elites and voters has a lot to recommend it. On the other hand, Republicans have made it very clear that they’re trying to write off Trump as some exceptional freak accident with nothing at all tying him to the rest of the party so they can disassociate themselves from him completely after the election and return to the illusion that they’re a “normal” party that’s not racist, sexist, nativist, homophobic, authoritarian and completely out of control. That’s not something they should be allowed to get away with.

  108. 108.

    hovercraft

    @debbie:
    Glen Beck is fortunately/ unfortunately, not on the cray cray train this year, but since he helped sow the seeds, may he wallow in the fruits of his labor as he watches his party tear it’s self apart.

  109. 109.

    Keith P.

    Haha, Trump’s going to go after Carlos Slim today. After the election, DJT is going to have a serious reckoning to deal with. Now he’s pissing off *real* billionaires – the kind that can buy and sell him without so much as a second thought.

  112. 112.

    SenyorDave

    @GregB: Republican base 2008-2015: We need someone to restore honor and dignity to the White House, we are tired of Obama’s arrogance.

    Republican base 2016: Trump!

    Also, remember that Obama disgraced presidency by wearing blue jeans in the Oval Office. I’m sure Trump will wear a nice suit and tie while he sexually assaults women in the Oval Office.

  113. 113.

    TS

    @hovercraft:

    I enjoy watching him have to beg Steve to agree with him that even though it’s highly unlikely, there’s still a chance.

    I noticed on CNN map a few days ago they had Hillary at 268 electoral votes (can’t find it today), RCP has Hillary at 256, Fox has 205
    They are all living somewhere outside of the real world

  114. 114.

    mike in dc

    Aside from the deplorables, I think the best descriptor for the rest of Trump’s base: recalcitrant. No matter how much evidence you present for the godawfulness of Trump, it is an article of faith that somehow Clinton must still be worse. It’s that 30 years of brainwashing.

  115. 115.

    Applejinx

    @JPL: Here’s a thought. How likely is it, that Trump talking to Russian banker pals would talk acres of shit about all the American pols, Democrat or Republican alike, not caring if he was being recorded or transcribed so long as he had the attention?

    Explains a lot about Republicans not abandoning Trump. They’ve been sold out, bigtime. Trump dished all the dirt, quite happily, to a foreign intelligence apparatus that is fully capable of using it.

    Not because he consciously planned to be a spy, but because he’s Trump and that’s what he does all the fucking time, with no awareness of his surroundings, of consequences, of anything so long as there’s cocaine and delighted, worshipful listeners.

    If you’re a Russian spymaster you’re GOOD at coaxing out information through fair means and foul. Imagine the disgusted, thrilled amazement when they learned all you have to do is flatter the motherfucker and feed him drugs and he will spill literally everything. Easiest job ever.

  117. 117.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Kay: Hillary just by her gender is a perfect foil against Trump – turns all his macho bravado that was going so well in the primaries into being just a crude, sexist Neanderthal.

  119. 119.

    Sab

    @Kay: my moderate Republican (party of Lincoln) mother passed away a few years ago. I miss her every day but I am so happy that she did not live to see this.

  120. 120.

    debbie

    @satby:

    Luckily, I don’t have time to listen to the entire show, just his opening rant, which began with his saying that FLOTUS’s speech was the most effective political speech he’d heard in years. Of course, he then went into how it was all a staged set-up (four camera angles, etc.). I must admit, the anti-Trump ranting is irresistible.

  122. 122.

    JPL

    @Applejinx: Putin wants to weaken NATO, in order to expand their borders. It’s apparent that Trump is their man to do so. I assume that they have some damning evidence that would prevent the US from retaliation.

    I have concerns that there will be a successful attack on our navy vessel near Yemen, before the election. ugh.. yes I’m paranoid

  123. 123.

    hovercraft

    Waiting at the elevator this morning:

    Some Guy: We don’t need a Labor Department, there shouldn’t be a Department of Health and Human Services.

    Everyone else just looks down up, straight ahead.

    Same Guy: I’m a Libertarian, there’s no need for all the government bureaucracy, I’m going to run for office as a democrat. Can’t run as a republican, war. I’ve been a democrat since I was 18.

    Everyone else where the hell is the elevator?

    Same Guy: You know I worked for Barrack, and he’s kept his promises, he got us out of Iraq, he gave us healthcare, he saved the economy, the only thing he failed at is he didn’t get us out of Afghanistan. But yeah he did good, and Michelle is hot as hell. But it’s over now and all we have is Hillary or Trump. Three weeks and three days and then it’s over, there spending is going to explode. That’s why I’m a libertarian.
    The elevator arrives.

    Same Guy: I’m on permanent disability, so I don’t have to work.

    Irony is dead. This guy was a white, totally looked like a dudebro, with the long hair and scruffy appearance, he looked to be in his late thirties forty max, he’s bitching about government spending, as he collects disability.Sigh.

  124. 124.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @p.a.:

    Peak Wingnut = fascism?

    Actually if they truly loony out they will end up Communist, much the same way NeoCons went from Communists to Fascists.

  125. 125.

    Elizabelle

    I like the Toles cartoon. Good choice.

    I think Trump is going to be in legal trouble the rest of his life, after his failed run for the White House.

  126. 126.

    Botsplainer

    @SenyorDave:

    Also, remember that Obama disgraced presidency by wearing blue jeans in the Oval Office. I’m sure Trump will wear a nice suit and tie while he sexually assaults women in the Oval Office.

    Dunno where he gets those shapeless blue bags he wears, but they look like they come from the clearance rack at a men’s suit discounter.

  127. 127.

    hovercraft

    @Jeffro:
    Pence has shown time and time again why he wrestled the title of dumbest man in congress back and forth with dear old Louie Gohmert.

  128. 128.

    Jeffro

    @hovercraft: Libertarian = everything will still run just fine even if there’s no one enforcing laws or paying for public services because freedumb.

    I’m surprised no one asked the dudebro where he thought his disability checks came from.

  129. 129.

    BellyCat

    @Amir Khalid:

    How low can Trump go? I’m starting to suspect there’s no bottom to his baseness.

    The depths to which Drumpf will sink are equal to the heights his actions elicit from his base.

    Likely only the “dead girl or live boy” standard meets this bar.

  130. 130.

    hovercraft

    @Jeffro:
    He was trying to get someone to engage him in conversation, he kept looking at our faces, but I guess no one was in the mood, we all avoided making eye contact.

  132. 132.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @HeartlandLiberal: Hey! I studied German in my first career too, although weighted more towards literature than linguistics. Then I did other things to earn a living.

    Mit herzlichen Grüßen!

  133. 133.

    Fair Economist

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Joe of the Morning and panel were saying the President would be 20 points ahead of Trump as opposed to Hillary only being up 7.

    Some poller did look at that. Obama *was* ahead of Hillary – by ONE point.

    The problem is crazy Republicans.

  134. 134.

    catclub

    @Kay:

    Clinton’s really the best opponent for Democrats against Trump.

    OTOH, the generic happier, more optimistic candidate wins. Trump versus Sanders might have been interesting on that axis.

  138. 138.

    dww44

    @mike in dc: Somebody here linked to Sam Wang’s Princeton site yesterday and it had Clinton also at 268. Still had several states in battleground status.

  140. 140.

    Tenar Darell

    @Botsplainer: heh. Yeah he wears top of the line designer suits like they’re feed sacks. He’s basically wearing the wrong suits, & not working with the body he has now as 70 year old.

    This “You can’t interrupt your clothes, can you?” from Jezebel’s interview with a Savile Row master tailor about his suits made me laugh because one of my most memorable moments when I was in retail clothing was a customer insisting on buying party clothes that were essentially wearing them. They got the expert advice & went with it’s opposite. It taught me that some people will ask for “expertise,” but then bend over backwards to ignore it.

  141. 141.

    Chris

    @Jeffro:

    Libertarian = everything will still run just fine even if there’s no one enforcing laws or paying for public services because freedumb.

    Which makes it oddly like communism: it yearns for a happy self-regulating utopia in which the state has “faded away” and yet all of civilization remains. How the state is supposed to fade away and how civilization is supposed to exist without it is… not entirely clear.

  142. 142.

    Joel

    @bemused: I see them around from time to time. Coal rollers, lots of threatening bumper stickers, super aggressive drivers, probably armed.

  144. 144.

    Skepticat

    So you thought Trump supported stop-and-frisk policies for police? No, they’re so he can grab any woman he wants.

  146. 146.

    BellyCat

    @Joel: Anybody else own a hybrid and get “coal-rolled” by hicks in the sticks? Happens to us every now and again and almost always it’s a jacked up pickup truck. Confederate flag in rear window optional.

  147. 147.

    Joel

    @BellyCat: I don’t own a hybrid but I’ve gotten coal-rolled anyways. A lot of those guys will do that to just about anyone if they deem that they can.

  149. 149.

    Walker

    @HeartlandLiberal:

    When my wife (Polish) was learning English one of the first things that she was amused to learn was that the following two sentences are very different.

    The neighbors are friendly.

    The neighbors are being friendly.

  150. 150.

    WaterGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly: Her work reminds me of some breathtaking photos that were online in the past 5 years – maybe some woman in Russia who took a lot of photos of her son? They were amazing, I thought I had saved a link somewhere but i can’t seem to find it.

  151. 151.

    WaterGirl

    @workworkwork: Sending kitty scritches to Emma and Henry. I’ll bet it’s a comfort to be finally welcomed home by them.

    And thanks for the progress report, sending good thoughts your way.

  152. 152.

    Miss Bianca

    @hovercraft: It’s so unaware, I’d almost be tempted to call it performance art, but with white dudebros you can just never been sure that they really AREN”T that clueless.

    @O. Felix Culpa: How was the HRC rally? Did you end up going?

  153. 153.

    WaterGirl

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Interesting that Mika isn’t there. Some people here yesterday that she looked terribly upset during a segment of Morning Joe where the guys were talking about the sexual predator conspiracy. Three weeks before the election seems like an odd time to be gone.

    Unrelated to that, I was comforted yesterday to read that we still have 100 days of the Obama presidency. Now that we are down to 99 and just double digits, I have tears in my eyes.

  154. 154.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @Botsplainer:

    Dunno where he gets those shapeless blue bags he wears, but they look like they come from the clearance rack at a men’s suit discounter.

    I’ve wondered for a long time why the wealthy Mr Trump, who can certainly afford bespoke tailoring, always wears such awful-looking clothes. By chance, I came upon this article, nicely illustrated, which explains it all. Jezebel link.

    (The explanatory tailor, btw, is probably one of our own Tom Levenson’s numerous and very gifted
    Sebag-Montefiore cousins.)

    ETA: Obviously commented before seeing #140! Sorry, Tenar!

  155. 155.

    Kay

    John Harwood ‏@JohnJHarwood 58m58 minutes ago Manhattan, NY
    Trump on second debate with Hillary: “I absolutely destroyed her”

    Cretin. Has he noticed yet that no one else talks like this? No presidential candidate talks about themselves this much and none of them ever have?

    My poll numbers, my debates, my crowds, my feelings, my money, my children. He’s unbearable.

  156. 156.

    JR in WV

    @workworkwork:

    It’s so good to hear from you, and that you’re doing better. People have been asking in the B-J threads, have you head from work3 yet? and always the answers I saw were no, not yet.

    Glad the kitties are loving up to you, that always cheers me up no matter what. Take care and move slowly.

    You might check to see if there’s a community kitchen project locally, like Meals on Wheels, because it sounds like you would qualify as temporarily disabled. Hospital social work office might be a help there. They helped us out after Mrs J had been in hospital with septic shock for awhile.

    We’re all pulling for you to do well~!!

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