Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

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

In after Baud. Damn.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Fight them, without becoming them!

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

No one could have predicted…

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / WTF Open Thread: … Game OVER, Man!…

WTF Open Thread: … Game OVER, Man!…

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Trying to imagine a context where this statement makes some kind of sense. Checked twice to make sure it’s from straight-arrow NYTimes/CNBC guy John Harwood, not some heavy-handed satirist.

The Republicans’ candidate for your next President, America!

Reader Interactions

210Comments

  8. 8.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Anne Laurie: Makes sense. Equally dunderheaded. Why just the other day, Douchehat was saying that he’d only get excited about genocide if it was directed against Catholics.

  9. 9.

    divF

    @srv: This is one of the US Archbishops who did not get elevated to Cardinal at the most recent consistory due to his hardline conservatism.

  11. 11.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @srv: ZOMG! The latest wikileaks bombshells about how to cook risotto constitute the most serious game changer of all!

  16. 16.

    Pogonip

    I have something serious to inquire about. Like you, I prefer the status quo and thus Hillary. Trump was a loud warning shot across the bow. He would never have gone as far as he did if the status quo were still working for most people. The next rebellious candidates for national office may not be rude crude dudes and may get a lot farther. What plans do the Democrats have in that event?

  18. 18.

    Brachiator

    Trump on Obama: “Why doesn’t some woman say what they say about me about him?”

    Uh, because Obama is honorable, and you are not?

    Because Obama has real Christian values and lives by them?

    Because Obama respects women?

    OOH, OOOH, OOOH. I know.

    Because Obama is a better man than Trump will ever be.

  22. 22.

    LurkerExtraordinaire

    Yes, HRC is so anti-Catholic that she picked a Catholic as her running mate. /s

    Do people hear themselves? Don’t answer that.

    Conservative Catholics would do better to leave the church and go evangelical, where they belong, since they are more interested in the Prosperity Gospel/Ayn Rand and abortion than social justice, racial justice, and helping refugees. YEAH, LOOKIN’ AT YOU, PAUL “Droopy Dog” RYAN.

  23. 23.

    PPCLI

    @srv: Chaput, eh? The guy who thought it was literally “a sin” to vote for John Kerry because he was pro-choice? Etc. Yes, I expect the Catholic Halpin was talking about people like him, since Halpin no doubt prefers what the Pope has to say on Church doctrine.

    I dare say Chaput knows who the Pope is, and may have noticed that the Pope chose not to elevate him to Cardinal, along with the other hard-liners. I wonder why not?

    Chaput deserves Trump as his side’s nominee. I hope he enjoys the sense of “I built that” every time he looks at Donald’s magnificence.

  24. 24.

    Pogonip

    @redshirt: Around here, we call that a carpool.

    I was driving around West Deplorable the other day and suddenly started seeing Hillary signs! What on earth–? Then I realized we’d already entered the city limits of South Liberal.

  28. 28.

    TS

    My life is less for watching Mark Halperin – we have Hillary is ill & wikileaks – otherwise everyone telling the GOP nominee if he just shut up about the women he could win.

  29. 29.

    Jeffro

    Knowing no other way to try and make something happen (short of, I dunno, flying an autogyro into DC and landing in front of the Capitol), I’m going to try and crank out a decent op-ed for the Post this weekend, imploring the top ‘brass’ in each party to stand together and vouch for our electoral processes, stand up for a free press, and note that violence and intimidation are not okay now or ever, including on Election Day.

    Tilting at windmills: it’s not just a hobby for some!

  30. 30.

    Uncle Ebeneezer

    Reposting from a dead thread below:

    Hey BJ’ers! Tomorrow I’m headed back to visit New England for the first time in years (I grew up in Topsfield, MA.) Anyways, one day we plan to get downtown Boston (taking the train down) to walk around. Anyone have any suggestions for a good walking route to see some sights without having to pay a guide?

    We don’t really care much about historical locations/history per se, but my wife adores charming streets and architecture etc. and has never been to Boston. Most of our trip will be up in North Shore and NH/VT for foliage drives, so this is the one day that will be more dedicated to city/sight-seeing. Let me know…I know there are several Bay State-ers here.

    Cheers– Uncle Eb/John

  31. 31.

    OGLiberal

    Was watching a vid clip John Podhoretz (yeah, I know but he’s kind of funny and good when he hates on the GOP guy…and he hates Trump) tweeted of some jagoff at a Trump rally beating on some kid because he was holding up an upside down American flag and Trump said get em outta there. Cop had to intervene. After, assault dude was getting high fives and atta boys from the other white arsenecks in the crowd. Love how bad arse these dudes are against some skinny kid with a bunch of fellow haters around to back him up. I’m not a violent person and in my 46 years I’ve never been in a fight but the video makes me want to hunt this guy down and hit him across the bridge of his nose with a 2 x 4. These people ARE deplorable and deserve no respect or understanding. Effing Nazi beyotches.

  34. 34.

    trollhattan

    In case y’all haven’t seen it, Liz Meriwether chronicles President Hillary’s locker-room talk. Here’s the first bit, RTWT.

    Paul Ryan headed back to the locker room to get changed after a hard-core P90X workout. The first thing he saw when he walked in the door was President Hillary Clinton. She’d brought a lawn chair in from the White House, and she was sitting with her feet up on the bench, eating a panini from Au Bon Pain. Her eyes were glued to Mike Pence as he tried to change out of his gym shorts and back into his suit. He was using a towel to cover as much of his body as he could, but the towel kept slipping. “Magic Mike! Show me your Hoosier, baby!” the president shouted from her chair, wiping some kind of pesto sauce off her chin. Mike Pence’s face was red as he desperately tried to cover up, but it was a losing battle. “Not as tight as they used to be, Mike. I’m talking about your butt cheeks,” Hillary clarified.

    “I know you’re talking about my butt cheeks, Madam President,” Mike Pence said, ashamed. “But I wish you wouldn’t.”

    “Your butt cheeks look like two wet apple pies, governor,” Hillary said.“You’re a six, tops. And the only reason you get a six is because I like your face. If I wasn’t eating this soup right now, I’d just walk up and kiss you. I can’t help myself around you, Mike. I want to lick you like a lollipop I just got from my doctor.” She was eating a big spoonful of tomato bisque. “Have you guys ever had the soup at Au Bon Pain? It’s delicious.”

  35. 35.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @TS: Even if he had handlers who had a clue, and told him to stop talking about women, he’d just ignore them, and continue to wail about how things are “rigged” and “fixed” because people listen to him and are revolted by what he says.

  37. 37.

    Elizabelle

    @Pogonip: The question of the year.

    I think Hillary and President Obama and all manner of folk will be looking at it. We should all be brainstorming on that one.

    Toxic situation, and dangerous to democracy.

  38. 38.

    ? Martin

    @Pogonip:

    He would never have gone as far as he did if the status quo were still working for most people.

    You’re still subscribing to the belief this is about economics. It’s obviously not. The median wage for a Trump supporter is $72K. $61K for Clinton supporters.

    Trumps supporters are about the first in our history loss of majority status for white Christians, and their need to build coalitions in order to maintain power. Those coalitions will necessitate compromise which the don’t want to do. The ‘status quo’ you speak of is basically white, Christian supremacy. That’s not a problem worth fixing. The Democrats solution is to empower everyone else without persecuting white Christians (although, they are certain to continue to declare themselves persecuted).

  41. 41.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Pogonip:
    Rude, crude dudes are the people the status quo is not working for. Their complaint is that their bigotry is increasingly restricted. Trump is actually built into the scenario, and there isn’t much the Democrats can do other than emphasize we are the ‘non-bigot’ party.

    Studies of Trump’s support have been clear and consistent: It is bigotry. That is why people support him. Factors like ‘economic anxiety’ have little or no involvement.

  44. 44.

    Cacti

    @srv:

    Your boy is going to lose, and you Deplorables are going to shed many angry tears.

    I normally favor magnanimity in political victory, but in this case, I believe support of Trump should be fixed to his supporters like a metaphorical scarlet letter of shame.

    Trump is the monster that 50 years of GOP white/male resentment politics created, and now he’s eating the remains of the late 20th century conservative movement.

    Haha. Choke on it.

  48. 48.

    Mnemosyne

    I survived my trip on So Cal public transit — including Amtrak, y’all! — and made it to my hotel in one piece. The horror, the horror …

    (Okay, I’m kind of riffing on the customer at the yarn store who was surprised to hear that I took the bus from the Santa Barbara Amtrak station up to the store on Upper State. Uh, it’s Santa Barbara — how much danger could I realistically be in?)

  49. 49.

    Roger Moore

    Trump on Obama: “Why doesn’t some woman say what they say about me about him?”

    Because you’re too cheap to pay what they’re asking to lie for you.

  50. 50.

    p.a.

    Report from last night’s HRC/Maggie Hassan phone bank: pretty typical of my past experience with these things. Temporary office, mildew-smelling local pol’s h.q. Sadly unsurprised I was the only male. R.I. being R.I., I of course had acquaintances in common with another volunteer. Almost no actual contacts with the call list (registered voters, R, D, & U); not the way it was in the days of copper phone lines (POTS- Plain Old Telephone Service). Think 2 sheets of ruled 8 x 11 paper with names for each line on both sides of 1 sheet, 1/2 of the next sheet, and 5 actual contacts, lots of LMs (left message).
    1rude, hangup. 3 claimed Clinton & Hassan supporters, 1 for HRC but unsure on the Senate race.

    I guess the campaigns have proof these things work, but it sure seems futile at the time.

  54. 54.

    Jeffro

    @Pogonip:

    I have something serious to inquire about. Like you, I prefer the status quo and thus Hillary. Trump was a loud warning shot across the bow. He would never have gone as far as he did if the status quo were still working for most people. The next rebellious candidates for national office may not be rude crude dudes and may get a lot farther. What plans do the Democrats have in that event?

    The economy is working for most people…I could quote the statistics but we’ve all seen them before. Trump’s rage is the last gasp of white (especially white males, most especially older white males) supremacy. If Trump was a ‘warning shot’, it was to the GOP elites, that they are most certainly not in control of their party.

    (I see Frankensteinbeck at #47 has already touched on this)

    We also have a historically high-name-recognition GOP candidate up against a historically-unbelievably-defamed Dem candidate, who also happens to be the first female candidate for president ever. On top of that, she’s essentially running for Obama’s third term, something that’s historically hard to secure.

    Finally, Trump himself is so intellectually (ugh) and politically inconsistent in his positions, that there’s no way to even begin to pin down what the ‘next Trump’ would say. You could have anything from a (gack) slightly more polished Ted Cruz, you could get a Rebekah Mercer deciding to cut out the middleman, who knows?

    The important thing is that the Dems stay coherent in their general positions, stay positive, and stay LOUD about all the crap the Reps continue to try and pull in favor of the 1%.

  55. 55.

    hovercraft

    @TS:
    I refuse to watch with All Due Respect. I have more than enough aggravation watching Chuckles and Tweety, if I put Halpern in the middle I’d lose it.

  56. 56.

    p.a.

    My tRumpist relations are so fucking stoopid they still think fewer people have health insurance because of ACA. Impervious idiots.

  59. 59.

    GregB

    Uncle Ebenezer.

    You can make a day trip to Portsmouth NH. Lots of old architecture and plenty of good restaurants. Check out the tour of the USS Albacore submarine too.

  60. 60.

    dmsilev

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    ZOMG! The latest wikileaks bombshells about how to cook risotto constitute the most serious game changer of all!

    I dunno, the revelation that Podesta can’t correctly use apostrophes is to me a game-changer.

  62. 62.

    Pogonip

    @? Martin: No, I was referring to the military/contracting/financial/”knowledge worker” complex that has pretty much replaced the old MIC. Sorry I wasn’t clearer. The MCFK is more lucrative than the old status quo, but much shakier. It’s easier for the average Joe to perceive that it’s rigged and that there ain’t no there there. I don’t think the 9K difference in average income between Trumpers and Clintonites is all that significant.

  64. 64.

    lgerard

    @Uncle Ebeneezer:

    There is also an information center run by the Park Service right next to the State St T station. They have lots of info and maps. It is only a short walk from North Station, or 2 stops on the T if you are lazy like me

  65. 65.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @Cacti:

    I normally favor magnanimity in political victory, but in this case, I believe support of Trump should be fixed to his supporters like a metaphorical scarlet letter of shame.

    Off to work on the first draft of my Great American Novel, The Pinchbeck “T.”

  66. 66.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Mike J: If you went to Hollywood, and tried to sell this as a script, it would be rejected out of hand as “too implausible.”

    Mind you, these are the same persons who cast David Soul in the Bogart role in the short lived Casablanca TV series.

  68. 68.

    Pogonip

    @Jeffro: It’s working for the military/ contractor/ financial/”knowledge workers.” Everyone else, not so much. And blaming white guys for every problem in the world will only work for so long.

  70. 70.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Frankensteinbeck: @Pogonip:

    Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
    Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
    Everybody knows the war is over
    Everybody knows the good guys lost
    Everybody knows the fight was fixed
    The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
    That’s how it goes
    Everybody knows

    …
    Everybody knows the deal is rotten
    Old black Joe’s still picking cotton
    For your ribbons and bows
    Everybody knows

    -Leonard Cohen

  71. 71.

    Pogonip

    @Frankensteinbeck: I agree, but I think Trump got as far as he did because he acknowledged the system’s rigged. Loudly and repeatedly. The next “Trump” may well want to burn it down and replace it with something not as lucrative for me. So I’d like the Democrats to have a plan to stop that. (i don’t think the Republicans could plan a trip to the potty at this point.)

  73. 73.

    TS

    @hovercraft: It’s the first time I’ve watched it – someone noted that Halperin looked constipated having to speak on what his beloved nominee has been saying – I tuned in while he was begging folks to say there is hope. Will not do it again

  75. 75.

    hovercraft

    Tweety is sad that the issues that Trump tapped into , bad trade deals, stupid war and open borders are not going to get a vote this November, instead people are going to vote on all this crap with the accusations by these women. He’s lamenting that we can’t have a Brexit type vote to decide them. Michelle Bernard tries to argue that the issues raised by these women and rape culture are important and he says that’s an argument.

    So ladies suck it up and keep your mouths shut we have more important things to decide.

  76. 76.

    MomSense

    @Uncle Ebeneezer:

    No trip to Maine? If the weather is nice you cannot find better food and a prettier walking city than Portland, Maine.

    Walking through the North End is really nice. It’s also close to Faneuil Hall which is super touristy but nice for people watching.

    In Southern Vermont Dorset is lovely. it’s near Manchester so really accessible. In NH you can drive the Kancamagus Highway which is very scenic and then end the day in North Conway. It sounds crazy to recommend a pizza place but Flatbread PIzza at the Eastern Slope Inn is a real treat. Gorgeous old, oak paneled bar with lots of great local brews on tap and the restaurant is a large, circular room with brick floors and a beautiful hearth. The pizzas are fantastic and all the ingredients are locally sourced.

  78. 78.

    Calouste

    Trump on effect of his presidency: “We’re going to be a united nation“

    He’s saying it right to their faces and the sheeple don’t hear it! He is going to turn the USA into a united nation. One world government. Agenda 21!

    Is someone willing to go out on some RWNJ sites and stoke the fire?

  79. 79.

    Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck

    @Pogonip:

    I think Trump got as far as he did because he acknowledged the system’s rigged.

    But he didn’t. That’s the point. Trump’s followers are only mad about the system being rigged to the extent that it is no longer rigged in their favor as whites, Christians, and males. His followers aren’t the people hurting. They’re the bigots. It’s been studied to death. Sanders maybe, maybe, could be a display of the sentiment you’re describing, but those people are democrats and not relevant to Trump.

    EDIT – And it still IS rigged in their favor. Just not as much, and the idea it someday might not be infuriates them.

  83. 83.

    Pogonip

    Also, the next Congress should look into the scandalous state of computer Scrabble, which tells me JEW is not a valid English word but will happily accept TAIKO, RYU, GI, and NORI, although not WAKAME. It’s a shuda! (I suspect that’s not right, but there is a Jewish word for “scandal” that starts with sh–.)

  85. 85.

    MomSense

    @Mnemosyne:

    Ok this may be a stupid question but what do knitters make in SoCal? I can’t imagine there is much demand for sweaters in Arab weight cables.

  87. 87.

    Mike J

    Remember back in January when people were upset about others “voting with their vaginas”?

    Doesn’t it seem like a pretty good thing to do these days?

  91. 91.

    Pogonip

    @Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck: Yes, I preferred Sanders, unfortunately for him–my approval is generally the kiss of death for a candidacy. Then I can’t fathom the appeal of whoever ends up the popular candidate. I just don’t think like the average American. I think this is because I was locked out of the system for years–being Poor is even more unpopular than being Deplorable–so I developed an outsider’s view.

  94. 94.

    scav

    Don’t know if they’re a basket, but I have a strong pleasurable vision of the flutter of little old lady Trump supporters in Iowa having coffee and kringla while feverishly justifying pussy-grabbing to each other, my Rev. Aunt contributing biblical authority.

  95. 95.

    MomSense

    @redshirt:

    Both are great. I have really happy memories of apres ski meals in North Conway but Portland is great too. The view is fantastic. Salads at flatbread are amazing.

  99. 99.

    Calouste

    Trump on effect of his presidency: “We’re going to be a united nation“

    He’s promoting Agenda 21 right there in the open and the sheeple don’t see it.

    /s

  102. 102.

    redshirt

    @MomSense: I ask because I went to the one in Burlington MA extensively, but its location couldn’t be more different than the one in Portland or N. Conway. Suburban office park. Loved it though.

  104. 104.

    Turgidson

    @Mnemosyne:

    Downtown Santa Barbara in particular is harmless other than having to run the gauntlet of drunk college kids where the bars are clustered. There are a few [relatively] unsavory pockets of SB, but that’s pretty much it. And they’re not really anywhere near downtown.

  106. 106.

    JPL

    This is the problem with Trump trying to suppress vote, I’m voting early and my son and daughter-in-law are voting early. We are sick of Trump so we want to vote as early as possible.

  107. 107.

    debit

    @Pogonip: The latest on Walter? Nothing new, really. He had his massage appointment and kept wriggling away to explore so didn’t get the full benefit of his appointment. We’ll try to get him to settle down for the next one. He’s continuing to look and sound better, and thanks to his massage appointment, I can now see where he’s having the most trouble and can monitor for better/worse mobility. Here is proof of life I just took. Why he’s on the carpet instead of one of his many dog beds, I don’t know.

  108. 108.

    Ian

    @srv:
    The bible doesn’t teach that shit. 2k years of corrupted institutionalism teach that shit.

    Wait.. I forgot you are a troll and will say anything.

  109. 109.

    burnspbesq

    @srv:

    A vulgar, boorish lout and disrespecter of women, with a serious impulse control problem; or a scheming, robotic liar with a lifelong appetite for power and an entourage riddled with anti-Catholic bigots

    Easy call, and I’m Catholic.

  113. 113.

    scuffletuffle

    @Uncle Ebeneezer: walk around Beacon Hill then through Boston Common and up Marlborough Street in the Back Bay. Take a break in Copley Square and a walk on the Esplanade.

  114. 114.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @burnspbesq: Given that her running mate is Catholic, the “riddled with anti-Catholic bigots” part is, shall we say, a bit of a stretch.

  115. 115.

    MomSense

    @redshirt:

    I’ve never tried that one. I didn’t even know it existed. Food is great at both Portland and North Conway locations but I’m partial to North Conway. We do extended family ski trips and always end up at Flatbread.

  118. 118.

    redshirt

    @MomSense: It doesn’t make much sense that it exists where it exists, and yet, it’s very popular. All from office drones though, so I bet it’s the least hip Flatbread out there.

  119. 119.

    Mary G

    I am still a fangirl of Matt Taibi. His latest in Rolling Stone:

    Trump, ironically, was originally a rebel against this process, the first-ever party-crasher to bulldoze his way past the oligarchical triad of donors, party leaders and gatekeeping media. But once he got in, he became the ultimate servant of the horse race, simultaneously creating the most-watched and most regressive election ever.

    He was unable to stop being a reality star. Trump from the start had been playing a part, but his acting got worse and worse as time went on, until finally he couldn’t keep track: Was he supposed to be a genuine traitor to his class and the savior of the common man, or just be himself, i.e., a bellicose pervert with too much time on his hands? Or were the two things the same thing? He was too dumb to figure it out, and that paralysis played itself out on the Super Bowl of political stages. It was great television. It was also the worst thing that ever happened to our electoral system.

    Trump’s shocking rise and spectacular fall have been a singular disaster for U.S. politics. Built up in the press as the American Hitler, he was unmasked in the end as a pathetic little prankster who ruined himself, his family and half of America’s two-party political system for what was probably a half-assed ego trip all along, adventure tourism for the idiot rich.

    That such a small man would have such an awesome impact on our nation’s history is terrible, but it makes sense if you believe in the essential ridiculousness of the human experience. Trump picked exactly the wrong time to launch his mirror-gazing rampage to nowhere. He ran at a time when Americans on both sides of the aisle were experiencing a deep sense of betrayal by the political class, anger that was finally ready to express itself at the ballot box.

    The only thing that could get in the way of real change – if not now, then surely very soon – was a rebellion so maladroit, ill-conceived and irresponsible that even the severest critics of the system would become zealots for the status quo.

  120. 120.

    Roger Moore

    @Mike J:

    Remember back in January when people were upset about others “voting with their vaginas”?

    Doesn’t it seem like a pretty good thing to do these days?

    It sounds unsanitary to me; I sure wouldn’t want to use the voting booth right after that. I think voters should stick to tried and true hands when voting.

  121. 121.

    SenyorDave

    I’d like to think its game over, but if you actually go to the websites of the reputable pollsters, most of the battleground states are pretty close still. Clinton’s ahead in almost all, but even a relatively sane state like NH has a Clinton lead of about four or five. Bottom line is that almost all Republicans will vote for Trump, and he is extremely popular with white males. I think a large number of white males think he’s the sort of alpha male they’d like to be, and the ones that are revolted by the last week’s revelations were never going to vote for him anyway. This is one sick country where he will still end up with 40% of the vote. And I am starting to have a complete lack of sympathy for rural white America. If they seriously believe Trump cares about them, they are off the charts on the stupidity meter.

  123. 123.

    debit

    @MomSense: Ellie is great. She loves having a buddy, and not just because Walters makes the treat river flow. When he first had trouble making it up the stairs at night I’d sometimes come downstairs and find her sleeping with him. I think she helps builds his confidence and he gives her someone to watch out for.

  124. 124.

    hovercraft

    Three terrorists were arrested in Liberal Kansas today, they planned to blow up an apartment building.

    According to the criminal complaint the suspects were motivated by “a hatred for Muslims, individuals of Somali descent, and immigrants,” reports CBS News correspondent Chip Reid.

    Stein, according to the complaint, referred to Somalis as “cockroaches” and said “the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.”

    Acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said Curtis Wayne Allen, 49; Patrick Eugene Stein, 47; and Gavin Wayne Wright, 49, are members of a group calling itself the Kansas Security Force.

    I wonder when Trump will commend the authorities for stopping this act of terrorism.

  127. 127.

    scav

    @MomSense: It does get chilly at times, especially once one acclimates. There are chilly foggy days at the beach, breezy days, breezy days on the water, it snows in the mountains, even the lower coastal ranges. Desert cools off rapidly. It’s no ND, but you’ll need at least a few.

  128. 128.

    different-church-lady

    @Uncle Ebeneezer: There’s a tiny few “blocks” near Faneuil Hall that are left over from true “old” Boston — an area bounded by Union, Hanover, and Blackstone Streets. Some buildings there are pre-Revolutionary war. It’s quite near the Freedom Trail, might even be on it.

    If you walk slowly up the north side of Beacon Street on Beacon Hill, you will see some outstanding architecture. Many rewards await those who stroll Beacon Hill on foot.

  133. 133.

    different-church-lady

    @Mary G:

    The only thing that could get in the way of real change – if not now, then surely very soon – was a rebellion so maladroit, ill-conceived and irresponsible that even the severest critics of the system would become zealots for the status quo.

    Is that disappointment I hear in his voice?

  134. 134.

    hovercraft

    @JPL:
    Clinton said today that she thinks that contrary to Trumps strategy, there will be record or near record turnout. Nathan Gonzales of the Rothenberg Report says they are anticipating turnout to be around the 2012 level, which was only topped by 2008. So everyone GOTV.

  135. 135.

    MomSense

    @debit:

    So sweet. You have made all of us very happy and it’s not easy to please vicious jackals.

    @scav: There’s breezy and then there’s nor’easter. ?

  138. 138.

    Ian

    @redshirt:
    I actually admire Giuliani for wearing a drag outfit in the 1990s. That took courage and helped to normalize LGBT issues. Outside the act, he is his own basket of deplorable.

  139. 139.

    hovercraft

    @Villago Delenda Est:
    Sorry I forgot that Timothy Macveigh and Dylan Roof were just troubled lone wolf’s who were not trying to make political statements or terrorize anyone. My bad.

  143. 143.

    Mary G

    @MomSense: You get spoiled here. My mom got cold at 68 degrees and hot at 72. Many houses aren’t insulated. So a lot of people like sweaters and blankets/throws. Heavy cable knits, no. Plus, we have mountains with winter snow only an hour or two away, so people knit hats, mufflers and mittens for snowboarders, etc.

  144. 144.

    WaterGirl

    @redshirt: To be fair, and god knows I hate to be fair to Trump and the Ghouliani, but they were just goofing around since The Ghoul was in drag in some sort of comedy sketch.

    To add this to the list of serious incidents with women is a mistake. My two cents.

  145. 145.

    scav

    @MomSense: No argument, but that doesn’t mean one doesn’t feel the cold. I’ve acclimated to the great middle, but grew up in CA (southern bit where it snows, go figure) and attended UCSB. But, in IA and IL, I learned that the exact temperature in autumn that would get everyone running for their sweaters would have everyone stripping off coats to tee-shirts in spring.

  148. 148.

    redshirt

    @Ian: I’ll confess that I used to like Rudy quite a bit – for the cross dressing, and the fact that when kicked out by his wife he slept on the couch of a gay couple. Inside source on that!

    And since my first 4 trips to NYC resulted in muggings, I appreciated what Rudy did to “clean up” NYC. I saw the change first hand at the Port Authority. In retrospect I was wrong, but pre 9/11 I did indeed like him.

    Sorry.

  149. 149.

    Elizabelle

    @Mary G:

    Taibbi: [Trump] was unmasked in the end as a pathetic little prankster who ruined himself, his family and half of America’s two-party political system for what was probably a half-assed ego trip all along, adventure tourism for the idiot rich.

    adventure tourism for the idiot rich.

  150. 150.

    redshirt

    @WaterGirl: It’s obviously a joke skit, but humor is based on truth, and that Donald’s role in this skit is as a lecherous man completely fits in with all that has been revealed the last few days.

  151. 151.

    gogol's wife

    @debit:

    God, he looks good! The way he holds his head up high — cannot be that dog we saw the first picture of! Well done, you!

  153. 153.

    redshirt

    @scav: This time of the year reveals how differently we handle temps. I’ve seen people in Boston in near full winter gear – parka, scarf, gloves. And at the same time, people in short sleeves and shorts. Temp outside at 50F.

  155. 155.

    Origuy

    Most of the stuff on the Freedom Trail is free, but if you go into the churches, they’ll hit you up for a donation for maintenance. Paul Revere’s house is owned by a private foundation, so there’s a fee to go inside. It’s worth it, IMO. You end up at the USS Constitution in Charleston Navy Yard. I think the tour there is free. You can take the ferry back instead of walking back, IIRC it’s around $6.

  156. 156.

    burnspbesq

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Given that her running mate is Catholic, the “riddled with anti-Catholic bigots” part is, shall we say, a bit of a stretch.

    Not inherently inconsistent, but one makes the other both less likely and less relevant.

  158. 158.

    Tenar Darell

    Gosh I’m in moderation! Was it the naked link? Anyway if you could fish me out, thanks in advance.

  160. 160.

    WaterGirl

    @debit: My vet gave Bailey all the shots. I cannot say enough about the difference in Bailey that seemed to happen overnight with shots 4 & 5. I hope for the same great results for Walter!

    P.S. There was a rebate for adequan when we used it for Bailey years ago. I just googled and there is a rebate now, too. You might want to check that out if you aren’t already aware of it.

  162. 162.

    WaterGirl

    @Origuy: Do you know the name of a museum-y sort of place that is on the Freedom Trail? There were all sorts of displays and quotes etc from the revolution. I’m describing it badly, but it made a huge impression on me and I would love to know what it was so I can google it.

  164. 164.

    burnspbesq

    @redshirt:

    Rudy was a kick-ass U.S. Attorney. His staff threw a lot of people in jail who deserved to be there. All downhill after that.

  167. 167.

    Jeffro

    @Elizabelle: It’s a pretty sharp take…hope it makes it into the GOP’s 2016 “autopsy”

    Fave section:

    The first symptom of a degraded aristocracy is a lack of capable candidates for the throne. After years of indulgence, ruling families become frail, inbred and isolated, with no one but mystics, impotents and children to put forward as kings. Think of Nikolai Romanov reading fortunes as his troops starved at the front. Weak princes lead to popular uprisings. Which brings us to this year’s Republican field.

    There wasn’t one capable or inspiring person in the infamous “Clown Car” lineup. All 16 of the non-Trump entrants were dunces, religious zealots, wimps or tyrants, all equally out of touch with voters. Scott Walker was a lipless sadist who in centuries past would have worn a leather jerkin and thrown dogs off the castle walls for recreation. Marco Rubio was the young rake with debts. Jeb Bush was the last offering in a fast-diminishing hereditary line. Ted Cruz was the Zodiac Killer. And so on.

    The party spent 50 years preaching rich people bromides like “trickle-down economics” and “picking yourself up by your bootstraps” as solutions to the growing alienation and financial privation of the ordinary voter. In place of jobs, exported overseas by the millions by their financial backers, Republicans glibly offered the flag, Jesus and Willie Horton.

    In recent years it all went stale. They started to run out of lines to sell the public. Things got so desperate that during the Tea Party phase, some GOP candidates began dabbling in the truth. They told voters that all Washington politicians, including their own leaders, had abandoned them and become whores for special interests. It was a slapstick routine: Throw us bums out!

    Republican voters ate it up and spent the whole of last primary season howling for blood as Trump shredded one party-approved hack after another. By the time the other 16 candidates finished their mass-suicide-squad routine, a tail-chasing, sewer-mouthed septuagenarian New Yorker was accepting the nomination of the Family Values Party.

  168. 168.

    Elizabelle

    @WaterGirl: So small, I did not see it at first.

    Taibbi describes Trump’s hand size as “controversial.” Am enjoying the article now. (And thank you, MaryG.)

  171. 171.

    WaterGirl

    @Elizabelle: After seeing your reply, I went back to the photo to laugh some more. But then – ugh! I scrolled down to the part of the picture that was below what I could see on my laptop, and ugh, he has another hand under her robes, feeling her up. ugh ugh ugh

    edit: I’d like to see these people who think that what Trump described – groping women’s breasts and putting his hand up their skirts – is not sexual assault.

  173. 173.

    Elizabelle

    @Jeffro: I’ve just gotten to this section:

    Whether or not he “won” the debate was immaterial. He at least impressed pious Mike Pence, Trump’s sad-sack running mate, who reportedly had been considering withdrawing from the ticket over the whole pu$$y thing. “Big debate win!” Pence tweeted, ending rumors of an internal mutiny. “Proud to stand with you as we #MAGA!”

    That’s hashtag Make America Great Again, in case you didn’t believe Mike Pence is hip. (The new white-power movement, like a lot of fraternities, is short on brains, but long on secret passwords and handshakes.) The man who once opposed clean needles on moral grounds was now ready to march through history with a serial groper and tit-gazer.

    sad-sack running mate, the whole pu$$y thing. I’m laughing.

  176. 176.

    Pogonip

    i finally found another Japanese word that computer Scrabble won’t accept–BUDO. I’m going to learn a few words in Swahili and see what happens.

    I have not had an opportunity to try KWYJIBO, although it will take DOH.

  178. 178.

    Jeffro

    @Elizabelle: Taibbi really nails it, probably most especially in his shots at the “deep bench”.

    I haven’t put much political stuff on FB this whole season, but this hadda go up, especially the “adventure tourism for the rich” line. Dems can reform there to some extent. Today’s GOP? Not so much.

  180. 180.

    The Golux

    @redshirt:

    Have you been to other locations, like in Portland?

    In Portland, we’ve dined at Fore Street, which was amazing, but my son, who is a chef, says Central Provisions is an order of magnitude better. Hard to believe, but I trust his judgement.

  184. 184.

    redshirt

    @The Golux: I’m sure. I was just talking about the Flatbread Pizza Company, who have several locations, one of which is in Portland. For some reason they provide two free large pizzas for my monthly book club.

  187. 187.

    sukabi

    @Elizabelle: not that I don’t appreciate the pile on, but where the fuck were these journalists 15 months ago…while it’s made for an interesting year in a truly horrifying way, drumpf should have never made it this far….uugh!

  188. 188.

    Tazj

    @Villago Delenda Est: Yes, not only is Kaine Catholic, but Podesta and Halpin are as well. The e-mails criticize some views of conservative Catholiscm and Rupert Murdoch’s decision to raise his children Catholic, not Catholism itself.
    Halpin wrote an article for Think Progress explaining his views and the e-mail was apologetic. Another Balloon juicer posted about this yesterday. Sorry I don’t have any link.
    Having been raised Catholic myself, some of these Bishops really make me angry.

  189. 189.

    Ajabu

    @Pogonip:
    Nope. I speak Swahili & tried that gambit with computer scrabble.
    I could have won big with Ulimwengu but it wouldn’t go for it.
    Couldn’t even get away with a ten count; moja, mbili, tatu, nne, etc.
    And auto correct fought me all the way on this post…

  192. 192.

    redshirt

    @Ajabu: Heh. It is not fair however to include any word that resides in any language. That would send Scrabble into a dangerous area of dictionary relativity.

    Scrabble has to be played as a single language game – whatever the language.

    Now that I type that, it seems like it would be a good beginning/intermediate language instruction to have the student play scrabble in that language.

  193. 193.

    different-church-lady

    @redshirt: no way. Scrabble would be a LOT more interesting if it were played in multiple languages. Hell, multiple alphabets!

  195. 195.

    prob50

    @hovercraft:

    Tweety is sad that the issues that Trump tapped into , bad trade deals, stupid war and open borders are not going to get a vote this November, instead people are going to vote on all this crap with the accusations by these women. He’s lamenting that we can’t have a Brexit type vote to decide them. Michelle Bernard tries to argue that the issues raised by these women and rape culture are important and he says that’s an argument

    tweety is not really into these”soft” issues. He likes his politics to play out like some bare-knuckle boxing match. Policy stuff doesn’t really matter, they are just props used to fill space before he questions which candidate has got the “fire in their belly, smells blood and is ready to taste it.” It doesn’t really matter who wins as long as he gets to pontificate to and with “Important People”. “Women’s Issues” are just an awkward fit in his narrative.

  197. 197.

    prob50

    @Mike J:

    Remember back in January when people were upset about others “voting with their vaginas”?

    I’ve heard that it makes it hard to control the little pin things that punch out the chad bits on the ballot.

    Man, I sure hear a lot of tasteless things, don’t I?

  199. 199.

    JR in WV

    @raven:

    Cone on, Raven, You should (and probably do) know that the medal is the Medal of Honor… Congress has nothing to do with it.

    That’s almost as bad as saying that flags are at half-mast in honor of some tragedy or honorable death – only on ships, everywhere else they’re at half-staff. /pedantry

  201. 201.

    Agorabum

    @Pogonip: the idea that every Trump supporter is suffering economically and has no job is ridiculous. The status quo is working for most Trump supporters. The problem is that people that they hate are doing as good as them or better. Women gays minorities xcetera.

  202. 202.

    philadelphialawyer

    @Mary G: Meh. I don’t buy it. Hills will get a majority. Most people are not so dissatisfied. Most people did not vote for Sanders or Trump put together. The economy has improved, for everyone, since 2009. We are not involved in an actual, regular troop, boots on the ground, war. Progress is being made on social justice issues. Technology is making life better for everyone. Change/schmange. The media loves this kind of talk, which is why it can’t get enough of crybaby Trump and Sanders and Stein and Johnson supporters. Taibi is a middle brow regurgitater of conventional wisdom.

  203. 203.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Trump “wins the debate” and then tanks in the polls and doesn’t see the issue? The man is an utter twit. This is politics Donny, adult stuff, not big time wrestling.

  204. 204.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Agorabum: No, it’s they are victims of TV. They watch TV, and it’s one endless parade of how much the world sucks and how even when things are good, they really suck, so they are scared shitless. So Trump voices their fears and that’s why they cling to him.

    Notice Trump never says he can fix anything, just everything sucks and we should all be afraid. They are so scared even the idea of trying to fix the problems terrifies them.

  208. 208.

    Robert Sneddon

    @JR in WV: Flags don’t fly on masts on a ship, they fly on a jackstaff, hence “Union Jack”. Masts are for sails and pennants like the Blue Peter. Flags and colours are sometimes flown on a mast on a boat or barge since they usually don’t have a jack (although not always). Being pedantic to be polite.

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