Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

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

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

This blog will pay for itself.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

No one could have predicted…

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

He really is that stupid.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

You cannot shame the shameless.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner Live Feed: Its All Good Fun Until…

Reader Interactions

305Comments

  3. 3.

    Trentrunner

    No interaction between Trump & HRC. Hillary did do an arm-touch quick word as she passed Melanoma.

    The emcee got off a great first joke:

    “Before we began, I understand that Donald went up to Hillary and asked her how she was doing. Hillary said ‘I’m fine, Donald–now get out of the ladies’ dressing room.'”

    LOL Trump is a perv.

  9. 9.

    NR

    Biggest poll news of today: WMUR has Hassan up by 8 over Ayotte in New Hampshire. If that’s accurate, it greatly increases the chances of a Dem Senate.

  11. 11.

    JPL

    “Tonight, we are all friends. How do you like those apples?” says Al Smith IV at dinner.

    Al Smith tells Trump, “you’re not in a locker room. So please watch your language.”

    from Maggie

  13. 13.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mike J: They didn’t withdraw, the African National Conference has called for the Republic of South Africa to do so however. And they made the call a year ago in OCT 2011:
    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34509342

    What South Africa leaving the International Criminal Court would mean
    By Milton Nkosi
    BBC News, Johannesburg
    14 October 2015
    The call by South Africa’s governing party to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) has implications for the rest of the continent. But it is not going to happen any time soon.
    When South Africa joined the ICC in 1998 the country had just emerged from the scourge of apartheid.
    South Africans were fresh victims of gross human rights violations and had hoped that the rest of the world would join the ICC.
    But some of the most powerful countries did not follow.
    And now the governing African National Congress (ANC) is calling for the country to leave the ICC – which would make it the first to do so…

  14. 14.

    JMG

    @NR: UNH pollster Andy Smith is one of the worst in the business. Had Coakley over Brown by 15 a week before that election. Went from Obama up 15 over Romney to tied in two weeks. Don’t believe a single point in that survey. Doesn’t mean it can’t happen, blind pig, acorn, etc. but don’t trust those numbers. He stinks.

  16. 16.

    dogwood

    It’s nights like this when every termed out President and every former candidate thinks “Thank God I don’t have to attend that shindig .”

  18. 18.

    some guy

    the International Criminal Court to Prosecute Africans for War Crimes might be losing a member? Does that mean fewer Africans will be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court to Prosecute African War CCrimes?

    how horrid.

  21. 21.

    Patricia Kayden

    @NR: Great news indeed!! I’d love to see the spineless Ayotte booted out of the Senate. Hope voters make it so. Ironic that she has pledged to vote for (but not endorse) a man who has cost her her Senate seat.

  27. 27.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @NR: Unreliable poll from unreliable pollster. So? Resist the urge to clutch pearls & just ignore it. Every Democratic candidate should be campaigning like s/he’s 10 points down anyway, if only to run up the score. Leave it all on the field. Stomp the barstids as flat as possible.

  28. 28.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mike J: okay – there is absolutely no news coverage. Nada. Not BBC. Not NY Times. Nothing. So I don’t know what to say because I can’t substantiate the document with sources other than the twitter feed of someone I’ve never heard of.

  29. 29.

    dogwood

    @NR:
    I think you’re right. We aren’t even sure about holding on to Harry Reid’s seat. The problem with NH is that there is probably at decent number of republican leaning independents who will vote Hillary and Ayotte. And there just isn’t an untapped population of minorities to register and get to the polls to counteract that.

  31. 31.

    Jim Riley

    I was at the Smith dinner when R. Reagan and J. Carter were there; that is the night Reagan, almost in a predatory fashion, listened to Carter’s weak remarks and low energy jokes, watched him closely and decided that Carter was weak enough to be beaten; Reagan from that night forward was in overdrive.

  32. 32.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @Warren Terra:

    For context, see Trump’s insanely superlative hagiography side by side with Clinton’s perfectly normal biographical statement.

    Not unlike their medical reports from their respective physicians.

  33. 33.

    Jim Riley

    By the way how long have they allowed women to attend the Smith dinner?; I thought they had to remain in the ante-room as in the pubs in Dublin

  34. 34.

    Patricia Kayden

    @JMG: Yep. Real Clear Politics has them within the margin of error. Hassan can still pull off a win.

  35. 35.

    Lee

    So Adam what’s your take on that 4 minute response time comment from Hillary that the GOP is melting down about.

    I didn’t see it as that big a deal as it was ‘about 4 minutes’. 2 is about 4 so is 6.

  37. 37.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Lee: Ancient history to anyone who knows anything about nuclear issues. Nothing classified in that at all.

  40. 40.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Lee: @Gin & Tonic: I’m clearly missing something. Is this from a presser she did today or something else? Some context would be great.

    Semibreak
    @Gin & Tonic: I’ll have a Maskirovka Slips III tomorrow. Esquire did an excellent deep dive into the Russian hacks and meddling into the election. I’ll be linking to it and excerpting it as well to set up the piece.

  44. 44.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    I know it’s John Williams, but Jesus crap that NBC theme music gets really old really fast on a constant loop.

  45. 45.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    Does anyone here troll RWNJ sites and poop on the threads? I’m just wondering what compels a sad little man to do such a thing. Antisocial Personality Disorder? Masochistic tendencies? Mommy didn’t pay attention to you when you thought you were cute and clever? I just don’t get it.

    I can imagine trying to employ social intelligence, logic, a genuine desire to understand those with different views, but to just walk into an elevator, fart and giggle is weird to me.

  47. 47.

    JPL

    @Jim Riley: That won’t be Hillary’s problem. She’s visiting and mingling while the Trumps are waiting and waiting for someone to kiss their rings. Unfortunately for them, the paid servants are not there tonight.

  49. 49.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: @Lee: I watched the debate and did not hear that at all. I thought he was demanding she resign her candidacy because Donna Brazile notified both her campaign and the Sanders’ campaign that the death penalty would be a topic at one of the primary town halls. At this point I can’t keep straight what he’s upset about. That said I’m sure Congressman Chaffetz, who actually has divulged classified information on live TV, will be convening hearings about it. And going on TV for several days, every channel, to do his last honorable man in high dudgeon schtick.

  55. 55.

    germy

    Sean Hannity: Hillary Clinton’s “Ineligibility” To Run For President Could Make Her An “Illegitimate President”

    Hannity: “If Hillary Clinton Wins This Election … You Could Make A Case That Because Of Her Ineligibility … We’re Going To Talk About The Legitimacy Of The Presidency”

    (media matters)

  56. 56.

    Gin & Tonic

    @waysel: Here’s one reaction

    Tharru
    ‏@VoxRomani
    Hillary dropped, on live #debatenight, Response time between presidential order and nuclear missile launch. Info isis classified TS/NC2.

  57. 57.

    redshirt

    @Adam L Silverman: In the debate last night Hillary said the military has about 4 minutes from when the CiC orders nukes to be launched till they are launched; the wingnuts are acting like Hillary spilled a state secret by saying this.

  58. 58.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Trentrunner: Call me a pedant or a scold, but I think it belittles us to call (the current) Mrs. Trump names, and it’s a tad mocking of folks with actual cancer issues.

    @Trentrunner: ETA: What an amazing opening joke. Which I’m certain the GOP candidate received with gracious good humor. Sorry, I had a flight of fancy there. Of course he’s incapable of that.

  60. 60.

    waysel

    HILLARY CLINTON
    I find it — ironic that he is raising nuclear weapons. This is a person who has been very cavalier, even casual about the use of nuclear weapons. He’s advocated more countries getting them

    DONALD TRUMP
    Wrong.

    HILLARY CLINTON
    .. Japan, Korea, even Saudi Arabia. He said, well if we had them why don’t we use them? Which I think is terrifying. But here’s the deal: the bottom line on nuclear weapons is that when the president gives the order, it must be followed. There is about four minutes between the order being given and the people responsible for launching nuclear weapons to do so. And that is why ten people who have had that awesome responsibility have come out in an unprecedented way said they would not trust Donald Trump with the nuclear codes or to have his finger on the nuclear button.
    Quote from debate transcript.

  62. 62.

    TS

    Seems to be few people talking to the GOP nominee He has a large back presented to him as the Cardinal talks non stop to Hillary

  63. 63.

    Jean

    @waysel: Oh yeah, that’s right. Main part was Trump’s cavalier attitude toward using nuclear weapons and what countries should have them.

  64. 64.

    Gin & Tonic

    This is from a UN Institute for Disarmament Research report from 2012 publicly available on the Web:

    Of the ICBMforce, nearly all (98%) of the 450 missiles are on high alert at any given time, capable of launching within five minutes of the president issuing the launch codes.

  66. 66.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Gin & Tonic: @redshirt: Okay, tracking. This has been widely discussed for decades. I have no idea whether its technically classified, but its certainly common knowledge. We post the unclassified directives on who is in charge, what orders are to be given, etc on the web.
    https://fas.org/irp/doddir/usaf/afi91-104.pdf
    http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/370001p.pdf
    http://www.dodccrp.org/events/10th_ICCRTS/CD/papers/177.pdf
    http://fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/wwmccs.htm
    http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/wwmccs.htm

  68. 68.

    Adam L Silverman

    @waysel: @Jean: He was trying to interrupt her and wound up speaking over her, so that’s why I missed it. Once I saw the transcript you all posted/pointed me to, I recall the transaction.

  71. 71.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NonyNony: Well it was till you all started asking me about it on Cole’s blog. I’m going to be doing paperwork for months…//

  74. 74.

    Adam L Silverman

    I’m watching Trump’s routine and I’m not sure he’s not going to either 1) lose it or 2) devolve into whiny self pity.

  83. 83.

    muddy

    Admittedly I am fast-forwarding like crazy, but so far I’ve only seen Trump speak to the cardinal and the guy to Melania’s left, except for Ghouliani stopping over. Hillary is having apparently deep conversations with a bunch of people. Meanwhile Donald keeps showing some piece of paper to Melania, and sitting there like a slug.

    Boo hoo he doesn’t seem very popular at this prom…

  84. 84.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Omnes Omnibus: Sure. Right now he’s bombing terribly. I just wish the guy to his left would move his head so the camera will zoom back in on the head that Maria Bartiromo’s chest decided to bring to the event.

  100. 100.

    Mary G

    Uday and Qusay wrote these “jokes,” because he’s too cheap to pay a real comedy writer.

  102. 102.

    debit

    Trump gets groans and muffled boos. Crowd is now silent.

    ETA: Now even more boos. Oh jesus. He’s bombing.

    ETA2: Now he’s getting heckled.

  104. 104.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @Starfish:

    Honestly, I was wondering why srv keeps mucking about here. He makes me wonder what the reward is to he told, “Shut the Fuck up, Donnie!” over and over.

  105. 105.

    Adam L Silverman

    He’s losing it. The looks on everyone’s faces are like in a hostage video. And we’ve hit the Steve Bannon portion of the routine.

  108. 108.

    Corner Stone

    Fuck me. Whoever wrote this second half needs to be run out of the business. This is awful stuff.

  115. 115.

    Jeffro

    How bad do you have to suck to get booed at the Al Smith dinner?

    Worse yet, how bad do you have to get to have the whole room get silent??

    UH OH…”pretending not to hate Catholics”…pure Bannon…

  120. 120.

    Corner Stone

    I’m waiting for Cardinal Dolan to walk up and cover the mic and say, “You’re done, son. You’re done.”

  122. 122.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    I suspect Hillary has binders full of slicing jokes at Donald’s expense.

  124. 124.

    Old Dan and Little Anne

    The the guy to the right of drumph on screen looks like he’s about to blow a gasket.

  127. 127.

    psycholinguist

    I love the people behind him gasping in horror, and then eventually just looking pissed off

  129. 129.

    amygdala

    Never gon’ be President now
    Never gon’ be President now
    Never gon’ be President now
    Never gon’ be President now
    That’s one less thing to worry about
    That’s one less thing to worry about

  150. 150.

    al smith

    Does anyone know the people in the background? On the left of the screen, the one with 3 pins on his suit? On his back, the one with the red revealing dress?

  153. 153.

    Corner Stone

    Good God. Who is the woman in the low cut red dress to the left of HRC with all that cleveland showing? The long white gloves.

  164. 164.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    She’s got some good lines and is delivering them with more panache than I would have guessed. You go, Hillary!

  173. 173.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: Its not a joke:
    http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2016/10/guess-whos-coming-to-the-al-smith-dinner-106394

    While we can only speculate about what Trump would have said about Smith, we have a pretty good idea of what his father thought of him. The delightful Fred Trump was arrested during a Ku Klux Klan rally in Queens in 1927 when he and some hooded gentlemen of his acquaintance wished to make it known that they considered power and privilege to be reserved for Protestants only. It was bad enough that New York had elected a Catholic governor and that Board of Aldermen was filled with Catholics and Jews. But the newspapers were saying that Smith might be nominated for president the following year. And this was too much for the bigots.

    As they did whatever it is that Klansmen do when they gather in solidarity, they also circulated fliers lamenting that “Liberty and Democracy have been trampled upon when native-born Protestant Americans dare to organize to protect one flag, the American flag; one school, the public school; and one language, the English language.” The flier was recitation of grievances sounding very much like the sort of thing you will hear on cable programs hosted, sadly, by men named O’Reilly and Hannity, or lines delivered at a Trump rally as a new generation of embattled true Americans fights off another influx of foreigners.

    Smith had an answer for this kind of aggression: Himself. He said his rosaries and marched in the St. Patrick’s Day parade and refused to soften his hard city edges. But he was as much a patriot as his native-born critics. More so, in fact, because he told scowling men and women that their loathing of people like him was a violation of the nation’s ideals. At a hostile venue in Oklahoma in 1928, in a speech that was broadcast around the country on radio, Smith declared that such hatred was un-American.

    “I, as the candidate of the Democratic Party, owe it to the people of this country to discuss frankly and opening with them this attempt … to inject bigotry, hatred, intolerance and un-American sectarian division into a campaign which should be an intelligent debate of the important issues which confront the American people,” he said.

    In the distance but within his line of sight, Klansman in hoods and sheets burned crosses to remind him that would not make many converts that night.

  178. 178.

    psycholinguist

    Poor malania doesn’t understand the “a good number for a woman would be 45” she just looked out into space in her vacuous way.

  180. 180.

    Adam L Silverman

    @opiejeanne: I have no idea. He’s been denying for years that his father was arrested at that demonstration despite their being a 80 some odd year old police report with his father’s name and their home address on it.

  181. 181.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @amygdala: OT: I saw the vanity plate APHASIA in the garage below the psych and neurology departments of a university docs’ office. It’s not always there, but it was today when I went to talk to 4th residents about things to think about before talking to counsel about an employment contract.

    I think a transient bout would have served the short fingered vulgarian well tonight. Last night too, come to think of it.

  184. 184.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    Ooh burn, “even harder when you’re translating from the original Russian!”

  206. 206.

    NonyNony

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    Honestly, I was wondering why srv keeps mucking about here.

    He’s a troll. Most trolls live purely for the reaction. That’s where the term “troll” comes from – it’s originally from the fishing term, not the monsters that live under bridges. He throws his net into the water and drags it around trying to catch an innocent commenter and get a reaction – trolling for anger basically. Any reaction is good – for trolls the amusement value lies in provoking a response. The best response is irritation or anger, but mockery can be fine. Because the troll is getting the “look at me! look at me!” response that feeds his underdeveloped ego. If mommy and daddy had hugged him more as a child maybe he’d be less willing to debase himself on the internet going lower and lower in his attempts to provoke an angry response from a stranger.

    I knew some Usenet trolls back in the day when I was in college. Personally in meatspace, not online. They were like that in real life too – the kind of guys who would say or do something mean as a “joke” just to provoke a reaction out of the people around them. It mostly seemed that they wanted attention but didn’t know how to get good attention so they “settled” for people telling them to “shut the fuck up”. It may be hate, but at least someone is talking to you and its better than being lonely. And occasionally someone would laugh at whatever stupid thing they said and it made them feel good.

  212. 212.

    debbie

    The Guardian isn’t amused either:

    Speaking at the Alfred Smith memorial dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton follows a deeply un-funny set by Donald Trump.

  214. 214.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    OOOOOO PUTIN BURN IN HELL WITH PUTIN DONALD AND NOW DONALD CAN EAT HILLARY’S SHIT

  217. 217.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    She is much, much funnier and looser than I ever thought she would be. She’ll kill ’em at the next four or eight WHCDs.

  222. 222.

    Jeffro

    @Corner Stone: yes, please…the “35 years” remark was a little cruel with Melania in the audience…

    Her vengeance is mighty, GOP. You’ve been warned.

    Trump, at least she didn’t actually put your head on a pike.

  227. 227.

    WarMunchkin

    Someone said Hillary has dark humor and I believe it after this. I totally would want to get a beer with.

  236. 236.

    Turner Hedenkoff

    @muddy
    >Meanwhile Donald keeps showing some piece of paper to Melania

    The prenup? I’ll bet it’s the prenup.

  239. 239.

    jk

    David Gergen: Trump doesn’t know the difference between being light-hearted and heavy-handed

    Gloria Borger: Trump missed the self-deprecating part

  245. 245.

    TS

    @efgoldman:

    Sad cardinal (Dolan) belongs in the slammer.

    No argument with that – but he still doesn’t want to talk to Donald – the latter probably forgot to donate

  252. 252.

    Jeffro

    Ye gods, these two…no false equivalence here, he’s slime and she’s clearly been put here on earth to DEFEAT SLIME, but…if I’m feeling nostalgic for McCain and Obama (and there really wasn’t any love lost there)…holy cow…

  257. 257.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    Hillary is feeling it. Hillary’s got everyone’s number, remembers everything, understands the entire Washington/media complex and their feels, and has learned from the master President Black Ninja. SHE’S GOT THIS.

  260. 260.

    Aleta

    Kissinger blocking her exit, acting a bit like a predator, when he should just say hello and then let her be.

  262. 262.

    redshirt

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: That’s a crucial element to all this. Hillary has always been smart, dedicated, compassionate, etc. But I think it’s by running against, then working with, then having the support of one Barack Hussein Obama which has taken her to the next level.

    Go Hillz!

  270. 270.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @NonyNony:

    “Meatspace”! Haven’t heard that term before. Funny!

    Sad though, someone so hungry for attention that he’ll so degrade himself.

  276. 276.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @redshirt:

    Yes. She shed her Bill Clinton/90s scandal skin, Obama trusted and empowered her, she learned from the master and is now her own best version of her. You can see it!

  278. 278.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @opiejeanne:

    I just recorded that and posted it on FB. My favorite saying of all time is Ben Franklin’s “it’s a Republic, if you can keep it”. WORD

  280. 280.

    SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch

    @Baud:

    Shouldn’t you now be liberal mob enforcer nasty woman?

    I should, but am not sure it’s worth languishing in moderation for however long it takes to get a new nym approved. But maybe.

  293. 293.

    leeleeFL

    @opiejeanne: over a year ago I told a table I was waiting on to stop talking about Trump and he would go away, because he was a fame junkie. I knew all about the Donald from my New York life. So I knew this was not only possible but very likely.

  295. 295.

    danielx

    @srv:

    Peter Thiel’s support of Donald Trump has been the subject of speculation and condemnation since rumors of his speech at the Republican National Convention first began to fly, and has only increased since Thiel agreed to donate $1.25 million to the Trump campaign.

    Yes indeed. I’d like to know whether Thiel gets off on like, setting fire to big piles of money as a hobby. That’s about how much utility he’ll derive from his 1.25 mil investment.

  297. 297.

    mskitty

    Yeah, who’s the maltese cross guy? or at least, what’s the maltese cross decoration? Looks like serious stuff. And how did he get picked to be on camera for the entire set of speeches? Nice reactions, though – clearly NOT a trumpie.

  299. 299.

    opiejeanne

    @mskitty: I saw a guy wearing a red ribbon attached to a silver cross that was not a Maltese cross but a more standard one, sitting to the speaker’s right and I asked who he was earlier.
    I totally missed anyone wearing a Maltese cross.

  300. 300.

    Guillermo

    @Corner Stone: I wish I knew. Listening to the candidates was OK but seeing the lady in red helped me make up my mind; I am voting for her since from what I could see she has all the qualifications!

  301. 301.

    Joel

    @opiejeanne: probably the Maltese cross; I would be shocked if it were anything but a signifier that the man belonged to the Knights of Malta (a catholic order).

  302. 302.

    Janetta Ouderkirk

    @Corner Stone: I’d like to know who she was also, she couldn’t restrain herself from checking her e-mails/texts. One white glove off, one white glove on. Would you say she had class??????

  305. 305.

    Flavia

    No one knows….. If anyone one finds out will you please let me know. If he got that spot he is somehow ranked high, someone must know that man’s name. Thank you.

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