Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

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

Tick tock motherfuckers!

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

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

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

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

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

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2016 / Friday Evening Open Thread: Canvassing Social Notes

Friday Evening Open Thread: Canvassing Social Notes

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Apart from GOTV, what’s on the agenda as we start the weekend?
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takei-democrats-abroad

Join Democrats Abroad for our fifth Global Town Hall of 2016 with special guest George Takei

Monday, October 24,

8:00 AM EDT (Washington DC time) by video-conference

Our very own Martha McDevitt-Pugh, DNC Member, Vice-Chair in the Netherlands, and Chair of the LGBT Caucus, will start things off by discussing the Democrats Abroad LGBT Caucus and Advocacy Work.

George Takei will be sharing his thoughts with DA about what really makes America great, why he supports Hillary for President — and why we must win the White House and Take Back Congress.

Reader Interactions

255Comments

  2. 2.

    Mnemosyne

    For those who haven’t heard, Takei’s Broadway musical Allegiance will be doing a Fathom Events screening, possibly at a theater near you!

    (If you haven’t been to a Fathom Events screening, basically they broadcast a concert or other live performance into a movie theater. I’m going to the re-broadcast of The Met’s Don Giovanni on Wednesday night at my local AMC.)

  3. 3.

    debit

    Posted in the thread below, as people were asking:

    Re: Walter. He’s good except for a case of kennel cough. I have no idea where he picked it up, and it seems slight right now, but given his age and history I took him to the vet just in case. He’s on cough suppressant and Doxycycline, with orders to keep him quiet and his food soupy. You better believe I’m following orders; when I adopted Ellie she had kennel cough that turned into pneumonia and we almost lost her.

  5. 5.

    SiubhanDuinne, etc. (Blame Omnes)

    @Mnemosyne:

    I’ve mentioned previously that I think it’s exceptionally and coincidentally timely that the Met is doing Don G when Don T’s lewd and lascivious history is dominating news and social media.

    As the local MET Live in HD “ambassador,” I’ll be early at the theatre tomorrow, handing out MET flyers, postcards, and bookmarks along with synopses, cast biographies, and audience survey cards. Between phone-banking for Hillary and ambassadoring for opera, I just hope I manage to keep my two volunteer spheres separate.

    (“Hello, opera-lover! Are you planning to vote for Hillary?”)

    (“Good afternoon, I’m SiubhanDuinne from the Georgia Democratic Party. May I offer you a Metropolitan Opera schedule for the coming season?)

  9. 9.

    Mnemosyne

    @SiubhanDuinne, etc. (Blame Omnes):

    Speaking of getting two worlds to collide, did you know that Takei was inspired to create Allegiance because he saw In the Heights?

    He told the story at this #Ham4Ham show and of course LMM cried, because he cries at ERRYTHING!

    (G will hate that I said this, but he’s the same way, so I have kind of a soft spot for men who cry.)

  11. 11.

    Kay

    Iowa, Clinton + 4

    I’m looking for some definitive “collapse”. Some states to move.

    They shouldn’t use that word if they mean “gradually drifting downward” :)

  14. 14.

    SiubhanDuinne, etc. (Blame Omnes)

    @Mnemosyne:

    Speaking of getting two worlds to collide, did you know that Takei was inspired to create Allegiance because he saw In the Heights?

    No, did not know that! Very cool. Did you know that LMM wrote most of In the Heights during a residency in Atlanta?

  16. 16.

    jl

    Just watched clip of Schlling ask Jake Tapper to, as a Jew (is he? I have no idea, was Schilling full of it on that too?), explain why so many US Jews support horrible anti-Israel (and therefore anti-Jewish) Democrats.

    Good Lord, now I know what the fuss is about.

    I don’t think Tapper’s answer was very good. Why can’t he admit the obvious, which is that there is vigorous debate among Jews (as there is among lots of groups) about what best US policy should be, for both welfare of both US and Israel? And that views on current elected government of Israel’s foreign policy is not same as views of all Israeli society, or same as concern for welfare of Jewish community, in US or Israel or anywhere (but maybe that is just me?).

  17. 17.

    Mary G

    @hovercraft: Wow. Kurt looks awful physically as well as saying awful things. Jake Tapper looked like he just wanted him off, but he handled it pretty well.

  18. 18.

    eclare

    I voted today in TN! No chance it will go blue (although thankfully I live in the blue oasis of Memphis) but I want to run up the score to give HRC the biggest margin/mandate ever!

  19. 19.

    Mnemosyne

    @Facebones:

    We saw a live RiffTrax show for “Santa Claus” a few years ago and that was a trouble-free broadcast, so I’m looking forward to “Don Giovanni.”

  20. 20.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @jl: From the alt-right National Bocialist standpoint, the only good Jew is one who has been resettled to the East.

  21. 21.

    jl

    @hovercraft: Sorry missed your comment. Gob smacking performance by Schilling. Not sure if Schilling is operating off some antisemitism he is trying to hide, or just utterly ignorant and clueless.

  25. 25.

    gf120581

    @David ?▶️Bad Hombres▶️? Koch: Heh, good to see. Murphy is surging at just the right time and Rubio is getting hammered over his Trump ties (Obama’s dissection of him the other day was masterful).

    I want that win for two big reasons:

    1. If Murphy wins, he becomes a quick rising star with a bright future (seriously, the guy is young; he’s not even eligible to run for president yet).

    2. If Rubio loses, he’s pretty much done in politics.

  26. 26.

    JMG

    @Kay: Kay, this poll is from Lucid, an Internet polling firm for whom this is their first election. They have a national tracking poll in the New Orleans Times-Picayune (best newspaper name ever!) you can access at nola.com. Their methodology must be hinky to some extent, because none of the poll aggregators, pollster, TPM or RCP, use them.

  27. 27.

    Mnemosyne

    My cousin who lives in Waukesha County, WI (Omnes will know what that signifies) shared a post on Facebook saying that you should vote based on the policies, not the person, and I’m restraining myself from commenting back, Yes, that’s exactly why I’m voting for Hillary!

    But I really don’t want to start an intra-family war with someone I see once a year, at best. I’ll let the other cousins who live out there take the lead.

  30. 30.

    JMG

    @Gin & Tonic: Not many can be such self-obsessed blowhards as Curt Schilling either. PS: In my past life, I covered Schilling as a ballplayer, and I liked him even though I knew he was full of shit about everything. The self-obsession is what made him a great pitcher.
    Key line: From the late Jim Fregosi, who managed a team Schilling took to the World Series. “Once every five days, he’s a horse. The other four, a horse’s ass.

  32. 32.

    Gravenstone

    @Mnemosyne: Anyone in WI knows the significance of Waukesha county, white flight wingnuttery at it’s deepest (and derpiest) red. No doubt your cousin has reassured himself he’s voting for the “good” person with the very bestest policies, Trumpenfuhrer. Because, reasons.

  33. 33.

    p.a.

    @Kay: HC Iowa +4? This morning TinyDigits was up per CNN. The stench of losing spreads fast!

    “… and you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?”

  35. 35.

    Mary G

    Trump fans stay classy: this is the “tip” they left their waitress in a So. Carolina Cracker Barrell restaurant:

    Thank you for your excelent service today — your a good waitress.

    Here’s your tip:

    The womans place is in the home. You’re place is in the home. It even says so in the Bible. You may think that your contributing to your household by coming into work, but your not. While your in here ‘working’ this is the reason your husband must see another women on his way home from a long day at his work. Because you should be takeing care of the household duties. You may think what you are doing ‘working’ is right, it is really essentially a disgrace to his manhood and to the American family. So instead of coming to your ‘job’ and looking for hand out’s to feed your family, hows about going home and cleaning your house and cooking a hot meal for your husband and children, the way you’re husband and God intended, and help make America great again. Praying for families and our nation.

    The waitress is a saint; she says they were nice people and she doesn’t want to reveal their names, although she felt heartbroken when she read this ignorant, ungrammatical rant.

    ETA: She is single with no children.

  37. 37.

    TriassicSands

    Evidently, Trump has finally gotten serious about becoming president — he’s started attacking Michelle Obama. In another sign of just what a classy guy Trump is, he’s going after Michelle Obama now. Good for him. She’s fair game, after all she’s one of the worst role models any young girl could have. And her sordid past is, as DT would put it, disgusting. Michelle is the one person on the Democratic side who looks bad when compared with Trump. I expect his attacks to turn the momentum around and get him a win on November 8.

    Yep, folks, the worst loser on the planet has the gall to call Michelle Obama (and that lame husband of hers, old what’s his name) “losers” and “babies.” I’ve never seen a presidential candidate whine as much as Trump — everyone’s against him, his mic is defective, the media hate him, the debate moderators all gang up on him — but Michelle Obama is a baby.

  38. 38.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kay: I kind of doubt there’s going to be any runaway wave. I think the presidential race is close to frozen right now and there’s not going to be a lot of further motion, just tossup states flipping around in a noisy way.

    If you look at Huffington Post’s national aggregates, they actually show Clinton’s support peaking right around the time of the second debate about two weeks ago, and dropping about one point since then. Trump’s support is dropping too, so the margin is close to static (the fractional gain is going to “Undecided”, not to the third-party candidates). I wouldn’t read too much into that movement; it might just be an artifact of more pollsters with different house effects jumping in.

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    Tonight’s the PBS show about Hamilton, right? Staying in, so I don’t forget, and miss it.

    At this point, will probably actually see the musical once Hillary has been in office two or three years.

    A chill in the air, but warmth returns after this weekend. TGIF, pals.

  42. 42.

    Elizabelle

    Can’t log in to The Guardian. Are they under attack?

    Who knows?

    Just happy to check in with you all. Bought some Spanish language textbooks in a thrift store this afternoon. Thinking I might do some exercises this weekend, or over the week. Learned a lot, fast, in Barcelona, but got to see what stuck. Happy to see that I remembered a lot, but more to brush up on ….

    I can read Spanish better than I can speak it.

    FWIW, I like the Pimsleur tapes. Have some (from a Florida thrift), and they’re helpful and kind of challenging.

  43. 43.

    Matt McIrvin

    @redshirt: I figure there are no big events left in between now and Election Day, and there’s just enough time left in the calendar that the media will get bored and jump on some fractional jink in the numbers as “Trump is back!!!!!” And they’ll go on about lawn signs for a while, and get Trump’s supporters all excited and ready to freak about the rigged election when he loses with a capital L.

  44. 44.

    Mary G

    @redshirt: I’m with you, I hope Hillary has one or two really bad videos of Trump being disgusting that she’ll release when they will do the most damage and they’ll be the straw that broke the camel’s back and cause a YOOGE wave. The best wave, believe me.

  45. 45.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Not many professional athletes can be as intelligent and thoughtful as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

    You know, George Takei and Kareem have something in common; they both are UCLA alums.

  46. 46.

    lollipopguild

    @jl: No it is not just you. I agree with everything you just said. Curt is just one of millions of Clueless Americans.

  48. 48.

    ? Martin

    @Matt McIrvin: The undecided category is what to watch. Normally that would favor the incumbent, and it should favor Clinton this cycle, but possibly only slightly. From this point forward that number should drop. There’s no more debates. People are starting to vote, which means they’re forcing themselves to decide. Most quality polls that include 3rd parties still have about 10% undecided. In the end they’re going to break, and I would be surprised if they broke evenly. How hard a pollster pushes undecideds varies a lot, but the polls that show Clinton with the larger leads like Monmouth (Clinton +12) only have 5% undecided. They’re pushing leaners hard. Once with smaller leads like Fox (Clinton +6) have about 10% undecided.

    I’m guessing we’re looking at closer to a 12 point margin than a 6 point on election day. The extent to which polls break for Clinton will largely be a function of those undecideds picking a side.

    One thing I don’t like about Nate’s model is that he doesn’t seem to discount undecideds. He has Google consumer surveys as his highest weight poll which has a large sample, but has 20% undecided. That’s bullshit – most of those people are leaning, but the online poll can’t push like a live caller one can.

  49. 49.

    Anoniminous

    @Gravenstone:

    Hard core political types know about Waukesha county, the place where for some amazing reason always reports last with just enough votes to give the Republican candidate the win. A co-inky-dinky I’m sure.

  50. 50.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @srv: That’s Captain* Sulu to you.

    *George corrected LOD when he referred to him in his bio intro as Lt. Sulu.

  51. 51.

    redshirt

    @Matt McIrvin: I didn’t mean events, but tapes, recordings, confessions, etc. Like there’s been a rumor for a while that there’s tape of Trump saying ni-clang! Something like that.

    There’s like 30+ years of dirt to dig up on the loser. Surely we haven’t seen the last of it.

  52. 52.

    burnspbesq

    The Snack Team Six jury got the case yesterday, and they are still out. I find that concerning.

  53. 53.

    ? Martin

    @scav: The sites themselves aren’t being attacked, rather the services that provide domain name resolution within the US are. So when you type in ‘www.balloon-juice.com’, that goes to a service that turns that into a dotted ip address (128.100.12.12 or whatever) which is the actual address of the server. It’s that layer which is being attacked. If you are outside the US, you probably wouldn’t see the problem, nor if your ISP relied on a different set of DNS providers.

  59. 59.

    scav

    @? Martin: I’m in the US, in the middle, right under on the red-blotches on the NYT front page. I’m no expert on tube-magic and have a standard as-cheap-as-possible setup with a major carrier. Just lucky somehow. But details appreciated.

  60. 60.

    Kay

    @Matt McIrvin:

    The county chairs in my 4-county area think Clinton is going to win Ohio. I believe they would tell me if they had to say that but don’t really think they’ll win – that’s a different thing altogether.

    I use a variety of methods, many of them I made up. Asking the county chairs is just ONE factor :)

  61. 61.

    Gin & Tonic

    @redshirt: That doesn’t help in this case. It’s the DNS providers of the content companies (Twitter, Netflix) not the clients, that are affected.

  65. 65.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    The Scholastic poll of 2nd graders. I believe we’ve covered that.

    “Rex at the courthouse” – he’s in there.

  67. 67.

    amk

    Wondering what will happen if innernetz does collapse tomorrow. Will that push the deadbeat over the edge?

  69. 69.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Anoniminous:

    the place where for some amazing reason always reports last with just enough votes to give the Republican candidate the win. A co-inky-dinky I’m sure.

    The only real hinky event in Waukesha County was the late reporting of 8000 votes from Brookfield in a Supreme Court election. Those votes were reported by Brookfield, but the incompetent county clerk fucked up in her reporting. There was no way that those votes would not have been reported and counted. It was investigated by the GAB and an independent counsel. Both found no criminal intent, but plenty of incompetence. Safeguards were put in effect that effectively removed her from the electoral process. I know and worked with the two GAB employees who investigated the incident. They are both committed to a fair electoral process and are trustworthy. Here is a link to the reports.

  72. 72.

    Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

    @redshirt: It doesn’t matter whos DNS servers you use. The attack was on the authoritative nameservers. So the actual DNS provider of the domain. Google DNS servers are recursive. They have to get the info from the authoritative servers.

    It’s not quite that simple still because there is caching involved. So if your computer cached the DNS from a previous visit you might have still been able to go to the site. Also Google and other recursive nameservers cache recent querys so that has an effect as well.

    Still not quite that simple yet again becuase it’s not just the basic browser going to a website type thing. The website may rely on other services in their front and back ends. So if those are not able to do DNS queries then even if you have their website DNS cached, it still might not work or not work 100%.

  73. 73.

    Eric U.

    if O’Keefe is destined to die in a car wreck, now would be the time since he’s threatening to release one of his fake videos with a “deadman’s switch”

  80. 80.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @srv: Why the fuck would anyone be the slightest bit offended by a program like this?

    Oh, wait. Who the fuck am I addressing this to?

  83. 83.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    Off topic, but anyone else mystified that Hannity has a seat at the table of “journalism”?

    It’s like if Gilligan was a recurring character on The Blacklist.

  84. 84.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: For example, I could get to Yr Wonkette today to read the posts and view the non-existent comments (off and on), but I couldn’t post gifs to the non-existent comments there, because DNS issues on the helper apps for that. Because Disqus, Wonkette’s non-comment provider, was one of the sites affected by the DNS DDoS.

  86. 86.

    Eric U.

    @Baud: sorry, my previous answer is in moderation for a naked link. O’Keefe tweeted something paranoid speculating that he might be killed for one of his stupid videos.

  88. 88.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @Eric U.:

    Can you imagine anyone willingly sliding into bed with that rat-faced parasite?

    Actually, that was rather harsh…

    Rats are kind of cute in the right light.

  91. 91.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @hovercraft: In the reports that I linked, there were some issues with sealing some ballot bags. There was no evidence of tampering and the paper ballots matched the electronic. Also, the number of voters shown in the voter rolls matched the number of ballots cast. And so on. Kathy Nickolaus was a right wing nut job. She was incompetent. But she did not rig any elections.

  93. 93.

    Chyron HR

    @srv:

    Translation: “Who is this Ronald Trump person? I’ve never heard of him! Let’s talk about completely different things for the next two and a half weeks.”

  94. 94.

    dogwood

    @hovercraft:
    We haven’t even finished this election cycle and CNN and MSNBC are trotting out Schilling as the Donald Trump of the 2018 midterms. We haven’t come close to seeing the depravity of the republicans and their media enablers.

  97. 97.

    Trentrunner

    Just checking in to say that all those who were harping on Clinton to make an affirmative case for her presidency (as opposed to just a negative case for Trump):

    HRC’s homestretch ads are hopeful, moving, and clarifying about what she stands for and what she wants to do.

    I’ve said this all along the way: HRC’s campaign is so strong. I’m starting to think it’s every bit as flawless as Obama’s 08 campaign.

  100. 100.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @David ?▶️Bad Hombres▶️? Koch: Hewitt is such a moran. Gloria Allred is going to keep bringing forth women groped by Donald, and Donald himself is going to keep opening his pie hole and saying things that further depress GOP turnout and increase Dem turnout.

    This is far from over, but as Tony Stark pointed out to Loki, there’s no scenario where Donald comes out on top.

  102. 102.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @srv: As usual, he’s got everything wrong about everything. Except in the bizarre alternate universes inhabited by the paranoid delusional.

  103. 103.

    Botsplainer

    Am here for my second (and last) Morning of a full day in Jyna (speaking it like Donald Trump).

    Yesterday, went to the Summer Palace, and were among the mere handful of western travelers. I found the Chinese to be lovely, friendly, open people. Went to a seldom traveled chunk of the wall by sidecar afterward – a long trip.

    On to the Forbidden City!

  105. 105.

    JMG

    @srv: As someone I forget noted on Twitter, the Philippines President is the beta test version of Trump. He wants an alliance with China and Russia. He will be ousted by a coup in a year or so.

  107. 107.

    hueyplong

    @David ?▶️Bad Hombres▶️? Koch:

    Saw Hewitt on TV last night. Two other GOPers were calling him an idiot for saying the Democrats were “desperate.” He’s got an odd expression on his face that makes him look like Joker from the 1989 Batman movie treated him to that Smiley product. It’s bizarre and off-putting, especially with the strange B.S. emanating from that cartoonishly twisted mouth.

    I’m surprised anyone got past that to notice that he’s also an ambulatory cream cheese sculpture.

  109. 109.

    hovercraft

    @David ?▶️Bad Hombres▶️? Koch:
    Yes no major events, just rallies with Liz, Joe, Michelle, Bernie, Barrack, oh ya and Hillary and Tim, just those tiny insignificant events that I’m sure no media will cover. Poor democrats how on earth will they get their message out? Wait didn’t I just hear that she ended September with twice as much cash on hand as him, and isn’t she blanketing the airwaves with Ads, most of them positive uplifting ones.
    Trump has what, his rallies, and Rudy, and Lucrecia, Uday and Qusay, and a bunch of Ads attacking her? Good luck with that.

  111. 111.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @burnspbesq: Perhaps the jurors are looking for some way to insure that the vocal chords of Snack Team Six are permanently severed?

  112. 112.

    James E Powell

    I don’t get it. My beloved home state of Ohio is stubbornly remaining close while all the other decent, God-fearing states are turning bluer by the minute. Is Ohio going to come down to the ground game again?

  114. 114.

    Pest Bog Mummy, Frakensteinbeck

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    That can’t be right. I remember in the primaries that I was told she was running a terrible campaign, clumsy and prone to panic.

    EDIT – Man, I’ve gotten really bitter about the flat-out-wrong narratives I’ve been besieged with since I got here. Wow. I should work on letting that go.

  118. 118.

    Nom de Plume

    @hovercraft: Not to mention that Wikileaks tweeted that the election was “rigged”, thus robbing them of whatever shred of credibility they had left, at least with sane people. Whatever they come out with will (rightfully) be immediately suspected.

  122. 122.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Test, please ignore.

    Please, I beg of you, just ignore.

    Seriously I mean it, just please ignore this comment. Please.

  128. 128.

    hovercraft

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Will Trumps lawyers motion/request to exclude any and everything he’s said about the Trump University outside of court, away from the jury fly?

    The lawyers representing Trump in the federal lawsuit brought against him for allegedly defrauding Trump U students requested in court documents Thursday that any political remarks he has made over the course of his presidential campaign be excluded as evidence from trial, which is set to begin in San Diego after the election.

    As part of the request, they have also asked that evidence related to his “tax issues,” “personal conduct accusations,” beauty pageants, casinos, bankruptcies and other matters that have emerged as a part of his presidential bid be left out at trial.

    They also asked that “Comments about this case or the Court” be excluded. Trump engaged on a public smear campaign against the federal judge presiding over the case, Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who Trump accused of bias due to his “Mexican” heritage.

    “During the current Presidential campaign, Mr. Trump has been the focus of perhaps unprecedented media coverage and public interest. His politics, policies, opinions, and views have been reported virtually every day in every form of media over the past year,” the court filing said, noting the debates and the media reports on “on every aspect of Mr. Trump’s life.”

  129. 129.

    Nom de Plume

    @srv:

    The personality cult surrounding Russian President Vladimir Putin is reaching new heights

    But enough about the alt-right.

  132. 132.

    David ?▶️Bad Hombres▶️? Koch

    Julian Assange has blamed a number of journalists for a “Jewish” conspiracy against his whistleblowing website, WikiLeaks, according to the editor of Private Eye, Ian Hislop.

    In the latest issue of the satirical magazine, Hislop writes that Assange called him on 16 February to complain about an article on Israel Shamir, a WikiLeaks associate in Russia who has denied the Holocaust and has published a string of antisemitic articles.

    “He said that I and Private Eye should be ashamed of ourselves for joining in the international conspiracy to smear WikiLeaks,” Hislop writes. “The piece was an obvious attempt to deprive him and his organisation of Jewish support and donations, he said angrily, and he knew perfectly well who had written it. He then named a Fleet Street hack who had nothing to do with it.”

    Hislop adds that Assange went on to claim that Private Eye was “part of a conspiracy led by the Guardian which included journalist David Leigh, editor Alan Rusbridger and John Kampfner from Index on Censorship – all of whom ‘are Jewish'”.

    Schilling/Assange 2020

  135. 135.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:
    @redshirt:
    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Just wanted to see if I could post my old, unadorned nym without being tossed into temporary mod. I don’t thnk I’m really meant for nym commentary, unlike our friend DK with the emojis and graphics and all.

    As y’all were.

  138. 138.

    David ?▶️Bad Hombres▶️? Koch

    In video taken of Trump giving a paid Learning Annex speech in 2007, the Republican presidential candidate — currently accused of groping as many as 11 women against their will — said he insisted on hiring “a beautiful girl, 17 or 18, so beautiful” as a waitress even though she had no work history.

    He also told the crowd that hot women are his “alcoholism” and that having one near him was like setting a glass of Scotch in front of a drunk. (video)

    Thank heavens for little girls!

  140. 140.

    hovercraft

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Will Trumps lawyers motion/request to exclude any and everything he’s said about the Trump University outside of court, away from the jury fly?

    The lawyers representing Trump in the federal lawsuit brought against him for allegedly defrauding Trump U students requested in court documents Thursday that any political remarks he has made over the course of his presidential campaign be excluded as evidence from trial, which is set to begin in San Diego after the election.

    As part of the request, they have also asked that evidence related to his “tax issues,” “personal conduct accusations,” beauty pageants, cas ! nos, bankruptcies and other matters that have emerged as a part of his presidential bid be left out at trial.

    They also asked that “Comments about this case or the Court” be excluded. Trump engaged on a public smear campaign against the federal judge presiding over the case, Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who Trump accused of bias due to his “Mexican” heritage.

    “During the current Presidential campaign, Mr. Trump has been the focus of perhaps unprecedented media coverage and public interest. His politics, policies, opinions, and views have been reported virtually every day in every form of media over the past year,” the court filing said, noting the debates and the media reports on “on every aspect of Mr. Trump’s life.”

  141. 141.

    chopper

    @hovercraft:

    and whatever videos and shit come out of trump saying the N word or whatever else. does anybody really think the bus tape is all there is?

  144. 144.

    Another Scott

    @James E Powell: Yesterday I heard part of the debate between Strickland and Portman. I thought Ted did very well – I hope he, and Hillary, surprise a lot of people there. I sent him a little (more) money to try to help the cause.

    Fingers crossed.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  145. 145.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @hovercraft: The court can properly limit evidence to things directly related to the alleged fraud that is the subject of the litigation. Anything else is irrelevant.

  147. 147.

    eric

    @Omnes Omnibus: @Omnes Omnibus:one issue will be voir dire and how far the judge lets Trump go in striking jurors for cause if they admit to not voting for him. (and can the judge force the juror to say whom he or she voted for)

  148. 148.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @eric: True. I was thinking of the substance of the trial. And, of course, I am sure a lot of wide ranging shit came up during discovery.

  149. 149.

    inventor

    @srv:

    A newly published 2017 calendar featuring the Russian leader, who is famous for shirtless horse riding

    You’re thinking about those times when it’s just you, the Vlad calendar, and a bottle of lotion, aren’t you?

    Don’t deny your heart’s desire: go to him! Go to a Russian embassy and tell them you need Vlad’s asylum of love! Get on a plane to Russia and beg Vlad to impale you! You can’t keep a love like your’s from Vlad! Go! Otherwise, you’ll never know.

  150. 150.

    Van Buren

    @dogwood: He certainly has nailed the “rich white guy who whines about everything and everybody being unfair to him” shtick,hasn’t he?

  151. 151.

    Matt McIrvin

    @James E Powell: Could be worse; you could be Iowa. Two-term Obama state, currently seems to actually be trending red over Trump while one of their reps runs an openly fascist campaign.

  152. 152.

    eric

    @Omnes Omnibus: i have long thought that the real reason he ran in the first place was to affect the jury pools for his various trials. I think that he thought it would be a net positive for him……..it is very polarized, so he is very likely to have at least one juror feel very strongly towards him in a way that could hang the jury.

  153. 153.

    patroclus

    Trump’s best joke last night (the one about Melania giving the “exact same speech” as Michelle) was apparently plagiarized from a cartoon that ran in July after the convention.:-)

  156. 156.

    Gin & Tonic

    Does anybody know if the NZ-Australia rugby match will be televised on any channel in the US?

  159. 159.

    redshirt

    @Matt McIrvin: Maine is trending similarly, sadly. Two time Obama state, will still be a Clinton state but there’s a good chance Trump takes 1 EV from the 2nd district, which is rural, poor, and very white. Obama took the 2nd handily in both elections.

    Speaks to a larger trend I think. And worry.

  160. 160.

    hueyplong

    @efgoldman: Unless the parties have stipulated to some oddball rules for this trial, they can call Trump to the stand and his depo will be used to impeach him when he contradicts what he said before.

  161. 161.

    Peale

    @efgoldman: a jury pool of undecided voters might be his best bet. I’m sure they’d love the attention. It would take them four months to arrive at a verdict, but hey, free coffee!

  163. 163.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: Jebus. They’ll have to go with “undecided voters.” As far as compelling testimony goes, why would the defense want him to testify? And the plaintiff can simply call him as a witness.

  164. 164.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    The other day upon the blog thread
    I read a commenter who couldn’t be read

  165. 165.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Gin & Tonic: I’ll have to root for the defense. If you see that it is being shown send up a flare. I don’t like either team, but I recognize quality rugger when I see it.

  167. 167.

    Matt McIrvin

    @redshirt: Maine district 2 is way underpolled but the most recent polls I’ve seen there are either tied or slightly +Clinton. There were some scary ones back in September that were like Trump +10, Trump +14 but there seems to have been a huge swing.

  168. 168.

    Ken

    @Mike in NC: Also, people who have their faces surgically sculpted to look like anime characters. Soon we may see gangs of teen girls, all with Putin’s face.

  171. 171.

    Peale

    @JMG: he’s acting like he already has an alliance with them. He is a buffoon. Omg. Did you hear that he signed trade agreements yesterday? We’re doomed! Like about 150 other countries in the WTO, he’s now trading with China! We’ve lost the Philippines…

    But I’m sure he’d be more than happy to hear from Trump that his country was ours. That’s kind of a sticking point with him. He’s so nostalgic for those days when his country relied on the US. A firm hand would be most welcome.

    Also, according to his trade minister, the president is pissed about how stingy the US is with military aid. Wants equivalent levels to Egypt, Israel and Jordan. So I’m sure he’d be ripe to be persuaded by Donald’s “you’re going to pay for out huuuge military” approach to our allies. Since, well, you know, he wants us to provide him a military for free. Because somehow, I don’t think China is going to build him a navy, or provide him much assistance backing his claim to those reefs.

  172. 172.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Iowa Old Lady: Well, they’re still close; 538’s model actually has Iowa blue right now, though I think a lot of that is their national trendline adjustment.

  173. 173.

    Felonius Monk

    @srv:

    The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day

    When is The National srv Take-Back Day? Will they put you in The National Bull-shit Incinerator?

  174. 174.

    Matt McIrvin

    @amk: Maine splits two of its electoral votes by congressional district. The more rural 2nd district was deep Trump territory about a month ago. Now it’s not, but it’s close.

  175. 175.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Matt McIrvin: at a family gathering last weekend my nightmare came true and somebody brought up politics, then turned not so bad when it became apparent that the relations I thought might be at least Trump-curious appear to be, if reluctant, voting for Clinton.

    Three of my cousins said they wished Biden had run. These guys are middle-aged, would fall into the “white working class” media category. I was thinking about this earlier when Rachel Maddow got a little prim about Biden saying he wished he and Trump were in high school so Biden could meet him behind the gym and smack him around. Earnest liberals are not taking this well, as I judge by twitter, but it’s exactly the kind of stuff a lot of my family (I suspect) like about Biden.

  177. 177.

    redshirt

    @Matt McIrvin: CD2 is not that important, except it does grant an EV, so, I guess more important than most redneck districts in Blue states.

    That said, it will be close, but even the fact that it’s close is rather shocking to me. Obama won CD2 by 11 points in 2008. The fact Hillary might lose it says a lot.

  179. 179.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Matt McIrvin: are the two “Senate” EVs awarded to whoever won a statewide majority? I always wonder how that will work when people talk about doing away with the winner take all system. I assume that 50.000001% under those plans would mean a bonus electoral vote.

  180. 180.

    Peale

    @Ken: somehow I see Putin looking a a drawing of himself sporting Astro Boy’s kawaii twinkly eyes, his heart softening until he realizes that some fujoshi is shipping him Poroshenko. “Why am I always the uke?” He’ll sigh over his morning tea.

  183. 183.

    amk

    @redshirt: do you have any specific polling that says she is losing that district? for me, a double digit lead in the state wide polls means she wins that district too.

  187. 187.

    redshirt

    @Ken: It means strange things are afoot with the population. Past patterns may no longer hold. That Hillary might have a landslide win and yet lose Ohio goes against a great deal of past elections.

  189. 189.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I find the wistfulness about Biden interesting because there’s so little actual policy space between him and Hillary Clinton, all the ideological compromises that lefties hate about Clinton apply to him as well, and he’s also famous for being a gaffe machine. Yet people still talk about him as if he would have been an obviously better candidate. All I can figure is that he’s a man, and a man with an air of being a manly man.

  190. 190.

    redshirt

    @amk: There’s been two polls that I know, both of which Matt mentioned above. One months ago that showed Hillary down 14(!) in CD2, and a more recent one (3 weeks?) where she was down 2.

    She’s up big in CD1 where all the people are, so she will win the state. And I bet she will win CD2. But that it’s far, far closer than what Obama got is really surprising to me. It speaks to an idea that Trump has somehow turned rural voters even more Red then they used to be. I mean, these rednecks would rather vote for a black muslim than a white woman?

  196. 196.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @planetjanet: All Blacks vs USA? Is it at Soldier Field? I saw USA vs SA women’s soccer there this summer.

    ETA: Once the USA gets eliminated, in rugby and soccer things, I support France.

  201. 201.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Matt McIrvin: Yup, and he’s also not running for anything, which always makes pols more popular. People got the fantods over Bubba’s 2012 speech, where he allegedly made the defense of Obama’s first term Obama couldn’t or wouldn’t. I didn’t hear him say anything Obama hadn’t been saying for a year– with the notable exception of “that’s brass”, which I loved– but he was the (white) president from before everything went to hell.

  203. 203.

    Matt McIrvin

    @redshirt: No, two go to the statewide popular vote winner. The districts are supposed to represent roughly equal populations, so it would make no sense to give one of them more EVs than the other.

    270towin.com only allows you to split off 1 vote in their interactive map because if there’s a D/R split, one of the two has to agree with the statewide majority. (It’s not always true, though: the version of their map that allows third parties could theoretically be inadequate here–with three parties, both districts could have a different winner from the statewide majority.)

  204. 204.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @eric: Is he that clever? Or, what I really mean, is he current on his bills with counsel who could explain that to him simply enough that he could comprehend the concept? Becuase that takes talent.

  205. 205.

    JanieM

    She’s up big in CD1 where all the people are, so she will win the state.

    Only half the people live in CD1; it’s not like congressional districts can have wildly differing populations. According to Wikipedia, CD2 actually has more people (664,181 to 637,450).

    But yes, she’s up so much in CD1 that she will win the state handily.

  206. 206.

    JanieM

    @redshirt: No. It’s not 3 for CD1 and 1 for CD2, it’s 1 for each district and 2 for whoever wins the state overall. (Like senators: from the state overall.)

    ETA: I see that Matt McIrvin addressed this while I was typing.

  207. 207.

    Major Major Major Major

    @redshirt: I know :)

    It really is upsetting to see it all out in the open all of a sudden. I know it was always ubiquitous and obvious to minorities, but a lot of the “these people are just economically anxious and left behind by neoliberalism” folks honestly had no idea there were so many that are so hateful.

  211. 211.

    planetjanet

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yes, Soldier Field was sold out for NZ v Ireland, but I think they were going to release a few more tickets. Game is November 4. The night before, the USA plays the Maori All Blacks at Toyota Stadium.

  212. 212.

    Anne Laurie

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I understood the part about tea.

    Trust me on this: It’s mildly funny if you’re sufficiently into anime, but you really don’t wanna know.

    And for the sake of your sleep hygiene, do *not* google seme/uke.

  213. 213.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Is this another evening when we are cast adrift by the FPers to wallow in our vices and sins? I fear for our future.

  216. 216.

    planetjanet

    @Gin & Tonic: I like the blog “This is American Rugby”. Curtis usually has a good rundown of tv listings, also great reports on American players playing overseas.

  220. 220.

    Mary G

    @Elizabelle: I just finished streaming “Hamilton’s America” and loved it as much as the soundtrack. Lots of historians explaining things and the cast visiting the sites where stuff happened. Gave me chills a few times and even GWB and Paul Ryan weren’t horrible. Going to watch it again on the big TV at 9 pm our time. Two big thumbs up, although now that makes me think of Trump instead of Siskel and Ebert, which pisses me off.

    So inspiring to see the performers of color doing it in front of Barack and Michelle and an audience of teens of all races in the White House in front of the original portrait of Washington. Chris Jackson, who played Washington, visits Mount Vernon and stands in the slave quarters, saying he can’t excuse that. Makes me proud to see how far we’ve come, even though there’s still so far to go.

  222. 222.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @amk: Because it reflects badly on redshirt’s state. Just like I am embarrassed about Scott Walker and Paul Ryan even though I am not responsible for them.

  226. 226.

    redshirt

    @amk: Because it should only be 4 out of 4. Especially when it concerns this asshole clown. Especially when a black man named Barack won it so decisively.

    I thought for sure in 2012 Obama would lose my town, but when the results came in, it was 398 for Obama, 340 for Romney. Made me proud.

    I don’t want to see Trump win anything he shouldn’t by default, and this town, and this district, is exactly that.

  229. 229.

    MomSense

    @redshirt:

    People up here didn’t relate to Romney. He reminded voters of every jerk new owner or consultant who went into a paper mill to do an efficiency study and decided instead to close the plant right before Christmas. Trump may be sketchy but he gives them the hate and fantasies about winning and how great their lives will be.

    Then there’s question 3 which is really inflaming the passions. It’s going to be really close and I don’t know which way it will go.

  230. 230.

    Aleta

    @redshirt: It looked like that in August, but it’s not at all certain now. Older working class Republicans have been dropping Trump like a hot lid lifter.

  232. 232.

    Anne Laurie

    @Major Major Major Major: Oh, you can google — I’m sure you’ve seen much scarier things than a bunch of maidenly teenage girls can imagine.

    But I know just enough about the topic (from Genshiken: Second Season, mostly — although I knew of Jacqueline Lichtenberg when we Star Trek fans were still inventing fanfic) to warn OO away!

  234. 234.

    redshirt

    @MomSense: Agreed and agreed. I could never understand how a rural Mainer could have voted for Romney; but then I think the same thing about Trump, and the rural guys are flocking to him. I hate to say it’s because they’re assholes, but….

    @efgoldman: There used to be Air Force bases too, Maine being the most Eastern point in the USA. But even they left. Thanks, Bubba.

  235. 235.

    Anne Laurie

    @efgoldman:

    The top half of Maine was poor even when the paper mills and lumber mills that fed them were still open. Now they’re all, or mostly, gone. Think Youngstown with wood instead of metal.

    Youngstown residents can still hunt deer, though. One of the corroding grievances in northern Maine, as I understand it, is their conviction that ‘summer people from away’ want to turn all the woods the paper industry is no longer cropping into no-hunting national parks/private preserves, which feels like adding insult to injury.

    Vermont could tell them that tourists are a better renewable resource than deer hunters, but when have Mainers ever listened to what ‘folks from away’ think?

  236. 236.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: I live in Wisconsin. The northern half of the state is trees. My hometown is effectively at the transition point from agriculture to forestry and leisure economy. I get it.

  239. 239.

    redshirt

    @MomSense: As regards Question3, let’s see what happens when a liberal state votes on gun control. Like you, I almost rue the vote because it will bring the rednecks out of the woodwork to vote down those liberals who are trying to take their guns. It worries me. Where I live, all I see wherever I go are signs against it and not a single one for it.

  242. 242.

    redshirt

    @Anne Laurie: No, the actual Northern folks are already damaged by the requirement of passports to pass into Canada, and vice versa. It used to be a day trip kinda thing and now it’s a full fledged international border.

    Katahdin is in the center of the Northern part of the state and quite apart from all population centers. Millinocket is the closest town and thus has much to gain as serving as the jump off point to Katahdin with hotels and BnB’s and camping stores and such. But the area in general is against the National Park, and so now they are PISSED with dictator Obama forcing it down all our throats. Ack!

    I’m all for it, and sincerely believe it’s the best thing to happen to that region of Maine in 150 years.

  245. 245.

    catclub

    @jl: Why not say that Jews are US citizens and they vote on what they see as best for the United States. And that Technically, Israel is not part of the United States.

  247. 247.

    LadyNorth

    @redshirt: it may be the decades of propaganda that resulted in Clinton having a “reputation” of not being trustworthy. Unfair, and sad.

  252. 252.

    James E Powell

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Just visiting my family, as I do every summer. The word around town was that all the “entertainment” people who came into town for the week left on Tuesday afternoon. The city wasn’t dead, but pretty close to dead. I walked through the gambling establishment that’s a block from the convention venue, The Q, and there were fewer than 20 people in there.

  253. 253.

    Lyrebird

    @Baud: Oh goodness — nominating you for the Best Rejoinder of the Evening award! (not that it needs to be exclusive)

  254. 254.

    Aleta

    @redshirt: The most recent poll has Clinton slightly ahead or tied within the margin of error. The gun vote is rough because (I’ve been told) most gun owners and hunters are in support of background checks, but are concerned about being unable to loan their guns out to friends (unless hunting together). (The NRA is going all out of course.) I’ve seen the question 3 signs like you said and none out in favor, but I don’t think you can just go by that, for obvious reasons.

    To look at the 2nd district in another way, look at the Reps it sent to the US house every election year from1994 to 2012 straight (until Michaud stepped down and Poliquin beat Cain by about 5% after the redistricting in 2011). Poliquin and Cain are tied right now in polling.

  255. 255.

    BRyan

    @Peale: @James E Powell Almost all the area residents I kmew were determined to stay as far as possible from downtown for the duration of the Republican convention. Many employers gave their employees work-from-home authorization and encouragement. One friend reported his son was declining the option of staying home, saying he thought it’d be “exciting” to see what happened, given all the anticipated trouble that, blessedly, largely didn’t materialize; “funny,” he said, “we always thought he was our smart son.”

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