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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Peak Incongruity

Peak Incongruity

by Betty Cracker|  November 3, 20162:59 pm| 137 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, General Stupidity

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I’m in media blackout mode, choosing instead to devote that time to GOTV efforts for the duration. But I turned on the TV moments ago and was involuntarily exposed to the tail-end of Natasha Fatale’s Melania Trump’s speech as I scrambled to locate the “INPUT” button on the remote.

Her topic was about how we must be more respectful and kind to one another, treat women with more respect and stamp out bullying, particularly on social media. Hearing that from her was like:

— Listening to Mrs. Bernie Madoff hold a seminar on the importance of honesty in investor-broker relationships
— Hearing Mrs. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. call for abolishing the internal combustion engine
— Enduring a lecture on the evils of wealth inequality from the Walmart heirs

…all at the same time. I need to install a Valium lick at my workstation to get me through this week. Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

137Comments

  1. 1.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 3, 2016 at 3:02 pm

    Valium lick. Hahahahaha!

  2. 2.

    I'm so tired of all of this

    November 3, 2016 at 3:04 pm

    I’m trying to stay in media blackout mode but I keep checking in horrified fascination.

  3. 3.

    FlyingToaster

    November 3, 2016 at 3:04 pm

    I haven’t turned on tv news (other than New England Cable News to find out the weather/traffic) since September. And my blood pressure thanks me.

    How is your GOTV going down in FL?

  4. 4.

    donnah

    November 3, 2016 at 3:05 pm

    Where can I get a Valium lick, plz?

  5. 5.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    November 3, 2016 at 3:07 pm

    Betty – you and Matthew Dowd think alike:

    Melania’s speech today would be like Bernie Madoff’s wife giving a talk on integrity of investment portfolios and fighting Ponzi schemes

  6. 6.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    November 3, 2016 at 3:07 pm

    Her accent is just perfect to go with her husband’s Putin love. It’s amazing to imagine any of Trump’s known, admitted proclivities were exhibited by the Dem candidate. You just simply can’t. The right wing is a cult, and occupies an alternate reality – like the one in Stranger Things.

  7. 7.

    WereBear

    November 3, 2016 at 3:07 pm

    Don’t get out of the boat again!

  8. 8.

    Jeffro

    November 3, 2016 at 3:08 pm

    TV news bites.

    Tuesday can’t come soon enough!

  9. 9.

    trollhattan

    November 3, 2016 at 3:09 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Pairs nicely with a lithium lollypop. To addend Betty’s earlier Comey post, The Guardian has been reaching out to FBI insiders.

    Deep antipathy to Hillary Clinton exists within the FBI, multiple bureau sources have told the Guardian, spurring a rapid series of leaks damaging to her campaign just days before the election.

    Current and former FBI officials, none of whom were willing or cleared to speak on the record, have described a chaotic internal climate that resulted from outrage over director James Comey’s July decision not to recommend an indictment over Clinton’s maintenance of a private email server on which classified information transited.

    “The FBI is Trumpland,” said one current agent.

    The currently serving FBI agent said Clinton is “the antichrist personified to a large swath of FBI personnel,” and that “the reason why they’re leaking is they’re pro-Trump.”

    Somebody needs to dig up Hoover’s coffin and check whether it’s occupied; this is our grandfather’s FBI at work.

  10. 10.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    November 3, 2016 at 3:10 pm

    Propane Jane™
    ‏@docrocktex26
    The narrative™ is at peak preposterous this week.

  11. 11.

    SWMBO

    November 3, 2016 at 3:10 pm

    @efgoldman: Enduring a lecture on family values from the Duggar family?

    Dog training seminar by Michael Vick?

    The importance of privacy by Anyone Kardashian?

  12. 12.

    jacy

    November 3, 2016 at 3:11 pm

    I have likewise turned off the news for the duration.

    As for Melania, when The Boyfriend listens to her, all he hears is “Must stop Moose and Squirrel.” I would say that’s unfair and she’s probably a lovely person, but that would be a lie. She married Trump and hasn’t managed to poison him yet, so she gets no benefit of the doubt from me.

  13. 13.

    JPL

    November 3, 2016 at 3:11 pm

    A friend called and mentioned the Melania’s outfit. Teenage boys will come home after school and watch on mute, just to see if those boobs are real.

  14. 14.

    The Moar You Know

    November 3, 2016 at 3:11 pm

    I need to install a Valium lick at my workstation to get me through this week.

    Do these exist? Asking for a friend.

  15. 15.

    Betty Cracker

    November 3, 2016 at 3:13 pm

    @FlyingToaster: Humbling, mostly. Other volunteers are so much smarter, kinder and more dedicated than I am. It threatens to restore my faith in humanity.

  16. 16.

    Anoniminous

    November 3, 2016 at 3:13 pm

    The Infotainment Mediums are going to go crazy pushing the HORSE! RACE! message until next Tuesday. Ignore ’em. We need to be steadfast on GOTV. If we do Clinton will win and the Senate will flip.

    I am less sanguine about the House.

  17. 17.

    catclub

    November 3, 2016 at 3:14 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Pairs nicely with a lithium lollypop.

    I think I read there ARE Fentanyl lollypops.

  18. 18.

    JPL

    November 3, 2016 at 3:14 pm

    Trump keeps mentioning that this is like the Brexit vote. Let us hope he is correct, because those opposed were always behind, just like he is. They didn’t catch up. The front runner won.

  19. 19.

    Ruckus

    November 3, 2016 at 3:16 pm

    @trollhattan:
    Actually someone needs to check to insure that it’s occupied.
    One never knows what rituals that tRump supporters might be inclined to indulge in. Or even wants to know.

  20. 20.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 3, 2016 at 3:16 pm

    @trollhattan: The FBI and the FSB are more alike than different.

  21. 21.

    Lyrebird

    November 3, 2016 at 3:16 pm

    Media blackout good.

    Cat catching baseball video good.

    I’m still reading blogs, though… this video is about the election, it is vulgar, and I absolutely loved it. Quote:

    “So to Donald Trump and to ever man like Donald Trump who grabbed us, blocked up, who called us fat, unqualified, stupid, ugly and c*nt, we have one thing to say to you: C. U. Next Tuesday.”

  22. 22.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    November 3, 2016 at 3:16 pm

    @JPL:

    The US is way more diverse than Britain is.

  23. 23.

    Brachiator

    November 3, 2016 at 3:17 pm

    I enjoyed this little story, courtesy of the LA Times

    A woman born six years before women earned the right to vote in 1920 wants to help make history with her vote for Hillary Clinton.

    Geraldine “Jerry” Emmett, 102, was born before the 19th Amendment to the Constitution and lived through the women’s suffrage movement. She’s a Democrat and now lives in Arizona.

    “I am getting to vote for Hillary Clinton for president, which has been my dream since Bill Clinton was president,” Emmett told the Daily Courier of Prescott, Ariz., on Tuesday.

    Emmett first appeared as an honorary delegate at the July Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia when she announced Arizona’s 51 votes for Clinton. She told the Washington Post that moment made her cry because she believes Clinton deserves to win.

    Back when Bill Clinton was president in the 1990s, Emmett started a fan club for the first lady and has supported her ever since.

    “I knew even then she was the backbone of that outfit,” Emmett told the Arizona Republic. “I knew she would eventually be somebody on her own.”

  24. 24.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 3, 2016 at 3:17 pm

    This song makes me yearn for a city close to my heart and monsoon rains falling on the Arabian Sea

  25. 25.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 3, 2016 at 3:17 pm

    @JPL: I don’t think teenage boys are very discerning judges of which ones are real.

  26. 26.

    Anoniminous

    November 3, 2016 at 3:17 pm

    Roll Call has an interesting article up: GOP Aides Predict Trump Loss, Control of Both House and Senate.

    Republican Capitol Hill aides believe they will retain their congressional majorities in next week’s elections, even as they expect their party’s presidential candidate, Donald Trump, to lose, according to CQ Roll Call’s latest Capitol Insiders Survey.

    [but]

    “After this election, they are going to have three parties — the Paul Ryan-John Kasich-Marco Rubio wing, the Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton wing, and then the Trump people,” said Steve Elmendorf, who served as an aide to ex-House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri and is now a partner at the lobbying and communications firm Subject Matter. “They need to figure out who’s leading the party and where it needs to go.”

    In a three-way GOP faction fight House Dems hold the power … IF Peolsi has the guts and determination to do it.

  27. 27.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 3, 2016 at 3:18 pm

    So the word of the day on MSNBC seems to be that the most recent polls showing a consistent Clinton lead in spite of tightening polls is good news for Clinton, after the previous round of polls showing a tightening race in spite of a consistent Clinton lead were a very bad thing.

    @trollhattan: neo con (I’m pretty sure) Eli Lake, who last week pretty much called the email thing much ado about nothing, is also calling out the FBI.

  28. 28.

    catclub

    November 3, 2016 at 3:19 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    The US is way more diverse than Britain is.

    I think Jamelle Bouie posted ( July or August) that the non-whites in the US will save us from a brexit-like fate.

  29. 29.

    JPL

    November 3, 2016 at 3:19 pm

    What did you think of that Melania Trump speech? When she talked about being a kid in Communist Slovenia and hearing of Reagan’s election and being inspired? When she described her husband’s growing concern over the years as he watched workers suffering and his growing “very upset” every time he “heard of a factory closing in Ohio, or North Carolina or here in Pennsylvania”?
    She made him sound like the workingman’s best friend since Woody Guthrie.
    The Woody Guthrie who lived on Mermaid Avenue and wrote songs about his racist landlord Fred Trump:

    you tube song

    Special thanks to the Guardian

  30. 30.

    amygdala

    November 3, 2016 at 3:20 pm

    Thanks for this, Ms. Cracker. I was thinking the exact same thing, along the lines of, “Hey, Melania… could you talk to your husband about this? We’ve been trying to go high, on Michelle’s advice, but that doesn’t seem to be working.”

    In better news, got the confirmation email this morning for my White House tour later this month, and I’m psyched. And I hope to check out the new Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, too.

  31. 31.

    Anoniminous

    November 3, 2016 at 3:20 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    National polling is rapidly running out of predictive power. Need to look at the States and we’re in good shape there.

  32. 32.

    RK

    November 3, 2016 at 3:20 pm

    Some polls appear to moving the wrong way at the moment.

  33. 33.

    Betty Cracker

    November 3, 2016 at 3:21 pm

    @jacy: I would find her accent utterly charming if she weren’t shilling for Trump. I like the sound of just about any kind of accent, but yeah, her efforts to put her monstrous husband in charge of the nuclear codes makes me ill-disposed to be fair or kind to her. I despise her and the rest of Trump’s appalling family. I hope to dog to see and hear much less from them after Tuesday.

  34. 34.

    Dave

    November 3, 2016 at 3:23 pm

    They are now saying that this speech was plagiarized too – evidently this time it was from Marla Maples!!

  35. 35.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 3, 2016 at 3:24 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Whatever happened to the investigation into MT’s immigration status?

  36. 36.

    Calouste

    November 3, 2016 at 3:26 pm

    @JPL: Also, Boris Johnson aka “Donald Trump with a dictionary” didn’t get his hands on the price he wanted. And Brexit itself isn’t really going anywhere fast at the moment.

  37. 37.

    khead

    November 3, 2016 at 3:28 pm

    Just voted. Elkton, MD. Very red county. Last day of early voting and I was surprised at the line. Apparently we set early voting records for the county this year.

  38. 38.

    Ruckus

    November 3, 2016 at 3:28 pm

    @Betty Cracker:
    I hope to dog to see and hear much less from them after Tuesday.
    How about the only thing we hear that include the name Trump are guilty verdicts?
    I’d be satisfied with that.

    ETA With fines large enough to really bankrupt him and everyone associated with him. Like his entire family. If they hadn’t come out in support I could see not involving the family. But they did so fuck them. Figuratively speaking of course.

  39. 39.

    trollhattan

    November 3, 2016 at 3:31 pm

    @efgoldman:
    Sometimes keycaps get stuck to the forehead, to great comic impact.

  40. 40.

    nonynony

    November 3, 2016 at 3:32 pm

    @Anoniminous:

    “After this election, they are going to have three parties — the Paul Ryan-John Kasich-Marco Rubio wing, the Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton wing, and then the Trump people,”

    No, this is what they had before the election. This is pretty much what they’ve had since George W Bush ran the Republican party into a ditch in 2006 and left them leaderless. Hell this is what they had in the 90s too after George HW Bush lost the election in ’92 and left them leaderless, though it wasn’t quite as bad.

    A lot of Republicans didn’t realize that the Ted Cruz/Tom Cotton wing also included the Trump wing, but that was their own damn fault. A whole lot of outsiders easily recognized that the “Evangelical Christians” contained both theocrats and white supremacists, but they kept denying it.

  41. 41.

    Calouste

    November 3, 2016 at 3:33 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: Political affiliation is far less of a race issue in the UK than it is in the US. Labour (which is of course significantly to the left of the Democratic Party) has been able to win elections fairly regularly. Scotland is 96% white, yet the Tories hold less than 25% of the seats in the Scottish Parliament. And Scotland voted 62-38 against Brexit.

  42. 42.

    Mnemosyne

    November 3, 2016 at 3:34 pm

    I am ignoring the news and keeping my head down. It helps to be doing NaNoWriMo, so I have other things to think about.

  43. 43.

    misterpuff

    November 3, 2016 at 3:34 pm

    This made me about throw up.
    Bubble, what bubble?
    see link:

    Bias? Because they reported what he said on camera in front of a mike?
    This “Opinion” is why the Press will never stand up to a driven focused Fascist, too many of them are fifth columnists, spinning the upending of democratic principles as Normal and the public’s opposition as unpatriotic and weak-minded. As Bush-Cheney demonstrated in the run up to the Iraq war.

  44. 44.

    Bob

    November 3, 2016 at 3:34 pm

    Enduring a lecture on the evils of wealth inequality from the Walmart heirs

    It would something along these line – “The poors have it way too good.”

  45. 45.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    You could not pay me to watch cable news today, or listen to any more NPR public-splaining the Trump supporters they are finding, in full, while they cannot find or feature any positive Hillary fans.

    Last night’s Cubs game was fab, and maybe the most the TV will be on until Tuesday night.

    Meantime: The Economist just endorsed Hillary Clinton. And the Democrats, to take the Senate and as much of the House as they can. No vote of confidence in any way for Republicans.

    Suck on that, FBI coupsters.

    Here’s the end of the endorsement, but it’s a good one throughout. Not just “don’t vote for Trump.” They even caution against splitting the vote — Hillary and GOP to keep her in check, because they think the GOP has to lose big to have any hope of reforming itself.

    It’s a vote for Hillary and for her party.

    Affirmative reasons to vote for Hillary, whom the Economist deems to be a middle of the road Conservative, if in the UK. (To your fainting couch, Susan Sarandon.)

    This presidential election matters more than most because of the sheer recklessness of [Trump’s crusade to tear the country apart to restore it]. It draws upon the belief that the complexity of Washington is smoke and mirrors designed to bamboozle the ordinary citizen; and that the more you know, the less you can be trusted. To hope that any good can come from Mr Trump’s wrecking job reflects a narcissistic belief that compromise in politics is a dirty word and a foolhardy confidence that, after a spell of chaos and demolition, you can magically unite the nation and fix what is wrong.

    If she wins, Mrs Clinton will take on the burden of refuting the would-be wreckers. In one way she is the wrong candidate for the job. The wife of a former president, who first moved into the White House almost 24 years ago, is an unlikely herald for renewal. In her long career she has at times occupied a no-man’s-land between worthy and unworthy, legal and illegal. That is why stories about the Clinton Foundation and her e-mails, which the FBI is looking at again, have been so damaging. They may barely register on the Trump-o-Meter of indiscretions but, in office, Mrs Clinton’s reputation for rule-breaking could destroy her.

    In another way, she is well-suited to the task. Herding bills through Congress to the point of signing requires a tolerance for patient negotiating and a command of sleep-inducing detail. Though it has been hard to hear above the demand to “lock her up”, Mrs Clinton has campaigned for an open, optimistic country. She can take heart from the fact that, outside Washington, there is more bipartisanship and problem-solving than most Americans realise, and from the fact that popular pessimism has far overshot reality. Around 80% of Trump supporters say that, for people like them, America is worse than it was 50 years ago. That is false: half a century ago 6m households lacked a flushing lavatory. It is also a most un-American way to see the world. The time is ripe for a rebound.

    In elections we have sometimes hoped for Congress and the presidency to be controlled by different parties. Some who cannot bring themselves to vote for Mr Trump but do not care for Mrs Clinton either will opt for that choice. Yet the loss of Congress would increase the chances of a Republican Party reformation that both the party and the United States need.

    Hence our vote goes to both Mrs Clinton and her party. Partly because she is not Mr Trump, but also in the hope she can show that ordinary politics works for ordinary people—the sort of renewal that American democracy requires.

  46. 46.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    November 3, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    @Calouste:

    We’re still fighting the Civil War.

  47. 47.

    Iowa Old Lady

    November 3, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    I had to turn off the radio in my car today because I couldn’t stand NPR for another second. Then I was embarrassed to find out how difficult it was to drive around in silence with only my own thoughts for company. I used to do that all the time, and found it to be good thinking time. Apparently I need more practice.

  48. 48.

    Anoniminous

    November 3, 2016 at 3:38 pm

    @nonynony:

    The interest of the article, to me, is it is openly predicting a faction fight..

  49. 49.

    Mnemosyne

    November 3, 2016 at 3:38 pm

    First World Problem of the Day:

    When I got this turkey sandwich yesterday, I forgot to tell them “no sprouts,” so now I’m having to eat soggy, day-old sprouts.

    And it’s no use telling me to take them off, because you know how tiny the little bastards are and how they cling to everything.

  50. 50.

    JPL

    November 3, 2016 at 3:38 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: My point was that the vote always had Brexit up, and stay behind until the end. Our election has always had Hillary up. Trump phrases it just the opposite.
    She’s gonna win

  51. 51.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 3:39 pm

    I screwed up the block quote function for the Economist endorsement.

    This was from them:

    This presidential election matters more than most because of the sheer recklessness of [Trump’s crusade to tear the country apart to restore it]. It draws upon the belief that the complexity of Washington is smoke and mirrors designed to bamboozle the ordinary citizen; and that the more you know, the less you can be trusted. To hope that any good can come from Mr Trump’s wrecking job reflects a narcissistic belief that compromise in politics is a dirty word and a foolhardy confidence that, after a spell of chaos and demolition, you can magically unite the nation and fix what is wrong.

    If she wins, Mrs Clinton will take on the burden of refuting the would-be wreckers. In one way she is the wrong candidate for the job. The wife of a former president, who first moved into the White House almost 24 years ago, is an unlikely herald for renewal. In her long career she has at times occupied a no-man’s-land between worthy and unworthy, legal and illegal. That is why stories about the Clinton Foundation and her e-mails, which the FBI is looking at again, have been so damaging. They may barely register on the Trump-o-Meter of indiscretions but, in office, Mrs Clinton’s reputation for rule-breaking could destroy her.

    In another way, she is well-suited to the task. Herding bills through Congress to the point of signing requires a tolerance for patient negotiating and a command of sleep-inducing detail. Though it has been hard to hear above the demand to “lock her up”, Mrs Clinton has campaigned for an open, optimistic country. She can take heart from the fact that, outside Washington, there is more bipartisanship and problem-solving than most Americans realise, and from the fact that popular pessimism has far overshot reality. Around 80% of Trump supporters say that, for people like them, America is worse than it was 50 years ago. That is false: half a century ago 6m households lacked a flushing lavatory. It is also a most un-American way to see the world. The time is ripe for a rebound.

    In elections we have sometimes hoped for Congress and the presidency to be controlled by different parties. Some who cannot bring themselves to vote for Mr Trump but do not care for Mrs Clinton either will opt for that choice. Yet the loss of Congress would increase the chances of a Republican Party reformation that both the party and the United States need.

    Hence our vote goes to both Mrs Clinton and her party. Partly because she is not Mr Trump, but also in the hope she can show that ordinary politics works for ordinary people—the sort of renewal that American democracy requires.

  52. 52.

    Brachiator

    November 3, 2016 at 3:41 pm

    @Anoniminous:

    “After this election, they are going to have three parties — the Paul Ryan-John Kasich-Marco Rubio wing, the Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton wing, and then the Trump people,”

    Sorry, this does not compute. Which Congressmen are Trump people?

    It is way too soon to speculate how Congress will shake out. Or even what the impact of the election will be on the Republican Party.

    Right now, I don’t even see Short Attention Span Trump paying attention to national politics if he loses. And if he wins, god help us, we don’t know which conservative vermin might flock to him for a role in his administration.

  53. 53.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    November 3, 2016 at 3:42 pm

    @JPL:

    Got it – the only reason Trump has stayed behind, though, is because of our greater diversity and increasingly this cycle, because of women.

  54. 54.

    Feathers

    November 3, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    @trollhattan: That is true of almost all law enforcement and the security state. I was born and raised inside the Beltway and when I go back I’m horrified by all the anti-government rantings from federal law enforcement, military and NatSec folks. It’s the worst I hate my job/boss whiner from the worst place you’ve worked, pumped up into a morally righteous froth by Rush and the Fox folks.

    And they just love the secrecy. There are always the craziest conspiracy theories and dark doings being whispered about. All of which no one in the lame stream media has the balls to admit to. Of course, they don’t have the balls to tell you where this story came from, just that it was someone who would lose their job if they went on the record with it.

    And patriot=Republican. Even when they hold the power of the government, it’s always the Dems screwing things up. I truly think they hate the Clintons so much because they blame them for causing all of the Bush administration disasters. Didn’t you know – if Clinton hadn’t hacked the guts out of the military, we never would have had to invade Iraq!

    Sad!

  55. 55.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 3, 2016 at 3:45 pm

    @Brachiator: Right now, I don’t even see Short Attention Span Trump paying attention to national politics if he loses.

    I don’t know, I could see him keeping up the rallies, it’s clearly the part of all this he loves most, and he is vindictive. I think Trump and Obama might be the two X factors in the next couple of years

  56. 56.

    tobie

    November 3, 2016 at 3:45 pm

    @khead: Waving to you from Chesapeake City!! I’m not sure record voting in Elkton, MD is a good thing for the Democrats. My sense is that rural, conservative America has come to look at Trump as its standard bearer. But here’s hoping more Dems came out to vote in Cecil County this time.

  57. 57.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 3:45 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: After the election, we need to write NPR’s leadership and tell them exactly why we find their reporting to have declined so badly, and why we will no longer fund them.

    I heard a tiny snippet in the car yesterday, late afternoon, on Obama’s speech in Chapel Hill. They pivoted from that to discussing that — oh no! — African Americans aren’t turning out for Hillary Clinton.

    Correspondent Ed Horsley (??) talked about how Obama’s speech in Chapel Hill, NC might inspire more voting with souls to the polls this weekend.

    Folks: early voting closes in North Carolina this Saturday at 1:00 pm. There will be no early voting this Sunday.

    Now, it’s possible that Horsley meant “around the country”, but in Virginia and NC, there is a closed window on the Sunday and Monday before the election. What’s it like in your state?

    NPR. They can’t find enough Trump supporters to highlight; when I listen, it’s all Trump folks they’re spotlighting, I never hear enthusiastic Clinton supporters, and they’re kind of sloppy with the facts too.

    Makes me wonder how much I can trust any of their reporting, very honestly. If we’re seeing such holes in US coverage, why assume they get it right overseas?

  58. 58.

    Anoniminous

    November 3, 2016 at 3:48 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Have to ask Roll Call for a definitive answer. My guess is “Trump people” = “people who voted for Trump and elected officials who agree with him.”

  59. 59.

    JaneE

    November 3, 2016 at 3:49 pm

    And it looks like part of this speech may have been plagiarized as well. Instead of plagiarizing the woman she wanted to replace as first lady, she apparently plagiarized the woman she did replace as trophy wife – Marla Maples. Her speech writers must hate her with a passion.

  60. 60.

    Hungry Joe

    November 3, 2016 at 3:50 pm

    I’d go see a band called Valium Lick.

  61. 61.

    rbnyc

    November 3, 2016 at 3:51 pm

    Pop quiz. does Melania’s speech best examplify:

    (a) self-absorption and lack of awareness;
    (b) wishful fantasy world in which her husband was a nice person
    (c) blatant and knowing hypocrisy?

  62. 62.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 3:51 pm

    @Lyrebird: C. U. Next. Tuesday.

    Love it.

  63. 63.

    gogol's wife

    November 3, 2016 at 3:51 pm

    @Lyrebird:

    Wonderful video! Best one yet!

  64. 64.

    Brachiator

    November 3, 2016 at 3:52 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I had to turn off the radio in my car today because I couldn’t stand NPR for another second. Then I was embarrassed to find out how difficult it was to drive around in silence with only my own thoughts for company.

    I sometimes listen to sports talk radio, and fortunately some of the hosts (especially Petros and Money on AM 640 KFI) are funny and know stuff other than sports.

    And fortunately, the public radio station out here, KPCC 89.3 has programs like Air Talk which are better than most typical NPR fare.

  65. 65.

    Shell

    November 3, 2016 at 3:53 pm

    Is there a law that if you want to be a Trump surrogate on TV, you must have long blond hair? The women, I mean.

  66. 66.

    Brachiator

    November 3, 2016 at 3:53 pm

    @Anoniminous:

    Have to ask Roll Call for a definitive answer. My guess is “Trump people” = “people who voted for Trump and elected officials who agree with him.”

    Right now, I don’t think there is any such thing as a Trump person in Congress. No political gain in it, yet.

  67. 67.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    @Anoniminous: Republican aides, hmmm?

    They’re going to lose the Senate.

    We need to turn out our vote and make sure of it.

    And turn Daryl Issa’s staff and “investigators” out to pasture too.

  68. 68.

    geg6

    November 3, 2016 at 3:56 pm

    I am not watching a single political show this week with one single extraordinary exception.

    Barack Obama on Bill Maher.

  69. 69.

    gogol's wife

    November 3, 2016 at 3:56 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Two words for you: Hamilton cast album. Three words for you.

  70. 70.

    nonynony

    November 3, 2016 at 3:57 pm

    @Anoniminous:

    The interest of the article, to me, is it is openly predicting a faction fight..

    The thing is these factions have been openly fighting since 2006. It’s pretty much what made Boehner’s job impossible (well that and the stupid tactical decision he and McConnell made to just say no to everything Obama and the Dems wanted to try to make him a one-term president).

  71. 71.

    JPL

    November 3, 2016 at 3:58 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: True

  72. 72.

    Betty Cracker

    November 3, 2016 at 3:58 pm

    @JaneE: For realz? Hahahahaha!

  73. 73.

    geg6

    November 3, 2016 at 3:58 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Put music on. I can’t understand why anyone would listen to NPR, especially in the car. Talk about inducing road rage. Music is much better for your disposition.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    November 3, 2016 at 3:58 pm

    @geg6:
    He’s finally going on Maher? Maher’s been giving him shit four years for never appearing–lordy I hope he doesn’t go purity pony on him. BTW, the Samantha Bee Obama interview is priceless.

  75. 75.

    geg6

    November 3, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    I have the same advice for you as for IOW. Turn that shit off.

    I simply don’t understand watching/listening/fucking funding shit media. They suck. Why do you keep supporting them? They should die the same death that CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and MSNBC are going to die in few years.

  76. 76.

    M. Bouffant

    November 3, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    @rbnyc: All of them, Katie.

  77. 77.

    shortribs

    November 3, 2016 at 4:02 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Around 80% of Trump supporters say that, for people like them, America is worse than it was 50 years ago. That is false: half a century ago 6m households lacked a flushing lavatory. It is also a most un-American way to see the world. The time is ripe for a rebound.

    I really wish the media would focus on that more. We’re, in almost every measurable way, better off than we were 50 years ago. It’s the media’s failure that 80% of Trump supporters think we’re not and that negativity is *everywhere*.

  78. 78.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 3, 2016 at 4:03 pm

    @geg6: Barack Obama on Bill Maher.

    that may be when Obama finally baits the Shitstain into the final meltdown

  79. 79.

    geg6

    November 3, 2016 at 4:05 pm

    @trollhattan:

    There was YouGov petition to get him to appear. LOL!

    He was giggling like a little girl when he announced it. I don’t think we have to worry too much about any purity ponies.

    Well, maybe some pot questions and why he allowed those dispensary raids early in the first term. But that’s probably it.

  80. 80.

    jacy

    November 3, 2016 at 4:07 pm

    @khead:

    Last day of early voting was Tuesday in Louisiana — unprecedented turnout. In EBR Parish, where I am, they said they had an average of 78,000 a day for the week of early voting.

  81. 81.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 4:08 pm

    @geg6: I agree. Done with NPR “news” products, although I find the hourly recap helpful, and like Terry Gross and a few other shows tremendously.

    But done with Morning Edition and All Things Considered. They’ve been ruined.

    Very happy to be listening to what I find valuable, and not paying NPR a red nickel for any of its “content.” You’re welcome, NPR.

    I like classical music, jazz and roots music, so it’s always good to find an NPR station. But Mara Liaison and the rest of their co-opted news team can take a flying leap.

  82. 82.

    PatrickG

    November 3, 2016 at 4:08 pm

    Since Betty mentioned GOTV, must vent briefly. Got a very polite 63 D F in Colorado last night who is leaning Hillary (husband voting Trump), but is just so undecided. Her biggest concerns:
    * Hillary doesn’t care about the middle class
    * Hillary wants to ship jobs overseas

    Handled with kid gloves, because “Lean Hillary”. Not sure how well it went. She seemed very sincere, and wanted to talk about it at length! I tried (gently) to point out that Hillary is going to be much better than Trump (using the standard doesn’t-pay-contractors/has-actually-shipped-jobs-overseas talking points), but just kept running into this wall of “Oh, but he wouldn’t do that as President — that was just business!”.

    After, I had to get up and walk around the block twice, because it’s just so goddamn frustrating to run into this kind of dissonance. Just What. The. Fuck.

    Oh, also, Hillary hates the police and is “all up in with those Black Lives Matters people”, and Trump has said he loves the police. Why won’t Hillary say she supports the police? ARRRGHHH!

    Back to it tonight, and up in Reno for election day. Just needed somewhere sympathetic to vent!

  83. 83.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 4:13 pm

    @PatrickG:

    “Oh, but he wouldn’t do that as President — that was just business!”.

    She’s an embarrassed Trump voter. Who will turn out to vote for him, or might not. But she’s full of crap, and wasted your time. She might be an elderly Dem who’s had her ass parked in front of Fox News a little too often.

    Good of you to be calling, though.

  84. 84.

    Calouste

    November 3, 2016 at 4:14 pm

    @shortribs: Let’s think about what was different 50 years ago.

  85. 85.

    JMG

    November 3, 2016 at 4:14 pm

    @PatrickG: Too bad. But it sounds as if her husband has been (conversationally only, of course) working her over with the Trump line. That “it was just business” is totally a man’s talking point, not a woman’s.

  86. 86.

    dww44

    November 3, 2016 at 4:15 pm

    @Elizabelle: is there a link to this Economist post? Or do they have their firewall around it?

  87. 87.

    japa21

    November 3, 2016 at 4:17 pm

    In past elections I have liked to follow what is happening during the day, see what turnout is like and then watch the earliest returns.

    In 2004 that was a big mistake. In 2008 and 2012 it was a joy because I was so confident in Obama’s victory.

    This year, I won’t be able to so because I will be an election judge and by the time we close up shop, get everything put away and I can check into what is happening, there is a good chance the results will already be known. And if not know, at least have a good sense where it is headed.

    I think I prefer it this way, specially since I won’t even have time to worry about what is happening.

  88. 88.

    Betty Cracker

    November 3, 2016 at 4:18 pm

    @PatrickG: Kudos to you for your efforts! It can be frustrating, but it’s truly important work. Thank you.

  89. 89.

    Vhh

    November 3, 2016 at 4:21 pm

    @Anoniminous: I love the Republican party so much that I want there to be three of them.

  90. 90.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 4:21 pm

    @dww44: Got it by email, and can’t get it to give me a link.

    So, here’s the whole of The Economist endorsement of Hillary Clinton.

    America’s best hope

    A QUARTER of Americans born since 1980 believe that democracy is a bad form of government, many more than did so 20 years ago. If the two main parties had set about designing a contest to feed the doubts of young voters, they could not have done better than this year’s presidential campaign. The vote, on November 8th, is now in sight, yet many Americans would willingly undergo the exercise all over again—with two new candidates. Of course that is not on offer: the next president will be either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.

    X marks the spot

    The choice is not hard. The campaign has provided daily evidence that Mr Trump would be a terrible president. He has exploited America’s simmering racial tensions (see article). His experience, temperament and character make him horribly unsuited to being the head of state of the nation that the rest of the democratic world looks to for leadership, the commander-in-chief of the world’s most powerful armed forces and the person who controls America’s nuclear deterrent.

    That alone would stop us from casting a vote, if we had one, for Mr Trump. As it happens, he has a set of policies to go with his personality. A Trump government would cut taxes for the richest while imposing trade protection that would raise prices for the poorest. We disagree with him on the environment, immigration, America’s role in the world and other things besides. His ideas on revenue and spending are an affront to statistics. We would sooner have endorsed Richard Nixon—even had we known how he would later come to grief.

    Our vote, then, goes to Hillary Clinton. Those who reject her simply because she is a Clinton, and because they detest the Clinton machine, are not paying attention to the turpitude of the alternative. Although, by itself, that is not much of an endorsement, we go further. Mrs Clinton is a better candidate than she seems and better suited to cope with the awful, broken state of Washington politics than her critics will admit. She also deserves to prevail on her own merits.

    Like Mr Trump, Mrs Clinton has ideas we disagree with. Her tax plan is fiddly. Her opposition to the trade deal with Asia that she once championed is disheartening. The scale of these defects, though, is measured in tiny increments compared with what Mr Trump proposes. On plenty of other questions her policies are those of the pragmatic centre of the Democratic Party. She wants to lock up fewer non-violent offenders, expand the provision of early education and introduce paid parental leave. She wants to continue Barack Obama’s efforts to slow global warming. In Britain her ideological home would be the mainstream of the Conservative Party; in Germany she would be a Christian Democrat.

    In one sense Mrs Clinton is revolutionary. She would be America’s first female president in the 240 years since independence. This is not a clinching reason to vote for her. But it would be a genuine achievement. In every other sense, however, Mrs Clinton is a self-confessed incrementalist. She believes in the power of small changes compounded over time to bring about larger ones. An inability to sound as if she is offering an overnight transformation is one of the things that makes her a bad campaigner. Presidential nominees are now expected to inspire. Mrs Clinton would have been better-suited to the first half-century of presidential campaigns, when the candidates did not even give public speeches.

    However, a prosaic style combined with gradualism and hard work could make for a more successful presidency than her critics allow. In foreign policy, where the president’s power is greatest, Mrs Clinton would look out from the Resolute desk at a world that has inherited some of the risks of the cold war but not its stability. China’s rise and Russia’s decline call for both flexibility and toughness. International institutions, such as the UN, are weak; terrorism is transnational.

    So judgment and experience are essential and, despite Republican attempts to tarnish her over an attack in Benghazi in 2012, Mrs Clinton possesses both. As a senator she did solid work on the armed-services committee; as secretary of state she pursued the president’s policies abroad ably. Her view of America has much in common with Mr Obama’s. She rightly argued for involvement early on in Syria. She has a more straightforward view of America’s capacity to do good; her former boss is more alert to the dangers of good intentions. The difference is of degree, though. Mrs Clinton helped lay the foundations for ending the embargo on Cuba, striking a nuclear deal with Iran and reaching agreement with China on global warming. A Clinton presidency would build on this.

    Keep America great

    The harder question is how Mrs Clinton would govern at home. It is surely no coincidence that voters whose political consciousness dawned in the years between the attempted impeachment of Bill Clinton and the tawdriness of Mr Trump have such a low opinion of their political system. Over the past two decades political deadlock and mud-slinging have become normalised. Recent sessions of Congress have shut the government down, flirted with a sovereign default and enacted little substantive legislation. Even those conservatives inclined to mistake inaction for limited government are fed up.

    The best that can be said of Mr Trump is that his candidacy is a symptom of the popular desire for a political revival. Every outrage and every broken taboo is taken as evidence that he would break the system in order that, overseen by a properly conservative Supreme Court, those who come after him might put something better in its place.

    This presidential election matters more than most because of the sheer recklessness of that scheme. It draws upon the belief that the complexity of Washington is smoke and mirrors designed to bamboozle the ordinary citizen; and that the more you know, the less you can be trusted. To hope that any good can come from Mr Trump’s wrecking job reflects a narcissistic belief that compromise in politics is a dirty word and a foolhardy confidence that, after a spell of chaos and demolition, you can magically unite the nation and fix what is wrong.

    If she wins, Mrs Clinton will take on the burden of refuting the would-be wreckers. In one way she is the wrong candidate for the job. The wife of a former president, who first moved into the White House almost 24 years ago, is an unlikely herald for renewal. In her long career she has at times occupied a no-man’s-land between worthy and unworthy, legal and illegal. That is why stories about the Clinton Foundation and her e-mails, which the FBI is looking at again, have been so damaging. They may barely register on the Trump-o-Meter of indiscretions but, in office, Mrs Clinton’s reputation for rule-breaking could destroy her.

    In another way, she is well-suited to the task. Herding bills through Congress to the point of signing requires a tolerance for patient negotiating and a command of sleep-inducing detail. Though it has been hard to hear above the demand to “lock her up”, Mrs Clinton has campaigned for an open, optimistic country. She can take heart from the fact that, outside Washington, there is more bipartisanship and problem-solving than most Americans realise, and from the fact that popular pessimism has far overshot reality. Around 80% of Trump supporters say that, for people like them, America is worse than it was 50 years ago. That is false: half a century ago 6m households lacked a flushing lavatory. It is also a most un-American way to see the world. The time is ripe for a rebound.

    In elections we have sometimes hoped for Congress and the presidency to be controlled by different parties. Some who cannot bring themselves to vote for Mr Trump but do not care for Mrs Clinton either will opt for that choice. Yet the loss of Congress would increase the chances of a Republican Party reformation that both the party and the United States need.

    Hence our vote goes to both Mrs Clinton and her party. Partly because she is not Mr Trump, but also in the hope she can show that ordinary politics works for ordinary people—the sort of renewal that American democracy requires.

  91. 91.

    tobie

    November 3, 2016 at 4:21 pm

    Just breezed past CNN on the TV and they were saying that African-American turnout in FL and NC was still significantly down, whereas white turnout was soaring. I knew that was a problem earlier in the week but I thought the tide had turned some.

    I don’t know what to make of polls these days. Different firms have wildly different predictions.

  92. 92.

    D58826

    November 3, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: to prervent a run on them a bit of news from KOS:Pollster.com just moved election for Pres and Senate strongly out of GOP chance. Wang now at ~100%

    http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/11/3/1590611/-Pollster-com-just-moved-election-for-Pres-and-Senate-strongly-out-of-GOP-chance-Wang-now-at-100

  93. 93.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 3, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    @dww44: Here you go.

  94. 94.

    Drunkenhausfrau

    November 3, 2016 at 4:28 pm

    I want a Valium lick, too. Kickstarter product?

  95. 95.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 3, 2016 at 4:28 pm

    I don’t know what’s more bizarre, the fact that the Trump campaign apparently sincerely belief that Melania can make a difference, or MSNBC breathlessly cheering them on in that odd belief.

  96. 96.

    Miss Bianca

    November 3, 2016 at 4:29 pm

    @gogol’s wife: When I wasn’t listening to audiobooks these past four or five weeks in the car, the “Hamilton” cast album was my go-to listen, Hand aufs Herz…

  97. 97.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 4:31 pm

    @tobie: I wonder if African American turnout might be down due to Hurricane Matthew’s effects (Florida and North Carolina, especially). Or — and does effing NPR or anyone else ever go there — voter suppression since Big Chief Roberts and his conservatives overturned the Voting Rights provisions?

    And take heart — a lot of those white voters are women who could not vote for Hillary fast enough. I think they are going to vote us the Senate, too.

    This election has taught us (so far) that the Republican party is fatally wounded, as is Big Media. Self-inflicted wounds. Money over accuracy and patriotism.

  98. 98.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 4:33 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Thank you. Isn’t it odd that the link just reads economist.com?

    Also, FWIW, the NY Times has announced it will make its Election Day coverage accessible to everyone.

    You had to pay to endure all the Clinton-shaming and Foundation-rumor mongering, though.

  99. 99.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    November 3, 2016 at 4:34 pm

    Dana Houle
    ‏@DanaHoule
    Last few hours we’ve heard in NH-SEN Ayotte leads Hassan by 6 & trails by 13.

    There’s nothing wrong with media polls!

  100. 100.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 4:37 pm

    The NY Times press release:

    The New York Times to Offer Open Access To NYTimes.com November 7-9

    The New York Times is inviting readers to take advantage of its reporting, analysis and commentary from the lead-up through the aftermath of the 2016 election. Readers will have unlimited access to NYTimes.com for 72 hours from 12:01 a.m. ET on Monday, November 7 until 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November 9.

    “This is an important moment for our country,” said Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., publisher of The New York Times. “Independent journalism is crucial to democracy and I believe there is no better time to show readers the type of original journalism The New York Times creates every day.”

    Oh goodie. People who cancelled their subscriptions in disgust with your crack-addled political team — particularly the Hillary hit squad — and moronic new “Public Editor” can mainline your product, for 72 exciting hours.

    Anyway, enjoy. K-Thug and lots of good arts and culture and travel stuff.

  101. 101.

    nonynony

    November 3, 2016 at 4:43 pm

    @tobie:

    Just breezed past CNN on the TV and they were saying that African-American turnout in FL and NC was still significantly down, whereas white turnout was soaring.

    Okay so yesterday someone (and now I can’t remember who – some journalist) on Twitter was saying that African-American raw numbers were up in NC over 2012, but that as a percentage of the early voting they were lower than in 2012.

    If this is correct then ALL OF THE REPORTING ABOUT LOWER AFRICAN-AMERICAN TURNOUT IS MEANINGLESS. What this means is that more people are turning to early voting for whatever reason. Possibly because of overall GOTV efforts, possibly because they expect Tuesday to be a clusterf*ck and want to get it out of the way, possibly because of some other reason.

    I want to know more about this story – if overall early voting turnout is up then reporting on differences in percentages between
    ’12 and this year is pointless. Other than to scare the crap out of Democrats and get them to turn out and vote, I guess.

  102. 102.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 3, 2016 at 4:43 pm

    Steve Schale ‏@ steveschale 4h4 hours ago Florida, USA
    Yesterday in Florida: Largest number of Black voters (African American & Caribbean voters of any day so far. Roughly 55k. Share up to 12%

    Steve Schale (I think an ex-Obama staffer) has been keeping people pretty nervous about FL, that looks like some good news

  103. 103.

    gogol's wife

    November 3, 2016 at 4:48 pm

    So no oppo dump today? I keep checking for it. I was hoping for that FSB tape of the little party in the Ukraina (although I’m sure he’d stay somewhere classier).

  104. 104.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 3, 2016 at 4:50 pm

    @gogol’s wife: Heh, just checked Liz Mair’s and Rick Wilson’s twitters since they’ve been coyly teasing these big stories but won’t spill, but Wilson had these

    Kurt Eichenwald ‏@ kurteichenwald 26m26 minutes ago
    Coming up tomorrow in @ Newsweek: One of my most important stories so far pertaining to the election.

    Rick Wilson ‏@ TheRickWilson 3h3 hours ago
    I’ll say it for the 10th time:
    1. Media has the two story leads.
    2. Neither was the story from yesterday.
    3. I don’t control timing.

  105. 105.

    glory b

    November 3, 2016 at 4:51 pm

    @Elizabelle: I’ll give a shout out to “On Point” and BBC World News on npr.

    But still, not one red cent.

  106. 106.

    Kay

    November 3, 2016 at 4:52 pm

    “I think he found himself in a difficult position, faced with the choice of having people continue to believe that the FBI had completed its inquiry and there were no further emails to review, or correcting that with all the obvious risks that it would be at a time that is sensitive,” Richman said. “Either action has a political valence, either you do not correct or you do correct. Either way, there will be people happy or unhappy.”

    So of course the FBI came down on the side of keeping base Republicans happy, because who cares about the other 75% of the public? They knew we wouldn’t kick up a big fuss.

    The kowtowing to the screaming toddlers on the Right continues.

  107. 107.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 4:56 pm

    @glory b: Yes! “On Point.” I like what I hear of that.

    Gawd. Do you think this is a case of NPR giving us a show we like, because they realize how much their flagship morning and evening news shows have jumped the shark? Their trying to be all things to all people?

    Anyway, thanks NPR, for a free show I like and feel no responsibility to fund, whatsoever.

  108. 108.

    JMG

    November 3, 2016 at 4:56 pm

    @tobie: This is not true. AA turnout has been increasing in NC because now more polling places are open. It’s still down but rising. Same for AA turnout in FL which has been moving closer to its percentage of registered voters in the last few days. No Democrat in either state thought it’d match turnout from the Obama elections, On the bright side, a disproportionate percentage, almost 55 percent, of early voters in FL have been women.

  109. 109.

    jenn

    November 3, 2016 at 4:58 pm

    @Elizabelle: My understanding in NC is that the voter suppression tactics have had a real impact. Precisely how much impact they will end up having by the end of election day – who knows. From what I’ve heard, NC decided to gouge early voting in black/Democratic areas – that ended up getting ruled against, and early voting was reinstated to the same number of hours that there were in 2012 in those areas – however, the number of polling places was often reduced. So they may be open the same number of hours, but a lot of people are having to travel farther. For example, the student vote so far is evidently way down this election – Duke University used to have early voting actually on campus – now it’s a 20 minute bus ride.

    Not sure about Florida.

  110. 110.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    November 3, 2016 at 5:02 pm

    @Kay:

    The kowtowing to the screaming toddlers on the Right continues.

    I think that’s in large part because the (a big chunk of the) FBI agrees with the toddlers. And they’re armed. It’s extremely disturbing – it’s like we live in a banana republic except with shitty weather and no beaches.

    Than you for your eloquently stated righteous indignation on this Kay. How’s the early vote turnout up your way? It’s been a little down in numbers here from 2012, but considering losing a week of voting days, it feels more robust. I have a 12-4 shift Saturday observing at the BoE.

  111. 111.

    jenn

    November 3, 2016 at 5:04 pm

    @JMG: Yes, I’d heard this too, that more polling places were opening up, and numbers were increasing. Plus, I don’t know how many folks it will amount to, but elsewhere I’m certainly hearing more about Hispanic previously unlikely voters who are voting. Hopefully that will continue!

  112. 112.

    gorram

    November 3, 2016 at 5:05 pm

    @Calouste: Arguably isn’t that because the UK has a big divide between English (or sufficiently similar) White people, celtic White people (either living on ancestral land like the Scottish, Welsh, and some of the northern Irish, or displaced by English colonialism into other parts of the UK), and the miscellaneous bag of all other White people (everyone from Bulgarians to French people).

    The voting dynamics of none of those groups is really equivalent to people of color in the US, of course, but the idea that nothing like US-style racial and ethnic voting blocs exist within the UK seems to miss that racial categories don’t exactly work the same over there.

  113. 113.

    Brachiator

    November 3, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: This big story stuff has less impact when you get to the days before the election. More people look at this as dirty tricks and deliberate attempts to anger and confuse voters.

  114. 114.

    cmorenc

    November 3, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    My wife insisted last night on keeping CNN running on the teevee while she caught up on some electronic paperwork for her medical practice. I escaped by taking an hour and a half trip to the grocery store, not returning until an hour I was sure she would have gone to bed. Just before I left, she was freaking out over the upcoming election – CNN’s theme was “the polls are tightening” like a drumbeat. I replied as I was on my way out the door: “CNN is trying their best to portray this election as a thrilling horse race to glue you to your teevee”.

  115. 115.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 3, 2016 at 5:12 pm

    @Elizabelle: I am a paying subscriber, so I’m not sure my URL’s will work for everyone.

  116. 116.

    Enhanced Voting Techinques

    November 3, 2016 at 5:14 pm

    Hearing that from her was like:

    ,.. listen to Donald Trump lecture Bill Clinton about sexual morality?

    But I am sure the real reazon for this is like the FBI leak – to gove the moderate conservatives their excuse for voting for Trump.

  117. 117.

    waysel

    November 3, 2016 at 5:15 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I assume Michelle will give that same speech word for word. It would be hilarious.

  118. 118.

    hovercraft

    November 3, 2016 at 5:28 pm

    @tobie: @Elizabelle:
    The AA vote is down in terms of percentage, but is up in terms of the total raw vote. ’08 and ’12 were record turnouts for the AA community for obvious reasons, for the media and everyone else to suddenly wake up to the fact that AA’ are not as excited by Hillary as they were for Obama is disingenuous. The Latino vote is at record numbers in the early vote for some reason, maybe because they have a historic incentive this time to make their voices heard. Last time you had black people willing to line up for hours or even days if necessary because it meant something to us personally, as no election ever mattered to us before, for many Latinos this year is that for them, and they are voting for what it means for their families and communities.

    From GOS

    Perhaps it seems obvious that this year of all years would yield a historic turnout by Latinos, among the most maligned of groups by GOP nominee Donald Trump. Indeed the polling firm Latino Decisions (LD) is projecting a record turnout of between 13.1 million and 14.7 million Latino voters, up from 11.2 million voters in 2012.

    Latino Decisions also projects that 79 percent of Latinos will vote for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, 18 percent for Republican nominee Donald Trump, and the remaining three percent voting for other candidates. Clinton’s projected share is higher than both Latino Decisions’ estimated 75 percent Latino vote share and 71 percent exit poll share Democrat Barack Obama received during his 2012 re-election bid.
    What’s been interesting is how mainstream polling this year appears to have continually underestimated the Latino vote even as LD’s weekly tracking poll consistently demonstrated far greater intensity to vote among the population this cycle. Latino Decisions has repeatedly raised this point, noting how it will affect overall outcomes.

    Latino Decisions @LatinoDecisions
    ABC poll suggests Latinos will be 8% of electorate – down from 10% in 2012. LOL. Latino early vote in FL is up by over 100% compared to 12 twitter.com AlanIAbramowitz
    10:26 AM – 3 Nov 2016
    104 104 Retweets 123 123 likes

  119. 119.

    1,000 Flouncing Lurkers (was fidelioscabinet)

    November 3, 2016 at 5:29 pm

    Betty, we’ve discussed the valium lick extensively at my workplace, and we concluded it would be unsanitary. We decided a gumball machine, full of those little two-piece plastic things loaded up with appropriate medication instead of cheap little plastic toys would be a better bet–it might even be self-funding.

  120. 120.

    GrandJury

    November 3, 2016 at 5:32 pm

    Was subject to CNN in a public place today for a few minutes where I had no option but to listen. It was wall to wall Trump this Trump that. What crazy thing did Trump say. It was all anger, fear, and negativity. His speeches, the supporters.

    Really crazy rhetoric from people they interviewed like saying that Hillary should be killed. That if the tangerine ballsack doesn’t win there will be riots blah blah. I know it’s just rhetoric but still made me ill. CNN was just lapping it up. A few more minutes and I’m sure the next story was probably Hillary’s emails.

    I nice landslide victory will shut them up quick.

  121. 121.

    Jeffro

    November 3, 2016 at 5:40 pm

    @Anoniminous:

    the Paul Ryan-John Kasich-Marco Rubio wing, the Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton wing, and then the Trump people,”

    The only problem with that scenario in Roll Call is, Paul Ryan and John Kasich won’t have a wing (or anything else in the GOP), period, and Rubio will just suck up to/fall in line behind the Trump/Cruz/Cotton triumvirate.

    The Tea Party ate the GOP. Who’d a thunkit?

  122. 122.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 5:42 pm

    I hope CNN’s reputation takes an enormous hit for all the pain and misinformation and anxiety they have inflicted on us. MSNBC seems to be only slightly better (although it sounds as though they air PBO and Hillary and FLOTUS events in full, in addition to whatever wall to wall Trump they’re doing).

    This has been a disgrace. Cable TV news deserves the woodshed.

    It’s so lovely not to watch them, or even check their website. I hear plenty from you all!

  123. 123.

    Jeffro

    November 3, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    @Brachiator:

    It is way too soon to speculate how Congress will shake out.

    True, but it’s fun, so let’s keep at it!

    Or even what the impact of the election will be on the Republican Party.

    Well, for that, here’s a pretty spot-on take: Trump can (will) happen again.
    Jamelle Bouie seems to have nailed it.

    I think we’ll see a mostly-settled-but-with-some-flare-ups truce between the Cruz/Ernst/Cotton (still actually in the party) and Trump/Bannon/Kushner (outside the party, busy “monetizing” their voter contact lists and jerking the GOPs chain as necessary). Kasich and Ryan have nowhere to go.

  124. 124.

    Peale

    November 3, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    @1,000 Flouncing Lurkers (was fidelioscabinet): I don’t know. the public valium lick would probably be just as sanitary as a salt lick. All the viruses and bacteria in contact with it will become benign. It won’t kill them. But virulent viruses will just not give a care about doing the angry parts of their jobs.

  125. 125.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 3, 2016 at 5:48 pm

    @Elizabelle: I turned on MSNBC long enough to hear Katrina Vanden Heuvel say that CNN reported a record billion dollar profit recently, and she chalked that up to Trump. I take some heart when I remember when Bill O’Reilly was bragging about his ratings and Rachel Maddow did a great segment on all the cable shows/networks that get higher ratings than O’Reilly, including the cooking channel, the real estate porn channel, and Sweet Honey Boo-Boo.

    Shorter me: Most of the country still has no idea who Katrina Pierson is.

  126. 126.

    Jeffro

    November 3, 2016 at 5:49 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I don’t know, I could see him keeping up the rallies, it’s clearly the part of all this he loves most, and he is vindictive. I think Trump and Obama might be the two X factors in the next couple of years

    I think you’re entirely right – Trump can and will keep doing his “Rage-a-Paloozas” for years, flitting in from rally to rally a couple times a week and calling in to Morning Ho most days. It’s what he does best and it’ll direct people to his & Bannon’s new media thing.

  127. 127.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 3, 2016 at 5:51 pm

    also, too, this:

    ommy Vietor ‏@ TVietor08 1h1 hour ago
    This is delusional and clearly reflects what Comey thinks:
    James Comey Adviser Blames Reporters For Blowing FBI Director’s Clinton Letter Out Of Proportion
    “We don’t know what’s in [the emails], and it’s entirely possible that there’s nothing in them.”

  128. 128.

    Peale

    November 3, 2016 at 5:52 pm

    @Elizabelle: We the post-elections “winners and losers” articles are written up after the election, CNN is one of the biggest losers. When they hosted debates they were awful and their moderators were uniformed. They made a joke out of the debate process, especially in the GOP primaries. Yeah, the candidates didn’t help, but it was clear that they thought their role was to get them fighting with each other more than anythings else. They are not a serious news organization at all, and people still think they are in the same way people think there is still meat in fast food hamburgers now because there used to be meat there 30 years ago.

  129. 129.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    @Peale: Agreed. re the Debates and their promo spots: It was amazing they didn’t have the candidates in wrestling jerseys, with a vat of Jello in the background.

    #so over CNN

  130. 130.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2016 at 6:07 pm

    New thread up.

  131. 131.

    WaterGirl

    November 3, 2016 at 6:54 pm

    @Lyrebird: Great video, it might just be the best one yet.

    @Elizabelle: Are you sure you didn’t mean C. U. Next. Tuesday? :-)

  132. 132.

    Kathleen

    November 3, 2016 at 7:11 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: I stopped listening to NPR months ago. My drive time is much more relaxing. I do not miss it one bit.

  133. 133.

    Kathleen

    November 3, 2016 at 7:15 pm

    @Elizabelle: I’m all for defunding them. They tongue bathed Bernie during the primaries too.

  134. 134.

    KithKanan

    November 3, 2016 at 7:18 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Speak for yourself. Great weather and nice beaches here, though you’re gonna want a wetsuit if you stay in the water any length of time.

  135. 135.

    Matt

    November 3, 2016 at 7:38 pm

    @trollhattan:

    In the interest of bipartisan comity, President-Elect Clinton should offer the FBI Trumpkins a one-time amnesty: resign now and you get to keep your pension. They’ve already demonstrated they’re fundamentally unqualified for a career in law enforcement.

  136. 136.

    Karmus

    November 3, 2016 at 8:01 pm

    Valium lick

    Band name!

  137. 137.

    Singing Truth to Power

    November 3, 2016 at 9:50 pm

    I am unable to watch or listen to MSNBC or CNN right now, and being a bit of a TV junky, network pap is all I can have on. However, I have to say that the Clinton commercials running in Wisconsin are terrific – compilations of Donald’s bile. Very effective. I am also cheered by the polling group which reports that 28% of early-voting Republicans in Florida voted for Clinton. 6% of Dems voted Trump.

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