Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

In my day, never was longer.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

T R E 4 5 O N

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

This blog will pay for itself.

“woke” is the new caravan.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

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

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

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

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Late Night Respite Open Thread: Easy Targets

Late Night Respite Open Thread: Easy Targets

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  3. 3.

    opiejeanne

    I went to the original Twitter thread to find out what this is: a quokka. It lives on a little island off the west side of Australia, near Perth. It’s a marsupial. There’s a little video in the thread of one having a snack and it’s adorable.

  8. 8.

    Marcion

    I just want more R’s at each other’s throats, I’ll take any number of NYT fluff pieces if that’s what it takes…

  10. 10.

    hellslittlestangel

    He’s neither a Republican or a Democrat in the sense that what he really is is just a senile old jerkoff.

  11. 11.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @trollhattan: They live on Rottnest Island, so named because the Dutch thought they looked like rats.

    It’s a short ferry ride from Perth. Well worth a visit if you happen to be in town.

  12. 12.

    Calming Influence

    It seems every channel is now The Weather Channel, so I’m going deep cable. Hallmark is fine if you have enough wine…

  14. 14.

    Arclite

    C’mon. Trump isn’t really a Republican in the ideological sense. He’s motivated by 2 things:
    1) does the action (signing legislation, passing exec order, etc.) fulfill a campaign promise
    2) does the action accomplish something that Obama could not.

    That’s it. There’s nothing deeper. No ideology. No desire to shrink gov’t. No “fiscally responsible” balanced budgets. In fact, he’ll go into debt to accomplish a goal in a heartbeat. He’s been going into debt his whole life. Is he probably a racist? Sure, but so was Hitler, and you couldn’t really call him a Republican either.

  15. 15.

    Arclite

    @m.j.:

    The Emperor is a child.

    But at least he emperor has clothes on. B/c there is not enough bleach in the world to remove images of naked Trump from my brain.

  18. 18.

    raven

    They are moderately freaking out in NE Georgia so I just hit the grocery store. They were restocking but I laid in some water and stuff I can prepare just using my bass grill.

  19. 19.

    Bago

    I want every pundit who claims a pivot to have their face in lights, accompanied with cannon fire, as they are the fallen tributes, Hunger Games style.

  21. 21.

    bystander

    WaPo has an editorial titled “Congress gives Trump a pass on releasing his taxes”. Practically every commenter said it’s the repubs in Congress giving him a pass. They can never tell the truth.

  24. 24.

    Kay

    So what is it with the NYTimes and Donald Trump? Why do they spend so much time attributing good motives to his actions to such a ridiculous extent, where they’re now comparing signing a 3 month extension of government funding to Teddy Roosevelt’s entire career?

    John Kasich is MUCH more of an independent than Trump if we’re using some objective measure- Kasich not only supported Obamacare, he campaigned for it. He paid for it too- the base of the GOP in Ohio hate him for it.
    This affection they have for Trump comes from somewhere. This belief that he is better than he what he does.

    Is it the “socially liberal/fiscally conservative” thing that is like the Holy Grail of political reporting? Is that what they’re hoping for? Low, low taxes and anti-regulatory but nothing overtly regressive on “social issues”?

    Trump should get SLAMMED for his economic policy. He ran as an economic populist! He also ran as a racist but what happened to his supposed economic populism? He just gets a complete pass on that?

  27. 27.

    Honus

    @Kay: how is he socially liberal? He threw the trans out of the armed forces, praised nazis and the confederacy, has consistently targeted latinos and is an avowed pussy grabbing sexist. Oh yes, he also loves unhealthy food and denies climate change.

    The press simply wants to mainstream a republican bigot.

  30. 30.

    JPL

    @raven: The storm appears to have shifted further west, but I’m still receiving texts from my insurance company telling me I’m in the path.
    Let us know how your friends are doing. It must be nerve-racking waiting until you can go back home.

  31. 31.

    JMG

    @Kay: The New York Times political reporters, its top editors and above all its publisher, all think of themselves as pretty much the fourth branch of the US government. It hated/still hates Hillary Clinton because it has also always been a profoundly sexist institution (ask Jill Abramson). It runs this crap about Trump because the paper’s hive mind senses that to say that the President is incompetent and a horrible person and to identify him with one of the two political parties is to say that our political system is dangerously broken, which by implication means that so is the Times.
    They can’t handle the truth. So you get these fairy tales.

  32. 32.

    NeenerNeener

    I just assumed that Trump wants Federal money available if & when Mar-a-Loco is literally underwater. Trump gots to get paid first, after all.

  34. 34.

    Kay

    I think Democrats did a good job defending Obamacare- people can say anything they want about the exchanges but the Medicaid expansion alone is a huge new safety net program that changes the whole dynamic.

    But. The giant tax cuts are really important too. If Trump’s Wall Street team get their way they’ll lock in ever-widening income equality for the next 50 years. 90% of people will be at a huge structural disadvantage for another generation. I don’t think we’ll come back from that hit. The income inequality trajectory is terrifying to me because to a certain extent we’ve been protected from seeing the effects because we have a kind of “legacy” middle class- older people who benefited from a more level playing are still a big group. That will change over the next 20 years. I’m afraid it won’t be gradual. That it will reach a tipping point and feel like falling off a cliff. I see so many people in my practice who have NOTHING and they have been working for 25 years. I mean NOTHING. If they didn’t work for 6 weeks they would be on the street. There are so many of them. There’s this dramatic difference between the economic security and assets of people in their 70’s compared with people in their 50’s. What happens when the economically secure older group are gone and they’re replaced by a much poorer set?

  35. 35.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    What happens when the economically secure older group are gone and they’re replaced by a much poorer set?

    They’ll fight to repeal the estate tax?

  36. 36.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Kasich is as much an economic fantasist as Brownback. His trickle down theory was a huge failure. They’re gonna have to raise taxes in Ohio because they can’t run the state long with a billion dollar budget hole. They’ll do it quietly and reggressively with user taxes and fees but they’ll do it because they don’t have any choice. Kasich is leaving a mess behind.

  38. 38.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Trump’s powerful backers don’t care about DACA and they don’t care about Medicaid. They know if they “reform” the tax code they lock in the advantages they now enjoy for at least a generation. It’s about the money. It’s always been about the money. If you strangle revenue the rest of the stuff they object to takes care of itself. The rest of the Trump agenda is to rile up the rubes long enough to get tax cuts thru. Health care will look like a walk in the park compared to coming after their tax cuts.

    You can see it in the team he assembled. They put NO effort into health care. They didn’t even bother with “replace”. Compare that with the laser-like focus on “tax reform”. They would trade literally anything for those tax cuts. They’d put a stuffed bear in as President if it meant they could get their tax code advantages. They don’t give a shit what happens in the “real” country- there could be rioting, actual violence between groups, everyone hating everyone else- they don’t live in that country.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    @Kay: They’ve actually handled tax reform as incompetently as everything else so far. They have no plan. But I agree with you about what they really care about.

    I hate to say I don’t care, but Trump didn’t lie about his desire to cut taxes during the campaign.

  40. 40.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    You know what’s funny? Trump and the NYTimes said the 2016 election was about financial security for working and middle class people. People said “well, it sure looks like a racist appeal to me!” but Trump and the NYTimes insisted white middle and working class had been abandoned by, specifically, Bill and Hillary Clinton and that’s why Trump was elected.

    SINCE the election they have put NO effort into covering Trump’s “economic policy” – which consists of tax cuts for rich people

    Trump gets both sides of that- they say he was elected on economic issues (what he wants them to say) and then when he is in office they completely ignore his economic agenda which is anti-working class and middle class. They won’t even hold him to theirs (and his) original premise. They won’t even follow up on their insistence that this is ABOUT economic policy by covering Trump’s economic policy. Trump gets the cover of insisting this was about economic policy along with the cover of no one then following up on his ACTUAL policy.

  43. 43.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Kay:

    SINCE the election they have put NO effort into covering Trump’s “economic policy” – which consists of tax cuts for rich people

    Great point, Kay. Perhaps NYT needs to be bombarded with questions about how Trump’s economic policy would help the economically anxious White working class. I’d love to see how they answer that question since it appears that they’re willing to give him and his racist supporters the benefit of the doubt on all controversial matters.

  44. 44.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Obama didn’t run as an economic populist but can you imagine the NYTimes if he had and then did a 180 and put forth policy that was as favorable to wealthy people as Donald Trump has? Trump said he would help white working class. He’s doing the opposite of that. ANY OTHER President would be called out on this. It’s as if John Edwards got in and immediately launched an anti-poor people agenda. It is the OPPOSITE of what he promised his voters.

    I don’t care that much- his voters fell for racist appeals covered with a thin coating of economic populism so I don’t care that much what happens to them but it is amazing Trump is getting away with this.

  46. 46.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I live in a white working class area and I’m as invested in their economic fortunes as a person could be- everything I own is in this town. If they do poorly I do poorly. Obama wasn’t just “better” for the white working class than Trump is, he was much better, just on pure economic policy and leaving aside all social issues.

    Trump should be held to account on this. Say I give him the benefit of saying “he was elected on economic populism”. I won’t because it’s a lie, but say I do. Then he has to be held to account on the claim! He can’t have both the lie and then no coverage of the reality! If they invent this frame then the least they could do is stick to it.

  47. 47.

    Van Buren

    You guys are all missing the point-the NYT believes that massive tax cuts for the supremely wealthy is EXACTLY what the middle class needs.

  48. 48.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I’ll just give you a small example. Our school district is 50% reduced and free school lunch. That’s an economic measure. We have an after school program for lower income students – they don’t want a stigma so it’s open to all of the students- my son has gone for soclalizing, his favorite thing- but it was a specific federal grant that is only open to lower income districts. Trump’s education budget would have cut it. This is an Obama anti-poverty program that in THIS county will ONLY benefit white working class because that’s all we have.

    None of this is covered. Instead we get this bullshit pyschological analysis – what makes Trump tick? He has a REAL economic agenda and it is harmful to his supporters. Cover that.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    I’ll say this about the NYT, a lot of white people (and some others) simply don’t want to hear how Dems are good and the GOP are bad, because they don’t like the choice that would force them to make. The NYT is playing to that audience.

  53. 53.

    Alex

    @Karmus: in the Discworld books, every time Granny Weatherwax leaves her body to “borrow” an animal’s mind, she wears a sign around her neck that says “I ATE’NT DEAD.” She started doing so after several embarrassing incidents…

  55. 55.

    George

    Never forget that media outlets such as the NYT failed in their role as guardians of truth and democracy. Other outlets have shifted from their sloppy love for Trump into being fairly harsh critics. They can be forgiven, but we should not forget their transgressions.

    However, to continue to polish Trump’s brass at this late stage should reserve a special place in hell for the NYT, its editors, and its “journalists.”

  56. 56.

    Another Scott

    @Kay:

    They put NO effort into health care. They didn’t even bother with “replace”. Compare that with the laser-like focus on “tax reform”.

    I think you’re giving them far too much credit, here.

    Donnie’s team doesn’t know how “any of this stuff works”.

    Yeah, they want to gut the tax system and all the rest, but they have no idea and no plan on how to actually do it. The Budget Control Act is still in place. They can’t gut the tax code while that is still in place. They have done nothing to get the votes they need to replace the BCA, the Sequester, and all the rest.

    If they were serious about tax “reform”, they would have had more than a 1 page press release and “more details to follow” statement.

    Until Ryan and McConnell actually start negotiating in good faith with Pelosi and Schumer, nothing important is going to change. Years of muddling through, years of Continuing Resolutions, years of department secretaries trying to gut their departments and legal battles about what the law says they must do.

    WHTFTESD and flip the House and Senate (and get the orange monster and his minions out of the Executive branch).

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  58. 58.

    tobie

    I guess for the NYT you’re a maverick more independent than Teddy Roosevelt if you (a) want to build a wall; (b) want to limit immigration to white, Christian countries; (c) are committed to supply-side economics; (d) want to privatize education through school voucher programs and the expansion of charter schools; (e) auction off all public lands; (f) deny climate change; (g) ban abortion and put a gag rule on discussion of birth control in all organizations that receive federal funds; (h) bomb foreign countries with impunity for no apparent reason; (i) criminalize unionizing; (j) appoint justices who want to eliminate the possibility of class-action suits; (k) lift all consumer protections in healthcare; etc.

    These are just a few things that immediately occur to me that Trump has done or tried to do since assuming office. All are boiler-plate Republican policy prescriptions. Since Dean Baquet was appointed executive editor of the NYT, the coverage of domestic politics has become crap. I imagine he’s played a huge role in this shift. (Don’t know the inner workings of the NYT. Sulzberger is obviously to blame, too.)

  59. 59.

    SFAW

    @George:

    However, to continue to polish Trump’s brass

    I was going to substitute “knob” for “brass,” but realized that doing so for Lying Littledick would require the use of certain magnifying optical devices. Unless their collective hands are as small as Shitgibbon’s, that is.

  60. 60.

    SFAW

    @NotMax:

    Holds a lot more than does a cello grill.

    Thanks for clarifying. I misread, and thought he had graduated from a treble grill.

    Right church, wrong pew, as they say.

  62. 62.

    SFAW

    @Kay:

    They’re gonna have to raise taxes in Ohio because they can’t run the state long with a billion dollar budget hole. They’ll do it quietly and reggressively with user taxes and fees but they’ll do it because they don’t have any choice. Kasich is leaving a mess behind.

    I don’t know if it’s still the case, but my brother once noted that in Nassau County (New York), the Rethugs would get elected, then fuck up the county economically, get voted out of office, leaving a mess for the Dems to clean up. Then the Dems would take the necessary steps to fix things (usually taxes), and the electorate would say “OMFG they raised our taxes! Burn them!!” and elect a new batch of Rethugs. Lather, rinse, repeat.

    And THAT is why Rethug presidents and Congress have been doing their utmost, for the last 30? 40? years to destroy a thriving/viable public education system.

    If Rethug voters had to take a basic civics test and basic intelligence test in order to be allowed to vote, there would be 300 Dem Representatives and 65 Dem senators.

  63. 63.

    Thoughtful David

    @Baud:
    A lot of it comes from bothsiderism and ending over backwards to criticize liberals to prove that “aren’t biased.” They’re so heavily invested in both of these that they are no longer able to be unbiased and report actual facts.
    It’s something that Republican slime started working on 50 years ago, and they’ve been successful. No one can get hired at the FTFYNT and FTFNPR, especially, and only a few at the FTFWaPo without being a bothsiderist right-wing apologist. It’s a case of playing the refs and being successful at it.

  64. 64.

    SFAW

    @Thoughtful David:

    A lot of it comes from bothsiderism and ending over backwards to criticize liberals to prove that “aren’t biased.”

    No kidding. I was listening to NPR’s “On The Media” yesterday. It started out in a promising way, cataloging the Malevolent KKKeebler Elf’s lies re: the statement rescinding DACA. But then they had “even the liberal” Peter Beinart on, opining about how the Dems are also something something something regarding immigration, and their position has maybe-sorta-semi-kinda changed since 2005, so therefore both sides, etc. Were the show not prerecorded, I would have called up Bob Garfield and not-so-politely asked him to knock off the “both sides” bullshit. Assholes.

  65. 65.

    Another Scott

    @SFAW: I heard a discussion with Adam Schiff (and Mark Warner, but I didn’t hear him) on C-SPAN radio yesterday where an earnest woman reporter/moderator was asking whether news consumers had to be more critical about what they believe in the media (and on Facebook) in the era of “fake news” and the like. Schiff made the point that in Soviet times people in the USSR knew enough to not believe anything in the official media, but now they take RT and the rest as gospel (and the unstated parallel to Fox News in the USA).

    Good observation, as far as it went.

    I didn’t hear anyone make the point that a certain political party in the USA is trying to gut the teaching of science, thinking, consideration of other opinions, having people be well rounded and using more parts of their brains through exposure to the arts, music, physical activity, etc., recognition of grey in the world, in the public schools and that cannot not have an effect on the way people in that system think about the world.

    (sigh)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  66. 66.

    Neldob

    Kay you are right on. And the wall is now supposed to be funded by us. Not Mexico. Somehow that switch is Not mentioned. Guess it’s considered politically incorrect.

  67. 67.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Another Scott: We’ve been saying the Rs don’t know how to govern. What we’ve seen in the last 9 months tells me that’s literally true. They don’t know how to do even what they want to do. What do you do first? Who does it? What has to happen before other things can happen? Too many of them have no idea.

  68. 68.

    tobie

    @SFAW:

    But then they had “even the liberal” Peter Beinart on, opining about how the Dems are also something something something.

    Was Beinart a BernieBro? There’s so much venom for the party coming from the left. I don’t see how we rack up any electoral victories in 2018 if two key parts of the party’s base (twenty-somethings and the professional commentariat) continue to rag on the party.

  69. 69.

    John Carter

    Remember months ago when the Times was having subscription troubles? Then they ran anti trump pieces! Then a lot of Dems subscribed because they thought the ” ‘Time'(s) were a changin'” ?
    Well maybe it’s ‘Time’ to drop those subscriptions.
    I’m sure the new nazi/KKK subscribers will flock to their site!

    Gotcha!

  70. 70.

    Lurking Canadian

    @Kay: There is only one point on which I disagree with you. It is not “amazing”. It is sadly and monotonously predictable. Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, the NYT gotta pretend Republicans give a shit.

  71. 71.

    Lurking Canadian

    @Iowa Old Lady: Assuming our species has a future, in two or three hundred years, high school students will have to write essays on the following theme:

    For several decades the US Republican Party ran for political office on the platform that the government both could not and should not do anything. Discuss the reasons the public was willing to vote for this platform.

  72. 72.

    Barbara

    @Kay: I suspect that it comes form the same impulse that sees Andrew Cuomo as an ideal governor. But seriously, I wrote to the NYT and told them that I would not read any article about Trump or his family members that did not include comments, because comments usually shatter their carefully constructed glass house of delusion. This one conspicuously does not allow comments. On a lighter note, from time to time I watched The Office and one of the funniest episodes has the Mindy Kahling character telling Ryan (the embezzler) that she might be pregnant after he has ditched her in a rather definitive way. He tells her that maybe they should discuss the matter over dinner, and the cut away has her giggling to the camera, “We have a date!” It made me think of Winston Churchill’s smirking aside about a second marriage being the triumph of hope over experience, because there are lots examples where hope is elevated over experience (or evidence, if you will), including the NYT coverage of Trump.

  73. 73.

    sdhays

    I agree with everything y’all are saying about what a travesty and embarrassment it is for the media to be falling all over themselves regarding the “new” “bipartisan” Trump, BUT I do want to point out that at least if they’re going to indulge into vapid, sniveling praise for our Turd in Chief, at least it’s for something actually positive and not blowing brown people up, which is basically the only other thing they’ve provided positive reinforcement for since January…

  74. 74.

    Thoughtful David

    @SFAW:
    I quit giving money to FTFNPR about six years ago, because they keep putting Broder-replacement-wannabe Mary Martha Corinne Boggs Roberts on every Monday morning. But I kept listening to them on my to and from work each day.
    Then, about three years ago, Yuki Naguchi (sp?) did a report on Obamacare and small business, and they had some guy whatshisname on who reamed Obamacare and told how it was destroying his small business and small businesses everywhere. It turned out that he was actually the national spokesman for the NFIB, a very right-wing lobby organization, but Naguchi didn’t mention that or give his connection to NFIB. FTFNPR got reamed out for that little “oversight,” and even had to do a correction about their “failure” to mention that whatshisname was the spokesman for the NFIB.
    Then about two or three weeks later, Guy Raz (sp?) did a report on Obamacare and small businesses, and they did THE SAME FUCKING THING. They had the very same guy whatshisname from the NFIB on, he reamed Obamacare for destroying his and other small businesses, and once again they “failed” to mention that he was the spokesman for the NFIB and what the NFIB is.
    That’s when I turned them off. I listened to Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me for a while afterwards, but have even quit that. FTFNPR

  75. 75.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    @tobie: You’re probably right. Just go over to Salon, I know, and see the multiple articles about that b*tch Hillary having the gall to write a book about the election. And not only that, she blames everyone but herself. Of course, no one has actually read the book yet but whatever. When the “left” uses the same framing as Fox news, we are not going to win jack shit.

  77. 77.

    hueyplong

    Not sure what makes Jon Favreau think we’ll have to wait a full week for Trump to say/do something that will make us laugh and laugh at this absurd crap from the FTFNYT.

  78. 78.

    gene108

    @Kay:

    Trump should be held to account on this. Say I give him the benefit of saying “he was elected on economic populism”. I won’t because it’s a lie, but say I do. Then he has to be held to account on the claim! He can’t have both the lie and then no coverage of the reality!

    There is no accountability in the Trump Administration. None.

    Not for Trump or anyone in his Cabinet.

    I think there are so many conflicts of interest, gritting off the government, etc, it just overwhelms the mind.

    Throw in the Russia mess and things that would have dominated news cycles, and maybe caused resignations, like Mnuchin using government resources to see the eclipse are just considered “quaint”.

  79. 79.

    Librarian

    As I’ve said before, I’ve never listened to NPR in my life. Looks like I haven’t missed anything.

  80. 80.

    SFAW

    @tobie:

    Was Beinart a BernieBro?

    I seem to remember — although I might be mis-remembering in a major way — that Beinart is/was one of those “reasonable” Democrats, a/k/a “centrist” who in general would not vote for a Rethug, but is concerned that some Dems are shrill, etc., etc.

    If I cared enough about it or him, I’d probably do some research. But I need to go fetch a rock, and don’t have the time.

  81. 81.

    SFAW

    @Thoughtful David:

    Yeah, I remember that NFIB shill being interviewed. It was pretty appalling. I guess we should be grateful they didn’t have some Antifa rep or Jill Stein to “balance” things.

  82. 82.

    Tazj

    @hueyplong: Yes, I don’t think we need to wait a week either. Trump is already saying we need to speed up the passage of his tax cuts for the wealthy because of hurricane Irma.

    @sdhays: This past Sunday they did a fluff piece on DeVos. Now, I give her credit for being a good mentor. Apparently, she has done a good job of mentoring a Detroit area student and has helped that student’s family. However, I don’t think that should have meant that she had the educational background and experience to be the Secretary of education.

    During the beginning of the Healthcare debate on the ACHA this year, they had a woman whose premiums rose from about 250 dollar a month, to about 500 dollars a month. She got insurance on the individual market, but also had a higher paying job. She was followed by Glen Greenwald.

    On the weekend before the election. they dedicated a whole 2 hour special to Clinton’s e-mail server, NPR has been bad.

  83. 83.

    gene108

    NPR makes up for the loss of government funding, by getting money from the Koch Brothers and other right-wing groups now. I am not sure how this influences their news reporting, but it has to have an effect.

    Like the NYT, NPR’s political coverage is horrendous, but their none political reporting can still be good.

    Basically, I think NPR is joe getting paid to shill for Republicans, becuase right-wing billionaires are filling the funding gap.

  84. 84.

    tobie

    @Tilda Swintons Bald Cap: You’re right…the Hillary hate knows no bounds. And lest one troll come here and claim that in her book What Happened she blames everyone but herself, I will quote till I’m blue in the face the following opening statement in the book:

    I go back over my own shortcomings and the mistakes we made. I take responsibility for all of them. You can blame the data, blame the message, blame anything you want — but I was the candidate. It was my campaign. Those were my decisions.

    This excerpt appeared this morning on CNN. How much more contrition do people want her to show????

  85. 85.

    Another Scott

    @gene108: As bad as it is, it will only get worse if normal people don’t contribute.

    The Teabaggers and the Koch[s] always step in when sensible people don’t.

    The Teabaggers aren’t trying to cut NPR’s funding and muzzle them because they’re somehow too right wing…

    It is my understanding, that may be obsolete, that public radio stations have to have some baseline level of public donations from real people to be able to claim public radio status. In other words, The Koch Brothers can’t dump $50M on WNPR and turn them into their own mouthpiece. Corporate donations cannot exceed some (unknown) multiple of the real public support. If you want your public station to be better, give them money and tell them what you want.

    Our local station (WAMU) carries stuff from NPR, PRI, APM, and creates their own shows on local issues, news, and DC politics. If you don’t like Cokie and Mara, mute the station when they’re on. But don’t throw out Science Friday and Studio 360 and Reveal and On the Media and Latino USA and The World and all the rest because of their political commentators or their lack of nuance in political coverage.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (Who yells at NPR, too, but still donates to local public radio and public TV.)

  86. 86.

    Another Scott

    @tobie: She’s a Lying Liar who Lies™ so nothing she says can be trusted.

    :-/

    If she disappeared from public view it would only prove that he’s still Conspiring Behind the Scenes with ACORN, the DLC, the DNC and the NeoConservatives to Control the World™.

    (sigh)

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  87. 87.

    tobie

    @Another Scott: If she retreats from public view, we can be sure she’s conspiring with the neoliberals to sacrifice all hardworking Americans on the altar of free trade. Or some such garbage. Anyhow…husband ordered the Kindle version of What Happened and I’ve forked over to Amazon for a hard copy. Maybe the sales figures for her book will convince the media that she did in fact have enthusiastic supporters. I shouldn’t hold my breath but hope springs eternal.

  88. 88.

    SFAW

    @Another Scott:

    If she disappeared from public view it would only prove that he’s still Conspiring Behind the Scenes with ACORN, the DLC, the DNC and the NeoConservatives to Control the World™.

    And George Soros.

    Isn’t it amazing how Soros controls all the things Teh Evul Lie-berals do, but the Kochs, the Mercers, Scaife (may he RIH), and the rest of the Wealthy Wingnut pantheon are just good citizens, etc?

  89. 89.

    Brachiator

    @gene108:

    .Basically, I think NPR is joe getting paid to shill for Republicans, becuase right-wing billionaires are filling the funding gap.

    Maybe. Who knows. There is a recent article that quotes WSJ editors telling reporters to go easy on Trump and which also gives the reaction of some staffers.

    I guess some people have a feeling for how NPR and the NY Times is failing them, and fears about Koch influence, but a real investigation into this would be illuminating and possibly surprising. Might also blast some of the conventional wisdom.

    Also, I’m thinking that the network of public radio stations is becoming obsolete in the age of the Internet. Public TV is already dying, and more about entertainment shows than public service programs.

    ..

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