Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Peak wingnut was a lie.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

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

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

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

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Not all heroes wear capes.

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

We still have time to mess this up!

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

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

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let there be snark.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / “Stable Genius” Open Thread: SAD!

“Stable Genius” Open Thread: SAD!

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Wikipedia:

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign of 2000 for the nomination of the Reform Party began when real estate magnate Donald Trump of New York announced the creation of a presidential exploratory committee on the October 7, 1999 edition of Larry King Live. Though Trump had never held elected office, he was well known for his frequent comments on public affairs and business exploits as head of The Trump Organization. He had previously considered a presidential run in 1988 as a Republican, but chose not to run. For 2000, Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura persuaded Trump to seek the presidential nomination of the Reform Party, which was fracturing despite achieving ballot access and qualifying for matching funds as a result of the 1996 presidential campaign of businessman Ross Perot. Trump’s entrance into the Reform Party race coincided with that of paleoconservative commentator Pat Buchanan, whom Trump attacked throughout the campaign as a “Hitler-lover.”

Trump focused his campaign on the issues of fair trade, eliminating the national debt, and achieving universal healthcare as outlined in the campaign companion piece The America We Deserve, released in January 2000. He named media proprietor Oprah Winfrey as his ideal running mate and said he would instantly marry his girlfriend, Melania Knauss, to make her First Lady. Critics questioned the seriousness of Trump’s campaign and speculated that it was a tactic to strengthen his brand and sell books. Trump defended his candidacy as a serious endeavor and proclaimed that he had a chance to win the election. Though he never expanded the campaign beyond the exploratory phase, Trump made numerous media appearances as a candidate, traveled to campaign events in Florida, California, and Minnesota, and qualified for two presidential primaries. Veteran campaign strategist and longtime Trump aide Roger Stone was hired as director of the exploratory committee.

Internal conflict caused Ventura to exit the Reform Party in February 2000, removing Trump’s most vocal proponent. Trump officially ended his campaign on the February 14, 2000 airing of The Today Show. Though he believed he could still win the Reform Party presidential nomination, he felt the party was too dysfunctional to support his campaign and enable a win in the general election. A poll matching Trump against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support. Despite his withdrawal, Trump won both primaries for which he qualified. Buchanan would go on to win the nomination.…

Of course, if reminded about this, Trump would probably insist that wasn’t a “real” campaign, just a publicity stunt.

Beaten by Pat Buchanan, though! — guess Donny Dollhands, echoing George Wallace, decided he’d never be “out-bigoted” again…

Reader Interactions

110Comments

  2. 2.

    germy

    Was just thinking since Trump is a very stable genius who went to the best college he should prove it by releasing his college transcripts, as he repeatedly called on Obama to do
    — Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) January 6, 2018

  8. 8.

    Juice Box

    The 2016 campaign was also a publicity stunt. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out as he had planned.

  12. 12.

    Karmus

    @Juice Box:

    The 2016 campaign was also a publicity stunt. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out as he had planned.

    So, really, one could say he did it in zero tries. That’s stable genius like none other, indeed.

  13. 13.

    germy

    @Mnemosyne:

    He seems totally credulous

    While expressing fears about Trump’s agenda, Hersh also called Trump a potential “circuit breaker” of the two-party political system in the U.S. “The idea of somebody breaking things away, and raising grave doubts about the viability of the party system, particularly the Democratic Party, is not a bad idea,” Hersh said. “That’s something we could build on in the future. But we have to figure out what to do in the next few years.” He added: “I don’t think the notion of democracy is ever going to be as tested as it’s going to be now.”

  16. 16.

    dmsilev

    @germy: So he has Greenitis (aka Jill Stein’s Syndrome)? We desperately need to find a cure for that. Or at least a vaccine.

  18. 18.

    debbie

    Of course, if reminded about this, Trump would probably insist that wasn’t a “real” campaign, just a publicity stunt.

    Doesn’t Wolff report that Trump was really shocked to win? That he thought he’d be going home with more fame and money (basically another publicity stunt), and Melania was in tears?

  19. 19.

    dmsilev

    @WaterGirl: We can set up a telethon to raise money for research into a cure. I’m sure the All-Gorilla Channel would agree to air it.

  20. 20.

    debbie

    There was some discussion on NPR this morning as to whether Trump would fall asleep during the National Championship game.

  21. 21.

    Mike J

    ?Joshua Malina? @JoshMalina 40m
    When you are genuinely smart, you don’t need to announce it. I should know; I went to Yale.

  22. 22.

    mike in dc

    The best cure is to oppose Republicans effectively, elect more-better-Democrats and enact progressive policy when in office. And keep doing it, over and over again. Then point to the scoreboard and ask them which points were scored by them, exactly?

  27. 27.

    germy

    Our country is in the midst of an opioid crisis and the AG is going to divert resources to cracking down on medical marijuana? This is either willfully ignorant or cowing to corporate greed on behalf of pharma special interest profits.
    — Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) January 4, 2018

  28. 28.

    jimmiraybob

    I’m thinking that the bar and stage are set for Omarosa’s book and tour. I’m thinking that this will be forever known as the Year of the Popcorn.

  30. 30.

    Schlemazel

    @dmsilev:
    The cure is a trans-cranial hypersonic plumbium injection. It has an unpleasant side effect so it is generally not recommended.

  31. 31.

    Emerald

    @dmsilev:
    Please. Somebody find a cure. My sister suffers from it. Believes anything Greenwald says, and now it’s Seymour Hersh as well?

    They’re getting quite a collection of folks over there on the fringy side of things.

    What does he say? I can’t bring myself to read it.

  33. 33.

    jimmiraybob

    @mike in dc: I haven’t been to DC for a while. Might be worth a spring trip just to hang at some bars and listen to the buzzing. Hell, I might even write a book after that.

  34. 34.

    Emerald

    @Emerald:

    Never mind. I skimmed it.

    Seriously, though. That breathtaking revelation is obviously straight out of the Kremlin. What have they got on these guys, or is it an affirmative choice?

  35. 35.

    No Drought No More

    Trump should respond to criticisms of his sorry ass by citing verbatim one of GW’s gutless declarations that only those generations yet unborn are fit to judge the 2003 War in Iraq; that is, whether his administration plotted a “successful” War in Iraq, or whether his administration botched their infamous plot and criminal conspiracy. According to George, no one alive today- much less anyone with a living memory of March, 2003- can ever be trusted to render a just verdict. Until that far off day, therefore, the collective decision of Americans to continue to their deaf, dumb, and blind act is to be encouraged- encouraged at LITERALLY all costs to our democracy..

    That “strategy” (so to speak) has worked for Bush to this very day (albeit inexplicably, by my political lights), so why wouldn’t it work for Trump? In any event, he’s certainly got nothing left to lose by slinging precisely the same bullshit at Americans that Bush did, in hopes that it sticks yet again. Does he? tick tick tick tick…

  36. 36.

    Steve in the ATL

    @debbie:

    There was some discussion on NPR this morning as to whether Trump would fall asleep during the National Championship game.

    Because he will be so bored when Georgia is up by several touchdowns?

  42. 42.

    efgoldman

    @debbie:

    whether Trump would fall asleep during the National Championship game.

    They’ll prop his eyelids, Clockwork Orange style.

  43. 43.

    trollhattan

    @germy: @Mnemosyne:
    He not long ago was declaring Assad/Russia totally didn’t gas civilians (“There’s a reason those doctors don’t have borders, SHEEPLE”). Sy lost the thread and needs to be shown the door.

  45. 45.

    p.a.

    Gotta be some thought in the WH about trying to convince Trump that his life is in danger by some disease that will require a double thumbectomy to overcome. They will say it’s indigenous to Kenya or Indonesia.

  47. 47.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Raven: yeah, too jealous of your travels! Actually, just been busy and mostly posting after your bed time.

  49. 49.

    Roger Moore

    @mike in dc:

    Then point to the scoreboard and ask them which points were scored by them, exactly?

    That would only work if they cared about scoring points. They care about maintaining their purity. Scoring points requires interacting with the real world, which inherently destroys your purity. Only outsiders shouting criticism are pure enough for them.

  50. 50.

    Steve in the ATL

    Re: NFL playoffs:

    Can’t decide if I’m rooting for the Falcons or Todd Gurley. Or maybe I don’t care because (1) the Falcons don’t deserve to be in the playoffs and (2) I’m more much excited about Monday’s non-NFL game.

  51. 51.

    Jean

    Did someone already post Pierce’s comment, that the only “stable genius” was Secretariat?

  52. 52.

    Roger Moore

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Ooopsie! What did Schrodinger’s Cat know and when did she know it?

    At least as far back as October, when that first came out. I don’t know why it’s making the rounds on Twitter again.

  53. 53.

    Adam L Silverman

    @debbie: He put the ban in place and I expect he’ll lead by example. What is happening is that they’re going to treat the West Wing, East Wing (First Lady’s office), and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) as if all parts are a SCIF. So there will be lock boxes at all the entrances. Place your phone inside, shut the little door, take the key, put it in your pocket, go to your office and on about your business. Or leave your phone locked in your car during the work day.

  54. 54.

    Adam L Silverman

    @debbie: Nope. Russia has not withdrawn. Despite Russian and Syrian pronouncements, and the rebel groups seeming to splinter again this week, things are not as rosy as proclaimed.

  59. 59.

    chris

    Apropos from one of my favorite writers.

    Someone capable of publicly describing himself as a "very stable genius" is president of the United States. And you expect me to work with this material?— William Gibson (@GreatDismal) 6 January 2018

  60. 60.

    mike in dc

    @Adam L Silverman: What do you think the Kurdish-led SDF is thinking/planning nowadays? ISIS is on the run, and I’m pretty sure they don’t want to lay down their arms and let Assad overrun their hard-won gains.

  62. 62.

    Roger Moore

    @Chip Daniels:
    Of course running the table doesn’t impress them. The whole point of being a Green* is that you always lose, so you’re always free to criticize the Democrats for their failures and compromises. Never being anywhere close to winning means you never have to put your beliefs to the test of the real world.

    *I think something of the same logic applies to Libertarians on the right.

  63. 63.

    gene108

    @debbie:

    I wonder, if Trump will wear a suit and tie to the game?

    I’ve seen pictures of him in the stands at baseball games, and he is in a suit and tie, while the rest of the crowd is dressed normally in jeans, t-shirts, etc. and he looks as miserable as always.

  66. 66.

    Adam L Silverman

    @mike in dc: I’m pretty sure they’re wondering when some genius in DC will decide to give orders to the Commander of Combined Joint Task Force Inherent Resolve to pull back and leave them all on their own.

  68. 68.

    Mnemosyne

    @gene108:

    There is a well-sourced story that Trump once slapped Don Jr. in front of Jr’s friends for trying to wear a t-shirt and jeans to a sportsball game when Jr was in college, so I’m guessing the answer is “yes, he will be dressed inappropriately for the occasion.”

  70. 70.

    gene108

    @mike in dc:

    The best cure is to oppose Republicans effectively, elect more-better-Democrats and enact progressive policy when in office. And keep doing it, over and over again. Then point to the scoreboard and ask them which points were scored by them, exactly?

    People kept score and cared until the 1980’s. Then conservatives decided to tear down the score board.

    What have Dems done for people in the last 80 years? Other than:

    -Social Security
    -Medicare
    -Medicaid
    -CHIP
    -Obamacare
    -Overtime pay
    -8 hour work day
    -FMLA
    -Unemployment Insurance
    -Ending child labor
    -Minimum Wage

    But clearly Democrats are out of touch, with ordinary Americans.

  73. 73.

    Mnemosyne

    @debbie:

    Don’t worry, leftist trolls have informed me that it’s A-OK for Russia to bomb Syrian hospitals because the US has done bad things, too. Also, shut up, that’s why. ?

  74. 74.

    mike in dc

    @Adam L Silverman: Yeah, that would suck. On the other hand, not sure Assad wants to risk a brutal crackdown on Syrian Kurds that brings Iraqi peshmerga streaming across the border eager to take it to the SAA.

  76. 76.

    raven

    @debbie: Well, I certainly think we have a decent chance. They are tough but Jalen has his issues and we should be able to rattle him.

  78. 78.

    danielx

    @Roger Moore:

    Absolutely. It’s why Rand Paul is at liberty to come up with preposterous legislation; he never has to worry about getting it actually passed and it keeps libertarian wingnuts happy.

  79. 79.

    Schlemazel

    @debbie:
    I became a huge fan of the Bulldogs this week. There was a video of the Alabama strength coach destroying last years 2nd place trophy with predictable comments about 2nd place being the first loser. While I don’t particularly care about college football my one wish is that the tide gets a replacement for the ‘first loser’ hardware.

    go dawgs

  81. 81.

    Roger Moore

    @gene108:

    What have Dems done for people in the last 80 years? Other than:

    You left out the Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, and saving the economy after Shrub wrecked it. Oh, and winning WWII.

  82. 82.

    Mnemosyne

    @debbie:

    I’m pretty sure it was Trump and Jr, but I’m too lazy to look it up.

    @Schlemazel:

    Well, that’s not a creepy abusive daddy move at all. //

    I’m not a fan of sportsball, but I will spare some happy thoughts for the Dawgs.

  83. 83.

    Adam L Silverman

    @debbie: The biggest issue is the Russian Air Force playing chicken with the Coalition’s air patrols. They are pushing and pushing and pushing. It appears they are hoping for an accident. And my understanding from the news reporting is that the Coalition air component’s rules of engagement is going to put them at a significant disadvantage.

  84. 84.

    James E. Powell

    @germy:

    That tweet doesn’t sound like a neo-liberal corporate Democrat to me. Or is it just amoral opportunism?

  85. 85.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Mnemosyne: it was a yankees jersey, not a t-shirt. in fairness to the orange moron, i’m ok with slapping anyone wearing a yankees jersey.

  87. 87.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Mnemosyne:

    I’m not a fan of sportsball, but I will spare some happy thoughts for the Dawgs.

    @Schlemazel:

    go dawgs

    Keep up the good work–you are two are quickly moving into A-list poster territory!

  88. 88.

    gene108

    @Roger Moore:

    Oh, and winning WWII.

    I remember a refrain during the Iraq War from right-wing media about “can you imagine, how WW2 would have gone, if liberals were in charge?” And had to realize their audience could not figure out FDR and Truman were both liberals and Democrats. From interacting with conservatives back then, their audience ate it up.

  90. 90.

    James E. Powell

    @gene108:

    It’s a definitely a “What have the Democrats ever done for us?!?” world. Whenever I used to ask Republican associates what the Republicans had ever done for ordinary Americans they would invariably respond with a word salad of fact-free Reagan hagiography and some racist tinged bullshit about reining in wasteful spending.

  94. 94.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Mnemosyne: @?BillinGlendaleCA: Yep. Jr. was wearing a baseball jersey for the team he was supporting because they were going to a baseball game.

    I’m getting the feeling that the President has suits and tuxedos and khakis and polos for golf and that’s it. No jeans. No shorts other than that hideous pair of tennis whites in that picture that bounces around twitter. And no sneakers or hikers or casual shoes that aren’t golf shoes, tennis shoes just for tennis, and, perhaps, slippers.

  95. 95.

    James E. Powell

    @Schlemazel:

    Agree. I suppose we all might feel a bit warmer & fuzzier toward Alabama since they elected the right senator, but seriously, #$%@&! Nick Saban.

  96. 96.

    Mnemosyne

    @Steve in the ATL:

    I’ve been trying to come up with a metaphor where Maggie Haberman is the New York Yankees and Michael Wolff is the scrappy underdog NL team that beats her in a 4-game sweep at the World Series, but I’m not familiar enough with current sportsball to know who to pick.

  97. 97.

    B.B.A.

    @Roger Moore: To the people the Dems are “out of touch” with, the CRA and VRA are minuses that cancel out all the other “good things” we can list.

  99. 99.

    James E. Powell

    @germy:

    Well, according to what I’ve read on the internet – which is where we go to find the whole truth – she’s only saying things you like because of her unrestrained ambition.

  100. 100.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Mnemosyne: problem with your metaphor is that she ain’t the NYY. She’s more like the Detroit Tigers. Or the Toledo Mudhens.

  104. 104.

    Adam L Silverman

    @mike in dc: The Iraqi pesh won’t cross the border. Not after they lost Kirkuk. Barzani’s pesh can’t risk leaving Iraqi Kurdistan undefended. Talabani’s pesh are in the Iraqi Army. And remember the Kurds are clannish. They don’t agree between the major clans and families who should be in charge, where, etc. It is one of the major hindrances to their independence. They will fight among themselves for control instead of just fighting those that would deny them their own homeland.

  105. 105.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    manu saadia ?‏Verified account @ trekonomics
    I read (and translated) to my dad the stable genius tweets and asked for his take as a practicing analyst for 50 years. His words: “c’est très inquiétant.” (“Very worrisome.”)

    the diagnosis aside, can you imagine trying to translate trump? how would you know if you were getting it wrong, wrong enough, and wrong in the right way to be getting it right?

  107. 107.

    SFAW

    @gene108:

    I remember a refrain during the Iraq War from right-wing media about “can you imagine, how WW2 would have gone, if liberals were in charge?” And had to realize their audience could not figure out FDR and Truman were both liberals and Democrats.

    Steve Gilliard (still sorely missed) talked about something like that, 14 years ago.

    I still have a tough time believing he’s been gone for 10 years.

  110. 110.

    Chris Henson

    (with profound apologies to Gilbert & Sullivan)

    I am the very model of a very stable genius
    My bold demeanor is most like a newly vented spleenious
    My grasp of modern governance is nothing short of tenuous
    I’ve hired and fired a roster of brown nosers disingenuous

    My lack of academic rigor makes me seem quite vacuous
    My pussy-groping antics paint a portrait most Caligulous
    In meetings scientific I am shown to be incurious
    The brief exchanges I have with Kim Jong Un are quite spurious

    My scans reveal a blatant under-active hypothalamus
    My golf resorts are tailored for those duffers hippopotamus
    I’ve categorically denied my tiny hands and penious
    I am the very model of a very stable genius

    I find the spate of memos from intelligents too tedious
    I scoff at fake news issuing from reputable medias
    My fondness for both Fox and Friends is bordering libidinous
    My long red ties to Putin will one day be Pro Quo Quidinous

    The doctors in the White House can’t explain away my animus
    My lawyers in the same cannot contain my ignoranimous
    Of lawless and malfeasant initiatives I’ve a trilliance
    And several startling Tweets about about my plainly doubtful brilliance

    I’ve got to golf a fortnight before I get down to busy-ness
    My random run-on sentences are famed for causing dizzy-ness
    In short, despite my obviously tiny hands and penious
    I am the very model of a very stable genius

    To wit, when I have taxed the poor and emptied out the treasury
    When I have robbed the middle class of comfort, heat and pleasury
    When I have rendered ivy leagues to Trump-like universities
    And spent our nation’s wealth on manufacturing perversities

    When I have ordered armies into havens and peninsuli
    When I have built a wall that reaches high above the cumuli
    When I have drained a swamp and swilled it with my worthless progeny
    They’ll say a bigger ass has never filled the oval offigy

    Although I’m jonesing to release a subatomic nucleus
    And drag our nation down with my unparalleled un-hubrious
    In fact, despite my obviously tiny hands and penious
    I am the very model of a very stable genius

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