Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We still have time to mess this up!

I also would like a pony to improve my balloon juice experience.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

You cannot shame the shameless.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

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

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

A consequence of cucumbers

So many bastards, so little time.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Republicans don’t trust women.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Every day Vance writes another chapter in the book called “Worst VP Pick Ever”.

He really is that stupid.

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

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

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

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

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Reader Interactions

296Comments

  1. 1.

    zzyzx

    Yes but he’s about to put forth a policy that will be very interesting and very surprising. No, he’s not just making that up. He really will do it. You can tell by his complex understanding of the issue.

  3. 3.

    Betty Cracker

    To repeat: he thinks the busing argument was about…transportation.

    Given all the treason, corruption, nepotism, administrative incompetence, dictator boot-licking, lawlessness, etc., I think sometimes we underestimate just how much Trump’s own personal idiocy constitutes a national emergency in its own right.

  4. 4.

    debbie

    You can take the asshole out of Queens, but you’ll never take the Queens out of the asshole.

  8. 8.

    Ryan

    Or you could, you know, walk to your neighborhood school, which happens to be segregated because housing is segregated.

  9. 9.

    dmsilev

    Every time that I’m forced to confront the fact that we went from Obama to …this, I cry.

  11. 11.

    dmsilev

    I guess I’m now mordantly curious to see how his new press mouthpiece spins this.

  12. 12.

    Mai Naem mobile

    I had left my TV on and woke up to this at midnigh. The guy is a moron and possibly with dementia or some disease affecting his cognition. Also, hes doing coke or whatever because the sniffling was back. I still cannot get over people voting for this empty fraudulent piece of skin. I read somewhere that 14 percent of black men voted for him. That just makes me sad. I know white people are the ones overwhelming responsible for this idiot but that 14 percent of black men voted for this racist…just wow.

  16. 16.

    MomSense

    @germy:

    Perfect.

    Dump is an idiot. Given how privileged his upbringing, he had to be aggressively resistant to learning.

    I remember busing from Massachusetts. My family supported it and I don’t remember it being a big deal where we lived at the time because we had a naval air station in our town so our school was more diverse than most anyway. My mom was working in Boston and had some crazy stories about the rioting.

  17. 17.

    Mai Naem mobile

    Trumpov also said that he stopped aid to the Palestinians which according to him was $500 billion. Five hundred billion. Nobody points out that that is a crazy ass number. Total US foreign aid including military is $20B. Total aid. All countries. He also talked about delaying the census and how expensive it is. Bet this moron now will say “some people just realized that the census is in the constitution” because dollars to donuts the moron doesnt know the census is in the constitution.

  19. 19.

    chopper

    “people tell me that the wheels go round and round. i’m going to look into that”

  20. 20.

    JPL

    @MomSense: A few years ago the sports columnist for the globe wrote a story about his two sons graduating from High School. One of the boys lived in Boston and was bused to a suburban area to attend school. Because the boy wanted to play sports, Dan Shaughnessy would let him stay at their house. It was really touching.
    When I moved to GA they had a majority to minority busing for students which although successful ended, cuz of course it did.

  24. 24.

    JPL

    I love the title but at least Chance Gardener made me laugh. This jerk makes me cringe.

  25. 25.

    meander

    I wouldn’t be surprised if the next thing Trump said could be something like this: “…and there’s no way the me, my siblings, children or grandchildren would ever ride the bus to school. No, we always had our driver take us to school. After all, the little people ride the bus.”

  26. 26.

    Sherparick

    @Mai Naem mobile: never underestimate misogyny. It can stretch across race & class (just as racism can stretch across gender & class – also a lot if women are misogynists.

  27. 27.

    Immanentize

    @Betty Cracker:
    We know Trump has no sense of humor. Except of the school yard bully threat not ever funny type. So applying what we know — he thought it was about transportation!

    And his tweet about Harris is just about as close to a compliment as I’ve seen. It’s like when the lesser vampires finally get caught by Buffy, they plead and flatter. He knows he is gonna get staked by Harris

  29. 29.

    Immanentize

    @chopper: “they have been going around for a long time and sometimes, I have been told, the doors also open and shut.”

  30. 30.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Baud: At least you had a school and legs to walk with. Back when I was young we didn’t have any of that.

  32. 32.

    geg6

    Jesus fucking Christ. I just can’t with this idiot today. My week was already exhausting enough. Gawd.

  35. 35.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Luciamia: “I’m not a 73-year-old moron! I was joking! I’m smart! Not like everybody says… like dumb… I’m smart and I want respect!”

  36. 36.

    AnotherBruce

    Back in my day, when I was a little whippersnapper, we took horse drawn carriages through the snow and sleet. We couldn’t afford buses, the roads were too narrow, and the buses needed to be cranked anyways. Oh the hills were steep, the corn was so tall you couldn’t see anything. There was that one day that we got lost, The horses needed to have their hoofs trimmed. Now what was we talking about?

  40. 40.

    Bill Arnold

    @Luciamia:

    and if it’s pointed out till he realizes it he’ll just say he was joking.

    D.J. Trump does not have sufficient intellectual capital to get away with such jokes.

  42. 42.

    Kay

    @Immanentize:

    Malicious though. The white guy got a raw deal. She got “too much” credit. It’s always the same play. He has to divide the D base or he can’t win. Racism and/or sexism. They’ll try the same exact thing with Biden that they did with Bernie. The white man has to win or it’s unfair and the win wasn’t earned. Obviously!

    People know he’s a liar now though. “He’s a liar” is almost 70%. I wonder if that changes things above his 35% base mark. The barrage of lies might not be as effective. Defining the opposition may not be as effective if 70% of people (now) know he’s a liar, and they seem to. We’ll have to see.

  43. 43.

    SFAW

    @Jerzy Russian:

    At least you had a school and legs to walk with. Back when I was young we didn’t have any of that.

    Doubtless you grew up in Yorkshireskistan

  45. 45.

    Immanentize

    @Kay:
    I am particularly pissed about the birtherism now aimed at Harris. Her Dad was from Jamaica! Oh noes. But she’s not black. Divisions.

    I recently saw someone coined the phrase “digital blackface” for people pretending to be black on line. Usually these days, revolutionary sounding anti-Harris folks. I think that is a great and powerful phrase.

  47. 47.

    Immanentize

    @JPL:
    But he lies about everything. Even stuff no one cares about. As OzarkH has said — “He only tells the truth in service to a lie.”. After three years of his constant lying, fewer people think that is OK. Better yet, I hope, fewer people take his insults and lies seriously.

  48. 48.

    Bill Arnold

    Here’s a WaPo dissection (including of another unrelated display of ignorance):
    Trump’s ignorance of basic political terms is on full display overseas (Aaron Blake, June 29, 2019)
    Original question, which was not answered (at least not directly)

    ABC NEWS’S JONATHAN KARL: I’m sure you saw the exchange between Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on the issue of federal busing — federally mandated busing. Biden thought that was a bad policy; he tried to stop it. Kamala Harris said it was an important part of desegregation, including in her own experience. Where do you stand on that issue of federally mandated busing?

    Then a follow up from another reporter:

    WELKER: I just wanted to follow up on the question about busing. Do you see it as a viable way of integrating schools. Does that relate to the policy that you’re —
    TRUMP: Well, that’s something that they’ve done for a long period of time. You know, there aren’t that many ways you’re going to get people to schools. So this is something that’s been done. In some cases, it’s been done with a hammer instead of a velvet glove. And, you know, that’s part of it.. But this has been certainly a thing that’s been used over the — I think if Vice President Biden had answered the question somewhat differently, it would have been a different result. Because they really did hit him hard on that one. But it is certainly a primary method of getting people to schools.
    WELKER: And does it relate to the policy that you’re going to unveil that you just floated?
    TRUMP: It relates to everything we’re doing. And you’ll be hearing about it over the next couple of months.

    [No need to write these words, but heh] That’s clearly ignorance and a transparent attempt to cover it up.

  50. 50.

    scav

    @Kay: We’re getting into a meta zone: how many of the 35% know he’s a liar, are possibly thrilled with it, but make a personal practice of lying to the polls themselves? Then there are those who know he’s a liar, are thrilled with it, but don’t lie to the pollsters, who’s mere satistical reporting fail to convey the glee and pride of their response.

  51. 51.

    Kay

    @JPL:

    Welll, his base. But he needs more than his base. I think you have to look at all the factors that helped him- how a large portion of the country did not actually know anything about him, the email obsession in the media, Wikileaks/Russia, Comey, the fact that Clinton is female, the division on the D side that he did everything in his power to stoke and feed. He eked out a very narrow win and each of these things went in his favor. I don’t know if he “would have won anyway” and either does anyone else, but those things happened and they all benefited him, and most of them are out of his control. He needs another set like that.

  52. 52.

    Bill Arnold

    @Kay:

    Malicious though. The white guy got a raw deal. She got “too much” credit. It’s always the same play. He has to divide the D base or he can’t win. Racism and/or sexism.

    Thanks! Missed that, need more coffee. :-)

  53. 53.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Kay: with Trumpov he can’t handle a black person,much less a black woman,getting credit for anything meritorious.
    @Immanentize: oh that’s just beginning. Shes going to get the full Obama birther treatment orignaitng from Russian bots. The one good thing with Harris is that her first name isnt that odd and her last name is standard American and she hasn’t lived anywhere exotic like Hawaii.

  54. 54.

    The Dangerman

    @Luciamia:

    …he’ll just say he was joking.

    I’m relatively sure the only time I’ve ever seen a picture or video of Trump legitimately laughing was in his meeting with the Russian Ambassador right after he fired Comey.

    Now, to be fair, I try to avoid seeing any pictures or video of Trump the same way I try to avoid dog shit on the sidewalk, so I’m not the best observer for this evaluation.

  55. 55.

    Kay

    @scav:

    Absolutely. We’re guessing. I don’t really believe that anyone outside the GOP base “love owning the libs” though. I don’t think they pay that much attention. I think that aspect of Trump’s appeal is overplayed. If it were true he would be more popular.

  56. 56.

    JPL

    @Bill Arnold: Instead of two weeks, we’ll hear about it in a few months. Flush that down the memory hole.

    @Kay: I hope you are right, because I’m seeing indifference where I live.

  57. 57.

    Betty Cracker

    Related moronitude:

    So Trump didn’t understand the question at all, mistaking the reference to “Western-style liberalism,” i.e., the form of democracy practiced by the country of which he is the president, with California-style liberalism as practiced by…Nancy Pelosi and Ted Lieu?

    Again, lawlessness, corruption, nepotism, etc., aside, Trump’s bone-deep stupidity alone is a clear and present danger to the republic.

  58. 58.

    SFAW

    @Bill Arnold:

    TRUMP: It relates to everything we’re doing. And you’ll be hearing about it over the next couple of months.

    WELKER: Mr. Scheissegibbon, we’ve heard you say countless times — since President Putin installed you in office — that we’ll be “hearing about this” or “hearing about that,” but as soon as the spotlight is off you, you pretend you never said anything like that. So, rather than wait another two ro three months for more lies and obfuscation from you, how about you try telling the truth for once?

    Amazingly enough, I am not under the influence of massive quantities of pharmasue pharmaceucitals pharmacycles drugs

  59. 59.

    Chyron HR

    @Immanentize:

    I recently saw someone coined the phrase “digital blackface” for people pretending to be black on line.

    I’m still trying to get “American Descendants Of Shutterstock models” to catch on. :(

  60. 60.

    SFAW

    @The Dangerman:

    Now, to be fair, I try to avoid seeing any pictures or video of Trump the same way I try to avoid dog shit on the sidewalk, so I’m not the best observer for this evaluation.

    You ain’t the only one, kid.

  64. 64.

    Kay

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    I don’t think I can stand another birtherism fake controversy. It really bothered me and I think I was right to a certain extent to be really bothered by it because it’s how Trump launched his campaign. It was central to the racist attack on Obama. Important. Melania is a birther too. I think the majority of Trump’s base were and are. Obama knew how bad it was- how deep it went- he responded seriously to this ridiculous “controversy” because he knew it was lizard brain racism and would worm its way into the general population- that it had nothing to do with the actual allegations but was a flat out attack on his legitimacy as a person. That he has a right to exist.

  65. 65.

    Just Chuck

    @meander: I’d be extremely surprised if he said such a thing, since such a comment would be in the neighborhood of truth.

  66. 66.

    SFAW

    @Betty Cracker:

    So Trump didn’t understand the question at all, mistaking the reference to “Western-style liberalism,” i.e., the form of democracy practiced by the country of which he is the president, with California-style liberalism as practiced by…Nancy Pelosi and Ted Lieu?

    Nameless Reporter: “Mr. Preznit, we all know what lies your bought-and-paid-for Doctor(s) has/have told the country regarding your physical and mental health, but the results of a recent poll show that most Americans believe that you are not only functionally illiterate, but dumber than a box of rocks — perhaps stupider than Louie Gohmert, Dim Hoft, and Sean Hannity combined. So without resorting to insults, name-calling, and your usual bullshit, are you willing to take a battery of tests to prove that you are NOT a fucking moron? Oh, by the way, a ‘battery of tests’ is not like those things you stick in a flashlight.”

  68. 68.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Betty Cracker: i saw that as well. No, dumbass the question is about western traditions. This pig has never read a book. Remember when he had a most unpleasant phone call with Australian. PM Turnbull because the moron does not know that the Liberal party is the conservative political party.

  69. 69.

    Kay

    I think he does understand the questions but doesn’t have the capacity (or work ethic) to answer them intelligently so pretends they are a different question. He doesn’t know this stuff and he’s too lazy to learn anything. He can’t admit that by stumbling through a real answer so he would rather pretend he’s taking the literal meaning- bus as transportation, liberal as San Francisco. Donald Trump is very, very smart at protecting Donald Trump and he has to do a lot of protection. For decades.

    He can’t answer the question. So he answers a different, easier one.

  71. 71.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    I don’t really believe that anyone outside the GOP base “love owning the libs” though

    I think the NYT and the pundit class get off on it.

  72. 72.

    scav

    @Kay: I would be slightly more sanguine if there were fewer of the bothsider ‘all politicians lie” habitual party-line voters. They’re not “his” base, but they’re unlikely to vote for anyone else (to put it mildly). .he doesn’t need to appeal to them.

  73. 73.

    Bill Arnold

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    She’s going to get the full Obama birther treatment orignaitng from Russian bots.

    There are already a bunch of teched up hobbyists and organizations finding and tracking these propaganda networks in real time. Getting the information so accessible to reporters that it would be professional malpractice for them to ignore it will be another challenge.
    Different era than 2016. To use a propaganda network now is to burn it.

  75. 75.

    Kay

    Because it’s better for Donald Trump to not understand the question than to have the depth of his ignorance revealed. It would be really bad if he actually answered. Then there could be no doubt. He has a really limited vocabulary, too. He literally doesn’t have the language to fake a complex answer.

  76. 76.

    Cacti

    So far, through the filter of the MSM, the two big takeaways of the first Dem debates have been:

    1. Busing
    2. Dems want to end private health insurance

    It’s going to be a long 17 months.

  77. 77.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: I completely missed the danger and toxicity of birtherism when it first emerged. The people peddling it were such obvious frauds and crackpots that it never occurred to me it could have serious, real-world consequences. Boy, was I wrong! I made fun of it, which was an inappropriate (or at least inadequate) response.

  78. 78.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Sherparick: I’ve known women who won’t vote for a woman because they don’t think women are capable. I’m more worried about Harris being portrayed as blood thirsty prosecutor who put away a lot of black men to depress black turnout especially men.

  79. 79.

    JanieM

    It doesn’t matter what he says. Or, well, some things he says matter in the sense that they normalize violence and hatred in the eyes of his cult. But all this other shit is just that: shit, smokescreen, ghafla, misdirection, provocation. He just blathers and blathers, truth, lies, nonsense, vicious incivilities, wisps that floated through his head a second ago, calculated lies, calculated half-truths, incitements — gleefully, I suspect, in the aftermath, when he sees the reactions he provokes. And I spend all this time in a wasteful, mostly impotent rage about it, and meanwhile, regardless of the nonsense he utters, he’s breaking and looting, and facilitating other people’s breaking and looting of, and serving as the half-misdirecting target of wrath for the breaking and looting of, the country.

    I started in 2016 turning off the radio every time his voice came on. I don’t ever ever listen to him online, or look at him if I can help it. (My browser is set in such a way that on sites like BJ, all I see is the words of tweets, not the images.) I don’t have a TV, so that’s not a problem. But now I find that just not hearing his nauseating voice isn’t enough. I’m spending less and less time online, because being online and even reading about his idiocies and atrocities makes me angry in a way that for me is mostly useless, or worse. Other people may be more energized than depleted……and being of the “different strokes” generation, I totally get that. But for me….

    My job just ended, so I’ll be looking for constructive ways to spend time beyond the personal (mostly writing) projects that I’ve been waiting to tackle for a long while. I’m terrible at politics, but there’s other work to be done. Helping immigrants, focusing on climate change or land conservation…….we’ll see.

    /rant

  80. 80.

    Another Scott

    @Cacti: Yup.

    That’s why we should do our best not to spread toxic memes, but instead do what we can to support candidates and policies that we think are good and important.

    Don’t let the monsters determine the conversation topic.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  81. 81.

    chopper

    @Bill Arnold:

    “The exports of Libya are numerous in amount. One thing they export is corn, or as the Indians call it, ‘maize’. Another famous Indian was ‘Crazy Horse’. In conclusion, Libya is a land of contrast.”

  83. 83.

    Cacti

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    I’ve known women who won’t vote for a woman because they don’t think women are capable. I’m more worried about Harris being portrayed as blood thirsty prosecutor who put away a lot of black men to depress black turnout especially men.

    I think they’ll also throw in the fact that she married a white guy.

  85. 85.

    Kay

    This is flat-out bragging about our side but I ordinarily wouldn’t have watched 4 hours of debates- I like debates but not that much. I don’t watch 4 hours of anything. I was very tired the second night! I stayed up late the first and then had to work so this was like back to back double shifts! But I realized I was really starved to hear smart people who understand things and are good with words talk about all these things. We just haven’t heard that in years. It’s been all douchebag blatting like a car alarm for several years now. I felt like if I didn’t watch it I wouldn’t get any for a while, so I should stock up :)

  88. 88.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    But I realized I was really starved to hear smart people who understand things and are good with words talk about all these things

    Gee. Thanks, Kay.

  91. 91.

    Baud

    @germy:

    I’d find it cute if it weren’t for the next tweet explaining how white backlash against Obama then gave us Trump.

  92. 92.

    germy

    @plato: Looking back at my own life, some of the most life-changing, major events in my life were caused by the tiniest, most trivial of things. The rolling snowball effect, or domino theory.

  94. 94.

    Baud

    @Mai Naem mobile:

     I’m more worried about Harris being portrayed as blood thirsty prosecutor who put away a lot of black men to depress black turnout especially men.

    On the flip side, that should help her in the heartland.

  95. 95.

    Baud

    @germy:

    Purity trolls on dailykos were celebrating the Republicans’ 2010 landslide as a lesson to Dems, which brought me to Balloon Juice, and then to the White House.

    A butterfly flaps its wings….

  96. 96.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Smart important people, Baud. I was mad at DeBlasio because he was just shouting ..words which I’m hyper sensitive to because it’s Trumpian to me now. “Democrats! Working Class!” It’s so boring. Castro would jump in and I’d think “thank God, one of the smart ones”

  97. 97.

    Kelly

    @Betty Cracker:

    I completely missed the danger and toxicity of birtherism when it first emerged. The people peddling it were such obvious frauds and crackpots that it never occurred to me it could have serious, real-world consequences. Boy, was I wrong!

    Same.
    It seemed so obvious that all you need is one US citizen parent. Location of birth, nationality of other parent doesn’t matter. I dismissed as an overnight flap. Still kind of stunned at it’s staying power.

  98. 98.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    I made fun of it, which was an inappropriate (or at least inadequate) response.

    Obama eventually did too. I have a Born in the USA mug. But, yeah, it would have been better to snuff that out early.

  99. 99.

    germy

    Plans by President Trump to reshape Washington’s Independence Day celebration now include an area in front of the Lincoln Memorial reserved for dignitaries, family and friends that will be accessible only through tickets distributed by the White House.

    The VIP section will stretch roughly from the steps of the memorial to the midpoint of the reflecting pool, according to the U.S. Secret Service. It is in front of the spot from which Trump plans to address the nation as part of his rebranding of the traditional July 4 event into his own “Salute to America,” which includes moving the fireworks from the reflecting pool to two different sites, including West Potomac Park.

    The revamped festivities will include additional fireworks, military bands and flyovers by Air Force One, the Blue Angels and aircraft from all branches of the military.

    WaPo

  100. 100.

    Mandalay

    @Cacti: The biggest takeaway that you didn’t mention was “open borders”. Some random news headlines:

    – In debates, Democrats move toward open borders
    – Democrats Push Immigration Policies That Amount To Open Borders
    – Julián Castro claims momentum, denies advocating ‘open borders’ .
    – Trump knocks Democrats on ‘Open Borders’

    It’s not fake news. It’s false news. The media just lies.

  101. 101.

    germy

    However, some details — including how the VIP section will operate and how it will affect the access and sightline for the general viewing area — still are unclear.

    Many people who have long-standing practices for how they get downtown, or where they position their boats for the best vantage points and ease of access, will need to make adjustments. Even travelers passing through the region’s skies will be affected, with all operations at Reagan National Airport suspended for up to an hour and 15 minutes on July 4, the FAA said late Friday.

    Local and federal officials on Friday held a news conference to address security issues and deliver updates on the plans still unfurling just days before usually large crowds descend on the Mall from across the region and the country.

  103. 103.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    He does that thing that people with limited vocabularies do where he makes the statement longer, without adding anything. He loves fillers like “for a long period of time”. He thinks adding some words makes it sound more complex- smarter. All of his language tricks are to make one not notice that he doesn’t know the answer and isn’t saying anything. This took decades of practice. It’s like water/fish to him. All to hide the big empty space.

  104. 104.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Kelly: There is a reason the birthers had to argue that he was born in Kenya. There is a reading of the immigration law that was in effect when Obama was born that could have arguably meant he was not a natural born citizen. The fact that he was born in the US makes it all moot.

  105. 105.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kelly: I’ve tried to learn from that mistake and not dismiss controversies as too stupid to have staying power, but it hasn’t worked. For example, I thought the “Pocahontas” thing was too stupid to have legs, but apparently not.

  107. 107.

    feebog

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    I’m more worried about Harris being portrayed as blood thirsty prosecutor who put away a lot of black men to depress black turnout especially men.

    This. I expect Wilmer and his Bros to get on this wagon during the primary.

  109. 109.

    Kay

    @germy:

    That made me sadder than I thought it would. I knew it would be gross and sleazy, so I shouldn’t be upset by now. It’s amazing the small sleazy acts still bother me, given the massive corruption and theft.

    I myself attend an odd parade in a tiny town in this county where it is hard to tell who is in the parade and who is watching, because it’s almost random groups of people wandering aimlessly down main street. It’s the lowest key “parade” imaginable.

  111. 111.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Betty Cracker: I thought the crap about HRC’s health was ridiculous too, given that we could all see her out walking around, even if she did faint that once. But then my hairdresser repeated it to me with dead seriousness.

  112. 112.

    Betty Cracker

    @germy:

    …include an area in front of the Lincoln Memorial reserved for dignitaries, family and friends that will be accessible only through tickets distributed by the White House.

    Saw that coming. Trump stocks Rose Garden appearances with flunkies to clap like trained seals for the stream of idiocy that dribbles from his piehole. No way was he going to leave himself open to actual citizen reactions.

  113. 113.

    Keith P.

    We’re just lucky that, when asked about ‘busing’, Donald Trump didn’t start expressing regret about that time ‘Busing’ nearly got into a fight with Meatloaf over missing paint.

  114. 114.

    Amir Khalid

    @SFAW:

    Amazingly enough, I am not under the influence of massive quantities of pharmasue pharmaceucitals pharmacycles drugs

    How many fingers am I holding up?

  115. 115.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Immanentize: I’ve seen some Indian-Americans complaining that Harris ought to be making more of her Indian heritage, which is a bit of a different objection.

  116. 116.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @MattF:

    Any other interpretation had to also assume birthers were all morons.

    Porque no los dos?

  118. 118.

    Brachiator

    @Betty Cracker:

    Given all the treason, corruption, nepotism, administrative incompetence, dictator boot-licking, lawlessness, etc., I think sometimes we underestimate just how much Trump’s own personal idiocy constitutes a national emergency in its own right.

    I think many people have come to accept the idea that our current nightmare is like a wacky sitcom where more competent subordinates ask “what’s he done now?” and scramble to contain the damage whenever Trump barks some idiotic command.

    Problem is we are just a banana peel slip away from total disaster and Trump keeps choosing incompetents to replace people who quit or get fired.

  121. 121.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @Matt McIrvin: Why is that her job? Maybe they should make a big deal about it for her, if they care about being represented by someone who shares in their heritage. She was the only Indian-American on stage either night.

  124. 124.

    Immanentize

    @Baud: That could work…. DC in the summer is just the worst. Let the inversion settle in. Trump will be sweating and sniffing.

  125. 125.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kelly:

    It seemed so obvious that all you need is one US citizen parent. Location of birth, nationality of other parent doesn’t matter. I dismissed as an overnight flap. Still kind of stunned at it’s staying power.

    The problem with that particular argument was that in Obama’s case there was an obscure hole in the citizenship laws in effect when he was born that wouldn’t have made his having one citizen parent quite enough (I’m not even going to explain it, it’s too fiddly and boring).

    Whereas the fact of his being born in the US was completely legally unambiguous, so that was what they had to lie about.

  126. 126.

    Bill Arnold

    @Kay:

    He does that thing that people with limited vocabularies do where he makes the statement longer, without adding anything. He loves fillers like “for a long period of time”.

    Techies might say, “low information content. compresses very well.”
    And that’s an insult if it is not clear.

  128. 128.

    germy

    @Immanentize:

    Fleas the size of rats sucked on rats the size of cats,
    And ten thousand peoploids split into small tribes,
    Coveting the highest of the sterile skyscrapers

  129. 129.

    Cacti

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I’ve seen some Indian-Americans complaining that Harris ought to be making more of her Indian heritage, which is a bit of a different objection.

    Nobody does circular firing squads better than Dems.

  130. 130.

    SFAW

    @Amir Khalid:

    How many fingers am I holding up?

    Well, if it were Ozark asking that question, I would not only get the correct number, but which finger as well. [Or fingers, if he used both hands.]

    But since you are a man of class and gentility, I can’t guess with any accuracy. But were I to hazard a guess, I’d go for 16, probably, between you and your doppelganger standing next to you.

  133. 133.

    Brachiator

    @Mandalay:

    The biggest takeaway that you didn’t mention was “open borders”. Some random news headlines:

    – In debates, Democrats move toward open borders
    – Democrats Push Immigration Policies That Amount To Open Borders
    – Julián Castro claims momentum, denies advocating ‘open borders’ .
    – Trump knocks Democrats on ‘Open Borders’

    It’s not fake news. It’s false news. The media just lies.

    Which news sites are putting out the “open borders” headlines? And this reads more like headlines that relate to conservative pundit columns than to general news.

  135. 135.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    Google says high of 95 and scattered thunderstorms in DC on the 4th.

    Damn! Those fuckers control the weather, too?

  136. 136.

    germy

    The conservatives are now claiming Harris lied. For example, this idiot:

    Oliver McGee PhD MBA
    ‏
    Verified account

    @OliverMcGee

    Retweet ‘Lying Kamala’, @POTUS @realDonaldTrump!

    @KamalaHarris says to @JoeBiden she was in 2nd integrated class in Berkeley. Yearbook Pictures PROVE Kamala LIED!

    Berkeley was integrated in 1963 before she was born in 1964!

    DEXIT, Democrat Exit, NOW!

  137. 137.

    MattF

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: Of course, there were morons among the birthers- but stupidity wasn’t their distinguishing characteristic. They needed an argument besides ‘he’s black’ for opposing Obama. ‘He’s actually Kenyan’ is perfect.

  138. 138.

    Immanentize

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: The people complaining are probably not Indian. They are “just pointing it out!” to make her more hated by the racists.

    As you say, if the Indian community wishes to embrace her, they should. Although after seeing the picture of her as a little kid, I bet most people — Indian or not — would think/treat her as if she was black.

  139. 139.

    SFAW

    @scav:

    I completely forgot about that part! Makes my guessing how many fingers even harder, but “there’s a pill for that.”

  141. 141.

    Immanentize

    @germy: I don’t get it — what? So she was in the fourth integrated class? I don’t understand what the lie is. Please help?

  142. 142.

    Betty Cracker

    @Immanentize: If Trump gets struck by lightning and incinerated on live TV, I will abandon 40 years of atheism and become a believer again.

  144. 144.

    James E Powell

    @Baud:

    I think the NYT and the pundit class get off on it.

    Absolutely. They loved hating on Hillary. And several “even the liberal . . .” like to talk shit every week or so.

  150. 150.

    germy

    @Immanentize: They’re calling her a liar. The actual details don’t matter to them. And that particular accusation is flying everywhere. It’s being repeated in the fever swamps.

  152. 152.

    Brachiator

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    This pig has never read a book. Remember when he had a most unpleasant phone call with Australian. PM Turnbull because the moron does not know that the Liberal party is the conservative political party

    There are so many unpleasant phone calls…

    It’s not just that Trump has never read a book. He came into the office ignorant of the global political world, and never bothered to learn anything. He has never paid attention to a briefing.

    Hell, Trump might even have some learning disability. It’s weird that he seems to depend on Fox News for information.

  154. 154.

    VOR

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    The one good thing with Harris is that her first name isnt that odd and her last name is standard American and she hasn’t lived anywhere exotic like Hawaii.

    You underestimate their ingenuity. Kamala Harris moved to Canada with her mother when she was 12 and graduated from high school in Quebec. Seriously, I’ve seen it argued online that Harris didn’t grow up in America but in a far-away exotic land – Canada.

    But she was born in Oakland and I haven’t heard that questioned. She went to Howard University, a HBC, and was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the first sorority founded by African-American women.

  155. 155.

    sgrAstar

    @Mai Naem mobile: you forget a devastating and disqualifying ( to wingers) detail. Kamala Harris is from the very birthplace of evil. That would be BERKELEY. Heh.

    Go Bears!

  156. 156.

    MisterForkbeard

    @feebog: I see a lot of this from Bernie friendly authors. Their key thing now is to say a lot of disparaging stuff about Harris, Biden and Buttigieg (“They’re all just Republicans and hate black people! Harris put away lots of black people into SLAVERY of prison labor for unnamed corrupt reasons!”

    They also dont say anything about Bernie at all, so that readers dont get that it’s a hit piece. You have to read their other stuff to see how rabid they are in their support for him

  159. 159.

    Brachiator

    @germy:

    Oliver McGee PhD MBA
    ‏
    Verified account

    @OliverMcGee

    Retweet ‘Lying Kamala’, @POTUS @realDonaldTrump!

    @KamalaHarris says to @JoeBiden she was in 2nd integrated class in Berkeley. Yearbook Pictures PROVE Kamala LIED!

    Oliver McGee is a black right wing pundit. The GOP spin machine want to find crazy black folks willing to bash Harris. Makes it look less racist than it really is.

  160. 160.

    BR

    @Baud:

    My understanding is that the claims she’s lying are wrong, because they’re talking about the high school, which was integrated already, but the elementary schools were effectively segregated, and that she was correct that she was the second class at her elementary school to be integrated.

    I think it was an effective political attack, but I wish it had been over something else — like Biden’s support for the Iraq war or bankruptcy bill or something like that…

  161. 161.

    Betty Cracker

    Unfortunately, the lesson some of the folks ostensibly on “our” side took away from the devastating effectiveness of disinformation campaigns in the 2016 election seems to be: hey, that might work to help MY favorite candidate win the primary.

  163. 163.

    J R in WV

    @debbie:

    You’d have thought Trump would have lumped NYC in with SF and LA, no?

    No, because he heard the word “western” in the question, so the word salad he spewed had to be about “western” cities, IE California. The ignorance is more appalling than the stupidity/dementia. There isn’t much dementia in my family, usually smart until the fatal stroke at 87 or 92.

    Also, off topic: We got the first sweet corn on the cob yesterday!!! The guy selling the corn told me they started it in their greenhouse and transplanted it into the fields, back breaking work, and they did it for half-runner green beans too, it was amazingly good silver queen white and gold hybrid. Just delicious. We had fried scallops, 3 each, and 3 ears of corn apiece.

    Summer is here if the sweet corn is in!!!! Love the farmer’s market!!

  164. 164.

    Baud

    @BR:
    Thanks.

    but I wish it had been over something else 

    Can’t always control which opportunities arise.

  167. 167.

    joel hanes

    @feebog:

    I expect Wilmer and his Bros to get on this wagon

    Josh Alvarez over at the Washington Monthly has already boarded and chosen a seat.

  168. 168.

    MomSense

    I’m in the heart of trump country right now. I’m selling raffle tickets at a benefit for the humane society – at an eagles club. The bikers are doing the barbecue. OO would be mortified by the music- lots of 80s metal.

    Everyone is drinking and smoking.

  169. 169.

    germy

    As @MalcolmNance has pointed out Russian bots are pumping out racist tropes claiming Kamala isn’t “black but Jamaican,” a rumor that Eric Trump repeating. Making this the first official Russian manipulation of a Trump for the 2020 election. https://t.co/xXXge9zlBS— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) June 29, 2019

    Don Jr. later deleted his tweet. But there’ll be more, I’m sure.

  170. 170.

    Baud

    @joel hanes:

    One reason to prefer Kamala is that pisses off awful people more. Hillary’s enemies are one of the things I liked more about her.

  172. 172.

    Betty Cracker

    @BR: To put it bluntly, she was making a play for black voters, so going after Biden on the busing issue was the smart play. I don’t hold it against her at all. I want someone that smart and ruthless to win the nomination. I’m sticking with the plan lady for now because plans, but I’ll be thrilled if it’s Harris too. I think she can win it all.

  173. 173.

    Brachiator

    @germy:

    As @MalcolmNance has pointed out Russian bots are pumping out racist tropes claiming Kamala isn’t “black but Jamaican,” a rumor that Eric Trump repeating.

    Because, what, Jamaicans aren’t black?

    Birtherism 2.0. Is Trump going to ask to see Harris’ birth certificate?

  174. 174.

    J R in WV

    @MattF:

    Regarding Obama birtherism:

    I guess I always saw it as racism, and therefore not ignorable. Any other interpretation had to also assume birthers were all morons.

    Racism and morons, usually go together like bacon and eggs. Both ignorant and stupid AND evil and mean. Usually.

  178. 178.

    Brachiator

    @Baud:

    BTW, how is Kamala’s heritage or “blackness” any different from Obama’s?

    It’s not. But right wing nut jobs are dumb and unimaginative. They have a lot less in their bag of tricks than people think.

  179. 179.

    MattF

    @J R in WV: The remark is about birtherism as a political strategy. It’s disinformation, it’s racist, it’s ludicrous, it’s evil– but it’s not stupid, necessarily.

  181. 181.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    This whole fucking “not black enough” is nonsense. The point is how white america sees people. I don’t think a Fucking cop is going to be any less biased because a black man has Jamaican ancestry as opposed to west African.
    When it comes to discrimination the one drop rule is still very much in effect. When it comes to ambition and achievement all of a sudden this nonsense comes out.

  183. 183.

    Baud

    @MomSense:

    Oh, I know it’s nonsense. I assume it’s nonsense that’s meant to manipulate black male voters. I’m just wondering whether those voters will not recognize that Kamala is in the same position as Obama.

  185. 185.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense: I said it before or in an earlier thread. Just look at that little smart girl going to school where she probably wasn’t wanted by most of the former parents. I see a black kid who is going to face all sorts of 20th Century shit.

    I don’t look at that picture and say, “Man, she’s not black enough for people to hate on.”

  187. 187.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    the birther thing was never about citizenship, it was about being black and therefore I don’t think you could ever have snuffed it out.

    I say that because Ted Cruz was born in Canada and it never once became an issue. Even though Dump endlessly flogged it, it still never took root.

  188. 188.

    B.B.A.

    Mandatory busing. Abolish charter schools, magnet schools, private schools. Get rid of in-school “tracking” too – everyone takes the same courses.

    Undoubtedly this will make things worse for rich white suburban kids like I was, but until the privileged are forced to deal with a problem it will never be fixed.

    And while I’m asking for impossible things, I want Singapore-style housing quotas to be mandatory nationwide, to force residential desegregation. And a pony.

  189. 189.

    Mandalay

    @germy:

    Don Jr. later deleted his tweet.

    Heh….

    “Don’s tweet was simply him asking if it was true that Kamala Harris was half-Indian because it’s not something he had ever heard before,” said the spokesman, Andy Surabian, “and once he saw that folks were misconstruing the intent of his tweet, he quickly deleted it.”

    Don Jr. is a principled man, and was deeply offended that folks were misconstruing his racist tweet.

    There are eleventy gazzillion twitter accounts spewing shit at any given moment. Inquiring minds want to know why the hapless Don happened to stumble over that particular tweet.

  192. 192.

    Aleta

    Granted he’s all the above, but another possibility.

    His campaign wants the Harris vs Biden coverage to continue on its own. No way should you let the known racist who’s been anti-civil rights and federal limits since forever, now working for Kochs etc. to abolish equal rights legislation, get attention for his opinion about busing .

    The question was predictable after the debate, and he was told not to touch it. The longer version of his reply could be intentional rambling around — he can’t bring himself repeat (or remember) the exact brief response they gave him but he knows to avoid the question.

    It’s possible he’s completely forgotten the white rioting in 70s Boston, although his cognitive issues could be a different kind instead. But I’m sure he was rabidly informed and opinionated in the 60s 70s 80s … about desegregation and federal court orders to bus. (Quotes could be in the hands of reporters as we speak.)

    I don’t buy that he never understood what busing is, so I can’t assume his answer is ignorant or stupid.

    Not remembering, not understanding what it meant, pretending, will also be his defense against all the sexual assaults.

  194. 194.

    Mandalay

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    I say that because Ted Cruz was born in Canada and it never once became an issue.

    Yep. I also don’t recall McCain being born in the Panama Canal Zone being much of a problem either. The thorny issue of whether McCain was a “natural born citizen” was dismissed with a wave of the hand during his campaign.

  198. 198.

    germy

    It's clear who MSNBC wants to be president: Elizabeth Warren. They're giving her more time than all the other candidates combined. They aren't giving any time to Tulsi at all. -V (Tulsi's sister)
    — Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) June 27, 2019

  206. 206.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @germy: It’s clear who Russia wants to be president: Tulsi Gabbard. They’re giving her more time on state run media RT News than all the other candidates combined. They aren’t giving any time to the rest of the candidates at all.

  207. 207.

    Brachiator

    @Mandalay:

    “Don’s tweet was simply him asking if it was true that Kamala Harris was half-Indian because it’s not something he had ever heard before,”

    It’s interesting how so many white people have a fascination with race. Why, it might even be connected to an obsession with noxious notions of racial purity.

  211. 211.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: Speaking of Delaney, he went on the Hugh Hewitt radio show Friday and bemoaned the leftward drift of the party, providing tons of sound bites that will be used against Democrats in “even former Democratic Congressman Delaney says..”. ads. What a fuckwit tool.

  212. 212.

    Another Scott

    @MattF: I have sat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to see the fireworks, but it’s been years (pre-WWII memorial).

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  215. 215.

    debbie

    @Immanentize:

    July 4th in D.C.: 95 degrees and p.m. thunderstorms, according to the Weather Channel (and as Baud has pointed out). It might be worth tuning in for possible lightning strikes and pig roasts. //

  216. 216.

    B.B.A.

    @Hitlesswonder: Yeah. In particular, if Obama had been born in Kenya, under the law at the time he would not be a US citizen as his mother would not have lived in the US long enough to transmit her citizenship to him. But if the law as it is today applied at the time Obama was born, he’d have been a citizen no matter where he was born.

    But since Obama was born in America, none of this matters.

  218. 218.

    Peale

    @Cacti: yep. I don’t know who to be angrier with. Biden for brining it up or Harris for not dropping it. But now we have to debate busing as a national issue. The way we had to relitigate vietnam for 8 elections. I’m sure that discussion will bring in that under 54 vote we need. Top of mind concern.

  224. 224.

    Ruckus

    @Betty Cracker:
    People with nothing on their side but hate have to find other reasons, any other reasons to try to sound reasonable, so they will be taken as reasonable. They know that racism is wrong, they believe it anyway. They know that life doesn’t began at conception, but they believe it anyway. They believe things they know aren’t true, they convince themselves that they are and they know they are lying, right up until the time their belief system tells them it’s OK.
    Shorter.
    People can and will convince themselves of anything if they try hard enough. How many people still think the earth is flat?

  225. 225.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    I’ve only heard a couple of interviews, but Bennet didn’t seem too bad, especially compare to people like Tim Ryan. By the way, it’s expected that Ryan will lose his seat because of redistricting. Huzzah!

  227. 227.

    Another Scott

    Twitter:

    Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones

    People often forget that Linda Brown sued for the right to attend her neighborhood school instead of the black one further away.

    White people were FINE with busing when busing was a tool for segregation. I wish journalists would study this history so it can presented correctly.

    9:34 AM – 29 Jun 2019

    Reporters understanding some history on the topics they cover??! Unpossible.

    (via LOLGOP)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  228. 228.

    James E Powell

    @Baud:

    For people who were not alive at the time, it is hard to explain exactly what a big fucking deal busing was. Busing made white people riot. It was the issue that made the suburbs solidly Republican. When I was working on state legislature races in Ohio in 1978, it was what everyone was talking about.

    But today? I doubt that anyone who is still triggered by the word busing would ever vote for a Democrat anyway.

  230. 230.

    Chyron HR

    @germy:

    Might I suggest that if one unironically tweets comments from “Not me, this is from my imaginary friend”, one might be slightly less than qualified for the Presidency?

  232. 232.

    Cacti

    @Baud:

    BTW, how is Kamala’s heritage or “blackness” any different from Obama’s?

    It isn’t. But BHO had Michelle, who was of a traditional African American background to vouch for him. Her value in that role can’t be overstated.

    Kamala doesn’t have a Michelle.

  234. 234.

    Doug R

    @debbie:

    How long until Trump tweets demanding her birth certificate?

    Someone probably told him Kamala’s “Indian” so he’s pretty sure she’s born here, he’s just trying to think of another indigenous name besides “Pocahontas”.
    I guess we’re lucky the dollar coin is so unpopular.

  237. 237.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Betty Cracker: During the Obama years I was a member of “The Fogbow” which debunked birtherism. Many of the members were brilliant Lawyers who could smash a birther theory in two seconds. One of those (which is now being used against Harris) is that in order to be a “citizen” one has to be born in the US to two US Citizen parents. This is not only horseshit but would have disqualified previous candidates (Rubio, Cruz for example). The unique thing about the attacks against Harris though are that she is now deemed “not black enough” not having descended from two black descendant from slave parents. I am sure that black people all over the world are befuzzled by this attack since it has never stopped them being discriminated against all their life. Also, I say again when they attack Harris for having a parent who was from Jamaica and not descended from slaves ‘HOW THE FUCKING HELL DO YOU THINK THE BLACK PEOPLE GOT TO JAMAICA IN THE FIRST PLACE?”

  238. 238.

    Redshift

    @MomSense:

    This whole fucking “not black enough” is nonsense.

    Troll/bot investigators have traced it, and ADOS (“African descendents of slaves”) is a psyop; it originated with the same trolls as “#DemExit” and “#Blexit” and is just as phony. #DemExit and #Blexit were completely unsuccessful, in part because the one thing they couldn’t control is open and obvious wingnuts promoting them, so any unsuspecting person who was curious would quickly discover they weren’t sincere Dem sentiments. I’m cautiously optimistic the same will happen with this.

  240. 240.

    prostratedragon

    @MomSense:

    Given how privileged his upbringing, he had to be aggressively resistant to learning.

    What I’ve been saying about how profound the twistedness, and how fractal: any small part of it replicates the whole, through this factor.

  242. 242.

    chris

    Thread with link to FNYT article.

    NEW: For much of the last three months, the most popular Biden website has been a slick little piece of disinformation that is designed to look like the former VP's campaign page, yet is most definitely not pro-Biden. It is the work of a Trump consultant https://t.co/PLb7Cg63T9— Matthew Rosenberg (@AllMattNYT) June 29, 2019

  245. 245.

    Cacti

    @Peale:

    yep. I don’t know who to be angrier with. Biden for brining it up or Harris for not dropping it. But now we have to debate busing as a national issue. The way we had to relitigate vietnam for 8 elections. I’m sure that discussion will bring in that under 54 vote we need. Top of mind concern.

    I saw this morning that Elizabeth Warren was asked her opinion on busing, FFS.

    Jay Inslee was dead on when he said the greatest threat to our national security is Donald Trump. Beating Trump is the alpha and omega of what the primary race should be about. Our side is already losing the plot and squabbling about the 1970s.

  246. 246.

    Redshift

    @germy:

    The VIP section will stretch roughly from the steps of the memorial to the midpoint of the reflecting pool, according to the U.S. Secret Service.

    I was wondering how he was going to avoid the possibility of being booed for taking over the Fourth of July and turning it into a Dear Leader salute…

  247. 247.

    Tehanu

    @SFAW, @JanieM: :

    I can’t stand to hear his disgusting voice, nor see his disgusting face.

    Me too. I keep a black marker on the breakfast table so I can scribble over all the photos in the morning paper (yes, I’m old).

  248. 248.

    Doug R

    Why are we so worried about busing again? Is it to get those mythical WWC “economically anxious” voters? I think they’re on the same side as the anti-busing folks.
    I guess I’m saying anti-busing rioter=future trump voter.
    By getting on the right side of history, we can welcome new voters who are probably aware of our history but appreciate us trying to start to do the right thing by discussing our mistakes and attempts to correct them.

  249. 249.

    Baud

    @Doug R:

    Is it to get those mythical WWC “economically anxious” voters? I think they’re on the same side as the anti-busing folks.

    You made Tim Ryan sad.

  250. 250.

    Doug R

    @Tehanu:

    I can’t stand to hear his disgusting voice, nor see his disgusting face.

    Me too. I keep a black marker on the breakfast table so I can scribble over all the photos in the morning paper (yes, I’m old).

    I find myself muting the radio in the car when the news runs him blathering about something.

  252. 252.

    Mary S

    Well, Trump has a point, though he certainly didn’t know he was making it. It’s true that busing kids to schools is something the government has done for a long time but it was only when the courts ordered busing to desegregate the schools that a critical mass of white people got upset and felt oppressed by it, and said it was unworkable, and so on and so forth.

  254. 254.

    Jinchi

    @Betty Cracker:

    The people peddling it were such obvious frauds and crackpots..

    Just a reminder that Mitt Romney was happy to dabble in birtherism, himself, when he ran against Obama in 2012.

    “No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.”

    I bet no one ever called him “Boy” either.

  256. 256.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Mandalay: “Open borders” also works as a wedge, because none of the major candidates are going to publicly support open borders but a fair number of liberals/leftists do, so if the candidate denies being for open borders that’s going to piss them off.

  257. 257.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @Baud: Nope, the two “American” games Baseball and Basketball are considered “girls games” over here namely Rounders and Netball.

  259. 259.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    is that in order to be a “citizen” one has to be born in the US to two US Citizen parents.

    That was one of Orly Taitz’s claims, I think–not that Obama was born in Kenya but that just having a non-citizen parent makes you a non-citizen. Which is just a complete lie and a super-bigoted one to boot.

  260. 260.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @Matt McIrvin: I don’t know. Sanders has vehemently opposed so called “open borders” and it doesn’t bother his rose twitter supporters in the least.

  261. 261.

    Bill Arnold

    “Open borders” also works as a wedge,…

    It’s good that people are spotting this, but it would be nice to also see some focus on Republican Party fault lines.

  262. 262.

    Baud

    @Matt McIrvin:

    There’s a number of issues like that. See things you can avoid. The problem with Open Borders is that it’s a complete lie. No one had come out in support of that.

  264. 264.

    Matt McIrvin

    @James E Powell:

    But today? I doubt that anyone who is still triggered by the word busing would ever vote for a Democrat anyway.

    I disagree. I think that if busing were actually a live issue today it would make maybe 80% of white “liberals” with school-age kids switch to full MAGA.

  268. 268.

    Doug R

    @Baud:

    I’m surprised to hear that in light of the English love of cricket and flopping soccer.

    In hockey, even if they only suspect a flop, they send the flopper to the penalty box too.

  270. 270.

    Nora

    @Tehanu: My husband does you one better. He reads the paper in the local coffee house, draws horns, tails and pitchforks on every picture of Trump (also draws prison bars over particular members of his entourage who have gone to jail, and dunce caps on others who deserve them) and then leaves the paper there for someone else to enjoy.

  271. 271.

    Brachiator

    @Jinchi:

    Just a reminder that Mitt Romney was happy to dabble in birtherism, himself, when he ran against Obama in 2012.

    Funny. Mittens’ father was born in Mexico.

  272. 272.

    Jinchi

    @Cacti:

    Beating Trump is the alpha and omega of what the primary race should be about. Our side is already losing the plot and squabbling about the 1970s.

    Sorry this is an idiotic comment. Talking about the importance of fighting against bigotry in the Trump era is not “losing the plot”, it’s one of the factors that motivated huge turnout for Democrats in 2018.

    In the last 2 years, we’ve seen Muslim bans, children being torn from their parents and put in cages at the border, attempts by every Republican-run state to purge minorities from the voter rolls and to corral the rest in gerrymandered districts, and attempts to criminalize voter registration drives. All while Trump encourages authorities to slam the heads of “thugs” against police cars during an arrest, and neo-Nazis march in the streets shouting “you will not replace us”.

    The racial politics of the 1970s are unfortunately not as far from today as we had hoped.

    Harris was making a pretty emphatic point that as president, she will use the federal authority to defend civil liberties. Biden’s defense of his position on segregation, even in light everything that is happening today is a serious problem. He appears completely blind to the idea that “state’s rights” might not play well for many Democratic communities across the country.

  275. 275.

    Citizen Alan

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    At one point, wasn’t there a poll in which 15% or so of the respondents thought Obama was not born in America because they didn’t realize Hawaii was a state?

  276. 276.

    Brachiator

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    The unique thing about the attacks against Harris though are that she is now deemed “not black enough” not having descended from two black descendant from slave parents.

    This kind of stuff goes nowhere. There are a number of white people, especially conservative white people who live in a bubble. They don’t seem to realize that few things infuriate black folk more than white people trying to decide who is black, or who is black enough. And black conservatives who try to push this shit are quickly dismissed as being insane.

    This crap didn’t work with Obama. It’s not going to work with Harris.

  278. 278.

    Mike in NC

    We got an ad in the mail from Mother Jones which stated that 35% of the people who follow Fat Bastard on Twitter also are fans of David Duke or some other White Supremacist loon. I’d have guessed the number was closer to 75%.

  282. 282.

    J R in WV

    A simple Balloon-Juice poll:

    What is the smallest amount of money you would agree to attend Trump’s July 4th party for?

    What is the smallest amount of money you would agree to attend a White House function with Trump present?

    Would those amounts be different?

    For me, $10,000 and travel via Air Force and Marine One both ways for the July 4th party. Don’t have to listen to Trump or his music.

    And indoors at the White Hous e, $25,000 plus the travel arrangements. Overnight in the Lincoln Bedroom, breakfast before departing. Don’t see Trump except at his function.

    We should track this particular poll weekly until the election, ’cause for me, those amounts will change with Trump’s actions and speeches.

  284. 284.

    Chyron HR

    @Cacti:

    I’m glad we have a fanatical foaming-at-the-mouth Bidenbro here to keep a cool head and insist that Joe Biden’s actual political history is not relevant to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.

  285. 285.

    seefleur

    @J R in WV: For me it would have to be no less than 2 years worth of my annual pay, plus travel by private jet – with lodging at a site other than a tRump property (and it would have to have a 5 star restaurant and bar with all meals inclusive). Anything less than that, and I’m completely uninterested. Oh wait – even with that, I’m completely uninterested. I hope the weather for 7/4 involves many lightning strikes in the area designated for the “party”. Maybe a “King Ralph” event – where all the attendees are taken out by one electrical event… a girl can hope, right?

  287. 287.

    cmorenc

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    I know white people are the ones overwhelming responsible for this idiot but that 14 percent of black men voted for this racist…just wow.

    There’s a reason why the black community has long derisively called some among them “Tom”, and not because the person spoken of is necessarily named “Thomas” or has ever read Harriet Beecher Stowe. Ironically, a paradigm example of a “Tom” is Justice Clarence Thomas.

  288. 288.

    dnfree

    @Immanentize: The “lie” (not lie) is that she was in the second integrated class, but there were African-American students before that in her elementary school. THIS IS TRUE. But she didn’t claim that there were no African-American students before her, or that she was one of the first African-American students. She was in the second class that was integrated via busing. There have already been numerous fact checks, but that won’t stop the “lie” story.

    https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/28/politics/fact-check-kamala-harris-busing-in-berkeley/index.html

  289. 289.

    Cacti

    @Jinchi:

    Blah blah blah.

    Is someone on the Dem side running on bringing back busing? No?

    Then what’s the utility of re-litigating 5 decades ago, when the danger is here and now? Unless you think “you hurt my feelings” is the winning strategy for beating the fascists.

  290. 290.

    Jinchi

    @Cacti:

    Is someone on the Dem side running on bringing back busing?

    Just a reminder that it’s Joe Biden who keeps bringing up the glory days of the 1970s.

  291. 291.

    Cacti

    @Chyron HR:

    I’ve already said Harris is my preferred candidate numbnuts. And I know exactly why she said what she said at the debate. And as a tactic, it was well planned and delivered.

    But now it’s grown into something out of her control. And if you think that a protracted argument about the issues of a half century ago is a winning strategy for taking down Trump, just label yourself Exhibit A for why Democrats lose all the fucking time.

  293. 293.

    Zinsky

    The Rapist-In-Chief knows diddley-squat about U.S. history because he reads nothing. Except maybe the wrappers and labels on the porn videos he watches! The man is the personification of the oafish, ignorant rich white guy who has never done an honest day’s work in his life. He is truly nothing more than shit wrapped in skin…

  295. 295.

    leeleeFL

    @Betty Cracker: Dear Betty, both things stayed around because they fed the racist trolls exactly the diet they wanted. This new attack on Kamala Harris will do harm. It is inevitable. How to contain the damage us the only question.

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