Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

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

Optimism opens the door to great things.

After roe, women are no longer free.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Hot air and ill-informed banter

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I was promised a recession.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Bark louder, little dog.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Republicans don’t trust women.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Democratic National Convention, Night Two: Open Thread – PART TWO

Democratic National Convention, Night Two: Open Thread – PART TWO

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Joe should absolutely do a late-October social-media ad, dressed as the Terminator, growling “Come with me if you want to live.”

Reader Interactions

308Comments

  1. 1.

    West of the Cascades

    Joe Biden in his Corvette with his Ray Bans growling “come with me if you want to live.”

  2. 2.

    dmsilev

    Hell, there’s a non-zero chance you could get Ahnold to do an ad of “Come with Joe if you want to live”.

  3. 3.

    West of the Cascades

    I’m really liking these “Joe sits and listens (virtually) to people” segments. This one on the ACA is a bit of a tearjerker.

  5. 5.

    Marcopolo

    Good news out of WI tonight—the Wisconsin Elections Commission has recommended that both Kanye & the Green Party candidate be struck from the Nov. Presidential ballot due application issues (Kanye for deadline & sigs; Green Party for wrong address on application).

  6. 6.

    Narya

    I’m watching the roll call, and I gotta say, it’s even making an old cynic like me well up a bit. I love love love the variety of people.

  9. 9.

    Marcopolo

    Looking forward to hearing from hero Ady Barkin soon.

    Edited—there he is.  I so respect this guy!

  10. 10.

    Ken

    @Marcopolo: Kanye had that problem with invalid signatures in other states. I can’t decide if it’s because signers thought a joke candidate deserved a joke signature, or because the Republicans hired the lowest bidder to gather signatures and got what they paid for.

  12. 12.

    Adam L Silverman

    Loony Loomer beat the QAnon candidate in that GOP primary. So the choice was a Jewish woman who loves neo-NAZIs and white supremacists and threaten to pee on herself if Twitter didn’t come out of their office and do something and a QAnon nut. And that’s a safe Democratic seat, so Loomer won’t win in the general. That’s basically Debbie Wasserman-Schultz’s seat for life.

  13. 13.

    trnc

    Was that Cole saying he would devote all his energy to getting Joe elected?

    ETA: I just looked up and caught a glimpse, so it could have been almost any dude fitting JC’s general look.

  22. 22.

    Kent

    @Adam L Silverman:Loony Loomer beat the QAnon candidate in that GOP primary. So the choice was a Jewish woman who loves neo-NAZIs and white supremacists and threaten to pee on herself if Twitter didn’t come out of their office and do something and a QAnon nut.

    How long until one of those handgun nuts who actually shoots his nuts off gets a GOP nomination?

  24. 24.

    NotMax

    Joe should absolutely do a late-October social-media ad, dressed as the Terminator, growling “Come with me if you want to live.”

    Cannot stress enough how against this concept I am. The presidency isn’t cosplay.

  28. 28.

    Kent

    @NotMax: What he is doing now is pretty good.  Actually listening to a lot of normal ordinary Americans in a time of crisis.  It’s working for me.

    We have folks like the Lincoln Project to push the envelope.  That’s the way it is supposed to work.

  34. 34.

    Kent

    “When Donald Trump goes overseas it’s not a newsreel.  It’s a blooper reel.”

    Nice shade from the former Secretary of State.

  39. 39.

    Kent

    @Ken:@zhena gogolia: Wait until the Republican one, which features (checks schedule) … two hours of Trump every night?  That can’t be right…

    They will scatter in an assortment of straight white men and blonde women to add diversity.

  48. 48.

    Marcopolo

    Ady Barkin is a shining example of a human being doing their utmost under awful conditions to make the world a better place for everyone. A life that is being cut way too short but as well lived as anyone.

    Guessing Colin Powell up soon.

  49. 49.

    Ken

    @Kent: Yeah, I saw the list of pardoned felons, parasites, and family members (but I am redundant) that will be introducing Trump each night.

    @Sister Golden Bear: I meant his airing of grievances speeches. Or is he planning to speak for four hours a night?

  51. 51.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Suzanne: I wanted to drink a beer with Kerry.

    ETA:  And both Kerry and Bush were Skull and Bones at Yale at about the same time.

  60. 60.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Kent: There’s one from Rifle, CO who has upset the Republican incumbent. She’s both militia and QAnon curious. Frankly there’s a lot of overlap in these different extremist communities.

  72. 72.

    dmsilev

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yeah, his legacy is …mixed. Still, if we’re doing the “serious Republicans also support Biden” thing, I can’t get too upset about either him or Cindy McCain speaking tonight.

  79. 79.

    Anne Laurie

    @NotMax: The presidency isn’t cosplay.

    Not even on Halloween?  You just *know* Joe loves to hand out the candy on Halloween — full-sized chocolate bars, too, none of this ‘fun mix’ crap!

  80. 80.

    PsiFighter37

    Colin doesn’t sound as old as Slick Willy, but damn…this is just a reminder of how long 15-25 years ago can feel.

  81. 81.

    HumboldtBlue

    It’s a sign the DNC convention is compelling enough to mute Ernie, Chuck, Shaq and Kenny

  85. 85.

    Kent

    @dmsilev:@Omnes Omnibus: Yeah, his legacy is …mixed. Still, if we’re doing the “serious Republicans also support Biden” thing, I can’t get too upset about either him or Cindy McCain speaking tonight.

    We aren’t the audience for these sections.  My hard-headed Republican dairy farmer uncle who is fed up with Trump is the audience for these sections.

    Whatever it takes to win.  Whatever it takes.  We need every vote.

  86. 86.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Kent: They actually don’t have a schedule yet. It has been a real problem for the networks because they don’t know what to block off.

  87. 87.

    Cheryl Rofer

  95. 95.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    (just gonna sit here quietly and not mention that McCain was all in on the total obstruction of the Obama agenda, and chortled about blocking President HRC’s nominees just like they did with Merrick Garland, etc… because:

    @Kent:

    Whatever it takes to win.  Whatever it takes.  We need every vote.

    Whatever it takes to win.  Whatever it takes.  We need every vote.

    accidentally pasted it twice, but it’s good to remember

  98. 98.

    Marcopolo

    Just the posture of McConnell when McCain did his thumb’s down. That’s a winner right there & it saved the ACA.

    And Jill Biden is hawt.

  107. 107.

    cain

    @Adam L Silverman:

    @Kent: There’s one from Rifle, CO who has upset the Republican incumbent. She’s both militia and QAnon curious. Frankly there’s a lot of overlap in these different extremist communities.

    Lawd.. I’ve been there – stayed there with my gf.

  114. 114.

    Kent

    @Baud: I think it’s because we spend too much time online and not enough time watching TV.  I’m sure my 82 year old mother knows EXACTLY who the Biden grandkids are.

  116. 116.

    Winston

    Good contrast between marital fidelity between Biden and Trump. Hands down, Biden for the win.

  117. 117.

    dww44

    @Eunicecycle: Yes, it is. We lost a close cousin to ALS.  She lived on the coast where the water table is high and not too far from a big chemical plant. There ‘s a pocket of ALS victims in the area.

  119. 119.

    Anne Laurie

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): If you click on the link in my original comment (the tweet was from last weekend), you can follow the whole argument.  TL, DR:  He only agreed to appear so the big DNC meanies wouldn’t pull the plug on his life support.  Which is stupid, ableist, and also not rooted in reality.

    I decided against sharing it with y’all at the time, because those guys didn’t deserve another chance to give us sane people agita.

  123. 123.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kent:

    He’s incredibly inspiring. It’s disgusting that the asshole dead enders would deny Barkan agency for their petty politics. It’s ableist

    @Ken:

    That’s the issue. It’s denying him agency.

  127. 127.

    HumboldtBlue

    I have walked those Brandywine hallways in chase of a pretty girl who I met at All-State Chorus.

    I was badass, wore my Dover jacket and everything.

  128. 128.

    guachi

    Crisis in the schools? Let’s have a teacher, who also happens to be the next First Lady, speak.

    What’s Melania going to talk about?

  131. 131.

    Sister Golden Bear

    OT: The good news, the temperature has dropped enough that I could finally open the windows to cool the house down.

    The bad news: The smoke from the two nearby wildfires is bad enough it smells like I’m inside a BBQ smoker. Ugh.

  132. 132.

    frosty

    Joe should absolutely do a late-October social-media ad, dressed as the Terminator, growling “Come with me if you want to live.

    I sent the Wonkette Editrix an email that I would totally buy that coffee cup and she was considering it. Still only “Smokin’ Joe” though. I has a sad.

  141. 141.

    Anne Laurie

    @Baud: Qanon Left?

    Wouldn’t surprise me if, by this time next year, some of the most prominent ‘dirtbag Leftists’ have transitioned to full-time QAnon supporters.  Limbaugh can’t hang on much longer, and Alex Jones is a soft target — there’s big money to be harvested from those ‘devotees’.

  144. 144.

    Kent

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yeah, I was walking the dog and missed the intro

    Grandkids is the NORMAL thing for folks Biden’s age.  Not an elementary school kid from your third wife when you are in your 70s.

    We lose track how fucking abnormal and degenerate the whole Trump clan is.

  147. 147.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: @West of the Cascades: @Winston: One of the items in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s fifth and final report on Russian interference in the 2016 election is that Trump had an affair with a Russian woman on his 1997 trip to Moscow. And that his letter to Putin in 2013 has a hand added reference to Russia having the most beautiful women in the world. She’s been on the phone with her attorney all day about how the pre-nup gets renegotiated between now and Monday or she’s not participating in the Republican nominating convention.

  149. 149.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Anne Laurie:

    He only agreed to appear so the big DNC meanies wouldn’t pull the plug on his life support.  Which is stupid, ableist, and also not rooted in reality.

    Good god that’s stupid and offensive

  152. 152.

    cain

    @dww44:

    I’m so sorry for this – I have a friend who has this – and it is tough to know that he is in pain. He had the promise of having a brilliant career – all cut short. I’ve sworn to find a way to help him..

  153. 153.

    Kay

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    I do love it. I want it recognized that kids have lost a lot in the pandemic. It has upended their lives and they’re not adults- they’re struggling to adjust. It is just so brutally unfair that stupid, reckless people did this to them.

    You know, Donald Trump got to go to school. So did his awful children. Our kids can’t.

  156. 156.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    She’s wearing the same dress she was wearing in the live shot when Joe clinched the nomination. So yes, live.

    ETA: And Joe comes in and gives her a big hug. And a little shade at Melania, perhaps?

  158. 158.

    Kent

    @tinare:@zhena gogolia: Extremely well done.

    I’m not missing one bit having Cokie Roberts and Tweety and the rest of the gang interrupting every 5 minutes with innane comment and bullshit.

    This is SO SO much better.

  162. 162.

    Redshift

    @Winston:

    Good contrast between marital fidelity between Biden and Trump. Hands down, Biden for the win. 

    And the family sitting around the table having a good time like normal people, instead of posing stiffly in a tacky gilded palace, making it clear they don’t need social distancing guidelines to want to stay six feet apart.

  165. 165.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    sombody make a side-by-side gif of this moment and Melanie shaking trump’s hand off….

  166. 166.

    cain

    Great speech by Jill – very heartfelt.

    Joe coming in there – giving her love, warmth, and that support.

    Tell me – when has Donny ever had a scene like that with Melania?

    All that family values? nah.. these people like the fact that Donnie is a misogynist asshole who controls his women.

  170. 170.

    Yutsano

    Looks like they’re going to run over about 10 minutes every night. Which won’t be too terrible.

    John Legend closing out the night!

  171. 171.

    Eunicecycle

    I think Jill did a good job comparing how she helped Joe heal their family and how he will help heal our nation.

  172. 172.

    cain

    I cannot *wait* for my forever POTUS to speak tomorrow.

    Also – wooo – john legend!

    we get John Legend – they get Ted Nugent.

  177. 177.

    West of the Cascades

    Tonight was even better TV than last night. The people who put this seamless, deep, and thoughtful convention together (and all of the people who have spoken) are to be commended

    By comparison, the hastily-assembled hate-fest that the QAnon-adjacent party is going to vomit up next week is going to look wretched indeed.

  184. 184.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    “Progress is made by the hopeful and not the cynical. Movements are built by the many and not the few.”

  186. 186.

    Kent

    @tinare:@Kent: I agree.  I love that they just let it roll.

    It probably works for them because there is nothing for them to produce.  A regular convention the networks probably have to spend millions in production costs just to put in on.  With a whole lot of high priced talent.  Here all they have to do is just stream.

  188. 188.

    Marcopolo

    So the nice thing about MSNBC is they are letting Maddow, Wallace, and Reid recap w/ out any Brian Williams for (at least last night) the first 15 mins. I don’t mind listening to them.

  189. 189.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Anne Laurie: I’ll do the post tomorrow on the SSCI report today, but one of the interesting tidbits revealed is the twitter account of Konstantin Kilimnik who is a GRU officer and Paul Manafort’s handler. Who was Kilimnik following and retweeting you ask? Aaron Mate, Michael Tracy, Matt Taibbi, Eric Garland, and many more who either went all in the Russia stuff is a hoax or whatever stupidity Louise Mensch was putting out.

  190. 190.

    mrmoshpotato

    @dmsilev: Isn’t her “signature issue” bullying? Maybe we can hear how that’s been going.

    “My mark for Putin, I mean husband, is be best at bullying.  Tremendous bully!”

  194. 194.

    TS (the original)

    @Baud:

    I waited a minute & Rachel & Co were back on. They loved the evening.

    Now talking about how good the production was. And back to – no way trump can match this.

  198. 198.

    Another Scott

    Another great night.

    In other news, …

    Some details about the day of the Access Hollywood tape/Podesta emails release: Trump campaign team heard about the tape an hour before its release. Stone told Corsi to get Assange to "drop the Podesta emails immediately." WikiLeaks did so 30 min after tape published. (249) pic.twitter.com/rKfDnJ511f

    — Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) August 18, 2020

    How much more evidence do people need… Grrr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  201. 201.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Marcopolo: The letter from 2013 has him telling Putin how beautiful the women in Moscow are. You think they only had one honey trap for him on that one trip?

  206. 206.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kay:

    I do love it. I want it recognized that kids have lost a lot in the pandemic. It has upended their lives and they’re not adults- they’re struggling to adjust. It is just so brutally unfair that stupid, reckless people did this to them.

    You know, Donald Trump got to go to school. So did his awful children. Our kids can’t.

    Yup. Donald Trump and his lackeys have failed America and it’s children

  207. 207.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Yutsano:

    I wish they would dump Williams. Maddow, Wallace, and Reid are brilliant. That also sounds like a kickass law firm.

    Seems like they’re getting a lot more time tonight than they did last night. I suspect the twitter response to the quick hook last night was brutal

  209. 209.

    Baud

    I wonder if Hillary will appear right before Kamala gives her speech tomorrow. Sort of a passing of the torch.

  211. 211.

    Mary G

    Brian Williams actually made a good point that next week’s convention will make it seem like it’s really Hunter Biden’s who’s running for president.

  213. 213.

    Marcopolo

    @Adam L Silverman: Point taken.

    next up Schiff on the Senate report.  As much as that might be good think I am calling it a night.  Carry the good convention buzz for the rest of the night.

  214. 214.

    leeleeFL

    @Omnes Omnibus:  always regretted that defeat, imagine what those 4 years could have been….and he gave Barack the Keynote.  Said that night, you run in something I can vote for you in, I am in the bag.

  218. 218.

    Yutsano

    @Mary G: I honestly wished we had heard from Hunter. I don’t think he is someone the Democrats should be ashamed of. He is Biden’s only living son. He should have a role here.

  221. 221.

    Kattails

    @Cheryl Rofer: Thanks for that! Someone here always adds his (delightful) two cents, I’d say under the circumstances this is worth at least a couple of bucks.

  222. 222.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I know I’m gonna have to get some extra Kleenex next week for that moment when the two Fredos tell the touching story of the moment their mother told them she was recanting the rape accusation she made against their father, under oath, during their parents’ divorce.

  223. 223.

    Jeffro

    @Kay:I want it recognized that kids have lost a lot in the pandemic. It has upended their lives and they’re not adults- they’re struggling to adjust. It is just so brutally unfair that stupid, reckless people did this to them.

    I wish that in every school district in the country…every superintendent, every principal, every teacher…would respond to every angry, frustrated parent complaint about blessed ‘distance learning’ with “well…it didn’t have to be this way.  There’s a reason we’re STILL in this mess, after everything we went through this spring.  Wanna help turn that around?”

  224. 224.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Another Scott: As I indicated in another comment, I’ll do a full post on this tomorrow, but the report makes it very, very, very clear that the President himself, his campaign, his campaign officials, his family members, and a number of his surrogates were either in regular touch with Russian assets or were in regular touch with those who were like Roger Stone. Or, as in the case of Manafort, is a Russian asset. That all of these people were attempting to coordinate, assist, and aid the Russians in what they were doing. That several, like Manafort and Stone, were conspiring with Russian assets to coordinate, assist, and aid the Russians in what they were doing. And that the President was coordinating at least the Roger Stone part of the op. Additionally, the report makes it clear that the President, Don McGahn, Manafort, Stone, Jr, Jared, Bannon, Stone, and the President’s two private lawyers Sekulow and Giuliani were obstructing the Mueller and the congressional investigations in a variety of ways. And that the President lied in his answers to Mueller.

    I understand why Rubio tried to spin the findings as no collusion, but the executive summary of findings make it clear that collusion wasn’t the issue: coordinating, conspiring, facilitating, aiding, abetting, and obstructing were the issues.

  226. 226.

    Another Scott

    @cain: Her giving the talk in a quiet elementary school was perfect.

    Biden’s people are very, very good at this stuff.  It’s important and they’re passing the test with flying colors.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  227. 227.

    Another Scott

    @Adam L Silverman: Looking forward to it, even though I don’t need any convincing.  ;-)

    “Russia, if you’re listening, …”

    The willful blindness/acquiescence/support of people who have power to do something about protecting the country and her institutions is infuriating.

    The Manchurian Candidate (the version with Sinatra, Lansbury, Harvey, Leigh) and keeps playing in my head…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  228. 228.

    Eolirin

    @Mary G: I think there’s a pretty good chance that the RNC is going to be so much of a dumpster fire that rampant technical issues and overall lack of quality becomes the story. Especially now that there’s an example of what this looks like when done correctly.

    It’ll be great for the pundits because they don’t have to address the content and can engage in mindless theater criticism, which is definitely their comfort zone, and especially lets them avoid the racism on display, and they can shift criticism away from Trump personally and onto the event organizers.

    But the upside will be that their message doesn’t really penetrate except for soundbites to use in Facebook ads and posts.

  230. 230.

    Another Scott

    @Eolirin: Them not even being able to rewrite the platform (and instead using the 2016 one verbatim) is a bad sign.

    The only question is how bad it will be.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  232. 232.

    Kent

    @Eolirin:

    @Mary G: I think there’s a pretty good chance that the RNC is going to be so much of a dumpster fire that rampant technical issues and overall lack of quality becomes the story. Especially now that there’s an example of what this looks like when done correctly.

    It’ll be great for the pundits because they don’t have to address the content and can engage in mindless theater criticism, which is definitely their comfort zone, and especially lets them avoid the racism on display, and they can shift criticism away from Trump personally and onto the event organizers.

    Don’t get your hopes up too high.  Most of it is going to be pre-taped.  They can throw a shitload of money at it and hire a lot of competent video production folks.  They will probably come up with something reasonably competent.

    Their big problem is that the Trump campaign and GOP has made zero case for another 4 years.  Vote for Trump because he will __________?  They got nothing so will fill it with slick lies and bullshit.

  235. 235.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Looking forward to the GOP roll call:

    ALABAMA: Roy Moore, legally standing a hundred feet outside a mall …

    ALASKA: Hunters lighting up caribou with AK-47s …

    ARIZONA: Joe Arpaio licking a taser …

    ARKANSAS: Tom Cotton smashing a bottle on a bar, daring the camera to fight …

    — Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) August 19, 2020

  237. 237.

    SFAW

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I understand why Rubio tried to spin the findings as no collusion, but the executive summary of findings make it clear that collusion wasn’t the issue: coordinating, conspiring, facilitating, aiding, abetting, and obstructing were the issues.

    For some reason, your comment made me think of Senator Harris questioning Justice-to-be McRapeface. She’s more temperate than I, but at one point, I wanted to yell at Kavanaugh “just answer the fucking question, you liar.” I think it would have been good humor if Sheldon Whitehouse had tased Kavanaugh until he answered her questions. [Tonight I finally saw the “have you discussed the Mueller investigation with anyone at Kasowitz’s law firm” interrogation.]

  239. 239.

    Kattails

    Looks like an absolutely delightful read, I look forward to it, coffee or wine depending on the time of day. I am in a very good mood watching this convention. I like cake, and I like icing.

    It seems that there is a dam holding back a huge body of devastating information about Trump and his cartel. I want to see that thing carpet bombed into rubble, the resultant flood taking the whole lot of them down.

  244. 244.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Kent:

    They can throw a shitload of money at it and hire a lot of competent video production folks.

    They can, but considering that Trump thinks it’s HIS MONEY, they won’t.   These folk are both incompetent and cheap.

  245. 245.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Justin Baragona @justinbaragona· 13m
    Laura Ingraham: “You keep Colin Powell out there…you put all these old homies out there”

    “old homies”…

  249. 249.

    James E Powell

    @Kent:

    Their big problem is that the Trump campaign and GOP has made zero case for another 4 years.  Vote for Trump because he will __________?  They got nothing so will fill it with slick lies and bullshit.

    Continue to own the libs? Enrage your know-it-all brother-in-law? Make you feel better about voting for him in 2016? Prevent the socialist takeover of America and the imposition of Sharia law?

  250. 250.

    Eolirin

    @Kent: They don’t even have speaker schedules yet, and no real sense of having a locked down list of speakers at all. It’s not just getting the material, or it being pretaped versus live. There’s so many moving parts in attempting something like this and you really can’t just throw it together in the last week or two, even if you’re very good. And I’m far more skeptical about them having anyone that’s in the same universe as very good having a hand in any part of this.

    Throwing money at a problem doesn’t change the physics of the problem. Especially not when the people you’re throwing money at are mostly incompetents and grifters.

  254. 254.

    Adam L Silverman

    @bluehill: Not by name, but the findings completely debunk what he, Grassley, and Graham are trying to do.

    The findings are explicit that Putin personally ordered the active measures campaign against HRC with the explicit intention of promoting and supporting the President’s candidacy, electing him president, and if that failed, make it impossible for HRC to govern.

    The findings are explicit that Russian intelligence created the Ukraine actually conspired with HRC and the DNC in 2016 conspiracy theory and then framed Russia and the President agitprop and laundered into the Republican Party through Kilimnik and then through Manafort to the President and the people around the President. This blows up what Johnson and Grassley are trying to do.

    The findings also make clear that Flynn both contacted Kislyak with the express purpose of undermining, derailing, and overturning the actions of the Obama administration. The findings are explicit that under the Constitution the Obama administration was the sole and only presidential administration and the sole and only wielder of executive authority and power until 20 JAN 2017. This complete blows up what Graham is trying to do.

    The findings are clear that Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI counterintelligence investigation that ultimately became the Special Counsel investigation, were properly predicated. This complete blows up what Barr is trying to do through Durham.

    The findings are also clear that Russian intelligence created the Seth Rich murder conspiracy and then laundered it through Assange and Wikileaks into conservative and right wing news, social, and digital media. So Sean Hannity and Fox News were actively acting as, at least, unwitting assets of Russian intelligence.

  255. 255.

    Kattails

    @James E Powell: One Twitter comment I saw from a Republican voting for Biden was just that: after four years, if you have no real platform or ideas but must cheat to win, then you don’t deserve the job.

  256. 256.

    Adam L Silverman

    @bluehill: One final important point, there are 9 Republicans on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. They had read the initial and penultimate drafts of this report, as well as the underlying supporting intelligence and materials by the time the President’s impeachment trial was held at the end of January. All of them knew exactly what was done, who did what, etc. All of them knew that the President’s defense – that Ukraine had really been conspiring with HRC and the Democratic Party and had framed Russia and the President to prevent him from becoming president – was not just a lie, but a lie created by Russian intelligence and passed to the President by Konstantin Kilimnik, a GRU asset and the handler for Paul Manafort, who laundered it through Manafort to the President and other Republicans. They knew his defense was Russian misinformation and agitprop. They knew what he had actually done in the campaign and since the campaign vis a vis Putin and Russia. And they still, every last fucking one of them, voted against hearing evidence and witnesses and actually holding a proper trial. And then they, every last fucking one of them, voted to acquit him.

  257. 257.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Eolirin:

    There’s so many moving parts in attempting something like this and you really can’t just throw it together in the last week or two, even if you’re very good.

    QFT.

    The Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend went virtual this year with four two-hour shows, mostly using pre-recorded performances. Far, far simpler than a political convention, and it was put on by show people experienced putting together this sort of thing, and it was still hella challenging and complicated even with several months of prep.

  258. 258.

    Feathers

    Here’s the video they should use to intro Harris – KAMALA! (A Broadway Parody) I’ve watched it too many times. At the very least you’ll get the correct pronunciation of her name drilled into your head.

    Didn’t watch last night. Tonight was very good. I was watching the live stream on NBC News and they cut away to the yappers during the roll call of the states. Rude! Switched over to the Washington Post and they ran the tape without interruption until the end.

  259. 259.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Kent:

    Their big problem is that the Trump campaign and GOP has made zero case for another 4 years.  Vote for Trump because he will __________?  They got nothing so will fill it with slick lies and bullshit.

    “win regardless, and punish you if you didn’t support him” seems to be the angle they’re settling on.

  261. 261.

    bluehill

    @Adam L Silverman: Hoo boy. Don’t want to think about what they are doing for this election. It doesn’t surprise me that Russia has penetrated so broadly and deeply into U.S. affairs, but if the story ever comes out, I’m sure I’ll be surprised by some of the people they controlled.

  266. 266.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): CNN settled for the nuisance fee, which is basically the kid’s attorney’s fees and they both signed non-disclosures about the amount. So the kid’s attorney, who is a complete nut job, started trumpeting what a great win it was on social media and how his client had been completely exonerated from CNN’s and the fake news’s perfidy until a whole bunch of attorneys from legal twitter, and CNN’s attorney, explained to him that if he kept talking, the NDA was violated, and full disclosure could and would be made. And he shut up and started threatening someone on twitter on behalf of his next client.

  268. 268.

    Adam L Silverman

    @bluehill:

  269. 269.

    dmsilev

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): The kid who is speaking sued a bunch of media companies and had at least one decide that settling the suit was cheaper/easier/less risky than fighting. His speech will almost definitely be about the Liberal Media Conspiracy.

  271. 271.

    Matt McIrvin

    Erik Loomis and the entire population of Twitter hate you all for watching the convention.

  272. 272.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Adam L Silverman:

    No I meant this, from the Nathan Phillips wiki page:

    In the days after the confrontation, Journalists reviewed hours of tapes from multiple points of view and, in their opinion, showed that videos of the event either “[contradicted] or [failed] to confirm accounts provided in that story—including that Phillips was prevented by Sandmann from moving on, that his group had been taunted by the students in the lead-up to the encounter, [that] the students were trying to instigate a conflict,” and the video evidence was consistent with the students’ version of events. Video footage also showed members of the Black Hebrew Israelites shouting targeted racial insults and slurs at a group of Native Americans and later at the students. Asked why he had approached the group of students, Phillips said that he was trying to defuse a confrontation between the group of students and a small group of Black Hebrew Israelites who were shouting insults and profanities at the students. In subsequent interviews Phillips and his associates stated they interpreted the cheers that the students’ directed toward their nearby Indigenous Peoples March as racist.

  274. 274.

    RandomMonster

    Why do I suspect that the production values of the RNC are going to be ass compared to what we’ve seen so far for the DNC.

  280. 280.

    Eolirin

    @Adam L Silverman: Assuming some level of snark, but just in case of miscommunication, I meant that they hadn’t locked down the entire slate and they’ve got less than a week to go.

  294. 294.

    Mary G

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: People who are good at these specialties seem unlikely to be Republicans and the few I personally know wouldn’t work for Twitler for any amount of money. At best it’ll be people who work for grifting megachurches whose skills are stuck in the 90s PowerPoint area.

  296. 296.

    Ruckus

    @Eunicecycle:

    I had a friend who had ALS. Quite a bit older than Ady but ALS doesn’t care, it just eats you up. Tony was a good man. His son  devoted his life to taking care of his dad. Of all the major neurological diseases I think this one is the worst. It doesn’t just take one part of you away, it takes every part. And lets you know it, every minute it’s doing it.

  298. 298.

    piratedan

    what I REALLY like about the convention in this format is that people who are watching can actually listen to what the candidates are saying, interpret their tone, body language, assess their sincerity for themselves; without some fucking talking head spinning whatever fucking frame they need to put a picture in.

  300. 300.

    Jay

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    get a Honeywell Ionizing Air Purifier. We have the small one with the cleanable air filter.

    it cleans 780 sq ft in half an hour.

    Scrubbing the air from forest fire smoke is the “new normal”, this side of the Rockies.

  301. 301.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Matt McIrvin: Loomis wouldn’t be happy unless most of us spent our free time listening to whiny Wilco-lite bands and drinking beer that tastes like Pine-Sol. And then even then we’d probably be racist because of living… somewhere.

  302. 302.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ruckus: I was amused until the end, when I had to laugh out loud.

    This ad was paid for by the ghost of Donald Trump’s dead Dad who is looking up from Hell with shame in his eyes

    …yesssssss!

  303. 303.

    Sebastian

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I know I am known for hyperbole (because I can hardly contain my rage) but please please tell me how this is not leading to having them lined up against a wall?

  304. 304.

    Suzy

    @Kent: They were the ones who recited the pledge of allegiance yesterday. Boy, Beau’s children have grown up a lot since we saw them at their dad’s funeral…

  307. 307.

    J R in WV

    @dmsilev:

    The kid who is speaking sued a bunch of media companies and had at least one decide that settling the suit was cheaper/easier/less risky than fighting. His speech will almost definitely be about the Liberal Media Conspiracy.

    The kid had better be real careful, sounds like CNN is watching closely to be sure the non-disclosure agreement is observed. Kid goes astray, he won’t just lose his settlement, they’ll take everything he ever makes.

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