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The willow is too close to the house.

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And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

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Bark louder, little dog.

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It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

I really should read my own blog.

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You are here: Home / Politics / GOP Death Cult / RNC Con After Dark: Riveting TV Drama

RNC Con After Dark: Riveting TV Drama

by Anne Laurie|  August 25, 202012:34 am| 136 Comments

This post is in: GOP Death Cult, Open Threads, Trump Crime Cartel, Trumpery, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All

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pic.twitter.com/wDRWfFzq4V

— mike luckovich (@mluckovichajc) August 21, 2020

“We’re getting ready to do things like nobody’s ever seen before,” President Trump says as he formally claims the GOP nomination.

— Matt Viser (@mviser) August 24, 2020

I’m not watching the RNC. If I wanted to see an old, incoherent despot being praised by family members while urging his population to drink bleach I would’ve stayed in Uzbekistan.

— Rita Konaev (@RitaKonaev) August 25, 2020


175,000 Americans could not be reached for comment https://t.co/ejv8U70XkJ

— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) August 24, 2020

On CNN now, Trump is complaining about not being covered by CNN. pic.twitter.com/bEwJFjJkyY

— Annie Linskey (@AnnieLinskey) August 24, 2020

RNC: ok sir we got it all set up and coordinated everything like clockwork just follow this simple sched-

TRUMP: gimme that microphone I’m gonna go ramble about antifa in the marriott parking lot

— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 24, 2020

“Air Force One has more televisions than any plane in history,” President Trump says.

— Matt Viser (@mviser) August 24, 2020


(Needless to say, it does not.)

The more important question: why are they doing this during the day? If they wanted every news network to air it live, they should have done it in primetime like the DNC did. https://t.co/shHU0YYuah

— Niles Edward Francis (@NilesGApol) August 24, 2020

I see the controversy du jour is who yelled what at the president which is always a sign day one of your own convention is going perfect

— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 24, 2020

It’s not as if the base is detail oriented enough to notice

— abbie (@abbierenn) August 24, 2020

Trump speaking every night is a way to generate ratings, one would think. But here's the thing: ratings do not equal popularity. Trump's gotten "ratings" his entire presidency, and it leaves him down 9 with only a little more than 2 months to go.

— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) August 23, 2020

Should’ve gone with the original opener proposal…

Sure, seeing people all over the country nominating Biden is cool.

But just wait until the RNC when Donald Trump Jr. does a Jaegermeister shot out of Kim Guilfoyle’s belly button in front of a lot of flags.

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) August 19, 2020

https://t.co/SF0w7Z5nKC pic.twitter.com/KdDdBDXgle

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) August 21, 2020

"ON THURSDAY HE MAY APPEAR MORE PRESIDENTIAL"

MSNBC correspondent after Trump just spewed lies for nearly an hour: "On Thursday he may appear more presidential. I think that's the contrast we may see later in the week."

HOW ARE WE STILL DOING THIS pic.twitter.com/wtQPT3qTzx

— Lis Power (@LisPower1) August 24, 2020

hello I am a new tone expert here with some news for the senior gop strategist https://t.co/yR7eag7hvm

— kilgore trout, new tone haver (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 24, 2020

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Previous Post: « Republican Convention Thread – Part Two
Next Post: COVID-19 Coronavirus Update: Monday/Tuesday, August 24-25 »

Reader Interactions

136Comments

  1. 1.

    lumpkin

    August 25, 2020 at 12:45 am

    Trump is really proud of the TV situation on AF1. He’s bragged before about how he got all the tv’s updated, like nobody had ever done before.

    HOW CAN ANYONE BE THIS FUCKING STUPID and be in charge of anything?

  2. 2.

    Jess

    August 25, 2020 at 12:50 am

    Where is everyone? Passed out from an RNC drinking game? I knew this would end badly…

  3. 3.

    NotMax

    August 25, 2020 at 12:50 am

    “Yes, sir, we’re already finalizing the campaign for the DVD sales. Gonna be boffo. Which offshore account does the sales income go to again?”

    //

  4. 4.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 25, 2020 at 12:52 am

    The memes and tweets and instas and facies and snappies and what-the-fuck-ever tik tokers are doing is nothing compared to the future.

    The best is yet to come!!!

    I’ve always loved Russian composers and I still admire the former Soviet anthem simply for its wonderful melody.

    Here’s some Soviet music on coke.

  5. 5.

    Jess

    August 25, 2020 at 12:53 am

    My big excitement for the night was finally catching a mouse that’s been eluding capture for weeks now. I had to give up on the humane live trap, and go with the Sudden Death trap. Chocolate as a bait turned out to be the key ingredient.

  6. 6.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 12:54 am

    @lumpkin:

    HOW CAN ANYONE BE THIS FUCKING STUPID and be in charge of anything? 

    Eight years of Rethuglicans mainlining racism and idiocy, and 20+ years of Clinton ratfucking.

  7. 7.

    KithKanan

    August 25, 2020 at 12:54 am

    Do you think Trump has a clue what modern in-flight entertainment is like? How many decades has it been since he last flew commercial?

  8. 8.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 25, 2020 at 12:54 am

    @lumpkin:

    Trump is really proud of the TV situation on AF1. He’s bragged before about how he got all the tv’s updated, like nobody had ever done before.

    “I like to watch.”

  9. 9.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 25, 2020 at 12:56 am

    @Jess:

    The other three dozen are now working on avoiding the chocolate.

  10. 10.

    Jess

    August 25, 2020 at 12:57 am

    @HumboldtBlue: No creature can resist death by chocolate.

  11. 11.

    Sure Lurkalot

    August 25, 2020 at 12:58 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: If only we could’ve gotten a benevolent buffoon.

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    August 25, 2020 at 12:58 am

    @BilinGlendaleCA

    Coin toss as to whether you’re referencing Chance the Gardener or Falwell Junior.

    ;)

  13. 13.

    Jess

    August 25, 2020 at 12:59 am

    @NotMax: Okay–you win.

  14. 14.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 25, 2020 at 1:01 am

    @Jess: Thanks, now I have to get some chocolate.

  15. 15.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 25, 2020 at 1:03 am

    @Jess:

    Backhanded baby fist swipe to you!

  16. 16.

    West of the Rockies

    August 25, 2020 at 1:03 am

    Nikki Haley always appears condescending and ready to cry, a very odd mix.

  17. 17.

    Medicine Man

    August 25, 2020 at 1:04 am

    And he could legit get re-elected. That’s the part that blows my mind.

  18. 18.

    Jackie

    August 25, 2020 at 1:05 am

    @Jess: ???  Yup!

  19. 19.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 25, 2020 at 1:09 am

    @NotMax: Chance.

  20. 20.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 25, 2020 at 1:12 am

    Falwell’s followers are ready to forgive with emotional support beers.

  21. 21.

    Jess

    August 25, 2020 at 1:12 am

    @HumboldtBlue: There is something deeply wrong with that child

    Must be a Trump supporter.

  22. 22.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 25, 2020 at 1:18 am

    @HumboldtBlue: 

    Turns out that was North Korean music. My cat didn’t give a shit.

  23. 23.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    August 25, 2020 at 1:22 am

    @Jess: You could also try having a cat :-)  Sometimes I think the cat doesn’t even have to be a good mouser; the rodents just avoid the smell.

  24. 24.

    Jess

    August 25, 2020 at 1:25 am

    @A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan): I have a cat. She’s the one bringing in the damn mice. She’s trying to teach me to hunt. Sometimes I manage to catch them right away and take them outside, and she looks so proud of me. Other times I don’t succeed and they settle in for awhile and poop all over the place. Fucking cat–she’s lucky she’s so cute…

  25. 25.

    Calouste

    August 25, 2020 at 1:29 am

    @HumboldtBlue: I can see Falwell park his car into a tree at 110mph before too long. He’s struggling with drugs, alcohol, and/or a bad combination of stress and depression. No one in their right mind in a position like his would post a photo on Instagram (or wherever it was) with their fly undone.

  26. 26.

    prostratedragon

    August 25, 2020 at 1:30 am

    I guess Nikki Haley embodies the alphabet that some Indian friends of mine used to recite: American-Born, Confused, Delusional, Ennervated, …

  27. 27.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 1:31 am

    Guilfoyle just got Dean Screamed.

    The yelling and overly-dramatic gestures would have worked if she had a live audience. If the sound levels were balanced appropriately and it was clear she was addressing a crowd instead of a set of cameras, the context would have saved it.

     

    This is a production failure, solely due to lack of prep time and production competence. Somebody should have stepped in and pointed out that what works for motivating a crowd does not necessarily play well on video.

     

    That didn’t happen.  Oops.

  28. 28.

    RaflW

    August 25, 2020 at 1:33 am

    So, I bailed out at about 8:30 central time, went for a swim and then did a bunch of baking.

    By the time I returned to the computer, it was all over, especially the shouting. Has anyone in the WH said (officially, or better yet, off the record) why Trump didn’t speak in prime time?

    I was promised that he’s speak each of the four nights! (The man can’t promise for shjt, but anyway).

  29. 29.

    TCS

    August 25, 2020 at 1:33 am

    Did that asteroid hit the earth? I was engrossed in the RNC and forgot to check.

  30. 30.

    NotMax

    August 25, 2020 at 1:36 am

    @Rapatriated

    For all we know that was her mellow mode.

  31. 31.

    RaflW

    August 25, 2020 at 1:36 am

    Is Trump’s TV obsession a sort of object permanence deficit? Nothing exists until it is broadcast?

  32. 32.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 25, 2020 at 1:36 am

    @Calouste:

    There was a related thread in which former addicts/users called out every tic, hand movement facial expression and general demeanor and every single one came with a qualifier of how hard it was to watch.

    There’s a reason I don’t do coke and I learned that lesson in 1986. Freebasing was among the best highs I ever had if not number one (followed by shrooms, had a helluva great night in ’85)

  33. 33.

    tokyokie

    August 25, 2020 at 1:37 am

    @TCS: 

    Yes, and this is the alternate universe in which the asteroid doesn’t hit Earth.

  34. 34.

    patrick II

    August 25, 2020 at 1:39 am

    @Jess:

    He’s trolling the Trump supporters.

    Are you being ironic?  I can’t tell anymore.

  35. 35.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 1:42 am

    @TCS: LOL

  36. 36.

    Jess

    August 25, 2020 at 1:43 am

    @patrick II: I can’t either.

  37. 37.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 1:44 am

    @patrick II: Settle down Alanis.

  38. 38.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 25, 2020 at 1:45 am

    @patrick II:

    Pretty sure Jess’s comment was meant for babyfist and broccoli and not Terhune.

    @HumboldtBlue:

  39. 39.

    NotMax

    August 25, 2020 at 1:49 am

    @HumboldtBlue

    babyfist and broccoli

    Standby fill-in hosts on Newsmax for when Diamond and Silk aren’t available?

    //

  40. 40.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 1:50 am

    Does Jeff’s question even need context?

    what the fuck is this. what the fuck is any of this— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) August 25, 2020

  41. 41.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 25, 2020 at 1:58 am

    @Repatriated: I didn’t know much about her, other than she was married to Gov. Gav., but she’s worked in TV for quite a while.  She should know how to work without a crowd.  I saw a clip HorseWhisperer had on Twitter, OMG.

  42. 42.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 25, 2020 at 1:59 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Dolla bills y’all dolla dolla bills.

    @NotMax:

    Babyfist and broccoli gonna be the lead track on my next album.

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    August 25, 2020 at 1:59 am

    @mrmoshpotato

    “That’s not how any of this works.”

    :)

  44. 44.

    sanjeevs

    August 25, 2020 at 2:03 am

    Jerry Falwell has been talking to the WSJ

    “The board put me on leave, took away my duties as prez, and that’s not permitted by my contract,” Mr. Falwell said Monday night. “And they put me on leave because of pressure from self-righteous people.”

    He said he was still due his full compensation.

  45. 45.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 25, 2020 at 2:10 am

    @sanjeevs: So basically, he want’s them to  buy out his contract.

  46. 46.

    CatFacts

    August 25, 2020 at 2:15 am

    Speaking of disasters, if any of you juicers have friends/family in the Galveston/Port Arthur TX area, they probably need to evacuate now if they haven’t. According to the latest models, soon-to-be-Hurricane Laura looks like she means business in that area.

  47. 47.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 2:19 am

    @NotMax

    For all we know that was her mellow mode.

    LOL

    (and also)@?BillinGlendaleCA:
    Some of this is on her, of course (it’s not like she’s a TV noob). But the underlying problem is a Public Speaking 101 fail: They didn’t know their audience. In a normal convention situation, the audience for the speech is the delegates, and media covers it as a speech in front of a crowd — switching from the cameras at the podium to crowd shots, and so on — and reports both the speaker and the audience reaction.

    With that context removed, the camera feeds from the podium look deranged. Ok, more deranged…

    And you may be right — this could be what they think is the normal way to persuade others one-on-one!

  48. 48.

    James E Powell

    August 25, 2020 at 2:33 am

    Is anyone expecting Trump to get a bump from the RNC? The MSNBC reporter above appears to be hoping for one, but who doesn’t already have a fairly fixed opinion on Trump?

    Are these hateful speeches going to make anyone think he’s doing a good job with anything?

  49. 49.

    M. Bouffant

    August 25, 2020 at 2:34 am

    @HumboldtBlue: Had some Dilaudid or Demerol after leg surgery in 1971. So pleasurable it convinced me (not that I’d been really considering it) never to try any real heroin.

  50. 50.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 2:35 am

    @NotMax:

    Spooky Szn?? pic.twitter.com/CuSoYKVKAk— ChicagoFails (@ChicagoFails) October 3, 2019

  51. 51.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 25, 2020 at 2:36 am

    @Repatriated: I don’t know whether her portion was taped or live, but either way they knew ahead of time that there would not be an audience.  She’s been doing TV for what looks like nearly the last 20 years, she’s a professional, this should not have been a problem.

  52. 52.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 2:38 am

    @James E Powell:

    Are these hateful speeches going to make anyone think he’s doing a good job with anything? 

    You just wait until Ghouliani loses his fucking mind again this year.

  53. 53.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 25, 2020 at 2:39 am

    @James E Powell: In the post show, Nicolle Wallace was saying that this seemed to be aimed at shoring up the base and if that’s the case the campaign has major problems.

  54. 54.

    Amir Khalid

    August 25, 2020 at 2:39 am

    @James E Powell:

    I haven’t seen but two minutes of this dog’s breakfast of a convention, but I’m pretty sure it’s like everything Trump says and does: red meat for a base that Trump doesn’t realise is shrinking.

  55. 55.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 2:42 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: If you’re looking for an RNC not turned up to ‘Screaming Psycho’, I have some bad news for you.

  56. 56.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 2:45 am

    @Amir Khalid: That’s a terrible thing to say about a dog’s breakfast, and you’ll be hearing from its lawyer!

  57. 57.

    hervevillechaizelounge

    August 25, 2020 at 2:45 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Falwell is going to try to brazen it out a la Trump and he just might get away with it—until the inevitable financial audit is completed, that is.

    Then he’ll meekly resign in lieu of going to the pokey (pun intended).

  58. 58.

    oclib

    August 25, 2020 at 2:47 am

    @Repatriated:

    Public Speaking 101

    this reminded me of something I saw earlier today (yesterday to some) where students at Liberty were asked what were their favorite classes or something to that effect and the overwhelming response was…..pool maintenance 101…..

  59. 59.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 25, 2020 at 2:50 am

    @mrmoshpotato: With the exception of 2016, I’ve seen every RNC since 1968, I’m familiar with what to expect.

  60. 60.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 2:51 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Yikes. :)

  61. 61.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 2:52 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    Agreed. They should have known.

    Why didn’t they? Apparently nobody in the loop both had a clue and dared to speak up — or if they did, were promptly ignored in a fit of Dunning-Kruger.

  62. 62.

    Benw

    August 25, 2020 at 2:54 am

    @mrmoshpotato: my dog’s lawyer works pro bone-o

  63. 63.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 2:57 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    If you’re looking for an RNC not turned up to ‘Screaming Psycho’, I have some bad news for you.

    Which is sort of the point. Yeah, they should understand that there’s a difference between a talking-head type speech presentation and yelling at a crowd of fanatics…

    But they don’t, because for them there isn’t a difference.

    The people they’re trying to persuade already believe them, and just want validation. So they give it to them, good and hard. The ones that don’t already believe aren’t the audience, and don’t matter to them.

  64. 64.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 25, 2020 at 3:00 am

    @Repatriated: I think the speculation on the intertubes is that she was as high as a kite.  Don Jr. was motomouthing.

  65. 65.

    TS (the original)

    August 25, 2020 at 3:00 am

    @lumpkin:

    HOW CAN ANYONE BE THIS FUCKING STUPID and be in charge of anything?

    60 million voters deplorables

  66. 66.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 25, 2020 at 3:01 am

    @M. Bouffant:

    Me too.

    I never came close.

  67. 67.

    John Revolta

    August 25, 2020 at 3:03 am

    Don Jr’s segment was also very strange. He seemed pretty high and his eyes looked awful. It’s almost like these were outtakes or rehearsals that they ended up having to use because-? And where was The Donald? Did they have to air a bunch of stuff at the last minute because he couldn’t appear?

  68. 68.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 3:04 am

    @Repatriated:

    Why? Tonight’s theme was “When we go low – we also get high”— OCTOBER SURPR!SE (@0CT0BERSURPRISE) August 25, 2020

  69. 69.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 25, 2020 at 3:06 am

    @Repatriated: True, getting out the base and deplorables crawling out of the woodwork worked for them in 2016, but they’re the incumbent now and have a record to defend.  So fine they get their folk out to vote to prevent the Swamp Commie Joe Biden from getting into the White House.  The problem is they also have to rely on the opposition’s base to be somewhat unmotivated(or suppress their votes).  Watching the DNC last week, they did a pretty good job in motivating folk and making them aware of the suppression efforts they’d face.

  70. 70.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 3:08 am

    @John Revolta: The whole damn party has looked like an outtake policy-wise for the past 40+ years.

  71. 71.

    TS (the original)

    August 25, 2020 at 3:10 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

     So basically, he want’s them to  buy out his contract.

    Like every other RW evangelist – money talks

  72. 72.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 3:10 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Whether or not it’s true, that’s the way it looked.

    And this is all about perception anyhow.

  73. 73.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 25, 2020 at 3:11 am

    Also a good number of the speakers contradicted each other and sometimes themselves.  For example, Joe Biden is an awful person because he supported the 1994 Crime Bill(that the CBC supported) and put lots of Black Americans in the slammer.  But the same Joe Biden is aligned with the radical left and wants to defund the Police.

  74. 74.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 3:14 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Well duh.  It’s all consistent if you look at it through the lens of crazy.

  75. 75.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 25, 2020 at 3:20 am

    I’m pretty sure the coke-fueled rants were supposed to have been performed in front of a live audience and someone promised Trump they could CGI the crowd with Guilfolyle and Fredo with their recorded speeches.

  76. 76.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 3:21 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Worse, their Plan B (ditch Trump, work to maintain a firewall in the Senate) is a really narrow rhetorical path, which the impeachment and their subsequent support since has probably already closed off.

    The premature never-Trumpers already took that lane.

  77. 77.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 3:23 am

    @HumboldtBlue:  It’s quite plausible that they were planning that and didn’t realize until too late that they couldn’t pull it off.

  78. 78.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 3:26 am

    @HumboldtBlue: Haha – CGI crowd.  It would’ve been more laughable than the CGI crowd that was at baseball games for a bit.

    ETA – also canned crowds, haha.  I refer you back to 2020 baseball.

    ETA 2 – I mean canned crowd noise in my ETA.  Hilarious.  Cheering ghosts.

  79. 79.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 3:30 am

    @mrmoshpotato:
    Perhaps not literally, but careful camera-changes could make it look like they were speaking to the 300-odd assembled delegates. The audience reaction timing would be off because there’d be no feedback to the taped speakers as to which intended applause lines worked — and that was probably where the whole idea fell apart.

  80. 80.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 3:32 am

    @Repatriated: Mmmmm glitchy, faked crowd. :)

    They still have 3 more nights to get worse.

  81. 81.

    Ruckus

    August 25, 2020 at 3:35 am

    @lumpkin:

    HOW CAN ANYONE BE THIS FUCKING STUPID and be in charge of anything?

    Someone has to be the kindergarten racism monitor. You know, to make sure there is some………  He’s the right development level, the right knowledge level, the right language level, the right food level, is about that skill level of applying makeup, he is on the low end of the maturity level and unlikely to improve, he is on the low end of the physical ability level, and his personality is underdeveloped – for kindergarten.

  82. 82.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 3:42 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Heck, they could have done it “live” remotely! Just set up a large projection screen and pipe in a video feed of the crowd so the speakers could get real-time audience feedback.

    But that raises awkward questions as to why they weren’t there in person, so… yeah.

  83. 83.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 25, 2020 at 3:43 am

    @Repatriated: @mrmoshpotato:

    Guilfoyle is the giveaway for me, even the crappy underside camera is supposed to be akin to a convention floor perspective.

  84. 84.

    Sloane Ranger

    August 25, 2020 at 3:43 am

    @KithKanan: Bah, who wants to sit watching a screen about 9 inches big listening to dialogue through earphones? He’s upgraded to 60 inch screens in every room, including the bathroom, with full surround sound!

  85. 85.

    NotMax

    August 25, 2020 at 3:50 am

    Out of curiosity, went to check a headline about the first night of the R’s 2016 convention. It was as remembered:

    “A Dystopian Night at the G.O.P. Convention”

    Same sh*t, different year.

  86. 86.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 3:50 am

    @HumboldtBlue: And that’s the problem. In theory, it ought to have worked.  It was a presentation suited for an audience in a convention hall, with the viewer surrounded by rabid partisans.

    It was experienced by the actual viewers as a one-way Zoom conference.

    It just never occurred to them that how they’d be seen would be any different from how they wished to be seen.  And why should there be any difference?  They had complete control over the process!

  87. 87.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 3:57 am

    @Repatriated:

    But that raises awkward questions as to why they weren’t there in person, so… yeah. 

    Who in their right minds would want to be exposed to a deadly hoax virus?

  88. 88.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 25, 2020 at 3:59 am

    @Repatriated:

    I like that it became meme fodder as we approach Labor Day in a presidential election year.

  89. 89.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 3:59 am

    @Sloane Ranger: Tell me more about this flying aircraft – carrier.

  90. 90.

    Sloane Ranger

    August 25, 2020 at 4:00 am

    @Repatriated:

     

    Guilfoyle just got Dean Screamed.

    The yelling and overly-dramatic gestures would have worked if she had a live audience. If the sound levels were balanced appropriately and it was clear she was addressing a crowd instead of a set of cameras, the context would have saved it.

    This is a production failure, solely due to lack of prep time and production competence. Somebody should have stepped in and pointed out that what works for motivating a crowd does not necessarily play well on video.

    Do you know where she was speaking from? According to CNN last night, they were planning on having an audience of about 50 in Washington but had to cancel the idea at the 11th hour due to COVID-19 restrictions in DC (which you’d have thought they would have familiarised themselves with before making the plan.)

  91. 91.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 4:02 am

    @Sloane Ranger: That explains a LOT.

    But it was taped… they had a chance to reset.

     

    They’re just not good at this.

  92. 92.

    opiejeanne

    August 25, 2020 at 4:06 am

    @Repatriated: They aren’t good at anything, as far as I can tell. They aren’t even very good at grifting because they keep getting caught.

  93. 93.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 4:08 am

    @Sloane Ranger:

    the context would have saved it. 

    Deranged trash yelling at other deranged trash in person?  You know – context!

  94. 94.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 4:14 am

    @opiejeanne: That’s because they don’t think they need to be good at it — the fix was in, so they didn’t need to cover their tracks.

     

    Reminds me of the mess around the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics bid.  All the potential host cities cheated/bribed for their city’s bid.  SLC got caught at it because in Utah the power structure (GOP, LDS Church, business interests etc.) wasn’t used to hiding their skulduggery since it hadn’t been necessary until then.  Everyone else expected oversight and investigations….

  95. 95.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 4:15 am

    @opiejeanne:

    Hi, my name’s Louise. I would like to donate a piece of my personal chalk, in case you need to outline a body.

  96. 96.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 4:19 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Deranged trash yelling at other deranged trash in person? You know – context!

    LOL
    Yelling and gesticulating for the bums in the cheap seats is one thing, doing it point-blank into a Zoom window is something else entirely.

    But yeah, derangement abounded.

  97. 97.

    Repatriated

    August 25, 2020 at 4:21 am

    G’night all.

  98. 98.

    West of the Rockies

    August 25, 2020 at 4:22 am

    @NotMax:

    Resting Borderline Personality Disorder Face?

  99. 99.

    Betty Cracker

    August 25, 2020 at 4:27 am

    I tried to hate-watch the RNC shit-show but only lasted about half an hour before fleeing to the balm of GBBO reruns. Here’s the clip of Ms. Gargoyle braying at a camera in an empty hall, just in case you were wondering if the descriptions of her performance were over the top:

    It’s like a satire of a dictatorship

    pic.twitter.com/T8hGLbGZKi

    — Molly Jong-Fast? (@MollyJongFast) August 25, 2020

    They were not. Kim Jong Un would have told her to tone it the fuck down or else.

  100. 100.

    The Moar You Know

    August 25, 2020 at 4:35 am

    I took every recreational drug known to man in my youth and not just once.

    Just watched Don Jr. and Kimberly.  Verdict:   Not high.

    Also verdict:  Don Jr. is scared to death.  I wanna know why.  His rented girlfriend is…auditioning.  For something.  Not sure what.  I don’t think it’s for the Fourth Lady spot, although it kind of feels like it – regardless, she has an agenda.  I want to know what that’s about as well.

  101. 101.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 4:41 am

    @Betty Cracker: I can’t improve on this.

    There are times I get online, see the latest news, and wonder how we are living in a world where Kafka writes for the Twilight Zone starring the Marx Brothers.— Dan Rather (@DanRather) August 24, 2020

  102. 102.

    opiejeanne

    August 25, 2020 at 4:56 am

    @mrmoshpotato: I’m hearing Louise’s voice from Bob’s Burgers when I read that.

  103. 103.

    opiejeanne

    August 25, 2020 at 4:58 am

    @The Moar You Know: I thought Trump Sr hated her guts, for some reason.

    I watched a few seconds with no sound, and holee shit does she look like a lunatic. (Apologies to lunatics everywhere, I’m sure some of you are fine people)

  104. 104.

    Betty Cracker

    August 25, 2020 at 5:35 am

    KG’s mother was born in Puerto Rico, and KG was born in California. Allegedly, she called herself a “first generation American” in the speech. Republicans just can’t get it through their heads that Puerto Ricans are American citizens.

  105. 105.

    montanareddog

    August 25, 2020 at 5:52 am

    @The Moar You Know:

    His rented girlfriend is…auditioning

    Performing for the audience of one: either she just wants to keep off his shitlist, or she knows where this is going and is auditioning for TrumpTV

  106. 106.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 25, 2020 at 6:00 am

    @montanareddog:

    or she knows where this is going and is auditioning for TrumpTV 

    Do these Soviet shitpiles think there are TV studios in prison?

    Or will they (attempt to) flee to Moscow on November 4th to bunk up with FSB Eddie?

  107. 107.

    Barbara

    August 25, 2020 at 6:19 am

    @sanjeevs: I will laugh for days if it turns out his contract has no morals clause.

  108. 108.

    Mel

    August 25, 2020 at 6:38 am

    @montanareddog: Perhaps she’s auditioning for the role of Mrs. Trump Senior, in case Melania flies the coop?

  109. 109.

    Morzer

    August 25, 2020 at 6:39 am

    @James E Powell: Could Trump actually get a negative bounce after this parade of kooks, bigots, addicts and hookers?

  110. 110.

    Matt McIrvin

    August 25, 2020 at 6:41 am

    I was never going to watch this nightmare, but the 538 folks are doing exactly what I feared: talking about how it beat expectations, favorably comparing it to the first night of the DNC, generally normalizing the whole thing while admitting it wasn’t great for expanding beyond the base. You’re all talking about Guilfoyle; they’re talking about Tim Scott, who they apparently think gave a really good speech. Apparently he attacked Biden for voting for the ’94 crime bill, which, well, I guess a guy can be an anti-cop anarchist and too punitive at the same time

    Anyway, if their reaction is indicative of anything, this convention is going to be a win for Trump.

  111. 111.

    Morzer

    August 25, 2020 at 6:51 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I think 538 needs to go back to the days when it was a reasonably credible poll aggregator rather than a not particularly noteworthy horse race opinionator.

  112. 112.

    Anne Laurie

    August 25, 2020 at 6:54 am

    @Mel: Perhaps she’s auditioning for the role of Mrs. Trump Senior, in case Melania flies the coop?

    IMO, she’s auditioning for a role ‘handling’ whichever Trump scion or hireling ends up running Trump Enterprises.   There’s still probably plenty of value in the holdings, if only for money-laundering purposes, and Murphy knows none of the adult males in the Trump cartel are capable of running a one-kiosk porta-potty rental on their own.

    Doubt Melania will stick around once the final check clears, and she’s done her best to keep Barron glued to her side.  And even if the Oval Office Occupant somehow manages to stay out of jail — maybe allowed to flee to a non-extradiction country? — he’s more likely to get assigned someone like Hope Hicks, Human Binky, as his next ‘wife’.   Someone who’ll keep him calm & not let him publicly blurt out embarrassing details about who his handlers were, starting back in the 1980s…

  113. 113.

    Matt McIrvin

    August 25, 2020 at 6:56 am

    (The WaPo and the NYT, on the other hand, seem to be emphasizing the doom-filled and terrifying aspects of the proceedings, so there’s that.)

  114. 114.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 25, 2020 at 7:06 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Their reaction is not indicative of anything.  These constant attempts to play for the African-American vote are just sad.  It’s typical of racists that they think the Other is stupid, though.

  115. 115.

    Kay

    August 25, 2020 at 7:12 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    It’s really conventional (and dull) analysis, though. They all started with the assumption that the goal was to make it look like a traditional convention. I’m not sure that was the goal of the Democrats and I’m also not sure that’s what people want to watch- what they would choose if they had a choice. The reason the Dem convention was better than the traditional convention was because it was a break from what we’re used to. That’s why I kept watching. I didn’t know what would happen next.

    It isn’t that political commentary is “conservative” in an ideological sense. It’s that it’s rigidly conventional. They are stodgy people. They don’t have any tools other than “this is like THIS other thing that happened before”. I think they weed out all the “creatives” in the hiring and promotion process and end up with very safe analysis that is really more conventional than ordinary people are.

  116. 116.

    Matt McIrvin

    August 25, 2020 at 7:12 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: They’re not playing for the African-American vote; they’re trying to reassure white people that voting for Republicans isn’t racist.

  117. 117.

    Kay

    August 25, 2020 at 7:19 am

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    But they’re right. The R convention WAS more like all the conventions before. That is true. But that wasn’t the Democratic objective- the Democratic objection was “Trump is an extraordinarily, historically bad President and these are extraordinary times”.

    The conventions absolutely fit the two Parties- Democrats want to highlight the unusual nature of what we’re living thru and Republicans want to insist it’s normal. 538 is expressing a preference for “traditional”.  In my view, they’re expressing a preference for “dishonest” which has been pretty consistent in mainstream coverage- the dogged insistence that everything is FINE. It comes down to whether you think things are FINE or whether you think things are unusually bad.

  118. 118.

    Morzer

    August 25, 2020 at 7:20 am

    @Kay: I think the 538 crew are people who grew up reading the nothing but the same old same old horse race pablum and have no idea that there could be any other way of analyzing politics.  They aren’t particularly good writers either.

  119. 119.

    Morzer

    August 25, 2020 at 7:23 am

    @Matt McIrvin: They might be trying to peel off some of the male African-American vote which is a bit less pro-Biden than the female equivalent and might just be willing to vote for a misogynist.  See also: Kanye West and the amazing stealth GOP advisers who couldn’t even get him on the ballot in key states.

  120. 120.

    Kay

    August 25, 2020 at 7:27 am

    @Morzer:

    99% of it is like that. They “beat expectations”. Tim Scott “reached white moderates”. It’s just standard stuff. I personally think it’s a business error for 538 because they have to be different or they don’t add value, but there’s this return to the mean that always happens with these people where they end up saying the same things.

    What’s interesting about Scott (but won’t matter) is Scott has had experiences as a senator, that he has talked about, that really contradict what he chose to say to a national audience. He has described systemic racism in very personal terms. His speech was dishonest. He knows better. But it was conventional- it was the standard GOP “opportunity” speech, where everything depends on the plucky individual, and that’s what pundits want- they reward “conventional”.

  121. 121.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 25, 2020 at 7:28 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    They are playing for the African-American vote.  I have seen it a lot online.  Note Kanye.  And Republicans do it in the same way as Bernie Bros, from whom in both 2016 and 2020 I witnessed tidal waves of “Don’t you dumb n- know that Sanders is the real civil rights leader???”

    Reassuring whites they’re not racist is absolutely in the mix, but Republicans truly are trying to at least split the African-American vote and think they can.  Like a lot of Republican positions, it’s so stupid you (universal you) instinctively rebel at the idea anyone could think that.

  122. 122.

    The Fat White Duchess

    August 25, 2020 at 7:29 am

    @mrmoshpotato:  Much as I love Dan Rather: no. The Marx Brothers were smart and funny. The Three Stooges is more like it.

  123. 123.

    Kay

    August 25, 2020 at 7:33 am

    @Morzer:

    And that IS appealing and comforting, right? Everything is fine, Trump is daddy, he’s got it under control, this virus thing is a blip that will “disappear”, there is no systemic racism – just “be best” and you too can rise. That isn’t the Democrats message so that wasn’t their convention. It isn’t that they failed at “traditional” and Republicans succeeded at it- it’s that Republicans have to, must, normalize this or Trump isn’t going to be reelected. Democrats have no duty to normalize it- in fact, their whole political approach depends on pointing out how bizarre and unprecedented it is.

    But if you’re someone who would much prefer for everything to be fine, it works for you.

  124. 124.

    Ken

    August 25, 2020 at 7:37 am

    @TCS: Did that asteroid hit the earth?

    The asteroid is in November, the day before the election.  This week’s other scheduled disaster is Hurricane Laura as CatFacts said.

  125. 125.

    johnnybuck

    August 25, 2020 at 7:39 am

    @Matt McIrvin: Wow.. people read the articles there?

  126. 126.

    SFAW

    August 25, 2020 at 7:44 am

    @Morzer: 

    a not particularly noteworthy horse race opinionator.

    What? I thought they predicted, in great and highly accurate detail, a Trump win long before November, 2016.

    Or maybe it was after.

  127. 127.

    SFAW

    August 25, 2020 at 7:45 am

    @Anne Laurie:

    Hope Hicks, Human Binky

    Outstanding!

  128. 128.

    Sloane Ranger

    August 25, 2020 at 7:48 am

    From my perspective as a watcher of US politics, Republican outreach to African American people has, for years, consisted, of a group of white guys telling black voters what the important issues for them are, African Americans saying either no, they’re not important or they are important but not a priority at the moment, followed by those same white Republicans screaming you’re all brainwashed slaves on the Democratic plantation. No attempt to actually engage and listen.

  129. 129.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 25, 2020 at 7:52 am

    @Repatriated: I still think that would have looked weird and crazy on TV even with an audience cheering. I think this the kind of stuff that plays well with the crowd at those MAGA rallies and the MSM was to polite to show .

  130. 130.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 25, 2020 at 8:05 am

    @Matt McIrvin:  I don’t see 538 claims; the media narrative today is basically last night was parade of paranoid druggies.

  131. 131.

    Morzer

    August 25, 2020 at 8:16 am

    @SFAW: They said that Trump had a chance to win the race when everyone else more or less assumed he did not.  They’ve milked that not especially interesting fact for all it’s worth over the last 3.5 years.

  132. 132.

    Another Scott

    August 25, 2020 at 8:35 am

    @Calouste: … with his hand on the hip of a very young and pretty woman who also had her pants unbuttoned while having a drink in his hand while saying he was on his yacht…

    Yes, that boy ain’t right.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  133. 133.

    evodevo

    August 25, 2020 at 8:37 am

    @M. Bouffant: Yes..good move on your part…too bad many people don’t understand this.  If you are one of the 17-20% of the American population who carries the opioid receptors in your central nervous system, you are a potential addict.  Their only solution is to avoid any opiates for the rest of their lives.  My mother and sister like the stuff…I hate it…all it does is make me nauseous and does nothing for the pain, so I assume I don’t have the receptors and they do.  It’s a crap shoot, and you won’t know until it’s too late or you are reasonably rational, like yourself…

  134. 134.

    Ian

    August 25, 2020 at 9:41 am

    @sanjeevs:

    “And they put me on leave because of pressure from self-righteous people.”

    Somewhere in heaven an angel has gotten its wings.

  135. 135.

    Jim Appleton

    August 25, 2020 at 11:15 am

    @Sloane Ranger:

     

    One of my favorite examples.

     

    I bought this as a postcard at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley about 1992.

  136. 136.

    henqiguai

    August 25, 2020 at 12:18 pm

    @johnnybuck (#125):

    Wow.. people read the articles there?

    Yeah, we don’t _just_ look at the pictures.

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