Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

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

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

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

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

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

People are complicated. Love is not.

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

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

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / Biden-Harris 2020 / Friday Morning Open Thread: T(Murphy the Trickster)GIF

Friday Morning Open Thread: T(Murphy the Trickster)GIF

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Hanging on to hope, and decency, by our fingernails…


Reader Interactions

139Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    I like Michelle Goldberg but this seems NYT-y.

    How the Green New Deal Saved a Senator’s Career

    NYT > Top Stories / by Michelle Goldberg / 1h

    There are lessons here for Joe Biden.

    I did not click, so maybe the article is better than the headline.

  2. 2.

    debbie

    On FB, vets are posting photos of themselves as a protest against Trump’s attitude about them. I hope this gets some traction.

  9. 9.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Under a second Trump term, we could have:

    The Tomb of the Unknown Loser at Arlington.

    The Chicago football stadium, Sucker Field.

    Moore and Galloway’s book We Were Losers Once … and Suckers.

    The November 11 holiday, Suckers and Losers Day.

    V O T E V O T E V O T E

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    Trump said it. We know it. Republicans know it. They simply do not care to show an ounce of patriotism or courage. The intellectually corrupt rightwing pundits will still rationalize supporting him. Small, broken little men.— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) September 4, 2020

  18. 18.

    danielx

    @debbie:

    Going way out on a limb, I’d guess it’s getting traction like a tracked vehicle. Usually when Trump gets caught in a lie, he issues a perfunctory denial and goes on to the next outrage without a pause. With this article, he’s in a full sweaty panic because there appear to be people whose word is taken to be better than his (I know, not a high bar) who are willing to say it publicly.

    It’s not any great surprise nor yet news that the whole idea of service to others – or, for that matter, doing anything for reasons other than personal gain – is completely foreign to him, but seldom has this been so publicly exposed.

  20. 20.

    MJS

    The Trump campaign, even as stupid as they are, knows the Atlantic article is really damaging, so expect their Russian helpers to go into overdrive to make something up on Biden. Barr, too. Fingers crossed that our crappy media don’t get distracted by whatever nonsense is spewed.

  21. 21.

    Jake Gibson

    If there is one thing Trump’s presidency should dispell is the idea that voters are concerned with having a president that they would “have a beer with.”

    Is our pundits learning? I truly would be shocked if they are.

  22. 22.

    Kay

    @danielx:

    Part of what Republicans and the Trump campaign tried to push at the convention was “what you see is what you get”- Trump says a lot of nasty, mean spirited things publicly but his supporters already swallowed those and still voted for him.

    This means not even that is true-that he’s much worse privately.

    The Washington Post account is even worse than the first story. In this one, Trump wonders why we “place such value” on finding soldiers missing in action because they got caught so deserve what they get.  Which shouldn’t surprise anyone- it’s how he treats everyone.

  26. 26.

    Kay

    @sanjeevs:

    Just breathtaking to me that the lies the attorney general is telling about US election systems and processes perfectly track the propaganda pumped into the US by Putin.

    They don’t need to hire unwitting US journalists- they have the attorney general of the United States.

  31. 31.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Immanentize:  Thanks! You too! I hope there are some bright spots in today’s long day to help you get through. And then maybe some respite over the weekend?

  32. 32.

    danielx

    @Kay:

    Truly love the one sentence letter Ted Lieu sent to Barr:

    Dear Attorney General Barr:

    Federal law prohibits voting twice in the same election.

  34. 34.

    Gin & Tonic

    My daughter is in the process of purchasing an absolutely gorgeous, cherry-red Vespa scooter. A timeless classic if ever there was one. It’s too far from her home to drive it back, so I’m heading there with her and a trailer after lunch.

  36. 36.

    sanjeevs

    @Baud: I’ve always wondered about all those left podcasters with patreon accounts.

    No need to coordinate on anything. Say something the Russians like and next day there’s money in your account. Say something they don’t care for and there isn’t. They soon learn.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    @sanjeevs: Right.  Everyone thinks in terms of the conspirators meeting in some smoke filled room to hatch out their scheme.  Reality is much more complex and subtle than that.  I’m sure there are plenty of people who are unwitting assets of the propagandists, as well as others at the other end who are doing it with eyes wide open.

  41. 41.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Gin & Tonic: As someone who’s always lived in the upper Midwest, my automatic reaction is, “Yeah, but how many months a year can you ride if?” That goes right along with, “Wow, that driveway is steep. Must be a bitch in the winter.”

  42. 42.

    Princess

    Glad to see Biden is pressing the story by appearing in a press call today with veterans Duckworth, Lamb, and also Khizr Khan. That will keep the story in the loop a little longer.

  45. 45.

    Kay

    @danielx:

    Putin plants misinformation about the integrity of US elections and so does the Attorney General of the United States, same theme:

    Barr said, “Elections that have been held with mail have found substantial fraud and coercion. For example, we indicted someone in Texas, 1,700 ballots collected from people who could vote. He made them out and voted for the person he wanted to. Okay?” Federal prosecutors have not brought an indictment that matches Barr’s description, and a DOJ spokesperson said Barr had been provided “an inaccurate summary about the case which he relied upon.”The case in question was not a case, rather an investigation of 700 ballots that listed the same man as having helped the individual voters cast them, but the ballots did not favor one candidate or party, and some were blank.

  48. 48.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: Investigating and exposing Barr’s corruption of the DoJ has to be a top priority in the next admin, or we’re just not going to survive as a democracy. I know that sounds overly dramatic, but I believe it in my bones.

    In a historically corrupt administration that has done untold damage to our republic, it seems to me Barr’s actions have been the most dangerous in undermining the rule of law. I’m not optimistic enough to believe Trump will ever be held to account other than getting bounced after one term. But Barr can be independently investigated and exposed, and he must be. 

  50. 50.

    Leto

    @A Ghost to Most: I’d say remind them of their Core Values (Integrity first; service before self; excellence in all you do) but it sounds like they gave up on them a long time ago.

  51. 51.

    Kay

    @Immanentize:

    It’ll be interesting to watch, if we see revelations like this periodically for the remainder of the campaign period.

    I think they send out SHS to shore up the fundy Christian base. I don’t think she’s intended to sway the general public- she’s one of theirs. They’re insanely pro-military, they’ve basically incorporated it into the religion. They would need tending on this.

  52. 52.

    Geminid

    I see political analyst Rachel Bitecofer is in Austin today, and will be talking with Texans about how to turn the Lone Star State blue. Have Data, Will Travel.

  54. 54.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Princess:

    Glad to see Biden is pressing the story by appearing in a press call today with veterans Duckworth, Lamb, and also Khizr Khan. That will keep the story in the loop a little longer. 

    What time?

  56. 56.

    Leto

    @Betty Cracker: A friend and I were talking about that yesterday, holding people accountable. I acknowledged that at the Federal level, Trumpov will probably be able to walk. But the rest of his shit hires need to be investigated and prosecuted as applicable. Part of the problem we face now is our inability to truthfully deal with the past. We have to do this.

  60. 60.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    I agree and I know I harangue on this but I think it’s important- Barr is a member of the conservative elite. This is not Michael Cohen or the other petty criminals Trump brought in. Barr was at the top of the food chain on the Right. He has a fancy fucking resume- decades of working for them. The problem is much, much bigger than Donald Trump.

    Here’s what we need, at minimum. We need to know which government lawyers were aware of illegality in this administration and did nothing, because they can’t stay working for us if they did that. Because if the excuse is “I didn’t report because I wanted to keep my job” – reporting IS the job. It’s part of the job. If they didn’t do it then they can’t keep the job. There’s no exception for “keeping your job”. Obviously. Because if there is then the duty doesn’t mean anything.

    I don’t know about the rest of them, but the lawyers have to go. Because they had and have a duty to report illegality. We can have and should have higher ethical standards than have been exhibited here- those are desirable jobs. We’ll fill them fast.

  61. 61.

    Immanentize

    @Kay: I’m not sure Sarah would do it.  Let’s see.

    Wonder what Joni Ernst has to say about all this?  And McSally.  They like to wear their military service like rouge on a truck stop hooker.

  64. 64.

    JPL

    @Gin & Tonic: That is what I mentioned to a friend earlier.   I assume that the trump campaign fixer is on the phone with Kelly, asking him how much money he wants to deny the story.

  65. 65.

    Kathleen

    @sanjeevs: I’ve wondered about that myself but my suspicions include political “reporters ” at so called mainstream print and broadcast outlets as well. It certainly would explain what we’re seeing.

  66. 66.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Leto: Yes, indeed. BIL has gone full-on QAnon, step-brother is just crazy-ass christian fascist.

    Sometimes I’m almost embarrassed to be a USAF vet.

  67. 67.

    p.a.

    Hope this Atlantic article deservedly buries him, but after pussy-grabbing, kids in cages, concentration camps for immigrants and asylum seekers, covid incompetence (more than a soupçon of genocide IMHO), decades of Central Park Five-ist racism,  virtual industries exposing his continual lying, documented corruption, being an obvious puppet to Putin, etc etc, it speaks to the reich-wing influence and militarization of American society over the last few generations that it takes insults to the troops living and dead to really just THREATEN to move the needle on this subhuman shitstain for many people.

  68. 68.

    Leto

    @Immanentize: Pig f*cker Ernst is off spouting QAnon bullshit about  covid deaths, and McSally long ago abandoned her AF Core Values, with the latest embarrassment being “skip a meal to help me out!” MJ Hegar was on Maddow last night. If you get a chance to catch that, it’s def worth a watch. Plus her bookshelf gets an A+ :)

  70. 70.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Immanentize: I hear you. I stopped teaching this year to work on the political stuff. Most of my classes were in the evening. I’d drag myself into town grumbling about why the heck did I sign up to do this, and then come to life while teaching. It was surprisingly energizing.

  72. 72.

    germy

    Trump calling soldiers "losers and suckers" reminded me of Harry Lime in THE THIRD MAN referring to "the suckers and the mugs". And then I realized Trump might try to distribute bad medicine before Election Day like Lime did.

    — Steven Santos (@stevensantos) September 4, 2020

  73. 73.

    PST

    @Baud: Goldberg’s column is fine. She says that Markey’s election shows that if candidates strongly backs progressive policies, the progressive wing (or at least part of it) will support them with real effort, even if they are old, established, and have some history that doesn’t conform to current progressive opinion. Markey is only one data point, but this is helpful if true.

  74. 74.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    The low quality of their work just kills me. Barr sounds like any random Trump supporter just making shit up. When he tells the lie about the Texas investigation he thinks no one will look? How fucking lazy are these people? It’s shoddy and low quality even as criminality. Saying “we indicted” (which is what he said) means something- they have to have indicted. They didn’t.

  75. 75.

    Baud

    @p.a.:

    Who knows?  As they say, slowly…then suddenly.

     

    The nice thing is that Biden doesn’t even have to rely on these anonymous stories.  There’s plenty of video of Trump insulting people like McCain and Khan and other military people that Biden can talk about.

  76. 76.

    Kay

    @p.a.:

    but after pussy-grabbing

    I knew pussy grabbing wouldn’t hurt him. It probably helped him with some part of his base. As far as status in this country women are below soldiers. I don’t think the two things are comparable.

    Fox News has an employee policy of “pussy grabbing”. It could be in the new hire welcome packet.

  78. 78.

    Leto

    Trump’s IRS Chief has Made Hundreds of Thousands from Trump Properties While in Office

    Charles Rettig, the Trump-appointed IRS Commissioner who has refused to release President Trump’s tax returns, has made hundreds of thousands of dollars renting out Trump properties while in office, according to documents obtained by CREW. Last year Rettig said it was his decision whether to turn over Trump’s tax returns to Congress, under the supervision of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

    An analysis of Rettig’s personal financial disclosures for the last two years shows Rettig making $100,000 – $200,000 a year from two units at Trump International Waikiki. Trump made a detour to visit the property during a trip to Asia in his first year in office—a priceless promotional appearance for the business he still profits from as president. Rettig bought a 50% stake in the units in 2006, three years before the property opened, likely benefiting the future-president, whose company got 10% of total pre-sales.

    Rettig isn’t exactly advertising his Trump-based profits. In fact, there’s no mention of Trump at all in the disclosures. The two properties are referred to only as “Residential Real Estate – Honolulu, Hawaii” and “Residential Real Estate (2) – Honolulu, Hawaii.” This isn’t new. When he was first nominated, he failed to disclose the properties were in a Trump-branded building. At his confirmation hearing, he did not directly answer concerns about the properties, only saying he would serve in an “impartial, unbiased” manner.

    Trump is the first president elected since Richard Nixon to not release his tax returns. He’s fought hard to keep them secret, taking his fight all the way to the Supreme Court. There are all kinds of reasons he doesn’t want them made public—including the fact that they could point to potential criminal conduct. With Trump’s name removed from some buildings as it began to hurt property values, we can only imagine how toxic it would become if a bombshell in his tax returns were released. Which means the IRS Commissioner has a vested interest in the success of the Trump brand—and of preventing anything that could damage it.

    They all need to be investigated. They’re all corrupt grifters.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Biden, IMO, has really perfectly straddled the line of listing Trump’s transgressions while also allowing people to make their own connections, which is a really difficult thing to do. He trusts.

    I can’t watch Rachel Maddow because she doesn’t trust her audience to figure out ANYTHING. It would actually be more effective if she did less leading. She has to let them do some thinking. She cannot control the conclusion they reach to that extent. Elizabeth Warren, who I love, also suffers from this to a lesser extent. Let them get SOME there by themselves! They will!

  80. 80.

    Sab

    @Kay: WTF with Washington press corps telling us all these years that this guy was competent? He buys them drinks and they say whatever? I just don’t understand. But I never joined a frat.

  81. 81.

    germy

    They couldn’t take him alive, of course:

    Before his own death at the hands of a police task force, Reinoehl had confirmed to a freelance journalist that he shot and killed a right wing activist and then left the scene, saying he had fired on the man in defense of others. https://t.co/TIAYYll79B— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 4, 2020

  82. 82.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @MJS:

    Barr, too.

    “As Attorney General Barr made his announcement of the arrest of former Vice President Biden, he assured the assembled media that while such an action was unprecedented in occurring within three weeks of the election, the allegations of wrongdoing within Ukraine and in the Russian Federation itself were so egregious that he had no choice but to do so, and that he issued the orders “with a heavy heart”. While Democrats have vowed to file suit, it is unclear whether they can replace the candidate, as all filing deadlines have passed.

    Vice President Biden has been taken to the federal holding facility at MDC Brooklyn – an unusual decision – and the BOP has announced that he’ll be in general population, to be treated like any other inmate. COVID exposure is a major concern in the facility, as there has been a spike in infections and deaths among both inmates and staff…”

  86. 86.

    rp

    @Kay: Very interesting point. I can’t watch Maddow either because she’s so long winded — get to the point! But reading your comment makes me realize that it’s not just that it takes her a long time to get from A to B, it’s also that she treats the audience like we’re simpletons.

  87. 87.

    Baud

    @Kay: I haven’t watched Rachel in a while (just busy with other things, like sleeping).  I agree generally that it’s more effective when people are able to figure things out for themselves, rather than have words thrown at them.  It’s also harder to do.

    Biden does seem to do a good job of communicating without over-communicating.

  88. 88.

    Baud

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Why would Biden need to be replaced?  Nothing in the Constitution says an arrest disqualifies him from being president.  In fact, it’ll probably guarantee his landslide win.

    And none of this will happen because they’ll never get an indictment.

    They will probably issue some manufactured report that the NYT will report as casting clouds and shadows over Biden’s integrity.

  89. 89.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Kay:

    “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Federalist Society” should be a bar to any public service position, elected office, or admission to a state bar.

    Its a little tongue in cheek, but also the truth.

  91. 91.

    Jeffro

    @Betty Cracker:In a historically corrupt administration that has done untold damage to our republic, it seems to me Barr’s actions have been the most dangerous in undermining the rule of law. I’m not optimistic enough to believe Trump will ever be held to account other than getting bounced after one term. But Barr can be independently investigated and exposed, and he must be. 

    This…eight million times THIS.

  92. 92.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Kay:

    Fox News has an employee policy of “pussy grabbing”. It could be in the new hire welcome packet.

    Yup. Last year’s movie Bombshell made that explicit.

  93. 93.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: there was a twitter thread mocking Maddow’s long wind-ups getting a lot of replay last night. Just to use the two examples most people used: Her build up of and to her interview with Stephanie Windsor Wolkoff was too much– the way Maddow built it up, I thought she was promoting her interview with Michael Cohen– and too long. But her build up to the Atlantic story, giving the background from Mary Trump’s book (which I suspect more people bought than read) and Gabriel Sherman’s article about Marla’s pre-nup, giving the context to trump’s disdain for the military, was just right. YMMV.

    as to reading too much: A substantial part of MSNBC’s audience at this point is, I gather, podcast and sat radio based. I know I listen probably more than I watch at this point.

  96. 96.

    Keith P.

    @rp: YES YES YES!

    @Kay: She forever lost any cachet she had with me with that buffoonish “expose” on a page of of one of Trump’s tax returns…and she spent 10 minutes just getting to it, like Pulitzers are awarded for preface.

  97. 97.

    cmorenc

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’m not optimistic enough to believe Trump will ever be held to account other than getting bounced after one term.

    If Trump loses the election, at least if he has any thoughts of returning even temporarily to New York, the answer to the question “is it safe” is no.  My bet is NY state authorities may be ready to go after Trump for any of his criminal activities that aren’t yet barred by the Statute of Limitations … though so long as he stays in Florida, AG Pam Bondi will do all she can to help him fight of extradition on any NY state indictments.

  98. 98.

    Kay

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I love how people were like “The President said pussy grabbing!” You remember the year that happened. It was the same year that basically all of the senior leadership and talent at Fox were accused of pussy grabbing, along with Matt Lauer. The 2016 election coverage was provided by pussy grabbers. One of them moderated a debate- memorably, in that debate, the pussy grabber wouldn’t allow the female candidate to finish a sentence. His polling might have ticked up with that part of his base.

  100. 100.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Keith P.: that was probably her nadir, as far as I can recall

    @cmorenc: he tweeted something about Cuomo’s corrupt  investigators yesterday– I don’t have the energy to dig through a couple of hundred tweets from Ben Domenech and Diamond and Silk to find it at this point– that made me think his lawyers got some bad news

  101. 101.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kay:

    It was the same year that basically all of the senior leadership and talent at Fox were accused of pussy grabbing, along with Matt Lauer

    Mark Halperin, cable-news staple based on his sourced-by-score-settlers books; Charlie Rose, PBS, CBS and I gather some of the finer gin mills of the upper reaches of Manhattan; Glenn Thrush, sweaty striver and fedora-affecter recently promoted from Politico to the NYT

  102. 102.

    Kay

    @Keith P.:

    I think people have the capacity to take the information and order it and choose which parts they think are important and even make connections to the next piece of information- we know they’re connected or she wouldn’t be including them. Just let us do something without supervision. “Im good! I’ll take it from here, Rachel!” :)

  105. 105.

    Another Scott

    @Kay: I haven’t watched her in years, but I think Rachel tried very very hard to get people to figure out what she’s talking about before she gets there.  That’s part of what I found so annoying about her approach.  I figure it out by the 2nd or 3rd ‘clue’, but she goes on for another 15 minutes giving out more ‘clues’ until just before the commercial (roughly) – “when we come back, an interview with today’s newsmaker about the shocking news…”

    When the story/interview/etc. is less than half the time of her windup.

    :-/

    Maybe it’s different now.  Dunno.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  106. 106.

    Kay

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Exactly. I had forgotten Charlie Rose, but the political reporting and punditry sector was stuffed to the gills with pussy grabbers. In this instance Donald Trump really was saying what was true but what no one else would say.

  108. 108.

    Leto

    @Jeffro:  Next to her helmet she had a mini Millennium Falcon, and right above that she had a Boba Fett mug. I know, totally dorky thing but it made me smile.

  112. 112.

    Immanentize

    @PST: I’m sticking to my belief that Markey beat Kennedy not because of progressive values, but because Markey was far more authentic.

    As have been other “progressives” who beat crusty and tired incumbents

  113. 113.

    Ken

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Federalist Society” should be a bar to any public service position, elected office, or admission to a state bar.

    IIRC there was a recommendation by the federal judiciary* that the Federalist Society be put on a list of political organizations, so judges could not be members.  It was quashed.

    * That is, one of the ethics panels, staffed by emeritus judges.

  114. 114.

    Another Scott

    @Kathleen: Barr’s and (Donnie’s) power mainly comes from people reacting to the veiled threat.  “We’re looking into it very strongly.  We’ll see what happens.”  They want others to do their bidding without having to get their hands dirty or actually having to break the law themselves.

    Barr knows that he had little legal room to maneuver when it comes to interfering with the election or arresting HRC or BHO.  But he knows that the implied threat keeps others looking over their shoulders, and keeps their supporters riled up…

    It’s Mobster 101.

    Grr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  115. 115.

    Jeffro

    OT but before I forget to mention: if y’all aren’t following Blaire Erskine on Twitter, she’s a gem.  Her latest is about how her husband is ‘Q’ from QAnon…

    My all-time favorite was her pretending to be Jerry Falwell Jr and Becki Falwell’s daughter.  =)

  116. 116.

    Kay

    @Leto:

    I like Dave Weigel for both reporting and commentary. Here’s an example:

    Dave Weigel
    @daveweigel
    ·37m
    A new Trump ad in Minnesota shows a 2019 visit by the VP to a St. Paul steel mill to push the campaign’s “jobs, not mobs” message. The catch: That mill laid off 222 of its 300 workers this year.

    He’s not telling me mills or millworkers are important, I know that because the VP went there but they may or may not be important to me, and he’s not telling me the motive behind the lie- I can guess that.

    If it was Rachel Maddow she’d say “they do this because they think Minnesota is in play, it’s not, here’s 5000 polls, and because they want you to believe they care about millworkers!. No shit, Rachel.

  119. 119.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Another Scott: I’m guessing John Brennan, Andrew McCabe and a few others have already had to spend tens of thousands in legal fees, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Barr gets an indictment against one of them or a similar name that news junkies will recognize.
    The CW about Comey– a bit that I find convincing– is that Comey was afraid that if he didn’t say something publicly, Jason Chaffetz would make his like a living and expensive hell in his investigations of President Clinton. I also believe the overgrown sanctimonious boy scout wanted to put That Woman in her place, even if she was, precisely because she was, going to be President.

  120. 120.

    Leto

    @Kay: Well Dave Weigel isn’t on tv, so my question still stands: which TV host lets their audience draw their own conclusions? Who do you like to watch?

  121. 121.

    debbie

    @Immanentize:

    The same sort of situation went on in the last election here. An up-and-coming progressive named Morgan Harper went up against an established U.S. Rep, Joyce Beatty. Beatty has been a great rep (most recent accomplishment being to get a neighborhood P.O. office reopened after having been closed for three months due to no air conditioning; it would have stayed closed forever if she hadn’t raised hell about it). Harper had just moved back here and had worked with Rich Cordray at the CPFB. All her money came from out of state. I had nothing against her, but why run against a good, also progressive Democrat? Why not try and reduce the GOP ranks here? Happily, disloyalty was not rewarded.

  123. 123.

    Immanentize

    @debbie: And the sad thing about Kennedy’s move is that in his open seat primary which had about 6 viable good candidates, the former Republican Charlie Baker aide turned “Democrat” looks like he prevailed in the Democratic Primary.

    So, Kennedy runs his ego, loses and his seat is being filled by a sucky white guy.

  124. 124.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Rachel’s intended audience isn’t Balloon Juice regulars.  We already know most of what she is covering.  We can get to the conclusions quickly.  Her audience is the people whose political news consumption is tuning into MSNBC for a couple of hours a couple of nights a week.  From the people I know who fit that description, she does a great job of laying things out so that they can understand it.  Also, FWIW, basic legal writing courses tell law students to spell out the connections and not ask readers to make them themselves.  They won’t always do it.

  125. 125.

    Leto

    @Omnes Omnibus: You know who does an excellent job of letting their viewers draw their own conclusion? Fox News. We absolutely hate them for what they’re doing, but they follow Lee Atwater’s Southern Strategy to a T. And for roughly 40% of the population it works like Adderall, every time.

  128. 128.

    moonbat

    @rp:  I always assumed that Maddow is not talking directly to me but to the great mass of people out there who literally do not know how things work or what the law is. There is so much dumbing down in news media in order to provoke a visceral reaction that having someone patiently explain what’s important could be useful to a lot of people. But as someone who feels pretty well clued in I admit it can and does get long winded and tedious. But it’s hard to make up for all the civics classes that are no longer being taught in schools in a 30 minute segment. So I cut her some slack.

  131. 131.

    Martin

    @Omnes Omnibus: Exactly this. Ms Martin loves Rachel because she doesn’t think about this stuff all the time. She’s not connecting the dots in her free time. She doesn’t remember the thing  that happened 3 months ago.

    I love watching Rachel not because I need the wind-up, but because my wife and daughter benefit from it. It allows them to follow this stuff in a way that almost nobody else does – because nobody else is laying out the trail of breadcrumbs.

  132. 132.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @JPL: I assume that the trump campaign fixer is on the phone with Kelly, asking him how much money he wants to deny the story.

    I, OTOH, conjecture that someone with known ties to Vlad Vladimirovich has been on the phone with Kelly speculating on which of his family will have an “unfortunate accident” if he doesn’t deny the story.

    (It all depends on how far Pootie-Poot is willing to go to put his thumb on the US electoral scales. He might’ve already cut Needy Amin loose. Or he might already have the voting systems sufficiently hacked to ensure victory. [Paranoid? Me?? Anyone who isn’t paranoid at the moment isn’t paying attention!])

  135. 135.

    Michael Cain

    I have to wonder if Harris was biting her tongue a bit there.  In 2018, in the 13-state American West, >70% of ballots were distributed by mail.  This year, it will be greater than >90% — that’s already baked in.  In my vote by mail state, I would bet that even if Election Day were made a holiday, there’s only a small minority of people who want to give up their mail ballots.

  136. 136.

    J R in WV

    @Immanentize:

    It may be the article or it may be the Military Times poll that has him in a sweat.

    Leads me to the eternal question:  “Why Not BOTH!?”

     

    ETA:  I am a veteran. I enlisted in the USN a couple of weeks before my “Selective Service” board was going to send me for my physical. I was not a volunteer, not really. No more than British guys caught by a Press Gang off one of His Majesty’s ships were volunteers.

    But I kept my nose clean, kept my head down, did the work I was assigned to do. Got that Honorable  Discharge, which in large part paid for my BSCS degree and provided my career.

    Fuck Donald Trump for his sick attitude towards those who serve and esp. those who are wounded or killed.

  137. 137.

    J R in WV

    @JPL:

    I assume that the trump campaign fixer is on the phone with Kelly, asking him how much money he wants to deny the story.

    Now THAT would be the phone call to record in High Def. Some things are NOT for sale!

  139. 139.

    Jay Noble

    @Martin: Thank You! I was a Rotary Exchange Student to Finland way back when and got the wonderful experience of riding a bike to school (and everyplace else) in subzero weather.

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