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You are here: Home / Elections / Biden-Harris 2020 / Sunday Evening Open Thread: Handicapping The First Debate

Sunday Evening Open Thread: Handicapping The First Debate

by Anne Laurie|  September 27, 20206:54 pm| 282 Comments

This post is in: Biden-Harris 2020, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat

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CNN’s @jaketapper to Jill Biden: “Your husband has been known to make the occasional gaffe…”
Biden: “You can’t even go there. After Donald Trump you cannot even say the word gaffe.” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/bBInkVhm6L

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) September 27, 2020

In the 2012 VP debate Biden was about to say something was bullshit but stopped himself and said "malarkey." Everyone laughed and it became his thing. He's an entertaining debater.

— Tentin Quarantino (@agraybee) September 25, 2020


Paul Ryan in 2012 was the slimiest fuck in the whole GOP and an absolute media darling who was fully expected to run circles around doddering gaffe machine Joe Biden and got made to look like an idiot child instead.

— Syndicalist Weedle Collective (@Weedledouble) September 26, 2020

Personally I think if Biden has a killer viral moment it's going to be Trump's brain sputtering out and Biden sincerely saying "you ok man?"

— Tentin Quarantino (@agraybee) September 25, 2020

my prediction for the presidential debate is Trump attacking Beau Biden, Joe saying something to the effect of “if it weren’t for social distancing I’d come over there and kick your ass”, and media only being scandalized by the second part

— counterfactual ? (@counterfax) September 25, 2020

also, i don't think biden should like, punch him in the face, but i'm not sure it would hurt him if he did. have you met any americans? he might actually gain a few points for it.

— golikehellmachine (@golikehellmachi) September 25, 2020

In the opposite corner…

“I, the macho man, only got curb stomped in the ring because nature boy is on drugs and refused a test” https://t.co/As5SLceKes

— kilgore trout, soros u-haul renter (@KT_So_It_Goes) September 27, 2020


Strut, little man, strut. I’d place a small bet on the chance the Oval Office Occupant finds an excuse to skip the debate, except that he’s physically incapable of not showing up when there’s a big enough media spotlight.

“When asked on Saturday by reporters if he plans to go on the attack Tuesday night, the president said, ‘Well, I can't tell you what I'm going to do,’ before adding, ‘I mean, I don't know … I have no idea.’“ https://t.co/pLJpOGYwGj

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) September 27, 2020

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Reader Interactions

282Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:04 pm

    Jesus people. Trump is master debater, and Joe is senile. Trump will walk all over him.

    Do we not set expectations low anymore?

  2. 2.

    zhena gogolia

    September 27, 2020 at 7:05 pm

    Jill Biden is the best! She says what we’re all thinking!

  3. 3.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:06 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Yes, I love that. That’s “fuck you” in Dr. Jill speak.

  4. 4.

    Mary G

    September 27, 2020 at 7:07 pm

    Early in the primary Uncle Joe challenged a couple of hard hat heckler MAGAt’s to a push up contest. I want that. So, so much. Dare him to do it, and while he’s blathering away looking for a good attack, just drop and do like ten. You know he can’t match even one.

  5. 5.

    West of the Rockies

    September 27, 2020 at 7:09 pm

    It’s basically the same story as always: a Republican gets to fling shit and scream, and the Democrat has to be the reasonable adult, otherwise (s)he has debased his self.

  6. 6.

    MazeDancer

    September 27, 2020 at 7:10 pm

    Joe Biden mincemeated Paul Ryan. Shredded. Pantsed. Name a verb, Joe did it.

    And speaking of verbs, let us not forget a noun, a verb, 9/11.

    Goodness knows how many “one-liners” Joe has been given by the bet writers in Hollywood.

    And, yes, speaking as a pacifist, hope, if called for, Joe decks Trump. Donald doesn’t have COVID, Joe is perfectly safe to lay one on him

  7. 7.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    September 27, 2020 at 7:10 pm

    I watched the Comey movie.

    The first part is dull.  It covers the Clinton investigation and since Comey had script approval the narrative is favorable to him.

    The second part is hilarious, showing Dump as an ignorant, illiterate slob and Flynn as a dumb, corrupt low-life.

  8. 8.

    Brachiator

    September 27, 2020 at 7:11 pm

    Fuck, technically speaking, there shouldn’t even be any debates. Trump is a corrupt fool and liar who has nothing to say and cannot defend his evil power grab.

    I’m not counting on the moderators to ask any interesting questions.

    In my ideal world, Biden would say, “Trump is a liar and is full of shit. Vote for me. Goodnight and God Bless America.”

  9. 9.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:11 pm

    The tax news today has me leaning towards watching the debate.

  10. 10.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    September 27, 2020 at 7:14 pm

    @Brachiator: In my ideal world, Biden would say, “Trump is a liar and is full of shit. Vote for me. Goodnight and God Bless America.  Oh, can you smell what The Rock is cooking!”

     

    /fixed

  11. 11.

    dmsilev

    September 27, 2020 at 7:15 pm

    ‘Donald Trump, just a few days ago, gave himself an A or A plus for how he handled the virus crisis. I wonder whether the families of the over two hundred thousand Americans who fell to the virus agree with that grade. I wonder whether the millions of Americans who are still out of work because it’s not safe to go back on the job agree with that grade. I wonder whether millions of parents whose kids can’t go back into their schools agree with that grade.’

    Take the lie, and turn it back on him.

  12. 12.

    JaneE

    September 27, 2020 at 7:18 pm

    If Trump wants a drug test for Joe, he should be willing to pee in the cup on camera, preferably naked so no tubing can be hidden, and the camera should follow the sample all the way through getting the test results.  If they have to show some machine just sitting and processing for an hour, do not let that sample out of your sight.  Multiple cameras, just in case.  And do the same with a second sample after the debate too.  Even then I would not trust the results if they came back clean.

    If nothing else, we would know what drugs he is taking for medicinal purposes.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:18 pm

    Biden should exert dominance right out the gate and take a piss on Trump’s leg during his opening statement.

  14. 14.

    cain

    September 27, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    @Baud: 
    HIs goal is that if he sucked at debating it’s because “sleepy joe” did really well because of juicing.

  15. 15.

    MattF

    September 27, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    Trump’s gonna wing it. He thought that the bananapants ‘news conference’ he just had was debate prep. And actual debate prep is work, so…

  16. 16.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    September 27, 2020 at 7:21 pm

    @Baud:

    Trump is master debater

    Gee, thanks for that mental image, Baud /s :p

  17. 17.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 7:21 pm

    Let me put in a PSA for my guide to free, respite-friendly videos on the Japanese NHK network website. I dropped it in what turned out to be the tail end of the previous open thread.

  18. 18.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    September 27, 2020 at 7:22 pm

    I’m pretty sure the following is a quote I stole from someone here:

    Debate questions regarding “dementia”:

    “Mr Trump, please spell ‘cat'”

    “Mr Biden, please solve the Navier-Stokes equation.”

    I won’t watch the debate because the “moderators” will do nothing but enrage me.

  19. 19.

    cain

    September 27, 2020 at 7:22 pm

    I had this weird dream where Trump shot Joe at the debate and then claimed it was fake news and that he cannot be held be held responsible then he went and appealed to the supreme court that murdering his opponent and being able to get away from it was executive privilege. He then comes into the Capitol Building and had a standing ovation from the Republicans.

    I hate this timeline.

    ETA – McConnell then tries to allow the Senate vote on a new Democratic candidate but didn’t tell the Democrats and they elect Joe Lieberman.

  20. 20.

    sanjeevs

    September 27, 2020 at 7:22 pm

    Biden should hit the ATM and withdraw $750 ready to pull out during the debate.

  21. 21.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    September 27, 2020 at 7:22 pm

    @Baud: Problem is Dump likes being peed on.

  22. 22.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    September 27, 2020 at 7:22 pm

    @cain:

    That’s like saying I don’t have my homework because the dog ate it

  23. 23.

    MattF

    September 27, 2020 at 7:23 pm

    @JaneE: Most likely, Trump’s ‘offer’ was bullshit. FWIW, I’d bet that Trump takes a dozen different pills daily.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:23 pm

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: That was me!

     

     

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Win-win.

    ETA: Bipartisanship!

  25. 25.

    hells littlest angel

    September 27, 2020 at 7:23 pm

    Biden shouldn’t attack Trump, but just tease him until he develops an eating disorder dies of a stroke.

  26. 26.

    cain

    September 27, 2020 at 7:25 pm

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka): That’s like saying I don’t have my homework because the dog ate it

    With his supporters and the media – that’s good enough!

  27. 27.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:25 pm

    One of Biden’s nice characteristics is that he’s clever without coming off as “clever.”

  28. 28.

    Chyron HR

    September 27, 2020 at 7:26 pm

    “Blah blah blah blah Sleepy Joe…”

    “Two hundred thousand Americans died of Coronavirus while you spent all year jerking off about playground insults on Twitter.  Why did you even show up for the debate if you can’t even bother to pretend to be President?”

  29. 29.

    dmsilev

    September 27, 2020 at 7:26 pm

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Proper response, especially if one wants to go fully Monty Python, would be

    ‘In the laminar-flow or turbulent regime?’

  30. 30.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 7:26 pm

    @Baud:

    All that was missing was a “Bless your heart.”

  31. 31.

    Wag

    September 27, 2020 at 7:29 pm

    Deleted. God damn, trump pisses me off.

  32. 32.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    September 27, 2020 at 7:30 pm

    @Baud:

    So, without coming across as arrogant and slimy? I agree. Who was that Dem rep from Florida who was a darling of lefties? His name escapes me. He was “clever”

  33. 33.

    MattF

    September 27, 2020 at 7:30 pm

    @dmsilev: And then a pantomime summary of ‘Remembrance of Things Past.’

  34. 34.

    TS (the original)

    September 27, 2020 at 7:30 pm

    The media is now full of reports on trump refusing to leave when defeated and SCOTUS determining who is president. So obvious they know trump will be defeated but sure want him to stay. Their man in the white house.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:30 pm

    @Wag:

    I wish Hillary had done that.

  36. 36.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    September 27, 2020 at 7:30 pm

    #TrumpIsBroke

    Is the top trending phrase on the twitter machine

     

    eta:  also trending “#LockHimUp”  “#750dollars”  “Al Capone”  “#DonTheCon” “Fraud”

  37. 37.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:31 pm

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka):

    Alan Grayson?

    You got my drift.

  38. 38.

    Repatriated

    September 27, 2020 at 7:34 pm

    @JaneE:

    If Trump wants a drug test for Joe, he should be willing to pee in the cup on camera, preferably naked so no tubing can be hidden, and the camera should follow the sample all the way through getting the test results. If they have to show some machine just sitting and processing for an hour, do not let that sample out of your sight. Multiple cameras, just in case. And do the same with a second sample after the debate too. Even then I would not trust the results if they came back clean.

    If nothing else, we would know what drugs he is taking for medicinal purposes.

    I’m pretty sure Trump’s “out” is that the reported results would have to exclude prescribed medications “as a matter of national security”. Whether they’re legitimately prescribed, and by who, is a separate matter…

  39. 39.

    Wag

    September 27, 2020 at 7:34 pm

    @Baud:   The hand wringing would have been unbearable

  40. 40.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:34 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    The only thing I hate is that NYT and not WaPo broke this.  The NYT will use this to cover up years of more shitty reporting about Democrats.

  41. 41.

    CatFacts

    September 27, 2020 at 7:35 pm

    Biden’s team must be happy about the timing of the NYT tax returns piece. Trump’s likely to be wide awake and rage-tweeting for the next 48 hours straight. Increases the chances he handles the debate badly, yeah?

  42. 42.

    Cheryl Rofer

    September 27, 2020 at 7:35 pm

    Glad I’m not on the Biden debate prep team. They’re going to be working late tonight.

  43. 43.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:36 pm

    @Wag:

    You deleted your comment! Mine makes no sense now.

  44. 44.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    September 27, 2020 at 7:36 pm

    @Baud:

    That was his name! I knew it started with an “A”; I guessed “Al”

    He sure disappeared, didn’t he? I’m surprised he was still a rep until 2017

  45. 45.

    Anonymous At Work

    September 27, 2020 at 7:37 pm

    “Donald, feel free to call me Joe.” would serve Biden very well as the first words.  Friendly, personable, and Donnie hates being called by his first name.  Donnie going mean after that would look like Donald threw Biden’s kindness in his face.

  46. 46.

    Ruckus

    September 27, 2020 at 7:37 pm

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    And which one do you expect would come closer to answering their question? I’m going with Joe having an idea about Navier-Stokes equations over shitforbrains knowing 2nd grade spelling.

  47. 47.

    Kay

    September 27, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    Biden didn’t do it but he probably could have talked about Hunter’s addiction problems. Anyone who thinks a drug addicted grown child is a deal breaker hasn’t spent much time in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania the last 10 years. There are a LOT of people who deal with this. My middle son has lost 5 to overdoses out of his high school graduating class and it’s a small school. They would not judge him for that.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    @CatFacts:

    Biden’s first response at the debate is that Trump should have released his tax returns in 2016, and that he should do so now.  Then we can debate whether it’s fair for Trump to pay no taxes while hard working Americans pay more.

  49. 49.

    dmsilev

    September 27, 2020 at 7:39 pm

    The Post has another Trump base safari piece today, which isn’t a particularly interesting entry in the genre except for the headline photograph, which is quite something. They went to one of these boat parade things, the organizer of which apparently gets off on Horatio Hornblower cosplay. Even has a (replica?) cannon to shoot off.

  50. 50.

    Jeffro

    September 27, 2020 at 7:40 pm

    @Baud: so rude

    also totally apropos

  51. 51.

    Sloane Ranger

    September 27, 2020 at 7:41 pm

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka): Actually, that reminds me of when I was working in the Metropolitan Police Library and we had a Chief Inspector use exactly that excuse as to why he couldn’t return a book he borrowed.:)

    Personally, I think that Biden should come out swinging (not literally) from the start. Dominate the space, refer to Trump as Donnie in a kind of patronising tone of voice. It will really get to Trump.

  52. 52.

    Kay

    September 27, 2020 at 7:41 pm

    @Baud:

    Sam Stein
    @samstein
    · 1h
    This may be the most damaging graph.
    “In 2017, the president’s $750 contribution to the operations of the U.S. government was dwarfed by the $15,598 he or his companies paid in Panama, the $145,400 in India and the $156,824 in the Philippines.”

    Ooof. Use that.

  53. 53.

    James E Powell

    September 27, 2020 at 7:42 pm

    Yesterday, I think, I proposed three potential outcomes of Tuesday night:

    1. Trump scores some points and the press/media goes into a Comeback Kid frenzy,
    2. Biden scores some points and Trump’s approval drops three to five points for a week, or
    3. nothing happens and there’s no change in the polls.

    I fear the first, hope for the second, and fully expect the third.

  54. 54.

    JPL

    September 27, 2020 at 7:43 pm

    If he wanted to, trump could release his taxes.  The audit is only an excuse.

  55. 55.

    Kay

    September 27, 2020 at 7:44 pm

    Having a white collar criminal President plays right into my crusade to crack down on white collar crime.

    “Fewer guns, more calculators”

  56. 56.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 7:44 pm

    @Baud: a few years ago, my Poco went to doggie daycare a few times. It was mostly for socialization. ?Almost every time I would get a report of a new, younger male dog being there. Poco would walk right up to the new male, raise his leg, and piss on him. We weren’t asked back after he did it to a napping new dog who had just been groomed and was only there because owner was delayed picking him up. Well coiffed Airedale. Thanks for reminding me of that memory.

  57. 57.

    Winston

    September 27, 2020 at 7:44 pm

    If I were Biden I would look at Trump and ask him if he has paid off Stormy’s lawyers yet.

  58. 58.

    Kay

    September 27, 2020 at 7:46 pm

    @James E Powell:

    I don’t think debates matter either. They’re for obsessives and people who are paid to watch them.

  59. 59.

    MisterForkbeard

    September 27, 2020 at 7:46 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: This is basically how I assumed it would go.

    The parts with Trump are going to be pretty truthful. The parts about the Hillary investigations are mostly going to be Comey hagiography and ignore that he fucked up monumentally and repeatedly for no reason.

  60. 60.

    JaySinWA

    September 27, 2020 at 7:46 pm

    @Quinerly: Poco says “Socialize this”

  61. 61.

    Gary K

    September 27, 2020 at 7:48 pm

    It was a gorgeous early autumn day yesterday in Holmes County, Ohio, so I saddled up for a long bike ride along the rail trail. After 12 miles, needing of course to eventually return the way I came, I had to decide whether to push on to the next town of Fredericksburg. Yeah, I went for it. The first surprise was an Ohio Historical Marker that can only be seen from the trail, honoring William Moore McCulloch. I had never heard of him, but the sign indicated that he was a Republican congressman vital to the passage of the major civil rights laws in the 60s. (Where has that party gone?) But the real reward for my extra mileage was to find, at the very end of the trail, a Trump rally.

  62. 62.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:49 pm

    @Quinerly:

    :-)

  63. 63.

    Kay

    September 27, 2020 at 7:49 pm

    Rick Wilson
    @TheRickWilson
    ·11m
    TRUMP SUPPORTERS: “I just want a manly, robust alpha-male silverback gorilla who reeks of pure testosterone and spends $72,000 for hair styling.”

    72,000 for hair styling. Earns every penny, that poor stylist. Yuck.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:50 pm

    This won’t happen, but I really want Biden to call Trump a chickenshit president.

  65. 65.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 7:51 pm

    @JaySinWA: you got that right. “Mom, save your $20.”

  66. 66.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 7:51 pm

    @MazeDancer: I was just thinking last night that it’s to everyone’s credit that the writer who wrote “noun, a verb, and 9/11” never publicly took credit.

    Possibly not even privately, because it’s such a great line, you know people would share the name if they knew it.

  67. 67.

    MoCA Ace

    September 27, 2020 at 7:51 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    Nooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooo!

    If there were ever the need for a fork-stuck-in bleeding-eyes emoji this is it.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:52 pm

    @Kay: I remember when Hillary got dinged for the cost of her hair cuts.

  69. 69.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:52 pm

    @MoCA Ace:

    Please to not break margins with long words.

  70. 70.

    Cheryl Rofer

    September 27, 2020 at 7:55 pm

    @Baud: He has already, but not in those exact words.

  71. 71.

    frosty

    September 27, 2020 at 7:56 pm

    @Gary K: OT. What rail trail? I’m looking to branch out and already thinking about the one through Cuyahoga National Park.

  72. 72.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 7:57 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: I want those exact words.

  73. 73.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 7:57 pm

    @Baud: With this news, I am now on team “I’m not sure T will show up for the debate”.

    The man is a total fucking coward, there’s no way he will be willing to face debate questions about this on Tuesday.

  74. 74.

    frosty

    September 27, 2020 at 7:57 pm

    @Quinerly: Poco was definitely a worthy VP to the Baud campaign. He would have made his mark in the debates. Pun intended.

  75. 75.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    September 27, 2020 at 7:58 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: It trashed Lisa Page by slut shaming her and it trashed Peter Strzok implying he delayed a warrant of Anthony Weiner’s lap top to help Clinton.

    They also show the NY FBI office had a limited, narrow warrant to search Weiner’s lap top for sexting texts but instead they immediately used the scandal as cover to intentionally  search for any Hillary material without a warrant.   But they fail to explain how a warrantless search and non plain view search is illegal and the average viewer isn’t going to understand.

  76. 76.

    Ajabu

    September 27, 2020 at 7:59 pm

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    Damn you show off mofos on BJ. A quiet Sunday evening then you got my old musician ass looking up physics equations. All right, Mr. know it all, what degree of a scale is a Locrian mode built from?

    And no looking it up…

  77. 77.

    frosty

    September 27, 2020 at 8:01 pm

    @Ajabu: 98.6? 180?

  78. 78.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 27, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    @WaterGirl: It really is a lose/lose for him, isn’t it?  Still he needs a game changer and a debate can provide it.  If he shows up, he is going to be trying for a KO every time he speaks.  One thing Biden can do well is counter punch.  It could really be ugly – in the best possible way.

  79. 79.

    dmsilev

    September 27, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    @WaterGirl: Not showing up would probably be even worse for him. ‘Trump the coward’ would be the story of the next couple of weeks, and there really aren’t all that many weeks left.

  80. 80.

    zhena gogolia

    September 27, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    @JaneE:

    OMG, Zofran stat!!!

  81. 81.

    JPL

    September 27, 2020 at 8:04 pm

    @Kay: Because of my age, it’s not safe for me to spend 72 dollars for a hair cut.

  82. 82.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 27, 2020 at 8:05 pm

    @Ajabu: Look, man, if you’re a musician and you don’t know, I am not sure we can do much to help you.  Learn your craft, man.

  83. 83.

    zhena gogolia

    September 27, 2020 at 8:05 pm

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka):

    Grayson.

  84. 84.

    James E Powell

    September 27, 2020 at 8:06 pm

    @dmsilev:

    the organizer of which apparently gets off on Horatio Hornblower cosplay.

    I feel like I could go for that. The Horatio Hornblower books were the beginning of my serious reading as a child. I went from there to the Bounty Trilogy, Two Years Before the Mast, Melville, Conrad.

  85. 85.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 8:06 pm

    @frosty: ?

  86. 86.

    Mike in DC

    September 27, 2020 at 8:07 pm

    Biden has to look out for gotcha questions from Chris Wallace and not let himself get drawn off course by personal attacks from Trump.  If he does that, he wins this fairly easily, and this election is probably over.

  87. 87.

    Mary G

    September 27, 2020 at 8:08 pm

    @Quinerly: @frosty:

    The vision of Poco strolling up to Mike Dense and peeing on his leg is priceless.

  88. 88.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 8:10 pm

    @Mary G:

    As awful as he is, Pence is apparently an animal lover.

  89. 89.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 8:12 pm

    @Mary G: ?

  90. 90.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 8:13 pm

    @Kay: I’m not sure about that.  People like my sister who never pay attention until the last minute… they do watch the debates.  At least some of them.

    I agree that primary debates are for people like us.

  91. 91.

    Amir Khalid

    September 27, 2020 at 8:13 pm

    @Ajabu:

    I know this one! It’s the seventh degree of the major scale!

  92. 92.

    Princess

    September 27, 2020 at 8:14 pm

    One of the things that is impossible to factor in is the effect of this tax news NYT story on Trump’s moral. He has to be feel furious, shamed, exposed, and scared right now. Someone who knows more about narcissists than I do could guess how it might affect him to have his vulnerabilities exposed two days before the debate.

  93. 93.

    Mary G

    September 27, 2020 at 8:14 pm

    Biden campaign on President Trump’s attempts to make up a drug test policy for the upcoming presidential debate:
    Joe Biden “intends to deliver his debate answers in words. If the president thinks his best case is made in urine he can have at it.” (1/2)

    — MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 27, 2020

    "We’d expect nothing less from Donald Trump, who pissed away the chance to protect the lives of 200K Americans when he didn't make a plan to stop COVID-19." (2/2)— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 27, 2020

  94. 94.

    Wag

    September 27, 2020 at 8:14 pm

    @Baud:

    You’re right.
    At the start of the debate, Joe should walk out on the stage, pull out a cup, pee into it, hand the cup to Chris Wallace, and hand a second cup to Trump.

  95. 95.

    LuciaMia

    September 27, 2020 at 8:14 pm

    Youd think the thought might trickle in to some of his base that “It cant ALL be fake news…”

  96. 96.

    Benw

    September 27, 2020 at 8:15 pm

    @James E Powell: I loved the HH series! You’ve read the O’Brian books, sure?

  97. 97.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 8:15 pm

    @Baud: I bet you a $10 donation to the D candidate of your choice that Biden uses the word “coward” on Tuesday.

  98. 98.

    James E Powell

    September 27, 2020 at 8:15 pm

    @frosty:

    Back when I lived in Ohio, I would ride that Cuyahoga Valley trail all the time. I’d pick it up out of the Brecksville Metro Park and head south to Peninsula. Flat & easy ride, but a long hill coming up out of the valley on the way back.

  99. 99.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 8:16 pm

    @Baud: More better now?

  100. 100.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 8:16 pm

    @Mary G: Ha!

    Piss Christ Trump

  101. 101.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 8:16 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Gracias.

  102. 102.

    frosty

    September 27, 2020 at 8:16 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Awesome! I’ve just fiddle-farted around trying to play notes without learning anything. Girl, Sister, and (??) are in good hands.

  103. 103.

    James E Powell

    September 27, 2020 at 8:17 pm

    @Benw:

    Yes, I read them all and vowed that someday I’d go back and do a marathon.

  104. 104.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 8:17 pm

    @Wag: Thanks.

  105. 105.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 8:17 pm

    @James E Powell:

    Hope you ended up with Patrick O’Brian.

  106. 106.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 8:17 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I. Want. Chicken. Shit.

  107. 107.

    JPL

    September 27, 2020 at 8:17 pm

    @WaterGirl: I’d give more if Joe mentioned that trump could release his taxes even if he was under audit.  It’s totally up to him.

  108. 108.

    Benw

    September 27, 2020 at 8:18 pm

    @Mary G: damn, scorch marks visible from space

  109. 109.

    Etoain Shrdlu

    September 27, 2020 at 8:19 pm

    @Quinerly: So, un, you’re saying that in his last incarnation, your dog Poco was a lawny er?

    Yours crankily,

    The New York Crank

  110. 110.

    Princess

    September 27, 2020 at 8:19 pm

    @Princess: I meant morale not moral, but I like the slip.

  111. 111.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    September 27, 2020 at 8:19 pm

    Jeet Heer @HeerJeet·1h
    In 2016, Trump paid $129,250 more to Stormy Daniels than to the USA government

    Matt Oswalt @MattOswaltVA ·1h
    the only shocking thing about Trump paying just $750 in federal taxes is that the $750 check didn’t bounce

  112. 112.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 27, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    @Mary G: They are just goading him now.

  113. 113.

    frosty

    September 27, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    @James E Powell: That’s how I am with the former NCRR trail. A 3% grade over a couple of miles is a lot harder than you think.

    This one, BTW is in the Rail Trail Hall of Fame. If you’re ever near Baltimore or north of there, look it up. Adding the MD and PA sections together, it’s about 47 miles.

  114. 114.

    Benw

    September 27, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    @James E Powell: Encouraged! I’ve reread most of them and found a bunch of stuff I’d missed the first time through

  115. 115.

    Falling Diphthong

    September 27, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    @Baud:

    Do we not set expectations low anymore?

    Damn straight. Republicans have been saying that Biden can’t string together a coherent sentence: ergo, if Biden manages a coherent sentence he wins. Don’t let them go running off with the goal posts this late in the game.

  116. 116.

    LuciaMia

    September 27, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    @Steeplejack: Still bitter that there was no follow-up to ‘Master & Commander.’ When you think of how many crappy franchises there are out there.

  117. 117.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 8:20 pm

    @Mary G: Is that a for real MSNBC Twitter account?  That really doesn’t sound like anything the Biden campaign would say.

  118. 118.

    matt

    September 27, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    One thing that bugs me a little is tankie dipshits who are going around saying Biden is going to get ‘killed’ in this debate. Biden is good at these, and I think he learned quite a bit from being around Obama, how to turn ‘formidable’ debaters into winners of Pyrrhic victories.

  119. 119.

    MoCA Ace

    September 27, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    @Ajabu:  42.

  120. 120.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 8:22 pm

    @Baud: I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’ll get that.  But you can dream!

  121. 121.

    Wag

    September 27, 2020 at 8:22 pm

    @Baud:   My pleasure.  And it would be SUCH good TV.

  122. 122.

    matt

    September 27, 2020 at 8:22 pm

    I hope Biden is prepping 5 different ways to mention Trump’s taxes in this debate. I think the orange shitstain will go ballistic if Joe keeps coming back to his taxes.

  123. 123.

    PPCLI

    September 27, 2020 at 8:23 pm

    @Kay: That’s a good point. Biden might even score some major rhetorical jiu jitzu.

    Some properly focus-group crafted variation on: “My opponent has had the bad taste to mention my son Hunter’s struggles with addiction. It’s no secret, I don’t try to hide it. There are tens of thousands of families all across America who are fighting to help a family member face that challenge, and my heart goes out to every one of them. Opiate addiction is killing Americans. My administration will give real help to people in the grip of that agony, not just the empty rhetoric and complete indifference that my opponent has served up for four years….”

  124. 124.

    James E Powell

    September 27, 2020 at 8:23 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Yes, but I didn’t discover Aubrey/Maturin until I was in my 40s.

  125. 125.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 8:24 pm

    @Princess:

    Someone who knows more about narcissists than I do [. . .].

    And over to narcissism expert Hoarse Whisperer (thread):

    A few people have asked me how I think the #TrumpIsBroke story will affect Trump.

    This one is easy: he’ll deny it to the death. He has no other choice. He’ll call it fake news.

    As long as the story relies on docs only seen by the NYT, Trump will claim it’s all fake.
    1/

    — The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) September 28, 2020

  126. 126.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 8:25 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    My whole life involves dreaming about things I’ll never have.

  127. 127.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    September 27, 2020 at 8:27 pm

    I think I was about twelve when my father got visibly (to me) angry when one of my older cousins, 20-something, was bragging about his side jobs and how he didn’t pay any taxes on the money he made from them. I later asked him why it bothered him so much and he said, “I have to pay the taxes he’s not”

  128. 128.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 8:27 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Yes, better now on phone.

  129. 129.

    matt

    September 27, 2020 at 8:28 pm

    Biden should figure out how to get Stormy Daniels seated in the front row for the debate.

  130. 130.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 8:34 pm

    @LuciaMia:

    Don’t get me started! My brother, who is even more of a rabid O’Brian fan than I am, regularly fantasizes about winning a huge lottery and kick-starting an Aubrey/​Maturin series, one film (at least) for each book. Think of what you could do with modern (but tasteful) computer graphics. That would be a franchise!

  131. 131.

    Princess

    September 27, 2020 at 8:34 pm

    @Steeplejack: Yeah, I’m sure he’ll deny it but there’s a very simple way he can prove he’s innocent, which is to release his returns, which is absolutely normal behaviour for a person running for president, and the fact that he won’t screams out and will continue to scream louder and louder the more he protests.

  132. 132.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 8:36 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    It’s a real account, but they’re not linking to or citing any source other than “the Biden campaign.” Slightly weird.

  133. 133.

    zhena gogolia

    September 27, 2020 at 8:40 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    You just know Biden is gonna get hammered tomorrow when, in the interest of fairness, the NYT drops a 10-page hit piece on Joe still owing late fees to a Wilmington Blockbuster when it went out of business.— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) September 27, 2020

  134. 134.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 8:41 pm

    @Princess:

    It’s not about reality. It’s about what is inside Trump’s head—the “reality” he has constructed there.

  135. 135.

    JPL

    September 27, 2020 at 8:41 pm

    @Princess: Which he can do whether or not he’s under audit.

     

    Joe..  Don you can release your taxes whether or not you are under audit..

    Don,   liar, liar, pants on fire.

  136. 136.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 8:44 pm

    @Steeplejack: People don’t realize that is screws up the formatting  when they do that, so it’s not intentional.  But the result would be aggravating.

  137. 137.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 8:45 pm

    @Steeplejack:  Interesting.  It feels really “off” to me.

  138. 138.

    James E Powell

    September 27, 2020 at 8:46 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    I don’t understand why it’s not a Netflix or Amazon series. If Starz can do Black Sails, it can’t be out of reach for the giants of streaming.

  139. 139.

    Jeffro

    September 27, 2020 at 8:47 pm

    @Baud: trust Baud on this ?

  140. 140.

    Jeffro

    September 27, 2020 at 8:48 pm

    @Mary G: WHOA

    this is awesome!

    go Biden & Co!

  141. 141.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 27, 2020 at 8:49 pm

    @Jeffro: Trust Baud?  Is that wise?

  142. 142.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 8:50 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Ha! True.

    Reached for comment, an aide to the former vice president said, “Mr. Biden distinctly remembers returning Ocean’s Thirteen but denies that he ever rented Transformers. ‘That was some Michael Bay crap. Their records must be wrong.’”

  143. 143.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 8:51 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    You don’t have to explain it to me!

  144. 144.

    Marcopolo

    September 27, 2020 at 8:52 pm

    Will someone please turn off the news generator? I have had enough happen already today!

    #BREAKING At a house records say is owned by Brad Parscale and that neighbors say is @realDonaldTrump campaign's Pascale… reports of an armed man attempting suicide in Ft. Lauderdale.\@ftlauderdalepd Negotiated him out safely. He's now being held under #BakerAct. @WPLGLocal10— Ross Palombo (@RossPalomboWPLG) September 28, 2020

  145. 145.

    Yutsano

    September 27, 2020 at 8:54 pm

    Oh hey look at that! Dolt45 is broke! I have only one thing to say about this.

    I. Fucking. Told. You. So.

  146. 146.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 8:54 pm

    @James E Powell:

    It probably turns on something really obscure, like a fight over the rights. Like how a movie of A Confederacy of Dunces never got made.

  147. 147.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    @WaterGirl: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/27/joe-biden-trump-debate-422328

  148. 148.

    zhena gogolia

    September 27, 2020 at 8:56 pm

    @Marcopolo:

    See what I mean? Martha Mitchell is on the phone . . . .

  149. 149.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    @Marcopolo:

    Well, we did have that nice six-hour lull this afternoon.

  150. 150.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    @Steeplejack: I was going for commiseration rather than explanation!  :-)

    But maybe a little explanation for folks who don’t know what happens when you type those crazy extra-long words with no spaces.

  151. 151.

    matt

    September 27, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    OMFG Parscale is going all Scarface. Here’s another news story: https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/09/28/former-trump-campaign-manager-brad-pascale-armed-barricades-self-in-fl-home-police-called/

    I’ll bet Trump either called or had someone call Parscale to threaten him.

  152. 152.

    Marcopolo

    September 27, 2020 at 8:58 pm

    ABC confirms the story. I hope he gets the help he needs.

    .@ABC News has confirmed President Trump's former 2020 campaign manager, and current campaign senior advisor, Brad Parscale, was taken into custody this evening by Fort Lauderale Police after allegedly threatening to harm himself at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.— John Santucci (@Santucci) September 28, 2020

  153. 153.

    zhena gogolia

    September 27, 2020 at 8:59 pm

    It says right in the prayerbook that Yom Kippur is the day that God smites deceivers, wrongdoers, and criminals.— David Frum (@davidfrum) September 28, 2020

  154. 154.

    Leto

    September 27, 2020 at 8:59 pm

    @frosty: Avalune and I did 26 miles on the Schuylkill River Trail last Tuesday. We’re looking to build up the endurance so we can ride from our place down to Valley Forge and back. Heck of a lot more than 26, but it would be amazing to do. Just gotta keep working on it.

  155. 155.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 8:59 pm

    @Quinerly:

    From that story:

    “Vice President Biden intends to deliver his debate answers in words. If the president thinks his best case is made in urine he can have at it,” said Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager. “We’d expect nothing less from Donald Trump, who pissed away the chance to protect the lives of 200K Americans when he didn’t make a plan to stop COVID-19.”

    Attribution!

  156. 156.

    James E Powell

    September 27, 2020 at 9:00 pm

    Adam! Somebody! What the hell is the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency? Robert Cardillo, the recently retired director of it, is trying to tell people the truth about Trump. Think anyone will listen?

    Jennifer Rubin was lamenting that there aren’t more whistleblowers in the Department of Justice. Maybe it’s because they’ve seen that nobody cares about the previous ones. Their stories don’t rouse the public, change the press/media’s propping Trump up, or affect his approval ratings. Maybe they think it would be a waste of their career sacrifice.

  157. 157.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    September 27, 2020 at 9:00 pm

    @matt:  He’s gone full Nixon in The Bunker (cartoon)

     

    eta: Only the best people

  158. 158.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 9:01 pm

    @Quinerly: Wow, I am shocked.  Thanks for finding that for me.

    That was a pretty tasteless response from the Biden campaign.  I don’t suppose it’s a big deal, but ugh.

  159. 159.

    zhena gogolia

    September 27, 2020 at 9:01 pm

    @Leto:

    Wow. So happy to hear you’re that fit.

  160. 160.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 9:01 pm

    @Marcopolo:

    Pascale Story

    WG: raw link made pretty to fix mergin issue

  161. 161.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 9:01 pm

    @matt:

    Holy shnikeys! I didn’t know it was Parscale himself from the earlier story.

  162. 162.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 9:02 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    “Donald, stop trying to distract the American people just because urine big trouble in the polls.”

  163. 163.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 9:02 pm

    @Steeplejack: personally, I loved it.

  164. 164.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    September 27, 2020 at 9:03 pm

    Who had “Parscale in Police Standoff Threatening to Off Himself” on their 2020 bingo cards?

  165. 165.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 27, 2020 at 9:03 pm

    @WaterGirl: If this is a legit quote, the Biden campaign has decided to taunt Trump into a rage/stroke/collapse/etc.

  166. 166.

    zhena gogolia

    September 27, 2020 at 9:04 pm

    @WaterGirl: 
    Hmm. Watch Jill Biden up top and get with it. The “taste” ship has sailed.

  167. 167.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 27, 2020 at 9:05 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I did, but I am playing on five cards.

  168. 168.

    zhena gogolia

    September 27, 2020 at 9:05 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Yep.

  169. 169.

    Marcopolo

    September 27, 2020 at 9:05 pm

    @Steeplejack:   As a number of folks here have noted, whether or not these stories do anything to shake up the beliefs of the average Trump supporter, the fact is that Trump is losing this election.  Bigly.  He’s behind & has been since January.  Biden is at or near 50% in polling in enough of the battleground states to lock it up, and Trump needs to be making up ground, and there are very few undecideds out there which is vastly different from 2016..  Every additional hour/day/week that is dominated by shit like this is a win for Biden because it keeps Trump from making up any ground whatsoever.

    So I guess, though it is exhausting as all hell, I can live with it.  At least until Nov. 3rd (or more likely Jan. 20th).

  170. 170.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 9:07 pm

    Ok, who messed up the margins this time?

  171. 171.

    Leto

    September 27, 2020 at 9:07 pm

    I know everyone is going ga-ga over the NYT story, but this story broke this morning on WaPo which I consider a parallel story. Not sure it was covered in the T-Bogg thread but just in case it wasn’t:

    Donald Trump, facing financial ruin, sought control of his elderly father’s estate. The family fight was epic.

    BLUFF: he was so dead broke that he got his dementia addled father to sign a new will handing him, Dotard, all of the family assets so he could try to stay afloat. (Narrator: it didn’t work)

  172. 172.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 9:08 pm

    @Quinerly:

    I just wanted to attach a real person to it. Not fake news!

  173. 173.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 9:08 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    It’ll also play with people who might be attracted to Trump, I think.

  174. 174.

    prostratedragon

    September 27, 2020 at 9:08 pm

    @MattF:  Thirty seconds of chewing?

  175. 175.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 9:09 pm

    @Quinerly: sorry about the crazy format. I’m on my phone and margins are doing strange. Can’t see what I’m typing.

  176. 176.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    September 27, 2020 at 9:11 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    That requires one of those bingo chip dispensers.

  177. 177.

    dmsilev

    September 27, 2020 at 9:11 pm

    @Baud:

    Ok, who messed up the margins this time?

    I blame Obama.

  178. 178.

    opiejeanne

    September 27, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    @Ajabu: The 7th, and I no longer care. I haven’t cared since I was in Theory, and no one else really cared then, 44 years ago, and I am still trying to forget.

  179. 179.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I have some sort of crazy end for Steve Bannon on one of my cards. We haven’t heard much about him lately.

  180. 180.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 9:13 pm

    @Baud:

    Quinerly at #159 with the day’s fugliest link. WaterGirl notified.

  181. 181.

    matt

    September 27, 2020 at 9:13 pm

    @Leto: I don’t think that story hurts Trump. That model of Trump as a ruthless business shark is favorable for Trump with most Americans I think. Sadly.

  182. 182.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    September 27, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    I do want him to survive the night so that he can testify to his crimes in remorse and serves a prison sentence that President Harris can commute at the start of her first term.

  183. 183.

    James E Powell

    September 27, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    @Marcopolo:

    I don’t want the guy to kill himself, but a complete breakdown leading to a full confession would be welcome.

  184. 184.

    Leto

    September 27, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    @zhena gogolia: It’s taken almost two years to get there, but I’m getting there. This weekend Avalune and I went to a state park in northern PA for the weekend. Hiked for six miles/three hours on Saturday through a deserted nature trail. Most I’ve walked in two years. We were both exhausted by the time we got back, but it was such a wonderful feeling. I usually get exhausted after about 45 mins but it was different this time. I won’t question it!

  185. 185.

    Baud

    September 27, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    @Quinerly: He was arrested. He’s laying low.

  186. 186.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 9:15 pm

    @Steeplejack: as I said.. I love the response… Especially since it was made by a woman.

  187. 187.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 9:16 pm

    @Baud: I remember the arrest and bail hearing. Nothing since.

  188. 188.

    Leto

    September 27, 2020 at 9:18 pm

    @matt: I don’t know. Taking advantage of your mentally challenged parent to screw over your relatives, and still piss it all away… I think it doesn’t paint him in a decent light because many people have to deal with parents who have Alzheimer’s/dementia and have to deal with people trying to scam them out of their life savings. It’s a fucking scummy thing and it fits him like a glove.

  189. 189.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    September 27, 2020 at 9:19 pm

    @Quinerly:

    Bannon’s corpse is found in a shitty garret room above a Bangkok ladyboy brothel with a heroin needle still stuck in its dick.  The corpse will be 3 weeks old, discovered because the landlord needed rent.

    It takes hours to pull all of the juicy corpse from between the bed and the crumbling wall, as little light is available from the single hanging light  bulb, and the morgue crew has to keep stepping outside, as there is no working AC, just a dripping wall unit blowing in hot air.

  190. 190.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    September 27, 2020 at 9:19 pm

    Stormy Daniels is trending. And the twitter-junkie is staring at it in rage.

  191. 191.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 9:20 pm

    @Steeplejack: oh, no… Not Watergirl. I have been in trouble with her before. ?

  192. 192.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 27, 2020 at 9:21 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I think he had to surrender his passport.

  193. 193.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 9:22 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: sounds good to me.

  194. 194.

    Gin & Tonic

    September 27, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: You really have a way with words.

  195. 195.

    frosty

    September 27, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    @Leto:  I’ll have to check it out.
    We rode the Lehigh Gorge trail a couple of years ago. Start in Jim Thorpe – an outfitter shuttled us to the top and we rode (very slight grade) downhill from White Haven for 25 miles, listening to the rafters on the Lehigh River screaming. It was a great trip.
    I checked out the D&L Canal towpath a week ago for a hike with my Boy Scout buddies from (many) years ago. Good for walking, a little rough for a bike, unless you’ve got one with front suspension.

  196. 196.

    JaySinWA

    September 27, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    @Steeplejack: Not only that, he will be aided and abetted by pearl clutching reporters and commentators about how unseamly it is that these documents were obtained without his consent. Nobody is safe from having their taxes exposed if the POTUS isn’t safe, don’t you agree. It would be un american not to agree. The leaking of his precious bodily fluids tax returns damages the sanctity of privacy.

  197. 197.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 9:26 pm

    @Steeplejack:   @Baud:   @Quinerly:

    All fixed.

  198. 198.

    Jeffro

    September 27, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    @Marcopolo:Biden is at or near 50% in polling in enough of the battleground states to lock it up, and Trump needs to be making up ground, and there are very few undecideds out there which is vastly different from 2016.

    So. Much. This.

    Can a Villager explain to me what it’d take to ‘flip’ a Biden voter to trumpov at this point?  Would it be the rock-solid stability?  The superior plan for dealing with the coronavirus?

  199. 199.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 9:28 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Thanks to a link in the comments… yes it looks like it really came from them.

    Interesting take.

  200. 200.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    September 27, 2020 at 9:28 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Dammit – forgot the arrest.

    I guess it’ll have to be something that happens in a shabby rental room (that doubles as a meth lab) above a chop shop somewhere around South Boston.

  201. 201.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I did watch that video earlier, and she just shut Jake down with a shiv and a smile.

  202. 202.

    Gary K

    September 27, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    @frosty: My home trail is the 18.5 mile B&O Trail that goes between Mansfield and Butler in Richland County. For a change of scene I’ve been trying out segments of the Ohio-to-Erie trail, beginning with the portion through Knox County. This summer I’ve pedaled every mile in Knox, and have started to learn the spottier segments through Holmes. The best segment was the one that starts at the Bridge of Dreams, a long covered bridge, crosses quickly into Holmes and then heads upward 300 feet & back down again on the way to Glenmont. Even then I don’t think there’s anything like a 3% grade, which was a challenge for trains and remains a challenge for a septuagenarian on a bike. East of Glenmont there’s a gap (you need to pedal on a road) until the trail resumes for 16 miles from Killbuck up to Fredericksburg. In Holmes County you’re sharing the trail with horse-drawn buggies!

    I want to try the Cuyahoga Trail. I understand you can pedal one way and then ride back on the scenic train.

  203. 203.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 27, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: That works.

  204. 204.

    Aleta

    September 27, 2020 at 9:30 pm

    Tomorrow T announces the debate questions have been rigged by the lies published in the crooked NYT .

  205. 205.

    Steeplejack

    September 27, 2020 at 9:30 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    My hero(ine)!

  206. 206.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 9:30 pm

    @Leto: Ooh.  Is that coming out because of Mary Trump’s lawsuit?

  207. 207.

    frosty

    September 27, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    @Leto: Congratulations on the recovery and the hike! PA has some really nice state parks. My wife is on the mend from double knee replacement surgery this June and we’re looking forward to pain-free hikes and bike rides in the coming years.

  208. 208.

    There go two miscreants

    September 27, 2020 at 9:31 pm

    @Amir Khalid: This really is a full-service blog!

  209. 209.

    Gin & Tonic

    September 27, 2020 at 9:32 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: You clearly haven’t been to South Boston in some time.

  210. 210.

    frosty

    September 27, 2020 at 9:34 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Eeewwww! Perfect!

  211. 211.

    JaySinWA

    September 27, 2020 at 9:34 pm

    @Mary G: I am surprised no one is calling this a pissing contest here.

  212. 212.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 9:34 pm

    @Quinerly: Am I the devil?  :-)

  213. 213.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 9:38 pm

    @Steeplejack: I was in the other room so I hadn’t seen your text.  I will read now.

    Miss Willow, who is not very vocal, suddenly started making some weird distress sounds and acting odd.  So I was hanging with her for a bit. Doing something strange with her mouth or lips, I wondered if she had found a bug and got stung or something.

  214. 214.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 9:38 pm

    @WaterGirl: nope
    I just use ? when I’m being devilish, snarky, trouble maker. Use it on FB. My small group there know what I mean. It’s all about me. ?

  215. 215.

    frosty

    September 27, 2020 at 9:40 pm

    @Gary K: I understand you can pedal one way and then ride back on the scenic train.

    In pre-COVID times you could do this from Cumberland to Frostburg for a shuttle on part of the Great Allegheny Passage, which connects with the C&O canal towpath for a 330 mile off-road trip from Pittsburgh to Washington!

  216. 216.

    AWOL

    September 27, 2020 at 9:41 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: No. He’s a sexual dullard. If that tape exists— and I doubt it does—it would have emerged. It’s just an act of anti-Obama racist violence done via Caucasian Voyeurism and Caucasian Eternal Prostitutionism.

  217. 217.

    Scuffletuffle

    September 27, 2020 at 9:41 pm

    @Baud:  Hollering!!!

  218. 218.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 9:42 pm

    @Quinerly:  :-)

    Cleanup on aisle 159 was no biggie.  I just need to know ASAP so the phone peeps don’t spontaneously combust in frustration.

  219. 219.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    September 27, 2020 at 9:42 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    It’s been a minute.

     

  220. 220.

    Gary K

    September 27, 2020 at 9:43 pm

    @James E Powell: Are you old enough to remember when Jimmy Carter, in his 1980 convention acceptance speech, while meaning to praise Hubert Humphrey, said “Hubert Horatio Hornblower”?

  221. 221.

    Morzer

    September 27, 2020 at 9:43 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: 

    Thoughts and prayers, thoughts and prayers…

    https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/trump-campaign-manager-brad-parscale-hospitalized-after-barricading-himself-in-home-with-guns-and-threatening-self-harm/

  222. 222.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    September 27, 2020 at 9:47 pm

    @AWOL:

    Given the bizarre thing about the Obama lookalike that he berated and “fired” (wonder who paid for it), maybe he had some other Obama lookalike bang a set of lookalikes made to resemble Ivanka and Melania.

    I mean, he’s that damaged. I could see him taking a cuckold fantasy to that dark a level.

  223. 223.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    September 27, 2020 at 9:47 pm

    David Frum  @davidfrum ·1h
    It says right in the prayerbook that Yom Kippur is the day that God smites deceivers, wrongdoers, and criminals.

    Huh.

  224. 224.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 9:48 pm

    @Leto: What a fucking pig this man is.  HIs only strength is failing upwards.  Fuck the media for elevating him for all these years decades.

  225. 225.

    prostratedragon

    September 27, 2020 at 9:48 pm

    @JaySinWA:  Not a contest since there’s someone in it who has already won the noble piss prize (in his mind).

  226. 226.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 9:49 pm

    @Morzer: it’s going to be interesting if we learn what triggered the attempt. Looks like his last Tweet was a couple of days ago. Normally, I would feel badly for someone in this situation. But I have no sympathy/empathy. These are horrible people. I want them to get what they deserve. And for it to be painful. If not painful… deeply embarrassing.

  227. 227.

    Humanities Prof

    September 27, 2020 at 9:50 pm

    @Baud:  Oh, he doesn’t just like ’em. He f…..

    Sorry, had to drop a “Fierce Creatures” reference.

  228. 228.

    J R in WV

    September 27, 2020 at 9:51 pm

    @Sloane Ranger: 

    …Chief Inspector use exactly that excuse [dog ate it] as to why he couldn’t return a book he borrowed.:)

    This could be true, as we have two young dogs, brother and sister sleek black dogs, who still eat important things. New shoes, medical containers, books, magazines, sandals, corner of nice feather pillow… you name it, they have tasted it…

  229. 229.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    September 27, 2020 at 9:52 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    This, a thousand times this. From the NYT not finishing him off repeatedly to Letterman’s fawning shit to Jimmy Fallon and Haberman and Mark Burnett and EVERY PERSON WHO ACTED LIKE HE HAD IMPORTANT INFO TO IMPART, they’re responsible.

  230. 230.

    Hoodie

    September 27, 2020 at 9:53 pm

    @Quinerly: Maybe investigation of campaign fund skimming?

  231. 231.

    Ken

    September 27, 2020 at 9:54 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Only the best people

    Yeah, but they used to get convicted of felonies, or try to flee to Eastern Europe.  A suicidal breakdown is new.

  232. 232.

    Morzer

    September 27, 2020 at 9:54 pm

    @Quinerly: My theory is that Death Star Parscale finally got around to watching Star Wars.

  233. 233.

    J R in WV

    September 27, 2020 at 9:55 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    September 27, 2020 at 7:51 pm

    @MazeDancer: I was just thinking last night that it’s to everyone’s credit that the writer who wrote “noun, a verb, and 9/11” never publicly took credit.

    Possibly not even privately, because it’s such a great line, you know people would share the name if they knew it.

     

    “Rudy Giuliani, there’s only three things he mentions in a sentence; a noun, a verb, and 9/11,” Biden said.

    So!  We do know who said it first. A well known Democratic politician, with a quick wit!

  234. 234.

    Morzer

    September 27, 2020 at 9:55 pm

    https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/1310351470210854915

    In 2016, Trump paid $129,250 more to Stormy Daniels than to the USA government.

  235. 235.

    Ken

    September 27, 2020 at 9:56 pm

    @JaySinWA: The leaking of his precious bodily fluids tax returns damages the sanctity of privacy.

    Oh, is there an expectation of privacy in the Constitution?  I could swear I heard otherwise, quite recently.

  236. 236.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 9:57 pm

    @Hoodie: that seems obvious. I’m thinking bigger… Maybe less obvious. It’s not like this is a reality show that’s supposed to make sense.

  237. 237.

    zhena gogolia

    September 27, 2020 at 9:58 pm

    @Leto:

    Wonderful.

  238. 238.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 9:58 pm

    @Morzer: ?

  239. 239.

    J R in WV

    September 27, 2020 at 10:00 pm

    @frosty:

    There are some great Rails to Trails bike paths in WV. Greenbrier River may be the best… but there are lots more.

  240. 240.

    Morzer

    September 27, 2020 at 10:00 pm

    I would love to hear Amy Coney Barrett’s opinion of Trump’s persistent tax evasion. The Democrats should make her respond to all of Trump’s crimes, deranged utterances about the election etc – and force her to go on the record as either supporting his abusive, treasonous behavior or rejecting her latest god in public. Make Goody Two Shoes squirm.

  241. 241.

    Jeffro

    September 27, 2020 at 10:00 pm

    @Quinerly: Same here.

    trumpov voters get no pass for being blinded by their racism, their stupidity, etc etc.  Unless they fully own it, apologize publicly, and actively work to make it better going forward.

    trumpov staff/campaign members?  no pass under any circumstances.  They knew what they were getting into and loved them those trumpovDollars.  F them.

  242. 242.

    catclub

    September 27, 2020 at 10:01 pm

    @Morzer: a black guy comes out of that situation dead.

  243. 243.

    Kay

    September 27, 2020 at 10:02 pm

    Donald J. Trump
    @realDonaldTrump
    @BarackObama
    who wants to raise all our taxes, only pays 20.5% on $790k salary. Do as I say not as I do.

    It’s from 2012. I think about Obama watching this sometimes. No one took more shit from the disgusting, sleazy Trump Family than Obama. It must be delicious.

  244. 244.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 10:02 pm

    So what’s next this week?

    Pee tape release?

    The lost Apprentice tapes with Trump using the “N word.”?

    How would you write the story line?

  245. 245.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 10:03 pm

    @J R in WV: I have always assumed that one of Biden’s speechwriters or a staff person had come up with that during debate prep.  I guess it could have been Joe, but my money is still on someone else.

    Let’s make a pact: if either of us meets Joe, we ask him.

  246. 246.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 10:04 pm

    @Jeffro: ?

  247. 247.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 10:04 pm

    @Quinerly: I can believe that the dumpster has fallen or will fall low enough at some point that the Apprentice tapes will be released.

  248. 248.

    Morzer

    September 27, 2020 at 10:05 pm

    @Quinerly: Mark Burnett is never going to release the Trump tapes, because they make clear just what a disgusting creep Burnett himself is.

  249. 249.

    TS (the original)

    September 27, 2020 at 10:05 pm

    @Morzer:

    Guess he is worried about investigations of trump finances, way beyond time the trump election fundraising was exposed for what it is/was.

    @catclub:

    a black guy comes out of that situation dead.

    Definitely  the most likely outcome.

  250. 250.

    Morzer

    September 27, 2020 at 10:08 pm

    A statement from President Trump’s Campaign Communications Director, Tim Murtaugh, states: “Brad Parscale is a member of our family and we all love him. We are ready to support him and his family in any way possible.”

    Translation: he knows too much to be just another unimportant covfefe boy, but sadly… the Trump campaign is broke.

  251. 251.

    Brachiator

    September 27, 2020 at 10:10 pm

    @dmsilev:

    ‘Donald Trump, just a few days ago, gave himself an A or A plus for how he handled the virus crisis. I wonder whether the families of the over two hundred thousand Americans who fell to the virus agree with that grade. I wonder whether the millions of Americans who are still out of work because it’s not safe to go back on the job agree with that grade. I wonder whether millions of parents whose kids can’t go back into their schools agree with that grade.’

    Take the lie, and turn it back on him.

    I agree very much with the sentiment. But I would make it simpler, more plain.

    Trump lied. Trump failed. People died.

    Trump failed to prepare for the virus. Trump ignored information from his advisors about the  extent of the virus. Trump failed to direct federal efforts to protect people. Too many people died as a result of his failure of leadership, and too many people are threatened by his continued failure to lead.

     

  252. 252.

    Leto

    September 27, 2020 at 10:10 pm

    @frosty: We visited Cherry Springs State Park which is one of the darkest spots on the east coast. BillinGlenndale would love it. The moon was reflecting too much light Saturday night, but it was still the most stars I’ve seen since right after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.

     

    @WaterGirl: I think more of this information is coming out because he has the loser stink on him and it’s like watching scavengers eat a bloated dying whale carcass. As so many people have stated, he would’ve been able to continue the grift if he lost in 2016, or folded before that. But his ability to fail up into the most powerful position in the world is truly heinous.

  253. 253.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 10:11 pm

    @Morzer: You are probably right about that.  What a sad thought. I was so looking forward to those.  Eventually.

  254. 254.

    catclub

    September 27, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    @WaterGirl: I guess it could have been Joe, but my money is still on someone else.

     

    and staff KNOW that their job is to make the boss look good. No way one of them claims that.

  255. 255.

    Patricia Kayden

    September 27, 2020 at 10:14 pm

    Just pulled up beside a homeless man begging for money on the street corner. I felt bad for him so I rolled down my window to give him money, and as he stumbled toward my car I realized it was Lindsey Graham so I laughed and sped away.— great scott! ?? (@GreatScott1991) September 25, 2020

  256. 256.

    James E Powell

    September 27, 2020 at 10:15 pm

    @Gary K:

    Yes.  Here it is. It was just not Carter’s year.

  257. 257.

    catclub

    September 27, 2020 at 10:17 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: wait, so is that Scott Tim Scott, the other senator from SC?

  258. 258.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 10:17 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: I hope he loses this election.  I like to think that I am a good person, but I am taking joy in his utter humiliation at the moment, so I may have to reassess.

  259. 259.

    JoyceH

    September 27, 2020 at 10:20 pm

    @Quinerly: I am convinced that there are a number of women (and the number is greater than one) who could pen an op-ed titled “Donald Trump paid for my abortion.”  I can only hope that at least one of them sees her duty clearly and steps up.

  260. 260.

    Redshift

    September 27, 2020 at 10:25 pm

    I don’t seek out wingnut tweets, but I occasionally see their replies to tweets I’m reading, though I ignore them. If I see any more about how Biden must be taking something because he’s not senile like we all know he is, I’m tempted to reply with “if Trump knows about drugs that make you mentally sharp and good at being president, why the hell isn’t he taking them?”

  261. 261.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 10:29 pm

    @JoyceH: I think the dam has broken. Whether it’s loser stink, timing, karma, or people just fucking fed up that we never get a break from 24/7 Trump… Something feels different. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some sort of bombshell every day now. Someone has tapes of something, there are more women, rapes, abortions, blackmail… He looks like crap. Maybe he will just keel over. Maybe on the debate stage from a stroke. Something just feels different.

  262. 262.

    frosty

    September 27, 2020 at 10:31 pm

    @Leto: Cherry Springs is on my to-see list, along with Kinzua Bridge. We saw the Grand Canyon of PA and did a short bike ride on the Pine Creek Rail Trail through it. Camped at Kettle Creek, IIRC. The GC of PA is worth a trip.

    We’ve spent a lot of time in Ohiopyle because my SIL and BIL were kayakers. The whole Yough River area is worth a visit.

  263. 263.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 10:31 pm

    @Redshift: go for it. I would. You might want to remind them that Trump needs new material. He said the exact same thing about HRC.

  264. 264.

    Jeffro

    September 27, 2020 at 10:34 pm

    @Quinerly:

     

    @JoyceH: Sadly, I think this is true.  Given where the race is…if they wish to speak, great; if not, that’s certainly fine.  trumpov is toast.

  265. 265.

    Jeffro

    September 27, 2020 at 10:38 pm

    @Redshift: I actually asked TCN…er…RWNJ dad this today: “Which makes more sense: that Biden is senile but is also taking performance-enhancing drugs (of some kind?) or that trumpov latched onto ‘Sleepy Joe’ for some dumb reason and instead of walking it back (or even just dropping it), now has to come up with some nefarious reason why Uncle Joe can string together complete sentences?”

    “trumpov is never ever wrong, is he?  And so the excuses and theories and conspiracy theories get wilder and wider, don’t they?”

    (crickets)

  266. 266.

    TS (the original)

    September 27, 2020 at 10:39 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Way past time to push back on trump’s stupidity. It wasn’t Biden who said it. In fact, as usual, the campaign has used a woman for the push back.

  267. 267.

    Jeffro

    September 27, 2020 at 10:39 pm

    @Quinerly:Something feels different. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some sort of bombshell every day now.

    It’s almost like there is a guiding hand, leading us all to & through these moments, at almost the exactly right time for maximum effect.

    God bless the IC and its people of many talents.

  268. 268.

    Leto

    September 27, 2020 at 10:39 pm

    @frosty:  We passed through the GC of PA to get to Cherry Springs. I’ll be honest when I say that I have a pretty good fear of heights, but Avalune wants to see the PA GC so I’m sure we’ll be back.

    Before you go to CS, check the weather/lunar cycle just to try to get a completely dark night. It was still a beautiful starfield, but not having the moon as your own personal flashlight would’ve been nice.

  269. 269.

    Omnes Omnibus

    September 27, 2020 at 10:41 pm

    @Leto: . I’ll be honest when I say that I have a pretty good fear of heights

    Did the Air Force know?

  270. 270.

    Quinerly

    September 27, 2020 at 10:42 pm

    @Jeffro: ?

  271. 271.

    Uncle Cosmo

    September 27, 2020 at 10:47 pm

    @Baud: As awful as he is, Pence is apparently an animal lover.

    “He majored in animal husbandry – till they caught him at it.” (Pace Tom Lehrer.)

  272. 272.

    TS (the original)

    September 27, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    @JoyceH:

    I can only hope that at least one of them sees her duty clearly and steps up.\

    The attacks on her would be never ending. Depending where she lives, a GOP state would probably charge her with getting an illegal abortion. I doubt it would be worth it. This was proven in the SCOTUS hearing for Kavanagh.

  273. 273.

    frosty

    September 27, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    @Leto: I have a terrible fear of heights but the GC didn’t trigger it. Kinzua Bridge now … it’s half of a railroad trestle that didn’t get destroyed by a tornado. You walk out on it and there’s a glass floor at the end where you can look down at the valley.  Because of course there is!!

  274. 274.

    Uncle Cosmo

    September 27, 2020 at 10:56 pm

    @Baud: Full screen shot of a MAGA hat half-floating in a toilet bowl full of yellow liquid. Cries out to be done!

  275. 275.

    Sally

    September 27, 2020 at 10:58 pm

    @LuciaMia: I and my entire family would have loved that too! Our youngest son thought it was Pasta and Commander. Which it continues to be in our household.

  276. 276.

    WaterGirl

    September 27, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    @TS (the original): Yeah, I reread it earlier.  I think what bothered me was the use of urine in the first sentence – it felt odd and forced, but I have no problem with saying he pissed away (or is pissingway, I don’t recall) at the end.

  277. 277.

    Sally

    September 27, 2020 at 11:03 pm

    @Steeplejack: Some of the books were a bit slow, but still valuable to fill in the trials and tribulations and deeper personalities of the characters. I think there are twenty two books. Eight movies would probably cover them. Pasta and Commander was made from the first two books, iirc. 

  278. 278.

    SFAW

    September 27, 2020 at 11:18 pm

    @Baud:

    Mine makes no sense now.

    Ma nishtana …

  279. 279.

    SFAW

    September 27, 2020 at 11:21 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Did the Air Force know?

    Sort of. They mistook his “Gaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” for “Yee-haw!”

  280. 280.

    The Lodger

    September 28, 2020 at 12:00 am

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka): And then there’s the famous Scalzi aphorism: “Asshole is the failure mode of clever.”

  281. 281.

    Richard

    September 28, 2020 at 1:43 am

    @Gary K: Oh I’m sorry. Where has that party gone? I think they are brainwashed. I don’t know what happened. My mom used to speak Spanish and German also. This was back in Vietnam days and we still have relatives in Canada. The plan was to send me and my sibs to go stay with Oma and horrible Papi until things got better. It really was too drastic, and we never did it. But now i wonder what might have happened.

    Don’t let these crazy people be so bossy all the time. We live here too. Right now they are talking about their guns. Probably it means they have run out of ammunition.

  282. 282.

    Miss Bianca

    September 28, 2020 at 9:42 am

    @Steeplejack:  Way too late to this thread, but I think the Aubreyad would actually work better as a mini-series on TV – a series of mini-series, as it were. Starz did a pretty damn good job with Outlander and Black Sails.

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