Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Republicans do not trust women.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

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

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

No one could have predicted…

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

American history and black history cannot be separated.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

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

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Friday Evening Open Thread: Nuzzi Comes At the King…

Friday Evening Open Thread: Nuzzi Comes At the King…

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… And misses, badly.

I’m disappointed, but not really surprised. Nuzzi’s longform reporting shows a good eye for the devastating details — Giuliani’s frenetic attempts to revive his reputation, Mehmet Oz on the campaign trail, TFG as Norma Desmond haunting Mar-A-Lago. But she’s apparently got a weakness for bad companions (hell, she married Ryan Lizza), and her latest NYMag ‘report’ is the pixilated equivalent of a middle-school horror story told around a late-night campfire. And when the couple got home from the drive-in… there was a detached arm with a hook for a hand hanging off the window!!!

Friday Evening Open Thread: Nuzzi Comes At the King...


For some reason, when I first read Nuzzi’s horror story, a memory surfaced of a John D. MacDonald pulp novel. A would-be power broker attempts, and fails, to extort the hero; his about-to-be-ex-mentor tells him that Hero would not stoop to coming after him for revenge, but ‘someday you’ll be standing in the way of something he’s after, and he won’t bother to ride *around* you.’ Must’ve been thirty years since I read that book, don’t know why it came to mind now.

Reader Interactions

148Comments

  1. 1.

    Chris Johnson

    “something not of this earth”?

    Okay, that’s enough pundit for today. Goodnight all.

    Jesus FUCK. What a good idea. Let’s bring lizard people conspiracy theory into this, that’s sure to underscore the essential seriousness of the media…

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Olivia Nuzzi is a good writer and has done some interesting and thought-provoking stories in the past, but (BUT) I am going to approach this with extreme prejudice.

  3. 3.

    trollhattan

    California edition of Florida Man could easily be Oroville Man. Kids, don’t do this.

    An Oroville man was arrested this week after firefighters accused him of setting a backfire the same afternoon the Thompson Fire ignited in Butte County.

    The 61-year-old Oroville man was seen setting the backfire on a property near Oro Quincy Highway on Tuesday, north of the Thompson fire, using a propane torch, Cal Fire Butte County unit said in a news release. When Cal Fire personnel arrived at the scene, they found him standing near a quarter-acre of burned land.

    Firefighters extinguished the fire and detained the man, who authorities said admitted he had set the backfire with the torch. A backfire is a small fire used to stop the progress of a larger wildfire by burning the area in its path and thus depriving it of fuel. “The backfire set by (the suspect) was in an area that posed a significant risk to the public, property, and safety personnel engaged in firefighting activities on the Thompson Fire,” Cal Fire said.

    The backfire, according to firefighters, was set to protect property from the Thompson Fire, a large wildfire that sparked Tuesday morning on Cherokee Road between the city of Oroville and Lake Oroville and the dam infrastructure. As of Friday morning, the wildfire has charred 3,789 acres and was 46% contained, according to Cal Fire BTU.

    The man was booked into Butte County Jail in Chico in connection with one felony charge of recklessly starting a wildfire.
    sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article289787654.html#storylink=cpy

    Thompson Fire essentially adjacent to the Camp Fire footprint, that being the fire that destroyed Paradise, CA.

  5. 5.

    BR

    Everyone needs to send a video of the Wisconsin rally to their family and friends who are on the fence about Biden. If Biden is saying he’s in, then we need to be treating it as he’s in and go full blast.

    At the same time I called and shouted at my Dem elected officials to support Biden, and hopefully everyone is doing that too.

  6. 6.

    Spanky

    there was a detached arm with a hook for a hand hanging off the window!!!

    GEEZ! Could ya lay off the spoilers for once?

  8. 8.

    scav

    Either a journalism degree is actually a prion and it’s mere happenstance their proteins  are tangling simultaneously in an Olympic-level display of synchronized madness or their brainworms mated with cicadas and all the broods are hatching at once.

  9. 9.

    trollhattan

    Place your bets on whether Alito’s favorite archbishop just lost his jerb.

    An Italian archbishop and staunch critic of Pope Francis has been excommunicated by the Vatican, its doctrinal office has said.
    Carlo Maria Vigano was found guilty of schism – meaning he has split from the Catholic Church – after years of fierce disagreement with the pontiff.
    The 83-year-old ultra-conservative has previously called on the Pope to resign, accusing him of heresy and criticising his stances on immigration, climate change and same-sex couples.  Archbishop Vigano was a senior figure in the Church, serving as papal envoy to Washington from 2011 to 2016.
    In 2018 he went into hiding after alleging that the Pope had known about sexual abuse by an American cardinal and failed to act. The Vatican rejected the accusation. Over time, the archbishop became associated with US conspiracy theorists, criticising Covid vaccines and alleging a “globalist” and “anti-Christian” project by the UN and other groups – both familiar conspiratorial themes.
    On Friday the Vatican’s doctrinal office said his refusal to submit to Pope Francis was clear from his public statements.
    “The Most Reverend Carlo Maria Vigano was found guilty of the reserved delict [violation of the law] of schism,” the statement said, adding that he had been excommunicated – or banished from the church.
    Responding by a post on X, the archbishop linked to the decree that was emailed to him and said:
    “What was attributed to me as guilt for my conviction is now put on record, confirming the Catholic Faith that I fully profess.”
    Archbishop Vigano was charged with schism and denying the pope’s legitimacy last month. At the time, he write on X that he regarded the accusations against him as “an honour”.
    “I repudiate, reject, and condemn the scandals, errors, and heresies of Jorge Mario Bergoglio,” he said, using Argentine Pope’s given name.
    Pope Francis has put himself at odds with traditionalist Catholics by making overtures towards the LGBTQ+ community, championing migrant rights and condemning the excesses of capitalism.
    -BBC

  10. 10.

    Elizabelle

    Anne  Laurie: Rather than giving wide exposure to Mrs. Ryan Lizza’s blockbuster with no sources willing to go on the record —

    how about a thread with the Howard Stern interview and DDay speech and items that show the actual President Biden? I think he’s actually done several longer interviews.  Just not with the Putz Times and Important Outlets.

  11. 11.

    Elizabelle

    It would be great to have extended clips and sources like that, because people are probably looking around for other evidence of Biden’s affect.

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    @Elizabelle: Francis has done more to humanize the Church than any pope in my lifetime and so of course, he’s got to be the enemy to all the closet nazi cafeteria Catholics.

  14. 14.

    Birdie

    The media are actively trying to turn this election into a referendum on Biden. It’s certainly interesting to see which elected Dems are feeding it.

  15. 15.

    Birdie

    @Elizabelle: This would be great. It’s good to be aware of the narrative and also to use what little power we have to mark it to reality.

  16. 16.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, …

    David Pepper
    @DavidPepper
    Jul 4

    Hey columnists and editors…wanna write columns people read and share like crazy?

    Cover the grassroots fight for democracy in states.

    People are fired up all over. And if you don’t look around, you just might miss it 👇👇

    David Pepper
    @DavidPepper
    Jul 3

    “The worst nightmare of the Ohio General Assembly’s Republican supermajority arrived on the loading dock of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s Columbus office Monday afternoon.”

    Yes. It. Did!!

    731,000 signatures to end gerrymandering.

    Let’s. Go!! wvxu.org/politics/2024-07-03…

    Jul 4, 2024 · 3:50 PM UTC

    Eyes on the prizes.

    (via TimothyDSnyder)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  17. 17.

    sab

    Didn’t even read the thread. Summer is silly season. Everyone ( NYC) should be at the beach and off the keyboard. The rest of us should be toasting at home and still off the keyboard.

    My dog is so old that this year she decided “I don’t give a phuck about boom boom season. I am tired and I am going to bed. So there!”

  18. 18.

    Jager

    @Spanky: I had one of those arms hanging off the door of my 54 Chevy after parking behind a billboard with my Gidget look-a-like HS girlfriend, good thing she was sitting on my side of the seat. The same thing happened to two of my best friends. The only guy I knew with a hook worked for my dad, and his wife never let him out of her sight.

  19. 19.

    Scout211

    ABC News has a teaser:

    President Joe Biden, in his first television interview since his CNN debate with Donald Trump, brushed off the poor performance as a “bad episode” and said he alone was to blame for what transpired.

    Biden sat down with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday after a fiery rally with Democratic supporters, during which Biden insisted he is remaining in the race.
    . . .

    It was a bad episode,” Biden said. “No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn’t listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and — and a bad night.”

    Stephanopoulos pressed Biden, “Why wasn’t that enough rest time, enough recovery time?”

    “Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible,” Biden said. “Matter of fact the docs with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they’re trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn’t. I just had a really bad cold.”
    . . .

    But did he know how badly it was going while he was on stage?

    “Yeah, look. The whole way I prepared, nobody’s fault, mine. Nobody’s fault but mine. I– I prepared what I usually would do sitting down as I did come back with foreign leaders or National Security Council for explicit detail. And I realized– partway through that, you know, all– I get quoted the New York Times had me down, ten points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is. The fact of the matter is, what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times. I couldn’t– I mean, the way the debate ran, not– my fault, nobody else’s fault, no one else’s fault.”

    “But it seemed like you were having trouble from the first question in, even before he spoke?” Stephanopoulos asked.

    “Well, I just had a bad night,” Biden said.

    ABC News offered a similar interview opportunity to Trump but he declined.

  20. 20.

    Jay

    Unnamed sources have told me that Olivia Nuzzi is allergic to bees,

    but won’t stop kissing them,

    because with her and her husbands failed book project, they cant afford collagen fillers, anymore.

    The neighbours are complaining and the Bee Keepers Association has accused her of stealing some hives.

    I have been working on this story for a long time, and nobody want’s to talk on record because of the Derp State Nuzzi.

  22. 22.

    Steeplejack

    Olivia Nuzzi and Ryan Lizza are engaged, not married, according to the Interwebs.

  24. 24.

    BlueDWarrior

    @Chris: that depends, because to be honest other than just more time of him interacting with like, normal people in campaign settings there isn’t anything he can do.

    And the press has a bone in its mouth now because they have internalized Trump being a miasma of chaos that isn’t worth talking to directly.

  25. 25.

    3Sice

    Why is it so hard to accept the only relevant interests are the extremely online and media consultant class?

  26. 26.

    piratedan

    she’s just another courtier, standing in front of a country, asking them to validate her personal feelings of savviness.

  28. 28.

    Jay

    @piratedan:

    Oh, thank god,

    she’s just another courtier, standing in front of a country, asking them to

    I was really worried about where that line was going,………

  32. 32.

    VFX Lurker

    I have today off, so I wrote twelve more Postcards to Voters in Florida for Stephanie Vanos’ school board election. Writing them always makes me feel better about the future.

  33. 33.

    Elizabelle

    @E.:  Me too.  And that it’s a long holiday weekend for a lot of folks.  They are talking to other folks, and a lot of Democratic voters are probably saying WTF is all that about?  It’s one debate, and really just the first twenty minutes.  I’m still gonna vote for the guy.

  36. 36.

    Elizabelle

    It would be cool to have a thread up for the ABC interview.  Which I can’t watch, because I don’t have TV.

  37. 37.

    different-church-lady

    @trollhattan: ​Yeah. Wanna know what’s infuriating? I bet you do! What’s infuriating is GOP/MAGA will have Trump’s back all the way to him drooling into a cup during nuclear winter, and Democrats are going to throw Biden overboard for having a cold at the wrong time.

  38. 38.

    different-church-lady

    So.

    How’s everyone doing with managing their emotions?

    Because I’m finding it a weeeeeee bit difficult.

  39. 39.

    Harrison Wesley

    @Elizabelle: I don’t have a TV either, and I don’t think I’ll miss squat.  LOML (here in Florida) and my oldest friend (in SC) will both lap up every second of the interview and beat my ears tonight, although they’ve promised not to.

  40. 40.

    Scout211

    @Elizabelle: It would be cool to have a thread up for the ABC interview.  Which I can’t watch, because I don’t have TV.

    ABC is streaming it live from their YouTube channel

    ETA:

    ABC News said the interview will be available to watch on the ABC app for smartphones and tablets, on its website and connected services, including Roku, AppleTV and Amazon Fire TV.

    ABC News also streams live from its YouTube channel.

  43. 43.

    hrprogressive

    Listening to the interview.

    The media definitely, desperately, wants to play up this “but aren’t you in decline? Some Say you are”.

    Like George has like a dozen ways to go “Well, yes, but isn’t it true you’re old and frail?”

    Like for fuck’s sake.

    Shouldn’t he be asking those questions of Convicted Felon Donald Trump? The man who has said so many batshit things in rallies and on live television that anyone of sound mind can tell something ain’t right there.

  44. 44.

    Cadmium Red Hue

    Longtime lurker, looking from soviet canuckistan & I can’t fathom how this is even a thing. The item (can’t remember source) that Biden is being held to a particular standard and the other guy to none is right on point. WTF? The mind is boggled. (Yes there are leadership issues here, another story).

  45. 45.

    Another Scott

    @different-church-lady: “Keep your head and everything will be cool.” – Todd Rundgren.

    It’s summer.  (Almost) none of the stuff the FTFNYT-driven political press is obsessing about now will matter come November.

    Hang in there.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  46. 46.

    BlueDWarrior

    @hrprogressive: That’s part of the problem and I would imagine that is where this will eventually end up. Biden is going to start to say “You listen to Trump recently? Him and his people are talking about putting women in jail for healthcare and putting people who aren’t white in camps.”

  51. 51.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Reminder to everyone:

    JAQing is a thing and has been one of the signature moves of trolls for a very long time.  This is why the whole “let’s just discuss/debate” bullshit gets so much, rightful push-back.

    The act of asking leading questions to influence your audience, then hiding behind the defense that they’re “Just Asking Questions,” even when the underlying assumptions are completely insane.

    This is what the whole push for discussion/debate boils down to.

    This is what the Media, Centrist a-holes, MAGA and sadly some Progressives too are trying to do; make everyone waste our time with nonsense when we should be uniting behind Biden/Harris.

    JAQing works BECAUSE it is always done with the plausible deniability of a legitimate concern.

  52. 52.

    hrprogressive

    @BlueDWarrior:

     

    Like, on a fundamental level, the idea of the press “afflicting the comfortable” and “speaking truth to power” is, you know, in a sane world, the right thing to do. Ask tough questions about policies and economics and foreign policy and so forth.

    But all George is doing is asking the same stupid fucking questions in a dozen different ways.

    “But really, aren’t you old?”

    “So you really believe you’re capable of winning?”

    “Aren’t you being selfish by running again?”

    “Well, yes, what you said is right, but what about what some people are saying about you being old and not young anymore?”

    JFC. This is pathetic.

  56. 56.

    rikyrah

    I hope that any Virginia voters are on the phone to Senator Warner’s office, lighting his azz up.

     

    Joe Biden is our nominee-period.😡😡

  57. 57.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, … Phys.org:

    […]

    However, the process doesn’t always work. The English lexicon includes some terms known as “proper words,” which today apparently exist only in English. Cognates for them cannot be found in any other language.

    These are very simple and common words but being unique, we cannot apply the comparative method to them and therefore cannot reconstruct their origins. These “proper words” represent an exciting puzzle of the English language. Here are five examples.

    1. Bird

    “Bird” sounds Germanic, but doesn’t have cognates in any other Germanic language. It can be found in Old English as a rare variant of bridd, indicating a “young bird.”

    Old English speakers used fugel, as in “fowl,” as a standard term for bird. Up to the 15th century, “bird” was used not only to describe a young bird, but also a young animal in general—even a fish or a child.

    2. Boy

    Who (or what) was, originally, a “boy”? No one knows. In the 13th century, a boie was a servant, but already in that time the provenance of the word was obscure. A century later, the term started being used to indicate a male child. The word doesn’t sound Germanic, but it’s not clear whether it was imported to England by the Normans either.

    One interpretation traces back the term to an unattested vulgar Latin verb, *imboiare (in etymological notation, the asterisk indicates a word that has been reconstructed on the basis of the comparative method, rather than found in source material), possibly connected with the Latin boia, meaning yoke or collar, and with the concept of slavery.

    […]

    History is everywhere and in everything, and we’re still learning about it.

    Worth a click.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  58. 58.

    hrprogressive

    @Miki: ​
     

    Yeah, remember when this guy had credibility?

    Fuck You, George. Fuck You, completely.

  59. 59.

    Soprano2

    This interview is nuts. All George can do is ask “Will you quit?” ten different ways. The press has an agenda, they want TCFG back.

  61. 61.

    Chris

    @hrprogressive:

    Okay, so pretty much what I expected based on the teaser.  Not helping.  Oh well.  I suppose the media’s going to hang on to this every day until election day.

    I assume he’s looking and sounding fine?  Like he has in every other public appearance all week?

  62. 62.

    hrprogressive

    @rikyrah:

     

    I did. I told him I needed him to support Biden or I’d support primarying him next cycle.

    I’ve voted for him my entire adult life. If he causes this to go sideways, fuck him.

    Hell, maybe I’ll run. I’m old enough now.

  63. 63.

    Bill Arnold

    @trollhattan:
    Digby:

    But since Trump is impervious to criticism because he’s a sociopath, they’ve decided to turn their ire on Biden instead.

    Cowardice is also a cause. Journalists know full well that if Trump wins, individual journalists who have criticized him may become targets, and they know that if Biden wins, any criticism of Biden will be forgiven, the worst consequence being being ignored.

  64. 64.

    hrprogressive

    @Chris: ​
     

    He’s quieter than I would like, but he’s focused and on point.

    Anyone scared by the first 25 mins of the debate wouldn’t feel like this is a deja vu, unless they were already predisposed to wanting Biden out.

  65. 65.

    Lyrebird

    Once again thankful that you Anne Laurie are contributing your talents and comments here, and that I do not have to read those feckin eedjits’ drivel.  I looked at the sentence about skin.

    A. Who the actual truck actually said anything about, say Bill Clinton’s or GW Bush’s skin thickness or firmness?

    B. I can in no way improve on the rejoinder from @Jay:

    C. What does the moronic ignorance of someone who apparently doesn’t know what an old non plump Irish person looks like have to do with our election choices?

     

    I guess they know they can’t make whole soliloquies up about the skin tone of Madame VP, these sneering jerks, but they wish they could, so they serve up sh_t like this?

  66. 66.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I wish Biden would tell George S that he’s not answering hypotheticals. It’s easy to make up a situation where everyone would be happy. But that’s not the reality

  67. 67.

    hrprogressive

    And they’ve now turned to their talking heads, and I’ve turned the channel.

    If we survive this nonsense as a country, we’ve got to fix some shit with the next admin.

    This is beyond parody at this point.

    It would be funny if it weren’t so fucking terrifying.

  69. 69.

    Harrison Wesley

    OK. Obviously not missing anything.  Will go over to Open Culture for an interesting free movie and return for Adam’s Ukraine post (hopefully, G&T will either have his own post or will add to Adam’s).  I’m sure I’ll regret missing this Deep Dive (?); hoping there’s a polite way to ask those who call me later to edit this shit down to what’s important.  Which is probably nothing.  You vote for the Biden/Harris ticket or you give up on the American experiment – what’s so hard to understand?

  72. 72.

    Soprano2

    FUCK JON KARL!! Biden obviously doesn’t have dementia, because NO ONE WITH DEMENTIA COULD DO THAT INTERVIEW! I thought that was the question, and he answered it.

  75. 75.

    Citizen Alan

    @scav: I firmly attribute the proliferation of journalism schools as the reason for the decline in quality of journalism in the country. Used to be that journalism was mostly a blue collar profession and it showed in the reporting. Then, we all woke up one day to discover that to be a journalist, you had to have a journalism degree, and to be a top tier journalist, you had to have a degree from an Ivy League school. IOW, the journalistic establishment was supplanted by a bunch of cosseted rich kids who had enough money to get into Columbia but who weren’t smart enough or disciplined enough to get a real degree. When I was at Ole Miss, the number of credit hours needed to get a journalism degree was literally HALF the number of hours I needed for a Music Ed degree.

  76. 76.

    Soprano2

    I wish Biden had asked George “Who do you think would be better to beat TCFG?”

  77. 77.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, speaking of herding/stampeding … Phys.org:

    […]

    The hippopotamus has earned a reputation as being one of the most dangerous animals in the world to humans. They are known to attack when provoked and to give chase when the need arises. They are also very large, with males averaging 1,500 kg and females 1,300 kg. For such a large animal, they also run surprisingly fast—some have been clocked at speeds up to 30 km/hr.

    In this new study, Hutchinson and Pringle wondered how such a heavy creature could reach such speeds, noting that little research has been done on the hippo gait because they are so dangerous to be around.

    To find out, they ventured to Flamingo Land resort in North Yorkshire and used high speed cameras to study their gait from a distance when the hippos were running. They managed to capture 169 running cycles on video from 32 individual hippos.

    In analyzing the video, the research pair found that hippos only tended to run at high speed when being chased by another hippo, typically as a sign of dominance.

    They also found that when they run at top speed, they lift all four of their feet off the ground at the same time at certain points in their gait—this happens 15% of the time while running. Each occurrence lasted for approximately 0.3 seconds. Further study showed that the hippos run using a trotting type gait rather than a gallop, which is the way rhinos run.

    The research pair also found that the hippos run in similar ways when in the water—they are not able to swim from place to place, so they trot at high speed along the bottom.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  79. 79.

    Elizabelle

    @Juju: I just did $10, but plan to do that w every email from Joe himself, and not some organization.

    Ashamed of our media.  They would have coldcocked FDR, Churchill, and Eisenhower too.  Fuck ‘em.  

  80. 80.

    Soprano2

    @different-church-lady: Mostly at this point I’m pissed off. The R’s support their candidate even though he’s a child-raping 34 time felon, while one of our senators is circulating a letter asking others to help him shiv our candidate. Why is it so hard for our people to support their candidate?

  82. 82.

    Juju.

    @Soprano2: I agree. Trump doesn’t do interviews with non maga news people. He turned down an interview with Stephanopolis, and the media doesn’t seem to wonder why he only talks to “ news” people who only ask softball questions?  Hmmm.

  85. 85.

    Lyrebird

    @Soprano2: based on overlapping with Jon Karl in school I encourage distrust, for sure.

    I wonder what he or any of the “we need more medical info, we have concerns” people were saying in 2016 when Tr*mp trotted out that BS from his very sketchy doctor…  I don’t hear them railing against Dr. Ronny J’s pill distribution in the Tr*mp White House, maybe I missed something.

  86. 86.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Also George asked the same question over and over. When you conduct interviews, if you ask the same question after the respondent answers, there’s an implication that the answer given was wrong. George may believe he’s just being neutral, but he’s not.

  87. 87.

    Soprano2

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I wish he would have said “Geez, can you ask another question?” or “So if not me who can beat TCFG? I’m the only one who’s actually beaten him.”

  89. 89.

    Chris

    @Citizen Alan:

    For a while there in the late 2000s and early 2010s, social media actually provided a valuable service, because it was actually possible in a way that it hadn’t been in a long time for normal people, sometimes even subject matter experts, to reach significant audiences without the entire experience being curated by an editor’s room with a preset narrative.

    I very much believe this is one of the biggest differences between 2008 and 2012 versus 2024.  In Obama’s two terms, it was actually possible for word to get out on social media that wouldn’t through mainstream media, and the Obama campaign utilized it with a fair degree of skill.  In the last ten years, rich people have put a lot of money and effort into turning social media into a right-wing puke funnel, and/or enshittifying it with bots and trolls.  So what used to be an occasional corrective on the mainstream media’s behavior now only reinforces it instead.

  91. 91.

    Another Scott

    I didn’t watch.  I haven’t been impressed with George since he left the Clinton administration.  It sounds like more of the same from him to me, based on the comments here tonight.

    Biden-Harris HQ
    @BidenHQ
    18m

    President Biden: Trump is a congenital liar. They pointed out in that debate he lied 28 times. The only other president who lost more jobs than he created was Herbert Hoover. This is the guy who told us to put bleach in our arms to deal with COVID. Over a million people died. He wants to get rid of Americans’ health care. This is the guy who wants to give the power back to Big Pharma to charge exorbitant prices for drugs. This is the guy who wants to undo every single thing I’ve done

    [ 45 s video ]

    Jul 6, 2024 · 12:27 AM UTC

    Good, good.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  92. 92.

    Soprano2

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I think George wanted Biden to say “I know people are worried so I’ll take a full neuropsych test on live TV and you can broadcast it.” I wonder if George realizes they only give that test if they think you’ve had a cognitive decline. TCFG has bragged about taking the initial screening for that twice, which means the doctor was concerned he had cognitive decline! Yet the press isn’t howling that he should take a neuropsych test.

  93. 93.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    So, based on what I’m reading, Biden did fine during the interview despite George S being a dick with his questions?

  94. 94.

    BlueDWarrior

    It is clear watching this interview that Joe Biden is absolutely right in the intonation that the ‘media’, such as they exist as a cohesive organization, is trying to force him to concede and drop out for no reason other than THEY have determined that he should concede and drop out.

    The very fact this is coming as his baseline support among Democratic voters is what it has been all year despite a full week of pounding this table is why I agree with people who call this a ratfucking operation.

    Yes Joe Biden is a old man, he was an old man when he was nominated in 2020, he was an old man when they held the line in the 2022 Midterms, and he is an old man now. The only way you were getting him out of that position is if you basically started immediately after inauguration and started convincing baseline democrats that he’s old and should not even commit to running in 2024. They largely didn’t and now is largely too late to shove him out the door now.

    So why we are insisting on doing this dance, well I have my guesses but I really don’t know.

  95. 95.

    Spanky

    @Juju:

    He’s a bit hoarse again.

    Here in the DC area we’re getting hammered with pollen. Everyone I know has post nasal drip. We’re all hoarse.

  97. 97.

    schrodingers_cat

    Olivia Nazi even looks the part. I remember the fluff piece she did about Milo Y, a British Nazi supporter of Trump. If you are a blonde goddess, palling around with Nazis just boosts your career.

  98. 98.

    BlueDWarrior

    @Spanky: Honestly there are only a few people who aren’t raspy in their late seventies and beyond. Like we could hold that against him but we can hold that against every elderly person at a point.

  99. 99.

    hrprogressive

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): ​
     

    George spent 23 mins asking literally 3 dozen versions of the same question:

    “Some People say you’re old and can’t win, why don’t you agree with them, and aren’t you selfish for not agreeing with them”?

    George looked like a fuckwit.

    Biden seems to do best at rallies, so this wasn’t a “fire in the belly” type of interview, but he did not – I repeat, did not – have the same type of concerning performance he did during the debate.

    He did fine.

    If our media wasn’t a wholly owned subsidiary of Corprofash, Inc. they’d be embarrassed by their own performance.

    The only thing missing was a “C’Mon, Man” from Biden.

  100. 100.

    BlueDWarrior

    @hrprogressive: Old man is old and is a man. Like, I’m not sure what Stephanopolous thought he was going to get out of him.

    And like others say, neurologists only advise those hardcore neurological tests if they already suspect significant impairment. Unless someone in his doctor’s office wants to catch a lawsuit for every HIPPA violation known to man, no one in the press is getting that info unless Biden himself volunteers it.

  101. 101.

    Ruckus

    @trollhattan:

    I was sent, against my will, to a catholic, all boys trade high school. Many of the teachers were priests or brothers in the catholic seminary next door. Oh and BTW No One in my family is/was catholic. There was one priest, whose name and picture is etched into my brain from over 64 yrs ago, Father Schaffer, the vice principal. A complete and utter asshole, in every possible way. I’ve met a lot of humans in my decades, some incredible, most in the good middle and about 10-15 who were the worst humans, he’s one of them, and in my opinion, the worst. Sadistic Bastard was my nickname for him back then. I couldn’t think of anything worse to call him. If there is a heaven and a hell, I know which one he’s in, and it isn’t the one with the normal, comfortable temperature. I never had an interaction with him but I’ve seen him at his worst and at his best and there wasn’t a lot of wiggle room between those 2 sides.

  102. 102.

    w_seattle

    @schrodingers_cat: Thanks for the context on Nuzzi. I remember useful input as well on E. Warren back in 2020. I rarely comment, but appreciate your perspective.

  105. 105.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Biden did fine. But the media is married to their narrative. And they’re pushing hard.

    After the interview ABC did a 5 minute theater review saying his presentation/body language “was fine and showed no cognitive decline, but it wasn’t enough.” They kept saying “Thursday’s disaster”.

  106. 106.

    Another Scott

    @MagdaInBlack: They think they can bully him and his voters – the rest of us.

    They’re wrong about that, too.

    Hang in there.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  107. 107.

    Xantar

    @hrprogressive: I wonder if George’s questions are going to actually benefit Biden in some way. Nobody can claim that George was overly friendly or tossed a lot of softballs at Biden. Maybe that increases the interview’s credibility.

  108. 108.

    The Thin Black Duke

    Call me naive, but one aspect of this bizarre non-controversy made me realize how ageist this country is. And people are taking it out on Biden. Do they talk to their Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents? Are senior citizens an Alien species?

  111. 111.

    Elizabelle

    Maybe George S is having memory problems.  He should get that looked at.

  112. 112.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Elizabelle: Heh. Based on the number of times he asked the same question and Biden repeated his answer, it seems to me that George must have cognitive issues. Or perhaps Parkinson’s.

  113. 113.

    Another Scott

    Aaron Rupar
    @atrupar
    21h

    Olivia Nuzzi on Trump: Vibrant, alive
    Olivia Nuzzi on Biden: Hideously unnatural

    Pardon me for suspecting she’s not on the level

    [ images]

    Jul 5, 2024 · 4:00 AM UTC

    (via DougJBalloon)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  115. 115.

    Juju.

    @Spanky: and he has bad allergies, as do I. I take some of the same OTC antihistamines that I do. I’m also a bit hoarse and I have only been calling the dogs. I haven’t been giving speeches all day.

  117. 117.

    Ruckus

    @different-church-lady:

    Mine are OK. But I’m an old and I’ve had my share of emotions ups and downs and have over time learned to deal with them. Possibly being hit head on by a pickup truck one day about 3 seconds after a coyote took out the front wheel of my motorcycle. Walked away but had to buy a new helmet. This was about 1/8 of a mile from my house. As an old I’ve seen people that can’t deal with their own emotions, let alone anyone else’s and it is good to remember that it really is sometimes difficult to figure and deal with life’s ins and outs.

  119. 119.

    hrprogressive

    At some point, Olivia Nuzzi went from being a sort of “dogged reporter type” to a “drank the Kool Aid and can’t wait to offer you some” type.

    Fwiw.

    Re everyone else, yeah, I mean.

    This wasn’t George asking questions and not getting answers, like Convicted Felon Donald Trump failing to answer questions at the debate.

    This was George carrying water for his corprofascist shareholders/the pants wetting consultant class, desperately hoping for a “gotcha” moment from Biden that would irrevocably give them the “aha!! See!!” Moment.

    They didn’t get it, and he just repeated himself a bunch of times like someone who wasn’t there to get answers, but rather already had the answer he wanted, just needed the right question to be bombed to validate it.

  120. 120.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Jay: Am I missing something? She’s seems to be an extreme narcissist. And very unhappy with herself.

  121. 121.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    The Democrats will do irreparable damage to the party this election and the foreseeable future if they allow that convicted felon, his political party and their courtier media to spook them into turning on Biden. If they can’t deal with this then they are incapable of performing under pressure, preferring to give up when the pressure is too much for them. If they are that wimpy then they can go home for all I care.

    It’s great that the Democrats have circled the wagons around Biden. Now please point your weapons outward and stop shooting Biden and the party.

  122. 122.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    @different-church-lady: grudgingly.   you know how they love to spin a positive to a negative (ie, “why the great jobs report is bad news for Biden”), well they said the fact that he didn’t show cognitive decline makes things worse as it delays his inevitable departure.   that’s why i said, they’re married to the narrative and pushing it hard.  they were visibly angry the interview didn’t support their position.

  123. 123.

    Juju.

    @Soprano2: I don’t have any questions. I’m voting for Biden. He’s been one of the best presidents of my lifetime. Sometimes experience and wisdom actually does come handy. He also has a great VP.

  128. 128.

    O. Felix Culpa

    My postcards to swing voters just arrived in the mail today. Gotta buy more stamps before the prices go up.

  129. 129.

    Elizabelle

    @The Thin Black Duke:  might be how ageist the journalist pack is.  They fire and give buyouts to their experienced reporters, looks count for too much, and now AI and Trawling TikTok are a thing.

  130. 130.

    Lyrebird

    @Jay: Thanks!

    And you do not need but might enjoy this t-shirt from what @Another Scott: posted.

    For anyone who does not want to click on the vendor site, it looks like a laundry detergent logo, but it says,

    VOTE

    Removes Stubborn Orange Stains

  131. 131.

    BeautifulPlumage

    @schrodingers_cat: ​
     she looks the part because she’s one of many who dye their hair. She “wants” to be blond but still has those brunette roots

    And everyone can do whatever with their hair, it’s not a judgement, just an observation.

  132. 132.

    Ruckus

    @BlueDWarrior:

    I’ve never noticed the raspy voices in all of the family that was older than me, even the ones nearly a century old. Not the men, not the women. And mine hasn’t changed in the last 50-60 years.

    I’m not saying it doesn’t happen but just yesterday I had an almost hour discussion with a neighbor who is in her late 90s, and her voice isn’t raspy. I live in a seniors complex, one has to be over 55 to rent here, I’d say that at least one third of the occupants are retired, but likely closer to half. Very few raspy voices.

  133. 133.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @hrprogressive:

    George spent 23 mins asking literally 3 dozen versions of the same question:

    “Some People say you’re old and can’t win, why don’t you agree with them, and aren’t you selfish for not agreeing with them”?

    George looked like a fuckwit.

    Well of George’s goal was out Biden’s sekret’ dementia asking the same question over and over again is a curious way to go about it.

  135. 135.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Jay: she used to be a “good” in depth and dogged reporter, now she’s a hack. Not an uncommon path.

    Everything they touch turns to shit.

    Another case of Trump is just the system, not the disease,

  136. 136.

    Another Scott

    @Ruckus: You’re in California.  :-)

    Biden’s Health Summary from February 28 (6 page .pdf) mentions seasonal allergies and “gastroesophagael reflux, primarily having to clear his throat more often. This may also contribute to occasional cough and sinus congestion” that he’s being treated for.

    My MIL had a terrible post-nasal drip that bothered her for many years.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  138. 138.

    Jackie

    @Spanky: Plus Joe gave two speeches yesterday, and another earlier today. Those, plus allergies, and my voice-box would be complaining, too!

  139. 139.

    Juju.

    @Ruckus: He’s been talking a lot an has allergies. He may have stressed his vocal cords with all the speeches he has been giving lately. His voice is raspy. It happens and it’s not caused by dementia.

  140. 140.

    Juju.

    @Another Scott: Thanks for posting the medical information on Biden. I’ve only seen summaries of the summary. Biden is in good shape for an 81 year old male. The summary is well written.

  141. 141.

    Gvg

    She used to write really snarky sarcastic things as I recall. Don’t remember any actual investigative reporting. A lot of people thought she was funny, but I think she got repetitive and people moved on.

  142. 142.

    sab

    Thirty plus years ago the Clintons fired George Stephanopoulos for doing his job badly, and he has never forgiven the Democratic Party for that.

  143. 143.

    NotoriousJRT

    @Another Scott: My takes on Olivia Nuzzi have always been that it is more important to her to appear brutally clever than to inform her readers, and I was always left wondering why some MSNBC host thought booking her was worthwhile. I never felt she had anyone but herself in mind. I could not find a reason to trust her. This latest performance surprises me not one jot.

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