Here’s some wisdom from Dr. Trump, shared with fellow scientist RFK Jr:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s son, Bobby Kennedy III, posted a video of a phone call between Kennedy and former President Donald Trump in which the former president appeared to endorse false theories about the safety of vaccines. […]
In the video, Trump can be heard discussing the amount of doses of vaccines that are scheduled for children, and suggested that after taking a high volume of vaccines, “you see the baby all of a sudden starting to change radically.”
“When you feed a baby, Bobby, a vaccination that is, like, 38 different vaccines and it looks like it’s been for a horse. Not a, you know, 10-pound or 20-pound baby,” Trump says on the call. “And then you see the baby all of a sudden starting to change radically. I’ve seen it too many times.”
Trump also appeared to express some skepticism toward public health professionals who accurately state the recommended immunization schedule for children is safe and effective, saying, “And then you hear it doesn’t have an impact, right?”
Here’s how Politico laundered reported the story:
Former President Donald Trump likely wouldn’t try to scale back on recommended childhood vaccines in a potential second term despite a leaked video of him Tuesday suggesting otherwise, a former Trump official says, Chelsea and Lauren report.
Could these fuckers be any more in the tank for Trump? Real, honest reporting would state that nobody knows what Trump would do because he’s the human embodiment of chaos in an ill-fitting suit and a bad comb-over.
Dr. Vance is also on the prowl for pregnant women’s medical records:
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Donald Trump’s pick for vice presidential nominee, pressured federal regulators last June to kill a privacy rule that prevents police from accessing the medical records of people seeking reproductive services, according to documents reviewed by The Lever. The rule was designed to prevent state and local police in anti-abortion states from using private records to hunt down and prosecute people who cross state lines in search of abortion services.
Only 28 Members of Congress signed a letter to the HHS secretary demanding access to uterine records. You’d think there would be more, but even a cracked pot is right a few times a year.
Here’s the thing about ambitious, creepy ass kissers like Vance: they are all in on whatever will get them ahead. Vance said Trump was America’s Hitler in 2016-2017, when he was one of the lost boys in never-Trumper Neverland, but then he decided that being MAGA was better for his career, so now he’s an ultra-supreme-MAGA member of the Paw Women’s Uteri Patrol.
(The second piece is via Josh Marshall [paywall])
Starfish
Cat Valente’s essay asking Democrats to get it together is hilarious as always.
clay
I know that many folks are down on Jon Stewart, and not without reason. But one thing he pointed out on his show last night is that Vance looks creepily like Don Jr, and now I’m convinced that this is at least 25% of the reason that he was selected as the VP candidate.
Shalimar
The Paw Women’s Uteri Patrol is a very strange and weird fetish to admit to in public. I don’t believe in kink-shaming, but this could be an exception.
Shalimar
@clay: The similarities between Vance and DT Jr. are grooming choices, so they are trying for a similar look. What that says about their damaged psyches, I have no clue.
A Ghost to Most
Personally, I figured out that Politico was in the tank for the cult long before Donnie.
Scout211
I like Desi Lydic and the other regulars who co-host the show on Tuesday-Thursday. But I don’t watch on Mondays for those reasons.
And I now am reading that Stewart had Bill O’Reilly on as a guest?! That was thoroughly panned when he did it in his first hosting gig there. Nope.
But yeah, whoever wrote that line (Jon Stewart or the writers) deserves credit. Because yeah, creepy. Vance does look like Don, jr.
ETA: reply to @clay at #2
Jeffro
@clay: in a thread yesterday, I noted this and added that I thought both Don Jr and Eric regard J.D. as an additional brother – smarter, more successful, less coke-addicted, less of a sniveling weasel, etc.
(trumpov sees him that way too, btw)
Attempted Chemistry
@Jeffro: With Trump’s obsession with “Central Casting”, it does track that Vance looks like the son he forgot about.
gratuitous
Jiffy Media Laundry Service at your beck and call, O Donald. Did you say something utterly and totally off the wall, something that would make any normal person run screaming in the opposite direction? Jiffy Media Laundry Service is here to help! JMLS will take your preposterous story about watching infant vaccinations – like that’s a thing you do on the reg – and with our Magic Pretzel Touch™ that story becomes “Former President Donald Trump likely wouldn’t try to scale back on recommended childhood vaccines in a potential second term despite a leaked video of him Tuesday suggesting otherwise.”
Note the soothing qualifiers and the soft focus framing: e.g., “likely wouldn’t” and the transformation of your straight-up nonsense into a mere suggestion. And best of all, JMLS is free! Just call us anytime for a quick doctoring of whatever stupid thing fell out of your mouth today. We’ll launder it in a jiffy!
WereBear
@Attempted Chemistry: I’m sure “found son” is part of his appeal to Thiel.
Bill Arnold
@Starfish:
Thanks much for the link with that good rant.
This about Asimov’s Mule is good, and fucking true, though one could also argue that he is a head of the Beast in Revelation 13-14, with a healed head wound; that was a very showy bandage.
Re the infamous posed photo:
I will never tire of saying that that “fist” that convicted felon D.J. Trump opportunistically “pumped” was not a fist. It was “stage fist”, or if you prefer, a “show fist”. That man, who postures as macho, literally does not know, at the age of 78, how to make a fist, and all his supporters who are boosting an image of a fucking “stage fist” that would break if it hit anything solid should be embarrassed about their gullibility. (Hawley’s fist pump is an actual fist.)
How to Make a Fist (wikiHow)
clay
@Scout211: Yeah, Bill was the guest. It wasn’t horrible — Jon gave him a lot of pushback. And even defended Biden!
scav
Well, if Vance is indeed the third son, is he Goneril or Regan?
WereBear
@Starfish: That was bracing, thank you!
The Thin Black Duke
Haley would have been the smart choice as VP. Besides having a paper-thin resume, J.D. Vance has the charisma of a spittoon.
Eric S.
Trump has never been around a baby for any length of time and certainly not enough to notice any changes.
Jeffro
Speaking of Vance, the Washington Post published a story about his neighborhood in Virginia, which happens to be the one that, believe it, or not, my RWNJ brother lives in.
even though I have refused to talk politics with them since January 6, my brother texted a link to the story to me and my RWNJ dad, noting that it’s funny to him that the Post story calls his neighborhood a “liberal enclave”.
I am not responding, but here was my dad’s reply:
*Dad lives in a blue state
Anyway, can y’all BELIEVE that? “Refreshed my spirit and beliefs”? 🤮
I am still not going to respond, but it’s tough not to ask him what kind of a person is “refreshed” by GrovelFest ‘24
Citizen Alan
@scav: Gonorrhea or Reagan? My god, what an awful pair of diseases to choose from.
Anoniminous
Why billionaries shouldn’t worry
TBone
@Starfish: excellent commentary by Cat. Thanks!
piratedan
@Scout211: fuck Jon Stewart.
of all people to give “discussion” time to, Billo is a sexual harasser, serial liar and all around creep. You can draw a solid line between his “reporting” and the death of Dr. Tiller.
in short, fuck that guy too.
Starfish
@Bill Arnold: I read a lot of Asimov years ago, but I don’t think I understood the Mule reference. Do you remember what book that was from?
I read a lot of The Foundation series and a bit of his non-fiction.
I was afraid of re-visiting Asimov because I am concerned that women are not quite people in his world view (which would have flown over my head in my teens), and I will lose respect for his work.
scav
@Citizen Alan: And we can comfort ourselves that the healing Cordial came a day late and a dollar short.
zhena gogolia
@gratuitous: Word.
CaseyL
@Starfish:
The basis of The Foundation was a mathematical formula for predicting probable futures.
The Mule – who became, IIRC, Emperor – was a genetic anomaly who threw a spanner into the “probable futures” predictions. Totally upended it, and brought chaos to the Foundation Empire.
TBone
@Bill Arnold: a lot of people will just break their own knuckles and fingers, which can be avoided as your wiki instructs.
Self defense moves like knowing how to properly make a fist when you need one are important.
zhena gogolia
@piratedan: Oh, yes, I’m so relieved that he defended Biden to Bill Fuckit we’ll do it live O’Reilly.
Derelict
Trump’s stance on childhood vaccines? It’s a complete mystery! Him giving speeches saying “I will cut off all federal funds for any school that has any vaccine mandate!” is certainly no indication of what he thinks.
Timill
@Starfish:
“Foundation and Empire”. Wiki summary here.
prostratedragon
@Bill Arnold: Thanks for the how-to. That stupid pose, no part of which resembles any fighting stance, has been bugging me for years now.
M31
I still get WaPo emails with headlines though I canceled my subscription, and today there was a piece entitled “THE POWER OF MELANIA”
lol wtf
not gonna read it, but that is some laughable bullshittery right there
not regretting canceling, either
prostratedragon
@scav: Hmm. I’ve been thinking of him as the Senator from Cawdor. Need to brush up my Shakespeare to resolve this matter.
Jeffro
@Derelict: you know Susie Wiles went ballistic on his sorry orange ass about that stuff
”We’re trying to
foolwoo suburban parents into voting for you, you dumbass! ‘President Polio’…’Donny Diptheria’…THE ADS JUST WRITE THEMSELVES! Now ZIP IT on banning all vaccine mandates!”dang that Susie! I wanted him to bring it up, over and over
BR
We’re now almost 4 weeks into the “dump Biden” stuff, and setting aside whether folks think Biden needs to drop out or continue, the donors and congressional Dems pushing this have *yet to make a coherent plan for what would come next*. It’s crazy that they’re still backbiting in public and private, including folks like Schiff who should know better, when they aren’t putting forward anything to solve the problem. A tiny sliver, like maybe 10% of them are saying Harris should be the nominee, but the rest either put forward a unicorn candidate or say that a game show free for all is going to be the best plan.
Josie
“I’ve seen it too many times.”
It is to laugh. Trump never even spent time with his own children when they were babies, much less anyone else’s babies. He is such an enormous liar. I don’t understand how anyone can fall for his bullshit.
Geminid
@The Thin Black Duke: Youngkin would have been another strong VP pick. That could be a reason he wasn’t chosen.
bbleh
Yes Vance changes skins more often than a young lizard, but one thing he doesn’t change is his authoritarianism. He’s a skeevy little Nazi. And he’d be just as bad at VP as the Felon would be as Prez because (1) he’d never certify a Dem election in ’28 and — more importantly — (2) the Felon likely would not survive a full 2nd term, which would make Vance prez, and he’s MUCH smarter and more competent than the Felon.
Almost Retired
@BR: As a probable future constituent, I called Schiff’s office to give his voicemail box a piece of my mind. I should have mentioned the Balloon Juice book club Zoom. That would make him see the error of his ways!
Bill Arnold
@Starfish:
This’ll do:
https://asimov.fandom.com/wiki/The_Mule
Basically, it’s ref to the Mule’s (in the Foundation series) abilities to manipulate others. Trump is world-class in that, though he’s crude and stupid and feeds his mind garbage.
Mike E
@The Thin Black Duke: well, Hitler knew better than his generals and look what it got him.
Eyeroller
@gratuitous: Rich white men own most media outlets, and are the CEOs of most of those outlets that are owned by corporations.
Eyeroller
@The Thin Black Duke: Somebody said that Vance gave off vibes of the Evangelical dad who is eager to take the middle-school girls’ soccer team out for pizza after a game. Watch him around your daughters.
schrodingers_cat
@The Thin Black Duke: He is ugly inside and out. I was shocked to find out that he is not even 40.
Ruckus
@Shalimar:
Their damaged psyches are not repairable. Their damage is molded in, day in and day out. Their damage is self inflicted, permanent and would take a Caterpillar bulldozer running over them repeatedly to even attempt to fix, that’s how damaged they are.
Bill Arnold
@TBone:
I’ve acquired a couple of black belts over the years, so convicted felon Trump’s stage fist offends me more than most. I’m surprised, actually, that the Trump-loyalist Secret Service people (or others) haven’t corrected it, or maybe he just can’t learn; there is one photo of him posing with a tae kwon do master where he has a correct fist; almost certainly the master corrected his stage fist for the photo. But that is the only photo I’ve found where his fist is real.
Other MJS
This seems relevant here:
pat
@BR:
Not only that, but how does a new person get on that ballot in Ohio, was it? Where Biden has to be nominated online this weekend, before the convention, to make the deadline? Do I remember that correctly?
Mike E
@Scout211: Stewart did better covering the convention (especially showing the Teamsters president sandbagging the repubs, looking like Rob Corddry, heh), the Lester Holt interview and the shooting. He reverts too often to his “centrist” bystander schtick far too often for me though.
@piratedan: this.
JWR
@Derelict: Speaking of schools and the anti-vax movement, has anyone mentioned the latest Elon news? He says he’s relocating SpaceX, Tesla, and everything else out of CA straight to TX because of the latest offense he’s suffered under Gavin Newsom’s bootheel of tyranny, which came when the governor signed a statewide bill banning local school boards from implementing so-called “Parent’s Rights” bills. I suppose I’ll believe it when I see it.
Chris
@BR:
The public backbiting isn’t supposed to solve anything. It’s supposed to distance the backbiter from what they’ve already decided is a losing ticket.
Ruckus
@gratuitous:
There is no laundering the crap out of them. Dragging them through the ocean by a rope tied around their feet wouldn’t force that crap out, it’s been built in and reenforced over decades of malicious stupidity, racism and hate for any human other than their deranged concept of humanity in which they are the top of the heap. And this is because they are a part of the concept of humanity that thinks the exit port of animals is where everyone’s brains are located, just because their’s are located there and are filled with that which is pushed out the exit port of every animal.
Bill Arnold
@JWR:
If this is accurately reported, SpaceX and Tesla will lose a lot of critical staff for this. Arrogant gormless gullible twit thinks they are replaceable; no, and not in those engineering disciplines in particular.
prostratedragon
When I took some martial art, we swore an oath in class to use what we learned in class in a constructive manner. Not sure Kevin Roberts has applied this principle to his docoral training:
From the abstract:
Another Scott
@BR: There . is . no . plan .
There’s a process for picking a nominee. There are rules and laws and stuff. People mumbling to the press doesn’t change the process.
(repost) Brookings – What happens if a candidate cannot serve.
The candidates are Biden and Trump.
All the rest is commentary.
Eyes on the prizes.
Cheers,
Scott.
Captain C
@Bill Arnold: He’s going to declare himself the head designer and come up with a rocket equivalent of The Homer, isn’t he?
Bex
@BR: Who is driving the “dump Biden” nonsense? Someone who desperately wants Trump in office again? Someone who might have suggested Vance to Trump, since he knows that Vance is all-in on abandoning Ukraine? Someone who is losing a two-and-a-half year war that was supposed to won in three days? Hmmmm. Who could that be?
Old Man Shadow
I would bet all of my earthly possessions that Donald Trump has never been in the presence of a baby, including his own children, for one second without screaming, “WOULD SOMEONE TAKE THIS LITTLE SHIT OUT OF HERE!”
JWR
@Bill Arnold: I went and looked for a story and found this from Space.com:
ETA Wouldn’t it be funny if Dems managed to sweep TX and implement the same thing there? ;)
Chris Johnson
HBomberguy’s video Vaccines And Autism: A Measured Response is a must-watch to inform yourself on antivaxx history. A lot of it can be traced back to one guy who was originally trying to sell another vaccine, which he had patented, and that guy is outlandishly, incomprehensibly malicious and evil. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BIcAZxFfrc
As for mention of MDs, I look forward to seeing what becomes of Michael Steele (Republican, technically) demanding answers of why we’ve heard nothing from the doctor that saw to Trump. I really think he’s on to something: worth close attention how he does with that, and what happens.
As for making lists of people, I look forward to what transpires as people learn it was the REPUBLICAN party making lists of gun owners, which to us might not seem like that big a deal, but to the extreme right wing that’s some end-of-the-world stuff, like if you had two heads and the mark of the Beast stuff. Turns out the Republican Party was making such lists. I can well believe it as I’m sure Putin would find it useful, but I have a hard time thinking of more mainstream explanations for the desirability of this that would fly with the gun-nut public. And yet, there it is.
BR
@Bex:
I don’t buy that. Dems, especially centrist Dems who are very donor friendly, and the media at large are skittish and move as a herd. No outside force is needed to get them to run with their tail between their legs.
Captain C
@Another Scott:
Oh, I’m sure it’s quite easy and will only take an hour or so. Here, let me dig up that 20-year old West Wing fanfic I wrote* and I’ll show you exactly how it works, and that it’s the perfect solution.
(/s, just in case it’s not obvious)
*No, I’ve never actually written any West Wing fanfic. If I did, it would probably involve a Culture Contact or SC team and actually getting them here to do something positive may in fact be an insurmountable problem for various reasons.
Captain C
@JWR: Melon Skum really hates his trans kid, doesn’t he? And probably all the others too.
Anoniminous
@BR:
Neo-Liberal Dems skipped the part of evolution where the organisms developed a backbone.
Bill Arnold
@Captain C:
Thanks!
MisterForkbeard
@Bill Arnold: Our company moved a lot of major operations to Austin a few years ago, in the middle of the big Tech Swing and got quite a few engineers to move out there back in 2020.
They have had very little success getting more people to go. Likewise, hiring there is really hard – tons of competition, the climate is awful, and the state (and policies) are so awful that women don’t want to move there and a lot of men aren’t willing to do it either.
About a year ago we announced we’re moving to another state. Still an awful red state (for the sweet sweet tax and liability incentives), but not as publicly bad as Texas.
Captain C
@Bill Arnold: Apparently you can still find it on Amazon.
Captain C
@MisterForkbeard:
That may be a feature for Melon Skum.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, … Nitter, (Twitter version)
And who just loves Bitcoin and the rest? Criminals, and VVP and DPRK’s Kim, and similar monsters? Yes??
Follow the money.
Eyes on the prizes.
(via Fritschner)
Grr…,
Scott.
stinger
Whatever happened to the original third son, the Jar-Jar half of Jarvanka? He was supposed to be closer to TCFG than either Uday or Qusay were.
Ruckus
@BR:
It is difficult to impossible for some to see the concept of aging as differing for each of us. They see old as one thing, the end of all thought and their version of humanity. And they know that there wasn’t much of either in many/all of their “leaders.” We all get old, we all get old at differing rates and time, some of which depends on how shitty of a job we did playing being human in all of the years prior. IOW, they know how shitty they are, even if they will never admit it, even to themselves.
Kathleen
@schrodingers_cat: Yes he is.
Chris
@bbleh:
Vance vaguely reminds me of what I’ve read about Stalin. Weird little human, who nobody really liked and far too many people overlooked, but had a really great nose for sniffing out how to advance himself through the political system.
E
@Chris Johnson: Well it’s very useful just as data. Gun ownership can, I imagine, serve as a good proxy for lots of other things.
bbleh
Oh good, and now that pretentious little squirrel Adam Schiff has said Joe Must Go.
You know who HE reminds me of? Joe Lieberman.
Eyeroller
@E: The 2016 Trump campaign had a voter database and the shooter kid’s dad (who claims to be a “Libertarian”) was in a group identified for microtargeting as staunch Republicans and gun fanatics. They were specifically targeting gun owners/nuts. I don’t know where they got the data for that (Cambridge Analytica?)
Chris Johnson
Does anybody else remember seeing a reference to a phone call in which Tucker Carlson pressured Trump, recently, to pick Vance as vice president?
I’m sure I saw this somewhere. Framed as if it was Carlson’s authority as a giant media personality that let him pressure Trump. I’m just really interested in that, because for a long time my take on Carlson is that he is working way more closely with Russia than many of the politicians on our shit list, because he can.
I think he was desperately trying to get useful spin out of Putin when he interviewed him, and was deeply frustrated as Putin saw fit to annoy him with boring history and with contempt.
I think he continues to hate Trump, but it’s because he wants to BE Trump, and I’d thought him a very likely nominee for Veep.
I’m given to understand one of the Trumplings openly said that it was coming down to a choice between Tucker Carlson and JD Vance, which is complete madness unless you know Vance is Peter Thiel’s protege and Carlson is very likely a Putin asset and handler of Trump. He’s free to work way more closely with Russia than the politicians are.
Interesting times. Desperate, but not necessarily for us, unless you believe everything the Kremlin contrives to tell you, in which case God help you, you must be awfully confused and stressed by now :)
Ruckus
@JWR:
No matter what he says, he’d be moving to TX because he likely can get cheaper labor. Of course the labor pool will be at least somewhat smaller so good luck with that.
Bex
@BR: Maybe, but outside sources don’t necessarily identify themselves.
Trollhattan
@Chris Johnson: Wouldn’t Lil Tuck be a losing loser in Trump’s eyes, having lost his bigtime teevee platform? Why would Donny take his call?
I suppose being an errand boy for Putin and Orban gives him something to leverage but my god, he’s pathetic.
Old School
@pat:
Biden has to be nominated by August 7th (which is still the plan):
Archon
@Another Scott: This really might end in guillotines.
Eyeroller
@bbleh: Republican pollsters are pumping garbage polls like they did in earlier cycles. News media reports “The Trump Campaign says Trump will win 330 electoral votes.”
Martin
@JWR: Musk’s only real motive here is he can lay off CA workers and hire TX workers saving some money. He did the same move when he killed Teslas CA Supercharger team and then reconstituting it with new hires in Texas.
CA labor laws provide too many protections for Musk. That’s all this has ever been about. And Greg Abbott is all too happy to suck his dick.
gene108
@Eyeroller:
And rich white men run most of the major media newsrooms.
@Chris:
Also, prior to the debate, a low simmering panic at how little sense this election makes. Trump’s either been leading or tied with Biden in most polls.
Record low unemployment, strong economy, wage gains for ordinary workers, no wars were directly involved in, etc., and Biden still could not separate himself from Trump, with all of Trump’s baggage.
I think based on the general positive state of things, and how close things were pre-debate, thoughts of Biden being a weak candidate existed.
The horrible debate performance triggered doubters into going public with what they already believed.
Trump defies all understanding of how actions affect politicians. Things that historically have sunk candidates do nothing to reduce his support.
Trollhattan
@JWR: How many times can he do it? He already took Tesla HQ away but oops, the factory remains. The others? Twitter is already hollowed out. But his particular whine is funny as hell.
Ooh, tell us more, Elmo. Now how can you punish us?
Old School
@Chris Johnson:
Here’s an Axios article that mentions it.
Tucker was in Trump’s box at the RNC on Monday night, so it does lend the idea creedence. (I didn’t watch last night, but he might have been there again.)
Kristine
@Starfish: Thanks for linking to this. Such a needed thing.
Ruckus
@schrodingers_cat:
One has to work at being that shitty before 40, one has to WANT to be that shitty, think that it is the top of the heap to be that.
He must really like cleaning up after animals if that’s all he ever thinks about.
CaseyL
@bbleh: He did just now??
God DAMMIT.
I just wrote his office an email politely ripping him up one side and down the other for joining the Panic Caucus, and that was *before* I saw your comment.
God DAMMIT.
gene108
@Eyeroller:
Yes.
Thiel gave a lot of data analysis support to Trump in 2016. The Trump campaign had (has?) a very sophisticated strategy for micro targeting potential supporters on social media.
They bought a bunch of user info from Facebook* and used Cambridge to sort the data for how to best target potential voters via digital social media ads.
*EDIT: Probably other social media companies, as well.
Eyeroller
@Bex: This is looking more and more like a power play by donors.
Schiff needs money. His campaign is apparently $15M in the hole.
Eyeroller
@CaseyL: He used the phrase “pass the torch.” This is a very organized effort. It seems to be based around some donors, at least one of whom is a Republican BTW. Some were Dean Phillips funders.
Chris Johnson
@Trollhattan: Being an errand boy for Putin is literally what Donald is. Donald is not special. The message is that he can be replaced very easily, and Carlson would like nothing more than to replace Trump and be the celebrity President.
In the absence of permission from Putin to do that, he’s gonna run Trump on a mighty tight leash, and is going to be filled with rage, contempt, and bitterness. That at least must cheer Trump up a whole lot in this difficult time :) he gets to play President and bring Daddy secret documents, while Tucker has to enthuse over fucking lettuce in a Russian supermarket.
Chris
@gene108:
I think the low simmering panic accounts for most ordinary voters who’ve felt this way (I know, I’ve felt that way for the last four years). With public figures, though, I think it’s more than that.
Chris Johnson
@Eyeroller: Get back to me when they’ve gone the full Tim Pool and are insisting Trump will win a 50 state landslide. They’ll get there!
Mike in NC
Fat Bastard has always played the phony macho man act. He got the January 6 neo-Nazi mob riled up waving his fascist gloved fist.
Omnes Omnibus
@prostratedragon: Not MacBeth, he was an accomplished leader who gave in to temptation. More Iago. Bitter and jealous. No to be trusted.
Chris Johnson
@Old School: That does mention a phone call from Tucker to Trump. Different report than I saw, though. But that does confirm it.
I’m given to understand that when Trump arrived at the RNC, he made a special point of greeting Tucker Carlson before he greeted Vance, his new Vice Presidential candidate. To me, that tracks, if you have the impression that Tucker’s a direct line to Putin and speaks with the weight of Putin. If that were so, then that’s every reason for Trump to defer to Carlson as if Carlson were representing Putin himself.
bbleh
@Eyeroller: Ahh, if true that would explain it. (Other than just being a pretentious twit.) And Cal donors in particular, I would guess. See also Clooney. Source?
LanceThruster
I’m going to start my own political party… but with blackjack… and hookers.
Wait, what? The other parties already have the hookers? What about the the blackjack?
Oh, right… Wall Street. And the house never loses… even when they lose bigly (thanks to the government socializing losses*)
*I remember specifically conversations in here stating that it was absolutely necessary to prevent global financial meltdown. Using the bail-out funds to make mortgage payments for the people underwater was thought to be unacceptable as rewarding them for their poor financial choices involved a “moral hazard” though it kept them in their homes and the banks would still get their money. Bailing out the economic masterminds who almost tanked the economy with their credit default swap bundles (or whatever these magic Maguffins were called) was not. When these funds were used to pay the executive bonuses tied to their financial shell game, the rationale was that the contracts had to be honored in order to retain “good people.” Moving forward, they promised to behave themselves, and have been using cash infusions to buy up single family homes pricing most people out of the market, and turning them into rentals while jacking up rents by way of AI algorithms that calculated the tipping point for an increase before it resulted in diminishing returns.
Good times!
JWR
@Ruckus: @Martin: I didn’t read the entire Space DOT com article, but local SoCal news said such a move could affect 133,000(?) jobs, though it’s not clear how many would actually follow him to the Lone Star State.
Old School
@Chris Johnson:
Trump did greet Carlson first, but Tucker was at the entrance to the box. Vance was further in.
Sister Golden Bear
@Eyeroller: Vance has the face of a youth pastor who’s just been arrested for grooming and having sex with the kids under his care.
Eyeroller
@bbleh: Ragnarok Lobster on Nitter. Another person posted his FEC filing. He has spent $55M but has only raised $40M.
Sister Golden Bear
@JWR: More specifically Elon is pissed because CA passed a law that bans schools from outing trans kids to their parents.
@Bill Arnold: It’s accurate, but as Newsom noted, the last time Elon promised to decamp to
Elon’s safe spaceTexas, they ended up expanding in California—even relocating their Global Engineering and AI headquarters to California.zhena gogolia
@M31: I’m not either. Don’t miss it in the slightest.
Or the Guardian, or the Atlantic.
zhena gogolia
@Almost Retired: Oh, right, I bought his fucking book! To the junkyard with it! (I never read it, it’s boring as shit.)
The Thin Black Duke
Vance is a small turd in a big bowl.
His political ascension is due to goddamned Oprah pimping his lousy bestseller and Tim Ryan’s abysmal campaign. Vance has managed to lurk underneath the radar for years, but the voters are going to learn what an awful human being he is now.
At the VP debate, every woman is going to be reminded of that dickhead boss they worked with, because it will be impossible for Vance to treat Kamala respectfully.
zhena gogolia
@Bex: Good question.
Martin
@JWR: Not as many as he thinks. The reason that companies still seek out California, despite the costs, is that the labor market here is too strong. SpaceX in Hawthorne is spitting distance from LockMart, Boeing, and a shit-ton of other space/aerospace contractors/subcontractors. Workers decamping for Texas are destroying their job prospects. They’re moving to a market where non-competes are legal, which they only evade by returning to CA, and where there are no new prospects without a substantial move. Surely there will be some workers that are happy working there and will appeal to Texas low housing costs, but of the constant problems we had with engineers was that they refused to leave California. Some of that was not wanting to deal with Texas bigotry and policy, some was not wanting to leave their families, but most was this is the place where your job prospects are. It’s why Silicon Valley can’t be easily displaced – you can run through a bunch of different jobs in your field without having to move your family, and you don’t advance your career through internal promotion (as this move by SpaceX makes clear).
It’s no better for Tesla. All of the EV design teams are in California – from all automakers, because this is where all the talent is. I don’t see many of those people decamping for Texas, which is the hinterlands career-wise.
Sister Golden Bear
@Captain C: Elon absolutely hates trans people, including his own daughter, and has made no secret he wants us to “disappear.” He’s also been a big promoter of fellow anti-trans hater like LibsOfTiktok and J.K. Rowling.
JWR
@Trollhattan: I’ll bet this all about him being pissed that his magical Mr. Dick could actually pump out any but the most perfect of all heterosexual specimens.
LanceThruster
I am intrigued by the insistence of some refusing to watch even a minimum of the parade of the deplorables. It harkens to the same failed strategy of victory by way of pie filter. We are good; they are not. What more is there needed to know? Why aren’t we ahead by 50 points?
:—:
[From memory] “If you do not understand both sides of the matter, you do not understand the matter.”
I’d even enlarge it to “all facets” as the duopoly is geared for your choices to be forever binary.
Another Scott
@Eyeroller: Oof. That’s bad, and kinda hard to fathom.
I don’t recall getting a fundraising e-mail from him. Maybe he spent too much on the wrong lists??
Dunno.
California in 2024 better not be a rerun of New York in 2022!!
Cheers,
Scott.
Sister Golden Bear
@schrodingers_cat: Many of well-known GQPers look prematurely old. The hate ages them.
Eyeroller
@Another Scott: I wonder who else in the “Dump Biden” group needs money. Or if they’re not in the hole, they could just have a donor promising more money if they’d join in. (We know that is true for a few of them.)
Betty
@Eric S.: I think he is referring to Barron who observers have noted gives the impression of being on the spectrum. Something that could not have occurred naturally given Trump’s superior genes.
Sister Golden Bear
@Martin:
More like, he threw a tantrum when the woman who headed the team pushed back against further cuts to the team. Then folks explained to him what a crippling move for the company it was—among other things, it’s the only part of the company turning a profit. But yeah, when he realized he had to rebuild the team, he’s been trying to do it with new
more compliant serfshires in Texas.Omnes Omnibus
@LanceThruster: I already understand stand them. I feel no need to wallow in the filth. I also don’t need to obsessively watch videos of the dead from Ukraine or Gaza. There is a ghoulishness to it that I don’t need to be part of.
Sister Golden Bear
@Sister Golden Bear: Also worth noting that Tesla is laying off/has landed off (not clear what stage they’re at) almost the entire workforce at their Gigafactory in Austin.
cmorenc
@BR: unlike all the alternative future D presidential candidates of a year ago, the only feasible ones now are Biden and Harris. I am not pushing Harris with that comment, just remarking on what the universe of possible D candidates are at this juncture for any D congress critter whining or contemplating that question, in case any of them are deluded by thinking there are any viable 3rd alternatives, irrespective of what they might think of either biden’s or harris’s chances.
LanceThruster
It has become a standard disclaimer by content creators on YouTube to make the obligatory “safe and effective” declaration to even discuss any aspect of the pandemic response.
Wherever one ultimately weighs in, there are some interesting anomalies, discrepancies, and aspects hinted at early on but said to be debunked, later learned to have some validity. Those commenting such as podcasters who were dismissed as not being experts, might have hosted medical professionals who were dismissed as quacks for holding a contrary view, and various metrics were setup in a fashion or shifted as needed to buttress a given narrative.
It reminded me a bit of how sometimes Noam Chomsky is accused of crafting a narrative out of thin air. Some of his more sensational assertions sound rather implausible, and then he points out that this particulr account is from the state department’s own records.
Paul in KY
@Starfish: Great essay! Thanks for the link.
LanceThruster
@cmorenc: I support Harris as the only viable replacement choice for a number of reasons.
My view (not held by many “Biden or Bust!”ers in here), is the chances of Biden being the candidate to defeat Trump at this point are “Slim to none”… and Slim just rode out of town. I’d vote for Harris enthusiastically even in the face of all my entirely valid reservations (imho, of course… who else’s would they be?), just for the rare opportunity to reward the DNC for making the right decision for once in a tough situation.
The opportunity for the epic confluence for making both Trump and Hillary to have a sad because of the particulars this candidate embodies is only a secondary motivation, but still strong.
If the Dems fumble this… the affront to the community that’s saved their bacon so many times in the past might take some time to repair. Those saying that Harris’ support in the community is not all that strong, do so pretending that Biden’s is.
I actually feel that the support will be substantial and ultimately prove to be successful if for no other reason than to not leave one of their own hanging. The perception of how her actions will reflect this post-election will be along the same lines where many felt let down by Obama.
I’m just an observer in safely blue California whose vote will most likely change nothing, though these days there’s even concern about a shifting tide in New York.
Ruckus
@Martin:
Yep.
It’s always about the greenbacks. ALWAYS.
Secondary may be a “dislike” for some group of humans, most likely the ones that won’t support them with money, votes or both.
LanceThruster
Money is speech. More available money is louder speech. Louder speech from a singular source more effectively providing a quid pro quo is easier than trying to herd the cats of small donors. Besides, candidates use their small donor contributions for PR, it being confirmation of a supposed mandate for those things they planned on doing regardless.
Money sent to Biden might out of fear of Trump, but might be presented as proof of them being on board for genocide as well. It’s a crazy system.
Starfish
@LanceThruster: Be careful. Your name ends in -nce so you are in line to be Trump’s next VP pick.
Shalimar
@Starfish: Asimov wasn’t strong on characterization anyway, and he doesn’t write anything cringy that I can remember. Especially compared to other writers of his era. Women aren’t significant characters in most of his books though.
Shalimar
Why? It is still July. The race is still polling close. Many candidates have come back from many times larger deficits. We don’t know what will happen, but there is no reason at all to believe either candidate has no chance.
LanceThruster
@Omnes Omnibus: as far as “understanding” the opposition, I regularly see them dismissed outright as hateful racist fanatics and no other possible motivation even entertained. The victims of the assassination attempt all seem like pretty decent and accomplished people, albeit with a political allegiance far different than my own.
I moved to a very red district of North LA County about 8 years ago. My next door neighbor is one of the finest people I’ve ever met. He knows I was a Bernie Bros and an atheist/agnostic and has helped me repeatedly time and again in ways large and small without fail just because that’s who he is. He has expressed support for Trump for a number of reasons he finds compelling. If I recall correctly it came from some of my own observations when discussing the political landscape that facts should trump loyalties regardless and my observations along those lines established my own credibility with him for putting forth an argument in good faith. I mentioned how a Christian co-worker knowing my atheist worldview told me she thought I was the most Christian person she knows (my response was, “You take that back, or I’ll have to report you to HR.!” Jokingly of course). I’ve told my neighbor in that context that I find him the perfect example to uphold as far as what I feel a Christian should be (though he be of the Saturday Sabbath band of upstarts). Mind you, I’ve met other right wing neighbors who represent the stereotypical closed-mindedness in their viewpoint on almost every issue, and others with pretty compelling arguments as far as cost-benefit analysis for various policy goals because those were the numbers they crunched for their employer.
It’s like how frustrated (and angered) I got seeing Penn and Teller in a Bullshjt episode mock recycling programs by having an insane number of very specific recycling bins only to discover later how often such programs in the final analysis seem to be primarily about giving the appearance of doing something as opposed to whether they could be justified entirely on their own merits.
I think I doing a fairly good job of showing the colors for a progressive worldview with a relevant “Yes, but… ” on occasion, but the dialog starts with an assumption of good faith intent or it goes nowhere.
I always say, I love a good counter-argumemt. Maybe I’m the one that needs to reevaluate, but if I don’t have a solid counter based on facts, why even bother? Too much I see of what I consider gaslighting plain and simple seems to be done with the attitude of, “We have to do this to keep the rubes on board… of *course* we aren’t directing it at you.”
For better or worse, Herr Shicklgruber observed that flim-flamming the masses yields the best and most predictable results as there are not enough smart cookies to matter.
Ruckus
@gene108:
SFB’s supporters do not care about normal, do not understand normal, and if they did they wouldn’t like normal, because they are not normal humans.
They have, at best, a very twisted concept of humanity. And at worst. Their problem is that they are the top, the pinnacle of humanity, just ask them. Their guiding light is money, not humanity, not in any way humanity. The only improvement they want is that their bankbooks become overstuffed – even if they already are. And while our society is less biased than in my youth (a rather long time ago….) there is (and likely always will be some bias within humanity, being better means better survival possibilities, and being higher up the social ladder is one marker of better – money being a big marker in that world)
LanceThruster
@Starfish: I’d take it in a heartbeat if only to try to change the system from within. Run the damn deep state footage of the Kennedy assassination. I don’t care. If others can be expected to put it all on the line supposedly in defense of freedom or whatever (Animal Mother in Full Metal Jacket “If I’m going to die for a word then my word is ‘poontang'”) Smedley Butlers analysis of his own purpose ultimately notwithstanding, then I can at least make the attempt irrespective of the prospect for victory.
Or maybe I’d be co-opted just as rapidly as anyone. As the former hobo observed in “They Live!” noting all the advantages of selling out evidenced by the great numbers of people who can always be counted on to do so, “Everyone wants a little taste of the good life.”
LanceThruster
@Shalimar: mostly because of the attitude that a tenacious defense of Biden and insistence to stay the course is presumed to also translate to victory at the ballots box. I don’t think it’s honestly denied that Biden’s “one bad day” (as framed) will mean losing some folks. Not sure if the rationale for keeping things as they are is the defections won’t be a terminal blow when margins were tight to begin with, or that there will be a rally of support to make up for that. The performance metrics achieved falling the debate debacle, were uneven, that with low bar and sliding scale considered. A few times the purpose of establishing the debate as a one-off was not achieved and at times actually reinforced. He’s built up a bit of Joe-mentum, but in my eyes mostly from employing the traditional paradigms where a shouty animated Biden is thought to be enough to establish the desired perceptions thst carry him forward to victory.
I feel the gaslighting over things people can see with their own eyes and ears will do considerable damage in the long term, particularly in whatever inner circle accounts come to light. Keeping a lid on an uncomfortable reality even if felt it was done with a defensible motivation is still deception. To brings forth desired ends, various means, some more objectionable than others, always come into play.
And the time before election to change the final outcome cuts both ways. I’ve seen comedy skits of people panicking over a potentially deadly threat moving their way rather slowly as if the option to step out of the path of danger wasn’t a consideration. This feels like a similar situation. And there are those in the car scolding others to pipe down as it only looks like the car is headed straight for the cliff when in fact we’re about to see the most epic drift maneuver ever executed.
[my shoulders shrugging] Could happen, I suppose.
Omnes Omnibus
@LanceThruster: TL;DR
LanceThruster
@Starfish: some of Asimov’s works can be a bit dry, at least by my standards, but by way of his prolific output, there’s something for everyone to love. I remember coming across this essay in the original Lawrence of Cyberia blog. It is always encouraging to see those willing to stand up for a commitment to factual analysis, despite the pressures a given agenda can exert. Oft times an artist’s contributions to society can go far beyond just the value of their works alone.
Miss Bianca
@The Thin Black Duke: *Oprah* touted his book? Oh, right, I forgot – she’s a big-hearted person who seems to have really lousy judgment when it comes to foisting sleazy hucksters onto the American stage.
LanceThruster
@Omnes Omnibus: – always trust the shorter?
That would just be, “This why I think my take is correct and I’m including whatever material I feel best supports that contention.”
“And you have to ask yourself, “Why aren’t I 50 points ahead?””
A shorter shorter, “This is why I’m right.”
A more shorter shorter, “I’m right.”
LanceThruster
@Miss Bianca: The Secret seemed to lend credence to those pushing a prosperity gospel or toxic positivity from the perspective of those cashing in on it.
But not any of y’all’s gurus du jour. Those folks are solid legit of course.
LanceThruster
@Omnes Omnibus: I probably should include the note to editors Gwynne Dyer puts at the end of his essays (“To shorten for publication, omit paragraphs #X, Y, and Z.”).
Like an “Idiots Guide to.. ” or the “… for Dummies” series, I always appreciated what was flagged as essential, of secondary consideration, and what were merely relevant items of interest for those who cared.
My ability to scan as I read usually helps in separating to wheat from the chaff, though my ability to edit my own material certainly could stand some improvement.
I remember seeing Frazer Smith do a very long comedy set thinking he could have probably tightened it up a bit, but also concluded the stuff I would have chosen to trim might have been someone else’s favorite material of the night.
[Editors- to shorten for publication, omit paragraphs #1, 2, 3, and 4]
Chris T.
@scav:
I’m thinking more of another Goner, the one ending in -rhea. (OK that’s spelled slightly differently but..)
Oops, Citizen Alan beat me to it.