Josh Marshall makes a good point:
But the key part that stands out to me is this: a huge amount of modern Republican campaigns are based on wearing down a Democratic politician over months and years in the right-wing echo chamber. We saw it with Clinton, Obama, Clinton, Biden, Kerry. It’s a well, well worn thing. But it takes time. There are seldom knock-out punches. It’s a slow osmotic process. And the critical part of it takes place at the nexus where what’s happening in the right wing echo chamber bleeds into and begins to shape mainstream media reporting.
Obviously we don’t know how this campaign is going to play out. Looks pretty good ten days in, but there’s ten times more days coming. But regardless of how it plays out, this blitz factor — something totally new and unexpected right as the true campaign starts — is clearly wreaking havoc not only with the Trump campaign but with the whole far-flung Republican political and media apparatus.
It’s a often-expressed view (by Democrats, including some who comment on this blog) that a black woman can’t win the presidency because look at what happened to Hillary Clinton. I think this view doesn’t take Josh’s point into account, specifically, that by the time Hillary ran for President in 2016 the right wing noise machine had 26+ years to shit on her, to put her on bumper stickers, t-shirts, give her nicknames like the title of this post, etc. Also, she had been splattered with some of the mud that was thrown at Bill.
Kamala doesn’t have this issue. There may be attacks that hit home, but Republicans are starting with nothing in the tank to hit her with. Since they have nothing, their natural instinct is to turn to unsubtle sexism, antisemitism and racism, which can backfire. (e.g., she hates the Jewish people. She’s married to one, assholes — even the AP got that right in the headline.)
I’m not saying it’s right, and I’m not trying to re-litigate the Clinton campaigns. It’s just a key difference between 2024 and 2016. Another key difference: Trump was a new phenomenon in 2016. In 2024 (at least the last 10 days), Democrats have learned how to fight back. As noble as “when they go low, we go high” sounded, it isn’t an effective strategy. Hillary’s campaign had nothing like the Kamala HQ social media account that is a firehose attacking Trump’s campaign, all while pushing positive, fun Kamala content. That account goes low when it hits Trump, and it goes high when it posts about Kamala and her surrogates. You can do both. It’s a campaign, not an afternoon tea party.
Finally, and this is probably just short-term, I think the media took enough shit about their constant bitching about Biden’s age, while ignoring Trump, that they’re at least open to writing about the crazy shit he says and the insane policies he backs — as long as it’s served up to them on a platter by the Harris campaign. Perhaps Biden’s age was the “butter emails” of this campaign, but there’s definitely some time left for them to fall back to old habits.
Edit: This broke as I was writing the post. No gas in the tank leads to racist slurs.
Former president Donald Trump said Wednesday that he had been aware of Vice President Harris’s Indian heritage but didn’t know she was Black “until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black.” “And now she wants to be known as Black,” Trump added, questioning Harris’s identity during a very combative question-and-answer session at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago. Harris was part of a historically Black sorority and has embraced her Black identity in many ways. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Trump’s comments “repulsive” and “insulting.”
rikyrah
This was an excellent point by Josh
Frankensteinbeck
Thankfully, I don’t think there is. It takes time for the pundit herd to decide on a Narrative and repeat it until Democratic voters get depressed. The press are likely to try, but I don’t think it can get traction.
Can we get a whole thread about the NABJ interview? Because WOW, what a shit show.
rikyrah
Sophia “I dissent” Nelson (@IAmSophiaNelson) posted at 8:27 AM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
I still have lots of Republican former colleagues and friends. They are telling me, “It’s over. Harris is bigger than Obama and the timing is right for a woman to win.” They also lament: “JD Vance was the worst pick ever for VP–Trump needed Haley or a woman to moderate him.”
(https://x.com/IAmSophiaNelson/status/1818639544993898499?t=MG1ROTPeCjcly4YIrM7G7Q&s=03)
rikyrah
Of which Megan IS a victim of gun violence.
Randi White (@RandiWhite) posted at 11:23 AM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
Ppl keep painting Megan as a bimbo stripper.
She’s an intelligent , college educated, business woman who happens to be gorgeous and kind.
And the theme was victims of gun violence.
(https://x.com/RandiWhite/status/1818683984370618777?t=H4AXOQXZZuf3-pOGpgoTPQ&s=03)
BR
@rikyrah:
I like that they’re in panic. Though we don’t win this in July. So much more campaign to go…
rikyrah
Ari Melber (@AriMelber) posted at 0:02 PM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
Historians may someday marvel at how the U.S. watched a losing candidate’s supporters violently storm the Capitol — and Chief Justice Roberts used prosecutions of *that plot* to make up an immunity for Pres. Trump that no other POTUS ever had.
It’s wild.
James Fallows (@JamesFallows) posted at 0:05 PM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
John Roberts was part of GW Bush’s “Florida recount” team in 2000. Which led to the “Bush v. Gore” ruling that changed 21st century history.
Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett were also on that team. Just for the record, and as something any competent historian will note.
(https://x.com/JamesFallows/status/1818694453474828606?t=avAyhxbxSoJ-KeHMpu8kkg&s=03)
ssdd
Well, apparently we don’t have to worry about a black woman winning because Harris isn’t one, or something… https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/31/trump-black-voters-nabj-harris/
sdhays
I just got a fucking “news” alert that Trumpy Dump doesn’t know that Harris is black.
So, I guess that’s Plan whatever-we’re-on-now for today.
Please proceed, Convicted Felon.
danielx
O yeah. They have three months to throw shit at the walls and see what sticks, but they’re on the defensive right now (for a change) and they don’t know how to handle it. The Republican candidates for president and vice president are pretty fucking weird and there’s no getting around it. Kamala is their worst nightmare and she arrived all unexpected-like.
I’m really enjoying this. After years of watching Dems playing defense for months and years (Swift boats! Emails! He’s old!) it’s damned refreshing to watch Republicans trying to extract their feet from the manure pile.
Trivia Man
Exactly – the “Mighty Wurlitzer” GOP noise machine thrives on saturation. They cant win on policy so it is just repeating something so often that it becomes common knowledge. Repeat it often often and it in fact becomes true that “everybody knows democrats are weak on the economy and republicans have strong foreign policy.” They can make that the phrase common knowledge but they fail when you ask them “which policy?”
KatKapCC
I will note that while there hasn’t been a nationwide hate-blitz against her, she has dealt with mendacious, bigoted bullshit from the very beginning of her political career in the Bay Area. There are wingnuts in CA who have been calling her a bimbo floozy for years and years, but it’s true that it wouldn’t have spread any farther than that, since most people don’t give much of a shit about a local DA in a state they don’t live in.
So the national right-wing press may be just ramping up, but Harris has been fighting back against their garbage for a long time. She’s ready for it.
dmsilev
@rikyrah:
First, I assume that should read “…or another woman”? But more importantly, the phrase “lipstick on a pig” comes to mind. A moderate (by the very very loose standards of the GOP) VP would just fade into the woodwork behind Trump’s …everything. So would a vaguely normal hardcore conservative. The only reason people are talking so much about Vance is that he’s epically bad. Most times, the VP is close to irrelevant in the election.
MomSense
My only hesitation about drawing too many conclusions from the Clinton campaign is that there were some extraordinary circumstances. Even with all the GOP sabotage, years of smears, Russian Psyops, and misogyny she was on track to win until Comey’s fuckery.
In general though I agree that trump and the right wing spent years and dog knows how much money smearing Biden and his family. All that is wasted and it serves them right.
In 2020 with the George Floyd murder and protests, the timing wasn’t right for a prosecutor no matter how progressive. But now that we have seen the injustice of our Justice system taking away our rights and working overtime to assist trump, I think her history as a prosecutor and her message in her stump speech is really cathartic.
She is definitely meeting this moment. I still think this is going to be a nail biter but our odds of winning have improved dramatically.
Villago Delenda Est
I’m shocked, shocked, that the convicted felon uttered a lie about Kamala Harris. Get me an unmolested by JD Vance fainting couch, stat!
RaflW
I think Lydia Polgreen made a really important observation (gift link) back on June 28th, before much of the Biden drama happened. Part of what has to change is that women vying for a spot in Dem primaries (or, ok, Republican ones) need to not be judged differently than their male fellow candidates. Men can do the sort of intra-party sparing needed without being judged as “hectoring”:
beef
The fundamental fact about the media is that they only report things that are served up to them on a platter. There are no reporters anymore. Budgets cuts, ya know. It’s heartening to see the Dems have finally figured this out.
dmsilev
@sdhays: Is it racism, dementia, or demented racism?
Belafon
We should always remember the full name of the Citizens United group and who it was targeting.
Villago Delenda Est
@rikyrah: Well, I don’t think anyone is able to “moderate” the whining 3 year-old trapped in a 78 year-old body, but whatever.
rikyrah
They’re not only scared about the White House, with this amount of excitement, they know congress is in play too.
Vice President Kamala Harris has systematically changed this entire election.
(https://x.com/WonderKing82/status/1818478138407731258?s=03)
Geoduck
“Trump Questions Harris’s Black Identity in Combative Interview”
Right now that is the headline on both the New York Times AND Washington Post websites.
hueyplong
I know they don’t really do outreach, but the chosen time and place for that Trumpian trial balloon is kind of breathtaking.
And of all the 97 or so days between now and Election Day, today is almost certainly Trump’s most lucid one, with each subsequent day being just a little bit worse.
Baud
If Trump gets blowback, one of his minions will say he was joking, and the media will accept it.
Anywho, this election is just like every other election. It’s up to us to show up.
Villago Delenda Est
@dmsilev: Creepy-ass weird demented racism.
Josie
In answer to his statement that he didn’t know that Harris was Black, is no one going to ask him whether he ever looks at a newspaper or a television news report? It has not been a big secret all these years.
rikyrah
Rebecca Katz (@RebeccaKKatz) posted at 6:03 AM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
Senator @CaptMarkKelly on Morning Joe this AM:
JD Vance “wasn’t picked to win an election. He was picked to overturn an election.”
(https://x.com/RebeccaKKatz/status/1818603337651999207?s=03)
Avalune
Every time they go on and on about abortions in the 9th month I want to put my head through a wall.
Splitting Image
This is the best day J.D. Vance has had since he joined the ticket. For the first time in weeks, nobody is laughing at him.
Baud
@Geoduck:
Fool! That will deprive the racist of a reason to turn out!
Expletive Deleted
A black man couldn’t be elected president, the Obama came along. Americans wont vote for a woman, but Hillary got more votes than her opponent. Things are just the way they are until suddenly they aren’t.
KatKapCC
@dmsilev: It’s a dessert topping and a floor wax!
rikyrah
Qondi (@QondiNtini) posted at 11:13 AM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
A year ago USDA opened the application process for the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program
Today 43,000 primarily Black farmers received payments between $3500 – $500,000!
Despite legal challenges and attacks the Biden-Harris administration never stopped
Promises kept
(https://x.com/QondiNtini/status/1818681489585754319?s=03)
HumboldtBlue
We’ve seen this discussed right here on this top 10,000 blogs from the moment she was announced, they don’t have the time to create a nasty manufactured persona of Harris and the momentum is going to remain with Kamala as she first makes her VP pick next week and then the run-in to the convention and then the convention bounce.
UncleEbeneezer
Michelle Obama’s “when they go low” quote wasn’t meant to be a tactical rule of thumb for Dems. It was to highlight that even in the messy fights, Dems keep our eyes on higher principles, whereas the GOP does not because they HAVE NO higher principles. It wasn’t urging Dems to bring a spork to a gunfight or anything like that.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/michelle-obama-stephen-colbert-catchphrase-b2225386.html
RaflW
@KatKapCC: The GOP being flat-footed (and also not spending nearly as much as Dems in the past 10 days) is making a big difference.
For a lot of folks, not only is JD Vance just being introduced to voters, but because MVP Harris was fairly ignored (more than past Veeps? I’ll say yes, but maybe only marginally more skipped over), both candidates could be defined anew to large audiences.
And once that starts to set in, it does become harder to dislodge. The incredibly smooth transition and ramp up also speaks really well of Ms. Harris.
sdhays
@dmsilev: Vance is an even more embarrassing choice than Sarah Palin. Palin, at least, had some accomplishments on paper as Alaska Governor. Vance’s accomplishments are: going to Yale, writing a book, and failing upward into a Senate seat based pretty much on his ability to attach himself to Thiel and Trump.
BR
I think we have to frame his questioning of Harris’s race as “weird”. There’s a saying “that’s not true. that’s not even false.” That’s the kind of thing it is. It’s that he doesn’t get that there are biracial people in this world.
rikyrah
Booker G. Washington (@BookerGWash) posted at 11:15 AM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
If y’all cared about just policy, you would have recognized Joe Biden’s excellent execution of policies, not his age.
You would have recognized Trump’s lies and recalled how horrible his administration was at executing policy and governing.
(https://x.com/BookerGWash/status/1818681797850337467?s=03)
danielx
@dmsilev:
Do we have to choose just one?
Baud
@UncleEbeneezer:
Forget it. Jake. The Internet has its derision.
rikyrah
Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) posted at 11:05 AM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
One of the biggest reasons I think Alito will do everything in his power to see Trump get elected this November is that he WANTS to retire and he can’t/won’t under Harris.
He’s got a personal stake in Trump’s campaign, and it shows in his decisions.
(https://x.com/ElieNYC/status/1818679281637081346?s=03)
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as devastating as the “weird” thing has been. The Republicans just don’t know what the fuck to do, and that’s mostly because it’s true. They are weird. Deeply, weirdly weird. Not “endearingly quirky” or “charmingly eccentric”, but fucking weird. These are people who, if you found yourself talking to them at a party, you’d get the fuck away from them as fast as you could. I mean, shit. Hannity had Stephen Miller on last night to try to make the case that the whole “weird” thing isn’t true. When you’re trying to come across as normal, and the best dude you can cough up to make the case is Stephen Miller, well, shit, man, you’ve already lost, big time.
And they’re so utterly hapless when they try to fight the charge. All they’ve come up with to answer it so far are, “Yeah, well, you’re weird!” and “This isn’t fair!” and both of those are just pussy-ass weak answers.
I was thinking about this this morning, and this reminds me of nothing so much as an old, old episode of Law & Order I saw once. There was this creepy weirdo who had systematically terrorized and tyrannized his wife and daughters for years, and he was on trial for murder, and at long last, the prosecutor got the wife to own up to how he had cowed their daughters for so long. And the guy was so flummoxed he just stood up and started talking to the judge, which I gather is a big no-no in court, and he said, “Your honor, she… she can’t… do this!”
That’s what they’re reduced to: They, they can’t… do this! It’s no fair! And that’s just so fucking weak. They want somebody to step in and make the Democrats stop doing this for them, only there’s nobody who can make it happen.
And I’m so fucking overjoyed at this. It’s soooooo long overdue. The nearest we got to this was in 2012, when we had all those weird rape guys running for the Senate. As I recall there were three of these guys. And Democrats kind of grazed up against the weird thing, but they never fully took it on.
And it’s so frustrating, because these freakshows are weird. They’ve been weird for like 30 or 40 years now. And Trump is such a fucking weirdo. It was such an obvious thing to hit him with, and until now, just nobody did, and I still don’t get it.
Josh Marshall said yesterday that maybe it’s because Democrats see politics as a serious thing, and it is, and hitting your opponent with “You’re a fucking weirdo!” doesn’t come across as serious. But as Marshall says, you can be serious and still have fun. And it’s not only effective, it’s fun.
But most vitally, it works.
ColoradoGuy
Weird. Weirdly racist. Racist. Weirdly crazy. Crazy.
“In your guts you know he’s nuts.”
Many permutations are possible.
sdhays
@Splitting Image: Didn’t he just say he wanted to sleep “on” the couch in his most recent appearance?
Scout211
@Josie: Or maybe someone should ask him if he might have some cognitive issues because pretty much everyone knows that Kamala is half black. At least everyone in Washington does. But can he remember it?
Fair Economist
@KatKapCC: Sort of related to that:
I think another factor is that Harris did get some serious smearing in 2020. And those of us who supported her then have been fuming about it and preparing our responses for 4 years. So at the first peep of reviving the smears, her supporters have lept in with the factual debunkings – which seem to be getting spread around by the TikTok fan club, which is great.
I took great pleasure in debunking attacks on her truancy policy on Mastodon. I think the smearers have blocked me because I haven’t seen a thing for a week.
Baud
FWIW, the reason i think things are as they are is that everyone shot their wad taking out Biden. It takes time to regroup and they may not have it. Especially given that the reasons Biden had to go are infinitely more applicable to Trump.
ETA: The smooth transition to Kam was critical.
oldgold
When asked about picking Vance as his running mate, rather than answering in a meaningful way, Trump filibustered about VP picks being historically inconsequential. To my ear, this “answer” by Trump was a tacit admission that Vance was a poor pick.
Expletive Deleted
The other difference is that Harris has been VP, her presence in the WH is already normalized for the majority of the public – the imaginative leap in minimal.
danielx
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.):
Years ago the Rude Pundit declared that every discussion of Trump should start with “you know he’s fucking orange, right?”.
edgefigaro
Open Thread: I had my preliminary interview with the DNC today to be an organizer. It was a brief national level phone call and I think they are going to be referring me to the Wisconson party. I was told to expect to hear back in about two weeks, and things wont get rolling for another one on top.
It was just a preliminary interview to see about a referral. Seems like my position would mostly be field work with volunteers.
Baud
@ColoradoGuy:
In your heart, you know he’s a demented old fart.
Baud
@edgefigaro:
👍
rikyrah
James Fallows (@JamesFallows) posted at 10:12 AM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
This is the “we can have fun, while engaged in serious business” side of K Harris that is most appealing, and that matches the “up” tone of successful candidates from Teddy Roosevelt onward.
(https://x.com/JamesFallows/status/1818666069831164214?s=03)
Baud
@ColoradoGuy:
In your fascia, you know he’s a fascist.
UncleEbeneezer
@Fair Economist: A prominent BLM account tried to revive the She’s A Cop thing and Black Twitter was like “if you don’t sit your ass down…”
zhena gogolia
@Baud: The proof of that is that interview with Buttigieg by the NYT, where the interviewer just keeps harping on Biden’s age. They can’t figure out what to harp on now, so they just keep beating the dead horse. I love it.
rikyrah
Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) posted at 5:36 AM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
Democrats are in array — united, excited, with momentum their way — and The New York Times can’t wait for that to end … and will help it end. Imagine 100 days of happiness. Horrors. Something must be done. https://t.co/TjthihR9zu
(https://x.com/jeffjarvis/status/1818596620788723874?s=03)
Lyrebird
@Fair Economist: I also believe that between 2016 and 2020 the RW noise machine lost some of its dominance. I know TFG gave a medal to Limbaugh, but he was already losing his grip on national conversations. I am not saying don’t be vigilant! In fact I would love a link to your preferred “debunking [of] attacks on her truancy policy” if possible. I am just thankful that there has been some progress.
I am also thankful for @Baud: though I don’t know how many people will buy that bumper sticker :D
zhena gogolia
@Expletive Deleted: I give so much credit to Biden for choosing her.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Haha. “Norman, Coordinate!”
rikyrah
Cornell Belcher (@cornellbelcher) posted at 9:52 AM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
There’s something happening… last night this campaign moved in the direction of a movement. It vibrates different, its rhythm is different, it’s gaining cultural significance that resonates beyond conventional political metrics. It’s becoming a vibe. GOP has no answer for this
(https://x.com/cornellbelcher/status/1818660896157188373?t=GrpSv6q1rDX9BDAKc2kW1g&s=03)
zhena gogolia
@edgefigaro: Good for you!
wenchacha
@rikyrah: I think the late Sen. Lieberman was also on that team.
gvg
@ssdd: Sounds idiotic to me.
Every white person (American)I know claims several ethnic parts. I know I have Irish, Dutch, English and French. I have ancestors going back to the Mayflower and much more recent ones. Everyone I know has a few stories at least. Most of us also add in family recipes. It’s a thing to talk about in the office. I guess nepobaby bosses never experienced that. American blacks also trace their roots.
Suzanne
I think it’s also worth considering that, maybe, the first woman to be the major party nominee was always going to lose. But she made people more comfortable with the idea.
I also think issues wax and wane in salience and that creates a national mood. Vibes. I think this moment is more auspicious for a woman than 2016 was.
David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch
It’s always projection or confession with Dump:
rikyrah
About the VP code switching in Atlanta yesterday:
James Fallows (@JamesFallows) posted at 9:20 AM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
1) Yeah, talk to any linguist about this. (Hint: they’ll say “Oh, bless your heart.”) Or anyone who’s ever heard the term “code switching.”
2) Yeah, talk to any American from the South, or upper Midwest, or Boston, or Brooklyn who now lives somewhere else, about how their accent changes when “back home.”
3) Yeah, talk to any native-English speaker who has lived overseas, about how their accent, speed, and overall dialect in English changes based on which audience they’re speaking to.
4) Yeah, talk to Sen. John “Cornpone” Kennedy of LA, about how his accent changes depending on whether he’s talking to his classmates from Magdalen College, Oxford, or a crowd in the bayous or interviewers on Fox.
5) Yeah, listen to Nikki Haley in different venues. Or anyone.
6) Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(https://x.com/JamesFallows/status/1818653073469772269?t=TzKGX4D_VPCZTZ0n7MEkHw&s=03)
Josie
@Scout211: Yes. I am reminded of the old Steve Martin joke about how to handle things when you are charged with failure to pay income tax. He says all you have to do is say, “I forgot!,” using of course the Steve Martin shrug and smile.
Mousebumples
@edgefigaro: good luck! I’m excited to have more help in Wisconsin!
rikyrah
The.Ink, from Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) posted at 9:24 AM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
Three things that are really working for the @KamalaHarris campaign now:
She has finally outgunned Trump in the war for attention.
She embodies the possibility of joyous resistance to fascism.
And she understands operating in the culture, not just in the marble corridors. https://t.co/Qx0NNYhxTP
(https://x.com/AnandWrites/status/1818654079205113867?t=3IWY5vCGlukYGr1G8bZkJw&s=03)
BritinChicago
The thing about MVP not being Black is really stupid, even by TFG standards. Where does he think her name, “Harris”, comes from? Does it sound Indian to him? Where does he think she went to college? (OK, he has no idea, but surely he has people he can ask.)
Perhaps I’m giving way to wishful thinking (which I try to avoid), but it sounds to me as if he’s reaching out of desperation. True, a desperate animal may lash out unpredictably but I’d still rather see my enemies desperate than relaxed, confident, and adopting good strategies.
In my brain, I know he’s insane.
In my heart, I know he’s a fart.
rikyrah
Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) posted at 8:36 AM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
This is misleading. Harris believes in reforming the criminal justice system, using data driven “smart on crime” (she wrote a book by that name) techniques that make communities safer. As a criminal, that must worry Trump. https://t.co/rHY2iJF1Ud
(https://x.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1818641834236674497?t=7TpqzNojnURFwkM1PYP8aA&s=03)
Kent
I think a big part of this is that Democrats need to get better at deflecting these attacks. Because they are going to be endless and are always made up completely out of thin air. Both the Swift Boat stuff and Hillary’s emails were completely fabricated scandals. So it makes no difference how much Democrats try to vet candidates, the GOP is just going to make up shit out of thin air no matter who the candidate is.
Where I think both Hillary and Kerry went wrong is that they went into a defensive crouch and expected the media to run interference for them. Big mistake. You attack and mock the opponents. Hillary should have been on Leno or Letterman mocking the whole email thing. Making fun of the government phone she was supposed to use for emails and just making light of it. Talking about how stupid and backwards and hidebound government can be (which it is). People get that. Kerry should have slashed and burned those assholes and not rely on surrogates.
The Harris campaign seems to have learned from those mistakes and they are keeping the Trump campaign off balance. And when dirt gets manufactured against Harris which will happen they can say things like “Oh please, don’t you weirdos have anything else to obsess about?” or some such mockery.
rikyrah
UH HUH
UH HUH
wipe them out the way that Woodrow Wilson did all those years ago.
Khalil (@humbleNow56) posted at 10:25 PM on Tue, Jul 30, 2024:
To be absolutely clear, the firing of Black federal workers in the DMV will create a Black middle class recession that would decimate not just those workers and the contractors but undermine the already fragile Black economy that’ll effectively take us back to pre-1964 america. https://t.co/SNJvlPU59h
(https://x.com/humbleNow56/status/1818488021735387536?t=vL-qY0dIIVCyIlkG-C_MSw&s=03)
Baud
@ColoradoGuy:
In your anus, you know he just ain’t us.
Villago Delenda Est
@Baud: (chef’s kiss)
Martin
Eh. Not really. She never cracked 50%. She almost never even got out of the MOE. The campaign made some fundamental errors about where to campaign.
I think what you can possibly say is that had undecideds broken evenly, she would have won, and instead they all broke for Trump and she lost. Comey was a factor, but so was the trend that in a change election (Democrats had the WH for 8 years) undecideds usually break away from the party in power.
A lot of the perception that ‘she had this’, came from the disbelief that so many people would vote for that asshole. Even before the Comey thing, it was tight. And a lot of Democrats hadn’t yet internalized that because CA had swung so blue and was so large, it was affecting the national polls such that Democrats needed a 4%-ish advantage in the national polls just to tie in the EC.
Bottom line, we should have worked harder. We underestimated our opponent.
Kay
There are comparisons between the two candidates, but I’m a little wary of attributing everything to outside forces – media, timing, Republicans, misogny – “they will do X to any Democrat”
The candidate really does matter. Harris is more of a natural than Clinton. They’re both accomplished people but IMO Harris is a more talented politician in terms of connecting with a large group of people.
There’s just a flattening about this that I think leads logically to “it doesn’t matter what the candidate is or does because ….” and that isn’t true.
cain
Keep in mind, as VP the media ignored her. By design. So now they don’t have anything to look back during her 4 years as MVP. So they have to go all the way back to 2020.
zhena gogolia
I hope you all remember that “In your guts you know he’s nuts” referred to Barry Goldwater. (He wasn’t nuts, as I recall.)
I was so touched when a young orthodontist said with regard to my mouth that he was going to be “as conservative as Goldwater.” I said, “How do you know about Goldwater?” He said, “It’s history!”
Fair Economist
@rikyrah: Language is for communication. It’s natural and appropriate you talk like the people you are around.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as devastating as the “weird” thing has been. The Republicans just don’t know what the fuck to do, and that’s mostly because it’s true. They are weird. Deeply, weirdly weird. Not “endearingly quirky”. Not “charmingly eccentric”. Fucking weird. These are people who, if you found yourself talking to them at a party, you’d get the fuck away from them as fast as you could. I mean, shit. Hannity had Stephen Miller on last night to try to make the case that the whole “weird” thing isn’t true. When you’re trying to come across as normal, and the best dude you can cough up to make the case is Stephen Miller, well, shit, man, you’ve already lost, big time.
And they’re so utterly hapless when they try to fight the charge. All they’ve come up with to answer it so far are, “Yeah, well, you’re weird!” and “This isn’t fair!” and both of those are just pussy-ass weak answers.
I was thinking about this this morning, and this reminds me of nothing so much as an old, old episode of Law & Order I saw once. There was this creepy weirdo who had systematically terrorized and tyrannized his wife and daughters for years, and he was on trial for murder, and at long last, the prosecutor got the wife to own up to how he had cowed their daughters for so long. And the guy was so flummoxed he just stood up and started talking to the judge, which I gather is a big no-no in court, and he said, “Your honor, she… she can’t… do this!”
That’s what they’re reduced to: They, they can’t… do this! It’s no fair! And that’s just so fucking weak. They want somebody to step in and make the Democrats stop doing this for them, only there’s nobody who can make it happen.
And I’m so fucking overjoyed at this. It’s soooooo long overdue. The nearest we got to this was in 2012, when we had all those weird rape guys running for the Senate. As I recall there were three of these guys. And Democrats kind of grazed up against the weird thing, but they never fully took it on.
And it’s so frustrating, because these freakshows are weird. They’ve been weird for like 30 or 40 years now. And Trump is such a fucking weirdo. It was such an obvious thing to hit him with, and until now, just nobody did, and I still don’t get it.
I mean, look at Trump. He wears all that makeup, and his hair… And he throws tantrums, and whines and pouts publicly, and that weird-ass little dance [sic] he does, and he smears ketchup all over his overdone steaks…
And everybody around Trump from his term was weird. I already got to Miller. But then there’s Pence. Weird. Sessions. Weird. Bannon. Enough said. There was the brain doctor, I forget his name, ran for president in the 2016 primaries and then went into the cabinet. That creepy-ass old bald dude who was the Secretary of Commerce or something, Wilbur something… Huckabee-Sanders… His freako kids, along with their husbands and wives–enough said. Shit, about the most normal person there was Rick Perry. When Rick Perry is the least weird and objectionable person in your administration, you have problems.
And there was this trove of weird-ass shit, and until now, Democrats have done nothing with it. Well, better late than never, I guess…
Josh Marshall said yesterday that maybe it’s because Democrats see politics as a serious thing, and it is, and hitting your opponent with “You’re a fucking weirdo!” doesn’t come across as serious. But as Marshall says, you can be serious and still have fun. And it’s not only effective, it’s fun.
But most vitally, it works.
Villago Delenda Est
@rikyrah: The Woodrow Wilson approach to putting the ni*CLANGS* back in their place.
Martin
@RaflW: I don’t think she was ignored more. I think previous VPs were just assumed to be doing big things on account of being white men, and Harris was just assumed to be fucking off on account of being a white woman.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
I tried to edit my post, but weirdly, it posted it as a whole new post. Weird. Maybe Republican weirdness is catching. Jesus, I hope not…
Baud
@Martin:
You should inform Trump.
japa21
I think the most impressive thing about the Harris campaign so far is that they are not just going after Trump and Vance, they are going after the whole GOP. All down ticket races are going to be impacted by this. And where there are abortion initiatives involved and other important liberal causes on the ballot, this is not only going to heighten Dem turnout, but also depress GOP turnout.
It will be interesting to see the viewership of Harris’ acceptance speech at the convention. It will be way over Trump’s.
Villago Delenda Est
@Martin: And the utter abomination that is the electoral college. Hillary had 3 million more popular votes, nationwide, than Fuckface von Clownstick.
soapdish
Absolutely 100% this. No single person is more responsible for Clinton’s loss in 2016 than that motherfucker.
BR
@Kay:
Yeah, if I had to grade modern Dem politicians, Harris in 2024 is just an inch below the Barack Obama and Bill Clinton high water mark. As a Californian, I’ve seen her in the media for a long time, and she really has gotten so much better. I never thought I’d see anyone get close to Obama level — it’s amazing.
Villago Delenda Est
@japa21: The MSM is desperately avoiding talking about Dobbs. Because it is the doom of their beloved GQp.
prostratedragon
@rikyrah:
From the blogger who has blessed us with Squirrelwig McFuckface.
KatKapCC
@sdhays: Plus, much as I hate to admit it, Palin had a kind of charisma. Not one that appealed to ME in any way, but I could understand why people might be drawn to her. Vance has as much charisma as an earthworm.
Martin
@edgefigaro: Fantastic! Thank you!
different-church-lady
@Kent: But then there’s also the Streisand Effect to consider.
Fair Economist
@rikyrah: Other people have said this, but:
Most of us are SICK of hearing about Trump all the time. We have been for almost a decade, and in some cases much longer than that.
Harris instead of Trump on the TV is just such – relief.
ALurkSupreme
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.): If it’s a consolation, I really enjoyed reading it both times. Well done.
japa21
@Villago Delenda Est: Fortunately, we don’t need them to.
Sister Golden Bear
Joe.My.God has a great round-up of coverage about the interview: Trump Has Racist Meltdown Before Black Journalists. Things went so off the rail that Trump’s offstage handlers pulled the plug.
We’ll see if our courtier class deems to cover any of this.
HumboldtBlue
@Fair Economist:
I think this is beginning to dawn on people everywhere, he’s a tiresome old asshole and folks just want him to go away already.
rikyrah
@edgefigaro:
yeah…
good luck….
BR
@KatKapCC:
Hey, earthworms are nice and have more character than Vance.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
@ALurkSupreme: gracias, señor, señora o señonrita, or whatever applies best.
Avalune
@Fair Economist: As awful as it is, I only want to hear about Trump 3 more times in my life.
I hate to feel that way about a person but that asshole has been pushed in my face with all his hate and stupidity for so long if feels like cruel and unusual punishment that should be against some kind of international law.
Kay
@BR:
If it were really “they’ll do X to any Democrat based on Y and Z” and none of those factors are who the person is and what the person does we could just run any national Democrat, right? If Harris beats Trump my working assumption is that’s mostly due to Harris.
cain
@Baud: If he is joking, just respond with “huh.. weird”
rikyrah
scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) posted at 7:50 AM on Wed, Jul 31, 2024:
Media is activating its “vibe shift” button. Can’t risk Democrats getting too much good press, gotta toss that wet blanket on things quickly or Dear Leader runs the risk of losing the election!
(https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/1818630380720644139?s=03)
BR
This is the right framing:
https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmkruse.bsky.social/post/3kym542r54s2z
Suzanne
@Avalune: I would also enjoy hearing about
4. He got on one of Elon Musk’s rockets, in an attempt to evade punishment, and got up about sixty feet above the surface of the earth before exploding.
prostratedragon
@Splitting Image: He can just lie back on his couch and enjoy it.
MattF
The session with the NABJ was a disaster for Trump. I think he was trying to undermine Harris’s standing (she’s not b-b-black!) but his obvious racism made that impossible. Not a good audience for that sort of thing, to put it mildly.
Fair Economist
@BR: Totally agree. I’m from California, so I’ve followed Harris for a while, and I liked her in 2020. But the Harris I knew was “just” a competent politician – not *this*. She has seized the moment with breathtaking political skill. She has really learned something over the past four years, and I’m grateful for it.
BR
@Kay:
Yeah. There’s no way Newsom (or whomever the punditry wanted to be the nominee) would have pulled this off in 10 days. I don’t know Whitmer well so maybe she could have, but the little I’ve seen of her I dunno, probably not as well as Harris has.
Martin
@Baud: LOL. Whoops.
ssdd
@Sister Golden Bear: its front page on WaPo and nyt right now so it looks like it.
KatKapCC
@UncleEbeneezer: I saw some of the cop shit in comments on a post in an FB tag group. To be clear, the people were saying they would vote for her, but with some dumb “ugh I’ll have to self-flagellate after voting for the cop”. But I was like…so, what, you’re on the side of big banks and for-profit colleges and rapists? Interesting choice as a supposed leftie.
cain
@Lyrebird:
I suspect that Russia has been busy with Ukraine and so not as much money to give to corrupt GOP people to spread lies.
Ksmiami
@Kent: or use the Mean Girl movie – “stop trying to make Vance happen- he’s not going to happen … you can go shave your back hair now.”
Splitting Image
@HumboldtBlue:
I’d be willing to keep Trump around if it meant that we could get rid of all of his supporters.
But getting rid of him is the easier lift, so it makes sense to start there.
prostratedragon
@rikyrah: Yay!💫 One thing I like about this administration is that they will find a way.
Sister Golden Bear
@KatKapCC:
Absolutely. Also, the CA Republican Party has been off the rails for decades, especially after they imploded into a rump party of shrieking rage in the years after the racist Prop. 187. So Harris is well aware that fairy tales about potential comity between the parties are just that, fair tales from a long-dead age.
Kay
@MattF:
His “trying to be ingratiating” effort is actually worse than his authentic horrible personality.
He’s also desperate to get back in power.
Trollhattan
Taking a moment to enjoy this.
KatKapCC
@Fair Economist: YES. My parents the other day were both like “I’m just so sick of hearing about him and seeing his face and hearing his voice”. I think a lot of people, even non-Dems, feel that way. Like, go away already.
Chris
Yeah, I would agree that this is the most important thing in the process by far. (I would also argue that it makes the mainstream media de facto part of the right-wing echo chamber, and easily the most unappreciated part in the general public).
scav
@Sister Golden Bear: Well, it’s already at the BBC & Guard, so there may be unexpected traction. If the journos actually discover they have real skin in the game . . . But that all’s just print, there’s still the snappy sound-byte barrier to breach. . . .
lamh47
lamh47
Donald Trump is a racist P.O.S. Anyone who’s voting for him, has voted for him in the pass or anyone still voting Republican is a racist P.O.S. along with their party!
Fair Economist
@rikyrah: That’s another attack doomed to fail. Biden was the boss, and Harris was one of his top advisors. He moved policy towards the direction she was pushing in the primaries on several issues, notably student loan forgiveness. Harris did the role she was supposed to, and she did it well.
(Also, she clearly did a good job preparing to be a candidate and a president, also part of her job.)
Avalune
@Suzanne: Or if he’s not into space a trip on Titan2 to the bottom of the ocean works but I’m pretty set on death by fast food.
japa21
@Kay:
I think a lot of credit should be given to the campaign team, which is mostly Biden’s team. They can do things with her they couldn’t do with Biden for various reasons.
This is not meant to take anything away from Harris, but I doubt if she is micromanaging everything.
Trollhattan
@cain: IDK, I think Vlad has the vault doors wide open because he knows Trump HAS to win to keep the US and NATO from continuously rearming Ukraine and supplying them with intel and surveillance.
The Russian people may not have a lot of wealth ATM but Vlad and the oligarchs have all they need.
BR
I’m not sure it’s such a good thing for the media to make a big deal about Trump’s comments about Harris’s race without it being framed as “weird”. Otherwise it’s just a “debate about race in America” which is really not keeping the heat on Trump in the way we want. I think the framing I posted about that this is part and parcel of the right’s weird eugenics thinking is the way to go.
KatKapCC
@Sister Golden Bear: Truth. Ugh, 187 and Wilson. Yuck.
RaflW
As pwonallthethings has noted on Bsky, Trump saying Kamala “became Black” is permission-giving to the MAGA base to just go for broke on this cycle’s version of origin/birtherism.
I think it’s a sign of desperation, and will push the middle further out of reach of Trump/Vance, but in terms of future RW violence, it’s probably really a bad step.
Misterpuff
@dmsilev:
I tend to disagree on this assertion. Yes, Vance is epically bad, but like DeSantis, he is not coated in “Oh, it’s just Trump” Teflon. Nothing sticks to the “You’re Fired Guy” because of the celebrity and “he doesn’t mean it” (He means it).
Whereas Vance oozes “He means it” even if he is roleplaying a MAGA ass . His oeuvre is elitist sleaze.
Leto
@Avalune: death by hamburder
Edit: I want him to fade into irrelevance, as he’s sitting alone in a cell, wasting away the last few years of his life. Let him shriek into the void about how he used to be someone, and all that.
KatKapCC
@RaflW: Mike Johnson told them not to be racist, but they really really wanna be racist, so they’re gonna find some way to be racist, gol darnit!
mrmoshpotato
@Avalune:
Same! Also, you can’t abort a born child, you weird, creepy, women-hating assholes!
Kay
The statement from the Harris campaign is just perfect. “Chaos and division”
I am so grateful to Harris for being handed this insanely hard job nearly overnight and somehow being ready. I know the role of the VP is to step in but to step in and be at the center of a Presidential campaign is something else entirely.
KatKapCC
@Kay: Joe knew what he was doing when he chose her as his running mate.
different-church-lady
@rikyrah: ”Could she be too popular too fast?”
Sister Golden Bear
@rikyrah: The FTFNYT is losing its shit over the possibility of another long national nightmare of peace and prosperity.
JKC
Anyone else feel like Trump doused himself with gasoline and lit himself on fire at the Q&A with black journalism today?
topclimber
@Baud: In your ass you know he is one.
gwangung
@Sister Golden Bear: No, they won’t cover this.
So we need to help distribute what weird things the doofus said about a black candidate to black journalists.
Avalune
@mrmoshpotato: I came upstairs on a work break when he was talking about that and I kept yelling THATS NOT HOW THAT WORKS! THATS NOT HOW ABORTION WORKS! STOP HIM STOP HIM FROM SAYING THAT IDIOTIC CRAP! And had to go back downstairs to work before I blew a gasket.
Peale
@different-church-lady: She’s peaked too early. Should have had that open snap primary thing in September and kept ’em guessing. Plus, the fact that she’s hit the ground running without stumbling makes us, I mean….could make voters…think that she is way too prepared.
Fair Economist
@japa21:
Of course not. Part of the reason this has succeeded so well is that everybody involved on the Democratic side* understood what had to happen and did their part – Biden, her potential rivals, and all the staffers. Harris had clearly done a lot of groundwork behind the scenes (all 50 state chairs on the first day, damn!) but everybody got together. After years and years of “Democrats in Disarray” we got a great demonstration of “Democrats in Array”.
* apart from a few of dubious loyalty like Carville.
realbtl
Nobody has mentioned that Kamala Harris had 4+ years working beside one of the best politicians around. She watched and learned.
KatKapCC
@JKC: don’t threaten us with a good time
Kay
Media and Republicans get their claims about 9 month abortions from this:
Northam is a physician and he’s exactly right -that is what happens. Media and Republicans think women and giving birth and real life are icky so they had a temper tantrum demanding it not be true.
Kayla Rudbek
@gvg: yeah, and I didn’t realize until I was an adult that some of the ethnic combinations in my ancestry would have been regarded as scandalous or undesirable at the time my grandparents were getting married (although my grandparents were the ones making these choices to go across ethnic groups). But at least everyone was Catholic, after all.
Hoodie
My gut tells me that was all intentional, not just the rantings of a racist old coot. He’s been pursuing a motivate the base campaign all along. Per a recent interview with Sarah Longwell, the polls indicated that the Dem base was demoralized and that noncommitted white voters were down on both Biden and Trump. That meant he needed to goose the turnout of his fundie/racist base, which might partially explain the Vance pick.
It looked like it was working against Biden, but Harris has revitalized the Dem base. Now he’s trotting out the old Obama playbook. Trump is hoping that the non-committed won’t vote for a black woman, especially if she’s some sort of exotic “fake” black like Obama. The DEI hire stuff is a retread of all the attacks on Obama’s experience and credentials.
Princess
@David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch: I’m sorry, Trump pretended he was Swedish?! That’s really weird.
phdesmond
@Splitting Image:
my daily Google search for the terms “JD Vance” “weird” shows the first decrease in four days:
7/28
About 32,800,000 results
7/29
About 35,600,000 results
7/30
About 53,000,000 results
7/31
About 28,100,000 results
so it may be that the pressure is off!
Mr. Bemused Senior
Ain’t it the truth. [ETA
I think it proves she is ready.]
Understatement of the century.
Trump has a self-destructive streak. Good.
KatKapCC
@Kay: It’s so unbelievably cruel to attack people over cases like these, because it’s a heartbreaking, devastating thing to go through. But of course, Republicans are incapable of empathy.
different-church-lady
Just realized: not only do the operatives need time to push the bullshit, the press also needs time to launder it. “She’s a nose picker” gets fed into the press who do “Are people worried she’s a nose picker?” articles that then turn into “Are you worried she’s a nose picker polls” which then get reported as “People think she’s a nose picker.” It’s a feedback loop, but the feedback takes time to build.
different-church-lady
@phdesmond: Day ain’t over yet.
Fair Economist
@realbtl:
Biden has said they’re a team, and I really believe it now.
Leto
Sec Pete on Deadline: White House right now.
Expletive Deleted
@Sister Golden Bear: Oh god, I hate hearing him talk but I LOVE listening to them laugh at him.
Avalune
@phdesmond: Probably big footed by what a shitshow that Trump interview was…
Martin
@BR: I agree without taking a position on their ability as politicians.
Harris was already integrated into the Biden campaign, she knew the players, she kind of inherits Biden’s record as VP, she got the keys to the campaign account within a day, and she was already campaigning and didn’t need to transition away from whatever she was doing before. She had a lot of structural advantages as a successor that nobody else would have had any of.
So even if you could argue that Whitmer is a better politician, there’s no way she could have matched this despite that.
Additionally, look at where the opportunities here are. It’s all around her race and gender. That was the point I was trying to make in my chess analogy a bit back – that Biden and Trump compete too much along the same parts of the board as older white males, etc. where Harris is the opposite of Trump in almost every conceivable way. Yes that opens opportunities to attack her on race and gender and being a SF liberal or whatever, but that’s where the skill of being a politician and the quality of your campaign is supposed to work. It’s in those moments of contrast that a good campaign can blunt the damage from such an attack and counter along a different point of contrast (prosecutor vs felon) and make big progress.
Democrats fear these opportunities too much. We fear the contrast too much.
zhena gogolia
@rikyrah: Oh, I hate Axios
zhena gogolia
@Fair Economist: I wonder if Biden has anything to do with it.
Kay
@KatKapCC:
There’s an inability – a refusal- to look at the reality. That’s why it never occurred to any of them that women would need medical care after a miscarriage and banning abortions would bar that – there are no “miscarriages” in this Hallmark card fantasy of pregnancy. We can’t let these big coddled toddlers anywhere near womens health care. They’ll kill us.
Kayla Rudbek
@Princess: World War I and World War Two really did a number on Americans wanting to admit to having German heritage.
HumboldtBlue
@realbtl:
Good point.
WereBear
@zhena gogolia:
“Daisy” TV ad about Goldwater
rikyrah
For those in the right-wing,
Those of us whose ancestors were involved in the transatlantic slave trade came from Western Africa.
Look at how the Western Africans look ….and, look at the variations of brown that exist within the Black community in America.
The Black community in America has been multi-racial ever since the first time Massa went to the slave quarters.
Jamaica was just where the boat landed…
If we rejected Kamala Harris for her Jamaican father,
then we’d have to reject Shirley Chisholm, Marcus Garvey, Malcom X, Stokely Carmichael, among others.
And, we aren’t about to reject them.
To say that a woman who chose to go THE Howard University and pledge the Alpha Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, INC…doesn’t acknowledge her Black side….
Lips so pursed.
Lips so pursed.
SatanicPanic
@UncleEbeneezer: this too reminds me of 2008. When Democrats have a strong candidate the dumb left grifters (and well meaning but foolish non-grifters) get ignored. One guy I like on YouTube for his cultural commentary but whose political commentary is stupid was basically admitting this yesterday. No one wants to hear their shit right now
gwangung
@Hoodie:
This would only work with white people…and only those who were racist or had slightly racist tendencies (which make up a larger portion of the white population than we like to think).
After today, though…maybe even fewer of those…
Jimmiraybob
@JKC: by claiming that Harris is a fake black person? Yeah. Doesn’t seem like a winner.
rikyrah
We all know one reason he agreed to the appearance was so he could be seen bullying Black women. Not you Harris Faulkner.
Those 2 Black female journalists were meant to be stand-ins for VP Harris and he was to show his supporters how he put her in her place.
(https://x.com/Ms_MMMJ/status/1818735696288289005?t=sY0W4iG3h7k6id_YkbIPww&s=03)
Attempted Chemistry
@Leto: I’ve been saying this for a while, I would even be ok with him fleeing prosecution and living out his life in the Idi Amin Memorial Suite in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Citizen Alan
@gvg: I was shocked to realize that I am mostly NOT the descendant of immigrants (in the sense of people immigrating to the United States). Of my four grandparents, two are descended from people who came here between 1730 and 1750, and a third was Indigenous. Still working on the fourth one
I feel kind of disappointed that I don’t have any ancestors (in the sense of carrying on any of the family names) that had the “immigrant experience” as opposed to the “colonial experience” which isn’t nearly as uplifting.
topclimber
@Splitting Image: If he loses we (and the courts) will have him to kick around for just as long as he lives.
WereBear
@Sister Golden Bear: He got the hook!
Martin
@Princess: I don’t know, I can see Trump saying ‘Børk Børk Børk’ in a stump speech.
Hoodie
@gwangung: It’s the playbook they have. They gave up playing for the middle when they chose Vance (if not before then). Not saying it will work, but in a race with so much baked in negative partisanship, they don’t need to move that many votes. There are still a lot of older white folks this might have an effect on.
Martin
@Kayla Rudbek: Especially if you were really into Hitler.
RaflW
Reminder ~ Part of what Donald is doing with the NABJ fiasco is one of his key tricks: Negative attention is still attention.
To the extent we can fit his tirade today into the “weird old asshole” theme, go for it. But we have to do it on our terms, not his.
Omnes Omnibus
They went for her birth certificate.
ssdd
@JKC: yup
Belafon
@BritinChicago: I’ve gotten onto a lot of people online who say she isn’t black. What they mean is she isn’t African American. I tell them to learn the difference and why that only seems to matter some of the time.
topclimber
@BR:Switch gears: How could he have been President and never learned the background of a sitting VP? Who is that stupid? Oh, yeah, rhetorical question.
WereBear
@Kayla Rudbek: Yeah, my parents were a mixed marriage.
Lutheran and Methodist.
SW
When the going gets weird the weird take over the Republican Party.
with apologies to HST
KatKapCC
@Omnes Omnibus: OMG. They are so damn dumb. IT SAYS JAMAICAN, NOT BLACK OR AFRICAN!!!! Lord almighty
Oh jeez, and in the replies to Loomer, they’re harping on her mom’s race being Caucasian, because they are also ignorant as heck about race classification.
BritinChicago
@Sister Golden Bear: I remember that headline in The Onion. Never was a truer thing said in jest.
Bupalos
I hate that the takeaway from Clinton’s loss was, in a lot of ways, a defensive crouch. And this is especially true as regards to supposed invincibility of misogyny in America.
Clinton had political strengths, but for the most part she was a pre-damaged candidate and was never a natural politician and ran in what turned out to be a terrible cycle. It was, in retrospect, a really bad time to be running a wonk long associated with neoliberalism and globalization, just on the heels of the opioid crisis and everyone kind of waking up to the costs of those policies and NAFTA turning into a political dirty word. Her highest-rotation ad in my neck of the woods was basically a power-point animation showing a little of the money that had flowed overseas flowing back, via some supposed corporate tax… to support job retraining. She just wasn’t a good fit for the time and I don’t think much of that was really about gender, I don’t know that it was even a net negative really. Tons of abuse but tons of support as well.
hobbitdreams
@lamh47: Truth.
gvg
@Princess: Well, his family pretended to be because of antiGerman feelings here in America from WW1 and WWII. So he didn’t start it.
narya
I think Whitmer is a good politician . . . for Michigan. I am not disparaging her at all; I am impressed with what she’s done there! But when I see her more or less back to back with Harris, Harris is a much better speaker (prosecutor!), IMHO. I’d like to see her as a Senator eventually.
Leto
@WereBear: you know how much I’d pay to see him get yanked off the stage by a giant hook? Haha
karen marie
@beef: But is it budget cuts? I watched the half hour of Trump at the NJAB. Rachel Scott of ABC News, Harris Faulkner of Fox News and Kadia Goba of Semafor were completely unprepared to deal with his verbal diarrhea.
Whoever set up that stage should be fired. It was utter chaos.
The video here should start at 1:10:53, when Trump saunters onto the stage.
karen marie
@Avalune: My favorite part was when he kept repeating that he “won” the documents case in Florida.
Leto
Shawn Fain, UAW President, on Deadline: White House. Talking up Harris, lauding the Biden/Harris accomplishments in saving jobs, bringing manufacturing back. Specifically calling Trumpov a liar. Good!
karen marie
@Expletive Deleted: I’m sorry – what?
If you went out on the street – even today – and asked random people who the vice president is, three out of four people would not have an answer or would answer incorrectly.
cain
@David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch:
Remember how much shit Elizabeth Warren got about claiming native heritage? These people can get away with anything.
UncleEbeneezer
VFX Lurker
Thank you for posting this. I can borrow this book for free from my library’s Hoopla Digital system. However, the Kindle version is currently on sale for $2.99, so I pounced on that.
I prefer audiobooks, but I am glad to have a copy of this book for reference.
topclimber
@Mr. Bemused Senior: Translating Trump: Kamala (er, KaMella) is a phony who never ID’s as black until becoming a politician.
Nothing worse than a DEI hire who is a phony, don’t ya know?
ETA: Just think how much blacker Tim Scott is…next up on the GOP VP follies?
Captain C
@Suzanne:
FTFY
lowtechcyclist
@Josie:
Or her Wikipedia page? She earned her undergraduate degree at Howard University. That’s not exactly avoiding one’s Black heritage.
Karine Jean-Pierre should’ve mentioned that, and called Trump’s comment ‘laughable’ and ‘incredibly stupid’ rather than repulsive and insulting. Make it sound like a self-own on his part, rather than give any suggestion that his insults may have hit home. ETA: After all, insults are his stock-in-trade, so making them redound back on him is key.
RaflW
@rikyrah: THIS.
Trump’s whole schtick is his dominance rituals. His base is desperate for some of that after the ridicule-shellacking Vance-Trump has gotten for a solid week now.
Mass-reacting to his ritual display at NABJ is part of the feedback loop he needs. I really hope we can figure out how to turn that tap off.
JML
@UncleEbeneezer: what’s especially infuriating about that “Black Voter Segment” is it presumes/suggests that black voters are split equally between democrats/independents/republicans and historical voting patterns show that ain’t even a little true.
More bothsiderism Bee Ess from the deeply stupid and pathetic national media.
gwangung
@RaflW: Laugh our ass off at him.
Snicker at the “dominance’ move this weirdo thought would be effective.
Baud
@UncleEbeneezer:
As any man on the street would.
Bupalos
@rikyrah: Trump’s play here is probably to try to get Harris to emphasize how black she is. Hopefully she knows how to pivot on that into an Obama-esque answer that celebrates complex identities as being most quintessentially American.
“Sorry this is so confusing to you Donald. As it turns out I’m like America, I’m a lot of things. I’m black, I’m Indian, I’m a woman… if it gets to be too much to fit in that rapidly softening melon of yours, you can just call me madame vice president.
Though I think my 300 million bosses may be giving me a promotion in November.”
cain
@MattF: lol – black women are his kryptonite and they had 3 of them there. He must have been pissed.
Scout211
When the word “weird” just doesn’t cut it.
HumboldtBlue
Trump’s handlers let him last on stage just 34 minutes… ONE MINUTE FOR EACH FELONY CONVICTION!!!
M31
@Baud: lol
In your anus you know he’s heinous
Kathleen
@rikyrah: Rethugs must have the “new script” to pass along to the Copy & Paste Brigade. Happy Days Are Here Again for the little media darlings.
KatKapCC
ROFL
Josie
@UncleEbeneezer:
Sort of OT, but I noticed something in that article. The picture of Trump with the Maga operative was the same exact pose he uses in every picture–fake smile with thumb of victory at waist level. They might as well use a cardboard cutout for these pictures. It would look just as natural.
BR
@lowtechcyclist:
Yeah, anyone who falls into the “he’s racist and insulting” is going back to Trump’s terms of debate.
I think “weird and confused” is the way to describe him. “First Trump was telling us who is a Jew. Now he’s telling us who is Black. That’s weird and confused.”
UncleEbeneezer
@Citizen Alan: My family came here in the early 1900’s and definitely had the immigrant experience. Sicilian side came to New York. Croatian/European-mutt side to Pittsburgh. But they (including my parents) all decided they’d rather just be White so they assimilated to the point where aside from a couple food recipes I grew up with basically no traditions, stories, or cultural influences etc., from the mother countries. It makes me sad that my family abandoned our history/lineage for Whiteness. If I went to Sicily or Croatia, I wouldn’t even begin to know where to look for my family members.
different-church-lady
@UncleEbeneezer: ”Oh, goodness, shucks, they they tricked us again? How on earth does this keep happening?”
Poe Larity
Perhaps Kamala should pre-announce an appointment for JD, given how helpful he was for the campaign.
What’s the lowest Executive appointment?
Omnes Omnibus
@KatKapCC: You can’t eat them though. Toxic.
Baud
@M31:
Nice.
Scout211
A good point:
scav
I’m also rather enjoying the threat of Hordes of English-Speaking Illegals massing at the Borders Coming for Journalists Jobs! What happened to ai? Will hordes of massed illegals actually outcompete chatbot? Is he implying to a group of clearly DEI hires that their jobs are, could even possibly be given to other people? Confused I am, clearly.
Bupalos
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.): Oh, what about that Hungarian dude that wore white nationalist medals. Forget his name. I wonder if he’s still around, he might have been the weirdest character of them all.
WereBear
@VFX Lurker: Thanks. Got the book.
Baud
The media calls on Trump to step down are going to be defeaning.
UncleEbeneezer
@JML: Yup. the whole “Black Men are shifting towards Trump” has been bullshit all along. I don’t trust their bullshit polls for one second.
Baud
@scav:
The Tony Jay Army!
Bupalos
@UncleEbeneezer: It’s probably oversold because it’s a “narrative” now, but it is true that Trump raised his share of the black vote from 2016-2020.
Suzanne
LMAO. He’s apparently rage-tweeting over at Truth Social. It’s not funny….. BUT HE’S SO FUNNY.
Funny uh-oh, not funny ha-ha.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
@Bupalos: Ooh, yeah. Sebastian Gorka. A real weirdo’s weirdo.
cain
@Omnes Omnibus:
lol – I don’t think the right wing noise machine is going to sway voters that she isn’t black. Nobody is going to confuse her with an Indian.
la caterina
@Baud: In your bowel, you know he’s foul.
rikyrah
I can’t wait to get home and see Katie Ledecky.
Like Michael Phelps, she absolutely is fascinating to watch.
Carl Quintanilla
@carlquintanilla
“.. She has not lost this race in more than 14 years, and she owns the 20 fastest times in world history in the event. It is, for all intents and purposes, only an actual race for silver.”
https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1818740311293833485
Baud
@la caterina:
In your ass, you know he’s crass.
Martin
@UncleEbeneezer: It was showing up in focus groups of black voters as well. My recollection was that it wasn’t a strong preference, they were generally double haters.
Kent
I lived in Alaska under Palin. She was actually a reasonable governor as far as GOPers go and something of a reformer who clashed with the corrupt good old boy GOP establishment. She wasn’t any kind of culture warrior, just a garden variety pro-business Republican.
Unlike Vance, she didn’t turn full MAGA tea party or whatever until AFTER her VP run.
Scout211
@Suzanne: I checked and his social is full of other people saying he did great and his account posted:
scav
@Baud: In your hiney you know he’s tiny.
BR
@BR:
The more I think on it (and I say this as a brown person), the Kevin Kruse post is exactly right about the vibe coming from Trump and now other GOPers who are doubling down on Trump’s comments — worth front paging:
https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmkruse.bsky.social/post/3kym542r54s2z
la caterina
@Baud: 10.0! Gold medal!
UncleEbeneezer
@Scout211: From what I’m seeing, Black Twitter disagrees pretty strongly with this sentiment. NABJ got absolutely roasted yesterday.
Roland Martin, one of the most respected Black journalists around retweeted:
Also, fuck Tim Miller. He was one of the worst Biden-backstabbers over the past month.
Bupalos
@lowtechcyclist: There really shouldn’t be one word of taking the bait. “Oh yes I am black, look at my black university and black sorority….”
That’s exactly what Trump wants. I think “Glad you found time between tracking women’s periods and calling people without children “psychos” to worry about my ethnicity, you little freak!.”
Martin
My son wants a Harris 2024 Blåhaj stuffie and thinks it should be mascot for the campaign as the most terrifying thing to Trump – a trans icon shark.
Baud
@scav:
In your testicle, you know he’s detestable.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: They completely ignored “Black jobs!” on June 27, why should they start noticing now?
Scout211
@UncleEbeneezer: Thanks for that information.
KatKapCC
@Baud: In your lung, you know he’s dung.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
They may want to put that focus back on Trump to dampen coverage of Kam.
phdesmond
@Princess:
to avoid admitting he had German heritage.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: I’m okay with that if it means paying attention to him in a negative light for a change.
topclimber
@Baud: In your nose you know he blows.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
What’s negative to us may be positive to others. It is what it is. We obviously can’t control them.
Avalune
@Baud: In your heart he smells like fart. Did we do that one already?
Under his eye your rights they deny!
Ramona
@Sister Golden Bear: I love this!
M31
@Baud:
In your crack, you know he’s whack
BR
@Bupalos:
Yeah, you’re totally right. Our response has to pivot back to our framing. “They’re weird and creepy and seem to want to talk about childless cat ladies, who is a good Jew, how a person can turn Black, when and where women should bear children, etc.”
scav
@Baud: In your skin, you know he’s dim.
M31
@Baud:
In your lymph node, you know he’s a wimp choad
Lyrebird
@cain: here’s hoping!
Oh hey, iirc your wife is an educator or high-level administrator. On the Zoom call with the brave folks in NC, they mentioned possibly making a video or two of their own about civics, voting, etc after Yello Pain’s amazing “Vote Don’t Count” video was mentioned. I wondered if some Jackals with school connections (FastEdD maybe? Kent?) might be up for offering to show the NC videos to students, help them towards going viral in a way that doesn’t require money and isn’t directly tied to a party.
I don’t know if this sounds good or not.
scav
We’ve not already had In your spleen you know he’s mean!?
Leto
@Avalune: oooo, that’s a good one.
@UncleEbeneezer: he clowned them. He got up there and just unleashed a wave of misogyny and racism. It was vile. Roland is correct, and the NABJ needs to take a hard look at what they thought they were going to accomplish here, and reflect on how they can do better moving forward. Not having a Faux News person up there is a starter.
@Suzanne: someone needs to put grandpa to bed.
edgefigaro
@Mousebumples: I’m likely going to be traveling to and from Wisconsin and Illinois a lot over the next few months, embrace the FIB. Coordinating a Balloon Juice meet up could be a thing.
Trivia Man
@zhena gogolia: The Black journalist panel asked him today to define a black job. “It’s all jobs”
🙄
M31
“In your uterus, GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE YOU CREEPY WEIRDOS”
Citizen Alan
@UncleEbeneezer: Lester Holt. Net worth $35m. NBC contract: $10m a year. Yeah, he’s fair and balanced.
M31
In your fallopian tubes, you know they’re authoritarian rubes
Trivia Man
@edgefigaro: You mentioned Appleton but that’s possible in reach. Probably less need in Madison, lots of local organizers available. More likely MKE, wasau, osh kosh or the like
Darkrose
@Fair Economist: Ooh, do you have a link to the truancy policy debunk?
One of the reasons I was apprehensive about Harris’ candidacy was because of the argument I had with one of my oldest friends about this during the 2020 primaries. She was a hardcore Bernie supporter, and she really didn’t like Harris from the left, pointing specifically at the truancy thing.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
I walk into the house and MIL has Katy Tur on talking about what Trump said to Fred about letting Fred’s disabled son die…kind of wondering if the media is starting to zero in on a new target. I know they’re wired for Republicans in general but they can’t resist a good feeding frenzy… they’d prefer to chew on Democrats but will settle for Republicans if there’s blood in the water. Maybe I’m just being optimistic but the dude is panicked and flailing and knows it.
David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch
but, but our media betters assured us he had “pivoted”
Princess
@BR: This is correct. White people hate being called racist more than anything. If we scream, “that’s racist!!!” They’ll all start identifying more with Trump. If we say, “that’s…weird,” it deflects that impulse.
Citizen Alan
@scav: I’m increasingly convinced that ChatGPT would be better than most of our political media. Just feed into the computer press releases from both parties and instruct it to produce a “fair and balanced” summary of their positions. The result would be better than 90% of what we see at the Post, NBC, or FTFNYT.
Harrison Wesley
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.): Recently recorded slagging Kamala Harris with the DEI bullshit.
Josie
@Bupalos:
The thing is he is still speaking to his base. This kind of stuff will not appeal to normies or swing voters or whatever you want to call them. He has a ceiling and his antics are not going to change that. We should just laugh in his face and proceed on our way.
Omnes Omnibus
@Trivia Man: Wausau. Please.
Leto
@David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch: pivoted right into another rake? Yes, yes he has.
Citizen Alan
@Kent: The most astonishing thing about Palin is that she literally didn’t talk that way until she ran for VP. When she was a sports caster and later Mayor and later Governor, she had a normal accent (for Alaska) and talked like someone who’d had an education. Then, she got tapped for VP and suddenly she talked like Fascist Marge Gunderson. It was, dare I say it, weird.
JKC
@Scout211: Exactly this. Trump got challenged by a black woman, and he did everything except foam at the mouth while screaming the n word at the top of his lungs.
Frankensteinbeck
Don’t flail around looking for deep strategy where there is none. Trump and his team are depending on a bigger share of black votes. He went to an event to appeal to black voters. He fucked it up because he’s racist as shit. That’s it. It is exactly what it looks like.
Suzanne
@Princess: If only we could figure out some formulation like “it’s so weird to be racist”.
David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch
Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles and Kamala proving heroes still exist.
Slightly_peeved
@UncleEbeneezer:
Agreed, though unfortunately a lot of people in the media and elsewhere equate being impolite with being mean. Pointing out the convicted felon and rapist is those things is going high; going low is asserting those things based on rumour rather than court proceedings.
ssdd
@Frankensteinbeck: ding ding ding we have a winner!
catclub
@Bupalos: and she still got a substantial majority of the popular vote. In a sane country that would mean she is elected.
Josie
@Suzanne:
Maybe something like: it’s weird, in a nation of immigrants and multi-ethnic people, to be putting emphasis on whether a person is one ethnicity or another. Very few of us are purely one ethnicity, so it’s kind of silly to parse these things.
Misterpuff
@Kent:
I’m so old I remember when as a VP candidate she visited NYC, and Drumphy took her out for a slice of pizza and was showing her how to do The Fold (Not that he ever did the pizza thing on the regular). And now I wonder if he actually paid the bill. (Probably told the proprietor that the joint would make it up in free pub).
Ah, poor summer child Sarah eating a slice with a knife and fork……
Bugboy
So much huffing and so few farts to smell! What WILL the GQP do?
Next thing you know they are going to start bashing Biden for not hiring a lick-spittle VP…
Lyrebird
@UncleEbeneezer: I have no standing to disagree with Roland Martin, and I don’t disagree – the level of disrespect was hard to put into words. I’m not gonna tell NABJ what to do, either.
What I will say that I hope the number of white folks who react as Tim Miller did is a big number. TFG will be able to rile up his base no doubt, but there are white people in the middle who are not super comfortable with bold progressive moves but who would certainly never be that RUDE in public. If it helps them vote Harris or simply stay home, GOOD. Believe it or not I have BIPOC as well as white students who say “well Trump is a businessman, so I think I shhould vote for him”
ETA: at least a few years ago, multiracial was theee racial category showing the most growth in the USA. so yeah let the electorate truly hear this bigot, the more they look, the less the non-reactionary ones will like.
Slightly_peeved
@Poe Larity:
I assume he’s angling for a ceremonial position at a college. I don’t think she can offer him anything that’s going to beat an endowed chair.
RaflW
OMG the NYT tiptoes up to the GOP in disarray line!
Musk-Backed Super PAC Shakes Up Pro-Trump Field Program
The group, America PAC, is in some disarray for now as it overhauls its program to turn out voters for Donald J. Trump.
By Theodore Schleifer
Reporting from Washington
July 31, 2024, 4:41 p.m. ET
A new super PAC with ties to Elon Musk is shaking up its field operation, in a major change to what has been envisioned as a significant canvassing program working on behalf of former President Donald J. Trump.
The decision is a stark reversal for the group, America PAC, and reveals a rocky start for Mr. Musk and his allies in their first stab at significant political work. …
[edit/eta: It gets better!]
In Field had already hired 15 to 20 paid canvassers in Wisconsin, according to a person with knowledge of the operation. The person, who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, said canvassers who had relocated to the state were told at a meeting this month that the PAC had abruptly terminated their work, which had been set to continue through the election, after just a few weeks.
— —
(Italics added) I mean, fuck ’em for both the “some” and the “for now” but I’ll take what I can get from those twerps.
Poe Larity
Can we haz Couch Balloons at the convention?
catclub
@BR:
If all the nazi’s are on his side, maybe jews voting for him is … self destructive?
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
@Harrison Wesley: Oh, he’s a charmer all right, isn’t he?
Suzanne
Smart people on Xhitter are telling me that “weird” is ableist language.
JoyceH
Trump remarked during that interview about so many members of the audience being black. Could it be that in the moment, he forgot where he was?
Ramona
@Suzanne: It is weird to be racist. It took a decades long propaganda campaign to establish racism in the English speaking world.
M31
@Misterpuff: lol NOOOOO! Trump actually put two slices on top of each other and ate them with a knife and fork
John Stewart had an epic meltdown about that, it’s on youtube
pretty sure it was a Sbarro’s or something too, not even a classic NY slice place
lol fucking Donald, can’t do anything right EVER
catclub
I believe it. Mark Burnett has a shit ton to answer for.
KatKapCC
@Suzanne: Oh FFS. No it is not.
BR
@Lyrebird:
If Trump had just invested the fortune his dad gave him in a mutual fund and done nothing else, he’d have way more money than he has now.
M31
@Suzanne: the clue that ‘weird’ is hitting them where it hurts is this, and that they’re lashing back with really dumb responses like ‘oh yeah that’s even weirder’
lol, can’t even do a 3rd grade retort right
Baud
@Suzanne:
Those people are weird.
Old School
In your beard, you know they’re weird.
Baud
In your beard, you know he’s weird!
ETA: Goddamit!
Socolofi
So I was pretty pissed that the media and a number of D elite types shivved Biden hard.
This said… while the only major change is the candidate (the campaign staff is still mostly the same staff) – gotta say, there’s a quality Harris has that is inspiring. It’s not a youth thing (I’d argue both Trump and Sanders have the same thing). They can just inspire in ways Biden can’t and never could.
The net result is Democrats standing up and going on the attack, and Republicans just exposed for who they are: weird racist facists to help rich people.
Suzanne
@Josie: Agreed. Like, I basically assume that everyone is mixed. Including myself. One of my cousins has done a bunch of ancestry research and there are entire branches we know nothing about, and some that we know were not white Protestants or Catholics. Being overly concerned about that is….. weird.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Josie: Silly and weird!
Baud
@Socolofi:
Biden inspired me.
catclub
There was some ship of fools Heritage foundation (or
something further rightwing) cruise that went to Alaska.
Somebody met her and saw stars.
catclub
Not quite. Look at the graphs of campaign spending on advertising. It has shot up for Harris. Biden could have run the ad that contrasts ‘Trump opposed this immigration and border control measure, we had a bipartisan agreement to do it’ But we never saw one doing that till Harris.
BR
I hope Harris’s rapid response team is digging up some far right podcast clip with Vance where he talks about racial classification or something. Because it’s almost sure to be out there.
KatKapCC
@Old School: In your spine, you know they’re swine.
Martin
@Frankensteinbeck: Sure, that speaks to motive, but that doesn’t speak to effect. If this doesn’t reach normies, then I agree it probably helps Trump because his base will see it as validating. If it does reach normies, then it’s a sign that it hurts him – Trump doesn’t want to activate disaffected dems – that was his whole strategy with Biden. And being out of step with the broader culture is a bad place for a candidate to be.
Knocking Harris out of the news could be a way to blunt her momentum, but you don’t do that by when you make it about Harris. I mean, that’s what we thought the assassination attempt would do – keep him in the news.
Regardless of the impact on the campaign, this interview has an impact on the black community. If black journalists see an important part of their job as informing the black community, I’m not sure what was achieved here. Trump is a racist POS. Is that news? Did the black community really need to be reminded in this way?
topclimber
@KatKapCC: She is right: it is the able-est kind of language to describe the GQP.
ETA: not she but the folks she is quoting.
Baud
@topclimber:
Nice.
Suzanne
@KatKapCC: LOL. I’m sticking with weird, myself.
hueyplong
Seems like if Trump’s handlers were psyched about how he was speaking truth to Ni-CLANG power they wouldn’t have pulled the plug so suddenly.
Unless, of course, he had signaled to them that he was experiencing an unscheduled diaper capacity failure event and they were worried someone in the room might loudly comment on it.
RaflW
This is one of the most satisfying skeets I’ve read in a long, long time. If what they allude to comes to be, I think — with hard work! — the Senate is in play, and the House looks better and better.
IOW, as Trump struggles and creates drag, there’s not much any downballot folks can do either.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Me too.
KatKapCC
Randy Rainbow’s “45” video came up in my YT sidebar and I forgot what a fun one it was. Gets me dancing in my chair :D
topclimber
@RaflW: Let Trump be Trump! Oh please, FSM!
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
✊
Frankensteinbeck
@Martin:
Yes. I strongly believe that people need to see actual Trump, undiluted, because the press obsessively cleans him up. In this case, black voters who were in the ‘a pox on both houses’ category should see up close exactly what he thinks about them.
la caterina
@Baud: In your weenie, you know he’s teeny
Martin
@BR: I don’t know – Vance doesn’t touch on race very often. He’s very invested in women, and having a wife who is Indian makes race a pretty live wire for him to touch.
I just realized that I know Vance’s MIL. Not very well, but I’ve met her a few times. She’s very nice.
M31
@la caterina: lol
In you c*** you know he’s a runt
ok not sure about that one
BR
@Martin:
Yeah, maybe so, but I can imagine the far right podcasters dragging him into that conversation.
Harrison Wesley
@Slightly_peeved: He might prefer a sofa, but the chair would do if it was well endowed.
la caterina
@M31: Slightly more appropriate:
In your p***y, you know he’s wussy
Princess
@Suzanne: The great thing about weird is, unlike maybe 80% of all insults, is that it isn’t ableist at all. Anyone can be weird.
Jay
https://nitter.poast.org/aravosis/status/1818643005907013967#m
A short tic tok about asking AI to write a hit Country song about JD Vance’s couch habits.
M31
@la caterina:
hahaha nice
BR
https://bsky.app/profile/naptime.theolive.garden/post/3kymeqd7pvs24
Suzanne
Apparently Harris and her running mate will appear in Phoenix on August 9.
Kelly, maybe?
ssdd
@RaflW: yup. That’s the reason they’ve been flailing since Biden pulled the ripcord.
Suzanne
@Princess: The argument is that neurodiverse people get called “weird” a lot and so that term is loaded.
3Sice
hueyplong
@Suzanne: Announced in PA and appearing in AZ sounds like Walz on my misdirection bingo card.
BR
@Suzanne:
I think using it as we do levels the playing field — it actually improves the status quo in how the word is used.
Chris Johnson
The thing about Kamala 2024 vs Hillary 2016 is this: that part’s technically not different.
What’s different is this: this whole time, the biggest mainstream media has been at the beck and call of Russian shitheads who were trying to do anything they could to sandbag the Dem candidate, especially since it was Hillary since she absolutely had them figured out. She wouldn’t have put up with their shit for a minute.
And NOBODY else was up to speed. She even told us, directly. And at no point did we think ‘gosh, sure would suck if the captive media ran 192 articles a week on how the Dem candidate is too old, or 6239723472 articles on the Dem candidate’s emails, while actively trying to protect Donald Trump and just making up a spin for him that bore no resemblance to reality or even plausibility…
The difference is, back in 2016 I bet most of you even HAD subscriptions to the New York Times. You simply did not suspect what was going on. Sure Hillary said Trump was Putin’s puppet, but that was just a sharp diss, right?
Right?
It’s 2024, and we have seen. some. shit.
It makes things more frustrating and disorienting, but we cannot go back to the innocence of 2016. Hell, in 2020 we didn’t even know the guy would stage an insurrection. Imagine what we still don’t know. That guy is NOT being our potemkin president again.
Martin
@Suzanne: No. They are hitting every swing state – PA, MI, AZ, pretty much in order of EVs. Read nothing into it regarding veepstakes.
Baud
@Suzanne:
People are often insulted by being called stupid. We don’t shy away from using that word in appropriate contexts.
Tim in SF
I don’t repost this blog a lot, but I’ve reposted this post about half a dozen times in the last hour. The right wing whirlitzer keeps coming up in conversation, and this is such a good explainer.
Zzyzx
He has a black woman at his rally tonight doing a, “I’m not confused by MY identity” thing so he really seems to think that this is a winning plan.
topclimber
@Suzanne: But that’s discrimination against all the other people out there who are weird and proud of it, for good or ill.
KatKapCC
@Jay: Oh Em Gee.
Suzanne
@Baud: I am pro-words, don’t worry.
And emoji. :::ducks:::
WereBear
@topclimber: Weird can be good.
The word is weird that way.
KatKapCC
@Suzanne: Sure, and I can sympathize with that, but words can have more than one meaning. I’m on board with not calling people schizo or using the r-word, but “weird” can literally be applied to a million things.
Leto
In your ‘stache, you know he’s trash.
topclimber
@WereBear: The jackal creed.
UncleEbeneezer
@Lyrebird: The criticisms of NABJ from Black People that I’ve seen have been less about the election and more about what is for them supposed to be a safe, pro-Black event that doesn’t allow racism of any form onto its’ stage. NABJ would never in a million years welcome Jordan Pederson or some other White Supremacist propagandist to troll them. And NABJ didn’t even announce this until the last minute, so nobody could really skip it since all the attendees had already bought their flights, lodging etc. It was a very bizarre move by NABJ and they deserve the heat they are getting for it. You can’t give Trump a platform. Period.
M31
@Leto: nice!
In your ‘stache you know he’s fash
VFX Lurker
I am not Fair Economist, but Terry Lee Watkins, Jr made a great 2:19 minute slideshow debunking left-wing attacks on Kamala Harris’ efforts to reduce truancy in schools. If you cannot view the above video on X (aka Twitter), try downloading it via TwitterVideoDownloader.
la caterina
@Leto: Heehee- good one!
UncleEbeneezer
@BR: It’s simple divide and conquer. Arguments over Colorism, Black-checking etc., are pretty common and get quite heated in Black social media spaces. Trump is just trying to get that community fighting by trolling it.
PJ
Everyone is weird to somebody else. That’s the thing about being an individual.
NotMax
@Suzanne
Musical interlude (because of the title).
;)
KatKapCC
@Leto: In your nostril, you know he’s hostile.
la caterina
@KatKapCC: Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner!!!
evodevo
@catclub:
Bill Kristol
BR
Pretty good statement from Harris:
https://federated.press/@The_Icarian/112882981837543392
Baud
In your scrotum, you know he’s hokum.
Frankensteinbeck
@Suzanne:
Speaking as someone who has been repeatedly violently assaulted for being weird in the conformist South, go for it, use the word ‘weird’ all you want. Also go to town with ‘beaten like a red-headed stepchild’ I give you permission to use that one, too.
@Zzyzx:
Trump thinks being a felon will help him get the black male vote. He’s so incredibly racist that his attempts to be nice are insulting.
KatKapCC
@Baud: In your toes, you know he blows.
Tony Jay
In your melon, you know he’s a lemon.
Sorry, I just came in, what are we doing again?
WereBear
In your ‘nads you know he’s mad
Villago Delenda Est
@3Sice: That assertion aged well.
Tony Jay
In your crack, you know he’s whack.
Baud
In your taint, you know he ain’t.
Chris Johnson
We’ll get him some more :)
topclimber
@Tony Jay: In your pinky you know he’s hinky.
Baud
@topclimber:
In your thumb, you know he’s dumb.
Tony Jay
@topclimber:
In your growth, you know he’s a dope.
In your jewels, you know he drools.
In your pouch, you know he does couch.
That last one is for the worst VP pick in the history of beards.
topclimber
@BR: No rising to the personal bait–and no weird “jokes” about his hostility to a black audience. Because racism ain’t really weird, it’s just stupid, hateful and all the GQP really has.
dexwood
In your brain, you know he’s insane.
Apologize if this is a repeat, haven’t read the whole thread.
3Sice
@Villago Delenda Est:
And yet, not even the dumbest of junior’s pull quotes:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/16/donald-trump-jr-father-unity-message/74430372007/
WereBear
In your bean you know he’s obscene
Baud
@WereBear:
In your melon, you know he’s a felon.
Leto
@UncleEbeneezer: Joy Reid and April Ryan taking NABJ to the woodshed. Segment was fire and I hope rikyrah links the segment later.
MazeDancer
Trump going with “She’s not really Black” as his attack strategy.
Someone inform AKA and Howard. And the VP’s father and grandmother.
And may I say Usha Vance is either crazy, oppressed, venal, or all 3 to support this racism.
Gloria DryGarden
I get that weird is a useful taunt right now against a bunch of gop maga persons who lie along a spectrum of jerk harmful asdhole criminal weirdos, meaning they don’t fit into any kind of community building humane movement, and who have
no idea of sanity for all, inclusion rights, and services for a diverse range of genders ethnicities and orientations.
I just think later on we’ll have some clean up to do.
Because weird was a way to ostracize the neurodivergent, the lgbt+, the smarter women who didn’t conform to beauty and submission standards, and even the introverts, and the rare INFP, INFJ, INTP AND INTJ Folks. And folks who were socially awkward for such a variety of reason.
It’s been ostracism, but also bullying.
im glad it’s useful now. But we don’t really want to hurt our own people, I hope.
and I’m really happy about how this softer word is rocking the boats of those weirdo repulsive baddies over there. I hope they capsize. I hope nothing they have is waterproof. If only we could throw water on the wicked witch of the west, and get such an outcome, all that yuck melted away
The pr marketing experts will advise us on the needed language repairs.
meanwhile, as Cain graciously pointed out to me in a prev thread, inclusion is the new word. No, um, belonging. I like that.
UncleEbeneezer
I’m SO getting one of these…Cat Dad For Harris 2024!
WereBear
@Baud: Nice!
In your patella, you know he’s sick fella
KatKapCC
@MazeDancer: The wingnuts are claiming that because her father is noted as “Jamaican” and not “Black” or “African” on her birth certificate, then that means she isn’t Black.
I don’t know how these people manage to even operate a phone.
K-Mo
@KatKapCC: I your better court you know he’s a predator
RaflW
@KatKapCC: In my toe, he’s got to go
(I have gout, so have no doubt)
Tony Jay
@BR:
Odds on that some MAGOP spokescreep, mentally pickled in bubblebrine, comes out and says something along the lines of –
“President Trump showed the same courage today that he showed when they tried to assassinate him, going in front of a hostile audience and owning them with his wit and effortless command of the facts. I doubt Princess Ka-Ma-La has the stones to do anything remotely as courageous. Get back to me when she’s taken questions from a Klan rally and silenced her enemies with one 10th of President Trump’s success.”
Because they’re so seeped in their resentments and stereotypes they wouldn’t even really understand what parts of that were out of bounds.
Baud
@KatKapCC:
They tried something similar with Obama, since his father was from Kenya.
UncleEbeneezer
White Dudes For Harris hat ($35- proceeds go to the campaign)
Leto
Diaper Don, you know his brain is all gone.
The Thin Black Duke
@Leto: Misogynist brothers on the bizarre ledge of being “trump-curious” got a necessary wake up call. Trump’s idea of “black jobs” is being cogs in the for-profit penal industry.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
In your heel you know he’s a schlemiel.
Gloria DryGarden
Oh someone please collate all these mean rhyming taunts, with body parts.
I’ll look for a song to sing it to… For real; for fun.
Baud
@Leto:
In your tush, you know how brain is mush.
JCNZ
@Villago Delenda Est: Oh, my nerves!!!!
Cole! Can’t you – just until November 5 – dim the heat of a thousand suns and suspend your anti-“like” policy?
The quality of the comments at the moment is so high – I just want to reach out and give every one of them an on-line hug.
Chris
@Kayla Rudbek:
Which is a crying shame, because there’s plenty to be proud of. One of the biggest waves of German immigration was people fleeing the monarchist crackdowns in their homeland after the failed revolutions of 1848. And then, when they got into America, keeping their radical politics and throwing themselves headfirst into abolition, the Republican Party, and the Union cause.
“We fought for freedom in the old country, that’s why they tossed us out, so we came to America, land of the free, and when we found it under attack by another breed of tyrant, we fought to keep it free and to make it even freer” is a fantastic origin myth to have.
Leto
In your coccyx, you know he’s toxic.
Baud
@Leto:
Sweet.
la caterina
In your thighs, you know he lies
scav
In your ribs, you know he fibs.
Lyrebird
Thanks for filling in further, it’s good to know.
I will speculate that the top-earning journalists there have more Republicans and Independents as a percentage than say the BET viewership, I dunno, and as so many have already said, they are not exactly in entry-level positions.
Johnny one-note here – I can fully believe it was a mistake on their part while still hoping that the scale of his rudeness and dismissiveness to this distinguished group helps all the more people (like persuadable undecideds if they exist) to see the slimeball for what he is, a slimeball. Maybe also disgust enough Republicans to get more of them to stay home!
ETA: @VFX Lurker: thanks!! that and the HopeIsABison tweeted video are ones to keep handy I bet.
Suzanne
I have been deeply enjoying Pommel Horse Guy, and the energy around “the glasses community”. LOL.
BR
Gotta hammer it home to our side over and over, because there’s going to be lots more of this — if you’re explaining, you’re losing. (That’s why “weird” was working so well.)
Harris got it right so far — no need to explain about Trump’s comments about race. Just pivot to things Trump doesn’t want to talk about and talk about that. Control the dialogue. There’s nothing to explain about his racial comments — he’s a weird old creep.
la caterina
@scav: In your pinky you know he’s stinky
Has that one already been done?
Baud
@la caterina:
@scav:
Nice back to back.
M31
In your mouth pucker, you know he’s a couch fucker
Ksmiami
@Baud: u win
WereBear
In your tum you know he’s dumb
Leto
Love all these little slogans.
@Suzanne: Clark Kent has been another one of those little gems of the games.
Chris
@Citizen Alan:
That’s true, but the benefit of the colonial heritage is that every time you meet a racist with an Irish, Italian, German, Polish, Greek, Swedish, etc last name who’s bitching about immigrants, you get to say “shut the fuck up. You’re only here because my ancestors let yours in.”
la caterina
in your belly, you know he’s smelly
Dave
@UncleEbeneezer: You sure as hell can’t do that without a decisive plan of action for when he goes off the rails or basically starts of the rails because the odds are somewhat north of 99% that he will.
That organizations keep failing to adapt to this at this point is almost breathtaking but I suppose it’s the same dynamic that always lets him find another sucker.
KatKapCC
In your pancreas, you know he’s a ranty ass.
(Okay, that one’s a stretch…)
topclimber
@KatKapCC: Many American blacks have roots in Jamaica. Southern masters preferred getting their chattel from there rather than off a slave ship . Jamaicans had generations of familiarity with being enslaved, white man fashion. They were a lot easier to break in and exploit than traumatized people in the midst of cultural shock as well as physical suffering.
Of course, they wouldn’t want to buy any of those Jamaican maroons who headed for the hills and forged a society of their own.
M31
ok speaking of weird
https://bsky.app/profile/annaleighmaria.bsky.social/post/3kymgyr5bmk2m
“Trump just made a joke about Corey Camperatore’s widow saying she would rather still have her husband than the 1 million dollar check someone wrote for the family. Something like “there are a lot of wives who wouldn’t say that.””
Dave
@Frankensteinbeck: People have noted that in many ways he’s at his worst when he’s trying to reach out to groups in what he thinks is a clever way.
Lays out in completely stark terms just how malignantly weird the dude is.
sdhays
In your nose, you know he blows.
la caterina
In your arse, you know he’s a farce
WereBear
In your villi you know he’s silli
UncleEbeneezer
@BR: Also, please do this with the VP pick too. If someone mentions a policy/stance they disagree with pivot to the countless other ones they do agree with and hammer the bigger-picture goal. I can already see people starting to clutch pearls get into fierce debate mode about potential VP picks and…fuck that. This isn’t the time. Eyes on the damn prize. Stand by our ticket (no matter who Harris picks). And let’s win this god-damn election.
sdhays
@M31: “And most of them were married to me.”
la caterina
@WereBear: Cute one!
Dave
@KatKapCC: It’s just motivated reasoning with a giant heap of disingenuous bullshit though the ratio varies from individual to individual.
Ok, some of their audience really are just angry confused fearful stumps rolling down the scary hill of life.
Scout211
I’d say three wives is a lot of wives, so yeah. He nailed it! 🙄
catclub
@evodevo: Yes! thanks!
BR
@UncleEbeneezer:
Yeah, because there will be chaos agents that try to turn this into an election about Gaza, or the border, or race, or whatever their wedge issue is.
For each it’s up to us to pivot to our winning message and not focus on explaining. This is especially true on social media.
artem1s
And then the entire GOP field failed to be weirder and/or more awful than he was. The pump had been primed by Karl Rove for JEB (Please Clap) to step into W’s shoes. All Trump had to do was push him off the pedestal and the rest of the GOP field stood around and applauded. The Bush/GOP machine had spent 26 years pissing on Clinton and putting in place voter suppression in key states (FL, OH, NC, etc) to make sure they could win an EC election even if they couldn’t win the popular vote. By the time we got to 2020 it was clear TCFG wasn’t going to get an assist from the GOP. That’s why the ‘big steal’ didn’t work out the way they thought it would. Now we’re another 4 years on and most of the state parties are practically bankrupt and know they can’t expect a dime from the Big Grifter. And they saw in the midterms and special elections that his coattails are on fire and covered in razor wire and dusted in anthrax. They are now primes to jump ship and disavow the whole last eight years. A lot of them (McCarthy) have already left.
Another difference is the way Dem voters started to push back on the ‘women can’t win’ narrative. I think watching Nancy Smash hand Donald his ass on a daily basis was instrumental in making this shift happen. Who could have predicted a Speaker of the House could stand up at the SOTU and tear the POTUS speech into shreds and not only survive, but flourish under the applause of Dem voters shouting THANK YOU ITS ABOUT FUCKING TIME!. There are a lot of these individual push backs that have shown us that it’s OK to stand up to the GOP bullies and that TCFG, like every bully, can’t stand up when you hit him back.
UncleEbeneezer
@Lyrebird: TBGWT podcast had a great discussion about the NABJ fiasco (mildly NSFW language).
catclub
@sdhays: Melania would DEFINITELY prefer the money.
Chief Oshkosh
@Baud: That’s just weird, man.
Chris
@UncleEbeneezer:
The thing is that any shift by any historically Democratic group towards Republicans, not matter how tiny, is going to be reported as a political earthquake and sign of things to come. Black voters, Latino voters, Muslim voters, you name it.
It’s hard to tell exactly how seriously to take these shifts, because the last thing Democratic strategists should want is to take any demographic for granted (Republicans did that to the black vote for sixty years, and look where that got them). But it’s also true that there are going to be fluctuations and by definition that means sometimes we underperform compared to last time. “This dude won 10% of the black vote, but the next dude won 12%!” doesn’t necessarily mean much. The moral of the story is still “these people are performing abysmally.”
M31
@artem1s: the thing that amazed me most about 2016 was the GOP’s bench — Rubio, Jeb, Christie, etc. etc., they were all really bad politicians — they couldn’t make a case for themselves that wasn’t just dumb, flat-footed, and weak, even the ones who’d be in politics for years
Then they tried to out-Trump Trump, and that’s just not possible.
pretty amazing
Sister Golden Bear
@edgefigaro: FWIW, a good friend of mine lives in Appleton if you’re gonna be in that area, and she’s connected to the local political scene.
BTW, she highly recommends Dr. Jekyll’s (aka “Jeks”) bar there.
RaflW
@M31: I know it won’t matter at all, but damn, the “sanctity of marriage” freaks are gonna vote for the guy who makes a joke like that? It’s beyond brainworms.
catclub
@artem1s: other key things: Trump got credit for being a billionaire ( whether he is or not), which is huge in both the GOP and even more so in the media.
Ask Mike Bloomberg or Jon Huntsman why anybody took their candidacies seriously.
and for being a savvy businessman through Mark Burnett’s efforts. Burnett has a lot to answer for.
Jay
@Chris:
Unfortunately, that’s not the Dolt 45’s family history.
His grandfather illegally fled Bavaria, to avoid military service Back then, fake doctors notes about imaginary bone spurs were not accepted as an excuse.
He arrived in NYC, did a bunch of sketchy jobs for sketchy people, and when the Klondike Gold Rush happened, he went north to try to strike it rich, which he did, by opening a saloon/brothel and being a pimp.
When the Klondike Gold Rush ended, he returned to NYC with a small fortune, and started his new career as an exploitive slumlord.
zhena gogolia
New thread up!
Sally
I haven’t read the entire section yet, so I hope I’m not off track. I think this hand over has worked out perfectly, even though I am sorry to see such an impressive President step away. If, as some of my acquaintances wanted, Biden had announced at the beginning of his term that he was going to be a one term president, it could easily have been a disaster. Even a year earlier, it would have given the Repubs time to mount their usual nastiness. The timing was/is perfect. Instead of three and a half years, or a year, of the very talented Dems tearing each other apart, and giving Repubs free oppo, we have caught them unawares (proving their political acumen is not what they thought it was), and now they have three months to play catch up and try to dirty our candidate. Not the twenty five years of Hillary attacks, or all the others for extended periods of deceit that Marshall describes. I think, hope, not much will stick in these three months, especially with the smooth, brilliant roll out that the Dems have achieved.
Chris
@Jay:
Oh sure. I was responding to the general statement about Germans and their heritage. In this specific case, I’m sure Trump wouldn’t want to celebrate that history even if his ancestors had been Lincolnites.
KatKapCC
@M31: Melania has entered the chat.
Ramona
@Scout211: Heheheh!
artem1s
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.):
We excelled at it in 2012. Remember all the digs against RMoney’s quirks. The dog on the car, the videos of him trying rap, dancing olympic horses, car elevators, Mitt Romney StyleAnd then there was Biden destroying Ryan with a well placed Malarky!.That disdain has been missing from the Dem campaigns. I’ve been waiting for this for 8 years.
karen marie
@Suzanne: Apparently he’s not a great public speaker. That plus I’d like to keep my no-drama senator, I sure hope it’s Walz.
Chief Oshkosh
@lowtechcyclist:
That’s exactly what I thought when I read KJ-P’s reply. Trump WANTS Democrats and POC (and, well, everyone else except white racists) to be insulted and repulsed. It helps him with his base.
edgefigaro
@Sister Golden Bear:
Thanks for the tip. I’m going to be looking for people. I’ll check in again after I hear more.
Quinerly
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.):
Gorka….called Harris “colored” the other day.
Quinerly
@catclub: Burnett AND NBC
Liminal Owl
@edgefigaro: Congratulations and good luck!
Chris
@artem1s:
It helps to have good material to work with, and Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan were the best team to run against I’ve ever seen. There was just nothing there. None of Trump’s uber-racism => magnetic appeal to the base, none of McCain’s war record and thirty years of media fluffing for moderates and the establishment, definitely not Dubya Bush’s ability to bridge that divide. His only personality trait, and this after four years of Great Recession, was “Mitt Romney: the asshole who fired you.” And Ryan was quite possibly the worst VP pick of my life, because he brought absolutely nothing to the table: he was just a doubling down on everything people already hated about Romney. Out of touch elitist weirdo with no charisma.
Shana
Anecdotally, my local Democratic Committee has been getting a lot of new people coming in to volunteer in various capacities since the Harris announcement. I’m a precinct captain here in Fairfax Co. Virginia and have received about a dozen emails about new people in MY precinct recently. Practically unheard of.
Starfish
@rikyrah: People kept promising us that Thomas was going to retire too, but if they are making bank off of corruption, they will sit in those chairs until they die.
SW
In your heart you know he’s a shart
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
@Quinerly: He’s weird enough to think something like that’ll go over well.
columbusqueen
@Kay: Exactly. Harris has a sparkle & swagger on the stump that completely eluded Hillary. I think it’s partly generational; a lot of older women are not as comfortable with showing off a sense of humor while speaking in public, IMO.
Shana
@wenchacha: he’s not dead
columbusqueen
@Martin: For Vance, it’s all about his mother. He’s a deeply damaged man who’s never forgiven her for everything she put him through in childhood. He’s consumed by the need to punish the female sex.
Kayla Rudbek
@Chris: the socialism of Milwaukee has long, deep roots
karen marie
@3Sice: Like this?
You’d think Junior would realize we can all see that his father was not shot in the face.
Geminid
@Kayla Rudbek: Golda Meir grew up and earned her teacher’s degree in Milwaukee, and became a dedicated member of Milwaukee’s socialist community.
Meir’s father emigrated to Milwaukee from Kiev and brought his family over as soon as he could save enough wages. He was a carpenter and Golda’s earliest memory was of her father boarding up their home’s windows because of a rumoured pogram.