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You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Time Machine: Oct 2018, Before Tim Walz Was Elected Governor

Time Machine: Oct 2018, Before Tim Walz Was Elected Governor

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Time Machine: Oct 2018, Before Tim Walz Was Elected Governor
Tim Walz, right, and Gary Bloomberg, left, at Camp Guernsey, an artillery training facility in Guernsey, Wyo., in 1992. Walz was a U.S. Army National Guard staff sergeant at the time.Courtesy of Tim Walz

Leto sent me a great article about Tim Walz from Oct 2018, when he was running for his first term as governor.

Here’s how the article begins:

Two days after Tim Walz turned 17, he and a military recruiter drove 30 miles to a farm field in northern Nebraska.

A farmer, who was also a lieutenant in the Army National Guard, hopped down from the tractor he was using to till a field.

“And we did the oath of enlistment right there on the edge of a field with the recruiter and that led me on a 24-year journey,” Walz recounted recently as he reflected on what had been a family expectation of military service.

Not long after, Walz was off to basic training in Georgia. It was the first stop in a military career that would take him to Arkansas, Texas, the Arctic Circle and several outposts in between. “You go where you’re told to go.”

Is anyone surprised that in 2018 some partisan hack tried to attack Walz over his military service?

During that race, Walz’s service was a prominent feature, and also a source of a late-campaign dispute.

Tom Hagen, a military reservist from Waseca, Minn., who served in Iraq, wrote a letter to a newspaper in the district saying that Walz wasn’t being entirely candid about his record “through artful omission” about where his overseas missions took him. Hagen said voters deserved to know Walz didn’t deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Walz didn’t let it go unanswered and criticized Hagan as dishonoring a fellow veteran.

“There’s a code of honor among those who’ve served, and normally this type of partisan political attack only comes from one who’s never worn a uniform,” Walz wrote in the same newspaper, The Winona Daily News, just days before being elected.

During his two decades, Walz was part of flood fights, responded to tornadoes and spent months on active duty deployed overseas.

He specialized in heavy artillery and had ribbons for proficiency in sharpshooting and hand grenades, according to military records obtained through an open records request.

Walz acknowledges he never saw combat.

“I know that there are certainly folks that did far more than I did. I know that,” Walz said. “I willingly say that I got far more out of the military than they got out of me, from the GI Bill to leadership opportunities to everything else.”

And of course Governor Walz refused to send National Guard troops to the border:

“I would not be comfortable having us be part of a mission that separates children from their families. That is a federal government role that needs to be carried out by civilian authorities in immigration control … (The Guard) is not and should not be used as immigration control. That is an absolutely inappropriate and wrong mission. And I think as the chief executive of the state of Minnesota being able to reflect those concerns adequately with personnel who know this in the Pentagon, at Guard Bureau, is critically important.”

As they say, read the whole thing.

 

Reader Interactions

408Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    For those who tend not to read the OP, here’s your money quote:

    Tom Hagen, a military reservist from Waseca, Minn., who served in Iraq, wrote a letter to a newspaper in the district saying that Walz wasn’t being entirely candid about his record “through artful omission” about where his overseas missions took him. Hagen said voters deserved to know Walz didn’t deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan.

    Walz didn’t let it go unanswered and criticized Hagan as dishonoring a fellow veteran.

    “There’s a code of honor among those who’ve served, and normally this type of partisan political attack only comes from one who’s never worn a uniform,” Walz wrote in the same newspaper, The Winona Daily News, just days before being elected.

    If you’re on social media, maybe think about sharing the link to this post from today and/or the link to this article from 2018?

  3. 3.

    lee

    They are trying to swiftboat him. We’ve learned from our mistakes and hopefully that shit will never work again.

  4. 4.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I will certainly read the whole thing. I like what I’ve seen. But I did manage to misread a word in the excerpt above:

    Walz was part of flood fights,

    and I know you know what I misread.

  5. 5.

    Omnes Omnibus

    God, those BDUs and web gear bring back memories. I only wish that there were guns in the background.

  11. 11.

    Kirk

    I find myself wondering if the Tom Hagen of Waseca Minnesota who wrote this is the LTC Tom Hagen, JAG, of Waseca Minnesota. If so that “served in combat” bit he’s implying for himself might deserve a bit of a spotlight.

  12. 12.

    Steve LaBonne

    People also need to keep pointing out that he had actually retired after 20 years of service, but re-enlisted after 9/11.

  13. 13.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @HumboldtBlue: Almost everyone, I knew was using mini-maglites by that time.  The last time I used one those clunky things was in OCS when they were required.

  26. 26.

    SatanicPanic

    In a way it’s nice that Kerry took one for the team. The GOP is running the same “he didn’t do military service correctly “ play again. It’s kinda old now.

  30. 30.

    john b

    so Trump (evaded service) and Vance (“combat correspondent” for six months in Iraq and 3 1/2 years not in Iraq) is going to attack someone’s 20+ years of service?

  31. 31.

    scav

    Good ol’ republican retread.  Are we supposed to get all teary eyed and nostalgic when they pull out these dusty relics?

  32. 32.

    WaterGirl

    @john b: 24 years, I believe.  With the help of the mainstream media, a lot of their lies stick.

    Which kind of reminds me of what my Criminology professor said. We are asking the wrong question.  Instead of asking why someone becomes a criminal, we should be asking why someone would choose to work every day at a job to get the same amount of money in a year or in a lifetime – that a criminal can get with with just one job?

    So why do the Trump people make shit up instead of doing the normal work of a campaign?  Because big media promotes their lies and create an environment where truth is a lot less important than it used to be.

  34. 34.

    raven

    @Miki: In 1980, the Army issued its first requirements to implement an Army-wide hearing conservation program (Department of the Army, 1980), as directed by the 1978 DoD standards for military hearing conservation programs (DoD, 1978).
    National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2006. Noise and Military Service: Implications for Hearing Loss and Tinnitus. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi.org/10.17226/11443.

  35. 35.

    HumboldtBlue

    @eclare: ​ 

    Absolutely awesome. He met the much older neighbor cat, Dickens, yesterday. It went OK. He’s growing, getting much stronger and faster, and he tears shit up at a rapid pace for two hours and then… just crashes. Usually he starts off crashing in my lap and then moves to the kitchen chair to re-charge.

  37. 37.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @SatanicPanic:

    In a way it’s nice that Kerry took one for the team. The GOP is running the same “he didn’t do military service correctly “ play again. It’s kinda old now.

    That was my reaction.  Not sure who the intended audience for this is.  As said in a previous thread, our Failed Political Media Corpse will run with this again because it’s what they do.

    But, outside of the Reichwing bubble, who really cares?  Plus, it’s pretty clear we know how to effectively respond/message and as also previously noted, that was something the Kerry campaign had no clue about.

  38. 38.

    KatKapCC

    @john b: And if Walz HAD seen combat, then the stories would probably be that he danced around the battlefield with the corpses of people he killed or something. No matter what a Democrat does, it’s wrong because a Democrat did it. The foaming-at-the-mouth hatred they show my governor is such that if Newsom rescued a puppy from drowning in the river, they’d be like HE THREW THE PUPPY IN THE WATER FOR A PHOTO-OP or something. It’s a real sickness.

  39. 39.

    Old School

    @Steve LaBonne:

    People also need to keep pointing out that he had actually retired after 20 years of service, but re-enlisted after 9/11.

    I’m not finding that he retired after 20 years of service.  It seems he re-enlisted and continued as a member of the Army National Guard.

  42. 42.

    Leto

    @john b: they absolutely will. Did you come out as a Dem? Well, obviously you’re not a real vet and you skated through service. Doesn’t matter what you did, how you served, all that. After what they did to Max Cleland, and John Kerry, they can forever go fuck themselves. Traitors, REMFs, and FOBBITS, all of them.

  43. 43.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @WereBear: Actually the clean up is the thing that kept me out of joining one.  Especially knowing that it was likely to be custodial staff who would be doing it.  It seemed shitty.  Not that I wasn’t ever shitty and entitled in my youth.

  44. 44.

    zhena gogolia

    Repeating this comment from below.

    I’m remembering the only letter I ever had published in the NYT. They had some story about how Kerry had thrown his medals away at a protest. I asked them to do a story on what GWB had done with all his medals.

    ETA: Back in the day when they would publish a letter like that.

  45. 45.

    zhena gogolia

    @Omnes Omnibus: Did you eat in the upstairs dining room? I stayed away from there, because that’s where all the food fights were in my day. (By the most privileged kids.)

  46. 46.

    BR

    I liked that Scott Kelly was pushing back on the Vance attacks. They should get him to do some quick hit interviews — way better to have an astronaut navy guy who isn’t in politics do it than have Mark Kelly or Pete do it.

  47. 47.

    BR

    The other thing that’s great about Trump doing a press conference today is that he’s so undisciplined now that he’s going to sound nuts and change the story from whatever attacks Vance is throwing out to make everything about himself, and the news cycle attacking Walz will lose steam instantly.

  48. 48.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @zhena gogolia: I only ate at Downer Commons for my freshman year.  I lived in Kohler.  After that, I ate at the Delt House.   Our food was really good.

  49. 49.

    zhena gogolia

    @BR: I can’t stand to look at MSM since the Biden hit job. Are they really making a big deal out of this?

  52. 52.

    Sure Lurkalot

    The problem I see with such attacks is that if you ignore them, you’re hiding something and if you confront them, you’re explaining or lying.

    I do think blogs and social media give these tactics even more oxygen…contribute to a spiraling, endless feedback loop.

    Nothing is going to change Walz’s military record, like nothing is going to change Trump’s lifetime of lying, cheating, robbing and raping.

  53. 53.

    Miki

    @Miki: We trained on M16s.

    When I enlisted in 74 the PWB weren’t quite sure how much weapons training women should get, so qualifying on the M16 was optional. All 300 recruits in our company chose to train and every one of us qualified after only 1 week of training.

  55. 55.

    BR

    @zhena gogolia: ​

    They’re covering it in a both sides way. Not saturation coverage like they did with the Biden attacks, and the Trump team is throwing so many random attacks out there that the media isn’t completely going down the anti-Walz rabbit hole.

    If Trump knew what was good for him, he’d have his campaign put out a statement attacking Walz on one thing and then stay silent. But he can’t stand the attention Harris is getting, so he’s about to step on a rake.

  56. 56.

    Leto

    @zhena gogolia: is it a Democrat who served? Ofc they’re going to make it a thing. I just read a WaPo article on this, and it’s basically a 1 sided attack on Walz. They’ll always do that, while JV FOBBIT Vance gets to skate on everything.

  57. 57.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @zhena gogolia: At the Delt House?  Never.  Flo, our cook, would not stood for it.  The most important rule of our house was to never offend Flo or Theresa, the cleaning lady, for any reason.

  59. 59.

    Matt McIrvin

    @SatanicPanic: I figure the reason it sort of worked on Kerry was that they were relitigating Vietnam and the draft (and neutralizing draft-related attacks on Bush). The only person who was even old enough to serve in Vietnam now is Trump, and there’s so much on him that his Vietnam-era bone spurs are the least of it.

  60. 60.

    raven

    @Miki: Yea, I’m surprised how long they stuck with the 14 in basic but I guess it freed up the 16’s. We carried them in Korea and I hated those Mattel jobs they issued in Vietnam!

  62. 62.

    SatanicPanic

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: for real- who cares. This isn’t a foreign policy election like it was with Kerry. I just don’t see why people would care where he was posted. I kind of suspect people would just as soon forget about Iraq and Afghanistan

  63. 63.

    3Sice

    Mark Penn is demanding he pre-emptively apologize for something, and that’s good enough for me.

    🙄

  64. 64.

    Math Guy

    When you sign up for the military, including national guard service, you are giving the government a blank check for your life. At anytime he could have been ordered to fight. And just as important and honorable is supporting those who are in combat. I’ll give Vance his due for signing up; don’t short Walz for his service.

  66. 66.

    Dave

    @raven: They brought an updated 14 back particularly for use in Afghanistan. Given typical small arms engagement ranges.

    Most were still M16 or M4 but about one updated M14 per infantry squad.

  68. 68.

    Captain C

    @3Sice:

    Mark Penn is demanding he pre-emptively apologize for something, and that’s good enough for me.

    At this point Mark Penn needs to apologize to the entire world for existing.

  69. 69.

    AM in NC

    @Omnes Omnibus: We had an EPIC food fight at my small private high school in Atlanta during my senior year.  Everyone in my senior class silently positioned ourselves next to the juniors, and at the signal, just pelted them with everything.   It. was. awesome. And everyone in our graduating class participated, and then immediately fled.

    To the school’s credit they did not suspend us all (power in numbers!), but they did make us come clean our mess up.  Going back into the cafeteria, you could see the blank spaces on the walls where people had been sitting/standing.

    As an adult, I am ashamed of what we put the teachers (caught in the cross-fire) and janitors through.  As a 17-year-old, the juniors deserved it, and it was FLAMAZING

     

    ETA: and I just saw your comment about the clean up.  You were a more aware 17 year old than I was!

  72. 72.

    Leto

    @Dave: wasn’t that the sharpshooter weapon? I thought the Marines brought it back specifically for that? If not that one, which one was it?

  74. 74.

    Soprano2

    @raven: My husband has profound hearing loss in his left ear from a bullet that exploded right beside his head. I think he can barely hear anything from that ear at this point. He always joked that he made sure to put people he didn’t want to listen to on his left side!

  76. 76.

    West of the Rockies

    @lee:

    Pushing back on would-be Swift Boaters should be much easier now with a truly energized Democratic Party and the internet.

  77. 77.

    rodwell

    Chris LaCivita big achievement in Presidential politics was the Swift boating of John Kerry.  With the Trump campaign in disarray due to the consolidation of the Democratic coalition by MVP in the last three weeks.  LaCivita is going to his one go to move.  This would be a sign of desperation using a twenty-year trick.  However, both the NY Times and Post are both siding this nonsense.  Their stories should say this is a damn lie.  They want their horse race, so they are giving this oxygen.  Note: A previous thread stated that the anti-gay amendment probably had more to do with Kerry losing in Ohio, but the swift boat lies definitely hurt him in that election.

     

     

    A previous thread also stated that the anti-

  78. 78.

    cain

    @john b: These attacks work. Look at Max Cleveland. Just crazy. Someone should ask Rick about how you would counter such things since this is from his playbook.

  79. 79.

    Leto

    @SatanicPanic: because it’s another attempt to portray Dems as liars, stolen valor, and all that bullshit. It’s trying to do Swiftboat 2.0, as mentioned earlier. And it’s fucking bullshit. But like I mentioned earlier, after the smear job on Max Cleland and Kerry, they’re just going to keep trying to do it. But I hope people know my response to that at this point.

  80. 80.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Enlisted USN 1969 reported Jan 70. Never even saw a pair of earplugs. On the ship I was stationed on for 2 yrs had 5 inch guns, ASROC, Tarter missiles. ASROC made the most noise. It was a rocket powered torpedo.

  81. 81.

    Geminid

    @BR: The bad thing about Trump’s news conference today is that it starts at 2pm, the same time as the Olympic Women’s Volleyball semifinal between Turkiye and Italy. The match will feature two of the world’s top players: Paola Egonu of Italy and Melissa Vargas of Turkiye. The Cuban-born Vargas scored 42 points in a quarterfinal win against China, with 2 blocks, 2 aces and 38 kills.

  83. 83.

    BR

    @Geminid:

    I doubt that matters. Two different worlds. No ordinary person is going to watch Trump in real time. But the attacks he throws out there will get picked up by the media, and KamalaHQ will be sharing the video as soon as it happens.

  84. 84.

    Leto

    @raven: @Omnes Omnibus: @Ruckus: I was issued ear plugs from public health, but they were basically only worn for weapons training. Time spent down on the flight line? Work through it. Now the Army did issue us hearing protection (plugs) when we came through for Combat Skills Training as part of our pre-deployment training. We wore them for weapons training, but when we did our simulated patrols, the shoot house, and our simulated engagement with a small number of homes/structures, zero hearing protection. And again, I spent years listening to test tones.

    My tinnitus is basically a constant 1kHz tone. I should claim it via the VA, but I just haven’t resubmitted the paperwork. It’s also a constant meme that the VA won’t recognize it, so…

  86. 86.

    BR

    @Leto:

    Did you see the interesting new tinnitus treatment? Something like electrical shocks to the tongue while playing sounds or something like that. Apparently it resets the brain’s processing of damaged auditory hairs or something.

  88. 88.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Omnes Omnibus: ​
     My dear late step-grandfather, the kindest, most gentle elderly Quaker one was ever likely to meet, once astonished us grandkids by confessing to sticking butter pats to the ceiling of his school lunchroom… by putting them in a cloth napkin (this was the Olden Days) and then snapping the fabric taut. Whap! Up to the ceiling.

    …Granted, we all knew he had a sense of humor; but we hadn’t expected this story.

  89. 89.

    Geminid

    @WereBear: I can’t watch either, but I will check on both events, rooting for Turkiye snd agsinst Trump.

    Italy beat Turkiye 3-0 in pool play so the Turkish women face an uphill battle. But millions of Turkiye’s 85 million citizens will be cheering them on in front of wide screens set up all across the country. Turks are wild about their Sultans of the Net.

  90. 90.

    sdhays

    Walz was still serving in the military while Vance was fucking couches in his parents’ basement.

  91. 91.

    Leto

    @BR: I have not! But that’s really interesting. My woodworking teacher knew a guy who eventually committed suicide because of his tinnitus. If this is a viable treatment, that’s really wonderful news.

  95. 95.

    Steve LaBonne

    @Old School: Yeah, I didn’t get that quite right. He had to get special permission in 2002 to continue to serve after having surgery for service-related hearing damage.

  100. 100.

    Sister Golden Bear

    I’d choose Walz over the bear.

    While leading you out of the forest, and he’d not only share his snacks, he’d teach the differences and between spruce and pine trees, and how to find North by the moss in the trees.

  103. 103.

    WereBear

    @Leto: Many people find a low oxalate diet helps. Sally K Norton is an expert. I’ve been following her suggestions for calming a bad autoimmune reaction.

    Small body parts, like tiny ear bones or nerves, are particularly vulnerable, it seems.

  109. 109.

    Leto

    @eclare: part of the reason why the Guard/Reserve were utilized so much is the “Total Force Concept” doctrine that the Bush administration utilized to fill manning shortcomings for Iraq and Afghanistan. And it’s simply bled over from there. How do you keep your foreign commitments when you’re slashing your AD force numbers? Reduce the number of missions we do? Nope, you tap into this entire force who thought they were signing up to just serve their local community in times of disaster, and you know, hang out at the Guard base once a month and a few days over the summer.

    I have extremely strong feelings on this, both from my direct experiences with Guard personnel while I was AD, and then my last two years in when I was Air National Guard and I got to see all of it up close. I’m sure Adam could probably provide a more 30k ft level overview of the Total Force Concept, but he has his hands full with his post/life.

  111. 111.

    KatKapCC

    @WaterGirl: We knew it, but it’s painful seeing that as horrid as we knew he was, he keeps getting worse. I truly feel like we’re always about five minutes away from him using the n-word. Maybe not saying it himself, but reposting something where someone does.

  113. 113.

    BR

    I’m starting to realize how much bigger YouTube channels are than the mainstream media. Random political channels can have millions of subscribers and get a bigger audience than Fox or MSNBC.

  114. 114.

    eclare

    @Leto:

    Thanks for the backstory.  It’s just such a bait and switch based on the ads for the Guard.

    What is AD?

    Duh, active duty, I guess.

  115. 115.

    Old School

    @Steve LaBonne:

    Ahhh.  That let me track it down.  Here it is:

    Walz did suffer health consequences from all those howitzer cannon booms. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs records supplied by Walz after MPR News inquired about the scope and timing of the damage show he filed a claim for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus with the agency in 2013.

    In a benefits application, Walz spoke of blasts that “would knock us down and after firing I had ringing in my ears” and hearing loss that progressively worsened during his 21 years in the field artillery unit.

    In late 2002, he was ordered to appear before a medical retention board about the hearing impairment. After waiting for a decision for months, he was given clearance to serve out the remaining years of his final six-year enlistment.

    Medical records show that in 2005 Walz underwent stapedectomy surgery, a procedure in which damaged bones inside the ear are replaced with a prosthesis. He said it has improved his hearing.

    By the time Walz left the military, he achieved the rank of command sergeant major, one of the top ranks for an enlisted soldier. Personnel file records show that he was reduced in rank months after retiring, leaving him as a master sergeant for benefits purposes.

    Capt. Holly Rockow, a public affairs officer for the Minnesota National Guard, said it is legitimate for Walz to say he served as a command sergeant major. She said the rank changed because Walz retired before completing coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy along with other requirements associated with his promotion.

    As command sergeant major, Walz holds the distinction as the highest-elected enlisted member ever to serve in Congress, a point of pride colleagues sometimes brought up at Capitol Hill hearings.

  116. 116.

    different-church-lady

    @zhena gogolia: They are in the “There are accusations, so we must dutifully report them instead of investigating whether they are true” stage.

    If the accusations start to stick, they will then shift to the “people are concerned, so we must focus on that” stage. Just like always.

  118. 118.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Leto: I have Opinions on the topic as well.  They probably match yours.  They did it to a lesser extent during the HW’s Middle Eastern adventure as well.

  119. 119.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Leto: The origins of “Total Force Concept” can be traced, as so many things can, back to Vietnam.  There were only a couple of reserve/NG units called up for ‘Nam.   Because at that time, you didn’t call up reserve units or NG units unless something like WWII was happening.  LBJ (I can hear Raven catcalling) didn’t want to look THAT committed to Vietnam.  So the Pentagon came up with the “roundout” concept that had an AD division at 2/3rds strength with the last 1/3rd called up from reserves or NG to make it full strength, as a disincentive to send in units piecemeal for some “police action”.  The deserting coward stood that entire concept on its head and went nuts committing reserves and NG to his fucking great Mesopotamian adventure, the greatest gift the US ever gave Iran’s mullahs.

  122. 122.

    Scuffletuffle

    Ask women if they’d rather be stuck in the woods with Walz or Vance…I know who I would choose.

  123. 123.

    sdhays

    @different-church-lady: They are in the “There are accusations, so we must dutifully report them instead of investigating whether they are true” stage.

    Funny how that didn’t apply to the accusations in the Epstein documents.

  124. 124.

    Almost Retired

    @BR:  Excellent prediction.  Trump does indeed sounds nuts.  DO NOT play any sort of drinking game that involves the word “nasty.”  It’s too early in the day to be that drunk.

  127. 127.

    KatKapCC

    @HumboldtBlue: I’m glad they focus on the likelihood of a national ban under Trump. Too many of my fellow Californians seem to shrug off the risks since we’re pretty safe here. Our governor is a strong supporter of abortion rights, we’ve got lots of clinics and abortion funds, etc. But a federal national ban would cancel all of that out.

  128. 128.

    Dave

    @Omnes Omnibus: Hell three of my four overseas deployments were as a reservist and they occurred in the span of just over six years.

    Not exactly what people would assume a reserve OP tempo should be.

    It became so normal sometimes it’s easy to forget how insane and idiotic good old GWOT was.

  129. 129.

    Kirk

    @TF79:

    Waseca is a pretty damn small town, so almost certainly

    As a former geneaology (among other desks) librarian I take extreme caution in making that assumption. There are way too many coincidences, especially in small towns.

  130. 130.

    topclimber

    @SatanicPanic: One reason Swift boating worked was because many in the military HATED Kerry for being the spokesman for Vietnam Vets Against the War.

    I just don’t see Iraq and Afghanistan vets starting with that level of disdain for the Sarge.

  131. 131.

    different-church-lady

    @BR: ​

    I’m starting to realize how much bigger YouTube channels are than the mainstream media. Random political channels can have millions of subscribers and get a bigger audience than Fox or MSNBC.

    Which is terrifying, because there’s even less motivation to hue to truth there.

  134. 134.

    schrodingers_cat

    For all those who were saying that the Gaza activists won’t go after KH. I have news for you, they hate her too.

    Eman Abdelhadi

    @emanabdelhadi

    ·

    12h

    Oh Kamala is NOT ready for Chicago. But don’t worry; we’re ready for her.

  135. 135.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Kirk: I knew a Tom Hagen, West Point Grad, in Germany, this in 80 to 83.  We used to pass evenings with his delightful wife drinking Strawberry Daiquiris.

  136. 136.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @topclimber: Also, Kerry was very obviously an officer.  Walz is not.  Some soldiers have very strong feelings about officers as a group.

  137. 137.

    Quinerly

    @bbleh:

    I’m listening. So much whining. Lots of accordian hands. How great he is doing with Black males and Jewish voters.

    And, on some points he sounds like some commenters here a few weeks back….how the Dems stabbed Biden in the back. That 14 million voters didn’t vote for Kamala

    Edit to add…how bad Josh Shapiro is. So many problems with him. He’s rambling more than usual.

  138. 138.

    Jeffg166

    @bbleh: I drop in and out. He’s hard to take. He seems tired. Somewhat disoriented. The word salad and stream of consciousness flows and flows. I wonder if he will take any question of just ramble for an hour then walk off.

  139. 139.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @schrodingers_cat: These stupid motherfuckers don’t seem to know that TCFFG/PAB will give Bibi the green light to wipe out the Palestinians in the West Bank.

  142. 142.

    Leto

    @eclare: Active Duty. ANG is both Air National Guard (Air Force) and Army National Guard. Again, the perspective I’m bringing is from the Air Force so it’s going to be different from the Army. From all accounts, their Guard personnel did outstanding work (as noted regarding Walz unit during their deployment) all during Iraq and Afghanistan. The way they train is different because how they deploy is different.

    Also remember that during that time, 2001 to approximately 2016, we were still involved in two theaters of operation (Iraq and Afghanistan), and honestly it was expect that you’d deploy in some capacity. Maybe not in theater there, but more like Walz group did. Still supporting Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), but doing it from a European base. Lot of people did that. Supporting OEF/OIF operations, but from a “deployed” location. I had an Lt who did that, and her “deployed” location was Eglin AFB in Florida. /shrug. She totally recognized that she wasn’t really deployed, but she did her part in support of combat operations in theater. Ok! I mean, we kidded her but we weren’t mean about it. Absolutely wasn’t degrading. But we did kid about how hard it was to get off work, hop in the car, pick up some take out, head back home, eat/watch Netflix, go swim in the pool, head to the bar, then come back home and sleep in your bed. Basically only jokes that work with us.

  143. 143.

    KatKapCC

    @schrodingers_cat: They can go ahead and keep showing their asses, proving how little respect they have for Black women and why no one should give a damn what they have to say on any topic. Also, if they care so much about Gazans, why don’t they go over there and work for an NGO or something. But ha ha ha that would require these gadflies to actually care about the topic they claim to care about. They don’t.

  144. 144.

    Matt McIrvin

    You know, while it’s only been a short time, at this point I think I have enough confidence in the Harris campaign’s ability to handle dumb shit that I’m not going to fret overmuch about this. Every time the political media speculate about the catastrophe that’s going to happen, on the basis of analogies with LBJ or Eagleton or Jimmy Carter or whoever, they’ve been wrong.

  147. 147.

    Juju.

    The Trump babbleathon is exactly what you’d think it would be. Apparently he’s the best at everything and everyone else isn’t. Plus some things I don’t know what he’s talking about. I can’t take any more.

  149. 149.

    mali muso

    So if I understand correctly, the media is giving free airtime to Dump to basically give a shortened version of his standup routine/campaign speech? Good grief.

  151. 151.

    MisterForkbeard

    @schrodingers_cat: They appear to hate all Dems.

    You’d think they would take the right lesson from yesterday. Kamala met them directly before her speech, heard their demands, and committed to considering it and to have more discussions. Then she let them protest twice during her huge enthusiastic speech before she told them to shut it, because it was her turn to speak.

    So they’re already acting like ungrateful assholes. If they do this again in Chicago they’re just pissing away any actual leverage or goodwill to just fuck things up.

  156. 156.

    Quinerly

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): says he has had crowd sizes over 100,000 in Alabama.

    Kamala has been getting 1000-1500 people.

    Very much hung up on his margin of victory in SC and Alabama.  That tells him he actually won Georgia.

  159. 159.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Villago Delenda Est: I think I may have hung out with Doug Mastriano a few times.  One of my best friends got sent from our battalion to the regimental 2 shop of 2ACR for the Gulf War.  I went out drinking with that bunch once in a while.  If I did meet him, he made little to no impression on me.  It is funny how 2ACR boys from that time keep popping up on the right.  McMaster, Macgregor, Mastriano….  James Steele’s legacy?

  161. 161.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Leto: You’re welcome.  I should have mentioned that the Pentagon didn’t want to get involved in unpopular wars like Vietnam unless the President was willing to go “all in”, and that’s a line LBJ would not cross, but the deserting coward was more than willing to do so, as the public has a short memory.

  162. 162.

    Quinerly

    If Dems win everyone will be forced to have electric cars. We don’t have enough electricity for that. Plus all bridges will have to be replaced.

    Jan 6 folks treated unfairly.

    Paraphrasing Trump.

  164. 164.

    Juju.

    @Quinerly: I’m sure the concern about Biden’s back is sincere to some degree, in that he wants him back because beyond she’s stupid and bad at everything and she’s a horrible person, he’s got nothing he can elaborate on that he hasn’t said so many times before.

    Oh, he’s back on crowd sizes.

  165. 165.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Quinerly:

    What,100,000?! Nobody (politicans anyway) gets those numbers of people in one physical place unless it’s a huge event like a presidential inauguration. That is nuts!

  166. 166.

    Quinerly

    Biggest crowd he ever spoke to was on 1/6. Bigger than MLK’s crowd.

    Trump presser. Paraphrasing his shit talk

  169. 169.

    Trollhattan

    @john b: This is the Karl Rove (remember him?) book of “attack their strengths.” It can works sometimes, and John Kerry can tell us all about that, but these mooks I don’t believe have the chops to pull it off.

  171. 171.

    Quinerly

    Trump rambling on how much he knows about the the DNC. Lots of friends tell him stuff about Biden being forced out.

  172. 172.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Quinerly:

    Biggest crowd he ever spoke to was on 1/6. Bigger than MLK’s crowd.

    Jesus H. Christ. This is bad for him

  174. 174.

    Captain C

    @Almost Retired:

    Trump does indeed sounds nuts.  DO NOT play any sort of drinking game that involves the word “nasty.”  It’s too early in the day to be that so drunk that you’re sent to the ER to get your stomach pumped.

    FTFY

  176. 176.

    Baud

    @Matt McIrvin:

    You know, while it’s only been a short time, at this point I think I have enough confidence in the Harris campaign’s ability to handle dumb shit that I’m not going to fret overmuch about this

     

    Harris is a miracle worker.

  180. 180.

    Leto

    @topclimber: here’s two recent articles on the subject from Military Times.

    JD Vance represents veterans on ballot, but some ask, ‘At what cost?’

    Kamala Harris taps Tim Walz, National Guard veteran, as running mate

    I want to pull this quote out from the JV Vance article:

    Some veterans believe Vance’s ascension is worth celebrating. If he makes it to the White House, post-9/11 veterans will be represented at the highest levels of government, and someone with first-hand experience in America’s Global War on Terror will have the ear of the commander-in-chief.

    That possibility is “invaluable” to a generation of veterans who often felt disconnected from the elected officials whose decisions affected ground troops during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, said Allison Jaslow, an Iraq War veteran and the CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

    I’ll be honest, I don’t like this quote from Jaslow. Yes, the post-9/11 generation of vets are on the rise, but they both have the same GWOT experience. And being a combat photographer is in no world the same as being a Senior Enlisted Adviser. The SEA will provide so much more valuable advice/guidance on a wide range of topics.

    Again this is why I’ll continue to call him JV. He’s JV compared to Walz.

  181. 181.

    Quinerly

    Trump says the room he is speaking from is worth $18 million. Waves his accordian hands around.

  182. 182.

    Trollhattan

    @Quinerly: Don’t forget “everybody’s garage will be en fuego when the battery catches fire.”

    Wait, nobody parks in their garage anymore.

    “Everybody’s parking space in front of their house will melt when the battery catches fire.”

  186. 186.

    schrodingers_cat

    Pelosi is giving interviews and gloating about knifing Biden in the back.

    Pelosi on Biden and the effort to push him out: “I’ve never been that impressed with his political operation” “They won the White House. Bravo. But my concern was: this ain’t happening, and we have to make a decision for this to happen.”

    I was called a troll and worse for recognizing her pawprints on push-Biden-out campaign. That was when blog favorite Schiff came out with that letter against Biden when things had just quietened down.

    She wanted an open primary she didn’t want a coronation. So she didn’t want KH either.

    Thank god for Biden  that we have KH as the nominee

    I am wondering what their (KH and NP) relationship was like in California.

  188. 188.

    Geminid

    @Omnes Omnibus: Theodore White thought George Wallace made a mistake when he picked Curtis LeMay as his running mate in 1968. Wallace was an enlisted man’s candidate, White thought, and General LeMay undercut that appeal

    Ed. From White, The Making of a President: 1968.

  190. 190.

    Jay C

    @bbleh:

    He’s borderline demented.

    Naaah: he’s paid off the coyote, waded the river, and is wandering lost in the desert…

  193. 193.

    Leto

    “People live out in the woods and need protection”

    What the ever loving hell did I just tune into? SOMEONE PUT GRANDPA DOWN FOR HIS NAP!

    Edit: Oh, motherfucker who negotiated for the Afghan withdrawal, trying to pivot over to that.

    BJ, I have promised you this and I will deliver: I will shit on his grave. It’s going to happen. Avalune will 1000% have to bail me out, but it’s going to happen.

  195. 195.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Leto: Walz showed some of that mojo yesterday when he interrupted his speech to get some water to someone in the crowd who looked too hot to him.  Walz has that senior NCO sense of when something looks wrong and immediately looks to set it right.

    I’d like to know if Vance was actually a corporal and not just a lance corporal.  Because the pay may be the same, but just plain corporals are tracked for sergeant, not a discharge from active duty into the reserves.

  196. 196.

    BR

    The Harris campaign should make a contribution to Trump for being so helpful in stepping on a rake at the exact right moment.

  199. 199.

    KatKapCC

    @Quinerly: What is it going to take for the media to realize he is literally insane? Does he have to say that his plan for ending the war in Ukraine was developed with his close adviser, Big Bird? That climate change isn’t a problem because he’s building Trump Tower on Neptune? That we can’t let Harris be president because she’s a vampire who is 300 years old? That every morning, he regrows new feet and that’s why he stands funny because he’s not used to them yet?

  200. 200.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Quinerly: I read somewhere he’s on an Ozempic regimen (I am too, as I’m type II diabetic) and you do lose weight with that, as so many non-diabetics have discovered and are creating shortages for those of us who need it for treatment.

  202. 202.

    different-church-lady

    “Welp, time to pull out another poll that says nobody cares about this, so we can ignore it.”

  204. 204.

    bbleh

    I figured he’d Gish-gallop, but it still surprises me the fluency with which he lies.  And I suppose the stenographers in the media will report a lot of them, and that gets them “out there,” and that’s the idea.

    But man the overall effect of this is a little like someone who’s fallen off his meds that you politely edge away from on the street.

  205. 205.

    Captain C

    @Juju.:

    Plus some things I don’t know what he’s talking about. I can’t take any more.

    FTFNYT:  ‘TCFG shows erudition beyond even our reporters.  Also, Walz is totally a deserter and Couchboy JV Vance has three Medals of Honor*.’

    *At least that’s what a drunk** at on Ohio diner told us.  We’ll mention this part about 17 paragraphs in.

    **Totally nonpartisan and undecided.  Not a local Republican operative who owns a car dealership and 6 Burger King franchises.

  207. 207.

    Juju.

    @Quinerly: No. I can’t even tell what gender is asking unless he starts the answer with you’re nasty or horrible. I’m also in a different room. Only listening, not watching. Sounds very much like one of his rallies, except there are questions which he ignores before answering with whatever thought pops into the cobwebs in his brain.

  209. 209.

    KatKapCC

    @Baud: Eat them.

    Oh wait, it’s Jews who do that.

    She’s gonna take them home so Doug can eat them.

    Except wait, she hates Jews, so she’s gonna throw them away and then laugh at Doug when he gets sad that he can’t eat them.

  210. 210.

    different-church-lady

    @KatKapCC: 

    What is it going to take for the media to realize he is literally insane?

    They know it perfectly well. The question is: what is going to take to get them to care?

  211. 211.

    hotshoe

    I don’t see anyone commenting on how gaunt Trump’s face looks in today’s video clips.

    Is it cancer? Meth? Too-depressed-to-eat? Just a relatively-normal dose of Ozempic?

    — am I the only one noticing? — am I just completely imagining that he looks, physically, unwell?​

    ETA I see Quinerly noticed, comment 192, thanks for reassuring me that I’m not losing my mind, or at least, not losing it specifically about that ;)

  212. 212.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Geminid: Yeah, but he was bugfuck nuts.  So he had that going for him.  Which is nice.

    Seriously though, an enlisted person’s experience of the military is going to be far different from an officer’s.

  214. 214.

    Leto

    @Villago Delenda Est: I want JV to release his full DD214. What’s he scared of? RELEASE YOUR DD214!

    People are seeing him standing behind MVP, noticing how he’s hyping her, and all I can think of is how an SNCO will do that for their CO. Not “hype man”, but they’re 100% on board with the plan and they’re making sure all the rest of us are as well. Again, he knows how to be extremely supportive of the boss.

  215. 215.

    Quinerly

    Someone has asked about Willie Brown. Willie Brown told him “terrible things about her.”

  220. 220.

    BR

    @Baud: ​

    I *hope* NYT runs that. Because that won’t do any damage to Harris. Whereas attacks on Walz, who is unknown to the public, can do damage.

  225. 225.

    Quinerly

    @hotshoe: see above. I was a little startled by his appearance. I actually have made an effort to watch. I usually listen on Tune In MSNBC App on Echo.

    Thin through his shoulders. Suit fitting worse than usual.

  227. 227.

    Chet Murthy

    I must confess when I heard about this press conference, I was fully expecting him to announce he was ditching JV Dance and opening the runnings for a new running-mate.  I overestimated his competence in even that most essential of Trumpian skills: lizard-brain self-preservation.

  228. 228.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Geminid: You’re right. Still looks awful, and it makes Harris (and everyone else) much less likely to listen to them.

    If you’re going to blow up her events and shit on her regardless of what she does, why is she going to engage with your movement at all?

  229. 229.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Omnes Omnibus: Equivalent to a Speedy 4.  As you and I both know, actual corporals in the Army are holding down leadership billets, almost exclusively in the combat arms.

  231. 231.

    wjca

    @Baud: Trump’s free wheeling press conference puts onus on Harris to respond” /NYT

    The real (and really, really scary!) Great Replacement Theory: that the MSM will be replaced by bloggers and social media.

  236. 236.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @MisterForkbeard: People who feel so strongly about something that they will show up at a political event to protest won’t be easily dissuaded.

    Harris handled it. She knows those many rowdy people reflect the opinions of many more, albeit less strident. People are dying and losing their homes, it is right to be angry.

    The administration she has been a part of has taken baby steps toward an equitable approach. I believe she will do at least this, if not step up more completely. In the meantime, let folk vent.

    Protests happen. Seeing how candidates handle it is one way people determine their votes. This is fine.

  237. 237.

    Quinerly

    Trump talking about gas has gone to $7 a gallon. We have no strategic national reserves. Trump saying he had a deal to buy oil at $22 a barrel. Dems stopped him.

    Back to Kamala is not smart.

  238. 238.

    Leto

    @Villago Delenda Est: that’s one of the changes that Project 2025 proposes to change. Instead of E4 being squad leaders, wants to up that to E6. I took a look at all military sections, and it’s just nuts.

  242. 242.

    Leto

    “I’m not a big fan of his brain.”

    What universe are we in? Is this real life? Oh… he’s just been locked away in his rat infested motel cooking up nicknames. Ok…

    “Can you repeat that/can you talk louder”

    CAN SOMEONE TURN UP HIS FUCKING HEADING AID?

  244. 244.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Leto: They know fucking NOTHING about the military, particularly the Army and Marines.  E4 is where you start the training process by doing for future E9s.

  246. 246.

    MisterForkbeard

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation: How Harris handled it IS fine, I think.

    But if they keep this up, they’re hurting their own position pretty badly. And I see a fair amount of people online yelling at her about the response yesterday, and I can’t help but think most of them either don’t know what they’re doing or are actively just trying to hurt dems.

  251. 251.

    Leto

    Just an unfiltered campaign rally; glad the fucking media have learned their lesson from 2016. JFC…

  255. 255.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Paging Betty Cracker, paging Betty Cracker…

    Kamala Harris on track to trounce Donald Trump in Miami-Dade, new county poll shows

    Among likely voters, Harris leads the former President by a whopping 15 percentage points. That includes a 23-point lead among no-party voters.

    Among all county voters, 53.8% say they support Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for President. For Trump, the support was 39.5%, with 6.7% of respondents saying they are undecided. Among, no-party voters, 55.3% support Harris, compared to 31.7% for Trump and 13% who are on the proverbial fence.

  256. 256.

    Matt McIrvin

    To the WaPo’s credit, they’re immediately calling bullshit on every single thing that comes out of Trump’s mouth in this conference.

  257. 257.

    Quinerly

    Says he was “very protective of Hillary Clinton.”

    Could have put her in jail. She was “evil.”

  260. 260.

    Jeffg166

    @hotshoe: He looks bad. He is still in shock that Biden dropped out and now he has to deal with someone younger, smarter and more clever than he ever was.

  261. 261.

    Juju.

    Ok. Now he’s officially in what the duck territory. He’s talking about how he didn’t put Hillary in jail and now look what’s happening to him. You know Hillary deserved it.

  267. 267.

    Geminid

    @MisterForkbeard: I think one has to distinguish between the different components of the pro-Palestinian movement. A lot of the protesters cannot be reached, but the more responsible community leaders can and should be engaged. I think they represent many more people than do the protesters, who accomplish nothing except alienating other people.

  268. 268.

    Quinerly

    @Juju.: Didn’t put her in jail because she was the wife of a former president. Wish I could hear the actual questions.

  269. 269.

    japa21

    Has the press even asked him any questions?  I mean this is supposed to be a press conference.

  270. 270.

    Trollhattan

    @NotMax: Riveting to watch, if for no more reason that to learn how vastly worse he is than one had thought beforehand.

    Video clips of the not-as-insane younger edition particularly damning.

  271. 271.

    Gvg

    @rodwell: i think the meanness of the swiftboat attacks appealed to a certain subset of the Republican voters. They are on that team because they get to get away with flaunting that kind of statement sometimes and if they are lucky even get their picture in an article or broadcast.

    The reporter may be writing for horror clicks but they revel in offending us and praise from their tribe. I wonder if it would help to try to identify them by name and town before publishing so employers and non extreme people could react?

  274. 274.

    p.a.

    Well… if he’s having a (more obvious than usual) breakdown, I guess the fracking media giving him a free forum can be a good thing.  Has Fux cut away?  Their video editors must be demanding raises.

  282. 282.

    Leto

    Sorry, turned it back to track and field. I can’t. Good on everyone still hanging with it, but that was all I could take. UNCLE, UNCLE!

  285. 285.

    Quinerly

    @Baud:

    A large Marine with tears in his eyes came up to him and said, “Sir, you have the best 120 words.”

    (I’m kidding)

  288. 288.

    Villago Delenda Est

    I’m getting an alert that TCFFG/PAB has agreed to ABC’s debate invite for 10 September.

    We shall see.  There’s a whole month of disaster ahead for his campaign.

  289. 289.

    SiubhanDuinne

    MSNBC just cut away in infinite fatigue. Now calling out some of the more egregious lies

  292. 292.

    CaseyL

    I know it’s an in-kind campaign contribution by the MSM, but from what I’m hearing about the Trump presser (I am certainly not watching it), he isn’t doing himself any favors.
    Do you think Uncommitted/Independent voters are watching this and going, “Yeah, gonna vote for that”?
    Do you think anyone who isn’t already a Trumpie/GOP deadhead is watching this and going, “He sure looks and sounds Presidential to me!”​

  295. 295.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Leto: In my old world, E-6s were gun chiefs.  They signed for it and it was their baby.  E-5s were gunners operating the gun sights.  E-4s were assistant gunners.  Everyone else was a gun bunny.  You could do 24 hour ops by having the chief run half of the crew and the gunners run the other half. That also gave everyone training in the next job up.

  296. 296.

    Jackie

    @Quinerly:

    Hair is very flat. Brassy.

    Top of his head has lost enough hair to floof up like he used to do. I noticed that right after the jury said guilty 34 times. The trial aged him.

  301. 301.

    Quinerly

    I’m out of here. Ceviche at Marisco’s La Playa. Yum, Yum. Then hauling mulch.

    Have a great day! We can win with Kamala.

    (Tiny keyboard changing fonts on its own)

  305. 305.

    Leto

    @Omnes Omnibus: smart smart.

    OT: the men’s 200M final had an amazing outcome, but in Paul Harvey fashion, there’s more to the story there. Don’t want to spoil anything, but would love to talk about it tomorrow.

  309. 309.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    Damn, I was hoping I’d be safely asleep in my UTC+3 time zone before TFG popped off. Not that I’m about to find a way to watch – I need to be careful of my own blood pressure…

  311. 311.

    MCA1

    The sad thing is while marginally more off the rails, ridiculous and strewn with whopping lies, this isn’t really anything much different than we’ve been seeing for 9 years out of this dude now.  It’s just that it feels different because the “Aren’t we just all so tired of this?” vibe and the slight stink of maybe kinda being a big loser fraud is just now finally catching up to him.  So it feels like everyone in the middle (and maybe, hopefully, finally the media) is responding to him differently than in the past.

  314. 314.

    bbleh

    Ok, well, that was … bracing.

    He’s definitely trying to Shake Things Up.  I dunno if he wanted to shake ’em quite that way though.  I’d say not as much of a disaster as the NABJ fiasco — at least his people didn’t pull him out halfway through this time — but I don’t know whom that might have appealed to that isn’t already in the cult.

  315. 315.

    Leto

    @rikyrah: looking lost doesn’t even begin to cover it. Just befuddled old clown rambling his way through life. If you saw someone like this on the street, not only would you cross it, you’d never walk that way again.

  317. 317.

    Baud

    @MCA1:

    He’s gotten worse, but, yeah, I agree. America’s drunken stooper is wearing off. That’s the big difference.

  318. 318.

    Citizen Alan

    @wjca: Honestly, I think every political reporter in the country could be replaced by AI right now and it would be an improvement. Just feed ChatGPT a press release about a topic from both Dems and Republicans and tell it to write a report that is “fair to both sides” and it would be an improvement over NYT or WaPo political coverage,

  319. 319.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Leto: You know, you can do that on paper.  But in the real world, there are never enough NCOs, or officers for that matter, to fill the billets at the pay grade listed.  I myself held down an O-3 slot as an O-1, and an O-4 slot as an O-3.  In my mech infantry battalion. E-5s held down squad leader slots because there was no E-6 available to fill the billet.

  326. 326.

    rikyrah

    Good.

    Because, none of the MSM will report on this.

    How Vance is basically a Peter Thiel sponsored tool.

     

    gil duran

    @gilduran76

    “Others in San Francisco are calling it The Nerd Reich.” The Hollywood Reporter (
    @thr
    ) examines the weird tech fascist plot to topple democracy: “F*** These Trump-Loving Techies”: Hollywood Takes on Silicon Valley in an Epic Presidential Brawl
    x.com/gilduran76/status/1821391904908697908 https://hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/election-2024-hollywood-silicon-valley-1235967050/

  327. 327.

    tam1MI

    @Leto: They better give the same coverage time to MVP at the UAW event she’s about to do.

    Man, you’re funny.

  330. 330.

    NotMax

    @Baud

    Mar-a-lago, the Bizarro world version of Lake Woebegone.
    ;)

    No one has mentioned it but I take it as a given that Melania is not at the event.

  331. 331.

    rikyrah

    Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) posted at 7:19 AM on Thu, Aug 08, 2024:
    Nobody owes you a press conference.
    Nobody owes ME a press conference.
    Get over yourselves.

    DFW Sports 4Life (@Kennymack1971) posted at 10:07 AM on Thu, Aug 08, 2024:
    The Beltway Media has lost control of the election and they’re pissed about it. Harris Walz is surging and they, like the Trump Vance campaign are struggling to figure out how to slow them down. The whining about a press conference is all frustration that it’s above them now.
    (x.com/Kennymack1971/status/1821563921532174754?s=03)

  333. 333.

    Leto

    @Villago Delenda Est: oh, ofc. Part of what they were talking about was trying to retain experience within the enlisted ranks of the Marines, without realizing the difficulties the Marines face, as well as the operational culture of the Marines. Just fucking dumb.

    I held E5/6 spots as an E4, and later E7/8 spots as an E6. While we (you, me, Omnes, all of us) never had enough manning, the AF between 2008 and 2014 really just decimated its ranks via personnel cuts. In 2008 we traded 40k personnel for more aircraft, but in 2014 it was mandated via Congress to draw down. BUT we were supposed to follow the plan of 25k over 4 years, but we did the 25k all at once. And I can’t even begin to tell you how that affected those of us still there trying to do operations. Just… *looooooong sigh

  339. 339.

    Leto

    @tam1MI: listen, if you’ve enjoyed the comedy I’ve provided here at BJ over the years, you’ll love my upcoming special on FreeVeeTV. Check your local listings!!! :P

  342. 342.

    Trollhattan

    @Baud: Guessing 4-Seasons Landscaping but no actual idea. They should pick up some of this stuff while it’s still available.

    The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just suspended all uses of a herbicide that is linked to health risks to unborn babies. It’s the first time in 40 years that the EPA taken this type of action.
    The pesticide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, also called DCPA or Dacthal, is linked to low birth weight, impaired brain development, decreased IQ, and impaired motor skills later in life for babies whose pregnant mothers were is exposed to it, according to the agency.
    Dacthal is registered to be used to kill weeds in both agricultural and non-agricultural situations, but is most commonly used on broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and onion crops.
    “DCPA is so dangerous that it needs to be removed from the market immediately,” said assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Michal Freedhoff in a statement. “It’s EPA’s job to protect people from exposure to dangerous chemicals. In this case, pregnant women who may never even know they were exposed could give birth to babies that experience irreversible lifelong health problems.”
    The agency suspended all registrations of DCPA on Tuesday under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.

  348. 348.

    Avalune

    I walked upstairs to fix us a little lunch…he probably turned it because I kept yelling at the TV like I do every time they show that orange maroon. He just makes me so angry! I don’t know how anyone can look at him with a straight face. I’d definitely be one of those “nasty” women he didn’t like because I wouldn’t be able to stop looking at him like are you fuckin stupid?

  350. 350.

    Leto

    Ashley Parker, of the WaPo, has to be one of the dumbest f’ing talking heads currently gracing the screen. And that’s saying something considering all the talking heads we have available to us.

  353. 353.

    Trollhattan

    @Baud: Having associated Downfall with nothing but hilarious parody videos, I was utterly not prepared to watch the original in its entirety. Last 30 minutes or so are profoundly disturbing.

  358. 358.

    Leto

    So they fucking goobers on MSNBC/NBC are going to try to go after why he retired when he did, they’re trying to give it legs. Fucking burn them to the ground.

  359. 359.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @tam1MI: Yesterday, you mentioned a Central WI background.  Could you tell me where?  If not, it is completely understandable.  Just wondering.

  361. 361.

    Almost Retired

    @Quinerly:  I can’t even imagine this is true.  Maybe he saw a movie where Nick Nolte and Denzel Washington nearly crash landed a helicopter?

  362. 362.

    jimmiraybob

    Wow. I’m just digging out from a major avalanche of lies, deceptions, bullshit, insults, whining and weirdness. I believe that many of the networks covered it in real time.

    And in Missouri in August of all times.

    Anybody else get hit?

    Now, where’s my shovel.

  367. 367.

    Lily

    @rikyrah: It’s not that there are no stories they could do.  They could cover the issues! In that way that requires reading, thinking,  talking to experts.  Labor intensive, which CEOs have tried to cut out of their budget.

    They want to serve us fast food or junk food cause the profit margin is much higher.

  369. 369.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @rikyrah:

    The fact that Trump thinks he can say Kamala isn’t smart when we are watching him rant incoherently right now is PEAK mediocre white man

    You and I both know that Trump was elected as a primal scream that the worst white man is better than the best black man.  All those crazy pictures of him as Jesus or whatever are just declarations that a less-than-mediocre white man is the pinnacle of creation.

  370. 370.

    Almost Retired

    @Baud: the press conference is in the ballroom at Mar a Lago.  He bragged about how it cost 18 million to build it, but didn’t explain why he couldn’t afford fucking microphones for the reporters.

  371. 371.

    KatKapCC

    @CaseyL:

    Do you think anyone who isn’t already a Trumpie/GOP deadhead is watching this and going, “He sure looks and sounds Presidential to me!”​

    Hey, don’t use the word deadhead for them. No need to besmirch the real deal!

  374. 374.

    David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch

    @Geminid: ​
     LeMay literally had a nuclear meltdown during his first presser [fast forward to the 1:33 mark (clip). Blew himself up like Wile E. Coyote.

  376. 376.

    hotshoe

    @Leto: ​
     

    MSNBC/NBC are going to try to go after why he retired when he did, they’re trying to give it legs. Fucking burn them to the ground.

    It’s a deliberate corporate choice by the owners/managers who are all-in for Dumpster. If they merely felt that journalism “requires” them to “cover the controversy”, then they could actually be fair and headline/lead paragraph something like
    WHY IS VANCE LYING ABOUT WALZ’ SERVICE

    And how on god’s blue earth can anyone go along with a Repug attacking Walz, when their golden-idol Dumpster dodged the draft and some poor kid ended up in Viet Nam to die in his place instead.
    How does lightning not strike them down for their hypocrisy!

  378. 378.

    Old School

    @JPL:

    Did he agree to letting Melania have Bedminster and Trump tower for the summer?

    I’m pretty sure they’ve lived in separate locations for a lot longer than the summer.  Nobody in the press seems all that interested in this.

  379. 379.

    Baud

    @Leto:

    I’m confident they thought Dems would fall apart if Biden dropped out. Which in fairness would be one of their more reasonable assumptions.

  380. 380.

    Leto

    @hotshoe: it’s an already answered question, but they’re digging up the liars who previously lied, and giving them air again.

    Burn them to the ground. All of them.

  383. 383.

    Leto

    @Baud: They thought they were going to get their magical brokered convention, with all the chaos that would ensue from that. Ole Joe did the rope-a-dope on those dopes, and they’re still trying to recover.

  384. 384.

    tam1MI

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yesterday, you mentioned a Central WI background.  Could you tell me where?  If not, it is completely understandable.  Just wondering.

    I went to high school and college in Stevens Point.

  387. 387.

    Old School

    @Baud: And yet the internet seems to feed me daily Ben Affleck / JLo stories even though I never click on any of them.

  388. 388.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Old School:

    I’m pretty sure they’ve lived in separate locations for a lot longer than the summer.

    Trump is the candidate of people who think a husband and wife are supposed to resent each other.  ‘Ball and chain’ people.

  392. 392.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Leto:

    but we did the 25k all at once. And I can’t even begin to tell you how that affected those of us still there trying to do operations. Just… *looooooong sigh

    But works so well when Silicon Valley does it. /s

    Same shit, different industry (so to speak). And then SV uses the fact that they burn out experienced workers into charred husks as a reason not to hire those same workers.

  393. 393.

    tam1MI

    @Omnes Omnibus: Aha!  My dad’s family is from there.  I am a Wausau boy.

    I made lifelong friends in Point. I consider Wisconsin my “second home state”. 😊

  395. 395.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Leto: “They won’t follow our NARRATIVE!”

    I hear that in the voice of the traveling salesman from the opening number of The Music Man, “but he doesn’t know the TERRITORY!” I wish I had the talent to write the rest of it.

    It’s clear the press is feeling butthurt and is going to do all in their power to sabotage the Harris-Walz ticket in petulant revenge. But all they’re going to end up doing is accelerating their rush into irrelevance.  They are not the gatekeepers standing between the candidates and the voters.

  396. 396.

    Steve in the ATL

    @jimmiraybob:
     

    Wow. I’m just digging out from a major avalanche of lies, deceptions, bullshit, insults, whining and weirdness

    Huh. Didn’t realize you were a management-side labor !

  397. 397.

    artem1s

    Christ, I guess this means the weirdos are going to start wearing purple band-aids again, doesn’t it?

  402. 402.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @BR: now that I haven’t seen yet. I know that the hard part with the hair/nerve cells in the human inner ear/cochlea is that they don’t regrow once they are damaged, but I do know that birds can regrow them…

  403. 403.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Kirk: this almost makes me want to call my dad and ask, although I haven’t dared to call him yet because I don’t want to get him going on a rant (dad is unfortunately RWNJ although pro-Ukraine and anti-Russia)

  404. 404.

    KatKapCC

    @Baud: I heard that when Ella Emhoff was in sixth grade, she stole her friend’s cherry cola flavored LipSmacker. Hopefully at the debate, Harris will be called to account for this criminal history in her family.

  405. 405.

    geg6

    @MisterForkbeard: ​
     
    Apparently the Cheetolini team has been bragging about how they have hooked up with the far left to smear the Dem ticket. Can’t remember where I read it, but that’s what is happening.

  406. 406.

    JML

    @Steve in the ATL: I’m a Teamster, I had a union meeting today and I’m 100% certain that the teamsters will not be endorsing TFG, but will be endorsing Harris/Walz. They’re just going to go sometime after the convention, very possibly in September when people are paying attention.

    don’t get suckered by O’Brien going to the RNC (read his actual speech). He’s trying to speak to needy, not the converted. It might not work, but from a Labor standpoint…we need more supporters and frankly need to try and convert some GOPers into not reflexively hating Labor.

  407. 407.

    SomeRandomGuy

    He specialized in heavy artillery and had ribbons for proficiency in sharpshooting and hand grenades, according to military records obtained through an open records request.

    I thought he looked familiar. “Everything I needed to know in life, I learned in kindergarten. Like: Once you pull the pin on Mr. Hand Grenade, he is NO LONGER your friend.”

    (Yes, I know, but most kindergarteners don’t have the GRIP strength to keep the spoon down, so, they have to remember, once the pin is pulled, Mr. Hand Grenade will soon be in a VERY bad mood.)

    To think they once held that lesson back for the later grades in grade school. Just think – they could have put an eye out!

  408. 408.

    Ebony

    @Leto: REMF and fobbits are offensive terms towards support military personal. Those terms are also sexist since women in the military are often support personal. If you really supported the military you wouldn’t use those terms. By using them you are being disrespectful towards the vast majority of military personal. Most people in the military are not combat arms, but support personal. They don’t deserve to be compared to the Republicans attacking Waltz. Your your use of REMF and fobbits towards support personal is especially offensive to me, because my father is a retired Signal Corps U.S. Army officer. My dad is the best man I know, and I don’t take kindly to people disrespecting his service as REMF, because he wasn’t in combat arms.

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