Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

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

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

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

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

Let there be snark.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

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

We will not go back.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

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

Everybody saw this coming.

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Friday Evening Open Thread: Last Night’s Last Word

Friday Evening Open Thread: Last Night’s Last Word

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Lawrence O’Donnell’s monologue from last night is getting a lot of attention on social media, plus at least one request from a commentor here to front-page it. So, here’s an intro:

And here’s the full thing, via MSNBC’s YouTube channel:

 

Reader Interactions

220Comments

  2. 2.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Lawrence O’Donnell: We know what the lies are going to be. Fact checking graphics can be ready to go before he speaks.

    The Republicans have been telling the same lies for 40 years…that I can verify…

  4. 4.

    BC in Illinois

    Sympathy for the Donald:

    “Allow me to introduce myself.
    I’m a man of wealth.”

  5. 5.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Baud: I meant the broad slate of facts related to policy making, but Willie Brown? Maybe. Probably.

  6. 6.

    KatKapCC

    I love that his expression in the full-video thumbnail looks like ARE YOU PEOPLE KIDDING ME WITH THIS SHIT? I sent that video to a lot of people last night.

  7. 7.

    schrodingers_cat

    Many in the current press corpse are people like Vivek Ramaswamy and J D Vance who want to be bully adjacent. They probably were either bullied or wanted to be a bully. They live vicariously through the Orange Bully.

  12. 12.

    Scout211

    Several commenters asked which reporter was the one who served up the decades-ago smear against Kamala Harris and her relationship with Willie Brown.

    “There’s been some discussion around the Vice President Harris’ prior relationship with Willie Brown and how that might have intersected her career trajectory,” the unidentified reporter asked. “So I’m just wondering if you followed that discussion at all.”

    Who was it? Why is the press careful not to name this reporter.  And what kind of reporter asks a question based on rumors from decades ago? “There’s been some discussion.” Really?

    Who was it? Here’s my guess. It was a member of the Trump team in some capacity.

    ETA: At least Trump took a swing and totally whiffed that answer and now his fake “helicopter crash with Willie Brown” has gone viral.

  13. 13.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Baud: The helicopters are laughing.

    Only the ones who were identified human at birth…

  14. 14.

    trollhattan

    Glad we got THIS out of the way.

    August 9, 2024 at 3:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

    “The wife of Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance is claiming her husband doesn’t wear eyeliner, despite some beauty experts insisting otherwise,” the New York Daily News reports.

    Said Usha Vance: “They’re all natural. I’ve always been jealous of those lashes.”

    The more you deny something so trivial….

  17. 17.

    ArchTeryx

    Some of it is that the press are lazy and Trump made their job easy and fun. Just report on his tweets and call it a day. The constant chaos made for good conflict too.

    For the billionaire media owners it is even easier. Trump is a Republican. They’d rather have a fascist dictator than democracy. For them it is a no brainer.

    The media has NEVER been our friend, but that went into high gear after the 1996 Telecommunications Act signed by Clinton and the media was allowed to consolidate to a few billionaire owners.

    They want Trump. That simple.

  23. 23.

    Mike E

    He can call out the indolent free press every single show and it won’t make a dent. They’re shameless, it’s their superpower. Plus, their salaries depend on it!

  24. 24.

    Quinerly

    @Scout211:

    I have been asking who the reporter was. I thought immediately it was a plant from Trump’s team. And Trump blew the question. Is his mind that fucked up or is his hearing that bad?

    Trump loves gossip, smears. Loves to make personal attacks on women. It amazes me he blew his chance not to spend 15 mins on talking about Kamala’s relationship with Willie Brown.

  27. 27.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Have watched that entire LO’D segment twice today, and a short time ago also saw this, which I thought made an excellent companion piece to the O’Donnell clip. Yes, it’s Rick Wilson/Lincoln Project — I know, I know — but it really is good. Do yourself a favour and watch it.

  30. 30.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud: 

    Bravo for the Balloon Boy thread reference! That night was epic.

    ETA: my god, that was 15 years ago!!

  35. 35.

    rodwell

    The media is so mad that they did not get their brokered convention and Democrat in Disarray storylines.  Their hate for MVP is the same as Biden.  Her team does not leak, and it means they cannot do their horserace stories.  Good

  37. 37.

    bbleh

    @trollhattan: oookay, so she DOES understand the difference between mascara and eyeliner, right?  I mean, I’ve never worn either one and *I* understand the difference.  Or is she [gasp!] perhaps being … not entirely honest?!?

  38. 38.

    waspuppet

    I saw that piece this morning. I don’t watch press conferences anymore, so while I knew our wealthy media class goes full North Korean State Media when Trump is talking, what really stunned me is the fact that they no problem at all interrupting Biden in the middle of a sentence and screaming YOU’RE NOT ANSWERING THE QUESTION.

    And as O’Donnell says, Donald Trump has never answered a question in his life. I really think he sees actually answering questions as a sign of weakness.

  41. 41.

    suzanne

    @Scout211: It’s where you apply eyeliner on the watery inside edge of the eyelid, the part that touches when you close your eyes. Most of the time, eyeliner is on the outside edge of the eyelid, past the lashes, but tightlining is a way of making your lashes look longer.

    You can see it in photos. If you’re not wearing makeup, it looks like a small skin-colored line between the eyeball and the lashes.

  42. 42.

    trollhattan

    @rodwell: ​
    I don’t think they would have been satisfied with anything short of conventioneers fistfighting while the Chicago PD bashed protestor skulls outside.

    Instead they’re going to get Kumbaya and the Silver Bullet Band reunion? They’re not even showing up at this rate.

    Meanwhile, Trump is stewing, stewing, stewing. SAD.

  43. 43.

    3Sice

    Yuck it up and enjoy the weekend libtards. Monday you shall feel the full visionary fury of one Mr. Elon Musk.

  44. 44.

    Ukai

    It may take identifying individual White House Press Corps reporters by name, on national TV, whenever they do something egregiously stupid to shame them into doing their jobs properly.

    Then again, that’s presuming they’d have shame; perhaps they would get off on that kind of attention so much they wouldn’t regard being called out as incompetent as a bad thing. I mean, Peter Baker is still cosplaying as a journalist after being dragged.

  46. 46.

    eclare

    @suzanne:

    I knew what it was, but I didn’t know there was a name for it.  Oh yeah, he definitely tightlines, and as others have said, it has nothing to do with eyelashes.

  47. 47.

    Wolvesvalley

    I love O’Donnell for finishing the segment with Kamala’s entire speech at the UAW, after castigating the media for ignoring it in real time.

  48. 48.

    Hungry Joe

    I feel petty asking this because it really doesn’t matter, but …

    Have there been any close-up photos of Trump’s ear? Or, I assume that some press photogs are in possession of zoom lenses; have we seen any shots?

    As I said, it doesn’t matter — just as it doesn’t matter if he was nicked by a bullet or by shards from something the bullet hit. I’m just (perversely?) curious.

  49. 49.

    Quinerly

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’ll gladly take Wilson on our side for this election cycle. Can go back to disliking him in 4 years. Hell, I now smile like she’s an old friend when Liz Cheney speaks. I even might would dig up Lee Atwater if it would help us. We need all hands on deck and assistance from all corners. I don’t need a lecture on Max Cleland. Great video. Thanks for posting.

    (And, I know a lot here feel Jen Rubin has seen the light. I think if good old Mitt had a grandson running against an incumbent Harris in 2028, you would see her true colors. But at this point in time, I gladly accept her help.)

  50. 50.

    bbleh

    @suzanne: did you see that TikTok about his eyeliner?  It’s pretty clear he applies it BEYOND the lashes too.  The difference she shows between the official Senate photo and that one from a campaign appearance is … hell, that’s evidence.

  51. 51.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    National political reporters hanging their head in shame?

    I believe the “when pigs fly” reference applies here.

  54. 54.

    Xavier

    Fact checking Trump is irrelevant. Everyone already knows he’s lying, his supporters think it demonstrates astuteness or something. What the media needs to do is switch away when he lies, that’s the only thing that will work.

  56. 56.

    suzanne

    @bbleh: I saw some photos of him where it looks like he did winged eyeliner, outside the lash line, but I didn’t know if they were fake.

    Here’s an explainer on tightlining.

    Maybe the only time, in my many years of commenting, that I have posted a makeup tutorial.

  57. 57.

    pat

    @Hungry Joe:

    I have seen several photos of his right ear and it looks like the aftereffects of a hangnail.  Not “half shot off,” not sliced with a shard, there is nothing to see, assuming that those photos were taken in the last few days.

  58. 58.

    NotMax

    Science time. FYI.

    Sea surface temperatures are on the rise around the world, but the problem is pronounced in the estuaries and shallow coastal waters of South Florida.

    In South Florida, estuaries have experienced rapid warming over the past two decades. These temperature changes have outpaced trends elsewhere in the ocean, according to a series of studies published by researchers at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science (CMS) and National Park Service.
    [snip]
    Over the past two decades, sea surface temperatures in Florida Bay, Tampa Bay, St. Lucie Estuary, and Caloosahatchee River Estuary rose around 70 percent faster than the Gulf of Mexico and 500 percent faster than the global oceans, according to the authors. These temperatures are expected to take a toll on marine life. Source

  65. 65.

    Citizen Alan

    @trollhattan:  I have never given any credence to the idea that Couch Fucker uses eyeliner … until now, after his wife felt the need to respond to the question by talking about his eyelashes. Since I assume that Mrs. Couch Fucker, like every American woman over the age of 12 certainly knows the difference between eyeliner and mascara, her statement genuinely reads more like a deflection than a serious response.

  69. 69.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    Mr. Burns : You know, Smithers, I think I’ll donate a million dollars to the local orphanage. When pigs fly!

    [both Burns and Smithers start laughing, but then a pig flies by their window]

    Smithers : Will you be donating that million dollars now, sir?

    Mr. Burns : Hmm, no I’d still prefer not.

  70. 70.

    suzanne

    @Citizen Alan: Also, no one would give a shit about him wearing makeup if he wasn’t trying to use governmental power to treat people like garbage if don’t conform to gendered expectations.

    He has kind of hooded eyes and he’s got a pudgy face, and his eyes kind of sink in there. He uses makeup to make his eyes stand out more. Just be honest about it.

  71. 71.

    zhena gogolia

    @Mr. Bemused Senior: Forget it, Jake, it’s BJ.

    It was a strange evening many years ago, when some guy was arguing with everyone and promising to fax over his credentials. I think it had to do with a child floating through the air or something. And the phrase “the helicopters are laughing” factored in somehow.

  80. 80.

    suzanne

    @SatanicPanic: Most people look better with eyeliner. There’s even “permanent eyeliner”, aka a tattoo.

    My allergies make my eyes water a lot, so I don’t wear eye makeup often, but it looks good when I do!

  81. 81.

    theturtlemoves

    @Quinerly: The proprietor of this here blog is himself a recovered Republican. Don’t think it serves us to shit on people forever for past deeds if they’ve shown genuine evidence of change. Wilson seems to actually want to make up for past misdeeds and I have no issues have an obvious angry, vindictive jackass on our side poking Orangemandius daily.

  83. 83.

    Ken

    @Citizen Alan: One of those “my statement that my husband doesn’t wear eyeliner is raising a lot of questions already answered by my statement” moments, you mean?

  84. 84.

    bbleh

    @SatanicPanic: @suzanne: absolutely concur that he can wear “guyliner” all he wants, and yeah it arguably does make him look a little hotter.  But exactly as you say, he’s the VP nom of the party that is so hostile to anything outside rigid religiostic gender norms that it’s trying to OUTLAW them, which makes him not just a flaming (heh) hypocrite — aren’t they all — but also fair game for mockery of his masculinity.

    Galatians 6:7 MFers.

  85. 85.

    Baud

    I don’t care if Vance uses makeup. I just best not see him in the men’s bathroom.

     

    (I don’t use snark tags, so use your good judgment).

  86. 86.

    Greebe

    Within the last two weeks, I think, a simple graphic was posted (in the comments?) that had simple responses to the Walz swift boating  claims.

    It was a simple table with 2 rows and 2 columns. Col 1 on the left was the bullshit swift boat claim. Col 2 on the right was the simple response.

    I haven’t been able to find it again.  Can anyone point me in its direction?

    Many thanks.

  87. 87.

    CaseyL

    O’Donnell’s rants are satisfying, but they’re as token as Fox News’ “real news” segments.

    MSNBC permits O’Donnell to have his say because it gives MSNBC credibility as “independent” or even “liberal.”

    He is considered “ratings bait” by management, nothin more. He’s done this sort of complaining before – in fact, I think he did it more or less constantly during Trump’s Administration – and it had no effect whatsoever on the news as MSNBC reported it.

    Nor will it now – much less on any other news network.

  89. 89.

    eclare

    My neighbors have rented an inflatable slide/pool for the backyard for the grandkids (I assume).  It’s fun to hear the kiddos laugh and scream.

  96. 96.

    KatKapCC

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Considering Willie Brown, Jerry Brown, and Gavin Newsom (who was on the trip with J Brown and Trump) have all called BS on it, hopefully that’s the angle NBC is going with. I will be entirely unsurprised if it isn’t, though.

  97. 97.

    JPL

    @Baud: haha That backfired for trump, because he told a story suggesting that he knew nasty stuff about Harris, but instead it came across as what the hell is he talking about.   In fact they now invented a story about Jerry Brown.

    trump has to try harder with his lies next time.

  98. 98.

    Quinerly

    @theturtlemoves:

    I do believe people change. Reagan started out as a Dem and believed FDR was a true hero. I have been reading this blog from the beginning. I remember Cole in his drinking days and his Little Feat playlists. Only have had time to comment since 2016. More time since 2020.

    With that said, I don’t know if there has been a true conversion with Wilson, Cheney, Rubin. Time will tell. (I was a political science/history major in undergrad and am old enough to have lived through and read about George Wallace’s and Lee Atwater’s conversions. Atwater’s was pretty much on his deathbed if I recall correctly. I even own a copy of Wallace’s last wife’s autobiography. Good read). At this point in time, I really, really like Rick Wilson and his way with words. I think he helps us and I gladly accept his help. However, there are quite a few commenters here who feel the need to lecture anytime anyone posts a Wilson quip/a Lincoln Project video. My comment was aimed in that direction. Glad  to read a comment where someone acknowledges people CAN and DO change.

  99. 99.

    Geminid

    I’ve got no problem with Vance using eyeliner so long as he doesn’t start doing that cat’s eye thing.

  102. 102.

    WaterGirl

    @Mr. Bemused Senior: Look in the sidebar.  Find the section called Calling All Jackals.  Click on Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links).

    Look down the list until you find Classics.  You’ll find the faxing credenzas posts in that list.

    Enjoy.

  103. 103.

    NotMax

    FYI. Lock him up.

    A Donald Trump supporter who stood in front of a gallows and spoke of his desire to hang Democratic politicians before he assaulted numerous police officers during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Friday.

    It’s the second-longest sentence handed out in a Jan. 6 case to date.
    [snip]
    The 20-year sentence was imposed by Senior U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee who has spoken out about the “preposterous” rhetoric some Republicans have used as they attempt to “rewrite history” about the Jan. 6 attack. Lamberth has warned that “such meritless justifications of criminal activity” from politicians “could presage further danger to our country.” Source

  104. 104.

    KatKapCC

    ROFL. On the helicopter fable, this quote from Willie Brown made me chuckle:

    “You know me well enough to know that if I almost went down in a helicopter with anybody, you would have heard about it!”

    Truth. The man is not shy.

  106. 106.

    HumboldtBlue

    Gymnastics, y’all.

    Also, Trump and Vance being weird-ass creepy fucks is gonna trickle down to down ballot races.

    California Democrats are trying to link Vance’s comments to Republican Scott Baugh, who is running for Congress in a hotly contested coastal Orange County district that is currently represented by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine).

    Baugh is on the board of trustees at Pacifica, which held the Vance event, his campaign confirmed.

    Democratic state Sen. Dave Min, who is running against Baugh, described Vance’s comments as “radical” and “dangerous,” and called on Baugh to disavow them.

    “Anyone who knows anything about domestic violence knows that what JD Vance is saying is horrific — it is ignorant, it is reprehensible,” Min said in an interview.

    Min’s wife, a law professor at UC Irvine, directs a legal aid clinic that provides free representation to survivors of domestic violence.

    “Domestic violence is never acceptable, in any circumstance,” Baugh said in a statement. “I stand by victims of domestic violence and, frankly, all crime.”

    The Trump-Vance campaign did not respond to a request for comment, nor did press representatives for Vance’s Senate office.

  108. 108.

    Baud

    I don’t understand the scoring in breaking. I always guess wrong on who will win a round.

  112. 112.

    Scout211

    Since the “unidentified reporter” asked Trump about the decades-old rumor involving Kamala Harris and Willie Brown because there was  “some discussion” about it, which reporter will ask Trump the follow-up question to the helicopter crash with Willie Brown? Not only has there been “some discussion” about it, but that lie has gone viral and is all over the news today.  It deserves a follow-up question, right?

    Who will ask him about the lie? Any guesses?

    Yeah, I can’t see it happening either.  Cowards!

  113. 113.

    eclare

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Nailed it.  “He just wanted to be on camera.”  Oh how I wish the press weren’t such desperate easy marks.  It would be so fun for him to have a “press conference” where no press shows up.

  114. 114.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @geg6:

    Same same. Alone, late at night, scrolling through the BJ comments and screaming and sobbing with laughter.

  115. 115.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Quinerly: Wilson still occasionally hippie-punches in a “liberals are doing liberalism wrong, here’s how” way. Rubin, I think, has gone over 100%.

  119. 119.

    Bugboy

    @Hungry Joe: I’ve been asking the same questions, and you should too.

    It’s not simply the morbid curiosity of “taking a bullet to the ear”, it’s the bald-face lie about its severity and glaring refusal to even try to give an honest response to requests for comment from a competent physician.  Barely-congresscritter ex-physicians that weren’t even there don’t count.

    It got memory holed, very much a feature of fascism. We SHOULD be paying attention.  I mean this one issue has even MY head spinning, and that’s saying a lot.

  120. 120.

    Captain C

    @Baud: I wouldn’t be surprised if at least once a year for the last 4 decades some drunk Young Republican at some Republican social function they’re laughably calling a party  falsely brags about partying with Willie Brown in a helicopter.

  121. 121.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @KatKapCC:

    I was at bar and saw it on TV. Probably because of Olympics coverage. No sound, only CC, but from what I could tell, it sounded like that’s more or less how they reported it. Though underplaying the weirdness of his press conference yesterday, I caught it being described by Lester Holt as, “at times meandering and full of falsehoods”. They quoted Willie Brown, Jerry Brown, and Newsome in the segment

    I mean, he confused two different guys who are two completely different races. Look nothing alike. That’s not a very good look if you’re being seen now as the oldest candidate in the race, who’s not doing many campaign events, and is trying to do a reset

  122. 122.

    Geminid

    @HumboldtBlue: I think that’s Martin’s district. He might report some on this race.

    I wonder what happened to commenter James E. Powell. He lives in Ken Calvert’s Palm Springs-based district. I was hoping he would share his observations on Democrat Will Rollins’ effort to unseat Calvert, but Powell dropped out of this forum last year. I hope he’s Ok.

  123. 123.

    HumboldtBlue

    The nation’s oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), has done something it has not done since its founding in 1929 — it endorsed a presidential candidate.

    The organization’s political arm, the LULAC Adelante PAC, announced its endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday in a press release. CBS News first announced the group’s plan to endorse her early Friday morning.

    The endorsement comes with Harris set to hold rallies in Glendale, Arizona on Friday and Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday. They are two critical battleground states with large Latino populations. 

    “We are proud to endorse Kamala Harris and Tim Walz because of the real issues facing Latino communities and all Americans across the nation; we can trust them to do what is right for our community and the country,” said Domingo Garcia, the LULAC Adelante PAC chairman and a past LULAC president.

  125. 125.

    Quinerly

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Like I say…wait until a Romney or Romney style Repug runs with the same views that Repugs have had for 50 years ….we’ll chat about Jen Rubin then.😉 You could very well be correct. Maybe she has come over from the dark side. Has she said who she voted for in 2016 and 2020? Cheney voted Trump both times.

    Like I said, we should take all the help we can get right now.

  126. 126.

    geg6

    @SiubhanDuinne:  It all started when I was at work and pretty quickly I realized I’d have to catch up later because I thought maybe my co-workers would think I had gone off the deep end or was having a seizure or something because my laughter kept escaping me.  Couldn’t hold it in.  Went home later and settled back with some of the good oregano and a glass of wine.  Decided to make the wine a white in case I spit it on myself. 🤣🤣🤣

  129. 129.

    KatKapCC

    @Scout211: The whole thing is complete garbage anyway. Yes, Harris and Brown were together for less than two years in the mid 90s. And yes, while they were dating, he appointed her to an admin court for unemployment insurance issues and to the CA Medical Assistance Commission. Before dating Brown, Harris had been hired as a deputy DA in Alameda County. A few years after their relationship ended, she was hired as an ADA by the San Francisco DA. And after that, every job she’s had has been one she was elected to by the people — SF DA, CA AG, and US Senate. Now technically, it was Biden who chose her to be VP, but it was we the people who voted for the two of them.

    So all this “she slept her way to the top” is a bunch of racist, sexist trash, and any reporter perpetuating it ought to get jabbed in the eyeballs and never invited to ask a question again.

  133. 133.

    Scout211

    The Harris-Walz rapid response team is good.

     Vice President  Kamala Harris’ campaign is responding to former President Donald Trump’s stated reasoning for not hitting the campaign trail recently.
    Trump said during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday that he hasn’t been campaigning because “I’m leading by a lot and I’m letting their convention go through.”
    . . .
    In a statement, Harris-Walz 2024 spokesperson James Singer said:

    “Donald Trump has not visited a swing state this week and apparently isn’t visiting any next week either. Being president is about who you fight for. Vice President Harris and Governor Walz are barnstorming swing states meeting with voters, fighting for the middle class, and earning every vote. Our campaign is centered around what unites America: opportunity, freedom, and love of country.”

    “Donald Trump is too lazy to fight for anything but himself or leave his country club – fine by us,” the statement added.

  134. 134.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @trollhattan:

    I don’t think they would have been satisfied with anything short of conventioneers fistfighting while the Chicago PD bashed protestor skulls outside.

    MSNBC convinced my mother there would be 1968 style riots at the Democratic convention over Gaza.

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    National political reporters hanging their head in shame?

    They are consistently proud of making liberals angry.  They say so.  They think it’s proof they’re objective.

    @Xavier:

    his supporters think it demonstrates astuteness or something

    He is validating their belief that what they want to be true is more important than facts.  He speaks truthiness, therefor he is honest.

  141. 141.

    Baud

    @KatKapCC:

     I would not be surprised in the least if he mixes up his two elder sons.

     
    Eh, a lot of parents mix up their children’s names. Mine did.

  144. 144.

    KatKapCC

    @hueyplong: Well I’m pretty sure he’s one of the worst lays in human history, so that would be the only direction it could take him.

  148. 148.

    Flanders Other Neighbor

    As the odds of TFCG winning the election start to fade, so do the hopes of the J6 tourists patriots convicts of ever getting a pardon.  Ha ha.

    Everything he touches really does turn to shit.

  149. 149.

    hueyplong

    @HumboldtBlue: You’re selling me. If it were real, Trump would make Rudy’s noun-verb-911 seem like something Rudy only brought up occasionally.

    So something is screwy.

    Of course, a flaw in your theory is the hapless shooter agreeing to shoot close-but-not-quite and then get wasted by law enforcement.

  155. 155.

    Johnnybuck

    @Quinerly: Like I say…wait until a Romney or Romney style Repug runs with the same views that Repugs have had for 50 years

    Cool with me. I mean we’d all like to get back the Queensbury rules as far as politics goes, as opposed to trying to save the actual idea of Democracy. Hopefully Jen-Jen and Ricky maybe recognize the damage that they’ve done that brought us to this place where we have to link arms to save the country.

    I think the beauty of Harris/Walz is that it’s a clean break from Vietnam/Reagan era that Biden-Trump represent. It’s long since time to put that era to bed.

    At any rate, factions that unite to bring down a tyrant have been with us always, and America has managed that pretty well.

  156. 156.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    MSNBC convinced my mother there would be 1968 style riots at the Democratic convention over Gaza.

    Well, the cops do have the option of starting a riot if they want to make some bad news cycles and end our little joy party. Might be a thing to watch out for.

  157. 157.

    3Sice

    Mar-a-Lago. Shit. I’m still only in Mar-a-Lago…..Every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker, and every minute Harris-Walz campaign in swing states, they get stronger. 

  158. 158.

    HumboldtBlue

    @hueyplong: ​ 

    Something stinks, and considering the actions of the Secret Service before and on Jan 6 mean I give them no benefit of the doubt of being involved.

    It just doesn’t add up, and I guarantee that fat fuck did not take a bullet or even a fragment to the ear.

  161. 161.

    SatanicPanic

    @HumboldtBlue: I think something bounced off his head- the tiniest nick in your scalp will bleed like crazy. But there’s no way a bullet hit him.

    But at this point I think people are kind of forgetting about that because he didn’t die or anything. This is America, people who were at mass shootings are a dime a dozen thanks to Republicans.

  163. 163.

    Matt McIrvin

    @HumboldtBlue: A guy actually got killed. I don’t buy that they’d plan a fake assassination precisely enough that it actually kills a guy but not the fake-intended target.

    I think the world is more chaotic than we are usually able to accept, and it’s full of violent dumb fucks. Trump and his fans were hyping it up to the heavens in the first several days but it fell flat when everyone realized the shooter wasn’t some kind of liberal crazed by liberalism. And then Biden stole Trump’s thunder by quitting the race.

  168. 168.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Matt McIrvin: ​ 

    Two guys got killed, the shooting victim and the shooter, and yes, that is what is keeping me from going full on conspiracist on this, but it’s still odd, and it still doesn’t add up.

  169. 169.

    topclimber

    @CaseyL: If it’s on social media over the next few days, it might make management begin to understand that totally blowing their credibility to back a loser is not good business.

    More likely reporters who still try to live up to being journalists will stop falling for the same old shit.

    OK–No way/s. That’s why I bet my crypto hoard. I’ve got nothing to lose.

  172. 172.

    JPL

    @HumboldtBlue: The Secret Service screwed up, because they had plenty of time to make sure he was off the stage.   Even if trump said no, they should have dragged him out.

  181. 181.

    divF

    @Baud:

    The helicopters are laughing.

    The famous “missing lyric” from Tom Waits’ The Piano Has Been Drinking.

  187. 187.

    CaseyL

    @topclimber: ​

    Well, in man bites dog news, FTFNYT ran an article by Trump Fluffer Haberman in which he’s royally pissed off that the FTFNYT has cast doubt on his story about almost being in a helicopter crash with Willie Brown or Jerry Brown or some other Brown to be named later.

    Haberman also described his press conference as “meandering” (which is like describing the sinking of the Titanic as “boat trouble”). He’s cheesed about that, too.

    Trump is pissed off enough that he threatened to sue the paper, which is hilarious since FTFNYT is one of his biggest and best MSM apologists.

    Fun Bluesky thread about it all here.

  189. 189.

    Darkrose

    @Quinerly: She voted for Clinton and Biden.

    Rubin was very early Never Trump, as in before he clinched the nomination, because she is a Jewish woman who is familiar with history, and she understood immediately that what she was seeing wasn’t going to lead anywhere good.

    I was suspicious of her at first, but I noticed the way she publicly called out her media colleagues for their Trump coverage, and how in 2020 she came out hard in support of Stacey Abrams as a potential VP candidate. She also did a 180 on her previous Israel/Palestine position, though I don’t know if she’s swung back—I dropped my WaPo subscription a couple years ago.

  195. 195.

    Chet Murthy

    @suzanne: A GF once explained to me that eyeliner makes the eyes appear bigger, and for white people with dark (e.g. blue) irises, it can offset the “beady-eyed” look.  As in “beady-eyed blond”.

  196. 196.

    Darkrose

    @Chet Murthy: He did. FWIW, he’s gay. I suspect that for him, as with Rubin, he realized that fascist turns historically don’t end well for people like him.

  199. 199.

    wjca

    @Baud: I don’t care if Vance uses makeup. I just best not see him in the men’s bathroom.

    Not even if he identifies as a urinal?

  201. 201.

    HumboldtBlue

    This guy is really making me respect him more and more each day.

    Mesa, AZ Republican Mayor John Giles: I do not recognize my party. I have something to say to those of us who are in the middle: You don’t owe a damn thing to that party. You don’t owe anything to a party that is out of touch and hell-bent on taking us backward. And by all means, you owe no loyalty to a candidate who is morally and ethically bankrupt. In the spirit of the great Senator John McCain, please join me in putting country over party and stopping Donald Trump.

  204. 204.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @WaterGirl: Yeah, very polite in the 11B version of “polite”.  (11B is the Military Occupational Specialty Infantryman).

  206. 206.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Suzanne: Hooded Eyes are also not caused by being an asshole.  If it were, we’d see a lot of Rethugs wearing eyeliner.

  207. 207.

    Suzanne

    @HumboldtBlue: That’s a bold statement, coming from Mesa, AZ. Most of Mesa is represented by the utterly odious Andy Biggs (and before that, the only-slightly-less odious Matt Salmon). Giles might have set his political career on fire here. Though more and more Mormons are turning away from Trump.

  210. 210.

    bluefoot

    @Ukai: ​
      I was thinking about this watching the O’Donnell video. Why don’t media outlets identify the reporter who is asking the question during press conferences, etc? They all know each other, it should be easy enough – have it on the bottom of the screen, the name of the reporter and the organization they are reporting for. Then we’d know in real time who is asking what questions, who is (for instance) yelling or interrupting Biden, etc.

  212. 212.

    Captain C

    @CaseyL:

    Trump is pissed off enough that he threatened to sue the paper, which is hilarious since FTFNYT is one of his biggest and best MSM apologists.

    Gives ’em (yet) another excuse to slant, excuse me, balance coverage towards TCFG even more.

  213. 213.

    Quinerly

    @Darkrose:

    Cool on her voting for HRC. It’s been 8 years…I seem to recall her taking stabs at HRC and calling her “shady” and “unethical.” Water under the bridge.

    My point is a lot of Trump’s policies have been Repug policies and in their platforms for years. I’ll take Rubin’s et al help now. Pleased to have it. The real test will be when MAGA is dead and buried. And Trump is gone. Where will Rubin et al go then? Will they stick with Dems and our policies and our mission? Time will tell.

  214. 214.

    wjca

    @Suzanne: Though more and more Mormons are turning away from Trump.

    As they (finally!) come to the realization that, to his christianist followers, Mormons definitely don’t count as Christians.**  Which means, they are candidates for the concentration camps, too.

    ** Actually,  as apostates they may be worse the Jews and Muslims.

  215. 215.

    Citizen Alan

    @Matt McIrvin:  I do think it’s a possibility that the assassin had no intention of killing Trump and had the deranged belief that killing some bystanders would bring sympathy to Trump and help with his election. I mean, it’s not any crazier than Manson’s belief that he could have people commit the Tate-LaBianca murders, pin it on “blacks” and trigger a genocidal race war. It was just happenstances that the kid was such a bad shot that was able to hit the guy he’d intended  to miss. Or rather to hit the guy’s teleprompter since I absolutely don’t believe Trump took even the slightest graze from a bullet.

  216. 216.

    Misterpuff

    @trollhattan: Not defending him ’cause a person has a right to look as fabulous as they want to but pictures of him as a Marine also look like eyeliner. Not up to date on USMC grooming guidelines but he just may have very thick eyelashes.

  217. 217.

    Ebony

    @HumboldtBlue: Really he doesn’t recognize his party? The Republican party was terrible long before Trump? He doesn’t remember the Southern Strategy and Welfare moms?

  218. 218.

    wjca

    @Ebony: The Republican party was terrible long before Trump?

    Their policy positions may have been terrible.  But I can’t think of a Republican Presidential candidate, prior to Donald Trump, who would have even considered sending a mob to Capitol Hill to try to force Congress to overturn the results of an election.  Even W wouldn’t have gone that far.

    Trump’s policy positions (more accurately, the policies he will allow to be implemented) may be just as bad; although I would argue they are substantially worse.  But his utter indifference to the Constitution represents something new.

  219. 219.

    Chris Johnson

    @Bugboy: Oh, man, it goes WAY beyond that. It stinks to high heaven and the implications are grave as fuck.

    Assuming there was ANY sense of the man getting an injury of ANY kind that drew blood, where the hell did he go? Why is there no real doctor? One would think, in a media environment totally devoted to coddling Trump in every way, that they would be super interested in all the reports, but they are so strangely incurious in what happened at whatever hospital or wherever he got brought, presumably dripping ex-President blood.

    If they had anything real they would be able to use that and trump it up into a heroic story. There is NOTHING, immediately after what’s supposed to be a dangerous situation. That implies that the media doing this memory holing are being strangely incurious for a reason, and THAT implies they know what it was really about: a big stunt, about which they may not ask questions for fear of revealing it was a big stunt.

    For what it’s worth, I think there was a ringer in there somewhere with live ammo who shot the firefighter (who could have been any audience member) and that as far as Trump’s people knew, they were doing a theatre piece with no actual danger on site. And that implies the kid on the roof was a confederate, and probably firing blanks, and taking by far the biggest risks because anyone not in on it would immediately shoot him as an obvious threat. And the word was, getting permission to fire took many seconds, and interfering with the kid in any way took far too many seconds, and security was not responding…

    And all this is what gets ‘memory holed’ because you don’t get to dig into the obvious… I mean, look at the guy’s ear. Not even trying to hide it now, nobody will ask. That reflects on the people not asking, very very strongly.

  220. 220.

    Ebony

    @wjca: Really “May have been terrible?” Sorry I’m black, I don’t have the luxury of viewing the pre-Trump Republican party three your rose colored glasses. pre-Trump Republican policies do a lot of damage to vulnerable people.

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