Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

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

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Every day Vance writes another chapter in the book called “Worst VP Pick Ever”.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Republicans in disarray!

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Let me file that under fuck it.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / This Might Be Fun to Watch

This Might Be Fun to Watch

by | 117 Comments

This post is in: 

I saw this go by in my feeds a couple of hours ago, and it’s interesting that none of the mainstream media outlets (People, CNN, etc.) reporting it would reprint the AI-generated image of Taylor Swift, because they’re not fucking idiots like Trump.

I assume her lawyers will get a quick takedown, and she won’t even mention it. He’s clearly trying to get in a fight with any prominent woman that he can, as part of his new “we’re the incels’ #1 choice” campaign strategy.

She endorsed biden in 2020 and I assume she’ll endorse Harris when she decides that the time is right.

Edit: This just popped up on Bluesky. The gross incompetence of this campaign, Jesus. Disorb!
This Might Be Fun to Watch

Reader Interactions

117Comments

  5. 5.

    oldster

    We’re about to see the difference between a real billionaire who pays her lawyers and a fake billionaire who stiffs his lawyers. The smackdown will be swift.

  7. 7.

    Ken

    He’s clearly trying to get in a fight with any prominent woman that he can

    I think you’re attributing more thought to this than he’s capable of.  “OOH FLATTERS ME I LIKE IT REPOST” sounds more likely to me.

  8. 8.

    Peke Daddy

    I predict he will double down. He is thirsting heavily for every white and/or macho/ misogynist male vote out there. Deliberately shattering open the gender gap. He’ll say the media is conspiring with her to throttle his support. Also, claim of presidential immunity for civil actions, too.

  9. 9.

    Leto

    She’s been in fights with actual powerful people, and came out on top. He’s such a dumbass. And weird.

  11. 11.

    trollhattan

    Taylor’s lawyers (paid in full, probably go to her parties) versus Donny’s lawyers du jour (paid? Up front maybe) would be the most lopsided fight in history.

  12. 12.

    Hoodie

    @twbrandt: Doesn’t matter where her company is registered.  What matters is where these fake endorsements show up.  If it’s on the web, it’s everywhere.

  15. 15.

    TBone

    Channel surfing, and saw JD Pantzed speak for a few moments as pictured before I could no longer stand it.  He was making economic shit up out of thin air or pulling it out of his wherever.  Only the dumbest mfer on the planet thinks people are as dumb as he is.  I mean, the cult is, but he knows he’s lying to the rest of the world.  I really want him to spontaneously combust.

  20. 20.

    Hoodie

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:  I always associate JDV with medical waste.  Funny thing about those semen vials (“JD Vance Family Kit” or some such bullshit) some of the deplorables were showing around, isn’t that defiling sacred sperm?

  25. 25.

    Lyrebird

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    :-D   crying laughing…

    Well if Harris-Walz and Marc Elias  and all the people  protecting election workers can keep going and we win this thing, JV will indeed be one of the elements that helped contain the biohazard that is the Trump campaign!!!!

  30. 30.

    David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch

    [CNN] — Retired federal appeals court Judge J. Michael Luttig, a prominent conservative legal scholar put on the bench by President George H.W. Bush, is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump, whose candidacy he describes as an existential threat to American democracy.

    It will be the first time Luttig, a veteran of two Republican administrations, has voted for a Democrat.

    “In the presidential election of 2024 there is only one political party and one candidate for the presidency that can claim the mantle of defender and protector of America’s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law,” Luttig wrote in a statement obtained exclusively by CNN. “As a result, I will unhesitatingly vote for the Democratic Party’s candidate for the Presidency of the United States, Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.”

    🧑‍⚖️⚖️

  33. 33.

    Geoduck

    @Ken: Ditto what Ken says. Why, after all these painful years, do people keep insisting on saying the Shaitgibbon has developed some strategy? He saw the pic, liked it, reposted it. End of story.

  36. 36.

    JaySinWA

    @Baud: Before I saw the logo I thought it was Dis-orb and JD was trying to distance himself from the Saudis.

    Or maybe di-sorb, trying to suck up two things.

    Apparently a product to solidify medical waste, like T’s diapers.

  37. 37.

    Quicksand

    As far as I can tell, the only actual human shown in the “photos” collected in that PopCrave tweet is the blonde on the far right (heh).  And she looks like a 40-year-old cosplaying as a teen.

  39. 39.

    PAM Dirac

    @trollhattan:

    Taylor’s lawyers (paid in full, probably go to her parties) versus Donny’s lawyers du jour (paid? Up front maybe) would be the most lopsided fight in history.

    Someone pointed out that her lawyers weren’t found by snooping around parking garages.

  42. 42.

    p.a.

    @oldster: NOT Photoshop?!?!?!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

     

    They rehired the advance man from the 4 Seasons Total Landscaping fustercluck?

  43. 43.

    Scout211

    @David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch: Also, too, (reposting from downstairs) Barbara Freaking Comstock.

    Former Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock (Va.) said Sunday that she will vote for Vice President Harris for president, marking the latest former GOP lawmaker to break from the party’s support of former President Trump.

    “After Jan. 6, after Donald Trump has refused for four years to acknowledge that he lost, and his threats against democracy, I think it’s important to turn the page,” Comstock said during a CNN interview. “That’s why I will be voting for the vice president.”

  44. 44.

    Falling Diphthong

    That image on the right actually says “SATIRE” in large red letters.

    Trump really will fall for anything on right wing Twitter that strokes his ego. (Same with Musk.) Which is not an okay quality to have in a president.

  45. 45.

    Betsy

    I assumed that “DiSorb” was a local candidate’s campaign sign until it was pointed out.

    Had to look it up.

    Talk about product placement.

    Wow.

  48. 48.

    Chris

    @David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch:

    @Scout211:

    And the Arizonans, too.

    Maybe my memory’s forgotten some of the last fifteen years, but I don’t remember this many prominent Republicans ever doing this before.  They sure as hell didn’t in 2016, even though everybody (probably including him) was certain Trump was going to lose, which would’ve basically made it a free action.  SOP is to wring your hands and wail loudly about partisanship in some generic sense, word-salad something about the days of Tip and Ronnie, not do anything, and just let the media take it from there with lots of articles about how moderate and wonderful you are.  One or two people switch parties every election cycle, but not this many.

    It’s always dangerous to read too much into things like this, but it seems like a good sign.

  49. 49.

    skerry

    Thanks to Tim Walz, I am craving a runza. My mother grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska and used to make them for us as kids. My kids weren’t fans so I haven’t made them in a very long time. I may need to whip up a batch and share them with my neighbors.

  51. 51.

    CaseyL

    Was the Gaza protest only scheduled for today? Or are they going to keep at it throughout the convention?

    If the latter, I wonder if they’re expecting tens of thousands for Thursday, when Harris and Walz will both be there.

    If the former, since I believe a whole lot of the GAZA!! uproar is being driven by very bad faith actors, seeing it fizzle pleases me.

  53. 53.

    Falling Diphthong

    @Betsy:

    I assumed that “DiSorb” was a local candidate’s campaign sign until it was pointed out.

    Had to look it up.

    Talk about product placement.

    Same. This has to be the crew on stage set-up striking a blow for mockery, right? Who says “We need some adult diapers to surround JV for this speech”?

  54. 54.

    Geminid

    @Scout211: I don’t think Barbara Comstock has that much clout of her own, but she probably is representative of a larger group of disafected Republicans.

    Comstock succeeded Republican Frank Wolf in a suburban/exurban district west of Washington, DC. She lost the seat to Jennifer Wexton in 2018, and Republicans won’t get it back for a long time if ever.

    Sadly, Jennifer Wexton has to retire because of a progressive neurogical disorder, but she will have a worthy succesor in state Senator Suhas Subramanyam.

  55. 55.

    Steve LaBonne

    @CaseyL: This was supposed to be the biggest protest of the week and the organizers were talking just this morning about tens of thousands. It is embarrassing. Also Cornel West just showed up which is also embarrassing.

  57. 57.

    Geminid

    @Chris: I think former Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan could be a good advocate for the Democratic ticket in his state, and maybe in North Carolina too.

  59. 59.

    Jackie

    WEIRD!

    The Donald Trump campaign kicked off its presence at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago with a press conference from two prominent Republican senators ripping the soon-to-be-official Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on everything from minimal media presence to a lack of business expertise.

    Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) spoke to members of the media at the Trump International Hotel and Tower in downtown Chicago on Monday morning alongside Brian Hughes, senior communication advisor to the Trump campaign. They focused on what they said were “Harris’ disastrous economic policies that have led to sky-high inflation that is crushing American families,” according to a campaign press release.

    More blah blah blah here: https://www.rawstory.com/trump-kamala/

    The pillow guy was also there. I imagine Trump Tower Chicago isn’t doing a brisk business this week?

  60. 60.

    marklar

    @lamh47: Those signs (“Victory to the Palestinian Resistance”) show just how misguided those who made them are. Framing the conflict in terms of “Victory” also means framing the conflict in terms of “Defeat”. It becomes a zero-sum game, and neither side is willing to accept defeat. The conflict will continue indefinitely until those in charge and their enablers break out of this zero-sum way of thinking. The protestors are unwittingly prolonging the war with this attitude.

  61. 61.

    Geminid

    @CaseyL: There are 30 uncommitted delegates who say they intend to fight over the I/P elements of the platform. They may stage a floor demonstration or two.

  62. 62.

    CaseyL

    @Steve LaBonne:

    What were they basing their numbers on?  Online RSVPs?

    Sounds like the “Freedom Convoy” of trucks a couple years ago…or the big “Vigilante at the Border” convoy more recently: many people say they’ll participate, but when it’s time to actually show up…. “oops, forgot I had an appointment to wash my hair.”

  63. 63.

    BR

    @marklar:

    Yeah, the language/framing jumped out at me, as well as the fact that they’re well funded enough to have the money to have thousands of professionally made signs on sticks made for a march (clearly not made by volunteers, because otherwise where as the volunteers?).

  64. 64.

    gene108

    I’ve seen a Taylor Swift photoshopped as Uncle Sam before, but the caption was “I want you to vote”, without any endorsement.

    Even the AI fake isn’t original.

  66. 66.

    CaseyL

    @Geminid: Hasn’t there already been a change to the platform favoring Palestinians?

    Put those 30 delegates in the position of saying, essentially “Nothing you do will be good enough.”

    Which is what I expect their position to be anyway.

  68. 68.

    Delk

    Union Park, where the protesters are, is the site of the Pitchfork Music Festival. Pitchfork attendance is around 20,000 a day. Wonder if there are any overhead crowd pics of the protesters.

  72. 72.

    Hoodie

    @Geminid: I thought the platform was already drafted and they have some sort of pro forma vote on it at the convention.  Isn’t the most they can do is vote no?

  76. 76.

    Geminid

    @Hoodie: I think dissidents might get a motion to amend the platform if any of them are on the platform committee. I don’t think any are. I doubt if they’ll be allowed to make a motion from the floor. I have not followed this closly though because I don’t expect these efforts to have much effect.

  79. 79.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Did a little more diggin on Disorb.  The campaign held this “event” in their main warehouse facility:

    https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x89c6c7f8a727f575%3A0x4ab1c10fa9546910!3m1!7e115!4s%2Fmaps%2Fplace%2Fdisorb%2Bsystems%2Bphiladelphia%2F%4039.9988545%2C-75.160057%2C3a%2C75y%2C295.49h%2C90t%2Fdata%3D*213m4*211e1*213m2*211sP9NkCOMhvZZBAE9HFR5F4g*212e0*214m2*213m1*211s0x89c6c7f8a727f575%3A0x4ab1c10fa9546910%3Fsa%3DX%26ved%3D2ahUKEwj81J6C7oGIAxV4FDQIHffWKYQQpx96BAgTEAA!5sdisorb%20systems%20philadelphia%20-%20Google%20Search!15sCgIgAQ&imagekey=!1e2!2sP9NkCOMhvZZBAE9HFR5F4g&cr=le_a7&hl=en&ved=1t%3A206134&ictx=111

    Good lord what a mess: industrial area not unlike the 4 Seasons Press Conference Ghouliani held.

  80. 80.

    CaseyL

    I know WaterGirl has put up excellent, strategic fundraising posts for down-ballot races, but Greg Sargent over at BlueSky is sending up a distress signal that too much money is going to the top of the ticket and not enough downballot:

    Unfortunate:

    @amandalitman.bsky.social

    tells me on the pod that state-level candidates are not getting the donor money they need. People are “throwing money” at top of the ticket and Super PACs, she says, but “downballot candidates are still struggling for resources.” newrepublic.com/article/1849…

    If you want to kick in more to the groups that WaterGirl has noted, or candidate-direct, now would be a good time to do so!

  81. 81.

    JML

    I think the people pushing a big Pro-Palestine protest at the DNC have made a tactical error by predicting crowds it doesn’t look like they can sustain. 2000 people might not be a bad number, but it looks like garbage when you predicted 30,000.

    I don’t have a problem with a protest, so long as they avoid antisemitism and violence…and the police avoid violence and racist BS too. My fear is there are too many people lining up with matches hoping everything explodes. I’m less enthusiastic about this one in particular because a) it sure does seem like it’s only targeted against the Democrats, and b) there’s way too many people supporting the Palestinians that ignore Hamas as if they’re not horrific.

  82. 82.

    prostratedragon

    @Chris:  Whatever it might mean going beyond this election, at least some GOPers understand that our democracy is on the line here.

  84. 84.

    sukabi

    haven’t read all the comments yet…but WTF is “Disorb”?

     

    old, failed DeSantis merch, the brand of diapers Donald uses or branding for the boxes of classified materials trump hauls around?

  85. 85.

    MisterForkbeard

    @marklar: The problem I have is that I’m not sure what Victory for the Palestinian Resistance would look like.

    1. Stopping the conflict? That’s a cease-fire right there
    2. Gaining independence? This is not happening right now. Are they advocating continuing active warfighting for that?
    3.  “From the River to the Sea”? Let’s avoid more genocide and senseless killing, thanks

    The problem is that I don’t really understand what the immediate goal is, and I don’t think they do either. At least, not in a way that can actually be accomplished.

  86. 86.

    prostratedragon

    @CaseyL:  They intend others this week. There are two public parks near the United Center set up to accomodate them, one which will have a stage. There’s also a parade route for a march through that neighborhood.

  88. 88.

    CaseyL

    @prostratedragon:

    Then maybe they’ll get their huge turnout Thursday, when Harris and Walz are on site.  If I were going for media exposure, I’d prefer a big turnout Thursday than today.

  89. 89.

    brantl

    @twbrandt: I expect she will state legal action post haste, and will pursue it with all appropriate speed, and more importantly, publicity.

  90. 90.

    Anoniminous

    @CaseyL:

    The last time a bunch of fat fucks from the Midwest came to protect the  New Mexico border  they bailed after three days.  Turns out there isn’t a 7-11 on every corner and they forgot to bring things like …. WATER!  Just slipped their itty bitty little brains that a desert doesn’t rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, ponds, & etc. every mile or so.

  92. 92.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @JML: there’s way too many people supporting the Palestinians that ignore Hamas as if they’re not horrific.

    That you didn’t assert that people supporting Palestine likewise support Hamas makes you better than 90 percent of people on this issue.

    If you’re looking for a reason for people dismissing Hamas, though, it could have to do with the broad cultural tendency to accuse supporters of Palestine with supporting Hamas.  The relative capabilities of Hamas come into play in this discussion as well.

    Maybe if Hamas weren’t an excuse to dehumanize Palestinians as a whole (i.e. those civilians are human shields, no more worth preserving than plate metal), if they weren’t treated as an absolute excuse for whatever atrocity is committed against the Palestinian population, maybe if YOU and others like you took Hamas seriously, the pro-Palestinian side would be more willing to engage in discussions about Hamas’s role in ending this.

  93. 93.

    K-Mo

    So they held their rally amid boxes of industrial strength waste treatment solvents?

    We’re past the Spinal Tap stage and into I don’t know what…

  95. 95.

    Michael Bersin

    @Geminid:

    30 delegates out of a total close to 3900.

    Gee, how does that representative Democracy thing work?

    Before the 2000 DNC in LA delegates kept getting mailings and phone calls funded by a delusional nutcase breathlessly promoting a delegate floor fight. Yeah, right, nothing of the sort happened.

    But, when you come to think about it, a 4000 piece mailing doesn’t cost that much…

  96. 96.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Michael Bersin: 30 delegates out of a total close to 3900.

    Gee, how does that representative Democracy thing work?

    Well, that’s still more than Dean Phillips got.

    He was the proxy for “Biden is old” and boy did that point of view hold a lot more sway than voting suggested…

  97. 97.

    Geminid

    @CaseyL: I suspect the protesters will not get much of a turnout Thursday, at least not anywhere close to huge. One striking (to me) aspect of this movement has been its inability to mobilize the many other millions of Americans who are appalled by the bloodshed and destruction in Gaza. Whatever the reasons, this movement has been a failure in that respect.

  98. 98.

    CaseyL

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:

    The problem with Phillips was, the corrollary was “…and so, nominate me instead!”

    @Geminid: Maybe because many of those millions – besides not being in a position to leave their homes, families, and jobs for a week – also realize that massive protests screaming “Genocide Joe” or calling the Democratic Presidential nominee “Killer Kamala” will do absolutely zilch, nada, not even a nano-particle, of good for Gazans.

  102. 102.

    tam1MI

    @CaseyL:

    What were they basing their numbers on?  Online RSVPs?

    Sounds like the “Freedom Convoy” of trucks a couple years ago…or the big “Vigilante at the Border” convoy more recently: many people say they’ll participate, but when it’s time to actually show up…. “oops, forgot I had an appointment to wash my hair.”

    They made the classic mistake of counting “Maybe” as “Yes”.

  105. 105.

    Steve LaBonne

    @Geminid: I am one of those millions. I want the killing to stop right now. I want much more pressure put on Israel to stop land theft and settler / IDF violence on the West Bank. But I also know that half of the world’s Jews live in Israel so “from the river to the sea” is not a position I am ever going to support.

  106. 106.

    lowtechcyclist

    @p.a.:

    NOT Photoshop?!?!?!

    I’d want some independent verification that that was real. “This just popped up on BlueSky” is a bit weak AFAIAC.​ It’s certainly pinged my too-good-to-be-true-ometer.

  107. 107.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Geminid: It’s especially glaring compared to the huge and constant protests in Tel-Aviv.  I don’t think the Gaza protests in the US ever came anywhere near the size or widespread nature of Black Lives Matter rallies/marches (especially in 2020) and not even a fraction of the size of the Women’s March.  The Gaza protests have always been a niche interest that the bored media and Republicans enjoyed amplifying for Dems-In-Disarray storylines and the very-online Left amplified in order to bash Biden.  Much of the air has come out of the tires of the “movement” for a whole host of reasons.  People have moved on to other things.

  108. 108.

    Geminid

    @Michael Bersin: Now you send out an email blast I guess.

    But I am interested to see how this works out. Last night I happened to run into an Al Arabiya* article about the Uncommitted effort, and it sounded like they intended to take a stand but not start a bitter fight.

    *Al Arabiya is the Saudi version of Al Jazeera.The Saudi government controls AlArabia, and the Qatari government  controls Al Jazeera.

    Saudi Arabia has played an important role in this war since it began October 7, and Al Arabiya’s reporting has been important on that account. And like every big news site in the Middle East, they report on American politics, hence the article on the convention and the Uncommitteds.

  110. 110.

    JiveTurkin

    @UncleEbeneezer: Is “movement” like a John McCain air quote thing?  You are right in that people moved on to other things.  The rape of a detainee by Israeli soldiers barely made the news last week.  Most Israelis polled don’t think the soldiers shouldn’t be punished, and they will probably get a slap on the wrist at most.  I  guess Hamas forced the soldiers to rape that detainee.

  111. 111.

    Steve LaBonne

    @UncleEbeneezer: Several stories I’ve read indicate that people there specifically to protest about Gaza might not even be a majority of the anemic crowd- there are plenty of “leftists” of the Stein voter variety who as usual are pushing all sorts of progressive issues that Democrats actually support and Republicans decidedly do not. Very unimpressive all around and certainly not impactful.

  113. 113.

    Geminid

    @JiveTurkin: The rape case was reported fairly widely at the time, as was the invasion of the military base by supporters of the accused soldiers. It was a obviously a very big story in Israel in particular at the time, which was two weeks ago I think.

    Last I checked 5 of the 9 soldiers initially arrested are still being held by IDF authorities.

  117. 117.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @twbrandt: I should probably keep up with Patently-O and IP Watchdog (specialized IP blogs) to see what they have to say about it (although Gene Quinn at IP Watchdog is a lot more Republican, and reading the comments at Patently-O is generally a bad idea). It might even make it to IAM-media.com (which tends to be subscription only once I click through to the articles).

Comments are closed.