Least surprising headline ever. https://t.co/m7cqJKwOmN
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 20, 2024
That he stayed in until it was clear he was hurting Trump instead of Harris tells you that this was a ratfuck operation.
More importantly, it was a failed ratfuck operation. https://t.co/HIlK388PwU
— zeddy (@Zeddary) August 21, 2024
Per ABC News, “RFK Jr. expected to drop out of race by end of week, plans to endorse Trump: Sources”:
… Sources tell ABC News that Kennedy plans to endorse Donald Trump — but when asked directly by ABC News if he will be endorsing the former president, Kennedy said, “I will not confirm or deny that.”
“We are not talking about any of that,” he said.
Sources cautioned the decision is not yet finalized and could still change, with one source adding that Kennedy’s hope is, in part, to finalize things quickly in order to try to blunt momentum from the Democratic National Convention.
One possible scenario being discussed is for Kennedy to appear on stage with Trump at an event in Phoenix on Friday, though the sources cautioned that Kennedy’s thinking could always change and sources close to Trump say no plan for Friday is finalized…
A spokesperson for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kennedy’s running mate Nicole Shanahan — who in a podcast interview published Tuesday said Kennedy was considering a move to “join forces” with Trump — told ABC News Wednesday that the choice is “Bobby’s decision” and that he has her “full support.”
Of the campaign’s discussions with Trump’s team, she said, “All we can do is gauge sincerity, and we’re gauging sincerity from Donald Trump.”…
For weeks, Kennedy, buried under an avalanche of lawsuits brought by Democratic groups challenging his place on state ballots, has accused Democrats of acting undemocratically by trying to strip his supporters of the opportunity to vote for him.
Shanahan on Wednesday said, “We’re getting prosecuted politically right now. This is not normal for democracy.”
Nicole Shanahan admits the sunk costs are not in her favor:
RFK Jr’s running mate says he may drop out and endorse Trump now since they aren’t sure if they can get 5% of the vote, and most of their supporters would be Trump voters so if he stays in he is worried he might hurt Trump. pic.twitter.com/OrC1ZFoPEG
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 20, 2024
Good jest, but while Trump will probably taunt Vance with replacing him, I can’t imagine him sharing a stage with another narcissistic egomaniac…
Anybody want to give me odds that JDV is out and RFK is the running mate by Election Day? https://t.co/ovzgrAVvDX
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) August 21, 2024
So what happens if Kennedy backs Trump? Probably not a lot: Outsider candidate supporters are likely to simply not vote and Kennedy doesn’t have much support in the first place. https://t.co/mlnGbWbijA
— Philip Bump (@pbump) August 21, 2024
… Harris has a three-point edge over Trump among registered voters when Kennedy is included — and a four-point edge when it’s just her against Trump. Our poll included a small number of Kennedy supporters (again, because he doesn’t have that much support) but they were more likely to view Harris favorably (29 percent) than Trump (15 percent). They were also more likely to view Trump strongly unfavorably; 41 percent did.
What many of them might do, then, is simply stay home. If you are supporting Kennedy in part because you don’t like Harris or Trump, perhaps you will be compelled by Trump’s promise to include Kennedy in his Cabinet or give him some government position where he can do whatever it is he thinks needs to be done. Or maybe you’ll just make a sound of frustration and write the whole thing off. That’s one of the challenges of being the outsider candidate: Moving to the inside isn’t necessarily what your supporters want to see.
Perhaps the most important point of consideration here, again, is that there simply aren’t that many Kennedy supporters. If Trump picks up fully half of them, it adds a few points to his national support and, according to 538’s average, still has him trailing Harris. Making the announcement Friday might be an effort to step on any improvement Harris sees from the convention but, it’s not as though Kennedy has a big base or is viewed with broad favorability by Americans. (Among those with an opinion, he’s viewed more negatively than positively by a six-point margin in 538’s average.)
At the end of the day, it would still be a good move for Kennedy. How good a move it might be for Trump remains to be seen.
He’s an even bigger phony than Trump. Trump calls him & offers him Cabinet position if he will drop out. The tape is made public. Then he tries Harris & is told to take a hike. Now he’s back trying to make a deal with Trump. They are both liars & con artists. This was all an op. pic.twitter.com/98rHdQcXz0
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 20, 2024
Hard cheese for the minor parties who made the mistake of throwing their bets on RatF*cKer Jr, though…
Instead of a well-known candidate who likely gets enough votes to keep their ballot status, they get nothing – could wipe out a couple minor parties.
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) August 21, 2024
The replies to this are even more nuts, if that’s even possible. https://t.co/i7buNU7oGc
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) August 22, 2024
Yup, that’s former Trump official & current QAnon spokesperson Mike Flynn on the left, and self-proclaimed GOP ratf*cker Roger Stone on the right…
I, for one, never saw this turn of events coming. pic.twitter.com/M98FvHPek7
— Damin Toell (@damintoell) August 21, 2024
David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch
Which nation?
Fair Economist
Anybody asked RFK or Shanahan the obvious question: Why didn’t you say you were running to help Trump win?
OzarkHillbilly
I can’t wait for rump to voice this.
SpaceUnit
Rat swan dives off the Titanic to an audience of four.
The Thin Black Duke
Please tell me that You Know Who won’t derail this post.
David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch
Scamalot! Scamalot!
I know it gives a person pause,
But in Scamalot, Scamalot
Those are the “legal” laws.
VeniceRiley
Wiping out the Natural Law party is a good stretch goal!
David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch
@VeniceRiley:
natural selection
OzarkHillbilly
Off topic, but sometimes words fail me:
Ummmmm… Yeah. That’s what I said.
Baud
@The Thin Black Duke:
I’m here, mofo. Deal with it.
Splitting Image
It’s probably too important for the Democrats to deliver an absolute curbstomping if they possibly can, but otherwise I’d be pleased as punch to have the election come down to a handful of votes in one single state that Kennedy got himself on the ballot for, and have him pull just enough votes from Trump to give the election to Harris.
It would be beautiful.
The Thin Black Duke
@Baud: You don’t derail, Baud. You’re the pantless conductor of The Little Engine That Could.
JoyceH
The RFK JR endorsement would be a great demonstration of the Republican Big Tent. They’ve got everyone from the Nazi crackpots to the antivax crackpots to the loony conspiracy crackpots. So inclusive!
p.a.
Well he’s finally found his way home, with the Rethugs: he is, after all, weird.
brantl
The Jr. stands for Junior republican.
OzarkHillbilly
@The Thin Black Duke: If at first he doesn’t succeed, he’ll just try try again.
Suzanne
LOLOLOL brainworms is such a grifting piece of shit. Just go be old and weird at home, man. The rest of us don’t need to give you an audience.
Trying to understand Nicole Shanahan’s game, though. What’s in it for her? How is she profiting from this grift?
BWAAAAAAAHAHAHAAAHAAAAA get bent motherfuckers
satby
Had to laugh that anyone thought the Kennedy name would magically take voters away from the Democratic ticket just by running third party. JFK died 61 years ago, his brother RFK 56 years ago. And even Ted, who was a power mainly in his home state, has been gone 15 years. The ratfuckers who thought running a Kennedy would hurt the party are stuck so far in the past most voters weren’t even born then.
Rusty
@Suzanne: I saw on another thread that she wants to run for governor of California and this helped raise her name recognition and profile. I guess she will be more recognized, but for all the wrong reasons! If the tech bros can’t have the presidency, they want to at least control California.
mrmoshpotato
I hope his dad beats the shit out of him.
Baud
@The Thin Black Duke:
I’m gonna steal that for my campaign.
Jay
@JoyceH:
Don’t forget the QAnon crackpots,…..
satby
Also loved this piece by Thomas Zimmer: “What is “weird” and what is “normal” in America?
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
This is more in line with my outlook.
https://youtu.be/qtjqh6IpIbU
OzarkHillbilly
GD day. Have a good day to all.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Your day will be better than mine.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: have fun with the littles!
TBone
I really enjoyed Geoff Duncan last night. I hope his impact reaches out and touches some of his ilk and inspires them. I saw my first Anti-Trump Republican campaign sign in my neighborhood this week. 💙🇺🇸❤️
https://uw-media.usatoday.com/embed/video/74897388007
Barney
Among the replies to Trump Jr’s cocaine vision of “RFK for CIA Director” was “Michael Flynn for Secretary of Accountability”. Now we’re getting into the real Orwellian stuff.
You know Flynn would be, in that position, accountable to no one – he has far more rat-like cunning than Trump, and would run rings around him, even if Trump felt he was getting too well-known. And you know that “accountability” would consist of arbitrary acts against anyone who Flynn and Putin doesn’t like – might be arrests, but could also be financial, or tying them up in court and “hearings”. Think of a Beria for the 21st century, just slightly more subtle.
Baud
Bill Clinton’s speech is pretty good. Watching it now.
Different from the barn burner speeches, but effective.
TBone
@Baud: I liked it too.
TBone
Mood music 🇺🇸
https://youtu.be/Ueivjr3f8xg
The Thin Black Duke
@TBone: I thought this could be Kamala’s theme song.
Baud
Via reddit, cool picture.
TBone
@The Thin Black Duke: 💙😍
My newest meme is a woman tied to a stake while the fire starts to leap up. She is leaning over into the flame, lighting the blunt hanging from her lips.
MagdaInBlack
After seeing others comment, I just watched Gus Walz cheering “That’s my dad!” and even my freon pump of a heart got a little weepy.
Tony Jay
@satby:
In any of the myriad alternate universes where a coalition of Democratic billionaires and their authoritarian German allies recruited a Reagan to ratfuck the Republican ticket, I’m pretty sure there’s not a single Ronny Reagan III (celebrity campaigner for such fringe interests as racial equality and sensible gun laws) who’d have f####d the chicken of credibility with quite the gusto and invention of Rat Fucking Kook III.
Love to see it.
K-Mo
If you were running either campaign and this guy tried to barter his support for a plum job, what would you say? I think my counter offer would be: how bout you promise to go away and not come back and we’ll put in a good word for you at the Dunkin’ on the Pike in Springfield?
TBone
@K-Mo: are you a DelConian? Dunkin’ on the Pike in Springfield could be anywhere but it’s a very DelCo reference.
https://locations.dunkindonuts.com/en/pa/springfield/100-baltimore-pike/300581
lowtechcyclist
@JoyceH:
Just had to see this one more time. The perfect encapsulation of today’s GQP!
TS
@Baud:
Good comment about Harris having 3 first ladies speak & trump had none, despite one is his wife.
M31
and the raw milk crazies and the Qanon crazies and the
Liminal Owl
@OzarkHillbilly: O.M.G. (Words fail me, too.)
K-Mo
@TBone: Lol you’re right – there must be a lot of Pikes in a lot of Springfields with a lot of Dunkin’s. I was trying to send him back to Massachusetts but I guess he’s actually an LA guy.
I’m not from DelCo but that address is very on point (go Os!).
lowtechcyclist
@Jay:
I’m pretty sure QAnon qualifies as a loony conspiracy.
TBone
@K-Mo: big country in a small world! Nice to know ya 😊
K-Mo
@TBone: Back atcha!
TBone
’tis a wonderful morning! One of the semi feral cats who moved out of my neighbor’s house when they got a big, cat-eating doberman has finally reappeared! We thought he was a goner. Hubby has been placing cat food out in our shed regardless, every day. Today, Tux finally showed his face and he looks healthy! We haven’t seen him since January. WELCOME BACK, TUX!
Shalimar
@David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch: Would be funny if networks only broadcast Kennedy’s address to the 5% of people who care.
3Sice
No Yeezy this time ’round?
I guess they’ve got Brother West, but that’s a different slice of the margins…
This is the fundamental problem with turning the party over to the dirty tricksters. Ratfucking is a campaign tactic, not a campaign strategy.
Shalimar
@satby: Fun fact: Joe Biden, who I am told is ancient, was too young to vote for JFK in 1960.
MomSense
My Aunt is coming to visit today. Got half of the crap trees and such out of the yard yesterday so she can see what I’m dealing with. Going to make some yummy vegan food and get her thoughts on what to do. She is coming a day early because my stepmom needs help on saturday and I’m bummed about that. The kids are all coming on Saturday and she will miss them.
The yard has a lot of potential but it will be a loooong term project. I have too much going on inside and being a no pay CNA, cook and cleaning person for my mom when I’m not at work. Early mornings and late nights. Definitely burning the candle at both ends.
Last night was great. Loved seeing the coach, his family and his former players. It’s good to feel good about our politics.
TBone
@TBone: 😍🎶🥰
😸
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=humDgJ-SmHI
zhena gogolia
@Baud: I thought it was masterly.
zhena gogolia
@TBone: He was great.
TBone
Trump Denouement Syndrome: activated! 😆🔥
https://digbysblog.net/2024/08/21/the-billionaire-vs-the-billionaire/
TBone
@zhena gogolia: courageous!
mrmoshpotato
@Suzanne: I can’t put it better. Bravo! And fuck off RFK Jr! You have done your father a disgrace!
3Sice
There is a puritanical chunk of the progressive-sphere that will go to their graves hating on Slick Willie, but he was very well received by the room.
Heed his warning about it being a rough business, and stop internalizing every hatchet piece that hits the
hallowedhollowed FTFNYT.3Sice
Thee end of Camelot!
No one will shed a single, solitary tear.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
Not gonna lie, if I look at Clinton’s Presidency strictly in terms of policy decisions, there isn’t a lot for me to love there.
However, recognizing that he showed up on the heels of Reagan/Bush and the politics at the time, I can certainly appreciate the Clintons. They helped further the inclusive attitudes of our modern party. And after Reagan dragged the country into La La Land, I can think of Bill Clinton’s Presidency as the scaffolding for the bridge that might finally, now, be bringing us back to reality.
ETA: Important to add, I have never seen the man give a bad speech; packed full of facts and arguments, but never boring. It was also obvious watching him in ’16; despite whatever troubles, he loves Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Baud
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation:
Most progressive tax hikes. HIPAA.
Those two things come to mind. Maybe there are others, but he only had two years before having to deal with the Gingrich Congress.
ETA: The crime bill is now derided, but it included the Violence Against Women Act.
TBone
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation: 💙 he was pro-abortion in 1992, way before it was cool.
He had me at “safe and legal.”
Ken
@3Sice: Don’t forget the lucky happenstance that Clinton turned 78 just a few days ago. There was a lot to like about his speech, but the age zinger will probably be among the most-reposted clips.
(We could start a pool about which pundit will tut-tut about discussing the candidates’ age, but the tutting began about six hours after Biden dropped out.)
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
@Baud: @TBone: You’re both right and it’s easy for me to take these things for granted because, in my adult life, I know I can trust Democrats on these types of issues. The Clintons helped build the stalwartly socially progressive Democratic Party we have today.
SFAW
@Baud:
Huh. I thought The Duke was talking about me.
Oh, wait, I forgot: I’m the one who used to vie with JR in WV (may he RIP) to kill threads, not derail them.
Carry on.
RevRick
@TBone: My great aunt and uncle lived in Aldan their whole married lives.
Also, Wawa would like to have a word with you.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
She bought a lucky ticket in the Silicon Valley lottery and now thinks she is smartest person in the room.
3Sice
The GOP-media complex were straight up crib murdering any liberal candidates that showed out. Hart in ’84, Joe in ’88. Bill and Hillary swam through a cesspool of personal attacks to get over. That’s not nothing.
SFAW
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Well, in fairness, if you put her and RatFucKer Jr in the same room, by themselves, she might be right.
SFAW
@TBone:
There’s probably a Dunkies on the Mass Pike in Springfield, also.
Another Scott
Yet another example of the iron-clad rule in political reporting – the past does not exist.
Time.com (from January 2017):
TheGuardian.com from 2/2018:
[ womp, womp ]
TCFFG will string JFK jr along, and his supporters, but will do absolutely nothing for him as a reward for his groveling. JFK jr won’t be his VP candidate (he’s not as loyal as JV, and TCFFG never makes mistakes), JFK jr won’t be in his cabinet if he (somehow) wins, JFK jr won’t head some sort of blue ribbon commission. It won’t happen. It’s all dominance displays and: “Do what I want and expect nothing in return, because you’ll get nothing in return. I don’t owe anyone anything. I don’t care about you…”
Something something ETTD, dignity wraith, etc.
Cheers,
Scott.
TBone
@RevRick: hello honorary DelConian! Wawa is even making inroads here in central PA on Rte. 15 North. According to a news report, they bought a property (former fireworks outlet taken out by a tornado) on our North end road toward Williamsport and are rebuilding it as we speak! However, a true DelConian knows that Wawa hoagies suck. And my DelCo friends recently told me they tried Wawa pizza 😆 which is truly unworthy. Coffee is their best product!
Suck it, Sheetz!
Matt McIrvin
@3Sice: They’ve moved on to “Obama sucked actually”.
SFAW
@Another Scott:
I thought the blockquoted part from Time was a Tony-Jay-adjacent opus. So I was of course surprised/amazed to see that it wasn’t.
I haven’t read the whole article yet, but I wanted to thank you for the link, because of the Wakefield-debunking therein. [I had seen bits and pieces of debunking before, but this had a lot of them in one place.]
Matt McIrvin
@satby: I think a substantial number of RFK Jr.’s supporters were literally people who thought he was his dead father, or his dead uncle, or possibly his dead cousin (whose miraculous resurrection was a QAnon rumor).
Matt McIrvin
@SFAW: Probably the biggest splash RFK Jr. ever made was when an article of his supporting the Wakefield bullshit and alleging an FDA vaccine conspiracy got printed in Rolling Stone (and, I think, some other place simultaneously, I forget what it was). I remember a lot of my friends taking it seriously and having to do some digging to figure out whether Kennedy actually had anything new there (he didn’t). It’s amazing how mainstream it was. His degree of brain-wormage was not widely known at the time.
In 2008, Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain all felt the need to say things that were not dismissive of antivaxxers, because of this bullshit. It wasn’t a good look for anyone.
RevRick
@Shalimar: In fact, the first time he could vote was for LBJ.
RevRick
@SFAW: My first job was at a Dunkin Donuts three blocks from my home. I cleaned the bathrooms, washed the floors, and swept the parking lot. This was in the day when they had sit-down counter service, using ceramic coffee cups. And a much bigger selection of doughnuts.
RevRick
@TBone: I get my gas, cash and an occasional Ben and Jerry’s from the Wawa a mile down the road. Since there’s a Dunkin a block and a half away, it’s where I get my coffee (usually at the end of my 6000 steps around the neighborhood).
My daughter and her family live in lower Montco, and on her recommendation watched Mare of Easttown.
RevRick
@Matt McIrvin: Growing up in New England I appreciated RFK Jr. for his work providing low cost heating oil to poor New England families in concert with Citgo (the Venezuelan oil company). And then he went off the rails.
satby
@Baud: Also forgotten that at the time black communities were specifically requesting more focus on crime in their areas comparable with the attention paid to preventing crime in white areas. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
Late to this but that was not RFK. That was and is Joe Kennedy II. Father of former Rep. Joe Kennedy III.
Captain C
Junior really needs a better coke dealer.
TBone
@RevRick: I have a recent DelCo Wawa story. As a rule, DelConians generally don’t speak to each other much in the Wawa parking lot. We’re all about TCOB and go. Hubby knows this well but was recently getting gas at one, and a male patron accosted him with conversation, even asking him to roll down his truck window when hubby tried to exit so they could continue to speak. Chatted him up for quite a bit before my handsome hubby realized he was on the receiving end of an attempted pickup. He came home with the guy’s contracting business card, which shows a huge duck billed hasp lock on an old school toolbox.
I can’t believe my hubby was so clueless!
UncleEbeneezer
@RevRick: Man, I miss Wawa. When I lived in PA I used to get their coffee, bagels, sandwiches all the time. And their soft-pretzels were my absolute fave!
UncleEbeneezer
@TBone: Wawa hoagies are good. Not as good as your local hoagie/sub shop obviously, but a perfectly fine alternative when you are in a pinch or want to grab a sandwich while you are getting gas. That’s really the big selling point of Wawa, imo. It offers the best quality sandwich you can get at a convenience store. Most convenience stores don’t even offer fresh sandwiches (only disgusting, packaged ones), let alone ones that are pretty solid.
kindness
Kennedy is an idiot on two counts. 1) that he could ever expect Trump to keep his word and award him any position in a new Trump Administration and 2) that his dropping out would have any impact at all on the national race for the presidency. His ego is bruised that they are a non-entity. Sucks to be a fail-son Kennedy, eh?
Another Scott
@UncleEbeneezer: There was a story on the radio a few days ago about the evolution of gas stations and fast food. Let’s see…
Marketplace.org (from 8/19):
Worth a click. It’s a good piece.
I remember when gas stations gave away books on the space race, and dishes, and glasses, and … Making people have a reason to go to a particular store rather than another makes sense.
Cheers,
Scott.
Paul in KY
@David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch: The one in his head.
Lumpy
Seeing that pic of Kennedy Jr. with Michael Flynn and Roger Stone, I can’t help but think that Stone (a well-known “swinger” as the Olds like to say) has compromising dirt on Kennedy (who apparently was a real party monster for many years).
Paul in KY
@Suzanne: She must be a GQP ratfucker. Maybe gets money from Elon. You know she won’t get shit from TFG!
Uncle Cosmo
I hope his dad tries to backhand him in the puss but only fractures his wrist in the process, and appears at his next hatefest in a goldspray`painted sling. Serve both the mutterflockers (far) right.
Manyakitty
@OzarkHillbilly: I’m sure this is a dead thread, but holy shit.
Matt McIrvin
@RevRick: DIfferent Kennedy. That was Joe II.