It's wrestling. The face (Kamala) has to honor tradition, be a role model for kids and win 'the right way.' The heel (Trump) has to be funny on the mic, keep the drama fresh and win by any means necessary, to include sending a mob of roided up mooks to beat up the ref backstage. https://t.co/rQyhsHpbsM
— zeddy (@Zeddary) September 9, 2024
My concrete prediction for the debate tomorrow is that Harris is going to successfully goad Trump into losing it and saying something truly unhinged https://t.co/yobKeLZxXF
— vituperativeerb (@vituperativeerb) September 10, 2024
Harris trolls Trump on debate day with criticism from inside his administration https://t.co/QOIrOCS8mf
— POLITICO (@politico) September 9, 2024
“If I was a convicted felon, I’d want to cut funding for police too.”
Their social media team is so good!!!! https://t.co/XFl3d5Z0eh
— LadyGrey 🇦🇲🇺🇦🇺🇸 (@TWLadyGrey) September 10, 2024
Just to dip into the muted or unmuted mics for the debate discussion. Biden's team wanted muted mics in large part because Biden has a stammer and Trump exploits it by yammering incoherently over him when he's trying to talk.
— Argella Stone (@argellastone) September 6, 2024
Trump's team are aware that he's mentally completely unfit for office and are desperate to try to conceal it, hence absolutely refusing to budge on muting him when it's her turn to speak.
— Argella Stone (@argellastone) September 6, 2024
EXPECTATIONS HEADING INTO DEBATE:
HARRIS:
– lay out comprehensive, detailed plans
– but avoid coming off too “wonky”
– avoid alienating swing voters
– solve Israel/Palestine (onstage)
– don’t smile much
– don’t frown too muchTRUMP:
– Try not to fling literal human feces— Ben Wexler (@mrbenwexler) September 10, 2024
Journalists are writers.
Writers are addicted to narrative.
Making this a stupid cat fight is fun for them. It creates a narrative that will get attention. Whether it’s true or not. https://t.co/G0mCFNSfkh
— Jon Cryer (@MrJonCryer) September 8, 2024
On The Road – ema – Coney Island Mermaids
WereBear
Must say I saw President Biden give a union speech and he was great. Looked ten years younger, in fact.
I never thought I’d say this, but winning is the only thing. Right now.
Ken
Well if by “goad” you mean “exist as a Black woman”. Being a former prosecutor is just extra lemon juice on the papercut.
Media after expectations are not met: “The feisty and combative Trump seized a dominant position with a display of primal authority that seemingly caught the under-prepared Harris by surprise.”
comrade scotts agenda of rage
It’s ironic, I, political junkie, don’t watch debates so won’t be tuning in tonight.
My wife, political normie, is really looking forward to watching at least the first 15 minutes.
Former prosecutor vs unhinged, mentally unstable white supremacist? I’m betting on the former to have a great night regardless of what the Beltway Media Corpse says tomorrow morning on Totebagger Radio.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@WereBear: Relieving stress can do that to a person. Campaigning is really hard, especially when dealing with someone like the Former Guy, and not Biden’s strength, so I can imagine that it must have been a relief to stop worrying about the campaign and get back to doing things he’s good at, like actually performing the duties of the President.
TS
Why is VP Harris “trolling” trump – people telling the truth about trump are NOT trolls and nor is MVP
Baud
@TS:
Because it’ll be her fault if he loses it.
Baud
@WereBear:
Three large groups I’m interested in this election: workers, young people, women.
WereBear
@Bruce K in ATH-GR: Totally, said to Mr WereBear: “He can’t campaign and President at the same time, and we need him Presidenting. He made the Presidential decision.”
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊
Dorothy A. Winsor
I was sure Biden would triumph over Trump, so I’m making no predictions this time. I’m bad at them.
rikyrah
LarryO went off on the NYT last night👏🏾👏🏾
https://youtu.be/iAqCQf1nBYY
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
WereBear
@Baud: And the women were alredy angry wading into this whole misbegotten clump of history in back in 2016.
The way women in South Korea brought the hammer down on their nation’s backwards attitudes, the 4B movement. It at least reminds me we have improved.
Which is what sets off people like Trump. What, no more automatic servant class?
WereBear
@Dorothy A. Winsor: That’s why we write books. We know how it comes out. 🤣
WereBear
@rikyrah: Good morning.
Baud
@WereBear:
Hope so. As you know, talk is cheap. And the monkey of 2016 is still on our backs until it isn’t.
MattF
@Ken:
“The feisty and combative Trump seized a dominant position with a display of
primalprimate authority that seemingly caught the under-prepared Harris by surprise.”Funny how ultimate TFG expectations always turn to feces-flinging.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Everyone is bad at predictions. Unlike you, most other people refuse to acknowledge it.
Chief Oshkosh
@Baud: I knew you would say that.
Baud
@WereBear:
While I’m not a fan of his work, apparently that’s not true for George R.R. Martin.
SomeRandomGuy
And THANKFULLY, since he can’t bring props….
Mousebumples
Good morning! Got another 25 postcards to Wisconsin for Postcards to Swing States done last night. Up to 145/300. Progress!
Postcards to Voters has addresses for Pat Ryan’s campaign in NY (House), and I think still has addresses for Tony Vargas (NE) and Kristen Mcdonald Rivet (MI).
I’m looking forward to writing during the debate tonight. I’d say 1 postcard per Trump lie… But my hands might not be able to keep up!
Baud
They should change the debate format so that each candidate must take turns giving hugs to ordinary Americans and especially children. That would be more revealing.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Baud:
Better yet, the Orange Fart Cloud would spontaneously combust if he had to do that.
Baud
I for one am looking forward to spending the day tomorrow discussing the nuances of Kamala Harris’s sartorial choices.
Baud
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
“And just like that, in a poof of orange smoke, America’s long national nightmare was over. “
Princess
@Baud: Not to mention her laugh.
WereBear
@Baud: True. I used to love his stuff, but his books ramble around now.
And I’m not a big fantasy fan, for precisely that reason. Fans complain that name recognition keeps the publishers demanding more books in a fantasy series, and it’s hard work to keep summoning the proper enthusiasm.
Big Publishing is not that interested in the new. They would have to sell it, and that’s work.
Star Wars was uneven before Disney got it, but many of the books & TV series delivered with fresh ideas from new writers. It can be done, but he doesn’t have the same narrative drive folding all the pieces together as in his previous work.
WereBear
I predict Trump can’t look directly at her, like she’s the sun. Wait, he stares at the sun.
But he knows MVP is dangerous. I like that. But I can’t sit through the whole thing, which comes on late, doesn’t it?
Trump had all his rallies scheduled for 2 in the afternoon to cook his fans so he won’t be quite so unhinged.
Hoodie
Re that last tweet, journalists are often failed writers, which is why their narratives tend to be insipid. It would be interesting to know how many people actually read their stupid books or buy them simply because they might include some scandalous details, i.e., for no reason relating to the actual skill of the writer.
oldgold
I have at times foolishly felt sorry for Melania.
Now, she has a book coming out – Melania.
To promote her new book, Melania has created a video suggesting that there was a conspiracy involving law enforcement to assassinate her beloved husband.
She is a piece of work.
Another Scott
First question is for VP Harris. Many voters in our polling group discuss presidential rankings. Where do you come down on the question – Donold Turmp – Great President, or Greatest President? You have 60 seconds.
[ groucho-roll-eyes.gif ]
I expect a question to her on her “flip-flopping” on fracking. I expect a question to her on the “disaster” on the withdrawal from Afghanistan. I expect a question on her being the “Border Czar” and the “crisis” there.
IOW, I expect a lot of questions framed from a GQP talking point perspective.
I expect her to do very well in the eyes of the normies. But the press will continue to do their best to make it a horse race.
No matter what happens, we still have to do the work.
Forward!!
Cheers,
Scott.
The Thin Black Duke
@WereBear: Martin was screwed when the TV series caught up with the novels and the showrunners had to figure out what to do afterwards. Harsh as it sounds, I think he doesn’t care about finishing it anymore because Martin is making serious coin doing the prequels. It’s a cautionary tale about what happens when writers become bestselling authors and ignore copyeditors.
Hoodie
@oldgold: Color me unsurprised. Think of the level of depravity it would take to marry that monstrosity.
3Sice
She’s going to wipe the floor with him on policy, gravitas and temperament.
He will be clearly physically and mentally incapable of the work.
Legacy media will both sides it.
WereBear
@oldgold: Perhaps Trump has met his match.
WereBear
@The Thin Black Duke: <cough>Stephen King!<cough>
Love to read his stuff, but when someone makes him polish it up, maybe even CUT, it’s better.
I think Misery is him at his best and it’s the shortest and tightest of his novels. Carrie, his first, was more like that.
Scout211
Missouri’s SOS Jay Ashcroft is trying to remove the abortion rights amendment from the ballot 🤬
I hope their Supreme Court does the right thing today.
waspuppet
@Ken: “She was at times under-prepared, but also at times over-prepared in a way no one likes.”
She will absolutely goad him into saying something racist, although that doesn’t take much goading.
And Trump wants the mikes turned off because he’s not going to stop yammering when Harris is talking; he just doesn’t want anyone to hear it, so she’ll seem distracted and confused. He’s counting on the fact that no one will report that that’s what he’s doing—just like last time. Not that I’m still bitter at our wealthy media class about that or anything.
Ugh. This whole thing is giving me domestic abuse flashbacks. Every single person on both sides knows that one person in this debate has no interest in an adult conversation about the issues at hand. No intention of following any rule other than in an “I’m not TOUCHING you” kind of way. No goal other than to make himself feel better about who he is. And we’re just going to pretend we don’t know that.
Jeffg166
@oldgold:
Melania is a hooker with a heart of lead.
Kay
I always watch debates but I’m skipping this one. I just can’t take part in media demanding substantive answers from Harris while giving Trump a pass. I know I’m stuck with them and their low quality work as a national and political factor I must deal with but they’re not bringing their shitty industry standards into my home. I no longer want to see myself as buying what they’re selling. It’s junk. I won’t even take it for free.
rikyrah
@Scout211:
😡😡😡😡😡😡
Phylllis
@WereBear: Caleb Carr talked about this in his book My Beloved Monster. His idea for a sweeping speculative fiction series was boiled down to The Legend of Broken because his publishers weren’t interested in an epic series.
lowtechcyclist
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
You can come sit by me. My predictometer has been busted since 2015.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
My big concern is all the liberals will lose their shit again like they did with Biden because they won’t get their revenge porn fantasy of Harris humiliating Trump.
Harris needs to get more people to vote blue.
Trump needs to reassure his base he isn’t crazy.
Chief Oshkosh
@waspuppet:
It would be hilarious if she kept murmuring “mushroom dick, tiny hands, puppet, Putin, loser, stinky butt” over and over when it’s Trump’s turn to speak.
Of course, this would be after she starts the whole thing off by saying to the moderates “Excuse me, before we start, can we do anything about that smell? Did someone leave a bathroom door open or something? Could you look into that real quick? Thanks.”
lowtechcyclist
@rikyrah:
Good morning!
Frankensteinbeck
@The Thin Black Duke:
I stopped watching GoT in Season 3 when I realized that Martin had no plan, that everything happening was random, and characters he’d worked to make me invest in died simply because he was bored with them and wanted to move on to a new plot arc.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Jeffg166:
The Slovakian Manikin.
I think BCrack first coined that one.
Spanky
@Jeffg166:
Needs moar toxicity.
Thor Heyerdahl
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
/pedant on
She’s Slovenian
/pedant off
JWR
ICYMI, Jason Stanley, with an all new book and an all new interview:
TS
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I didn’t think Obama could win, so this time around that is helping me think MVP can win.
lowtechcyclist
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Hey, at least our revenge porn fantasy doesn’t involve rounding up 20 million people, throwing them into internment camps, maybe kicking them out of the country, imprisoning all of Trump’s political opponents, and turning women back into household servants.
Matt McIrvin
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Normies are the real target audience of these things. For people who follow politics heavily, the issues and the standard responses are all things we already know about and have well-formed opinions on, and the question of the night is going to be personal and meta stuff, not content: whether somebody stumbles or throws a fit in the way that causes a media shitstorm, and what narratives the talking heads and pundits try to push on us afterward.
zhena gogolia
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I wasn’t sure. I knew about his speech impediment.
I will say that although I am still enraged about how Biden was treated, I was relieved that he would not be endangering his health with campaigning, once the decision was made and Harris was clearly the candidate.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: And Vance and Walz should be asked to go into donut shops.
Another Scott
@oldgold:
Excerpts:
Etc.
Cheers,
Scott.
Steve in the ATL
@oldgold: a former Slovenian hooker with ties to the Russian mafia should have much more interesting—and truthful—stories to tell than that.
zhena gogolia
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: SHE’S SLOVENE NOT SLOVAK!!!!
As a proud Slovak, I have to set the record straight.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Thor Heyerdahl:
Duly noted.
The Slovenian Manikin henceforth!
zhena gogolia
@Thor Heyerdahl: thx
Jeffro
just don’t get Kaine’d, Madame VP…go in knowing trump’s going to lie his ass off non-stop (maybe even say so at the start of the debate?)
mrmoshpotato
What’s the over/under on how long it takes Dump to call Kalama Sleepy Joe?
Kay
@Matt McIrvin:
I think that’s about right.
I usually watch just to try to see what normies might see but I can’t bear the low quality media work anymore. I’m just not subjecting myself to it. I prefer to be a relatively happy person and it’s depressing to listen to the questions.
K-Mo
You got this Kamala! Talk straight to the American people and show ‘‘em what you’ve got.
Dorothy A. Winsor
OT: We’re going shopping for a walker for Mr DAW this afternoon. That feels like a weighty moment in the progression of his Parkinson’s.
On another note, the ebook of Glass Girl is temporarily on sale for $1.99 on Amazon in anticipation of Dragoncraft coming out in a couple of weeks. At least, it should be on sale. Someone on here told me that you can’t get it on certain devices, which sucks.
Matt McIrvin
@TS: I keep remembering how Obama had a rotten first debate against Mitt Romney in 2012 (Romney basically started Gish-Galloping and Obama seemed brought up short, trying to counter all this bullshit out of nowhere), and a lot of Democrats assumed all was lost at that point.
And Obama is a great public speaker and a lawyer. He’s not a prosecutor, though.
(If Trump gets lucky and is perceived as winning this one, he’ll probably just bail on any possible rematch, no second chances.)
Kay
Melania has always been horrible. She’s a birther. That’s all anyone had to know about her character.
Jeffro
also, per that Argella tweet…”not quite a lobotomy patient” is a heck of a sale to be attempting, GOP!
I’m so glad my party has actual principles, standards, and a deep bench. =)
Jeffro
GOP: “we’re the party of meritocracy! provided that it ends up with us rich white guys on top!”
WereBear
@Phylllis: That reminds me. I need to re-read The Alienist :) And explore his work further.
catclub
I am very sure the Harris debate prep had plenty of preparation for the totally off-topic lies that Trump had last time. if trump is the same this time she should handle it well. If he has something substantially different ( I don’t see it, but the future is hard to predict.) then I am not so sure.
Many undecided voters ( as well as many hispanic and black voters) DID think Trump lost that debate all by himself.They did not get heard.
Jeffro
That’s a good plan! I am about to write my 10 per morning in a sec, but I could get ahead tonight if I do them during the debate, too…thanks!
Scout211
This is not accurate. If you have the Amazon app, you can purchase Kindle books on any device. What you cannot do is buy it directly from the Kindle app. You can buy it from the Amazon app and then download it from your Kindle library into the Kindle app. It is easy to do, it just takes a few more steps.
I purchase Kindle books from my phone and iPad all the time. But in the Amazon app, not the Kindle app.
TS
@rikyrah:
My heavens, that was an attack on the NYT
Frankensteinbeck
@Jeffro:
“We make sure we’re on top, and we’re obviously better than those dirty ____!”
That is the actual thought process.
narya
@oldgold: At one point, Quinn Cummings did a detailed and VERY careful post about Mel’s history–things like, “if one were a high-end model, one would have photos like X, they would be updated on the regular to get increasingly high-profile bookings, etc., and . . . her photos are Not That.” It was actually quite interesting–Quinn has the industry experience to provide useful information, and, as noted, she was very careful not to say, “and therefore she is Y or has done Z.”
TBone
@K-Mo: 💙
Jeffro
I hear you. As with all boycotts, they’re more effective if a) you let the organization being boycotted know you’re doing it, and why, and b) try to get others to do the same.
I’m not boycotting but I am going to let ABC News know that I’ll be expecting them to hold the candidates to the same standards/level of questioning.
WereBear
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I put up a repeat reminder on socials. Good luck!
WereBear
@Scout211: I think it’s part of anti-trust. They can’t lock you into certain things.
waspuppet
@rikyrah: It’s particularly galling since we all know that was the NYT’s one “OK we covered it you can’t say we didn’t” piece, and that they will never mention Trump’s rampaging mental and emotional problems, or his plain old proudly aggressive stupidity, ever again.
TS
@Another Scott:
The link above from Lawrence O’Donnell – He says VP Harris will be debating trump and the media. “No-one at the debate from the ABC understands that the US cannot tax other countries, tariffs are paid by the US people” So Kamala will have to contend with their questions that are based on trump’s lies.
SatanicPanic
I might actually watch this debate. Maybe. I hate debates but I love Kamala Harris so I’m still deciding.
Baud
@waspuppet:
Agreed.
TBone
I’m sure this has occurred to everyone but I’m in the midst of housecleaning (what better way to relieve stress) and haven’t caught up here yet. Anyhoo,
Shannon L. Alder
mrmoshpotato
@waspuppet:
This is a great phrase.
Scout211
I thought it was because of the percentage that Apple and google take from in-app purchases but I could be wrong about that.
But I was trying to correct the misperception that you can’t purchase Kindle books from certain devices. It’s not the device but the Kindle app that is the issue. But if you log into the Amazon website through your device browser, you can purchase Kindle books and then download them into your Kindle app.
@Scout211: Correction: Not the Amazon app. Sorry. You have to log into your Amazon account through your browser on your device to the Amazon website and purchase the book there. (Not enough coffee yet this morning).
Belafon
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Not only are we not the targets of the debate, but we are the worst audience for the debate. Our candidate can only lose us.
SatanicPanic
@TBone: “A wise man said don’t argue with fools cause people from a distance can’t tell who’s who “
Jay Z
mrmoshpotato
@SatanicPanic:
What’s your drink of choice to withstand all of the lying and crap that’ll come out of Dump’s fascist face?
Harrison Wesley
Just in time for tonight’s debate, THE product to keep the scene clean and serene! Mike Lindell is offering President Donald Trump a complimentary box of MyDiapers!
TS
@Matt McIrvin:
First set of lies from Romney and instead of picking up on it – Obama rambled on with pure politician talk about the wonder of his policies. We were screaming at the screen, he had a comeback that he completely missed.
When I listened to O’Donnell ranting about Kamala having to debate trump and the media – the next thing he did was ask a Kamala campaign person about it – and the campaign person responded with the same – politician talk on what Kamala is going to do. He had the perfect opening to call out the media working for the benefit of trump (especially the NYT) and blew it completely. I tuned out.
Hoodie
@Matt McIrvin: I’d say the advantage of being a prosecutor is that it’s very goal-oriented – getting a jury to favor your case over the defendant’s when the defendant has some structural advantages due to the presumption of innocence. It’s more about establishing a theory of the case that the jury will buy into so they won’t get sidetracked by tactical skirmishes. She shouldn’t be as vulnerable to getting caught up in pointless arguing with Trump.
Like someone said above, this is to get normies to vote for you. I would bet most of them do not want to vote for Trump but need a viable narrative to get them out to vote for Harris. The goal is making it look like a safe bet to vote for Harris by her looking in control and dominant. That’s what these types of voters tend to want in a president, not particular policy points. Establishing controlled dominance with Trump can be difficult because he’s constantly looking to turn it into a WWE brawl. That turns the normies off both candidates, which hurts Harris more than Trump.
different-church-lady
The editorial cartoonists are doing more journalism than the journalists.
different-church-lady
Putting down my marker: if Harris cleans his clock, it will be “Debates don’t matter.” If Trump merely holds his own it will be “HARRIS IS DOOMED!” Count on it.
Frankensteinbeck
@TS:
What I recall is that Romney’s approach was downright unprecedented at the time. Misleading and dishonest accusations are common enough. Romney just straight up got on stage and said that his policies were the exact opposite of what he had been campaigning on the whole time.
SatanicPanic
Mark Robinson might be an even worse candidate than Kari Lake :
If there’s a gubernatorial debate I would like them to ask – dude what did you do with the pizza while you were in the beat booth?
Kristine
@Phylllis: I hunted for info about the new book and found this interview. I teared up just listening to it. Not sure if I’ll be able to read the book. https://youtu.be/9zqGaXl1Zg0?si=lwUqhFckyhCOLf9T .
narya
@TS: I’m ambivalent about that. Letting O’Donnell do that criticism and continuing to focus on the candidate’s policies might play better than complaining about the media. It’s another opportunity to put out a positive message about what Harris/Walz will do. Also too: TCFG complains about the media incessantly, so it’s a contrast in that sense as well.
Baud
I hope she smiles but not too much.
TBone
@SatanicPanic: that’s what my rose-colored glasses are for 😎
Good one!
TBone
@Harrison Wesley: tee hee
I hope VP Harris remembers to rub some Vicks under her nostrils in advance, I’ll say again. It really helps ward off retching!
SatanicPanic
@different-church-lady: Harris is a phenom and while the media is happy to gripe about not getting an interview or sanewashing rallies the average person won’t see, I think outright gaslighting the millions of people who watched the debate is a bridge too far. If she wins it’ll be because Trump lost his shit and that’ll be the story.
PAM Dirac
@Kay:
I think this is the most sensible approach. The media gets to define their job, but that doesn’t mean any of us have to buy in. I think both Trump and the Very Serious Media People both only have one argument regarding why they should be taken seriously: “Don’t you know who I am?”. I think the best response is what Arthur said to the Black Knight in Monty Python’s Holy Grail: “You’re a looney”.
SatanicPanic
@mrmoshpotato: weed lol
TBone
@SatanicPanic: blech, not enough Vicks on the planet! 😆
Matt McIrvin
@Kay: Just before the Biden-Trump debate I saw someone on Mastodon say something like “Biden can’t catch a break lately, but I have a feeling this debate will be a Jonbar Point” (old science-fiction fandom term for a critical event on which the course of history hinges).
Well, it was, but not in the way he expected.
I spend a lot of time trying to manage my expectations.
TBone
@SatanicPanic: me too with a BIG bag o’ crunchy chips.
mrmoshpotato
@SatanicPanic: Hahaha! Didn’t even cross my mind. Good choice.
TBone
@Jeffg166: 🖤
mrmoshpotato
@TBone: Fritos!
SatanicPanic
@TBone: yeah that guy is now confirmed very gross.
schrodingers_cat
Prediction: Trump is going to say some horrific xenophobic and racist shit. I am expecting some slurs against Indians and black people
And also misogyny will be oozing from every pore of his being.
Will majority of ww still vote for him in 2024 like they did in 2016 and 2020? IDK
Yeah and save those #notallwhitewomen replies. Not all but enough, over 50% nationally
Don’t @me, save that righteous anger for the women (and men) you know who vote for the Orange person, who in a sane world should not have been the nominee of a major party even once, forget 3rd time in a row.
Belafon
@Frankensteinbeck: One of the most interesting things about Adventure Time was that it didn’t actually have an overall point. It went where it wanted to go. The Mushroom War was an explanation for why businessmen were frozen in ice. The entire Ice King/Marceline plot which would lead into Fiona and Cake was Rebekah Sugar writing a small backstory for them, turning the creepy guy into someone seriously complex.
Personally, I only made it about half way through the first Martin book before I got bored.
SatanicPanic
@TBone: mmm yesss
@mrmoshpotato: 😎
Matt McIrvin
@Belafon: Adventure Time was a more sophisticated fantasy epic than 95% of stuff made for adults.
(I often think about a bit from the episode about the Snowpiercer-like train of boss battles: Jake telling Finn “Finn, remember those cookies I made you loved so much? When I made those cookies, I used sooooo much butter! You were just reactin’ to the butter! This whole place is butter!” Situations keep reminding me of it.)
Mousebumples
@Jeffro: you’re welcome! I figure it’ll be good for my nervous energy from media rage! 😂
SatanicPanic
@Matt McIrvin: At times it was one of the most moving and beautiful shows ever produced. I love that show so much
Frankensteinbeck
@Belafon:
Very true. I consider a negative the jankiness caused by it developing a plotline, and then a different plotline, and maybe a third, that the silly comedy it started with wasn’t intended to have. Those plotlines did turn out to be absolutely fantastic. They were suddenly added, not meandering. They were also deep and celebratory of the characters, truly moving. Marceline and Ice King’s song about his memory made me cry.
TBone
@mrmoshpotato: on a shopping trip for picnic at lake day recently, I succumbed to nostalgia and bought a box of Bugles. I discovered that I no longer like them AT ALL (they taste like Fritos but the texture was gross). However, Munchos are still a delicious cross between Fritos and potato chips with an amazing, lightly crisp texture! Yes, I get the munchies. A lot!
Jackie
New Jersey has a new (temp) senator.
Old Man Shadow
Not going to watch. If it goes really well, I’ll see the highlights.
But I expect the worst from our media and I expect even if she does twice as well as Trump, she’ll still be painted as the loser.
And, of course, I remain anxious that all of these new happy, shiny, excited Democratic and swing voters will go back to abandoning us and democracy when the media paints it that way.
TBone
@Jackie: 💙👍
Phylllis
@Kristine: I listened to it as an audio book. It’s lovely and heartbreaking. It comes with a PDF download of photos, and Masha was a beautiful cat.
TS
@narya: It sounded too much like a policy speech when the discussion was no where near related to the Harris policies but rather trump misunderstanding anything about governing and the media completely disregarding that truth. He could have emphasised trumps stupidity if he wanted to stay away from the media, but we all have different ideas as to what the VP & her team should do – this spokesperson sounded not at all like most of the campaign people I have listened to.
I guess we just want them to win every interaction with anyone.
Tony G
Well, I’m confident that Trump will be totally incoherent and unhinged tonight. But about 40% of the electorate will love him anyway.
Harrison Wesley
@TBone: And to think people spent so many years referring to Jonah Goldberg as ‘Doughy Pantload’ when we’ve had the real deal in front of us the whole time….
Belafon
@Frankensteinbeck: And the Cheers opening theme song will get me all sorts of emotional.
TBone
@Harrison Wesley: 😆🤮
catclub
So I wonder if GOP strategists have a new mode for Trump.
catclub
He was that way at the last debate. I say that many undecided voters noticed it, in spite of the overwhelming media response only to Joe Biden.
Sure Lurkalot
Hoping VP Harris will say to the
moderatorsfacilitators, “you gonna let him lie to the American people like that?”I’m sure ABC will give her the opportunity.
You probably don’t mistake me for a political campaign adviser.
narya
@TS: Yeah, and we’re all campaign strategists :-)
I’ve seen him speak before, and he’s always on that particular message. At least for me, I get so anxious when I think seriously about TCFG (or any current R) getting control of anything. The theocratic, nationalistic, authoritarian plans are so horrifying, and they WILL carry out whatever they can.
TBone
Today, we are all Cool Hand Luke (I don’t know why that thought just occurred but I had to share my quirkiness with someone who might get me, maybe)
https://youtu.be/_-0BCUPM4tk
Tony G
@Old Man Shadow: Yup. And plenty of “leftists” will stay home (or vote for Jill Stein) because the Democratic Party is EVIL. But probably not more this year than in 2020 or 2016.
Parfigliano
@Steve in the ATL: Who says Melania is a “former” hooker.
Sean
I don’t know if I will watch, I have enough anxiety. I will say, this trope that she will goad Trump into saying something crazy and everyone will finally see he’s lost it or dementia addled or whatever, is such tired wishcasting.
He’s said on tape that he grabs women without their consent, has been found liable for exactly that, and further cemented that with his rape “chosen one” remarks the other day. He’s been quoted as calling KH a “nasty bitch” already. He’s been proudly proclaiming he’ll round up tens of millions of immigrants in a “bloody” purge. He’s quoted as saying “We should just kill them all” in regard to immigrants. He congratulated Putin when we got those hostages back. He said he wants to bomb Mexico. That’s just to name a few.
What in the living fuck is left for him to say on stage? He’s a known commodity. He says insane shit literally every minute of the day. 46-47% of voters are voting for him anyway. No matter what he says, it isn’t going to change his trajectory.
This debate is about shining through as a solid alternative to the very few persuadable voters left (and ginning up base turnout). Harris can definitely do that, and I hope we get to see her really sell her skillset tonight. The contrast will be extreme to people who say they are still unfamiliar with her in the general sense. Any pre debate goading is about making and keeping him mad, imo, not about getting him to say crazy stuff. Mad/Rude Trump in 2020 did more damage to himself than Hannibal Lecter Trump ever did. He’s gonna say crazy shit no matter what.
Anyway
I’ve never cared for wrestling and hate how many wresting terms and analogies have crept into the mainstream since 2015-16. Blech.
Matt McIrvin
@Tony G: The horseshoe-left saboteur vote is going to be way smaller than in 2016. That was specifically about Hillary Clinton in a way that was pretty much sui generis. There had been decades of hate propaganda specifically about her that our left had osmotically absorbed and reinterpreted in their own way.
There were also a lot of hard-to-classify fash-curious guys that got lumped in with the “left” in the 2000s because they’d opposed Bush, and in 2016, the actual left didn’t 100% realize what they were yet.
This year, while a lot of Democrats were personally dissatisfied with Biden, there wasn’t a major primary campaign against him that got any traction, and the opposition there was was to his right, not to his left. So Harris inherited a unified party that was more personally enthusiastic about her and already supported her policies. There’s dissent over Israel/Palestine but it never coalesced behind a candidate, in fact it seemed to specifically avoid that.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Chief Oshkosh: One of the weirdest moments for me of the weird debates with Hillary was when she was late getting back from the bio break because the bathrooms were inconveniently located or the break wasn’t long enough or something.
He was honestly stunned and disgusted that a woman urinated. That didn’t happen in his universe. This is a guy who has ostensibly been married to human females.
I may be wrong, but I think I once heard there’s audio of him talking to Howard Stern and swearing that his wife does not poop. Ever.
Sure Lurkalot
@Sean:
Yep, tell it. Also, the media will do a clean up on Aisle 10 probably before the debate is over.
As for Melania, why doesn’t the media ask why she hasn’t been anywhere near her beloved, almost assassinated husband in years? Put a camera in her fixed face and ask her what her plans are for her second stint as First Lady?
TS
@narya:
I can’t believe the polls are so close, but I also can’t believe they are completely wrong. And our world will change if trump wins – the pacific will be open to the whoever wants to go there and Europe open to Russia. The anti-Ukraine lobby has been strong, not surprising to learn who has been driving it – but if trump wins so do they.
Kamala has improved over Biden & we just have to hope that continues in the same direction. Most of the anti trump pundits think it will – the MSM not so much.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Parfigliano: Ahem. That’s an insult to honest sex workers. I think a better term might be “mercenary”.
Another Scott
@TS:
Yup. Polling these days is hard, but good pollsters aren’t stupid.
The question, as always but especially these days, is whether the sample is representative and what the turnout model is. We all know that the polling was crap in Kansas on the abortion issue (Close! Restriction Ahead with 2 weeks to go! vs 20 point blowout for Abortion Rights!!). We won’t know until after the fact whether the polling is better this time around.
Ultimately, polls don’t vote. We need to do the work to get every gettable vote.
Forward!!
Cheers,
Scott.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
@WereBear:
Just to chime in, the thing about GRRM, is that until he began writing the ASOIAF series, he had never really written long-form fiction like that. He was primarily known for his short stories, novellas, and his script work when he worked in Hollywood. He got derailed along the way and now has written himself into a corner for a variety of reasons. He’s said for the past 12 years that the next book in the series, “was his top priority”, yet worked on literally everything else and let the tv show finish his own story for him.
The worst part was how led his fans on for years, perhaps lying to himself too that he would finish the book, missing deadline after deadline.
I don’t particularly care for him as a person myself. He’s kept people around like Elio and Linda in his inner circle for years and his hosting of the 2020 WorldCon was pretty bad where he butchered the names of POC writers in a prerecorded segment announcing award winners, where he had all the time in the world to make sure he got them right. There isn’t much excuse for that, and is emblematic of his big ego since GOT became big in pop culture imo
Ken B
@Mousebumples: Uh, you’ve only got 155 postcards…
The Pale Scot
@rikyrah:
Don’t tax me. Don’t tax thee. Tax that man behind that tree
Frankensteinbeck
@Sean:
You would think that, but media sane-washing works. A whole lot of people do not know what he’s like, and/or have convinced themselves that he really can’t be as bad as they remember. They have to hear him in person, unfiltered, to find out that he’s not eccentric or combative and he’s not laying out economic policy, he’s Hitler.
Raoul Paste
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: “ saying his wife does not poop. Ever”
So he says his wife is full of shit? Not much of a gentleman, is he?
catclub
Although, I just saw a WAPO opinion headline that was almost a reprint from 2016. “Harris the Foreign policy hawk.”
zhena gogolia
@different-church-lady: Absolutely. Do you remember the day of the Biden debate, all the blase people who were saying exactly that, that debates don’t matter?
Anyway
Yep – look at the “election police” storming into peoples’ homes in Texas and Florida.
zhena gogolia
@Old Man Shadow: I share your anxiety.
SatanicPanic
@Frankensteinbeck: This is true. The media really doesn’t give us unfiltered Trump very often, and no one besides the most brain dead (and political junkies) watch his rallies.
And it’ll be pretty dismaying for a lot of people on the right if he gets his ass handed to him. A lot of Trump’s appeal is his bullying, and if he fails at that it’s going to cost him a bit.
Booger
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Should GRRM get credit for incubating “James S.A. Corey,” parents of The Expanse?
andy
@zhena gogolia: as a proud Slovene, we don’t want to claim her, either.
OId Man Shadow
@Tony G: Those “leftists” never worry me because they were never going to vote for the Democrats anyway.
The people who scare me are the Democrats and Independents who were really to flush democracy and the Constitution and America down the toilet five weeks ago because “gross… old” who are now on the Harris bandwagon.
I don’t trust fickle, unfaithful people who vote on vibes instead of principles. All it takes is a new shinier vibe to come along and tempt them away.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@zhena gogolia:
It was a pretty bad debate performance, even if for only the first 20 minutes, that unfortunately solidified people’s perceptions of Biden. I think Harris will do fine
zhena gogolia
@andy: Hahaha, I hear you.
zhena gogolia
@OId Man Shadow: You and I are on the same page.
zhena gogolia
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): What if she has a cold and her voice is hoarse?
Ksmiami
The fact that it’s even close tells you how shitty this country is. Seriously, if Trump manages to get in again, I hope his followers suffer
Soprano2
@oldgold: In the “This American Life” podcast that discussed what TCFG’s retribution might actually look like, Stephanie Grisham said she was more afraid of Melania’s revenge than TCFG’s.
Soprano2
It seems to me that almost all of the debate questions are framed from a Republican talking point perspective. I’m hopeful they’ll ask TCFG something about January 6th, or about accepting the results of the election, or perhaps about why should people vote for a man who was convicted of 34 felonies.
Soprano2
@Scout211: I think this whole thing was a cute setup by the Republicans, who thought they could pull this off at the last minute. I’m also hopeful that the state Supreme Court does the right thing. The whole Limbaugh ruling (yes, he’s part of that family) was bullshit.
narya
@Booger: I’d say no, in part because I’d read other stuff that half of that twosome wrote (Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet in particular, and then the Dagger and Coin series), but you may know something I don’t.
Soprano2
@Kay: I watch only because I want to know for myself what happened rather than depending on sound bites the press chooses to share.
OId Man Shadow
@Soprano2: That would be very impolite, so I doubt they’ll touch on any of those topics.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Parfigliano:
Nominated!
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Soprano2:
I could see her asking for her own secret police force.
And getting it.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@zhena gogolia:
Well, I don’t think people will think of her in the same was as they did Biden
geg6
@different-church-lady:
THIS.
Geminid
@Soprano2: I’ll listen to the first half at least on the radio.
The Pale Scot
@oldgold:
She’s getting some bank for when The Creature known as Trump goes Bankrupt. 40 years or so ago I was watching Rhoda (The Era of Seven Channels), Nancy Walker used a Yiddish term referring to the money she saved from the family budget just in case she got divorced. I’ve never been able to find it. Anyone got a clue?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Booger:
Yeah. I recall the two writers who write under that pen name were his proteges and at least one, Ty Franck, helped moderate Martin’s LiveJournal blog way back when he used that
zhena gogolia
@Ksmiami: The problem is, we all will.
Sean
@Frankensteinbeck: He’s only unfiltered in the debate to the extent people watch. The media is going to sane wash his debate performance the same as his “press conferences.”
Of course, you want people to see what he’s really like, but I don’t think his craziness moves the needle. His demeanor might though.
At any rate, I hope KH and team have prepared in a way to shine a light on what a great candidate she is. That’s a winning strategy. Her favorables increase the more she is seen, unheard of in this modern era. The more she can take control and contrast her vision vs Trump’s failure, the better. I think winning what’s left is about that, not Trump’s craziness.
Mr. Bemused Senior
While this is, alas, true, recorded video is available for anyone who wants to look for it.
I wish the MSM would do a better job but they are slowly losing their influence as people become aware they can just search online. “Do your own research” has its flaws but that’s the world we’re in.
tam1MI
Me, I am just hoping that she doesn’t come down with a cold…
Ksmiami
@zhena gogolia: we already suffer from Republican and redneck malfeasance.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Scout211: Thanks for the clarification.
We did our first round of walker shopping, hitting Target and Home Depot which have good choices on line but nothing in the store. There’s a walker store (who knew?) which we may hit later. We’ll see. I have a feeling Mr DAW will just order online.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@WereBear: Thank you.
Burrowing Owl
@Dorothy A. Winsor: My parents had good luck finding walkers at thrift stores.
Betty
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Thanks, Dorothy. I bought it and look forward to reading it. The cover for Dragoncraft is very cool.
NotMax
@Dorothy A. Winsor
Not sure exactly how but Mom got one last year (which remains pristine AFAIK) through Medicare. Total out of pocket cost to her was $10. May need a doctor’s recommendation?
Hand delio9vered directly to her door by a healthcare worker who also gave instruction on the proper way to use it.
K-Mo
@Jeffg166:
She’s a skanky schemer who managed to nab a big prize. My hope and my expectation is that she has lived an unhappy life ever since.
Ruckus
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
You made a normal prediction not an SFB prediction. We know he’s human but he’s a very disturbed, incontinent human and that means he’s 2 in a very decrepit adult body and flings poo with his tongue because of where he often/always parks his head.
Ruckus
@MattF:
Funny how ultimate TFG expectations always turn to feces-flinging.
Well when all you’ve got is feces – that’s what you fling.
And that is all he has and all he knows. As it always has been. He was born full of it. And proved it right from the start.
Ruckus
@WereBear:
Which is what sets off people like Trump. What, no more automatic servant class?
He wants to be god. Not king of the world or president of the US. His mush brain tells him he’s the #1 human in all of humanity. He needs to add about 12 zeros after that one to see how far down the lineup he is. So he’s 1,000,000,000,000 down the lineup of human beings. That’s a ways down the list. And I’m being nice here.
Chris T.
@Thor Heyerdahl:
Enh, schlemiel, schlimazel, what’s the diff? (Says someone whose name may be Slovenian and wouldn’t want to be confused with a Slovakian. Although my more-direct ancestry is Irish and German. The name just came along for the ride. Anyway a more-distant ancestor was from somewhere in the Austro-Hungarian empire.)
(Curious: the Firefox spell-check dictionary has “schlemiel” in it but wants to auto-correct “schlimazel” to “schlemiel”!)
Chris T.
@Jeffro:
When they say “meritocracy” what they mean is “we’re on top right now and it’s because we’re better than you”, rather than “we should find out who’s better and set them on top”.
In practice of course, what makes something “better” also often makes it “worse”, depending on context. The whole thing is very tricky.