ETA: Once again, proof that I belong to no organized political blog; I’m Juicer. I swear Betty’s post wasn’t there when I started this, and as usual, I didn’t stop to look before I hit publish. I think I’ll leave this up as (a) an object lesson in attention-must-be-paid and (b) because you can never have too much thread to shower our opponents with disdain.
Apologies to all offended.
So, the Incompressible Jizztrumpet reboot lasted…well, I’m not saying you need femtosecond-accuracy here, but not long, brothers and sisters. Not long.
Yesterday it’s all, “Hey — his economic plan is warmed over ZEGS-gruel, seasoned with some pants on fire, but at least there was no visible froth on his grubby mien.”
Today, having struggled free of the Manafort manacles strapping him to the teleprompter, the Hamster Heedit Bampot went away and boiled his nappy:
“If she gets to pick her judges,” Trump said, “nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is.”
To put that into the plainest of terms: the nominee of one of the two major parties in the United States just said that if his opponent were to win, then she could — and by context, should — face armed rebellion. (ETA: per both comments below and Betty C. before, this could as easily be read as a call for assassination.)
That, my friends, is John Calhoun’s dumber younger brother, up on his hind legs, urging his supporters to follow General Pickett’s division up the ridge, (ETA: or, perhaps, to attempt a little John Wilkes Booth action) in pursuit of the same end as the party of treason sought 150 years ago: the destruction of the American Republic.
It would make me yet more furious, except that it does appear that Trump knows, or embodies his Karl Marx: first time tragedy, second time (tragic) farce.
In any event, we now have yet further proof of the obvious: there is no “presidential” Trump. There is only the same Cheeto-faced, ferret-wearing shitgibbon we’ve come to know and loathe.
Image: Anthony Palamades, An Officer Blowing a Trumpet, first half of the seventeenth century.
cleek
i’m not sure it was “armed rebellion”; to me that read like a call for straight-up assassination.
Jeffro
No he didn’t. That’s not what the Right means by “2nd amendment remedies”. No soft-pedaling this – he’s calling for some nut out there to save him from total humiliation by assassinating Hillary Clinton.
Keith P.
This one is going to be bad for Trump. Really bad. He’s pushed this stuff as far as the media will allow, and now they’re just going to go into a feeding frenzy for whatever he says. This one won’t pressure Trump too much, but it is going to be real, real tough on Paul Ryan et al.
cmorenc
Oh, c’mon Tom, don’t blow Trump’s comments out of proportion. He didn’t threaten to attack her with nukes, did he?
opiejeanne
@Keith P.: Bad for Trump? If only.
Mike J
Trump wants armed insurrection if he loses, but Kissinger has said Clinton was a good Secretary of State. How to decide?
lamh36
Ross Douhat said he’s sure he meant judges…
Folks rightly pointing out…does that make it better?
Jeffro
Both campaigns already out with statements. Clinton’s is short, clear, gives Trump plenty of room to keep the story going from now until the weekend; Trump’s is as you might imagine quite ridiculous. “Those 2nd amendment people – they really know how to organize and vote!” LOL
Keith P.
@opiejeanne: Just watch the news tonight.
Betty Cracker
No worries, Tom — it’s an outrageous enough offense that it deserves to be denounced twice on the same blog! Also, WP very often hides posts in process, particularly if one writer or the other is typing away on a mobile device, so no harm, no foul…
Stan
So are his Secret Service agents supposed to guard him or arrest him? I am really OK with the latter.
Punchy
Tom, no offense, but that’s just a really naive way to read it. It’s a call to peel her cap back. A diet of lead and swiss cheese.
Grotesque, but then again, remember the peddler.
scav
@Jeffro: He left it ambiguous. Through either never being able to finish a sentence or his brain-stem kicking in a self-protection sub-routine, the threat was ambiguous. His Trumpeters could also fan out and start taking out individual judges they disagree with, and they are closer, less protected and come with all sorts of other personal grudges that serve as motivating factors. Sage-brush heroes away.
ETA: Also, that officer with the snazzy horn deserves far better associations.
Tom Levenson
@Betty Cracker: ;-). Come to Balloon Juice — never an outrage shortage!
Jeffro
@scav: What’s not ambiguous is that he’s calling for someone – Clinton or her judicial appointees – to be killed. That’s what a “2nd amendment remedy” is.
This guy is a monster – let’s hear it, Ryan, McConnell, McCain??!?!?
Poopyman
OK, the WaPo is slowly* kicking in to gear. From The Fix:
(It’s only been an hour, so “slowly” may only be relative to a blog.)
Peale
@lamh36: Well, if not to control the out-of-control liberal judiciary, why did the founders bother with the 2nd amendment in the first place. it is truly the 4th branch of government.
Lee
If this place was organized, most of us wouldn’t read it ;)
Mike E
Trump is asking to be yanked from the ticket…that fucker ain’t gonna make it all the way to Nov, izzy? Any of you trolls out there, you speak the lingo; what’s the Donald trying to pull?
Trollhattan
It’s certainly getting notice. Guardian front page.
RaflW
Just coming to this now, and indeed my first take was a call for assassination, though I can see the alternate of armed insurrection.
If those are the two choices from Trump, he’s clearing winning the day in terms of news cycle!
CONGRATULATIONS!
It’s a joke? Fine. EXPLAIN THE FUCKING JOKE. I don’t want him asked anything else by any reporter in the world. It’s a joke? Awesome. EXPLAIN IT, TRUMP.
scav
@Jeffro: Oh definitely. Especially as that idiot has already made comments about judges and their fitness for office. Beyond the usual political mouthpieces, I’d think there needs to be some comments by those more associated with on-the-ground protection of the judiciary. Course, I’ve from Chicago so there’s Judge Joan Lefkow’s family close to hand.
Iowa Old Lady
I’m trying to be really fair here. Before this, he says Clinton would “abolish” the second amendment (don’t get me started on how a president can’t do that), so maybe he’s saying that there’s a way to save the second amendment, ie elect him. He’s freaking me out though.
Trollhattan
@Mike E:
He’s riffing all the damn time, like a really bad Miles Davis on heroin. I doubt this is an (in)artful exit strategy, he’s only happy in front of a pack of yowling boors who appreciate the show.
? Martin
This is definitely winding up. This is going to be a big story, and you’ll see the usual excuses from surrogates, but I don’t think the media is going to tolerate it.
What’s Ryan and McConnell’s statements on whether they think Clinton should be assassinated going to look like? Every downticket Republican is going to have to answer as well, and then reaffirm their endorsement position.
Poopyman
@Mike E: Well this morning I said he’d be gone by Labor Day, but that sumbitch is fast-tracking now.
Yellowdog
@Poopyman: I don’t think they thought it was funny. They were laughing in delightful anticipation.
dmsilev
So much the latest Serious Nominee Now pivot. They last about thirty hours on average, so this one was a bit shorter than most.
Poopyman
@CONGRATULATIONS!: I would rather see him explain it to a judge.
? Martin
@Iowa Old Lady: No, wind the video back a bit. He said that Trump was their only hope to block her USSC nominations, that once she’s president there’s nothing they can do – nothing – except for the 2nd amendment.
It’s VERY clear that he’s referring to remedies once Clinton has been elected. There’s no room for it to be a ‘2nd amendment supporters vote for me’ because you can’t contrast that to ‘vote for me’ or ‘once she’s elected vote for me’. That construction doesn’t make sense.
Pete Downunder
OT – I am reading Hunt for Vulcan. It’s terrific. Well done, Tom.
Poopyman
@Yellowdog: Hope they’re enjoying their 15 minutes.
chopper
Jesus, this fuckin’ guy. at this rate how nasty is the shit he’s going to be barfing out his word hole two months from now.
japa21
He was just joking folks. You know, just like Henry II was joking.
Iowa Old Lady
@? Martin: This guy is sick.
sm*t cl*de
.
Then there are the Medieval marginalia.
Mary G
I see the trickle of Republicans leaving the Trump bandwagon turning into a stampede. This is good news for Darrell Issa’s opponent, Doug Applegate, who I happen to support. The military voters in the district are already very unhappy with Darrell’s support for the Gold Star family insulting cockwobble.
singfoom
What, why get so offended? So the guy suggested that his supporters shoot his opponent if he loses, because they know she can’t win if it’s not rigged. Who hasn’t suggested violence in the place of legitimate political discussion?
What’s wrong with that? I’m sure any journalists covering this story will explain to you that he was just joking. There’s no way he would say something so beyond the pale. (This is not funny)
jl
@Mike E: No one can yank that jackass from the ticket except himself. Maybe if he gets specific enough in his vile incitement or does something that brings a criminal indictment. Or maybe not?
If not, that would usher in a new level of IOKIYAR: He isn’t convicted of incitement to riot and criminal threats, yet, unfair! At least wait until the trial is over!
Maybe balloon-juice could put up a list of GOPer Senators’ contact numbers. The readers could call them and tell their offices how much money they will contribute to their opponents campaigns next election, or the next, unless they disavow Trump.
Tom Levenson
@Pete Downunder: Thanks! Glad you like it.
Keith G
Paraphrasing Axelrod: If he were to purposely try to run his campaign into the ground, he would not be doing anything different.
Trump is such a mess. I wonder if he just made it easier for more GOP officials to walk away. Those whom either have some decency left or do a good job pretending are hopefully moving away from him. His statement is horrifying and it further alienates him from folks he needs to add to his base.
Tom Levenson
@sm*t cl*de: Perfect. Snaffling that away for later use.
scav
@sm*t cl*de: Marginalia!
ETA: Could be the hairpiece to the right as well.
gvg
if he says it was a joke, the reporter should ask him if he would like it if Clinton started making jokes about 2nd amendment solutions to HIM!
1. Assasinate Hillary
2. Armed rebellion
3. Kill judges
None of these are funny.
jl
@singfoom: Hey, let’s not rush to judge poor little Trumpy. I think there is some debate.over he suggested shoot HRC or shoot judges.
? Martin
And even the excuse that it’s a joke doesn’t fly. You tell jokes to find common social ground. The only way the joke works is if it’s a shared sentiment within the social group – something they want to hear but nobody is willing to say. Trump knows this – that’s why he told that joke. So the ‘joke’ is that they want her dead, but they don’t want to admit they want her dead.
Okay then.
And that goes for kill/rape/etc. jokes of all kinds against all persons, btw.
Davis X. Machina
An obvious double standard…
I’m sure Viktor Orbán says things like this all the time, but doe he get into trouble?
MikefromArlington
He’s a male Sarah Palin just less baby Jesus talk
? Martin
@Iowa Old Lady: He always has been. If you grew up in NY like I did, you’d have known that 30 years ago. The rest of the country is getting a crash course – and of course, there’s a sizable fraction of the country that admires that about him.
Mai.naem.mobile
Many many people,not me, are saying Donald Trump is calling for the assasination of a President Hillary Clinton.
lamh36
Of course she would…
misterpuff
Dear Second Amendment People,
Pro Tip: Don’t bring a gun to a drone fight.
/Joke!
LAO
So Charles Pierce got a lot of heat for his stupid Kissinger piece, but this — on Trump’s Second Amendment Solution is pretty spot on. Maybe now he’ll vote for Hillary even if Kissinger endorses her.
Iowa Old Lady
@Mai.naem.mobile: Sad!
singfoom
@jl: Well, as long as there’s a debate. I’m sure our crackerjack media will report the story properly, with something Clinton suggested someone else do as a counterpoint to Drumpf joke-calling for the death of his political opponents. OR give Drumpf the benefit of the doubt that he didn’t really mean what he clearly meant.
I keep thinking we’re through the mirror glass. And then we break through another mirror.
japa21
@Mary G: A statement like this can turn the House around unless many GOP Reps disavow him now, not tomorrow, not next week, now. There is no excuse for even a 24 delay. And if any GOP Rep either doesn’t immediately disavow Trump or waits even 24 hours, they are, in effect, at a minimum condoning what he said, or endorsing what he said. The only reason for a delay is to test the waters, so to speak, to make the most correct response form a political POV. And they should be called on that BS. This isn’t politics when it reaches this point, this is the most obvious case of right and wrong there can be. Any delay means you are wrong.
ETA Disavowal must be of Trump totally and unequivocally. They can’t just say the reject his statement but continue to support him.
MattF
Gah. Drove home from work, made myself an omelet, and ate it for an early dinner. In the meantime, the Republican nominee for President called for the assassination of his opponent. Day in the life.
Gindy51
@? Martin: That’s is the way I read it. He’s calling for killing someone, either the president and/or the judges. If anyone else had said this, they’d be getting visits from the secret service right freaking now.
Jeffro
@lamh36: What slime.
RaflW
Just saw that Carly Fiorina is putting out the word that she wants to head the RNC next cycle.
FSM I hope so!!!
Bobby_D
For once in my life, I was actually left speechless.
Will someone not rid me of this orange menace?
cleek
called the office of Senator Tillis (R-NC) to see what he thought of Trump’s statement, given that it was made in Wilmington NC. the staffer said he hadn’t heard anything about it yet. i explained what Trump said and the staffer sighed a bit and said “this sounds like something that’s going to get a lot of attention, so we’ll probably have a statement in the next couple of days.”
call your congresspeople! put the heat on!
David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch
Pivot!
Mike J
@Pete Downunder:
I just re-read it, and I’ve got one minor gripe. At one point he refers to a scientist as a great physicist and a horrible human being, but never expands on that. If it’s important enough to the story to mention, let us know in what way he’s awful. I can’t remember who it was right now, but I do recall that googling told me he was an anti-Semite. So yes, an awful person, but don’t make me set down my history book to go look up history on an aside. Gimme a footnote or something.
I don’t recall the last book I read that I only had one complaint about.
singfoom
I’ll just leave this here. SAD!
Huffington post goes with “Trump alluded to someone shooting HRC.”
Huffpo Tweet
I think he was a little more explicit than an allusion, but hey, what’s our media for if not giving the benefit of the doubt to people who deserve none of it?
japa21
@cleek: As I mentioned above, a couple days doesn’t cut it. This isn’t the type of thing you have to think over.
dmsilev
@lamh36: So, assuming for the sake of argument that Hillary Clinton is indeed a ‘gun grabber’, what exactly is a ‘2nd Amendment Solution ‘ to that problem?
I’m sure CNN forgot to ask that obvious follow-up.
Poopyman
@LAO: Thanks for this. It gives me a chance to paste Pierce’s quote of Hunter S. Thompson after 1972:
Sadly, I think we still don’t know how low a candidate will go.
Miss Bianca
@sm*t cl*de: and we wondered where Terry Gilliam found insipration for his animated illuminations in Monty Python and the Holy Grail!
(actually, no, we didn’t. One of the things I dig the most about medieval art and writing is that juxtaposition between the sacred and the really profane.) ; )
ruemara
Incompressible Jizztrumpet is now my fave Trump designation. Next to my own “damp, dustbunny covered neonazi Cheeto”.
jimmiraybob
Look at the next line that he delivers to clarify what is being suggested to his audience:
He is not suggesting, as I heard one of his spokeswomen say, that the NRA lobby harder. He is clearly alluding to an assassination.
MattF
@David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch: Ah. Pivoting from pathological narcissism to political assassination. I have to admit, I didn’t think of that.
liberal
Billmon (billmon1 on twitter) just proclaimed the race over because of this.
sm*t cl*de
@ruemara:
Incompressible in the same way that pure random noise cannot be compacted.
Tom Levenson
@Mike J: That was Philipp Lenard, who won the Nobel prize for his observation of the photoelectric effect, which Einstein then went on to explain with the first of his annus mirabilis papers in 1905. He was an anti-Semite, became a Nazi, and led the purge that “purified” German physics of its nasty Jewish taint.
I didn’t go into that story as it derailed the chapter when I tried to do so in draft. I figured I’d just lay down a couple of crumbs and anyone interested (who hadn’t read my Einstein in Berlin) would follow the trail. Which you did! And my thanks.
PS: to be read is an honor. To be reread is as great a compliment as a writer can hope for. So yeah, again, thanks.
Amir Khalid
I’m starting t worry that in 13 weeks, our oddly-haired friend might run out of ways to show his unfitness to be President. But perhaps I’m misunderestimating his creativity yet again.
@RaflW:
If i were a Republican, I would fear for the party. On the other hand, I don’t see Carly wining election to anything now.
Blueskies
@? Martin:
EXACTLY. His statement is that once Hillary is president she will nominate Supremes that will wreck the country and that at that point their only remedy is the 2nd amendment.
Watch the video. The additional context is only the more damning.
scav
They really need to work on their ground game — the comments at the ChiTrib are not rabidly pro-Drump enough: only a single sneer about stair climbing so far.
dmsilev
Trump’s Twitter feed is quiet right now. Should be …interesting to see what happens when he gets his phone back and catches up with the blowback from this eruption.
liberal
@chopper: The circumstantial evidence that he’s a deliberate Clinton plant just meant to fuck up the Republicans is getting stronger every day! :-)
Miss Bianca
@jimmiraybob:
You know..the fact that he had just enough self-awareness to say go on to say *that*…somehow makes it worse for me.
D58826
Saw his defenders on twitter trying to say he meant a voting/NRA lobbing solution. Whatever he meant to say you don’t go within a light year of making a statement like that. Given that:
1. one of his advisers wants to put Hillary in front of a firing squad
2. cops are being ambushed
3. the Bundy crowd is preaching armed insurrection
4. a ‘sovereign citizen’ (just the latest) was busted with a truck full of ammo (including tracer rounds) and guns after staking a police department in Washington
5. Klayman and his Benghazi law suit to prove that Hillary murdered the 4 Americans. i
6. and I could go on.
Several of my relatives on FB hate Obama/Clinton with an incoherent rage. They post conspiracy theories and alleged crimes that are simply and totally unbelievable. These kind of comments are just pouring gasoline on a forest fire and will validate in the min of some nut that he is being a patriotic hero if he takes a shot at Hillary or Obama.
Trollhattan
@RaflW:
Jeez yeah, an exsanguinated harpy will be a PERFECT replacement for Rinse. She has that great gift for one-on-one cajoling.
Betty Cracker
@ruemara:
And you’ve been squirreling that nugget away for yourself? Hold out!
sm*t cl*de
Also on Trump’s eliminationist list of legitimate targets: pollsters.
trnc
The main Google news page finally has this story, although it’s Daily Beast and not MSM. Curious to see whether MSM runs this during the evening news or sweep it under the rug.
Brendancalling
@Keith P.: already on NPR’s ATC.
liberal
@D58826:
Are you F kidding me? What a punch of pussies. It’s clear what he meant.
inventor
@RaflW:
There’s no way Ahura Mazda loves me that much. My mom doesn’t love me that much.
liberal
@Keith P.: agreed, but it’s still not nearly the treatment that a left-winger would get for saying this kind of shit.
gogol's wife
The pussies at the New York Times:
“Trump Rallies Gun Supporters Against Clinton Presidency
By NICK CORASANITI and MAGGIE HABERMAN 18 minutes ago
Donald J. Trump, in emphasizing gun issues and the Supreme Court during a speech, issued what some saw as a threat to Hillary Clinton.”
“Trump Rallies Gun Supporters” — My God.
scav
@gogol’s wife: Two minds with but a single slack jaw.
JPL
So I go offline for awhile, and return to Trump suggesting, someone assassinate the next President of the United States. I expect Trump to address this matter tonight, and tomorrow, and the next day. MSM will be glad to air his comments along with the video.
Amir Khalid
@sm*t cl*de:
It’s easy if you try …
MattF
@gogol’s wife: Quote from NYT:
Some people say something. Yadda yadda.
David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch
Trump can go outside and shoot people on 5th Avenue and not lose any votes.
liberal
@Mike E:
IMHO there are only two reasonable hypotheses:
(1) He’s out of his f*cking mind
(2) The “he’s a Clinton plant” conspiracy theory
Brachiator
@Trollhattan:
Miles Davis on heroin was better than Trump could ever be at anything.
But Trump has got his bluster down. He has no past experience in government, no knowledge of foreign affairs, a weak grasp of domestic issues, and yet he consistently issues these ominous pronouncements that make his supporters wet themselves with delight. He essentially says, “I am the solution. I know more than generals, national security advisors, all of them. Not because I have ever demonstrated any expertise, but because they represent the obvious failures of all past administrations. And if I am not elected, it is only because horrible people conspired against me. So you better give me what I want, or there will be trouble, believe me.”
His supporters are sold on this. They are totally fed up with the past. The GOP leadership eagerly go along, because they are desperate to regain the White House. Maybe they truly believe that they can contain Trump the way they contained Obama (even though that did not work out well for them, either). The servile joining with the weak willed is a hard combination to fight with logic and reason.
There’s an odd convergence. Trumpsters, Berniebros, the Progressive Greens, all agree that democracy doesn’t work, and needs to be done away with, so that a strong leader can give us what we want, solve all our problems, resolve all our grievances, and kill all our enemies. Government? Democracy? That’s so old.
@Gindy51:
Look on the bright side. The Secret Service don’t have far to go to interview Trump.
JPL
@MattF: I haven’t read the article but this is the headline..
Donald Trump Suggests ‘Second Amendment People’ Act Against Hillary Clinton
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/10/us/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton.html
Miss Bianca
@MattF: Can someone with some actual Twitter-Fu make #somepeoplesay a *thing* like der Trumpenator’s #manypeoplesay, and hang it around the MSM’s collective neck?
D58826
You would think that there would be a consensus that there are some things you do not joke about in a political campaign:
1. assassination
2. rape
3. domestic violence
4. pedophilia
Probably a few others but I think you get the drift. It seems in our divided country the right can’t even agree to that list. and ri
David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch
This is Great News for McCain!
liberal
@gogol’s wife: People wonder how Hitler took over. It’s always the same story: “It’s OK if you’re a right winger.”
chopper
@MattF:
took the kid blueberry picking, stopped to get her some swag at the Girl Scout store, and got home to find the Republican nominee for President calling for the assassination of his opponent.
Mike E
@Amir Khalid: ok, I’ve got to put this out there…he knows he can’t make it to the finish line (some kind of degenerative condition) so he’s salting the fields.
I don’t know what else to think about what I’m seeing here, seriously
MattF
@JPL: Interesting. That’s the ‘inside page’ headline. The front page headline isn’t so clear.
? Martin
@gogol’s wife: To their credit, they didn’t say what they were rallying the gun supporters to do. To vote? Maybe. To shoot people? Perhaps… Who could possibly know what the man actually said?
scav
@MattF: Well, if “Some people say” something, we’ll undoubtedly hear Donnie pull up exactly that thing as demonstrably true in about two seconds. Because some people talking are evidence (except when they’re not).
Dadadadadadada
Heard a David Cay Johnston (author, most recently, of a big book about Trump’s early career), who repeatedly emphasized that one of the major through-lines of all of Trump’s professional dealings is “He really just doesn’t know anything!”
Given that, the only really surprising thing about this whole mess is that Trump somehow managed to get this far without being laughed off the stage.
SFAW
@cmorenc:
That’s only because Fat Nino didn’t live long enough to browbeat Kennedy into allowing home possession of said devices.
lamh36
@Keith P.: Paul Ryan’s primary is tonight…he’s just the type of coward to un-endorse Trump only after he wins that primary, especially with a weak Dem alternative…ugh
Keith G
Again…Patton Oswalt’s Tweets are all over this.
liberal
@jl:
Let’s pray to the deity of our choice that he does it as late as possible, to do the most damage to the Republicans.
SFAW
@Dadadadadadada:
Good one! (One assumes you were making a joke.)
Mike in NC
@cleek: Tillis is still unsure if restaurant employees should be required to wash their hands after using the restroom.
Skerry
NRA tweets a response
NRAVerified account
@NRA
.@RealDonaldTrump is right. If @HillaryClinton gets to pick her anti-#2A #SCOTUS judges, there’s nothing we can do. #NeverHillary
3:31 PM – 9 Aug 2016
JPL
@MattF: I linked to the article from a twitter feed, and just now saw the front page. Wow.. It’s like they were afraid that children would be reading the front page.. Gee
trnc
OK, Washington Post 2nd Amendment story now first item on the main Google news page.
SFAW
@Poopyman:
As the saying goes: Peak Wingnut is a lie!
satby
Well NPR just described the story as “Democrats and liberal groups are upset” and gave equal weight to the just joking/misunderstood Drumpf response. So they’re good with giving Drumpf cover.
hovercraft
New NBC polls tonight:
IA Clinton up 4
OH Clinton up 5
PA Clinton up 10
Brent
@Miss Bianca: Too late for that:
Talking Points Memo Article
JMG
Halperin is ripping Trump a new one right now on Bloomberg. That’s a tell.
bupalos
Wow they botched the attempt to explain it away. It really wouldn’t have been hard, all they had to do is claim they meant bring the political power of the NRA to bear on senators to force an endless refusal to confirm nominees. That’s obviously not what the tribble-topped shit-stain meant, but it could have provided technically plausible deniability of straight up violence and been more like civil disobedience. Instead they voters going to the polls which under the premise (Hillary won and was picking judges) is simply meaningless.
D58826
Sen. Collins is ‘excusing’ what Trump said about the 2nd amendment as simply being guilty of imprecise talk.
Anoniminous
@singfoom:
We are in a maze of twisty little mirrors, all alike.
BR
His campaign put out a statement that (not surprisingly) contradicts what Trump himself said. Trump said if she gets to pick her judges (as in, she’s elected) then there’s nothing you can do except violence. That means, she’s been elected. The campaign tries to spin it as if he meant that the NRA should rally its base to win in November. But that’s before she’d be elected, which isn’t what Trump said. Spin is laughably false.
Iowa Old Lady
@hovercraft: I’m glad to see that Iowa poll. That last polls I saw were done before the conventions and showed Trump with a tiny margin.
JPL
@D58826: Yeah.. The person sitting behind Trump, had no problem understanding what he meant. She’s a coward.
trnc
Aaaaaand Politico immediately claims Trump comments were obviously meant to be a joke.
different-church-lady
@cmorenc:
There’s three months left in the campaign — guy’s gotta pace himself you know.
Dadadadadadada
@bupalos: See how the Overton Window has shifted? A few months ago, the Senate indefinitely stalling on a judicial nominee was considered highly irregular. Now it’s the preferable alternative to the GOP’s preferred strategy: assassination. What is wrong with these people?
scav
The media and usual suspects sure have put dog-ears on The Emperor’s New Joke Card they keep whipping out.
David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch
U people R overreacting – it’s ONLY a sheriff’s star
MattF
Tweetstorm on ‘just joking‘.
liberal
@satby: NPR is part of the MSM. MSM is composed of complete right-wing-appeasing, he-said-she-said douchebags. So it makes perfect sense.
Anoniminous
@Tom Levenson:
The odious little shitbag gets some notice Hitler’s Scientists by John Cornwell.
Calouste
@D58826: Trump has already been accused of 3 of those 4.
Brachiator
@liberal:
Lenin, Mao, Fidel, among others, would disagree with you.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Poopyman: Trump’s sister is a Federal Judge.
MattF
@D58826: Which is, to be precise, indefensible.
? Martin
@Mike E: You’re trying to attribute a rational explanation to someone with a severe personality disorder. If you accept that he has a severe personality disorder, then your explanation makes no sense – you need one that makes sense from the inside of that personality disorder.
Anyone who was wondering what the line is between whether something impedes your ability to function in society or not, you’re seeing that line being tested right now. George Bernard Shaw said that ‘Success covers a multitude of blunders’. For people that are famous or wealthy, they can get others to cover for their dysfunctions. Dr Drew has commented that the paparazzi often cover up drug and other abuse problems by celebrities because their livelihood depends on them – they want embarrassing but not destructive, so behaviors that would land any normal person before a judge gets covered up by dozens of people with cameras, agents, etc. Same for people that are wealthy and powerful. But a political campaign doesn’t afford the kinds of control that Trump is used to. There’s no editing, no laying low, not enough quid pro quo with reporters to go around (well, maybe if you have the GOP voter cognitive dissonance combined with Fox News). So he’s finally having to deal with the world as the person he really is. This is it – this is who Trump has always been, since the Central Park Five and before.
What is happening now makes perfect sense. Any suggestion he could have pivoted or sought moderate positions or whatever was complete fantasy. He simply isn’t capable of it given how we give attention – airtime for outrageous statements, and rallies full of the most extreme people in the community. There are no immediate incentives for behaving like a presidential candidate – they are all deferred incentives, and ones that may never materialize at that. He’s incapable of functioning in that way. Always has been.
Anoniminous
@Brachiator:
You know who else Conservatives thought they could control after they put him in office.
hovercraft
Ron Fourier just said that barring something catastrophic, the race is over.
Mary G
Turned on CNN and Jake Rapper was on talking about why the feds don’t regulate amusement parks and let the little boy on the water slide in Kansas die. His last guest informed him that lobbyists got that law changed and Ed Markey of Massachusetts has been trying to get it reinstated since 1999.
Then Wolf comes on at the top of the hour, spends 15 seconds on Trump’s remarks, but the Orlando shooter’s father was standing behind Hillary at her rally, so both sides.
Ugh. Then he did a horse race polls story and finally got back to Trump’s remarks by having Jeff Sessions come out to explain that he didn’t interpret the remarks like that at all.
liberal
@Brachiator: Huh. The Bolsheviks took power in an initially peaceful fashion, with the tacit approval of the powers that be? I gotta go back and reread me those history books!
jimmiraybob
@trnc:
Yes, let the Politico (any other apologist) writer try making “The Bomb Joke” on his/her next flight. Some things are less funny than other things.
BR
@hovercraft:
Wow…when you’ve lost Fournier and Halperin…
Though they’re so wrong so often, this must be like Bill Kristol’s predictions…
? Martin
@hovercraft:
Like a political assassination? Thank god nobody is calling for that.
The Dangerman
I suspect this keeps up, there is going to be one hell of an October (September? AUGUST?) surprise that will have all our jaws hit the floor. Trump walking away for medical reasons remains my best guess but, hell, anything is in play at this point.
David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch
@hovercraft: Shit. that’s bad news. Fourier/Halperin/Kristol are the perfect wrong-way weathervanes.
Uncle Cosmo
@Tom Levenson: Didn’t Lenard go on a personal campaign against relativity theory because it was “Jewish science”?
Davis X. Machina
@hovercraft: Not quite as damning as Bill Kristol saying the same thing, but disconserting nonetheless.
(Oh, and it’s “Former McCain White House press secretary Ron Fournier….” Not just a whore but an old whore.)
Miss Bianca
@Skerry: there’s “nothing” we can do? Or “nothing ELSE” that we can do?
David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch
@?BillinGlendaleCA: judging the Miss Universe pageant doesn’t count.
J R in WV
It’s the number one story on The Guardian right now… may stay that way for a while. And they aren’t spinning it into advocating political action, they’re posting a video clip and commenting accurately on what the AssTrumpet said.
jl
@? Martin: At the end of the primaries,Trump was bragging in interviews that he would pivot, and act more presidential: he would do it ‘easily’, Trump knew that Trump could turn himself into anything he wanted to, very easily. All that wild stuff, heh, that only an act he put on because he had to stand out from 17 other ‘contestants’.
Now he is bragging that no reason to pivot. Why change such a successful winning formula?
Trump is a whole bag of different kinds of shit, but the one thing that ties it all together is that he is some kind of psych case.
different-church-lady
@David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch: DOUBLE ULTRA URGENT NUCLEAR PIVOT!!!!!!1!
Tom Levenson
@Uncle Cosmo: Yes. He took part in anti-relativity actions in the early 20s; he was no late/expedient convert to Nazism.
lamh36
@Mary G: on the story of the kid and the water slide…
that thing just sickens me…first cause of the loss of the life of that poor kid, but also because who da fuq thinks a 14 story water slide is safe for a kid of 10 or anyone for that matter.
I mean I saw the pic of the kid and hell I wouldn’t have put him at even 10…he was of a slight build at that.
People are sooo fuqn’ stupid nowadays with the risk they let their own children take.
Ain’t no way…no sir.
Uncle Cosmo
@Miss Bianca:
FTFY. MSM delenda est!
jl
@different-church-lady: Idea for a Trump campaign trivia game: Pivot, or Divot?
catclub
@lamh36:
I doubt that he will. Ryan knows that Trump is the only horse to ride to get GOP voters to the polls for the House and Senate.
That is his priority. Moving money to downballot races.
Patricia Kayden
@cleek: Because it was a call for straight up assassination. Republicans such as McConnell and Ryan need to revoke their endorsement of this dangerous clown. This should be the line that when crossed results in firm disavowal by Republican leaders.
different-church-lady
@liberal:
BIG DOG: “Jeez, Hill, at the most I thought he’d soften up Jeb’s legs for you by the time we got to the general, but Holey Moley, who saw this coming?”
lamh36
@catclub: and I think he really cared more about his primary than that…unless there is a strong Dem challenger, once he gets past the primary he will win his seat.
Unlike with McCain, who needs Trump to win the primary but will likely be sunk by association with Trump. Ryan doesn’t have that problem
? Martin
@Mary G: The little boy is the son of a Kansas state legislator – they had a free admission to elected officials promotion that day. He’s a strong Brownback supporter. Reports are that the boy was decapitated on the ride (how is beyond me).
It’s anyone’s guess if he’ll change his view on the role of government after this.
Miss Bianca
@Tom Levenson: “Anti-relativity actions”? Good God. That was a *thing*?
Now for some reason I’m imagining Newton’s enemies organizing “anti-gravity actions”.
And *now* I don’t know whether to start laughing hysterically or just put my head down on the desk until the brain fit passes.
lamh36
So since Trump is essentially imploding…I see the MSM trying to give the 3rd party folk some air time, to help their percentage maybe?
MattF
@Miss Bianca: Yeah, absolute space and absolute time is good Aryan doctrine, not like that confusing Jewish space-time relativity nonsense.
JPL
Trump’s supporters on twitter are now saying he was joking. Since there is nothing he can do, that will cause Ryan, McCain or McConnell to take away their support, what will Trump joke about next?
In office, what happens if Trump announces on TV that he is going to Nuke someone? Will someone be on stage to take his mic away?
Miss Bianca
@? Martin:
Unfortunately, probably not – he’ll just change his view on the general advisability of amusement parks.
Mike in L.A. Calif.
I urge everyone to call your local FBI office. I called the LA office at 310 477-6565. I identified myself and my phone number and asked the FBI to investigate Trump and take him into custody. I said that it was not a joke, that he said if she (Clinton) is elected, 2nd amendment rights should be exercised. I said that if I said the same thing to a crowd of people, we know that the FBI and the Secret Service would not consider it a joke and would have me face down in the dirt with my hands cuffed behind my back. The FBI employee said that they have received many comments like mine and they will add mine to the pile. PLEASE CALL YOUR FBI OFFICE. It is beyond time to act. We have a dangerous maniac urging political assassination. There are many ignorant thugs in this country who will take him at his word. Please don’t laugh this off. It is time to make the FBI uncomfortable, even if it won’t do its job. Let the FBI know that we are fed up with their taking Trump as a joke.
MattF
@JPL: FYI, that would be well past the ‘take away his mic’ stage.
Keith G
Full Frontal creates the countdown clock to America’s Kristallnacht (for CNN)
hovercraft
Jill Stein confirms that her ad accurately reflects her views, Donald says terrible things, Hillary does terrible things. One is not better than the other, the only solution is to come to her, her numbers have jumped dramatically. Now all she needs are the other 90+ percent of the democrats to join her and she we win.
different-church-lady
@Mike in L.A. Calif.: And while you’re at it, write e-mail to Cole. It’ll probably go over equally as well.
Miss Bianca
@MattF: Just the idea that anyone would seriously make a claim for a “Jewish science” which was somehow separate and different from “Aryan science” is a melon-twister for me.
? Martin
@jl: Well, we all have our personality quirks. What matters is whether they are debilitating or not. In Trumps case they obviously have not been, but now he’s finding he’s unable to do the thing he wants because of them. He’s not crazy – he’s no different from someone whose depression keeps them from donig work that they want to do or whose anxiety leaves them unable to form relationships that they want to form.
Trump wants to be President but his narcissism is preventing him from behaving in a manner that would give him a reasonable chance at doing that. He’s not crazy – everything he is doing is rational from that viewpoint. But that’s who he is and everyone who thinks he’s not that person are deluding themselves. He can change, probably with a lot of help, but he shows no sign of wanting to change. This has worked for him up to now. If he wins, there’s no chance he’ll change.
msdc
@gogol’s wife: Appalling.
hovercraft
@lamh36:
Well they spent the end of last week and the weekend trying to beat some life back into the e-ghazi story with no success, so they are trying a new tactic. Yesterday they were so impressed by Trump actually being able to read a speech and not fly off the handle, they thought they would be able to talk pivot and economic plan, alas it was not to last. We have defections, and now Sharron Angle remedies.
FlipYrWhig
@hovercraft: Big talk from a person who gets blown out every time she runs for an office higher than town council _in Massachusetts_. Such a braying jackass.
Mary G
Joe Lieberman said that he might endorse Trump today. #Words.Fail.Me.
Keith G
Jason Steed is a federal appellate lawyer and a former English prof. Here is his take down of “It’s just a joke”.
Key para:
different-church-lady
@Mary G:
We’ve got this in the bag.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@David ?▶️Hillary/Harley Quinn 2016▶️? Koch: Maryanne Trump Barry.
NorthLeft12
@Patricia Kayden: To hell with that. I want McConnell and Ryan to double down in their support and excuse making. I want them to completely own this guy so by November they will watch their fellow Rethugs get obliterated at the ballot box, and have to deal with a majority of Dems in the Senate and hopefully in the House too.
These guys deserve to be completely humiliated.
gogol's wife
@msdc:
But I must say, the readers’ comments are brutal. Very good reading.
jl
@Miss Bianca: Actually, there were several ‘anti-Newtonian gravity’ actions. Descartes was a big name behind one of them, IIRC. The anti-Newtonian gravity actions made a lot more sense than the anti-relativity actions. There was a campaign against ‘Jewish mathematics’ too, even though some who originated the ideas weren’t Jewish, or whose heritage was so obscure, no one knew exactly what it was and the mathematicians themselves did not have any firm conception of their personal heritage.
lamh36
@Mary G: well if that don’t turn off even the most ardent anti-HRC Dem holdout, a Lieberman endorsement may even make the die hard say… #NeverTrump I’m voting for HRC
hovercraft
@FlipYrWhig:
She comes across as a true believer, but that purity has costs, those of us in the real world understand that compromise is how the real world works. I think someone should just give her a unicorn and maybe she’ll leave the rest of us alone.
inventor
@Brachiator:
Niether Lenin, Mao, nor Fidel came to power in any way similar to the way Hitler did.
Calouste
@Mike in L.A. Calif.: A former director of the CIA said exactly the same.
Can’t find the quote at the moment.
dmsilev
@Mary G: Probably the most encouraging thing I’ve read all day.
bupalos
@lamh36:
I have to say from my experience as a dad of 3 girls that gets a lot of exposure to OPP (other people’s parenting) children “nowadays” are not allowed to take any risks at all. In fact their world tends to be so hyper-managed for safety that they don’t develop risk-assessment skills.
Bitter Scribe
Anyone remember the trope about Obama being helpless without his teleprompter?
hovercraft
@Mary G:
Sleepy Joe’s endorsement is as desirable as an STD. On our side he is judas, on the other side he was only useful for his ability to embarrass democrats. The only people who like him are the beltway idiots.
Miss Bianca
@jl: Just when you think that SnarkWorld is weirder than RealWorld, you find evidence to the contrary. Fascinating!
@Mary G: speaking of “jokes”…”the secret of our success is timing! TI-ming! Tim-ING!”
jl
@? Martin: I mean the colloquial meaning of ‘psych case’, I understand that Trump does not meet any standard definition for being insane. Which is too bad, since then someone could have him taken in for observation to prevent harm to himself or others,, and might give the GOP an excuse to strip him of the nomination. Which I think would be great, since any replacement nominee would probably produce just as bad a result, maybe much worse, for the GOP.
Edit: Unless they could get Arnold a fake ID. He might do well.
Baud
Now I hope Trump does back out of the debates.
Or is at least frisked beforehand.
catclub
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Wasn’t there some cocaine bust?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@hovercraft: But, but…Joemenetum!
hovercraft
“Mike Pence is like that guy at the circus who has to walk behind the elephant cleaning up it’s mess”, Ron Fournier.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@catclub: Not that I’m aware of; she’s a Senior Judge now, but was pretty well respected when on the 3rd Circuit. BTW, she was appointed to the bench by the Big Dawg.
Redshift
@Mary G:
Good. Maybe it’ll be another nail in his political coffin. And with any luck, take No Labels down a notch, too.
jl
@Miss Bianca: The anti-Newtonian gravity actions made some sense. Even Newton begged off on his theory being a causal theory, rather than a very useful way of finding very general regularities (edit: that is an instrumental theory). The anti-Newtonians, at least the smart ones like Descartes, produced refutable alternative theories, that were eventually refuted.
That is more than can be said for the anti-Jewish physics and math thugs in Nazi Germany.
catclub
@different-church-lady: Bruce Bartlett and Joe Lieberman are anti-particles for their respective (former) parties.
Bartlett has sure become more reasonable in my book. He wrote in March that he would vote for Trump in the primary to bring on the destruction of the GOP.
catclub
@?BillinGlendaleCA: It was a joke reference to the Mayor Of DC a few years back.
hovercraft
@Baud:
All Hillary and EW have to do is spend a week going around the country calling a chicken who refuses to debate a woman, and he’ll cave. Every newscast would lead with the story asking what he’s afraid of.
Please oh please, let him refuse.
Brachiator
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
There’s been so much insanity from the Trump people, but I think his surrogates tried the “it’s a joke” gambit about something a couple of weeks ago.
JPL
@Redshift: It’s pretty bad, when the only person who wants to associate with you, is Trump.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@catclub: Oh, that Barry.
Baud
@hovercraft: I don’t think they even have to do that much. All Hillary has to do is say, I’ll be there. In this case, there is no need to egg him on. He’s in a real bind.
Tom Levenson
@jl: It’s a bit ahistorical to attribute anti-Newtonianism to Descartes. He died in 1650, when Newton was seven, and the Principia was still 37 years from making its appearance. His theory of gravity was refuted by Newton near the end of book two. The argument over causality and mechanism followed into the eighteenth century, with Leibniz as the most powerful but far from the only disputant.
Baud
@Tom Levenson:
Maybe he had Obama’s time machine.
Kay
He’s lashing out because he’s losing and he knows it:
I knew the weird attacks on the fire marshals were about dwindling crowd size. He wanted cover for smaller crowds.
He’s so fucking childishly transparent.
jl
@Tom Levenson: Thanks. I was thinking whether I got the timing right on Descartes. I guess I was thinking of Descartes’ followers among the anti-Newtonians. He had some theory of space filling ‘vortexes’ mixing and colliding and producing forces. IIRC, he had a causal mechanism for propagating forces through space.
I shoulda woulda coulda checked the Wiki first.
Soylent Green
@? Martin: The dude has been bullshitting his way through life for over 40 years. Trump knows the nutjobs are his base and that playing to this mob with ever larger loads of bullshit is his only ticket. So like a bad stand-up comic, he keeps feeding them whatever vulgar crap he thinks will get a rise from them. He is not a gun-humping nutcase himself, so didn’t stop to understand that his joke is no joke.
You don’t have to be crazy to be a damned fool.
The Dangerman
@jl:
I read someplace that there’s a 16 person RNC Board that can vote to take him off the line; I assume it has to be unanimous. That would certainly fall into my expectation of one hell of an October/August Surprise…
…but the Trump people would go beserk. More likely he has to step down for medical reasons and, even then, the Trumplodytes would lose their shit.
Fun times.
Mary G
Tim Kaine is in TEXAS today. Bwah ha haha.
hilts
It’s time for the MSM and the punditocracy to cut the bullshit and simply acknowledge the obvious
Donald Trump is an existential threat to this goddamn planet and his victory would be a fucking crime against humanity.
Origuy
Say, Tom, you should follow @wtf renaissance on Twitter. It takes art and adds funny captions.
Skerry
PigDog
Oh my god MSNBC comparing Trump’s “joke” with something Biden said 8 years ago about Obama.
Fuck Halperin with a jizztrumpet.
Baud
DSCC is fundraising off Trump’s quote. I understand the thinking, but I think it takes away from the awfulness of what he said.
Redshift
@Brachiator:
The line from the official Trump spokespeople seems to be that he was talking about the political power of the NRA or NRA supporters. Since Trump talked about stopping Hillary from appointing judges, that’s completely nonsensical, but that’s never stopped then before.
Baud
@Mary G: :-D
Tom Levenson
@Origuy: : I have made it so.
jl
@Skerry: The genius of Warren is that she knows how to speak the language that Trumpites understand.
Uncle Cosmo
@Miss Bianca:
More likely the other way around. Newton was indisputably a scientific genius but there is a lot of testimony that as a human being Ike was a pretty nasty piece of work, happy to go to war with other notable scientists like Leibniz and Robert Hooke (whom he vindictively hounded even after Hooke’s death).
lamh36
So wait…Halperin et al… trashes Trump but then tries “both sides do it” by showing a Biden clip..
Really….really
Bill E Pilgrim
CNN
Yes CNN, that’s what alarmed observers. People said “Hmm, I’m alarmed because his comments were ambiguous. He might have meant that “second amendment people” are the only ones who have the ability to “increase their political activity” and thus are the only ones who could change things, but I’m just not certain.”
What’s alarming is that anyone would be stupid enough to call them ambiguous or print such nonsense.
Ravi
Can’t rest until we rid the world of malaria, plague, republicans and conservatives.
LAO
@PigDog: I watched it, still can’t believe it. What a tool.
PPCLI
@jl: Descartes died when Newton was not even 10 years old, so he wasn’t an “anti-Newtonian”. Several later Cartesians were, though.
ETA: Ah, I see Tom got there first.
Bill E Pilgrim
I became a Fig Newtonian when I was 10 years old.
Miss Bianca
@Uncle Cosmo: Yeah, well…from the gossip I’ve heard around the water cooler, Hooke wasn’t exactly the nicest guy in the mapped universe, either (still shuddering over the accounts of his vivisectionist experiments on dogs).
@Bill E Pilgrim: Rim-shot!
JPL
@PigDog: Biden was trying to tell the audience that Obama was not going to take away your guns… Danny glared and looked as though, he wanted to punch him out.
Trollhattan
@Mary G:
He best not be talkin’ Mexican, we speak English here, dadgummit!
inventor
@Bill E Pilgrim:
My mom was a Wayne Newtonian.
Mary G
Now Wolf on CNN is interviewing another Trump supporter, Duncan Hunter, about Trump’s remark. His defense is that Trump is inarticulate. Bite me, Duncan. Five minutes with this guy and five minutes with Sessions . Twenty seconds of reading Tweets from Chris Murphy and Robbie Mook’s statement.
Oh, now 10 seconds of General Hayden saying that if anyone else in the hall had said it, they would be in the back of a squad car now. Then back to Hunter.
jake the antisoshul soshulist
I think it is a waste of effort to spend much time parsing what the giant animated cheeto says.
He is usually just bullshitting off the top of his head or the other end. He is a really bad performance artist with a horrifying following.
PigDog
Oh and now Halperin is sputtering about what HRC said in 2008.
Fuck Halperin with a live, angry ferret.
Bill E Pilgrim
PigDog
@JPL:
Danny may look like a low-rent Ted Danson but he’s got some serious restraint in not launching a Bloomberg mug at Mark’s head.
jl
@Mary G: That Trump is an intemperate ignorant inexperienced dumb ass is become the go-to excuse for all of his BS, lies, and incitement and general dumb shittery.
Miss Bianca
@PigDog:
Why would you wish such a horrible fate on some poor ferret?
Bill E Pilgrim
@inventor: Danke schoën
jl
@PigDog: Halperin’s first reaction may have been human and reasonable (I wll give him that small credit). Then some producer yelled in his earpiece to do his damn pundit job or hit the road.
Dadadadadadada
@? Martin: Well played, sir.
Tenar Darell
@MattF: That was fantastic! Thank you for sharing.
(ETA: Really, I RT’d like 5 of that storm it was so good.)
Matt McIrvin
@Bill E Pilgrim: They were ambiguous: was he calling for the murder of the President, the President-Elect, or just a bunch of judges? Serious people want to know.
Nom de Plume
@Kay:
He spent a big part of the speech bragging about how there were lines “stretching for blocks and blocks”. Normally a blatant lie that might be noticed, but lucky for him, everybody’s talking about something else now!
nastybrutishntall
OT – I had a two hour argument last night with a friend who is Stein / Johnson curious, and who was arguing that voting for vanity-candidates, apathy and non-participation were, in fact, positive choices, and that, in any case, voting doesn’t matter any more than recycling, buying less stuff and helping your neighbors. Ugh.
Anyway, I came across the latest “TPP will kill all r dudez” FB post, everyone’s a neoliberal puppet blah blah, Democracy is dead and even more dead if the TPP is enacted, etc, and therefore Hillary, who is down with TPP (you know me) despite her pledge, will kill us all just as surely as Trump. This time apparently the mouthpiece for this argument is Bill Moyers.
Does anyone have the secret decoder ring that tells me, in plain terms, how the TPP will “end Democracy”? I’ve heard this line from a commie pinko NYC union steward aunt (love her tho!) who isn’t BoB but pretty close to it, so wondering where that comes from. Also, why do the BoB/Johnson-feelers/DankenSteins say “Democracy is dead” and that Hillary will kill all brown people if elected? I just can’t figure it out.
JPL
McMullin just nailed Trump’s statements on Halperin’s show… Halperin is an ass btw..
Baud
@nastybrutishntall:
Does your friend know that Johnson is proudly pro free trade?
Mike E
@inventor: My mom was a Wayne Newtonian Hey now! So, with all the throwing of room keys and panties, was that a critical mass experiment?!
Bill E Pilgrim
@Matt McIrvin: That’s true actually. CNN, and I quote again:
.. just got the wrong ambiguity. They can’t even get ambiguity right.
Jeffro
@Davis X. Machina:
Dang, that was two rip-snorters in one…I actually liked the “Former…” joke the best. Nice work!
Gelfling 545
@trnc: Because assasination is always such a hoot.. Yeah. Cracks me right up.
Steve in the ATL
@misterpuff:
That is actually a pretty good joke and, as a bonus, it’s funny because it’s true!
Jeffro
@Mike in L.A. Calif.:
Seconded here. I’d also add that it’s important to call all the usual GOP suspects (Ryan, McConnell, etc) and tell their poor staffers to relay that this is beyond the pale. Those of you with some Twitter-fu might want to do the same.
jl
@nastybrutishntall: The TPP expands the use of an international dispute arbitration process. My understanding is that has been weakened so that it cannot be used to overturn a country’s laws and regulations, but it still can exact fines. Corporations looking for damages for laws and regs that damage profits from their investments have access to the dispute arbitration process, others, like labor unions, environmental groups or governments don’t.
The TPP has some troubling provisions that don’t involve free trade, and should trouble a die-hard (edit: and consisttent free trader. And anyway, HRC has come out against it anyway, hasn’t she?
JPL
@Bill E Pilgrim: Wolf Blitzer mentioned, that his statement had to do with after the election. A little late to rally the groups together to vote.
jl
@JPL: Well, gosh isn’t what Trump said more OK if he was just talking about assassinating judges? And just mentioning all the ugly patriotic errands real Americans would have to deal with if He is not president.
hovercraft
@Mary G:
Duncan Hunter is an idiot, he’s the one who said that dozens of ISIS members sneaked across the southern border. He said he knew border patrol agents who told him about it. That should be the first question every time he pokes his head up, who are the agents, where are they, why didn’t they tell DHS, why didn’t they stop them, what did they do to try and raise the alarm if this is true and no one will listen to them. It’s bullshit that these republicans blithley make these assertions and then no one asks about their obvious bullshit, and yet Clinton is asked about every single hair she’s ever split.
different-church-lady
@catclub:
We should all send him thank you cards, because he succeeded beyond anyone’s dreams.
hovercraft
@Miss Bianca:
Okay how about a cactus. Is that better? Ones of those with the long thorns and also those fine hair prickles that are really hard to get out. Photo.
Miss Bianca
@hovercraft: OK, cactus is better.
Gravenstone
@? Martin: I suspect the report was incorrectly shortened and the actual injury was an “internal decapitation” Likely due to extreme whiplash type movements. As the article notes, it tends to be more common in children due to proportionally larger head size.
nastybrutishntall
@jl: Ok, that makes more sense. But yeah, apparently all the other times Hillary has been President, she has bombed everyone and allowed corporations to destroy the world, so this time she’ll of course turn around on the TPP and betray us all. Therefore Johnson or Stein, because reasons.
nastybrutishntall
@Baud: He knows. But “economics aren’t everything” i.e. pot and drones. Also, “it sends a message to the system” and “something needs to be done because the system is broken and voting for the major parties only reinforces that.” So I guess Johnson is an “enemy of my enemy” situation for him. He’s more viable than Stein.
Bill Butler
Kinda embarrassed that Trump stole part of my nefarious conspiracy theory that the CIA, FBI, DoD and prolly Secret Service would set up multiple kill teams (uncoordinated, natch) in case a certain loose cannon won in November, making Ted Cruz the obvious patsy. I just made it up to comfort my Canadian friend, who fears the Orange.
And then the Short Fingered Vulgarian actually incites treason vis-a-vis unorganized bands of buck-toothed, inbred white trash. Totally going to sue him.
Manyakitty
@satby: This is why I stopped listening to them and refuse to send any more money.
SiubhanDuinne
@scav:
The fourth Mrs. Trump?
SiubhanDuinne
@Trollhattan:
Snort!
Perfect.
sm*t cl*de
@jl:
You put Descartes before the Force.