The Conversation -- August 20, 2024
Marie: Donald Trump and his Congressional friends' tax cuts for rich people & corporations have substantially raised my taxes every year since the GOP imposed them. This was not an unintended consequence of the "cuts"; Republicans meant to raise my taxes. Trump's tax cut, among other things, was punishment for human decency. Now hear this: ~~~
~~~ Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago Tuesday that he will not allow the Trump-era cap on state and local tax deductions to continue after its scheduled expiration at the end of next year. Former President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress inserted a provision in the 2017 tax reform bill to cap state and local tax deductions at $10,000. That provision hit residents of expensive blue states ... with higher state and local taxes especially hard, but it raised a lot of revenue to offset the cost of Trump's other proposals, such as cutting the corporate tax rate from 28 percent to 21 percent.... 'We Democrats, as long as I'm leader, when state and local deductibility expires, it will be gone,' [Schumer] declared."
Marie: I didn't know this was a thing till RAS pointed it out in today's Comments. It turns out it's a thing: ~~~
~~~ Vanessa Friedman of the New York Times: "When Kamala Harris ... popped up to speak ... [at the Democratic convention, she was] wearing a tan suit. A tan suit!... The last time a tan suit made political waves, it was also late August, and the person wearing it was President strong>Barack Obama. The occasion was a news conference on Iraq and Syria, but the response from a large swath of the watching public was shock! horror! at the outfit." Friedman then goes into a number of possible symbolic "meanings" Harris may have meant to impart by her wardrobe choice. It turns out, according to Friedman, Harris's suit -- which looks like a plain prêt-à-porter pants suit to me -- is a designer thing which "came from the French label Chloé, designed by Chemena Kamali." MB: My personal feeling is that the clothing you wear should be as forgettable, as simple and as comfortable as possible (within the vague parameters of suitability to the occasion), and at the top of that list of forgettable, simple comfy clothing would be a boring, loosely-fitted tan pants suit.
Nicholas Nehamas of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris will hold a rally in Milwaukee on Tuesday night at the same basketball arena where ... Donald J. Trump accepted the Republican nomination just a month ago, at a time when his party believed he was coasting to victory against a hapless President Biden. Ms. Harris's choice of venue is the latest in a series of aggressive moves that seem designed to get under Mr. Trump's notoriously thin skin."
Helen Coster & Nathan Layne of Reuters: "... Donald Trump will visit a Michigan town on Tuesday one month after white supremacists rallied there.... Trump is scheduled to talk about 'crime and safety' at the Livingston County Sheriff's Office in Howell, a town of some 10,000 people northwest of Detroit.... The town has historical links to the KKK: In the 1970s, Grand Dragon Robert Miles had a Howell mailing address and held meetings on a nearby farm. About a dozen white supremacists chanted 'Heil Hitler' and carried signs reading 'White Lives Matter' during a march through downtown Howell last month. According to local media, another group of demonstrators shouted, 'We love Hitler, we love Trump' from a highway overpass just outside Howell. The Harris campaign has criticized Trump for planning the event in Howell while failing to condemn what it called a 'blatant display of racism and antisemitism in his name.' In an interview with Reuters after a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday, Trump did not directly respond to a question about that criticism."
Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "Among the ... attractions [at Monday's Democratic convention] was a two-minute spoof of the long-running cop show Law & Order.... 'He lies. He rips off workers. He sexually abuses women/// He cheats in business. He cheated on his wife with a porn star and paid her off so the American people wouldn't find out during an election,' the video's narrator said, with quick-cut video elements suggestive of the TV show. In addition to that, Trump was featured in a biographical package on Vice President Kamala Harris that contrasted Harris and Trump -- and which flashed a widely-shared clip of Trump and [Jeffrey] Epstein smiling with each other at a party[.]" ~~~
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Presidential Race
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden used his valedictory address at the Democratic National Convention on Monday to deliver a lengthy defense of his own record aimed at cementing a 50-year legacy of public service, even as he passed the reins to Vice President Kamala Harris as the new face of the party he led until just weeks ago.... 'I've given my heart and soul to our nation, and I've been blessed a million times in return,' the president said as he made the case that Ms. Harris is the best person to lead the country now that he is no longer in the race. 'She's tough. She's experienced. And she has enormous integrity,' Mr. Biden said. Selecting Ms. Harris as his vice president, he added, 'was the best decision I made my whole career.'" ~~~
~~~ Video of the full speech is here. Here's Time magazine's highlights video: ~~~
Washington Post Editors: "In retrospect, [President] Biden should not have sought reelection. The June 27 debate was worse than just a bad night, as the president maintained afterward. The 81-year-old had showed signs of slipping for a long time, but his inner circle worked to conceal his decline.... It is Mr. Biden's willingness to surrender power, albeit via internal machination rather than the ballot box, that deserves special recognition. It creates a powerful and, for Mr. Biden, favorable contrast with Mr. Trump -- who refused to acknowledge defeat in 2020 and instead stirred up a mob in Washington.... The last weeks have shown how Mr. Biden's act created a pathway for a new generation of Democratic leaders.... His worthiest moments in politics ... were those in which he modeled empathy, moderation and statesmanship. That includes perhaps the toughest call he had to make in his decades in politics: his decision to step aside."
The New York Times live-updated news of the Democratic convention's opening day. Following are some of the updates that began at about 6:45 pm ET Monday, when DNC chair Jaime Harrison & convention chair Minyon Moore gaveled the convention to order. For copies of some earlier items, see yesterday's Conversation. MB: If possible for you, it's better to read the reporters' words in the original Timesese.~~~
Julie Bosman: Chicago Mayor Brandon "Johnson welcomed delegates to Chicago in his usual style -- ebullient, dramatic and with huge praise for his city, the greatest one in the world, as he said tonight."
Jennifer Medina: "Representative Maxine Waters called Fannie Lou Hamer one of [Vice President] Harris's heroes, referring to her time at the Democratic National Convention in 1964, when she arrived with a group of black delegates from Mississippi and asked that they be seated in place of the all white delegation. 'She asked the country a simple but profound question: "Is this America?"' Waters recounted. When Harris receives the nomination later this week, she added: [We can ask ourselves, is this America? And we will be able to say loudly and proudly, you're damn right it is!'"
Bosman: "In a tribute that brought people in the crowd to tears, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., the civil rights icon, took the stage with his family. Jackson, 82, who uses a wheelchair and has Parkinson's disease, is no longer able to speak clearly."
Nicholas Nehamas: "In an overwhelming voice vote, delegates just ceremonially confirmed Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as the Democratic nominee for vice president before breaking into chants of 'U.S.A.!'... Delegates just approved the Democratic Party's platform for the 2024 election, a document stocked with political comfort food for liberals that had been written before President Biden dropped out and still contained many references to his second term."
Kellen Browning: "Peggy Flanagan, the lieutenant governor of Minnesota, who will become the state's first female governor if Tim Walz is elected vice president, said her brother was one of the first people to die of Covid in Tennessee at the beginning of the pandemic. 'Our communities were suffering; our economy was struggling; and Donald Trump was playing games,' she said. Her comments set up a video clip contrasting Trump's statements downplaying the pandemic with the Biden administration's handling of it."
Erica Green: "The homages to civil rights leaders embedded in the programming illustrates the significance of having two Black chairs at the helm of convention planning.... In a video montage, the Rev. Al Sharpton referenced Hamer and Chisholm and said there was a 'direct line' from 1964 to today."
Ken Bensinger: "Union support has always been a bulwark of Democratic support. As the heads of six major unions -- the AFSCME, SEIU, LIUNA, IBEW and AFL-CIO -- took the stage a moment ago, the arena audience, to underscore that point, began chanting 'union yes! union yes!' One by one, the labor leaders praised Kamala Harris's accomplishments for the working class."
Medina: "Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles spoke of her decades-long relationship with Harris and was one of the only speakers, so far, to explicitly mention the historic nature of her campaign. 'When I asked her to swear me in -- the first woman vice president, swearing in the first woman mayor of Los Angeles -- we knew we were sending a message to young girls everywhere that they, too, can lead,' Bass said to wild applause."
Green: "Senator Laphonza Butler, the lone Black woman serving in the United States Senate from California and a longtime and close friend of Harris's, just outlined how Harris's background has prepared her for this moment."
Maggie Haberman: "Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York is speaking. She's gotten big cheers from her home state delegation. She's also in a unique position to attack Trump."
Medina: "Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce, turned the focus to the economy, promising tax cuts and new housing for the middle class as a 'defining goal of her presidency.'"
Nick Corasaniti: "The Harris campaign video that introduced the surprise appearance by the vice president got a much louder reception in the arena than almost any speaker tonight. And when she entered, the place erupted." ~~~
~~~ Katie Rogers: "That Harris appearance was ostensibly to prop up President Biden and thank him for his 'historic leadership,' as she said, but the attention and excitement was very much trained on her and illustrated what her candidacy now represents for the Democrats: an energy boost."
Browning: "Steve Kerr, the coach of the N.B.A.'s Golden State Warriors, fresh off a gold medal in Paris, just got the largest non-Harris ovation so far tonight. He came out to a video highlight of his time playing for the Chicago Bulls."
Rogers: "Shawn Fain, the president of the powerful United Auto Workers union, just got the crowd in the hall to break into a chant: 'Trump's a scab!'"
Nicholas Fandos: "The decision to give Representative Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez ... a prime-time speaking slot underscores the evolution of the Democratic Party and the congresswoman.... Ocasio-Cortez has been one of her party's biggest critics of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, accusing the nation of genocide and demanding the United States cut off military aid. But tonight, even as pro-Palestinian protesters have gathered in Chicago, she conspicuously credits Harris with 'working tirelessly to secure a cease-fire in Gaza and bring hostages home.'" ~~~
~~~ Reid Epstein: "That was quite the moment inside the hall as Ocasio-Cortez took the stage to raucous chants of 'A.O.C.'"
Rebecca O'Brien: "The crowd is on its feet and roaring for [Hillary] Clinton." ~~~
~~~ Haberman: The crowd for Hillary Clinton was so loud and so extensive in its applause that she had to urge them to sit."
Lisa Lerer: "Clinton is positioning Harris in a line that stretches from the suffragettes to her own failed 2016 bid. It's an embrace of gender that was central to Clinton's 2016 run but that Harris hasn't made quite as explicitly in her own campaign.... Clinton is also breaking from Harris's underdog message, saying that Harris 'has them on the run now.'"
Browning: "Some women on the floor have tears in their eyes as they listen to Clinton say that they are 'so close' to breaking through the 'highest, hardest glass ceiling.'"
Browning: "The South Carolina delegation is on its feet chanting 'Clyburn! Clyburn!' Representative James Clyburn has taken the stage."
Ulloa: "Lively applause and chants of 'Jamie, Jamie' as Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland takes the stage." MB: Raskin said the president takes an oath to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed," not that the vice president be executed. (Slight paraphrase.)
Ulloa: "Representative Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat from Texas, is a rising progressive star..., is taking the stage."
Medina: "In his extended riff about 'all God's children,' [Sen. Raphael] Warnock [Ga.] mentioned Palestinian children, which received huge applause inside the arena."
Epstein: Big applause for Jill Biden when she recalled the moment President Biden decided to drop out of the race and endorse Kamala Harris."
Rogers: President "Biden chased this office for decades. He did not get this convention moment in 2020, because of the pandemic. Tonight he is saying goodbye. He looks overcome."
Maggie Astor: "It's really something that, after all these decades, after finally winning the presidency in 2020, perhaps the biggest ovation of his career is for stepping aside."
Epstein: "The standing ovation for Joe Biden lasted four minutes and 30 seconds before he could begin his remarks. He tried settling the crowd down several times before the cheers and chants of 'Thank you, Joe' abated."
Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, et al., of the New York Times: "Thousands of protesters marched in Chicago on Monday as the Democratic National Convention began nearby, an early test of the city's security preparations and of Vice President Kamala Harris's attempts to project a sense of intraparty unity. Protesters from a coalition of more than 200 groups, which represented a range of liberal causes but were united in anger over the Biden administration's approach to Israel and Gaza, walked through the streets on Monday afternoon after an hourslong rally at a park."
Annie Karni & Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "As Democrats revolted against [President] Biden's re-election bid this summer, [Hillary] Clinton wanted no role in pushing him out, according to people briefed on her thinking. But behind the scenes, she was also adamant that if the president chose to step aside, [Vice President] Harris should become the party's nominee with no drawn out primary. The two women, once on opposite sides during the contentious 2008 Democratic primary, have quietly bonded over the past several years, sharing dinners at Mrs. Clinton's Washington home, discussing high-impact decisions like whom Ms. Harris should pick for her running mate, and connecting over the still-stubborn ways that women in high office can be underestimated.... 'Nothing would make Hillary happier than seeing the first in history beat the worst in history,' said Philippe Reines, a former top adviser to Mrs. Clinton who has been playing the role of Mr. Trump in Ms. Harris's debate prep."
Jamie Gangel & Gregory Krieg of CNN: "Retired federal appeals court Judge J. Michael Luttig, a prominent conservative legal scholar put on the bench by President George H.W. Bush, is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris over ... Donald Trump, whose candidacy he describes as an existential threat to American democracy. It will be the first time Luttig, a veteran of two Republican administrations, has voted for a Democrat. 'In the presidential election of 2024 there is only one political party and one candidate for the presidency that can claim the mantle of defender and protector of America's Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law,' Luttig wrote in a statement.... 'As a result, I will unhesitatingly vote for the Democratic Party's candidate for the Presidency of the United States, Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Slurs & Lies Are All He's Got. Marianne LeVine, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump on Monday questioned whether Democrats knew where Vice President Kamala Harris 'came from,' reprising a tactic that he has previously used against other Democrats, including former president Barack Obama and women of color in Congress. Trump also freshly described Harris's policy positions as a 'regulatory jihad,' without explanation, using a loaded Arabic term often translated as holy war. He consistently mispronounced her first name.... At another point, he questioned her upbringing ... [and] referencing Harris's father, a distinguished Jamaican economist." Trump's remarks, made in York County, Pennsylvania, were meant to be about the economy, and he told a bunch of lies about that. ~~~
~~~ Weird Guy Says He's "Extremely Normal." Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Monday mocked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as a 'whack job' as he responded to the Democratic vice presidential nominee labeling Trump and his running mate as 'weird.' Trump during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania argued Vice President Harris's choice of Walz as her running mate showed she has a far-left ideology before launching into an aside about the criticisms from Walz that Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) are 'weird.' 'This whack job. You know, he said we're weird. That JD and I are weird. I think we're extremely normal people. Like you,' Trump said to the crowd at a factory in York. 'He's weird. Did you ever see him go on the stage and go like crazy? Between his movement and her laugh, there's a lot of craziness. I'd say a step further than weird. Weird is a nice word by comparison.'"
More Slurs & Lies. Kathryn Watson of CBS News: In an interview with CBS News' Caitlin Huey-Burns, Donald Trump "said he just had a medical exam and received a 'perfect score,' and two cognitive tests, which he said he 'aced.... I got everything right,' Trump said. 'And one of the doctors said, "I've never seen that before, where you get everything right." No, I have no problem....'... 'You will release your medical records to the public?' Huey-Burns asked the former president. 'Oh sure, I would do that very gladly, sure,' Trump responded....
"In recent rallies, Trump has been complaining about the replacement of President Biden at the top of the ticket, characterizing [Vice President] Harris' nomination as a 'coup.' He's also been assailing her intelligence, repeatedly calling her 'stupid,' despite her long legal career. Huey-Burns asked Trump if that's the right message to win over moderate voters.... 'I think that the message is what a bad job they've done. I mean, if you look at this economy, if you look at inflation, and you know, I love this country....' But asked for specifics, Trump couldn't point to evidence or examples of deficits in Harris' intellect. 'Our country needs a very smart person, and I don't think she's a very smart person,' Trump replied. 'So, I'm not looking to -- I don't consider that an insult -- that's just a fact.'"
~~~ Marie: Here's how I know Trump is lying about his cognitive test: this test is commonly given to seniors during their annual examinations. I've taken it more than a dozen times, and for someone who is not suffering from cognitive impairment, it's a super-simple exercise. For example, the patient is asked to draw a clockface and "set" the clock at 10 after 10. Trump has repeatedly claimed that his doctors were amazed at the cognitive perfection he exhibited during previous tests. But because the test is designed to be easy, I suspect "perfect scores" are the most common results. So doctors would not have dropped their jaws in amazement at Trump's performance and said, "I've never seen that before, where you get everything right." Most people likely get everything right most of the time.
Rhona Tarrant of CBS News: "... Donald Trump shared AI-generated images of women wearing 'Swifties for Trump' t-shirts to his Truth Social account on Sunday, including a satirical post that claimed Taylor Swift fans were turning to Trump after security concerns forced the cancellation of her Vienna concerts earlier this month. Trump captioned the post 'I accept!' and shared screenshots of four X posts that show women wearing 'Swifties for Trump' t-shirts, as well as a fabricated image of Taylor Swift that reads, 'Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.' Swift has not endorsed a presidential candidate in this election but endorsed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2020 race." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ You can see Trump's post here. Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: Of the 10 photos posted, it appears 8 are A.I.-generated. Two, of the same young woman, are real. (Also linked yesterday.)
The Bluff Cannot Hold. Michael Bender of the New York Times: "Senator JD Vance of Ohio on Monday accused Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota of misleading the public about their records and taking relatively few questions on the campaign trail. But Mr. Vance's attacks, made to supporters at an appearance in Philadelphia, also trained the spotlight on his own less-than-direct answers to specific questions, including whether he and ... Donald J. Trump would support an increase in the federal minimum wage and whether his own opinions have changed on the need for a federal abortion ban." (Also linked yesterday.)
Glenn Thrush & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "American intelligence agencies said on Monday that Iran was responsible for hacking into ... Donald J. Trump's campaign and trying to breach the Biden-Harris campaign. The finding, which was widely expected, came days after a longtime Trump adviser, Roger J. Stone, revealed that his Hotmail and Gmail accounts had been compromised. That intrusion evidently allowed Iranian hackers to impersonate him and gain access to the emails of campaign aides."
Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "Manhattan prosecutors left the politically fraught decision of when to sentence Donald J. Trump in his criminal hush-money case to a judge, declining to endorse or oppose the former president's request to postpone until after the November election. The sentencing is currently set for Sept. 18.... Mr. Trump had asked to postpone the sentencing until after the election partly so he had more time to challenge his conviction. In a letter to the judge overseeing the case, Justice Juan M. Merchan, prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office acknowledged the existing schedule posed some challenges. But the prosecutors also disputed many of Mr. Trump's arguments for delaying his sentencing, and said they were 'prepared to appear for sentencing' at any date the judge chooses."
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The release of the final report from the House committees tasked with evaluating whether President Joe Biden should be impeached reinforces the downside to [Congressional] power [to uncover wrongdoing]: It can also be deployed by bad-faith actors in an explicit effort to politically damage rivals.... [Publication of the report on the first date of the DNC -- when President Biden was slated to speak -- is not a coincidence.] There is almost nothing in the final report that wasn't known or understood before the formal investigation began.... The insincerity of the effort is epitomized by the complete and overt lack of interest Comer and his allies had in similarly investigating Trump and his family, recipients of far more money far more directly tied to foreign governments. In fact, when [Rep. Jim] Comer [R-Ky.] took over Oversight, he shut down an existing probe into Trump.... History ... will ... remember this effort as a failed, ultimately useless attempt to protect the Republican Party and the electoral prospects of Donald Trump."
Arizona. Another Piece of the Plot. Ian Millhiser of Vox: "The Republican Party wants the Supreme Court to weigh in on a nauseatingly complicated voting rights case, which could potentially disenfranchise thousands of presidential voters in the swing state of Arizona. The case is known as Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota. The case involves an astoundingly convoluted system Arizona uses to register certain voters == one that emerged from 20 years of conflicting state and federal laws, plus seemingly endless litigation over those laws. Among other things, Republicans claim that several thousand Arizona voters should be allowed to vote only in congressional elections, and that they are barred from voting in state and local elections or voting for the president." To make a long story short, a Republican win would disenfranchise mostly non-White -- i.e., more likely Democratic -- voters.
Grace Ashford, et al., of the New York Times: "George Santos, the disgraced former Republican congressman from New York whose penchant for lying led to one of the oddest sideshows in modern U.S. politics, pleaded guilty on Monday to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. While Mr. Santos's plea will allow him to avoid a trial on a total of nearly two dozen charges -- including money laundering and stealing public funds -- it all but ensures he will face at least two years in prison and as long as two decades. The trial was set to begin next month.... Mr. Santos repeatedly insisted that he would defend his innocence in court, only to reverse course as the opportunity approached." (Also linked yesterday.)
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Washington, D.C. Meagan Flynn & Michael Brice-Saddler of the Washington Post: "Charged with bribery in federal court, D.C. Council member Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8) could face punishment from the council, including expulsion, after Chairman Phil Mendelson on Monday formed a committee to weigh the evidence against him. White, who is running for reelection in November, is accused by federal prosecutors of agreeing to accept a total of $156,000 in cash and kickbacks this summer in exchange for using his influence and position as a D.C. Council member to try to help a pair of companies lock down lucrative city contracts involving violence prevention."
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Israel/Palestine, et al.
The New York Times live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.
Robert Jimison, et al., of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Monday that Israel had accepted a Biden administration proposal to bridge some remaining differences with Hamas on a cease-fire deal, as he pushed what he called 'probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity' to secure a truce and free the remaining hostages in Gaza. Mr. Blinken made the declaration after a nearly three-hour meeting with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem. 'In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal -- that he supports it,' Mr. Blinken told reporters. 'It's now incumbent on Hamas to do the same.' The statement put new pressure on Hamas, whose officials have called the proposal fundamentally slanted toward Israel, although the details have not been publicized."
Ukraine. Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "Russian troops defending a pocket of territory wedged between a river and the border with Ukraine were at risk of becoming encircled, military analysts said Monday, after Ukraine bombed bridges that are the only routes for resupply or retreat.... The bombing of bridges ... takes aim at land between the Seym River, the border and an area inside Russia already controlled by Ukraine, with the potential to entrap the Russian forces positioned there. Three bridges span this stretch of river, all now destroyed or damaged...."
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Reader Comments (32)
Humbling Bunny Ears
RAS,
Nice. The Trump spawn would have been making obscene gestures to the camera in a similar situation.
So perfect that cheap crook, dirty trickster, and self-aggrandizing big shot to the treason set, Roger Stone, served as the dumbass open door through which Iranian hackers gained access to secret Trump documents, including the 166 page dossier listing all the reasons not to elevate the hillbilly conman, Shady Vance, to heart attack away from supreme power. Wonder if they got ahold of Fatty’s little black book of secret donors to his fascist campaign.
President Joe Biden, a servant to the people, right to the end. A sharp contrast to TFG, a servant only to himself and his chiseling schemes.
Cadet Bone Spurs, who truly does believe veterans are losers and suckers, is given the chance to walk back his incredible contention that the medal he gave out to donors and traitors and lackeys is waaaay better than the Congressional Medal of Honor, given to honor valor and sacrifice in the line of duty, instead doubles down on his insults.
“Well, yeah, like I said, people I picked to get my medal, like Rush Limbaugh and Gym Jordan, are great, they did wonderful things. They’re not all fucked up, and missing an arm or leg, or, ya know, dead! like those suckers who get the Medal of Honor.”
To make it even worse, he pretended he never heard anything about the tsunami of criticism coming from veterans groups and the families of wounded and dead vets. “Really? They were mad? Never listen to those people anyway. Fuck ‘em.”
What a fucking disgrace. A moron right to the end.
Marie,
Thank you for this wall to wall, exhaustive coverage of this historic event. Yeoman’s work, as always. Truly.
Back when we were living in Ohio, there was a grocery store chain, FOOD LION. I went there a couple times, but went to other stores more. Off and on, I wondered where the name came from. Turns out they started life as FOOD TOWN, but when they got big enough to be noticed outside the region, there was already a FOOD TOWN somewhere else and the established store made them change their name. What were they going to do? They had already invested in signs and big letters. How could they minimize their losses? Hence, FOOD LION.
Yesterday, I saw a picture of t**** at an event. Someone in the group of people behind had a sign, obscured by the person in front. I thought the picture was from four years ago, because what I saw was:
**UM*
**NCE
You don't suppose jaydee got the job because his name fit on the sign in a familiar way??
@NiskyGuy: That's almost exactly what I thought when I noticed a Trump Vance sign last week or so. I wondered if Trump's 2020 campaign had tens of thousands of leftover signs and thought it would save money (i.e., move money to Trump's legal defense fund) by just stamping over a couple of letters on the old signs.
I'll bet the runner-up to Vance was Mike Pence's brother Greg Pence who is retiring this year from his job as member of the House. Or maybe Greg turned Trump down, proving he's smart enough not to want to get his neck caught in a noose. (Oh, and providing more evidence that Vance isn't that smart.)
Joining yesterday's commentary on the media, I was listening to NPR yesterday and some R congress critter was blabbing away, maybe in Chicago, saying something like "Kamala hasn't run a business. Tim Walz hasn't run a business. t**** knows how to run a business so he should be President."
My clever daughter's follow on? Probably the same as all of you: "Yeah, run it into the ground."
But no context on NPR. The bankruptcies, the "executive time" until noon when he was the chief executive. There is a known history with that guy. Bringing it up is not rude, it's reality.
Those signs could just as easily say “DUMP the DUNCE”.
NiskyGuy,
I heard that same interview. My thought was “Run a business? Why does anyone think that translates? Government is a business only in certain ways, mostly metaphorical. It’s a huge service industry. And we’ve already had one MBA President (Dubya), and one CEO President (Fatty), both unmitigated disasters, the two worst presidents in history, both dunces who had everything in life handed to them.
Neither “built” a business on their own of any value or worth. Fatty had everything handed to him from his KKK daddy.
Bush’s “business”, Harken Energy, made him millions on an insider trading deal. Other “deals” he was involved in had nothing to do with his business acumen. As someone once put it, every time Bush hit a dry hole, someone showed up to fill it with money for him.
So much for “business background” guaranteeing superlative credentials for running the United States. It’s like suggesting an auto mechanic would make a great doctor. They both diagnose problems, open things up and try to fix them. But if your doctor came into the operating room in coveralls, carrying a can of WD40 and a torque wrench, you’d probably decide that kidney operation could wait just a little longer.
By the same token, the “tools” both Dubya and Fatty brought into the White House were a keen eye for grifting and a con man’s belief in his own ability to scam everyone.
Speaking of interviews, every time I hear a radio interview with some political type, I can tell right away what party they represent, and it has nothing to do with the actual content of their replies. It’s all tone and ability to make coherent points.
This morning I heard a guy whose presentation was even handed, his position backed up with facts and appropriate details: Democrat (It was Pete Buttigieg). When I hear the interview subject ranting and trying to run roughshod over the host, tossing out completely unsubstantiated claims and making snide comments, I know right away: Traitor.
By the way, the latest New Yorker cover is pretty good.
An excellent piece in Salontracing the history and current conjunction of the two major strains of racism infecting the paleocon and neocon movements in the Party of Traitors.
The writer covers ground you all probably recall pretty well but he does a nice job of connecting the various black dots in the rank history of that party over the last few decades. He points out how the fabrications created over the years to insist on white superiority, such as the infamous Bell Curve bullshit, have gained renewed prominence among faux intellectual types like Peter Thiel and his rancid creation, JD Vance.
He also points out something I’ve been impressed with in the Harris-Walz campaign, and that is a useful and successful way of beating back the existential racist arguments of bullies such as Trump and Vance. Basically, don’t engage. Don’t try to argue on their ground. It never works.
“We need to treat these racist myths as what they are: weapons in the culture war, intended to coerce, mislead and intimidate. They are not good-faith policy arguments or suggestions. But that doesn't mean we should take up arms against them. I argue for a ceasefire in the culture wars, which means that we need to tell different stories — stories about Black history, Black excellence and competence.
But it also means coming up with effective ways of dealing with misinformation and propaganda in the public sphere. ... There is no way to engage productively with psyops — you can't have a reasonable conversation with someone who is telling you that you are stupid or morally defective. I've been intrigued by the Harris campaign's shift away from trying to debate the neocons with logic about democracy — instead, they are telling a new story, about a Black and South Asian woman who represents justice and thoughtful engagement with real political policies. Instead of engaging with Trump's weaponized rhetoric, they are basically shrugging it off as ‘weird’ and moving on. That's a great response to a psyop — decline to engage with it and change the subject to something real.”
And nothing pisses off authoritarian racists more than ignoring their phony arguments.
A worthwhile read.
Hope vs Weird
"Corporate Bullshit"
My guess is that an intelligent person learns something from whatever job s/he holds before becoming president. Every job gives us some real-world experience.
Perhaps the closer the job is to president, the more useful. So, say, a governor may have learned something about how to handle a huge bureaucracy and nitwit legislators. But being governor doesn't teach much about dealing with foreign leaders. It teaches less about macroeconomics because states don't have the fiat.
But Kamala Harris has had four jobs main jobs (we're not counting the McDonald's gig or any other college jobs here), and three of the four give her direct experience at the presidenty stuff: as California AG, she "ran the biggest law firm in the country"; as Senator, she learned more about how Congress works (and doesn't); and as vice president, she understudied for the top job.
Trump, by contrast, had no work experience except as a failed businessman numerous times over and as a fake teevee personality. There's very little transfer there, and since Trump isn't smart enough to learn from his mistakes (which he can't admit), there would be less transfer for him than for most people.
Essentially, Trump's election turned the guy who falsely played a "successful businessman" on teevee to a guy who falsely played a president* in Washington. In the teevee show, apparently he succeeded in fooling the audience because he had scriptwriters the producer hired. In the presidenty act, he hired his own scriptwriters, and he was lost. He thought the president job was to order people around, sign papers with a flourish, and sit at parades where only beautiful people marched by (no wounded warriors, please). Just as he had been during his business career, he was a complete failure in his last act.
Fact checks gone wrong.
Was Kamala trolling with her tan suit?
“Me and JD aren’t weird. We’re regular guys*. THEY’RE the weird ones!”
Harumph.
Just curious. Has “I know you are, but what am I?” ever been a winning campaign slogan?
So let’s forget about a career prosecutor. Attorney General, Senator, and Vice President, her running mate, a 24 year military veteran, teacher, coach, congressman, and successful governor, and pick a couple of privileged, nasty, glue sniffing fifth graders who beat up on smaller kids to run the country.
*Yeah, Trump and Vance are regular guys like Fox is fair and balanced.
I have a Fox "News" report. I never knew where Fox "News" was on my service provider's channel lineup, but I found it. So while CNN & MSNBC were reporting on the Democratic convention, I thought it would be fun to see how Fox was covering the same.
Well, they weren't. Instead, they had on a "news conference" that Jay Dee seemed to be giving in front of a few reporters and a smattering of supporters. He was complaining that "Kamala" never talked to reporters (which isn't true, but that's par for the course.) So after about 30 seconds of that, I'd had enough, and watched "Portofino," which I'd missed Sunday night.
So after that was over -- about an hour later -- I went back to MSNBC & CNN, and they were covering the DNC again. I turned to Fox "News" and they were covering it, too, sort of. Brit Hume was being "interviewed" by someone, and ole Brer Brit, he was complaining that the media was always way liberal but they were going overboard in giving Harris "rapturous reviews." Okay, so 15 seconds of that was enough.
End of report.
It is a mystery why the campaign that has normal regular people who walk around with JD "family kits" and wearing adult diapers outside their pants and sexist t shirts about the Democratic presidential candidate on her knees doesn't get more positive coverage? Or the fact that their old tired orange candidate can't go out in public without ranting about a fictional cannibal from thirty years ago like a regular normal human male does. Though of course Fox News' guy does get glowing coverage when you compare it to the reality of what Trump says and does. But you can only put so much lipstick on that pig.
I too can only handle about ten seconds of Fox before my ears start bleeding.
Kamala wore a tan suit-pants outfit, but at least she wasn't wearing
a red tie a-la Donald, long enough to cover his crotch area. What's
he trying to hide behind that long tie? Probably nothing, as whats-
her-name implied.
Marie,
Hey, I wondered how Treason State Television was covering a convention that had the word “democratic” on screen all night (or should have; were they calling it the Democrat convention?), which must have caused synaptic explosions through the building. Anyway, thanks for that update on TST “coverage”.
Listening today to the major speeches, I was struck by how often the word love appeared. I couldn’t stomach more than a few minutes here and there of Fatty’s fascist coronation, but I didn’t once hear that word. I’m guessing the only time it may have made an appearance was in screams about how much the forces of treason and hatred “love” to own the libs, imprison immigrants, teach uppity women their place, and support authoritarianism.
Just a guess.
Forrest,
If a cheap, flappy little tie is all that’s required to hide Fatty’s tiny crotch residents, then that small hand thing has some validation after all.
Digby embeds a clip of Judy Woodruff reporting that DiJiT is calling Netanyahu to urge him not to make a ceasefire or other deal, since that would be an election "plus" for VP Harris. This is directly opposed to US efforts to bring in an agreement.
We used to call that treason. What do we call it these days?
https://digbysblog.net/2024/08/20/seems-like-big-news-to-me/
Patrick,
Trump lives in the 80s, including copying Reagan's calls to the Middle East to keep hostages stuck in danger to help him get elected. As Jasmine Crockett called him last night Trump is a "vindictive vile villain."
"Gimme Hope Kamala"
Patrick,
It’s still treason. In fact it’s treason squared because it not only affects Harris-Walz and American interests in staving off additional strife in the Middle East, but it screws Palestinians and Israelis hoping for a way out of this horrible situation.
So…treason cubed?
Only Trump. But then again, this is the guy who allowed hundreds of thousands of Americans to suffer and die from Covid so he could look good.
Oh, hang on. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post wants to both sides that statement.
“There is no clear evidence that Trump knew that drinking Clorox wouldn’t work, and no experimental evidence that drinking bleach wouldn’t actually work, because both sides!” I
Thanks for that clarification.
But sorry….Still treason.
More precedent: As I remember, Nixon scuttled Vietnam peace talks, didn't he?
That treason thing must run in the R's bloodstream.
Trump has also done the same thing with legislation like the border security bill as he undermines the United States from without now that he is not in power to do it from within.
Treasonous Trump. Yes, he is all in on delaying or cancelling anything done for the good of people, until he is reelected and will reinstate anyone else's progress as his own. Trustfully Treasonous Trump. He is nothing but garbage. Needs to be thrown out. Has been stinking for too long.