The Conversation -- August 30, 2024
David Moye of the Huffington Post: "JD Vance is refusing to apologize for attempting to mock Kamala Harris by posting an embarrassing clip of a teen beauty pageant contestant struggling to answer a question ― even after he learned the subject of the video once contemplated suicide. On Thursday night..., [Vance] posted a video on social media Thursday that he 'jokingly' claimed was the full Harris CNN interview. The video was from 2007 and showed Miss Teen USA contestant Caitlin Upton trying ― and failing ― to explain why some Americans supposedly can't find the U.S. on a map. Vance's post was widely condemned, with many people noting that Upton struggled with public ridicule and later admitted that she contemplated suicide as a result of the whole experience. Berman asked Vance if he'd like to apologize 'given what you've now learned' [about Upton's mental health struggles]. Vance refused, saying, 'John, I'm not going to apologize for posting a joke, but I wish the best for Caitlin.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: (1) It appears Trump has told JayDee that he must never apologize for any dumb thing he says or does; (2) JayDee is not as horrible a person as Trump: even though Vance refused to apologize, when Berman told Vance about Upton's difficulties with widespread public ridicule, Vance replied that he himself has "said a lot of stupid things on camera." IOW, Vance is capable of empathy even as he is afraid to raise Trump's ire.
Terrence McCoyof the Washington Post: "A Brazilian supreme court justice on Friday ordered the suspension of X in Latin America's largest country, a dramatic escalation in a months-long dispute between platform owner Elon Musk and Brazilian jurists over the limits of freedom of speech in an era gripped by polarization and disinformation. The decision, which did not immediately shut the site down, could impact more than 20 million X users in Brazil and deprive the platform of one of its largest and most active markets. The ruling came days after Musk declined to comply with a request by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, one of the world's most aggressive prosecutors of disinformation, to reestablish a physical presence in Brazil. Moraes says X needs a representative in this country of 215 million people to respond to government requests to suspend accounts found to be spreading fake news. Musk has refused, saying anyone one he appointed would be exposed to the possibility of arrest. Moraes then froze the bank accounts of Starlink, another Musk company active in Brazil, and gave him 24 hours to name a representative in Brazil. The 24 hours lapsed Thursday evening, as Musk repeatedly assailed the judge on X."
Let's All Go to the Movies! Jada Yuan & Samantha Chery of the Washington Post: "The Apprentice,' the controversial film centered on Donald Trump's origin story that was met with legal threats and a months-long distribution delay, now has a pre-election U.S. release date set for Oct. 11. The release of Ali Abbasi's film, which follows Trump (Sebastian Stan) as a young New York real estate magnate mentored by lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), was initially met with roadblocks. Trump's team has threatened legal action against filmmakers since the docudrama's buzzy world premiere at Cannes Film Festival in May. A lawyer for the former president sent a cease-and-desist letter to the movie's team accusing them of defamation and illegal election interference. And ex-Washington Commanders owner and Trump backer Daniel Snyder, who's the principal lender for the movie's primary U.S. production company, Kinematics, reportedly didn't like 'The Apprentice' and contributed to a stall in securing the movie's U.S. distribution. But the highly anticipated film has secured its U.S. distributor, Briarcliff Entertainment.... The film's other producers reportedly bought out Kinematics' stake."
Steve Benen of MSNBC: Donald Trump "delivered public remarks on the [fiasco at Arlington National Cemetery] for the first time [Thursday afternoon], misstated the date of his visit to Arlington, bragged about being on time for the event at the cemetery, characterized himself as a victim of smear, and concluded that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris 'killed' American service members in Afghanistan.... Around the same time, Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita, on the heels of publicly criticizing the official who works at the cemetery, issued a statement online that called the office of the Army Secretary a bunch of 'hacks.'... Politico reported: 'Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Armed Services panel, added Thursday that he wants to see the Army's report on the confrontation....' VoteVets, a progressive veterans group, wasted little time in throwing its public support behind the Democratic senator's efforts, and there's a related push underway from several House Democrats. Mark Esper, who served as Trump's Defense Secretary, has also called for an investigation into the incident." Related stories linked below.
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post was so amused by the idea that Donald Trump could "win on character" that he set out to prove it with just a few of the Trump activities and remarks of the week.
~~~~~~~~~~
Presidential Race
Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Seated alongside her running mate, the quietly supportive Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, [Vice President Kamala] Harris parried questions from Dana Bash on Thursday without causing herself political harm or providing herself a significant boost. She was methodical and risk-averse in the 27-minute interview.... Here are seven takeaways from the interview[.]" ~~~
~~~ CNN has a full transcript of the interview here.
Carl Hulseof the New York Times: "The effort by [Senate Leader Chuck] Schumer and Senate Democrats to persuade [President] Biden to step aside was a more pivotal factor than previously known in bringing about the president's exit from the race, as he found himself with scant support in the chamber that had been his political home for 36 years. Representative Nancy Pelosi, who appeared on television hinting at her concerns about Mr. Biden and privately made the case that he could not win, has widely been credited as the chief architect of the quiet but intense drive to sideline the president. But behind the scenes, Mr. Schumer and his colleagues -- along with Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House Democratic leader, and former President Barack Obama -- were also playing a powerful role. Mr. Schumer was spurred to action after it became abundantly clear that Senate Democrats, Mr. Biden's closest political allies on Capitol Hill, believed that he was putting them and his legacy at risk...." Read on.
Congreve was right! It turns out music does soothe the savage beast, or at least music can soothe you if you must think of savage beasts. (Okay, Congreve posited that music soothed "a savage breast," but we're not going to let a correct citation ruin the point.) Anyway, Linda from Denver, with a little guidance from Stephen Sondheim, has devised lyrics that will have you waltzing around your living room while thinking of savage beasts. Art is a beautiful thing:
Aint it a bitch?
Aren't they a pair?
One with a worm in his brain
One with bad hair
They've sent in the clowns
A couple of clowns.
They'll be gone next year.*
* Marie: Linda let me know that she accidentally omitted the credit for these lyrics when she shared them yesterday. She found them in a comment by "Runaway" in a WashPo thread. We don't know if Runaway wrote them. But they're pretty good.
Paul McLeary & Connor O'Brien of Politico: "The Army is defending an Arlington National Cemetery official involved in an incident with the Trump campaign this week at the national memorial, saying the woman was 'abruptly pushed aside' and 'unfairly attacked' by the Trump staffers and its surrogates.... In the statement, an Army spokesperson said the employee, despite being 'abruptly pushed aside ... acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption.' The unidentified female staff member has declined to press charges due to concern over retaliation, and the Army, which runs national cemeteries, said in a statement Thursday morning that it considers the matter closed." The Washington Post story by Meryl Kornfield, linked below, describes the Army's release as "a rare statement." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: In an interview with NBC News' Dasha Burns, Donald Trump defends his visit to Arlington National Cemetery. I especially like the part where he says it might have been the families who brought those still & video cameras to the cemetery because, you know, he "really doesn't know anything about it": ~~~
~~~ Meryl Kornfield, et al.,of the Washington Post: "... Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, doubled down Wednesday on telling Vice President Kamala Harris to 'go to hell,' falsely repeating that she had feigned outrage over an altercation between Trump's campaign and an Arlington cemetery worker when she had not. In an interview with The Washington Post, Vance defended his attack on Harris -- saying 'go to hell' is 'a colloquial phrase' -- and tied it to broader criticism of the administration's handling of an Islamic State attack that killed 13 U.S. troops during the August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.... Vance also referred to a 2020 Biden campaign video that included a photo of Biden as vice president in 2010 in Section 60, the area of the cemetery that includes recent conflicts. However, the photo was taken at an official Memorial Day event, not while Biden was campaigning for president a decade later. The content of the campaign video memorialized soldiers and did not attack his opponent." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ David Badash of AlterNet: "The Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, reportedly pulled strings to get Donald Trump into Arlington National Cemetery, amid what has become a scandal and a crisis.... The [right-wing] Daily Caller reports Monday's event 'would have not happened without Speaker Johnson,' according to an unnamed source." Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post: "... hauling a camera crew to Arlington National Cemetery and exploiting the fresh graves of heroes -- using them as props in his presidential campaign -- was more than a violation of the cemetery's rules; it was more, even, than a violation of federal law. It was a deeply dishonorable act by a shockingly dishonorable man.... Arlington National Cemetery is a place of honor. Donald Trump thinks honor is for suckers and losers -- and values sacrifice only if it might help him win an election. Do not become numb to his nature." ~~~
~~~ digby & Josh Marshall comment. Marshall's column is firewalled on TPM, but digby republishes a big piece of it.
Marie: If you don't think Donald Trump can best Kamala Harris in a debate, I offer this evidence that he is a master of not answering unwelcome questions. Here he puts on his (unconvincing) little toddler-in-the-cookie-jar face and tone, swinging his shoulders left and right in an unintentional sign of equivocation, to not answer NBC News' Dasha Burns' questions about his position on abortion rights. Bear in mind that the non-answer need not make a lick of sense. Indeed, that's the beauty of it: ~~~
~~~ Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump suggested on Thursday that he might support a ballot measure that would expand abortion rights in his adopted state of Florida, though his campaign quickly sought to make clear that his remarks were not indicative of how he would vote. In an interview with NBC, Mr. Trump ... was asked on how he would vote on the measure known as Amendment 4, which would guarantee the right to abortion 'before viability,' usually around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Mr. Trump initially repeated his past criticism of the state's current ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. When pressed further, he stopped short of outright endorsing the proposal but said, 'I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks.' The only way to do that directly on the November ballot would be to vote 'Yes' on Amendment 4.... Later on Thursday, however, Mr. Trump's campaign said in a statement that the former president 'has not yet said how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida.... He simply reiterated that he believes six weeks is too short,' said the statement from Karoline Leavitt, the campaign's national press secretary." ~~~
Maeve Reston & Sabrina Malhi of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump said Thursday that if he wins a second term, he would require the government or private insurance companies to cover all costs associated with in vitro fertilization treatments -- an announcement delivered with few details that underscored his deficit among female voters and political headwinds on reproductive issues.... During a speech in Potterville, Mich., Trump offered only a general description of how his proposals would work and did not specify how much it would cost. Each IVF treatment can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and covering assisted reproductive technologies often comes with a host of health policy complications.... 'I'm announcing today in a major statement that under the Trump administration, your government will pay for -- or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for -- all costs associated with IVF treatment,' Trump said. 'Because we want more babies, to put it nicely.'" The NBC News story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Um, how would you put that "not nicely"? More important, "a major statement" implies production of a white paper: a formal proposal that would at least generally outline revenue sources. BUT, according to the WashPo report, "His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for more details on his proposals." So Trump seems not to have bothered with any of that, to put it nicely. Less nicely: he's lying again. But if you loved Infrastructure Week, maybe IVF Week will please you -- again and again. According to the NBC News story linked above, "The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology says its member clinics performed 389,993 IVF cycles in 2022. At a cost of around $20,000 apiece, that would come to $7.8 billion for that one year." But it's fair to assume it would cost a lot more than that if suddenly everyone who wanted IVF treatment suddenly could get it for free.
Autocrat v. Plutocrat. Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump writes in a new book set to be published next week that Mark Zuckerberg plotted against him during the 2020 election and said the Meta chief executive would 'spend the rest of his life in prison' if he did it again. It represents Trump's most recent attack on Zuckerberg, who he has repeatedly accused of intervening in the last presidential election. And it comes as Meta has taken steps to assure conservatives it will not influence this year's campaign. [Under a photo in a coffee table book,] Trump writes that Zuckerberg 'would come to the Oval Office to see me. He would bring his very nice wife to dinners, be as nice as anyone could be, while always plotting to install shameful Lock Boxes in a true PLOT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT,' Trump added, referring to a $420 million contribution Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, made during the 2020 election to fund election infrastructure." (Also linked yesterday.)
Meidas Touch reviews Donald Trump's r<ésumé. Thanks to Akhilleus for the link: ~~~
📺 NEW MEIDAS SHORT
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) August 27, 2024
Trump is not okay. Stay vigilant. Look for the RED FLAGS! 🚩 🚩 pic.twitter.com/OnfrfzzY0B
Carl Gibson of AlterNet: "During a meeting of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) -- which is part of the hugely influential AFL-CIO -- [JD] Vance addressed the Boston, Massachusetts crowd of union firefighters.... But Vance's speech was interrupted by loud boos after he tried to tout the GOP ticket's 'pro-worker' bona fides. 'President Trump and I are proud to be the most pro-worker Republican ticket in history,' Vance said, as the audience started to boo.... Vance's speech to the IAFF came a day after Minnesota Governor and 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz addressed the group, in which he said that Trump and Vance had 'waged war on working people' with their policies." MB: I don't recall that the firefighters booed Walz. (Also linked yesterday.)
Spaghetti ... Wall. Ben Protess & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump sought to move his Manhattan criminal case into federal court on Thursday, filing the unusual request three months after he was convicted in state court. The long-shot bid marks Mr. Trump's latest effort to stave off his sentencing in state court in his hush-money trial, in which he was convicted of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal. He is scheduled to receive his punishment on Sept. 18...."
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "As Speaker Nancy Pelosi was evacuated from the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, while the complex was under attack, her motorcade passed by a pipe bomb at the Democratic National Committee headquarters that law enforcement had yet to render safe, according to video and analysis released this week by House Republicans. The revelation is the second known instance of a prominent Democrat coming close to the explosive device, and it underscores the threat that elected officials faced that day when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.... Kamala Harris, then the vice president-elect, came within 20 feet of it, according to a report last month by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general, who faulted the Secret Service for its handling of the pipe bomb." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Bear in mind that Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to pardon the "patriots" who may be responsible for building & planting a device that could have killed or maimed the two most prominent women in American politics, along with any number of government personnel & bystanders.
Ken Dilanian, et al., of NBC News: "Three years after the Justice Department's internal watchdog slammed the FBI for its failures in the case of convicted sex predator and former U.S. gymnastic team doctor Larry Nassar, a new audit released Thursday finds that the bureau is still failing to protect children who have been sexually abused. A new report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz reviewed a sample of 327 cases and found 42 that were so deficient that auditors felt compelled to contact the FBI and urge immediate attention. In one case, the audit found that a child continued to be sexually abused for 15 months -- and another child victim was abused by the same person -- while the FBI failed to investigate the case. The IG reported on a separate FBI review that found another such example in which a 2-year-old was being abused for 21 months while the FBI sat on the case and failed to take investigative steps. These cases mirror what happened in the Nassar case, even though FBI Director Christopher Wray assured Congress and the public this would never happen again." (Also linked yesterday.)
Joe Heim, et al.,of the Washington Post: "The Boar's Head plant in southern Virginia at the epicenter of a deadly nationwide listeria outbreak was regularly cited for violations in the past year, including the presence of mold, mildew, insects and a 'rancid smell,' according to reports by government inspectors. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports, reviewed by The Washington Post, show that inspectors notified managers at the plant of one or more 'noncompliances' on 57 separate days between Aug. 1, 2023, and July 27, 2024. Among the issues cited were 'dirty' machinery, flies in pickle containers, 'heavy meat buildup' on walls, blood in puddles on the floor, and multiple instances of leaking pipes, clogged drains and heavy dust buildup in certain areas.... Inspections at the Jarratt facility have been suspended, according to the USDA, and the facility will remain closed 'until the establishment is able to demonstrate it can produce safe product.'... Deli meat produced at the Jarratt, Va., facility between May 10 and July 29 is now believed to be responsible for the deaths of nine people and the hospitalization of dozens of others." The CBS News report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Doesn't it seem that if a food production plant is in "noncompliance," the USDA should shut down the plant right away till it's in compliance? Maybe you're thinking that would be way to expensive for a fine capitalist enterprise, but according to the WashPo report, Boar's Head has had to recall "at least 7 million pounds of more than 70 products." That -- plus all the suits for wrongful death, illness & hospitalizations caused by the listeria outbreak -- would seem to be more costly than shutting down a plant for a few days. I think I'll switch to Whale's Head. I know a guy ...
~~~~~~~~~~
Marie: This morning's New York Times online front page has two stories by Reid Epstein, and I have a feeling one of them has been sitting around in his to-do basket for so long, he decided to string together a lot of research tidbits, craft them into paragraphs in no particUlar order, and turn it in. To begin, the story's tease looms ominously: "For years, the Maryland governor has faced questions about whether he had wrongfully said he had a Bronze Star. He insisted no. But an old document proves otherwise." Sounds bad. ~~~
~~~ Maryland. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "When Wes Moore ran for governor of Maryland in 2022, questions about whether he had claimed to have been awarded a Bronze Star for his Army service in Afghanistan hovered over his campaign. For reasons that remain unexplained, two television interviewers, Gwen Ifill and Stephen Colbert, had wrongly introduced him years earlier as a recipient of the award. Mr. Moore failed to correct them, even as he and his aides insisted he had never told anyone he had a Bronze Star. But at least once, Mr. Moore, now the state's Democratic governor, did say he had received the award." ~~~
~~~ If you read all the way down to Graf 20, you'll find out that Ifill interviewed Moore in 2008, so 16 years ago, and Colbert interviewed him in 2010, so 14 years back. If you keep on reading, you learn in Graf 27 that Moore says he's sorry he didn't correct Ifill or Colbert. I guess you can call that "unexplained," but if you've ever been introduced by someone who made a mistake about your biography, chances are you didn't want to embarrass him by correcting him in public, much less on national television. And let's face it, a comedy show is not the place to get into details. And there are details, because we find in Graf 18 that the colonel -- now an Army general officer -- who had recommended Moore for a Bronze Star was unaware Moore had never received it. The general said he would resubmit the paperwork. Here and there throughout the story, Reid reports plausible explanations as to why Moore had not received the Bronze Star and why he wrote that he had received it on a 2006 application for a White House fellowship. ~~~
~~~ If you have served in the military, you may disagree with me, and there's a good chance I'll defer to your experience. Moore should have cleared up this matter before he ran for public office for the first time in 2021-22. It does seem that Moore has been fairly sloppy in a number of more minor civil matters that either should not have arisen or should have been corrected before they received press attention. Nevertheless, Epstein's story seems an awful lot like "But the Emails!" journalism.
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Palestine, et al. Victoria Kim & Thomas Fuller of the New York Times: "Israel's military stormed a mosque in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, where it said weapons were being stored, and engaged in gun battles that left at least five Palestinians dead, including a young militant commander who Israel says was responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians. It was the second straight day of an Israeli incursion into the northern West Bank, focused in and around the cities of Tulkarm and Jenin, involving columns of armored vehicles, fleets of drones and hundreds of troops. The raids are Israel's biggest military actions in the West Bank in more than a year. The commander killed in Thursday's fighting, Muhammad Jaber, who died in a clash in Tulkarm, led the local branch of the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which confirmed his death.... Wafa, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency, said 17 people had been killed in total in the raids across the West Bank...."
News Lede
New York Times: "Prosecutors in Sicily have broadened their investigation into the sinking of the luxury yacht, the Bayesian, and are now looking into the actions of two more crew members, their lawyer said Thursday. The captain of the yacht, James Cutfield, is also facing a manslaughter inquiry to determine whether his actions negligently caused the shipwreck, one of his lawyers said Tuesday. Seven people -- six passengers and one crew member -- died in the Aug. 19 accident amid a pre-dawn storm off the coast of Sicily. Among the victims was the British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, whose family owned the Bayesian, as well as his 18-year-old daughter Hannah."
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Reader Comments (20)
Even Fatty thinks his VP pick is a terrible choice.
The daily nature of Vance giant fails must be getting to Trump, whose regret shows up in his new campaign signs.
Test.
Just one more reason why the Party of Traitors want to kill public schools.
“Vice President Kamala Harris's groundbreaking presidential campaign has led to a 175% increase in young Black women registering to vote. But schools — and Black history — laid the foundation...
Public education has long been critical to nurturing the civic identities of Black students. After the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, centered on Linda Brown, a Black girl — the ruling enabled Black students to attend better-funded, previously all-white schools.
Black girls and young women were integral in organizing and participating in civil rights protests during the Civil Rights movement, such as the Birmingham Children’s Crusade in 1963. Black girls like Ruby Bridges, who became the first African American child to attend a formerly whites-only school, risked physical and psychological harm to move the United States closer to its democratic principles.”
Democratic principles?? Can’t have that. Take all that public school money and give it to private Christian Nationalist schools and phony for profit charter schools (Otto tried to make that “cheater schools”; I think he’s on to something). Look what happens when you let black girls get an education. They get all uppity and think they can beat a rich white authoritarian for president! Can’t have that either.
VoteVets on Donald's disrespect
Succinct
Having your Big Mac and eating it to. May be a little trouble in paradise with the forced birthers.
Just Another coincidence...
"The social platform X flagged a story from NPR that outlined the fallout of a reported clash between Trump campaign staffers and Arlington National Cemetery officials earlier this week as potentially “unsafe.”
The story, first reported by the outlet citing anonymous sources, was focused on a reported confrontation between the campaign and cemetery officials after a photographer with former President Trump’s team tried to access a restricted area.
Users who attempted to view the story through a link on X on Thursday were redirected by the platform to a warning page that reads “this may be unsafe.”
“The link you are trying to access has been identified by X or our partners as being potentially spammy or unsafe,” it continues.
The company said Bobby Allyn, one of its Tech reporters, had received a response from X saying the link’s blockage was a “false positive,” and the issue had been corrected."
JD in public
Texas
"Justice, Brought To You By Big Oil
Texas is opening a fossil fuel-backed business court stacked with judges who’ve represented oil and gas companies.
The judges were hand-picked over the last two months by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, a major recipient of oil industry cash — and many can be quickly replaced if they hand down decisions he opposes, a judicial design that he championed."
Heather Cox Richardson describes a "major story from yesterday is that the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has finalized two rules that will work to stop corruption and money laundering in U.S. residential real estate and in private investment...As scholar of kleptocracies Casey Michel put it: “This is a massive, massive deal in the world of counter-kleptocracy—the U.S. is finally ending the gargantuan anti–money laundering loopholes for real estate, private equity, hedge funds, and more. Can't overstate how important this is. What a feat.”
Letters from an American for 8/29/24
Screwed either way.
NY Times: Harris won’t do an interview! Aieeee!!
NY Times: Harris did an interview! Aieeeee!!
Nate Silver predicts big win for Trump.
Nate doesn’t care what polls say. He gives Trump a five point advantage at winning the goddam Electoral College. The Founders gift that keeps on screwing America.
Something in the Arlington National Cemetery story that does not get nearly enough emphasis is that the woman assaulted by the Trump team doesn't want to file charges because then her name will get out and she will get the customary harassment and death threats from his supporters. We have seen this same scenario play out again and again. Whether it's election workers, judges and prosecutors, politicians or state officials so many have gotten harassed and threatened. A pattern that has excellerated since Trump has begun his run in 2016. Several people have been arrested and some have been convicted for their actions taken up in support of Trump. Senators were afraid to vote to impeach him for fear for themselves and their families. Plots to kidnap the govenor of Michigan and plots to send pipe bombs around the country. Assaults on minority groups that Trump targetted skyrocketted while he was in office. Like the number of hate crimes against Asians when Trump was scapegoating China for his failures with covid-19. The violence that Trump and his fascist minions have ushered into our society is terrible and another disqualifying thing about the whiny loser. But the media mostly gives all that a pass or buries it deep in the article like it is not that big a deal. Probably partially because they are scared of the same thing happening to themselves.
Test.
Gotcha, Kamala!
The Washington Free Beacon (anytime you see words like “free”, “freedom”, or “patriot” in a title, you can be pretty sure it’s some right-wing rag that has zero to do with those qualities) has had a journalisty-type breakthrough. They have uncovered a scandal of epic proportions! Stop the presses! Wire Congress! Write to Santa Claus to break out the Naughty List.
Are you guys ready for this bombshell?
Kamambla Harris never mentioned, not once EVER!! in interviews or on her resume, that she worked at McDonald’s! Not until the Two thousand and nineteen!! Are you kidding me?
Outrage! Scandal! She must drop out of the race IMMEDIATELY!!
“Harris’s work at McDonald’s, which allegedly took place at a franchise in the California Bay Area the summer after her freshman year in college, is a recent addition to her carefully curated life story. For decades, Harris never mentioned it, not on the campaign trail nor in two books. It’s absent from a job application and résumé she submitted a year after she graduated from college. Third-party biographers did not write about it. Not until Harris ran for president in 2019 and spoke to a labor rally in Las Vegas did she mention the job, telling the crowd that she ‘was a student when I was working in a McDonald’s.’”
The point, if that’s what you wanna call it, is that Harris is sneakily trying to claim that she had a reg’lar person job that only real ‘mericans do, not lib’ral coastal elites.
Jesus fucking Christ.
If I added all the jobs I did as a kid on my resume, it’d be three pages long. I flipped burgers as a kid, at 14 I worked with a guy who went around to construction sites and picked up trash, I was a laborer for another construction company, I washed dishes at the freshman dining hall in college, I worked for a painting contractor specializing in old churches, I scooped ice cream at Brigham’s when I was 16. At 17 I got a city job sweeping municipal parking lots in the summer. I was a cashier, bagger, and supervisor at a grocery store in high school. None of these jobs made the resume. And none of those jobs were held “allegedly”. At ten years old, my brother and I worked for the milk man, running empty bottles back out to the truck from front porches (back when that was a thing). We couldn’t wait to start working.
Let’s check out the “real ‘merican” jobs Trump has held. Does keeping nee-groes out of daddy’s slum apartments count?
They got nothin’. But they’ll keep at it to make sure not including a McDonald’s job on a resume is the equivalent of killing hundreds of thousands of Americans to win an election.
@Akhilleus: I started babysitting when I was about 12, I guess. I confess that I never mentioned it on any resume or any job application or any job interview, not even when I had a very short employment history. Is that a sin of omission? Have I been a fraud all my life? Am I telling you now just to impress you? Or to make myself seem more authentically ... something?
Anyway, now that you've pointed out that Kamala and I are both complete phonies, I think the Washington Free Beacon should get some reporters out to San Francisco to investigate the Kamala McDonald's hoax. This is as good as that time Donald Trump sent private eyes to Hawaii to hunt for President Obama's birth certificate and Donald reported back that the investigators "cannot believe what they’re finding." Okay, Michael Cohen said Trump never sent any P.I.s to Hawaii. But still.
Resumes are funny things. The funny part is what is left out, and in
my case, in my sophomore and junior years, I cooked for two summers
in Paris.
I never bothered to add that it was Paris, Michigan, a summer resort
north of Grand Rapids.
Would that be considered lying? If I had said Paris, France, that
definitely would have been lying.
About those military medals, I was awarded a sharp shooter medal
and a good conduct medal. Just awarded, on paper. I had to buy the
actual medals at the PX.
@Forrest Morris: You had to buy your own medals??? I feel as if I should reimburse you.
Forrest,
Sharp shooting medal in the actual military?
BFD. MAGA is watching you in case Fatty waddles past your garden.
But you never got anything as impressive as the Orange Monster’s Bed Making Medal when he was in that New York Military school for pretend soldiers, amirite? Of course, this was not long before he achieved the rank of Cadet Bone Spurs, draft dodging liar. Not sure he got a medal for that, but I’m sure he had one made up for himself.
Marie,
Oh-Ho! So only now we’re hearing about this alleged baby sitting gig? Did it really happen, or are you making this up? Who did you babysit? Names, please. Where did they live? You change diapers? Or did you let those poor babies suffer?
Sure, sure. A baby sitter. A likely story. Did those babies play with Cheerios, like our beloved leader (at 78)? Did they even like you? Were you reading them “Das Kapital” instead of the “Three Little Pigs”? Sure…teaching the little tykes all about the structural contradictions of a capitalist society instead of huffing, puffing, and house blowing-downing!
The idea! Jim Comer will be investigating your ass!