The Conversation -- October 14, 2024
Claire Moses of the New York Times: "Lilly Ledbetter, whose lawsuit against her employer paved the way for the Fair Pay Act of 2009 and who dedicated decades of her life to fighting for equal pay, died in Alabama on Saturday, her family said in a statement. She was 86." Thanks to RAS for the link.
Look Who's Not Afraid of the Big Bad Fox. Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris has agreed to an interview with Fox News, the network said on Monday. The interview, with Fox News's chief political anchor, Bret Baier, will take place near Philadelphia on Wednesday, shortly before it airs at 6 p.m. Eastern on Mr. Baier's program, 'Special Report.' Ms. Harris is expected to sit for 25 to 30 minutes of questions, the network said. This is Ms. Harris's first formal interview with Fox News, whose day-to-day programming is heavy on conservative punditry that often explicitly supports ... Donald J. Trump."
~~~~~~~~~~
Presidential Race
Nicholas Nehamas & Maya King of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris challenged ... Donald J. Trump on Sunday for refusing to do what she has done in recent days: release a report on his health, sit for a '60 Minutes' interview and commit to another presidential debate. 'It makes you wonder: Why does his staff want him to hide away?' Ms. Harris asked the crowd at a rally in a packed college basketball arena in Greenville, N.C. 'One must question: Are they afraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable to lead America?'... Ms. Harris's weekend visit to North Carolina also included local outreach efforts.... On Saturday, she helped put together care packages at a barbecue restaurant and met with local Black elected officials and faith leaders. Then, before her rally on Sunday, Ms. Harris attended a service at a predominantly Black church in Greenville as part of her campaign's wider initiative to engage Black faith voters, which will include a 'Souls to the Polls' initiative...."
Brakkton Booker & Eugene Daniels of Politico: "Kamala Harris, looking at daunting polling that shows she could draw some of the softest support for a Democratic nominee among Black men, is rolling out new efforts to shore up support with this key voting bloc. In the coming days, Harris plans several campaign events and policy proposals designed to appeal to Black men. She plans to announce three new policy prescriptions: providing 1 million small business loans that are forgivable up to $20,000, training and mentorship programs that would help give Black men a leg up in jumping into 'high-demand' industries and launching an initiative focused on health issues that disproportionately impact Black men. She will also tape a town hall with Charlamagne tha God, co-host of the popular Breakfast Club program...."
Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "With early voting set to begin in Georgia, the Harris campaign is sending the former president [Bill Clinton] to get out the vote in rural areas.... From a church service in Albany, where the former president reminisced about campaigning alongside the baseball great Hank Aaron, to the fish fry in Fort Valley attended by a few hundred people, Mr. Clinton used the opening hours of a two-day blitz to try to help Ms. Harris bump up her score wherever she can.... Mr. Clinton is scheduled to campaign again in Georgia on Monday -- again steering clear of Atlanta -- and to headline a bus tour in rural North Carolina later in the week."
Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday that he is worried about the prospect of unspecified actions by what he dubbed 'radical left lunatics' on Election Day, urging that the National Guard or U.S. military be deployed on American soil against those he labeled 'the enemy from within.'... The 'enemy from within,' Trump argued in a later part of the interview with Bartiromo, 'is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries.' He added that some politicians fell into that category. 'The thing that's tougher to handle are these lunatics that we have inside, like Adam Schiff,' the former president added.... 'Taken with his vow to be a dictator on "day one," calls for the "termination" of the Constitution, and plans to surround himself with sycophants who will give him unchecked, unprecedented power if he returns to office, [his proposal to use the military against voters] should alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security," [Harris campaign spokesman Ian] Sams [said]. 'What Donald Trump is promising is dangerous, and returning him to office is simply a risk Americans cannot afford.'"
They Can't Handle the Truth. Ashley Parker & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump and his campaign have waged an aggressive campaign against fact-checking in recent months, pushing TV networks, journalism organizations and others to abandon the practice if they hope to interact with Trump. Trump nearly backed out of an August interview with a group of Black journalists after learning they planned to fact-check his claims. The following month, he and his allies repeatedly complained about the fact-checking that occurred during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.... And this month, Trump declined to sit down for an interview with CBS's '60 Minutes' because he objected to the show's practice of fact-checking, according to the show.... The moves are the latest example of Trump's long-held resistance to being called to account for his falsehoods, which have formed the bedrock of his political message for years.... By the time [JD] Vance was preparing for a CBS debate with ... Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the issue of fact-checking was ever-present." ~~~
~~~ Marie: In fairness, it isn't just that they can't handle the truth; it's that they don't want to. As Parker & Dawsey lay out, the lie is the message. And you know what? The lie is beating the truth. See Charlie Warzel's essay below.
SAY, here's some news that might convince some Black (and White!) men to vote for Harris: ~~~
~~~ Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "Former President Trump said Sunday that a national abortion ban is 'off the table,' but he left the door open on the conversation by saying 'we'll see what happens.' 'Let me just tell you, I think that it's something that's off the table now, because I did something that everybody has wanted to do, I was able to get it back to the states,' Trump said on Fox News's 'Sunday Morning Futures.' The former president said overturning Roe v. Wade was something 'every Democrat and Republican wanted.'..." MB: If you don't want any baby mamas in your lives, gentlemen, you had better vote for the candidate who can be relied upon to stand up for reproductive rights rather than the one who both lied & equivocated about abortion in this interview. ~~~
~~~ AND just is case you're dumb enough to think Trump cares about you or wants to make your life easier, here's how much he cares about his most ardent supporters: ~~~
~~~ Stephanie Kaloi of the Wrap, republished by Yahoo! News: "Donald Trump made the unusual decision to hold a campaign event in Coachella, California on Saturday -- a state that he's undoubtedly set to lose ... -- and bussed supporters 5 miles into the venue to do so. Unfortunately for thousands of those who showed up, the buses seemingly didn't return to the venue late into the night, leaving many attendees stranded.... In a series of posts on X that were eventually deleted but were shared in screenshots, @WesleyxJohnson wrote that there was 'only one bus in rotation' and 'turnaround time for each drop off was 30 minutes,' with thousands waiting for said bus. Johnson added that there were originally 20-30 buses at the event.... Johnson later added that a bus driver told some abandoned attendees that 'ALL of the fuel stations for BUSES (not cars) were completely depleted,' which meant some of the bus drivers were stranded without gas. 'There were apparently 60 buses employed for this event,' he added, 'and the fuel reserves were completely depleted or never refilled before the event.'... TikTok was also awash in videos from the event and its aftermath." ~~~
~~~ AND this from the same article: "The Desert Sun reported that the event was limited to a maximum capacity of 15,000 people by Riverside County, but Trump claimed that the rally was attended by 100,000." Thanks to NiskyGuy for the lead. ~~~
~~~ Brooke Binkowski of the Times of San Diego: "The abandonment by the shuttles echoed Trump's 2020 campaign rallies, when his supporters were stranded at multiple events by the shuttle services and had to walk back to their vehicles alone, sometimes in freezing cold and snow." Thanks to NiskyGuy for the link.
Heavily-Armed Man on Way to Trump Rally Was Just Another Crazed Trump Backer. Kellen Browning of the New York Times: "A man was arrested and accused of illegal weapons possession as he was trying to enter ... Donald J. Trump's rally in Coachella, Calif., on Saturday evening, the Riverside County sheriff's office said on Sunday. The man, whom they identified as Vem Miller, 49, of Las Vegas, was found to be illegally in possession of a shotgun, a loaded handgun and a high-capacity magazine, the sheriff's office said. Mr. Miller was later released on bail, according to the county's inmate information system. Mr. Miller had been allowed through an outer ring of security as he drove toward the rally but was stopped by law enforcement officers at a second level of security, before Mr. Trump had arrived at the rally, Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff, said in a news conference on Sunday. In a joint statement, the U.S. attorney's office, the Secret Service and the F.B.I. said that the Secret Service had determined 'the incident did not impact protective operations and former President Trump was not in any danger.'...
"The Press-Enterprise reported Sunday that Mr. Miller ... supports Mr. Trump.... In the interview he said he was unfamiliar with the difference between California's and Nevada's gun laws. Law enforcement officers discovered that Mr. Miller had multiple passports with various names, and multiple driver's licenses, and that his car was unregistered, Mr. Bianco said. They also ascertained that Mr. Miller appeared to consider himself a 'sovereign citizen,' which Mr. Bianco described as part of a 'far-right' and 'fringe' group that believes government laws do not apply to them." ~~~
~~~ Brian Bokos of the Press-Enterprise: "A Las Vegas man was arrested with guns and fake I.D.s about a quarter mile from ... Donald Trump's campaign rally in Coachella Valley, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said Sunday. But while the sheriff called the arrest a thwarted assassination attempt, the man told a reporter he is a Trump supporter who bought the guns for his own safety and notified police at a checkpoint that they were in the trunk of his car."
Margaret Sullivan, a former New York Times public editor, tackles those NYT side-by-side headlines: "In interviews, Kamala Harris continues to bob and weave" and "In remarks about migrants, Donald Trump invoked his long-held fascination with genes and genetics." "The Kamala Harris headline is unnecessarily negative, over a story that probably doesn't need to exist. Politicians, if they are skilled, do this all the time. They answer questions by trying to stay on message.... So, it's a negative headline over a dubious story.... But juxtapose it with the Trump headline, which takes a hate-filled trope and treats it like some sort of lofty intellectual interest.... The article itself got to the heart of the matter -- but not until its 11th paragraph....Cleaning ... up [the vile stuff Trump has said] so it sounds like an academic white paper is really not a responsible way to present what's happening. What's more, the adjacency of these stories suggests equivalence between a traditional democracy-supporting candidate and a would-be autocrat....
"I'll share with you a post from historian and author Kevin Kruse about Trump. 'Historians: He's a fascist. Political scientists: He's a fascist. His own aides: He's a fascist. The NYT: He shows a wistful longing for a bygone era of global politics.' That, in essence, is the issue with these headlines." ~~~
~~~ ⭐ digby: Sullivan "notes that deep in the article itself they do address the fact that Trump is evoking 'the ideology of eugenics promulgated by Nazis in Germany and white supremacists in the United States.' To me that's the big story and it's one that's been out there since Trump came down the escalator in 2015. He really believes in this stuff and it's never been fully explored even as he's now not only talking about his own 'good German blood' as he used to do but saying that migrants have inferior genes. This is right out of the Nazi playbook and [I] would think that if the media made as big a de[a]l about this as they did Hillary Clinton's emails, some Hispanic and Black Americans who think he's good for the economy might wonder if maybe he's talking about them -- which he is.... Here's a little reminder of the NY Times coverage of an earlier fascist: 'On November 21, 1922, the New York Times published its very first article about Adolf Hitler. It's an incredible read -- especially its assertion that 'Hitler's anti-Semitism was not so violent or genuine as it sounded.'" Read on, please. ~~~
~~~ Marie: digby is right. Sullivan, Kevin Kruse & others may not be afraid to write "fascist, fascist, fascist," but the New York Times won't go there. And by minimizing & covering up for Trump, just as the paper once did for Hitler a century ago, the editors & writers are doing their bit to put fascism back in the White House. Sure, Hillary Clinton is arrogant, and that's why she didn't play by the administration's email "rules" in the first place. But what's worse: a president who is full of herself (like almost every one of the male presidents before her) or a corrupt, anti-democracy fascist? As I've said, none of us is safe. ~~~
~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Democracy dies in the anodyne headline that gets to the story only in the 11th paragraph." MB: As I recall, I was thrilled that after nine years, the NYT finally got around to recognizing Trump's "fascination" with eugenics.
Tara Suter of the Hill: "Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said in a Sunday interview that she doubts House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will carry out 'his constitutional obligations' to certify the 2024 election.... [Earlier on 'Meet the Press,' host Kristen Welker had asked Johnson,] 'Regardless of who wins, you'll certify the results?'... 'Regardless, of course it -- yes, if the election is free and fair and legal, and we pray and hope that it is,' Johnson responded.... In her 'Meet the Press' appearance, Cheney said Johnson 'has a record repeatedly of doing things that he knows to be wrong, that he knows to be unconstitutional in order to placate Donald Trump.... And frankly, you know, you saw that sycophancy just now on display,' Cheney added. 'So, I think that it is -- it's very concerning.'"
Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: President "Biden's visit to the hurricane-ravaged communities in Florida -- his second such trip in two weeks -- came as he has been managing various crises, including multiple natural disasters, in the final stretch of his presidency. He used the visit to announce $612 million for six Energy Department projects in areas hit by Milton and Helene to improve the region's electric grid, including nearly $100 million for Florida. On Friday, he declared a major disaster for Florida communities affected by Milton. Mr. Biden also used the moment to call for bipartisan collaboration to help the areas affected pick up the pieces. In a sign of such unity, Mr. Biden was greeted by Representative Anna Paulina Luna and Senator Rick Scott, Florida Republicans who are frequent critics of the Biden administration, after the president finished his helicopter tour."
Charlie Warzel of the Atlantic: "... it's getting harder to describe the extent to which a meaningful percentage of Americans have dissociated from reality.... Even in a decade marred by online grifters, shameless politicians, and an alternative right-wing-media complex pushing anti-science fringe theories, the events of the past few weeks stand out for their depravity and nihilism. As two catastrophic storms upended American cities, a patchwork network of influencers and fake-news peddlers have done their best to sow distrust, stoke resentment, and interfere with relief efforts. But this is more than just a misinformation crisis.... The people consuming and amplifying those lies are not helpless dupes but willing participants.... Rather than deal with the realities of a warming planet hurling once-in-a-generation storms at them every few weeks, they'd rather malign and threaten meteorologists...." Thanks to laura h. for the link. According to laura, the Atlantic is currently allowing unlimited gift links, of which this is one. AND see WashPo story linked under "North Carolina" below.
Ken Belson of the New York Times: "Under the expansionist leadership of its commissioner [Roger Goodell], the National Football League is growing richer and richer. So, too, is Mr. Goodell.... As the league has prospered, so has Mr. Goodell: About 90 percent of the commissioner's compensation is tied to a basket of metrics and incentives. After securing lucrative labor and broadcast deals and steering the league through the Covid-19 pandemic without missing a game, he received $63,900,050 in each of the fiscal years running from April 2019 to March 2020 and April 2020 to March 2021, making him one of the highest-paid executives in the country. MB: No one should become a billionaire, especially someone who has made his money promoting a blood sport like football. If history repeats itself, it's fall-of-Rome time (remember the gladiators!) here in the U.S.A.
~~~~~~~~~~
Missouri Senate Race. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "The St. Louis Post-Dispatch did not mince words in its endorsement of Democrat Lucas Kunce for the United States Senate. [Kunce's GOP opponent, Sen. Josh] "Hawley... was the first and initially only senator to announce his baseless challenge of the [2020] election results, setting in motion the grotesque events that followed,' the editors write. 'As Trump's rabble gathered for their attack, Hawley infamously raised his first in solidarity with the mob -- a mob from which he eventually had to sprint for his life, along with so many of his congressional colleagues.' The editors then went on to list off what they said were other reasons to oppose Hawley's candidacy..., all of [which], suggested the paper, means that Hawley 'is quite possibly the worst sitting senator in America right now.'" The Post-Dispatch editorial is here.
North Carolina. Brianna Sacks of the Washington Post: "Federal emergency response personnel on Saturday had employees operating in hard-hit Rutherford County, N.C., stop working and move to a different area because of concerns over 'armed militia' threatening government workers in the region, according to an email sent to federal agencies helping with response in the state. Around 1 p.m. Saturday, an official with the U.S. Forest Service, which is supporting recovery efforts..., sent an urgent message to numerous federal agencies warning that 'FEMA has advised all federal responders Rutherford County, NC, to stand down and evacuate the county immediately. The message stated that National Guard troops "had come across x2 trucks of armed militia saying there were out hunting FEMA."'... By Sunday afternoon, personnel were back in place....
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Palestine, et al.
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in Israel's wars are here: "Israel's military struck what it said was a Hamas command center embedded inside a hospital compound in the Deir al-Balah region of central Gaza early Monday. At least four people were killed in the attack within the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital grounds and 40 injured, including women and children, the Gaza Health Ministry said. Separately, Israel's military said it struck 200 targets linked to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours; on Sunday, four Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and dozens of others injured after a Hezbollah drone attack hit a base in northern Israel, according to Israeli officials."
Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "The United States is sending an advanced missile defense system to Israel, along with about 100 American troops to operate it, the Pentagon announced on Sunday. It is the first deployment of U.S. forces to Israel since the Hamas-led attacks there on Oct. 7, 2023. President Biden directed Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, and its crew, Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement on Sunday.... When asked about it on Sunday, Mr. Biden said only that he had ordered the Pentagon to deploy the system 'to defend Israel.'" A Reuters story is here.
News Lede
New York Times: "The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded on Monday to Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, both of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and to James Robinson of the University of Chicago. They won the prize for their work in explaining the differences in prosperity between nations, and for their research into how institutions affect prosperity. The laureates have pioneered theoretical and empirical approaches that have helped to better explain inequality between countries, according to the prize committee."
Share Article
Reader Comments (21)
t**** bussed his people to his southern California rally but didn't have busses to take them back to the parking lot, a two hour walk away. I know he doesn't want people to leave his rallies, but jeez!
Brian Tyler Cohen: https://youtu.be/kvxegqKg8-c?si=nm5_Jl_p1Ked1lpE
Print story: https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2024/10/13/heat-exhaustion-violent-speech-reports-of-missing-shuttles-trump-campaigns-in-coachella/
@NiskyGuy
That Trump, whadda guy! Free rides to rallies. What more could you want to prove he's just the bestest?
I guess logistics and logic just don't come into play.
So this gun knobber going to worship Trump tha god at his California bund rally, the guy with the unlicensed, loaded weapons, high capacity magazine, and multiple fake IDs was just there to shoot Democrats, not Trump, so no biggie, let him go.
There are really no clear metrics, no reliably accurate ways to measure the true impact of the violent rhetoric spewed by Trump and his PoT water carriers and media acolytes on the darkened, deluded, and dead end mindset of large swaths of the American public, but two assassination attempts by idiots who see gun violence as a reasonable path to some kind of demented personal goals, this nut at the Coachella fascist fashion show, truckloads of armed, far right militia hunting FEMA workers (one of the more dangerous and insidious rumors spread by Trump’s legion of violent liars is that if you accept a dollar from FEMA, or even a boat ride out of a disaster area, the government will take your house) provide gigantic red flags, hard, real world evidence of the effect of the powerful pathogens spread by the Orange Monster for his own benefit.
Trump learned long ago that a con man’s best friend is chaos. Pickpockets work best in confused crowds. Sowing hatred and chaos has been a standard go-to for him.
So too, the imagery of power, no matter how phony or cartoonish. Demanding Commander in Chief level security, and at a level even Biden doesn’t get (armored military transports, drones, fly over restrictions) on a regular basis, ordering the National Guard to defend polling places against “lunatic leftists” (even the psycho rhetoric has been ramped up; we used to be radical leftists, now we’re lunatics), selling comic book trading cards of himself pictured as a heavily muscled superhero, spreading fake AI images of himself rescuing pets and helping out in disaster areas, all contribute to his vision of his own personal power and superhuman abilities. It doesn’t matter that it’s all a con, as with the sowing of chaos, the spreading of phony imagery, the trappings of power, the rhetoric of extreme violence and hatred, it all has an effect.
Divide, confuse, spread hatred, paranoia and distrust, no fact checking allowed.
And the corporate MSM is happy to help out.
Free shuttles to Fatty’s bund rally but no way home?
Easy. Blame Kamala Harris. Nothing bad is ever Trump’s fault.
Liz Cheney says that Bible Mike will refuse to certify the election if Harris wins.
She knows whereof she speaks.
“‘I do not have faith that Mike Johnson will fulfill his constitutional obligations," Cheney said on NBC's ‘Meet the Press,’ referring to Congress' role in certifying presidential elections on Jan. 6.
Cheney pointed to Johnson spearheading an amicus brief in 2020 that argued for nullifying President Biden's victories in several key states.
‘The claims of fraud Donald Trump was making [in 2020] ... he knew those to be false,’ she said. ‘He was told that, not only in discussions with me, but also by the House Republican counsel.’”
So much for “Thou shalt not lie”.
Don’t look now, but Trump’s army of J6 thugs could be let out of prison, many others not charged at all or have sentences drastically reduced.
“Ongoing court battles threaten to erase or undermine some of the 1,500 cases that have been brought against participants in the riot. And prosecutors’ tactical choices are the subject of new scrutiny from appeals courts. Those disputes could wind up in another high-stakes confrontation before the Supreme Court.
The high court has already gutted the key felony charge that prosecutors have used in hundreds of Jan. 6 cases, leading the Justice Department to drop a slew of its most serious criminal counts. And a federal appeals court rejected another tactic prosecutors had used to drive up sentences for Jan. 6 defendants, forcing judges to recalculate prison time in some cases.”
Just another example in how evil is supported and rewarded in Trump’s Amerika. And he’s not even in the White House. Just think how bad it will be if he returns.
@Akhilleus: Gosh, I didn't realize the bus fiasco was Kamala Harris' fault. But of course that's right, and Trump told us so: As the Times of San Diego report notes, “'We’re not going to let Kamala Harris do to America what she did to California,' Trump said, referring to the state as as 'Paradise Lost.'”
(And let's hope that "Paradise Lost" comment doesn't inspire an ambitious New York Times reporter to pen a story with a lede like: "In a stroke of literary genius, Donald Trump compared Kamala Harris' governing style to the corruption of Satan and his fellow fallen angels in John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost. Seldom, if ever, has an American presidential candidate shared with his followers his mastery of 17th-century poetry and familiarity with Biblical imagery.")
I really don't care if t**** releases his medical records. I want to see his tax returns. VP Harris's tax returns for the last 20 years were reviewed by Forbes (which I view as a right-wind publication) in July with the headline: "No Surprises in Kamala Harris's 20 Years of Tax Returns."
Marie,
Some Fat Fuck staffer who read the Cliffs Notes version of “Paradise Lost” must have slipped that line into the script running in the teleprompter Trump never uses. Fatty couldn’t tell Milton from mutton. But you’re right, the sanewashing crew of Trumpy editors at the Times will probably be impressed with the allusion. But like everything Trump, this allusion is illusion. What’s not illusory is the media’s unreconstructed and abiding fascination with horse race polls.
Every day, several times a day now, I see some other ignorant media town crier pointing, goggle-eyed, at another poll showing how Trump has erased Harris’s tiny lead and will likely win, no problem.
Yeah. But the problem is exactly that. Pointing to wishy-washy polls as if they’re the work of some 21st century Nostradamus, projecting into the media ecosphere the idea, the belief, that a Trump victory is almost a forgone conclusion rather than waving the red flags promising existential destruction of democracy is the antithesis of what journalism should be. Oohing and ahhing over goddam polls instead of reporting, and not in the eleventh or twentieth paragraph, the fact that Trump’s chief political advisor is Adolf fucking Hitler almost guarantees our forced migration to a fascist state.
And “We’re just doing our job” doesn’t cut it anymore (AG!). Reporting on how beautiful the burning house looks (and look! Homeowners on fire, running out! How cool is that?!) instead of calling the fire department and getting those people out of the house is NOT YOUR FUCKING JOB! Assholes!
And before I forget, it doesn’t matter that that the Demented Cheeto hasn’t read Milton. It is, however, instructive to recall the lesson of “Paradise Lost” as a purely literary, if not moral, piece of work.
Evil is eternally fascinating. This is why “The Sopranos” is about murderous mafiosos, not opera singers. People watch to see who Tony will whack next. If the storyline was about a singer’s anxiety about tackling the Queen of Night aria, that fucking show wouldn’t last a week.
Don’t forget who the main guy is in “Paradise Lost”. It ain’t God. Plus, Satan gets the best lines:
“All is not lost, the inconquerable will
And study of revenge, immortal hate
And courage never to submit or yield
And what else is not to be overcome."
And how ‘bout this one:
"The mind is its own place, and... can make a Heaven of Hell and a Hell of Heaven."
That’s great stuff.
Trump could never put it like that, but he strives to make an Orange heaven out of his version of hell every time he opens his big mouth.
The corporate media nitpicks the crap out of everything Harris says, but with Trump, it’s “Whoa! Did you hear what he just said?!? Clickbait, baby! Oh, but first, let’s clean it up a little…”
Paradise lost, indeed.
More women's health horror stories
Bolts Mag
"Your Cheat Sheet to the 2024 General Elections
Bolts guides you through more than 500 elections up and down the ballot, and why they matter."
Serious, non-trolling question:
I just read Gail and Bret's Monday morning imitation of Statler and Waldorf. Is there any reason at all to subscribe to or read the NYT any longer? I guess there's Frank Bruni and Paul Krugman. But, beyond that it's hard to even get past many of the headlines.
"Lilly Ledbetter, Whose Fight for Equal Pay Changed U.S. Law, Dies at 86
Her lawsuit against Goodyear helped pave the way for the 2009 Fair Pay Act, which was signed into law by former President Barack Obama."
I read the Atlantic piece yesterday and it was chilling. Sometimes I dream of the "good ole days" of despising George W Bush, when newspapers were a little more circumspect about supporting things that were plainly off-the-charts wrong. I wrote a letter to the New York Times once and got a personal phone call from Margaret Sullivan. I wondered later why she left, and maybe it's because even their best editors can perhaps no longer stomach working there. You would think there would be more unrest now, as they now support and elevate a complete sociopath/psychopath on an hourly basis.
So sad that the busses to Coachella got lost in the mists of time and some of those idiots decked out in silly MAGA garb had to trundle their fat selves along to the parking lot on foot. I too remember some winter incident in bloody Kansas or godly Oklahoma where the same thing happened. An example of how much the campaign "cares" about the rubes they are happily frisking. Of course, the rubes will blame any and all "lunatic Democraps..."
I hope someone would know who failed them, but those bases were covered long ago: everything is the fault of any satanic Democrat, up to and including hurricanes in the south during hurricane season. You know who HAS "failed" them? The people claiming they know what's best for education, all without a brain in their heads. A lot of people in this country are mind-blowingly stupid. The stuff vomited forth from the Orange Maggot/MAGAt sticks in their heads like lava, and it is impossible to overcome.
I read the Atlantic piece yesterday and it was chilling. Sometimes I dream of the "good ole days" of despising George W Bush, when newspapers were a little more circumspect about supporting things that were plainly off-the-charts wrong. I wrote a letter to the New York Times once and got a personal phone call from Margaret Sullivan. I wondered later why she left, and maybe it's because even their best editors can perhaps no longer stomach working there. You would think there would be more unrest now, as they now support and elevate a complete sociopath/psychopath on an hourly basis.
So sad that the busses to Coachella got lost in the mists of time and some of those idiots decked out in silly MAGA garb had to trundle their fat selves along to the parking lot on foot. I too remember some winter incident in bloody Kansas or godly Oklahoma where the same thing happened. An example of how much the campaign "cares" about the rubes they are happily frisking. Of course, the rubes will blame any and all "lunatic Democraps..."
I hope someone would know who failed them, but those bases were covered long ago: everything is the fault of any satanic Democrat, up to and including hurricanes in the south during hurricane season. You know who HAS "failed" them? The people claiming they know what's best for education, all without a brain in their heads. A lot of people in this country are mind-blowingly stupid. The stuff vomited forth from the Orange Maggot/MAGAt sticks in their heads like lava, and it is impossible to overcome. Kamala is trying but she needs to relax her standards down to throwing garbage at the right people. B-but, those emails of Hilary's and Kamala won't talk to us...
The trials: AP
"This could have been a year of a federal court reckoning for Trump. Judges had other ideas
A year that began with the prospect of a federal court reckoning for Trump will end without any chance of a trial, leaving voters without the finality of an up-or-down jury verdict in the two most consequential cases against the Republican presidential nominee. Yet both cases still loom over the election, their potential resurgence in the coming months making clear that at stake on Nov. 5 is not only the presidency but also possibly Trump’s liberty."
Now we are going to hear The Orange Turd complaining incessantly about the betrayal of Faux News for allowing Kamala Harris to speak on his propaganda machine.
Projection, like you read about…
The Fat Fascist is whining about the movie depicting his rise as a duplicitous, transactional con man under the tutelage of Joe McCarthy’s scheming gnome, Roy Cohn, “The Apprentice”, calling it “fake and classless”. Oh yeah, because any retelling of Fatty’s origin as a lying sleazeball should be classy.
“Fake and classless” should be up front on his XXXL tombstone.
So I walked into a "war zone" this afternoon to get my COVID booster. Why would I do such a thing? Well, contrary to what the orange one proclaims, Aurora is not a war zone, and the pleasant 1.2 mile autumn walk through mixture of neighborhoods, park, etc. was lovely. Aurora has had its share of troubles with mass shootings and police brutality, but living right on the edge of this vibrant community of people and businesses of all sorts, it's a very rich environment. I can walk to a mosque, buy treats at an Armenian bakery, get my middle eastern staples at an Iraqi store, observe African prayer services, and even a Mexican wedding with mariachi band at the corner park, etc. etc. Oh, and people keep their dogs and cats under supervision as (native) coyotes might be in need of a meal.
Linda,
Listening to a mariachi wedding band while munching on Armenian lavash dipped into a sauce made with middle eastern spices sounds like a great way to spend time on a nice fall afternoon.
All Trump supporters may not be swastika flying Nazis, but all Nazis are Trump supporters. All.
A Trump boat parade in Jupiter, Florida (with Stoopid Eric in the lead) includes Nazis sieg heiling Trump, saying we have to make America white again (it was never white in the first place, assholes).
As I’ve said before, if you vote for Trump, you’re voting for a guy whose primary political advisor is Adolf Hitler. The Nazis know it. Clearly AG doesn’t or he wouldn’t be promoting support for Nazi policies as mere intellectual curiosity. “Arbeit macht frei”, is that it, AG?