;)
The Conversation -- September 16, 2024
Yes, it is possible for Trump to get even more irresponsible: ~~~
⭐ Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump directly blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for a gunman targeting him at his West Palm Beach golf club on Sunday.... Trump spoke to Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman on Monday morning and claimed the gunman was motivated by the top Democrats' 'highly inflammatory language.... 'He [presumably the would-be gunman] believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,' Trump said, claiming, 'Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country -- both from the inside and out.'... 'It is called the enemy from within. They are the real threat,' Trump added, appearing to use the exact same kind of language he claims the Democrats are using that inspired the shootings."
CNN is live-updating developments in the Trump assassination attempt & election news. ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' liveblog is here: "The man who investigators say concealed himself on the edge of a golf course with a semiautomatic rifle in an apparent bid to assassinate ... Donald J. Trump made a first court appearance in Florida on Monday. He faces charges of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and of possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number, according to two people briefed on the case."
David Gardner of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: "The Trump campaign is blaming Kamala Harris and her Democratic supporters for the second assassination attempt on the former president. They claim that concerted attempts to demonize Donald Trump as a threat to democracy are putting his life at risk. Hours after Sunday's failed shooting plot at Trump's West Palm Beach golf club, his senior campaign manager Chris LaCivita posted a video of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) calling Trump 'extraordinarily dangerous' and a 'threat to democracy.'... LaCivita wrote on his X account ... that Harris was running the Sanders video on her Facebook platforms." ~~~
~~~ Marie: If Trump doesn't want to be accused of being extraordinarily dangerous & a threat to democracy, he should renounced 93.2% of everything he's done and said since 2015 (or before!).
Rhian Lubin of the Independent: "Elon Musk has deleted what he now claims was a 'joke' about how 'no one is trying to assassinate' President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris following the second attempt on Donald Trump's life on Sunday." MB: I'm sure Elon has a lot of lawyers. Maybe one sent him an SOS (or SYS -- save yourself). According to Lubin's report, at least one former federal prosecutor said that Elon's now-deleted "joke" "require[d] an immediate visit by the U.S. Secret Service." Sorry, Elon, this is one of those bells you can't unring.
New York. William Rashbaum & Michael Rothfeld of the New York Times: "Two high-ranking New York Fire Department chiefs were arrested early Monday on federal bribery and corruption charges that accuse them of taking nearly $100,000 apiece in a scheme to expedite safety inspections.... The two chiefs, whose homes and offices at Fire Department headquarters were searched by federal agents and city investigators in February, are expected to appear in United States District Court in Manhattan later on Monday, the people said. The chiefs -- Brian E. Cordasco, 49, and Anthony M. Saccavino, 59 -- were responsible for overseeing safety inspections on building projects."
~~~~~~~~~~
Presidential Race
Patricia Mazzei, et al., of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump was playing golf on Sunday afternoon in Florida when a Secret Service agent spotted a man with a rifle standing by a chain-link fence on the perimeter of the course, law enforcement officials said. The agents opened fire, and the man fled in a black Nissan but was eventually taken into custody, the officials said. While Mr. Trump was safe and unharmed, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was investigating the episode as an apparent attempted assassination, the second one against the former president in just over two months.... The suspected gunman was identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, of Hawaii...." (Also linked yesterday.) The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ See commentary in today's thread. ~~~
~~~ Adam Goldman, et al., of the New York Times: "Ryan Wesley Routh, the 58-year-old man who was arrested on Sunday in connection with what the F.B.I. described as an attempted assassination on ... Donald J. Trump, had expressed the desire to fight and die in Ukraine. Mr. Routh's posts on the social media site X revealed a penchant for violent rhetoric in the weeks after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.... A man with the same name and similar age as Mr. Routh was arrested in 2002 in Greensboro, N.C., after barricading himself inside a building with a fully automatic weapon, according to the Greensboro News & Record newspaper. The newspaper said the man was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a fully automatic machine gun. It is not clear how the charges were resolved." MB: IOW, another crazy guy with access to military-style weapons. Donald Trump favors that access, despite the fact that two crazy guys with guns have come close to assassinating him. ~~~
~~~ Washington Post reporters have gathered more information on Routh. ~~~
~~~ Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the New York Times interviewed Ryan Routh in 2023 when Routh was trying to recruit Afghan veterans to fight on behalf of Ukraine, "an endeavor he seemed ill prepared to orchestrate.... It was clear he was in way over his head. He talked of buying off corrupt officials, forging passports and doing whatever it takes to get his Afghan cadre to Ukraine, but he had no real way to accomplish his goals. At one point he mentioned arranging a U.S. military transport plane from Iraq to Poland with Afghan refugees willing to fight."
Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump on Sunday sought to rally his supporters with news of a possible second attempt on his life, blasting out a campaign fundraising appeal that said 'there are people in this world who will do whatever it takes to stop us' as his advisers urged campaign staff to be 'vigilant' about security."
Marie: Following the probable assassination attempt against Donald Trump yesterday, Elon Musk seemed dismayed that there had been no attempts on the lives of President Biden and Vice President Harris. He tweeted: "And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala." As a number of X users suggested, Elon has earned a visit from the feds. And gosh, maybe he should lose his defense contracts. Musk seems to be suggesting to his millions of minions that someone should at least try to murder the POTUS & VPOTUS; that, I think, is a federal crime.
Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump< took his bitterness over mega-pop star Taylor Swift's endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris to his social network, declaring in an all-caps tweet on Truth Social on Sunday, 'I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!'" MB: Of the many reasons there is so much political violence in this country, Trump's childish id outbursts -- along with his lies about immigrant violence, plus of course his endorsement of political violence on his behalf in January 2021 -- are among them. ~~~
~~~ Joe DePaolo of Mediaite: Trump's "post drew mockery and condemnation -- with a common reaction being a reference to a popular Swift song title:"
Says the smallest man who ever lived. pic.twitter.com/0CpyGvhsuk
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) September 15, 2024
~~~ Then along came Tim Walz: ~~~
Summer Concepcion of NBC News: "Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine [R] on Sunday decried ... Donald Trump's baseless claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating dogs and other pets as 'garbage,' but stopped short of directly condemning the former president and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, for spreading the false claims. 'There's a lot of garbage on the internet. You know, this is a piece of garbage that was simply not true. There's no evidence of this at all,' DeWine said during an interview on ABC's 'This Week.'..." (Also linked yesterday.)
Luke Garrett of NPR: "Sen. JD Vance stood by his false claim that Haitian migrants were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio -- an unsupported story that ... Donald Trump has also echoed on the debate stage and on social media. During a Sunday interview on CNN, the Ohio senator and Republican vice presidential nominee said his evidence for this claim was 'the first-hand accounts of my constituents.' He then went on to defend the dissemination of this false story. 'The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes,' Sen. Vance said. 'If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do.'" (Also linked yesterday.) The Washington Post's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: The headline of the NPR story is, "Vance defends spreading claims that Haitian migrants are eating pets." The WashPo headline is a little better: "Vance amplifies false claims about Haitian migrants in Ohio." But why not something more along the lines of "Vance defiantly amplifies his incendiary, racist lies about vulnerable Haitian migrants"?
Caleb Howe of Mediaite: "Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Sunday made an explosive, unfounded claim about an explosive, unfounded rumor about an explosive, unidentified person before -- like most X users who spread the claim -- quickly having to walk back or retract it.... 'The ABC whistleblower who claimed Kamala Harris was given debate questions ahead of the debate has died in a car crash according to news reports,' she said [on X].... About three hours, 9,000 retweets, and many conspiracy theories about Democrats killing people after sharing the erroneous rumor, Greene posted a follow-up that the story 'appears to be false.'... The fake news Greene spread came from an AI-generated website...."
Steve M. explains why so many non-MAGA voters will choose Trump: "Trump supporters who aren't superfans already seem to recognize that he's an obnoxious, angry blowhard.... Their view is that if he's elected president, he'll say a lot of awful things, and he'll post terrible things on social media, but he'll also make inflation go away magically. So it doesn't matter to them that he looked like an idiot on Tuesday night. They already thought he was an idiot -- but they think he's an idiot who can make prices lower using that business magic they saw him display on The Apprentice.... The gettable voters [Harris] needs are willing to vote for a guy who says immigrants eat pets if they think he can lower the price of eggs." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: I think Steve has it just right. These voters are stupid, but they're not stupid AND delusional. A lot of them probably agree with some of Trump's awful statements; they're probably afraid of Haitians; they probably think Mexicans are taking "white jobs"; they just won't say so with such crude force. But mostly, they are of the opinion that Trump's "business experience" means he understands macroeconomics. He does not. And Harris has not yet effectively explained that. She hints at it; she seems to know it; but she has to hammer it down in ways that are easy to understand. I don't think she's good at macroeconomics, either. She needs to get better. And fast. Some of it is way over my head. But the basics are kinda easy to understand. And they make sense, even in a way that people who think Trump is a business genius can understand. See also Patrick's comment in yesterday's thread.
Maybe this will help the dummies. Thanks to RAS for the lead: ~~~
MEANWHILE, in other news re: violence connected to a weird presidential candidate ~~~
~~~ Simon Levien of the New York Times: "At his first major campaign event for ... Donald J. Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., told a crowd on Saturday night that he was being investigated for his handling of a whale carcass decades ago. Mr. Kennedy ... said at the event in Glendale, Ariz., that he had received a letter from a national fisheries institute 'saying they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago.' He suggested that the inquiry was politically motivated, and said that he believed he was protected by the statute of limitations." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ But wait. Here's the best part: "Mr. Kennedy said at the rally he had written back to his would-be whale investigators, accusing the government of permitting offshore wind farms which kill whales en masse, a claim that Mr. Trump has also made for which there is no evidence." MB: It isn't crazy to wonder if wind farms harm sea animals. But it is crazy to claim wind farms kill sea animals when there's no evidence to support the claim. So Chainsaw Bobby, the Great Whale Decapitator, is not the only crazy person in this frame.
⭐ Jodi Kantor & Adam Liptak of the New York Times have written a stunning indictment of Chief Justice John Roberts, exposing him as the manipulative architect of the immunity case (and two related cases), which gave Donald Trump most of what he wanted (and we still don't know how much, since the opinion, crafted by Roberts, is quite vague); i.e., let the treacherous bastid off the hook for past and future crimes committed in office. Thanks to RAS for the link. MB: I remember back when Elena Kagan joined the Court, I held out the hope that she was clever enough to "turn" Roberts on important decisions. Well, the joke's on me. To those of us who began suggesting this was the Thomas Court, Roberts has given a big middle finger. He has taken back the Court as his own, if only by emerging as a bigger dickhead than he previously appeared to be. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$: A "good in-depth piece of reporting from the NYT about how John Roberts 'steered' the SCOTUS to one of the very worst opinions in the often sordid history of that institution, Trump v. United States. The bottom line appears to be that Roberts somehow managed to convince himself that intervening in the case had nothing to do with Donald Trump per se, but was all about crafting some Principles of Constitutional Integritude, that Would Stand the Test of Time in their Principled Balls and Strikes Principledness.... It's hard to overstate what a fundamentally empty piece of nonsense Roberts's opinion is. It's about 2000 pages long..., but can be reduced to the following proposition: It would be good if Donald Trump isn't tried for his attempted autogolpe before the November election, so we will invent out of almost literally nothing a rule of Constitutional Law immunizing ex-presidents named Donald Trump from criminal prosecution from pretty much anything ex-presidents (named Donald Trump) did while in office.... Per the Times's reporting, Roberts has somehow managed to convince himself that he's doing the exact opposite of what he's actually doing, which -- breaking news -- illustrates that the human capacity for rationalization is essentially infinite." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ digby also has a good post on the Times report, and she includes a gift link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Ever since President Biden pretended to appoint a commission that pretended to explore reformations of the court system, I have thought Biden should just appoint a new Chief Justice. The Constitution is silent on how the Chief Justice is appointed as leader of the Court, so I think the President, with consent of the Senate, can just appoint her. There's nothing in the Constitution that says or implies the old Chief has to retire or die. IMO, the President can replace the current Chief and demote him (or her!) to Associate Justice. If Vice President Harris wins the presidency, and the Senate retains its Democratic majority, she should appoint a new Chief. If she wins and Republicans regain a Senate majority, Biden should appoint a new Chief after the election but before the new year when the new Senate is seated. See also RAS's commentary on this in yesterday's thread.
A Belated Flag Day at Reality Chex. Here's a story I came across this morning -- a feel-good story I had not heard that I thought maybe you hadn't heard, either. I was thinking if this had happened in 2020 instead of 1960, we would never have known about it because Donald Trump would have showed off the new flag he designed.
~~~~~~~~~~
30 Comments
Reader Comments (30)
Poor Donald!
Another crazy guy with astonishingly easy access to deadly weapons.
But oh! Poor Donald. Poor Donald, for whom violence, threats of violence, actual deadly violence, promises of violent roundups and deportations of people he hates, screams of violent vengeance, including imprisonment, show trials, public executions, and jokes about murderous violence directed at innocents, have all become ubiquitous strategies for seizing power.
But oh! Poor Donald. Send him money. Quick!
I was about to say that no one wants to see a presidential candidate, or any candidate for public office assassinated. But that’s not true, is it? Fellow authoritarian and wanton spreader and facilitator of violent rhetoric, Elon Musk, is having a sad that no one has tried to murder President Biden or Vice President Harris. Gee, all you nutjob Xers, where’s the love? er, I mean hate. Get those guns out and go to work. Do it for Elon! Do it for Trump! Do it for the sheer thrill of shooting someone.
Party of Traitor pols, Trump apologists, and PoT media shills will again trot out the “poor us, they’re all out to get us” mantras in the wake of this sort-of attempt.
But oh! Let’s not talk about the very real threats of violence all of these assholes spit out directly or indirectly on an almost hourly basis, threats against election workers, immigrants, anyone who opposes the Dear Leader. Trump has said in no uncertain terms that people like General Milley, who disparage his treasonous ways, should be executed. He says shoplifters should be shot. He incited-invited a violent mob to attack the Capitol building and to try to execute his Vice President. He uses the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi as a laugh line at his Bund rallies. He directs his rally goers to “Punch him in the face!!” He rails “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT”. What does that say to all the unstable crazies who worship this fucking asshole?
But oh! Poor Donald.
Those Democrats are so terrible!
I see where both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have stated publicly that they’re glad nothing happened to Trump. Would he have done the same? Or would he say “Better luck next time”?
They’ll all try to make hay (and money) on this latest attempted expression of unhinged violence. And an hour later come up with a new list of people they want shot-beaten-deported-imprisoned-arrested-hanged.
And oh, poor Donald.
More media help for the crazies.
This morning I listened, slack-jawed (gonna have to learn to keep my jaw less slack, this shit happens so frequently), to a piece on Morning Marketplace, an American Public Media package that plays during Morning Edition on my local public radio station.
This piece featured a screed from some CEOs for Trump guy bemoaning the fact that there are troublemakers out there who hate Trump and won’t allow Trump lovers any peace (yeah, because it’s those people who cause all the problems).
This idiot sez he and other peace loving CEOs like Elon are just trying to make things better.
Yeah, like when “Elon” wonders why no one has murdered Biden or Harris yet.
And ya know what? This isn’t Both Sides. Both Sides would be an improvement. This is Trump is the Best and if you don’t like it, fuck you.
So tired of this shit.
“I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
Seriously? Is he five? Who says stuff like this? Who even thinks it? You’re in politics. Everyone has an opinion and they have a right to say it.
But clearly, not if you’re gonna support someone other than Trump.
This is a huge red flag. A red flag in a sea of other red flags. It’s a kind of “red sky in morning, sailor take warning” alert.
This guy has become even more damaged, emotionally and intellectually, than he’s always been. He cannot suppress his deepest hatreds. If he gets back to the White House, it’s America take warning. Storm clouds aren’t on the horizon, they’re right above us.
“I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
Jeeeezus.
Between a rock and a hard place---and it couldn't happen to a nicer Pretender:
Continue to run for president and possibly get shot by a crazy whom you've helped arm--or not run--or worse, run and lose--and go to jail.
Great story about that kid who designed the 50 star flag in 1958. It’s a reminder that the nation belongs to the people. Not just to Trump. Not just to CEOs. Or Fox viewers.
It even belongs to cat ladies and people who come here for a better life.
I had a little chuckle this morning when I heard a reporter wonder in amazement at how that wannabe assassin knew Trump would be on his golf course yesterday. Gee. I dunno. Trump? Golf? What a lucky guess. Now if the guy planned to find him in his office, working hard on something useful, then I’d agree that wonderment would indeed be the order of the day.
Trump playing golf. Who would ever have guessed that?
Just wondering what Little Johnny Roberts and the Treason Dwarfs will do if Kamala Harris gets elected.
Is there a way for them to say “Total immunity? What? Noooo. We were only kidding!”?
Re: assassination attempts. People are saying 'third time's the charm.'
I would never say that (in case the FBI is checking RealityChex).
My first thought upon hearing of the shooting was "He's back on the front page"
I haven't heard the state of Trump's shoes this time, they are okay, right?
"Stephen Fry: Musk and Zuckerberg have 'polluted culture'
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk are "the worst polluters in human history", Stephen Fry has said.
The actor and comedian made the claim during a lecture at Kings College, London.
"You and your children cannot breathe the air or swim in the waters of our culture without breathing in the toxic particulates and stinking effluvia that belch and pour unchecked from their companies into the currents of our world," he said of the pair."
A day in the tweets of a national security threat.
"A day in Elon Musk’s mind: 145 tweets with election conspiracies and emojis
Nick Robins-Early
A controversial tweet may make it to the news, but reading every post from the world’s richest man shows how frenzied and extreme he really is
Over the next 24 hours, Musk will post over 145 times about a range of obsessions, projects and grievances to his 195 million followers. He will share anti-immigrant content, election conspiracies and attacks against the media. He will exchange tweets with far-right politicians, conservative media influencers and sycophantic admirers. He will send a litany of one-word replies that say “yeah”, “interesting” or simply feature a cry-laughing emoji.
As a means of showing what Musk promotes online and who he interacts with, the Guardian has taken a granular look at one day of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s posts on X.
Much as Trump’s vindictive speeches must be heard in full to be believed, Musk’s whiplashing mix of aggrieved political trolling, memes and company hype must be read in sequence to understand the world’s most privileged tweeter."
A day in the tweets of a national security threat.
"A day in Elon Musk’s mind: 145 tweets with election conspiracies and emojis
Nick Robins-Early
A controversial tweet may make it to the news, but reading every post from the world’s richest man shows how frenzied and extreme he really is
Over the next 24 hours, Musk will post over 145 times about a range of obsessions, projects and grievances to his 195 million followers. He will share anti-immigrant content, election conspiracies and attacks against the media. He will exchange tweets with far-right politicians, conservative media influencers and sycophantic admirers. He will send a litany of one-word replies that say “yeah”, “interesting” or simply feature a cry-laughing emoji.
As a means of showing what Musk promotes online and who he interacts with, the Guardian has taken a granular look at one day of the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s posts on X.
Much as Trump’s vindictive speeches must be heard in full to be believed, Musk’s whiplashing mix of aggrieved political trolling, memes and company hype must be read in sequence to understand the world’s most privileged tweeter."
Undecideds
This from David Sedaris, I believe from a previous election cycle....
On Undecided Voters: "To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?” To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.”
@Ken Winkes: I think you're right. I've heard it before. I love David Sedaris. He is very different from me in some ways but he is so like me in others that I feel a tremendous affinity for him. He has written about a few things that I also have experienced, and he has repeatedly instilled in me a renewed realization of how much we all share.
@RAS: I work fast, so every once in awhile I get caught making a pretty dumb mistake. I misread something, I don't read the whole story, I don't consider some angle that I should have, etc. Oh, and of course I'm the Typo Queen.
I've posted about 21 entries today. That's typical of a Monday and probably a bit less than average. But as I said, "mistakes are made."
There is no way -- even if I never did one other thing besides the bare necessities -- I could handle 145 entries a day, even if the "entries" were just brief tweets or based on brief tweets.
It's no wonder Elon writes crap. Even if he's a speed-reader and smarter than I am (on some levels), he's bound to make mistakes if he writes and/or retweets 145 times a day.
No one should pay any attention to anything Elon says, except perhaps market watchers who might garner some clues about what his businesses will do.
Ma! They’re telling the truth about me! Ma them stop. Waaaah!
Marie wrote: “ If Trump doesn't want to be accused of being extraordinarily dangerous & a threat to democracy, he should renounced 93.2% of everything he's done and said since 2015…”
Quite.
I’d make that 98.9%, but that’s just me.
You don’t want to be fact checked, don’t lie.
You don’t want to be indicted and tried, don’t commit crimes.
You don’t want to pay huge fines for business fraud, don’t cheat.
You don’t like people calling you a rapist, don’t assault women.
You don’t like being called a traitor, don’t support treason.
You don’t like people calling you dangerous, don’t threaten executions.
You don’t like people calling you a fat fuck, lose some weight.
You don’t like people calling you stupid…well, can’t help you there.
But this is all meaningless. It’s like telling shit to stop stinking.
Trump is now, and always will be a liar, a crook, a fraud, a rapist, a traitor, a dangerous fat fuck…and stupid.
I’m sure I left out a few things. Feel free to amend this list.
Can you imagine having Donald Trump as a father figure?
I'd change my name and move to Botswana, or Puerto Vallarta.
Considering I am such a blabbermouth, er, blabbertyper?? I have nothing to add to everyone's contributions today. My first reaction last night when I heard that someone missed the Moaning Mango Monster again was... damn. We all want him gone, but maybe through natural means or "stepping down" from the campaign trail. My second was: the NRA is doing a terrible job of outfitting and training the crazies with war weapons...and isn't this their mission, especially in the sunshine state? There really is nothing more for me to add to what you all have said. Except what I have said recently: we have progressed or "progressed" from living "in interesting times" to living in "batsh** times." Truly.
Ken,
Thanks for the David Sedaris. I’ve loved his stuff since I read “Barrel Fever” back in the mid-90s.
That’s the collection with the famous “SantaLand Diaries”. His quirky, acerbic take on life’s various vicissitudes is always bracing and often howlingly funny. Here’s just a taste from that same collection, a short piece complaining about how smokers are treated by abstainers from that particular habit.
“I was at work, defrosting someone's freezer, when I heard about the EPA's report on second-hand smoke. It was on the radio, and they reported it over and over again. It struck me the same way that previous EPA reports must have struck auto manufacturers and the owners of chemical plants: as reactionary and unfair. The report accuses smokers, especially smoking parents, of criminal recklessness, as if these were people who kept loaded pistols lying on the coffee table, crowded alongside straight razors and mugs of benzene.
Over Christmas we looked through boxes of old family pictures and played Find Mom's Cigarette. There was one in every picture. We've got photos of her pregnant, leaning toward a lit match, and others of her posing with her newborn baby, the smoke forming a halo above his head. These pictures gave us a warm feeling.”
“Find Mom’s Cigarette”. Hahaha. To those of us of a certain age, that would have been a fun parlor game. We have pictures of my parents from back in the fifties when everyone in the shot had a butt, either in their hand, their mouth (people used to talk while smoking, couldn’t even take it out to speak, just slid it over so it was sticking out the side of their mouth, I’m sure you guys remember), or in an ashtray in front of them. Christ, ashtrays were everywhere. Barber shops and bus stations always had those ashtrays connected to chairs. Hospitals—HOSPITALS—had ashtrays in the waiting rooms. My aunt used big shells we’d find on the beach as ashtrays.
Discarded butts were everywhere, streets, sidewalks, even in grocery stores. I remember looking at apartments when I was much younger. You could tell if a smoker had been a previous renter. White trim paint on doors and windows had turned sepia.
Thankfully there isn’t as much of that now. People have found other even more dangerous and life threatening habits these days. Like voting Republican.
Test.
As the Orange Monster and the Hillbilly Allergy double and triple down on their vicious cat eating lies, it appears there is an actual political strategy called Deadcatting , I am not even kidding.
It comes via Britain’s very own Trumpian con man, the Brexit Brawler, Boris Johnson:
“There is one thing that is absolutely certain about throwing a dead cat on the dining room table – and I don’t mean that people will be outraged, alarmed, disgusted. That is true, but irrelevant. The key point, says my Australian friend, is that everyone will shout, ‘Jeez, mate, there’s a dead cat on the table!’ In other words, they will be talking about the dead cat – the thing you want them to talk about – and they will not be talking about the issue that has been causing you so much grief.”
The idea for Trump and Vance is twofold, keep hammering on racism, hatred, and fear mongering, and keep voters from thinking “Losers, idiots, traitors, and Project 2025”.
And it’s working.
Testy.
Testifarious.
Testification.
Sorry, just having fun now…
I'm sure the fact that the Supreme Court ruled that Trump is basically above the law and anything he does as president* would be unassailable and unaccountable has no bearing on anything going on today. /s
Akhilleus,
Have been streaming some early Perry Masons and, yes, the cancer sticks were everywhere. I can almost smell them.
But that was at a time when pot, heroin, meth, fentanyl, oxycontin, etc. were not readily available.
Just cigarettes and alcohol. We did lead dull lives.
While I'm no fan of cigarettes or secondhand smoke, it strikes me that the outrage we've given ourselves to over smoking is somewhat equivalent to those other easy paths to virtue ( I count committed pro-lifers, anti-vaxxers, and vegetarians who look down their noses at a hamburger among them.) that have overtaken us.
As you point out, we do the easy ones.
Particularly liked this one. Of course, I know I live in a divided country and I don’t much like many on the other side. Or….there are limits to this liberal’s tolerance.
https://paulwaldman.substack.com/p/they-must-not-be-forgiven