;)
The Commentariat -- August 15, 2016
Afternoon Update:
CW: For a most enjoyable Trumpsky read, I suggest this column by Digby (for Salon). It includes some stuff I didn't know about, like Trump's addition of "female right wing cranks" to his policy team.
Jonathan Martin & Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: Donald Trump "has not just walled himself off from African-American voters where they live. He has also turned down repeated invitations to address gatherings of black leaders, ignored African-American conservatives in states he needs to win and made numerous inflammatory comments about minorities.... Some of Mr. Trump's advisers ... have called on him to broaden his campaign [to include black voters]." CW: Ha ha. That'll work. There are probably many black voters who enjoyed Trump's birther campaign & were charmed when Trump invited rally-goers to "Look at my African-American over here." And what black voter wouldn't want to hang out with these Trump rally attendees? --
AP photo. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "There's no demonstrated in-person voter fraud problem in Pennsylvania (or anywhere else, for that matter).... But it's not surprising that this is a part of Trump's campaign...: When Trump's campaign director Paul Manafort was helping to coordinate the campaign effort of a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine in 2006, he used similar tools and rhetoric. In 2004, Ukraine held a presidential election that actually was riddled with fraud and abuse.... Monitoring of the election ... found a number of problems focused on the campaign of Viktor Yanukovych, who ... was friendlier to Moscow.... The rampant fraud led to a series of protests dubbed the Orange Revolution -- and a second ballot, which [Viktor] Yushchenko won. At some point over the next two years, Yanukovych hired" Manafort's firm for an "extreme makeover." "There's no question that in Ukraine in 2006, there was cause to be concerned about election-rigging by the party in power -- Yanukovych's." -- CW
The Manafortian Candidate. Meghan Kenealy of ABC News provides a rundown of Russia's role in and insurgence into the 2016 presidential election and the increasingly disturbing turning of Donald Trump toward the east. Here's a taste: "When Trump was asked in December about reports that [Vladimir] Putin was cracking down on internal dissent by killing journalists and political opponents, Trump's response seemed complimentary of Putin. 'He's running his country and at least he's a leader, unlike what he have in this country,' Trump said. And when Putin described Trump as a 'bright and talented person,' Trump released a statement through his spokesman, Hope Hicks, that said in part: 'It is always so great to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond.'" -- Akhilleus
And Just Like Clockwork...who steps up to claim that Donald Trump is the All American boy, it's that horrible nee-groe who's [Vladimir] Putin's best buddy? Why, Liz Peek, of Fox, of course: "...it is President Obama who has allowed the Russian strongman to become the power broker in the Middle East. It is thanks to Obama that Putin enjoys 82 percent approval ratings at home."
Akhilleus: Hahahahahaha. The claim that Obama is responsible for Putin's skyrocketing approval ratings is never substantiated, but what can you expect (and leave us not even venture to mention that Putin's approval rating in Russia is whatever he wants it to be) from Fox? It's funny how wingers, when they go on about Putin, mention, with Obama in their sights, what a terrible person he is, but in the next sentence seem to believe, childishly, that things like opinion polls in Russia, over which Putin has complete control, are all on the up and up. Peek, who is a terrible writer by the way, and a worse thinker, bases her stance that Obama is an awful president on the fact that he hasn't started a war with Russia yet. The weenie! How do these people have jobs? Oh, yes. Roger Ailes. That's how. Wonder how ol' Rog is doing now that he's not blackmailing women for sex? Life sucks and then you die. Maybe Douthat will lend Rog one of his blow-up dolls.
*****
Presidential Race
Jake Tapper & Tal Kopan of CNN: "Members of Congress will soon receive notes from Hillary Clinton's interview with the FBI over her private email server and they could be sent as early as Monday, according to sources. The FBI does not have a complete transcript of the interview, FBI Director James Comey told Congress in long testimony earlier this summer. She was not under oath, he added. But members of Congress will have access to notes taken during the interview." CW: The big question is, how many minutes will it Congressional Republicans & staffers to leak portions of the notes to the press? A secondary question: how inaccurately can they recount the content in the notes? And third, how will the media, in not revealing their sources, report the leaks? As fact? ...
... CW: MEANWHILE, for some unbeknownst reason, Republicans in Congress have no interest in investigating the underworld doings of the campaign chairman for their presidential candidate, doings that clearly have influenced the candidate and their party's platform.
Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "Hillary Clinton's campaign is attacking Donald Trump on Russia ahead of his foreign policy speech set for Monday, calling for him to disclose any connections that exist between Russia and aides to the Republican nominee. 'On the eve of what the Trump campaign has billed as a major foreign policy speech, we have learned of more troubling connections between Donald Trump's team and pro-Kremlin elements in Ukraine,' campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement late Sunday night." -- CW
Paul Krugman: "Mrs. Clinton's economic vision ... [is] very much a center-left vision: incremental but fairly large increases in high-income tax rates, further tightening of financial regulation, further strengthening of the social safety net. It's also a vision notable for its lack of outlandish assumptions. Unlike just about everyone on the Republican side, she isn't justifying her proposals with claims that they would cause a radical quickening of the U.S. economy. As the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center put it, she's 'a politician who would pay for what she promises.'" -- CW
The Talented Mr. Trump. Laurie Kellman & Julie Pace of the AP: "Any country that wants to work with the U.S. to defeat 'radical Islamic terrorism' will be a U.S. ally, [Donald Trump] is expected to say [in a speech today].... Trump is also expected to propose creating a new, ideological test for admission to the country that would assess a candidate's stances on issues like religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights. Through questionnaires, searching social media, interviewing friends and family or other means, applicants would be vetted to see whether they support American values like tolerance and pluralism." CW: So if one fell swoop, Trump will provide a rationale/excuse for allying with Russia & a reason he himself should not be allowed into the U.S., what with his views on "religious freedom, gender equality, gay rights ... tolerance and pluralism," not to mention the very concept of imposing "ideological purity" on immigrants.
Rebecca Morin of Politico: "In a series of tweets Sunday, Donald Trump launched a new tirade against the media, calling it 'disgusting' and blaming it for his drop in polls. His latest tweet storm first targeted The New York Times, which published an article Saturday about the GOP nominee's allegedly failing campaign, but quickly expanded as an indictment of the media in general." CW: Trump cannot lose unless a vast left-wing conspiracy "cheats" him & the "Second Amendment people." ...
If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn't put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20%. -- Whiney Boy, Sunday, in a tweet ...
... Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Trump's problem is not that the 'disgusting and corrupt media' is putting false meaning into things he says. The problem is that Trump's only messenger is himself, and that he says things that seem to objective observers inside and outside the media as questionable. Trump is mad at how his speeches are covered by the media because he can't figure out why the strategy isn't working the way it did during the primary season. He can put out any message he wants on TV or in mail or wherever he wants.... But for some incomprehensible reason, he won't." -- CW ...
... Steve M. "Trump's confusion is understandable.... The mainstream media tells us over and over again that both parties are exactly the same with regard to anger (and everything else, for that matter).... And the conservative media's message is that ... the only reason anyone isn't a conservative Republican is brainwashing (by the 'liberal media,' by academia, by the 'Democrat Party')." CW: So see? It is the media's fault! ...
It is not 'freedom of the press' when newspapers and other are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet ...
... Jim Fallows of the Atlantic explains freedom of the press, or as Trump would have it, "freedom of the press," to Donald Trump. Yo, Donaldo, it's why you get to repeatedly say, "Obama is the founder of ISIS," even though it's "completely false!" & nobody locked you up.
... Rebecca Savransky: "CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday got into a heated exchange with Donald Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, after Manafort continued to criticize the media for not focusing on the Republican presidential nominee's message." -- CW ...
... Secrets of the Black Ledger. Andrew Kramer, et al., of the New York Times: Goverment officials in Kiev, Ukraine, have found the name of Paul Manafort, "as well as companies he sought business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort's main client, former President Viktor F. Yanukovych. Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych's pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine's newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials. In addition, criminal prosecutors are investigating a group of offshore shell companies that helped members of Mr. Yanukovych's inner circle finance their lavish lifestyles.... Among the hundreds of murky transactions these companies engaged in was an $18 million deal to sell Ukrainian cable television assets to a partnership put together by Mr. Manafort and a Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of President Vladimir V. Putin." ...
... CW: That is, the campaign chairman and would-be Svengali for the Republican presidential nominee received millions of dollars arranging corrupt deals for himself & prominent pro-Russian politicians & businessmen, all against the interests of Ukraine & pro-Western Ukrainian leaders. Oh, and it's alleged Manafort was laundering money for his Kremlin cronies. In short, the GOP nominee's top man has given aid & comfort to the enemy & made off with a bundle doing it. We knew, or thought we knew, much of this before, but it remains astonishing, particularly in light of Trump's many pro-Russia, anti-U.S. remarks. To put all this in perspective, Crooked Hillary was careless with her e-mails. ...
You could go to the Bada Bing and yell, 'Hey, Joey,' and come up with a more competent, ethical team. -- Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney strategist 2012, August 15, 2016
... Speaking of Hillary ... I'm Not Rubber, But You're Glue. CW: The Times story is surely the reason for this pre-emptive projection. Rebecca Savransky: "A senior adviser to ... Donald Trump on Sunday said ... Hillary Clinton and her husband have 'real connections' to Russia. 'There's concrete evidence of the coziness between the Clintons and Russia," Boris Epshteyn said on Fox News. He called stories of the GOP nominee's links to Russia a 'ridiculous narrative by the left.' 'The Clintons are the ones that have real connections to Russia,' he said." ...
... MEANWHILE. John Aravois of AmericaBlog: "Donald Trump's ousted former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, just tweeted a blockbuster new New York Times story that's highly critical of Donald Trump's current campaign manager, Paul Manafort. And the Internet is abuzz.... This is fascinating stuff, as it's indicative of just bad things have gotten in Trump-land.... Everyone on Twitter, conservatives included, are taking this as a sign of Corey knifing Manafort in the back at a particularly precarious time for the campaign.... [The Trump campaign's ties to Russia] only got creepier this morning when Manafort told CNN's Jake Tapper that a NATO base in Turkey was recently attacked by terrorists. Manafort is mistaken. The story is a fake. Its source? Russian counterintelligence.... Big trouble for moose and squirrel." -- CW ...
... Update. Lewandowski, Leashed. Rebecca Savransky: "... Corey Lewandowski on Monday pushed back against a recent report drawing a connection between ... Paul Manafort and the Ukraine.... 'The media is now focusing on a private person who had a private business model, which no one says is anything illegal about what he did and as a matter of fact, he's saying he didn't receive the money,' Lewandowski said Monday on CNN after tweeting a link to the report Sunday night. The CNN contributor said those close to ... Hillary Clinton get a pass from same news organizations reporting on Manafort." CW: Maybe Trump fired Lewandowski because neither of them could understand what the other was saying. Their shared ability to garble their native language is a tribute to Sarah Palin.
... MEANWHILE. Politico: "... Paul Manafort slammed the New York Times Monday on morning after the newspaper published a story reporting that secret ledgers in Ukraine show more than $12 million in cash earmarked for him.... 'The suggestion that I accepted cash payments is unfounded, silly and nonsensical.'" -- CW ...
... David Atkins in the Washington Monthly: "How much does Trump and his team need to do before we start asking serious questions about whether they're a Manchurian Candidate campaign actively working on behalf of a foreign nation? Trump's campaign manager is deep in with Putin cronies, the Putin regime is very likely behind the hacking on Democratic organizations to benefit Trump, his campaign worked to soften anti-Putin and anti-Russia language in the GOP platform, and his finances and investments are enmeshed with Russian cronies -- which may be a key reason why he refuses to release his tax returns." -- CW ...
... James Hohmann of the Washington Post has a rundown of responses to the Times' Manafort story, couched of course in can-Manafort-survive hype. Also, Hohmann provides reminders of how Donald Trump, under Manafort's direction, became the Siberian candidate. -- CW
... CW: MEANWHILE, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Reince Priebus & most other GOP leaders are standing behind the mop-headed Putin puppet whose "policy goal" is probably a couple of Trump Towers in Moscow & a Russian beauty pageant.
Rebecca Savransky: "Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) on Sunday said there is a discussion going on within Donald Trump's campaign regarding the ban put on some reporters and media outlets from attending the Republican presidential nominee's events.... 'I do believe in the public's right to know,' he said Sunday." -- CW
** Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker: "If Donald Trump loses the Presidential election, this [past] week may be remembered as the point in the campaign when his defeat became obvious and inevitable. The number of controversies, reckless statements, and outright lies from Trump this week was dizzying.... Unlike in the Republican primaries, when Trump's serial untruths and shocking statements had little effect on his political standing, the damage in the general election has been swift and severe." CW: Read on. Lizza revisits the massive Gallup study of Trump voters, linked here last week, & its implications for what will - and will not -- address those Trump voters' needs. ...
... CW: The federal government can do little or nothing to satisfy aggrieved middle-class people who "feel" they "are being treated unfairly" because "those people" are now enjoying somewhat better socio-economic conditions. Yesterday, contributor Ken W. wrote that he had "long pondered how the revolutionary sixties and early seventies I knew could have turned into the Age of Reagan." For many, the "revolutionary '60s & early '70s" were about changing the social fabric, but perhaps for most, they also were a revolt against accepting responsibilities their parents had shouldered without question. Sure, one of those responsibilities was serving -- and getting killed or maimed -- in a stupid war. But for people like Bill Clinton & Donald Trump (and me) the overriding objective was personal: help yourself (or a family member) avoid the draft. It's hardly surprising then that the Me Generation reared a generation of selfish Reaganites. Today, the bright-line difference between a (rational) Bernie backer & a Trump backer is that the former wants to improve the system for everybody; the latter wants to improve it for himself.
The Would-Be Wedding Crasher. Caitlin Yilek of the Hill: "Donald Trump tried to invite himself to Chelsea Clinton's wedding in 2010, according to a new book on former President Bill Clinton" by Joe Conason. Trump's effort failed. -- CW
Jessie Hellmann: "The Independence Party of Minnesota has selected Evan McMullin as its 2016 presidential nominee, his campaign said in a statement. McMullin, a little-known former CIA officer and House GOP official, announced his long-shot White House bid last Monday as an alternative to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump." -- CW
Other News & Views
Chico Harlan of the Washington Post: "As Central Americans surged across the U.S. border two years ago, the Obama administration skipped the standard public bidding process and agreed to a deal that offered generous terms to Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest prison company, to build a massive detention facility for women and children seeking asylum. The four-year, $1 billion contract -- details of which have not been previously disclosed -- has been a boon for CCA, which, in an unusual arrangement, gets the money regardless of how many people are detained at the facility. Critics say the government's policy has been expensive but ineffective." CW: This sounds like a deal Chris Christie would make with some of his cronies.
Tim Starks of Politico: "House Democratic leaders on Saturday urged members to upgrade their cyber security as staffers were flooded with vulgar, malicious emails and texts after a massive online dump of their contact information late Friday -- the latest fallout of a series of election-season cyberattacks primarily targeting the Democratic Party. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, ... wrote in a note to colleagues that she was changing her phone number and advised colleagues to do the same. An email from the Democratic Caucus told members and staffers whom to contact to do so." -- CW
Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Ever since former Fox host Gretchen Carlson filed a sexual harassment suit July 6 against the network's co-founder and chairman, Roger Ailes, Fox has been tight-lipped about telling its viewers about the allegations, which have turned the network upside down. Fox mentioned the lawsuit and Ailes’s subsequent resignation July 21, but that's about all it has done since the news broke." -- CW
Beyond the Beltway
Niraj Chokshi & Christopher Mele of the New York Times: "Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin activated the Wisconsin National Guard on Sunday to assist local law enforcement following a night of violence in Milwaukee that began hours after a police officer fatally shot a fleeing armed man there." -- CW ...
... John Diedrich, et al., of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "The Milwaukee police officer who fatally shot an armed suspect Saturday is black, Chief Edward Flynn confirmed Sunday." -- CW ...
Ashley Luthern, et al., of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "The man shot and killed by a Milwaukee police officer Saturday was charged last year in a shooting and then charged again, with trying to intimidate a witness in that same shooting.... The man shot by police was 23-year-old Sylville Smith, police sources and Smith's family told the Journal Sentinel. Smith was charged with first-degree recklessly endangering safety and with witness intimidation, but the charges were dismissed ... even though the prosecutors had recorded jail calls in which Smith asked his girlfriend to pressure the victim to recant, according to court records.... The victim did file a statement recanting his identification of Smith as the shooter and wrote he was unsure who shot at him...." -- CW
Way Beyond
Hasani Gittens of NBC News: "U.S. Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen were robbed at gunpoint while in Rio de Janeiro overnight Saturday.... Lochte swam in two events at the Rio Games, winning gold in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay." -- CW
News Lede
Weather Channel: "The federal government declared a major disaster in Louisiana Sunday after torrential rain inundated the state killing at least four people, flooding thousands of homes and prompting thousands of water rescues.... Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Sunday that more than 20,000 people had been rescued by all participating agencies and volunteers since the flooding outbreak began." -- CW
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Reader Comments (18)
"IT'S THE MEDIAS FAULT". Actually he is right. The media reports what he said. Not only an unending list of truly bizarre statements, but an inability to speak in a way that avoids 'misinterpreting' his statement. Why? Because his mouth is directly linked to a brain that has no capacity for information or control. His Republican interventionists now know they are waiting their time.
Again the problem with the media is that they don't go far enough.
Seriously, dangerously mentally ill.
And again, given his behavioral pattern and life style, I won't be surprised if he has heart attack.
Holy Shit! And Holy Shit again! Documentation that trump's campaign advisor has stronger ties to Russian interests than I will ever have to employment in my lifetime at $12.7 million, followed by CW's point of Ryan, McConnell, et al still standing behind their "man."
In late June, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsen wrote, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Enough is enough. It's time to put country before party and say it together: Never Trump." At the time, I commented on the awfulness of that admission, Rs hindering the county's recovery for party gain. Now we have Rs supporting a candidate who is working for Russia's gain.
" Yesterday, contributor Ken W. wrote that he had "long pondered how the revolutionary sixties and early seventies I knew could have turned into the Age of Reagan."
I'd like to take a stab at this. I keep remembering Barry Goldwater who hated the establishment and its workings and was not very different from the New Left's counter culture. He believed that top-down managerial liberalism was a threat to individual autonomy. He could very well have had a lot in common with almost any iconic figure at the time––Dylan, Steinem, Malcolm X, Captain America, et al. because they all didn't like to be told what to do. Goldwater hated to be told what to do and that's what made him such a terrible candidate.
But his extremism killed it for him. And Johnson, who rode a dead man's coat tails into the White House, nailed him with the daisy ad.
Goldwater was one of nineteen senators who voted against the Test Ban Treaty and continued to sound like General Jack D. Ripper even after "Dr. Strangelove" came out right in the middle of the N.H. primary. ( Goldwater proposed using nuclear weapons in Vietnam). But most Americans who voted for Goldwater, according to Rick Perlstein, did not do so because of this issue, but of something Johnson wanted to keep as far from center as he could. This was the issue of RACE. Goldwater, a life long opponent of racial discrimination nevertheless voted against the Civil Rights Act because he believed, as a conservative, that the federal government did not have the power to compel states to conform to its idea of racial quality; or to dictate to individuals with whom they must associate with. (today it's with whom we go potty with). Before his vote he asked advice from a political ally and speechwriter for his campaign--WILLIAM REHNQUEST, then a Phoenix attorney, who assured Barry that the bill was UNCONSTITUTIONAL. He got a second opinion from Robert Bork who agreed.
So with that law intact, Johnson lost the South as we know, Goldwater did well there, but lost big time. James Reston at the time said that Goldwater "has wrecked the party for a long time to come." It did not take a generation for this to be debunked because who was waiting in the wings to take up the slack but Richard Nixon who had learned from Goldwater the value of appealing to white anxiety about integration and although he didn't win the Deep South in 1968 (Wallace did) he started what Kevin Phillips called in his classic "The Emerging Republican Majority." Or what Nixon called his "silent majority."
And now we come full circle back to Ken's query about Reagan. The politician who truly stands on the shoulders of Barry Goldwater is Ronald Reagan. He gave us the same message of small government but made it sound warm and caring as big government.Reagan gave conservatism a human face. Reagan was the one who opened or closed on the bill with Goldwater. Many who found Goldwater edgy and aggressive found the Gipper inspirational. Whatever the two's affinities were, in one crucial area, as unalike as possible: Reagan was an actor.
So during the Age of Reagan, as someone said to me at the time, "he brought back civility, and I could finally afford to buy a house." And underneath all that warm fuzziness at first lay another disaster just waiting to happen and AIDS became a metaphor for payback.
And what we have today defies explanation, yet there they are raising their fists–-they never went away, that silent majority.
Ho-hum, another Monday, another jaw dropping revelation and outrageous affront from the Trvmpvs tent. I tells ya, guys, the stuff they hand out is so juicy, so deliciously debauched, so scrumptiously villainous, so unprecedentedly fucking great (ie, really bad), one barely knows where to start. I mean, do you go with the mob fixer analogy (you hire a shady underworld type, don't be surprised if bodies start bobbing up), the rapacious traitor angle, the hypocritical, snidely whiplash approach, the international criminal conspiracy and dictator enabler, the democracy killer for hire? Sheesh. An indubitable cornucopia of allegorical opprobrium. Which may also be one reason the Orange One is so distraught about his press clippings.
It's like one of those crazy chef-from-hell TV shows. The head chef gives seven teams of cooks a long list of ingredients: boiled mutton, coconut tree grub worms, suet, snap peas, three slices of quince, jalapeno peanut butter, graham cracker pie crust, Alaskan salmon steaks, capers from Madagascar, red leeks, Tabasco sauce, several unidentified mollusks (still alive), and a half pound of Bell's poultry seasoning, and asks them all to come up with something.
Now in Trump's case, he's expecting everyone to come up with "Peanut butter and Jelly sandwich" but instead, they're all off reveling in the rare and never before seen (and likely never seen again) ingredients (some of which were illegally obtained) laid out by Donaldo and his helpful staff of thugs, con men, and ignoramuses.
Not to mention the fact that one of Donaldo's sneakier, snakier habits, that of couching his statements in language squishy enough to weasel out of later, solicits interpretation; on gold embossed invitation cards.
But then there are the two most important elements in the whole "The Media Hates Me!" bullshit. First, Trump has gotten a mostly free ride from the press his entire life. Sure, there have been the unkind (read: accurate) stories here and there, but mostly, it's been a day at the beach. He's not used to being treated, well, fairly. But most importantly? He's nuts. Some days he'll just come right out and say "Obama invented ISIS. He DID! Seriously!!" Then he'll say it again the next day. And when people report what he said, he blows a gasket. Because he's got the temperament of a five year old.
And....he's nuts.
But this Manafort thing....hoo-whee! Let's not just hire a snaky Confederate, Lee Atwater type dirty trickster. Let's hire the guy who has Vladimir Putin and his buddies on speed dial and who fixes elections for foreign despots whose interests lie on the opposite side of the compass from America's.
To Trump, Manafort, et al, as Oliver said "Please sir, I want some more."
PD wrote: "[Reagan] gave us the same message of small government but made it sound warm and caring as big government. Reagan gave conservatism a human face."
But the fact is that Reagan expanded the federal budget and the size of the government far beyond what anyone could possibly have imagined. As for the caring, there was plenty of that. But not for the poor. Or minorities. Or women. The love was for rich white men and the corporations they ran. Still is, a generation on. Even more so. At least Reagan wasn't talking about rounding up immigrants and tossing out entire religious groups.
And this brings me back around to a point I was making yesterday in a response to a Douthat article on discussion. A fundamental problem with Confederate ideology is its internal inconsistencies and hypocrisy. They shout "small government" and "government out of people's lives" but their patron saint blew the government up to gigantic proportion. And no political group in American history has been more intrusive in the lives of Americans, especially in their bedrooms and schools where strict adherence to ideological purity has been demanded and enacted into law in winger controlled states.
And as a sidebar to Ken, this is my beef with people like Douthat. I recognize that he can make good points now and then. But that's my problem. Writers like Douthat and Brooks can, on occasion, see the light, get what's true and what's just wrong. But they simply cannot bring themselves to see it all the way through. They insist on holding to a core that is in itself corrupt with irreconcilable internal contradictions. Take the concept of regulation for the public good. They're for regulating voting to the point of disenfranchising millions, effectively short circuiting democracy itself, but regulating the purchase of deadly weapons? Totally anathema. Cutting the deficit is a prime mover, but, when it's convenient, they cleave to Dick Cheney's dictum "Deficits don't matter". Infrastructure money is stupid. Besides the jobs it creates are temporary, but we need those Keystone pipleline jobs! Every life is important so no abortion, but also no money for poor kids, and no pulling back on capital punishment.
Every political system has its internal inconsistencies but the contradictions at the heart of right-wing ideology are eating away at such fundamental and essential pillars that it's a wonder they aren't collapsing under the strain of a candidate who every day demonstrates their fragility and instability.
Oh, wait...
PD and Marie,
Thanks for the thoughts, all I think on the mark. Still pondering, though, which led me this AM to take a quick peek at some numbers.
Though I knew it at the time, don't think I remembered that my experience of the sixties (college in CA 64-69) was, despite the headlines which grouped us all together, not everyone's.
The numbers say that just under 50 % of male high school graduates entered college in 1964; young women just under 60%. And when we matriculated, I don't think we were all that radical, spoiled a bit often, but hardly politicized. Vietnam and other social ferments changed that for me.
But I'm sure not all college experiences were the same. Some institutions became hotbeds of protest, a few contributed most of the bodies to the civil rights work but again they were the ones that made the headlines and were not the majority. So those of us who closely or directly experienced the upheaval were a minority within a minority from the start. I suspect I was given to assume my experience was everyone's. Human but not at all scientific. Could have used a reality chex, I guess.
That said, there was still enough radicalization, rejection anyway of social SOP, to frighten the masters--the shocked parents, the capitalists who didn't like all that Maoist talk, the racists who couldn't change political parties fast enough-- and who fought back, successfully but not surprisingly as from the beginning they outnumbered those seeking real social change and thus did manage to squeeze most, but not all, behaviors back into accustomed paths....represented and the social schisms concealed by, as PD says, Reagan's smiley face.
But now that another generation or two has appeared on the stage, calmly accepting as many of them do beliefs and behaviors about race, sex and mores that our parents found disturbingly radical, the times they are a changin'....again, this time for the most part more quietly.
And whatever remnant of Reagan's party that Trump might still represent, we can be grateful Trump doesn't have a smiley face. The contrast between morning and night in America is stark, and night is a hard sell.
So Paul Manafort (small pause for the schadenfreude to kick in--now longer pause to realize it won't make a dent. Ixnay on the hadenfreudeschay).
Everyone saying it and so will I. This is a campaign like no other. Reminds me of Confucius curse, "May you live in interesting times". Yeah, it is "interesting". And Confucius say "Pretty fucking weird too", but weird enough so that this latest revelation won't mean squat.
It's way too late in the game for Trvmpvs to change gears. He's not gonna fire this guy. The only thing that will cause him to ditch his totalitarian water boy of a campaign manager is if he gets a ringy-dingy from Comrade Vlad:
"Donaldavich, it is I Vlad. What's that? What am I wearing? Why, camo pants, boots, and nothing else, as usual. Why do you ask? Trump ties? Nyet. I have never heard of these. Listen, tovarisch, this Manafort thing getting very embarrassing here. Our oligarch buddies, you remember, glorious Russian underworld leaders you're in hock to, are not happy. Manafort allowed his name to show up on that ledger, dolbo yeb! Get rid of, today. Okay? Kick ass to curb. How do you say it in America....I'm down with that? Da? Today. Understand?"
Unless he gets that kind of call, Manafort will continue to disgrace the American electoral process. You gotta hand it to Donaldo though. He doesn't just hire a shill, he hires an international gangster.
Lisa Bardack, MD, has released a full account ( extensive testing has been done) of Hillary's health status. It's presented as a PDF so I can't link it. Suffice it to say Hillary presents as a very healthy woman with NO cognitive problems from past head injuries. Will that shut up those Fox fabricators? Wanna bet?
By the way, watched the interview between Pence and Wallace: worst interview ever! Wallace pretending to insist on answers re: Trump's second amendment remark and the Isis founder accusation got nothing but platitudes and rehearsed sound bites from Pence who resembles more and more a model for J.M. Banks––nifty looking suits outside, but an empty one inside.
The Manafort revelation is like hearing the scum bag you always suspected was crooked turns out to be just that. Affirmation! always a delight.
Elsewhere in Right Wing World...
In Milwaukee, the shooting of an armed black man triggers riots and unrest. Wisconsin governor prays for the police, calls out the National Guard then hides under his desk. "No more questions, please. I know nothing."
Good thing there aren't any angry elementary school teachers around or Scottie boy would'a showed 'em who's boss just like he showed them last year. Boy, oh boy, it was just like facing down ISIS!
(What if one of these jamokes lost their emergency-comment checklist they refer to whenever someone gets shot and killed? You know, the one that says "First, blame liberals/minorities/women/immigrants. Second, pray for victims; condolences should not sound mailed-in. Third, congratulate the NRA for making America safe. Fourth answer all important questions with "no comment" or "we're looking at that". Fifth, run and hide.
They wouldn't have a clue what to do. Unless, like Scott Walker they always remembered number five. The ol' stand by.)
Of the many scary things about Trump, one of the scariest is how malleable he is. Having no convictions of his own, it appears that any jerk can get him to reverse vital "positions" 180 degrees, probably on the promise of some payoff. So when Manafort &/or Putin whispered in his ear, he switched from criticizing Obama for not being tough enough on Russia to criticizing Obama for not getting along with Russia.
I understand realpolitik, & I get that honorable politicians must change their policies & alliances as conditions change. But that's not what Trump does. He just says whatever he believes at the moment is best for Trump. He has boasted that this is some kind of brilliant tactic to keep the nation's adversaries on their toes, but on the world stage, it's just further destabilizing a world politic that is already volatile by nature.
It's hard to imagine a U.S. presidential candidate who would refuse to promise not to nuke Europe -- Europe! -- but that's Trump. What? Is he going to hold out for a casino franchise in Monaco before he promises not to bomb Paris? And if he promises not to bomb Paris, will he remember that promise the next day? What if the next day Putin promises him a hotel in St. Petersburg?
Trump is not just a crazy guy; he's a crazy guy without a shred of moral conviction. He is a man of the world only in the sense that he has no allegiance to any nation, including the U.S.
Marie
Marie, you are absolutely correct but let me add one other context. Trump's life is devoted to proving how wonderful he is by making money. Now he has a new possibility. POTUS. The problem is that this does not take away the underlying issue. So his job as POTUS would be to make more money. So yes, his foreign policy will be totally dependent on what countries are willing to build a Trump golf course.
In summary, his sick mind is confused by the interrelationship of his core life and new responsibilities. If I were the leader of a dictatorship I would simply offer Trump some free land.
Off the topic of Whiney Boy and onto the topic of Sexism in the Olympics/sports in general: Here are two links that highlight it:http://video.scroll.in/813644/watch-sexism-may-not-be-a-medal-sport-at-the-rio-olympics-but-its-in-full-flow
and:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rio-2016-sexism-media_us_57a840dbe4b056bad215f03c
And, of course, politics ~ links galore!!
Thanks for all of the news, Marie, et al., and the wonderful, respectful postings. I appreciate it very much.
The Manafortian Candidate, cont...
Geez...you don't even have to wait a day for more outrageous details from the candidacy of Trumpskyev, friend to moguls, despots, traitors, and murderers. Oh, wait, didn't Donaldavich once state that Putin was just fine and dandy because no one had yet proven that he killed anyone (and why doesn't the same logic apply to Hillary Clinton...oh, never mind)? Okay, scratch "murderer", for now.
So Trump and his Soviet handler, Manafortsov, are importing Russian style gangster politics to the US. Mighty red of them. Marie is frighteningly correct in her observation that Trump is such a cipher, an empty vessel, a creature totally bereft of any moral core, that he is likely to set his course by any prevailing wind he deems might be good for him personally. If a hurricane is bearing down on the continental US, threatening millions of Americans, all Trump can think of is "How can I benefit from this nice breeze?"
The Manafortian Candidate makes the last two bumbling Confederate duos, an intemperate war monger and his empty headed Mrs. Malaprop, and a robotic, greedy conniver and his truth averse, low IQ sidekick, look like representatives from some halcyon past.
Well, maybe not that good, but...
Christ in a dacha.
My greatest concern these days is the damage Trump is doing to the electoral system. He is sowing distrust in the system itself. He is feeding the "in person voter fraud" belief which has been proven to be the rarest form. I shudder to think of the effects of a significant bloc of voters believing they were cheated.
Can't wait to hear Trump's response to the 'coincidence' of the Manafort deal. It's the media!!
(on the side, I wonder if taxes were paid on that foreign money?)
Published today, co published at WAPO.
https://www.propublica.org/article/as-isis-brewed-in-iraq-state-department-cut-its-eyes-and-ears-on-the-ground
The investigation colors Clinton in opposition to Obama to draw down troops in Iraq, citing her fear that terrorist groups would flourish, at that time "down but not out." Article emphasizes the complicated nature of the relationship with Maliki, the US intolerance for more armed conflict and Bush administration timelines for draw down.
Donaldo and the Tao of Steve
A piece by the indispensible Digby, linked (above) by the equally indispensible CW, which points out that Donaldo's "economic team", such as it is, is comprised of a fair number of Steves known, funnily enough, as "The Steves", brings back memories of another group of clueless, sheltered, misogynistic males who determine their personal worth (and, conversely, the unworthiness of others) and the rightness of their thinking based on how they measure up to a collection of fictional characters and actors named "Steve". WWSD? Sound like the basis for a successful national economic policy?
Yeah, me neither.
Gawker adumbrates the fault line in pinning the economic hopes and dreams of a nation to the mewlings of "experts" subscribing to their own Tao of Steve.
Sad.
And stupid.