;)
The Commentariat -- August 30, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Abby Goodnough of the New York Times: "... residents of the West Calumet Housing Complex [in East Chicago, Indiana,] learned recently that much of the soil outside their homes contained staggering levels of lead, one of the worst possible threats to children’s health.... About 1,100 ... poor, largely black residents of West Calumet, including 670 children, [are] ... scrambling to find ... new home[s] after Mayor Anthony Copeland of East Chicago announced last month that the residents had to move out and the complex would be demolished.... [Residents] are asking why neither the state nor the federal told them just how toxic their soil was much sooner, and a timeline is emerging that suggests a painfully slow government process of confronting the problem.... People in this heavily industrialized city just south of Chicago are also asking why their governor, Mike Pence ... visited flood victims in Baton Rouge, La., this month while campaigning with Donald J. Trump, but has not found time to come to East Chicago." -- CW
Boing Boing. Eric Russell of the Portland (Maine) Press Herald: "Gov. Paul LePage [R-Nuts] sent sharply conflicting signals Tuesday about how he would respond to mounting pressure from Democrats and members of his own party to amend for his recent actions. In a morning radio interview, LePage raised the possibility that he may not finish his second term. But six hours later, in a tweet posted from his Twitter account, he discounted that possibility." -- CW
Evan Perez of CNN: "The FBI expects to publicly release as soon as Wednesday the report the bureau sent to the Justice Department in July recommending no charges in the Hillary Clinton email server investigation, according to multiple law enforcement officials. The release is in response to numerous FOIA requests including from CNN.Also to be released is Hillary Clinton's 302, the FBI agent notes from Clinton's voluntary interview at FBI headquarters. The report is about 30 pages, and the 302 is about a dozen pages according to the officials.Not yet being released are additional notes from interviews of Clinton aides or other investigative materials that were sent to Congress." -- CW
Donald Trump calls on Hillary to shut down her foundation. Meanwhile, we’re all still begging him to choose a more natural color for his. -- Bette Midler, in a tweet
Stuart Rothenberg in the Washington Post: "For months, Donald Trump and members of his political team promised to put reliably Democratic states like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Oregon into play. But now, with only two months until Election Day, it’s clear that those promises were empty boasts.... Trump said in January, 'We are going to win New Jersey.' In May, he asserted, 'We are going to focus on New York.' He also promised, 'We’re going to play heavy as an example in California,' along with, 'I put so many states in play: Michigan being one. Illinois.'” -- CW
Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Marco Rubio on Monday refused to commit to serving a full six-year term in the Senate should he win reelection. And the former Republican presidential candidate subtly suggested that if he ran for the White House again, he would be prepared to leave politics behind if he lost. 'No one can make that commitment because you don’t know what the future’s gonna hold in your life personally or politically,' the Florida senator told CNN on Monday, opening the door for a presidential run when asked if he could commit to a full Senate term before seemingly slamming it shut in the next breath." -- CW ...
... MEANWHILE, in Another Senate Race. Nolan McCaskill: "Senate Republicans could relent on their hard-line stance in opposition to granting Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland a confirmation hearing this year, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said Monday.... Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, has no intention of holding a hearing before Obama leaves office, his team told Politico on Tuesday." CW: McConnell is not up for re-election this year. ...
... CW Note to File: That scheming twit Rubio is more honest than Grassley.
Charles Pierce: "I thought that [Maureen] Dowd's effort over the weekend — which can be fairly summarized as 'The Republican presidential campaign is an obvious freak show but Hillary Rodham Clinton Still Has Cooties' — might have been the height of the [NYT's style of Clinton coverage]. However, I had not reckoned with the paper's coverage of the unfortunate episode currently ongoing between Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner.... This is horrible. This is ghastly. This is cheap shot by deliberate imprecision." -- CW
Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "An American consultant who has been detained in China for more than a year has been formally charged with spying, news that could further complicate U.S.-China ties ahead of President Obama’s trip to Asia. Sandy Phan-Gillis, 56, of Houston, was arrested in March 2015 while traveling in southern China with a trade delegation and has been held without charge since." -- CW
*****
Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The FBI is investigating a series of suspected foreign hacks of state election computer systems and websites, and has warned states to be on the alert for potential intrusions. The Aug. 18 warning, issued after two states suffered intrusions into their systems, comes amid heightened concern over Russian hacks of Democratic party organizations and possible meddling in the presidential election." CW: Looks as if the election could indeed be rigged -- in Trump's favor -- but they are giving Trump an excuse for losing if the rigging is ineffective. So, best of both worlds for Donaldovich. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
Trump and his people keep saying the election is rigged. Why is he saying that? Because people are telling him the election can be messed with. -- Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Monday
... David Sanger of the New York Times: "The Senate minority leader, of Nevada, asked the on Monday to investigate evidence suggesting that Russia may try to manipulate voting results in November. In a letter to the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey Jr., Mr. Reid wrote that the threat of Russian interference 'is more extensive than is widely known and may include the intent to falsify official election results.' Recent classified briefings from senior intelligence officials, Mr. Reid said in an interview, have left him fearful that President Vladimir V. Putin’s 'goal is tampering with this election.'... Mr. Reid argued that the connections between some of Donald J. Trump’s former and current advisers and the Russian leadership should, by itself, prompt an investigation.... He noted that hackers could keep people from voting by tampering with the rolls of eligible voters.... [Michael Isikoff of] Yahoo News, [who] first reported the confidential F.B.I. warning, said [the states attacked by Russian hackers] were Arizona and Illinois.” -- CW ...
... Dana Milbank: "The Russians aren’t just hackers — they’re also hacks. Turns out that before leaking their stolen information, they are in some cases doctoring the documents.... Foreign Policy’s Elias Groll reported last week that the hackers goofed: They posted both the original versions of at least three documents and their edited versions. These documents, stolen from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, were altered by the hackers to create the false impression that Russian anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny was funded by Soros.... On Sunday, Neil MacFarquhar wrote in the New York Times about Russian attempts to undermine a Swedish military partnership with NATO.... Putin has meddled in domestic politics in France, the Netherlands, Britain and elsewhere, helping extreme political parties to destabilize those countries. He appears to be doing much the same now in the United States.... We don’t know what, if anything, Putin’s hackers have planned for this fall. But the doctored Soros documents could be a clue." -- CW
Ed Kilgore: "Now that there are renewed doubts about the workability of the private-insurance exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act, the president must again take the blame if things don’t work out as intended, right? Well, at most, that is half-right or maybe one-third right. The U.S. Supreme Court bears some responsibility for thwarting the original design of the ACA by insisting on a state opt-in for the Medicaid expansion that was so integral to the overall effort. And that enhanced the residual power of the states — many under hostile management — to frustrate the implementation of Obamacare by active or passive resistance. It is not a coincidence that nearly all the states suffering from a lack of competition of private plans under Obamacare are states that did not bother to create their own exchanges or undertake the kind of public-education measures that might have encouraged broader enrollment and that have made the ACA successful in places like California." ...
... CW: I would assign equal blame to Republicans in Congress for refusing to participate in the drafting of the law, refusing to a person to vote for it, then exacerbating problems by refusing to make fixes along the way, as every big piece of legislation requires. Despite the Refusenik Rule that "everything is Obama's fault," well, no, it's not.
Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "Tax cheating is about to rise in the United States.... Thanks to [Congress's] budget cuts, audit rates have plummeted, especially for the biggest corporations, with armies of sophisticated tax preparers. Criminal tax prosecutions have nose-dived, too." Read on for the other reasons Americans and U.S. corporations are less likely to pay their fair share. -- CW
As the Ingrates Vote. Reid Wilson of the Hill: "States that voted against President Obama twice are more dependent on the federal government, according to an analysis of new data released by the Pew Charitable Trusts on Monday." CW: Not exactly news, but always good to highlight hypocrisy. See also "Get to Know Your Trump Voter" near the end of Presidential Race section.
Eric Levitz of New York: "There’s considerable evidence that the global capital flows ... the Investor-State Dispute Settlement Process (ISDS) ... helped foster have brought real benefits to the global poor. But ISDS has delivered even greater benefits to corporate law firms — especially once they figured out how to transform a system designed to protect companies from autocratic thievery [in developing nations that might nationalize or otherwise expropriate corporate assets] into one that protects them from democratic regulation.... Buzzfeed News’s exposé focuses on cases in which corporate bigwigs used ISDS not merely to win restitution for regulation, but rather exoneration from criminal convictions." -- CW ...
... The BuzzFeed story, by Chris Hamby, is titled "The Court that Rules the World." Part 1, which is itself very long, is here. Hamby won a Pulitzer in 2014; looks like he's going for a second one. ...
EU Takes a Bite of Apple. Suzanne Lynch of the Irish Times: "Ireland has been ordered to recoup up to €13 billion from US tech company Apple in unpaid taxes in a landmark ruling by the European Commission. The EU’s powerful competition arm said on Tuesday that Apple had been given selective treatment by Ireland through two tax rulings granted to the company in 1991 and 2007. That treatment allowed Apple to avoid taxation on almost all profits generated by sales of its products in the EU single market, because Apple recorded the sales in Ireland rather than where products were sold, the commission said. This was achieved by funnelling sales through a 'so-called' head office in Ireland with “no employees, no premises and no real activities,” commissioner Margrethe Vestager said." CW: Corporations are people, my friend, and Apple is like Donald Trump: it has all the best tax-cheat lawyers. Now that this massive dodge didn't work, maybe the person-corp would like to come home & make America great again.
Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "A woman was killed in her home and four other people were injured when a truck carrying Takata airbag parts and explosives crashed and detonated on a Texas road last week, the company and local authorities confirmed on Monday. The immense blast — the victim’s remains were not located for two days — highlighted the potency of the explosives used by Takata in its airbags as a propellent to activate its bags in a car crash. It also pointed to the risks associated with Takata’s transport of the explosives across the country from a propellant factory in Washington State to Mexico." -- CW
Andrew Pollack of the New York Times: "In its latest move to quell outrage over its price increases, the maker of the EpiPen has resorted to an unusual tactic — introducing a generic version of its own product. The company, , said on Monday that the generic EpiPen would be identical to the existing product, which is used to treat severe allergic reactions. But it will have a wholesale list price of $300 for a pack of two, half the price of the brand-name EpiPen." -- CW ...
... Catherine Ho of the Washington Post: "The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has launched an investigation into drugmaker Mylan, which is facing increasing scrutiny for raising the price of the lifesaving EpiPen allergy injection. The committee’s Republican chairman, Jason Chaffetz (Utah), and its ranking Democrat, Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), on Monday sent a letter to Mylan chief executive Heather Bresch requesting detailed information and communications regarding the company’s pricing of the EpiPen." -- CW
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: "What should horrify Americans is not [49ers quarterback Colin] Kaepernick’s choice to remain seated during the national anthem, but that nearly 50 years after [Muhammad] Ali was banned from boxing for his stance and Tommie Smith and John Carlos’s raised fists caused public ostracization and numerous death threats, we still need to call attention to the same racial inequities. Failure to fix this problem is what’s really un-American here." CW: I have ignored the Kaepernick story & fake "patriotic" outrage that ensued because football. But I think Abdul-Jabbar puts Kaepernick's gesture in perspective (just as Kaepernick himself has tried to do).
... But see also Diane's comment in today's thread on Donald Trump's measured thoughts on Kaepernick's political expression. America, Love It or Leave It. If you wonder whatever happened to Trump's god-given brain, you may find it was buried somewhere in Alabama in 1973. RIP.
Presidential Race
Patrick Healy & Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton’s advisers are talking to Donald J. Trump’s ghostwriter of 'The Art of the Deal,' seeking insights about Mr. Trump’s deepest insecurities as they devise strategies to needle and undermine him ... at the first presidential debate, the most anticipated in a generation. Her team is also getting advice from psychology experts to help create a personality profile of Mr. Trump.... They are undertaking a forensic-style analysis of Mr. Trump’s performances in the Republican primary debates.... Mr. Trump is taking the opposite tack. Though he spent hours with his debate team the last two Sundays, the sessions were more freewheeling than focused, and he can barely conceal his disdain for laborious and theatrical practice sessions." -- CW ...
... CW: Trump's "deepest insecurities"? "Strategies to needle ... him"? Oh, I think we all know how to do that:
... The reading of "Tiny Kingdom" begins at about 3:30 min. in. ...
... Catherine Lucey of the AP: "Hillary Clinton is telling supporters that she doesn't know 'which Donald Trump' will show up at the presidential debates. At a private fundraiser in East Hampton Monday, Clinton told supporters that she is 'running against someone who will say or do anything.' The Democratic presidential candidate said her Republican opponent may try and convey 'gravity' or he could seek to 'score points.'... In the midst of a multi-day fundraising swing through the wealthy Hamptons, Clinton stressed her commitment to boosting the minimum wage, improving access to education and improving mental health care. She also argued that Republican efforts were underway in many states to make it harder for minority voters to participate." -- CW
NEW. New Jersey Star-Ledger Editors: "... must we endure dirty tricks from the medical community? As Donald Trump surrogates peddle their 'Hillary Clinton is dying' narrative, rarely a day passes without doctors offering opinions on Clinton's health despite lacking access to a single medical record. This parade of quackery is led by Dr. Jane Orient, who declares Clinton 'medically unfit to serve,' even though her judgment is based on photos (really). Her work often appears on the Breitbart website. She believes that abortion causes breast cancer and AIDS is not caused by HIV." Thanks to Marvin S. for the link. -- CW
Amy Chozick & Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "’s closest aide, Huma Abedin, said Monday that she intended to separate from her husband, Anthony D. Weiner, the former congressman and New York City mayoral candidate, after it was reported that Mr. Weiner had exchanged suggestive images and messages with a woman while the couple’s young child was beside him." CW: So glad to see that Huma took my advice. (Is that Trumpy enough for you? -- It's all about Me, Marie Burns, unprofessional marriage counsellor.) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... CW: The Times story has been expanded to include stuff like this: "Mr. Weiner’s extramarital behavior also threatens to remind voters about the troubles in the Clintons’ own marriage over the decades, including Mrs. Clinton’s much-debated decision to remain with then-President Bill Clinton after revelations of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Ms. Abedin’s choice to separate from her husband evokes the debates that erupted over Mrs. Clinton’s handling of the Lewinsky affair, a scandal her campaign wants left in the past." ...
... Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jim Newell of Slate: "... even though there doesn’t seem to be any meaningful connection between Anthony Weiner’s sexts and the merits or actions of Hillary Clinton..., members of several news organizations have already found themselves unable to resist the urge to find such a connection and pat themselves on the back for their rigorous neutrality in covering the election." -- CW: Newell is talking to you, New York Times. ...
By Driftglass.I only worry for the country in that Hillary Clinton was careless and negligent in allowing Weiner to have such close proximity to highly classified information. Who knows what he learned and who he told? It’s just another example of Hillary Clinton’s bad judgment. It is possible that our country and its security have been greatly compromised by this. -- Donald Trump, in a statement Monday
... George Zornick of the Nation: "Donald Trump alluded for the first time on Monday to a theory that Huma Abedin ... might have nefarious ties to radical Islam. Speaking with KIRO Radio in Seattle on Monday afternoon, Trump was asked about the news that Abedin had left her husband Anthony Weiner. Trump called Weiner 'a pervert and just a very sick guy,' and then said: 'By the way — check, take a look at where [Abedin] worked, by the way, and take a look at where her mother worked, and works. You take a look at the whole event.... And you know she has access to classified information. Huma Abedin has access to classified information. How Hillary got away with that one, nobody will ever know.'” -- CW
... Olivia Nuzzi of the Daily Beast: "Donald Trump is blaming Hillary Clinton for the actions of her aide’s husband, bringing into focus his fraught relationship with the female sex and his history of marital infidelity — not to mention his own adviser with a 'perv' problem, to adopt the language of the New York tabloids. Trump’s argument is a good peek into his psyche, where a man can be absolved of wrongdoing so long as there’s a woman around to carry the blame." -- CW ...
... Steve Lemiuex in LG&$: "Yes, we cannot have a president who has an adviser whose husband virtually cheats on her — what does that say about her judgment? Rather, we need a president who openly boasted about his affairs while married to his first two wives. I am looking forward to the first pundit who spent years arguing that it was highly disturbing that Abedin didn’t leave Weiner who finds it highly disturbing that she left him, and either way it says something very bad about Hillary Clinton because something." -- CW
Great American Tax Cheat, Ctd. Man Hopes for D.C. Executive Job, but Fights Paying Taxes There. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The city of Washington, D.C. is fighting Donald Trump's legal drive to cut his tax bills for the luxury hotel he's set to open in the Old Post Office Building next month." Trump has the property insured for $150MM before completion, $220MM when "substantially completed," but in court filings says it's worth only $28MM. D.C. appraisers taxed gave it a $98MM valuation, which the city reduced to $91MM after Trump sued. "A bank loan financing the project appears to be based on a value of at least $210 million...." -- CW
Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "For Donald Trump, appealing to minority groups and women often amounts to an 'us vs. them' proposition — warning one group that it is being threatened or victimized by another, using exaggerated contrasts and a very broad brush.... Women’s groups and activists also have blasted Trump for suggesting that immigrants are a disproportionate threat to women...." -- CW ...
Donald Trump Is So Brave
Republican presidential nominees usually aren’t bold enough to go into communities of color and take the case right to them, and compete for all ears and compete for all votes. They’ve been afraid to do that. So, Mr. Trump deserves credit for at least taking the case directly to the people. — Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, interview on “Good Morning America,” August 26
As a longtime Republican pollster, we’d expect Conway to know more about the history of Republican outreach to black communities.... On its face, this claim is not correct. Republican presidential nominees have routinely made a direct pitch to communities of color, taking their case right to them – at the most basic level, they have done so through a speech to the NAACP, National Urban League or religious groups.... So far, by declining to speak at the NAACP, National Urban League and NABJ – Trump has not met the basic level of what his predecessors have routinely done. -- Michelle Lee of the Washington Post ...
... NEW. Greg Sargent: "... it’s notable that Conway explicitly states that a chief aim here is for Trump to get 'credit' for taking his case to African American audiences. Conway very likely wants college educated whites to give Trump credit for this (not to mention leading media opinion-makers)." -- CW
Fake Candidate Airs Fake Ad. Benjy Sarlin of NBC News: "Donald Trump's new $10 million TV ad cites [as his own plan] two contradictory tax plans -- one that Trump has explicitly ruled out and another that he has yet to endorse -- raising more questions about what policies the GOP presidential nominee supports." CW: "Crooked Hillary" is an opinion; "This is my tax plan" is a lie. The Clinton campaign should ask stations not to run the ad. (Yeah, I know, good luck with that.)
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "On Friday, Donald Trump's doctor basically said that his letter stating that Trump was 'astonishingly' healthy was written under pressure and should not be taken at face value. Trump's response? A call for Hillary Clinton to release more of her health information.... [Trump's tweet, spelled out below] is a bit like calling on your opponent to release a detailed, five-point plan for dealing with immigration when you haven't even said where you stand on deportation." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Hillary Clinton's campaign annotates the letter that Trump produced attesting to his "astonishingly excellent" health. For some reason, the Clinton camp thinks Trump wrote the letter. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** "The Candidate of Disruption Rides a Powerful Wave." Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "In case you missed it, a significant political event took place last week in Jackson, Miss., where Donald Trump joined forces with Nigel Farage, the anti-immigrant leader of the successful campaign to take Britain out of the European Union. Mr. Make-America-Great-Again stood shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Brexit to make the point that, on both sides of the Atlantic, the same disruptive movements aim to break the free-trade, pro-globalization neoliberal consensus that has held sway in the West for at least a quarter-century.... You can’t have observed Farage over the past couple of years and not think Trump may well win in November. That’s Britain’s lesson to America. There is too much smug Hillary-has-it sentiment swilling around." -- CW
Andrew Kaczynski & Nathaniel Meyersohn of BuzzFeed: "Donald Trump’s campaign CEO, Stephen Bannon, said during a 2011 radio interview that progressives vilify prominent women in the conservative movement because they are not 'a bunch of dykes that came from the Seven Sisters schools.'” -- CW
Trump Surrogate Tweets Hillary in Blackface Speaking Ebonics or Something. Rebecca Sinderbrand of the Washington Post: "Mark Burns, a black pastor and a prominent Donald Trump surrogate, tweeted a picture of ... Hillary Clinton in blackface Monday, before taking it down and apologizing for it. In the drawing, Clinton is shown holding an anti-police sign and saying 'I ain’t no ways tired of pandering to African-Americans.' She also sports a shirt that reads 'No hot sauce no peace!'... Burns ... said it was 'not at all my intention to offend anyone.'” CW: Because only a super-sensitive crybaby could possibly be offended. Anyhow, I'm all thru sniffling, so thanks for that nice apology, Cousin Mark.
Mother Jones photo.... Get to Know Your Trump Voter. CW: I missed this story when LT linked it some time Sunday. It's compelling reading. Arlie Russell Hothschild of Mother Jones: An adaption of the Berkeley sociologist's book, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, that examines "how Donald Trump took a narrative of unfairness and twisted it to his advantage." The book is based on five years of field study of disaffected white voters in Louisiana. -- LT
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Ronald F. E. Fournier pefects the non-apology apology. In an Atlantic post, Fournier tries to make amends for past False Equivalency sins by listing a few of Hillary Clinton's failings and many of Trump's: "But there’s no equivalence. On one hand, Benghazi and email and lies. On the other hand, mendacity, bigotry, bullyism, narcissism, sexism, selfishness, sociopathology, and a lack of understanding or interest in public policy — all to extremes unseen in modern presidential politics." Then Fournier suggests a fix: vote for a third-party candidate, all of whom are largely unvetted. CW: That's like my "principled determination" not to buy an iPhone or a Galaxy because I knew they were manufactured in sweatshops, then buying a Brand X model because I have no fucking idea where it was made. (And that's what I did, having avoided for years owning such a device at all.) So, in my own way, not so much holier than Fournier.
Senate Race
Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "After 30 years in the Senate..., John McCain now finds himself in more jeopardy than at any time during his political career. And for much of that, he can blame Donald Trump. This reelection campaign, his fifth, is forcing the Arizona Republican to do battle on multiple fronts.... First he must clear his primary Tuesday ... against an arch-conservative whose campaign received a late six-figure boost from a Trump donor. Then, assuming he wins the nomination, he must move into a general election ... against a well-funded Democrat, U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, whose campaign is wrapping McCain’s support for Trump around the veteran Republican’s neck in a bid to drive up Latino turnout." CW: "Blame Donald Trump?" Why not blame himself for supporting that dangerous, malicious, unstable jackass for president?
Way Beyond the Beltway
Delacroix Oui, Burkini Non. Angelique Chrisafis of the Guardian: The French prime minister has drawn criticism for suggesting that naked breasts are more representative of France than a headscarf, in the latest flare-up of the bitter political row over the burkini. Manuel Valls, who clashed with France’s education minister over his support for mayors who have banned full-body swimsuits from beaches, gave a rousing speech on Monday night in which he hailed the bare breasts of Marianne, a national symbol of the French Republic.... Mathilde Larrere, a historian of the French revolution..., tweeted: 'Marianne has a naked breast because it’s an allegory, you cretin!' She then explained in a long series of tweets that images of Marianne with a naked breast harked back to classical allusions.... Historian Nicolas Lebourg told French newspaper Libération that Valls appeared to have confused Marianne with the earlier 1830 Delacroix painting of Liberty Leading the People, where the figure has her breasts uncovered." CW: Chrisafis's story provides some background. I know I haven't covered the French burkini controversy. My excuse: our French correspondent is on vacation. Also, we have a surfeit of our own bigots who have kept me busy. BTW, in fairness to the "cretin," he's mostly right on this: French beaches have hosted way more bared women's breasts than burkinis. Nonetheless, the whole Crise de Dress Code is mostly about white men deciding how women, in this case, minority women, should dress. Liberté, égalité, paternalismé , or something.
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Reader Comments (18)
Thank you for posting the news of Gene Wilder's passing. I enjoyed Young Frankenstein and his portrayal of Willy Wonka, but his work with Richard Pryor in Silver Streak was my favorite.
The wandering position on immigration by trump this last week has given me hope. I believe there is a solid segment of trump supporters who acknowledge that he is a bully but like him because his bullying has aligned with their interests. The recent waffling may be the opportunity to show people that trump will discard them as soon as he sees personal gain in a different position.
Nisky Guy
I hope you are able to read the terrific Mother Jones article Marie (and LT) have linked. There is no way in hell they are going to abandon Trump.
Also, that NYT article on the Huma/Weiner split was absolutely shameless in its sliming of HRC and inviting Trump to comment. An absolutely disgusting piece of 'journalism'.
Don't know whether to laugh or cry...but a minor piece of business to be sure.
Rick Perry to join Dancing with the Stars.
America! Surely an Exceptional nation.
The idea that supporters of the Trumpster might abandon their trash master for lying or flip-flopping suggests that factual evidence plays a role in their decision making process. It does not. If it did, they wouldn't have supported him in the first place. These are people who have lived for every lie and scurrilous but completely unfounded charge of personal wrongdoing and treason by anyone who might try to inject a sense of honor and appreciation for the real world into the national discourse. They will never abandon the guy who gave, even for a few months, form and voice to their most passionate hatreds.
Yesterday I listened to interviews with a number of Trumped up voters respond to his recent crystal clear backtracking on his most sacred promise to relieve white haters of the brown burden of dirty Mexicans in "their" country (described by one idiot as "the bad people"). One guy stated knowingly that it was just Trump being cagey, foxing those liberal traitors in the media too dim to keep up with his sly ways "it's a negotiation tactic" he said. "After all, he's the expert who wrote "Art of the Deal", right?" Ummm... Well, no, he didn't. A ghost writer did. A ghost writer Trump has very publically tried to sue. But no matter. Another idiot responded to the reporter's question in the most snide and condescending manner, "I'm older than you and a lot smarter. Trump knows what he's doing. He's got a plan." First, leave it to Trump supporters to assume they are smarter than anyone else, without having any idea as to how exactly smart that other person might be. Also, about that "plan". Is that like his secret plan to defeat ISIS? Or his other double secret, way cool plan to end all crime in the United States the second he is sworn in?
Pat Paulsen was more transparent and forthcoming than Trump. And he had, if you recall, a much better comeback when caught in a lie: "Picky, picky, picky". Not to mention, as Wikipedia reminds us, a more cogent and honest response to charges of blank ignorance , about, well, everything:
"His campaign slogan was, 'Just a common, ordinary, simple savior of America's destiny.' Every question on social issues received basically the same response: 'I feel that it is too directly bound to its own anguish to be anything other than a cry of negation, carrying within itself the seeds of its own destruction. However, to get to the meat of the matter, I will come right to the point, and take note of the fact that the heart of the issue in the final analysis escapes me.'"
So, a comedian running for president, more honest than Trump. But, to my recollection, Pat Paulsen never made a joke out of being able to shoot people in Times Square in broad daylight and not suffer any consequences. I guess if he had, he might have attracted a whole passel of 10 and 12 year old bigots and nascent fascists, the same zero information dolts who will never abandon their fantasy candidate for dictator here in 2016.
@Haley Simon, the surprise highlight of the Dancing With the Stars season is sure to be when they bring back Tom DeLay to partner a pas de deux with Rick Perry!
The NYT and other media are nothing less than a disgrace in the over blown response to the Weiner bullshit.
@Haley Simon: "Rick Perry to join Dancing with the Stars."
Write on your chalkboard 100 times: "When I submit news that Marie has not covered, I will provide a link."
Marie
MAG,
The thought of a Rick Perry-Tom Delay pas de deux is only the most disturbing image I've had in my head since watching Trump grope his daughter at his coronation in Cleveland.
But to make it a tiny bit more palatable, I have only one question. Which one will wear the tutu and which will wear the tights?
At first I thought, given the Texas connection, that they should dance to something from "Rodeo", maybe Buckaroo Holiday or Hoedown.
But then I thought that in recognition of the GOP's choice for president, who believes black Americans will be lining up to vote for him and to show their support for several generations of racist Republican policies, I think they should dance to music from "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
Even better, for Trump supporters, the first was written by a gay man, the second by a Jew.
Tripping the light fantastic with the haters! Take it away, boys...Yee-haw!
It appears that Rick Perry will not be the only Dancing With the Stars "star" who has been under investigation for illegal activities. He will share the stage with disgraced American swimmer Ryan Lochte.
Maybe if Delay is unable to make it due to being arraigned for something or other or is meeting with lawyers to hammer out a plea bargain for something else, Perry and Lochte could do the miscreants' macarena together.
Get your popcorn ready, kids.
Timing is all.
Although it never seems to hurt Massa Trumpy.
So here he is ready to visit those poor "blacks" he's always talking about (or against), in Detroit, to tell them his new Secret Plan to get them to vote for him. Oh, you thought it would be a plan to help them?
Hahahahahahahahaha....
Sorry...shaken by an involuntary laughing fit.
No, no. Silly people. Trump just wants to remind those poor benighted African-Americans that he, Trump, knows what's best for them and if they know it too, they need to vote for him and not that bigoted Hillary who runs around in blackface spouting racist gibberish.
But guess who is making robocalls to remind voters that he and the Trumpster are BFFs who think exactly alike just days before Trump is set to visit that church in the Motor City?
Ta-da! David Duke. You remember him, right? White hood, KKK grand dragon, or whatever the fuck the head bigots are called. Yeah...him and Trump are like two peas in a racist pod.
But never mind all that now, you simple darkies. That's prob'ly a Hillary dirty trick. After all, she's the one who loves the KKK. Just remember:
Vote Massa Trumpy! He be comin' wit da cornbread.
Yeah, 'cause that'll work.
More on Hillary's 'health'.
http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/08/clintons_health_matters_bring_out_the_quacks_edito.html#incart_river_index
In pro football, there's a firestorm over QB Colin Kaepernick's refusal to stand for the national anthem. His reason, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” .
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/08/27/colin-kaepernick-refuses-to-stand-for-national-anthem-to-protest-police-killings/
The NFL stated he was within his 1st amendment rights to sit out. They're really between a rock and a hard place as Kaepernick is a mixed race man, who was adopted by a white couple. Many of the white players are going nuts. Of course, the area media is talking about Kaepernick being cut from the 49ers. Certainly not because of his statement. Oh heavens no.
Of course Trump is also on the twitter machine,
"I have followed it and I think it’s personally not a good thing, I think it’s a terrible thing," Trump said. "And maybe he should find a country that works better for him, let him try. It won’t happen."
http://www.redstate.com/leon_h_wolf/2016/08/29/trump-responds-colin-kaepernick-go-find-another-country-live-loser-basically
I guess football is right up there with gun rights. Black guys can run, throw and tackle but no opinions please.
Diane,
I don't think Kaepernick being cut will be because of his stance. He was a bit of a flash in the pan when he hit the league a few years ago but once other teams caught on to his somewhat limited bag of tricks (and because he neglected to do things most successful quarterbacks do, like study film and work on details), his on-field production has slumped badly. He's still a talented player and maybe a new team and attitude adjustment (regarding his playing) would be good for him.
As for the anthem situation, I have to say that I was never a big fan of his playing or his self-promotion, but his current stance has raised his stock a lot in my eyes. Good for him.
There are a few players (almost all black, as far as I know) who have taken to acknowledging problems outside the wealthy bubble of the NFL. Even though most of the players come from less than well off backgrounds, anyone who makes it to the NFL has been told, since they were in Pop Warner, that they were special and have been treated that way. So it's nice to see some players stepping up and using their lofty perches to put a spotlight on social issues that affect not just African-Americans, but all Americans.
@AK. Everyone has their opinion on Kaepernick's play and in many people's opinion, cutting him can be justified on his performance. Not going to argue that here. I think most athletes are self promoting in terms of seeking product endorsements that make them money (see Brees, Brady, Manning). Kap has a history of speaking out on racial bias, has previously voiced support for Black Lives Matter. I think pointing out bias is speaking about all Americans. This incident is another example of wear the flag pin as the baseline indicator of patriotism. i.e. Don't refuse to say the pledge in public.
A good friend of mine has a son who was drafted (1 yr NFL/then Canadian league) out of the same conference, same year. Knew Kap and never saw him as anything but straight up.
Maybe this resonated with me as I did exactly the same thing at 15 and spent every am in the principal's office for my wayward behavior during the pledge of allegiance.
Anyway, this is a good forum to express differences in opinion. Thanks for your thoughts.
Diane,
Of course I don't know Kaepernick personally but I wasn't suggesting that he wasn't at all a decent guy or in any way straight up. My take, as a fan, has been (and most of what I know I took from things his teammates have said) that after his initial success, he spent more time on personal PR than on football, especially in the areas of preparation and refining of the many skills required of a pro quarterback.
All of that notwithstanding, I admire him for his stance. It's entirely possible that the Niners' owners would rather not have to deal with this "controversy" by trading him away and announcing that his political beliefs had nothing to do with it (of course, they never do). But I'm not in the least surprised to see that he's become enemy number one for Fox and Trump and a bunch of players and fans who don't understand that being a citizen makes protesting injustice just as important (if not more so) as standing during the Star Spangled Banner. This is something the Foxbots have never gotten either. Trump I don't worry about. He's American in name only, and barely that.
@Diane: Congratulations on your wayward behavior!
I was once threatened with suspension for walking out on a forced assembly in which we high school kids all had to listen to some McCarthyette rail against all the communists infiltrating the government & overrunning Hollywood & threatening to overthrow the government at any minute.
Mrs. Frost, a formidable English teacher who wore the world's tallest beehive, grabbed me in the hall & told me to get right back in there. I said I heard enough, & I'd go back to the (empty) classroom but I wasn't going to listen to any more of that baloney. Old Mrs. Frost, she hauled me down to the principal's office & called my mother to "report" me & inform her I'd be home for a few days.
To my shock and amazement, my mother -- who was one of those parents who told her children to fend for themselves -- gave Mrs. Frost what-for. The upshot was that I got sent back to class with a warning or something & a lecture on "ladylike decorum." Again to my surprise, when I got home, I found my mother was way madder at Mrs. Frost than she was at me.
We didn't have any more assemblies like that. Mine was almost certainly the only "political protest" the school had seen, & I imagine it was a long while before there was another.
Marie
Akhillius: I've got to think that Perry and DeLay deserve more than your suggested musical backdrop. Since both are Texans, what about the theme from the 50s movie "Giant"?
City, county, and state primary elections here today, but across the road is a Make America Great again poster. Just a reminder of how red my congressional district is. No oppositon for Ted Yoho,