Patterico's Pontifications

7/26/2016

Handicapping Hillary’s Huge Homily [Updated]

Filed under: General — JVW @ 3:13 pm



[guest post by JVW]

Barring some weird and unforeseen (but entirely welcome) developments, Hillary! Rodham Clinton will take to the podium on Thursday night to accept the nomination of the Democrat Party for President of the United States of America. While the race appears to be neck-and-neck, she is fighting against the dual and intertwined perceptions that she represents the unacceptable status quo in Washington, DC and that she is largely dishonest and untrustworthy to occupy the office one held by revered giants like Franklin Pierce and Jimmy Carter. Indeed her rising unfavorable ratings are only somewhat ameliorated by the equally poor favorability ratings of her main opponent.

So Mrs./Senator/Secretary Clinton has a pretty Herculean task in front of her come Thursday: to soften her image as a scheming yet reckless shrew who feels entitled to the office she seeks by sheer virtue of her longevity on the Washington scene. To accomplish this goal, she needs to firm up support among dissatisfied backers of Bernard Sanders (who now know that the playing field was titled against their candidate from the get-go) by reinventing herself as a progressive reformer, while still sending clear signals to moderates and independents who increasingly appear to be the ones who will decide this election that she is not enthralled to the far-left agenda of the Occupy crowd or to Black Lives Matter and other discredited grievance groups.

The biggest question then is how does she address the issue of the massive distrust she has engendered through her (and her husband’s) history of influence-peddling, feather-nesting, vindictiveness, and perfidy. I see a number of possibilities here, so let’s take a look at some of the major ones.

1. Avoid It Altogether — Hillary! Hiding
Advantage: She avoids bringing up the reasons why she is so largely disliked. She can instead focus on her — cough, cough — qualifications for office and list her lifetime accomplishments (such as they are).
Disadvantage: It would be seen as the dog that didn’t bark. Even her media sympathizers would have to point out that she remains defiant and unapologetic at a time when she is strongly disliked. It could end up turning off the very people to whom she needs to appeal.

2. Address It Ambiguously — Hillary! Hints
Example: “We are a party with the compassion for forgiveness and new starts. Heaven knows none of us are perfect and at times we have all needed forgiveness, and I want you to know that I appreciate the great support you have shown me this week.”
Advantage: It allows her supporters to claim she has addressed the elephant in the room. They can claim that she has “apologized” (even if she hasn’t) and it is now time to move on.
Disadvantage: It may be seen as too cute, a sort of “you know what I’m talking about but I won’t say it out loud” kind of message. People trying to make up their minds about her might see it as personifying her arrogance and reluctance to admit wrongdoing.

3. Blame Others for Her Wrongdoing — Hillary! Hater
We all know that she has a history of blaming others for her various foibles. The “vast right-wing conspiracy” is out to get her. Monica Lewinsky is a deluded stalker. Every other Secretary of State used private email.
Example: “You know, I have spent the last 25 years enduring partisan investigations into every aspect of my professional and private life, and I’ve been accused of pretty much everything including breaking up Destiny’s Child [that’s a semi-current allusion for all you young minority types to show that I’m a with-it grandma]. But in the end all the nasty things I am supposed to have done never turn out to be true, even if they keep talk radio and all the right-wing blogs busy for a few months.”
Advantage: Absolutely none, but her arrogance, self-regard, and moral blinders could potentially lead her to ad-lib something like this. Her staunch supporters would loudly cheer, but they’re already voting for her anyway. I’m sure her advisors would do their best to steer her away from this path.
Disadvantage: It would show the Hillary! that so many of us have come to hold in such high contempt.

4. Acknowledge Her Sins and Demand That Others Repent — Hillary! Hectors
When the Clinton/Gore campaign was busted taking illegal campaign contributions in their 1996 reelection, Bubba attempted to deflect attention away from their troubles by proposing strict new campaign finance laws. If memory serves (and I can’t find an online citation), he made passing reference to the irony of his serving as a campaign finance reform advocate by admitting he was an imperfect messenger. His wife might want to borrow that line.
Example: “And that is why I will propose new regulations governing the ability of powerful interests from Wall Street to use their wealth to lobby for favorable laws and to use their influence to avoid accountability when they violate our public trust. Now I know that I may be an imperfect messenger for this sort of reform, but I am committed to seeing it happen because the people from Main Street should be just as well represented as the people from Wall Street.”
Advantage: She would be laying it out there that yes, indeed, she regrets her past actions and vows that going forward she will at last be more virtuous than Bubba’s Girlfriend (or however that saying goes). It would be a daring outreach to moderates and independents who may find her positions to her liking, but firmly distrust her.
Disadvantage: It would put her various lies and shady practices front-and-center and would decidedly expose her as a first-rate hypocrite. You mean to tell us that you and your husband can amass $200 million from influence-peddling, but now that you have your nest egg you’re going to make sure that no one else can follow in your footsteps? Her opponents would have a field day asking her why she doesn’t renounce her ill-gotten wealth, and even the media would probably be goaded into looking more deeply into the operations of the Clintons.

5. Own Up to Her Malfeasance — Hillary! Honorable
Example: “I’m sure you are wondering why my $12,000 Armani jackets have been replaced tonight by sackcloth and ashes. [. . .] I know now that in pursuit of winning elective office I have compromised all of the principles that largely drew me to a life of public service. [. . .] And that is why I am tonight announcing that I respectfully decline our party’s nomination as President and will retire from public life and dedicate my remaining years to serving people in need.”
Advantage: It would probably raise her favorability rating by 40 points. Tina Fey would make a movie based on this situation which would get great reviews but do mediocre box office. Dems would probably get a nominee that would crush the GOP candidate.
Disadvantage: We might yet end up with President Bernard Sanders. Bubba would file for divorce immediately.

Naturally there are other scenarios that I did not cover, as well as combinations of the above scenarios (Hillar!y Hints or Hillary! Hectors would almost surely be combined to some degree with Hillary! Hater, for example). But just given those five, I see the odds of each one being part of her Thursday address as being the following:

Hillary! Hiding — 4:1
Hillary! Hints — 7:5
Hillary! Hater — 30:1*
Hillary! Hectors — 5:1
Hillary! Honorable — 1,000,000,000:1

* Odds that it would be all she has to say on the matter. Separately, it’s a 1:20 proposition that she will complain at least to some degree about being persecuted.

Disagree? Have another scenario for how she might address the fact that she is unlikable. Leave them in the comments.

[UPDATE:] I guess there’s another scenario I didn’t mention just because it seems so damn unlikely, but here you go:

6. Address the Situation Forthrightly and Apologize — Hillary! Honest
Example: “I know that some misguided choices I have made in my career of public service have let you down. Many times I have been in favor of ideas or policies that once seemed reasonable and practical, but have turned out to be misguided or even downright wrong. And yes, I have made personal mistakes that have caused honest and decent people to question my commitment to fairness and justice. I regret the times when I have fallen short of my ideals, I pledge to do better, and I invite you to hold me accountable.”
Advantage: It seems like that would be a pretty powerful statement. She could at once appear humble and contrite, while vowing to change. It would win plaudits from liberal editorial boards which otherwise are struggling with the issue of how to endorse her without looking like sniveling simps.
Disadvantage: It could seem yet another pivot, in which she adopts the tone of the day without any real commitment to it. It forces her to humble herself in front of others, which she has shown no inclination of ever doing. Inviting anyone to hold her accountable would be perilous for someone as fundamentally dishonest as she is.

Odds: 50:1

– JVW

136 Responses to “Handicapping Hillary’s Huge Homily [Updated]”

  1. Please do me the favor of waiting 20 comments before we devolve into a discussion of what we like and don’t like about the GOP candidate. Thank you in advance.

    JVW (f97acd)

  2. Las Vegas sportsbooks never offer 1,000,000,000:1 odds, by the way. I think the highest they would go on any outlandish proposition bet (me winning the 400 meter high hurdles at the Rio Olympics, for example) is 999:1. Maybe it’s 9,999:1, I can’t quite recall.

    JVW (f97acd)

  3. JVW, care to bet how long until discussion devolves into pervish discussion of urinary incontinence?

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  4. this publication has been following her nigerian adventures, that enabled boko,

    https://world.wng.org/2016/07/choose_your_taint

    narciso (732bc0)

  5. 6. Blame it all on the media (aping the GOP).

    Tillman (a95660)

  6. actually the emails have shown the coordination between the likes of meckler, eilperin, f chuck, in crafting the narrative, it also shows these people have too much time on their hands,

    narciso (732bc0)

  7. Loved this post. Love that Hillary is having such a hard time.

    Hopefully we can all enjoy that together, since basically everyone here agrees she’s awful.

    Simon Jester nails it, though. Some people hate Hillary for the wrong reasons.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  8. BTW I’m guessing “Hillary Hints” will be how she handles this. She can’t pretend there’s no issue. She has to ask for the votes of outraged democrats.

    I’m exhausted from work. Truly a hard week for me, so I will spare myself watching this speech.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  9. yes it will be agonizing, doc brown, red squaw and stuart smalley were bad enough,

    https://world.wng.org/tags/the_clintons_and_nigeria

    narciso (732bc0)

  10. JVW, care to bet how long until discussion devolves into pervish discussion of urinary incontinence?

    Well, it did elicit an appearance from Tillman (I can’t remember, is he perry?) so it’s almost certainly going to go downhill fast.

    JVW (f97acd)

  11. I think she will go “victim” all the way.

    That seems to be the theme of the convention. Not much about the United States or fun facts about their history, just Palestinian flags waving, all the state delegations bragging about the cool, underprivileged victims who live in their state–and some of them are obvious transgenders–it’s pathetic!

    And now they’re sobbing because she was nominated. I tell you, leftism is a mental disease.

    Patricia (5fc097)

  12. This convention is so 1975.

    Instead of burning their bras, those old feminists will be rinsing out their support hose.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  13. This is 1975! Throwback Tuesday.

    Patricia (5fc097)

  14. If she wins, you’ll never see her again.

    Except at required functions. She will send out layer after layer of surrogates. Two pressers a year, tops. She hates the media.

    Hillary is more Nixon than Nixon.

    On the other hand, shine a flashlight in the street tonight and Trump’s choppers will land and he’ll pop out to speak. Set up a camera in your birdbath for him and he’ll tweet about it later.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  15. I’ll bet a buck Hillary trips on the way to the podium, breaks a hip, is taken to hospital, and we never her from her again.

    papertiger (c2d6da)

  16. I’m an optimist.

    papertiger (c2d6da)

  17. I guess there’s another scenario I didn’t mention just because it seems so damn unlikely, but here you go:

    Address the Situation Forthrightly and Apologize — Hillary! Honest
    Example: “I know that some misguided choices I have made in my career of public service have let you down. Many times I have been in favor of ideas or policies that once seemed reasonable and practical, but have turned out to be misguided or even downright wrong. And yes, I have made personal mistakes that have caused honest and decent people to question my commitment to fairness and justice. I regret the times when I have fallen short of my ideals, I pledge to do better, and I invite you to hold me accountable.”
    Advantage: It seems like that would be a pretty powerful statement. She could at once appear humble and contrite, while vowing to change. It would win plaudits from liberal editorial boards which otherwise are struggling with the issue of how to endorse her without looking like sniveling simps.
    Disadvantage: It could seem yet another pivot, in which she adopts the tone of the day without any real commitment to it. It forces her to humble herself in front of others, which she has shown no inclination of ever doing. Inviting anyone to hold her accountable would be perilous for someone as fundamentally dishonest as she is.

    Odds: 50:1

    JVW (f97acd)

  18. I say she will go with the victim card all the way. With her being victim #1. “I’m a victim, too!” Hillary’s life matters!

    felipe (d96360)

  19. What policy or idea does a private home server represent?

    That the Obama admin is so crooked, racist, and backstabbing, that a risk of foreign hackers is preferable to Barry’s oversight and tender mercies?

    papertiger (c2d6da)

  20. Look, I’ll got as high as five dollars.

    papertiger (c2d6da)

  21. she’ll blame the VRWC and Bush.

    redc1c4 (1db1e3)

  22. Arrogance, self record and moral blinders. In other words she’s a Boomer.

    F1guyus (5a4596)

  23. did you all see where staffers at the DNC were e-mailing out passwords to their netw*rk?

    redc1c4 (1db1e3)

  24. PS: odds are 1:1 that i will NOT be watching her speech.

    live or taped.

    i did, however, watch Trump’s.

    redc1c4 (1db1e3)

  25. I’ll bet a buck Hillary trips on the way to the podium, breaks a hip, is taken to a glue factory, and we never her from her again.

    papertiger (c2d6da) — 7/26/2016 @ 4:24 pm

    There. Fixed it for you. You’re welcome.

    Bill H (971e5f)

  26. how does she address the issue of the massive distrust she has engendered through her (and her husband’s) history of influence-peddling, feather-nesting, vindictiveness, and perfidy

    Avoid it altogether. What do you think??!

    This may be combined with a very elliptical acknowledgement of some unspecified minor transgression.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  27. What policy or idea does a private home server represent?

    That would fall under the whole “personal mistakes” umbrella. The policies and ideas line would be her way of apologizing to the left for favoring her husband’s crime bill (“super-predators”) in the 1990s, her vote for the Iraq War, her vote for bank bailouts, her initial opposition to diver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, her initial opposition to gay marriage, etc.

    JVW (f97acd)

  28. Avoid it altogether. What do you think??!

    Well Sammy, I’ve got that as a 4:1 underdog for the reasons I outlined above. But it would be a tempting bet at those choice odds.

    JVW (f97acd)

  29. odds they’ll screw it up like the non chris nolan dc efforts, in the lun,

    narciso (732bc0)

  30. This may be combined with a very elliptical acknowledgement of some unspecified minor transgression.

    No, that would then be Hillary! Hints, which is my 7:5 favorite for how she is going to handle this. Any acknowledgement at all would fall under this category.

    JVW (f97acd)

  31. I guess there’s another scenario I didn’t mention just because it seems so damn unlikely, but here you go:

    Address the Situation Forthrightly and Apologize — Hillary! Honest

    You need to consider a career as a fiction writer, JVW. You’re pretty good at it.

    Bill H (971e5f)

  32. When she passed over the top, no attention was called to it, [no stopping of the roll call vote, no playing of “New York, New York”] and unless the delegates in the hall were getting messages on their cell phones, they didn’t know for about 15 minutes, until the result was announced.

    The roll call vote continued and everyone got a chance to cast their vote. Bernie Sanders cast the last vote. That’s what I heard.

    It was all over earlier than in the Republican convention this year, but closer to the usual time in recent conventions. They’ve bene doing that in the afternoon, now, far, far from prime time.

    Also, PBS is broadcasting the whole night, not just 1 hour, if I am right. The feed also goes to NPR.

    And I didn’t close the blockquote in #26.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  33. No, that would then be Hillary! Hints

    People will differ in their interpretations of just what it was an acknowledgement of. It might be aid to refer just to her “mistakes” with having a separate e-mail acount, but nothing about “influence-peddling, feather-nesting, vindictiveness, and perfidy.” I don’t know if that’s really Hillary! Hints.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  34. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/The_Shell_of_the_White_House_during_the_Renovation-05-17-1950.jpg

    The entire White House burned down in 1814.
    Under Harry S. Truman, the interior rooms were completely dismantled and a new internal load-bearing steel frame constructed inside the walls. Once this work was completed, the interior rooms were rebuilt.

    No slaves involved. GFY Michelle.

    papertiger (c2d6da)

  35. Wow!! Ivanka is holding a $5,200 per plate fundraiser at her homeon Park Avenue. She’s really hoping to help a very hopeful candidate fill Lautenberg’s NJ Senate seat.

    What a selfless gesture!

    Rick Ballard (04482a)

  36. read steve berry’s latest, where that particular event is critical to the story,

    narciso (732bc0)

  37. Sammy, you shouldn’t use “blockquotes”. They are indicative of [snarky] innuendo, {sarcastic} hyperbole, (weak) sentence structure and *general* incompetence.

    Rev. Hoagie® (0f4ef6)

  38. JVW,

    Sorry for the OT. I was just flabbergasted by Ivanka’s generosity.

    I don’t think Clinton will select a response until Thursday afternoon when Wednesday’s polling results are known. I agree with your ‘Hints’ choice but she will toss in some ‘enemies’ talk and probably pump out a stronger panem proposal to keep the parasites salivating.

    Rick Ballard (04482a)

  39. redc1c4 (1db1e3) — 7/26/2016 @ 4:57 pm
    Same here, except I paid no attention to Trump’s speech, just read the prepared text later.

    Odds that I will give a hoot about what Hillary says: about the same odds you give for Hillary being honorable.

    kishnevi (8f8185)

  40. she never had any principles, she was a protege of alinsky, a booster of the black panthers,

    narciso (732bc0)

  41. they do seem to have used gail gadot in the trailer, dontcha think, the word war one, would make moulton roll over,

    narciso (732bc0)

  42. Papertiger @34
    Nicely done. I didn’t see where you were going with that until you got there.

    kishnevi (8f8185)

  43. last night was a nightmare, all done with the b.s.

    mg (31009b)

  44. $200.00 @4-1 on Hillary Hiding

    mg (31009b)

  45. Rick Ballard at 35. She only did it because that’s what you have to do if you want to do business. Nobody knows more about politics than Ivanka. Nobody.

    But it would have been fun if Hillary had picked Cory Booker for her VP.

    WTF, man. Just WTF.

    nk (dbc370)

  46. @15- pants suit or dress?

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  47. thanks kish

    papertiger (c2d6da)

  48. Looks like they pulled most of these speakers from the bar scene in 1977’s ‘Star Wars.’

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  49. Sorry for the OT. I was just flabbergasted by Ivanka’s generosity.

    We made it to 20 comments, so it’s all good from here on.

    JVW (f97acd)

  50. actually jabba’s palace, 1983,

    narciso (732bc0)

  51. But it would have been fun if Hillary had picked Cory Booker for her VP.

    Hillary! would be fleeing the Bosnian sniper fire while Booker would be rushing back to the helicopter to rescue children. What an amazing pile of bull excrement that ticket would have been.

    JVW (f97acd)

  52. seriously how did clem make the cut, and booker didn’t?

    narciso (732bc0)

  53. I’m thinking Donald Trump caught candidate Booker being “thirsty” re Ivanka, hence thecryptic tweet:

    http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/26/politics/cory-booker-donald-trump-speech-tweets/

    And no I don’t think it’s a Sarah Palin -Glen Rice situation.

    urbanleftbehind (94b9f3)

  54. seriously how did clem make the cut, and booker didn’t?

    Booker appears to have some skeletons in his closet regarding cronies of his from Stanford who are now movers and shakers in the tech world. He had that issue where he was called into question for hiring the son of CNN’s Jeff Zuker to work at his startup, which lots of people figured was an effort to ensure flattering news coverage. I’m sure Hillary!’s people vetted him pretty closely and decided that the risk was too great.

    At that’s not even taking into account the fact that his charisma might turn him into the bigger star on the ticket which she certainly cannot accept. I think that’s really the best explanation why she went for someone as bland as Kaine.

    JVW (f97acd)

  55. you know that was total (redacted), right,

    what is the dem aversion to booker, probably only if he was a serial killer they might skip him, and that’s not a sure thing,

    narciso (732bc0)

  56. Booker is a lot like John Kerry or Elizabeth Warren. He can get away with his various dishonesties and misrepresentation of his record as long as he is running in a state where his party has an overwhelming majority, but if Booker were to go national the stories about his dot.com shenanigans and the lies he has told about his background (as effectively cataloged by Eliana Johnson at NRO) would be a subject for national discussion, just like Kerry’s dishonesty regarding his Vietnam record and subsequent activism became national stories and like Warren’s ability to land jobs beyond her qualification based on phony Indian heritage would become a national story.

    I know it sounds weird to think that there are people who don’t know that Elizabeth Warren used a phony family history with the Cherokee Nation to land jobs at Penn and Harvard, but I’m willing to bet that if you asked the average millennial Warren fan about it they would have no clue.

    JVW (f97acd)

  57. see I didn’t know about that I knew his imaginary friend, and some of his exploits in newark were exaggerated,

    narciso (732bc0)

  58. I knew Warren had falsely claimed to be part Indian, but the details and particular sort of wampum for which she made it.

    The average millennial probably has heard the general line…and dismissed it as GOP canard.

    kishnevi (8f8185)

  59. but *not* the details

    kishnevi (8f8185)

  60. You guys do understand that we have Roe v. Wade to thank for the fact that Hillary does not have about 35 to 40 million potential voters more than she does, right? There have have been about 54 million abortions since Roe v. Wade, and around 35-40 million would be old enough to vote right now. Similarly, Obama could have had a 30 million vote lead instead of 4 million.

    But wait, there’s more. If the f***ing pro-life babydoodles had not discouraged abortions, but had instead actively encouraged them, that 4 million lead could have been Romney’s. It could have been higher even. Think about it. No Obama, maybe no Clintons, and solid GOP majorities in the Senate for the past 20 years.

    But no!, the babydoodles thought their principles were more important than the Party!
    Not to mention the crime rate, the welfare rolls, the immigration problem, gay marriage, and all that other crap liberals vote for.
    The idiots!

    nk (dbc370)

  61. Wow who knew that hillary was the true hero of 9/11, which was all about clear air and lying republicans who caused the air pollution.

    Patricia (5fc097)

  62. Nk:
    Is that what Donny told the evangelicals?

    urbanleftbehind (94b9f3)

  63. really, why do want abortion so badly then, actually working class voters saw no need for romney, now it’s ‘summer in the city’ in Phillu,

    narciso (732bc0)

  64. @51. Sticking w/t ’70’s motif. Intro muzac for everybody could be any and every 1970s TV show theme: Chico & The Man; Good Times; Wonder Woman; Mary Tyler Moore, etc., and especially ‘Maude.’ All that’s missing are speeches from Pet Rocks and Lava Lamps.

    And now ‘The Cadaver’ speaks… “In the spring of 1971… I met a girl…’ Did he actually just say that?? Is he kidding? Was she wearing a beret, too?

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  65. If we hadn’t aborted all those kids since 1973 maybe we wouldn’t have been compelled to bring in 50 million immigrants over that period just so we could keep up the pyramid schemes that make up our entitlement programs.

    JVW (f97acd)

  66. really, why do [they?] want abortion so badly then,

    Because they’re hedonistic, irresponsible YOLOs, with no perspective for their own future or for the country’s. Isn’t it obvious?

    ULB at 63. I have no clue what an “evangelical” is, let alone how they think. I read the Five Points and wanted to become an atheist. But the author of that particular tract thought that if I wasn’t a Calvinist and I wasn’t an Arminianist, I wasn’t a Christian, so I thought I might as well stay with my religion. 😉

    nk (dbc370)

  67. Coroners across America are sitting upright in their chairs, mouths gaping in disbelief: a cadaver speaks.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  68. the whole world is watching this dime store conman, meanwhile back at the ranch,

    https://twitter.com/true_pundit/status/758126755026722817

    narciso (732bc0)

  69. the whole world is watching this dime store conman,

    Trump is speaking at the DNC?

    😀

    kishnevi (73d849)

  70. Was that Mao?

    No, LIVE, FROM NEW YORK, IT’S HILLARY TONIGHT.

    My God, I’m voting Trump.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  71. This would be a good election to boycott. If the people who hate both candidates stay home, the fanatical minority that vote can take all the responsibility while the rest of us clean our guns.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  72. Blowhard.

    Denver Guy (4750ec)

  73. Quitters are another group of hacks I can do without.

    mg (31009b)

  74. The pair of grifters should be in jail, not at a convention.

    mg (31009b)

  75. #FoureverCankles

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  76. Aw, Trump! I’m voting for my dog!

    nk (dbc370)

  77. It forces her to humble herself in front of others, which she has shown no inclination of ever doing.

    She married and stayed with Bill after his various indiscretions, which probably haven’t ceased if associations with old lechers like Jeff Epstein are any indication.

    She accepted a Cabinet position from a pompous, trash-talking legislative non-entity who upended her long-awaited, presumptive Presidential post and reminded her just how “likeable” she really is.

    I’d say she’s plenty willing to humble (even humiliate) herself to the broader public.

    But genuinely admitting fault? Maybe you have a point.

    JP (bd5dd9)

  78. Because they’re hedonistic, irresponsible YOLOs, with no perspective for their own future or for the country’s. Isn’t it obvious?

    If you are feeling particularly uncharitable, a lot of them do not want want stable, potential parents adopting children who are of different ethnic backgrounds.

    Consider the laughable (and less laughable) reactions to Mitt Romney’s little grandson.

    JP (bd5dd9)

  79. #73 Kevin M,

    Did Barack’s voters “take responsibility” for the past 8 years?
    I think you were just being tongue in cheek, but presidential elections have consequences for everyone — not just the people who happened to vote for that particular person. Whether or not you sit home on election day cleaning your guns or you vote for ‘Mickey Mouse’ as a write-in candidate, you’re still subject to being governed by the winner.
    Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer are two of the consequences from Bill Clinton’s first eighteen months in office. And that was over 20 years ago. And they’re gifts that keep on givin’.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  80. I haven’t been following this convention stuff b/c the Dems are so intellectually and humanly repulsive it’s like watching a re-run of “Willard”, but I do have to say JVW’s alliterative conjurings of Spiro Agnew make me happy. Somewhere in Hell, Spiro is getting a larf.

    hunson abedeer (80144e)

  81. Sources tell me that the vibe on the streets has generally been very pleasant.
    Most of the Bernie supporters are pretty live and let live and just want their voices heard.

    One of the minor parties seems to effectively be a great crowd control force, in their hippie like demeanor and dress they rapidly infiltrate groups of hotheads and disrupt the disruptors before trouble starts.

    Hopefully and prayerfully it will stay that way today and the rest of the week.

    MD in Philly (e8ec6b)

  82. 35.Wow!! Ivanka is holding a $5,200 per plate fundraiser at her homeon Park Avenue. She’s really hoping to help a very hopeful candidate fill Lautenberg’s NJ Senate seat.

    What a selfless gesture!
    Rick Ballard (04482a) — 7/26/2016 @ 5:10 pm

    And the Republicans were concerned that Trump might be bad for the down ticket races!

    Advo (322ad6)

  83. 32. “The roll call vote continued and everyone got a chance to cast their vote. Bernie Sanders cast the last vote.”

    Actually what happened was that Vermont was called (last?) and Bernard Sanders (who is a Super-delegate from Vermont and probably chairman of the delegation) made a motion to have the nomination declared unanimous instead of casting Vermont’s votes.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  84. Just-released L.A. Times / USC Dornsife poll:

    Trump 47 Clinton 40

    Did I mention that Trump is going to crush Hillary and the Democrats in the general?

    Denver Guy (4750ec)

  85. yes yes President Trump is our deliverance

    happyfeet (a037ad)

  86. “President Trump is our deliverance”

    and Dueling Banjos should be his campaign song.

    Rick Ballard (04482a)

  87. Trump made great fun of the msfm today in his presser. Just what a Neanderthal like me feeds on.

    mg (31009b)

  88. Trump has transformed the Republican Party and will go on to destroy the Democratic Party. The Libertarians and Greens will each rise to battle it out for the left.

    Denver Guy (4750ec)

  89. What replaces the Democrats won’t necessarily be one of those parties, yet Trump will kill the Democrats as a competitive force.

    Denver Guy (4750ec)

  90. 92. Pity the #nevertrump adrift without a purpose over their advancing senescence.

    DNF (755a85)

  91. The ruskies have the msfm in disarray. Summer is the time for flip flops.

    mg (31009b)

  92. Why are the Dems attacking Trump for suggesting that Russia should release the hacked Hillary emails.
    ?

    AZ Bob (7d2a2c)

  93. Donald just snookered the Democrats.

    Now they’re talking about hacks, emails, espionage.

    Hillary’s weaknesses.

    Well played, Democrats.

    Denver Guy (4750ec)

  94. Trump is masterful at getting the media to froth at their microphones, run down rabbit holes and bigfoot DNC spin.

    Hillary is more Nixon than Nixon.

    Blaming Russia and WikiLeaks with spin trying to deflect the DNC’s own email content is like Nixon blaming Ellsberg, the NYT and Washington Post for publishing Pentagon Papers to deflect from reading the content.

    A party that starts its convention by showcasing illegal aliens, addressing the crowds and the nation, coast-to-coast has nothing but static and noise to follow. That start was the finish for me. My last GOP vote was Reagan in 1984.

    So ‘hello, boys… I’m backkkkkkk!’ My God, I’m voting Trump.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  95. When does the Webb Hubbell look alike speak?

    mg (31009b)

  96. My God, I’m voting Trump.

    Who would say that, who was not?

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  97. To be fair, Kevin M, you seemed like a long time holdout.

    Back to Denver Guy’s points, Trump will have, at a minimum, reversed the Carter-Ford map (with a swap of IN for some holdout NE states). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1976

    It will be a larger margin of EVs because NeverTrump sentiment out west could canceled out by ForeverBernie.

    urbanleftbehind (847a06)

  98. Memo to DNC: can you be any more disconnected from reality?

    If Russia is so evil, why did Obama let the shuttle retire, neutered NASA budgets for years, delay American HSF launch vehicle and the Orion spacecraft development while paying Russia roughly $75 million/seat for rides up and down aboard Russian Soyuz? The ISS cost $100 billion to assemble and $6 billion/year to operate with several international partners- the most important of which is Russia.

    Jaysuz, is this party is a joke. “Three Russians, two Americans and a Japanese drift into a pod…”

    My God, I’m voting Trump.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  99. My God, I’m voting Trump.

    Who would say that, who was not?

    Right on.

    Denver Guy (4750ec)

  100. DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/27/2016 @ 3:17 pm

    Hillary is more Nixon than Nixon.

    Nixon did not burn the tapes, but Hillary…

    Now Russia is in a position to release fake e-mails.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  101. @106– You cannot destroy/delete emails. They are somewhere, someplace… like The Big Black Box in Utah.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  102. 32. 86. The New York Times has vote totals in today’s paper.

    It was 2,842 votes cast for Hillary Clinton.

    And 1,865 votes for Bernie Sanders

    and 56 did not vote.

    Total 4,763. The number of votes there were supposed to be, according to theGreenPapers.com from earlier this year, was 4,764, so I suppose they counted them all, including Vermont.

    http://www.theGreenPapers.com/P16/ccad.phtml

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  103. DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/27/2016 @ 4:50 pm

    You cannot destroy/delete emails. They are somewhere, someplace… like The Big Black Box in Utah.

    maybe that’s what Donald Trump thinks. Sean Hannity does not. The FBI did try recovering them, and got some bits and pieces.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  104. There are two brilliant components regarding what Trump said about Russia today.
    First, he has injected himself into the news cycle spotlight today when everyone should be talking about the forthcoming speeches by Barack, Crazy Uncle Joe, and Cousin Timmy with the Satanic Eyebrows.

    Secondly, it makes the Democrats sound very nervous that the Russians already do have her “lost” emails, AND on top of that, the Democrats reacted as if there are national security secrets contained in those emails. Otherwise, why the hell would they be screaming about how Trump has endangered national security by encouraging espionage if those lost emails were merely benign emails about Hillary’s yoga classes, trips to the supermarket, and Chelsea’s wedding?

    Gotcha, Democrats!
    Advantage: The Mr Donald J. Trump

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  105. @Cruz Supporter There’s also the speech by Michael Bloomberg.

    If the Russians had her “lost” e-mails, they’d also have the redacted ones. But if they already had them, the loss to natnal security is mostly already a fait accompli.

    The Democrats are just trying to confuuse people actually.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  106. @109- ‘maybe that’s what Donald Trump thinks…Sean Hannity does not.’

    We know Hannity doesn’t think. And every bar in America has a Hannity perched on the end stool at 2 AM for last call, howling at the moon. He’s the Cliff Claven of cable TV.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  107. Have we heard Joe’s speech before? Somebody should check.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  108. Obama took ‘the plane’ from Washington to Philly. Did Joe take the train?

    Amtrak awaits a Presidential ride. Clackity-clack.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  109. Every person in the country knows Hillary deleted those e-mails, and the FBI said they couldn’t find them, and the server they were on no longer exists. (actually clintonemail.com, maybe under anotehr name, is surely still around)

    There could be secret copies of the deleted e-mails, of course, and maybe the lawyers could somehow have them, despite possible criminal penalties. They could be kept in the same location in the Phantom Zone where the Rose Law Firm billing records were for many years.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  110. 114. DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/27/2016 @ 6:11 pm

    Did Joe take the train?

    Could be maybe. Joe Biden does indeed usually take the train. But there’s a lot security now. Cars were backed up on Monday or Tuesday.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  111. https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/758332184717590529

    Romney: Russia is a threat.
    DNC: lol ur stupid
    IT experts: Russia will hack you.
    DNC: rofl
    Russia: I just hacked you.
    DNC: Trump did this.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  112. To be fair, Kevin M, you seemed like a long time holdout.

    You misunderstand. No one would lie and say they were voting FOR Trump.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  113. Mike Bloomberg about to speak.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  114. Than you for welcoming outsider..to deliver what will be an unconventional convention speech. Here not endorse but to explain why it is imperative we elect Hillary..

    He’s an independent.

    “I understsnd the dilemma of people” watching. Many Republicans blame immigrants and stand in way of action on climate change and guns. Democrats blame private sector and stand in way of action on deficits and something else.

    Donald Trump dangerous demagogue, and MB did not start with $1 million. Donald Trump not like other businessmen. Not good as his word. Bankruptcies, lawsuits, disillusoned customers etc. Hypocrisy. Mentions a lot of policy agreements. Immigrants, Muslims, trade. And that Hillary Clinton worked with people. Not flawless but right and responsible choice in this election.

    We’ve never (retreated?) in fear.

    We need someone who is sane and competent.

    Not very long speech. Seems aware of flaws in DT, and seems to see something nobdy else sees in HRC.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  115. Trump did not ask the Russians to engage in espionage. All he did was asked the Russians to release the emails if they have them. His suggestion was obviously being kind of facetious at that. I don’t usually listen to Hannity but he had a good point today, i.e., the email server has been off line since Hillary left the State Dept. In fact there is no Clinton email server at this point.

    Gerald A (76f251)

  116. @119– Sipped a ‘Big Gulp’ of Diet Coke in protest as he prattled on.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  117. You can smell panic on MSNBC.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  118. That’s not panic, it’s something else.

    narciso (732bc0)

  119. Clem is having a eye makeup malfunction.

    urbanleftbehind (847a06)

  120. The tooth be told: Nova Kaine, self-described cartoon: a ‘Goofy Guy.’

    Disney should sue.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  121. That’s right, Nova Kaine, remind everybody about the illegal aliens showcased live, on stage, coast-to-coast, Monday night. Goofy guy, indeed.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  122. We need someone who is sane and competent.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad) — 7/27/2016 @ 6:46 pm

    Not an argument for Hillary. Or Bloomberg for that matter. Recall after a bomb almost went off in Times Square he announced that it was put there by someone mad about Obamacare, i.e. a Tea Partier (before they caught the Pakistani who did it).

    Gerald A (76f251)

  123. there’s a little bit of prejudice here when Bloomberg says soemthing like “128.We need someone who is sane and competent.” Trump isn’t quite that insane maybe, and perhaps you don’t need all that much sanity, and someone “sane” may be incomptent or a prisoner of false beliefs, which may be dangerous to act on. And then, there’s dishonesty, which can be considered a form of elevated incompetence because it leads people to do wrong things. What you gain in sanity, you could lose in treason.

    I didn’t say that was a totally appropriate argument. It’s just the argument Bloomberg made.

    Sammy Finkelman (643dcd)

  124. Rush Limbaugh about the speech – the buildup is such she should be Wonder Woman.

    http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2016/07/28/will_we_see_wonder_woman_tonight

    We have had three nights of the Democrat convention painting a picture and telling stories of Superwoman, Wonder Woman. And the Hillary Clinton we know doesn’t live up to any of this. This is not a put-down. In this case, it isn’t. I am very curious to see how she and they meet the expectation they have set up for her tonight. I’ll be fascinated to see how they do it and if they pull it off.

    Sammy Finkelman (643dcd)

  125. Hillary dealt with this in a speech on Monday, June 27, 2016 at the International Women’s Luncheon in Chicago, at the 50th annual Rainbow PUSH Coalition Convention. She probably won’t go as far tonight.

    She said, roughly, that she was surprised to discover polls saying people don’t trust her, and she tried to figure it out, and concluded it’s because of all those wild accusations made against her over the years. She made mistakes, but everybody does that.

    http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-hillary-clintons-rocky-1993-washington-debut-bred-her-political-caution-1469652588

    “A lot of people tell pollsters they don’t trust me,” she said last month at a speech in Chicago, in a rare moment of introspection. “I’ve thought a lot about what’s behind it. You hear 25 years’ worth of wild accusations, anyone would start to wonder. And it certainly is true, I’ve made mistakes; I don’t know anyone who hasn’t.”

    So also said (ullinghg quotes together – this comes from Politico)

    So, yes, I could say that the reason I sometimes sound careful with my words is not that I’m hiding something, it’s just that I’m careful with my words. I believe what you actually say matters. I think that’s true in life and it’s especially true if you’re president. So, I do think before I speak, and could say that political opponents and conspiracy theorists have accused me of every crime in the book over the years. None of it’s true, never has been. But accusations like that never really disappear once they’re out there. And a lot of what people read about me in certain corners of the internet and a lot of what Donald Trump says about me is just that same nonsense. But — I know trust has to be earned.

    Read mo

    Sammy Finkelman (643dcd)

  126. @130. Everybody has done their job. They’ve blocked, tackled, did some broken field running and even managed through several penalties to get the ball down the field to the goal line.

    Now, listen to her fumble, tonight.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  127. I didn’t hear the whole speech – I was in a place where static overwhelmed it and had to do something – but I think she avoided it altogether. Hillary! Hiding.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  128. The whole thing was geared to an audience that didn’t know anything about her before tonight. She wasboosted as caring about people – but about her family – her daughter – somewhat more. She herself did not praisde herself.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  129. Somebody maybe tell Hillary – or better, the audience who heard that – that, no matter what she says, saying you are going to make college free for most people and debt free for all is not a plan. It’s a goal.

    Saying you could work with Congress and get things passed because you worked with members of the other party on less controversial legislation, and anything you advocated while a Senator was less controversial, is not a plan. It’s an argument that you might be able to do something, and a mostly specious one.

    The only plan I heard was to spend more money than was spent on ths stimulus.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)

  130. There was a little bit of sleight of hand in one of Hillary’s arguments. She said that she would tax the rich because 90% of the income gains or something like that had gone to the richest 1%, and so when you tax the rich you go where the money is – but it’s not true. That’s not where the money iis.

    There’s far more mooney in middle income brackets. The statistic has to do with the absolute value of increases in income.

    And by the way, the richest 1% is not a stable group. THere are people who have 1 time huge inputs of income.

    And even if you taxed certain categories you still wouldn’t come close to paying for your proposals.

    Another slieght of hand was tuening “climate change is real” into “climate change is dangerous” and “”climate change is caused entirely by greenhouse gas emissions” and cutting back by a small percentage on greenhouse gas emissions will bend the curve” none of which follow from “climate change is real.”

    If geo-engineering is what you want, there are much better ways of attempting it than trying not to do what modern industrial civilization is wont to do, and adaptation is much more cost effective than what’s being talked about. Which, even on its terms, is guaranteed not to work.

    These treaties she’s so in favor of attempt to do something that is neither necessary nor possible.

    Sammy Finkelman (372aad)


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