On John Fetterman, Democrats, and Media Enablers
[guest post by JVW]
I didn’t watch it in full, but as with so many others I did briefly tune in and I have since seen the many snippets on YouTube and other outlets. And I agree with what is emerging as the general consensus: that Lt. Gov. John Fetterman had a dismal night and did nothing to dispel fears that the stroke he suffered back in May has rendered him unable to understand or communicate basic ideas. Thus far he has gotten by with making brief appearances in front of supportive crowds and reading bits and pieces of his stump speech, but when forced to think on his feet and articulate his positions, he’s just not altogether there.
Jim Geraghty at NRO gets to the heart of the matter as to why the Fetterman charade has been allowed to go on this long:
Allow me to offer a controversial theory: A lot of Democratic Party candidates and strategists have bad judgment because they’ve grown used to a usually friendly media bailing them out of the consequences of their bad decisions. In light of last night, the decision-making of Fetterman and his campaign seems absurd — as M[ichael] B[rendan] D[ougherty] aptly summarized, “John Fetterman should not have been on a debate stage tonight. He should be at home, recovering from his stroke.”
[. . .]
A campaign does not attempt to fool people into believing that a severe-stroke victim is fine unless it’s convinced that the overwhelming majority of media in the state will be its ally and abandon their traditional role as watchdogs. The people around Fetterman are off their rockers, stupid, or both.
He points out that the Democrats could have easily moved John Fetterman aside and replaced him with his primary opponent, Representative Connor Lamb. Of course that would have entailed replacing a Sanderesque progressive with a more moderate and traditional Democrat, which would of course have infuriated the left flank of the party. Referring to his colleague Rich Lowry’s op-ed piece in the Washington Post earlier this week which reminded us that Democrats appear to be offering just as many weirdos, flakes, and idiots to the voter this year as the GOP is, he wonders aloud how the donkey party ended up with a slate of candidates as weak as John Fetterman, Katie Hobbs, Mandela Barnes, Robbie O’Rourke, and others, and draws the natural conclusion:
I don’t know that Democratic candidates or campaign strategists consciously think, “Oh, we’ll be fine, the media is on our side and will cover for us.” I think they just get used to having the consequences of every mistake and dumb decision mitigated by generous media coverage. They walk around with the wind constantly at their backs, convinced that they are wiser and better at their jobs than they really are. And when that wind at their backs stops blowing, they’re stunned — suddenly everything is much harder.
Maybe it’s just me getting older and grouchier, but it seems every election cycle brings an even greater pastiche of oddballs, nutjobs, malcontents, and sleazebags offering themselves up on our ballot. John Fetterman’s opponent, let’s not forget, is a television doctor and Ivy League academic who has promoted quack medicine schemes, though it seems he also played water polo in college so I will cut him a great deal of slack for that. But overall I find it hard to get excited about the upcoming 118th Congress, no matter which party ends up controlling it. We don’t seem to be doing the republican democracy thing all that well these days.
– JVW
At this point we can only hope that none of these elections drags on into the Christmas holiday, but we probably won’t be so lucky.
JVW (667e84) — 10/26/2022 @ 9:52 amSorry, the Georgia Senate race could easily go into a runoff. Merry Christmas political junkies.
Appalled (17699b) — 10/26/2022 @ 10:23 amThere’s a common thread between this post and the one on the Jayapal Claque, and it’s that the Progressive Wing is too politically tone-deaf for its own good and they undeservedly hold too much sway in the Donkey Party.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 10/26/2022 @ 10:24 amBy not jettisoning Fetterman right after his stroke, party leaders may well have lost their shot at holding the majority.
Good post, JVW. Each side seems to really enjoy promoting candidates who mouth bumper sticker thoughts.
It was cruel to promote Fetterman. He needs to be home, recuperating. But the lure of political power is strong.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 10/26/2022 @ 10:58 amDr OZ is a military veteran who paid his way through school, became one of the most successful cardiologists in the USA. He works about 80 hours a week.
Ottoman, about 80 hours a year
EPWJ (650a62) — 10/26/2022 @ 11:13 amNeither Fetterman or Walker should be running. But they are grown men capable of making that decision themselves. However, nobody should expect anything deviating from the party line from either man. If you are voting for a vote (a progressive vote for Fetterman, a MAGA vote for Walker), either will do.
Being reflective a moment, Senators are supposed to represent the interests of their state and have the capacity for independent judgment that allows them to do so. If a vote for Senator is just a party vote, the Senate is just a badly gerrymandered body that enshrines gridlock by a minority party.
Appalled (03f53c) — 10/26/2022 @ 11:37 amSpeaking of Walker:
https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/herschel-walker-abortion-clinic-allegations-second-woman
Not sure that anyone cares or even should care.
Appalled (03f53c) — 10/26/2022 @ 11:40 amDr OZ is a military veteran. . .
Wasn’t that just a three-month orientation stint in the Turkish Army which he was mandated to do in order to maintain his Turkish citizenship? I’m far more impressed that he played varsity water polo at Harvard.
JVW (120ffd) — 10/26/2022 @ 12:05 pmThe Kavanaugh hearing reminded me that some people will say or do anything to “win”. Toss in the “fake but accurate” Bush National Guard letter and I lean towards tuning it all out.
On another topic, ever since CA voted in Arnold, we’ve had a steady parade of D list celebrity clowns running for office opposed by other clowns giving us a series of clown vs. clown match ups.
Biden seems to have broken the glass ceiling for the election of the cognitively impaired
steveg (ca3f10) — 10/26/2022 @ 12:25 pmI was not able to find more than excerpts or quotes from the Fetterman-Oz debate,
I was not able to find aa transcript.the New York Gubernatorial debate: (Zeldin vs Hochul) but I did find video:
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2022/10/26/watch-the-full-spectrum-news-governor-s-debate
Sammy Finnkelman (1d215a) — 10/26/2022 @ 12:37 pm2. Appalled (17699b) — 10/26/2022 @ 10:23 am
But this time the runoff will be in early December, not January 5th of the next year.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/26/2022 @ 12:38 pmI was not able to find more than excerpts or quotes from the Fetterman-Oz debate,
I was not able to find aa transcript.the New York Gubernatorial debate: (Zeldin vs Hochul) but I did find video:
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2022/10/26/watch-the-full-spectrum-news-governor-s-debate
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/26/2022 @ 12:39 pm3. Paul Montagu (753b42) — 10/26/2022 @ 10:24 am
Maybe the person(s) who would choose the replacement are not the same people who support or influence Fetterman.
The sticking point may be some overlooked or obscure proposed legislation or possible appropriations. I think political contributions can be transferred, but maybe there could be a feeling that vots won;t transfer,
Still when Bob Torricelli was going to lose re-election as Senator from New Jersey in 2002, Democratic leaders found a way to replace him even though there was no provision in law to do so. They brought back Frank Lautenberg who has retired two years before, and regretted it. He died in office in 2013 at the age of 89 after reluctantly deciding to not run for re-election in 2014 because of failing abilities,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_United_States_Senate_election_in_New_Jersey
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/26/2022 @ 12:54 pmThe left party base is more likely to replace the people who would remove fetterman if they tried it. I keep posting that the left is slowly taking over the democrat party. 2022 is reverting to normal mid term losses for democrats mostly moderates in swing districts who support the democrat establishment. In 2020 biden only won by 44,000 votes and democrats lost seats in the house. The squad+ hold the majority difference. Replacements will come for corporate establishment democrat stooges.
asset (1fa6d1) — 10/26/2022 @ 1:02 pmThere’s a common thread between this post and the one on the Jayapal Claque, and it’s that the Progressive Wing is too politically tone-deaf for its own good and they undeservedly hold too much sway in the Donkey Party.
By not jettisoning Fetterman right after his stroke, party leaders may well have lost their shot at holding the majority.
Paul M^
Did “they” also foist a black man into another contest who shared a name with a rumored Communist anti-apartheid revolutionary not more than months after a horrific likely racially motivated mass vehicular homicide committed by a crazy black man (rather than the Sinema look alike who quit a few days before the primary)?
urbanleftbehind (4834b6) — 10/26/2022 @ 1:12 pmConor Lamb should go Tulsi/Van Drew, total gyp this was for him.
urbanleftbehind (4834b6) — 10/26/2022 @ 1:15 pmSenators haven’t been representing their States since the 17th Amendment was passed.
Gridlock is good. Gridlock works (Apologies to Gordon Gekko)
Horatio (97b20d) — 10/26/2022 @ 1:17 pmYet another reason why early voting is a problem. Maybe the number of upset early voters who realize they’ve been swindled will be enough to cause a rethink, but I’m betting not.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/26/2022 @ 1:54 pmI don’t know that Democratic candidates or campaign strategists consciously think, “Oh, we’ll be fine, the media is on our side and will cover for us.” I think they just get used to having the consequences of every mistake and dumb decision mitigated by generous media coverage. They walk around with the wind constantly at their backs, convinced that they are wiser and better at their jobs than they really are. And when that wind at their backs stops blowing, they’re stunned — suddenly everything is much harder.
A long time ago, there was a games company called Atari. Boy, they had some fine games. Then they got bought out by a big media company. Things went swimmingly, but the new guys decided that all this success was due to their great salesmanship and marketing and not to the product itself. Things still went swimmingly.
Then one day they got some hot new movie properties (ET and Raiders of the Lost Ark). Problem was the lawyers negotiated until August and the games had to be ready in September.
So, the bosses said “just make some game that looks like ET and Raiders, slap Atari on it, and we’ll still sell millions!” And they did this, and produced millions of boxed games for Christmas. And then the reviews came out and they were very very bad.
Somewhere in Arizona there’s a landfill with million and millions of these games.
This was known as “bad luck.”
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/26/2022 @ 2:03 pmIf you’re talking about Mandela Barnes, I confess to not following his story at all, but if WI moderates stepped aside to give him a shot, then it’s looking like a backfire.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 10/26/2022 @ 2:04 pmBut overall I find it hard to get excited about the upcoming 118th Congress, no matter which party ends up controlling it. We don’t seem to be doing the republican democracy thing all that well these days.
Congress has ceded so much power to an increasingly authoritarian Executive that being in Congress is mostly for the perks.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/26/2022 @ 2:07 pmHow Rn Johnson can beat anyone is a mystery. The man is whackadoodle.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/26/2022 @ 2:10 pmDouble Feingold (both ’10 and ’16).
These guys and gal stepped aside this year
urbanleftbehind (1966b5) — 10/26/2022 @ 2:19 pmSome people in both parties find it more important to control the party than to control legislaative cambers — maybe because they have an unpopular agenda?
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/26/2022 @ 2:31 pmNo, Sammy, perks again. People actually fight for control of the CA GOP.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/26/2022 @ 2:52 pm60 Years Ago Today: October 26, 1962- The Cuban Missile Crisis; tick-tock; tick-tock
The world goes to the very brink as the United States goes to Defcon 2…
A Soviet-chartered freighter is stopped at the quarantine line and searched for contraband military supplies. None are found and the ship is allowed to proceed to Cuba. Photographic evidence shows accelerated construction of the missile sites and the uncrating of Soviet IL-28 bombers at Cuban airfields.
In a private letter, Fidel Castro urges Nikita Khrushchev [hello, Fidel Zelinskyy?!?!]to initiate a nuclear first strike against the United States in the event of an American invasion of Cuba.
On the morning of October 26, Kennedy informed the EXCOMM that he believed only an invasion would remove the missiles from Cuba. He was persuaded to give the matter time and continue with both military and diplomatic pressure. He agreed and ordered the low-level flights over the island to be increased from two per day to once every two hours. He also ordered a crash program to institute a new civil government in Cuba if an invasion went ahead. At this point, the crisis was ostensibly at a stalemate. The Soviets had shown no indication that they would back down and had made public media and private inter-governmental statements to that effect. The US had no reason to believe otherwise and was in the early stages of preparing for an invasion, along with a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union if it responded militarily, which the US assumed it would. Kennedy had no intention of keeping these plans a secret; with an array of Cuban and Soviet spies forever present, Khrushchev was quickly made aware of this looming danger.
The implicit threat of air strikes on Cuba followed by invasion allowed the United States to exert pressure in future talks. It was the possibility of military action that played an influential role in accelerating Khrushchev’s proposal for a compromise. Throughout the closing stages of October, Soviet communications to the United States indicated increasing defensiveness. Khrushchev’s increasing tendency to use poorly phrased and ambiguous communications throughout the compromise negotiations conversely increased United States confidence and clarity in messaging. Leading Soviet figures consistently failed to mention that only the Cuban government could agree to inspections of the territory and continually made arrangements relating to Cuba without the knowledge of Fidel Castro himself. According to Dean Rusk, Khrushchev “blinked”; he began to panic from the consequences of his own plan, and this was reflected in the tone of Soviet messages. This allowed the US to largely dominate negotiations in late October.
On October 26, at 10:00 pm EDT, the US raised the readiness level of SAC forces to DEFCON 2. For the only confirmed time in US history, B-52 bombers went on continuous airborne alert, and B-47 medium bombers were dispersed to various military and civilian airfields and made ready to take off, fully equipped, on 15 minutes’ notice. One-eighth of SAC’s 1,436 bombers were on airborne alert, and some 145 intercontinental ballistic missiles stood on ready alert, some of which targeted Cuba. Air Defense Command (ADC) redeployed 161 nuclear-armed interceptors to 16 dispersal fields within nine hours, with one third maintaining 15-minute alert status. Twenty-three nuclear-armed B-52s were sent to orbit points within striking distance of the Soviet Union so it would believe that the US was serious. Jack J. Catton later estimated that about 80 per cent of SAC’s planes were ready for launch during the crisis; David A. Burchinal recalled that, by contrast:
At 1:00 pm EDT on October 26, John Scali, an ABC News reporter, is approached by Aleksander Fomin [ the cover name of Alexander Feklisov, the KGB station chief in Washington] at Fomin’s request. Following the instructions of the Politburo of the CPSU, Fomin noted, “War seems about to break out.” He asked Scali to use his contacts to talk to his “high-level friends” at the State Department to see if the US would be interested in a diplomatic solution. He suggested that the language of the deal would contain an assurance from the Soviet Union to remove the weapons under UN supervision and that Castro would publicly announce that he would not accept such weapons again in exchange for a public statement by the US that it would not invade Cuba. The US responded by asking the Brazilian government to pass a message to Castro that the US would be “unlikely to invade” if the missiles were removed. On October 26 at 6:00 pm EDT, the State Department started receiving a message that appeared to be written personally by Khrushchev. It was Saturday 2:00 am in Moscow. The long letter took several minutes to arrive, and it took translators additional time to translate and transcribe it.
Robert F. Kennedy described the letter as “very long and emotional”. Khrushchev reiterated the basic outline that had been stated to Scali earlier in the day: “I propose: we, for our part, will declare that our ships bound for Cuba are not carrying any armaments. You will declare that the United States will not invade Cuba with its troops and will not support any other forces which might intend to invade Cuba. Then the necessity of the presence of our military specialists in Cuba will disappear.” At 6:45 pm EDT, news of Fomin’s offer to Scali was finally heard and was interpreted as a “set up” for the arrival of Khrushchev’s letter. The letter was then considered official and accurate, although it was later learned that Fomin was almost certainly operating of his own accord without official backing. Additional study of the letter was ordered and continued into the night. Still, Castro, was convinced that an invasion of Cuba was soon at hand, and he sent a telegram to Khrushchev that appeared to call for a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the U.S. in case of attack. Castro also ordered all anti-aircraft weapons in Cuba to fire on any US aircraft; previous orders had been to fire only on groups of two or more.
https://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct26/
DCSCA (fcf458) — 10/26/2022 @ 3:33 pmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis
If you were someone who thought Trump should’ve been impeached over Ukraine, then for consistency sake, you should be advocating for Biden to be impeached over this:
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2022/10/26/bidens-failed-secret-deal-with-the-saudis-n505908
If you believe POTUS should not use foreign policy to bully a foreign power/ally to help the President’s party win elections…
Then you have to think this was wrong and impeachable.
You can’t have it both ways.
whembly (b770f8) — 10/26/2022 @ 3:38 pmHow would getting OPEC to keep oil prices lower help a President’s party win elections?
nk (32b387) — 10/26/2022 @ 3:51 pm@28 nk (32b387) — 10/26/2022 @ 3:51 pm
Are you being this pedantic on purpose or you simply don’t know?
I’m trying to extend a bit of grace here.
whembly (b770f8) — 10/26/2022 @ 4:34 pmI’m trying hard to refrain from saying “sniffing glue is how we got Trump”, myself.
Lower OPEC oil prices are good for America. If politicians doing things that are good for America makes Americans like politicians, that’s the way it’s supposed to work. Politicians do things that are good for America, people vote for them.
If Congress appropriates military aid for a foreign country, and a corrupt, orange, criminal traitor, with his nose up Putin’s ass, withholds it unless that foreign country frames his political opponent’s son for some crime, that’s not how things are supposed to work in America. In Russia, sure, but not in America.
nk (32b387) — 10/26/2022 @ 4:53 pm@30 Okay, thanks for trying.
Don’t refrain… we were all huffing glue.
Here’s the difference. It was a temporary measure that’s obviously designed to blunt the messages that Biden’s policies is driving up the cost. It’s a naked effort to influence an election, because the numbers are so bad. It’s not a good faith effort with some strategic long term plan to manage this.
If it were a good faith effort, then there would be more movements to spur local oil/gas resources. Yet, he’s maintained his current anti-oil policies.
Except, POTUS has near plenary power in Foreign Policies.
It can be argued that Trump was concerned with not only the level of corruption that is systemic in Ukraine, but from a prosecutorial perspective, what interest he may/may not have had regarding the Biden’s effort that looked shady af.
In both cases: You can argue both ways. (and it’s not necessarily I agree with in Trump’s case)
But, whatever you may think of how valid Biden’s actions were with the Saudi or how inappropriate Trump’s actions with Ukraine – pick a standard and stick with it.
And the standard now is it’s inappropriate for Presidents to enact some policy that would benefit his party’s electoral chances. (a standard that I disagree btw, but here we are).
whembly (b770f8) — 10/26/2022 @ 5:02 pmAnd the standard now is it’s inappropriate for Presidents to enact some policy that would benefit his party’s electoral chances. (a standard that I disagree btw, but here we are).
No, it is not. No matter how much you might like to fool people in believing that it is, despite your protestations.
The standard still is that a President will not corrupt national policy, as enacted by Congress (and incidentally also signed by him into law), in order to hurt his political opponent, and benefit himself personally and in no wise the country, in his own reelection.
nk (32b387) — 10/26/2022 @ 5:25 pmAnd I was just reminded of Iran-Contra and “arms for hostages”.
Never mind, whembly. I apologize for any crossness I showed. Let all those cannibals eating off the taxpayers eat each other too.
nk (32b387) — 10/26/2022 @ 5:31 pmAnd if it will lighten the mood …. Steven Crowder did not invent the “trolling the man on the street” shtick. We had it in in the ’80s too. As I remember it, “Reagan gave AIDS to Nicaragua and Ollie North raised money for the contraceptives.”
nk (32b387) — 10/26/2022 @ 5:37 pm@6. Neither Fetterman or Walker should be running.
My toilet is running, too. But unlike Fetterman and Walker, it doesn’t have the Constitutional right to do so.
Damn it!
Storm the Throne Room! 😉
DCSCA (02b654) — 10/26/2022 @ 5:48 pmhttps://jeffgoldstein.substack.com/p/fettermy-good-god-man
Jeff Goldstein, formerly of Protein Wisdom, gets it.
NJRob (3693ab) — 10/26/2022 @ 6:25 pmJeff Goldstein, formerly of Protein Wisdom, gets it.
Does he?
“A brain-damaged ape who will pull the right levers for the Party”?
Was that a criticisms of Fetterman or an endorsement of Herschel Walker?
Because it cannot have escaped you that that is what Herschel Walker’s supporters — supporters, I said — have been saying about Herschel Walker right here.
Why is that? Why is it okay for Republicans but not for Democrats. Do the Republicans feel so much the underdog, so disadvantaged, so oppressed, like a man lost in the desert who has to live on bugs and snakes and water sucked out of cactuses?
nk (bb1548) — 10/26/2022 @ 7:45 pmWarnock may be smoother than Walker and without need of the concussion protocol, but he is one of those Reverends where you grab your wallet, and daughters and get the hell away
steveg (f5c9b6) — 10/26/2022 @ 8:01 pmYou could get excited if your on social security or medicare. Minority leader mccarty wants to cut medicare and social security and wi. sen. ron johnson wants to sunset both programs.
asset (4f14d3) — 10/26/2022 @ 8:11 pmI’m rooting for Oz. He fits my idea of a U.S. Senator. If anything, he’s overqualified.
And don’t fall for that “quack remedies” stuff. A quack remedy is anything that Big Pharma does not have a patent on and making money from.
nk (bb1548) — 10/26/2022 @ 8:16 pmI watched it all. I hate strokes. I know or have known many people who have had them. I feel sorry for Fetterman. All that said, he was incoherent. And a lot of people lied about it and tried to cover it up.
Patterico (6dae12) — 10/26/2022 @ 8:25 pmnk I know we don’t always agree on everything but you’re on fire in this thread.
Davethulhu (129a95) — 10/26/2022 @ 8:26 pmBecause we don’t always agree on everything is especially why I always look forward to your comments, Davethulhu.
nk (bb1548) — 10/26/2022 @ 8:41 pmAnd I think that Dr. Oz has it right on Graham’s national abortion bill, the think that he’s getting the most flak for.
I think that parens patriae, the government as guardian, is a State’s right, not a federal power. Roe v. Wade implicitly recognized that too. The States should decide when to step in to protect both the child and the mother.
nk (bb1548) — 10/26/2022 @ 8:48 pmPatterico #41: I agree completely, throughout. The problem, on both sides, is the hyperpolarization. The idea that “the other side” is so evil, craven, or corrupt that electing literally anyone in opposition should be the goal.
I mean, look at the folks on Twitter quite literally stating that it doesn’t matter how much Fetterman is impaired, so long as he votes straight D. Several people likened Fetterman to Stephen Hawking….
OMG.
They actually seem okay with the idea of someone just voting party ticket as a Senator. And I have heard people on the Right say similar things on the other side of the partisan mirror.
Again, we all need to review what we believe in, and why. We can see the results if we do not. DJT on one side, and JBB on the other.
Simon Jester (710d16) — 10/26/2022 @ 10:20 pmSimon Jester (710d16) — 10/26/2022 @ 10:20 pm
Yes!
We should stop calling moderate Republicans “RINOs”, and moderate Democrats “the corporate donor class”.
norcal (a1f318) — 10/26/2022 @ 10:24 pm@31: That Trump is a criminal does not absolve Biden of anything.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/27/2022 @ 12:21 amMinority leader mccarty wants to cut medicare and social security and wi. sen. ron johnson wants to sunset both programs.
You should wish he does, becaue that would end the GOP faster than Trump’s second term.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/27/2022 @ 12:25 amThe number of people over 65 who could survive without Medicare and Social Security is almost zero. Many have other resources (paid-off house, mostly) but they rely on SS and without Medicare the next illness will kill them, or cost them those resources.
And they all vote. ALL of them.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/27/2022 @ 12:32 amI am embarrassed to admit it, but I smiled at this take on the Pennsylvania Senate race from the Babylon Bee.
(Let me add that I hope Fetterman recovers soon, and completely. And that, win or lose, Oz gives up his Turkish citizenship.)
Jim Miller (85fd03) — 10/27/2022 @ 7:23 amIf Oz were not a Turk, I would not be rooting for him, despite all his other qualifications. I’ll explain in my next comment.
nk (bc330c) — 10/27/2022 @ 8:37 amTheir votes will not be counted because they are illegitimate, fraudulent, ineligible, rigged and stolen.
Any person who believes that their vote matters and votes for a Trump-endorsed, election-denying Republican in this election is an idiot.
I exempt Oz, because he is smart enough to understand that Trump is like a tram. You ride it until you arrive at your destination, then you step off.
nk (bc330c) — 10/27/2022 @ 8:50 amnk:
Love your #52 — Best explanation I have seen for why some of us prioritize the GOP’s election denial problems over everything else. It can happen here because some of us think we want it to.
Appalled (03f53c) — 10/27/2022 @ 9:54 amSquinty’s a truck-drivin’ union guy. But w/apologies to Willie: ‘Say-Hey’– what’s up with this, Joey:
Scranton police union endorses Mehmet Oz
https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/election
Corn Popped by the home-folks, eh “Jack”–
“Say it ain’t so, Joe. Say it ain’t so!”- Peewee [Brad Garrett] Eight Men Out 1988
DCSCA (3f82fb) — 10/27/2022 @ 9:56 amAny person who believes that their vote matters and votes for a Trump-endorsed, election-denying Republican in this election is an idiot.
Luckily, here in NM only one candidate is a TEEDR, and he has a Libertarian opponent in a state where that actually means something, so I didn’t have to vote for the NPVED.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/27/2022 @ 10:09 amYou know that the Democrats intend to deny Trump the presidency if he wins in 2024 because he’s an insurrectionist and the new Electoral Count law they are pushing will allow them to do so.
It’s amazing the way partisans adopt the thing they most vociferously denounced.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/27/2022 @ 10:12 amThank you, Appalled. This has been a good post and comment thread all around.
nk (bc330c) — 10/27/2022 @ 10:22 am@52
That’s how we should treat every politician.
whembly (b770f8) — 10/27/2022 @ 10:56 am#58
This is one time when you should click the link.
Appalled (03f53c) — 10/27/2022 @ 11:02 amThe problem, on both sides, is the hyperpolarization.
No. It may seem that way to the folks who live in a twitterworld, consume social media like bar nuts or observe the world through the straw of cable news, but in the real world, folk be pretty peaceful- and of late, mainly disgusted w/inflation driven price rises for daily life- like food and energy.
The problem are the entrenched, aging, ideologically encrusted major parties and their “leaders” clinging to power which keep recruiting, backing and marketing astonishingly damaged personnel, aka candidates out to the electorate to select from. It’s as if they insist everybody has to choose between their bad products: a red Edsel; or a blue Edsel, simply because they’ve decided only a Ford is in your future. Too many of are deeply flawed, either physically, mentally or ethically challenged– and easy to manipulate. They certainly do not represent the solid ccore of Middle America. With a pool of 333 million Americans to recruit from, they seem to go out of their way to deliberately find the ones with the odd names [Newt, Steny etc.,] pet peeves, extreme sex lives and peculiar peccadillos– like freezers full of 415/pint ice cream. The fault lay with the entrenched establishment of the Republican Party and the Democrat Party. Which is why populism is rooting deeper and deeper, and the castle gets stormed.
DCSCA (ba26d1) — 10/27/2022 @ 1:49 pmI exempt Oz, because he is smart enough to understand that Trump is like a tram. You ride it until you arrive at your destination, then you step off.
nk (bc330c) — 10/27/2022 @ 8:50 am
I agree. Where we may disagree is how many other candidates also fit that description.
norcal (a1f318) — 10/27/2022 @ 1:54 pmnk (bc330c) — 10/27/2022 @ 8:50 am
A play on what Erdogasn said.
Radio talk show host, Jesse Kelly, who is pro Trump said that Oz would vote like McConnell wants him to (in his mind not a good idea – too moderate – but he told his audience they should still vote for him.
Another thing like a tram: Corrupt oligarchs in Ukraine and some in Russia. They made their pile, now they need integrity in government and rule of law to protect their fortunes (mostly from privatization) and have a functioning economy..
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/27/2022 @ 1:55 pm25.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/26/2022 @ 2:52 pm
Sounds like what I read about the Bronx GOP.
They can hire their relatives. There’s jobs to give out o=at the Board of Elections (split between the two major parties by law)
And now there’s early voting jobs.
Free meals and travel
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/27/2022 @ 2:00 pmThey might even lose some of that uif they started winning elections.
nk (32b387) — 10/26/2022 @ 4:53 pm
What really happened is kind of complicated. It all came out in the hearings in 2019, (to which you can add a bit of research and a bit of logic) but everybody bought ae simple picture that makes sense.
1. Yes Trump withheld aid.
2. He did not do it to get them to do anything. Maybe in his own mind he was waiting to see if they did something, but he didn’t tell them it was a condition for military aid.
3. He didn’t even tell them he was withholding the aid. He thought it was a secret.
4. Trump wouldn’t tell anyone in the U.S. government why.
5. The Ukrainian government knew but did not know the reason why and did not want to raise the issue for fear they would be suspected on spying (as they were in way – some people told them)
6. Trump withheld the aid because Putin had poisoned his mind about the Ukrainian government.
7. He did that through informants to Giuliani. The basic method was dome people gave illegal (because paid for by others) contributions to various Republican causes, till they got lose to Giuliani and hired him as their private lawyer then had him make trips to Ukraine and put him in contact with informers who were probably doing as they told by Putin.
8./ The first big thing Giuliani was told was that the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine was bad Now in this Putin gave Trump through Giuliani two reasons to be against her: a principled one, and a personal one. He was told that she was dealing with people who were were corrupt, and he was also told that these corrupt people had supported Hillary in 2016.
9. Trump eventually got his way and got the Ambassador dismissed. Secretary of State Pompeo put a good one in her place as charge d’;affairs. (an Ambassador during the Bush years)
10. Trump’s main goal in his call with Zelensky was that the supposely both corrupt and anti-Trump people doid not get aposition in his government or were fired.
11. Zelensky had already ddone that. (Giuliani had given him
a list) These people were not really important.
12. Now Trump had also been told that Biden, all by himself, had caused the firing of a prosecutor because he would have done something about his son Hunter — and Putin – I am sure it originated with Putin – supplied video proof of Biden boasting about it. (Giuliani had enough brains to understand that Biden was not claiming he had a corrupt purpose in that but Trump did not pick up on that)
https://www.cfr.org/event/foreign-affairs-issue-launch-former-vice-president-joe-biden
13. Trump asked Zelensky (without tying it to anything) to tell him whether what Biden said was true.
14. It was not. And Biden made no more than 6 trips to Ukraine. Biden made the whole story up. He actually had told a somewhat different version to the Atlantic Magazine in August 2016.
15. But Zelensky did not want to say that. He didn’t want to tell Trump he was wrong. (Zelensky of course, like any informed person in Ukraine, knew when and why the prosecutor was forced out and it was not suddenly nor because of a vice president with superpowers.)
16. As time went on the deadline of Sept 30 came closer
17. Some of trump’s aides tried to figure out how they could get Trump to release the hold on the aid.
18. At the beginning of Sept Ukraine officially found out the aid was being withheld.
19. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland (who had bought his ambassadorship) came up with the idea of tying it to an announcement of an investigation of (whether Biden fired the prosecutor for corrupt reasons) Now Ukraine was more or less willing to investigate Burisma, the company on whose board Hunter sat. And he told Ukraine that.
20. He told Sen Ron Johnson.
21. Sen. Johnson brought this up with Trump. Trump said he was not making aid conditional on investigating Burisdma/Biden But he said Ukraine should do that anyway because it was the right thing to do.
22/ Sondland talked with Trump and Trump denied it to him, too.
23. Still Sondland persisted. He didn’t see any other way to get Trumpto lift the hold. He was guessing it would work.
24. Now he wanted an announcement of an investigation.
25. Ukraine conceded and was going to make some announcement in an interview with Fareed Zakaria on CNN on Sept 13.
26. But House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff succeeded in leaking the withholding of aid, I think Sept 11 There was overwhelming sentiment in Congress for the aid from both parties.
27. Trump lifted the secret and illegal hold (there’s a way to attempt a recission but it has to be done publicly and Congress gets a say)
28. Zelensky cancelled the interview (I think with Fareed Zakaria)
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/27/2022 @ 2:39 pm11a Trump did not know that Zelensky had already prevented from getting positions in his government or removed all the “bad people” whose names Guliani had given him. Trump was in only sporadic contact with Giuliani.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/27/2022 @ 2:44 pmRelevant link, and food for thought for Patterico. I have no good solutions.
https://twitter.com/emollick/status/1585423304055193602
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 10/27/2022 @ 2:55 pm@46. We should stop calling moderate Republicans “RINOs”, and moderate Democrats “the corporate donor class”
As Pierre Delecto would say, “au contraire!”
The offices of the Wyoming GOP have this neoconning RINO’s head properly tagged, labeled and mounted in their lobby:
GOP Rep. Liz Cheney backs Rep. Elissa Slotkin in tight Michigan House race in her first endorsement of a Democrat
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, co-leader of the House Jan. 6 committee and a staunch critic of former President Donald Trump, is endorsing Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in her tough reelection fight in Michigan. Cheney and Slotkin are set to campaign together in Lansing next week. The move, which a member of Cheney’s staff confirmed to CNBC, is the Wyoming Republican’s first-ever endorsement of a Democrat. – source, CNBC.com
DCSCA (ba26d1) — 10/27/2022 @ 3:45 pm@62. It’s routine for a frosh senator to do as he’s told by the leader and field committee assignments granted. All the more reason for the old leadership to go.
DCSCA (ba26d1) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:06 pmMaybe it’s me getting older and more cynical, but IMO everything the Parties do is about protecting incumbents. They don’t mind someone else, even their own side’s candidates, losing elections as long as they don’t lose their elections.
Being in the minority isn’t a big drawback because it is easier to complain than to legislate, and it is never permanent. Moving up your own Party’s ladder is everyone’s goal and having a weak link on your side makes it easier to move up.
DRJ (b0685b) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:10 pmThere aren’t many people putting America as their first priority anymore.
DRJ (b0685b) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:10 pmHole-eee-pow:
NASA’s InSight Lander Detects Stunning Meteoroid Impact on Mars
NASA’s InSight lander recorded a magnitude 4 marsquake last Dec. 24, but scientists learned only later the cause of that quake: a meteoroid strike estimated to be one of the biggest seen on Mars since NASA began exploring the cosmos. What’s more, the meteoroid excavated boulder-size chunks of ice buried closer to the Martian equator than ever found before – a discovery with implications for NASA’s future plans to send astronauts to the Red Planet.
Scientists determined the quake resulted from a meteoroid impact when they looked at before-and-after images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and spotted a new, yawning crater. Offering a rare opportunity to see how a large impact shook the ground on Mars, the event and its effects are detailed in two papers published Thursday, Oct. 27, in the journal Science. The meteoroid is estimated to have spanned 16 to 39 feet (5 to 12 meters) – small enough that it would have burned up in Earth’s atmosphere, but not in Mars’ thin atmosphere, which is just 1% as dense as our planet’s.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-insight-lander-detects-stunning-meteoroid-impact-on-mars
DCSCA (ba26d1) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:11 pmPlus, I think the Party’s goal here was that Fetterman is walking and breathing, so he can vote. If anything, it may cause the leaders and the base to decide he will do what the leadership tells him to do.
DRJ (b0685b) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:15 pmSenate Minority Leader Senator Charles Ellis (Chuck) Schumer was overheard today on a hot mike saying to President Joe Biden that the Pennsylvania debate “did not hurt us too much”
But he should note: That is only the first day.
I guess he knows! (things can take awhile to permeate)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/schumer-admits-fetterman-hurt-chances-debate-oz
(it still won’t hurt him all that much.)
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:17 pm@69/@70. Agree. With age comes wisdom. And it’s increasingly evident even to the casually interested- as so many of these older party pols appear on more and more media platforms– [unlike the days when it was just CSPAN or the Sunday shows]… that these entrenched party people are clinging to their power, positions and interests way beyond their shelf life. They’re just too out of touch– and, as with all organization, too old and in need of turnover. Just in general, Folks like Pelosi, Grassley, Biden, etc., even HRC keeps popping up have been around wayyyyy too long; 35, 45, 50-plus years. It’s not healthy for the country’s ‘body politic.’
DCSCA (ba26d1) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:19 pmSchumer also referred to some seat where Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who said the person is “a nice man” and “one of the only moderates” who “always works with us.” He said
“That seat, we’re in danger in that seat,” Schumer said. “We’ll see.”
Separately, he said
“I think we’re picking up steam in Nevada,”
AND
“The state where we’re going down, though, is Georgia. It’s hard to believe that they will go for Herschel Walker.” (the poll average still had/s Herschel Walker losing by a narrow margin) Anyway, there’s probably going to be a runoff – and if that is the deciding vote on Senate control, Herschel Walker will probably win.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:22 pmI don’t think even Fetterman’s doctors understand exactly what happened to him, (how could they? Every stroke is different) but it is not a hearing problem, or even just breaking down sounds into words.
Im getting the idea that they don’t understand even the possibilities. It sems to be neirhter Broca’s aphasia (non-fluent aphasia)
Broca’s aphasia or expressive aphasia is when people find it very difficult to find and say the right words, although they probably know exactly what they want to say.
People with Broca’s aphasia may only be able to say single words or very short sentences, although it’s usually possible for other people to understand what they mean. This can be very frustrating.
It seems to be neither Broca’s aphasia nor Wernicke’s aphasia
https://www.stroke.org.uk/what-is-aphasia/types-of-aphasia
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:30 pmif that is the deciding vote on Senate control, Herschel Walker will probably win.
I dunno. Last time both GOP candidates lost despite being about 5 votes from winning in the first round. Why? Because Trump had a hissy fit over the GA vote counting and made himself the biggest issue. It moved no Dem voter towards the GOP but repelled enough GOP voters to flip the seats.
This time it will be the reverse, with Trump and Walker peas in a pod and GOP movement to Warnock.
Oh, wait. That’s the same again.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:36 pmThe problem is that so many have already voted.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:37 pm“It looks like the debate didn’t hurt us too much in Pennsylvania as of today,” Schumer, D-N.Y., told President Biden on the tarmac during Biden’s trip to New York on Thursday. “So that’s good.”
No. That’s sad. Sad, sad, sad for America; once a vibrant, vigorous, vital and energetic land leading the world…’
‘Old friends, old friends
Sat on their park bench like bookends
A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes
Of the high shoes of the old friends
Old friends, winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sun
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settle like dust on the shoulders of the old friends…” – Simon & Garfunkel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3NYWzHLEZw
DCSCA (ba26d1) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:38 pmPatterico @44:
In spite of his best efforts.
Fetterman seems fluent here (more fluent than Oz) but he’s sometimes at a loss for words – maybe he’s good at rehearsed lines)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nSVAUZUMGA
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:39 pmIf anything, it may cause the leaders and the base to decide he will do what the leadership tells him to do.
If he can remember what to say. If he’s just a ventriloquist dummy, well, it’s the age of cell phones….
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:39 pmI feel sorry for Fetterman. All that said, he was incoherent.
There are people who will vote FOR him for this reason. I think there are people who will vote for a dead candidate out of sympathy.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:40 pmI think Fetterman has two separate impairments:
1. Understanding words communicated orally
2. Coming up with words when he has a new thought,
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:44 pm@83. I think Fetterman has two separate impairments: 1. Understanding words communicated orally
2. Coming up with words when he has a new thought…
That describes Ted Baxter at work; Emmy Award winning job performance, perhaps, but hardly a skill set for a United States Senator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl3o7Tc9xiI&t=55s
[To Ted:] “Read it!… OUTLOUD!”- Mary Richards [Mary Tyler Moore] ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’
DCSCA (ba26d1) — 10/27/2022 @ 5:00 pmCBS TV, 1970-77
I think there are people who will vote for a dead candidate out of sympathy.
Which is how dead candidate Peter Finch was voted an Oscar over living candidate Bill Holden for their work in ‘Network.’
DCSCA (ba26d1) — 10/27/2022 @ 5:05 pmI feel sorry for Fetterman. All that said, he was incoherent.
There are people who will vote FOR him for this reason. I think there are people who will vote for a dead candidate out of sympathy.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/27/2022 @ 4:40 pm
Yes. Many Americans vote for people for whom they have empathy. In other words, people who are in shabby health, poorly dressed, tatted up, and inarticulate.
norcal (a1f318) — 10/27/2022 @ 5:05 pmYes. Many Americans vote for people for whom they have empathy. In other words, people who are in shabby health, poorly dressed, tatted up, and inarticulate.
Yes, that describes the Rodeo Drive-dressed Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members in a nutshell. =sarc= 😉
DCSCA (ba26d1) — 10/27/2022 @ 5:08 pmI think there are people who will vote for a dead candidate out of sympathy.
Mel Carnahan, Missouri, 2000.
nk (bc330c) — 10/27/2022 @ 5:38 pmI would vote for a dead democrat over a live fascist!
asset (6b325e) — 10/27/2022 @ 8:59 pmI would vote for a dead democrat over a live fascist!
asset (6b325e) — 10/27/2022 @ 8:59 pm
You just described the 2020 presidential election.
norcal (a1f318) — 10/27/2022 @ 10:05 pm@90 not for me I voted actually had to write in third party candidates in 2020
asset (6b325e) — 10/27/2022 @ 11:01 pmTo asset is always Göbbels vs Göring.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/28/2022 @ 10:15 amThe Dispatch’s recent podcast suggested that people who vote for Fetterman after his performance are pure partisans. They elevate the poor attributes of the other side and minimize the problems with their side’s candidate. In essence, they act like lawyers for their Party’s candidate.
The Republicans are doing this with Hershel Walker so it happens on both sides.
People do that here, too. (Maybe the fact that this is a lawyer’s blog and there are many lawyers here makes that inevitable, but it also happens with non-lawyers.) I remember doing that with the Bushes because I felt a lot of their “flaws” were common to see in Texas. But I don’t never felt like I had to defend the Bushes with the same intensity or vigor that I would help a client.
So times have changed but I am not sure why. Are people living more on edge financially or emotionally? Is politics more extreme so the differences make some people more extreme? Or maybe we are a more litigious society so people? thinking and acting like lawyers is understadable?
DRJ (b0685b) — 10/29/2022 @ 1:14 pmBut I
DRJ (b0685b) — 10/29/2022 @ 1:15 pmdon’tnever felt …Fetterman reaches for the Smollett card:
https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2022/10/29/john-fetterman-posts-a-photo-of-his-campaign-sign-still-burning-in-deep-red-lawrence-county/
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/29/2022 @ 8:17 pm#93
If the elevation of the other side means the destruction of the Republic as we know it, then you aren’t going to care whether your champion has a few flaws.
Why we believe that the election of the opposition is going to cause all sorts of horrors I’ll leave to the sociologists and hsitorians. The fact is — twenty or so years ago — we did not believe that losing an election created such dire consequences.
Appalled (03f53c) — 10/30/2022 @ 9:03 amAppalled (03f53c) — 10/30/2022 @ 9:03 am
nd there must be plenty of people who believe that the elevation of either party can have dire consequences.
https://www.chicoer.com/2022/10/28/the-two-way-dangers-of-extremism-guest-commentary
I can’t believe there’s no overlap and that there’s not a substantial part of the electorate which believes that both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party could destroy America as we know it – – in different ways.
The author of this article, Douglas Schoen (who has Democratic Party roots) actually seems to be one of them, although he seems to consider the Republican Party more dangerous.
Sammy Finkelman (c9cd39) — 10/30/2022 @ 10:42 amBiden says of candidate Fetterman: ‘John IS Pennsylvania’
https://news.yahoo.com/biden-returns-pennsylvania-boost-fetterman-190028669.html
Braion damaged POTUS backs brain-damaged candidatge. How sad. Squinty keeps proving how right Bob Gates was– and is– about Joe’s judgement on both foreign, and domestic policy.
When Senator Biden had his brain surgery- he was literally out of his Senate office and unable to do his job for eight months.
DCSCA (9689dc) — 10/30/2022 @ 10:50 amWhat’s the story about Mark Kirk, or the South Dakota Senator PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico—Tens of thousands of Venezuelans are stranded in Mexico and Central America after U.S. officials applied a Trump-era policy to deter a deluge in illegal border crossings by Venezuelan migrants that for months had vexed the Biden administration.
The United Nations estimates that the U.S. has since Oct. 12 expelled more than 5,300 Venezuelans who had arrived at the border back to Mexico under Title 42, first implemented under President Donald Trump to permit the expulsion of migrants on grounds they might be positive for Covid-19. Prior to that, Venezuelans had been leaving Venezuela or third countries in record numbers to reach the U.S.
The Venezuelans, many with children, are now sleeping on the streets, in makeshift camps and at overcrowded shelters on the Mexican side of the border, challenging the country’s federal government and local authorities, Mexican officials said. The migrants were expecting to cross and plead asylum, then remain in the U.S., like tens of thousands of other Venezuelans who migrated earlier this year.?
Sammy Finkelman (c9cd39) — 10/30/2022 @ 1:40 pmNot our problem Sammy. Go home.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 10/30/2022 @ 4:37 pmBiden only refuses refugees from leftist nightmare countries. If there are any migrants who might wualify for refugee status, it is them.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/30/2022 @ 5:09 pmThe fact is — twenty or so years ago — we did not believe that losing an election created such dire consequences.
The parties have no common ground any longer. As seen by their respective opposition:
One party threatens revolutionary action against out economic and political system (New Green Deal, confiscatory tax rates, wealth taxes, “economic democracy”, central control of energy and transportation markets (at minimum), eliminating the electoral college and packing the courts.
The other party threatens revolutionary action against our religious and cultural freedoms, relegating ethnic minorities to second-class citizens, ending immigration and expelling countless immigrants, upending our voting process, removing all limitations on presidential power — essentially a fascist state.
It’s pretty shrill.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 10/30/2022 @ 5:20 pmThe more Obama stumps, the more obtuse he sounds; wholly out of sync w/t changing times. How soon he forgets his own sober analysis:
“Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to fvck things up.”
https://www.the-sun.com/news/1882789/obama-concerns-biden-underestimate-ability-things-up/
DCSCA (b32940) — 10/30/2022 @ 5:20 pmThe other party threatens revolutionary action against our religious and cultural freedoms, relegating ethnic minorities to second-class citizens, ending immigration and expelling countless immigrants, upending our voting process, removing all limitations on presidential power — essentially a fascist state.
Okay…were you voting Republican before Trump?
mikeybates (43d90f) — 10/31/2022 @ 5:24 amAll that stuff, what the Republican Party purportedly stands for and what the Democratic Party ostensibly stands for, is now secondary. Back burner. Remote future possibilities.
The immediate concern, the clear and present danger, is that if we vote Trump-endorsed, election-denying Republicans into power this election, it may be the last vote we cast.
nk (bb1548) — 10/31/2022 @ 5:49 amThe lines for popcorn at Americaland are too long, DRJ.
nk (bb1548) — 10/31/2022 @ 5:56 amOR
The Princess, The Forty Mattresses, And The Pea. The things that disturb our comfort are a wonderful dream to a family living on a $1/day elsewhere in the world.
Donald Trump offers his opinion:
“Our Country is Rigged, Crooked, and Evil – We must bring it back, and FAST.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-calls-u-s-evil-suggests-biden-deserves-electric-chair/ar-AA13y9N3?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=7c2d3a292cec4f66bf638244d7e4dd86
There are no words that will not send me into moderation. This is Trump’s way of taking the knee.
Appalled (03f53c) — 10/31/2022 @ 6:56 amWhere others try to get out the vote, Trump tries to get out the riots.
But he was unfortunate in his laity. They’re not the kind of people who want to do things for their tutelary; they’re the kind of people who want their tutelary to do things for them.
Or, as Rooster Cogburn told Mattie Ross when he asked her to shinny up the tree and cut down the hanged man, they’re (mostly) much too old and fat.
nk (bb1548) — 10/31/2022 @ 7:52 am@107, It’s like an undeterred troll soiling the comments section. He will keep getting more and more obnoxious until he gets the attention he craves. He should be excommunicated from the GOP. We are way past pulling the band-aid off this cretin. This is the same irresponsible hyperbole that gave us January 6th. Demand better today. Reject anyone who encourages these lies. Encourage others around you to stop giving him money and lending support/ You can’t tell me the GOP HAS TO BE like this.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 10/31/2022 @ 8:08 amFetterman has two disabilities, and his people want to talk about only one: his inability to interoret words. He also has a problem with coming up with words, but that is harder to measure and does not apply when he is delivering prepared remarks.
Did he really promise he’d have a full recovery by January?
But this “issue” is not nearly as important as what he will and will not vote for. That’s true whatever your position on the spectrum.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 11/2/2022 @ 12:21 pm