Weekend Open Thread
[guest post by Dana]
Let’s go!
First news item
Kamala Harris’ campaign is right:
Former President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had “every right” to interfere with the 2020 election, even as two criminal cases involving those allegations hang over him. On Monday, Kamala Harris’ campaign charged that the comments were evidence that Trump believed he was “above the law.”
. . .
Trump marveled that the criminal charges did nothing but boost his poll numbers, because, he surmised, his supporters didn’t buy them in the first place.
“Whoever heard you get indicted for interfering with a presidential election where you have every right to do it, you get indicted, and your poll numbers go up?” Trump said. “When people get indicted, your poll numbers go down. But it was such, such nonsense.”
Second news item
Russians behind media company that hired and paid right-wing personalities :
They have millions of followers online. They have been major players in right-wing political discourse since Donald Trump was president. And they worked unknowingly for a company that was a front for a Russian influence operation, U.S. prosecutors say.
An indictment filed Wednesday alleges a media company linked to six conservative influencers — including well-known personalities Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson — was secretly funded by Russian state media employees to churn out English-language videos that were “often consistent” with the Kremlin’s “interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition” to Russian interests, like its war in Ukraine.
Another influencer, Lauren Chen, was an “independent contractor” at Blaze Media. She and her husband David founded the media company linked to the influencers named above. It has been reported that Chen has been fired.
I find it amusing that The Blaze has fired Lauren Chen.
The Blaze is run by Glenn Beck, who appears with Tucker "The Nazis Were Good, Actually" Carlson on September 7 in Salt Lake City.
And Lauren Chen promoted Nick Fuentes's take on Israel/Hamas. That was OK with the Blaze.
— Patterico (@Patterico) September 6, 2024
Third news item
Again, putting the onus on Israel and not Hamas (ostensibly because it is a vile terrorist organization, and yet there seems to be this wacky belief that the same terrorist organization will abide by a ceasefire agreement and even a two-state solution…):
“Well, I think first and foremost what we saw on October 7 was a horrific act of violence against the people of Israel. They have certainly, and the vice president said it, I’ve said it, have the right to defend themselves and the United States will always stand by that,” the Minnesota governor says.
“But we can’t allow what’s happened in Gaza to happen. The Palestinian people have every right to life and liberty themselves. We need to continue, I think to put the leverage on to make sure we move towards a two-state solution,” Walz says. “I think we’re at a critical point right now. We need the Netanyahu government to start moving in that direction.”
Walz says that people in Michigan are speaking out “for all the right reasons. It’s a humanitarian crisis. It can’t stand the way it is.”
“We need to find a way that people can live together in this and we’ve said it and continue to say it, getting a ceasefire with the return of the hostages and then moving towards a sustainable two-state solution is the only way forward,” Walz says.
It should not have to be said: but what is happening with the Palestinians is horrible on an epic scale. But until Hamas is completely erased, the Palestinians will never be able to live in freedom.
Note: “people” in Michigan includes a “100,000-strong Arab-American community.”
Fourth news item
Alleged school shooter and father makes court appearance. This after the father was arrested for having been the one to purchase the gun used in the school shooting for his then-13 year old son:
Colin Gray, the father of 14-year-old Georgia school shooting suspect Colt Gray, appeared in court Friday and learned he could spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted.
Gray, 54, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children after Wednesday’s mass shooting, which killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School…
On Friday, Judge Currie Mingledorff told the father he would face the following maximum penalties if convicted:
Up to 30 years in prison for each count of second-degree felony murder
Up to 10 years in prison for each count of involuntary manslaughter
Up to 10 years in prison for each count of cruelty to children
The judge said if Colin Gray is convicted on all counts, he could face a maximum prison sentence of 180 years.
Also, Judge Mingledorff on the 14-year old suspect’s possible sentencing:
Judge Currie Mingledorff just called 14-year-old Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray back into the courtroom to correct on the record that the teen would not be eligible for the death penalty if he is convicted, because he is under 18 years old.
Gray could face a maximum sentence of life in prison with or without the possibility of parole, the judge said.
Fifth news item
Trump supporters: make this make sense, thank you:
Q: What specific legislation will you commit to to make child care affordable?
Trump: Well, I would do that and we're sitting down, you know, I was, somebody, we had Marco Rubio and my daughter, Ivanka… But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I'm talking about… pic.twitter.com/v8gqLUHS2v
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 5, 2024
Sixth news item
Judge Juan Merchan decided to postpone former President Trump’s sentencing in New York v. Trump until after the November presidential election.
Trump’s sentencing date is now scheduled for Nov. 26. The original date was set for Sept. 18.
It could be argued that had the date been before the election, Trump could’ve used that to campaign on, and perhaps blame an election loss on. But it really doesn’t matter, because if he loses, there will be a litany of excuses given for his loss. Made up or not.
Have a great weekend.
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (5cf9b4) — 9/6/2024 @ 9:36 amFreedom.
The people saying Palestine will be free” seem to define “freedom” with “political independence”, as if there are no native born dictatorships.
Sammy Finkelman (c5132f) — 9/6/2024 @ 10:00 amI have a better idea. How about a two-state solution for the war with Hezbollah?
Two states. Israel and Lebanon. That should solve the problem. That should be easy. Let’s try that one first.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 9/6/2024 @ 10:05 amColor me surprised… I was convinced this judge was going to sentence Trump to at least house arrest, and maybe prison:
whembly (477db6) — 9/6/2024 @ 10:25 amhttps://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge-merchan-delays-trump-sentencing-until-after-election
https://www.commentary.org/seth-mandel/biden-harris-give-up-big-gaza-lie
They didn’t want to blame Hamas, possibly because they thought it would be harder for Hamas to back down if they did – and they wanted to be optimistic – now Biden stands to be blamed for a failure, so he wans to put the blame on Hamas (it would damage their working relationship with Israel to try to blame Israel- Israel did modify its position)
I think what Hamas has indicated is that they would return not all of the hostages in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu has been hoping for a partial release of about 1/3 in return for a temporary ceasefire and release of some Hamas people – not the worst ones – from Israeli jails or detention.
Except that the second phase will never happen. What Israel had to agree to do in the second phase was carefully left for later, and that means it was never going to happen.
Sammy FInkelman (e4ef09) — 9/6/2024 @ 10:57 amRIP Brazilian bossa nova musician and bandleader (Brasil ‘66) Sergio Mendes (83).
Rip Murdock (f4bda2) — 9/6/2024 @ 11:07 amSixth news item-
Without a hint of irony:
Rip Murdock (f4bda2) — 9/6/2024 @ 11:16 amI think it would be awesome if the Trump-Harris debate, both sides were really pressed on the details of what exactly they would do to implement all of the agenda items (or, in VP Harris’s case, vague aspirations) they are slinging on the campaign trail. We would get 60, 90, however many minutes of Trump giving substance-free answers like the one above and Harris mixing banal platitudes into incomprehensible word salads. Maybe there would be a certain number of people who would watch such an abomination and say to themselves, “You know, neither one of these nitwits deserves my vote.”
As I have alluded to earlier, I want the election to end up in a number of close states — Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Georgia, North Carolina, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and others — where the winning candidate wins by a margin far, far less than the number of third-party and unrecorded votes. Imagine Trump winning in Georgia by 10,000 votes, but third-party and non-votes account for 500,000 Georgians. Or Harris wins in Wisconsin by 5,000 votes, with 300,000 Wisconsinites choosing someone other than Trump or Harris or choosing no one at all. Maybe that would wake the parties up to the idea that you need to build a winning coalition and not just pander to your base.
JVW (03ae6d) — 9/6/2024 @ 11:28 amThe question to Trump about child care at The Economic Club in New York itself was loaded; it pre-supposed a role for government in making child care affordable.
The easy answer is that there is no role.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/6/2024 @ 11:37 amAs I have repeatedly said, I have no intention of voting for either candidate.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/6/2024 @ 11:40 amWith Harris leading Trump in California 60-36 in one recent poll it is a forgone conclusion as to who will win there.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/6/2024 @ 11:58 amI am surprised. I expected DJT to claim that the delay in the sentence date is “absolute exoneration!”
John Boddie (dcf99c) — 9/6/2024 @ 12:28 pmI wonder if Elon Musk will be able to comply with the Ethics In Government Act when he becomes the head of Trump’s government efficiency commission. He may be reluctant to file the required disclosures; and he certainly will have a lot of conflicts of interest.
And Musk’s well known use of drugs will present a problem meeting his obligations to keep a drug-free workplace.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/6/2024 @ 12:38 pmWith Harris leading Trump in California 60-36 in one recent poll it is a forgone conclusion as to who will win there.
Since neither candidate is campaigning much in California, its value as a bellwether is pretty much nil. But I am kind of interested in seeing if Kamala Harris over-performs or under-performs the usual Democrat result in the Golden State. Here are the recent results:
2008 – Obama 61.1% to McCain 37.0%
2012 – Obama 60.2% to Romney 37.1%
2016 – Hillary 61.7% to Trump 31.6%
2020 – Biden 63.4% to Trump 34.3%
Looks like the Democrats have a floor of 60% and the GOP has a ceiling of 37%. I think it will be somewhat instructive if either candidate performs outside of those bounds.
JVW (03ae6d) — 9/6/2024 @ 12:42 pmRip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/6/2024 @ 11:37 am
I would agree no obligatory role but when the economy works in certain ways that gives results that most people do not like, especially if it changed from the way it was before, it is legitimate to try to pass legislation in an attempt to change the results you get.
One thing, for example, that could be done, although it would affect only a fraction, is to create more au pairs.
Or allow local zoning to create more “granny” apartments.
Or eliminate some regulations for child care businesses. (this could have objections too, of course)
Or, they could not charge any taxes (even theoretically) for babysitters paid in cash.
Many cities have instituted pre-K and pre-pre-K in an attempt to provide child care.
Or ore after school programs.
Of course there are stupid and ineffective things that could be done, too. Even where the “cause” of lower child care costs is just an excuse to do something or spend money.
Sammy FInkelman (e4ef09) — 9/6/2024 @ 12:54 pmTrump’s sentencing date is now scheduled for Nov. 26. The original date was set for Sept. 18.
If Trump loses this won’t be in his favor.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 12:58 pmNo, he didn’t.
He didn’t say he had a right to “interfere” (whatever Trump and his interlocuter chooses that to mean) with the 2020 election, because he was president at the time – he was asserting that what he did was legal.
Sammy FInkelman (e4ef09) — 9/6/2024 @ 1:00 pmI think it would be awesome if the Trump-Harris debate
Trump could sexually assault Harris on stage and it would not harm his core following. Harris could shoot him on stage and it would be OK with hers.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 1:02 pmI wonder if Elon Musk will be able to comply with the Ethics In Government Act when he becomes the head of Trump’s government efficiency commission. He may be reluctant to file the required disclosures; and he certainly will have a lot of conflicts of interest.
Those policies disfavor entrepreneurs who cannot place their endeavors in the hands of bankers. Of course leftist gadflies have no problem assuming those roles as they have nothing of worth going in.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 1:05 pmAnd Musk’s well known use of drugs will present a problem meeting his obligations to keep a drug-free workplace.
Did we ever find out who was using cocaine in the WH?
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 1:06 pmTo paraphrase Lincoln, find out what drugs Musk takes and send a few pounds to all the other CEOs.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 1:07 pmI doubt the working poor, let alone the middle class, will be able to afford au pairs. How do you “create” new ones?
Granny flats” are a solution to the housing shortage, not really child care.
What babysitters pay taxes on their cash income? It’s always been an under the table industry.
Governments shouldn’t be instituting programs (pre-K or after school) with the aim to provide child care.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/6/2024 @ 1:09 pmHarris could not shoot him and it would be OK. The number of people on the left not calling for her to be jailed would be vanishingly small.
Nate (be5ee2) — 9/6/2024 @ 1:10 pmAbout the warning: We have to consider the possibility that when Colt (what a name! Named after the Colt 45, possibility also because his then wife didn’t approve of naming him his name, Colin?) said that he did not leave a message on Discord saying (he wanted?) “to shoot up a middle school” he was telling the truth.
He said he had had a (different) Discord account, and had been hacked. The account that was linked to him (they don’t say how) had a user name of Lanza in Curillic lettering and two telephone numbers he has o connection with.
This could have been a Russian intelligence operation. (Not to fake an attack but to get someone to do a school shooting, and make it appear that nobody egged him on.
Why indeed would someone interested in being a school shooter (Adam Lanza was the name of the Sandy Hook shooter) want to indicate some kind of affinity with Russia – unless maybe the person who did that was Russian?
You could argue that using the Russian alphabet is too obvious, but Russian intelligence could very well do a stupid thing like that. First, get someone to open an account, use it for a while, and then, when it has been active for some time, have someone else wrote messages on it. And by the way, Russians have an affinity for using only last names in referring to people.
It sounds like at first the messages on the Lanza account were in Russian because Colt Gray and his father both denied (which means they were asked about it) knowing Russian, but if the only thing Russian in that account was the user ID, you wouldn’t need to know Russian to transliterate Lanza into Russian. Except there would be no point to it, unless prior discussion led up to it.
Sammy FInkelman (e4ef09) — 9/6/2024 @ 1:38 pmIt would be ok with more than just her core followers.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/6/2024 @ 1:43 pmWhich brings up a need to discuss Sandy Hook itself. It always made no sense to me why Alex Jones would assert that the Sandy Hook massacre didn’t happen, rather than that Adam Lanza was egged on to do it.
Certainly Adam Lanza was in secret communication with someone else. Adam Lanza destroyed his computer in order that his contacts could not be traced.
If he wanted to, Alex Jones could accuse gun control advocates of that although it was unlikely that gun control advocates would do it. Nobody in the usual gun control community is that immoral and cynical. Instead Alex Jones took the position that the whole thing never happen!
I don’t know what kind of radical political actor would have wanted Sandy Hook to happen but that has always been one thing that has not been followed up on enough. If it could be because maybe there are no leads. But I didn’t really believe that. Somebody knows.
Alex Jones could have been recruited to aid in the cover up (I don’t know how much he would have had to have known as to why and what) by throwing out a crazy and impossible conspiracy theory instead of a more reasonable one.
It’s so crazy that he must have had an ulterior motive. Because nobody would expect that to work with many people. Not as much as a (false) conspiracy theory that gun control advocates egged him on. So why did Alex Jones c=choose to promote this absolutely crazy conspiracy theory?
And it maybe resulted in people feeling soo offended by this conspiracy theory that they didn’t look at more plausible ones.
Shooting up a school is such an irrational act that it is reasonable to suppose that someone was incited to do it.
Sammy FInkelman (e4ef09) — 9/6/2024 @ 1:43 pmAnyway this school shooter, (who shot up his new school which was not a middle school any more) had material that referenced on the Parkland school shooting in his room.
He was prevented from killing many more by the fact that a week before the school had distributed Star-Trek-The Next Generation-like emergency alert comm badges that called for a lockdown to all of its teachers and employees.
Sammy FInkelman (e4ef09) — 9/6/2024 @ 1:43 pmThe reason that the father was charged were his egregious behavior in the face of KNOWING that his son was a menace. Not only had he been warned by the FBI (and told them the boy had no access to guns) but there were other indications along the way. And STILL he provided the guns and/or left them in easy reach.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 1:57 pmEndorsements:
The National Fraternal Order of Police announced on Friday its endorsement of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, citing his work on public safety and security at the southern border.
Former GOP congresswoman Liz Cheney said Friday that her father, former vice president Dick Cheney, will join her in supporting the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, in the November election.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 2:02 pmYou don’t say:
https://wapo.st/47dRjt2
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 2:04 pmBoth parties are punching above their respective registration numbers. Democrats represent 46% of registered voters, with the final result showing +14 points while Republicans have 25% of registered voters (+12 points v. the final result). Republicans are handicapped by lower registration rates, as the Republican registration barely exceeds “no party preference” (22%).
I doubt the 2024 election results will be any different than past elections. If anything, Harris might win a higher percentage as her politics are more in tune with California than even Joe Biden.
From the same poll:
California’ Approval/Disapproval
Harris 61/39
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/6/2024 @ 2:06 pmTrump 36/64
If anything, Harris might win a higher percentage as her politics are more in tune with California than even Joe Biden.
At the same time though, Harris rubs an awful lot of progressives the wrong way. If I am recalling correctly, our old friend aphrael has a great deal of distaste for her. And she has never been that popular with regular Democrat voters. In both of her Attorney General races in California she ran well behind the Governor nominee (almost 8% behind Jerry Brown in 2010 and 6.8% behind him in their respective 2014 reelection campaigns).
Her election to the Senate in 2016 is hard to gauge because her opponent in the general election was a fellow Democrat, Loretta Sanchez, but she received 1.2 million fewer votes from Californians than Hillary Clinton did on the Presidential line, even though she won almost exactly the same percentage of votes cast as Her Clintonic Majesty did. I think that’s a good sign that her popularity in her home state is relatively low when compared to other party stalwarts.
JVW (03ae6d) — 9/6/2024 @ 2:19 pmNow that we’re at the beginnings of post-Labor day election seasons… polls these days should be showing decent trends.
One thing to pay attention to, are the battleground states.
Particularly, if Trump loses PA… he’d likely needs one of WI/MI in order to get to 270+.
PA is looking pretty much will be a dead heat till election day.
If Harris loses PA… she’d likely needs one of NC/GA/AZ to get to 207+… and in those states, looks like Trump is surging at the moment.
I think the true wildcard, in a repeat of 2016, is WI/MI.
Anyhoo… I don’t think much will change till after the Sept 10 (and possible only debate) debate.
whembly (477db6) — 9/6/2024 @ 2:20 pmReminder, if Harris wins, Democrats likely will have unified control of Congress.
The filibuster isn’t safe with Harris in Whitehouse:
whembly (477db6) — 9/6/2024 @ 2:22 pmhttps://x.com/kamalaharris/status/1169376592419786755?s=12&t=LbMzhpSB3yC2zvXzo7p_lA
Hamas is not the only ones murdering americans Israeli troops on west bank shoot and kill 26 year old american woman protesting settlers stealing palestinian land. (DU)
asset (085eb6) — 9/6/2024 @ 2:27 pmCatholic church at it again shipping off child molesting priests to western pacific islands. Yahoo news.
asset (085eb6) — 9/6/2024 @ 2:29 pmI think that’s a good sign that her popularity in her home state is relatively low when compared to other party stalwarts.
Luckily for her it is automobile-suicide to have a Trump sticker on a car within 30 miles of the Pacific Ocean.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 2:30 pmParticularly, if Trump loses PA… he’d likely needs one of WI/MI in order to get to 270+.
Whoever wins PA will win the election.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 2:31 pm> our old friend aphrael has a great deal of distaste for her.
Yes. I will vote for her in this election because I’ll vote for almost anyone not-Trump, but I think she was an awful DA in a way that made me utterly unwilling to vote for her for Attorney General, and despite repeated opportunity, the only time i’ve voted for her was 2020.
aphrael (9c2ac5) — 9/6/2024 @ 2:36 pm@38
eh… you’re probably right. I have a hard time believing if Harris wins PA, Trump wins WI/MI.
I’m just surmising that 2024 looks awfully like 2016.
whembly (477db6) — 9/6/2024 @ 2:37 pmThe irony is that the Fraternal Order of Police endorsed a convicted felon with three pending criminal indictments. David Frum…
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/6/2024 @ 3:08 pmKevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 1:57 pm
Yes. Even if there was an attempt by Russian hackers to frame him in or shortly before May 2023.
We don’t know how real was the possibility that he didn’t leave the message threatening to shoot up a middle school, but there likely was some basis for the hoax if that’s what it was.
No unsupervised access. He told them the boy had just shot his first deer. The father was also afraid he might lose all his guns.
Abd the ammunition.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 9/6/2024 @ 3:25 pmJulia Davis…
And Solovyov was right. I trust that she knows her terrorist leader better than 99.9% of Americans and obviously saw right through Putin’s game. Whether out of naivete or cynicism, American partisans also playing this endorsement game are serving Putin’s interests.
And what are Putin’s interests? It’s spelled in his social media superspreader playbook (going straight to 11/11)…
Not victory for Kamala, but for the orange-hued manchild whose brain is almost visibly putrefying. And it sounds like Tenet Media really is the tip of cyber-propaganda war iceberg…
But the New Republic is a little more cautious in their reporting, but it’s still serious…
So yes, it really is Russia Russia Russia, because it’s working for Putin. Americans are falling for it.
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/6/2024 @ 3:27 pm34
Actually, you are wrong. It’s pretty likely Tester loses in Montana, and I don’t see Florida and Texas going Dem, unless there is a blowout.
Appalled (2dd31f) — 9/6/2024 @ 3:39 pmThe “thwarted” terror attack planned for October 7 in New York City was asting operation and the details of hat and when to attack probably provided by thee FBI. What they knew was that this Pakistani was a potential menace and one way to handle such a situation is to provide the menace with a target before he does something on his own.
, Sting operations are not bad but the FBI shouldn’t talk as if the specific idea came from anyone but them. To encourage him to choose their plan (and to give him a longer sentence) they told him that it would be on the scale of 9/11,
Maybe the FBI should also have run a sting operation on the 13-year old to see whether or not he was a serious menace.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 9/6/2024 @ 3:41 pmJust wondering – Given the amount of money that’s flowed to DJT since he lost the last election “by a whisker,” wouldn’t it make sense for him to try to lose this election and keep the spigot flowing? There is that messiness of the trials but it he’s not in office, the pressure to put him behind bars will taper off. He’ll be able to point to Hunter Biden as a guidepost to an easy life, assured that his supporters will continue to send their hard-earned dollars so he can try to put things right four years from now.
John Boddie (dcf99c) — 9/6/2024 @ 4:10 pmI don’t see Florida and Texas going Dem, unless there is a blowout.
The latest poll shows Scott with only a single point in FL. It will end up being a GOTV election.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 4:14 pmIf Trump loses he’s got to hope that President Harris decides to pardon him, which she might do to avoid more years of The Trump Show.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 4:16 pmLol! It’s highly unlikely that the Dems will control the Senate, especially if Tester loses (which is highly likely). A Harris win also has no implications for the filibuster, since it is only a Senate rule.
It’s more likely that Harris will end up with a Republican Senate, which would stop any of the presumed “horrors” from her policies.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/6/2024 @ 4:34 pmIf it turns out that he can write off on his taxes the difference between the peak price of his Truth Social stock and the price he finally dumps it for, I am going to write a letter to my Congressman.
nk (f6f1a4) — 9/6/2024 @ 4:37 pmOf course, I’m sure you noticed that tweet was from 2019, when Harris was in the Senate.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/6/2024 @ 4:45 pmMore endorsements:
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/6/2024 @ 4:49 pmMy jaw doesn’t drop very often when watching an interview, but this coach’s press briefing is too good to check.
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/6/2024 @ 5:46 pmI assume that’s some sort of deep fake, huh Paul?
Nate (cfb326) — 9/6/2024 @ 6:37 pmYeah, Nate, I’m pretty sure it’s an AI thing, which we’ll see a lot more of down the road.
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/6/2024 @ 6:39 pmYeah, Nate, I’m pretty sure it’s an AI thing, which we’ll see a lot more of down the road.
And some of them will be on purpose. Get ready for an on-point, relaxed and sane Donald Trump.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 6:55 pm@38 2016 those three states get clinton 270 now in 2024 it only gets harris to 269. Pa loses 1 so does ny.
asset (ce569a) — 9/6/2024 @ 8:44 pmConvicting Trump in either federal case and sentencing him to prison would have the same effect.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/6/2024 @ 8:45 pmConvicting Trump in either federal case and sentencing him to prison would have the same effect.
After 4 years of loud appeals.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/6/2024 @ 10:25 pmIf Trump loses the election and is convicted, he would be just a lone voice baying at the moon.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/7/2024 @ 7:30 amEven Trump’s supporters would need to move on, but all of the other MAGA contenders (Vance, DeSantis, Stefanik, Ramaswamy, Sanders, etc.) are mere shadows of Trump without the personality.
Haley did herself no favors with her (late in the campaign) pointed criticisms of Trump and then giving him a full throated endorsement. She ended alienating both the MAGA and old guard factions of the Republican Party. It’s no wonder she has been sidelined by the Trump campaign.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/7/2024 @ 8:02 amOuch!
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/7/2024 @ 8:21 amAs I said, Ouch!:
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/7/2024 @ 8:29 amMatt Bernius says that the press is “sanewashing” the Loser’s’s word salads.
They take, for example, an incoherent ramble and, in attempting to write a coherent account, make the Loser’s ramble seem almost rational. There’s an example in the piece that everyone should read.
Jim Miller (b79a80) — 9/7/2024 @ 10:34 amTrump and his cult are perfectly suited to the Russian purpose of discrediting American institutions.
Radegunda (cedc77) — 9/7/2024 @ 10:51 amIt starts with a preexisting sense of beleaguerment among conservatives who see (or think they see) systemic biases against them – ignoring the structural advantage they hold in our political system.
Add a sociopathic demagogue who poses as their fearless champion against all domestic enemies, who believes himself uniquely capable of solving any problem, and who regards any impediment to his will – including the law – as fundamentally wrong.
Surround that demagogue with a media and think tank universe more than willing to portray anything that gets in his way or holds him accountable to rules as an agent of deep corruption. The more brazen his defiance of rules, the more fodder for his apologists to fulminate against the persecution of their hero – by American institutions.
Add in, too, the demagogue’s grandiose belief that a country he leads has no need for alliances, and his sociopathic worry that allies are just cheating us anyway, and his willingness to spend money placing ads critical of our most important alliance shortly after being a guest of the Kremlin in Soviet Russia.
It helps a lot that the demagogue has financial entanglements in Russia. Also, that he is highly susceptible to flattery and wants to be liked by despots he admires.
But the crucial part of the equation is the readiness of Trump apologists to elevate the whims of a sociopath above every American institution that does not recognize his will as the supreme law. Many of those people are not at all stupid. So why don’t they realize what they are doing?
I’m with Aphrael on voting. I have many policy disagreements with Harris, and in an ordinary election I wouldn’t vote for her. But this isn’t an ordinary election, and she has the one virtue that wins my vote: she isn’t Trump. I’d vote for my neighbor’s dog just to avoid sending the Orange Menace back to the White House.
Roger (cda40f) — 9/7/2024 @ 10:58 amThe press’s sanewashing of Trump is the real “fake news.”
Radegunda (cedc77) — 9/7/2024 @ 11:07 amHaley did herself no favors with her (late in the campaign) pointed criticisms of Trump and then giving him a full throated endorsement. She ended alienating both the MAGA and old guard factions of the Republican Party. It’s no wonder she has been sidelined by the Trump campaign.
There’s our Rip, always ready to find fault with Haley.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/7/2024 @ 11:56 amI’d vote for my neighbor’s dog just to avoid sending the Orange Menace back to the White House.
There is much blame to lay at the feet of those who voted to run Trump again. They were told that 20% of GOP voters would vote for Castro first. But they didn’t listen, and now they say that Harris is just like Castro. Even if it was true, they were warned.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/7/2024 @ 11:57 am@65, I endorse that lament. It captures the true problem with a pox-on-both-their-houses reasoning. Trump threatens our institutions and alliances. We don’t have to wait and see. We know odious self-pardons are coming…or will be tip-toed around by a compliant VP. We know partisan changes are coming to the Justice Department and that we may get to see actual weaponization and lawfare. We know the Ukraine opposition will be in peril and NATO leadership spun on its head. We know that the rule of law will be stretched with EO’s, especially with illegal immigrants. And we know that the tone will be sophomoric and tedious. Harris will not give me much to cheer policy wise, but the system can and will survive her term. It’s sad that it’s come to this point…
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 9/7/2024 @ 12:07 pmBut the crucial part of the equation is the readiness of Trump apologists to elevate the whims of a sociopath above every American institution that does not recognize his will as the supreme law. Many of those people are not at all stupid. So why don’t they realize what they are doing?
Because they have a lifetime of frustration with institutions seemingly dedicated to doing nothing. They are like Will Roper, willing to cut down all the laws to get at the Devil. But it’s not just Trump — there are people on the Left willing to the same thing and possibly more frustrated.
Which may be why the institutions have such inertia.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/7/2024 @ 12:15 pmbut the system can and will survive her term. It’s sad that it’s come to this point…
It will survive Trump, too. It survived Jackson and nothing Trump is going to do is like the Trail of Tears or telling the Supreme Court to GFY. It survived FDR’s steamrolling of the economic institutions and threats of court-packing. It survived a flipping Civil War.
Trump, if elected, would not destroy the Republic. If anything his attempts would just make it stronger.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/7/2024 @ 12:21 pmGood discussion of the recent Carlson nazi apology and the underlying thought process of some on the right.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/09/06/the-shameful-nazi-apologism-of-the-very-online-right/
Time123 (43311e) — 9/7/2024 @ 12:22 pmthere are people on the Left willing to the same thing and possibly more frustrated.
It wasn’t long ago that conservatives decried the “by any means necessary” attitude of the revolutionary left.
But what’s really extraordinary and bizarre about the present moment is that people who consider themselves deeply committed to moral virtue have tethered their ethical judgment to someone so aggressively self-centered and so overt in his sense of impunity – and people who call themselves patriots will say that America is corrupt before they’ll admit that Trump is amoral.
Radegunda (cedc77) — 9/7/2024 @ 12:34 pm@74 Radegunda (cedc77) — 9/7/2024 @ 12:34 pm
Well… at least for me… I can hold several thoughts at once.
Trump shouldn’t be anywhere near the Whitehouse. We had a very stacked deck of competent options this year, and our primary voters failed us. I would’ve supported any one of them… even Vivik over Trump.
Harris shouldn’t be anywhere near the Whitehouse, either… a figurehead who hasn’t won a single primary vote. Only “selected” because that last Trump v. Biden debate dispelled any illusions that Biden had 4 more years left in the tank.
The next President is going to be either Trump or Harris.
Those are our choices.
The idea that Trump is this “unique danger” is simply farcical. Trump is this lazy dude who plays golf and rants on his own social media site, who’ll govern similarly to his 1st term that was “fine” overall. In our history, we’ve had politicians who actually seceded from the Union or a President who threw an entire ethnicity into interment camps or a President who actually screened “Birth of a Nation” on the WH grounds. Trumps antics pales in comparison.
Whereas Kamala Harris is actually on record to:
-advocate to give citizenship to illegal aliens
-advocate for pre-Dobbs abortion laws
-advocate to forcibly “buy back” guns
-advocate to tax unrealized gains
-continue the Hamas/Iranian appeasement foreign policies
-advocate to pack the courts
-advocate for government oversight of social media sites
-speaks in language that are Marxist-derived
-seeks to use the Executive branch to punish her ideological opponents.
-and so on….
Things are/were bad under the Biden/Harris administration. A Harris/Walz administration will be 100x worse.
whembly (477db6) — 9/7/2024 @ 12:53 pmGlad you’re back, Rad.
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/7/2024 @ 12:57 pmTrump, if elected, would not destroy the Republic. If anything his attempts would just make it stronger.
His attempts made a whole political party decide that elections are corrupt if they lose — and then set about placing Trump loyalists in position to swing future elections their way if voters choose otherwise.
His efforts to stay in power unlawfully also induced the Supreme Court to rule, in essence, that a president of the United States is above the law and need not worry about the consequences to himself for violating law in the future. Michael Luttig calls that ruling an abomination and a stake through the heart of the constitutional republic. I suspect he knows what he’s talking about.
The reason that SCOTUS decreed a sweeping presidential indulgence to violate law is because the majority wanted to protect an ideological ally who is disdainful of legal restraints and who openly admires dictators. It was the selfish impunity of Donald Trump that prompted the highest court in the land to participate in the “un-souling of America,” as Luttig described it.
Trump’s assaults on the rule of law have made the GOP more fervently loyal to him. If the American electorate would still return him to power after what he has done, that in itself rebuts the idea that his attacks on the system only make it stronger.
Radegunda (cedc77) — 9/7/2024 @ 12:58 pmThanks, Paul
Radegunda (cedc77) — 9/7/2024 @ 12:59 pmWhemby –
The choice is between:
1. A candidate who is clearly a psychopath,
who has already attempted to stay in power after losing an election – trying to strong-arm state officials to change results in his favor, inciting a mob to intimidate legislators into reinstalling him, praising the mob for their hours of attacks on the police —
and who insists he must have license to violate law with impunity, like the despots he so frequently praises,
and who has been called extraordinarily unfit by many people who worked in his administration,
and who wants to blow up our most important alliance, to the benefit of an aggressive adversary,
and who wants to impose across-the-board tariffs that would hurt average Americans, because he is too stupid to understand what tariffs do ….
And:
Radegunda (cedc77) — 9/7/2024 @ 1:15 pm2. A normal human being who has some policies I disagree with, but has not a sociopathic scofflaw, is not in awe of Putin and Kim Jong Un, and has been praised by Mark Cuban for entrepreneur-friendly policy proposals. He said she asked what was needed, and she listened – whereas Trump thinks he knows everything better than anyone else by sheer native genius.
#73 It is a good discussion, and would be slightly better had he added this historical correction: Slaves did not first arrive in America in 1619. For example:
The US also ended slavery in parts of Alaska, after purchasing it from Russia.
When the United States took control of the area, the military ended slavery in the area.
Jim Miller (b79a80) — 9/7/2024 @ 1:17 pmWhembly, do you find your own arguments convincing or are you just saying them in hopes they sound good to others?
Trump’s first term was “fine” overall”?!
The south seceded from the Union 200 years ago and there was no civil war under Trump, so was he really that bad?!
Is this really how far you’re willing to lower the bar?
Let’s look at your policy concerns with Harris (the bar for whom is apparently higher than “Didn’t start a civil war”):
-advocates giving citizenship to illegal aliens (Trump advocated banning all Muslims)
-advocate for pre-Dobbs abortion laws (So did Trump)
-advocate to forcibly “buy back” guns (Trump advocated “Take the guns first, then go through due process later)
-advocate to tax unrealized gains (Hey, Trump didn’t do anything like this!)
-continue the Hamas/Iranian appeasement foreign policies (I’m not sure what this is referring to)
-advocate to pack the courts (You’re worried about something potentially happening that ACTUALLY was just done by Republicans)
-advocate for government oversight of social media sites (So does Trump)
-speaks in language that are Marxist-derived (What does this even mean?)
-seeks to use the Executive branch to punish her ideological opponents. (Lock her up!)
Your concerns just seem like sports team advocacy.
Nate (cfb326) — 9/7/2024 @ 1:18 pmSlavery was especially common for girls and young women among many Indian tribes. Often, I am sorry to say, many men miss that part of the story of Sacajawea.
Jim Miller (b79a80) — 9/7/2024 @ 1:24 pm#76 So am I.
Jim Miller (b79a80) — 9/7/2024 @ 1:26 pm<
Prove me wrong.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/7/2024 @ 1:29 pm100x? Intentional satire, or unintentional satire? If it’s the first, it’s a bit heavy handed for my tastes. If it’s the second, well . . . .
Jim Miller (b79a80) — 9/7/2024 @ 1:29 pmAssumes facts not in evidence.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/7/2024 @ 1:32 pmMost of which requires Congressional approval and/or has already been decided by the courts; and a few that are supported by Republicans.
Rip Murdock (ad2d6b) — 9/7/2024 @ 1:38 pmThe policies that a President Harris would bring in depend very much of the control of Congress, particularly the Senate. Assuming Rick Scott wins in Florida, then it is likely that Republicans will control the Senate by picking up West Virginia (near certain) and Montana (likely).
But Scott has never been especially popular, and recent polls suggest that the race there is close.
I think it likely that Republicans will lose control of the House, and deservedly so, after their shenanigans, particularly over aid to Ukraine.
(Of course the Republicans would already control the Senate were it not for the Loser’s interference in earlier elections, notably in Georgia.)
Moreover, I think it nearly certain that Republicans will win control of one or both houses in 2026.
Jim Miller (b79a80) — 9/7/2024 @ 1:49 pmHuh? Musk’s conflicts of interest have nothing to do with banking, but with the fact that his businesses are regulated by the same agencies that his commission will be auditing:
Tesla is also regulated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has investigated the company for several accidents involving its self-driving feature, as well as battery fires.
Rip Murdock (c20088) — 9/7/2024 @ 3:14 pmWell said, Radegunda.
Dana (fc049f) — 9/7/2024 @ 3:29 pmAnd all of Musk’s companies are covered by OSHA and IRS regulations.
Rip Murdock (c0335a) — 9/7/2024 @ 3:29 pmRadegunda ON FIRE
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 9/7/2024 @ 4:59 pmWhat statements has she made in this regard? It’s well documented that the Trump administration did so at least a dozen times.
If you are referring to the current federal prosecutions of Trump, there is no evidence that the Biden administration ordered the DOJ to do so. If there was such evidence, I’m sure it would have been released by the House Oversight/Judiciary Committees.
Rip Murdock (c20088) — 9/7/2024 @ 5:43 pmBut what’s really extraordinary and bizarre about the present moment is that people who consider themselves deeply committed to moral virtue have tethered their ethical judgment to someone so aggressively self-centered and so overt in his sense of impunity – and people who call themselves patriots will say that America is corrupt before they’ll admit that Trump is amoral.
It’s not the amorality that concerns me. Bill Clinton is just as amoral. The problem is that he has no impulse control, he is ignorant, he is venal, he carries grudges, and he doesn’t care. Self-will run riot.
His opponent is also not strong on moral scruples and does not come naturally to ethics. She exhibits quite a few disturbing signs of autocracy herself, although she bends the law to accomplish it rather than just ignore it. She opposes most of what I hold dear. She is, however sane.
Still, Harris is sadly within the normal bounds and Trump is not. THe flip side of that is that she’ll be more effective at doing what I don’t like and Trump would just be Brownian motion.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/7/2024 @ 6:00 pmWhat statements has she made in this regard? It’s well documented that the Trump administration did so at least a dozen times.
Her attempts in CA to get the names and addresses of contributors to organizations on the right, followed by their “accidental” mass doxxing, was so egregious that the US Supreme Court made her stop.
AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY FOUNDATION v. BONTA (although it was Harris’ policy)
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/7/2024 @ 6:09 pmIt is possible to observe that Trump is an assh0le without claiming that Harris is not.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/7/2024 @ 6:11 pmHuh? Musk’s conflicts of interest have nothing to do with banking,
Way to twist my words into a strawman, easier to attack.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/7/2024 @ 6:12 pmHere’s a good Patterico repost.
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/7/2024 @ 6:26 pmWhat Trump didn’t explicitly say, but what he seemed to say if his words are to make any sense (and we should assume a person makes sense if possible) is that we could use the money raised by the tariff to subsidize child care (through the tax code) and there would be so much extra money coming into the Treasury that it would also reduce the deficit and he also said don’t worry about the tariff harming other countries.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 9/7/2024 @ 6:52 pmLOL!
Rip Murdock (c20088) — 9/7/2024 @ 7:31 pmHonestly, I have no idea what you were trying to say.
Rip Murdock (c20088) — 9/7/2024 @ 7:33 pmNone of which related to whembly’s statement that Harris “ seeks to use the Executive branch to punish her ideological opponents.”
Rip Murdock (c20088) — 9/7/2024 @ 7:36 pmI agree, there’s some profound unfitness. No more sanewashing.
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/7/2024 @ 7:43 pmIn any event, your response to my post regarding Musk and the Ethics in Government Act made no sense at all, so I was free to interpret it as I wished.
Rip Murdock (c20088) — 9/7/2024 @ 7:57 pmIn any event, your response to my post regarding Musk and the Ethics in Government Act made no sense at all
to you. Not my problem.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/8/2024 @ 7:45 amQuestion: After Trump loses and fades from the scene courtesy of the federal courts, does the GOP (or the Democrat Party) return to 2012 positions? Even Biden has amplified and expanded Trump’s trade war with China, illegal immigration has become a third rail for both parties, free trade — in the sense that capital feels free to ship whole industries to Asia — is greatly diminished and nationalism and populism remain robust.
Answer: No, but without Trump these policies and platforms can be more easily discussed. Right now, many take a position that is blind to anything but Trump, pro and con, and that is as unhealthy for his opposition as it is for his cult.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/8/2024 @ 7:50 amHow much has Musk promised to pay Trump for the eradication of the internal combustion engine. I wonder.
nk (fe3a43) — 9/8/2024 @ 8:19 am“Here’s a good Patterico repost.”
Amanda Carpenter on Trump’s repeated gaslighting: 1. Stake a Claim. 2. Advance and Deny. 3. Create Suspense. 4. Discredit the Opponent. 5. Win.
Step 2 usually shows up as “other people are saying this, what do you all think?” then “I’m not responsible for it but what if it’s true? How terrible!”.
He then promises that more information will come out soon…a big announcement is coming….and just about every time, it doesn’t. Of course, Birthergate was the prototype case of promises undelivered. But then step 4 is usually the most pernicious: finding someone, anyone really, who objects but Trump can publicly smear. This usually entails a news cycle or two for the victim to dig out from the slime because too many in right-wing media and GOP establishment enable the smear. Finally, the declaration of the win….claiming to have taken on a tough matter and brought it to the public’s attention and resolved it. Trump the “winner” and everyone loves a winner.
It’s mind-numbing that it works….but it does. Partly because people love a conspiracy and think they’re privy to unraveling some great truth, without having to bring everything together in a coherent fashion. Russiagate is an example. The conspiracy is more intriguing than the unsavory ties and obstruction that were there for everyone to see.
My opinion is that normal political spin can also create psychological distress and a toxic environment (like, imagining that one political position completely paints the view of the “others”). But, gaslighting inherently builds on lies and gossip and is designed to suck the oxygen out of the room while lowering the quality of discourse. This makes it worse….and it’s a prime reason why Trump IS worse. We can argue and debate policy. You can’t debate someone who demonstrates zero good faith and a stubborn unwillingness to confront reality (see Election 2020 results)….
AJ_Liberty (8c7e12) — 9/8/2024 @ 8:29 amClass act:
Rip Murdock (c20088) — 9/8/2024 @ 8:54 amCommon ground:
Most of these proposals are economic and political fantasies which have very little chance of being implemented.
Rip Murdock (c20088) — 9/8/2024 @ 9:11 am“Even Biden has amplified and expanded Trump’s trade war with China, illegal immigration has become a third rail for both parties, free trade — in the sense that capital feels free to ship whole industries to Asia — is greatly diminished and nationalism and populism remain robust.”
First, I’m not sure if Biden pandering to labor…as most Democrats are obliged to do…is in some sense acknowledgment that Trump was right. It’s more only an indication that both parties have tacked protectionist. Populism always needs easily identifiable enemies of “the people”: usually foreign countries, immigrants, financial elites, and cultural elites. All we need is a strongman who does not feel compelled to follow the rules or respect institutions to fight the good fight. It’s a dangerous homage as history has taught us.
From an article in the Guardian:
Second, is everything about markets, competition, competitive advantage, and what was advanced by Milton Friedman and others over the past 4 decades simply wrong? Has Trump practiced what he’s preached about out-sourcing labor costs while also leveraging cheap immigrant labor? Does it matter? What’s critical here is what works politically (populism) might not be in the best interest of a country. The GOP may believe that demographics is choking it off and that it must have blue collar men to remain politically relevant…and blue collar men want tariffs and mass deportations. Now, it begs the question of who the other 80% of the GOP is…and how eager they are to drift into a quasi-command economy where politics determines which industries are protected and subsidized, and which industries never materialize because of labor shortages and higher costs of doing business.
I sense we will have to learn our lesson….
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 9/8/2024 @ 11:38 amHere’s the problem with modern “ethics” laws: they are aimed at curbing the power of the Right while leaving the Left alone.
Example: If the CEO of Landrape Mining is nominated for Secretary of the Interior, he has to cut all ties with his firm, and maybe divest all his shares. If he even once converses with his successor all Hell breaks lose.
However, if the Chairperson of Earth First! is nominated for the same job, nobody bats an eye. It’s just normal that she continues to have contacts withing the environmentalist movement and any favoritism she appears to show is just her normal policy preference.
Left as an exercise are tax cheats nominated to be Treasury Secretary.
Example: If a President takes vacations at the island estate of some billionaire supporter who has all kinds of business with the government, nothing is said and the press had better behave themselves if they want access.
However, if a Supreme Court justice takes a ride on a plane belonging to a billionaire fried with only passing interest in a few cases over the years, it’s impeachable conduct.
Further, if another justice, formerly the chief litigator for a group with constant legal cases before the court, attends fundraisers and seminars by the same group it is just her normal and understandable association.
Example: If an entrepreneur, the hands-on driving force behind a series of successful startups, is asked to serve in some government advisory body to offer his world-class acumen he is of course assumed to be doing this to line his own pockets. It is demanded that he place control of his firms in the hands of a blind trust of bankers (who cannot possibly run that type of business).
If a professional gadfly and all-around irritant is offered the same job, no problem as he has no nest to feather (other than furthering his gadfly-cred).
The Constitution says that the President appoints whomever he wants, subject ONLY to the advice and consent of a majority of the Senate. The Senate, of course, can consider what it will, but that should be the end of it. The later remedy is impeachment.
Congress adding further restrictions on top of this seems a constraint of the President’s powers, in many cases also obviating the Senate’s discretion.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/8/2024 @ 11:39 amThose were the days…….
Rip Murdock (cccc2c) — 9/8/2024 @ 11:45 amI’m sure the corporate leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, etc. can successfully run Musk’s companies while Musk’s shares are placed into a trust. In fact , Tesla’s leadership (and shareholders) wish Musk spend more time focusing on his company’s performance than his outside interests (such as X). Tesla’s performance isn’t so hot these days.
Rip Murdock (cccc2c) — 9/8/2024 @ 11:59 amTrump threatens lawyers, donors and election officials with prison for ‘unscrupulous behavior’
………….
“The 2024 Election, where Votes have just started being cast, will be under the closest professional scrutiny and, WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again,” he wrote (on Truth Social.)
He continued, “Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.”
The threat was one of the most wide-ranging that he’s made while running for president after his 2020 defeat — going beyond threatening old foes and issuing warnings to those involved with the current election.
…………
He also emphasized the GOP’s focus on election integrity this cycle during a speech Saturday in Wisconsin, suggesting that if Republicans stop Democrats from cheating, he does not need to continue campaigning.
“We gotta stop the cheating. If we stop that cheating, if we don’t let them cheat, I don’t even have to campaign anymore,” Trump said. “We’re going to win by so much. In the meantime, too big to rig, too big to rig.”
…………
Related:
Rip Murdock (cccc2c) — 9/8/2024 @ 12:17 pmPost 115 should have been block quoted.
Rip Murdock (cccc2c) — 9/8/2024 @ 12:18 pmThe 100 Most Significant Political Films of All Time
Rip Murdock (cccc2c) — 9/8/2024 @ 12:39 pmI’m sure the corporate leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, etc. can successfully run Musk’s companies while Musk’s shares are placed into a trust.
Well, *I’m* sure you are wrong. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, like, say, NASA or Boeing.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/8/2024 @ 12:59 pmNASA is a government agency, not a corporation.
Rip Murdock (cccc2c) — 9/8/2024 @ 2:36 pmAnd given their track record, I don’t think anyone from Boeing will appointed to any government position.
Rip Murdock (cccc2c) — 9/8/2024 @ 2:40 pmPretty much my point. Thanks.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/8/2024 @ 3:12 pmBuried amidst his deranged Hannibal Lecter rants and other assorted word salad, Trump is hard at work laying the disinformation predicates for Election Coup 2.0.
lurker (c23034) — 9/8/2024 @ 7:32 pmA piece of the action:
The judge will issue a detailed ruling at a later date. The CFTC has filed an emergency motion asking her to stay the decision until Sept. 22, but has not received a response from the court.
Rip Murdock (aa6621) — 9/8/2024 @ 9:11 pm@81
Yes, it was fine overall. We can pick some nits here and there for sure.
But, no, it’s not “lowering the bar”. It’s a mere recognition that he’s not that unique threat as you people keep harping about.
whembly (477db6) — 9/9/2024 @ 6:42 am@87
1) If Harris wins, then that mean downballots Democrats are likely to do better as well.
2) Democrats are more organized than Republicans and tends to almost always vote lockstep. Gones are the days of the Manchin/Sinema mavericks. (as those two likely saved the filibuster during their term)
3) Democrats in Biden/Harris administration are cultivating a “lets do x until the Supreme Court tells us not too… maybe not even then!” That’s the danger of doing all these student loan forgiven or rent moratorium… whereby these cretins are willing to push this, just to get “something” across…if only for a time before the courts shut it down. You don’t think they won’t expand that tactic for other things?
whembly (477db6) — 9/9/2024 @ 6:47 am@102
It most definitely does Rip.
It’s exactly the reason to bring it up.
Along the same vein, she initiated in close coordination of Planned Parenthood to go after David Daleiden, who heads the Center for Medical Progress that gestapo would cheer.
You, of all people here, should really be disturbed about that.
whembly (477db6) — 9/9/2024 @ 6:53 amWhen it’s the Democrats, whembly believes we will get the worst case scenario where they are effective
When it’s Republicans, whembly believes it’s the best case scenario, because the GOP is not effective with Trump as leader.
Appalled (f86cbd) — 9/9/2024 @ 7:03 amAccoeding to AAA, national gasoline prices have declined signifcantly, over the last year. If, that is, you think a 50 cent a gallon decline is signficant, as I do.
(The precentage decline is left as an exercise for the reader.)
Jim Miller (f98929) — 9/9/2024 @ 8:02 amwhembly (477db6) — 9/9/2024 @ 6:47 am
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/9/2024 @ 9:12 amIdle speculation:
Let’s say that Trump wins. Let’s also say what a few insiders are starting to talk about is true — that Trump is losing it. Let’s also assume the JD Vance is ambitious and has little real loyalty to Donald Trump.
So the day comes when Trump wants his pardons. He and JD invoke the 25th Amendment, and Vance pardons him. Then Vance lays out Trump’s dangerous mental collapse and, more with sorrow than anger, refuses to return power to Trump. Assuming that the evidence is real, and assuming that Vance can co-opt enough GOP legislators, JD becomes acting President.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/9/2024 @ 10:19 am#130
If Trump wins, all manner of things may happen. The only predictable thing is that there will be chaos.
Peple get on to Kamela for not picking Shapiro as VP, but, really, the awful choice was Vance, who shows know aptitude for uniting a country should Trump eat the fatal french fry, or displays undeniable dementia.
Appalled (f86cbd) — 9/9/2024 @ 10:29 am(Excuse the typos in #130. “Know” = “no”.)
Appalled (f86cbd) — 9/9/2024 @ 10:33 amAccording to AAA, national gasoline prices have declined signifcantly, over the past year
“Over the past year” neglects the sharp runup 2021-2022. They are still high compared to 2020, or even 2015. And West Coast gasoline averages $4.70/gallon despite California’s cynical profit controls.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/9/2024 @ 10:44 am“When it’s the Democrats, whembly believes we will get the worst case scenario where they are effective”
The same can be said about the institutions holding solid to constrain Trump yet going flaccid for Harris.
Yes, there is a fair bit of speculation in making predictions….but one individual has been impeached, indicted, found guilty, threatened retribution, picked a running-mate of similar disposition, and seems to disregard the best political advice for how to win in 2024 (ie, doesn’t really listen to advisers). To imagine that the other will risk midterm retaliation and the potential of a second term…with a narrowly divided Congress and electorate….is just asking too much. It’s just not persuasive.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 9/9/2024 @ 10:46 amVance … shows no aptitude for uniting a country should Trump eat the fatal french fry, or displays undeniable dementia.
Compared to Trump, he’s Solomon.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/9/2024 @ 10:47 amTo reach the two-thirds vote requirement (in both the Senate and House) under the 25th Amendment he would certainly need support from the Democrats. Congressional Republicans could just as likely reinstate Trump as President.
It would be much easier for Trump to pardon himself, as there no constitutional bar in doing so, nor is there anyone who could easily establish standing to challenge such a pardon.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/9/2024 @ 11:08 amIt is still interesting to contemplate whether there is something that could induce Trump to leave office after about a year or two, and whether the substitution of JD Vance would be good. Some sort of a plea bargain in New York State. But the case is nonsense. Maybe more a forgiveness of the civil fine.
Sammy Finkelman (c5132f) — 9/9/2024 @ 1:07 pm27. I wrote:
They couldn’t send voice messages,
There was a button on their ID badges that sent a emergency signal to the police. Maybe it also caused something else. Or they may have had other ways to start a lockdown.
Somebody seems to be trying to give that badge credit for stopping the rampage early. But the boy was disarmed by one or two school police before more police could arrive from outside.
His mother, who would did not live with him any more called the school at about 9:50am, about 30 minutes before he started shooting, and spoke for about ten minutes saying that there was an extreme emergency and they should go looking for him. While no one has said anything about what she said (all officials are mum, as is the mother- the information comes from his aunt, it must have been a good bye message which he sent by text and then didn’t respond when she called or texted back.
The school went looking for him but stopped the wrong child.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 9/9/2024 @ 1:23 pmThe Complete List Of Past GOP Presidential Ticket Members Who Say They’re Voting For Trump
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/9/2024 @ 1:30 pmR.I.P. James Earl Jones, actor, 93
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/9/2024 @ 2:45 pmThe Complete List Of Past GOP Presidential Ticket Members Who Say They’re Voting For Trump
Also, the complete list of former GOP politicians now doing other things. Also, it would be wrong to say they are voting for Harris.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4650934-paul-ryan-donald-trump-2024-election-voting/
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/9/2024 @ 2:50 pmCongressional Republicans could just as likely reinstate Trump as President.
Yeah, well, then they are responsible for him. I don’t see that as working out well for them during a contested primary.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/9/2024 @ 2:51 pmIt would be much easier for Trump to pardon himself, as there no constitutional bar in doing so
When you look to the Convention record you find it unlikely such a thing was intended.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/9/2024 @ 2:53 pmAs I said, it would be much easier for Trump to pardon himself.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/9/2024 @ 2:55 pmRIP legendary bassist Herbie Flowers (86):
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/9/2024 @ 3:00 pm> When you look to the Convention record you find it unlikely such a thing was intended.
I find it unlikely that the Convention intended for the President to be immune for crimes committed under color of law, too, but the Supreme Court has disagreed with that assessment.
aphrael (8fc261) — 9/9/2024 @ 3:00 pmWhether or not those at the Constitutional Convention did not intend for the President to be able to pardon himself is irrelevant, the actual Constitution does not contain such a prohibition.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/9/2024 @ 3:03 pmThere was a discussion about the danger of a treasonous President pardoning his underlings. You would think that, if they had even thought of a self-pardon they would have objected to it.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/9/2024 @ 3:08 pmWhether or not those at the Constitutional Convention did not intend for the President to be able to pardon himself is irrelevant, the actual Constitution does not contain such a prohibition.
Ah, a doctrinaire textualist. Even Scalia wasn’t one of those.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/9/2024 @ 3:10 pmI’m sur that will happen before the end of Trump’s second term. 😉
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/9/2024 @ 3:46 pmNo, a plain language textualist. The “plain language” of the Constitution doesn’t contain a bar to a self-pardon.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/9/2024 @ 3:47 pmAh, a doctrinaire textualist. Even Scalia wasn’t one of those.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/9/2024 @ 3:10 pm
I’m sure you can find a penumbra somewhere. 😉
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/9/2024 @ 3:49 pmSimilarly, there is no language in either a statute or the Constitution that prevents a President from ordering the Department of Justice (and FBI) to go after their enemies.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/9/2024 @ 3:53 pmR.I.P. James Earl Jones
Icy (4684db) — 9/9/2024 @ 3:56 pmA pardon is something you grant to someone else. The notion is reinforced by the maxim that no man could be judge over his own trial. The point has not been addressed by the Court, so we simply do not know how they would view it. It is possible that the President can step down and allow the acting President to pardon him. Then, the pardoned President could return to power. This would argue in the other direction, but there is a big political calculation in doing this. I suspect many hold-your-nose-rs might view this as too cute. But once we get to this point, the whole notion of justice and accountability has been lost. It’s why it’s such a loss to elect Trump. It makes a mockery of faithful steward….
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 9/9/2024 @ 4:11 pmNo, a plain language textualist. The “plain language” of the Constitution doesn’t contain a bar to a self-pardon.
The beliefs of the time in which it was written and the recorded discussion of the men who wrote it are information to be used. Also, the utter lack of self-pardons by state governors who were sent off to prison should indicate what an outlier this crazy-talk self-pardon stuff is.
Then again, an “outlier” would be a perfect fit for Trump.
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/9/2024 @ 4:26 pmThat’s true, and the only constitutional response would be impeachment. If Trump did pardon himself, again the only constitutional response would be impeachment, though if the pardon was at the end of his term there would be no point. It would depend how enthralled the House and Senate remained with Trump and MAGAism.
Notions and maxims don’t make law.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/9/2024 @ 4:27 pmVoting for Trump is like going for lunch at a food truck while contemplating
nk (a47071) — 9/9/2024 @ 4:28 pm1) How far away is the emergency room;
2) How soon will the paramedics get to you;
3) Will the doctors know that it’s food poisoning and have the protocols for it; and best case scenario,
4) Where’s the bathroom?
It is hard to see how any challenge to a self-pardon in a court gets beyond standing issues. In addition a challenge could be dismissed under the political question doctrine.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/9/2024 @ 4:32 pmA “challenge” to the self pardon would be the indictment for the crimes claimed to have been pardoned, obtained by the prosecutor whose job is to prosecute those crimes, and there is no stronger standing than that. The pardon would be raised as an affirmative defense.
A political question would arise if a green pig flew three circles over the Capitol and White House during a blue moon in April singing selections from Man of La Mancha.
nk (a47071) — 9/9/2024 @ 6:00 pm@nk@158 and then end up also getting bitten by the food truck dog, which you didn’t expect or plan for in any way.
Nic (120c94) — 9/9/2024 @ 6:17 pmIndicted by a US Attorney appointed by the selfsame President? I don’t think so. Also, as I have noted multiple times, a 50+ year old DOJ policy precludes indictment of a sitting President.
Rip Murdock (aa6621) — 9/9/2024 @ 7:25 pmAfter Jeff Sessions, do you think Trump will appoint an independent Attorney General willing to investigate the president, or someone like Jeffrey Clark?
Rip Murdock (aa6621) — 9/9/2024 @ 7:31 pmOr if a court found
Reformatted for clarity. Footnotes omitted.
Challenging a self-pardon in court would fail under nos. 1, 2, or 4 of the above criteria. I think a court finding is more likely than your scenario.
Rip Murdock (aa6621) — 9/9/2024 @ 7:41 pmIndicted by a US Attorney appointed by the selfsame President? I don’t think so.
Trump did not appoint Merrick Garland. And the general statute of limitations for federal crimes is five years. That’s one year longer than a President’s term of office.
nk (a47071) — 9/9/2024 @ 7:43 pmOnce a pardon is granted, there are no crimes to indict.
Rip Murdock (aa6621) — 9/9/2024 @ 7:49 pmIf Trump is re-elected, Merrick Garland will no longer be Attorney General and will not be in a position to prosecute Trump for anything.
Rip Murdock (aa6621) — 9/9/2024 @ 7:53 pmRip at 164. Are you channeling Trump or Herod Antipas? Political question may be fine for “republican Form of Government” but it’s gibberish in a criminal case. Aileen Cannon maybe?
No court is going to order a prosecutor to take an indicted defendant to Congress. The court will either uphold the validity of the pardon or not. Period.
nk (a47071) — 9/9/2024 @ 7:57 pm166, 167. Gibberish. Enjoy!
nk (a47071) — 9/9/2024 @ 7:59 pmThat’s gibberish. What does Merrick Garland have to do with anything? When Trump self pardons himself, Garland will be on his book tour.
Rip Murdock (aa6621) — 9/9/2024 @ 8:11 pmBad news never trumpsters polls show harris/trump even. Democrats needs to be up 3% to 4% to win electoral collage as pa. and ny lost seats blue & red states cancel other losses. In 2020 biden won by 8 million votes but won electoral collage by 43,000 votes az. ga. and wi. If harris ahead by 2% or less trump wins electoral collage and the fight is on for left to take over discredited democrat party. Harris only chance run ads showing a coat hanger!
asset (241e24) — 9/9/2024 @ 8:56 pmBTW Trump wants to tax Americans at a level unforeseen, for buying stuff. A ten-per-cent tariff levied on all $3.8 trillion of U.S. imports could theoretically raise three hundred and eighty billion dollars. If only you raised it to 50% you could cover the deficit, which swelled under Trump. I’m sure that wouldn’t cause any ripple’s. Maths is easy with a biggly swoll brain.
America will be great again once you make America not a country again. Debt go poof. America is like land man, how can land be like in debt man. Just rename it to Murca man, it’s like easy man…you wanna white Russian man, I know a guy man.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 9/9/2024 @ 11:32 pmBudget impact, dunno. Free money to different people than the libs.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 9/9/2024 @ 11:41 pmKevin M (a9545f) — 9/9/2024 @ 4:26 pm
I don’t think that the pardon power could be exercised by the Governor alone in all or most cases.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 9/10/2024 @ 3:23 amAnd they hadn’t thought of a pardon before indictments.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 9/10/2024 @ 3:24 amOr at least without specific charges in mind.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 9/10/2024 @ 3:26 amWhat has happened to gasoline prices in the US, adjusted for inflation? They have been almost stable, if anything, falling slightly since 1978.
Note that the graph only covers up through 2022 — and gasoline prices have fallen since then.
Jim Miller (e6b399) — 9/10/2024 @ 6:24 am@171
Maybe I’m just cynical, but we have to remember each election is unique and we shouldn’t “cling” to whatever conventional wisdom derived from previous elections.
But my inner-Eeyore remembers that Biden legit ran a “basement” campaign in 2020, with heavy-handed public speeches and a very compliant media.
I mean, I remembered a lot of people were like “Joe Biden? Really? That guy??“.
Harris can still win this.
whembly (477db6) — 9/10/2024 @ 6:48 amSanewashing is a thing, which is why tonite’s debate is valuable to the American public who are choosing to see it, and there should be more debates, so that a national audience can him unfiltered.
Paul Montagu (01ae08) — 9/10/2024 @ 7:08 amWe’re better off seeing Trump’s full 2-minute answer, because we know it’ll be filled with nonsense and gish-galloping and rambling, not some edited clip. The final paras…
Giggle-snort!
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2024/09/10/too-good-to-check-kamala-issues-page-literally-copied-from-n3794293
…another evidence that Harris would, at the minimum, continue the insane Biden/Harris agendas.
But, she’ll be 100x worse if she wins.
whembly (477db6) — 9/10/2024 @ 7:23 amThere are worse things that can happen.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/10/2024 @ 8:49 amPaging Speaker Jefferies:
There are now at least six votes against the CR: Reps. Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Jim Banks (Ind.), Mike Rogers (Ala.), Cory Mills (Fla.) Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.); along with a number of fence sitters like Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Keith Self (R-Texas), Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), and Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Wesley Hunt (R-Texas), and Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) Democrats are unlikely to support anything except a clean CR that runs until mid-December.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/10/2024 @ 9:09 am@178, right. It’s not “for” Biden/Harris it’s “against” Trump.
Time123 (39e45e) — 9/10/2024 @ 9:59 am@183
It’s hard for me to understand *why* some of you insist on voting against Trump, when you are nominally a GOP/right/non-progressive voters.
I understand NOT voting for anyone, or even voting independent.
I know you, Mr. Frey and others has tried like the dickens to make that case, but its still unpersuasive when you’re facing an, at best a 2nd “Harris/Biden” administration, where at worst, the most radical progressive presidency in modern times.
whembly (477db6) — 9/10/2024 @ 12:36 pm@181
Doubtful.
You want radical abortion policies… vote for Harris. She’s going to shove it down our throats, whether we like it or not.
whembly (477db6) — 9/10/2024 @ 12:37 pmUnlikely. Harris would be unable to do so no matter how she feels. The Supreme Court has transferred responsibility to the states, so there is no mechanism at the national level to impose “radical abortion policies” nor would there be the votes in Congress to do so. The only downside is that there won’t be an pro-life policies enacted to discourage states from continuing to legalize abortions.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/10/2024 @ 12:50 pm@186
Presidents has a ton of power in the executive branch to push it. Such as the military, federal bureaucracy and foreign policies.
whembly (477db6) — 9/10/2024 @ 12:55 pmhttps://mishtalk.com/economics/47-percent-of-all-voters-think-harris-is-too-progressive/
…ooof.
whembly (477db6) — 9/10/2024 @ 12:56 pmHarris can push all she wants, but the courts and Congress can push back.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/10/2024 @ 1:08 pm100% thought Trump was a horrible no good scumbag, 47% think that’s cool to pwn the libs.
100% thought JD Vance was a creepy weird dude.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 9/10/2024 @ 2:15 pmOnly 32 percent of voters said Trump was too conservative,
Did they think that he was too
__trustworthy
__loyal
__helpful
__friendly
__courteous
__kind
__obedient
__cheerful
__thrifty
__brave
__clean
__reverent?
The only conservative thing about Trump is that he never drove his stable to their tricks in a purple Fleetwood with gold wire hubcaps and trim.
nk (f76644) — 9/10/2024 @ 3:09 pmIs Vance truly accusing migrants (in general) of killing stray cats to eat them?
Now it is true that people catch pigeons and take them to Pennsylvania to sell for food.
Mostly Chinese eat them.
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 9/10/2024 @ 3:20 pmI think that when Harris quoted her mother in her acceptance speech and said it was real she was also plaigarizing an idea of Joe Biden. (the apocryphal aphorism from a parent)
Sammy Finkelman (e4ef09) — 9/10/2024 @ 3:25 pmBTW I’m not a weird creepy edgelord, hahahaha, cringe. You see, brown people eat cats and stuff, totes ha. You see, not weird at all.
Colonel Klink (ret) (96f56a) — 9/10/2024 @ 4:21 pmIn 2016, I wrote that, if cultural issues were the most important to a conservative voter, they should support Trump. If foreign policy were the most important, they should support Clinton.
And, if economic issues were the most important, they should vote Libertarian.
The cultural issues that could be won at the Supreme Court have mostly been won. (Were it not for the Loser’s loss of the Senate majority, they would be safe for now.)
But they should be much less important to voters on the national level, now.
Mark Cuban, who knows a little bit about economics, thinks Harris would be better on economics than the Loser — and Biden.
So we are left with foreign policy, and there is no reason to think that Putin’s pal, and Kim’s lover, has any talent for it. Harris may be willing to listen to pragmatists, may be willing to think seriously about the growing terrorist threat, may be able to treat allies with respect, may be able to join with other democracies against our common enemies. The Loser has proven he can’t do any of those things. And doesn’t particularly even want to.
And, here, I must be blunt; the Loser seems entirely willing to accept bribes from foreign nations, in return for favorable policies. We don’t need a president who is both corrupt and incompetent.
Jim Miller (52501b) — 9/10/2024 @ 4:34 pm@whembly@184 It’s the difference between “I can’t stand for him” and “I must stand against him.”
Nic (120c94) — 9/10/2024 @ 7:50 pmShe’s killing it. Recent focus groups of undecided voters said they didn’t really didn’t want to vote for Trump but hadn’t seen enough of Harris. I think that after tonight they will have seen enough and she will pull enough fence sitters to her side to put her over the top.
JRH (489761) — 9/10/2024 @ 7:53 pmShorter Tyreek Hill:
“Don’t you know who I am?!”
Kevin M (a9545f) — 9/11/2024 @ 10:53 amPaging Speaker Jefferies II:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/11/2024 @ 2:43 pm