Trump

[Eliahad]

boots and pants and boots and pants and boots and pants and boots and pants...

[Cazmonster]

Where's Michael Ironside when we really need him?

And I mean him from SCANNERS.

[Elle]

As a person with a big mouth who is always saying a lot of stupid, random stuff, I gotta tell you, I think the Congressman who just called for Hillary's public execution needs to resign. That was really repulsive. In an election season of new lows, that was an even newer low. We have people committing unspeakable acts of violence, like these police shootings, and terrible violence going on around the world, and I really cannot see how it is acceptable for this man to publicly recommend execution of a presidential candidate without consequence. Seriously wtf.

[Eliahad]

Wait, did that really happen? Isn't that illegal?

[Elle]

Sorry, I apparently have brain damage, as I need sleep and don't do it enough. This is all true but it was not a congressman who said it but a Republican Convention Delegate.

Plagiarised from somewhere I can't locate with back button, more brain probs:

Delegate Michael Folk, a Berkeley County Republican and commercial pilot who called for the public execution of Hillary Clinton has been suspended by his employer, pending an investigation.

“This pilot has been removed from flying pending our investigation,” United Airlines wrote on its Twitter account Sunday evening. “We are appalled by his threatening comments.”

On Friday afternoon Folk wrote on his Twitter account that Clinton “should be tried for treason, murder, and crimes against the US Constitution ... then hung on the Mall in Washington, DC.”

- See more at: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20160 ... tjq3N.dpuf

[akiva]

And last night Melania Trump stole a speech from Michelle Obama, who in turn stole it from me (it was originally a graduation speech).

[Elle]

You need twitter for that, and apparently a connection for good or ill to Taylor Swift. Then you can get justice and hopefully cash. As a person afflicted with lifelong logorrhea I have never felt great about Twitter, but then they resisted the government efforts to spy on people and helped foment democratic resistance movements against tyranny, and I was warmed to them. It was really the green revolution in Iran that turned me pro Twitter.

[Cazmonster]

There is a norovirus outbreak at the RNC. It could turn into a literal shit storm.

[Elle]

Yknow, I was totally willing to give Melania a pass on those lines because hey, she probably had a speechwriter working with her, right? I blame the campaign staff for not picking up on that - surely someone gets paid to study recent first lady speeches, yes?

But then the KID plagiarized his speech too, and... I either suspect deliberate sabotage and/or this is a basic sign of Trump's total incompetence as a leader. If he can't even organize a functional campaign staff, how is he going to handle ANY major governing responsibility? Can you even imagine what is going on behind the scenes there?

Anyway, bottom line, he is one of the most mendacious people ever to seek the Presidency, if not THE most dishonest, and that's really saying something. When you are caught with your ass hanging out twice and you pretend it's all in everyone else's mind, just give up. WTF kind of psychopath operates that way? Do something wrong, get caught, and instead of admitting any possible weakness, attack whoever exposed your error, preferably by accusing them of doing the same thing you just did. It's a total mindfuck strategy, and it can be effective, but not so much with the whole world watching. You can't gaslight all the people at once. I do find this is a "CEO" type behavior. Many men in powerful positions will act like this. Don't know about women; I don't encounter that many women on top of their hills. But I've seen it happen at work, and my husband sometimes tries it when he's still in "work mode" and/or hungry (seriously) and/or needs nicotine. Is there a name for this thing in psychology? It's like some animalistic dominance display - you know, if you are claiming you were wronged, then I only can perceive you as threatening me since I'm up here on top of the hill, so my recourse is to flip it around on you. I'm the real victim here. You did the same thing but worse. Nietzsche def. had this move pegged.

[Elle]

From Jeffrey Goldberg's account. Oh My God:

"Trump “even called into question, whether, as president, he would automatically extend the security guarantees that give the 28 members of NATO the assurance that the full force of the United States military has their back.” Trump told the Times that, should Russia attack a NATO ally, he would first assess whether those nations “have fulfilled their obligations to us.” If they have, he said, he would then come to their defense."

[Elle]

I both can and cannot believe that Trump did not walk back his INSANE comments on not defending member states of NATO last night. He is constitutionally incapable of admitting error, so he's not going to want to do that, but I predict that after he is trashed to ribbons over it over the next few weeks, he walks it back in some way, most obviously by saying that people misunderstood his original comments so the blame is on them, not him.

Ivanka was great; she is the best thing going for his campaign, especially among politically-moderate women. She is basically what every PTA mom I encounter is trying to be, both literally and figuratively, so I assume they love her. Granted, it's not clear to me why Trump is committed to any of the things she said, since he never talks about them, and they're all straight-up Democratic talking points. But whatever, she was good.

Trump started off strong but then it just went on and on and on. After about 20-30 minutes he should have spent 10 more to wrap it up, but that's when he took the deep right turn into DOOM and DARKNESS and how completely screwed up the country is. Those of us who believe the grimmer global climate change predictions are already there for a different reason, but I was amazed at how negative about America these folks are. It's not just the slogan (which bugs Chloe because even at 9 years old, watching her first political speeches since 4 years ago, she noticed that the Make America Great phrase implies that it ain't great already!), but the pervasive and dishonest account of how bad everything is both at home and abroad. If anything has been improving the bad, it has been the Obama administration (or, to be fair, the last 8 years of governing, for which he bears partial responsibility), while fought tooth and nail on every point by the Republican Congress. (One wonders what he might have accomplished for the economy without the constant debt ceiling and budget brinkmanship, but whatever.)

It also shocks me that they are chanting to put Hillary in jail. Over emails - but generally just because they hate her. They don't need much excuse! A failure to find any criminal wrongdoing on her part is meaningless when you know in your heart that bitch is guilty, I guess. That is truly unbelievable, and they mean it. I know some of these people and they mean it - her and Obama too. They think they are actually ENEMIES of the state, criminals! The last time I heard anyone on the left calling for such things, it was after Cheney and GWB had actually put up a legal justification for the completely illegal torture methods their administration had intentionally deployed. One that you didn't see people like Romney embracing. Now we have Trump who wants to ramp up the torture regime, without any due process! He sneers at due process! He publicly longs for a time when people could hurt each other (literally he has said this multiple times) without consequence, e.g. putting down protests. He admires tyrants like Putin and Assad and people who crush dissent in their regimes like Erdogan. It is truly unbelievable to me that this is going on and people swallow this and cheer for it and the mainstream media sits back and lets it pass as just another "perspective" or opinion.

There's a really good comment on Trump's speech from David Frum (who at one point would have been considered a conservative and who was GWB's speechwriter and biographer, and now he's probably considered a socialist by that Cleveland crowd). He points out that Trump is speaking to and encouraging a great division among Americans between the "deserving" and "undeserving", which is rather different (and scarier, as a means of motivating people) from all the makers/takers language we've been hearing:

"Trump’s country is divided in a different way: between those who have lost a status they deserved—and those who have gained a status they do not deserve."

Frum then quotes Trump: "I have visited the laid-off factory workers, and the communities crushed by our horrible and unfair trade deals. These are the forgotten men and women of our country. People who work hard but no longer have a voice.

I AM YOUR VOICE."

Back to Frum: "Donald Trump’s country is a country in which deserving people feel they have lost even the right to complain about what has happened to them, lest they give offense to some grievance group."

This is a really good point. This is what I hear from the people I know who support Trump: they're pissed off because they feel that good people (like themselves, natch) are losing ground every day in this country, economically and otherwise, and when they try to blame the usual scapegoats for it (Others not like themselves! immigrants! greedy junk-food-eating welfare moms! thugs! Muslims (including Obama)!), some whiny types on the left bray about political correctness and offense. And I'm sure it's a heck of a lot easier for Trump to reach these people by blaming the "rapist" Mexicans he wants to deport than it is to ask why employers are given a free pass for breaking the law by hiring illegal immigrants. It's easier to blame liberals in general than it is to actually do something about the massive, astonishing wealth inequality in this country - i.e. Bernie Sanders' core issue. (IMO Bernie appeals to the same mentality that things are really effed up and we need a radical correction, but minus the hatred for Others-Not-Like-Us and with actual policy proposals that are needed to fix things.)

Trump wants us to trust him personally to fix it all by magic, since he has no actual policy proposals besides things like BUILD A WALL and crazy talk about not supporting NATO. God I hope that sanity prevails in this country, I PRAY that sanity prevails. Because we are pretty damned close to having an outright dictatorship here, right now. My husband is certain that the U.S. Military would not permit Trump to operate as an actual dictator. But I think they would permit a great deal of movement in that direction - we've already seen how much power the state has assumed for itself outside the law, and how easily they've created law to permit it in some areas (e.g. spying on all of us, all the time). Trump would exploit all of that to the fullest and then some - as we know, due process is meaningless. It is truly terrifying.

[Elle]

Oh, here's another one I missed:

"Baldasaro, a Republican state representative from New Hampshire and a retired Marine Sergeant who advises Trump on veterans issues, went on Jeff Kuhner's radio show live from the RNC. Asked about whether he believes Clinton is responsible for the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi in 2012, Baldasaro didn't mince words.

“This whole thing disgusts me, Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason,” Baldasaro said, before going on to call her a "piece of garbage.""

The Trump campaign was apparently moved to comment only after the Secret Service began an investigation. They said they "did not agree" but refused to distance themselves from Baldasaro or decline to use him as an advisor.

[Elle]

I have a college friend whose parents emigrated from one of the Baltic republics. He was absolutely overjoyed by the fall of Communism, attributed it to Reagan and Bush Sr., is a lifelong FERVENT Republican, and has been very active in business development in that country since that time. I am dying to know what he thinks about Trump and the latest comments about not supporting the Baltic states, or some kind of mickeymouse "if they fulfill obligations" nonsense. It's like he's a Mafia boss running some sort of extortion scheme! You can only pay 1.5%? "Congratulations! You can defend yourselves! I'll be waiting until my ol' buddy Vlad pays you a visit! Screw that old treaty!" OH MY GOD PEOPLE. Actually scared at this point.

But Hillary rumored to be picking Tim Kaine, and I love him, so.... okay. Breaths.

"Trump’s comments in a New York Times interview “would seem to put him on the same page with Mr. Putin,” Richard Armitage, who was deputy secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration, said in an interview with Reuters."

I cannot ever, ever get past that name without thinking of North and South and Thorin Oakenshield. It is not easy for me to have chemical feelings for Thorin Oakenshield, people.

[akiva]

[Elle]

Prior to this point, I liked him because he used his law degree to fight housing discrimination, probably passing up more lucrative options given his resume. After VA Tech he fought the NRA doggedly. He seems like a really nice guy who is steadfast in pushing important issues forward. He was a good leader for the Democrats for a while. I don't agree with him on everything and he's not a choice that caters to progressives. But for Hillary's VP specifically, I think he brings exactly the right things to the race and makes a great partner with her.

[Elle]

The Trump thing, with Russia. The fact that Wikileaks now appears to be an arm of Putin's regime, and is quoting Ann Coulter approvingly for good measure. I'm too tired to deal with this. I have a very spoiled life but I am very, very tired, and I just cannot pay attention to this horrible election anymore. I was ignoring it as much as possible for months and then decided to watch some convention-time stuff here, and... how can people stand this? The hatred. The mendacity. The sense that levers are moving constantly to which no regular person has access, and that ensure total obstructionism and hostility so that nothing ever gets solved. It's simply exhausting.

[Elle]

Just because it makes me feel more sane and grounded to write the words down, the current GOP nominee is calling for Putin to commit an act of criminal espionage against his opponent, so that he can win the election. It's a difficult to thing to roll around in my mind. My grandpa was a Republican and for most of my youth he had me convinced. I was under the impression that without Republicans, we would not enjoy the power of compounded interest and the freedom to purchase stocks. He was a war hero, my grandpa, and he made it clear that the GOP was preventing us from losing the Cold War, which Democrats, bless their hearts, really did not understand the gravity of. And for some reason (okay, reason - logic, whatever, combined with a complete ignorance about both human sexuality and biology) I was 100% pro-life. That's where I started out in political viewpoint. I am not still in that place, but I get it. I see it. I grew up thinking guns were not the enemy. I grew up thinking private property was the foundation of our democracy (also had read lots of Locke but didn't know much about Native American history). I can understand why people might want to be Republicans. I can sympathize. Many of them are good, decent human beings just like anyone else, even if we differ. I vote for Republicans on a regular basis because I live in the Midwest, so that's kind of what we have to choose from in many races. Even when I'm voting for a Democrat I sometimes feel like I'm really voting for a Republican! So there we are. Political differences are real, but we are all humans trying to move forward via earnest debate about what would be best for our community, yes?

But no! Not today. Whatever Trump is spouting about Vladimir Putin today, it sounds like a sinister incantation that just might cause my grandpa to rise from his grave at any moment and seize back his Elephant party. Granddad will have all kinds of zombie friends to help him, no doubt. I have no idea what has happened to the living Republicans. THIS SHIT IS REAL. I can't even believe what I am seeing and hearing. Forget all the "rise of Hitler" stuff; this man is just flat out insane. His dad had Alzheimer's, am I right, and Trump is 70? This is not a joke, people. He might be mentally incompetent. No - he IS mentally incompetent, not "might be". But forget him for the moment: his people right now today at the rally are screaming "lock her up" as if they, too, are mentally incompetent. I have no doubt Hillary has all sorts of problems and has done all sorts of bad things. It disgusts me that she could be so stupid as to set up a private email server knowing the gravity and import of her job. And yet... SOME HOW THAT SEEMS LESS IMPORTANT THAN ENCOURAGING TREASON WITH THE HELP OF A DANGEROUS FOREIGN GOVERNMENT! WHAT THE FUCK MEDIA???

[Cazmonster]

This is treason, plain and simple. Lock him up.

[salvation122]

Treason has an extremely high bar, which this doesn't quite clear. Probably a violation of the Logan Act and possibly something along the lines of conspiracy to commit espionage, though!

[Elle]

His defense is that he just wanted them sent to the FBI. So, it's fine to encourage the foreign government to commit espionage against his political opponent, as long as they send the results to the FBI? Like, that whole Watergate thing would have been totally cool if they had just gotten Soviet agents to do it, and if they had mailed it all to the FBI? It's like we have gone through the looking glass and I don't even know what planet this is. The scary thing is, I've noticed mostly old people upset about this. The ones old enough to see a sitting President step down because of Watergate. Apparently today something many, many times worse than this is no biggie.