The Neverending Thread for Political Shit

[beantownbubba]

168 hours...

[Dean]

I am reminded of this snippet...

"…(I)n both the Ohio and Nebraska primaries, back to back, McGovern was confronted for the first time with the politics of the rabbit-punch and the groin shot, and in both states he found himself dangerously vulnerable to this kind of thing. Dirty politics confused him. He was not ready for it….

This is one of the oldest and most effective tricks in politics. Every hack in the business has used it in times of trouble, and it has even been elevated to the level of political mythology in a story about one of Lyndon Johnson’s early campaigns in Texas. The race was close and Johnson was getting worried. Finally he told his campaign manager to start a massive rumor campaign about his opponent’s life-long habit of enjoying carnal knowledge of his own barnyard sows.

“Christ, we can’t get a way calling him a pig-fucker,” the campaign manager protested. “Nobody’s going to believe a thing like that.”

“I know,” Johnson replied. “But let’s make the sonofabitch deny it.”

Hunter Thompson "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72"[/quote]





On Ed Muskie's "rumored" drug use

“I never said he was [taking Ibogaine],” he continued, “I said there was a rumor in Milwaukee that he was, which was true when I started the rumor in Milwaukee.”


Lord knows we miss him right about now

[Beebs]

168 hours...

Time to suit up for the white trash insurrection on Wednesday morning.

[Tequila Cowboy]

168 hours...

I'm seriously concerned I might not make it that long. I've been good, I haven't been data mining the polls every morning, I've been trying not to freak out, but I couldn't help myself this morning. If Trump wins I'll be in the deep weeds, well I suppose we all will be.

[brett27295]

I'm seriously concerned I might not make it that long. I've been good, I haven't been data mining the polls every morning, I've been trying not to freak out, but I couldn't help myself this morning. If Trump wins I'll be in the deep weeds, well I suppose we all will be.

I'm sure it's just the fear (and anxiety) talking but I've basically convinced myself that he's going to win.

[Beebs]

168 hours...

I'm seriously concerned I might not make it that long. I've been good, I haven't been data mining the polls every morning, I've been trying not to freak out, but I couldn't help myself this morning. If Trump wins I'll be in the deep weeds, well I suppose we all will be.

Maybe my head is in the sand but I simply don't have the emotional bandwidth right now to even consider the possibility of him winning. A light has been shined on the loudest, least empathetic americans the media can find. As gross as they are, the overwhelming majority of us are still passably reasonable. I have to believe that this is a media arranged dumpster fire that will run out of fuel soon and all the racist trash will more or less get back in line.

[tinnitus photography]

I'm seriously concerned I might not make it that long. I've been good, I haven't been data mining the polls every morning, I've been trying not to freak out, but I couldn't help myself this morning. If Trump wins I'll be in the deep weeds, well I suppose we all will be.

I'm sure it's just the fear (and anxiety) talking but I've basically convinced myself that he's going to win.

a lot of this must be regionally colored, as in MA i can't think of anyone who thinks he is gonna win.

[Tequila Cowboy]

I'm seriously concerned I might not make it that long. I've been good, I haven't been data mining the polls every morning, I've been trying not to freak out, but I couldn't help myself this morning. If Trump wins I'll be in the deep weeds, well I suppose we all will be.

I'm sure it's just the fear (and anxiety) talking but I've basically convinced myself that he's going to win.

Yeah, I have too. I'm just trying to figure out how to cope.

[Tequila Cowboy]

I'm seriously concerned I might not make it that long. I've been good, I haven't been data mining the polls every morning, I've been trying not to freak out, but I couldn't help myself this morning. If Trump wins I'll be in the deep weeds, well I suppose we all will be.

I'm sure it's just the fear (and anxiety) talking but I've basically convinced myself that he's going to win.

a lot of this must be regionally colored, as in MA i can't think of anyone who thinks he is gonna win.

Things like this don't help

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the ... trump-win/

[brett27295]

Yeah, I have too. I'm just trying to figure out how to cope.

The only thing that keeps me going is knowing that the electoral math is so tough for Trump to overcome.

[schlanky]

...the electoral math is so tough for Trump to overcome.

Yep---Looking at electoral math, it looks like Trump has the snowball's chance in hell of winning. Yeah, there are scenarios for him winning, but not many.

[beantownbubba]

Yeah, there are scenarios for him winning, but not many.

The more important something is, the less important the percentages or odds of it happening are.

When my son first got sick, we were told he had a 70% chance of survival. That sounded really good at the time; plenty of reason for optimism. Then just by chance I happened to be sitting in the waiting room at the Jimmy Fund w/ exactly 10 kids (not including my own). It hit me that if they all had the same diagnosis as Bryan, three of them would be dead in less than 5 years (probably less than 2, the way these things work). All of a sudden, 7 out of 10 didn't seem so great and I started to realize that we were in a "one out of one game." As it happens, my son was one of the 7, but he had multiple recurrences. Each time, the odds of survival went down considerably. By his last recurrence (and practically, even the time before that), he was in a cohort of fewer than ten, i.e. the docs were not aware of even 9 other kids anywhere at any time who had survived as long as he had w/ the number of recurrences he had. Nobody would even hazard a guess at odds at that point but let's say they were 1 in 1,000. To me those odds were the same as 7 in 10: As long as the left side was greater than zero, it was not the odds that mattered it was which side of the equation my son landed on. There was no room or time to think about or focus on anything other than being THE one.

A presidential election, especially one as fraught and seemingly weighted w/ meaning and consequence as this one, is equally binary and final. One candidate wins, one loses. Period. And the consequences are dramatic. Doesn't matter if the favorite had, say, a 92% chance of winning if in fact the 8% comes up. And vice versa.

Vote.

[Tequila Cowboy]

If the Democratic firewall holds and Hillary hangs on to Michigan and Wisconsin and wins in Pennsylvania Trump likely doesn't win. If he takes any of the firewall states he likely wins. this isn't so much about Florida and NC Carolina as it is the upper midwest and the rust belt. The Trump campaign is pushing hard in Michigan and Wisconsin so obviously have the same idea.

[Zip City]

If Trump wins, I will seriously consider work opportunities abroad, as will my wife. I have no desire to live in Trump's America. None

[Bill in CT]

The site linked below is the one I have monitored the most for this and other elections. Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are all currently listed in the "Moderate Clinton" section which is better than if they were in the "Weak Clinton" section. The site currently projects that Clinton will garner 323 electoral votes while Trump will get 215. Click on the link below for more detailed projections.

http://www.electionprojection.com/presi ... ctions.php

[Tequila Cowboy]

The site linked below is the one I have monitored the most for this and other elections. Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are all currently listed in the "Moderate Clinton" section which is better than if they were in the "Weak Clinton" section. The site currently projects that Clinton will garner 323 electoral votes while Trump will get 215. Click on the link below for more detailed projections.

http://www.electionprojection.com/presi ... ctions.php

Bill, I don't know those guys but that's the most bullish map for Clinton I've seen. I mostly look at FiveThirtyEight and Real Clear Politics. I like it but I'm not sure I trust it.

[schlanky]

Maybe my head is in the sand but I simply don't have the emotional bandwidth right now to even consider the possibility of him winning. A light has been shined on the loudest, least empathetic americans the media can find. As gross as they are, the overwhelming majority of us are still passably reasonable. I have to believe that this is a media arranged dumpster fire that will run out of fuel soon and all the racist trash will more or less get back in line.

If nothing else, I think the whole damn country is going to need counseling after this election (no matter which way it goes).

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Maybe my head is in the sand but I simply don't have the emotional bandwidth right now to even consider the possibility of him winning. A light has been shined on the loudest, least empathetic americans the media can find. As gross as they are, the overwhelming majority of us are still passably reasonable. I have to believe that this is a media arranged dumpster fire that will run out of fuel soon and all the racist trash will more or less get back in line.

If nothing else, I think the whole damn country is going to need counseling after this election (no matter which way it goes).

We needed counseling long before now. The fact that we didn't get it is why we have this election as it is

[Eyes Above It]

This photo from a Loveland, CO Trump rally needs no caption. Kind of tells all.

My question is when this awful, horrific election is over how do we learn to listen to these people?

Angry white people are still the majority in this country, which is why I think Trump has a real shot at this. We'll see though.

[Eyes Above It]

The cringe is strong in this one. Tell me again how this guy is supposed to be more credible than the two major party candidates?*

*edit: ok, more credible than Clinton. My half bulldog half mutt is more credible than Trump.

I still plan on voting for Gary, as I think he is a decent human being who is in it for the right reasons. However, moments like these have led me to concede that he's not really cut out for this job either.

I wish he had Obama's swagger and charisma, if he did he might actually pose a threat to Trump and Clinton.

[Tequila Cowboy]

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/11/ ... llary.html

Under Obama we have departed from the Founders’ constitution of separation of powers towards one-man rule by the president. With Mrs. Clinton, we’d see an even greater slide towards an all-powerful presidency, by an imperious person who holds subordinates in contempt and who labels Republicans as enemies and “deplorables.”

She doesn’t have a legislative agenda. She has a regulatory and Supreme Court agenda, and the justices she would appoint could be expected to bless one-person rule by the president. That’s why George Mason called this an “elective monarchy,” which he said would be worse than George III.

Are you fucking kidding me?

[Smitty]

Don't know where to put this, but since it's being politicized (maybe rightfully so, but there's still the human aspect) especially since the Standing Rock calamity has the oil and pipeline industry in the news, I'll put it here: keep the workers and their families involved in the pipeline explosion in your thoughts. The company they worked for (L.E. Bell) is the lifeblood of the county I live in; I worked there right out of high school and my brother worked there for over 12 years. I know some of the guys who were injured and the families of the two guys who died (so far) and they're good people. However you feel about the oil industry, remember these are just people trying to provide for their families the best they can.






OK, back to the shitshow that is the 2016 election.

[beantownbubba]

Yeah, Thomas Friedman can be a pompous ass but between these 2 columns he gets Donald Trump exactly right. As I keep saying, this is a one issue campaign and the issue is Trump. He is different in kind than all other candidates (at least in my lifetime) and these 2 columns explain those differences, which have nothing at all to do with policy and everything to do with the kind of human being he is and isn't.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/opini ... l-friedman

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/opini ... l-friedman

[Clams]

Yeah, Thomas Friedman can be a pompous ass but between these 2 columns he gets Donald Trump exactly right. As I keep saying, this is a one issue campaign and the issue is Trump. He is different in kind than all other candidates (at least in my lifetime) and these 2 columns explain those differences, which have nothing at all to do with policy and everything to do with the kind of human being he is and isn't.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/opini ... l-friedman

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/opini ... l-friedman

Blah blah blah. None of that matters, or matters enough, to an enormous swath of the American public.

[beantownbubba]

Yeah, Thomas Friedman can be a pompous ass but between these 2 columns he gets Donald Trump exactly right. As I keep saying, this is a one issue campaign and the issue is Trump. He is different in kind than all other candidates (at least in my lifetime) and these 2 columns explain those differences, which have nothing at all to do with policy and everything to do with the kind of human being he is and isn't.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/opini ... l-friedman

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/opini ... l-friedman

Blah blah blah. None of that matters, or matters enough, to an enormous swath of the American public.

True. That's the part I don't understand.

[tinnitus photography]

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/11/ ... llary.html

Under Obama we have departed from the Founders’ constitution of separation of powers towards one-man rule by the president. With Mrs. Clinton, we’d see an even greater slide towards an all-powerful presidency, by an imperious person who holds subordinates in contempt and who labels Republicans as enemies and “deplorables.”

She doesn’t have a legislative agenda. She has a regulatory and Supreme Court agenda, and the justices she would appoint could be expected to bless one-person rule by the president. That’s why George Mason called this an “elective monarchy,” which he said would be worse than George III.

Are you fucking kidding me?

She doesn’t have a legislative agenda. She has a regulatory and Supreme Court agenda,

while Drumpf has repeatedly said that he would nominate a pro-life, pro-guns judge for SJC. who's got the agenda again?

[John A Arkansawyer]

She doesn’t have a legislative agenda. She has a regulatory and Supreme Court agenda,

while Drumpf has repeatedly said that he would nominate a pro-life, pro-guns judge for SJC. who's got the agenda again?

I have deeply felt principles, you have a pragmatic platform, she has an agenda.

[jr29]

Yeah, Thomas Friedman can be a pompous ass but between these 2 columns he gets Donald Trump exactly right. As I keep saying, this is a one issue campaign and the issue is Trump. He is different in kind than all other candidates (at least in my lifetime) and these 2 columns explain those differences, which have nothing at all to do with policy and everything to do with the kind of human being he is and isn't.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/opini ... l-friedman

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/opini ... l-friedman

Blah blah blah. None of that matters, or matters enough, to an enormous swath of the American public.

Two guys I work with and a lady friend all three kinda expect Anthony Weiner to be dead soon. There is no overcoming that. I consider all three to be good and decent people, but I couldn't sway their vote anymore than they could sway mine.

[Smitty]

Oh god, the "Clintons are murderers" bunch are the worst.

[jr29]

Oh god, the "Clintons are murderers" bunch are the worst.

And fairly abundant.