Contributors

Showing posts with label 2016 Election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2016 Election. Show all posts

Thursday, September 08, 2016

The Media's Five Unspoken Rules For Covering Hillary Clinton

Reprinted here from this very much spot on piece from Jonathan Allen.

1) Everything, no matter how ludicrous-sounding, is worthy of a full investigation by federal agencies, Congress, the "vast right-wing conspiracy," and mainstream media outlets

2) Every allegation, no matter how ludicrous, is believable until it can be proven completely and utterly false. And even then, it keeps a life of its own in the conservative media world. 

3) The media assumes that Clinton is acting in bad faith until there's hard evidence otherwise. 

4) Everything is newsworthy because the Clintons are the equivalent of America's royal family. 

5) Everything she does is fake and calculated for maximum political benefit.

I'd like to see them apply this standard to Donald Trump.

Consumed By Right Wing Bloggery

Like most Americans, I used to find Scot Adams' Dilbert cartoon amusing. His take on the modern office space was fun and irreverent. But lately, he has been letting his ideological slip show and I'm sad to report he's bought in to the right wing blogger ideology, hook, line and sinker.

This recent post about Donald Trump really says it all. It's basically one long diatribe about how Donald Trump really isn't all that bad because our modern political system is a disaster and we should just nuke the site from orbit. Like I said, classic right wing blogger mentality. Let's destroy all the poopy stuff I don't like that makes my head hurt with all the stoopid rules and stuff that mom and dad make me follow (stomp...stomp...stomp...SLAM!)

Adams' fundamental premise is flawed. Fear of Trump isn't the same as fear of the dark. Donald Trump is a shining light of ineptitude, buffoonery, and massive incompetence. He's a con man, plain as day, so we should absolutely be afraid that he might be president. The notion that everything is so fucked up with politics that Trump wouldn't be any different illustrates just how fucking ignorant people can be. Ironic, because Adams attempts to push his own confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance on people who are "afraid of Trump."

Who's really the ignorant one here, Scott?

Wednesday, September 07, 2016

Crooked Hillary and Crazy Donald

As this election season enters its final phase, it's become painfully obvious there is a double standard in terms of candidate bashing. This piece from Olivia Taylor-Young sums it up quite nicely.

1) The most benign, run-of-the-mill stuff is automatic cause for suspicion. 

2) Bad faith must always be presumed. 

3) Regardless of source, every vicious, outlandish accusation warrants headlines and intense investigation.

This is, of course, what happens when you deal with a group of people (conservatives) who behave as adolescents. And a media that gets very high ratings when Clinton scandals are front and center.

Certainly, Trump has been the target of media bashing as well. But the story that sells the best with him is the "Trump is a crazy asshole" meme, not "Trump is crooked and broke the law." Today, I'm wondering why and calling bullshit.

Let's take this step by step. Remember this?



This was just one in a series of comments in which Trump bragged that he paid to play, something he is now pillorying Hillary Clinton for doing. The New York Times has an extensive article up today about how Trump has clearly violated campaign law.

In the 1990s, the Federal Election Commission fined Mr. Trump for exceeding the annual limit on campaign contributions by $47,050, the largest violation in a single year. And in 2000, the New York State lobbying commission imposed a $250,000 fine for Mr. Trump’s failing to disclose the full extent of his lobbying of state legislators. For the most part, Mr. Trump has seemed unrepentant. Testifying in 1988 about a $50,000 bank loan he had first guaranteed, and then repaid, on behalf of Andrew J. Stein’s successful campaign for New York City Council president, Mr. Trump made no bones about the move. “I was under the impression that I was getting my money back,” he told the New York State Commission on Government Integrity.

Imagine if this were Hillary Clinton. There would be calls for jail time, public floggings and a town hanging. But for Trump? He's just a businessman...that's what they do...and now he's calling attention to a broken system.

Except not really.

In the Florida case, Mr. Trump is accused of using a large and timely political donation in 2013 to ward off a potentially thorny investigation by Ms. Bondi’s office: Days before the donation was made, The Orlando Sentinel reported that the New York State attorney general’s office had sued Trump University and noted that Ms. Bondi’s office was weighing whether to join in that litigation.

A political aide to Ms. Bondi told The Associated Press earlier this year that the attorney general had solicited the donation in a conversation with Mr. Trump weeks before The Sentinel’s article. But Mr. Trump made the donation from his charitable foundation, in violation of tax regulations, and paid the penalty, as first reported by The Washington Post last week.

So, here we have Donald Trump behaving like...a politician? That really does not fit with his image as an outsider who wants to change politics as usual. Worse, and unlike the Hilz, there is clear evidence that violated the law.

The question now is...will all of the media cover this because it's not a "Crazy Donald" story?

Tuesday, September 06, 2016

50 State Poll

The Washington Post's recent 50 state poll is a veritable treasure trove for political junkies like me. The first thing that jumps out at me is how the electoral map has shifted quite a bit based on the candidates themselves. The race is much tighter in rust belt states which is good news for Trump. Yet Hillary Clinton is within the margin of error in places like Texas, Mississippi, Georgia and Arizona. What does all this mean?

Well, this was a poll based on 74,000 REGISTERED voters, not likely voters. This makes a huge difference and probably means that Trump is safe in Texas and Mississippi for example. Conversely, this means that Hillary Clinton is safe in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania as well. This poll does, however, show that Hillary Clinton does have a substantial lead over Donald Trump and is basically a couple of states away from 270. Hillary has 244 and Donald has 126 in the solid and leaning category. That's pretty bad.

Here's the video that breaks it all down.

Monday, September 05, 2016

The Biggest Challenge For Hillary Clinton

With the final stretch of the 2016 Election about to begin tomorrow, Hillary Clinton's biggest challenge is convincing the American public that she is more trustworthy than her image is currently showing. Today's piece in the Times is most illustrative of this.

“What am I supposed to do if I don’t like him and I don’t trust her?” a millennial black woman in Ohio asked. “Choose between being stabbed and being shot? No way!”
“She was part of the whole problem that started sending blacks to jail,” a young black man, also from Ohio, observed about Mrs. Clinton.
“He’s a racist, and she is a liar, so really what’s the difference in choosing both or choosing neither?” another young black woman from Ohio said.
And this is from black millenials, a group she will likely carry over Donald Trump. Not good at all. So what does she need to do?

The first debate presents her with a moment to make amends, as best she can, for all of this and show the country that she has the moralistic fortitude to lead this country. Donald Trump is going to attempt to make this his moment as well and I think he may surprise some people. He may very well chuck all the personal attacks, which is what Hillary and her people are preparing for, and merely talk about how great he is and what he will do to help people less fortunate than himself. There may even be a touch of humility in some stuff he says.  His "unpredictability" could be being more normal. Of course, I could be wrong about all of this and he will simply go on with his anger, hate and fear.

Regardless, she needs to answer the email question the way she did when she was interviewed recently by the Morning Joe team.

"Every time I attempt to explain my email server, I end up sounding like I am making excuses. So, no excuses. I made a mistake and I was careless. I apologize."

She could add on to this by saying the following.

"I make no excuses and have learned that, as president, I will have to be more careful to handle sensitive, government material, classified or not. And I promise you that I will."

When she is asked about her foundation, her response should be as follows.

"Though our foundation helps many people around the world, myself and my family can help many more if I become president. So, the foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative will be folded into the Gates Foundation and they can continue on with our work. All documents relating to the foundation and my meetings as Secretary of State will be made public, if they haven't already, for anyone to pour over."

Throughout the entire debate, she should also explain how she learned from her mistakes and how that reflection made her a stronger and more solid person. After all, Trump isn't going to admit any of this so the contrast will be clear between the two candidates. People tend to identify more with leaders who are like them.

Everyone makes mistakes. If Hillary shows us that she is like the rest of us, she eliminates the perception that she is above common folk and that talking point evaporates.


Friday, September 02, 2016

Good Words

From First Read: “More than two months before Election Day, it’s already happening: Downballot Republicans and top GOP leaders are dumping Trump. There was no public memo or major announcement in August — just actions…” 

 “But here’s the bad news: After Labor Day, almost every single Democrat in a House and Senate race will be tying their GOP opponent to Trump. So up and down the ticket, hundreds of millions of dollars in Democratic messaging will be ‘Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump.’ And when there’s been that kind of disparity in messaging when one party is talking about one thing and the opposition is talking about everything else — see 2006 and 2008 (‘Bush, Bush, Bush’) or 2010 and 2014 (‘Obama, Obama, Obama’) — there’s been a wave. November is going to go one of two ways. One, this kind of GOP separation from Trump is going to work like we saw in 1996. Or two, the bottom is going to fall out for the Republican Party.”

I'm thinking it's going to be the latter...:)

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Debate Prep?

The Times has a very interesting article up about how the respective Trump and Clinton camps are preparing for the first debate. It looks like the Donald is going to wing it. Can't wait!

This was my favorite bit from the piece.

“Trump has severe attention problems and simply cannot take in complex information — he will be unable to practice for these debates,” said Mr. Schwartz, who was the subject of a New Yorker profile last month that portrayed Mr. Trump as a charlatan. “Trump will bring nothing but his bluster to the debates. He’ll use sixth-grade language, he will repeat himself many times, he won’t complete sentences, and he won’t say anything of substance.”

All of the words I've bolded perfectly describe pretty much every right wing blog and right wing blog commenter out there. He's definitely their guy!!

Thursday, August 25, 2016

A Lot Of What He Believes...

The "Final Stand" of the Angry Old White Man

There's a big myth out there that Donald Trump has galvanized a whole mess of new conservative voters that will put him over the top come November 8th. David Wasserman over at 538 breaks down why this doesn't really matter and is, in fact, a myth.

There’s no doubt Trump compelled hundreds of thousands of conservative voters to switch their registrations to Republican to vote for him in closed primaries, accelerating these voters’ exodus from formal Democratic affiliation. But do they constitute a surge of new November voters? Not so much. It’s likely that most of these party switchers were already voting Republican.

He then follows this assertion with quite a bit of data. Check it out!

Friday, August 19, 2016

Hitting Reset Again

The Trump 2016 campaign hit the reset button yet again with the hiring of Brietbart News' Stephen Bannon as its chief executive. Trump also brought Kellyanne Conway on board to be the campaign manager. I guess I'm not sure what the difference is between the two roles. Paul Manafort just resigned as campaign manager so that probably helps with the confusion.

So, basically an already failing campaign now has two bosses instead of one. Bannon has vowed to "let Trump be Trump" but that has actually caused far more damage than anyone in the organization would care to admit.

Donald Trump’s Crucial Pillar of Support, White Men, Shows Weakness

I agree with Nate Silver on this one. Trump is doubling down on a losing strategy. He looked a little more polished yesterday, which the media is attributing to Ms. Conway, but this is only one day. Can he actually sustain this? Worse for him, though, is the fact that his main base of support loves it when he is NOT polished and makes offensive comments.

If he becomes someone else, will they lose their interest?


Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Watch The Senate Slip Away

538 has a piece up about how Trump is dragging down GOP candidates for Senate in tossup states.

Check it out


AUG. 3 MARGINAUG. 15 MARGINCHANGE
STATETRUMPGOP SENATE CANDIDATETRUMPGOP SENATE CANDIDATETRUMPGOP SENATE CANDIDATE
N.H.-2+2-11-5-9-7
Illinois-18-1-20-7-2-6
Pennsylvania-6+2-10-2-4-4
N.C.-1+4-5+1-4-3
Wisconsin-9-8-12-11-3-3
Nevada-3+3-4+2-1-1
Florida-4+5-5+5-10
Ohio-4+4-6+6-2+2
Average-3.3-2.8
Trump may be dragging down Republican Senate candidates

At this point, it seems likely that the Dems will take back the Senate. But by how much?

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Most Talented Presidential Candidate Ever?

I can't think of a better clip that demonstrates the media's Sybil like relationship with Donald Trump.



Now, of course, Halperin thinks Trump is a buffoon. Sheesh...

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Are They Persuadable?

Nate Silver has a piece up about what a Clinton landslide would look like. Given the latest polls, this is indeed an interesting possibility to explore. With all this talk, Republicans are trying to find a way to cut themselves loose from Trump, especially given that the Senate is really, really bad for them right now.

Ron Johnson in Wisconsin and Mark Kirk are toast. Pat Toomey and Kelly Ayotte are looking pretty much the same. Ohio, Florida, and North Carolina are all within striking distance. A big turnout by the Dems to stop Trump will flip at least 2 out of those three states.

Donald Trump continues to be a horrible candidate for the GOP but what other choice do they have? This is who the majority of the people in their party voted for and he represents a common sentiment among conservative, non educated whites who feel as though they are being left behind by the progress in the world. I've written previously about this and think that we ought to just leave them behind given their anger, hate and fear. I mean, they are assholes, no?

Check out this recent discussion on Morning Joe (aka the best political talk show on TV).


 I'm definitely going to be picking up Vance's book and checking it out. And I have to admit that their optimism about the Trump folks being persuadable is infectious. Can they be persuaded?

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

It's The Media's Fault!!

For years, conservatives have foamed at the mouth about victims. They caterwaul about how too few Americans don't take responsibility for their individual actions. Even the Gun Cult will tell you that if someone shoots someone else, it's not their fault. We have to place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the individual.

Yet when it comes to their candidates for office or even their pundits, they are not responsible for their words or actions. It's the liberal media, twisting their words and making it seem like they said something they didn't. Rather than own it, they wriggle away with scapegoating an institution that merely calls them on their bullshit.

Take the latest call from Donald Trump to commit violence in the name of liberty. I say "latest" because he's done this before with protesters at his events. Yesterday, he said the following.

Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment. By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know. But I’ll tell you what, that will be a horrible day.

Conservatives have tried to spin this as Trump talking about taking political action to prevent Hillary from getting into office but let's keep in mind that his phrasing suggests that she has already won. That's when the Second Amendment people can step in and it will be horrible. It's pretty clear as to what he is referring. Check out this guy's reaction in the audience.



Rather than apologize for what he suggested and own it, Trump has blamed the media and its bias. Let me make this very, very simple.

No, Donald (and Cult members), it's YOUR fault because YOU said it.

Monday, August 08, 2016

Will They Even Listen To One Of Their Own?

If GOP strategist Rick Wilson and I sat down for a beer to discuss ideology, we'd like find very little with which to agree upon. He's a conservative which means he pushes policies that, for the most part, simply don't work in reality.

But his recent column on Donald Trump and how he has to be beaten badly in November in order to save the party is completely accurate. Let's take a look at a few choice cuts, shall we?

A growing number of Americans are coming to the realization that Trump is more than just a political train wreck; he's a real threat to the nation, what with the fear of nuclear weapons and the sweeping power of the federal government in his tiny paws.

I've seen this from the beginning and it's certainly a reflection of where the party has gone. It gives me a great deal of hope for this country that the adults, regardless of their political stripe, see this too.

Those of us who believe, who know, that Trump is dangerous can't just settle for him being beaten in November. We need to ensure that he is on the business end of a decisive, humiliating defeat — so that the terribly divisive forces he has unleashed are delivered a death blow.

Those divisive forces can be defined specifically as the right wing blogger/commenter crowd, formerly the short wave radio folks followed by the email forward peeps. These are the moonbats that honestly define the party today and begin their "expert" analysis with the words, "I'm hearing some things from some people..."

Wilson correctly identifies the key to this election's results. Let's bury these fuckers forever. They are a danger to our country and its progress.

The second reason Trump needs to fall hard in November is that the Party of Lincoln needs a complete, top-to-bottom reset — one that completely purges the Trumpkins who believe racial animus is a governing philosophy and that their ignorant and angry primal screams can ever build a Republican majority. After a pretty decisive loss to Obama in 2012, the Republican Party produced an exhaustive, detailed post-mortem pointing the way forward, focused largely on how to better connect with the growing Latino vote. None of the lessons were actually learned. All the recommendations about fixing the posture of the party have been treated as though they had been printed on toilet paper.

Yeah, what happened to that all improved and reflecting GOP? Well, they realized their base is made of racist assholes who don't want to change. As I have stated previously, it's time to leave them behind. Wilson has a different idea...sort of....

Well, Trump voters, it's your turn. Go get a switch. I'm not going to coddle you and say you're really smart and good people and this is just a misunderstanding. That's just what the PC crowd does on the left. Trumpkins don't deserve a participation trophy for wrecking the party and saddling the nation with Hillary. They made the crazy the enemy of the good, and centered an entire campaign on rage, fear and an eternally shrinking spiral of cult-worship and fanaticism.

I laughed out loud when I saw the PC reference. And "rage, fear?" Hmm...where have I heard that before?:)

So when it's over, Trumpkins, remember: You're not purging us. We're purging you. No more hate and reckless group blame. No more fact-free fearmongering. No more feeding the obese ego of a man who's transparently unfit for the job.

Can they actually do it? Given this...

While Donald Trump was retweeting "White Genocide 1488 Ovenmaster," Clinton's campaign was building data files and contacting swing voters. While Trump was tweeting about "Crooked Hillary," she was having precisely targeted television ads aimed at swing voters in the suburbs of key cities in battleground states appearing at just the right moments. While Trump was depending on red hats and WWE rallies, her people have been going door-to-door by the thousands, knocking, talking, winning hearts and winning votes.

...I'm not sure it's possible.


Sunday, August 07, 2016

Really Fucking Bad

Remember a few months back when some pundits were hand wringing over how Hillary Clinton could get Donald Trump? After all, the guy was impervious, right? He bested a "strong" GOP field of 16 other candidates and was all set to take down the Hilz in similar fashion. There was no earthly way she could stop him.

Except she did.

And it was magnificent.

We're still three months away from the election and a lot could happen. In fact, I'm expecting a few bad things to happen to Hillary along the way. Maybe even a really bad one or two. That's politics and no doubt her team is expecting it now that we have the revelation that Julian Assange wants to be the teenager who burns the house down just for kicks. But one thing has became very clear in the last week.

Like any right wing blogger or commenter, it's mere child's play to get to a guy like Trump.

The trap she laid for him with Khans was beautiful. It totally threw him off his game and he spent the week pitching a fit that has now put Georgia, Arizona and possibly Missouri in play for the Dems. Down ballot, GOP candidates are scrambling to saw themselves loose of the dead hooker (Trump) to which they are handcuffed. Consider this handy checklist of Trump's behavior as a result of being pwned by the Khans.

-Foamed at the mouth about fire marshals from Colorado to Ohio.

-Kicked a baby out of an event after saying the baby was OK to stay.

-Took a purple heart from a veteran that he said was real but wasn't and made jokes about it.

-Said that if a woman was being sexually harassed in the workplace, she should get a different job.

-Refused to endorse Paul Ryan or John McCain and then grudgingly did so.

-Called Hillary Clinton the devil (ah, that ol' chesnut..:))

-Called the election rigged (see also: taking ball, going home after ass whupping)

-Claimed that a video existed of the US paying off Iran. He later retracted this statement.

-Claimed that the NFL sent him a letter complaining of the debate schedule. The NFL said they never did so.

Given all of this, here's my latest map...


Click the map to create your own at 270toWin.com


Now that we have all seen how easy it is to get a guy like Trump, Hillary's debate strategy should be pretty clear. The guy can't resist taking the bait and then making shit up based on the insanity in his head. So, give him the bait.

More importantly, though, I think we are finally seeing just how well the mentality, emotional balance and ideology of right wing bloggers and commenters would do under the spotlight.

Really fucking bad.

Wednesday, August 03, 2016

Good Words

As an editor I’ve launched investigations into her business dealings, her fundraising, her foundation and her marriage. As a reporter my stories stretch back to Whitewater. I’m not a favorite in Hillaryland. That makes what I want to say next surprising. Hillary Clinton is fundamentally honest and trustworthy.

---Jill Abramson, The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian.

And here's another piece which explains why the Hillary pile on continues to happen.

Tuesday, August 02, 2016

The Continued Adolescent Tantrum

Over the last few months of this campaign, I've note how Donald Trump is exactly the candidate that conservatives deserve. They have gone from the party of Reagan and his shining city on the hill to the party of anger, hate, fear, and darkness. As clearly reflected by their politicians, pundits and supporters (especially the right wing bloggers/commenters), their behavior is that of an adolescent having a temper tantrum, stomping down the hall, slamming the door, and shouting, "You can't make me!!! I don't wanna!!!!"

Witness this latest tantrum from their candidate.


And this wasn't the first time he's called those fat headed fire marshals with all their poopey headed rules and stuff...



So, now we can add fire marshals to the list of people who are against Donald Trump...this on top of Gold Star families.

All of this ranting, raving, and lunacy sure does remind me of many a blog discussion...:)

Monday, August 01, 2016

The Real Email Scandal

Hillary Clinton gave an interview on Fox News on Sunday in which she once again apologized and admitted fault for using a personal email server during her tenure as Secretary of State. The media went ballistic today (natch) over her "lying" about classified material being sent on this server. It's been explained so many times now that I really don't get why everyone is still talking about her emails.

What they should be talking about is the real scandal. Hillary Clinton doesn't understand basic technology and clearly has trouble on the line with the computer machine. Sure, it's not as sexy as her lying and going to jail (nothing gives a conservative a boner like imagining a Clinton in jail), but it is a fact. She set up the private server because she didn't have the multi-tasking capability to toggle between two different emails on her Blackberry. When she was asked about her hard drive being scrubbed, she said, "What do you mean, with a cloth?" She seemed to not understand reading the code on three emails that had a "c" classification.

All of this tells me that she doesn't understand something the leader of the free world should get. I have several emails accounts on my phone along with a variety of apps that I use all the time. Granted, I may be a bit ahead of the game in terms of tech but the president should have basic level knowledge of this stuff.

I highly doubt the media, particularly the conservative media, will go after on this but they should. It's a valid criticism and it should be concerning to voters.