He Can't Sleep, Someone On The Internet Is Wrong

When I think of a right wing blogger or commenter, here's the first thing that comes to my mind...

Sums them up perfectly in many ways:)

So, it comes as no surprise that their current champion does the same fucking thing. Check out these tweets from Donald Trump.

 Follow

Donald J. Trump 

✔@realDonaldTrump

Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an "angel" without checking her past, which is terrible!

4:14 AM - 30 Sep 2016

 
•  6,6736,673 Retweets
 
•  17,11217,112 likes

 Follow

Donald J. Trump 

✔@realDonaldTrump

Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT! Hillary was set up by a con.

4:19 AM - 30 Sep 2016

 
•  6,7776,777 Retweets
 
•  16,80816,808 likes

 Follow

Donald J. Trump 

✔@realDonaldTrump

Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?

4:30 AM - 30 Sep 2016

 
•  7,6757,675 Retweets
 
•  17,58417,584 likes

Look at the times on them. What kind of a person is up this late obsessing over something so ridiculous? This is who 40 million people are supporting for our next commander in chief? Really?

A Trump-Machado Weigh Off

During the debate Hillary Clinton criticized Donald Trump for calling the 1996 Miss Universe winner, Alicia Machado, "Miss Piggy." Instead of letting this go, Trump went on the warpath the next day. Calling in to Fox News he kept repeating, like a broken record, that her weight was a "real problem, a real problem."

Okay, let's have a look at this "problem."

When Machado gained weight during her reign as Miss Universe, Trump got angry. He said she ballooned up to "160, 170 lbs." She says she gained 10-20 lbs. Other articles say she gained 40 lbs.

So instead of bickering about numbers, let's take a look at the photographic evidence. Here's a photo from the workout that Trump actually invited reporters to, in order to embarrass Machado into losing weight. This was from the time when Trump called her "Miss Piggy."

Now, does that woman look grossly overweight? No. She's jumping rope, and looks completely normal. In this one workout she probably burned more calories than Donald Trump has burned since college, when he reportedly stopped exercising because he thinks exercise will kill you. The most exercise he gets these days is waddling from his golf cart to his limousine.

Now, let's have a look at Donald Trump. He usually wears suits, which are specially constructed to obscure men's weight problems. But there are pictures of him cheating at golf wearing golf clothes, so this is the best we can do.

To put it politely, Trump is a porker. When he went on the Dr. Oz show, Trump claimed to be 6'3" and 236 lbs. Not surprisingly, Trump lied about his height: he's actually 6'2", based on previous reports and comparisons between Trump's height an numerous other people whose heights we do know for sure.

The lie about the height is important. If you go to your favorite BMI (body mass index) calculator and enter Trump's claimed height and weight of 6'3" and 236 lbs, it comes out to 29.5, or overweight. If you input Trump's actual height, 6'2", it comes out 30.3: obese.

Trump's weight has variously been reported as high as 251 and 267 lbs, though his doctor claims Trump has lost 15 lbs in the last year. Sure, that's possible.

Weight is a very touchy issue. Human bodies evolved to store as much fat as possible as a hedge against starvation. This helped our ancestors on the plains of Africa and the ice-bound reaches of northern Europe. But it plays hell with our metabolism in calorie-rich modern America. It's really hard to keep weight off if you're under stress, not getting enough sleep or exercise, traveling, and eating fast food. (Various chemicals introduced into the environment that simulate estrogens and other hormones are also playing a role in the epidemic of obesity the Western world faces.)

So I try not to judge people by their weight, especially when they're trying their hardest to do all the right things. But Donald Trump isn't trying: he doesn't exercise, he doesn't get enough sleep, and he eats junk food. He's fat because he loves to eat and just sits around.

In other words, he's doing the same thing that he accused Alicia Machado of. Now, you might say, Trump isn't trying to be Miss Universe, he's running for president. Trump's campaign keeps bringing up questions of Clinton's health and stamina.

There are numerous studies that indicate exercise improve brain function and memory. It's not a coincidence that both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama were quite diligent in making sure they get enough exercise.

With Trump so obese and sedentary, he is just not going to be as mentally sharp as someone who exercsies, and he is at a much higher risk of heart attack and stroke.

But, like the pig calling the hen fat, he still has the gall to this day to complain about Alicia Machado's weight problems.

I think one final picture, the cover of next week's New Yorker, explains everything there is to know about Donald Trump:

"Miss Congeniality"

When Teenagers Run For President...

...this happens...

 

Where Trump represents the anger, hateful and fear filled bombast of the right wing blogger/commenter, Johnson represents the other part of that particular personality...zero command of facts....a spine made of jelly...unable to comport themselves in venues with live human beings.

A recent discussion on Facebook with a friend of mine who is a Johnson supporter informed me that he had no problem with this lack of knowledge. In fact, he thought it was a badge of honor because he doesn't have any respect for any world leader so why should he know their names?

More than anything else, this election has exposed a part of our electorate that merely wants to tear the whole playhouse done merely due to ideological spite. Like Mr. Johnson here, they don't care about knowledge or facts. They just want "Not Someone Who Threatens My Own Sense Of Self Worth" in office.

Trump on Coke

I turned to my son during the debate and wondered the same thing. Of course, speculation about this stuff is ludicrous and has no basis in reality. But isn't that what this election is about? Trump is doing well because he tells lies and people believe it. Everyone believes the stereotype about coke users (sniffing alot, meglomania, bluster, and then crashing) whether it's true or not so Dean doubling down on this makes sense given the current political, environment.

I find it hilarious that everyone in the media is outraged by this. They complain that the Democrats aren't adjusting well to a non traditional campaign and then bitch like crazy when they do it.

Good Words

From a question on Quora...

From Trump’s display last night I saw the following:

• A constantly repeated thesis that American is in the worst shape of its life, using hyperbolic phrases and words designed to intensify fear (“disaster,” “terrible,” “worst ever,” “tremendous”)
• Very little discussion of plans to fix this “disaster”
• A wide variety of bold faced lies as proven real time during the debate
• An inability and lack of humility to admit to mistakes or take any ownership
• An unapologetic admittance to dodging taxes and bragging that this is “smart”
• The inability to absorb the slightest insult (of which there will be MANY as president)

With Trump I see a textbook narcissist whose ego has a thirst many of us don’t understand. Becoming president, for him, is the ultimate win purely for the fame and title. This election is unlike any other, so my methods have had to adjust from how I’ve arrived at decisions in the past. So here we go, my first blue vote.

We welcome you with open arms.

Even Better

I've been a professional in the field of education for the last thirteen years. As a result, I've become an expert on adolescent development. Over the years, my skills have been honed to understand how the teenage mind thinks and what are the best practices for engagement and enduring understandings.

Adolescents's first instinct is to rebel. They want to create their own identity that is distinct from their parents. Often times, this rebellion is emotional, irrational and mildly nihilistic. If they can't have their way, they want the whole house torn down. Another key aspect of the teenager is that they can be intellectually lazy and often rely very heavily on the works of others to make their point. This is especially true today in the age of social media and retweets.

With all of this in mind, I was not surprised at all to Kevin Baker's response to my call for an explanation of his support of a candidate who openly wants to make our country submit to the will of Vladimir Putin. Nor am I surprised at his commenters support for such a policy as well. After all, your average teenager like to cut off their nose to spite their face.

Kevin begins by claiming that he will not respond with an uberpost but does so anyway. Of course, it's nothing original from him...just one large cut and paste job of others expressing his emotions for him. In fact, they are mostly photos that demonstrate Hillary Clinton's bizarre ability to turn grown men into catty bitches bent on a "TMZ" like analysis of her. Maybe it's a mommy thing which would fit in nicely with the whole adolescent rage dealio.

Regardless, the Hilz really gets under the skin of right wing bloggers and commenters. They would rather suffer an outright fascist than admit that a Democrat...a female Democrat...would have power over them. They would rather chuck a core ideological tenet (commies are bad) then admit that Hillary Clinton would be a better president in terms of national security and free trade (another core tenet out the window as well)

I will say that I did enjoy some of the memes in the photos insofar as they clearly illustrated the evolutionary line from short wave radio broadcasts to email forwards to blogging to social media. In fact, the entire post (and the comments) also reminded me of the respondents in this video...


So, we had one long apology, fueled by adolescent behavior, for why Trump is the better candidate. I wish they would just admit that they love him. His performance in the debate last night reminded me a great deal of Kevin and his merry band of commenters. His points were filled with bullying and bluster and were largely incoherent. He couldn't sit still and seemed to lose his attention constantly. He had zero specifics on policy and relied largely on logical fallacies in his answers. In short, everything was driven by emotion.

Watching him go on last night, it became abundantly clear that, like a teenager, Trump and the people that will vote for him, just want to tear it all down. They are filled with anger, hate and fear, steadfastly refusing to accept reality. They can't bide the success of people that are far more intelligent and accomplished than they are. A sentence like this....Barack Obama was a great president with constructive policies that saved our country....ignites cognitive dissonance and sends them into a fit. Here's one that will make them feel even more like they are being physically attacked.

Hillary Clinton will be even better.

The Right Wing Blogger Nominee Fucking Tanks

If you want to see how a right wing blogger and/or commenter would do on the big stage, check out the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.



Donald Trump was a complete fucking disaster tonight. His chest thumping over how little debate prep he did was incredibly foolish because he LOOKED LIKE A GUY WHO DIDN'T PREPARE AT ALL. His answers were the same style of incoherent rambling one would see in a blog comments section.

His remarks on national security were all over the place and should give even the most stalwart Republican pause. This is a guy we want running our country and keeping it safe? REALLY??!!

I posted a question on Quora regarding who won and the overwhelming response was Hillary Clinton. Check out the responses!

Completely Ridiculous

Of all the pre-game debate analyses out there, Ross Douthat has the best one. I've been watching with amusement at how most of the media has been pushing the narrative that if Trump simply shows up and doesn't foam at the mouth, he wins. Douthat agrees.

The eve of the first presidential debate is a good time for that exercise, because there’s been so much gaming-out of how Trump might ambush Hillary Clinton, how he might manage expectations well enough to make a poor performance look like victory, that it’s easy to lose sight of the core truth: It will be ridiculous if Donald Trump wins these debates.

Yes, it would. Consider that this is the first time he has stood one on one with an opponent and will now have to get into specifics on policy points. No doubt his current supporters won't care what he does up there (most of them, anyway) but the undecideds (largely white, college educated voters) will most definitely care. He's going to completely tank on many answers and leave the audience wondering exactly why he was nominated given that he knows so little. This works in the GOP primary crowd where having zero intellectual capacity is a crowning achievement. It doesn't work in a general election debate.

Despite recent tightening polls, Trump is still losing this race and here's why.



Trump won't win unless he improves on these numbers.

And, as Douthat notes in his final two paragraphs, this isn't anything new.

This is not a hot take. It is a cold take, a boring take, a take that assumes that the political world, even now, is still relatively rule-bound and predictable. And if I’m wrong, if Hillary manages to throw the debates and the election to Donald Trump, it will be the last such take I offer for many years to come.

I agree and will do the same.

It's Getting Fimed

Great. Fucking. Ad.

This Hillary!

This is the Hillary that should up at the debates. She was hilarious and perfect! BTW, she taped this two weeks ago when she had pneumonia...

The Logic of Trump Voters

The next time a conservative peddles the bullshit line about how they are about facts/logic and liberals are about feelings, show them this.

And then remind them their nominee is Donald Trump...

The Avengers want you ... to vote this November

A bunch of actors who have appeared in Marvel movies got together for a video encouraging people to vote. Though I can't say I'm all that thrilled about seeing Mark Ruffalo in the buff...

Hypothesis: Why Squirrels Are So Bad at Crossing the Road

I was out riding my bike when a squirrel ran across the trail in front of me. The closer I got, the slower it ran. I was expecting it to turn around and go back the way it came, even though it was almost to the other side, but it made a final mad dash and crossed the trail.

Squirrels are legendarily bad at crossing roads. In the fall their little corpses litter the streets, almost as plentiful as dead leaves. There's even an Internet meme about how bad squirrels are at this.

You'd think they'd be good at evading cars. They can run pretty fast, and they evolved to avoid predators swooping down from the skies. But they're terrible at avoiding cars. So I got to wondering why.

When (most) people cross the road, they look both ways before they cross, then they go. Squirrels don't do this, I noticed on my ride. Their head faces forward, perpendicular to the road. Because squirrels are prey animals, their eyes are mounted on either side of their heads.

This is an advantage when you're in the middle of field, because they have a 360 degree field of view: if anything moves, they can see it and flee it.

Humans are predators, so their eyes are mounted on the front of their heads. They have a field of view of about 150 degrees. This requires us to turn our heads to do things like cross the street. This might seem like a disadvantage, but it's an advantage in this case: two eyes provide binocular vision, and therefore depth perception. This makes it much easier to estimate the distance and speed of oncoming cars or creatures.

When crossing the road, squirrels just charge out. They don't turn their heads to look with both eyes: they keep their heads pointing forward. This allows them to see traffic in both directions, but it hinders their ability to accurately gauge the distance and velocity of oncoming vehicles. They can see the cars, but they can't really tell how far away they are or how fast they're going.

Also, because squirrels have a field of view of almost 360 degrees, and not just 150, they're getting a lot more data all at once, which means more to process, which slows down decision making.

Finally, squirrels were evolved to evade predators. If a hawk is bearing down on you it's probably not a bad idea to retreat to your latest safe location.

My hypothesis, therefore, is that the combination of monocular vision, information overload and millennia of evolutionary programming have conspired to make squirrels really bad at crossing the road.

Raccoons are equally bad at crossing the road, based on the roadkill count. But their eyes are front-mounted, so they don't have the squirrels' excuse. They're just slow and fat.

Gun Nation

A candid look at the hardcore, super owner....

Happily Dancing Into The Statism They Claim To Hate

I've spent quite a bit of time over the years having discussions with right wing bloggers and commenters. I've asserted many times in those conversations that these folks were closet authoritarians, secretly wanting the statism that they claim to hate. They obviously don't want it when someone who is not completely ideologically pure is in charge (see also: most of the country).

But, boy oh boy, do they want it when someone like Donald Trumps comes along.

Check out this video.

And then take a look at this.

The quote is from Donald Trump's son but it is an official campaign ad. It's pretty much identical to Nazi Julius Streicher's children's book, The Toadstool, in which a mother explains to a son how one Jew can destroy an entire people.

Looking at the video linked above...seeing all the people cheering...looking at just how many people are supporting Trump...it's clear that I was correct.

These people want statism. And they want it REALLY BAD.

Their adolescent rage over the "elites running everything" (wahhh wahhh....I'm not smart enough.....waaaa.....waaa.....) has led them to the same place that led Nazism to Germany....Fascism to Italy....Communism to Russia...

We all should have recognized this right away when they began accusing the rest of us of pulling our nation into communism or Nazism with our "liberal ways." Generally, when these assholes accuse you of doing something, they are the ones actually doing it.

So, as they happily vote for Donald Trump on November 8th because they want a rebel who will break up the system, recognize what system they are breaking up.

More Guns, Less People

A recent study from Harvard and Northeastern University shows that gun ownership has declined in this country and the people that still do have them are buying more firearms. Half of guns owned in the US are owned by just 3 percent of the population. America’s gun stock has increased by 70m guns since 1994. At the same time, the percentage of Americans who own guns decreased slightly from 25% to 22%.

I've suspected for quite some time that gun ownership was declining. Up until this point, all I had were the many stories I have heard from colleagues, friends and family around Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri since Sandy Hook that they got rid of the their guns. The few that still have them have since bought more. My personal experience doesn't mean shit, though, so this was mere anecdata. Now we have an actual, peer reviewed study that shows this trend to be valid.

The one thing the Gun Cult needs is numbers. Remember, these are very insecure folks who feel inadequate in some way and were likely bullied at some point in their lives. The world is against them and the more guns they own, the better they feel. Having more people owning more guns fees their faux arrogance. Now that we see that the number of gun owners are dwindling, I wonder what they will say.

It's important to note that we now have a definition for someone who owns a lot of guns-the hardcore super owner. The super owner appears quite arrogant on the surface. They scoff at non gun owners and believe they are impervious to any sort of danger that a firearm brings. They also feel that everyone else out there is equally capable of owning a gun so this arrogance extends to other people...people they don't even know! It's an arrogance that is deeply rooted in emotion driven ideology (government tyranny, statism etc). Peak below the surface, however, and you see a massive inferiority complex in the hardcore super owner. They feel unempowered in the face of the fictitious enemies they have created. So, they buy more guns.

In the words of their hero and current GOP nominee...."Sad..."

Too Many Questions

Anything Goes!

This recent post in the Times regarding Donald Trump's "anything goes" precedent he has set in campaigns points out many disturbing trends. There are many salient points in the article but Mr. Martin fails to adequately note that it's the people that want someone like Donald Trump.

These are the people that are firmly in the basket of deplorables, most of whom are likely beyond help. Take, for example, this guy.

We need to turn our backs on the elites, and he's the one who has emerged as the rebel leader in that cause.

Right. Because people that are more intelligent and accomplished than us (see also: adults) should be vilified at every turn. In fact, we should just burn the whole fucking house down and act like...what age level again?.....ADOLESCENTS.

The real danger isn't really Donald Trump. It's the 40 million people who are so lacking in emotional intelligence, maturity, and intellectual capacity that they would allow their own insecurities, inferior feelings, and constant thoughts of inadequacy that they would happily vote for a sociopath for president. Are they that reckless? Are they that catty and bitchy about Hillary Clinton? Do they really understand what's at stake here? Any of you out there who has had to deal with teenagers know the answers to all these questions.

At least the media is finally waking up to the fact that they have been way too easy on Donald Trump.

Deep Fried Basket Of Deplorables

Damn!

A Tightening Race?

The presidential race is tightening and the Democrats are officially starting to poop themselves with the release of each new poll. Haven't we see this movie before? Oh, right, that was 2012 when Mitt Romney (actually someone who was qualified to be president) gained on Barack Obama and everyone predicted the Mittster would be the next president. They used a similar metric to what they are saying today...lack of voter enthusiasm, especially among young people, would ruin the president.

How did that turn out?

Now, I'm not going to assuage people from jumping up and down and acting like Trump could actually win this thing. I think everyone should spend from now until election day operating under the assumption that Trump is actually ahead in the polls. Why? Because Hillary Clinton can't merely eke out a victory. She has to demolish him with the American people sending a clear message to The Deplorables.

We are not going back. We are moving forward. Take your nonsense and dissolve on the ash heap of history.

If there is vacuum in the sense of urgency department, the election will be much closer than it should be. People that think that Hillary is going to walk away with this one because Trump is nuts are going to deprive her of the political capital she needs to govern starting next year. So, crap away in fear, I say, and let's get more people out there to vote.

In terms of nuts and bolts, here is where the race sits today.

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

My map is based on an analysis of the following:

The Polls Plus Model at 538.

Real Clear Politics Battle For The White House

Hillary still has the advantage and likely has more than 270 electoral votes. Yet Trump is ahead in the average of polls in Georgia, Florida, Ohio, and Iowa. Hillary is ahead in North Carolina and Nevada with those averages. All six of these states are within the margin of error. If we put them in as either red or blue, we have this map.

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

So, a much closer race than a couple of weeks ago.

Trump has benefited from an awful week from Clinton as well as being graded on a curve. All he has to do is basically show up, not make an ass out of himself, and he gets a good grade. My hope is the media is going to start getting a lot tougher on him in these last few weeks. Now that he has proven he's an adult, he should be asked adult questions on specific policy points.

Of course, a tight race makes for better ratings for the media so who knows?

Respecting the Flag

Good Words...from Ted Cruz?

Ted Cruz on Donald Trump

"Whatever he does, he accuses everyone else of doing," Ted Cruz, whom Trump relentlessly attacked as a liar during the Republican primaries, said at a fiery press conference the morning of the Indiana primary in May. "In a pattern that I think is straight out of a psychology textbook, his response is to accuse everybody else of lying. He accuses everybody on that debate stage of lying. And it's simply a mindless yell."

Hmm...that sounds awfully familiar...:)

A Basket of Hypocrites

Help me out here, folks. Donald Trump has staked his candidacy on shunning political correctness. He and his followers are tired of people that are offended all the time. And yet now, Trump and his people are all over the Hilz about her "basket of deplorables" comment? A commenter over at Quora summed it up best.

If you have no problem supporting and even agreeing with a man who says derogatory things about non-whites and women, and who has effectively made white racists and white nationalism a thing in the Republican party, then why are your knickers in a knot when someone actually calls you deplorable for at worst, identifying/agreeing with this stuff, and at best, associating with such people?  

This IS deplorable stuff. And Hillary shouldn’t apologize-she’s dead right about you guys. If anything, she lowballed the percentage. Those of you who aren’t racists should be examining your souls as to why you want to associate with and support the same man that the likes of Duke are supporting. And for those of you who are…well, you ARE deplorable.

Amen, sister! Calling people out on their bullshit like this should happen more often in this country.

Check out the polls. These are facts, folks, not the passing opinion of the Democratic candidate for president. Half of Trump's supporters are racist.

And they are also kinda dumb. Now they are wearing their deplorables label like a badge of honor.

Great! Now we can easily identify the racists:)

Did Trump's Russian SVR Pals Give Hillary Pneumonia?

I'm just asking.

Because Trump is constantly spewing ridiculous conspiracy theories about what Hillary might do when she's elected, it's only fair to ask questions about what Trump would do to get elected.

And dirty tricks are exactly the sort of thing that Trump (and Republicans in general) love to engage in.

Think about it. Trump and his surrogates have been yammering nonsense about Hillary's health for a couple of months now, setting the hook. Then, magically, after they've been talking trash about her, Hillary suddenly comes down with pneumonia.

Coincidence?

The Russians have a long history of assassinating people in other countries with various types of poisons: in England they poisoned Alexander Litvinenkio with polonium 210, and Georgi Markov with a ricin-tipped umbrella. They poisoned Czech reformer Alexander Dubcek with radioactive isotopes in his soup (he recovered). Also in London they poisoned whistleblower Alexander Perepilichny with a flower found in Asia. They poisoned Ukrainian politician Viktor Yushchenko with dioxin, leaving him horribly disfigured (he has mostly recovered).

Now, the Russians couldn't get away with poisoning Hillary Clinton. Suspicion would fall upon them immediately. Trump would be branded a traitor, by all except those morons who are begging him to shoot someone on Fifth Avenue.

But giving Clinton pneumonia, that's the perfect crime: it's a common disease that you can pick up anywhere. I had it once myself, completely out of the blue, and had no symptoms except a terrible headache and exhaustion.

Is there any evidence of this? No.

But that wouldn't stop Donald Trump from putting a theory like this out there. Spewing these sorts of lies and conspiracies is what Trump and his followers do every day. They fabricate lie after lie after lie, and make up grand conspiracies -- like a 50-year plan to place an anti-British Muslim Kenyan dictator in the White House.

So I'm not saying that Trump had his Russian pals in the SVR (Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, or External Intelligence Service, the successor to the KGB) gave Hillary pneumonia. I'm just asking the question, like the misogynists at Fox News or Donald Trump's misogynistic alt-right white supremacist buddies at Breitbart do.

But when Donald Trump constantly extols the virtues of Vladimir Putin, saying what a great and strong leader Putin is for seizing parts of Georgia and Ukraine, and assassinating political opponents like Boris Nemtsov and journalists like Anna Politkovskaya, you gotta wonder if Trump is taking plays out of Putin's play book.

Bad Ass

Remember...

WTF, Right Wing Bloggers?

Remember this?

This was a headline to the Drudge Report a while back in which he very clearly intimated that our country, under Barack Obama and the Democrats, was going to become a totalitarian state like the Soviet Union. Right wing bloggers like Drudge have been foaming at the mouth that we don't take Putin seriously and that liberals are still plotting a secret government take over that will result in a Russia style state.

Yet in the same breath, folks like Matt Drudge support Donald Trump,  a man who has now tripled down on his love for Vladimir Putin, calling him a "great leader." A great leader?!? Really!!!? This is a guy who kills journalists and rules his country much like Stalin did. How on earth can right wing bloggers support the very thing that supposedly keeps them up at night? Consider all of Trump's very clear connections to Russia and how that makes him essentially a puppet of Putin.

Despite denial, Trump's connections to Russia go back years

Here’s what we know about Donald Trump and his ties to Russia

Donald Trump’s Many, Many, Many, Many Ties to Russia

Even folks like semi-retired gun blogger Kevin Baker and his readers are going to vote for Donald Trump. Why? Because they think Hillary is going to take away their guns. Personally, I wish she would and start with those guys but it's not going to happen. Kevin has spent years writing on his blog about the education system and Yuri Bezmenov, an ex KGB guy, who has warned the US about a totalitarian takeover. Now he and others like him in the right wing blogsphere are ACTUALLY VOTING FOR THIS TO HAPPEN.

Kevin, I had planned on leaving you alone but this complete capitulation to Putin via Trump is such a monumental example of hypocrisy that it necessitate inquiry. You rail against Russia's influence in the US and now you are going to help make that happen by voting for Putin's puppet. I have to wonder...WTF, dude? All of the long posts about Bezmenov...the education system...communists plots...ALL now rendered worthless. Where is your integrity, man? I'll be looking for your response on your site.

Given the right wing bloggers' penchant for authoritarianism, illustrated quite well in any sort of engagement with them in comments sections, my only guess here is that they are for totalitarianism if the right people are in charge. If they have some naggy liberal trying to make the world a better place and making them do stuff that they don't wanna, well, fuck that!

But if they have a system where they can keep their guns to guard against government tyranny and still jail people for being against that government and not being patriotic enough then, by gum, the are ALL IN!!!

Bush League Adolesents

Gary Johnson's brain fart yesterday on "Morning Joe" illustrates the fundamental flaw in libertarian ideology. Like adolescents, they are completely unaware of the world beyond their little sphere of tantrums and rebellion towards authority. They refuse to see how problems that happen across the world affect us here in the US. The ignore or outright dismiss the very concept of globalization, pretending that we can wall ourselves off from the rest of the world and comfortably live our lives.

The video below shows a child playing in an adult world. The fact that we have so many other people that think like him should now be the focus of the conversation. What can we do to get these people to grow up?

The (ahem) Commander in Chief Forum Post Mortem

Like many in the media, I thought last night's Commander in Chief forum was a fucking joke. Neither candidate was asked very serious questions about the issues of the day, in particular, foreign policy. Most of Hillary Clinton's time was spent on her email server. Donald Trump was asked about his love for Vladimir Putin. How about a question that called for specifics about Syria? Or climate change?

Last night brings up a larger issue which is most troubling. As Heather Parton over at Slate notes, most Americans believe a cartoon version of Hillary Clinton that bears no resemblance to reality.

Follow Chris Cillizza ✔ @TheFix This election is about voters choosing the least worst candidate. That's where we are in our politics. 10:43 AM - 4 Sep 2016 89 89 Retweets 194 194 likes 

That tweet from Chris Cilizza of The Washington Post’s The Fix blog is cleverly framed to be about the voters’ view of this campaign. Both candidates do have high unfavorable ratings among the public (as does the Congress and pretty much every other institution, including the press.) That jaded comment by a member of the media, however, illustrates something important. Some members of the press are not just commenting on a reality; they are pushing the theme of two equally unpalatable candidates and it just isn’t true.

Indeed. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are not equally unpalatable. Trump is the most unqualified candidate to every run for office. He's mentally unstable, filled with anger-hate-fear, and views the presidency as a monarchy. Hillary Clinton was careless with her emails as Secretary of State.

Even though Clinton is still the likely winner, we, as a country, need to stop with this fairness bullshit, not just for this election but for the future. When Trump offers zero specifics on his plans, the media needs to keep pressing. He, and all other candidates, need to be asked specific questions and held accountable for their lack of detail.

Enough with the Cult of Both Sides. Donald Trump and the people that support him are an imminent danger to our country. Their ignorance, fueled by anger, hate and fear, needs to be called out over and over again from now until November 8th.

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?

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?

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.

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.

Stand!

Latest Election Map

Here's my latest map based on the polls and various resources.

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

As we can see, Hillary has fallen off a bit in terms of her monumental lead. Now we have more of a modest lead with Iowa trending towards Trump. North Carolina has move more back to Trump as well. In many ways, North Carolina represents the struggle to shift out of the chains of the past and into the progression towards the future. It's almost there, just not quite yet.