Today's Pix

click a pic to biggen it up

Today's GIF

Trump's latest "pivot"

Today's Hillary

Just in the last several years:

Hillary's emails:
Looks bad, and while there's a few bits and pieces, nothing to get your panties in a bunch over.

DNC emails:
Democrats "conspiring" to nominate a Democrat. Color me unsurprised. Moving on.

Benghazi!!!!!:
Get fucking serious.

"Scandal" after "scandal" for 25 years; and 25 years of "oooh, this time for sure; those indictments are coming any minute now" - and there's just never ever anything that amounts to more than a little nose-wrinkle?

Now, we can add The Clinton Foundation thing to the pile.

Tuesday afternoon, Stephen Braun and Eileen Sullivan of the Associated Press released the results of a review of State Department appointment data that they used to make some striking claims about Hillary Clinton’s schedule as secretary of state.

According to their reporting, Clinton spent a remarkably large share of her time as America’s chief diplomat talking to people who had donated money to the Clinton Foundation. She went out of her way to help these Clinton Foundation donors, and her decision to do so raises important concerns about the ethics of her conduct as secretary and potentially as president. It’s a striking piece of reporting that made immediate waves in my social media feed, as political journalists of all stripes retweeted the story’s headline conclusions.

Except it turns out not to be true. The nut fact that the AP uses to lead its coverage is wrong, and Braun and Sullivan’s reporting reveals absolutely no unethical conduct. In fact, they found so little unethical conduct that an enormous amount of space is taken up by a detailed recounting of the time Clinton tried to help a former Nobel Peace Prize winner who’s also the recipient of a Congressional Gold Medal and a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Here’s the bottom line: Serving as secretary of state while your husband raises millions of dollars for a charitable foundation that is also a vehicle for your family’s political ambitions really does create a lot of space for potential conflicts of interest. Journalists have, rightly, scrutinized the situation closely. And however many times they take a run at it, they don’t come up with anything more scandalous than the revelation that maybe billionaire philanthropists have an easier time getting the State Department to look into their visa problems than an ordinary person would.

If there's really anything there, and she always just gets away with it, then the fact that 25 years of hard snooping, GOP Congressional Investigations and many many millions of dollars spent - to find practically nothing - all of that would have to mean Hillary Clinton is the most amazing of all evil genius super-criminal masterminds ever - and she's not.

I'm not a fan.  I try to trust politicians no farther that I could spit one of 'em.  But at a certain point, since this particular politician is the one we've got, maybe we could figure out how to take 'yes' for an answer, admit that we agree with her on some things, help her do the things she says she agrees with us on, and always keep the pressure on her to do those other things.  You know - kinda do that thing we like to call, uhmm, what is again? Oh yeah - Politics.

And all the rest of that shit?  You're not getting any of that - wish for something else.

  

Today's Press Poodling

(all of this was front page at HuffPo as of about 11:40am today)

Because of this:

We get all this:

Don't get me wrong, I want to know about the negative side of Hillary's ledger.  But does it really have to be part of an obvious attempt at artificially pimping the horse race narrative?

Today's Tweet

George Zimmerman is a hero to everyone who wants to legally kill the person kicking your ass in a fight you started.

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) August 5, 2016

The Other Day's Today

I managed to be woefully mis-informed, and missed it, but on August 18, 1920 - The 19th Amendment was ratified by Tennessee, making it part of the US Constitution.

A weird political irony is that with the exception of a few states, only the men could vote to make the government stop denying the women's right to vote. (and I promise I'm not trying to steal the thunder and pat myself on the back for being so magnanimously man-errific)  

And it just seems like a good example of Progressives being right again (which happens a lot), and the Conservatives being wrong again (which, funnily enough, happens just as often).  

And you don't have to look very far to find what I think is pretty good evidence to back that up.

When you think about which states you'd consider to be "typically conservative" (and if you're more or less normal), you're prob'ly thinking those states are in the South.

Now consider this list of when certain states finally got around to ratifying the 19th Amendment.

Virginia 1952

Alabama 1953

Florida 1969

South Carolina 1969 (not certified until 1973)

Georgia 1970

Louisiana 1970

North Carolina 1971

Mississippi 1984

 

Just as a little reminder - there's a better than even chance that one or more of the women in that picture went home to places that weren't just indifferent to their service and accomplishments, but downright hostile to their having a reasonable expectation of simply being treated as equals.  

Their fight continues, and we all continue to benefit from their victories.

John Oliver

Larry Sabato

Home town hero (as long as he agrees with me of course) Larry Sabato runs a little joint called The Center For Politics at UVa, and he's gotten pretty good at what he does.

Here's a little snapshot of where Professor Sabato thinks we stand right now:

What about the overall picture? As our regular readers know, we’ve been the Rock of Gibraltar when it comes to a Clinton victory. Our first electoral map, issued at the end of March, showed Clinton at 347 EVs to 191 EVs for Trump, and all subsequent maps have maintained those totals — until now. After looking carefully at Nebraska’s 2nd District — Nebraska being, along with Maine, a state that awards one electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district — we’ve decided that NE-2 is leaning toward Clinton. It isn’t much of a lean, and it’s possible that if Trump can tighten up the contest, this one will wobble back to the Republicans. But for the moment, adding NE-2 to the Democrats makes Clinton’s total 348 EVs and Trump’s total 190 EVs. As you’ll recall, Obama carried this district in 2008 but lost it in 2012, so it’s on the margins — yet it also ranks 49th out of 435 congressional districts for percentage of non-Hispanic whites with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Moreover, not only is Clinton investing ad money in Omaha, which also bleeds into the western parts of swing state Iowa, she is also spending actual campaign time in the city, a sign that her campaign believes it can win this extra electoral vote. And did we mention Warren Buffett, a huge Hillary fan, dominates the economic landscape there?

But wait just a durn minute - Tim Kaine made visits to both Idaho and Wyoming, while Trump popped up in a coupla places in Virginia.

Kinda weird, but this is politics, man.  And this time around, it ain't nuthin' like nuthin' that's gone before - even more than usual.

And so, more than ever - don't get happy, Democrats - get busy.  

Some people believe hard that Trump is in the process of using his "campaign" to build a new media empire that he intends to aim at taking over for DumFux News - that's number one.  And number two is that there's not likely gonna be anything close to resembling any kind of movement on a Progressive Agenda unless lotsa Democrats go to DC along with Hillary Clinton.

Yeah yeah, I've said all that before. Tired of it?  Tough shit - I'll be saying it plenty more from here on in. Get used to it.

And this too:

Ms Conway

In her own words:

And lots more at Media Matters

As far as she's concerned, it's nothing but a can of beans on the shelf, or a bag of chips in the machine in the break room - waiting for somebody to wander by with a coupla bucks to spend.

Kellyanne Conway says what she says because she gets paid to say it.  She'll say whatever it is you want her to say if you pay her enough.  There's a word for that, but I won't use that word for Ms Conway because I have too much respect for honest, hard-working whores.

No soul and no honor.

America's Sheriff

Contradictions exist, but they cannot prevail.

via HuffPo:

PHOENIX, Aug 19 (Reuters) - A federal judge recommended on Friday that prosecutors bring criminal contempt charges against Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio, finding that the controversial sheriff had violated court orders stemming from a 2007 racial profiling case.

--and--

“When a federal court finds that a law enforcement official has lied under oath and willfully flouted court orders, that official must be held to account,” said Cecillia Wang, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants’ Rights Project.

So here's the thing: When you're trying to preserve and protect what you believe to be "American" by employing strategies and tactics that are decidedly Un-American, then you've got a monster contradiction on your hands that has to be resolved.

And like I've said a time or two before -

I hear "Arpaio", I think "Sheriff"

And when I hear "Maricopa", I think "Nottingham"

Today's Tweet

Paul Manafort was tired of being campaign manager #2 while Donald was already seeing campaign manager #3 and everyone like totally knew it.

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) August 19, 2016

They Call Me Mr Troll

The race for US Rep (VA-05) is between a GOP State Senator from Lynchburg (Tom Garrett) and the Dem from here in Charlottesville, Jane Dittmar.

Here's a little exercise in what I guess we can call digital campaigning.

The title of the Facebook post was "Chivalry is not dead".  And of course, Mr Garrett thinks he's not being at all dismissive and condescending.  So I couldn't resist.

I guess I kinda hit a nerve, cuz they came out to meet me:

Then they split and left me to play without them:

They're On Fire

The Professional Left Podcast:



A take-away for me is that while we shouldn't be afraid, we need to be vigilant.

One More Kellyanne Thing

Do the guys who're always bitchin' about Hillary's focus groups know that Trump's new campaign manager is tailoring his message style according to the polls that she gets paid a shitload of money to conduct?

About Kellyanne

Just to be clear on who this lady is:

This is a fair look at what I mean when I bitch about how everything is fungible now.

As long as she was doing her free-lance thing, she was saying things she (prob'ly) thought might get her hired by one of the campaigns.  That's what she does and I'm not slagging her for that.

What I'm willing to slag her for is this: she was a Ted Cruz supporter when she said basically "Ted Cruz is pretty bad, but that Trump guy is way worse."

Or maybe we can infer a whole load of whatever we want from it. It's a pretty good prospecting pitch at the very least because it can mean many different things - that's kinda my point on that one.

Anyway, now she's pimping for Donald Trump. So here I am, slagging away - and happy to do it.

I get it - you have to make choices.  Sometimes it's like, "I'd rather share my toothbrush with a Leper than throw in with that guy".  And the bullshit about "none of the above" just takes you outa the process and leaves all the choices up to people you wouldn't put in charge of a high school carwash.  And then your guy drops out and you're left thinking, "Well - maybe if I gargle some Clorox...?"

But that's all about being a voter.  Kellyanne Conway's a pro.

I guess it just seems a little dirty that Ms Conway switches her loyalties to Trump because he's the guy willing to write her a nice fat check, so everything she was saying last spring that was wrong with him is suddenly everything that's right with him now.

Right or wrong; fact or fiction; true or false - doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is the reward or the penalty.

And that's pretty fucked up right there.

Shoes-A-Droppin'

Not to get too Both-Sides-ery here, but now that Manafort's been dumped because of the Russian money thing, Hillary needs to come clean and at the very least get out in front of this thing and talk about her decision-making process regarding John Podesta (this links to RedState - don't say I didn't warn ya).

And maybe she could tell us a little something about that all-but-totally-fucked-up decision to put Ken (they call me Mr Frack) Salazar in charge of her Transition Team.

Bi-Partisan Fuckery isn't quite the Bi-Partisan thing most of us had in mind, guys.

Bye, Larry

Things change because they have to change, but we've lost a strong clear voice.

I only hope the suits will eventually come to understand that the revenue they seem to prize more than life itself means practically nothing compared with what a guy like Larry Wilmore's been trying to do.  And if they had anything on the ball that's anywhere near what they think they have on the ball, they'd have figured out a way to make it work.  As it is, all they're left with is a copyright on some content that they think is valuable enough to hoard while making sure nobody ever gets to see it again.

Seriously - sometimes the "smart guys" are the dumbest fuckin' people.  More Larry - less MBA Spreadsheet bullshit.

Piling On

Donald Trump spent a little time in front of a TelePrompter yesterday, and suddenly - to hear some of the Press Poodles tell it, the last 14 months disappeared; gone; pfffft; never happened.

The Squint Squad seemed to struggle with it a little too, tho' I'll say they did come up with a better level of appropriate skepticism than usual.

Media Matters:

Donny Deutsch nailed it with "I will always tell you the truth..." as the perfect lead-in to a very good set of ads that show Trump lying about everything.

And Katty Kay pulled it all back to normal by pointing out that Trump still has to own everything he's said, plus she hits on what I think should be the main theme here, which is a little something I'm calling - Trump's Artificial Authenticity.

So who's The Real Trump? Screaming Asshole Guy; the one we've all seen for several years, or Mister Swell Guy who can be schmoozey and charming, but who's only been seen by his buddies?  Y'know what?  Fuck 'em both.

"I will always tell you the truth" (The Guardian):

The lies Trump told this week: from opposing the Iraq war to San Bernardino

Trump shares more false memories from the Iraq war and Middle Eastern politics and welcomes Nato’s ‘new’ terrorism division – which has existed since 2004

Today's Tweet

Africa Cady, a home school loser, fights w/ Regina who has blood coming out of her Wherever #TrumpExplainsMoviePlots pic.twitter.com/NfT2aVIQYi

— Trevor Donovan (@TrevDon) August 18, 2016

Today's Pix

The Company You Keep

Let's be clear, Manaforts client, Yanukovich, tried to steal election in 2004, ordered snipers to kill protestors in 2014 & was very corrupt

— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) August 16, 2016

A former ambassador to Russia.  I'm thinking this is a guy who knows a little something.  

Today's Today

Happy Bad Poetry Day, everybody!

TOAST --Joseph V. Viray, ©1995
this is your mind.
this is your mind on TOAST.
this is your TOAST.
This is your TOAST on my mind.

THE SONG ABOUT THE SONG --Bryan Higgins, ©2000

This is the song about the show!
And it's a show with a song about
The Songs we're gonna sing
We'll sing you the songs about
The song about the show!
Songs about the singing we'll do!
Songs about the songs about
The song about the show!
Songs that we'll be singing to you!
You'll hear us singing songs about
The songs about the songs,
The songs about the songs about the songs--
Songs about the songs about
The songs about the songs,
The songs about the songs about the show!

So, that's a good 40 seconds of your life you will never ever get back.*

*your wastage may vary - depending on your reading speed, where you fall on the OCD spectrum, how long it took you to figure how to make this shit big enough to see it clearly, etc. And now you've wasted even more of your valuable time.

You're welcome.

About Today's Trump Thing

Just by way of introduction, here's a bit from TPM: 

Call it a match made in right-wing heaven.

Donald Trump’s hiring of Breitbart chairman Steve Bannon on Wednesday to be his campaign CEO marks the consummation of a months-long courtship with the conservative news and commentary site, which, under Bannon’s leadership, became Trump’s strongest media ally. Bannon will step down from his role at Breitbart to work with Trump, according to the campaign.

Trump sidelining Paul Manafort, who injected the campaign with a dose of seasoned professionalism, in favor of Bannon, once called the “most dangerous political operative in America,” also shows the real estate mogul firmly embracing the right-wing, establishment-hating fever swamps that fueled his candidacy since the beginning.

While the late Andrew Breitbart perhaps prophetically warned that Trump isn’t a conservative, his news site's love affair with the New York real estate mogul started years before Trump was a candidate. The site feverishly covered Trump’s relentless self-promotion and zest for stirring up speculation he might run for office.

So, I'm thinking this isn't some kind of "shakeup of a troubled campaign".  It's a corporate merger.

Trump needs an Information Division, and it turns out Fox isn't available - and Fox is pretty much old-hat now anyway - so Breitbart fits pretty well.

This seems like it's simply the latest development in the story of Trump Campaign Inc, and maybe we just got a new clue as to where all the campaign's money has been going - since it's obviously not getting spent on field operations or advertising. 

Sure would love to get a peek at the details of that artful little deal.

Today's Fellow Travelers

There's gotta be a Poe's Law probability here, but I can't find it.

Here's a bit from the website of Jayme Liardi (the guy in the video):

Ragnarök Now
Ragnarök
The Twilight of the Gods
The End of Times
Or perhaps
Just the beginning
It was prophesied by the ancestors, by our ancestors
That our world would indeed end;
But
What they also have said, is that our world would indeed be reborn
Better than before
This is Ragnarök Now
Mother Europe stands at her darkest hour
Sons of Odin
Warriors of Christ
This is indeed your battle
You can embrace your destiny
And become a part of the greatest battle the world has ever seen
We must become that which our enemies hate
We must become united
We must become clean
We must become strong
And formidable
That is your duty

It goes on, but it doesn't get any better, which is to say it doesn't get any less Nazi-ish.

And here's a nice retweet from this guy:

White Children Deserve A Future Free From #WhiteGenocide. #WhiteMothersAreMagic #MothersDay #MothersDayWeekend pic.twitter.com/9EbEIPPdgC

— Ann Kelly (@LadyAodh) May 8, 2016

I won't call that one typical, but it ain't exactly rare either.

Questions?

hat tip = Mock Paper Scissors

Today's Tweet

In a rare move @sciam takes a stand against Donald Trump's "lack of respect for science": https://t.co/62g50BpGBx pic.twitter.com/GyUq75s1R5

— Media Matters (@mmfa) August 17, 2016

Stay Focused

Big Fish

Gotta remember that sometimes the big fish gets away just because it's a big fish.

Kathleen Kane (D-Pennsylvania AG) was boated nicely and will prob'ly spend some quality time in prison - pending appeal, of course.  Cuz even when it works well enough to convict somebody in a fairly lofty position, our "justice" system works a little differently for people who're rich and/or powerful (see Big Fish above).

From Philly.com:

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane was convicted Monday of perjury, obstruction, and other crimes, after squandering her once-bright political future on an illegal vendetta against an enemy.

What bugs me the most is that this is another great example of a political system that seems to run (at least in part) according to some kinda High-School-Fuck-Around set of rules.

Rudy Needs Work

So, Rudy Giuliani went off again, peddling his new and improved 9/11 crap about how there were no Extreme Islamic Terrorism Attacks in the 8 years before Obama and Hillary.

BTW, here's not-a-picture of Rudy as he's not walking around lower Manhattan not on 9-11-2001 as he's not trying to reassure New Yorkers about what horrible things have not happened during a GOP president's administration because, of course, history won't actually begin until Jan 20, 2009.

Can't believe anybody hasta do this.  What the fuck is wrong with these people?

And Now, This

We should keep in mind that Trump is not just priming his supporters to rebel if he loses in Pennsylvania because of "cheating" - he's also priming those supporters to defend the results if he "wins" because of cheating.

And we've already seen lots of priming for 'the 2nd amendment" appeals.

Today's Tweet(s)

@KeithOlbermann @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/SJZBToaIUN

— joyce hawkins (@ladywelder44) August 15, 2016

Found this archival photo of Manafort and Lewandowski in happier times. pic.twitter.com/ryaHeX7hjq

— Tom Watson (@tomwatson) August 15, 2016

Random Thought

Anyone else notice how Paul Manafort looks like one of those old Soviet guys from back in the 80s who was always trying really hard not to look like a Soviet guy? Maybe it's the haircut. I dunno.

Just wonderin'.

via Little Green Footballs:

Government investigators examining secret records have found his name, as well as companies he sought business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort’s main client, former President Viktor F. Yanukovych.

Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.

In addition, criminal prosecutors are investigating a group of offshore shell companies that helped members of Mr. Yanukovych’s inner circle finance their lavish lifestyles, including a palatial presidential residence with a private zoo, golf course and tennis court. Among the hundreds of murky transactions these companies engaged in was an $18 million deal to sell Ukrainian cable television assets to a partnership put together by Mr. Manafort and a Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of President Vladimir V. Putin.

This Just In

So, the Radical Right keeps pissin' and moanin' about how everything's all skewed in Hillary's favor, and they never get an even break (in spite of Mr Barnum's admonishing us never to give them one), and how Trump can't lose in a place like Pennsylvania unless it's rigged and on and on and on.

Well, Breitbart being the stand-up kinda joint they are, decided to spend some money and put a poll of their own in the field, and - oh golly - turns out their hand-picked sample came back with Hillary up by 5 points.

Oops

hat tip = Twitter @taniel

Dang, America

Out of 45 possible medals, US shooters have managed only 3.

We have more guns per capita than anybody.

We spend lotsa time and money on it - we shoot a lot.

Three lousy medals, and the only gold is BB guns?  Seriously - what's the fucking point??

Of course, ya gotta figure the US team's at a particular disadvantage, since the competitors aren't allowed to shoot at each other. 

Today's Quote

"Be ashamed to die before you have won some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann

And BTW, Horace Mann was a Republican (Whig actually - but a Repub nonetheless); back when Republicans stood for some pretty cool things - like Secular Public Schools, and Fairness, and making sure Government Power was a force to protect the little guy from the excesses of an unaccountable Oligarchy, and a lot of other Progressive Values.  

I wonder what happened.

Today's Cheap Shot

Down And Dirty

It seems a little too much, but I haven't found anything to dispute its veracity.

Maybe it's just that politics - plus the opportunity to give the power elite the benefit of our super-genius-level intellect - really does make some people stoopid.

hat tip = Twitter pal @therealzanetta

Trae Crowder

Careful With That 'Rithmetic

Truth + God = Life

--and so--

Life - God = Truth

hat tip = Twitter pal @athyvaya

Today's Tweet

pic.twitter.com/gQbjxkJnqT

— miles reed (@milesjreed) August 13, 2016

What He Said

(Ripped entirely from Mock Paper Scissors - because it's fucking brilliant)

Q: What do you think about Hillary Clinton and the Democrats?
“I fucking love them. I have always loved them. And let me just say this: If you’re a politician — not just in Washington but in business and industry, you have to be a politician — there are a lot of things that you have to do that you’re not proud of. There are a lot of compromises you have to make because it means that you can get this other thing over here. And if you think that you can go to fucking Washington and be rainbows and butterflies the whole time, you’re living in a fucking fantasy world. So now, having said that, think about what a female has to do with that: All of those compromises, all of that shit, double it by ten. And you get to understand who this woman is and how powerful, persuasive, brilliant, and resilient she is. Any female executive, anybody who has been put to the side — women, blacks, gays — for them to succeed in a white-male-dominated culture is an act of brilliance. Of resilience, of grit, of everything you can imagine. So, what do I think of Hillary? I think she’s fucking awesome. Is she in bed with Wall Street? Goddammit, I should hope so! You’ve got to dance with the devil. So which of the horrible people do you want? That’s more of the question. Do you want a pompous braggart who doesn’t know anything about diplomacy? Or do you want a badass bitch who knows how to get shit done? That’s really the question.”

The take-away here is that we have a lot of institutional sexism in our country—I think Scissorheads know that, we certainly laugh at it enough—The Skirts—and what RuPaul points out is that it puts an enormous burden-of-proof on women candidates. The late Ann Richards once said, “After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.
Ru-Paul is in many ways the epitome of badassery (a black gay man who has made a celebrity career of being a drag queen?! His drag show has been nominated for a freakin’ Emmy Award!), and if he sees a hero in Hillary Clinton then I can check my white male privilege at the door. His statement is remarkable.

Women politicians have to do everything male politicians do, but they get judged for doing it. From the clothes, to their voices, to just existing (the woman-card), they get scrutinized where men get a pass. Backwards and in high heels, indeed.

So as uncomfortable as I am (and I am very uncomfortable with political dynasties, and especially this dynasty because of the Clintons’ love of triangulation), I think it is absolutely remarkable that Hillary Clinton has not only won the nomination, but that she is winning the day-to-day battles.
She’s a badass bitch who knows how to get shit done. I can work with that.

Today's Tweet

It's too bad @realDonaldTrump wasn't the founder of ISIS because it would be bankrupt by now.

— Jim Earl (@jimearl666) August 11, 2016