Compare And Contrast

Steely-eyed and focused vs twitchy and panicked

Steady as a rock and jumpy, erratic man pic.twitter.com/OxHzmWPXYu

— Matt Ortega (@MattOrtega) August 4, 2016

And btw - those Secret Service guys just jump into it no matter what.  How straight-up amazingly awesome do you have to be to know your guy is a complete douche nozzle like Donald Trump, and still put yourself between him and trouble?   

Trump vs Trump

Inside Peek

Recently unearthed training video for Donald Trump's campaign staffers:

hat tip = driftglass

Today's GIF

Breaking News: In spite of mounting pressure from GOP officials, the Trump campaign will not revamp the basic message at this time.  They believe in their candidate and their candidate's message, and their candidate's unique ability to articulate that message. 

We take you now to live coverage of Mr Trump's latest pronouncements:

image via Mock Paper Scissors

Meanwhile, at GOP Headquarters:

Just kidding - there are no black people working at GOP Headquarters. Let's not get silly.

An Armed Society

Here's one of the favorite bromides of the American Ammosexual: 

"An armed society is a polite society"

I think maybe we're looking at large portions of the populace feeling intimidated into keeping silent; being reluctant to speak out because they're afraid some asshole with a gun might do something stoopidly shitty - and mistaking that forced reticence for courtesy.

Those two things are not the same.

And also too - the fact that Americans are heavily armed (and short-tempered) may be a contributing factor in our ever-increasing tendency to offload some of our societal responsibilities onto the cops.

Why would I knock on my neighbors' door to ask him to keep his dog quiet, when I'm afraid he'll shoot my ass?  Am I being polite - or is it something else?

Just wanna point some of that shit out.

Propaganda Works

Cool story, bro.  

But wait - that's not Jacksonville, that's Cleveland.  And oh gosh, that's the victory parade for the Cavaliers when they beat the Warriors for the NBA championship a coupla months ago.

Oops.

Dang - Breitbart lied to us?  Another illusion shattered.

Today's GIF

We take you now to live coverage as our intrepid cadre of Press Poodles continue to strive gallantly to make Donald Trump seem like a viable candidate.

Today's Tweets

Meet another Gold Star family with some personal perspective on Donald Trump:https://t.co/z2eJfg9dv0

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 1, 2016

Crying baby ejected from Trump rally issues statement pic.twitter.com/NydOC41skZ

— Ash Warner (@AlsBoy) August 2, 2016

Today's Political Leverage

Lotsa people have been wondering what's up with Paul Ryan.  Why does he blast Trump for saying stoopidly shitty things while still supporting the nominee?  

Ryan said Trump's criticism of Judge Curiel was "the textbook definition of a racist comment".

Ryan kept quiet when Trump went after Khizr Khan, and was rewarded by  Trump coming out in support of Ryan's primary challenger.

Now, Ryan's in a tight spot because he's trying hard to take his Party-Uber-Alles duties seriously, but at this point, he's trying to stand up for Party Unity in a GOP that split badly several years ago, and is in the process of splintering into smaller and smaller factions, heading rapidly for the Logical Extreme of becoming 20 million Parties Of One - which in a bit of sweet irony, is exactly what Ayn Rand's philosophy requires.  Unity means there has to be a bit of sublimation of the individual in order to work in concert with as many others as possible (ie: making a collective effort, which is absolute anathema to The Randian Way).

So it comes down to "damned if ya do and damned if ya don't", and that's how Trump always plays it. Everybody's fucked but him, which is a pretty good way to sum up the GOP Platform over the last 30 years, and also a plain-spoken interpretation of Ayn Rand's outlook, which means Trump is doing nothing but beating Ryan et al at their own game, which (hoping now) points up why you don't build a healthy society on the beliefs of a bitterly aggrieved former bourgeois fantasy hack whose life turned out to be exactly the kind of contradiction she railed against for 50 years.

So how 'bout it, Mr Speaker - will you tough it out and be the rugged individual St Ayn requires you to be? Or are you going to wuss out and ask somebody for a little help; a little teamwork; a little collective action?

You helped build that shit house - stop bitchin' about the stink and do something about it.

Cracks In The Facade

US Rep Richard Hanna (R-NY22), and characterized as "Liberal Republican", via HuffPo - endorsing Hillary because he just can't stand to think of Trump as POTUS.

“I trust she can lead. All Republicans may not like the direction, but they can live to win or lose another day with a real candidate,” he wrote. “Our response to the public’s anger and the need to rebuild requires complex solutions, experience, knowledge and balance. Not bumper sticker slogans that pander to our disappointment, fear and hate.”

I don't know much about New York's 22nd district, so I can't make a good guess as to the Gerrymandering effect, but in 2012, Mr Hanna ran unopposed and managed to get just 74% of the vote. Maybe 74% is a lot, but it seems like you're not exactly Mr Popularity when 45,500 people show up at the polls and still won't vote for you even though you're the only one in your race.

And BTW, Mr Hanna has chosen not to stand for re-election this time around, so while I think he's doing the right thing voting against his party's obviously bad choice of POTUS nominee, I'm not handing him any medals for political courage either.

The race for NY22 is called a toss-up right now, but shades towards a pickup for the Dems.