[Winstonm]

An interesting observation in a series of tweets by David Roberts:

Quote

One thing we're seeing now is the 2nd generation of Fox conservatives. The first grew up in a normal world & was pulled into Fox world (like my dad). But they *remember* the normal world & can still pass in it; they know what tone & keywords to use. However ...

... the 2nd generation, like this Wohl kid, grew up entirely inside the RW bubble. They don't know how to translate to normal people; they don't know what norms & standards are expected in the normal world. They are *Fox natives*, you might say. I think this helps explain ...

... why RW rhetoric & tactics have gotten so crude, stupid, & extreme. Kids like Charlie Kirk grew up in environs where crude, stupid, & extreme were endlessly rewarded. It's how they gained status. Then they wander, blinking, into the normal world & expect the same ***** to work.


What makes the whole thing even cringier is that, though they claim to disdain the MSM & pop culture, they are visibly & viscerally desperate for mainstream approval. (Just like Trump obsesses over the NYT.) It's like pop artists from the UK trying to crack the US market.


Kids like Kirk don't *want* to just be "big in Japan," ie, popular in the RW swamp. They want the approval of the elites they bash -- want it so badly you can see the flop sweat. But life in the bubble has left them woefully unequipped. Their lifelong tools no longer work.

[Winstonm]

Well, isn't this interesting.

Quote

A human rights organization has asked Dutch prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into multi-billion dollar money laundering schemes that they say were aided by Donald Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and his old law firm.

The complaint is clearly aimed at examining how much money stolen from a former Soviet satellite ended up benefitting Donald Trump. He is named 16 times in the complaint’s footnotes.

[Winstonm]

Has the president been issued a subpoena?

Quote

But thanks to some careful reporting by Politico, which I have analyzed from my perspective as a former prosecutor, we might have stumbled upon How Robert Mueller Is Spending His Midterms: secretly litigating against President Donald Trump for the right to throw him in the grand jury.

[johnu]

 Winstonm, on 2018-October-31, 19:14, said:

Has the president been issued a subpoena?

 Al_U_Card, on 2018-October-27, 16:20, said:

Mueller? Mueller? .... Mueller?

Al_U_Card - Maybe your prayers have been answered

[Winstonm]

Curious.

Axios reports

Quote

The United Kingdom's Electoral Commission has referred Arron Banks, a British businessman who co-founded one of the campaigns to exit the European Union, for criminal investigation for concealing the source of $10.3 million in campaign funds that were allegedly obtained improperly.

[y66]

From Democrats close campaign by hammering GOP on health care by Peter Sullivan at The Hill:

Quote

When Trump this week proposed ending birthright citizenship, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) responded by hammering Republicans on health care. Meanwhile, the House Democrats' campaign arm recently launched another wave of ads targeting GOP lawmakers for their ObamaCare repeal votes.

"Remember that we close on health care and corruption and they can close with whatever toxic racist stew they want," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) tweeted on Tuesday.

While Trump is focusing on immigration issues like birthright citizenship and a “caravan” of migrants making its way to the U.S. border, Democrats say they will not be dragged into a debate that distracts from health-care issues leading up to Election Day.

“Clearly, Republicans will do absolutely anything to divert attention away from their votes to take away Americans’ health care,” Pelosi said on Tuesday.

Democrats have been pounding away at Republicans, highlighting their attempts to dismantle ObamaCare and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. That messaging is a stark change from previous years when the 2010 health law was a liability for Democrats on the campaign trail.

The party can also point to a range of polls showing voters trust them more on health care.

A Fox News poll this month found health care is the top issue for voters, with 58 percent saying it is “extremely” important to their vote; within that group, Democrats have a 24-point lead over Republicans.

And they’re getting that message across through campaign ads.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is now running a new round of ads calling out vulnerable House Republicans for voting in favor of repealing ObamaCare last year.

One ad attacking Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), in the quintessential suburban district being targeted by Democrats, shows a sick child as a voiceover cites Roskam’s repeated votes to nix ObamaCare and its pre-existing condition protections. “Imagine watching him go without life-saving treatment because it’s been denied by your insurance,” the ad says. “That’s what Peter Roskam voted for. Not just once, but over and over again.”

Similar DCCC ads are targeting GOP lawmakers like Reps. John Faso (N.Y.) and Rod Blum (Iowa). “Blum voted to let insurance companies gut protections” for pre-existing conditions, one ad says.

“I think the focus on health care is a smart thing because Donald Trump’s racist attacks on immigration are getting an enormous amount of play in the media, where health care is not,” said Zac Petkanas, a Democratic strategist. “I think health care is the key message that cuts across our persuadable audience as well as our base.”

Dems doing smart messaging that cuts across their persuadable audience as well as their base? A brief moment of clarity or the start of a juggernaut?

[Winstonm]

 y66, on 2018-November-01, 09:18, said:

From Democrats close campaign by hammering GOP on health care by Peter Sullivan at The Hill:


Dems doing smart messaging that cuts across their persuadable audience as well as their base? A brief moment of clarity or the start of a juggernaut?

It appears the Democratic party has figured out how to avoid playing Dennison's game of bait and switch; now, if only news organizations could learn the same lesson and refrain from amplifying the white noise that comes from this White House we might actually make headway.

[Al_U_Card]

 johnu, on 2018-October-31, 23:57, said:

Al_U_Card - Maybe your prayers have been answered

Might just be he is waiting for the election results to get out of the way, unless the Republicans maintain control...

[barmar]

 Al_U_Card, on 2018-November-02, 09:11, said:

Might just be he is waiting for the election results to get out of the way, unless the Republicans maintain control...

I'm just getting sick of all the discussion about the election. If I didn't skip over most commercials, I'm sure I would be totally sick of all the political commercials.

You know how dictionaries pick a "word of the year" every December? I have a feeling "midterms" might be the winner or runner-up on some lists this year.

[Winstonm]

Another non-liberal voice calls out Republicans: https://www.theatlan...more-it/574720/

Quote

If the GOP succeeds next week at the ballot box, politicians all over the country will conclude that they can advance their careers by vilifying minority groups, frightening voters predisposed to xenophobia, and dividing Americans. No incentive structure is more dangerous to a multiethnic nation. Politicians in other nations marshaling similar tactics have sparked sectarian violence, campaigns of ethnic cleansing, and civil war.

[Winstonm]

You know, if we are stupid enough to allow the unrelenting flood of utter horsesh#t coming from Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Republican party to continue to lead to winning election results, we really don't deserve a democracy or a country.

[awm]

I thought this was an interesting article: How Everything Became the Culture War.

My favorite quote: "This is presumably how entire countries turn into Dumb*****istan." Sad but true.

[Winstonm]

 awm, on 2018-November-02, 14:28, said:

I thought this was an interesting article: How Everything Became the Culture War.

My favorite quote: "This is presumably how entire countries turn into Dumb*****istan." Sad but true.

I liked this quote from the article you posted:

Quote

Greenhouse gases don’t care whether they’re a wedge issue. Culture-war politics are often a crutch, a look-at-the-shiny-ball distraction, an easy way to shift complicated policy debates from inconvenient facts to emotion and identity.

Misdirection - the art of sleight-of-hand artists and con artists.

[johnu]

A secret waiver from the White House hidden for half a year has now seen the light of day:

Next-in-line Mueller supervisor got White House ethics waiver in April

Quote

Solicitor General Noel Francisco has long been considered a likely candidate to oversee Mueller’s Russia probe if Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is fired or quits. But the 49-year-old conservative lawyer has also been dogged by conflict of interest concerns because he previously worked as a partner at Jones Day, the same law firm that represents Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in the Russia probe.

Quote

The group also took issue with the waiver appearing to be signed by then-White House counsel Don McGahn, who also worked with Francisco at Jones Day before joining the Trump administration. McGahn had similarly pledged not to participate in matters involving his former law firm.

Hmmm, other White House officials seem to have the same ethics as Dennison

[y66]

re: culture wars and Dumb****istan, I thought McCain's real moment of truth came in the 2000 primaries in South Carolina, the birthplace of Lee Atwater, when Bush decided to go negative with great success, and McCain, the self-styled principled independent, fresh off his big win in New Hampshire, had to choose between his principles and slinging mud. He chose mud, lost the primary by 11 points anyway because Bush had sewn up the conservative Christian vote, and never recovered the part of himself that he traded away.

How do we climb out of this tarpit? If I were Nancy Pelosi, I would start by inviting kenberg to lunch.

[johnu]

Nigerian military deletes tweet that appears to justify killing protesters with Dennison's words

Dennison gives legitimacy to murderous Nigerian military. Hopefully this will not lead to murders by the unofficial Dennison border militiamen who have flooded the Mexican border.

[Winstonm]

 y66, on 2018-November-03, 12:40, said:

re: culture wars and Dumb****istan, I thought McCain's real moment of truth came in the 2000 primaries in South Carolina, the birthplace of Lee Atwater, when Bush decided to go negative with great success, and McCain, the self-styled principled independent, fresh off his big win in New Hampshire, had to choose between his principles and slinging mud. He chose mud, lost the primary by 11 points anyway because Bush had sewn up the conservative Christian vote, and never recovered the part of himself that he traded away.

How do we climb out of this tarpit? If I were Nancy Pelosi, I would start by inviting kenberg to lunch.

The first lesson we learned about how to survive a tarpit is to let the dinosaurs drown.

[kenberg]

 y66, on 2018-November-03, 12:40, said:

re: culture wars and Dumb****istan, I thought McCain's real moment of truth came in the 2000 primaries in South Carolina, the birthplace of Lee Atwater, when Bush decided to go negative with great success, and McCain, the self-styled principled independent, fresh off his big win in New Hampshire, had to choose between his principles and slinging mud. He chose mud, lost the primary by 11 points anyway because Bush had sewn up the conservative Christian vote, and never recovered the part of himself that he traded away.

How do we climb out of this tarpit? If I were Nancy Pelosi, I would start by inviting kenberg to lunch.

 Winstonm, on 2018-November-03, 16:13, said:

The first lesson we learned about how to survive a tarpit is to let the dinosaurs drown.

We have to set a schedule. Free lunch first, then mass drownings.

Using the time I saved by not posting, I have read Olive Kitteridge. Not everyone agrees, but I think it is a very good book. Psychologically, it's more than a little brutal. But very good.

I realize I am not addressing the theme of the thread. I don't want to come back in. So there is something to be said for not posting at all, but my ears were burning.

Best wishes,
Ken

[Winstonm]

This is sick. Yahoo reports:

Quote

A Philadelphia woman was left shaken after she discovered a hate-filled letter in the mailbox of her new home.

Connie Mella recently moved into a new house in the Tacony neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pa., with her mother, her husband, and her 7-year-old daughter, local Philadelphia news station WPVI-TV reports. When she opened the mailbox on Thursday morning, she found a note addressed to “our new neighbor.” But the letter’s contents were anything but welcoming.

The note starts off by saying, “if any of you understand English, which is spoken here in this country, then all of you in this house better pay close attention.”

“We do not intend to put up with any type of (expletive) (expletive) from your kind of sub-human species.”

The author of the note warns: “If you make a lot of noise with your music, your trucks, vans, cars or kids we intend to firebomb your house.”

Mella, whose family hails from the Dominican Republic, is an American citizen and has lived in the United States for nearly two decades....

I am positive about 2 things. 1) The president's rhetoric makes the letter writer feel safe in his racism. 2) I don't give a flying f$ck why this guy voted, what this person wants, likes, cares about, or believes.

[barmar]

 Winstonm, on 2018-November-03, 21:25, said:

I am positive about 2 things. 1) The president's rhetoric makes the letter writer feel safe in his racism. 2) I don't give a flying f$ck what this person wants, likes, cares about, or believes.

Sounds right.

Racism has been around forever, and it didn't go away during Obama's presidency. But something definitely seems to have changed since Trump took office -- it's become far more overt. All the 911 calls on black people just going about their normal lives, for instance. The above letter is more of the same.