Countdown to Extinction: The 2016 Presidential Election

[zamyrabyrd]

actually her words were "implicit bias" which is not the same.

When you are talking about racism, what does "implicit bias" mean except my people are better, smarter, (fill in the blanks) than THEM? Some people don't actually think or feel that way, Buddhist monks, for instance. So she is wrong, only talking about herself.

[Turner]

Over here, some are pointing to that the actions without consent that Trump admits on the released tape seem illegal in California and can result in at least a half-year sentence.

Also probably one of the reasons that leading Republicans, including Paul Ryan, criticize Trump so much now.

[Herman]

When you are talking about racism, what does "implicit bias" mean except my people are better, smarter, (fill in the blanks) than THEM? Some people don't actually think or feel that way, Buddhist monks, for instance. So she is wrong, only talking about herself.

You work with different information (often of the conspiracy kind); your intellect seems to work in a different way; I don't think there are many on GMG who speak the same language as you.

You're one of those blissful people who manage to skew their view in such a manner that after all that's been aired you're still adamantly saying that Clinton is bad for women and minorities and Trump is no saint but much better than Clinton.

The only reason I can think for opting for such morally painful positions is that very bad stuff happened to you in your life, but I'm sure you will reject this, too.

[André]

This article is about Colin Woodard's latest book, American Character.

It's very interesting. Woodard's view has to be put in the perspective of his own earlier book, American Nations.

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/03/13/book-review-american-character-elucidates-opposing-forces-at-work-in-american-politics/

[Karl Henning]

"Grab her by the pussy." Trump caught on microphone (in 2005, newly surfaced audio) talking about women in all sorts of crude ways. Trump's official defense is that it's "locker-room banter" and Bill Clinton talks that way too.

There are many things about El Tupé's character to object to.  But one for which, in the context of this presidential campaign, I am consistently grateful is his kneejerk, "Never apologize, point the finger at someone, anyone, else."  You see? I'm not doing anything wrong!

[Karl Henning]

In fact, many if not most of Trump's lines are picked up from the right wing blogs and websites.  CNN=Clinton News Network has been a staple since the campaign season began, anchored in a certainty  (meaning total disregard of fact) that the major media outlets are heavy-handidly biased in Hillary's favor.  Trump's only contribution is the business about the ratings, and even that is not entirely original.

Thanks for the enlightenment!  I read that as largely confirming the piece I linked to earlier, that the Republican Party is suffering the aftereffect of believing its own selective propaganda.

(And of course, there are left-wing equivalents of those dubious "news sources," which are not any more reliable nor respectable.)

[Karl Henning]

Any system of taxation is inevitably a system of redistributing wealth, and under Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution, "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States." Therefore the legislative branch of the federal government most certainly does have the business of redistributing wealth and doing so is one of its primary responsibilities. Generally those who object to redistributing wealth have no objection to such redistribution when it works in their favor, such as the mortgage interest deduction for many homeowners or a net operating loss of $900,000,000+ that effectively exempts one from paying any federal taxes at all. They only object when redistribution works in someone else's favor.

Viz. Giuliani excoriating the poor for exploiting their "loopholes," by not paying any taxes.

[PerfectWagnerite]

Didn't a buffoon like Sean Hannity claim he has over 1000 pages of evidence that show why Hillary is not fit to be president? Where are they?

[Karl Henning]

You seem to be envisioning a hypothetical candidate with Trump's outsider appeal but without Trump's various flaws. That could be a powerful candidate indeed. Time will tell whether such a candidate exists, and what other flaws he or she has.

But don't get your hopes up too high. Outsider candidates, when elected, tend to quickly become insider politicians.

That is, I think, true;  and points to the double-edged sword which is El Tupé:  he "likes to be unpredictable" (which an unsympethetic observer might say, means that he is simply erratic and undisciplined);  so he is unlikely to 'become an insider' (as the nominee, he is a lousy "leader of the GOP," lashing out at anyone, right or left, who does not salve his ego) . . . but he is equally unlikely to reach out to anyone outside his core supporters, who are with him either full willingly, or with noses pinched.

[Mahlerian]

Didn't a buffoon like Sean Hannity claim he has over 1000 pages of evidence that show why Hillary is not fit to be president? Where are they?

Like Trump's plans for defeating ISIS, they're kept nice and safe so that the "enemy" can't find out about them.

[Karl Henning]

The GOP would have done better to elect a candidate bringing focus on those issues, then.

Or, any candidate who does not sabotage himself with behavior which keeps his shortcomings in the news cycle day after day.

[Karl Henning]

Over here, some are pointing to that the actions without consent that Trump admits on the released tape seem illegal in California and can result in at least a half-year sentence.

Also probably one of the reasons that leading Republicans, including Paul Ryan, criticize Trump so much now.

And it has really gotten bad if Paul Ryan is criticizing him.  He has been the Nose-holder-in-Chief, by his endorsement most strongly "legitimizing" the illegitimable.

[Karl Henning]

His wealth, of course, has always insulated him from actual personal responsibility for his disgusting behavior and loathsome character.  Someone should tell him (as if he would listen to anyone) that a defiant apology, is not an apology.

[Karl Henning]

(An aside, since I've seen it mentioned: Even if there were a way to bump Mike Pence up to the top of the ticket, a poll out this week shows that Hillary Clinton would likely beat him, too.)

[zamyrabyrd]

You work with different information (often of the conspiracy kind); your intellect seems to work in a different way; I don't think there are many on GMG who speak the same language as you. You're one of those blissful people who manage to skew their view in such a manner that after all that's been aired you're still adamantly saying that Clinton is bad for women and minorities and Trump is no saint but much better than Clinton.
The only reason I can think for opting for such morally painful positions is that very bad stuff happened to you in your life, but I'm sure you will reject this, too.

Something happened in my life and it's called maturity. Some people age but they don't grow up. Maturity means accepting that we are all flawed. Voting for a candidate is more about the issues not about dredged up private conversations that shouldn't be ethical to broadcast all over the world. We can all say things out of line or character in anger or just to be in sync with people around. I've done it, who hasn't?

There is a difference between that and habitual cussing out Secret Service or White House staff. It is another level  to persecute the victims of one's husband's philandering. Hopefully the lady's glass house will get a few cracks in the near future.

Hillary Clinton to me is the antithesis of womanhood. I am not a fan of radical feminists or pant-suited nuns. I lived long enough to know what these harpies stole from the rest of us women who still remember and value modesty and chivalry.  Maybe I can't help being an idealist as a musician (Libra, too) but I don't regard it as a fault.

[Karl Henning]

I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her.


(For the record, my wife asked me last night if I has watched the video.  I had not, so this morning I am doing my assigned homework.)

[zamyrabyrd]

(An aside, since I've seen it mentioned: Even if there were a way to bump Mike Pence up to the top of the ticket, a poll out this week shows that Hillary Clinton would likely beat him, too.)

That's just the point. There was no other Republican who had a chance with Clinton. Mr. Nice Guy simply doesn't cut it. She simply would have wiped the floor with him (or her). They went with "media circus" instead that may just have a sliver of a possibility. I would have preferred something else but in our stage of history (as in "Decline of the Roman Empire") people are moved by sound bytes, immediate gratification and visceral urges, not by taking the time and trouble to think and weigh issues.  Pence, BTW, would be far preferable to Kaine in the event of the need for succession.

[Mahlerian]

That's just the point. There was no other Republican who had a chance with Clinton. Mr. Nice Guy simply doesn't cut it. She simply would have wiped the floor with him (or her). They went with "media circus" instead that may just have a sliver of a possibility. I would have preferred something else but in our stage of history (as in "Decline of the Roman Empire") people are moved by sound bytes, immediate gratification and visceral urges, not by taking the time and trouble to think and weigh issues.  Pence, BTW, would be far preferable to Kaine in the event of the need for succession.

Hence the fact that there's anyone out there who will consider voting for Trump, the epitome of a sound-byte candidate.

[Karl Henning]

So, as a Bernie supporter I certainly was (and continue to be) interested in the transcripts of Clinton's highly remunerative speeches to the brokers.  In any normal cycle, this news item might prove a momentary obstacle for the Democratic nominee.

If, Republican friends, this defaults to a non-issue in comparison to the present story of which El Tupé cannot, cannot, cannot let go, we all know why;  and the blame cannot be fairly laid upon Clinton.

In one October 2015 exchange, staffers appear to discuss ways to capitalize on Sanders's comment during a Democratic debate that people were sick of hearing about Clinton's "damn emails." Adviser Joel Benenson appears to have suggested that Clinton could make a joke about her testimony before a Republican-led committee investigating the attacks in Benghazi, Libya. "I was kind of expecting around hour #8 Bernie Sanders would burst in and shout--'enough about your damn emails Hillary!!' " But Podesta nixed the idea. "I defer if others think this buys us good will with Sanders people, but email jokes in Iowa usually end up badly and don't we want to move on?" he wrote back.

Bernie's "the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damned e-mails" line was a great combination of strong in message, but neutral in application.  He did not (I do not think) mean it as exculpatory, but it was shrewd of the Clinton campaign to pick up on that application of this valuable sound-bite.  (It underscores an apt remark I read early in the primaries, drawing a comparison with the GOP food fight, that Sanders paid Clinton the compliment of  "rational opposition.")

[Zeus]

Some great quotes from an article over on bbcnews.com:
http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37595079

Avik Roy in Forbes, cites a number of the faux pas that have dogged Mr Trump over the past few weeks.
He says: "None of this was enough to prevent nearly all leading GOP [Republican] lawmakers from endorsing Trump as their nominee. But the latest tape just might. Why?
"Because few Republican lawmakers have Muslim relatives. Few Republican lawmakers are of Mexican heritage. Few Republican lawmakers have faced discrimination based on the colour of their skin. But all of them have white female relatives. And therefore, when Trump talks about grabbing white women by the genitals, they can directly relate."

"I never said I was a perfect person?" Not sure anyone asked for perfection, mate, just not "shameless giant unrepentant misogynist."

"This isn't about fitness for the presidency. This is about basic human decency.

"Trump has bragged that he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and his supporters would stay loyal. Now we get to find out."