Countdown to Extinction: The 2016 Presidential Election

[drogulus]

     Isn't the Burlington area expensive? It's 1800 sq. ft. which sounds right. A big house could easily fetch $1-2M.

[André]

AFAIK Burlington is not exactly pricey. It's a college (university) town, one of the loveliest places I know. But Sanders' cottage by the lake  is not in Burlington. It's in the Lake Champlain Islands. Gurn could probably shed more light on the subject. My take is that the same house on Lake Tahoe would be worth 10 times more.

[André]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/04/opinion/donald-trump-and-a-cia-officer-walk-into-a-room.html?_r=0

Priceless. As long as it remains fiction...

[Karl Henning]

AFAIK Burlington is not exactly pricey. It's a college (university) town, one of the loveliest places I know. But Sanders' cottage by the lake  is not in Burlington. It's in the Lake Champlain Islands. Gurn could probably shed more light on the subject. My take is that the same house on Lake Tahoe would be worth 10 times more.

Quite right.  It's hyperventilation at either political end.

[Brian]

In the last 24 hours we've had this...

Trump: "Putin doesn't like our president...Wouldn't that be nice if we could get along with Russia?"
National home builders crowd: Silence.
https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/763758011667976196

...and this...

[Karl Henning]

The Donald Trump interview that should terrify national Republicans, annotated

[André]

This is numbing logorrhea. The man cannot keep a sentence going, and is deliberately diverting the subject to avoid broaching it. After a 4-5 words' introduction he instantly veers away and pulls out a campaign slogan. Zero intellect, zero culture, zero respect for the interviewer's work, zero respect for the public's intelligence. Extremely basic knowledge and a devastating intelligence for manipulation.

[Karl Henning]

. . . and a devastating intelligence for manipulation.

Aye, that specific type of intelligence, indeed.

[Pat B]

They have not had a talent for anything, apart from thickheaded obstruction.

They've actually gotten a few significant things done the past couple of years (VA reform in 2014; education and infrastructure bills in 2015). I'm not endorsing the specifics of those bills, just noting that they passed in bipartisan fashion and were signed by Obama.

But it's hard to overcome the narrative the Congressional Rs wrote against themselves over the previous few years, especially since they followed it all up with their high-profile idiocy on the Garland nomination.

[Karl Henning]

They've actually gotten a few significant things done the past couple of years (VA reform in 2014; education and infrastructure bills in 2015). I'm not endorsing the specifics of those bills, just noting that they passed in bipartisan fashion and were signed by Obama.

But it's hard to overcome the narrative the Congressional Rs wrote against themselves over the previous few years, especially since they followed it all up with their high-profile idiocy on the Garland nomination.

Emendation appreciated.

[Gurn Blanston]

     Isn't the Burlington area expensive? It's 1800 sq. ft. which sounds right. A big house could easily fetch $1-2M.

Overall it isn't bad, nothing like some of the big city areas. Nearly $600K for 1800 sq ft is pricey no matter where you live, my house (pretty nice) is half again bigger than that and didn't cost near that much!   Although a lot depends on location, as in real estate anywhere. If it has a nice view of the Lake, for example, or a large tract of land in a select area, then the house itself becomes secondary. 

Pretty much like anywhere else, I guess..

[Gurn Blanston]

AFAIK Burlington is not exactly pricey. It's a college (university) town, one of the loveliest places I know. But Sanders' cottage by the lake  is not in Burlington. It's in the Lake Champlain Islands. Gurn could probably shed more light on the subject. My take is that the same house on Lake Tahoe would be worth 10 times more.

Ah, up in the Islands. One of the world's hidden treasures. My son lives there, great piece of land, dirt cheap. The kind of money being discussed would buy a palace. Must be one fine little hut!   

[(poco) Sforzando]

"In many respects you know they honor President Obama. ISIS is honoring President Obama! He is the founder of ISIS. He's the founder of ISIS, O.K.! He's the founder, he founded ISIS and I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton. Co-founder, crooked Hillary Clinton. And that's what it's about."

Could he sound more like the text of a Bach cantata:

"Ich, Ich, Ich, Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis in meinem Herzen, in meinem Herzen, Ich."

[Karl Henning]

He'll start "being presidential" any day, now . . . .

[Karl Henning]

The riot of recrimination was a vivid reminder that some of [El Tupé's] worst traits as a candidate–paper-thin skin, an absence of discipline, a bottomless capacity to nurse grudges–are not going away. Republicans waiting for the long-promised presidential pivot seemed like characters in a Beckett play, trapped in [El Tupé's] theater of the absurd.

[Karl Henning]

The riot of recrimination was a vivid reminder that some of [El Tupé's] worst traits as a candidate–paper-thin skin, an absence of discipline, a bottomless capacity to nurse grudges–are not going away. Republicans waiting for the long-promised presidential pivot seemed like characters in a Beckett play, trapped in [El Tupé's] theater of the absurd.

Last week, I offered a somewhat tongue-in-cheek description of eight things [El Tupé] could do to turn around his campaign. My point was that everything that would be necessary is something [El Tupé] either can't do or won't do.

[Ken B]

Last week, I offered a somewhat tongue-in-cheek description of eight things [El Tupé] could do to turn around his campaign. My point was that everything that would be necessary is something [El Tupé] either can't do or won't do.

In a way I think is good on Trump. "Paint me as I am, warts and all." There's a certain integrity to that, a refusal to (in some ways) deceive. Seriously, if Trump suddenly became the smoothest, slickest guy in politics would you praise him for it, and think "well now there's a guy I can support"? I wouldn't, rather the reverse.

Plus you know, Trump could be right. Trump walked all over the GOP, which had a field of accomplished professional politicians, and is competitive for the presidency doing his own thing against the democrats. He probably thinks his stuff is working. And seriously when Trump announced did you imagine he'd get this far? I surely didn't.  His schtick might not work but it's been startlingly effective so far.

[drogulus]

   

In a way I think is good on Trump. "Paint me as I am, warts and all." There's a certain integrity to that, a refusal to (in some ways) deceive. Seriously, if Trump suddenly became the smoothest, slickest guy in politics would you praise him for it, and think "well now there's a guy I can support"? I wouldn't, rather the reverse.

     I agree it's a good thing that everyone can see what an ego monster Trump is, and I can imagine this can be considered honesty in the same way a fanatic honestly hates you. But the downside is despite this admirable trait what Trump is being honest about, himself and his thoughts, is a continuous stream of hateful bilge, and that kind of cancels out the admirable part.

[drogulus]

     Democratic, GOP leaders got a secret briefing on DNC hack last year

     That's pretty much what you'd expect, that they were told and told not to tell what they learned. Is it also expected that they were told not to tell anyone they had been briefed?

     Tales of the Super Unexpected: earlier today I made my rounds in TrumPutinia, where a distinguished correspondent offered that "wait until Putin releases those 33,000 Hitlery emails" with gleeful anticipation. How is that supposed to work? The public is already starting to worry about Putin's interference and making Trump his pet isn't exactly reassuring. Escalating against Hildabeast (not sure of the spelling....) doesn't win voters to Trump. One might argue (one is me) Putin fears Clinton for exactly the reason that should cause voters to be reassured that Putin can't manipulate her.

[kishnevi]

Hypothesis
The Clinton email leaks may not have the objective of electing Trump.

They may have the objective of seriously handicapping Clinton when elected by giving all her foreign policy decisions the aura of being made with Clinton Foundation donors in mind.