Countdown to Extinction: The 2016 Presidential Election

[drogulus]

I grew up in Copiague.

     Train to Babylon now boarding on Track 5, Rockville Centre, Baldwin, Freeport, Merrick, Bellmore, Wantagh, Seaford, Massapequa, Massapequa Park, Amityville, Copaigue, Lindenhurst, Babylon, Train to Babylon now boarding on Track 5.....

     That's from Jamaica, not Penn Station.

[(poco) Sforzando]

     Train to Babylon now boarding on Track 5, Rockville Centre, Baldwin, Freeport, Merrick, Bellmore, Wantagh, Seaford, Massapequa, Massapequa Park, Amityville, Copaigue, Lindenhurst, Babylon, Train to Babylon now boarding on Track 5.....

     That's from Jamaica, not Penn Station.

That's true. LIRR uses tracks 13-21 from Penn Station; the lower tracks belong to Amtrak and NJ Transit. And don't forget: change at Babylon for the train to Patchogue, stopping at Bay Shore, Islip, Great River, Oakdale, Sayville, and Patchogue.

[drogulus]

     I never went to Speonk......well I must have because at least once I took the train to Montauk. Speonk....how could there be such a place as that?

     

[zamyrabyrd]

Hey guys, shouldn't it be understood that the person to occupy the highest office of the US should be in top physical condition, meaning not possibly having degenerative diseases that impair mental functioning? FDR may have been in a wheelchair but his mind was not affected. We're not even talking about moral fitness but lying or hiding her syndromes would be par for what Hillary served up all these years.

https://www.youtube.com/v/ifIAlft47bM

[zamyrabyrd]

That's funny, I read your text first and assumed you were referring to either of the ex-Presidents Bush when they were in office, LOL. Mike

The last Bush in office, GW, is spending his retirement painting puppies! I don't discount the guy was off the rails while in office, seeing WMD's in his sleep no doubt. Ironically, the Donald is the one man happenstance to get rid of the hegemony of the Bushes and their collaborators for almost a century. Profiteering from selling munitions goes back to WWI, a major source of their wealth up to and including Halliburton in the Iraq debacle. Jeb Bush himself couldn't disguise his own panic about his family being ditched. I would say this fact alone disregarding other pros and cons of Trump, is fantastic.

[Madiel]

Hey guys, shouldn't it be understood that the person to occupy the highest office of the US should be in top physical condition, meaning not possibly having degenerative diseases that impair mental functioning?

Yeah. What a pity that no reputable source is suggesting that Clinton is not in possession of full mental faculties. Making your questions moot.

Also, you seem confused about the relationship between "physical condition" and "mental functioning".

[Rinaldo]

I would say this fact alone disregarding other pros and cons of Trump, is fantastic.

If only those cons didn't include being a lying, sexist bigot, who's been endorsed by such luminaries as Putin, Kim Jong-un and David Duke.

You sincerely believe Trump would stand up to the military-industrial complex? Well, falling for conspiracies about Hillary's health is a first step in believing anything, I guess.

[zamyrabyrd]

Yeah. What a pity that no reputable source is suggesting that Clinton is not in possession of full mental faculties. Making your questions moot.
Also, you seem confused about the relationship between "physical condition" and "mental functioning".

Hillary seems to have full mental capacity when it comes to lying about her emails as Secretary of State and the Benghazi incident. There is a whole trail of corruption before those of course.
Alleged neurological conditions can impair mental functioning. What other explanations are there for head bobbing and frozen expressions? If it is not a conspiracy to inquire, maybe someone can assure us that she is A-OK. This fitness question came up with John McCain and no one thought it unusual.

[Madiel]

What other explanations are there for head bobbing and frozen expressions?

Try asking a doctor instead of the internet.

[zamyrabyrd]

Reminds me of when all the media got into a frenzy over one of the grand slam tennis finals when one player left the court for a while between sets. Eager to know why she spent time away.
The player eventually relented at the press conference to deliver the shock revelation that she was having her period. Most of the media were male of course.

Er, this is not something that necessitates lengthy visits to the powder room. For cramps one takes a pill. Other personal hygiene stuff doesn't take that long to check or whatever. Also, not something to broadcast either. The whole business of equality for women was to show that these things do not get in the way of functioning. As for Shillary, she exploits the "women" card so much as to be embarrassing for the rest of us.

[zamyrabyrd]

Try asking a doctor instead of the internet.

Doctors have voiced concern over the treatment she is getting for alleged thyroid problems. The internet is not a monolith that someone "asks". Rather it is the sum total of contributions from real people like you and me sitting in front of our computers.

[zamyrabyrd]

If only those cons didn't include being a lying, sexist bigot, who's been endorsed by such luminaries as Putin, Kim Jong-un and David Duke.
You sincerely believe Trump would stand up to the military-industrial complex? Well, falling for conspiracies about Hillary's health is a first step in believing anything, I guess.

The military-political complex HATES Trump and is doing everything possible to discredit and destroy him. There is a difference between having made your fortune from mainly real estate rather than from arms that kill people. No one is a saint, public figures perhaps even more flawed.
In this world the choice is usually between worse and less worse. That's only reality, no matter who likes whom. I didn't read anywhere ole fat face likes Trump but really who cares? The concern would be if it were the other way around.

[Karl Henning]

Hillary seems to have full mental capacity when it comes to lying about her emails as Secretary of State and the Benghazi incident. There is a whole trail of corruption before those of course.
Alleged neurological conditions can impair mental functioning. What other explanations are there for head bobbing and frozen expressions? If it is not a conspiracy to inquire, maybe someone can assure us that she is A-OK.

At the campaign's outset


If you would like a second medical opinion, I don't think that is unreasonable, per se.  It is worth pointing out that, at least, we have one professionally presented medical opinion here, which contrasts sharply with the I had five minutes to draw this up for the limo which was waiting on West 58^th Street "letter."

[(poco) Sforzando]

     I never went to Speonk......well I must have because at least once I took the train to Montauk. Speonk....how could there be such a place as that?

   

Wiki: The name Speonk was inspired by a Native American word meaning high place. An 1897 Long Island Rail Road catalog listed Speonk, noting that that name "certainly sounds like the call of a frog."

My favorite LI town name is Quogue. There used to be an LIRR station there, but it was closed. What any of this has to do with the present thread is beyond me, but I don't really care.

[Karl Henning]

Con:  Not the sort of landmark you want to hit <70 days before the election.

Hillary Clinton's image hits a new low

Pro:  She is still doing significantly better than El Tupé.

[Karl Henning]

Wiki: The name Speonk was inspired by a Native American word meaning high place. An 1897 Long Island Rail Road catalog listed Speonk, noting that that name "certainly sounds like the call of a frog."

If I could only believe that a frog were capable of sp- . . . .

[Karl Henning]

It's not clear quite what might have cause Clinton to fall further than ever before. It's likely that she simply got an extended bounce after the Democratic convention that has finally faded. It's also possible that adverse headlines last week about the Clinton Foundation and thousands of newly discovered emails from the private email server Clinton used as secretary of state reinforced why views of her had been worsening prior to the July conventions.

She has got to do more than just keep out of El Tupé's way while he makes an ass of himself.  And really, she should gird her loins and do proper press conferences.  She must have more to gain in terms of the respect of the average voter for facing the fire, than to lose by reinforcing the lack-of-transparency narrative.

Sure, El Tupé faces historically long odds in being so entrenchedly behind, this late in the process.  But anything can happen, and Hillary should actively court more favorability.

[Madiel]

Doctors have voiced concern over the treatment she is getting for alleged thyroid problems. The internet is not a monolith that someone "asks". Rather it is the sum total of contributions from real people like you and me sitting in front of our computers.

Real people with no medical training whatsoever, is my point. When people started throwing around medical terms for Trump's mental state on this thread they were, quite reasonably in my view, called to account for it. I'm not terribly interested in going down a similar road with Clinton. Anyone who isn't a doctor who has examined her is perfectly capable of expressing their opinion on the internet or publicly "voicing concern", but it's not exactly credible, for exactly the same reason that diagnosing a personality disorder in Trump from viewing press conferences isn't credible.

In another context I've just read an article pointing out all the ways in which expertise and science is falling by the wayside because these days absolutely anyone with an opinion can get their voice heard in the vast echo chamber of media. I am simply not interested in what a Youtube video might claim to show about the medical conditions of a person.

[Madiel]

Er, this is not something that necessitates lengthy visits to the powder room. For cramps one takes a pill. Other personal hygiene stuff doesn't take that long to check or whatever.

*rolls eyes*

Your expertise about how everyone else goes to the bathroom is marvellous.

When you talk about taking a "longer than normal" break from a political debate, implying darkly that there must be something wrong if someone takes longer, I couldn't help wondering what your definition of "normal" is. Is it based on male politicians standing at a urinal? Is it, in short, an inherently sexist notion of what one does in a bathroom?

I have no clue what Hillary Clinton does in a bathroom. I think the fact that you even raised it is quite bizarre, but the reason I mentioned the tennis story is that it is an illustration of how people look for some newsworthy explanation of a perfectly ordinary event.

Hell, if I had a chance for a bathroom break away from cameras and crowds I'd probably take as long as possible, not because there's anything noticeably wrong with my plumbing but because I'd just like a few extra minutes of peace and quiet away from the insane scrutiny of people who are examining my every head movement for "bobble". Part of it is just a strange American attitude to minutiae that I think is incomprehensible to an outsider, but that doesn't stop me from pointing out how ridiculous some of your statements seem.

[Karl Henning]

Real people with no medical training whatsoever, is my point. When people started throwing around medical terms for Trump's mental state on this thread they were, quite reasonably in my view, called to account for it. I'm not terribly interested in going down a similar road with Clinton. Anyone who isn't a doctor who has examined her is perfectly capable of expressing their opinion on the internet or publicly "voicing concern", but it's not exactly credible, for exactly the same reason that diagnosing a personality disorder in Trump from viewing press conferences isn't credible.

In another context I've just read an article pointing out all the ways in which expertise and science is falling by the wayside because these days absolutely anyone with an opinion can get their voice heard in the vast echo chamber of media. I am simply not interested in what a YouTube video might claim to show about the medical conditions of a person.

Not coincidentally, this is being made "a campaign issue" by El Tupé:

   
• The guy who made hay over Obama's birth certificate
• Not entirely separately, the guy who is more conspiracy theorist than solution plotter
• The guy whose doctor did no more than parrot the campaign buzzphrases.  I've seen longer letters in a toybox.