Trump's counteroffensive was ugly but IMO it was effective. The level of stress that he inflicted on the Ft. Brooklyn apparat was reflected in Little Donny Deutsch's hysterical performance at MJ today. After letting the man rave against Trump for a while Joe S. told him to "stop screaming." "Listen to me!" Listen to me!" Deutsch had yelled across the table. That must have been a deeply satisfying moment for the Trumpistas.
IMO the ruthless device of bringing forward three of Bill Clinton's women accusers to renew their calls for vengeance on the man from Hope worked very well. Juanita Brodderick's straightforward statement "Bill Clinton raped me and then Hillary threatened me ..." must have had SOME effect. With regard to Kathy Shelton who had been brutally raped by a man named Taylor when she was twelve, I don't see anything wrong with HC's conduct. She was Taylor's court appointed attorney and successfully got the scumbag's sentence reduced. It was her duty to do that. Enough said.
The GOPers who deserted Trump over Pussygate now face a moment of truth. Will most of them re-defect to his camp? I think they will and that will be a mistake because IMO he is still going to lose unless Assange has some really good stuff in reserve. You remember him - "Can't we just drone him!"
For me the most ominous thing about the present electoral disaster is the level of perfection achieved by Ft. Brooklyn in the process of the industrialization of the political process in the US. Their willingness to twist, distort and flat out lie in pursuit of the end that for them justifies all means is frightening. The technique employed by their allies in "fact checking" Trump's opinions as opposed to HC's declamations ( "I support the Second Amendment") is amusing by any standard but it works with the semi-sentient masses. The puny Trump wurlitzer playing on and on from the golden chambers in the Trump tower is not well enough organized to compare its steam calliope hooting to the Robby Mook symphony. Mook's people actively and largely successfully seek to create public opinion using implanted memes and constant repetition from their media allies. IMO the success of such PR techniques will mean the end of actual democracy in the US if it continues.
I await the condescension of those who will now write to counsel me as to the non-existence of democracy in the US and/or the holiness of HC's Methodist utopian revolution to come. pl
I will bite.
I am in touch with person called Tofer Harrison who runs in FP circles in Washington. Ex Langley. I think he is characteristic of the thinking in Washington. It seems they believe Russia will fold when confronted.
I don't think they ever consider what is would mean if they got this one wrong.
So they don't want a hot war. They think they just need to grow a pair and the neoconservatives will be rewarded.
Posted by: Harry | 10 October 2016 at 04:36 PM
Raddatz's suggestion was cheap, dishonest propaganda
I agree. Part of the Putin-Is-The-New-Hitler theme the Alphabets are peddling.
Posted by: MRW | 10 October 2016 at 04:39 PM
Harry
Yes. This whole approach to the Russians is based on what I consider the false premise that the Russians will back away from us and that the subsequent effect in Moscow will be another maidan moment. I can't imagine how they got such an idea. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 10 October 2016 at 04:50 PM
You should take a listen to Hillary talking about getting Taylor's sentence reduced. It's one thing to get his sentence reduced, it's another to essentially admit that you knew he was guilty and laugh about how you got his sentence reduced for raping a 12 year old.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2f13f2awK4
Posted by: Frank | 10 October 2016 at 04:56 PM
Tol Tapen
You are the "old patrician?" My joke about expected "condescension" had nothing to do with the points which you raise. I agree with your points, pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 10 October 2016 at 04:56 PM
Harry,
You better tell your friend to put a foot up the fundament of the FP clique because this is a grave matter and the next stupid move by them is the trigger for a New War in which they will be the losers one way or another.
Posted by: Thomas | 10 October 2016 at 05:00 PM
Mike,
Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
You're also the guy making up stories about his neighbor for ecred so I don't expect a whole lot of rationality from you.
Posted by: Tyler | 10 October 2016 at 05:01 PM
This place is going to be amazing after a Trump victory next month.
Posted by: Tyler | 10 October 2016 at 05:02 PM
Mac,
Lol snopes. Run by two democratic cat ladies (one of which is swomam).
Google snopes bias.
Posted by: Tyler | 10 October 2016 at 05:04 PM
Mark Logab,
Yeah last night looked like a man who has thrown in the towel?
What color is the sky in your world, moon man?
Posted by: Tyler | 10 October 2016 at 05:05 PM
And I’m with you, Jack. My only real fear is WWIII. Russia isn’t called the The Bear for nothing. They don’t want war; in fact, I think Putin will bear any humiliation for the sake of his people to avoid it. But Russia has its limits, molded in cement with the nation’s memory of WWII.
People here forget how big Russia is. The width is the distance from Seattle to Tehran. They have half our population, if that. Every religion. Countless languages. Cultures within the country that are as diverse as Miami Beach and Senegal. But the one thing that unites them all is Mother Russia, just like our Uncle Sam. Putin has to rule over all that. He doesn’t have time to fuck around when internal dissension threatens the social order and peace, and every Russian understands that. Maybe not the group that is getting put in line; the rest do. But they all united when they think the world is trying to do what Hitler attempted over 70 years ago on the Eastern Front in the bloodiest war in world history for its sheer scale.
This Grandmother of Charlotte thinks she can threaten a repeat, and it’s terrifying.
Have you noticed that everyone bellyaches that Trump doesn’t give policy details when the only policy details Hillary cites is ‘go to my website’. She doesn’t remember them. I doubt she even knows them. People write them for her.
Posted by: MRW | 10 October 2016 at 05:06 PM
Origin,
Which "... increasing betterment of our national life experience for the last few decades." would this be? The increased disparity of wealth by transfers to the top 1%? The destruction of the existing medical insurance system via Obamacare? The non-existant increase in opportunities in inner cities represented by a black poverty rate of 1 in 4?
"we take the continuity of good governance..." That is not the result of loyalty to political party but a commitment to civilization which includes the principle that no one is above the law. What ".... continuity of good governance ..." did the Attorney General show in meeting in private with the husband of a political candidate under FBI investigation? What ".... continuity of good governance ..." did the FBI show in providing many of Hilary Clinton's aides during a criminal investigation? If needed I'll be happy to cite a few more examples where loyalty to party is detrimental to our national life and continuity of good governance.
Posted by: Fred | 10 October 2016 at 05:07 PM
Correction: Jeff HALPER.
Posted by: MRW | 10 October 2016 at 05:21 PM
That method was treated by Joe McGinniss back in '69 (Selling of the Pres. '68), or dramatized in "Sweet Smell of Success" & "Face in the Crowd" from the late '50s. Like much in American culture, politics became monetized / industrialized in the modern sense in our post-Depression, post-WWII era. I don't quite understand why many are aghast about what has been fairly obvious for 60+ years. In much of what I observe, it's "my team vs your team, amp'd up by pros w/ $$$", clothed in ideological wailing.
Posted by: ked | 10 October 2016 at 05:23 PM
Colonel,
Our top dog, General Mark Milley (USA), has been talking some serious, Pyongyang-esque, smack and said it was directed at Russia.
"The US military... will stop you, and we will beat you harder than you have ever been beaten before. We will destroy any enemy, anywhere, any time."
All that was missing is Milley finishing with, "Yo, Zhukov was a li'l bitch. Peace out. Thug life." And flash some gang signs.
Posted by: Boston Bob | 10 October 2016 at 05:37 PM
"Count me in as one of the deniers that Hillary wants a hot war with anybody"
Mike- are you also also guaranteeing this like the guarantee you have to Amir.
The way you throw those guarantees left and right behind hilly billy' actions, I am afraid it may make you become insolvent by election time.
Posted by: Kooshy | 10 October 2016 at 05:44 PM
Colonel,
Industrial politics is an apt phrase. Clearly Hillary Clinton is the establishment candidate and they are lifting her by both elbows across the finish line by any means possible. This is a revolutionary election. The elites have lost control over the Irredemeables. They will vote for Donald Trump no matter what. There must be others besides me who voted for Al Gore, John Kerry and Barrack Obama but cannot vote for Hillary Clinton. The ultimate question will be the legitimacy of the election. If there is any doubt, the consent of the governed will be gone. The glue that held America together was the middle class and hope. Both are fading fast. The United States is unraveling.
It is beyond insanity for Hillary Clinton, John McCain or Lindsay Graham to propose a No Fly Zone over Syria to save Jihadist families in East Aleppo which will start World War III with Russia. Reality will not be kind to the instigators of a nuclear extinction event.
Posted by: VietnamVet | 10 October 2016 at 05:46 PM
Fred, I do not know where you live or what your observation experience is, but here in the South, things have gotten a lot more prosperous in the last few years. My town in verdant with new minority owned businesses prospering all over the place. We have a very rich and educated minority middle and upper middle class here.
I am always amused by the claim that the inner city areas are festering. Perhaps they are in some cities, but not in all. Here in Atlanta, our inner city, populated by a lot of Blacks is booming. We have some poor areas, but none as hopeless as we had half a generation ago. Great improvements in public education really makes a positive difference. Here in Georgia, every public school student with good grades can get a tuition free college education through our Hope Scholarship program.
Just a single statistic is education. Since 2000, improvements in education in the minority groups is "yuge." Take a look at this https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=72 Looks to me like things are getting much better as more and more are educated.
I have recently traveled north, in upstate New York where things are really poor compared to the urban south and into Philly which is some of the poorest parts of the nation I have ever seen. By the way, Harlem is hopping.
I disagree with you on Obamacare that does have issues many of which exist because of Republican resistance to finding better solutions. Medical prices are going up, but primarily because with more people covered, there is more demand. This will work itself out if we can get the Republicans like Tom Price to get out of the way. What we need is for the AMA to get out of the way and let medical schools grow. It worked in Law, a ton of new schools, not a market glut and falling legal prices. Add 20 or 30 million to the market like Obamacare has done and rising prices is not unexpected.
You assert that the existing medical insurance program is busted, but the profits of the health care giants simply disproves that claim. Their business is booming. If Hillary was really going to help things she would go after rising concentration in the healthcare insurers and providers. The real truth is that during Obama's administration, tens of millions of Americans now have healthcare and a better quality of life than before. That means a lot more people are alive and healthier than otherwise would be.
Last year middle class incomes rose at a near record rate. Employment is at or near the full employment full employment. The argument that too of a percentage of people are not working or are on welfare is more a symptom of a society so prosperous that many, many can live on their wealth and generosity of those who live with them and choose not to work. If people were so poor as Trump would want you to believe, those not working would decide to work because they would have to and would not have the choice of not working because they would otherwise starve.
More income, more getting college degrees, and better healthcare is progress. Progress always leaves some behind, those who cannot adapt to changing resource demands and technologies, many who are old, and those unwilling to move to more prosperous areas. I trust you are not one of those. It used to be go West young man, now probably to South.
You are being deceived by a bundle of red herrings, the nation is not failing. Trump prays on those who have been left behind. Obama is correct, thing have gotten a lot better under his guidance.
Posted by: Origin | 10 October 2016 at 06:31 PM
My estimation of Trump is he is crazier than she is. She is a policy wonk and is subject to listening to advice and examining evidence. My guess is she has learned from her mistakes in Libya. I have no sympathy for Hillary or Obama on Syria. The whole foreign policy establishment has failed to discern that the true enemies are the jihadists. I think Trump is equally deceived on the issue and will just be careless and really anger the Russians.
He is the greater danger as I see it. He wants to shoot up the Iranians--that is really, really crazy!
Posted by: Origin | 10 October 2016 at 06:39 PM
That was about as nasty a spectacle as I've ever seen on a pres debate stage. It may shore up Trump support with the base (not sure even about that, how did GOP women react to it?). It certainly can't have helped his campaign with remaining undecideds though.
I agree that the timing of the release of the tape was pretty politically masterful. I also don't think that's all the Clinton camp has. They could be saving the best for last.
At least the RNC is standing by the candidate primary voters elected. Not surprising though that candy-ass politicians would abandon ship if they think it will save them in Nov. It may not save them though. This really does look like a case of Washington DC GOP establishment vs the GOP base. The base may not look kindly on those candidates who do jump ship.
Posted by: Edward Amame | 10 October 2016 at 06:43 PM
Exactly where my head is at.
Posted by: Former 11B | 10 October 2016 at 06:47 PM
Tyler
He looked like a guy grasping to keep his base on board, not build on it. He doesn't want to get crushed.
Posted by: Edward Amame | 10 October 2016 at 06:51 PM
Isn't HC's campaign manager Mook employing the same propaganda principles that Nazi Goebbels did, the big lie repeated over and over that is?
Posted by: J | 10 October 2016 at 06:52 PM
Yes, if he wins, it will be amazing to those out of touch with the entire populace in its great and wonderful diversity.
The half of the country that voted Trump in will be amazed to discover that there is a YUGE group of minority people, that is just slightly the minority, like more than a third, who will know that the majority totally disrespects them and want to re-impose some level of repression on them again. This time, those people are smart, educated, militarily trained, and really mad at the majority and will organize and be viscously unwilling to give up a century's gains without great resistance.
Add the great majority of women to the mix who hate being harassed and you will have some amazing dysfunction.
It will stop progress for years, if not a generation.
Posted by: Origin | 10 October 2016 at 06:52 PM
"Trump News" profitable? Just like Trump Air was uh, "profitable" and crashed, just like Trump University turned into a scam? Just like his Atlantic City gamble ran him off the table? Just like he claimed nearly a billion in loses one year?
We have and 'either or" election and the choice is really "neither"!
Posted by: gowithit | 10 October 2016 at 06:56 PM