He saved himself, for now ...

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  

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/10/10/trump_pounces_on_clinton_in_bruising_debate.html

Comments

[turcopolier]

tony

His defeat may be so bad that her coattails will cause loss of the senate to her followers. pl

[Babak Makkinejad]

No, an actual human being.

[Imagine]

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/01/friends-israel details a troubling incident in which Sen. McConnell, Reid, McCain, Graham, and ...Kaine, got together (Aug '14?) to railroad through the Iron Dome funding for Israel in a 5-Senator roll call after everyone else had left for vacation. Hard to argue against ABMs, but is Kaine a zionist? Will he want to attack Russia as well?

(um, MapLight has Graham receiving $286,350, Kaine $283,271 from pro-Israel groups, seems low.)

[Imagine]

If the Republicans repudiate Trump and run Pence for president alongside of Trump, would Pence make a better president than either Trump or Clinton? Would he try to get us into a shooting war with Russia, after being educated? He seems like a decent guy (from shallow first impressions). Pence over Clinton?

[MRW]

Absentee paper ballot is a safer way to go, in my view. With observers standing over shoulders while they are being counted. You can still change the count. Years ago, I downloaded Bev Harris' (the empress of uncovering voting machine fraud) copy of Diebold’s voting machine software and saw firsthand how it was done. It was so simple.

Then I understood how I could go out for dinner at a quarter to midnight when Kerry was up 4% over Bush, with just a few urban precincts remaining, and emerge at 12:30 AM and Bush had won by 3%.

[mike allen]

Wind egg omelet? Code talk again rjj. I lost my decryptor ring 63 years ago.

[mike allen]

Those who discount all sources except their favorites end up in echo chambers and circle jerks.

[Nancy K]

I realize there are many Republican women who support the Repulican party and will vote for Trump to keep Republicans in power yet I imagine all the women you mention would much rather someone more dignified were running. I have several friends who are Republicans and the 2 things we do not talk about are Trump and Clinton because we value our friendship.

[mike allen]

Mook got it from Fox, Breitbart, Limbaugh and others.

They may have gotten it from Goebbels.

[mike allen]

@ColdWarZoomie - "Why oh why can't we go to a shorter campaign season?"

Agreed! One month for the primary, one more for the general election.

[Sam Peralta]

Getting to this thread late. Reading through the comments it should be clear there are no persuadable voters. Everyone is locked and loaded. Additionally, it should be clear from the comments that supporters of both major party candidates can't be on the same page. Their perceptions of the same issues are so different. Whatever the outcome half the people are gonna feel they got shafted. Our country is getting more ungovernable.

Folks like Origin believe life couldn't be better and the Borg is all peachy keen. Folks like me believe that the country is on the wrong path and the biggest threat we face is not race riots but war with Russia. Origin wants to keep the Borg's status quo with their the wars of choice and the bailouts of Wall St and the special interests running amok. I want no more wars unless we face an existential threat and no more kiting financial assets by the Fed to benefit the 0.01% and the government keeping their nose out of my personal life.

There no longer is a middle ground! Let the civil war begin so that we can end it sooner than later.

[turcopolier]

mike allen

You are becoming unrecognizable in your partisan enthusiasm. the technique of treating a campaign as a marketing effort has little to do with your right wing enemies. it is a product of the PR industry in its modern memism evolution. pl

[different clue]

Imagine,

My briefest-impressions memory is that Pence supports Free Trade Agreements just like the Clintons. He also supports Assad-Must-Go just like the Clintons. He also supports war with Russia just like the Clintons.

Am I wrong?

[Sam Peralta]

Nancy

I agree. We are all polarized. The end of the election will only start the next phase of the battle. The Borg vs The Deplorables. The fight must intensify before it can wane.

[mike allen]

Pence is worse than Trump. He wants to turn us all into Evangelicals. Not that there is anything wrong with Evangelicals, I just prefer to worship in my own choice of churches.

[turcopolier]

Nancy K

The women I mentioned were directly participant and involved directly in selling the Iraq War to the American people. pl

[turcopolier]

mike allen

I do not want you to use SST as a bulletin board and and free advertising for HC. How many times have you posted on your electoral concerns today? Understand? pl

[mike allen]

Different Clue -

You may be right. But then Trump has said he wants to bomb Syria. So you think Russia and Iran will stand for that? He also wants to put ground troops back into Iraq against the wish of their PM, their Parliment, their people, and their Iranian neighbors.

Trump is the war candidate.

I get it about his supporters wanting to close the border. I sympathize.

And I get it about his supporters cheering him for saying he will do away with all our current trade policy. I sympathize with that also. I go out of my way to buy made-in-the-USA, if I can find it, which is getting rarer and rarer every year! I and think the free trade line is globaloney BS.

But Trump is a huckster, he does not believe those lines, just uses them. He is just a promoter, not a doer. And even if he meant it, my fear of Trump's volatility and mood swings and lack of insight overides all else.

[mike allen]

Aye aye sir. Heard and understood.

[turcopolier]

mike allen

Thank you, Marine. I will apply the same rule to the other side. Remind me if I do not. Your father was at the Rapido? In what Regiment? pl

[mike allen]

Combat Engineers, from Corps. He won a battlefield commission in North Africa.

He was the reason I signed up for a different service, as he always told me to never sign up as cannon fodder for a cretin like General Mark Clark. Plus my uncle,his brother in law, was a Jarhead and talked me into it.

[Edward Amame]

Tyler

I thought he had a chance at getting more than the 40% of the vote that's the GOP base. No more. Sad!

[Fred]

Origin,

If this is meant to convince a life long Democrat he needs to vote Hilary because the billionaire buffoon is a Deplorable you’ll need to try not to be so sanctimoniously condescending. That's a Yuge insult and not a persuasion technique. Your post as satire is C+ but then I’m not an English major.

[Fred]

Origin,

"Trump brings out the worst side of the racism..."

When Mr. Roof shot those people in the Church in Charleston it was not Mr. Trump who equated all white southerners with that mans actions.

[PeterHug]

Here is what wikipedia thinks are the reasons a lawyer can withdraw from representing a client:

"Mandatory withdrawal

There are many circumstances which require that an attorney must withdraw from a case:
- The client fires the attorney.
- The attorney determines that he is not competent to continue representing the client in a matter.
- A conflict of interest arises under which the attorney's continued representation of multiple clients impairs the attorney's obligations to the individuals.
- The client insists upon advancing a frivolous claim.
- Continued representation would violate the rules of professional responsibility.
- The attorney is in a physical or emotional state that seriously impairs the attorney's ability to continue the representation.
- It is likely that the attorney will be called as a necessary witness as to a contested issue in the proceeding, and that testimony cannot be obtained elsewhere.
- The attorney discovers that the client is using the attorney's services to further a criminal act.

Voluntary withdrawal

An attorney may voluntarily terminate the attorney-client relationship at any time and without reason, if this will not have a material adverse effect on the interests of the client. Even if the withdrawal will be adverse to the client the attorney may still withdraw for a number of reasons:

- The client is engaged in illegal or fraudulent activity.
- The client fails to pay fees as agreed.
- The financial burden on the attorney of continuing the representation is too great.
- The client refuses to follow the advice of counsel, or engages in acts relating to the representation without informing the attorney or seeking the attorney's advice.
- The attorney is engaged with co-counsel of the client's choosing, and is unable to work with that co-counsel."

(I apologize for the horrible formatting - this may be easier to read at the original article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_responsibility)

However, the bottom line is, any defendant in a criminal trial has a Constitutional right to representation, even if they're guilty. And even if they perjure themselves, and even if their lawyer KNOWS they're perjuring themselves. In this case at least, Hillary did what was precisely her job, and I don't see how any approbation should attach to her because of it.