Check that. I should have said where Trump stands as Democrats gather in Chicago to anoint his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, as the party’s nominee.
Thank you, Lucien, for highlighting how many people are more excited and hopeful. And yet, there are people who will believe the fake Swift endorsements, just like my friend who thinks JD Vance is joking when he talks nasty #!%&#! about women, cats, babies, etc. I guess it's that bell-shaped curve at work. Onward democrats and Democrats!
Fake Swift endorsements will have no staying power. Once word gets out that she made no such commitment, it'll get back to any stray Swifties caught up in yet another Trump lie. Her fans have quite a network of interconnectedness impervious to deceit.
She sees the world through rose-colored glasses. It seems to be a much easier way to deal with unpleasantness in the short-term. I might try it next time around.
I feel increasingly confident that Harris is going to win this for us. Then, of course, the shenanigans will start. The other day, I came across this quote in Theodore H. White’s book on the 1960 election: “The polls have closed. Good or bad, whatever the decision, America will accept the decision—and cut down any man who goes against it, even though for millions the decision runs contrary to their own votes. The general vote is an expression of national will, the only substitute for violence and blood. Its verdict is to be defended as one defends civilization itself.” I can’t help but wonder if we will ever get back to being a country where White’s words are again true.
I am on the board of elections in a suburban/rural county 55 miles north/northeast of the ATL; voting generally goes 80% Republican and 20% Democratic. Would you believe that with that ratio we are still having Republican challenges to the outcome of the 2020 election? At our last meeting, there were 9 voter challenges!!! Needless to say, there was no need for those challenges. (Obviously, the local Republicans are agents of chaos who want to sow seeds of doubt amongst the voting public.)
Thanks for the report, Judy. I'm a poll worker in a blue area of a mostly blue state (MA) and we don't see shenanigans like that. (Our shenanigans are different. <g>) But I believe very strongly that it's really, really important to have one or two reality-based people on the job in places where shenanigans are most likely to happen. Because one or two reality-based people can keep shenanigans from spiraling out of control.
Giving one term to that narcissist criminal has hopefully not irrevocably altered our electoral process. But he has certainly plunged our politics into the sewer. As Steve Schmidt pointed out, when he ran Senator McCain's campaign against Obama, he never got death threats or boxes of excrement mailed to him. These things have only happened since Trump entered politics
Donald Trump has made a big deal over how the entire world has been mean to him, specifically by allowing Harris to replace Biden on the D ticket. He said it was a coup which makes no sense. He has also made the absurd claim that Biden will retake his rightful place at the head of the ticket at the Convention. He wanted his campaign money back that he spent targeting Joe.
Trump however has nobody to blame for this situation but himself. His strategy was to divide the country and, in the process, made himself so feared and hated by the other side that just the chance of him actually winning this election filled Biden's constituents with horror and dread. Replacing Biden was a bold move. I kind of doubt the Democrats would have reached this level of freak to keep say, George Bush out of the White House. Trump created his own bogeyman, himself, and he has to take the heat for what he unleashed.
*Rump’s obsession with Biden being off the ticket, as others have noted, is that he’s lost his chance of beating him. He’ll never get over Biden winning in 2020, and he knows he lost even though he puts the “big lie” out there every chance he gets. He’s always all about retribution for perceived wrongs he has suffered. His immaturity determines everything he does, and his lack of intellect dictates his childish responses. His speech writers can write all the erudite speeches they want, and put them on the teleprompter. He won’t read them because it’s clear that his reading skills, or his eyesight, probably both, aren’t up to the chore. So he immediately abandons the teleprompter and launches into one of his unhinged extemporaneous diatribes that make no sense. That behavior may be fine with his cult, but to anyone with a few functioning brain cells who listens to his word salads and indecipherable drival it has to, or should, ring all the alarm bells. The MSM has to stop making him sound like just another ‘normal’ presidential candidate to keep the horserace going. His existence is a living, breathing, walking insult to the intelligence of most people.
The trouble is, he's skated by his whole life. Only recently have the wages of sin come a calling for him with the E. Jean Carroll verdict and the Stormy business fraud convictions. Still pending, thanks to MAGA judges, are the insurrection, Georgia election interference case, and the Espionage Act stolen documents case. You're right about him having no one to blame but himself. But he won't blame himself. Hence the constant playing the victim, which for some reason resonates with his cultish followers. I hope he gets all that he has coming to him for being a lifelong POS.
And add to that that Taylor Swift will probably sue him for his lies about her on Truth Social. Although someone posted the image, and as the mother of a Swiftie, I can see it does not look like her face. She and Celine Dion, whose Titanic song Trump played at a rally without her permission should be suing him. In fact, fans of Taylor Swift who have organized Swifties for Harris, should file a class action. That would be interesting. He has defamed them. Still that probably could not get any traction.
Taylor Swift has tremendous influence. Trump was foolish to mess with her image. Just the press reports of her filing suit against him will hurt him in November. I hope her lawyers crush trump. He is a menace to our country. He is disgusting in every way.
Given that yesterday Jeff Tiedrich reported on the Trump cult carrying around vials of supposed JD Vance Jiss, with his picture on it, saying "JD Vance" Full Family Kit, which they are doing to make the point that Tim Walz had his children with IVF, I just cannot believe I share a country with people who would vote for Trump. The mainstream media is abysmal in its coverage of Kamala, and unfortunately too many people trust it. BIG MISTAKE! Yesterday Matt Stoller, reported on his anti-monopoly Substack Big, that Kamala's economic plans make sense and the press and economists are mad because she is not agreeing with them, so they are just attacking her out of spite. Then we see the New York Post headline calling her Kamunism. https://nypost.com/cover/august-17-2024/
I would love to see someone create a headline to counter that with Trump head drawn with a Hitler mustache and haircut, which says, Traschism. Everything he says should be thrown in the trash. I am reading Project 2025 in a Democrats Abroad book club. So far we have read and discussed 11 chapters, and the Forward. We are skipping around. This week it is Chapter 14 Health and Human Services, which I have renamed Unhealthy Inhumane Services. Roger Severino not only has Trump gutting programs and undoing legislation created by Biden and Obama, but also of Roosevelt, that is how much of our social supports and governmental fabric they want to undo, as they turn us into a third world country. Kamala does not have to come up with any new programs. She just has to list all of the programs which she will keep, or expand that Trump plans to get rid of as her platform.
He says it was a coup because that's the way he thinks: the only way *he* would have stepped aside is if he was strong-armed or blackmailed into it, so of course he's sure that's what happened to President Biden. Doing something voluntarily for the good of the *country*? He can't imagine doing it, so he can't imagine his adversary doing it.
Let's not give dumpy any air time! Let's focus on our brilliant, joyful VP who is going to lead us out of misery and fear and back to possibilities and willingness to work for a win, to contribute however we can, through campaign contributions, to postcard sending, to help registering new voters, to transporting people to the polls. Let's put dumpy in the rear view mirror and stop giving him any attention!
We have not won the battle. The tide is turning, but trump has many tricks up his sleeve. We have to win the battle on all fronts. If this goes to the SCOTUS for some reason, we will have a toxic court to deal with.
I wonder how many GOP Senators are wondering right now whether they did the right thing when they let Trump off the hook over the two impeachments. A bit like Frankenstein creating a monster he has now lost control of. Liz Cheney would have been a formidable opponent against Kamala as just one example; but she fell out of favor when she became part of the January 6 committee. The GOP wanted no part of anyone with ethical standards and a sense of fairness and what was best for the country. Well, now they could be paying the ultimate price. . Is that Karma or what?
Tonight is probably Joe Biden’s last major speech as president. Just one more Biden story: Thirty years ago I was based in DC but doing a lot of work in New York. I occasionally took the Delta shuttle but to save some money, I often took the train from DC’s Union Station. When I took an evening train, I frequently ran into Senator Biden on the same train and we occasionally spoke. He was going home to Wilmington, Delaware for a late dinner with his wife and kids. The next morning, he came back to DC and he did this almost every day for the entire time he was in the Senate. His nickname was “Amtrak Joe.” That sounds like a joke but in truth it was a mark of respect for his dedication to the Senate and for his love and devotion to his family. None of us know how much longer we have on this earth. But I hope that Amtrak Joe has many more years in peace and quiet with his family and friends.
Honest Don is now relying on fake Swifty pics and calling Kamala "Comrade" and a Communist. His entire mindset is back in the '50s where being called a communist was a serious thing, I doubt that is still has much resonance today, especially when it's ignorantly paired with fascist as synonymous. Maga continues spiraling down the drain. This convention should be fun!
He also reportedly said that the illustration of Harris on the Time cover reminded him of Sophia Loren or Elizabeth Taylor. Cue the Lawrence Welk band!
The weird thing is that communist and fascist are almost synonymous. There wasn't a lot of difference between Stalin and Hitler. They even signed a pact. (By "communist," I do not mean to refer to Marx's theories, which are another matter.)
Thank you, Lucian. Fantastic overview of how Kamala Harris laid the groundwork so that, when the time came for her to be at the top of the ticket -- and it would've happened someday -- she would be ready to go and have the support she needed. She is goooood at this stuff.
As a longtime Chicagoan, I am thrilled that the DNC is happening here. This convention is gonna be a far cry from the debacle of '68, that's for sure! And the contrast with the bizarre spectacle the GOP put on a while back will be stunning.
Also, "Monsieur Cantilevered Pompadour" is a keeper, Lucian. I have been thinking of tfg's elaborate hairdo as a double back-flip combover in the pike position. It could net him a medal at the Hair Olympics, except that they don't allow felons to compete....
Your third paragraph is brilliant. I actually googled to see whether there is a Hair Olympics and whether it excludes felons. I found an article titled, "A look at the hairstyles from the 2024 Summer Olympics." It shows some creative ones.
Oh, Lucian, if there isn't a well-known GOL, Giggle Out Loud, there should be, for "Monsieur Cantilevered Pompadour," although, if you want to be Amurrican about it (it ain't called Haute-Loire Fried Chicken, and those French fries drowned in ketchup are distinctly us, not them), how about Mr. Croak Him Douche?
I hope Taylor Swift comes for him fast and with force. Trump has been playing songs by various artists at his events for years without the artists' permission. He thinks he's entitled to do as he pleases.
Thank you, Lucien, for highlighting how many people are more excited and hopeful. And yet, there are people who will believe the fake Swift endorsements, just like my friend who thinks JD Vance is joking when he talks nasty #!%&#! about women, cats, babies, etc. I guess it's that bell-shaped curve at work. Onward democrats and Democrats!
Fake Swift endorsements will have no staying power. Once word gets out that she made no such commitment, it'll get back to any stray Swifties caught up in yet another Trump lie. Her fans have quite a network of interconnectedness impervious to deceit.
You have a friend like that? You must be extraordinarily tolerant
She sees the world through rose-colored glasses. It seems to be a much easier way to deal with unpleasantness in the short-term. I might try it next time around.
Please don’t. It is much easier to delude ourselves. But of course that doesn’t solve any problems
“Cantilevered Pompadour”. Lucien, you and Charles Pierce ought to have a nickname face-off. 👍
I would pay to see that!
I feel increasingly confident that Harris is going to win this for us. Then, of course, the shenanigans will start. The other day, I came across this quote in Theodore H. White’s book on the 1960 election: “The polls have closed. Good or bad, whatever the decision, America will accept the decision—and cut down any man who goes against it, even though for millions the decision runs contrary to their own votes. The general vote is an expression of national will, the only substitute for violence and blood. Its verdict is to be defended as one defends civilization itself.” I can’t help but wonder if we will ever get back to being a country where White’s words are again true.
I am on the board of elections in a suburban/rural county 55 miles north/northeast of the ATL; voting generally goes 80% Republican and 20% Democratic. Would you believe that with that ratio we are still having Republican challenges to the outcome of the 2020 election? At our last meeting, there were 9 voter challenges!!! Needless to say, there was no need for those challenges. (Obviously, the local Republicans are agents of chaos who want to sow seeds of doubt amongst the voting public.)
Thanks for the report, Judy. I'm a poll worker in a blue area of a mostly blue state (MA) and we don't see shenanigans like that. (Our shenanigans are different. <g>) But I believe very strongly that it's really, really important to have one or two reality-based people on the job in places where shenanigans are most likely to happen. Because one or two reality-based people can keep shenanigans from spiraling out of control.
Giving one term to that narcissist criminal has hopefully not irrevocably altered our electoral process. But he has certainly plunged our politics into the sewer. As Steve Schmidt pointed out, when he ran Senator McCain's campaign against Obama, he never got death threats or boxes of excrement mailed to him. These things have only happened since Trump entered politics
I live for the day when Trump is irrelevant, and cannot call a news conference or anything because no one will come.
Can’t come soon enough. But I fear MAGA will not die out easily
No, but it will take the teeth out of them, unless they all collectively start following some new virulently racist guy like say, David Duke.
Some aspiring new cult leader from the lunatic fringe right will arise
You have every reason to wonder whether “we’ll ever get back to being a country where White’s word are again true.”
Donald Trump has made a big deal over how the entire world has been mean to him, specifically by allowing Harris to replace Biden on the D ticket. He said it was a coup which makes no sense. He has also made the absurd claim that Biden will retake his rightful place at the head of the ticket at the Convention. He wanted his campaign money back that he spent targeting Joe.
Trump however has nobody to blame for this situation but himself. His strategy was to divide the country and, in the process, made himself so feared and hated by the other side that just the chance of him actually winning this election filled Biden's constituents with horror and dread. Replacing Biden was a bold move. I kind of doubt the Democrats would have reached this level of freak to keep say, George Bush out of the White House. Trump created his own bogeyman, himself, and he has to take the heat for what he unleashed.
*Rump’s obsession with Biden being off the ticket, as others have noted, is that he’s lost his chance of beating him. He’ll never get over Biden winning in 2020, and he knows he lost even though he puts the “big lie” out there every chance he gets. He’s always all about retribution for perceived wrongs he has suffered. His immaturity determines everything he does, and his lack of intellect dictates his childish responses. His speech writers can write all the erudite speeches they want, and put them on the teleprompter. He won’t read them because it’s clear that his reading skills, or his eyesight, probably both, aren’t up to the chore. So he immediately abandons the teleprompter and launches into one of his unhinged extemporaneous diatribes that make no sense. That behavior may be fine with his cult, but to anyone with a few functioning brain cells who listens to his word salads and indecipherable drival it has to, or should, ring all the alarm bells. The MSM has to stop making him sound like just another ‘normal’ presidential candidate to keep the horserace going. His existence is a living, breathing, walking insult to the intelligence of most people.
Erudite is a word that will never apply to him
Very well stated, Richard!!
The trouble is, he's skated by his whole life. Only recently have the wages of sin come a calling for him with the E. Jean Carroll verdict and the Stormy business fraud convictions. Still pending, thanks to MAGA judges, are the insurrection, Georgia election interference case, and the Espionage Act stolen documents case. You're right about him having no one to blame but himself. But he won't blame himself. Hence the constant playing the victim, which for some reason resonates with his cultish followers. I hope he gets all that he has coming to him for being a lifelong POS.
Don't forget the New York civil fraud case in which "Donald Trump, Adult Sons, and Former Executives Ordered to Pay More Than $450 Million They Fraudulently and Illegally Obtained." https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2024/attorney-general-james-wins-landmark-victory-case-against-donald-trump
And add to that that Taylor Swift will probably sue him for his lies about her on Truth Social. Although someone posted the image, and as the mother of a Swiftie, I can see it does not look like her face. She and Celine Dion, whose Titanic song Trump played at a rally without her permission should be suing him. In fact, fans of Taylor Swift who have organized Swifties for Harris, should file a class action. That would be interesting. He has defamed them. Still that probably could not get any traction.
Taylor Swift has tremendous influence. Trump was foolish to mess with her image. Just the press reports of her filing suit against him will hurt him in November. I hope her lawyers crush trump. He is a menace to our country. He is disgusting in every way.
Given that yesterday Jeff Tiedrich reported on the Trump cult carrying around vials of supposed JD Vance Jiss, with his picture on it, saying "JD Vance" Full Family Kit, which they are doing to make the point that Tim Walz had his children with IVF, I just cannot believe I share a country with people who would vote for Trump. The mainstream media is abysmal in its coverage of Kamala, and unfortunately too many people trust it. BIG MISTAKE! Yesterday Matt Stoller, reported on his anti-monopoly Substack Big, that Kamala's economic plans make sense and the press and economists are mad because she is not agreeing with them, so they are just attacking her out of spite. Then we see the New York Post headline calling her Kamunism. https://nypost.com/cover/august-17-2024/
I would love to see someone create a headline to counter that with Trump head drawn with a Hitler mustache and haircut, which says, Traschism. Everything he says should be thrown in the trash. I am reading Project 2025 in a Democrats Abroad book club. So far we have read and discussed 11 chapters, and the Forward. We are skipping around. This week it is Chapter 14 Health and Human Services, which I have renamed Unhealthy Inhumane Services. Roger Severino not only has Trump gutting programs and undoing legislation created by Biden and Obama, but also of Roosevelt, that is how much of our social supports and governmental fabric they want to undo, as they turn us into a third world country. Kamala does not have to come up with any new programs. She just has to list all of the programs which she will keep, or expand that Trump plans to get rid of as her platform.
He says it was a coup because that's the way he thinks: the only way *he* would have stepped aside is if he was strong-armed or blackmailed into it, so of course he's sure that's what happened to President Biden. Doing something voluntarily for the good of the *country*? He can't imagine doing it, so he can't imagine his adversary doing it.
Let's not give dumpy any air time! Let's focus on our brilliant, joyful VP who is going to lead us out of misery and fear and back to possibilities and willingness to work for a win, to contribute however we can, through campaign contributions, to postcard sending, to help registering new voters, to transporting people to the polls. Let's put dumpy in the rear view mirror and stop giving him any attention!
Ok, except for maybe this:
https://open.substack.com/pub/thomhartmann/p/down-with-the-kings-scotus-presidential-3dc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=3i2voh
Ya gotta love Wolfgang 😂
Oh Happy Day! With many more on the horizon. It';s about damn time the tide turned.
We have not won the battle. The tide is turning, but trump has many tricks up his sleeve. We have to win the battle on all fronts. If this goes to the SCOTUS for some reason, we will have a toxic court to deal with.
Yes. We have to get the House, senate and the presidency.
AOC just made your point at the DNC convention. You are absolutely correct. We must take the House and the Senate.
AOC was so impressive tonight.
Indeed.
I wonder how many GOP Senators are wondering right now whether they did the right thing when they let Trump off the hook over the two impeachments. A bit like Frankenstein creating a monster he has now lost control of. Liz Cheney would have been a formidable opponent against Kamala as just one example; but she fell out of favor when she became part of the January 6 committee. The GOP wanted no part of anyone with ethical standards and a sense of fairness and what was best for the country. Well, now they could be paying the ultimate price. . Is that Karma or what?
Faking a Taylor endorsement?
Are you kidding me?!
Prison time!
Tonight is probably Joe Biden’s last major speech as president. Just one more Biden story: Thirty years ago I was based in DC but doing a lot of work in New York. I occasionally took the Delta shuttle but to save some money, I often took the train from DC’s Union Station. When I took an evening train, I frequently ran into Senator Biden on the same train and we occasionally spoke. He was going home to Wilmington, Delaware for a late dinner with his wife and kids. The next morning, he came back to DC and he did this almost every day for the entire time he was in the Senate. His nickname was “Amtrak Joe.” That sounds like a joke but in truth it was a mark of respect for his dedication to the Senate and for his love and devotion to his family. None of us know how much longer we have on this earth. But I hope that Amtrak Joe has many more years in peace and quiet with his family and friends.
Honest Don is now relying on fake Swifty pics and calling Kamala "Comrade" and a Communist. His entire mindset is back in the '50s where being called a communist was a serious thing, I doubt that is still has much resonance today, especially when it's ignorantly paired with fascist as synonymous. Maga continues spiraling down the drain. This convention should be fun!
He also reportedly said that the illustration of Harris on the Time cover reminded him of Sophia Loren or Elizabeth Taylor. Cue the Lawrence Welk band!
DonOld demento can't even pronounce Loren properly.
The weird thing is that communist and fascist are almost synonymous. There wasn't a lot of difference between Stalin and Hitler. They even signed a pact. (By "communist," I do not mean to refer to Marx's theories, which are another matter.)
He called Kamala Harris a bitch?
What a sad lack of imagination.
Thank you, Lucian. Fantastic overview of how Kamala Harris laid the groundwork so that, when the time came for her to be at the top of the ticket -- and it would've happened someday -- she would be ready to go and have the support she needed. She is goooood at this stuff.
As a longtime Chicagoan, I am thrilled that the DNC is happening here. This convention is gonna be a far cry from the debacle of '68, that's for sure! And the contrast with the bizarre spectacle the GOP put on a while back will be stunning.
Also, "Monsieur Cantilevered Pompadour" is a keeper, Lucian. I have been thinking of tfg's elaborate hairdo as a double back-flip combover in the pike position. It could net him a medal at the Hair Olympics, except that they don't allow felons to compete....
Your third paragraph is brilliant. I actually googled to see whether there is a Hair Olympics and whether it excludes felons. I found an article titled, "A look at the hairstyles from the 2024 Summer Olympics." It shows some creative ones.
https://apnews.com/article/olympics-2024-paris-hair-photos-0c6a5627f8a7199512047caaf7826bda
Thank you! ☺️ And thank you for the link, too. Massive creativity!
Oh, Lucian, if there isn't a well-known GOL, Giggle Out Loud, there should be, for "Monsieur Cantilevered Pompadour," although, if you want to be Amurrican about it (it ain't called Haute-Loire Fried Chicken, and those French fries drowned in ketchup are distinctly us, not them), how about Mr. Croak Him Douche?
Thank you LT
Just waiting for Taylor Swift to sue him - she’s got the money and clout to do it, if only for its entertainment value. 😂
I hope Taylor Swift comes for him fast and with force. Trump has been playing songs by various artists at his events for years without the artists' permission. He thinks he's entitled to do as he pleases.
I just love this Democratic Convention!
"Monsieur Cantilevered Pompadour" priceless ...